just to answer ravenqueen162 LOL girl I assume you're new to my stories but Lucy's always gonna be kissing Salamander 0-0 that's just my thing bc he loooooves her

please enjoy!

Layla smiled to herself, feeling giddy as she walked down the hall toward Lucy's room. She had just sent off Mest, who let her know things seemed to be going as good as she hoped they would. Aside from the pleasant conversation, Mest had the impression Lucy was willing to see him again; she could already see the wedding bells.

Lucy must have enjoyed her time with him and Layla would be more than happy to agree to let the two court for the foreseeable future.

There was a skip in her step up until the moment she pulled open her bedroom doors, her smile faltering into a horrified look of shock.

Just what in the hell was kissing her daughter?

She watched her lips part from his faceless features with a smile, a lilt in her laugh as it began to snuggle against the length of her neck.

"Salamander, t-that tickles!"

"O-Oh my god! Lucy! What—!" She felt herself choke on the sight of the demon clutching her in its arms, her head spinning as Lucy turned to face her with a shocked expression of her own.

"M-Mother!"

"Get…! Get the hell away from my daughter!" She staggered forward, feeling herself hyperventilate as she lurched into the room.

Lucy faced it with a grim and panicked look that sent whatever it was into a puff of smoke.

"Mother, please!" She ran to her side, Layla almost reluctant to let her daughter help her stand up straight. "He wasn't hurting me, he was—"

"Lucy!" She cried out, trying to calm herself as her thoughts ran a mile a minute through her. "What was that…demon…doing in here?"

"Don't say it like that," Her daughter looked exasperated as she clasped her hands to her chest. "Mother, he's…he's…"

Through her heavy breaths, she noticed the ring that definitely hadn't been on Lucy's finger this morning.

"Did Mest give you that ring?" Her eyes quickly went back and forth between it before Lucy managed to hide it under her other hand. "Lucy?"

"No…no he didn't." The words ran coldly through her body, a dreadful feeling seeping into her stomach as she asked her next question.

"Why is it on that finger? And where the hell did that demon come from?!" Tears welled into her eyes as Lucy swallowed her answer, Layla, knowing she'd say exactly what she didn't want to hear.

"Lucy, darling," She tried to compose herself as Lucy took a nervous step backward. "You need to give me that ring."

"Mother, I can't," She shook her head desperately, tears of her own threatening to fall down her face. "Please, you can't take it."

"Lucy," Her voice grew firmly, the queen faintly stomping her heel as she held out her hand. "I'm not asking."

"He told me never to take it off!" Lucy shook her head, walking until her back was against the wall. "Mother, really, please, I can't!"

"I don't want to hear it! Take that cursed thing off!"

"You were keeping him a secret from me! All these years! Natsu, he's mine, and you had no right! You have no right to keep take this from me!"

"Enough!" Layla turned swiftly to the bedroom door, holding it wide open as her voice bellowed throughout the castle. "Loke!"

It didn't take long for him to appear from wherever he'd been, the knight looking around quickly when he noticed Lucy shaking half to death.

"Your highness, my lady, is there an intruder?" His hand fell to the hilt of his sword, Layla shaking her head as she pointed an accusatory finger at her daughter.

"I need you to remove the ring on my daughter's finger," Lucy sobbed as she shook her head, Loke looking nervously between the two.

"...the ring?" His back straightened instinctively as the queen glared at him, knowing she wouldn't repeat herself.

He took one look at his charge and knew he should do anything but remove the ring from her finger. He didn't know what was going on but knew Lucy well enough to understand this wasn't about the ring.

Loke couldn't do anything but silently ask for forgiveness as he pried her fingers away from her hidden hand. He swallowed as he met her watery gaze, Lucy slowly shaking her head in a small effort for him to stop. But if Loke wouldn't some other knight would, and even if they didn't, someone would. Someone who wouldn't prioritize her care but the queen's orders.

"It's going to be okay," He whispered as her bottom lip quivered. Loke could see her soul cling to its other half as he began to pull on the item, feeling his resolve begin to waver. "Your highness..."

"Do you plan on ignoring my direct order?" Even Layla's voice wasn't as rigid as she hoped it would be, not taking any enjoyment in upsetting her daughter like this. "Loke?"

"No…no…she wasn't supposed to see us…" She sniffled and shook her head. "Loke, please…"

"No," He steeled his nerves and felt the magic of the item try to refuse his touch. He watched the threads that held it together shake, knowing it wouldn't be long until the irreversible occurred. Lucy's soul continued to quiver the farther down her finger it slid, snapping in an instant as soon as Loke took it into his palm.

She stopped shaking, falling limply as the light left her eyes. Layla cried out as the knight caught her, cursing under is breath as she collapsed.

"...What? What happened?" The queen rushed to his side, dropping to her knees to hold Lucy's face in her hands. "Lucy? Did the crying exhaust her?"

Loke stared at the broken halves of her soul, shutting his eyes tightly as he shook his head.

"Her soul...it's broken,"

~000~

"Broken...?" Layla stared blankly at the ring he offered her, keeping his eyes on Lucy's wilted image.

"This was holding her together, your highness...why did you ask me to remove it?"

"B-But I...No...That, that monster, he...it...it was cursed, wasn't it? He was stealing my daughter, so I had to..." She clasped a shaky hand over her mouth, her body beginning to convulse as her thoughts consumed her.

"Lucy? Sweetheart, you're okay, aren't you? Please, please just tell me you're okay," She held her limp hand between hers, tears sliding down her cheek as she squeezed it. "Why...is she so cold?"

Loke shook his head, knowing any answer he could muster would do them no good. This was out of their hands, knowing that even if they slipped the ring on her finger, it would do nothing to correct the damage they caused. But the other half wasn't fading so he took that as a good sign, she was still here, just quiet and cracked.

"Oh my god," Layla quickly rose to her feet and ran, crying so loudly that the staff she passed flinched in surprise before calling out to her.

"Your highness, what's wrong? Is everything alright?"

She ignored them, feeling her hair come undone the faster she ran to her husbands office. She made a mistake, they made a mistake. What had she done?

Barging past the guards and pushing open his ridiculously adorned door, Layla fell to her knees, crying into her palms as people rushed around her.

"Layla?" Jude's tone was rushed and concerned as he joined her at her side, the knights and his aid anxious as they didn't know what to do. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"It's, lord, it's Lucy," She wretched, shaking hands reaching out for him, clinging to his body as he held her. "She's gone, she's gone, oh, what have I done?!"

"Calm down," Jude felt his heart begin to race at her words, kneeling before her as the knights helped her to sit on the couch. "She's gone? Where did she go?"

"No, no, it's...it's..." Her quivering hand held out the ring, offering it to her husband. "Her soul...it's broken..."

"What?" His eyes were wide as he stood to his feet, feeling his heart clench as his wife nodded.

"I should have listened...but what was I supposed to do?! That demon...I never thought he'd come for her! We burned those letters, we kept an eye on her, even Mest...but he gave her a ring that was keeping her...! I didn't know!"

"Lucy!" Jude ran from his office, and toward his daughters bedroom, knowing that even if he hoped she was wrong, Layla wouldn't be hysterical without a reason.

He only wanted to keep Lucy safe, wouldn't it only frighten her to find out that she was promised to the demons as a child. And he couldn't trust their magic, better yet it was possible he refused to understand it. He thought pairing her with Mest might work too, that if she fell for a human they wouldn't be savage enough to pull her from her love.

If they just took a moment to think things through, to answer one of those letters, to let the demon prince come meet his princess...

Then maybe she wouldn't be laying practically lifeless in her bed at that moment.

next chapter is going to be the last Eek! The way I haven't completed something like this before, majorly proud of myself

Casually still haven't written the last chap but hope I will get it done in time LOL