Chapter 27: The Royal Ball


[Previously:]

Lucy was shocked, a tear finally sliding down her cheek, Natsu wiping it away. Quickly, Lucy snapped back to reality and let out a meaningful laugh, "When did you get so wise Natsu?"

The comment brought a scowl to Natsu's face, the expression making Lucy laugh harder than before. Her grip unconsciously tightening in Natsu's hold—After a while, the two fell in comfortable silence, enjoying the feel of being near each other and the sound of the waterfall.

Turning her head, Lucy noticed Natsu had fallen asleep… The blonde tried to remove her hand, only for him to growl in his sleep before snoring once more. Smiling to herself, Lucy brought their intertwined hands to her lips, shyly kissing them before letting them rest on the grass.

Using her free hand, Lucy traced the mating mark… Feeling her anxiety disappear as it brought warmth and comfort—Unknown to Lucy, Natsu wasn't actually asleep, twitching in a pleasant smile.

'I know what I must do…' Lucy thought, closing her eyes and smiling at the guild memories that passed through her head.


The call of the Celestial and Spirit dragon went far and wide across the realm—Elemental dragons of all kinds began to fly above the Kingdom as citizens awed at their beautiful forms… It was common to see an embodiment dragon roam the kingdom's ground—most having their own business—but it was certainly a rare sight to see an element outside of their island unless summoned to battle or needed by the Queen or King.

Even the higher-ranked dragons got ready to attend the ball as well—Such as the Dragon of Knowledge, the Dragon of Love, the Dragon of Memories, and even the Dragon of Time.

Floating lacrimas appeared for the citizens to witness the ball, music, and even the monumental crowning of the Princesses return… Including the lost children of the Elementals. To say the least, they were excited! Everyone prepared to glide across the roads and celebrate in a dragon's dance.

..Guards were quick to open the royal-gates to guide Fairy Tail and the rest inside the palace. Servants rushing to do their duty, separating the genders for a different change of attire—Natsu and Lucy were the last to arrive… and it wasn't long until the fire dragon-demon started with his profanities as maids swiftly cut through them and dragged a bewilder Lucy to her quarters.

It took guards of all kind to escort the flamin' demon to another room.

Natsu yelped, glaring with a deadly intensity at being shoved and poked around—Dragonborn stylist made some of his spiky hair fall lazily over one side of his eye (Something that irritated Natsu GREATLY, but made him all more intimidating as the stylist squeaked in fear unconsciously) … Mindful of the horns, they attached a male-earring cuff that was a simple clip-on. However, neither the maids nor guards let Natsu go until he changed… Honestly, the dragon slayer was just relieved it wasn't some snotty-prince getup, using his blood-red wings like a cape of sorts.

Meanwhile, the ball was in full effect, and it wasn't until the familiar call of the guard did everyone stop as an announcement was made of someone's arrival.

"Presenting the royal guests of the Princesses… the Mortals of Earthland."

Dragons-dragonborn and their hatchlings halted—some awed at the sight of their entrance… None of the mortals carried any dragon feature, they didn't even smell like one! It was unusual… It was new! BUT, there were a few that snarled in distaste to themselves. The ones that didn't agree with their species mated or befriended such lowness as a mere human.

Yet they didn't protest, not here.

Never here.

"Short-cake boy!" A squeal was heard from across the room, an older woman with pink hair and eyes tackling Jellal. "Did my little nudge work? Of course it worked—my matchmaking ALWAYS work—"

Thankfully… Erza was too preoccupied walking like a robot from her stage-fright at the stares, or else the lady would've had a sword to the throat—It wasn't until a man peeled the dragon off did Jellal recognize who this was.

"Uh, Jellal, man… Do you know this woman?" Gray questioned; eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, this is—"

"Oh goodness, I apologize for not introducing myself—I am Tanit, Dragon of Love… Protector of Soulmates," Tanit curtsied with a gracefulness that could only be described as a goddess. Yet, it didn't last long, Tanit immediately standing tall as she pulled the black-haired male to view, "OH! And this is my mate, Sobek!"

"P-Protector… of soulmates…" Juvia trailed, her eyes widened before rushing to grip Tanit's hands with heart-eyes, "You can see soulmates?! Are Juvia and Gray-sama soulmates?! Juvia NEEDS to know—Mmph!"

A tsk left Gray's mouth, hand placed over the water woman's mouth to shut her up… Although it didn't turn out as planned, Juvia melting into a puddle of water from her beloved's touch.

"Ah, well, er…" Tanit smiled with a gentleness, but there was definitely conflict shown in her eyes—There was hesitation and almost guilt-like, refusing to admit the harsh truth… Reality, the two weren't soulmates—In fact, Jellal and Erza weren't soulmates either. They were just fated to be intertwined, no matter what choice of path they'll walk down, it was destiny for them to meet again.

"Apologies, but my darling hasn't seen a soulmate since the era when she swore that she saw a fairy dancing around a cursed-boy," Sobek said, knowing full well that his mate didn't want to disappoint the water-girl. Although he was quite surprised when most of the mortals perked at the comment.

"Wait, she actually saw a real fairy?! Do they have tails or—"

"Now introducing the Lost Elemental children…"

The crowd went silent once again, each one full of eagerness as they all got into a formal line to bow. Even Fairy tail and the other guilds realized this was a way of respect, following Tanit and Sobek's lead, some with confusion or uncertainty. They were sure if they didn't show respect, then Erza was sure to make sure they did… Her glare piercing their souls to behave… OR DIE.

"Presenting the daughter of the Sky Dragon-Grandeeney… Miss Wendy Marvell."

The royal doors opened; a flustered Wendy gently guided through as she held onto Carla for comfort. The white Exceed patted the girl's arm in an affectionate way—She wore her usual pigtails with pure-white feathers adorning them, or perhaps they were actually her horns… The short cocktail dress that flowed behind like butterfly wings was the same color, adorned with cute sandals.

"Ah! I… I'm Wendy—It's-nice-to-meet-you-all!" Wendy squealed, face flustered as she bowed and words coming out too fast to process.

"Child, I told you, just walk and talk with confidence…"

"Well, it seems our dear Wendy is back to normal," Erza smiled, arms crossed in amusement to see the crowd cooing at how adorable Wendy was acting.

"…yeah, but that just means the rest might be back to their normal-selves too," Jura interjected, calmly walking to the mini group. The comment had everyone paling—That must mean…

"Presenting—"

"Hey! Lay off will you…"

"What a child…"

"What was that lightning rod?!"

"Bahaha, man this is so freakin' awesome!"

"I guess we should just be grateful Natsu isn't here…"

"Frosch thinks so too!"

Everyone's jaws dropped when the doors opened to reveal Gajeel and Laxus in a heated glaring session… Well Gajeel was, Laxus was simply standing there with a smugness that irked Gajeel greatly—It didn't help that a guard was nursing a bump on the head in the background from getting too close and personal as Sting snickered near him and poked the damage that was done. Mirajane was rather quiet, a gentle smile upon her face, waiting with Rogue until the bickering was done.

"Ahem—Uh, presenting the son of the Iron Dragon-Metalicana, Sir Gajeel Redfox… the son of the Lightning Dragon-Lyn and his mate, Sir Laxus Dreyar and Miss Mirajane Strauss… the son of the Shadow Dragon-Skiadrum, Sir Ryos Cheney—"

"Rogue… I go by Rogue," The Shadow dragon slayer interrupted, peeved by the shout of his real name.

"Really?! Man, you couldn't let him finish introducing me?!" Sting tsked, butting heads with his best friend as the two bickered like Natsu and Gray would… It was an interesting sight to say the least. Never once did Fairy Tail see the twin dragon slayers fighting each other.

"I… uh, and the son of the—"

"I don't know why you're complaining, Ryos suits you," Gajeel smirked, enjoying the glare that was being sent toward him.

"Ah… forget it," The guard huffed, closing the doors as the dragon slayers fought one another—The crowd among the ballroom sweatdropped at the action before flinching when swords were thrown, nearly missing the neck of Gajeel, Rogue, and Sting… The three paling considerably.

"HAVE YOU THREE NO RESPECT OR DIGNITY TO BEHAVE!"

Two voices boomed throughout the crowd, Erza was obviously one… but the guilds were confused when another female entered the hall—Bellona's fierce snarl clear as day, as was a second sword in hand.

Both paused, sharp gaze turning to one another—Members of team Natsu that were present, shuffled nervously. But they were quite surprised when stars appeared in their eyes.

"Did you just make that weapon appear out of thin air?!"

"Are those scales attached to your armor?!"

Erza and Bellona gazed at one another like a kid in a candy store, completely forgetting the dragon slayers and their fight.

"My magic is Requip, I can summon my weapons and armor/clothing from a pocket dimension… I found it quite usual in battle," Erza stated, summoning one of her other swords to demonstrate.

"How fascinating… I've heard rumors of magic from Earthland, but never did I imagine—My armor is the finest as well, completely fused with dragon-scales… One of the strongest to penetrate. It'd take a whole millennial to shatter such a defense," Bellona said, ego boosting as Erza nodded and gently traced the armor.

"Dragon scales, hm? Perhaps I've been doing this all wrong… Once we're home, maybe I'll put it to the test and force one of the dragon slayers to activate their dragon-force so I could rip off a few scales for my own," Erza smiled, obviously joking.

Although Bellona seemed to be the only one to understand, the dragonborn laughing—The rest of the crowd that was nearby turned a sickly green… Shivering in fear and turning their pointed eyes to the dragon slayers with sympathy.

It wasn't long before the ball went forward, the people waiting for their precious Queen and King to arrive, as well as the Princesses—Gajeel stood in the corner, scowling at everyone that passed him… It was obvious he was in no mood to chat without Levy around.

Lyon and Meredy were gliding across the floor, laughing together as the ice-wizard accidentally made a section of the ballroom floor into an ice-skating ring from embarrassment. A few slipped but it was dismissed as they laughed along, eagerly following in their steps to slide around in an ungraceful movement.

Gray was eyeing the buffet table, unconsciously stripping off his shirt and coat that caused all the females to swoon, only to be warded off by a hissing and glaring Juvia. Crime Sorciere were doing their own thing, discussing further plans once back home… Sorano kept subtly glancing at Yukino, the celestial mage's laugh ringing in her ears as Sting swung her around the dance floor with a cheeky-grin.

Happy was ecstatic when Carla accepted a dance, attempting to wave it off saying that Wendy was rather preoccupied with Romeo anyway… The girl in question was awed at the dessert table with Romeo and Shelia—Lector and Frosch danced too, both happily shaking their tails and occasionally high-fiving as Rogue stared fondly.

Panther Lily and Kagura joined Erza and Bellona's conversation, sharing their love for swords—While Jenny and Sherry listened to Tanit talk about love, the dragon sharing how she couldn't wait for the Princess that was friends with the stars, having heard rumors that her mate was one of pure soulmate and destiny—Quatro Puppy cheered Bacchus and Cana on, the two starting a drinking contest that had some dragons staring in disgust.

It sure didn't help the case with the Trimens flirting with mated females—Almost getting slaughtered to where they stood.

The only ones that seemed normal were Jura, Rufus, Millianna, Risley, Arana, and Beth—Each in their own little world of their conversation.

No one knew how much time passed until loud-obnoxious shouting was heard behind closed doors, the guards peekin' through before paling considerably. It was shut immediately, staff raised to snap against the floor to gain the attention of the whole room…

"I… I, now, present… present our special g-guest," The guard trembled, fear clear in his tone that had everyone alert, "Please welcome our Fire Dragon King-Igneel's son, the Great Demon-Lord… Natsu Dragneel."

No one said a word… The guilds starred as everyone fell into silence—Almost like everybody refused to breathe, as if staying still would make them invisible to the world. Most people trembled at the intense power coming closer…

"I did as you asked… Now, I'll only ask you bastards once… WHERE'S LUCY?!" Natsu's booming voice was heard, and those who knew him best groaned.

Soon enough, the doors burst open with an irritated Natsu—He was practically on fire, brushing back his hair (Much to the stylist's annoyance).

The dragon's in the room blinked… once… then twice

Wait, hold up.

THIS was the Great-Demon Lord?!

The citizens couldn't believe it… Some dragons definitely had a little height on him, but it was his pink hair that caught the attention of many—How could someone so powerful with a name to fear be this guy?

"Oi! It's about time you showed up hot-head!" Gray snickered, shoving his way through the crowd.

"What'd you say snowflake?" Natsu growled—He wasn't in the mood… Not when Lucy has yet made an appearance.

It was one thing to be separated from your mate, but it was entirely different to be separated from your mate after making things official in an unknown territory—Natsu couldn't even smell Lucy's scent because of all the new smells in the air…

"What'd you call me lizard-breath?!" Gray hissed, half the room growing colder.

"I said you're a walking snowman," Natsu spat, only to get a punch in the face that had him flying into the wall—The crowd screamed upon the impact… but they froze in fear when hearing a laugh—almost a mix between sinister and playful.

"Hehe, now I got a fire in my belly," Natsu laughed, his bangs draped lazily over his eyes as he grinned and showed off sharp canines… before the rest of the room that was left untouched turned-on fire. The flames were licking the wall, but it didn't singe them to ashes. In fact, they didn't so much as spread but act as a fear tactic.

"Yo! Don't leave me out of the party," Sting grinned, activating his dragon-force.

"I'll only fight if Gajeel does," Rogue nodded.

"Gihi, I suppose I'll join—I need to teach you all how it's done anyways," Gajeel chuckled, turning his arm into a saw that people nearby take a step back.

"Alright—I'm fired-up now!" Natsu stretched his arm, blood-red wings stretching as he jumped into the air at the same time as the guys. Feet on fire, "Let's go!"


A/N: This isn't the last chapter... Obviously. I still have maybe one more to go before this story is completed. I'll update it as soon as I can!

See you soon, my lovelies~