prompt sixty six: gamble

rate: T for Teens and Up

Sixty six out of one hundred.

yall twisted my leg heres part 2 x

"Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay." —Simone de Beauvoir

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Natsu could feel his right eye twitching as he sat with his arms crossed, trying to find it in himself not to commit treason or murder. But it was hard to not have those thoughts when his father, the dragon king, was toppled over onto the floor, laughing so hard his face turned as red as his hair. He was gasping for air where his mouth was wide open with his canines poking out and since he was laughing so hard, it had turned into just silent trembles until he couldn't breathe anymore and he would inhale loudly before returning back to his cackling.

And this had been going on for at least fifteen minutes now and Natsu was growing angrier.

He had more pressing matters to attend to besides sitting here and watching his father laugh at him for the stupidest thing in the entire world.

"H—how—" Igneel was gasping for air, trying to speak through his laughter. "How do you accidentally," he was giggling with his hand pressed to his mouth while Natsu glared. "How do you accidentally get engaged, son?"

"Are you done, yet?"

"No," Igneel was back to cackling like a maniac and Natsu let out a frustrated groan, dragging his hands down his face. "I just don't understand!"

"I don't either, okay?!" Natsu shouted and Igneel couldn't even do anything but puff his cheeks out and topple over once more, gasping for air and repeatedly telling him to stop when he wasn't even doing anything.

Of course he had to be the one fucking idiot to go and get accidentally engaged and unmask the myserty princess at that. How the hell was he supposed to know she was the mystery princess? All he wanted to do was find somewhere quiet to eat his plate of treats but then gets interrupted by her highness herself and now as he sat in a conference room of the supposed Celestial Kingdom awaiting the king and princess, he felt like he could just drop dead.

Natsu honestly had no idea what was going to happen but he knew one thing for damn sure.

He was not getting married.

Lucy was cool and all and he thinks she'll make a great bride.

Just not for him. Not now, at least. He was still too young, Lucy was still too young, and he was not going to be the one to be stuck with someone who equally hated the idea of being wedded off.

They were strangers! He didn't know a lick about the blonde and he didn't really care to. He wouldn't go out of his way to but if he had to okay sure she wasn't too bad. Had a mouth on her and a bit of an attitude but nothing that wouldn't work itself out.

Hopefully.

And sure she was pretty and witty so there's that.

But she was nineteen and not looking for a husband or a wife at that! He wasn't even ready to be a husband!

After Lucy had ran off, he tried to find her but with his overwhelming discovery of the princess and winning this stupid thing and getting bombarded with a bunch of flashing lights with stupid annoying confetti flying in every direction, he was overstimulated and flustered.

He ended up doing more circles than anything and as he grew frustrated while roaring her name into the air, the only thing that did happen was royal knights finding him and escorting him out of the gardens. With his emotions out of the roof and his eyes still trying to adjust to the lights, he was in half a daze before he was brought to some sort of conference room.

Natsu was half-tempted to book it out of there, partially worried for the princess but mainly trying to find a way out.

As crazy as this seemed, this was a total misunderstanding and he truly felt like he had robbed this kingdom of such a game. He wasn't even participating so taking away the prize of the night felt selfish since he didn't even want her.

But all he could see were those tears that rushed down her face before she was running away from him and it made him even more frustrated.

He hoped she knew that he really wouldn't do something to trick her into revealing herself but with the way she looked at him, she definitely blamed him.

How was he supposed to know the whole game was enchanted? Makes sense since it was the best way to find out the truth and Natsu hated himself for not taking that into consideration while he was here. This was the Celestial kingdom and their magic was the complete opposite of what type he welds. Could this have been their doing? Did the stars really snitch on him?

Natsu found himself glaring at the window, wishing in his head that he could burn them with his magic instead. He decided to sit there and brainstorm ideas on how to punch a star while his father began to gather himself after laying on the floor for a minute.

The sound of footsteps approaching caught his attention and as the door swung open, his head turned to see the king of the kingdom enter and right behind him was none other than the princess herself.

He could see her face had turned a bit puffy and she had rosy hues on the tip of her nose and cheeks. He knew she had been crying. It was obvious and it made him feel a little bad that he was part of the reason why.

When her eyes glanced up to look at him, he felt his heart swell inside of his chest and he was enchanted on the spot.

Was she really this beautiful? She was when she was outside but they were basically in the dark with the only light being the moon. So he couldn't really see her as well but seeing her in a lit up room made him truly see the princess.

Her hair had unraveled sometime they were separated and he thought to himself how he liked it better when it was down. Soft golden curls that framed her heart shaped face reached all the way down to her small waist. She was a curvy woman yet petite. Wide doe eyes that reminded him of hot chocolate and full plush lips that were pushed out into a pout.

How adorable. She almost reminded him of a bunny rabbit.

"This must be our winner! King Jude Heartfillia of the Celestial Kingdom, it is a pleasure to have your majesty from the Draco kingdom attend with your son, the dragon prince." He gave a slight bow and Igneel returned the gesture. Natsu awkwardly stood from his seat, bowing his head at the king. "What a joyous day it is for us, your majesty, the dragon king!"

"Igneel is fine," the red-haired king chuckled, leaning closer to the blonde man. "We will, after all, be in-laws after all."

Natsu felt his frown deepening as he glared at his overly excited father. What a traitor. Wait till they get home. Natsu was for sure going to burn his office down. Again.

He tried to look at Lucy but she had her head casted down with her hands fisted into the skirt of her dress. She looked distressed and he felt the urge to comfort her but he kept himself rooted to his spot, unsure what to do about this situation.

What would happen if he said he did not wish to marry her? Would it create bad blood within their kingdoms? Their kingdoms weren't allies but they weren't enemies either. But would this be considered going against the crown?

Natsu felt his hairline moistening as he started to grow nervous and he wished he could speak with his father privately for a moment but he was too busy conversing with his supposedly future in-law.

"Why don't we let the princess and prince get to know each other more? I'm sure they talked plenty prior to the unmasking but it would be nice to further get acquainted with one another before the wedding, right?"

Natsu glared at his father to show he wasn't happy with his suggestion and Igneel didn't even bat an eye his way, focusing his attention on the Heartfillia family.

"That sounds like a good idea. That way, we can discuss our future alliance."

"Father—" Natsu said through clench teeth while he was being escorted out and Igneel only gave him a glance, a slight smirk curling on his lips. "Father, I would like to speak—"

"We have plenty of time to speak, Natsu. We can talk afterwards."

"No, I need to—"

"Have fun now! But not too much fun, you hear?" Igneel winked at him and Natsu gave him a look of disbelief, the tips of his ears growing red while his eyes darted to the faces near. How could his old man be so childish? Who could ever believe this was the almighty dragon king.

Natsu was ready to take flight once he was out of his father's watchful eye but he tensed when he heard the whisper of his voice reach his ears,

"And don't you even think about running off. You won't like what I will do to you."

The face of his father baring his teeth at him as he was on his way out flickered before him and Natsu cursed under his breath before he was out of the conference room and taken to a room just three doors down.

The princess was already in there as the knight bowed before them. He shut the door behind him and Natsu could smell them so he knew they were keeping guard. He wouldn't be able to just slip out.

But the more pressing issue happened to be this woman that stood on the other side of the room. Being as quiet as she could be, her back was faced towards him while she peered out the window.

He didn't know why his heart skipped a beat at the sight of her.

"I didn't do this on purpose." Natsu blurted out, unable to hold in the guilt that plagued him. "I swear. I wish to not marry you but not in a way where I think you're ugly or suffocating but in the way that I am just not ready to marry."

He watched as she didn't even move from her spot but he did hear her huff so she was listening sort of.

"Lucy, you have to believe me. I—"

"I believe you," her voice echoed in his ear and he instantly clamped his mouth shut. "It doesn't change the fact that you discovered me and we are to wed."

"What?" Natsu stepped further into the room to get closer. "Did you just not hear a word I said? I said I do not wish to marry you!"

"I wish to not marry you either but it's already too late." She turned her head further away to cover it and he was growing even more confused. "If you wish to break our treaty with our kingdoms and potentially cause a war then so be it but make sure to warn me prior so I can have enough time to escape. I do not have the time nor energy to be accused of treason."

Natsu was baffled as he was rooted to his spot, gawking at the princess at the discovery of his earlier thoughts. Would it really be that bad?

"And my father did make the rules clear and the dragon king seemed pretty happy about the alliance," she sounded bitter as she spat the words out. "So get used to me, husband."

Natsu felt his throat constricting at the sound of her calling him her husband and he felt dizzy.

"How did they even know it was me who unmasked the princess?" Natsu asked, filing all these panicked thoughts away in his emergency drawer.

"You're in the Celestial kingdom," Lucy scoffed, turning back to quirk a brow at him. "We are literally protected and watched by the very stars above. They knew the moment you realized it and shouted it out. That's how they were able to alert the people."

Natsu hated himself even more for being so dumb to shout that out. He knew it was the damn stars fault. He was still trying to figure out how he could punch one or two of those assholes.

Maybe if he pretended to not know who she was then he wouldn't be in this mess and as he wanted to bang his head against the wall a couple hundred times, he grew tense when he saw a flash of golden light suddenly appear beside Lucy.

He opened his mouth to warn her but suddenly the golden light bursted and what seemed like a shimmer of light evaporating into the air came a silhouette of a man before a man in a suit with spiky orange hair appeared before his eyes. Natsu was too stunned to do anything, especially since Lucy didn't even blink an eye at the newcomer.

Could this be her magic? He's heard of it but never seen it in person and he couldn't say he knew much about the Celestial kingdom.

"Your majesty, the dragon prince," He bowed towards him and Natsu was growing more confused. "My name is Loke. I am one of the zodiac constellations that protect this very kingdom. I am the star that is Leo the Lion and I serve the princess."

"Wait, you're a star?"

"Technically yes," Loke shrugged one shoulder, pushing up his glasses.

"Okay, great." Natsu nodded his head in confirmation, taking large strides across the room to walk over to where he and Lucy stood.

"What does this pertain—"

Lucy shrieked as Natsu suddenly reeled his arm back to clock Loke right in the jaw. The celestial spirit was caught off guard by the sudden attack and flew back, falling against the table set. Loke brought his hand to his face, glaring at the dragon prince while his hand began to glow.

"Are you looking for a fight, your majesty?" He spat, slowly rising from his spot.

Natsu rolled his shoulder and let out a sigh, looking satisfied. "That wasn't me trying to pick a fight with ya," He said before he crossed his arms across his chest. "That's for being a snitch and getting me hitch." Natsu clicked his tongue, turning his head to the side. "Bastard."

Natsu was feeling pretty good about himself that he was able to execute his plan on punching a star and Loke said he technically was one so it counted.

Loke and Lucy exchanged confused and baffled looks, wondering what the hell just happened as Natsu just casually rolled his neck around in circles.

"What is the matter with you?" Lucy hissed at him as she now came out of her sad shell to take a step towards him. "Loke is my friend and you just punched him! For no reason!"

"Hey, I have my reasons! He's the very reason why we're in this mess in the first place!"

"It's not his fault! It's the contracts!"

"The contracts?" Natsu echoed, furrowing his brows as Lucy reeled away from him and huffed, crossing her arms across her chest while twisting her head to the side.

He oddly found her adorable, his own head tilting to the side.

"In the Celestial kingdom, we honor our contracts and never go against our word. It is binding and of high importance so the princess here knew of what the consequences were since she did sign the contract." Loke said, coughing into his fist while Lucy began to fume.

Natsu was baffled at the idea that Lucy willingly signed her life away. He gave her an incredulous look and she scowled, refusing to look back at him.

"It wasn't my choice! My father was making me!" She groaned, throwing her head back. "I was going to make sure I wasn't going to be discovered and ran to the gardens where you just had to be!" She pointed an accusing finger at him and Natsu gawked at her.

"I was there first!"

"Now I'm stuck getting married to a pig like you!"

Natsu clenched his hands into fists, stepping a step towards her while growling. "Those are fighting words, princess, do you dare challenge the dragon prince?"

"I will tear you to pieces, dragon prince." Lucy hissed right back, chocolate orbs flashing bright gold. Natsu was quite stunned by the sight of her, truly believing she would have backed down from a man like him but yet shocked by her courage.

Natsu immediately felt his anger subside and his magic dim and he was in disbelief how this woman got his temper to disappear so quickly. Was his body submitting to her? She wasn't even his—

Natsu snapped his head her way, squinting his eyes and analyzing her.

There was no way his body should have reacted in such a way to her. They didn't know one another and he wasn't his mate, yet, so why is his body acting so weird? Was she the cause of this? Could it be her magic?

Now feeling wary about the entire situation, Natsu took a step back from the princess so he could come up with a plan.

The best choice was for him to get to know her. He had to know more about her so she wouldn't stab him in the back in the future. He had no knowledge of the princess nor her customs or magic. He wasn't the best when it came to history and geography but he was sure he had something about her back at home. If he was going to have to go through with this, the least he could do was be prepared.

Because he'll be damned if he was caught off guard again.

To hell with this kingdom and their damn stars and their stupid games.

Natsu Dragneel was going to have to marry.

And his bride looked one second away from murdering him in cold blood.

What a joyous day it is.

X

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tbc…?