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Here is my story, and it begins long ago... when magic was still in the air...
Once upon a time, there was a princess named Levy.
She was not your ordinary princess. She did not want to learn how to sew, or to learn about table manners, nor did she want to just sit still and look pretty.
She wanted to read. She wanted to escape her own story and read of another’s. She wanted to learn about the world through her books.
One day, Princess Levy was sitting outside, reading one of her favorite books; mind you, she was only six or seven at this time, when the ground shook violently. Little Levy glanced up from her book and saw a brilliant dragon. And this dragon was beautiful indeed. Its scales seemed to be made of iron, and its eyes were a burning crimson.
Before the little girl could utter a word, the dragon scooped her into its claws and flew high into the air. All Princess Levy could do was hold onto her precious book and a talon.
During the flight, the dragon kept little Levy close, and after a short time the little girl fell asleep against the surprisingly warm scales of the dragon. What seemed to be moments later, Levy woke up to be set down on a soft bed. The little sleepy girl asked the dragon, "Who are you?" and the dragon replied, "Gajeel" before little Levy fell asleep once again.
Years passed, and Levy had forgotten that she was a princess. She had grown to be close friends with the dragon named Gajeel. Levy had grown older, and even though she had grown taller, she was still very small, and Gajeel never let her forget it. "Gihihi, need help there shrimp?" Gajeel remarks to Levy, as she reaches for a book, for Gajeel made sure to always bring back new ones for her. "No... I almost have it... And don't call me shrimp!" Just as Levy grabbed the book, a loud voice broke through the tranquility of the cave Levy had grown to know as home, "Princess! I am here to rescue you!"
Levy had grown use to these interruptions by so-called knights, though they were getting far more frequent as she grew older. "Gajeel...?" "I've got it. You stay in your room shrimp." Therefore, Levy retreated into her little bedroom, though she can still hear the conversation her dragon and the knight were having.
"Ha! You are the dragon? You look more like an overgrown lump of scrap." the knight remarks to Gajeel, while Gajeel smirks and growls, "It would be best if you turned around puny knight." After this remark, the battle started. Levy tuned out the battle, focusing on the book she had just gotten down.
After a few minutes, the cave was silent. Levy glanced up from her book just as the knight burst through her bedroom door. "Princess! There you are! Come! I am here to bring you home!" "Who are you? And where is Gajeel?" "I am called Rouge, Princess, and the dragon is dead! It is safe now!" Levy gasps, and then stands up "No... No! Gajeel is not dead! And I do not need to be rescued!" but before Levy could run out of the room, the knight lifts her and puts her over his shoulder, starting to leave the cave.
"I assure you princess, the dragon is dead! You can come home now!" Just before they leave the cave, Levy sees her dragon, laying on the ground motionless, his crimson eyes shut.
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Throughout the journey back to the kingdom she was born, the Princess cried for her dragon, ignoring the knight’s advances. When they reached the gate of the kingdom, Levy wiped her tears and stood tall, refusing to cry any longer. The knight, Rouge, took Princess Levy to the throne room, where a pair of very sick people sit on their thrones. The knight announces, "The Princess! She is home and safe at last!"
Princess Levy ignores him, choosing to glare at the sick man sitting on his throne. "Daughter...? My dear Levy? Is that you?" Levy responses, venom laced through her tone, "I don’t care who you think you are. Why did you have my dragon killed?" The king ignores her question, choosing instead to rush up to Levy and hug her. "Your home..." Levy stays silent.
As the days and weeks pass, Princess Levy was crowned as the princess of her kingdom again, but Levy never smiled. She did not attend balls, nor did she show up to dinner. She did not even read her books.
One day, in the throne room, Levy was sitting in her small throne while the king was talking to the people of his kingdom, when a man caught her eye. The man was tall, had long ragged black hair, several piercings, and the attire of a knight.
When it was the man’s turn to speak to the king, the man said, "I would like to be a knight." Levy was looking at this man curiously, for she could sense she recognized him, but she could not remember from where. The king meanwhile, thought for a moment, and then nodded, "You may be one of my knights."
The man smirked "Gihihi, I don't want to be your knight. I want to be her knight." At that moment, the man turned and grinned at Princess Levy. Levy grinned in return and jumped up from her throne, running to the crimson-eyed man.
For she would always recognize her dragon.