Chapter Text
And though the Beast had taken Beauty captive, she grew to love the man behind the fur. The Beast loved reading, and he was more interesting than any man in the village where she and her beloved father lived.
I close the book that I've read a dozen times by now. The much loved novel's cover, faded as it is from the many times human hands have held it, shows a beautiful lady sitting next to a grotesque prince on an entry stair. With a sigh I rub the binding of the book. Mom had read this to me when I was a child, and now here I am, seventeen, seven years since she last read it to me, and I'm still reading fairy tales.
Slowly I stand and return the book to its place on the shelf. The library of this building, my home, is large. My father spared no expense when it came to this place. My mother was an avid reader, and when she married my father, he built her this library. Now he never comes here. Other than the servants who clean the place, I'm the only one who comes here still. It's my favorite room in the house, and the loneliest. Maybe I should explain. My mother was the daughter of a locksmith. She always had a fascination with keys, collecting interesting ones whenever she could. One day, she picked up an intricate bronze key in the marketplace of her village. My father, who had lost the key, saw her with it a few days later. That's how they met.
Dad is a lord of a rather large piece of land. When he saw the beauty of my mother, he did his best to win her heart. Obviously he did. They married three years after they first met and then they had me two years later. Oh, my name is Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia. We were happy, Mom, Dad, and I. Our home was a place of warmth, of smiles. Key word is, it was. When I was ten, my mother got sick. Not long after, she died. Father grew distant afterwards. I've seen him maybe a handful of times in the past seven years.
I leave the library reluctantly, this is one of the only places I feel close to Mom. Shutting the large, smooth oak door, I walk down the long hallway. I live on a rather large manor populated by me, my father, and a dozen or so servants, so it can seem abandoned at times. When I reach my room I lean against the door and slide to the ground. I place my forehead against my knees, the smooth cloth of my dress sliding against my skin. Tears fight their way past my closed eyelids and slide hotly down my face. I still miss my mother greatly. I know it's been years since she died. I should have gotten over it by now, but with my father's distance, my mother is the only parent I have. A humorless laugh escapes me. I'm pretty messed up, aren't I?
I don't know how long I sit there before a knock sounds on the door behind me. The vibrations rattle my spine. Do you wanna build a snowman? I think ironically as I stand. "What is it?" I ask through the door. An old voice answers. "The master would like to see you," the voice says. "Tell him I'll be there in a minute." A "ma'am" comes from the hall and the sound of footsteps. I wipe the tears from my face with the heels of my hands as I walk over to the vanity. Sniffling, I examine my face in the mirror. My eyes and cheeks are red while the rest of my face is pale. If I had been wearing any make-up, it'd be running down my face. I take a moment to let the color settle back to normal as I fix my hair. My shoulder length blonde tresses had fallen out of the styling that a maid a done this morning. I take the rest of the pins out of my hair, letting it fall around my face, tickling my neck in the process. With a smile, I reach for the brush on my vanity. As the brush goes through my hair, I close my eyes and think about the story I had just been reading.
A beautiful village girl gets kidnapped by a horrible beast and grows to love him, saving him when an angry mob tries to kill him. In the end, the beast turns into a handsome prince.
I snort. Yeah right. That'd never happen. Magic, true love, I believed all of it when my mother was still alive; now I'm a tad more cynical. I finish fixing my hair and take a second look in the mirror. My face is still a little flushed but I doubt Dad will notice. Straightening my shoulders, I head to Dad's office. Knocking on the door I call, "Dad, it's Lucy." A moment of silence fills the air until, "Enter." At my father's command I open the door and walk in. He's facing away from me, looking out a window in the back of the room. Between us is an oak desk and along the walls are pine bookshelves filled with books. My whole family is made up of bookworms it seems.
"You called for me?" I ask, my voice sounding small in this space of silent misery. "Yes," he says, still not looking at me. "I have a husband picked out for you. We finished closing the deal yesterday." The knowledge that I am now part of an arranged marriage, a fact that should hit me as hard as a horse and a cart, hardly even throws me off. I had been expecting this for some time now. I look too much like Mom. Dad just wants me gone. If he can get something out of it, especially an heir and a business deal, all the better. "When will I meet him?" I ask, my voice unchanging. My father finally turns around to meet my steely gaze. "He is coming here Friday. That night, there will be a ball. The next week will be your wedding."
"Is that all?" I just want to go. Get as far away from my father, from this room, from this life as possible, even just for a few hours. "That is all," he answers, dismissing me. His back is turned to me before I can even reach the door. I manage to walk to and close the door calmly, but out in the hallway, my calm breaks. I guess I was just numb when he told me. Sobbing, I race down the corridor. I blindly run through the manor that was once my home. Now that I'm betrothed, my home is his. No. This place hasn't been my home since Mom died. Since Dad grew distant. Since joy left it.
Somehow I find my way out into the garden. This was another of my father's gifts to my mother. Though not as large nor as magnificent as when she was alive, the garden is still beautiful and well-tended. At the edge of the garden is a copse of trees that blends in with the forest behind the manor. The dividing line between the two is a bubbling creek and a small wooden bridge. It's there, sitting on the bridge I finally find myself.
"Ah. Hic." My sobs echo off of the trees, both wild and manicured. "Don't cry princess," I hear from the trees on the wild side of the creek. "Ahh!" I shriek, scrabbling for the other side of the bridge. During my hasty retreat, my skirt gets caught on a low growing bush, bringing me to a halt. I grab my skirt and pull in a panic. A shape moves in the corner of my eye, causing another scream to well up in my throat. I turn my head towards the figure, wanting to face whoever it is head on. What I find is a pink haired boy not much older than me. He looks frantic. "Hey, it's alright. Calm down. Don't start screaming again," he says anxiously. Did I scare him? "Wh-who are you?" I ask. "And what are you doing here?" He seems to calm down now that it looks like I've done so. "My name is Natsu," he answers. "And as for why I'm here, I heard crying and I wanted to see where it was coming from."
"Alright," I pause before saying his name, testing it out, "Natsu. How did you hear me? My father's lands stretch on for miles."
The stranger, Natsu, looks around guiltily. "I, ah. I have good ears."
"No one has that good hearing," I insist. He doesn't answer. Instead he asks, "Why were you crying?"
"That's none of your business," I snap. Assured for now that this intruder means no harm, I get back to trying to free my skirts from the bush. "Do you need some help?" he wonders, stepping closer. "I've got it," I reply sharply. I struggle for a few more minutes before I sigh and say, "Okay. I need help." Natsu crosses the bridge with a grin and kneels down in front of me. He works on the snag for a moment before the cloth comes blessedly free from the branch. "Thanks," I tell him. "My father would kill me if I tore my dress." If he ever found out, I add to myself. "No problem," Natsu replies. His job done, he gets to his feet. Unfortunately, because of just what he was doing, we now stand uncomfortably close. At this proximity, I can see that this boy's eyes are a strange brown. I can't quite describe it. Almost hazel. Not fully brown but no green in his eyes. Also this stranger has an odd scent to him. Camp fire with a hint of reptile. It's an strangely good mix.
I shake my head to snap myself out of my train of thought. Glancing up I see that Natsu has apparently been studying me as well. I'm both annoyed and embarrassed. Stepping back, I turn, planning to head back to the manor. "Wait!" Natsu calls as I walk away. I pause. "I never caught your name." I turn back to him, and with a smile I answer, "Lucy." Facing the manor again I run towards the door, feeling more light-hearted than I have for awhile.