My Dark Knight

Chapter One

Once upon a time in far distant land there was a kingdom. The King and Queen were kind rulers and the land prospered. However they wished for a child. One day the Queen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She had skin of the palest rose, eyes as rich as the earth, and hair as blue as the depths of the clearest ocean. They named her Levina and the whole kingdom rejoiced. The Princess grew in grace and beauty. She was as kind as her parents and even more caring. Sadly the peace was not to last. A Sultan from the Far East turned his greedy look towards the prosperous kingdom and the legendary beauty of the Princess Levina. Without warning the Sultan attacked the kingdom with a massive and deadly army. None were spared. Men. Women. Children. They were all slaughtered as the Sultan marched on to the castle to claim the princess as his. In her room the princess is woken up by the bloodcurdling screams of the maids being cut down. She opened her door and looked around in fear. Suddenly someone grabs her arm and starts to drag her away. She begins to scream for help when a hand covers her mouth and whispers in her ear.

"Don't yell. I'm taking you to a safe place to hide. If you scream then they will take you away."

Levina nodded tears in her eyes. She looked up into dark onyx eyes. The boy smiled at her and nodded his pink head towards the stairs.

"We need to leave now, Your Highness."

He began to run forcing Levina to catch up for fear of begin left or falling. They ran through the halls. Bodies littered the ground like leaves in fall. Levina looked at them in horror as they ran by her bare feet turning red with blood. The great wooden door was smashed open as they picked their way through it. Suddenly someone grabbed Levina and ripped her from the boy's grasp. She screamed and fought reaching for the boy. He ran after her screaming her name. Another solider grabbed the boy and held him to the ground.

"LEVINA!"

She reached out her hand towards the boy before the solider placed a bag over her head.

"NATSU!"

TEN YEARS LATER

Sunlight streamed through the window and into the face of the sleeping princess. She stirred stretching and yawning. The shackle on her ankle rattled. She opened her eyes and looked around the richly decorated room. Suddenly a large black form jumped at her. She squealed and laughed at the black panther that licked her face.

"Pantherlily! Stop!"

Wiping the saliva from her face she tried to glare at the panther but ended up laughing. She hugged his neck before becoming somber. The carpet was soft on her bare feet as she walked as close as her shackle would let her to the window. The sky was turning pink and purple as the sun rose over the desert kingdom she now lived. Her eyes began to tear up as she remembered her true kingdom with the green grass and forests. She missed her friends. She missed her parents. With a sob she buried her head into her arms. Pantherlily rubbed against her leg worried. Levina kissed his head and rubbed his fur.

"Oh Lily. I just want to go home."

A young man glance up at the Sultan's castle with deep onyx eyes.

I finally found you. Levina. Just hang on a little longer. I'll free you. I swear.

The young man backed into a dark ally and disappeared.

Levina was reading in her room when there was a knock at her door. She sat up.

"Come in."

The door opened to reveal a young blonde woman carrying a tray of food. Levina beamed up at her.

"Lucy! Good morning! How are you?"

Lucy grinned and set the tray on a table next to Levina.

"Good morning Levy!"

Lucy looked slyly over her shoulder towards the door. Seeing this Levina looked over. Lucy leaned towards Levy and whispered to her.

"You got a new guard today."

Lucy giggled as Levina took in the dark figure outside her door. He was very tall and intimidating. He had piercings down his arms, in his chin, and even on his eyebrows and nose! Long black hair rolled down his back. Levina blushed as she wondered if it was as silky as it looked. She quickly looked away and towards the window.

Get a grip of yourself! Levina you can't. You know what will happen to him and you if you do ANYTHING.

Suddenly Lucy grabbed Levina's face and looked her dead in the eyes.

"Levina."

Levina turned serious. Lucy only ever used her real name when she had something important to say.

"I got you a new book. You should check it out. Like right now. I'm sorry about the stains in the back. I happened to find it at the marketplace."

Suddenly Lucy's eyes turned dreamy.

"I got it from a young man. He was cute! Perfect onyx eyes. Wind tossed pink hair."

Lucy sighed happily as Levina looked at her with wide eyes. A whisper passed her lips.

"Natsu..."

Lucy's eyes widened.

"You know him?"

Levina nodded as she picked up the forgotten book out of Lucy's hands. She quickly flipped it to the back pages and started to read the scratchy handwriting in it.

Levy,

I found a way for us to escape. The new guard is actually the son of your father's favored friend, Metallica. His name is Gajeel and he came here looking for his sister. When he heard about the Princess Levina being kept here against her will he decided to recuse you too. He's going to sneak you, me and his sister out either tonight or tomorrow. Under your plate is a file to break the chains. But be careful. The Sultan is planning to come here today.

Lucy

Levina looked up at Lucy and gave a slight nod. She then ripped the page from the book and stuffed it in Lucy's pocket.

"Thank you for the book, Lucy. You're so thoughtful."

Levina smiled at Lucy before Lucy took the empty tray and walked out. The guard looked at Levina before he closed the door. He gave her the slightest of nods. All she could think was that his eyes were as red as blood.