NaLu- "The Princess and Her Dragon Knight"

Part 1 - Setting the stage

This story takes place in a kingdom called Magnolia. The kingdom is ruled by the Heartfilias, which is the royal family. In this world magic exists. The royal family possesses celestial magic, which is passed between the females in the family and is an ancient magic that only the royal family has. Celestial magic is very powerful, perhaps the most powerful type of magic, which is why they rule. It's also the only magic that can defeat demons, which is why it must be protected at all costs.

Long ago, dragons existed. Their purpose was to protect the celestial magic of the royal family. However, hundreds of years ago, the dragons started to go extinct and were unable to reproduce. Just as they were about to become extinct, they made a drastic decision. They each chose a worthy human who possessed the traits needed to protect the celestial royal family. The dragons placed their souls into the human of their choosing, essentially giving that human all the power of the dragon. This magic is called dragon slayer magic. It's called dragon slayer magic because the magic resulted in the death of all dragons. This magic is hereditary. The hereditary abilities are passed on to the specific families chosen by the dragons, called nobles. Nobles protect the royal family. They're trained to be soldiers, knights, and to help lead the kingdom alongside the royal family.

Lucy is seventeen years old. She is the Heartfilia princess and heir to the kingdom, as the only child of Jude and Layla Heartfilia. Lucy's mother, Layla, was killed by demons when Lucy was seven, and although Lucy's father loves her, he mostly sees her as a weapon for the country and is too busy to show her much affection, besides some rare moments. Lucy spends all her time building her celestial magic and studying, since she will likely be the heir to the throne and is the most powerful celestial wizard alive. Lucy has cousins, other royals, who also possess celestial magic, but it's nowhere near as powerful as Lucy's. Other members of the royal families who have celestial magic are generals and are the ones fighting the demons directly alongside dragon slayers. Lucy is lonely; she's never been to the kingdom beyond the castle walls and gardens. She's hidden inside the walls, as well, though, as she always wears a veil when walking about. It was an old fashioned tradition that women in the family stopped using nearly a century ago, but Lucy had her reasons for following it so she didn't mind that much. It made her feel mysterious, anyway. She isn't allowed outside of the castle because of the dangers, specifically demons, who wish to eradicate the royal family. Very few have ever seen the princess. The only ones were her father, her close servants, and each dragon slayer knight will see her face one time at their initiation to become official nobles. The kingdom's people know her as a beautiful, powerful, and kind princess. Some people would do just about anything to even catch sight of their princess and her legendary beauty, although Lucy couldn't see the point in that. Lucy spends her free time in her room looking out of her window at the knights (dragon slayers) training in the courtyard. Because she watches the dragon slayers train sometimes, she knows some of their names... like Sting, Rouge, Wendy, Laxus, and Gajeel, who all come from noble families of dragon slayers. She watches them all the time, but has never actually met any of them, although she longs to.