Ever, Ever, After

Chapter 1

Once upon a time in the magical land of Alvarez there lived a good king called Igneel who ruled wisely and fairly however he was a sad and lonely king because his beloved queen had died giving birth to their first child. One day he remarried again but shortly after the wedding he died of a mysterious illness leaving Alvarez under the rule of his second wife Irene. But she was an evil queen who ruled with an iron fist. Selfish and cruel, she feared that one day her stepson Prince Natsu would marry and she would lose her throne forever.

And so when the prince reached marriagble age she did everything in her power to prevent him from ever finding true love and sharing true love's kiss. Laxus her lackey who was infatuated with her would keep the prince busy by releasing trolls and other types of monsters into the kingdom then Natsu would hunt them down and capture them along with his best friend Happy a talking cat with wings.

"Look out below!" Natsu shouted as the troll he captured fell to the ground with standing triumphantly on him.

"Amazing sire." Laxus said. "Your tenth troll this month. You must be very proud."

"I guess."

"You guess? Is something troubling you my lord?"

"It's nothing."

"Not true." Happy said. "He's upset because he wants to get married."

"Married?!" Laxus said. "Now? Sire it's much too early to consider marriage don't you think? And don't you enjoy troll hunting?"

"Troll hunting does pass the time but I've grown bored with it. I want to settle down and take a wife."

"But sire all the beauties in the kingdom are already married, all that's left now are old hags and ugly women."

"Surely there must be one beautiful unmarried maiden out there."

"Believe me there are none."

That was a lie but it was Laxus's job to make sure Natsu never married.

"What shame. Oh well we better get back to the castle I hear a storm is coming tonight."

The prince, his servant, and his faithful animal companion made their way back to the palace when suddenly and without warning a horrible storm broke out. Thunder clapped, lighting fladhed, rain poured and flooded, and powerful wind currents blew. They were halfway home when one incredibly strong wind blew Happy away.

"Happy!" Natsu shouted trying to grab his friend but he couldn't reach him and poor Happy was blown out of his sight.

"We have to save him!" Natsu declared.

"No Sire! Not now! We must wait until the storm clears or we'll most likely be washed away." Laxus objected.

Natsu didn't want to wait but his servant insisted so reluctantly he went into the castle and waited with baited breath for the storm to clear up unfortunately the storm didn't end until morning.

As for Happy he had been blown far out, deep into the forest where a beautiful maiden called Juvia lived in a small cottage with the animals. Though she enjoyed living the quiet and peaceful life with her animal friends she often dreamed of one day falling in love and living happily ever after just like in the stories she would read as a child. This morning when she went down to the river to do her laundry she found poor Happy lying by the bank unconscious and dripping wet.