There's smoke everywhere.

The thick grey fumes fill my lungs preventing me from breathing and wracking coughs make it near impossible for me to move. The smoke is thickening quickly making it near impossible to keep my watery eyes open long enough to see where I am going. I keep crashing into furniture that I can't see and all I can think is that I may never be able to get out of this inferno alive.

Something trips me and I crash to the ground heavily, my coughing immobilizing me and I realize that I can't get up. I'm going to die and deep down I've accepted that. All I've ever known and loved has gone up in flames with me situated in the middle of all of it. Before me my life was being destroyed and I had no way of stopping it.

Feeling the world swim around me, I look up to find a figure making its way towards me through the orange glow of the distant fire. The figure covered in the grey smoke makes its way towards me and holds out a hand.

He looks familiar. I know this person and I know that he's here to save me. My savior who has never been afraid of fire.

Reaching out towards him I can only feel relief as my fingers almost brush his own.

"Na…"

Chapter 1 - Crestfallen

POV: Lucy

Dislcaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail

The carriage jolts underneath me causing me to suddenly wake up as my head bashes against the wall I had been leaning against. I curse feeling my head throb more than it had before I had fallen asleep, you'd think my hat would have at least lessened the force of the impact. I rub my sore temple with my gloved hand and as I do so my right hand begins to sting and I massage it while wincing at the discomfort.

Feeling groggy and disoriented, I look around within the small compartment that I'm inside of. The carriage I'm inside of is much more luxurious than the carriages we have back at home there doesn't seem to be any trace that this vehicle belongs to my family at all. There's also the fact that I'm all alone which confuses me because as long as I can remember I've never ridden within a coach without someone else there to accompany me.

The only sounds within the carriage are the gravel beneath the carriage's wheels, the steady clop of the horse's hooves, and the occasional yell from the driver. Other than that, I am in complete silence and it does little to help me understand where I have ended up. All I can remember is being at home with my dad…

Another jolt underneath me has me nearly sailing out of my seat and I wonder how many holes this strange road must have? Removing the curtain to the nearby window I am greeted with bright light that nearly blinds me. After my eyes adjust I find a thick evergreen forest covering most of my view. The large trees make me feel nostalgic as they remind me of the forest that surrounds my home back east.

I can remember the adventures I used to go on within the sanctuary of the trees all those years ago. No matter what I always found myself making my way through the trees ready to move onto my next adventure. I knew the forest like the back of my hand and it always came in handy whenever I wanted to get away from the people always looking over my shoulders like annoying vultures…

Vultures that would no longer be looking over me.

A break in the trees shows an immense castle up in the distance. Large towers loom high above the tree tops looking magnificent and menacing. Looking at the large towers send a thrilling sort of dread to the pit of my stomach making it hard to breathe. It's at that moment that I realize where I am and where I'm headed.

I'm off towards my new home.

Sitting back in my seat I stare at the wall opposite of me completely at a loss for words. My mind is whirling with an endless storm of thoughts that churn my stomach. Bile threatens to rise from my stomach, but I force it back down with great difficulty. My hands are also clammy underneath my gloves as I clutch them together over my lap not knowing what else to do. I'm beyond terrified on what will happen to me once I arrive to the castle

I hear the king is a tyrant.

I hear he one time sent a whole family to the castle's dungeons just because the father looked at him weirdly.

I hear that he mistreats his staff and he never lets them look him in the eyes.

Someone told me that if you look him straight in the eyes you can feel your soul burst into flames.

Shaking my head furiously and covering my ears, I try to keep the voices of my friends from freaking me out even more. They had all thought that it would be amusing to bestow their callous rumors onto me before I set off to work with the king of Fiore. Sure, at first it had been all fun and games and I had brushed their words off not thinking much about it, but now that I'm almost to the castle the possibility of their words being reality doesn't comfort me in the slightest.

Maybe coming to work at the castle wasn't such a good idea. Maybe if I plead to the driver I can somehow convince me to take me back home where the others are no doubt still staying at. They would understand if I told them that I couldn't go through with this. They'd know that it was too much to ask of me to move into a new home and live amongst a bunch of strangers. Maybe if they saw how scared this change made me feel they would have a change of heart.

And image of a furious blue-haired female with fire exploding from my eyes makes me almost lose my lunch.

Then again, I was also scared of going back home.

Looking back out through the window again, I watch the trees swallow up the castle once again leaving me with the scenic view of the forest flying past me in a blur of green and brown. I've also noticed that the carriage isn't rocking as much as it had earlier no doubt indicating how much closer we are nearing the castle. No doubt it is too late now to try and convince the driver to go back the way we came, and I had no money to pay for the inconvenience it would no doubt put on him.

Besides, if I were to go back home now all the sacrifices everyone has made for me would all be for nothing. For their sake, and my own, I had to go through with this. No matter how terrifying this may seem I needed to be strong.

I feel the carriage bump to a stop a moment later as a wave of claustrophobia hit me so hard I almost double over. I take in deep breaths trying to calm my racing nerves while my heart hammers erratically against my chest and my hands shake above my lap. Deep down I'm praying that the carriage door will never open and if it does I am hoping that it is Capricorn the one who will greet me rather than some stranger.

Unfortunately, I have yet to have any of my prayers heard.

Light pours into the dimly lit carriage as the door suddenly opens and I'm greeted with a pair of midnight blue eyes. A young man with raven hair greets me with a warm smile, but I can't help but notice how despondent his eyes somewhat seem to be.

"Miss Lucille Ashley?" he asks, his kind smile never wavering.

Staring at him, I'm left dumbfounded before I realize that he's asking for my name.

"Oh! – Umm – yes, that's me!" I exclaim while feeling my cheeks blaze up with embarrassment. I mentally berate myself for being so slow as the young man chuckles clearly amused. This only makes my face burn even more.

He offers me his hand and I tentatively accept it as he helps me out of my carriage and onto the dirt path below. Once I'm outside, I look around and take in the sight of the grounds around the castle while my eyes still try to adjust to the brightness from outside. Once again my hat does little to shield my eyes from the blaring sun.

"Welcome to Castle Dragneel," the young man says as he joins me after helping the driver bring down my trunks from the carriage.

Large red-bricked walls loom high above us with ivy and moss climbing up the sides of the castle with its dark coal roofs giving the whole building an ominous feel to it. The large windows shine slightly with the afternoon sun hitting them making it near impossible to see within. A few windows that aren't glared with the sun's rays allow small glimpses of servants moving around within.

Outside the castle I can slightly make out to what seems to be a lake just beyond both the castle and forest within its own large clearing. Near the castle a large garden that seems to wrap around the building teems with a welcoming assortment of flowers. Flowers of all kinds litter the garden with a large ornate fountain situated right in the middle of the garden with its bubbling cool water giving it a magical feel. Even the stout gardener pulling out weeds doesn't break the magical effect the garden gives off.

"Do you like the garden?" the man asks after noticing that my eyes kept falling back to the nearby flowers. I nod as I shift my eyes towards the castle that stands a few meters away from us, "I'm glad," he continues while watching the garden with a content gaze, though the sadness within them doesn't seem to deplete in the slightest, "The mistress thought that the castle was far too gloomy and had a garden erected to brighten up the place. She loved the garden so much that she hardly ever left it."

"Loved? Is she no longer around?" I ask as my eyes catch sight of a small rosebush shaking and what sounded like laughter emitting from it. I watch it suddenly still as we start heading towards the entrance to the castle.

"So she does speak," the male jokes and I duck my head feeling my cheeks burn again making the man laugh. After a moment, he stops and his voice grows a bit grave, "And no she is no longer with us. The queen has been dead for a few years now, in fact."

Perhaps that is why I was hired to be the governess of the children.

"I'm sorry to hear," I murmur while feeling my heart squeeze with empathy for the children. Mavis only knows how much I can understand what it is like growing up without a mother, and even a father.

"As am I," the man says mournfully as he continues to walk towards the front doors of the castle.

When we reach the steps to the castle the young man begins to explain what my job would consist of, something that had previously been explained to me before my trip here. My job was simple enough. All I had to do was watch over the children as well as teach them to read and write including the social rules expected of royalty. I was also to be the children's caregiver which meant that I would hardly ever leave the children's side.

"Do you need me to clarify anything else for you?" he asks just as we reach the top of the steps standing before the massive doors of the castle.

"No, I believe I understand everything needed of me," I assure him.

"Good, all you have to do now is meet up with the head of the house who shall introduce you to the king before you meet the children," he says as he lifts the large brass knocker and hits the door with it a couple of times. As I examine the dragon head that the knocker consists of, the large door opens to reveal a beautiful woman clad in all blue, "Miss Ashley, this is Juvia, she is the head of house and the person you need to go to if you have any difficulties in the near future," he explains while the woman gives him a small smile that quickly vanishes when I turn to look at her. The young man then turns and starts heading back towards where we came from before suddenly stopping halfway down the stone steps, "Oh! By the way, my name is Gray Fullbuster and you can always find me in the training hall if you need anything," and without another word he's quickly on his way.

Turning back to look at the woman dressed in a simple turquoise dress that seems to accommodate her long wavy cornflower blue hair and dark blank cobalt blue eyes. Her porcelain skin is as white as snow that it almost looks translucent making her look like a doll. I'm more than certain that if she were to give a genuine smile she'd appear much more dazzling.

"Welcome, I'm glad to see your trip was well," she says, her voice sounding poignant and low, "My name is Juvia Lockster and I am the head of house as it was previously mentioned. I presume that you are Lucille Ashley?" she asks and I nod feeling a bit intimidated by her cold stare, "Well Miss Ashley, we mustn't keep the master waiting," she says while stepping out of the way to give me room to enter into the place that would now become my new home.

Oh Mavis please help me.

Welcome readers, New and Old, to the relaunch of my wonderful story!

To my new readers, I welcome you and hope that you enjoy the journey we are about to embark in! If you are new to my work please don't hesitate to go on and check out some of my other work, some finished, some needing to be dusted off. I hope you enjoy your stay with us and I am eager for the fresh new voices I'll get to read in the Review section.

To my veteran readers, I welcome you back! For those of you who had not gotten my memo back in March and were confused to have seen the previous story taken down, I had announced that I would be rewriting S.T.S.O.F mostly because I wasn't satisfied with the direction I was taking it in. Mostly since I didn't really have a direction and was basically wandering around aimlessly while creating situations at the top of my head. After a long break I had taken I finally came up with a plot that satisfied me so I decided to re-upload my story and now here we are. Most of the story is still similar to the previous one with just a few add-ons and changes here and there. I've also elongated chapters so they're not as short as the previous ones had been due to popular demand in me making the chapters longer. I'm sure you wont miss the old story as we progress. through this new path we're taking. Also! My dear veterans be kind and don't give away spoilers. Let the new readers enjoy a bit of the mystery. I also can't wait to read your reviews which I am hoping will be coming in soon.

Thank you all for taking the time to read the first chapter of my story and I hope to see you all on April 18 with Chapter 2 - History. Updates, if things go according to plan, will be every four days so look out for that.

Also if you have any questions or concerns related to this story or any other you can also PM me and I'll gladly get back to you as soon as possible.

Well that's all for today!

Enjoy your Easter weekend my wonderful readers and I shall see you all on Tuesday!

Until next time my lovelies!