Just a little one-shot. It's kind of smutty, but there's no rape or even sex.
Warning: There are very recent spoilers in this fic. If you're not caught up, don't read unless you don't mind spoilers. This story is canon-compliant up til the most recent episode as of July 29th, 2014 (Episode 192.)
Enjoy!
To End an Era
He had killed her future self and he was still set on killing her.
All because she would and now had closed the gate, thanks to Yukino's help. She had said she wouldn't do so, but now it made sense that because her future self hadn't closed the gate there had been ten thousand dragons to destroy the world.
Because of her there were only seven and while that was much more manageable, it didn't really feel like it. These dragons were impenetrable from every magic attack and while they were under the future Rogue's control, there was little anyone could do to stop them. Even if the dragons weren't hell-bent on the destruction of the human race, under Rogue's dragon tamer magic, there was no reasoning with them to stop the destruction.
Oh, the destruction. So much had already been destroyed, turned to little more than rubble and broken stone. At least the Princess had had the frugality to evacuate Crocus, but if they couldn't stop Rogue and his dragons here, it wouldn't matter where anyone had gone—the world was doomed.
Lucy, Natsu, and the whole of Fairy Tail were determined to stop it. They would do anything and everything in their power to bring an end to the killing.
Unfortunately, anything and everything wasn't enough.
Dressed in a shimmery black gown with red filigree stitched into the fabric, Lucy contemplated not for the first time if she could ever get away with poisoning her king's wine.
Not for the first time, she abandoned the thought because the punishment for the attempt on his life wouldn't be death.
No, Rogue had much worse penalties for insubordination.
It had been three years since the destruction of ninety-five percent of the human race and the complete obliteration of every city in not only Fiore but the entire world. The remaining five percent of humans still alive had been relocated to build a city to Rogue's liking and now inhabited the grim place working as little more than slaves to his will. All but four mages, including Rogue himself, still lived—herself, for reasons she hadn't had confirmed even now and never wanted to think about, Natsu because Rogue respected the dragon slayer's attempt at victory, and Zeref, who was still missing.
Lucy didn't think Rogue had any reason to want to kill Zeref, who had indirectly brought about his victory over the world. Natsu, the boy she had been in love with since their victory over the Neo-Oracion Seis in the Infinity Clock incident, was locked away in the deepest pits of the dungeon beneath the castle in which she, the other servants, and Rogue lived.
Lucy had wondered long and hard as to why Rogue kept around of the the people who almost succeeded in stopping him, but in the end she had decided she didn't want to know. Just the fact that he would occasionally touch her inappropriately—nothing incredibly overwhelming, but a hand wandering around her waist or fingers sifting through and lightly gripping the locks of her blonde hair when she bent over to serve his meals was telling enough. She supposed she was a kind of eye candy for him, a beautiful servant whom he could take advantage of at any time should he so wish.
She could only be grateful that even in these three years—although she had been on the run for one and a half of them—he had nothing done more than pull her into his lap once while taunting her about his victory over Fairy Tail. When she finally burst out into tears, he'd sent her away in irritation.
He still found amusement in brandishing his victory in front of her like a prize, but over time she had perfected a mask of indifference and the attempts to hurt and anger her had lessened as he grew bored of her unresponsiveness.
Lucy made a much better servant-slave than she could ever feel proud of. She followed his every command, often threatening her beloved Natsu's life in the beginning when she refused to listen. Now she just did it automatically, finding that existence was much better when her king was pleased and in a good mood. The slightest amount of disobedience would turn his mood foul and that was when Rogue was the most dangerous. He still had six dragons under his command, the Jade dragon having been defeated by Natsu just before the war had been lost.
How pitiful that they had only managed to defeat one of seven dragons even with all of their combined efforts.
Picking up the gold-plated tray with Rogue's meal and customary glass of red wine, Lucy made her way from the kitchen up the stairs to the throne room. The throne room was large and ornate, but for what purpose other than gloating his victory to his 'subjects', Lucy couldn't really fathom. A red strip of carpet went down the center of the room from the front entrance, over the steps, and finally ended at the obsidian throne with gold armrests and a plush crimson seat. The rest of the place was drearily made with dark gray stone and a few candelabras lit the way. The servant door opened to the back of the room from the right wall and this was where Lucy stepped out into the throne room.
Rogue wasn't there.
Lucy frowned slightly before assuming that Rogue must have been in the library. However, upon going through the winding halls and reaching the library, which was just as gloomy as the rest of the castle with dim lighting and black, red, and gold accents, Lucy found that he wasn't there, either. Her king often enjoyed widening his knowledge with forbidden books that had been procured from the rubble of his destruction.
That left only one place that he would be and Lucy had never been there before. It was his room and she had never been allowed or wanted to enter that domain, but if Rogue was there around suppertime, then he obviously expected her to find them there.
Grimacing, Lucy began the three-story trek up the winding flights of stairs to the top level of the castle, where Rogue's room was and where she had never been allowed to go before.
Tentatively, she pushed the door open from the stairwell to the king's living room. The place was spacious with soft blood red furniture, more lighting than most of the castle combined, and filled with even more books that she supposed he didn't want in the library due to whatever was in them. There was a cherry wood coffee table in the center of the living room and an empty glass was there, but unfortunately, Rogue wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Cautiously moving further into the room, she noticed a several doorways leading to unknown locations. One had been slightly left open, much to her relief, and she decided it would be safest to check that room first. Also, her arms were aching from carrying the heavy tray for such a long distance and she was eager to reliever herself of the cooling food. She hoped that Rogue wouldn't be upset with her for the now-room temperature meal.
She knocked on the wood loudly enough to be heard and beckoned inside. She heard Rogue's low voice come to her through the crack and she nudged the door open with her foot before entering.
The room was by far the most lavish in the castle. She had explored most of the place during her residence there, but she had never been to the third floor. Rogue had similar touches of his signature colors in this room as well—his bed's four-poster frame was made of polished ebony and had dark red blankets with silver sheets. The wardrobe was also made of the same ebony as well as the rest of the furniture. The room seemed almost antique in a way, especially compared to the way that things had been before Rogue's conquering of the world.
"I have your dinner, your Majesty," she said quietly, approaching the bed on which he was reclining with a book.
"Set it there," he replied dismissively, waving his hand towards the nightstand to his right. Lucy nodded obediently and set the tray there, already glad for the relief her arms received from relinquishing the tray.
It was only when she backed away that she noticed Rogue's eyes settled on her with keen interest. She felt her skin crawl at his inspecting gaze and averted her eyes demurely.
"Come here," he murmured. Startled, Lucy looked up at him. His red eyes were fixed intently on her, the contemplative expression on his face frightening her.
However, Lucy knew she couldn't deny him. She couldn't tell his current mood from what she had gleaned of him so far, but it was better not to test him. Reluctantly, she approached the side of his bed until she was within reaching distance.
Long fingers reached forward and grasped her bicep. She flinched at his cold touch but otherwise did not respond, too afraid of angering him. A slight jerk was enough to pull her front over the tall bed's edge, powerful as he was, and she felt fear fill her.
"Your Majesty-?"
"Hush," he said, and dragged her more onto the bed after discarding his book. Trembling now but knowing there was nothing she could do although terror was freezing up her limbs, Lucy allowed herself to be pulled onto the bed.
As soon as she was fully on the bed, he yanked her forcefully under her and Rogue was all at once on top of her.
Brown eyes wide, she let out a frightened shriek, but the disapproving look in his eyes quieted her. She knew deep down there was nothing she could do—there had been nothing she could do since he had taken over the world—but she still squirmed uncomfortably beneath him.
Rogue's eyes narrowed and Lucy forced herself to stop, staring at him fearfully but not breaking eye contact. She couldn't look away even though she wanted to.
"You don't know how long I've wanted this," he said softly, and before Lucy could protest, he sealed his lips over hers.
She was paralyzed by the sudden action.
At first the kiss was chaste, his lips only pressing insistently against hers. Frozen, Lucy could do nothing but stare at him with terrified eyes.
If he wanted her that way, she couldn't do a thing about it. Punishment wasn't a swift as death anymore—there was pain, fear, and torture involved before she might be lucky enough to be blessed with execution.
It hadn't occurred to her only once that death would be a reprieve from the life she now lived.
When she didn't respond, he ran his tongue over the seam of her lips and although Lucy didn't have much experience with this, instincts told her he wanted her to open her mouth. However, she couldn't bring herself to do it, even as terrified of him as she was.
Rogue nipped her lower lip, tugging in between his teeth and sucking on it. She inhaled sharply through her mouth and he took his as invitation to invade her further. His tongue slipped past her lips and touched hers, forcing it to tangle with his as he explored her mouth.
She was shaking now, tears threatening to gather in her eyes. She couldn't stop him. His tongue was searching every inch of her mouth and his lips moved against hers persistently, as though encouraging her to respond.
She couldn't.
All of a sudden he pulled away, panting heavily. It was then that she noticed a bulge against her thigh and she realized what his intentions were.
"Why do you deny your king?" he hissed and she realized she had angered him by her inability to respond to his advances. Her lower lip quivered and she averted her teary eyes, ready for punishment.
"Why?" he growled, gripping her chin and forcing her to look at him. "Have you been oblivious this entire time to my interest in you? Do you not understand why you are treated so kindly?"
Lucy felt two hot tears leak from her eyes. "I-I can't-"
"You will," he insisted, fury leaking into his tone, and then his lips attacked hers again, this time forcefully and punishingly. He pushed past her lips against and kissed her ferociously, gripping her hair tightly and twisting. She whimpered in pain, but the noise only served to spur him on. His knee parted her thighs and he pressed his groin into her. She began to cry weakly, protesting against his mouth.
His hand found her breast and kneaded and at last she found her breaking point. She shoved against him, detaching her lips from his and letting out a ragged sob.
Rogue growled lowly in the back of his throat and got off of her. He all but shoved her off the bed and she felt to the floor, still crying.
"Leave me," he spit out, clearly furious.
Lucy staggered to her feet and fled the room.
The next three days were spent treading lightly around him as she brought him his meals, the same routine as always not wavering. Rogue made no further advances on her, but the heavy weight of his glare on her every time she entered the room was enough to make her tremble. Once, she spilled his wine from the abject fear flowing in her veins and had been forced to clean up the mess before getting him another.
He hadn't spoken to her since the day he had made his most forward advance yet, but on the fourth day he told her, "You will give yourself to me in time."
Lucy did not attempt to deny it, even though it would not be giving herself to him—she knew he would simply take it eventually. She would never say yes to him, not while her heart lay with Natsu in his cold, dank prison. She would not give herself to someone she did not love and she would never love the man who had killed all her friends, her entire family. There was nothing available to him but hatred and resentment.
On the fifth day, Lucy served Rogue his breakfast. It seemed his willingness to force her had renewed and he had pinned her up against the throne room wall and kissed her harshly, bruising her lips with the force of his kiss. Again she denied him and again he sent her away in a fury.
This time, she ran to the dungeons, even though she wasn't permitted to be there. None of the other servants stopped her, although they sent her pitying looks, and it occurred to her that they, all older than her by at least a decade, had known what she had wanted to deny all along.
Rogue had always wanted her. That was why he had tracked her down himself and brought her back to the castle in chains, only to have her dressed in the finest of clothing available and given only the task of serving him his meals three times a day. She had clearly been favored above the other servants and she had always wondered why none of them envied her for her easy, lush position in the castle.
It was now clear why. Everyone hated their king, but those unwilling to submit had been eliminated and made examples of. No one dared to stand against him now—especially with six dragons all under his control. If one was lucky, their corpse wouldn't be fed to a hungering dragon.
She quietly but quickly made her way down to Natsu's cell. She had been told of its whereabouts by Rogue the second day she had been there and shown to its location, just to taunt her and make her realize the futility of her situation. She had not returned since then, afraid of the repercussions, but she needed this. Lucy had never been so terrified in her life.
Even though it had been a year and a half since she had been there, she had no trouble remembering where Natsu lay, wasting away in the strongest magic-resistant shackles known to the human race. They were forged of dragon scales, Rogue had said, and they would be immune to any of his attempts to escape.
"Natsu," she whispered as she approached his cell. There he lay, dressed in rags but left with his dirtied, no longer white scarf.
He seemed to be unconscious and Lucy felt more tears prick her eyes at his state. He was emaciated and thin, all his previous muscle tone gone to reveal thin arms that probably couldn't even lift the shackles binding him to the wall and floor. He was dirty and reeked of blood, sweat, and excrement. Despite the horrid smell, Lucy refused to cover her nose, not wanting to disgrace him any more than he already was.
The rise and fall of his chest increased, however, and her breath hitched.
"Natsu, it's me," she said, her voice cracked with a suppressed sob. "Natsu, it's Lucy."
A singular eye cracked open. His hair was matted to his face, but when she saw that dark brown eye, she let out a relieved sob. "Hey, Luce," he croaked, his voice raspy with disuse. A parody of a smile lifted his lips. "What took you so long?"
Lucy was unable to respond through her tears of relief and emotional turmoil. Even after all of this, Natsu was still himself, still strong and unrepentant for his part in attempting to defeat Rogue.
"Natsu…" she finally choked out. "I don't know what to do. I-I don't know what to do."
"I…don't know what you should do." He cleared his throat to accustom himself to speak. "But I know," he cleared his throat again, "I know that you shouldn't give up."
"How can you say that?" she begged of him, desperate to know how he kept going. "They're all gone. We have no way to fight back. There's nothing I can do…"
Natsu watched her, simply listening.
"He wants me!" she finally admitted. It wasn't what she wanted to talk to Natsu about after all this time away from him, but it weighed on her enough that she could think of nothing more than drawing support from her best friend, her first love, her only love. "He wants me and I don't know what to do!"
Natsu's brow furrowed, but Lucy knew that he somehow knew what she was talking about.
"Keep fighting," he said at last. "There's always a way, always…we just have to find it."
Suddenly, there were footsteps. Lucy heard only one set of them and she knew for a fact that the servants came down here in pairs, so immediately she could only think that they were Rogue's. If he found her down here…
"I love you," she whispered, and Natsu's only open eye widened slightly. It was then that she noticed his other eye was swollen shut. "I'll be back."
Then she rushed for the shadows as quickly and quietly as possible. Natsu's cell was at the end of the hallway and there was nowhere to hide but in the darkness.
From her vantage point, she saw that she was right—it was Rogue.
"Talking to yourself again, Dragneel?" the white-and-black haired man taunted.
Natsu was silent.
"I've been waiting for you to go insane," Rogue told him. "But you seem to have a stronger will than I anticipated."
No response.
"Perhaps this will help," the king went on. "Lucy is now mine. How does it feel that your woman has betrayed you?"
Lucy stifled her gasp. Natsu loved her? No—Rogue was probably just making things up. To what end, she wasn't sure, but Rogue had a twisted mind she would never understand.
Finally, Natsu spoke. "Lucy is her own person. She doesn't belong to anybody, not me and definitely not you."
"Brave words for someone who will never see her again whereas I see her every day. You hold onto your love for her even when she belongs to someone else?" Rogue clearly ignored Natsu's statement of Lucy's independence.
"Even if she belonged to you…which she doesn't," Natsu replied in his raspy voice, "At least I knew her when she was her own person, when she was true to herself…when she was happy."
There was a low growl from Rogue.
"You've never seen her smile, have you?" Natsu laughed softly, although his voice cracked from the sudden use of it for an extended period of time. "You've never really seen her smile. It's the most beautiful thing in the world." Suddenly, Natsu's only open eye glanced in her direction furtively and Lucy met his gaze. "It's hard not to fall in love with that smile."
Tears trickled from Lucy's eyes, but she wasn't sure if they were from happiness or the breaking of her heart.
Natsu went on, even as Rogue stood there stiffly, rage emanating from him. "How can you claim she is yours when she's never smiled for you?"
"You will hold your tongue," Rogue spat angrily. "When she is my queen, she will be happy."
Lucy wished she could tell him how impossible that was, but she wouldn't dare reveal her position. She was certain that Rogue didn't want anyone other than the incapacitated Natsu to know any of what he was saying.
Natsu said nothing more, closing his eye and slumping back against the dank prison wall. Rogue seemed to lose interest in the pink-haired dragon slayer and stalked down the hallway away from the prison cell.
After she was certain he was gone, Lucy crept back to Natsu's cell. She whispered his name, but he didn't respond, and from the steady rise and fall of his chest, she realized he was asleep. All the talking must have exhausted him.
Smiling fondly at him, she left the prison and made sure to change dresses to hide grime on the dress she had been wearing previously and to remove Natsu's scent from her.
She should have known that Rogue's discussion with Natsu would spur him on to move more quickly in his seduction of her.
Lucy found Rogue again in his bedroom that night, unlike the other nights after his initial attempt, and she knew that nothing good was going to come of this. However, she steeled herself and entered his room with his permission.
She chanted Natsu's words like a mantra in her head: 'Don't give up. Keeping fighting.'
As soon as she had placed the tray on the nightstand, Rogue spoke.
"Come here."
She knew what was going to happen and she wouldn't let it. "I have to go to the bathroom…" she said softly. "And I-"
Rogue sniffed once and she realized he was smelling her for a lie. Unfortunately, he found it.
"Come here," he commanded, and she flinched. That was it—she had to comply.
She tried once more. "I'm tired…" It wasn't a lie this time.
An unforgiving glare from him made her take a deep, frightened breath and approach the bed.
Again, he pulled her onto the bed and trapped her beneath him. She was panting in fear and it displeased him. "Calm down," he demanded.
"Please…don't," she pleaded. "Please-"
He cut her off with a vicious kiss.
She didn't fight as he plundered her mouth, knowing it wouldn't get her anywhere. But when his mouth left hers and trailed down her jawline towards her neck, she stiffened and felt familiar tears prick her eyes. Rogue pulled away the neckline of her dress and focused on her pulse point, suckling harshly and nipping to draw small pockets of blood to the surface.
She would have red bruises the next day.
Then he bit down on her neck and she cried out, the bite unexpected. He ran his tongue over the mark gently as though to soothe it and she was almost hyperventilating as he let go of her dress's neckline and slid his hands under the lower hem of her dress.
When he fingered her lacy panties—the only ones she was allowed to wear and now she knew why—she flushed and tried to shove him off her. He resisted her attempt this time and crushed his chest against hers, trapping her hands between them.
"Please," she whispered. "Please!"
His lips met hers just as he touched her core through her panties.
She gasped into his mouth and he forced his tongue past her lips again. His rubbing against her core was gentle and teasing and she found that even though she hated it, it was building pressure in her abdomen. She whimpered at the almost uncomfortable feeling and this spurred him to remove his fingers and slip them past the flimsy silk barrier.
When he touched her directly, she let out an agonized moan of despair, hating the fact that she was reacting to him this way. He continued to tease her, touching her in a way she had never been touched by a man before. It sent shivers down her spine and she tried to push him off weakly again. He growled into her mouth and then pushed a finger inside her suddenly.
At the stretching pain, Lucy cried out weakly. He swallowed her cry with his mouth and began to move his finger slowly inside of her. Gasping and whimpering, she tried to dislodge him by bucking her hips, but it only made him groan.
Sweating profusely from terror and that horrid, slight arousal, she stilled, trying to think of a convincing argument to make him stop. However, the touch of his finger inside her made it hard to think, both from revulsion and the pleasure coming from the way he was tapping a particularly sensitive spot inside her.
Rogue pulled away and began to suckle her sensitive neck. She couldn't help but be glad for the chance to speak.
"Your Majesty, please," she begged, a soft whine elicited from her throat when he increased the pace within her. "Please stop…"
"Hush," he hissed and moved more quickly inside her, making her gasp against her will at the pleasure sparkling in her abdomen.
The feeling was building as he continued to assault her bundle of nerves and she let out a quiet moan of distress, but again he took it as acceptance. At the final, particularly target assault, she suddenly felt herself clenching around his finger and incredible pleasure rushed over her. She gave a strangle cry as she came, tears pouring from her eyes as she realized what had happened.
He was panting and he kissed her again, more passionately and tenderly than she would have expected. Lucy was too defeated to respond, much less fight, and waited him remove his fingers from her core. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she fisted her hands at her side, praying to whoever would listen that he would stop here.
Rogue pulled away slightly and resting his forehead against hers, still breathing heavily. She wondered with horror if he had been aroused by her reluctant reactions—she hoped not. However, all the signs seemed to be there.
When she felt him start to pull her panties away from her body entirely, not just nudging them aside, she grew frantic.
"Please, I'm so tired," she begged, hiccupping through her tears. Even if it would not stop it in the long run, just one more night without this torture would be enough for her—or so she hoped. However, she felt it was unlikely it would make a difference.
His hands paused in their descent.
"You will respond to me next time," he murmured calmly, not opening his eyes. "Full-heartedly."
Her crying intensified but she nodded in agreement. Just one more night…
"Tomorrow," he said, and it was a promise. She nodded again.
He returned her panties to her hips and got off her, but not without a final kiss. She relished that it would be the last time she would not have to kiss him back and then he dismissed her.
She left the room as quickly as she could and went to visit Natsu. He was still asleep and she simply cried in front of his cell, clinging to the bars as though they were him.
It was the last night before she had to give herself to the 'king.'
She would cherish it.
Angsty, depressing, and smutty. Just what I'm good at.
I was thinking about making this a chapter story, or at least a two- or three-shot, but I'm not sure. Depends on the reception. Up to you all and your reviews! I'm fine with leaving it the way it is.
Ta!