Once Upon a Time Chapter 1, a fairy tail fanfic

ONCE UPON A TIME
a Fairy Tail fanfic by ElodieKumari94

A/N: Hello! I'm Elodie, and I'm the author of this fanfic! For those of you who've never read my stuff, I'm super glad you clicked on this story and I hope you like what you read! For those of you who are returning from some of my stories, thanks for keeping up with me, my loyal followers (even those of you who want to kill me right now because I've been really bad at updating my other stories *guilty cough*)! I came up with this idea while I was in my bed trying to sleep and my mind was wandering. I'm sure the whole Fairy Tail vs. Fairy Tale thing is overdone, but I think I've cooked up a tale that's pretty original here (or as original as fanfics get). It's basically all of my favorite pairings in Fairy Tail matched with some of my favorite fairy tales (most of them Disney congruent) and wrapped them all up in a bow. Or so I hope. But don't think this is going to be some wishy-washy lovey-dovey cute little tale for eight-year-olds or whatever. I've got big plans for this story, lots of twists and drama with a big slice of good old fashion shipping romance on the side!

Anyway, here's the first chapter, sort of a prologue chapter to set the story, but I hope you enjoy it and I hope it gets you interested enough to follow the story!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL OR THE FAIRY TALES USED IN THIS STORY. FAIRY TAIL BELONGS TO HIRO MASHIMA AND THE OTHER STORIES BELONG TO THE GRIM BROTHERS/DISNEY/WHATEVER COMPANY CLAIMS RIGHTS TO THEM, I HONESTLY DON'T CARE, THEY'RE JUST NOT MINE. THE ART USED IN THE COVER IS NOT MINE, I JUST PULLED A BUNCH OF PICTURES OFF GOOGLE AND CUT AND PASTED THEM TOGETHER. IF YOU SEE A PICTURE YOU MADE JUST SEND ME A PM AND I'LL GIVE YOU CREDIT FOR IT.

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use'."

So there.

Chapter One: The Beginning of the End

"Do we have to come here every time we go through town?"

"Yes, Jet, we do! This is my favorite bookshop!"

Jet sighed as he and Droy, who was, as usual, munching on a turkey leg, watched Levy pull herself across the bookshelf on the rolling ladder, eagerly searching the book bindings for Mavis knew what. The bookstore was a small, dusty little place in a corner of Hargeon's market street. Every inch of wall, even around the doorways and windows, was covered by bookshelves, and every shelf was lined with volumes of novels, encyclopedias, biographies, and anything and everything else a rabid bookworm like Levy could dream of. More rows of shelves lined the back of the store while the middle was taken up with rickety tables stacked with even more books. The clerk's desk was at the front of the room by the front door, and an old man with fluffy white hair on the sides of his head and glasses perched precariously on his nose was sitting back in his chair, snoring with his feet propped up on the desk. The three Fairy Tail wizards, who were just passing through Hargeon on their way home from a job, were the only current customers.

"What exactly are you looking for in here, Levy?" Droy asked through a mouthful of turkey. "Haven't you scoured every single book in the store by now?"

"You never know when something new might turn up!" Levy replied, her hazel eyes twinkling with excitement as her index finger scrolled across the worn and aged spines of the books in front of her. It abruptly stopped on a particularly large volume, and a curious frown crossed her features. "For example…" she muttered as she grasped the book and pulled it away from its companions and into her hands. She leaned on the rungs of her ladder as she opened the book a flipped through the yellowing pages, the twinkling slowly growing into a dazzling light.

"What is it, Levy?" Jet asked.

"It's a book full of old fairy tales!" Levy said in wonderment. "They're well-known stories, of course, nothing new, but this… this looks like an original manuscript! Like one of the first copies ever to be printed out!"

"You could be right, little lady," said a voice behind them, and the trio turned to see that the clerk had woken up and was sitting upright on his chair, wiping a dribble of drool from the corner of his mouth. "That book is one of several we bought just recently from a man whose mother had apparently died. He said they've gone through many generations of the family before he acquired them, but he seemed quite keen to be rid of them."

Levy closed the book and gazed at the worn leather cover. The faded painting on the leather cover depicted five different stories: in the top left corner was a poor maiden standing before a dazzling, kneeling prince who was holding a glass slipper; next to the maiden and prince was a mermaid lying on a rock and gazing wistfully at a handsome sailor standing on an island; on the top right was a pair of warriors, one of them a girl disguised as a boy, fighting for their lives side by side against a horde of enemy soldiers; beneath that picture was a beautiful princess lying in a forest casket with a prince about to administer True Love's Kiss; and at the bottom left was a woman standing boldly before a terrible beast. The painting was beautiful and done with delicate care, promising adventure and romance within the pages that were bound to it, but Levy couldn't shake the strange feeling that there was something odd about the book. There was a strange aura around it that Levy had never sensed with any other work, as though this one was full of a magic all its own. Her fingers traced the letters embossed on the cover, and she could feel the tips tingling with anticipation.

"What stories are in the book, Levy?" Jet asked, pulling the little script mage out of her thoughts. Levy shook her head and opened the book again, flipping more carefully through the chapters and allowing her eyes to linger on the illustrations.

"The first one is about a servant girl," she listed off each story as she flipped through it, "who is abused by her wicked stepmother and stepsisters. She secretly goes to a ball to meet the prince with the help of her Fairy Godmother." She turned to the next chapter. "The second is about a mermaid who falls in love with a handsome sailor and makes a deal with a sea witch to become human to be with him… the third is about a woman who disguises herself as a man and goes to war to protect her father, and ends up falling in love with her commanding officer… the fourth chapter is split into two different stories, but in both of them the princess gets put under a sleeping spell and the prince has to come wake her up with True Love's Kiss."

"What's the difference between the two stories?" asked Droy curiously.

Levy studied the chapter a little more closely. "It looks like the first one is about a princess who runs away to avoid getting killed by the jealous queen, but the queen tricks her into eating a poisoned apple to make her fall asleep… and the second one is about a princess who is put to sleep by pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel that's enchanted by a vengeful enchantress…"

"How can a spinning wheel make people fall asleep?"

"I think we've all seen stranger things happen, Droy."

"Good point."

Jet looked up at Levy again. "So how many stories are in that book?"

"There's only one more," Levy replied, turning to the last chapter. "It's about a girl who is imprisoned by a beast who is really a cursed prince who can only become human again if he and the girl fall in love." Levy smiled; that story seemed promising to her. She turned to Jet and Droy and asked, "do you guys think Asuka would like this book? Her birthday party is tonight and I still haven't gotten her a present."

"I dunno," said Droy, scratching his multiple chins thoughtfully. "Isn't she more into cowgirl stuff? And I can't see Bisca as being the type to read fairy tales."

"She enjoyed that book Lucy showed us," Jet pointed out. "The Key to the Starry Heavens or whatever it was called."

"And I bet Alzack would love to read to her," Levy beamed. "He's such an adorable father, so completely wrapped around her little finger… you know what," she said, snapping the book shut decisively, "I'm going to get it for her. I'm sure she'll love it!"

And so, after paying for the book, Team Shadowgear left the bookstore, the fairy tale novel wrapped in paper and carried in a beaming Levy's hands. She was excited about her purchase, and she couldn't see how a little girl wouldn't love to have her own bound collection of such classic and innocent tales. This was probably why she ignored the nagging doubts and warnings in the back of her mind. Only later, though not much later, would she realize that she should have paid more attention to her keen instincts and left the book where it was. She did not yet know that she held within her arms the power that could destroy not only Fairy Tail, but the entire kingdom, and possibly the world.

Storybook endings, fairy tales coming true
Deep down inside, we wanna believe they still do
In our secretest heart, it's our favorite part of the story
Let's just admit we all wanna make it to

Ever, ever after
If we just don't get in our own way
Ever, ever after
It may only be a wish away

~ "Ever Ever After" by Carrie Underwood, from Enchanted

A/N: For those of you who've read some of my previous works, you know I like to tag songs onto chapters sometimes. I just decided on a whim that I'm going to try and match a fairy tale song with these chapters. We'll see how that goes! :)

So I think it's pretty clear which fairy tales I'm going to use. And it's probably just as obvious which pairings go with which story. What can I say, I'm a little bit cliché. But I do plan on putting my own twist on things and I hope it's entertaining enough for you! So please pretty please review with any guesses or comments on this first chapter, let me know what you think, and maybe follow the story if you're still interested!

So there.