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Stellar Mistakes
By : Rhov
Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail
Views: 14748 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I make money from this fanfic.
Chapter List
- 35
- 36
- 37
Chapter 36
A King's Plans
They went back to the company van and gathered in front of it. Loke finally let out a sigh, then turned to face them.
"Now you know," he said sternly.
"Mr. Leo," Gray began to say.
"'If you want to open up the competition, I'd like you to meet my daughter,'" Loke quoted, even taking on a little of the king's basso voice. "Those were the conditions that led to us getting a presentation slot. I agreed, he brought up the suggestion to the city planners, but I had to convince them to let Fairy Tail have a chance. In return, I met with his daughter to see if a marriage could be arranged. After a few formal meetings, we both decided not to pursue it further."
Natsu looked oddly thoughtful. "So, you were never actually engaged, and you didn't make any promises that'd be tied to the outcome of the presentation?"
"No, only a promise that if he opened up an opportunity, I would meet his daughter. We never once discussed the competition itself, nor the end result."
"Okay," muttered Natsu. "Then that means…"
"Yes," Loke said rigidly. "The king wanted to coerce me into marrying his daughter. I never agreed to anything like that. Actually marrying her, let alone receiving his assistance in the judging, was never part of our terms. The day he brought it up when we were in Crocus, I was so stunned, I couldn't think of a way to explain it to you guys. Then I found out he had threatened Miss Heartfilia."
Both Gray and Natsu looked ready to burst. "He what?" they screamed together.
"She was the only one who personally approached the king to call him out on this."
Gray gawked at her. "You called out the king on his bullshit?"
She laughed awkwardly. "It wasn't a big deal, really. I just told him that he should respect how hard we worked."
"It was a big deal, confronting him like that in public," Loke told her. "For her boldness, the king tried to discredit her, probably hoping I'd be forced to kick her off the team."
Natsu looked down. "The photo that went viral of you two."
"Yes, that was the first time. There were other attempts, but I managed to avert them before anyone else found out. I especially did not want Miss Heartfilia to know about these attempted attacks, because we needed her talented mind at full capacity. I didn't want any of the rest of you to face that, I wasn't sure that I could block even more attempts at sabotage, so I simply didn't tell you the details. I had hoped to figure out a way to deal with the king whilst avoiding a confrontation, but after all these weeks, I came up with nothing. A confrontation was the only option. That's why we came here."
Gray still looked lost. "Why would the king go so far as coercion just to get you to marry his daughter? Are you secretly a prince?"
Loke chuckled and shook his head. "My mother's family has some powerful sway and money. A while back, they invested in a certain solar energy company, and that made us one of the top three wealthiest families in Fiore. A few months ago, I was named heir to the Regulus Clan. Shortly after that, the king called me to his palace, first on the pretense of celebrating me being named as the heir, but then he brought up the Grand Magic Games. I thought he was being helpful, and meeting his daughter was nothing big, since I've known Aries since we were children. For a moment, I even thought marrying her was the right thing to do." His eyes turned to Lucy. "It was a highly tempting offer, but in the end nothing clicked between us. I couldn't force myself to marry her just for a promotion and prestige. I would be sick with myself if I used a woman in that way."
Lucy struggled not to smile too widely and give away their secret.
Gray was still astounded. "So, he mentioned the engagement in front of all of us just to threaten you, and probably to sow discord into our team."
Loke gave a stern nod, almost scowling but obviously holding himself back. "He rather enraged me when he said those words during our meeting in Crocus, but … well, he's our king. I could say nothing against him in a public setting like that, with so many people around. Then Miss Heartfilia was threatened, and I wanted to protect the rest of you. I thought if you were kept ignorant, the king would not bother targeting you, like he targeted her. I didn't realize that my silence about this would impact the team so negatively."
He looked at each of them, then Loke bowed deeply from the waste. All of them cringed back at such a humbling gesture.
"Mr. Leo!" Gray and Natsu cried out in unison.
"Please, stop that," Lucy whispered, shaking her head.
Freed also looked troubled. "You don't have to do that, Loke."
"No," he said, his face to the ground. "The fact is, I acted on my own, I kept secrets from you, I did not consider the feelings of my teammates, and I'm really, truly sorry to each of you."
Natsu and Gray both looked awkward. However, it was Gray who made the first move.
"Apology accepted, sir. We already know how stubborn and proud you can be."
Natsu smiled slightly. "Yeah, and so long as you trust us to fight until the end, it's fine."
Loke raised back up, and there was a relieved smile on his face. "We'll be going into this with a strike against us, so I need all of you to help out. I have a lot on the line with this account. We can't lose it to Sabertooth. Or rather … we must win."
Natsu bit his lip, but finally he quietly said, "Can I ask you a question?" Loke nodded. "If you want to win this no matter what, why break off the engagement? If you did what the king wanted, we'd have won the account for sure. I may not like the idea of winning that way—in fact, I hate it—but in terms of ambition, that's a hell of a boost for you."
"Yes, well … I had some pretty convincing reasons to finally be honest to you all."
Loke's eyes stayed on the ground, but Natsu looked over at Lucy, who had an awestruck expression. Natsu turned his eyes away. Then his fists tightened, and he burst out in fiery enthusiasm.
"Well, what are we standing around for?" he shouted energetically. "We have an account to win. I dunno about you, but I'm even more fired up than before, knowing we're going in at a disadvantage."
Gray laughed in agreement. "It makes this feel like a battle again."
"It is one," Loke said, amused by Natsu but also serious about the work. "We're going to go up against Sabertooth, the number one agency in the kingdom, but we're also going up against the king. I honestly can't think of two more intimidating foes to fight."
Lucy clenched her fist. "We'll do our best, Mr. Leo."
He glanced over at her with a searching smile. "I know you will." Then he gazed around at all of them. "Let's get back to Fairy Tail and kick some ass."
They cheered and opened up the van.
"First, let's get some pizza while we're out," said Natsu.
"Not if you throw it up," grumbled Gray.
"What did you say, droopy-eyes?" Natsu shouted.
Loke chuckled at them. "Let's return the van first, then we'll go for pizza, my treat."
As they piled in, Lucy was the last to climb inside the back. Loke took her arm to keep her aside.
"I just want you to know, I did that for myself, nothing else," he whispered.
She gulped as she realized what he meant. After all, she had broken up with him because of the supposed engagement, and now that was over. However, she was with Gray. Well, they were not really dating, more like just outings as friends, but he was obviously aware of them being together.
She firmly met his eyes. "I hope that from now on, you're more honest with all of us."
"I promise, I will be. It's caused enough trouble and pain."
She bit her lower lip, wondering if their separation really was as painful to him as it had been for her.
Loke gave her arm an encouraging pat. "Let's focus on work and making this the best commercial in Fiore's history."
She firmed up. He was telling her not to worry about what to do about Gray now, and to keep her mind on the real goal: beating Sabertooth, and now also the king. They could worry about the rest afterward.
"I'm glad you did this," she said, feeling her cheeks warm up. "Also, I'm glad you allowed us to come and hear the whole story."
"You deserved it," he said, and she could tell he meant her personally, not necessarily the whole team. Then Loke offered his hand to help her into the van. "Pizza?"
She chuckled as she settled into her seat. "I'm curious what a sophisticated man like you likes on his pizza."
"I'm a simple man deep down. Pepperoni and mushroom."
"Jalapeños!" Natsu shouted out.
"Pineapples," Gray added.
"Sausage," said Freed.
Natsu sputtered out a laugh with a naughty smile on his face, and Freed's cheeks went red.
"Seriously?" shouted Freed. "Get your mind out of the gutter."
"Sorry, but the one gay guy in the group and you want sausage."
"Natsu!"
Loke laughed at their playfulness. "How about you, Miss Heartfilia? Which topping would you like?"
"Me? Oh, olives, I guess."
"Yes! Olives!" Natsu shouted. "But hell no to the pineapples. Yuck!"
"Pineapples are good on pizza," Gray argued. "Way better than jalapeños. If you order it with that crap, I'm picking them off and tossing them at you."
"Good, give them to me. I love spicy food. But no pineapples."
Lucy sighed as Gray and Natsu got into an argument that died as soon as the van went into motion, and Natsu suddenly went green. It was good to have the whole team together again, especially now that they were all on the same page and working toward the same goal.
- 35
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- 37
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Stellar Mistakes	By : Rhov Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 14748 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I make money from this fanfic.

Stellar Mistakes