Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Part 47 - The Rise of Yukino

Sonya gathered herself in the anteroom connected to the much larger throne room. It was odd to be in there by herself, with no advisers on hand. They were all out in the throne room, attending to the high-level guests awaiting her arrival. August had requested them, and so they abandoned their queen in favor of that man. She gathered parts of her dress in bunches, holding tight to them.

Reports had come flying in for the last several minutes about what'd happened down below. Fairy Tail, some rogue group of wizards, came hurtling into the city and seemingly left fruitlessly. Speculations rose that they wanted Mirajane, a new recruit of Tartaros, or that they were seeking some sort of treasure out of the city. But they left empty-handed, leaving only destruction in their wake.

To Sonya, the destruction was all that they needed to leave behind. Nobody had ever left such a mark on the Empire in all its years; not even the full might of her country, Stella, could leave a dent so thorough in the Empire's armor. At the same time, though, Zeref had been present in all of that. He would have put an end to it immediately. August, Sonya had no doubt, could have done the same, but stayed his hand.

She bit the inside of her jaw. To what end did he do this? It was indeed a coincidence that Sonya awoke at the same time Fairy Tail arrived, right? But the public, and the rest of the Imperial forces, couldn't see it that way. How could she distance herself from this? Would she take the blame?

A year she'd been asleep, and in that year, so much changed. She had so much to catch up on that she could not properly mount or bolster defenses. Sending the Crystal Division should have been enough, especially when combined with the power of the Dragon Division, unless that order was ignored.

The only true loss she knew they suffered was Lyon, as word was that he'd either been killed or kidnapped. Nobody seemed particularly fazed or bothered by the idea, though.

The door to the anteroom cracked open of its own will—no, of August's will. He grew bored and wanted to get proceedings over with. Sonya let her dress go. It wasn't so large that she had much to hold onto, as it hugged her figure tightly, but it was comforting to have something to hold. It was a feeling she still wasn't quite used to. Even married to Zeref, she never touched him intimately, not in a way that a couple of married people should. She yearned for...anything.

But she followed the beckoning call anyway. Sonya eased open the door. Her footsteps silenced the small crowd before her.

August led the coalition of the Twilight Division that sat in their own arranged seats—Invel, Brandish, Dimaria, and Neinhart all sat with him, too. They were not the only Generals in the room, to Sonya's surprise, as, alongside the standing Sting and Rogue was the newly returned Zash Caine, that vile son of a bitch who smugly smoked a thick cigar.

The other Divisions did indeed only send their Captain or an estimation of their Captain. As Jacob Lessio was still the rebels' hostage and Minerva was away on some vain mission, Orga represented the Hunters while Ajeel, his arms folded as he stood bored, was there for the Crystal Division. Mard Geer stood solid as a statue, representing Tartaros.

Shadows loomed heavily in the throne room. Sonya stepped by the Spriggan throne, that great piece of black stone that seemed so otherworldly and ethereal. Magic oozed off of it. She took her own, an uncomfortable carving of Stellanium that imbued her with a bit of strength. All others standing, save for Sting and Rogue, took a seat.

"August," Sonya prompted, and the Wizard King rose back to his feet. Sonya was surprised his newest pupil, that blue-haired little thing Levy, wasn't with him.

"In light of recent events," August said, "I would like to propose something to my peers and colleagues."

He meant the other Captains. He should have said equals, Sonya thought.