Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 54 - Dolls

Lucy walked side-by-side in an awkward step with Axel down the corridor connecting the Dragon Tower to Mercurius. They were alone. Axel's arms were rigid at his side while Lucy let her arms swing a little free, catching occasional glimpses of her bracelets. They were charcoal black, warm to the touch on her wrist, but in what was meant to be a soothing way. They weren't. They were heavy, overly ornate, and didn't match her dress. Axel had no sense of style yet had a sense of demanding Lucy wear what he wanted.

He wanted it to be something she could be all dolled up in for their upcoming meeting. Lucy had a few butterflies about it. They were headed to meet her father, who had recently returned to Crocus and requested an audience with Lucy and Axel once his business was well underway and he could find a few minutes. In all likelihood, he wanted to see what was going on with the wedding.

Suffice to say, it wasn't much.

"I spoke with a few representatives of your father's company," Axel said. His voice filled the corridor. "They're looking to make a seasonal branch in the city. Probably so Jude has more reason to come see you."

"That'd be nice."

"Perhaps you can visit from time to time if you can spare a moment."

It was a poorly veiled jab. Lucy was hardly ever home. She took the brief moment of freedom he used to allow her and expanded it. She spent most of her days in the same routine of training, studying Celestial Spirit magic, and generally socializing. If she was to become someone entrenched in society to the point where nobody blinked twice at her presence, then she would dedicate herself to it.

She couldn't really speak to any of the people she was getting to know, though. All of them were vain, false princesses from big old-world families that had just as much crass as they didn't class. Levy would occasionally be reprieved of her work with August to join Lucy, which only made things a little better. Sorano was supposed to be around, too, but given their history, Lucy was okay with avoiding her.

None of it left time for Axel, save for their evening meals which he was often in a rush to get to anyway because of his position in the city watch. Lucy feigned pride in him for being so dutiful and suspected it was the reason he kept to the job.

"Yeah, I think I will," Lucy said. The double doors into the castle opened for them.

An ornate hallway of fine marble and pristine mirrors and paintings awaited them. Unlike the last time they saw Jude Heartfilia, this would be a more formal, business-oriented meeting, Lucy suspected. No dinner, no dancing about the point.

They wove through the underbelly of Mercurius, passing guards and servants and politicians alike, before arriving at a circular conference room with a shooting ceiling and round table planted in the middle of it. Lucy's father waited in the middle of the room, looking over some paperwork. He almost jumped at their appearance.

Guards shut the doors behind them. He stood with a smile.

"So wonderful to see you both," he said.

"It's good to see you, too, dad," Lucy said.

She embraced her father. There was still something off about it, but not on his end. To hug her father was once a dream, and that it was under such malevolent circumstances as being roped in together by the Twilight Empire added a pinch of the nightmarish. Particularly given who hovered over them, waiting to shake Jude's hand.

They sat—Lucy next to her father and Axel across the table from them.

"Jude," Axel said, resting his hands on the table. "I'd like to make a proposal. You can say no, or whatever you wish, but I'm beginning, to, I must admit, get antsy about this."