Okay, so like, I have started this multi-chaptered piece of ridiculosity that will have surprising things in it and hopefully entertain everyone and HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT YOU'RE USED TO SEEING FROM ME SO YOU WILL ALL BE ENTERTAINED.
Be warned, though. Pacing is slow. Um. In-depth? Yeah. I like that excuse better. HAHA. I don't know how fast updates will be, but I'm going pretty steady with this one, so hopefully we'll get to the juicy parts! Anyway! Um! Yay! Go!
Xx A Girl and Her Telescope xX
Lucy listened for the footfalls of her father, quiet, breathless beneath the covers of her bed. Light from the hallway filtered into her room from under the door, disturbed eventually by the movement of his steps. They were heavy and ominous, slow and deliberate, and sounded louder the closer he came. He paused just outside her door, lingered for a moment, shifted, and Lucy found herself terrified he'd come inside…
But then he was gone. She allowed herself a controlled, silent sigh of relief, and waited until the lights went out. It wasn't until the soft clap of his bedroom door closing sounded up the hall, however, that she dared get out of bed.
The carpet was soft under her feet as she padded over to the balcony, passing her antique desk and sweeping a long white cardigan over her silk pyjamas. Tense, excited, new to this whole rebellious thing, she fumbled with the handles on her glass balcony doors, and stepped out into the night.
Where it waited. Her telescope.
A wonderful modified antique of peerless design, it balanced delicately on wood-and-brass tripod spires, gazing upwards and outwards to a world she wanted nothing but to explore. It was her biggest link to freedom, the telescope, and it was something her father had bought her as a trivial trinket, an object of design and not practicality. If he knew she spent half her nights charting stars and ignoring his strict curfew, he'd certainly have it taken away. Astronomy had nothing to do with her schoolwork – at least not yet – and it was something that would remind him a little too much of his late wife.
Lucy considered her love of the cosmos an honour, as something in common she could share with Layla. Jude would see it as an encroachment on her memory. Though practically estranged, Lucy knew her father well enough to be sure of that.
With a lonely sigh, Lucy fiddled with the knobs and dials until she was staring straight up into the constellation of Cancer, her own zodiac sign. She lingered there, first on Altarf, then on to Acubens and the north and south donkey stars, checking and memorising the coordinates in her head as she did. Cancer was a mutable water sign, gentle and compliant. She accepted her identity, believing somewhat naively in the wisdom of astrology, but she also wished it didn't have to be that way. She wanted to be brave, like a Leo, or organised like a Virgo. Or… maybe dynamic, a leader, like Scorpio. A Scorpio would be able to stand up to their father for sure.
Lucy sighed again and cast her scope towards the moon, ruler of her zodiac, and felt herself start to feel better. She had enough problems at school with how everybody treated her. She didn't need to bring herself down as well.
"Because you're already fabulous, Lucy Heartfilia," she told herself in a whisper. "Just don't you forget it."
A sudden clack from out in the hallway ripped her out of her little world, and Lucy's heart leapt up into her throat. What was it? Why had her father left his room? She had to get back to bed! What if he was coming in to check on her!
She whirled back around, clipping her telescope with her elbow as she did so. It wobbled and teetered but stayed upright as she tried to get back into her room as quickly and silently as possible. She leapt beneath the covers and wriggled out of her cardigan as best she could, just in time, as Jude's huge fist pounded upon her door.
"Lucy. It's your father."
His tone was gruff, his voice firm and authoritative. Lucy debated on what would be the best option – to answer him or to let him think she was asleep, like she was meant to be. She decided the latter was the safest bet, still trying to get her heart to stop thumping and her breath to come normally. Her hands were shaking as she clasped them to her chest.
"I'm coming in."
Lucy played possum, terrified he'd just… know somehow, that he'd find out she'd been disobeying him and end it all, burst the bubble that was her secret, starry world without a second thought to how happy it made her. He towered over her bed and barked her name, twice, slamming his hand down on her crowded bedside table, making her squeak and sit up quickly against the pillows, grasping her blankets fiercely to her chest to try and stop her heart from freaking.
"F-Father?" she blurted. His face was fearsome, shadowed and dark. She fumbled for her bedside lamp as he spoke.
"I've made a decision about your future," he told her. "It's about time you make your debut."
"I've been in the public eye since… since I was ten, now, Father. Why…"
"Councilman Dorma is throwing a ball eight days hence. Several potential suitors will be in attendance – including the chairman's newfound son." He slapped a stack of files at her bedside. Anything that hadn't been dislodged by his hand before was broken or tossed to the floor. "A marital alliance with any of these families would be incredibly beneficial to the Heartfilia business."
"P-Potential su… But, I -" Lucy looked into his face, at the hard line fixed firmly beneath his short moustache and faltered. His expression was extra cold, and he couldn't seem to meet her eye. "I – You could have… I didn't know…"
Jude was already turning his back on her. "Now you do. I will make sure Spica has found you something suitable to wear. I have already arranged for Asellus to be available. That should be all you need, correct?"
"But -"
"The function begins at seven. I have arranged for your stylists to arrive at four." He turned back to face her just before he left the room. "Don't disappoint me."
It was all Lucy could do not to cry.