Disclaimer: All rights of Fairy Tail go to Hiro Mashima!
Second chapter, I hope you like it!

Waking up from the sunlight as her maid opened the windows, Lucy found out that Gray already left. That guy was unbelievable. That guy practically had no sleep because of her, but he would still get up in the morning to do his job. She couldn't blame him; her father was a scary person to have as a boss.
She took a long shower and let the dreams wash away with the water. Forgetting wasn't an option. The face of that boy was etched in that stupid brain of hers. His eyes that saw right through her, the tattoos and scales on his face, the mark on his shoulder… She hugged herself as she remembered how real the scales on his claw felt… How sharp his teeth looked… She was pulled out of her thoughts as the maid knocked on the bathroom door to ask if she was alright.

"I'm fine, coming right up!"

Acting like nothing was wrong; she let herself get dressed in one of her frillier and antique gowns as she was ordered to always be pleasantly beautiful. What a ridiculous statement. Well, she wouldn't say it like that but you can't be friendly and pleasant by just putting a dress on, right? Just like those silly rich people. Most people she met on such high-class parties were wolves dressed up like sheep, even her dad. They were all people who were merely interested in other people's hardships or achievements. When her father closed a new deal, everyone was there. But when times get hard, no one is around to help. They only gossip about it on the parties she and her father wouldn't be invited to anymore. Yeah well, she learned to live with it.

What can a mere daughter do in a world set up for her by her father? It was a lot of pressure, especially as a small kid to put on all those dresses and sit still for a whole evening. But if she could make her father happy with that, it was fine. Though she didn't think he ever felt happy. He always had the same harsh, disapproving expression on his face. After she was dressed, the maid combed her hair and pinned it up with a couple of hairpins. She followed the maid downstairs to the ballroom to get a dance lesson.
Not noticing all the flowers and the decorations in the ballroom, she let herself be guided. Her mind wasn't in the dance but she followed her teacher's lead. Flashbacks of pink hair crossed her mind, but she ignored them. Everything was fine. Her teacher was satisfied and dismissed the dance lesson for today. A maid approached her and guided her upstairs as her father asked for her. It seemed rather important, probably something about a huge financial deal combined with a lecture that she was to behave herself in front of the next probable client. She went to her father's office and made a note in her mind to see Gray later, to check on him. As she neared the doors of her father's office, she took a deep breath.

'Come on Luce, get it together. It's just your father.'

She arrived at the door and looked at the butler next to it, saying: "Could you let my father know I'm here? He summoned me."
The butler bowed and pressed a button as he announced her. Her father's voice was heard through the microphone, saying he could let her in. He opened the doors for her and she walked inside, seeing her father standing with his back to her looking through his large window aimed at his property. It was a rather long distance to his desk as she walked in silence. His office was as neat as ever, three maids kept it clean throughout the day so that he could talk with uninvited guests without shame. When she arrived at his desk, she waited for him to say that she could take a seat on one of the two chairs in front of his desk. That was etiquette.

"Please take a seat."

She sat on the left chair and waited. Her nerves on end as she didn't want to do anything wrong and disappoint him.

"Daughter, I heard from the maids that you let the gardener sleep in your room yesterday night. Is that true?"

Oh it's just a lecture, alright that was fine. She could handle gossip about Gray.

"Yes I did, sir."
"Do you know what consequences your actions will have?"
"I do, sir."
"Do you and the gardener have something together?"
"No we don't, sir."
"Then why are you willing to feed the gossip? Maids don't stay quiet; soon you'll be unfavourable to marry. Do you understand that?"
"Sir, with all due respect but I really get along with Gray and it so happens that he's not a girl."

'Otherwise there would be no gossip in this repressing household', she thought to herself.

"Don't be stubborn like that. I don't agree with this. If you stay acting like a child-"

They were interrupted by the opening of the doors to her father's office. The butler came in and bowed.

"I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but I had to contact you when the new client was on the line. Do I have to say that he has to call you back?"
"No it's fine, I'll take the call."

Lucy excused herself and was ready to leave, but her father told her to stay put. He sat in his chair and took the horn off the phone.

"Mr. Eucliffe, it's so good to hear from you! So how's the situation? Do we agree?"

Lucy didn't hear the words on the other line, so she couldn't make a lot out of the conversation. She started fumbling with the fringes on her dress.

"I see. She's here right now. I'll inform her right away. So next Saturday is ok for you? Four days should be enough, I agree."

After the phone call, Lucy was on edge. Why did he have to inform her for a deal? She didn't have any say in his business. Maybe he was asking her to learn the ways of his business because she was his only heir? But that would mean he had to trust her… No way... He stood up from his chair and went back to looking at the garden through the window. Lucy couldn't keep her focus as her nerves made her stomach ache.

"Lucy, my daughter, I've been thinking. You've come of age and being a grown up means you're responsible enough to do this. I'll cancel your dance lessons for this Saturday so you have some spare time."

This was it. He really trusted her… The only time her dance lessons were cancelled was for her mother's funeral, so this really was a big deal.

"If we do this, I need you to stop practicing your magic."

Lucy's heart skipped a beat.
In this family, there were no conversations about magic. Not ever since her mother died. She never told her father that she found her mother's keys and notes on how to make contracts. It was all collected in a box at the bottom of her closet. And when she found it, she made sure to never use it in the mansion. She practiced in the woods with Gray's ice make magic as her opponent. It was their little secret. And now her father told her that she should stop using the magic she inherited from her mother. How did he know?

"Why..."
"Only fools are blinded by their own ignorance, I've known it all along. As long as it stayed small I didn't say anything about it, but you can nearly do everything your mother did. It's becoming dangerous. We're training you to become a lady, so you don't need magic. I'm saving you from the fate of your mother."

The tension in the room was prominent. Telling a mage to stop practicing magic is like telling a person to stop breathing. Silence cut through the room as his words burned inside her and her façade faded piece by piece. It was her well-kept secret. And now she found out it wasn't a secret at all! All these years of sneaking around, he was just playing dumb...

"You knew? Why didn't you tell me? I had so many questions and..."

Her father didn't listen, nor turned around to face her. He kept talking like it was the most normal thing to do in this situation. Like it was normal to ignore her, as he had done all these years.

"If you put your magic aside, Mr. Eucliffe promised to think about my offer. He hates magic and doesn't want it in his house. If you can do this, he said that he would be able to let his son marry you. The Eucliffe family has a lot of land next to us, so we could expand our property and I wouldn't have to worry about you not marrying because of lame rumours you started."

Her stomach ache made room for something other than nerves. Disgust was the only thing she felt.

"… I… You can't ask that of me."
"I know it's a bit sudden, but he is a gentleman I heard. You will come to like him eventually."
"Eventually?"
"Yes, the proposal should be on Saturday, four days from now, so that you can get to know him. The wedding itself will be on Monday next week. I'm confident that you will come to like him before the wedding."

Something snapped in Lucy. Maybe it was because of the lack of sleep, or his lack of interest in her opinion, but her father was irritating her much longer than today with his almighty attitude. She stood up and he finally turned around.

"Don't act like you care."
"What was that?"
"Is that what I mean to you? I'm one of your deals? I'm just some horse that you can sell to the richest man in town?! I should have known. Why does it seem like I don't mean anything to you? I'm your daughter!"
"I won't let you speak like that to me. Now sit down like a lady would."
"I'm not some fragile girl! I'm your daughter! Shouldn't you care about my opinion? That magic is the only thing left of mom and I will not give it up! So what if there are rumours, I'll find my way somehow. This is your way. I've done everything for you to notice me. To let you say for one time that I've done a good job. It was never enough. I would do anything for your approval… but I won't do this. I can't… I can't abandon my mother's magic to marry a complete stranger for money!"

So much was running through her head. She held back her tears as she turned around and stormed out as fast as she could. She wouldn't let him see her in this weak state. This couldn't be happening. He yelled at her to come back this instant but she opened the doors and ran past the butler to her room and locked it from the inside. Leaning against it, she let the tears go. All of her sympathy for her father that she still had, disappeared in this moment. She slid to the ground and pulled up her knees to her chest. She cried like this for what felt like an hour. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't go back. Why did she cause such a scene? She went to her closet and reached for her keys in the bottom drawer. They were so much more than her magic... How could she give up her friends who represent her mother's heritage?

Looking around, a thought popped up in her head. She could run... Run away and leave everything behind... What was there to care about when she stayed? Her only family member officially wanted her out of the house to live with a stranger and the maids were friendly, but only good to feed the rumours. The only good thing here was Gray and she had to tell him before leaving this land for good. She took an old backpack from her closet and stuffed it with essentials; Toiletries, a towel and underwear. A fresh pair of clothes was harder to find. All her clothes in her closet were frilly dresses in the brightest colours. They would attract too much attention in the city. She searched in her nightdresses and found some gardening clothes, she used them a couple of years ago to plant new roses at her mother's grave. Putting on the black pants, her legs were being squeezed, but it fit. The white top was a bit short, but she could still put it on. There wasn't another pair of normal clothes, so she would have to buy some when she got in town. Taking all of her cash in the room and putting it in the bag, together with her mother's diary, she halted at the mirror to look at herself.
She was really doing this.
Making sure she had all her keys, she tried to sneak out but her father had already called her maids to her bedroom door to make sure she didn't do anything stupid.

"Miss, do you need anything?"
"Uhm… no, I wanted to tell you that I don't feel well and I don't need lunch today."
"Okay, do you need some medicine?"
"No, I'm alright. I'll sit this one out."

She closed the door. Phew, that was close! Another way out was the balcony. She looked down and it was rather high as her room was situated on the second floor* of the mansion. There went her plan. She couldn't even leave. What was she trying to do? How could she face the world if she couldn't even leave her room? She leaned on her balcony.
Maybe she shouldn't do this.
She walked to her bed and laid down on it. Looking at the time on the longcase clock in her room, it was already 1pm. She didn't even know if there was a train at this hour. She only took the train for their trip to old relatives. A trip that they took once every year... If she would just apologize to her father and smile, everything will be back to normal. She'll go on with her life, marry that Eucliffe person and please her father... When she looked back at her keys, those thoughts disappeared. Normal? What was she thinking? She would have to sell her body to a stranger in less than a week! A yellow light appeared in her room and suddenly one of her most loyal spirits appeared in front of her.

"Troubles, miss? I sensed your distress."
"Loke, you're a genius!"
"I'll be anything you want me to be, princess. Can this genius help you with something?"

*I mean the US English 'second floor', equal to the UK English 'first floor'
Title: Sia - Elastic Heart

Thank you for reading!