Alison's Point of View

Lucy knocked on Merlin's door, and Merlin opened it. "Hello, girls," Merlin greeted.

"Hi, Mr. Merlin. Alison has a question for you," Lucy mentioned.

"Are Sora and Kairi still here? I wanted to see if I could go to the coronation with them," I asked.

"They left an hour ago, I'm afraid. However, I can take you. I'm already bringing Brittany, who is staying with Leon, but I definitely have room for two more," Merlin agreed.

"Oh, I'm not going. I just brought Alison here," Lucy explained.

"Well, if you would like to come, you are more than welcome, my dear. I'm leaving tomorrow since my magic will allow instant teleportation. You can run along home for today. I'll come to get you when I'm ready to leave," Merlin offered.

"Thank you, Mr. Merlin," I replied.

"Of course, dear," Merlin smiled.

"Bye, Mr. Merlin," Lucy added. We started walking back to Braig's house as Merlin shut the door.

"You know, it would be kind of fun to have you around," I commented.

"I don't think my dad would let me go. I'm definitely not bringing it up to my mom. I guess there's no harm in asking, though. I'll just see what happens. I've never been away from Radiant Gardens before. My dad tries to keep me away from all that," Lucy sighed.

"You would get to meet my sister, too! Not my little sister. I mean, you might see my little sister, but my big sister, Brittany, will be going with us. Molly will probably be at the coronation, but I don't know if we'll see her at all. It's probably going to be a big ceremony," I brought up.

"I don't have anything to wear to a formal ceremony like a coronation," Lucy realized.

My eyes widened. "I don't either! I have to fix this!"

"How are you going to do that? Dresses are expensive. We can't get that kind of munny by tomorrow," Lucy fretted.

"I don't know. I'll call Brittany and see if she has any ideas," I decided. I pulled out my phone and called Brittany.

"Hello?" Brittany answered.

"Brit, it's me. Merlin's taking us to the coronation with you tomorrow, and we don't have dresses to go to a coronation. What do we do?" I panicked.

"Alison, we still don't know if I can even go," Lucy grumbled.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. What do you mean, us?" Brittany questioned.

"Me and Lucy, Braig's daughter. What do we do?" I clarified.

"I don't know, Aly. My friend Evie has been working on my dress for a while now. Now that you mention it, I'll have to let Merlin know I need to stop by the dorms to put on my dress. Anyways, Evie would have had to start on any other dresses a while ago. I don't know what to tell you. Even if she could, she doesn't have your measurements," Brittany said.

"What about Fairy Godmother? She's the head of that school or something like that, isn't she? She made a temporary new dress for Cinderella. She could make dresses for Lucy and me," I tried.

"She doesn't do that anymore. Sorry, Ally. I can't help you," Brittany apologized.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow if I can find a dress to wear," I groaned before hanging up.

"Hey, we'll figure something out," Lucy promised.

When we got back to Braig's house, we found him sitting in the grass in the backyard, watching Clarissa pick dandelions. He turned to us when he noticed us. "Missed the boat, huh? That's too bad."

"Actually, Merlin offered to take me tomorrow. He's taking Brittany, too. I do have a teeny tiny problem, though, which is,I don't have anything to wear to a coronation," I explained.

"There's a Moogle in town. I'll make sure you can get what you need," Braig assured me.

I looked at Lucy, who was avoiding eye contact with Braig. I nudged her, and she turned to me. She mouthed, "What?" I shot a look back at Braig before looking back at her to remind her to ask him about coming to the coronation.

"Is there something else?" Braig asked.

"Yeah, no, it's nothing really," Lucy mumbled.

"What's up?" Braig pressed.

"Merlin invited me, too. I know I can't go. I just thought it would be cool is all. It's alright," Lucy replied.

"I never said you couldn't go," Braig stated.

"Yeah, but I've never been off-world before. Besides, I don't have a dress either, so it's not like I could go even if you let me. I'm fine here. Mom doesn't have forever, and I shouldn't really leave her much. I'm good. I'll just be here and help Mr. Ienzo, and Mr. Even take care of Mom," Lucy rambled.

Braig stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders, stopping her from continuing. "Hey, I told you that you don't need to help out with your mother this time. You did more than your share last time. I've got it. I'll get both of you some dresses, and you can go together so long as you stay with Mr. Merlin. Don't tell anyone that I'm your father, and you should be alright, okay?"

"Wait, what? Really?" Lucy gasped.

"Yeah. Go ahead. Your mom being sick has taken enough from you," Braig said.

Lucy hugged her father. "Thanks, Dad."

"Hey, don't get all mushy on me now, Lu," Braig teased. Lucy pulled away, looking a lot happier than I had ever seen her. "Watch your sister. I'm gonna go check on your mom."

Lucy's smile faltered as Braig went into the house. It returned when she looked at me. "I get to come!" She squealed.

"More importantly, you'll get a beautiful new dress," I smirked.

"We've got to work on your priorities," Lucy chuckled.

"Brittany's been trying for years. She's the practical one," I commented.

"Clearly," Lucy remarked.

"Hey, guys, come play with me!" Clarissa called out.

"Coming, Rissa!" Lucy shouted back. We ran to play with her.