I wrote the entirety of this chapter today, as if in a fever. As a result, I'm sure there's a few mistakes, but I'm tired of looking at it.

I hope you enjoy it, as things are about to start picking up in the storyline.

The next chapter should be posted in October.

Recommended song is "Sky Becomes Water" by City of the Fallen

Lucy glanced around at the towering columns around her, nervousness sitting in her stomach like food poisoning. Her shoes clacked against the marble tiles, echoing off the stone walls around them.

Seeing her queasy expression, Jason slapped her on her shoulder in what he assumed was a comforting gesture. "Calm down, Lucy! It's not like you haven't met the princess before!"

She let out a weak laugh at his attempt to quell her nervousness. It was difficult to articulate to him that the problem wasn't so much that they were about to interview Fiore's royalty, but more along the lines that the last time she'd been in this area of the palace, she'd been fighting for her life. Jason wouldn't remember the details of that night, of course, and attempting to explain would only lead to confusion and trouble.

Instead, she swallowed the rising bile in her throat and offered him a trembling smile. "This is a bit more of a formal setting than last time though," she offered by way of explanation for her behavior. "It's… you know… more official than a party is."

A loud laugh burst from Jason's mouth, reverberating off the stone walls and preceding them down the hallway. "I used to feel the same way!" he told her with a grin. "At the end of the day though, they're still just people like everyone else. Just remember that, and talking to famous people becomes a lot easier. I promise."

"…Okay," she acquiesced, recognizing the good advice for what it was, even if it wasn't necessarily what she needed at the moment. "I'll remember that. Thanks, Jason."

Waving off her thanks, he lifted his camera to snap a few photos of the architecture, mumbling under his breath about the historical background of the palace's construction. Lucy, used to his tangents, tuned it out as background chatter. She was impressed with his wide breadth of knowledge, but at the same time there was only so much concentrated Jason that was tolerable in a single sitting.

Moreover, his advice reminded her that she needed to mentally prepare herself for the task ahead of her. When she'd gone into work the day before to discuss what interview Jason had set up on her behalf, she'd been floored when he'd told her it was with Hisui, Fiore's crown princess. Even more surprising was the list of prepared questions. Some were pretty routine – discussing the rise of guilds as an economic power, plans for the next year's Grand Magic Games, and that sort of thing. But there were a few personal questions that blindsided Lucy. Those were mostly about celestial magic, and were part of a more banter-like section of the interview, aimed to capitalize on the fact that Lucy herself was a celestial wizard, and the fact that they'd met before.

Before seeing those questions, Lucy had had no idea that Hisui possessed celestial magic as well. In hindsight, it did make a decent amount of sense. A good portion of the Eclipse Gate's construction would have been impossible without an intimate knowledge of celestial magic. It led Lucy to wonder how she'd never thought of that possibility before. Still, it was somewhat reassuring to know that she and Yukino were not quite the only practicing celestial magic-wielders left in Fiore. Knowing that she had something like this in common with the princess was rather… comforting. It made Lucy feel much more connected.

After the interview was concluded, however, Lucy had a few personal questions for the princess that she'd rehearsed repeatedly in the safety of her apartment. If there was anyone who'd done a lot of research into Zeref and Acnologia, it was Princess Hisui.

Coming to the end of the hallway, they turned left into another, and then shortly turned right into a depressed recess, not really long or large enough to be called a proper corridor. At the end of it, two guards stood posted at a large, heavy looking door.

"We're with Sorcerer Weekly," Jason announced, showing them his press badge. "We have an appointment with Princess Hisui."

"Why are you not accompanied by a palace servant?" One of the guards questioned, holding up a clipboard, while the other watched them intensely. Even though she knew everything was in order, and that there was nothing nefarious about their visit, Lucy couldn't help but feel like a deer being sized up by a wolf.

Jason shrugged. "Not sure. Maybe they were short-handed? Besides which, you know me, Harold. From that article a couple of years back."

Harold grumbled, but continued to eye them cautiously. "You can never be too careful."

Lucy was thankful when, a few moments later, the guard with the clipboard nodded. "All seems to be in order. You're right on time. Please wait here for a moment, while I announce your arrival."

Harold relaxed slightly while his companion entered a room that Lucy guessed to be an antechamber from the quick glimpse she got through the door. Once it shut, she heard distant knocking, and a muffled half conversation. He returned shortly and nodded at them. "Follow me," he instructed.

It was an antechamber, Lucy realized as she obediently trailed after Jason and the guard. It was a sort of waiting area, with a couple of tables and chairs with bookshelves along one wall and a window along its opposite from which light streamed into the room. Before she had the time to inspect it further, they were ushered into the princess's receiving chambers and study.

The room was filled with windows, Lucy saw with delight. Nearly the entirety of the circular room was coated with clear glass, affording the princess an excellent view of the castle gardens. Several low benches were set against the window, to allow for someone to read or relax while enjoying the sights. It was a view that Hisui presently had her back to, unfortunately, as she sat at her desk with a couple of stacks of paperwork. The green-haired woman looked up at their arrival, and smiled beatifically. "Thank you for showing them in, Yuen. I will call for you if I need you."

Yuen bowed low to her. "I will be on the other side of this door, in the antechamber." He withdrew smartly, with the sort of military preciseness that Lucy assumed was ingrained in all of the guards.

The princess stood up from her desk, setting down her pen. "Thank you for coming, both of you," Hisui told them politely. Her eyes, however, sparkled with delight. "Let us speak over there." She gestured to a couch and chairs set up around a low table, a platter of treats and a steaming teapot already waiting for them. Large bookshelves were the backdrop of this section of the room, crammed with important looking tomes and a sliding ladder to reach the tallest sections.

To Lucy's eyes, it looked strangely familiar to her for some reason.

Before she could attempt to truly place it, however, she found Jason already launching into the interview proper, and she had to force it out of her mind in order to catch up with the conversation.

When the interview was through, Jason happily shut his notebook closed and heaved a satisfied sigh. "I very much enjoyed speaking with you today, Princess Hisui," he told her. "Thank you very much for generously spending your time on us."

Hisui smiled at him politely. "Not at all, it was my pleasure." The woman then glanced at Lucy, and she seemed to hesitate for a brief moment.

Ever the observant people-watcher, Jason picked up on her body language and rose to his feet. "Lucy, I think that's it for the day."

Jumping on the opportunity that Jason was kindly presenting to her, Hisui gazed at her fellow celestial mage entreatingly. "If you're through with work for the day, might I borrow some of your time, Lucy?"

The offer surprised the blonde woman. She'd been looking for an opportunity to talk to the princess alone for a good portion of the latter half of the interview, and was a little shocked that it was Hisui herself that wanted to talk with her further. "Sure thing," she agreed, relief cascading through her. "Truth be told, I was kind of hoping for an opportunity to catch up with you while I was here."

"I'll take my leave then. Farewell, Princess Hisui. I hope you have a cool day. And Lucy, I'll see you tomorrow at the office to go over our notes."

"Sure thing," Lucy replied. "See you tomorrow."

Hisui inclined her head at Jason. "Farewell."

Once Jason had left, Yuen reentered the room. "Is there anything you require, Princess?"

"Yes," she stated. "Could you please have a page sent in with fresh tea? Lucy will be staying a while longer to chat with me."

"Certainly." Yuen's lips twitched, as if he were fighting back a smile.

He departed, and Hisui slumped gratefully into her seat. "Sorry for my poor posture," she apologized, "but I can't tell you what a relief it is to finally relax a little."

"Busy schedule today I take it?" Lucy reached for one of the biscuits on the platter, nibbling the crumbly pastry more out of a need to be doing something rather than out of hunger.

"Indeed. The rest of my afternoon is clear, however. Well…" the princess amended, looking sheepish, "except for the paperwork on my desk, anyway." Suddenly, she sat straight up, a wide smile across her face. "But enough about me, today! I want to hear about you! How have you been since I last saw you?"

Lucy laughed lightly, Hisui's apparent excitement the bolster to Lucy's spirits that she'd desperately needed as of late. "I've been doing okay, I think," she told her. "It's been tough without Fairy Tail." Which was the understatement of the century, but Lucy didn't want to worry her friend with the true extent of her troubles. "But I'm managing. I do enjoy working with Sorcerer Weekly and Jason."

Despite Lucy's best efforts to come across as more or less completely fine, Hisui's face still fell at her words. "Fairy Tail's disbandment was a surprise to us all," she told Lucy softly. Reaching out, she lay a hand on Lucy's arm. "I'm here for you if you ever need to talk."

Swallowing thickly, Lucy nodded. "Thank you, but I wouldn't dream of dumping my problems onto a princess. I'm sure you have a lot on your plate already."

Hisui withdrew her arm and grimaced – an expression that Lucy hadn't previously thought the older woman capable of making. "I think I prefer your problems to my own," she grumbled. Then she caught herself, and red creeped across her cheeks. "Not that… I'm ungrateful to be let off with such a light punishment for what I've done…" she said cautiously. "But I would like to do something other than paperwork, truth be told."

"Is that why your desk is facing away from the windows?" Lucy inquired. "Because let me tell you, if I had a view like that, I wouldn't get anything done at all."

With a giggle, Hisui nodded. "It's the same for me."

"You know, until a day or two ago, I had no idea you were a celestial wizard," Lucy informed her friend. "I'm a little embarrassed that I never gave it any thought considering the… you know, circumstances."

Blinking at her owlishly, Hisui contemplated that information. "I guess it never did come up, did it? I just assumed you knew, since your father did. But then again, you were gone for seven years, and I was a good deal younger than you back then, so maybe you never heard about it."

Lucy nodded. "I was pretty disconnected from high society for a couple of years, too. I don't know how much my father told you, but basically I ran away from home when I was sixteen."

Hisui's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. "I had no idea. Your father was always very… vague about the circumstances leading to your estrangement. I never pried because I thought the topic too sensitive."

"That makes sense. After that year, I ran into Natsu and joined Fairy Tail. I was with them for half a year before… before Tenrou."

Sympathy clear in her green eyes, Hisui nodded. "I must confess, I actually wanted to talk to you about your father, and the research he helped me with."

That pricked Lucy's curiosity. "Really?" she inquired. "What about it?"

Hisui hesitated for a brief minute, and then responded, "He… he left something with me for you. Hold on one second." Standing up, Hisui walked over to her desk. Taking a key out of her pocket, she unlocked one of the drawers and pulled out a leather-bound book from it. Returning to Lucy, she held the object out to her. "He didn't want this to fall into the hands of his creditors, so he smuggled it out of your mansion. Eventually, he decided to leave it with me should you ever follow in his footsteps."

Taking the book, Lucy held it reverently in front of her. It was very, very old she discerned. The pages looked fragile, and the leather was worn away in places. "I'm not sure I'm following what you're saying," Lucy told Hisui, glancing back up at her. "What do you mean, following in his footsteps?"

Smiling slightly, Hisui sat down beside Lucy on the couch. "I first met your father while I was researching Zeref's black magic. He was working on his own research at the time, and wanted to peruse some of the royal archives." She bit her lip. "There was a lot of overlap in our research, so we ended up conferring often."

Lucy peered at her, still not comprehending what the princess was trying to get at.

"You see," Hisui continued, her cheeks burning with embarrassment, "when Sorcerer Weekly contacted me for an interview, I ended up asking after you with Jason. I hope you don't mind."

Shaking her head, Lucy gestured for her to go on.

"He mentioned that you were working inside the Library of Sorcery, and given all that has happened recently… I thought that maybe you might be researching the same thing that your father was."

"Which was?" Lucy prompted when Hisui trailed off.

Hisui's jade eyes bored straight through Lucy.

"How to defeat the black dragon of the apocalypse that took his daughter away from him."