Phoenix Fire || Fairy Tail [1]

𝐱𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥

𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜: 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙯𝙖𝙮𝙙𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙡𝙛 𝙭 𝙛𝙟ø𝙧𝙖
❛ 𝘪'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 ❜

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Rose smoothed the fabric of her skirt down, waiting for Lucy and company to finish with their preparations. She hadn't counted on them being so meticulous about dresses – once more, she thanked the heavens. The shopkeeper from before the games had been all too happy to make a dress for her, though there had been mere hours to go before the ball. How she'd managed to pull it off was beyond Rose's realm of knowledge.

Nevertheless, the gown had turned out splendidly – Rose adored it (which was saying a lot, since usually she disliked impractical things). The gold embroidery and the crimson fabric was vastly different in style to the dresses the other girls were wearing, but there was a certain charm to it.

"Come on, Rose," Lucy waved a pair of sparkling heels in the phoenix slayer's face. "They would go well with the dress!"

"I'd end up looking like a disco ball," Rose grunted in reply. "Besides, I'm already wearing shoes."

Lucy squinted at the hem of Rose's skirt, which brushed the ground. She couldn't see the shoes.

"I can't see anything."

"That's the point –" Rose revealed that she was wearing her usual combat boots beneath the gown. "If they can't see it, why should I bother?"

"Rose, is that a dagger?" Yukino pointed at the blade sheathed and strapped to the phoenix slayer's leg.

"What?" Rose questioned, oblivious to the expression on both Lucy and Yukino's faces. "It's for self-defence."

"Sure..." Lucy trailed off, allowing her arm to fall with a resigned sigh. "Even though you could probably fight someone off with your bare hands and no magic..."

Rose eyed the saddened look on the blonde's face for a moment, her mind suddenly reminding her of the Lucy from the future. An annoyed huff escaped her, before she kicked the boots off and snatched a pair of dark heels from the table.

"Fine, I'll wear them," Lucy's eyes lit up, "But not the sparkly ones. I have standards, thanks."

"Better than nothing," Lucy remarked, tossing the shoes away. They landed on the sofa, where Cylene was curled up. The wyvern blinked sleepily as Rose plopped down beside her and tugged the heels on.

"Looks like everyone's ready," Princess Hisui got up from the seat in front of the vanity. "Why don't we get going?"

Rose leapt to her feet and checked to make sure her dress cascaded the way it was supposed to, admiring the smooth silken fabric in the light. She was really curious about how the lady from the dress store made it so perfect. Maybe she was a psychic. Rose wouldn't be all that surprised by that, actually.

"Rose, hurry up!"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Rose saw that Cylene had already leapt to the ground and started out the door. She could hear the girls chattering in the hallway outside excitedly, clearly anticipating the grand ball which was to be taking place – in contrast to their joy, Rose was quite tired. She'd wasted a ton of magic in one day, and it was taking a bit for her body to regain all the eternano it had utilised.

"I'm coming..."

Trying not have her first kiss stolen by the polished marble floor, Rose left the room and started down the hallway to the glowing rectangle of golden light in the distance, gaze focused upon the silhouettes of her teammates.