Hello, everyone! I'm back from holidays, and I'm gonna try to update other chapters of Connected Souls and Bellum. If you haven't seen my other story Connected Souls, please go check it out while I try to update other chapters. As I already said multiple times, it takes a lot of time to write a single chapter, since I'm French and not totally bilingual... As always, if you find any grammatical problems in my stories, I'm sorry, I'm trying my best to make my stories as good as possible. Thank you for your understanding. Anyways, enjoy this new chapter of Bellum!

Disclaimer; I still don't own Pokemon (and that's really sad).

Chapter 2 – Blood.

After putting on her light platted armor, May grabbed her sword, a small smile appearing on her lips; every student's sword had the same design, but they were all different, having a different composition and a different weight, with a small ribbon tied around the handle, and a small inscription under it. May's sword was rather light, enabling her to be fast when she fought and to keep a great agility. Her hand tightened around the old red ribbon washed-out by time and sweat.

Her armor fitted her curves perfectly, and putting it on was comforting yet energizing. With this protection, she felt strong enough to move mountains.

May loved mornings at school; every student was off duty, and was able to go train on the campus, whether it was in the dojo for martial arts, or in the training room for swords fighting or any other weapon –Kiara was pretty bad with a sword, but incredible with a bow.

By waking up early this morning, May was hoping to have the training room all to herself, but she was not that lucky. When she saw who was training that early, she even thought that the universe had to be against her.

Drew was training there, and as he was trying to catch on his breath, she understood that he had come here a long time ago. Without a word, she sat on a nearby bench. She didn't want him to notice her. May had to admit, he was pretty talented; his sword was way heavier than her own, making his hits difficult to parry away, and very powerful, but this weight was slowing his movements. This "slowness" was resulting in broad movements, and it was rather interesting to watch. She was starting to feel weird, watching her rival training like that, risking to appear as a hysterical fangirl, but observing his fighting skills would surely help her to win fights against him, right?

Drew continued training for a short amount of time, before sticking his sword right in the middle of a target. He took a deep breath.

"So… How many has it been since you started admiring me, September? I know I'm perfect, but come on… You're the least discreet person in this whole school, and it's even worse when you were this armor…" He said, without even taking the time to turn around.

She didn't have to look at him to imagine the huge, ugly smirk that had to be appearing on his face. She turned her head, her cheeks turning red in anger and embarrassment. She was about to reply when he cut her off.

"So, you wanna fight October?" He turned around, a weird gleam in his emerald eyes. He took his sword out of the target, and May smirked.

"I'm gonna humiliate you, Grasshead…" She took her own sword, putting herself in front of her rival, in a fighting stance. She looked ready to charge, but was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise. She was about to ask about it, when the entire building shook, subdued to an incredible force. A scream escaped her lips as she shot her eyes closed, protecting her skull with her arms, as if it was just a bad dream. Over the loud noise, she clearly heard Drew's voice:

"Get on the ground!" She did as she was told, her legs too shaky to hold her anymore. She breathed slowly, trying to catch on her breath. After a few moments, the vibrations finally stopped. She stood up, finally able to breathe normally; she fixed with incredulity, she looked at the dust slowly falling out off the big exposed beams on the ceiling.

She turned around to face her rival, who looked just as surprised as her. After a few seconds, she managed to say something in a calm voice;

"What was that?" She asked, bending over to grab her sword that had fallen on the ground.

"How should I know?" He groaned. He looked at her, emotionless, and went to the window. May was quick to follow him. Grasping her sword tightly, her blue eyes widened when she saw what was happening.

The main building was ripped out right in the heart, and a huge cloud of black smoke was escaping from the huge wound. On the ground, large faults were visible, and giant blocs of rock were scattered all around the building. Around the huge crack, she could see the silhouettes of thousands of students and teachers running in the middle of the rubble. She could almost hear their screams of terror.

"Who… Who could do something like that…? And that kind of magic…" She stuttered. It wasn't like her to stutter, but in front of this sinister sight, she had lost the capacity to speak in complete sentences.

"This is the work of ground manipulators…" Drew answered, his gaze darkening.

"Ground manipulators… from Gaya? But… but why?" Her surprise slowly melted, and she started to feel angry. A raging fire was starting to boil in her stomach, and she couldn't stop it from growing. Tightening her grip on her sword, she turned around, and ran for the exit, without listening to Drew.

Running like a maniac, she arrived at the impact's place in an instant; her eyes were burning, and she could barely breathe but she ran through the rubble, looking for survivors; a scream got stuck in her throat when she saw the first body. She had never seen a corpse in real life before, and that burnt body was way too small to be a teacher's; it was certainly a first year student's, too weak to run away. Maybe he got caught in the explosion.

She took her eyes off the body, and let out a small wail when she saw ten other bodies or so, crushed under big blocks of stone, their bowels slowly spreading on the ground. Feeling her knees buckle, the girl tried to keep her breathing slow. She had to get out of here. She had to make them pay for it. Trying her best not to trip, she headed for the main courtyard.

When she finally arrived there, it was the anarchy; she had never seen so many corpses in her whole life, even in books or films. Here, in this courtyard, the blood of her enemies was melting with the blood of those she loved, the blood of her classmates, of her teachers. Even if it was the blood of people she had never talked to, she was going to make them pay for it.

She felt an incredible amount of energy vibrating within her, and while her right hand clenched on her sword, huge pure red flames wrapped around her left arm. Driven by uncontrollable surges of adrenaline, she suddenly had the strength of ten men. It took possession of her body like a powerful drug. Running at an incredible rate towards the fights, her sword pierced through a first man's chest; he collapsed on the ground with a thump. The light sword pierced through another man's stomach; the two young students he was threatening a few seconds ago let out a small cry. With her amor and sword full of blood, May tried to reassure them, smiling gently.

"It's okay, he's dead. Run to safety, okay?" She wiped away the blood on her hand, and pointed to the closer exit. She sighed, feeling relieved, when she clearly heard a voice coming from her right;

"May, behind you!" She turned around quickly, brandishing her sword, just in time to see an enemy falling to the ground, an arrow lodged in his temple. Turning her head on her right, she saw Kiara with her stretched bow in her hands. May quickly waved at her, muttering a word of thanks, before going back to the fight.

She killed enemy after enemy, with all the power adrenaline was giving her, and finally she came across a group of teachers, and spotted a familiar face; Cynthia, her main teacher and Drew's. She was fighting with vigor and ferocity, and she looked as if she was 20 again. After killing one last enemy, she turned to face her student, totally out of breath. She suddenly looked so old and devastated when she saw her best student covered in blood and her eyes full of hatred and revenge…

"May…" She muttered. She looked at someone behind the young girl; May turned her head to see Drew. Bloodstains were visible on his armor too, and his sword was dripping with blood. He didn't look happy, and was glaring at the young girl, but inside, he was relieved; at least she wasn't hurt.

"…and Drew. Listen to me, kids. They are many. We'll never be able to defeat them all; they are an entire army against a small military school; the school is a lost cause. You have to flee while you're still alive." May looked ready to interrupt her teacher, but she continued. "May, I'm begging you, just this once… do what I tell you to do! This is an order from your superior!" She looked at Drew imploringly. "Drew, you understand the situation… You're the only ones who can do it." She smiled sadly. "I'm giving you your first and only mission as guards; survive and avenge us. Take her with you Drew. That is all."

May wanted to yell, to scream, to say something, anything, that might convince her teacher she was still ready to fight. Hordes of soldier suddenly ran in their direction, spotting the small group of teachers still fighting. May suddenly lost it and yelled;

"No! If you think that I'm gonna abandon you and all the persons that I love, then…"

"May, that's an order, I command you to go away!" And with those words, with the little power she had left, Cynthia invoked a giant wall of flames between the two teenagers and the rest of the fight. That didn't stop May, though.

"Cynthia! CYNTHIA!" She yelled, trying to get through the flames. Suddenly, she stopped feeling the ground beneath her feet, and understood that Drew was picking her up off the ground. She struggled, but he was way stronger than her.

"Drew, I command you to let go of me! We can't leave them behind! If you're not totally heartless, let go of me! DREW!" She yelled, but Drew didn't say anything back. When she understood that she couldn't do anything, she felt all the energy and adrenaline she had slowly leaving her body, and she started to feel really tired, her body slowly drifting to a dreamless sleep. She remembered yelling Cynthia and Kiara's names and being carried away before sinking into the darkness.

After a few minutes that felt like an eternity, the young girl rose to the surface; she wasn't even out of breath, fixing the blue extend with admiration. Here, on the surface, everything seemed so… agitated. Aquus' main bay was ordinarily so calm, but now, the place was swarming with people. Big boats were unloading tons of iron, arms and any other material at a very sustained pace. Reluctantly, the girl got out of the water and got up to a seaman coordinating one of the many unloading.

"Excuse me sir, what's going on here? I've never seen the bay so agitated…" She passed her hand in her wet long hair.

The man looked at her weirdly; that girl was a strange bird… Her long red hair were sticking to her cheeks and her body was still completely drenched , but she did not seem to be that cold, while the season here was rather cold in Aquus. The seaman himself was wearing his warmest jacket, and this young girl was looking him up and down with her cold and authoritarian gaze, in her simple blue swimsuit, her feet and arms naked, without being cold, despite the icy winter wind. He sighed, before answering with a weird, disenchant smile;

"You're not aware of this, Miss? We're preparing the coming war!"

And with that, he left to supervise his boatload, leaving the young girl deep in thoughts.

"A war? I'm not sure that I understand Mother… Our country has never been more powerful economically and politically, this kind of event can ruin the economy of any country…"

Her big blue eyes were full of incomprehension, and Johanna almost heard her heart breaking; she felt so sorry for her little girl, her only child… She looked so fragile, yet, with her incredible powers, she symbolized Zephyr's future… She wanted to hold her tightly, to tell her that everything was going to be okay, that she just had to sleep, and when she'd wake up, everything would be over. But as she always told, reigning over a country wasn't easy, but she had to accept it.

"Dawn, please, listen to me carefully, okay sweetie?" She squeezed her daughter's hand as she spoke.

When the young girl gave her an imploring glance, and she almost gave up; but she couldn't. So she went on;

"In the army, we created a special infantry battalion, with other people like you. People with that kind of power, you understand? Our country needs… It needs people like you. You have to do it, Dawn; you have to do it to protect the weaker, right? You think you can do it?"

Against all the odds, the girl nodded a sad smile on her lips. Without uttering a word, she slowly got away from her mother's embrace, and left with a sigh. She had braced herself for this eventuality before talking to her mother. As powerful as she was, she couldn't even prevent this sacrifice.

Sadly playing with her long navy locks, she looked up at the palace's ridiculously high ceiling. She would surely miss this place. Would she ever see these mural paintings and marble pillars again? Would she ever come back? She did not know, and when she finally left the place, her heart sank in despair.

Holding her small bag tightly, she slowly walked in the direction of the military camp.

Within a matter of a few hours, the rumor spread like wild fire in Gaya's entire country; a war was in the making in most of the countries, making old alliances reborn. The strong kingdom of Earth knew it could count on Ergon, the modern country of electricity and technology. Pyros and Aquus would, with no doubts, form another alliance, and alone against any other country, the old quarrels between Zephyr and Cryos would be about to explode.

Two persons, however, were escaping the general agitation, two young people who, ironically, had a huge responsibility on their shoulders in this declaration of war. However, they weren't thinking about it for now, finally tasting freedom, for the first time in their short lives; this new feeling was intense, transporting them away from reality.

One night, after weeks of thinking and organization, Gary and Leaf had left the city, and it had been two days and three nights that they were walking through Gaya's mountains. It was Gary who was responsible for the guidance of their small group. Leaf had never left her hometown, and she trusted her friend regarding orientation. Which didn't prevent her from asking questions every minute or so;

"Where are we going exactly?" She whined, brushing off the dust on the folds of her cape.

Gary rolled his eyes for the hundredth time, turned around and managed to hold his laugh; Leaf sure looked desperate, with her big gown and her long hair blocking her view. With a confident smile, he repeated another time these same words;

"To Pyros. The frontier with the land of fire is much closer than the other frontiers. There, you'll be less famous than in this country, and once we'll settle down there, we'll see. You trust your amazing guide, don't you?" He added with a wink. Too tired to even reply to his arrogance, Leaf sighed, adjusting her backpack on her shoulders.

She hadn't taken too much things; some clothes, food, an oil lamp tied to her belt next to a dagger she had stolen before leaving her palace, and some other useful things. She didn't even know how to fight with a weapon, simply relying on the perfect mastery of her powers as an element manipulator, but having a visible weapon attached to her belt could always deter some enemies, especially thieves. You never knew what you could stumble across, especially as a crowned princess of a foreign country, running away from home. She sighed again, replacing a long lock of brown hair. A foreign country. It seems so far away now… She started asking questions again, annoyed by this thought.

"How many times of walking until we reach Pyros?" She asked, groaning. This time, Gary didn't even turn around to answer her question;

"If we continue at a regular pace, we'll arrive in Pyros' countryside before nighttime. At dawn, if we stop again."

Closing her mouth, Leaf focused on her steps, thinking about nothing but her future life when she would arrive in the land of fire.

Throwing one last glance behind her shoulder at Aquus' main bay, where she was born and had grown up, Misty stuck her feet in the freezing water, soon followed by her entire body. She didn't feel the coldness of the water; to tell the truth, she felt nothing; she was completely numb. She literally had nothing on her, no papers, no weapon, no food; just this burning need to leave this place. She had to go to the safest place she knew, and this place was no longer her home. With the official announce that her country would take part in the war and participate to this bloodbath, she had to leave.

Rumors had it that, for now, Ergon, the modern country of electricity, hadn't taken part in the fight. Even though Aquus and Ergon had been at war multiple times, but she didn't have to identify herself as an Aquus' citizen when she would arrive in Ergon. All she had to do was swimming.

She stared blankly at the vast blue water surface, and a smile made its way to her lips. Water had always fascinated her, and when she learnt that she was a water manipulator, it didn't surprise anyone. Misty used to spend hours in the water, and never wanted to leave it; she was like a fish in the water, or a mermaid, as some people from the bay used to call her.

But now, nothing was holding her back. Her relationship with her family had become… complicated, to say the least. She would certainly not miss it when she would arrive in Ergon. The sky was slowly covered by dark clouds as she lost herself in the meanderings of her memories. She wouldn't regret Aquus, even though, deep down, she was forever linked with this country. Letting a shaky exhale escape her lips, she dove into the water.

She liked how the world looked like, under the water; silent, oppressive to some, but oddly familiar to her.

In the end, she lost any sense of time; for how much time had she been under the water? For how much time had she been swimming? As she emerged on the surface to see where she was, she was surprised by how strong the ocean currents were. She wasn't used to seeing the ocean so agitated, especially in this area. She had to hurry up; even though Ergon was close, she wanted to arrive at the capital, Lux; it was the only place she knew in the entire country.

Diving another time, she blinked, taken aback by the power of a wave. Since when were there such powerful waves here? Lost in her thoughts, she heard her heart racing; it was unreal, she had never been scared in the water in her whole life. She didn't see the second wave, which hit her hard. Suddenly, her vision became blurry, and a red filter appeared in front of her. Blood, she thought, before everything went black. My blood.

There you go! I hope you enjoyed it! I know that there's a lot of May, Drew, Leaf and Gary in my two first chapters, but in the other chapters, there will be more of Misty, Paul, Dawn, and Ash (finally!). I don't want to make any promise I can't fulfill, but I'm gonna try my best to give you more chapters soon. If you liked this chapter, please leave a review, and if you didn't like something about it, don't be scared to tell me about it! See you soon ! Je vous aime ! -LadyLeafeon