School is so hard and stressful.
Chapter Two
The days passed by quickly and Raven fell into quite a monotonous schedule. She'd wake up groggily to the banging of the strange men. Then they were immediately put to work no matter how tired, hungry, or injured they were. After a full day of work, they were all taken back to their cells were they were fed and had a little bit of time to just talk amongst themselves. When night time came, Raven would assess the mood and if needed, she would sing her same lullaby to everyone. If not, then she would just fall asleep with Milliana at her side. The young girl had really taken a liking to Raven. The black haired girl quickly made friends with everyone and began to adore Milliana and another red haired girl named Erza.
On one particular day though, Raven learned of Magic.
"Yes, everything begins from you believing with your heart. You can think of tarots, faith, prayer, and such as Magic. It's a miracle that only true believers can experience. Only those who believe that Magic exists, believe in themselves, and believe that they can coexist with everything in nature can use such a thing as Magic," Rob said. Raven was instantly mesmerized by the idea of magic.
"I want to learn Magic!" she declared.
"Me too! Maybe we can use it to get out of here," Erza said, more determined than ever.
"We can never get out of here," Susan said dejectedly. That soured the mood and everyone went silent.
"I will get out!" Kai shouted. Everyone was taken aback at the normally silent boy. They watched as he stood by the cell bars for hours until one of the strange men walked by to check on everything. Quicker than anyone had ever seen Kai move, he grabbed the keys off the belt of the man. It was dead silent as they all watched the strange man keep walking. Kai turned around and winked at everyone. He began to unlock the door.
"Wait, plan it out first!" Jellal whispered to Kai, trying not to attract any attention.
"No! I'm free!" Kai said before running out of the cell.
"Kai!" Kumiko tried to call him back.
They never saw Kai after that.
. . . . .
"What does this word say?" Rob asked Raven, patiently.
"Um, forest," she said, a bit hesitant.
"Yes very good! And this one?" Rob continued to ask. For months, Rob had been teaching all the children the basic skills of reading and writing by drawing in the dust of their cell. Raven took an especial liking to learning and would spend all the time she got learning what Rob had taught them. Because of this, Rob ended up spending more time with Raven. She was a fast learner which made Rob very proud.
"When I get out of here, I want to read every book I can!" Raven said with a large smile. Rob could only end up smiling along with Raven.
"Then you could read me a story," he said.
"You bet I will!" she said cheerfully.
. . . . .
"Rae… I can't sleep," Milliana told the black haired girl. Raven looked at Milliana in surprise.
"Rae?" she questioned. Milliana grinned.
"Yea! It's your nickname," she explained. Raven was quiet for a short second before she grinned.
"I like it!" she said with a giggle.
"Will you sing for me?" Milliana asked quietly.
"I don't want to wake anyone else up though," Raven said hesitantly.
"You won't. In fact, I think we'd all like to hear your singing," a voice spoke up from the other side of the cell.
"Wally, you too?" Raven said in surprise.
"Me too," Susan added in. Eventually, everyone began asking Raven to sing to them.
"Alright, alright, I will," she gave in and said.
"Can you sing the first lullaby you sang for me?" Milliana asked. Even though Raven had made it up on the spot, she was able to remember each and every word, and even the melody. The song was then known as 'Raven's Lullaby'.
That night, everyone slept peacefully.
. . . . .
"What's your last name Wally?" Raven asked. She had gotten almost everyone else's.
"Why?" he asked in confusion.
"So when I get out of here, I'll be able to find you," she said with a cheery smile.
"It's Wally Buchanan," he said with a blush. Her smile made him warm inside. "What's yours?" he asked back.
"Oh uh… I… Well I don't remember it," Raven said. Erza heard that from where she was listening in and walked over.
"We can give you one! Jellal gave me mine. I'm Erza Scarlet because of the colour of my hair," Erza said with a grin.
"You can give me one?" Raven asked, tilting her head.
"Yup, but it has to be something that relates to you," Jellal said, walking over. All the children crowded over and began to think of a last name for Raven.
"How about Celeste!? Because her eyes are a pretty blue and I'm pretty sure Celeste is blue in some language," Sho said excitedly. Raven had to agree Celeste was a pretty name but she didn't want it as a last name.
"My first name is already after the colour of my hair so I want to stay away from colours," Raven said.
"Well, how about Harmonia after harmony because your singing gives us all hope and peace?" Jellal said after a while. Raven didn't even have to think about it. She gave them all a huge grin.
"Raven Harmonia? I love it!" she said.
. . . . .
Days ultimately turned into months and it seemed as though all hope was lost. No one dared to rebel and the atmosphere became darker and darker until there were rarely smiles all around.
"Guys, I have a plan," Sho said one day. Sho, the quiet and frail child, was speaking aloud for once. Everyone listened in, even if they knew the plan would never work. In the end, the plan actually had potential and they decided to follow along.
Day after day, when all the work on the tower was done, they all went to the cell and scraped at the wall. Something resembling a hole managed to take shape and it seemed like the plan would actually work. No one really noticed, but a small spark of hope was beginning to grow within everyone.
All hope was lost when they were caught.
. . . . .
"Who's idea was this!?" one of the strange men shouted. Sho was bawling his eyes out, too frozen and scared to confess. Raven watched in terror at the scene that was unfolding. She saw Erza look at Sho and gave a look of resignation.
"It was-" she started but was cut off.
"It was my idea!" Jellal shouted, glaring at the strange men.
"Oh how brave. Nice try though. I know it was the red head over there," the fat strange man said and stumbled over to grab her.
"ERZA!" they all shouted. She looked at them from the arm of the man who was holding her. And she smiled.
"Don't worry. Like Jellal said, it'll be fine," she said. Raven stood there, motionless as she watched one of her friends get taken away. Not only that, but she smiled and comforted everyone else while she was being carried away.
. . . . .
They waited for what seemed like ages before Jellal snapped. He punched the wall and screamed. When they were taken out to work, he managed to sneak away. Raven wanted to follow along but she knew that the more people there were, the harder it would be to sneak around.
"Come back safely," she begged.
"Don't worry, I will," he said determinedly. He gave her a reassuring smile and then ran.
They worked the whole day without seeing either Erza or Jellal.
. . . . .
Everyone was finally back in their cells.
"I wonder if nee-san is ok," Sho said quietly.
"Rob-ojichan, you came back alive from that room, right?" Simon asked.
"What in the world is that place…?" Wally asked.
"I think Erza-chan should be fine. As long as you have a strong heart, they can't steal your soul," Rob said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Simon asked but his question was never answered.
"Get in there!" one of the strange men said and pushed a girl in.
"Nee-san!" Sho shouted.
"Erza…" Simon said.
"Hey, where's Jellal?" Wally pressed for an answer.
"Let her be. Just be glad she's back alive at this point…" Rob said. Raven was quiet the whole time but stumbled over to Erza. She fell on her knees and brought Erza into a hug. The red haired girl was silent.
"But…" Wally said, wanting to know where Jellal was.
"They must have taken a replacement," Rob said, letting the children come to the conclusion themselves that the strange men had taken Jellal. Raven listened in while humming softly to Erza and rocking her back and forward.
"No more…I can't stand this anymore!" Sho shouted. He started tearing up and then sobbing loudly. He ran over to Rob and took comfort in a hug.
"Quiet in there!" a strange man commanded.
"Calm down Sho," Simon tried to comfort him.
"It'll be alright… I'm here beside you," Rob said.
"Time to work!" a strange man said with a terribly evil grin.
"NO!" Sho cried out. Erza tensed in Raven's arms before gently pushing them away. She stood up. She jolted away and grabbed a shovel before swinging it viciously at both the strange men in the cell. At such force, they both tumbled out and dust flew up.
"Erza, what are you-" Simon asked but was cut off by Erza herself.
"Take their weapons! If we obey them, or run away, we'll never be free! We have to fight! For our freedom, rise up and fight!" she shouted to everyone. That seemed to snap everybody into action. Raven herself was frightened, but even more so, she was determined. She did not want to stay in that cell for the rest of her life. She was the first to grab a shovel from the ground.
"I will not run!" she screamed. Together, she and Erza ran out. Slowly, more and more people joined in until everyone was in.
"Don't be afraid!" someone shouted. Words of encouragement flew out and the spark of hope turned into a fire.
It was an all-out battle in which lives were indeed lost. Raven ran out and lost track of all her friends. All she could see were the strange men. All the labor she had done had given her strength. It didn't take much effort to take the shovel that she was used to digging up dirt with and turning it into a weapon to blow down anyone who stood in her way. She would be free.
It took a solid twenty minutes of attack for the slaves to finally knock down all the guards in their area. Milliana was wrapping Sho's arm while Wally and Simon were cheering. Along the way, Raven managed to find a sword and was cleaning the blood off of that.
"We need to liberate sector 8 today! Everyone, keep it up!" Erza shouted.
"Impossible! The guard is too tight there!" someone shouted back.
"But we have to hurry and save Jellal or…" she trailed off.
"You ain't got a prayer, Simon-san?" Wally teased Simon. Raven had no clue what that meant but she saw Simon blush. That prompted Simon to speak.
"Erza! Are- Are you in love with Jellal!?" he blurted out. Raven tilted her head in confusion. She loved everyone. Why wouldn't Erza love Jellal too? Erza was taken aback.
"Why are you bringing that up now? Now is not the time to…" she said with her own blush.
"I've always…" Simon started, his blush turning a deeper red. Before he could continue, there was a huge explosion. Everyone flew up in the air and landed harshly on the ground before rolling over.
"Simon!" Wally shouted as he was the one who was hit the hardest.
"Oh no!" Milliana cried.
"It's the Magic Troops!"