When they were six, about a month before they turned seven, Lord Heartfilia had crowded them in the exam room for an announcement. This brought fear and excitement to the five of them. It'd been a while since the last time he'd had an announcement.
"It has come to my attention that you are all referring to yourselves by your numbers." Lord Heartfilia intoned. Number 7 exchanged nervous glances with the other girls. Were they going to get new names? She had been called Number 7 that for as long as she could remember, she couldn't imagine being called something else. Regardless of the thoughts buzzing around in their heads, Lord Heartfilia continued. "With the impending awakening of the next generation, you are now old enough that there is no need for childish numbers. From this day forth, you shall refer to yourself and your peers by your generation's name."
Number 7 blinked. What exactly was that supposed to mean? The only name they had that wasn't a number was Lucy. Just Lucy. Perhaps foolishly, she spoke up. "Sir?" She held back a flinch when his eyes landed on her. "Does this mean that we're only ever going to be called Lucy?"
"Did I not make that clear?"
"W-well, wouldn't it be confusing, if there's five Lucys…?"
"I do not see why that would matter."
"But what if I want to talk to Number 3 rather than Number 5? Or-" She was cut off when Number 8 elbowed her sharply in the side.
"As I said, it does not matter. You are all the same. Or at least…You should be."
"Ye-yes Lord Heartfilia, I'm sorry."
Number 7 could practically feel the moment when Lord Heartfilia mentally dismissed her as unimportant. She wouldn't be surprised if he forgot the conversation they'd just had. He simply continued with his speech. "When Layla returns she will teach you how to care for newborns as generation 56 will be unable to care for themselves for some time. As there is only one Layla, she will require your assistance."
Number 7 noticed that Number 3 had a cross look on her face. Though she thankfully didn't say anything out loud, Number 7 could practically hear her question why they had to help Miss Layla when she had been able to take care of six newborns by herself.
"Do remember, this new generation is an improvement upon yours in every way. Should any unfortunate 'accidents' happen with regards to the new generation know that I will not hesitate to deal with any insubordination swiftly and if necessary permanently. Is that understood?"
"Yes Lord Heartfilia." The five of them answered in one voice.
"Good. One of you will remain with me, the rest may go."
There was a flurry of quick and subtle glances before Number 7 was silently chosen to remain, likely because she'd been the one to speak up earlier. The other four left without a backwards glance. Lord Heartfilia stared at her for a bit before going to the desk and pulling out some papers.
"Strip."
Inwardly Number 7 breathed a sigh of relief and followed his orders. It looked like he was just going to do a regular examination. He did those often, about once every three months.
By now everything was standard. Marking down height, weight, temperature: a check up on her eyes, ears, teeth: taking samples of blood, spit, marrow, urine and stool. This time he wanted to take an egg sample. Again, it wasn't unusual though it was less common than the other samples. He only took an egg sample from them once a year. Number 7 always found it to be very uncomfortable though and was glad that it only happened once a year. At least it was never as painful as the marrow samples he always took. That part was always the worst.
Then Lord Heartfilia did something completely unexpected. He pulled out a milky white crystal and handed it to her. It fit easily in both her hands and was round but with flat edges. He placed another identical crystal on the counter before pulling out two stopwatches. One went by the second crystal while he held the other in his hand, ready to start it.
"When I give the order, fill the Lacrima with all the magic you have as quickly as possible."
Number 7 barely managed to nod before Lord Heartfilia gave her the order to start. Despite her nod, she froze. What was she supposed to do? He had made it sound easy; just put her magic into the Larcima, or whatever it was called. But how was she supposed to do it?
Needless to say, Number 7 spent several precious seconds silently panicking. She tried closing her eyes and meditating like Miss Layla had taught them, but it was difficult to reach that relaxed state while under a time limit. The constant ticking of the stopwatch worked to both irritate her and to remind her that she was under pressure. When she did manage to do it, meditating proved to be useless, most of her magic would just go into the air around her. She kept her eyes closed, unwilling to look like she was giving up.
The stopwatch kept ticking. Number 7 could practically feel Lord Heartfilia's harsh and judging gaze crawl across her skin.
Desperately, she tried just shoving her magic into the crystal. It was weird, felt awkward and made her hands tingle unpleasantly but it seemed like was working. She kept doing it.
It felt like forever before she ran out of magic. Only when there was nothing left did she open her eyes, gasping. "I-I can't…" She couldn't feel her fingers and there was a deep ache in her hands.
With a click the ticking stopped. Lord Heartfilia plucked the crystal out of her now red hands. She was glad of that; she felt that she'd drop it at any moment. Even without the weight of the crystal her hands were shaky and sore. Her heavy breathing didn't help, it felt like she needed her entire body to take a breath. It still felt like she couldn't get enough air.
There was another click as he started the second stopwatch, for whatever reason. "1 minute 57 seconds…" He muttered as he leaned over the counter, scribbling it down on the paper.
Number 7's shoulders drooped. That hadn't been long at all. Did she really have so little magic that it was all gone in less than 2 minutes? Maybe she had done it wrong?
Lord Heartfilia wasn't saying anything else, he was only looking at the second stopwatch intently. She gently shook out her hands, trying to get feeling back into her fingers. Number 7 stopped when he glanced up at her though. She should know better than to fidget around Lord Heartfilia.
She glanced at the counter were the crystals were. The one she'd filled with her magic was now a vibrant shade of pink. It was a nice color, a happy color. She liked it. Maybe if she asked, Lord Heartfilia would let her keep it.
She didn't have much more time to think on it. As soon as her breathing evened out he clicked off the stopwatch, recorded it and shoved the second crystal in her hands with orders to do it again.
Number 7 didn't last as long the second time. Even without the stopwatch she knew it, her magic hadn't recovered much. She was right; her time was 10 seconds. The crystal was still mostly white, though she thought there was a pinkish tinge to it. It was hard to focus though, her head was pounding in time with her heartbeat.
Before she could ask about keeping the first crystal he quickly grabbed both it and the second one and changed them back to white. She wasn't sure how, but then again he was Lord Heartfilia, it made sense that he could reset them. And Number 7 had been right, the second crystal had been slightly pinker than it was supposed to be.
He pulled out a paper band and attached it around her wrist and said that she wasn't to take it off today. Lord Heartfilia then ordered her to get dressed and to send in another Lucy when she was done.
As she hurried to follow his orders, she'd never been so happy to not have any buttons or ties. It hurt to move her hands, even when all she was doing was pulling on a dress. Lord Heartfilia was likely becoming impatient with her fumbling and slowness at following directions, but she didn't dare look at him to see if that was the case.
As soon as she could, she left the room and returned to where she and the rest of the Lucys slept. Hopefully she'd find the others there but mostly she wanted to find her bed. It was only nearly noon and she just wanted to sleep.
She wanted to cry when she saw that there was no one in the room. Her bed was right there, waiting for her to crawl into it. But she couldn't, not without getting in trouble with Lord Heartfilia. With a groan she turned and went to the library. Number 8 should be there. Hopefully.
Normally she'd love going to the library. Number 7 would spend all day in there if she was allowed. Now that she knew how to read incredible new worlds opened up to her. Number 8 was much like her in that regards, though she preferred looking at books that made her smarter rather than stories about adventures.
Right now though Number 7 really did just want to sleep the whole day away. With any luck, Number 8 wouldn't mind telling the other Lucys that Lord Heartfilia was expecting them. It'd be nice if she only needed to track down one Lucy. With that thought in mind, Number 7 turned and left their room and her bed and made her way to the library.
