A couple of important things before I continue:
1) I had to sort of rush this chapter out, as I only recently found out that I'll be going on a weeklong trip starting tomorrow (Sunday) with no internet access. This chapter is a little shorter than the rest, and for that I apologize, but it's a very juicy one nonetheless. It's my favorite one yet. I'll compensate with a longer one when I return.
2) This fanfiction has a lot of rich world building, which I believe is one of it's greatest strengths. I'm not complaining, but this had been the hardest and most time consuming story that I've ever worked on.
A couple of reviewers, God bless them, have criticized this story on the merit of being unrealistic, specifically with Lincoln and his time in the military. I'll say this: he was in training for about two years but only an active seal for around a couple of months before the incident and quitting. I will admit that not everything about Lincoln and his situation is 100% accurate to how it would happen real life, but my focus, as it always had been with this story, is characterization and world building. I've probably gotten some things wrong with Lincoln and the seals, I'll probably get a few things wrong with Luan and the city council, and I'll probably get some other things wrong with other characters in the future.
I don't, however, think that automatically makes this story "suck". I'll let you guys make up your own minds, though.
Her research had brought her to Cordovia. It was a small, obscure country in South America, covered in trees and vegetation.
She traveled by helicopter. Its loud blades made her ears hurt, and she closed her eyes tightly not because she was scared (the human sensation of fear had forever eluded her), but because she didn't like the wind lashing against her face.
She sat on the side of the whirlybird, her legs dangling freely out from under her. She didn't like the seats of the chopper. They were leather, the same material of Vanzilla's seats. Too many bad memories were brought back from this, and so, she elected to sit on the cold, metal floor, wind slapping her face.
She traveled not alone, not with a group, but with only a partner: Rogers, the unhinged man currently flying the helicopter.
"Hey, Lisa!" he yelled. "Holding a well black fair?"
"What!" she screamed, trying to get him to hear her over the loud sound of the chopper. "What the fuck are you trying to say?"
"I said, holding up well back there?"
Rogers knew she hated her life right now. The bastard was messing with her. His smug smile gave it away, but Lisa had known her lab partner long enough even without that stupid grin he had right now. He was forty-five, but Lisa swore, he would sometimes act like a toddler.
She shook her head, and Roger turned around, focusing back on piloting. Things would be much more efficient if they had headsets with them to communicate, like every other helicopter riders in the world used, but it was too risky. If somebody down below in Cordovia was savvy enough was able to tap into their conversation, they could find out valuable information about Lisa and Roger's research.
"Hey!" he cried. "Watch! I bet not everyone can do this."
It was very hard to impress Lisa, and Rogers, that dumb fuck, knew this. What was he about to do? Lisa opened her eyes. Moments later, there was a blinding flash, like a giant camera going off, and a concussive thump rocked the helicopter. When Lisa looked down, she saw a smoking crater in the earth, large enough to build a house in.
"Impressive, Rogers, real impressive," yelled Lisa, mocking. "You used a weapon I designed. Want a medal?"
"Hey," he defended, "I got the hit right on target You didn't exactly design this thing well enough to use easily, ya know!"
Lisa shrugged. She was fourteen years old, sitting dangerously on the side of a helicopter, and bickering with a man three decades older than her.
She loved her life.
She was sixteen when she lost her mother. Lola had never gotten along particularly well with Rita. Granted, they weren't sworn enemies, but there was certainly a lot of room for improvement between the two's relationship. After all, many of their conversations would devolve into arguments.
"Mom, what do you want from me? I don't do drugs, I don't do that shit that Luna does, and I do well in school. So why can't I go to the party?"
Like the rest of her siblings, except for Luan, who was in Hollywood, except for Lincoln, who had run away, and except for Lisa, who was gone, she was devastated with the news. That same day, to collect herself, Lola ran out of the house to get some time to herself to think. She went to the center of town and sat down on a bench. Her eyes were open wide, and she was shaking a little. Lola was in a state of shock.
She soon buried her face in her hands before beginning to sob.
Not long after, she sensed someone sitting on the bench next to her. She felt an arm wrap around her.
"You know, it makes me feel pretty shitty to watch a pretty girl like you doing crying out here alone. What's wrong?"
Lola told him, and as it turned out, Patrick had suffered through the pain of losing a parent as well. A few years prior, his father had died in a boat fire. The two connected immediately, and became fast friends. It wasn't long after before they begin to date. Patrick was a really nice guy—hot, too—and had almost no flaws. They got along very well.
The only issue Lola thought her boyfriend had was his views on the government. He considered all systems of control a flaw, and was passionate about making a change.
At times, maybe a little too passionate.
One afternoon, when Lola was laying on her bed texting on her phone and Patrick was sitting at her desk doing his homework, he quickly stood up.
His back to her, he announced, "Lola, I'm going to fight against the system. Anyone working for the government is an enemy. Right now, I don't know what I'm going to do—" he turned, facing her, and she could see the passion and fire in his eyes—"but I'll fight back. I'll start local, if I have to."
Patrick was an anarchist. He believed in the free spirit of man and humanity's right to live without government. Lola didn't exactly subscribe to the same beliefs, but he respected her opinions, and she still loved him nonetheless.
A couple of months later, Luan began to run for the city council. Lola tried to discourage her, but it was no use.
Lola wouldn't be caught dead telling Patrick that her sister was running for the city council. He despised people that even worked for the government, including even garbage collectors and mailmen.
Hopefully he wouldn't find out.
Presently, Lola was standing at the base of the staircase. She was walking to the kitchen to grab a glass of milk and maybe a cookie (she was trying to cut down on sweets… for Patrick (she had begun to eat more than normal after the death of her parents)) but paused before making it out of the living room. Lincoln was sitting on the couch, watching something on the television with Luna and Lynn, and Lola couldn't help but to stare at him from behind. It was hard to believe he was really back. To Lola, he was almost like a ghost.
She first learned that Lincoln was back when she came home later that day a little less than a week ago. She had gotten a text from Lana: Link is home. Get. Here. Now.
These days, Lola didn't get particularly well along with most of her sisters, but Lana especially. She was her twin, sure, but the bitch constantly whined about Patrick. Oh, Lola, she would wail. You're dating a terrorist!
Lana had found out about Patrick's… uh… political views. Hmph. What did she know about her best interests? She was probably just jealous.
Still, it was very uncharacteristic of Lana to lie or joke about serious stuff… Lincoln, especially. So, Lola rushed home.
The past few days had been very interesting. Lincoln was back, and that alone was few hard to get used to. Even right now, she could barely believe it. She was standing at the base of the staircase, looking down at her phone. Lola kept looking up, though, stealing glances at her brother. He was sitting on the couch, facing the television. It was hard to believe that he was back. Yet, here he was, right in front of her.
He must have sensed her staring at him, though, because he turned around and waved. "Uh, is everything alright?"
Lola's face turned crimson with embarrassment. "Uh, y-yeah."
She turned around, clenched her fists, put her hands firmly to her side, and marched back upstairs. That was stupid.
But, that's not only why things had been so interesting as of late. Lola had been noticing very odd behavior for Leni. Let's face it, her older sister wasn't firing on all cylinders… but Leni was still doing some weird stuff even for her standards.
Even weirder, though, Lola seemed to be the only one to notice it. She looked around when Leni was sweating, and nobody but her seemed to notice.
Hmph. Her sisters thought she was oblivious. Oh, Lola, they whined, why are you always on your phone? Why don't you help out around the house?
Yeah.
Right.
Lucy Loud was in a slump.
She wanted to make a living as a writer, but didn't know far. She had had some short stories published in the local newspaper for free, and she had written everything on Luan's campaign website, but that was the extent of her success thus far.
As a kid, she would often scribble down poems. Oh, how the words came so easily to her. It wasn't like she was a child prodigy or anything—she often had to ask Lincoln for help with finding a rhyme—but she was good for her age.
Right now, she was working on a novel. Her first written book! She didn't expect it to be the next Requiem for a Syngenesophobia, the current darling of the literary world, but hopefully, if she took her time, it would do well enough.
But that was the issue—time. She was eighteen, and her sisters constantly pestered her to get a "real" job. Sure, the family really needed money, and, sure, Lucy wasn't exactly contributing much at the moment, but she was on her way to being able to do so! If they were just patient…. If they just waited for her to finish her novel… Lucy would probably be making some real dough!
But, no. They insisted that she apply to wherever she could, and quickly so. They wanted fast and immediate money, but if they just let Lucy have her way, she'd have cold, hard cash every week by the hundreds!
It was for this reason that Lucy supported Luan. Morbidly, Lucy didn't really think her older sister had what it took to win an election for even a position as the local dog catcher. Still, she looked up to and respected the comedienne. When Luan was in Hollywood, almost every night, Lucy would watch her sitcom on her phone in the darkness of her room.
It wasn't because she liked the show—Lucy thought it was stupid and corny, two qualities she hated in the entertainment industry—but because Luan was the main actor, and had begun to grow too busy to keep in touch with the family. It started out with the occasional missed phone call, but eventually, it grew to a point where she didn't get in touch with anyone back in Royal Woods for a couple of entire years… causing her to miss the funeral. Watching her show was the only way for Lucy to reconnect with Luan.
When Luan finally did call home, the rest of the Loud sisters weren't exactly big fans of her. They called her greedy, self centered, stuck up… it hurt Lucy to hear this. Still, though, she came home, abandoning her blossoming career. This helped matters a little, but Luan remained generally unpopular among the Louds.
Luan lost most of the money she made in Hollywood. It wasn't like she became a billionaire, but she had been living very comfortably. When she quit, however, her agents were somehow able to snag up a large chunk of her earnings. Most actors, when signing contracts, would never agree so long as it was a rule that, should they quit before the season they are shooting is over, they are susceptible to losing most of their earnings.
Luan didn't know what she was doing, though. It was either sign that contract or sign a contract that guaranteed much less money. It wasn't like she planned on leaving, after all. Ha! That was silly.
Presently, Lucy let out a big sigh of defeat thinking about it.
Luan was running for the city council. It was so crazy that Lucy had to constantly remind herself that it was real. Lucy thought it was a stupid idea, and that it would be much more beneficial to the family if she had simply got a job. Then, she realized that her ambitions of publishing a popular novel weren't exactly very different. So, she told Luan that she thought it was a good idea. Her heart was in it, and although she had a slim chance of winning, she was family, and deserved support.
Lucy went over to her bed and sat down, trying not to fall asleep but to rest. She would just relax for a little, and then get back to her novel. She promised.
Drowsiness overtook her, however, and she finally gave in, going under her covers and moaning. Oh, how her pillow was soft and her bedsheets cozy. Much softer than her desk chair and much more comfortable than a keyboard when writing.