I don't own any of the Divergent characters except my OC's, the rest belongs to Veronica Roth.

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Sorry about another late update! Exams are finally over and because it's almost the end of the year, I have a lot of days off school! Yay more writing! My internet is not connecting to my laptop, so to even upload this chapter I've had to plug it into the Wi-Fi, tat is why I'm a day late! Yeah my laptop has problems. So hopefully I'll go back to updating regularly, maybe even once a week depending on if I get the motivation to write. That's where you guys come in! I really hate being pushy but... I just need a little encouragement. I'm someone who can't do anything without a little push, so I need you guys to give me a nice shove. So please let me know if you like what I'm dong so far, because I feel like my writing is shit. I love my ideas, but always struggle to put pen to paper, so please help me out here. My reward will be more updates!

So without further ado here is Part Ten, the last part to the beginning (in other words next chapter will have a time jump, three years in the future!)

Chapter Ten- Choosing Ceremony

Eric

"Welcome to the Choosing Ceremony," Max, a Dauntless leader proclaims. It's finally the day I will choose Dauntless and begin my new life. I went to say goodbye to Rose, but she was already sleeping, so I left a note for her instead.

"Today you will choose your factions. Until this point you have followed your parents' paths, your parents' rules. Today you will find your own path, make your own rules." It's a very simple speech, but it gets the message across, today is the day we become independent and rely on ourselves, instead of our parents. Soon I will be standing alongside Max as a leader of Dauntless, I can't wait to make people fall at my feet!

"A long time ago our ancestors realized that each of us, each individual, was responsible for the evil that exists in the world. But they didn't agree on exactly what that evil was," Max speaks with authority and strength, something I hope to gain with my time at Dauntless.

"Some said it was dishonesty…" I remember what Rose had told me about her views on honesty. Personally I would prefer not to be so open about myself, some things are better kept a secret.

"Some said it was ignorance," so many people act before thinking, I've never understood why they would do that. If you can come up with a better solution, why not use it? Some people are idiots.

"Some aggression…" I remember the time I used aggression against that weakling Johnathan, I definitely wouldn't work well in Amity.

"Some said selfishness was the cause." I recall when my father shut me out because of self-pity, he was depressed and only thought of his own pain up until recently.

"And the last group said that it was cowardice that was to blame." The odd whoop came from the Dauntless. So disrespectful and full of delinquents, but it is what I would call home until the day I die.

"That is how we came by our factions: Candor, Erudite, Amity, Abnegation, and Dauntless." A smile graces Max's face, although it almost seems fake. "In them we find administrators and teachers and counsellors and leader and protectors. On them we find our sense of belonging, our sense of community, our very lives." I wonder how my life will be in Dauntless, will I create a family whist being a solder and a leader, or would I live alone? I don't want a family, I haven't ever since my mother died. I don't like the idea of having a family, because then it's something to fear losing. Fear is weakness.

Max clears his throat, breaking me from my thoughts. "Enough of that. Let's get to it. Come forward and get your knife, then make your choice. First up Zellner Gregory."

Gregory moves forward cutting his hand and letting his blood fall on the dirt of the Amity bowl. Excitement bubbles through me at the thought of leaving.

This is my moment… I think. For a second I imagine what my life would be like if I choose to stay I Erudite. Jeanine would probably murder me, but if she didn't, who would I become? Maybe I would work on serums like my mother did and my brother does. But I want something more in this life then just working on serums and experimenting. I want the adrenaline rush, the thrill life can give me, if I chose Dauntless.

"Villard, Nathan." Nathan sends me a wink and walks to the podium warily. He accepts the blade from Max and cuts his palm. Nathan walks hesitantly towards the bowls, I observe as his eyes flick between Erudite water and Candor glass. He steps forward and timidly lets his blood drop into the water. We clap as Nathan returns to Erudite.

"Rogers, Helena," Max calls out a female dressed in black and white. I couldn't imagine living in Candor and to be honest, they piss me off. I'm an impeccable liar, except for that one time with Nathan when he was talking about Rose and I… but that's beside the point. I'm good I promise.

Helena chooses Candor.

"Eaton, Tobias." Eaton, that's the name of the council member and leader of Abnegation, Marcus Eaton. I remember reading in the paper that Marcus' wife, Evelyn died in labour giving birth to their second child. This must be his son.

I watch as a boy in the typical Abnegation attire walks down the aisle to the podium. His short dark hair and deep blue eyes seem almost identical to his fathers, only a much younger version of him. Only his hooked nose is different, which I'm assuming must be from his mother.

Taking the knife off Max he, like all the other dependants, cuts his palm, before making his decision. He stares at the bowls, like he is trying to eliminate each one, before he chooses where he will spend the rest of his selfless life. He looks back at Abnegation and his eyes fall on someone in the crowd. Following his gaze, I spot Marcus, he nods almost as if he is trying to send a message. Tobias moves his palm above the bowl of burning coals and opens them, letting his blood sizzle on the coals. He transferred to Dauntless!

Dauntless cheer, while Abnegation sit there in shock. And they aren't the only ones. Usually Abnegation transfer to amity, if they transfer at all. No one has transferred to Dauntless from Abnegation in years, decades even.

While Max continues calling out the dependants, I search Abnegation for Marcus. Instead of seeing sadness in Marcus' eyes like a normal parent, even in Abnegation would display, I see a hardened glare directed at Dauntless, more specifically Tobias. Odd.

"Coulter, Eric." Startled, I stand and move towards the bowls. Accepting the blade, I slice my palm. I turn to face the audience and Jeanine nod her head over to the Dauntless bowl. My eyes search the crowd of Erudite again as they land on my father. He smiles sadly and mouths 'be happy'. I smile at him before my eyes land on my brother. He shakes his head in an almost pleading manner. Why can't he understand, this is what I have to do. It is my destiny.

Holding my hand above the bowl of burning coals, I let my blood slip from my palm to sizzle on the coals.

I'm Dauntless now. This is where my destiny begins.

Page Break

Sweat, rolls down my forehead as I run to keep up with the insane Dauntless. Laughter fills the air as the wild crowd run towards the suspended rails. Like spiders they climb the support beams to the platform above.

I start to climb the structure, my palms ache from the metal digging into them. Hauling my body onto the platform, I notice the Dauntless staring to run further up the platform. A horn blares. It doesn't take long for me to figure out that they are jumping onto the train, leaving us initiates alone. I start running again and the other initiates follow me. I observe a dauntless born, as he grabs the handle attached to the side of the cart and pull himself inside. Replicating his moments I take long strides, before jumping and grabbing the same handle, throwing myself inside.

I notice a couple dauntless born already inside, as the other transfers join us. Scanning the initiates I realize the Abnegation boy, Tobias is nowhere to be seen. He must not have made it. Good it makes it all the more easier for me. Not that I expected him to get far, the stiff looked like he couldn't even break a toothpick.

Sitting down, I relax and take in the view of crumbling buildings. Two Candor boys advance towards me, but the blond one speaks first. "Hey! I'm Malcom and this is Ryan." He gestures towards the brunette. "What's your name?"

"Eric." Short and sweet, I'm not here for friends. I'm on a mission.

"Awesome. It's crazy to think I just jumped on a train. God! Mum would be having a heart attack." The brunette, Ryan comments, but I just ignore them. "Hello?" he waves his hand in front of my face. "Are you just going to sit there being rude, or actually communicate?" Now I remember why I hate Candors so much, although he does remind me of Nathan a little. Still I sit there emotionless. "I guess so…" finally they both leave, probably gossiping to the other Candor girl about my disregard towards them. They have a name, that's all they need.

After fifteen or so minutes, I hear shouting coming from the other carts. "There jumping!" An Amity girl shouts. I turn my gaze to the other carts and sure enough, black spots are jumping off, onto a roof not far along from here. Must be our stop, even if we aren't stopping, although it shouldn't surprise me.

I Stand to ready myself. If I don't jump I'll end up factionless, which is something I can't afford to do right now. I look around the cart for a moment and notice Ron, the only other Erudite, other than me. He peers anxiously at the dauntless jumping off the train. He won't jump, he was never someone who took risks. Why did he even choose Dauntless? I shake my head at that thought, as the roof fast approaches.

Taking a couple of steps back from the door, I wait for the roof to come closer. Then gathering the momentum from running towards the opening of the cart, I push off. Hurtling through the air I landing roughly on the gravel below my feet, on the roof.

Regaining my balance, I search the crowd. Yep, just what I thought, Ron didn't jump. He would be factionless now. That's when I spot Tobias Eaton. He made it! But he wasn't in our cart, which meant he had to be either in front or behind and from the looks of it, he was in front. Damn Stiff!

"Damn," a Dauntless born says in beside me. "I was hoping we would get to scrape stiff pancake off the pavement later."

Gathering my thoughts I realise we are still on the roof and from the looks of it the only exit is to jump off. I shouldn't be surprised, Dauntless are known for their reckless behaviour.

"Welcome to Dauntless!" a man with dark skin out the front of the crowd shouts. "Where you either, face your fears and try not to die in the process, or leave a coward. We've got a record low faction transfers this year, unsurprisingly."

The Dauntless crowd and pump their fists in the air, as though they are proud of this fact. Maybe they don't want any cry-babies to join their faction, or maybe they want less competition. All I know is initiation isn't going to be easy, even with my training.

"The only way to get into the Dauntless compound from the rooftop is to jump off this ledge." He gestures towards the ledge with open arms. He tilts his heels back and pretends to almost fall by flailing his arms around, before catching himself grinning.

Dauntless are crazy…

"As usual, I offer the opportunity to go first to our initiates, Dauntless-born or not." He hops down from the ledge and gestures towards it, raising his eyebrows.

Everyone exchanges looks, wondering who will be the first one to take 'the leap of faith'. I know that none of us six transfers won't be the first. They are all too afraid to try something so daring. I would go first, but I'm not an idiot. From what I have seen so far they wouldn't care if one of us died following one of their stupid commands. I can't die so early in the game.

Unsurprisingly a Dauntless born steps forward, the crowd cheers him on.

"Go Zeke!" They shout, as the dark skinned boy steps onto the ledge. He miscalculates the jump and falls forward, disappearing into the dark abyss. Gasps and laugher are released into the atmosphere around me.

The man from the front beckons us to the ledge and it's not long before a line has started. I've never had a problem with heights, so standing on the ledge doesn't' bother me. Trust, however, has been hard for me to give. I don't hold it out to anyone who can grab it. I clutch onto it tightly, concealing it in the lining of my skin.

What if they let me fall to my death?

Logically however this doesn't seem reasonable. Five people have already jumped, which means that unless they are willing to have no initiates this year, it should be safe. It's a scare tactic, to eliminate those who are not willing to jump into the unknown. After all isn't that what humans as a race fear the most, the unknown?

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I jump off the ledge. My stomach jumps, as the earth consumes me. My body hits something rough, as it propels me back into the air, until I land once more.

A net!

I should have known, there isn't much else that could have broken my fall. I feel the net move below me and roll to the edge, pushing myself off steadily. A female with piercings covering her face and coloured hair greets me.

"What's ya name specs?" She doesn't seem to have any interest in what my name is, but I comply anyway.

"Eric."

Rose

I had woken up just like every other day. With a gasp. Nightmares, dreams, memories. Whatever you call them, they are always there. There is no escape from the terrors inside your head.

Jeanine had decided to take me somewhere special. I don't feel safe anymore, James was always there to protect me, but then he left. He promised thought, he promised he would visit. The room Jeanine took me inside was white, sterile and filled with multiple mechanisms. Syringes line the table in front of me and just behind that, a steel chair stands in the middle.

"Sit." Jeanine commands. I lie my head on the head rest, the cold metal soothing the dull ache in my head. "I'm going to run you through some necessary tests, with these curtain new serums." She picks up the first serum and smiles a devious smile. "I promise it won't hurt… much." My eyes widen and I try to get up, but one of Jeanine's assistants push me back down and metal bands wrap themselves around my wrists and ankles, holding me down.

I struggle and try to free myself from my restraints, but it is no use. Jeanine approaches me, examining the syringe, filled with a yellow serum. I gulp feeling sick. I should have known Jeanine was not to be trusted, but for some reason I believed James when he told me no one would hurt me. People lie, people are selfish, they are greedy and when it comes down to survival, they will only fend for themselves. It's in our nature and James and Jeanine are no different.

"What are the serums really for?" I grit my teeth with irritation.

"Clever. I suppose it won't really matter, considering I will be using the memory serum on you after this, so you won't remember a thing. This serum here," she gestures to the syringe, "is a new serum, that I and a team specialising in this certain department have created. We believe it will allow us to better see your divergence, to pin point what causes it and how to exterminate it. We haven't had many test subjects so there may be some side effects. Nothing you can't handle right?" She sends a smirk my way, as she injects me with the serum.

Instead of falling into a deep sleep, or my body feeling like it is made of lead, a searing pain burns through my veins. I scream in agony, my body shakes violently out of control. A figure moves above me, but is no longer Jeanine, but rather a disfigured version of her. Darkness looms over me, the room turns to liquid as my body turns a blazing red. I'm short of breath, my head in a haze.

Colourful dots spot my vision, but I'm still screaming so hard, my head is throbbing. My mother used to tell me to take a deep breath and steady my heart rate whenever I had a panic attack.

Breathe. Inhale. Exhale.

The throbbing starts to dull and the colours start to fade. My screaming has ceased, along with most of pain.

"That all you got!" I spit towards Jeanine as she screeches in disgust.

"Not at all! That was just the beginning." Her nose crinkles in irritation, as she picks up the new syringe. "I believe that was a dud. Rule number in a scientific experiment, always repeat." An evil glint sparks in her eyes.

I follow the syringe with my eyes as Jeanine reaches to inject me again. That's when I notice my veins are pumping against my skin, begging for release. I've never seen them so prominent before. Jeanine seems to not be concerned however. Did this happen to her last victim?

I feel another sharp prick in my arm and the searing pain begins again and again. Until I black out into oblivion.

Eric

Second. That son of a bitch! How could I fall into a messily second! He's a baby one moment and the next a fucking gorilla! Seriously how does someone go from being a little bitch, too scared to hurt an ant, to breaking my bones maliciously?

We are only passed the first stage in initiation and after today with the fear simulation, I have a meeting with Jeanine. I should be able to visit Rose while I'm here, I did promise her after all.

Although I did find something interesting. After my fear simulation I sat in the corridor outside of the simulation room, when I overheard a perplexing conversation.

Flashback

The stiff, who now goes by Four and Amar walked out of the fear simulation room. I quickly hide around the corner before they could see me and listened.

"Hey, get it together Four." Amar says in a hushed whisper but still loud enough for me to hear. "Can I ask you something?" I look around the corner and see Four shaking slightly. "How did you get out of that hallway?"

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"I opened a door," Four replies.

"Was there a door behind you the whole time? Is there one in your old house?" Amar questions, he seems concerned.

Four shakes his head.

"So you created it out of nowhere?" Amar's usual tone of lightness is gone and a serious expression takes place on his usually bright features.

"Yeah. Simulations are all in your head. So my head made a door so I could get out. All I had to do was concentrate."

"Strange," Amar comments.

Is the stiff a divergent? Only someone with divergence can do such things in a simulation, because they are aware. Someone who is not divergent, aren't aware, so therefore can't create anything to help them escape, because they believe that would be impossible, because to them it is real. If this is true then he is dangerous. He will not only easily defeat me, because of his advantage in the second round, but he might be planning to take down our faction system! I cannot let this happen, I have to tell Jeanine.

"I was like you." I hear Amar say. "I could change the simulations. I just thought I was the only one."

So Amar is divergent as well! Who would have thought, he was right under our noses the whole time! I know what will happen if I tell Jeanine. She will have them killed, do I really want to be responsible for their deaths? Even if having Four dead wins me first place, do I want to kill them?

Yes, they are divergents. Divergents are dangerous, don't you remember what they did?!

But what about Rose? Rose is divergent, yet she is the most innocent person I know. I even called her my sister. Would it be the same if Rose was in there place?

But they aren't Rose. They are older and dangerous and they have the ability to take us down!

End of Flashback

I shook my head at the memory. All that I care about is seeing Rose again. I miss her and I want to make sure she is safe. What will she think of my new look?

Jeanine wants to have a fortnightly update on my progress, so I have permission to leave Dauntless on such occasions. Jeanine greets me with a firm nod, which I return.

"Eric, how has Dauntless been treating you? I heard you're in second place." Jeanine questions. She seems stressed, with her dark circles and the redness in her eyes. She hasn't been sleeping well. I've only seen her this way once and that was when my mother died.

"Good, actually there is something I would like to talk to you about. Tobias Eaton, I overheard a conversation with him and Amar over Tobias's simulation. Apparently he created a door, he was aware! Amar seemed concerned about this and also stated that he too could change the simulations. I believe they are both divergents." Jeanine raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Are you sure?" I nod my head in affirmation. "We will have to be discreet, but I will investigate such accusations. I knew you would be the man for this job, you are already proving yourself worthy, but don't let this praise get to your head. There is still plenty you must do, including getting that top spot. Dauntless pride themselves on strength, you must be the best in order to lead them."

"Of course. I've already shown my strength and now they are learning of my mental strength." I take a deep breath. "What about Rose, how is she? I hope you kept your promise." Jeanine analyses me for a moment before sighing.

"You told me you weren't going to become attached Eric. I thought you cut ties with her?"

"I did, sort of. I didn't tell her who I was, nor where I was going, but I did promise I would visit. So if you would allow me to do so, I will be on my way, unless there is something you wish to tell me?" Jeanine wrinkles her nose and fiddles with her clasped fingers.

"Umm… I don't know how to say this Eric." Jeanine's voice seems hesitant.

"What happened?" I tense up.

"She had a blood clot, in her brain from the impact on her skull. We didn't notice it until it was too late. I'm sorry Eric."

"NO! YOU'RE LYING!" I shout. Rose can't be dead she was fine before I left. My eyes water and my body feels weak, I'm in shock.

"I'm not lying Eric, I warned you to never let your heart get involved, especially when concerning divergents. She's dead." Although her voice is soft, it carries no sympathy, just conviction. And she's right, I should have never let my heart get involved. I loved her like my own blood and now she's gone. I will never get to hear her laugh, nor see the scowl on her face whenever we argue.

Missing someone is the hardest thing I have ever gone through and now I'm going through it all over again. Just when I was getting my life back, my happiness. That is the journey of life, you may rise from the ground like a balloon, but eventually it must pop and come back to earth. So why do I keep on trying to pump my balloon up, when it already has holes?

The pain is unbearable, even worse than the first time. All the pain I suffered from my mother's death is now mixed with the fresh pain from Rose's death. I cannot, I will not experience this again. If I have to become cold and distant, to never let anyone reach out and steal another shard of the broken tissue of my heart, I will do it.

I am cold, I am merciless and I am resilient.

I hope you enjoyed the effort I put into this chapter, I stayed up till 1:00 in the morning to complete it. Lucky for you I don't have school today. So I went driving for the first time yesterday! It was so scary! Especially in a manual. Oh and last fortnight with the 'fouric' update sorry if I made you uncomfortable, but it is what I specialize in. This chapter gives reason as to why Eric becomes who he was in the books. No one is born evil, so there had to be something that made him who he is. Sometimes I feel like a philosopher, with all my metaphors. On to some great people who followed last update:

-Samlily41

I have a few friends named Sam (both male and female). Okay so it is really hot in Australia right now, not as hot as Friday, but still warm enough for a swim. It's really weird one moment it will be cool and raining and the next hot and sweaty. That's the worst thing the humidity! I don't understand why when we advertise Christmas we have snow! Seriously! Although there was this one add with the surfing Santa's, that was good. Okay I'm off topic again.

Don't forget to favourite, follow and review! I love it every time one of these happen and my heart swells! Love you all and hopefully I will have the next chapter (three years in the future) ready in less than a fortnight! Thanks again.

-Caity