What's up, guys? I'm back! Here's the next chapter. I think I've finally figured out more of a direction I want this story to go in. It's been a little all over the place recently, and I've decided to squeeze it back into a certain direction. Tell me if you have any ideas, I love to hear from you guys. Anyway, hope you like this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent or any of the Harry Potter references from this chapter.
Tobias eats his muffin, musing thoughtfully. "Hey Tris."
"Yeah?" I mutter, engrossed thoroughly in my blueberry waffle.
"So, you know how... like... we're Dauntless leaders and all, right?"
"Yup."
"Why don't we change Dauntless? Change initiation, the way our faction works, and all that stuff. Fix it."
My waffle drops on the ground. Pity.
"WHAT?" I half-yell, turning to Tobias.
"You know, change it. Make it more about the Dauntless manifesto. We've complained about Dauntless becoming more and more about mindless drones fighting each other. And we're Dauntless leaders. So why don't we change it?"
His words slowly begin to sink into my head. And slowly... slowly... they begin to make a little more sense. "That's..." I begin.
"Yes?" Tobias asks, a little fearfully.
"Actually a really great idea!" I finish, completely blown away. My mind begins to race with the endless possibilities. "We can change initiation to be more about courage in the face of the unknown, and recreate the faction around the Dauntless manifesto..." My mind flies back to a time during my initiation. "Tobias?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you remember during my initiation and the fights, when you said 'A brave man acknowledges the strength of others', and then Eric said, 'A brave man never surrenders?'"
"Yeah - oh!" Tobias says.
"Exactly," I smile. "That's the kind of thinking we need to change. Our faction cares too much about fighting, and never surrendering. That's what they think bravery is. We need to change that. And the fights. They believe fighting is important and that it resolves everything." I recall a line from the Dauntless manifesto.
We do not believe that learning to master violence encourages unnecessary violence.
Tobias pulls a crumpled piece of paper out his pocket and a battered pen. "Here. We can make a list."
I take a bite of my waffle, simultaneously writing down "Alter initiation". I sigh. "I really wish we had thought of this BEFORE initiation started. We could've changed the fights..."
"True," he murmurs. "But all we can do is alter it now."
"I know."
Tobias suddenly perks up. "I've got an idea. After training today, we should go visit the Dauntless leaders' office. Anyway, that's where we're going to work after initiation, you know?"
A potential problem hits me. "Wait. I'm already Ambassador to Factions. What should I do?"
Tobias considers this. "Technically, ambassador to factions is already included in our job description. You could potentially pass the position onto any one of the initiates and they could be our "assistant" in a way. Oh! That's another thing we have got to do. Add more jobs to the list."
I contemplate his idea. "That's true. A bunch of initiates every year are sent to the fence and they spend their entire time in Dauntless there, watching for attacks on the city that never come." I roll my eyes. "And I bet that the Erudite have solutions and the technology for a city-wide security system and defense mechanisms."
"Well, if they do, Jeanine's never going to give it up," Tobias snorts.
I grin. "Jeanine wants information on Divergents, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Then we'll give it to her."
"Tris!" Tobias says, aghast. "We can't do that!"
"Relax," I say. "We'll give her just enough information that she'll give us access to the Erudite labs. Maybe we can find Caleb and convince him to help? After all," I smirk. "He wouldn't go against his great and powerful leader, Jeanine Matthews, would he?"
Ten minutes later, we're walking out of the breakfast hall, the paper covered in notes and ideas.
"Wow," I say. "For once, you actually had a good idea."
"Hey!"
We enter the training room. Time to begin Stage One.
"So all of you have gone through one of your fears at least once, right?" The initiates nod, a little apprehensively. There is only approximately a week until their final stage of initiation. The entire fear landscape.
Tobias and I exchange glances. "We've decided to help you out a little. So - we realize there's no use in dumping you into a fear landscape and expecting you to know what to do. So today is going to be devoted to learning about fear landscapes, and individually working with you one on one. We're going to guide each of you through your entire fear landscapes."
Surprisingly, the initiates stay silent. "Six?" Claire asks.
"Yeah?"
"Does this mean... like... you're going to know all our fears?"
I smile. "It's not a bad thing, Claire. We're not going to tell anyone. But we'll only know one of your fear landscapes. We have a couple friends we're bringing in, because I'm working with just Holly, and Tobias is working with just Liam. Our temporary instructors will work with the rest of you individually." They nod, a slightly hopeful expression on their faces. "Okay, give us a minute and we'll start talking about the theory behind fear landscapes."
I turn away at the sight and murmur softly to Tobias: "God, I really don't want to cut any of them."
Tobias smiles sadly, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. The warmth of the kiss sends an electric current through my body. I lose myself in his minty smell, a sense of bliss running through me. He pulls away, and I momentarily feel a sense of loss. "It'll be okay, Tris. You'll know what to do - when the time comes."
I sigh, feeling so conflicted. "We're a week away. I know all of them. They're all so eager and hopeful... and they look up to us." I smile wistfully. "Well," I snort. "All of them except for Britney."
Tobias snickered. "Like she would ever admit that she looks up to you."
I look up, slightly skeptical. "She doesn't look up to me!" I roll my eyes. "The world would plunge into storms and fire and the sun would explode before she would look up to me." Tobias gives a snort of derision. "She does. She just doesn't know it yet."
I roll my eyes. "Right..."
"She does!" Tobias insists. "No one can diss my Tris." He presses another kiss to my forehead.
I sigh, trying to push him away half-heartedly. He grins.
We pull out the hologram I set up earlier and turn it on. A bright transparent screen flashes into the air, with a picture of a bed covered in straps on it.
"All right, guys. Theory behind fear landscapes. Here we go." Tobias walks forward.
"The idea of a fear landscape is actually very recent, but the theory of a human having a set of fears goes back for hundreds of years. Back when the factions were formed, an unnamed person found a certain piece of parchment. It described hundreds of torture methods and recorded what people did when they were subjected to a certain method. The Erudite have made numerous guesses as to where it came from, possibly even from before the time of the factions. Unfortunately, we have no record of what took place before the factions, as you already know. But one of these methods was special. It was called the Parrilla."
Tobias pulls out a whiteboard and creates a rough drawing that looks a little like a bed frame. "The victim would be tied to this metal frame and be subjected to electric shocks. However, the strange thing was, after a few shocks, they began crying out the name of their worst fear. They appeared to be under some sort of delusion that they were experiencing it, in their own head. That was what led to the idea of a group of certain fears that a human has, and there were many speculations that a person could be made to experience these fears in their own head. A simulation, to be exact. The Erudite took this information, and adapted it after many experimentations. They created the fear landscape."
The initiates all have mixed looks of horror and confusion on their faces. "But... why?" David asks.
"It was developed as a weapon," Tobias answers simply. "Then they gave it to Dauntless in exchange for cooperation and backing. Dauntless leaders started using on initiates to test courage, and, well... you know how it goes from there."
I smile, walking forward. "You don't need to be worried. The fear landscape is safe, of course, when used correctly. You'll all be fine." They seem to relax a little bit more at this.
Tobias clears his throat to continue. "The reality of a fear landscape is that it's very easy to overcome!" He smiles slightly. "It's more of a personal test. You have to convince yourself that it isn't real. It's all in your head. It's trying to provoke you into reacting. Screaming, crying, etcetera. You have to slow your heartbeat down enough to stay calm."
"That's it?" Bryan asks, looking surprised.
"That's it," I grin. "Or there's a second approach. You could face your fear. Let's say your fear is of drowning. You've got to face it. Jump into the water. In essence, that would end that particular fear."
"Cool!" Liam exclaims. "I thought we had to just wait it out or something."
I bite my lip. "Sorry if we weren't clear enough, before."
"Are you kidding?" Holly asks. "You and Four are great instructors." The initiates murmur assent.
Britney says nothing, just shoots me a glance before flicking her eyes back down. "Yeah, Four. You're great," she whispers, just enough so I can hear it. I have to force myself not to react.
Tobias continues, oblivious. "There is actually just one reference to fears. It's a small piece of paper in the Erudite library. It's been studied down to the smallest details. The Erudite scientists have no idea when or where it is from, it just appears to be torn from a book. It doesn't mention the fear landscape exactly. It actually mentions someone named "Harry Potter" and another person named "Neville Longbottom". There is also something called a "Snape". It is described as being greasy haired and dark. Basically, this "Neville Longbottom" sees a Snape, and he imagines it with a vulture hat and bright red handbag. He performs some sort of wizardry, and the Snape then sported those articles of clothing. Well, actually he said the word "ridiculous". The Erudite think the author made a spelling error as he or she spelled it like 'RIDIKKULUS'. We believe this came from a time period where people were able to imagine things, and those things came true. This is actually a useful technique for getting over the initial shock of your fear. Use your imagination; make it funny!"
"That's interesting," Claire muses.
"So? Are you guys ready?" I ask. I hear a cheer from Liam and the rest nod, grinning. "Well? What are we waiting for?"
Hope you liked it! Please leave a review and give me your input, I'd love to hear it! Until then, see you next time!
~DauntlessProdigy4Life
