Operation Bosco: A Call to Arms, VI
The night was cool and Haven actually shivered some when she awoke to a bit of drizzling rain drifting through the rafters of the old barn. There had been a few stray clouds in the sky that night when she climbed up to the loft, alone, but she hadn't considered any rain.
If Locke were there, she'd blame him for not patching the huge hole in the roof.
But he wasn't there. And it had been her that had been back at base for nearly a week now with ample opportunity to gather some help and fix it.
So she decided, when faced with blaming herself, to blame no one.
Even though she was tired and the hour was late, it felt impossible to go back asleep there, alone, and Haven only groaned some as she shoved up and climbed back down from the loft, heading back out of the barn.
The land was speckled now with tents of all sizes. Though the moon was absent that night, even now with slight cloud coverage, fluttering fireflies
The journey to get back to base hadn't been exactly ideal.
Down in the tunnels, Haven was the only source of light they had. She lit up her arm with crackling electricity, something that drew the oohs and awes of some, but mostly made the others give weary looks about. The tunnels were constructed of decaying brick and rock, dank and odorous, with previously undisturbed vermin now scuttling away, further into the darkness.
It made a pit form in Haven's stomach, when she considered how closely it reminded her of Ewing's basement dungeon. She knew they needed to leave as quickly as possible.
They were all packed in there, spreading out across the depths of the current tunnel, concern etched in all their gazes. But Haven only pushed through them all (and easy feat as most jumped back, fearful of her seemingly contained lightning) until she arrived at the most familiar face she knew among the enslaved.
Bea, in return, hardly knew the one staring back at her.
"You," Haven questioned with a raised eyebrow, "know the tunnels, right?"
"Well," the other woman began, finger slipping beneath her eye patch with a deep breath, "I used to run the paths down here. A lot of us did. But it's a rather big-"
"There are multiple tunnels." Someone else spoke up then and, when Haven turned towards the direction of their voice, she find Gyu wincing some under the harsh light.
"There are many twists and turns," the woman kept up. "Very vast. It's not an easy place to navigate. And it's been so many years-"
"All we need," Haven insisted, "is to make it to the ocean. Or somewhere near to it. The eastern side. Locke's going to contact our people as soon as he can and have a ship waiting for us. We just have to get there."
It sounded like a sound enough plan. The line of delivery had, back in the day, lead to the ocean. But, as she'd been warned, Haven was welcomed to a complex system of tunnels that weren't easily remembered.
The older women argued over directions, most of them, all at once, and though Gyu and T tried a few times to assert their own knowledge, and maybe flex some of their former authority, this was rebuked frequently. Wanda, for her part, hung back in the ground, where Shae and one of the older women helped her carry her daughter along with them.
Haven was in control now.
But like usual, this was riddled with far less perks than she'd have liked.
The tunnels were hot, rank, and infested with all sorts of undesirable creatures. Part of Haven feared that they might stumble upon some sort of mutated humans living down there, like in some of those comics that Ravan used to read when they were kids (or still, honestly, she was pretty sure), but a larger, more sensible part of her was realizing just how bad things could get and how quickly.
There were too many of them, some teetering on what she'd already seen to be an uncomfortable withdrawal period, and all harboring different levels of physical decline. They were fed well, slept little, and just weren't meant for making the journey that was required of them.
But they had no food, no water, and if they didn't keep on, they'd die there.
In the tunnels.
Packed in like sardines, lost.
Somehow worse, maybe, than they'd been back on the Harval property.
Haven marked the ends of walls as they went along, scorching them a bit with her lightning, as she'd learned years prior. The other women had fallen into something of a disagreement with one another, arguing over direction and annoyed when they had to turn back around, and Haven was thankful that none seemed to note the dimming of her electricity as it slowly lost some of its brilliance.
Her magic was draining and the static down in the depths wasn't enough.
She feared they'd all be lost in the darkness soon enough.
Then the girl woke up.
The teen.
In a foggy state at first, but it quickly escalated to panic. Haven didn't really know much about her, if anything, but was very aware that her freaking out would soon spread and she was thankful when one of the penthouse women solved the problem.
"You didn't," Wanda hissed at her quite angrily when Rose tossed one of Locke's potions in the teen's face once more, "have to do that."
"Yeah," Rose retorted with a bit of a glare, "I did."
"Couldn't have been good for her though," Shae did mutter though, honestly, she was thankful for the action as well.
The others, however, weren't so easy to subdue.
Some wanted to stay behind, to await them to find the proper path, but the tunnel system was so extensive that, even with her marking it out a path, she feared losing somebody or what might be awaiting them in the darkness.
It all came to an end in what felt like elation, at least momentarily, as they could see light at the end of a tunnel and Haven dropped her arm, releasing her magic as she rushed forward to investigate for herself, first.
As the only unmarked.
Plus, she just always had to be first.
Always.
It gave the appearance of a run off pipe, hidden among a few others that stuck out of a cliff side, water trickling slowly from the others. Haven imagined in the rainier months, it poured. But for now, she found herself elevated above a body of water, the never-ending blue hued waves, she knew, leading across the way to Fiore.
Shae, the only other one not completely depleted, rushed after her, skidding to a stop right before the edge. As she stared down at the rather sizable drop, the woman took in a gulp and stepped backwards.
"Long fall," Shae remarked softly, but Haven's eyes were elsewhere; on the sky.
"Do you think that Locke has done it yet?" she questioned. "How long were we down there? Felt like hours."
"Sun's setting," Shae pointed out. "So most of the day, I'd say. So yeah. I'd bank on it."
Nodding some, Haven looked back at the women that were gathering about them then, the fresh air all hitting them at different intervals. Some were crying, they were so close to freedom, but of course, there was still a bit of a blockade.
"If Luka's ship is somewhere out here," Haven remarked as her eyes still just scanned the skies rather than the waters, "then we need something to signal where we are. Someway for her to know where to pick us up at."
"What are you thinking?" Shae questioned with a glance.
"I know a spell. A trick. My father's the master of it, but… I can use lightning to travel about. It drains my magical energy very quickly though." Haven shook her arm a bit as her gaze fell once more. Looking to Shae, she remarked softly, "If I could find Luka's ship-"
"What happens when you lose your magic?" Shae asked with a glance at the other woman. "Like...if you're in the middle of the ocean?"
Shrugging a bit, the blonde replied, "I guess it'll be a good thing then, that I know how to swim."
But Shae only shook her head, insisting, "There needs to be another way. You don't even know how far off from us Luka might be. What direction. What if you get turned around? And then your magic dies out and what? You fall into the ocean and drown? No, Haven, you should just- Damn it!"
It shocked the woman, as well as those who had been coming to peer around them, when Haven suddenly seemed to dissipate into a hot flash of lightning, scorching the spot where she'd been standing before.
Shae glared after her, but there was nothing that could be done. The sky was just beginning to darken and the bright zag of light was barely visible as it darted cross the sky, leaving them all behind.
She knew that the other woman was right. That if she ran out of magic, that if Locke hadn't alerted Luka yet, if she just couldn't fucking find the ship, then she'd find herself crashing down into the waves below and, regardless of her aptitude in swimming, eventually succumbing to them.
But she couldn't think about that.
Haven rarely thought about such things.
Defeat and the like.
The second she'd seen the sky above and ocean below, she knew that there was only one way that she'd be able to track down Luka.
Exhilarated from the sheer joy of getting to use her magic so freely once more, Haven forced herself to scan the area for any nearby boat. She'd spent enough time on Lambent Waves that she felt as if she could recognize it a mile off.
She was all, but drained by the time she found it, fall straight of the sky and crashing ungracefully into the hard wooden deck. The men who were milling about, doing whatever the fuck you did on a ship (Haven still had no real clue), were taken aback by her sudden appearance and one even screamed in something close to terror.
But high above them, in the crow's nest, the woman herself was perched, a dated, but classic telescope in one hand. Grinning down from her tiny, circular structure, she called down to Haven, where the blonde, all but drained from loss of magic, struggled to do much other than sit on her knees.
"Was lookin' for ya," Luka called down. "Heard you got a shipment for me, do ya?"
She raised a shaking hand, Haven did, pointing tentatively as she called out in the loudest voice she could manage, "That way. Three pipes. Middle one. No water."
The job was hardly complete from there, even when Luka began barking orders to her men, but Haven only crawled away, forcing herself up to go below deck, where she huddled against the first wall she could find and took to glancing over her necklace, blinking sleepily down at the blue gemstone.
It was quite the hassle, Haven was told later, getting the women down and into the boat. Involving a rope latter and some fear over being discovered and caught. But she only watched through bleary eyes as parade of women joined her below deck, all crammed together down there.
Maybe it was a bad assumption, but she'd thought that Shae would come join her. Sit beside her. When she came down. But she was speaking softly as they found a place to rest, to that Lize woman she'd seemed to know, and maybe it was for the best.
"Don't fall asleep now, kid." Bea, of course, found her place beside the blonde, scratching beneath her eye patch as she settled in for the boat ride. "You can't sleep durin', 'em, you know? Dreams? If you fall asleep durin' one, you wake up. I don't wanna wake up from this. I can't."
Haven could though. She slept fitfully, the worst time being jarred awake when the young teen awoke again, still with very little understanding and, even after being given a bit, sobbing alone while refusing to allow any of them near her.
The ride back to Fiore felt like it took forever.
Arriving at the dock, they found Richard and Xay awaiting them, the early morning sun glittering on the waters. All the women, even the older ones, had rushed up above deck to stare out in amazement. There was a vibe running through them, a lot having been under for year and years, that was undeniable.
This was it.
It was really happening.
But the young teen stayed down, below deck, where she'd huddled into a corner and seemed to be trying to pretend they'd all vanish, if she wished hard enough.
Wanda stood crouched before, her speaking softly and trying to insist that she would be okay, if she just went with her, while T and Gyu stood further back, silently, but concerned.
Shae was still down there, below deck. She'd been assisting the penthouse women, who were suffering without whatever it was that Monty usually fed them, but as she watched Lize, the last one, slowly climb up out of the bellows of the ship, she didn't follow. Instead, finally, she came to stand beside Haven, where the blonde was observing the drama before them.
"Maybe we shouldn't have taken her," Haven remarked, still not fully versed, but feeling as if that didn't matter much. If at all. Ever. In any situation. Her opinion still reigned supreme. "She's not one of us; she's not marked."
But Shae only shook her head before insist, "Let me talk to her."
But she wasn't speaking to Haven as she said this, instead walking towards where the teen had hidden herself away, her words directed at the three women, once so powerful, and now looking equally as lost.
Wanda looked up at her with a bit of a frown as she insisted, "I really don't think-"
"We know one another," Shae insisted, continuing to come closer. Pushing passed Gyu and T, she came to stand before the teen for a moment before crouching down before her as well. "Don't we? Nessa?"
She finally did lift her head, just a bit, but only to insist to Shae, "I don't want to be here. Take me back. I don't belong here."
"You don't belong there," Shae assured her. When the girl shook her head though, she insisted herself as she said, "There's nothing to go back to. There. At all. The manor's gone. We rebelled and won."
"My father-"
"There's nothing," Shae insisted to her, "to go back to. To go back for. Bosco's not going to be the same place it was, in the coming months and years. You're lucky to get out now."
"But my father-"
"Wick...he was..."
"He's dead."
This didn't come from Shae and the woman even cringed a bit, at the words. Rather, they fell from Haven's mouth as she didn't approach, but stood further back, near the stairs, a hard look in her eyes.
"No," the girl whispered. "That's not true! He-"
"I killed him."
"Haven," Shae whispered darkly, but the blonde merely shrugged.
"I did it," she insisted, getting the glares now of Wanda as well, but she spoke coldly and with little concern or fear. "I killed Wick for the same reason all the other men were killed. You're better off here than you would be there."
She began crying again, Nessa did, but as Shae stood, Wanda fell more fully to her knees and the girl allowed it when she wrapped her in her arms, hugging her tightly.
Shae set off after Haven, who was turning to walk up the ladder. It was only once they were both up the ladder though that, after catching the blonde's arm, she insisted with a hiss, "What is your problem?"
"It was all going to come out," Haven retorted simply as she jerked away from the other woman. "One way or another. And now, when they tell her that someone shot her father, she'll associate it with me. She'll hate me. You're welcome. You could try thanking me."
But Shae only let out a short huff of breath and it was hard for the two of them to be so angry, when there was such joy up there. They separated, Shae going off to stand with Lize and the other penthouse women and Haven finding Bea easily.
Xay was very excited to see the two women. He wanted to know everything, right there on the dock, but Haven only muttered something and Shae was going to stick around, to help herd the women, but now that she was back where she belonged, in Fiore, Haven found she just wanted to get back to base.
Where, after so long, it was finally her turn.
She'd never done it before.
Waited on Locke's return.
There were times, maybe, when they first started dating, when he would go on a job without her and she'd arrive back from her own first, but that hardly counted. Since she'd run off after the stolen S-Class job, back when they were teens, it had always been Locke waiting around for her. Looking for her. Worried about her.
And she was worried about him.
She didn't know what would happen, with only him and one other guard upstairs left alive. Who would take the blame. She hated the idea of him having to figure that out all alone. If he ran into trouble, it would take a bit, for it to make it back to her, and she never wanted Locke to go through anything like what she had in the country.
Ever.
Plus…
A lot had just gone on. And she wanted him there, not necessarily as her boyfriend, but more of her only real friend, to talk about it with.
She did get out all that she knew though, that first night back, to the stoic Astra. She was smoking on the front porch when Haven arrived, watching some of the former silent from the Ewing manor serve themselves dinner out in the yard. There was a big pot of something cooking and the smell made Haven's knees weak, as it had been a good few since she'd had a real meal, but she only continued on to the porch.
"Back so soon?" Astra asked as she plucked the smoke from her mouth and instead only stared blankly up at the Haven. "Need your mark removed?"
"Already got it taken care of," she said with a bit of a shrug. "But I figured you'd wanna hear about how it all went. From my perspective. Shae and Locke probably have another, but-"
"There's already reports coming in. Spreading across Bosco. In the single day it's been." Astra got to her feet then, nodding towards the house. "One of my contacts in the country just rang my lacrima. You slaughtered a manor, killing guards and the head of the house. What we did at Ewing's place?" She snorted as they made it into the tiny structure then, alone. "Hardly means anything. But this? This is a wakeup call. This is fear. Running through all of the minor houses in the land. This is the marked hearing the news, seeing what can be done, and wanting on bated breaths for someone on their manor, in their household, to lead the charge. And few more? Then they're doing it all on their own. And then..."
"How does Locke get out? Of the country?" Haven asked as they came, as they seemed to frequently do, stand before the kitchen table. "Now?"
"Locke didn't contact me," Astra told her with a bit of a shrug. "He contacted Luka, directly, as he was instructed to do. I have no idea what he does now. Is there some concern for him not being able to get his own, legal, way out?"
"I don't think so. No." Haven shook her head. "Anyone who could implicate him is dead."
"Then let him work it out on his own. He's a big boy, Haven."
Haven looked off then as she questioned, "What happened here? While we were gone?"
"One or two left," Astra offered with a shrug. "But most have hung on. And the stragglers, health wise, have all improved. Xavier trains them in the morning, Richard goofs off with them in the evenings. Nothing of interest."
Haven only sighed some as she offered, "I don't know if a lot of the women we brought back will stay. Or if we'd want them to. They're all kinda, well...older and-"
"We weren't after bodies. This time." Astra brought her smoke back up to her lips as she simply reminded, "We wanted the tunnels. And now, we have them."
This would be the focus on the next few days. Luka came in, like the last time, to discuss the tunnel issue, and the women that stuck around were welcomed to base camp. It was a strange few days for everyone, but Haven mostly found herself either wrestling with Xay or hanging around the barn, feeling a bit forlorn.
She thought she'd missed Locke, that week before she was able to join him in Bosco, but this was different. This was stronger.
And that night, as she climbed down in the middle of it, the feeling had reached its peak.
She thought that she would find Xay on guard duty. That was her hope. The past few nights, when she couldn't sleep, she'd followed him around and messed with the younger guy a bit. He liked her ribbing and joking and she liked the feeling of having a little brother again, not unlike the position her younger cousin Ajax had always filled.
But he wasn't the one that she found hanging around the perimeter that night. Rather, it seemed to be Richard and one of the men freed from Ewings manor. They acknowledged her with a nod as, once realizing it was just the two of them, she continued on into the forest surrounding.
It had been a few days, nearly a week, without any confirmation from Locke, and Haven didn't know if it was this hard for him, usually, but it was really starting to get to her. Part of her wanted to go back into the country and seek him out, but a bigger part was reverent of the fact that he was probably dealing with a lot of fallout. He was one of the only two survivors of a massacre and, even if no one traced it back to him in any way, he still needed to give his side of the story and tie up any loose ends.
Plus…
Well, maybe part of her was nervous about that woman too. The assistant. She imagined that Alwood probably was leading the charge into what took place at the Harval manor, which meant she'd be around and she did think, maybe, that Locke wasn't just being his usual self. The woman was probably interested in him in some capacity.
Haven had spent the majority of their back and forth relationship either blatantly informing him of the fact she was seeing other people or remarking that she intended to continue to, with the implication that she expected the same from him. They'd be together when they were together, but when they weren't…
But everything changed, when she was revived. She wanted to say that they were without a doubt on the same page, regardless of her relentless teasing hinting at otherwise, but…
It had never bothered her so much. The idea of Locke being with someone else. She knew he was, when she'd been away for those three years, and that was fine, that was whatever, but she'd seen the way he reacted, when she called him out in the shed those few times.
So maybe she was learning about a lot of Locke's feelings, all those years, while she'd been running way from her own. He'd taken their relationship very seriously and had always tried to keep a place for her in his life, in his mind, and now she was stuck on the return end of it.
And it was even an extremely mild form of it.
It scared her some, when she saw someone else sitting out by the river that evening. She almost turned around, fearful of it not being someone from base camp and rather a random hiker or something, but then the clouds shifted away from the moon just enough to provide some light and she saw it was merely Shae.
They'd been avoiding one another since their time on the ship. Shae had taken over looking after the few penthouse women who stuck around, which for the time being seemed to only be Rose, Lize, and the loud woman from Seven who kept saying she'd take off, soon, but had yet to do so. The others took what money Astra offered survivors and either traveled back home or to Richard's guild, where his people seemed to be working at contacting next of kin for any who wanted it.
A lot of the older women took up that offer as well.
Haven wasn't even sure if it could even be called avoidance, what she and Shae were doing. It wasn't as if they were friends or anything. The other woman spent a lot of time, she knew, with Locke, and that was fine, but that hardly meant they were anything to one another. Locke made lots of friends that wanted nothing to due with Haven. She was used to that occurrence.
But…
She'd felt like they'd connected, maybe, those few weeks there, down in the pond each night, shivering and talking around topics. It was difficult for Haven to make friends in general, but women especially. And she'd have liked it, maybe, if they could be at least somewhat friendly with one another, if only for the time they were forced together.
She was going to turn away. Walk off back into the forest, maybe even go back to bed. But Shae noted her presence, lifting her head from where it'd been rested on her knees, and turned to stare at her. Their eyes met and Haven, slowly, shuffled forwards.
"Can you not turn it off?"
Frowning, Haven asked, "Turned what off?"
Shae shrugged though, as her gaze went back to the water. "Your boyfriend told me, when you first got here, that the reason you feel so...weird, that it feels weird to be around you, is because you...suck all the static out of the air or some shit. Can you not?"
"He called me weird?" Haven complained as she was standing now, over the other woman. "His fucking dad eats literal metal. Constantly. But I'm weird?"
She narrowed her eyes up at the woman, Shae did, before saying, "Are all of you crazy? There? In your fairy place?"
"Fairy Tail." Haven, slowly, moved to take a seat beside the woman, facing the river. "And yeah, I guess we are."
"What are you even doing out here?" Shae asked. "If you were coming to bathe-"
"I was looking for Xay," Haven cut her off. "He usually is doing patrol, but it was Richard and I really didn't want-"
"To talk to him?" Shae snorted. "Yeah, I get that."
Haven shook her head some as she whispered, "I just wish he knew something about Locke. He took him there. So you'd think he'd have some idea what's going on. But-"
"You know when you were gone, that first time," the other woman offered, "he sat out here all the time too."
"Out here?"
"By the river. When he wasn't sitting on the porch, waiting for you to appear."
Swallowing, Haven said, "He's obsessive like that."
Shae gave this to her without a fight and they fell into a weird silence where they could hear some crickets chirping softly around them, each of their eyes following a different firefly as they fluttered about, and it wasn't nearly as uneasy as it should have been.
Eventually, the blonde did venture, "How do you do that? Back at the manor? Just...take the gun and...shoot him? I mean, I know he was probably an ass and definitely deserved it, but-"
"The same way that you just claimed you did it," Shae replied after a moments thought. "You thought that it had to be done, so you did it."
"That's different."
"Is it?" She shrugged. "It's different for you and Locke, I guess, growing up in a guild. It sounds very violent. But that's a line you can't cross. Or haven't before. I didn't grow up like that. This is all new to me. The things I've seen in Bosco… I can't just rectify them or ignore them. And I can't let this all fall through. My mother's lost somewhere in that country, being treated the same way that we were… I'd kill them all, if I had to, to get her back. What was his life to me? What's it to you?"
Haven found that it was sticking with her, the way she thought about her words before letting them loose, and she didn't like the images that she conjured up, when she thought of that specific afternoon.
"I don't feel bad for him. Or think you did the wrong thing. If that's what you mean." Haven looked to the ground then, toying a bit with some grass that was growing nearby. "It's just… We were taught that everyone's savable. Even people that you don't think are. Everyone can be a better person eventually. And you have to strive for that eventuality."
"Do you think that he's worth saving? That man you're afraid of? Ewing?"
"I'm not afraid of him."
"Is worth saving?" Shae insisted. "If given a hundred chances, would he do the right thing on even one?"
Haven looked up to the moon, watching as it disappeared behind a cloud once more, before softly saying, "I don't know. But...I wouldn't even give him the chance."
"They're fucking monsters," the other woman said simply, decisively. "You can give people second chances. You can give them third chances. Four. But monsters don't change. They can't."
Her gaze fell then, Haven's did, to glance at Shae, but the woman wasn't looking back at her and, with a sigh, the blonde seemed to uncharacteristically relent. Softly, she said, "I'm just worried about Locke."
And Shae didn't smile, still uncomfortable with the energy Haven presented, but did remark back, "You are obsessive like that."
It shouldn't have felt that good.
But it did.
Two days would pass and Haven found it difficult to even tussle around with Xay. Instead, she did try it a few times. What Shae said Locke did. Just sit around. On the porch. Watching the treeline.
It was fucking miserable.
And even worse than his time spent waiting on her, given there were so many people about. Too many people.
She almost wanted to be the one still trekking around Bosco, if only to get away from all the other people.
Locke was dumb though. He always had been. Because he'd feel it, if he tried hard enough, when she was near. Or at least she assumed he could, but she could in the reverse. Sense his magic as it approached. His energy was that ingrained into her being.
She was actually waiting in line for lunch one day when she felt it. Out of nowhere. It crept up on her all of a sudden, the feeling, and she didn't, like, run to him or anything. It wasn't that drastic. But she did ditch the line to go out and meet him, as he was walking up on the property. Maybe she did rush, more than she usually would, because her breath did feel a bit higher and she bounced some, in front of him, unable to hide her smile.
But Locke didn't return it.
"Take longer next time, idiot," she remarked with little care as she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. "Not like people were waiting on your or anything."
Locke returned the gesture, tightly, and she knew others were probably watching them, people who'd been away from for far longer, but it didn't matter. As she rested her head in his chest, she felt invigorated already, without even hearing his words.
"Haven," he whispered softly as he bowed his head a bit, his nose brushing her blonde locks. "I need to speak with Astra, I guess, about what happened, but after-"
"We'll go to the barn," she assured him, releasing his neck as she took a step back. "To be alone. Are you...okay?"
And he smiled then, even if it was forced, just for her, before nodding his head and insisting, "I'm fine. Let's go talk to her. Get it over with."
Haven nodded, but didn't turn to walk away as, instead, she eyed him carefully before remarking, "You're not sick, are you?"
"Not that I know of." He started walking on anyways, catching her hand as he passed and taking her along. "Why?"
"You seem off."
"I'm tired. Just got out of fucking Bosco. That's all."
He was tense though. She could tell. Like something was bothering him. And it didn't help that, as they walked together through the property, the eyes of most of the others were on them. Or at least the newest of newcomers. They'd certainly seen Locke be helpful at the end of their time at the manor, but he still had been seen as guard for far longer and there was an air of apprehension to his presence.
This usually would have bothered Locke. Haven knew it would. But he only continued on, up to the tiny house, and gave no hesitation as he popped open the door.
Astra was in there, they could see her through the screen door as they'd approached, smoking a cigarette and going over some sort of map. She didn't even glance up at them when they entered, instead just sighing loudly and gesturing to the seats before her.
"Welcome back," she greeted Locke around her smoke as, releasing his girlfriend's hand, he moved instead to pull out a chair for the woman. "Any trouble crossing the boarder? Wanted fugitive?"
"I stayed," he began as he claimed his own seat, dragging it a bit closer to Haven's and away from the woman across from them both now, "behind to be at the manor when they showed up. Alwood brought men from the nearby city and had re quested capital guards as well. I used my own magic to cut up my face a bit and well as give myself a deep gash in my chest and a few more shallow ones. I'd knew I'd be able to heal them later and it made it look like I was attacked as well. When Alwood's men arrived, I was in the foyer with the other dead guards and they bought it fully. There was another guard, Garth, that survived after being dumped in the upstairs penthouse and he corroborated most of I said. So they all dispersed, to seek out the women, thinking they'd fled into the surrounding area and, when I was eventually left alone, I was able to use a lacrima to send a simple signal to Luka. When they returned empty handed, Alwood had me and Garth taken to a nearby inn, to recuperate; and to wait for those capital guards. They questioned us, I told them what I thought I should, remarked that I just wanted to get back to Fiore, and after a few days, they allowed me to go."
Astra stared at him for a few moments before, with a bit of a shrug, saying, "It's just as well they didn't suspect you of anything. There should have been no reason for them to, other than Haven's claims of them discovering the two of you meeting, but… If they allowed you back into Fiore, they must not be too concerned with you."
"People know about what happened at Ewing's place," Haven butted in. "Especially Alwood. They wouldn't think Locke had anything to do with it because they probably fully believe it is a rebellion."
"The rumblings of one, at least," Astra offered with a shrug. The woman had been in a better mood as of late though and, when she lifted her head to smile at Locke, it felt genuine. "Can you tell me anything else about Alwood? Right now, our focus is going to be scoping out the tunnel system, but following that-"
"Nope." The man even shook his head. "I can't. Didn't really spend much time around him. Anything useful I could tell you died in the manor. Everyone I spent time around didn't make it out."
She made some sort of noise of disappointment, but still only offered, "You look ill. Go rest up. It's meal time. I'm sure we'll all have a chance to speak later."
It was Haven's gaze that lingered on the man's though, even as they both stood and exited the house. He was walking ahead of her, typically a cardinal sin, but Haven only stared at his back, following him all the way back to the barn. They nearly made it inside, but they could hear him then, rushing over. Xavier. He even called out to them.
"Hey, Locke! Haven! Look, I snagged you lunch."
He nearly fell in his rush, with both hands just barely balancing a tiny tray each. But he found himself fully righted, before the two of them, a bright grin spread across his face.
"Thanks, X," Locke offered in that same, strange tone he'd had since arriving. Almost void. Preoccupied. But he took the tray presented to him, all the same, before remarking, "I'll see you in the morning, huh? I'm beat. We'll hang out tomorrow though. Promise."
"Uh...okay, I guess," the young teen replied as Haven took her own tray. "I just thought that maybe-"
"Tomorrow, Xay." Haven gave him a stern look. "Which means don't bother us at dinner time either. Or let anyone else do it. Locke's tired."
He blinked some, Xavier did, before snickering instead and tossing a hand behind his head. "I get it. You wanna be alone."
This got a look from Locke and a roll of the eyes from Haven, but just as quickly, one of the other guys was calling to Xavier, further out in the yard, in regards to some training stuff, and the teen darted off, leaving the pair behind.
In the barn, Locke was quick to set his tray upon one of the big, wooden boxes that were scattered about before moving to drop his bag. He took in a breath, perhaps one of relief, rolling his shoulders while glancing about.
But Haven wasn't nearly as put at ease as the man was.
"Why did you lie to Astra?"
"What?"
She was eyeing him carefully, Haven was, going to set her untouched tray to the side as well before coming to stand before her boyfriend.
"Why," she repeated as she reached out then, for his shirt, to tug it up, "did you lie to Astra?"
"I didn't."
"I can tell when you're lying." She took no pleasure out of him continuing on, tugging his shirt over his own head now, revealing his chest. With a single finger, she ran it over his left pec, questioning, "Where did you cut?"
"Here." Locke took her hand in his own, dragging it lower. "And stabbed, is what I did. It was actually kind of stupid, really, but I did panic a bit, when I realized that I needed to have some sort of wound to deter detection. I'd thought I'd lock myself in a room, and pretend to be the same as Garth, but I thought that it would really keep them off my back, if he was the only one truly unharmed. Put some attention on him."
Haven nodded, allowing her finger to train further when he released her hand. Deviating, she instead went to his hip, where her other fingers then moved to squeeze. Softly, she questioned instead, "If you don't want to tell me why, at least tell me what actually happened?"
Frowning down at the woman, Locke replied, "You wanted time. When you got back. So-"
"What really happened with Alwood?"
He didn't turn away from her. Shove her away. Only sighed, loudly, before saying, "Can we at least eat? Please?"
This took place on their loft, seated beside one another, balancing their trays in their laps, feet dangling over the edge. For Locke, the meal was a huge downgrade from what he'd been fed as a guard on the manor, but for Haven, even over a week out, it still felt like something to be very grateful for.
"I guess," Locke sighed softly, "that I need to write my parents. And yours. It's been a bit."
"I already did."
"What do you mean?"
"What do you think I mean? Idiot?" She didn't glance up at him and instead seemed very interested in her sandwich then. "I already wrote to mine. And yours. On your behalf."
"Why?"
"You could try thanking me," she replied instead. "I go out of my way to make sure that your dumb parents are scared about you being in Bosco-"
"What did you tell them?" Locke questioned, still suspicious. "Exactly?"
"That you were safe and fine and that they shouldn't worry about you."
"They're going to think that you murdered me out here." Locke shook his head slightly. "They're going to come looking for me. They-"
"Why do you always say that?" she complained. "Sounds like a guilty conscious trying to ward their own guilt onto an innocent."
"You were even born innocent," he retorted simply, but the woman merely gave a look before dumping the majority of her food over, onto his place.
"I'm not that hungry," was her explanation. "And are you going to tell me already? About your secret? Or are you hoping that I'm going to just forget?"
"It's usually a good bet," he told her wryly. "With you."
"Locke-"
"Bring me my bag. I have something for you."
"Get it yourself, loser."
"Haven-"
"Hold on." And she didn't crawl over to the ladder, but rather just jumped down to the barn floor with little concern. "It better be expensive."
"Where exactly would I get you something expensive, huh? In the short amount of time I wasn't trying to figure a way out of the kingdom-"
"You have guard money." She didn't move to bring him his bag however, like he'd wanted. Rather, she just bent down, right before it, unzipping the pack with little concern. "Who else are you going to spend it on? Yourself?"
"For someone who would do exactly that-"
"Oh, Locke, wow!" Haven had tossed his dirty laundry to the side with little abandon only to discover, at the bottom of the pack, some cans of the specific soda pop he'd been gifting her, back at the manor. "You remembered?"
"At the little shop next to the train station on my way out," he confirmed. "I specifically had to ask for it."
He finally was able to lighten up, just a bit, watching from above as Haven seemed momentarily joyful. Pleasing the woman often alluded him and he was grateful for when he could accomplish it.
"Can you bring me my bag now?" he requested again as Haven popped the tab on a drink before downing half. "Please? So I can give you what I actually have?"
"What do you mean?" She was quick to snatch up the bag and head over to him. "There's more?"
"Sort of." Locke set his tray to the side and, when Haven was back up on the loft with him, only held out a hand to take the bag. "I wasn't constantly on guard duty or lingering around the others. I spent some time in my room too. Especially late at night. And you know when I can't sleep-"
"A spell?" Haven watched him take one of his journals from the pack. "For me?"
"For," Locke said simply, "your demon."
He opened the journal to a specific page, having to flick passed a lot of writing that didn't make much sense to Haven, but he stopped eventually, on a page with a few deconstructed sentences and then one, fully written out incantation.
"I've spent a lot of time on this," he informed the woman. "I've been looking into it since you brought my mother and I those papers, back from Ivan's lab. I know my mother gave you some stuff, but I've been trying really hard to figure out some other things for you. My magical improvement has kind of hit a lull and no one here really needs my help, other than you, so-"
"Let me see it." She snatched the journal out of his hand as she sat back down beside him. "What does this do?"
"Your mom has some sort of power bomb she can toss out, that is stronger than the orbs you throw around in your demon form," he said simply. "So I was working off that, to replicate it. It's not much, but I think that it's going to help you eventually transition into more powerful attacks, if not a full body takeover. But I need you to try it out, to see if I'm no the right track, because this stuff is way higher level than I'm used to and-"
"I can go try it right now! I'll go out in the forest, maybe bring Xavier, and-" Haven frowned as she forced herself to come to a stop, her excitement dying as she instead glared at her boyfriend. "Nice try, asshole."
"What?" Locke frowned. "Why are you-"
"You're not," she insisted then as she closed the journal and set it to the side, "going to distract me."
"I'm not trying to. I just-"
"You ate," she remarked with a nod over to where their trays sat now, behind them. "So spill. What really went on in Bosco?"
Locke took in a deep breath before saying, "I wasn't lying. About Alwood coming back and them searching around for you guys. But he didn't put us up in a hotel. He took us to a satellite station for his business, to question us further, really, but also to try and give us a chance to rest up afterwards."
"What do you mean?" Haven questioned. "A satellite station?"
"Like…a holding place. For...marked people. And for others to stop by to purchase them, I guess. I don't know. I just know that he put us each up in a room there and offered us, you know, a woman or whatever and-"
"Why didn't you tell this to Astra?" she cut him off with a complaint. "If you know a location like that, it could be valuable. Why-"
"That's not all." Taking in a deep breath, Locke hunched his shoulders some and Haven frowned, beside him, feeling his discomfort. "His assistant was there. And she came to my room one night to talk and said that she was worried about me, or whatever, about what I'd just gone through, and she'd heard that I wanted to head back home, but..."
He raised his gaze then, to look at the woman. He found Haven's own awaiting him, dark and questioning, making him frown.
"We just talked," he insisted then. "But it was… She was kind of...lightning me up a bit, I guess, about how strong and determined I must have been, to survive. And then she told me about how, probably, she could get me a job at Alwood's place, if I ever decided I wanted it."
Haven sat back some then, thinking it seemed, while her boyfriend only continued to stare at her, expecting something.
"She doesn't suspect anything," the blonde whispered softly then. "None of them must, if they're not only letting you leave, but she's also giving you the chance to come back. "Unless it's a setup, but… I think she's into you."
"Yeah," Locke remarked and neither had their teasing tones then, Both were flat. "I know."
"So she'd get you into the main estate, I bet." She shook her head some. "But I think she travels around, with him, and if she wanted you close… You could probably get in as one of his main bodyguards. Maybe. If she was into you enough. And-"
"Haven-"
"I think Alwood's pretty fucking important," she pointed out then. "If we could kill him… It'd almost be like an assassination of one of the top families in the Kingdom."
"I'm not doing it."
"Doing what? I'm not saying that you kill him. Or me, but with you in there, keeping tabs on him-"
"I'm not doing any of it, okay?" And he looked off finally, down at his lap as a hand came up to rub roughly against his eye socket. "I… I don't think that I should be S-Class. Haven. Or at least shouldn't have come here. This is… This is too fucking much for me, alright?"
"Locke-"
"No." He shoved her off when she tried to reach for him, nearly pushing himself off the ledge. "I had to leave people fucking behind, in that satellite location, that are going raped and tortured and killed. I saw people on my way to and from train stations that are going to suffer the same fates. And you know the shittiest part? The shittiest thing about me? When I close my eye, I don't fucking see them. I can't. I just keep seeing all of those guys, Anderson, Halbert, all of them, I see them lying there, dead, and I think about their dead bodies and their families, back home, waiting on them, but they're going to find out that they're dead, that they're just fucking dead, and they deserve it though, they had to, I know that, but I still-"
"Take a breath." She didn't let him shove her off then, falling into him so heavily that he had to allow it. Haven wasn't exactly the comforting type and tried hard to replicate what he'd always done for her, pulling his head close to her chest, sitting up on her knees to get all the height over him she could. "It's okay. You're okay."
"I'm not," he muttered softly. "This is...beyond me. This isn't the type of shit that we deal in, Haven. I feel fucking gross. How can we even be happy about tiny victories when all this other shit is still going on?"
"I'm not happy," she told him simply, bowing her head some to rest it against his hair. "Who's happy? I'm amped, to go out and do the next portion of things, but I'm not happy. I'm not gloating. Or celebrating. I'm gearing back up to do whatever we need to do to keep going. We go out on jobs and take down, maybe, one portion of a gang, understanding that we still have to catch the ringleader, right? This is that, but stretched out. Shitty things are happening to people you now have a distanced acknowledgment about. Okay. And? They would happen if you were here or not. You did what you needed to do. Now you take a break, regroup, and get back to it."
Locke blinked some, trying to find some comfort in her hold, before whispering softly, "I'm not saying it's not the right thing. What we're doing. I'm saying that I think that there's something wrong with me and-"
"It's okay to feel bad, Locke." She released him some, allowing the man to lift his head and stare up at her. "Life's fucking complicated. You can't help your emotions. I can say, easily, that they deserved it and, outside of a few moments of reflection, I'll probably never think of them again. But you're different than me. You always have been."
"I feel like a shit person," he told her bluntly. "But I keep thinking about how Anderson told me about his mom and sister or Halbert, he had a girlfriend that he'd met, in Seven, with a kid, and he was saving up to bring them to Bosco and I just…"
"Okay." Haven fully released him then. "You're a shit person."
Frowning, he glared some as he said, "What?"
"You're," she said simply, "a shit person. If that's what you wanna be. I'm shit a person too. For different reasons. Welcome to the club. Wallow in it for the night and then focus. Ready back up. Shit people have a way better chance at changing things for the better than good people; we know how to get our hands dirty. You think Richard's a good person? Or Astra? No. But they're fighting for something good. And that's what matters. This isn't Fairy Tail, Locke, remember? And our enemy isn't someone that could just be good, maybe, if they were given the right avenue. So we can't fight them like they are."
"I know that. I just-"
"Shae thinks of her mom. All the time." Haven looked off. "And I… What if it was your mom? Or mine? What if Marin was stuck over here, Locke? You'd do whatever you have to, wouldn't you? Push through it? To get to her? Even if it meant being a shit person?"
"Of course I fucking would. I-"
"If Anderson," she questioned, "took Marin into one of those rooms in the penthouse and-"
"Haven-"
"If he did," she kept up, swallowing some, "that to Marin, would you be sitting here whining about it? Or feeling sorry for his mother and sister? I fucking wouldn't. And you wouldn't either. All those women we freed from the penthouse? They're somebodies Marin. Locke. Even if they fucking weren't, they matter. Sometimes people do things that they can't come back from. And that's saying a fucking lot, coming from me. If someone even said that they'd hurt your mom...or my sister that way, even thought about it, wouldn't you want to make sure that they couldn't do it? Ever?"
Locke sat back from her then, silent, before saying, "I don't want to go back there. Right now. Alwood's. Alright?"
"Astra's focused on the tunnels," Haven said simply. "When it comes time to check back in with Alwood, I'll bring up your stupid thing with the assistant and we'll go from there. You'll be fine by then. I promise. Just… Clear your head for a few days. Stop thinking about it all. And...talk to your friend. Shae. Seriously. She'll probably make you feel better than I will."
It was Locke's turn to make a face finally, shaking his head at the woman's attempt at pity. Still, shifting closer to her again, Locke allowed his head to fall forwards, resting against her chest with a bit of a sigh.
Nuzzling into her breasts, he remarked against the fabric of her shirt, "We have so much other shit to talk about, how am I going to clear my head?"
"Yeah," Haven agreed as she wrapped an arm around him again. "Like how you just conveniently keep running into this assistant woman-"
"Or," he countered, "where you get off, thinking you can just write my parents without my permission-"
"Your haircut," she decided for the both of them, "is probably going to be the first thing we need to talk about."
"I thought you liked it?"
"Undetermined."
"Hey." He shoved away then as she fell back, off her knees, and they were in back in their standards once more. "We missed out on speaking about that shit in the shed that day too. I wasn't going to let Crigin hurt you, you know."
"Shut up."
"I'm serious. I-"
"We look out for each other." She hit him then, hard, in his bare shoulder, right by his guild marking. "And besides, Crigin told you to fuck and you should have."
"Haven-"
"You can't blow your cover."
"You're fucked."
She hit him again, for that, and he shoved her and then they tussled a bit, maybe, but eventually, he set out to fixing up their sleeping bags, right beside one another, and Haven took to glancing over the journal.
But the woman didn't leave, off to go discover this potential power. Locke thought she would and didn't necessarily hate the idea of it, knowing he needed to catch some serious sleep, but he was still thankful when she stretched out with him, already seeming somewhat better, having laid everything out to her.
"We're going to wake up at, like, two in the morning," she said with a frown, "and our sleep schedules are going to be fucked all week because of it."
"Maybe," he offered as they didn't huddled down into their sleeping bags, but rather laid atop them, rested close to one another. "But maybe that's for the better. Get up early tomorrow, you can tell me about what's been going on here? Maybe even head into town, with out X, and get my own letter sent to my parents?"
"You are a shit person," she told him with a frown. "I let you write home to my parents on my behalf-"
"You literally dictated every single word and corrected me, many times, when I tried anything else."
"-but you won't even let me, the only woman that has ever loved you-"
"You," he decided then, "are the shit person."
"-write home to your parents. Who I've known. Literally my entire life. You can't even trust me that much. Wow. What does that say about our relationship, Locke?"
"That I need a better one."
"Shit person."
He rested his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes as he said, "I love you."
But she only reached out to flick him in the forehead. "That's because you're stupid."
"Haven-"
"I love you too, damn. Needy much?"
"A lot," he admitted and that made her break some, nuzzling her forehead against his.
"You'll be alright, Locke," she promised him. "Always, right?"
"Always," he agreed and it would take awhile, for either to find sleep, but the man did enjoy when his girlfriend toyed with his hair as they drifted off.
He wasn't wrong. Neither were exhausted enough to sleep a decent amount and, around midnight, Locke awoke to find himself alone.
Groaning some, waited a good twenty minutes or so, only slightly alert, waiting for his girlfriend to show back up. When this didn't happen, he eventually thought it good to get up himself, maybe. Get some air. Take a piss. Maybe find Haven. Then he could maybe fall back to sleep.
But it was more difficult than he thought to find the woman.
Most everyone was tucked away in their tents, though a few people were seated around the main fire pit, shooting the breeze. He found Richard among them, of course, standing before the fire as he told some sort of captivating (or maybe revolting, given some of the listeners seemed engaged, but uneasy) story. At the sight of the other man, however, Richard was quick to end things, jogging right over to Locke.
"Heard ya had a hand in severin' a connection of mine?"
Locke frowned as Richard laughed, loudly, into the otherwise still night. With a shale of his head, the younger man insisted, "That was all the women. I only did what I was told."
"There's always a place, I guess," Richard told him with that shit eating grin of his, when he knew he was gassing someone up good, "for little soldiers, just lookin' to follow orders."
"I'm not in the mood for talking." Locke crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm just looking for Haven."
"Your girlfriend take off, huh? Get what she want from ya and leave? Careful to do it yourself first from now on."
But when Locke didn't seem up for his games, the older guy gave in a bit with a shrug.
"I mightta seen her headed off, into the forest, 'bout an hour ago," the older man said. "Called out to her, but she seemed pretty determined."
Locke trust his ability to eventually zero in on his girlfriend above all else. He knew that she'd probably been unable to turn it off fully, her desire to test out her new spell, and while he didn't blame her, he also intended to drag her ass back to the barn until morning. And maybe scold her a bit, on taking on such a task without someone there if things went south.
But it wasn't Haven he found so easily.
Rather, it was Shae.
She was on watch duty that evening, along side a bouncing Xavier, who was going on about something Locke didn't quite catch, but for what it was worth, it didn't seem like the woman was listening much anyhow.
As the pair noted Locke, he was quick to head their way, more easily faking smiles now, especially when, the second she was close enough, Shae moved to wrap her arms around his neck.
"I heard you got back," she said as, pulling back, she mirrored his grin back at him. "I wasn't too worried about you, but it's good to see you."
Locke nodded some before, glancing at Xavier, asking the teen, "Hey, man, you think you can continue on for a few? Alone? Wouldn't want someone to sneak passed patrol, would we?"
Xavier wasn't stupid. He was clearly being sent away for a reason. Still, though he deflated and grumbled a bit, he just carried on alone then, flashlight in hand and gun slung over his back. Shae and Locke watched him go for a moment before looking to one another again.
"How are you?" the man asked her and she'd been poised to question something similar to him, but seemed taken aback by his questioning of her.
"Fine," she answered tightly before adding, "Why?"
Losing his grin, he told her her solemnly, "I know that it wasn't easy. Or maybe it was. But… It has to be heavy on you, right or wrong. What happened. So I just wanted to make sure-"
"I did what I had to," she told him bluntly, sensing some foolery after only a few days prior having a similar conversation with the man's girlfriend. "So-"
"I know," he agreed with a nod. "and I'm glad. If you hadn't, I would have let Wick go and it would have fucked everything up. So thanks. I just know that shit's heavy and… I was thinking that tomorrow, maybe, we could talk about it? Or whenever. I just want to make sure you're okay. Really. Sometimes shit like this doesn't set in until later. When all the shock wears off. I know that there's a lotta shit going on right now, but… I'm here. Whenever you need me."
Shae hugged him again, before they parted, and Locke decided, maybe, he and Haven should let Xay tag along the next day, to mail the letter. The kid clearly deserved some attention. And then he spent another good half hour or so, searching out the woman, before giving up.
He was quite pissed when he got back and found Haven not only back, but also stretched out across both sleeping bags and leaving very little room for him.
"Haven," he loudly complained as he stripped back down for some more sleep. "Where were you? Haven? I know you're not really asleep."
"A person can't shit without telling you?" she grumbled as he, none too gently, pushed and shoved to make room for himself.
"Bullshit," he retorted through a yawn. "You went to check out your powers. Didn't you? You're still not asleep, so-"
"If I say yes, will you shut up?"
"That was dangerous," he griped as, once he settled down, Haven only shifted right back over onto his half of things. "You know."
"Shuddup," she continued to complain, resting her head against his arm. "Go to sleep."
"You're not even going to tell me how it went?"
"If I did," she reasoned in a clipped tone, "then you'll stay up all night going over your dumb spell breaking or whatever."
"Which is a bad thing?" he questioned. "When you literally got in the middle of the night to play with your magic?"
"It's different when I do it."
"Hey, Haven?"
"Go to sleep," she whined now, but he only kept up.
"You remember, I mean, I guess I know you do, but when you first...came back to life or whatever, last summer, and when you would sleep-"
She groaned some, cutting him off, as she shoved up with one arm, just to reach out with the other hand and grip his chin tightly.
"If you need me," she told him simply, "I'm here. But you don't right now. There's nothing to worry about. What? Was it your first time seeing a dead body?"
"No, asshole," he retorted with a frown as, when she released him, she moved to rest her head on his chest. "That wouldda been you. So you're really not helping anything."
"What do you want from me?" she complained right back. "I've try really hard today, you know?"
"I know," he sighed, the one to toy with her hair then. Blinking up at the hole in the ceiling, he frowned at the starless night while remarking, "I just think that… What you did with Ewing, before, was big, fine, but this… We're really in this now, you know? The Kingdom's going to be looking for the women that we brought back here. For you. And Shae. Seriously. I know it's just the beginning, but-"
"I told you earlier, Locke." She tilted her head up then, to stare at him lazily. "I protect you and you protect me. Nothing can come between us. What's ever beaten me and you?"
"I mean, you died. When we were together. So-"
"Nothing," she insisted with a bit of an edge, "can beat me and you when were on the same page. Ever. We probably would have been the most powerful one in the history of Fairy Tail, if Navi and Ravan weren't holding us back all those years."
"You," he warned softly, "are terrible at revisionist history. You know that?"
"Oh, yeah." She closed her eyes. "By the way, depending on who you ask, I might have killed Wick."
"What? Haven-"
"You left me all alone, to deal with all those women by myself. What did you think was going to happen?"
He wanted to argue more, but it was clear the woman was falling asleep on him (literally) and, well, he only let out a long groan before saying, "So much for being on the same page."
She only shifted, to kiss his bicep, and it was just as hard this time, to fall back asleep. Locke watched the sky from the hole, content in holding his girlfriend, in being back at base, knowing everyone of importance was safe and accounted for, even if it was only momentary. Eventually it was enough.
Eventually.
That's it for A Call to Arms. Next part up (hopefully) at the end of this month.