The last chapter originally had a author note but it didn't save at one point, and I only noticed it after publishing the chapter.

Onto answering reviews

Tracitus: I'm really happy that you saw my filler chapter as important and that's actually what convinced me to write this chapter.I really struggle to develop Laura and Fritz even if they aren't supposed to be main characters, I will try to work on them.In chapter 7, Laura is the one with the flamer, maybe I didn't make it obvious enough, I will take a look at it after this.I understand your concerns about the killing test, the test's purpose it to show who is willing to kill for Atlas, those who refused being told that they weren't supposed to kill the captive and that the gun wasn't loaded with lethal bullets. When Six refers to Griza's psychological evaluation she's talking about this.

As to why she asks the instructor if its race as anything to do with his punishment instead of immediately jumping to this conclusion, it's because she's aware that not everyone is racist, this question was a way to guess the instructor's level of racism.

As you guessed I'm a fan of warfare, in particular WW1 and hoi4 is my favorite game.

About the German nature of Atlas, canon old mantlean is simply German. Yes in canon Atlas is a German monarchy that lost the great war which caused its transition into a republic. The use of "von" is a remain of this system, so even if they don't hold any legal power anymore, the nobility still has an important military tradition.

Atlas political situation is mostly inspired by interwar Japan and Italy, but Ironwood will not claim absolute power, at least not until Salem attacks. But even then he probably won't do more than give himself emergency powers and implement martial law, which exist for this kind of situation.

I purposefully did chapter 9, I think, to be able to do time skips during their time in Atlas.

Six is actually a canon character who's name I simply hid, but honestly we know so few informations about her character despite her being an important character, that I've had to invent or guess huge chunks of her and she basically an OC now.

As the first ray of light was entering the bedroom, Griza was already awake, as she couldn't find sleep. She couldn't stop thinking, about the mission she had the day before and about the fact that soon she would leave Atlas for who know how long.

But over all of this, she couldn't stop thinking about the bodies, the torn and mangled bodies, some still alive, other not. She thought that the killing part was the worst, but then she saw the faces of those still alive, as half their body was missing, as their skin burned.

Over all Griza remembered the screams, of pain of course, but also of fear, of horror, screams full of despair. Over all Griza remembered the stench, the stench of burned flesh, even only thinking about it made her own skin twitch.

When James came back during the night, he immediately dropped on his bed without saying a single word to her, and now, four hours later, he was still asleep on his bed.

While Griza was envying her roommate's sleeping abilities, the latter was slowly waking up. As he finally stood up, he noticed her and after a few seconds of awkward silence, he spoke up.

"Were you watching me sleep ?"

"What ?! No... Of course not... I was going to... wake you up."

"I see..."

"Anyway, do you have anything planned for today James ?"

"Well the usual, preparing for my classes, doing homework... And I actually intended to pass by Fritz's lab. Why are you asking ?"

"You see, yesterday I've been assigned to be an operative's apprentice, and in a few days I'm gonna leave Atlas for gods know how long, so I thought we could do something together before I leave."

"An operative... What did you have in mind ? I'm not really in the mood for another fast food."

"Well there's this festival in mantle that I've noticed a few days ago, it looks really fun. There's a lot of shooting games, I'm sure we can win a ton of things if we try."

"..."

"I also heard that there would be a military demonstration of some kind."

"It looks interesting, we should go."

One hour later, the duo had landed in mantle, and they were heading to the festival. In an effort to break the ice, Griza asked:

"By the way you didn't told me what you were doing in the mountains..."

"Ah yes, I almost forgot, you see a few days ago Fritz had asked the academy's teachers if he could get a few living Grimms, which they accepted, but they thought that it would be a good learning experience for the specialists in training to go get those Grimms themselves. They also said that it would teach us to work with the other departments."

And as they walked, he continued speaking: "So we spent two days in the mountains to capture as many different species as possible, it's only after coming back that we realized that we had lost someone, like literally lost. We don't know what happened to him, one moment he was there, and the next he had disappeared. They sent a dozen specialist to look for him, but until now nothing has been found."

While James was talking, they had reached the festival and as soon as he had finished speaking Griza dragged him to the nearest stand.

"Hey Jimmy, wanna test your shooting skills, I'm sure I could beat you with my eye closed."

James let a small smile grow on his face at Griza's shenanigans, and to please her, he approached the stand.

"Hello young lad, I suppose you're interested in giving a try to my stand, the rules are simple, you see those six cans put on each other in a pyramid over there, if you manage to make them all fall in three shots, you get one of those plushies."

"Alternatively, if you can touch all six of those small figures in six shots, you get to choose anything in this box." The shopkeeper showed them a bunch of random stuff, going from fake guns to little figurines."

After looking through the box for a few moments, James choose the second option. The shopkeeper gave him a rifle apparently loaded with wind dust, James slowly seized the weapon, looking for its characteristics, and then aimed at the targets.

The first figure got knocked over in an instant, and James slightly stumbled back, the rifle having a surprising amount of power. He once again stabilized his aim, and another figure fell, and another after it, and another again.

Only two figures remained, and James turned around to face Griza.

"Do you want to try your shot at the last ones, or do you want another round just for yourself ?"

"Oh... Okay, I'm willing to try, it's just been a while since I've used one of those... I hope I won't end your winning streak."

Griza took the rifle in her hands, and as she examined it, a wave of nostalgia suddenly hit her, the weapon reminding her of times when things were simpler, when she hadn't the life or others in her hands, when it only was humans against Grimms, when her family was still alive.

And as the memories of all that had happened in between flooded her, she felt a sudden urge to just lay down and cry. She wanted to just forget everything, act as if nothing had happened, she felt tired. She couldn't bear the voices in her dreams, the screams in her nightmares. She just wanted to let it all go, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Griza... are you alright ?"

She heard James's voice, she saw his face, and as she looked at him, the dam in her mind broke, and she embraced him and in his arms she cried, she cried like she had never cried before, she let everything out.

The world was only Griza and James, as she shared her pain, as she mumbled in an incomprehensible mess, as he gave small comforting words. She vaguely felt the weapon being taken from her, while a hand patted her back.

An eternity passed like this, as Griza let everything out, she was slowly starting to feel better. As James's shirt got wet, Griza wasn't able to think anymore, and she accepted the numbness with open arms.

Once no more tears could come out, she stopped hugging James, and he cautiously asked her: "Is there anything I can do ?"

"I... I don't know. Everytime I close my eye... I hear their voices... their screams... they're cursing me... I don't know..."

"I... I see... I think I understand. Don't worry, you did the right thing, I'm sure of it. Everything will be fine, they will probably go away, you did what was right."

"Thank you... this means a lot for me..."

The stand keeper brutally put an end to their conversation. "Hey ! Do you intend to finish your shooting or not ?"

"I... I will try the last two shots." Griza slowly said, once again she seized the rifle, and before she had time to think, aimed at the targets and shot. She barely registered the shot hitting before turning to the next one, and in even less time than before, the last figure fell.

Griza quickly dropped the rifle on the counter and took a few steps back, the shopkeeper visibly hesitated for a moment, before bringing the box on the counter.

James looked at her warily for a few seconds, after which he showed her the bag's content and encouraged her to approach. She cautiously reached for the box, and, together with James, started rummaging through its content.

They found a lot of weird and useless stuff, like a stack of cards, a whistle, a toy gun, and a bunch of figurines. After a few minutes, Griza stopped looking, having found nothing of value, meanwhile James was still searching, and after a few more minutes, he grabbed something and raised it like it was a godly artefact.

In a surprising turn of events, James was holding a figurine of an old mantlean knight, in his eyes she could see the faintest traces of a childish glee, and he took a few moments to observe his treasure before looking back at her.

"Did you find anything interesting Griza ?"

"No, not really, but I wasn't expecting you to be one to like figurines."

"Oh... you see... it's actually for a friend of mine... who's really into this kind of things."

"Yeah yeah, I believe you. Sir ? We'll be taking this one."

The shopkeeper gave them a small bag in which they put their prize, they bid each other farewell and leaved the stand. They then headed to a stand selling some kind of meatballs.

Paying for things had been tricky for Griza during all her stay in Atlas, thankfully most academic materials and food was payed for by the academy, but she still struggled for anything she had to buy in mantle, so most of the time James ended up paying for her, on the simple basis that he actually had a family giving him money.

After buying some food, Griza noticed something looking like a fighting ring, as they approached they saw two young men battling with each other using only their fists as weapon.

The two fighters were wrestling each other in an unrecognizable mix of legs and arms, eventually separating from each other to try a less grounded kind of battle, each side throwing light punches at the other in an attempt to cause the other to make a mistake.

While one of the fighter's aura broke, someone in the crowd approached them.

"Hey you two, yes you, both of you look in pretty good shape and my instinct is telling that you've seen your fair share of battle. It would be terrible to have such great talents get wasted, do you think you could honor us with your presence on the ring ?"

"I'm not interested, thanks." Griza quickly replied.

"Actually I think it may be a good idea, to have a fight without any real stakes, it could be very relaxing in a way." James surprisingly argued.

Griza stayed silent for a few moments, thinking about it, maybe he was right, maybe if she did a fight that wouldn't end in the death of someone, she would feel better. A part of her simply wanted to fight until her body gave out, let her exhaustion take her to a dreamless sleep.

"Yes... maybe it's what I need..."

"Fantastic ! Now my lady, please follow me onto the fighting ground."

Griza was almost dragged on the ring, and when she arrived, her opponent was waiting for her. In front of her stood a little girl, who couldn't be older than fifteen.

"Are you sure her aura is awakened ?"

"Well of course, she a regular here, you shouldn't underestimate her."

A bell suddenly rang, and before Griza understood what was happening, she felt her face hitting the ground. A few kicks landed on her while she was on the ground, but soon enough she rolled to the side and used the roll's momentum to get up.

She raised her arms in time to block a punch aiming for her head, she then threw a few cautious blows at her enemy, which the little girl evaded with limited movements.

Her enemy was doing small jumps on the sides, waiting for an opening in her guard, after a moment of tense standoff, Griza leaped forward, throwing all her body on the attack, the girl blocked one punch, and another, but she got surprised when a kick followed, she leaped backward, but the blow still hit and the girl was sent on the absolute edge of the ring.

The crowd was cheering at them, she saw James in there shouting words of encouragement at her, Griza looked back at her enemy, just in time to see a leg making contact with her guts. She felt her breath being forced out of her lungs, for a few seconds her vision was blurry and the ground was spinning.

When she came back to her senses, the girl had started running around her, randomly stopping to throw a hit and then continue running in another direction.

Griza's aura was getting dangerously low, and as she received another hit, she felt a sudden urge to close her eye, and as she closed it, she started listening, and she heard, no... she felt it, she knew what she had to do. As if on instinct, Griza threw a huge kick in the space behind her, the blow hit nothing, but a fraction of second later, a pair of leg entered in contact with it.

Griza opened her eye as the girl flew for a few feets, before hitting the ground with an impressive sound. She rapidly approached her downed enemy, crouching next to her and grabbing her neck.

"Do you want to surrender ?"

The girl answered with a small nod, and she heard someone announce her victory. Timidly, she offered a hand to her enemy, and to her surprise, she accepted it, before telling her: "It was a good fight, congratulations." The little girl then proceeded to shake the hand she had used to get up.

As the girl leaved, Griza was looking at her hand with a dumbfounded face. After a while she finally leaved the ring, only for James to immediately lead her in front of an empty stage, just as she was going to ask him what was happening, someone arrived on the platform and stopped in front of a sound amplifier.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming, I am lieutenant general Blau Kerran, the host of this event. This festival, like many others through Atlas, has been sponsored by the fourth corp, in an attempt to reconcile the people of Atlas with its army, as well as to show the latter's goodwill."

"As I look at you, I see young men and women with a potential, I see people looking for a goal, in search of a purpose. But more importantly, I see the people of Atlas, the ones who put their thrust in us. Carrying all this responsibility is a difficult path, but one I have chosen nonetheless, it is a path that ask you to make difficult decisions, and the weight of your failures will forever rest on your shoulders."

"However, for those few who manage to deal with such a pressure, they may attain an unrivaled level of power and influence, enough to change the world and make it better. As my gaze lingers on you, I understand that not all of you have the guts to rise over the rest, but some, some of you may achieve it, some of you may reach the pantheon of Atlas's immortal heroes, so that even after a thousand years, your name, your deeds, and your thoughts will be remember. But ultimately, the choice is up to you."

As the man leaved the stage, James eyes were filled with stars, and he silently stared while the crowd was beginning to disperse.

After a moment, Griza shook his shoulder, pulling him out of his trance.

"Hey Jimmy, what do you think we should do now ?"

"Well... I don't know, you're the one who's supposed to know what this festival is about."

"I'm not sure, I'm feeling tired, maybe we should just buy something to eat or drink and sit down somewhere for a moment."

"We already ate like twenty minutes ago ! How in the world are you already hungry."

"I'm not exactly hungry, I just want to eat something..."

"You know you're gonna get fat at this rate ?"

"You're here to watch what I eat, and anyway it's not like I really care about my physical apparence at this point."

After a weird snicker, James continued: "Don't be so harsh on yourself, in my totally objective opinion, you're perfectly fine like that."

"Mhmm... If you say so... Oh look, an ice cream seller, can you buy me some, pleeeaase ?"

Her puppy eye was apparently too powerful for James, as he grudgingly accepted. After both of them had some ice cream, they headed to a nearby bench, where they sat down to eat.

"By the way, did you know the guy who made the speech ?"

"What ? Of course I know him, Kerran is the favorite for the succession of the General's post, a council member, it's not someone you can just ignore."

"I see, so that's why he's sponsoring those kind of things, to gain more votes ?"

"Uh... The role of General isn't voted for by everyone, the exact process isn't known but it has something to do with the others lieutenant generals and the rest of the council."

"Mhmm..."

They continued to eat in silence, and after a few minutes, Griza asked: "Do you really mean what you've said before ?"

"When I said what ?"

"You know... about me being fine even with all those scars."

"I mean... I think so, those scars aren't simple body flaws, they each tell a story, a proof of everything you managed to go through. Those scars are a part of your life, part of your story, for as long as you will live, they will stay there, and no one will forget your story."

"Hehehe... You really know you way with words."

They stayed silent for a moment, before Griza continued.

"I think I'm in love with you."

"Mhmm... Wait what !? And what do you mean you think ?"

"Well, I've never been in love before, so I'm not sure about it."

"Listen... I don't think I'm able return your feelings, I don't believe I would be able to really invest myself in such a relationship, it's simply not my cup of tea. I'm sorry about it."

"Wow, I got rejected in less than ten seconds, it's probably a world record. But yeah, I was kinda expecting this, I just thought I had to say it. Can we still be friends ?"

"Of course, you'll always be my best friend."

Griza once again felt tears in her eye, she cautiously asked: "Is it fine if I hug you ?"

"... If it's just a hug, then you can."

And for the second time this day Griza was crying in James arms, for different reasons yes, but in no way less important. A mixture of emotions seized her, from frustration to sadness, the ones from her earlier outburst coming back, she felt like she was in the depths of despair.

But at least, this time, she wasn't alone, as she felt James patting her back, a small ball of warmth arrived in her, like a ray of hope in a storm of despair. He was there, he would always be there, with her, he wouldn't leave her like the others, he couldn't leave her, she wouldn't be able to bear it. For now, he was there.

"Sorry for being such a mess, I shouldn't have ever left my village, I'm not cut for this life..."

"It's fine, everything is fine, I'm sure eventually you will become the best operative Atlas has ever seen, I believe in you, I know you will do what's right."

"Thank... Thank you..."

"We should probably head back to the academy, I think we've seen enough."

And as the sun shrank on the horizon, they walked together to their home.

This fic is slowly becoming PTSD simulator, not what I had in mind when I started it. Also I legit cried while writing this chapter, I don't know if I wrote a masterpiece or if I'm just being overly emotional.

Special thank for Tracitus, he's the reason why I wrote this chapter, I originally planned to skip the few days and immediately go to the Operative training.

This app is so buggy, you have no idea.

Like always please review and all the other stuff.