PART I – Resolution
Chapter XI – Coming Storm
"I'm here. I love you. I don't care if you need to stay up crying all night long, I will stay with you. If you need the medication again, go ahead and take it—I will love you through that, as well. If you don't need the medication, I will love you, too. There's nothing you can ever do to lose my love. I will protect you until you die, and after your death I will still protect you. I am stronger than Depression and I am braver than Loneliness and nothing will ever exhaust me."
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
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The commander growled lowly. He looked like a half dead wolf.
"What did you do to me?" he groaned.
Laxus shrugged and pointed at the unconscious woman.
"She shot you a Neutralizing Dart before you knocked her out," he explained. "I'm amazed that you're still standing. Now, it's time to end the game."
He lifted his arm to point the gun at the commander's head once more when Lucy ran out of her hiding spot and grabbed the handgun. Laxus turned around abruptly when he saw her, but she was already pointing her gun at him.
"Put that down, recruit," he ordered. "If you shoot, I shoot too. And believe me, you'll die for sure."
Lucy glanced at the commander, he looked tired, but not defeated. He was shaking his head at her, not willing to risk her life to save his. She snorted and shook her head.
"I won't live long anyway."
She shot. A red flag came out of the gun.
oOo
"My name," she started, "is Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of the traitor, Jude Heartfilia."
Loke listened to her with impassive eyes even as she told him that her father had been imprisoned for a false accusation.
"Even I don't know the real reason of his imprisonment," she admitted, "I was only five years old when it happened. But I know that what happened the night they came to arrest him wasn't normal. I did some research and I found that my father was being kept in the Pandemonium."
Loke frowned.
"Seriously? I thought it was a myth..."
The Pandemonium was a secret prison where political opposants were being held and tortured. Until the day they died.
"It's not," Lucy assured. "And I'm going to infiltrate it and get him out."
Lucy watched with wide eyes the scene that was unfolding downstairs. Her father was running from a room to another with large bags in his hands, her mother following him everywhere.
"Are you sure that they're coming?"
Jude nodded, still gathering things Lucy couldn't see in every room of the house.
"The old Yajima called me to warn me," he said. "I trust him."
Layla sighed and started to help Jude search for whatever he was looking for.
"I can't believe it," she said, "how did they hear about them?"
Lucy's father shrugged.
"A mole," he spat, "it's the only possibility."
"My God..."
A small hand suddenly gripped Lucy's shoulder and she turned around to see Michelle and the boys. Michelle lifted a finger in front of her mouth to encourage Lucy to keep quiet. The three children kneeled beside her to listen on the adults' conversation.
"Where will they go?" Layla asked, sounding very worried.
Jude shrugged his long leather coat on and grabbed his wife's hands.
"His natural father came back," he said, "he will take care of them. He's also the one in charge of Ur's daughter since her mother's death."
"Silver came back? But I thought he was..."
"I know," Jude interrupted her. "We'll talk about it later, I need to go meet him so we can prepare the boys' departure."
Lucy frowned, ''deep orture''? What was that? She felt Michelle's hand tighten on her shoulder and sent her a curious glance. Jude sighed and his hands went to rest on Layla's cheeks.
"This is getting dangerous for us too, my love," he deplored. "I'll make preparations for you and the girls, I want you to leave the country."
"You mean us, right? We're going to leave the country together, right?"
Jude never answered her question. He kissed her forehead and lips before leaving. The next morning, Layla Heartfilia got into a car accident and died.
Lucy opened her eyes when she heard knocks on the door. It was Loke again, he wanted to know if she needed anything. She rolled her eyes and smiled, tilting her head back to let the water run through her hair and down her skin.
"No, Loke," she said, "I don't need anything. I'm not feeling sick or weak either, so don't try to open the door."
She heard him laugh wholeheartedly at her answer and tell her that he was leaving first. Now that Loke knew about her secret she didn't need to get up at three o'clock anymore and earned more than two hours of sleep. It took her ten more minutes in the shower before she got out and started to search for her towel. She finally found it on the sink and quickly wiped her hair relatively dry. The bandage was still a pain to put on, but it was faster to do it by now. She heard a noise on the other side of the door and froze after shrugging her shirt on.
"Loke?" she called.
No answer came. She quickly put her trousers on and opened the door. There was no one in the bedroom. Lucy walked to the door and checked the corridor. There were a few recruits out there, but none of them seemed to be in a hurry or acting suspiciously. Maybe she had imagined the noise. She went back inside the bedroom to get her military jacket and frowned when she noticed the envelope on her bed. It wasn't hers. Had Loke left it there for her? Lucy felt her stomach contract when a thought came to her: it couldn't be a love letter from her roommate, could it? She walked to the bed and picked the envelope. "Please, don't let it be a love letter from Loke," she mentally prayed while opening it. The piece of paper was small, the words written with black ink. It wasn't a love letter.
''Hello Little Bird
I've been thinking of what to say to you for the last few weeks, ever since I found you. I'm actually quite moved, you see? I've been looking for you for years, Little Bird. I missed you greatly. I'm pleased to see that you look a lot like your mother, a true beauty. Your father would be so proud to see what you've become, that's if he was by your side. And if he still had his eyes.
Don't worry, Little Bird, I didn't tell the others that I found you. I'll come to you personally very soon. Look forward to it.
Yours, truly.
K''
Lucy dropped the letter and was out of the room before it touched the floor. She ran along the corridor, but found no one in the stairs. She watched out of one of the windows, desperately trying to find the slender silhouette of the letter's author. She gritted her teeth, furious at herself. What had she done wrong? Was the distant relative cover too obvious? She should have chosen another last name. But the Heartfilia family was huge, with a lot of branches, and the Academy was known for investigating its students' past. It was easier to use the name of a scattered family that had been destroyed years ago than create a whole new identity. Lucy didn't go to the refectory that morning. She went straight to class and didn't talk to anybody. Her friends obviously realized that something was wrong and Loke tried to attract her attention as many times as he could, but she kept on ignoring him and everybody else, including the teachers. When lunch time came, she saw Loke and her friends jump to their feet and turn toward her. She ignored them and walked out of the classroom before they could catch her.
"Luc..."
Gray never got to say whatever it was he had to say for someone else caught her full attention at the same moment. A large hand gripped her shoulder and she was forced to turn around and meet the cold gaze of the commander. He let go of her shoulder only to grab her wrist.
"Come with me," he ordered, already dragging her out in the corridor.
She was so surprised that she let him do. It wasn't usual for the commander to act so mysteriously with a recruit. He opened the door of an archives office and pushed her inside before closing the door behind them. He sighed and pointed to a small chair, encouraging her to sit down.
"Is something wrong, commander?" she asked, trying not to sound too worried.
He didn't answer her immediately, only observing her with a strange look. His hand dug in the right pocket of his trousers and pulled out a white envelope that had been torn open. She froze.
"This was left in my bedroom this morning," he explained. "The content is menacing. Do you have any idea who could have left this there?"
Lucy gulped. This couldn't be a coincidence. She just received her own letter and now the commander got one too? This had to be the same person. But why would they give a letter to the commander? He had absolutely nothing to do with this. She slowly shook her head.
"Well, I'm not sure why you think I could know about this," she answered. "But I don't, sorry."
He snickered and averted his eyes, shaking his head.
"You don't," he repeated. "That's funny, cause I'm pretty sure you're the one this letter mentions."
Lucy frowned, getting more and more worried with each passing second. What was written in the commander's letter exactly?
"Listen," the latter went on, "I know you mean no harm to me, I saw how you didn't even hesitate to shoot Laxus to save me. I'm not mad at you, I'm just trying to understand."
And so Lucy was. She had no idea what he was talking about. She shook her head once more.
"Sorry... maybe if I could read it..."
She extended a hand, but Natsu immediately shoved his letter back in his pocket.
"No need," he assured. "It's fine if you don't know. Sorry for wasting your time."
He left before she had a chance to formulate a coherent sentence. She frowned and her brain played the scene in her head once more. Natsu was restless. Well, he's always looked tense and energetic, but he was acting a bit weird lately. As if he was constantly on his guard. So, before lunch time ended, she ran straight to Mira's office and entered without knocking. And immediately regretted it. For the colonel was a bit busy with the lieutenant at the moment.
"Oh..." Lucy stuttered and blushed, "sorry. I'll come back later. Sorry. I didn't see anything..."
The door was already closed by the time she finished her sentence and she could hear Mira's laugh and Laxus' attempts to get her to keep quiet through it. Well, this was really embarrassing. She half sighed, half laughed and left, hoping to get some fresh air before afternoon classes started. She didn't want to see Loke and the others yet, so she went to the back of the main building and walked until she reached the old oak. Well, she was supposed to walk toward the old oak and take a quick nap, but was unable to do so for she felt the weight of someone jumping on her back and fell forward. Cana laughed.
"You actually fell," she mocked, "you're so weak! The other guys don't fall this easily!"
"Maybe you've gained wei... Ouch!"
Cana ignored her accusatory glare and jumped back to her feet, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Stop lazing around and come with me," she said, suddenly looking very serious, "we need to talk."
"Right," Lucy thought, "she knows. Time for a talk, huh." They sat under the oak and Lucy immediately warned Cana that she couldn't tell her the whole truth.
"I'm in a dangerous situation," she explained, "for both my security and yours, I can't tell you much about my reasons for being here."
She told her that she was trying to save someone, but didn't tell her his name, she didn't talk about the Pandemonium either. She explained her that joining the Elite Squad was crucial for her and confessed that her life would be in danger if she were to be found out.
"I get the feeling that you're still keeping a lot of things from me," Cana said, "and it's a bit frustrating, but I understand how you feel."
She got back up and brushed the dust off her butt. She sighed and gazed at the grassy fields around the Academy. The sky was clear blue, the wind gentle.
"My father is a higher officer," she thought out loud, "he never says anything about, you know, those old farts at the top of the army. He could be implicated and I wouldn't even know."
She smiled sadly.
"I'm not naive, I know that they do things that would appal us. And he's not a very good father, she sighed, but I was sure that he was a good person. He wasn't around much when I was a kid, so I don't know him that well. I want to know. I don't want to doubt him. Can you imagine how it feels? To spend your life hoping that you're right to trust your father..."
She could. It was amazing how similar their situations were, if you leave out the fact that Cana's father wasn't imprisoned. Well, at least not physically. Lucy sighed when Cana left. One more person knew. This was getting more and more dangerous. The afternoon classes were boring as hell, all the teachers could do was talk about strategies for the Game.
"Since tomorrow is a big day, I'll let you go sooner," Bob cheered.
Lucy didn't know how she felt about it. In less than twenty-four hours, the Game would start and she knew she had to stand out if she wanted to join the Elite Squad. But was she ready? Shouldn't she train more? Each step toward the Elite Squad was a step toward the powerful monsters that ordered the raid on her mansion all these years ago. Was she ready to face them? She knew the answers to those questions: she wasn't ready. She was scared, unprepared and vulnerable. The author of the letter signed it with a simple ''K''. Lucy knew who it was. What that person ''speciality'' was. And she was terrified.
''Your father would be so proud to see what you've become, that's if he was by your side. And if he still had his eyes.''
Was it already too late? Why write a letter when she could have taken her by force at any time? And why send one to the commander? Argh, too many questions! She walked toward the lockers to get her books back and heard a loud crash on her left. She frowned and closed the door of her locker to see what was happening. A group of three second years was laughing, waving at a first year that had been pushed against his locker.
"Sorry, sorry," the tallest second year sang, "I forgot how delicate you were."
She recognized the first year, it was Sting's brother, Rogue. He was a quiet boy, didn't talk to much people, not the kind to attract trouble. So what was that about? She was about to go and ask for explanations when she heard someone call for her. She turned around and saw the colonel walk toward her with a sweet smile on her face.
"Do you have a minute?"
oOo
In Mira's office, Lucy immediately noticed the red box that very obviously contained a jewel and smirked. This had to be from Laxus.
"So," Mira sang. "How are you feeling? Tomorrow's the big day, right?"
Lucy nodded and smiled playfully.
"I'm good," she assured.
She knew very well that the real reason for this talk wasn't the Game, but it was funny, so she let the colonel try to be subtle about what she really wanted to say.
"Really? That's good," Mira smiled, "very good. And, is everything alright with your friends? You looked distant today, they're a bit worried."
"I'm fine," Lucy lied, "I just had a stomach ache, but I'm better now."
"Is that so? That's good, then."
She shifted awkwardly, her smile still there, but hesitant. Lucy smiled too.
"Did you need something from me, Mira?"
The beautiful woman hesitated, but ended up sighing and laughing.
"You knew why I wanted to talk with you, of course..."
"I had some doubts, yes."
The colonel sat right next to Lucy and gently took her hands in hers.
"I've known Laxus for years and I've always known that he was the distant type. He's cold, secretive, not your typical prince charming."
Lucy kept quiet and listened attentively, it was the first time Mira wanted to talk about something so intimate with her.
"I fell in love quickly, but I never told him because I knew he'd take his distances if I did. But he started to change a few weeks ago, he was wary of everything, edgy and even more distant than usual. I ended up going to his room one evening to ask him what was wrong. He didn't tell me exactly, but it seems that he was worried about something concerning the army staff. We talked for a few hours that night and he kissed me. You can guess what happened next, and every day after that."
Lucy arched a brow.
"Did you just want to show off because you got yourself a man?"
Mira laughed and shook her head.
"Absolutely, why else? Joke aside, we'd both like to keep our relationship a secret for several personal reasons, will you keep what you saw a secret, please?"
"No problem, I swear I'll die before talking, colonel!"
"Alright," Mira laughed, "you may go, recruit! Your commander is waiting for you in the backyard for some evening training."
Lucy sighed.
"Seriously? The Game is tomorrow, why won't he let us rest...
"Good luck!"
- Two hours later -
"I'll sue you," Lucy promised.
The commander shrugged and leaned back against his tree trunk.
"I don't care," he replied. "Pay attention, recruit, you're missing too many targets."
Lucy greeted her teeth and tried her very best to locate the said targets, but his last comment made her snap.
"No normal human being would be able to hit those targets," she retorted, "it's pitch black out there, I'm tired and they're like 2000 meters away!"
"They're barely 1500 meters away," the commander retorted, "you'll never integrate the Elite Squad if you can't hit them when they're so close."
Lucy groaned and used her scope to aim at the targets. She knew she was doing a pretty good job, but her idiot officer didn't praise her even once yet.
"Bisca," he called. "Would you mind showing her what a real sniper can do?"
"What a wise thing to say about an angry recruit holding a sniper rifle," the irritated recruit mumbled.
"Maybe I'd be worried if you could aim right," he snorted in return.
Bisca took her own rifle to aim at the targets. She got all ten of them in less than two minutes. She put her weapon back down and looked at Lucy.
"The problem with you is that you're too easily distracted," she told her. "A true sniper has to focus on his target and on his target only. You can't afford to pay attention to Natsu, or any of us, if it distracts you. Also, your left arm is too tense, too much pressure prevents you from adjusting your aim. And your breathing is too fast, calm down. Try again."
Lucy made sure to ignore the teasing commander and corrected her arms' positions and her breathing. It sure was easier to aim now that she could ignore her annoying commander's voice. She got seven targets on ten.
"Better," Bisca said. "You still get excited too easily. Your turn, boy."
Lucy came to sit next to Natsu and leaned against the same tree trunk as Bisca went to give Alzack instructions.
"Who gave you permission to sit down, recruit?" the commander teased her.
"My legs, sir," she answered immediately. "I need to rest."
He laughed and ruffled her hair.
"This is the last exercise," he assured. "You'll go to sleep after Alazck's done."
Lucy couldn't help the small, satisfied smile that appeared on her lips and rested her chin on her knees. She watched as her fellow recruit aimed at the targets and shot. He was pretty good too. Bisca smiled at him and patted his shoulder, he blushed and edged away from her hands.
"I hope Bisca will be here tomorrow," Lucy joked, "it's the only way Alzack will make mistakes. Otherwise I think I have no chance of beating him."
The commander didn't answer right away, he was watching the other recruit while he was trying to focus on the targets despite the beautiful instructor's proximity.
"You'd be surprised," he finally said. "Alzack's good with wooden targets, but he hesitates a lot when he has to shoot people, even with paintballs. A sniper mustn't hesitate."
A moment of silence passed after that and Lucy turned her head to look at him. He was still watching Alzack's practice, his face was much more relaxed than this morning. He looked younger under the moonlight, when he was at peace. Well, when he was less stressed out than usual.
"Are you trying to reassure me, sir? How nice of you."
He smiled and pushed her shoulder.
"Stop mocking the commander," he ordered with no hostility in his voice. "Ah, they're coming here. Woah, Alzack looks like a walking tomato."
"We're done for today," Bisca declared. "I'll go back to my room. Good luck for tomorrow."
"Bye Bisca," the commander saluted, "thanks for today."
"Thanks," Lucy repeated with a small, tired smile.
Alzack only nodded and waved timidly.
"Alright guys," Natsu cheered. "I was a pain with you tonight, but it was for your own good. You did a good job. The Game starts at 10, we meet an hour before for preparations. Sleep well, see you tomorrow."
Lucy and Alzack walked back to their room happily talking about the Game and their new instructor, Natsu had told them that Bisca would work as a counselor for the sniper division starting next semester.
"I don't even know how to talk normally to her," Alzack whined. "I couldn't even muster the courage to look at her in the eyes..."
Lucy tried her best not to laugh, but Alzack noticed the amused smile on her face despite the darkness outside.
"Don't laugh," he groaned.
"I'm not laughing at you," she assured. "I find it cute that you're so shy with her. I've never seen you act like this with the nurses."
He snorted.
"That's because none of the nurses make me feel so vulnerable," he grumbled. "I have to stay away from her."
Lucy laughed for real this time and he kicked her leg.
"Ouch."
She didn't tell him that, but she was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to stay away from the beautiful sniper.
oOo
When she got back to her room, Lucy told Loke that she had been a bit sick and that was why she had been avoiding him, she didn't want to infect him. He didn't believe her.
"Right..." he mumbled. "Well, next time you're not feeling good, tell me about it. I don't care about being infected."
Small talk ensued and they both went to sleep a few minutes afterwards. The room's window was open and Lucy was too tired to get up and close it, even when the cold air of the outside started to impregnate the room. A dog was barking in the neighborhood and she fell asleep a few minutes after she caught the faint melody of a song being played somewhere outside.
She was jolted awake at 3:30 a.m. Loke was sitting on his mattress, holding his throat as he was coughing his lungs out. He pushed his blanket off the bed and hastily got up, tottering toward the bathroom's door. Lucy jumped out of bed to follow him, but he closed the door before she could follow him inside.
"Loke!" she banged on the door. "Open the door, Loke!"
She heard him whine and groan inside before coughing again.
"Go back to sleep," he mumbled. "Leave me alone."
She groaned and turned around to turn the light on. When she had enough light, she saw dark black dots on Loke's sheets. She frowned and opened her eyes wide when she understood what it was. Loke was coughing blood. She heard him throw up on the other side of the bathroom door and went to bang on it once more, with stronger knocks.
"Open up, Loke! If you don't, I'm kicking the fucking door down!"
Silence followed her threat and she held her breath, trying to catch the faintest sound. He threw up once more and sighed before he flushed the toilet. The door opened soon after and took a step back to let him walk out of the bathroom. His face was morbidly pale and he had dark blue bags under his eyes. Not to mention the dark red trail running down his chin from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it with the sleeve of his pajama shirt.
"Are you trying to wake the whole barrack up?" he joked. "I'm just a bit sick, no need to panic like that."
"Just a bit sick?" she retorted. "You don't cough blood when you're just a bit sick. You don't look like you've just escaped a secret lab where evil scientists are creating zombies!"
"What a romanticized way to tell me I look like shit," he smiled sadly.
His eyes were glassy and staring at the floor, his small smile not reaching them at all. He was exhausted. Had he been this way all day long? She mentally insulted herself, she had been so focused on her own problems that she hadn't noticed her friend was not in his normal condition. She took his wrist and made him sit on her bed.
"What's wrong?" she asked with a gentle voice. "I've never seen you like this before."
He smiled and sat cross-legged on her mattress, leaning against the wall.
"I like your voice when you don't try to make it sound masculine," he answered instead. "You have a cute voice."
She frowned and stared at him with worried eyes. Now that she was paying attention, she noticed that he had lost weight too.
"You're not just a bit sick," it was more of an affirmation than a question. "How long have you been feeling bad?"
He shrugged.
"Not long," he answered, sounding a bit too carefree. "You worry too much, I'm fine."
"You're not fine at all," she protested. "I want you to talk to Erza about it."
He sighed again and hesitated.
"Alright," he said. "I promise I'll talk to Erza in the morning, before the Game starts."
"What? No way, you can't take part in the Game, are you crazy?"
He turned his head to look her in the eyes and let her go on.
"You're far too weak for this," she argued, "what if you start throwing blood up in the woods and no one knows where you are?"
"It won't happen," he assured, "I'll have my medicine with me. I only forgot to take it before going to sleep."
"Loke..."
"Lucy," he interrupted her. "I'm thrilled to see that you're so worried about me, really. But I need to participate just as much as you do, so, please, don't interfere."
She clenched her fists and glared at him.
"You can't ask me to let you fight in your condition," she groaned.
He smiled and ruffled her hair.
"But that's exactly what I'm asking you," he laughed. "I'll take my medicine properly and I'll talk to Erza. But I'll take part in the Game. And I'll never forgive you if you do anything to prevent me from participating."
Loke pretty much ended the conversation here and Lucy didn't get an ounce of sleep afterwards. She was tired and extremely anxious when she got up in the morning and went to the refectory to eat with her friends that had been selected to take part in the Game. Loke looked much better, but Lucy knew he had taken a lot of pills and applied makeup before coming to the refectory. Lucy greeted her friends with polite smiles and nods before sitting down next to Gray.
"Hey," the latter saluted. "Ready for the big event?"
"I hope so," she smiled nervously. "This is our best chance to get closer to our goals."
Gray nodded, staring at his plate with very serious eyes.
"Indeed," he agreed. "Failure isn't an option."
Lucy was impressed. She had one hell of a good reason to want to win this Game, but Gray's determination looked just as strong as hers.
"Hey, Rogue," she heard Sting call, "can I have your pie?"
Lucy's eyes went from Gray to Rogue, who was gloomily staring at his plate. She immediately noticed the black eye.
"Hey, Rogue," she called, "how did you get that?"
She pointed to her own eye to illustrate her thought and Sting laughed and patted his brother's shoulder.
"Ah, you noticed it right away," he smiled. "That idiot came to the room back late last night and he already had it. He said he bumped into a door, what an airhead."
"That's rich coming from the guy that spent his first night outside because he had forgotten where his room was," a deep voice commented from behind her.
The recruits stood up and saluted, so Lucy did the same. Natsu sat next to her and stole her apple.
"Hey!" she protested.
"What? If you wanted to eat it, you should have done so instead of talking."
In retaliation, she stole his brownie and shoved it in her mouth before he could take it back.
"You're going to pay for this," he promised, trying to steal her own brownie.
"That was payback," she countered, "you reap what you sow!"
They were still fighting when Loke coughed and she froze, the commander immediately taking advantage of her moment of inattention to take the brownie and swallow it whole.
"You lose," he declared with his mouth full of chocolate. "Now, everyone get up and follow me. The Game starts in an hour, we're going to prepare."
oOo
It was raining outside and the weather wasn't supposed to get any better in the following days. The wind was cold and the sky was covered with heavy dark grey clouds that made Lucy wonder if a storm was coming. She glanced at Loke. He was walking a few feet behind her, his heavy bag on his shoulders and his large scarf around his neck. He didn't look sick, it was hard to believe that he was coughing his lungs out a few hours earlier. He winked at her when he noticed that she was looking and she smiled.
Finally, they reached the border of the forest. Their uniform was different than usual and Lucy noticed that the other teams had different uniforms as well: some of them were totally black, some were dark green or brown. Natsu's men were dressed in dark gray and brown. The first years' instructors were Natsu, Laxus and Bob. The second years' instructors were Gildarts, Goldmine and, surprisingly, Jellal, who was supposed to be a mere independent agent, but was always present when something important was happening. The team leaders went to stand in front of the ranks and waited for the general to make his appearance. He did so a few minutes later, holding a small bright green umbrella. He waved at everyone with a bright smile to greet them.
"Hello, youngsters," he cheered. "What an exciting moment! In a few minutes, you will be fighting for victory in this forest! But I have a few things to say before that. First of all, congratulations to all of you who have been selected to take part in the Game. Three teams have been formed with second years, so we had to form three teams of first years, which explains why they aren't much recruits present here today. The Game will last three days. The rules have been explained before so I won't say a word about them, your team leaders will give you specific instructions later. Just remember this, children: when the Game starts, you won't be happily training with friends anymore, you will be fighting against soldiers that need to win this just as much as you do. Believe me when I say that the winners of this year will get a reward that's beyond everything they could imagine. A reward that directly comes from the Octagon."
Lucy froze. The Octagon was implicated in the Game? Then, they would hear about her if she was among the winners? But it's not like she had a choice, she had to stand out if she wanted to get closer to her father. And what was that about a reward? The winners were only supposed to earn points and choose a speciality.
"Good luck, kids," Makarov concluded. "I'm already proud of you all!"
The team leaders were given maps with a red cross indicating the location of their base and Natsu's team followed the commander through the forest. Lucy was walking right behind him. He was tense, his jaw was contracted and he wouldn't stop turning his head in all directions to analyse his surroundings. Strands of hair were stuck to his forehead because of the rain and Lucy was suddenly captivated by a single drop of rain that landed of his eyebrow and slowly traveled down his face, caressing the hard line of his jaw and disappearing for a second under his chin, only to make its appearance again, a second later, on his neck. Her eyes followed the drop until it disappeared under the collar of his dark, soaked shirt. He turned his head in her direction and she was still looking at his neck and chest when he did. However, she didn't avert her eyes like she normally would. Instead, she looked him in the eye. It only lasted for a second, though, and he turned back around to keep on walking toward his base.
They found it quickly and immediately checked the surroundings, set traps and protections around the area and listened to the specific instructions. The commander told them that the first day was dedicated to observation: they had to learn the lay of the land by heart, prepare attack and defense strategies, find escape routes, locate the other bases, the traps around those bases, try to identify the enemies' strategies, find the flags. Not the most exciting part, but essential work.
"I won't give you much more information today," the commander explained, "because I want you to only focus on the task at hand. You all know what you have to do, we've talked about it countless times during special training. Don't forget: no one leaves on his own, no paintballs this time, but darts that simulate the pain of a real gunshot. Snipers, take someone with you and go search for good spots in the area. Come back before night falls so we can prepare for tomorrow's attack."
The commander and a few recruits stayed at the base and started to prepare strategies and defend the base against possible attacks: apparently, first years frequently attacked their fellow recruits to destabilize them and have more chances of finding a flag first. Loke was selected to stay at the base, so Lucy had to look for shooting spots with Gray. About two hours after the official start of the Game, they heard the first gunshots, somewhere near the old, abandoned hospital, on the west of the Academy.
"Already?" Lucy asked. "Weren't we supposed to be on observation duty today?"
Gray shrugged.
"Team Natsu is on observation duty," he reminded her. "Each team leader is free to give different orders. And being on observation duty doesn't mean that we won't be attacked either."
Lucy had to admit that she was impressed by Gray's calm attitude. Then again, he apparently was Natsu's cousin, it was probably a family thing to have nerves of steel. She glanced at him while he was observing their surroundings. She was dying to ask him about his relationship with the commander. Maybe it would explain why she had this strange sensation whenever she looked at Gray. At first it was just a vague feeling, but it kept growing stronger with each passing day, she had the feeling she had met him before.
"Hey, Gray," she distractedly called, "do you know me?"
She mentally facepalmed. What a surprisingly stupid question. Gray frowned at her and sneered.
"Is that a trap question?"
She averted her eyes and shrugged.
"Yes, no, forget it."
He hesitated and stared at her with strange eyes. He suddenly stopped walking and Lucy turned around to look at him with confused eyes.
"Um..." he started, "actually..."
Another gunshot interrupted him and they both flinched. This one was much closer. Gray took a step back.
"We're too close to enemy territory," he whispered. "Come on, let's go back."
Lucy gripped his arm when he took another step back and put a finger against her mouth to make him understand she wanted him to be silent. It was still raining heavily and it was difficult to see anything behind the trees, but Lucy's eyesight was excellent and she had caught someone moving near them.
She crouched and Gray imitated her. They cautiously approached the enemy soldier that was dressed in dark blue and grey. Lucy remembered these colors, they belonged to Gildarts' team. Apparently, Gray remembered them too.
"Shit," he cursed, his voice a whisper in her ear, "we have to get away from here."
Her hands tightened around her rifle. Her heart was beating fast, her senses were exacerbated. They were several of them: second years. It could only mean that their flag was near. Her blood was heating up in her veins and beating against her temples.
"Luc," Gray repeated, "we gotta leave, dude!"
She lifted her eyes and observed the tree branches above their heads. They were thin ones, large ones, twisted ones, straight ones. It took her ten seconds to find two very large branches that supported each other, forming a gigantic wooden cross.
"Go back to the base, Gray," she finally answered. "Tell the commander I found my spot."
The young recruit opened wide eyes and stared at her incredulously.
"In that tree? Right next to Gildarts's base? Have you gone nuts?"
She kept staring at the branches and smiled.
"Go tell him," she repeated. "And tell him that when you guys come to get me, I'll know where their flag is."
"It started today, didn't it?"
"Hm, it did, indeed."
"I wonder who will win this year, I've heard of talented recruits already, but it's always fun to bet on the winner."
"Dear friends, shouldn't we focus on more urgent matters? We're the Octagon after all. We've all heard of this serial killer that's running rampant in the Academy's neighbourhood."
"What do you want us to do about it? The Academy has an agreement with that city, they're responsible of security there. It's their job to arrest this killer."
"And it's funnier to talk about the Game, anyway."
"Right."
"And I heard the recruit that was kidnapped with the commander is taking part too."
"As a sniper, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's great. I heard the sick kid is taking part in it too, isn't it a waste to invest so much time and money in a soldier that will probably die before he even got to fight?"
"We already talked about it, let it go, god damn it."
"Tch."
"About that killer..."
"Oh god, you're a pain! Fine, let's talk about that killer so we can forget about it!"
"Let's just ask our old friend what he wants to do."
"Oh, right! You were the previous head of the Academy after all! What do you want to do about that?"
"…"
"Well, if a killer is free to roam the streets despite Makarov's presence there, I think we have to intervene."
"That's decided then. We'll go to the Academy directly and conduct an investigation."
End of chapter 11
Hello dear friends, I know it's been a very long time, I'm late, but I have valid excuses: first: I had exams, second: I had work, third: there's a baby living in my house and it's a bit difficult to find time to write when he's here, yelling to get attention (or food), fourth: I had a friend coming over for a few days, and finally: I have a bit of a problem with my eyes: I have a lesion of the retina and I went to the hospital to have it checked by real doctors, but they're not sure how I got that. But, well, it's difficult to write when you see large black dots on almost all the words you try to write...
But I won't let you down! I'm back now and you'll get the full story, don't worry! I got a lot of awesome ideas during my leave and I really really hope that you'll enjoy the upcoming chapters!
From what I understood, you guys received a message telling you that a new chapter had been posted for Dauntless and that it was chapter 10, but I posted chapter 10 a long time ago, I don't know why posted it a second time. Sorry for that!
Now, a lot of you sent reviews and private messages and I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for your support, thank you very much to everyone who favorited/followed, sent reviews and waited patiently for me to return. I read every review and every message, some of them actually move me or interest me to the point of saving them and using them later in the story!
Also, I created a Twitter account I could use specifically to post about the stories I write, do you think I should activate it?
That was quite a long-ass note, but you guys love me, so you don't mind, right? I'll be back soon with a brand new chapter and a lot more exciting scenes! See you!