PART I – Resolution
Chapter XIII – Prisoner of war
"Percy, let me go" she croaked. "You can't pull me up."
His face was white with effort. She could see in his eyes that he knew it was hopeless.
"Never," he said. He looked up at Nico, fifteen feet above.
"The other side, Nico! We'll see you there. Understand?"
Nico's eyes widened. "But-"
"Lead them!" Percy shouted. "Promise me!"
"I-I will."
Below them, the voice laughed in the darkness. Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess.
Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth's wrist. His face was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but when he locked eyes with her, she thought he had never looked more handsome.
"We're staying together," he promised. "You're not getting away from me. Never again."
Only then did she understand what would happen. A one-way trip. A very hard fall.
"As long as we're together," she said.
She heard Nico and Hazel still screaming for help. She saw sunlight far, far above- maybe the last sunlight she would ever see.
Then Percy let go of his ledge, and together, holding hands, he and Annabeth fell into the endless darkness."
―Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena
"Young master, you need to put more effort into it if you want to become a proper adult some day," the old preceptor said. "Your brother already mastered this weeks ago."
The old teacher's name was Mr. Barrett, or something like that. He was pretty tall and thin, had grey hair forming a circle around the bald top of his skull, a thick grey moustache and was always dressed in a tight black suit. Lucy glared at him through the window of the office, he was being mean again. Her silent friend didn't answer, he didn't care about becoming a proper adult. The preceptor sighed.
"Very well, we shall stop here then. Try to think about what you learned today."
As soon as Gray walked out of the old office, Lucy grabbed his hand and ran, dragging him along.
"Finally!" she laughed. "It took forever for this lesson to end! I was bored!"
"I didn't ask you to wait for me," the boy retorted.
Outside, the sky was grey and the sun was covered by heavy black clouds that threatened to unleash pouring rain and menacing thunder very soon. Lucy smiled brightly. She was the only one Gray ever talked to. He only gave polite and very short answers to her parents when they talked to him, but he never had proper conversations with anyone but her.
"I know," she answered, "I wanted to play with you."
"I don't really want to play..."
"Oh, don't be like that! We have to spend a lot of time together while we still can!"
Gray froze and the little girl wasn't strong enough to make him move forward. She turned around and stared at him with curious eyes.
"Gray?"
He had tears running down his pale cheeks.
"Lucy, I'm sorry," he breathed. "I don't want to leave... But, after what happened... we really don't have a choice..."
The little girl stared at her friend with clenched fists, burning eyes and a forced smile that hurt her jaw.
"D... don't worry about that," she sobbed. "I'll be fine... I still have Michelle and da... I still have Michelle."
Gray took her hands gently.
"You have your father too," he reminded her. "He's still here."
This time, tears did manage to escape despite all her efforts.
"He spends every day locked in his office and won't talk to either of us at all anymore," she cried, "he died when mom died..."
She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt and felt Gray's hand on her wrist before he pulled her to him and hugged her tightly.
"I'll come back for you some day," he promised. "I won't let them take you away too."
Lucy hugged him back, burying her tear stained face in his shirt.
Jess closed her eyes when Simon leaned in to kiss her. She was sixteen and this was her first kiss. It was hesitant and shy, as to be expected from him. They talked a bit more after that before Simon's mom called to tell him dinner was ready. Jess got a similar call soon after him. They kissed again and left, promising to meet again the following day.
Jess blew on her hands. It wasn't even winter yet, but the weather was quickly getting colder and colder. She smiled to herself: she had been in love with this boy for four years already and she finally managed to confess her feelings to him. Turned out he was actually gathering his courage to do exactly the same thing.
Jess turned left at a corner and frowned when she realized the narrow street wasn't lighted. Probably another power cut, it wasn't unusual at this time of the year. As she walked forward, she was forced to notice that the light from the other street was quickly weakening. Soon, she was progressing in complete darkness, hands outstretched in front of her to guide her.
Something fell behind her and she flinched, turning around abruptly. Despite the dark, she saw a small shadow walk lazily away from the fallen bin. It was only a cat. Jess sighed and turned around again. She bumped into something tall and robust, took a step back and squinted her eyes at the thing blocking her path. Someone was standing here, right in front of her.
"S... sorry," she stuttered.
The man didn't say a thing, he didn't move either.
"I didn't see you because it's so dark," she explained.
Still no answer. Jess got a bit scared of this creepy stranger and moved to walk past him. She didn't see him move even when she was behind him. So she started to walk again, only to feel a powerful arm grab her waist while a large hand suddenly covered her mouth. Jess fought back, she screamed and kicked, but didn't manage to break free.
The following morning, her body was found in that same alley, with her throat sliced open. The police immediately deduced that she was another victim of the now infamous serial killer: John the Butcher.
oOo
Lucy glared at the stupid second year named Tobi that was guarding the door. She would have to retrace her steps if she couldn't use this stupid door. Alzack leaned against the wall and sighed, massaging the back of his neck. He looked exhausted. She focused on Tobi once again and observed him. He was playing with a small wooden stick and was apparently trying to tame an invisible dog with the help of a sock that seemed to serve as a very weird pendant. Lucy first wondered how an idiot like him could be a second year in the Academy, but then she shot him and realized with horror that the dart had no effect on this idiot. He didn't even feel it when it hit him in the back of his leg.
"Luc, I'm not feeling good," Alzack whispered.
She could imagine it, he had four darts planted on his back when she found him. It was a miracle that he was still conscious.
"Sorry," she said, "I'm trying to get you out of here as soon as I can, but that idiot didn't feel the dart..."
"What a lucky bastard..."
Lucy nodded, her eyes staying on the second year. Alzack was hurt, Loke was nowhere to be found and this asylum was creepy as hell. She wasn't wasting any more time waiting for an opportunity to get out unscathed. The fact that Tobi was immune to the darts didn't mean that he was aware of it, after all. Lucy shouldered her rifle and left her hiding spot.
"Hey, Tobi," she called loudly.
The boy abruptly turned around and she shot his hand before he could react. As expected, he dropped his weapon, expecting the pain to appear soon.
"Hands up," she ordered.
For a reason Lucy would never be able to guess, Tobi obeyed, despite the lack of pain. He was so confused that he quietly obeyed even when Lucy told him to go down on his knees and she tied his wrists with rope. Well, this had been way easier than expected. Her first prisoner of war. Alzack stood back up and joined them when she pushed open the door, holding Tobi in front of her like a shield. On the other side of the door were five doors and three had been kicked open. Lucy froze when she saw the blood on the ground near the third door.
"What the hell happened here..."
"I don't know," Tobi whined. "I was told to guard the door after one of your comrades came here and went berserk for some reason..."
Lucy forced the crying Tobi to approach the door so she could have a look inside. There was blood on the door, as if someone had been punching it non-stop until their fists bled. The room's content was creepy: it looked like a horror movie set.
"Someone was locked up in there," she realized. "Did you guys do that? What kind of sick fucks are you?"
"I don't know anything about that," Tobi assured.
"Right, keep walking."
They opened the last door and realized that they had finally found those fucking stairs! Lucy would have danced in joy hadn't she been escorting a prisoner.
"We're almost out, Alzack," she promised. "Hang on for a few more minutes."
Her comrade nodded, but didn't look like he'd manage to climb down the stairs.
"Hey," Tobi called, "you sure you're okay, dude? You look like you just lost your favorite sock..."
Lucy kept an eye on Alzack as they climbed down the stairs, but he wasn't lying when he said he could do it. When they finally reached the ground floor, Lucy found a large map in a glass frame and realized that they were still in the Red Wing, but on the opposite side. There was no one around. On her left, corridors and medical rooms, on her right, windows on the wall. She looked outside as they quietly walked along the corridor. It was raining again and the trees were bending and blocking the passage leading out of the asylum as they curved under the force of the strong wind. She stopped walking and stared outside. Something was wrong. Alzack frowned at her.
"What is it? We have to keep going."
She ignored him and focused on the sounds. Outside, the storm was raging, inside, the fights should still be shaking the building. But she couldn't hear a thing. And then, it hit her. Loke and Alzack were forced to enter the building because of the enemies: once inside, they were chased and had to climb up the stairs to hide upstairs. The second years chased her comrades all the way to the Red Wing and continued to hunt them down once inside, only to quietly let them escape when the rescue team arrived? Lucy cursed, gritted her teeth and grabbed Tobi by the collar of his shirt to squash his back against the wall. He whined in pain when his head hit the wall.
"What are you planning?" she growled.
"I don't know what you're..."
Lucy punched the wall right by his head and accidentally crushed the plasterboard, which efficiently scared the shit out of her prisoner.
"I don't know much about their plan," Tobi admitted, "I only heard the basics..."
"I'm all ears," Lucy groaned.
- Ten minutes later -
Lucy was panting when she finally reached the top of the stairs. She had been running all along and wasn't even there yet. She had to hurry. She picked up speed and ran along the broad, dark corridor, her lungs burning, her legs hurting. She took a quick look at her watch, ten minutes left. She could make it. She tripped on something and almost fell, cursing. Now that Tobi had explained Gildarts' plan to her, a lot of things suddenly made sense.
"Who's the idiot, now?" Lucy groaned as she ran to where the commander should be.
oOo
Alzack had to sit down when Tobi started talking, but Lucy didn't have the luxury to take care of him at the moment. As she listened to her prisoner's explanations, she understood that they had entirely misunderstood the situation and that they were in deep shit.
"We knew you were going to attack the base tonight," Tobi said, "well, the lieutenant-colonel knew. I don't know how he figured it out, but he did. We were supposed to let you guys approach and then force you to enter the Red Wing. After that, we had to make you leave in different directions, in small teams, to isolate the commander."
Lucy snorted.
"The commander?" she repeated. "You were hoping to face him on your own? Are you guys stupid?"
Tobi smirked.
"Probably," he admitted. "But we're not the ones going after the commander. We're not that stupid."
Lucy frowned.
"Then, who..."
She stopped in the middle of her question, eyes widening as understanding hit her.
"No way..."
"Laxus's attack didn't change the plan," Tobi snickered, "we're just fighting more people. The target didn't change."
Lucy cursed and punched him square in the face this time. She then wrenched the helmet off his head, lifted her rifle and pressed the barrel against his head. He whined and half closed his eyes, as if it could protect them if she decided to shoot.
"You can't shoot the head!" he protested. "It's against the rules!"
"I'll play fair when you guys do," she retorted. "Where are they?"
Tobi gulped and suddenly decided that this time was as good as any to try being a man.
"Shoot," he said, "I won't talk."
"You won't?"
"No way."
"Alright, then."
She snatched the idiotic sock hanging around his neck and threw it to Alzack.
"Burn this thing," she ordered.
In the very next second, Alzack was holding a lighter close to the sock and Tobi was begging her to spare the poor thing.
"I'll talk," he cried, "I'll talk! Don't hurt her!"
He told her that Gildarts and a few second years were apparently tricking the commander into running toward the Red Wing's auditorium, right by the director's office, on the second floor.
"Why there?"
"How should I know? They made me guard the doors near the east stairs!"
"It's because you're an idiot," Alzack explained. "They didn't trust you to be a real part of the operation."
"Hey, who do you think you are to..."
Lucy knocked him out with his own helmet and left him with Alzack, who assured her he was feeling better and he could watch over Tobi, before running toward the stairs.
oOo
Lucy turned left at the end of the corridor and froze when she heard voices. She jumped back behind the wall to listen without being seen. She sighed in relief when she recognized the voices: they belonged to Loke and Gray. She walked out of her hiding spot and walked toward them.
"Guys, I'm glad you're here!" she said. "Listen, we've got trouble, I need your help with... What the hell happened to you?"
Loke was leaning on Gray with an arm around his friend's shoulders. His face and hands were covered with blood. Loke sighed.
"We've been caught," he smiled. "Gray, tell him that you beat me up when I rejected your confession."
"Shut up, idiot."
Lucy glared at them and took a deep breath in.
"Ok, listen here, you idiots. The commander is going to fall right into Gildarts's trap very soon if we stay here. So Gray, help Loke get out of here and come back to the auditorium as soon as you can, we'll need help to get out."
"Hey," Loke protested, "I'm not letting you guys..."
"I'm not negotiating here," she interrupted him. "We'll talk about how you got all that blood on your face when we're back at the base."
Loke opened his mouth to object, but at that moment the doors at the other end of the corridor opened. Lucy and Gray both turned around and pointed their rifles at the newcomers. Two young men dressed in Gildarts's team's uniform were here, their own rifles pointed at Lucy and Gray.
"Look what we've got here," one of the second years said. "Lost rookies. Maybe we should show them the way out."
His friend snickered.
"Thanks, but we won't need help," Gray retorted. "We're just gonna get our commander back, take your flag and get out."
This time, the second year burst out laughing, his friend covering him.
"Take back your commander?" he repeated. "Our flag? You fools, the flag isn't even in this building."
Gray stared at him for a moment.
"Liar," he finally said, his voice calm.
The second year stopped laughing and frowned.
"Even if it's here, you won't get to put your filthy hands on it," he growled. "We're guarding it."
"So it's really here, after all," Gray smirked.
A moment of silence.
"You were bluffing."
"Yep."
Another moment of silence.
"Idiot," the other second year commented.
"Shut up," his friend spat, "it doesn't matter, they won't find it."
"It's in the auditorium," Lucy countered.
The first second year's eyes widened.
"How did you know?"
"I was bluffing."
"Well, not entirely," Lucy thought as the second years argued. She just thought that the only thing that could lure the commander inside the auditorium was the flag. And she had been right.
"It doesn't matter," the idiot second year shouted, "we'll just beat you to a pulp and then we'll have peace... hey, I recognize you. Yeah, you there, behind the two rookies holding rifles. You were the one messing with me in the corridors. I see you managed to get out of the room. How did you like your stay in there? Did you learn your lesson?"
Lucy frowned and slightly turned her head to glance at Loke. He was frowning too. A second later, his eyes widened as he recognized the other man. He took an angry step forward and Gray stopped him with his left arm, still pointing his rifle at the second years.
"What are you doing?"
"It was him, Gray," Loke growled deeply. "Let me pass."
Gray understood right away and his eyes sent daggers at the laughing bastard at the other end of the corridor.
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
Gray nodded and put his left hand back on his rifle.
"We'll take care of them for you," he said, "get back, you're not in any state to fight."
"Whose fault do you think it is that I bled so much!?" Loke roared. "I heard him laugh when he left me in there!"
And then, Lucy understood. She remembered that creepy operation theater, the blood on the door and the floor. She had figured out that someone had been locked inside. Turned out that that person was Loke. She stared at the laughing recruit, gritted her teeth. She lifted her eyes and saw the large glass panel above the door. She acted on impulse. She shot the panel and watched as a rain of glass shards fell upon the two second years. She shot again and the dart planted itself in the other second year's leg. He fell and screamed in pain. The other second year, the one that had locked Loke up, aimed at her head and shot. Gray jumped and pushed her to the side. He jumped back up and ran in a curious bent position toward the other man. He dodged three darts and Lucy saw the second year's eyes widen when her friend finally reached him. Gray straightened up and punched the side of the guy's head, knocking him out. The whole thing lasted ten seconds to the max. A moment silence followed while Gray brushed invisible dust off his shoulders and slowly turned around, and in his pockets. His jaw was contracted, his eyes cold, but he wasn't panting even a little.
"I think we should take Loke with us," he finally said, "we were quite loud just now, it's dangerous to leave him alone and we can't afford to waste even a second."
"I agree with mister-super-soldier," Loke smiled.
Lucy kept staring at Gray even as they walked away from their unconscious enemies, frowning. She knew that he was a strong man, with good abilities, but not that good. In training, he was lazy and was serious only when fighting with Natsu. But even then, he was never as impressive as he had been just now. Why was he hiding his skills? It would be much easier for him to join the Elite Squad if he showed everyone what he was capable of.
A few minutes later, they were approaching the auditorium. Two groups of second years were guarding the double doors. No surprise there. They looked for one of the smaller doors that led to the backstage, where the conference equipment was stocked. According to Loke, the corridor leading to that door had collapsed years ago and the path was blocked with large debris. People believed that, on the other side of this barrier, the tormented spirits of the asylum's patients had come back as evil ghosts. They found the blocked corridor quickly. Lucy glanced at her watch: five minutes left. In five minutes, the recruits guarding the doors of the auditorium would vanish and two or three of their comrades would come running in there, with the commander chasing after them if everything went as planned.
"So," Gray whispered, "Luc, what's your plan?"
Lucy shrugged.
"I don't know," she admitted, "I was pretty much going to run in there, grab the commander and run back out."
"I see," her friend sighed. "You're an idiot. We need a plan."
"Why not follow Luc's plan?" Loke asked. "It would be fun."
"It won't be fun anymore when we're hit by those darts."
"It's true that they hurt quite a lot," Lucy agreed.
Gray kicked large debris out of their way to create an opening in the barrier and allow them to crawl through. He was the first to go and checked the surroundings before telling his friends to join him. He smirked as Lucy struggled to crawl through the small hole.
"You're squirming like a girl," he mocked. "Need a hand getting up?"
"Shut up."
"Don't listen to him, Luc," Loke said from behind her, "take all the time you need. I'm enjoying the view from here."
Lucy finally managed to get out of the hole and get up, pouting. Gray smiled softly and ruffled her hair before starting walking again.
"You haven't changed a bit," he laughed softly.
"Too softly for Lucy to hear."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, let's go."
They walked in silence for about thirty seconds before Loke got tired of the heavy silence and decided to enjoy himself.
"So, Gray," he drawled, "I heard you've been getting real close to your lovely nurse lately?"
The other man sighed.
"We're going to fight against Gildarts in less than five minutes, I hardly think the time is right to talk about that."
"You're right," Loke conceded, "let's talk about that when the Game is over and we're quietly resting in our hospital beds, bones broken from our fight with the lieutenant-colonel."
Lucy laughed.
"We're really nuts," she agreed. "The three of us are going to take on the best fighters of Gildarts' team and try to get away with a fourth person."
"Without a plan," Gray added.
"History's made by people who have gone nuts," Loke affirmed.
"Well," Gray smiled, "we'll soon have our names in the Academy's history books then."
The door appeared all of a sudden, out of nowhere, and killed the good atmosphere in an instant. Gray's jaw contracted again and Lucy felt her stomach tighten. Loke looked fine, though.
"Time?" Gray asked, voice tense.
"One minute."
Her friend took a deep breath and grabbed the handle.
"Here goes nothing," he smiled nervously.
The handle turned silently and the door slowly opened to reveal the darkness engulfing the auditorium. It was dead silent inside the large room. The rows of old, dirty seats were empty, so were the galleries, the corridors behind the large split pillars and the huge stage in the center of the room below. Lucy held her breath as she spotted the bright red flag with the number one embroidered in the center of the stage.
"The trap could hardly be more obvious," Gray commented under his breath.
Lucy nodded and entered the dark room, hurrying toward the closest row of seats. She hid between the rows, her friends imitating her. She glanced at her watch and held five fingers for her friends to get ready: five seconds left. She shouldered her rifle and pointed it at the large doors at the top of the stairs.
Four. Gray cursed, he had apparently walked on a chewing-gum.
Three. Noises from outside.
Two. Loke shifted. He was somewhere below her, near the stage.
One. Her heart hammered against her temples.
Zero.
Silence filled the place and she held her breath. The doors suddenly burst open as two panicked recruits entered the auditorium, running as if they were chased by a demon. Natsu ran in right after them. He froze when he realized where he was and turned around, only to see the doors slam shut from outside. Lucy had to admit that their enemies were quick to act. The commander kicked the door once, it cracked, but didn't open. He took a step back to kick it again, but suddenly jumped backwards as something flew toward him and planted itself in the wall, where he was standing a second earlier. Lucy gulped when she realized it was a javelin.
"You're too naive, commander," a deep voice sang from somewhere in the auditorium. "It was so easy to guide you here. But it's partly why we, second years, like you so much."
Another javelin was thrown from the shadows cloaking the galleries and Natsu grabbed a dagger from his belt and sliced the thing in two.
"Hey," she heard Gray whisper. "Why are they using real weapons here?"
Lucy shook her head, not sure if her friend could see her. Not sure she cared either. This Game was way more dangerous than she had thought. Emerging from the shadows all around them, at least twenty second years surrounded them, blocking the main exit. They all pointed their rifles at Natsu.
"Hands up, commander," the voice ordered, "you're our prisoner of war."
The commander looked around him, eyes stopping on each recruit for a few seconds. He had no way out.
"I refuse to surrender," he declared. "You'll have to fight."
Lucy smirked. That's the commander for you, as if he would just admit defeat that easily. A first dart was shot and the commander managed to dodge it, but the second one planted itself on his shoulder and he roared in pain and frustration. The fights started and Lucy watched for a few minutes as Natsu punched, kicked, sent recruits flying over his back. At some point, he managed to steal a long wooden stick and was now hitting the recruits with it. He seemed to be tiring quickly. Lucy turned and called Loke.
"Come with me," she said, "we're going to catch the flag. Gray will prepare a way out for the commander."
She gave her instructions to Gray after that and they all went to work. Since everyone was busy fighting, Lucy and Loke met no one on their way down to the stage. They climbed small stairs on the side and hesitated when they reached the wooden platform. They were still hidden in the shadows, but it would change the moment they set foot on the stage. Would the second years be too busy with Natsu to notice them? She looked at him again and frowned when she saw blood on his forehead. He was panting and his left arm seemed useless.
"Stay here and cover me," she told Loke. "I get the flag and we run, making a lot of noise while doing so. Gray will take advantage of our diversion to help the commander run away. We use the haunted corridor to leave."
Loke shouldered his rifle and nodded.
"Alright, no problem. Did I ever tell you that you're really sexy when you act like an officer?"
She ignored him and finally climbed on the stage. Her stomach tightened as she took a few steps forward. The fights went on and didn't stop even when she entered the ring of light on the center of the stage. At some point, Gray even got involved, presumably because he was found out, and joined the commander. He really was impressive when fighting. He probably even matched Natsu when he was serious. She took the flag and took a deep breath in: time to make some noise.
At that moment, a loud bang was heard from behind her and she turned around. All eyes were turned toward the stage now, but Lucy's attention was focused on the large shadow on the back of the stage. It was crouching behind large wooden boxes and ropes and cables. Slowly, it rose to a standing position and turned its head toward her. Lucy took a few steps back as the dark figure walked in her direction, until he finally entered the ring of light. Gildarts smirked at her: he had been hiding there from the very beginning.
"Run!" the commander yelled from the other side of the auditorium. "Run! Now!"
His voice jolted her back to her senses and she turned around to throw the flag to Loke.
"Go!" she ordered.
"What about you!?"
"Just go!"
Loke glared at her.
"Fuck no!" he growled. "Come with me! Why are you staying behind!?"
"Having a friendly chat over there?"
Lucy spun around and found herself facing the lieutenant-colonel.
"Don't take it personally," he smiled sadly.
He shot her in the left thigh and she fell, screaming in pain.
"Lucy!"
Lucy was in so much pain that she didn't really care that Loke had just shouted her real name in front of the lieutenant-colonel. With her teary eyes, she tried to watch as Gildarts jumped off the stage and ran after Loke, who was heading for the small side door, screaming and waving the flag like a mad man, following the plan. From the other side of the auditorium, Lucy saw Gray run for the stage. She yelled at him to leave her alone and pointed at Loke.
"He's got the flag!" she shouted. "Get away from here!"
Gray immediately ran after Gildarts and Lucy realized that the commander wasn't with him. Her eyes traveled back to the top of the rows of the auditorium and found him there, kneeling. He had something in his hands and was pressing it against his left arm. Lucy squinted her eyes and saw that the thing in his hand was a syringe: he was injecting something to himself. He grimaced and stood back up. The second years that were still around him attacked him, but he barely looked at them even as he sent them flying in every direction. His left arm seemed completely fine now and he wasn't panting anymore. If anything, he looked even better than he did when entering the auditorium. He too ran for the stage when his opponents were knocked out.
"Go after the others!" she yelled at him.
He stopped, hesitating.
"I'll be fine, so go!" she roared.
He cursed, but nodded at her and ran after Gray. Lucy followed them with her eyes, starting to think that they might not make it. Loke was already at the door, Gildarts was close behind him. Gray jumped on the lieutenant-colonel's back and dug his boots in the back of Gildarts' knees. The officer fell and cursed as Gray jumped away from him and after Loke, out of the auditorium. When Natsu ran past Gildarts, the latter jumped back to his feet. Lucy knew he was going to chase them along the collapsed corridor. And he'd see that the only exit her friends had was a small hole in the collapsed wall. He'd see that they needed a lot of time to crawl through that hole, one at a time. He'd have all the time in the world to shoot them and capture them.
Lucy sighed and shouldered her rifle. With that, she'd have absolutely no way out. She aimed at the broken, wobbly candlestick above the door, and shot. The heavy thing fell to the ground and shattered into millions of pieces that flew in every direction, efficiently preventing anyone from reaching the small door. The commander stared at her from the obstructed doorway and she could see him clench his fists and grit his teeth.
"I'll come back for you!" he yelled. "I'll get you back, I promise!"
She smiled at him, brightly, genuinely.
"Alright, I'll be waiting, commander!"
The door slammed shut as her teammates escaped the auditorium. She sighed and lay down on her back. The effect of the dart was wearing off, but it was still painful and now, she was alone, surrounded by enemies. Gildarts climbed up the stairs leading to the stage and crouched beside her.
"Well, that was very brave," he conceded. "You saved your commander and stole my flag. Unfortunately, you're our prisoner of war now. And the boys of my team will put all the blame on you for this."
Lucy shrugged and smiled.
"I won't stay long," she laughed. "Didn't you hear him? He'll come back for me."
End of chapter 13
Well, hello everyone! I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but I'm back to uni and I have work, so the updates will be slower. Really sorry about that! On a positive note: we're quickly approaching important parts of the story: the chapters will soon become much more intense!
I'll also try to post a second chapter to The Last Valkyrie as soon as I can!
As usual, please, don't hesitate to tell me what you've thought of this chapter. Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed the story! Your comments always make my day, it's a real pleasure to see that you're enjoying it so much!
Though, to be honest, most of you will most probably hate me when we reach the sad parts...
Until next time!
Preview
The lieutenant-colonel walked beside her and stopped when he saw her grinning face.
"I guess you've heard the news," he smirked, "your commander is really coming for you. We're preparing to receive him at the moment."
Lucy smirked back.
"I never doubted that he would. I heard he wasn't coming alone?"
Gildarts chuckled and pointed at the commanding tent.
"Go on," he told his men, "I'll join you in a moment."
The second years obeyed immediately and left them alone. Gildarts came to crouch in front of her. He seemed tired, but still looked like he was having a lot of fun.
"Indeed," he sighed, "we're preparing for a joint attack from your commander and the lieutenant Dreyar."