PART I – Resolution

Chapter XIV – The monster inside

"Perhaps the greatest faculty our minds possess is the ability to cope with pain.

Classic thinking teaches us of the four doors of the mind, which everyone moves through according to their need.

First is the door of sleep. Sleep offers us a retreat from the world and all its pain.

Sleep marks passing time, giving us distance from the things that have hurt us.

When a person is wounded they will often fall unconscious.

Similarly, someone who hears traumatic news will often swoon or faint.

This is the mind's way of protecting itself from pain by stepping through the first door.

Second is the door of forgetting. Some wounds are too deep to heal, or too deep to heal quickly.

In addition, many memories are simply painful, and there is no healing to be done.

The saying 'time heals all wounds' is false. Time heals most wounds. The rest are hidden behind this door.

Third is the door of madness. There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity.

While this may not seem beneficial, it is.

There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind.

Last is the door of death. The final resort. Nothing can hurt us after we are dead, or so we have been told."

- Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

Lucy panted and sighed in exhaustion, holding the dead soldier's arm tight and pulling on it with all her strength. She gritted her teeth and did her best not to whine under the effort. Michelle and the boy weren't whining, so she wouldn't either. Michelle helped her carrying the dead man by his other arm, the boy carried the legs.

"Are you ok, Luce?" the boy asked, his own voice shaking as his body was weakened by the burden on his arms, back and legs.

The young girl didn't trust herself to speak, so she nodded, hoping that he could see her. She tripped on an unusually large root and had to let go of her own burden to catch herself. The soldier's head fell to the ground. The boy had covered it so that they wouldn't have to look at it as they searched for a good place to hide the body, but it was still the scariest thing Lucy had ever done. Michelle and the boy both dropped the body and ran to her side, kneeling beside her.

"Are you hurt?" Michelle asked, voice filled with worry.

"We'll rest for a few minutes," the boy offered.

Lucy nodded. He had been the one to say that they should hide the body. The first soldier had been killed on the spot when Michelle hit his head with a rock, but it could pass as an accident. The same couldn't be said in this case. Lucy still didn't know who he was, only that Michelle had found him somewhere not far and that he had agreed to help them.

The children sat pressed close to each other and Lucy soon started to drift off. She tried to resist the pull of exhaustion at first, but ended up falling asleep while leaning on the boy's shoulder. He was warm and comfortable, she felt calmer now. She didn't sleep long, though, and when she emerged from her quick nap, Michelle and the boy were talking.

"You mean he's your cousin?" Michelle asked, sounding very surprised.

"Yes," the boy answered. "It's a complicated story, but he came running to my gramps's house and started yelling something about an attack. It took ages to calm him down and get the full story. After that, gramps had to gather a team and it took a bit of time, that's why we didn't make it on time. I'm bringing you to the others now, you'll be safe with them."

"I'm not sure," Michelle hesitated, "we don't know anything about them..."

"Oh, don't worry about that," the boy cheered, "they're all really nice people! They'll find you two a nice place!"

"We're not staying with you?"

The boy laughed.

"You'll miss me?" he joked. "Don't worry, I'll come back to see you both, one day. But my family's a bit special, that's why you can't stay with us. It's too dangerous."

"More dangerous than the soldiers that just destroyed our lives?"

Michelle's voice surprised Lucy, it was cold and distant. The boy didn't answer right away, but he did, eventually.

"Depends on the point of view," he finally said. "But we'd never stoop so low as to attack a defenseless family."

Another long moment of silence passed and Lucy wondered if she should tell them that she was awake.

"I see," Michelle finally breathed. "I refuse to be separated from Lucy."

"Of course."

"Ok, then. Thank you."

Even without seeing him, Lucy knew the boy was smiling brightly when he answered, she could hear it in his voice.

"No problem!"

Lucy smiled too.

When she opened her eyes for good, she didn't find the corpse they had been trying to hide and Michelle told her that she didn't need to worry about it anymore.

"We got rid of it," she assured. "Now, we're going to meet some new friends."

And Lucy kept on smiling when they got back up and started walking again, already trying to think of excuses for Michelle and her to stay by the boy's side.

OFFICIAL ACADEMY'S GAME OF CAPTURE THE FLAG

DAY 2

Lucy groaned in pain when she woke up. The ropes had been tied too tight and sleeping in a sitting position against a bent tree trunk never did wonders to anybody, she feared. She took a moment to take in her surroundings and enjoy some peace. Everyone was still asleep, apart from the two sentries guarding the camp. In daylight, the base looked less hostile than it had when she had been brought there, a few hours prior. She even saw a rabbit jump behind bushes near her. Still, Lucy couldn't forget that it was filled with enemies and that she officially was a prisoner of war. She leaned her head against the tree as a surprising fact finally struck her: she remembered her dream. She almost never did, but she remembered this one. Partially, at least. In her mind, she saw flashes of the night of the attack, of the chase in the surrounding woods, of the two men they killed that night, of the boy with the shotgun. She frowned. She was onto something there, she just knew it. Something really important. The truth behind her father's disappearance was a puzzle and she had all the missing pieces hidden somewhere in her mind. Ah, now that she thought about it, she'd have to have a serious talk with Gray as soon as possible.

"Already awake, I see," someone said.

She turned her head and glared at the man standing beside her tree.

"What's the mean look for?" he laughed. "You're the one that decided to stay behind."

Lucy turned her head and stared at nothing in particular in front of her. She knew this second year by name, Bacchus something, rumored for being drunk half the time and a fearsome fighter.

"What? Ignoring me, now?" he laughed. "It just makes me want to annoy you more."

He sat cross-legged in front of her and smiled dumbly. She groaned.

"Why are you here? It must be five or six in the morning already, don't you have a barrel of beer to drown in?"

He burst out laughing and slapped her shoulder, which only annoyed her even more.

"You're a funny lad," he said. "You're actually the funniest prisoner my team ever got. The others usually got scared and tried to be all nice and sweet to avoid getting beaten up."

Lucy tried to shrug, but the ropes successfully managed to unable to do that as well.

"I'm tied to a tree," she pointed out, "if your teammates want to beat me up, they will be able to do it easily. It won't change a thing if I'm nice or not. I'l just have to remember their faces and get back at them later."

Bacchus nodded and smiled nonchalantly.

"You know, I originally intended to beat you up as soon as I had the chance," he admitted.

Lucy faked a yawn and sighed.

"Really, now? Then, can you do it now, please? I'm sure I'll enjoy it more than your conversation."

Bacchus laughed again, he seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself.

"Nah, I won't," he smiled. "Your friend, the one that ran away with our flag, he said something that made me change my mind."

"I'm glad for you."

"It was right before he left," Bacchus went on. "When Gildarts shot you. I was near to the stage so I heard it."

Lucy didn't understand why this idiot looked so smug, or where this conversation was going.

"The first time I heard about you, I didn't even bother remembering your name," Bacchus smirked. "There was a rumor about a guy that managed to shoot the commander during training, but I was sure it was luck."

"This is fascinating," Lucy ironized.

"The second time I heard about you, it did interest me. My friends told me that you were spending a lot of time with a nurse. Cana."

Lucy frowned. She wondered if she was really tired or he was purposefully making it difficult for her to guess what he really wanted.

"Yeah," she said, "so what?"

Something wild suddenly shone in the man's eyes, his smirk widened.

"I've been chasing after this woman for more than a year," he almost growled, "so I was pretty annoyed when I heard about the newbie that was seen with her almost on a daily basis, you see?"

Lucy stared. And laughed. Burst out laughing, even.

"I see, so you're jealous," she kept on laughing. "And you want to beat me up to impress her, right? God, that's so pathetic, I can't find the words! Fine, just beat me up if you want, you'll just make her hate you, moron."

Strangely enough, Bacchus's smile didn't weaken at her harsh answer. He crossed his arms over his chest and patiently waited for her to calm down.

"Are you done? Good. As I was saying, I changed my mind. Partly because of what you said, it really would have made me the pathetic, jealous, violent thug."

He looked around to check if someone was nearby and smiled even more when he was sure that they were alone.

"But, to be honest, the real reason why I'm not worried about you anymore is because I heard what your friend yelled, yesterday."

He leaned in to get closer to her and whispered.

"I heard your name, Lucy."

Lucy froze, but didn't panic. She had thought that someone might have heard Loke call her name, so she had prepared herself overnight. She arched an eyebrow and stared at him as if he was the biggest idiot the planet had ever known.

"What are you talking ab..."

"Ah, no, please, don't do that," Bacchus interrupted her. "It'll just ruin everything if you deny it and I'll lose interest."

"I really don't understand a thing you're saying..."

Bacchus sighed and shook his head.

"Ok, I understand, you're tired and taken by surprise. I'll let you off for now. And don't worry, I won't tell a soul about you."

With that, he stood back up without waiting for her answer and left after winking at her over his shoulder. Lucy frowned. ''I'll let you off for now'', he'd said. Well, now was as good a time as any to get started then. She tried to move her arms and shift their position despite the ropes until she felt the glass shard she had picked the night before, when she had ''accidentally'' tripped and fell near the broken candlestick.

Now, you might think: why start cutting the ropes now when she could have done it during the night? The answer's simple. She was exhausted and wasn't ashamed to say that she fell asleep.

Half an hour later and she still wasn't done with her ropes. She hissed when the shard cut her hand again. She didn't remember how many times she had cut her hands in the process, but the ropes were probably covered with blood by then.

She sighed and leaned her head against the tree. Even now, as she closed her eyes, she could see the commander's face before he left. Jaw tight, fists clenched, eyes hard. He had been so reluctant to leave her. She smiled when she remembered the expression on his face and the intensity of his voice when he promised to come back for her. Loke's words came back to her. ''I was right beside him when Gray arrived and told us about your crazy plan, he had explained. He went berserk, it was fun to watch. I thought he was having a heart attack. I'm sure he has a thing for you.''

At the time, she purely rejected this thought. But now, she was starting to have some doubts. She wasn't that naive, she knew the commander hated to leave a comrade behind, but he never looked that desperate. She sighed again. Really, what was she doing, dreaming of stupid things like that?

She had thought that maybe she could quietly wait here for the commander to come and free her, but the situation here was getting a bit more complicated with Bacchus knowing about her secret and she was bored as hell. So, she resumed cutting the ropes restraining her. She realized it may not have been such a great idea when a scout ran back to the base and into the commanding tent. A minute later, the lieutenant-colonel suddenly walked out of his tent, a small group of second years following him.

Lucy looked at them as they walked to different spots of the base, giving orders here and there, looking a bit worried and in a hurry. Two second years that had just been given orders walked quickly in her direction and she focused on their conversation.

"Can't believe they'd actually team up on us," the first said.

"Yeah, it's unheard of," the other agreed. "But it means that those guys are probably important. We've got to keep them."

The first guy glared at Lucy.

"Important to the point of joining forces despite being rivals in the first place?"

Lucy arched a brow, understanding that there was another prisoner in the base. She looked around. Where was he? To which team did he belong?

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."

Lucy raised her eyebrows and whistled.

"Wow, you're in it deep, huh."

"Indeed," Gildarts laughed. "Not even I can stop those two if they're allies. So we'll just slow them down with traps and false clues about our escape route."

"So, you're running away," Lucy summed up.

"Yes, we are. And you're obviously coming with us. Natsu's doing something very unusual to get you back, so we're definitely not letting you go. Same goes for our other prisoner."

"Oh, right! Who is it?"

The lieutenant-colonel stood back up and stretched his back, groaning in relief.

"That, prisoner, is none of your business, I'm afraid. Well, my boys need me to organize our flight, so I'll be leaving you alone for a moment."

"You could just set me free," Lucy suggested, "then their alliance would naturally dissolve itself and you'd be fine."

"Nice try, rookie," Gildarts waved as he walked back toward the large tent.

Lucy leaned back against the trunk and smiled. A joint attack with Laxus was really something to be worried about. She was thrilled. Now that everyone was running around in panic and nobody was here to keep an eye on her, she got back to cutting the ropes tying her to the tree. She hissed and clenched her teeth when the glass dug into the already injured flesh of her hands, but kept going. There was no way she'd be tied to a tree when the commander came to rescue her. No, she'd be standing among the enemies, fighting.

Half an hour later, while the members of team Gildarts were starting to pack their things to leave the base, Lucy felt the ropes go loose around her. She had done it in time. She sighed in relief when she dropped the glass shard that had most probably left pretty deep wounds on her palms. She looked around her. On her left, the tents were being emptied of their contents, Lucy saw mounts of bags with military clothing and equipments. On her right, the forest. The nearest weapon was a few feet away, on the top of one of the mounts in front of a small tent.

She didn't think too much about it. She let the ropes drop around her and got up. Slowly, as if going to help with the escape preparations, she walked toward the mount of bags. A few second years ran past her without even sparing her a glance. Perfect. She continued to walk toward the bags and the rifle on top of them, hands in the pockets to hide the blood, head high, trying to act natural.

"Hey," someone shouted, "you think we've got the time to be walking around hands in the pockets!?"

Lucy nodded, apologized and walked a bit faster, her hands still in her pockets.

"Are you trying to be funny, you little..."

Lucy cursed when the guy walked toward her with a threatening attitude. He was probably one of Gildarts's lieutenants and was making sure that everybody knew it.

"Hey, wait, you're..."

"Finally," Lucy inwardly sighed, "took him long enough."

She ran toward the mount of bags and grabbed the rifle with bleeding hands. She pointed it at the soldier following her and shouted him in the shoulder. His screams of pain immediately alerted his companions and Lucy saw several other second years running in her direction. She knelt between two tents, seeking camouflage more than protection, and shot the nearest one. He fell to the ground when the dart planted itself in his knees and Lucy immediately shot the man that was right behind him. A lot more recruits came running toward her when they heard the ruckus she was causing.

"Oh well," she sighed.

Lucy breathed in deeply, time to switch to battle mode. Suddenly, the direction and strength of the wind were data that she needed, she instinctively counted the exact number of enemies and took note of their exact positions. Their voices and screams were as many indications of their mental state, speed and direction. Lucy breathed out, slowly, opened an eye and aimed. In the first minute following her mental preparation, she shot seven recruits on her right side.

Understanding just how dangerous their prisoner really was, the other members of team Gildarts tried to hide behind trees, bushes and tents. But Lucy had already deduced that they would try. She turned around and shot three darts. Without waiting to see if she had hit the bullseye, she turned back around and shot four other darts. Seven more victims. This time, big shots came to help the recruits. Lucy recognized Bacchus and a few other pretty popular second years.

"That's my girl!" her inner voice shouted. "See this? This is the enemy recognizing your strength! Shoot them all down, Lucy!"

Lucy smirked. It did feel good to be in her position at the moment. Bacchus suddenly landed behind her and managed to kick her rifle away when she turned around to aim at him.

"Don't interrupt!" Bacchus ordered his companions. "He's mine!"

He punched her straight in the jaw and she fell, stunned. She groaned and stood back up, massaging her painful jaw. There was a bit of blood on her lips. She cursed and squared off. Bacchus wasn't using a standard guard and she wondered if he was only getting warmed up or if he was already drunk. Which would be pretty horrible for her.

"Don't disappoint me," he half laughed, half growled.

He then pounced at her and she could barely dodge his punch. She didn't even have enough time to turn around before he kicked the back of her legs and made her fall to the ground. She rolled to the side to avoid a new kick and jumped back up, only to be punched again. She cursed and spat blood. Just how fast was this bastard!? His friends cheered and laughed at each blow he landed. Lucy finally got enough and was just going to run at him when her inner voice decided to join in on the fun.

"Wait," she ordered as Lucy was getting ready for her final, desperate attack. "Let me lead this time."

Lucy frowned, not sure if it was normal for her to argue with herself during a fight. Bacchus smirked when he saw Lucy freeze, visibly taking it for a sign of fear. He pounced on her, once again. And this time too, Lucy had no idea where and how he'd hit her. She closed her eyes and felt her arms shoot up. Something hard collided with them, but she grabbed it and twisted it until she felt the heavy weight of Bacchus fall to the ground. She opened her eyes again and smiled when she saw Bacchus jumping back up, eyes wide with excitement.

"See?" her inner voice smirked. "This is how you fight a monster. You have to become even more monstrous than him."

"Awesome," Lucy breathed, "I might actually be able to win this way."

"Yeah, you might," her inner voice agreed. "Well, old me here is beat, haven't done this much work in a while, you see? It's up to you now, bye!"

"What?"

The blow she received next, Lucy couldn't remember if it had been a kick or a punch. Bacchus was moving crazily fast and laughing like a possessed hyena all the while. She managed to parry a blow or two, but had generally been turned into a living punching bag.

"Stay down," Bacchus finally sighed. "You're as good as dead right now. I don't even know how many bones I broke..."

Lucy doubted that he had broken any, but the pain was still great, she had to admit. She cursed when she tried to stand back up.

"Why don't you just give up? Nobody would think of it as cowardice, you've done more than enough."

Lucy finally managed to straighten up and smiled.

"I don't care if you and your friends think I'm a coward," she laughed. "I just don't want to be kneeling when he arrives."

Bacchus wasn't smiling anymore as he stared at her, nobody was. They finally recognized her strength and her determination. This was not someone to take lightly.

"Now, that's talking like a soldier," a rough voice laughed.

Lucy didn't even need a second to recognize the voice. She smirked. Finally.

A dart was shot in Bacchus's leg and he fell, growling in pain.

"You took your sweet time," Lucy sang as Gajeel came into view.

"Shut up."

One at a time, all around the base, soldiers of the alliance walked out of the forest and surrounded them. Behind her, someone placed a warm, large, reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"We spent the whole night negotiating with Laxus, planning the attack and searching for you," Natsu explained. "Sorry we took so long."

"No problem," she sighed in relief, a weak smile on her lips.

"You held on well," the commander praised her. "Good job."

Lucy didn't know why he did it, probably feeling a bit too much pressure, but a second year actually shot her at that moment. The commander didn't actually see the dart, but he heard the shot and pulled her behind him. The dart planted itself on his stomach and he growled menacingly. Gray shot the second year and every member of team Natsu pointed their rifle at his comrades to discourage them from firing.

Finally, while everyone was glaring at everyone in a tense atmosphere, Gildarts appeared. He looked pretty calm, hands crossed over his chest, a small smile on his lips.

"Hello there," he greeted Natsu. "I heard that while you were attacking this side of my base, Laxus was attacking the north, trying to free his own prisoner."

"We're not planning to take any prisoner," the commander assured. "We're just taking those two back and we leave."

Lucy frowned.

"What? Why? It's 2 vs 1, you clearly have the upper hand..."

Natsu turned to look at her in the eye. He was tense. Lucy realized that most second years around Gildarts were big shots and Gildarts himself was a living legend. Natsu was trying to leave this place peacefully. Otherwise, and despite the alliance, all hell would break loose here. Gildarts smirked.

"Why should I allow you to take them and leave?" he asked.

The commander smirked back.

"Look around you, Gildarts," he countered. "You're strong enough to take us on, but what about your recruits? You know that if we fight here, it won't be a game anymore. None of us will be able to stop it."

The lieutenant-colonel hesitated. He was tempted to try it, it was obvious. Lucy had no doubt that he would have attacked Natsu had he been alone. But Laxus was here too, and his recruits weren't strong enough to fight that big a battle.

"Fine," he finally said. "Take them and leave. We'll pay you back soon enough for this."

oOo

Gray supported Lucy as they walked back to the base. Laxus and his team were going back to their own base and Lucy still didn't know who the prisoner they freed was.

"Where's Loke?" she asked Gray when they were close enough to see the base.

"He stayed there with a team to guard the flag," Gray explained. "He wasn't happy with it, but it was an order."

Right, the flag. The flag they managed to steal thanks to her. She smiled brightly.

"We're just too good," she laughed.

Walking in front of her, Natsu glanced at her over his shoulder, a small, gentle smile on his lips.

"You're just too crazy for your own good," he countered.

"I'm awesome."

The commander arched a brow and turned around completely, opened his mouth to answer with a taunt, but he didn't. Instead he smiled.

"You're right," he admitted. "You really are."

With this, he turned back around and resumed walking. Lucy opened wide eyes.

"Wow," her inner voice decided to come back then, "that was unexpected. I'm sure he's got the hots for you. The boy swings both ways, I tell you. Or he thinks he does. Stop ignoring me, you stupid blonde, do something about it!"

Lucy kept ignoring her inner voice and spent the rest of the walk lost in her thoughts.

"Luuuuuuuc!"

Lucy dodged Loke's jump and let him fall to the ground, scowling at him.

"Why so cold?" he whined. "You just came back..."

"We need to talk, idiot."

She caught him by the ear and dragged him away from their comrades.

"Are you serious?" Loke asked when Lucy told him about Bacchus.

"Yes, you moron, he heard you call my name! You have to be more careful! We're lucky Bacchus is such a weird dude and no one else heard that."

"Right... sorry, I'll be more careful."

Lucy sighed.

"Ok, sorry for getting angry at you. It's just that things would get really dangerous for me if the wrong person were to hear about me."

"I know," Loke assured, "I think about it all the time, to be honest." He smiled sadly at her. "You can't imagine how scared I am when I imagine you being found out."

Lucy smiled back and patted his hair.

"Don't worry," she said, "even if I'm found out, I have a plan to escape. I won't be caught that easily. Though, my plan to save my father will be ruined."

"Luc!" someone called from the heart of the base. "Hey, idiot! Where are you?"

Lucy sighed.

"I guess I should go see what he wants," she laughed weakly.

Loke followed her back into the base and laughed when he saw Natsu walking toward her, looking like an angry mother.

"Where have you been? I was looking for you. Come on."

Lucy frowned, but still followed him toward the commanding tent. He entered it and held the flap up for her to enter as well.

"Everybody get out," he ordered.

Three or four comrades slowly walked out, hands in the pockets. Natsu sighed.

"I don't know if they're slow or just lazy. Alright, sit there."

She obeyed and he went to rummage through a large white box. He came back to her when he had found everything he wanted.

"Take your shirt off," he ordered.

Lucy instantly froze and probably blushed a bit too.

"Why?" she asked, trying her best to act as if she wasn't very worried.

The commander arched a brow and disposed medical supplies like bandages and compresses on the table.

"I'll patch you up," he pointed to the bandages. "Hurry up, we don't have the whole day."

"I'm fine, don't worry," Lucy protested, "I don't need to be patched up, thanks."

She got up, but the large and powerful hand of the commander landed on her shoulder and pushed her back into her chair.

"I saw your fight with Bacchus," he insisted, "you need to be treated, so stop arguing and strip."

This time, Lucy knew she was starting to blush for real. She tried to hide her face as she got up and made for the door.

"I'm really fine," she assured, "no need to waste any time with this..."

Natsu caught her by the waist and she whined in pain, though she had really tried to hold it back.

"See? You're hurt, so let me help you!"

"Why do you insist?" she retorted. "I already said I didn't need it!"

She pushed him and he finally lost patience.

"Fine," he growled, "I'll just take it off myself."

"What!?"

The commander pushed her back into the chair and grabbed the hem of her shirt before trying to pull it up. Lucy continued to try and push the commander away, only she had to hold her shirt down too.

"Just let me help you!" the commander snapped.

"No way!"

This is the scene Gajeel found when he entered the tent, a very jaded look in his eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said, not sounding sorry at all, "but a messenger is here for you. Seems like the general sent new orders."

Natsu allowed her to stay when the messenger came in to report Makarov's words.

"The game was supposed to go on for three days," he explained, "but the Academy's plans were changed this morning, when the general received a letter from the Octagon. An inspection group composed of members of the Octagon will come to the academy tomorrow for an official inspection. To prepare for their arrival, the Game will end tonight, at 9 p.m. precisely."

The commander frowned.

"Why conduct an inspection?" he asked. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I'm sorry, commander," the messenger said, "I only know what I've been told."

The messenger was escorted back to the path leading to the academy while Natsu gathered his men to tell them about the new end date of the Game.

"You know what this means," he went on, "Gildarts will go all out to take his flag back. Today is the last day, you'll all be involved in the fights. It will be painful, scary and exhausting. If you run away, it'll only mean that you were not fit to be soldiers, you'll be assigned to desk work. The best of you will probably join the Elite Squad at the end of their instruction."

While the commander talked, Lucy stared at Gray. He looked as lazy as usual, as if the whole thing didn't concern him at all. He always looked like that. Actually, not always. Now that she was starting to remember him, she also remembered that there was a time when he wasn't a laid back overgrown brat. She was finally starting to remember the desperate, heartbroken kid that spent some time at the mansion, right before the attack.

Where he came from and what happened to him afterwards, though, she couldn't remember at all. She just knew that he somehow had something to do with the attack. There was a chance that he knew something that could help her find the Pandemonium. But Lucy knew that asking him about this meant telling him the truth about her identity, and she wasn't sure if she really wanted to take such a risk. After all, Gray was a soldier now. And he was Natsu's cousin, he would most probably tell him about her. She sighed. So close and yet so far.

"… And after that, we'll stick to the former plan," the commander concluded. "Any question?"

Lucy opened wide eyes, she hadn't been listening at all. She raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Sorry, could you repeat what you just said?"

The commander shrugged.

"Sure, what part?"

Lucy smiled sheepishly.

"Everything?"

The preparations took them a few hours and it was already mid-afternoon when they finally took action. Lucy was surprised that everything had been this peaceful, knowing that the Game was coming to an end and all, but the commander warned them: as the day progressed, their enemies were getting ready to attack.

"Stay focused, guys. Keep in mind that they will come and it probably won't be possible for us to escape, as I told you earlier."

Indeed, the commander told them about how Gildarts would wait for the right time to send his men and surround the base. They'll try to make them panic, expecting them to separate, forming several smaller groups.

"This is to be avoided at all costs," the commander told them. "Stick to the plan and try to resist until 9 p.m."

They were presently patrolling around the base and making sure everything was ready for the fight. The commander was sure that no enemy team knew about the exact location of the base, but they would find it eventually. They'd be ready when that time came. Rifle in the hands, Lucy walked between the trees on the west of the base. Everything was quiet at the moment and she thought that she might as well use her time to think about what she should do.

Members of the Octagon were coming for an inspection. How in the world was she going to get away from that? There was absolutely no way that she was staying around to welcome them, but where would she go? She doubted that the inspectors would go as far as checking the lists of students, but the officers would notice it if she ran away without warning. Should she pretend to be sick? Erza would back her up.

"Or," her inner voice suddenly sang inside her head, "you wait for the limo that will bring them to the Academy tomorrow with a handful of grenades or a bazooka and you blast them all up as soon as you see them. You gotta admit that it would solve almost all our problems."

Tempting. No doubt that it would be pretty satisfying as well.

"Are you ok here?"

Lucy turned around to watch as the commander walked in her direction, jumping above large roots and bushes because he was too lazy to walk around them. She smiled at him and nodded.

"It's quiet," she answered, "not abnormally so."

Natsu nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets when he was standing right beside her.

"Good," he said, "the whole base's still calm. Maybe they won't find us before the end of the Game after all."

That last sentence was just a joke, Lucy knew, so she didn't bother answering it with words. Another smile would do. The commander arched a brow and a small, playful smile appearing on his own face.

"What?"

He shrugged.

"Nothing. I just noticed that you seem to smile a bit more lately. It's nice, I was starting to think that you hated being here. Which would be a shame, seeing that you're a pretty good recruit."

"A pretty good recruit, my ass," inner Lucy scoffed. "Take it from me, honey, he doesn't even care anymore if you're a guy or a girl. Pull his pants down and he'll go along, no problem!"

Lucy ignored the annoying voice in her head and shrugged, a natural response to anything that she found embarrassing.

"I like it here," she told him, "I only needed some time to adjust, but I'm fine now."

Natsu eyed her attentively and she thought that it would be nice if she was able to look him straight in the eye, just like he did. Not for the first time since the day she had enrolled in the Academy, she thought that the commander really felt familiar. There was something about the way he always put on a tough front and how, at the same time, his presence was so reassuring that made her think that it'd be so nice if she could trust him completely. How relieving would it be to tell him all her secrets and rely on him, even just a bit.

There was no way she was doing any of that, obviously.

"Good," he nodded, "good. You know that you can count on me if anything's wrong, right?"

She smiled again and, maybe she imagined it, but it seemed like the expression on his face changed a bit when she did.

"You're not imagining it, honey," her inner voice sneered. "Be careful when you're alone with him, I'm sure he's a pervert! He'll pounce on you the moment you look elsewhere!"

It usually was much easier to ignore her inner voice, because its words were mostly honest reflexions of her own thoughts. This time, though, she started to wonder if she had a dissociative identity disorder.

"No, you don't," her inner voice answered, "you're just tired and hungry."

Lucy was brought back to reality when she noticed that the commander was staring at her, an interrogative expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, what?"

He stared at her dumbly for a second and chuckled.

"Are you still dreaming?" he joked. "I was telling you that, when we both have time, I'd like to talk a bit more about the letter I received. I heard from Loke that you got one too."

What? Lucy tried her very best not to react at this, but she didn't know that Loke had found her letter. And she would never have imagined that he would speak to Natsu about such an important matter before talking to her.

"Listen," he went on, "I know you didn't intend to lie to me, but something serious is going on, we need to know what's coming for us. I need you to trust me on this, you're not the only one who's being threatened here."

Lucy felt sick. Her own letter hadn't been seriously threatening, just a friendly warning. But Natsu had been threatened? And by her? Now, this was a catastrophe. It was even worse than the visit of the Octagon members.

"She wanted you to get away from me, right?"

The commander frowned at her.

"What?"

"The author of the letter wanted you to leave me alone, right?"

His eyes darkened, his jaw contracted.

"Ok, who's she and what does she want with you?"

Lucy closed her eyes and cursed, hands going to clutch at the back of her neck. This really was horrible. There was no way she was staying at the Academy now. If she killed Natsu, they would conduct an investigation and it would lead them to her, sooner or later. In the end, her father would never be saved and Natsu would be dead. She opened her eyes and sighed. There was only one thing for her to do now.

"Don't worry," she told the commander, "I'll explain everything to you when the Game's over. I won't hide a thing."

He stared at her with doubtful eyes and hesitated. In the end, he agreed to wait for the end of the Game and Lucy felt guilty. He shouldn't trust her so easily. Because at the end of the Game, she would take her stuff and run away from the Academy.

End of chapter 14

Hello everyone! I know I made you all wait, but here's the new chapter! As you noticed, some important questions are starting to get elements of answers. Though, we're still only at the beginning of the story, the very important stuff has yet to appear. I can imagine that you finished reading the chapter even more confused than when you started it, even despite the hints I gave you. Well, I can only tell you to be patient, haha!

I tried to answer as many reviews as I could lately, but I didn't manage to find enough time to answer all of them. I did read them all, they made me smile and laugh sometimes. I'm really grateful to everyone who took the time to leave a review and favorited/followed the story.

More good stuff coming soon!

Preview

Gildarts attacked a few minutes after Lucy had this talk with her commander. First, they threw several dozens of smoke grenades to blind Natsu's men. Then, the soldiers of the first line entered the camp and started shooting. Whatever some people may say, psychology is important at war. Seeing Gildarts's men running inside the base, all of them wearing gas masks, confused and even scared some of Natsu's recruits. The commander hadn't lied when he had said that the last confrontation wouldn't look like a game anymore.

The deafening noise of dozens of rifles firing simultaneously hurt Lucy's ears and made her heart beat awfully fast. In all honesty, she had absolutely no control over the situation. The commander wasn't with her anymore, her friends were nowhere to be seen. All around her, people were running, crawling, firing at others.