PART I – Resolution
Chapter XIX – The Hunter and the Prey
"The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution."
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Manhunt – Day 1
Lucy asked Erza if she knew anything about it, the next day. And the way the redhead tensed and suddenly couldn't meet her eyes anymore told her that she had been right to worry about it.
"You do know something about it, right?" Lucy insisted. "That's why you were scolding him for running for so long, yesterday. I know that whatever's up happened more than once: I saw him stand up even when it shouldn't have been possible in his condition, I saw his dilated pupils and I even saw him inject something to himself!"
The doctor sighed and awkwardly shifted in her chair, fiddling with a pile of files on her desk.
"It's private, Lucy," she explained. "Even if it's you, I can't tell you about it."
Lucy frowned, feeling her stomach clench and a knot form in her throat.
"So, there really is something wrong with him..." she breathed. "Is it... is it as serious as it was for Loke?"
Erza's jaw contracted and she closed her eyes.
"I can't tell you... I'm sorry."
Lucy gritted her teeth, trying to gulp down her already swelling up anger. Erza was doing her job, she got that, but her friend knew how this kind of things affected her! Her best friend had cancer, for God's sake! If Natsu wasn't suffering from an incurable disease, then she should just tell her!
"You really won't say anything?"
Erza's hard gaze met hers, unyielding.
"No," she confirmed. "I have work to do. Maybe you should go back to your room before the ceremony starts."
Lucy didn't need to be told twice. She stood up abruptly and turned to exit the office without a look back. She didn't go back to her room, though, knowing Loke wouldn't be there. Instead she walked to the sports field, where her friends were playing football. Gray waved at her when he saw her.
"Hey, nice timing," he grinned. "We need someone to take Sting's place. Loke kicked the ball way too hard and it hit Sting in the face."
"I'm totally fine!" the latter protested, blood streaming down from his nose.
"You need to go to the infirmary," Loke sighed.
Gajeel smirked and sniggered, arms crossed over his chest.
"True, you look really good right now."
"Sting's a man!" Elfman shouted from his spot in front of the goal. For some reason, he had a muddy footprint on his white shirt.
Lucy chuckled and sat on the grass.
"I'm tired," she yawned, "I'll just watch you play."
They bothered her some more, but eventually went back to play, allowing her to lay down and get some rest. Her thoughts drifted to the moment the general entered the refectory, earlier that day. They were eagerly eating their well deserved lunch when the group of officers walked in. Makarov had been accompanied by the lieutenant, Mira, the lieutenant-colonel, and, of course, the commander. He told them that the counsellor they killed was officially missing and an investigation would start very soon. He also told them about the serial killer and the patrols. Lucy and Loke were both in the commander's team, as well as Gray and Gajeel. Elfman was in Clive's team with Sting.
"We'll start with one team per night," the general explained. "Tonight, the lieutenant-colonel Clive will take his team to town. Tomorrow, the commander's team will get to work. The night after, it will be the colonel's team. The night after, it will be the lieutenant's and the night after, we start over. If we're unable to catch the Butcher within six days, the academy will receive a sanction from the Octagon."
Lucy had then glanced at the commander. He looked calmer than the previous day and he hadn't been running all morning either. Six days only.
"And finally," the general concluded, "I have an important announcement to make. Because of the inspection, we didn't get to properly congratulate and reward the winners of the Game. We'll do so tonight. All afternoon classes are canceled. You'll have a few hours free after lunch to get ready for the ceremony that we'll hold in the Arena, at 8 p.m."
The Arena was a fairly new construction in the academy, behind the dorms. It was just what its name suggested: a covered, enclosed area, circular and designed to showcase combat demonstrations. Lucy had never seen the inside, so it was pretty exciting.
"After the ceremony for the winners," the general said. "I will officially give the names of the selected students and teachers who will be allowed to take part in the Academy's Tournament."
Lucy's ears still rang from the loud applause that had ensued. Loke had to tell her what the Academy's Tournament was.
"The Academy holds it every year," he explained. "It's just a tournament where recruits and officers fight to see who's the strongest. Since the head of the Academy's the one to select the participants, we can never know in advance who will win. The prize is two hundred points and the winner gets to pick one of his defeated opponents and give him a penalty."
"Sounds pretty funny," Lucy had said.
She opened her eyes and glanced at her watch.
"Guys," she called. "It's almost time to go. You better have a shower first."
"Are you implying that we stink?"
"Yes."
They had to put on their ceremony outfits: elegant white suits with golden buttons, their respective insignia, black and gold epaulettes, a golden chain on their left shoulder and a black and white kepi. Lucy thought it was a bit too formal for a small ceremony like that, but didn't bother protesting or even talking about it to Loke. Since it was so cold outside, they also had to wear their long military coats and black gloves. Lucy was sure it would snow soon. Loke exited the bathroom with a very satisfied smirk on his face.
"Don't I look gorgeous?"
Lucy chuckled and nodded.
"Yes, yes. Come on, now."
They found their friends almost as soon as they walked out of the dorms. Lucy had to admit that she tended to forget that she was surrounded by men, seeing as they always behaved like ten years old brats. But tonight, they all looked like respectable young men and she couldn't help but think that she really wanted to see the commander too. It wouldn't be her first time seeing him dressed in his ceremony suit, but she knew she would look at him differently now.
The Arena was already overcrowded when they got there. Everyone was excited for the party, but the real subject of interest was the list of names Makarov would give. And Lucy wasn't proud of it, but she hoped that she wouldn't be among them. Honestly, close combat wasn't the safest exercise to do when you're hiding your real gender from everyone. And not only was it dangerous for her secret, it was dangerous for her body too. She was no coward, but she wasn't stupid to the point of fighting in a Tournament where anyone could be an opponent. Why in the world would she want to fight against monsters like Clive, Gajeel, Elfman, Bacchus, Orga, and the list could go on forever. No, she'd rather be left out of this one.
Loke managed to find seats for all of them, except for Elfman and Sting, and Lucy was satisfied to see that they weren't too far from the fighting ring. The Arena was already crowded, but they were still lots of recruits that were coming in and had to look for empty seats. Loke and Gray argued about something completely irrelevant and Lucy ignored them, distractedly gazing at the other students. She recognized some of them, like Orga and Bacchus, but she realized that they were a lot of them that she didn't know as well. Loke suddenly grabbed her arm and shook it energetically.
"Hey," he almost shouted. "Look down there!"
Lucy looked over to where he was pointing, frowning. What was it that was so exciting? The blonde recruit saw them almost immediately: the nurses-in-training, sitting in the front row. Her friend waved enthusiastically when Cana turned around to grin at them. Lucy saw that Juvia was there too, sitting between Cana and Levy. They were talking and laughing with other nurses Lucy didn't know. Almost all the recruits tried to get their attention, whistling, waving or directly calling for them, but the girls didn't seem to hear them. Lucy knew that they actually didn't give a damn. Gajeel punched someone who said something indecent about small women, but the fight that should have ensued never happened, for Lucy and her friends immediately stood up to stand by their violent thug of a friend.
Silence violently fell upon the Arena when people appeared in the ring. Everyone sat down and stopped talking, only focusing on the officers. Jellal and Bisca were here too, but Gildarts had left the Academy a few hours prior with his team, so they'd miss the ceremony. Makarov was standing in front of them all, coming to stand on a small, wooden stepladder. Lucy gazed at Jellal and remembered that she still hadn't had an opportunity to ask Erza how in the world he became a teacher here. Ah, right, they were on bad terms at the moment...
"Hm, hm," he cleared his throat, "welcome everybody. As you all know, during this ceremony we will congratulate the winners of the Game and announce the names of the participants of the Tournament. Also, at the end of the semester, the updated ranking of the students will be displayed in the dorm hall."
Good, Lucy thought, with this she'd know if she was eligible for the Elite Squad. She had to admit that she had lost the count of her points.
"So, let's get started. First, the winning second years teams: Only Jellal's team managed to keep their flag!"
The Arena roared wildly as all recruits applauded and cheered loudly. Of course, part of it was to congratulate Jellal and his men, but truth to be said: everyone was very excited about the fact that the other second years had been defeated.
"The winning first years teams: Natsu's and Bob's teams both managed to steal a flag!"
This time, the noise was deafening and the vibrations that shook the Arena sent chills to Lucy's back. Everyone was acknowledging their worth. Makarov smirked and held his hands up to make everyone shut up.
"Yes, yes," he sang, "congratulations to the winning teams. Every member of those teams earned points, but some of them got more than the others."
Lucy froze.
"Now," the general declared, "we will reward the recruits that stood out during the Game. Let's start with Bob's team: Hibiki L, who falsified maps and data to set a trap and steal Goldmine's flag."
Hibiki was called to the ring and the crowd cheered loudly as he climbed down the stairs. He got to shake hands with the officers. He also got an official document stating that he earned an unknown – he never told anyone exactly how many - number of points and a bottle of champagne.
"Next," Makarov went on, "still in Bob's team: Ren A, who managed to put sleeping pills in more than thirty bottles of water, while being a prisoner of war. From Clive's team: Bacchus G, who fought and won against more than ten opponents on his own. From Laxus's team: Erik C, for blinding enemy soldiers with smoke grenades, freeing more than five prisoners of war in the same evening and stealing the enemy's flag. Also from Laxus's team: Mest G, who stole all food supplies of team Goldmine within one night and made them believe that team Gildarts was responsible for it."
Lucy clapped her hands for every recruit that was called to the ring and listened attentively to Makarov's explanations. She didn't even know most of the recruits that were being rewarded, but they definitely were awesome.
"And finally, from Natsu's team: Gray F, for fighting and winning against more than ten second years during the final assault. Also for being an important part of the rescue operation that led to the fight of the asylum."
Lucy and her friends jumped to her feet when Gray was called and shouted, applauded and whistled for him.
"Also from team Natsu: Elfman S, who was willingly hit by seven darts to shield his friends and allow his team to enter an enemy base. Jet S, who ran at full speed from dusk till dawn to give the commander a message from a scout who had located the asylum. Loke S, who blew a tree up to help his comrades escape with an enemy flag. And Luc H, who stole Gildarts's flag and kept it till the end of the Game despite his wounds."
Life could be very ironic when it wanted to. Lucy had been trying to blend in with the other recruits for months, making sure not to stand out, avoiding any form of spotlight. And now, she was the center of attention of every recruit sitting in the Arena. Her friends applauded, yelled, cheered loudly for her. And so was doing everybody else. It was intimidating to climb down the stairs knowing that all eyes were on her, including the commander's.
He smiled at her when she entered the ring and her heart hammered in her chest. She took the official document and the bottle of champagne from Makarov's hands, smiled and nodded distractedly when he congratulated her and walked toward the officers behind him. Mira hugged her and Lucy saw that her eyes were shining with glee and pride. She got to shake hands with Laxus, Jellal and the others, but her attention kept going back to the commander all the time. When she came to stand in front of him, she held her breath without even realizing it. He looked insanely good in his ceremony suit.
She blinked when he extended his hand and hesitatingly took it. His grip on her hand was firm, but gentle. He smiled at her and ruffled her hair, his thumb brushing against her ear. He smirked when he saw her shiver and bent down a bit to whisper something in her ear.
"Welcome to the snipers course," he said. Lucy stared at him with wide eyes and his smile softened. "You did very well, I'm proud to be your commander. You should go back to your friends now."
Lucy knew she was blushing fifty shades of red, she could feel her cheeks burning. But she couldn't help it: the commander rarely was this kind to her. She tripped on a step when walking up the stairs and heard her friends laugh at her. I'm proud to be your commander.
"What's that dumb smile on your face," Gray teased. "Did he confess his love for you?"
She frowned at him as she sat down.
"What?"
"We saw him bend down to say something to you," Loke explained. "We were trying to guess what it was when you tripped and there's also this simpleton smile you're sporting."
"You guys are just imagining things," she retorted with a lazy shrug.
"Oh, come on," Gajeel sniggered.
"Yeah," Loke agreed, "spill it! Something happened down there, right?"
A sly smile appeared on her face.
"Maybe."
"I knew it!" Loke exclaimed. "I just knew he'd lose it soon!"
"What did he say?" Gray asked.
"Nothing that concerns you."
"What!?"
"You're gonna talk! I'm going to strangle you until you do!"
While they were bickering, Makarov was finishing his congratulatory speech and the general got annoyed with the noise.
"Everybody, keep it down!" he ordered. "I'm sure everyone's happy for the winners, but we still have something to talk about."
Excited whispers ran through the recruits and Lucy heard the word 'tournament' several times.
"Indeed," the general smirked. "The participants of the Tournament. For the new recruits that don't know what the Tournament is: it's a fighting competition the Academy holds every year. The headmaster of the Academy is the one who chooses the participants that will be allowed to fight in the Arena. The prize is two hundred points and the winner gets to pick one of his defeated opponents and give him a penalty. The rules will obviously be explained in detail to the chosen recruits and instructors that will be selected. This year, fourteen participants have been selected."
A religious silence fell down on the Arena as the general purposely let them grow anxious with his own silence. He finally took a small piece of paper out of the pocket of his uniform pants and unfolded it before clearing his throat and looking at the crowd with solemn eyes.
"The fourteen participants of this year's Tournament are: instructor Jellal Fernandes, first year Gajeel, first year Sting, second year Bacchus, second year Kain, second year Bakel, instructor Gildarts Clive, instructor Natsu Dragneel, first year Elfman, first year Gray, second year Zancrow, second year Doriate, first year Luc. Congratulations to the chosen ones!"
Lucy froze as soon as she heard her name and her panic only intensified when she heard the other recruits congratulate her and wish they were in her shoes. Everyone was telling her how great an honor it was to have been chosen, how lucky she was. But she was having none of it: she had no intention of taking part in the Tournament. She'd call in sick the day before or something, but she wasn't fighting against the other monsters that had been selected.
"I'm not done talking, children," Makarov said. "I'm sure you all noticed, but even when I said that there would be fourteen participants, I only gave you thirteen names."
When everyone realized that there indeed was a mistake somewhere, they all sat down and listened to the small general, hoping that they'd be called to take part in the competition. Lucy had to admit that she wasn't exactly focused on anything at the moment, still thinking of ways to drop out of the Tournament without having to forfeit the fight, which would look suspicious.
"This year," Makarov went on, "there will be a very important change. We had numerous talks about it over the last few weeks and came to the conclusion that we could give it a try. Believe me, this is a very well thought out decision. This year, the last participant of the Tournament will be a woman: Juvia Lockser!"
The silence was deafening. Even Lucy was speechless. A woman was allowed to take part in the Academy's Tournament? She realized immediately that they all were witnesses of the first real change in the Academy's policy toward women. She couldn't imagine what Juvia had to go through to be allowed to fight with them. This was a huge progress, but how would her fellow recruits react to this? She was starting to grow anxious when Gray stood up, calmly, extended his arms and clapped his hands. Loke smirked as he glanced at her and they stood up at the same time to imitate her friend. Soon enough, everyone in the Arena was standing up and cheering even louder for Juvia than they had for their fellow recruits. They whistled, yelled her name, cheered for her, and Lucy was delighted to see such a positive reaction. Of course, some recruits refused to stand up, but it was still a major step in the right direction.
The rest of the night went smoothly, the instructors were allowed to spend the night partying with the recruits. There was food and drinks everywhere, music too. Gray never got a chance to go talk with Juvia as she, and all the nurses, were constantly surrounded by their idiotic comrades. Only Levy was left alone with Gajeel. Lucy and Loke were teasing Gray about his lack of guts when they heard shouting from behind them. They turned around to see an angry looking Cana stomping away from a dumbfounded Bacchus and toward them. The brunette spotted Lucy and smirked before walking toward her. When she was close enough, she wrapped her arms around her shoulders and whispered.
"You owe me one, so play along."
Before Lucy could interrogate her, and in front of her stunned friends, Cana pulled on the collar of her jacket and unhesitatingly pressed her lips against hers. Lucy's eyes widened, but she didn't pull away: she did owe Cana for helping her out at several occasions, but... seriously? She played along for a moment, but pinched the brunette when she grew a bit too bold and pulled away. Cana glanced over her shoulder to see if Bacchus was still there, but he had left. She smirked and patted Lucy on the shoulder.
"Thanks for that, we're even now. Bye."
And with that, she walked away, as if what she had just done was perfectly normal. Her friends stared at Cana as she walked away, but Lucy looked at the crowd around them: a lot of people had seen this. Good.
"What the hell was that about?" Gray asked.
Lucy shrugged.
"I don't know, but she strengthened my cover, just now."
"You bet she did," Loke laughed. "You got one of the hottest girls they ever met and you're also one of the Tournament's participants. Look at their faces, you'd be dead if they could shoot you."
She shrugged.
"I'm not going to fight in the Tournament," she declared.
"Are you going to forfeit?" Gray asked. "People will think it's suspicious. And if you're scared, just remember that Juvia will be fighting too."
Lucy glared at him.
"I'm not scared of being beaten up," she retorted. "And Juvia doesn't have to hide her chest."
Loke sneered at this.
"Don't worry, you don't have much to hide."
"You little... Even so, close combat is dangerous in my condition!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Loke chuckled. "I'm going to the restroom, see you later."
He walked away, leaving her alone with Gray. She turned to him and saw him already looking at her. They had been so busy lately, there wasn't enough time to ask questions about their past. Now, they had this time.
"Wanna talk?" he asked, as if reading her thoughts.
She nodded and they walked away from the party.
They sat on the old, abandoned tank behind the Arena and Lucy told Gray about her head injury.
"Since that day, I have had partial amnesia," she explained. "But lately, I started remembering some things, about that night and about you."
Gray nodded.
"You also remember Michelle and Lyon," he repeated. "And you know that they were others with us, back in the ranch, but you can't remember who they were?"
It was Lucy's time to nod, then.
"I was hoping that you could tell me about them," she said.
Gray sighed and his eyes suddenly darkened, his mind plagued with painful memories. He shook his head and let out a weak, humorless laugh.
"You can't imagine how hellish the days that followed that night were for us," he admitted. "We were rescued by some allies that heard about what had happened, but not everybody made it out alive."
Lucy's heart clenched when Lyon's tear stained face appeared in her mind.
"What happened?"
Gray stared at her before checking that they really were alone.
"I'll be honest with you, I can't tell you the whole truth yet," he declared. "The two men that welcomed us after the attack of the estate were part of an organisation that was starting to annoy the army. They waited for the perfect opportunity to attack, and got it when Lyon went to tell them about you and your sister."
That's right, Lucy thought, Lyon betrayed us...
"Why?" she asked, voice shaking.
Her friend gritted his teeth in annoyance.
"That idiot believed that they would spare us if he cooperated," he growled. "They promised him that they wouldn't hurt anybody and he believed them. Gramps managed to get away because Silver stayed behind to hold them back..."
The young woman gulped and forced herself to ask her next question.
"Silver was your father, right? Did he... survive?"
Gray shook his head.
"No."
During the moment of silence that ensued, Lucy thought of her own father. She felt tears threaten to fall and had to blink them in.
"I'm so sorry," she breathed.
Gray nodded.
"When I opened my eyes, after the explosion," he went on, "you weren't there anymore. We looked for you all around, we screamed your name, searched the whole area for days. We were desperate. A few months passed and we still had no idea where you were. We decided to ask for Gramps's organisation to help us. That's how I learnt about your father being at the Pandemonium. We also learnt that the only way to enter the Pandemonium was to be part of the Elite Squad and go there as a guard, but I got hurt and had to delay my mission. My friend managed to go there, though. When he came back, he was hurt and refused to talk about what he had seen there. And then, on the day I enrolled here, I saw you standing among us, dressed as a guy. I couldn't believe my eyes, but I understood right away that you were here to do the exact same thing I was doing."
Lucy blinked, a million questions forming in her head. Before she could phrase them, Gray smiled.
"We never stopped searching for you," he assured, "but we never gave up on your father either. We're still trying to get him out of there."
This time, it was impossible for Lucy to fight her tears. She recently realized that she had trustworthy allies in the Academy, but Gray was now telling her that she had more allies outside. Allies that were fighting her fight.
"Who are you, guys?"
Gray laughed and ruffled her hair.
"That, I can't tell you yet," he said. "But I will. Soon. I promise."
"Why can't you tell me now?" she insisted. "Can't you at least tell me who was the other boy? The one who came to get Michelle and I, that night. Was he the one who managed to enter the Pandemonium? And, by the way, why are you in the army if your organization is fighting against it? Oh! I get it! You're a sp..."
Gray's large hand clasped her mouth and he looked around to make sure that they were still alone. He sighed when he realized that they were.
"I really wonder how you managed to stay alive all this time with that big mouth of yours..." he deplored. "I promised I'll answer all your questions soon, but I can't now because we're working on a big project right now and I don't want to endanger either the project itself or you."
"I'm endangering myself just by being here," Lucy reminded him.
Gray chuckled.
"Right," he agreed. "Still no."
Lucy didn't get anything else out of him that night, but she still felt much lighter afterwards. Whoever Gray was working for, their goal was the same as hers: they were allies. She'd get her father out of that hellish place for sure! Now, the only problem was that Gray was keeping her away from the real action and she didn't want it. She'd have to find a way to contact this organization on her own.
They went back to the party and found Loke laughing with Jet and Droy. Gray glanced at Juvia and saw that she was still surrounded by recruits. He contracted his jaw, but didn't do anything, which pissed Lucy off.
"Hey," she growled at him, "what the hell are you doing?"
He arched a brow.
"What? I'm not doing anything."
"Exactly," Lucy agreed. "You know very well that the only male recruit Juvia wants to talk to is you. Grow some balls and go get her."
Her friend's eyes darkened and he looked away, jaw contracting even more.
"Why the fuck would I do that? What she does is none of my goddamn business. And she's a participant of the Tournament. If she can't even deal with them, she should just give up."
Lucy kicked him in the shin and he yelped in pain, but didn't try to yell at her. Almost an hour passed just like that, with all of them laughing and talking happily together. It took some time for Lucy to notice the tingling sensation on the back of her neck and she turned around, not really knowing why she did it. The commander was there, sitting near a group of second years, staring at her.
Lucy noticed right away that he was tipsy: he was shamelessly staring at her with slightly glimmering eyes. She was too far away to know for sure, but she wondered if his pupils were dilated. He slowly stood up, his eyes never leaving hers, and nodded toward the hangars, behind the Arena. Lucy kept staring at him as he walked away, her stomach contracting and a knot forming in her throat.
"I'll be right back," she breathed before following after him.
"Where are you going?" Loke called.
"Somewhere you can't come with me."
She didn't waste any time arguing with her noisy friends and only walked faster toward the hangars that housed their patrol vehicles. It didn't take her long before she was close enough to the unlighted hangars to be cloaked in darkness. She could only hear muffled sounds from the other side of the Arena, attesting of the good atmosphere of the party and of her isolation. She continued to walk between the hangars, hugging herself to counter the biting cold. Where in the world was h...
A large hand suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the side, in the narrow space between two hangars. Her back pressed to the cold wall, she watched, dumbfounded, as the commander stretched his neck to check if anyone had followed her. When he was satisfied, he sighed and hid behind the wall as well, facing her. There really wasn't much space where they stood and Lucy could feel his body warmth through their clothes. Standing so close to him, the young woman had no choice but to remember vividly just how much stronger than her he was. His broad shoulders and chest blocked her only way out, not that she really wanted to leave, though.
"Sorry about that," he breathed, and she shuddered. "I had to make sure that no one would follow us."
Lucy gulped and took a deep breath to make sure her voice wouldn't come out weak or trembling. She may have lived the life of a fugitive, it didn't mean that she spent her young years sleeping under a bridge. Her adoptive mother liked to play tough, but she was a huge fan of romance movies. Lucy had seen a lot of scenes where the male protagonist pulls the female protagonist out of sight...
"It's fine," she hesitatingly assured. "What did you want to talk about?"
He didn't answer right away, too busy frowning at her neck. Since she couldn't check her own collarbone to see if something was wrong, she timidly gripped the hem of his shirt and weakly pulled on it to bring him back to reality.
"Commander?"
His eyes found hers and she thought that he looked a bit confused. She found it cute.
"Yes," he blinked. "Sorry, I'm a bit tired. Something came up and I thought I should tell you about it"
He took a step back to search the pockets of his jacket. When he found what he was looking for, he extended his hand for Lucy to take it. She did and unfolded the piece of paper. It was an official message from the criminal department of the capital's police stating that a dangerous serial killer was going rampant in the area. The warning message that Makarov never received, Lucy understood.
"Where did you find this?" she asked.
"A service agent found it behind a trash bin," the commander explained. "Did you see this?"
He pointed to the bottom of the piece of paper and Lucy frowned when she saw the handwritten notes.
''message to the general, got this before it was given to him. What do I do? ''
Lucy's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. Her brain worked faster then than it ever did. Someone wanted to harm either the general or the other officers of the Academy. This person stole the official warning about the Butcher, knowing that the members of the Octagon would be pleased to replace one of Makarov's officers with one of their pawns. This person was working for somebody else and was probably part of the Academy.
Another thought emerged in her mind and yelled inside her head. This person was most probably Kyoka's spy. And Kyoka wanted to get rid of the commander: if she really was behind this, she wouldn't let them catch the Butcher before Natsu was sent to Joya. Her eyes widened even more when a terrible doubt came to her.
"Where did you say you found this?" she asked.
The commander's eyes were dark and she knew that he could understand her thoughts.
"Behind a trash bin near the medical wing," he said. "Whoever the mole's working for can enter the Academy whenever they want."
"It has to be Kyoka."
Lucy realized that she had said this out loud when the commander nodded.
"I agree," he gritted his teeth. "She's probably been here countless times and we never even noticed..."
He sounded angry and she couldn't blame him: she was angry at herself too. She'd never be safe anywhere, would she? Even worse, she was putting her friends in danger. A sad smile appeared on her face and she froze when the commander's hand reached up, his fingers brushing her cheeks, below her eyes.
"Don't cry when you're smiling," he whispered. "It's creepy."
Lucy got even more angry at herself when she realized that there indeed were a few tears running down her cheeks. She wiped them furiously.
"I'm not crying," she retorted, "I have dust in my eyes."
The officer smiled softly at his fierce recruit.
"Sure. Listen, I don't know how you feel about it, but I'm tired of waiting for that crazy bitch to come out and strike. I told Gramps about her." Lucy opened horrified eyes and he laughed. "Don't worry, I didn't say a thing about you. He also thinks that the mole works for her. We want to set a trap to catch her or her spy. We will meet tomorrow to form a plan, do you want to come?"
Lucy hesitated. If they really managed to catch Kyoka, and it was possible seeing as they were monsters in human disguise, they would come to learn the truth about her eventually. Lucy lifted her eyes to look at the commander. He had his flaws, of course, but she trusted him. She also trusted Erza, and Mira, and Loke, and the others. She was pretty sure she could trust Makarov and Laxus as well. Maybe even Clive. Maybe she could tell them about her and about what the Octagon did? They were willing to defy them to save Natsu, maybe they'd do the same for her if she told them the truth? And it wasn't like they'd catch Kyoka in just two or three days, she'd have time to prepare. She was tired of lying to them.
"Yes," she answered. "I'll come."
"Good," the commander nodded. "I'll come and get you when it's time. He walked away from her, but froze and turned around. Lucy frowned when she saw him smirk at her. "Oh, I almost forgot. Starting tomorrow, for safety reasons, Loke will share a room with another recruit."
Lucy frowned even more.
"What?"
"Yeah, I think he'll just move to Gray and Gajeel's room," he explained.
A room of three people? Lucy felt even more confused now.
"What about me?"
The commander's smirk darkened and she felt the cold even more strongly.
"Pack your things," he just said. "You're moving out too."
Lucy went to bed early, feeling confused as to why the commander refused to tell her her next roommate would be. Loke cried tears of despair when he heard and she had to knock him out to go to sleep. She didn't sleep very well, though, feeling anxious about what she was going to do. She would tell Makarov the whole truth about her, about her father and the Octagon. It was a terrifying thought. If the officers of the Academy turned against her, she was screwed.
Manhunt – Day 2
The news traveled faster than a jet plane and shocked everyone. A member of Gildarts's patrol had disappeared the night before. While they were looking for the Butcher, the recruits separated and one of them never returned. His name was well known to everyone since he was the brother of a colonel: Elfman Strauss. Needless to say this efficiently sent the whole refectory into chaos. Elfman Strauss was just too strong to be kidnapped.
Makarov decided that the Academy would be placed on red alert until they found him. It was also decided that two teams would go on patrols each night, instead of only one. Lucy wanted to go look for him right away, no need to wait for the night to come, but the police insisted that they wanted to take care of things regarding the Butcher during daytime: to balance things between them. What a joke, the police of this area would never hold a candle to the Academy. Thus the blonde recruit stomped angrily through the main building almost all morning long, until a certain commander grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.
"Stop doing that," he laughed, "you'll dig holes into the floor. It's time for the meeting, come."
Inside Makarov's office were Gildarts, Bob, Jellal, Laxus, Mira, Erza and the general himself. Natsu told them that she was a witness that caught a glimpse of the spy once and that she wanted to assist them. During this meeting, it was decided that Jellal's team would assist Natsu's that night, it was also decided that they would set a trap to catch the spy or Kyoka herself. Lucy almost stopped breathing when they exposed their plan to her.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Makarov shrugged. "We discovered a rare species of worms in the lake, so no one's allowed near it anymore. That's all, everyone get to work."
Worms. Lucy almost burst out laughing. They knew that the Octagon was after their heads, after all.
When they exited the office, Lucy walked toward her room to get her bag.
"Where are you going?" a voice asked, playfully.
She shrugged and kept walking.
"To my room, I need my bag to go to my first class."
"Your things aren't in your old room anymore."
This time, she turned to frown at the commander.
"They've been moved to your new room with Loke and Erza's help," he explained. "I'll take you there."
Lucy did her best to hide her anxiety, hoping that whoever her new roommate was, he wouldn't rummage through her things. She got confused when she realized they weren't going in the right direction.
"The recruits' rooms are on the other side of this corridor," she pointed.
"I know."
He stopped in front of his room and opened the door. Another bed had been placed inside.
"Welcome to your new room," he smirked.
End of chapter 19
Let me first apologize for the much too long wait, I had to act like a proper student for once and do some school work. I also want to thank everyone who sent reviews to tell me they loved this story, to share their theories with me, to tell me they couldn't wait to get more of this! You don't know how much this means to me!
We're getting to the main part of the story now. Next chapter: You've been waiting for it, it will finally happen in chapter 20!
Questions/Answers:
Q (from ArisuPandora): Why would his pupil's be dilated? I'm not really getting it. Is he sick or something?
A: You'll find out very soon!
Q (from Guest): But he must have noticed that his door wasn't locked anymore so shouldn't he be worried?
A: Excellent question! I can't give too much information yet, but he did notice!
The Last Valkyrie will be updated very soon, too!
See you soon!
Note: I created a poll, it will serve as a Popularity contest for the characters of this story! You can vote on my profil page!