DAUNTLESS
Chapter XXX – Beyond blood
"What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they were the ones who showed up, who stayed in there, regardless. It wasn't just about blood relations or shared chromosomes, but something wider, bigger. We had many families over time. Our family of origin, the family we created, and the groups you moved through while all of this was happening: friends, lovers, sometimes even strangers. None of them perfect, and we couldn't expect them to be. You can't make any one person your world. The trick was to take what each could give you and build your world from it."
― Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key
Ari yawned loudly for the hundredth time that day. Or was it night time, already? He couldn't remember how many hours he had spent in this office, reading records about what these psychopaths who called themselves scientists had done in the lab they raided. Ari was a bit ashamed to admit that, after having spent so many hours reading these records, he was starting to feel a bit jaded. When he started reading, he felt sick to the point of throwing up at the end of the first record. Now, he yawned when the details weren't bloody enough. The man helping him didn't look good, though.
Mest started to ignore Ari from the moment he had one of the records in his hands. His mission was far too important and he didn't know the man well, anyway. The only thing that bothered him was that he wasn't sure if his partner was doing his job correctly. They were supposed to write down all the clues they could find that would lead to the victims. Makarov was sure that some of them were still alive. The old general also wanted them to look for hints about the identity of the masterminds. He believed that some of them were directly linked to the members of the Octagon.
Mest sighed. The record he had in his hands was different from the others. Normally, the subjects only had a number and a file that contained all the information about their characteristics and the experiments they were forced to undergo. But, it wasn't the case for this one. To begin with, the record itself had a name 'Alpha'. None of the other records had a name. Another weird thing about the record was the way it listed the subjects. They were only five subjects in the record and each of them had two numbers. Out of the five, one of them had its number circled in red. Project 3173, subject 13.
Mest stared at the file for a while. He was absolutely sure that this one was especially important, but he couldn't understand much about it. The file belonged to a little girl to whom they had taken a kidney and a lot of blood cells. A quick calculation told him that the girl would be 22 if she was still alive today. Apparently, the subjects in this record all were newborns when they arrived in the various labs. Mest frowned when he saw the note about how they got there:
"To the military scientific inspection service:
The mothers of the babies were prostitutes that sold their newborns to the army. All of them agreed to give up their parental rights and not to interfere with the experiments in exchange for a generous amount of money. No need to look for them, since the five of them have already left the country."
Mest wondered what was the best thing to do. Would it be better to write down what he understood and switch to the next record, as planned? Should he just take this weird record to the general, even though he didn't really understand what was so special about it? If he gave it to the medical team, maybe they'd find out what that thing was about? Maybe Levy would be able to find hidden messages in there?
"Alright," he said.
Mest stood up and took the record. He only told Ari that he'd be back soon and left, heading to the general's office.
oOo
"So, yeah," Aquarius said, "I came to tell you that Jude's doing just fine."
It was late in the evening, Laxus was back from his recovery mission and was sitting in the general's office. So were Makarov, Mira, Erza, Jellal, Gildarts, Bob, Ultear, Jura, Natsu and Lucy. The latter had to admit she'd have felt a bit intimidated being surrounded by so many extraordinary people, had the situation been any different. The thing was, with Aquarius in the room, there was no way she could be anything but shaking in her boots.
By now, everyone knew that Elfman was probably alive, that Hades was heading their way, along with one or two squads under the command of the Octagon – information provided by Jellal – and it would take them less than two weeks to launch their attack on the Academy, but Aquarius being the same woman as ever was the center of the attention. She was sitting on Makarov's desk, a leg draped over the other.
"He's with Byro's team," she went on. "They're hiding somewhere near, about an hour's drive from here. By the way, Romeo, Byro was the one who dragged your unconscious ass out of the Pandemonium, back then."
Natsu, which had just been renamed Romeo, opened wide eyes when he heard the name of his savior for the first time. This woman truly was extraordinary. No one had ever heard about her, and here she came, knowing all the answers to their questions.
"How do you know about it?" he asked.
Lucy had to admit that he was surprisingly calm and confident when talking to her, considering she tried to strangle him a few minutes earlier.
"He told me so himself," she said. "Ya think I'm lying? Wanna ask him yourself?"
"No, it's fine..."
"Still," Makarov interrupted them. "I've never heard anything about that man before. How can we be sure that he's trustworthy? Jude should come to the Academy, we'll protect him efficiently."
Aquarius jumped from her spot on the desk and walked to Gidarts, who was sitting in one of the two comfy chairs in the room.
"My ass hurts," she said, "I wanna sit here. Move it."
Lucy hid her face behind her hand when all heads turned to her. Gildarts laughed, told Aquarius he was fine with her sitting on his laps and got kicked out of the chair.
"Going back to Byro," she sighed in contentment. "You can ask the Rose's Tear's boss about him."
And then, it was Ultear's turn to be the center of the attention. She didn't look pleased with the direction the conversation was taking, but she sighed and answered, anyway.
"That's right, I know Byro," she admitted. "He's the leader of an independent team of mercenaries and I tried to enroll them. He refused because he wanted his group to remain free and true to their ideals."
Aquarius nodded.
"Byro and his men are monsters," she added. "Jude couldn't be any safer."
It was strange hearing her talk about Jude as if they were siblings or close friends. Lucy knew that Aquarius was an old friend of her father, and it was no coincidence if the blue haired woman had found her after the explosion, but they never talked much about it before. After the initial moment of panic had passed, Lucy had quickly noticed just how heartwarming Aquarius's presence was.
"And I guess we're supposed to believe everything you just said," Laxus grunted. "No one knows what you've been doing these last few years, you could be a spy working for the Octagon."
Mira opened wide, shocked eyes and glanced at Lucy, who had a similar expression. Mira was probably worried that Laxus would have pained her, Lucy was worried because she could guess how Aquarius would react. She prayed the Lord that her adoptive mother had become more patient over the years.
"Accusing me of being a traitor," Aquarius growled while standing up. "You think I'd go against my own daughter? You've got some balls, brat."
Brat... Laxus, a brat...
"Now, now," Makarov sang. "Someone who raised Lucy into such a fine woman can't be a bad person. I believe miss Aquarius is on our side."
A moment of silence passed, Makarov giving everyone one last chance to voice their questions and objections. When he was satisfied, he nodded.
"Good, we're done for today," he said. "Go back to your rooms and get some well deserved rest."
"Ah, one last thing," Aquarius added. She turned to Lucy and smirked. "I'll be sharing your room from now on, I hope that's not a problem."
That last sentence was definitely intended for the commander, but none of them protested.
"You never said anything about living here," Laxus groaned.
"But you're obviously welcome," Makarov immediately retorted. "Please, stay as long as you like!"
Aquarius thanked Makarov with a bright smile before winking at Laxus, who looked very pissed.
"Well," Aquarius beamed, placing an arm around Lucy's shoulders. "We'll be taking our leave, now. I have things to talk about with her."
"Why do you have to be alone with her to talk?" Laxus retorted.
Lucy found it strangely funny how Laxus was so grumpy with her adoptive mother. It wasn't like he wasn't used to strong willed women. Maybe Aquarius was too flashy? The latter smirked at Laxus.
"Oh, you're free to join us," she assured. "I'm just going to make sure she's doing things properly with her little boyfriend, so we're going to talk about sex, condoms, STD and such."
Lucy and Natsu both turned bright red upon hearing this, but Mira looked like she was having the time of her life and it had been so long since Lucy had last seen her like this that she felt happy regardless of the humiliation. The young woman obediently followed her adoptive mother out of the office and frowned when she saw the latter wink at Gildarts.
Mest ran past them with a file under his arm, but Lucy didn't really pay him any attention.
"Just so you know," Lucy said, "I'm already sharing a room with three other girls, so we'll be a bit..."
"Don't worry," Aquarius laughed, "I already found another room for tonight, just now. That aside, I don't where I'm going, take me to a quiet place."
Lucy took Aquarius to the library, knowing very well that no one would be there. That place was always completely empty.
"Loke showed me this place several months ago," Lucy explained, "we were trying to hide from Natsu because he wouldn't leave us alone and we really needed to sleep."
The memory made her smile. Loke with bright red cheeks and a huge smile, sitting beside her as he panted from the race against the commander.
"Loke?" Aquarius asked. "The sick kid? You're close to him?"
Lucy's smile widened.
"He's my best friend," she declared.
Aquarius stared at her for a while before gently ruffling her hair and bringing her close.
"I'm sorry."
Lucy cried a bit on her mother's shoulder even though she really hated to show how much she was scared and sad. She felt like she was already giving up on him even though he was still fighting. Aquarius told her about her father to change her mind. He had escaped from the Pandemonium thanks to Byro's team and they had been moving non stop since then.
"I won't lie," Aquarius said, "he lost a lot of weight and they left some pretty impressive scars on his body. But your father's still the same inside. The first thing he asked when he saw me was 'how's Lucy?'."
Lucy smiled, then frowned again.
"He only asked about me?" she asked. "Does he know about Michelle?"
Aquarius nodded.
"Everyone involved in the Resistance knows," she said. "Your sister is a hero."
Lucy already knew that. Only a hero would have sacrificed her life to save the others. But hearing from her mother that everyone knew about what an amazing person her sister was moved her to the core. She probably couldn't have felt prouder than this.
"Your father's also a hero," Aquarius added, "you are a hero, everyone in this Academy is a freaking hero. Of course, if we lose this war, we'll become the bad guys in the Octagon's story. But I always thought that the bad guys were more interesting, anyway."
Lucy had completely stopped crying and sniffing by now. She looked at her mother in the eye and nodded.
"We need to meet with Byro's team," she said. "With his and the Rose's Tear's help, we'll be able to overthrow the Octagon and punish the real bad guys of the story."
Aquarius smirked and ruffled her hair once more. Lucy would never stop being her little girl, would she?
"Now, that's the warlord I've been told about!" she beamed. "We'll talk with the old man and his officers, tomorrow. If he agrees, I'll go to Byro's place and force him to cooperate."
She hesitated and glanced at Lucy, as if to evaluate her. The young woman arched a brow to show her confusion.
"Yes?"
Aquarius sighed and smiled sadly.
"Tell me," her voice was really soft, "you don't remember much about your father, do you?"
Lucy opened wide eyes and stared at her without knowing what to answer. The truth was that she really didn't remember much about him, but she had always thought that it was because of the trauma she received after the explosion.
"You became strong," Aquarius said. "You're actually stronger than I was when I was your age, I think you can take it. Jude wanted to tell you himself, but we're running out of time."
It was almost funny how fast Lucy's emotions could change. She felt really proud and happy when Aquarius told her she was strong, but the end of her sentence worried her a lot. She already knew that her father had a lot of secrets. She was so young when she lost him, sometimes it felt like she was fighting to save a stranger's life. Yet, she never thought about giving up. Even if she sometimes felt like she didn't know anything, the fact remained that she had a father who loved her more than his own life and that she belonged with him.
"Do you love me less than your biological mother?" Aquarius suddenly asked.
If the question was surprising, the answer was obvious, though.
"No," she said. "I know I loved her, but I love you more."
She wasn't saying this to make her happy, but she definitely didn't expect her to show such a sad smile, either.
"I love you, too," Aquarius said. "You're my daughter, no matter what. And the same goes for Jude."
Lucy frowned, but kept quiet to let her mother speak.
"Eighteen years ago," she went on, "Jude called me in the middle of the night and told me to come to his place. I drove there as fast as I could and your mother was waiting for me. Jude had called her, too, asking her to wait for him with warm towels and get some food ready."
The blue haired woman took a long breath and stretched, trying not to look like she was about to drop a bomb.
"He came back less than an hour later with a very little girl in his arms," Aquarius breathed. "A little angel with blonde hair, sleeping in his arms without a care in the world. Jude said that, from now on, he'd be your father and that it was up to us to accept it or not. Layla punched his arm and scolded him for thinking she could have rejected you."
Lucy kept on listening quietly, eyes wide open and her heart hammering in her chest. She wasn't her father's biological daughter. How did that make her feel? Did it really matter when this man had devoted his life to her? Still...
"Did he..." she gulped, struggling to find the right words. "Did he tell you where he found me?"
Aquarius shook her head, staring at the colorful books on the shelf in front of her.
"I think he told your mother," she said, "but the only thing he ever told anybody else was 'she's my daughter, that's all there is to it'. That being said, see that scar on your forearm?"
Lucy glanced at the large patch of pale skin and nodded.
"Dad said I got it after falling off my bike," she said.
Aquarius shook her head.
"You had a tattoo," she explained. "A number. Your father felt guilty because it was painful, but he had it removed almost right away."
A tattoo? Lucy had never heard of it. Even Michelle had never said a thing about it. Speaking about Michelle...
"Did my sis... did Michelle know about all this?" Lucy asked.
Aquarius scowled and flicked her forehead a bit too hard. Lucy whined and massaged the sore spot while staring at her mother with confusion written all over her face.
"Why the hell did you change what you were going to say?" Aquarius growled. "Michelle was your sister, there's no denying it. She didn't know anything. Your parents told her that you were her sister and she accepted you immediately. She was glad that you entered her life."
Now, this made Lucy smile genuinely. She supposed most people would have felt sad or confused after learning that they weren't related by blood to the people they loved the most, but she didn't. Her family had chosen her and that filled her with happiness and gratefulness. Now, that loving family had only two members left, but that was enough for Lucy to believe that she still could hope.
"You're right," Lucy said. "She really was my sister. I had a real family. I still do."
Lucy said that last sentence while making sure to look at her mother right in the eye. The older woman smirked and ruffled Lucy's hair.
"Damn right, you do," she agreed. "Did I tell you that short hair looks good on you? Layla had short hair, too, when we were young."
Lucy perked up at that and remembered that Aquarius sure knew a lot of things about her parents, she seemed to have their unconditional trust as well.
"Now that you say it," Lucy interrupted her. "How did you meet my parents?"
It was Aquarius's time to smile while remembering the past. She looked up at the ceiling and leaned her head on the bookshelf behind her.
"That was so many years ago," she laughed. "I was your mom's classmate in high school and I had a huge crush on her."
Lucy had to try her damn hardest not to react at that. Aquarius told her that her mom didn't care much about love and such. She wanted to become a doctor and heal as many people as she could. For her birthday, they went to the restaurant to celebrate. They drank a bit and it got pretty late when they finally decided to go back. Aquarius paid for the both of them while Layla waited outside, she said she felt too hot inside. When Aquarius joined her outside, there were two guys being pains in the ass with her. Of course, she was going to beat them up, but Layla didn't see her and she wasn't thinking straight. She jumped back and landed on the road. Aquarius saw the truck right away and the driver crushed the brakes, but it was too fast.
"I lost it and ran to her," she said, "but I wouldn't have made it in time. And then, your father appeared out of nowhere and pulled her to him, safely dodging the truck. From then on, we kind of all became best buddies and one thing leading to another, Jude proposed to Layla."
Aquarius stood up and stretched, Lucy staring at her with a question in mind she really, really wanted to ask.
"That's incredible," she breathed. "He's always been a great man, huh?"
Aquarius sniggered.
"You have no idea," she agreed. "Someone ordinary wouldn't have made Layla fall for them."
Lucy really couldn't hold back anymore. Every time she tried to think about something else or change the subject, they ended up coming back to it.
"Did you still... love her?" she asked. "When my dad proposed to her?"
Aquarius glanced at Lucy with an amused smirk and ruffled her hair for the hundredth time.
"No," she said. "I didn't. It's late, let's go back."
Lucy followed her to the door until she stopped and turned around with a sly grin.
"Someone's eavesdropping," she whispered. "If I remember correctly, Romeo's still waiting for an answer."
Sure enough, Lucy found a pink haired commander leaning on the wall outside the room. He wasn't particularly trying to be discreet, but Lucy was impressed at how attentive her mother was.
"I'll be going, now," Aquarius grinned. "I'm leaving her to you, Romeo. Oh, and, your room is next to Gildarts's, right? Sorry, it's gonna be noisy tonight."
And with that, she walked away, laughing out loud at her own boldness. The commander couldn't hide his amusement and when she was close enough, Lucy saw that he was actually smiling.
"Well," he laughed, "looks like we won't be the only ones to have fun tonight."
Lucy opened wide eyes and blushed at how forward he was. It wasn't like she had never imagined – or saw – him in very intimate situations, but she was surprised at how direct he was being. The commander also opened wide eyes when he understood how misleading his words were. He laughed and put his arm around her shoulders to have her follow him.
"We're going to have fun because Gray's having us over," he said. "We got many good news today, everyone wants to use the opportunity to have fun."
Lucy would have loved to dig a hole in which she could have hidden for the next ten years.
"Oh..."
The commander arched a brow and smirked when he saw how embarrassed she looked.
"Were you expecting something else?" he asked. "You look disappointed."
Lucy smirked back.
"Well, we were in the middle of an interesting conversation when Aquarius interrupted us."
The commander's smile widened.
"That's right," he agreed. "Too bad, we'll have to wait a bit to finish it."
He glanced at her and her smile looked a bit forced. Someone who didn't know her well wouldn't notice that she wasn't her usual self, but he did.
"Are you worried about what Aquarius told you?" he asked. "About your father bringing you home from somewhere no one knows about?"
Lucy sniggered.
"So, you really were eavesdropping," she laughed. "That's a bad habit."
"Look who's talking," he retorted with a smug smile.
Lucy stopped and the commander turned around to look at her. She really was nervous.
"I'm worried," she admitted. "Because I think I know where I come from. If I ever find out that I'm right, I'll really need you to be by my side."
A short moment of silence passed before the commander groaned.
"I don't know," he grunted, "sounds like a pain in the ass, just deal with it by yourself."
Lucy stared at him with what she hoped looked like a pissed expression, but the smile she couldn't contain gave her away and she punched him in the arm.
"You should have told me something romantic like you'll always be by my side, or something along the lines," she roared, sounding like a lion cub, "you ass!"
"I'll always be by your side, or something along the lines," he laughed, massaging the sore spot on his arm.
"I'll send you right back to the infirmary," she threatened, posing like a karate master.
"Bring it!"
The two of them fought all the way to Gray's room. They met Loke in the corridor and he joined in on the fight, taking Lucy's side. The commander pushed Loke on Gray when the latter opened the door and things immediately got out of control. Gajeel, Levy, Juvia, Jet, Alzack, Sting, Mest, Rogue, Erza, Cana and Bacchus were already there. Everyone grabbed pillows and threw them all over the room using way too much strength.
As she laughed and played with her friends, Lucy couldn't help but wish the Strauss siblings could have been here with them. Mira was the only one who could have matched Erza's strength, Lisanna would have used her brother as a shield to collect pillows and Elfman would have ran all over the room, screaming things about being a real man and becoming everyone's target.
They played till none of them had any energy left and everyone decided to spend the night here. Juvia, Erza and Levy took the beds, everyone else slept on blankets, on the floor. Gajeel and Gray slept with their girlfriends, so the others gained some space to sleep. Loke settled next to Lucy. He was panting a bit and he looked pale, but he had a radiant smile and sparkling eyes as he looked at her.
"It's been years since I last had this much fun," he half whispered, half laughed.
"Same here," Lucy breathed. "I'm pretty sure I'll have bruises, tomorrow, though."
Loke laughed more at that.
"I really love you guys," he said. "I wouldn't want to live another life."
Lucy slept between Natsu and Loke, that night, heart filled to the brim with happiness.
The next morning, Lucy met up with her friends, Aquarius, the general and the officers in Makarov's office to tell them that she wanted to officially invite the Rose's Tear and Byro's Squad to join forces with the Academy. Makarov was looking at her with a strange look in his eyes, but she ignored it to focus on her plan.
"The Alliance will crush Hades and the enemy squads coming our way," she said. "And declare war on the Octagon."
Everyone took turns to say what they wanted to say, but most of them agreed with Lucy, they needed to officially join forces. They mainly talked about strategy for the upcoming fights and ended the meeting after having decided on the date of the meeting between the Academy, the Rose's Tear and Byro's Squad.
"In the evening of the 30th of this month," Makarov repeated. "In the abandoned mine house, near the south border. Any question?"
No one had any question, the instructions were crystal clear, as usual. Unbeknownst to the ones in the general's office, someone else had heard everything. Ear planted against the wooden door, the person in question quickly left the corridor as soon as they had heard the details of the plan. Getting out of the Academy turned out to be easier than they had imagined. Sneaking in had been much more complicated.
When they were far enough from the Academy grounds, they took a phone out of their pocket.
"Hades? This is Kyoka. I have something very interesting to tell you."
End of chapter 30
How fast was that? You guys love me, now, right? I'll try posting the last chapters much faster than I did till now! I hope you'll love them, I'm really enthusiastic about them!