Original Description: At a young age Lucy had been tainted with darkness. The only stark white in her life was the rules she had been programmed with. But, a contract is sent her way: The Assassination of Natsu Dragneel, a case that has her questioning the very fibre of her being. Soon enough the white in her life fades into an undecipherable grey. And she wonders if rules were only made to be broken.
So I've returned, story in tow.
big thanks to Faery'sConfessions, because if it weren't for them I probably would have given up on this story entirely.
THANKS FOR HELPING ME STOP MY PROCRASTINATION BRO!
please, a moment of silence in honour of such a person
On with the next chapter i suppose.
Recap(It's been a while):
Lucy opened the sliding door, stepping up slightly and then crouching before she found her seat. Jellal sat next to her and Ms. Green started driving again. Lucy looked up; the old hag stared at her through the rear-view mirror.
"Is everything OK?" Lucy asked. Ms. Green pursed her lips.
"I gotta call yesterday." She started, "A man's interested in adopting two kiddies." Lucy's breath seemed to leave her.
"And…?" she said.
"You and Jellal will be meeting with him tomorrow."
-0-
Lucy sat in her nicest clothes; the only time Ms Green had ironed. Her hair was pulled into a side-pony tail, her bangs escaping the hair tie. She sat on the chair thoughtlessly, her legs swinging to their own beat.
Jellal was seated next to her, his own suit finely pressed. His grey slacks had been pulled up in his sitting position, but were otherwise a perfect fit. He had refused wearing the jacket, and Ms. Green had been adamant about him at least wearing the vest.
Jellal too was silent, Lucy came to the conclusion that he was nervous.
Who wouldn't be?
He had been stuck with Ms. Green since Erza had been; which, to Lucy's knowledge, was a little over two years. According to Erza, who had spared Lucy the grim details, their past experiences weren't to be envied.
'The Tower of Heaven. The place they take unwanted kids.'
Ms Green hadn't explained why to her or Jellal who would be adopting them, the woman just smiled and said, 'Life's greatest treasure is a mystery.'.
The only thing Lucy had thought of as a benefit to the entire situation was, even if it were Jellal, that she wouldn't be alone.
On the table was a standard chest set, the board layed out and ready to be used. She looked up as the bells of the café door chimed, a lean man with dark hair and dark eyes approached her, she tilted her head. He took a seat across form her, unbuttoning his suit.
"Hi," she greeted, her voice bright. The man almost smiled.
"Hello, you must be Lucy." She nodded. His voice was deep and blunt; calculating and precise. "And I suppose you might be Jellal?" Jellal only grunted. "Well then, Jellal, Lucy," his face turned serious. His twitching lips settling into a grim and practiced line. "I have an important job for you."
"A job?" she asked.
"Yes," he finally smiled, deviously? Seriously?
Hopefully.
"Why? What exactly will we be to you?" Jellal asked. Lucy looked at him; his voice was frustrated; angry. He motioned towards the chess board. "Some pawns in your game of chess?"
The man shook his head, laughing softly. "No." he said, cutting Jellal off. "In actuality," he looked at them sternly. "You will be the King and Queen in a large game of life. The rulers of a particularly… exclusive business. Not now of course, you will need to be trained first, which – on the contrary – can be quite difficult."
Lucy felt goosebumps skyrocket over her skin, the hairs on her neck raising. The diner seemed to grow colder, and even the heat radiating off Jellal did nothing to warm her body. His voice sounded muffled and Lucy had to strain her hearing for the words to be clear.
"You will both be the leaders of the game, the ones worth protecting, if it shall to that."
Her breathing became a dull ache.
"You will be giving the orders, watching as your army carries them out," He rested his head on his hands; his elbows on the table.
"Having slaves sample your food to detect poison." He smiled. "How does that sound?" He cocked an eyebrow. "Having the world at your knees."
Jellal was silent, absorbing the information fed to him. Lucy narrowed her eyes, willing herself to speak.
"Your reasoning has a crucial flaw." Her voice cracked slightly, but Lucy stared at him still; not quite glaring, but not far from it. "In actuality," she quoted, watching as both the man's eyebrows raised in surprise. "There is never only one enemy." She tilted her head, watching as the man's lips twitched once more. She glued her eyes to the board. "For if we were in battle, we could not be certain that our armies weren't infiltrated.
"That we didn't have one man feeding information to our enemies." She tapped the top of the Queen, spinning it. "We can't even be sure," she turned the board suddenly, the pieces shifting, almost falling. In a flash she moved the white Queen, placing it in the crowd of black pieces. "That our allies won't turn against us."
"Quite impressive, aren't you, Lucy?" She looked up, her eyes begging to see the board once more. "You are correct, though." he admitted. "We could not be entirely sure of the loyalty of our allies," He took the white king and queen, placing them down in front of each other. "For even the King and Queen could turn against each other."
"And your solution?" Jellal asked. The man smirked.
"The sweet promise of demise."
The man had introduced himself as Zeref. He had explained that he would be their advisor, a kind of tutor that would watching and studying them, teaching them the many talents he had taught others.
Talents Lucy still hadn't understood.
His system had resembled a school week. They would go to their 'Quarters' - a place they had still yet to see - and stay Monday through to Friday, before returning to Ms. Greens house on the weekends.
Her and Jellal were seated in the back of a sporty car. The windows were tinted black; no one able to see in, while she could see everything outside.
"I feel like we're in a spy movie." she said blankly. The driver of the car had already pressed a button that lifted a screen, soundproofing the backseat.
That's what you think.
"It's every adventure movie ever." Jellal said. Lucy laughed, a relief washing over her. At least he was still able to crack a joke.
At least she was still able to laugh.
"You nervous?" Jellal asked.
"You?"
"Petrified." she frowned,
"Why?"
Jellal looked at her dead in the eye. "There is a possibility, although unlikely," Lucy stared at him blankly, waiting for the inevitably stupid idea he had conjured. "That we could be sold and shipped to another country in less then 24 hours." She blinked at him, her eyes widening. Jellal continued, seemingly blind to her reaction. "Why wouldn't I be nervous?"
Lucy giggled. "While there is a very slim chance of that happening, it is, as you failed to mention, highly unlikely."
Jellal scoffed. "Whatever then."
Lucy laughed, "I didn't think you'd be someone willing to give into hypotheticals."
"Everything and anything is possible, Lucy." he said, his face seeming to age beyond his years.
"But, that doesn't mean it's going to happen."
"I really don't want to be arguing with you right now." Lucy looked out the window; fields of growing wheat and grain growing limply, swaying in the non-existent breeze. The road they were driving on was mostly dirt; patches of grass growing through. Lucy gathered that someone hadn't driven along it for some time.
After roughly twenty or so minutes, the crops had changed into dense trees and bushes. Lucy found herself growing cautious. Jellal - no doubt - was feeling the same.
"When they stop the car," Jellal said in a hushed tone, "do we run?"
Lucy wasn't entirely sure if Jellal was joking, but she gathered the feeling that he wouldn't be too sarcastic in these types of situations. "No."
She looked back out the window. She didn't have an eerie feeling, per say, but she wasn't naive. She knew the world wasn't the sunshine and rainbows it had been painted when she was younger. The Black Witch had torn the artificial dye from the canvas when she murdered her mother. Now all she saw was black and white.
"We have no idea where we are." She turned her gaze back to Jellal. "I say we suss it out first." She turne back to Jellal, "It's Wednesday," she said slowly. "So we have two days to investigate. If we don't like it. Then we tell Ms. Green."
Jellal nodded. "She might be an old hag, but I doubt she'd make us do something we didn't like."
"Exactly."
The car stopped and Lucy reached for the handle just as it was ripped open. She chuckled awkwardly and stumbled out of the car, Jellal following closely behind.
"Sir Zeref wishes for me to escort you to the entrance. I am Johnson. That is all you shall be permitted address me as." Lucy nodded before quietly mumbling to Jellal,
"…did you get any of that?"
"No, only that we're entering somewhere."
There's an entrance?
Lucy looked around, the only thing consistent was the long grass. It was merely a field. She doubted the man's words, but still she followed him. They walked roughly fifty metres before they stopped in front of a large sturdy tree. It towered above them in a powerful way that made Lucy finally feel nervous. The man looked around, checking to see if anyone had followed them. When he concluded that the coast was clear he bent down and pulled back the grass.
It took Lucy longer than she'd like to admit to realise it was turf. Underneath the stealthily disguised grass lay a silver door, similar to a basement people would escape to during a cyclone.
The man, whose name she had forgotten, pulled a handle and walked down a set of stairs. Lucy, once again, followed after him.
Lucy found herself in a hallway, the floors were made of cement, as were the walls. Doors stuck out, each no doubt leading to another place. She spied the farthest end, a steel door that seemed to have one short of a million locks.
What's his name lead her down the hallway, and in a matter of seconds, managed to unlock the door. As it screeched open, light flooded the room, and a large warehouse sized area was unveiled.
Lucy's ears screeched in pain as the volume finally invaded her. She shook her head, allowing her ears to adjust.
That's one hell of a wall.
She surveyed her surroundings with a critical eye. People in fancy lab coats patrolled the spaces; observing, adding god only knows what into flasks and skinny tubes. Some sat calmly in front of desks, taking phone calls, while others seemed frantic, rushing to get every task done. She looked to her right where an equally large room was; only separated by a piece of glass. Weights littered the room as well as various other exercise contraptions she couldn't understand. Dummies hung from the ceiling like cobwebs and an assortment of weapons hung on the walls.
A woman with a large chest and white hair struck the dummy with a fist strong enough to shatter an iceberg, her face was calm and concentrated as she ducked and jumped invisible attacks. She took a dagger from her belt and began slashing.
An arm fell to the ground, followed by a leg.
Another arm, another leg.
Then finally the torso fell with a thud, leaving the dummies head swinging from the roof.
It was strangely beautiful. The woman was stunning, her movements graceful and had strength she could only dream to possess. She looked like she were dancing as she moved to the next dummy. A leap and a hop and she spun with a leg out stretched, kicking the dummy in the ribs. It swung wildly and she followed with jabs of a fist to its stomach. She took a gun from a strap at her thigh and pointed it at her threat as the swingling slowed, then she squeezed the trigger.
A clean shot straight through the forehead.
The woman was hardly out of breath as she stood back. As if sensing Lucy's eyes on her, she turned. Blue eyes stared into Lucy's brown ones with curiosity. Then slowly a smile crept on to her face and Lucy found her own lips twitching.
"This way please," She looked back at blah blah blah, and started slowly after Jellal, stealing glances back to the woman to see that she was still being watched.
"This is Lisanna, she will escort you to your rooms." As if being summoned by an unknown force, the man waddled towards a vanishing point and disappeared.
Lisanna was much very much the same appearance wise compared to the smiling woman. While her hair was shorter, just below the ear, their figures were very much the same and their eyes shared an uncanny resemblance.
"Do you know that lady?" Lucy asked, pointing to the woman in the training room.
"I do actually," she beckoned them with a pointer finger as they walked around the desks, turning left to another door. "She's my sister," The resemblance only supported the statement. She kept walking and they entered through a standard door into yet another hallway. The sound cut off as the door slid closed. "Her names Mira, she's what we call S-Class, one of the best in the business."
"And what business might that be?" Jellal piped up.
"You mean you don't know yet?" Lisanna looked at him, her flawless face receiving a forehead crease with an accompanied frown.
They both shook their heads.
"I'll leave it to Sir Zeref," she muttered to herself. She pulled out a ring of keys, sliding two off the circular piece of metal, she handed one of them to Jellal and the other to Lucy. "Your rooms are next to each other, I suggest going straight to sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day."
With that, Lisanna strolled away, leaving them behind.
"Well," Lucy started. She stopped herself from talking about everything she had just seen and instead prided herself on her self-restraint. "Goodnight, I guess."
She unlocked the door with a snap of her wrist and left Jellal in the hallway. She flicked on the light and stared around her room.
The walls were startlingly white, the furniture slope-edged, and the undersides of the materials painted a hospital room blue. To the left of her bed was a wardrobe; she opened it briefly, surprised to see it was filled to the brim with training equipment. She was even more surprised to see that the clothing was her size.
Training for what, though? Her subconscious nagged. Her eyes replayed Mira's tireless fighting. She couldn't be expected to do that, could she?
She sat on the bed, removing her shoes and pulling the covers over her. She let out a sigh; answers could wait until tomorrow.
Hola. It's come to my attention that i haven't updated this in like three months or something. In all honesty i had half of this written when i put chapter 4 up, but i was on holidays and then more shit went down and then i decided to actually do this. After re-writing it four times, it's still far from perfect, but i figured you would all appreciate it anyway.
Mira is hopefully gonna be badass as hell so look forward to that guys.
hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Until next time :)
~MyFictionalFantasy