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.
Hello dear friends.
there is another chapter.
I'm surprised too.
Thanks for those who reviewed, I appreciate it.
IMPORTANT NOTICE DOWN THERE
Recap: 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.
When Lucy's eyes drifted open, she had the distinct feeling that someone was watching her. She knew that in this strange room in this even stranger… warehouse? Well, she knew that the event was likely. Especially after the lack of reaction she received from Mira in yesterday's mini tour. She had stared blatantly at the woman and had no effect on the fighter. So as she turned over, she looked around the room discretely.
"When I first came here, I was a little disorientated too." The voice was light and sweet, and she could sense the smile. Mira was leaning on the wall in front of the door, watching without any trace of worry.
While seeing the woman had been a shock, Lucy was proud that she keep her voice mostly steady.
"M—Mira, right?" At least the stutter could be passed off as morning grogginess.
"Mhmm," she giggled, "Now who told you? Let me guess… Alzack? Bisca? Ooh, ooh, I know, it was Warren wasn't it? That man is always gossiping. But then, surely Zeref won't've told you… or maybe, I mean he does expect me to train you of course… it would make sense really." She brought a finger to her lips and hummed in thought.
"Um, Mira," she put her hand up, waiting for permission to speak. "What exactly is this training?"
"…well… it's to, uh…" she stumbled, thinking, when out of nowhere an idea struck, "It's to make you stronger!" she all but yelled.
Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
"Because, it never hurts to be stronger." Her voice held a sadness, one that didn't match her natural bubbliness. Lucy dropped the subject.
"The dummies, yesterday," Lucy said instead. "It was really quite… exciting to watch. Very impressive, too."
"Well, before long you'll be doing just the same!"
She hadn't meant to choke, but she did. It was one cough after another, but Mira did not remove herself from the security of the wall. She recovered as fast as her lungs would allow her. "P—Pardon?"
"Hmm, oh, yes, that's one of the things we teach you here."
Lucy's jaw dropped in shock, "It is?"
"For sure. And I came here when I was twelve, your eight or nine now, right?"
"Eight." Lucy confirmed.
Mira grinned, "Then by the time your my age, you'll have an extra four years." She moved off the door, "You have a lot of potential, Lucy."
Despite her imagination conjuring a photo of her mother saying the same thing, Lucy instead asked, "So, what are we doing today then?"
Mira thought over the question, "We'll mostly be studying your stamina, then upper, lower and core strength, that should probably do it for the first day."
Lucy slowly closed her mouth nodding, "So, Mira, another question?"
"Shoot,"
"I have a wardrobe full of clothes and I don't know what any of them mean."
The woman laughed.
As Mira went through the clothing, Lucy tried to pay attention, but one particular outfit kept her attention. It was fully black, seemed skin tight, and from what she could see, even had gloves and a hood.
"—Is water resistant, so water should just slide off, and you won't get that chill while you're swimming. This one—"
"Hey, Mira," the woman paused, looking at Lucy. "What's this one?" She pointed to its position on in the wardrobe; on the very far left.
Mira took the hanger and grinned a little bit. "Well, you're too young for this one. When you finish your training, then you get to wear it."
"And how long will that take?" The question was innocent enough.
Mira scrunched her nose up, "I'm not sure," she frowned, "maybe two or three years,"
"THREE YEARS?" She didn't expect to screech, and from the look on Mira's face, the woman hadn't either.
But, Mira, as quick as ever, calmed herself once more. "Maybe,"
After picking out an outfit for Lucy, Mira retreated outside to let her change. She slid on the black pants, frowning. The material felt thick and heavy to the touch, but was thin on the body. It didn't feel as though it would gather holes from too much friction, and as she walked around her room, feeling herself in them, she was glad that they didn't make a screeching noise every time the fabric on her thighs met.
The shirt felt lighter, and seemed ordinary. She put on the sneakers Mira had given her and walked to the door, mesmerised by the cloud like sensation they gave her feet. As the handle twisted and opened, she caught sight of Mira, she was speaking with Jellal, who was also dressed for the occasion. Next to him, another man leant against a wall.
His hair was dark and hung down his pack in a ponytail. His bangs hid his equally dark eyes as he stared at her, analysing her movements.
It was only slightly unnerving.
He didn't say anything as they walked back up the hallway and into the main warehouse areas. Lucy didn't pry for information. They walked pass the people on telephones and the mystery man opened a glass door that led into the room Lucy had first seen Mira. The decapitated dummy had been removed and replaced with another, it hung still and ready.
They moved through the room with ease, they passed people who stopped briefly to look at them, before continuing their onslaught of attacks. Others were quietly analysing weapons, a man with white hair was lifting weights, and Lucy found herself gulping when she saw the veins in his arm bulge. The muscles certainly hadn't been crafted from steroids.
They passed a room with showers, and a white door was opened by Mira, a running track sitting proudly on display. In the centre was more equipment, along with spears that Lucy knew had a proper name. To the right of the track was an artificial wall, which Lucy figured was used for rock climbing.
The man moved into the centre of the room, the group followed close behind him, the track surrounding them. Lucy stood quietly and patiently as he set out blue mats. He beckoned both her and Jellal to separate and they both took their respective places on them.
"First we will start with push-ups. This exercise is simple, but an be inefficient if performed incorrectly." He looked over her body, scrutinising the lack of muscle formation. Lucy felt oddly insecure.
"Get on the ground, stomach down. Place your hands slightly further out than the actual width of your shoulders. Now push up. Your toes should be supporting your weight." He moved his arm into a flat line. "Your body should be completely flat." He cleared his throat, "Now, lower yourself, when your arms won't allow your body to lower anymore, push yourself back up."
After her arms had finally given up, and she ungracefully fell face first into the mat, the man ordered them to stand, looking proudly at Jellal, whose arms hadn't weakened even in the slightest. He had then had them perform squats. He had tested them on how many they could each do in a minute, and Mira had kindly jotted them down on a clipboard.
After he had assessed the number in which they could do, Lucy and Jellal were told to hold them. After the aching in her muscles became unbearable, she stood up, her knees shaking. Jellal had continued for roughly another thirty seconds, before he too had stood.
Mira had written down the times, after checking her watch, and presented them with a sandwich each. After their rather filling lunch was consumed, they had begun sit-ups, which Lucy found to be the hardest. After much struggling and yelling from the man, and borderline tears, he had changed the exercise to planking, which was harder on her arms then it was on her core.
"You are able to see the track, yes?" the man asked. Lucy and Jellal both nodded, "You will run until you collapse." He smirked slightly, "And then you will get up again."
Lucy had barely held back her groan as she walked along the track, slowly moving faster until she was jogging.
"Move faster," the man had said as she ran pass.
Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself a little more. She could feel her drowsiness kicking in, but her body did nothing to stop it. Her muscles were aching, her head was spinning, and her lungs were burning with the flames from a dragon. Her heart was palpitating wildly and her eye sight was vanishing. From what she could see, Mira looked concerned, and the man looked as expressionless as ever. She saw Jellal on the opposite side of the track and she did her best to keep to the same pace as him.
The man walked to the edge of the track, closest to the lane she was running in. As the distance between them decreased, she waited for another verbal onslaught. When she passed him without such a thing she frowned, he had made it his duty to berate her each other time.
She continued running though, until she felt a sharp pain in her back. It sent her sailing forward, the ground coming closer and closer. Her legs were to slow to catch her, so she pulled a measly arm up in order to break the fall. She hit the ground with a thud, and rolled over groaning. Her vision blurred once more and she could barely see the man's face.
"Get up."
Lucy shook her head, "I can't," her vision cleared some more and she saw the gun in his hand. "Did you shoot me?" her voice was weak and frail, and the pain in her back was finally subsiding.
"Indeed, I did."
She held back a sob, "Why?"
"Because even if you get shot, you need to get up." He glared at her harshly and she felt a tear trickle down her face.
"But I can't even move my arms,"
"Well, you are going to need to find the strength." She tried to move her arms, but the connection from her brain to her muscles seemed to vanish.
"I told you I can't!" she felt another tear trickle down her cheek, she couldn't even wipe it away.
The man bent at the knee, crouching low so he was extremely close to her, then with a shivering coldness he whispered low enough that only she would hear. "I wonder what your mother would say."
Her heart stopped, and her eyes widened, she lay still, watching him slowly rise and walk away. Then with the gracefulness of a new born giraffe, she got to her feet, she saw Mira smile.
There was an unknown emotion driving her, it was hot and cold at the same time and made her lungs close as if she were choking on smoke. She pushed her legs faster, trying to find somewhere clear to lay her eyes. The burning was as painful as ever, but there was an emptiness in her stomach. She passed Jellal by some miracle, and kept running, despite her mind body and soul telling her not to.
She heard a thump and a curse and didn't need to look back to know that Jellal had fallen. Lucy could hear Mira's frantic feet, but she kept her eyes ahead.
The man was coming into view one more and Lucy kept her eyes on him. He too was looking at her, and she felt slightly irritated when his eyes drifted behind her. Then, by some miracle, his words cut through her vicious panting.
"You are both dismissed."
Lucy slowed gradually, and tried to steady her breathing. She half-jogged-half-walked over to the man and stood in front of him.
"I—I'm pr—proud," she inhaled quickly, still catching her breath, "That's— That's what my mother… would have – would have said."
He raised an eyebrow, "You got to your feet, that's is what would have made her prideful." He looked at her seriously, "She would not have been proud had you given up."
She glared at him, resisting the urge to pout, "It still doesn't give you the right to say such things."
He crossed his arms. "You gather strength from your emotions, correct?" Lucy remained silent, giving him an answer without words. "I'm fully aware that the only thing you were feeling was pain."
She scowled, "So what? You're a mind reader?"
He shook his head defiantly, "Nothing of the sort." He smirked, "I just knew that in order to get you up I had to make you feel something. So I made you angry." He began to walk away, "Or perhaps even desperate."
Lucy turned towards him, his back still to her. "So now you're going to berate me for feeling something?" She laughed, panting a little, "Sorry the same can't be said for you, stone-face."
He looked over his shoulder, something akin to amusement in his eyes, "I never said the quality was a bad one, Miss Heartfilia,"
Lucy didn't know what time it was when she awoke, she guessed it was early into the morning, and the clock on her bedside table only confirmed her suspicions. She opened her bedroom door slowly, careful not to make a sound. She looked right and then left, her head poking around her bedroom door. The white door at the end of the hallway was open, a pale light shining through. She crept towards it, keeping her footsteps quiet, she stood near the door, straining her ears to hear the muffled conversation.
"—don't think it was necessary to shoot her," It was Mira. it wasn't really a surprise though, she had seen and heard the woman everywhere.
"Yes," came the muffled reply. Lucy reached her hand up, touching the bruise on her back. It didn't hurt per say, it had been a BB gun after all.
"Why, though?" Mira persisted, her voice soft.
The other end of the conversation was silent. "I needed to see how far she could be pushed."
Mira scoffed. "You're Zeref's favourite; even he didn't shoot you on the first day."
"It was the second, and what difference does it make, Mirajane?"
Mirajane? So Mira's a nick-name then? Lucy thought back to their somewhat stiff introduction. Awfully friendly of her.
"So what," Mira giggled, "Is she a prodigy or something?" she gasped, "Or do you actually enjoy her company? Is the great Mard Geer taking in a disciple?"
Mard Geer? Mard Geer? Lucy shook her head, what a peculiar name.
"I think it would benefit both parties if I told you no. I am just her overseer."
"I think you're in denial, Mard,"
He continued as if she hadn't spoken at all. "Would I be lying if I said she didn't have potential, yes. But I will do her no special favours because of it."
Is that a compliment…?
"She is another source for income, that is it."
Guess not…
There was silence for a while and Lucy turned, ready to head back to her room.
"What do you think of Jellal?" Mira asked.
"…He has remarkable strength for his age." Mard said carefully. "Zeref said he was in the Tower Of Heaven, it shouldn't be a surprise."
Lucy stopped. How much does Zeref know?
"The Tower Of Heaven?" Mira asked.
"It was a child slavery project," Lucy put a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. "A cult believed that building the tower would give them the power to resurrect a figure of significance."
"That's awful." Mira's voice held a hint of anger.
"They shut the towers down a few years back." he paused, "Although, rumour has it that one of them is still being constructed."
The conversation faded, and Lucy slipped back into her room, lying on her bed wide awake.
Jellal was a former slave.
Jellal was a former slave.
Jellal was a former slave.
Which meant Erza was too. And Simon.
No wonder they were all so close. In the hardest time of their lives they had only had each other. They were reliant of each other. And Miss Green had separated the three of them, and she had isolated him to the company of strangers and her.
A slightly less strange stranger.
Was it really fair? He had been separated from his friends, his family, really. And now he was reduced to training with her. Someone he could barely stand. Someone that he argued with on a daily basis.
Not today, he didn't.
"Miss Heartfilia," she jumped, sitting up. Mard stood at her door, wearing an expressionless face.
"Y—yes?" she stuttered.
"You're lucky Mirajane is tired." He spoke softly, not alerting anyone else of their conversation. "It is not wise to sneak up on an assassin."
She felt her throat constrict. "A—an assassin?"
The blonde woman slumped to the ground, her mouth opened in a never-ending gasp, a bullet hole in her forehead, her eyes wide open; lifeless.
"As in someone who k—kills people for a living?"
"We're going to play a game, OK?"
He tilted his head frowning, "What did you think the training is for?"
"Do you know hide and seek?"
"Don't tell me nobody told you,"
"I'm going to hide, then you need to find me."
Mard smirked, "It's not too much of a shock is it, Miss Heartfilia," he crossed his arms. "And after the death of your mother, no one would judge you if you didn't return."
Lucy glared at him. "I've come far enough to know that this is something I have to do."
He raised an eyebrow, "Oh?" Lucy layed back down.
"Goodnight, Mard Geer."
NOTICE: I'm going away for Christmas, I will try to squeeze another chapter in, but if inspiration doesn't strike me then you will have to wait until it does.
ALSO Next chapter I will be giving you guys (and girls) a little insight into the pairings, as a lot of you have insisted on JelLu. SO next chapter you shall all find out.
A/N: I'm actually getting so into making Lucy badass. It'll be a process, but she's gonna be awesome.
Anyway I hope you have a great day or night or evening or whatever.
Don't forget to follow and favourite and blah blah blah,
hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Until next time :)
~MyFictionalFantasy
P.s: Mard will be bearable soon.