Her guildmates stared at her as though she had just poured cold water at them. It was understandable but sets her in an anxious note, luckily she had Natsu and Loke on her side to help ease her a little while she explained and recounted what had happened till that point. Gajeel had let out a whistle of impressment while the Levy and Wendy kept their eyes wide. Gray and Erza had just remained an impassive expression as though considering something.
"So," Erza began "You're telling us that all of this was actually to lure you here?"
The trio gulped.
"And after we plotted how to raze them to the ground…"
Erza… The three winced, not because of the childishness, but rather because they knew she was absolutely serious and Lucy couldn't help but feel a strong sense of déjà vu.
"You're telling us that they're actually allies?"
The three of them nodded vigorously.
"Speaking of which, what is this whole revolt about?" Gray cut in.
That was indeed the question. This time, everyone turned to Lucy and Lucy felt herself stiffen.
"Uh…Actually…"
"You don't know?" Gray questioned in disbelief.
"Well, in my defence, I only had 2 days to learn about my father and everything that I hadn't really had the chance to ask…" Lucy quickly retorted, however, after considering something, she spoke up again, "Actually I think she just hadn't gotten to that part yet."
Natsu quickly got up. "Well then, what're we waiting for?! Let's go find out!"
"Then you won't have to 'go' very far." A different voice cut in.
"Vanessa!" Lucy stood with relief at the lady's presence, however, the others were still a little sceptical about her.
"So you're the mastermind behind all this?" Gray had asked bluntly.
"Gray!" Lucy quickly shushed him.
But before he could retort, Erza stood and made her way to Vanessa, making everyone nervous. Cain had automatically rested his palm on the hilt of his sword but Vanessa stopped him before he could draw it.
"Hi, my name Erza Scarlet and on behalf of my guild, we thank you for sheltering Lucy and apologise for the mess this knuckle head (Natsu) has caused."
"Not at all." Vanessa smiled, "However, I believe that is not all that you would like to say."
Erza made no indication to hide her hostility as she proceeded to her question, causing Lucy to worry.
"What do you want from Lucy? It is evident that there was a big reason for you to want her so badly to use the methods you did."
Vanessa sighed. "You'll have to see for yourself."
The whole group raised their brows.
"See?"
The group was lead to the cellar of the mansion and Lucy found the sight of Vanessa being in such a place to be an oddly amusing sight. As if catching the reason for her amusement, Joel smirked knowingly. Finally, they came to a stop when they reached the end of the room.
"We're here." Vanessa turned and smiled at them.
"At a dead end?" Gray deadpanned.
In that instant, Vanessa stomped her umbrella on the brick floor and with a flash, they were at an underground train station buzzling with workers.
"Wha–?!" The group awed at the sight.
"This is the train station your father built off the map that connects directly to another off the map station in Bellum." Vanessa answered their unfinished question. "Follow me."
They continued onward towards a tram meant for passengers instead of cargo. It wasn't long before they were speeding off at a high speed into the dark and winding tunnels of the tracks and heading to the capital of Bellum.
"Now listen, what you are about to see might change your perspective of the world…" Vanessa warned, seemingly directing her speech to the younger ones like Wendy before turning to the more seasoned fighters, more specifically, Erza. "…Or it will just remind you of how grim the world has always been. But either way, I hope you'll join our ranks once you've understood the severity of the situation in Bellum."
It took a while, but they finally arrived in Bellum to find it busier than it was in Xioa but at the same time, more lifeless. There were wounded everywhere with injuries ranging from amputation to mutilation and Wendy immediately found the urge to rush in there to save some who she knew were dying from something as simple as infection. She looked to the rest of the gang with eyes widened in horror and silently pleading for permission. Erza nodded and she was off.
"This is the reality that Bellum has cut off from the rest of the world."
"W-what happened here?" Lucy asked, throat dry from the sight.
It was as though these people were dragged through hell and back.
"It all started on October 5th X765 when a mage brutally mugged and raped a defenceless non-mage in a back alley of Bellum's capital, Liemberg."
"That's quite long ago." Erza commented, noticing the incident was as old as her.
"Yes, but every problem has its seed." Vanessa replied.
"Heh, an' guess wha' 'appened to the mage?" An old and intoxicated man had sudden cut in with a scoff when he overheard the conversation.
Lucy noticed that the old man had the same accent as Kyle while Levy immediately cringed at the sight of the bloodied bandage over one of his eye, the crusty and dark shade of the dried blood showing that it was high time he changed it.
"What happened?" Lucy kindly prompted for him to continue.
"Nothin'~!" He answered in mock obviousness. "He was released immediately withou' trial with only a warnin' to his name."
"WHAT?!" Most of the gang voiced in disbelief, even Gajeel had his eyes wide in shock.
Erza only frowned, recalling how the magic counsel had no problem having 'Seigrain' in their ranks despite his obvious affiliation to Jellal.
"Why was that?" She finally asked.
"Why you ask?" The old man questioned her in disbelief. "WHY CAUSE HE'S A MAGE!"
Instinctively, Levy leaned onto Gajeel in an attempt to hide her FairyTail insignia and Gajeel let her. She never thought that there would be a day where she would be ashamed of being a mage, no less hide her FairyTail insignia; the one thing she was proud of.
"Bellum's law enforcers are made up of non-mages, making it difficult for them to convict any mage for fear of their lives. This makes it easier for mages to just bribe their way through their crimes and leave scot free." Joel explained as Cain escorted the old man for what scarce medical attention they could find.
"An' it doesn' just 'appen in Bellum. Even you folks 'ave done it before no?" Kyle suddenly spoke up from behind them.
The group's eyes went wide and Lucy couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt shoot through her heart. It was true, they've always went into scuffles guns blazing and caused no little amount of damage there is, never considering what the residences could have lost in the process. At the end, they would just pay for the damages and leave as though money solves everything. She wondered how many people have they victimised because of this? Did they hate them? But why was it that the people of Fiore are fine with this but not Bellum?
"I really hate you mages. Always thinkin' you're the boss of everyone." (Recall from chapter 2)
Lucy immediately returned her gaze to Kyle's who had his on hers this whole while. She couldn't hold it for long though, quickly looking away with guilt.
"It depends on the people and reasons." Erza finally defended, eyes glaring at Kyle who only smirked and look away.
Vanessa smiled at the redhead before continuing. "Ever since then it had only got worse. Peaceful demonstrations were held on the streets only to have the military use extreme violence to crack down on the people, causing more displeasures. It turned demonstrations to riots and now, a revolt."
Lucy felt her heart slowly numb away, not knowing exactly how she was supposed to react to this.
"During the chaos, a few refugees managed to escape from Bellum and they were fortunate enough to meet Layla and Jude while the two were in the middle of their honeymoon at Iceberg."
Lucy's eyes were plastered on Vanessa's however, she was looking through her rather than at her, her mind registering words but not processing them. How much more was there? Just then, a warm touch met her fingers and Lucy jumped a little, quickly turning to her side to find her favourite pinkette standing beside her. Noticing her gaze, he flashed her his signature smile.
That's right… I'm not alone.
Returning him tight smile, Lucy turned her attention back to Vanessa.
"That was when Jude realised how serious the situation in Bellum was and not too long after your birth, he built his whole business upon railways to secretly provide supplies and aid to those who need them in Bellum."
Lucy allowed herself to let loose a shaky breath. She had a uneasy feel gnawing at the pit of her stomach ever since they began this talk and she had a question she was dying to ask but she just wasn't sure if she should. Lightly squeezing Natsu's fingers, she found the courage to just ask.
"What… What had my dad hoped to achieve through all this?"
Vanessa paused, reading Lucy's expression with a slightly puzzled gaze as to why she would ask such a question. Seemingly unable to guess, she answered her.
"Equality above all else."
"'at's impossible." Kyle had quickly entered his thought to which majority of the group frowned at. "So long as someone is stronger 'an another, there'll always be inequality. It's all a part of human nature. Greed, lust, pride, glutton, envy, wrath an' sloth; all these feed the flames of desire fer more. Don't ya get it? Equality is but an illusion petty men cage themselves an' others in."
"Quite the philosopher aren't you?" Gajeel sneered at him who in return, smirked back.
As much as Lucy had wanted to retort and prove him wrong, it was true. Equality was but an illusion. A country once practiced it, and although it had worked for a while, they soon wasted themselves away, destroying themselves and each other in the process as when everyone is treated equally, they lose the motivation to improve themselves or do better as it gives them no reward. This bred the first kind of people; the sloth. They start to slack since they would lose nothing anyways and caused production rates and quality of work to drop. The second kind, were the seekers. Seekers basically seek for more. They pillage and kill just to find something worth their time, or to prove themselves. This caused the country to slowly tear themselves up and eventually, they realised that they needed to change. It took a long while, but they finally managed to restore themselves by setting up a system.
"What do you want me to do?" Lucy finally asked.
Vanessa smiled sadly. She knows very well that Lucy already knows the answer but just needed it to be voiced and they both know that the team is not going to take this well. But it still needs to be said.
"We would like you to lead the revolt."
A/N: So... this chapter is one of the longest chapter I've ever wrote. As a matter of fact I wanted to make it longer, but I thought it'd be best to just release this first and split my other half as another chapter since it's pretty heavy. Yes, I am aware of the recent chaos happening in Ferguson and I wanted to voice my concern in my own way. It's disturbing and I want it to stop. But I'm halfway around the world and a coward so I can only say so much. May all who lost their lives in the injustice rest in peace when justice finally happens.