She was never going to see them again. That was the only thought going through her head as she walked towards a large picture window overlooking the Heartfilia grounds. Lucy exhaled slowly as she stared out the window.
It'd been about six years since Miss Layla had completed their mission. Six years since she died. The 55th generation was now the oldest one still living. Even then, of the six that had woken up initially, only three were still alive. The 56th generation, though only 9 years old now, was doing much better than her generation had done. Now there was the 57th generation; just as young and as small as the 56th generation had been when Miss Layla had finished the mission.
Lucy looked out onto the lush greenery that covered the ground outside and bit her lip. Thinking about Miss Layla and the 57th generation made her heart ache. It had been Miss Layla's belief that with the mission completed Lord Heartfilia wouldn't keep making new generations. Lucy wondered if it was a good thing Miss Layla had not lived to see herself proven wrong.
She sighed and shook her head, banishing those thoughts away for a later date. She couldn't be distracted thinking about those things for now. She had a plan and she needed to stick to it. Her brown eyes trailed a nearly hidden path that disappeared into the trees not far from the manor.
Leaving the easy way, by the walkway stretching from the front door to the gates, would be a death sentence. She'd have to go the longer and more difficult way; through the woods and to the mountains that marked the end of the Heartfilia property. It would a long walk through the forest, and considering there was no path after a while and she couldn't be sure where she was going, it might take more than a day. After that, she figured three days or so to cross the mountain. Then she'd be free.
With one last steadying breath she turned and made her way to the wing that she shared with the other Lucys of her generation. She walked quickly but quietly, because while it was nearly noon she knew one of them would still be asleep and they were all light sleepers.
She closed the door to her room as quietly as possible and let out a small sigh of relief. She'd had to take care of the lessons today. She still had to, but thankfully there was an hour break for lunch. Although, after corralling 7 nine year olds and 9 two year olds all morning, an hour wasn't nearly long enough. Not for the first time Lucy wondered why they didn't shift out every break rather than every day.
However shifting daily did give her a large advantage. It meant she'd have two days at most before Lord Heartfilia would know for sure that she was gone. Then again, for what she was going to do before exiting the manor, it'd likely be far less than that. Leaving the manor grounds was going to be the easiest part of her whole plan.
Unconsciously her eyes darted to one of her many overstuffed bookshelves. Jammed between the books she'd borrowed from the Heartfilia library were guides and how to books. She'd bought almost all of those, saving money earned from deals and hard bargaining when buying Lord Heartfilia's supplies. She'd painstakingly saved up the money she'd stolen from him in that manner in order to buy, not just those books, but anything Lord Heartfilia wouldn't have given her. It hadn't been a lot at any given time, sometimes it was only fractions of Jewels from each trip. Thank goodness he never asked for receipts.
Some of the how to books were beguine, teaching the reader how to sew or cook. Others were a little more questionable but still fairly innocent like how to forge off the land or camp in the mountains. Then there were one or two that would raise alarms to anyone snooping about. The one about safe cracking and lock picking in particular, though that one was hidden among some very trashy romances with similar titles.
She'd honestly been surprised that Lord Heartfilia had had such steamy books like that sitting in the library.
She had read and memorized them all. She knew how to do everything those books taught her. At least in theory. What better way to test theoretical knowledge than at a time when it matters most?
Lucy nervously tugged a hand through her shoulder length blonde hair as she went to where she'd hidden her pack. It was small and there wasn't much in it, just some spare clothes and about a week's worth of dried food. The pack itself was covered in a mottled long coat that she'd painstakingly sewn together from scraps of green and gray fabrics for maximum camouflage.
The coat was poorly made and it probably wouldn't survive long past the mountains. Then again it didn't really need to. However it was a wonderful example of failing the practical application of theory. Something Lucy sincerely hoped wouldn't happen when she tried her hand at breaking into Lord Heartfilia's office and safe.
Not for the first time the weight of what she'd planned on doing hit her; she had to take a deep breath to steady herself and to keep her hands from shaking. She'd need to have a steady hand to make it through today. After all, it wasn't just herself she was risking with her plan.
Behind her someone snorted. With a yelp she jumped and quickly turned to the intruder only to be faced with herself. Large tired brown eyes glared at her as the other blonde crossed her arms over her ample bosom.
"Could you keep it down? I swear, I could hear you fretting from my bed."
Lucy let out a shaky breath as she tried to calm her racing heart. "You scared me."
The other Lucy snorted and sneered, "Really? Who'd you think I was; the cleaning lady?"
Lucy frowned. "Mrs. Spetto is a nice lady." Mrs. Spetto and her group of cleaners came once a week to the Heartfilia manor to clean, though they never interacted with anyone other than Lord Heartfilia and possibly the cooks. Besides them or the other Lucy's the only other option would have been Lord Heartfilia. "Besides, they don't clean today." That was one of the reasons she'd chosen today; there was no reason to get the cleaning staff accused of thievery, even if that would make it a bit easier on herself.
"Yeah, yeah," she waved a lazy hand as she made her way towards the bed. "I'm getting your room right? You have a better view of the sky than I do."
"We could have switched before," Lucy grumbled. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me? The offer's still open for you and Lucy."
She sprawled out on Lucy's bed. "Why should I leave? This is what we were made to do. The reason we exist at all is to support Lord Heartfilia's mission."
"But the mission is over-"
"No, Lady Leanna's mission is over. Lord Heartfilia's mission has just started."
"We don't even know what the mission is."
"Do we need to?"
Lucy sighed. This wasn't the first time they'd talked about this; by now they were just rehashing everything they'd talked about before. "I'd like to."
"Seems like that's your problem then."
"Still I…I just can't believe you're okay with everything."
"Why wouldn't I be? Lord Heartfilia's given us everything we could want."
"He's going to kill us when we turn 21!"
"That's not true and you know it. He'd only put us to sleep and then we'd die later when our magic gives out. Besides isn't that how life is?" She propped herself up to give Lucy an incredulous look. "When we becomes obsolete we are disposed of to make way for the next generation. That's how it works. That's how it always works."
"Not with Miss Layla, she should have been killed when our generation was created. And she was in her thirties when she died, so don't say we aren't supposed to live for longer than our twenties."
She sighed and her eyes softened at the mention of their former caretaker. "You and I both know that was different. If they hadn't lost the 54th or even the 53rd generation then we would have been raised by…I don't know a Laura or some other L name." She sat up more fully, her brows furrowed in thought. "Maybe there's a reason he gets rid of us when we reach that age…"
"What?" She blinked in confusion before catching onto the other's half formed thought. "Are you saying Miss Layla corrupted me or something?" Lucy glared at the other Lucy, her hands rested on her hips. This was a new wrinkle in their old argument and Lucy wasn't sure if she liked it.
The Lucy on the bed quickly waved her hands to calm the other girl down. "No! Well, maybe? I was talking to the other Lucy-"
"Of course you were," Lucy groaned.
"Shut up, she mentioned some good points. Like that Miss Layla did leave the house a lot more than we do, even put together. She knew a lot more people outside the manor and even taught one or two of them…And well, you were also the one she spent the most time with…So, just…What if she was…I don't know…"
"So? She had to travel a lot to complete Lady Leanna's mission. Even disregarding that, it just means she knew more about the world outside the manor, outside Lord Heartfilia and his mission."
The one on the bed rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, it isn't like we've been hiding in the manor the whole time. Lucy and I?" she gestured to outside the room, indicating the third Lucy. "We know the world outside is much bigger than what we have. I've even read all those silly adventure stories you keep hording from the library. But if elsewhere is so great, why are you the only one who wants to leave?"
Lucy frowned. She wasn't entirely sure she had an answer for the other one. "I…Don't know…It just…It feels like…I…" She took a deep breath as she organized her thoughts. "Whenever I'm out, doing the shopping or buying a book or something, coming back feels like…I don't know, like I can't breathe. Like this place, as big as it is, is suffocating. And well you read my books right? Did you read the one about the girl going over the rainbow?"
"Yes," she responded in the tone of someone who wasn't sure how the topic was relevant, but was willing to humor the other Lucy regardless.
"Her world was gray and drab until she went over it and suddenly her life was filled with color." She gave her mirror image a small, warm smile. "I can't help but feel that leaving will be my rainbow and give me a world of new colors."
The Lucy on the bed gave her an even look. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," she blandly stated before sighing. "However, if you're sure then I guess I won't stop you. Not that I was going to. We've kept quiet about it for this long."
"And thank you so much for that."
The other Lucy waved her off. "Yeah, whatever, so long as Lord Heartfilia doesn't find out we knew about this… Good luck, I guess…"
Her smile widened. "Thanks again. If you or Lucy change your mind, I'll be at the graveyard at 1 and I'll wait for about ten minutes."
The other one huffed. "Doubt we will…on that note, what time is it now?"
"Eh? It's-" She cut herself off with an inelegant squawk. Her lunch break was nearly done. Lucy still needed to actually have lunch. She quickly dashed out the room and was followed by the laughter of the other Lucy. As she raced through the large empty halls, she couldn't help but think that she'd really miss the other Lucys.
Despite her need to rush about, she couldn't help but slow down and allow a frown to cross her face.
Contrary to what she'd implied to the other Lucys, Lucy wasn't leaving because of their impending death date. The Lucy now in her room had been right about that; when they were obsolete they were replaced. That's how the world worked when you were a part of Lord Heartfilia's plans. Lord Heartfilia had decreed that they'd be obsolete by the time the 58th generation would be born, therefore they'd be disposed of shortly before the birth of that generation.
Lucy was okay with that. She was replaceable and interchangeable with the others, she'd known that for as long as she could remember. That ideology was already in practice; as far as the younger two generations were concerned there was only one Miss Lucy. The 56th generation were even past the point where they'd had to stop referring to themselves by their number and start using their name. Granted this did cause some confusion, especially since they were also named Lucy due to an error. The 57th would be easier, their name was Leah. Not that Lucy would be around at that point, one way or another.
She had been mostly honest with her other reason for leaving. Because, yes, the manor did feel suffocating and her legs itched with the desire to get out and see the world. However she couldn't actually say that it was to the point where she felt that she had to get out.
The real reason she felt she absolutely had to get out was something she was highly reluctant to share. It was something she felt the other Lucys wouldn't appreciate or understand.
Cancer and several other Celestial Spirits were still locked up in Lord Heartfilia's safe. She needed to save them.