The Girl with the Celestial Tattoos

Chapter 52: The World Doesn't Need A Hero

"Levy, we can't be here," Lucy hissed at the hunched form of her friend. They were on the border of Trost near the eastern sea, where they planned to leave Fiore in search of surviving strongholds. The demons may have come from their country, but who was to say they had reached the lands outside their own?

"Not yet!" Levy snapped, her fingers flipping through the pages of various tomes in front of her. Anxious by the sudden detour, Lucy combed a hand through her shorn hair as she kept an eye out for any intruders. If she didn't love Levy so much, she would've left her behind to bear the consequences of this risk she had taken. She just wanted to survive one day at a time, but Levy was searching for answers - a solution to this war. It was naive, Lucy was sure of it, but even she couldn't help but feel the temptation of hope in making a difference.

She should know better. She did know better.

But Levy...

A slam made Lucy jump as Levy slammed a book closed in sheer frustration. Lucy didn't appreciate the way it made her heart leap into her throat in fear that a demon was nearby and had heard the noise. Her skin crawled as the feeling of being watched all the time, everywhere they went persisted. Her hands shook as she paced back and forth, unable to stay still in one place for too long. Someone was going to find them. Her eyes searched for the escape but found nothing but darkness where the candlelight didn't reach.

"I can't make sense of this," she heard Levy mutter to herself. Her words were coming so fast that if Lucy hadn't been around her for so long, she was sure the next statement would've been lost to her. "Baron's theory states that time-travel is possible-"

Her eyes widened and a rush of untamed fury shot through her. Before she had even realized what she was doing, Lucy had stomped over to Levy and grabbed her by the collar as she yanked her away from her books. Levy bit her tongue to silence a yelp but she stared at Lucy as though she had never seen her before when the blonde slammed her into the nearest bookshelf. Lucy felt like she couldn't recognize her friend either.

"Time travel? Are you serious right now? Levy! You risk our entire operation to research this?" Lucy forgot the need for silence as she all but shouted herself hoarse. Hot tears welled in her eyes at the perceived betrayal. "Time travel isn't possible! Not without an insane amount of dark magic and an even greater sacrifice! Even if we could find a way to go back in time, we don't have the time to look for answers! I can't believe you would risk our lives for this! We can't think about the past-"

She stumbled back when Levy pushed her, hard.

The meek friend was replaced by the cold gaze of the same woman who abandoned the magic council after destroying a quarter of the country in the hopes of ending the war. "Don't talk to me about sacrifice," she all but snarled, looking much like a wounded animal that had been backed into a corner.

"I'm not like you, Lucy, I don't run away from my problems!" The words struck her harder than a slap ever could. Lucy flinched, lowering her eyes. Levy continued piercingly. "I find a solution. Even if it doesn't work, it's better than waiting my time to run out and be killed like everyone else!"

Lucy sighed. She didn't like this.

"Going back in time, changing things - I know it won't change the things I've seen. Gajeel still died even if he lives. But," she lost her voice for a moment. They couldn't forget how they lost their friends. "This world is lost, Lucy. No matter how many years go by or how many demons are killed, they will just keep coming back to life while we don't. I can't make another Eclipse but maybe I can leave this timeline-"

Lucy rolled her eyes. Her next words dripping with mockery. "And be a hero, Levy? Do you think you can just go a few years back and swoop in to save the day? Get real. Bar from going to another world like the Celestial World or Edolas where time passes differently, there's nothing you can do that can stop history from repeating!"

"I'm not thinking about myself, Lucy! I would become a villain if it meant bringing people together! Don't you see where our problem lies, Lucy?" Levy scoffed at her like she already knew her answer. The accusation said enough of Lucy's thoughts. "One person can't save the world! No matter how powerful they are or how knowledgeable they are... a country is nothing without its people. We lost before the war even began because we were divided from the start." She bit her lip. "If I could go back and change things, I would give up everything just to make sure people had a fighting chance."

Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache rock her skull from this argument.

"Whatever. Levy, we can't afford to dwell on matters we cannot change. People don't change that easily. And at this rate: there are not enough people left to make a difference." When she saw Levy open her mouth to no doubt clarify her point, Lucy cut her off as she slammed the door on their conversation, "and by your own words, you can't figure this out on your own. You need others to make this stupidity possible." Exhausted, Lucy sent a dismissing wave toward the books scattered across the floor. "We're leaving. Now."

The conversation was far from over but Levy must've seen something in her to know that there was no more debating this tonight. The bluenette turned away from her, unable to stand the sight of her but Lucy remained undeterred. She bent down to grab her notes from the floor, unable to carry the books and be weighed down as they ran, but clearly unwilling to drop the possibility of finding a solution. When she had everything tucked away, she left for the exit without checking to see if Lucy was behind her. The celestial spirit mage didn't say another word as she trudged after her friend, anxious to escape the building so reminiscent of a cage and breathe in the open air. She was ready to forget they ever had this conversation and was certain Levy would drop her unrealistic idea of time travel by the time they reached cover.

But as Levy pushed the doors open and Lucy stepped outside, the shorter girl simply said, "You're right, I can't do this by myself." She turned to Lucy with a desperate pleading in her eyes. "I just need you. I know the girl who once spoke of dreams and aspirations, who saw the world through gold-tinted lenses and saw the best in the world even in your darkest hour is still a part of you. I need you, Lucy, whatever is left."

Lucy's breath stuttered at the heartfelt confession. Her mind screamed at her to dismiss the conversation despite knowing it would hurt her - at least Levy would finally drop this idiotic notion of her's. But her heart was weak and it desired companionship above all else. She had lost so many people she had loved already. Levy was the only one left.

She couldn't deny her.

If Levy needed her, Lucy knew she wouldn't ever be able to say no.

The blonde hated her heart for this. She hated how her love always brought ruin. But she couldn't fight her own nature.

She had to be what others needed her to be.

It's morning, and today's the day - the evaluation day and the sky is cloudy, and the rain is pouring heavily to remind her of anywhere she'd rather be.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Lucy gulped for oxygen as she lifted her knees as high as she could over the hurdles. The officers screaming 'encouragements' made her want to get away from them as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, moving in full uniform, in the middle of a storm, and surrounded by a crowd of people made such a feat difficult. Her thighs burned in a complaint, and Lucy nearly tripped when she finally left the hoops to run across muddy grounds as fast as she could. Her toes sunk in too deep, causing her feet to make a horrible noise as she pulled them loose.

Worse, it slowed her down.

An officer was right in her face to remind her of that. "Get going, Chance. You think the world's always going to be a nice sunny day when going on missions?" He all but screamed in her ear. Lucy winced and pushed herself forward, her feet sliding uneasily over the mud, but at least she was moving. Her next obstacle was a hardcore version of monkey bars where she climbed up a structure shaped like an upside-down V. Her hands were wet, and if the structure had been made of anything but wood, she would have surely lost her grip. As it was, she questioned her life-choices as her muscles strained in her arms and her abdomen, her legs hanging down as they pulled at her like dead weight.

And here, Lucy thought she had been training pretty well at home.

"Woah!" A boy slipped and plummeted to the ground behind her, the sound of dirty water splashing as the mud cushioned his fall. Lucy quickened her pace as the officers headed toward him like sharks that smelled blood in the water, swinging her body forward to land just as they started screaming behind her. She grabbed the line of thick rope ahead, throwing her legs over it and hooked them together as she began to crawl along it upside down, almost like she was a pirate climbing back on her ship. She imagined just that to escape this place, if only for a moment.

She glanced at her timer, where a red lacrima floated over its container. It read her time since starting this obstacle course, and Lucy cursed under her breath when it showed twenty minutes already. Twenty minutes of pure Tartaros and Lucy couldn't wait for this to be over. Encouraged by the thought, she quickened her pace until she was back on even ground and hurried to the remaining obstacles left.

But what faced her up ahead caused her to slow down as her mind tried to dispute the possibility of overcoming such an obstacle. There were walls without footholds, the first one ten feet in height before gradually reaching higher. There were five walls in total, and the last wall was the highest of them all, reaching fifty feet. As the group of four in front of her finished getting over the wall, an officer screamed at the next four to hurry up, leaving Lucy as the sole person remaining. Forced to wait for three more people to reach the obstacle, Lucy studied the wall and considered the methods the other teams used to get over this first wall. A lot of them were tall and used their height to their advantage by boosting the short people up with their jump power.

"What the-" a girl panted behind her when she made it, and the blonde turned around to judge her capabilities for getting over the wall. Since they were in a magic-free zone, Lucy could only consider their physical abilities, and it didn't help that her estimates would be off - what with being exhausted. Lucy's hands were still covered in mud along with her entire front after the wire crawl, and with the rain pouring down on her, she knew this challenge would be ten times harder than it usually was.

"We have to climb the wall," she stated flatly, her mind at work considering strategies. Lucy hoped someone tall would be in her group. Despite the years she has lived, her height hadn't caught up, and she was shorter than most in her age-group after her stunt in Lightning Chimera. She rocked on the balls of her feet as she stretched her arms and legs, preparing herself for the demands this climb would take from her body.

"Shit," a boy gasped when he joined them at the wall. His eyes widened as he looked around at the various walls around them and the groups struggling to get over. There was a lot of cursing coming from one of the far walls, and Lucy was sure a fight would break out soon with the way the officers were shifting toward the area. They were like jaguars stalking their prey.

And Lucy was determined not to join their list of prey.

When the last member of their group arrived, the blonde was dismayed to discover it was a girl the same age as Yukino, who was dragging her feet through the mud, her head down so low Lucy was sure she would trip at any moment. The girl looked like she would collapse, and she stepped away from the front to offer her hand to the girl who immediately grasped onto it like a lifeline. Lucy's jaw clenched as she shouldered the younger girl's weight and led her to the front where the officer at their wall was happy to start screaming at the other two members of their group. The boy, clearly wanting to get as far from the officer as humanly possible, all but lunged at the wall only for his reach to fall short. As he crashed to the ground in a heap, Lucy knew her work was cut out for her.

"I have an idea," she announced, quickening her pace when the officer turned their bloodlust on her. She gulped nervously but forged onward.

Lucy considered their forms. The girl closest to her age was the least exhausted of the four of them, and her legs were long and toned, showing she was used to running long distances. Her arms, on the other hand, were shaking from the strain of their previous obstacles. This made her a jumper because all the power was in her legs.

The boy was the most eager. He hadn't hesitated to try to get up the wall himself when the officer turned his gaze on him, which meant he must've had at least some confidence in his ability by not looking to them for help. He seemed to focus entirely on his reach; his fingers had gripped the wall hard enough that he hadn't crashed to the ground immediately upon falling short. The youngest of their group was exhausted, but she was also the lightest and smallest, making her the most comfortable person to carry.

Mind made up; Lucy punched her hands together in determination.

"Alright, me and her-" she gestured at the tallest girl who contributed by saying, "Makatza." Lucy nodded, filing her name away. "We'll be the base to help push you guys up."

The boy opened his mouth with an insulted look. Lucy spoke over him before he could say something idiotic. "You," she pointed viciously at him, "will be the first up the wall."

He scowled, but he eyed the wall like it was the prize, shifting eagerly on his feet in anticipation. Glad to have that problem out of the way, she turned to the last member of their team who had all but shrunken on herself. Trying to look disarming, she kneeled on the ground in front of her, so she didn't look down on her and said, "you will go after the kid," she nodded at the boy who ignored them completely. "Don't worry - I won't let you get hurt," she said with what she hoped was an encouraging smile. Being covered in mud with rain still falling heavy on her might've ruined the effect, though.

The girl nodded meekly, and with a clamp on the shoulder that she hoped was reassuring, she got back up and strode up to the wall. "Let's do this, Makatza!"

"Alright," she sighed and put her back to the wall beside her. Lucy crouched as though she was preparing for a jump with her hands close together to serve as a foothold. The unnamed girl beside her copied the action. The boy sprinted forward before they could even signal, his feet leaving the ground and weighing down their hands in seconds before their minds had fully comprehended the action. Automatically, she acted without thinking and thrust her hands upward, her reaction time only a minuscule slower than her partner.

It showed.

"What was that, blondie!" A Knight screamed in her ear, and Lucy shrunk back, her eyes glued to the boy as he hung from the wall from his right arm, the only side that had given him the proper reach. To her surprise and relief, the boy managed to pull himself over - panting all the while. When she prepared for the next throw, determined to react in time, she caught their next member's fearful look at the wall. Lucy's encouraging smile fell when the child looked at her in doubt, and it became someone else's attempt at comfort.

Unexpected as it was.

"Don't worry, little girl. Blondie won't drop you again," the officer leaned over her shoulder, giving Lucy one of the most promising glares she had ever received. "She wouldn't dare while knowing what's at stake." He promised an excruciating evaluation day where she was the center blood path of the shark's gaze.

Lucy nodded jerkily. She understood perfectly.

The little girl probably missed the unspoken threat directed at Lucy, but she considered it a win when the child nodded and stepped forward. Her shoulders squared in preparation, and she placed her feet on their hands carefully, without the running jump as the boy had. This time, her timing was synchronized with her partner, and with the girl lighter than anticipated, they managed to throw the kid to the boy's reach.

"That was close," the other girl murmured to her as she helped Lucy over the wall. She had the best leaping ability, and with two hands reaching down to help pull her up, the first wall was conquered, and it was unto the rest. The next three walls were challenging but went by quickly for Lucy now that she was wired to succeed with the officer's threat raining overhead thicker than the storm. Her teammates were working cohesively with the strategy demonstrated at the first wall, and they had very little trouble since then.

But things changed when they reached the last and final wall.

"This isn't possible," the boy snapped, reaching out in emphasis. Lucy crossed her arms. "We can do this," she refuted. They must.

He didn't look happy at the argument, and lucy straightened her spine as she prepared to fight her stance when-

"I should be the base again," the teenage girl cut in. Her statement set the mood and rendered their tension forgotten. Together, Lucy and the boy considered the wall. The celestial mage remembered to use her gifts and strategized what little information Crux had garnered on obstacle courses.

They were meant to build confidence, although Lucy felt anything but, and was possible to conquer by overcoming present limitations. How vague.

She could tell immediately that their strategy for the other walls wouldn't work here. Her entire team was relatively short, but their redeeming quality was their strength and reflexes.

"I have an idea: but it's crazy," Lucy started. "I have an idea too," the boy finished when their words jumbled at the start.

The other girl nodded to Lucy to begin.

"We could form two teams on each side. Then, I can push someone up, and he," she gestured pointedly at the boy, "can throw them up the rest of the way." Mavis, it sounded like a terrible idea now that she had voiced it.

The girl nodded at the boy to share his idea, and with a prideful puff of his chest, he said, "I thought that Makatza," he gave the other girl a significant look, "could make a running start and you would push her as high as you could upwards. When she reaches the top, she will reach over the wall for me when I take the next jump. Then, together we would reach down for the kid," the girl perked up at being included. Then he gave Lucy a dismissing huff. "Then, with the three of us, we'll easily be able to pull you up when you make a running jump too."

That was a better plan than what she had come up with - by far. Now that she compared her idea with his, she began to see how her strategy ignored the likelihood of pulling an arm out of its socket by taking on the amount of weight to throw someone up a wall. Not that she would admit it out loud.

Instead, she settled with, "let's try it then." The boy still gave her a telling smirk. She ignored him.

Makatza, the boy, and the young child eagerly got in their designated place. The boy (she realized she needed to learn people's names) stood out to the side as he pointed out where they needed to go and how this was going to work while the kid stayed out of the way, interest bright in her eyes.

"Remember to push up with your entire body - don't just move your arms," he instructed Lucy, all attitude wiped clean from his tone. Lucy felt foolish as she moved her body from a squat position to a leaping form, but when the boy gave her a satisfied nod, she felt a little of the tension between them fade.

Makatza stood quite a bit away from the wall, but Lucy shifted in preparation as she kicked her feet back, similarly to Taurus before he charged. "Ready," the boy called, lifting his arm. His arm came down, "go!"

Lucy's heart slammed against her chest as Makatza sprinted toward her, her eyes narrowed in on her like a hawk on its prey. Sweat beaded from her brow, and she barely kept herself standing still instead of caving to her desire to lunge to the side.

Automatically, her hands came together just as Makatza reached her. Her shoes were a heavyweight as they stomped on her hands, but Lucy pushed past the unexpected pain to move her body upwards in the practiced motion. Her muscles burned as she lifted Makatza as high as she could and as far as she could leap. WHat felt like an hour was instead a couple of seconds, but Lucy was already slumped against the wall in her success, entirely spent.

The boy whooped, and Lucy found the strength to look up and see with great relief that Makatza had reached the edge with both hands and was pulling herself up in an impressive flair of clenching muscles.

"Yay!" The youngest of their group yelled, and Lucy grinned as the friction vanished to be replaced with sweet victory.

"Alright, Deidra, I'm ready!" Makatza announced when she had settled herself and had an arm reaching down the wall.

The boy with a name that didn't suit him nodded with a grin at her before jogging backward near where Makatza had started. When he faced Lucy's direction, the blonde understood that he was giving her this one benefit of the doubt, and despite disliking him, a large part of her was determined not to prove him right.

"I'm going... now!" He announced and sprinted at her in a similar manner. Lucy, familiar with the practice now, dismissed the itch to dodge him and instead flung Deidra upwards as fast as she could as though his feet had burnt her hands. She frowned when she couldn't manage to reach the same height she had with Makatza, but fortunately, for her sake, Deirdra was easily grabbed ahold of by the other girl.

And when it was the youngest girl's turn, the kid didn't even glance at her in doubt. Deidra's plan was a success, and now three members of their team were up the wall, and all that was left was Lucy. But, when she faced the wall several feet away, she realized she didn't have anyone to push her upward.

Deidara somehow realized her plight. "Oi, Blondie, you're just going to run up the wall! Okay?"

Run up the wall?

Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

When she opened her eyes next with a snap, she charged at that wall like she was about to tackle a giant. She was tired and yet she rejoiced at the feeling of her legs burning with power as she met the wall, one foot stepping flat on the wall like she would run up a building. She pushed up with all her strength, and her arms reached out to Deidara's reaching arms with a single-minded focus.

But then a cruel sound reached her ears as her other foot slipped on the wall. A squeak that could only be considered as failure led to her descent too soon and at an angle too far from reach. She fell.

Lucy hissed as she hit the ground hard. She landed wrong, and her knee jarred from how she landed on it. "No!" She growled, favoring her other leg as she bounced back on her feet. The wall seemed to mock her and somehow seemed more significant than before. She felt cold.

"It's okay, Chance! You can do it!" Makatza shouted over the wall, looking at her with such certainty despite her failure. But when she looked at Deidara, she could see that he was beginning to look at her the same way he had before he had hope for her. And worse, the Knight was approaching her with a look in his eyes that honestly scared her.

In her heart, she only had once choice if she was to avoid that confrontation.

She backpedaled back to her starting point, shaking her leg out with vigor in the hope she could rely on putting weight on it again. No, it didn't matter if it couldn't. She'd find a way up that wall, or she may as well go home now.

The magical barrier around the Magic Council's grounds may prevent her from using her magic, but if that didn't stop her from winning in Lightning Chimera, it wouldn't stop her now. Her mind accessed Crux's data to route the potential paths she could take. She imagined a ghost of herself taking each possible course, the chances she would succeed or fail until only one way was right. Now she just had to show she had to execute the path with the abilities that calculated what she needed.

She stomped the ground, digging her toes into the dirt as she prepared to sprint. The world fell away as her vision tunneled until all that remained was the wall and the imprinted memory of what she had to do.

Then she ran. Her feet were heavy as they hit the ground, and her knee screamed its vulnerability, but a time of war and suffering ensured her mind would not cave from the pain. As Lucy neared the wall, it occurred to her that some things didn't need magic. People were capable of incredible feats that no one expected without magic, but Lucy knew better. Deep down, she always knew.

Magic was familiar, and it reminded her of home. But in training, she had focused more on her magical training than anything else. Maybe that's what the Legion was reminded those with magic in their ranks. Either way, as Lucy neared the wall, she jumped at the wall instead of running at it. Her feet landed on the wall, and she kept her body as small and tight as she could, her feet already moving for the next leap in reminiscent of a frog. She sprang herself upward, but this time, instead of reaching for Deidara's hand to make up the remaining distance, she turned her body around like an acrobat until she was looking at the ground.

Any moment she could slip from her hold as gravity returned and she hit the ground. But Lucy completed the last step of her route by hooking her toes against the wall until she was confident it would hold her weight. Her hands slipped against the wall, and her body jerked down for half a second before her feet caught her. She hung there for a moment, then grinned at her success.

"Damn, girl!" She heard Makatza shout before hands grabbed her ankled and helped her sit up on the wall. A hand clamped on her shoulder, and she looked up to see a proud Deidara. Considering they had been on edge about getting into an argument with each other, it was both refreshing and unnerving to see his behavior completely turn-around.

The Knight nearby cut their celebrations short. "Get going! Get going! Next group!"

But even as they slid down the wall and split ways as they ran for the remaining obstacles, Lucy felt empowered by completing a challenge she couldn't have done by herself. A challenge that has earned the trust of three strangers she wouldn't have met anywhere else.

With her heart of courage, Lucy went to the next challenge with a grin.

Forget the obstacle course. This was the real challenge. After a quick shower that gave her five minutes to scrub off the grime from the thunderstorm, she and the other girls were led to a dark room hidden inside the Magic Council. Kalelius's tall gait stood out among the men, and he waved at her as soon as their eyes met across the room.

They weren't given a chance to meet up, though, because, in the next moment, the Knights passed out these strange black vests that had weird symbols stitched into the fabric. She pulled it on just in time to see the commander make an entrance through the doors, wearing the same vest as the rest of them. The general and an unidentified woman flanked him, but unlike their commander, they were the only ones that weren't wearing vests.

Lucy couldn't help but think they were the only ones in the room that didn't look completely ridiculous.

A sudden shock of pain went through her ankle as someone kicked her out of nowhere. Lucy looked around her for the culprit and found the flat stare of Kagura innocently standing beside her. If she hadn't been familiar with the girl, she would've dismissed her as innocent of the act too. But Lucy did know better.

She quirked an eyebrow at her. Kagura's blank mask broke when she smirked back with an excited look in her eyes. "What is it?" She had never seen Kagura like this.

"That's the best swordsman in Fiore," Kagura gestured at the woman flanking the commander. Lucy moved to her tip-toes to observe the woman better. She was young, breathtakingly beautiful, with long black hair and intense grey eyes. Her skin was pale, too pale, and a brown trench coat covered her lower face from view. A single katana was strapped to her back, and from what little she could see of the hilt, it was beautiful in simplicity but crafted by a master.

"A Wizard Saint too - that makes three. Between Seiryuu, Toga, and Yoruichi, the Legion will have the best trainers in Fiore," Kagura breathed, disbelief in every word of her statement.

"Really?" Lucy had no idea.

Kagura could only nod because in a moment's notice, Toga - the general - was speaking, and the lights in the room had grown even darker. The only light in the room was coming from a lacrima that the three wizard saints were surrounding.

"You will all be involved in the stimulation of virtual reality. Each room you are assigned will be protected by various shields as you enter an illusion where you will be evaluated in various situations. Although this is usually reserved for wizard saints, today, you have it all to yourselves. This is the final test of your Evaluation where we will score you on your skills in combat and your teamwork. Time passes differently in the simulation, and each of you will complete the evaluation at different times therefore you will not be graded on how long you take to finish the evaluation." Toga put a hand on the lacrima, and suddenly, the rooms that were hidden to them before were illuminated by numbers.

Lucy watched with awe as more numbers shot into the room in front of them with their names illuminated beside them. Many names were absent of numbers, and Lucy assumed that meant they had a limited amount of rooms they could access at one time.

She didn't know if she would've preferred to wait or not because right there in front of her was her name listed.

7

Lucy tried to hide how nervous she felt, but something must have seeped through the cracks because a warm hand slips through her own and squeezes before her feet could move. She smiled when she realized the owner of the hand was Kagura. The young girl looked at her in a manner similar to how they had when they confessed that night. The strength to fight for her brother seemed to now be shared with Lucy, and it was such growth from where they stood before that Lucy wasn't so afraid anymore.

"Thanks," she mouthed to the other girl, and with a final squeeze, Kagura released her, and Lucy stepped forward to follow the line of her comrades to the rooms. Unfortunately, as she was walking over to the illuminated rooms, she accidentally caught the eye of the commander. He gave her this single piercing glance before turning away, and Lucy was left with another warning that the bad thing she anticipated this morning hadn't happened yet.

Worse, she had no way of stopping it. All she could do was face it and hope she didn't completely disappoint herself with the results.

Stepping into the bioluminescent room was like walking through the threshold of another world. Where there were walls, there were instead screens covered by images that were vivid in life that was changing scenery too fast for her to see more than color. Some screens were static, and others were like looking in a mirror of herself - but distorted.

She seemed to be alone in the room, but Lucy couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched or recorded. She shrugged off the anxiety because she was completely aware of this fact. She was being evaluated for the entire day. She couldn't slack off today or lower her guard. She had to be the best version of herself today. Whatever they expected her to be - she had to make her best effort to represent that person.

"Lucy Chance-05010767, entering Arcadia Simulation, entry one. Please equip your visor," a robotic woman's voice echoed through the room. Lucy looked up to find the voice was coming from a lacrima hovering under the ceiling like a chameleon. It looks like there's her camera.

But where are the visors?

Part of the wall suddenly extended, revealing a drawler. Lucy went over there and reached her hand in to feel the smooth lenses inside. Sunglasses, or at least, that's what they looked like. When Lucy held the lenses in front of her eyes, she saw the static. It didn't look comfortable, but she trusted that this was what they wanted her to do.

She put them on.

Lucy flinched, the static image bothered her eyes and formed a migraine at her temple. She reached up intending to wrench the visors away from her head, but before she could touch them - the visors faded to black.

And with it, so did she.

The walls quacked around her, and Lucy realized dazedly that the ground was absent from her feet. It took her a moment longer to realize her back was on the ground instead, and when she opened her eyes, the shaking came from boulders falling around her.

Everything was blurry.

Hands grabbed her ankles and dragged her body away from the wreckage. Lucy groaned, blinking to clear the dark spots in her eyes.

"You still with us, Rookie?"

The world came into focus. Lucy sat up. The intimidating short stature of a soldier crouched in front of her as she assessed Lucy's current state. She swallowed thickly, unsettled by the woman. Lucy breathed through her nose, her body aching in all sorts of ways from getting mixed up in that cave-in.

Lucy found the strength to nod even as her head spun.

The woman reached out her arm, and Lucy grasped it just as she ordered, "on your feet, soldier."

She wavered for a moment, but the officer held her firmly, and she managed to not collapse. "Thought we lost you there for a moment, kid."

Lucy simply rolled her neck, flexing her limbs to regain her mobility. "Ready for action, Aquila."

Aquila grinned, releasing her to pick up the sword leaning against a rock. She handed it to her. "Take this." Lucy took it and twirled her wrist with a familiar motion. She still got it!

"The cave-in split us up from the rest of the squad. We need to regroup with the others," Aquila announced, checking the ammo of her handgun before placing it at her side. "We have two options: go in quietly or crash the party!" Lucy smiled slightly at the woman's battle lust but ultimately considered their chances. She didn't know why the lieutenant was asking for her two cents, but that didn't stop her from answering honestly.

"We don't know where the others are, and I don't think it's worth the risk to draw the entire guild's attention." Lucy met the eyes of her superior and tried her best to convey her certainty and not her uneasiness for having a different opinion.

"I had similar thoughts," Aquila said, then gestured to their only way out. "You take point, rookie."

Lucy was surprised, but she tried not to show it.

A ball of golden light appeared above the palm of her hand to light their way through the darkness. Without it, they would've been stumbling through the dark because the last of the light was seeping through the cracks from the cave-in. More importantly, it highlighted the infiltration into the cave from the ceiling. Ropes were dropped into the hole, and two people quickly descended from them.

"Two enemies, twelve-o'clock," she cautioned. "I see them," Aquila muttered before splitting away from her. Lucy crouched as she snuck forward. With her free hand, she pulled her dagger out from where it was mounted on the plate of her pauldron. The blade was small but jagged and wicked sharp.

The two men in front of her had only the light of their entrance to guide them, and Lucy carefully stuck close to the shadows. Patiently, she waited for one of the men to put enough distance away from them to remain undetected. Lucy didn't hesitate to strike like a viper, kicking the man's knee out and muffling his cries with her other hand when he dropped to her height. She pressed her knife to his neck and viciously dragged it through his neck.

His blood splattered on the snowy ground, but Lucy had to move quickly to hide his body. "Shit!" Lucy released the man to find the other one, collapsed on the ground, and reaching for his discarded weapon. A light hit him right in the center of his head when Aquila finished him off with her silenced weapon.

Aquila stepped around the man to take in Lucy's target.

The blonde was certain the lieutenant would say something about her choice of taking care of the enemy, but instead, she moved away without a word. Lucy looked down and wiped the blood on the dead man's shirt before following her. They were lucky; no one else got in their way. When they left the caves, Lucy stopped at what she found. Enemies were everywhere. Their stronghold was heavily structured, and although Lucy was easily able to find a shortcut to their headquarters, she hesitated.

It was broad daylight.

To Lucy, their options were limited. They could either risk going out now and taking every enemy they came across stealthily, they could wait until it got dark and risk their target getting away or they could split up. If they split up: one of them would go after their target, and the other would find the rest of their team.

The blonde considered her mission perimeters. Her squad was tasked with the responsibility of taking down the guild master and destroying the guild's headquarters. In her eyes, the mission came before her teammates because if their target were left unchecked, the dark guild would continue to do more damage. Her teammates were well-trained and could take care of themselves. She was the rookie in everything.

Despite this, she turned to Aquila for orders.

"What's the plan, rookie?"

Lucy stared at her until she found her voice to say, "why are you leaving this to me?"

Aquila grinned. "Command has tasked me to evaluate your abilities during this mission. Depending on how you do, you might earn a promotion from this."

A promotion meant access to certain levels of information. Specific places she wouldn't normally have access too. She needed this.

She nodded firmly to herself, sure of her decision now. "Alright, then. We split up and move quickly. You will find the rest of our squad and meet me at the target's headquarters."

Aquila looked to the east. "Understood, kid."

Brushing off the title, Lucy moved onward without another word. She didn't look back.

She stuck to the walls, looking for shadows that kept her out of the sight of her enemies. If she was spotted, the mission was over, and Lucy would have nothing to show for her efforts. She sheathed the sword at her belt and decided to focus all her stealth attacks on her dagger. As she crept forward, she kept her distance from the nearest enemy she could find and chose not to engage unless necessary. If a body was somehow discovered, remaining hidden would become all the harder, and there was a good chance their leader would be alerted of the danger before they were close enough.

A vent in the sidewalk revealed an alternate route, and Lucy kept an eye out for an entrance as she continued northward. To her misfortune, there was an entrance, but it was beneath the feet of another guard. Lucy debated the risk and ultimately chose to pass it and the enemy without him ever being aware that she was there.

By the time she made it to the headquarters, she only had one kill under her name since leaving Aquila, and all she had to do now was reach the Leader's House.

She could climb the walls, but she risked the guards spotting her. She could go inside and make her way up, but that would be harder and take more time to remain undetected. Lucy's teeth tore at her lip in a debate. She was supposed to meet up with the rest of the team inside headquarters. But, she was the one who said she had to protect their safe passage by remaining undetected.

Could she go against her orders?

No. The mission came first. This was the safest path. Lucy just had to move fast. Finding a wall that she was comfortable climbing, she leaped forward and pulled her body up, hands reaching for anything that would hold her weight. She moved like a lizard, easily finding every nook and cranny she could use to her advantage as she slithered up the wall until she had reached the fourth floor, just beneath the rooftop.

She froze when she heard voices overhead and a shadow cast over her form from where they stood.

"The Master has summoned us to his quarters. Someone got past our defenses."

"What? And here I didn't think the Council would've sent anyone after us."

"Who knows-"

Lucy waited for the speaker's voice to fade before she pounced, reaching up and grabbing the man's leg before jerking her arm back. The man quickly lost his balance and fell back with hardly a sound. The remaining man was still having a conversation with himself, and Lucy crept up behind him to assassinate him before he could turn back around.

This time, there was no place to hide the bodies, and so she would just have to take out every guard she found before they could reach their fallen friends. She moved like a ghost, unseen and undetected. Those who managed to spot her were quickly disposed of before they could sound an alarm, and before long, Lucy had reached the door to the office. She was careful, though, looking through the windows for any trace of the guild master inside.

Her heart hammered in her chest.

He was there, but he was protected by two elites. The difference in status between them and the guards she had just taken care of was obvious in the way they held themselves, the weapons at their side, and the armor that no weapon could pierce. Even their faces were covered, leaving no open space for her to slip the blade of her knife into.

It didn't matter to Lucy. She had been trained for this moment; to fight and win against these types of people. She had the power to stop them, and since her team wasn't here, she may as well start the battle!

She kicked the door down, the slam of wood on metal making her presence obvious, and yet she didn't account for the guild master to jump out his window as his bodyguards drew their weapons. Lucy sprinted at them, and just as they swung their weapons at her, she dropped to the ground and skidded through the space between them. Metal screeched as the blades hit the ground where she once had been, and Lucy ignored the guards entirely as she jumped out the window following the leader.

Lucy's back slid against the wall, and she looked ahead to find the guild master already on the ground floor and running. "Damnit," she cursed, pushing off the wall to cover the remaining distance in an acrobatic twirl upon reaching the ground. She was back on her feet in a moment and sprinting after the man with everything she had.

She was maybe halfway through the stronghold when everything went wrong. The ground quaked beneath her feet, similar to what caused the cave-in earlier, and Lucy quickly climbed up the nearest wall. But instead of an earthquake, the ground split open entirely to reveal the hidden gates beneath them. A terrifying metal contraption revealed itself with great canons mounted on each of its arms. Lucy ducked behind a wall when the guild master appeared and climbed up the metal beast and entered inside it. The weapon lit up as it came to life, and Lucy squeezed her lithe form closer to the wall in the hope of remaining undetected.

That was when Aquila and the rest of their team appeared. Gunfire lit up the sky in colorful lights, but the metal contraption only lost a single canon before firing a beam of condescended energy at the squad. Lucy blinked, and when she opened her eyes, her comrades were gone.

"No," she whispered, disbelieving that her friends were gone. She had lived with these people and trained with them for years. They had trusted each other, and Lucy had betrayed them by acting solo.

This was her fault.

Anger like she had never felt before went through her. Lucy jumped out of her cover and revealed herself. She had never gone full out before, but Lucy was bloodthirsty for this guild's ruin. She went to create a torrent of water at her enemy but stumbled when nothing happened. She stomped the ground to split the remaining ground apart, and the stronghold with it, but nothing changed.

Red light charged in the canon releasing an eerie whistle. Goosebumps rose on her skin at the sensation of power. Lucy faced her death and waited for her obliteration.

The cannon fired, and she faded away.

Lucy woke with a gasp and cold sweat, chilling her to her bones. Instantly, she tore off the visor, and she looked around to find herself back in the darkroom. Her hands threaded through her hair and pulled at it harshly as her heart stuttered in her chest. "No, no, no! What have I done?"

Everything she had done in the simulation... it was her, but it wasn't. She didn't understand why it was different. She couldn't explain what had happened to her - what had changed her.

"Don't dwell on it, kid," a man said as he stepped out from behind her. Lucy looked up at him from where she was lying on the floor. A part of her knew she should've noticed him before, but she could barely think straight. Instead, she nodded unsurely and moved to her feet despite how badly her legs were shaking. The Lieutenant took her arm and guided her out of the darkroom carefully. Lucy looked around to find the room was empty, even though she was sure she hadn't been in the simulation for more than an hour.

The officer took her out of the room entirely and brought her up the stairs. She followed him without question, using the time to try and distance herself from the situation. When they stopped walking, Lucy took in the huge room were several hundred others were sitting down on the carpeted floor. They were clustered in groups, though some lie by themselves to stare at the ceiling.

She barely noticed the man release her as she took in the various crystals decorating the ceiling and lighting the upper part of the room. Wanting to lie down for a bit, Lucy looked around for the coziest space that wasn't taken by someone else or too close to an exuberant group. She found herself closer to the front of the room where a podium was lifted from the floor by a stair and was empty of all but a single stand.

Lucy had only just sat laid down for a moment before the doors in the back opened, and General Toga, the Commander, and the Swordsman Kagura admired walk in. She straightened immediately and moved to stand when the commander lifted a hand and snapped an "at ease" before heading to the podium.

Regretting her seating arrangement, Lucy scooted back a bit, so she didn't have to tilt her head so far back to look up to them.

Everyone quieted when the general cleared his throat before speaking. "You have all completed your Evaluation for the day. We told you that you would be tested on your skills and cohesive ability in teamwork in virtual reality. What we didn't tell you is that the simulation was designed to test your ability to handle the exposure to darkness while under high stress."

Lucy's eyes widened. Others expressed their shock in angry shouts for being tested unaware of this fact. But they were silenced almost immediately when the commander spoke.

"You were invited here because you had been affected by dark guilds in some way or another. We swore to prepare you to take them down, but anything we teach you will be meaningless if you can't resist the influence of dark magic."

Lucy couldn't believe she had never noticed she was under the influence of dark magic. It did, however, explain why she couldn't use her magic at the end of the simulation. Celestial Magic and Dark Magic are opposing forces. She was completely vulnerable without her magic.

"The simulation emits the aura of artificial dark magic. While you were in the virtual reality, the simulation reflected the state of your abilities if your mind succumbed to its power. These causes can be but are not exclusive to; loss of morality, awareness, self-expression, individuality, and positive emotions. You might've experienced a life had you not been defined by your past experiences—a life where you are obsessed with the mission and nothing else. Right now, you know yourself and the reasons why you would never use dark magic. But if exposed to enough dark magic, everything can fade away, and you will be consumed by your darkest desires in every waking moment."

It was a terrifying eye-opening experience. It explained why Lucy didn't hesitate to kill her enemies when normally she would've stunned them. She only kills out of absolute necessity. That 'mission' was hardly a justification.

"It is our mission to help you detect dark magic and develop the willpower to resist its influence. You will be placed into teams so that you can learn to rely on each other and trust that they can pull you back from darkness if you are ever influenced."

The group was hanging onto his every word. There were no more angry protests or shouts of outrage.

"In order for the Legion to overthrow Blackstream, we must act together and not apart. Your motives to fight are now our motives. Your weaknesses are now shared with all of us, but in turn, so are our strengths. You are no longer an individual. You are soldiers! You are The Legion. You have sworn to bring our enemies down. If you Fall - we all Fall."

And like that very first day, the Commander saluted to them with his hand crossed over his heart - in promise - before leaving the podium. The only one left to speak was the master swordsman, but compared to the commander, she had very little to say.

"My name is Yoruichi. I will be your resistance trainer, but that comes later. For now, you have the rest of the day to yourselves, although you are asked to remain on these grounds until tomorrow when you will receive your Evaluation report and your schedules. After that, you are released and may leave at any time. The Legion will not be holding any more gatherings at the Magic Council, so please read your schedules closely and leave by the end of the day. Similarly to your invitation letter, your schedules have a binding spell on it to ensure that no one else can read it but you. We highly protect our meeting locations, and you are expected to do the same."

Yoruichi gestured at the crowd to rise. One by one, the entire Legion army rose to their feet until the entire room was full to the brim with weary recruits.

"Dismissed!"

Altogether, the group placed their hands on their hearts in salute. "Hai!"

Hey guys, I'm sorry if this chapter seemed a little rusty than the others. Despite all my studying of my notebooks for the layout of my plans for this story, I admit that I had suffered a devastating loss in my writing when my beloved backups unexpectedly and suddenly crashed. I warn you now, do not use Seagate hard drives if you value your work. Sure the lower costs sound nice until you realize it means the drives were manufactured with cheap parts. Trust me, all three of my Seagate Hard drives croaked around the same time after careful handling.

What's worse is that my Lenovo laptop had been sprayed by water and appears to be slowly falling apart. I now know that a lot of my data has been corrupted, and I need to have it repaired but am unwilling to do so until I find a storage device I can back up the remainder of my clean data. So far, I have a WD storage drive that is encrypted and kind of a pain in regards to security, but based on many reports, it is the second-best hard drive out there right now. If anyone has any preferences toward specific reliable hard drives, please let me know as not only did I lose valuable story information but also pictures, documents, and several personal sentiments. I tell myself that it is better my belongings than my life for it is not so easily replaced, but I hope you can understand my dismay in losing so much when I was supposed to trust in Seagate's products.

But on another completely different note: OMFG THIS STORY JUST HIT 1K REVIEWS BECAUSE SOMEONE BINGED THIS STORY IN A DAY AND LEFT REVIEWS FOR PRACTICALLY EVERY CHAPTER! Although I think they might've wanted to hit that 1k themselves more than me with how little (and repetitive), they said in every comment. Nevertheless, it shocked me to the core when I saw the state of things! Now I have to get my writing muse together because this is what I have been working so hard to gain - this recognition. I was getting a little worried I had lost everyone's interest what with the slow updates and the fact that Fairy Tail is over. But no, you all have stuck by this story and have given me endless patience as I word real life between writing for my favorite fandoms.

You have my gratitude, and I swear, as long as I am here, I am not letting this story go incomplete until the day comes where it truly comes to an end. Which, to be completely honest, is many chapters away from now. So don't worry, you'll have several more adventures with The Girl with the Celestial Tattoos and Fairy Tail before our time runs out!

- Gothic Rain

Disclaimer: I, Gothic Rain, do not own Fairy Tail or the following below.

Word of the Day: Metanoia (n.) - to turn from the darkness and face the light.

Quote of the Day: "If you chose to lock your heart away, you'll lose her for certain." - Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

Music of the Day: Dark Pheonix by Hans Zimmer