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[sub][color=Silver][i]Outskirts of Amone, September 9th - [b]A Quiet Chat[/b][/i][/color][/sub]
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[color=Silver]	Lucia beamed brightly as Michael reacted in such a frantic manner. She kept clinging onto his back and shoulders whilst being tossed around like a cape, Michael turning in different direction in order to meet the judges of her statement. Whenever he tried to conjure an answer Lucia couldn't help but chuckle to herself at his struggle to maintain innocence. Sure, Lucia was half joking and half serious, it eventually made him stammer and trip over his own words as he continued to search desperately for an explanation. The blue on his uniform blended well with the emotions of embarrassment he seemed to be encompassed by. Lucia simply continued her joking and prodding as she was flung around constantly by her rodeo. Eventually, Michael seemed to look down and admit, making Lucia let go in utter surprise. Her cheeks blemished and flustered into a bright pink, brighter than her usual dimples. At first, she was lost for words, simply turning herself red when he confirmed that he indeed had perhaps looked at her. Lucia's prank seemingly backfired onto her, though in reality she couldn't complain about him having done so. Either way, she simply stammered and fell into the mud, her backside only being saved by a small patch of concrete she landed on.

	A few soldiers laughed at the two, to which Lucia slowly rose to her feet and kept a rather timid face. Her expression spoke for her, almost making it feel like she was thinking of...something...something alluring? Either way, the images in her mind were simply caught off guard as his confession to her accusation made her almost speechless, stuttering a few noises to try and get back at him playfully. Unfortunately, she was lost for a response. With the brightness of her now crimson face, she looked away from him with a sort of jittery chuckle to contemplate the response he made. There was something about the way he admitted it that seemingly forced her into some radicalised state of misunderstanding, laughing embarrassingly to herself. Eventually, she managed to compose herself for a short moment whilst he continued to react to the opposing accusations against him.

	Eventually, however, the two began to follow the rest of the group, the silence continued for just a bit of time. There was still debris all around them, and the sights had now began to reflect upon Lucia. She watched in nervousness, the smiles she'd been sharing so far beginning to disappear gradually over time. Her head was constantly swivelling on its hinges with pathetic awe. So far, Lucia had been oblivious to the war since she'd set onto the train with her friends. Part of her was beginning to suffer from the same headaches she always got when viewing such disturbing imagery. Throughout the time her and Captain Middleton were to live in solace, she'd grown nearly numb to the happiness and emotive creativity she had bottled down. Looking upon this desolate city, one that bordered her home country, made her feel queasy on the inside. Lucia had flashes of images in her head once more; though slightly blurred, she began to remember the first time she saw something so barbaric done to civilisation...[/color]

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[color=Silver]She could hear the thumping against the stairs as she hid beneath her blanket slightly. A lot of her mind was filled to the brim with fear and anxiety. It was only the night before where Middleton had given her a harsh beating, apparently to toughen her up for the upcoming world of pain she'd been conscripted into. Lucia cried and whimpered to herself, still trying to hold her childhood innocence to herself, yet it would not protect her from the upcoming onslaught of Middleton's disciplinary wrath. The door burst open and in came the gust of wind. It was a strange feeling. Since she'd moved to this new location, Lucia hadn't actually seen the outside world. She looked pale, not out of fear but the weakness of malnourishment, and ghostly to a deafening degree. When her eyes were met with the blatant glare of Middleton, who'd barged into the room, she felt a shiver go down her spine.

It had been two days. Or was it three? She had no idea which town she was in, or what building she was being placed within. All she knew was that she'd been placed in a dark room, with a singular bulb hanging from the rickety ceiling. Floorboards covered the land beneath her feet and a dark chill surrounded every inch and corner. The only area of warmth she had was that of a thin blanket located on a singular mattress. She could tell that at least half of the springs had either come loose or were missing entirely since she'd arrived, to which she had no recollection of. It was a normal procedure to generally be asleep or hidden from view when transporting between her leader's [i]training grounds[/i] yet she'd never had to endure starvation and hunger pains for such a lengthy amount of time. She'd cried herself to sleep, physically, just to wear our what little energy she'd had left. Was this an attempt at her life? It couldn't be. Lucia thought...no...she knew that Middleton thought she was special. Perhaps it was tough love? Was she being brainwashed to accept this? Lucia thought otherwise, planting a false thought into her head that this was just part of the standard military training. Maybe it was to prepare her for the possibility of broken supply lines, which was one of the hundreds of things she knew almost nothing about. Despite this, it didn't stop Middleton from continuing his wrath. She'd not seen the outer world for the time she'd spent in this cold and abandoned room, waiting for the time to come when she could re-emerge.[/color]

[color=0AB100][b]"Stand up, Private Farris!"[/b][/color] [color=Silver]Lucia hesitated. This was still a time where she had some reluctance to his orders, sometimes even hesitating to react to basic commands he gave. Alexander rose towards her, striking a fist across her jaw and knocking her back onto the mattress she stood upon. There was little patience to creating a perfect soldier, but Lucia had to stay resilient and show her own strength.[/color] [color=0AB100][b]"I said...Stand the fuck up, Lucia!"[/b][/color]

[color=Silver]The back of his hand struck the side of her cheek harshly, leaving a strong red mark across the vicious point of contact. She whimpered and yelped, but tried to suppress her tears as she slowly rose to her feet. A tremble in her legs made it clear that her posture and composition was far from strong. The fact she'd not eaten in three days made it clear that she was feeling weak, troubling her own body to even support her own weight. Within a few seconds, however, she was now firmly postured upright, trying to not look him directly into the eyes. Before long, Middleton walked over to the barricaded window, fully built up with wooden planks to reduce the light's entrance to a bare-minimum. With the butt-stock of a rifle, Middleton began to break the wooden planks apart one by one, finally letting some blinding light in on the whimpering child. Lucia screamed slightly at how painful the ordinary sunlight was upon her pale face, cowering in slight fear, yet a strong hand forced Lucia to look out the window with a tight grip. Her eyes widened at the sight before her.

Ransacked, from start to finish, was a town she'd once known. It perhaps was behind the frontline or simply off to the side, but either way she recognised several of the pub-house signs and broken chateaus that her mother brought her to at her youngest of youthful years. Now reduced to rubble, she couldn't help but shiver. A questionable amount of Imperial and Federation bodies were being loaded into horse carriages and others still littered the floor. These weren't the results of a localised battle but more of a distant one concluding a bloody campaign. The town held only slight significance with its hilltop position, surrounded by acres of forestry, but there were no recent gunshots outside her room since she'd been starved of all life. Without saying a word, Lucia burst into tears, witnessing what could be described as the apocalypse: the end of all things, as settlements were burnt to the ground. Middleton showed her the true horrors of war with the simple glance through a window. It was something she'd have to go through herself in the future...[/color]

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[color=Silver]	A silent tear rolled down her cheek, her hand rubbing against it as if she could still feel the stinging collision of the fist and backhand against his skin. As the tear rolled down her face, she sniffled slightly before rubbing it away, remembering where she was. She couldn't shake the fact that this destroyed outskirt to a grand city had been devastated by the forces of the Federation and the Imperials together. The day she spent starving in that quiet and dark room was nearly two years ago, back when she still continued to suffer from the agony of her [i]training[/i]. Since she had met Michael, Jean and the others, she'd become slightly more vigilant towards the virtuous truth of her situation, however she was still wildly brainwashed by the forces of indoctrination that were thrown upon her. However, her mind was shaken when Michael's voice was once again audible.

	She listened with a small but timid smile, finally beginning to show her nervous side once more. For a second, she slowed down but quickly sped up to be by his side closely. For a small second, she felt as if she needed a hug, but restrained herself for once. Her eyes laid upon his as she finally answered his question. Whilst it was different from the first time Lucia wanted his attention, she definitely felt the topic on hand now was far more important than its predecessor.[/color]

[color=A9FF7D][b]"M-Michael...I...Do you feel scared? I...I mean..."[/b][/color] [color=Silver]She stammered, looking away for just a second before slightly leaning her weight against his. Despite the fact that Lucia knew the basics about his past, as well as other factors about him from the conversations they had together on their train journey, she still felt like there was so much more guidance to get out of him. It was a different emotion to that she felt around Middleton, one that was warming and comforting at the exact same time, fluttering her small and weakened heart with graceful intent. As the poor Asseni continued, more tears began to flow down her face again.[/color] [color=A9FF7D][b]"I...I'm frightened. Every night I go to sleep alone and have the nightmares that plague my mind. I'm...scared. There are so many new faces around us now and I feel like...I don't want to go out and fight anymore. These nights of being alone are too much to deal with. The sights of the wrecked city just...they...they just..."[/b][/color]

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