Hearts of Stone

Prologue

I hate them. I hate them all. One day they'll fall beneath my blade. I swear it.
My heart, soul, and brain are in agreement. But my tears are not agreeing  with my confidence as they threaten to fall from my brown eyes and into my lap.

No! Stay strong Erza. If not for yourself , then for them.

Them.

The seven other girls that are struggling to survive this hell hole with me.

Lucy, the brown eyed girl that's always talking to what she calls 'Celestial Spirits', invisible animal humans she says float through the air and watch over her. Not physically talking, though, seeing as she refuses to say a word. Her bright blond hair is very distinctive and her soft smile can always light up the room, which is helpful because there's little to no light here.

Yukino, a kind, sweet, gentle girl that is the only reason we know a thing about the creatures Lucy loves so dearly, since she sees them as well. Her hair is white as snow and we nicknamed her Snow White (she also loves apples). She's always first to rush to a hurt friends side and offer as much help as possible. We all see her as a little sister, and our little family would never be able to live without her.

Mira, beautiful, caring Mira. She and I are the older sisters, her like a mother hen and me as a bossy (but nonetheless caring) sister. She helps them to the best of her ability, and I guide them as best I can. She's as close as we will get to a mother, and we love her for being brave enough to step up to that role.

Levy. Smarter than all of us combined, and smaller than every last one of us. Despite her size, she's fiery and packs a punch. She has the second best glare out of us. Her mischievous little grin keeps us all upbeat, and her blue hair is held back by a strip of her dress. As a show of rebellion towards the facility, she took a piece of glass and cut her hair extremely short. She was sent to the doom room for 2 days for that, and came back to us half dead. We call her Miracle because it's a miracle she's still alive.

Kagura. It's with her I feel the strongest sisterly connection. She's constantly serious and is amazing with a stick. She's extremely agile and has a strong wish to push the guards faces into the ground.
Juvia. Her dark blue hair is very similar to the water that the guards torture her with by putting it just outside her grasp. She tries so hard to say strong, but the guards and many of the other children give her grief over her habit to talk in third person. The fact that she's still alive is strength in itself though.

Cana. All she wants to do is forget. Drown her sorrows in anything. Evidently, that anything is the stuff the guards are so obsessed with and she's so good at stealing. In all honesty, the child labor facility hurts her the most because she has flashbacks of her mother dying, which is odd because we were all taken away when we were babies. Her brown hair is long and she's mastered putting it into a very messy bun. She always makes us laugh without fail. Her crazy grin always makes us feel better.

And me. Erza. My red hair is brighter than the flaming sticks the guards carry around. My unwavering will is all that's kept me alive all this time. I know they all look up to me, so I force the tears back in and grin at my sleeping friends.

My grin turns to a sleepy smile and I place my head on the cold ground of the child labor facility, ignoring the burning on my back from the whipping we had gotten earlier. Somehow, somehow, I know that our plan the next day is going to work and we'll be free the next day.

Yeah.

Free.