[hr][hr][center][h1][color=#00ff00]Jack Hudson[/color][/h1][img]http://68.media.tumblr.com/a1ee06640442b615f219be0cdfdcb0ca/tumblr_inline_nuo50ylrIr1qlt39u_500.gif[/img][hr]Location: Building 2 (Mess Hall: Kitchen)[/center][hr][hr]Jack frowned a bit, heeding Miss Sally's words. He knew that in tense situations, accidents would happen. But the very [i]idea[/i] that someone might shoot Tatiana and mistake her for an invader struck a nerve with him. He wasn't an idiot and he wasn't naive, but she was the only thing left in the world with an ounce of purity left to her. The notion that others could be blind to that stunned him. 

[color=00ff00]"We'll keep quiet here,"[/color] Jack promised, nodding at Miss Sally. The last of the trays had been moved over, and almost teasingly, he flexed at Tatiana. He knew that he was conventionally attractive, despite never being one to take advantage of it. Seeing how kind natured Bazhooli and the others were set him at ease as well. Even if Newnan burned to the ground, he expected that Tatiana, Miss Sally, Sophia, Bazhooli, and himself would be able to make it out alright. 

His mind flickered back to the ring he had been preparing, stashed away in the apartment building. He frowned a bit, hoping that the invaders would be taken care of soon, so he could go back and grab it. As much as he wanted to propose at that very minute, he wasn't going to do it without a ring. Tatiana deserved a proposal just as beautiful as she. 
[hr][hr][center][h1][color=#cc6699]Édouard Riviere[/color][/h1][img]http://67.media.tumblr.com/554cc63a2b5c66e0d453fa27884acd84/tumblr_inline_mw07jjmzap1s73t47.gif[/img][/center][hr][center]Location: Heard County High School (Franklin)[/center][hr][hr]Édouard let out a small cry of pain, feeling the slice of the dagger against his beautiful face. It was all he had going for him in the end, his good looks and his charm. Had he not just been given a royal beatdown, he would have cradled his face, and began urging for someone to rush him to a surgeon skilled enough to prevent any scarring. However, then another fateful phrase caught his attention. 

[color=cc6699]"Brise de Mer?"[/color] Édouard asked, entirely stunned. He hadn't heard that name in ages, not since before the outbreak. His family, as much as he pretended otherwise, wasn't truly the sole [i]mafia française.[/i] There were other sects, other factions. Félix had urged Édouard to discard his pendant, the very one that identified him as a member of [i]l'Unione Corse.[/i] He had tossed it away, disposed of it, years ago. And now, here he was, face to face with [i]Lyon de la Brise de Mer[/i], and he gulped a bit. 
[hr][i]L'année 1997....[/i]

[url=http://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_meor2rPj8F1rb5q69.gif]Alisanne[/url] and [url=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c344/cptnchunky/meme/tumblr_mf3mjwQwNx1rxl0r0o3_500_zps1a40c816.gif]Darcey[/url] had been left in charge, with Édouard's parents off in Cairo for business. The girls were still in secondary school, but already, they had shown a knack for leadership and for cruelty. With a house filled with guards and servants, hardly anything was suspected to happen. The Riviere family kept their children in Grenoble, far from the main headquarters of [i]l'Unione Corse[/i] in Marseilles. Currently chief of the nineteen families that comprised the organization, their youngest son, Édouard, was being groomed to take over.

[color=cc6699]"Darcey! Attend! Le train marche très bien!"[/color] [url=https://media.giphy.com/media/adNKjOFDv9ao0/giphy.gif]Édouard[/url], hardly ten years old, exclaimed. He eagerly pressed the controller for the train set, sending the locomotive back and forth constantly. The family cat pawed at it curiously from its spot nearby, and Édouard laughed with glee each time the train managed to evade the orange paws of doom. His sisters hardly paid him any attention, sitting on the nearby couch, discussing with each other in rapid Japanese. They had learned the language in order to avoid their brother from understanding, but even then, he grew to know that [i]bakayaro[/i] meant him. 

"C'est absurde," Alisanne said pointedly, glancing at her brother. But he didn't care, continuing to play with the train. This time, rather than avoiding the cat, he turned it into a game. As the train went into motion, he sped it towards the orange nightmare, and then let out a bit of a squeal each time he managed to get the train to safety just in time. Darcey, for her part, chuckled in amusement at her brother. "Il est juste un petit garçon, il le faut jouer avec le train, Ali."

Alisanne shook her head, rising from her seat on the couch and heading over to retrieve her cat. Bending down to pick up her beloved furball, Édouard sent the train off once more, hardly noticing his sister's fingers against the track. And this time, he pulled back too late. The mechanical engine smashed into Alisanne's hand, causing the cat to scratch wildly with a scream and shoot off into the recesses of the house. Alisanne's fingers were jammed, and she shook her hand in pain, turning angrily to gaze at her brother. "Anata ga nani o yatta ka o mite, anata no kanzen'na baka!" Alisanne screamed, as Darcey looked on, concerned. The angered blonde picked her brother up by the scruff of his neck, and pinned the boy against the wall, as Édouard screamed and wailed. 

[color=cc6699]"Je suis desolée! Il était un petit accident!"[/color] Édouard blubbered. Darcey walked over to Alisanne, putting a calming hand on her shoulder. "Kare wa wakakute orokadesu. Kare o kowagara seru, kare o kizutsukeru koto wa arimasen."

Alisanne shook her head, dropping Édouard to the ground. She bent down as to be at his level, and looked him directly in the eye. "Tu veux une histoire, eh, petit prince? Alors, je te donnerai une histoire. Il était une fois..." Alisanne began, before describing at detail the butcher of little French boys. He was a man, more of a shadow, and his helpers called him Lyon. She went into great length about [i]la Brise de Mer[/i] and all of their activities, and with each word, promised Édouard that if Lyon hated anything, it was naughty boys. 

[color=cc6699]"Il me tuera?"[/color] Édouard gulped. Alisanne only nodded, before sweeping out of the room. Édouard ran towards Darcey for comfort, tears streaming down his face, but she too had left. 

He was all alone. [hr][i]Le présent...[/i] 

Édouard's face was entirely white, his hands clammy as the reality began to sink in. He couldn't decide which was better--to be tortured at the hands of Lyon or to die as a coward, a fool. Both choices were just as appealing as they were horrid, and with Svetlana's apparent ease with Lyon, Édouard's last shred of hope died. No one was coming to save him. He'd have to make a choice: education or death? He recalled that one brief phrase he had learned, the singular day he showed up to his college literature course. Translated into French, the original read:

[center][i]For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause[/i][/center]
The Frenchman wept, afraid of death and afraid of life. [color=cc6699]"L'éducation,"[/color] Édouard muttered quietly. 

[hider=Translations]L'année 1997.... = The year 1997....
Darcey! Attend! Le train marche très bien! = Darcey! Look! The train works very well!
C'est absurde = That's silly.
Il est juste un petit garçon, il le faut jouer avec le train, Ali. = He's just a little boy, it's necessary he plays with the train, Ali. 
Anata ga nani o yatta ka o mite, anata no kanzen'na baka! = Look at what you've done, you complete moron! 
Je suis desolée! Il était un petit accident! = I'm sorry! It was a little accident! 
Kare wa wakakute orokadesu. Kare o kowagara seru, kare o kizutsukeru koto wa arimasen. = He's young and stupid. Scare him, don't hurt him. 
Tu veux une histoire, eh, petit prince? Alors, je te donnerai une histoire. Il était une fois.. = You want a story, eh, little prince? So, I'll give you a story. Once upon a time...
Il me tuera? = He's going to kill me?
Le présent = The present
L'éducation = Education[/hider]