To Save a City (Divergent/Eric) 2 of 3 COH Series

Chapter 131

for KING & COUNTRY- 'O God Forgive Us'

((Hosanna's ensemble designed by @BeckyJolene . Much thanks!))

(Hosanna's POV)

As I help Liz find an outfit in Tris's apartment that fits before we go down to dinner, I can't help but feel crushed at the loss of life today. I didn't realize earlier that some people didn't make it. There were few deaths—only about ten—some Dauntless, some Erudite, but it still hurts.  I feel responsible for all of my fellow faction members and even though I didn't personally know them, my heart is breaking.  Eric consoled me saying that it was better than losing all of Abnegation or more.  I agree, but my heart still aches, though. 
I feel as if there was more we could have done.  I keep thinking about that Abnegation teaching: to let the guilt from our mistakes help us do better next time.  Tris said Tobias reminded her of that after Al's funeral.  That helped her to feel better. 
I grin at my sister as she looks in the mirror smiling. She likes the black clothes. She will be in our care from now on. I'm sure it's quite evident to everyone that Jeanine is no longer fit to be her guardian anymore. After her trial, we'll make it official. We have to announce that to the faction tonight, among so many other things. Eric insisted we should do it before dinner. I'm sure the faction will be gossiping about what happened today.
"Black is definitely your color," Tris tells her.
"Thanks. I always thought so, too," Liz responds.
We leave her bedroom. Tobias is waiting in the living room. Eric, Lydia, Ryan, and Max went to give our condolences to the families of the deceased before we speak to the faction. They'll meet us in the room by the balcony shortly. I hold Liz's hand as we leave the silence of our floor and descend to the main level of the Pit. As we exit the elevator, the area nearby grows quiet to just whispers. Everyone watches us as we pass by. We take the back entrance and head up to the meeting room. Eric is inside.
"You look better in black," he tells his sister. She giggles embracing him.
"How'd it go?" I ask him gently.
He shrugs. "Better than expected. The two families I spoke with were proud to have their sons die such a heroic death. I told them that we would be forever in their debt," he says.
I nod. I would probably cry. Eric is so much stronger than me in that respect.
"Are we ready for this?" Max asks solemnly.
We all nod in agreement. I take a deep breath and grasp my husband's hand. "Lizzy," he says reaching out for her. She takes his hand, too. We step out to the balcony and the faction quiets without us prompting their attention.
Eric approaches the rail, grasping it. All of leadership joins his side.
"Dauntless!" he shouts. "I'm sure many of you know that we've had a historic day here within the city. Let me tell you, as our loyal faction members, what has occurred. But first, I will only give you some of the details.  The rest we will discuss with the other factions tomorrow and release all relevant information to the press and the citizens.  We have arrested two leaders from two different factions. Both have broken the law within our city repeatedly. We finally have the proof we needed to bring these criminals to justice.
"Jeanine Matthews has been arrested for murder and conspiracy to commit mass genocide to an entire faction with further plans to do so to others. This arrest was met by resistance on her part, which regretfully led to the loss of some lives. Our soldiers fought bravely and with honor. We will forever be in their debt. We lost five Dauntless and four Erudite members. The Erudite did not participate in the rebellion willingly.  They were controlled with a serum manufactured in Erudite.  Jeanine wanted us to use this on our faction and force every one of you to murder all of Abnegation in cold blood. We instead arrested her for this."
He stops briefly and there is a collective gasp. He looks to Four and me to explain the next part.
I step forward and hold my brother's hand. "Marcus Eaton is our father. He has been arrested as well for an unrelated reason. I'm sure you all have heard the rumors in Erudite's newspapers over the last two years. Jeanine Matthews hacked Dauntless's computers and viewed my brother's personal file. She used that information to fuel her paper's dissent for the entire faction of Abnegation. We have since remedied the problem of the computer assault. But what she saw," I turn to Tobias and he nods for me to continue. "It was true of only our family. The rest of Abnegation from what we know, are kind, giving people. My father was abusive—to my mother, my brother, and myself. He will be judged in Candor for his crimes. I'm telling you all this because you deserve to know the truth. We are both stronger because of this. As Eric told our guards earlier, we both have an unusually impressive third stage result. We don't want your pity. We want you to rejoice with us that a criminal has been brought to justice."
The room is silent. I notice several people looking around in disbelief. I see our guards from earlier in the Pit sitting together. They begin to pound their cups on the table. The rest of the room joins in after a moment and I'm relieved. I was concerned that they would think less of us. We wait as they cheer with us at this unusual news. It's both joyful and sorrowful.
When it finally calms down, Eric makes a few more announcements. "I would like to thank you all for your support today. Many of you fought bravely and helped our fellow citizens afterward. I would like to inform you that we will honor our fallen soldiers after dinner at the Chasm," he pauses for a moment. "I would also like to introduce you all to my sister. She is still a dependent. For all of you that don't know, our parents have been gone for years. Jeanine Matthews is my mother's twin. She had guardianship over her and will now be in my care until her Choosing."
There is chatter within the room. Eric raises a hand to quiet the faction. "My last announcement is that Four and Tris have both been made full leaders. We have done this to help with the issues facing us at the council meeting today.  This in no way makes them any less of a leader than us.  We are all a team working to keep this city and faction as safe as possible," he explains. The room cheers for them. My brother still has some training left and he needs his tattoo but he deserves this. He and Tris stand together at the rail and accept the faction's encouragement.
When the cheering starts to quiet down, we make our way to our table.  Elizabeth sits between us and the staff brings us our meals.  I smile at Linda in appreciation.  "Wow, this is what you eat on a normal day?" Liz asks. 
"Yes," I say.  "This is pretty typical."  It's fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and broccoli.
"This is better than even Lucy makes," she says around a bite of chicken. 
"Manners," Eric scolds her.  I chuckle a little.  "Hosanna's is better."
"Really?" she questions.  "I can't wait to try more of your food."  I smile at her. 
"I can't wait either," I agree. I recall that tomorrow is a Thursday. "You have school tomorrow, don't you?" I ask.
She makes a face. "Yeah, that'll be awkward."
I look up to see Hector waving at her excitedly.  She gives him a small, shy wave. 
"I didn't think about that. It may be a problem too with all of the Erudite students. They might blame her," Eric says.
"Why don't we take her to school tomorrow? We can get her accustomed to the train and leave some guards with her to make sure she's safe for the day. We can speak with the staff too and let them know what's going on," I suggest.
Eric sighs. "I don't know how we'll get all of that done plus prepare for the meeting tomorrow," he comments rubbing his temple.
"Why don't you prepare for the meeting and I'll take her tomorrow?" I offer.
"You really are the best," Eric says reaching around Liz to kiss me. 
"Ugh, is this what it's always like with you two?" Elizabeth says shoving Eric.  "I feel like I'm in the middle of a person sandwich."
He chuckles and shoves her back. 
"Pretty much," he laughs. 
"What should we do about clothes?" I ask him.  "Tris still hasn't bought much and she'll need her own wardrobe."
"I can go shopping?" she asks enthusiastically.
"We have the funeral tonight," I start contemplating what to do.  "Why don't we send her off with some guards right afterward?  We'll need to stay for appearances but she should be able to leave," I say to Eric. 
"That'll do but you can take her.  It's not like you'll drink or anything anyway," Eric says handing me his point card.  "Buy anything you want.  Just try not to get anything too revealing," he insists. 
"Eww gross, Eric.  What kind of girl do you think I am?" she asks him appalled. 
"Just making sure," he smirks.  "Also, don't buy any real jewelry.  I don't need my points wasted on that stuff, besides," he says quietly.  "When this all dies down, we'll take you to the old house and get you mom's jewelry box and some other things."
She beams in excitement at that.  "We're also meeting outside the fence next week," I whisper.  "We'll get to visit... and we're taking you with us."
"Are you serious?" she shouts.  She covers her mouth when she realizes that she has the attention of the entire room.  She giggles a little in embarrassment. 
"Very serious," I laugh.