I will be my undoing If I become my obsession
I will forget the ones I love If I do not serve them
I will war with others If I refuse to see them
- From the Abnegation Faction Manifesto
•••
I wake up early the next morning after going to sleep hours later than normal, dim light streaming through the small window onto my grey bedspread. I rub my eyes tiredly and look towards the roof. Small cracks that I've never noticed before cover the corners - how have I missed them? And why am I only noticing them now, when I might leave this room behind for good?
I dress slowly, pulling on my grey pants and jacket and tightening the watch on my wrist. I pull open the curtains and look outside at the Abnegation sector of the city. Grey cement houses, same shape and size. Simple metal mailboxes. Plain, somewhat comforting, yet strange at the same time.
I walk out of the room with my head held high. I take some bread out of the cupboard and spread butter over a few slices, just as I hear the pattering of Chuck's footsteps as he runs down the stairs. I place a slice of bread in his hands and he takes it silently, both of us the image of Abnegation perfection.
"Sleep well, Chuck?" I ask.
"Yeah," he replies, "you?"
I think about staying up practically all night thinking about the day before, and bite my lip. "Yeah," I lie as I take my own slice of bread from the pile.
"Good," he says, then pauses, "are you nervous for the Choosing Ceremony today?"
I step closer to my brother and ruffle his hair. "Not at all," I lie again, the words coming out easily. Yet another reminder of my sin of not being in Abnegation.
•••
The bus into the Hub, where the Ceremony will take place, is crowded with grey fabric and serene smiles. My brother grasps my wrist tightly, half cutting off the circulation to my hand. My father is on my other side, and we help each other off the bus when it stops in front of a group of Erudite hovering about in front of the building. The Abnegation make our way around them with apologies as we walk into the glass and steel building, taking the stairs to the top, as usual.
The room is laid out in concentric circles, arranged by factions. All the sixteen year olds are lined up around the edges, and I'm in between a smirking Candor boy named Minho and my neighbour Jack.
Before heading towards their seats, my father and brother pause in front of me. "(y/n)-" my brother says, and I know he must suspect that something happened during the Aptitude Testing, something that could make me change my decision for good.
"Chuck," I say, smiling down at him. He wraps me in a hug.
"Whatever happens-" he begins again, "just know that you're still as ugly as fried liver on a stick."
"Love you too, buddy," I say, my voice hitching on the word 'buddy'. I kiss him on the forehead and my father does the same to me.
And then they're gone, swept away with the crowd of Abnegation, and I turn my head to face the front.
Each year, a different faction runs the Ceremony; this year, it's Erudite. The leader will give a speech and call out names of the sixteen year olds preparing to choose the course of their lives. I have attended the Ceremony almost every year since birth, but it hasn't been run by Erudite for years.
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The Transfers of Dauntless | Newt x Reader
Fanfiction(y/n) (y/l/n). A girl from the selfless faction of Abnegation. She lives under the control of Abnegation with her father and younger brother Chuck. She has always imagined her future as one in her original faction, but finds she begins to doubt her...
