Ch. 1 The Scholar
Eric, the Scholar of Fiore, walked along the beach, a book held open in one hand and a slender, wooden walking stick in his other, making his path. He wore long, flowing robes of a light blue that ended just above the ground. His skin was pale, an effect of staying indoors for a majority of his life, reading and studying the arcane. Such is also the reason that he wore a pair of glasses on his face. A long, brown beard with several strands of grey adorned his chin as long hair of the same shade reached his shoulders from his head.
When he was reading, he had a habit of ignoring the world around him, which allowed for him to disregard the louds sounds of construction in the distance as a new casino was being built. Knowing this, even he found it a marvel that he managed to hear the sobbing cries of a young child. A girl no less.
Looking up from his book, he turned to face the direction the sad sound was coming from.
Before him stood a young girl, not even ten years, crying her heart out at the shore of the beach. She wore tattered clothes and a white eyepatch over her eye. What stuck out most to him, however, was her scarlet colored hair.
Cautiously, he approached the child. As he drew close, though, she turned around and saw him. The two looked eachother in the eye for a fraction of a second before Eric decided to speak.
"What is wrong, child?" he asked her.
She responded only with choked sobs, her hands frantically wiping away the tears away as they fell from her eyes.
Intending to comfort her, he quickly closed the gap between them and kneeled in front of her. He put a hand on her shoulder, casting a spell to calm her down emotionally for a short while, causing her to look back up at him.
"Child, where are your parents?" he asked her. She shrugged, still sniffling slightly.
"What about your friends? Do you have any friends nearby?"
She shook her head, pointing out to the open sea.
'She must be from a ship that wrecked in the ocean,' Eric thought to himself. 'If that's the case then she will not have any place to go home to.'
"Child, do you have anywhere to stay tonight?" She shook her head again. Eric nodded.
"Very well. I have a home not too far from here. You can rest there for the time being until we find your family. Alright?"
The girl nodded, smiling slightly. "Thank you, mister."
"Not a problem, child. And please, call me Eric. What is your name, if I may ask?"
"Erza. Erza Scarlet," she spoke softly.
"Well then Erza Erza Scarlet," Eric said in a joking manner which caused the girl to smile slightly as well. "Allow me to be your escort to my humble abode."
"Thank you Mr. Eric."
He smiled at the girl and clapped his hands twice quickly. A magic circle appeared beneath the two of them and in the blink of an eye, they vanished.
With a loud pop the two reappeared inside of a room unfamiliar to the young Erza Scarlet. The entire place was made of stone, a rectangular green carpet lain in front of them. Weapon racks on the walls with a large assortment of medieval weapons on them, ranging from warhammers to daggers and staves. In the middle of the hall was a stairway that led to the left where a stone bridge ran across the hall. On the far side of the hall was a kitchen with a wide assortment of items ready to be cooked.
Standing in front of the cooking pot was a tall man wearing a tuxedo suit with a tailed coat and a pair of white gloves, stirring the contents with a wooden spoon before taking it up and tasting it himself.
"And how is it, Richard?" Eric asked the man.
Clearly surprised by the voice, Richard shot straight up, the spoon flying into the air, flinging its contents all over him. Seemingly unfazed by the turn of events, light orange stains now covering his white shirt, he quickly bowed to the man who had addressed him.
"Lord Eric! I am surprised to see you. I had expected you to be gone for atleast another hour. I'm sorry, dinner is not quite ready yet."
"That's fine Richard. I'm not hungry just yet. It does smell delicious though. Tomato soup?"
"Yessir. Heavy cream tomato basil soup. Your favorite if I recall."
"Indeed. Thank you for making it."
"It was my pleasure, Lord..." It was then that he noticed Erza, who was now hiding behind Eric's leg.
"M'lord, who might this be?" Eric smiled brightly, nudging the girl out from behind him.
"This, Richard, is Erza Scarlet. I found her on the beach shore with no one around. For now I've decided to take her in until we can find her parents."
Richard smiled politely at her, bowing to her as well. "Well, I never expected to have a princess over for dinner tonight. I hope that you are okay with tomato soup. Lord Eric is incapable of going a week without this dish."
"Only because you make it so well," Eric retorted.
"Then maybe I should spit in tonights pot for good measure."
"You wouldn't dare."
Erza laughed at their banter, blushing at Richard's comment. Both men stopped, turning to face her.
"Well whaddaya know," Eric said as he picked her still laughing frame up. "The quiet girl can laugh! Richard, get the history books. This is important!"
Several hours later, dinner had been served and eaten quickly, mostly by an overzealous Eric who drank his first bowl within seconds and was getting himself seconds. Erza wasn't used to such heavy foods, so Richard made her some crackers, an apple, and a light cheese for her to eat.
Now, she lay in a bed on the second floor, Richard sleeping on the floor next to her. Eric had retired to his study a while ago, telling Richard to be sure that she goes to bed at a reasonable hour. And that he did.
Eric had promised her that tomorrow morning he would show her the rest of his home and to say that she wasn't excited would be a lie. A smile on her face, she pulled the blanket up to her chin and closed her eyes, matching Richard's steady breathing until she too, felt sleep tugging at her. Her eyes drooped closed as she fell asleep, dreams of her future with Eric and Richard playing in her head.
