Hey guys! I know, I know. I'm half a year late. But hey, I finished it and why not just post for the sake of well… posting? So here it goes! Review if you can, and yes, you can shout at me for posting so late.
Erza sat in her favorite café, sipping some coffee.
The last mission had been quite tiring, with Natsu burning up an old, small province. Again.
She sighed and took another sip of her coffee. She had a feeling many people didn't look at her as the coffee-needing type, but boy did she need it, especially in the morning.
Most of the times, the strong black extract was the only thing keeping her awake. Finishing up her coffee, she took her half eaten cake.
She tried to finish eating it- you heard right folks. 'Tried'. Erza 'Titania' Scarlet, the infamous cake addict couldn't finish a cake. She just felt a little low, for what reason remained unknown, even to her.
Finishing up the cake, she walked over to the guild, with her usual 'HI's and 'Hello's to the people whom she passed by, albeit a little duller.
Getting to the guild, she found its occupants inflicting the guild with their regular dose of craziness and damage.
She walked up the the ever bickering duo Natsu and Gray. Grabbing the both of them by the head, she bangs them together, momentarily pausing their brawl before it brings the guild down.
Glaring at them, she continues walking towards the guild bar, her glare leaving an effect despite its intensity being lesser than usual. Seating herself at the bar, she asks for a beer when the seats next to her on both sides are occupied by a blond celestial mage and the other by a blue haired dragon slayer.
Lucy looked at Erza. Erza seemed way duller than usual. Poking at her with her finger, she called out to her.
"Erzaaa! You seem really dull. What's up?!"
Wendy looked at Lucy behind Erza's back, signaling her to tone it down a bit.
"Ano, Erza-San, what happened? You don't seem to be in the best spirits. Is everything okay?"
Erza looked up from her beer which had been given to her roughly around the time Lucy and Wendy sat a smile she glanced at the both of them.
"To be completely honest, I have no clue. I just seem really out of mood today."
Lucy rubbed her chin.
"Well, I'll say. You didn't even react badly when you saw Natsu and Gray's childish brawl."
Erza chuckled, sipping her beer when Juvia appeared next to them.
"I heard my beloved Gray's name!"
Lucy sweat dropped, when she suddenly had a flash of idea.
"I know! Levy once read this amazing story to me. They're really unique and not from this world. Quite literally. They had fallen in from a time paradox. We'll go see Levy in her apartment. She's just back from a mission. I saw her on the way to the guild."
Erza merely nodded. It might be a good experience anyway.
"Let's go then!"
Erza, Lucy, Wendy and Juvia walked over to fairy hills, knocking at Levy's apartment, the said girl opening it after a few moments.
"Come in! What brings you guys here?"
"We-"
Lucy pitched in excitedly.
"We actually wanted to read those stories from those books you had lent to me earlier."
Levy stroked her chin.
"Which on- Oh! That one! Sure. Why?"
Wendy answered it before Lucy got all excited again.
"Well, Lucy-San told us it'll be interesting so Erza-San wanted to read it."
Levy nodded in understanding.
"Sure. I'll pass it to you immediately."
Erza took the book and after saying her farewells, leaving the girls talking about the stupidity.
A few hours later, she was in the last page. She felt her eyes drooping and buy the time she had turned to the last page, she had fallen asleep.
"Miss? Miss? MISS?!"
Erza woke up with a start, finding Natsu in front of her. Yawning, she looked around.
"Oh, it's just you Natsu."
Looking at him, she found him wearing a waistcoat, rabbit ears on his head.
"Natsu? No idea who that is. Name's White Rabbit-yes, that's my name."
'White Rabbit looked at his watch, pocketing it and ran.
"I'm late!"
Erza just decided to call him Natsu; he was too much like the dragon slayer.
"Nat-White Rabbit! Wait!"
She got up, just noticing that her usual armor had been replaced by a red dress, similar to one she had worn at the tower of heaven.
Erza chases and follows him into a large, furnished rabbit hole, suddenly falling in. Using the edges of the hole, she propelled herself onto the ground. Erza saw Natsu disappear into a tiny hole. She tried to follow him but it's suddenly too small for her.
A voice sounds out, similar to Lucy's.
"Here, take this piece of cake. It'll help you shrink to the size of the door."
Erza gingerly took it from the Lucy lookalike. A strange sensation fills her and she finds Lucy almost four times the size of Erza.
Erza twisted the doorknob, finding it locked only to find Lucy trying to get a tiny, metal object- a key, too tiny for Lucy to take. Lucy picked it up, only to have it break. Erza looked at Lucy in disbelief.
"Sorry… Here, have this cookie. It'll help you get back to your original size."
Shaking her head, Erza took it, growing larger with every bite. She used her elbow to break open the door, taking another cookie, shrinking again, and ran through, with Lucy's "Bye!' in the background.
Erza entered another… world, in no better words. Erza walked around, when she saw Juvia and Gray, arguing.
"Why do you have to come so late?"
"Well' I'm trying some work done, unlike-"
"Excuse me?"
Erza pitched in. Most definitely not Juvia and Gray, those two. They would never argue like that.
"Look! You were so loud you attracted people to come and see what was happening!"
"Sure it was you who did that, woman!"
Erza sighed. She just ignored them and continued walking straight ahead, hopefully in the right direction. She had a feeling the 'White Rabbit' would know the way back.
Erza picked up her pace. The sooner, the better. She saw a clump of salmon colored hair and she immediately identified it as the untamed hair seen on Natsu. She ran after the rabbit, when she stumbled upon another burrow, this time falling into a neat burrow which looked uncannily like Natsu's place, sans the neatness.
"Ahem."
Laxus was sitting in the corner.
"Kind of you to drop by. Take this scarf. It's the White Rabbit's."
Erza scrunched her face in confusion.
"What?"
You the White Rabbit's housemaid right? Run after him. He went that way."
Erza ran in the direction pointed by Laxus, ignoring his cries.
On thw way, Erza meets Wendy, Romeo, Levy and Gajeel at different instances, sitting with Romeo and Wendy for a story and having a cup of tea with Gajeel and Levy.
Erza, having done eating a fabulous piece of cake with Gajeel and Levy picked up her pace. She felt relaxed, which was something people lost in different worlds, should not feel.
"Hello~"
Erza turned aropund to see a blue cat.
"Happy?"
"I know not of this 'Happy' you speak of. I am the Cheshire cat! Let me lead the way!"
Erza looked at him doubtfully.
"You don't know where I want to go…"
"Nonsense! I do! Follow me!" With that, the cat grabbed Erza's sword and ran.
Erza ran after the Happy lookalike, after her sword.
She chased the cat for some time when a table filled to the brim with cakes and tea came into view. The cat threw Erza's sword at her, she caught it.
"I recommend you to stay here for a few minutes. People who can help you will come."
No sooner had those words left his mouth when Makaraov, Mira and Kiniana were chatting animatedly and paused when they saw Erza. Master put on a smile.
"Why hello, strange creature. Care to join us for a cup of tea?"
Mira rubbed her chin.
"But we need a reason to celebrate, don't we?"
Kiniana looked at Erza.
"Let's celebrate her birthday!"
"But it isn't my birthda-"
Makarov smiled.
"Then we'll celebrate your unbirthday!"
Before Erza could protest, Natsu came running.
"Damn! I'm late!"
He grabbed a piece of bread from the table and ran. Erza followed him, hot on his heels. He runs into a forest like area, filled with tall trees. Erza, despite her speed, had lost him. Erza leaned against a tree and sat down. She needed to rest. She was purely exhausted and she was worried whether she would be able to go back home.
"Aye!"
She looked up to see 'Happy' on the tree.
"Follow me!"
Grabbing her sword, he ran off. Erza followed him, running into a maze, following the cat to the center, where Evergreen and Elfman sat on thrones, dressed in red and black, unlike Ever's usual clothes. She saw Natsu running through another door at the side. Round this time was when Ever noticed her presence.
"You. Stand here."
She pointed at the space near Natsu.
Erza went and sat next to him, more out of curiosity than obedience.
Evergreen looked at her.
"You. Do you duel?"
Erza looked around for a while until she realized Ever was talking to her.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Brilliant! Let's see if you're any good against me."
Elfman, sitting next her, yelled a 'MEN!', when he was shut up be a glare from Evergreen.
"Let's start."
Erza looked at her blankly,
"Like, now?"
"Yes now!"
Erza shrugged. She was gonna play it into her Heaven's wheel, she stood in position. If this lady's magic was identical to Ever's as much as her looks were, she had a fairly decent chance of winning.
"Fairy Bomb: Gremlin!"
A huge explosion occurred, sending Erza reeling behind. Quickly requipped into her sea empress armor and went towards the attack. She sliced at the place Evergreen's lookalike was standing at. Evergreen activated her stone eyes. It was like it was a copy of her battle with the actual Evergreen long ago during the Miss Fairy Tail Contest.
"How did it not work!?" The Fairy Tail mage lookalike hadn't figured it out. Erza looked around, frustrated. She was fed up. She also wanted to go home. Quickly reequipping into her Heaven's Wheel again, she sent multiple swords against her, pinning her to a tall fence near the bushes.
"Arrest her! She's a traitor planning for my death!"
The last thing Erza remembered was Natsu looking down on her.
"Erza! Erza! Erza!"
She was coming back to consciousness, a mop of blonde hair visible.
"Leave her alone! Look, her eyes are opening slowly. Geez, you should calm down Lucy!"
Blue came into the blurry image.
Erza opened her eyes and found herself yawning.
"Where am I? The queen! Stop her!"
Erza got up frantically, hands moving towards her sword.
"Calm down Erza. You were lying on the floor of your room and Lucy and I had decided to check up on you when we found you here, muttering in your sleep."
"Wha-"
It was just a dream.
"Did you say something Erza?"
Lucy looked at her questioningly.
"Nothing. Interested in some cake?"
