Hey everyone! So this is the first rewritten chapter of the prologue! So if your a newcomer this is the better version! This chapter DOES NOT LINK UP WITH THE NEXT ONE! The reason is because that is in the rewriting process too! Remember that the rewriting will go on till chapter 5. After that it will be connected via the TIMESKIP at the end of five like in the original story! A special thanks to gunslayer12! He read and edited the chapter! Please leave a review! ENJOY!
Erza Scarlet was currently on her way to face a Cult of Zeref. Normally most people ran the other direction when they thought about facing the hysterical followers of the most evil mage to walk on their world. This red-headed lady, however, was no normal person. She was an S-Class mage of Fairy Tail and, though many did not know this about her, she was once a slave to said Cult, thus when she saw a job on the request board to infiltrate and destroy a unit of them, she happily signed up.
As she got close enough to see the base, she requipped into what looked like normal clothing. When she reached the door she knocked, not knowing if there was a certain pattern that was required. She simply smiled and waited. When she saw the door open an intimidating man answered. He was towering over her and was completely concealed by the standard cloak Zeref's followers wear. His muscles on the other hand were still protruding out against his clothing.
"What does a little girl think she is doing all alone in the forest? Not to mention knocking on Zeref's holy door." The man had a softer voice than one would think. Though most would start shaking in fear Erza stood fast and said what she had rehearsed multiple times in her mind perfectly.
"I am here to join your religion, my family never accepted the fact that I adore Zeref and his work. So when I heard a rumor that there may be a unit in the forest, I couldn't help but look for it. May I join your wonderful family?" Erza kept up a hopeful look in her eyes and a look of happiness at the thought of joining. No one really knew this but Erza is quite the actress. The man looked at her for a little bit, then smiled a wicked smile.
"It is rare for such a young believer to come upon us. Truly a miracle of Zeref wouldn't you say?" Erza knew this trick. In her time in building the R-System she heard the multiple questions the Cult used to know who was truly on their side.
"A miracle? No, it is fate that he had set before we even laid eyes on his ways." The Guard's smile widened even more as he stepped to the side letting her in. Stepping through the entrance she saw that compound obviously went underground. The walls of this current floor were black and gray that painted a bleak picture.
"Welcome sister. Welcome to your new home." He escorted her downstairs. Taking her to their units leader. As she descended the steps she took it all in. The people in cages, animals being taking apart and put together into chimeras and the sad tear-stricken faces of children. Eyes filled with sorrow and no hope. It disgusted her to no end. However she kept a sickening smile on as they walked past all this. The guard stopped her at a black door made entirely of skulls. "Enter and our master shall supply you with your own cloak and a book of Zeref's teachings. Remember Sister, Zeref's words shall guide you."
"I shall remember Brother." The reason Erza had not asked for a name nor was asked hers is because the Cult did not believe in their former names. You were reborn as brothers and sisters of Zeref. Therefore you would get a new name and only learned the names of others after your rebirth. She turned to the skeletal door and pushed it open.
Once inside she immediately got on her knees and began praying to Zeref. This was the tradition for newcomers to show their resolve, though for women it was different. They would have to include their desire to bear Zeref's children, to be let in. "Lord Zeref, my foundation and true leader. I only hope that you would allow me to bask in your great presence. To give you my mind, body and very soul as well as the great honor of bearing your children and raising them to serve you. If not that honor then letting me study your ways will suffice, for knowing you is all I wish for." Finishing her prayer with the drawing of her own blood. Biting down on her thumb and letting it drip to the floor. The man she had yet to even look at, already was smirking with a wicked look in his black eyes.
"A new Sister I presume? Well you most certainly are a believer of our lord Zeref. Tell me child, what is the greatest honor Zeref could bestow upon you?" Erza looked up at this man. No not a man, a monster. She knew from his position on the Cult's hierarchy that he was pure evil. He looked very kind. Black hair that fell down in all directions. Straight and shining, with his black eyes filled with what appeared to be arrogance. He had a smaller build and his cloak was slightly torn.
"The greatest honor would be to bear Zeref's children. As I had stated in my prayer to him." She bowed her head. A sign of respect. The man nodded and walked over to her. Lifting her head with his hand.
"Correct my Sister. Now let's see… That wicked smile you held on your way down here, and that clear desire to know Zeref. I know… I shall rename you Zera. It suits you well. This name is closely related to Zeref, hopefully it will draw you closer to him." She smiled.
"Thank you! So, when do I get my cloak master?" The newly named Zera asked eagerly. The black haired believer look her in the eye, then said something with uncertainty underlining his tone.
"You may be distressed by this, but women are built differently than men. So your sizes are harder to determine. Unless you know your exact measurements then I will have to measure you. Zeref's teaching have always stated equality amongst the Brothers and Sisters, but it also includes a strict doctrine on the women's clothing. You may check the book of Zeref if you don't believe me." Erza had thought she prepared for everything, everything… Except that. Luckily she managed to remember her sizes, so she gave them to him and he fetched her a cloak. Unlike the men's clothing, the women's was designed differently. Emphasizing the female body. It was black and skintight around the chest and waist. Then there was the cape that the women wore. It wound around them to cover them up for the most part and carried the Cults signature symbol. Also unlike the men, the women never had their faces covered, as the book of Zeref states a woman's beauty must be shown and respected. Once Erza had put on all of this, she figured a walk around would be good.
"Sir… May I take a walk around and to get to know the place? As well as learn your name?" She asked the Leader of this unit.
"A fine idea Zera. Go look around and if you get lost ask someone and they will guide you. My name is Ishgar. Like what we use to call the continent." Erza thought for a second. Then asked another question.
"Ishgar? As in, the 4 gods of Ishgar?"
"I am named after them yes, but I am not one of them. I am, at most, an S-Class mage." He stated rather proudly. She simply nodded and walked out the skeletal door, knowing that Ishgar would be a problem.
'Now to find some rebellious slaves.' Erza knew that it would be the younger folk. So she descended the stairs to where she heard lots of activity. If she was in luck, it won't be a torture chamber. She may have been younger than most of the guards but she could have sworn some were eyeballing her. She ignored it and continued searching. Then she stopped in front of door where she heard screams. The screams of a child. Erza grit her teeth, clenching and unclenching her fists in anger as she tried not to requip and assault every single bastard in the facility. But she couldn't lose her cool. Not that easily. She could, however, give that child some hope. She waited till the men torturing the victim left, then entered the room to a terrifying sight.
There was a little blond boy chained to the wall by his wrists, the walls surrounding him were splattered with blood. The boys body was limp, he hadn't even noticed her enter the room. She closed the door behind her before rushing towards one of the buckets in the room and vomiting. She felt weak-kneed just thinking about what they could have possibly done to this boy. She walked towards the boy and placed her hands gently on his shoulders.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" Erza's voice was shaky. She didn't sound like the strong S-class Mage that everyone knew, more like a whimpering puppy. The boy flinched slightly. 'Good. He isn't completely gone yet.'
"Good. Now, I'm here to save you and the people that are slaves here. After I get you out, we should be able find your parents ok?" Sounding more like herself this time. The blonde's head lifted up showing that his eyes were crimson colored with slits as iris'. She gave the boy a reassuring smile before getting up and walking towards the door. Erza gave one last glance back, "When I come back you will be free." She couldn't wait to find a defiant group of slaves, she was going to ignite the spark of rebellion. As she opened and closed the door behind her, her eyes shined with a hard determination.
She began to requip. As she did so her body was enveloped in a bright light, blinding the guards who were on their way back to torture the blonde boy. They froze when they saw her holding two swords and start running towards them. Before they even had registered what was going on she had already knocked them out and slashed through the bars of a cell.
"IF YOU WANT FREEDOM, THEN PICK UP A WEAPON AND FIGHT FOR IT!" She roared, nostalgia hitting her hard but now wasn't the time for such things. She ran out of the cells and began freeing more and more slaves. She didn't need to look to know if the slaves were taking arms. She could feel it. "COME ON! WERE ON THE BOTTOM FLOOR SO WE NEED TO ASCEND TO YOUR FREEDOM!" Leading the charge up the stairs defeating any single solider to even think about standing in their way. They didn't have trouble until the large guard from before got in there way.
"Sister?! Why have you betrayed us?! We welcomed you into our holy famil-" he was cut off by Erza's fist crashing into his face pushing him back and shattering his mask.
"I don't have time to listen to your religious ramblings. Get out out of the way." She said calmly.
"Sis- no you are no sister. I am Leon of the Sacred Zeref Belief, and my fists shall… END YOU HEATHEN!" The man now dubbed Leon rushed forward swinging his arms in wide arcs. Erza nimbly ducked underneath his swing and performed an expert strike on his knees. Cutting off the man mobility. She then went to hit his neck with the flat side of her sword but he spun around and punched the blade, shattering it on impact. "As if such an attack would slow me down!" Then he began throwing quick jabs. Holding his arms close to himself as if he were a boxer. His jab speed was incredibly fast but not too much for Titania. She dodged a left then right, when he went for a left feint and threw right once more he lost. She requiped a gauntlet that increased her strength her arm had. Then rammed her fist into his stomach. His eyes bulged out then rolled to the back of his head. He fell over to the side unconscious.
"I said get out of the way… Leon." Then she heard clapping. When she looked at its source, she mentally began to prepare herself.
"My, my Zera! I could have sworn you were a devoted follower of Zeref! You fooled me well, but how did you know our doctrine so well? You were ether once a follower who defected or was once a slave to one of our projects. Say… You saw our project didn't you?" Erza's mind was going a hundred miles per hour. How calm this man is and how he is on point with his assumptions. She immediately decided that he wasn't just some arrogant man with lots of power. He was intelligent, powerful and arrogant. The "best" combination ever. She hated her luck.
"My name is Erza Scarlet, an S-Class Mage from Fairy Tail! As for how I know, let's just say that I'm an avid reader Ishgar. But, what do you mean project?" She began praying in her head that they hadn't been experimenting on the boy.
"You vomited after seeing it! Hahaha! That boy is truly incredible. We literally found him all alone in the forest, after a large eruption of black magic destroyed the area. We thought it was Zerefs arrival but instead it was a blonde boy who was healing at an incredible rate! I decided that we should take him in and experiment a little bit. The boys healing never ceases to amaze me! Oh don't give me that look… After all you will get to do that all you want after I throw you in with all those behind you." Erza had eyes filled with rage. He had tortured a child, just because of an abnormal healing ability? Erza was against many things. Slavery, murder and any other foul deed. But torturing children? This was something that was beyond unforgivable in her eyes.
"Ishgar... You are a monster that is hell-bound, but I will make sure that you don't escape!" She requiped into her Heavens Wheel Armor. Ishgar's eyes widened at the sight of Erza's metallic wings and twelve blades circling around her. He then smirked.
"This should be interesting. I wonder… Titania or The Demon? Which is stronger? LETS FIND OUT!" He put his hands together before pulling them away slowly. "SHADOW MAKE: SHADED BLADES" Two partly transparent blades formed in each hand. He then pushed away from the floor hurtling towards Erza with great speed. She crossed her blades for defense. A clang resounded throughout the room. Sparks flew off the blades on impact. Trying to if she could end it quickly Erza used her telekinesis to make the blades that floated around her to angle and thrust towards Ishgar. Ishgar however noticed and pulled back out of the way time just in time. Erza then called them back to their original position.
"Not bad, not bad at all. Say Erza, why not just make this easy and join me. Zera is a very pretty name." Trying to see if he could get out of this fight. He already could tell they were even, and would rather not have to work hard. Erza was currently growing more of a distaste for said man.
"If you were to simply surrender then things would be much easier." Her retort was enough to make it painfully clear. This wasn't going to be simple.
"Very well, you have given me no choice Erza. SHADOW MAKE:BLACK KNIGHT!" His body began getting covered in a giant shadow before forming into black knights armor only leaving his eyes visible. After his Armor finished, his left hand manifested a kite shaped shield as his right manifested a long sword. Then he resumed a stance that was a equivalent to that of an actual solider. His armor radiated with a dark aura, basically screaming his evil will. He then slammed his sword into the front of his shield, beckoning Erza to come at him. Seeing how Heavens Wheel likely wouldn't be able to strike him, Erza requiped into her Purgatory Armor. Clad in black and wielding a large club, she made her move.
"Here I come!" She then sprung forward raising the club above her head and bringing it down on him. He raised his shield and took the impact of the strike. The ground cracked from the sheer force. He pushed Erza off him and swung his blade. She ducked under it and tried to do a sweeping kick. He stepped back to get out of the way, however what he didn't notice was Erza using her club to push off the floor towards him. Her armored foot connected with his helmet. Knocking him off balance. She then spun round to pick up momentum and struck his ill defended side. The shadowy armor shattered in the section she struck and pushing harder she tossed him like a rag doll across the room.
"ARGH!" He wheezed in pain. He struggled to recover and by the time he stood Erza was already upon him, swinging downward in hopes of shattering his helm and defeating him. This time he pushed forward going right under her and spun around stabbing at her back. His sword connected, piercing straight through Erza.
"AAH!" She used her free hand to grab the blade and hold it in place, before raising her club and smashing the Shadowed Sword. However she wasn't finished yet. Quickly turning around she swung her club upward connecting with Ishgar's chin and knocking him off his feet high enough to smash his head into the stone ceiling. He came crashing down unconscious and the shadows dissipated into the air. Erza turned towards where the recently freed slaves were and shouted out, "Alright everyone, that's the door to leave! Once outside go west, toward the Rune Knights encampment. Send them here and they will clean up!" Following their orders from their savior, they all exited the horrid place they had been held captive in. Of course they were giving their thanks to Erza as they left. When the former slaves left they told the story of the Titania to everyone they met. Erza stayed behind, not to apprehend Ishgar, but to go get the boy. She ran as fast as she could down the steps. She requiped into her normal Heart Crux armor and once she got to the room, opened the door.
She saw the scary sight once again. Though this time, she knew, the blonde wouldn't be waiting for more suffering and pain. Erza walked over to him and broke the chains, releasing him from the wall he had been strung to.
"Come on. I'm taking you away from here." She said gently to him, as she hoisted him up. He looked ,at most, to be 5 years old. His blonde messy hair was caked with dried blood and his eyes were a bright blue, almost like the sky. 'Wasn't his eyes red before?' Erza mused before shaking her head, "Alright, let's see if we can find your family." As she carried him out of the complex it didn't go unnoticed by her that both Ishgar and Leon were no where to be seen. 'They escaped huh?' She had the sinking feeling she would have to deal with them later. When she finally got through the exit she saw a large regiment of Rune Knights waiting.
"Titania of Fairy Tail I presume? We've secured the area. You may leave at any ti… What are you doing with that boy?" The commanding officer asked.
"I found him to weak to walk on his own. I am going to look for his family." Her response was solid though the man had a better solution.
"Why not just give us his name and we can use archive magic to find out?" Erza didn't even think of that.
"Oh, but first we need him to say his name." She sat the boy down. "Can you tell me your name?" The boy shifted around a bit, clearly not comfortable with the attention. He peered up at her through his bangs for a little while before saying his first name.
"Naruto." the boy whispered. Erza gave him a questioning look.
"What's your last name? We need that too." The blonde started thinking. Making an adorable face that almost made Erza want to pick him up and take him home, as though he were an abandoned puppy.
"I don't know." She wasn't happy with that answer.
"Come on, think. You can remember if you try." Naruto nodded and once again started thinking. He tried as best he could but nothing.
"I still don't know." He said after about a minute.
"It's Alright. Hey, will it work with just his first name?" The officer simply shook his head. "Very well. I will take him to towns in the area and see if anyone recognizes him."
"Ok. We will clean up the scum here, you two are free to go." The officer returned to work, entering the complex and searching for runners. Erza picked up the boy and began to walk towards the nearest city. The city of Magnolia.