Lunar Romance
Erza is approached by a mysterious woman one day, who holds secrets that she wishes to find out, alongside her friend, Natsu Dragneel. Conflicted, she wonders whether the secrets are worth knowing, or just a trap set by the unknown woman. What will happen to her and Natsu?
Natsu x Erza
The Book of the Moon
Erza was currently seated at a table of her favorite cake shop in Magnolia, helping herself to a plate of cake after returning from her most recent mission. Luckily enough, the mission itself didn't turn out to be exceptionally tough, so she wasn't as exhausted as she normally would be after other jobs. As she took another bite of the cake, which melted spectacularly in her mouth relieving her of her slight fatigue, she realized how good it felt to be back in Magnolia after being away for a while.
The cake shop itself was quite populated at that time of the day, seeing as though the searing sun outside proved unfavorable to most of the residents of Magnolia, as well as Erza. There was general chatter and a lively mood within the shop as the citizens happily mingled with each other, but Erza was happy that she was able to spend some time by herself, without the overly boisterous presence of Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster or Lucy HeartFilia. Not that she minded their company, of course, she loved spending time with them more than anything in the world, but there were times when she simply enjoyed being in her own solitude. It gave her a chance to mull over things in silence, without any distractions around.
The door to the store swung open, the bells at the top ringing to signify that a new customer had just entered the store. Erza paid this no heed, of course, choosing to focus on the half-eaten cake that lay on the table ahead of her. She took the person who had just entered to be just another civilian of Magnolia, who had come to the shop to enjoy the cakes that were part of the pride of the small town. Such was her surprise, then, when the stranger decided to appear in front of the red haired woman.
She was clad in a bright colored skirt of blue, which ran all the way till her ankles, leaving her arms exposed from the shoulders forward. Erza became increasingly aware of the presence of someone next to her, so she looked up from her plate, to meet an attractive woman, the likes of which her eyes had never beheld before in Magnolia. Even the Fairy Tail poster girl, Mirajane Strauss, seemed to pale in comparison to the girl before Erza at the moment. She had a neat mass of blonde hair upon her head, which fell freely till her shoulders, plus a light toned skin, similar to the skin color of Lucy HeartFilia. Her eyes, however, were the oddest part about her facial features. She had blue irises, and within the irises, appeared star shaped symbols in the place of pupils. This gave her the uncanny appearance of having a night sky plus a constellation within her eyes.
Seating next to the place where Erza currently was, since there was no one keeping the red haired woman company, Erza realized that she had never seen anyone like that in Magnolia before. Her first thought was that the woman was an outsider from another town within Fiore, so she decided to keep to herself and allow the woman to see for herself what Magnolia was like, without any external aid. It definitely did better in enjoying the town more, something Erza understood the first time she visited the town, looking for the guild that Grandpa Rob had told her about, Fairy Tail.
To add on to Erza's surprises for the day, however, the woman suddenly spoke up in a hushed tone, clearly addressing the red haired woman, owing to their close proximity. "Erza Scarlet, I have seen the turmoil in your heart, and I know what bothers you most," the woman said. This caught Erza completely by surprise, and she immediately tore her eyes away from the cake she was currently looking at to look at the woman who addressed her. She was not surprised by the fact that the woman knew her name, on the contrary, since Erza was quite a renowned person within Magnolia. She was more surprised by the overly confident statement of the woman at that moment, when she had claimed there was something that was bothering Erza at the moment. Said woman, on the other hand, had her eyes completely locked on Erza, giving the woman the odd feeling that she was being stripped naked by the woman and she was staring into her soul. This behavior could have been viewed by anyone who laid witness to it, however, at the moment; the people in the store could care less about what went on between two people within the store, choosing to indulge themselves in their own pleasantries instead.
Erza then caught the faint trace of a grin appearing on the woman's visage, and immediately, she realized that the woman was mocking her and she was an enemy in disguise, having infiltrated Magnolia for some unknown reason. Not one to take provocation lightly, of course, Erza immediately stretched out her hand underneath the table, away from the woman's gaze, preparing herself for the probable battle that lay ahead. It didn't come, however, as the woman spoke up again, addressing Erza in that all too familiar hushed tone of hers. Erza had to admit, she exercised precise caution in whatever she was doing at the moment. "It's no use, Titania. You could never hope to defeat me if you decided to battle me." This came as a shock to Erza, as she had not expected that woman to sense what Erza was doing at the moment. But, the negative emotions she was currently feeling towards the woman did not end just there. A frown immediately appeared on Erza's face, and her earlier flamboyant mood, as she enjoyed the cake placed on her table, all but disappeared. She glared daggers at the woman, who still had that annoying grin on her face that gave Erza the uncanny feeling she was being underestimated. She was Titania, and she was never underestimates, she thought, as she clenched her free hand underneath the table. She intended to make the woman swallow all her words, for all intents and purposes.
However, all the anger that had been welling up in Erza ebbed away as soon as it had appeared, at the woman's next statement. She seemed like she was not quite done with addressing Erza. "Still not going to relent, are we? But are you sure about this? If you decide to fight me here, our lives are not going to be the only ones at risk," she added on, and then she shifted her gaze away from Erza, looking at the table that was neighboring the one she and Erza were sharing at the moment. With this glance, Erza understood the unsaid message she had relayed just then. If Erza decided to get caught up in a fight just then, the civilians that were in the shop with them would have their lives forfeit. As headstrong as Erza was, there was no way she was going to risk the lives of innocent civilians at the provocations of someone who she still had no clue of. Realizing this, she immediately released her hand, and subsequently withdrew her other hand underneath the table, which was in the process of gathering magic. She then cast her gaze downwards, in an attempt to calm herself, and keep her eyes averted away from the woman, trying to avoid the unsaid provocations which originated from her gaze. Luckily, she regained her usual composure after a few seconds, but even then, she still chose not to give any response to the woman.
"Well, it seems that you still do have some form of manners after all, doesn't it?' The woman said, and upon receiving no response from Erza, the smile on her face receded a little into a frown. Still, she was not as petty as to draw joy from provoking others, so she decided to explain Erza as to the reason why she had told her that she sensed the unrest in her heart earlier. "I have the answers you seek, Erza Scarlet, plus the answers about someone else in your heart at the moment," the woman told Erza. This piqued Erza's interest, as she looked up into the woman's eyes, which held an unreadable expression in them at the moment. All hints of amusement had disappeared from the woman's expression and Erza felt her breath catching in her throat, wondering what she was going to say next. A small part of her, however, wondered who specifically the woman was referring to when she mentioned the person in Erza's heart at the moment.
The stranger then passed a book across the table to Erza, keeping her palm over the cover, preventing Erza from seeing the name of the book. It held the appearance of any other book, and for a moment Erza found her curiosity diminishing slightly at the sight of such an ordinary looking book.
"This book will give you the answers you seek. If you so wish to discover the secrets it holds, I suggest you give it a look. But then again, the decision solely lies with you," the woman explained, as she finally released her hand over the book. Erza looked at the name of the book, and silently muttered to herself," The Book of the Moon?" This sent her mind into disarray, and she looked to the woman, asking her to verify why she gave her that book. Alas, the seat opposite Erza was unoccupied as it had been earlier, leaving her to herself as she had been before her company was intruded upon by the woman. The red haired woman batted an eyebrow in surprise, as she realized that she had not even sensed the woman take her leave, through whichever means she had, adding to the fact that she had said Erza could never hope to win against her. She looked around her, meeting the faces of most of the people within the café at that moment, and with a rising sense of alarm, realized that none of them had caught wind of anything that had happened at her table. They were still acting as normally as they had been prior to the visit by Erza.
A/N: I hope that was a good start to the second of my Naza stories, and I hope that this story will be enjoyable to all of you. Thanks for reading!