Erza POV
Just as she came running back to meet Jellal and the rest of the group, she noticed Natsu was missing, and that Jellal's face sported an expression of pure terror. Seriously? What did Natsu do this time?
"Hey" She said, frowning as she approached them. "Where's Natsu?" She asked. Jellal looked at her with a guilty face, while Cana smirked beside him. "I...I'm so sorry Erza, I took my eyes off of Natsu for two seconds while confiscating these from Cana" He gestured to the two six packs of beer in his hands "and when I looked around again, Natsu was gone, I'm guessing into this labyrinth." He looked like he was bracing himself for what was known by many as the 'Titania rampage', just as he deserved. But, looking at his earnest expression and his partially rolled-up sleeves revealing his toned forearm, she felt something in her stomach flutter, and found herself saying "It's fine, we need to focus on finding Natsu before he causes any harm to the Mercurius gardens. Come with me Jellal." Both Jellal and Cana stood still for a moment, mouths open. Then Cana let out a laugh "You sure are a lot nicer to Jellal than you are to other people, Erza." She winked at them and sauntered off. "So...shouldn't we keep an eye on her too?" Asked Jellal. "No" She replied. "Cana is more functional when intoxicated. We'll just take the beers with us. Our primary focus here is Natsu." He's a little wrecking ball of fire that just never goes out. She groaned inwardly.
And what's with this eyeing Jellal's forearm? Why am I thinking about stuff like this? She pondered as they set off into the maze. Sure, Jellal had gotten especially toned and handsome lately from all the sports he played - like her he always strove for the best - but that was no reason for her to have such thoughts. Must be my hormones developing I guess...Well that just makes things extra awkward. Still, there are worse candidates than Jellal for the object of my lust. Thankfully I know that nothing can happen between us, so I can fantasize in peace on my own and never tell anyone ever. She smiled to herself. She was proud at how good she had become at introspection. But then again, it was only one point on an extensive list of her accomplishments. Just as it should be.
She glanced back at Jellal, noticing how good he looked when working out, the first few buttons of his school shirt undone showing a teasing glimpse of the top of his pecks. A few adorable blue chest hairs were starting to peep through, even though Erza knew that Jellal preferred to shave his chest out of insecurity of how those hairs looked. They're kind of cute, yet manly. I really want to play with them. She felt herself flush. Concentrate on finding Natsu. She scolded herself.
They came to a three-way fork in the maze, their options being to continue straight, turn left, or turn right. "What should we do now?" Asked Jellal."Hmm…" Erza pondered for a moment. "We have a two in three chance of choosing the right path if we split up, I'll take the one that continues straight, and you choose either left or right. If we don't come across Natsu, we'll backtrack to here. Alright?" "Gotcha" Jellal replied.
The two parted ways, Jellal taking the right-hand turn and Erza continuing straight. Knowing Natsu, he's most likely to take the middle path going straight. I hope I find him soon.
However, after about ten minutes of brisk jogging along the route, Erza found herself getting frustrated. How far along could he be? She wondered. She decided to start yelling for him. "Natsu! Natsu Dragneel! Get your butt towards the sound of my voice!" She called. She tried multiple times to yell out to him with no avail. "Ugh! I swear I'm going to murder you when I find you Salamander!" She yelled frustratedly. Just then, something big crashed into her. She looked up to see Jellal on top of her, breathing hard while they looked at each other. He had taken her completely off guard, and Erza found her face heating up despite what she had told herself. She felt a heat begin to pool in her groin as well at the feeling of his body on top of hers.
Jellal jumped up, turning even more red than he had been after exerting himself. "Sorry!" He said. "I wasn't looking where I was going, I figured I'd have to run to catch up with Natsu" He frowned. "So the paths we took just create a circle to connect? Well that's annoying. I guess we'll have to backtrack to the other route" "Yeah, you're right" Erza commented, still flustered from being in such position with her...Whatever Jellal is to me now. "Let's double back the way you came and take the final path from before - that must have been the one he took. Hopefully we didn't waste too much time coming this way" She told him. They made their way back to the fork in the path, this time walking straight from where Jellal had entered before to what had formerly been the left-hand turn. They ran along it for a ways, before coming to another fork in the hedges.
"Should we split up again?" Asked Jellal. "I'm worried that if we do, we may be forced to continue to take different turns and get even more lost in this maze. If we really do get lost beyond finding our way out, I'd rather we get lost together; that way we'll be easier to find if they send a search party." Though she sounded calm and collected on the matter, the truth was that Erza was beginning to feel paranoid of getting completely lost and never finding their way out, and if that happened she would rather be with Jellal than go insane on her own. Besides...his presence is reassuring. She felt herself blush a little.
They ran along the chosen path for a ways, occasionally calling out for Natsu. About half an hour later, even though they were both in top shape, they began to tire of running. They were both sweating profusely as the day was reaching its peak temperature. "Geez, I thought Fiore was supposed to have a temperate climate" Jellal remarked.
"It does, but spring and summer get especially warm inland. Magnolia is much closer to the ocean than Crocus…" She trailed off distractedly, noticing how Jellal's shirt seemed to be becoming progressively more see-through with his sweat - she supposed that running was especially tiring for him while carrying those twelve beers. Surely I should find it gross. She thought, but on a guy with a body like Jellal's it was tough to find anything gross. His white shirt was sticking to his abdominal muscles in a way that rivaled a Heart-Cruiz underwear model. She wanted to run her hands all over his torso and feel those muscles, especially what she saw outlined as his abs...Mmm...I wonder what it would be like to lick- She shook her head, forcing herself once again to snap out of it. Now is not the time for this! Stop getting distracted or you'll have to deal with more paperwork than you can handle and get kicked out of ever coming here again!
In a moment, she quieted, looking at the hedge behind her. It seemed as though a strange rustling noise was coming from the other side of it. That MUST be Natsu! She thought excitedly. But...how to get to him? The path ahead turned left, the opposite direction of where she wanted to go, and when she checked further it diverged into two different directions, neither of which led where the noise was coming from. She doubled back to where Jellal was. "Do you hear that rustling noise?" She asked. "Yeah, think it could be Natsu?" He wondered. "Yes, but there's no way ahead that guarantees we get to him in time. It looks like we're going to have to cross over the hedge somehow." "Cross over it?!" Jellal said, clearly surprised. "Yes. I wasn't sure before, but now that I look closely at these, I realize that roses don't grow this high on their own, there must be some kind of cement wall or something in the middle that the plant grows upon...If I can get ahold of that, I should be able to scale this." She reached forward, her hand finding its way into the bush. Surely enough, she found something hard beneath with her fingers. She withdrew her hand to find it covered in scratches from the rose bushes' thorns. So I won't be able to properly climb this. She mulled for a few moments.
"Jellal" She stated "I'm going to need you to hoist me up to the top of this hedge, Once I'm there, I'll give you a hand up, which may be difficult while carrying those" She gestured to the beer "but I'm afraid we'll just have to manage. Once we're up there we must be careful of our footing - it's a long way to fall…" She trailed off, trying to think of a safer way over, but the rustling noise had stopped sounding as close as before and was moving away from them gradually. "You...you want me to give you a boost up?" Jellal asked, swallowing. "That seems to be the only way" She concluded. "But...but you're wearing a skirt…" He trailed off quietly, turning red in the heat. Erza frowned. "I am. So?" "Nothing" Jellal looked away. Strange, I wonder what's up with him.
Jellal put his hands out to lift her. She stepped on them gracefully, and he began hoisting. After a certain point he had to grab her legs to support her as she clambered among the thorns. Finally, she got to the top, lodging her feet in beneath the plant on the cement wall. She looked down at Jellal, who was regarding her with a red, unsure face. "You really think this is going to work?" He asked. "I'll just have to make it work." She answered. She squatted hard, reaching as far as she could without losing balance to reach for the beers. She placed them beside her and reached again for Jellal. He stretched his arms up and used Erza's arms to balance himself while scaling up the wall. Luckily Erza happened to be supernaturally strong for a girl her size, or else Jellal would have fallen on his ass.
She finally managed to haul him up. The two stood at the top for a moment, gathering their bearings. Jellal stepped gingerly to the side to pick up the beers. "Okay, I'm going to try to make it down gently" Said Erza. "Sure" Jellal replied.
She turned her back to the side she wished to descend towards, and tried to find footing in the cement. While she struggled to weed through the brambles, she heard a cry to her left. She looked just in time to see Jellal falling down, quickly tucking and rolling as he hit the ground, all while clutching the beers. Distracted, Erza lost her footing in the wall, and prepared herself for a hard fall, but she stayed suspended in air for a moment. She looked down, wondering what was happening, then realized that her blouse had caught on the thorns. It held her up for a few moments before ripping completely down the button-front as she fell to the ground. "Erza!" Jellal cried out, rushing to catch her. She landed with his arms around her waist and his body supporting hers. Erza tried to catch her breath after the fall. That was rather frightening. She thought. Erza looked down and saw that the front portion of her shirt had been completely stripped away. She looked up and saw the remnants of it on the hedge.
Jellal suddenly gave an audible gasp and seized up. Jellal's hands were big - big enough that they stretched from her clothed sides to the flesh that had been revealed from her fall. They rested around her waist, immediately below her bust. He was just a few centimeters from touching her white lacy bra. Having him this close and touching her gave Erza tingly feelings in her groin, and she felt her nipples perk up.
Jellal let go of her and quickly backed away, clutching his nose and facing away from her while doubling over. Erza frowned. "Are you okay Jellal?" She asked. "Did something happen to your nose?" He looked back at her, his face bright red, with a look of terror in his eyes. "NO!" He practically yelled. "I'm just very sensitive to roses - allergies I mean!" He spluttered out fast before looking away again.
"Ohh...Okay…" Erza replied. I wonder what's going on with him.
Then she remembered their task. "Dammit! I'd bet Natsu got away!" But then she heard the rustling noise. She looked over to the sound and saw a squirrel hopping about, eating a rose bud. She smiled. "That's adorable" So I was completely wrong about that. I've messed up big time it seems. She didn't really care that her shirt had ripped - she'd worn more risqué outfits than her underwear just for the hell of it - but the idea that she was failing in her search for Natsu really bothered her. I must not give up! She thought, even as her body was sweating profusely, despite feeling like it was completely out of water, and her hair was feeling hot making her head fuzzy and her primal urges were begging her to go home and masturbate in the comfort of her room with her favourite dirty novel. I must stay on track no matter what, even if I'm really really thirsty. She tried to ignore her parched throat, amplified by the intense heat of this sunny day. The temperature seemed to have been gradually rising, coming to what she hoped was its peak, now shining directly on them in the sky. I would kill for something to drink...but...but I can't stop concentrating on finding Natsu.
"Come Jellal" She called. "Let's carry onward. Hopefully this doesn't deter us from finding that scoundrel" She looked at Jellal and saw that the entire front of his white school shirt was covered in blood. He must have hit his nose pretty hard in that fall. I wonder why he bothered lying about it. He looked at himself, muttered "Fuck it" and took his shirt off, bunching it up and using it to stem the blood from his nose. Erza's eyes widened. She definitely wasn't expecting him to do that. She felt heat boil in her heart, stomach and sex organs simultaneously at the sight. She rubbed her legs together a bit to relieve some of that sweet ache, but that only seemed to make her want more. At this rate I'm practically giving Natsu the time to destroy this entire castle.
"We - we must continue onward and hope to find Natsu" She said. "Yeah, yeah. You already said that" Muttered Jellal. DId I?
So they walked and walked and walked, only to walk some more. As they strode on, the hedges surrounding them became progressively less well kempt. The colours of the roses were changing as well. It was tough to notice before, but the roses at the beginning had been white and had very gradually turned yellow as they had moved further in. The ones here were peach-coloured, and growing wildly around the path where the others had been neatly cut.
"We must've been here at least three hours already" Commented Jellal. "And no sign of Natsu" Erza deflated. She was now so thirsty she felt like she would pass out soon. Jellal had been walking in front of her and she had busied herself with watching the muscles on his back flex and strain with his walking while carrying those beers. I really have the worst dedication to this cause...it's so important to me yet...yet my other needs seem to be coming first. I really need to improve my self-control...but I suppose even I can't go without hydration.
She sighed, giving in to her most improprietous idea. "Jellal" She said, coming to a stop. The blue-head followed suit. "I'm dying of thirst. I think...I'm not proud of it, but I think I need one of those beers" Jellal froze for a second, shocked. Then he smiled and said "I'm so glad you suggested that. I've been parched for ages now but was worried you might beat me up if I proposed it".
So the two of them took a seat on the somewhat-shady side of the hedges, and each cracked open a beer from one of the six-packs. They glugged them down greedily, and Erza moaned in content as she felt the drink begin to quench her thirst.