Chapter 3

Discoveries

I arrived in Magnolia a week after receiving Natsu's message. I chose to borrow the path near the river to reach the Headquarters of Fairy Tail.

I had walked quickly. I couldn't wait to know what was wrong with Erza. What could be so urgent that Natsu had asked me to meet them asap? I had imagined the worse; she was sick, gravely injured, she had lost a limb and more...

When I arrived near the river, something captured my undivided attention. Under the warm sunlight which made its way through the trees, a scarlet mass was floating upon the translucent water. Quickly, I took a few steps toward the scene and I hid myself behind a large tree. What I saw took my breath away. There she was, fully naked, bathing in the calm river. Even if I had wanted to, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was so beautiful in the sunlight; her white skin shone bright like a diamond. Her eyes were closed, but she seemed to enjoy the moment; a smile of bliss was plastered on her face. Staring at her, I had to firmly hold the trunk of the tree in front of me not to dive into the river; she was like a magnet and, even if I kept ordering myself to stay the hell were I was, my will to resist was abandoning me by the second...

I was about to move when I saw someone. Sitting on the edge of the river, pants backed up on his knees, feet in the water, a man with orange spiked hair was staring at Erza. However, the man's eyes weren't filled with love, need or lust like mine; his face was showing no emotion. I looked at him, but I was too far to see him clearly. I was pretty sure I had never seen him before, but there was something odd about him. Instinctively, I didn't like him, I didn't like him at all...

Then, I wondered if the man was threatening Erza's safety. It didn't seem like it, but I couldn't take any chance. So, I took a step forward. He must have heard me because the orange haired man turned himself toward me without withdrawing his feet of the water. Seeing me, he smiled widely; his expression puzzled me.

''Jellal Fernandez, we meet at last; I've heard so much about you.'' said the orange haired man with a sultry voice. '' Let me introduce myself, I am Jann, Jann Giftrache, Erza's boyfriend.'' he added, smiling arrogantly, extending his hand to me.

I kept looking at Jann, totally puzzled. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. It couldn't be true!

Suddenly, I turned my head toward Erza who was still bathing calmly as if nothing was happening around her.

''Erza!'' I called her. Even if she didn't answer me, she seemed to get out of her torpor slowly, as if she was waking up from a pleasent dream.

Then, Jann withdrew his feet from the water and he stood up, unfolding in long and strong silhouette in front of me, He was really impressive; he was a feet taller than me, but it didn't stop me from trying to catch Erza's attention.

''Erza'' I nearly screamed. Why wasn't she answering to me?

Few seconds later, Erza finally opened her eyes.

When she did, I could have sworn they were black. I quickly blinked and, when I opened my eyes again, they were their usual color. My imagination was beginning to play tricks on me... I had to focus.

Then, she saw me and she lost her smile of bliss.

''Requip'' she said, shaking. Quickly, a black bathing suit appeared on her buxom and naked body.

Quickly, she went out of the water. Away from the liquid who, now seemed clearer than ten minutes ago, she was shivering. Soon, l took off my cloak and crossed the short distance that was separating us. However, Jann prevented me to come too close to Erza. Promptly, the orange haired mastodon took off his coat and he put it on Erza's shoulders, displaying a black T-shirt and a lot of muscles.

When our eyes met again, Erza seemed to be uneasy; what was definately out of character. Then, Jann took her hand. That seemed to bring back her composure. Witnessing their proximity, their connexion, I felt myself sinking into a never ending nightmare.

''What do you want from me Jellal?'' Erza asked me, wearing a cold expression, still holding Jann's hand.

Her tone took me my surprise. The Erza Scarlet I knew would know that I would never do anything to harm her; she wouldn't speak to me that way, with total coldness. There was definitely something wrong with her as Natsu had written me. On purpose, I decided not to answer her with total honesty; I had a feeling it wouldn't help me at this point.

''I came here for a mission'' I said to her softly, trying to regain my composure. It was true, kind of; she was my mission, one of the most important of my life.

To help her, I needed to know exactly what had happened. For that, I needed to talk to her and I needed to get her alone; I didn't trust this Jann guy, at all...

''Can I talk do you alone?'' I added, as kindly and softly as I could.

Erza didn't answered to me immediately; she seemed to be thinking and her expression had loosen up a bit. There was hope. Then, I noticed that Jann squeezed her hand tighter.

''You can talk in front of Jann.'' she said, her colder tone was back.

I couldn't speak in front of him; he was clearly part of the problem. He seemed to have a bad incidence on Erza. I didn't like him, I didn't like him at all! I didn't like their closeness. To me, he seemed to be a tad possessive; his large hands were always on hers as if he was holding her. Maybe It was jealousy speaking, but I had a gut feeling that it was more than that. But, yes, I had to admit that I was jealous...

How could I make her listen to me? I had to face her and make her.

So, I took another step forward and I gently took her free hand in mine.

At the minute our skins touched, her eyes widened and she started to breath heavily. Promptly, Jann tried to get her away from me, from my contact, but I kept holding her hand tightly. Soon, she began to convulse and fell onto the floor. Something was wrong with her!

To help her, I let go of her hand, but I noticed that Jann hadn't; he had kneeled down and he held her hands tighter than ever. Staring at his ''girlfriend'', he seemed more pissed than worried. Suddenly, I noticed that her nose was bleeding, but the liquid falling from her left nostril was blacker than red. What the hell was going on?

Before, I could do something, Jann took Erza into his arms and he started to walk with her. I quickly followed them.

''We've got to take her to a doctor, she's sick!'' I said, terribly worried.

''She will be fine, there's no need to worry. I'll take care of her.'' said dryly, walking very fast, almost running, as if he wanted to get as far away from me as he could.

I started running to catch them. As I was about to grab Erza's hand, Jann spun her around abruptly, what prevented me from touching her. Suddendly, he stopped walking.

''Don't you think you've done enough?'' he said to me, angrily before starting to run, sinking deeper into the forest.

Out of breath, I didn't follow them. I knew what to do. I had to hurry back at the Guild Headquarters, to get Master Makarov or Wendy and bring them to Erza. Since Jann hadn't agreed to bring her to a doctor, I assumed he had brought her to his place to take care of her himself. So, I had to get help and bring it back to his place; someone surely knew where he lived. Quickly, I started to run again.

On my way back to the guild's Headquarters, I couldn't stop thinking about Erza. So many things had happened in so little time. She must have caught some sort of disease and it was changing her. My guts were telling me that Jann was no stranger to that illness and I intented to prove it. But first, Erza...