Rapunzel, rapunzel, let down your…OOF! – Flynn Rider, Tangled bloopers
Erza was daydreaming about a certain blue-haired person when out of nowhere, someone tapped her on the shoulder.
This being Erza, of course, she couldn't just shriek and jump like a normal person. Oh no. That'd be much too cliché.
Instead, she shrieked, jumped, and then punched the person in the nose. Hard.
"OW!"
Erza's eyes widened. "Natsu?!"
"Whad was dad for?!" the pink-haired flying boy yelled, hand clamped over his bleeding nose.
"Sweet cupcakes! Natsu, are you okay?!" A girl with butter-yellow hair exploded out of the forest, looking stunned. "What in the world did you say to her?!"
"I dunno!"
"Sorry!" Erza helped Natsu to his feet. "How many times have I told you not to startle me?"
"Fibdy-seben," he muttered, which she took to mean "Fifty-seven." "I wanded do innoduce you to Lucy. She's our dew Lod Boy."
Erza looked from Lucy to Natsu. "Um, Natsu, hate to break it to you, but she's hardly a boy."
He shrugged. "I duddo whad else do call her."
Erza decided to give him her suggestion as simply as possible. "Uh… What about Lost Girl?"
Natsu looked stunned. "Oh."
"Yeah."
"So, um, you're Erza?" Lucy asked politely. "I'm Lucy, like Natsu just said. It's nice to meet you."
Erza stared at her. "You're not insane."
"Um. Yes?"
"You're not psycho, either."
"Uh, yeah, I would hope not to be."
"You're pretty much perfectly normal."
"Well, I guess."
"Then why in the world would you not mind living with this idiot?"
"Hey!" Natsu protested.
Lucy looked at Natsu. Then at Erza. Then she thought of all the crazy things she'd seen him do. (There'd been one occasion where he'd tried to eat fire.)
She blinked. "I have no idea."
Erza nodded. It was easier than trying to figure it all out.
"That's not nice," Natsu grumbled. "But I've got something else to tell you, Erza."
"Hmm? What?"
He folded his arms. "I saw you chatting with Jellal the other day."
Her jaw dropped. "How in the world did you – "
"Never mind how I know." Suddenly, inexplicably, all the fun in his eyes vanished, to replaced by a hard look that definitely did not fit Natsu. Which was probably why it worried her. "You shouldn't hang around him too much. That guy's bad news."
Erza responded with a hard stare of her own. "Oh? In what way?"
"I can't say much more than this, but he works for a really scary group of people. A group of people that'd like nothing more than to see the island destroyed."
She couldn't believe her ears. "Destroy the island? Jellal would never – "
"That's what you think. But these guys are scary. Really scary. And if you don't believe me, think about who it's coming from." Natsu leaned forward. "And if you still don't believe me, then next time you see him – because I know you're not going to listen to me and will probably run off to see him first chance you get – mention an organization called the Villains. See if he reacts."
Erza would've laughed it off if it'd been anyone else. But this was Natsu Dragneel. He wouldn't lie about something like this.
Would he?
"And that's all I got to say." In a flash, Natsu was back to his old, grinning self. "Hey, Lucy! We'd better get back to the hideout – it's almost Quiet Time! Don't you have to work on your novel?"
"H-How in the world did you – "
"C'mon!"
Lucy ran after him. "Uh… Bye, Erza! It was nice meeting you!"
Erza didn't reply. She was already marching off to Jellal's tower.
xXx
"Jellal!" Erza called softly. "Jellal?"
No response. But then again, that was what usually happened.
She picked up a rock and tossed it through the window, like she always did. Usually, Jellal would've leaned out a second later and flung it back. (He was a bit of a neat-freak.) But this time, for some strange reason, he didn't. Instead, his voice came wafting out of the window.
"Here, catch. I'm in the middle of doing something."
The ladder dropped to the ground. Her heart hammering with the question she had to ask, Erza climbed the rungs up to the window and swung herself inside.
Jellal hadn't been kidding when he'd told her he didn't have a lot of stuff. The floor was almost completely bare, the only furniture a bed, a desk, and a chair. The walls, however, were full of pictures: crude drawings in crayon on the left, beautifully shaded sketches on the right. She guessed that he'd probably put the earlier ones on the left, and judging from the date on one of them, he'd been drawing them since he was around five.
Erza had barely managed to process this before something slammed into her head, hard. The room started spinning, and she knew something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
The last thing she saw was Ultear leaning over her, a smile on her lips.
"Sweet dreams," she cackled in Jellal's voice, and the world went black.
xXx
Romeo was late.
Wendy sat on a rock by the waterfall and let out a sigh. The water pounded down onto the rocks, making a roar so loud that only someone standing right next to her could hear her. So of course, she decided to have a little fun.
"Romeo, oh, Romeo," she sighed, like in one of the medieval romance novels Chelia was always reading. "Where art thou, Romeo?"
"Uh, I'm right here," a voice said from directly behind her, making Wendy shriek and jump a foot in the air. Unlike Erza, however, she just whirled around to see Romeo and Happy, who were both staring at her as if she were deranged.
Wendy could feel her face heating up. "Um. That was… Um…"
Romeo waved it away, much to her relief. "It's okay. Where's Carla?"
"Oh, she'll be here in a minute. She went back to grab some food for a picnic, since Gray apparently found his lost love or something and they're throwing a party over there."
He blinked. "Gray did what?"
So Wendy had to explain about the girl they'd found on the beach and how Gray'd decided to take her to the ship, and how the pirates had decided to have a party for whatever reason. "I didn't want to be there when they broke out the alchohol," she finished. "I mean, most of them have stopped, but there's still one or two, and they usually cause some kind of huge fight."
"Shouldn't you be there if there's going to be a fight? You're good with medicine and stuff."
"Nah, Chelia can handle it. And I'm not going to be able to get away tomorrow, so…"
"Huh? Why not?"
"Lyon's coming. You know, Gray's brother? So all the pirates have to be in attendance because those two always have some kind of crazy game, and if Carla and I aren't there, the sides'll be uneven." Wendy let out a sigh. "Those two are so competitive."
Romeo nodded in agreement. "Remember that one time they had a pillow fight? The mermaids were picking feathers out of their hair every time they surfaced for weeks."
"Ugh, don't remind me."
The peaceful moment was shattered when Carla swooped in.
"Wendy!" she hissed. "You have to get back to the ship right now! It's urgent!"
ARGH I'M SORRY IT'S SO SHORT BUT LIFE GOT IN THE WAY.
Hey, look, main plotline finally made it's appearance. Lots of cliffhangers! Yay…
Now for the review replies…
Bookwormswillruletheworld: Oh, uh… Glances at chapter. Oops.
And yeah, I saw it. ARGH WATER AND FIRE WHAT NO WHAT KIND OF ENDING IS THAT?!
crimson sana: Yes, yes, I will! And your hint is actually in the chapter, so…
Deathslayer Night: Ahahahahaha….
ultimateninja44: RoWen for the win!
Digi-fanCatt: Romeo: Okay, thanks! (Tries to read notes.) Wait.
SashaMonroe: I'm glad you like it!
Louise24Zoldyck: A wild update has appeared!
camacazi1: Yup! But the ending hopefully won't be the same….
NutsieDreamer: Special shout-out to you for always leaving the longest reviews and making me smile like an idiot!
And sweet cupcakes, I would be worried if it ended the same. Oh dear.
Oh, man, it would be fun to do that, but I wanted to get in some Lucy and Levy friendship stuff so… NEXT TIME.
And yes, they will do that, actually!
Phantom-PierceOkamoto: Mashima, you stay away from Natsu or you shall pay.
thefourteenthdarkone: Yes, they should, they should.
AND OMIJELLYBEANS, YOU ARE?! YOU'RE A WONDERFUL PERSON AND I LOVE YOU FOR DOING THAT THANK YOU SO MUCH I CAN'T BELIEVE ANYONE WOULD BE NICE ENOUGH TO DO THAT!
And oh! Jerza! Huh.
Kittylulz: Thank you, and I will!
Canadian Aspiring Author: Oh, are they OOC? Ooooopssss. And yes, actually, the storylines will all combine. Sooner or later.
FanGirlofDeath: It's okay, my updates are kind of screwy too. I hope your friend is pleased! Here, have some Jerza! And your change of pen name has been noted.
Maria: I will continue!
NutsieDreamer(Guest): Sweet cupcakes, that would be hilarious. I'll do that!
ForeverDreamer12: Romeo, the matchmaking genius.
EpicOtakuCherry: Chocolate cupcakes, thank you so much for saying that! (coughit'sBixlowcough)
meow goes a cat: Thank you! (meow) I'm really glad you like it!
jovysanchez17: I thought Peter Pan worked really well for them, so I'm glad you think so too! And Gray and Juvia are adorable.
Animal: Levy, you evil, ant-killing… uh… person!