"I'm still appalled that I let you drag me into this." Lucy sighed as she wrapped her arms around herself as she stood next to her two best friends in the harsh cold of early November. Instantly regretting her choice of clothes which were, light blue skin tight skinny jeans with a black cropped tank top, paired with an olive green jacket and high top vans. Her long blonde hair had grown past her hip, which at least kept her neck warm.
"Admit it, you miss it." Erza said, glancing at her quickly.
Lucy huffed. Instantly getting flashbacks of her own time in the ring, she didn't get as far as Erza did. She decided to let that passion go after getting her nose and collarbone broken, she was a pretty decent fighter while she had her time there; racking up over fifteen thousand dollars. "H-here they come!" Juvia said, her breath was visible through her words due to the drop in temperature over the past few weeks. The little blue haired girl had her hands stuffed in the pockets of her white puffy coat, her stomach felt like a bit once she caught sight of Gray.
Lucy shifted her focus on the group of guys that were heading their way, she blushed and looked down when she saw Natsu smile at her.
"Lucy aren't you cold with that choice of clothing?" Natsu teased when he saw her get up, she rolled her eyes and zippered up her jacket. Of course she was cold! "Nice to see you too, Natsu." He chuckled and removed his white plaid scarf from his neck,
"What are you-"
She stopped herself from speaking any further as she watched as he placed it over her head, adjusting it so that it would cover her neck completely and the little part of her chest that her jacket failed to protect. "Better?" he asked.
"T-thank you." She felt the heat rise up to her cheeks making her feel as if she didn't even need the scarf. "Looks way better on you than me." He said with a wink, just to see her blush again. She's so adorable...
"You sure you wanna do this?" Jellal asked as he placed his hand on the girl's soft cheek, she was cold to the touch. "Gotta get back out there sometime I guess." She tried answering as if she was calm, cool and collected. But in reality she was nervous, and worried that entering other businesses could get her into even worse trouble than before. He grabbed her waist and pulled her close into him, "I just don't want to see you get hurt...like last time."
Erza pulled herself out of his embrace and rested a hand on his cheek, "Hey, don't worry. I won't let what happened last time happen again." Her dark eyes met his, and she knew he wasn't entirely convinced. "You have my word." She gave him a slow peck on the lips before intertwining her hand with his. "Let's go I don't wanna miss this train." She chuckled.
...
Natsu followed closely behind Lucy so he could grab the seat next to her, instantly feeling a pit in his stomach and a strong sense of nausea. He has never done well with any sort of vehicle other than a car.
"You okay?" The blonde asked him as they took their seats, her eyes held the look of concern.
Gray chimed in, "He's fine. The dweeb just gets motion sickness when he's involved in almost any sort of transportation." Lucy saw that Natsu was almost completely out of it, due to the motherly instinct within her she gently set Natsu's head down in her lap. Stroking his wild light pink locks in effort to comfort him.
"Go..to hell...Gray.." Natsu muttered as he relished in Lucy's touch.
Erza took the window seat with Jellal sitting beside her, Lucy and Natsu directly in front of them, leaving Juvia and Gray alone in the booth behind them due to lack of space. She gazed out and took hold of her surroundings as the train began it's journey, the sun was near to being fully set and she observed the sky's mixture of colors. This was Erza's favorite time of day apart from the sunrise, she found something beautiful about the slow shift.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Jellal said quietly in her ear, the scarlet haired girl gazed at the sun going behind the mountains. She had forgotten about the amazing landscape areas outside the city had to offer. "It sure is."
...
"Oof." Natsu breathed as he saw one of the fighter's get thrown across the ring, feeling his opponent's wrath. It was brutal, the brawl has been going for five minutes already and both fighters had their fair share of bloodshed. Erza watched them intently, focusing on their movements, she was desperate to get back out there. "I'll be right back." She said loud enough for Natsu and Jellal to hear her over the loud audience.
The scarlet haired fighter walked over to the older man who was seated at a wooden stand, he seemed to be in his mid thirties and his beard went well with his chiseled chin and sharp jawline. He took a quick emotionless glance at her before looking down to finish whatever he was scribbling in his large three ring binder. "What can I do for you little girl?" He asked lazily, Erza glared at him even though she knew he wasn't really paying her any sort of attention. "I want the next fight." She said firmly, arms crossed over her black sports bra that was exposed by her opened black mini jacket. "This side of the business is for experience fighters only. I'm not setting you up to fail." He turned the page and began writing again. Erza felt her left eye twitch and she suddenly grabbed the guy by his shirt collar and made him stare directly into her dark eyes.
"Do I look like an experienced fighter to you?" She asked firmly. The man was shocked by this girl's outburst and he analyzed her more intently, recognizing the scarlet hair. He mentally sighed at himself when he came to the realization that he mistook a champion for a amateur. He lurched back to get out of her tight grasp, "Now I see..." She raised an eyebrow at his phrase. "Are you sure you want to mess with these fighters...I've seen what people here can do and even to me it's a little intense and far worse than Magnolia." He warned, Erza didn't want to hear it she just wanted to get in the ring. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't prepared."
"Well in that case, I'll pit you against Seilah. She's one of the most vicious fighters here in Tartaros. If you get your ass kicked, don't say I didn't warn you, love." He replied with a smirk before flipping to the front of his binder to write her down for the next match. Erza heard the crowd cheer loudly and she quickly looked over, the dark haired fighter had won brutally. She glanced back at the man she just conversed with, he chuckled. "Better get going love, you're up next."
Erza picked up her black gym bag that she had left on the floor and she slung it over her shoulder, she raced to the back area where a small locker room was located. She quickly took off her jacket and thick gray sweatpants, which left her in black shorts which almost exposed her entire leg due to lack of length and a black sports bra. She tied her long scarlet hair up into a high ponytail. After she finished wrapping her wrists and putting on her gloves securely, she quickly made her way out into the ring, where her opponent had just entered.
"Where did Erza go? She said's she'd be right back." Jellal said as he glanced around and through the crowd to try and pick the scarlet haired girl out. He turned his head when he felt Natsu slap his arm. "What Natsu?" He asked, irritated. The pinkette pointed to the large fighting ring in the middle of the room, where two fighters were about to battle it out in a matter of seconds. Jellal gazed upon the red haired girl he knew all too well. Scarlet...you're just full of surprises
"KICK HER ASS ERZA!" Natsu hollered, she heard him and she flashed him a quick smile. He was confident now that his friend would take the win.
"My my, I didn't know that the champion of Magnolia's female line would show her face here." Erza was barely paying attention to her words, she was more focused on the incoming adrenaline. She began to shift from one foot to the other, she brought her gloves to her face and intent to find a critical point and take her opponent down.
Seilah was in fact at least five foot six, her large bust was barely supported by her dark purple sports bra that matched her hair; which was tied up into a high loose bun with two front strands hanging loose over her face. She threw the first punch, Erza ducked to the side to evade but ended up feeling the wrath of the fighter's left hook instead. Her head jerked back and she felt warm liquid drip from her nose, Damnit I'm a little rusty
Before she knew it the girl was throwing punches at an alarming speed, showing no mercy and no sign of fatigue or weakness. The scarlet haired girl managed to block and defend against the array of attacks before returning the favor. Due to her wearing MMA gloves, Erza caught the next punch slightly with her palm before quickly decking her opponent in the face, sending Seliah back a couple feet.
Erza turned and forcefully kicked the girl in her side, the dark haired fighter coughed and her face twisted in pain. Seilah lunged forward and attacked with everything she got, she was almost being made a fool of and Titania was going to feel her wrath. The scarlet haired girl felt the attacks in her stomach, and it almost made her nauseous. She jerked back evading the girl's uppercut by barely an inch, her fighting style was similar to Minerva's but was definitely far more advanced and dangerous.
Seilah went in for another punch, this time Erza step into it, throwing off her opponent. The scarlet haired girl struck the girl's throat with a hard jab, Seilah coughed and Erza used her strength to strike another body hit, right in the liver. Seilah coughed violently and fell, gripping her side in pain and punching the floor. The scarlet haired champion took down one of the most dangerous fighters in the underground fighting world of Tartaros, barely suffering from any significant injuries Titania was only getting started. Seilah was just a warm up.
Erza ducked under the ropes and was greeted by her cheering group of friends. "Erza you scared the shit out of me!" Lucy said as she hugged her victorious friend. "Took you long enough." Jellal joked arrogantly, rolled her eyes playfully but couldn't hold back her laugh. She wrapped her arms around him and puled him into a hug before giving him a long kiss on the lips.
"Get a room guys, damn." Gray said before getting told to 'shut the fuck up' by the charming blue haired Jellal.
"Soo what's next? Wanna explore the other neighboring businesses? it's astounding how close they all are." Natsu suggested, he was itching to get in the ring as well. He turned to Erza, waiting for approval.
"We can take off and explore in a little bit, I wanna get more familiar with the people here." She replied, she began to make her way back to the stand to sign up for another fight. She was all fired up now.
...
I know, longest update ever. I'm surprised I still have readers. Thank you for sticking by getting through these long awaited updates, I'm sorry!
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Have a good day!