Chapter 1. Her.
"Why do you keep on ruining my dreams!"
"You really are up to no good"
"I don't need any gratitude from a garbage"
The scarlet haired girl slowly opened her eyes as she tried to slap away the memories trying to invade her thoughts.
The open window allowed the cherry blossom petals to enter her view while she was trying to make an essay in her literature class. It's currently lunch break but she is too lazy to go to the library so she decided to have lunch on her table instead. In front of her is a blonde bookwork who's in love with literature, trying to proofread her work. She stretched a little bit and looked outside the window beside her. Everything's fine now. No need to dwell on the past. She sighed.
"Spring has finally come," she said with a distant look, with a small smile plastered on her face.
"Is that a connotation?" the blonde asked in intrigue.
She snorted in response and looked at her friend. "You're reading too much into it. I meant the literal thing"
The blonde smirked as she pointed the pen at her. "Hehe. You've been famous after winning the Fantasia pageant you know, and your suitors are left and right!"
"Ah! I meant you're already famous, but you became more famous to other schools too!" the blonde added.
"I don't even have some time for that. I mean, just being able to share my happiness with you guys is already fulfilling enough" the redhead laughed a little and went back to writing.
"Aw… That's so sweet! I love you too, Erza!" The blonde chuckled and went back to writing too.
This is just like any other peaceful day in Fairy Academy. Weird people, the fighting, the shouting, it really feels like home.
"OI GRAY! YOU DIPSHIT"
"YOU WANNA GO AT IT, YOU IDIOT!?"
"COME AT ME!"
"Ah… There they go again" the blonde uttered in disbelief.
"Ah… I'm not in the mood to mediate between them, I'm trying to enjoy spring" Erza said as she sighed and sipped from her box of strawberry milk.
"I wonder when will they both stop" the blonde sighed again.
"Why don't you stop them Lucy?" the redhead urged.
"That was a funny joke. I don't want to be bruised again" Lucy weeps.
"Ah… I just got my pay for my part-time job. Let's drop by a cake shop later. My treat" Erza smiled warmly.
"That's great! I can't wait for it!" Lucy replied as she clapped her hands in delight with a huge grin.
"I wanna go too!" a pair of voices echoed.
Two pairs of eyes landed on the salmon haired guy and the black-haired guy beside him.
"Hey I said it first!" both of them said in unison.
"Stop it you two! " Lucy chimed between them.
Erza placed her chin at the back of her hand as she looked at the three in amusement. She was really happy with her life right now. It's been a few days that something is haunting her. The shadow of her past remained as shackles no matter how hard she tried to forget them. She's been having reoccurring dreams and she is afraid that it might be a foreshadowing of something.
"Got it! Let's all go together! Be sure to pick up Wendy from the lower year building too, kay?" she smiled but the three in front of her are still bickering.
She just sighed and looked at them in defeat.
…..
"Ah! I forgot something from the Student Council office! Wait for me at the entrance" Erza said as she checked her bag for the files needed for the meeting tomorrow.
"Okay!" the others replied.
She walked towards the student council office at a steady pace. As she entered the room, stacks of paper are neatly stacked in their respective areas. She checked the papers on her tabled and checked the drawers in case she missed something. There sat a book in her drawer and she was taken aback when she saw it.
'Erza, you look so stressed the past few days. Have some breather. We missed each other earlier so I'm leaving this here. Enjoy! -Levy'
The note on top of it said. She took the book and examined it and put it inside her bag along with some student council documents. At least she's gonna keep herself busy tonight to prevent herself from dreaming.
The walk towards the shop, where Erza frequents, feels very slow as they talked to each other about their day.
"A whole strawberry shortcake please!"
"Erza-san, it's really amazing how you don't get fat despite eating so much sugar" the cerulean haired girl who was much younger than them applauded.
"I agree with Wendy. Like I always need to work out because I get fat so easily" Lucy cried as she pinched her cheek.
"Well, I walk every day from Fairy Hills so I guess that's that" Erza laughed.
"Ah, it's quite far. I just wanna rush home every time to read books" Lucy purred.
"Lucy-san is really a bookworm" Wendy laughed.
"Ah, Levy left me a book. Have you read this?" Erza asked as she showed the hardcover book.
"Ah! I've read that!" Wendy and Lucy both said in unison.
"Oh, is it nice?" Erza reminisced.
"Yeah! The alternate universe part is really overwhelming I cried" Lucy said as she wiped fake tears from her eyes.
"I agree… The story is very nice" Wendy uttered meekly.
"Alternate universe? That's like a parallel world with exact copies of us, right?" Gray wanted to confirm.
"Yup! But different in the setting. They say when people time travel, it's like going into the parallel universe, not the world we are in right now" Wendy explained.
"But no one has ever time traveled right?" Natsu tried to join in.
"Yup! But just the thought of it makes you excited right?" Wendy smiled.
"I know right, I wonder if there's an adult version of us somewhere there right now" Lucy joked.
"Or fairies... Or mermaids" Wendy added in delight.
"Or wizards" Erza joked too.
"Oh! Isn't Lucy making a novel? That Adventure of Iris?" Natsu said in deep thought.
"You idiot! You went through my things again!" Lucy cried while pinching Natsu.
"It would be great if we're friends with everyone in the other worlds too," Wendy said with a grin.
"That would be truly great" Erza seconded.
"I wish you could be my big sister in those other worlds, Erza-san," Wendy told Erza while the other three kept on with their thing.
"I would be delighted if that were to happen too" Erza replied.
She then looked at the people in front of her. 'Yep, this is my family now' she thought to herself and smiled.