Taking the train was a rather awkward affair, everybody remaining perfectly silent and not interacting much. Evergreen occupied herself with looking out the window, Freed resting his eyes next to her whilst Bickslow snored, spread out over the rest of the seat. Cana was also staring out the window, now properly sobered up whilst I shifted uncomfortably. This was tense. Should I try to break the ice or should I just stay quiet? At the very least we should probably discuss tactics and strategy. We were such a diverse mix of wizards, I was worried we wouldn't be able to properly work together without planning first.
The Thunder Legion were obviously perfectly fine working side by side, having done so for a very long time now, however Cana and I were used to working just the two of us. It was likely that our styles would clash. Glancing between everyone, I decided to try and strike up conversation. "So…how has everyone been recently?" I asked tentatively as Bickslow continued to snore.
"That's the best ice breaker you could come up with Zee?" Cana gave me a blunt smirk as I gave a shrug.
"Hey, I tried. Want me to try again?" Thinking for a moment I tapped a finger to my chin before giving a grin. "These trains huh? Not only do they steam things up, but they really get things rolling." Cana smacked a hand to her face at my terrible attempt at a pun. "I know, I suck…sorry about that." Evergreen was smiling ever so slightly, trying to hide her expression behind her fan.
"Please don't ever try to make puns again, Zee." Cana asked me, folding her arms as she flicked a leg over the other, looking curvaceous and gorgeous as usual. "Besides, we don't want to derail the quiet atmosphere here, am I right?" I stared at Cana for a moment before all at once I burst into a fit of laughter. She cracks me up sometimes, it's great. Even Evergreen snickered as I clamped a hand over my mouth. "Come on Zee, you should really conduct yourself with a little more restraint, at least we're all on the same platform, yeah?" Laughing even harder, I ended up waking up Bickslow who rubbed his face.
"What's going on? Why you laughing like that?" He questioned as Evergreen also struggling to hide her giggling, causing Bickslow even more confusion. "What did I miss?"
"Oh nothing much really, just choo-choo choosing a few train puns for entertainment. Sorry if I'm giving mixed signals." Cana was on a roll, giving a dramatic sigh as she lifted her hands. "Hey Bickslow, with that helmet on all the time, does that mean you have tunnel vision?" Clutching at my stomach I couldn't hold back my laughter. Bickslow started laughing too and by this point only Freed was remaining perfectly calm, sitting between his giggling and laughing companion until he exhaled.
"If you continue in this manner, then you will disturb…" He trailed off, lifting his head and looking me dead in the eye. "Apologies. I seem to have lost my train of thought." Everyone fell silent, staring at Freed with gaping mouths. No way. No freaking way. Freed just made a pun, Freed Justine of all people, I can't even believe my ears. Slowly, everyone started to giggle once more, before all at once we burst into raucous laughter which completely overshadowed before. Giving a soft smile, Freed closed his eyes once more to relax. With the ice now completely broken between us, conversation flowed much more easily and I became comfortable with the Thunder Legion, learning that they were not as distant and abrasive as they had seemed, and in fact they were actually rather goofy, comical and fun to hang around with.
Cana and I shared a secret smile with one another before we all then began to talk about how we were going to deal with the Scorpion Beast. By the time that we got to our client, Evergreen, Cana and I had already planned an extensive shopping trip together. When we headed out to locate the Scorpion Beast on the merchant's road, I hung back a little to observe Cana and Bickslow as they walked together, getting along rather well whilst Freed and Evergreen also walked ahead of me. After a few moments, Freed stopped and lifted his head before then turning to check up on me. "Is everything alright?"
"Oh, yes! Sorry, I was just thinking." Hurrying forwards so that I had caught up, I smiled slightly as Cana flirted with a rather bashful Bickslow, teasing him for something or other whilst Evergreen also ganged up on Bickslow. "This is rather nice, I don't think I've ever teamed up with so many people before. Now I think I know what it's like for Erza and Team Natsu."
"Yes, the others can be rather unruly at times, but so long as they are happy." Freed agreed in his usual calm and melodic voice. "Are you confident that you will be able to use support magic for the four of us all at once? Will it not be difficult for you?"
"It shouldn't be a problem, so long as I can keep my focus." I told him honestly. "Besides, I'll be standing back at a distance so that I don't get in your way, so I should be just fine supporting you all however I can. Don't worry about me Freed, I'll be just fine." Giving him a friendly smile, I gestured towards Cana. "Cana and I have always managed to pull through on any kind of job we did together, but I'll admit I'm glad you offered to come along with us. Although Cana is very strong, I usually end up messing things up for her or getting in the way. So long as you three are here, there won't be any problems."
"You can put your faith in us, Zera. We will most certainly protect you." Freed promised and I was warmed by his reassurance so I thanked him for it. We had walked for some time until we came to a wide canyon pass where reports of the Scorpion Beast had attacked. I could already see huge chunks had been taken out of the cliffs as well as deep lacerations from a swinging tail and pincers. This was definitely the right place.
"Well? Where is it then?" Evergreen demanded, fluttering her fan in front of her face. "It's hot and humid out here and my hair is starting to frizz, I would rather we did not spend too much time here."
"Don't get your panties in a twist, I'm sure the little guy will notice us soon enough." Cana waved her hand as she walked a little way ahead. "Maybe it just needs a little wake up call." Sliding three cards in her hand, Cana flung them out towards the ground to create a huge explosion which caused the ground, cliffs and everything around us to tremble.
"Are you crazy?! You'll bring the entire canyon down if you do overly enthusiastic spells like that!" Evergreen yelled, smacking Cana on the head with her fan. "Show some restraint!"
"Chill out! Jeez! I was just trying to get things over with quickly, isn't that what you wanted? Don't complain about my methods since you're the one who tagged along!" The two of them argued and I groaned inwardly, smacking a hand to my face. This was really not going well already.
"Uh…guys?" I tried to get Cana and Evergreen's attention but they were now locked firmly in a spirited argument with one another as I stood in between Freed and Bickslow, the three of us just blinking and staring.
"You think we should try break them up?" Bickslow questioned warily.
"I believe it would be unwise to attempt to come between them right now." Freed responded and I nodded my head firmly in agreement. The two of them were just beginning to pull one another's hair when a firm rumble began to vibrate underneath our feet, causing Evergreen and Cana to pause and glance quickly at one another. All at once the ground exploded with a huge black mass which shot upwards and brought two pincers crashing down upon Cana and Evergreen to almost crush them had Bickslow and Freed not responded so swiftly.
They moved with incredible speed, grasping both of them by their waists and lifting them out of the way of the Scorpion Beast as I flung out my hands to cast an enchantment. "Lux Corpus!" Instantly they all glowed with a shimmering aura which allowed their bodies to levitate as I sprung backwards, opening a wider gap between myself and the Scorpion Beast as it shrieked horribly. It was huge, absolutely monstrous. The black hide gleamed like obsidian as the massive pincers snapped, trying to cleave Bickslow and Cana in half had they not quickly moved out the way and flew through the air.
"Nice save girly!" Bickslow grinned at me as I smirked victoriously, slicing out a hand.
"Glad to assist! Alright, let's bring this beast to heel, everyone do your best!" I encouraged as Evergreen and Cana recovered from the surprise and pulled away from the guys, everyone taking the four points around the Scorpion Beast in order to surround it. Several pairs of eyes blinked at us, a shrieking growl sounding as the pincers snapped at my friends, trying to catch them as they darted around in the air.
The long stinger at the end of its tail coiled over its back, twitching as it stabbed at Freed but he easily dodged out of the way. That stinger was the poisonous one, however there was another which delivered a paralytic poison which would render a person's body completely immobile and its potency depended on numerous factors, including the Scorpion Beast's maturity, gender, the size of the secondary stinger, strength of the victim and their recovery ability. Sometimes, the paralysing poison only effected someone for a few seconds, but to others it could last hours. "Fairy Machine Gun – Leprechaun!" Evergreen blasted the thick hide with her magic but it had no effect except to make the beast even angrier than before.
"Evergreen! Be careful of the secondary stinger!" I yelled out to her as I continued to watch over everyone, casting a few more enchantments to increase their offensive power. "It extends from the tail!" Hearing my warning, Evergreen quickly pulled back out of the way and continued to distract the beast whilst Freed and Cana focused on hitting its weak spots, Bickslow helping to keep it pinned down in one place. We were doing well, all of us perfectly working together until slowly, I began to have this creeping sensation of dread shiver down my back. I froze in place, eyes widening as I whirled around to take a look.
"Zera!" Cana screamed my name as a huge black pincer came crashing down towards me so with a yell, I leaped forwards and hit the ground rolling to avoid being struck directly, however the power of the blow was enough to toss me back into the air. The claw whipped to the side and crashed against my gut, causing everything to suddenly burst with painful spasms across my body as I flew into the cliff face and slumped uselessly. "ZERA!"
The second Scorpion Beast shrieked into the sky, snapping its pincers as a third burst up from the ground and knocked both Evergreen and Bickslow out of the sky. "Everyone move back!" Freed thundered quickly, ripping himself away from a close stab of one of the beast's stinger. "Zera, Zera can you hear me?" For the moment I was too stunned to answer, blinking from the ground as I groaned before managing to lift my head slightly. All I saw was a shadow, a dark mass which loomed over me until all at once, my mind suddenly snapped back into focus and I saw the Scorpion Beast draw back the long tail.
"I'm coming Zee!" Cards flew against the beast's side and exploded, causing it to lost interest in me and instead turn towards Cana who furiously flung out her cards to create a storm of lightning. "Leave her alone you freak! Come here and deal with me instead!" That was way too close, I owe you one Cana.
"Don't just sit there you idiot, move!" Evergreen yelled at me as she and Bickslow took on one of the Scorpion Beasts together. Sucking in a breath I tried to get up by rushing to my feet however the moment I did so, my whole body became wracked with unbearable weakness and pain. I cried out instinctively as I clutched my wounded arm, grasping it tightly at the shoulder as it hung uselessly, covered in bruises and scrapes. My legs wouldn't move, I couldn't even stand upright and my mind had become completely blank.
This was my weakness. I just couldn't fight like my sister could. Every time whenever something became dangerous, I froze up and I couldn't even think. That's why I always ended up screwing things up or causing trouble for others, I just can't keep my head under pressure. Everywhere I was shaking, staring at the massive shapes of the Scorpion Beasts as I completely clamped up. "Zera, you gotta move now!" Cana yelled to me desperately as she tried to run forwards however was cut off by one of the beasts. "Run Zera, ZERA!" Jolting suddenly, my body began to move of its own accord. My good hand swung out as my lips moved, calling out an enchantment as I slammed my palm against the cliff face.
"Arcane Art - Petra montem cadentem!" Staggering to my feet, I then cast the Light Body spell upon myself to fly out of the way as an avalanche of rocks came tumbling down from above and crashed against one of the Scorpion Beasts which dragged it away from Cana who took this chance to come rushing to my side.
"Zera! Zera! Are you alright? You're hurt pretty bad, you know you shouldn't clam up like that!" Cana yelled to me as she reached my side and quickly pulled my uninjured arm over her shoulders to help me stagger back. "You need to get out of here away from these beasts, you're only going to get yourself killed at this rate."
"No, I can still…"
"Don't argue!" Cana raised her voice once more with intense ferocity, practically dragging me away to then make me hide behind a bunch of rocks. "I can't risk you getting injured further, you'll only slow us down right now. Just let me and the others deal with these scorpions then we'll be out of here. Don't move from there, you hear me?" And with that, she was gone. Instantly a heavy sense of uselessness pressed down upon my shoulders, causing them to sag as I brought my knees against my chest. Why? Why did I have to be so useless? I can't even support my friends properly. What use am I if I can't help them win their battles?
Dejected, I felt tears begin to flow until I was crying quietly to myself, listening to the other four battle and fight with incredible strength and ability, taking down all three scorpions until they were nothing but smoking husks. They all celebrated together, cheering and commenting on what a great job they had done. I sat alone, hugging my knees to my chest feeling rotten and horrible. "Hey Zee! We're all done here so let's go collect our reward and head home already! Drinks are on me!" Cana yelled so I did my best to paint a smile on my face, staggering to my feet and turning around to face everyone else who were none the wiser to the inner feelings of my heart, and the darkness which swarmed there.