"Zera, what a cute name. You don't have to be shy Zera, come out where I can get a good look at you." A pretty girl was smiling down at me however I could only nervously back away, unable to muster the courage to answer back. Feeling uncomfortable, I ran to the only place I felt safe, to my sister. Erza. With a flicker of my bright scarlet hair, I quickly flung my arms around her waist and hid behind her as she blinked, lifting her head from the book she was studying from. Seeing my blushing face, my sister smiled at me.
"It's nice here, isn't it Zera?" I nodded. It was nice, and I did like it a lot, but I just felt so nervous around all these strange people and in any case, I still felt very confused. I had woken up in a bed with my sister and a small old man next to me with very few memories of the past couple years. Erza was wearing an eye patch over her right eye and was wearing rather ragged clothing whilst looking bone thin and exhausted. I had no memory of how we got to this guild, or how my sister ended up being so injured, but I was okay so long as my big sister was with me.
We were twins, though neither of us knew our parents, there was no mistaking the fact that we were siblings. Erza and I had been abandoned as new born babies in a backstreet alley of a place called Rosemary Town, where we were taken in and raised together. Of course, there was no actual way to know which of us were born first, however Erza had always adopted the role of the older sibling, protecting me and looking after me, so it was generally accepted that she was my older sister.
Erza was slightly taller than I was, though only by an inch or two. We both had the same bright crimson hair and our faces were almost identical, except for our eyes. Whereas hers were deep brown, mine were cerulean blue. Giving my sister an awkward smile I hugged her back a little tighter so that my cheek was pressed against her armour. "I still don't get why we're here, but so long as you're staying then I'll stay too." I said to her as she continued to read.
"We're here to work and develop our magic capabilities. The stronger we become, the better the jobs we can take and the more money we'll be able to save together." Erza reminded me so I pouted slightly in thought.
"But I don't know how to use magic."
"That's why I'm studying hard. Since you can't use magic yet, I'll make sure I work enough jobs to always be able to look after you. Don't worry Zera, you just count on me."
"Hm!" Happy, I gave my sister one final squeeze before letting her go. "I'll support you Erza, I'll go with you can carry your bags, I'll cheer for you extra hard and I'll do my best to learn magic quickly!" Excited by the idea of learning magic and becoming a proper wizard, I grinned broadly as I spun around on my feet. The guildhall was busy and filled with a warm atmosphere. I'm glad that we came here, though there were huge gaps in my memory. Erza says I hit my head and that's why I have trouble remembering certain things, like why we left Rosemary Village and our time in between, but I wasn't worried about it so much. Whatever had happened, I was with my sister, so I have need to regret anything.
"Isn't she a lively one? Much more than her sister." I heard a few people murmur as they smiled warmly to me as I hopped and played next to Erza as she continued to read. A lot of people tried talking to us, but Erza ignored them and I was too shy to talk to anyone yet. They all seemed really nice and I liked the fact that there were other kids around our age as well, but I still wasn't sure how to approach them. I'm sure I'll be confident soon enough, but since we'd only been here a few days, I was still finding my feet.
Playing hop-scotch by myself, I flicked aside my long red hair. Erza and I had it parted in opposite directions, though mine was sleeker than my sister's. It hung so lifelessly that I had to tie it into plaits just so that it would not fall over my face and get in the way so much. Spinning around I hopped back to my sister, humming a song to myself until I noticed one of the other kids come marching up to Erza. It was Gray Fullbuster, a rather weird kid who had this habit of stripping down to his underpants without any warning.
"Hey! Fight me Erza, this time I'm going to pummel you for sure!" He declared, running headfirst straight for my sister so I instinctively jumped into the way and flung out my arms, bravely hiding Erza from view.
"Leave my big sister alone you bully! Erza doesn't want to waste time kicking your butt every day, she's studying!"
"What did you call me, squirt?"
"Bully!" I repeated, puffing out my cheeks and tried to look as intimidating as possible, however now I was mad that he'd called me small. "You're so mean! I'm not a squirt, I'm exactly the same height as you, so take it back!" Gray blanched, stuttering for a moment before getting defensive right back at me. I was not very good with talking to strangers, but this kid got on my nerve. Always trying to make Erza fight him and only ending up getting hurt, he was a real idiot.
"You're not the same height as me, you're much shorter see?! Don't be trying to fool anyone!"
"Shut up you naked pervert! Put some clothes on already, it's indecent to walk around in the nude when there are ladies present!"
"I'm not a pervert!"
"Yes you are!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!" Gray and I yelled at one another like that before steam was practically bursting from our ears, growling at one another and clenching our fists. He pouted, shaking his fists for a moment before exclaiming with frustration.
"No fair!" He folded his arms and blushed slightly with embarrassment as he looked away, trying to look cool as he leaned onto his back foot. "I really want to teach you a lesson, but since you can't use magic yet so it wouldn't be fair. Tsk, you're annoying." Placing my hands on my hips, I couldn't help but give a goofy grin, tossing back my pigtails with a shake of my head, giggling before bursting into a fit of laughter.
"And you're a dumb boy, but who's calling names here?" Calming down a little, a softer smile touched my face before extending my hand. "We haven't met properly yet, so I'll introduce myself. I'm Zera, Zera Scarlet, Erza's twin sister and together we're the newest members to Fairy Tail. Pleased to meet you." Smirking slightly, Gray gripped onto my hand to shake it firmly. His fingers were cold but not uncomfortable to hold.
"I'm Gray Fullbuster, Fairy Tail's resident ice wizard. You better watch you, because when you learn some magic, I'm going to be challenging you to a fight too."
"Eep!" Snatching back my hand I clutched my hands to my chest, blue eyes widening and pleading with Gray as I gave a hurt expression. "Really? But I don't want to fight…fighting is mean and somebody might get hurt…" Blushing again, Gray gave another tormented exclamation of conflict.
"No fair! You can't pull that kind of face just to get out of a battle…ugh fine. I won't fight you then." Continuing my cuteness overload, I slunk a little closer.
"And you'll leave my big sister alone?"
"I-I can't promise that! Stop trying to twist me round your little finger like that." Complaining, I revealed my teeth in another bright grin as Gray looked even more flustered than before. Guess he's not used to talking to girls, much less girls like me and Erza. For a goofy pervert who strips all the time, Gray seemed like a kind person at heart.
"Gray, you're adorable when you blush like that. Let's be friends from now on, 'kay?" Holding up my palm I waited as Gray contemplated before finally smirking and smacking his hand against mine.
"Yeah alright, I'm cool with that." Grinning still, I couldn't help but feel elated. I'd made my first friend in Fairy Tail, so as I was bubbling with a fresh sense of confidence, I ran over to the other girl our age, Cana, and introduced myself to her as well. Soon enough I was running around the entire guild, asking everyone their names and their magic. I think they found me endearing as I was always smiling, jumping up and hugging people with affection as I began to blossom into a young, budding wizard. Fairy Tail was a place for family, so as I began to learn my new guild mates by name, I continued to laugh and giggle until I accidentally bumped into someone.
A rather severe glare turned on me, yellowish hair spiked in all directions with a jagged scar over the one eye. For a moment, I could only feel the electrifying presence of the older boy as I blinked up at him, smile momentarily slipping. I should have been afraid, however strangely I wasn't. I guess it was because I simply assumed that because he was part of Fairy Tail, he couldn't be really that scary, so as I closed my eyes into my grin, I flung my arms around the boy's waist and hugged him tightly. "Hi! I'm Zera, it's nice to meet you, what's your name?" A collective gasp sounded behind me, people's jaws dropping as the boy lost all composure and just stared down at me. I continued to grin, thinking that maybe he was just shy.
"I'm Laxus." Recovering himself he pulled my arms off him then planted a hand against my face to push me away calmly, holding me away from him. Giving a giggle, I tried to move closer again but I only ended up scrabbling at the air as he continued to hold me at arm's length. "You're a pest. Stay away from me." Of course, I only heard that as a challenge, so I smirked deeply as I grasped his wrist with both my hands and lifted it off my head.
"Haha, nope!" With my opening, I tackled him with another hug though I hit him with so much force I knocked the breath from his lungs, doubling him over his stomach slightly as I squeezed with all my might. "Can't get rid of me so easily, I'm afraid. See you around Laxus!" Releasing him I dashed away with a laugh, seeing many perplexed faces around me and several of my guild mates scratching their heads as I spread my arms and pretended to fly, jumping as high as I could. It was strange…I felt as if I was finally liberated from whatever prison had previously held me. As if I had grown my very own pair of wings and could fly up into the skies and the warm sunlight.
Fairy Tail. I'm glad we came here, so glad. I feel like I haven't had this sensation of home in forever.