Special: Scarlet Heart

Red was the color of passion, so it was fitting that the Kingdom of Hearts was led by a rageful queen of fire. She was a cruel leader, one who made her people cower in fear when she walked by and forced them to grovel at her feet if they turned away. She was greedy for wealth, and so she stole from her own people. The citizens silently cursed her name and prayed for a savior.

But all of these things were human concerns. The life of a dryad was more simple than that. The tree spirit's sisters loved to dance with their leaves in the wind. They took to human forms and enjoyed the warm summers and fresh springs, swimming in the lake with the water nymphs. They were uninterested in humans, content to live out their lives as they were meant to be lived. They did not interact with humans, for they believed it to be dangerous.

But the spirit was curious. Too curious for her own good.

She took to the form of a scarlet haired child in a simple blue dress and set off towards the town. She could not figure out how to disguise her true form completely, so she hid her wings and ears the best she could under her hood. Her red hair was short and cut choppily.

The capital of the Kingdom of Hearts was Crocus, a bustling magic town full of flora and fauna. The spirit laughed as she twirled in the hanging gardens, grateful to be among her own kind.

She explored the marketplace. With children running around her, familiars whizzing past in the air, and a beggar at every corner she felt overwhelmed, and stuck close to a fruit stand. The spirit bumped into a blonde servant girl holding a basket of assorted greens and fruits. The fruits tumbled away, and the spirit apologized profusely as she helped the servant pick it up.

The girl looked to be about her own age, something like eight or seven years old. "Don't worry about it!" She waved the spirit's apologies off. Her smile was brilliant and blinding. The tree spirit had never talked to a human before! Her voice was like the chiming of bells, sweet and melodious.

"I, oh. Okay."

The servant giggled as she finished arranging all the produce in the basket. "Ah, I wish I could've brought Spetto or someone to help me carry this." She grunted and picked the basket up, but struggled under its weight and almost fell over.

"Where are you going?" The spirit asked.

"The castle! I'm running errands for the chef. But no one seems to care that I'm not strong enough to carry this, and that I can't even use magic to help me."

The spirit took the basket from the servant, easily holding it with one arm. The girl's eyes widened, but this only confused the spirit. She supposed humans were weaker than trees.

"Wow… but I can't ask you to carry this all the way to the castle!"

The spirit smiled. "Don't worry about it."

The servant girl introduced herself as Lucy. The spirit smiled at the beautiful and fitting name. Lucy, light. Her cheerfulness was infectious, and her laughter made the spirit feel as light as air. If all humans were like this, she could not understand why her sisters were so scared. She wished she could introduce them to Lucy and show them just how kind humans could be.

"What's your name?" Lucy asked.

The tree spirit thought. She never had any need for a name. She knew her sisters, and her sisters knew her. Names were tied to identity, but if you asked her who she was she simply would've said "a dryad." Perhaps she might say a red maple, which was her birth tree.

Lucy looked shocked when she shrugged. "Don't tell me you don't have a name! What of your parents, your family! Did they not give you one?"

A father and mother… humans are born from their fathers and mothers. Dryads are born from the trees. All she had ever known was her sisters. That was all she needed. They took care of her, taught her to dance and fly, and warned her of all the dangers in this world. They hadn't given her a name either. She had always believed her sisters knew best, as they came from trees as tall as the sky, older than Wonderland itself. The spirit was only eight years old, a mere speck in this world's timeline.

"I don't… I live with my sisters only."

Lucy tilted her head. "But they didn't give you a name?" The dryad shook her head.

Lucy held her chin in thought. "How about… Erza?"

"As my name?" She questioned.

"Yeah! You just seem like an Erza. I don't know any other Erza's so you're the only one."

Her ears twitched in delight. What a beautiful name! She had never doubted her sister's wisdom until this moment. Humans were beautiful. And their names were beautiful, and their families and parents and Lucy were beautiful.

A name, all for herself. The only Erza.

"I like it."

When she got back home, Erza kept her head low and quickly melted back into her tree. She hoped to stay in her tree for a few nights and days. If she took a physical form, she'd dance and sing and smile stupidly at the thought of the human girl she met the other day and her sisters would question her and undoubtedly ban her from ever seeing her again.

She couldn't have that. She wanted to see Lucy again. She wanted to see her friend.

One of her sisters approached her tree calling for her. Erza wouldn't be able to avoid her sisters forever, so she left her tree and greeted her.

"Sister, where were you yesterday?"

Erza had never ever lied to her sisters. But she knew that it was necessary, just this once. "I spent the day relaxing in the water."

Satisfied with her answer, her sister left. Erza let out a sigh of relief and went back to her tree, planning about how she would sneak out and see her human friend again. She smiled as she thought about her name again, considering it a gift from Lucy. It was something she had all for herself, which she didn't have to share with the other dryads.

Some time later, the same sister approached her again.

"Sister. I spoke to some of the water nymphs. Of all the ponds and streams nearby, none of them saw you. Where did you go?"

Erza stayed silent.

"Sister?"

She didn't move.

"Sister, I demand that you face me."

Erza awoke from her dormant state, changing into her human form. She faced her older sister with guilty eyes.

"I lied." She admitted. Her sister shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. It was the most human like Erza had ever seen her act. She didn't have to say it, she already knew her sister was disappointed in her. No one ever lied among the dryads. It just wasn't necessary. They only had one firm rule- don't talk to humans- and Erza had broken it.

"Don't tell me you went into the city."

"I did."

Her sister frowned. It hurt more seeing her so disappointed than it would've to see her angry. She wished her sister would just yell at her and put an end to these guilty feelings.

"Consider yourself lucky to be alive. I know that you're young and curious. I'll keep this between us as long as you don't ever interact with those," she scowled, her voice dripping with disgust, "humans again." The older dryad began to walk away, and Erza could've let it end there. But this was wrong! She didn't want to be banned from seeing the city. What about Lucy? Her friend?

With the bravery and stupidity only an eight year old could muster, she called out to her sister. "Why?"

Her sister turned, flabbergasted. She stuttered, struggling to form a coherent answer. "Why, you ask? Because those things, those monsters, have killed hundreds of us! Thousands! They're evil, and if they act nice then they're just lying to you. Do as I say, and don't speak to a human ever again!"

"And if I don't?"

"Sister, I will personally exile you from this forest. I cannot allow this to go on, you're endangering all of us!"

"The humans aren't as evil as you think they are!" Erza yelled.

Screaming dryads cut her sister's retort short. Water nymphs and other forest spirits ran by, shrieking. Her sister grabbed Erza's hand and forcefully dragged her along with them. Whatever the danger was, she didn't want to find out.

Erza shut her eyes tight as some of the spirits behind them screamed in pain. What was happening to them? She wondered about her maple tree, left behind to whatever horror was chasing them.

"Help!" One voice cut out above all the others. A voice like bells… Lucy? Sure enough, Erza's eyes widened when she saw Lucy of all people kneeling in the grass. There was blood all over her hands, and when their eyes met Lucy seemed more like a startled animal than the sweet servant girl she met before. Erza ripped her hands away from her sister, hoping to help her.

"What are you doing? That's a human, leave her!"

Ignoring her, she did her best to avoid all the other screaming dryads and extended a hand out to her.

"Erza, what are you doing here?"

"This is my home. These are my sisters." She explained. Lucy bit her lip tightly to avoid crying and leaned on Erza for support. Erza glanced behind her and gasped at the approaching fire. That's what the spirits were screaming about- they were being burned alive. She quickly realized that they would meet the same fate if they did not go any faster. Lucy was in no condition to walk.

"Lucy, I'm sorry if this startles you. But we really need to go faster."

"Huh?"

Erza wasn't very experienced in flying. She spread her wings open, noticing that Lucy nearly fainted at the sight. She was young, and her wings were small but she would be able to support Lucy if they flew low to the ground. The important thing was speed. She held Lucy with both arms, lifting her off her feet. She dashed forward, whizzing past all the other spirits but not away from the fire. More of her sisters were being swallowed by the flames, even if they tried to fly away. She blinked, letting a few tears escape her as she mourned them.

Her sisters were all dying behind her, and her home was being destroyed. She felt the approaching heat, already sweating and almost letting Lucy slip from her arms. Still, she pushed her wings to their limit and past that, hoping that she could just get far enough away to where they'd be safe.

Suddenly, an unbearable pain sprouted from her heart. Something inside of her broke and she almost tumbled to the ground. It took all her strength to fly straight again. Her tree had been destroyed, and her connection to it was severed forever.

"This is all my fault." Lucy whispered. The servant girl was sobbing, furiously wiping at her eyes to the point where they were just red. Erza herself felt like crying, with all the force she was putting herself through it was a miracle her wings didn't tear apart.

An eternity later, they arrived at a clearing by the river that served as the border between the Kingdom of Hearts and the Kingdom of Diamonds. They were far, far away from the burning chaos of Erza's home. It was just them.

She set the trembling Lucy down. When she approached her, she clutched at her dress. She sat down next to her, hoping to catch a breath. She hid her wings again.

"Take deep breaths." She advised.

Lucy inhaled. Exhaled. Inhaled. Exhale. Although she was still visibly nervous, she was able to speak after a few minutes.

"This is all my fault. I don't…"

"I doubt this is your fault."

Lucy shook her head. "It definitely is."

"How?"

"The Queen started this fire. I ran away from the castle today with the help of... people on the inside. I ran away because I was told I'd be killed if I didn't."

Lucy stared down at her bloody hands. Her knee was seemingly only scraped, but it was very likely the problem went deeper than that. Unfortunately, she believed Lucy about Queen Ur. Although her motives were unclear, she was known for striking down anything and anyone in her way. But Lucy said it herself- the Queen started this fire. It was not her fault that Queen Ur had the temper of a child.

Instead of playing the blame game with her, she helped her up and led her to the river. She washed her hands and bloody knee, and ripped some fabric off her dress to tie around the wound.

As she tied the knot, she wondered what she was going to do now. The fire had presumably destroyed most of the forest, and as for her sisters… she didn't want to think about it.

"What's your plan?" She asked her.

"Gray- I mean I was told that I should seek out King Igneel. That he would help me. If we get through the forest on the other side, we'll arrive at Magnolia."

"How will we get inside the castle?"

"I don't know. But that's all I have. I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Neither do I." Erza said.

With one girl leaning against the other, the two looked forward toward their future. Wherever the road took them, they agreed to face it together.