Hey everyone! Hope you are all having a great october! Next week is Halloween. What are you dressing up as?
Chapter 4:
Four shots and half my money later, I was wasted. Now there are several types of drunks, the worst being the crying, emotional type. Unfortunately for me, that was exactly the one I was. So I always found myself in a corner, bawling, with a bucket in my lap. Luckily for me, at the time I always had Simon to comfort me and take me home.
He wasn't here anymore so I did find the decency in me to keep from going into sob mode. But I was still crying softly, twirling the empty shot glass in front of me, trying to ignore the strange looks I was getting from around the bar.
"Tough day?" A blunt voice asked from behind the bar. I looked up through my silent tears and saw the figure of a pretty girl with long brown hair and sharp facial features. She was only wearing a blue bikini top and brown capris pants, making the tip to toe get-up I had going on look very conservative.
"The worst." I replied, feeling another wave of tears roll over. The girl shook her head quietly and poured me another shot. I shakily pulled my bag of coins out but she shook her head.
"Last one on the house." She insisted. I put my bag back and tilted my head in confusion. "Yeah, you heard me. Last one. Whoever this guy is, he isn't worth your tears."
Her words, meant to comfort, only sent another wave of tears through my body. The girl looked slightly taken aback and pushed the glass closer to me.
"Oh man, he hurt you really bad, didn't he?" She asked sadly. I realized that she'd probably seen hundreds if not thousands of people sitting and weeping at the bar over her time working here. As much as I wanted to pretend I was like them, I couldn't help it when my heart poured out in front of me.
"He's dead. Black knights killed him, and all I wanted to do was avenge him. So I came to join the army to kill some of those bastards, but they won't let me join because I'm a woman and it's just so unfair. I should have fought harder. I should have argued more, there are so many things I should have done and it's all my fault." I started crying again, and I shakily pulled the drink toward me only for it to be ripped out of my hands.
"What do you think you're doing, then?" I looked up at the young woman who was looking at me angrily. "You think drinking your problems away is a good way to avenge your lover's death? Think about what he'd say if he saw you now."
I sniffed loudly and wiped my nose on my sleeve, looking at her curiously. I blinked slowly and the tears faded away. I realized she was right, and this wasn't me at all. I rarely ever drank because it turned me into a weakling, when I knew better than anyone that I wasn't weak. I was strong and I was resilient. I'd been through hell and back and I'd still survived with a sane head.
If Simon was here, he'd probably yell at me. Well, no he wouldn't because Simon would never yell at me. But he would frown and looked at me in disappointment.
"What are you doing, Erza? You're throwing your life away for nothing. You're better than this."
I sniffed again and straightened my back at the familiar words.
"Can I get a coffee instead?" I asked. The young woman grinned and nodded, quickly whipping it out. I grabbed the mug she handed me and took a long drink, cringing at the bitter taste.
"I'm sorry." I said, wiping the remaining tears away. "Alcohol makes me emotional and weepy and that's not who I am. Let's start over. Hello, I'm Erza." I said, finding my voice and confidence. The woman smiled and held her hand out to take mine.
"I'm Cana, local bartender and reigned beer pong champion, at your service." I smiled at her, slowly feeling the effects of the alcohol fade. I was still a little sniffy and I could still feel the tears in my throat and stinging the backs of my eyes, but I remained straight-faced.
"So what's this about the army not letting women join? That's so sexist!" She exclaimed, sweeping my coffee away and refilling it once I was done. I laughed and agreed with her, sipping the coffee and cringing at the heat.
"Yeah I don't know what's up with that. I'm pretty sure I could beat all of those sorry soldiers in a sword fight, and I'm just a blacksmith." Cana smiled at my statement and leaned against the table, shooting a customer a death stare as he approached. The man paused and turned away when he realized that his goal to get some with the two women at the bar might not be worth it.
"So where did you say you were from? I assume you're from the north somewhere considering what you said about the Black Knights."
"Yeah I'm from Rosemary." I replied quietly, taking another drink of the coffee. Cana's eyes widened.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. We heard what happened from the scouts that came back, but we had no idea anyone survived that. Did you know that the prince has already taken action? He's traveling today to go to Fiore and wed the next heir. Then he's going to attack Caelum. Apparently, Rosemary was the last straw."
"Wait, what? He's leaving today? I just arrived today and I didn't hear anything about this." I said sharply, sitting up. Cana shrugged.
"He left early this morning. There was a huge sendoff and everything. I assumed you knew. The king's health is deteriorating and the prince has pretty much been taking over everything. Poor kid has been up to his wits end, but at least he's trying."
I narrowed my eyes at her statement and turned away.
"Not trying hard enough." I spat. Cana gave me a strange look, willing me to elaborate. "If he had been paying attention to the outer villages half as much as he pays attention to the Royal City, then maybe he could have prevented the massacre. Maybe he wouldn't need to marry the heir to another damn country, if he just focused on his own."
I finished my rant and inhaled sharply, running out of breath without realizing it. Cana remained silent, analyzing my face. I hadn't realized how dramatic I'd been getting and I realized that I was getting strange looks from around the bar. Cana pulled the coffee away from me and gave me a small smile.
"Okay well, I can see you feel strongly about that. I don't want to be the one to argue with you about it, so I suppose I'll just give you a drink to go, yeah?" She said calmly, as if she was talking to a child. I blinked, realizing the dismissal, as cutting as it was, and ducked my head in shame. Maybe I was a little too verbal for my own good.
"Thanks." I said quietly when she gave me a coffee to go. I took the cup and left the bar, keeping my head as low to the ground and making sure I was walking in a straight line. The effects of alcohol were still there and I could feel it in my head and my mouth. I tried not to think as I walked back to the inn, even though I knew that there was a lot to think about before the next day.
The Royal Advisor, Gildarts Clive, strode through the palace halls, stretching from a long day of preparation and organization. Since the prince had left this morning, Gildarts had been left in charge of the country's well-being until he returned with a new bride. As much as Gildarts wanted to relax, knowing the prince would not fail his country, he could not help but worry about the boy.
Jellal was very much like his father in that he wanted to protect his people at any cost. However, he was also independent and a free spirit and Gildarts hated seeing him cornered like he was. Gildarts knew more than anyone that arranged marriages could be the most awful agreement in a person's life, especially when one's heart is with someone else.
As Gildarts was returning to his chambers, his mind drifted to his own arranged wedding, to a woman he did not love and who died only a year after their marriage. The woman was beautiful and kind, but she was frail and ill in all aspects, and Gildarts felt sorry for her more than anything. When she'd died, Gildarts was sad because he'd lost a friend, not because he'd lost a love.
It didn't take him long to find someone else that he loved tremendously. Unfortunately, his parents had been adamantly against the pairing and Gildarts had been ripped away from his lover before he could marry her. She'd been shipped away and Gildarts did not know what had become of her. Sometimes he wondered if she thought of him as much as he thought of her.
Because Gildarts had no children of his own, he started to see the prince as his own son, now that the king's health was in peril. Gildarts was great friends with the king, as they had been childhood partners in crime, and it gave him great sadness to see him so ill. However, Gildarts had always been strong in times of destruction, as he was the Royal Advisor, so he had managed to keep a high head in this time of threat. He admired Prince Jellal greatly for keeping the same composure even when it seemed as though his walls were crashing down around him.
Gildarts was lost in thought as he approaching his chambers, and he almost did not notice the messenger bolting down the hall, calling for him.
"Sir Clive! Sir Clive!" Gildarts turned to see the young boy, not much older than the prince himself, sprinting to catch up to him.
"Sir Clive! Come quickly! There's an emergency in the physician's room! One of Prince Jellal's travel escorts has returned with an arrow through his chest!" The boy rushed out, waving his arms frantically.
Gildarts' panic sky-rocketed and he immediately started down the hall towards the physician's chambers, followed closely by the messenger boy who was shivering. Gildarts kept his face calm, but on the inside, he was on the verge of a panic attack.
One of Jellal's escorts? Did that mean they had been attacked? Why did only one come back? Did none of the others survive?
Gildarts tried not to think the worst as he turned a corner, pausing slightly when the messenger boy stumbled. He glanced at the boy, wondering if the boy had seen the escort and that was why he was so jittery. The boy's face was pale with worry and fear. Gildarts felt a stab of pride for Prince Jellal even in this dark time that he could elicit this kind of worried reaction from his subjects.
Gildarts burst through the doors of the physician's chamber and strode into the large room where he was greeted with the sight of a dozen guards and the physician herself surrounding the operation table in the middle of the chambers. She had pushed the guards back and was bustling around the man on the table with urgency.
The physician was an old woman named Porlyusica who had been around since before Gildarts had even been born. She was almost magical when she worked with patients and Gildarts could not count the number of times she'd healed him when he'd been injured or sick over the years. She was a hardy old woman who did not care who she was talking to or how high a rank they were. She treated everyone the same, important or not, and it was one of the things Gildarts admired her most for.
"Sir Clive, thank goodness." One of the guards noticed him and beckoned him over. Porlyusica looked up and narrowed her eyes in anger.
"Oh no you don't, Gildarts. I don't want any of your negativity near here right now. I'm trying to save a man's life and I don't need any politics around the table while I'm working." She snapped, waving him away. Gildarts held his jaw from dropping as he gaped at the woman.
"Politics? A man is dying and he was the only one to come back. I think I have a right to be here and oversee his recovery." Gildarts exclaimed, feeling his cheeks heat as the guards looked back and forth between the two. Only Porlyusica could ever talk to him in such a way, and he didn't want any of his guards getting the wrong idea.
Porlyusica grunted and rolled her eyes, drawing her attention back to the man on the table. She began to apply some poultice on the man's wound. She placed a towel on his head and splashed some water on his face. Then she stepped back and sighed.
"That is all I can do for now. He is alive, which is a great accomplishment to say the least. If he had gone another ten minutes without my help, he would be dead. Now all we can do is wait and hope he recovers by himself." She said solemnly. Gildarts nodded as the guards around the table sighed in relief.
"Oh yes, and Gildarts, you might want to have this." Porlyusica reached onto the table beside her and passed him a piece of paper with a hole through it. "This was attached to the arrow in the man's chest."
Gildarts' chest tightened as he took the paper and started reading it to himself. His heart dropped and he started to feel nauseous as he read the words on the page, praying to any god that would listen that this was all just a bad dream.
"Sir?" Gildarts looked up to see his guards looking at him expectantly. "What does it say, sir?" Gildarts sighed and cleared his throat, beginning to read the note aloud.
"If you don't want your prince to end up in pieces, you'll do exactly what this note says. Bring a hundred thousand jewels to the gates of Caelum City in seven days in exchange for your prince's life. If you send a rescue team or if you do not comply within seven days, your prince will die and your land will burn to the ground."
Gildarts finished reading and looked up to his guards, who had all paled. Porlyusica just looked angry.
"If they've hurt a hair on that poor boy's head, I'm going to castrate each and every one of them." She threatened darkly. Gildarts gulped, trying not to imagine what that would look like.
"This note means that the prince is alive, and there is a way to save him. We must rescue him quickly before the seven days are up." Gildarts resolved firmly. He began to think of plan in his head as one of the guards piped up.
"But sir, it says if we try to rescue him, they'll kill him. We have to pay the ransom and get him back quickly." Gildarts looked at the guard as another spoke, cutting off his reply.
"You really think they'll give him back like that? They want the better end of this deal, which is take our money and then kill our leader. I say we recruit and assemble an army and then attack Caelum with everything we have to get him back."
"If they know we're coming, then they'll just kill him. We need to play this out carefully and not try to jump into anything rash. One wrong move could get him killed. We should do as you say and assemble an army, but we should do so quietly while collecting the money and bringing it to them. This way, we will uphold our end of the bargain and be ready if they try to kill him at the exchange."
The guards began to argue amongst themselves at how they could save their prince. Porlyusica began to check on the unconscious escort, glancing up every now and then to listen to the conversation. Gildarts remained silent, watching his men argue. He thought he'd come up with a solid plan when the guards turned to him.
"Sir, what do you think. Whatever you say, we will follow."
Gildarts sighed and rubbed his chin carefully before answering.
"I have a plan, and I do think this may be the only way to ensure the prince's safety. We do not have the money that they are asking for, and Caelum knows this. They are hoping for a rash response to go to war. If they can push us into war without our leader, they know they will win without an ounce of competition. So here is what I propose. We stay quiet. We collect as many donations as possible for the cause. We try to raise the money through donations. We will not force our people to give money. In the meantime, we will contact Brogo and Fiore and plead for help. If they respond, they will send men to assemble an army."
"However, at the same time, we need to get the prince away from harm. I propose we assemble a team of volunteers to go into Caelum to rescue him. They must pass a test before they are selected to go, and there must be only four or five. In this way, we will have people that Caelum does not know infiltrate them and in this way, we can focus on the army without worrying about their safety. If they manage to save him, then we will be in the clear. If not, then we can deny all ties to them because they are normal civilians."
As Gildarts explained his plan, the others nodded in agreement, some reacted with skepticism, but all in all, the other started to think it was a solid plan.
"We better get started then." Porlyusica said, pulling all the attention to her. She smiled darkly, looking right at Gildarts. "We need to recruit this team fast because they only have six days to rescue and return our prince before the deadline is up. Better get a move on."
Needless to say, Gildarts did not need to be told twice.
Before anyone says anything, I know Erza was very out of character in this chapter. It's supposed to be like that. I wanted to show her weaker side that can only be brought out through alcohol. We've only seen Erza drunk once in the anime, and she became an out of control angry person. So I've taken her as an emotional drunk, taken over by one emotion and not being able to break out of that emotion until she's sober. Don't worry. She'll be plenty badass in this story, just you wait.
Leave a review!