Chapter 1

Erza Scarlet was a warrior. From a very young age, she had been trained to fight, and she was damn good at it. She owned a vast collection of armour and weaponry, all of which she could skillfully use. Give her a bow and arrow and she would hit the bull's eye every time. Give her a mace and her enemy would walk out with a fractured skull at the least. With a spear, she would pierce her opponent's heart out, and with a sword… she was unstoppable. Take away her weaponry, and she would beat you with her bare fists. After all, she was the Lieutenant of Fiore's Strongest Army division after all. Erza Scarlet, the scarlet demon, only had one weakness: strawberry cake. More specifically, strawberry cheesecake. Gift her some of this delectable dessert and you might just get into her good graces. However, if you were as foolish as to interrupt her whilst eating, you would surely regret it.

Erza was as beautiful as she was strong. Her smooth fair skin and deep chestnut eyes attracted many, but they all cowered away in fear. Her waist length scarlet hair gave her her last name, Scarlet. Jellal she thought, but quickly pushed the name out of her head before she had a breakdown. Ever since the traumatic events of her childhood, Erza had locked herself away in a suit of armour, seeming strong to many, when really, she was trying to keep the broken pieces of her heart from falling apart for good. That homeless shelter had broken her and taken away her innocence at such a young age, and she was one of the lucky ones that managed to escape. She could only imagine what Jellal, Millianna, and Shou were still going through.

As Erza wandered along the beach, she was so lost in thought that she failed to notice a familiar face in the distance. She was usually aware, guard up, armour on, sword at hand, but she had decided to put it all on pause while on vacation. Relax and take a breather from all the stress. She sure needed one after fighting in the recent Civil War. Scars, both mental and physical were gained over the past few weeks. As a Lieutenant, she rarely got time off, so she was going to make the most of this break.

Erza continued to be clueless as the person trailed behind her. Soon, two other faces which she would have recognized had she turned around, joined the first person and they continued to trail the female as she turned back along the beach and headed back to her resort. The mysterious figures watched as she sat down at the beachside bar and was soon served a strawberry margarita. She was about to take a sip of the refreshing cocktail when she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Erza?" the soft ocean breeze carried her name through the wind. Said girl turned around and stared in shock at the faces in front of her.

"S-Simon? M-Millianna? Shou?" she gasped, springing out of her seat. Millions of thoughts and questions began racing through her mind all at once. H-h-how? How did they escape? Are they ok? How did they find me? What are they doing here? The memories of that dismal homeless shelter flashed through her mind.

1776, Tower of Heaven, Southern Coast of Fiore

"Come on Erza," Jellal encouraged her, holding out a small hand for her to take. She wiped away the tears on her face and took his hand, a wide smile now on her face. "Let's go" she whispered. Jellal lead the way as Erza, Simon, Shou and Millianna followed behind him. The five children quietly crept through the dingy basement of the shelter. Today they were going to finally escape from his wretched place.

"I heard something from over there," One of the guards yelled, causing the Erza, Simon, Shou and Millianna to panic.

"Stay calm," Jellal whispered under his breath. "Let's go hide over here," he pointed to an old broom closet. The five of them quickly hid and held their breath as the guard passed by. When they heard the footsteps fade away, they cautiously came out of the closet breathing heavily. Little did they know that the guard was standing right there. The five kids stood frozen to the ground as the guard smiled in glee.

"Some kids trying to run away huh? Well, you'll be sorry you ever screwed up thing silly little plan" He stared down with a sadistic grin, a cruel twinkle in his eyes. "So tell me, whose plan was this. If you tell me, only one of you will get punished. Now, who will be a good kid and spill it?" He stared menacingly at the five children who were scared to death.

"It was me," Simon said bravely yet nervously.

"Was it now?" The guard questioned. Little Simon stared back uncertainty. "Don't think you can fool me. You don't look nearly smart enough to devise this plan, much less make up a convincing lie." Simon stared in disbelief at the monster in front of him. "Ahh. It was you wasn't it?" the guard said staring at Jellal.

"N-no sir" The blue-haired boy stuttered, but the guard was not buying it. Little Erza watched in horror as the guard grabbed her friend by the collar and turned to face the other four children.

"Now you all better scurry back to your room, or there will be consequences. You wouldn't want your friend here to get twice the punishment now, would you?" he said to them before dragging Jellal off by the collar of his shirt, the boy's choked screams fading into the distance.

"Erza!" Simon said again, bringing the redhead back to the present.

"Simon!" She gasped again as she engulfed him in a giant hug. After a while, she released him and did the same to Shou and Millianna. "It's been so long!" She exclaimed. "How did you escape from that place? What are you doing here? How did you find me?" she questioned them. A whirlwind of emotions hit her like a ton of bricks. Sadness, guilt, joy. She had abandoned her best friends all those years ago, yet here they were. They had found her at last.

"Calm down Erza. Take a seat and we'll explain everything. We sure have a lot of catching up to do." He smiled.

"Ok," Erza whispered quietly as she sat down with her long lost friends, waiting for the opportunity for all her questions to be answered. She reached for her margarita a took a sip of the refreshing liquid. The cool strawberry flavour calmed her down at once and she gazed back at her friends with a big smile on her face, ready to hear about the last eight year of their lives. She remembered those days when it was the five of them. Wait, five of us. Erza remembered.

"Where's Jellal?" Erza asked, almost in a demanding tone. He had once been the most important person in her life. He had given her her last name, he had given her hope. But most importantly, he had made her smile despite the horrors she was experiencing. Suddenly, Erza felt her energy sucked out of her and her eyes began to droop. She gasped, as her arm went limp and her glass fell to the floor, a mixture of shattered glass and pink liquid mixing into the sand.

"You'll find out soon enough, Erzy Werzy" Millianna said to Erza before the feeling of exhaustion took over, and her world went black.