Chapter 6

Let's Go Team!

"I see…" Erza nodded her head as Lucy explains as to why she was with two idiots in such a dangerous game. Well she couldn't believe that the blonde she has just formally met a few hours ago was playing in the same game. She mentally sighed as she sat on a wooden crate inside an abandon shop; her arms were crossed on her chest while the idiots were sending death glares at each other and her perky friend laughing nervously.

"So Erza, how long have you been playing?" Lucy directed her attention again at the strong faced girl by her side, wondering if a cute smile can appear her stern face. "Hmm… I guess from the very start." Starting a conversation with this tense atmosphere was just too hard for the Celestial mage. Just once, can she not be the smiling and be peppy?

She sat herself up on the creaky wooden crate and blankly stared at Natsu and Gray. Erza was still processing everything in her mind and the two male mages before her were silently bickering, trying not to piss off the "Titania" as they would call her. After all, they say Erza Scarlet didn't become the Vice President for nothing.

"So why are the three of you going around town, when you could be hiding?" Finally, the female knight broke the tense silence and the two males straightened up in attention. Those two really change if Erza starts talking to them. "Uh well, hiding has never really been my thing…" Natsu's voice was wavering as he tried avoiding Erza's sharp eyes.

"Heh… I beg to disagree Flame brain. Hiding should really be your thing since you're the type to beg for attention and you need to learn how to shut up. Your stupid actions could get us all killed one day." And here it goes again. The two mages started bickering but all it took was Erza to clear her throat to stop those two from reaching at each other's necks.

"Lucy, can you care to explain instead?" The blonde Celestial mage yelped in surprise and nervously answered her question. "Y-Yes… Well you see we decided that to end this game we're all trap in, we'll find the Forbidden room as a team so we can look for each other's backs. So right now, we're trying to avoid any battle as possible so that less energy can be used and more time to find the room. Well, we just started so no progress yet."

Erza became quiet again and after a few silent minutes, she declared with a loud voice. "I've decided! I'll join your team!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" Natsu and Gray screamed out their lungs and were immediately silenced by Lucy as she placed a hand on both of their mouths.

"SHHHHHH! The both of you will get us all in trouble." She scolded the two boys as they nod their heads in unison. Lucy slowly retrieved her hands and went back to the crate beside Erza's.

The female knight was too sucked in her mind to even notice what was currently happening. Her eyes were sparkling and a grin was on her face as she kept murmuring "Being in a team would be great." The other three couldn't help but wait for their fellow Scarlet haired friend to come back to her senses before moving out of the abandoned shop and resume their operation.

"Welcome Erza to our team!" Lucy shook Erza's hands and the red head mage smiled in return. After they were all set to engage in the search, they quickly but quietly moved from street to street, avoiding visibility as much as possible.

"Wait!" Gray paused in a narrow alley, hidden in the shadows. The rest of the group halted and began to catch their breaths while waiting for the ice mage's concern.

"Where do we specifically find this room?" Gray continued as the other team members stared at him wide eyed. They actually never got to plan about this operation thoroughly. Well for starters, they don't even know what the room looks like.

"I guess it should be in a large place considering there is a dragon right?" Natsu mumbled.

"Yes, that may be a good start." Erza crossed her arms on her chest and went into deep thought.

"But considering not all the buildings here in Magnolia are big enough for a dragon to fit in, room could just be a metaphor for an open or wide space. There is also a possibility that the Game Master has created another dimension for the room and a passage was created like a door or maybe a window." Lucy spoke as everyone just stared at her in awe. She was critically thinking about this whole matter.

"Yes, you have a point Lucy but we can never be wrong if we start with the obvious places right? Now, team, think of a place whether it may be building or not, that a dragon could be possibly in."

"Fairy Academy's field is wide…" Natsu spoke.

"The outskirts of Magnolia too…" Gray said.

"Maybe in our school's gym?" Lucy mentioned.

Erza began thinking as the whole team was in silence. Soon, she made a decision and began to lead the team to their destination.

"Right! We should head for the outskirts since were almost out of town."

Everyone followed Erza quickly as they managed to escape the city and some useless battles along the way. They arrived to a green plain with a small lake. The wind was cold and managed to move some leaves at the very few trees on the land.

"Hey everyone! Look at that!" Natsu pointed not too far from them, a glass like barrier. It seemed to mark the end of the gaming field where if you ran to that edge, it's a dead-end.

"Find any clues!" Erza shouted as everyone split up and tried to find any unusual thing about the place. Nothing so far except Gray heard a mysterious sound coming from the tree near the lake.

"DRIP DROP DRIP DROP" The voice kept repeating as Gray frantically searched the area for the source of the voice. Until he found a blue haired woman sitting on a branch as she stared down at the lake.

"Waaah!" Gray quickly moved back and the rest came to his side, wondering why he screamed. He pointed to the strange girl on top of the tree as she kept muttering those words with lifeless eyes.

"Is s-she a ghost?" Gray asked as he kept staring at the odd woman.

"What? No." Lucy scoffed. "That's Juvia Lockser from the same grade as us."

"What? That odd woman goes to the same school as ours?" Gray directed a finger to the blue haired girl which immediately got her attention.

"Please don't point a finger at Juvia. It's rude." She grabbed Gray's finger and lowered it down with lifeless eyes. Gray immediately pulled away his hand and took a few steps back from the girl.

"It doesn't seem to rain here. Juvia feels sad." She looked up at the dark sky and just stared at it as she ignored the eyes that were focused on her.

"Um… You didn't notice any magical occurrences here have you?" Lucy asked as the girl just shook her head, not making any eye contact.

"No… Juvia's been here for how many times now but haven't found such things."

"Is that so? Well thank you. We need to get going." Erza signalled for them to leave as the girl just stood there on the grass with her dark dress as she looked at up the sky with no expression at all. For some reason, Gray couldn't help but keep staring at her until she was out of sight.

He found her peculiar yet there was a kind of interest that he found in the girl which he can't really put a finger on.

They all headed to Fairy Academy with the remaining time they have left in the game. They were sneaky but fast.

Arriving at the school building, they crept in through the main building to avoid any visibility that can cause battles. Sure the school building was dark and creepy, with their footsteps the only sound, but they manage to walk through it with the help of Titania of course.

As they were nearing the gym, three shadows emerged from a room and instantly attacked them. Erza took out her sword as she clashed with a shadow, trying to force this person down.

"Go down you scum!" She shouted as she pulled back her sword to engage in another attack until her hand was stopped by a strong yet gentle grip.

The shadow pulled down his hood to reveal the person Erza least expected to be. She couldn't believe that he was involved in this chaos and at that moment, she doesn't know how to act or feel. She's always out of it when it comes to this person.

"Erza…" He muttered as he signalled for his other two companions to stop. They pulled down their hoods to reveal two ladies with raised eyebrows directed at him.

"Jellal…" Erza muttered, finally freed from being paralyzed. He looked at her with his loving eyes and smiled as he pulled Erza to a light hug.

"It's good to see you're unharmed Erza…" Jellal whispered into the ear of the blushing Scarlet mage.

She wasn't happy to see him here in the game but she was happy to be pulled into a hug he used to give her when they were still children.

For sure, this game had its bad sides and good sides, and currently, Erza was enjoying the good side of it.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: Sorry for the long update but I didn't know how to continue this story so forgive me. I'll try to update again.