Chapter 7

Distance

"Jellal…" I muttered as I felt his hands at the small of my back. His grip on me was light, so different than what he used to give me, but the warmth was still the same.

"Erza... How long were you playing in this game?" He pushed me back as he looked at me straight in the eyes. His face was calm but those golden orbs spoke so much.

"Ever since the first night." I muttered as he sighed.

"You know these people Jellal?" I heard a familiar voice and as I turned my head, I was right. It was this woman.

"Ultear, it's been a long time." I greeted her with a smile.

"Oh, it's Erza. No wonder he made us stop." She smirked as she looked at Jellal whom just faced the other way. "So what brings you here?"

"We're trying to find the room which is in the main goals. Let me correct, the only goal." She chuckled and stared back at me with an amused smile.

"So… You're really working for this goal huh? Figures for a knight." She gave me another smile and looked at Natsu and the others. "So who are they?"

"My team mates." I muttered as she looked at every one of them until she saw Gray and turned away. Gray also seems to notice this and had a confused expression on his face as to why Ultear was ignoring him.

"What's wrong Ul?" The pink haired girl with emerald green eyes asked as she tucked a strand of her long hair behind her ear. Ultear murmured something into her ear and she became quiet, not bringing up the topic anymore.

"Oh right, we haven't had any introductions." Jellal cleared his throat as his two companions smirked. "My name is Jellal Fernandes, Student Council President of Fairy Academy and these two are my companions." He pointed two Ultear and the other girl who seems to be the same age as us.

"My name is Ultear Milkovich, an old friend of Jellal." She smiled as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I'm Meredy, and I'm currently under Ultear's care." The pink haired girl smiled and waved her hand.

I breathed a little before exhaling to begin our introduction. "It's nice to meet you Meredy. I'm Erza Scarlet, Student Council Vice President of Fairy Academy. I'm better known as Titania. And this is my team." I looked at the group of people behind me and they jumped in attention.

"Natsu Dragneel, Fire Dragon Slayer mage of Fairy Academy."

"Lucy Heartfilia, Celestial mage of Fairy Academy."

"Gray Fullbuster, Ice mage of Fairy Academy."

Meredy laughed which caught their attention while I just stood back. "I'm sorry… All of you seemed so serious." She wiped a tear from her eye as everyone just stared. "Let's all get along well, okay?"

So we ended up walking together with Jellal's group to the school's gymnasium. There were small talks in between but I can't help but feel the air around us getting heavy.

"Hey Jellal…" I called out as our arms brushed against each other's.

"Hm?"

"What are you doing inside the school?" He remained silent as we went down a fleet of stairs, and our shadows being engulf by the darkness.

"Finding out who's behind all of this." He spoke when we reached the bottom.

"You haven't seen anyone else you may know other than us?"

"I avoid doing so."

Somehow after he entered middle school to Fair Academy, I could feel a huge gap between us. Before I even arrived at the school, when we were still together, I felt so happy despite all the sufferings we had to endure. Everyday seeing his smile and be embraced by his small arms were enough for me.

Yes, I may be a strong knight as everyone may view, but deep inside I'm just Erza. I'm just a girl who was scarred from her past, trying to bury it within me so that I can be a pillar for others. Sometimes I wish that I can break down in tears and be the one who is protected for once. But with the current Jellal now, I can't depend on anyone else to offer a shoulder to cry on as I strip off this armour I have.

"We're here!" I heard Lucy called and she gently pushed open the wide door. Of course, everything was bathed in darkness, no single furniture is found. It's just a wide dark building, waiting for you to come in and be engulfed in darkness.

"Natsu, you think you could give us a light?" I asked as I stared at the pink head.

"Sure!" He lit his right hand in flames and light began to engulf in some parts of the building.

We went to different directions examining the empty building we were in. Nothing special here, except for the suffocating darkness all around us.

"Nothing is here!" Gray shouted as we spent half an hour inside the large building.

"Let's move to the field!" I headed for the door, waking in glory as I held my head up high.

I heard them follow after me with quick footsteps but I didn't lessen my pace as I strode through the shadows of the buildings of the Academy. It was very peculiar, no moon yet the night was bright. There were no stars either, no clouds at all. As if the whole sky was just a wide sheet of black.

Soon enough, the wide field was in view with the red rubberize tracks surrounding the oval grass. Descending down the few cement steps, I quickly look around to find any hint of magic or something different but none turned up.

"Face it, the room doesn't exist." I heard Ultear mutter under her breath as she kicked a stray pebble out of her way.

"Then the goal was just a hoax?" I raised an eyebrow as I glanced at her from the corner of my eye.

"Well we came up with that theory a long time ago. The goal is just a cover up to make the players believe that they are actually achieving a goal but in reality, a sick psycho is finding amusement in this ridiculous game."

"So we are trying to find the person behind this." Meredy popped up in our conversation as she stood beside Ultear with a smile.

"The reason of course is to get out of this game without engaging in useless fights." Jellal walked over to my side but I didn't flinch at his presence.

"So how are you supposed to find this Game Master?" I crossed my arms and shifted my weight to one leg.

"That, we're trying to find out. But our theory is that the person who's running this whole game may be back in the real world and monitoring our moves, which in case he may be listening to our conversation right now." Jellal pulled me along my arm and motioned for everyone to follow. We were directed to the school building and continued our talk there.

"So, how can you find this person?" I asked as we sat on the wooden floor along the corridor.

"Well, I think that he may be in the game once in a while to be a player and experience for himself the world he created and to take note of the ranks. But with this entire ruckus going on, we can't actually make an investigation about the players. And he may be a student considering the gamers are all from the famous schools of Fiore but it's a bit tricky to find out the real identity."

'So Jellal has been thinking of this all along… It pains me to say but why couldn't he let me in his team? Wait why am I thinking like this? I know Jellal has his reasons and I'm not in the position to be mad or jealous about it. After all with our current status, I'm just his friend, classmate, and just a fellow Student Council Member. Our closeness was never the same ever since that time.' Random thoughts went through my head as the rest kept making small talks. I just sat their quiet, deep in thought about the blue haired mage across of me, listening into the conversations.

The sound of the clock echoed through the game world and a flash of white was in front of me as I felt my body being pulled up and thrown. The next thing I knew, I was in my dorm, in my bed, lying on the soft covers. I looked at my clock and it was 6:01 a.m.

I sighed as I got up and headed to the bathroom door. "It's going to be a long day…"

OOO

"Fix your uniform!" I shouted at a random male student as he stood up straight and cowered in fear as he buttoned up his shirt.

I just walked through the halls, heading to the Student Council room for another day.

"Morning Erza…" Mira greeted me with a smile as she handed me tea.

I greeted back and took the tea from her hand as I made my way to Jellal's office. Opening the door after two knocks, I saw him sitting there with a smile.

"Morning Erza, I need you to go to the headmaster and get something." He greeted me as I set the teacup down on his desk.

"Understood, is that all?"

"Yes… Do you need to say something else?"

'Yes, I do have to say something else. I want to ask why you are trying so much to avoid me with all the advances I make. Why are you turning your back on me whenever I want to get all friendly? What happened to our friendship Jellal? Whenever we walk side by side, I feel a big distance between us like as if we're strangers.' I wanted to say all of that but I just shook my head and smiled.

"See you then Jellal…" I said as I made my way out and to the halls.

The school was noisy, it was chaotic and sometimes it's a headache but I really love this school no matter what. It's my escape from my weak self and become a strong knight that could lead everyone else. Yes this was the Erza Scarlet that everyone knows and the Erza Scarlet that Jellal shall also receive.

I'm no longer the crying girl I used to be that needed his side to be happy and survive.

"Natsu!" I heard Lucy's voice down the hall as she went inside her class with the fire mage smiling beside her.

"Hahaha Luce! I'll repay you someday."

Those smiles they have on their faces, we were once like that too. I could still remember the image when we were all laughing and he would always be by my side no matter what.

I shook off the memory and continued my way. Yes, I may be by his side but with the great distance between us now, I doubt we'll ever go back to what we used to be; our carefree and laughing selves.

I smiled a bit as I saw those two go in with laughter. I really envy them but I also hope that their friendship wouldn't break.

I already accept the present but I would sometimes recall the distant past… I can't help but wonder-

-the painful distance, how much wider can it get?

-TO BE CONTINUED-

A/N: So that's just a bit of Erza. Their past will be revealed as we go along.

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