Chapter 2: The nightmare begins.
A/N: Hi again! So sorry for the late update. I have been really busy.
I forgot to a mention that this is sort of an AU. Which means that it is a completely different take on the Tartarus arc. For those of you who are not reading the manga, you might not know about the Tartarus arc so sorry for not mentioning this earlier! Also I have added a scene or 2 in the last chapter, so please do read that before reading this one.
Anyway on to the story!
The train station was filled with people bustling in and out. Most were mages who were traveling for their jobs, and others were normal humans leaving for or returning from business trips. All in all, it was peaceful.
Erza and Laxus stood outside, looking for a carriage to take them to the next town. Or more precisely, what used to be the next town until it was attacked by Tartarus. Erza had suggested that maybe they might find traces of magic left by the dark mages, thus providing further help. However, unfortunately for them, none of the drivers were happy about going there. Apparently there were rumours spreading around that the spirits of the deceased haunt the ones who dare to enter their land.
Erza let out an exhausted sigh. "Why don't we get ourselves a room for now." She suggested, turning towards Laxus. "It's already evening and by the time we get there and return by foot, it will be past midnight."
"Yeah." He muttered in response and made his way towards the nearest hotel, leaving Erza to catch up with his long strides. Once she did, the two mages walked towards their destination quitely. Until Laxus decided to break the ice.
"So, what's the plan?"
"For now all we can do is try to gather enough information. The Council agreed to send in a few reports about the attacks recently. Problem is, even they don't know the location of the guild and its members. We can't bring down a guild if we don't know their base of operations." Erza sighed.
After 15 minutes of walking silently, the duo reached the closest hotel.
"Here you go ma'am!" said the receptionist. "The key for your 2 bedroom suite. Hope you enjoy your stay!"
Grabbing the key and muttering a quick "Thank you" to the man at the reception, Erza and Laxus made their way towards their room. And as soon as they did, they both threw their very little luggage aside (Laxus refused to let Erza bring her usual load and thus she had to manage with only one bag, much to her dismay), and seated themselves on the large comfy looking sofa in the living room, clearly exhausted due to the long journey.
Erza lifter her legs and rested them on the coffee table in front of her. Unfortunately for her, as soon as she got comfortable the doorbell rang. Letting out an exhausted sigh, Erza got up and made her way towards the door. Upon answering the door, she was greeted by a tall man about her age with wavy blonde hair and piercing honey coloured eyes. Then she noticed a large stack of files in his arms.
"You must be from the council. I am sorry to keep you waiting like that. Please do come in." Erza stepped aside to let the man pass through.
After staring at her for what seemed like ages the man nodded and walked past her. Setting down the large pile of files on the coffee table, he looked up at Erza, completely ignoring Laxus seated in front of him, and introduced himself with a smile.
"Hello. My name is Jake Radford." He said, making his way towards the redhead. "It is a pleasure to be meeting someone as amazing as you in person, Miss. Erza Scarlet."
Now standing in front of her, Jake took her hand and bent down, placing a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. "Can I just say that the pictures of you in the magazine do you no justice. You are much more beautiful in real life."
"Umm, Th-thank you."
Laxus noticed, much to his amusement, and faint blush dusting Erzas cheeks. From the looks of it she was clearly embarrassed and did not know how to respond to such gentlemanly behaviour.
Slowly taking back her hand from Jakes grasp, Erza cleared her throat and straightened herself before making her way back towards the open door.
"Thank you very much for making time to personally deliver these records. As for now you can leave the rest to us and I assure you that we will do everything in our power to complete this mission." She said holding the door open for the man to leave, with a fake smile. As much as she did like socializing, Erza couldn't help but feel extremely uncomfortable in front him and couldn't wait till he walked out the door.
Jake, however, had other plans. "Oh, I am sorry but I believe you did not get the message. I will be your escort for this mission." He explained with a bright smile.
The smile on Erzas face fell. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Hold on a sec. You mean to say that the council has sent someone to help us on this mission?" She inquired.
Only then did Laxus decide to speak up.
"Look. As much we really do appreciate your concern, we do not want you to waste your time here when you obviously have more important matters to attend to. As a matter of fact, I don't think you are going to even want to be with us, considering the danger involved that is." He said. After noticing his formal tone, which he rarely ever used, Erza realized that Laxus wanted this man gone just as much as she did.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I did not notice you there." Jake said, his smile never faltering. "And about the mission, I was sent because I volunteered for this job. I live in this city so it is not much of a problem. Also I honestly think you are going to need some help with that." He motioned to large pile of files he brought in earlier.
"Now with that said," he grabbed a file and sat down on the sofa next to Laxus. "Let's get to work shall we."
Erza who was still holding the door open, slammed it shut and made her way towards one of the bedrooms.
Laxus, noticing this asked "Where are you going?"
With an exhausted sigh she replied "To get some rest. I feel really tired after that journey and I just want to take a nap. Wake me up when you are about to order dinner."
Upon entering the room and closing the door behind her, she jumped onto the bed. Erza lay there for about 15 minutes, all the while thinking about Jellal. She knew for a fact that he wanted to help out on this job and she couldn't help but want him to come along too. And now instead of him she ended up having to work with Jake.
Sighing once again she said to nobody in particular. "This is going to be a nightmare."
A/N: I'm sorry about this chapter being kinda short. Anyway, please do review and tell me what you think is going to happen in the next chapter.
Bye for now!