Chapter 3: What You Call a Friend
Erza stood on one knee panting heavily, wearing her Heaven Wheel Armour. The fight appeared to take up more energy than the scarlet-haired mage predicted. "Some weakling guild," she inwardly growled recalling the description of the S-Class mission that Master Bob from the Blue Pegasus guild offered her to undertake right after the meeting to which the female mage accompanied Master Makarov. Back then Erza gladly accepted the offer, being unable to tolerate the drunken chatter of guild masters and their inappropriate comments as to her figure or appearance any longer, and the mission allowed her to set off two days before the meeting was over. But there was a catch… "There's always some damn catch!" Erza inwardly grunted once again. The notice said that a newly founded dark guild has recently lost its leader and that the members were thus disoriented and vulnerable and therefore easy to take down. But what the employer didn't state (or didn't know) was that the old leader was overthrown by a new more powerful one. Those who still supported the previous leader were thrown out of the guild, while the rest (and that's most of them) stayed loyal to the new leader and were ready to protect him with their lives. "Talk about dark guilds having nothing human about them…" Erza mused to herself. Still, thinking couldn't solve much in this situation.
The scarlet-haired weapon mistress was surrounded by hostile mages, each ready for attack. They were no strong opponents whatsoever and the Titania would have dealt with them in a flash, but the thing is… this was already the ninth circle. "Talk about nine circles of hell…" the girl pointed out ironically. Her head shot up instantly as a male mage launched an attack at her.
"Cleaving Vortex!" yelled a black-haired man with feathers on his arms.
"Another wind magician! How many of them are there here? This is probably already the seventh I'm dealing with! Tch!"
"Circle Sword!" Erza jumped up sending numerous blades at her enemies to stop them from group attack. "Blumenblatt!" and she cleaved the so called 'vortex', causing the mage who made it to fall in defeat.
"That's Titania…" one of the beaten mages muttered lying on the rock floor.
"She's unstoppable…" the other one said from a half-sitting position.
"Nope, I'm not… But it's a good thing you guys have no clue as to how much magical energy I have spent. And besides, I'm running out of blades… Crap!" but showing no signs of fatigue or even exhaustion she was feeling, Erza reequipped into her Morning Star Armour. "It's time to bring light to this god-forsaken place!" she exclaimed aiming her two swords up to blast the guild building into pieces.
This didn't happen though, as a thin sharp blade cut her abdomen, which was left vulnerable because she put up her arms earlier. Erza winced in pain and dropped one sword to cover the bleeding wound as she bent in half. A swift male figure with no hesitation urged another attack, this time cutting her right shoulder, then disappearing for a while only to stand on the ruins of his guild. He slowly clapped his hands.
"Bravo! Bravo! That's what is to be expected of the mighty Titania," he said and Erza looked up to study his appearance: the man was relatively tall with long dark-purple hair, green eyes and a cheeky grin on his face. The guy was dressed in black leather with a single sword hanging loosely at his side. Completing her observations, Erza immediately noticed how the beaten guild members started to cheer up. This could only mean one thing…
"Master Iyashii!" they cried almost simultaneously.
"Shit! This is bad… Very bad!" Erza thought trying to stand up and managing it somehow, though only a blind person wouldn't have noticed her shaky legs. "Bastard!" the female mage growled. "Attacking me when I wasn't even watching!"
"That's no fault of mine, Erza the Titania, you shouldn't have let your guard down," he smirked and in an instant appeared right next to the scarlet-haired mage, whispering: "It was nice to meet you, Queen of Fairies. And now die!"
"He's fast!" was the only thing she had the time to think.
"Earth-Make: Burial!"
"What? So this guy's no swordsman-mage, but can also use Element Make Magic!" and with that thought Erza Scarlet was buried up to the neck in the ground. This somehow seemed to astonish Iyashii.
"Ho-o? So the Burial didn't fully work on you, I'm surprised," the male mage said calmly, studying his opponent. "I wonder if it would have worked on you at all if it hadn't been for that bunch of losers, who consider themselves my guild."
"Talk about something human in dark guilds… I take my words back."
"But it's really impressive, Titania," the sick bastard admired the mage in front of him, while she was completely unable to move anything but her head. Still Erza kept her composure. She didn't wince, she didn't pant; her eyes were firm, filled with fury. "Yes-yes! Quite passionate you are, aren't you, Erza-san?" the purple-haired mage knelt beside the girl and sniffed her hair.
"You're disgusting!" Erza spat, new waves of anger surging inside her.
Iyashii chuckled slightly then stood up and burst out laughing uncontrollably, holding onto his forehead. The wretched guild members got scared and Erza herself got pretty tense, thinking of a way to set herself free.
"I'm disgusting? A-ha-ha! Like I haven't heard that one before, Titania!" he threatened, eyes bulging out like a madman's. "It's time you meet you Maker, you rotten fairy whore!" and with that the mage swung his sword aiming for the girl's neck.
"…rotten fairy whore…" those words echoed in Erza's head as a dark aura started to envelope her visible body.
"DIE, TITANIA!" he screamed, and then his eyes widened in shock and pain as Erza stood before him in her Purgatory Armour, her heavy sword stuck in his right forearm, having shattered the opponent's sword to pieces. The scarlet-haired mage was not even looking at her victim, her abdomen still bleeding, but less. Hair covered her eyes and she really looked like a demon to Iyashii, so he slowly started to back away from her, legs barely moving paralyzed with fear.
But only Erza knew that not only determination was hidden in those deep brown orbs shadowed with scarlet hair, but also fatigue. Erza could barely distinguish anything before herself, the last attack taking up all of her remaining powers. "So this is it, huh? When that guy figures I'm worn out, I'm as good as dead…" she thought quite calmly. "Well, at least I didn't let the bastard get away with the last insult," her thoughts trailed off trying to give her some hope. "If I ever get out of here alive," the girl smiled sadly at the improbability of it, "I'll make sure Natsu and Gray pass S-class tests, so that I won't have to go on such missions alone." And then it hit her! Erza's head snapped up full of determination as her vision reappeared, and she started to slowly approached the backing mage.
"You know," she began firmly, "all of your so-called weakling guild members had way too much faith in you," Erza started to reequip into her Normal Fighting Robes, "But they were wrong willing to die for you, and not just because you're a rare piece of scum," she spat full of anger, "no. But because their reasoning was wrong! A friend told me once," and Natsu's smiling and then teary face flashed before her eyes, "you don't die for your friends…"
"S-stop! D-don't come near me!" the mage shouted defending himself with bare arms. Pathetic.
"…you live for them!" and swinging her sword Erza brought the fight to an end.
Standing in the middle of the shattered guild with her head up bathing in the warm sunrays, the scarlet-haired girl smiled. "That's what you call true friendship."
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"I wonder what's taking Erza so long…" Master Makarov thought in concern, sipping his drink. "Hope, she didn't end up getting hurt or worse… Argh! Stop being stupid, old man! The girl's strong as hell! She'll make it out safe, that's for sure! She still needs to rescue someone else…" the old mage eyed his 'children' and sighed. "It sure is quiet without Natsu around…" he said not very loudly, but the guys heard him alright. Mirajane was the first one to speak.
"I'm so sorry master," she said, tears streaming down her face. "I never meant for this to happen…"
"We didn't think that he would actually leave the guild," Wakaba said with guilt in his voice.
"You didn't think at all, did you now?" Gray snapped, and this time nobody argued.
"Master, are there any news about Erza?" Lucy asked shyly, but the old man only shook his head with a frown.
"Why would you need news?" a female voice was heard from the entrance of the guild. "Here I am in the flash!" the girl smiled.
"ERZA!" the entire guild shouted, with Lucy's and Happy's voices in the lead. Gray's face seemed to be glowing with either relief or anticipation one could hardly tell, and Makarov smiled at his 'hope' proudly.
"That's my Erza!"
"Erza, thank God you're finally back!" Lucy cried hugging her friend.
"Oww!" the girl winced in pain. "Watch it with the stomach, Ok? I have a pretty deep cut there…" and she showed the wound to the blonde.
Lucy immediately gasped. "Then you should go straight to the hospital!"
"I will, I will!" Erza smiled reassuringly. "I just wanted to see Natsu to thank him for… well, for being there when I needed him."
"Wait! You saw Natsu? How is he?" the celestial gate mage exclaimed with anticipation calmly believing that everything was already settled.
"Umm… he was fine… in my memory I mean," the weapon mistress uttered confused. "Is he not here?" she asked and Lucy averted her gaze. "On a mission or something?" again no answer, only sad gazes, sad faces, guilty eyes. "Ok, what's going on?"
"Natsu left the guild," Makarov stated plainly.
"What?" Erza almost laughed. "Is this some kind of a joke? Natsu would never leave Fairy Tail! He loves this place, it's his home!" the girl shouted in disbelief. And yet no one rose to confirm her words, and Lucy still looked away. "Lucy?" Erza's eyes widened. "Is this true?"
"Yeah, Erza, Natsu really left," was Gray's loud reply.
"And none of you tried to stop him?" Erza couldn't believe what was happening. The guild just lost a valuable member, maybe even more valuable than herself and no one did anything to prevent that from happening? What was wrong with these people? "Master?" she pleaded for support, none of this was making any sense.
"I wasn't around when that happened, and when I was told there was no trace of him left."
"Why…? Why didn't you stop him?" Erza demanded.
"Don't you wanna know what he did?" Gajeel suggested.
Erza's face darkened. "There is no such crime that can justify friends' betrayal," the girl hissed and the Iron Dragon Slayer shut up.
"He beat Gray to half death, you know," Loki informed.
"And ruined the guild. Again!" Wakaba said as an excuse.
"I see…" Erza whispered and jerked her hand free of Lucy's friendly hold, and in that swift second when the girls' eyes met the blonde could read so much contempt in Erza's brown ones, she wished she died right there. "Lucy, let go," and she limped towards Makarov.
"What are you up to, Erza?" Macao asked concerned.
"I'm going to bring Natsu back. Fairy Tail is his home, even if his 'sisters' and 'brothers' threw him out…" she said without looking at anybody, just under her feet.
"We didn't throw him out!" Levy shouted in defense "He left on his own! And we… and we…" she started to sob, "we're really sorry!" and the girl burst out crying.
"Sorry, you say?" Erza muttered slowly.
"Enough with the scolding already, Erza! We know we were wrong!" Alzack cried out.
"Scolding?" Erza looked at him surprised. "Did you say, SCOLDING?" she yelled. "Oh, I wasn't even beginning! But now you asked for it! Macao! Who brought you back to your son, when there was no hope left for your returning on your own? Mirajane! Who always cheered you up and helped with everything? Bisca! Alzack! Cana! Who prevented Jupiter from firing again and destroying everything, you included? Gajeel! Who helped you fight Laxus? Lucy!" Erza paused. "Who brought you here in the first place? And Gray…" she approached the ice mage, looked him straight in the eye and he saw it all written there 'disappointment'. "…no. I don't really have to say it," and she limped away from him to the bar, where Makarov sat. "Master, I request a search and retrieve mission to find Natsu Dragneel and bring him back to Fairy Tail!" she exclaimed firmly, still clutching her side.
"I forbid!" was the answer that took Erza completely by surprise.
"Master!"
"Not with those injuries," he pointed to the girl's abdomen.
"I understand," she said calmly, hair shadowing her eyes, and started to limp away… to the stairs to the second floor.
"Erza!" Makarov threatened knowing what she was about to do. "That's what I love about you! Your spirit!"
Reaching the second floor, Erza Scarlet grabbed the first best S-class mission on the board. "I therefore inform that I'm taking up an S-class mission and will depart tomorrow."
Walking a little bit steadier, Erza reached the exit of the guild building.
"Whom are you going to help with that?" Makarov asked seriously, knowing that she won't listen and stay until her wounds are healed, but still wanting her to comprehend the seriousness of the situation.
"I'm going to help Natsu Dragneel," the girl answered without turning back to face Makarov, and left, never noticing the concerned pair of dark-blue eyes watching her every move.
AN: so how did you like the story so far? I really want it to have more action, but not to worry ROMANCE is always the main objective ;) However I'll probably not be able to update soon… T_T but when I do I'll try my best to make it worth your time reading! =) Till then!