Chapter 57 (1/2)
\ In a village /
*In a house*
”Mom!”
In the house, a child's cry could be heard.
The child was in a corridor, in front of a door.
The child was a 10 year old girl, she was wearing white pyjamas, she had beautiful translucent blue/purple eyes, smooth, soft and flawless skin, beautiful long silky scarlet hair and had two single black horns pointing upwards positioned above each ear.
From her attire and face, there was no doubt that she had just stood up.
She opened the door in front of her which opened into a fairly large room with a ċhėst of drawers to the left and a large double bed directly in front of her.
The girl walked slowly towards the bed and when she reached it, a woman was lying on it.
She was beautiful, scarlet hair spread all over the bed and wearing a white shirt too small for her showing off her long slender legs and beautiful curves.
”Shin...”
Before she could wake her mother, she heard her mother mumble a name in her sleep with a sad face and tears.
Upon hearing the name, Erza in turn made a sad expression as she knew who it was.
According to her mother, he had disappeared to help them escape when she was six, but she couldn't remember anything before she was six.
It was as if they were blocked by some trauma or other.
All she knew was what her mother had told her.
That he was the sweetest man, who loved his family and his daughter more than anything in the world and that he was her princess, her treasure.
And even though she had never known him, she considered him a hero and had a very strong bond with him....
Probably a bond created when I was younger...' thought Erza.
It was strange to have such a strong bond with a person she didn't remember, but there was nothing she could do about it.
One day, while she was playing with her two friends in the village, some other children came up to her and insulted her missing father.
She was so angry that her magic power went wild and shook the whole area, destroying almost every house and killing the children if her mother hadn't intervened first.
Finally, Irene woke up.
Seeing her condition and her daughter, she quickly wiped her tears.
”How are you my dear?” asked Irene lovingly.
”Fine but you mom-” asked Erza with concern.
”Don't worry, everything is fine.”
”Shall we go for lunch?” asked Irene with a smile.
”Yes...” Erza answered with a smile but she knew that behind her mother's smile was a great sorrow and pain.
So they went downstairs to the dining room.
Irene prepared breakfast while Erza quietly set the table.
In the photo frame was a picture of her mother, father and herself as a baby in her father's arms.
As she looked at the picture, she couldn't help but get a warm feeling in her heart.
And her father was really handsome and looked very young too, which had surprised Erza at first but her mother had told her that he was immortal.
”He's handsome huh.”
As Erza watched, Irene arrived with breakfast and walked over to her daughter.
”Yeah... I'd love to remember him and see him again.”
”Me too sweetheart, you know, you look like him” Irene comforted as she hugged her daughter.
A sad, pensive and melancholic mood had been set but was quickly gone when they went to have their breakfast.
”So, are you ready to go?” asked Irene looking at her daughter.
”Are you sure you're okay? Do you like this town?” asked Irene carefully.
”Yes, don't worry, we promised to see each other again. And this city is very beautiful and I feel good there, I feel at home” Erza explained.
”...Me too” Irene smiled but she knew very well why she and her daughter felt so comfortable in this city.
After breakfast, they both went about their day as usual, except that she was packing up to leave.
\ The next day /
”We'll see each other again, won't we?” said a little girl in Erza's arms with a tear-streaked face.
”Of course,” Erza comforted, patting her head with a small smile.
”See you next time, big sister” said a boy younger than Erza but still quite tall and strong for his young age.
”See you next time” replied Erza giving him a beautiful smile that made him blush.
They never had a good relationship with the villagers.
The villagers considered them monsters because of their unusual hair colour and their terrifying magic and power.
Apart from the girl, Kagura and the boy, Simon, the other children did not like Erza.
This was largely because all the boys had been rejected when they confessed to Erza and the girls out of jealousy.
Although Irene had protected them from the beasts around them, they never expressed any gratitude, saying that they had never asked for anything.
But for Erza, Simon and Kagura were enough as friends, they were like a little brother and sister.
”Is this good Erza?” Irene called to Erza.
”I'm coming, Mum” Erza answered.
”Goodbye, Simon and Kagura” Irene said kindly to her daughter's only friends.
Erza and Irene walked, camped out to the town.
Irene could have teleported them with a teleportation enchantment she had placed in the town when she first went there.
But mother and daughter wanted to have fun and have a good time so they decided to go on an adventure.
Erza wasn't too worried because even at her age, she could handle several animals on her own, even though she was rather weak.
Not to mention Irene, who had become known as ”The Crimson Enchantress”, a very powerful mage who could take on SS class jobs and had even completed a 10 year job.
(A.N.: Here's how the ”jobs” are classified in Fairy Tail -->
fairytail.fandom.com/wiki/Jobs)
So the risks were minimal.
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After several days of walking, Erza and Irene finally arrived at the city.
It was quite fast because with the distance they covered, it would have taken them at least a week but Irene, as a Dragon and Erza, as a Half-Dragon-Mi Phoenix, they both had quite strong physiques.
The city was surrounded by mountains which acted as a natural defence.
Erza and Irene entered the city through the entrance which was a huge archway with the name of the city on it.
”City of the Heavenly Flame” Irene whispered.
As she spoke the name, complicated and nostalgic emotions rose up.
Irene and Erza eventually entered the city and as they entered, they felt a sense of closeness to the city.
A feeling of warmth and déjà vu that Irene knew the reason for, but Erza did not.
They walked around the city stopping at stalls, shops and other activities.
The city was very big and beautiful, the buildings were generally made of a white material that made the city quite modern, the plants were green and resplendent, the main road was paved, the streets were very lively with very happy and cheerful people.
But this did not surprise them as this city is also called ”The City of Happiness” because this city is strangely peaceful and the air seems to be lighter and more pleasant.
People who go to this city feel peaceful so this city does not host any crime, which is one of the reasons why it is so well known in the whole continent.
After their walk, they arrived in the centre of the city, in the middle of a large square with the cathedral right in front of them.
The cathedral was huge and pure white mixed with golden yellow and jet black with large stained glass windows.
Strangely enough, the cathedral was surrounded by trees which looked much more alive and enchanting than any other trees.
This added a natural charm to the church and if you looked closely, it was said that these trees seemed to be there even before the cathedral.
Looking at the cathedral, Irene looked at Erza and heard his heartbeat increase.
It must be because of her lineage. After all, this is the place where she can feel closest to her father...' Irene thought.
”Let's go in” smiled Irene as she looked at her daughter.
”Hm” replied Erza, nodding excitedly and making Irene laugh.
Erza felt something calling to her in this place.
In the cathedral, the stained glass windows made the light more blurred but gave the place a more mystical and sacred air.
All along the cathedral there are beautiful white pillars with relief and on the walls behind the landings were countless paintings that seemed to be inlaid.
The paintings seemed to follow one another and made up an entire story.
As Erza walked through the cathedral and looked at the paintings, she stopped at one of the paintings.
On the painting, there was a drawing of a huge black and blue dragon facing what appeared to be a huge green bird that seemed to be in flames.
On the dragon's side, the painting was tinted black, more obscure, destroyed buildings and dragon bodies were drawn below the dragon with skulls surrounding it.
While on the side of the huge bird, the painting was brighter, repaired buildings and living dragons were drawn underneath the bird with green streaks surrounding it.
Erza was mesmerized by the painting and stood frozen in front of it for several seconds until a sudden headache came over her.
”Ah.”
Erza held her head, groaning in pain as she felt the pain while Irene immediately reacted by taking her daughter in her arms with a worried look.
”Erza!”
Erza saw blurry images come back to her like memories only they were in disarray and she couldn't see or understand anything.
The only thing she saw was flames everywhere, screams, roars, destroyed and burning buildings and the silhouette of a man in front of her pierced but she could not see his face.
After that the headache stopped and she came to.
”It's okay mum” Erza looked at her mother as she recovered from the pain.
”Are you sure? Let's go home” Irene decided.
She took her daughter's hand.
”No, I want to stay, please, it's okay.”
Erza stopped her mother.
”Are you sure?” asked Irene worriedly.
”Yes” Erza nodded with a small smile to reassure her.
”Okay” Irene sighed with relief but remained alert in case her daughter felt unwell.
Continuing their tour, they finally arrived at the end of the cathedral.
And at the end was a tree, to their great surprise.
Both Erza and Irene were surprised because although she had been to the city before, it was only for missions and she had never bothered to enter the cathedral because she didn't think anything interesting was there.
In front of her, a tree that was bigger than all the others but not too huge either, very green and full of life, a magnificent foliage and an imposing and hard trunk.
It was surrounded by a bit of lush grass that was stopped by the slabs on the ground.
But most distinctive was the hole in the trunk in which was what appeared to be a green flame.
But the flame was not burning and the heat it gave off was not unpleasant and rather soft and soothing.
It gave off a kind of green energy that seemed to be the source of her feelings and sensations.
The demarcation between the tiles and the grass was also a warning not to approach.