Chapter 36: Erza Arrives

After returning, Natsu explained the situation of the meteorite to Makarov, making him sigh in relief that it wasn't some dark mage's doing. He forbid Natsu from using the spell unless it was absolutely necessary. Natsu naturally agreed since he doesn't plan to make the human race extinct with a bigass meteorite.

The next day Natsu was happily conversing with the guild member when Loke entered the guild panting heavily. Today Makarov has left the guild to attend the guild master's gathering, so it was a little rowdier than usual. Lucy was surprised seeing Loke in such a panicked state.

"What happened to you, Loke? Did you see a demon or something haha…" asked some of the guys in the guild teasing him. Gray also smirked, watching the condition of Loke.

Gray and Loke were both good friends in the guild. Whenever Gray wasn't trying to fight Natsu, he would hang out with Loke.

"She's back! Erza is back!!!" shouted Loke making all the other guild members terrified. They started panicking. Lucy asked Mira about Erza and got an exaggerated answer making her imagine Erza as a demon. She was afraid of meeting her.

But the door of the guild building opened, revealing a beautiful red-haired girl. This was the strongest female mage of the fairy tail guild, Erza Scarlet, otherwise known as the Titania.

Erza has long, scarlet hair and brown eyes. She lost her right eye as a child and now has an artificial one, which was created by Porlyusica. She has a slender, voluptuous figure that can be described as "amazing." She wore custom-made armor by Heart Kreuz smiths, a blue skirt, black boots, and diamond-shaped silver earrings. Her Fairy Tail stamp is blue and is located in the middle of her left upper arm. She was carrying an enormous horn of a demon she defeated in her mission.

Then, Erza glared at everyone in the guild, making them nervous. She started lecturing them about their mistakes, making everyone gulp inwardly.

After she was done with her lecture, she headed toward Gray and glared at him, making him nervous. Loke already left him, making him inwardly curse his unreliable friend.

"Y-Yo Erza! Do you need me for anything?" asked Gray nervously.

"I actually need your help with something. I heard some pretty troubling things at work. Usually, I would consult this with the guild master, but he's not present at the moment. You'll come with me, right? This is an emergency quest." said Erza with a glare making it hard for Gray to deny.

"E-Eh! O-Of course I will help you. But don't you think you should ask for others as well? If you're not sure to finish this mission by yourself, then it must be pretty dangerous." said Gray making Erza ponder for a while.

"You're right; It will be reassuring to have more people join this mission. But it's pretty dangerous, I don't want to have weaker members join us and risk themselves," replied Erza in uncertainty.

Natsu heard their discussion due to his superior hearing. He immediately approached Erza and put his hands on her shoulder, gaining her attention.

"Then don't you think I should join you guys? I'm the strongest guy you can find currently," said Natsu with his head held high in pride. Gray was annoyed by his narcissism but didn't deny it.

"Even though this guy is pretty annoying, he's pretty strong to join this mission. Don't you think so, Erza?" said Gray making Erza have an uncomfortable expression. Natsu was surprised hearing this. He didn't expect Gray to take his side. He gave a smile in return to Gray, making him turn his head, avoiding eye contact.

"But…" Erza wanted to make some excuses didn't have any reason not to include Natsu in the mission.

"ERZA!" said Natsu with a loud voice, making Erza surprised. He held her shoulders and made her look straight at his face.

"I know you're trying to avoid me for some reason. Don't you think it's time for us to reconcile already? Besides, this must be an important mission if even you feel uncertain doing it solo. Do you want to risk it due to your feelings? And, I'm tired of all of this. Please, let's get along like we used to do in the past?" said Natsu with an honest and pleading expression making Erza surprised.

She looked at his pitch-black eyes, which contained nothing but sadness watching her. She wanted to avoid him like always, but she couldn't bring herself to do it now. So, she just sighed heavily and said. "I apologize for that. You're right; I shouldn't risk the mission due to my feelings. So, please help me in this mission."

"Thanks, I'm so glad to hear that. I'm looking forward to working with you like in the past," replied Natsu with a sincere smile dazzling Erza. She blushed and ran away from him while saying, "I'll go and prepare my luggage. Meet me at the train station in an hour. And Gray, don't you dare run away!"

Gray also left to prepare his stuff. Natsu didn't need any preparation since he always stores his daily necessities in the re-equip storage. He has a pretty massive storage of 100x100x100 meters, where he stores all kinds of stuff.

Lucy approached Natsu, and meekly asked. "Natsu, was that really Erza? She didn't look like a demon to me?"

"Did you really think she was a demon?" asked Natsu, rolling his eyes at her.

"Of course, Mira told me that she was a vicious demon who enjoys torturing people," replied Lucy with a scared expression imagining it. Even though Mira has turned into a gentle person, she still has some of her she-devil persona left, especially if it is related to Erza.

"That's obviously not true. Mira was messing with you. Don't go believing everything she says. Will you believe if she said I was a playboy?" asked Natsu shaking his head.

Lucy looked at Natsu in surprise and said, "Aren't you one already?"

"..."

Natsu just rolled his eyes at her and had nothing to say. He sighed and said tiredly, "Obviously not. Get it out of your head already. I'm a bonafide gentleman, not a despicable playboy."

"Yeah yeah, that's what every player says," replied Lucy with a smirk making Natsu irritated.

"Y-You little! I'm going to spank that fat ass of yours if you keep saying it," said Natsu in a raised voice, but Lucy already left the area but not without teasing him, sticking her tongue out.

"That is if you can catch me hehe...." said Lucy, chuckling while running away. Natsu just stared at her running figure and sighed.

"I don't have time for her shenanigans. I need to get ready for the mission," muttered Natsu leaving the guild.

(A/N: I'm advancing the story pretty slow-paced. What do you think? Do you want me to continue like this or fasten the pace a little?)