1 A Haunting Memory

"She was an angel, an angel of death. No. She was a goddess, a goddess of war. No. She is a fairy! Titania, the Queen of the fairies who loves and protects.This fairy can only be seen by others of pure heart because pure love is a form of divine magic. Dressed in the ever-rosy petals of her fairy-land, she opened her wings to the sun; through them white light refracted into brilliant rainbow beams." Was all he can say as he watch her move. He is a young man with black hair and grey eyes. He has a cross-shaped tattoo on his forehead, a symbol bestowed to leaders of the clan and their successors. He has a black spider mark on his right arm that states he belongs to the spider clan, the clan that aims to destroy the red dragon clan and steal the powerful benisakura- the reiki.

The full moon was bright red like it was covered in blood yet darkness envelopes the space. it was pitch black and the only source of light was from the sky. When he was about to receive a critical hit from one of the enemy's servants, when a flash of scarlet locks flowing in the wind stopped the attack with her unusually long nodachi that is sorounded by ki. Enemies began sorounding them as she protectively parried all the attacks.

When the fairy queen flowed in the battle like a dance, it was as if it were the only way her body truly knew how to speak. Verbally she was guarded, physically she would shrink and fade into the background no matter where she was. In war her personality, her sensuality burst through into the most vibrant picture of a beautiful soul. The boy watched her move to the music of broken bones, oosing blood, screaming pain filling the area, crackling somewhat from the old cassette recorder. For the most part that ancient music machine was her only audience, watching her with those two dusty grey eyes. As she turned her eyes caught him standing there, him less adept at hiding in the shadows than she. He dropped his eyes momentarily before looking, his head tilted to one side and a hopeful smile playing on his lips.

The first ray of sun shone through the dense green trees, turning the stillness of the night into a peaceful morning. A fleck of sunlight glittered on the window pane, reflecting the light into his room. A welcoming aroma tickled his nose, and his eyes flew open. The dream had vanished like it was never there in the first place, like the whole thing had been a visual joke. The boy ran his hands over the fabric before holding it up to the brilliant early morning sun. There was no trace of red, black or any other colour. It was as clean as the day it was created and just as supple, just as beautiful. But the image of the red head girl still lingers "does she remember that night? Can she still remember me?". He is afraid that what had been there yesterday was already fading from his memory, as if it wasn't just erased from the silk, but from history all together. As he stepped out onto the porch, the beautiful smiles of strangers, the birds' chirrups and the light breeze greeted him a good day ahead. He looked up to the sky took a deep sigh and closed his eyes as he rested his hands on the railings before speaking to himself "it's the same dream again. A haunting memory. The fairy that I've been hunting for so long"

Every detail of that day was etched into his brain like an Etch a Sketch, except if it was shaken, he's more than sure that the memories would remain until he finds her. Casting his eyes around him at the trees, listening to the birds, he quite forgot the fabric for a moment. Then when recalled he was holding something he looked down to find only red petals, which he instinctively released into the breeze and watched them float away. "I hope I get to see you again" he whispered as he watch the petals disappear from his sight.

There was a knock on the door which broke his trance before a voice broke the silence of the haunting feeling of that memory "it's time for breakfast, you'd better hurry up I don't want to be late for school" a young man who has blue hair and a red tattoo above and under his right eye said cheerfully. "Aye sir, I'll join you for breakfast" he answered playfully as the older blue haired brother pats him on the head plays with his hair and messed it up "stop messing up my hair" he said a little bit annoyed of his older brother.

Both reached the school grounds and took a peek at their schedules. "You'll be good from here right? I'll go to my class, you better get some friends and enjoy yourself little brother" he teased playfully as he pay his back. "I'm not a child anymore Jellal! Go away, I'll be fine on my own, I'll see you at home" he assured him and with that they went on their seperate ways.

Just like any normal day he went to his class and sat on the chair on the farthest end corner of the room beside the window. While waiting for the teacher he was once again lost in his thoughts as he stares at the red cherry blossom tree that reminded him of the red fairy.

"I always cry when I wake. I can't bear the feeling of that night's tragedy. But somehow today it seems as if my tears had already dried up. But the powerful longing feeling of the dream stays with me, lingering, unshakeable, in the air. I have the same dream. Every night, without fail. It is several moments before it clears. My eyes are really open but I can't really see why I keep dreaming of her. I wonder how she looks like now. That night is so dark that I did not see her face only the color of her hair, is it red? I think it's crimson, no! It's scarlet! Yes I heard one of them calling her that night the Scarlet dragon" he tells himself.

"Fernandez! Chrollo Fernandez!!!" A stern masculine voice shouts from the front of the class which brought him back from his thoughts. He stares at the teacher stoically. "Spacing out again at this early hour? Why don't you put your meditation to test and answer this equation on the board" he teased him. The boy stood up and with his lazy confident strides he went at the front took the marker and begin writing formulas and answers to the given question when he suddenly stopped forgetting the next step. He stood there frozen while trying to recall what he needs to do next while the class is watching silently in anticipation and the teacher smirks at him teasingly before saying "what's wrong mister Fernandez? Has your genius mind expired?" And the whole class broke into laughter him ignoring everyone.

The door opened and a tall young girl with long, scarlet hair and brown eyes. With a slender, voluptuous figure that most women described as "amazing" stood there. The first thing he noticed was the color of her hair, his heart began pounding as he clenched his fist on his chest as if he is scared that his heart will jump out of him. "Sorry I'm late, I got lost on my way here" she said sheepishly.

"Oh you haven't missed anything miss, we are barely getting started" the teacher answered looking at the boy with a challenging smile. The girl looked at the board and stepped closer. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw her coming his way, his head is spinning in panic. She took the marker from his hands and slid in the space in front of him and finished solving the problem on the board. He can smell her a faint sweet smell of strawberries. He felt her bumping into him due to the confined space and he stepped backwards. She turned around to face him and smiled. "Very good miss, I heard you are a genius and you just proved it in this brat's face, please do the honors of introducing yourself" the teacher said. "Show off" he whispered and earned a death stare from the girl who heard him.

The boy without any other word went back to his seat and paid a close attention to the red head thinking that she might be the one he is looking for but he can't be too reckless, he needs proof. The girl started talking "hi,my name is Erza. Just Erza. Nice to meet all of you. Please take care of me" she ended her short introduction with a bow. "Very well then take any empty seat you like and we'll start the discussion" the teacher instructed and she answered with a simple thank you and a bow then walked straight to the empty seat beside him. "Great, now we're seat mates" he muttered.