(Pre-Show) The Barracks

[Erza Scarlet]

Erza was beginning to lose all hope of actually finding Gildarts. She'd been searching the Lobby for a good hour or two, and his height should have given him away ages ago, let alone her decreasingly-frantic yelling. She had thought she'd found him at one point, about ten minutes in, when she'd run across another tall man in a dark cloak covered in Gildarts' power signature. As soon as she'd pulled him around with a "Finally found ya!" though, it had become glaringly obvious that the man was simply another gloomy tall guy. She had run off again, calling back "Sorry, thought you were someone I knew!" and leaving the poor guy standing there in confusion.

That had been ages ago, it seemed, though it was really more like an hour, and by now Erza had long since stopped actually running and was more sort of half-heartedly pacing about, glancing up occasionally and hoping her acquaintance would miraculously pop up somewhere. Luckily, she was saved from having to admit to herself that she'd given up by someone's approach.

"Uh, ma'am? Are you lost?"

Erza jumped at the first words clearly directed towards her in the last few hours, taking in the man who'd spoken. It was one of the employees she'd passed by quite a few times in her laps around the lobby, a stocky older man with just-greying hair and quite a number of scars. Not a particularly forgettable face. "Ah! No, I never get lost! I was just looking for an... Old friend."

"Well, alright. I may be able to help ya then. He on the roster?"

Erza scratched her head for a moment, thinking. She hadn't actually gotten a chance to speak to him about it, but in all likelihood... "It wouldn't hurt to check. Name would be Gildarts."

The man pulled a strange metal clipboard out of his utility belt and began flipping through a number of digital pages. "We keep very good track of the participants. Actually, are you also here? We're supposed to be bringing all fighters to the Barracks pretty soon here as well." Erza gave a nod, though the man was still looking at the odd clipboard. "Ah, this is you, isn't it?" He turned the tablet around and Erza's own visage stared back at her from within.

"Oooh, that's a good picture! Ehem, I mean, yes, that's me. Erza Scarlet, at your service. Now, do you think you can help me find Gildarts?"

"Good, good, let's talk as we walk, need ta getcha to the barracks! Don't want to miss out on the fun, now do ya, miss Scarlet? According to this dooliemajigger, he's already been brought to the barracks. You can meet him there." A wave of relief swept over the Fairy Queen as she realized that even if such a meeting never happened, they'd at least be able to reunite in the stadium. The two continued walking in silence, which was odd, considering how friendly the old guy had been. Perhaps he simply recognized and respected her need for a bit of peace and quiet after the wild ride that was her experience with the Lobby.

The pair made their way past the now-less-crowded area and into a calmer side-hallway, from which they soon turned to face an Elevator. "No turning back from here. Ready to go?" The man pushed a button on his clipboard, and the doors slowly slid apart to reveal the spacious interior.

Erza took two steps forward into the elevator, then turned to face her short-lived companion once again, a determined smile now changing her demeanor to one of excitement. "Can't wait! Let's do this!"

A genuine guffaw bellowed from the depths of the stocky guy's stomach. "Have fun, miss Scarlet." And with that, the doors closed, the strange young warrior was on her way, and this still-chortling employee could return to learning new faces and watching the amusing antics of the rest of those still stuck in the Lobby. This job paid too well for how much fun it was.

Meanwhile, Erza steeled herself as the elevator doors again opened into what seemed to be a large common room in the middle of a bunker. At the far end of the room, past a gaggle of strangely-dressed Primes and a shockingly high number of armed guards, were smaller hallways marked by number. According to a very helpful young woman who had been standing by the elevator to receive contestants as they walked in, Erza had been designated Room 34, nearer to the other end of the room. Striding purposefully across the central area, she did her best to ignore the obnoxious bantering of the apparent clique in the middle of the room as she made her way to her own hall. Though, she couldn't help but notice a young girl rip her own head off and turn into a bird before similarly walking away. Huh.

Somewhere in the middle of the one crowd in this place that Erza had ignored, a rather irritated Gildarts sneezed.

Room 34: Ezra Erza Scarlet. It was close enough to the hall entrance, and Erza was somewhat thankful for the shorter walk, considering how much of the past few hours she'd spent on her feet. Throwing the door open, she jumped on the beg with a sigh. It was a sparse room, containing only a basic (though admittedly comfortable) bed, a nightstand and, on that nightstand, a bag with her name on it. The redheaded warrior perked up upon noticing this, jumping up into a sitting position to reach for the bag. Provisions for the fight? A quick ruffle through the contents revealed that this was fairly accurate, notwithstanding a few random additional items, including a map and a strange, apparently inhibitive collar. So the fight was to be on an island. Erza was certainly familiar with fighting on islands...

Crumpling the map back up and throwing the contents of the bag back together, she stood up, tossing the provision bag on her bed. This was already getting boring, and there was still a good amount of time before the true event began. Erza gave in to her wanderlust and made her way into the hallway to see if any other like-minded beings were similarly wandering about, leaving her door to swing shut behind her.

Hall 31-40. She must have been later than most as far as sign-up and arrival. No matter, there didn't seem to be any particular bonuses one way or the other as far as that went. She was stopped as soon as she started by a noise emanating from the room to her left: Room 35: Wartortle. Wartortle? Was that the terrorist turtle that had burst in and gored up the Lobby? More importantly, there was a strange clanking sound coming from his room. Unsure whether the creature was chained up due to the incedent, or had somehow smuggled one of those guns into his room, Erza made a point of tiptoeing past his room in particular.

Rooms 36 and 37 seemed as of yet unoccupied. The door to 38, however, was ajar, and this one had no strange noises to accompany it. Forgetting to knock, Erza pushed the door open. "Desco, is it?"

The sight that greeted her was... Unexpected to say the least. A young girl, absolutely no older than 11 and probably younger, sat on the corner of her bed, eyes unfocused and legs swinging cheerily forward and back. She didn't quite seem human, especially considering the horns in her forehead. Though, considering what Erza had seen of some of the humans here, that didn't particularly strike her as a bad thing.

"Yup, Desco's me!" she called out surprisingly cheerfully. "Desco is waiting for the game to start."

"Well, you're certainly chipper. It's nice to meet you, Desco. Hopefully we won't have to kill each other." Erza extended a hand. She couldn't help but continue to smile; this girl seemed cute enough to brighten anyone's day. Of course, that could always change in a heartbeat as soon as her life was on the line. Erza hoped it wouldn't come down to that.