Day One - Part 2

[Erza Scarlet]

Erza slowly slipped into consciousness, some nondescript nightmare fading away into the reality of a refreshing afternoon siesta in the middle of an arena deathmatch. Still, it was somehow relaxing either way. Perhaps it was the security of two guards with overkill weapons sitting watch, one of which Erza trusted with her life, at least the renewable one she had here in the Omniverse.

Hair in my mouth... But jaw hurts too much to spit it out... she thought lazily as she continued laying there, not wanting to reveal her status of having woken up for fear of being forced to actually get up. She played the hair in her mouth with her tongue for a moment, collecting it all into one wet clump, before steeling herself to move her lips and spit it all out at once. She flinched as her jaw cracked with pain. At least all of the scarlet strands were clear of her mouth and she could return to her peaceful slumber.

This was, unfortunately, brought to a sudden end as Erza's thigh came into sudden contact with cold metal. Her leg jerked back reflexively as she spun onto her side only for her face to stop less than an inch from Samus' visor. She yelped, scrambling backwards and tripping over one of the duffel bags before the events of earlier in the day came back to her.

Erza sighed in relief. No giant evil darkness-powered robots headed for the guild hall today. She brushed the dirt off, completely oblivious the bemusement of two confused guards and a very groggy Caterpie, and turned back to again face the sleeping Samus. From what she'd seen in that brief moment, the fully-armored one was actually quite beautiful. Did she not breathe the same sort of air as the rest of them? Or perhaps she simply preferred the additional protection. [/i]Either way,[/i] Erza thought with a grimace,[/i] that can't be a comfortable way to sleep.[/i]

And it was showing. Well, perhaps Samus was just having a nightmare similar to Erza's own, or could feel the pain in her abdomen through the light cover of sleep, but either way she was not sleeping soundly. Since Erza had jumped away, she'd already rolled back over again, and her wrist kept twitching. She needed this rest more than Erza did herself, but it didn't seem to be doing her a lot of good.

Erza spun back around to face Harry, Mickey and Pazo. "Welp, I'm awake now. Uh, wanna talk strategy?"

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Erza and Harry continued to walk in silence. Neither of them was overly talkative, but it was mostly because after breaking up Samus and Mickey's own increasingly depressing exchange, it didn't feel as though there was much of anything to talk about. It was a little while until Erza could muster the courage to break the settling gloom.

"So, uh, you're a wizard, Harry? And Samus isn't?"

Glad to be done with that atmosphere, Harry was quick to amiably respond. "Yup! By your tone it seems you're also from a magical background." Erza nodded slowly, keeping her eyes ahead and scanning for threats. "Samus isn't... From a place that even has magic, I think. But, they're high-tech enough to make up for it." He gestured at Samus a few meters behind in her Varia Suit. So like Edolas, then. Maybe.

"So, she doesn't have magic inside her at all? That sounds... Horrible, to be honest. When we were dropped here, it was as though I'd lost my connection to my inner self, and it's only a little better now that I've got this baby." She hefted the weighty hammer forwards for emphasis before returning it to her shoulder. "So does she... Always feel like this? Is this normal where she's from?"

Harry chuckled quietly for a moment. "I mean, she's certainly got SOMETHING powerful in there. She's certainly quite a strong woman. But I don't think it's magic, exactly."

Believable, but strange. In Erza's home world, one's magic was usually a direct manifestation of the heart and soul of its wielder. Perhaps, in others, people just had to show their "magic" in other ways. As far as Samus's heart, perhaps she'd seen it in her gentle watch over that Pazo pet of hers. It certainly wasn't worth anything here, but it seemed happy under her care nonetheless.

"I think I can accept that." She turned back to the forest ahead. They would certainly not be the only Primes headed this way; there was only so much in the way of hurricane cover, after all, and her placement at the front of the entourage meant she'd be one of the first to fall under fire if they ran into others. She needed to stay focused. And again, the conversation came to a screeching halt. But that was okay, because this time, the tone by the end had been just a little bit higher.