Claraina Arrives

[Erza Scarlet]

Erza knelt carefully on the strangely-iridescent ground, observing as Claraina and her stuffed animal bounded off for the Tangled Green. The girl's hair seemed to interact with the air differently from Erza's own; while hers had to be rather strictly tied up to keep a style and just sort of got messier as the day went by, Claraina's almost seemed to bounce about of its own accord, retaining its approximate shape as it wove and flapped with the girl's chosen method of transportation.

She let out an unconscious sigh, wishing she could have stuck together with the heart-warming specimen, but there was much to be done, dangerous stuff, that she didn't want to pull kids into for no reason other than her own selfishness. She didn't have the time to simply watch over the girl as she wandered about.

First things first: Apparently the Dataverse was the new cool, hip thing to do, at least according to those few people who hadn't run in fear when she'd approached them about finding her newfound allies from the Abyss. Though she had no clue what maintenance of such a device might entail, actually acquiring one seemed a simple enough process. She remained kneeling on the pale, ever-reaching floor, closed her eyes, and concentrated the glowing power of her inner Omnillium into her fingertips as she extended her hands forward.

There was a long moment of uncomfortably short breath as she felt the pure, unadulterated power seep from her, forming an object in her hands. For a moment, she could feel the cold steel of her collar wrapping about her neck, stealing her inner fire yet again, but then it was over, it was done, and there was no taking it back. The loss of power made Erza shiver in a light bout of nausea, but that quickly cleared as her excitement took over. In her hands sat a small, metal box that could, as others had described it, "connect to anyone and anywhere through the Dataverse."

Erza allowed a chill to travel down her body as she considered the possibilities. If contacting home were an option... Well, nobody had mentioned it, and it did seem rather far-fetched since her world lacked even the barest notion of a "Dataverse," but if there was any semblance of a chance, she was going to take it.

First things first, though - Figuring out how this thing works.

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After dithering about for a bit with the thing, she gave up. Erza was almost entirely clueless as far as finding specific people in the Dataverse, though one conversation she'd found involved a character suspiciously similar to Samus in appearance. Not a great lead, but something to work with, all things considered.

She slowly stood, pulling at the neck of her breastplate to drop the metal block into a pocket hidden in the supple leather that made up its interior. It's a bit uncomfortable, but it fits well en-

*Thunk*

Erza slumped to the ground and the bright whiteness of the Nexus quickly faded to black.