Erza sighed in relief as she entered the guildhall. She's happy to be back, since the latest job she took was to take care of several giant monsters that proved to be stronger than they looked.
She planned to rest for a few days before going out on another job.
And having plenty of strawberry cheesecake. Erza thought with her mouth-watering at the thought of having her favorite food.
Walking up to the bar counter, Erza saw Mirajane reading Sorcerer Weekly.
"Hey Mira. What're you reading?" Erza asked as she took a seat, causing Mira to lower the magazine with a worried expression for some reason.
"You." Answered Mira.
"Me?" Asked Erza, confused since she's sure she hadn't given an interview nor really done anything to warrant an article written about her.
"Well not you specifically, but you should see yourself." Mira replied as she handed the magazine to Erza.
Now curious of what exactly was in the magazine, Erza opened it to the page that Mirajane was reading and frowned. And with each word, Erza's frown deepened.
It was about a woman who had a similar hair to her who is suspected of being the new Dark Mage, Crimson Rose, and was seen using what looks like Fire Dragon Slayer Magic to kill a group of Dark Mage Slave Traders.
If this is someone's attempt to frame me as Crimson Rose, then they're doing a rather poor job. Erza thought, given how Natsu is the Fire Dragon Slayer, not her.
Even then, they got the description and color of the flames wrong, as Natsu doesn't use blue fire.
Though as Erza continued reading, a foreboding thought came to her. The vague description of Crimson Rose did make it sound like she did look incredibly similar to Erza, given the girls that she saved from the Dark Mages had said they only saw scarlet-colored hair. And Erza knew only one other person who had the same shade of hair as her.
Could Crimson Rose be… Ruby? Erza thought, worried at the idea of her twin sister being the Dark Mage Slayer.
When she had been captured and sent to the Tower of Heaven, Erza had tried finding her sister among the other slaves and was relieved when she didn't find her, meaning she managed to escape. That was what she always told herself every day, that Ruby managed to escape, as the other option was that she was dead and Erza refused to believe she was dead.
After her escape from the tower and joined Fairy Tail, every time Erza went out on a job, she'd ask people in other towns if they've seen Ruby, but never getting any good news. She's even asked Master Makarov to ask the other Guild Leaders during their meetings if Ruby has joined any of their guilds or seen her. But after years of searching, Erza still hasn't found a lead to her sister.
She refused to believe that Ruby was dead, call it a twin bond or whatever, but Erza knew she was still alive, and she won't stop searching no matter what.
But it could be possible that the reason Erza has never been able to find her is because Ruby is… Crimson Rose?
Erza immediately shook her head of those thought.
No. It's not possible, Ruby would never do the things Crimson Rose has done. Erza thought, knowing the type of person her sister is and she isn't a killer.
Erza swore, she will find her sister and see for herself that Ruby is not Crimson Rose. Then afterwards, maybe she'll be able to join Erza in Fairy Tail.
Maybe I could even teach her how to use magic, maybe she can use a style of Requip like me. Erza thought, while smiling at the idea of doing jobs with her sister and introducing her to the guild.
𖦹𖦹𖦹
Ruby frowned as she sneezed again.
Someone must be talking about me. Ruby thought before shrugging and going back to her meal.
Currently, Ruby was in a bar in a small town. While Ruby doesn't drink, preferring to keep her mind clear, they were great places to pick up information as long as you know what to look for and focus on what's being said around you.
Ruby looked up as she sensed some Dark Mages entering the bar. The only thing stopping her from killing them when she saw them was that she wanted to hear if they were part of a Dark Guild that she could exterminate. Focusing on what the Dark Mages were saying, Ruby heard them whispering/bragging about their plans to attack the Guild Leaders with something called Lullaby.
Lullaby, another of the Black Wizard's demons. Ruby thought while smiling darkly.
Not only will she be able to exterminate more Dark Mages, but also get her hands on another of Zeref's Demons. She's managed to track down and kill a few Etherious, but not before learning everything they knew, whether it be anything regarding Zeref's location, the location of other Etherious, anything that may prove useful. Then afterwards, she'd killed them.
Unfortunately, all the Etherious she's killed were only low-level weaklings, none of the stronger ones, so she didn't get anything really useful. But Lullaby, that was one of the stronger Etherious, so it should likely to know more about Zeref.
Seeing the Dark Mages leaving, Ruby quickly paid for her food and drink before following after them. Seeing them walk down an alley, Ruby smirked as she followed them while the shadows rose up, blocking anyone from seeing what was about to happen.
𖦹𖦹𖦹
So, Eisenwald is planning to use the Lullaby to kill the Guild Masters during their meeting. And they're rendezvousing at Oshibana Station. Ruby thought as she exited the alley, while wiping blood off her hands and face with a piece of cloth she ripped off one of the Dark Mages's jackets.
Behind her were the mutilated bodies of the Dark Mages, most of their fingers and toes had been torn off, a few internal organs removed, nothing that'd kill them, and expressions of agony forever etched into their faces.
Once she had what she needed, Ruby made sure to kill them slowly, given the fact the bastards were planning to use Lullaby, who's magic kills anyone who hears it, and likely kill dozens of innocent people. They forfeited their lives the moment they agreed to commit mass genocide.
Shit, I'm gonna have to take a train. Ruby thought as she hated riding on trains, thanks to her motion sickness.
Now for the first time since she became a Dragon Slayer, did Ruby wish she had wings.
Knowing there's nothing she could do about it, Ruby left the town to head for the nearest train station.