Chapter 44: Scarlet Search and Imperial Ire
Erza Scarlet's enraged demand for the "charlatan" to show themselves echoed unanswered in the vast, dusty expanse of the Cine Theatro Esperança.
Only the drip-drip-drip from a leaking pipe and the settling of ancient dust motes responded.
Her eyes, accustomed to piercing battlefield gloom, narrowed, scanning every shadow, every dilapidated balcony, every ripped velvet curtain for any sign of movement, any hint of the one responsible for the violating dream.
The lingering embarrassment fueled her fury; to be so easily manipulated, even in sleep, was an affront to her discipline as a warrior.
"Hiding, are you?" Erza growled, her voice a low threat.
"You will not escape Fairy Tail's judgment!" Her strong sense of justice demanded that the perpetrator be found and held accountable.
She began a methodical, if forceful, search of the auditorium, her armored boots thudding on the warped floorboards.
Each overturned seat, each pile of debris, was inspected with a warrior's intensity.
High above, Kael remained an unseen observer.
Erza's movements were precise, powerful, but also agitated. He registered the continued high energy output.
This was not an individual prone to quiet contemplation after a disturbance. He would remain concealed.
Miles away, in the botanical garden, Boa Hancock's beauty was a terrifying mask of imperial rage.
Her nightclothes, though elegant, offered little comfort against the indignity she felt.
"To dare… to DARE subject ME to such a vulgar display!"
Her voice, though not as loud as Erza's, carried a chilling resonance that caused the dew on the exotic flowers around her to tremble.
She swept her gaze across the serene, moonlit garden, her eyes promising petrification to any unfortunate creature that crossed her path.
"No one," she hissed, "NO ONE, treats the Pirate Empress with such contempt and lives to speak of it! Not even in dreams!"
Her immediate thought was that this humiliation was somehow a targeted attack, a plot to undermine her authority or, even worse, an attempt to defile her pure love for Luffy.
The very idea made her skin crawl with revulsion.
Julie, still invisible on her fountain perch, hugged herself with delight.
The raw emotion was intoxicating.
The warrior's righteous, almost physical fury, and the empress's cold, narcissistic rage were two sides of a fascinating coin.
"Oh, they are both so delightfully predictable in their outrage," she thought, a giggle escaping her lips, unheard by the objects of her amusement.
"Perhaps a little nudge to guide their… investigations?"
With a subtle gesture, a mere thought, Julie sent a fleeting, almost subliminal image into both women's minds: a shadowy figure, vaguely feminine, with eyes like glowing amethysts (Julie's own, of course), smirking before disappearing in the direction of the city center, towards the area of the old cinema for Hancock, and for Erza, a similar figure darting towards the garden district.
It was a vague, misleading breadcrumb, just enough to point their incandescent furies in potentially interesting directions.
In Himeko's probe, the navigator's fingers flew across her holographic console.
"The energy spikes are stabilizing, but the signatures remain highly agitated," Himeko reported, her voice maintaining its "calm, thoughtful, and elegant" tone, though her brow was slightly furrowed.
"The magical discharge near the cinema suggests the warrior is actively searching or… expressing displeasure rather forcefully. The willpower signature from the garden also indicates extreme emotional distress and a readiness for action."
Mirajane, ever sensitive to emotional currents, even at a distance, looked worried.
"Two powerful individuals, both clearly upset and alone in an unfamiliar world… that's a recipe for trouble, Himeko."
Her gentle, tender, maternal nature was on full alert. "If they encounter locals, or each other, in this state..."
"Precisely," Himeko agreed.
"The potential for collateral damage, or for them to draw more unwanted official attention, is significant."
She thought for a moment.
"Joey, Lyra, that dark, hooded figure you both saw, Kael… his energy signature has not reappeared near these new disturbances. He's either maintaining extreme discretion or has withdrawn to observe from a greater distance."
Joey swallowed, the mention of Kael sending a familiar chill down his spine. "So… these new people… are they dangerous?"
"Anyone with that level of power, when distressed and disoriented, can be, Joey," Himeko explained patiently. "It's not necessarily about intent, but about control and understanding of their new environment."
"We should try to reach out to them, offer help," Mirajane suggested, her primary motivation to protect and her belief in offering kindness to the lonely guiding her thoughts.
"Especially if they are truly alone and scared, despite their power."
"A noble sentiment, Mirajane," Himeko conceded, "and one I share.
However, approaching them directly in their current state might be like walking into a firestorm.
We need more information, a better understanding of their capabilities and personalities before we can formulate a safe contact protocol." Her scientific intellect and ingenuity demanded a cautious approach.
Back in the cinema, Erza found nothing but dust, decay, and the lingering scent of fear – Lyra's fear, she vaguely recognized, similar to what she'd sensed in Wendy when they first met.
But no sign of her tormentor.
The misleading image Julie had implanted—the amethyst-eyed shadow heading towards the gardens—began to take root in her frustrated mind. "The garden district…" she muttered. It was a direction, at least.
In the botanical garden, Hancock's rage had not subsided. The fleeting vision of the amethyst-eyed figure, seemingly mocking her before vanishing towards the city center, specifically towards an old, dilapidated structure she could just sense, gave her fury a target.
"So, the creature dares to hide in the squalor of this city?" she seethed.
"It will learn the folly of provoking Boa Hancock!" She would find this entity and make it pay for its insolence.
Unbeknownst to them, Julie's subtle misdirection was setting them on a potential collision course, or at least guiding them towards areas where other anomalies – and perhaps each other – might be found.
The night in Healdsburg was far from over, and the threads of destiny, woven by chance and now by playful malice, were tightening.
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