Chapter 5

Erza was confused. Her brows furrowed and her lips pulled into a frown as she observed the calm Archer. The mysterious girl had her head leaning against the window of the train. Her eyes were closed and her face was a bit pale. Every time the train took a turn she either ġrȯȧnėd or got a bit green. She hadn't said a word since she stepped in the train. She was her usual self on their way to the train station. Hands in her pocket and in a cheery mood. At least Erza thought she was cheery. It's hard to tell. Archer was being her curious self and delved into a conversation with the red head. She asked her interesting questions, but never anything personal. She never wondered about her past. Parents. Her story. She didn't ask any of that and it was relieving. But all of that stopped when they stepped into the train. Archer took her seat and immediately rested her head on the window. She said nothing. She only hummed a soft tune as they waited. And then the train moved and the color left her face.

Was she sick? Erza wondered. Did she have motion sickness? She did remember her saying she had sėnsɨtɨvė hearing. Maybe that is why she was sick. She could hear the sound of the train moving as it past through the town. As it turned and twisted. The sounds must bring a sick feeling to her stomach.

"Are you alright? " Erza finally asked. She didn't want to admit it, but she was worried about the other. She didn't even know her and yet she was worried. It wasn't like her. She never goes on missions with others. She never really talks to anyone. She doesn't concern herself with others. And yet here she was worried about someone she only knew for a day.

Archer had opened her eyes and only glanced at her before closing them again. She took a deep breath and sighed deeply. And then she chuckled dryly.

"Motion sickness " she admitted. She always hated the fact that she had motion sickness as well. She didn't think she would. She's different from the dragon slayers. But then again she does have higher senses than them. By a lot. She sighed. Of course she had motion sickness as well. And of course she ran out of her pills. She'd have to make herself some more.

"Is it because of your hearing? "Erza questioned.

"Among other things" the train made a sharp turn and Archer went with it. She straightened herself as best she could and quickly opened the window. She then proceeded to stick her head out and let the winds calm her. She sighed as it cooled her down for some time.

"I see" Erza watched with curiosity. She just found out what the other's weakness is. She's not all powerful. She is human as well after all. And as strong as one might be they must always have some form of weakness. "Don't you have medicine? "

"I forgot to make more pills"

So she makes her own pills. That was interesting. Does she have some other form of magic that helps her with such things or is she just smart enough to dabble with medical chemistry? Erza didn't know, but she wanted to find out. She was curious and wanted to know more about the mysterious girl who appeared out of nowhere. Who seemed to have this knowing look in her eyes as if she knew what would happen.

"May I ask why you gave me the sword the other day? " she decided to finally ask what had been bothering her. Archer just suddenly gave her a sword. She didn't know why. She didn't want to take it, but the girl wasn't having it. Erza had to admit that it was an amazing sword and she would not mind receiving the armor to it. The sword was as light as a feather and sharp enough to cut through iron like buŧŧer. The guard of the sword was shaped as wings. Blazing Phoenix wings. The fuller was the red of Archer's eyes and seemed to glow. The hilt was soft and comfortable for her to hold. The sword was simply amazing.

That's why she wondered why it was given to her. Why give away such a wonderful sword? Does Archer want something from her? What could it be?

In response to the question Archer leaned as far back into her seat as she could. She seemed to be trying very hard to get comfortable.

"Because I wanted to" That was the answer she gave the redhead. Was it true? Yes, definitely. She gave it to her because she wanted to. Why not? She didn't have a use for it. She doesn't frequent swords. She's more of a Katana person. Those are sleek. Besides she specifically had it made for Erza. The perks of being born four hundred years in the past was that there were some interesting things to be found. Including metal. The metal the sword is made out of is unbreakable. The magic within it is used to nullify any elemental attack, suċkɨnġ it up and storing it to be released with twice the force at will. It was made so Erza was the only one capable of wielding it. Well Archer as well, she was the one to make it after all. It was a fun project and she was proud of how it came out.

"Because you wanted to? " That didn't make any sense to the redhead. Archer gave away a fantastic sword because she felt like it?

"Yes because I wanted to. I don't frequent swords. I use Katanas, bows, staffs. No swords"

"Then why do you have one? "Erza questioned. Why have something you don't fancy?

Archer chuckled and leaned a bit close to the curious redhead. "Wanna know a secret? "

Erza nodded hesitantly.

"I made it myself"

Erza could imaging the smile hiding under that mask when Archer revealed that. In all honesty Erza was shocke, but felt as if she shouldn't. She already told herself to expect the unexpected from Archer. She's just one surprise after another.

"Why? "

Archer shrugged. "I don't really know. I just did. It's very powerful if I do say so myself"

That was something Erza figured on her own. How powerfull she wasn't sure. She hasn't used it yet.

There were so many questions she had for the currently sick girl. She was an oddity and she couldn't help her curiosity.

Archer let the wind hit her face and sighed. How much longer would she need to be on the God forsaken train? She knew it wouldn't be long. Hargeon is the neighboring city. It would take little time. But it was still longer than she wanted to be on a train. At least the company was nice. Erza smelled of the fruit she enjoyed so much. That fruity scent was paired with the light aroma of metal. The other was the scent of her magic. It's very pleasant, reassuring , yet strong. The scent of a knight? Archer was always curious when she received the scents of magic. It's a rare thing that as far as she knew only members of the Phoenix family somehow had. Each person has a different scent. Each magic has a different smell.

The last smell was that of her mother. It was an odd smell that Archer could not figure out. Either way it was a scent she enjoyed. 

"What about the armor? " Erza asked.

"All in due time"

There was silence for the rest of the train ride. Archer was trying to keep her breakfast in her stomach. Erza was trying to figure Archer out to no avail. Why was she hiding her face? Why won't she reveal her magic? She did, but no one knows what type it is and she's said she uses multiple types. Why won't she reveal her last name? Why does she evade most questions? 

When the conductor made it known that they arrived at their last stop Archer was immediately out of her chair. She somehow managed to gracefully stumble out of the train on her feet. She took a deep breath of air and puffed out her ċhėst as she laughed quietly.

"Finally "

Erza followed after her, quietly. Archer's cheerfulness had returned the second her feet touched the ground. The blood had returned to her face as well.

"Let's go"

~~~~~~

The two soon found themselves in the bakery, which had been victim to some cake hating villain. When they had arrived and revealed that they were the ones to accept the mission the owner of the bakery, Mrs. Elena Claire, immediately welcomed them into her shop. It was a mess. Cake was everywhere. The floor, the walls, the ceiling. It could be a crime scene. Archer had carefully stepped over some strawberries that looked to be in good shape. At least not everything was lost, but it was still a major set back for the old woman.

"Thank you so much for coming to help me" The woman bowed in thanks and ushered the ten year olds to sit at the one clean booth. She quickly placed two plates of Cheesecake before the two. "This is all I can offer you as thanks for now. I hope you like it"

Erza smiled happily as she ate the cake. Cake is cake. It did not have to be strawberry specifically, she just prefered strawberry. Archer had glanced at the cake and pushed it towards Erza. It's not that she didn't want the cake, it's just that eating it would mean removing her mask.

Erza understood that and gladly accepted the cake.

"Do you not like cake? " Mrs. Elena questioned.

"It's not that. I just prefer keeping my mask on"

"Oh, I see" the woman nodded in understanding and took a seat by the booth with the two. "I'm ȧssuming you've read the full artical? "

"Yes we have and I have a question " Archer turned her attention to the woman.

"Ask away"

"When did you hire this guard of yours? "

"Around two days of coming to meet a destroyed bakery. "

Archer stared at the woman as she usually does. She paid close attention to her body language. Her eyes. Her breathing. Her pulse. She was telling the truth.

"How did you go about hiring someone? "

"I distributed posters around town"

"How many were interested? "

"But one"

"May I ask where this guard is? "

"I sent him home this morning"

"May I have his address? "

Elena hesitated for a moment. She doesn't feel all that good about giving away someone's address without their permission. But it would help the investigation wouldn't it? The two may be children, but they belonged to a guild. That qualifies them enough. She would do as suggested or told. So she wrote down the address.

"Thank you Mrs. Claire. We shall take our leave for now" Archer slipped out of the booth and motioned for Erza to follow. The redhead took one last bite of cake before leaving with a polite smile. She quickly followed after and caught up to the pensive Archer.

"You think the guard did it?" She asked. The questions Archer asked were obvious enough to make her suspicion known.

"A suspect "

"What about Elena? "

"Innocent. I doubt she would deface her own bakery when a special event is approaching "

"And if the guard is Innocent? "

"Then we shall accompany him on his duty tonight "

~~~~~~~

The guard, or Takashi, lived in a small apartment. Very small. When they arrived he was curious as to what two children were doing on his doorstep. When they explained who they were and why they came to see him he let them in. He lead them to the small livingroom and offered them something to drink, which they politely refused.

"You've got questions" he stated.

"That we do, shall you answer them? " Archer raised an eyebrow.

"As best I can"

Archer rested her chin in her palm. He's being honest.

"How is it that all the cakes were still destroyed despite you spending the night in the bakery? "

The brunette sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I planned on doing my job every time, but somehow I always fall asleep and when I wake up everything's a mess"

He was telling the truth.

"You succumb to sleep unexpectedly? "

He nodded. "Yeah. I always have some coffee with me and it keeps me up. I'm really good for jobs where I have to stay up. Everyone knows it"

"But you fall asleep when guarding the bakery"

Another nod.

"Do you fall asleep at a specific time? "

"Yeah, I think. It's around one or two in the morning that I remember blanking out"

Archer nodded and glanced at Erza. It seemed the redhead was coming to the same conclusion as she was.

The perp was indeed a mage and they must have some form of sleep magic.

"We wish to accompany you tonight "

~~~~~~

Archer was seated on a table near a window. She was again in the bakery. It was late in the night. Just past midnight. She had been sitting there for some time. She hardly moved. She just stared out at the moon. She had been in thought. Wondering about future events. Current events. Past events. There are things she needed to do. Things she wanted to change even more than she has already. She was born in the age of dragons. She met all of the first gen dragon slayers. And the second gen as well. She met their dragons. She met Irene. She even met Zeref and Acnologia. She met them all and she had an important hand to play in everything.

Her current goal was to find each dragon slayer. Natsu will find his way to Fairy Tail soon enough. Things had to go somewhat the same. That left Gajeel, Wendy, Sting and Rogue to bring to the guild. She knew Gajeel would come eventually, but she wanted him at the guild sooner. She'd hunt them all down in time. She just had to wait on Natsu. Together they would set out to find the others.

Erza was seated in a booth nearby. She wasn't doing much. She was admiring the phoenix sword. It glimmered in the moonlight. Archer had told her to keep the sword in hand if she did not want to be affected by the unknown wizard's magic.

She sighed and glanced at the quiet Archer. She hadn't said much for the past few hours. Erza wondered if she was starting to feel sleepy. Erza wasn't bothered all that much. She could spend a night awake. It looked like she wasn't affected at all.

Suddenly Archer hopped off her table on full alert. She glanced at Erza and pointed to the now sleeping Takashi.

"Our cake killer has arrived"