Chapter 57

\ In a village /

*In a house*​​

"Mom!"

In the house, a child's cry could be heard.

The child was in a corridor, in front of a door.

The child was a 10 year old girl, she was wearing white pyjamas, she had beautiful translucent blue/purple eyes, smooth, soft and flawless skin, beautiful long silky scarlet hair and had two single black horns pointing upwards positioned above each ear.

From her attire and face, there was no doubt that she had just stood up.

She opened the door in front of her which opened into a fairly large room with a ċhėst of drawers to the left and a large double bed directly in front of her.

The girl walked slowly towards the bed and when she reached it, a woman was lying on it.

She was beautiful, scarlet hair spread all over the bed and wearing a white shirt too small for her showing off her long slender legs and beautiful curves.

"Shin..."

Before she could wake her mother, she heard her mother mumble a name in her sleep with a sad face and tears.

Upon hearing the name, Erza in turn made a sad expression as she knew who it was.

According to her mother, he had disappeared to help them escape when she was six, but she couldn't remember anything before she was six.

It was as if they were blocked by some trauma or other.

All she knew was what her mother had told her.

That he was the sweetest man, who loved his family and his daughter more than anything in the world and that he was her princess, her treasure.

And even though she had never known him, she considered him a hero and had a very strong bond with him....

Probably a bond created when I was younger...' thought Erza.

It was strange to have such a strong bond with a person she didn't remember, but there was nothing she could do about it.

One day, while she was playing with her two friends in the village, some other children came up to her and insulted her missing father.

She was so angry that her magic power went wild and shook the whole area, destroying almost every house and killing the children if her mother hadn't intervened first.

Finally, Irene woke up.

Seeing her condition and her daughter, she quickly wiped her tears.

"How are you my dear?" asked Irene lovingly.

"Fine but you mom-" asked Erza with concern.

"Don't worry, everything is fine."

"Shall we go for lunch?" asked Irene with a smile.

"Yes..." Erza answered with a smile but she knew that behind her mother's smile was a great sorrow and pain.

So they went downstairs to the dining room.

Irene prepared breakfast while Erza quietly set the table.

In the photo frame was a picture of her mother, father and herself as a baby in her father's arms.

As she looked at the picture, she couldn't help but get a warm feeling in her heart.

And her father was really handsome and looked very young too, which had surprised Erza at first but her mother had told her that he was immortal.

"He's handsome huh."

As Erza watched, Irene arrived with breakfast and walked over to her daughter.

"Yeah... I'd love to remember him and see him again."

"Me too sweetheart, you know, you look like him" Irene comforted as she hugged her daughter.

A sad, pensive and melancholic mood had been set but was quickly gone when they went to have their breakfast.

"So, are you ready to go?" asked Irene looking at her daughter.

"Are you sure you're okay? Do you like this town?" asked Irene carefully.

"Yes, don't worry, we promised to see each other again. And this city is very beautiful and I feel good there, I feel at home" Erza explained.

"...Me too" Irene smiled but she knew very well why she and her daughter felt so comfortable in this city.

After breakfast, they both went about their day as usual, except that she was packing up to leave.

\ The next day /

"We'll see each other again, won't we?" said a little girl in Erza's arms with a tear-streaked face.

"Of course," Erza comforted, patting her head with a small smile.

"See you next time, big sister" said a boy younger than Erza but still quite tall and strong for his young age.

"See you next time" replied Erza giving him a beautiful smile that made him blush.

They never had a good relationship with the villagers.

The villagers considered them monsters because of their unusual hair colour and their terrifying magic and power.

Apart from the girl, Kagura and the boy, Simon, the other children did not like Erza.

This was largely because all the boys had been rejected when they confessed to Erza and the girls out of jealousy.

Although Irene had protected them from the beasts around them, they never expressed any gratitude, saying that they had never asked for anything.

But for Erza, Simon and Kagura were enough as friends, they were like a little brother and sister.

"Is this good Erza?" Irene called to Erza.

"I'm coming, Mum" Erza answered.

"Goodbye, Simon and Kagura" Irene said kindly to her daughter's only friends.

Erza and Irene walked, camped out to the town.

Irene could have teleported them with a teleportation enchantment she had placed in the town when she first went there.

But mother and daughter wanted to have fun and have a good time so they decided to go on an adventure.

Erza wasn't too worried because even at her age, she could handle several animals on her own, even though she was rather weak.

Not to mention Irene, who had become known as "The Crimson Enchantress", a very powerful mage who could take on SS class jobs and had even completed a 10 year job.

(A.N.: Here's how the "jobs" are classified in Fairy Tail -->

fairytail.fandom.com/wiki/Jobs)

So the risks were minimal.

*********

*********

*********

After several days of walking, Erza and Irene finally arrived at the city.

It was quite fast because with the distance they covered, it would have taken them at least a week but Irene, as a Dragon and Erza, as a Half-Dragon-Mi Phoenix, they both had quite strong physiques.

The city was surrounded by mountains which acted as a natural defence.

Erza and Irene entered the city through the entrance which was a huge archway with the name of the city on it.

"City of the Heavenly Flame" Irene whispered.

As she spoke the name, complicated and nostalgic emotions rose up.

Irene and Erza eventually entered the city and as they entered, they felt a sense of closeness to the city.

A feeling of warmth and déjà vu that Irene knew the reason for, but Erza did not.

They walked around the city stopping at stalls, shops and other activities.

The city was very big and beautiful, the buildings were generally made of a white material that made the city quite modern, the plants were green and resplendent, the main road was paved, the streets were very lively with very happy and cheerful people.

But this did not surprise them as this city is also called "The City of Happiness" because this city is strangely peaceful and the air seems to be lighter and more pleasant.

People who go to this city feel peaceful so this city does not host any crime, which is one of the reasons why it is so well known in the whole continent.

After their walk, they arrived in the centre of the city, in the middle of a large square with the cathedral right in front of them.

The cathedral was huge and pure white mixed with golden yellow and jet black with large stained glass windows.

Strangely enough, the cathedral was surrounded by trees which looked much more alive and enchanting than any other trees.

This added a natural charm to the church and if you looked closely, it was said that these trees seemed to be there even before the cathedral.

Looking at the cathedral, Irene looked at Erza and heard his heartbeat increase.

It must be because of her lineage. After all, this is the place where she can feel closest to her father...' Irene thought.

"Let's go in" smiled Irene as she looked at her daughter.

"Hm" replied Erza, nodding excitedly and making Irene laugh.

Erza felt something calling to her in this place.

In the cathedral, the stained glass windows made the light more blurred but gave the place a more mystical and sacred air.

All along the cathedral there are beautiful white pillars with relief and on the walls behind the landings were countless paintings that seemed to be inlaid.

The paintings seemed to follow one another and made up an entire story.

As Erza walked through the cathedral and looked at the paintings, she stopped at one of the paintings.

On the painting, there was a drawing of a huge black and blue dragon facing what appeared to be a huge green bird that seemed to be in flames.

On the dragon's side, the painting was tinted black, more obscure, destroyed buildings and dragon bodies were drawn below the dragon with skulls surrounding it.

While on the side of the huge bird, the painting was brighter, repaired buildings and living dragons were drawn underneath the bird with green streaks surrounding it.

Erza was mesmerized by the painting and stood frozen in front of it for several seconds until a sudden headache came over her.

"Ah."

Erza held her head, groaning in pain as she felt the pain while Irene immediately reacted by taking her daughter in her arms with a worried look.

"Erza!"

Erza saw blurry images come back to her like memories only they were in disarray and she couldn't see or understand anything.

The only thing she saw was flames everywhere, screams, roars, destroyed and burning buildings and the silhouette of a man in front of her pierced but she could not see his face.

After that the headache stopped and she came to.

"It's okay mum" Erza looked at her mother as she recovered from the pain.

"Are you sure? Let's go home" Irene decided.

She took her daughter's hand.

"No, I want to stay, please, it's okay."

Erza stopped her mother.

"Are you sure?" asked Irene worriedly.

"Yes" Erza nodded with a small smile to reassure her.

"Okay" Irene sighed with relief but remained alert in case her daughter felt unwell.

Continuing their tour, they finally arrived at the end of the cathedral.

And at the end was a tree, to their great surprise.

Both Erza and Irene were surprised because although she had been to the city before, it was only for missions and she had never bothered to enter the cathedral because she didn't think anything interesting was there.

In front of her, a tree that was bigger than all the others but not too huge either, very green and full of life, a magnificent foliage and an imposing and hard trunk.

It was surrounded by a bit of lush grass that was stopped by the slabs on the ground.

But most distinctive was the hole in the trunk in which was what appeared to be a green flame.

But the flame was not burning and the heat it gave off was not unpleasant and rather soft and soothing.

It gave off a kind of green energy that seemed to be the source of her feelings and sensations.

The demarcation between the tiles and the grass was also a warning not to approach.

For if anyone came too close, he would burn.

So far, many people had tried to approach it and take hold of this very powerful flame, adventurers, mages, priests, but no one had succeeded and all died.

Erza was in a sort of trance when she saw the flame.

Irene was in her thoughts but as she thought, noises brought her out of her thoughts.

"Oh my god"

"How does this child do it?"

"Powerful mages couldn't do it but a child did?!"

Hearing people talking in shock, Irene looked to the side but didn't see Erza anymore.

And looking ahead, she saw Erza who had crossed the boundary but had not burned.

"Erza!" shouted Irene.

As Erza reached for the flame, she was stopped before she could touch it by her mother.

When she was stopped by her mother, she seemed to come to her senses and looked at her mother, confused.

"Mum? What are we doing here?" asked Erza, tilting her head.

"Mom, your forehead, you have a tattoo.." Erza pointed to her mother's forehead.

Irene's eyes widened.

She realized that she was right in front of the flame, in the grassy area where no one should be able to go without dying.

From her daughter's words, she understood that her husband's "blessing" must have activated to protect her and allow her to be recognized by the flame as someone with her bloodline.

And as she thought this, the leaves of the tree and the grass began to dance in the absence of wind as the green energy around the flame began to excite and converge on Irene and Erza.

This scene did not go unnoticed and many people watched in shock.

Irene took her daughter in her arms and walked out of the grassy area around the tree as people moved aside not letting her pass.

"Uh-oh."

A loud laugh of surprise could be heard.

Turning towards the laughter, the people and Irene could see the person in question.

It was a rather tall and stout old man with white hair, beard and moustache with some wrinkles on his face.

He was wearing a white religious robe and had a wooden stick on which he was supporting himself.

Although his build could be imposing, his dress and his wise expression made him less imposing.

He was accompanied by other priests around him and they walked to Irene.

Irene squinted and looked at them warily, especially the old man in the middle with the staff.

She could feel that he was powerful.

When Irene had stopped Erza, the main reason for her fear was not really that Erza was hurt, but it was still a big part of it.

But it was mostly because she was afraid that her lineage and heritage would show itself to her people.

She didn't want her daughter to become a known and used person.

"Good morning, dear lady and lovely little girl" said the old man calmly with a smile.

"Hello" said Irene so as not to be rude.

"Hello grandpa" said Erza with a smile and moving her hand.

Although she was tall and intelligent for her age, she was still a naive little girl with a tender heart.

"Excuse me for disturbing you, but I saw what happened."

Irene became even more guarded and her eyes grew colder.

"Don't worry, I don't want to hurt you" the old man reassured her with his smile.

"Who are you?" asked Irene dryly and coldly.

"You!"

"How dare you speak like that to the archbishop!

The priests around were angry at the way Irene spoke to the archbishop but were stopped by the archbishop's hand.

"That's enough," said the archbishop quietly.

"But-" protested the priests.

"I said, enough!" said the archbishop, raising his voice and striking his cane on the ground.

His blow shook the ground as the priests fell silent.

"I'm sorry about that. I am the archbishop of this Cathedral, Joseph."

Irene was surprised to see the highest in the hierarchy, the head of the Cathedral.

"May I ask the name of this beautiful lady?" asked Joseph with respect and courtesy.

"..." Irene hesitated to say her first name but decided to do so because so far the Archbishop had been polite and showed no ill intent.

"I am Irene Ai and this is my daughter, Erza Ai"

"What is an Archbishop mum?" asked Erza with innocence that captured the hearts of everyone present.

"He is the leader of this place my princess" replied Irene with a gentle expression unlike her vigilant and aggressive expression with the others.

Erza thought with her mother's answer and looked at the Archbishop.

"Grandpa Archbishop, what's that flame?" asked Erza pointing to the tree and more specifically the flame.

The Archbishop smiled and replied.

"It is the Celestial flame of Life my child".

"What is the Celestial Flame of Life?" asked Erza curiously.

"It is a flame left by a mythical creature, "Hope", centuries ago. It is a flame that gives off a very powerful and miraculous energy that soothes people's emotions and keeps the peace and heals any wound of a person who stays close to the tree," said the Archbishop with respect and belief.

"What is this mythical creature 'Hope'?"

"It is the creature opposite the dragon you saw in the painting. This creature is what is known as and is better known as 'The Celestial Phoenix' but has been named over the centuries as 'Hope'."

"Why?"

"Because you see in this painting, 'Hope' fought against an evil and dangerous dragon called 'Acnologia' but better known over the centuries as 'Despair'"

"And where is he now?" asked Erza captivated by the story but oddly feeling a sense of sadness.

"I don't know, my child. After the battle of these two creatures, there was nothing left but ashes and destruction but the legends say that "Despair" is badly wounded and in a coma while "Hope" is still alive somewhere in the world waiting for the return of "Despair".

"Wah" Erza was excited and conquered by these stories and legends while next to her, Irene's eyes showed deep sadness and sorrow.

"And you, you managed to get close to the Celestial flame of Life without dying, a miracle that never happened. Perhaps you are our "New Hope".

"Is that why, my child, Erza, would you be willing to become our priestess?" asked the Archbishop with a smile and expectation.

"Wah, is that so?" asked Erza with wide eyes.

"Of course" The Archbishop laughed at this little piece of sugar.

"So cool" replied Erza with stars in his eyes.

"Mom-"

When Erza went to ask her mother, she saw her mother with cold, sharp, powerful eyes.

"You want to take my daughter?!" declared Irene angrily.

*SWOOOSH*

Irene's magical power began to erupt in the form of a crimson aura, cracks appeared under her feet, her hair floated in the air and powerful gusts of wind blew from her.

All the people around her were thrown by the gusts of wind while some of the stronger people were crouching on the ground suffocated by the power of her magical power.

The pope slammed his cane into the ground as flames shot out from the tip of his cane to create a wall around them and prevent people from flying into the tree while his magic power protected everyone from suffocating.

"I wouldn't dare, Crimson Enchantress," the Archbishop replied calmly.

"Please calm down, you're hurting innocent people."

Irene realised when she looked around as parents clutched their child.

She calmed down and retracted her magic power as the Archbishop did the same.

The people and priests looked on in fear but also some in awe as some knew her well known identity as "The Crimson Enchantress".

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, I was only asking, I didn't oblige in any way" said the Archbishop looking at Irene and then turned his gaze to Erza.

Erza felt her mother's grip tighten.

"Sorry Archbishop Grandpa but I'm staying with my mum" said Erza as he bowed his head in apology.

"Aaah, that's a shame. I apologize again" The Archbishop sighed, showed Erza a small smile but did not insist and left.

Before leaving completely, the Archbishop turned around.

"Despite this, I still give you the title of Priestess of the Celestial Flame of Life."

Hearing this, Irene nearly went mad but the Archbishop spoke first.

"Don't worry, this title is not binding in any way, only that she is a guest of the utmost importance and that she would be treated with the utmost respect in this cathedral"

Irene calmed down but the mistrust and coldness in her eyes did not diminish.

The people around her and the priests were shocked by this news.

The title given by the Archbishop himself gave this child incredible importance and invulnerability in this city.

She was now an untouchable person.

The Archbishop smiled and left.

Irene did not linger either and left the cathedral a short time later to head for their new home.

Erza had a disappointed feeling because earlier she felt called to this place and when she approached the flame, this feeling did not stop but rather increased.

Irene on the other hand was still suspicious of the Archbishop.

She wondered why he was only interested in Erza when she had crossed the line too.

Not that she had any interest, but she found it suspicious.

------------------

\ In a dark room /

A man was standing in a room full of books in the dark, sitting on a chair in front of a desk with a book on it.

"It's her, I'm sure."

The man closed the book as a smile spread across his face.

"I found you. You will be the one to accomplish my goal"

------------------

***

***

Irene and Erza settled into their new home while Irene went to join the guild in this town which was a free guild that did not grant marks and made quests available to all.

Word of The Crimson Enchantress had already spread throughout the town and would soon spread.

And so, Erza and Irene continued to live their peaceful life while Erza went to the cathedral a few times.

But this peaceful day would soon end and the legends would come to life again.

-------------------------

***********************

--------------------------

Feel free to check out the fandom, I might put some little spoilers like character pictures or something and feel free to add to it from your side.

(godking-of-life.fandom.com/f)