The Legend of the Kyubi

Kanna was making the cooks cry thanks to her huge appetite, while Kurama was keeping an eye on her because he had been banned from the casino after leaving them practically bankrupt.     

Lucy and the others were enjoying the gambling while Erza was walking around the place with a small smile, though she quickly frowned as she remembered a certain letter that had appeared at the entrance to her room.     

She didn't understand what was going on, but she had a bad feeling about it, which is why she was thankful that she was the one who had found the letter, and not Lucy, who was being her roommate.     

"Is something wrong, Erza-san?" - Kurama asked as he noticed how the red-haired woman had come to his side as she rambled on.     

"Huh?" - Erza looked at Kurama in surprise, as she didn't think she would make it this far in her walk in automatic mode - "No, it's nothing."     

"You don't need to hide your worries" - Kurama replied while trying to be as less nosy as possible - "Because it might help you to talk to someone about it."     

Erza was silent for a few seconds before nodding.     

Kurama shifted slightly and motioned for her to sit next to him as the red haired woman explained what was bothering her.     

"I see" - Kurama murmured after hearing Erza's little story - "You're worried that someone is after you, and they'll attack your friends."     

"Yes, it's obvious that the one responsible for this letter, wants something from me" - Erza replied with a frown - "It's obvious, though I have no idea what it could be"     

Kurama was silent for a few seconds before looking at the girl carefully - "Do you have any enemies, or anyone who wished to have you dead?"     

"There are many people who fit that description, although if we discard the members of the [Dark Guilds], then the number is reduced" - Erza replied with a frown because despite not being very confrontational, she admitted that she had caused a few unnecessary frictions by her personality.     

"There's something I've always wanted to ask you, but I felt it was out of place" - Kurama said as he looked at the beautiful red-haired young woman - "More if we take into account that we barely know each other."     

"You can ask me whatever you want without worries, I have nothing to hide anything to someone from the guild, more when you have been helping us so much with our problems" - stated Erza calmly as she folded her arms.     

"What was it that happened to your eye?" - Kurama asked as he noticed the change in the girl's expression - "Oh, I screwed up."     

"No, don't worry" - muttered Erza while shaking her head - "This happened many years ago when I was locked in a building called the [Tower of Heaven]"     

Erza quickly began to tell him about her childhood, as well as everything that had happened.     

"[Tower of Heaven]? Do you mean that strange construction in the distance?" - Kurama asked with a frown after hearing the red-haired woman's sad story.     

"Now that you mention it, yes, it's exactly that one" - said Erza with a somber tone - "I hadn't realized before how close we were, or rather, I didn't want to think about it because it brought back a lot of bad memories."     

"I understand, but that's dangerous because no matter how much we hide our past, it will always end up finding us" - replied Kurama while closing his eyes - "That's why it's better that we seek help"     

"Thanks, I'll give it a try" - replied Erza with a smile.     

"As for your eye, I think I can heal it if you wish" - Kurama continued, surprising the girl because she didn't expect this answer.     

"Really?" - Erza asked excitedly because this was something that had been tormenting her for years. She had lost hope after Porlyusica declared to her that she could only help her with a fake eye so that she wouldn't feel different from the others.     

"Yes," Kurama nodded calmly.     

"Thank you so much!" - Erza exclaimed as she hugged the white-haired man, only to pull away a little when she saw that she had let her emotions control her actions - "I'm sorry, it's just that was one of the problems I was most self-conscious about."     

"You don't have to thank me, it's the least I can do after hearing your story" - Kurama replied calmly, only to frown when he felt a group approaching them, and from their auras, he could tell they didn't come with good intentions.     

"Is something wrong, Kurama-san?" - Erza asked, though her expression changed when she watched as a group of 4 people that, felt slightly familiar, approached their location - "Do you guys need anything?"     

"It hurts us that you have forgotten us, Erza" - said a young man with tanned skin and blond hair - "It's been so long that you have forgotten your old friends."     

Erza's eyes widened in surprise when she heard this, as she remembered certain people she thought she would never see again.     

"Sho, Wally, Milliana, Simon!" - Erza exclaimed excitedly - "It's been so long!"     

Erza was happy to see her friends after so many years as she wondered what their lives had been like after escaping as she had, but her expression changed to a frown when she noticed how her four former friends were looking at her neutrally - "What's wrong?"     

"That's all you have to say after betraying us?" - Sho asked as he gritted his teeth angrily - "Has it been a while?"     

"Betray you?" - Erza repeated with a frown - "What do you mean?"     

"Do you want to feign innocence, perhaps?" - Wally asked with a frown. He was a man was short in stature and had a body seemed to be made up of solid geometric shapes.     

"I don't understand what you mean, after causing chaos, I told you to escape, and I lost consciousness, the last thing I remember was that someone attacked me" - replied Erza with a frown, only to open her eyes, surprised of an idea that passed through her mind - "Please tell me that you didn't stay in that place".     

The 4 friends looked at each other not knowing what to say, because it was obvious from their former friend's expression, that she wasn't lying, and from what they remembered, she had never been good at it either.     

"You didn't betray us?" - Sho asked, not knowing what else to ask.     

"I would never betray my friends" - Erza replied with hostility at such an accusation - "You are more important than my own life, that's why I used almost all my magic to create as much chaos as possible for you to escape."     

"I knew it" - muttered Simon, a tall man who was wearing a white turban and a metal jaw - "Jellal tricked us all this time"     

"You knew?" - Sho asked angrily because he had been living with unjustified hatred all these years.     

"Yes, but I had no proof, and if I'm honest, I didn't think you guys would believe me" - replied Simon as he closed his eyes.     

"I knew Erza-chan hadn't abandoned us!" - Milliana exclaimed, a pretty girl with dark brown hair that she had it combed in a style that simulated having two cat ears.     

"I feel like now everything we've done, is meaningless, everything we resisted trying to make Erza pay for our suffering" - muttered Shio as she gritted her teeth and started to cry.     

"Sho" - murmured Erza as she hugged the young man.     

"I, I really didn't want to think that you betrayed us, however..." - muttered Sho between tears - "I'm sorry."     

"Don't apologize" - Erza said as she called her former friends to give them a group hug.     

Kurama watched everything unfold extremely fast, but he didn't say anything to interrupt this emotional reunion.     

He gave them a smile, though his expression quickly changed to a serious one because it was obvious that this Jellal guy was a real son of a bitch for everything he had done.     

"Maybe I should end it for good" - Kurama said as he looked at Erza and the others, before nodding firmly - "And I'd better do it while they talk to each other."     

Kurama gave them one last look before creating a clone to watch over Kanna while he disappeared from the scene.     

Simon looked just at that moment, only to look at Erza who had transformed into a beautiful woman.     

He could feel how his feelings for her had grown now that he saw her once again, however, he did nothing about it because he knew that their relationship was born dead because Erza didn't see him as a man, but as a friend or a brother, nothing more than that.     

Simon decided to ignore his feelings because he knew it would only make life more complicated for Erza, who now had a better life.     

"Is something wrong, Simon?" - Erza asked, confused by her friend's very serious face.     

"It's nothing" - Simon answered as he gave her a calm look, and although he had made up his mind, his heart seemed unwilling to accept his decision.