Growling, I turned, following the origin of the feminine voice as I looked to my right, spotting a woman sitting in the corner, her green eyes piercing through the darkness.
She had long red hair, not like Erza's, darker; her outfit was very minimalist. Rather than a bra, her chest, which was very busty, I might add, rivaling Lucy's, was wrapped tightly with bandages; she wore a black choker with spikes, and tight pants, which did nothing to hide her impressive curves. Her pale skin was spotless, only further adding to her incredible beauty; all in all, she was a model of a woman.
Yet, I get a faint sense of déjà vu as I look at her.
"Stop staring fucker." Narrowing her eyes, she spat on the ground, glaring intensely at me, causing me snort. "Who the hell are you calling fucker, fucker?" "You, fucker." I couldn't help but chuckle as I flashed a bloodthirsty smirk. "Hehe, looks like I need to show you who the new pod boss is. C'mon, stand up."
Rising to my feet, I spat out a clump of blood while the woman just scoffed and looked away. "You want to fight like that? You must want to die." As she gestured to my injuries, I merely grinned; injuries have never stopped me from fighting. "Just stand up before I crush your head into the ground." "Hmph, fine, if you want to die, be my guest."
As she rose to her feet, her head didn't even meet my shoulder; smirking, I slammed my feet on the ground and lunged to her, outstretching my hand, intending to grab her head and slam it against the wall.
However, before my hand reached her head, she tilted her head at the last moment; the next thing I knew, I felt her heel violently dig into my wounded stomach. Dropping to a knee, I keeled over, clutching my stomach, coughing blood as I tried to look at her. "Go to sleep, or die. Whichever comes first."
A small hand covered my face as I was forced back, and before darkness suddenly took me, all I saw were her green eyes. 'She's stron-'
___
___
Snapping my eyes open, I groaned, slowly sitting upright once again while rubbing the back of my head. "Fuck, that hurt." "What a tenacious vitality." Hearing her slightly impressed voice, I glanced at her as she sat casually while eating bread.
"I ate your portion; didn't know if you'd make it." Unapologetically, she gestured to the empty plate before tossing the last bite of bread into her mouth. "Hmph, more like you didn't care." "You're right. I didn't care, and I still don't. Now be quiet, I'm tired." Yawning, she leaned back, intending to fall asleep, causing me to scoff.
Rising to my feet once more, requiring significantly more energy, I stumbled to the bars, trying to bend them, but nothing worked; I was merely wasting stamina. "You can't break out of it. Just give up." "Just go to sleep; I don't need your pessemitc voice in my ear."
Ignoring the woman, I continued to try to pry the bars, but it was just a pointless effort; eventually, I gave up, plopping on the ground, exhausted, gasping for breath. "Tsk, this place is fucking hell." "You've only been here a day, let it sink in more before you call it hell." "I'm not talking about this cell, you woman; this very world is fucking hellish. No Ethernano is fucking hell-on-Earth; if I had even a bit of magic power, I'd bring this whole place down."
Grunting in frustration and annoyance, I softly winced in pain while looking at my stomach. "Fucker, have you gone crazy already? Humans can't use magic power. Only Exceeds can." "Hmph, maybe the people of this world can't, but I can… And the fuck is an Exceed?" Shooting her an annoyed look, she opens a single eye, staring at me.
"This world? What is that supposed to mean?" "Exactly that, this world is different, vastly so, compared to mine." Slowly, she sat upright, her expression curious. "Okay, you've got my attention now, boy, what is 'your' world?"
"I'm not a boy, I'm 23." "Yeah, and I'm 26, so get to talking." Hearing her age, I couldn't help but look at her differently as I raised an eyebrow. "You're pretty hot." "Huh? You're fucking crazy; what crazy fucker gets attracted to someone who just beat their ass?" "Me." "... Fair enough. Now get to talking before I beat your ass again."
Snorting, I proceeded to briefly explain my world, Earthland, taking only ten or so minutes, giving her a basic understanding of my world, which seemed to greatly shock her.
"Humans. Humans can use magic inherently? T-That shouldn't be possible. You need a lacrima or a magic weapon to use magic." Muttered the woman as she rubbed her head while I rolled my eyes. "Why the hell do you think I fucking hate this place? I can't use my magic here." I clenched my fists and punched the ground, leaving a dent.
"So, guilds exist and aren't forbidden?" "Yeah." "That place. It sounds great." "Not great, but it's damn sure better than place; wouldn't even wish my worst enemy to be sent here." Earthland had plenty of its own problems, but every place did.
A long, drawn-out silence enveloped the cell; I was busy resting, my injuries taking a significant toll on me, while she seemed deep in thought.
"So, how'd someone from a different world end up here?" "No fucking clue; I was just sucked up and ended up on a floating island." "What about this cell?" "Oh, I attacked the spire and ended up fighting four commanders." Yawning, the woman just looked at me in surprise before suddenly chuckling. "Hehe, you're fucking stupid; though, to face off against four of the five commanders and still survive, that's impressive. You've got my respect… The name's Savanah."
I merely scoffed, hardly moved by her little praise; if I could use indestructible magic, this place would be nothing special. However, I ended up freezing when she revealed her name, everything clicking into place as I stared at her faint smirk with wide eyes.
Her red hair, the three-year age gap, the sense of déjà vu, and most importantly, her name; it all pieced together like a puzzle.
I felt my throat go dry as I stared at her, Savanah's youthful, overly enthusiastic face overlapping with the current Savanah; there were some differences, of course, but they were the same.
"S-Savanah? H-How?" "What's wrong with you? You look like you're about to cry." She looked at me in disgust, though I cared not, ignoring my wrecked body as I crawled towards her, invading her personal space.
"H-How are you alive? Y-You, that night, y-you died." Savanah simply furrowed her brows. "Okay, calm down, boy, the hell are you talking about?" "T-That night, the v-village, t-the beast horde; you–" I wasn't able to finish speaking as her small hand suddenly gripped my throat, squeezing it tightly while she slammed me against the wall.
"Who the fuck are you!? Did that fucker Faust send you!? TELL ME!?" Gnashing her teeth, Savanah furiously shouted, slamming me back against the wall, causing me to cough blood as I forced out a reply.
"C-Co... L-Little b-brother, S-Savanah." I grabbed her arm, struggling to force out three words while I stared at her, expression shifting to unbridled fury, but I watched her as she looked at my hair, eyes, and nails, causing a flash of recognition to appear within her fury-clad eyes.
Weakness seemed to overtake her as she suddenly released me, causing me to drop to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath while she slowly backed away, looking at me in disbelief. "N-No! T-That's impossible! N-No."
As I gathered strength, I looked up at her, while she, seemingly, regained some of her bearings, stared at me, her eyes trembling with denial, fear, and hope. "W-Who. Who are you?" "I-I'm Cooper." We kept each other's gaze, only for Savanah to collapse to her knees, hiding her face.
"N-No. That can't be. C-Cooper. H-He died. I-I buried him myself." I was feeling exactly the same as Savanah; I could still vividly remember running away while beasts tore at her body all those years ago. "I-I too. I-I watched you die that night."
There was a long silence, only for Savanah to finally break it, raising her head to look at me, her voice barely a whisper. "C-Cooper. I think… I think Earthland and Edolas might be parallel worlds." Although it seemed like a far-fetched conclusion, it would answer why Mystogan and Jellal were nearly identical and why the Erza I fought was also identical; it would also explain why, even after seeing each other die, they were standing right before us. "What do you mean?"
"Can you. Can you tell me about Edolas?" "Y-Yeah." As she nodded, she stood up and sat down beside me, an action that I found both weird and comfortable.
Savanah proceeded to share her knowledge of Edolas with me, causing me to slowly realize that Earthland and Edolas were parallel worlds.