Chapter 28: 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.
On 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, deliberate, and elegant" tone, though her brow was slightly furrowed. "The magical discharge near the cinema suggests the warrior is actively searching for something or... expressing displeasure quite vigorously. The willpower signature from the garden also indicates extreme emotional distress and a readiness for action."
Mai Sakurajima observed the console with a quiet, analytical intensity, her composed posture masking the mind that was assessing the escalating threat.
Mirajane, ever sensitive to emotional currents, looked concerned. "Two powerful individuals, both clearly upset and alone in an unknown world... that's a recipe for trouble, Himeko." Her gentle, tender, and maternal nature was on high alert. "If they encounter locals, or each other, in this state..."
"Exactly," Himeko agreed. "The potential for collateral damage, or for attracting more unwanted official attention, is significant." She thought for a moment. "Joey, Lyra, that dark, cloaked figure you saw, Kael... his energy signature hasn't reappeared near these new disturbances. He's either maintaining extreme discretion or has withdrawn to observe from a greater distance."
Joey swallowed hard, the mention of Kael sending a familiar shiver 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 contact 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're 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 could 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.
"Mirajane's empathy is admirable," Mai stated, her voice calm and even. "However, Himeko is correct. Approaching two powerful and emotionally compromised individuals with an offer of help could be perceived as an act of condescension or an attempt to exploit a vulnerability. It could provoke the very conflict we wish to avoid. Observation from a secure position is the only logical course of action until their emotional states de-escalate."
At the cinema, Erza found nothing but dust and the lingering scent of fear. The misleading image Julie had implanted 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 anger had not subsided. The fleeting vision of the amethyst-eyed figure gave her fury a target. "So, the creature dares to hide in the squalor of this town?" she hissed. "It will learn the folly of provoking Boa Hancock!"
Unbeknownst to them, Julie's subtle misinformation was setting them on a potential collision course. The night in Healdsburg was far from over, and the threads of fate, woven by chance and now by playful malice, were tightening.
In the Cine Theatro Esperança, Erza Scarlet, fueled by righteous anger and the misleading vision Julie had implanted, gave the dusty auditorium one last sweep with her piercing gaze. The "amethyst-eyed shadow" was not there.
"The garden district..." she repeated, the flimsy clue now her only lead to the perpetrator of that humiliating dream.
With a warrior's resolve, she exited the cinema, her armor a faint shimmer in the darkness, and began to navigate the unfamiliar streets, her senses on high alert, heading towards the area Julie had subtly suggested.
Her mind replayed the indignity – to be so vulnerable, so exposed, even in a dream, was an insult she would not let stand.
Meanwhile, Boa Hancock, a tempest of imperial wrath, departed the botanical garden. The delicate fragrance of night-blooming jasmine did nothing to soothe her wounded pride.
The image Julie had crafted—the smirking, amethyst-eyed figure vanishing towards the city center, towards an old, dilapidated structure—was seared into her mind.
"To think such a creature would dare defile my thoughts and then flee into the heart of this squalid settlement!" Hancock fumed, her steps graceful yet imbued with a deadly purpose.
Her beauty was sacred, her devotion to Luffy absolute; any perceived mockery of either was a capital offense in her eyes. She would find this "charlatan" and ensure they learned the true meaning of offending the Pirate Empress.
Julie, cloaked in her delightful invisibility, watched them both depart, a satisfied purr vibrating in her chest. The game was afoot.
Two powerful, infuriated beauties, unknowingly set on paths that might, with a little more of her artistic guidance, lead to a truly spectacular clash.
"Run, little stars, run," she whispered to the uncaring night. "Let's see where your magnificent tempers take you."
Inside Himeko's probe, the atmosphere was thick with concentration.
"The warrior's signature is now mobile, heading southeast, away from the cinema," Himeko reported, her fingers dancing over the holographic controls. "And the willpower signature—let's designate it 'Empress' for now, given the regal intensity—is moving northwest, towards the city center, on a trajectory that could intersect with the cinema."
"So they're not together, and apparently don't know about each other yet," Mirajane observed, her brow furrowed with worry. "But both are highly agitated. Himeko, can your sensors determine what might have provoked them?"
"The energy patterns suggest a sudden and intense emotional disturbance for both, almost simultaneously," Himeko explained. "Perhaps a shared external stimulus, or a very potent psychic interference." Her scientific intellect and ingenuity were working at full capacity. "The discharges were reactive, not offensive. As if they were startled or angered by something they perceived internally."
Joey flinched, hearing the calm analysis of such terrifying power. "Psychic interference? Like... someone controlling their minds?" His own experiences with unseen presences made the idea all too plausible.
"It's a possibility we can't rule out," Himeko affirmed. "This city, or perhaps this entire region, seems to be a nexus for energies that defy conventional understanding."
Lyra, nestled close to Joey, whispered with effort, "Dark... magic?" Her own world had its share of malevolent sorcery.
Mirajane's expression softened with understanding. "Some magic can indeed be used to distort emotions or create illusions, Lyra," she said gently. "But they often leave a trail, a certain... residue of ill intent." She closed her eyes for a moment. "The energies Himeko described feel more... chaotic than deliberately malevolent, at least in their current state. More like indignation than corruption." Her experience with her own "Satan Soul" forms gave her a unique insight into powerful energies.
"In my world," said Mai, her calm, articulate voice drawing the group's attention, "we have a phenomenon. 'Adolescence Syndrome.' It's not magic. It's when an intense emotion—anxiety, insecurity, indignation—becomes so overwhelming that it physically warps the reality around a person." She glanced at the display. "What you describe... a shared, reactive discharge born from an internal anger... sounds disturbingly familiar. It suggests the 'stimulus' wasn't just an attack, but something deeply personal to them both."
"Regardless of the source," Himeko interjected, her gaze fixed on the display, "their current trajectories are concerning. If the 'Empress' reaches the cinema, and Kael or Pip are still in the vicinity..."
High above the city, Kael, the Tracker, repositioned himself. He had noted Erza's departure from the cinema.
The new, powerful signature (Hancock) moving towards that same area was an unexpected variable.
His primary directive was observation, but the increasing concentration of powerful, potentially unstable anomalies was pushing the boundaries of his mission parameters.
He decided to maintain surveillance on the cinema, now the potential flashpoint for at least three distinct, powerful entities.
Pip, meanwhile, had reached a crumbling rooftop overlooking the alleys near the Cine Theatro Esperança. Her portal locator was buzzing faintly, the proximity to the nexus making its readings sharper.
But the sudden arrival of Erza's powerful signature had made her pause.
Now, her senses picked up another potent energy heading her way – Hancock. And the almost imperceptible hum of Kael's cloaking technology was still present.
"Too crowded," Pip hissed to herself, her goggled eyes darting between the dark cinema and the approaching energy readings. "This nexus is a death trap tonight."
She began to meticulously plan an alternative, even if it meant a longer, more dangerous route to another, weaker energy point.
As Erza navigated the quiet residential streets towards the garden district, her anger hadn't cooled. Every shadow seemed to mock her, every rustle of leaves sounded like the scurrying of the "charlatan."
Her impatience grew with every step that didn't lead her to the culprit.
Hancock, meanwhile, swept through the more commercial streets leading to the city center. Her imperious aura caused the few late-night wanderers to instinctively give her a wide berth, their eyes avoiding hers, a reaction she took as her due.
The thought that someone had dared to manipulate her, the Pirate Empress, filled her with a cold resolve for absolute punishment.
The night in Healdsburg deepened, unaware of the potent forces now crisscrossing its unsuspecting avenues, their paths guided by fury and a phantom, setting the stage for unforeseen encounters.
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