Dawn of Adventure {Book One of The Paths We've Traveled}

Chapter Fourteen: Investigation

"Gray!" The aforementioned maker wizard flinched, fighting the urge to cower in fear as the terrifying scarlet warrior stalked into the room. Her clothes consisted of only the thin underdress she wore daily, much of her figure revealed to the cool air due to the low cut and short hem. The overall outfit was much more what Gray was used to seeing her in, but the pure light of anger in her brown eyes made him avert his gaze and scramble for the clothes he had discarded but moments before.

"Shit how did that happen?!" He yanked his pants back on, falling off the couch in the process. He squinted back at her, taking in her shift and undone hair. "Hell, why are you coming at me when you're wearing even less?" Erza's glare intensified, and Gray cowered away. "Sorry, sorry," he mumbled, fixing his tie around his neck. Even under his clothes, his necklace bounced against his chest, the cool metal bringing a slight comfort to the odd situation.

Erza straightened, regal in the white shift. "For your information, I was in the process of getting dressed myself when I heard the unmistakable sounds of you shedding the clothes I thought I warned you to not strip off. So I had to come and resolve the problem. It won't be a problem any longer, will it?"

"No ma'am!"

Erza nodded in contentment, smoothing her underdress and returning to the bedroom. Their apartment was set up in a similar fashion to Natsu and Wendy's except they had only been given one bedroom. It was... uncomfortable, to say the least. They had no idea when someone might burst into their rooms, so they had reluctantly agreed to share the bed. The upside was that it was huge, and they didn't even need to touch each other. The downside, well, the downside was only really Gray's problem. He hated constantly being on guard every time he wanted to sleep, and it was honestly starting to freak him out to have Erza watching his every movement. Not that he would change anything. It was nice to have one of his oldest friends by his side while they took on this new adventure. It was just... Erza scared him.

In the bedroom, Erza dug through the closet, looking for today's dress. At first it had been like playing dress-up everyday, but she had grown weary of that game. So with a weary sigh, she pulled a light blue gown from the rack, hoping it would look good. Not that she cared much at this point. Well, she loved her appearance, but it wasn't a priority anymore. What she needed, what all of them needed, was to find what was taking all the ethernano from Benos. Only then could they help Wendy. And after all the young Dragon Slayer had done for them, they owed her.

The past couple weeks had made it easier for Erza to dress herself in these monstrous clothes. Now she barely struggled to lace up the cinched bodice of the ice blue gown, taking her last deep breath for several hours. The half-sleeves prevented her from raising her arms no more than the height of her shoulders, constricting the muscles she had trained for years to define. The skirts were just as cumbersome, but she had to be thankful that they didn't bulge out like many dresses the nobles of antiquity wore. All that truly bothered her were the many layers of fabric swathing her legs, impeding her movements and making her much more vulnerable to any sort of attack.

"Although," she mused, standing before the mirror and taking in her appearance. "These dresses do wonders for my figure." And it was certainly true. While the women here were much more conservative, it didn't change the fact that the tight dress clung to her curves. And the neckline dipped low to show off enough cleavage to entice any man. Not that Erza was concerned about that, especially with her "husband" constantly by her side. But it was nice to know that nothing had changed, and even without her magic she could still bring a man low, especially with all the fighting skills she possessed. Her armor and weapons were merely a lovely and much beloved addition. She sighed, grabbing a brush from the vanity and beginning the process of pinning back her long scarlet locks into a simple updo. For the second time in as many minutes, she bemoaned her loss of magic that would have completed this task in a matter of moments.