#coberza

“Don’t worry, I would never touch you.”

His words cut deeper than Erza would have thought.  Maybe it was the sneer on his face when he said it, or the dismissive cast of his eye.  The implication, however, that she wouldn’t even be worth the attempt, was clear nonetheless.  It was like a sword had been plunged through her chest, the pain spreading like a bloodstain.

Which was a ridiculous way to feel.  Here she’d dodged an arrow, she should be much happier for it.  Erza already had someone she loved, and she would not be asked to betray him.  And her family would be satisfied having made her an advantageous match, so she would not be forced to stand against their wishes and all that entailed.  Her friends were… apprehensive about this match, but now she could put their fears to rest along with her own.

“We know what we’re doing.”

Those words, when arising from the mouth of anyone, were immediately suspect.  It didn’t matter who said them, whether they were shouted or whispered, or under what circumstances.  It was a law of the universe that they would never amount to anything good, ever, and were to be feared and dismissed only at great peril to one’s own well-being.  That sentence was the equivalent of raising a giant middle finger to the universe and daring it to smite you.  Which it then would, because the universe was no pussy about calling the bluffs of mortals.

But the sheer amount of dread rising up in Cobra upon hearing those words uttered by a member of Fairy Tail were truly astronomical.  Especially since the confident sounding phrase had emerged from the throat of the red-haired, hammer-wielding armor-clad psycho knight herself.  The one who was bound and determined to call the universe’s bluff instead.

This could only end horribly.  Of that Cobra was certain.  He’d managed to survive this long by hedging his bets and by not testing the universe’s will to absolutely destroy him.  So now that the fateful phrase had been tossed out into the universe the only thing left for him to do was clear the inevitable blast radius and disavow any foreknowledge of what was coming once the dust finally cleared.

Erza’s reckless insanity was nothing he wanted to be a part of, that was for sure.  The scheme cooking up in that head of hers was promising to be just that, too, from what he was hearing.  Not that she had fully formulated a plan, yet.  Oh, no.  She was flinging herself into the unknown on this one.

But damn it all if he didn’t respect her for it, at least a little.  The woman had a remarkable talent for throttling fate and the odds stacked against her, to emerge blood-soaked and grinning like a god of war.