A Proper Apology WIP (Patreon)

They say that “you always hurt the one(s) you love”. And boy that idiom hit Minerva Orland harder than anything that's ever struck her in her life. She had no one to blame but herself. In her desire to become the strongest mage in the world she turned her back on her guild, Sabertooth, and joined up with the Dark Guild Tartaros. In that time she hurt a lot of people that she cared about, and in the aftermath that followed from the defeat of the aforementioned dark guild Minerva saw that the damage of that betrayal was far worse than what could ever be predicted.

She betrayed Sabertooth, her neighbors, her friends...and the woman whom she thought she most despised but came to realize she held in very high regard. Erza Scarlet. Granted the two weren't in the same guild, led alone having been close prior to all this, and for the longest time Minerva hated that the knight mage was stronger than her. And by extent she hated Erza. So much so that she was willing to do anything to become the strongest mage ever and finally best the red head.

But as it was – none of that really worked out like Minerva had hoped it would. Her new power cost more than blood, sweat, tears and even her sanity on her part. It cost the lives of tens of thousands of people, beautiful forests and buildings now leveled out into ugly ash piles and more things that Minerva doesn't even want to think about. Sting, gracious guild master that he is, always tells her that she shouldn't blame herself too harshly for past events. How in the end she overcame the darkness, which is ironic given that she is a dark mage, and came out of it as a better person. Oh how Minerva wanted to believe that and put it all behind her. But it wasn't that easy. She had to make amends for everything, and fix things with as many people as possible who were willing to accept her apology.

And she was going to start with Erza. So she went to ask one of the other Fairy Tail guild members for help. She doesn't exactly recall his name – only that he just took off his shirt and pants for whatever odd reason. Thank heavens he was wearing undergarments at least. But he was good enough to tell her where Erza's house was. It was a bit of a walk there but Minerva welcomed it. As it gave her much needed time to think of what to say for her apology.

Unfortunately though the words were as hard to think of as they were to say.

“Erza, hi! Is that a new armor? It really looks good on....No, that's far too familiar and I'll just be babbling on. Ahem. Greetings Scarlet. I trust that you are well. I have an important matter to discuss...Ugh! No, no!! That is immensely standoffish and makes me sound pretentious.” Minerva fussed to herself as she tried to work on her introduction, sighing at her failure in doing so. “Damn it. I would think saying a few words to express sentiment would be easy to do, but it's not. Then again...I've gone most of my life without apologizing for a lot of things I did. Heh. It would seem that I have a long way to go with my self improvement.”

In the middle of her musings Minerva paused to look and see how much closer she was to Erza's house. And to her surprise she was just a meter or so away. Wow, she thought, I truly came here faster than I expected. The dark mage supposed that while she was working on her opening to her apology her legs worked as swiftly to match the pace of her fast thoughts. And she hated them for doing that because she still hasn't thought of how she's going to apologize!

“Oh well. I suppose I'll simply have to wing it.” Minerva said and walked up to the door, took a deep breath then exhaled and finally knocked on the wooden piece.

….

No answer. Okay then, maybe she didn't hear her that time. So Minerva knocked again and this time she announced herself.

“Hello, Erza! It's me – Minerva Orland. I wish you speak with you.” Called out the dark mage.

….

Same as before, no answer. Now Minerva felt worried. She just announced herself loud and clear yet still she didn't get a response. Perhaps it was because Erza didn't want to speak to her at all. And in that moment of self-doubt laden guilt Minerva turned around and proceeded to leave. But suddenly a voice spoke up that made her stop to a halt.

“Just a minute! I'm coming!” Called out the booming voice of Erza Scarlet.

If she wasn't such a dignified person Minerva would have squeaked in shock from. But she didn't! It was...a high pitched gasp. Quickly though Minerva straightened herself up and stood in front of the door waiting for it to open. And after a moment it was – by a sweat covered Erza wearing that light practice armor with the flame printed pants and bandages wrapped around her chest with her signature red hair in a bun. The sight stirred up a feeling somewhat foreign to the dark mage, but she put it to the side to focus on speaking.

“H-Hello, Erza. I'm...here to speak with you, as I had previously announced. Forgive me if I have come at a bad time. You seem to be busy.” Minerva said, gesturing to Erza's form.

“Hello, Minerva. And no – I wasn't busy with anything important. I was just working on a new summoning spell, you see, and so my attention was caught up. But I heard you still and rushed to come here once I was done working on the spell. Please do come in.” Erza said and stepped aside so that Minerva could come in.

“Thank you.” Minerva said, giving a bow of respect and walked in.

And so the two women went to the drawing room of Erza's house, where the knight mage served Minerva some tea then poured herself a cup. They both sat down and after taking a sip of her tea Erza looked to Minerva with a friendly smile.

“Alright then, what brings you here Minerva? It must be important for you to meet me instead of sending a letter.” Erza said.

“Yes...it is important.” Minerva said, looking down into the tea she had yet to drink. “I need to tell you something, Erza.”

“Of course. Go ahead.” Erza replied in an even tone. The way the dark mage spoke made her a bit wary. It sounded like she had a lot on her shoulders and didn't know where to start.

Meanwhile Minerva's mind was in a swirl of what to say and what to possibly do in terms of physical actions. Should she be blunt with the apology and give a hug? Should she take Erza's hand, bow, apologize and leave quickly? Or should she ask first how the events with the Dark Guild Tartaros affected her mentally for a more sympathetic approach? What should she do...? What should she say!?

“Um, Minerva? Are you okay?” Erza asked carefully.

That question ended up being all the prompting Minerva needed to speak up. She firmly sat the tea cup on the coffee table, to the point that she almost broke it on the hardwood, before getting on her knees and letting it all out.

“I'm sorry, Erza! Truly – I am deeply sorry for what I have done in joining the ranks of those accursed bastards of Tartaros! Words cannot begin to describe the remorse and guilt I feel. And I wanted to tell you this as I work to redeem myself to everyone. Again, I am so sorry!” Minerva exclaimed all at once, then panted as she tried to catch her breath since she spoke every word in succession with no pauses.

For her part, Erza was just flat out stunned. Of all the things she thought Minerva came here to say she didn't think it was that. And honestly with Minerva being the stoic, prideful person that she is Erza assumed she moved past the events of the dark guild debacle. Obviously though it weighed heavily on her heart and mind. It made the knight mage feel rather ashamed, for thinking that Minerva wouldn't think about the things she had done. After all, collaborating with one of the most evil guilds to date to enslave the earth isn't exactly something that slips your mind. And the thoughts of past events made Minerva feel the need to come to apologize to Erza. She probably felt like a horrible person. Well, best to assure that she isn't. Erza sat her tea down and knelt down on one knee in front of Minerva to speak to her.

“Minerva...what you did wasn't your fault. At least not to a massive extent. There's no need for you to get on your knees before me.” Erza said in a comforting tone. At this Minerva shot up from her bowing position to look Erza in the eyes.

“Yes there is! I have hurt so many people, Erza, all because I wanted to be more powerful! All because...I couldn't stand that I was weaker compared to you.” Minerva said, her voice going from loud to weak as, and knelt her head down in shame. “And in my arrogance to achieve a level of greatness I'll never ascend to, I pushed away those who mattered the most and cared about me to accept the corrupted power Tartaros offered. I was a fool to end all fools. And I want to make amends for that. Whatever it takes, I want to show that I have changed for the better. To prove how utterly sorry I am.”

Erza looked at Minerva's pitiful state with conflict. What could she do? Trying to reassure her didn't work – and she doubted if trying to relate to her and say she had done something just as bad if not worse would help. Suddenly an idea came to Erza's mind...a very amorous idea.

“Well, Minerva...if you truly insist on that I believe there is a way you could redeem yourself to me.” Erza replied. At this Minerva looked up to show a saddened face that cried a little, but now her eyes held renewed hope.

“Really!? I'll do it then! Whatever you want, Erza!” Minerva exclaimed happily. The willing eagerness made Erza grin, and she nodded in approval to this response.

“Good to hear that. Follow me to my room, then.” The knight mage said and stood up then headed for her bedroom with Minerva following her close behind.

The two walked down the hallway next to the private drawing room and went to Erza's bedroom. The woman in question opened the door and Minerva got to see a look inside. The aesthetic of the room was calm with stylized, bold hints in some of the decorations and the bed coverings. It also had Erza's distinct scent. Feminine yet strong…

“Argh! Why the hell would I think of that?! Get your mind out of the gutter, Minerva!” The dark mage thought to herself in a chastising way.

"So Minerva?" Asked Erza which snapped Minerva out of her thoughts.

"Y-Yes!" Minerva stuttered as she stood at attention. 

"You said that you were willing to do anything to make amends with me." Erza said. 

"Indeed! Whatever it is - if I can do it I will do so to prove how much I have changed." Minerva passionately affirmed.

"I'm glad to hear that. But I must forewarn you, what I ask of you may be quite physically taxing depending on your level of stamina." Erza said.

"That won't phase me, Scarlet. I'm a high class dark mage and can take anything thrown at me." Minerva boasted with a confident smile. Again Erza grinned and nodded.

"Excellent. Then you should be able to...meet up to my standards. Do you remember when I mentioned that I was working on a new summoning spell?" Erza asked.

"Yes. And you want me to help you execute it? Or go over the incantation to make sure it's properly written?" Minerva asked.