"What color did you say your heart glowed?"

"Navy blue."

Jellal stared at the scarlet-haired girl momentarily. "Oh. I see."

What the girl didn't notice was the faint flicker of a smile make its way across his lips.

~ ~ ~

The guilt and frustration continue to build up within me, even after two weeks. 

The spring season has fully matured, and the rains are heavier than ever. Being cooped up inside does nothing to help rid me of my edginess, and I'm sure, soon enough, my friends will notice my glum attitude. 

What's to be optimistic about? I'm useless. I can't solve the Lisanna case, can't confront my soulmate with the truth, can't purge the awkwardness between Mira and me. I can't even meet Ultear's eyes. My grades are dropping as I slowly enter a downcast slump.

Then, one day, a note appears. A sheet of paper, crinkled in the corners, sits on top of my desk at the front of our dorm room. The first time I glimpse the paper, I don't think much of it; it could be Lucy's for all I know. 

I feel a spark of fear and curiosity. 

"Could it be...from Lisanna's murderer?" I think aloud. I tentatively reach for the paper when a sudden thought strikes. 

Are they in this room? Are they...watching?

My fingers brush against the scrap of paper.

A death threat?

I gulp, but quickly make up my mind. It turns out the note is nothing but a little bit of poetry.

"The place of lace and love and grace."

What.

"Poetry? You too?" Lucy asks skeptically, closing the door behind her. She peers at the note over my shoulder before throwing her lanyard, phone, and purse onto the bed.

"What do you mean, 'too?'"

"Jellal was mumbling something poetic under his breath a few minutes ago. I passed by him on the way here."

"Hmm. Lucy. Do you know any places that are lacy and filled with lovely...things?"

"Victoria's Secret?" she asks nonchalantly.

I nearly choke with surprise. "Ah..no..." I desperately attempt to delete all memories that had taken place last year at the local lingerie store, Victoria's Secret. 

"Oh, you mean on campus? Well, Heartfilia Garden could be considered a lacy, lovely place." She pulls a face. "In my opinion, it's ugly, but whatever."

"Wait- you have a garden named after you? Here? On campus?" I  blurt out,  my attention temporarily averted.

"Yeah, yeah," the blonde mutters uncomfortably. "It was actually my dad that made the donations after I got into Fiore uni. Naturally, the garden was named after him."

"He seems like a good guy," I say after a moment. Lucy grabs a protein bar from her not-so-secret stash under the desk. "You should...talk to him."

"It's been six years, Erza. I'm not breaking my streak." With a chunk of the energy bar between her teeth, she swipes a towel and some fresh clothes from the closet. "I'm hitting the showers. Wanna go to Fairy Tail after this?"

I politely decline her offer. Looks like I'm going to be checking out Heartfilia Garden this afternoon.

~ ~ ~

Heartfilia Garden takes up a small portion of East Campus, near the new Eucliffe Dining Hall. Despite Lucy's comments (though she may be a little biased), I find the garden to be quite beautiful. Small, white benches sporadically line the newly paved sidewalk, and shrubbery and flowers filled the lawn. A few students lay sprawled in an empty patch of grass below a maple tree, talking quietly amongst themselves.

I pause to take a better look at a stone near the entrance of the garden.

"Sponsored by Jude Heartfilia. Fiore University thanks you for your donation."

Lucy hadn't been kidding.

Continuing down the cement pathway, I instantly realize how stupid I'm being. There's nothing in Heartfilia Garden but students and nature. 

"Oi, Erza!" Gray hollers from across the garden. A cluster of older students scowl in his direction. Embarrassed, I quicken my pace and greet the boy with a wave.

"Whatcha doing in a peaceful place like this?" he asks.

"Maybe the better question to ask is why you're here?"

"I asked first," he retorts.

"Ugh." I sit down beside him on one of the benches. "Fine. I'm here because of the Lisanna case."

"Makes sense....not." He rests his head on the palm of his hand. "Care to explain?"

Reluctantly, I pull the note out of my pocket, along with the silver button, and explain to him about this mysterious "place" I'm trying to find.

"A place?" Gray says, almost mockingly. "Why, though?"

"I honestly don't know. I just know that someone wants me to find it." Yes, it sounds dumb. Really, really dumb. "I either have a weird stalker or Lisanna's murderer wants to speak with me."

Gray raises his eyebrows. "Wow, that's so odd. I'm seriously glad I'm not you, right now."

"Lot of help you are."

"So...this hypothetical 'place..' is Heartfilia Garden?" Gray snickers. "A bit conspicuous, don't you think? And that silver button  is a map of it?"

I heave a sigh. "I have no clue what I'm doing." The map on the button is a U-shape. This garden is more like a...star shape? A pentagon? A zig-zag maze thingy?

"Clearly." We sit in silence. A fat squirrel waddles toward me and waits to receive food. I stick my tongue out at it and it scurries away.

"There's this guy named Rogue Cheney who claims there's some sort of puzzle engraved on the stones."

"Stones?" I repeat.

"Yeah, those fairly big ones. Starting from the one with Jude Heartfilia's name on it."

~ ~ ~

"Bring in the convicted."

Two men, both armed with pistols, guide the green-haired girl into the room. Despite the cuffs that bind her arms and legs, she easily makes her way to the wooden chair facing the interrogator.

"Thank you," the interrogator says to the men. They nod and leave.

The interrogation begins.

"Please state your name."

"Brandish," the girl says with a sly smile.

"Brandish...?"

"Brandish. Just Brandish."

"Are you or are you not part of the gang known as 'Spriggan 12?'"

"It's not a gang," Brandish defends. She smiles at the questioner's bored face. "We're far more classy than that." With a shrug, she adds, "Anyway, we're more like the...'Spriggan 11.'"

The interrogator leans back in her chair. "And why is that?"

"Nineteen years ago, one of my comrades got...knocked up, if you know what I mean." She frowns. "Then she went and died in childbirth."

"Were you part of Lisanna Strauss' death?"

"I was, but I am not the killer." Brandish snickers. "The killer is far more interesting than I."

~ ~ ~

"What does stone number four say?"

"Best incarnate," Gray yells back. But stone five doesn't say anything!"

"Check again!"

I look down at the first stone, the one with Jude Heartfilia's name etched on it. "Pitter, patter" it reads along the base.

Stone number two had read "blood spatter." I had done a double take at that one. 

Stone number three was the worst. Two words, "scarlet, scarlet." This is the point where I begin to grow queasy. I try to determine whether the carvings are new or merely a coincidence.

Then, stone number four. "Beast incarnate." Stone number five, six, and seven are blank. I'm convinced we somehow skipped over the words, but no matter how carefully Gray and I search the smooth surfaces of the last three rocks, we find nothing.

"Pitter, patter. Blood spatter. Scarlet, scarlet. Beast incarnate."

"Okay, now what?" The dark-haired boy rubs the back of his neck. "Maybe they're like magic words." He clears his throat. "Pitter, patter! Blood spatter! Scarlet, scarlet! Beast incarnate!"

Of course, nothing happens.

"Great. Now everyone thinks we're murderers or something," I grumble. I collapse next to stone number four and cover my face with my hands. "What am I doing with my life, Gray?"

He shrugs and sits next to me. Rolling over, I nearly bash my head against the rock; that's when I notice the base is particularly clean in comparison to the other stones. I reach out and give the rock a push. It doesn't budge. (That's what happens when you miss arm day seventeen times in a row.)

"Lemme help." He gives the rock a good kick, which results in, yes, the rock toppling forward, but also a ton of swearing.

There is no gold under that stone. No secret message. No key. There is, however, a manhole. And where there's a manhole, there's a sewer complex.

"Hell no," Gray murmurs, backing away from the manhole. "All the horror stories take place down in the sewers, Erza."

"What does this have to do with Lisanna?" I whisper. "I thought she was murdered in a parking lot." Though my fingernails are infuriatingly short, I manage to scrape away the debris from the covering and lift it. Beneath is a tunnel.

Gray curses again. "Don't move. I'm going to get Makarov. And the detectives. Stay here."

"But what if this is a prank? What if it's just an ordinary sewer?"

"Shine your phone light down there."

I do, and much to our surprise, we find ourselves looking down upon a dark room. Immaculate, compared to my dorm room. 

"No way..."

"Stay. here." Gray leaps to his feet and sprints back to the building.

~ ~ ~

"Hello?" I whisper into the void. My voice echoes a thousand times in response.

I briefly take in my surroundings. Finding no one nearby, I slip down the hole, feet first. My phone is my back pocket, along with the button and note. I push downward until I am hanging by the tips of my fingers. 

Let go. Let go.

But what if you fall to your death.

So?

No. Don't be stupid-

It's not that far down. Just do it.

Eyes screwed shut, I let go.