Natsu Dragneel was walking down the street with his friends Lucy Heartfilia, Erza Scarlet, and Gray Fullbuster when something caught his eye. "Guys, check this out!" he shouted, tearing a flyer from the post it was pinned to. "There's a carnival in town!"

Erza took the flyer from him and read it over silently before sharing with the group. "This says they arrive tomorrow. It's called Carnival Umidus: 'Food, Fun, and Fantasy for only ten dollars per ticket.'"

Natsu grumbled, "Ten bucks to get into a carnival? Seems a bit expensive."

"I get the food and fun, but what do they mean by 'fantasy?'" Gray wondered, completely ignoring Natsu.

"Says they have some world-famous freak show or something," Erza explained, handing him the flyer. Under a massive rain cloud it showed a variety of attractions: rides, games, food stalls, but the most prominent feature was a huge tent. A banner that read, "Freaks from Fantasy" hung over it, but no details were given.

"I don't like this," Lucy muttered. "Freak shows are terribly inhumane! They keep people locked up and put on display just for being a bit different. It's wrong."

Nastu smiled and slung an arm over her shoulders playfully. "Oh, come on Luce! You know, I heard some of the freaks take real pride in their… um… freakishness. They take these carnivals as an opportunity to show themselves off. They like it!"

"I'm sure you're exaggerating, but I'll go if you guys do," she said meekly.

Natsu, filled with excitement, snatched the flyer from Gray's hand and leapt into the air, shouting, "Carnival Umidus, here we come!"


The next afternoon, Erza knocked on Gray's door. "Ready for the carnival?" she asked.

"Are we still going? It's raining," he pointed out.

"Yes, but that won't stop us," Erza snorted.

Gray smiled and grabbed his umbrella. Erza also carried an umbrella, but Natsu and Lucy were sharing one.

"I don't own an umbrella, okay?" Natsu said defensively when he saw Gray's suggesting face.

"Fine, fine," Gray dismissed it, but still thinking the two of them would make a cute couple.

When they entered the carnival, they were surrounded by the sounds of customers having fun and carnies selling tickets, food, and chances to win cheap prizes. People rushed around them, most holding umbrellas, some (mostly kids) running through the rain. But amidst all the chaos of the carnival, Gray's eyes were fixed on one thing: the freak show tent.

"Gray, come on!" Natsu called. "I'm not saving you a spot!" Gray turned to see that Erza, Nastu, and Lucy were in line for a ride. He must not have noticed the group moving.

"You know, you guys go on. I'm going to check out the freak show," he said after walking over to them.

"Really?" Lucy double-checked, disgusted.

"Yeah. I mean, a line's already built up behind you, and I really want to check it out, so I'll catch you guys later."

Erza smiled, "Okay, see you later, then."

Gray waved and ran to the tent. He didn't know exactly what it was yet, but he knew something—someone—amazing was in that tent. He pushed back the bright yellow flap and slowly walked inside. It was warm, as should be expected with all the people crammed in there together. Carefully, he made his way through the crowd to get right up in front of the freaks.

The first freak was a pretty average-looking guy, well, Gray wasn't one to judge, but this guy, who went by the stage name of Thunder God, was actually pretty good-looking. He had spikey blonde hair, dark orange eyes, and a lightning-shaped scar crossing his right eye. For some reason or another, he was listening to music on his iPod. "I carry more electric charge than any human in existence!" Thunder God bragged. "Lucky I'm not out there in the rain, or we'd have some serious lightning issues. Anyone care to try?" he offered, holding out his hand. "Don't be afraid, I'll keep it safe, I promise!"

One brave man, some guy with long bright green hair, wearing a red jacket held out his hand to Thunder God's. Thunder God grabbed the man's hand and shocked him so that his hair flew out in all directions. Lucky for him, it was tied by a ponytail at the end, so it wasn't too bad. Both started laughing and the crowd followed. Gray smiled: he was having fun already!

Freak after freak, the crowd moved along through the tent. One guy ate nails, another could make objects move. This guy's body was shaped like a balloon, but his head and limbs were that of a thin man, and that girl with the white hair could do the most amazing animal impressions. The next guy, who is introduced as her brother had the arm of a black bull.

And so the freaks went on. Some were behind bars, but some like the Thunder God weren't. The freak that really caught Gray's eye, and stuck in his memory above all others, was a very pale girl with big, dark blue eyes and short, light blue hair. She sat in a small, round cage looking rather sad.

"Welcome, guests!" cheered the short, old man who stood next to the girl's cage. "My name is Mr. Makarov, and I'm the man in charge of this carnival. I sure hope everyone's having fun!" The group nodded.

Gray was definitely having fun. He'd seen more amazing things today than he ever thought he would in his life. And the girl in front of him, though she didn't look too happy, was most intriguing and very beautiful. He was just dying to see what sort of freakish talent she had.

"Well, good!" Mr. Makarov continued. "I will be introducing this next freak, because, you see, she doesn't speak. Not a word!"

The crowd was stunned. Gray felt a bit disappointed, but he was still excited. She had to do something, after all. One boy in the back of the crowd yelled, "Well, what's she do, then? Just being mute isn't enough to be in a freak show! What a let-down!"

Gray tensed up, resisting the urge to give that kid a nice punch in the mouth. Of course, she was more freakish than that, he was just introducing her!

The girl looked hurt, but Mr. Makarov ignored the boy and kept speaking. "You are all in for quite a treat, actually. You see, this girl is so mysterious, we don't even know her real name! We just found her wandering around one day and noticed an odd pattern. So, naturally, we recruited her for our show, to share her wonders of fantasy with you good people. We call her the Rain Woman. Now, you may not believe me, and that's perfectly okay, but her very presence is what's making it rain right now!"

The people erupted with a mixture of amused, disbelieving, angry, and stunned shouts. Gray wouldn't normally believe it, but the way the girl, the Rain Woman, looked at the mass of people, he could tell there was some truth in it.

"Don't believe me?" Makarov laughed. "I guarantee that it will rain all day every day as long as we are here and stop when we leave! You wait and see. She's why wee call ourselves the Carnival Umidus: 'umidus' means 'wet' in Latin, and we're always getting rained on. "

The people calmed down and moved along, but Gray lingered by the Rain Woman for a little longer. She was so pale—like she'd never seen the sun in her life. "Is it true she doesn't speak?"

"Oh, yes, not one sound," Makarov told him and sighed, "I really wish she could. I'm sure if she could introduce herself she'd have much more fun with this"

"Now, I know all the other freaks seem to like the attention, but if she doesn't, why keep her?" Gray asked, laughing at himself for sounding like Lucy.

"Hey, I do what I have to do," Makarov said sternly. "Now, go along with the rest of the group."

The black-haired boy hesitantly moved along. He took one last look back at the Rain Woman and was astounded. She was staring at him with fierce eyes that bore through his very soul. So intensely blue and framed with unusual lashes that brought out the wild energy of them. They were so different from the sorrowful, forlorn eyes he saw before that Gray was speechless. Makarov raised his eyebrows at Gray, who silently turned and joined the rest of the people, who were now marveling at a woman with light brown hair who could turn objects and animals to stone.

Gray was tossed through the crowd as it moved along the row of freaks, but he never stopped thinking about the Rain Woman. What he wouldn't give to talk to her….

Gray stepped out of the tent and saw his friends. Natsu waved him over. The pink-haired boy and Lucy were standing next to Erza, who sat in a chair across from a young woman with wavy brown hair and brilliant purple eyes.

"This is Miss Alberona," Lucy explained. "She uses cards to tell the future."

"You can just call me Cana," the woman smiled and then spoke to Erza. "The cards read that you are very strong, and this strength has brought you the happiness you enjoy today, but it will only continue to grow. Be aware of a boy with red on his face. He'll make things interesting," she said with a wink.

"Thank you, Miss Alberona," Erza said, getting up. "You wanna go, Gray?"

"Er, no thanks," he said. "You know I'm not really all that into this fortune-telling stuff."

"Oh, come on, Droopy-eyes! We all did it!" Natsu encouraged, clapping his friend on the back.

"Fine," Gray sighed and sat down across the table from Cana. She shuffled the cards, handed them to him and told him to cut it into as many piles as he wanted. He chose four. Next, she told him to recombine the piles in whatever order he wanted and pick three cards from the deck. He did so and came up with the desert lizard, the tower, and the lovers.

"You've been in a metaphorical desert," Cana told him. "But you didn't realize it, and you probably still haven't. You don't know what you don't have until it's shown to you, after all. Now, you see it, but you can't get to it. Don't worry, though, you'll try you're hardest and ultimately end up happy."

Gray didn't know what to think. Did this have to do with the Rain Woman?