Chapter 1
Juvia watched the large town from afar, the town that she would take with the soldiers of Fiore a few hours later. The rain clouds were gathering and everyone at the camp were preparing their weapons. Juvia couldn't help but sigh, wishing that she wouldn't have to fight. The thought of slaughtering innocents were enough to make her shiver.
But then, it was her job to kill as a mercenary of the band Phantom Lord. She bore the title "The Rain Sniper", as her proficiency with a sniper rifle allowed her to snipe her enemies from afar even at heavy deluges, when vision was prohibited and the bullets couldn't fly as far as they could. But then, she preferred to be called the rain woman, as she had claimed it to be more 'humble'.
Juvia never thought that she would become a soldier. Back in her older days she was a quiet, gloomy girl. She was always avoided by her peers, and never had a family. Until the day she was fourteen, a gang of bandits raided her town and she was one of the few survivors there. Taken in by Gajeel, she began to learn gunnery and two years later, able to participate in battles. But then, most of the time they were hired by mayors and village chiefs to protectthe innocents from bandits, this was her first time fighting an army.
Still, it was the right thing to do, she reminded herself. King Jose had hired all of them to help settle the revolution of the citizens towards the kingdom. Their first task was to take the town of Magnolia, a town rich of resources to supply the army.
"Lady Juvia, it is time to battle." One of the soldiers reported, noticing that rain had begun to fall. Juvia only nodded, took up her sniper rifle, and said, "Try not to hurt the innocents."
She was still too kind, Gajeel thought, as he watched Juvia took aim, and then fired at the legs of another enemy soldier. The bullet found its mark, decapacitated him, but not enough to kill him. The battle had begun an hour, and as the time passed by, the morale of the soldiers of Fiore grew more. The resistance quickly retreated, leaving some of the soldiers to cover their escape.
Soon, the soldiers of Fiore successfully retook Magnolia. But as they cheered loudly over their sweet victory, Juvia watched the corpse of the deceased soldiers poignantly.
The soldiers were celebrating their victory at a bar in the town. Bottles of liquor and food were seen everywhere. There were three girls serving them, two with white hair while the other has red, long, straight hair. Juvia sat at a corner, wearing a long, blue dress. She was eating her food when one of the barmaids approached her.
"Hello there! My name is Mirajene," the girl with long, white hair introduced herself merrily. "Would you like some drinks?"
Juvia shook her head, "No, thank you."
"OK then," Mirajene smiled, "By the way, you dress differently compared to the soldiers." Juvia looked at her questioningly, not knowing what she meant. "You are not wearing any badge symbolizing the soldiers of Fiore." Upon hearing Mirajene's explanation, Juvia quickly glanced at the outfit the soldiers had with a surprised look.
"Juvia never noticed it before." True enough, the soldiers were all wearing identical badges on their chest. "Maybe because Juvia is a mercenary so they didn't give badges."
"You're a mercenary?"
"Yes, along with Gajeel-kun," Juvia smiled, "We were tasked to took over this town from the resistance, who was wrecking havoc on Fiore."
"I see" Mirajene frowned, but went unnoticed by Juvia "I shall go back to work then, goodbye." Juvia happily nodded, and watched Mirajene joined the red-haired barmaid.
"So, what did you found?" The red-haired barmaid asked Mirajene with a solemn look.
"Well, Erza, they had hired mercenaries, that explains why their army became so strong." She whispered back. Erza nodded and begun to think about something, "Do you think it's a good idea to hire mercenaries for ourselves too?"
"Well, I have other plans." Mira smiled mischieviously, then return to attend to the soldiers.