Chapter One: Opposites attract
Gray strolled over to the assignment board and studied the few slips of paper that were stuck to it. Jobs were few and far between nowadays, and the pay was no better. The last job had been tedious and Gray had barely been rewarded; the poor fool had forgotten the whereabouts of his coin purse, and had paid him (after a hurried search in all the nooks and crannies of his shop) with a few dirty credits. The thick wooden doors at the opposite end of the hall swung open, causing a gust of wind to fly throughout the guild; its fingers tore at the curtains, the hems of shirts and skirts, playfully whispering in every ear, scattering papers and rippling across the surface of liquid-filled tankards. Just as soon as it had come, the wind left, leaving the hall in ringing silence. Gray stooped down to pick up a piece of paper that had pressed itself against his leg. "WANTED: a Wizard to deliver a very urgent package, details will be given upon acceptance of this job, REWARD: 200,000" Grey stared for a moment at the page, it was a simple delivery job, nothing more, why such a large reward? Must be dangerous, he thought.
"Gray-sama!" a voice pierced through the air like an arrow, burying itself deep within Gray's head.
The sharp tang of rain alerted Gray to her presence moments before her face popped up just inside his field of vision.
"Gray-sama, Juvia would like to help you, that is" she blushed deeply "if you would let me accompany you"
He sighed, knowing he would have to say yes to her, as Natsu and the others had already left on some miscellaneous job. Juvia watched intently as Gray's chin dropped and rose sharply 'oh god, I'm staring aren't I?' she thought, and hurriedly lifted her gaze from his chin, only to be met, and locked in by his piercing, icy gaze.
"Sure, get your stuff together and meet me outside," he strode away, his gait long and laid back. Juvia sighed and her face flushed with embarrassment.
Three hours, ten outfits, thirty-two hairstyles, and fifteen makeup jobs later, Juvia stood nervously outside the gate. She had waited no more than three or four minutes when the air chilled slightly, signaling Gray's entrance. He gave her a half-smile, then strode down the street; Juvia hurried after, hoping he had noticed her and seen her makeup and thought she was pretty and maybe thought about kissing her...no, we are on a job, she told herself, I cannot be this distracted, I must prove my worth (and love) to Gray-sama. The two walked for nearly half a mile, the streets here were worn, the people with dark sunken eyes and ratty clothes hid in alleyways as they passed. Suddenly, Gray stopped short, reached into his pocket and pulled out the job flyer, studied it for a moment and shoved it back into the depths of his pocket.
"You coming or not?" his voice echoed out of one of the alleys, and Juvia realized that she had been standing in the middle of the street, unmoving, enthralled once more in her daydreams. She blushed and hurried after his voice, she must not do this anymore or else she wont be able to protect him. The shop smelled of things long forgotten that were better left undiscovered.
"Mmmm...yesss, hello, you must be the nice wizards come to help a poor man like myself, mmmm?" a voice twisted out from behind a stack of crates in the cluttered shop, Juvia already didn't like this man. "Yes, yes, yes of course you are, don't get any other visitors in here I don't, lonely life is mine" Grey walked towards the stack but stopped short when the hiding man screeched "NO! NOT CLOSER!"
"okay, fair enough, but what do you want us to do? You said you would give us the details of the job when we arrived, and, well, here we are, so spit it out! What needs doing?" Juvia could tell that Gray wanted to get out of here as much as she did.
"Mmmmm...yessss, job right you are...one moment" there followed a series of grunts and curses accompanied with the sound of many heavy, fragile things falling and breaking. A wrinkled head popped up from what must have once been the counter. The old man was just that, old, so old that Juvia wondered how he was still alive. A white, spider-like mop of hair clung to his head, and shook slightly when he spoke.
"Much better, now, that which you must do for me is simple in description only. I am running out of a certain kind of medicine that my brother makes for me" he tapped his head, which produced a hollow knocking sound "keeps the mind sharp y'know?"
"Yeah, that's great, now where can we find this brother of yours?"
"That's the problem, he lives about thirty miles thataway" he jerked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction he meant.
"But that's on the other side of the ravine.." Juvia said as she pointed to a long black slash of ink through a map on a wall of crates.
"I know, but that's the job!" he grinned, revealing an empty gap where his teeth should have been, and releasing a breath of fetid air into the room which made Juvia's head spin. When her vision stopped swirling, she realized that the funny old man had disappeared back into the depths of his shop.
"Come on Juvia, we have a job to do" Gray's voice called her from outside the shop, and she hurried to meet him.
End of Chapter One: Opposites Attract
More coming soon!