I am sorry for the first chapter as it might be confusing! Please give it a chance and tell me what you all think. I hope everyone likes my first attempt at a mystery fic!
The Zodiac Archive Chapter one
Gemini
Gemini is concerned with connections and communication of all kinds — letters, wires, telephones, voice, thoughts, writing, and mental processes in general. Gemini is the gadfly, the communicator, the gossip of the zodiac. Searching conversations, scientific inquiry, research, and so on belong here. Gemini energy is unattached, independent, and inquisitive.
Juvia Lockser silently ran through the halls of the palace that she had served for so long. All was quiet, as the inhabitants of the castle were sleeping. The dark, long halls seemed never ending as she ran as fast as her legs could take her.
Her boots made a small thump with each step she took, but Juvia did not care; all that mattered was the book in her arms.
Finally she reached her destination; a large wooden door with many golden carvings. She took out a key and clumsily placed it into the lock, it was difficult due to the lack of lighting.
When she heard a small click, she sighed in relief and happiness. The doors made a slight creak when she pushed them forward, revealing a blue lit room.
The room was quite large, with bookcases filling each space on the cream coloured walls. There were three couches placed around a large desk containing many papers and documents.
Juvia warily took a step inside, nervously she shut the door behind her.
"Levy-chan?" The bluenette whispered as she approached the desk in the centre of the room.
Juvia could see the two large windows that were located on opposite sides of the room. Someone had left them open, the breeze was causing the lace curtains to flow. Juvia guessed that Levy had become stuffed, being locked up in a room all day wasn't easy.
The bluenette peered over the desk and scanned the documents scattered across the oak. She made out the words 'classified', 'ice', 'princess' and 'zodiac'. Curious, she reached out to touch the document with a large red 'classified', only to be stopped by a hand grasping her wrist.
Shocked and scared, Juvia yanked her hand back and placed it over her mouth to muffle her scream.
Thankfully, the hand had belonged to the mage she had originally come for. Juvia's eyes met with another young girl.
"Levy-chan! You scared Juvia to death!" Juvia yelled through a whisper.
The said small girl giggled and readjusted her head ban so her blue locks were far from her face. She wore her regular black and white uniform that resembled a suit; these were the uniforms that the librarians of the castle were required to wear.
"Sorry Juvia, but I needed to get your attention someway." Levy smiled and sat down on one of the couches as she began to organise the scattered documents.
"And calling out to me wasn't suitable?!"
"Nope, I thought it would be more mystical that way. Anyway, did you bring the book?"
Juvia sat across from the small librarian and nodded, she placed the said book on the desk. It was quite thick, its dark brown cover was shining in the night. On its spine was a small lock that was covered in blue and gold jewels, all in all, it looked quite secured.
"Good, are you sure nobody followed you?"
"Nope, Juvia left after she checked that Lucy-sama was asleep."
Levy looked up and studied the girl across from her, she looked like she was in need of sleep herself. She wore her regular maid uniform that she was required to wear ever since she joined the staff of the palace seven years ago. But tonight, Juvia looked saddened, and it didn't take long for Levy to understand way.
One look at the date on the document before her and Levy knew.
"Juvia," Levy began as her eyes softened, "I am so sorry to ask you to do this, today of all days. I know it's a hard time, being the anniversary and all."
Juvia shook her head and all thoughts of the date, she looked up at the librarian with a determined expression, "No Juvia is perfectly fine, it was seven years ago after all. She just wants to complete the task at hand. Please, can we continue?"
Levy eyed her warily before sighing and sliding a sheet of paper across to her. Juvia looked down at the sheet curiously, she read:
Dear Levy, Gajeel, Juvia and Natsu,
On the third of next month, the engagement between Princess Lucy Heartfillia of the Gemini Palace and Prince Gray Fullbuster of the Taurus Palace, will be finalised. Due to our limited evidence, we still are fulfilling the required task over here at Taurus, so we cannot offer you our services.
Prince Gray will arrive at Gemini on the engagement day early in the morning. We believe that his connections with the Zodiac will threaten the overall task at hand. Therefore, we insist that you, Gajeel, Juvia and Natsu keep a close eye on the Prince while he is inside the Palace.
We know that it is a lot to ask of you since you are still trying to decipher the book of Zodiac, but we would greatly appreciate your assistance.
Please write back once the Prince has arrived and keep regular records of his movements.
Yours Truly,
Erza, Cana, Romeo and Wendy
Juvia rose her eyebrow in disbelief, "They cannot be serious? How are the four of us going to monitor the Prince? It will be hard enough will the engagement going on. Erza should know better!"
Levy sighed and scanned the book that rested on the desk, "Juvia, you know that we are going to have to do it. I mean, It is Erza, she won't let us slide out of this one. Besides, it has been awhile since we have had a different task beside figuring out what is written in this stupid book. It should be fun!"
Juvia pouted in protest and snuggled into the couch, "At least we still have one month."
There was a slight pause before Levy nervously laughed, Juvia could see sweat dripping down her neck and her hands fidgeting against the table.
"Well, actually, Erza sent that last month."
Juvia sat right up and looked at the bluenette in disbelief, "You're not saying?"
"Today is the third day of the month, and well, Prince Gray will be arriving in a few hours."
Levy, who was desperately trying to avoid Juvia's intense glare, took off her necklace that contained a golden key, and unlocked the book that Juvia had bought earlier.
"Despite the short notice I gave you, the task shall be easy. I mean, all you have to do is watch over one little Prince."
Juvia, who was still annoyed at her friend, opened her mouth and let out a small gasp of realisation.
"You! Levy, you are making me watch him, alone? This was meant to be a joint task?"
"Juvia, this is still a joint task. I decipher the book and research Zodiac, while Gajeel guards all of our identities and this room, Natsu serves as a butler while watching the royal families movements and you take care of the small tasks we are given. It is a system."
"Levy! This isn't a 'small task'! This is a huge task! One that I cannot do alone!" Juvia grumbled in anger.
"Relax, Natsu will help you out on this one. I know that it is important, but it makes the most sense for you to watch over the prince. I mean, you are a maid, Princess Lucy's maid in fact. And are you forgetting who the Prince is engaged too?"
Juvia whined and sat back in her seat with a frown. She knew that Levy was right, out of the four of them, Juvia would be the one who had the most contact with Prince Gray. Since she followed Lucy around all day, who just happened to be engaged to the task, Juvia would be following Gray around all day.
She knew that it was an important mission, two cities were going to be finally united. Gemini and Taurus were on a neutral stance for quite some time, but the two kings finally decided to join forces. And of course, the easiest way to do this was by marriage.
So, thirteen years ago, it was decided that the next Princess of Gemini would marry the next Prince of Taurus and the two cities would become one. This caused a lot of controversies between the twelve cities of the world, who believed that each city should be individual, which resulted in a war.
They named it the war 'Zodiac' and it took thousands of lives, and the whole city of Pisces.
Piscians were water mages and held great knowledge and history of the world. They were envied for the intelligence but they were a small city that had little protection. Five years into the war, Pisces was annihilated and there libraries were raided. Little to no Piscians where left in the world, those who were, worked and lived in secrecy.
Pisces created the book of Zodiac, which contained information on how to obtain peace and equality throughout all twelve cities. They researched and gathered information from all cities and eventually discovered a spell that would cease all conflict.
Once Taurus attacked their city, the book was smuggled to safety by a small family of water mages.
Despite the war, Gemini and Taurus were determined to unite and eventually rule all the remaining cities. And after five years of fighting they achieved this, but they held off the wedding between the Gemini Princess and the Taurus Prince until they were of age.
Now, seven years later, the engagement was to be officially announced and in a few months, the wedding would take place.
Once Gemini and Taurus officially united, the remaining nine cities would be forced into colonising into a Gemini and Taurus community, and their cultures would be forgotten.
The remaining nine cities could not act out against Gemini and Taurus as their attempts would be futile. The whole world knew that in order to survive, you needed to keep quiet and obey the government.
This is where the 'rebellions' come in. A group of skilled mages from all the twelve cities that have united secretly, a group who all share the same dream of equality.
They scattered into the remaining eleven palaces to monitor the movements of the royal family, while they tried decipher the book of Zodiac which was written in Piscian.
Through letters written in a secret language, they communicated from their different posts and traded information and advice. They were getting close to discovering the secret language of the book of Zodiac, and it wouldn't be long until they finally translated the rule.
But the royal families all knew about the book and also that it was currently lost. So, working became difficult and their security had to become tighter.
Juvia knew that it was important for her to carefully watch Gray's movements and listen in on his plans, as it determined the future of the world.
She sighed in defeat and accepted the job, she didn't like the fact that the future of the world was resting on her teams shoulders.
"Levy, Is Juvia needed for anything else?"
Levy shook her head and thanked the girl for bringing the book to her. She offered her tea, but Juvia declined and said she needed to catch up on sleep before the Prince arrived.
"Juvia!" Levy called out, stopping the girl who was now in the hall of the Palace, "If you ever want to talk about you know what, you know where I am."
Juvia didn't turn around or say anything back, she just raised the back of her hand and sent the librarian a small wave. Then she quietly ran back in the direction she had come.
The Palace was still silent as Juvia walked through the halls, admiring the pictures that hung on the walls. The sun was starting to rise and Juvia realised that she wouldn't be getting any sleep before the Prince arrived.
She sighed as she remembered the day and her new task. It was really going to be stressful, to constantly be following a man from Taurus.
Why did the universe love to put her down? Giving her such a huge mission on such a sad and sorrowful day. Juvia almost laughed at herself as she walked through the silent halls.
She really did have bad luck, receiving such an important mission with only a little help from Natsu.
A hand tapped the back of her shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts.
She gasped in surprise and hoped that whoever it was, wouldn't yell at her for wondering around the palace at night.
She turned around only to meet an unfamiliar pair of eyes.
The person was taller than her, he had short dark hair that fell perfectly around his face. His face, Juvia thought, was perfect. His dark eyes that were staring right into hers, sent her an unfamiliar feeling to her chest.
"U-um, this is kind of embarrassing," The man said with a shy smile as Juvia looked up at him confused, "I um, I'm lost."
Juvia studied him and noticed his noble clothes and couldn't help but giggle at the thought of a royal being lost in his own palace.
The man let out a small chuckle too as he saw the maid before him giggle, their eyes met again once Juvia had composed herself.
"Where are you supposed to be?" Juvia smiled.
"Oh right, well, I am supposed to be at the entrance. I kind of got bored and wandered off and I really don't know where I am going. So, do you know how to get back?"
Juvia nodded and pointed down to a hallway across from them, "You follow that hall there and it leads you straight to the entrance of the palace."
The man smiled and bowed slightly before her, "Thank you, I really wouldn't have made it back on my own."
"No problem, Juvia is glad she could help."
"Juvia?" The man said softly as he looked down at the bluenette before him who was now nodding, "Wow, I have never heard of a name like that before."
"O-oh, um Ju- I am sorry! I shouldn't of told you my name! Please forgive me!"
The dark haired man chuckled at her sudden apology and blushed face, "It is fine, you shouldn't apologise. It is a really nice name, I am glad you said it actually."
Juvia looked up at the man who was now walking in the direction of the hall she had told him about.
He turned around and gave her a smile which caused Juvia's stomach to flutter, "Thank you, oh and nice meeting you, Juvia."
And with that, he left as quickly as he came.
Juvia stood in silence for a minute watching the hallway in which the man had left. She felt a strange feeling devour her body, but she shook the thought and continued on her journey to the Princess's room.
Lucy had awoken by the time Juvia reached her room. As Juvia stood before the huge wooden door she could whispers and grunts of frustration.
Gulping, the bluenette opened the door and tried to slip inside unnoticed, to which she failed.
"Juvia!" A blonde haired girl with brown eyes and a kind face yelled desperately, "Juvia, where have you been! I need to get into this dress, please help me!"
Finally Juvia looked down and studied the princess's form. She was wearing a white corset that flattened her already flat stomach, Lucy was paranoid about her body and Juvia did not know why, and she was tugging on pink material that was falling around her ankles.
Juvia giggled and hurried over to the princess, gently pulling the pink dress up so it fell into place. She did the zipper up and turned the girl around to inspect the dress, which was pink and yellow with small ribbons and lace covering the material.
"It is beautiful, Lucy-sama."
Lucy's eyes beamed and she smiled hugely at the maid before her, "You think? Although I am still not sure about the colour."
Juvia shook her head and started brushing the blonde girls hair, "It is beautiful, the prince is lucky to have such a gorgeous fiancee."
Lucy's shoulder slumped and her expression fell, "Yeah, the prince..."
Juvia sighed and continued with her actions, she knew that the girl before her already had someone in her heart. But that did not matter in this castle, as she was destined to marry a man who she had never met.
"It will be fine, Lucy-sama. Juvia is sure that Prince Gray will capture your heart in no time."
Lucy sighed and let out a weak smile, she was nervous to meet the man whom she would spend her entire life with. Especially since the whole of the Gemini Palace was invited to their engagement ball that night.
A group of maids entered the room not long after and immediately did the princesses hair and make up. Lucy wore her hair in a high bun with many crystal flowers decorating the blonde locks, while she wore a simple layer of fair make up.
Juvia smiled at her friends beauty, she really was proud of her master despite the fact that they were secretly enemies.
Juvia, being apart of the rebellions, worked as a maid in the Gemini Palace. She arrived at the Palace seven years ago and befriended the princess. Lucy demanded that Juvia be her personal maid, and from that day on the two were always together.
Juvia knew that she shouldn't be attached to her master, but over the seven years of their friendship Lucy had found a special place in her heart.
But now, Lucy was to be married and most likely spend her days with her fiance. Juvia would miss the days that it was just the two of them, but at least this way she could focus on her duties.
Her duties, that involved working behind her best friend's back and trying to overthrow the Palace she lived in. Juvia shuddered at the thought of Lucy finding out her true identity, she would most likely banish her or even execute her.
"Juvia?" The said friend asked, "It is time to go, are you coming?"
Juvia looked up and nodded, the girl before her looked absolutely stunning that it made Juvia conscious of her own appearance. Quickly she changed into a fresh maid's uniform and briefly fixed her hair, then followed after the princess.
People had gathered from all parts of the Palace to witness the first meeting between the Prince of Taurus and the Princess of Gemini.
The Taurus royal family was waiting in the fields of the Palace that had been decorated for the event. The servants had placed chairs and tables, as well as ribbons and flowers. A band that sat at the back of the field played a soft melody, and the chefs had prepared small snacks that rested on the tables.
Juvia admired the decorations and the atmosphere of the field as she and Princess Lucy made their way into the event.
A trumpet played that earned everyone's attention, all heads looked up at Lucy and the few maids that accompanied her.
Juvia heard someone announce the princesses arrival and she smiled when she spotted her friend, Natsu, who was sulking with the other butlers.
Lucy made her way onto the grass and followed her father who led her to the prince.
The prince stood a few feet away smiling, but not at the princess approaching him. He smiled past the princess, at a blue haired maid, who was now recognising the Prince's face.
Juvia gasped when she processed his face, the prince, who she had expected to be rude and vicious, was the same man that she had helped earlier.
No way! Juvia thought as she walked Lucy and Gray finally meet and introduce themselves.
Juvia glanced over at Natsu, who was serving a guest some food but subtly staring at the two royals. She felt pity for her friend as she knew that his heart was hurting. It was hard enough for Natsu and Lucy to be together as they were a princess and a servant, who was secretly her enemy, but now Lucy was finally engaged.
What a dramatic and forbidden love.
It was then that Juvia noticed Lucy gesturing for her. Juvia winced and pretended to be in conversation with a maid next to her as she really wanted to steer clear of the prince.
Her plan was working until she heard Lucy call her name, slowly Juvia turned around and smiled weakly while she walked over to the couple.
"Prince Gray, this is my personal maid and best friend, Juvia. Juvia, this is Prince Gray." Lucy smiled as she introduced the two.
The prince smirked down at the familiar bluenette who was half glaring at him, "Nice to meet you, Juvia."
Juvia bowed, "A pleasure to meet you, your highness."
"Please, just call me Gray." He grinned at the girl.
"Juvia, I was just telling him about the ball tonight. Come to think of it, aren't you serving there tonight?" Lucy questioned.
Juvia nodded, not leaving the Prince's stare, "Juvia will be, she is happy for the two of you and your engagement."
The two before her visibly flinched at the word 'engagement' but continued to listen to the girl.
"Lucy-sama, Gray-sama, if you will excuse Juvia, she has to help Natsu-kun with serving."
Lucy nodded and excused the girl, while Gray watched her walk over to a pink haired butler and start to help with serving the guests.
Juvia sighed, she knew that this task was going to be the death of her.
Dear Erza, Cana, Romeo and Wendy,
We appreciate your concern for us, but we are more than willing to accept this task.
Prince Gray arrived this morning and attended a meeting with Princess Lucy. The two seem to converse normally but we will continue to watch over them.
I have handed the task of monitoring the two over to Juvia and Natsu as they will have the most contact with them. I am confident that they will fulfil the task and watch out for any suspicious actions.
Tonight will be the official announcement of Gray and Lucy's engagement, I have ordered Juvia and Natsu to attend.
We will continue to update you on their actions.
Until then,
Levy, Gajeel, Juvia and Natsu
Authors notes- Gyah! That took me awhile. Please tell me if I wasted three hours of my life writing a bad story.. If everyone likes it I will continue! I know there isn't much Gruvia in this but trust me, the story is Gruvia and Nalu.
Next chapter will be the party and Gray and Juvia converse! Yay