CHAPTER ONE.
New original character - centric fic!
This story follows the lives of my OC and Juvia as they grow and get stronger and, eventually, meet the Fairy Tail mages.
This fic will be heavy on the development and progression made by the characters.
This was not betaed nor cleaned up properly so please forgive me for the grammatical errors that are sure to appear.
Comments and ideas are welcome! Thank you!
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Juvia's POV.
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The water ran down the streets like rivers flooding. The sky was a dreary sight, dark clouds and flashing lightning.
Few remained in the open, seeking refuge from the weather under whatever bit of shielding they could find, or returning to their cozy homes.
Fewer still could bear the brunt of the storm without a bother.
But Juvia had never been normal, at least no-one had ever said as much, and rain was precisely one of the few things she could say had always been with her.
At twelve years old she knew enough about the world and the people who inhabited it that the idea of being someday accepted and treated like one of the rest had slowly become nothing more than an ostentatious dream of hers. Something to muse about when alone and lonely.
She has lost hope somewhere along the way.
Juvia was a rain mage, and since a young age, rain has always accompanied her. In the orphanage the other kids would taunt and bully her for that. Called her gloomy, depressing, dull- they made her cry often.
No-one would play with her. No-one wanted to be friends with such a freak.
But it was not something she knew how to control. Even her first memories, where she'd be three or four years old at most, were filled with rain.
After she joined Phantom Lord her reputation took another hue. Her magic was powerful, wild, not something to laugh at but instead, something to fear.
Suddenly it was a thing to be proud of.
It made Juvia sad because not even that could make other kids like her more.
In the Guild there were very few playmates available, most too old or too scared of her.
Her quick rise through ranks hadn't gone over well with the few age-appropriate mages in the Guild. Jealousy was an ugly trait.
After some tries to introduce herself, all of them ending terribly wrong, she stopped trying.
She had better things to do, anyway. Work at Phantom Lord was never scarce, at least for mages of her level, and she soon got used to coming and going from job to job. There was little time to socialize.
Did she still feel lonely? Sure, but there was little she could do to change her fate.
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In the space inside the magic bag she always carried with her were the umbrella and that day job's reward, safely held until she could arrive at Phantom Lord and put aside the Guild's share.
She didn't expect much struggle in the way there. It was storming pretty badly, but that was in no way a hazard to her. Someone could try to rob her, like they sometimes did when she was travelling the countryside alone. A little girl all by herself was, most of the time, considered an easy target.
But the people of Oak Town had come to know her on sight these last two years.
She was surprised when a scream reached her ears.
It was raining so hard that for a moment she thought she might have imagined it, but a second grunt and whimper alerted her to the fact that something odd was happening near.
Two alleys down her previous thoughts of Oak Town being a peaceful and safe haven were shattered when she found a group of men kicking down a fallen child.
Dark hair made darker by the water no doubt chilling to the bone, arms held protectively before his face, clothes torn and bloody- this was the scene she came upon.
Without a word, the water falling from the roofs and leaking on the small alley rose in tendrils and clashed like whips on the men. Shouts and swears could be heard but Juvia was more concerned on the poor child curled up against the wall than in some bastard adults. Her water quickly silenced them.
Threats disposed of, the child slowly unfolded from his previous position. Bruises were already peeking around his bare arms. Under a bush of dark hair shiny black eyes surrounded by beautiful eyelashes came into view.
Juvia stood without words. The boy was the prettiest thing she had ever come across.
"W-who are you? How did you do that?"
His voice, too, was beautiful. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks.
"Juvia is a mage. Juvia can control water."
She said, as close to stuttering as she had been in a long time.
"Are you alright? Juvia was worried!"
The boy nodded his head, sniffing slightly. With the back of a hand he unsuccessfully tried to clean his tears.
Now that she could see him better Juvia realized that she had been wrong about his age. He was no child, standing taller than her by a large margin, but no adult either. She guessed that he could be, perhaps, two years or so older than her.
"I'm okay now. Thank you."
He bit his lip, staring at the ground between them. He appeared to be struggling.
"I don't have a name."
"No name!?"
Juvia couldn't believe her ears. Her hands wrapped against his. What a sad thing! What a terrible thing!
"Juvia will give you a name! Nobody should live without a name!"
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Boy's POV.
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The air got stuck on his chest, he didn't know how to reply. He didn't know how to react to that. Never had the boy met such a kind person. Tears came back to his eyes.
"You- you will?"
Her hands were warm, if wet, but in that moment there was not a thing he didn't cherish about her. This fantastical person that came from nowhere and saved his life. It was the first time he came across such goodness. She was a light in the darkness.
"Storm! Your name should be storm, because Juvia found you in one!"
The newly christened Storm felt a hole he didn't know was there fill with warmth. He gathered the mage within his arms and hugged with all his worth. He was so happy.
"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Soon he was crying on her shoulder as she cradled him close.
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Juvia's POV.
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As she hugged Storm lovingly, she could help but think of what sort of life he might have lead until then, to not have something as important as a name to himself. Even orphans carried with them the last vestiges of their family in their names.
She shuddered in horror. Juvia feared knowing but she feared the scenarios her mind conjured even more.
A child all alone in the world, abused, forced to survive in the streets, repudiated by those who should have helped him.
"Don't worry, Juvia is now here! You won't be alone anymore!"
She promised.
She would not let anything bad happen to Storm.
Juvia had given him a name, after all, that made her practically his mother!
That he was in fact older than her mattered little! You only named things you wanted to keep, even she knew that!
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End of chapter one.
