Updated AN:
So, I'm rewriting this old fic of mine.
I will keep all the major plot keys and keep the story on the same line. I'm just tidying up grammar, punctuation, and style a bit. I am also in the process of writing (another) alternative ending! I don't know if you will ever read this, guest-reviewer Rook, but if you do, I just want to say thank you so much for your lovely review! I will not copy the ending you suggested as, while it was a great one, (screw the magic council!) it would feel like cheating, lol, but I have another idea in mind that I am in the process of writing. So, this fic will have not only two official epilogues but yours as well!
Disclaimer: of course I don't own Fairy Tail.
…
When he found the mission on the request-board, he immediately realized that it would be perfect for Juvia and him. After all, who would be better suited for a mission requesting help to bring some relief from the drought to struggling residents in a faraway desert than a water mage and an ice mage? However, he cringed at the thought of asking her on a mission, knowing well how she would instantly misinterpret the request. Well, it couldn't be helped, he really needed the money and it would be so much easier if she tagged along.
He took the request down and walked over to Juvia, who was sitting with Lucy, Gajeel, and Levy at one of the tables.
"Juvia, I have a quest here that would suit you and me perfectly, want to come?"
Juvia startled at the sound of his fantastic voice, could this really be happening? Could Gray-Sama really be asking her out on a quest? "Imma Imma, Juvia? Um —yes, of course, Gray-Sama!" She finally managed to pull out of her shaking mouth.
Lucy, who had listened to the short exchange with interest thought, 'a job? Sweet, I'm flat broke and I cannot be late with my rent this month too, she´ll kill me! Or even worse, throw me out on the street!' So she raised her voice and asked if she could tag along as well.
If Lucy would have even so much as glanced at Juvia's way in that moment, then she would have found out if the old saying was true, if a glare could actually kill someone. However, she concentrated her attention on Gray to see the confirmation she was waiting for, and it didn't take long until he nodded his approval.
"Sure, couldn't hurt to have another one with us," he agreed. On the inside, however, he thought to himself, 'thank god! Not just me and Juvia, things will be so much easier now.'
They set out on their journey early the next day. As there were no trains in that direction, they ended up walking the long distance.
Four days later, at dusk.
Having walked with the two girls for a few days, Gray was minding his own business, pleased that nothing out of the ordinary had happened during their travels through a country that was growing more stifling and less lush for every hour they walked. Hearing someone stumbling behind him, he turned around to find Lucy sitting on the ground with a cranky look on her face. Before she had the chance to open her mouth, he interrupted her, no doubt, winy complaint of needing rest with a short directive.
"Alright, let's rest for now, we should arrive at the town tomorrow morning," he said, and walked towards the dry ditch of the road to start setting up camp, promptly ignoring the glare that Lucy gave him and that Juvia was drooling up a river when he stripped down to his usual topless outfit.
…
Juvia couldn't sleep. It was simply way to nerve-wrenchingly exciting to lay so close to Gray. Her constant daydreams of them sleeping next to each other cuddled up in a warm cozy bed with beautiful flower-printed bed-linens had already interfered with her sleep most of the trip and tonight was no different. She shifted restlessly, tossing and turning for a few hours before sighing slightly and getting up quietly, careful not to disturb her sleeping guild-mates. To lie awake for so long had caused a more biology-based reaction to kick in, and she left the small group in search of privacy for a moment.
…
The attack was sudden and unexpected.
Lucy woke up with a scream when something slammed into her back so hard that she sailed through the air and lost consciousness upon impact with the hard rock behind her with a sickening crunch.
Gray woke up with a jerk when he heard Lucy's scream and instantly raised himself prepared to fight, moving into battle position with trained ease and blinked a couple of times to will the grogginess away. When he found Lucy lying unconscious next to the cliff they all had slept under, he rushed over to protect her. His eyes trailed the camp urgently, searching the source of the chaos while preparing an Ice Lance attack.
In the same second Juvia heard Lucy's scream, she was being attacked herself. A massive man, standing at least two meters tall and almost as wide, appearing to be completely made of stone stepped out from behind the rock he had been hiding behind and launched his right stone-enhanced fist towards her. Juvia, however, evaded his attack easily by quickly creating a small puddle right where he was standing. The water blended with the dry dirt, creating a slippery patch that caused the massive stone-man to lose his balance, sliding maybe a meter and falling onto his back in the process. While he was getting back up on his feet, Juvia utilized the short interlude to run back towards her friends.
Gray, still trying to locate the attacker, quickly noticed that Juvia was missing. Unable to leave his spot covering Lucy he could only hope that Juvia was okay. She was a strong mage and more than capable of holding her own ground.
Then he spotted her running towards them and relief washed over him as a quick scan confirmed her wellbeing. As Juvia approached them she lined herself up with Gray to create a protective barrier in front of their unconscious guild-mate. They shared a quick glance and nod, acknowledging each other's presence but then moving their focus on finding the source of the attack.
"Where are you, bastards? Come out and fight us!" Gray shouted in frustration when he couldn't find anything. A woman's cackle was heard from the darkness in response to his challenge.
"Oh, I see, we have a brash one here. This will be fun," she said and stepped into sight. Long, black hair flowing in the wind accentuated a formfitting short black dress as its bearer walked closer. As she approached them, she raised her hand and sent magic daggers flying towards them, glimmering in the weak moonlight. Gray dropped his Lance attack formation and changed into a shield big enough to protect him and the unconscious Lucy behind. He could see from the corner of his eyes Juvia fighting another foe that had come into view. It was a massive guy that appeared to be made of stone. He sent one of his stone arms swinging towards Juvia but she just stood still without trying to defend herself, it passed through her without any effect.
"Juvia's body is made out of water, you cannot hurt Juvia," The water mage explained without blinking as she prepared her counter-attack.
Gray allowed himself a quick smirk—they were probably not prepared for that one—while preparing another Ice Lance Attack and releasing it upon the woman, who kept sending glimmering, dark daggers towards him.
Juvia created a Water Lock around her opponent's head but he only smiled, "you cannot drown a stone, little mage."
During their battle, Juvia got separated from Gray and Lucy, but it couldn't be helped, in order to try to get a clear strike on her on her opponent, she moved further away from the cliff.
Gray saw a smirk on the strange woman's face and the daggers changed course, from attacking him to attacking Lucy. He quickly created an Ice shield to cover her, but now there were suddenly two identical women attacking instead of one. Gray cursed under his breath—copy magic was always a pain in the ass— as he kept trying to protect Lucy the best he could while fending off the attacks on himself, but they were closing in on the cornered Ice mage.
Suddenly he heard a scream from Juvia and the noise made his stomach churn. He turned around to see her holding her bleeding arm with a look equally mixed with both pain and confusion.
"Juvia's body is made out of water; water cannot be hurt, so how did you hurt Juvia's body?" She asked a third version of the strange woman that had appeared without Gray noticing and closed her eyes for just a moment against the pain.
"Damn it, stay away from that woman, Juvia!" Gray shouted as he saw the woman prepare another attack, but too late, a new wave of the magical daggers was sent through the air towards both Lucy and Juvia at the same time, and he realised in horror that there was not a chance in hell that he could protect both.
He made an Ice Shield around Lucy and threw himself at Juvia to push her out of harm's way.
The first knife hit his chest while he was still in the air, right under his left collarbone, and he felt the piercing pain overtake every sense. Before even getting a chance to gather enough air to scream, a second knife drilled itself deeply into his right thigh, and he crashed to the ground, stirring up a cloud of red dust in the process. Nonetheless, his injuries had second priority, and after a couple of seconds of collecting himself, he started pulling himself up again with help from the massive stone wall behind him.
"HEY, SHITHEAD! Did you really think we'd give up without a fight!? We're Fairy Tail mages and you'll be fucking sorry that you messed with us. Trust me!" Gray shouted towards the enemy woman but was only rewarded with a contempt snarl for his cocky efforts.
"Oh, how tiring. A smart person would know when they're supposed to stay down," the mysterious woman sighed in annoyance. With an almost casual whisk of her right hand, she sent a wave of pure dark energy towards him while he was still trying to pull himself up to stand again. Unable to block the energy, he took a direct hit to the chest which sent him flying once more, though this time he was being thrown backward, and crashed headfirst into the rock behind him.
The last thing he was dimly aware of before darkness absorbed everything was a high-pitched scream coming from Juvia on his right when she saw him going down…
Juvia cried out in horror when Gray fell to the ground. She was by his side in an instant, trying to find out how badly he was hurt and protect him from the enemy, though the magical daggers had stopped coming. Now there was only one woman standing in front of them and smirking at the two mages.
With another casual wave of her hand, she sent Juvia flying through the air, landing a few meters away from Gray. When the mysterious woman grabbed Gray's hair and lifted him up in it, another dagger appeared in her other hand and she threateningly held it just in front of his throat as she turned to Juvia.
"Ah young love, how touching. You obviously care a lot for this mage, don't you? I didn't see you show so much care when the other mage went down, so if you do not want any further harm to come to him, then I suggest you give up all plans on any further attacks and surrender, right now."
Juvia raised her hands above her head in a sign of defeat. She couldn't risk Gray's life and was more than willing to surrender if that meant that they would leave him alone.
"Juvia will come with you. Do not hurt Gray-Sama again. Leave him here and Juvia will come with you without a fight," she said silently.
"Yeah yeah, sure whatever," the mysterious woman agreed, and signalled the stone man to comprehend Juvia. He walked over to Juvia in order to put a pair of weird-looking copper-ornamented handcuffs on her.
"What are you doing? You promised that you would leave Gray-Sama alone if Juvia came with you!" Juvia raged when she saw the woman putting a matching pair of the odd-looking handcuffs on Gray as well, before pulling her knives out nonchalantly, not caring about the blood that splattered her dress and the ground beneath, and dropped him unceremoniously to the ground.
"And you actually believed me? Oh, how sweet and naïve of you. I will keep him as an insurance of your obedience. If you at any point try anything… well shall we say, anything to disappoint me, I will not hurt you, but him instead…" the malicious woman explained with an evil grin.
Juvia, in full rage, prepared a Water Lock, she would make the stranger suffer for hurting Gray and her trickery, but when she called upon the magic within her, nothing happened.
"O my sweet little innocent water mage, those handcuffs isn't any ordinary toys. They prevent you from using any magic while they are locked…" the other woman explained when she noticed Juvia's confusion, still smiling maliciously. She gave the stone man another nod and he pushed Juvia forward in a rough sign to start walking. Then he walked up to Gray, and without any effort threw him up on his shoulder and started walking down the road towards the town Gray, Lucy, and Juvia had been heading to in the beginning.
…
When Gray woke up, the first thing he noticed was the sharp pain pulsating from his shoulder and right thigh; it penetrated all other senses and made him gasp for air. When the first sensation eased an inch, he opened his eyes to find that he was locked up in what appeared to be a dimly lit prison-cell. The front and side walls were made up of metal bars with only the back wall being made of rough, untreated bricks. From what he could see, there were several cells on both sides, and someone had chained him in a sitting position against the back wall of the cell with his arms above his head.
Where the hell was he? What happened, and where was Juvia and Lucy?
"Gray-Sama?" When he heard the weak and tear-filled familiar voice, he turned his attention towards the sound and found Juvia locked up in a cell next to him. She was chained to the back wall just as he was, and kneeling in a way that was mimicking his own, not so comfortable resting position.
"Juvia! Are you okay? Where's Lucy, and where the hell are we?"
"Juvi doesn't know where we are, they covered Juvia's eyes when they brought us here. They left Lucy at the side of the road and brought us here but Juvia doesn't know why. They threatened to hurt Gray-Sama if Juvia didn't go with them. Juvia failed to protect Gray-Sama and Lucy; Juvia cannot ever be forgiven for her mistakes," the young, female magician finished her explanation before the sound of muffled sobbing took over.
"Hey hey. Juvia, don't be so hard on yourself. This isn't your fault. We obviously walked into a trap but we will get out of it somehow," Gray tried to comfort in a soft voice with more confidence than he actually felt. He had tried to freeze his chains to crack them open as he was talking but nothing had happened, and the blood loss together with the penetrating pain from his injuries had weakened him noticeably.
How the hell did they manage to keep putting themselves in situations like this?