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Undertow
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I know the warnings, disclaimers, author's notes are always so long and rambling, but I'll only be including them in this first chapter – so please do read them before advancing, you won't have to again!
This was something I just started writing for fun. I have no clue where I'm really going with it other than the basic skeleton of a plot so…here's to adventure!
Don't worry – I'll be updating Auxilium soon.
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Warning: This piece of fiction will contain sexual situations in later chapters as well as occasional blood, fantastical situations, and lots of really lewd words and swearing. Readers continue at your own discretion, please note the rating.
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail, its respected characters and its plot are all sole property of Hiro Mashima. Any resemblance to other pieces of literature or fiction, whether published online or on paper, is purely unintentional and merely coincidental. Any quotes or references used will be sourced either immediately or at the end of the chapter in the order that they appear.
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"What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams."
Werner Herzog
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The nightmares were always the same.
She was underwater in a large swimming pool – a swimming pool much like the one that her old high school swim team had used – except this one had no end and no beginning. Juvia would try to locate a way out as if she was swimming against an ocean current, the dappled reflection of fluorescent overhead lights taunting her from the water's surface. She would swim, and swim, and swim, but the darkness would only increase the further she went. Finally, when the lights began to flicker, she'd swim back, clamoring to get to where she had been before, darkness advancing at an alarming rate.
No matter how many times she dreamt this, it always ended the same:
The darkness overtook her.
Panic consumed her every nerve, tugging angrily at her kicking feet, choking her and filling her mouth a hollow, empty scream that just never, ever seemed to stop no matter how much she cried, no matter how much she thrashed and shrieked and hollered nobody would ever co –
"JUVIA!"
Blue eyes rolled open, upper body hanging in the air as her roommate's face relaxed in obvious relief, his grip on her softening. The ocean roared in her ears, its incessant call beckoning through her bedroom's open windows, but her roommate's face was all she saw, a soft light casting a halo around his wild, black hair, and even wilder eyes.
"Goddammit Juvia," he wound his arms around her in a comforting embrace, pushing her into his mane, "you gave me the fuckin' biggest scare of my life you brat."
Sweet, cool air filled her lungs and Juvia took several deep breaths before her heart rate eased down long enough for her to apologize breathlessly, tears pricking the edges of her eyes. God, this was the third time this week she had woken up from these night terrors.
"You don't have to apologize for nothin' punk," Gajeel held her out back at arms length again before he eyed her open windows, "I'm just relieved it wasn't anything major, I was worried someone had broken into your room."
Juvia shook her head, rubbing her eyes gently with the back of her balled fists, "No – nothing like that – I hope I didn't wake you up."
"Nah, not at all, I was up anyway to go for a run with Levy," Gajeel shifted back towards the edge of her bed, hopping off before stretching out his muscles and eyeing her warily, "Are you gonna be okay?"
Juvia nodded, eyes flickering to her digital alarm clock at the side of her bed, its ghostly letters blaring – barely five in the morning.
"It's kind of early to run, don't you think?" Juvia yawned, lowering herself back down onto her mattress. She still had only two hours left before work – best to make them count.
"That's the exact same thing I told her, but the girl's stubborn as anything," Gajeel grumbled, his feet thumping against the wood-paneled flooring as he stalked over to her windows, pushing them closed and latching their locks, "anyway, I'll have my cellphone – give me a call if there's any more issues. I'll lock the front door."
Juvia nodded again, sinking back into her comforter's covers. Gajeel walked back towards the switch panel next to the bedroom's door, turning up the ceiling fan's speed. His hand stalled, however, above the light switch as he looked back at his roommate's form.
"It's okay – turn it off. I'll be fine, promise."
He complied, but left the door open enough for a sliver of light to enter.
Juvia swallowed the ball in her throat and squeezed her eyes shut as the darkness enveloped her once more.
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The weather had been poor for the past several days, but today had been absolutely gorgeous, Juvia noted as she sighed with relief, climbing out of the boat's cabin. She tied her soaked hair back up into a high ponytail, reveling in the sunshine that beat down on her bare back and shoulders. Despite being several months away from hurricane season, a freak squall had blown through nearly a week prior, bringing rain, rough ocean currents, and three to five-foot swells in just the harbor alone. Jose had refused to cancel their dives until Juvia herself barged into his dampened office, threatening to quit on the spot if he didn't reschedule their dives at least until next week – they had, unfortunately, had full boats every day, but they were letting their excursion guests tread in dangerous waters (both figuratively and literally) if they allowed these dives to take place in such catastrophic conditions. Had it been any other time, her boss probably would have laughed and told her to leave, but seeing as he had lost the majority of his staff in the New Year, he was really in no place to be letting employees go.
The boat swayed gently, and Juvia let her body rock with it, making sure her bare feet were planted firmly on its floor. They had docked back at the ferry terminal nearly an hour ago, but she had been cleaning their equipment and checking the oxygen tank gauges since the rest of the team had left – if the weather kept up as nice as this, they would need to be on top of their game for the next few days to make up for the lost cost from their cancelled days.
"You're still hanging out down there in that stuffy cabin?" A pair of tanned legs swung over the dock's worn edge; bringing the body they belonged to down her eye-level.
Juvia smiled gently as their eyes locked, walking back over to where she had left her towel perched on the back of the captain's chair.
"Yes, Lyon – somebody's got to clean all of the flippers and masks."
"Well, you appear to be finishing up, so why don't we go and grab a drink?" Lyon waggled his eyebrows, the sun glimmering as it caught every facet of his silver hair. "Maybe I could take you out to dinner? There's this new place down by the boardwalk – "
"Sorry, not tonight, Lyon," Juvia wiped the sweat and water away from her face, "maybe next time?"
The young man pouted, leaning down so his elbows rested on the tops of his kneecaps.
"Aw come on, that's what you always say, I promise it'll be a good time." His pout easily turned into a charming smile, posture straightening.
Juvia shook her head apologetically.
"I promised my roommate we would work out our utilities bill tonight – trust me, I would do everything in my power to get out of doing it if I could, even if it meant getting a drink with you," she teased. It wasn't exactly a lie of a some grand magnitude – her and Gajeel did need to work on who was paying what part of their bills for the next month, as well as discuss whether to renew their lease or not this upcoming fall. They just hadn't…gotten around to it. Maybe they actually would tonight.
Lyon sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.
"All right, you're off the hook this time," he climbed back to his feet and flashed her one last impish smile before walking off, "have a good night, Juvia."
Juvia held her breath until she saw his form exit the dock, exhaling in quiet relief. Darn. It wasn't that Lyon was necessarily a bad guy, not at all – he was extraordinarily handsome, even Juvia would admit that, and he had a really infectious personality to boot. She was sure that deep down, if she really did hang out with him and get to know him better, she could even possibly…form a relationship of some sort with him. Gajeel had been pressuring her for ages now to get back out into the dating world, and while Lyon and her had been flirting for some time, Juvia just wasn't…ready.
She shouldn't feel pressured into something she knew she wasn't ready for, no matter if everyone else around her wanted it.
'What's wrong with him?' Gajeel had demanded several weeks ago when Juvia mentioned his roundabout courtship, 'Too tall? Too short? Breathes oxygen? Talks with a voice?'
"I'm just not interested in dating!" Juvia huffed out loud to herself at the memory, gathering her bag before throwing it up onto the dock, "And there's nothing wrong with that! I'll move on when I'm ready!" She hauled herself up onto the beaten wood next, jumping to her feet and marching over to the pillars where the boat's ropes were secured, tightening their salty knots.
It was true – Lyon had virtually nothing off-putting about him, bar his undying persistence, which was still fairly charming in its own way. He worked for a deep sea fishing charter that operated on the same space of dock as Juvia's dive company did, and was essentially well-liked by everyone in the town they lived in. He came from a fairly well known family as well – his sister was involved in politics, his mother had passed away several years prior, but had been a professional marine photographer before her passing. Her photographs were still prominently displayed in many important places throughout town, including the courts and city hall.
Again, the poor girl just…couldn't bring herself to find him, to her, romantically endearing.
Juvia unlocked the chain on her bike, throwing it into the woven basket that rested against the handlebars, adjusting her backpack so it sat secure and tight. Usually by this time it would already be getting rather dark out, but thankfully daylight savings time was approaching, and the sunlight seemed to stretch out for hours upon hours more.
This was the perfect weather, all in all, to end her day with a swim.
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Despite the nightmares, Juvia still found it as easy as ever to swim in the ocean. She had been swimming before she could walk, it could never be something she could just stop – it had become a solid part of her, like a limb. Trying to quit her relationship with water was akin to cutting off her oxygen supply – not to mention, it was her job after all, and despite the anxiety that pooled in her stomach, she pressed on.
The beach Juvia swam at had been one she found nearly a month after moving in with Gajeel. Several years prior, she was extremely unfamiliar with Magnolia and on her way back to their shared residence, Juvia had missed a turn and found herself pedaling down a rather bumpy dirt road. Naturally realizing that she had messed up somewhere, she went to turn around only to stumble across a hidden inlet somewhere between rocky tide pools and the dirt road.
Nobody else knew about it. Well, nobody from what Juvia could tell, and she hadn't said anything to Gajeel or her co-workers out of fear that they would tell her some off-putting information or start going there themselves.
It was her oasis – as petty and childish as that sounded.
Reaching the dirt road's familiar curve, Juvia hopped off the bike and began to walk it down the inlet's slight hill. It was still technically low tide, but slowly the water was creeping up the sand, and in several hours the beach itself would cease to exist. Juvia had seen it herself on many occasions when she didn't check the tidal reports beforehand, but oddly enough that was when she liked it best – it was like an infinity entrance swimming pool, water lapping at the honeycomb rocks and enveloping her.
She gingerly leant her bike against the rocks, taking out the lock from the basket and fastening it around the bike's torso and wheel – if anyone did try to steal it (which had not happened before, knock on figurative wood) they would have a difficult time trying to pedal away.
After work Juvia had left on her swimsuit for easy access – it was a standard navy-blue racing suit, nothing special – and though she was a fan of bikini's, they were less than favorable for her job, let alone swimming in. Strings coming undone or hardening until they cracked in half from dried sun oil…it was just all too bothersome and she didn't have time for bothersome. Shimmying out of her cutoff shorts, Juvia placed them in her backpack and stuffed it all in the window of space between her bike and the rocks.
As she padded closer and closer, the damp sand began to suck her feet deeper and deeper below the surface. It was so therapeutic – the scratch of the sand grains, the seaweed that swum around her ankles, the rush of the waves and salt air.
She was home.
Filling her lungs once more with the briny air, Juvia found herself waist-deep in the clear waters before she began to swim out further, her breaststroke fluid and calming, legs and arms moving in circular strokes against the rolling waves. Thank god that squall had passed, the last thing she wanted to do was fight large, white-capped waves.
When Juvia went swimming alone, she had several rules she always followed:
1. Never go out past the cove's last rock (that was when you had to worry about currents and riptide).
2. If you can't stand up, then go back towards the land (self-explanatory and very important).
3. Don't go swimming at dusk (that was when sharks came out to feed).
The water itself was still rather cold, but after swimming in circles Juvia found her body temperature adjusting to it and soon she was lying on her back and drifting against the rolling current. The sun was still rather high, its light dappling against the surface, though she knew it would soon be dropping. Seaweed wove itself between her toes and fingers, decorating her midsection and tangling itself in her hair.
Ahh, bliss.
Every now and then, she could feel the knowing brush of small fish against her skin – it was a normal sensation. Fish frequented the area because of the tide pools and Juvia was certain there was a small reef somewhere nearby. Once or twice she had seen a stingray fly by when she had brought a mask down with her.
Juvia began to think back to work. It had been a rather easy day; most of the guests on the excursion had been expert divers so they didn't have to really go on several practice dives before heading out to the main locations. They were standard reefs, a wreck or two, and if it was calm enough they could go to the sea plane wreck that had taken place some time in the late 80's – leaving a beautifully haunted exoskeleton and an excellent dive site.
Work was different though, she noted, without Gajeel. He had put in his two weeks a month ago – one of the many workers that had recently quit due to their boss' incompetence and pay cut – and was now back in school full-time for engineering, picking up bar back shifts on the weekends. Juvia was insanely jealous. She would give anything to go back to school right now, anything to start her on the career path she had really been wanting to take for several years. Ugh. Moving to Magnolia hadn't been a bad thing, and she really did honestly love her job (sans boss) but it frustrated her to no end that the world revolved around money and she was nowhere near a stable enough place to afford classes, even at a community college…
Not to mention her love life was near non-existent. If she hadn't wasted so many months on that damn Bora guy, chasing after him, fawning over him, breaking her heart over him…
Maybe she should give Lyon a chance. She was just being unnecessarily stubborn, after all. She probably should start admitting to herself that she had purposely been putting off starting a relationship with someone else in hopes Bora would finally come rushing back to WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!
Juvia floundered for a moment, arms splashing and feet kicking as she moved her body back vertically from its laying position. Something had just brushed her GODDAMN ARM and it was in NO WAY a goddamn fish! Searching around her Juvia felt the knowing heat of panic begin to prickle up her spine. Oh god, oh god, oh god. There was no way it was a shark, it wasn't even dusk yet, and she –
The sun was inching closer to the horizon. Dusk was beginning to settle. Holy hell, how far out was she?!
Flying into an angry freestyle stroke, Juvia began zooming back to the shore, swallowing and sputtering water in her wake. What the fuck had touched her, what the everloving fuck had touched her?!
That was when she felt it again – a figure bobbing against the waves, just like a buoy, brushing against her skin.
Was that…was that a human?
Juvia let out a horrific scream.
Oh god, it was a dead body, and dead body meant sharks.
A low groan called out against the wind, the guttural sound echoing.
Did…did the dead body just make a noise?
Oh gods, was it ALIVE?
Juvia had a choice. She could either keep paddling, flinging herself to safety, or she could let curiosity get the better of her. While the girl wasn't dumb and well aware of the best option (and the option that would keep her alive), she also was bitingly curious…
Swimming at a slower pace, she distanced herself between the figure and carefully treaded the water, circling whatever the heck it was.
In the dying light, Juvia nearly choked on another mouthful of seawater.
It was a boy.
No, not a boy – but definitely a male, one that was undoubtedly her age, with pale, sallow skin, and deep, black hair plastered to it by water. His eyes were closed, and Juvia swore she had made up the noise until he began violently coughing, his eyes scrunching tightly as more salt water invaded his mouth, causing him to sputter and gag.
He WAS alive!
Juvia swam closer, carefully wrapping the male's arm around her before she began to pull him to the shore, shallow, bated breaths fanning the shell of her ear. She still had a ways to go, and would probably lose her mind if she felt that breathing stop.
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Notes:
Drop a review if you like what you see – it'll keep the inspiration going! Don't be afraid to share any ideas or constructive criticisms as well.