The Guild's Trial

Today was a normal day in the Fairy Tail building. Natsu and Happy were busy chomping on some food. Erza was scolding Droy and Jet for failing to help Levy on a quest. Lucy, Wendy, and Carla had gone shopping. Gajeel and Pantherlily had gone training for the day. Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna had gone on a "Family Quest", which was really a trip to the market. Cana was busy reading tarot cards. Gray, shirtless, was sitting alone, which was weird, considering Juvia would usually be hovering around, annoying him to all end.
"Where is that little lady?" Gray had pondered. Unbeknownst to him, Juvia was in the corner, sulking and quietly crying.
"Why... Why does no one acknowledge Juvia's birthday? Juvia has been at Fairy Tail for a year, and no one even asked when Juvia's birthday was... " These statement are true. Today was Juvia's birthday, and no one has said a word about it to her. Just as Juvia was about to leave to get some fresh air, Warren burst through the doors.
"MASTER!" He screamed wildly, alerting everyone in the building.
" W-w-what is it, Warren?" The master replied. He was a little inebriated, as he had been drinking.
"We... We got a letter.. From the Magic Council." Everyone froze in either shock, or fear. The master's eye widened at his words.
"Give me the letter." He said clearly, as though he wasn't drunk at all. Warren handed him the letter, which was concealed in an envelope with the Magic Council's Sigil. He began reading aloud, so everyone can hear. Juvia wiped her face of tears, and gathered up with the rest of the group to listen.
" We have written you to tell you about the new program we are starting. All guilds must now send 10 representives to pass 3 trials. There are no limits to who you can send, so guild masters are welcome. If you do not send any members, or do not pass the trials, your guild shall be terminated." Those last words echoed throughout the guild. Natsu was enraged.
"TERMINATION?! They can't be serious. Small guilds with less than 10 people will automatically be disbanded!"
" Quiet Natsu. Let the master finish." Erza herself was shocked at this, but wanted to hear what was going on.
The master continued.
" You have 3 days to choose and train the members you would like to send. They are to meet in Magnolia town to start the trials. Good luck, and good training." Everyone was shocked that they're holding a critical event here.
" Alright. Who shall we send?" The master had finished with. Everyone started bickering about who should go.
" I am the strongest member, I should go!" Was blaring all around. Shouting and swears were echoing through the building.
"ENOUGH." Makarov had said, activating his Titan magic & making himself huge.
" I will decide who shall go. Give me 45 minutes. Mirajane, come with me."
With that, the 2 of them left to his office to deliberate. The next 45 minutes were the most suspenseful of most of the member's lives. Everyone was talking amongst themselves, except Juvia, who was sitting alone, still sulking.
"Juvia is miserable. Go talk to her, Gray." Even though they are Juvia-Proclaimed "Love Rivals", Lucy still thought of her as one of her closest friends in Fairy Tail.
" Why me? If anyone, it should be Wendy for thinking about the surprise party." Everyone knew about Juvia's birthday, but they had planned a party for a week from now.
" Umm... I think she'll be okay... Just give her a week until a party." Wendy had suggested the group to do. They all agreed. After a few minutes passed, Makarov and Mira exited the office and came to the front, everyone in tow.
"We have decided on who to take to the guild's trail. We have chosen these people based on their own attributes, their intelligence, and their usefulness is different situations." Everyone was quiet and listened hard.
" we have made a list. We'll post it here for everyone to see." With that, mirajane pinned the list up, and exited the front along with the master. Everyone swarmed around the list, eager to see the results. It read:
Number 1- Erza Scarlet
Number 2- Natsu Dragneel
Number 3- Gray Fullbuster
Number 4- Wedny Marvel
Number 5- Lucy Heartfilia
Number 6- Freed Justine
Number 7- Bickslow Solina
Number 8- Gajeel Redfox
Number 9- Juvia Lockser
Number 10- Warren Mindiz
That's how the list went. Erza, Natsu, Gray, Wendy, and Lucy weren't really suprised at their place in the list, the master sent them on most events and dangerous missions, much to their chagrin. Freed was pretty sure he was going to be put on the list, with him being the best rune writer in the guild, his skills might come in handy. Bickslow wasn't sure why he was put on, but he had no complaints. Warren, due to his superior telepathic abilities, might be a useful ally. Gajeel... Well he's Gajeel. He'll do something. Good, bad, who knows. Juvia was the most suprised at her placement. She had thought would she bring to the table? All she had was water. How could she be any help? She had pondered these thought all day. The master spoke up.
"All representatives, head out and train nonstop, I don't want to see your faces here for 3 days!" All representatives agreed, and headed out to train. Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy and Wendy all went to train together. Freed and Bickslow went together for obvious reasons, along with Warren. That left Gajeel & Juvia.
" Gajeel, Juvia would like to know... If you would like to go train... Together... Maybe..." Her voice trailed off after a while after the long, hard stare from Gajeel.
" Sorry Toots, you remind me of a past I don't wanna remember." After he said that, he and Pantherlily took their leave. Juvia knew exactly what he meant, and was devastated he even brought it up. Juvia and Gajeel were both from the dark guild Phantom Lord. After a long battle with Fairy Tail, her and Gajeel had joined them. Even after all this time, she felt that her past as an adversary to them affected her relationship with some guild members. Deep in her thoughts, she was brought back with a pat on the back.
"C'mon, I'll go train with you." It was Cana Alberona, one of the few people Juvia felt no tension between.
" Really? Thank you Cana, Juvia shall not disappoint you!" With a training partner by her side, Juvia left the building, eager to get stronger with a friend.
As the 2 partners made their way to the perfect training place, they had a few conversations about some of the members of Fairy Tail. The first victim? Elfman.
"Ugh, Elfman is always saying something about a man! MAN THIS. MAN THAT." Cana said the last part in a burly voice that made Juvia howl with laughter. Then they turned their attention to Macao and Wakaba.
" PERVS." They said in perfect unison, causing them to starting laughing with tears in their eyes. They kept going on about every member, and the laughter continued.
"Ohhh! What about Gray!" Cana Suggested. The one person's name made Juvia's mind race with... Vivid thoughts a narrator shouldn't recall to readers.
"GRAY-SAMA SHALL BE JUVIA'S." Juvia herself was shocked at the realization of what she screamed.
" Juvia... What's up with you and Gray?" Cana had seen the way she and Gray had interacted on missions and all around the building. Juvia began twiddling her thumbs.
" Well... Ummm... It's hard too explain... Juvia has special feelings about Gray-Sama... Ever since our first fight, Juvia has felt a deep, special connection to him." Just thinking of how sweet he is made her blush mildly. She began thinking about the intense fight that had awoken her love for the Ice-Make Mage. She remembered why she was fighting him in the first place, for Lucy, on Phantom Lord's side.
"Hey Juvia, where exactly are we go-" Cana had looked at Juvia, whose face was pale, eyes were watery, and walked with a deep, lingering sadness.
"Juvia... What's wrong? You were fine and dandy a minute ago." Juvia replied with a pitiful sounding
"Nothing." The two said no words after this until they made it to their training place, a stormy beach with no people to bother them.
"You ready to go?" Cana asked the still-depressed Juvia. She nodded her head, prepped for a sparring battle.
"Okay, here I come!" Cana said as she leaped into the air, throwing 3 explosion cards.
"Water Slicer." Juvia then sent out 3 opposite blades of water towards the cards, exploding them in midair. Juvia then used the smoke to her advantage, casting Water-Body to lunge herself into the smoke, then used Water Nebula to blast Cana with 2 jets of water with powerful force. Cana had fallen back, but stepped back up looking extremely impressed.
"You're good! You learn all this in Phantom Lord?" Juvia was furious. Cana had brought up her evil past that made her so depressed. With her mind blurred with rage, the storm just got worse. Juvia began to relentlessly attack Cana, Casting Sierra, countlessly rushing into Cana with her boiling body, hot enough to melt metal.
"JUVIA!" Cana screamed as her body was assaulted by someone she deeply cared about. That didn't shake Juvia. She continued to slam into Cana, ripping her clothes and burning her body. Countless screams, lightning and thunder crashing down, and waves crashing were going off like a radio.
"JUVIA! I'm sorry! Please!" Cana cried out with what voice she had left. She had fallen to the ground, her skin was red, in some places it was black as night. Blood was dripping from her body. The sight of the blood made Juvia come to her senses. The body before her was hard to see. One of her closest friends, one who truly trusted her, burned and bruised everywhere. Juvia had never felt so horrible in her life. How could she do this? She wanted someone to come and take her life.
"Ju...Juvia... I'm sorry..." Cana said with a raspy voice, making it very hard to make out. At this point, Juvia was Crying wildly. She couldn't cope with what she had just did.
"Cana..." Juvia was about to say something, but just couldn't finish when Cana started coughing up blood. She stood motionless for a while, then turned her hands into watery blades.
"Juvia... Please... Don't.." Cana said as she was still coughing blood.
"This is my decision. Juvia cannot make up for what happened." Juvia replied as she raised the blades to her head.
"You.. Can make it... Up to me by staying... Alive..." Cana's voice trailed off as she drifted into unconsciousness. Juvia lowered the blades, turned her blades back into hands, lifted Cana's motionless body up, and carried her to the nearest clinic. The storm had subsided by then.

Cana awoke to the sounds of crying. The room was still fuzzy, and her senses were just starting to come back to her. She scanned the room, looking for the source of the sobbing. When she found nothing, she concluded that it must be coming from outside the room. She tried to get up, but was stopped by the enormous rush of pain she felt all around her body. She had been burned badly, casts on most of her body, and she could hardly move. She noticed a large red button beside her bed labeled
"PRESS FOR ASSISTANCE." She mustered up all the strength she had to move her hand to press it. As she pressed it, a loud buzzer had sounded all through the room. In 10 seconds flat, a nurse had come to her aid.
"Oh good, you're finally awake." She said very enthusiastically.
" You've been out for 2 and a 1/2 days." This statement shocked Cana. The last thing she remembers seeing is Juvia raising her blades to her head.
"JUVIA!" She exclaimed, even shocking the nurse. Cana didn't know weather Juvia is even alive or not.
"The girl with the blue hair? She's fine, she's the one who bought you here. If it wasn't for her, you would've been dead." Cana was relieved to hear this. She wouldn't know what to do if Juvia had taken her own life.
"Would you like me to bring her in? She's been here night and day, not leaving for anything." She nurse suggested." Cana nodded her head as the nurse stepped out of the room for a moment. She came in with a teary eyed Juvia. As soon as she saw her awake, Juvia ran over to Cana.
"Cana... You're okay!" She had started crying again, this time with tears of joy.
"Yeah! A little burning water's not gonna stop ol Cana!" She said with a grin. Juvia began crying harder.
" Juvia is so sorry. If it wasnt for me, you wouldn't be in this mess. Juvia could never repay the debt she owes to you." Cana just sighed.
"Enough with all this sadness and remorse! Everyone gets a little angry. It's that anger that fuels us to push harder. I drove you to that anger, it's my fault. Nothing is going to ever break the bond we have, Juvia. We're members of Fairy Tail. We're family. We fight for the same purpose now. We fight for happiness. We fight for life. We fight for each other. Doesn't matter what we might face, as long as we have each other, there's nothing we can't do." Cana rose her hand into the Fairy Tail salute. Juvia started to do the same, but started to put it down.
"I.. I just don't know if they trust Juvia yet." She had an anxious look on her face. Cana had a tear in her eye.
" How dare you say that?! We all trust you, Juvia. No matter what you've done in your past, you can't dwell on it. Look to the future, where all your friends are." Juvia looked at her with a deep, passionate stare, then rose her hand back up.
"You're right! Juvia is accepted! We are all family, and even if Juvia has been an enemy, that was before, now is the time when Juvia shows her love for Fairy Tail!" Cana gave a thumbs up, with a tear in her eye.
"That's right! Now... Coulda find me some booze? I'm feeling a little low on it." Juvia laughed and rolled her eyes, as she walked out of the room to find some beer for her dear friend.

Due to Cana's Injury, Juvia hadn't got any training by the time the 3 days were up. After Cana was released from hospital, her and Juvia headed back to the guild. As soon as they walked in, they got stares from every guild member inside.
"Cana?! What happened?!" Lucy had asked as soon as she laid eyes on her injured friend. Juvia's eyes started to water. as soon as she was about to explain what happened, Cana spoke up.
"Fell down a cliff. Would've been dead if Juvia didn't save me." Juvia couldn't believe it. Cana would lie to her guild mates, her family, to protect Juvia from humiliation.
"Juvia, thank you for protecting our sister!" All the guild members celebrated Juvia. Cana gave her a small grin.
"Go celebrate, you have an our until the Trails start." Juvia had just remembered that she was signed up to go. She had gotten no training done, while everyone else might've become 3x stronger. Juvia had joined the group that was going to the Trials.

"So guys, any new abilities?" Warren had asked.
"Well, I met with Yukino and she let me borrow Pisces and Libra, so I have all 12 Zodiac Keys!" Lucy had shown them the keys to the last 2 zodiac keys.
"I found a new suit of armor. I call it Diamond Dust Armor." Erza then Re-Quips to the new armor, a Sparkling, pale-blue piece of armor. Instead of her usual sword, this had a Bow-and-Arrow. She lines up the arrow right at a falling leaf, and shoots it point-blank. The Leaf then froze instantaneously.
"Anything I shoot freezes." Everyone applauds Erza and her new armor.
"I made a new type of ice-make magic. No longer Static, I use Pro-Plus." Gray said. He telles everyone to stand back. He closes his eye. He shouts:
"Ice-Make... Pro!" Ice chunks then start floating around him. He then casts Cold Excalibur, and ice chucks form around his arm to form the sword. He then says
"Plus Floor!" Which Makes ice chucks spread across the ground.
"So now you can use 2 different Ice makes, without having to make the stance?" Freed asks. Gray nods as everyone claps.
"ME NEXT!" Natsu says. He then tells everyone to gather up. After they do, he screams:
"Fire Dragon's... Crush!" He stomps on the ground, and it begins to shake. A huge pillar of fire erupts, and smaller pillars come from it. They all head straight the group, who has Juvia put them all out before anyone got burned.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Everyone blurts out.
"No... At least I don't think. But it's awesome! I can set the smaller pillars to a specific target, and boom! Cool right?" There's no response.
"You guys are asses." Natsu said as he sulks.
"Wendy, show em what you've learned." Carla nudged Wendy to show her new abilities. Wendy nodded and stood in front of everyone.
"Sky Dragon's... 10x Shield!" She cast it, and a thin layer of heavily condensed air formed around her.
"Now... Attack me!" Wendy had urged the group.
"I volunteer!" Natsu said as he casts Fire Dragon's Roar right at Wendy. Everyone's eyes widened as Natsu's fire swallowed her. As he finished, no one could believe it. Wendy had looked the same as she did before, no burns or anything.
"Wow Wendy! That's crazy Resistant! Anything else?" Lucy said.
"Yeah... But I need some one to take the damage..." Wendy said to the group.
"I volunteer!" Natsu said. Again. The rest of the group back away, and Wendy began to concentrate. Wind began to form in her hands as a sphere, that just grew and grew. When it got too big for her, she sent to the sky with her arms stretched to the clouds. A few seconds had passed, and Wendy opened her eyes.
"Sky Dragon's Burst!" Just then, a giant sphere of wind, many times larger than guild appeared above Wendy. She closed her hands, and the sphere got smaller than her hand. She then chucked it at Natsu, and at impact, exploded with tremendous power and winds stronger than any tornado. The impact sent Natsu flying. Everyone was incredibly impressed at the power.