Special thanks to Essence97, Sarapyon, Anon, and MissForgetfulMe. I appreciate you taking the time to leave a review; it really helps keep me motivated to continue. ^-^ Also, many thanks to the silent readers out there. Nothing makes a writer prouder than having their story read and enjoyed.
Chapter 2- Confrontation
31 seconds…
Lucy's cries of agony echo off the stadium walls.
30 seconds…
Time is ticking down far too slowly.
29 seconds…
"STOP IT!" Natsu is screaming.
28 seconds…
Juvia tears her eyes away from the magical timer. Lucy is being tortured. It is obvious to everyone that Minerva has already won, and yet she continues to beat Lucy as she screams and screams and screams. Each cry feels like a stab to Juvia's heart, and her gut twists in a sickening knot. If only she hadn't fallen out of the water sphere, she could save Lucy. But now, it is against tournament rules for her to return to the water.
Please, Loki, Horologium—anyone! Appear! Come save Lucy like you always do! Juvia closes her eyes and prays with all her might. But she is no celestial spirit mage, and nobody appears.
When Juvia opens her eyes, there are 14 seconds left on the clock and Lucy has stopped screaming and there is blood flowing freely from her limp body and- and—!
Minerva lifts her fist to deliver the final blow.
Screw the rules! Juvia is half way transformed into her water body and leaping to re-enter the water sphere—
"The referee says STOP!" The pumpkin head yells in alarm.
Minerva pulls her punch and instead grabs Lucy by the throat, dangling her outside the water sphere like a rag doll.
"The match has ended! Victor, Minerva! Lucy hasn't been moving for a while. Is she okay?" The worried voice of the commentator rings out.
"Lucy!" Natsu and Gray vault over the arena walls and race towards their friend's motionless form.
The vicious Saber Tooth releases Lucy and she falls through the air. Natsu and Gray kick up clouds of sand in their desperation to reach her, but they manage to catch her right before she hits the ground.
Natsu entrusts Lucy to Gray as he turns to shout obscenities at Minerva. While Natsu is not known to have a dirtier-than-average mouth, his tirade is almost enough to make Gajeel—who is known to have a very dirty mouth— blush. His body is roiling with flames and it is all he can do to stop himself from going up to the bitch and tearing her throat out. Her teammates step in between them and Erza holds him back, grabbing both his arms and pinning his back to her chest. "If you get Fairy Tail disqualified, all of Lucy's efforts will be wasted," she murmurs in his ear. But Saber Tooth's sneers of condescension infuriate him, and it is so tempting to scorch those grins off their faces.
"Hang in there!" Gray ignores Natsu's temper tantrum as he stares intently at the girl in his arms, worry etched in every line of his face. Be strong Lucy, help is coming. Just hang in there! She is unresponsive and Gray isn't even sure how to hold her to avoid agitating her injuries—because, dear god, she is hurt everywhere. Everywhere.
A seed of jealousy sprouts within Juvia, creeping up like a dark, spiteful shadow. Would Gray-sama be so caring if it was Juvia? Blue eyes widen and she ruthlessly crushes her traitorous emotions. "Now is not the time," she hisses angrily at herself, before rushing to Lucy's aid.
Juvia is surprised Lucy's tiny string bikini has managed to stay intact after such a brutal assault, but she is glad that, at the very least, her friend does not have to endure the humiliation of being stripped naked in addition to her torture. Her heart breaks a little with every wound she sees on her body. Gently, ever so gently, she begins to clean the blood and sand off Lucy's broken figure, making sure her water is cold enough to sooth, but not so cold as to chill her.
When Chelia and Wendy gather on either side of Lucy, Juvia shifts closer to Gray to give them space. Her shoulder is pressed against his, but she ignores it as she focuses on cleansing Lucy's wounds for the two wind mages to heal.
"This is bad, this is really, really bad," Chelia whispers. Her hands are glowing brilliantly with magic, but Lucy hardly looks any better.
"There's so many—too many for us to heal." Wendy wants to cry at her inability, but she keeps the tears at bay. She will try, no, she must do the best she can.
"Just heal the worst injuries first," Juvia suggests. "The medical squad can take care of the rest."
"Yes," Wendy replies. She meets Chelia's eyes, "we need to stop the internal bleeding."
The pink-haired god slayer nods, and the two girls radiate with magic as they pour as much energy into Lucy as their little bodies will allow. Too soon, they are completely spent as they kneel slumped over on the ground, sweat trickling down their foreheads.
"We- We stopped the bleeding," Wendy pants, "but she still needs help or-or she won't make it."
At her words, a small army of medics sweep in and carry Lucy off in a stretcher. "Get her to the operating room immediately!" The head medic orders.
When he sees Lucy being taken away, Natsu forcibly wrenches himself from Saber Tooth to follow her, Erza trailing him cautiously. Wendy begins rising to her feet unsteadily, but Gray stoops down and picks her up on his back as if giving her a piggy-back ride. "You did a good job," he says kindly, earning a small smile from the youngest dragon slayer.
Juvia tries not to feel anything when he passes her by without saying a word.
It doesn't work. A pang of hurt forms in her chest and Juvia remains in place, keeping her head down to prevent anyone from seeing. Has Juvia done something wrong? Is Gray-sama angry? She shakes her head and pushes the hurt aside. That isn't important right now.
"Thank you for your help, Chelia-san." Juvia helps the young mage to her feet with a grateful smile.
"You're welcome," Chelia replies with a smile of her own, "I hope your friend makes a full recovery. I should get back to Lamia Scale now." She darts toward her guild's section of the stadium, trips over herself, gets up like nothing happened, and continues on her way.
The Fairy Tail members in the spectator stands have already left for the infirmary and Juvia is the only one left in the stadium. Her smile fades into worry for Lucy and she turns to follow her guild.
"Huhu, all that fuss over useless trash." Minerva mocks, earning a few chuckles from her fellow teammates.
At those words, a cold rage flows through Juvia and she finds her eyes locked to Minerva's, glaring with silent ferocity.
"What, you don't agree? Rather than be angry at me, you should be grateful I let such garbage keep second place."
"Lucy is worth far more than you will ever be," Juvia seethes. Though she speaks quietly, there is an edge to her voice that makes her words harsher than any amount of screaming can achieve. "She is kind and always thinks about others before herself. She is loyal to her guild and her nakama. She will always do what is right, even if it isn't the easiest thing to do. She is beautiful and wonderful and loved by everyone. She is everything you're not!"
Saber Tooth glares at her, and for a moment Minerva's eyes cloud with rage. But the look is gone in an instant, replaced by a malevolent, knowing smile. "Shouldn't you be saying that to yourself?"
Juvia's jaw tightens, and Minerva knows she's hit a nerve. "Juvia doesn't know what you're talking about."
"Oh? I see the way you look at that boy. Gray, is it? Such a pity, your love will always be unrequited. He's obviously smitten with your perfect little Lucy."
Juvia opens her mouth to deny it—
"Did you see the way he worried for her? And then he completely ignored you!"
–but it is hard to deny the truth.
"He didn't even acknowledge that lovely little spell you made for him." For the sake of her argument, Minerva tries to keep the sarcasm from her voice at the mention of that ridiculous spell. "Hell, he looked downright disgusted by you!"
Juvia's eyes leave their deadlock with Minerva's and drift toward the ground.
"Your entire guild loves her more than you!" Minerva sneers wickedly. "Even unconscious, she still gets more attention."
"O-of course she would! She's in critical condition-"
"Just look around you," Minerva interrupts, gesturing at the empty balcony that Fairy Tail usually resides. "They've all gone to see precious Lucy and left you behind. I bet none of them even notice your absence. Or rather…" she purposely lets her sentence hang.
A look of confusion flashes across Juvia's features.
"Or rather, maybe they're just angry at you. Even though this was a water competition, in which you had every advantage, you still lost by getting distracted by your petty crush. Because of your failure, that celestial spirit mage was the one left with me. No one would have cared if you were the one beaten. But since it was dear, perfect Lucy, all of Fairy Tail is hurt. And it's your entire fault. For someone who claims to love her guild, you sure are selfish."
"You are full of lies." Despite the water mage's impassive facade, a heavy rain begins to pour. She is uncertain.
Minerva smiles in amusement. People are so easy to manipulate. Just throw in a few words of truth and twist it into poison. It leaves them doubting themselves, unable to discern where the truth ends and lies begin. She throws up a shield to cover herself and her team from the gloomy rain.
"Admit it, you like seeing Lucy fail."
"No."
"You like seeing her humiliated."
"NO!"
"You like seeing her tortured!"
"SHUT UP!"
The entire sphere of water behind Minerva bursts into a rapid boil, steam hissing through the air. A demonic face filled with unyielding fury glows within its blistering depths and the enormous orb parts as if opening its mouth to devour all in its path. Instead, it unleashes a fearsome howl and leans towards Minerva, towering hungrily over her; she can do nothing but stare in shock—it is a giant that blocks even the stormy sky, drowning her in its sheer size and intensity.
It happened so quickly, without any casting, without any chanting— without any warning at all. If Juvia had done that during the competition, Minerva would have been forced to teleport herself out or be broiled alive.
She could have lost. The thought leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. Although it did not happen, the mere possibility of losing is unacceptable. And Minerva knows, then and there, she hates Juvia.
A voice crackles through the speakers. "Woah, it looks like both teams are about to have quite an explosive moment! The tournament committee would like to remind contestants that battles outside of tournament events are against the rules!"
The spectral mass of boiling water slowly reduces to a simmer, then fizzles back to its original harmless state. But the rain continues to fall.
"Juvia would never, ever, wish harm upon her nakama!" she says with absolute conviction. Steam rises from her bikini-clad body as she struggles to calm herself.
Didn't your mother ever tell you, never say never? Minerva silently watches Juvia turn and walk away. A secret smile creeps across her face. She knows how to hurt her on the deepest level, far beyond what she did to Lucy.
Rogue has stood quietly next to his fellow Saber Tooth this entire time. Though he does not join his team in jeering at Fairy Tail, he does not rebuke them either. The dragon slayer is as emotionless as stone until he hears a faint whisper.
"Bloom of corruption," Minerva murmurs. From his close proximity, Rogue can feel magic flow down her gloved arms unseen.
His eyes widen marginally. Did she just…?
