Thanks for reading! Honestly, I'm having a bit of a tough time focusing right now, but I'm glad I could get this chapter out. I'm trying to keep the days between posts at a minimum. I'm estimating this story to be around 10 chapters long, give or take.
Disclaimer: I'm not Hiro Mashima, not even in a wig.
Gray spent his days of rest doing anything but. He wasn't intentionally restless, of course, but he hadn't gotten the relaxing, good night's sleep he was hoping for either. Gray was no stranger to nightmares, but they had become less frequent over the years. Childhood trauma elicited horrifyingly gruesome renditions of experiences he endured in the past, as was the case for many others he knew.
The past few nights all held variations of the same scene. It was always the middle of the day, bright and sunny outside, and he would be out with his guild mates in the middle of a park. Natsu would pick a fight with him and Lucy would moan about her unpaid rent, Erza would try in vain to eat her favorite dessert in peace, Cana would be busy drinking herself sick and Mirajane would be bustling about to mother everyone. The rest of the guild members were, of course, their cheerful selves as they ate, drank, and made merry.
Gray would look up, transfixed on the sky as dark clouds crept slowly overhead, looking particularly ominous as they carried wind and heavy rain in their arsenal. He would find himself in the midst of a storm in seemingly no time at all, a blinding flash of lightning whiting out the scene. As the light faded and the darkness returned, his friends would be gone without a trace. He would whip around in a panic, feeling the world grow around him and leave him feeling helplessly small. He was alone, scared, stranded. The feeling was all too familiar.
As he looked down at himself, finding that it was he who had shrunk and not the world that had grown, he would find a trio of corpses lying at his feet; his mother, his father, and his foster mother. His eyes would widen, breath escaping him as he stared in horror at the lifeless bodies of his family members. They would be lying face down in the puddles of muddy water as rain relentlessly beat down upon them, soaking them to the bone and ripping away at their skin. Blood tainted the ground, staining everything beneath his feet a darkened crimson.
As he made a move to run, a hand would catch his leg. His father's hand, clasped around his ankle and keeping him in place. Gray would look down in sheer trepidation, a ghastly expression painting his tear-stained, rain beaten face. His father's head would rise from the ground, skin peeling away from bone as he painfully choked, "The storm is coming."
Gray woke with a start, eyes wide as he gasped to pull air into his lungs. A thin sheen of sweat glossed his pale skin, only being recognized once he pulled his hands down his face and felt the moisture that had gathered there. He groaned, throwing his bed sheets off of himself and striding over to his bathroom. He was surprised to see light peeking through the blinds on his window; he hadn't been sleeping through the night as of recent.
Gray decided to shower, trying to pull his mind away from the haunting memories that lingered there, the memories of death and heartache he was forced to face time and time again. Once he was clean and toweled off, and dressed for the time being, he decided to head out for the guild. Another job could get his mind off of it, it usually did. He had spent the past few days hanging out at the guild as well, idly chatting but mostly staying off to the side. He used to enjoy having the buzzing background noise, but lately he found himself wanting more silence. More solitude.
On his trek to the guild, he noticed that the clouds looked angry once again. It had been a couple of days since it last rained. It rained when he arrived in Magnolia, and it had been dry ever since. He sighed, cramming his hands in his loose pockets and simply hoping to beat the weather this time around. In his haste to walk and stare up at the sky, he hardly registered the path which he was walking until he came to a barrier. His dark eyes snapped back to Earthland where he found the interruption to his walking.
A woman was staring up at him with wide blue eyes, wavy cerulean hair blown back to reveal porcelain skin. He was surprised to find the same woman from a few days before in her current place on the ground. It faintly registered that he was the cause of her being in that position and he offered her a hand, which she hesitantly took. He pulled her to her feet effortlessly, all the while staring into those captivating large blue eyes.
"J-Juvia is sorry!" She stuttered, a faint blush dusting her cheeks as she quickly retracted her hand and placed it over her heart.
"No, it's my fault. I wasn't paying attention." Gray corrected, finding her behavior to be a bit odd on the basis of the day he met her. She seemed more animated, more life-like. "You're the woman from the train."
She stared at him, confused. "Juvia does not recall." She replied, and her eyes spoke that she was telling the truth.
Gray felt a stab to his ego, but was otherwise unphased. It wasn't like they'd become friends. "Well anyway, I'm Gray. It's nice to meet you... again." He answered awkwardly, unsure of why he felt compelled to reintroduce himself.
"Juvia feels bad that she does not remember Gray-sama." She blushed brighter, fidgeting with her fingers as she refused to meet his eyes, her gaze instead locked on his shoes. "Juvia should remember such a man."
Gray arched a fine brow, but ultimately decided to let it go on account of he just knocked her on the ground. "It's not a big deal, we didn't talk much."
"What did... Juvia say to Gray-sama?" She asked, her speech hesitant as she seemed to contemplate her wording. He found it rather odd.
"You just seemed to like rain." He answered monotonously, feeling uncomfortable with the radical difference in the character he first met and the character he was speaking with now.
She smiled sadly, giving a weak nod. "Where is Gray-sama going?" She asked, something about her seeming hopeful.
"I'm going to my guild for a job. Wanna come?" Gray was unsure himself of why he invited her, but he knew that she intrigued him. Juvia had shown up in his life, by coincidence or what have you, three times now. What's more, her personality seemed different. He was torn between wanting to know more and wanting to know less, but something about her really struck him as familiar. Either way, Fairy Tail was always accepting new artisans. They got more requests than they knew what to do with.
Her eyes lit up, but the spark soon shorted out. "Juvia cannot." She replied dejectedly, her flush finally beginning to recede. "Juvia is sorry, but Juvia will see you around Gray-sama!" She rushed, waving as she made for a hasty retreat.
He stared after her, perplexed and only able to wave back slowly. Gray wasn't sure what the can he had just opened was full of, but he couldn't much mind. With the perpetual repetition he felt consuming his life as of late, anything to break the pattern could be taken positively.
Continuing on his walk to the guild, he noticed how the clouds had passed over Magnolia, revealing the shining sun over all that surrounded him. He gave one final glance Juvia's way to find her completely vanished. He briefly wondered where she could've gotten to that fast, but decided not to dwell on it.
Fairy Tail was lively as ever, Natsu instigating some argument between Elfman, the hunter, and Gajeel, the blacksmith. Erza was keeping a close eye on things, as per usual, while Lucy sat with her forehead resting in her palm while her partner caused a ruckus. In her lap sat his blue feline, one of the three that hung around the guild. Gray smiled, walking over to scratch the cat, whose name was Happy, between the ears while he greeted Lucy.
"Oi, Gray!" Natsu called, his tone a challenge. "Who said you could pet Happy?"
Gray glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest as he called back, "Nobody had to, you damn pyromaniac." He rolled his eyes, somehow neglecting to realize his shirt and jacket were gone. "Besides, I'm not here for you. I'm here to take a job."
"Yeah, yeah, get on with it then, Frostbite." Natsu poked back, already riled up from his impending fight with Elfman.
Gray's eyes narrowed, but he relaxed once he realized that Natsu had already turned back to his previous engagements. Their feud rivaled all others, but remarkably they were good friends. Anytime Gray needed something, he could count on Natsu, and vice versa. Gray gave Lucy one last sympathetic glance for the fact she had to deal with the steaming hot head before walking over to the request board to search for a job.
The storm is coming.
A little mystery, a little mischief. Something is brewing, but it may not be what you think. Thanks for reading, please review if you would. I hope you all like.