Prince Gray stared at his mother and father, furious. His mother, Mika, was smiling slightly but her eyes were pained. His father, Silver, stared at him with steely black eyes, and Gray knew he would never be persuaded with another decision. "You're being serious. Are you fucking serious?" Gray seethed at his father. "Gray, language," Mika said, surprised at her son's language. She sat high and regal on her throne, her small crown resting on top of long, curly, blonde locks. Gray rounded on her next. "I can't believe, Mother. I thought at least you can convince him not to do this, but I guess I was wrong. You're just as fucked up as he is," Gray spat at her, his dark blue eyes crackling. Mika stared down at her son with tears pin pricking her eyes.
"Do not talk to your mother like that, Gray. She doesn't want this either, I can feel it. This was my idea since the beginning, and I'm sticking to it," Silver informed his son, his hand reaching out to touch his wife's hand in comfort. Gray didn't miss this action.
"How can you do this to your own son? You've been betrothed before; you know how it feels, both of you. Its fate that you've found each other and you're parents stopped the fucking wedding, but I know you won't do that to me, will you. Even if I do find my soul mate, you're not going to let me with her, will you? Will you, mother, father?" Gray asked, staring at them with equal hatred. "Of course we would-," "I didn't know my mom was a liar too. You both want to sell your son in some wedding to gain land and power, don't you? You don't care about me, do you?" Gray cut his mother off.
"ENOUGH!" Silver roared, his chest heaving. Mika started to cry a little, she never knew it would be this hard. "Gray, you're going to marry this girl. She will be coming to stay at this castle tomorrow so you two may get to know each other. Now, go to your room. You've made your mother cry and I don't want to look at your face," his father said, and Gray knew he didn't dent an inch in his father's will for this marriage. Gray growled and left with a parting sentence, "Fuck both of you," He stormed out, the maids and butlers racing out of his way as he stomped his way outside. Fuck going to my room, he thought as he walked briskly into the training room, setting up a dummy but imaging his father as the face.
He closed his eyes as he cupped his hands together and focused on the magic inside of him, feeling it move in him like a rushing river. He slowly exhaled and opened his eyes, his body set into a warrior stance, his shirt discarded on the floor when he unconsciously stripped when he entered the room. He was going to shoot out his first ice weapon when a voice stopped him.
"Gray, what are you doing; your stance is off. Move your legs farther apart Gray, I told you this before," the voice was husky and feminine. Gray did as the voice instructed and felt the slight change. He felt more vigilant and more flexible with his magic. He smirked and called out a loud, "Ice Make: Lance," Ice beams shot from hands, impaling the still dummy, and Gray felt slightly better. He turned to his mentor, Ur, but before he could say anything, she threw a spell at him, creating tiny sharp ice that flew at him at unbelievable speed. His eyes widened as he, almost instinctively, brought his hands up, screaming, "Ice Make: Shield," The air chilled around him as the magic inside him shot out a large shield barely a second before the ice needles would have been impaled his body.
He sighed and looked at Ur, dropping his shield, but when he saw her face, the smirk on her face stretching with each passing second, he knew this wasn't over. He heard the ice needles before he saw them. The ones that missed the shield were circling back, their target: Gray's back. He whirled around, eyes wide in surprise, but it was too late. They were so close to him that he silently accepted his fate and closed his eyes in preparation. He eyes shot open a second later when he heard the needles dropping to his feet.
He looked surprised at the needles when Ur tsked behind him. He looked at her, sheepish. "Never let your guard down, ever. Another thing I taught you. Really, Gray; why are you slipping today?" Ur asked, intrigues in her pupil's excuse. Ur was Gray's trainer and mentor. She helped kids all over their land with their magic, which was mostly ice related. Gray was one of her oldest and strongest pupils.
Gray looked at her, his smile wiped off his face. He had forgotten the real reason he was her in all the action. "It's my parents! They're forcing me to marry some princess from the Water lands. It's bullshit and you know it, right Ur?" he asked for her opinion. Ur grew angry as Gray told her what happened. "That is bullshit, Gray. No one should be forced into a marriage, especially if it's not your mate!" Ur exclaimed, furious. Her father tried to sell her to some man also, but when she found her soul mate, they ran away together and never looked back, but she didn't know if Gray could just up and leave like she did, it's not like she's royalty.
"Thank you; at least someone's on my side!" Gray cried out, happy that Ur had his back. "And guess what. She's coming here tomorrow so we can get to know each other," Gray said, his voice becoming sarcastic in the end. She tried a few words of comfort, "Maybe that's a good thing. What if she really is your mate?" Ur asked, smiling slightly at the boy. "Yeah, like that would happen. The one in millionth chance that my mate is who my parents picked," Gray rolled his eyes. "I'm going to go out to eat something for dinner. I don't want to be with my parents right now," Gray sighed, as he walked out leaving Ur in there alone.
~…NaLu…Gruvia…~
Juvia Lockser stared at her hands as the carriage carried her to her destination. Her hands were shaking badly as she was wracked with nervousness. She was alone in the carriage; the only other person with her was the coachman in the front. The sun was setting and night was approaching fast. She would arrive at the king and queens castle of the Ice lands in the morning to meet the prince and her future husband. She grew sad at the thought. She would never meet her true soul mate and that made her sad. She cursed her uncle for this arrangement; she wanted true love.
Her uncle was the ruler of the Water lands. Her father was first but then her parents died long ago. Her uncle took the throne and with no wife never had a child, so she would take the throne when she turned 18. Jose, her uncle, had always thought he had her under his thumb; a mindless puppet that he could control; he was wrong. At first she was; she followed whatever Jose said, not second guessing him at all, but when one of the servant's son, Gajeel Redfox, came to work part time, they started hanging out. He showed her what a tool she was being and they've been best friends ever since. She knew he only wanted more land and power, but she went along with his plan.
She sighed once again when they answered a small town not far from the castle. She would stay in a small motel tonight. The carriage stopped in front of a shady looking motel and the coachman opened the door for her. "Here? Juvia asked, eyebrows furrowed. She thought Jose would splurge a little more on his only niece, but she was wrong. "Yes, mam," the coachman helped her down, his sweaty hands holding her soft, firm ones. She dried the hand on her dress when the man wasn't looking. He dropped the large suitcase filled with her things in front of her. "Goodbye, miss," the coachman said, climbing back on the horse. Juvia stared, shocked as he left her in a dark street next to a dirty motel. She sucked in a breath and walked down the street. No way is Juvia staying in that place, she thought as she turned into an alley.
It was dark and smelly, but she could see the faint yellow light at the end of the alley. Another street filled with light and laughter could be seen and heard if you walked far enough. Juvia headed down the alley, breathing through her mouth to try to eliminate the smell of cat piss. She continued walking when a large, beefy man passed her, coming the opposite way. When he passed her, Juvia sped up. She knew what happened in dark alleys, she wasn't stupid.
She was almost there when a hand covered her mouth and pulled her back in. she screamed in surprise, struggling against the man. He laughed deeply at her squirming and pushed on a wall, her head banging against the concrete. She cried out in pain, a spider web of pain growing over her head, a migraine forming already. She looked at the captor with dull blue eyes, unsurprised that it was the man from before.
The man chuckled before letting go of her mouth which was a mistake. Juvia screamed for help at the top of her longs, hoping someone heard her over the laughing and talking of the street. The man shoved his mouth on hers though Juvia didn't kiss him back or open her mouth. He slowly let go of her hands as he got more into it, kissing her neck but having his hand over her mouth again. He slathered her neck with his spit and started to unbutton her dress with one hand. Juvia carefully moved her hands on his shirt and called for the magic within her. Water sprung from her hands and pushed the man in front of her to the floor. He fell and she ran.
Juvia knew she was a bad runner when he heard him gaining on her fast. The migraine made everything hurt, but she knew she had to get out in the open. She looked at the opening, it was so far away. Juvia's legs began to tremble with exhaustion. She barely heard his footsteps before he crashed into her back, making her topple and hit her head again, harder than before. She screamed for help again before the rapist grabbed her blue hair and pulled her back crushing his hand to her mouth again.
"You're going to pay for that," he said distantly as he picked her up roughly. Juvia's head was exploding with pain, the black spider webs crisscrossing on her eyesight, making everything darker and distant. She knew she was going to go unconscious any minute now, and magic wasn't helping. He backed her against the wall, when she licked his hand. He withdrew in disgust and he stared at her, but she barely knew what was going on. She did one last thing before the black spider webs threatened to swallow her: she spit on his face.
The resulting crunch of her skull hitting the back of the wall again was the last thing she heard when the spider webs devoured her.
~…NaLu…Gruvia…~
Gray headed out, walking down the street with a black hoodie with the hood up. He didn't want people to know he was. That would cause too much excitement. He trailed through the sea of people, trying to find a decent looking restaurant. He found one that seemed to be slightly popular but it wasn't that outrageous. He entered and chose to sit outside. The only other people out there were an elderly couple who ate and chattered happily. He sat quietly at the far end, next to a dark alley, but he didn't pay it much thought.
He ordered the most expensive thing on the menu- a steak with the side of fries and a Cherry Coke- when he heard a small yelp and a help come from somewhere. He looked around but nobody seemed to notice anything but he kept his guard up. He sat there drinking his Coke contemplating what his life was going to be like now, when he heard a loud help again. He jumped at the sound- it sounded like it was coming from the alley- and ran out the restaurant and turned into the alley. He stared in disgust at the scene.
A man was holding a girl by the wall, her mouth covered by his hand. Her head was bleeding and she looked like hell, but Gray felt a deep anger well up in him. Who would dare hurt an innocent girl, he thought as he rushed in about to strangle the living daylights out of the man when he withdrew from the girl and she looked at the man with hazy blue eyes and spit on his face. Gray was going to applaud the bluenette when the man grabbed her head and hit it hard on the wall.
Gray growled when the girl slumped down against the man, hopefully just unconscious, and jumped the man. Gray pushed him from the girl, shielding her with his body as she slumped on the ground. The man stared angrily at the boy, "What do you think you're doing, boy. You wanna get hurt?" the man asked, bringing his hands up in fists. Gray smirked, this is perfect, Gray thought as he stared at the man, slowly bringing his hands out and set his feet apart. 'Move your legs farther apart Gray,' he heard Ur in his head as he moved his legs even farther apart.
The man lunged at Gray, but he was a step ahead of him. "Ice Make: Sword," Gray called out and a crystal blue ice sword was formed by his hands and magic. He swung it at the man, hitting one of his sides. The man groaned and dropped down, holding his hands to his side. Gray smirked and turned to look at the girl. Her face was bloody and bruised, and her neck had large purple hickeys. He grew angry at the sight. He didn't know why, but he knew he had to protect her at all cost.
Ur's voice brought him back to reality, 'Never let your guard down, ever,' Gray's eyes widened as he swung around, the man standing up weakly. Gray growled and called out to his magic again. "Ice Make: Freeze," he brought his hands down and froze the floor around them. The man fell on his back and groaned. Gray sighed and picked up the unknown girl and slowly walked out the alley into the other deserted street and brought her back to his castle.
The girl slowly turned to him and snuggled into his chest, sniffing quietly and sighing happily. Gray blushed slightly but continued on his way, his dinner forgotten.