Juvia's head hit her feather pillow face first, a scream of frustration let out as soon as the sound could be muffled. Sharp nails clawing into the soft cushion, she was forced to clench her teeth to the point of pain for the horrid screeching to stop. Hot tears full of anger poured down her pale cheeks until she wanted her whole body to melt away.

Dismissing her servants with words that came out harsher than she'd meant, she only paused her sobbing when she found black stains from her mascara on the pillow. Knowing her makeup was running only made her feel more miserable and helpless. Whether in her appearance or life, she was utterly pathetic.

Her mother burst through her bedroom door with a bang almost as loud as when she slammed it herself upon entering. Unlike Juvia, the queen strutted to the bed with strong strides, her massive dress taking up nearly half the room. No less furious – and perhaps even more so – she managed to retain her grace while her daughter looked on with envy.

"Honestly Juvia," she sighed. "This is no cause for such a tantrum."

"This is the perfect cause for a tantrum!" she shot back. Reluctantly too, since she resented admitted what she did was considered a tantrum. Storming out of their 'family meeting' in tears was a statement, but hardly a tantrum. "My own family sold me to a stranger. How am I supposed to act?"

"There's no need for such dramatics." Her mother rested her skirts on the edge of Juvia's grand bed and waved her hand as if she could physically brush away Juvia's rebellion. "We did not sell you – we merely arranged your marriage."

"With an Ice Magic wizard!" Juvia harshly retorted, turning to face her mother head on.

The queen's irritation at her daughter's stubbornness began to grow and her own patience began to wear thin. "Juvia, please. We've been over this. There are very few practitioners of water magic left in the world. We are a dying race that the other Kingdoms see as weak."

Ice magic, however, is used by hundreds of people in our kingdom, Juvia finished within her mind. As her mother said, she had heard the lecture multiple times from her mother, her father, and even her governess.

Magic has changed greatly in the past decade. Ice magic is a newer sect of water magic, one that is becoming increasingly more powerful over the years. We need their power if our kingdom is to last in these times of high tensions and possible war.

"I know it's difficult," her mother continued, waking Juvia from her memory. "But I'm sure you'll be happy. Your fiancé comes from the most prominent family of Ice Magic wizards and everyone in the kingdom is rejoicing the union."

Everyone except me, Juvia thought with bitterness. Without thinking, she remarked under her breath, "Well, I mean, if our allies are recognizing metal as an Earth Magic, might as well join the bandwagon."

"Now hush!" Her mother's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. With a huff, she stood and stalked out of the room, her words echoing behind her. "You are marrying Lord Gray and that is final!"

Hearing another loud slam of her door made the few remaining tears in her eyes fall toward the ground. Hidden beneath a pile of plush pillows, Juvia found one of her favorite dolls she made when she was just a little girl. Just feeling the doll in her grip consoled her, though it did not erase her feelings of betrayal.

How could her parents do this to her? Wasn't it her mother who taught her that sub-magic elements such as ice or metal were not real magic? Was she supposed to throw away her pride as a Water Magic wizard for a simple thing like fear?

She had no fear – she never did. Not when she was prepared her entire life for war to break out, not when the Kingdoms were turned into chaos after one night of a terrible disaster, and most certainly not now when her very magic was being threatened. Dying race or no, she refused to be undermined by a pompous noble who only wanted to marry her for status.

Rubbing the soft, twinkling eyes of her doll, she began planning a way out of her predicament at whatever the cost. Juvia would do whatever it took to win over her stranger of a fiancé. She wouldn't be stopped by anything to prove Water Magic was better than Ice.


A little shorter than I prefer, but I'm saving some goodies for Juvia's next chapter.

I need a little help: If you have any suggestions about how Erza and Jellal (mostly Jellal) fit into the story, I'm all ears. I have an idea of how I want them to play out, but it's very rough and leaning towards cliché. The other characters are all set!

A huge thanks to these awesome reviewers:

bluerainst0rm: 10/10?! Sweet! I'm glad you like it!

SheRa-ver: Aww, you are so sweet! That really means a lot to me!

Melody233: Your wish is my command!

Yui Moonlight: I know I PMed you, but since I can't say it enough: thank you! Your reviews are always so awesome!

Rizuki Dhan: Of course!

And don't forget to follow me on twitter typo_writer001 because I tweet about my stories, but I don't think any of my followers read them :)