Raven or Juvia? Who knows.

Chapter Ten

Three more months had passed by. The three months were spent building up their lives.

Erza turned 12 and Raven threw a small party for her. Raven had bought Erza a special strawberry birthday cake and had bought Erza a new sword. Gray, Cana, Natsu, and Levy came over and they had fun together. Erza had also purchased more armour and weapons. She had managed to increase her requip storage space and was starting to become extremely strong. She could cut down several trees with one swipe. Last of, she was able to switch into different armours in rapid succession, with her being able to switch her weapon even faster.

Raven turned 10 and Erza threw a larger party for Raven at Fairy Tail. Raven's personality was different from Erza's and whereas Erza enjoyed her small party, Raven wanted to spend her birthday with everyone. Erza and Raven both know each other better than anyone else. Training wise, Raven saw that she was getting rusty with her sword Magic and spent the time increasing her skill. She was also know able to levitate immediately and control where she went with extreme precision; this meant she could weave through the forest at a fast speed without hitting anything too. This also helped her practice with her telekinesis, now being able to lift much heavier and larger objects. Raven spent a lot of her training time meditating too, to increase her Magic container. With this, her astral projection Magic was able to last longer. She could shift her soul into anything including but not limited to; her raven, herself, a shield/barrier, a claw, and a weapon. This, in conjunction with her darkness and shadow control Magic made the mold of her soul become stronger. Though, Raven still had a lot of work to do with her shadow control Magic.

Both girls also spent the time sparring each other which was meant to help their hand to hand combat. They did strength training and became incredibly strong as well as they became faster and their endurance increased. Erza was slightly stronger than Raven and had greater endurance whereas Raven was much faster.

Aside from training, Raven's garden was growing marvellously. In fact, she often clipped some of the extra flowers and handed them out at the guild. There were vases filled with flowers inside the house, everywhere. Both Erza and Raven thought they were beautiful and enjoyed the flowery scent. Erza's cooking soon became a huge hit at the guild and she began bringing food in for people to try. Yet at the same time, she ended up frightening away most of the people who were interested in her food which caused Raven to sweat drop and laugh each time.

Last of all, Raven had ended up partaking in a singing competition that had contestants coming from all through Magnolia. Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed any instruments. She came in second which Raven wasn't too unhappy with, but she promised herself she'd practice more. The second place prize was a handmade cloak that was made after the winner was announced as well as a few thousand jewels. Raven ended up loving the cloak and wearing it everywhere she went.

. . . . .

"Erza-chan!" Raven shouted, running into Erza's room. "What do you think of my new outfit!?"

"What happened to the top Maria gave you?" Erza asked, observing Raven's outfit.

"Well we're going to be going on harder jobs and I don't want her pretty top to be ruined so it's in my requip storage for a special occasion, or something of the sort," Raven explained. She twirled around to give Erza a look of her outfit. She was wearing a pair of black jean shorts with a white belt holding it up. Then she was wearing a black top that showed her stomach. It had a white mandala design on it. Erza could see the red crystal necklace Raven was wearing; she almost never took it off and similarly, Erza never took her black crystal necklace off either. Then Raven was wearing a pair of black combat boots. Her black hair was straight like usual and went down to the middle of her back. Once Erza had gotten a good look of her outfit, Raven put on the midnight coloured cloak she won, hood up. All this just made her sky blue eyes pop out (also known as bleu celeste).

"It's a bit… black…" Erza managed to say. Raven laughed.

"I know, I know. But I just love the colour black. And it makes me look cool," Raven said with a sheepish grin. Erza laughed with Raven.

"I think it looks great and it does make you look pretty cool," Erza said. Raven smiled and thanked Erza before running back to her room. She wanted to organize her closet and her requip storage.

She had several swords, all similar to each other. They were just backup in case one broke. None of them had elemental powers or anything special. Then Raven had all her clothes, mostly for adventuring but there were a few pyjamas in there as well as a few dresses and casual clothes. The rest was put in her closet as 'spare' or if she ever just felt like wearing different clothes. Truthfully, she just wanted to be able to use her closet.

"Everything is going right," Raven said aloud to herself. She smiled and laid down on her bed. Another great day was over. She couldn't wait for the next.

. . . . .

"What's wrong? Are you coming in?" Master Makarov asked. The three children stared at him in confusion.

"Who are you?" the oldest asked.

"I am Makarov, the master of this guild," he said.

"Guild?" the oldest asked again.

"Look up there, that's the name of our guild.

"Fairy Tail…" the youngest one managed to read. They decided to go inside with Makarov. He grabbed a drink and sat on the bar table while the other three sat in front of him. They told him about their travels and about the oldest ones' problem.

"That's take over, a kind of Magic. You're not possessed by a demon. The power of a demon resides within you," Makarov explained, talking about the oldest ones' arm that had been turned into a demons arm.

'The power of a demon… I don't need that,' she thought sadly.

. . . . .

"Er-chan… Something's wrong…" Raven puffed out. She was already out of breath.

"What?" she asked, concerned.

"I normally have more energy and Magic power than this," Raven said, catching her breath. Erza watched the girl curiously. She had no idea what the problem could be. Then something caught her eye.

"Raven, the black clip holding the cloak is glowing. Take it off," Erza said. Raven stared at it inquisitively before shrugging the cloak off. Immediately, she felt a rush of Magic.

"Oh man, I feel all my Magic power coming back, aside from the energy I'd already used. I'll ask Master about it and be right back," Raven said.

"You want me to come with you?" Erza asked.

"No that's alright, I'll only be gone around half an hour," she replied. Erza nodded and went back to training.

. . . . .

"Master," Raven called as she entered the guild and saw him sitting on the bar table.

"Ah, Raven, come meet some new guild members," Master Makarov said. She walked over as saw three white haired siblings sitting there. Raven grinned widely.

"Hi! My name is Raven Harmonia," she said cheerfully.

"My name is Lisanna Strauss," the youngest one said. "This is Elfman and Mirajane, my older brother and sister!"

"Hello," Elfman said shyly while the oldest sibling sat there quietly. Raven understood that some people were like that and wasn't offended by her lack of response.

"Anyway, Master. This pin on my cloak somehow took my power away and when I took it off, it all came back! Could you tell me what it is?" she asked. Makarov looked at the cloak carefully before chuckling.

"Oh it's seems as though it's a Magic suppressor. You won't be able to use half of your Magic's power unless you take it off," Makarov explained.

"Hmm… so if I train with the cloak on, I'll only see half the results but when I take the cloak off, I'll see the full thing?" Raven asked. Makarov chuckled.

"That's one way to look at it," he said. Raven stared deep in thought and then quickly lifted her arm to wave goodbye at everyone. Instead, she accidentally knocked a glass over. Mirajane's quick reflexes got her to stick her arm out to catch it. Raven gasped at what she saw.

"Your arm!" she exclaimed. Mirajane froze and it looked like she was about to cry whereas her two siblings were going to yell in her defense. That was until Raven spoke up again. "Oh my gosh, it's so cool! I want that arm! Can you teach me how to get it? Or where you born with it!? If that's the reason, then I'm so jealous!" The three siblings stared at Raven in shock while Master Makarov just sipped his drink with an amused look in his eye.

"O-oh… uh… I don't…" Mirajane stuttered out. She didn't know what to say! Before she could say anything else, Raven smacked herself in the face.

"I'm sorry but I got to go now! I was training with Erza and just left her there!" she shouted before running out. Everyone laughed as they watched the little girl run out while Mirajane looked at the back of the girl with a hopeful look in her eye.

. . . . .

"Erza-chan! I'm sorry I'm late! There were three new members and I lost track of the time," Raven shouted. Erza laughed.

"Don't worry about it. So, what did Master say?" Erza asked.

"Oh it's a Magic… suppressor. So it cuts the strength of my Magic in half until I take it off. It also makes it seem like I have less power to anyone else," Raven explained. Erza raised an eyebrow.

"So why are you still wearing it?" she asked.

"Well, I plan to train with it on until I'm as good as you so then when I take it off, I'll be even better!" Raven said. Her hands were on her hips and she was grinning at her 'ingenious' plan. Erza held in her laugh and gave her a fake approving nod.

"I'm sure that's a great idea," Erza said. Raven stood there proudly.

"Thank you!" she said. The two got back to training. While Raven was struggling to use her powers, Erza turned to watch the younger girl with a fond smile on her face.

"I would've been so lonely without you. Thank you Raven," Erza said quietly.

"Hmm, what was that?" Raven asked as she turned to face the red haired girl.

"Nothing, nothing. You should start training because at this rate, you'll never catch up to me."

. . . . .

Another month had passed and the two youngest Strauss siblings had managed to get along very well with everyone in the guild while Mirajane was the exact opposite. She wouldn't talk to anyone at all. Anytime someone tried to sit next to her, she would get up and move. Everyone except for Raven, that is. Ever since the day Raven had said she thought Mirajane's arm was cool, she felt a sense of acceptance from the black haired girl and was ok with her being near her. It confused everyone else who didn't know what had happened. Even still though, Mirajane wouldn't talk to Raven. Raven didn't seem to mind and just sat with Mira in peace.

Raven was struggling a little with her training. Of course, she was improving but because she only saw half of the results, she often pushed herself even harder. Even when Erza had left, Raven would stick around for another hour or two. At one point, she had pushed herself too hard and had fallen onto the ground. She couldn't move and her muscles were all sore. She groaned and just lay there.

'I'll just sleep here. Hopefully Erza doesn't get too worried,' Raven thought. She laid down for another ten minutes before she felt someone approaching her. She opened her eyes and turned to look.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was just taking a walk," Gray said with a stubborn look on his face. Raven laughed and turned back to look at the blue sky.

"Come lie down with me then," Raven said. Gray blushed before hmphing.

"Only because you asked me to," he said before walking over and plopping down next to her. They laid there for a good half an hour in peace. Raven closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth on her face. Then she opened her mouth and started singing gently.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head, and I cried

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

I'll always love you and make you happy
If you will only say the same
But if you leave me to love another,
You'll regret it all one day

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

(watch?v=1moWxHdTkT0)

"Well, we should get going," Raven said as if she hadn't just sung such a beautiful song in an even lovelier voice. Gray just lay there agape.

"Uh, um, yea… you sing nice," Gray stammered out. Raven just laughed. 'That's the prettiest laugh I've ever heard,' Gray thought.

"Why thank you, Gray-sama," Raven said. Said boy blushed. Raven put her arms behind her and pushed herself up, feeling sore from not moving for half an hour after an intense work out. She stood up, wobbly on her legs. As soon as she took one step, she fell.

"Woah," Gray said, catching her in his arms. "What happened to you?"

"Ugh, over worked myself again," Raven said. "Thanks for catching me."'

"Can you walk?" Gray said. Raven tried to put her leg underneath herself and stand up, before crumbling again.

"Eh heh, no I can't," Raven said sheepishly. Gray sighed.

"I'll carry you then," he said.

"No, no it's ok. I'll just wait a bit," Raven said, embarrassed.

"Don't be silly. Erza will start to worry," Gray said before turning around. "Here, get on my back."

"Fine… thank you," Raven said again. She climbed onto his back somehow and they got going. Raven laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Boy, was she tired. 'He smells nice…' she thought.

"You want to go to the guild or your place?" Gray asked. Raven was brought out her thoughts.

"Uh, my house would probably be best but I don't want Erza to worry," Raven said.

"Don't worry, I'll tell her where you are after I drop you off," Gray said.

"Ok, thanks then!" Raven said. And so the black haired duo made their way to Raven's house.