Chapter 11 - The Runes Master

Gray slammed the door open, impatient to see the mage behind all of that. Needless to say, he also couldn't wait to punch his face for all the trouble they got through because of him.
The door closed behind the Fairy Tail mages as soon as they entered the new room, which was very small compared to the others. They immediately saw a man with long blond hair in a low pigtail, standing in front of them. He was wearing a blue cowboy hat with a feather on it, which suddenly reminded Gray of one of his strongest opponents of the Grand Magic Games.
"Rufus?!" he shouted in surprise. "The Runes Master is the Sabertooth mage?" Juvia wondered, on her guard. The man smiled and walked slowly towards them, keeping a distance of a meter. "Oh, so you happen to know my brother?" he said with a way more high-pitched voice than his appearance suggested. Hearing that, Gray and Juvia realized that it wasn't the person they thought it was. "You're Rufus' brother? It's gonna be a pleasure to deal with you too, then." Gray smirked.
"Don't compare me to that loser brought by misfortune! I am Darius, the elder brother, and my success is unmistakable! Just look at what I have built up with my power!" he raised his arms as to show everything around him as a proof of his words. That proved, in fact, that he was the Runes Master in person, the man who made dreams come true. But to the water and ice mages, it was the proof that he was the person they were going to defeat.
Gray charged towards him, his anger rising up more and more. "Enough talking, you piece of shit!" His fist, though, hit an invisible wall between him and the Runes Master's face. The evil grin on the man's face grew wider, as he approached them more. "Uh, excuse me? That is not the way you are supposed to thank me, the man who made you able to realize your dreams, is it?" "It's another runes trap, Gray-sama!" Juvia shouted, finding the other three magical walls surrounding them. "Tch! You bastard..." Gray snarled, with both his fists against the barrier, an inch from Darius' face but unable to reach it. "If you're so full of yourself thinking that you made us a favor and that we're here to thank you, why did you put another trap right here?"
"Oh, well, I'm just being cautious. You see, that trap you're in activates only if I want it. It does not have any particular rule, it disappears if I stop the magic that keeps it up. Otherwise, it stays where it is." Darius explained, walking around them as though they were some test subjects in a cage. "By the way, I'm really curious to know your story. You guys are the first to come till here and, well... finding a blushing girl and a half-naked boy truly stimulates my interest." Gray hadn't realized he had been without his shirt ever since... "Wha- when did it happen?!" "T-The bed, Gray-sama..." Juvia reminded him shily, blushing more and more. This time it was the two of them who were uncontrollably blushing, much to Darius' enjoyment. "I was right then, so your shared dream was to lose your-" "YOU WERE RIGHT MY ASS! You know nothing, don't jump to conclusions and now let me kick your face!" Gray interrupted the mage and lost his mind, as he started to punch the magic barrier with all his strenght. As for Juvia, she wasn't very lucid herself, and embarrassment took over her. "We-we're not at that stage of our relationship yet!" she shouted as she used her magic to throw water blades towards their opponent. Unfortunately, the barrier reflected her attack and the water hit Gray and herself, though she obviously wasn't harmed by her own attack. The only 'damage' she got was to have her hat thrown some meters away. "Oh no! Juvia is so sorry, Gray-sama!"
Darius' face was now showing surprise. "You are mages? Oh I see... that is how you managed to come till here..." In that moment, a hidden door behind him opened and another man, a skinny and bald one, entered the room holding a big painting in his arms. "Master, the guy that came here this morning had this incredibly valuable painting in his living room! Can you believe it, it's been so easy to get it! Shall I put it in the Dream Room with the other stuff?" Darius glared at him, making clear that he disapproved his presence there in that moment. It didn't take long to the Fairy Tail mages to understand what was actually going on. "You! You're burglars! All the stuff that's in this room behind us... is stolen!" Juvia uttered. "And you take advantage of the people coming here and falling in your traps to steal in their houses in a more comfortable way, don't you?!" Gray continued, seething with anger.
Darius turned towards them again, the grin came back on his face. "Well, no need to hide it anymore. It's a mercenary guild I've built up here, under everyone's eyes, and nobody would notice a thing because they think it's some kind of funny game! Ha ha ha ha!" he declared laughing with a mad expression on his face. "You know, usually I let people get out after some time if they can not get out of the traps, but I will make an exception for you two." he continued with a calmer tone. "You are mages after all. And you had the honor to hear the whole truth about this place. As a reward, you will be able to spend the rest of your life here! What do you think of this?"
The young mages didn't actually trust his words, he was probably planning to make them harmless, if not kill them, or use them at his advantage someway. But they weren't scared at all. They knew there must have been a way to get out of that trap and knock him down.
In the meantime, the bald man had approached them and had taken Juvia's hat up from the ground. "This also looks kinda valuable" he commented. "It looks like the ones there were in the closet of the dorm apartment we robbed last night." "Yeah, well, do whatever you like, just get out of here." Darius gestured him to get away.
The man's words echoed in Juvia's mind. It was THEM who stole Juvia's things! Gray looked at her and understood her thoughts. But also, he had noticed something else. Juvia's hat is out of the barrier, but she wasn't able to attack with her water magic. Maybe this trap... Without saying a word, he unbuttoned his trousers and took them off. Both Juvia and the Runes Master stared at him in astonishment. "G-Gray-sama, why now?!" "What is it, you want to entertain me with a striptease? You know, I am not that kind of person." Darius smirked. Gray replied with a grin, as he threw his trousers on the mage's face. "That's my line! And by the way... you're going down, Runes Master!"
Gray's right fist hit his left palm, as he gathered magic power. "Ice make: hammer!" A giant ice hammer appeared above him, and went down on Darius' head just as he got rid of Gray's clothes which had blinded him for a while.
To the mages' surprise, that single attack was a knockout: the Runes Master wasn't able to move anymore, and the barrier that trapped them disappeared. "He's already KO?" Juvia exclaimed. "Tch! What a loser! Acting all mighty and powerful, when the only thing that he can do pretty well is handle his magic! In fact, he has no physical strength." Gray mocked him while putting his trousers back on. "But... how come that Juvia's magic didn't work, and Gray-sama's did?" Juvia asked. "That barrier trapped our bodies, that's why. Your body is made of water, that you use for your magic. So the magic walls didn't let it out. But my alchemical magic creates something new, that doesn't come from my body, so... like your hat, my creation was able to come out of the trap." "Oh, that's it... it was pretty simple, after all" Juvia commented. "If you say it like that it doesn't sound like I had a brainwave..." Gray murmured, acting depressed for a moment.
"Anyway, as this damn guy is unconscious now, all his traps must have disappeared, like the one we were in! Now we can explore this place and find the mercenaries!" "Yes! Let's go, Gray-sama!"

The moments that followed were very much Fairy Tail-like, with loud noises of walls crashing down and people screaming in pain, as the two mages fought against every mercenary they found in the hidden rooms of the huge building they were in. In the end, only the Dream Room and a few others were still undamaged. Some Kingdom Knights were called for help, and so all the mercenaries were arrested and the stolen objects came back to their owners, though that took a lot more time. Juvia was so happy to have her handmade Gray dolls back.
One of the Knights approached them and handed them an envelope. "Thank you for taking on this mission, Fairy Tail. This is your reward. Though, let me say this... you were lucky this wasn't an officially acknowledged building, otherwise you would have had to pay for the damage you caused to it." "Uh... we sure were lucky, yes... Thank you very much." Gray smiled nervously.
Then he gave Juvia the envelope, as they started walking back to the guild. It was evening already. "Here. This is yours."
"Ah, but Gray-sama, this isn't necessary anymore! Juvia found everything that was stolen from her apartment, so you should keep your half!"
"But..." he protested, though he didn't know how to respond to that. He just somehow felt like he wanted to give Juvia something.
"It's fine like this! It's not like you promised Juvia money or anything." she smiled. "And by the way, Juvia got something a million times more valuable than money." her hand touched his and grabbed it as they walked.
Gray blushed, still not having realized that, in fact, they were now a couple.
"Th-then why not... uhm... how do I put it... L-let's go out... I'll treat you for dinner... A-and I won't accept a 'no' as an answer!" he stammered, holding her hand in turn.
That last part, however, didn't really need to be said. Juvia squealed in joy and clung to his arm, replying with a dreamy voice: "Juvia will never say 'no' to her boyfriend... Gray-sama..."

...

Later that evening, Cana was sitting at an empty table of her favorite pub, drinking the umpteenth glass of wine. She had been waiting for a certain boy to turn up, but she soon understood that she had been blown out. "Ah, these youngsters who don't know how to handle women... and alcohol." she talked to herself, giggling. But... those two... Isn't that Gray? And he's with Juvia... Well well well, they definitely look more intimate than usual... "Oi, barman. Bring those two a couple of these drinks, will you? I pay for them. Don't let them know it's me who offered." she winked, as if it wasn't the first time she did something like that.
And now, let the show begin... she sat in a more comfortable position, as she hid her face with her hands and hair not to let them notice her. Then she giggled non-stop when a funny and lovely scene took place in front of her: Juvia had given in to the alcohol effect and had started to rub herself against Gray, as the ice maker was feeling dizzy but didn't want to act so intimate in public and was trying to stop her. It was obvious, though, that he didn't dislike his girlfriend's cuddles.

To be continued...
In your imagination ;)