AN: I seriously need to get better at making these updates regular. But my personal life has been getting pretty hectic lately then I got whisked away to Spain with no wifi, so yeah. But if you're going to review and I haven't updated in a while, please don't beg me to update. I write when I can and forcing myself to try and write quickly usually leads to the resulting chapter being below-par. Thank you.

Disclaimer: Da da da don't own Fairy Tail


~ Examination, Observation, Revelation ~

"The princess…" Juvia mumbled, scouting out a blonde head in the crowd. If Lucy was still there, that meant-

She didn't finish that train of thought, because Erza grabbed her forearm and stormed down to the chaos that was the main dancefloor. At first the room was murmuring, searching; then panic broke out, couples rushing to each other's' protective embrace, some ladies swooning, the servants rushing to and fro in an attempt to maintain order. Some were attempting to attend upon Porlyusica, but she was having none of it, pushing them all aside and fervently demanding to see the king.

Erza raised her voice to be heard over the raucous. "Wendy must have been captured. After all, she wasn't at the ball, and the guards were more focused around the ballroom," she said in a matter-of-fact voice, although her brow was furrowed in a mixture of confusion and concern.

"But why would somebody want to kidnap a twelve-year-old?"

"I don't know," the lady knight confessed, "but if they're still here, remember that you're Natsu's bodyguard."

Juvia nodded. Maybe it was the ridiculously tight dress or perhaps the stench of warring perfumes clogging up the air, but she had needed that reality check from Erza. Lyon and Gray were irrelevant to this situation.

Except they weren't because, for some reason they were involved in Natsu's business. Gray was Natsu's rival for the throne and therefore the one sending the assassins… right? So what were the brothers doing against Trinity Raven in Clover? Juvia still couldn't quite get her head around it all. Life had been so much easier back when she was an assassin, because back then it was all black and white; you're told to kill someone, you kill them.

It could have been that the two were doing it as a means of fooling her and Natsu into trusting them- but that would be too complex and too risky. She had witnessed the battle against Fukuro in which Lyon was truly and honestly fighting, and fell within a nanosecond of failure. There was no way that could have been a bluff.

And what was all this about 'competition'? Juvia had an inkling of what it meant, a thought that seemed poisonous and one she didn't want to dwell upon because, not only was a love triangle (no it wasn't a love triangle because she didn't love Gray because she had only met him once and exchanged no words for pity's sake) the last thing she needed right now, but a love triangle with her enemies was a catastrophe waiting to happen.

No, Juvia. Focus.

She invested all her attention into safely manoeuvring through the crowd- they were more densely packed now, women's wide skirts clogging up needed space. With every twist and turn made Juvia brushed against lace and silk, her movements set to an accompaniment of rustling fabric releasing different aromas. The guards were trying to subdue the crowd, to assure them that they were safe and that nothing could harm them in here.

Juvia rubbed shoulders with another who continued in the same direction. One glance confirmed this be Lisanna, her expression a mixture of worry, caution and confusion – Strauss family, warriors for centuries, different, odd one out, nice enough – pushing her way towards Lucy (from what Juvia had observed earlier they seemed to be friends, or at least acquaintances).

The noblewoman noticed her and looked back with turquoise sea-blue eyes, flashing a quick smile that seemed to portray an I-don't-really-know-what's-going-on vibe. Ahead of them, Erza half fought, half strode through, her assertive voice enough to clear the way whilst Lisanna and Juvia were caught in the crush.

In a brief period where moving from a certain spot was beyond the impossible, Lisanna extended a hand, this time her smile more amiable. "Lisanna Strauss. You?"

Don't tell. Her instincts warned, but she remembered what Erza said about this girl. She didn't take the hand, but nodded and turned up the corner of her mouth in a crooked half-smile. "Juvia Lockser."

At that moment, they finally managed to get through and, after half a minute or so more of crowd-wading, reached their destination.

"Lucy!" Lisanna exclaimed. Said princess turned around, breathing a sigh of relief. Up close to this girl, Juvia felt her heart scream in jealousy. Silky, shining hair, deep eyes, a remarkable bosom.

"Lisanna, have you seen Loke?" she asked, searching the crowd.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Half the room think you've been kidnapped!"

Lucy giggled weakly before deflating, pressing a hand to her forehead. "Oh goodness, why Wendy?"

"I don't know, but like hell are we just gonna sit here." Natsu spoke up, arms folded defiantly. Juvia wormed her way to stand next to him.

Erza placed a hand on the prince's shoulder, her cocoa eyes steely. "Don't get ahead of yourself- timing is everything."

The blonde princess looked at the three before nodding thoughtfully. "I'll go talk to Gray… he might know what's going on…"

"I'm going with you!" Lisanna protested, taking a step forward. However, Lucy held out a hand to stop her and shook her head.

"You go find Loke, make sure he's alright." And then, upon seeing the other girl's concerned face, she smiled reassuringly and added: "Don't worry, I'll be fine." Nodding at the other three in a form of wordless goodbye, she waved and turned, immersing herself back into the crowd- Lisanna did the same.

"Erza, go tail Lisanna. Juvia, keep an eye on Lucy."

The blue-haired girl turned to him, brow furrowed. "And what about you?"

Natsu grinned in confidence. "Of course I'll be fine! Honestly, you guys are so paranoid."

"Juvia is your bodyguard. Shouldn't-"

"Please."

She paused, face blank and eyes questioning, before leaving whilst Erza nailed him with an impertinent and fixed stare.

"Juvia may be your servant, but I'm not," she stated, arms folded defiantly. "Lisanna is a nice girl and I like her siblings. To follow her would be morally wrong."

The pink-haired prince sighed in defeat. "I guess so…"

"In Juvia's absence, I'll keep you safe."

"You still haven't answered my question."

Erza's eyes flared with momentary panic before settling back into a steel gaze. "What question?"

"Who's Jellal?"

Irritation was clear in her voice. "You don't give up, do you?"

He persisted, proving her remark accurate. "Who is Jellal Fernandes?"

Her brown eyes bore into him with a mixture of anger and hurt before she pivoted on her heel and took off in roughly the same direction as Lisanna.


Lucy wasn't the easiest to track but Juvia was completely in her element and therefore able to follow her through the crowd. Besides, it's not like Juvia would have so much as dreamed of taking her eyes off the princess for a second. She was busy analysing her, soaking in every detail.

She was a beauty, that was for sure. Lucy was one of those rare specimens of traditional, borderline unattainable grace- fair golden locks, intelligent brown eyes, an ample yet slim figure. But at the same time this attractiveness was repulsive (or at least it was to Juvia). Lucy moved with elegance; had the former assassin not seen her panicking mere minutes beforehand, she could have almost mistaken the blonde for calm. Almost.

It was from this that Juvia was able to deduct a key thing about Lucy Heartfilia- she was somebody adept at keeping up appearances, be it out of necessity or otherwise.

"Gray!" said princess hissed, tugging on the dark haired young man's arm. Juvia quickly halted and scurried to cover – behind a rather gaudy flower arrangement – and inconspicuously peeked around at the two.

He turned and relief washed over his features. "Lucy, thank god! I was-"

"Why does everyone think I'm helpless? Besides, it's not like-"

"-That's beside the point- I'm just glad you're safe."

Lucy relaxed, going to tuck a loose strand of hair back in place before deciding against it and resorting to just wringing her hands instead. "Look, Natsu's really worried about Wendy and-"

Once again, he cut her off. Juvia had yet to hear them exchange a single complete sentence. "You talked to Natsu?" Gray didn't seem angry, just sort of bemused and surprised, as though he hadn't been expecting that of her.

"Yes," Lucy responded immediately before sighing. "Yes I did. Though I wouldn't count it as a conversation… Look, he's really worried about Wendy so I think it would be a good idea if we were to send out a search party."

"And why are you asking me?"

"Well, since nobody has any idea where on earth Igneel is - probably in his study – Ultear will be taking charge. You're the only one who doesn't have to kiss the ground at Ultear's feet," she said in a low but sarcastic voice, prompting a slight chuckle from her fiancée.

"Slight problem- the guards are too busy trying to keep the guests under control. The amount of people fainting is quite frankly crazy."

Lucy folded her arms and bit her lip, digesting this information whilst Juvia watched. They didn't act like lovers- then again, looks were deceiving. And that didn't change the fact that, at this closer distance, Juvia could observe the ring on Lucy's gloved finger; a fairly small band of silver with an amethyst set into it, with Gray probably sporting a match.

The princess nodded and looked back up. "Then Lisanna and I can check it out."

"No."

It seemed that the blonde had been prepared for such a flat, dismissive answer and she stood her ground defiantly. "Think of this practically! The guards are busy- anyway, they would be too conspicuous. We're just going to search for clues, nothing much."

"You're forgetting one thing- the kidnapper might still be here," Gray counteracted.

"It's not like I'll be alone- I'll have Lisanna with me!"

Gray exhaled in exasperation. "Lucy, if you get hurt… just no. Okay? Lyon and I can check it out for you."

"But Wendy is Natsu's sister, he has the right to know!"

"Then he can go too if he's desperate. He'll probably bring Erza and Juvia with him."

Juvia jumped at the mention of her name before settling down (stupid Juvia, remember your training, don't let up stupid Juvia) and returning to her hiding place. She would have to change cover because sooner or later people would start to notice, but now that prospect seemed increasingly risky.

Gray knew who she was. Juvia wasn't sure just how much he knew, but he knew enough.

Fortunately, Lucy was too preoccupied with her debate to call him out on this unfamiliar name. "You guys are royalty too, and Erza's a woman. So what excuse do you have to not let me go?"

"I think Erza is an exception to an awful lot of things. And-" He leaned closer, charcoal eyes boring into her cocoa coloured orbs, and lowered his voice so that Juvia was only able to catch his last few words: "-don't do anything stupid."

The princess stared back, her gaze unwavering and somewhat challenging. Then she shrugged in defeat.

"Whatever. Go talk to Ultear about it then."

The two parted ways and Lucy was about to stalk back to wherever when she stopped suddenly. Slowly, uncertainly, she turned her head, doubting the strange sense of being watched. But by that time all she could have possible caught sight of were a few blue curls and the back of a dress (both were unfamiliar sights to the young princess); Juvia left no evidence of eavesdropping.


Three figures trudged through the rain, one lamp lighting their way through the darkness. One of them stomped ahead in determination. A short distance behind him a woman struggled to keep up, dragging her waterlogged skirt along the wet grass. A third, more confident female brought up the rear.

"Dammit, they couldn't have gotten too far!" Natsu complained. He thought he knew the gardens like the back of his hand- to be fair, they hadn't changed much in three years- but with little light he found himself constantly having to reassess where he was going. Behind him, Juvia gave in, hitching up her skirt and quickening her pace to try and catch up.

"That depends, master. We don't know how much time passed between Wendy disappearing and Porlyusica going to check up on her. And these people move fast…" she trailed off, not having the heart to break it to the prince that it could have been too late for them to rescue his precious little sister.

When Natsu had asked her the results of tailing Lucy, she had told him that nothing interesting happened. Which was a lie, but Juvia was beginning to learn something Phantom Lord had never taught her- the value of a white lie.

First of all, most of Lucy and Gray's conversation had been vague and open to interpretation (and her personal interpretation was too knotted with uncertain feelings to recount with clarity). Second, she couldn't have told him about going as a search party because that had been undecided and, Natsu being Natsu, would have got his hopes up and been crushed if the results were negative.

So when a servant nervously approached them claiming to have a message from Lady Ultear, she feigned surprise as though it was new to her. She'd become a surprisingly good actress.

Erza caught up, holding out the lamp. "If we're unable to find Wendy, then at least we should find a clue pertaining to what happened to her or her location."

None of them spoke of the possibility of Wendy not living long enough for them to rescue her.

Eventually, the trio came up to a stone wall, one with ivy crawling up it and other such plants blooming in the cracks- a contrast to the neatness all over the rest of the palace. A wooden door sat within it.

"Juvia recognises this… the herb garden?"

Natsu nodded. "We don't have a key, but that old door wouldn't be too hard to kick down."

"Is that really necessary?" Erza asked, folding her arms. "If I was an escaping kidnapper I would leave through a more direct route rather than crouching in there. Besides, Wendy didn't have a key either, so how would she get in? Why would there be anything useful in there?

"She could have climbed over the wall."

"Someone that small?"

Juvia walked up and tugged on the ivy once, twice, three times. On the last she put in all her strength and managed to snap off some of the plant. "The ivy here holds pretty well. Considering her weight, it wouldn't be too difficult for her to climb up it, though it must be pretty slippery from the rain."

Natsu turned to Erza, stubbornness in his eyes. "What if there's a clue in there? We can't let anything slip past."

After a few attempts, the three managed to get the door open and tumbled into the herb garden.

Erza swept the lantern in an arc to try and illuminate the area. It was a small garden so she mostly succeeded, but shadows lurked menacingly in the outer reaches. Luckily enough, what they needed to see was in plain sight.

"What's that?" Juvia asked to nobody in particular, making her way forward and bending down to lift up an abandoned lantern. It was unlit and the glass was chipped.

"So Wendy was out here?" Natsu suggested, coming close and peering at it as though he had never seen one before in his life.

Erza coughed. "Look at this rationally- we can't prove that it's Wendy's. It could have been left by one of the kitchen staff."

"Why so sceptical?" Juvia asked inquisitively.

"We can't jump to conclusions, or we could go down the wrong path. Besides, what business would she have down here?"

Whilst the two were talking, Natsu seemed to have noticed something only a little further away from the lantern. After inspecting it, he answered Erza's question. "Collecting herbs?"

"What makes you think- oh!"

Juvia turned to look. "Isn't that the basket that Wendy had earlier?"

"It sure is!"

Erza stroked her chin in thought, pacing back and forth. "So we know that Wendy was definitely in the herb garden, probably to make something… but from what we've heard, she was captured in her bedroom. So that means that she came in here, returned and then got taken?"

"So she dropped her lantern and went back in the dark?" Natsu said critically.

"No," Juvia interjected, "she ran into trouble here, dropped her stuff, ran away and made it back to her room. Then they took her."


"Well, this is a mess."

Lyon's words were something of an understatement. Wendy's normally neat and tidy room was now utter chaos. It was as though someone had swept their arm over the shelves and knocked everything they housed down into a hazardous field of books, ceramic, glass and upturned furniture. A still dripping cloak lay on the floor abandoned, a bent and dented candlestick beside it. The bedsheets were a tangled mess, but the only other item on it was a letter knife.

"Looks like she wouldn't go quietly."

Images flashed, imagination taking the scene and running with it. Wendy grabbing the small, almost useless knife and brandishing it with shaking hands. In the heat of the moment seizing the candlestick to parry a blow. Getting up and slipping on the wet floor, her attacker looming…

It wasn't something either brother liked to think of because the more they thought, the worse the images became.

But perhaps the most glaringly obvious clue was the French doors. They navigated the wreckage and bent down to examine.

"Judging by the glass, I'd say it was broken from the outside." Gray observed, looking out into the stormy sky as though the kidnapper was still there.

"So that's how he-" (for they had automatically assumed Wendy's captor to be male) "got in."

"Must have given the poor girl a shock."

"You're missing something."

The two looked up in surprise to see Ultear standing in the doorway, arms folded in her usual confident manner. "Idiots, both of you. Haven't you noticed?"

Gray got up, mirroring her pose. "Noticed what, genius?"

His elder sister shot him a spiteful glare before pointing to various objects. "The water, dunderheads. The bedsheets are wet, the cloak is wet."

"Well duh." Lyon deadpanned. "People tend to get wet when it rains, and I thought we'd agreed that the attacker came from outside."

Ultear rolled her eyes in despair before holding up the dripping cloak as far away from her as possible. "This is a child's size, and I highly doubt some highly trained kidnapping kid would have managed to smash their way in. So that means Wendy was outside at some point."

She smirked to see her siblings both avoiding admitting defeat.

"What we need to know is why she was out there."

Lyon piped up. "Natsu, Erza and Juvia are checking out the-"

The young woman cut him off sharply. "Who's Juvia?"

What- oh sweet mother of Mavis what did I say?

Luckily for Lyon, Gray changed the topic of conversation. "Why is that cat sniffing your leg?"

Looking down, his brother saw that yes, a snowy white cat was nosing his leg. But she didn't appear to be sniffing- it was more like nudging, trying to catch his attention. "Maybe it knows something?"

Ultear rolled her eyes, hands on her hips. "Please don't tell me you're taking advice from a cat. I know you two aren't the brightest but this is soaring to whole new levels of stupidity."

Gray took a moment to childishly stick his tongue out at her before watching Charle pad through the chaos and start pawing at something. Closer inspection revealed this to be a scrap of cloth.

"What's this supposed to be?" Lyon asked, holding it up to the light as though that would reveal hidden secrets. It didn't, so he contented himself with studying the design of it. "Just a bunch of thorns."

"Give me that!" Ultear stomped her way over and snatched it out of his grip, eyes roaming over it. For such a simple piece of fabric, it had a profound effect on the rarely vulnerable aristocrat- she paled a few shades, eyes widening the longer she looked at it.

Gray noticed this and made his way closer. "What do you know about it?"

She snapped out of her trance almost instantly, practically tossing it back. "Nothing at all. Lyon, keep that safe. I'll check up on a few things and tell you what I find out tomorrow night- or, if it's past midnight… you get my drift." Nodding at them in a no-nonsense manner, she left at a brisk pace, only avoiding tripping over the mess through sheer fortune.

Lyon frowned before tucking the scrap in his pocket. "Guess taking advice from cats paid off, huh?" He joked, though nobody laughed.

His brother exhaled in irritation. "She knows something about it, more than she's letting on." Unexpectedly, Gray turned and punched the wall, causing plaster to flake. "Dammit! Wendy's in trouble- what kind of game is she playing at?"

"I don't know. I don't think she even knows."


AN: What. What is this chapter? I'm not kidding, I don't know how I wrote it. I'm sorry.

~Meg