"L-Laxus! What are you doing here?!" Juvia asked, her voice unnaturally high due to surprise.
"Did you hit your head or something? We're here 'cause of the job we took," Laxus replied.
Because of the job we took?! W-what does he mean by- oh wait, he means all five of us… heh, I knew that.
"Ya know, if you keep on starin' at me like that, people will start to ask questions," Laxus teased, snapping Juvia out of her inner thoughts.
Juvia waved her hands back and forth in front of her face and stammered, "Oh, I wasn't staring at you, I was just zoning out. N-not to say that it'd be bad to stare at you, I mean, you're not ugly, I just-"
"Relax. I'm just teasing ya a little bit."
Juvia immediately closed her mouth as a blush adorned her cheeks. When Laxus' hands rested on her forearms, she flinched and pushed herself out of his grip, not noticing the look of confusion and hurt that flashed across his face. Realizing what she did, Juvia blurted, "S-sorry, I'm just a little jumpy because you scared me…"
"Hm."
Slowly, Laxus lowered his arms to his sides. He sent a perplexed look towards Juvia, but she was too busy staring at the ground to notice. Neither person said anything for a few minutes. "That street must be really attractive since you haven't even looked up from it," Laxus grumbled, a teasing smirk on his lips. Juvia's head snapped up to look at him as she puffed her cheeks.
"I-it's certainly more attractive than you," she responded, obviously embarrassed by the whole situation.
Laxus barked loudly. "So you've got some fire in ya after all. I think I'm wounded by your words, Juvia-chan," Laxus mocked.
"I don't have fire inside of me, I'm made of water! A-and don't call me Juvia-chan!"
"Wow, you're acting so cold to me, Juvia-chan. What did I ever do to you?"
"Stop it!"
"Hey Freed, since they're fighting so much, do ya think they're gonna turn into a couple like Ever and Elfman?" Bickslow spoke as he stood on top of a building with two other figures.
"Well, you know what they say: There's a fine line between fighting and flirting," Freed responded, a smirk adorning his face.
"And just what do you mean by that comment about Elfman and me, Bickslow?!" Evergreen shouted.
"Nothing, just that you two are in loooooooove~"
"What are you three idiots doing here?" Laxus asked, glaring up at the trio on the roof. "I said that I was gonna look for Juvia while you three found something for us to do."
"Well, we knew that with your dragon nose, you'd find her in no time. We were afraid that if we left you two alone for too long that Master would become a great-grandfather," Evergreen pestered, a mischievous glint on her glasses. However, she had a strange look on her face when she looked at Juvia, but it was just a fleeting expression. Laxus' face turned red and Juvia nearly melted into a puddle at that statement.
"Besides, we would never abandon you, Laxus!" Freed declared, putting his fist on his chest.
"What am I ever going to do with you idiots?" Laxus muttered, shaking his head at the trio.
"Besides, we still did find something to do. Apparently, there's a big party a couple of blocks away from here and it just started," Bickslow announced.
"U-um, will there be alcohol there?" Juvia timidly asked, her fingers twiddling.
"Heck yeah! Parties are lame if they don't have drinks. Why ya askin'?" he questioned.
"W-well, just that… uh…" Juvia nervously trailed off.
"C'mon Juvia, it'll be fun!"
"Oh, o-okay."
With that, the group left the small alley way. They passed by all sorts of shops and sites to see and Juvia kept a mental note of some of the more interesting things, like how every place had lilies. Soon enough, they passed by less and less shops and began walking beside houses with beautiful lilies adorning every walkway.
Why are there so many lilies? There seems to be a patch of them at every turn...
Abruptly, Bickslow stopped, causing Freed to stop. Evergreen ran into Freed, Juvia ran into Bickslow, and Laxus ran into Juvia.
Something is touching me down- JUBIN!
Laxus realized that when they stopped, his hand jerked forward and ended up resting on two soft mounds on the rear that definitely were not meant to be touched right then. With flaming cheeks, he pulled away and stuttered, "S-sorry, Juvia. I didn't mean to touch you it just happened-"
"Oh, was Laxus coping a feel?" Bickslow mocked.
"N-no!"
"Not our precious Laxus!" Freed wailed dramatically, tears cascading down his face.
"He's not our precious Laxus, Freed. And Laxus, I'm so disappointed in you. At least invite her to dinner before coping a feel!" Evergreen scolded.
"I bet you wouldn't mind if ~Elfman~ accidentally grabbed you there," Bickslow teased.
"I-I would never! If he did that, he wouldn't even live to see another sunrise!"
"Yeah, another sunrise without ya."
"Why you-"
Amidst all the bickering of the trio, Laxus stood beside Juvia and leaned down so that no one else would hear him. "Sorry 'bout that."
"T-thank you. And it's okay, I know you weren't trying anything."
Laxus cleared his throat and glared at the arguing trio. When none of them noticed, he sent a jolt of electricity towards them. A collective "OW" came from the trio as they turned their attention towards Laxus and quit arguing. "Instead of sitting here and wasting our time arguing, how about we go to that party you talked about?" Laxus drawled, obviously bored out of his mind.
With a few heads nodding in agreement, the group set out towards the party. Juvia trailed behind them, a hesitant shake in the way she walked. When they arrived at a large building with flashing lights, blaring music, laughter ringing everywhere, and people walking towards it in party clothes, they figured that they had found the party.
"Alright, let's party!" Bickslow cheered, fist pumping into the air before skipping into the building. Evergreen followed behind, sauntering and turning every man's head. Freed ran after them, shouting "wait for me!" that became muddled with the other noises of the party, leaving Laxus and Juvia standing outside of the building. "You gonna go in?" Laxus asked, raising an eyebrow at Juvia.
"W-well, I figured that you should go in f-first, since y-you're... you, 'y know?" she timidly replied.
"Ladies first," Laxus mocked, bowing at Juvia and gesturing at the door.
"I-If that is so, you belong up front, Laxus."
"I am sure that I am a man," Laxus growled, marching over to Juvia and towering above her. He bent down until his lips ghosted over her ears as he said, "If you want me to, I can prove to you just how much of a man I am."
Juvia's mind went into overdrive and she felt like she had short-circuited. When she finally gained her wits, she shakily countered, "Are y-you trying to be like Elfman? B-Because you're not doing a v-very good job at it."
Laxus looked her over skeptically before inching behind Juvia and pushing her into the building. When she turned around to try and escape, Laxus stood in the doorway, blocking her from freedom. "Well?" Laxus questioned. When she gave no response, he smirked and said, "That's what I thought. Now, go out and party, Juvia."
With no choice in the matter, Juvia reluctantly turned around and stared at the nightmare that was this party. All around her, couples were making out along the walls and in the corners. Undoubtedly, all of the bedrooms were occupied by eager couples. The thought made her cringe. Multi-colored lights were flashing all around the room, lighting everyone as different shades when the colors changed. A large group of bodies were in the center of the main room, dancing to the upbeat music raging throughout the house. Some were jumping up and down, having fun with their group of friends. Other were grinding on each other, obviously desiring a specific situation to occur at the end of the night.
This is madness.
When she saw a seat, she moved towards it and sat on the stool. It was too late when she realized that she just sat at a bar.
Maybe if I just ignore contact with everyone, no one will talk to me.
Sadly, her hopes were crushed when the bartender seemingly appeared in front of her and put a mug of beer in front of her.
"Here you go, sweetheart," the bartender flirted, winking at her.
"I never want to see you again! I hate you!" (A/N: All the flashbacks are in bold.)
"Oh, um… thank you, but I don't drink," Juvia replied, nudging the mug away from herself.
"Oh, come on. It's just one little drink, besides, you might want more once you've started. Your whole tab will be on me."
"N-no thank you."
The bartender shrugged and walked away while saying, "Okay, if you really wanna be a stiff, be my guest."
A drunk woman wrapped her arm around Juvia's shoulders and giggled, barely able to hold the whiskey bottle in her hand. Everything ran in slow motion and turned into blurs of color and alcohol and drunk people and get away!
"I don't want to kiss a stalker! I don't love you! I don't even like you like that! Never have, never will! You're always so creepy, stalking me and throwing yourself at me. Why can't you be more normal, like Lucy?"
Flashbacks ran through her mind of the day that shook her world. Unable to handle any of it, she got off the bar stool and began pushing through the crowds, becoming more frantic the more she pushed through the crowds. She pushed through crowds and frantically shoved through couples attached to each other's lips. Finally, she made it out of the door. However, she did not stop running. She ran even faster, sprinting away until she could no longer hear the party, but she did not dare to look back. She ran so fast that everything became a blur of colors and buildings.
Run. Keep on running. Don't stop running. RUN.
Eventually, she tripped on a stone in the walkway and came to a tumbling halt. No doubt she had cuts and bruises just waiting to be formed. When she looked around, she realized that she was all alone in the little courtyard and that so much time had passed that it was already dark outside. On the dark, empty walkway, Juvia broke down in tears and the town of Treecap faced the worst rainstorm the citizens had ever seen.
Laxus was at the bar when a mug of beer suddenly slid across the bar and stopped right in front of him. "Are you gonna refuse my offer to a free drink, too?" the bartender mocked. Laxus grabbed the mug and downed it all in one go, smirking at the bartender. "Does that answer your question?" he teased.
The bartender laughed and replied, "It's good to see someone with just as much of an appetite for alcohol as myself. What's your name?"
"Laxus Dreyar. Yours?" he asked, holding out his hand.
"Jez Treecap," the bartender replied, grasping Laxus' hand and shaking it.
"Y'know, you remind me of this chick at my guild. A busty brunette with an ungodly amount of alcohol tolerance. She'd marry alcohol if she could."
The bartender laughed, "Yeah, sounds about right. Sadly, I think I'm the only girl 'round here who likes it."
"How come?"
"I offered a drink to some hottie I had never seen in this town before and she just flat-up refused my drink. What a stiff, am I right?" she scoffed, glancing down at her nails for a brief moment.
"I dunno. Maybe today was just not her day," Laxus hesitantly responded. A certain blue-headed water mage's image popped into his head. "Maybe she has bad memories of alcohol."
The bartender scoffed. "Even so, she could've at least drank it for me."
Laxus narrowed his eyes at the bartender. "She owes you nothing. She doesn't have to do anything just 'cause you want her to," he growled, clenching his fists at the bartender's jerk attitude.
"Woah, easy there buddy. I was just annoyed that she wouldn't let loose just a little bit," the bartender defended, holding her hands up in a back off gesture.
"There's no reason to act so cocky. Maybe that's why she refused you," Laxus growled back.
"Do you know who I am?"
"No, and frankly, I don't care. No title or relation ever gives you the right to hurt other people," Laxus growled, his memory bringing about memories of an epic battle between guild members, and the word excommunication flashing in front of his eyes.
"Watch your attitude bud. I could have you thrown out of this town without a second thought. I could also make you go to jail," the bartender threatened, her head getting dangerously close to Laxus' own. By this point, the crowds had gone quiet and still as they watched the fight break out.
"Who do you think you are, the mayor?"
"No, I'm his granddaughter," she replied, cracking his fists. The Thunder God Tribe had heard Laxus' voice and were rushing to defend Laxus. However, the crowds kept them from ever getting close enough to do so. "I pity him. It's no wonder he didn't mention you to my team and I that he hired. And he didn't even mention the people that are the main features of the parade to his own granddaughter. How sad."
"YOU WANNA FIGHT, YOU BA-"
Rain abruptly began pouring on the rooftop of the mansion-like house, drowning out the last word of the bartender. "Man, why'd it have to rain? It's so gloomy when it rains," the bartender whined.
Freed sharply inhaled and looked at his two companions, his eyes wide with understanding. "Have either of you seen Juvia since we arrive here?" Freed shakily asked his companions.
"No."
"Is she here now?"
When the three found no sign of her, they looked back to the two men about to fight. "Laxus!" Freed yelled, cupping his hands in front of his mouth so that his voice was louder than theirs.
"Don't interrupt me, I'm about to teach this punk a lesson," Laxus growled, lightning zipping across his clenched fists.
"But Juvia's in trouble!" Freed bellowed.
Laxus froze, his eyes widening at the statement. He dropped the bartender's collar and turned into a lightning bolt, reappearing outside the house. The trio looked around the room and Bickslow threatened, "Well, get outta the way! Before we make you."
The crowd parted for the trio and they hastily made their way out of the house. When they came upon Laxus, they saw him sniffing the air. "Yeah, it's definitely Juvia's rain," Laxus mumbled. He turned toward Freed and said, "Now, where is she?"
"We don't know. We were hoping that you would know, or at least be able to find her with your nose," Freed replied.
"Rain washes away scents," Laxus replied. "Besides, this whole rain reeks of her so much that I wouldn't even be able to smell her apart from it if she were right in front of me."
"Maybe she's at the hotel," Bickslow suggested.
The group rushed towards the hotel, their shoes splashing through puddles. When they arrived at the hotel, Freed said, "Bickslow and I will check our room just in case. Evergreen, check your shared room. Laxus, go to the attendant at the front desk and see if you can get any information on Juvia's whereabouts from her."
The trio ran off to the two rooms, leaving Laxus in the lobby. He turned toward the mid-twenties attendant at the desk and marched over to him. "Have you seen a blue haired girl 'round here in last hour or so?" he asked.
"A blue haired girl?" he replied.
"Yeah. Blue hair, blue eyes, about this tall," Laxus spoke, gesturing with his hands to describe Juvia.
"Oh, you mean that cute girl who, according to rumors, will be this year's mermaid in the annual festival?"
"Yeah. Her."
"Sorry, I haven't seen her since she rushed out this morning."
"Oh."
"Although, you might find her at my sister's party," he offered.
"Your…sister?"
"Yeah. Her name is Jez."
"Your sister is that jerk?!"
"Oh, so you have met her. Yeah, it surprises me too sometimes that we're related," he sighed. "We both have a heavy influence on this town because our grandfather's the mayor. She uses her influence to get cheap drugs and throw massive parties. She also threatens to run people out of town or throw them in jail, but not even our grandfather can do that just because he wants to, much less the mayor's granddaughter. I'm sorry if she gave you a hard time."
"Don't apologize, it ain't your fault. But it is her fault Juvia's crying and I'm not happy with her."
"Who's Juvia?"
"She's the girl we're lookin' for."
"Really?!"
"Yep."
"So, are you all in the parade?"
"Yeah. All five of us were hired by the mayor, your grandfather, to help."
"That's so cool! I'm gonna be in it, too! Maybe I could help you guys and show you around," he cheered, excited at the prospect of new friends.
Before Laxus could respond, the trio came back rushing back, panting. "Sorry, but you'll have to excuse us," Laxus apologized, watching as the attendant nodded and walked away. When he left, Laxus turned back to the trio. "Any luck?" Laxus asked, only to be responded by all three shaking their heads.
"Great, just great. Now what can we do?" Laxus grumbled.
"Maybe if we wait here, she'll come back eventually-"
"I doubt it," Evergreen interrupted. "When I woke up this morning, Juvia was acting a little jumpy. When I invited her to spend the day with us, she seemed shocked that I had offered it."
"Why would she be shocked?" Freed asked.
"I'll tell you if you'd stop interrupting me! Now then, when I asked her why she was shocked, she confessed that she just thought we were going to ditch her."
"We'd never do such a thing," Freed defended.
"Apparently, she doesn't think that we like her all that much. She might even think that we hate her."
"She thinks that we…" Freed trailed off.
"…Hate her?" Bickslow said, finishing Freed's sentence.
"I'm afraid so," Evergreen replied.
"We have to find her. Now," Laxus announced. "We'll split up and look from here. Evergreen, you go east. Bickslow, you go south. Freed, you go west. I'll go north. Everyone takes a communication lacrima with them and if you find her, contact us and we'll meet back here. Got it?"
With the nods from everyone, Freed then added, "Then let's find Juvia. Our nakama." With that statement, the group went to the hotel's front doors and split up, everyone breaking into runs to find their dear friend.
"Don't worry, Juvia. I'm comin' for ya."