"Oi! Wake up, dammit!"
A voice echoing through the emptiness of her mind, stirred her awake in an instant. Red orbs came into vision, when she slowly opened her eyes, getting a look at the ceiling too, if you could call it that. The roof over their heads, was a constant threat, as it could collapse at any time. She swallowed a couple of times before remembering what had transpired earlier. She sat up in a quick motion, startling the boy at her side.
What happened? Why was she still alive? Where was Jellal? And those twins?
Erza slowly lifted her right hand, only to see the purple rose gone. Where was it? She remembered clearly how that specific rose had been branded into her hand, while she had been in suffering pain. She studied her hand closely, but found no trace what so ever that she was ever touched by anything. Had it been a dream? It was so clear in her head, she doubted it could have been a project of her imagination, but who knew.
"Oi! We gotta go!" A rough voice stated beside her and the big teen it belonged to, had gotten up and looked down on her.
"Gajeel? What are you doing here?" She asked, generally confused on how he got there and why he was helping her in the first place. For all she knew, she would have imagined him to just leave her there and go on without her, but he hadn't done that, which was very out of his character.
"What do you think I'm doing here?! I'm looking for Flame-boy so I can kick his ass!" He sneered at her and crossed his arms defiantly.
"Natsu went ahead." Erza stated relatively calm, despite being mighty confused about her hand. She placed the other, also seemingly healthy hand on her head, trying to make up her mind. It wasn't supposed to be a dream, but maybe it was.
"Then let's go!" He rushed her along and started towards the same door, Natsu, Lucy, Leon and Gray had run through.
"Wait, where are the children?" she quickly asked, as she got on her feet. She also silently dusted herself off, while looking about for any sign of kids. She was still so confused. What had actually happened to her? Looking around, the place looked exactly the same as when they got there.
"What the hell are you talking about?! Are you coming or not?" Gajeel asked, clearly impatient. He just wanted to get out of there already and if he had to leave the s-class mage behind, so be it. With that thought in mind, he continued towards the door.
Things had just become too weird, too fast. The mission, the mysterious woman who attacked Natsu and him, Levy becoming MIA* and Juvia's disappearance. Why he had been dragged into this, he didn't know, but he was clearly happy about getting his revenge on Creed. The creep had almost killed Levy, he deserved getting his ass kicked.
Erza quickly caught up with him and as awkward as it was, the two of them continued down the hall together.
The bluenette sat, confused on the stone floor, watching the two teens argue before her. Not much fighting had been done, only a couple of punches had been thrown out. The two boys, who looked so alike, had clearly been worried about her, but for what reason she didn't know. The green eyed one had shouted about someone being impure and such, while the other, the blue eyed one, had clearly disagreed with him and started shouting too. The bickering had been going on for quite awhile, but it seemed one of them were getting impatient and looked at her with clear irritation in his blue eyes.
"Juvia, you know this guy right?!" The boy shouted, sounding angry as he spoke. The bluenette eyed the half naked teen, which by the way she found weird, and thought hard. Who was this guy again? Had she met him somewhere?
A dark blue mark made itself at home on the right side of his chest and it instantly caught her attention. That mark seemed so familiar it was scary, but she just couldn't seem to remember. Even more so, she couldn't remember where she had been before now, it was all just gone from her mind.
Her eyes traveled to the other male and instantly recognized him. The boy she had spent her childhood days with stood before her, argueing with a stranger.
"Neel?" Her voice rang way to high in the semi-empty room, even though the two teens had been yelling. Both of them looked at her, one seemingly happy, the other confused.
She remembered when she woke up, how the boy had hugged her, but then heard the other teen call her name, which she thought was weird, seeing as she didn't know him and she had never seen him before.
"What's going on..?" She seemed groggy and definetely out of sorts. What was she doing there? Why was Neel there? Who was that guy looking just like her childhood friend and why where they fighting?
"Juvia, snap out of it! We're here to save you!" the boy yelled and looked at her with both confused and a bit angry eyes.
Who where 'we' and why did they think she needed to be saved? She was fine, Neel was there after all. He had always been there... Right? Her memories seemed all mixed up, like something was missing. She remembered the orphanage, the other kids, the rain and the never ending happy times with Neel. He had always been there. They grew up together.. At least that was what she remembered, but there was something bugging her, something pinching at the back of her mind. What was it? She didn't remember what she was supposed to remember. Had it only been Neel, no one else? Had they just been those two, nothing more? They grew up together. They grew up together? How come that part was so foggy? So unreal? So fake?
She knew this feeling. She had felt it before. The feeling of someone else being there, someone she had relied on, counted on, cared about? Someone other than Neel, but who? It was her imagination, there were no one like that.. Right? It didn't matter anyway, she had Neel and that was all she needed. That was all she had ever needed since the beginning..
% % %
"Well Juvia-chan, this is your new home~" The lady was nice. She cared about Juvia, at least Juvia liked to think so. Maybe the lady hated her behind her back, just like all the others, but maybe, just maybe, she actually liked the little girl, much unlike the rest of the adults she had been involved with.
The lady was holding her hand in a tight, strong grip and the girl felt more secure that way, protected. The lady had a pretty smile plastered on her face, which made the blue haired girl relax, despite being nervous. The lady's long brown hair was tied up in a stict bun on the back of her head, as a small, barely visible hairpin, held the brown locks of hair in place. Juvia could also see, the woman took great pride in her newly manicured finger nails, as she was careful not to let them touch the metal gate in front of the big house.
The house was surrounded by a metal fence, making the building look more like a prison, than 'A friendly and safe place for children all ages', like the sign hanging at the mailbox stated. Brushing some unwanted dust of her tight sitting suit, the lady pushed open the gate, making it whine at the sudden disturbance. The words 'haunted house' entered the girl's mind as they made their way up the neatly tiled house path.
The drops of rain stained the umbrella they were hiding under. The rain repellent, green colored plastic making up the umbrella, oddly enough spoke to the girl, she liked that color. Of course, it was her fault they even needed an umbrella in the first place, but the lady didn't seem to know that. They hadn't known each other for very long, which was probably why Juvia still did not know of the woman's name. They had just met the day before, when the nice lady had found her under a tree in the park not far from there. She had told of a place where children like Juvia herself, could come and live, make friends and maybe even get a new family one day. A place like that sounded imaginary, but was real none the less.
After a load of talking and encouraging from the strange woman, Juvia had followed her to a hotel, where they stayed the night. It had been a nice hotel, the first time she was treated nicely in a long while, if ever. Things were looking up, if she did say so herself. After breakfast, the woman had brought her here, the creepy prison-like house, with a big overgrown garden. Stepping under the canopy and up the small set of stairs, they finally reached the front door, where the the lady ringed the doorbell.
It was still early morning, the sun barely even risen, not that it could be seen, as it was covered by a thick layer of rain clouds, but morning none the less. The birds had yet to start singing their morning song and the moister in the air made the big garden seem like a rain forest.
Getting no answer at the door, the woman pressed the bell yet again. This time, a tired voice could be heard from the other side and soon enough, the door swung open in a slow manner, indicating the person on the other side had just gotten out of bed.
Another woman showed up at the door, looking quite pleased with herself for getting out of bed at this ungodly hour, but as soon as her eyes locked on Juvia, her smug face instantly showed sympathy and pity.
"Who do we have here?" she asked the girl's companion, who suddenly seemed more than willing to let the girl go.
Holding out a hand beside the little bluenette she introduced her, "This is Juvia-chan, I found her wondering around yesterday and thought of bringing her here."
"Well, that certainly seemed like a good decision, she'll be save here." the much older looking woman at the door stated. Soon after that, she crouched down in front of Juvia and smiled.
"Hello Juvia-chan, I'm Ingrid, nice to meet you~"
Juvia remained silent, just staring at her with emotionless eyes. Ingrid cleared her throat, seemingly uncomfortable and got on her feet once again.
"I'll take her from here, you don't need to worry." Ingrid stated to the brown haired lady, making her back off a little.
"Didn't plan on it, I need to get going anyway." the younger woman said and turned on her heel to make her grand escape. At that point, Juvia reached out and grabbed her hand, preventing her from going anywhere. The lady looked down on her, a much irritated look planted on her face, but it quickly changed into a smile.
"Juvia-chan, I have to go now, I have work to do, sorry~" the woman held up a hand in apology and quickly, but carefully rid herself of the girl's grip.
Juvia looked sad, as she tried reaching out for the woman once again, only the lady's words stopped her. Those dreaded words, she had heard over and over, to the point of insanity.
"I say that, but this rain sure is gloomy huh?"
The little bluenette let her hand drop to her side, as she watched her only source of security in years, walk away after having said the words that would forever follow the girl around.
The older woman at the door laid her hands on Juvia's shoulders, also watching the lady walk down the path of which they came.
"I've never liked that woman~" Ingrid stated calmly, as she tightened her grip on Juvia. The lady disappearing down the street, Ingrid relaxed again.
"Well Juvia-chan, What do you say about meeting your new friends?" With those words, the woman led her inside the unfamiliar house and her new life as an orphan had just begun.
% % %
Those memories were coming back to her now. How she had been alone and afraid, how she had met the strange woman who brought her to the orphanage and how she was accepted by Ingrid. Old, strange memories. Memories she didn't need, but couldn't get rid of. Memories who held no meaning or value to her. Why did she have to remember the stuff she didn't want to?
She looked to Neel once again. The dark haired boy was so familiar to her. He was her best friend.. No, he had been more than that. She loved him. She always had. Back then and now..
% % %
All eyes were focused on her and she definitely didn't enjoy the attention.
Earlier that day, Ingrid had brought her to a big dining hall, filled to the brim with empty tables and chairs. Juvia had thought the place would be flooding with children, but not one single child was present in the room, besides herself of course. She had been mighty confused for a moment, until Ingrid started explaining.
"This is the dining hall, where you're gonna have your breakfast and dinner from now on. It's empty now, but later, when the others get up, there'll be some friends for you to talk to~" Ingrid sounded happy, excited on Juvia's behalf.
The bluenette girl remained ever silent, which once again put Ingrid in an awkward position.
"W-Well, let's get you checked in!" She laughed and pulled the girl out of the big room yet again.
There were more rooms than children, which is why she ended up without a roommate. Her room was quite big, but pretty ugly as well. The walls had been covered by vomit colored wallpaper, while the floor suffered a beige carpet, covering the entire space under her feet. The room also had a bunk bed, despite the girl being it's only inhabitant. She choose the bottom bunk, for no other reason then to just choose one. The place did seem nice, but weird as well. She had yet to see another child in the house, but as Ingrid explained, they were probably sleeping.
Not for long though. Soon enough Ingrid had brought her to the dining hall again, and this time approximately ten children was seated about, all looking at her when she entered. Children her own age, children younger than her, even those older than her. Maybe this place hadn't had good business going or something, since ten children in an entire orphanage, wasn't exactly a good deal.
As Ingrid and another, much younger woman, Juvia had yet to know the name of, got ready to introduce her, they started whispering.
"You haven't found him yet?" Ingrid whispered to the other in a low, but strict voice.
"I'm sorry, He just ran off yesterday and since then, been gone completely~" The younger woman, who was at this point barely even an adult, was on the verge of tears and quickly hid her face from the children. Juvia's guess was that the girl, probably in her late teens, was very likely an orphan who had grown up here.
"Then keep looking!" Ingrid sneered, still keeping her voice in a low tone, preventing the children form hearing anything. The finality in her voice, made the poor girl walk of, to continue her search for the missing kid.
"Well everybody, I know you're all hungry and want breakfast, but we have a new face among us this morning~!" Ingrid sounded excited once again and grabbed Juvia by the shoulders, "This is Juvia-chan, please make her feel welcome!"
All sorts of different eyes were now staring at her, some excited, others completely uninterested. Juvia looked around for someone her age, in the slight chance they actually wanted to be friends with her. Only two children though, looked her age, but what did she know, looks could be deceiving.
The first one was a girl. Her light brown hair tied in small pigtails, she smiled back at the bluenette. She was wearing a small, yet light sort of dress, as the weather was still summery, only today it rained, and it would continue like that for a long time. She wouldn't be needing that dress anymore. At her table, sat an older boy, probably around 12 or 13 years old. His hair was a pretty blond, while his eyes shined ocean blue. Despite him being five or six years older then Juvia herself, she found him friendly and probably polite too.
The other one was a boy. His eyes being the same pretty green as the umbrella earlier, Juvia just looked at him. His hair was close to black and fit well with his handsome face. He was wearing a dark blue hoodie and normal jeans. Dressed for the rain, you could say, but there was something about him, something unreal. He stared back at her, seeming surprised by her look.
Juvia herself, was wearing a blue dress, despite the rain. Her blue hair hung down along side her face and curled at the ends. A Teru teru bozu** hung from the collar of the small dress and she often rubbed it for good luck, much like she did now. She let her fingers feel the friction of her skin sliding over fabric and sighed a nervous breath.
"N-Nice to meet you~" Juvia spoke quietly, surprising Ingrid. It was the first time she heard the girl talk and was surprised by how cute her little voice sounded. Her words seemed to have an impact on the children as well. Some greeted her back, while others started giggling of her weak voice.
The boy from before started smiling, as she spoke, which she found weird, but polite none the less.
"Alright Juvia-chan, you can sit down over there." Ingrid pointed at the table with the girl she had been looking at. Both her and the blond boy beside her smiled, when Juvia nodded and made her way towards that particular table. As she sat down, Ingrid quickly disappeared into the kitchen, or at least that was what Juvia assumed was behind the double doors at the other side of the dining hall.
"Hi Juvia-chan, I'm Kaneko!" The girl across the table stated and smiled when Juvia nodded in a 'nice to meet you' kind of way. "And this is Thomas!" She pointed a finger the the blond boy, who smiled when his name entered the conversation, if you could call it that.
"Hello." Juvia said shyly and bowed her head. The bluenette wasn't one for conversation, but in times like these, it was necessary.
The dark haired boy was still looking Juvia's way and the girl found it kind of creepy. 'Maybe he wanted to be friends' a small voice in the back of her mind stated. It was a good thing.. Right?
Kaneko noticed the boy's stare as easily as Juvia did, since the bluenette was staring back at him. The brown haired girl therefore let out a strained sigh and shrugged her shoulders.
"That's Neel, I would stay away from him if I were you~" Kaneko whispered to Juvia, who blinked surprised by her words.
"Why? He seems nice~" Juvia asked, clearly confused.
"He's bad news, always gets into trouble." The girl stated and looked completely serious.
"Neel huh? What a weird name." Juvia wasn't one to talk, her name was pretty weird too, but she didn't know why she had her name in the first place, so it didn't count, right?
"Whatever~ Hey Thomas, where's Le-chan?" Kaneko shoved the subject of Neel away and asked Thomas.
"Don't know, haven't seen him since yesterday." The blond answered and yawned.
"Who's Le-chan?" Juvia asked, curious.
"Ah~ He's a friends of ours, but he's been really distant lately~" Kaneko sighed and laid bemused across the table, quite unlady-like.
"His real name is Leon, we don't know what to do with him." Thomas continued, sighing as well.
"Leon?" Juvia repeated the name questioning.
"His only around five years old, Ingrid asked us to look after him, but he keeps running off~" Kaneko said, resting her chin on her arm, looking up at Juvia.
"Huh~" Juvia had run out of things to talk about, so she kept quiet, listening to Kaneko and Thomas discussing Leon's whereabouts.
% % %
What was that? She remembered the children, who talked to her that day. That first time she saw Neel. Hearing about that Leon kid, but why did that name sound familiar, like she had heard it quite recently.
Before she had time to think about it, Neel had made his way towards her, the other teen not making a move. She didn't know why, but the guy who was staring at her from afar, seemed familiar as well. She brushed that off, as he looked to much like Neel to be considered someone she thought she knew.
Neel bowed down by her side, as he mumbled to himself.
"Where the hell is Signe?!" He seemed angry by the lack of this 'Signe' person's presence.
Why the other boy hadn't made a move to attack Neel, was beyond Juvia too. Why was he just standing there, with that weird facial expression? Who was he anyway? Why were they fighting in the first place?
"What's going on Neel?" Juvia asked her childhood friend, who seemed out of breath. When he looked at her, he smiled reassuring.
"Nothing for you to worry about Juvia~" He rested his hand on her cheek for a minute, only to then let it drop to the ground again.
Juvia looked worried at him, as she put her hand on his shoulder to get him to look at her. His green eyes met hers and he softened his expression.
"I love you, Juvia" Neel stated wholeheartedly, getting on his feet to face the other male once again. Why did he insist on fighting that guy? He should just let it be and walk away.
A thought hit her.
What if that strange guy was trying to hurt Neel? What if he was here to make her friend suffer?
She got on her feet. Despite the intense pain in her leg, which by the way she couldn't remember how ended up that way, she looked at the blue eyed teen with anger in her expression. The guy seemed totally shocked by her actions, as he stared at her with wide eyes. Flinching when she walked, she continued towards the stranger, who for some reason looked worried at her.
"Juvia?" Neel seemed worried too, but for another reason. She was going to him, what did she plan on doing? Had she remembered her life with the impure beings? Did she intend to go back with them?
She might be injured, but that didn't mean she couldn't do damage herself. Therefore she breathed deep breaths and gathered the leftover energy around her. She had a feeling she could do it. Control the water like she did back then. Only this time, she had a target in mind. She hastily approached the shocked teen with the familiar mark on his chest.
* Missing In Action
** The Teru teru bozu is a doll, made by Japanese children before the desired day for good weather. Prayers are made to these dolls, to bring good weather and sunshine the next day.
It got a little long didn't it?
Well, I'm starting to reveal Juvia's secret past and her relationship with Neel ;)
It doesn't look good for Gray, huh?
One test left of my finals and I'm done! It's gonna be good with some summer vacation, with lots of free time to write in :D
I'm gonna have a good weekend too; I'm getting a new room, I'm gonna play some Sims 3 and I will just lay around being lazy xD
Well, I, who is listening to Celine Dion (Sue me! I like her!) is getting off here, so remember to Review and have a good weekend (I'm planning too)
I'll be back with more ^^