Meanwhile Gray was in his room waiting for Erza call for him for another mission. As he waited he was looking at something in his hand. It was a small frame which contained a miniature portrait, it was an antique. Gray had kept it with him for years. Something that he was certain he would never be able to part with so long as he lived.
"Gray."
Juvia walked in without knocking and it startled him into dropping the frame.
"Don't you knock?!" He said angrily.
"Oh I'm sorry." She said. "I forgot. It won't happen again."
She looked down at the picture frame on the floor. The front side on it had landed on the floor so she couldn't see that picture inside.
"Here let me-" She reached down to pick up as it had landed closer to her.
"Don't!" Gray said snatching it off the floor when her fingers were just millimeters from it. "Don't ever touch my stuff, okay? I have very valuable possessions and I would not like them to be lost or broken."
"I'm sorry. I won't ever touch anything of yours." She looked back at the picture frame. It was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand and he had it turned to where only the back could be seen. "May I see the picture?"
"No."
"May I ask who it's of?"
"None of your business. Why do you want to know?"
"Just curious that's all."
"Well here's some advice, curiosity often leads to trouble. What are you doing here anyway?"
"Erza told me to get you. She says that there's been a disturbance in the town square."
"What kind of a disturbance?"
"She didn't say but I'm guessing it's a supernatural one considering that she's calling for us to look into it."
"No kidding Sister."
"You know you don't have to be so mean to me. I'm really trying to be friends here and to make nice but it's like you don't even want us to be acquaintances. And furthermore I can't shake the feeling that you've had some kind of problem with me ever since you first saw me."
"Duh! I'm a devil, you're an exorcist. You eliminate creatures like me."
"For your information I don't automatically try to destroy natural born devils. I like to give them a chance first."
"A chance for what?"
"A chance to see if they can be good. If a natural born human being can become a devil by being evil, then maybe a natural born devil can become a human by being good. Sort of like redemption."
"Redemption? Ha! And here I thought nuns couldn't be funny. Look Sister I can't be redeemed. I was condemned as soon as I drew my first breath in this world. I know where I'm going when or if I die and nothing can change that."
"I don't think you really believe that. Not one hundred percent that is."
"What are you, a psychic? You can't read my inner thoughts and feelings."
"No but if you really believe that your soul can't be saved then why do you still try to be a good person? Why do you still defend God's children?"
"Because I'm under a contract by a crazy redhead who forces me too."
"You're lying."
He was but devils were naturally gifted liars. The best there ever were. According to many myths and legends, they were so good at it that it was nearly impossible for any human to tell if one was lying one hundred percent. In other words even if humans didn't believe the lie they were told there would always be that little seed of doubt in their mind because of how sharp and silver a devil's tongue could be. That's why so many devils succeeded in tempting humans to turn away from God. But Juvia was an interesting case. She could see right through Gray and automatically knew that what he spoke wasn't true. As if she somehow knew his true heart and soul enough to differentiate falsehood in his words.
"No I'm not." He denied.
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are."
"Not I'm not."
"Yes you are. I'm completely sure of it."
"Impossible. How could you? No one can tell for sure when a devil is lying."
"Ah-ha! So you admit you're lying."
"No but if I was you wouldn't be able tell."
"But I can."
"How would you?"
"I don't know. I just somehow can and I was told that you were Protestant. Does thou shall not bear false witness, ring any bells?"
"Yeah and so does thou shall not kill but I've broken that commandment plenty of times. In fact I'm probably going to end up breaking it again tonight. Which reminds me, we should get going now."
He put the small picture frame in a drawer and quickly ushered Juvia out of his room. If he had allowed her to pick it up when he dropped it she would have seen that the miniature portrait in that frame had been an oil painting of young woman. A young woman who was the mirror image of Juvia save for the color of her hair which was a lovely shade of brown and the garments she wore which were of another time period.
When Wendy had woken up earlier this morning she had been informed of her recently discovered blood relation to Natsu and like him she was greatly surprised by these news. When night came around she immediately wanted to talk to him but after he finished his evening breakfast he had to leave with the others for another mission. She wanted to come but everyone insisted that she stay behind with Erza.
"I don't understand why I can't go with them." Wendy said to Erza as they talked in her office. "I can help. Being half vampire makes me very strong and a great fighter."
"I'm certain you are." Erza chuckled. "But you're still just a child."
"I am not. I'm almost a woman."
"No you're not."
"I'll be thirteen next year."
"Yes you'll be a teenager and in my eyes teenagers are still children."
"Don't tell me, I have to be eighteen to be considered an adult?"
"No."
"What do you mean no? The law says-"
"When it comes to this organization, the law does not decide who is an adult. I do and in my opinion age does not always make you what you are. Behavior and maturity does. My top agents Natsu and Gray are chronologically 496 years old but they still behave like twelve year old boys. Children. So I view them as children."
"They're 496 years old?"
"Oh come now, Wendy you must know that vampires don't age like humans do and neither do devils. Vampires don't age because technically they're dead so aging stops and devils don't age because their life is fueled by evil. Which means they live as long as evil does."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-four."
"Really?" She looked astonished. "I thought you were so much older."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She said looking insulted. "How old did you think I was?"
"Like a thousand or something?"
Erza looked horrified. She quickly pulled out a compact mirror and checked her face for any physical signs of age.
"Oh God, the stress of this job can't be giving me wrinkles now. What would Jellal say? He'd probably call off the engagement and leave me to die a spinster."
"Miss Erza I didn't mean it like that. I just assumed you were immortal like Natsu and Gray were. You did say that you thought of them as children so I thought you were the older one."
"Oh." She said now embarrassed. "Right. Sorry. When you've been with two immortal beings as long as I have and physically get older while they don't, you tend to get a little insecure about your appearance from time to time."
"So you're a human being?"
"Yes. I am."
"And you're younger than Natsu and Gray?"
"Much! Much more younger."
"Then why do you order them around? Shouldn't they be doing that? I mean they are older and more powerful."
"Older and more powerful doesn't always mean wiser and more mature. As I said earlier, they still behave like twelve year olds. I remember when I was seventeen and Natsu had swiped one of my lingerie magazines. The pervert. I punished him by giving him celibacy therapy."
"How is that a punishment?"
"I used ancient methods that caused pain."
"Eeee." Wendy flinched.
"Just so we're clear you do know where babies come from right?"
"Yes. I do and I know why he took the magazine. But wasn't celibacy therapy a bit harsh?"
"If he had actually been a twelve year old boy? Yes. But he wasn't. He was a grown man chronically and physically. He's also a vampire and in many cases drinking blood and arousal are the same thing to a vampire. If he was to get certain impulses he might have been tempted to drink blood by force."
"I guess that makes sense."
"Besides he went through my under wear drawer to get the magazine. He was definitely going to pay for that."
"What about Gray? Did he ever do anything like that?"
"I can't recall. He's protestant and protestants usually try to resist those kind of impulses. But he's also a devil, male, and has a youthful body that will most likely never stop producing hormones, so I don't know how good he is at it...Oh God why couldn't they have been born girls?"
Wendy laughed. She liked this lady, she was nice and funny. She was sure that she would like living with her during this difficult time.