Warning depictions of rape in this chapter.
Juvia was alone in her bedroom at night, kneeling by the window and praying while holding her crucifix necklace in her hands. She had just finished saying her prayers when she heard her door creak open. She stood up and went to look into it.
"Hello?" She said looking out the doorway. "Is someone there? Hello?"
No answer and she could see nothing in the corridor. She grabbed a lit candle off of her nightstand and took a brief walk around in the hall to see if anyone was there. But like before she could see nothing or no one. She went back into her bedroom, closed the door which she locked, blew out her candle, and crawled into bed. But as soon as she laid down she saw Gray on the ceiling in his real form. Before she could even gasp he dropped down and firmly covered her mouth with his hand while hovering over her.
"Do not scream." He said to her in a harsh whisper.
She nodded and he removed his hand from her mouth. He could hear her heart pounding rapidly and her body was trembling. There was something in his eyes that had her completely petrified. Some kind of dark, sinful emotion that she could not place at the moment.
"Please." She whispered fearfully. "Please don't hurt me."
He ran his demonic claws down her cheek but not hard enough to tear her skin or draw blood. It sent shivers up her spine and each time he touched her she felt the urge to flinch away. Typical reaction from a woman who still has her virtue in tact and has never been sullied by a man.
"You've really never been touched, have you?" He asked her.
Now she knew what emotion was in his eyes. It was lust. Lust and sexual desire.
"No." She said when she realized what he had in mind. "Please. Don't."
She pleaded with him not to do it but he couldn't hold himself back any longer. Her virginal beauty, her chaste body, her untouched skin, it was more than he could bear. When she tried to run he held her down and started to tear her nightgown. She screamed and cried but none of it appealed to his better nature. He chose to violate her in a cruel and evil manner with no pity or remorse. Blood, tears, screams, and then...
He woke up.
He sat up in a flash and was panting as if he had been deprived of oxygen for hours. For a moment he thought that what he saw had actually happened and expected to find blood on his hands when he looked down but they were clean. Which meant that horrible image was just a nightmare. It wasn't real. But who's to say that one day it couldn't become real?
Thinking back to last night and how Juvia had embraced him, then cried for him made him fear that it had made his urges grow stronger. What if he lost control? He had done it before. Albeit it had never been due to lust but when he did lose control there was almost no stopping him. Words could not describe how guilty he felt over what he done when he would lose control of himself but if he ever did something like he did in the dream then he wasn't sure if he could go on living.
"Why?" He wondered. Why was it easy for her to be affectionate with him? Why did she not feel the need to hide her compassion for him? Why was she not hesitant to treat him like he was a human being instead of a monster? Why were the physical and personality traits the same but the treatment toward him completely different?
He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. He put on a shirt and answered it. As if fate couldn't be anymore cruel to him, Gajeel happened to be the person on the other side. Gray fought the urge to gulp.
"Oh dear God please don't let this man somehow have the ability to sense impure thoughts." He prayed internally.
"What are you doing here?" Gray asked him.
"Juvia and I were asked to perform for the local church and she wanted me to invite you to watch the session."
"Why couldn't she invite me herself?"
"She felt that you wouldn't want to see her after last night. I was told that apparently she upset you. Wanna tell me about that?"
"She didn't say anything to you?"
"She doesn't know why she upset you and from what she told me I don't know either. So perhaps you can enlighten me?"
"I'd rather not."
"Fair enough. Anyway are you coming or not?"
"You actually want me to go to church with you?"
"Me personally? No. Her on the other hand, yes. She wants you to feel more accepted and to not feel like you're some mistake of nature."
"And you have no objections to this?"
"I don't like you but I would never deny anyone access to the house of God. Even if they are bloody demons or Protestants."
Gray facepalmed when he realized where this was going.
"Oh boy here we go." He huffed. "You know Catholics and Protestants stopped being rivals years ago."
"Not in Scotland and Ireland."
"Ah yes, Scotland and Ireland. The countries of barbarians, senseless violence, and men who wear skirts."
"We've been through this! They are not skirts! They're kilts and you know it!"
"If it looks like a skirt to me then it's a skirt."
"You never had any respect for my country. I still remember that time you forced me into an actual dress and said it was part of my culture."
"Yeah that was funny." He chuckled. "But you're wrong. I actually do respect your country. I just don't respect you."
Gajeel gnashed his teeth together in a very unpleasant way.
"You know one day Juvia won't be around to protect you and when that day comes I'll rip you to bloody pieces."
"I need her to protect me? From you? Is that a joke?"
"You may think that you could just squash me like a bug if you really wanted to but I'm not a child anymore. I'm a grown man who's had training in both military and exorcism. I know how to kill someone like you and I know how to do it in a way that's so fast you won't even have time to blink."
"If that's true then why you haven't you killed me yet? I know you've been itching to do it ever since you saw me again after all this time."
"Gray I am a man of the church which means I have very little that is of any value or care to me besides my religion but what little I do have happens to be two people. One of which is Juvia. For some reason she sees something in you and even though I can't understand it I won't do anything that will hurt her. Her happiness and well being means more to me than my desire to rid the world of your kind. That's why you still walk the earth."
"I don't know weather to be touched by this or disturbed by how much hate me."
"I don't hate you."
"You just said that-"
"I don't like you but I don't hate you."
"Correct me if I'm wrong but you want to kill me and when you want to kill someone doesn't that mean you hate that person."
"Not necessarily. Not everyone kills out of hate. Some people kill to protect those they love. Others kill as a means to survive. And then there are those who kill out of pity."
"Pity?"
"You know, like putting a rapid dog out of it's misery."
"Is that what I am to you? A rabid dog just waiting for to be put down?"
"Well you did try kill yourself once."
Gray looked at him briefly shock. Surprised that he knew the bit of information that he was certain he had kept concealed.
"No one told me but just because I was a kid it didn't mean I was stupid. I knew what you were really trying to do that night. The night she died."
Gray glared at the priest.
"Get out."
"As you wish." Gajeel said. "I'll tell Juvia that you didn't feel well and was unable to attend."
And with that he exited the room without another word.