Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!
I can't believe it's been a week already! I see a few people are really enjoying the story so far and I thank you guys for your love. I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter too!
I don't own Fairy Tail and if you see a spelling or grammatical error, please look the other way.
ENJOY!
Forgetting to remember
Chapter two
Every week, Juvia had to get checked by both Porlyusica and Mest. The pair of them were trying their best to concoct some type of medicine for her and she was grateful for it. She hated the holes in her memories and while there were some who were ready to tell her everything, she didn't want that. She was pretty okay with not being told things, she wanted to remember things for herself.
However, Invel was not forgotten. Every time she saw Gray use his magic, she was reminded of Invel. His snow, his cold demeanour, it was all engraved in her mind. For someone that wasn't a part of her past, she was surprised that his mark had left such an impression on her. She didn't really think it was fair. He was stuck on her mind while she was most definitely not on his.
"Juvia?"
The said girl turned her head to see Lucy smiling at her. Juvia couldn't help herself as she gave her a smile back. Lucy took that as an invitation to join her and she perched on the stool next to her. Juvia was grateful for the distraction. Her thoughts had been lingering on Invel too much and trying to find a way to get him to join the guild. Why was she so damn insistent?
"Are you alright, Lucy-chan?"
The blonde nodded as she fiddled with her keys. "I've just come to see how you are. You must be so bored, not being able to go on missions."
Juvia heaved a heavy sigh and nodded. She had basically been banned from jobs for a while, just to see if her situation would improve. It was getting boring. "It's also very odd knowing that I'm not an S class mage anymore. Even if I wanted to go on a job, all the jobs that I've seen on the board are all dead easy. I could sneeze and the job would be done."
Lucy giggled and Juvia's heart felt light. She had learnt to relax in the guild. They had proven time and time again that they weren't using her. On top of that, no one got punished if they were unable to clear a job. Instead, everyone asked if they were okay before consoling them. That was the sort of family that Juvia had been looking for all this time.
"I don't doubt that at all, your power is nothing to be trifled with. I wouldn't want to ever go up against you again."
There it was. Looking at her, it didn't seem like Lucy had a problem with Juvia kidnapping her. That was probably the only time Juvia wanted to know more about what had taken place. It bugged her to know that she had done such a terrible thing and was still allowed into the guild. Juvia couldn't keep quiet anymore. She had to ask, otherwise she was going to burst.
"Lucy-chan," she stared off slowly. "What did I do to you?"
Lucy shrugged and waved, clearly dismissing her worried tone. "It's a thing of the past, but essentially, my father wasn't happy that I had run away from home to become a mage. He gave your guild a job to use any measures to bring me home. Your old guild master was delighted with the job because it gave him the perfect excuse to fight us. Apparently, he has a rivalry with Fairy Tail. We later found out it's some sort of ancestral thing."
Juvia frowned. "And you have no problem with me?"
Lucy laughed as she shook her head. Juvia decided that she was out of her mind, because it wasn't funny. "Why would I? You're my friend, I can't hate you! Besides, there have been many times where you've been there for me and because I'm not strong enough, the only way I can thank you is by being a friend."
Juvia blinked before blushing and nodding her head. "Thank you very much for being honest with me."
Lucy hugged her before standing up. There was some sort of glint in her eyes, a glint that she had never really seen before. She was either going to like where this was going or she wasn't. "Which is why Natsu has gone to steal an S class job and we're taking you with us."
Before Juvia could even ask what that meant, Natsu showed up seemingly out of nowhere, grabbed both their wrists and yanked them towards the door. Juvia was very surprised that Lucy was in on it too, seeing as she was always the voice of reason whenever Natsu did something stupid.
They burst out of the guild with Happy flying after them and Natsu was cackling like a maniac. He released their wrists with a wide grin. Lucy put her thumb up at him before they turned to Juvia. She was stunned as her wide eyes took in the three of them before she exploded.
"What are you guys doing?!"
Natsu shrugged as if the reason was simple. "You haven't been happy and I can feel your annoyance. I know I would be pissed off too if I had to stay back and watch everyone go on a job. And seeing as your last memories were of you doing an S class job, why not make some new ones with us?"
Juvia was speechless before she then grinned and nodded. She could almost cry at the fact that they had done this for her. She wasn't going to let their kindness go to waste. Plus, she could feel the adrenaline pumping within her. It had been so long since she had done anything.
"Let's do this! Oh, before that. Do I have any new spells?"
Happy landed on her head. "Do you?! Aye sir! You can use blood make magic which you usually use to heal on. I've never seen you do anything offensive with it though..."
Juvia reached up and patted Happy's head in thanks. He purred as if he had found a new favourite and nestled further into her hair which made her giggle. Juvia then looked thoughtful.
"Blood make...I see, I must have used wires that came out of my arm, right?"
The trio looked impressed and Lucy voiced out what they were all thinking. "You remember that?"
Juvia shook her head with a small air of laughter. "Not at all, it's basic anatomy. It's kind of like dialysis. I honestly can't believe that I never thought of it sooner to be very honest. As for offensive attacks, I can definitely make that happen. I'll think of something, it's how I came up with a lot of my attacks."
Natsu was practically foaming at the mouth. "Wow, you're so powerful! FIGHT ME!"
Lucy and Happy face palmed, but Juvia actually looked like she was toying with the idea of it. "It would make for a very good sparring session for both of us. Yes! Let's fight after we finish this job!"
"JUVIA?!"
Natsu was cheering and raring to go while Lucy and Happy were horrified that she was actually accepting his stupid invitation to fight. She just shot Lucy a grin before patting Happy's head, as if she had everything under control.
"Don't worry, it will be fine! Fire and water are like the best opposing elements to train! Didn't I do this before?"
Natsu rolled his eyes. "No, because you were so in love with Gray, you practically devoted your whole life to him. I like you way better this way."
"Natsu, shut up," Lucy hissed. Natsu shrugged and Juvia looked down at the ground. Happy moved from her head and into her arms and she smiled at his silent way to cheer her up. She was grateful for their presence, that she didn't really mind what Natsu said.
"Lucy, there's no need to scold him for speaking his mind. It sounds like I was pretty annoying."
Natsu shook his head, clearing out all confusion. "Nah, you weren't annoying at all. You're pretty funny, it was just your love for Gray that got in the way sometimes."
Juvia was so confused. The time that she had spent around Gray, he hadn't done anything spectacular that would make the blood rush to her cheeks and make her heart pound with high speed. No one in the guild made her react like that.
Invel on the other hand...
"Don't think about him."
"Why do I like him? Did he do something for me?"
Lucy took it upon herself to answer as Natsu didn't actually know the reason. "You said that he was the reason why the rain stopped. When you fought against him, you found him really attractive. Then he kept talking about how he wanted to save me and you thought I was his girlfriend and that got him really mad. But then he knocked you off of the roof when you were out of magic and you thought he was going to let you die, but he caught you. The rain stopped and you've been in love with him ever since."
Juvia was stunned as they walked to the train station in a bit of silence. Natsu and Lucy were talking with low voices as they left her to her thoughts. She didn't think that just because he helped her overcome the rain, that instantly meant that she should be in love with him. Sure, Gray is a very attractive guy, but so is Natsu and she wasn't interested in him.
"Are you okay, Juvia?"
She looked down to see the blue exceed staring at her with worry. She could almost laugh at the fact that a talking cat was trying to make sure that she's okay. She nodded her head with a grin.
"I'm fine! Just doing some thinking. Anyway, what's this job about?"
"An uprising of some powerful S class mage who have teamed up with some of the remaining people from Alvarez. They're combining their power for something big. We don't know what it is yet, but we're going to stop them."
Juvia nodded at Lucy's words as she prepared herself. "I haven't had to fight against anyone in a while. I hope I'm not rusty. Hey Natsu, how about we make a little competition out of it."
The dragon slayer's head snapped up at the sound of a friendly competition. "What is it?"
"The person who defeats the most mages owes the other one dinner."
Natsu stuck out his hand with a smirk. Juvia connected their hands together as he smirked. "You are so on. Get ready to clean out your bank account for me!"
Juvia snickered, confident that she could win this thing. "Not likely."
Lucy glanced at Happy as they both had tears in their eyes. "I don't like this new Juvia."
~x~
Juvia had lost communication with the rest of the team a while ago. Luckily she had told them all the plan and they just had to execute it. As a member of an actual S class mage team, they pretty much let Juvia lead the job once she had been briefed. Apparently one of the men who was on Tenrou island had joined them and he was highly dangerous. Not like that bothered Juvia or Natsu. He cost bonus points.
It was fairly simple, defeating the underlings. They were far from strong. She had them tied and bound tightly using anti magic when she felt a powerful magic surge. She licked her lips in anticipation and hoped that Natsu wouldn't get to him first. She followed where it was coming from, determined to get there.
She was now standing outside, facing a man who she had obviously never seen before. He raised an eyebrow as they silently watched each other. He had black sclera but red eyes and Juvia watched him as well.
"Are you from Fairy Tail? If so, I was kind of expecting Erza. I never did get to finish our conversation from all those years ago."
Juvia relaxed her stance, but just about. She was ready to attack him if he launched at her. She wasn't like Natsu who would launch straight into a fight, she was going to wait and draw out as much information as she could before having to fight.
"I am from Fairy Tail. I do apologise, I took this job with a different team instead."
The man nodded. "I understand. You see, I'm already dead. How my corpse was dug up, I do not know. The magic that I use is lost magic and the side effect for overusing it was to turn into a tree. Someone is using reanimating magic and I can't stop their orders."
Juvia nodded but was mentally cursing. Essentially, this man had no blood, so she couldn't even make up an offensive spell on the fly. No matter, there would be other ways to fight him.
"So I have to find the mage who did this to you first?"
"That is correct. I came to respect Fairy Tail and their values, so fighting any of you isn't something I want to do."
He got into stance and sighed. That let Juvia know that what he was saying was the truth. It really was a shame that it had to come down to this. She shrugged.
"I understand. I'm guessing I also can't leave here to go and find this said mage."
"That is correct."
They both clashed as Juvia jumped out of the way of all his vines. They would be easy to cut, but she also knew that they would most probably grow back. If she played her cards wrong, more vines would multiply. She rolled her eyes as she focused on dodging, trying to find a way to find his weak spot.
"Tree magic, huh? I could either over flood him OR I could destroy him from his trunk. I think I just found a way to do that. Very quick and simple."
That was the way Juvia liked to fight. She got in and then she got straight out. It's one of the main reasons why Element Four were so quick with their jobs. Juvia was the brains of the operation and they all followed her words.
"You seem like a very nice man and I'm very sorry you have to die a second time."
The man seemed surprised at her words before shaking his head with a smile. "You found a weakness?"
Juvia nodded, twirling out of the way. "I sure did."
The man laughed and shrugged. "Please bury me."
Juvia nodded her response and put him in a water lock, ready to overload him with water. At the same time, she charged up her blood magic. Even though he was dead, he was at least running on tree sap. She used that to snuff him from the inside out.
Juvia shivered slightly, but didn't let the cold wind bother her. She knew immediately who was around and she could feel the corners of her lips quirk up. She didn't know why he was here, but she definitely had no problem with him being there.
She watched as life faded from the man's eyes. He seemed to mouth the words 'thank you' to her before she released the water lock. She frowned. He wasn't in there for too long, signifying that someone had also destroyed the puppeteer. She hoped it wasn't Natsu, because that would mean that she would be several points behind him.
She picked up the heavy man using her magic as she went to go and find the user of the snow magic. Invel was around somewhere and she wanted to see him again before he left. She could feel her heart speeding up at the prospect of meeting with him again. She had tried her best over these last few weeks to keep him out of her mind, but it proved difficult. She was enamoured by him and she didn't even understand why.
She eventually saw him near some fallen mage. It must have been the puppeteer in charge of the reanimating, because Juvia thought it was a little too easy how her opponent had been defeated. Not like she was complaining of course.
"Invel?"
The said man turned around and his eyes immediately narrowed at the sight of her. She knew he was glaring at her, but she couldn't help but find him attractive. He had done away with his smart attire and he was wearing a muscle top and jeans, despite it being minus degree weather around him.
"What are you doing here?"
She ignored his harsh tone. He probably thought she was stalking him, which was something she would never do. She hoped anyway. "I'm on a job. An S class mage job."
She saw an impressed look light up on his face before it was completely gone again. "Is that safe though? You have amnesia."
Juvia huffed. She did not want to be babied right now, even though it was cute that he showed that he cared for her safety. "I'm fine, I'm not an invalid. I certainly don't want to be treated as such. I was bored of just sitting around, I wanted to do a job."
That seemed to annoy Invel as he came and stood in front of her, his face pulled into a scowl. Juvia almost took a step backwards, but she was feeling stubborn and stuck her chin out, ready to hear what he had to say. Just how could she possibly have annoyed him now?
"So you came on an S class job because you were bored? I never pegged you to be an idiot, but you're really going to make me believe that you actually are one."
No one calls Juvia an idiot and gets away with it. Not when she had shown that she had grown a backbone with Fairy Tail. "Hey! I'm not an idiot, I know what I'm doing! I used to be an S class mage in my old guild, I'm no stranger to how the jobs work."
Invel tilted his head as Juvia realised what she had just said. It was uncommon that someone would leave their guild to join another. The only time that happens is if someone moved, got married or wanted to start their own guild.
"Old guild?"
Juvia turned her head a little bit. She wouldn't have minded telling him, but she felt like she deserved to have some secrets like he had his own. Besides, it was so embarrassing to know that she had kidnapped Lucy, even though she didn't remember it herself.
"None of your business. Anyway, why are you here? I left you alone like you wanted and now you end up here, interrupting a job that I'm on. I could have scored some serious brownie points if I fought this man and won before Natsu showed up."
Invel crossed her hands over behind him and looked as if he had no intention of telling her anything, but he soon did. "I have picked up work as an independent mage. It's my only way for atonement..."
There it was again, all that negative chatter about Kami knows what. Juvia didn't know what to say and she also didn't know how to ask. She didn't want to ask him what he was talking about because she didn't want him shutting her out yet again.
He was watching her and she smiled slightly. "I won't ask. So you received orders directly from the council?"
"I did indeed. It was a very simple job that pays very highly."
Juvia smiled at him, her previous annoyance about not getting to fight the enemy gone. "That's good. I'm happy for you."
Juvia turned around and headed towards Azuma's body. She gathered him up in her water lock and started looking for a place where she could leave the body. Invel was busy tying up his own villain to know what Juvia was doing. He stood up, ready to contact the council with his results when he decided to glance over at what Juvia was doing. He was surprised to see her digging at the ground with her water magic.
"What are you doing?"
"This man was brought back to life from 7 years ago because he was powerful. He asked me to give him a proper burial this time. He must have fought Erza, because he knew her."
"Fought?"
"Yes, he was an enemy of Fairy Tail. Or so he told me."
"And yet you're giving him a burial." It wasn't even a question, just a statement of shock.
Juvia nodded. "I am. He acknowledged his mistakes and he wasn't hostile. At the end of the day, he's a human so he should be buried like one. I have no right in judging anyone's past when my own isn't clean."
Invel waited for a few seconds before huffing. "You look pitiful. Take this."
Juvia looked up to see him offering an ice spade. He wasn't looking at her as he did so, but Juvia couldn't help herself as she smiled in thanks. She gently took it from his hand and he made another one for himself as they started digging together.
"You speak as if you know about a life of villainary."
She shrugged, trying to make it seem like it was nothing. At the time, she never saw herself as a villain. She was in a guild that wasn't illegal and they were just doing the jobs that they had been given. Of course she never questioned the way things had been done because she just assumed that Jose knew what he was doing. The more time she had spent with Fairy Tail, the more she realised that Jose had actually taken advantage of her loneliness.
"I was given a second chance. I too was once an enemy to Fairy Tail."
She could feel his heavy stare on her, but she didn't stop and she didn't look up.
"And they let you join their guild?"
"Yes."
Invel let out a sound of disbelief. "How can they just let an enemy join their guild? That will be their downfall one day. They'll let the wrong person in and suddenly they'll be crushed from the inside."
Invel sounded so sure of himself, but Juvia chuckled a little bit and shook her head. "As I don't remember any of them except for Gajeel-kun, I guess my answer will not be so biased. They're powerful. Their love and their bond can wipe out any hate from anyone's heart. It might be odd to think about it in that way, but they stopped my rain. I, an enemy, was allowed to join them, and they welcomed me with open arms. That strength and bond can never be crushed."
Invel made a face that looked like he wasn't happy to hear about Fairy Tail, but she let it roll off. She wasn't expecting for him to understand it, as she didn't even really know how she felt at the time.
"It still sounds like a weakness to me, but I understand how they may have enticed you. You mentioned that it always rained around you. Was it perpetual rain?"
They had actually dug a good portion of the grave together and Juvia decided to lower Azuma in. Invel stopped her and decided to pick up the body himself and she thanked him.
"Yes it was. The rain followed me wherever I went and Fairy Tail helped me get rid of it. It took many years, but it's finally gone and I guess that I'll forever be grateful to them."
"Humph."
Juvia rolled her eyes slightly at his behaviour, but she didn't discredit him. She knew that with magic such as his own, it was difficult to trust others. Elemental magic was a strong reflection of a person's personality and the fact that Invel made it too cold to be around him showed that he didn't want anyone around him.
"Well, what about you? Don't you have at least one person you can trust?"
He hauled the body into the makeshift grave and neatly placed him on the ground. He crossed Azuma's arms over his chest and hopped out of the hole. Juvia started pouring the dirt back on top of him as she muttered what seemed to be a prayer. Having grown up in an orphanage that was run by the church, she knew many prayers and chants for occasions such as this.
"I did and now he's gone."
Juvia almost beamed at him, but she hid it nicely. He had opened up to her about one thing, despite it being a very quick and sharp response. She didn't want to push her luck by saying anything else about it, so she just kept her mouth closed instead.
"I'm sorry to hear that. And that's why you would rather become an independent mage?"
"Yes. I would rather be alone. There's no need to trust anyone else but myself."
Juvia stopped as she glanced over at him. He continued to pour the soil back over Azuma's body, not noticing that Juvia had stopped. She gave him a sad look, wondering whether or not she should speak on it. Why would he not trust anyone else? Who was this man who had once been a friend and why did he leave him?
"I see...So what will you do with this man? Are you taking him to the council?"
She saw him glance up and over his glasses and she almost gasped at how hot he looked. His smouldering gaze had her captivated and his eyes were the colour of blood. Quite fitting for his magic almost. She could feel heat flooding her veins which she found ironic, but it was too hard to look away. He was staring into her very soul and she didn't even mind.
He smirked at her which made her jump slightly and she decided that it was something she would like to see again.
"You didn't ask me about who this person was and why I can't bring myself to trust anyone else."
Juvia tried her best to shrug carelessly. Kami, he was so delicious when he chuckled so deeply like that. It sent some sort of tingle through her body and she tried to make it seem like he had no effect on her. Of course she couldn't bring herself to ask him about this mysterious person! Besides, she only really cared that he could come to trust her one day.
"It's none of my business, is it?"
He nodded. "You learn quickly, I appreciate that."
Juvia rolled her eyes, but said nothing. She then spoke up quietly. "I know that I've lost my memory and I don't remember much of the recent past, but I don't know what it is about you...I just know that I can trust you."
She saw him almost drop his spade as his head went flying up, eyes wide. She also stopped. They were almost done, thank goodness. It was a tedious job, but she had promised to do it and that was something she wanted to follow through on.
"Excuse me, what?"
Juvia smiled and shrugged. She could feel the heat flooding to her cheeks as she decided to speak her mind. "Exactly what I said. I just have this feeling that whoever you are, I myself can trust you. Is that weird?"
"Yes," he hissed sharply. "We didn't know each other before and when we came into contact with each other, we were enemies! You can not just trust everyone you come into contact with!"
When he had come forward and grabbed her arm to shake some sense into her, Juvia wasn't aware of how quickly he had bridged the gap to come close to her. Her eyes were wide as she tilted her head up to stare at him. His eyes had hardened and he was breathing hard from either over exertion or anger. She was tempted to go with the latter. She seemed to have a knack in getting him angry.
However, with Invel's hand gripping tightly onto Juvia's arm, it seemed to trigger some sort of memory from deep within, practically flashing across her eyes almost like a ball of white light. She saw a young child, a boy sitting on the edge of the cliff, surrounded by nothing but snow.
"Gah!"
Juvia cradled her head with her free hand, almost ripping herself from Invel's hands, but his grip tightened on her. Not in a painful way though, just so he was holding her to keep her standing upright. Panic spread throughout his body, wondering what was happening to her.
"Juvia?"
She grunted from the sharp pain and shook her head slightly, not wanting to be seen as weak in his eyes. She could feel herself gasping for air, waiting for her eyes to be reorientated. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I just had a memory from my past. I'm okay." She gently pulled her arm back and his grip loosened. She could see him wanting to ask more questions and wanting to know more, but he would be a hypocrite if he expected her to open up while he didn't.
"I see. Anything good?"
Juvia could almost laugh at his attempt at trying to make things better, but she couldn't. Not when she was still in some sort of pain. "I'm not sure. Anyway, I better get going. My team will be wondering where I am."
His grip loosened completely as he let go and the chill that had accompanied his touch managed to leave Juvia empty inside. She almost frowned, but she handed Invel his spade back and he waved his hand, melting it. Juvia closed her eyes and said another silent prayer before standing back. When she opened her eyes, everything was okay again. She could see clearly.
The pair of them were watching each other, as if waiting for the other to speak. Invel inwardly chuckled before taking his prisoner.
"I guess I shall be taking my leave then."
Juvia silently nodded her head and he was gone, taking the rest of the cold with him. Natsu, Lucy and Happy showed up just in the nick of time and Natsu frowned as he sniffed the air. Lucy rolled her eyes at his weirdness, but just grinned at Juvia. The water mage smiled, but still couldn't get her mind off of Invel. She knew that it had to be him in her flashbacks, but nothing was making sense because she didn't know how he fit in her past.
"Hey Juvia, what are you doing here?"
She pointed at the spot where she had just buried Azuma. "There was a guy that I fought, Azuma. There was a reanimating mage who brought him back to life and he wanted for me to bury him when the mage died. Don't worry, I didn't kill him, an independent mage did."
"The guy with the snow magic?"
The three of them turned to Natsu as he had his arms crossed over his chest and a serious look on his face. Juvia was ready to lie to him, but it was futile. He could smell him and a dragon slayer's nose was never wrong. Juvia hoped that no warning would be issued as Invel did mention that they were once enemies. He was obviously very guilty about her offering for him to join their guild.
"Yes. Invel was here."
Natsu nodded slowly. "As long as he didn't attack you, I've got no problem with him."
Juvia mentally sighed with relief. That was good. She was a capable mage who could look after herself and while she gathered that Invel is extremely powerful, so is she. Lucy on the other hand didn't look like she liked it.
"Are you sure you're okay? After what he did to you, I would personally stay away. I guess you don't really remember."
Juvia grew cold as the blood in her body paused. For a minute, she thought that Invel had come back. "What are you talking about?" She whispered gently. Lucy looked like she had spoken out of turn and didn't really want to say anything, so Happy decided to use his cuteness to break the news. They knew that Juvia was content with staying in the dark about almost everything until they found a way to get her memories back and stop the amnesia from affecting all her other memories, but this couldn't be hidden any longer.
"Uh, he's the reason why you lost your memory. In the war, he basically linked you and Gray, turning your mind to mush. The only way to stop the process was if one of you killed the other. The two of you decided to stab yourselves, hence the wound on your side."
Juvia blinked at Happy, blinked at Natsu who nodded and then blinked at Lucy who also nodded her own confirmation. The looks on their faces screamed sorrow. They almost lost both her and Gray and then when she almost didn't wake up, they almost lost her for good. So not only were they enemies, he was the reason why she had amnesia? She could feel some bitter taste in the back of her throat, ready to clog her up from emotion. She had claimed that she trusted him, that he was someone that was clearly important to her and this is what she found out? She felt like screaming and slapping the hell out of Invel, but instead, she smiled and turned to Natsu. The dragon slayer was ready for whatever she wanted from him. Anything to clearly make her feel better.
"I beat up 50 people."
There was a pause before a yell. "I LOST?!"
So how was that chapter? I hope it was a good enough 2nd chapter!
Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! I love you guys so much!
Lolita-chan