AN: Happy Juvia Day!!!!
This is an AU based off the X-MEN character Rogue
Plot: Juvia was born with a curse to never experience direct skin-to-skin contact with another living without stealing their life, memories and magic. She promised herself to keep her distance from others, but a certain ice demon slayer made it almost impossible. Trouble was brewing as a certain dark magic had his sights on the untouchable mage for his own plan.
Now, lets begin
Chapter 1: Makarov's School for Gifted Youngsters
Juvia held the handle of her umbrella tightly as the rain poured down from the dark sky above her. Like most days in her life, the rain was unkind; it punished Juvia for her very existence. She hated the rain, but it served as a reminder of her curse.
Juvia approached the large gate in front of her and glanced at the metallic sign attached. She sighed heavily as she read it.
Makarov's School for Gifted Youngsters
"Gifted?" Juvia whispered to herself in a mocking tone. She looked down at her gloved covered hand - she stretched out her fingers and stared at them carefully. Juvia marveled at how delicate and small her hands looked and how gentle they appeared, but that was far from the truth. Her hands dripped red in blood with all the life forces she took. All the lives she stole from those around her. "More like a curse."
Juvia's hands clenched, trembling as she walked towards the giant mahogany doors. She shut her eyes tightly, breathing in heavily, trying to calm down. It's okay. Juvia is covered. Juvia can't hurt anyone. She thought to herself as she leveled out her breathing to lower her anxiety. She ran her hand down the skirt of her uniform in a final attempt to fix her appearance.
Pushing open the door, Juvia made her way into the grand school, gasping at the sight in front of her. All around her were mages of all ages, running and showing their magic to their peers. This was not commonly seen due to the high amounts of anti-mage movements humans had against them. Humans believed having magic was sickness and made them a danger to society. As a result, there weren't many places Mages could practice their magic out in the open, but Makarov's School for the Gift was one of them.
For a moment, she forgot about her worries as she watched a boy who looked about her age, with salmon pink hair, throw flames at a mage with blue hair and some kind of a red tattoo over his right eye; he looked as if he could be a year or two older than she was. He dodged the move quickly, unphased by the younger boy's aggression, and let out a sigh of annoyance. "Natsu, it's only the first day back, and you are already trying to pick fights?"
"Please, no one wanted to fight me all winter break. I'm itching for some action." Natsu grinned, clenching his fist that was engulfed in flames. The blue-haired boy let out another sigh, rolling his eyes.
"Natsu! Jellal!" A voice at the top of the stairs called, demanding everyone's attention and resulting in the pink-haired mage, whose name Juvia now knew as Natsu, halted his attacks instantly. "Stop this nonsense; we have training rooms for exactly this. What if someone got hurt because of your stupidity?"
Juvia watched in awe as a Scarlet-haired mage walked down the steps of the stairs, her aura oozing with power. She wore the same uniform as Juvia, but the other girls had been perfectly straightened as if it was freshly ironed.
"Sorry…" Natsu said, lifting his hand behind his lowered head, rubbing his hair awkwardly, and avoiding eye contact. "Jellal started it!"
"Like she'd believe that," Jellal scoffed, crossing his arms, now visibly upset that the red hair mage was disciplining him.
It didn't take Juvia long to realize that the boys no longer held the attention of the fierce girl as she stared at Juvia with a stone face and raised an eyebrow.
"Who are you?" The mages' voices boomed through the room; the boys who were once fighting seemed to become aware of Juvia's presence and stared at her with the same hesitation. It wasn't every day that someone just walked into the school unannounced. Juvia felt herself cowering in the other mage's glare, making her more nervous than she once was.
"Oh- uh, Juv-" but she was soon cut off by an arm wrapping around her shoulder, making her flinch.
"Juvia, it's good to see you!" Mest cheered, pulling Juvia closer to him; Juvia tensed at this sudden contact. Even though she was entirely covered by her gloves and the long sleeves of her school coat, she all but shoved the mind-altering mage away from her - resulting in more curious stares from the three mages in front of her. However, Mest being familiar with the new mage, visibility brought them to ease.
It had been three months since Juvia first started to see Master Makarov. She attended sessions with the Master, Warren, and Mest to block out the memories of all the different people she had encountered throughout the years. However, due to the danger of Juvia's magic and the fragile mental state they put her in from using them, Makarov thought it was best to have these sessions in secret in a location away from the school until he felt like she was ready to be around others.
Master Makarov found her with the help of Warren; he had heard rumors of a rogue mage living on her own, cutting herself off from society. This alone isn't what made the Master interested in Juvia. It wasn't uncommon for mages to run away and live on their own; some lived their lives away from society, while others were lucky enough to join mage guilds where they could be accepted. It was Juvia's unique absorption abilities that made the Master seek her out.
Juvia's magic allowed her to absorb the life force and magic out of anyone she had direct skin-to-skin contact with, and she had no control of it. Because of her lack of control, she unknowingly unpurposefully killed a mage, forever gaining her water magic and all her memories and life force. From that point, Juvia's life was anything but smooth. She was pulled into the world of dark magic and joined Phantom Lord, a dark magic guild that was against humans. Her time with the dark guild only brought pain and misery as Master Jose forced her to partake in experiments to see just how long Juvia could absorb a person before killing them, each time bringing the subject closer and closer to the brink of death. While all the mages she experimented with survived, she always had a piece of them in her head, and that wasn't something that disappeared over time.
Juvia's head was crawling with memories of other mages, her reality became blurry, and she could no longer distinguish her past from all the other mages she absorbed. When she ran from Phantom Lord, damaged by all of the life forces she forcefully took, Juvia hid away from society for everyone's safety. She lived like this for what felt like years but was just a few months, consumed by the voices in her head reminding her of all the awful things her magic, her curse, brought to the world.
Juvia never knew how; maybe Warren heard all the voices coming from one person's head, but this was the state she was in when Makarov found her. Slowly brittle away, losing herself in her madness. He told her about the school he ran to help other mages like her learn about their magic and gain control. It seemed too good to be true to Juvia, like he was trying to sell her on this image of storybook happiness that she knew she was not destined for. After refusing to join him the first time, she thought he'd leave her alone for good, but he always came by with the same offer as days passed. It wasn't until he told her about Mest and his magic that Juvia finally began to show interest. Finally, after days of resistance and hesitation, Juvia agreed to hear the older man out.
He explained that they could use Warren's and Mest's magic to lock up all the different memories in her head that did not belong to her, alleviating the damage it took to her mental well-being. Makarov warned her it would be uncomfortable and potentially painful, but it was the first step to her learning and coming in control of her magic. Thus, this was the beginning of Juvia's treatments; as the master said, the treatments were not for the weak-minded. She spent hours daily having her mind probed and picked by Warren and Mest; they soon switched their daily treatments to weekly sessions as the Master noticed its toll on the other two mages. After three months, they finally locked away the last memories that haunted her mind, the ones that had the most effect on her, the water mages. By the end of their time together, Juvia was finally herself again. With the sessions completed, Makarov cleared Juvia to start attending the school, as long as she took proper precautions to cover her skin. She agreed without any dispute, knowing it was for the safety of everyone else. Truthfully, even if the Master hadn't asked her to, she would have done it anyway.
All these past events led Juvia to be in her current situation, standing near the doorway, with Mest standing a little too close for comfort and the other three mages staring at her with interest.
"Master Makarov is expecting you," Mest said with a smile, unbothered by Juvia pushing him away just moments before. He didn't wait for her to respond before he turned on his feet and walked further into the school, in the direction of the Master's office.
Juvia looked towards Natsu, Jellal, and the other mage she did not know the name of and slightly bowed her head as she nervously fumbled with the cloth covering her hands.
"Juvia needs to go now." She sputtered before rushing after Mest.
"Looks like we are getting a new classmate!" Natsu said, jerking his fist with excitement. "Do you think she is strong? Do you think she will fight me?" A hand came up and swiftly hit him in the back of his head, resulting in Natsu crashing into the floor first.
"Childish." Erza let out a rough huff, rolling her eyes as she stepped over the injured boy, walking away from the scene.
Juvia sat in a soft chair directed towards a large desk occupied by Makarov. He looked at the young mage carefully as if he was studying her, casually running his hand down his beard repeatedly.
"So let me get this right," the short old man leaned forward on his desk, clasping his hands together. "You want to tell the other students that you are a water mage - and only a water mage?"
Juvia rapidly nodded her head, pulling her hands to her chest pleadingly. "Juvia thinks it will be easier for the other students to understand. If they find out about Juvia's true magic, everyone would just fear Juvia." She said sadly, her gaze moving towards the floor.
"You'd be lying."
"Come on, Master, Juvia wouldn't be lying; she is a water mage," Mest spoke from the wall he leaned on. The only ones who knew about the full extent of Juvia's were the ones currently in the room. Although he worked closely with Warren, Mest had spent the most time in Juvia's head figuring out the memories that needed to be locked up. Although they never spoke about it, he knew more about Juvia than he'd ever admit. Mainly because he felt like it was an invasion of privacy, and he knew she was not the type who wanted to be pitied. At one point, Mest even offered to alter his and Warren's memories for Juvia's sake and peace of mind, but Makarov decided against it if they ever needed to help her again. Adjusting their memories would just complicate things. "She doesn't have to tell them all her magic; damn, how many students here do you think know I can teleport on top of my memory magic?"
"I think everyone knows that," Warren interrupted, earning daggered glares from Mest.
"Not helping. The point is, I didn't tell anyone; they all just found out when they would see me use my magic. Juvia is fully covered and has gloves; unless she wants them to know, there is no way for the others to discover her absorbing magic." Mest shrugged his shoulders, holding his hands up, finishing his claims as if he was Juvia's defense attorney. Juvia sat twisted in her chair, smiling thankfully at the older mage. Mest returned the smile, giving her a friendly wink before turning his full attention back to the older mage.
"She'd be lying to herself." Makarov sighed; his voice was neither harsh nor soothing. Instead, he spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.
Mest and Juvia's feelings of victory were short-lived, and there was a pregnant silence in the room before Juvia finally spoke up.
"Juvia would be lying to herself and everyone to keep this from them, but Juvia feels selfish. For the first time in a long time, Juvia feels hopeful like she can live a normal life without worrying about this magic." She looked down at her gloved covered hands and clenched her fist, finally raising her head to look directly in the Master's eyes. This was when he noticed gloss threatening to spill from them, and he felt her determination. "Juvia will continue to practice to control this magic, but for the sake of Juvia and everyone else, she will keep this magic to herself."
Makarov tapped his fingers against his desk and carefully thought about the situation in front of him. His gut told him that keeping this a secret from the others at the school could cause issues, but he couldn't seem to ignore the young girl's resolve. The determination radiated off her, and against his better judgment, the older man nodded in agreement.
Juvia smiled at the Master's agreement, and she stood from her chair swiftly, giving Makarov a respectful bow. "Thank you, Master Makarov!" He waved for her to stand up, coughing awkwardly, whispering something about unnecessary bowing, but the pink blush spreading across his cheeks betrayed him.
Mest directed Juvia out of Makarov's office as he led her to first-class, handing her her schedule and map of the school. It was bigger than she ever expected. Juvia lost focus of whatever Mest was explaining to her; as her attention was pulled to the rain outside, it continued to rage on without signs of stopping. Suddenly the once hopeful feeling Juvia had begun to flee as she stared at the reminder of her magic, her curse.
"Juvia?" Mest reached for Juvia's arm seeing her thoughts were fixated on the outside storm.
"Huh? What?"
"I asked if you were ready to meet everyone?"
Juvia bit her lip and nodded as they approached the door to the classroom.
"Juvia is ready."
AN: Thanks for making it this far! Let me know your thoughts and what you think will happen next!!
