Little Juvia sighed to herself in a very melancholic way as she looked out the window of the carriage she was riding in. Normally a carriage ride in the morning made her very happy and ready to begin the day but not this time. This time it made her very sad and pray for it to be yesterday again.

Riding along with her was her father. An extremely wealthy but kind man who's beloved wife had died giving birth to their precious daughter eight years prior. Since her demise he had been a devoted father and gave his child every luxury and comfort. She wanted for nothing and until today always had a smile on her face. Though doted on she knew humility and respect, but most of all loved her father above everything else in the world. Which is why it was only natural she be greatly upset with the good widower was summoned to serve in the troll wars.

Recently many trolls had been invading lands and slaughtering hundreds of innocent people like cattle. None having the reason or mercy to stop and find a more peaceful way of living. When the trolls began to move West, the King of Western Fiore ordered that every man fit for battle serve in this Godforsaken war. Now Juvia's father called Demetros had no living relatives nearby and he wanted to make sure that his daughter would be well taken care of while he was gone. So it was arranged that Juvia would be placed in the care of Demetros's fellow merchant and trusted partner. Demetros had known his partner to be a good and fairly decent man. Also he was married and had two daughters Juvia's age so he believed that during his absence, Juvia would finally have a mother figure and playmates.

But Juvia did not want to part from the man who had loved and looked after her since she first drew breath. Nor did she want to face the horrible and possible fact that her father may perish in this war.

"Why must you go?" She asked him. "Can't they send someone else?"

"I'm afraid not." He said.

"But you are merchant to the king. You are needed here."

"Ulrich shall takeover my work and the reason why I was chosen to go and not him is because I am younger and have had more experience with battle than him."

"But if you go who will I dance, laugh, and play with?"

"With Ulrich's daughters. They're very eager to meet you."

"What if they do not like me?"

"Nonsense. There is no one in this world who could possibly dislike you. You are just as adored as your dear mother was."

"Could you please tell me more about her? I know so little."

"Of course. She was of unparalleled goodness and sweetness of temper, not to mention the most beautiful creature that ever walked the face of the earth. It was love at first sight when I met her."

"What did she think of me?"

"She didn't know you long but during those months she carried you and for that one moment she shared with you on the night you were born, she felt nothing but love and adoration. It broke her heart to leave us so soon."

"What did she look like?"

"She had hair like waves of the sea and eyes of the deepest blue. Her skin was fair and soft like white rose petals. And over the years I've noticed that you look so much like her."

"I do?"

"Yes. You have the same eyes, the same hair, the same gentle and sweet nature. I can't really see any of myself in you. All I can see is her."

"Well one of our maids once said that I have your nose and our butler would say that I can make others laugh like you."

Her father chuckled.

"Yes your mother always said that I was the only person who could make her laugh even when she was feeling the most melancholy and she had the sweetest laugh. It was like the sound of crystal bells."

"I wish I could have known her."

"As do I my little fairy." He said with a gentle smile. "As do I."

All too soon for Juvia's liking the carriage arrived at a grand looking house. Four figures walked out of the house to greet them. One was a decent yet meek looking man, beside him stood a very proud woman, and her side were two girls one older and one younger. Juvia and her father stepped out of the carriage and went to greet them as well.

"I am grateful that you were able to make the journey here without any trouble Demetros." The man said. "I'm also very happy to see you."

"Likewise Ulrich. You remember my daughter don't you?"

"Yes and what a pretty thing she's growing up to be." He smiled at the girl. "Allow me to present my wife Melanthe and our daughters Briar and Meredy. My dears this is the young lady who will be staying with us for awhile."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Juvia said with a respectful curtsy. "I am very grateful that you will allow me to stay in your beautiful home."

Melanthe looked down upon the child. Indeed she had a very proud, respectful, well-refined stature. But she was also tall and dull and ugly. She had large, cold, fishy eyes, and a large, cold, fishy smile that didn't seem to hold the proper meaning of a greeting smile when she did it.

"It will be a great privilege to have charge of such a beautiful child in our care." She said. "Briar, Meredy, how do you greet guests?"

The girls quickly did a curtsy just like Juvia did. Briar was pretty much like her mother only younger. Proud, respectful, yet ugly with the same insincere smile but while Melanthe's held some sort of joy for something albeit not what she should be joyous about, Briar's merely hid a growing dislike. Meredy on the other hand was a darling little thing with cheery eyes and probably the most sincere smile Juvia had ever seen on anyone.

"You will never know how much I appreciate you agreeing to look after my little fairy." The widower said caressing Juvia's cheek, who blushed at the nickname he gave her.

"Little fairy?" Meredy asked in confusion. "She does not look like a fairy. Where are her wings?"

"Oh Meredy don't be so disrespectful!" Melanthe scolded. "I must apologize for my younger daughter. She's not exactly the brightest in our family."

"Melanthe." Ulrich whispered in disapproval.

"No please it is no insult." Demetros chuckled. "It is a game we play. When my wife lived people would say she was as beautiful as a fairy and as Juvia gets older I see that she's resembling her more and more. So sometimes I will call her my little fairy."

"I can see why they say such things." Ulrich said. "I remember how fair Katena was. May she rest in peace and I'm sure this adorable young lady will be the same beauty she was."

"Thank you sir that's very kind." Juvia said. "But I'm really not that pretty. I think she's much more beautiful than me."

She pointed toward Meredy who seemed surprised by the comment.

"You think that I am beautiful?" She asked.

"Yes because you have such cute dimples and your hair color reminds me of roses."

"Thank you."

"Back to the matter at hand." Melanthe said. "You may set your mind at rest Demetros. We have every intention of caring for your daughter as if she were one of our own. She will be cherished I promise you, of course we may not be able to provide everything she had when she was in your care. Money has become very tight recently."

"You needn't worry about that, my fortune shall pay all her expenses. Of course she doesn't require much. Just food, clothing, a warm bed, and a friend to play with."

"Well that can easily be provided and more." Ulrich said. "My little Meredy has been anxious for someone to play with since Briar had to put playtime aside to begin her lessons."

"In that case Briar shall move into the guest suite we prepared and Juvia will share a room with Meredy." Melanthe said. "Briar needs privacy for her lessons."

"I'm not sure if-"

"Oh no Papa I would like that very much." Juvia said. "It's not very fun having a whole room all to yourself and we can get to know each other better that way."

"Very well then."

"And one more thing." Melanthe said. "Having her here will be no trouble I'm certain but taking care of three girls will cost us a great deal of money not to mention the taxes we'll have to pay for the war. Would it be too much to ask that we be a little compensated by our good deed?"

"Melanthe." Ulrich said hoping she would hush.

"I can assure you, you will all be richly rewarded for tending to my little fairy." Demetros chuckled again. "I cannot stay much longer but would you mind if I had a moment alone with her?"

"Of course and I'll take her bags."

Ulrich took the bags and went inside of the house with his wife and daughters following. Alone they stood in silence until finally he took her into his arms and embraced her with as much love and devotion he could give her. Juvia held on for as long as she could while wishing that this moment never had to end.

"It's time for me to go now." He said gently.

"I wish you didn't have to."

"Me either but I know something that might ease the pain of my absence."

He pulled something from his fine coat and presented it to her. It was a small wooden box with a butterfly carved on to the lid of it.

"In the month before you were born your mother's health had declined so greatly and she feared that she wouldn't live long enough to see you grow also she began to fear that there would be a time where you would be alone so she told me to give you these should that time ever come."

He gave the box to Juvia and she opened it up. The first thing she found inside was a book with an elegant cover and a butterfly symbol at the front that matched the one on the box lid.

"Letters and notes she wrote to you if you ever needed advice or help." He told her.

After the book she found a doll. A pretty one made of china with a beautifully painted face, blue hair like slik, and wearing a yellow lace dress. It was the loveliest doll Juvia had ever seen and in that moment became her favorite toy.

"Your mother said that the doll's name is Levy and that if you only love her she'll be your friend and help you when things seem hopeless."

Last but not least in anyway was a necklace. One woven from threads of the fairest silver and studded with only the most beautiful pearls.

"It was your mother's favorite necklace. She wore it to every dance, banquet, and special event she attended. Whenever she put it on she seemed to instantly change into the loveliest woman to have ever existed. Her hope was that one day you would wear it when you attended a ball or dance for the first time."

"Oh Papa they're all so wonderful." Juvia said. "I will love them and keep them with me always."

"It makes my heart happy to hear you say that and I'm sure somewhere in heaven your mother is smiling because by accepting these gifts, you understand just how deep her love for you was."

She smiled but then became sad as a thought crossed her mind.

"Papa."

"Yes?"

"I did not kill her did I?"

"God no!" He cried as if he had never heard anything more ridiculous.

"But had I not been born she would still-"

"You must never think like that. Ever. It's not your fault she died that night. She knew very well the risk she was taking when she chose to start a family with me and she didn't care. When the time came she knew she wouldn't survive but she was determined to see you into the world no matter what and she promised me on her deathbed that she had no regrets about having you."

She could tell by the longing and sorrow in his eyes that he missed his wife so very much.

"You really miss her don't you?" She sighed.

"Yes I do but I am happy and grateful to her for giving me you."

They embraced again, this time more bittersweet than all the others. He kissed her forehead and she kissed his cheek.

"I'll love you always Juvia." He said.

"And I love you so much Papa." She said trying not to cry.

He then discussed some matters with Ulrich and left in his carriage. But he looked backward, waving and kissing his hand as if he could not bear to stop. Calling out: "Goodbye my little fairy."

"Goodbye Papa." She called back with the same waving and kissing of her hand until he was out of sight.

...

Juvina waved goodbye to the children leaving her classroom and going to meet their parents. Only one child remained and that was Griege who was still at his desk.

"Greige shouldn't you be leaving with like the others?" She asked him.

"Elkis wanted to talk to you about something before she took me home." He answered.

"Really? Do you know what it is she wants to talk to me about?"

"She didn't say but I think it might have something to do with the town."

"Why would she talk to me about the town? Wouldn't it make more sense to go to the mayor regarding that?"

"Maybe but then again the mayor will probably just lie to Elkis and try to make her look like she's crazy."

"Now Greige I understand that Mayor Heartfilia can be very underhanded sometimes but I don't think she would...Well actually...Okay maybe she would do something like that but I can't say for sure she would or why she would do something like that."

"Because she doesn't want anyone to figure out the truth."

"Truth about what?"

"This town and the people in it."

"I don't understand. What are you talking about?"

"Well I'm not sure I should tell you this because you might think I'm nuts. I'm pretty sure Nakku thought I was when I told him this."

"You're a bright boy Greige. Nothing you could say or do would make me think you're nuts." She giggled.

"Alright then. Everyone in this town including you are from another world called Fiore but the mayor who's actually an evil princess cast a curse that brought everyone here and took away all their memories."

"Oh..." Juvina said taken aback by how far fetched his words were. "My that's...That's very creative."

"You now think I'm nuts don't you?"

"Of course not. I think you have a very amazing imagination and would probably excel in creative writing."

"I'm not making this up. It's real. Real I tell you."

"That's good. The best storytellers and writers are the ones who can really believe what they create."

"No. It's not like that. It's all written right here in my book and I didn't write it."

He laid his book out on his desk and showed her all the pages he marked that had illustrations of characters who resembled townsfolk like Elkis, Nakku, Lusha, Gren, Siegrain, and Juvina herself.

"What a remarkable memorization you have." Juvina observed. "Everything is on point. You even drew Lusha's mole in the right place."

"I didn't draw this and I didn't write the book either. I've had this since I was I don't know a month old? Look Miss Lockser no one who I've told believes me about this and they think I'm crazy. It's so frustrating, you believe me right?"

Now Juvina believed that his theory was untrue like everyone else he voiced it to. But she couldn't deny there was something very odd about a random book having characters with her likeness, Elkis's, Nakku's, and Lusha's. And she didn't want Greige to think that there were no adults who would listen to him. But maybe humoring him would make it worse?

She started to answer but then her gaze fell upon one page with an illustration that intrigued her. It was of a man or something man-like thing standing alone on a balcony in the middle of a dark and stormy night. He had a very frightening and malicious appearance about him. One like a wretched beast that had no feelings but he was not looking dominant or proud of his dark self like most illustrated monsters and villains she had seen in other books. He looked pained, miserable, self-hating. He was clutching his head as if to conceal his awful face but she could still see his eyes and they had such a deep sadness and loneliness in them. One that made her feel some sort of strange tenderness for him.

"Who's this?" She asked, her fingers moving to gently touch the drawn figure as if he was real and she wanted to soothe his pain.

"That's Gray. The shadow beast." Greige said. "My book says that he's a terrible monster and he is but he's also sad and alone and he hates himself."

"Why?"

"The book says it's because he has no one who loves him and because of that he doesn't know how to love so he acts cruel to everyone in the world."

"How odd." She said feeling a sense of familiarity and thoughtlessly saying out loud. "I feel as if I know him."

"You do?!" Greige said hopefully.

"What?"

"You said that you feel like you know him. Maybe you do!" He started flipping through the pages. "I wonder if he's in your story somewhere."

"Wait just a moment I don't know him. I don't know a drawing. It's just that...He probably looks like someone I've seen."

"He does. He looks like Detective Fullbuster. Actually he is Detective Fullbuster."

"That's funny because I've never seen Detective Fullbuster."

"You haven't?"

"No. I've heard of him but never seen him."

"Hmm" He said thinking "Just like Elkis has never seen Siegrain."

"Huh?"

"Before my therapy sessions with Dr. Fernandes, Elkis said she never once saw him during all the time she lived here and for a moment I didn't know why but then I saw this." He turned the page to show a picture of characters resembling Elkis and Siegrain at a royal wedding ceremony. "It's because back in Fiore they were in love and the princess's way of making them unhappy is keeping them apart from each other. You and Detective Fullbuster must have some sort of history with each other, something that might help you remember so the princess had curse keep you separate. Make sure that you never saw each other."

"Greige I think you're taking your creativity to the extreme now."

"No I'm not. You just confirmed it for me."

"Confirmed what?"

"You say that you feel like you know someone in this book so deep down, very deep down you remember a little bit which is all the confirmation I need."

"Wait that doesn't prove anything. Lots of things can seem familiar and not mean anything. Like coincidences or deja vu?"

"I don't believe in either of those. It is my belief that everything happens for a reason. I can't wait to tell Elkis when she gets here. She'll definitely listen to me if you back me up."

"Wait I never said that I...I mean...Oh dear."