Juvia POV
Immediately, the moment Laxus's hand made contact with the print, the tomb around us began to move, spinning faster and faster every second we kept out palms on the print. Laxus at one point looked like he was going to pull back on his own, but he didn't, instead he waited for Erza's sign to let go. Above, we could see trees growing and shrinking over hundreds of years but we continued forward, waiting for Erza's sign. Suddenly, the stone entrance was gone and light flooded into the tomb.
That's when we saw it.
A scroll, rolled and tied in the center of the tomb.
"Now!" Erza yelled as she ripped her hand away from the tomb wall along with everyone else.
For a split second I couldn't see Lucy, Levy, or Laxus as I stumbled back from the wall, but they appeared seconds later. Erza and I lunged forward to catch their fall. Unfortunately, neither of us thought to break Laxus's fall so he landed on the stone floor. We all laughed in relief and hugged one another.
"That- that really just happened," Laxus said, eyes wide with disbelief as he stared down at his palm then back up at us.
"Yeah," I agreed, offering him my hand so he could stand. I was happy to have Laxus with us, I felt oddly safer, like with him we could take on whatever this time had to throw at us this time. I smiled comfortingly at him as he looked around the tomb again. Lucy rose, face worried.
"No pain?" She asked. "No poison?"
I shook my head. "Juvia is feeling great. The tomb healed Juvia completely and even restored her clothes! See? There's no more blood on them!"
Sure enough, all of our clothing looked brand new, there wasn't even a scratch on Erza's armor.
"Okay, but can someone explain to me why the tomb gave Laxus mostly normal clothing aside from the enormous fuzzy trench coat?! And meanwhile Erza is practically sporting full armor?!" Levy exclaimed to no one in particular.
Laxus on the other hand seemed to quite like his new attire, slipping his arms out of the sleeves and just letting the coat hang off his shoulders.
Erza reached for the note and unrolled the parchment scroll, and we all crowded around her to read over her shoulder.
'Welcome back she-wolves. Please, go to the castle as soon as possible, but keep an eye out for enemies. They would consider your capture a victory. We're waiting for you.—Fairy Tail'
"These people know you?" Laxus asked, referring to the enemies.
"I told you," Lucy said, grumpily. "This place is rough. We may have to fight for our lives."
Laxus stared at us for a long moment. Judging from his face, it was all sinking in.
"Well," He said, flashing a predatory grin. "Let's make the most of it and kick some ass!"
"Wait," Erza said. "There are some things we should fill you in on first."
Levy took over for her. "Here we're from a place called Bellum. Lucy and I were traveling here and after we didn't respond to any of Erza or Juvia's letters they feared the worst and came here to search for us. That's our cover story."
"So, how are you going to explain me?" Laxus asked.
"Simple! You're our new escort!" Levy said with a smile and Laxus nodded.
"If that's all then we should get going." Erza said, sheathing her sword and crawling out through the entrance.
"All clear?" I asked. Last time, we landed right in the middle of a battle between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord, it was not pretty.
"All clear," she said over her shoulder and we all quickly scrambled out of the tomb. I sucked in my breath. We'd left in the heat of summer but now a cold wind blew through the valley.
"I may have missed our stop by a few months." Erza said, sheepishly.
"Let's hope it's the same year," Lucy said, shivering and hugging Levy close to her in an attempt to keep warm.
My heart paused and then pounded at her words. What if we were off by a year or more? What if Gray was no longer a guy about my age, but rather a middle-aged man? I shivered.
That would be...awkward.
Laxus pulled up short as we came around the bend, staring with wide eyes at the Fairy Tail castle ahead of us—and then back behind us, where the Phantom Lord towers just barely peeked over the hilltop. Or at least, what was left of them.
"Told ya," I said, smugly.
"I see it," he said, staring at the castles, "but I still can't quite believe it."
"Guys, look at the flags." Erza pointed out, and sure enough, both castles sported the Fairy Tail crest. It was enough to bring a smile on all our faces. This was probably why they had warned us about nearby enemies, phantoms- people of Phantom Lord- were probably lurking nearby and preparing to take back what was theirs.
We carefully made out way through the woods while trying to tell Laxus all we could remember from our last visit so he'd be ready for what was ahead.
Levy and Lucy were telling Laxus about 'Lord' Jose, their escape, of Natsu, Jellal, Gajeel, and Gray, when we reached the creek and decided to take a small break.
I was balancing myself on a large rock and hopping to the next one in the creek when I looked back and saw that Laxus was stuck again, his face stricken. I glanced at Lucy and Levy, and they looked back to me with concern. Yeah, Laxus was getting it now, for sure.
"Laxus?" Erza asked.
"I'm fine," he said. "I just realized that everything you told me is true. It's a lot to take in."
"More than being able to shoot lighting from your hands?" Lucy deadpanned. "Or being able to summon spirits with keys?"
Laxus rolled his eyes. "That's different. As far as we were concerned we were the only people we knew in the world with magic like ours."
"Speaking of magic," I said to Laxus. "We should probably mention the whole witch thing."
"Witch?"
"Erm, you see, if a girl has magic it's usually not a good thing to them here-"
We heard the horses approaching before we saw them.
"Quick, hide," Erza said, pulling her sword from its sheath. They broke apart, Laxus hiding behind a boulder, Lucy, Levy, and Erza sliding between thick trees. I was still standing in the middle of the creek unable to move, not without drawing attention to them where we were hidden.
"Juvia!" Lucy whispered, urgently.
"It's alright," I whispered as the galloping got louder. "I'll stay in the shadows so they can't get a good look at me, besides they can't touch me, remember?"
"Juvia you can't! What if someone recognizes you?" Levy panicked, but quickly quieted down when the horses came into view.
"Well, what do we have here?" Said who I could only assume was the leader of the posse, given that he rode in the front on the largest horse.
"It's kind of dangerous for a lady to be out here. Alone." The man urged his horse forward, closer to me with a leering grin on his face. He had long wild blond hair that looked more like a lion's mane than normal hair.
I hadn't even spoken one word to the guy and I already hated him, but I forced myself not to react or to reveal any emotion, using my hair to shield my eyes and face. They carried neither a Fairy Tail or a Phantom Lord crest so I could only assume these were rouge bandits. They continued forward until the leader was only three feet away and he held his had out to me as if trying to be a gentleman but I could see the malicious intent in his eyes. I held my palm out to him and he took it as an invitation to step closer.
"Water..."
He blinked in confusion,
"Slicer."
Before he and his posse even so much had a chance to comprehend what was happening it was too late, the attack ripped through them and sent them flying back.
"It's a witch!" A few of the survivors yelled, scrambling back in a retreat.
"Water cyclone!" I yelled, catching several more of them with a single attack.
"I knew there was something off about you," The leader said with a sneer as he peeled himself off the tree he had slammed into.
My eyes widened in surprise, no normal person would have been able to withstand that attack and survive. The sliced up tree behind him was proof of that.
"Surprised, little witch? Allow me to fill you in on something." He said, his maniacal grin widening."My name is Zancrow, and I am a witch hunter."
He slammed his fists together and a magic circle appeared in front of him as he bellowed. "FLAME GOD'S BELLOW!"
I had no time to think, I immediately called up a wall of water using the water from the creek to shield myself and the others as an enormous amount of fire came spewing out of his mouth directed straight at me.
"Hmm, you survived." Zancrow said with disappointment.
This was a problem, if I fought him here we would definitely draw attention to ourselves and I had no doubt that his weaker followers had scurried off to get help. I had to finish him off quickly.
"WATER CANE!" I yelled, throwing my arm out at him as it turned into a large water whip. He didn't even bother to move, taking the full brunt of it with a small grunt.
"You're strong, good, You should be able to entertain me. At least until I find my real target."
I frowned in confusion but didn't say anything, I couldn't allow myself to get distracted.
"FLAME GOD'S SCYTHE!"
"WATER NEBULA!"
Our attacks slammed together with a vicious boom that shook the tree's around us. Someone definitely had heard us. I needed to end this now.
"Hm, not bad, as much as I would love to continue, I cannot afford to be seen and you are not my primary target." He gave me another sick grin as he raised his hand to the forest behind me. "Until next time little witch."
And with that he fired a large ball of fire at the trees, and set them ablaze. My eyes widened in shock, he was trying to get us caught! I immediately move to put out the fires when I hear the sound of more horses galloping closer.
'Already?!' I thought in panic as I continued to put out the fires, Laxus and the others had thankfully not left their hiding places, but I could tell that Laxus was a hair-widths away from jumping out and taking matters into his own hands. I had to focus, I needed to put out these fires and melt into the creek before those reinforcements got close enough to spot me. Using the water from the creek I doused the trees in water, putting out more of the fire almost immediately. Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything about the smoke, which was a dead giveaway of our location.
Lucy sprung out of her hiding spot almost immediately, "We need to move before anyone gets here."
"Too late." Laxus said, pointing to a small group of riders on horses crossing the bridge above the creek. Behind us, at Fairy Tail, bells clanged. They were sounding the alarm. More answered ahead, at Phantom Lord.
Zancrow's thugs must have alerted someone of a dangerous witch terrorizing the creek. I was sure of it.
"Get back into the forest." Erza ordered, ducking behind a large boulder nearby. I listened this time, diving for the tree about five feet away from her. We had exposed ourselves enough as is. Better lay low for now.
We watched silently as the men galloped closer, slowing down to a trot when the charred trees became visible. There were four of them, all wearing hooded capes so I couldn't see their faces at all. The one in front, the leader I assumed, turned his head slightly to his group and said something, but I was too far away to hear anything but a low murmur.
Erza, being closer to the group than I was, frowned in concentration as she leaned forward a bit more, straining to hear what was being said. Unfortunately, two of the hooded figures heard the slight rustle of leaves beneath her feet and immediately tensed and dismounted, scanning over the creek slowly.
I swallowed and held my breath, we could definitely fight our way through this, but we couldn't afford to be seen any more. Hiding was our only option, at least until we got in touch with Gray or someone from Fairy Tail.
The leader dismounted slowly, as did the remaining one. They murmured to each other, never taking their eyes off the forest. We remained stone still, not even daring to blink, from the corner of my eyes I could see Laxus's fingers start to twitch from the anxiety. A sudden strong gust of wind blew, rustling the leaves around them, and that seemed to appease their apprehension. Dismissing the noise as a result of natural causes, but a quick glance to a grinning Levy told me otherwise. A lifetime later they seemed to relax and even take a step back from the creek, surveying it in a much more calm manner. They must have assumed the witch they were notified of must have hightailed it out of there.
I mean, I plan to, once they leave.
They analyzed the scene a bit longer, occasionally pointing at the wreckage both my magic and Zancrow's magic had done before turning to remount their horses. We all visibly relaxed at this action and let out a breath of relief. They were just starting to wheel their horses around when it happened, a stick snapped beneath Erza's foot, and all hell broke loose.
Not even a full second later, the larger one whips around and from his arm shoots out a large iron rod that absolutely demolishes the boulder Erza was hiding behind. At the same time the other two literally shoot off their own horses and in mid air launch an attack of fire and ice.
We didn't have any chance to think, only to react. I launch myself forward towards the iron rod coming from the larger man's arm straight at Erza and catch it, allowing it to slip through my torso but gripping it with my bare hands to keep it from touching her. My boots dig into the earth from the force of our collision but I manage to stop it from going any further.
"SOLID SCRIPT: FIRE"
"OPEN GATE OF THE WATER BEARER: AQUARIUS!"
Reacting quickly to the situation, Levy melts the ice before it reaches us and Lucy douses out the flames with Aquarius. Not stopping to breathe, Lucy whips out her whip and ensnares our airborne attackers together tightly.
"SOLID SCRIPT: CHAINS!" Levy yells, chaining them together and effectively immobilizing them as Lucy hurls them to the other side of the creek.
The remaining attacker, the one I assumed was the leader, dismounted and raised one hand to the sky.
"PLEIADES!"
I watched in fascination as what seemed to be six stars circled around him for a moment before they locked on a single target, me, the water witch.
"REQUIP: FLIGHT ARMOR!"
With a speed unlike any other, Erza intercepts the attack with two crossed swords in front of her, taking the full brunt of all six stars with a loud grunt, her swords cracking with each impact before finally breaking on the final hit.
"Erza!" Levy cried out as Erza's armor broke, sending her flying back. She scrambled towards her with Lucy and jumped to intercept her fall.
Astonished, the leader took a step back, his hands shaking so badly you could see it from under his sleeves.
I had no time to figure out why he reacted like that because the other two attackers had broken Levy's chains and were coming at us fast, the creek freezing at an alarming rate as they ran across it. Not to mention the attacker in front of me looked like he was gearing up for a second attack. They were going to attack us all at once!
"IRON DRAGON-"
"FIRE DRAGON-"
"ICE MAKE-"
I wasn't going to be able to dodge all those attacks in ti-
"LIGHTNING DRAGON ROAR!"
Laxus jumped in front of me and unleashed his attack, they clashed together with a deafening boom, debris of fire, iron, and ice flying everywhere.
'Ice, stars, fire, iron... Wait a minute!'
But before anyone could shake off their shock and attack again, the leader steps forward.
"Erza?" He asks with a shaky breath, slowly raising his arms to lower his hood and reveal none other than Jellal Fernandez.
Erza's eyes widen and she takes a few tentative steps forward, when her feet hit the water I harden it so it holds her weight. She keeps walking forward, stopping only when she reaches the end of the shade that we used to obscure ourselves. Lucy and Levy walked up to Laxus and I, standing beside us as we watch everything unfold.
"Is that the guy? Why is she hesitating?" Laxus grumbled. "Didn't she want to see him again?"
"Shh! Shush!" I hissed at him, gripping his arm in a vise like grip.
"It's been at least a month since they last saw each other, for him at least." Levy murmured. "What if something's changed?"
"Shut up, we're getting to the good part!" Lucy all but squealed.
"Good grief, I feel like you guys dragged me to watch another one of your ridiculous dramas." Laxus muttered under his breath. At this point we were all gripping his arms in a death grip as we watch in fascination what was unfolding before us, as if we hadn't just been fighting against them a few seconds ago.
Erza takes a deep steadying breath before squaring her shoulders and stepping out of the shadows with a small reassuring smile.
"Hello, Jellal."
And just like that, the damn broke loose. He was across the creek in a flash, wrapping Erza up in a very tight, emotional hug.
"You came back." He whispered to her as she hesitantly wrapped her own arms around him and squeezed him back just as hard. He pulled back a bit to rest his forehead of hers, his shoulders relaxing as if a huge weight had been lifted off of them. "You came back to me."
"Erza!" Natsu yelled, his hood slipping off as he ran up to them just as they pulled away, Gajeel and Gray hot on his heels.
"It's good to see you again, Natsu." Erza said with a smile as Natsu hugged her.
"He wouldn't stop whining and crying about how he never got the chance to fight you and see who was stronger." Gajeel said with a roll of his eyes.
"It's good to see you too Gajeel." Erza replied with a warm smile.
"Gihi." Gajeel grinned at her, placing his hand on her head in a single pat of affection.
"Hold on, I was not crying! And I'm always ready for a good fight whenever!" Natsu raged. "I don't care if you also have water magic, you can come catch these hands!"
Erza gave a little laugh. "Natsu, I don't have water magic."
Jellal blinked. "It wasn't you who those men came yelling about?"
Erza shook her head.
"And you're not the one currently holding us over the water right now?" Gajeel asked, suspiciously.
"Nope."
"Wait, if you blocked Jellal's attack, then who caught Gajeel's first attack?" Natsu asked.
Erza grinned and pointed in our direction. "See for yourself."
We watched as their gazes moved to us, Natsu's eyes widened.
"LUCY!" He cried out, launching himself at her and tackling her to the ground in a large hug. "I should have known! It was you who put out my fire attack wasn't it?!"
"Hey! Ow! No, you big doofus! Well, I mean, yes, I did put out your fire but I'm not a water mage!" Lucy yelled as she struggled to get out of his grip before sighing and giving in to the hug, going as far to even hug him back. "It's good to see you too, I guess. Now get off me!"
"Wait, if you're not a water mage then that must mean-"
"Shrimp," Gajeel said with wide eyes as he crouched down to be eye level with a fuming Levy. He grinned and began to pet her head. "Who knew such a small kid could handle such a big hit! Gihi!"
"Baka! I'm not a water mage either!" Levy fumed, she raised her leg to kick him, but her face suddenly lit up and instead of kicking him, she leaned forwards and planted a quick friendly kiss on his cheek before bouncing back on her heels and clasping her hands behind her back. "It's good to see you again though, Gajeel."
All the color drained from Gajeel's face and was replaced with a massive blush as he stared at Levy in shock, not fully understanding what had just happened.
"Wait," Natsu said, still hugging Lucy to him. "If it wasn't Luce or Levy, does that mean it was-"
Lucy, Levy, and Erza stepped aside and couldn't help but smile as Natsu's voice trailed off when I stepped forward with a shy grin.
"Juvia." Gray breathed, eyes wide like he couldn't quite believe I was there. He reached out a trembling hand like he was scared I would disappear at any moment. "You're- you're healed?"
I smiled shyly at him and spread my arms out wide.
"Like it never happened." I said proudly.
I hadn't realized just how tense Gray was until his shoulders finally drooped and he suddenly lurched forward and clutched me to him in a tight hug.
"You're okay... You're okay." he whispered, but it sounded more like he was reassuring himself.
"Yeah, Juvia's fine." I whispered to him, forgetting that everyone was still there.
"JUVIA!" Natsu yelled, large comical tears rolling down his face as he tackles us to the ground in a large group hug, mind you he still hasn't let go of Lucy.
"Alright Natsu, that's enough tackling for one day." Erza said, lifting him up by the collar of his shirt and shaking him till he lets go of Lucy.
Gajeel outstretches his hand to me and helps me up, staring at me with a frown on his face. "It was you? You stopped my attack? I saw it, i-it went straight through you!"
"Well, it wasn't easy and it kinda hurt."
"Wait, you're hurt?" Gray asked, grabbing my arm and scanning my torso to any signs of a wound.
"Wait, Juvia wasn't hurt where it impaled Juvia, it was Juvia's hands! Juvia kind of burned them when she grabbed the sides of the iron to stop it from going any farther, kind of like a rope burn." I showed them my hands as proof and sure enough they were indeed a bit red and slightly swollen. "But it's nothing serious."
Gray frowned, taking my hands in his and placing a thin coat of ice over them to lessen the swelling.
'Yes, God help me, I love her!'
I bite down on my lip hard to keep from squealing. That memory, although it happened only an hour ago for me, was probably at least a few months old for Gray and while it seems like Jellal is still completely and utterly in love with Erza I can't just outright assume Gray still feels the same. A few months is a lot of time to put things into perspective, like falling in love with a complete stranger you've only technically known for a few weeks for instance. For all I know his engagement to Ava is still on, I need to be careful, we've rocked the boat enough already, it's best we don't cause another catastrophic event to happen.
"Thank you," I say, as I timidly pull my hand out of his hold. "It feels much better already."
Gray frowns at my action but releases my hand nonetheless. It's then that Laxus clears his throat to remind us of his presence.
"Uh, is it even safe to be out here in the open like this? I mean we did just get attacked by some weirdass guy."
"Your ally is right, we can't stay out in the open, especially like this." Jellal said, pointing to the water I was keeping us standing on.
"O-oh, sorry I forgot," I said, sheepishly as Gray once again took my hand and led me and the others towards their horses.
"Uh, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there aren't enough horses."
"Whaddaya mean, Luce? You and Levy can just ride with Gajeel and me!"
Lucy smacked her forehead. "And what about Laxus you moron!"
"Huh? Who's that?"
"I'm gonna kill him-"
Laxus rolled his eyes but stepped forward nonetheless. "Laxus Dreyar. Pleased to meet you, I hope."
"Wait a minute," Natsu said as he sniffed in Laxus's direction. "You smell like a-"
"Dragon slayer." Gajeel sniffed. "You're the one who put out our simultaneous attack didn't you?"
"I did." Laxus said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Lightning dragon slayer."
"Erza, is he...from Bellum too?" Jellal asked with a questioning glance in Laxus's direction.
"Yes, he is our most trusted... escort from Bellum."
Laxus wrinkled his nose. "Escort? Really? I couldn't be your long lost distant cousin from your father's side? Twice removed?"
"Shush, you should have seen the near meltdown these people had last time they even thought we had been about without escorts." Juvia said in English with a roll of her eyes.
"Kind of medieval thinking they got going on here."
"You have no idea, these two followed us literally everywhere after we were rescued." Lucy said, "Natsu almost followed me to the bathroom once, if I hadn't yelled and kicked him out."
"Anyways, he is like a brother to us." Erza paused, "Twice removed."
Levy and Juvia snickered at Laxus glare.
"Shhh," Gajeel suddenly silenced us, maneuvering Levy to stand behind him as he stared down the road.
We paused, I heard them before I saw them. The sound of hooves thundering down the road, then two large horses galloping full speed at us. Erza and I recognized them almost immediately.
"Castor!"
"Pollux!"
The horses slowed down to a trot when they neared us, practically trampling over Gray and Jellal in their haste to reach us.
Pollux snorted excitedly in my face, nipping my hat and nosing my wound curiously. I giggled as he tickled my side.
"Juvia's fine Pollux, see? All better, Juvia's sorry for leaving for so long." I reassured him, stroking his face and placing a light kiss right between his eyes.
"Castor, have you stopped nipping the stable boy like I told you to?" Erza softly asked, "Be honest because I will ask him later."
Castor merely trotted in place and nuzzled her side, wanting to be cuddled and pet.
"Huh? How did they get out?" Natsu asked, scratching his head in confusion.
"It doesn't matter, we need to get back to Fairy Tail now before someone dangerous does come along." Gray said, tugging me forward. "A lot has happened since you left, we'll fill you in when we arrive."
