Juvia woke up in a warm bed, feeling much more comfortable than she had been in a while. Slowly she remembered everything that happened before she passed out. She groaned and rubbed her head, feeling a headache coming on.
"Are you okay?" A voice asked from the corner of the room.
Juvia jumped out of her skin. "Oh god, I thought I was alone."
Gray looked at her guiltily. "I'm sorry. I was keeping an eye on you. I was worried about you, you know." He reached over her and grabbed a glass of an amber liquid. "Here. Drink this. It will help your headache."
Juvia took the glass from him and drank. She almost dropped the glass when she tasted the liquid. It tasted like her favorite food- brownies. Warm, gooey, and chocolatey. Definitely not the cold apple juice she was expecting.
"What is this?" she asked Gray, already feeling a million times better than when she woke up.
"Oh, yeah, you've probably never had that stuff. It's called nectar. Careful, though. Too much will burn you up. It's god food." He gingerly took the glass from her and set it back on the table. "Are you ready to meet everyone from Camp?"
Juvia swallowed nervously. "Ready as I'll ever be."
Gray grinned at her and took her hand to help her out of bed. "Come on then! I will introduce you to everyone. Gramps wanted me to do it since he scared you earlier."
Juvia glowered. "I wasn't scared. Just… overwhelmed."
Gray smiled. "I get it. When I first came here, I was overwhelmed, too."
Juvia followed him out of the farmhouse, still very aware that he hadn't let go of her hand yet.
"So this is the Big House," he was saying. "It's where the infirmary is, a camp phone, the Oracle, and Gramps, er.. Makarov, sleeps. The Oracle gives us prophecies for quests, by the way."
Gray led her through the camp, showing her the mess hall pavilion, the volleyball pit, the woods, and the canoe lake. Then they came to the eclectic group of cabins that she noticed from the top of the hill.
Juvia looked around, amazed. "What's with all the buildings?" she asked.
Gray looked around. "These are where the campers stay. Which cabin it is depends on their godly parent. Me, for instance. I stay in Cabin 16 with my two brothers. We are the children of Khione."
Suddenly, a group of kids ran by, shouting hellos to Gray. One of them stopped to talk.
"Hey, Gray," a brunette girl said. "Who's this cutie?"
"Hey, Cana." Gray gave her a look. "How much have you drank so far today?"
Cana gave him a tipsy looking smile. "Oh, don't be a party pooper. I like your friend. Who is she?"
Gray looked at Juvia. "This is a new demigod I found in Magnolia. Her name is Juvia. Still undetermined."
Cana gave Juvia an appraising look, then said, "Well, she looks pretty enough to be an Aphrodite."
Gray agreed, causing Juvia to blush a thousand shades of red. "Well, I'm gonna keep showing her around. See ya, Cana." He pulled Juvia along with him, leaving Cana to go join her friends.
"That was Cana," he said to Juvia. "Daughter of Dionysus. Definitely has a drinking problem, thanks to her dad, but we don't mind too much."
"Who do you think my parent is, Gray?" she asked. Juvia had been worrying about not fitting in with her new siblings.
Gray stopped walking and looked her over. "Well, like Cana said, you are pretty enough to be an Aphrodite kid. Are there any things that you really excel at? Like singing or gardening?"
Juvia shook her head. "I don't think so. I don't really know." She frowned. "How will I ever find out?"
Gray smiled at her and squeezed her hand. "Usually there is a glowing symbol that appears over your head when you are claimed by your parent. Don't worry. It will happen."
They kept walking around, him pointing out different cabins and her asking a few random questions about the gods.
The only cabin that really stood out to her was Cabin 3, but it was empty. It was a low building with rock walls embedded with seashells. It smelled like a fresh ocean breeze and the windows were made of sea glass.
"Which god is this?" she asked Gray.
"Oh, that's Poseidon. He doesn't have very many demigod children, so his cabin is normally empty."
Juvia kept quiet, not sure what to make of her feelings of familiarity and warmth when she looked at the cabin.
Suddenly, she felt a massive dark aura from behind them. Gray tensed and slowly turned around, holding on tight to Juvia's hand. Juvia turned with him apprehensively, not sure what she was going to find.
"Gray…" A beautiful redhead girl was standing behind them, holding two bronze swords in her hands.
Gray turned as pale as a ghost, making Juvia think he was going to pass out on her this time. "Hey, Erza," he said slowly. "What's going on?"
"Why didn't you come tell me there was a new demigod here?"
Gray shuddered at her tone. "This is Juvia Lockser. Unclaimed as of yet."
Erza turned to Juvia, losing her menacing aura and lowering her swords. "Hello," she smiled. "I am Erza Scarlet, daughter of Ares. I hope Gray here hasn't been giving you too much trouble." At that, she turned to him with a dark look.
Gray blanched.
Juvia was quick to save her new friend. "No, he's been an absolute gentleman! I promise! Very kind and considerate."
Erza grinned at her. "Good. I look forward to getting to know you better, Juvia. Now I'd better be on my way. My boyfriend, Jellal, promised to eat some strawberry cake with me this afternoon. Good bye!" With that she turned on her heel and strode down the grass lawn to a blue haired boy sitting at a picnic table in the mess hall pavilion.
Gray shivered. "That is Erza. She is terrifying. Never, ever get on her bad side. Her boyfriend Jellal is sitting over there with the blue hair. He's a son of Nemesis, goddess of revenge. He's really nice. They are very good for each other."
Juvia looked over at the couple now sharing a slice of cake wistfully. She wished for something like that. "You all seem like a family here," she commented. "It's so sweet. I hope I can become part of it."
Gray grinned at her. "You already are. Even though we don't know you very well yet, any member of Camp Fairy Tail would move heaven and hell to help you if you get in trouble."
Juvia felt a warmth in her chest that she had never felt before. It must have been belonging, she thought. Whatever it was, she never wanted the feeling to go away.
A conch horn started to blow, startling her out of her thoughts. Gray looked up, seeming surprised by how much time had passed.
"That's the dinner bell," he said. "Come on, I'll show you where you will be sitting."
