Natsu and Lucy followed the crowd to the town square where poor Gray was being tied down to a stockade and a man with a whip was standing behind him.

"I already told you people I didn't attack that woman!" Gray shouted. "It was an accident! I tripped! I didn't hurt her! I swear!"

"Quiet you beast!" The man with the whip told him.

Judge Zeref then spoke.

"This man is guilty of assualting a woman however according to his guardian he has a deformed mind and therefore cannot understand his sins so he will not rot in prison for the rest of his life nevertheless he must be punished. Twenty lashes and a flogging."

With those words said the crowd began throwing garbage and rocks at Gray's face while shouting insults.

"Monster!"

"Demon!"

"Rapist!"

"This will teach you not to attack our women!"

Gray tried in vain to break loose but the ropes were too strong. Then the man standing behind him tore the shirt off of his back and began beating him with his whip. He hissed and held in his screams of pain for as long as he could. His eyes began scanning the crowd. Some of the people were looking at him with fear, disgust, and rage, others were laughing at him and finding amusement in this. He then spotted Invel somewhere a mist in the crowd.

"Invel please help me!" He begged pitfully. "Invel please!"

But the archdecon just gave him a look of disappointment and turned away. As if it was Gray who had betrayed him. No mercy, no pity, no remorse. Nothing.

However not everyone in the crowd took pleasure in this wretched display. Natsu and Lucy were two of the few people who were horrified and disgusted with the way this man was being treated.

"This is sick and twisted!" Lucy cried.

"And he's not even a monster! He's just a man!" Natsu said.

"I can't take this! Won't somebody stop this?" Then Lucy spotted Loke riding by on his horse and ran over to him. "Oh Loke thank goodness!"

"Lucy what's wrong?" He asked her.

"Please Loke! Make them stop this! It's not right!"

"Stop what?"

Lucy pointed over to where Gray was getting whipped. When Loke saw who it was he quickly went to Judge Zeref.

"Sir I request permission to stop this cruelty at once." He told him.

"In a moment captain." Zeref said.

"But sir I told you that this man had done nothing wrong. The woman who he had supposedly attacked said that it was just a misunderstanding."

"How do you know that she wasn't lying?"

"What? Why would she lie?"

"Well she was a gypsy and besides an example needs to be made."

"But sir you're punishing an innocent man."

"Don't argue!"

Loke was strongly against this but a good soldier always follows orders so he held his tongue.

"This is just plain evil! I'm going to stop this!" Natsu said.

"Don't! You'll only make things worse!" Loke said.

"How can you just sit back and let this happen?! What kind of soldier are you?"

"Watch your tongue peasant! I'm the captain of Fiore's soldiers!"

"That doesn't mean jack squat to me if you won't help someone when they need it! If you don't want to help that guy fine! But I'll be damned before you stop me from helping somebody!"

"If you interfere you could be in prisoned for life or executed!"

"Ask me if I care?!"

"Look it's not like I want this to happen but I have orders!"

"Don't you have a will of your own?! If you know this is wrong why don't you do something for God's sake?!"

Natsu tried to help him but the other soldiers held him back. Poor Lucy just closed her eyes and looked away as did Captain Loke. It was absolutely dreadful and it seemed like no one would or could help Gray.

But just then Juvia and Jellal walked by when they caught sight of the crowd. Jellal quickly began to pick pocket some of the men and women there. Juvia rolled her eyes and was just about to scold him for it when she saw Gray. She tapped one man on the shoulder and asked him.

"Why are they torturing that poor man?"

"Because he attacked a woman."

"What? No! No that's not true! Stop! Stop it!" She cried to the peasants.

"Juvia what are you doing?" Jellal said grabbing her arm when she started toward the stockade.

"Let go of me!" She said jerking her arm away. "Can't you see they're torturing him?!"

"It's a horrible display but we can't get involved Juvia. We're already in enough trouble with the law as it is."

"I don't care! I can't bear this any longer!" She made her way through the crowd, stepped on top of the stockade, and screamed as loud as she could. "STOP!"

The man whipping Gray stopped while the peasants ceased fire.

"Get down from there at once!" Zeref ordered her.

"Yes your honor but first please let me free this man." She said.

"That man has broken a law of Fiore and must be punished!"

"But he's done nothing wrong! I am the woman this man was accused of attacking! But he didn't do anything! He only tripped and fell on top of me! That's all! You're tormenting an innocent man!"

She then slowly approached Gray. He was sweating and panting, with blood streaming down his back from where the whip had cut his skin. Juvia kneeled down next to him and pulled a flask of water from her satchel. She removed the lid and put it to his mouth. He started drank every last drop. After that she pulled out a knife and a scarf from her dress, cut him loose, and began to use her scarf to stop the bleeding on his back.

"I am so sorry." She said with regret in her voice. "I swear I told them you were innocent. This wasn't supposed to happen to you."

Gray couldn't speak. Due to both the pain he felt in his back and the amazement he felt for the woman next to him. She gave him water, she cut him loose, and she was trying to heal his wounds. Why would she do that? Why didn't she just laugh at him or throw garbage and rocks at him like the others? Didn't she think that he was a demon?

The crowd was also silent but eventually one person shouted.

"Hey you're ruining our fun!"

"Gypsy whore!" Another person shouted.

"They were going to let him go an hour why did you have to spoil it?!"

"Gypsies ruin everything!"

"They're bad luck you know!"

"They'll steal you blind!"

"Liars, tramps, and thieves! All of them!"

Soon everyone was spouting insults at her. Fearing that she might end up facing the same treatment as Gray, Jellal ran up on to the stockade and took Juvia by the hand.

"I warned you didn't I?" He said before throwing something down which caused a flash and a puff of smoke. When it cleared they were both gone.

"Witchcraft!" Invel gasped.

Gray stood up and walked down from the stockade.

"Get him!" The crowd started to attack him again only for Invel to step forward and say.

"Stop! We must show kindness to this... Creature. Captain clear the square if you please."

"Yes my lord." Loke said turning to the crowd. "He said go! All of you!"

While Loke was shooing the crowd away Invel approached his ward with a look of distaste and anger.

"I told you this would happen. I told you not to leave the church and yet you disobeyed me."

"I'm...I'm sorry." Gray said. "I thought that-"

"Well you thought wrong! I hope you now know how horrible the world is and how grateful you should be to me. Because I'm the only one who won't ever treat you like those people did."

"But why didn't you help me when I asked you to?"

"You had disobeyed me, you betrayed me, and you needed to be punished for it. I hope you've learned your lesson Gray."

Gray only nodded and started to walk back to the church. Invel was right. He was right about everything all along. The people were afraid of him and replused by him. They treated him like he was some poor, worthless animal instead of a human being. So much for hoping to fit in.

Suddenly he collapsed on to the ground and passed out from his injuries. Unfortunately the archdecon just left to converse with Judge Zeref instead of helping him. However Natsu was never one to ignore someone who needed help.

"Hang on man. I'm here for ya." Natsu placed Gray's arm around his shoulder and helped him into the church. He couldn't believe how cruel and vile people could be. How anyone could just stand there and find amusement in the suffering of others. Was there no goodness in this world? We're all innocent people doomed to suffer? It was unfair. But that was the hard truth about life. Life is never fair for anyone, innocent or guilty.