Hey, everyone!
It's been forever, but I am (finally) updating this story. I'm really sorry about the delay, hopefully it won't happen with chapter 5.
The good news is that this chapter has plenty of sweet Gruvia scenes, plus some reflecting on Juvia's part which I guess is unique. I hope you'll enjoy! :)
Now, to your shoutouts:
Lucy H Lover: That's good. Aww I'm glad you did. There's more here.
Amanny: Thanks ;)
scselmayahoo . fr: Wow you really want this story to be long. I think it will go until Alvarez Arc, but that will take a while. I love how mysterious Juvia is and the fact we know nothing of her past gives me the opportunity to come up with the craziest backstories. Hmmm...I don't plan on making her too powerful in this story, but she'll certainly seem stronger cause I will explore her powers deeper.
Guest: happy you do :)
Happy reading!
July 4th X791
The day continued to be eventful and crazy even after sunset. Gajeel showed up at the bar after disappearing for hours and, instead of an answer to the worried calls of his friends, he had a request for his fellow dragon slayers.
Natsu and Wendy accompanied him; with Erza, Gray, Lucy and Juvia tagging along. The group was led to a cave deep underneath Fiore where multiple bones were scattered; which they soon realised were dragon bones.
Then, Wendy managed to conjure the spirit of Zirconis, the jade dragon, who provided insight on the history of the bones, revealed that Acnologia was once a human being and informed them of the fate of all dragon slayers.
Everyone was shocked and unsettled by what Zirconis told them, except for Juvia. Well aware of Acnologia's history, she had long since guessed that becoming a true dragon slayer might mean turning into a dragon.
The water mage didn't expect there to be any real surprises that night, but was proven wrong once Colonel Arcadios and Yukino showed up. They introduced the group to a top-secret project that had been in the planning for years. It also required a celestial wizard, a detail which immediately piqued their interest.
Listening to the soldier's explanation, Juvia knew that this must be related to Zeref somehow. It made perfect sense that the royal family would create this ruse and gather so much magic if the objective was to defeat the dark wizard.
"I firmly believe that the end justifies the means in this case." Arcadios said once they stood before a large door which he soon revealed to be the Eclipse Gate.
Everyone stared at it in amazement and Juvia in dread because she could feel the familiar dark magic coming from the gate. Zeref...Was he a part of this?
The answer came once Arcadios informed the group that they had mixed dark magic with celestial magic to create it. So he's not directly involved, but does he know about this?
Her attention quickly returned to the Colonel once he proceeded to explain the plan to open the gate using the 12 celestial keys. "What lies beyond it is time itself. It will allow us to travel 400 years into the past and slay Zeref before he gains the power of immortality."
It was too much to take at once. Starting to feel dizzy, Juvia grabbed onto Gray's arm to remain upright. Amid his shock, he cast her a worried glance. "You okay?"
"Fine." She offered a tight smile, though inside she was screaming. So many thoughts running through her head once everything started to piece together. The Eclipse Gate. Time-Travel. Lucy. The horrible thing that was meant to happen. Is this what she wants to prevent?
A conversation resumed between the others, but the water mage barely paid attention. Her thoughts remained on the gate's purpose and what would happen if they actually managed to pull it off.
While Juvia understood the benefits of a world without Zeref, this would have negative consequences for so many people. For once, Alvarez wouldn't exist, which meant that she might never be born. Not just me either….
Everyone who lived in the Empire might be gone too. The people who raised her, the Spriggan 12 and so many innocents would become collateral damage to this Eclipse Plan. Is it really fair to punish them simply for living in a kingdom which Zeref created?
Time passed and Juvia continued to reflect about the consequences of this time travelling plan, vaguely aware of what the others were saying.
It wasn't until the arrival of royal soldiers who surrounded them that her focus finally shifted back to reality. Looking around in confusion, she got a bad feeling. What is happening?
Chaos ensued. Colonel Arcadios and the newly arrived Defense Minister Darton began arguing before the latter commanded that the former be arrested for treason. Even worse, he also ordered that Lucy and Yukino be taken into custody for being accessories to the crime.
The Fairy Tail wizards prepared to fight their way out, but that turned out to be impossible. Natsu learned the hard way that they couldn't use magic so close to the Eclipse Gate or else their powers would be drained.
After he was knocked down, Gray took Juvia's hand, giving her a panicked look. "We should get out of here."
"No kidding." Gajeel, who was on her other side, muttered.
"Stand back." Erza warned the soldiers, but did not transform.
"Lucy!" Juvia watched the celestial mage being taken away, alongside Yukino and Arcadios. I can't let this happen.
She was ready to fight the soldiers even without magic, but didn't get a chance because they were quickly escorted outside the castle and warned not to return.
At least they were given a promise that if Fairy Tail won the Games, Lucy might be released. Juvia knew better than to trust this, though. They're not returning her. They will keep her there forever if they want to.
She had seen this before too many times. Whenever Alvarez would invade a foreign country the Spriggan 12 might arrest their leaders beforehand and promise to return them in exchange for surrender, riches or another interest.
It was a political game which never ended well for the people who were captured. Juvia knew she must find a way to rescue Lucy, but first they needed to return to the guild and inform everyone of what had happened.
"Are you coming?" Gray called, gently tapping her shoulder She noticed that the others were already gone.
"Yes." But first she needed some comfort and reassurance. Surprising him, her arms encircled his torso and she pressed her head against his chest, letting her eyes close.
It wasn't long before she felt his arms tightening around her too and they stayed like this for a few minutes. Then, Juvia felt him kiss the top of her head. "It will be okay. We'll get her back."
I hope we won't be too late. Sighing, she removed her head to look up into his eyes. "I really hope so."
Inside the Mercurious
"I have to find her." Future Lucy ran through the dark corridors, searching for the dungeons. Despite being exhausted and out of breath, she kept going.
It wasn't until she spotted someone wearing armour that she froze, terrified. Silently watching once the man turned around, her eyes widened upon meeting his dark ones. "You're...Silver."
He seemed surprised. "I didn't expect you to recognise me."
"I remember you." Lucy stated as the flashbacks of their last meeting returned. "You saved Gray's life."
A curious look appeared on his face, but it was soon replaced by regret. "I'm afraid I won't be saving anyone this time."
She stared at him in fear, realising why he must be here. "Please… You have to let me go."
He let out a long sigh. "Trust me, I wish I could."
Lucy prepared to run, but almost as if reading her thoughts, he froze her legs. There was no escape, so she tried pleading one more time. "Please..." Tears welled up in her eyes. "I just want to save the future."
"I'm aware." Silver offered a sympathetic look. "But you know too much. They're not willing to take that risk."
Lucy knew exactly who he was referring to. Before she could say anything else, his hand was on her forehead. Cold instantly permeated her entire body, chilling her to the bones and making it hard to concentrate.
Weakened, it wasn't long before her body gave in. Silver caught her and gently lowered her body to the ground. She stared at him through half-closed eyelids, barely able to focus on his face.
Though her vision was blurry and fading, Lucy could swear that she saw tears. Then he said the words she had been expecting to hear. "I'm sorry, Lucy." His next ones, though, were quite unexpected. "But the future will still be saved. I promise you that."
July 6th X791
Despite Juvia's intention, she did not get a chance to rescue Lucy. Instead, it was decided that she would join Fairy Tail's team on the last day of the Games whereas Natsu, Wendy and Mirajane would infiltrate the palace and free the celestial mage.
If she were honest, Juvia was grateful that she wasn't part of their secret mission. With too much on her mind, she'd barely be able to focus and might ruin it.
It had been two days since she had learned about the Eclipse Gate and the royal family's plan to travel back in time and kill Zeref. Two days of reflecting, worrying and wondering what to do.
The weight of her lies also became suffocating during this time because of Future Lucy's story. Juvia had wanted nothing more than to tell her friends about it, but reluctantly convinced herself not to. Remembering the promise made to the celestial mage, she had instead prayed that the latter would show up at some point and explain everything.
Unfortunately, that had yet to happen. 2 days after their meeting, it was as if Lucy had disappeared without a trace and Juvia hadn't exactly had all the time in the world to look for her.
With the final day of the games beginning, the water mage focused on following Master Mavis' plan. Walking around Crocus, she watched the others and prepared to lend a hand if necessary.
Once Gray got into an intense match with Rufus from Sabertooth, who had defeated him on the first day, she struggled against the urge to go help him and chose to have faith in him.
After a long, exhausting battle, the ice mage came out victorious and managed to turn his emotions, especially anger at Lucy's capture, into power which overcame the enemy.
Soon it was Juvia's turn to fight once Chelia found her. The two battled it out for a while until Gray and Lyon showed up. From then on the fight became more intense because of the rivalry between the ice mages and the fact that Lyon kept flirting with Juvia, unaware that Gray and she were together.
The couple continued to keep their relationship a secret throughout the fight, but Gray's jealousy was hardly contained and he constantly reinforced that Lyon should stay away from her. After what felt like eternity, they finally won via unison raid.
Watching as Lyon and Chelia disappeared before the Games' juror announced their victory, the couple shared bright smiles.
"Now that's a win for teamwork." Gray said fondly while they held hands.
As the adrenaline from the fight worn off, they found themselves too tired to keep standing. Thus the ice mage slowly retracted his hand from hers before approaching the nearest house and sitting against it.
Juvia did the same, letting out a relieved sigh and briefly closing her eyes while resting her back against the house. "That was harder than I thought it would be "
Gray nodded in agreement. "Sure took a lot of work."
"And there's still more work to do." She remembered with another sigh.
"What do you mean?" He frowned, confused by her statement.
Opening her eyes, she glanced at him. "We still have to defeat Sting."
Gray groaned, feeling his muscles hurting in protest. "Don't remind me."
Juvia watched him in slight amusement before her expression turned to worry upon noticing the wound on his shoulder. "You're bleeding."
Gray glanced at it, but shrugged it off. "It's nothing."
Unconvinced, she closed the distance between them, positioning herself between his legs.
"What are you doing?" Gray inquired, nervous with how close she suddenly was.
"Wendy isn't here now, so I won't take any changes with that wound." Juvia answered while inspecting the injury.
"I'm...fiiiiine." His protest came out weak because of the intense pain once she gently touched it.
"Sorry." Glancing down at her torn clothes, she decided to rip off a piece of her skirt. "This should do."
Gray took in a sharp breath once she began carefully cleaning the wound with what was left of her magic. In an attempt to distract himself from the pain, he thought about how happy he was to have her by his side. I could really get used to this.
After the wound was cleaned, Juvia wrapped the piece of her skirt around it. "There you go."
Gray returned her smile. "Thanks." Noticing again how close they were and how beautiful she was, he thought about kissing her. Then he remembered that they were alone.
"You know, now that we are alone." Smiling suggestively, he snaked an arm around her waist.
"Yes?" Juvia asked, catching onto his drift.
"I can finally..." His other hand came to the back of her head as he slightly tilted it towards him. "...do this."
It was amazing how right it felt to kiss her. Apprehension, fear and worry about their relationship always left his mind when they connected like this.
Hours before, in Alvarez
"I thought I might find you here." August said as he followed the path along the cemetery.
"Did you follow me?" Irene turned around, glancing at him with raised brows.
"I did not need to." He shrugged, stopping a few feet before her. She stood by a grave on the far corner of the cemetery, on top of a hill overlooking the sea.
"Well, you can go." Irene dismissed him before kneeling down to place the bouquet of orchids on the grave.
August watched her with interest. "How often do you come here?"
She didn't look at him. "Why do you care?"
Instead of answering, he asked another intense question. "Do you regret killing her?"
Irene stood, turning around to face him. "Are you asking if I regret eliminating an enemy of his majesty and the Empire?"
August offered a sympathetic look. "It wouldn't be wrong of you to feel remorse about killing a child's mother."
Her face twisted with pain for a moment, but she quickly recomposed herself. "I did what I had to do."
He observed her again. "Yet you let the girl live. I still fail to understand that."
"She was not a threat." Irene frowned. "She didn't deserve to pay for her mother's mistakes."
Understanding crossed his face. "Ah, I see."
Silence fell upon them until she broke it. "We should go back. The Emperor will be expecting us soon."
August nodded, but didn't move yet. "You should really keep an eye on the girl."
Irene froze, face paling. "Why? Does the Emperor think..."
He gave a warning before turning around and leaving. "Just because she wasn't a threat before, doesn't mean she isn't one now."
So, thoughts?
What did you think of Juvia's reflection about the Eclipse Project? Did you enjoy this new take on its consequences?
Were you surprised that Silver went after Future Lucy?
Lastly, what do you make of the last reveal?
Next chapter will include more Gruvia sweet moments with some teasing from everyone, plenty of angst since we're reaching the dragon's attack and perhaps a Gajevy scene.
I'll try to complete it within the next two weeks, but Gruvia Day is quickly approaching so I'd rather focus on that first.
I hope everyone has a nice day ;)