e"What would happen to Juvia and Jellal if Gray x Erza became canon?"
This is Juvia and Jellal's story.
"Is it too late to back out of this wedding?" Jellal slumped against the wall of the booth. Juvia couldn't blame her companion for wanting to avoid this wedding. Juvia was still plotting her own escape, but Juvia knew eventually she would need to explain it to the guild. Juvia also knew that Erza would be beyond pissed that one of her bridesmaids skipped out on the wedding at the last minute. A chill went down her spine. Juvia doubt she could survive that fight, and no one would dare interfere. Juvia couldn't blame anyone, even Mira would take a step back in the face of an enraged Erza.
"Juvia doesn't know. Juvia doesn't know why she has to be apart of the wedding either." Juvia's mood was becoming very depressing very fast. She has no problem with weddings as a whole. They create some of the most beautiful moments imaginable. What Juvia has a problem with is the fact that Gray seems to have a problem with Juvia's face because Gray cringes everytime he see Juvia. Mavis forbids one of the photographers snaps a picture of Gray at the wrong time. Then again, Erza could just throw away that picture if she really cared about having the perfect album. "Why isn't Cana or Wendy in this wedding? Juvia would gladly allow one of them to take her position."
"Erza said something about a flower girl, so it would make a sense that Wendy would take the role. She is the youngest girl in the guild besides Bisca's little girl." Jellal sighed. He was giving the absolute minimum emotion Juvia has ever heard from him. She noticed the lack of life in his eyes. Good Mavis, he was worse than Erik. "I don't know Cana well enough to explain why she was overlooked."
"Jellal... Does Jellal need some fresh air? Jellal's skin is paler than usual." Juvia asked in a worried tone.
"Man, what's up with you two?" Apollo asked as Persephone and Hermes followed behind the arrow master. Juvia made a mental note about how, one, Heps was missing and, two, how close those two are to each other. Apollo and Persephone were already friendly to each other. Apollo and Hermes were 'unofficial' brothers. Juvia guesses that would make sense in a way.
"Juvia and Jellal have to be apart of a wedding that neither wishes to be in," Juvia answered. Realization hit Juvia on the side of the head. The Gods aren't aware of Juvia's long-standing crush on Gray nor Jellal's questionable crush on Erza. Not questionable as in 'why he did choose her?' but questionable as in 'when did the crush begin?'. Anyways, this moment had potential. Juvia could get some unbias opinions from the Gods if she asked the right questions.
"Y'all saw, Erza, the redhead that was walking around that Love chick?" Erik casually wandered over to the table within his civilian clothes. The three of them slowly nodded, unwilling to ask when he was going with this. "Jellal is still in love with her. Juvia is in love with Erza's man."
"Erik!" Juvia screamed as she entered her flustered state of mind. What was Erik thinking? There was no need to tell them about that. "That's behind Juvia, and Erik knows that!"
"I don't get it." Persephone tilted her head innocently. "If you love him, why didn't you just confess before Erza did?"
"It's not that simple Persephone. Not everyone can get the man of their dreams just by getting kidnapped." Apollo explained with a solemn expression. It was in this moment, Juvia recalled the numerous failed relationships Apollo has been through according to Persephone.
"That's the fucking kicker. She got rejected every goddamn time." Erik entered a state of complete hysteria. It was almost unsettling by how much enjoyment and entertainment he was getting from Juvia's suffering. "Enjoyment is an understatement."
"Why is Erik meddling in Juvia's life? Isn't Cobra suppose to be working at the bar?" A tick mark formed on the side of Juvia's head.
"Huh? Oh, I quit ten minutes ago." Erik answered nonchalantly.
"What does Erik mean by 'quit'? Master gave it to you as punishment. Erik cannot simply quit a punishment." Juvia raised an eyebrow. Ever fiber of her being was telling Juvia that claim was complete, pardon her French, bullshit. Cobra has barely done anything redeemable for the past few days.
"I heard what the geezer said. I couldn't do any mission until he said otherwise. I did my time at the bar, and 'otherwise' has come knocking on my door." Erik snickered as he pulled two requests out of his long jacket. Juvia sweatdropped. Master never specified that Cobra was to stop working at the bar when he was allowed back on quests. Erik was bending the conditions to fit his ideals. With that kind of method of thinking, Juvia's surprised that Erik didn't quit on the first day. "Nah, I had to pass the time somehow, and I didn't feel like dealing with you two depressing ass people."
"Yet Erik is willing to go a mission with Juvia and Jellal right now? Solid logic Cobra." Juvia shot him an annoyed facial expression. Juvia couldn't take mad though. This was a good chance for her to get out the guild once again. "What are the missions?"
"Good new, Hephaestus finished pinpointing those two Gods location. Bad news, they're on opposing side of the country." Erik examined the oldish papers. "I think Hades and Artemis were their names."
"Then, the six of us will go in split up in teams of two. One group will find Hades, and the others will get Artemis." Jellal concluded, but he still lacked his usual emotional tone.
"Juvia thinks Persephone should be on the team that gets Hades, and Apollo should get Artemis. Without them, Heps might have never pinpointed their locations." Juvia suggested her opinion.
"Juvia is absolutely correct." Athena climbed the stairs with Mira following her. "There's also a possibility that Hades can give us a hint of where Ares and Hera are located. These search and recovery missions. I do not want either team to fail this objective. Artemis and Hades are valuable, so do not fail."
"Yeah, we know Athena, but who's going with who?" Apollo folded his arms. "Someone awakened us, so there must be someone out there trying to collect the other four. What if someone attacks us while we're on the mission?"
"I got your back bro." Hermes get him a thumbs up. "We'll kick everyone's ass."
"Juvia can go with Persephone. Juvia wishes to meet Hades." The water mage raised her hand.
"Do you have a death wish or something?"
"Don't listen to him, Juvia." Persephone pushed the travel god out of the spotlight. "You'll love Hades. He's such a sweet guy."
"Then, Jellal can go with the girls since he's the strongest out of the three humans. It's better to go with the safer route." Athena finalized the teams. "In addition to that, Erik, I strongly suggest that you refrain from making any jokes that come off as an insult once Artemis is awakened."
"Or, it's better for Erik not go in general." Apollo made a motion. Juvia understands that Cobra can be foul to be around, but Juvia has a little bit of faith in him to control his mouth. "Artemis hates guys with a passion."
"That is true. However, a human must be present, so Artemis can have someone responsible for her key." Athena pointed out.
"I ain't handling anyone's keys." Erik objected quickly. For some reason, Juvia feels like the guild, Kinana specifically, dodged a bullet. Oh well.
"Then, we just need a female willing to deal with Apollo and Hermes." Persephone made the obvious statement.
"Hey!"
"The first person that comes to mind is Juvia." Athena folded her arms with a puzzled expression. "Logically, it won't make sense to have Juvia travel across the country and get both keys. That would take more time than just sending two different people on the mission."
"There's also the fact that Artemis might awaken while Juvia is getting Hades," Erik said in a bored tone. "And vice versa."
"...Yeah, we don't need Hades going on a rampage." Hermes' complexion paled. He turned whiter than Jellal. That's right. Hades is considered one of the strongest Gods to walk the Earth... well the Underworld. If the idea of a berserk Hades frightens Apollo and Hermes, does that mean Juvia doesn't stand a chance against him? "Ju-Juvia, we gotta get Hades first."
"I am forced to agree. With Mira, Erza, Lucy, and Aphrodite out wedding planning, there are not many of female options left." Athena's monotony said, but the dread was clear on her face. "Juvia and Jellal, I'll be sending Hermes, Apollo, and Persephone with you on this mission. Hephaestus and I will be staying back to locate Hera and Ares. If there's trouble, do not hesitate to summon either of us."
"As for Erik," A hand was placed on the dragonslayer's shoulder. Meredy rested her head on his shoulder as her grin grew. "His punishment isn't over." With an iron tight grip, the pink haired wizard dragged the annoyed man back into the kitchen, where he belonged. "Have fun, you guys!"
With that farewell, Juvia's forever growing team dispersed. Athena went over to Gajeel and Levy's table which is where Heps was settling in quite nicely. The other three turned into their key forms. Juvia watched as Jellal sluggishly leave the guild. Juvia knew that she couldn't leave Jellal like that, but how should she go about it? She couldn't comfort him with a lie, nor could she spit out the truth. That would only hurt him more. No Juvia, this is your duty! Jellal has put so much effort to support Juvia. Juvia must return the favor.
Exiting the guild, Juvia's second nature surfaced. It was almost how skillful she was when it came to stalking someone. The water mage was able to track Jellal down to the same waterbed they met before. Does he go here often? Steeling her nerves, Juvia went in for the comforting interception.
"...Jellal, what is Jellal doing?" Juvia slowly moved towards the powerful wizard. Her companion snapped his head in her general, tears streaming down his cheeks. His eyes were puffy and slightly red. His nose was dripping bits of mucus onto the rim of this shirt. Recovering from Juvia's appearance, Jellal wiped away all of the substances away with the sleeve of his shirt.
"Ju-Juvia, I didn't expect you come here." Jellal stuttered out, but his voice was too hoarse from crying.
"Jellal, what's wrong? Why is Jellal crying?" Juvia fixed her dress as she took the patch of grass next to him. Now that Juvia was thinking about it, the answer should be obvious.
"It's over, isn't it?" Jellal sniffled, gripping his legs harder than before.
"Juvia believes so... We had a good run though." Juvia sympathized with him. "If Jellal cannot go through with the wedding, Erza will understand."
"It's not that I don't want to go the wedding. I do, but I just wanted to be the one she would marry. The one that Erza would wait for at the end of the aisle. The one she would say 'I do'. The one Erza could smile at without a reason. The one she... The one she could love..." Jellal stared into the river and look at his reflection. Through the water, he couldn't notice the tears running down his face.
"Juvia knows it hurts Jellal, but the pain will fade. Juvia doesn't know when it will stop hurting or if the pain will ever fade away completely. Juvia just knows that Jellal will find someone who will-"
"Whatever happened to be truthful, Juvia?" Jellal shot Juvia a cold glare. Something, a switch, in Juvia's head, activated and unleashed a flood of adrenaline in Juvia's system.
"That is the truth!" Juvia screamed; passion flowing through every inch of Juvia's body. "Juvia believes it with all of her heart! Erza may not have been for Jellal, but Juvia positive that there's another woman in Fiore for Jellal! He just needs to take the first step!"
"Hehe... you make it sound like it's simple." Jellal chuckled underneath his breath. Juvia didn't pick up any sarcasm or resentment.
"Juvia never said it will be easy. Juvia just doesn't want Jellal to miss his chance with someone else..."
"Is that your way of saying you want to date me?" He nudged Juvia with his elbow. Juvia gave him the 'Don't-Even-Joke-Like-That' face.
"Juvia is taking a break from wanting love." She answered. "Juvia needs to re-evaluate her life."
"I don't see why? You seem to be a caring and loving person." Jellal laid down on the grassy hill. It was almost time for the stars to come out or at the very least become visible.
"Jellal didn't see all the nonsense Juvia went through to get Gray's attention." Juvia sighed. In hindsight, she should've been more sensible with her actions. Had Gray and Juvia gotten married, would Juvia have calmed down, or would she be even more paranoid? Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise. Juvia had the potential to drive herself insane with the word 'affair' alone.
"From what I saw at your house and Erik's open opinions, I know a bit of your bad side. But, I still want to hear more about the good you've done for Gray. In return, I'll share some good I've done for Erza."
"Juvia sees...very well. Does Jellal know about Meredy and Ultear's time in the dark guild, Grimoire Heart?" Juvia rested her head on the grass as she thought back to the moment she first met her closest friend.
"I think so. If I remember correctly, they were apart of the Seven Kin of Purgatory."
"When they attacked, Juvia and Erza encountered Meredy in a swamp. For the beginning of the battle, Meredy was easily beating Juvia, even though Juvia had the environmental advantage. Somewhere in between the fight, Meredy mentioned that she wished to kill Gray. Needlessly to say, hell broke loose." Juvia sweatdropped.
"Erza ran shortly after when she realized Juvia had the situation under control. Meredy used her magic to connect Juvia, Gray, and herself, so if one died, all three would. Meredy wished to kill herself for Ultear's sake, but Juvia managed to disrupt her magic." Juvia continued on.
"How?"
"Juvia broke her own leg."
"...That's one way of stopping a suicide." Jellal sweatdropped.
"Juvia panicked, okay! Gray's life was in danger."
"Hehe, I get where you're coming from. Meredy's a stubborn one. I'm impressed; you managed to beat her on your first try."
"It was more of a draw than a clear victory. Juvia just spoke from her heart." Juvia nervously chuckled. Meredy was indeed a formidable opponent. It's rare for Juvia to come across someone who can do bodily harm to her. It was by pure chance that Juvia was able to subdue the girl.
"But still, you can't argue the amount of compassion that must've taken, to an enemy no less." Jellal smiled as he tilted his face to look Juvia in the eyes. Juvia will admit the compliment made her blush a tad bit. "You sure do have your moments Juvia."
"Juvia is sure Jellal has his own moments too. Didn't Jellal spend his childhood with Erza?" Juvia recalled her time in the Tower of Heaven. While she was in the dark for most of the major plot points involving Erza, Juvia was aware of the friendship they had together.
"Yep, I'm the one who gave Erza her last name. I was intoxicated by her scarlet hair as a kid, and Erza couldn't remember what her surname was. We all decided to call her Erza Scarlet from that moment on." Juvia almost started to tear up. That was such a touching memories. Juvia might not have shown it, but she was worried that Jellal might become upset when Erza becomes Erza Fullbuster... It doesn't roll off the tongue like Erza Scarlet. What about Erza Fernades? Erza Dragneel? Erza Strauss? Ew, no. The sheer thought of Elfman and Erza having a child made Juvia cringe. Then again, that child would be the toughest child conceivable. If it can survive the training that is...
"Is something wrong? I saw you make your usual cringing face." Jellal cocked an eyebrow.
"Juvia drifted off for a moment and thought of Erza and Elfman having a child..." Juvia awkwardly answered. Jellal gave her an even more skeptical look. "Juvia was thinking about mismatching the girls and the guy's surnames, and Juvia's mind went from there...hehe."
"Huh? Hmm...I wonder what Erik and Kinana are gonna do for their last name since Erik doesn't really have one." Jellal gazed up at the starry sky.
"Erik doesn't have one either?" Juvia gasped. It took Juvia a moment to realize why that might be the case. The dark mages in the Tower of Heaven kidnapped children from all ages, so was it possible that Erik was kidnaped before he could solidify his full name in his head. Erza was a different story. Her mother was never around to pass on her last name.
"He might have one. Erik never told mentioned it to me if he does." Jellal shrugged. "What other matches did you come up with? I'm curious now."
That's how the rest of Juvia and Jellal's night went. They spent the night conversing about possible and impossible couples. At some point, it became a game of who can stump the other with a shipping name. Juvia inwardly chuckled. Jellal had no idea how wild Juvia's imagination could get; thus, she had an unspoken advantage. Juvia will admit that Jellal was a clever man. He went toe to toe with Juvia for while with a basic understanding of word mashing on his side. The obvious ships like 'NaLu' and 'ElfGreen' were thrown out in the beginning to give each of a sense of the game. It quickly went downhill from there. Juvia couldn't remember who exactly said 'Ichura', but Juvia did know that it was Ichiya and Kagura. That was the point of no return. The pairs became so crack Juvia had serious doubts that any of them stay afloat at the docks. Juvia wasn't about to explain what 'Yajusica' was. She will admit; that had her stumped for a minute. The lines between reality and dream blurred the longer the game went on. Before either of them knew it, they were sleeping on the grassy hill.
"Oh, this why Juvia didn't come home last night." That...That voice sounds familiar. Apollo...maybe...Juvia wasn't sure. Could this be another one of blank dreams?
"Aww, they look so peaceful. Should we leave them here?" That might be Persephone... Juvia is faintly sure that was her.
"Nah, but it would a shame if..." Juvia heard a cap pop. "someone drew on their faces."
"Bro... that's a great idea!"
"Keep your voices down, you'll wake them."
"Bu-"
"And no, no one is drawing on anyone's face."
"Party pooper..."
"Sorry to tell you this Persephone, but you're becoming Hades."
"What was that?! I don't want to hear that coming someone as reckless as you!"
"Whatever happened to keep our voices down?" Apollo's cockiness was showing once again.
"Ugh, why am I stuck with the likes of you two? How do you even know your prophecy will come true?"
A prophecy...? Like the one with that gate... Ugh, Juvia isn't awake enough to think... It might... be better to ask them... in the morning...
"They always come true! Yeah... they always come true, no matter what."
"We're Gods, and we can't even stop fate. Are you sure we can't do anything to-"
"My hands are tie...sephone. You know that. Th...ly thing we can do is prepare ... for the worse and hope for the best." Juvia wants to believe...that is Apollo speaking,... but Juvia's consciousness...is fading. "The forces of e...ady have their plan in mo..on. For some reason, J... the foci point to all this ma...ss."
Juvia wasn't able to hear the rest of... whatever that was. Juvia woke up on the same hill she fell asleep last night. Then, was that just a dream last night? Juvia swears her dreams usually have some similar to a picture or a movie even. If it was a dream, then it would explain why Persephone and others didn't care Juvia back to her house. No matter how realist a dream may be, it can't move a person. Ugh, it's early in the morning to... wait, why is there weight on Juvia's waist? Dear Mavis no, Juvia tilted her head and saw Jellal's arm wrapped around her waist. Okay, how did Juvia get stuck in a cliche?! Great, now Juvia has to wait for Jellal to wake up and realize what he has done. Or, does Juvia wake him up, and the both of them can spend their time on the mission awkwardly making conversation? But what if- Wait... Juvia isn't stuck. Juvia can turn into water and slip out unnoticed. Doing so, Juvia mentally promised herself never to speak a word of this incident to another soul.
Juvia's Gods: Apollo (obtained), Persephone (obtained), Hephaestus (obtained), Hermes (obtained), Athena (obtained)
Lucy's Gods: Aphrodite (obtained)
A/N: I kinda ran with Juvia and Jellal's moment. To be honest, Hades was supposed to be awakened in this chapter, but I wanted to make Juvia and Jellal's moment sound genuine and not rushed. I'll eventually get around to capturing those two. I'm making the converging point of the God's arc and Gray/Erza's wedding arc in my head right now, so all of this is linked in some way. Also, what do y'all think 'Yajusica' is comprised of? It's two actually characters of Fairy Tail. Since no one guessed the character at the door correctly last time, whoever guesses right this time will get a sneak peek to a scene in a future chapter. Please review and tell me what y'all thought of this chapter! I will see y'all in the next installment.