"What would happen to Juvia and Jellal if Gray x Erza became canon?"
This is Juvia and Jellal's story.
The train pulled into Veilstone City shortly after their story ended. Hades and Persephone wished the five of us good luck on our mission as they switched into their key forms. Juvia couldn't help but to sweatdrop. Oh yes Persephone, once Hades is awakened, Persephone is suddenly unavailable. Juvia will remember that.
Juvia spared Apollo a glance as a way to check on him. As soon as we stepped off the platform, Juvia noticed a shift in his personality. He had an extra pep in his step; he had a tight grip on the tracking machine. Unlike usual, Apollo was completely focused on the mission and not joking around with Hermes. The Sun God was a couple of steps ahead the rest of us. Oblivious to the four of us, Apollo was absolutely determined to finding his sister.
Hermes, on the other hand, had a small smile on his face as he walked beside Juvia.
"Is Hermes okay?" Juvia poked his cheek to break his concentration. "Hermes is usually on Apollo's right."
"Oh, I'm fine. Bro's just wants to see his sis again." Hermes stated, yet the trickster's smile came off as a bit saddening. "I can handle a little alone time."
"Then, why not go back into your key form?" Lucy proposed. Hermes opened his mouth to answer, but it seems like nothing could come out.
"It could be that Hermes wants to see Apollo and Artemis reunite." Jellal shrugged. Hermes thought he was slick by whispering 'thank you', but Juvia's hearing picked up on it.
"So, what's Artemis like? Similar to Apollo in anyway?" Lucy questioned. Juvia would hope not. One flirty god under Juvia's belt is enough. There's no need for another. However, Juvia already awakened Hades for Persephone. It would be rude of Juvia not to same for Apollo. However, then that begs the question. Why was Apollo determined to awaken Artemis before Hermes was in the picture? Is Hermes the second most important to Apollo? That might be true. It took Jellal to bring the trickster to us. Perhaps Juvia is thinking too much into the situation.
"Not really, they're kinda opposites. Bro's more of an extrovert, and Artemis is an introvert. Bro likes to date people while his sis is still a virgin." Hermes shrugged. A virgin goddess? With this Zeus god around? Maybe there was a chance for a mortal after all if Artemis could last this long with Zeus around. "Artemis is really into hunting and protecting others. If it for a girl, Artemis will do just about anything to save her. The chick's really into protecting women."
"What about men?" Jellal asked.
"As Artemis says 'They can handle themselves.'," Hermes rolled his eyes. "That's why Bro's the one who defends guys. It's very rare for Artemis to care about a man."
"What the hell?" Apollo whispered to himself. He stopped in his tracks. "What the hell?!"
"What's wrong?" Hermes peered his head over Apollo's shoulder to check the monitor.
"Artemis's moving... She must've awakened!" Apollo pulled the closest person to him into a tight hug. Jellal gave Juvia a skeptical face. It was low chance for us to be this close to awakening her and the goddess awakening on her own. But, who was Juvia to look a gift horse in the mouth? Another easily acquired key.
"Then, what are we waiting for?" Lucy spoke up. "Let's go find her!"
"I'm way ahead of you." Apollo snapped his fingers. A golden chariot with flaming wheels poofed into existence. Two black horses with flaming hooves were tied to the front of the chariot. The Sun God offered his hand to Juvia as he stepped on the cruiser. "Juvia come with me. You can direct me while I steer the horses."
"What about the others?" Juvia asked as she looked back at the trio. "Apollo, Juvia can't leave them behind."
"There's no need to worry! We'll catch up." Lucy assured her. "Get going and meet your new spirit."
"I owe ya, Lucy," Apollo said as the horse started to pick up speed. Next thing Juvia knew, the two of them were lifted on the ground and flying across the city. What the hell?! Juvia wrapped an arm around Apollo's waist to keep herself from plunging to her premature death. Nope, Juvia was not becoming a raindrop today. Someone would think Juvia is simply scared of heights, but no, there was no back to the chariot. So, if Juvia somehow slipped, she will go flying out of the chariot. The water mage studied the tracker to see how Heps set it up.
So, the dot in the center was Juvia and Apollo, and the blinking light, Juvia assumes, is Artemis. Why wasn't Hermes, Aphrodite, and Aries showing up, then? Was it because Heps configured the machine using Artemis's arrow and Hades's helm? Then, why did the machine pick up on Aquarius? Did the zodiacs and the Gods have a connection? Juvia will ask Heps about that later. For now, Juvia must focus on the task at hand.
"Artemis is traveling to the east of us." Juvia pointed in that general direction and praying she wouldn't drop this machine. Apollo made a hard turn and inadvertently threw Juvia into his chest. The water mage growled as she assumed Apollo did it on purpose just for the chance of telling a corny joke. Yet, it never came. Apollo was primarily focused scouting the area below us.
Juvia fixed herself and checked the tracker again. Now, Artemis appeared to increase her speed considerably. Was she also blessed with a chariot? Whatever the case, Artemis was in general area in front of the two of them. Juvia glanced at the landscape. The pair was coming up into the mountain region of Veilstone city. The buildings were behind us as well as the trees. Which means, Artemis must be in the mountains somewhere, but the only thing Juvia saw in the mountain range was a flying ship. Wait, a flying ship? Is it possible? Juvia double checked the scouter to confirm her theory.
"Apollo... does Artemis own an airship by any chance?" Juvia asked, but she knew the answer.
"No..." He growled. The Sun God snapped his whip. Juvia held on as the horses chased down the airship.
Landing on the ship wasn't as easy as Juvia had hoped. Whoever is on that ship caught onto us quickly and armed the cannons.
"Oh no, they don't!" Apollo dodged the cannonballs as we closed the distance between us. All Juvia could do is hold on and hope that one of those balls didn't smack her in the face. Apollo requiped his arrows and bow. "Get ready to fight Juvia!"
The chariot is disappeared once we had our feet on the quarterdeck. We were immediately surrounded by hundreds of grunts. Nothing is ever simple, is it? Juvia sighed. Juvia tossed her belongs onto the floors as she scanned the enemies. Like typical grunts, they were dressed in the same black and white horizontal striped shirts and black jeans. Some were wearing bandanas with some ancient symbol plastered on it.
Not waiting for Juvia, Apollo ripped through the grunts with his arrows. Not to be outmatched, Juvia dashed in the opposite direction of Apollo. She whipped around her Water Cane and knocked a few out. Using sheer numbers, they shot a combination of their magic at Juvia's feet. Thinking quickly, the water mage surrounded herself in a bubble of condensed water. She was under fire, so she manipulated the water to shoot projectiles from the bubble to lower their numbers. Not missing a step, Juvia grew the bubble larger and larger until she had enough room to fight back.
"Water Slicers!" Juvia shot thin slices of water at everyone as re-enforcement came in. Gritting her teeth, Juvia knew she had double her efforts. Her normal attacks won't work this time. Perhaps, Juvia needs to think of something new. Channeling her Water Dome, Juvia summoned the water to circle her body in two large rings. "Water Gimbal!"
She split balls of water from the rings and launched them in every direction. When the balls made contact with anything, long spikes shot out and encased everything. Grunts were trapped in Juvia's Water Lock.
"Water Storm!" Juvia lifted one of water ring off of herself and made a swirling motion with her finger. The ring slowly turned into a raging whirlpool. The Rain Woman slammed the whirlpool onto the deck as the remaining grunts were washed away. Juvia absorbed the rest of the water as she slowly lowered herself onto the deck once again. She checked on the other side of the ship, and Apollo was just putting his bow. He wasn't most satisfied God at the moment. Juvia walked down towards him with caution. "How is Apollo holding up?"
"I'm... I'm worried sick." He roughly ran his hand through his hair. "Shit, where is she?"
"Right here!" Another voice declared.
Splash!
Shit, another arrow passed through Juvia's skull and landed behind her. Another archer... wait was that-
"Artemis!" Apollo called out. A figure appeared out of the captain's quarters. A slim woman with a single golden braid sitting on her shoulder. She wore a bearskin long sleeve and skirt. Her boots faded and slightly torn in places. The laces were missing their aglets. The similarities between the twins faces were uncanny, to say the least. Her eyes were colored red unlike the rest of the Gods. Artemis had unwavering focus and an unfazed expression. "You're safe sis!"
Artemis didn't answer. Yet, her eyes stayed focus on her twin. Juvia was slightly uncomfortable. Why wasn't Artemis answering? The siblings were finally reconnected. So, why... why in Earthland's existence wasn't the goddess excited?
"Juvia thinks Apollo should back away..." Juvia tried grabbing his arm, but he snatched away from Juvia.
"This is my sis. There's no way-" An arrow passed Apollo and sprung a net onto Juvia. What the hell? Juvia tried to faze through the net, but nothing happened.
"I would highly suggest that you stay where you are. That is an elemental magic negating net." Artemis spoke in a concise voice as she drew her next arrow in her golden bow. "I would also highly suggest that Apollo think fast because each knot in that net is a very condensed bomb. You only have twenty minutes before the bomb detonates."
Juvia's sorry, but what? Juvia could not believe this. There was no way Juvia was going to die today, not after surviving the chariot ride.
"Sis, this is insane. You can't kill Juvia. She's my master and woman! You never hurt a girl who didn't harm you!" Apollo pleaded as his voice cracked. "This is an impossible situation."
"The impossible became possible today. There's only nineteen minutes left Apollo." Artemis pointed her bow at Apollo's chest. "Will you fight or watch this woman die."
"I'm not going to fight my sis! Artemis...snap out of it before you do something you'll regret." Apollo wiped a tear from his cheek.
"This is how it's going to end then. That woman dies. I return you to your key form. I pry whatever keys that woman has on her cold dead person. I collect the rest of the remaining keys and watch the world be reborn."
"Reborn...?" Juvia whispered in confusion. Watch the world be reborn? What kind of stereotypical villain was she trying to be? Whatever the case, Juvia was running out of time. "Apollo please, Juvia understands that Artemis is your sister, and Juvia knows it must hurt to fight your sister. However, Juvia's life in your hands Apollo."
"I'm not fighting my sis. There has to be another way!"Apollo's knuckles turned white.
"Seventeen minutes, Apollo. This woman must mean nothing to you if you're not willing to fight for her." Artemis's eyes stared deep into Apollo's soul.
"She does! Juvia's my master." Apollo growled.
"Then, why won't Apollo fight!?" Juvia hollered.
"That's my sis! What do you want me to do!? I can't hurt her." If Apollo won't listen to Juvia, then, Juvia needs a trump card.
"Hermes!" Juvia swiftly called out the messenger God. He poofed into existence, but his outfit was torn. "Hermes, is everything okay?"
"Shit, I'm so sorry Juvia, but the three of us got ambushed by a group of cyclops. I gotta help Lucy and Jellal. It's a close fight."
"Oh my Mavis, go help them! Juvia will meet up you guys later!" Juvia gasped before violently waving him away. "Put all your effort into protecting them!"
"Thanks, Juvia, I'll come back for you. I promise. Bro, protect Juvia." Hermes jumped off the airboat and soar off into the distance. Juvia sighed. Put your guildmates before yourself... that's how a fairy rolls. Juvia could only hope that this choice didn't just cost Juvia her life.
"There are fifteen minutes left, and Apollo is showing no signs of fighting. Is there anything you wish to get off your chest for death comes for you?"
"Artemis will not get away with this! Juvia can promise that!" Juvia swore on her life that if she got out of this alive, there will be some choice words. "Apollo, is this really how you want this to end?"
"No, but what you do in my position? The closest person to you and you're given that option. What would you do?" Apollo snapped. Juvia was slightly taken aback. Not because of what Apollo said, but that she was in that position with Gray himself. Given that choice, Juvia committed suicide in the heat of the moment. She couldn't ask Apollo to kill himself! Because, well, that would solve nothing. With Juvia's situation, Gray could continue living. If Apollo returned to key form, then Juvia would still die.
"Twelve minutes." Artemis reminded us. Apollo still wouldn't move. Goddamnit, Juvia guesses she'll need to use her backup plan.
"Juvia is sorry Apollo, but Juvia refuses to die!" The water mage pulled out two platinum keys. "Persephone! Hades!"
"Aw man, and it was getting to the good part," Persephone whined as she closed her book. The couple surveyed the situation, and the Spring Goddess asked the begging question. "Um, what's happening?"
"Ahh, Persephone and Hades, your collection continues to grow. Who else do you have? Hera?" Artemis asked a rhetorical question. "That woman has ten minutes before that net explodes."
"Oh my Zeus, Apollo, why are you just standing there?!" Persephone gasped as she rushed to my side. Artemis shot another arrow as a warning.
"The next one goes through your dolled up head. You'll need to go through me if you want to save her." Artemis readied her next arrow.
"Very well, I demonstrate why you do not cross my master." Hades darkly muttered. With a single snap of his fingers, the wood underneath her feet wrapped around her body, slowly squeezing the life out of the goddess. Hades's eyes flashed red as an army of undead archers rose from the floor. With nowhere to go, the undead unleashed a fury of hellish arrows onto the Goddess. In the meantime, Persephone helped Juvia out of the net. When Juvia was completely free, Persephone trapped the net in a venus flytrap. Juvia turned back to the fight. Hades raised his hand. "Do you yield?"
"Ne-Never." Artemis coughed up blood.
"Very well," Hades lowered his hand, and the attack resumed.
"Stop, you're hurting her!" Apollo grabbed Hades by the arm. "This is overkill!"
Hades was slightly shocked by his sudden declaration. Before he could retort, Persephone stepped in.
"Hades, please, just knock her out. You've proven your point." Persephone pleaded. Giving into his wife demands, Hades returned his minions to the Underworld. As the dust settled around the female twin, a sleeping figure shimmered into a key. Juvia scooped up the key and examined it. A platinum key with a crescent moon. The moon is considered the opposite of the sun, so then Artemis is related to nighttime.
"Excuse me Juvia but how long where you underneath that net?" Hades said in his normal voice. "I'm curious."
"..Artemis said the net was to explode in twenty minutes." Juvia hesitated with answering. Juvia couldn't bring herself to look at Apollo or his general direction at the moment. "Juvia had no choice but to call Persephone and Hades."
"Apollo, what were you doing for ten minutes?" Persephone asked with a confused expression. There was utter silence as the Goddess's question hung in the air. "Apollo?"
"I noticed that you're lacking your usual bow and arrows," Hades frowns. "Did she somehow disarm you, Apollo?"
"...No...Can we stop talking about the whole matter?" Apollo had the nerve to sigh. Juvia cooled herself down before she said something she'll regret later.
"Apollo, you know how Athena gets when it comes to reports. We're going to need to know what happened since Hades and I were involved." Persephone reasoned. Apollo still wouldn't speak. Sighing, the goddess turned to Juvia. "Juvia can you fill us in some more?"
"Apollo... Apollo wouldn't fight Artemis under no circumstance. Time was counting down... Juvia had no choice but to call Persephone and Hades. Juvia... is sorry." The water mage rubbed her arm as she explained the situation.
"I'm sorry, but what?" Persephone blinked twice. "Apollo is that true?!"
Apollo once again pleaded the fifth. All Juvia saw for second was a black blur move across the boat. The next thing Juvia knew was that Hades had Apollo by the throat.
"My patience is wearing thin. Answer the question." Hades warned his nephew. His voice alone sent a chill down Juvia's spine. Apollo weakly nodded. Satisfied, Hades backed away. "Explain."รถ
"What was a supposed to do? I couldn't raise my fist to my twin." He snapped at Hades. Um, Apollo... not the person who you want to try to intimidate. "I can't hurt her."
"Then stun her with an arrow! Use a net arrow! Don't just stand there and watch Juvia die!" Persephone declared with a lot of base in her voice.
"Don't act high and mighty with me Persephone."Apollo frowned. "What would you do if Hades was planning on killing Juvia? Huh?"
For a second, the goddess was stunned into silence. Apollo appeared to be satisfied with Persephone's answer. Hades... he was studying Persephone and her stance.
"I would probably die by trying to save both of them to be completely honest..." Persephone looked down at her open hand. "Hades is husband and I will always love him. Yet, I know that he'll hate me if I let someone die just so I could protect him... Juvia is my master, and I swore to protect her. But, I couldn't live with myself if I was linked to Hades's death in some way. Besides, Hades is so much stronger than me, but that doesn't mean I won't try. So...I think I would die by trying to appease the two of them."
"Persephone..." Juvia whispered. Juvia didn't know that Persephone took it this seriously... Juvia should defuse the situation. The Gods do not need to be fighting at the moment. We need to be a united front. "Er... maybe we should drop the subject for now. Besides, we don't even know if Artemis was right about the ne-"
Bam!
The four of them turned to the sound of the explosion. Th-The Venus Flytrap ex-exploded! Holy crap, that could've been Juvia. The water mage stared at Apollo in shock. Ju-Juvia was really about to die because of Apollo's indecisiveness. Saying nothing more, the Sun God returned to his key form. Hades sighed in annoyance. He started surveying the grunts.
"What is this?" Hades tore off one of the grunt's bandanas for a closer look. "I'll have Athena take a look at this. Persephone, did anyone else awakened?"
"Um just Heps, he's the one who made the machine," Persephone answered.
"Interesting... Juvia was there anyone else on the ship before Artemis appeared?"
"No, Juvia and Apollo were only fighting the grunts. Why does Hades ask?" Juvia answered as well.
"Something isn't adding up. Artemis was brainwashed. I understand that much. However, who brainwashed her? If it was a grunt, there must be a machine on the ship to do so. If it was the leader, then, they must be on the ship."
"What if they used Artemis as a scapegoat? During the confusion, the leader got off the ship." Persephone made a good point.
"The only way we can be certain is if we search the ship," Hades said as he pocketed the bandana. "We should stick together for the best results. Huh? I thought I heard a river."
"But, we're in the air," Juvia remarked.
Bam!
The airship violently shook as the floor beneath us started to crack. A torrent of water split the ship into thirds. Juvia watched Hades and Persephone's face turn into pure fear as her body was flung overboard.
What?
Is Juvia destined not to survive today? It appears to be the case. This is how Juvia was going to die. She was to become a droplet of water on these mountains. Juvia watched the clouds slowly pass by as she reached terminal velocity. Juvia felt bits of water separating from her body. Juvia guesses this is the time everyone at death's door where they think about their life. Might as well die like a cliche... If Juvia had one regret in her life, Juvia would say that she regrets not being able to say she did more for herself. You know... Juvia used to live for those she loved, mostly Gray. Now, Juvia is living to help the Gods with their missions and Erza's wedding. At least, Juvia won't have to deal with that anymore.
Juvia felt something at ahold of herself. She looked up and saw a blackened winged figure who only wore a loincloth carrying her. Juvia couldn't make out the man's facial features; his face was covered in something similar to a haze. Oh, this must be death coming to collect Juvia's soul. Understandable... there was no way for Juvia to survive a fall from that height. Juvia submitted to fate and closed her eyes. She silently prayed for the wellbeing of her guild in future battles.
"Juvia... you can open your eyes now." Juvia heard Persephone's voice. "You're safe."
"What?" Juvia cracked one eye open. Sh-She was back in Veilstone city. "How?"
"Thanatos carried you back." She answered as Juvia slowly climbed out of the man's toned arms. "Thank Hades for thinking so quickly."
"Juvia was certain that death was taking her to the afterlife." Juvia left out a relieving sigh.
"Oh no, you were definitely in the arms of death. You didn't go to the underworld though." Persephone reassured her.
"What?!"
"Juvia meet Thanatos, the God of Death. Thanatos meet Juvia, our new master." Hades introduce us to each other.
"It's nice to meet you, madam." Death offered his hands. Juvia eyed Persephone and Hades.
"It's safe to touch him, don't worry."
"I-It's nice to meet you too, Thanatos." Juvia gave him a weak smile. Was Death really one of the twelve powerful Gods? Juvia already counted all of them out. Poseidon, Zeus, and Hert were the last three. Nine have awakened so far.
"Thanatos has his own key if you wish to hold his as well." Hades offered. Hades basically asked Juvia to control death, himself. Juvia shook her head. That's a hard pass, sorry. She might kill Hades "Understandable, thank you for your work Thanatos."
With a black poof, Death retreated to his key form.
"Juvia is sorry, but Juvia thought there were only twelve keys?" Juvia held her head.
"There are, but Hades is apart of the Big Three. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades get perks that the rest of don't." Persephone boasted. "Hades holds Thanatos, Nyx, and Cerberus's keys. Poseidon can summon an unlimited amount of cyclops to his aid. Zeus has the power of summoning enough lightning to scorch the entire continent."
"That's... horrifying." Juvia shuddered. Snapping out her daze, Juvia noticed Hades in a calculating state of mind. "Is something wrong Hades?"
"I don't believe we're dealing with a normal mage. We were well about those mountains, yet a torrent of water was capable of tearing through that ship." Hades looked around. "That's a challenge for most. Whoever we're against, they're most likely capable of much more dangerous attacks, and I have an idea of who it is."
"Like who?" Juvia asked. Hearing footsteps, Juvia turned to the sounds. There stood Lucy, Jellal, and Hermes in tattered clothes. Lucy had a cast on her left leg while Jellal helped her walk. Hermes was holding his stomach. That didn't stop any of them from wearing a proud smile.
"What happened to y'all?" Persephone cocked her eyebrow.
"Cyclops... cyclops." Hermes weakly smiled. "Man, they can put up one hell of a fight."
"Cyclops huh?" Hades hummed. "Did you notice anything about them?"
"Um no, those were the first cyclops I ever encountered," Lucy answered before looking at Jellal for a confirming nod. "I heard stories of those monsters being extinct."
"They're supposed to be." Hades frowned. "This is serious. We need to regroup with Athena and Heps."
"What's wrong? Did Hades recall something?" Juvia glanced at the God. She relieved the cargo from Jellal's shoulders.
"Poseidon might have been brainwashed too." Hades rushed to the train station.
"Wait? Who's Poseidon?" Lucy called out as they followed behind the Underworld King.
"My brother and the God of the Sea, Earthquakes, Floods, and Droughts," Hades answered. Oh so, that is why Juvia is a descendant of the God. "The need to assemble a team to combat him."
"In our condition, Juvia doubts we'll last long against the God." Just fighting cyclops, Jellal and Lucy could barely stand. The God could wipe us out with a wave of his magic. Not to mention, this was one of the Big Three. A water-based version of Hades... Dear Mavis... pray for Fairy Tail.
Juvia's Gods: Apollo (obtained). Persephone (obtained), Hephaestus (obtained), Hermes (obtained), Athena (obtained), Hades (obtained)
Lucy's Gods: Aphrodite (obtained)
Aries (awakened), Artemis (awakened), Poseidon (? ? ?)
A/N: Happy New Year! This story survived 2017! Can't say that for every other one. I would like to say Apollo and Artemis's 'fight' was realistic. I based it on my fights with my brothers. Yeah, I'll throw a punch, but I ain't gonna to actually break their bones or knock them out. Do other families actually do knock out brawls with each other?