Chapter 2: Gray and Juvia

"Thank you for taking me to this new café, my darling," said Juvia, who was glued to her beloved's arm.

"Not like we had anything better to do," Gray said, his expression looking less than pleased.

She looked up at him, with a torrent of love in her eyes. "It makes me so happy to be here with you."

He looked down at her, and his unamused frown turned into a thin smile. "I'm glad you're happy, Juvia," he looked forward again and his smile disappeared. In truth, he was glad. Juvia was the one thing in his life that kept him afloat. After Fairy Tail disbanded, his final light of happiness was the water wizard walking beside him, with her arm locked with his. Although, the dark storm of hatred still loomed over his heart. He was going to kill E.N.D one day, and nothing would stop him. Not even the final light of happiness.

Juvia looked at Gray, and her gleeful joy turned to worry. She saw the shadow of sadness over his face. She knew of his hunger for revenge. "Oh, my darling Gray…I wish you would talk to me about what you're going through. I know you're saddened because of your father, but he wouldn't want you to obsess over this. He would want you to be happy."

"Juvia?" Gray said.

She looked back up at him. "What is it, darling?"

"Let's have a good day," he said with a hint of a real smile.

Her eyes lit back up, and she dug her face into his arm. "I'd like nothing better."

They made it to the Coldwater Café, the new place to hang out near their village of Amefurashi, it was only one town over. Its grand opening was featured in Sorcerer Weekly, and Juvia had begged Gray to take her.

They sat down at one of the tables outside on the café's deck area. The sun was shining brightly, looking at the sky that day, nobody would have ever guessed that in the not so distant future, torrential downpours would overtake the area.

Juvia looked at the menu and hummed merrily. "What're you going to get, my darling?"

Gray skimmed through the menu. "I dunno…"

Looking at the object of her desire, Juvia's imagination ran wild. In her daydream, Gray's overly-shiny eyes looked at her with boyish love. "I can't decide what I want, Juvie. Your beauty keeps distracting me." He suddenly had on a tux, and she had on a beautiful white wedding gown with blue waterdrops on the hems. He got up and held out his hand. "What do you say we get married right here, then we can work on having those thirty-three babies."

"Oh, I would love nothing better, my icy prince!" she answered.

"Oh, Juvia…Juvia…"

"Oh, my beloved Gray."

"Juvia?" Gray said.

She didn't answer, she just stared into space, smiling ear-to-ear.

"Juvia!" he yelled.

She snapped out of it. "Wh-what is it?" she said, snapping back into reality.

He pointed at the waitress with his thumb.

"What would you like, Miss?" the waitress asked. She was tall and thin, and wore a scandalous maid outfit.

"I want you to get your skanky self away from my love!" she thought, her face steaming.

"Juvia, what are you having?" Gray asked.

She took a deep breath. "I'll take the green tea," she said pleasantly. "Hold the skank," she whispered.

"What was that, Miss?" the waitress asked.

"N-nothing at all. Thank you so much!"

The waitress bowed and took the menus.

"Jeez, what was that about?" Gray asked.

"Nothing at all, my love. I was just going to say how lovely it is today."

He looked up at the sky. "It is a pretty nice day out, isn't it?"

Juvia's face turned red when she noticed that Gray was now in his underwear. "Darling, your clothes?"

He looked at her. "What about 'em?"

"They're not…on you anymore."

He looked down and leaped out of his seat. "Aw crap! I've been doing so good too!"

"Excuse me, sir?" said another waitress.

"What is it?" Gray said, slightly perturbed.

"We require our customers to be clothed…this isn't that kind of establishment."

"Some things never change," said a man's voice coming from somewhere up above.

Gray and Juvia both looked up and saw who it was.

"Cobra?" Gray said, shocked. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Erik laughed. "Just thought I'd get a nice cup of coffee before tearing this place to the ground."

"B-but I thought you were in Jella—I mean, an independent guild," Juvia said, forgetting that Jellal and the rest of his guild were still running from the law.

"Old news, geyser gal," he said. "The band's broken up, I thought I'd do a solo tour. You're really gonna dig my song…"

"He's the Poison Dragon Slayer, isn't he? He's the one who can use someone's voice against them…" Juvia said.

"I'm really gonna tear the house down!" he said with a cackle.

"Not if I can help it!" said Gray. He got in position. "I haven't perfected any of my Devil Slayer magic yet. I can't afford to use any of those attacks here, I might end up hurting all these people. "Ice Make Lance!"

Several sharp lances of ice came from his hand, and shot directly at Erik. All of them pierced him. He winced and fell backwards.

"He didn't even try to dodge 'em," Gray said. "He's usually a master at dodging attacks."

Juvia looked up on the roof as Erik got back to his feet. "Something doesn't feel right about this…" She thought. "Erza told us that Cobra and the rest of the surviving members of the Oracion Seis joined Jellal's guild, and they're seeking the path of redemption. If he truly has reverted back to treachery, why would he resort to simply destroying this café? Surely a wizard as infamous as him would do something far more sinister."

"Tch, is that the best you got?" Erik said. "Salamander's magic packed way more of a punch…not to mention Titania's You must'a been the weak link in the bunch, huh?"

"Shut up!" he yelled.

"Real scared," Erik chided. He looked at Juvia. "Maybe I'll just attack your girlfriend, she's probably a better opponent anyway."

"Don't you touch her!" Gray yelled, getting in front of Juvia.

Erik's hands started to glow a foul purple. He smiled a wickedly. "Hope you can dodge this one, girly. One touch, and you're poisoned." He jumped off the roof towards Juvia and Gray. Everyone on the deck ran for their lives.

Juvia saw Erik hesitate before he reached her and Gray. Gray kicked him right as he landed, and Erik collapsed on the table Gray and Juvia had just been sitting, it broke under his weight.

Gray made a sword out of ice and pointed it at Erik's throat.

Erik laughed. "You got me, ice boy. Go ahead, finish the job."

Gray pulled the sword back to strike him. Before he could, Juvia grabbed his arm "No, don't do it!"

Gray looked at her. "Why not?"

Juvia looked at Erik. "You're not really here to destroy the place, are you? Nor do you mean us any harm."

Erik was shocked. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm here to raise some hell and kill me some fairies who've gotten their wings clipped."

Juvia sat down beside Erik, she looked at him intently. "You hesitated to attack me, purposely letting Gray strike you. You didn't dodge his attacks, when I hear you're a master at dodging all types of attacks because you can hear them coming from a mile away."

"Don't be stupid, I didn't hesitate. And I'm just rusty when it comes to hearing my opponent's attacks. You want me to show you how serious I am?" He grabbed her by the arm. His hand became scaly and purple. His nails became long and sharp, and they dug into her arm. She screamed. "Your body may be made out of water, but my nails and my poison can penetrate even that!"

"You bastard!" Gray said.

"You may as well kill me, or I swear I'll poison your girlfriend. She'll be writhing in agony for hours before the toxins eventually kill her."

Juvia grabbed Erik by the arm. He looked at her, surprised.

She was crying. "I know you're lying…you're not really going to hurt me."

"Y-yes I am," he looked back at Gray. "Kill me or the girl dies!"

Gray lifted his sword to go for the strike.

Juvia moved herself in front of Erik. "Please, don't do it, my love!"

Gray stopped just short of Juvia's back. "Get out of the way, Juvia!"

She shook her head. Her tears dropped onto Erik's face. "I can't let you do this…"

"Just let him kill me," Erik said insistently.

She looked at him with deeply pained eyes. "Why do you want to die?"

"Shut up and move," he said. "I need to die."

"How would your loved ones feel if you died?"

"Tch, I have no loved ones…"

"Surly you do. There has to be someone what's special to you."

Her face appeared in Erik's mind, her face as a human. "Cubellios…" he muttered as he let go of Juvia's arm.

"See?" Juvia said. "I knew you had someone."

"She wouldn't miss me…and even if she did, I have to die. Everyone in Crime Sorcière has to die, because we set them free."

"Set who free?" Gray asked.

Erik looked away. "None of your concern. Please, just kill me. Believe me when I say it's for the better."

The icy sword disappeared. "I won't kill 'ya, Cobra."

Juvia got up and joined Gray.

Erik looked up at both of them and scoffed. "Why not? You too much of a coward? I'd do it myself but…I can't, I'm unable to."

"Look, it wouldn't be right to kill you, not like this. So you guys fell into some trouble, does that mean you gotta die because of it? Why don't you tell us what's going on? We might be able to help 'ya."

"You're so wise and caring, Gray!" Juvia thought and began to swoon.

"This thing is way bigger than anyone can handle."

Gray held his hand out. "We'll figure something out, man. Come on."

Erik looked warily at his hand. "But, what if we can't?"

"Don't worry…we'll beat this thing."

"Trust us, we can beat whatever it is if we give it our all." Juvia said.

"How can you be so sure? You weren't there when they got out. All I heard was death and destruction with them."

"Something I learned being a wizard in Fairy Tail…never give up, even when things seem hopeless," said Gray.

"It's what I learned as well. Fairy Tail was the saving light that brought me out of dark despair," Juvia said.

"But Fairy Tail's broken up," Erik pointed out.

"But the lessons it taught are still in here," Gray said, pointing to his heart.

Erik sighed. His scaly hands returned to normal, his nailed dulled. "I think you guys are crazy…" he thought back to his one friend, and her beautiful face. "But I'll give you a chance. I'll tell you what happened, I could at least give you that much." He grabbed Gray's hand, and Gray pulled him up.

The people around them began to glance over from their various hiding places.

"We're…uh…gonna turn this guy in for tying to cause trouble. Don't worry, everyone. It's all over!" Gray said. Everyone seemed to buy it.

The three of them reached Gray and Juvia's house. Once inside, Juvia fixed some tea.

Gray and Erik were sitting on chairs opposite each other at the table.

"So, who are these demons you're talking about?" asked Gray.

Erik squirmed in his chair. "All I know is that they were more powerful than anything I've ever felt. Their power was crippling. They didn't even have to move an inch to knock us all down. There were seven of them, and they each came out of their own book."

"Like the Etherious demons of Zeref?"

"Sorta, but their power is on a whole other level than Tartaros…and we set them free."

"What's their goal?" Juvia asked, putting two cups of tea on the table.

"I don't know, exactly, but between the excruciatingly loud screams in their heads…I heard one of them think 'it's time to kill the Virtues. The time of the Vices has come.'"

"Virtues and Vices? Sounds like some backwards sermon or somethin'," said Gray.

Juvia grabbed her own cup of tea and sat at the table. "But why would you wish to kill yourself? It's not like you set these monsters free on purpose. I don't understand."

"She has a point," Gray said. "It doesn't make sense…shouldn't you guys be working to fix the problem instead of trying to end it all?"

Erik stared at his tea. "That will fix the problem. I don't want to die out of shame or anything like that…it's just the only way we could think of to send the monsters back to where they came from."

Juvia slammed her teacup down. "How would your deaths solve anything?" she said with conviction in her voice.

"I'll show you," he answered. He stood up, unbuttoned his shirt, and opened it up.

Gray and Juvia looked at the strange, green markings on his torso.

"It looks like…a snake," said Gray.

The serpentine image coiled around his body, from his lower left abdomen to his right shoulder. He took his shirt off and showed them his back. The serpent's head rested on his right shoulder blade. Its mouth was opened wide, bearing a pair of sharp fangs.

Juvia put her hand to her mouth and gasped. "It looks like a…body link of some kind."

Erik put his shirt back on. "It is body link, but it's much more complicated than any body link magic we've ever heard of."

"Even if it is body link magic, what makes you think that killing yourselves would guarantee the demons' return to their books? That sounds like a pretty big gamble," said Gray.

"While the rest of us were passed out, Jellal said that one of the demons told another not to kill us. Then, we noticed that all seven of us had gotten these markings, markings that happened to match the symbols on each of the books. Apparently, they needed seven specific wizards to set them free…wizards that have been touched by darkness but seek the light. Jellal speculated that they needed the seven of us to perform a body link with to keep themselves in their demon forms. So, if we die, they return to their books. But we were unable to kill ourselves or each other. That's why we sought you guys out. We thought it would be an appropriate way to go, getting offed by one of Fairy Tail's past members, after all we've done to you."

"So, you're not the only one who sought us out?" Juvia asked.

Erik shook his head. "The others have scattered to search for other members of the disbanded guild. Not to hurt them, but to be killed by them," he smirked. "I don't know who the others sought out…but I'll bet you can guess who Jellal's looking for."

"Erza won't kill him," Gray said. "She loves the man, she would never do such a thing."

"And the rest of Fairy Tail won't kill the others…not now. Most of them know that you're in Jellal's guild," Juvia said. She smiled warmly at Erik. "And if your guildmates are as bad at acting as you are, they'll know something's up."

"Sorry I caused you so much trouble and…whatever."

"Don't mention it," Gray said. "I've actually been hopin' for some excitement."

Juvia stared into space. "Oh, once again we'll be fighting against evil, side-by-side. Oh, Gray, my darling! I'll be at your side the whole time!" She went to lean onto him, but she toppled over onto the floor. Gray had gotten up to look out the window. "I'm okay," she said.

"Someone…or something is out there," Gray said.

"Who is it?" Juvia asked as she got off the floor.

"I can't see them, but I can feel them. Can't you guys?"

"I can," Erik said, getting out of his seat.

"Whoever it is, we can handle them," Juvia said.

Suddenly, their entire house was engulphed in a brilliant white light. There were three screams, then silence. When the light subsided, the house was empty.