disclaimer: i don't own fairy tail.
dedication: the stars in the sky and the dew on the grass. of course, though water, ever water. ignore me. i'm perfectly fine i'm fine i'm fine. yeah. I NEED PHOTOSHOP. PHOTOSHOP DAMMIT. . AH
title: clicking off
summary: when everything's going wrong, maybe something can go right.
notes: i hate hate hate writer's block, i swear. i had 1000 words done right after i posted the fourth chapter, then i just got stuck. i was like "dude it looks like i wrote a lot" but in fact it wasn't anything at all…this chapter…yeah, no conclusions, again, i'm really warping everything. i tried to include a bit more light hearted shit but it didn't work out…please tell me if i'm doing something wrong, i'll try and fix it. cause hey, you guys probably know more than i do about writing.
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All too soon, a rattle and a grinding noise outside the shoe shop alerted Juvia that her carriage had arrived, just on time. Of course Kagura would never be late, only punctual. That was her nature as a warrior.
Reluctantly, Juvia parted from Gray, memorizing his body proportions as she went in order to report them to her body pillow maker. She nearly giggled out loud as she recalled her silly little crush on Natsu. Ha! Natsu was nothing compared to Gray.
And then there was Lucy. She had been Juvia's love rival before; she'd do anything to get in Juvia's way of love! Juvia's mind twisted in a hundred different ways to get to Gray first, before Lucy did. There was no way Juvia would let Love Rival beat her in love. Except…that Lucy already had a fiancé. That was no matter. Juvia was already convinced that Lucy wanted to steal Gray from her.
"Bye bye Gray!" Juvia called back to her love. In her vision, all she could see was him. In her vision, he looked as if he were pained to be parted from her. In her vision, Gray was all too deeply in love with her already.
In everyone else's vision, they saw Gray's pained look as a sign that Juvia had broken one too many ribs with her crushing hug. They saw Lyon rush to send her out, except the fact that Juvia had eyes only for Gray. Lyon was brushed aside again.
Only Ultear remained unscathed in the duration of Juvia's visit. "Goodbye, Miss Lockser," she replied cheerfully, the only one out of the trio of shoemakers who could speak.
Out of instinct however, the traumatized boys and Ultear chorused in unison, then promptly looked absolutely horrified.
"We hope you visit again."
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"Oh yes, Juvia will," she smiled and closed her eyes as the rocking of the carriage lulled her back to peacefulness.
Back at her mansion, she decided it was time for a visit to her favorite body pillow maker. On her way to the office, she realized that she first needed a sketch of the person she wished to make a body pillow of, in that pose. In a rush, she hurried back out to the carriages and arranged another visit to the shoe shop.
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After the trio slowly regained their sanity and returned to work, the door suddenly flew open again.
Ultear heard her before she saw her.
"GRRRRAY~!" Juvia yelled, startling the people on the street who were walking by. She speed-walked up to Ultear and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Where's Gray? Excuse me, but where's Gray? Can you tell me where Gray is? I need to make a body pillow of him and-"
"Calm down Miss Lockser. Gray's in the back, as usual," Ultear replied. Juvia then walked right past Ultear, ignoring her, and went straight to the back room. "H-Hold up, customers are not authorized to enter the back room!" Ultear called after her, but Juvia didn't listen. Ultear sighed, and made an exception.
By the time Ultear had entered the room, Juvia was already beginning to mumble incoherently. Gray was already stunned into a statue. Juvia was arranging his limbs this way and that way, and Gray mouthed to Ultear something like, "Save me!" Luckily Lyon wasn't here. He'd throw a fit. He was still taking a shit in the-
-speak of the fucking devil! Lyon appeared. "Hey Ultear, you're supposed to be at the front…J-Juvia?"
"Hey, be respectful."
As usual, no one listened to Ultear.
Juvia got a few good sketches in of Gray in various poses, all the while Gray was still stunned into obedience. He regained movement after Juvia backed off. Immediately, he half tripped into the corner.
All the while, Lyon was fussing around Juvia and trying to pose for her, to no avail. She merely brushed him off as if he was a fly. Seeing that made Ultear feel doubly sorry for Lyon, but at the same time, it was amusing.
As Juvia strode out the door with promises to return again for Gray, they finally all slumped to the floor, exhausted. "Please…don't…return…again…" Gray mumbled, while Lyon sulked in his own corner.
Ultear stood up, with the full intent of ruining their lives further.
Winking, Ultear pointed at Gray. "So, what did you think of Miss Lockser?" Lyon opened his mouth to speak, and promptly shut it again, turning a flustered pink. "Not you, Lyon. I asked Gray."
"She's clingy."
"HOW-"
"Lyon."
"Pfft."
"DON'T-"
"LYON."
"Pfft."
"GRAY."
Ultear promptly sent Lyon and Gray into the back room to work out their 'differences' while she herself lounged around the front desk. Business was slow today, anyways. While she knew that it was absolutely hilarious to watch Gray and Lyon flounder under the attention and inattentions respectively of Miss Lockser, she also knew that it was wrong to let it go on.
A noblewoman becoming close friends with shoemakers? Impossible. She was being a bit of a hypocrite, seeing as…well, she was friends with a noble. However, their friendship was completely secret and wouldn't get out. Who could trust a young sixteen year old girl in love like Miss Lockser?
Ultear could bring up the trio's past, but she wanted to bury that in the background…it contained too much pain…too many bad memories. It was something she'd rather keep locked up in the back of her mind. She was sure Gray and Lyon felt that way too, especially Gray.
She could find no good way to tell Miss Lockser not to come back, seeing as the blue haired girl was so devoted to Gray [why, she would never know] [Gray was an always sullen, always downcast man who enjoyed making fun of other people to make his day] [in addition to making fun and making his own day, he also made shoes, if you didn't know]. Ehem. Bad jokes aside, Ultear could see it in Juvia's eyes. She was…unstoppable when devoted.
It seemed like she'd have to make a call to two certain people.
She sat down and penned two separate letters, then sent them off to their daily mail spot.
Dear Jellal and Meredy…
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Erza now deigned to hang a list of names across her bed, so that when she woke up every day, she could stare at the list of people. She wished to cross out one name per day, and narrow it down as much as she could.
She would start from the top and prove that they weren't traitors, until she found one person that was the traitor. And if none of them were, it meant they were ex-members of the court who had been exiled. The only two known exiled members of the court to this day were Ivan Dreyar and Hades Purehito. They were probably more likely to be the ones who had targeted them, but Erza needed to make sure she wasn't living among a spy.
Consequences would be absolutely dire if everything about them was reported to King Silver...it could even result in a full-scale attack of Faera and the collapse of the kingdom. Silver was a ruthless king next to Makarov, Erza knew it, and she absolutely couldn't let this happen.
Today she was going to begin with…Evergreen.
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Evergreen woke up with a large sharp sword pointed at her neck, and a dark figure looming over her with the curtains drawn [for effect] and the nightlight turned off [for effect].
"RAPE! RAPE!" she managed out before her mouth was muffled by an armored hand.
"Sh, don't make a ruckus," a familiar voice spoke from atop her.
Evergreen tried to gape, unsuccessfully, beneath Erza's hand. "Er-Erza?" What she'd like to ask was why Erza was barging into her room at such a late hour, but unfortunately she could barely get her syllables out.
Suddenly, Erza's grip turned harsh and her voice colder. "I know you know who we are. I know who you are. I want you to know that I know exactly what you're plotting." She removed her hand to give Evergreen a chance to speak. If Evergreen said anything to arouse her suspicion, Erza would arrest her immediately.
"How did you find out?" Evergreen's eyes widened in shock. She didn't think anyone would find out, but…! Erza was a keen one.
"So it was you…" Erza mused. "I should just kill you here and now."
"W-What does our plan to make Laxus fall in love with Mirajane have to do with you?" Evergreen suddenly burst out in a fit of fear and outrage. "Are you in love with Laxus?"
Erza recoiled. Two seconds later, she was gone, and Evergreen was left wondering if it had all been a dream. If it were not…
…Evergreen clenched her fist. If it were so, she could not, under any circumstances, let Erza's crush on Laxus go on!
Meanwhile, back in the safety of her own room, Erza crossed out Evergreen's name and sighed deeply.
Maybe she should go warn Laxus…or even Mirajane, of their impending future as husband and wife. On second thought, maybe not, but she still felt sorry for them.
When Evergreen was determined…well, she was determined.
Almost as determined as Natsu with a chicken leg.
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Laxus sat in an in-palace restaurant with Mirajane the next morning. He liked to call it a friendly outing [or inning, as it was inside of the palace], but he knew if Evergreen, or any of the Raijinshuu, for that matter, caught him with Mira, they would assume it was a date.
He donned a pair of sunglasses as if they would help conceal him.
"Evergreen, Fried, and Bixlow have been missing all morning," he rolled his eyes and grumbled. "And I'd wanted to spar with Fried today, too."
Mira laughed, a light tinkling laugh. "Be patient, Prince Laxus. I'm sure they'll show up."
"I hope soon," Laxus retorted.
"I do too, for your sake."
The food arrived, and as all palace commodities were, it was delicious. Laxus soon forgot about his mischievous trio of followers and focused on Mira and the food instead.
She was pretty, with blue eyes and white hair. She didn't look old, just fresh and exotic. Laxus had always admired how beautiful she was, but he'd never had even the slightest chance to feel anything for her. With the war going on...
...well, it certainly felt nice to unwind and relax with her once in awhile. Even if he didn't see her romantically ("...yet," Evergreen said in the back of his mind.), they were at least very good childhood friends.
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Silver narrowed his eyes at the figure in front of him. He did not trust the person cloaked in black, although this person was most likely his best chance at attaining information.
This figure came to him with promises of information about the inner workings of the castle, but only if Silver gave him lodgings and refugee fit for a prince after his final goal, enough money to last a lifetime, and the capture of Prince Laxus, as well as his execution.
Silver called his advisors into council and debated with them for a long time.
"Very well," he said. "Please share your information, while my servants will prepare your new household."
"What about Prince Laxus?" the person said, voice smooth and low.
"My top advisors will discuss on how to best capture him. That being said, it's your turn to speak and uphold your end of the deal. So tell me, spy, what do you have to tell me?"
The person cleared his or her throat and began. "I cannot tell you everything I know yet, as my usefulness will decline otherwise, however, I can tell you things about Knightwalker and Mystogan."
Silver leaned forward, eagerly, awaiting the words that would provide him with a host of information.
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