So far the "naughties" are winning. Thanks for the reviews! We'll keep things PG just for one more chapter...
The ferry dropped him off at a rustic port, where he showed his passport at the customs and was admitted in (after first putting on his clothes.) The island's main town was surprisingly large and seemed to be decorated for some sort of festival.
He approached what was clearly a visitor's booth, and showed the woman at the booth the mission poster.
"A friend of mine undertook this mission," he said, trying to keep his voice neutral. "I'm trying to find her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."
The guide laughed at him. "Of course! Miss Juvia has graciously accepted the position of the Sacrificial Water Princess for the Water God's festival this year." She smiled, and beckoned him toward a path in the tropical woods that led up to what appeared to be a temple. He followed her, slightly confused at her reaction.
Gray blanched when he saw the gaudy decorations that bedecked the beach. This place didn't have the feeling that it was about to sacrifice an innocent water mage to an angry water god, but all the signs in the festival atmosphere pointed to exactly that. The image of the young woman being killed on the altar before the mountain was just about everywhere.
The tour guide led him up the long steps to the temple, where the decorations were even more lavish. Lights in blue, green, and white were strung along the way, with streams and lanterns and the image of the mountain hanging from every single gate.
"The sacrifice will be held in two weeks," his guide said, smiling, and handed him a brochure, which also held the picture of the girl being sacrificed in front of the mountain. "Please enjoy your stay in Hu'Wei until that time."
She left, probably to go back down to her booth and help the next visitor.
He stared, open mouthed, at the lush festival before him. It was a goddamn carnival. A friggin' carnival to kill Juvia. Irritated, he stuffed the brochure into his pocket without reading it.
He paid a token admission fee to the shrine, and watched a small group of dancers perform on a stage. There was apparently a cake walk going on at one stall, and there were hundreds of young children running around on a sugar high. Vendors displayed wares for sale, and the smell of delicious foods filled the air.
He proceeded cautiously through the large festival grounds, feeling more and more weirded out with every step. Finally, he approached the main part of the temple proper, which was guarded heavily by men in exotic armor with large, dangerous looking spears.
"You wish to have an audience with the Water Princess?" one of them said, and Gray nodded. The guard stomped his spear on the ground in affirmation. "Drop your weapons, and wash your hands."
Gray was already unarmed (inasmuch as any Make mage was without weapons) and he washed his hands as told at a small pool. Obviously Juvia was still alive, if the sacrifice was not for two whole weeks. Surely that would be enough time to convince her to stop this foolish mission and not throw her life away.
He climbed the last set of stairs up the small mountain alone, and at the summit found himself in a small courtyard with an tiny bridge over a moat leading to an elaborate covered dais in the middle.
On a throne, made of solid quartz polished and stained to look like flowing water, was Juvia. She was wearing a crown made of the same material, and loose silken robes that had been dyed to look like water as well, with the white fading to deep blue near the hem. She was being attended by a half dozen young girls of varying ages wearing similar outfits, and was bending water in her hand idly to entertain them, laughing with them.
She did not look like a depressed woman about to commit suicide. In fact, she looked as happy as he'd ever seen her. He felt even more confused and a bit out of place in this feminine water sanctuary.
And then she looked down from her throne, and saw Gray standing there.
Her mouth opened in astonishment, and she dropped her water onto the dais with a splash.
"Gray-sama!" she cried, almost standing up. Six pairs of young eyes stared at the man who had dared to enter the court of their water princess and cause her to lose control of her natural element. Armed guards appeared from the edges of the courtyard, ready to defend their sacrifice to anyone who tried to hurt her before the ceremony.
"Juvia," he called desperately, his fists balled at his side. "I've come to take you back home to Fairy Tail."
She tilted her head at him, confused. "But why Gray-sama? Juvia is the Water Princess this year. Juvia must be sacrificed to the Mizukami to ensure a good harvest." She clapped her hands in delight.
She just said it so calmly!
"Look, I'm sorry if I ignored you. I'm sorry if I... made you think I didn't care." While he spoke, he was slipping out of his shirt unconsciously, baring his chest and his Fairy Tail mark to the world. "But there are people in the guild who love you and would miss you if you were gone. Can't you think about the rest of us? What about my feelings?" And now it was his turn to stare at the ground, tears pooling in his eyes, trying not to cry out in anguish. "I like you, Juvia, and I know you love me. I don't want you to get yourself killed just because you thought I didn't love you back."
There was a lot of hushed whispering among the young girls around Juvia. The water mage, for her part, was crying openly, and the ominous thunder in the distance indicated that she was on the verge of accidentally bringing a massive squall to the island, perhaps prematurely ending the festivities.
After hearing the unexpected declaration of love from Gray, the guards relaxed and stepped back.
"Juvia is so happy," she said, sniffling and trying to wipe away her tears. "But it is too late. Juvia has already promised to be the sacrifice this year."
Gray heard a throat clearing behind him, and he turned to see the tour guide who had led him up the steps, with a few more wide-eyed tourists from Fiore behind her. They'd heard the whole thing.
"I think perhaps you are under the wrong impression," the tour guide said gently with a smile. "Miss Juvia will not be killed."
"But she's going to be sacrificed!" he shouted, throwing his hands up to the throne where Juvia was still blubbering in joy over Gray's impassioned speech.
The tour guide shook her head, trying not to burst into laughter. "We haven't actually killed our water princess for almost four hundred years. She is sacrificed, yes, but all that means is that she can only be the water princess one time." The guide pointed to a pendant she wore around her neck, made of the same blue and white quartz as the throne. "I was the water princess myself just a few years ago." Then she pointed to the girls that were surrounding Juvia, trying to stem the tide of tears before she rained out the entire festival.
"The water maidens are all young water mages, and they will probably be the water princess in future years. We just found ourselves without a suitable water maiden this year, and had to put out a flyer to the main continent to try to find a substitute. Miss Juvia heeded our call, and we are indebted to her."
Gray had stripped down to his boxers during her monologue out of embarrassment.
"So she's not going to die?" he finally asked, dumbly.
"No." The guide gave him a small shove toward the dais. "She's enjoying an all expense paid vacation. If you're her friend, you too are more than welcome to stay for the festival and the sacrifice in two weeks."
Gray grabbed his pants and shirt, and pulled the brochure out of his pocket to finally read the damn thing. Yet again, his inability to focus on anything but the mission had screwed things up badly.
Once Juvia had calmed down, it was almost time for her "court" to end anyway, and she was escorted by her water maidens to the Princess's Chambers. He'd learned that the ritual sacrifice of a water mage to the Mizukami was now more of a symbolic gesture, and that among the lady water mages of the island, it was actually a fairly high honor. The festival marked the start of the growing season on the tropical island of Hu'Wei, and was considered a prime tourist destination for the wealthy from Fiore and other countries on Earthland.
A far, far cry from Galuna Island. He owed Erza a good clobbering.
And suddenly he realized he'd been set up. Of course Erza and the others had known that Juvia was safe. Hell, Levy probably had a damn book on Hu'Wei and could quote facts and statistics from memory. He could just imagine them all laughing at the gullible Gray, so busy trying to save the world he never stopped to do any research.
His humiliation was complete when his stomach growled while he stood in the middle of the courtyard. With a sigh, he bought some of the festival food and then decided to find Juvia.
He asked where the Water Princess was staying, and he was escorted to her chambers without question once he explained that he was one of her guild members. Her honor guard, too, was mostly symbolic.
He soon found himself seated in what was a fairly opulent bedchamber, once he had been politely asked to dress himself again. He really needed to work on the whole not-stripping-in-public thing.
"Juvia is so happy Gray-sama came after all," she said when she emerged from her dressing room. She had changed out of the elaborate flowing water robes into a much simpler nightgown, flimsy and suitable for the tropical weather. Gray could see her Fairy Tail stamp on her thigh through the thin material. He also noted idly that she was... clearly not wearing any underthings. "Juvia knew that this was going to be a fun vacation and thought that Gray-sama might like a break."
He felt ashamed and embarrassed all at once. He put his heads in his hands.
"I'm sorry Juvia, I should have listened to you," he said miserably. "I should have paid more attention to you."
She sat gracefully next to him on the couch. "Juvia knows that Gray-sama is very focused," she said with a tiny smile. "That is one of the things Juvia loves about Gray-sama."
Hesitantly, she reached out to touch his hand, and Gray felt himself jump at the contact. Then, he let himself curl his fingers around hers, still annoyed with the entire sequence of events, but suddenly grateful that Juvia didn't actually think her life of so little worth.
He finally had at least one answer to why she liked him. Maybe that was a start.
"So how did you know that this whole thing was just a play?" he asked, holding up the brochure.
She shrugged. "Many water mages come from the island of Hu'Wei, and Juvia knew about the water festival here. Juvia had always wanted to come see it for herself, but she never thought she'd get to be the Water Princess." She blushed prettily and wriggled in excitement. "It is a childhood dream come true. Juvia is so happy!"
And in that moment, her eyes sparkling in joy and wearing a bit too little for the circumstances, Juvia was the most beautiful woman in the world to Gray.
He really just wanted to kiss her.