A Wishful Thought (A Note From The Author): I'm SUPER DUPER sorry that I haven't updated this in forever! D: I'm hoping to start updating it at least once a month. I hope I haven't lost any readers over this. D:
I'll admit that last chapter was EXTREMELY fun to write, even though Lisanna's fate is kind of questionable. . .
I'd like to thank all the people that subscribed and added this story to their Favorites List. I honestly don't know where I'd be without you guys!
And I'd like to shoot an even BIGGER thanks to everyone that took the time to review. :)
ScarletKnightmare, Dimensional Roamer, miyame-chan, Riniel von Lazard, Beta5200 and rourie
Every time I read one of your reviews, it made me smile. :D
Now, on with the story!
Their Bitter Return
Keep walking. . . Juvia has to. . . keep. . . walking. . .
The blue-haired woman was already beginning to sway, and walking proved to be a continuous struggle for her as she had run out of adrenaline and magical energy. Her skin was pale from her lack of blood, but it was difficult to even see her skin, for it was covered in numerous burns, each one varying in severity. Blood had poured from several areas on her body, and was just now beginning to dry. Numerous bruises painted her body, but the darkest ones were around her neck. Her bright blue hair was matted with blood, and the woman couldn't even tell if it was hers or not.
It was a miracle that she had managed to get this far.
Her tears continued to fall, even as she forced herself to continue onward. The pain was blinding, but she knew she had to make it back to Wendy, and then back towards the guild. If not for herself, then at least for Lisanna.
As Juvia's thoughts turned towards the white-haired girl, her tears seemed to fall harder, faster.
Lisanna.
The pain torturing her body seemed to only intensify. It was all her fault. Everything felt like her fault. Why couldn't she make her decision sooner? She should've left when Jellal had told her to. If she did, then maybe. . . Maybe Lisanna would've been alright. . . She would've been returning with them.
"J-Juvia!"
The high-pitched scream from the younger mage barely even registered to the blue-haired girl. As though it was out of her control, Juvia collapsed right then and there.
The Fairy Tail Guild was basically empty.
For once, there was no drunken laughter, no ridiculous insults thrown about, and no one was even fighting. It was absolutely quiet.
Perhaps it was because of the hour at which the group had gathered; three o'clock in the morning. They had started staying for a couple of days now.
At first, it was difficult for them to stay up for so long, especially since they had been taking simple, though sometimes tough, missions throughout the day to make some money, but as the days went on, they had gotten used to it.
Sometimes, the guild members assembled would take turns falling asleep. It would just be for half an hour or so before they'd be woken up, but they were each grateful that they'd be able to have at least some rest.
To them, all the trouble would be worth it in the end.
Mirajane had finished wiping down the bar and cleaning up her workstation, and now she was quietly sitting on a stool and absentmindedly creating random doodles on the bar table with her finger. Her eyes would occasionally droop a bit, but she forced herself to remain awake. At every little noise though, she'd flinch, only making it obvious that she was really on edge.
Levy and Gajeel were sitting on opposite sides of a table. Levy completely focused as she read through a book, while Gajeel remained quiet as he munched on a piece of scrap metal. Occasionally, Levy would fidget, and Gajeel's eyes would flash towards her. There was no particular emotion in them, but for some reason, the blue-haired girl couldn't stop a light blush and a hushed, "Sorry," from escaping her lips.
Sitting on the barstools were Loke and Cana. For once, the brunette girl was without drink, and for once, it seemed as though she didn't mind. She seemed a little preoccupied with her thoughts, but still made small talk with the Stellar Spirit next to her. Loke on the other hand seemed a little bored, but as Mirajane, he too was on edge. His leg thumped against the ground incessantly, and he kept glancing at the sleeping Lucy, as though worried that someone would snatch her in her sleep even though the chances of that were highly improbable.
As said before, Lucy was quietly sleeping. She sat at another table with Gray and Natsu, her head resting against the tabletop, and her face peaceful, even though the position couldn't possibly be all that comfortable. For once, Gray and Natsu weren't fighting, arguing, or shooting ridiculous insults at each other. In fact, they had moved their chairs side-by-side so they could whisper without waking Lucy up.
"I have a feeling they're not coming tonight, Natsu."
The fire mage merely shook his head, "I don't know. We haven't even waited two hours yet. They might be coming."
Gray examined Natsu's face for a minute, as though trying to figure something out, but in the end, he just shrugged. "Alright, point taken. But how do we even know that they'll show up at a time like this?"
At this, Natsu remained silent. It took a while, but eventually he murmured, "I just have. . . a feeling."
The ice mage simply gave him a skeptical look, but nodded.
It was then that Mirajane perked up, managing a light whisper, "They're here."
The others in the room stiffened, looking at her with eyes full of surprise. It wasn't that they hadn't expecting the return of their comrades, but for some reason, they were surprised that it had been Mirajane who noticed their arrival first.
Natsu got up to try and wake Lucy, while Gray stood up and signaled for Cana to start creating a barrier around the room that would only allow certain people in. He had a feeling that without the barrier, they were bound to attract some unwanted guests that were curious about all the noise.
And Gray had a feeling that there would be a lot of noise.
Cana slowly nodded at him, carefully flipping over one of her cards onto the bar table, and beginning to activate the field.
Before she could finish though, the guild door was thrown open.
Lucy, who had just woken up, stared, wide-eyed at the sight.
Natsu went rigid, and was filled with numerous emotions that he couldn't even begin to name.
Gray went into a state of shock and guilt, murmured curses already leaving his mouth.
Levy dropped her book, tears already beginning to leave her eyes as she took in the sight before her.
Gajeel stood up out of his chair seeing the state his longtime friend was in. Anger boiled within him, and he was already vowing to kill whoever caused her current state.
Loke remained speechless, an alarmed expression on his face.
Cana instantly stopped performing her magic out of shock, the faint blue glow coating her hands coming to a stop.
Mirajane screamed as hysterical sobs began to rack her body.
Standing in the doorway was a beat up Juvia and a sobbing Wendy desperately trying to support her. The little pieces of fabric that hadn't been burnt or torn away were covered in crimson blood. Her skin was severely burnt, and the burn marks coated her skin, all of them looking severe to the eyes of her nakama. Bruises could be noticed and they were scattered across her body, but the worst ones appeared at her neck. The bright blue hair that she had taken such pride in was matted with blood and dirt, and because of all the injuries to her face, the water mage could barely manage to open her eyes.
For a little bit, no one was able to function properly as the shock attempted to settle into each of them.
It was Mirajane's hysterical sobs that forced Gray to snap out of the reverie. Turning back to Cana, he signaled for the distraught woman to begin activating the barrier once more. It took a while, but eventually she nodded, magic beginning to engulf her hands once more as she created the walls around them.
Seeing that Wendy was too small to properly support Juvia, Loke and Gajeel rushed forward to relieve her. They winced as Juvia let out an incomprehensible noise of pain as they gingerly held her, her burns and bruises making every touch feel so full of hurt.
Lucy and Levy had run to Mirajane, trying to get her to calm down as their own tears began to cascade down their faces.
Natsu had squatted down so that he was Wendy's height, engulfing her in a hug as she cried, her tears already beginning to stain his shirt.
Since the magical barrier was now set, Cana and Gray rushed to make an appropriate area to lie Juvia down. Gray was already beginning to push the numerous bar tables away to make room, and Cana was already coming back with numerous pillows and thick blankets from the store room. They carefully arranged a mattress out of the pillows, before placing the blankets over them and stacking a few more pillows so that she could properly rest her head.
Hesitantly, Loke and Gajeel worked to lay her down on the makeshift bed, forcing themselves to ignore the cries of anguish and pain that was escaping her.
Levy tried to reason to the white-haired girl through her tears, "Mira. . . Mira, you have to move. Out of all of us, you're the one that best knows how to treat Juvia. . ."
The woman slowly nodded, still unable to stop herself from crying. She stumbled towards the rest of the group that had already begun gathering around Juvia, Levy and Lucy not too far behind her. Carefully, she crouched down to investigate the woman's wounds, but the sight seemed to only make her cry harder. "G-Get me the o-ointment a-and bandages i-in the cupboard. . ."
Loke silently nodded, before darting towards the aforementioned cupboard, and returning with the supplies that Mirajane had requested. The S-Class mage nodded in silent thanks, before turning her gaze towards the little equipment she had. She continued to stare at it all for a minute, before she spoke up. "I-I don't think we have enough bandages. . ." Her voice cracked on the few words she managed to whisper.
The short sentence was enough to strike a strong feeling of pain within all of the mages gathered around Juvia.
Eyes wide, Lucy asked, "W-What do you mean t-there's not enough?"
Mira simply gestured to the miniscule roll of bandages that lay beside her. "I-I barely have any, and t-this definitely i-isn't enough to cover even just her s-severe injuries. . ."
Surprisingly enough, Gajeel was one of the most worried out of the entire group. He remained silent, his expression blank as he stared at Juvia's disfigured form. And to be honest, it was beginning to frighten Levy. She had always known Gajeel as the cocky, tough guy that never really seemed to be down. Seeing him like this seemed to increase Levy's desperateness to see her fellow mage get better, and she hurriedly suggested, "The supply room! W-We can get extra bandages there!"
There were several nods of approval, and Gray had already jumped out of his place, murmuring, "I'll get it."
He had already begun his sprint to the said supply room, before Mira let out a broken, "Wait!"
Slowly, Gray's footfalls came to a stop. He didn't turn around, and his eyes were still set forward. Still, Mira trusted that he was listening as she whispered, "We can't take anything from there. . . Only Makarov has the key. . ."
It was quiet for a moment as this information settled into each one of the mages. But a few seconds later, Gray smashed his hand through the nearest table, screaming, "DAMMIT!" Tears were pouring out of his eyes, and blood poured from the cuts that he received when he broke the wooden table. Nobody said anything as the ice mage slowly collapsed to the floor, his head buried in his arms as he sobbed. "It's all my fault! It's all my damn fault!"
Eyes wide with worry, and tear stains still visible on her porcelain skin, Lucy rushed toward her friend, "G-Gray, it wasn't your fault! I-It was nobody's fault! W-We didn't think that any of this would hap—"
As Lucy neared him to try and comfort him, he raised his head to glare at her, "Don't touch me."
The room remained silent as Lucy stared at Gray in shock, obviously surprised with Gray's words. "G-Gray, I'm just trying to help you—"
"I SAID DON'T TOUCH ME!"
Lucy shrunk back at his words, before she began to sob as well.
Loke growled, and moved from his position to stomp towards Gray, "What's your fucking problem! ? I know that you're upset, but Lucy's just trying to help!"
Gray jumped out of his crouched position, eyes stormy, "Help! ? If she was trying to help, she'd be worrying about helping Juvia! We need to find some damn bandages so that Mira can help Juvia! Juvia's all that matters at this point!"
At this, Gajeel stood up, eyes narrowed. Out of all of the people gathered, he had been the only one to not cry, but it was obvious that he was greatly affected by the whole experience. "Now you care about Juvia! ? You've never even paid the slightest amount of attention to her before, and now you're the one getting all emotional about this! ?" Gray quieted at his words but said nothing. Still, his breathing was labored, and he looked pained.
Gajeel looked as though he was going to continue yelling, but quietly, Levy placed her hand on his shoulder. It was like with that one touch, Gajeel just broke down. Tears began to leak from his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away, turning his gaze back towards Juvia and Mirajane. "There has to be something we can use to substitute as a bandage. It can't be that hard to find something else, right?"
Mira simply nodded, her eyes still puffy from all her crying. "I'm sure that if we used clean cloth, it would suffice."
The iron dragonslayer simply nodded, muttering, "I'll be back." He rushed out the guild doors, probably to get some clean clothes that they could use, making Levy's hand clumsily fall. She reached out for a moment, but ended up only biting her lip, and staring quietly at her shoes.
Loke had moved to comfort Lucy he was in hysterics, leaving Gray alone. While Cana was helping Natsu set up a makeshift mattress for Wendy, the brunette girl couldn't help but give the ice mage a pained, sympathetic look. Her emotions were running frantic, between her feelings for Gray, Gray's feelings for her, and with the sudden arrival of the severely injured Juvia.
It was quiet for a moment before Cana's eyes widened, and she dropped the blanket she was holding.
Natsu, still teary-eyed gave her a curious look, "What's wrong?"
A mortified expression took place on Cana's features, and though it seemed like she was staring at everyone, her eyes seemed to focus more on Mirajane and Natsu. Before anyone could ask again, the brunette mage quickly spun around to face the younger girl beside her, who was still sobbing hysterically. "Where's Lisanna! ?"
The room went frigid as the simple question soaked into all of them. Natsu's insides dropped, and his heart rate seemed to accelerate as he processed this, as did Mira. Both of them had been so worried about the condition of the water mage that they hadn't even noticed that Lisanna was missing.
When Wendy said nothing, Mira jumped out of her seat on the floor, tears once more rushing down her face. She screamed hysterically, "Where' s my sister! ?"
Quietly, the semi-conscious Juvia whispered, "Jellal. . . killed her. . ."
A Wishful Thought: OOOHHHHH SNAAAP! :o
That chapter made me sad, and I'm the one who wrote it. O_O
I hope it touched you guys as much as it touched me, and that it was at least enjoyable. (:
Haha, everyone seems super emotional right now, don't they? XP
I intend to make edits to this once my beta gets back to me. I just wanted to let this out now because I felt that you've guys have had to wait long enough! XP
IN OTHER NEWS, I'm all caught up on Fairy Tail now. O_O Who else spazzed out when they read the end of Chapter 253? O_O LIKE HOLYYYY SHIIIIT! D: If you've read it (I don't want to spoil anything for the people who haven't read it yet), send me a message so that we can obsess over it together. XD
Please REVIEW! They mean so much to me!