It was not a lovely break. It was no break at all. If anything, it was a breaking of Lucy's hope for a moment to think about and process all of the chaos that had become her life these past twenty-four hours. No, it was more than that now. More than that, and Lucy just wanted a moment to breathe and try to sort out what exactly was happening to and around her.

But she had no moment. Gajeel had refused to stay with some "strange human," as he put it, and insisted on sleeping on a bed in the infirmary. Juvia and Lucy, however, had adamantly refused in turn to leave their blind friend to fend for himself in a "strange environment," as Juvia put it. Guild rules did not permit non-guild members to stay in the guild hall without supervision, which meant Erza had stayed behind as well. When Levy had offered to take Lucy over to the baths, it had turned into another fist fight between Natsu and Gray- Lucy still didn't know how that one happened- that became very ugly when a stray fist decked Gajeel. Once Erza had split the three brutes apart and commanded the two who could see to tidy up the furniture, martial law descended. The three merfolk and Erza stayed in the infirmary, everyone else left.

There was no gossip before bed. Lucy was almost grateful for it, since she wouldn't have been able to communicate without Levy's brain and paper anyway.

Morning brought little respite from the strain of the previous evening: for whatever reason, everyone felt the need to argue over who would be allowed to join the party or not. Loke volunteered to come along, Natsu punched him. Gajeel demanded Levy come on account of her ability to read the map, Levy refused to be ordered around. Gray offered to get Lucy's breakfast, Juvia bristled with envy. Lucy passed the food to Gajeel, who then bumped it onto Jet's shirt. Jet called Gajeel stupid, Droy agreed.

When Master came over and handed out orders, Lucy was so grateful she almost cried, holding back only because she was afraid of any tiny whimpers that might come along with the tears. Loke was assigned to a separate, pre-arranged job, Team Shadow Gear (Levy's group), would not be going along with the merfolk, though they could accompany them to the train station if they so chose, and only Gray, Natsu, and Erza would actually go for the trip. They would take the train immediately, and, depending on the situation, return that evening, or the next day.

After some heavy persuasion, Juvia left the staff at the guild hall under the protection of its members and master. The chance of it being stolen or damaged while carting it about was high, and Juvia wanted no part in the threats against her beloved coming to pass. She took the warnings by those "water's daughters" very seriously.

Leading Gajeel back through the streets of Magnolia to the train station, Lucy felt tired. It would have been much easier if she had deprived of the physical ability to make sound, not punished when she failed to restrain from gasping, crying out, commenting, humming in response, or just making some sort of peep when she stubbed her toe and tumbled into Levy's unsuspecting back. But punished she was for that last one, and her hacking threw off her balance enough to send her and Levy to the ground. Gajeel, thankfully, was strong enough to hold his ground enough to only hunch over when the girls fell, because Lucy's hand was grappled to his forearm to brace herself, pulling it closer to her mouth along with her other hand when she tried to stifle the coughing by stopping up her mouth. It didn't work.

It did do something, though. It created more problems. Once the coughing subsided and Lucy managed to catch her breath, Levy cradling her to support her weight, Gajeel developed an unusual angry protectiveness. Natsu offered to carry Lucy, since that would be the faster way to travel to the train station, and they were getting close to missing their ride. Gajeel refused to let anyone touch Lucy, and demanded that Juvia be brought closer to him and Lucy as well. In the midst of demands and squabbles, Gray carried Juvia close enough to hold Lucy's other hand. It was difficult to walk this way, Lucy leading Gajeel while holding onto Juvia, trying to match pace with Gray. But it was worth it to be connected to her two friends.

Once they finally made it to the station, Jet was dispatched to quickly purchase tickets. After boarding, another feat for their blind companion, they settled into a compartment with opened windows. A voice from outside hailed them as Team Shadow was leaving the train.

"Hey! Natsu! Where you going?"

Lucy leaned over to look past others to the window, and saw a small girl with long blue hair, followed by two animals, one white, one light blue, walking on their hind legs. The animals were wearing clothes. Lucy blinked. Was that normal up here in the human world?

"Happy! Hey, buddy!" Natsu called in greeting, standing by the window. Lucy thought that was an odd name for a cute girl, but who could really explain humans? When the blue animal with green pack came forward to Natsu, Lucy decided to withhold any more assumptions.

"Natsu, we're just getting back, and you're trying to leave without me?" The pack-equipped animal was speaking. Of course it was.

"Nah, of course not!" Natsu said, gesturing to the group behind him. "Just helping our new friends find some important doodads, that's all."

Lucy felt her face contort at the explanation. Doodads. Yeah, that's all they were. Not like they were important doodads that would help save her home. No, nothing like that.

Natsu carried on, "Hey, why don't you guys come with us!"

Erza jumped in the conversation here. "Yes, that might be wise. Wendy could be very useful, since we have little real information on what we're going up against."

The little girl shyly held her hands before her face, looking down a little. "I'd love to come, if you think that I could help."

"Of course you'll be of help, chid," admonished the white creature in a dress. "Don't allow your low confidence to hurt your abilities."

Lucy missed the girl's response due to Erza's dealing out commands again. "Jet, get Wendy a ticket. Quickly, the train shall depart at any minute now. Levy, be sure to inform Master as to Wendy's whereabouts. We wouldn't want him worried. Wendy, come on up. Gray, put your shirt back on. And Natsu-"

"Why didn't you tell me to come on up, too? Why only Wendy, huh?" interrupted the blue one from his perch on Natsu's head, white wings extended out on either side of him. He had flown through the window. Lucy certainly hadn't heard of any such creatures before-he really didn't look like a bird- but then she was hardly an expert on land life.

"Because you would've come anyway," Gray said.

"Of course Happy'd have come," Natsu said. "He's my little buddy! He goes where I go."

Juvia looked confused. "But he wasn't with you by the seashore."

Or out by the rocks when Natsu had been dying, Lucy added in her mind.

"That's because I had to protect Wendy and Carla on their important mission," Happy said, striking a wide-legged heroic stance on Natsu's head. "They needed a brave, strong guy like me to watch out for them."

Lucy really just decided to stop being involved at this point. Her brain could handle no additional input. So she shut her eyes and just didn't listen to anything or anyone. She felt the train lurch to a start a few minutes later, and let the rhythmic motions lull her into a thoughtful stupor. Unfortunately for her tired mind, she found herself contemplating some of these new humans in her life, and their…complications. Particularly Natsu and Loke.

Loke presented a mystery to Lucy, of an entirely different sort than Natsu: Natsu knew things about Lucy; Loke didn't. Loke sent a tingle of familiarity down Lucy's spine, calling her to recognize some important fact about him; Natsu didn't. This whole mix-up of men and memories was maddening. Lucy wanted it to just stop already. She had enough to deal with, including Mavis' crazy guild, powerful Tridents, old maps with vague hints, a talking blue creature (apparently called an exceed) who couldn't seem to keep a polite tongue in his head, and an overly green Natsu she had spotted when her eyes fluttered open after a larger sway broke her trance. Really. Was he always like this on transportation?

Hold on a moment. Hold on just one dolphin-frolicking moment. He couldn't be like this on all transportation. Lucy first met him on a boat. A very loose definition of a sinking piece of a ship kind of boat, but out on a bobbing vessel on the water nonetheless. Natsu hadn't been sick then. Not green, not vacant like now. But then… just trains? Did this really matter at all? Did any of this matter?

Lucy closed her eyes, and drifted off into a nap.


After the train ride had come a cart ride, and then a walk out even further into a forested area. Erza, being the de facto leader due to fear of punishment, gave commands regularly along the way, whether they were strictly needed or not. Gray and Natsu traded off on carrying Juvia, though she would have preferred Gray all of the time. Wendy read out some translated notes Levy had written down for the travelers. It was a good summary of information while they followed the map to a bend in a river deep in the forest. A forest that, apparently, no locals would come near for fear of its being haunted.

The notes were rather succinct, if good. Arrive early evening, as the guardians only appear in the moonlight. (Lucy felt rather glad at this since it meant that her friends the stars would also be there.) The piece of the Trident could only be collected by one of the merfolk, not a human. The guardians would make it so.

"So, here's the bend," Natsu announced unnecessarily. "Now what? Same as before?"

Lucy looked around. It was dark out here, with no lights but the ones in the heavens, something that made her very grateful for the clear night. If there were clouds, it would be much harder to see. Besides, being able to look up and see her stars gave her comfort, made her feel stronger and more confident. She dearly needed confidence and strength to be able to keep moving forward, and with no option to do otherwise if she wanted to save her home, she would take whatever help was extended to her.

But this place was less of a river bend and more of a large, deep, silent pool of water. Why wasn't it called a lake? It didn't look this way on the map; the depiction seemed more like a free flowing river. Trees came right up to the still waterline, bark marked from different years of drought and flood, reminding Lucy of tidelines and the signature of the ocean on the land it teased and left behind in its ever changing ebb and flow. The whole area gave off an aura of otherness, of something not quite normal. Then again, Lucy realized, perhaps that being a mermaid walking around on legs with a bunch of chaotic lunatics precluded her from the privilege of judging what was normal or not.

"Whoa! What's that?" Gray asked, pointing out into the water.

It was a head of red hair, wrapped with river reeds, coming towards them. As it came closer to shore, the head rose from the water, dripping, attached to a slender neck and lithe, graceful figure of a beautiful woman who stopped when the water came about her knees. Her deep burgundy and green dress matched both her hair and her reeds, blending her into her surroundings.

"Greetings, travelers." She had a beautiful voice. "What brings you to our waters?"

"Well? What is it? Blind, remember?" Gajeel demanded. His gruff voice and tone were in direct contrast to the woman who had come from the water.

"Does the gentle moon do nothing to calm you, blind man?" she asked.

"Can't see the moon, so it don't do nothin' for me right now," Gajeel said.

Erza cleared her throat when a mildly offended look crossed her fellow redhead's face. "We have come seeking the piece-"

But Erza was cut off. "Pretty maiden, such pain you bear. Is he here, the man who wounded you so?"

Erza did not reply, stupefied.

"If he is," the river woman continued, "the rusulkas will help you. We will show you the way, and you can join us and find peace."

"Is that what you are? A rusulka?" Gray asked, seeing that Erza wasn't going to be responding any time soon.

"It is." A short response, clipped. She turned to Wendy. "And you, little maiden, you, too, have been wounded. Was it these men? Was it they who pierced your heart?"

"Um, n-n-no," Wendy stuttered, looking around at her companions, confused.

"Fear not, little maiden, for none can hurt you here. Speak freely."

"Really, they didn't do anything. They helped me!"

"Hey! Why d'you keep blaming us for hurting them? We'd never hurt our friends!" Natsu demanded.

"You would never act in such a way to cause harm?"

"Well, not on purpose. Everyone makes mistakes." Natsu shrugged.

"Not all wounds are caused by actions. Some of the worst to bear are those caused by inaction, the wounds you caused by not being where you should have been, when you should have been. By your failures, you selfish creature."

Natsu's face flashed with anger at the accusation, and he clenched his fists.

"We can't be everywhere at once, lady, so it's not-"

"Pretty maidens, come along with me. The rusulkas will help you, and show you the way. Come along with us in the light of the moon, the powerful moon."

"Okay, this lady is officially starting to creep me out," Gray said.

"I actually agree with ya fer once," Gajeel mumbled.

Lucy saw more redheads bobbing on the surface of the water, eyes watching the proceedings.

"You should join with us," said the rusulka again, focusing on Juvia. "What reason have you to stay in the world of men? You have suffered only pain and betrayal time and again. Join us."

"I won't become like you," Juvia said cautiously. "I do not even know what you are."

"Rusulkas are healed with blood," came the response.

Juvia recoiled. "Then I definitely won't join you!"

"Good idea," Natsu said in approval, somewhat calmer now than he had been.

"Yeah, just think about how weird you'd look with red hair!" Happy added. "Blue fur is definitely best."

Carla sniffed. "How ridiculous can you get, tom cat?"

"In your case, white is the best, of course," Happy allowed.

"That's not the point! We aren't talking about fashion and appearance right now. How could you possibly think we were!" the white cat huffed.

"But Juvia said she didn't want to become like the mean girls. Maybe it's something to do with their hair color."

Erza's sword swung in Happy's direction, causing the blue exceed to dive behind Natsu for safety. "And what, pray tell, is wrong with red hair?"

"Now's a good time for you to shut up," Gray advised.

"Don't tell Happy to shut up, you frozen jerk!" Natsu ordered.

"Well, someone has to try to teach him some manners, since you never did!"

"Well, someone who strips shouldn't be teaching him anything!"

"Well, good thing I haven't stripped- Oh, man! How did that happen again?"

A disgusted sound called the attention back to the rusulka standing before the group. Lucy was starting to see her point. This world of men really was ridiculous sometimes. That didn't mean, however, that joining a bloodthirsty pack of redheads was the correct course of action. (And what did that even mean, that rusulkas were healed by blood? Lucy shivered.) If only she knew what the correct course of action actually was. If only they had been able to find some hint as to the whereabouts of the Trident piece before these angry females had shown up.

"I should think being in such company draining on your souls," the rusulka said derisively. "Draining you away until they decide to be finished with you, just to throw you aside like so much refuse, like a parchment soaked by rain and cannot be used any longer. They will throw you aside, and not even stay around long enough to hear the sharp slap of sopping parchment hit the hard surface. They will leave you destroyed and useless."

As she had spoken, several of her companions had risen higher out of the waters in a semi-circle behind her. Lucy felt the animosity from the group grow as their spokeswoman gave her dismal prediction. Had they all of them experienced such fates? Being treated like decomposing seaweed was hardly good for any relationship, with yourself or with other people. Perhaps the bitterness was explainable after all.

"We will do no such things to our friends!" Erza declared fiercely, her focus and stance now prepared for a frontal assault.

"So say you," the same rusulka said, "but what of these men? Who is to say they will not leave this pretty thing like all the others have? Especially that last man, the one who promised to keep you close when no one else wanted to be your friend. Poor little gloomy girl."

Juvia looked surprised. Lucy felt surprised. Did these rusulkas actually know something of Juvia's past? Or were they just attempting to get under Juvia's skin? Lucy forced her body to calm down. Now was no time to panic. At least Natsu and Gray had stopped fighting.

"Who says anythin' 'bout the past's gotta mean somethin' now?" Gajeel huffed, arms crossed. He was still standing behind the others in the group, not being able to see and move around freely, but he certainly wasn't going to be left out of the commentary. "I ain't lettin' Juvia get messed up and turned inta glop. So just shut up."

Juvia looked even more surprised. Lucy felt even more surprised. Her mouth opened a little in wonder. Was Gajeel being…kind?

"That was the sweetest thing you have ever said, Gajeel," Juvia said softly, in awe. "Thank you." Gajeel only huffed again in response.

The rusulkas all laughed, breaking the tender moment between friends. "If that is the best you can recall hearing, then you really should come with us. We will be your friends. We will never betray you. We will help you get the revenge you so badly need to soothe your heart."

"What would any of you know about my heart?" Juvia rebuffed.

"Yeah, what a load of crock," Natsu agreed.

Lucy personally opined that most observant people would know a good deal about Juvia's heart due to the simple fact that Juvia did not hide her feelings. Rather, Juvia wore her feelings like pearls and coral and shells: adornments that only served to enhance her beauty. No one could deny Juvia sparkled; no one could say she did not stand out in any crowd. But the fact Lucy and Natsu disagreed was nothing new, so Lucy didn't let it bother her now.

The mist thickened, forming a translucent wall around them. Colors appeared, turning into shapes which formed into images, which in turn portrayed a bustling town sprinkled with raindrops. Humans were walking around, many pairs cuddled up walking beneath coverings to shield them from the rain. One girl, skin tremendously pale, with large blue eyes and long blue hair, stood beneath a pink rain shield speaking to a man holding a black one over himself.

"But Juvia does not understand. Juvia thought you were happy," said the blue-haired image.

"Juvia?!" the whole group from Fairy Tail shouted in disbelief.

Juvia?! No way, thought Lucy. No way. No way. Was this an actual scene from the past? From Juvia's past? She trained her eyes on her friend, scouring her face for some sort of recognition or reaction. The only response Lucy could detect was confusion. It's not like even Juvia would know if this was a true depiction or not. She had no more memory of her past than Lucy or Gajeel did of their own. So she turned her focus back to the images stretched and blurred in the mist around and before them.

"Well, sure, I was. But all this rain? It really starts wearing you down after a while. I can't take it anymore!" the man was saying in response.

"What of your promise to Juvia? That you wouldn't leave her alone in the rain?" It was such a sad voice, so pitiable. But it didn't sound too surprised at the sentiment the man expressed.

"Stop oozing water all the time and you won't have to be alone anymore, will you?" the man callously replied. "You're just so gloomy. It wears down on me all the time! All the time! So just… let's not."

"Juvia understands."

Natsu chose this moment to comment. "What the heck is with your funny talkin', Juvia?"

"Shut up, flame brain, we need to hear!" Gray shushed.

"But she doesn't talk anything like that now!"

"Another betrayal: your current comrades care more for the change in your speech patterns than the fact that they just watched a man crush your heart." The rusulka was really pressing the point, bearing down on them all with the gloomy scene.

"That's not true!" Gray and Natsu shouted together. They turned to each other. "Stop copying me!"

Juvia had remained silent all this time, watching the heartbreak with a sort of dark fascination. Whatever words had been exchanged by the couple in the image were now over, the relationship ending with the man walking away leaving pre-mermaid Juvia standing alone in the rain. Lucy wondered how strange it was to watch yourself in a body you didn't recognize, in a town unfamiliar to you, surrounded by people you didn't know, and experiencing emotions you did not recall.

The silent, sad Juvia of the past strolled slowly down a street of the town, rain still omnipresent. A flash of golden hair brought Lucy's mind to a reeling halt, golden hair tied half up to the side with a blue ribbon. A human girl wearing blue and white clothes walked down the street by the park's edge, casually glancing into store windows. Since she walked in the opposite direction of mist-Juvia, Lucy couldn't be entirely sure, but that human very much resembled…

No. It was too much of a coincidence, wasn't it? To have Juvia and herself be in the same town the same time before they were mermaids? And besides, since Lucy couldn't see the blonde girl's face, there was no way to be sure. No way. Even if the hairstyle Natsu had given her the other day did exactly match, though her own hair was much longer than other girl's. No. No. Too strange.

But she had to have been somewhere before she was in and part of the sea. She had to have been someone, somewhere, and have seen people and things, and had conversations and learned and grown. How had she come to be in the sea in the first place?

Mist-Juvia walked further away from the blonde hair that matched Lucy's so the figure became smaller, but Lucy was able to see a male figure approach the girl. He looked a lot like the guy who had just emotionally mangled Juvia, in fact, his clothes matched and everything. He seemed to be plying the girl with words she had no interest in hearing; she seemed to be brushing him off with gestures he had no interest accepting. The last thing Lucy could make out was the girl's wrist caught in a grip she couldn't escape before the image faded entirely.

Had anyone else seen that? Had anyone else been listening? Were they just busy arguing again? Could they be worth more than background noise? Was it loud or silent right now? What had happened to that girl? What happened to Juvia after this? Was any of this even real anyway?

Lucy's head throbbed.

"Pretty maiden, sad maiden, left all alone

Come back to maiden breast,

Come, come back home."

The rusulkas, save their spokeswoman, were chanting in low tones that fell over each other, tumbling over each other's words and timing like water moving down a current: all going the same direction, all having the same destination, but different enough to make many silent voices a dull roar of intensity. It was unnerving, and everyone was on edge, ready for action. The head rusulka spoke over the chanting.

"Love is worthless. Love will do nothing but kill you, break you. Just like us."

"Pretty maiden, sad maiden, broken by your beau,

Break the cane that beat your blue,

Break the hand that held the cane,

Break him, break him torn in two."

"We loved them. They broke us. So we broke them."

The chanting continued. Natsu came forward to stand closer to Lucy and Juvia. Gray picked Juvia up from her seated position near him. Lucy felt afraid.

"We killed them. We drowned them in our pain, in our sorrow, in our hate. They will never hurt anyone again."

Gray gave Juvia into Gajeel's keeping behind Lucy a ways, then assumed a battle position.

"Pretty maiden, sad maiden, join with our hands,

Take back your maiden heart,

Take back the wedding banns,

Take back the tender love,

Take away his right to breathe,

Then come back on home."

What had happened to these creatures? Killing men? Drowning in such awful, horrible feelings? Lucy had drowned once, but she didn't remember it.

"Kill them." The rusulkas were in menacing positions, and their dripping red hair undulated with a dark power. It made Lucy feel sick. "Kill the men. They will only hurt you. Love will only hurt you. Kill them. End it before it can grow and fester."

"I don't care if love hurts. Love is worth everything." Juvia was so strong to face them!

"You can say that even in the pain of your memories? The images of your betrayal fresh in your mind?"

"I don't care about those memories. They don't hurt me."

"Even when you saw the man who hurt you caressing your pretty little friend only minutes after breaking you?"

Confused noises from the group were mumbled. Lucy's heart stuttered. Juvia didn't.

"I don't care about those memories. They aren't real to me. They don't hurt me."

The rusulka stood taller a moment. "Perhaps your memories do not hurt you, but what of the others? Does your party know no pain that could crush their hearts?"

Erza barked out, "Be ready!" The entire group braced themselves.

Nothing happened at first. Lucy looked around. Was there no follow up to that menacing threat of crippling pain? But no. Everyone from Fairy Tail seemed to be affected by some unseen influence. It started out small, some wincing, some looking around in confusion, but it grew steadily worse. Wendy was having an especially difficult time, there were tears in her eyes. Erza covered one eye, using her other arm to keep her sword steady before her. Gray clutched his head, bending down into a protective crouch. Even the two little cats were wilting. The sounds of pain only grew worse.

"They cannot speak. They are seeing their worst memories, feeling their worst moments of anguish, when their hearts ripped into ragged pieces." The rusulka beamed in gruesome delight.

Lucy gaped. These strong wizards, who seemed so brash and forwardly optimistic, had experienced enough evil in their pasts to cause this much damage now? Perhaps it was actually a blessing, not being able to recall the past. Sure the pleasures were missing, but surely the attending pain and damage wasn't something to be missed. Perhaps. Perhaps not.

The pained noises and surprised gasps from their companions provoked Gajeel. "What the heck is happenin'? Are we fightin' or something?"

Juvia lurched forward out of Gajeel's grasp, leaving him grasping for her and shouting. "Stop it," Juvia cried. "Stop it right now!" She fell to the ground, unable to withstand the pain in her feet.

"You stop it, ya crazy-!" Gajeel groped blindly in her direction. "There's water everywhere already and it's hard enough-"

Lucy started towards her friend, but a low, quiet, threatening noise behind Lucy caught her attention. Natsu. He was still in a fighting position, but there was something wrong. What was happening to him? She reached a hand out towards him, but he didn't notice. He didn't notice her efforts, but she noticed an off-ness about him that disturbed her deeply. Was he turning red? And there was smoke coming from the hands fisted in his fighting stance. Prepared to battle an enemy, expression serious for the first time Lucy could remember, and completely frozen aside from his trembling resistance to the pain. But there must be something she could do to stop this! But what? Why was she so useless right now?

"I won't let you hurt them!" Juvia screamed.

And then the waters came to life. Shooting up from the riverbed, jetting from the streams they had passed coming here, flaring out from Juvia's hands: water, fast and vicious, was everywhere. When Juvia slashed her arms hard to the right, twisting her torso to follow the movement, a solid wall of water knocked into a howling rulsulka, flinging her back to the center of the lake. But the rusulka wasn't the only one who went flying: everyone else did, too.

Juvia's rushing waters bowled into Fairy Tail mages left and right, pushing them back and away from the rusulkas before steadying out to become a solid wall between the mages and their antagonists. Lucy and Juvia were the only ones left inside. Even Gajeel was outside the boundaries.

"How is she doing that?" Happy cried.

Apparently Happy was here as well, Lucy acknowledged, looking around to see if she had missed anyone else. Seeing no one else, she did wonder about Happy's question. She had no real answer. She was just grateful Juvia was able to do it. The enemy was not so pleased. A rusulka from the right lashed out at Lucy with a dark wave of something –energy? magic?- startling her enough to make her stumble backwards. Closing her eyes tight and throwing a hand up to shield her face, she was unable to stop the scared shriek from tearing her throat. Or the harsh round of hacking that followed immediately after.

A strong hand latched onto Lucy's foot. She kicked out blindly, feebly. She couldn't do anything but kick and cough and hear rushing water and taste blood. She kicked and kicked and kicked. She was dragged forward, the stone digging into her legs, dress getting pulled up around her knees. Her kicks were weak since she was still coughing. She was going to die because she was still coughing.

"I've got you, Lucy!" Happy cried. She felt warm little paws clasp about her shoulders, and then she was off the ground. Coughing residing, she opened her eyes and met eyes with the rusulka hanging off her ankle. Lucy gave one mighty kick to the creature's head, and it went flying too. Flying and screaming in pain when she crashed into a boulder. Lucy shuddered. "I've still got ya!" Happy reassured her. She didn't really understand how they were flying right now, but really, now was not the time to be thinking about it.

Lucy pointed at Juvia. "You wanna go to Juvia? Okay, hold on!"

But they couldn't get to her. There were too many streams of water turned into weapons, too many blasts of magic in the way.

"What should we do now?" Happy asked.

Lucy looked around. She couldn't think of anything to do. Unbidden, a thought of that stream of starlight bursting from her hand into the dark waters only last night. What she wouldn't do for such a stream of light right this instant! She could reach it out to Juvia! Her fists clenched, empty, and her side.

Light flared around Lucy's right fist. What? It grew brighter, the little star beams multiplying, the glow building. How did…? She didn't even talk to the stars! Another attack flew past her, reminding her that mysteries were not meant to be solved in the midst of a fight.

"Lucy, what's happening with your hand?" Happy hadn't seen this before, Lucy remembered. She pointed again at Juvia. "But I can't get to her, remember? We almost got blasted last time!"

Frustrated, Lucy pulled her fist back, then hurled it forward towards her friend. Shockingly, the starlight followed, bending, unfurling out like a stream as it whipped in Juvia's direction. The light latched onto Juvia's wrist, getting her attention. Lucy tried to pull her up, but the starlight stream wasn't quite strong enough. Juvia seemed to realize what was happening, though, because she shot a stream of water of equal size to the light back up to Lucy. The blue water and luminescent gold entwined, bound together. When the water reached Lucy's fist, she pulled again. Juvia came hurling towards them. Lucy acknowledged this wasn't her best thought out plan.

The trio landed far back from the shore, next to the water wall, stunned from their fall.

"Ugh." Happy moaned from underneath Lucy. "Ow. Lucy, you're kinda heavy."

Lucy couldn't decide if she had enough energy to whap Happy over the head for that comment. Juvia's whimper of pain from her foot being pushed into the ground by Lucy's jostling stopped Lucy from moving altogether. The rusulkas had stopped attacking for a moment, giving them a chance to breathe. It was not relaxing breathing chance, however, since Lucy was fully cognizant that the rusulkas were probably about to come back with another more powerful, more organized attack at any time.

Hollering and shouting caught her attention from the red-headed dangers in the river. Happy and Lucy looked at the water wall. Vague shapes and shadows of people were visible through the water. Lucy could even see some deep bulges and warping spots where the shapes were hitting, trying to come back into the fray. Muffled shouting, angry and worried, was barely audible over the rush of water.

"Juvia, do you think you can let down the water so the others can help?" Happy said. "They can help."

She shook her head. "I don't want them to get hurt again!" She began dragging herself forward, away from the wall. Lucy tried to stop her, help her, save her feet.

"But we can't do this alone!"

"I won't let Gray or anyone else get that hurt if I can do something about it." She kept moving.

"But-"

"You think you are more powerful than those you try to protect? You think you are better than them? That you are somehow immune?" The rusulkas were on the very edge of the water now, all gathered together against them. "You may not remember the pain, but it is there in your heart. You may not remember it, but we can make you feel it again!"

The rusulka spread hand out, and Juvia's eyes grew large. She clutched her chest. It was like what had happened to the others all over again. Only Juvia wasn't quiet. No, she was screaming. Screams of pain that you could hear and feel the ripping when you heard it. Screams high, shrill, like being shredded from the inside out. Screams that sounded how Lucy felt each time she coughed. It was horrifying. The wide open eyes, not blinking; the hands frantically trying to squeeze the gaping wound in the soul closed; the screams, piercing and shredding. It was horrifying.

Happy grabbed Lucy's dress, scared. Lucy, having only just managed to help her friend by finding miraculous starlight, was back to floundering around for any solution. The water wall was too strong to break through, so there was no help from out there. The rest of the water streams that had been shooting around had gone manic with Juvia's loss of control; Lucy's stream of starlight was vanished since their fall. Juvia was caught in some torturous nightmare, and her feet were absolutely ruined from her earlier conflict while Happy and Lucy had been flying and coughing. Happy was petrified. Was there any light here to help this time?

Her body moved on its own, standing, legs a little apart, arms coming before her and hands forming some kind of seal, with the first two fingers of each hand extended, close together, left over right, with the right thumb over the left. When her mouth opened, it occurred to her to be concerned. Her mouth opening generally ended with grief.

Into the darkness there comes a light…

The words came into her mind, and tried to come out of her mouth, but it didn't work. More coughing, more blood, her throat already being torn from her last episode. Regardless, her mouth opened again to repeat the endeavor. More coughing, more blood. What was she doing?

Juvia screamed again. Lucy tried again.

Her posture never changed, though her shoulders drooped between convulsions, her head slightly tilted forward. By this point, Lucy figured it was probable that permanent damage had been done to her throat from the clawing cuts opened with each sound. She could feel the blood trickling, spluttering, from her mouth, little streams trailing down her chin, dripping from there or following the curve of her jaw and continuing down her neck. It was warm. It was disgusting.

Juvia screamed again. Lucy tried again.

Still the first line, still trying to speak it aloud. Every attempt met with the same end.

Juvia screamed again. Lucy stopped trying.

She spoke.

"Into the darkness there comes a light…"

And she kept speaking. Every word brought more painful sensations of cuts opening, and more blood came. She didn't even know what words came out past that first line. But she kept speaking until she stopped.

When she stopped, the lights started. Bright balls of light, deep colors, giant bursts, exploding, shooting and whizzing around. Rusulkas screamed, flung around, burned. Water crashed about.

Lights stopped. Water streams stopped. Juvia hunched forward, hands coming loosely over her eyes. She fell forward, lying half on her side. Her face wore a broken smile, and she sobbed out a broken, laughing sound. She sounded mad, more than a little crazy. The water wall and Lucy dropped at the same time.

People were screaming their names. Lucy dragged herself over to her broken friend and collapsed on Juvia's shaking stomach.


Dear Friends,

It's been a long time again. I apologize. *Inserts all sorts of health related reasons, resting against a soapbox that's too big for her little legs to climb up on.* And while I'm on, er, by this soapbox, let me say something: Not all illnesses are visible. Some of the worst diseases and ailments aren't obvious to the average passerby. But that doesn't mean they are to be neglected, or the people suffering from them are making up the pain or struggles that come with being ill. And one more thing. THANK YOU. Thank you for your support in reading my humble offerings, for your kind words left in comments, and for your presence in the fanfiction community. You guys are wonderful. One of you left a review that simply said, "Welcome home," on the last chapter. Thank you. You're wonderful.

So here's to me not being dead once again. Here's to me writing and trying to find myself in a non-health-and-survival-are-the-only-things-you-have-time-or-energy-for way once again. Here's to all of us reading and rejoicing in our favorite characters together.

And while it's not perfect, here's what I did. Please, let me know what you think. Writing action scenes in such a deep first person narrative, writing only what Lucy would notice, it makes for an interesting time. I'd like to know if it makes sense to people who aren't me.

Cheers!

Anne-Marie