Don't kill me. I have a valid excuse for this pathetic chapter. I have been killer busy for the past week, and I'm going to be killer busy the rest of this one. I kind of doubt my update will be on time next Sunday. 6 relatives in my house + summer campx2 =NO TIME FOR ANYTHING. That's why this chapter is short as well as late. I'll do my best to be on time this Sunday.
The reason I always try to meet and know the parents better is because it helps me forgive their children. - Louis Johannot
"So… Why are we here, exactly?" Gray stared at the plain blue-painted door of the small white house, bewildered. Jace had led them through the streets of Oak, refusing to tell them where they were going and why, only repeating that he had something to do.
Jace looked vaguely constipated as he reached out to ring the doorbell. "I need to talk to someone," he mumbled, dropping his hand. His arm flopped to hang loosely by his side. It sort of reminded Gray of one of Happy's raw fish. Behind them, Gajeel grunted impatiently, and Levy elbowed him in the ribs.
They waited a full minute before Jace rang the doorbell again. Thirty seconds later, he pressed the button again and held it for a long moment. Ten seconds after that, he jabbed the bell in rapid succession until the a loud click sounded from somewhere behind the door. He let his hand fall, and waited. Slowly, the blue door creaked open just enough for a thin, balding man with chunky glasses and pasty skin to peer out. His watery eyes widened a fraction when he saw Jace. "What are you doing here? I thought you went to see Juvia."
Jace stepped forward and put a hand on the door, pushing it open farther. "We need to talk, Dad."
Gray blinked. His head tilted to one side, and then the other. His gaze flicked back and forth between the man and Jace until he was thoroughly dizzy. "No way," he mumbled. "No freaking way."
"Dude," Gajeel muttered, "He looks nothing like Juvia. Like, at all. Except they're both pale as ghosts."
Levy stepped forward bravely. "Hello, Mr. Loxar," she said cheerfully. "We're guildmates of Juvia's. It's a pleasure to meet you." Juvia's father glanced down at her and then looked back at Jace as though she had never spoken.
"Whatever it is, you'll have to make it quick. Rose is having a hard time of it right now." He adjusted his glasses nervously. "Your friends–" He said the word like one might say, 'your sweaty gym socks'– "Will have to wait outside."
Jace opened his mouth, but Gray was faster. He stepped calmly past Jace, he leaned down so his eyes were inches from the shorter man's thick glasses. His pale blue eyes looked blurry and huge through the lenses. "Tell me something, old man," he said softly.
"I'm not afraid of you, you hooligan!" Juvia's biological father declared loudly. "You guild members are nothing but trouble! Especially the ones from that Fairy Tail–" The wall of the house shook when Gray's fist slammed into it, barely missing the right side of the older man's face. The wood beneath his hand cracked and splintered.
"Let me rephrase," Gray said silkily. "Are you left-handed or right-handed?"
"R-right-handed," Juvia's father managed shakily.
"I see. So you must like your right hand quite a lot. You use it frequently, don't you?" He leaned even closer. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to that precious hand of yours, would you?" A tiny rodent-like squeak of terror escaped the other man's mouth. Gray grinned slowly, but the fierce expression disappeared quickly. "Now tell me this – when's the last time you talked to your daughter?"
"Eh? Ah, well, um… That is…" Juvia's father struggled as he attempted to remember, or perhaps to decide whether or not to lie. "I– I can't quite remember…"
"She's dying," Gray snapped. "And here you are, telling your son that he better make it snappy if he wants to talk to you about something important, because your wife is feeling sick. Is that right?"
"My wife is extremely ill! I won't permit strangers to come to my house and guilt me into letting them inside. My wife is very fragile, and your very presence could send her into a fit–"
"Oh, stuff it, old man," Levy snapped. "Gray just said Juvia is dying. Do you even have ears, or is it that you're so busy listening to your own pompous self that you can't spare five minutes of your life to worry about your only daughter?" The man was clearly taken aback. Levy drew herself up to her full five feet two inches and puffed out her chest. The ends of her hair quivered with anger. "Dig the clay out of your ears and listen closely, because I'm going to say something important now and if you don't hear every fucking word I say, so help me God, I will get this metalhead–" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at Gajeel, who grinned and licked his lips– "to tear you limb from fucking limb. Understand?" Juvia's father nodded frantically. "Your daughter's body is evaporating. In about a week, she will be completely gone. You're aware that this has always been a possibility?"
"Yes," he whimpered. "We've always known. We never kept it from Juvia, either. But there's no way to stop it–"
"Shut up. I didn't ask. Does the phrase 'People of the Rain' mean anything to you?" Gray glanced sharply at Levy. She was staring directly into the eyes of the pathetic man before her, unwavering and unafraid. "Does it?" He shook his head. "Have you ever heard of or met a man named Howard Riedel?" He began to shake his head again and then paused. "Well?" Levy prompted.
"The name sounds familiar, but I can't think where– No, I can!" he exclaimed quickly when Levy's normally friendly eyes narrowed dangerously. "He came to our house years ago, when Juvia was still a small child."
"What did he want?"
"I don't remember, exactly… He said he was a witch doctor, and that he had heard of Juvia's condition. He said he could cure her."
"What?" Gray exploded, jerking forward. "What do you mean? Explain yourself!"
"Cool it," Gajeel growled, grabbing Gray by the arm and pulling him backward. "If he could have really cured her, we wouldn't be here right now. The guy was a quack."
"No," Jace said softly. "Not exactly." All of them turned to stare at him. "See, Juvia didn't always have the rain to protect her. About a year after she was born, she started to evaporate. I've heard this story more times than I can count. Mom and Dad looked everywhere, took her to every doctor in the area. They put up a job on the Phantom Lord board, and even begged traveling mages to take a look at her. But no one could do anything. One mage said that she had seen her friend disappear before her eyes the very same way, and that there had been nothing anyone could do about it. My parents were giving up hope fast, and on the day Juvia was about to vanish completely, Howard Riedel showed up."
When Jace stopped talking, Levy prompted, "And then? What happened after? What did he do?"
"I don't know," Jace said. "The only ones who know what happened are Riedel and my mom. Dad left the room."
Gray squared his shoulders. "That settles it, then. We're going in."
"I won't allow it!"
"Dad, move aside," Jace commanded gently. "This is for Juvia's sake. Please let us talk to Mom." The short man crossed his arms and did his best to look intimidating.
"I will not endanger my wife so these strangers can try to do the impossible! You all must leave now!"
Gray grimaced when the door flew backwards into the man's face, knocking him off his feet and sending him tumbling down the hallway behind him. The door itself swung crazily on one hinge, the other one having been torn off the doorjamb with the force of Gajeel's kick.
The iron dragon slayer grunted and pushed through the doorway into the dim house. "Damn old fucker. No wonder Juvia turned out so weird."
Jace sighed and followed suit, stepping carefully over the prostrate body of his father, muttering, "He was just asking for that one. I can't even feel sorry for him." Gray and Levy exchanged looks and then they too walked into the house. Gray really hoped they hadn't just killed Juvia's father.
Gray's first impression of the place was that it was dusty beyond belief. It was hard to imagine people really lived there. Even the floors were carpeted in a thin layer of dust. Levy coughed as she walked through the kitchen. "This place is disgusting," she complained. "Haven't they ever heard of cleaning?"
"Dad's never cared about that stuff," Jace explained from the head of their exploration party. "He's never really been able to focus on anything but my mother's illness."
Gajeel shrugged. "I don't really see what's wrong with it. It's not like you can't live here. A little bit of dust never killed anyone."
Levy rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot."
"The stairs are this way," Jace called, disappearing down a hallway. Gray, Levy and Gajeel trailed after him, the latter two bickering quietly. The stairs groaned as Gray climbed them, reminding him of the way the floorboards of the house he lived in with Ur and Lyon had always creaked ominously in the summer. The sound made him a little sad.
As they approached the room that held the answers to saving Juvia, Levy and Gajeel's voices grew even more hushed and then stopped altogether. Gray's stomach churned uncomfortably, and anxiety began setting in with a vengeance.
No expectations, he reminded himself silently. No hoping. Absolutely not.
What he found behind the door blew any expectations he might've had completely out of the water.
Idk why Levy's so violent in this. She and Juvia aren't even close friends. Or why I made Juvia's dad a complete nutbag on legs. Whatevs, it's all good.
So. Yeah. Reviews are good. Favorites & follows are good too. Bye.