Flying on a broomstick was one of the greatest thrills to a witch. Soaring above the clouds, felling the wind and the breeze in her hair, seeing just how big the world could really be, it was incredible. It was cloud nine to Lucy and Erza, but Juvia still needed some time to adjust.
"You doing okay back there cous?" Erza asked.
Poor Juvia had her arms and her legs tightly wrapped around the stick.
"I'm fine, I'm fine."
"You're so tense." Lucy observed. "Relax."
"I can't! I just found out the magic and witches are real, that my mother was a witch, that my nanny is a witch and also happens to be my great-grandmother, that I'm also a witch, and now I'm flying, and it's all in one day."
"Good point." Lucy said.
"But you don't have to be so scared." Erza said moving her broom closer to Juvia. "We're right here, we won't let you fall."
"You won't?" Juvia asked.
"Of course. You're family. You may have been brought up differently than us and grown up in a different world, but we share the same blood and the same spirit. In this family we always protect and care for each other. No matter what."
Erza held her hand out to Juvia, a gesture of trust and to begin bonding. Juvia's grip on her broom lightened and she nervously let go with one had, it trembled as it slowly moved toward Erza's. There was one moment of hesitation but finally, the two hands met.
"Okay." She said. "I trust you."
"Good." The red-head replied.
"But can I hold your hand for awhile? Just until I get used to this?"
"Sure."
For the next ten minutes, Juvia just clasped onto Erza's hand, not sure if she would ever get over how frightened she was at the moment. Then suddenly, Lucy raised her own hand and flicked her wrist, which caused all the clouds to instantly clear out and reveal a sea of stars. The half mortal witch couldn't believe her eyes. So many lights twinkling and shimmering amidst the darkness, it was the closest she had ever been to stars. In fact she was so close and so amazed, that she let go of Erza's hand and actually tried to reach out toward one star, forgetting her fear entirely.
Of course she never touched a star but that was the beginning of when she finally opened her eyes to the astonishing thrill that she was experiencing. For once in her life she didn't feel afraid and unsure. She felt light and carefree, she felt like she could do anything. She was like a long caged dove who had at long last been released from her prison and was embracing her new found freedom. Juvia was so overcome with bliss and carelessness, that she began to sing.
"I turned around, and the water was closing all around, like a glove.
Like the love that had finally, finally found me.
Then I knew, in the crystalline knowledge of you.
Drove me through the mountains, through the crystal-like clear water fountain
Drove me like a magnet,
To the sea
To the sea
To the sea,
To the sea."
Her voice was like a nightingale's melody, so sweet and ethereal, yet there was a certain mystique to it. The way it echoed through out the night and was carried by the wind, it was like all that's best of dark and light. Like Juvia herself. She was fair like the moon, but deep like the night itself.
Her cousins were pleased to see her becoming less afraid and more comfortable with her new found powers. Even becoming happy with them. Unfortunately the blissful moment was to be cut short when out of nowhere a bat flew right into Lucy's face.
"Ahh! I've gone blind! I'm blind! I'm blind!" She shrieked.
Suddenly Lucy lost control of her broom and started to go down.
"Lucy!" Erza screamed.
She bolted after her cousin and just by raising her hand, she controlled two trees to lift their branches in order to cushion her fall. The blond witch and the bat both landed on the branches, but they bounced and ended up crashing into a dumpster.
"Ow!" Lucy groaned, trying to pull herself up out of the dump. But she stopped when she noticed that an arm had fallen onto her waist. Her gaze followed the arm and she discovered that it belonged to a man who was laying next to her.
"Ah!" She screamed in terror. "Where did you come from?!"
Hearing her scream, the young man instantly awoke from his fall.
"Huh?! What?! What's going on?! Where am I?!"
He looked very disoriented and confused. As if he didn't have the slightest idea of how he got here.
"Who are you?!" Lucy asked sliding away from him.
He shook his head, waiting for his vision to adjust. Once he could see who was with him, he suddenly became awfully stiff and quiet. Surprised to find that he had run into or rather flown into someone he thought that he would never see again. The pretty young witch who had picked him up in his bat form back on the train. From the moment he looked into those big brown eyes of hers, he had forgotten everything he knew before and had been unable to stop thinking about her. Those brown eyes, that blond hair, and that smile that could knock a bat out of a belfry. She was unlike any female he had ever seen before. Not even the women in his father's harem could compare to this girl.
"Who are you?" Lucy repeated. "Hello? Are you deaf?"
"I...I...I." He is so gone, he couldn't come back if he wanted to.
"Lucy!" Erza landed her broom down by the dumpster and hurried toward it. "Lucy, are you alright?"
She looked inside the dump, looking down at them. She had seen that it was a bat who had fallen with Lucy yet a man was found was with her cousin instead. She also noticed that this man had pointed ears and a mouth full of fangs. With those clues given, Erza had a pretty good idea of what this man was. But to be certain...
"Lucy!" Erza had practically yanked her cousin out of the dumpster. "Hand me your compact mirror, now!"
Lucy did so without question, she could tell by the look in Erza's eyes that the matter was serious and you should never question Erza in a serious situation. Then when Natsu finally climbed out the dumpster, Erza held the compact mirror in front Natsu's face. He cast no reflection.
"Just as I suspected." Erza made a wooden stake appear into her hand and aimed it at Natsu. "Don't move vampire or this is going straight into the heart!"
"Whoa, whoa, take it easy!" Natsu said with his hands up in defense. "Look I know what you're thinking, and it is perfectly understandable for you to be scared of me, but I promise that I mean you no harm."
"Is that right?" Lucy asked, not believing him. "You say that, yet you almost caused me to fall to my death."
"That was an accident." Natsu said. "I wasn't even aware of what I was doing. One minute I'm just gliding around in the night sky, then I hear a voice singing, and everything goes dark. Next thing I know I see women on broomsticks and I'm falling into a dumpster."
"Do you think we're stupid?" Erza asked.
"It's the truth! I swear! I don't know what exactly happened to me, but I didn't mean to fly toward you girls or cause one of you to fall! Honest! And...Wait a minute, weren't there three of you?"
"Yeah, where is Juvia anyway?" Lucy asked looking around for her cousin.
"Hey! Where are the brakes on this thing?!" Erza and Lucy looked upward and saw Juvia heading straight for them. "Look out! Ahhh!"
But her warning came too late and BLAM! She crash landed right on to the other two witches.
"Ow!" All three of them groaned.
"Sorry." Juvia said. "Nobody ever told me how to land a flying broomstick."
Natsu approached the three witches with caution, after hesitating for a moment, he offered them a hand.
"You three okay?"
"I think so." Juvia said putting her hand into his, allowing him to pull her up to her feet. "Thank you."
"Get away from him Juvia!" Erza warned. "He's a vampire!"
"A vampire?" Juvia went silent for a moment and took a step back from Natsu. "So vampires are real too?"
"As real as witches are." Erza confirmed. "Cover your neck and don't get too close. He's a bloodsucking killer."
Juvia looked at Natsu skeptically.
"I don't know. He doesn't look like a killer to me."
"Newsflash honey, they never do."
Juvia looked deep into Natsu's eyes, seeing what was within his soul.
"You two can calm down now, he's harmless toward us." She said.
"How do you know?" Lucy asked.
"I can see it in his eyes. I don't know how, but I can."
"Of course!" Erza said putting her hand to her head. "You have powers associated with the heart and soul. One of your powers is being able to see what's in a person's heart and in their soul."
"So that's mean he really is harmless?" Lucy said.
"To us." Juvia said. "Can't say the same for cows and pigs."
"It's true." Natsu said. "I am a vampire but I don't drink blood from people. I only drink animal blood."
"Don't you like people blood?" Lucy asked.
"Not really." Natsu said. "In fact it kind of makes me sick. Last time I tried to drink it, I threw up."
Erza made the wooden stake in her hand disappear, then she and Lucy stood up off the ground.
"Alright so you don't drink human blood, but if that's true why are you in the Mortal Realm?"
"My brother made me come here. He wanted me to wreak havoc on mortals but I just don't have it in me. I figured that I would just hang around here for awhile and just lie to him when I get back."
"So you're not going to try to drink anyone?"
"Nope."
"Then I guess we can just leave you be. Sorry for the wooden stake threat. No offense, but you vampires have a nasty history of killing and drinking people."
"I understand, and I'm sorry for flying in your way ladies. Won't happen again." He said. "I'm Natsu by the way."
"My name is Erza and these are my cousins Juvia and Lucy."
"Pleasure to meet you." Juvia said.
"Likewise." He said smiling at Juvia. But when he made eye contact with Lucy, he started to become nervous. "Well...I better get going! Heh, heh, see you around ladies."
POOF! He turned into a bat again and flew away, leaving the girls feeling a little confused by his actions.
"What a weirdo." Lucy said.