When the train to the Mortal Realm finally arrived, Lucy and Erza went through the expected process of saying goodbye to their parents and the making of promises to call every night, remember to brush your teeth, don't fly off with strangers, and to listen to the person charged with their care. Once all was said and done, they picked up their bags and cages containing their familiars, and boarded the train. As the train was taking off, they looked out the windows and waved goodbye to to their parents until they were out of sight. Next they settle into their seats and made themselves comfortable for the long journey, ordering a snack and drink while going back and forth with conversation.
"What do you think our cousin will be like?" Lucy asked. "Do you suppose she'll be anything like us?"
"I doubt it." Erza said. "In her letters, Nanny has always described Juvia as a shy little dove. Someone gentle and sensitive yet not very confident in her talents and abilities."
"How can she not be confident? She's descended from the Fiore bloodline, one of the greatest magic using families there is."
"Well according to Nanny she's not aware of that part yet. For the last sixteen years she's never known that she's half witch, and even worse, our cousin has the ridiculous desire to live a normal life."
"Well what do you expect from a half mortal?"
"No don't start saying stuff like that very often. At least not around her or uncle or me. Mortals are no less special than we are. They just live differently than we do and have different abilities."
"Well I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that mortals typically prefer normalcy. Though why that is, I'll never know."
"Still better watch what you say. I've spent my entire life listening to both my parents speak ill of mortals and it disgusted me to no end. No one has the right to act like they're better than everybody else."
"You sound like Nanny."
"Good. I hope someday I can be just like her. Although you two could be twins. Both you and Aunt Layla took after her a great deal in the looks department."
"Yes but Mom and I were never as studious and gifted as she was. You're a prodigy just like she was."
"Do you think Juvia could have inherited anything from her?"
"I don't know, but we're bound to find out very soon." Lucy said. "Still there's something I can't understand."
"What's that?"
"Why has Nanny Anna waited so long to tell Juvia that she's half witch?"
"Well you know how the witch's council feels about mortals finding out about us. Nanny probably felt it best to wait until she knew for sure that Juvia would have powers. If she turned out to have been born without magic like her father, the council would insist that she never know about her maternal side of the family."
"That's a bit much, don't you think?"
"I think so but the witch's council is paranoid about our secret getting out. After all, magic-users and mortals haven't always had the best relationship. In fact the town where we're going has a very ugly history of mortals and witches."
"Oh yeah, the Salem Witch Trials." Lucy shuddered.
"It was all the fault of the witch Kyoka you know? If she had never terrorized Salem the way she did, then the people wouldn't have been left wanting to hang anyone who had anything to do with magic."
"Well luckily for us, Kyoka's dead and nobody in The Mortal Realm hunts witches anymore. We should be perfectly safe here."
"I hope so." Erza said. "I really hope so."
After dark, the train came to a complete stop and passengers for The Mortal Realm were asked to step off. Erza and Lucy quickly went grabbed all their luggage from their car, but as Lucy was pulling down her suitcase, something fell at her feet. Something small, fuzzy, and black.
"What's this?" Lucy bent down and carefully picked it up. "It's a bat."
"How did a bat get in here?" Erza wondered. "It's not moving, do you think it's dead?"
"Poke him." Laxus suggested.
"Oh please, that never works." Erza said as she opened her lunch bag and pulled out some type of food sealed in tupperware tupperware. She removed the lid.
"Eww! What is that?" Lucy gagged when she smelled the contents inside.
"My mother's eel pie."
"Oh gross! Really Erza, do you and your mother have to be those witches who eat weird food."
"Actually eel pie comes from England." Makarov said. "And it's a popular dish there."
"The English are weird." Laxus commented.
Erza pulled off a piece of the eel pie.
"Watch and learn people, this is how you know for certain if any thing is dead or not." Erza then proceeded to hold that piece of eel pie close to the bat's nose. The bat sniffed at the little morsel of food in her fingers, then isntantly opened it's eyes and swallowed it whole.
"Yep, it's alive." Erza said.
"Poor little thing." Lucy said gently rubbing the bat's head with two of her fingers. "Must've flown in through an open window and got caught between suticases."
Lucy quickly opened the train window and out stretched her arm.
"There you are little fella, free as a bird." She said. "Be more careful where you fly next time, okay?"
The bat took one long look at Lucy, looking deep into those big, brown eyes of hers. Then it leapt from her hand and glided away into the darkness.
Juvia's father and Anna were not home yet so she decided to get started on her homework. She sat down at her desk, pulling out her notebook and textbook, setting to work on writing her paper for Science class. She had just finished her first paragraph when Gajeel hopped up on to her desk, holding something in his mouth.
"Whatcha got there?" She asked him. "A little birthday present for me? I hope it's not a dead mouse like last year."
Gajeel opened his mouth, dropping his gift into her hand. It was a baby blue hair ribbon.
"Oh Gajeel, aren't you sweet?" She said tying the ribbon into her hair. "Come on, you deserve a nice saucer of milk."
She picked up the cat and went downstairs into the kitchen. She grabbed a saucer from the cupboard, the carton of milk from the fridge, and filled the saucer up, sliding it over to the cat. As he drank his milk, she rubbed his midnight-black fur and scratched his ears just as she had done this morning.
"Juvia I'm home!" She heard her father call when he stepped through the front door.
"I'm in the kitchen!" She called back.
Derek entered the kitchen with Anna walking behind her. Anna had another gift for Juvia and this one came in a slightly smaller box.
"What's that?" Juvia asked.
"Your other birthday present." Anna said giving her the wrapped up gift. "Happy Birthday."
"Thank you."
Juvia untied the ribbon, tore away the wrapping paper, and opened the box. What lay inside was a hard-covered book with unusual yet intricate designs and symbols. The title of the book said Cor Et Animam.
"It's latin for heart and soul." Anna explained.
"Okay." Juvia said opening the book. "Is this a novel?"
"No dear. It's a book of spells. Specifically a book of love spells and emotion spells."
"I'm sorry what?" Juvia said confused. "A book of spells? What would I need a book of spells for?"
"Honey, there's something Anna and I have to tell you." Derek said. "Something that will be very shocking and very hard to believe. I know I didn't react well when I found out."
"Found out what?"
"Well let's start at the beginning Derek." Anna said. "Juvia, do you remember when you were a little girl and I would tell you all those stories about witches and monsters?"
"Yes." Juvia said.
"Well sweetheart they weren't just stories. There's another world, one where monsters, and magic-users like witches and warlocks live together. In other words, they're all real and all the stories I told you about them are real. Also I'm a witch, your mother was a witch, and you're half witch."
"Alright this is a joke right?" Juvia chuckled. "A little birthday prank, well you got me. Very creative. The fake spell book was a really nice touch."
"It's not fake." Anna said. "In fact this is the very same spell book I gave your mother years ago, and I'm giving it to you now because despite being half mortal, you've been showing excellent potential to become a magnificent witch."
"Dad by any chance has Nanny been dipping into the liquor cabinet again?" Juvia whispered to her father.
"No dearest but I can understand you thinking that."
Derek then moved closer to Juvia, gently took her hands into his own, and look her directly in the eyes. He always did this when he needed to be serious with her. That's how she knew that this wasn't a joke.
"Juvia I know what this must sound like to you but it's true. Your mother was a witch and it turns out you are one just like her. At midnight I actually saw you floating over your bed, you were levitating in your sleep."
"Dad have 'you' been dipping into the liquor cabinet again?" Juvia asked. "Do I need to fix anyone here a nice cup of hot coffee?"
"I am not drunk Juliana." He said, referring to her by her full name to express the seriousness of his words. "It's the God's honest truth."
"So you're saying that Mom had magical powers and that I have magical powers too?"
"Finally, she gets it." Anna said.
Juvia slowly pulled away from her father.
"Okay I don't know what's going on here but it's obvious you two are...On something, so I'll just go on up to my room and wait for the effects wear off." She stalked toward the stairway. "Come on Gajeel."
"Can you wait til I finish my milk first?" Drawled Gajeel.
Juvia froze on the first step, then spun back to stare at the cat, eye to eye. She shot a plaintive glance at her father and nanny.
"Did the cat just talk?"
"Yes." Gajeel replied. "And now that I've made that ability known to you, there are a couple of subjects I've been meaning to discuss with everyone here. For starters, how long I get to use the TV."
"Oh my God!" Juvia yelped and bolted on up to her room.
Anna turned to Derek.
"Oh dear, that didn't go very well at all, did it?" She said.
"Let me talk to her." Derek said before slowly going up the steps and muttering to himself. "Lord give me strength."
"We're rooting for ya man!" Gajeel called. "I believe in ya...Not really but hey, lies make the world go round."
"You are not helping." Anna glared at him. "Hush, or I'll put you out for the night."
