Warning: This chapter contains graphic depictions of violence.

Note:

Flashbacks and thoughts in italics

I do not condone or encourage any behaviors in this story. It is simply a fictional story.

"Butterfly Effect"

CHAPTER 14

One Kiss

.

She sat near the window in the chair more to Gajeel's liking than the one in the living room, sewing a tear in one of her old shirts. She could hear the click and rattle of a pickup truck every time it stopped near her apartment building. It is the sound of Gajeel toing and froing every time he misses any of the boxes Levy had packed. They were moving in together and had chosen an apartment on the same block as hers. Juvia is unworried, lively than ever to have them close by.

She glided a pinky along the blue seam with a content sigh. The shirt has patterns that resemble flowery snowflakes and flutter sleeves, a birthday present from Gajeel. He knew Juvia loved the milky sleet as opposed to the lucent fall. Her residence is a high-spirited place. As a homebody who is not so gripped by the distractions or pumped for the drama, she pines for the quietude of winter solstice. No wonder she's been lusting after an ice mage. She had blown a hole in that pipe dream insofar as she could.

Fair enough, there are none left of the castles in the air.

Having taken tickets back to Magnolia with the satisfaction of eating a proper meal seasoned with experiences and flavoured with fun, she had bid goodbyes to Totomaru and Mom earlier yesterday.

"I miss them already." Her eyes stung and cheeks hurt from smiling at the thought of them. The way Suzaku had messed up her hair with a joke; Totomaru's genuine sunny smile; Catori's curries, and motherly touch, everything came to her mind like sunkissed rocks in clear, still water. It's her first time meeting with such bigger, depressingly rarer kindness, the reason Juvia thought the world of her them pretty damn quick.

Sniffing, she rubbed her rubicund nose on the back of her hand. Last night with them had buzzed with belly laughs and food fights. They danced and sang all night long, and nobody slept before 2 after sundown. It all felt headlong. Too good to be good, and she had trouble accepting it. Yet isn't happiness like that; doesn't it make us lose count of hours?

She kept the folded shirt neatly in the shelf to make her bed as the night fell. Tomorrow, she will get back to guild, doing missions like any other member. She can't wait for the thrill.

Juvia is back, but with a newfound prowess on how to adjust the sails where she couldn't change the currents, to fix herself from scratch when there's nothing left to be broken.

.

The song coming from inside the tree hotel crooned greetings for the evening. That got him speechless, bearing in mind that 7 AM was just stirring. The lyrics seemed to harmonise a ridicule in the morning. If he had wings, he would've flown up there for no other reason than to tell them to shut the cursed thing up. Loke lowered the cartwheel hat to fully conceal his loud locks. He hadn't heard a voice more grating in a decade.

The moment it escaped Mirajane's mouth that another mage had taken the same job, Loke had made headway to rip the post from the bulletin, proceeding to take the job even if it meant he'll have to learn to fly.

Narrowing his eyes, he requested raucously. "Could you repeat that?"

"This place is not for people like you. Go to a shanty pub." The man's glare and the manner he pulled off the boas on his shoulders promised violence. Yet it hurt the brunette to look at his wacky face. He didn't take it amiss. Why would he want to trigger off a melee with a hulking, barrel-chested 10-foot guard so early in the morning? But it isn't okay.

"So I can't get in?" Loke stifled a snicker and twisted the solid smile off his face, doing a poor job sticking to the personality.

"Nay." The tree is like a beanstalk, lemony green, reaching to touch the sky. It had massive, plump flower buds like soft-boiled eggs with a delicious citrusy smell. Even with Mirajane's thumbs down, this is a mission he chose. Nobody sent him here. So in whatever way, he may stick to his guns. Though this is not the ultimate reason for him to climb up the grandiose outlaw's abode.

It's not like he forgot how to teleport, but using that ability here may invite unnecessary attention or suspicions. He'll have to be careful about the hex detection these people could've installed near the alcoves. Just because they used primitive methods to manslaughter doesn't mean that they cannot be sophisticated. He shall not make a hasty mistake by exposing his powers in the very beginning. If the security alarms blare now, they're going to have to escape before turning to barbecues by these barbarians, and the mission falls futile.

Rather than feeling ticked off, his eyes glinted in excitement. Twofold all the more when he heard a cough and looked up to meet a woman's head peeping down from a window up the tree. She gave him a single glance before turning back to say something to the person behind her. He couldn't see who it was because of the walls. Yes, that is well advised providing she is visiting in the guise of a dangerous person—a Mafioso. Loke knows, for all that, gangster or not, Juvia Lockser is a dangerous woman.

The tree was revered as a natural monument before it got overrun and seized by an infamous gang of ruffians. It suspended in the air like an air plant, which is why it was nicknamed "the swing from the sky." But it wasn't air plant. The roots breathed like humans did. The ends of each root hair opened up like nostrils to take in air, and there were more than a thousand root hairs. Two of the magic council spies who had come to inspect the ordeal got arrowed and burnt at the stake like a few other civilians. The agenda behind these actions remain undetermined as yet. Because of the complex disputes dividing the state in two, Loke and Juvia weren't hired to bring the criminals down but find out any details as much as they could find. The council needed information to begin the infiltration.

"Captain, your sidekick is here! Please tell this brute to let me in!" Loke stated, lifting his chin with a tug to his collar. His ringing voice caught her heed, getting her steely orbs anchored on him once more. Though it may seem strange, her make-up was flawless, hair down, wine edging her lips and midnight curling her lashes. It made her look like a siren, a sterling temptress. She was cut out for it after all. When push comes to shove, she is manifestly a first class witch. A water witch. The real deal.

The guard towered behind him to completely overtake his shadow. "Are you that woman's paramour?" The guard chuckled, lips screwing into scorn.

"Huh?" Feeling challenged, Loke jutted his chin.

Perplexed by his sensual stroll over to the lifting rig that had been lowered to the ground for him, the huge guy choked on his spit. Loke smacked his lips. "Oh.. Yeah!"

Without a hitch, just like that, once again, Loke meets Juvia.

.

"What do you want?" As they roamed side by side from corridors to corridors, Juvia could care less about the reddening of her ears, more rigid with keeping eye contact: a storm lashing against his hazel ones. Come on, she was not going to act like a 13 year old girl because of some wierd dreams that she's been having about this particular guy. Wet dreams every week are normal. It's just high sex drive? Right? Yeah, keep trying to fool yourself. Not happening, Juvia. You should talk to a psychologist to recheck your obsession-metre. But it's normal, isn't it? She's not letting this get outta hand this time.

Cutting her thoughts, auburn blotched her line fo sight, Loke muttering in her ear. "Where were you? Spritual journey?" She almost startled at the coquettish grin he directed towards her. "Did you suddenly decide to become a monk?"

"Kind of. Although I'm no monk." He observed her face free of the frown lines that had been there last time. Her cheeks glowed cherubic. "How did you know?"

"I thought Juvia Lockser would do something strange like that." You did go through change. You were getting over someone. I know how hard it is to get over someone you love. "If you were one, you'd look hot." He could imagine her in a crucifix and cowl.

"Thank you." Is he always like this with every other girl he meets? She blinked and narrowed her eyes.

The reply comes as if he read her mind. "I stopped with the pick up lines. But you're not any other girl." When he stepped away, she noticed a faraway look fading from his eyes.

"Thank you. Why?"

Why waste time by stalling? "Wanna hook up with me again?" He asked, moistening his lips with his tongue. To say the truth, he had taken this mission just to ask her this question.

She gave him a black stare. "So you want to have sex. What perfect timing you have?" He had never learned to be less brazen.

"So you're okay with the question but not okay with the timing?" He was cocky enough to spark a smirk.

"Never said with the question." Juvia answered cheekily, not behind on smugness. Surprising him, she takes his hands and kisses him on his inner wrist like a prince-ss charming. "But I'm about to. And just so you know," She winks. "I'm not like this with any other guy I meet."

Noise interrupted them, reverting Juvia's attention back to the task at hand. Sweat glazed her skin and slid down her neck. The job. Stop being unprofessional. Her conscience reminded her once more. Now that the deal is sealed, she can take her attention away from the big time distraction, aka Loke. Right. Stay focused at work, girl.

What she found was a pandemonium. Men and women spat, sneered, pointed fingers, and laughed. Loke cocked his head to look at the scene as well. Athwart the cloister in the middle of the building, visible from the walkway, there amassed people with barely any clothes and collars around their necks or feet. They were pushed around, blood bathed feet wincing as they scraped against the asphalt. Are few bared their teeth after they were flogged, some sobbed and rasped with red eyes and runny make-up, while some stayed silent, appalled. It looked like a punishment.

Loke turned his gaze away with, eyes twitching, when a boy got burned in the calf with a long smelting blade. Standing straighter, he gives her a tight-lipped smile. He really wanted to kick some asses. Unfortunately, they didn't come here for that. "Let's get going"

She crossed her arms, nodding quickly.

"Slaves. Looks like a punishment ritual." He supplied, even if any derp can guess what it was.

The path towards the basement wasn't that difficult. In the cavernous arcade, leaving a square-shaped pit in the place, some tiles would drop down. There was no time to think, so they did what was best. With one last nod, Loke teleports.

Trusting her reflexes and muscle memory, Juvia bolts. She ducked and dodged the revolving blades erupting from the ground each time she stepped on the wrong tile. Completing her task, she troops beyond the hall, her eyes searching for Loke, and catches sight of him soon enough. Offensive would be the two idiots at the entrance to the chamber fortifying the classified information they needed. Not like they have an option for expectations in this context.

"Where did you get her from? How much does she cost?" The good-for-nothings cackled at their own joke, something that was embarrassingly failing to qualify as a shitty joke. Both were six feet tall. The one on the right had golden eyes and an English moustache; the other had box braids and a square face. They held sabres, had emblems on their clothes, and rivets on both arms. "Why don't you both do a little naked dance for us? We'll let you free. Wouldn't we, Axe?" The guy on the left chuckles, glancing at Axe.

Without further ado, Juvia sucker-punches the first one in the nose, and Loke found it intensely satisfying to watch, although he had to quickly resume fighting to deal with the other bastard.

Loke vised his arms over the retrograde's neck, effectively choking him. He bent his knees against the others to trip him to the ground. As the enemy's knees hit the floor, Loke took a moment to inhale and catch his breath. He was safe from the arrows suddenly showering over him with the water shield that had opened above him. His attention caught Juvia's feet sliding gracefully on top of it, walking on water. Could she do that?

The smell of fresh wounds diffused with the nasty, oily stench of kerosine lamps. The brunette gripped the enemy's leg cutting the air over his chest and twisted it. He stiffened his hand into a fist. Then, with a sharp tug on the twisted leg to get leverage, he struck into the perpetrator's gut until he wheezed and spat blood. A pop was heard, indicating cracked ribs.

They find some files of significant value containing the blueprint of their security systems and other details of the perpetrators. The blueprints aid them, clearing the way for them further. The acquisition of information risked the possibility of being caught. However, despite facing potential dangers, they escape with the files in their possession.

Opening the doors of thick bark, they slip outside the compound with the help of rope ladders, unnoticed.

Mission accomplished.

.

Author's Note:

One Kiss by Dua Lipa and Calvin Harris.

Their journey is not over. In the next chapter, they'll meet the town's mayor.