XXX
February 13th, X779
Hyacinth was in tatters. Natsu didn't need to cross the channel and stand in the ash that remained to know that. He could see from where he stood that the majority of the town was in ruins, burned to the ground. Beside him, Wendy whimpered softly, looking near tears, and Natsu threw an arm around her shoulders. He squeezed her reassuringly when she whispered, "Do you think Yukino's okay?"
"Probably." He didn't know, in all honesty, but he wasn't going to tell Wendy that. "Look," Natsu continued, pointing to a spot further down the shore, "there's a few boats stuck down there. I bet at least some people got out. Come on, Wendy, Levy said she'd meet us after she found Gajeel and we can't stick around here."
Signs of destruction this bad usually meant Vhalis would be prowling the area, and they didn't want to risk that again. Not after the last few attacks they'd endured – attacks that had lessened since Levy had briefly parted ways from them. He wondered if it was because she still held onto some remnants of her power while he was essentially an empty vessel.
As he turned away from the sight, whistling shrilly for Happy to come away from the water and nudging Wendy along, he thought he saw something, across the channel. Natsu turned back to study the island, but it was gone. "Natsu," whispered Wendy, but he shook his head, bewildered.
"It's nothing," he lied.
But for a single heartbeat, he'd thought he'd seen something creeping along the shoreline, silhouetted by the ruins of Hyacinth.
Lucy looked out over the water impatiently, her chin resting on her curled fist. She ignored the chill whisking off the sea below, blowing her hair out of her face and rustling the keys dangling from her wrist. She fought the urge to open her mouth and say something as she watched Gray out of the corner of her eye. He'd been on high alert for much of the morning, and only minutes before, he'd begun darting this way and that, peering over the edge of the Borealis.
Finally, Lucy couldn't handle it anymore. She broke down. "What are you doing, Gray?"
Gray didn't so much as look at her, focused on the shifting water below. "Juvia's coming." He seemed more puzzled by that than he did anything else. Lucy wasn't overly excited by the idea at all. While Juvia had helped her and Loke the last time she'd seen her – not including the trip across a channel of water to escape the hellscape that was Hyacinth – she doubted that she was on Juvia's list of favorite people. When Gray noticed Lucy's nervous expression, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "She doesn't usually come aboard when I'm at sea."
"Why not?" Lucy asked, curious.
"She doesn't like ships – especially ones like mine," he admitted. "They pollute her waters. Mine doesn't anymore, being what it is, but it used to, and she hates it."
Lucy could understand that. She straightened as the Borealis rocked sharply beneath them, as if something slammed into the bottom of it. Lucy gripped the railing tightly, suddenly nervous as something crested the water. A body lifted higher and higher until it blocked the sun out with its shadow. Juvia stared down at them for a moment before her body began to fall back towards the water. She twisted midair and dove down.
"What was that for?" Lucy muttered, puzzled.
Gray laughed. "You'll see." Despite his confusion about Juvia's visit, Gray seemed pleased that she was coming around. Lucy wondered when they'd last seen one another. Likely not anytime recently. She'd thought there had been a time or two when he'd left her alone aboard the Borealis, but perhaps not.
Juvia abruptly threw herself skyward again. This time, instead of plunging back towards the sea, she aimed right for them. Lucy sucked in a sharp breath, expecting the Borealis to splinter and crumple beneath her weight. Instead, water splashed onto the deck as Juvia's form rippled and shifted into something smaller. When she straightened, blue hair soaked and sticking to her skin, Juvia was in the form Lucy had met only once before. Her blue eyes darted between Gray and Lucy, lips pursed. She smoothed her hands over the soft gray dress she'd donned.
Gray couldn't seem to stop the grin that broke free as he greeted, "Long time, no see, Juvia."
Juvia's face brightened. She practically waltzed across the deck, not hesitating to wind her arm with his, and Lucy knew she'd underestimated once again how close the pair were. She'd known they were a couple of sorts, but Lucy thought there might be more to it now that she watched them. Perhaps Juvia had even known him before he'd become a god.
"As much as I like to see you," Juvia said, sighing, "there are more important matters at hand." She looked at Lucy, a hint of a smile curving her lips as she said, "There was a hideous little cat playing in my waters yesterday evening. Its fur was obnoxiously blue. I didn't know a cat could be such a color."
Lucy couldn't breathe. Tears sprang to her eyes, relief coursing through her. She was quick to force them back. Her hands shook as she clasped them behind her back. She knew without a doubt that if Happy was there, it meant Natsu wasn't far behind. "Thank you," she croaked.
Gray seemed so self-satisfied when he looked in her direction that Lucy thought about throwing a rude gesture his way. She stopped herself at the last moment. Juvia had been nice enough to tell them her friends were close by; no good would come from insulting her immediately afterwards. Juvia would likely douse her in freezing cold water if she did.
"Which way should we head, Juvia?" checked Gray.
Juvia waved casually in the direction they ought to head, and the ship immediately began turning itself. "West," she replied. "But there is something I'd like you to consider first, before you do. Darling, what do you know about curses?"
" Curses?" The word brought Lucy up short. "They're a thing, too?"
Gray nodded slowly, thinking it over. "They're really rare though. Mira's Favored are the only ones who typically play with them, and even then, they're usually trying to undo curses. They're favored by old gods and spirits, actually. Fallen gods. Not like Jellal, but actual fallen gods, who Mavis banished after they did something against the codes we follow. Do you know who might have cast it? Where is it?"
"I'm uncertain as to who," admitted Juvia, "but I believe it was placed over what remains of the town I protected, and I suspect it was there before Hyacinth fell as it did. I've not seen one like it before. The curse feels old. As old as the likes of my kind." She frowned deeply at the thought. "You can hardly tell it is there, but you can certainly feel its effects. It seeps into the waters surrounding the area. Anything I send to investigate dies the moment they breathe in the cursed water."
"We could check it out, but Mira's the better choice for this," Gray said uneasily. "Or Levy, even. I'm not experienced in curses, Juvia."
"And we need to get to Natsu," added Lucy with some impatience, bouncing on the balls of her feet. After months and months of waiting and traveling with the slimmest hope they'd actually cross paths, Wendy and Natsu were so close that they could likely find them within a handful of hours.
Juvia looked troubled enough that Gray suggested, "I'll take Lucy to the idiot, and then maybe we can all take a look, Juvia. You and I both know Natsu will probably have a better idea of what's happening." He was far older than Gray was, after all.
That seemed to satisfy Juvia's concerns. She dipped her chin and squeezed Gray's arm once. "Then I will return to the sea. Allow your ship to be guided. My waters will take you to where you ought to go so that you may sooner investigate. Thank you," she added warmly to Gray, who smiled back at her. She reluctantly turned her gaze on Lucy and said, "And you as well, Lucy."
Juvia didn't mean it. Well, perhaps she did, but not nearly as much as she'd meant it for Gray. Lucy smiled regardless. Over the time they'd spent as what was essentially sitting ducks, Gray had filled her in on a few things and how they worked from the godly side of things in a way that she realized Loke hadn't bothered to try, and that included being polite to the spirits, who were much more powerful than the gods. Even if she felt they didn't deserve it.
Juvia did, of course.
Juvia let Gray lead her to the railing. She stepped up onto it with his help. She paused just once to tell them, "Should you need my assistance, simply ask, darling Gray. I will offer it, no questions asked." That said, she stepped off, disappearing into the gray waves below. When Lucy joined Gray at the side of the Borealis, she was unsurprised to see a dorsal fin cresting the water before diving deep, vanishing.
"Do you think a curse has anything to do with what happened to Hyacinth?" Lucy asked without taking her eyes off of the water.
"I don't know. Maybe. But curses are dangerous – they stick to people, and unless you're a fully powered Mirajane, then you don't mess around with them." Gray ran a hand through his dark hair, and ice trailed the movement. He was definitely unnerved. "I don't know what she thinks we can do about it, but we're going to need to be careful, Lucy. Curses…they affect gods, too. Worse than humans, even."
Lucy didn't agree. Instead, she asked hopefully, fully aware of how silly she sounded, "Are we going to find my friends now?"
Gray surprised her with a friendly tussle of her hair. "Already on it," he replied.
Lucy's heart skipped a beat as she turned her face west, unable to hide her excitement. She could hardly contain the incessant need to scream it to the world. Finally. Finally, after months and months, she'd get to see Natsu again.
The look on Gajeel's face when he came trudging up the beach with Levy beside him told Natsu he knew something, and he knew something important. Natsu stopped inspecting the boat he'd fully intended to shove into the water with the intention of crossing the channel to the ruins of Hyacinth. He'd been hoping they'd find at least something there despite the odd feeling that emanated from it. "What?" asked Natsu warily. "Why do you look like that, Gajeel?"
Gajeel rolled his eyes, hints of magma swimming there. "I always look like this. The fuck's your problem?"
"Hi, Gajeel," chirped Wendy shyly, and some of that irritation faded as he flashed her a grin. Everyone was nicer to Wendy then they were to Natsu, though he didn't blame them. He found her company preferable to theirs, too.
"Gajeel," chided Levy with a heavy sigh. To Natsu, she said, "The conflict he was drawn to…it was Hyacinth, Natsu."
Natsu wasn't expecting that for some reason. "You mean you caused that?" he demanded, pointing at the ruins.
Gajeel tapped the boat Natsu had been working on with his toe, thoughtful. "No, the humans did…you know this is gonna sink the second you enter open water, right? Why are you trying to go over there anyways?"
"Wendy needs some stuff. She was hoping there might be a couple of things left. Figured that between you two and Scorpio, we could probably handle it," retorted Natsu, patting his pocket where Scorpio's key was safely zipped up. He said nothing about what Scorpio did whenever he used the dagger the key could become, however.
"I told him we should find somewhere else," Wendy said, eyeing Hyacinth's charred structures nervously. "That it felt weird, going there when it's like that. But…there was a lot of medical supplies in Yukino's house, Levy. Stuff I might need in the future. If I'd had some of it in the mountains…" Pain flashed over her features, and she bit her lip. "I want to have it, just in case something happens again."
Levy eyed the boat they'd been intending to use with some distrust, wrinkling her nose. Gajeel had bent over it, trying to puzzle out how he might make it work for the young girl – or, at least, make it so the boat lasted at least a trip to Hyacinth and back. Natsu thought that they felt rather similar about the idea of crossing the channel in a boat. The first time he'd done it had been bad enough.
"Look," said Natsu, "can you make it so it doesn't sink? You're good with this kind of thing, aren't you?"
"Yeah, sure, or we could just ask Gray to take us," said Gajeel as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Natsu had never whipped his body around as fast as he did then. "You've seen Gray?"
"Sorta. His ship's been hangin' around, hiding in the fog." Gajeel made a small gesture to indicate the open water past Hyacinth. "Figured he's been huntin' lost souls up and down the coast for the last few months. I think it's more than that though. I haven't seen or heard of any around here for a long time. Whatever he's doin', it's not his job."
Natsu considered, for just a moment, abandoning everything there and then to track Gray down and demand answers. He'd trusted Gray to protect his Favored's soul, so what was he doing here, in Hyacinth, instead? Sure, there must have been lost souls to collect, but if there were none left, why was he still hanging around?
"Natsu?" Wendy said softly, drawing his attention. She watched him closely, lips pursed uncertainly. She searched his gaze, shifting from foot to foot. "We're going to ask him about Lucy, right?"
"Of course we are." Natsu didn't mean to sound so harsh, enough so that Wendy winced. He was quick to soften his gaze, throwing her an apologetic look to soothe the sting away. "For one, he lost her–"
"What do you mean he lost her?" Gajeel interrupted, eyes wide. He looked entirely at a loss as to what he meant, and Natsu glared at him, not pleased he'd interrupted him. The genuine confusion in Gajeel's face was the only thing that kept Natsu from snapping at him. "He supposed to be doing something with her? Seemed like Loke was doin' just fine."
Silence fell. They all stared at Gajeel, comprehending. Slowly, Levy furrowed her brow at her favored companion, fully aware that ash had begun to spew from Natsu's lips as he heaved a heavy breath to try and fend off wicked, violent emotions beginning to roil in his chest. "What do you mean, Gajeel?" Levy asked. "Loke's here?"
"He was." Gajeel's gaze flicked between her and Natsu. "You didn't know? Said they were lookin' for you, Salamander."
Natsu threw his hands in the air, exasperated. "Why does he want me? I didn't do anything! I don't know why everyone keeps thinking I'll know anything more than they do about Valhalla–"
There was a very annoying, very smug look on Gajeel's face that reminded Natsu: Gajeel knew something he'd not yet told them. Natsu found he'd never wanted to punch the god of warfare more than he did in that particular moment. A slow stream of smoke blew from his nose, one that Wendy waved away from her face as she said, "Well, we didn't see anyone new. Just…Levy…" She trailed off, staring out at the water. "Natsu–"
That smug look grew into a wide, sharp-toothed smirk. "You're fuckin' kidding me."
"Gajeel," sighed Levy. "Please don't start something with Natsu, we have other things to worry about."
Natsu's hands turned into white-knuckled fists, a hum seeping from him in a low, threatening note. He always hated when Gajeel knew something before he did, if only because Gajeel liked to play this little game he was playing now. One where Natsu had to beg to know what it was Gajeel was hiding. " What, Gajeel?"
Wendy tugged at Natsu's sleeve, trying desperately to get his attention. "Natsu, really, look–"
He gently batted her away as Levy scolded Gajeel, "Just tell us what you know, would you? I'd really like to know before I start getting old, which would be a feat in itself."
" HEY!" yelled Wendy, silencing the three gods. Natsu stared at her, stunned. He'd never heard her raise her voice in such a way. Wendy glared at them in a way that was so distinctly Lucy that Natsu had to look away, in the direction she was pointing. He stopped dead, mouth falling open. Gajeel and Levy looked, too, and were equally startled by what they saw.
A familiar ship glided over the water. His breath caught in his chest. It was the Borealis, Gray's ghost ship as Lucy had called it time and time again. It cut swiftly through the waves, but not in their direction, as Natsu might have expected. Rather, it was heading straight for–
Natsu sucked in a sharp breath as the Borealis, a ship that hadn't touched land since it'd made its last voyage north a century before, slammed into what was left of Hyacinth's docks at full speed. Even from where their small group stood on the other side of the channel that had once protected the town, they could hear it. It plowed through the docks themselves until it buried its hull in the remnants of some wooden buildings, throwing wood everywhere and flooding the air with a high-pitched screech of metal being peeled apart.
Silence reigned as they came to terms with what had just happened. Levy was the first to break it. "That's not possible," she whispered. "The Borealis can't touch land."
"It just did," said Natsu, running a hand through his pink hair. He wasn't sure of what he ought to do.
A scream cut through the unnerving silence, echoing across the foggy waters. It wasn't one of the Vhalis, nor was it human. Natsu had never heard that scream, but the way Levy's face paled told him she had. "That's Juvia," she said, voice trembling. "The last time she made that sound, she dragged an entire continent down into the ocean's depths."
"C'mon." Natsu whirled on the boat they'd been intending to use. He didn't want to put Wendy at risk, seeing as there was likely something dangerous about to take place, but he didn't think he had a choice. He couldn't leave her here, on the shores of an area likely infested with Vhalis. Besides, they needed to find Gray in order to find Lucy's soul, and that meant approaching a ghost ship that had wrecked itself on the ruins of an abandoned town.
Without a single complaint, Gajeel helped him prepare the boat for open water.
Giant, clawed hands seized the side of their boat just as it reached the deeper parts of the channel. Juvia surfaced slowly, her eyes searing with wrath. Natsu winced when Wendy cowered into his side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gently squeezed her. No one wanted to face an angry Juvia, not even him.
Juvia turned her face towards Gajeel and bared her sharp teeth. "What have you done?"
"Wasn't me, water woman," he retorted, gesturing to the wrecked ship.
"The waters do not listen. My sharks and eels and fish are dead. My darling Gray will not answer me." Juvia's fury turned onto Natsu; he tried not to flinch beneath the force of it. He scarcely dared to breathe as she seethed, "You have reason enough to do this."
Whatever that meant. He shook his head. "It wasn't me either, Juvia." She stared long and hard at Natsu, considering his claim of innocence. "It wasn't. Why do you think we're heading towards it instead of away?"
"It wasn't us, Juvia," agreed Levy. She reached out to fearlessly touch one of Juvia's claws. Juvia hissed furiously at her for the touch, but didn't respond otherwise. "But we'll find out what happened, and we'll keep you informed."
Juvia debated her answer before nodding curly. She lifted herself higher in the water, warning them without saying a word that she would blame them should something have happened to Gray. "Whatever took place in this town…it created something different. It cursed the land, the waters around it. Gray knew of this. There was to be an investigation into the curse after they found you. I spoke to him about it only this morning. I do not know what might have happened aboard his ship since then."
Juvia released the boat, sliding back down into the water until only her head remained above. "I will guide your boat as long as I can."
She vanished, and Natsu exchanged a quick look with his fellow gods, grim. Whatever had happened…whatever was continuing to happen in Hyacinth…
It wasn't good.
I'M SO EXCITED THAT I MANAGED TO MAKE THE UPDATE THIS WEEK! I literally had the worst luck/week possible, including (but not limited to) events such as spilling coffee all over my keyboard and preventing me from writing up until this very second and my dog and I being attacked at random by another dog while walking my neighborhood. I was bit. And the owner couldn't confirm if the dog was vaccinated. Good times.
REGARDLESS! ;) The reunion's coming and you know I couldn't do it without drama.
Thanks to reviewers (BurstingDragons, InWonderl4nd, DREAMCHASING, Jellal Frenandes, galactiaconstella, STAG98, & Meow Orbit!) as well as those who favorited and followed!