Waking Dreams (A Gruvia fanfiction)

Chapter 3: The Hospital

The roaring fire crackled and popped, mixing with the various noises of the inn. Lucy and Juvia sat near the bar, trying to get information out of the drunk men there. As Juvia talked one man up, hoping that he would slip out some information, she caught Gray glaring at the man. She was questioning the reason why when she heard the man mention a terrorist. "Sorry, could you repeat that?" Juvia asked in a fake sweet voice. "This guy-thinks he's all that-he's been doin' magic..." The man slurred. After talking a few more minutes, Juvia concluded that she wouldn't get any more out of him and crossed the room to where Gray was. "What have you gotten?" She asked him. Gray looked annoyed when he told her that he hadn't gotten much more information than she had. "These people really don't want to discuss him..." Gray mused. Juvia looked up at him. "Maybe there's some type of magic preventing them from talking about him?"
"No, we would've detected that."
"Then what do you suppose it is?"
Before they could delve deeper into their conversation, Lucy came running over. "Guys! Guess what! I learned about a place where they keep the people affected by Nightmare's magic!" Juvia and Gray turned to listen as Lucy described the place to them. "Really, it's just a hospital," Lucy began, "But there's one specific ward they use just for those affected by this guy's magic. Apparently, it has some kind of mind effect, which causes the victim to see all sorts of crazy hallucinations."
"So the people affected by the magic are unfit to be kept anywhere else because the hallucinations are so severe?" Juvia asked to clarify. Lucy nodded. "How about we take a look around there? If we know what we're up against, we can fight him more easily!" Gray nodded in agreement. "It's a good idea," he said, stripping. Juvia blushed and stared as Lucy yelled, "Don't strip!"

The wooden floor creaked as the four of them walked across it. "So all we have to do is talk to some people, then we can finally fight the guy?" Natsu asked. Lucy shook her head and sighed. "No, not exactly. Before we fight him, we need to locate him and come up with a strategy." Natsu folded his arms. "Sounds boring," he pouted.
As they approached the ward for the victims-Nightmare Victims, they were called-they could hear terrified screams and pleas. This made Juvia stop dead in her tracks. The screams almost didn't sound human. Gray turned to her. "Are you okay, Juvia?" She nodded and resumed walking. "Juvia is fine," she lied. Lucy cast her a worried glance, catching the lie. Juvia just nodded at her, hoping that she looked convincing. The truth was, she was not fine. The inhuman screams and pleas terrified her, but she would never admit it. She had to just face this fear. It probably wasn't that bad, anyway.

Juvia was proven wrong. Things only got worse once they entered. The victims all looked terribly distressed-most were crying tears of terror, many were screaming, some were rocking back and forth, whispering strange words, and some just stared and sometimes screamed at something only they could see. That, Juvia thought, was the most terrifying thing of all. To see something so terrible, but knowing that nobody could see it except you. They tried talking to the victims, but most of them hardly made any sense at all. They kept screaming about fire and smoke and monsters...Juvia tried to block out her growing fear, but couldn't. For some unknown reason, the insane cries of others horrified her. When she could take it no more, she just muttered, "Please excuse Juvia," and left the room as quickly as possible.

Juvia paused in the hallway, panting. The looks in the eyes of the victims...She couldn't imagine going through what they were enduring. Their eyes and cries seemed more feral than human, and as she closed her eyes, she realized she could still hear them. Not wanting to hear the cries of others she knew she couldn't help, Juvia covered her ears and sank down against the wall, closing her eyes, trying to shut out the cries. Juvia tried telling herself that things would be okay, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to believe it. A feeling of impending doom crushed her. And suddenly, Juvia felt warm hands gently holding her wrists. "Juvia..." Sonebody was calling her. She looked up into Gray's face. He was kneeling next to her. He held onto her hands as she lowered them from her ears. "You were lying, huh? About being fine."
All Juvia could do was stare into his eyes, hardly believing that he had actually come to comfort her. "Juvia?" There was a worried tone in Gray's voice. "Juvia...can't stand it," Juvia whispered, "Juvia can't stand listening to those people scream, knowing there's nothing she can do..." Somehow her words broke off into a sob and Juvia noticed she was crying. Gray gently wiped her tears. "Things will be okay. We'll find a way to defeat this guy and cure all of his victims, okay?"
Juvia sniffled, "...O-Okay."

A/N:
Hello again, everybody! Finally an update! I apologize for the slow updates... ( ；'Д｀)
However! Expect great things from this story in the future! I have many great plans....
Anyway, thanks for reading! Please rate and comment!