Waking Dreams (A Gruvia fanfiction)

Chapter 4: The Nightmare

A/N: Hello! I just wanted to ask you guys for music recommendations and ideas. I have lots of ideas for this story, but you guys might have some good ones too! Thanks!

"...And then I'll strangle him with my bare hands!" Natsu was yelling about the many different ways he could defeat Nightmare. After returning from the hospital, they had decided to make their move against him. Lucy looked at Natsu with a "yeah, right" face. Natsu scoffed, "It could happen!" While Natsu and Lucy delved into a rather confusing conversation, Juvia sat in her chair and looked out the window of the room she and Lucy were sharing. All of them had gathered together to discuss their plan to attack Nightmare, but so far it was going nowhere. Gray spoke up, "Why don't we just look for him? I'm sure that if we're outside at the right time, he'll find us." Lucy considered the idea. "It could work, but it would be incredibly easy for him to take us by surprise that way."
"Well, how else are we going to find and defeat him?"
The two argued for a while, but finally came to the conclusion that seeking him out was the fastest and easiest way. "Tomorrow night, we'll look for him and defeat him if we find him. Any objections?" Lucy asked. Everybody shook their heads to indicate that they agreed.

The town was dark that night. The moon was waning, and there weren't many streetlights. The four of them wandered through the streets cautiously. "Oi! Nightmare! Come fight me!" Natsu yelled. Lucy scolded him. "We're looking for him, aren't we?" Natsu asked. Lucy just sighed and nodded. Gray turned to Juvia. "Juvia, you've been quiet ever since we got back from the hospital. Are you okay?" Juvia didn't want to admit that she was scared of facing Nightmare, so she shook her head. "Juvia is perfectly fine. She is just strategizing." It was partly true. Juvia figured that she could use her Water Body to avoid most of the attacks. Before Gray could reply, the light around them sputtered. The group of wizards formed a circle back to back, each one looking for a threat. A disembodied voice drifted to their ears. "Welcome, Fairy Tail. I've been eagerly awaiting your visit." Everybody searched for the source of the voice, but none could seem to identify where it was coming from. "It's almost like its in my head," Lucy said. A laugh echoed to them. "Clever girl. I might just show myself to you." Juvia grimaced and lightly traced her guild mark with her index finger. It had become a habit of hers to do whenever she was scared. It reminded her that she was not alone. The rain had finally stopped, and she was not alone anymore. "Hmmm. You have interesting thoughts, rain woman," the voiced resounded. Juvia tensed at the voice. How could he have done that? Again, the voice laughed. "It's simple magic, really," Gray, Lucy, and Natsu exchanged confused looks. "And now that I've seen inside your head, I think I've decided who to kill first!" Hideous laughter followed. Juvia's eyes widened in fear. "Gray!" Everybody sprang into action. Lucy summoned Taurus, Natsu nearly completely ignited himself, and Gray made an ice shield around himself and Juvia. Within seconds, the shield shattered, sending shards of ice everywhere. Natsu jumped forward. "Show yourself ,coward!" Another disembodied laugh. "Are you blind, Dragon Slayer? I'm practically in front of you." Juvia couldn't see the attacker, but she did see Natsu go flying across the street. A figure stepped into the light. There was not much to see. A male form, wearing a simple black mask making him look as though he had a mad grin on his face, and a black cape. He blended in well with the shadows. "Taurus!" Lucy yelled. The Celestial Spirit sprang onto the attacker, ready to slice him in two with his axe. "Dark Ecriture: Sleep!" The figure yelled, and Taurus was rendered useless. "Dark Ecriture?" Lucy said, shocked,"Like Freed's power?" All of them remembered the Battle of Fairy Tail, when Laxus and the Raijin Tribe had declared war on the rest of the guild. All of them had a special power, and Freed's was Dark Ecriture, a power that manipulated the mind into feeling pain or other things. With no time to dwell on the new discovery, the group continued their attacks. "Ice Make:Lance!" Gray yelled, as a lance made out of ice came into being, nearly piercing Nightmare's arm. "Is that the best you can do?" Their attacker taunted. Natsu jumped at him from behind. "Karu no Tekken!" He yelled as he punched him with a fiery fist. Nightmare smiled. "That's more like it. Dark Ecriture:Pain!" Lucy cringed when she heard Natsu's cry of agony. "Open, gate of the Lion Palace! Loke!" She shouted as she grabbed her key. Needing no direction, Loke sprang into battle. "Juvia will attack when he is distracted!" She muttered to herself. "Water Body!" She yelled as her body turned to water and she rushed at her opponent. He turned around as she approached. "Don't forget, I can hear your thoughts, rain woman." Juvia nearly pulled back when she heard him. Nightmare grinned a sick smile. "Nightmare Ecriture:Distortion!" Lucy gasped when he yelled the attack. "More than one type of Ecriture?" Juvia almost believed that his attack hadn't worked on her, as she felt no pain. Then she noticed Gray staring at her. "Gray! Don't get distracted!" She yelled to him. He shook his head and pointed to her. Juvia looked down and nearly screamed. Parts of her body were water, and some were flesh. Others were reverting between water and flesh, completely in a state of flux. Nightmare smiled as he saw that his victim was now caught in his trap. Gray turned to him with rage. "Ice Make:Arrow!" A large ice-arrow shot straight at Nightmare's chest. The cloaked man deftly dodged the arrow. "Dark Ecriture:Pain!" All around Juvia, people were screaming and fighting and things were burning and freezing. Juvia fought too, even though her body was still reverting between flesh and water.

The battle was looking grim. All of them were bleeding now and running low on magic. Still they fought on. "Karu no...Hoko!" Natsu yelled, breathing fire onto their opponent. "Nightmare Ecriture:Hideous Laughter!" Natsu collapsed into a laughing fit. Lucy ran over to him, though she didn't know how to possibly help. "I'm running out of spirits to summon!" She yelled desperately, clutching a wound on her side. Juvia held out her arm, which was mostly water. "Summon Aquarius." She demanded. Lucy nodded and stuck Aquarius's key into the water part of Juvia's arm. "Open, gate of the Water Bearer Palace! Aquarius!" Juvia could only watch for a moment as Aquarius and Nightmare fought each other. In the midst of their battle, Nightmare turned his head to look Juvia straight in the eyes and recited a spell she couldn't hear.

There was nothing left. Just pain and fear and shouting and darkness. Juvia did not know where she was, or what had happened on the battlefield. All she knew was the darkness and pain. Behind the pain was an undeniable fear. It was the kind of fear that causes you to run out of a room suddenly, the type of fear that makes you huddle up in your blankets at night even though you know nothing is there. It was the type of unexplainable fear you feel during a nightmare.

A/N: Cliffhanger! Sorry(not really sorry.)! I'll update the next chapter soon. Also, if I spelled any of the attacks wrong, please tell me so I can fix them.