"My name is... Juvia."
Gray blinked. Hadn't he heard this name before? Where had he heard this name? Try as he might, he couldn't remember.
He looked at the beautiful woman standing in front of him. Juvia. She couldn't be older than eighteen. She was biting her lip as if saying her name would do something. Should it do anything? Gray didn't know. He only knew that Juvia was extremely beautiful.
"Well, I'm Gray though you know that already."
Juvia's head shot up and looked straight into Gray's dark blue eyes. Did he not know? Has the king not yet told him? Or was he just stupid?
"I'm the princess."
Gray opened his mouth to tell her that Lucy was the princess when it hit him. Juvia. The princess. Princess of Ishgar. The one he was supposed to marry.
'Well, this is messed up.' Gray thought.
"I... We should move." Juvia shook her head and started walking, hugging her cape close to her body.
"Do you know where to go?"
Juvia stopped in her tracks. "Uh, no."
"Neither do I." Gray shrugged. "But, I do know that the place where you're headed is the town square."
Juvia blushed in embarrassment but tried to hide it. "Well, then let us go! Get up!" Juvia pulled Gray up from the log he was sitting on.
Gray smiled teasingly and stood up. He stretched his arms. "We go that way," he pointed to the dark part of the forest. Juvia's eyes went slightly wide. "What? Are you scared?" Gray asked.
"Of course not." Juvia swished her cape and walked towards the forest. She stopped when she realized that Gray wasn't behind her. "A-Aren't you c-coming?"
Gray laughed, surprising himself. He hadn't laughed in a long time. This woman had made him laugh, laugh! She was truly special. Maybe he should marry her after all.
"Yes, yes, I'm coming, princess."
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Natsu's head throbbed.
It hurt.
Really hurt.
'Where am I?'
Natsu blinked his eyes, his pupils shrinking due to the brightness of the room he was in. He looked down, his arms and legs were tied to a chair with... With... Hair?
"Yes, I know. I'll ask him. But Father... I won't be disobeying him would I?"
A female's voice.
He turned his throbbing head to the side where the voice was present.
A woman. With really long blonde hair. She was wearing a light green dress that stopped at her ankles. Or at least it was supposed to stop at her ankles but it stopped a bit above instead. It was clear that she got that dress when she was younger.
If the long hair wasn't weird enough, the woman was talking to a lizard. A bright, green lizard.
"Uh, hello?" Natsu's voice was raspy and his throat parched.
The woman screamed, turning around, swinging something book-like to his face. Her doe brown eyes were all that he saw before he fell into blackness yet again.
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"Whew, they've given up." Erza bent down wiping sweat from her forehead.
"Took them long enough." Jellal said handing Erza a handkerchief.
How was he not out of breath? He was running with her - the same distance, the same speed, the same time - and yet, he wasn't even panting.
"Are you alright?"
Erza looked up at the blue-haired man who was looking somewhere else. The sun was right behind him - maybe that's why he was glowing. Her eyes trailed to his clothes. A white shirt with a blue tint under a hooded dark blue coat with light blue edges. What caught her eye was none of these things.
It was the royal insignia on the right-hand side of his shirt.
Levy hadn't told her much about Jellal. Erza knew Jellal did some kind of a dangerous job. Levy worked as an undercover journalist. She stayed with Erza's group and traveled wherever they went. Levy met up with Jellal occasionally - or so she said. She was one of the people Erza trusted. With everything. Including information about Natsu and Fairy Tail.
Erza went cold.
'No.' She thought. 'Levy wouldn't have... would she?'
"You-" Erza cleared her throat, "you work for Acnologia."
"That would be His Majesty to you!" Jellal replied without thinking. His eyes widened when he realized what he said. "I-I mean..."
"Don't." Erza spat. "Levy... She... I... You saved me back there, so I'll return the favor and won't kill you."
Jellal stared at her. In one second, she had gone from nice, pretty lady to a scary demon. He sighed and shook his head. "Look, you've got it all wrong."
"Got what wrong?" Erza's voice thundered, "Do you not work for the king? And don't you dare lie to me!" Erza was mad, and I mean mad, at Levy. Erza had helped Levy, helped her with her job, her love, her life! And how does she pay her back? By betraying her! Erza wasn't someone that took betrayal lightly.
"I do work for the king." Jellal stared right at Erza. "Levy does provide me with information. I do give it to the king."
Erza's hand went into her cloak. She retracted it, a dagger in hand. "You're not even going to try and lie to me?"
"Of course not." Jellal held his palms out to her to show he meant to harm. "There is no point in lying. But-"
"You're right. There is no point in lying. Then why did Levy lie? Why did she say she was rooting for the rebellion when she was clearly not? Why did she act as if she was my sister? Why did she act as if she cared...?" Erza's voice shook.
She fell to her knees as tears fell from her eyes. Why was she crying? Was she crying because of the harsh truth? Was she crying because of Jellal's nonchalant expression?
She heard Jellal's footsteps come closer. His hand touched her chin lightly. He forced her to look at him. "What?" She snarled, "I don't need your pity!"
"Pity? Who's pitying you? If anything, I envy you for the things you do."
Erza stared at Jellal. It was clear he was working for the king. It was clear he got information from Levy. And yet.
His eyes were innocent. It told no lies. It was telling the truth. It would never lie to her.
She shoved his hand away. "Why don't you tell me what's actually going on?" She was calm but her voice still held power.
Jellal smiled. "Of course. You see, it's like this..."
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Somewhere deep in the castle.
"Soon," a man whispered to a huge lacrima that glowed a light blue. "Soon, Anna, we shall be together again."
From the shadows, a pair of red eyes watched the man. The eyes held sadness and a sense of guilt. He clutched the wall tighter, his fingers turning white.
He knew this was wrong. And yet, he allowed it.
He knew the king was going mad. And yet, he did nothing.
He knew bringing Queen Anna back would only result in someone else's death.
He knew who it would be.
And even though it hurt him - oh hurt him so much to the point his heart broke in two - he allowed.
After all, isn't that what brothers are supposed to do?
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