When Juvia finally awoke she found herself lying on a very comfortable bed with downy feathered cushions and warm quilts. As she became more awake she realized that she was in the middle of an elegant bedroom designed for the likes of a queen.
The room had it's own fireplace which had a warm flame burning and crackling in it. Next to the fireplace was a vanity that was set with perfumes, rouges, combs, brushes, and hair pins.
"How did I get here?" She wondered.
Just then she heard a knock at the door. She pulled the quilt of her bed to her chest even though she was still fully clothed.
"Um...Come in." She said nervously.
The door to her bedroom opened and a young girl with pink hair came in.
"Feeling better?" She said.
"Who are you?" Juvia asked.
"I'm Meredy. Guardian of the tapestry of fate, faithful servant of the Lord of the underworld, and now your personal hand maid."
"Hand maid?"
"Yes Juvia."
"You know my name?"
"Oh I know much more than that. You're the Goddess of spring, you spent you're whole life sheltered in a secret garden, you're the younger sister of Levy Goddess of harvest, and you secretly hope that one day she'll marry Gajeel God of blacksmiths because he's like an older brother to you."
"How do you know all that?"
"I protect and sometimes help weave the tapestry of fate and that allows me to learn a lot about people. When they were born, how they live, what they like, all that stuff."
"Where am I?"
"You're in the underworld."
"The underworld? Does that mean I'm dead?"
"Oh no you're very much alive."
"How did I get here?"
"His majesty, Gray God of the underworld found you and brought you back here. In the nick of time too because if you had been out in the cold a moment longer you might've been a goner."
"I...I wanna go home. My sister will become very worried if I'm gone for too long."
"I'm afraid you'll have to wait for a month. The gates to the underworld have been closed for inspection."
"Inspection?"
"Someone caused the earth to briefly split open and it wasn't his majesty so he's beginning to fear that it was the work of one the evil souls or titans locked away in Tartarus trying to escape. He won't open the gates until he figures out who did that."
"So I'm trapped here?"
"Oh no, it's not like that. My lord has every intention of sending you back home once this is all settled but he has a responsibility to make sure that no one who was sent to Tartarus gets back to earth. However until you return home he's insisted that you stay here as his guest."
"His guest?"
Meredy looked at the bruises and scratches on Juvia's hands, arms, legs, and feet. She had received them from her fall down into the underworld and from the thorns and branches of dead trees that scratched her while she was running from that fury.
"Oh you poor thing, just look at you all scratched up. I'll go draw you a bath and once you are clean I have a new dress waiting for you. Don't worry with my help, you'll be as fresh as a daisy."
Juvia wasn't sure what to make of all this so she followed Meredy down a corridor she was led to a bathhouse with a lovely fountain filling a large marble tub with crystal water that was scented with special oils.
Juvia undressed, stepped into the tub, and allowed Meredy to bathe and anoint her with healing ointments she purchased from Mirajane. The hot water felt wonderful on her skin and the ointments healed and washed away all her scrapes and bruises. When her bath was finished Meredy dried her with a towel and gave her a robe to wear.
They went back to her chambers where she was dressed in a pale blue gown that was made from the finest silk, she was then adorned with necklaces and bracelets of diamonds and sapphires, after that Meredy sat her down at a vanity and began to brush her hair.
"I do hope you like the gown." She said. "I made it myself. Weaved the fabric and everything."
"Oh it's lovely, thank you but the jewels are too much."
"You don't like them?"
"Oh no, they're beautiful. The most beautiful jewels I've ever seen but I really don't deserve these."
"He begs to differ." Meredy brushing Juvia's hair into waves.
"He?"
"The dress is from me but the jewels and the room are gifts from Gray, ruler of the underworld."
"Oh...Well I'm grateful but he really shouldn't go through the trouble."
"He doesn't mind. You know he's the richest God in all the world, living under earth allows him to gain access to all sorts of treasures. Since you'll be stuck here for awhile he's sent you these gifts and he's also arranged for a special room to be made that will entertain you."
"That's awfully kind of him. I would like to thank him."
"I'm sorry but he's...A little anti social."
"I don't understand."
"Well he's never had the company of a young goddess in his palace before so he's a little nervous about making an approach." She pinned a butterfly comb in her hair and added some lavender perfume to her neck. "My, my, my."
"What is it?"
"Oh nothing, it's just that when the tapestry of fate revealed that you were as beautiful as Evergreen I thought it was an exaggeration but I was wrong. Dare I say you're even beautiful than her. No doubt you're number three."
"Number three of what?"
"Of goddesses with beauty that rivals Evergreen goddess of beauty and desire."
"Who are the other two?"
"Erza goddess of wisdom and Lucy goddess of love and marriage."
"I'm not surprised, Erza is very beautiful and I have never seen Lucy but I hear that she's just lovely."
"Yes but Evergreen tends to get very jealous sometimes. I remember once she, Erza, and Lucy insisted that a mortal choose which one of them is the most beautiful."
"Who did he pick?"
"He picked Evergreen but that's only because she promised to make a mortal princess he was pinning for fall in love with him."
"Well that's cheating."
"Evergreen has never been one to play fair. If you ask me between the three of them Erza was the better choice and I'm certain that Jellal would agree."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well...Years ago I was once a mortal with an extraordinary gift for weaving talent and I foolishly thought that I could surpass Erza who actually created the craft of weaving. We had a contest to see who could weave the best tapestry but I wanted to spite her so I weaved images into my tapestry that mocked her and the other gods, she was enraged and destroyed my work."
"Goodness."
"It was my own fault for being so disrespectful and I was so ashamed that I drowned myself in the sea but Jellal pitied me so he had me be a reborn as a being who would guard the tapestry of fate and weave for his brother the lord of the underworld. We've been friends ever since and being his friend allows me to learn many things about him, like that he's desperately in love with Erza."
"He is?"
"Uh-huh."
"Has he ever said anything to her about how he feels?"
"Yes but Erza claims that she will never marry which is a shame because Jellal would make a wonderful husband."
"I'm sure."
"Now I must return to check on the tapestry and later I'll wash and mend the dress you were wearing earlier, also your special room is just next door. If you need anything just call for me."
"Wait will I ever see Gray?"
"I don't know. He's so mysterious."
Meredy left Juvia's chambers. Later she decided to see what this special room was that Gray had prepared for her. It was quite dazzled with the magnificence that reigned throughout but with a gallery of paintings, a large library, a harpsichord, and several music books.
Amazed, the goddess of spring began to wonder why the god of the underworld would give her such lavish gifts like jewels and prepare such a wonderful room to entertain her.