Frozen in Time || Gruvia Fanfiction ✓

Chapter 9

~~~ Juvia ~~~

When the words came out of Bob's mouth, Juvia's blood ran cold. Levy gasped from beside her, and Gajeel tensed.

Magic that can resurrect demons? Is that even possible?

Jet gulped. "Those are just rumors, right?"

Bob shrugged. "Some say it's true and some say it's not."

"What do you think?" Droy asked nervously.

"I think the possibility of Zadicus possessing such magic is very real."

Juvia clenched her teeth. Her thoughts wandered to Gray's past, one so affected by a demon. Her hands began to shake just thinking of him coming face to face with another one.

"I think I found something," Hibiki suddenly said, breaking the eerie silence that had fallen over the group.

Everyone turned back to him. He brought up a picture on his screen for the Fairy Tail wizards to see. The picture showed a massive black building that looked easily three times as big as the Fairy Tail guild. It was nothing short of immense. Black spiraling structures rose high into the sky. Juvia could almost sense the malevolence just by looking at the image.

"This is supposedly a picture taken of Eidolon Wraith's guild hall before they vanished. I even have a location on it," Hibiki explained while continuing to type. The picture of the building minimized and was replaced by a text box.

Juvia read it aloud.  "Rumored to be hidden somewhere in the Phoenix Mountains."

Gajeel grunted. "I'm getting sick of all these rumors. Can't we get any definite answers?"

Hibiki shook his head.  "The existence of the guild is practically a rumor. This is really your only lead."

"Anything on the shard?" Levy asked, her voice full of hope.

Hibiki shook his head again, and Juvia sighed.

"I went through everything in my Archive, and there's nothing on it." He slid the shard back over to Levy who carefully stowed it away in her pack. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been more of a help."

"Don't apologize, you helped us more than you know." Juvia smiled reassuringly.

The other Fairy Tail Mages nodded in agreement. Hibiki returned the smile, but before long his eyes grew wide as if just remembering something. "Before you leave, I have something to give you that might be of use."

Juvia and Levy looked at him curiously, while the boys looked more suspicious than anything. Hibiki stood and looked straight at Levy.

"If you would be so kind as to stand, my dear Levy."

Levy did as she was told and stood from her spot, causing Juvia to tense a bit. Hibiki typed something on his keyboard before both it and the screen disappeared completely. He leaned across the table and set his hands on either side of Levy's head, her eyes widening. Gajeel, Jet, and Droy jumped to their feet at the same time.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gajeel exclaimed.

"Let go of her!" Jet and Droy yelled.

"Calm down boys," Bob replied. "He is doing you a great favor."

Gajeel and the other two paused. Juvia's worried expression wavered.  Suddenly, Hibiki's hands started to glow a magnificent gold. Levy's entire body became wrapped in the light. Juvia had to hold up her hand to shield her eyes from the brightness. Finally, the light faded and both Levy and Hibiki returned to normal. The boy removed his hands from Levy's head and fell back in his seat, slumping over the table. Ren and Eve both grabbed one of his shoulders to prop him up.

"What did you do?" Levy inquired, looking down at herself.

Panting, Hibiki replied," I gave you access to a new spell called Script Search. You'll know when to use it when the time comes. It will aid you in the finding the meaning of the shard. But be careful, it's a one-time use."

~~~~~~

  That afternoon, after sending a message to Master Makarov, the Fairy Tail wizards bid farewell to Blue Pegasus. Juvia was eager to get back to the guild and relay what they learned to her guild mates, so the group boarded the first train back to Magnolia. Despite their joy at acquiring the new information, uneasiness hung over them like a cloud. Even Gajeel was more uneasy than usual, motion sickness aside.

  Juvia couldn't blame any of them in the slightest. Just thinking about Eidolon Wraith and the strange artifact sent shivers down her spine. But her thoughts always traced back to Gray.

I wonder how him and the others are doing, Juvia thought to herself. No one has been attacked, have they?

Suddenly, a strange feeling came over her. It was as if a powerful magic force had washed over the train. The others noticed it as well. The power was enough to overwhelm Juvia's senses as she felt the magic vibrate through her veins.

In an instant, Juvia sensed it. She jumped to her feet and grabbed Panther Lily from his spot on the arm of Gajeel's seat and barreled into Levy who was standing in the middle of the aisle just as the roof of the train car exploded and the windows blew out. Jet and Droy shouted in surprise and they took cover, while Gajeel couldn't do anything but watch from the sidelines with his motion sickness.

"Are you two alright?" Juvia asked Levy and Lily.

Levy nodded, clearly still in shock, but Lily pointed to the sky and shouted," Look!"

Juvia shakily got to her feet and looked up. Floating above the train was a heavily tattooed man, in fact Juvia could barely make out his actual skin underneath the ink. Even his bald head was completely covered in images. But what disturbed Juvia the most were the tattoos themselves. Scenes of battle, weapons, and animals littered the man's body. The only part of his body covered by clothing was his bottom half in black pants and large, spiked boots.

The train came to a full stop, people screaming and running out to safety. Gajeel got to his feet as soon as he recovered. He now stood in the aisle with Juvia, his features turned downwards in a glare.

"Who do you think you are?" Gajeel spat.

The man said nothing but instead floated down and landed at the far end of the aisle. Juvia held her ground even though the magic energy coming from the tattooed man was nearly incomprehensible.

"Fairy Tail," the wizard simply said after a few moments. "You do not know what you are up against."

Gajeel looked about ready to storm the guy right then and there but Juvia grabbed his arm to halt him.

"He's from Eidolon Wraith," Juvia stated. "Can't you sense that magic?"

"Ya ya," Gajeel grumbled and batted Juvia's hand away.

Frowning, Juvia turned to Jet who was just now standing. "You need to get back to the guild and warn them."

"No way! I can't leave you all here with this guy," Jet argued.

"You need to tell the others what's happening, man," Droy replied.

Obviously not happy, Jet leaped out of the train car through the open ceiling and shouted," High Speed!" In the blink of an eye he was gone, leaving only a trail of flying dust in his wake. Juvia turned her attention back to the opponent in front of her, praying that Jet would make it to Fairy Tail on time.