Once Upon a Fairy Tail {A Fairy Tail Fanfiction}

Chapter Ten: The Little Mermaid Part II

Gray was in quite a predicament.

"SIR GRAAYYYYYYY~!"

Yes. A predicament indeed.

See, it wasn't every day a palace guard such as himself was chased down by a lovesick Princess. In all honesty, it wasn't all that bad, seeing as how the Princess was hot despite her atypicala blue hair and her slightly-too-ample bosom. Still, it was scary as heck that there was a practically rabid girl chasing him down. If she would just calm down and give him the chance to slow down and take it all in...

"GRAAYYYYY, COME BACKK!"

On second thought...

Gray, in his panic, didn't notice the ominous look of the mountain he was steadily approaching; rather, the darkness of the cave was inviting compared to... to...

He glanced behind him. Juvia was steadily gaining on him. Without really thinking, he plunged into the cave.

His hopes of being lost in a labyrinth of tunnels were quickly dashed when he found that the cave was actually a single tunnel curving inwards upon itself. Gray glanced nervously behind him, aware that Juvia could be rounding the corner any second. Turning around, he slowly floated backwards deeper into the cave, his eyes wide open and his pulse pounding...

"Hello there, Gray."

He froze.

Slowly, Gray turned to see a small mer-child with large, inquisitive eyes and long, pale hair that floated down, almost ethereal, down her back. He let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding and straightened his back.

"Are you... lost?" He glanced down at her. She was really quite small in stature, nothing intimidating about her at all. Then he frowned. "Ah... how did you know my name?'

"That's not the matter at hand here," the girl said, waving him off and turning towards one of the large shelves that lined the cavern walls. "What is the matter at hand here is the fact that I'm bored, and you..." She turned to smile coyly at him as she snatched a bottle off the shelf. "You could use my help."

"Help...?" Gray eyed the bottle. Was it just him, or was it... glowing? "I... I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, I think you do," her smirk grew into an almost sadistic smile, her eyes narrowed and glinting with excitement. "And I knew this would happen. Which is why I sent word to the King and Queen of the nearby Upper Realm."

"The Upper Realms?" Gray's eyes narrowed, and his hands twitched, fervently wishing that he had his spear with him, or something, anything... the Upper Realms were a taboo topic in the Underwater Kingdom. "What does a child like you know about the Upper Realms?"

"More than you," the girl scoffed. "And please, don't try to act pretentious."

"What-" Gray gave a start, but was cut off by the dangerously near sound of Juvia calling his name. The sound bounced about the walls of the cavern; Mavis smiled knowingly at Gray, who gulped.

"Oh, and I need you to pass something along for me, as a little favor in return..."

Moments later, Juvia swam into the dimly-lit cavern, only to find nothing but a queer disarray of items upon several shelves and a small mer-girl surrounded by an eerie glow that was quickly fading.

"Excuse me," she said gently, trying to hide the disappointment on her face. "But, have you seen a handsome, dark-haired, tall, dreamy guard by chance?"

"Oh, I have," the girl chirped happily. Her eyes shone mysteriously; her tone was enigmatic.

Juvia felt a sudden wave of unease. "You wouldn't happen to know what happened to him, would you?"