● BLACK ▪ BLUE● ¤Gruvia¤

•17•

Fairy Tail Guild Hall
"Juvia! Evergreen!" Lucy shouted, looking up at them.

Juvia's dark eyes scanned the ruined guildhall, looking for Gajeel and Gray in particular. Gray stood behind her attack, staring at her with an unreadable expression. Gajeel was nowhere to be seen.

The phantoms rushed them. Evergreen's hand glowed with magic, and she swiped at the air, sending an arc of light at them. The ones that didn't run away or shrivel up in its light exploded upon impact. Flipping through the air like a gymnast, she landed directly next to an unconscious Bickslow, keeping the phantoms away from him.

"Juvia!?" Lucy shouted again. "You're home!"

Home? Well, this was an awfully messy home to return to.

"Juvia came back for a visit." She blasted away a string of ghosts with a jet of boiling water. "Where's Gajeel-kun?"

Elfman spoke up, finally heading away from the group to find his sisters. "Went downstairs to help Levy! Hey, Ever, watch out!"

Evergreen bent over backwards, a shadowy figure flying over her. She sent a string of magic at it, sending it away from her and Bickslow. "Juvia! Go to them, see what's going on. We'll finish things up here!"

Juvia ran past the unconscious bodies of her guildmates, running down the stairs and throwing open the door, slamming it shut behind her. Lily and Gajeel were huddled around Levy, looking at her hostilely until they realized who it was. Lily and Levy smiled, while Gajeel looked slightly annoyed.

"Oh, so you pick now to come home, is that right?" he snapped.

"Well, Juvia is only here for a quick visit." Juvia adjusted her coat and twirled around on the balls of her feet, looking at the stacks of books. "This is all the stuff the Raijinshuu found? Incredible." She delicately touched an aging scroll. "Juvia had no idea that anything like this existed."

"Oh, yes. It does."

A cold sweat broke out on her forehead. Her heart plummeted, and bile rose up in her throat, warm and slimy. Juvia swallowed and spun around, staring at a projection of Jose Porla, who smiled at her.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'm not real." Jose held his hands up and waved them. The air around him flickered.

"That's him?" Levy asked quietly, hugging Lily. "He's disgusting."

Gajeel stepped in front of her. "You don't know the half of it, Shrimp."

"Jose, stop this attack!" Juvia snapped, swallowing back more fear. An image flashed in front of her, the image of Toto blocking her from the force of the attack. She blinked it away. "Stop it now!"

The dark mage shrugged. "Well, you see, I'll only stop on one condition."

"You want Juvia to come with you?" she asked dully.

"Yes, yes!" Jose's projection smiled. He extended a hand to her, as though he could could grab her. "Come along with me, dear, and we can leave your guild out of this. Hmm? Doesn't that sound nice?" He folded his fingers into his palm, prompting her towards him. "Come, come, my child."

"Like hell she's going with you!" Gajeel shouted, his anger erupted. He moved away from Levy and confronted Jose's projection, teeth glinting and bared. "You... You damn bastard! You killed Totomaru, you threatened Sol and Aria, you've wrecked our guild hall- again! Juvia ain't goin' anywhere with you."