Ever, Ever, After

Chapter 14

"Does that feel better?" Mirajane said rubbing ointment on Laxus's eye.

"Yeah much better. Thanks."

"How on earth did you get like this?"

"My queen did it to me after I failed her."

"Your queen? Oh you mean you're girlfriend. Wait she did this to you? That's horrible."

"I deserved it."

"No one deserves to be physically harmed. How could she do this to you? Does she always hurt you like this?"

"Occasionally."

"How awful. You poor man. How could you love a woman who treats you like this?"

"It's my own fault for failing her."

"Nonsense. This is cruel and abusive. Surely you don't think this woman cares for you the same way you care for her?"

"She cares for me. She just has a tough time showing it. She's much nicer to me if I do what she says."

"You don't hurt the people you love. Laxus's judging by what you've told me I think she's just been using you."

"No! That's not true!"

"Well can you remember the last time or anytime she was ever kind to you?"

Laxus thought for a moment and began to remember his time with Irene back in Alvarez. All he ever he received from her was demanding orders, vicious insults, and painful beatings. Mirajane was right. Irene didn't care about him. She didn't care about anyone but herself and right now she was about to do something horrible to his good friend Prince Natsu. He had to stop her.

"Mirajane you've just helped me see the light. Thanks." He stood up and started to race off to stop Irene.

Back at the ball poor Juvia's tears kept falling like water falls. Oh why? Why did she have to fall in love with Gray? Why couldn't Natsu have come sooner? Why couldn't she have stayed in Alvarez? Why did she have come to Magnolia in the first place? If only she hadn't of fallen down that stupid well then none of this would have happened.

"Child." A sickening voice croaked from behind.

Fear jumped up into Juvia's heart when she saw the terrifying and hideous old hag who had pushed her down the well standing behind her.

"You." She said trembling. "You sent me here!"

"I'm so glad to see you. I was so very worried."

"You pushed me-"

"It was a accident. A terrible accident that brought you to this terrible place with so much sadness and so much pain. To never be with the one you love, doomed to be with another for eternity."

Hearing the reminder of why she hated ever coming to this place, Juvia felt the urge to just run off somewhere and cry, the hag sensed this and quickly stopped her before she could move.

"But it doesn't have to be this way. Oh no, no, no. I can stop the hurt." The hag told her. "I can make all those bad memories disappear."

Juvia looked at the hag, her eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and curiosity that asked: How? To answer her nonverbal question the hag pulled a shiny, red apple from her sleeve and held it up in her bony, talon like hands.

"Just one bite my child and all this will go away." She said stroking a strand of hair out Juvia's tear stained face. "Your life here, the people that you met, you won't remember anything. Just sweet dreams and happy endings."