Ruthless Winds and Raging Seas

Chapter 43

Poor Juvia had accepted her fate. That eventually she would be sucked up by the charybdis and instead of going to some afterlife when she died she would just turn to sea foam. Yet despite this she would leave this world with no regrets. True she had not earned an immortal soul like she had always wanted but she had learned what it meant to love someone. She had proven to herself that love does in fact exist and that was enough. She only wished that she could have least been able to say goodbye to the man she loved before she died. So she would settle for singing one last song for him, hoping that somewhere out there he could hear her.

"You're my summer rain
You're my summer rain
And I know and I know and I know that I'll see you again
And I know and I know and I know that I'll see you again."

"Be quiet you!" Keyes snapped at her cruelly. "Your siren song will have no effect on me."

"Yes because clearly you have no heart." She replied.

"Funny words coming from a creature who has no soul." He said. "Though I must admit I never expected a monstrosity to be so lovely."

He stood up and began to walk toward her.

"Stay away from me!" She cried. "Keep those filthy hands to yourself!"

"Oh please. Don't look so frightened. It's not like you have any real feelings. However you do have a rather exciting upper body."

She struggled to move away from him but it was no good with her being bound like this. He seized hold of her arm with one hand and moved his other hand toward one of her breasts. Oh dear God no! It was bad enough that she was going to die and turn to sea foam, but to have her body be violated before death? How much more was she supposed to suffer?

"Don't you touch her!"

Just as his disgusting hand was just inches from her bosom, a dagger was thrown right through his hand and a fist punched him right across his face. Keyes hissed in pain, both he and Juvia looked up to see that the one threw the dagger and the punch was Gray.

"You're here." She said with both surprise and relief.

"Juvia are you alright?" He asked her.

"So far." She said.

"Hang on, I'll get you out of this."

"How sweet." Keyes said pulling the dagger from his hand. "Your jolly sailor bold has come to rescue you.  You better pray that your God does in fact exist boy because you die today."

He threw the dagger back at Gray but he managed to catch it between two fingers without cutting his skin at all.

"Impressive." Keyes said before pulling out a pistol. "But let's see how you do against a firearm- Ahh!"

Suddenly he felt sheer agony in his hand which travelled all the way to his head and caused him to fall over.

"What is this?!" Keyes demanded to know.

"That dagger I nicked your hand with. The blade was covered in a poison that I've been saving for a very special occasion. It won't kill you but it will leave you feeling writhing pain for many, many hours."

"Damn you!"

"Likewise."

Juvia was about to say something but then she took notice of the water. The current suddenly picked up at a rabid speed, being sucked toward something, and the force of it soon took hold of her. The charybdis had woken up.

"Gray!" She cried out.

Acting fast, Gray moved to the edge of the river to untie her. But the force of the current broke the ropes and she let out a scream before being pulled away.