The Corpse Bride
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13672392/4/The-Corpse-Bride
“What is hidden, what is unseen, what is behind your eyes?”
Chapter 4: Concealed
Dust flew across the room as Gray brushed a curtain out of his way with his arm. He coughed waving his hand viciously trying to clear the air. The attic was slightly organized but because of everything just sitting up there it tended to get very dusty. Gray had gone up there many times throughout his life to hide during the times his father brought guests over, or whenever he was missing his mother.
He saw her vanity in the corner and approached it carefully through the other boxes surrounding it. In the first drawer of it were all her photos of Gray when he was a child and their old family portraits. But his favorite picture was at the bottom, he pulled it out carefully and looked down at his mother’s face. She was a beautiful woman with silky black hair that she always kept very long. Most of her hairstyles included barrettes and pins with butterflies since she rarely wore all her hair up.
In the portrait the younger version of himself sat in her lap looking up at her dressed in the finest clothes for a toddler. Mika was dressed in an elegant dark blue gown with a black lace corset. The bell sleeves also had black lace trim and ribbons just before the fabric met her forearm. His mother was smiling at him in adoration hugging him around his waist against her.
Staring at the picture intently Gray cracked a smile at the fond memories he could recall, like he could hear her laughter in his mind. His eyes narrowed in curiosity and he could see that his mother was wearing the ring in that picture. He thought of Juvia again with the ring on her finger and how it would be possible that she had it.
It was something Silver had specially made for Mika when they got married and his mother absolutely never took it off. His memory failed him however when he tried to recall what they had done with the ring when his mother died.
“What is going on..?” he asked himself in a low voice. He directed his vision to the boxes of books on the ground and set the picture on the vanity. As his search began and dust flew up in clouds again, he had the feeling that his mother was trying to lead him to something. Whatever it was had something to do with Juvia, whether he knew her or not. He was finally able to think clearly after his fright in the woods and the startling meeting with Juvia so things were starting to piece together in his mind.
Gray was good at puzzles, good with looking at things from a different perspective and it occurred to him that he would need those talents for a mystery like this. While going through the books of nature spells, he came across something unexpected. It was one of his mother’s butterfly hair clips, only it looked still new and barely any dust was on it.
“This would look nice on Juvia..” He thought about examining the colors and design. Then it was like he suddenly flashed back into reality, as if his thought was completely involuntary. He held his head incredulously, “What on earth am I thinking? I have no idea who she is!”
Regardless of his contradicting thoughts, he pocketed the hair clip and would think about what to do with it later. With the remaining books not containing anything useful he sighed thinking it was the end of the road. He felt drawn however, to a strange box behind the one with the majority of his mom’s magic books.
He had gone through them hundreds of times on his own in secret, but he had never come across this particular box before. He slid it out and by turning it around he saw the lock on the front and puffed out a breath in frustration.
Gray let his fingertip run over the keyhole and jogged his brain to think of where a key would be. Again he went to his mother’s vanity remembering that it was made by a famous maker of puzzle boxes from the neighboring country. If Gray didn’t want someone to find a key he would hide it somewhere no one would think of. Usually the drawers would consist of numbers that each click was associated with, meaning there was a code. Gray stepped back analyzing the piece and immediately thought of years as the code. It could be his parents wedding year, or either of their birth years.
He tried all three with no luck and saw the picture staring back at him. As if someone else was moving his body he picked up the picture and turned it over. On the back of it in the top left corner was a four digit number, the year the photo was taken.
His eyes widened and he tucked the photo away in his jacket and got to work. He opened each draw until he heard the correct clicks and on the fourth drawer a compartment opened under the vanity. When he stuck his hand inside he could feel the cold metal of a key tied to a string and smirked at his victory.
Then he was finally able to twist it in the lock of the box to reveal a black book with white markings on the front that seemed different from her collection. When he turned it from it’s side he could see the skull on the cover clearly and the thick leather was somehow torn and worn at the edges.
He knew instantly that if he could find something about what was happening, it seemed like the right book. To keep it hidden Gray waved his hand over the cover, a simple spell used to make books smaller and easier to carry. He placed the now small book in his jacket pocket with the photo and concealed the books back up to cover his tracks.
Outside the window of the attic the moon had begun rising higher in the sky with clouds littering the view. Gray had already predicted that he wouldn’t be getting any sleep that night.
***
Juvia’s infectious giggle filled the room, “These must be Gray-sama’s, he sure does do a lot of sketching.” She flipped through the book she found on Gray’s nightstand thoughtfully. She was careful with every page, noticing his delicate hand in every line. There looked like there were many other books on his desk across the room. It made her wonder what her fiancee was interested in, if he was an author or more of an artist.
“You must be so curious,” Lyon inquired watching the strange blue haired girl as she gazed upon every page like it was a masterpiece, “since I’m Gray’s stepbrother, I could tell you anything you’d like to know about him.
“Unfortunately I just met him so I won’t be of any help with Gray.” Meredy chuckled as she remembered his attitude. She had shrugged it off easily because both Lyon and Ultear had warned her that it’s a natural thing for Gray.
Juvia took in a small gasp, “That’s right! Please, tell Juvia everything! There isn’t anything Juvia wouldn’t like to know about my darling.”
Lyon was charmed by the blue haired girl sitting up in Gray’s bed as was Meredy. She was sweet and innocent, yet something was different about her. She had woken just as they entered Gray’s room and their meeting seemed to be fated. After a quick introductory moment they seemed to all talk normally, like old friends.
“You see my mother, Ur, married his father, Silver, years ago when Gray lost his mother. Her name was Mika and she was actually a very skilled magic user.” Lyon explained piquing Juvia’s interest. “He was very young when she passed away, but Ur has been very kind and we’ve lived as a family since then. Gray’s the only heir of the Fullbuster family so it’s his responsibility to take over as head of the household.”
“Oh, how interesting..what does he do?” Juvia asked, “It does seem he likes to do art.”
Lyon nodded, “The Fullbuster family specializes in business trade, something Gray has been learning all his life. Silver owns many different companies and oversees their trading partnerships and investments. Gray is passionate about very few things, but art is one of them. He has plenty of sketchbooks and he’s quite good. I suppose he just likes to keep that side of himself hidden. I couldn’t tell you why, but Gray has always been a rather cold person.”
Juvia was silent, yet still smiling glancing back down to the sketchbook.
“He’s never brought a woman here,” Lyon said with a grin, “The only women who have ever been in this room, by invitation should I say,” he sheepishly looked at Meredy, “was Mom, and our sister Ultear.”
“Ultear?” Juvia questioned, “That’s a beautiful name.”
“She’s my best friend, and the reason I met Lyon.” Meredy said as she gazed at him lovingly. “She’s married now but she lives pretty close by if we want to visit!”
“What about you, Juvia-chan? Tell us about yourself, we’re rather interested to know.” Lyon said with his signature charm as Juvia looked down at her ring.
“Juvia was having a hard time remembering at first, maybe because of meeting Gray-sama. But now it’s starting to come back..” she said slowly fading her last words out.
“That’s understandable, sometimes after you faint you need a second to recall everything.” Meredy noted in her friendly tone. “Plus you’re in a new environment, it’s a lot to adjust to.”
Gray burst through the door and quickly turned around so he could close it with his back. Upon looking up he noticed the two intruders.
“What are you two doing here?!” He raged taking his voice from low to loud. Gray clenched his fists knowing Lyon was the mastermind behind the intrusion.
“Oh Gray-sama! Juvia is so happy to see you!” She cheered from her place in his bed. Her legs were criss crossed with the book in her lap covered by the sheet still with Meredy beside her. Lyon was the only one, apart from Juvia, who didn’t seem concerned with his brother’s anger at all. He strolled over to him noticing his brother’s hostile stance.
“Meredy and I took it upon ourselves to meet this lovely lady, who just happens to be your fiance? I thought you were me-” Gray smacked his hand over Lyon’s mouth knowing exactly what trouble he was trying to stir up.
“Lyon, I need to talk to you for a moment. Outside.” Gray said in a deadly tone. Lyon put his hands up and Gray slowly backed down. Lyon wore a smirk, “Alright, have it your way. Meredy, I’ll be right back. Please do keep Juvia-chan company while her fiance and I are gone.”
Gray gritted his teeth at his brother, “She’s not my fiancée.” He said following him out of the room as Meredy settled again next to Juvia. Lyon shut the door behind him and Gray let out an exasperated sigh.
“You always do this to me when I make a mess of something. What’s it going to take to get you off of my back with this one and not tell wardens?” Gray asked, addressing their parents.
“Please Gray, stop being so ornery with me. I want to help, don’t you see? I was making her feel comfortable so I could find out who she was. Unless you know already?” Lyon replied looking smug. He loved being able to catch his brother like that.
Gray stayed silent for a moment, “What do you think I was doing? Look, something happened..it has to be magic. You saw the ring on her hand right? It’s my mom’s. I picked it up in the forest, it started shining and then suddenly she was there. I have no explanation as to how it's possible other than magic, and not only that but as you can see, she thinks she’s going to marry me!”
“Well trust me, if I didn’t have Meredy already I would take her from you. She’s a beauty and she’s rather sweet. I don’t sense any malicious energy from her at all. Maybe it’s a sign that she’s the girl you’ve been waiting for. After all, you could’ve left her in the forest once she fainted, but you didn’t.” Lyon pointed out.
Gray felt a faint blush on his cheeks from his words and tried to push away the thought. Although it made him slightly jealous to think of her with Lyon, that didn’t mean anything. He needed to find out why she appeared and how she wore the ring related to his mother, that was it.
“I-I couldn’t just leave a lady out in the forest, father would kill me. I was just being a gentleman, that’s all.” Gray explained stubbornly, his attitude showing its face again.
Lyon shook his head, tutting at his brother, “Oh Gray. You never learn when to just admit you’re lying. You can deny that you don’t feel anything all you want, but you wouldn’t have laid her in your bed and scrambled to the attic to find answers if she wasn’t a little important to you. Taking her out of the woods, fine that could be considered something a gentleman would do. But going as far as you have already just to ‘help her’ says something completely different. My gut tells me you’re about to go even farther for this girl.”
Gray opened his mouth to protest but was interrupted by Lyon holding his hand up, “I won’t tell them, but don’t do anything I can’t cover up. I may be able to fool father, but mother is a different being altogether.”
He let out another sigh, “Alright, fine it’s a deal. Also, don’t mention the Heartfilia’s to her. I’d rather avoid having to explain it to her..”
“Just so you know, Father is coming back from their estate. I'm sure there’s going to be a whole other fight if he sees Juvia. Especially since you ran out after making a scene.” Lyon warned.
Gray cringed, “Uhg, how did you know about that already?!”
Lyon laughed placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder, “Word travels fast in a small town, apparently it's all anyone can talk about. Dad has people looking high and low for you.”
Gray swallowed hard thinking about the awful trouble he had gotten himself into. It made shudders run down his back as he imagined what his parents were going to do to him. But he didn’t have time to think about that, if he had to he would sneak out with Juvia and hide out until he could figure out what to do. In the back of his mind he had already started forming a plan.
“Let me find out who she is, I’ll come to you if I need advice. But remember, that’s only if.” Gray said, opening the door to his room once again.
Meredy and Juvia looked up and saw Lyon and Gray enter again. “Come Meredy, we’ve got something to do for now,” he bowed to Juvia from beside Gray, “I’m sure we’ll be seeing you again Juvia-chan. Thank you for keeping us company.”
Meredy gave Juvia a hug, “It was lovely to meet you, I’m sure we’ll be great friends. Ultear will be so excited to meet you too!”
Juvia smiled very big, “Thank you, Meredy. Juvia does hope we can be great friends. And thank you Lyon-san, for the information and your kindness.” She bowed her head in gratitude and Gray felt a small pang of jealousy.
Lyon sauntered towards her making it a grand gesture to take her hand, “The pleasure was all ours, please do come see me if you ever need anything else. And I truly mean, anything.” He bowed just head and kissed the back of Juvia’s hand briefly, making Gray’s skin crawl.
“Alright, she definitely gets it. Now take your leave before I throw you out.” Gray growled in a protective manner making Lyon snicker.
“Ahh, you always have such a way with words brother, I’m sure you have no trouble charming Juvia with your poetic genius.” Lyon teased as Meredy stepped through the doorway.
“Get out.” Gray said flatly with a glare making even Meredy stifle her giggle.
The couple left the room and Gray made sure the door was shut before crossing back to the bed. Juvia smiled brightly at him which was rather distracting, “Lyon-san is quite the character, he seems to be the complete opposite of you Gray-sama!”
“You could say that again. Lyon is my least favorite subject.” He saw the window had been cracked open, feeling the cool draft of wind coming in. “You must be freezing in that dress.”
Juvia shook her head, “Oh no, Juvia quite enjoys the cold.”
Gray pulled up the chair where Lyon sat closer to the bed looking down at his sketchbook in her lap, “You know you shouldn’t snoop in things that aren’t yours.”
Juvia’s eyes went a little wide, “Oh! Juvia is very sorry Gray-sama, but they are very lovely. Juvia likes all of them. Juvia can remember..drawings like this and playing the piano.”
Gray’s cold demeanor was cracked, “You play? I do too.”
Her eyes lit up, “You do? Juvia would’ve never guessed!”
Gray almost chuckled, “Yes, I do. Not much anymore. I used to be quite good.” He held out his hand and Juvia slowly placed the sketchbook in it to which he closed. Once he set it aside he looked at her, deeply. He tried to find something wrong with her, something dark. Yet all he could see was the light of innocence in her blue eyes. Juvia was silent gazing back at him as well and for a moment, he was okay with it.
“Tell me. What happened to you? Why did you appear from that ring?” He asked, trying to keep things simple at first. He was testing her to see if she knew anything about his mother or not.
Juvia looked down, “The memories are still a bit hazy but Juvia remembers being told only her true love would set her free. After that it felt like a long sleep, alone and full of darkness.” She pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Clearly it wasn’t a good memory for her, but Gray tried to understand the darkness that she had already mentioned once before. It was beginning to sound like she was trapped in that ring.
“When did this happen?” He questioned pulling the book from his jacket trying to ignore the talk of love.
Juvia shrugged her shoulders, “Juvia only remembers, good things before the darkness. Pretty dresses, and butterflies. It’s scattered, Juvia is sorry she can’t tell you more. Juvia will try her hardest to remember anything.”
Gray shook his head noticing how much she wanted to please him, “No it’s fine. Your memory might come back if you try harder to jog it, so we’ll work with what we’ve got for now.”
He dug into his pocket pulling out the butterfly clip, “You said butterflies right? That’s all I’ve been seeing today.”
Juvia’s eyes sparkled at the clip, “Pretty…”
He held it out to her trying not to blush, “Well here, it’s yours then. Maybe it’ll help you remember something.”
A sudden squeal from her startled him, “An early wedding present from Gray-sama?! Juvia couldn’t be happier, it’s so lovely!”
She slid the clip into her periwinkle locks and fixed her hair since it had gotten a little messy after their run in. Once she smoothed it down she looked to him again, “What do you think?”
Gray nodded, “It suits you.”
As he looked over the book again it dawned on him that something that was only meant to be read about could be in its pages. From the events in the forest, Gray could tell it had something to do with the deceased. He could recall what his mother said even then, so long into the future.
*
“Magic is made up of our essence, Gray. Good people produce good magic.” His mother said as the young Gray sat in her lap looking through old photo albums of their relatives. She pointed down at the family portrait of her and her parents smiling, “Those are your grandparents, see?”
Gray looked to his mother innocently, “Where are they now?”
“They’ve passed on now, but trust me dear they’re in a much happier place.”
Gray pouted, “But I want to meet them! Can’t you call them with your magic?”
His mother’s face fell, “No, that’s one thing a mage must never do. It’s a rule that magic should never be used to manipulate the dead. It’s disrespectful to their resting and brings about malicious energy. We only use the good kind of magic.” She smiled as she finished her sentence.
“Like the magic that makes it snow!” Gray exclaimed looking up at his mother’s face. She let out a gentle laugh, “Yes, like this.”
She held out her cupped hands and had Gray do the same. She took a deep breath and suddenly there was snow falling from the ceiling inside. Gray’s eyes lit up as he felt it fall onto his hands. “Whoa! Look at it all!”
The snow glittered around them and Mika smiled at her child, “See? I can make snow because I feel my love for you.”
Gray was mesmerized by how gorgeous it looked that when it suddenly disappeared he looked back at his mother, “That’s so cool!”
She nodded, “Yes it is. But you must be careful Gray, there are people who would use magic to fulfill bad wishes. Hatred, anger, and jealousy should never be mixed with magic. Remember that magic is meant to be pure and come from a place of love. You must never use magic to hurt others to benefit yourself. There will always be a consequence.”
Gray nodded and smiled as his mother created a small ice sculpture in the palm of his hand. The butterfly flew upwards leaving behind a snowy trail until it disappeared.
*
Even after he was told those words from his mother, Ur said the same thing. Using dark magic came with cost and he wondered for a moment if Juvia had performed the dark magic, or if she had been on the other end of someone’s hatred. The ring was the key to this mystery however, since it had been enchanted. That would mean it wasn’t Juvia who used the dark magic.
“Juvia,” he stared down at the skull on its cover with the other macabre designs, “I think somehow, you’ve been cursed.”
Juvia gasped suddenly, “A c-curse? But how?”
Gray opened the book and began skimming the pages, “I’m not sure, this isn’t really my specialty. Some of this seems to be in another script.” There were different runes he couldn’t recognize on every page and he had no idea if anyone would be able to read it. There were notes in it written in the margins that could’ve been from his mother but there were different shades of ink.
Juvia looked down her lap, “So this was the work of someone else,” she looked at her hand where the ring was, “Juvia doesn’t know who would do such a thing..”
Gray read something that caught his attention and zeroed in on the paragraph, “From what I understand it says here, ‘Whoever should curse another out of hatred, anger, or jealousy, must prepare to offer the ultimate price.’ So whoever this was, really didn’t like you because no one would offer ‘the ultimate price’ over someone they didn’t loathe.”
Juvia tilted her head, “By ‘ultimate price’ you mean…”
Gray nodded solemnly, “It means someone offered up their life. Also meaning if the curse would break or undone it should result in that person dying.”
Juvia covered her face, “B-But Juvia can’t remember, Juvia is trying so hard.. Who..?” Gray noticed that she seemed truly frightened by this and in his rare moment of sympathy he rubbed her back in comfort. It felt awkward, but also like he was supposed to be doing it.
Juvia raised her head with a surprised grin like her panic melted away, “Oh Gray-sama, you’ll be such a wonderful husband for Juvia.”
Gray froze lifting his hand with a look slightly less than irritated on his face, “There you go with all the husband talk again. Have you forgotten we’ve never met before this? And that you came out of my mom’s ring?”
Juvia gasped ignoring the first part, “This ring was your mother’s? Juvia had no idea.. it must’ve been very special for you to give it to Juvia.”
Gray tried his best to explain, “You see, I don’t have any memory of giving it to you.”
“But you must have, why else would Juvia have it?” She asked innocently and she had a point. That was the entire mystery that he was trying to figure out, why did this woman have it?
While he was lost in thought Juvia stared at him with eyes of adoration. She touched her heart and extended her other hand to his chest to touch his. He stiffened feeling the iciness of her fingers even through his clothes.
“Juvia’s soul recognized you. When Juvia saw you, it was like she was seeing you again for the first time. Like a bride on her wedding day.” She giggled very softly and somehow it set his heart fluttering in soft beats like bumble bee wings. Part of him couldn’t deny that it felt like that for him in a way, yet the other part wanted nothing more than to figure this whole situation out.
He cleared his throat and stood up, “I think I have an idea of where we can go. We need someone that can decipher what's in this book.” He held it up before setting it on his desk. “Lucky enough, there is someone close by that might be able to help.”
“A mage, yes that makes perfect sense!” Juvia cheered, “You know one, Gray-sama?”
He headed over to his closet as he finally got his tie loose enough to pull off, “Yeah I know of her, her name is Erza Scarlet. She’s very famous among magic-users, she has a shop to the west of town before you hit the woods. It’s near where one of my family’s acquaintances lives. I’ve never met her though, didn’t need to.”
He unbuttoned his shirt quickly after he tore off the tight suit jacket and Juvia gasped quietly with her eyes stuck to him. She was certain she would faint again and suddenly he was shirtless in front of her pulling clothes out of his closet. His arms had strong definition around the biceps and he had rather broad shoulders that connected to the rippling muscles of his back. Gray was heavily built no doubt, and it only made Juvia feel even more overwhelmed that he was her husband to be. They were to be married of course but clearly, in Juvia’s mind, he wasn’t trying to take things slowly by so confidently showing off his body. He turned around and Juvia almost squealed at the sight of the front. He laid his new clothes on the bed and looked to Juvia casually.
“I’ll have to find something for you to wear. You can’t go around town like that.” He said unbuttoning his pants. It was then that Juvia squealed covering her face but peeking through the cracks. Maybe he couldn’t wait to be married and just wanted her from then, but there were traditions to uphold!
“G-G-G-Gray-sama!! J-Juvia hopes you don’t do this in front of other women!” She said after noting how normally he undressed. “Of course, we’re to be married but shouldn’t we save something like this for the wedding night?” She gushed, shaking with delight.
“That’s not-!” he was going to scold her for having her head in the gutter, but given the circumstances he would’ve assumed the same thing. He always had the habit of stripping down, in front of people or not.
Gray pulled up his fresh pair of pants while blushing slightly, “Actually no I don’t, we’re just in a rush, okay? I also have no shame.” He had never minded being semi-naked or naked before, but her comments couldn’t help but make him think vulgarly.
Juvia swooned, “Or it’s because you’re marrying Juvia..that’s just a sneak peek..Juvia could too!”
“W-Would you stop that!” He scolded bashfully doing his best to not let her see his red face. Juvia continued to lightly giggle to herself, a sound he didn’t mind hearing. He finished buttoning up his clean dress shirt and put on his long dark coat and boots. After he flipped up the coat collar and adjusted the cuffs he went to the door.
“Let me see what I can find for you to wear, I’ll be right back.” He said as he exited the room.
In moments he returned with a dress that seemed suitable enough for where they were going. He had also gotten a cloak and gloves for her since the weather was starting to turn cold. Regardless if she said she didn’t mind cold weather, he thought it would benefit her to have them.
“These should do fine, I’ll give you a moment to change but try to hurry,” he looked over to the grandfather clock and predicted his parents wouldn’t be gone for much longer, “we’re on a tight schedule.”
Juvia got up from the bed and although she had been sitting for long she didn’t need to stretch her body. “Juvia will be fast, she would hate to leave you waiting.”
Gray nodded and went out of the room again standing outside the door to make sure no one else went in. He tapped his foot feeling a bit of anxiety which was unusual. He was usually cool and level headed, something about this situation made him feel flustered and nervous.
Juvia smiled at the pretty blue of the fabric and thought surely Gray had picked it just for her. Maybe it was his sister’s, or mother’s? Regardless when Juvia slipped it on it fit nicely along with the gloves and boots. It felt strange to have so much clothing on but after taking a twirl in the mirror, Juvia adored it. All she had left was the cloak, a beautiful dark grey color.
The sound of the front doors opening startled Gray and he realized that he was out of time. His parents were arriving and they still hadn’t gotten out of the estate. In a panic he opened the door to his room abruptly and in his scramble he remembered to grab the book from his desk. He looked to Juvia and saw she was fiddling with the clasp of the cloak instead of having put it on yet. Gray huffed taking it from her, draping it around her shoulders, and quickly fastening the clasp.
“Juvia, it’s time to go. Right now.” He said sternly, going to open his bedroom window after securing the book in his coat.
Silver entered the estate as a man on a mission, pounding through the halls. “Gray!” His father’s voice bellowed from the hall. The sound of it seemed just as angry as he had been before, maybe even a little more so.
Juvia perked, “Who’s that?” Her tone was rather excited despite the growing tension.
Gray swallowed hard as his panic began to increase, “My dad, and if he comes in here it’s not going to be pretty.”
“Oh, but Juvia would love to meet him!” She said, turning towards the door.
“Gray! You get down here this instant!” Ur shouted with the trot of her heels on the wood floor.
Gray grabbed Juvia by the shoulders to focused to notice how close they were, “They cannot see you-”
Juvia piped, “But why-“
“Yet.” He hissed quickly trying to get her to comply with him as he stepped up to the window sill. His window was tall enough for them to stand in and hold onto the wall above for stability. The height to the ground below was the same as always, he used to sneak out as a child so it was nothing to him.
Juvia gasped in realization, “Oh right! Because we aren’t married, being seen together.. alone.. by your parents..!”
Gray had no time to deny her while trying to coax her into following him, now hearing the footsteps close in, “Exactly, so come on then!”
“Mother, Father! It’s so good to see you back! Meredy and I were missing your company. I already have them preparing dinner downstairs.” Lyon said loudly, clearly trying to let Gray know he was stalling. For once in his life he mentally reminded himself to thank Lyon later.
He took her hand and helped her step up to which she stumbled after seeing the height. She started shaking her head, “Gray-sama..it’s so high!”
“Enough of this nonsense, where is your brother?!” Silver bellowed just outside his door.
Gray was so exasperated by this escape attempt that to avoid further distractions he simply picked her up in his arms like a bride and jumped down from the window into the bushes below. Juvia held on tightly and felt safe in his arms. Luckily the brush was soft enough that it didn’t scratch Gray when he took the brunt of the fall.
Juvia even felt him squeeze her a bit tighter for a second as they rolled over and waited in the bushes. Voices could be heard overhead as Gray remained still and looked down at her briefly putting his finger to his lips. Juvia knew to be quiet for another moment or two as the wind rustled the leaves of the bushes.
“Gone again?!” Silver raged, “That does it, I’m sick of these games! Find my son immediately! Bring him back here or there will be hell to pay.”
Gray could tell he was talking to the guard and only seconds after the window closed did he take off into a sprint with Juvia in his arms. He went around the estate to the back stables and quickly mounted one of the horses and pulled Juvia up behind him.
“Hold on tight, and keep your hood up. It might be bumpy on the road.” He explained gripping the reins. Soon enough the rain began to fall again and Juvia’s arms hugged his waist for security. She nuzzled his back with her face and got comfortable as he led the horse out of the estate stables and onto the cobblestone streets. She kept her eyes closed the whole time until they disappeared into the coming fog where the trees broke.
A woman stepped out from the shadows after watching the ordeal her tainted red eyes glaring at the ghost of their figures. She extended her hand in a calm anger, “How unfortunate,” she clicked her tongue, “tch, no matter.”
Shadows dripped from her fingertips like black blood and once they hit the ground they rose up into phantom-like apparitions, awaiting commands from their master. They were constantly giving off a shrill cry of pain.
“Get the girl.” She ordered her voice slick with a sinister tone , “Leave the boy.”
