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Warning: This chapter contains spoilers to the manga that do not seem like spoilers so approach w caution bc I do not want u to be spoiled

Chapter V: the siren's song

Lucy was ready to scream.

Leo did not have to do what he did. Leo could have stayed in the palace and remained in his lionfish form as a loyal servant to their kingdom, but nooo. He just had to go poking his face into other people's business like the nosy shapeshifter he was. Lucy thought the situation couldn't get any worse—until Leo winked at her, pulling at someone hiding behind the bushes.

He brought Lyra with him.

A few hours ago at the festival, Lucy felt her head start to ache because of the amount of people crowding around her. In an attempt to ease her pain, Natsu had dragged her to some sort of fancy boat ride. Lucy sighed as she stared at the grinning prince in front of her, proudly showing the mermaid a glimmering tree that sprouted pink petals. "It's a cherry blossom tree," he had said proudly.

Of course, she figured he didn't see it as romantic. Natsu, albeit kind, could hardly take a hint. Her prince wasn't exactly the type of person who understood romance, much less romantic gestures. For some reason, however, he seemed to grasp the concepts unknowingly and would proceed to follow his instincts.

Lucy leaned placidly on the edge of the boat, smiling fondly as Natsu recalled a funny story about how he 'accidentally' destroyed the town with his best friend, Happy.

Things were going smoothly (well, as smooth as it could get with a dense prince as her love interest), until Leo decided to emerge from the lazy lagoon, a sinister smirk growing on his lips. How he dragged himself in the lagoon, Lucy didn't know. Nevertheless, she glared at him darkly. At this moment, she instantly regretted enclosing her situation to that annoying, idiotic—

"You gotta kiss the girl."

Lyra grinned triumphantly, her starlike eyes gleaming in the darkness. A harp lay between her arms, and she was plucking it expertly, the sound softly echoing around the Natsu and Lucy. The princess's eye twitched furiously as she glared at Lyra and Leo, screaming at them in her mind that No, I don't need your help and I'm perfectly fine as it is thank you very much.

Natsu's ears perked immediately, and he looked behind him, confused. Nothing but water and grass stretched out in front of the both of them. He turned back around. The pink-haired prince then glanced in Lucy's direction Lucy, his eyes narrowed in light suspicion.

"Did you hear that?"

As if electrocuted, Lucy shot up in her seat. Her cheeks flushed a pale red - whether it was anger or embarrassment, she did not know. Lucy shook her head quickly, her smile wavering as she pretended that nothing was wrong. Natsu resumed his tale and the princess glanced at the snickering duo. Her eyes found Lyra just as the shapeshifter settled herself expertly beside them, Leo in her midst.

The birds hummed as Leo waved his hands about, mimicking a conductor. The crickets whispered their tunes, the sound reverberating into the distance beautifully. Lyra strummed her harp gently. Lucy could hear their familiar voices whispering in her mind. We're going to make this romantic, princess, we promise. He'll kiss you in no time.

Said princess groaned, slamming a hand on her forehead.

"Gray-sama," Juvia said, her voice on the brink of excitement. "Did you hear that?"

Gray shook his head as he turned his head to look at her. "Hear what?" The prince found himself so immersed in the sound of nature that he forgot that they were supposed to be looking for the sound of singing. "Sorry."

"Juvia supposes that mermaids have better hearing than humans," Juvia told him nonchalantly, raising an eyebrow. Before Gray could open his mouth to speak out his offense, the mermaid interrupted him, a light smile on her lips. "Water is thicker than air, Gray-sama. We need to hear each other in the sea."

Her smile caught Gray off-guard, and he blinked a few times before he regained his composure. It was the same smile she had when she watched the clouds float above them, spreading out across the blue sky she had never taken notice of. Pushing himself up, Gray cleared his throat. "Right. Let's just go check it out."

Juvia stared at him, but made no indication that she was about to move from her current position.

"What?" he asked her, frowning. "Can't stand up?"

Emotions played on the mermaid's face as she contemplated on her decision. Slowly, she was starting to lose her guard because of this prince—and he had yet to lose his composure because of her. Shaking her head, she attempted to focus on the task at hand. Stand up? Yes, stand up. Juvia can do that.

She tried to push herself up from the floor, but her legs seemed to give way in front of her. Juvia sighed in what looked like defeat. "Apparently, Juvia can not stand."

An outstretched hand met her eyes. Gray face was set in its usual impassive stare as he gestured for her to hold onto him. She took his offer and pushed herself up easily, half of her weight leaning on the prince for support. "Thank you," she whispered softly, although loud enough for him to hear.

For a moment, Gray looked at Juvia. Her face was hidden from her thick, blue, hair, but he could almost feel the warmth radiating from her cheeks. He cocked an eyebrow at her but asked no questions. "You're welcome. Now what did you say you heard?"

"A voice. . . a gentle voice." She placed a hand on her chest, raising her head. Gray found that her eyes had glazed over, as if whatever she had heard had taken her to another world. Juvia fisted the lace on her dress, closing her eyes. "So gentle, so melodious—and yet—she seemed so, so, sad. So painfully sad. Almost like a siren calling out to sailors lost at sea . . . to far, distant lands . . . and to lovers who would never hear their voice again."

"Aren't mermaids and sirens the same?"

"No," Juvia muttered. The moon shone brightly over the sea as a cool breeze swept the two mages' hair. She shivered, and Gray tightened his hold on her almost protectively. Juvia continued, "Mermaids were born into the sea. We've always been like this, for as long as I can remember. Sirens, however, were once human beings."

"What happened?"

The two started walking towards the cave. Darkness engulfed their figures just before Juvia spoke. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "They were blessed; no, merfolk say they were cursed. . . Cursed by the ruler of the sea."

Gray's eyes narrowed. "King Jude?"

Juvia nodded. To the humans, he was the mighty ruler of the oceans. The owner of the trident that held the power of the seven seas. A merman—a god—who was meant to be feared by every being that thrived in the endless waters. A king whose heartlessness spurred from his queen, a kind mermaid who suffered her untimely demise due to an incurable illness.

To the humans, he was just King Jude. To the merfolk, he was, "Jude Heartfilia. Lucy's father."

The ice mage's eyes widened. Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle that Gray had unconsciously formed in his mind slowly fell into place. "Lucy's a—princess—so her father—"

Damn, Natsu had a lot to deal with.

Juvia continued. "A long time ago, while King Jude was out in his daily stroll, he saw a human about to jump off a boat."

"Why do you wish to end the life that has been given to you?"

The human stared at the god, tears spilling out of his eyes as he clutched the wooden railings. "My wife is dead. I do not wish to continue this life without her by my side."

Jude's eyes softened ever so slightly as he listened to the human cry.

"It is not fair. Mabelle was young and beautiful and had so much to live for. I was ready to spend my life with her." The man's eyes darkened. "But no. The gods took her from me. They ended Maybelle's life despite the fact that she was still so full of energy and vibrance and hope."

The scream that erupted from the man's throat was the sound of pure agony. He wept for his love, shouting her name into the sky, longing for her touch.

King Jude sympathized with the young man. The human only wished to spend the rest of his life with the person he loved, but she was taken away from him so quickly. If the same happened to Layla. . .

Jude closed his eyes. He didn't even want to think about it.

He was a god who held the powers of the seven seas in the form of a trident. He could grant this miserable human a wish.

"What do you mean?" the human asked. His voice was hoarse and tired.

"I will give you a chance to live in the sea. You will be granted a second life without the painful memories of your lover. . .and you will continue to live without the sin of taking your own life as a burden."

"You can do that?"

"I can, but only if your heart desires."

". . . And he was called a siren." Juvia bit her lip,"That was the beginning of the curse. Every time a human being whose heartache clouded reason took his life away by jumping into the sea, he or she would transform into a siren. They would lose all their memories and continue living at sea. But King Jude underestimated the pain caused by losing a loved one, for he himself had not experienced such misery . . . at least, not yet."

Juvia ran a hand over the linings of the cave. The rock was rough against her soft fingertips. She remembered her parents, innocent beings who did nothing to disrupt the peace between the mermaids and the humans. Why the creatures ended their lives was beyond her.

Before the familiar bloodlust could take over the mermaid, Gray spoke. "That's actually really depressing." The man was looking at what looked like a small lake that stretched out in front of them. As an afterthought, he added, "So then what happened?."

Juvia frowned faintly, but she resumed her tale. "Day and night, the sirens would feel unexplainable sadness. They would feel unexplainable pain and would only remember only one thing: the name of the person they loved most. Sometimes Juvia hears them call out. At sea, in the middle of the night. When the darkness is overwhelming and no moon is to be found in the sky. They sing, they cry, they pray and they call . . . wishing someone would answer." The mermaid sighed. "No one ever does."

Silence fell on the two mages.

"Isn't there a way to reverse the curse?" asked Gray.

Juvia shrugged. "They say there is, but I've never actually heard of actual stories proving it."

"What is it?"

"You transfer it to another human through lip contact. The human has to be happy with his or her life for the transfer to happen. The siren would then be able to turn human again and the human would take their place in the sea, and take the siren's sadness with them."

"And then?" Gray asked.

It wasn't Juvia who answered. "The siren lives and bears the guilt of what they've done."

Both mages' heads spun at the sound of the voice. By instinct, both fell into their fighting stance, eyes set in glares as if to provoke who they deemed to be the enemy.

A small girl stared back at them, a light smile on her face. Half of her body was hidden in the lake. Her chin rested on the palms of her hands. "Hello," she greeted kindly, tilting her head to the side as she giggled. "What brings the two of you to my cave?"

"Are you . . ." Juvia whispered hesitantly, lowering her hands slowly.

Gray stilled. He could almost hear Juvia's thoughts reflecting his own. It can't be. The chances of them meeting a goddess were next to non-existent.

He decided to take his chances when he completed Juvia's question. ". . . Mavis?"

The girl smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "That's me. The 'goddess' Mavis."

"No way," Gray muttered under his breath.

"What? Can't a 'goddess' show herself to mere mortals?" Mavis asked playfully, splashing a few drops of water in their direction. Juvia evaded the water quickly, instinctively moving behind Gray. "I knew it!" Mavis said, beaming. "You're a mermaid!"

Gray stole a look at the mermaid who had taken to standing behind him. Her face was set in what appeared to be a look whose purpose served to intimadate, however, Mavis was having none of it.

"So what are you doing on land?" the small girl asked. "Mermaids like yourself are normally swimming in the reef, or collecting seashells, or singing songs about abundance and fertility."

"Juvia does not collect seashells or sing songs about abundance and fertility," Juvia responded sharply.

"So you go swimming in the reef?" Gray asked before he could stop himself. To his surprise, Juvia nodded.

"I do," she replied. "Primarily to race Gajeel."

"But what are you doing on land? You didn't answer my question." Mavis pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I am here to capture Lucy Heartfilia and take her back to the sea."

Gray watched as the conversation between the siren and the mermaid continued, noting how Mavis' eyes sparkled as Juvia answered her questions with answers that were completely straight to the point. He waited for the interrogation to finish before he asked a question of his own,

"Mavis, how'd you become a siren?"

Lyra was starting to get irritated, for she had been strumming the same song for about an hour. Natsu had been ready to jump off the boat in search of the mysterious singing, had Lucy not intervened, shaking her head fervently.

Natsu was still trying to determine where the singing was coming from, and had no intention to actually follow through with what the lyrics were ordering him to do.

In all honesty, Lucy wanted the sea to swallow her whole.