Chapter 18

Juvia chewed her bottom lip as she viciously flipped the page onto the next. She had found herself in totally engrossed in a book that laid in Gray's massive collection. Juvia had always loved literature of all types; it was an often companion to her in the orphanage she grew up in. Growing up without friends had forced Juvia to find a company in other things. And books, poems, stories had all been the desired cure for loneliness many days.

And it didn't help that Gray's miniature library held authors she'd never even heard of. It was all too easy for Juvia to let herself fall into the pit of a good book. Juvia, too focused on the invigorating story between her hands, didn't even notice when Gray had walked in.

Gray walked into his house; mind focused on other things. When the blue locks, he still wasn't used to, caught his un-wandering eye. He stared from the doorframe at the younger girl as she flipped through the pages of one of his favorite books. Gray recognized that familiar look of someone into an engaging story. The way their eyes never leave the page, the way they hold their breath. Gray chuckled to himself, at how focused Juvia was in the book before her. Her body twisted in an uncomfortable form, her eyes glassy from not blinking, and the way she hadn't even noticed him come in.

Suddenly, Juvia caught onto the figure in the door frame. She glanced over quickly as she met the dark eyes of Gray. She slammed the book shut instinctively and pushed herself up off the ground. Gray raised a confused eyebrow at her anxious behavior.

"Juvia apologizes, Gray-Sama. She didn't even hear you enter the house." She apologized setting the book down on the coffee table.

"It's alright," Gray replied nonchalantly, not sure of why she was so cautious. "Are you all right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Juvia messed with her hands nervously, as her eyes shot down to the floor. "Well…" She started, "A woman.. um, rang, here earlier."

"And?" Gray asked, confused and growing a little impatient.

"And, Juvia may have been a bit rude to her. But she didn't mean to be! Juvia forgot about the way things work here. And she's very very sorry Gray-Sama." She choked out, eyes not leaving the ground for a second. Expecting to be yelled at and punished, Juvia was weirdly surprised to hear a laugh come from Gray.

"Juvia, it's fine. I seriously doubt she noticed, plus I don't know if you know, but I'm kind of a big deal around here. So any human of mine won't be mistreated." Gray joked, trying to set the girl's worries at ease.

Despite Gray's efforts, Juvia still felt a pit of anxiety filling her stomach. Gray let out a long sigh at Juvia's unresponsiveness.

"Well, what was their name?" Gray asked as he walked over to one of his couches, taking a seat.

"Minerva."

"Oh, God." He whined. "Are you sure?" Juvia nodded hard in response. "And what did she want?"

"She wanted you to meet her at her home as soon as possible." She answered.

Gray sighed again, as he rubbed the tension out of his forehead. "This has got to be the most stressful day." He groaned. "Well, we better get over there. Or she'll hassle me all day."

Juvia raised her eyebrow at 'we.' "Juvia's going?"

"I don't see why not. I mean you've been trapped here for days. Do you not wanna leave?" Gray asked raising a brow.

"Juvia does!" She answered a little too quickly. But Juvia was eager to leave the confinement of Gray's house.

"Well, grab your coat and let's go." Juvia quickly ran upstairs grabbing her coat and slipping on a heavier sweater and shoes. She hurriedly ran back downstairs, trying not to annoy Gray with her slowness.

They started walking down the main road and not before long cut off into a less traveled trail. The walk was close to silent as Juvia followed behind Gray. She was more focused on the scenery, still trying to learn her way around the new world.

"So, Gray-Sama." Juvia started, the first to break the silence.

"Hmm?" He sounded in response, eyes still looking forward.

"What's the rock thingy that made the call?" Juvia asked. Gray couldn't help but bust out in laughter at her ignorance.

"You mean a lacrima?" He asked still chuckling.

"Is that what it's called?"

"Yeah, they're actually super useful," Gray answered.

"What are they?" She inquired more.

"Basically they house ethernanos. Which is magical energy." Juvia's eyes bulged at the words.

"What else can they do?" Juvia asked, trying to get more information.

"Other than communicate, they can project things." He explained.

"Like movies?!" She asked, lighting up a bit.

"Yeah, I'll show you when we get home," Gray suggested not minding helping her.

"That would be super sweet!" Juvia gleamed at the thought of seeing a movie or a television show.

"But it better not interfere with your job!" He said sternly. Juvia pouted and rolled her eyes. "I saw that!" Gray yelled back.

"Gray-Sama your world, this world, is so amazing. Juvia can't even believe she's here. It doesn't seem real." She rambled still in an utter daze at how weird and different it was all to her. It was a fairy tale; it felt magical.

"Yeah, it's really different, huh." A smirk ghosted on Gray's lips. It entertained him how infantile she was to his world. There was a break in conversation before Gray spoke up again.

"So, that book, you liked it?" He asked turning a corner.

"Y-Yeah," Juvia admitted, a little embarrassed at being caught peering at Gray's things.

"Stained In Scarlet, that was the book right?"

"Yeah it was, it's extremely good. You have a lot of author's here that Juvia hasn't ever seen!"

"That's my favorite book, y'know," Gray stated turning back a little, looking at her. "But yes, this world has its own authors."

"Really?!" Juvia exclaimed, "What about movies?!" She asked excitedly.

Gray shook his head, "No, no one's made any movies yet, unfortunately. But you can project human films."

Juvia's smile faltered a little. She was kind of disappointed she wouldn't get to see anything she'd never seen, but new books were just as good if not better. As much as Juvia wanted to be home; she had to admit it was kind of fun experiencing new things.

"So, a demon author?Juvia finds that peculiar."

"Yeah, not all demons are out to steal humans souls and wreak havoc on the world." He explained rolling his eyes a little.

"So just you?" She joked, poking fun at Gray.

"Watch it now. I'm one of the nice ones. Can't you tell?" He prided himself.

"Juvia's surprised, though, truly. She thought all demon's main goal was to steal souls and all around just be evil."

"Well, demons weren't born demons. At least, not all of them." Gray explained. Juvia's eyes grew wide, taken back a bit. "A lot of us were humans, and most of us just want to continue to live normal lives. Well, as normal as we can. And keep doing what we'd do in the human world, if possible."

Juvia stopped dead in her tracks, and when Gray stopped hearing the sound of her footsteps behind him, he stopped too. Juvia's eyes squinted in disbelief and confusion.

"Was… was Gray-Sama, a human?" She asked, cocking her head.

Gray opened his mouth to respond but quickly shut it. "It doesn't matter." He murmured as he turned around and continued to walk.

"Wait, Juvia wan-" Juvia tried to continue when suddenly something flashed before her. When her eyes were adjusted, she realized she was face to face with a woman she'd never seen before.

"Minerva what are you doing?" Gray called from behind her. Juvia tried to move out of the woman's way, but she just moved with her.

The woman wore a smug smirk as she looked down on Juvia. Her emerald eyes locked with Juvia's and refused to break the stare. Juvia's throat tightened as she realized just who this was. She attempted to take a step back when it suddenly felt like her legs stopped working and every nerve in her body went numb. Paralysis came over Juvia's entire body as she became unable to move. The woman's grim smirk grew as she saw the distressed look in Juvia's eyes. Juvia's heart buzzed in her chest as she attempted to scream, but her vocal cords refused to work. Juvia was well aware of this feeling. This was the exact kind of magic Gray had used on her when they first met. Terror shot through Juvia as she came to the realization Minerva could do anything to her now. She was completely at her mercy.

"Minerva, quit!" Gray yelled at her as he ran their way. As soon as Gray came up to the woman's side feeling returned to Juvia's body and the sudden feeling caused Juvia to fall on the ground.

Minerva let out a smug giggle turning to Gray, "I was only playing around."

Gray promptly rolled his eyes, "You're not allowed to manipulate other people's humans."

"Gray you know I love the humans, I was just teasing. Plus you know I get jealous." She batted her eyelashes in Gray's direction. Eliciting another roll of the eyes and sigh from him.

Gray quickly helped Juvia off the ground. "You okay?" He asked pulling her up. Juvia nodded her head, still a little shaken up. She'd forgotten how easily demons could control her like a rag doll.

"So this is Juvia, huh?" Minerva asked, raising a brow.

"Yeah, and you're not gonna touch her again," Gray stated firmly, crossing his arms.

"Wouldn't dream of it. But I actually called you here to talk about humans believe it or not. So follow me."

Wow, it's been months since I last updated. And I can't apologize enough. School hit me like a ton of bricks and I lost motivation to write. But today I became incredibly inspired and I'm happy to be back. I just finished up chapter 23 I believe. I'm so so sorry I haven't been updating. I missed it and I thought about this story every day like you wouldn't believe! I'm also sorry this chapter is kind of short. My next few chapters will be longer. It's something I'm working on in my writing. But how are you guys? I hope you're good! I can also partially blame my lack of writing on the new comeback of my favorite band, BTS. Are any of you ARMY's? If so, you'll totally know the struggle of getting anything done when they release stuff lmao. Their new album is so beautiful. But, I digress. Hope you all had a great summer and are having a good time at work or school! Also, Halloween is basically here so that's something to look forward to, right?I promise I'll work harder and update more. I love this story and I work on it so much and I hope you all like it. Thanks for reading and until next time, I love you!