Chapter 8

It had been quite a while since Juvia had experienced the ruthless sensation of fear. Searching her memories, she failed to remember a time when she had been as afraid of the unknown as she was at the moment.

As if the sheer nervousness of meeting a queen wasn't exhilarating enough, Juvia found her thoughts wandering back to the talking sparrow that had perched on her shoulder. She was no stranger to talking animals and beasts; her guild had three talking cats and she knew two more. And if that wasn't convincing enough, her best friend had been raised and educated by a dragon.

But while talking animals were nothing new, a talking sparrow that spewed sinister information was.

After the bird had flown off, Juvia's eyes had followed the bird's trail only to watch it disappear amongst the crowd swarming inside the pathway. Much too dazed to do anything else, she had then allowed herself to be dragged by Gajeel who had had enough of her falling behind and staring into space. On their way into the palace and while they were being shown various portraits of the previous rulers and members of the royal family, Juvia's mind had been preoccupied with making a decision to immediately alert the rest of her team about the incident or to keep silent.

Now, as she watched the rest of her friends easily making conversation with each other while seated around the dining table, she realised that not having told them had been the smarter option. Such a warning would have only served to raise everyone's guard against the queen. At least now she would be the only one listening to the queen with a baselessly critical prejudice.

Juvia carefully plastered a smile onto her face to ward off any suspicious looks she would receive over her silence and pretended to laugh at something Lisanna had said, though she had heard none of it.

"And then," Lisanna wheezed, her eyes filling up, "Natsu lunged at the 'ghost', conked his head and was out cold for an hour! It was hilarious!"

Whatever story Lisanna had been saying, Juvia deduced, must have been from their childhood days. She smiled a little at the thought of Lisanna and Natsu as little kids, chasing each other and playing 'tea-party'.

"Juvia!" Lisanna turned to her so fast that she was caught by surprise. "What did you like playing as a child?"

"Oh, um...", Juvia laughed a little, hoping that she would be spared from having to answer. She realised soon enough that Lisanna and the others were intently looking at her, awaiting her answer. She could see Gajeel watching and opening his mouth to talk, probably to change the topic. But instead of letting him gracefully save her from talking about games that she had never played as a child, Juvia took a large gulp of water, and played out one of her best impressions, fake coughing,

"Oh my God!" Meredy who was sitting to her right reached out and began to tap her head. "Be careful!"

Gajeel raised an eyebrow at Juvia and sighed, knowing full well that she was trying to divert everyone's attention. Juvia's childhood was a touchy subject and the most that Gajeel knew of it, which was frankly speaking more than what anyone else knew, was that she had been constantly bullied and that she had not had any friends or role models or parental figures. He on the other hand, had never been alone, even after his dragon had disappeared. So he guessed that Juvia's childhood must have been a very disappointing childhood, especially because she hated to talk about it. The only time he had ever asked her about it, there had been only crying and a torrential downpour. That had been a while after they both had joined Fairy Tail, and Gajeel had never asked again. And though he had been hoping she would one day find the strength to talk about it, he assumed that her not crying or causing a storm was definitely fine progress.

So he continued to not interfere as Lisanna and Meredy fussed over Juvia, chiding her for being careless and instead, readjusted his collar, fighting the urge to rip the itchy tag on it. Thankfully, he was interrupted by a loud, drawling voice just as his urge grew stronger.

"Presenting to you, her Royal Highness, Queen Mazha Iris De Luna, the 43rd wearer of the Royal Crown of the Trinity and the 43rd bearer of the Royal Sceptre of the Trinity of the Kingdom of Phiri."

Gajeel pushed back his chair, just as everyone else, and stood as a symbol of respect to the queen. He took one look at the scrawny man in an oversized coat and hat making the loud announcement and stifled the smirk that threatened to cross his face.

"Presenting to you, his Royal Highness, Prince Arden Jasper De Luna, declared the 44th wearer of the Royal Crown of the Trinity and the 44th bearer of the Royal Sceptre of the Trinity of the Kingdom of Phiri."

Once the man was finished, Gajeel heard the soft shuffling of feet behind him and turned to get a glance at the queen.

From a door behind him she entered, the prince right behind her. Her pale face was impassive, marked by wrinkles and her thin lips were grim and set in a straight line, devoid of any resemblance of happiness. Her eyebrows, he noted, were thin and arched unlike that of the thicker eyebrows he often saw on his girl friends. And her snow-white hair was pulled back into a tight bun and on her head sat a dazzling, and quite large, crown constructed out of fine gold and embedded with diamonds and blue stones that Gajeel couldn't identify.

The queen took her place at the table as the prince did the same and motioned for everyone to be seated with a graceful flick of her hand.

Gajeel watched for a change of expression, maybe even a smile, on the woman's face. He gave up hope of seeing any emotion on her within ten seconds. All that she had done in that time was look each mage up and down, her gaze lingering a little too long on Juvia for Gajeel's liking. He observed how her beady little eyes seemed to harden when she looked at the water mage and the way she clenched her jaw. Feeling protective, he snarled, stopping when he felt Jellal grab his wrist under the table and squeeze it, a clear warning. Gajeel then raised his free hand, covered his mouth and cleared his throat, an act that seemed to convince the others that his snarl had been a mere inconvenience in his throat.

Jellal let go of Gajeel's wrist when he saw that the queen had turned her attention to the two of them and had stopped inspecting the girls.

"Good afternoon," She greeted, her voice smooth, reminding him of the texture of velvet. "And welcome to Phiri. I hope you enjoy our lunch together."

Jellal looked over the food-laden table, observing the range of delicacies that had been prepared for their lunch.

"What you see before you, are the finest dishes that our country has to offer, prepared with the best ingredients by the most remarkable chefs. Please do enjoy every bite." No sooner had the queen finished speaking, the maids had placed the first dish in front of each person.

The aroma that filled his nostrils made Jellal realise just how hungry he had been. But he couldn't bring himself to dig in regardless of the tempting food in front of him because it just felt so wrong. They were here on a mission, had almost been kidnapped and had witnessed a corpse and were now seated in the palace, requested to eat lunch that seemed more for show than to actually satisfy anyone's hunger. And in all the time that they had been in the palace, the quest had not been mentioned once.

Jellal glanced around the table, catching all his friends looking uncomfortable. Cana seemed a little sick, Lisanna looked puzzled and Meredy was fiddling with a spoon while Juvia appeared mortified.

He caught her eyes and nodded, hoping that she would understand what he wanted her to do. Nodding back, she did just that.

"Pardon, your majesty," Juvia spoke, her voice quieter than usual, suddenly growing self-conscious as the prince shot her a warning glance. Ignoring him and steeling her nerves she went on. "What about the mission?"

An odd silence brooded over as the queen set down her fork and wiped the corners of her mouth with a white napkin. She looked Juvia in the eye and the water mage flinched when she met the harsh stare of the older woman.

"Eat first. We will talk. Later."

Seven courses later, lunch was declared done. The queen rose first, the prince second and following their exit from the dining hall, the mages walked in a line. A few minutes later, they were ushered into a smaller room, furnished with a round table and chairs around it. In the centre of the table stood a miniature statue of The Trinity, surrounded by cuts of fresh orchids.

Meredy blanched at the sight of the statue; the presence of it everywhere was starting to irritate her and that was the last thing she needed. Pressing her fingers to her temple she gently massaged herself, following the others and taking a seat at the round table.

She had heard of round tables being a symbol of equality due to its distinctive lack of corners, edges and head positions. Everyone seated around the table could see each other, hear each other and had the right to speak their minds. However, looking at the stern expression on the queen's face, Meredy wondered how much of equality was actually going to be practised during their discussion.

She took pity on Juvia, who seemed to have lost a lot of her confidence after the commentary during lunch. If the impolite behaviour hadn't come from the queen, Meredy was confident that she could have at least told her off. But unfortunately, they were dependent on the old lady for information and were forced to suck up to her for any chance at progress.

Meredy's flow of thought was interrupted by a clap and when she looked up, she saw that the sound had been made by the queen and watched, intrigued, as her guards and other members of her staff left the room, closing it behind them.

She shifted her view over to the prince who looked worried, though she could not fathom why. She was startled when she looked back at the queen to see the woman intently peering at her. Though slightly disturbed, she held the gaze with as much ferocity as she could express with her eyes, relaxing only when the woman looked over at Cana. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the older woman finally spoke.

"If you would be kind enough to introduce yourselves."

Meredy raised an eyebrow, shooting a glance at the prince. At this point, it was assumed that the queen, being the client, would already be familiar with all the mages as well as their official information. And yet, here she was, asking for the mages to introduce themselves.

The prince suddenly spoke up. "Grandmother, they have already-"

He shut himself up with just a single glare from his grandmother and Meredy scowled, annoyed. She decided that she definitely did not like the lady. She was further pacified when she saw the irritation evident on Gajeel's and Cana's faces. Lisanna was masking her annoyance well, and Juvia and Jellal both remained expressionless.

Meredy waited for Juvia to begin, only to hear the silence around her. Finally, Lisanna spoke when it was evident that nobody was beginning.

"I'm Lisanna Strauss, an Animal Soul Takeover mage."

Meredy was about to continue the introductions by introducing herself when Queen Mazha scoffed.

The mages looked at the queen questioningly and certainly unimpressed.

"Ah yes. The bait of the family. Of course. What a privilege to have you here."

In the next few moments, there were a number of emotions that flashed across Lisanna's face; anger, humiliation, disgust and hurt.

Lisanna however, managed to keep herself from retorting and Meredy had to give her credit for that even though she herself was fuming with rage.

She glared at the old hag, uncaring about consequences. She could see the fury on all her friends' faces and she was quite certain that there was actual steam around Juvia. At least, that was impressive.

The queen locked eyes with Meredy and frowned. "And who might you be?"

Meredy held her ground when she answered. "The name's Meredy. I use Sensory Magic."

The queen looked at her as her thin lips spread into a smile. "The reformed criminal's assistant, I see." Her gaze shifted to Jellal while Meredy clenched her fists. "And I assume that you are the infamous reformed criminal."

Jellal clenched his jaw as the venomous woman focused on Cana next. "And you must be the drunkard daughter of the famous Gildarts Clive. Must be a pity to be so weak."

Meredy watched as Cana tightly gripped the table, only to hear the insults continue.

"The grand dragon slayer whose biggest feat was tying humans on a tree, am I right?" She sneered at Gajeel and Meredy knew that the only reason he was still sitting down was because of Jellal's iron grip on his hand.

"And the star of the show, the Rain Demon, who can't even control her own magic." Juvia closed her eyes, pursing her lips together.

"Grandmo-" The prince tried again, only to be cut off by a sharp reprimand.

"This is the circus that you have managed to call for help?" Her voice dripped with mockery and Meredy was tempted to slap her straight across her face.

Meredy watched as the woman straightened on her chair and glared at the mages. "So what is it that you need to know?"

The atmosphere in the room was murderous and each mage looked as if the only thing they needed was to leave before they hurt the witch. Meredy took a few deep breaths and swallowed her pride and dignity. "Your magic."

"Pardon?' The queen locked eyes with Meredy. But for the first time that day, Meredy could see uncertainty in her eyes.

"What happened to your magic?" She asked clearly, her voice loud with a strength that Meredy was unaware she possessed.

"Nothing has happened to my magic." The queen retorted, Meredy noted, exhibiting discomfort.

"Then why have you not been able to make it rain?"

"I have not been able to make it rain because I have grown old. My magic and my strength are not what they used to be before."

"Oh." Meredy heard Cana speak and saw that she had a smirk on her face as she looked at the queen. "Must be a pity to be so weak."

The silence that filled the room was deafening.

"How dare you?" Queen Mazha was hissing through her teeth as she stared at Cana with what could only be described as hatred. She gripped the armrests of her chair tightly and pushed herself up, towering over Cana.

"You scum, do you realise whom you are speaking to?"

"Oh sit back down, 'cause I honestly don't care." Cana crossed her arms across her chest, indifferent to the angry woman staring at her. She looked up at her with a poker face and spoke. "First of all, that's something you should be bothered about. It's your country and crown that's in peril, not mine. Secondly, your family called us on this quest. We're your best shot and you can't do any better, because beggars can't be choosers. And finally, we get paid regardless of whether your country survives or rots. So if you want us to be of any help, then drop that crappy attitude and fucking answer our questions."

The queen was shaking from anger and humiliation and Meredy had never been more proud of Cana. There were hints of smiles on her teammate's faces, and Meredy couldn't fight her own smile. But one look at Juvia's terrified face had Meredy's smile disappear without a trace.

The queen sat back into her chair, face red.

Lisanna was the one that asked the next question.

"What is this cult that is threatening your kingdom?"

The queen was quiet for a few seconds. She then took a sharp breath and began to speak.

"The cult calls themselves 'The Warriors of the Trinity'. They have only been active for the last four and a half years, only since the rain stopped. But they have been around for far longer than that. In fact, I believe they have been around for more than three decades.

"Their mission is to 'cleanse' Phiri of its corruption and darkness, and according to what they propagate, both the corruption and the darkness of Phiri is the royal family. And so, there have been multiple instances of coups that never succeeded.

"However, 25 years ago, there was a civil war. We lost countless lives; soldiers and civilians alike. And I lost not only my countrymen but also my son and his wife.

"They were driven to failure then. But they regrouped and began to spread their falsehoods and lies again and they are gaining strength now because of these rainless years.

"They claim that they will make the rain come back if they can come into power. But I will tell you this much- if they come into power, they will ruin this country and tear it down brick by brick."

Meredy glanced around the table, watching as her teammates carefully listened on.

"They have been sacrificing people to the Trinity, saying that human lives are required to appease the deities. So many have been slaughtered. And yet, people trust them." Her voice was filled with disgust and Meredy could feel the bile rise up her throat. She couldn't believe how naive people had to be in order to be convinced that the loss of lives could please a supernatural being, or beings in this case when these deities themselves were supposed to stand for love, peace, harmony, and fraternity.

"Why do you think the rain stopped?" Jellal asked, leaning on the table.

Queen Mazha turned to meet his eyes.

"I know the rain stopped because the cult made it stop."

The sun had already set when the mages finally came into their house, absolutely tired.

"What a long day." Lisanna stretched, her joints popping.

The mages had been cooped around the table with the prince and the queen, seeking answers to all their questions. Even with the rough start they had received answers to all their questions although the answers were unsatisfactory.

"I completely agree." Cana sank into one of the sofas, clutching on a cushion. "Such a waste of time too. We've not learned anything of use. And they didn't tell us anything more about Kehsir, or about why we're being targetted either."

And the others had to agree. Apart from receiving some basic information about the cult and learning a bit about the civil war, they had learned nothing. And the information they had received was useless. It gave no leads and no solutions. Even after multiple questions, there was no knowledge about the sudden disappearance of the rain. And pinning the blame on the cult was also not of much use because the royal family had no idea where they could find the cult or how they could identify its members. In summary, they were faced with only dead ends, and had nothing to base an investigation on.

"And that crone's a bitch!" Gajeel said, receiving nods from Cana and Meredy.

"Man, I swear I coulda punched her face for the way she spoke to us!" He continued, glancing around to find the his best friend slumped on a sofa, eyes downcast. The sudden change in Gajeel's demeanour prompted the others to follow his line of vision and focus on Juvia.

"Juvia?" Cana called gently, moving from her seat to be near her friend. "All okay?"

No sooner had Cana touched Juvia's shoulder, the girl broke into loud sobs, her shoulders trembling.

"Hey!" Cana was now worried because the only times she had ever actually witnessed Juvia cry was when her feelings for Gray got the best of her. But she had never, ever seen Juvia cry like this before.

"Juvia is so sorry." She said in between shattered breaths, clinging onto Cana's hand.

"What the hell are you sorry for?" Gajeel's tone was harsh, but the concern was etched all over his face.

"All of you were insulted today." She wheezed, not daring to look up.

Gajeel groaned and plopped down next to the crying woman.

"And that is your fault because?" Gajeel waited for an answer and when none came he was relieved. "Listen, that woman's crazy and I'm not sure how your head works, but this ain't your fault."

"Take it with a grain of salt, Juvia," Jellal said with a soft smile on his face. "Besides, Cana gave it to her when she had the opportunity."

"As if I would have missed it," Cana mumbled, wiping away Juvia's tears as she finally stopped crying. "It's been quite a while since I was on fire like that!"

"Ooh ooh! Have I told you guys about the time drunk Cana went at Erza while Erza was angry?" Lisanna asked, already laughing.

"Wait! Let me grab some snacks for the story first!" Meredy raced off and returned with an armful of food packets as the mages all sat down for storytime.

The moon was high in the sky by the time Juvia retreated to her room. Changing into her pajamas, she stared out the window, overcome by grief.

She was grateful to her friends for having tried to cheer her up and yet she had been unable to shake off the fear that had gripped her heart ever since she had seen the queen. Juvia wanted to pretend that she was just being silly, giving unnecessary credit to a strange bird's message.

While the queen had definitely not been a very amicable person, Juvia knew from experience that the most straightforward and blunt people were usually the most trustworthy. At least, the old woman wasn't hiding her disdain towards them and pretending to be nice.

Nevertheless, that didn't mean that the woman could easily be let off the hook for having insulted them. At the moment, there was nothing her team wanted more than to go home. But they had come to the consensus that they would stay and honour their word to Prince Jasper, only because he had followed the mages out of the palace and had profusely apologized on behalf of his grandmother and begged for their mercy and cooperation.

Climbing into her bed, she relaxed as the soft pillows welcomed her head. Juvia drifted off to sleep wondering why the queen frightened her so.

That night, Juvia dreamed of relentless rain and a strange woman cackling while covered in scarlet.

A/N: I have no excuses. :')

Hope you enjoyed the chapter (If anyone's still reading this lol).