Blood

Seeing her bleed was a rare sight. Her body, which she proudly declared was made of water every time she entered a fight, was almost never affected by weapons of any kind. Meredy's spirit swords – or whatever they were – were the first time she had been cut by any blade. Of course, when she was unconscious or had no magic left, her body was flesh and blood. But these… dragon things were able to injure her. Normally, when someone attacked her with a gun or sword, she would have a moment to counterattack when the opponent was open, shocked by their ineffective methods. But these creatures were mindless, unfazed by her shifting form when they tried to claw at her.

Their claws passed right through.

Their lasers didn't.

It was only by some miracle that she didn't get hit by one in a vital area. The first time a laser was fired at her, her body naturally liquefied – only to be evaporated by the intense heat. By the time her body solidified, there was a gash in her arm. She hissed in pain, still attacking the dragon hatchlings, but was getting nowhere. They were too powerful, their lasers too quick to dodge. She had no choice but to run. At last, Juvia found shelter in the ruined Bar Sun. After a brief rest to renew her magic, she was about to leave when she heard her name.

"Juvia!" Meredy was behind her. She turned, acknowledging the mage. "Have you seen Ul anywhere? We got separated."

"Can't say that I have." She was about to say more, but was interrupted by a rushed 'Look out!' and a body slamming into her. They hit the floor – her, Meredy, and Gray – just in time to avoid one of the piercing lasers.

"Don't lose your focus! This is a warzone!" yelled Lyon as he froze the hatchling. Meredy muttered an apology, while Juvia blushed and adjusted the rear of her skirt.

"Ah… Gray-sama touched my butt…"

"Juvia… I need to tell you something." Gray figured now would be a good time, since they had a temporary shelter. He could tell by her excitement that she had a different idea of what he was going to say. He tried to talk her out of her imagination when he noticed her bleeding arms. He froze. "Hold on, what happened?"

"Hm?" Juvia followed his gaze to her shoulder, covered in dried blood. She covered it with her hand, smiling up at him. "It… is nothing, just the lasers from them." She waved it off. Her actions lead him to look at her other arm, where her torn bandages were dyed red with blood.

The sight of her bleeding certainly shocked him. Sure, she had been bruised before, and scars from when Meredy was their enemy once littered her body, but to see her actively bleeding was different. She was constantly boasting that her body couldn't be damaged very easily, and yet here she stood before him, covered in her own blood. He wanted to tell her to wash it off, that it unnerved him, but he was interrupted by Lyon's yelling Juvia's name. She turned as he looked behind her, seeing one of those monsters charging a blast aimed at her. She reached behind her to move Gray to the side while simultaneously converting her body to water.

She found herself shoved to the ground.

The monster fired.

Gray, her Gray, was pierced through the chest.

He coughed, blood spewing from his mouth.

More monsters appeared, firing at him. He seemed confused as he fell. Juvia felt tears in her eyes.

And then the final blast was shot. Straight through his head. And there was blood.

So much blood, staining her dress as she crawled to him, screaming.

A/N: I'll fix mistakes later.