Shit, you guys, am I doing this?! I think I'm doing this! Wow, this is really nerve-wracking, but here goes nothing. Note: this begins about a month after the Grand Magic Games and completely disregards the current arc because I am trying to make things easier for me. -nervous laughter-

"Master Makarov!"

The diminutive man sitting atop the guild's bar turns and sees Mirajane headed his way, a large stack of what were undoubtedly more requests piled up in her arms. Ever since the end of the Grand Magic Games and Fairy Tail's subsequent return to the position of 'strongest guild in Fiore', numerous jobs requests had come pouring in from every end of the country. No one had an opportunity to complain about a lack of funds for anything now, but truth be told, he worried at times that eventually the excess of work would become too much for the guild to handle. For now, though, he would simply be content that his brats had endless opportunities to strengthen their skills, and Fairy Tail's good reputation was being upheld. "Who is it this time?" he asks, gesturing to the papers.

Mirajane glances down nervously and plucks an envelope off the top of the pile, wordlessly handing it to the Master. "It's a magic letter for you, Master. It was marked as 'urgent'," she tells him as he flips it over and looks at the seal.

"Lamia Scale?" he murmurs, tracing a circle over the little circle of gold wax. At a nearby table, Gray's ears perk at the mention of the other guild, and he looks over as a small hologram rises from the envelope in Makarov's hand and takes the shape of Lyon Vastia.

"To the Master of Fairy Tail," Lyon's hologram says. "Lamia Scale has an urgent request to make of you. Please, send the mage Juvia Lockser to visit our guild immediately. We were attacked late last night by an unknown mage who, as far as we could tell, isn't affiliated with any guild. We are in no position to make a journey anywhere, but it is necessary that we meet with Juvia as soon as possible. Our Communication Lacrima was destroyed in the attack, so magic letters are our only option for contacting each other. Please, we are willing to pay any amount that Fairy Tail asks for. We don't know if the trip will be dangerous, but we recommend sending another mage with Juvia so she doesn't have to defend herself alone if a problem arises. Send word as soon as you can," the hologram finishes, just before disappearing with a little puff of smoke.

The guild hall is silent. Makarov looks up and his gaze lands on Gray, the boy's face pale and hands balled into fists. He beckons him over and scans the rest of the hall, calling, "Juvia? Where are you?"

At a table with Gajeel and Levy on the other end of the room, Juvia stands and replies, "Juvia is right here."

Makarov nods and hops down from the bar. "Both of you, follow me," he commands, turning and leading them up the stairs to the empty second floor of the guild. He walks them to the windows overlooking Magnolia and waits until he can hear the normal chatter of the guild resume below. He turns to look at the pair and says, "How soon can the two of you be ready to head to Lamia Scale?"

Gray bares his teeth in a determined grimace, something fierce glinting in his dark eyes as he answers, "Today. An hour or two at most."

Beside him, Juvia nods solemnly in agreement and asks, "Have they really been attacked? We haven't heard anything today."

Makarov frowns and stares down at the letter. "If they're in no position to send anyone out to travel, I assume it must have been very serious. And with their Communication Lacrima destroyed, I would much rather send you two right away than wait for a letter to get there asking for details. I trust you two with this. Prepare accordingly and head to Hargeon Town to take the boat to Nelumbo Town immediately. When you get there and learn more about what's happened, send word as soon as you can. I'll keep my ears open here. If they restore their Communication Lacrima, contact the guild. Understood?"

They both nod and Juvia immediately leaves to pack, but Gray doesn't move. He scrutinizes the Master, his arms crossed over his chest, and asks, "Why Juvia?"

'Gray may be as hot-headed as Natsu at times, but he certainly knows how to use his brain,' Makarov thinks. Out loud, he says, "So you thought it was strange, too. I can't imagine what anyone would want to attack Lamia Scale for—as far as I know, they've never made true enemies of anybody, much less anyone who would dare to try and harm them, and succeed. But if they've specifically asked that Juvia go to see them, whoever attacked them must have plans that involve her.

"Aside from the fact that it's Lamia Scale asking for help, I am also sending you with her because your magic is compatible with hers and, I believe, enough to withstand any… problems that you might come across while you're both travelling to Nelumbo." There is a perceptible shift in Makarov's demeanor, and instead of the normally eccentric jokester, Gray suddenly finds himself looking, undoubtedly, at the Master of Fairy Tail, his eyes hard and expression grave. His voice is ruthless when he continues, "Lamia Scale has been an invaluable ally to Fairy Tail, especially during the seven years that we were missing. This is inexcusable, and whoever attacked them will pay. Declaring war on a friend is declaring war on us, especially if whoever attacked them is planning something involving Juvia. Just get to their guild as soon as you can, and keep a sharp eye out on the way. Oh! And give them a talking-to about even thinking that we would ask for pay; that's the stupidest thing I've heard!"

With a smirk and a nod, Gray turns away from the Master and leaves to prepare, his mind furiously working at the mystery that's been presented to him. 'What the hell kind of lone mage attacks a legal guild like Lamia Scale and gets away with it?' he thinks, eyes narrowing in anger. 'And what on earth does it have to do with Juvia?'

Hours later, Juvia and Gray are on the last train fast-tracking to the port town of Hargeon. For once, Juvia doesn't feel like talking, trying to work out in her head what could possibly have happened at Lamia Scale, and why they would specifically ask to see her. Worry churns in her gut, cold and sour, and she frowns sadly as she stares at the landscape racing by out of the window. 'Juvia hopes that everyone is going to be alright,' she thinks, idly fiddling with the high fur collar of her dress. Slowly, she sneaks a glance out of the corner of her eye at the object of her affections sitting across from her.

Gray has one leg propped up on the seat, elbow resting on his knee and chin cradled in the palm of his hand. His face is also tilted towards the window, and he is clearly deep in thought. She almost opens her mouth to ask him a question, but the worry that she will say the wrong thing wins over her concern, and she remains silent.

The minutes pass, awkward and agonizing, until he finally addresses her. "Juvia."

She jumps in her seat and then reddens in embarrassment. "Yes, Gray-sama?"

He frowns for a moment, eyes briefly darting to her before returning to stare out the window. "I don't mean this in a bad way, so don't get the wrong idea," he begins cautiously. He sees her nod out of his peripherals and continues, "Do you know anyone who'd want to hurt Lamia Scale? Anyone from—"

"Juvia doesn't," she answers, trying to ignore the painful little squeeze around her heart at his words. "When Juvia was in Phantom Lord, there was never any talk of any other guild but Fairy Tail."

Gray doesn't like the suddenly dull tone of her voice, and he turns his head to see that she is hiding her eyes from him, her face bowed as she picks at the little buttons lining her deep blue dress. Her fingers are shaking. "Juvia," he says, shifting in his seat to fully face her. She doesn't look up. "Juvia, I wasn't accusing you, or anything like that. I mean, I know that it was years ago. It's just that this entire thing…" he trails off, brows furrowing in frustration. He sighs and smacks his hand down onto the seat in exasperation. "This thing just doesn't sit right with me."

Juvia finally looks up at him, taking in the hard set of his jaw and the confusion in his eyes and says apologetically, "Juvia knows that you didn't mean to hurt her feelings. Juvia is sorry. It's just that Juvia doesn't like to think of Phantom Lord very much. But Juvia agrees with you, Gray-sama. Something is very wrong. But once we reach Lamia Scale, and we know more, we can find whoever hurt our friends and make them pay."

The sudden ferocity in her tone makes him smile. As annoying as she can be sometimes, Gray has always admired Juvia's ability to be serious when the situation calls for it. When the two of them lapse back into silence, it is a comfortable, companionable one. Instead of watching the scenery, he observes her. 'Master sent me with her to protect her. Even Lyon's message said I might need to protect her, if something happens. Will it?' he wonders, slumping down in his seat.

Outside, the sun is setting, and it will be a while longer before the train reaches Hargeon Station and they can head to the port just in time to catch the last boat to the seaside city of Nelumbo, where Lamia Scale's guild is located. Gray feels a surge of impatience rise up in him like a wave, and he drums his fingers against his leg, willing time to rush by like the trees outside. He is itching for the adventure he knows is coming—it happens every time he goes on a job that will have some element of danger to it. It's a common trait for a Fairy Tail member to have: you are always looking for a fight.

Gray has to suppress a wicked smile at the thought of finding the mage who attacked Lamia Scale and dealing back the damage tenfold.

It is midnight when he and Juvia step off of the boat at Nelumbo Port. "Juvia has never been here before," she remarks, shouldering her pack and glancing around. The presence of the sea is strong in this coastal town, and it's almost a shame that her first glimpse of it is in the dead of the night.

"Neither have I, actually," Gray says, fishing a map out of his pocket and opening it up. "Feels kind of weird, considering Lyon's always showing up at Fairy Tail. Now it shouldn't be too hard to find the guild; the map says it's supposed to be near the center of town, and we should just take the main road."

Juvia nods and looks up, heading towards the large, pale stone path that cuts through the town. She stops short when she sees a figure in the distance, walking towards the port. "Gray-sama," she says, tugging on his sleeve. "Is that…?"

Gray squints at the person ahead, and then a wide grin splits his face as he lifts up a hand to wave. "Hey, Lyon!" he calls, breaking into a run with Juvia following closely behind.

Lyon looks exhausted, but smiles in relief when they approach him. "Hey, you two," he greets, clapping a hand on Gray's back and giving Juvia a friendly hug. As they begin the walk to Lyon's guild, he says, "I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you here. I thought for sure it'd be a couple of days until we heard from you."

Gray scoffs and says, "Don't be stupid. As soon as the old man got the letter from you, we left as soon as we could."

Juvia smiles at Lyon and adds, "We're happy to help your guild, Lyon-sama. Lamia Scale has done so much for Fairy Tail over the years. Tell us, how is everyone else doing? Were a lot of people hurt?"

Lyon shakes his head. "Not as bad as it could have been. This guy wasn't there for all of us, just for Jura, so—"

"Eh? Who is this person, and why would he want to hurt Jura-san?"

"I know his name is Ash," Lyon tells them, "and he's kind of tall—a bit more than me—with red hair. I didn't get a good look at his face at the time, because we'd all been immobilized and he had his back turned to me. He had a partner—a woman—who'd said his name. I never caught hers. But he was clearly the one in charge."

"What did they do?" Gray asks, frowning deeply.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure," Lyon admits, glancing up at the starry sky. He thinks back, recalling the details of what happened. "I think his partner was the one who made sure none of us could move. We were in the guild hall when everyone suddenly dropped like a rock. This may sound weird, but it—it was like the air had gotten heavier. It was crushing us, just enough so that none of us could get up off the floor. Except Jura, of course, because he's built like a rock. And then Ash and the girl walked in and told him that if he came quietly, nobody else in the guild would get hurt.

"They moved then, and I couldn't see very well from where I was, but it sounded like Jura tried to attack them. The air pressure got worse—honestly, it felt like I was going to be ripped apart. And then it eased up a bit, just enough so that I could breathe again. I heard the guy explaining to Jura that his partner could increase the air pressure to the point where Jura wouldn't be able to move either, but if he did that, then we would all die. It takes a lot more to bring Jura down than it does the rest of us," he remarks, a wry smile twisting his lips. Then he continues.

"Everything gets kind of hazy after that. I heard fighting, but I think that they were just ganging up on Jura, because he was the only one I heard in pain. It got hard to breathe after that, and then I passed out. When we all woke up, they were gone, and so was Jura. We've sent people to search, but there's no trace of them anywhere. No clues where they went, either. Ah, here we are," he finishes, a forced brightness in his tone as they all approach the Lamia Scale Guild. "Home sweet home," he says weakly.

"Lyon-sama…" Juvia begins sorrowfully. "Juvia is so sorry this happened."

Gray says nothing, never good at expressing emotions, and even less so when they are directed towards someone so close, who has clearly been dealt such a harsh blow. He watches Lyon carefully, waiting for the older man to speak.

He clears his throat and manages a half-hearted smile at both of them as they step into the entryway of the guild. "It's alright," he says, his tone not at all convincing. He awkwardly runs a hand through his silvery hair and repeats, "It's alright. We're going to focus everything we have on finding them. And Jura's one of the Ten Wizard Saints; it doesn't matter who he's up against, he'll find a way to pull through. I know it."

They all remain silent as Lyon leads them through the mostly empty main hall. There are a few people here and there who look up as they pass, and the touch of hope that flickers in every pair of eyes that sees the mages from Fairy Tail is almost painful to acknowledge.

Lyon directs them to a large room with several beds lined up against the walls. "This is a resting room where any visitors to the guild typically stay," he explains, remaining in the doorway as Gray and Juvia step in and place their packs on their respective beds. There is a pause, and Lyon crosses his arms over his chest, suddenly seeming uncomfortable. Gray's eyes narrow.

"There's something else, isn't there?" he asks, noticing Lyon's nearly imperceptible flinch. "Lyon, why did you specifically ask for Juvia?"

Lyon avoids their eyes, staring instead at the stone floor beneath him. He frowns and struggles for a bit, but then admits, "Yeah. There was something… right before I passed out. I heard Ash say something to his partner. He sounded kind of far-away, and I was pretty out of it, but I'm almost positive that what I heard him say is right."

"What is it?"

His frown deepens, and his gaze is distressed when it lands on Juvia. "I heard him say, 'After this, we find the Phantom Girl.'"

Okay, here we go. -nervous throat clearing- Alright, first up, since lots of towns in Fiore have to do with flowers n' stuff, and we don't actually know where Lamia Scale's guild is located, I decided to make it near the sea since a lamia is, obviously, a sea creature. And Nelumbo, according to Wikipedia, is a genus of aquatic plants that resemble the water lily, so I figured that would be a good thing to name the town so it keeps with the flower and water element. Also, the Fairy Tail wiki was consulted, like, every three seconds because I wanna get facts and details right and just UGH I am a research nerd, so. Yeah.

Also, the idea from this fic sprouted from an errant thought I had while listening to the Shingeki no Kyojin soundtrack, and I wrote this while STILL listening to the (entirely majestic, because sweet baby Jesus does that show have the most glorious music) track the entire time I wrote it, so, shit's gonna get real up in here. Also because I want an arc all about Juvia so, naturally, I thought, 'I'll just write it myself.' Fuck. This'll be serious business, people, haha. Please drop a review; I am always looking for ANY and ALL bits of constructive criticism that will help me improve my writing skills. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you'll stick around!