Juvia was determined to do something, and as she had finally made it to her feet, the trouble ended up coming straight to her.

“And what does this pathetic girl think she's doing?”

Juvia probably would have cursed if she had the voice to do so. She really didn't want to deal with her right now. She needed to get her bearings back so she could get her Gray-sama back to normal.

However, looking towards Ultear, who was twirling a key in her hand with a smirk on her face, she instantly knew what she was about to do.

Juvia tried to move quickly, jolting towards her and out of the room, however, Ultear slammed the door in her face, literally, while laughing hysterically. Still recovering from the face plant, Juvia reached for the doorknob next, only to find that Ultear had already locked it from the outside.

“Ultear doesn't want the stupid girl to have any ideas about trying to get out and ruin her wedding, so she can just sit tight in there for now.” Ultear said from the other side of the door, a little too much pride in her voice for Juvia’s liking. It was her voice after all.

Juvia tugged on the knob with all of her remaining strength, however, with the terrible amount of pain she was having, that really wasn't much. She heard Ultear’s laugh slowly drift off as she walked away.

Juvia was starting to panic. From the sharp jabs in her feet, to the sword in her gut, and now the pounding in her head, everything just hurt.

However, her determination overlooked those things as she endlessly darted around the room, trying to find something to get out with.

Her answer came in the form of one of her hairpins. She had never picked a lock before, but somehow through her adrenaline, she managed to get it unlocked.

She smiled in victory and slowly opened the door. She was surprised that no one was around. Glancing from left to right, her mind still moving a million miles an hour, she quickly, but quietly, made it down the hall back up to the deck, where she could hear music.

Peeking through the cracked hatch cover, her eyes widened at how late it had gotten. The sun was already about an hour away from completely setting, the sky slowly changing from blue to bright orange and pink. A seemingly perfect setting for a seemingly perfect wedding. Which from the looks of it, was about to take place, Ultear already in her dress, and Gray already by her side in a white suit.

Where had the time gone?

She grit her teeth as her answer came to mind. It was most likely the Spell’s doing, speeding up time to make the story itself more dramatic.

Her heart raced as fear finally started to settle. They had already started! She had to do something, but what? And how?

She sighed with frustration, then wincing as it added too her headache. This was all just terrible. Every single thing about this messed up world, it's spells, and coincidences.

With the pain she was trying hard to endure, her mind quickly tried to think of a way out of this. What could she do to fix it?

Drowning out the pain with her thoughts, she thought back to the original story of The Little Mermaid to try and find an answer on how to fix this mess.

That's when something caught her eye. Around Ultear’s neck was a necklace, much like the one the Sea Witch wore in the story.

Her eyes narrowed, her vision focusing on the object. That was most likely the answer. Now she had to figure out how to get it.

She smirked.

She always wanted to crash Gray's wedding if she didn't end up being the bride.

With that thought in mind, she made her way slowly out of the hatch onto the back deck, where thankfully, was behind all of the people attending the wedding, so she wouldn't be seen easily.

Ignoring the words of the priest, she looked around and found what she needed. However, to get to it she had to go around the crowd towards the higher level of the deck next to the back mast.

She ignored her pain with everything she had as she climbed up the rope ladder, leading to the lowest lookout station. When reached, she could see the wedding below and over where she stood.

Breathing deeply, she took hold of one of the ropes that lingered off of the bowsprit tugging on it before standing on top of the railing, somehow keeping her balance before jumping.

Determination and fear mixed together to create a new adrenaline as she flew through the air,  masterfully ignoring her pain, even as it grew with every passing second.

She couldn't afford to let her grip slip, or her confidence to fall. Not when everything she ever cared about was on the line.

Juvia knew that she was being selfish, but she didn't care. Everything she loved was about to be taken away from her, and she couldn't let that happen.

She won’t let that happen.

“Do you, Ultear, wish to be the Prince’s wife? To have and to hold, in sickness or in health?”

Ultear smirked in victory and went to reply, until Juvia cut her off by slamming right into her, knocking them both across the deck. The priest had barely dodged the two as they rolled, and Juvia held firmly onto Ultear as they did so.

Soon coming to a stop, the very angry bride glared down at Juvia, as she had landed on top of her. “How dare you! You little-!!!”

With the adrenalin still pumping through her veins, Juvia wasted no time and quickly cut her off by grabbing her necklace and yanking it right off her neck with as much force as she could muster. Without a second to spare, she smashed the shell onto the floor, crushing it into a million peices.

Ultear watched in horror, causing her to gasp as what was left of the shell started to glow. “NO!!!” She called, backing away as she clawed at her neck. Her voice had changed into a deeper one as the glow grew, blue orbs of light flowing from the shell back into Juvia's body.

Juvia didn't know what to think as her voice flowed back into her. With a final gasp, she gently touched her throat in shock before a sudden stuck of thunder caught her attention. Her head shot up to find that rain suddenly started to pour heavily and the clouds covering the almost sunset sky, taking on a dark bright red in color.

“What have you done!?”

Juvia’s head snapped back to what used to be Ultear, but was now a sea monster growing in size, causing the boat to tip farther and farther on its side. The wind picked up and soon everyone was in a panic, running around the deck trying to find safety or to fix the sails and lines.

Juvia couldn't move however, as if her body was frozen in place from fear of looking up at the creature in front of her as it continued to grow out of its human form and into what it truly was:

A Monster.

“Juvia!”

Her head snapped over to find her beloved running towards her, still in her suit, but had already lost his blazer.

“Gray-sama!” She couldn't believe how relieved she was to hear herself talk again. How beautiful it felt to say his name out loud again. It overwhelmed her in more ways than she could imagine as tears ran down her face, adding to the rain that had already managed to soak her to the bone.

Finally finding confidence to move again, she started running towards him, her mind blocking anything and everything else out as they made it to one another, embracing each other like they had come back from an incredibly long journey.

“G-Gray-sama!” She hiccuped and cried into his shoulder, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, hopefully not choking him to death.

However, his grip around her was just as tight. “Man, have I missed you…” He whispered into her hair, just loud enough for her to hear over the storm, and not caring that there was a storm to begin with.

She melted into his hold, until they both were suddenly thrusted back by the Sea Monster’s hand, it's deep angry voice forcing them both back into reality.

“HOW DARE YOU EMBRACE IN MY PRESENCE!”

They both gasped as they landed and though Gray protected most of Juvia from the fall, as she was still in his arms, she had still scraped her right arm along the rough wood deeply, causing it to bleed, the rain helping it run onto the deck.

As they sat up, she breathed in through her teeth, briefly wondering when the last time she had really bled was. When her body was made of water, she could easily prevent such things, however, without her magic, that was no longer the case.

Well, it was just adding to her list of wounds. What's a scrap or two compared to the sword in her gut anyway?

Gray sat up with her and though roughed up himself, gave her a panicked look. “Hey! Are you alright!?”

She nodded slowly, giving him a smile, though she was panting. “J-Juvia is alright for now. It's almost over.”

He became confused by her statement, though he wasn't convinced that she was okay. It was nice to at least hear her answer him for a change. “What do you mean?”

He followed her gaze as she glared up at the sea monster, it's black tentacles still growing in length as its eyes started to glow a deep purple, scraps of it’s wedding dress flying around the boat. Juvia felt pity for the creature. Out of all the characters she could always reflect a part of herself in, the Sea Witch, that seemed to long for love so much that it made her turn herself into a Monster. Juvia had always been afraid deep down inside, that one day she would too end up unloved, unwanted, and turn herself into a Monster.

“Juvia and Gray-sama have to defeat the Sea Witch before the sun completely sets.”

He blinked at her before looking up at the Monster. “Ah...Right...How are we going to do that again?” He glanced up and the sky and found that the sun was going to set soon, though it was hard to tell with the thunderstorm over their heads.

She tore her gaze away from the Witch, looking towards the horizon where other ships started popping up from under the intensely growing waves and then up at Gray with a reassuring smile.

“Juvia has a plan.”