Juvia smiled to herself proudly as she listened to the crowds applaud for her. She didn't let it show, but she did enjoy the effects that her singing had on people. She had a naturally seraphic voice and her guardian had been teaching her how to use it for as long as she could remember. It all started when she was six years old and one night her guardian over heard her singing a lullaby that her mother used to sing to her, and upon hearing her vocal gift, he asked her if maybe she would want to learn how to use her voice to make other people happy.

When she said yes, he pulled out all the stops in training her. Voice exercises, special teas to soothe and strengthen her throat, rehearsing and memorizing songs, he was very strict with her on the matter. However he was never stricter with her than he had to be. He allowed her to have plenty of free time and always offered to stop teaching her if she ever changed her mind, but she never did. She grew to love singing and to love the happiness her talent gave people. Granted she was displaying her musical gift at a bardello but a girl had to start somewhere.

Her guardian had said many times that her voice was meant for theaters and operas, declaring that she was too talented and too nice of a kid to be performing in a place of drinking and sex. But she had no desire to become rich or famous. She just wanted to make money to survive while holding on to her beliefs, repay her guardian for his years of devotion, and maybe someday find someone to fall in love with and raise a family. Being an orphan, love and family was something that she yearned for very much, and while the man who raised her had loved her like his own flesh and blood, she didn't expect him to always be there for him. She knew that he had his own hopes and dreams, and she didn't want him to keep putting them aside for her.

"You were magnificent angel face." Gildarts complimented her backstage. "You left them all stunned."

"Thank you Gildarts." She said. "I did my best."

"You're doing better than you give yourself credit for." He said. "I've received countless requests from male customers, asking to spend the night with you."

Eves dropping on the conversation was Minerva, who was once again seized by that dreadful emotion known as jealousy. She didn't think that it was fair that someone like Juvia had so many admirers yet she would never go to bed with them. It made Minerva feel that the girl just walked around acting all innocent and saintly, acting like she was better than everybody else. It made her want to knock that "little angel" down to size.

"Let's see how good she performs after a few drops of this."

From her breast, Minerva produced a small bottle of laudanum and then carefully slipped backstage into the dressing room where she poured five drops of it into the milk that Juvia took with her tea.

"I'm flattered by their interest in me." Juvia said. "But you know where I stand on that subject."

"I know, I know." He said. "I'll tell them you said no thank you."

"Thanks."

"You're on again in an hour and a half."

"I know. I'll be ready. I just need to rest a moment and drink a little tea for my throat."

Minerva was gone by the time Juvia entered the dressing room. She prepared herself some strong yet soothing tea, mixing in one sugar lump and a few dollops of milk. After that she brought the cup to her lips and drank every last drop. When an hour had passed, she started to get ready for the next act but suddenly felt very dizzy. When she stood up her legs wobbled and when she walked she couldn't keep herself straight.

"Wha...What's going on?"

She tried to find Erza or Lucy or someone she trusted to help her, but her vision was so blurry and fuzzy that she couldn't make out anything or anyone she saw. She couldn't even see that she had wondered off from backstage and was being approached by a group of men.

...

Gray's victims for tonight were five business men who ran a secret gang rape operation. They targeted working girls and street walkers because they knew people wouldn't make a very big fuss over them. Some would even be cruel enough to say that women like that had gotten what they deserved. But their last victim had been a single mother willing to go to any lengths to provide for her starving children and the woman's parents wanted justice. It took some time but Gray was able to get their names, faces, their techniques, and their schedules. He knew they'd be here tonight and they would be stalking one of the girls here like a pack of male junkyard dogs would stalk a female pet dog in heat.

"They always direct them into the alley." Gray thought, hiding in shadows and sharpening his switch-blade.

His eyes fell upon the back door of the cabaret and could hear footsteps coming closer. Gray made sure that no one was watching and once the close was clear, he slowly approached the door. One hand was on the knob and one was clutching the weapon behind his back. He opened the door, expecting to first see the men come out and unsuspecting girl following behind, but it was just the opposite.

As soon as that door opened, a girl swooned into his arms and the five men in question were following her. She slowly lifted up her head, which felt awfully heavy, and looked at him with dazed blue eyes. He recognized her immediately as the Rain Angel but she was too out of it to remember who he was.

"Help." Was the only thing she could manage to speak before she passed out against his chest.

"Hey wait your turn boy! We saw her first!" One of the men said in a tone that was both harsh and lustful.

"Just what the hell is going on here?" Gray asked.

"Nothing! We're just customers waiting to be satisfied by her! Now hand her over!"

"I don't think she's in the right state to be satisfying anyone." Gray slid one arm under her legs and lifted her into a bridal hold. "Why don't you go back inside and find someone more awake? Or at least capable of consenting."

"She consented!" One of them lied. "She made us an offer, we paid her, now we want our product."

"For some reason I don't believe that. You'll have to forgive me gentlemen, but I am quite the skeptic."

"Look it's none of your concern what happens to this woman or what we do with her!" The first man spoke. "So drop her, before we lose our composure and somebody gets hurt."

"I see." Gray said. "Well gentlemen, I'm no psychic but I can predict three things that are not going to happen. One, none of you are going to lay a finger on this woman. Two, I'm not going to get hurt. And three, none of you are leaving this alley alive."

"Little shitass punk!"

The first two men moved to pounce on Gray, and he was ready to give them both a good clean stab in the heart but someone beat him to the kill.

Bang! Bang! Two shots were fired right into their heads and when the three men turned around to retaliate, bang! Bang! Bang! Three more perfect shots fired into their brains. Instant death for all five.

"Honestly Gray, did you really think you'd be able to take all five of them with just a knife, while holding an unconscious woman." The shooter chuckled.

"I guess I'm getting a little too cocky." Gray said. "Next time I'll tone it down and use my head."

The shooter who had intervened was Natsu, Gray's longest friend and the only person who knew his dirty little secret. They had met as boys and they bonded over their traumatic losses, their shared dislike of corrupt authority and high society, and later their private lives as criminals. They didn't judge each other for their unlawful tactics and they would take each other's secrets to the grave. However sometimes there certain matters of the other person's crimes that they didn't approve of. Gray didn't like how the mafia just took from other people whether they're innocent or guilty and Natsu was against murder unless it was absolutely necessary. Nevertheless, they kept their dislikes a secret and understood the reasoning behind such ruthless actions.

"So how did you know what was going on out here?" Gray asked.

"I spotted the girl walking around like she couldn't tell heads from tails, and I saw those animals closing in on her, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what was going to happen."

"Thanks for the assistance."

"Don't mention it. So what are you going to do with the little doll here?"

"Well Aunt Ur always said that a proper gentleman never allows a lady to go home alone at night. Problem is I don't know where she lives."

"I do. She lives in the old abandoned opera house."

"I'm sorry, did you just say that she lives in an opera house?"

"An abandoned one. The one at the very end of town, the one rumored to be haunted."

"Haunted?" Gray said skeptically.

"It's just what I heard. Anyway, word on the street is that some freaky hermit lives in there and that he's been looking after her. I don't know if that's true or not but I'd be careful going in there if I were you."

"Thanks for the tip."

Gray then headed toward his car, carefully placed Juvia in the backseat, and covered her with his jacket. Good thing that it was Natsu who killed those men because if Gray had done the job then he would have had to drop off this woman and then rush back to clean up the mess before the cops arrived. In this scenario, Natsu could use his connections to make the crime look like a confrontation gone bad.

The drive to the old opera house lasted only 45 minutes and upon the sight of the building, Gray wasn't sure if he wanted to leave an unconscious woman in there. It was run down, dark, dreary-looking, sturdy but not livable. At least that's how it appeared on the outside. As for the inside, Gray was in for quite a surprise.