A/N: Hey everybody! This is my first Fairy Tail fanfic, so I hope you all like it! The language I used as the "draconic" language is actually Irish/Gaelic. I chose it because I love the language and thought it sounded so ancient and other worldly. I 100% do not mean offense by using this language, but if anyone wishes, I can change it.
Now, onto the story!
"Thanks again for letting me come over to work on this translation, Gajeel!" Levy smiled up at the iron dragon slayer as they walked along the streets of Magnolia. The day was just beginning with a cheerful blue sky and bustling streets.
"Yeah, yeah. You'll probably get a lot more done not having to listen to Salamander and that half-naked ice freak fight half the day away."
Levy laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right. Did Lily stay behind?"
Gajeel nodded. "He said he wanted to train with Erza. As long as he doesn't come home too tired for our training session tomorrow!" He growled and shifted the weight of Levy's book bag on his shoulder.
"You don't have to carry all my books if you don't want to," Levy said, looking guilty.
"Please," Gajeel rolled his eyes. "If I had let you carry 'em, we'd still be right outside the guild."
"Hey!" Levy protested, still smiling. "I've gotten a lot stronger since I've started training with you on the weekends. Admit it."
"Ghi-hi," Gajeel smirked at the blue-haired bookworm. "I'll admit it when you beat me in a fight, short stuff." Though she was getting stronger. He noticed the muscles in her arms had become more defined. And her legs. And her butt. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep the blush from rising up as he thought of all the times he'd straight up stared at Levy's ass while they were training. Thankfully, she appeared not to notice.
When they got to his house, Levy wasted no time in getting her books from Gajeel and spreading them out on the coffee table.
"What are you translatin' anyways?" Gajeel asked as he plopped down onto his arm chair.
"You might know it," Levy said cheerfully. "It's an ancient form of draconic. Though not one I've ever seen before. Draconic languages are so different from human languages; there's even a legend that says a human can't ever know more than one draconic language at a time!"
"Well, I never learned to read any dragon language, but if you spoke some, I might be able to recognize it," Gajeel said. He loved hearing Levy talk in different languages. It was one of the sexiest things he'd ever seen her do and he felt a rush of pride for her when she started speaking in languages other than English.
"I wouldn't even know where to start with speaking this one," Levy sighed as she flipped to the page where she left off. "It's complicated enough to read, let alone pronounce out loud." She looked up at him. "Though your house is way quieter than the guild hall. I think I'm gonna get a lot done now." Levy smiled as she rummaged through her bag and brought out a small green book. "This book might help me out a bunch. The man who gave me the assignment gave this book to me too and said it might help me with the translations."
Gajeel, who had flopped down onto his armchair, wasn't quite paying attention to the book, but looked over when Levy opened it and started to read, he noticed the pages starting to glow. Somehow, she didn't notice; her eyes were glazed over, like she was in some sort of trance.
"Oi, Lev-" He didn't get to finish his sentence before there was a blast of magic from the book that knocked Levy back.
"Levy!" Gajeel was on his feet in an instant. The book's glow faded, but he kicked it closed anyway, before it could do any more damage. His stomach dropped when he saw that Levy was unconscious. What the hell kind of spell was in that book anyway? He thought wildly as he dropped to his knees and crawled over to the fallen Script mage. With his heightened dragon senses, he heard her heart beating steadily and her breath rising and falling shallowly, almost as though she were asleep. He breathed out a sigh of relief. She was alive.
He sat up and stared at her. Aside from the fact that she was unconscious, she didn't have any marks or anything on her, which he guessed was good, though with book spells, who knew? As he looked at her, he gained a sudden appreciation for just how small she was. Gajeel was used to being bigger than Levy, but damn if she didn't actually look pint-sized. He gritted his teeth thinking about marching down to her client's place and beating the ever-loving shit out of him. That bastard had a lot of explaining to do, giving Levy a cursed book.
"Levy?" Gajeel put a hand on her shoulder and jostled her a little. With a jolt of relief, Levy began to stir. "Lev, can ya hear me?" He put a hand on her cheek. "Come on. Open your eyes for me, Shrimp."
Levy's hazel eyes flitted open and she groaned. "Cad a tharla?"
Gajeel's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What?"
"Cad a duirt tú?" Levy's eyes grew wide.
"Lev, I can't understand a word you're sayin'." Gajeel shook his head and put his hand under her back to help her sit up. "Didja bang your head when ya fell?"
"Ní fèidir è seo a bheith ag tarlú. Cèn fáth nach fèidir liom a thuiscint leat?" Levy was speaking rapidly now, tears now sparkling in her wide eyes. She brought her hands to her mouth, now looking white as a sheet of paper. Gajeel couldn't make head or tails of the words coming out of her mouth, but he hated seeing her in such a panic.
"Oi," he said, taking her hands so that she looked at him. He took a deep breath in then slowly blew out. Levy did the same and seemed to calm down. Gajeel grinned. Of course she'd catch on. Levy gave him a small smile before casting her gaze over to the small green book. Gajeel reached over and gingerly picked it up, making sure the pages stayed closed.
Levy's eyes narrowed as she took the book from Gajeel. She opened it carefully and, upon seeing no bright lights emit from the book, studied it intensely.
"Ní thuigim," she muttered, running her fingers across the pages. "Cèn chaoi a bhufil an litrithe briste?"
Gajeel felt totally lost. How the hell was he supposed to help her when he couldn't understand what she was saying? He couldn't even understand the language the damn book was in. He resisted the urge to pound his fist against the floor; Levy had enough to deal with without him piling on his unhelpful anger too.
While she read, Gajeel stood up and went into the kitchen. At least he could make her comfortable while she figured out how to break the spell. He filled a glass with water and brought it back to her.
"Go raibh maith agat," Levy said when he handed her the glass.
"You're welcome," Gajeel said automatically. The two grinned at each other.
About an hour of silence passed as Levy read through the small green book. She suddenly shut it loudly, making Gajeel look up and raise his studded brow. Seeing him look, Levy pursed her lips and tossed the book over to her others.
Never seen her throw a book before. She must be really frustrated. Gajeel thought, watching as Levy crossed her hands over her chest, her eyes staring furiously at the books before her. It was like watching cogs in a machine whir faster and faster.
"Bealtaine chríochnú chomh maith aistriúchán seo," Levy said before catching herself and looking at Gajeel helplessly with an anguished look on her face. "Tá brón orm," she heaved a heavy sigh. Gajeel put his hand on her head and petted it in what he hoped was a reassuring way. He got up and brought her the book she had been translating before as well as her notebook and pens.
"Be right back," he said as he wandered back into the kitchen. It had been a while since he'd eaten and he had no idea when Levy had last gotten some food, so she'd probably feel better after having something in her stomach.
He made a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and grabbed a couple of apples as well as some bits of scrap metal for himself in a separate bowl. When he returned to the living room, he found Levy hard at work, writing down the translation so fast that her pen looked blurred. Maybe that green book really was supposed to help her translate the larger text. But then if that was the case, the client should've just read the damn spell himself instead of giving it to Levy.
As much as he hated to interrupt her when she was translating (he'd done it before and she'd snapped at him with a ferocity that would make a dragon proud), but he could hear her stomach rumbling from the kitchen. He tapped her on the shoulder.
"Lev, time to eat," he set down the plate of sandwiches on the coffee table and she nodded, blushing a little when her stomach growled again.
"Go raibh maith agat," she said, smiling brightly as she took a sandwich.
"You've said that one before," Gajeel thought out loud as he chewed. "I'm gonna say it means 'thanks' since you say it so much," he grinned at her. She shrugged, but smiled back all the same.
As the two ate their lunch, Gajeel racked his brain for ideas for how to break the spell on Levy. The best way was to take her back to the client who gave her the book and demand he explain how to undo it. If that didn't work, then…well…he wasn't too sure what to do next. Maybe Porlyusica or Fried might know how to help her out.
After he had gulped down his sandwich and bits of metal, he grabbed one of her notebooks. He turned to the back and gestured tearing out the one piece of paper. Levy nodded, watching curiously as she nibbled the crust off of her bread.
Gajeel ripped out the page, careful not to upset any other pages and started to draw out his plans. Granted, he was not the best artist, so his rendering of the two of them going to the client's house and beating him up looked more like irritated faces attacking a stick with squiggles. It seemed to have gotten the message across, though. Levy's eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously, making her azure hair flop about.
Gajeel frowned. If he couldn't beat up the guy who cursed his favorite bookworm, then what good could he possibly do?
Levy swiftly took the pen out of Gajeel's hand and began drawing as well. Unfortunately, hers was not much better than his. Gajeel worked hard to hide a smirk as the stick figures handed over a rectangle and appeared to haggle with the other wiggly stick figure on the page. When she finished, she pointed to her drawing and nodded fiercely.
Gajeel shrugged and nodded. It was her assignment and her client. If that was how she wanted to handle things, he'd go along with it. Not like he'd have to be happy about it or anything. Though if he stood behind her and glared enough, the guy might really know he meant business.
About another hour passed and Levy closed the big book she had been working on. "Ar deireadh, tá sé déanta," she sighed tiredly. "Anois, tá sé in am a thabhairt ar an fear píosa de mo aigne." She said firmly as she packed up her supplies.
"What you said," Gajeel stood and picked up her book bag. Levy looked at him, a mixture of confusion and amusement mingling on her face.
The doorbell of the client's house rang out loudly. The door slowly opened and an elderly man with thick glasses and a cloud of white hair opened the door.
"Ah, Miss Levy! You're done with that translation already? That's an entire day ahead of schedule!"
"Cén fáth go raibh tú a thabhairt dom an leabhar? Go leabhar glas thug tú dom go raibh a curse. Anois, is féidir liom labhairt ach amháin an teanga seo! Conas is féidir liom a shocrú é?" Levy words flew rapidly from her mouth, the blush rising in her cheeks, her eyebrows pulling together in her worry.
"Oh dear," the old man frowned. "Come in, come in," he gestured for the both to step into the foyer and they followed him into a sitting room.
"Now, what happened? Uh, maybe it would be best for you to explain?" The old man pointed to Gajeel who pulled the green book out of the bag.
"When Levy opened this book of yours, it cast some kind of spell on her," he growled. As angry has he was with this client of Levy's, he found it hard to be too angry. He was an old man, who clearly didn't know what the green book did. "And now, she can only speak this language. I'm guessin' it's some kind of ancient draconic or somethin'. I can't figure it out. So how do we break the spell?"
The old man's eyes widened behind his enormous spectacles. He looked at Levy sadly. "My dear, I'm so sorry. I had no idea that would happen. But…" he sighed. "I have no idea how to break that curse. That book's been in my family for generations- I only wanted to use it to look up information on the other book I gave you."
Levy still looked confused and turned to Gajeel, her hazel eyes wide. Gajeel shook his head sadly, hating how it increased Levy's panic. His dragon senses heard her heart speed up, her breath hitch. Even though they weren't speaking the same language, he recognized those signs anywhere.
"Ach ... Ní féidir liom a choinneáil ag labhairt teanga seo! Ní féidir liom a thuiscint le duine ar bith ... agus is féidir aon duine a thuiscint dom ..." Her eyes became glossy and she swallowed hard.
"I'm so sorry for all the trouble I've caused," the old man said sadly to Gajeel. "I will triple the salary I promised. I know it won't help much, but I know she's a smart girl. She'll find a way to break this spell. I'm going to destroy that book, or make sure it never sees the light of day again." The old man took the books and Levy's assignment from Gajeel. He gave Levy a check for the payment and apologized again.
"I wish there was more I could do," he said sadly as they stood to leave.
Once they were out the door, they began their walk back to Gajeel's house. Though he was unburdened by the bag of books, his feet felt heavier than ever. Damnit! There had to be some way to break the spell on Levy. How could he call himself a dragon slayer if a stupid spell was giving him a run for his money.
Hm. Maybe there was an idea there…He looked over at Levy and saw her wiping tears away angrily. He put a hand on her cheek to catch the tears on that side that fell. The Script mage looked up at him, eyes watery and so full of sadness.
He gave her a small smile, one of the ones he reserved only for her. He hoped it was enough to reassure her. Levy sniffed a little and took Gajeel's hand, returning his smile with one of her own. As they walked, he rubbed his thumb along the back of her small hand, no words needed to comfort the bookworm.
When they returned to his house, he sat her down on the sofa and went to grab one of his books written in draconic. He put it in her hands and pointed to it. She looked at him, confused at first, then her eyes opened in full understanding.
Levy opened the book and her eyes poured over the words, just glancing for a moment, then her eyes glazed over and the pages started to glow, just like they had when Levy opened the small green book from before.
Levy dropped the book which thudded loudly onto the floor and collapsed onto the sofa. Gajeel kneeled down so he was level with her and stroked her face.
"Lev?" He whispered as she scrunched up her eyes. "Hey. Can you hear me? Open your eyes, Shrimp."
For the second time today, relief washed over him as Levy's hazel eyes opened she looked confused for a moment, then said slowly, "Say that again."
"Say what again? Open your eyes?" Gajeel grinned at her. "So you can understand me again?"
Levy laughed and wrapped her arms around Gajeel's neck. "Yes! Yes, I can understand you!" She gave him a kiss on the cheek, too caught up in her own relief to be embarrassed. "How did you know reading another type of draconic would cancel out the one I was speaking?"
Gajeel shook his head, wrapping his arms around her. "I didn't. I just remembered what you said before about humans only knowin' one type of draconic at a time. I figured it might work."
"Well, I'm glad you thought of it," Levy said, pulling away and sitting up. "Though I think we did a pretty good job of communicating without words too."
"Yeah, but I wouldn't wanna go back to it," Gajeel said. "I missed hearin' ya talk. In English, at least."
Levy looked up at him, eyes sparkling with joy. "Thank you, Gajeel." She sat up and, without a moment's hesitation, kissed the iron dragon slayer. Levy had only just pulled away when Gajeel pulled her right back, crushing his lips against hers and holding her tightly to him. Though they could speak to each other again, there was no need for words when it came to matters such as this.
A/N: Please review if you wish! It's been such a long time since I've written fanfiction, but I hope it was okay all the same! :)