Chapter 3: Caught In Magic

"VANNESSA!" a voice cut through the entire gorge. "GET OUT OF THE WAY! YOU'LL GET KILLED BY IT!"

The girl struggled to look up but she whimpered feebly and fell back into the snow before she could see who it was.

"Damn it!" she heard him curse. Before she knew it, the stranger was in front of her. The white Vulcan stopped in its tracks and regarded the man suspiciously, sizing him up.

"Can you stand?" Laxus demanded, his defiant eyes never leaving the Vulcan's.

"I'm sorry but I can't…" Vannessa whispered.

Just then, the Vulcan snarled threateningly, baring its teeth at the mage.

"We have to get out of here now," the man told her, his back still facing her.

Vannessa forcefully pushed herself up, although her whole body had abruptly gone completely numb. Her efforts were in vain and she toppled to the ground again, her legs unable to bear her weight. Without warning, the beast roared and made for Laxus. Before he could react, it was hurled backwards from the force of an unseen shield that was magically constructed by an anonymous mage.

Vannessa's eyes widened in surprise as soon as she recognized who the two unknown people were. Hibiki Laytis and Ren Akatsuki stood before the two of them.

It appeared that Hibiki was the one who set up the shield with his magic. "If my dependable shield weren't up, you two would have gotten yourselves clobbered," Hibiki remarked, winking at Vannessa. "And I wouldn't want anything to happen to that sweet face of yours, Vannessa."

The girl's cheeks turned slightly red and she looked away. Hibiki smirked at Laxus but the other man only shot him a dirty look in response. In no time flat, both Laxus and Ren made quick work of the Vulcan in a tag team match of magic although Vannessa noticed that the two men took every moment to get in each other's way.

I wonder why…?

Suddenly Hibiki swept her up, bridal style. Vannessa uttered a surprised shriek. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, struggling against him. "Let go of me right now!"

"You can't stand on your own right?" Laxus demanded when he came over.

At this, the Slayer grew passive albeit feeling slightly uncomfortable with the idea of Hibiki holding her.

"We'll head for the closest inn out of these mountains," Laxus continued. "We'll let her rest there."

The rest of them agreed to it and began to retrace their steps back.

"We'll take one room please," Ren told the inn keeper, dropping a bag of jewels onto the table.

The woman eyed them doubtfully; her eyes on Vannessa a little longer than the rest of them. The nineteen-year-old felt her gaze but she did not dare look up at her.

"What are you going to –" the woman was about to question the three men when Hibiki interrupted. "We're her brothers, miss."

He regaled her with a charismatic smile and did a slight bow while balancing Vannessa's weight altogether. The Slayer shot Hibiki a filthy look but she did not retort. Laxus too did not seem happy with that notion of being Vannessa's 'brother' but he did not argue.

"My little Vannessa here got injured in the snowstorm, the key if you would please?" Ren said graciously.

The older woman seemed to have been in a trance but she snapped out of it and hastily pressed a golden key into Ren's waiting hand. "Room 403. Uh, do enjoy your stay here."

"Thank you," Hibiki told her and winked at her.

Unable to resist, Vannessa whacked him on the head, playing along by pretending to be bothered by it.

"Hey, watch the hair!" Hibiki snapped.

The girl stuck her tongue out in reply and folded her arms. "Oh, stop being such a flirt, Hibiki."

Laxus smirked. "He was born like that. Must be in his gene pool or somethin'."

The man was rewarded by Hibiki's death glare. Ren tried to mediate between the two while trying to fit the key into the lock. Obviously, doing two things at one time was not a good idea. Consequently, he failed at both tasks so he decided to focus on just one. Fitting the key into the lock.

"There we go," Hibiki placed the girl gently on the bed and started massaging his sore arms.

"Honestly Vannessa, you must have weighed a ton," Ren commented. "Maybe you should start to shake off some of those pounds."

Vannessa flung a pillow in his direction. "I'm the victim here!" she complained. "You guys are just being horrible to me."

Hibiki laughed at her.

"I'll work on her wounds. Ren, you and Hibiki, go get something warm for her to eat," Laxus instructed.

Hibiki was about to argue with him when Ren put a warning hand on his arm and led him away.

Without the other two of the other Blue Pegasus mages, the atmosphere took on a slightly more tensed and awkward touch to it.

"Turn around, Vannessa," Laxus commanded as he set down the first aid kid beside her on the bed.

She stiffened and shook her head stubbornly. "I can do it myself, thanks." She reached out for the first aid kit.

"I said turn around!" Laxus retorted as he seized the box away from her.

"I can do this fine, on my own!" Vannessa argued, frowning, pulling her cloak tighter around her body as she shifted backwards.

The man smirked and sat down in front of her. "I'd like to see you try it sometime." Vannessa glared crossly at him. "Are you making fun of me?" she demanded.

Laxus shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "It's up to you on how you choose to interpret it." He opened the box and began to take out bandages, some Q-tip and antiseptic cream. "Take that cloak off, Vannessa."

Vannessa looked up at him. There was something in his voice which made her obey. She allowed the cloak to slide down her shoulders and turned, her back facing him. The white dress she wore was stained an unsightly red from the blood that oozed out of the huge cut; ripping the delicate material.

"This'll sting a little so try to bear with it," he told her.

As he touched the Q-tip to her broken skin, she winced and a soft whimper escaped her throat.

"You've got one bad cut here," Laxus remarked as he proceeded to dressing her wound. "I warned you, didn't I?"

Vannessa hung her head low, ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry…I should have listen."

Laxus's voice softened slightly albeit uncomfortable. "Don't worry too much about it."

Once he was done, the mage continued to attend to her knee. "You were really silly, did you know that?"

Vannessa pouted and looked at him, indignantly. "Well, I never asked you to save me!" she protested.

Laxus's eyebrow rose as he looked at her. "And you think you could have handled that beast well enough on your own?"

There was a hint of challenge in his voice.

"Hmph!" Vannessa looked away from him and folded her arms across her chest.

He smirked and went on to treat the wound and put a plaster on it. "There we go," he said as he stood up, putting everything back into the box.

Vannessa examined his work. "Thank you, Laxus…"

"It's nothin'," he said quickly.

As if on cue, Hibiki barged into the bedroom.

"Can you at least knock first before coming in here?" Laxus snapped.

The younger mage paid no attention to him and ran over to Vannessa.

"Did that jerk-face hurt you anywhere?" he demanded, as he lifted her arms and inspected them closely.

The twenty-two-year-old stared at him, fixedly in response. "I ain't done nothin' of that sort."

Vannessa smiled at Hibiki and shook her head. "That's right, he didn't, Hibiki."

"That's something I've never heard," Hibiki shot back arrogantly. "He can be a barbarian sometimes."

The Dragon Slayer could sense instantly that this would twist into something ugly, yet again.

Why does it always have to be me…?

Vannessa pushed herself up and stood boldly between the two of them who looked more than ready to tear at each other.

Just then, Ren came back in. "We already have a victim here; I don't need anymore to add up to the equation. That's the reason why math and I just don't match."

Vannessa smiled at him gratefully, for intervening at the right moment. She was glad that she did not turn into a punching bag for the two of them.

The four of them settled down to eat, with Vannessa in the middle of Hibiki and Laxus; Ren sat across from her.

"So, why'd you lie to us back there?" Ren asked her.

The Dragon Slayer almost choked on her stew as she looked nervously at him.

Both Hibiki and Laxus were staring at her expectantly, waiting for her to answer.

"I didn't lie…" she began, trying to choose her choice of words carefully.

"You are a mage, aren't you?" Hibiki interrupted.

Vannessa suddenly felt ill as she lost her appetite. The girl placed her spoon down and licked her lips, unsure of how to go about their questions.

"I-I…" she stammered. "I'm theoretically not one…"

"Then what are you?" Laxus demanded.

"We saw that magic circle and you magic," Ren stated calmly. "You are a Dragon Slayer, aren't you?"

Note from 'moi': Thank you Lexariana, WhereDidYouGo & the anonymous reviewers out there for all the positive reviews and encouraging comments you gave to me! I will continue to bring more action in the following chapters and update at least weekly. XD