"Shrimp! Ready to go?" Gajeel asked, pounding loudly on door of my room. We had—luckily—been able to find a small inn with two rooms available for the night after we had eaten at the pub. I knew that if we'd been forced to share a room that I wouldn't have been able to sleep a wink. Gajeel wasn't modest, and he only slept in his boxers. Both facts making it very difficult to sleep if we're in the same room.

"Ready!" I called, slipping on a pair of black hiking boots over my green leggings. I wore a yellow tank-dress over them, and a matching ribbon to keep my bangs out of my face. Grabbing my red travel bag, I headed out the door.

We returned our keys before heading in the direction of our client's home. The mayor lived in a grand house, the outside painted a perfect white. It was pretty easy to find, being the largest house in the city.

I knocked on the door, smiling when a tall man in a black suit opened the door. "Hello. I'm Levy McGarden, and this is Gajeel Redfox. We're wizards from Fairy Tail, responding to the mayor's request of eliminating some dark guild wizard."

"Ah, yes," the man nodded, opening the door and ushering us inside. "Please, follow me. Mayor Don will meet us in the study."

I gazed in awe at the beautiful home as we walked up a flight of stairs and down several hallways. The inside was decorated with grand sculptures and beautiful paintings. Tapestries hung from the walls, and rugs from other countries lined the floors.

"This place is incredible," I whispered to Gajeel, who was looking around as well.

He turned to me with a frown. "It's creepy as hell, is what it is. Something about this place feels off."

"How so?" I asked.

Before he could answer, we stopped in front of a set of large wooden double-doors. The man leading us knocked on the doors, opening them when a voice called from the inside for us to enter.

"Wizards from Fairy Tail are here, sir, responding to your request."

"Excellent, William, thank you. Bring some tea for our guests," Mayor Don said. He was sitting in a chair behind a large desk, the back to us so we couldn't see his face.

"Very well, sir." William gave the mayor a quick bow before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Welcome. Please, have a seat." Mayor turned the chair as he spoke, and I had to suppress a gasp of shock. The mayor was no taller than Master Makarov, and was probably just as old. His white hair was pulled into a tight ponytail at the nape of his neck, and he had on an entirely white suit. He looked almost like a ghost with all the white, and I had to scold myself for thinking so rudely about a man who was going to hire us. I elbowed Gajeel in the side when I heard him snicker, and knew he'd had the same ghost thought I'd had.

The two of us took a seat on the white sofa, and I offered the mayor a smile. "Hello, Mayor Don. My name is Levy McGarden. This is Gajeel Redfox. We came from Fairy Tail in response to your request. If you could, would you tell us more about this dark wizard, and about all of the disappearances?"

He folded his hands on top of the desk, letting out a long sigh. "It all began just a couple of weeks ago. A wizard in a cloak appeared, using some sort of strange magic to destroy a few homes on the edge of the town, and then disappeared with a young woman who lived in one of them. Since then, he has returned every few days, using the same sort of strange magic and taking another citizen. So far, four have been taken.

"I'm not sure why he is taking them, or what he is using them for, but he must be stopped. The citizens live in fear that they will be next, and many have left the city, refusing to come back until the wizard has been captured."

"Can you tell us what type of magic he was using?" I asked. "Did you see what it looked like?"

"Like I said, it was very strange," he told me, shaking his head, "but that's all the more information I can offer you. At first glance, I thought perhaps it was fire magic, because that was how he destroyed the homes during his first visit. However, the second time he appeared, dangerously strong winds were used to destroy more homes. Since then, he has used water and even the very earth itself to swallow up an entire house."

I frowned, pondering what type of magic would allow a wizard to control all those things. It could be maker magic, though he would have had to have mastered several different types to achieve enough control over them to destroy homes.

"Did you ever see his face?" Gajeel asked.

Again, Mayor Don shook his head. "He always wears a cloak when he comes."

"Hmm," Gajeel frowned, looking deep in thought.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, it could be more than one wizard," he said. "That would explain the different types of magic."

"It could," I nodded, considering it. If they had never seen his face, it could be very likely that it was more than one wizard attacking. To Mayor Don, I asked, "do you know what guild he belongs to? Or perhaps what his guildmark looks like?"

"I'm sorry," he told us. "I'm afraid that is all I know about him. I'm not entirely sure he belongs to a guild, to be honest with you. Most wizards that powerful usually belong to one, so I just assumed he did as well. If it were several different people, it could be the work of an entire dark guild, I suppose. But if it's just one man, perhaps he doesn't belong to one."

"Sir," William knocked on the door before coming inside with a tray of tea which he sat on a coffee table in front of us. "Please enjoy your tea."

"Thanks," I smiled.

Mayor Don waited until he had gone before continuing, "I'm sorry I can't help you by offering any more information. I do know that he hasn't shown up in nearly three days, so he'll be coming soon. I suspect tonight, though I can't be sure. Please, you're both welcome to stay here until you capture him, since it may take a couple of days. I would be happy to have you."

"Thank you for the generosity," I smiled, bowing my head. "That would be very appreciated, Mayor Don."

"It's settled, then," he nodded. "I'll have William escort you to the guest room. I suspect you'd like the rest of the evening to come up with a plan, so feel free to make yourselves at home while you do. If you need anything, William will be available." He rang a little bell, and William immediately came into the room.

"Yes, sir?" He asked.

"Escort Miss McGarden and her companion to the guest room, please," Mayor Don said. "They will be our house guests while they are completing my request."

"As you wish," William nodded. "Please, follow me."

"Thank you again," I said, bowing to Mayor Don before following William up another flight of stairs. He led us to a room at the very end of the floor's main hallway, and opened the door.

"Please call on me if you require anything," he told us before disappearing down the stairs.

"Wait, we can't…share…a room…" I trailed off, knowing he was already too far away to hear me.

"I don't know," I heard Gajeel chuckle from inside the room. When I went in after him, I found him lying on the bed, grinning. "I can't say I'd be upset if that dark guild guy didn't show up tonight. This bed feels like I'm lying on a pile of cotton."

"We're supposed to be coming up with a plan to capture him," I frowned, trying not to take notice that the room only contained one bed—and that we were supposed to share it.

"What's there to plan?" He asked, sitting up so he could frown at me. "When he shows up, I'll kick his ass. Then we'll get him to take us to the citizens he kidnapped, and possibly the dark guild he's a member of. It's a pretty simple job if you ask me."

"Gajeel, he is powerful enough to destroy entire houses. We shouldn't be taking him lightly."

"That's nothin'," he scoffed. "I've taken down nearly an entire city before—and that was without trying. I think I can handle some dark guild weakling alone."

I sighed. "If this job is so easy, why did you want me to come along? You could have handled it yourself, right?"

To that, he frowned again. Before he could answer, I shook my head. "Forget it. I'm just trying to figure this wizard out, and it's frustrating me. Don't bother with what I said."

"Levy—"

"I'm going to go look around the city for a while," I told him, heading out the door. "I saw a bookstore on our way here that I'd like to check out."

"I'll come with—"

"I can handle walking to the bookstore alone." I rushed down the stairs and out the front door without waiting for a response. I wasn't sure why I was so annoyed.

"Quit lying to yourself, Levy," I sighed, adjusting my bag as I walked, "you're annoyed because Gajeel said he didn't need you." He had practically forced me to go on the job with him, and then had told me he could handle it alone—without me. "If he didn't need me, why did he force me to come in the first place?" Foolishly, I had gotten my hopes up, thinking there had been some special reason he'd brought me along. It seemed the reality was that he really had only brought me along to make up for hurting my feelings. While I appreciate the effort he's making, I don't want him to do things like this just out of guilt. I want him to want me to come along on jobs with him. And I want him to want to spend time with me.

Again, I sighed. "Yeah right, Levy. Keep dreaming."

~Gajeel~

"What the hell was her problem?" I growled, staring at the doorway where Levy had disappeared just a few moments before. She'd acted like I'd done something wrong, but I couldn't figure out what it could have been.

"Is she really that mad that we have to share a room?" I wondered, figuring that was the only thing it could be. I'll tell her I can ask for a different one if it bothers her that bad, I thought to myself, deciding to go after her.

"Shrimp, wait up," I called, spotting her blue hair among the evening shopping crowd.

"Gajeel?" She asked, looking surprised to see me. "Why are you here?" For some damned reason, that question, added to her surprised look, really annoyed me.

"Where the hell else would I be?" I snapped. "You're my partner on this job, ain't ya? And there's some crazy dark guild wizard out there kidnapping people, so I'm not about to leave you alone." I folded my arms over my chest, frowning down at her.

She returned my frown, turning away from me and marching up the street. "I can take care of myself. I don't need a protector, Gajeel."

What the hell did I do now? "I'm sure you can, but I ain't takin' the chance, Shrimp. Like you said, he's probably pretty powerful."

"And like you said, I can handle him alone," she retorted.

"Alright," I growled, grabbing her arm and spinning her around. "What the hell's your problem? Ever since we were shown to that guest room you've been all irritated. If it bothers you that much that we've got to share a room, I'll have the old man give me a new one, alright? So don't get so mad about—"

"I'm not mad about the room," she snapped, attempting to shake me off but having no chance against my grip. "I'm mad because you brought me all the way out here, and then told me you didn't need me. And then you didn't even get why saying something like that might make me angry!

"I'm not angry about you not wanting to share your past with me. I never was, honestly. I had just hoped we'd become close enough that you'd feel comfortable opening up a bit, but I was wrong. That's not something you need to feel guilty about, so you don't have to go out of your way to try to make up for something that was my fault to begin with. If you think we're just comrades, then that's fine with me. I can live with that. What I can't live with is you trying so hard to make things right between us when there was nothing wrong. Especially when you obviously don't need or want me here."

"Who the hell said I didn't want you here?" I snapped, cutting in before she could continue.

"You did," she frowned. "You don't want my help on this assignment, so I don't know why you brought me to begin with—" she paused, understanding suddenly flashing in her large hazel eyes. "Lily made you bring me, didn't he?" She asked.

I felt myself stiffen at the question. How the hell am I supposed to answer that? If I say yes, it'll just convince her that she's right. And if I lie to her, she's going to get even more pissed off. Damn it! Why the hell is this woman so complicated?!

Resigning myself, I sighed. "He did, but that doesn't mean I didn't want you to come. I asked you to go on the job with me in Magnolia because I meant it, and then Lily abandoned me at Dee's to make sure I talked you into going with me. The job was my idea though, so he didn't really make me."

I stiffened again when she suddenly burst into laughter. I released her, completely at a loss. "What's so damn funny?"

She shook her head, the laughter fading. "Gajeel Redfox, taking orders from a cat," she giggled, "that's definitely a new one."

"Ah, shut it," I growled.

She sighed, her gaze falling to the sidewalk below her feet. "I'm sorry, Gajeel. I just don't want you to feel like you have to make up for something, alright? If you don't think you need me here, then I can go home—"

"If you keep runnin' off the mouth, that bookstore of yours is going to close before you get there," I growled, grabbing her hand and dragging her down the street. She had it stuck in her head that I was doing this out of guilt, but I really wasn't. Although I couldn't explain it, I wanted her there with me. And the thought of her thinking I didn't caused a weird feeling to swirl around in my gut.

Damn. What the hell?

"Gajeel?" I turned to Levy when she said my name, and the air all left my lungs at the smile on her face. "Thanks."

I couldn't respond, unable to form any coherent words. Instead, I faced forward and continued walking, very aware all of a sudden of her hand in mine, and of the hammering in my chest as my heart threatened to jump clear out of it.

A loud boom caused both of us to stop walking and spin around, looking for the source of the explosion. "There!" Levy shouted, pointing to a cloud of smoke that was rising above the other buildings, coming from the southern-most area of the city.

"Let's go," I said. She nodded, taking off after me towards the smoke.

"You think it's him?" She asked as we ran.

"Probably." I hoped so. I was suddenly full of energy, and really needed somewhere to release it. Preferably someone.

We finally came to the source of all the destruction, and shoved our way through the fleeing crowd of citizens as we rushed to find the cloaked dark wizard. He had completely taken out an entire building already, and was probably hidden somewhere in the smoke.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!" I shouted, blowing away the annoying cloud, hoping to expose him or flush him out of his hiding spot. "Quit hidin', ya dark guild bastard!" I shouted, still unable to spot him.

"Over there!" Levy said, pointing to the path leading away from the city. The cloaked wizard was carrying a young woman over his shoulder, running down the path. "We need to cut him off before he reaches the mountains." About three miles down the path, it disappeared into the mountains. If he made it there, we'd definitely lose him.

"Can you put up a wall?" I asked.

"Yeah." She lifted her hand, a white light coming from the end of her two pointed fingers. "Solid Script: Wall!" The word formed in front of the cloaked wizard, blocking his path.

She gasped when he pulled what looked like a dagger from his cloak and sliced through her magic, not slowing down as he continued fleeing with the woman.

"Solid Script: Chains!" She shouted, throwing the word at him. The chains wrapped around him, causing him to drop the woman to the ground as he stumbled forward. Once again, though, he cut through them with his dagger.

"Iron Dragon's Club!" My arm turned into an iron rod, extending ahead of us and hitting him before he could grab the woman again. He kept running, abandoning the woman, as we almost reached him. Levy went to the woman while I continued after him, growling when I realized we had almost reached the end of the path.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!" He dodged my attack, slipping into the mountains before I could reach him.

"Damn it!" I growled, his scent lost in all of the smells coming from the mountains. Knowing it wouldn't help just standing there, I returned to Levy.

"No luck?" She asked, attempting to lift the unconscious woman off the ground.

"No," I sighed, throwing the woman over my shoulder and heading back towards the city.

"Damn," she said.

"Yeah."

"We'll just have to try again. Whoever he is, he didn't get what he came here for, so he'll be back soon."

"And we'll be ready for him," I grinned.

She nodded. "For now, let's get her to the hospital, and then return to Mayor Don's house to rest and come up with a plan. We tried it your way, so tomorrow we're going to try it my way."

"Fine," I agreed. Let's hope whatever we come up with works and we can actually catch him.