Grimm Fairy Tail
Chapter Seven: The Gnome
The sky was blue, the grass was green, and the four Fairy Tail mages were all together in a clearing bordered by an apple tree orchard. They were shaded from the mid-day sun by the thick apple trees that were burdened heavily and hung low with lush, red apples.
"Apples," Levy said thoughtfully as she tapped her chin. She paced around the edge of the tree line. "Snow White, maybe?" she asked, looking towards Lucy.
Lucy shook her head. "I don't think so. It was just the one apple. The one the evil queen poisoned. And I always pictured it as being green, but maybe that's just me," she said with a shrug. She squinted into the distance. There were no great towers jutting out from the top of the forest, no swarm of harpies flying towards them in the sky, nor any obvious monsters. "This is something different."
"I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted," Gajeel said. He laid down on the grass under the shade of one of the taller trees. "Turning into a werewolf was tiring." He glanced over at Gray. "You want to stand guard while I nap. Wake me in an hour or two?"
"Yeah, sure," Gray agreed. "I guess turning into a werefox was less exhausting than a werewolf." He leaned his back against the base of one of the trees. "You ladies can sleep too, I'll watch over everyone."
Lucy sat down beside him, her arm brushed his as she leaned against the same tree. "We'll do shifts of two. It's safer that way." She groped at her belt. The keys were still missing. Even if she was tired, she couldn't possibly sleep without having the keys at her side.
Levy and Gajeel went to sleep fairly quickly under the cool shade of the thick trees.
"You okay?" Gray asked, concern in his voice. He lifted his arm and allowed Lucy to snuggle against his side. "You can sleep, I'm not tired."
"My mind is spinning right now," Lucy confessed. "My keys are still missing and I think my hormones are amiss from that temporary pregnancy." She pressed her left palm over her flat belly. "They were here and then they were gone. I know it wasn't real, but it felt real."
Gray squeezed her tighter against him and pressed a kiss to the crown of her golden head. "I know it's not the same as what you experienced, but I'm saddened by their loss as well," he said quietly.
A bright light shown before their eyes and Loke in his dark suit and shades and Virgo in her maid outfit and chains appeared in the clearing. Loke shook her keys in his hand and frowned down at Gray and Lucy together by the tree. Virgo rushed to Lucy's side.
"Princess, thank the heavens you're alright!" Virgo exclaimed. She kneeled in front of Lucy and bowed her head to the ground. "My apologies! When you four left the castle grounds your keys were left behind. Aquarius and I gathered them before we journeyed back to the spirit world. Leo was only now able to bring us to your side."
"What happened after we left?" Gray asked.
"What's going on?" Loke demanded at the same time. "Get away from my mistress, icicle!"
Gray released his grip from around Lucy's shoulders and stood before Loke. His dark navy eyes menacing. "Where were you when she called for you? When Lucy requests the assistance of one spirit over another, it is for a purpose! You sent Virgo in your place so you could go on a date?" He shoved Loke hard in the chest and the Lion spirit stumbled back a step, but didn't fight back.
"Gray, it's okay. It all worked out," Lucy said quietly. She was a little bit grateful now that Loke hadn't been the one to arrive. What would the Lion Spirit have done if he saw that Lucy was pregnant by Gray? She reached for Virgo's hands and the pink-haired spirit looked up to meet her eyes. "What happened after we left the story?"
"After you left, the story went still. Only Aquarius and I were able to move. The Water Bearer believes the book is feeding off of you. Using the emotions it can create from the four of you gives it power," Virgo explained. "Fear and love are very powerful emotions."
Loke looked back and forth between Gray and Lucy with a suspicious glint in his eyes. He reached up and adjusted his glasses with his free hand. He moved past Gray and kneeled in front of Lucy to hold the keys out to her. "I apologize for not coming when you called for me, Lucy. It was selfish of me and I won't do it again. Virgo came to me as soon as she returned and explained the situation. I was unable to find you until now."
Lucy accepted the keys and secured them on her belt. It wasn't that she didn't believe Loke's intentions, but he'd made a similar promise to her before when he sent Virgo in his stead while he was on a date. It was a promise that he broke when she called for his help in the Rapunzel episode. "We were in a story before this, I wonder that you weren't able to find us," she said.
"Maybe they can only enter some of the stories," Gray suggested. "Or maybe time works differently here."
"Time works different in the spirit world, so that's reasonable," Loke said. He glared at Gray with narrowed eyes. "What's this about Lucy being pregnant? Aquarius mentioned something about that."
Of Aquarius would rat her out. The foul tempered mermaid seemed to find pleasure in creating conflict. "The stories are manipulating our reality," Lucy explained.
"Who was the daddy?" Loke growled.
"Rapunzel's prince," Lucy answered primly. "Are you here to stir up trouble or are you here to help?"
Loke's shoulders relaxed. "Help," he said on a sigh. "What exactly happened? How are you inside of a book?"
"Levy brought an enchanted book into the Guild Hall and it sucked the four of us inside of it," Gray answered. "We're just going through the stories, hoping the next one will be our way home."
"What book is it?" Loke asked.
"Grimm's Fairy Tales," Lucy answered.
Loke's eyes grew wide. "There are hundreds of stories in that book!"
"There are two hundred and eleven stories," Levy corrected. She sat up and brushed back her blue hair. "I should have run a scan over the book before I ever opened it," she said biting down on her lip.
"You didn't know, Levy. I'm just glad you didn't try to open it on your own," Lucy said, offering her friend a reassuring smile. "I can't imagine what would have happened if only you had been drawn inside the book."
"Most likely, she'd have died. I'll see if I can go to the Guild Hall and see this book for myself," Loke said. "Try not to lose your keys again, Lucy."
"I didn't lose them intentionally. The book changes our clothing in each story. It didn't let me bring the keys, but I did keep my whip," Lucy explained.
"I see," Loke said with a frown.
She unhooked the keys and held them out to the Lion Spirit. "Maybe you should have them for safe keeping."
Loke shook his head. "No, if you lose them again, I'll retrieve them. No one else can use the keys with your contracts." He didn't point out that the contracts were null and void upon her death.
"Princess, if you need me, don't hesitate to call," Virgo said standing and bowing at her waist in respect.
"Gray, can I talk to you privately?" Loke asked.
OoO
Gray followed Loke deeper into the apple orchard and out of earshot of the others. Gray's arms were folded over his chest as he stared down his closest friend in the guild. For years, he and Loke had been good friends. During that time he never realized that Loke was in fact a celestial spirit and he still felt a little betrayed by the omission. "What did you want to talk about?" Gray asked.
"You and Lucy. What's going on?" Loke said, cutting to the chase. "Were you her prince in this Rapunzel story?"
"As a matter of fact, I was. We didn't have full control over our actions, but the feelings were there. The story just acted upon them," Gray explained.
"You and my Lucy?" Loke asked, choking on the words. "I knew you liked her, but I cannot allow you toy with her like this!"
"Why do you assume I'm toying with her? You're the ladies man, not me," Gray pointed out. "What Lucy and I have is something I don't fully understand yet, but trust me, I'm not about to screw it up." He pointed his finger at Loke. "You figure out how to get us out of this book. I can't go through this two hundred plus times." He gripped his hand over his right pectoral. "My heart can't take it. Do you know what it's like to have children created and then have them snatched away from you? This book feeds off of our emotions — fear, loss, happiness, despair."
Loke held up his hands apologetically. "Okay, okay. It's just, she's my mistress. She saved my life from total oblivion. And you're my best friend. I worry."
"I'll keep her safe, you find a way to get us out of here," Gray said, his voice calm. "And keep Natsu away from the book. The last thing we need is adding him to the mix." If the book fed upon emotions, Natsu had a way to get everyone Fired Up. They didn't need to give the book any more power. And he wasn't about to turn his current relationship with Lucy into a competition with the Fire Dragon Slayer.
OoO
"How am I supposed to sleep when you're all making so much racket," Gajeel complained. He sat up and yawned. His dark red gaze drifted to one of the apples hanging low. "Hey, Levy? You hungry?"
"A little," Levy confessed.
Gajeel stretched out his arm, using iron magic to reach the apple and plucked it from the branch. He offered it to Levy first. "Ladies first."
"You're such a gentleman," Levy said taking the apple. "Lucy, do you want some?" she called over her shoulder. Lucy shook her head and continued her conversation with Virgo. Levy bit into the lush, red apple. She closed her eyes to appreciate the savory juiciness. She handed it back to Gajeel and he took a generous bite. "It's good," Levy said after she swallowed. The ground beneath her feet began to quake and the earth swallowed her. She plummeted down a dark shoot that seemed to stretch forever. She was too scared to scream, the sound stuck in her throat. When she landed and opened her eyes it was to total darkness. She took a deep breath. "Solid Script: Light!"
The light barely made a dent in the darkness of the underground. She was in some sort of cold, damp cavern.
Gajeel fell from above and landed right beside her in the underground. He shook his head and groaned. "What just happened?"
"I believe we just ate from the forbidden apple tree and were transported deep inside the earth," Levy explained.
"Okay, how do we get out of here?" Gajeel asked. He ran his fingers along the walls of the rocks about them. "There's a lot of iron ore in this rock."
"We have to face off against a trio of dragons," Levy answered.
Gajeel's eyes lit up. "Really? Honest to goodness dragons? Three of them?" He pumped his fist in the air. "All right! I'm Fired Up!" He grinned at her. "I just hate that Pantherlilly isn't here to partake in the fun."
"Solid script: Iron," Levy said, creating a large quantity of iron. "In case you're needing a recharge."
"Thanks," Gajeel said. He started to devour the iron letters. "It's hard looking for someone so small, so stay by my side, okay?" he asked. He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. "Let's find some dragons to slay!"
They began to creep down the long, dark passageway. The only light provided by Levy's solid script light spell. Gajeel grabbed Levy's hand and pulled her alongside him. From the shadows a small gray man-like creature darted away from them.
"I believe that's one of the gnomes," Levy whispered.
"Should I kill it?" Gajeel asked. He formed a trio of Iron Dragon's Kunai and gripped them in his free hand. He could easily strike the stout little creature.
"No, we might need its help to get out of here," Levy whispered. She pointed ahead to a series of three giant doors. "The dragons should be in there."
Gajeel stood in front of the first door and released Levy's hand. Part of him wanted her to remain at his side where he could keep her safe. The more logical part of his mind wanted her far away from the dragons he was about to kill.
"Take these," he said handing Levy the kunai. He turned to the first door and eased it open. Inside the chamber, an enormous dragon with nine heads stood in the middle. A petite blonde girl in a princess gown brushed the scales of one of its heads. He stepped inside and allowed his Iron Dragon's Scales to cover the entirety of his body.
It wouldn't be fair to attack the dragon while it slept. Gajeel took a deep breath and cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "Hey! It seems to me you got too many heads! Let me help you out!" Gajeel shouted.
The princess screamed and Gajeel rolled his eyes. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Now would be the time for you to get out of here." The princess scrambled away from the head she was brushing and ran for the door behind Gajeel.
The great dragon stirred, eighteen yellow angry eyes stared down at him. Two of the mouths opened up and a stream of hot fire spewed out of its mouths. Gajeel jumped nimbly out of it's reach. A third head swooped towards him with teeth snapping at his heels. Gajeel flipped and landed on the back of the dragon's neck. His right hand transformed into an iron sword and he sliced the first head off. It fell to the stone beneath his feet and slithered in open-mouthed agony. Gajeel barely avoided razor sharp fangs, it scraped against his arm, but his iron armor deflected the brunt of it and shattered the dragon's teeth.
"More than you asked for, eh?" Gajeel smirked. Another two dragon heads charged for him, ice shooting from their mouths. Gajeel evaded and the dragon ended up hitting one of it's own necks and froze it. Gajeel formed a kunai with his iron magic and threw it at the frozen neck, shattering it and severing the second head.
"How are you doing?" Levy called out nervously through the door. The princess stood still in terror at the door.
"Seven more to go. You might want to get the princess out of here though!" Gajeel warned. He ran his sword through another neck and severed a third head and then a fourth.
The door opened a crack and Levy quickly pulled the princess outside. Gajeel waited for the door to shut and then he stood with his feet braced apart. "All right, let's finish this. Shall we?"
The remaining five heads lunged towards him at once. Gajeel jumped high into the air and swiped his extended iron sword across all their necks, severing the heads. The dragon's body collapsed to the ground. Dark reddish-black blood oozed over the ground and Gajeel stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
"Is it over?" the blonde princess asked. Her bottom lip quivered and she grasped Levy's arms in a vise grip.
Gajeel glanced down at the base of the door where the dark blood began to spill over into the hallway. "One down." He turned to Levy. "Two more?" he asked eagerly. He couldn't wait to return to the guild and rub in Natsu's face that he'd slain more dragons than the Fire Mage. His stomach rumbled angrily.
"My sisters are trapped with the other two dragons," the princess confirmed. "Will you save them?"
"Of course we will," Levy reassured her. "Are you okay?" she asked Gajeel her dark eye wide in concern.
"A little hungry. I used quite a bit of energy in there," he admitted.
"Solid Script: Iron," Levy said, creating Gajeel's favorite magic fuel.
OoO
Lucy watched in astonishment as first Levy, and then seconds later Gajeel were sucked into the ground. She stood abruptly and picked up their discarded apple. Virgo was at her side and they both peered down at the untarnished grass. How had they been transported into the earth without disturbing the ground?
"What's going on?" Gray called, rushing towards them. Loke was at his heels. "Where are Levy and Gajeel?"
"They ate from this apple and then some curse pulled them into the earth," Lucy explained. Was this one of the stories? There were so many, but she didn't remember this one. You'd think you'd remember where eating a cursed apple got you sucked into the earth!
"Are you going to go after them?" Loke asked. He crouched down and ran his hand over the smooth grass. "There's no evidence of them being pulled into the ground."
"Except we saw it," Lucy said. She turned to Virgo for support.
"Yes, Princess, we saw it," Virgo said. "If I may, I can dig a hole and bring you to them."
"Whatever you do, be careful. I'll head back to the Guild Hall and see if I can figure anything out," Loke said. He popped out of sight and vanished from the story.
Lucy dropped the apple. "All right, Virgo, make us a pathway."
OoO
Levy had two frightened princesses on her hands. Gajeel had destroyed two of the three dragons. The first had nine heads, the second five heads, and they now faced the largest of the dragons. While the final dragon only had four heads, it was massive compared to the others. The third and last princess brushed the scales on the largest of the four heads while the other three snapped at Gajeel viciously.
It seemed resistant to his Iron Magic. His attacks hardly scathed the beast.
"You two stay out in the hallway. I'm going to help save your sister," Levy told her two charges.
"But what can you do? You're but a girl?" the oldest of the princesses scoffed.
"I will defeat this dragon," Levy vowed. "Now, do as I say." She shut the door behind her, securing the two princesses on the other side of the barrier. Gajeel danced out of the way of the snapping jaws of the four-headed dragon. Levy started to create a rune spell. The head in the princess' lap fell into a deep sleep and the princess scampered away and Levy ushered her into the hallway. Now, the princesses were safe and they simply had to defeat the last of the dragons.
Levy continued casting her rune spell, but this time she focused her magic on Gajeel. She rewrote reality to suit her purposes and she created a diamond armor around Gajeel capable of defeating even the most sturdy of foes. He managed to slice off three of the heads. The fourth sleeping head, the main head, remained. It began to awaken from its slumber and lunged for Levy.
Gajeel rushed in front of her and the dragon's sharp fangs bit into Gajeel's shoulder. His arm was coated in blood and he grimaced painfully. The spell Levy had cast about him had faded leaving him vulnerable.
"No," Levy gasped. She forced herself to focus on combining her rune and solid script magic. She'd practiced the technique, but had never been successful. "Rune transform Solid Script: Diamond Sword!" A diamond sword appeared in her hand. "It worked," she wondered aloud before she brought the sword in a wide arc and sliced off the final head of the dragon.
Its jaw released from around Gajeel and the creature crumbled to the ground. Gajeel stumbled and Levy caught him, both falling to their knees due to his weight.
"You saved me," Gajeel panted.
"Always," Levy promised. She brushed her hand across his sweaty brow. "I've got to get you out of here," she murmured. She looped her arm around Gajeel's waist and slung his arm over her shoulders.
"Wait," Gajeel whispered hoarsely as she began to open the door.
"What? I've got to get you somewhere I can treat your wounds," Levy worried.
Gajeel reached for Levy's face, his hand bloody and sticky as he touched her chin and turned her toward him so that they were nose to nose. "You're a dragon slayer now," he said with a smirk. He pressed his lips against hers and then passed out.
Levy chuckled to herself in near hysteria. Her first kiss and the guy passed out in her arms.
OoO
Lucy held a torch in front of her as she, Gray, and Virgo walked slowly through the underground caverns. Off to her side she spotted movement within the darkness. "Did you see that?" she asked.
Gray shot out a wave of ice magic in the direction of the movement. A high-pitched voice cried out. "Hear it too," he confirmed. He grabbed Lucy's free hand and they ran together toward the ice-imprisoned creature. He released her hand and held both of his up in a defensive manner.
Lucy brought the torch near the miniature creature and it cringed against the light so she angled it away to cast only a soft glow upon the subterranean being. It was gray skinned and humanoid. "You're a gnome," she said in wonder. She remembered a story where a gnome tricked a trio of brothers that were on a quest to save a trio of princesses that were trapped beneath the earth under guard by dragons. It was the only story she remembered in the great book about gnomes.
"Well aren't you a bright princess," the gnome grumbled. "All you people do is interrupt my business. We're just mining for precious stones and gems and you come and interrupt! Where are the princesses? Where are the dragons? How do I defeat the dragons? How do I get out of here?"
"We were just looking for our friends," Lucy explained.
"See!" the gnome accused pointing a finger at her in annoyance.
"Have you seen them?" Gray demanded.
"What will you give me if I tell you?" the gnome bartered. "What could you possible have that I want?"
"I'll unfreeze you and you won't die in a tomb of ice," Gray offered. He began to create more ice and the prison at the gnome's feet began to creep up past its waist and towards its chest.
"Okay! Okay!" the gnome cried out in a high shriek. "Two humans passed this way recently. They killed the three dragons and freed the princesses." The gnome began to giggle. "But now they will die because there is no way out of here!"
"Uh huh," Gray said, causing the ice to inch up farther. "And which direction would they be now?"
The gnome pointed a shaking finger in the opposite direction of them. "There."
Lucy kneeled before the gnome so that she was eye-level with the ugly little creature. "We thank you for your help. Go in peace."
The creature smiled, its teeth wicked and sharp. It reached out to touch a strand of Lucy's hair. "We like gold. If you lose your way, we might just keep you golden locks."
Lucy stood up abruptly, nervous by the greedy, possessive gleam in the creature's dark eyes. "Let him go," she said to Gray.
Gray's posture was stiff as he struggled to control his temper. He didn't like the creature so close to Lucy nor the threat. "It will melt within the hour," Gray promised leaving the ice prison intact.
The sound of three young girls chattering drew their attention. The trio hurried down the pathway and found Levy with a barely conscious Gajeel and three young women wearing gowns that were more rags than dresses at this point.
Gray rushed over toward Levy to help support Gajeel's weight. "This is pretty bad," Gray commented examining the wounded side he now held up.
"Princess, I'll create a tunnel and get you all topside," Virgo promised Lucy. Moments later she created a tunnel and had the entire group standing just outside of the orchard of apple trees.
"Come! We'll take you to our father the king! He will reward you!" the eldest of the princesses promised. "We have excellent healers for our champion." She looked down at Gajeel and sighed happily. "Surely, father will reward him by offering one of us as his bride!"
"No thanks," Gajeel murmured. "Ain't got no use for a princess." He tightened his arm around Levy's shoulder. "I could use some of that iron you like to make me though."
"Of course," Levy agreed. She created iron with her solid script and Gajeel consumed it hungrily. His color began to return to him and his health improved remarkably within moments. "Sometimes, I forget just how remarkable Dragon Slayer Magic really is."
"I'm not surprised," Gray said stepping away from Gajeel now that the Iron Dragon Slayer could stand on his own. "I've seen Natsu near the brink of death and then eat an enormous amount of fire and seem like nothing was ever amiss."
"Princess, I must return. Is there anything else?" Virgo asked apologetically to Lucy.
"You've done well," Lucy said reaching over and hugging her maiden spirit. "Thank you, Virgo." Her celestial spirit servant smiled happily and then vanished in her arms.
"You're a princess?" the eldest of the princesses asked in a haughty tone.
"She's my Rapunzel," Gray said, reaching for Lucy's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. He turned to the trio of princesses. "How about we escort you ladies back to your father? We wouldn't mind beds for the night so that we might rest."
"We shall have a grand celebration!" the youngest of the princesses declared.
Next Chapter: Rumpelstiltskin
