Ohhh, things are getting tense now! What's going to happen?
Thanks to everyone who has supplied feedback for my story and to those following me! :D

Hours seemed to fly by and Gajeel not PantherLily still couldn't think of a solution to their predicament. If they had but some way to contact Makarov it would make things so much easier. "Can't we find a communications lacrima and use it to contact Master?" PantherLily asked.

Gajeel shook his head, "Ivan is too paranoid to just leave lacrimas lying around his guild. They have a communications room but I'm sure it's guarded and there's always someone in the room."

PantherLily lowered his head, "I see, that would be a bit of a problem." It seemed that no matter what the attempted to do would blow their cover and failing their mission.

Gajeel was starting to feel a bit confined in this room so he decided to step out. PantherLily went with him. No way was he going to hang around this creepy room any longer than he had to.

The pair walked around the Raven Tail guild to familiarize themselves with the layout of the guild and to how many members were active at this location. Gajeel also made note of any people guarding certain areas. They passed by the guild's communications room as Gajeel guessed it there was someone in the room at all time and several security lacrimas placed about the room. And even though it didn't look like it from the outside there was always one or two members that kept an eye on the room at all times.

"It seems that he has a lot of secrets that he has yet to tell even you to have this much security for one room" the Exceed pointed out. Gajeel nodded in agreement to his partner's inquiry as they continued on their way.

As they walked Gajeel could only wonder how Levy was doing down in the lower level.


Levy laid there on the cot in her cell and thought about Gajeel. She wondered if he would have confessed his love for her if the current situation was different. Would he still confess if she wasn't caught and they were back in Magnolia? She sighed and tried to stop thinking about him but it seemed the only thing that kept her strong for now. She then wondered if he would take her on a date when they got home. The thought of this made her giggle.

For hours she laid there, her mind wondering until she heard someone approaching her cell. She reached for the knife and hid it under her dress in case it was Flare. The door to her cell opened up and three people entered her room. It was Nullpudding along with two other guild members. "The time has come fairy. Master Ivan will require your services soon" the short man said grinning.

Levy crossed her arms and looked at him sternly. "I already told him I wasn't going to help that man with anything!" she yelled out.

Nullpudding shook his head, "Now that is a shame, considering you have no say in the matter!" he said and with a snap of his fingers the other two mages went over to Levy and grabbed hold of her, pulling her out of her cell.

"Now be a good girl and we won't have to get rough with you" the short man said as one of the mages twisted her arm. Levy screamed out in pain as the Raven Tail mage stopped. "I think we have an understanding now, yes?" Nullpudding asked as they walked down the corridor.

Levy remained silent as they took her up the stairs. She didn't know what was going to happen next but she could feel herself getting nervous. She only wished that Gajeel was here.

The Raven Tail members took Levy up several slights of steps and into a room behind two large double doors. In the middle of the room was a large desk with several shelves about the room filled with books and scrolls. It looked to be some sort of library for the guild. Nullpudding led Levy to one of the chairs and made her sit. "Since you will be here with us for quite a while Master Ivan decided that you needed a more suitable place for you to work" he said grinning.

Levy scowled at the mage. Even though it was nice to be in a room with windows for a change she didn't like the idea of her staying her much longer. She looked at the desk and could see blank pieces of paper, a pen and some ink all set up. He must have kidnapped her so she could decipher something for him...but what?

"Enjoy your stay, fairy" Nullpudding said as he left the room, leaving the other two guild members with Levy as guards in case she was to try anything funny. Levy eyed the two mages who took post next to the doors. She sighed and laid her head on the table. She wondered if Gajeel was nearby now that she was out of that cell.


Gajeel and PantherLily were heading back upstairs to their room to compare notes and think of a plan when they were stopped by a Raven Tail member. "Master Ivan requests to see you in his office" the guild member said. Gajeel nodded as the man turned and left quickly.

"What in the hell does he want now?" Gajeel muttered.

PantherLily turned to Gajeel, "You don't think that he got the Grimoire already, do you?" he asked.

"I don't see how. No one has shown up around here lately" Gajeel said as he clinched his fists. He only hoped that he was right. Just before they reached the top floor PantherLily jumped off his shoulder. "I'm going to go back to our room and compare our notes. I'll try and think of something while you're dealing with him" he said.

Gajeel nodded and handed him some small pieces of paper. He watched as PantherLily walked down the hall and disappeared into their room.

The dragon turned and continued walking up the stairs to the top level where Ivan's office was. As he walked down the hall he couldn't help but feel worried. Things weren't going exactly the way he and Makarov planned. He reached Ivan's office, knocked on the door and entered. "You wanted to see me, Master Ivan?" the dragon asked as closed the door. The guild master was standing next to the usual window and looking out it with his hands behind his back. He turned and looked at Gajeel.

"Yes, I did Gajeel. Everything is going according to plan. My Grimoire shall be in my hands shortly and soon I will have the power to crush my father and his pathetic guild!" he said with a huge maniacal grin on his face.

Gajeel clinched his fists rightly. Damn, he was too late. There was no time to come up with a plan. He and PantherLily will have to play it by ear from now on.

"I have already arranged for fairy-chan to begin deciphering the book in a more comfortable spot" he said as he turned back to the window.

Levy was no longer in her cell? "Damn, she could be anywhere in the guild now" he thought. Finding her would be more difficult unless Ivan takes her to him first. Gajeel was deep in thought trying to think of where Levy could be that he didn't hear anything Ivan was saying to him.

"Gajeel...did you hear a word I said?" Ivan asked with an eyebrow raised. "For someone who wants revenge on Fairy Tail for disbanding your former guild you seem very quiet."

Gajeel had been so deep in thought that he didn't hear what the guild master was saying. "Oh I am Master Ivan...believe me I am" he said trying to fake a grin.
Ivan slowly turned his head back to look out the window, but still questioned Gajeel's behavior. But none of that was of great concern at the moment as a smile appeared on Ivan's face. "Ahhh, I see they've arrived" he said.

What? Gajeel walked over to the window and stood next to Ivan, looking out and seeing in the distance two figures approaching. As they got closer Gajeel could see that they were wearing cloaks. One was a short scruffy looking guy with shabby hair; the other had the hood pulled up over his head and something under his arm. No doubt that they were the ones delivering the Grimoire to Ivan.

Gajeel glanced at Ivan who was smiling widely as the two men got closer to the guild. When they were just outside the gates they stopped and looked up. They could see the guild master in the window, but they couldn't see Gajeel.

The two cloaked people nodded and the short one spoke, "I believe we have something of yours, Master Ivan!" he shouted out. The hooded man held up the object that was under his arm...it was the Grimoire. Gajeel started to sweat when he saw it because deep down he had this feeling that he had failed his mission. But suddenly the book burst into flames as it burned up right before Ivan's eyes.

The guild master's eyes grew wide as he could not believe what he was seeing. "What is this meaning of this?! You dare betray me?" he shouted to the two figures as Gajeel backed up some. He had never seen Ivan this upset before; he could feel the rage coming from him. Gajeel moved back to the window and looked out as much as he could.

The hooded man threw off his cloak to reveal Natsu standing there with the burnt book in his hands. The short man suddenly changed into Mirajane as she took her cloak off. "I don't think you'll be using this book anytime soon!" Natsu said as he book crumbled in his hands and the ashes fell to the ground. Mirajane pulled out a signal flare and launched it into the air that was soon followed by several small explosions.

Gajeel couldn't believe what he was seeing as his eyes grew wider. "What the hell is going on?" he mumbled as Ivan backed away from the window. Gajeel watched as the two mages made a dash for the entrance which had been blown open. So this was Makarov's plan all along? He must have found out what Ivan was after and then found the ones who would be bringing the Grimoire to Ivan. Gajeel was thinking it would have been nice if he had let him in on what was going on somehow.

Gajeel could feel a horrible aura behind him as he turned around to see Ivan was now standing right in front of him. "I thought you said my father knew nothing about any of this Gajeel. I would hate to find out that you knew about this all along Gajeel" the guild master said angrily, looking down at the dragon.

"I swear, Master Makarov told me that he wasn't aware of Levy's disappearance or what you were up to, Master" Gajeel said. He, like Ivan, was just as surprised by what just happened outside. "How could I have possibly known about this?"

Suddenly there was a lot of commotion outside in the hallway. Gajeel walked over to the door and opened it to see Raven Tail guild members scrambling downstairs. Before he could close the door he suddenly felt a very painful sting in his back that made him want to drop to his knees. He felt something on his hand and raised it up to see blood...his blood. Gajeel's eyes widened as he looked down to see the tip of a dagger sticking through his side. He turned around slowly to see Ivan standing behind him, grinning.

"It's not that I don't trust you Gajeel, but just let this serve as a warning to those who betray me" he said. "Plus we can't have you returning back to my father's guild unscathed now can we?" he said as he laughed.

Gajeel gritted his teeth. He wanted to kill Ivan but before he could even move the guild master was suddenly engulfed by shikigamis, circling around him rapidly. Gajeel held his arms up to guard himself but there were so many of them. The shikigamis soon disappeared, along with Ivan. His plan had failed so the guild master escaped while he could. Gajeel looked at his arms to see them scratched up from the shikigamis, but they were nothing compared to the tremendous pain from the dagger that was lodged through his side.

"Fucking bastard" he muttered as he made his way to the doorway. He stopped and leaned against the doorframe, trying to reach around his back to try and pull the dagger out. He couldn't get a good grip on it and every time it moved in him it sent a sharp pain all throughout his body.

He stumbled into the hallway and fell against the wall and then to his knees. He looked up to see PantherLily floating towards him who took on his battle form once he reached Gajeel.

"Gajeel, what in the hell happened to you?" he asked as he saw the dagger in the dragon's back. He carefully helped his partner back up to his feet.

"That damn bastard Ivan...he suspected me for a moment when Mira and Salamander showed up and destroyed the Grimoire" he said as he coughed up some blood.

PantherLily was shocked by what he just heard, "Natsu and Mirajane are here? Then that must mean Master Makarov and some of the others are here. That would explain the explosions I heard" the Exceed said. "But where is Levy?" he asked.

Gajeel wiped the blood from his mouth and looked at his partner. "I have an idea of where she might be...but first, pull this damn thing out of my back!" he said.
PantherLily nodded as he gripped the dagger tightly and yanked it out of his friend's back. He looked at it for a moment; it was covered in the dragon's blood. He dropped it to the floor and looked back at Gajeel who was trying to stand up straight now that the thorn in his side was gone. "You better patch that up to stop the bleeding" PantherLily said.

Gajeel unraveled the scarf around his neck and tied it around his waist. "Come on, Lily. Let's find levy and finish this" he said sternly.


Levy continued to sit in the guild's excuse for a library as the two men watched over her. She was wondering how long she was going to be here like this, but at least she was out of that cold, dark cell for now. She began to fiddle with her shackles some when one of the guards ordered her to stop. She placed her hands in her lap and looked down...waiting.

Suddenly there was a loud noise that sounded like an explosion that came from outside. Levy almost jumped out of her chair when she heard the noise, startling her half to death. She looked towards the doors as the two guards, who were shaken by the noise, threw open the doors and looked out into the hallway. "It must be Master and the others" she thought as a smile came across her face. "Grab the girl and take her back to her cell!" one of the guards said as he watched over the room. The second guard made his way over to Levy and grabbed her arm.

"I don't think so!" Levy shouted as she pulled the out the knife Gajeel gave her and started slashing at the mage. She landed a few hits on him with it but it distracted him long enough for her to run up to him and knee him in his stomach. The mage hunched over and fell to the ground. Levy stood there proud of herself, but only for a moment as the other guard saw what was going on. "You bitch!" he shouted as he made his way towards the bluenette.

Levy was ready to protect herself when there was another explosion; this one feeling like it was from the inside. The guard was knocked to the ground and Levy took the opportunity to flee from the room. She looked around and found a staircase to her left and ran towards it. Suddenly the room she was just in exploded into flames, the blast from it knocking the bluenette off her feet and slamming her into the wall before she could make it to the staircase.

Slowly Levy opened her eyes to find herself lying on the floor, surrounded by rubble and debris. Her head was in a lot of pain as she rubbed her forehead. The bluenette looked down at her hand and saw blood. She must have hit her head pretty hard in that explosion. Levy tried to lift herself up to her feet but her body gave out as she fell back to the floor. She looked down and saw that her leg was caught under a large piece of debris. She was trapped until help could get to her, if help got to her.

"Hurry...Gajeel" she said before she closed her eyes and fell unconscious.