Chapter 10
"Lady Levy, who are you?" Levy could feel the tension in the room grow. All the people in the room looked at her accusatorily.
"I told you I am a member of court in Pergrande Kingdom and have grown up with Princess Lucy and Erza Scarlet. My parents were murdered by orders of King Jude and Mest Gryder was who introduced me to the Inner Coup," she said again. There was adrenaline beginning to course through her body urging her to run but she was glued to the spot. I can't panic now, Levy thought.
"How do you know your parents were murdered?" Jura asked.
What? That was the last question she expected him to ask. "I-I don't know. Mest was the one that revealed to me the information," she said.
"Why do you believe him?"
"Because I do, because I-" why had she believed him? "Because I knew it, I felt I had… known all along," She was losing control of the whole situation and now she was so close to talking about her family, her name, her burden.
Jura stood and walked towards the girl. As he approached, Levy felt she was suddenly in the presence of a giant oak tree. That was the feeling he gave her. It was such a familiar feeling. An image of a sunny day under the shade of a giant tree came to mind. A blast of pain shot through her temple.
"Lady Connell, who are you?"
She looked down at her boots, her head throbbing. In her mind she saw Mest, Jet and Droy during one of the last times they were all together. They had been at the stables after going for a ride. Jet and Droy had been their usual goofy selves all morning but something in the conversation had changed the mood toward a serious, sad one.
She couldn't remember now what that had been but all she heard was Mest's voice saying to her: Your name has so much more meaning than you realize Levy. She sighed and looked at Jura with resignation and dull ache.
"My name is-" but before she could say another word her communication lacrima began to sound. Hero Mest again to save the day, she could barely contain her relief. At the other side of the room the man named Gajeel had taken hold of it.
"Answer it," Jura asked. Levy could see barely make out Mest's outline in the image before she heard his voice.
"Levy, Lev- where is she?" he asked menacingly.
"Mest Gryder, I presume," Jura returned to Gajeel's side and took the device.
"Yes. Who are you and where is she?"
"Right here," he pointed the lacrima at Levy. "We appear to be in a sort of predicament Lord Gryder. We can not corroborate her identity."
"Of course you can't. Neither side of this effort has any connection or communication. If it wasn't for the fact that there were dragon-slayers involved we could doubt your position too," Levy wanted to punch the man. Now they would really believe she did spy! What was he doing?
Gajeel strode to Levy, grabbed her by the nape of her neck and pushed her forwards. "So you confirm this girl is some sort of damn spy."
"Take your hands off her! You idiots, King Jude already suspects those who took Princess Lucy captured to be dragon-slayers," he said.
"What?" There was a sudden commotion in the room, almost everybody present having something to say and ask. His grip on her neck only tightened and Levy cringe in pain.
"Quiet," Jura boomed. "How does he suspect?"
"Tell that pierced savage to release her," Gajeel let her go.
"It seems you either overlooked telling your men to hide their magic or they didn't do a good job at it. When your party came for the kidnapping, Jellal Fernandes and his team, which I am sure you are aware of, confronted them. There were few instances when he identified an unusual form of magic but kept it hidden thinking it must have been a mistake. When the investigation began Erza Scarlet was put in charge, she dug out every rock and most likely interviewed every single person in the town," Mest sighed. "There was eyewitnesses we couldn't have accounted for that saw your three men use magic. With magic banned, anyone seeing it would no doubt have little effort in noticing and recollecting it. The descriptions of the magic used varied in location, type and time during the attack but Erza dutifully reported what she learned. The council with the aggregate reports began voicing their concerns and… fears," Mest finished. Levy was always at awe at the information he gathered but was more surprised she hadn't learned any of it. Never asked either, she thought.
"That's impossible, we were careful," Laxus said.
"Not enough. I myself haven't seen the reports Erza filed but Jellal Fernandes is sympathetic to our goals and is somewhat in league with the Inner Coup. He confided in me what he saw once the rumors broke out about the nature of the attackers. There are three instances throughout the battle that gave you away. Jellal said 'impenetrable skin as if skin was made of iron, certain swords were destroyed corrosively as if poisoned, and some report seeing lightening eyes. Those were the three things he reported being seen that caused him to question."
Levy watched the reaction of the men in the room as they looked at each other. Cobra and Laxus were implied clearly as having revealed their magic while the last had been the iron dragon-slayer. The image of his piercings glinting in the moonlight as he held a knife to her throat resurfaced. The man named Gajeel had to be iron dragon-slayer.
"Well way to go you idiots! You were all caught!" the smaller blonde said.
"I understand there's much to fear and doubt about who she says she is but Levy is worth more to you alive. Her death or injury puts would only prove to be deadly for both our causes. She is who she says she is and is an invaluable asset to the Inner Coup. To prove her and myself, I can continue to provide you with information that will be valuable to you. For example and the reason for my contact is Erza knows you're alive Levy. She's currently on her way to PuertMont, apparently there is a lead of your whereabouts there," Mest said.
"How long ago?" Levy asked.
"This morning. She will be there by tomorrow, can she follow your trail from there?"
"Undoubtedly, if she manages to find out what I purchased, which I am sure she will, Erza will suspect one of two things. That I was taken hostage and forced to purchase supplies since Laxus didn't step near the town or that I am working with them. Knowing her she will believe the first and would want proof to believe the second," she said.
"I agree. Your involvement has been kept hidden very well. She won't want to believe it," Mest and Levy began interacting normally, as they always had when discussing plans. Talking to him despite the situation she was in made her feel safe, as if he could somehow protect her from whatever dangers were ahead of her.
"No she won't. Are Jet and Droy with her or Jellal?" she asked.
As the two continued the conversation Gajeel began to feel irked and his anger was tipping to a boiling point. They had been caught and were already suspected of being slayers from day one and here they were listening to shorty girl and her boyfriend discuss strategy as if they were not even here. He was about to say something when he felt Lily's paw on his shoulder.
"They seem to be working out a strategy that will help us. If Erza Scarlet follows them here they will decimate your uncle's estate," he whispered.
"Alright, I need you to keep in touch. I will no longer be your point of contact," the girl finished.
"Seems good to me. Now, where are you and what is your name?" he asked Jura.
"My name and my whereabouts are unimportant at the moment. I will make contact tomorrow," Jura disconnected.
This whole time Jura had been pondering how it was that this astonishing hand had fallen on his lap. Regardless of what the girl wanted, he had to contact and bring the council together. The news of the dragon-slayers already being suspected, who she was and the possibility of working with the Inner Coup all garnered a meeting. He turned to look at her once again.
"Lord Neekis, I would like to know how Princess Lucy is doing. Is she alright? Is she safe?" she asked.
"The princess is safe. She was transferred to Fiore and is staying at a safe house under the supervision of Makarov Dreyar and some of his mages," Jura answered walking back to his desk.
"Dreyar? Lord Dreyar? Are all the member of the council of the West well-known lords?" she asked.
"Hide in plain sight," Jura said motioning for her to sit in front of a table close to the window to the left of room. Levy slowly walked towards it and saw maps displayed below her.
"Juvia, would you please prepare one of the guest rooms for her?" Jura asked casually.
"Of course, Juvia would be happy to," she slowly made her way out, shutting the door quiet behind her.
"We need to set up a meeting with the council Lord Neekis, as soon as possible. Ezra Scarlet and her team have been dispatched to find me or at least find my body and although there are a few members in her team that answer to the Inner Coup, Erza is relentless. She will not stop until she finds something," Levy paused.
"In that time it would be… most prudent, if we find a cohesive why to cooperate at this decisive time. I have knowledge of Jude's most recent strategy, at least until I was taken. He will either strike here or here at the weakest borders now that he has a chance or he will sit back and wait. Whichever, we need to be ready," her tone was even.
Gajeel looked at the girl and suddenly decided the girl had a backbone. Having just engaged in the earlier dialogue, being taken at knifepoint, locked up, and now talking strategy like none of that had happened.
"That will not be possible here. I must send notice to Makarov and the rest of the council. If a meeting does happen it would most likely take place in Minstrel or Fiore," he said.
She was the splitting image of Lenore, down to the hazel eyes but her personality, the strategy talk, was all Alexander. Hearing her discuss business brought back images of him and Alexander having a stiff drink late at night in his study during the beginnings of the war.
"Alright, then we should move as quickly as possible. I mean it when I say Erza will not stop. If, or I should say, when she realizes I have crossed the border that will force Jude to do something about it. We need to use this time wisely," she reasoned bring him out of his reverie.
"I agree, we will leave in a days time for Minstrel to the port town of Anis. There we will cross the sea to Fiore. That should give the council more than enough time to decide where they would like to meet and time to get there," he said.
"Great, good. Thank you Lord Neekis for your support," Levy smiled. Things were moving along, now she just had to ignore the throbbing in her temple and the ache in her heart.
"Gajeel, take her to one of the guest rooms. I'm sure you'll bump into Juvia on the way," he said.
"Come with me," Gajeel and Lily said as he walked past her and out the door.
Before following Gajeel and the exceed out the door, Levy shot Laxus a look he was still trying to understand. He had seen the way she switched her demeanor but the look in her eyes took him back to the days when Tariante had disappeared, or worse, when his father betrayed them. He could ignore the pang he felt in his chest.
First real Gajevy interaction up next! How do you think it will go? Please please review, thank you for reading!