DISCLAIMER: FAIRY TAIL AND ALL OF ITS CHARACTERS BELONG TO HIRO MASHIMA AND NOT ME. THE ONLY THING I CAN CLAIM IS THE PLOT AND THE OTHER CHARACTERS.
This chapter was actually a part of Chapter 9, but I split them in half since there was too much stuff going on in one chapter. :D
Summary:
When Levy invites Lucy and Natsu on a mission to translate wall carvings from an ancient temple, they accidentally invoke the "Trials by Nature", a series of tests that an ancient tribe used as a way to initiate members into adult hood. They must conquer the twelve basic animal instincts, while trying to reign in the feelings that the trials invoke in them.
...
Gajeel was antsy.
And he didn't like feeling antsy.
According to Loke, who'd come into the temple covered in leaves and looking a bit disgruntled, Levy and Lucy were gonna stay at the cenote for another hour before disappearing in a flash of light. He could smell their scents on him so he knew he was telling the truth, no matter how much it irritated him that he'd touched Levy.
Except now, their hour was up.
Had been for 10 minutes, and they still weren't back.
He leaned back against the wall, irritated that they'd had yet to make an appearance. He and Natsu had already cleaned up their work for the day, and this time it was for good. They were thankfully leaving tomorrow morning. Minus the day and a half walk to get back to town, and the two day trip back by train, they'd be back in Magnolia with about a day and a half to get the hell out of dodge and locked up before the full moon signaled a final farewell to their sanity for the night.
After that night, according to what Metalicana said, their minds will slowly release themselves from the Dragon's influence during a period of three days. They would have control, but their actions would be heavily instinctual; Aggression, excessive touching, and needing to be close to the object of their desire were just to name a few of the symptoms that Metalicana had warned him about. That, and what he could find out from reports during his time at the Magic Council.
He'd never admit it to anyone, but what he found terrified him. He used Metalicana's information to track incidents involving Dragon Slayers around a specific time and date throughout the years, and he'd never forget what he found.
Hundreds of deaths caused by Dragon Slayers, a good chunk of the victims being Dragon Slayers themselves. Numerous cases of women being stalked and even raped, and to those who were luckier, a high number of births were reported. There were lesser incidents as the years passed on, no doubt thanks to the ending of the War. There were more than plenty of casualties; Human, Dragon, and Slayer alike during that time. Now the incidents were practically non existent, being that there were barely any Dragon Slayers left, but that didn't mean the risk was gone.
He frowned. It'd be a lot safer if they were isolated and locked up as tight as can be. No excuses, no exceptions. The first night, he surmised, would be absolute hell. They absolutely couldn't have any access to their magic, but as things wore on it would get better, but they would still have to be confined. He figured they'd have to go to Master Makarov for assistance, something he'd no doubt give to avoid anyone getting hurt. He just hoped that neither woman found out, or came looking for them. If anything, maybe Master could just say they went on a mission together or something.
Yeah right.
That didn't sound believable at all.
His thoughts were interrupted when Natsu himself came in with some kind of funky looking book in his hands. "Where the hell did you get that from Pinky?"
Idly flipping him off, Natsu opened it to look at the pages, which seemed to be made of wood. "Found it in the Honey Room. I think its a cookbook."
"Oh yeah? And what gave you that idea?"
Natsu showed him the pages, which seemed to have pictures of food and runes burned into them. "See?"
"Why are the pages made of wood?"
The pink haired man shrugged. "Either they didn't have paper or it was because the wood lasts a lot longer."
Gajeel's eyebrows rose a bit in surprise. He'd definitely made a good point.
When the hell did he get so smart?
"They didn't get back yet, huh?"
Gajeel snapped back to the present and took a moment to realize what he said before answering. "Nah, not yet..."
Natsu frowned, his eyes flashing red before tucking the book under his arm and using the other to cover his mouth and nose with his scarf. He inhaled deeply a few times as his eyes closed, before finally letting it go to fall back in its place around his neck. When he opened his eyes he saw Gajeel looking at him with poorly disguised horror. "What the hell was that all about?!"
"None of your business rust bucket."
"Oh, its my business alright. Something hasn't been smellin' right since whatever happened last night, and now your eyes are flashing red and you're sniffing your scarf like it was dipped in catnip. Talk. NOW."
He sighed, before running a hand through his pink hair. "Look, I just got...frustrated, that they weren't back yet alright? Its no big deal."
"It IS a big deal if the Dragon in you is actin' up. I'll get to your sudden scarf fetish later. What the hell happened last night?"
The younger man was glaring at him for the scarf comment but then he grinned, and Gajeel didn't like the look he was getting. "You really wanna talk about the Dragon in me actin' up?"
Gajeel stayed silent, hoping something bad hadn't actually happened. But then again things don't usually work out in his favor.
Natsu set the book down on the floor before crossing his arms, his grin gone and his lips turned down into a frown. "Your Dragon took you over last night."
The Iron Dragon Slayer's face lost all color, and before he could open his mouth to ask what happened, Natsu continued.
"Something woke me up, and when I checked everything was fine, but I was lazy about it. I hadn't bothered to turn around until I'd almost fallen back to sleep and heard something scraping against the ground. When I saw you, your eyes were wide open and glowing red. Your arm was covered in your Iron Scales, and you were using it to drag yourself out of the tent. I don't have to tell you where you were going."
Gajeel idly rubbed his arm, now realizing why his arm had been friction burned. "Just one arm?"
Natsu nodded. "Yeah...At first I thought you were awake, but you didn't even look at me when tried to get your attention. Your eyes wouldn't contract when I put my hand in your face. You couldn't even feel the pain in your arm, or when I picked you up and put you back in your sleeping bag, like a friggin' zombie."
Gajeel sat down slowly, trying to absorb everything the Fire Dragon Slayer was telling him. It was worse than he'd thought. He'd been possessed, and had Natsu failed to wake up, he might have succeeded in gettng to Levy...
"That's not all..."
The older man groaned. "What else did I do?"
"Not you...Me..."
His head whipped to the side, looking intently at Natsu as he rubbed the back of his head. "You ain't the only one who slipped under...I slipped too. Honestly, you saved me. If your body hadn't moved again, I'd have made it out of the tent. After I snapped out of it, that's when I put you back in your bag and stayed up all night, just to make sure you didn't escape. Oh yeah, that reminds me."
Natsu went into his waist coat pocket, pulled out a piece of fabric and tossed it to Gajeel who immediately caught it and looked at it.
It was black, and had little white polka dots on it. Just like...
Immediately, Gajeel had Natsu by his throat. "You have 10 seconds to tell me why you have Levy's scarf or I'll-"
"I got it for YOU."
"Why the hell would I need it?!"
"...Insurance."
Gajeel's furious expression faded somewhat. "...What?"
The pink haired man rolled his eyes. "Put me down and I'll tell you."
The older man glared at him for a moment, before reluctantly dropping Natsu on his ass. "Start talking, and it better be good."
Natsu stood up, wiping the dust from his pants. "Thanks a lot."
"Talk."
Instead of doing so, Natsu reached into his scarf, and pulled out what looked to be a shirt. "This is Lucy's shirt."
"Fucking per-"
"You wanted me to talk, now shut the hell up so that I can, asshole."
Glaring, Gajeel reluctantly kept his mouth shut.
Natsu grinned, then continued on, ignoring the glare. "I'm used to sleeping at Lucy's house all the time, and when I'm at mine I get anxious if I can't smell her, especially after what happened at the Grand Magic Games..."
Natsu went quiet for a moment, some dark emotion appearing in his eyes before it disappeared. He took a deep breath and then continued on.
"Since we couldn't be together in a tent, I snagged one of her shirts to help me sleep. Came in handy too. Even after I came out of my trance, something kept screaming at me in the back of my head. I guess my Dragon wasn't too happy about being stopped. I put the shirt to my nose, took a big whiff, and then everything was all smiles. I guess if you have something with their scent, it fools the Dragon into thinking they're really there."
Natsu pointed to the scarf in Gajeel's hand. "Which is why I swiped Levy's scarf this morning. Right now, you need it to help keep you sane at night more than she needs it as a fashion statement. I ain't stayin' up all night for you until this is over, so tie it over your nose or something so that you won't go zombie on me again. Next time, it might not just be an arm it takes over."
The Iron Dragon Slayer frowned. As much as he didn't want to agree with the flame fucker, he was one hundred percent right. And, he would never say it, but he was actually grateful that the moron had thought to grab Levy's scarf. If it worked for Pinky, maybe it would work for him.
Gajeel sucked his teeth and stuck the scarf deep into his pocket. "Che, whatever. Speaking of Blondie, did this recent experience help you figure out your fucked up feelings?"
"Shut up."
Gajeel dragged a hand down his face. "Are you still denying your feelings for-"
"That's not what I meant."
Gajeel nearly choked on his words and turned to Natsu, who had his head down, a fierce blush on his cheeks. "You mean-"
Natsu turned away and mumbled, but Gajeel could still hear him loud and clear. "Lets just say I've been thinking about my "fucked up feelings."
Gajeel was about to ask more questions, but he was cut off by the sound of heavy stone moving nearby, and turned to see the throne moving backwards, revealing darkness underneath.
Both men summoned their magic, ready for whatever was gonna come out of the hole. They heard multiple pairs of footsteps, and moments later a familiar head of orange hair came into view.
"Holy crap, you were right." He said, looking around and spotting both men. "Hey guys. Miss me?"
Natsu lowered his fists. "Loke? What the hell are you doing in there?"
The Lion Spirit grinned. "Just escorting two lovely ladies."
"Loke! Come on you're blocking the way!"
"Oops, sorry Princess." He said as he moved out of the way and turned, reaching into the darkness and pulling up Lucy. "Thanks."
"No problem, my Lady."
"Hey! Can I get a bit of help too?!"
Loke reached in again, pulling up Levy this time. "Thanks for remembering I was here." She said, sarcasm dripping from her words.
"I could never forget such a lovely lady as yoursel-"
"Lucy!"
Said girl turned, only to feel an overly warm body slam into her while two strong arms wrapped around her body. "Natsu!"
He didn't answer her, instead taking the opportunity check her over for any injuries along with a few quick sniffs to make sure nothing was off. Once he was satisfied, he buried his face into her neck.
Lucy sighed and she smiled a bit. "Natsu, I'm fine, really.."
His words were muffled slightly, but she could make them out clearly. "I was worried something happened..."
She gently ruffled his hair, a small blush on her face. "I'm a big girl, I can handle myself. But thank you for caring."
He lifted his head from her neck and looked into her eyes. "What are you talking about? I'll always care."
The small blush bloomed and spread rapidly over her face at his words. She turned her face away so that he wouldn't tease her. "You're hopeless."
He grinned, not minding her words at all until he suddenly felt something pushing him away from her.
"Alright fire boy, hands off the merchandise." Loke said, a playful yet annoyed glint in his eyes as he attempted to separate the Slayer from the Spirit Mage.
Instead of acquiescing to the Lion Spirit's demands, Natsu only held on tighter and bared his fangs at him. "Back off."
Loke frowned, and once again attempted to separate them. "Natsu come on, you've had enough hug time-"
He was cut off by a heated hand swiping at his own, and looked to see that Natsu had his hand raised, ready for another strike if he came any closer. "I said, back off."
Loke glared at him and was about to respond before Lucy cut him off. "Natsu! What's gotten into you?"
His snarling expression changed immediately as he looked Lucy in the eye, his face full of innocence. " Sorry...I'm just happy that you're okay...Can you blame me?"
The blonde sighed. "I guess not. We were late after all."
Natsu nodded. "That's right, you were. Don't do that anymore okay? It freaked me out."
She playfully rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, I'm sorry I wasn't home before the streetlights came on, officer."
"That's right. For your crime you are under arrest and sentenced to one thousand hours of house arrest and community service."
"And how will I do community service if I'm under house arrest, genius?"
He grinned. "That's easy. Your community service will be making me dinner every night. For tonight I'll take Fire Chicken and Pasta, with extra fire and hot sauce. And those little Garlic Knot things I really like those."
She grinned. "Sounds like hard time."
"You do the crime you do the time."
Both of them went silent for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Oh my God you're ridiculous!"
Loke glared at Natsu, and when the Slayer noticed, he grinned and, the Lion Spirit swore it was deliberate, snuggled even closer to the blonde mage. He cleared his throat loudly, ignoring the heated glare sent his way when Lucy switched her attention from the Fire Dragon Slayer to him. "Shouldn't we be getting back to business here?"
"Speaking of that," Gajeel said after he'd finished his own check on Levy. "Where were you, and how the hell did you guys end up comin' outta that hole?"
Levy squealed and then jumped in place excitedly. "Oh yeah! We found something amazing! We just gotta grab all our stuff and go back down the stairs-Oh its so incredible!"
Gajeel frowned. "Whoa, hang on. We ain't goin' anywhere. We're leaving tomorrow, and we gotta rest up for the walk."
Levy crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow in defiance. "If you and Natsu wanna leave that's fine, but Lucy and I are staying here."
Lucy, who managed to successfully detangled herself from Natsu's hold went to her side. "She's right. If you two have something going on back home, then we'll meet you back there whenever we're finished here."
Natsu frowned. "What do you mean "whenever we're finished here?"
"What I mean is that you two can go home and we'll stay here-"
"Out of the question." Gajeel said, his jaw clenched. "We're not leaving you here, we're all going home-"
"No, that's out of the question. Don't forget this is my mission Gajeel. I'll stay here as long as I damn well please, and Lucy wants to stay here as well." Levy said.
"Luce I'm not leaving here without you." Natsu said, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
The blonde wasn't phased by his stance, and rolled her eyes. "Then just stay. You guys don't even know what we found and you're already trying to force Levy and I out the door with you."
She checked the music lacrima and grinned. "Its only 8:30 pm. It won't take us long to get back down there. We need your help to search through everything, and if we work together we might just finish in time for us to catch a few hours of sleep before heading back."
She looked at Levy and shrugged a bit. "What do you say Levy? If they can help us through the night to search the place and we finish, do you think we could go back with them?"
"Its definitely a valid option." Loke said. "That is," he continued. "If Levy and the lizards here can agree on it."
Gajeel frowned. "Just what the hell did they find?"
"I have no idea. I didn't get a chance to look before I helped them up here. But Levy said that it was the mother load."
"And it is." The bluenette said. "Lucy and Loke are right. It's a great option, one we can't act on unless you two are on board. Gajeel," Levy said, speaking directly to him. "I know you said that we should go home tomorrow, but what we found can't be left alone."
Natsu snorted. "Why can't some other guy go search whatever you found?"
Lucy frowned. "And let some random asshole take credit for what Levy and I discovered. Hell no. We found it, and we damn sure should get credit where credit is due."
Loke nodded. "She's right. They put in the work. It wouldn't be fair to let someone else steal their thunder like that. You should know all about that, Natsu."
Natsu looked confused, as well as angry for whatever Loke was insinuating. "The hell are you talking about you fur ball?"
Receiving a sharp look from his master, the Lion Spirit grinned and turned away. "Nothing, nothing at all."
Intent on getting answers and wiping the smirk off Loke's face, Natsu nearly lunged for the Zodiac leader before Gajeel's speaking stopped him in his tracks.
"If we help you and finish, you'll come home with us?"
Lucy and Levy shared a brief look, before the bluenette turned back to him and nodded. "Yup, that's the deal."
He sighed, scratching the back of his head in irritation. "Fine, I'm in. What about you flame fucker?"
"If Lucy's in then so am I."
"Then we're in agreement." Levy said, her hands on her hips. "We just have to bring our stuff down there so we can sleep."
Loke went to Lucy's side, putting an arm around her shoulders, pointedly ignoring the slight growl in his direction. "In the meantime Princess, I'm going back home. You've had me out long enough and I don't want your magic to get too low on the trip back down. If you need me, I'll be there. Make sure you get some rest."
She nodded, giving the Lion Spirit a one armed hug. "Thanks Loke."
"You're very welcome, Princess." With a parting kiss to her crown, Loke disappeared in a flash of light.
The moment he was gone, Natsu was once again wrapped around her, his head resting on top of her head this time. "Natsu, you can't hug me forever."
Yes I can.
"You smell like a wet cat."
Instantly, his body went flying across the room and slid across the floor when he landed.
"Who smells like a wet cat?!"
"Can you two stop flirting long enough for us to get our stuff and go see this thing? Time is wastin'." Gajeel said.
Both mage's faces bloomed red before they both yelled.
"We're not flirting!"
...
Nearly an hour later, all four of them were standing inside the enormous temple. Gajeel and Natsu's eyes nearly fell out of their skulls.
Levy grinned. "Totally worth it, right?"
Gajeel nodded dumbly, turning around in a slow circle to see everything that he could. "You guys found this?"
"Yup." Lucy said, using her hand to gently close Natsu's mouth.
The pink haired man sputtered a bit in shock, before lightly slapping her thigh with the ancient cookbook. "Oi, cut it out."
"Natsu! Don't do that, its a piece of history!" She said, gently prying the literature from his hold and safely tucking it away in her bag.
He rolled his eyes. "Lucy, its a just cookbook. But," He said grinning. "Maybe there's something yummy in here that you can cook for me!"
"Thinking with your stomach again?"
"Hell yeah, I'm starving."
"I'll feed you my fist if you don't shut up, Salamander. We don't know what's in here, keep your voices down." Gajeel said, already over his shock and taking whiffs of the air.
"Gajeel don't be so crude. Lucy and I were yelling in here earlier and nothing came to attack us." Levy said.
"That doesn't mean something wasn't watching..."
"Look, we're all here together, and we're more than a match for anything that would think about jumping out at us. Let's just start looking so we can stick to our deal, alright?"
Natsu crossed his arms behind his head. "Sounds good to me. Lets get this over with so we can eat."
"I say we start there." Levy said, pointing to the enormous statue of the goddess. "There looks like there's definitely something important at that location."
"And that could mean danger." Gajeel said, shaking his head in denial. "I say we head for those corridors first. I wanna make sure there ain't nothing waitin' in the dark to surround us as we're makin' our way down to the statue."
"Who knows how far they go. Goodness knows this place could be much bigger than it seems. I don't want to take that risk."
"Look Shrimp-"
"Lets just split up!"
All heads turned to Lucy, who had a hand to her forehead in exasperation. "We're not getting anywhere with all of this bickering, so lets split into two teams. Gajeel, if you're so concerned about the corridors, then you and Levy take one side, while Natsu and I take the other. We'll meet back here in 30 minutes, that way if something does go wrong, you'll know it if a group isn't back in time. Then, once we're back, we'll head toward the statue. Deal?"
Gajeel and Levy looked at each other for a few moments before turning back to the blonde.
"Blondie, you've got a deal."
...
As agreed, both groups split up and searched the corridors opposite of each other. To Levy's delight, one of the rooms held what seemed like a small library, filled with ancient literature that Gajeel knew she couldn't wait to get her little hands on.
Another was filled with nothing but candles, diverse in their size shape. The only thing that the candles had in common were that they were either shaped or had carvings of animals in them. It was strange, to find something completely different from the first room, and as they continued on the rooms became even more diverse in ther contents. His interest was peaked in the one that appeared to have various cookware, since the room was filled with large pots and crude flat pans. The village wasn't far from the temple at all, so they'd had a peek into the houses. These pots looked nearly identical to the ones they found there.
The same excitement could be found on Lucy and Natsu's side of things. The first room they ventured into was filled with multitudes of cloth. They were well kept and looked almost new. The blonde decided to take as much as she could fit into her bag for herself and Levy, making sure that nothing was crawling in it first. They were soft and vibrant in their colors, making her curious as to how they were made.
Natsu was more into the next room, which contained remains of what looked to be metal accessories made from the crystals that grew from the cave walls. They weren't glowing, but they were still vibrant in color. He pocketed the pieces that were finished or that he liked the most. He was thinking they would be valuable, and not that he thought some pieces would look pretty on a certain blonde.
Once their time drew to a close, they went to their meeting spot. After briefly discussing their findings, Levy spoke up. "I have a feeling that this temple also served as some kind of market."
Lucy nodded. "I agree. In my opinion, those rooms are businesses, kind of like Magnolia Town Square. The temple above might not have been a temple at all. It might have been the home of the royal family, since it seems like a lot of the public action took place down here. There's so many different trades present that its hard to come to any other conclusion."
Levy smiled and then looked up at Gajeel. "Well Gajeel, there's nothing waiting to kill us in the corridors."
The Iron Dragon Slaery rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah I was wrong, lets go."
Grabbing their bags, he set off toward the statue while Levy hurried behind him. Natsu groaned and rubbed his stomach before following. "When the hell are we gonna eat?"
Lucy sighed. "Natsu, just be patient. Once we check out what's near the statue we can settle down to eat, okay?"
She said that, but even she was feeling hunger pains by now, and it was rapidly replacing her excitement for the temple. She sighed and continued walking. A piece of gum would be better than nothing at this point.
"I can hear your stomach growling, Lucy."
"Natsu..."
"Seriously Lucy, I know you have to be starving. You and Levy were working all day, then you went swimming, and then walking up and down those stairs three times-"
"Twice."
Natsu looked at her. "What?"
"Levy and I only went up and down the stairs twice. Once to get up there, and twice to come back down. If that was the case, you would have seen us go in the first time since you guys were still cleaning up for the day. Then we would have found this place much sooner. Not like it makes a difference-"
"It does make a difference."
Lucy stopped, and turned to realize that Natsu had stopped several steps behind her. "Natsu? What's wron-"
"Lucy, how did you and Levy get down here?"
Her face became confused before she realized exactly what she'd done.
Shit.
Hearing their conversation, Gajeel stopped and gave Levy the same look Natsu was giving Lucy. "You know what Shrimp, you guys never did say how you found this place...Mind sharing that little story?"
"Yeah Luce, how did you guys get here?" Natsu said, coming to stand next to her, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
The blonde's mouth opened and closed, trying desperately to come up with a response that didn't blow the cover on her Water Magic. She didn't want it revealed this way; Under a cloud of suspicion. She wanted to display her skills on the battlefield, where they could be appreciated...Where she could be appreciated; Not only as a friend, but as an ally in battle and not someone Natsu and Fairy Tail felt they needed to protect.
But it looks like she would never get the chance.
"..I-"
"It was me."
All heads turned to Levy, who stood defiant with her arms crossed, a frown on her face. "I used the same 'Air' magic that saved Gajeel and I during the battle with Tartaros, to help Lucy and I find this place."
Gajeel crossed his arms. "Oh yeah? What would you need that for?"
"At the bottom of the cenote was a doorway. I got curious as to how deep the hole actually went. We asked Loke for help and he was the one who found it. The hole only went 200 feet down-"
"200 feet!?" Gajeel said. "Shrimp, that kind of pressure would have torn you and Blondie's lungs apart-"
"But it didn't, because I knew what I was doing!"
"Just because you know what you're doing doesn't mean you should do it!"
"Gajeel," Lucy said. "Everything worked out fine. That pool further down was where we exited from. The doorway at the bottom of the cenote led here. We were safe."
"Lucy that was still reckless!" Natsu yelled, shocking her since he'd been silent for so long. "What if something had gone wrong? We wouldn't have been able to save you-"
"Save me?!"
The pink haired man flinched back from her words, her expression livid. "I can't believe this! You of all people, dare to call me reckless?!"
Natsu swallowed, his throat suddenly drier than a desert. "Luce-"
"Shut up."
He clammed up immediately, the blonde before him running a shaky hand through her hair. "You have no idea how it feels to be viewed as lazy or weak because of your type of magic...You don't have any idea how it feels to be to humiliated in front of your entire country. Not once, but twice!"
The blonde was crying now, tears pouring down her face as she stared at the man who was supposed to understand her feelings as her best friend.
But instead, unknowingly trampled on them day in and day out.
"Do you have any idea, how it feels to try and prove that you're worthy to fight alongside your friends, over and over again, only to have your best friend steal those chances away just because he thought he was doing her, a favor...."
Natsu's eyes widened, Loke's previous words and memories of their recent missions reverberated in his head painfully. Those smiles that lacked the light they usually had as she thanked him for his help. Her lack of enthusiasm when they celebrated their success. Her eyes missing their fire for adventure...He'd seen the signs but couldn't see the big picture...Until now.
She was right.
He really didn't have any idea just how much he'd hurt her...
He moved closer to comfort her. He just needed to have her wrapped in his arms, and then everything would be okay again. They needed to be okay again.
She flinched back from him, and his heart broke. "Lucy.."
She shook her head, then turned tail and ran, heading straight toward the statue. Natsu was after her not a moment later, begging her to come back.
Levy, stunned to silence by her friend's outburst, made to go after them but was stopped by Gajeel. "Gajeel-"
"Let them be Shrimp. Besides, we ain't done here."
"Yes, we are. There's no point in arguing. What's done is done, and we came back safe and unharmed."
Letting go of the bluenette's arm, he crossed his over his chest. "That's not the point. The point is that neither you or Lucy did the right thing in this situation. You should have told me and Salamander what you were doing-"
"Why? The last time I checked you weren't Master nor are you my father-"
"So that we could tell you that it was a stupid idea!"
She jumped in surprise at his shout, his face frustrated and angry. But, instead of shouting back at him, she became eerily calm.
Realizing what he said, Gajeel attempted to calm down and ran a hand down his face. "Look, that's not what I-"
"So, we're stupid?"
He grimaced, her even tone more intimidating than her shouting. "No...That's not what I meant."
"Yes it was. And just why are we stupid Gajeel? Because we didn't ask you or Natsu for permission first?"
"Shrimp.."
"You know Gajeel," Levy said as she picked up her bags and glared at him. "I never had to answer to you before you came to Fairy Tail, and I damn sure don't have to answer to you now. Especially on my mission. If you don't like it," The bluenette pointed to the entrance of the temple. "You know where the exit is."
With that she turned and went after Natsu and Lucy, not sparing the studded man another glance.
Gajeel stood there, stunned at her dismissal. He of course, had no intentions of abandoning the mission, but he had to admit that her words hurt. She must've been feeling this way for a long time...Long enough for it to slowly simmer and boil inside of her. Something told him that her sharps words weren't the actual explosion.
More like he'd lit the fuse.
He didn't mean to call her or Lucy stupid. He just wanted her to realize how badly things could've gone. If something would've happened, he had no doubt that he and Natsu would have gone insane, proven right by Natsu having to use Lucy's shirt to reign himself in when they were late. If they hadn't come back at all, they'd have torn the entire forest apart in search of them.
He needed her safe, for her sake and his.
Raking a frustrated hand through his hair, he picked up his bags and followed after them. There was no use standing around when there was more work to be done. Thinking back, he couldn't believe how he went from having a kiss from her, to having her tell him to hit the road.
One step forward.
Ten steps back.
...
Lucy continued running, ignoring Natsu's calls for her to come back. She could tell that she was close to where the statue was, the light from the giant cluster of crystals above getting brighter the closer she got. Soon though, she got too tired to run anymore, her legs and lungs burning from exertion. She sat and leaned against a column, trying to catch her breath.
Natsu caught up with her, but didn't sit, not wanting to stir her anger. "Luce..."
She turned away from him, her ragged breathing settling. "Go...away, Natsu..."
"...No."
She kept her head turned away, not interested in anything he had to say. She heard him take a deep breath and let it out, before he came a bit closer. "Lucy, you don't have to talk to me, just listening is alright...Can you do that?"
She didn't move at first, but then shrugged her shoulders, still resolutely keeping her head turned away from him.
"...Luce, I'm sorry. You were right. I didn't understand what you were going through, and for that, Lucy, I'm sorry..."
He sat beside her then, figuring that if she really didn't want to hear him that she'd have snapped already. She tensed slightly, and he sighed before continuing on. "But, you're also wrong."
She frowned, and turned toward him to give him another tongue lashing but she was cut off.
"You're not weak, Lucy. Nobody in Fairy Tail thinks you are. In fact," He said, moving closer. "You're the strongest person I know."
Her eyes widened in shock slightly, before looking down at the floor. She didn't want to see his eyes or the emotions there. He was never one to hide his true feelings...
"I don't protect you because you're weak, I protect you because I want to protect you. I know better than anyone that you can handle yourself. You kick me and Happy's asses daily."
She snorted softly, and Natsu grinned, feeling as though he was getting through to her.
"You saved us during Tartaros's attack. I don't know how you did it, but I'm thankful you did. Can you blame me for wanting the person who single handedly saved the Fairy Tail Guild, who is also my best friend, to be protected and safe?"
Gently grabbing her chin, he brought her face up enough so that he could look her in the eyes, which were leaking salty tears. Taking the end of his scarf, he tenderly wiped them away and smiled. "You're my partner, Lucy, and partners have each other's backs. How can I do my part if you won't let me?"
She sniffled, and suddenly his arms were full of his blonde best friend as she hugged him, more tears falling and soaking the top of his jacket. He returned the hug easily, chuckling as she weakly slapped his shoulder for laughing at her. "So...Does this mean you forgive me?"
"Hell no."
His face paled, as she pulled back from their hug, but instead of a look of anger he was met with her smile. "But its a good place to start."
He sighed in relief. Not fully forgiven but not hated. He would take it if it meant she would forgive him eventually. He could wait.
He'd always wait for her.
"Lucy! Natsu!"
Both turned to see Levy running up to them, a silent Gajeel a ways behind her. Natsu stood up, offering Lucy a hand and to his relief, she accepted it. Levy came up to her, none so gently shoving Natsu out of the way and ignoring his indignant "Hey!" as she looked her best friend over. "Lu-chan, are you okay?"
She gave a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay." Wiping away any residual traces of tears she turned to Natsu and Gajeel, who had just caught up with them. "We've wasted enough time. It should be about ten at night, and we're not far from the statue. Lets just keep going."
Silently nodding, everyone turned to go. Natsu reached out to hold Lucy's hand but was cut off by Levy, who shot him a quick glare and turned to Lucy to talk about what they found in their corridors.
Natsu huffed and surprisingly, Gajeel put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "You can't win, so there ain't no point dwellin' on it. They'll get over it...Eventually."
The older man gave his shoulder a squeeze and then continued on passed him, following behind the women at a distance as not to cause anymore tension. Natsu frowned slightly in confusion at Gajeel's behavior, before realizing he was being left behind and hurried after them.
After 20 minutes of walking, they came to a walkway that was surrounded by long rectangular pools on either side. At the end of the walkway were steps that led to some kind of altar, but they couldn't see it clearly from where they were since it was covered by golden grates; The same grates that led from the Goddess statue.
The statue was even more magnificent now that they were closer. Now, they could see more details that they hadn't been able to see farther away; Like the fact that the dress was connected to some kind of neck ornament that spread across her shoulders, and even rose passed her neck and covered her chin and the sides of her face, reminiscent of some kind of armor. Her ears were pointed, long, and had many piercings. Her hands showed motion, as if she was casting a spell, and where Levy and Lucy had originally thought her dress was tight all the way down, it flared out near the knees.
Her expression, now that they could see it clearly, was slightly stern, commanding respect even as a statue. Her eyes were blank, the eternal stare enough to pin anyone who gazed into them in their place.
Natsu shook the feeling from him and noticed that everyone had stopped walking. "Hey, what are we standing around here for? Lets go!"
This time, Levy didn't have the opportunity to steal Lucy away from him, and he grabbed the stunned blonde's hand and half dragged her down the walkway. "N-Natsu! Slow down!"
He looked back at her, his pace not slowing down. "Weren't you the one who said that we shouldn't waste any time?"
"Well yeah, but I also didn't mean you should drag me there either!"
He laughed, and her cheeks warmed with the beginnings of a blush. "You gotta keep up Luce! You don't wanna get flabby do you?"
"Who's flabby?!" She said, as she yanked her hand from his and began running, determined to beat him. "I'll show you who's flabby! Eat my dust, matchstick!"
"Oi!" Gajeel said as he trotted beside Levy. "This ain't a damn race!"
Natsu looked back and grinned. "Only the ones losing the race say that!" And then he was off, slowly closing in on Lucy.
Gajeel groaned, and Levy snorted before taking off, leaving the studded man behind. "Aww what the hell?!"
"Keep up or go home Gajeel!"
He rolled his eyes and reluctantly began running, but purposely staying behind Levy. He didn't care how much her attitude was irritating him, at least the view was great from where he was, as he watched her shapely bottom and legs flex while she ran.
By now, Lucy and Natsu were neck and neck as they rapidly came to the stairs leading to the golden grate, dubbed their makeshift goal. With a bit more speed, it was Lucy who was victorious, running up the stairs slightly to slow herself down. Natsu was next to her a moment later, both of them panting from the run. Lucy grinned and smirked. "Who's flabby now?"
He smiled, and she felt her cheeks warm again, and not from exertion. "Nice job Lucy. You had a head start, but nice job."
"Don't start with me Natsu."
Moments later, Levy and Gajeel ran up, panting. "You guys are nuts." Gajeel said, glaring at them both.
"Don't be mad rust bucket. Maybe you just need a bit of oil to loosen you up."
"Fuck you-"
"Cut it out. We're already here so lets see what's up with this altar." Levy said as she began to walk up the stairs. Natsu, however, held out a hand to prevent her from going any further. "What are you-"
"Let me check it out first."
Levy frowned. "Didn't we just have this coversation? I can handle-"
"I know you can handle it." He said.
Levy's eyes widened as he looked up at the grate blocking their vision of whatever was up there.
"I just want to check things out before anyone else goes up there. You and Lucy are the smart ones, Levy. If some kind of spell or rune trap pops up, I need you both to be out of the way so that you can take care of it. Rust bucket and I are the muscle, remember?"
Levy sighed and crossed her arms, realizing that he made perfect sense. Just like she told Lucy, Natsu was very smart, and she'd nearly forgotten about that. "You're right, go ahead."
He made some noise of agreement before shrugging off his backpack, handing it to Lucy. He ventured up the stairs slowly, careful of where he stepped in case there was some kind of trap that was triggered by stepping on it. After a minute he arrived at the top of the stairs and to the grate. Picking up an loose stone, he tossed it at the grate and was met with no reaction as it bounced away harmlessly.
He turned to them and spoke. "I guess its not spelled."
Turning back to the grate, he slowly reached his hands toward it and grasped it.
Immediately, he began shaking and screaming, as though he were being electrocuted.
Lucy screamed and immediately began running up the stairs. "Natsu!"
Suddenly, his screams and shaking died down and turned into chuckles, and then full blown laughter. The blonde stopped and glared at him before going all the way up the stairs and hitting him in the head with his bag. "Natsu you asshole! That's not funny!"
He grinned, rubbing where she hit him in the head. "Come on Luce, that was hilarious."
"It was a little funny Bunny Girl."
"Shut up Gajeel!" Lucy said as they came up the stairs behind her.
"She's right Natsu, what if you were really in danger?"
He rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. I've been electrocuted before. And I doubt this thing could really hurt me. It'd probably feel like a tickle compared to what Laxus can put out."
Taking his bag back from Lucy, he hopped over the gate.
Levy looked confused. "How come you didn't open it?"
The pink haired man turned and crossed his arms. "I was just shaking the damn thing and it barely budged. I don't wanna break it since this is part of some historical shit. You told us we couldn't do that, remember?"
Levy rose an eyebrow, impressed. "Touche."
He grinned smugly, before reaching out for Lucy. "Come on Luce, I'll help you over."
Looking over herself, she realize that she was still in her bathing suit and blushed. "Um..."
A bundle of clothes was suddenly thrust in her face and she looked to see Natsu smiling. "Just take these. It'll take you forever to pick something out."
She blushed slightly and huffed, taking the clothes, a large red T-shirt and a pair of shorts. "Thanks..." She said as she put them on, afterwards allowing Natsu to help her over the grate.
"You're welcome. You want something too Levy?"
The bluenette smirked. "No I'm okay. But thanks anyway Natsu."
Gajeel frowned, before jumping over the grate and helping Levy over as well. He sent Natsu a glare, but was distracted as Levy gasped. He turned back to her to see her pointing at a decorated altar, where there was some kind of totem sitting in the middle of it.
Wait a minute.
"Hey, Shrimp...Is that what I think it is?"
Instead of answering him, she just continued gawking at the altar, a slow smile spreading across her face.
By now, Lucy and Natsu had also taken notice of the altar and while Lucy was mimicking Levy's expression. Natsu grinned. "So this is the thing we need to get our bonus right?"
Lucy nodded slowly, still reeling over the fact that they'd found the relic that no one else had been able to find for thousands of years.
"So what are we waiting for? Lets go get it!"
Before she could stop him, he'd gotten to the altar and was reaching out to pick it up. "Natsu wait! It might actually have a spell on it this time!"
"Lucy, just trust me." He said, before picking up the totem.
"Natsu!...Huh?"
Nothing happened.
Her jaw dropped and he grinned. "Ha! I was right!"
She sighed in relief, while Levy and Gajeel came to stand beside her. Gajeel looked disgusted as Natsu victory danced himself back to them, smugness radiating from him. Lucy rolled her eyes. "Alright Natsu that's enough, no need to rub salt in the wound."
"Oh let him celebrate Lu-chan, he deserves to gloat a bit." Levy said, highly amused at the pink haired man's antics. He danced around Lucy and she looked away, trying not to smile and inflate his ego even more.
"Natsu come on, we get it you were right."
"Huh? What was that Luce? I don't think I caught that." He said, mockingly coming closer and putting a hand to his ear.
She rolled her eyes. "You were right."
"Say that again?"
"You were right."
"One more tim-"
"Don't push it."
He grinned and put an arm around her shoulders. "Aww don't be that way Lucy. I keep telling you, I'm always right-"
He was cut off as the totem in his hands began glowing, and soon enough the glow enveloped them, making their bodies raise from the floor and slightly into the air.
"What's happening?!" Lucy screamed, struggling in the air.
"Salamander what did you do?!" Gajeel said, trying to strangle him mid-air.
"I-"
Before Natsu could respond, they disappeared in a flash of light, the totem floating safely back down to the floor, looking as innocent as could be. Little did the four mages know, this was the beginning of an adventure that would change their lives forever.
Welcome, to the Trials.
...
FINALLY DONE. OMG. I'm sorry this was so late I had a medical emergency that came out of nowhere but I'm okay now! Thank you guys for being so patient. Next chapter, the first Trial begins! I hope you're ready for it! :D