"If you stepped out of the shower and saw a leprechaun standing at the base of your toilet, would you scream, or would you innately understand that he meant you no harm?"

"Master Jose," the small platinum blonde regarded the messenger with a friendly expression from her golden throne, "How goes the human world?"

"It fairs well, Master Mavis," he bowed low, his brow quirking as he did so, "Though, if I may, a request?"

She tilted her head to the side, her smile fading slightly, "Oh?"

"I have a reaper under my supervision who's been overstepping his bounds recently. It's a shame; he's been such a good servant for so long. It worries me," he straightened, his hands grasping the hems of his purple jacket.

"I see," her brow didn't furrow nor did her eyes show any signs of distress. She turned her attention to the man shrouded in black to her left, "What do you suggest we do, Master Zeref?"

His red eyes swept over to Master Jose, a look of disinterest on his features. He regarded the messenger, taking in the faint shiver that went through him while under his red gaze. He raised himself from his lax position on the cathedra shrouded in darkness.

"Send someone to watch his motives," he finally stated, his eyes boring into Jose's with a subtle intensity, "If they find him guilty of a crime, he will be brought before us and judged accordingly,"

Mavis smiled then, "I'll send someone immediately," she turned back to Jose, "Is that all, Master Jose?"

"Yes, M'lady," he bowed low once again, "M'lord,"

As he left the grand hall, a tense silence settled between the two.

"Is something wrong, Zeref?" Mavis turned her pale gaze to his red, no trace of her smile left on her face.

"There is something dark afoot," he replied simply, leaning into his palm. With a flick of his wrist, the doors reopened and a line of souls began to make their way through, "Death seems to have the upper hand,"

Gajeel lounged in the branches of the grand tree in the Heartfilia courtyard. His robes tumbled over the branches, ruffling every so often in the gentle summer breeze. Levy sat with her back at the base of its trunk, flipping through the pages of a book that Lucy had gotten for her while her ward was busy bickering with Natsu and cuddling the little blue kitten he'd brought with him.

"Why in the world did you name him Happy?" she cooed, nuzzling its forehead with her nose at the little thing purred happily.

"Because that's what he always is!"

"Happy isn't a name. Figaro or Pantherlily is a name, not Happy," she wrinkled her nose as she spoke it.

"Happy is too a name!"

The little kitten mewled and struggled out of Lucy's arms to head for Natsu.

"See? He even responds to it!" he beamed triumphantly.

Gajeel cracked open one red eye and gazed down at the angel happily engaged at the base of the tree, "Do they ever shut up?"

"I can hear you now, remember?" Lucy shot him a glare.

"And you're just as annoying as before," he grunted back, shifting so one of his arms was bent behind his head and the other one was free to hang.

"Do you not have a job today, Gajeel?" Levy's gentle voice wafted up to him on another warm breeze and he leaned his head over to meet her curious brown eyes.

"Nah. I had one earlier," he said coolly.

"Oh," she was her only reply.

He narrowed his eyes at her. She'd been standoffish ever since the night Lucy had been able to see them. She barely made eye contact with him and spoke little. If it weren't for the fact that she was sitting under the tree, he would have thought she was avoiding him. Not that it mattered. She didn't leave the blonde's side so it was like she'd be hard to find anyway. Not that he purposely sought her out or anything.

He opened his mouth to say something when her voice startled him into silence, "Do you sing?"

"What kind of a question is that?" he growled, closing his eyes again, much more confortable now that she was talking.

"Just a question," she said quietly, gazing at Natsu and Lucy as they chased after Happy through the garden.

He was silent for a moment, weighing his words before he spoke them. She seemed to think the conversation was over because she diverted her eyes from her watch and looked back down to the pages of her book. He let out a quiet sigh.

"I don't now many songs,"

He saw her start at his words, her blue curls bouncing at the movement. From where he was he could see a small smile coming to her face and a light blush tinge her cheeks. What was wrong with the strange girl now?

"What's one you know?"

"I dunno…" he sighed, quickly wracking his brain for a way to please the little angel, "Eh… I know Death and the Lady,"

"Will you sing it?"

He stared down at her, unable to neither deny nor accept her request. He'd never actually sung around anyone else before. At times when he'd roam the streets of the human world without much to do, he'd hum or sing, but of course then no one had been able to hear him. Sad, lonely songs falling on deaf ears. And although he wasn't anxious, he thought the idea of singing for someone else's ears besides his own as strange. But now that Levy's spirits were finally lifted, he felt the need to keep them that way.

So he took a deep breath, equally surprising himself and the blue-haired angel sitting beneath him as the words came forward like molten metal, warm and glossy with the summer sun.

A young maid walked one day, one day
And met an aged man by the way.
His head was bald, his beard was grey,
His clothing made of the cold earthen clay,
His clothing made of the cold earthen clay.

She said, "Old man, what man are you?
What country do you belong unto?"
"My name is Death—hast thou heard of me?
All kings and princes bow down unto me
And you fair maid must come along with me."

"I'll give you gold, I'll give you pearl,
I'll give you costly rich robes to wear,
If you will spare me a little while
And give me time my life to amend,
And give me time my life to amend"

"I'll have no gold, I'll have no pearl,
I want no costly rich robes to wear.
I cannot spare you a little while
Nor give you time your life to amend,
Nor give you time your life to amend"

In six months time this fair maid died;
"Let this be put on my tombstone," she cried,
"Here lies a poor distressed maid.
Just in her bloom she was snatched away,
Her clothing made of the cold earthen clay."

"What an interesting song there, lad,"

Gajeel jumped in surprise and subsequently almost fell off the brand he was lounging on.

"What the hell?!" he caught himself and leaned forward so that his legs fell on either side of the branch, "Who the hell said that?!"

Levy stood in a flurry to find the source of the voice, only to cast her eyes around and come up empty.

"Up here,"

Gajeel craned his neck back and met a pair small black eyes.

"I must be going crazy," Gajeel muttered.

"Now why would you say something like that?" the man was aged in face and small in stature, with white hair poking out of a vibrant green hat and a pipe almost as long as he was tall sticking out of his mouth.

"What in the hell are you? A fucking leprechaun?"

His eyes gleamed mischievously and a smile curled under his white mustache, "Don't judge me by my size, lad, I can be rather big when I want to be,"

Levy beamed up at him and Gajeel silenced himself against her never-ending cheerfulness, "Hello, sir,"

"Well, hello Ms. McGarden," he smiled gently down at her. A look of surprise overcame her features as she stared up at him.

"How do you know my name?"

"I know many things," he said cryptically, making Gajeel roll his eyes.

"What do you want, old man?" he growled, crossing his arms.

"My name is Makarov Dreyar," he jumped down from the branch he was sitting on to land a little closer to the brooding reaper, "And I just came to see who was singing."

"Yeah, well, song's over," Gajeel mumbled, fighting a blush that was creeping up his neck. What happened that made it so everyone saw him? Because he was really starting to miss his days of solitude.

"Gajeel," Levy scolded. He shot her a glare in return which she promptly ignored.

"You wouldn't happen to have been the lad responsible for that little happening the other night, would you?"

"What's it to ya?"

"Gajeel!" Levy huffed.

Makarov's mustache twitched in amusement despite Gajeel's rude mouth, "I was just curious as to what happened. It's not every day a reaper has to resort to such drastic measures just to receive a soul,"

"Yeah, well, I ran into some complications," he growled, crossing his arms.

"GAJEEL!" Levy stamped her foot, finally gaining the reaper's attention, "Why are you saying that? You saved Lucy's life!"

"I just did my job," he grunted in return, not meeting her gaze.

"Did you really save someone's life, lad?" Makarov's voice had Gajeel pulling up his eyes to meet his. His voice seemed different, more authoritative than before, "Don't reapers only take lives, not save them?"

"You don't understand," Levy spoke up for him, "Lucy was in trouble, and the guy who was hurting her was someone Gajeel was supposed to escort. So he took his soul early so she would be ok. If anyone did anything wrong, it was me,"

"Now, why would you say something like that, child?" Makarov's eyes were soft as he gazed down her, a fatherly look in his eyes.

"Because I couldn't do anything to help, and so he had to," she fiddled with the seam of her dress as she spoke, staring down at her hands.

"Don't go sayin' shit like that," Gajeel growled, making her jump, "You would've figured something out if you had to. You're smart like that,"

"Easy for you to say! You can actually interact with humans! I can only plant an idea or lift darkness, maybe speed healing…"

"I can only kill humans," he turned on her, making her fall silent, "and if it hadn't been near that guy's time to go, I wouldn't have been able to do anything either,"

Silence fell over them and Gajeel noticed that they'd attracted Natsu and Lucy's attentions, though they remained at a distance.

"Well, then," Makarov puffed on his pipe thoughtfully, "I guess I'll have to check in on you kids every now and again,"

"What?! Why in the hell would you need to do something like that?" Gajeel snapped.

But Makarov didn't say a word, only smiled mischievously at them before disappearing in a flurry of leaves.

AN: Yes, I made Makarov a leprechaun! No, I have no regrets!

It may seem random now, but I'll be incorporating another Celtic myth a couple chapters from now so it fits a little better. No, it's not going to be a fairy or troll or anything like that. Ye shall see!

I hope ya'll enjoyed :) Finally pumped a chapter out that's a little longer for ya :)