Huff.
Huff.
Huff.
Levy hurried down empty corridors as fast as she could. Tears streamed from her eyes. Her friends were fighting for her back there. But there were no longer the sounds of fighting. The repeated impact of metal-shod boots on stone; that was all that remained.
Despite everything, Levy was sure that she wanted to live with every fibre of her being. She would give anything for this nightmare to end, to return to the existence that she had. Pain was nothing. She was accustomed to pain. But death…no!
In desperation, she pulled open one of the doors to a knight's chamber and hid inside, hoping that he'd just run past. She didn't know whose chambers these were, but there was an amazing amount of arts supplies here: canvases, easels, brushes and paints. If she'd had any time, it'd have been fascinating, but as it was, she simply cowered. She hoped that the door wouldn't open.
The door didn't open.
It combusted.
Totomaru stepped through, a languid expression on his face. He was clearly enjoying this. He motioned to a sword that lay against the wall. Knights seemed to pile up weapons over their lifetimes.
"There is such a difference between an unarmed man and one with a weapon," he said smugly. "Go on, take a sword. I will at least grant you that much pity."
Levy was panicking so much that she wasn't thinking very well. But she did as instructed, lifting the sword. She sagged under its weight. Did…Gajeel swing things like this easily? Even with both hands she could barely lift it. The blade came free from its scabbard. She staggered trying to keep her balance.
It was comically mismatched.
There was a swift motion and Totomaru's strike wrenched the sword from her hands and into the wall. He leered smugly, knowing that he was in utter control here. Time to end it. He brought up the weapon two handed to kill her.
What could she do? She had to stop it somehow! She clumsily picked up the book she'd brought with her, brandishing it like a priest might try to use a crucifix. Her panicking brain was not being particularly helpful. You dowse fire with water, it told her, as if that was useful.
Water.
Water.
"Water!" She screamed, flinging her hands up. The word materialized in front of her, and slammed into Totomaru, knocking him back and dowsing him. Both participants exclaimed in surprise. Levy was far more confused than he.
"What the hell was that?" He roared.
"Yes, Shrimp. What was that?"
Totomaru barely span in time, his blade intercepting Gajeel's as it came in horizontally. He gritted his teeth at the insane strength of this man and he was hurled into the wall with a sickening crack. Clutching his injured shoulder, he looked at the newly arrived man with abject fear.
Those eyes…they conveyed such hate, such anger. That scowl was not much better. And his name was legendary…in the infamous way.
"You bastard! I ain't gonna hold back! Taste the full fury of the master of flames! Rainbow Fire!" Totomaru's sword began to pulsate with a flame that ran the full colour of the spectrum. He laughed maniacally. In contrast, Gajeel's response had no emotion.
"Ixacalibur." Gajeel's sword shifted, gaining a small amount of extra mass, but becoming much, much sharper and lighter. This was a difficult spell, even for him, but by refining the metal of the blade he could massively enhance its properties. The metal shone with a golden lustre. Even when he and Natsu had fought, they had held back their ultimate spells. This was not something to use on a kinsman.
Totomaru grimaced, but launched forward, meeting Gajeel head on. Levy never caught the events of the following seconds, but half of Totomaru's sword went flying into the air. As did his head. She couldn't help it and screamed. It was awful, horrible!
"What the fuck are you crying about? He was going to kill you!" Gajeel shouted at her.
"I…I…don't care!" Levy turned aside and wretched.
"Jeez, you can explain to Reedus why you fucked up his room!"
"Stand still!" Aria shouted angrily. Hurricane winds howled outwards from him, but despite wearing a full suit of plate mail, this woman was lithe as a jungle cat. She danced aside from strikes that should have gutted her in one go.
"Tell me, are you a holy man? Do you keep the commandments? In honour of my first battle as a knight, I will show you the ultimate form of the Ten Commandments, the Holy Spear: Ravelt!" The staff in her hands changed, forming a golden spear tipped with golden light.
"How sad! Allow me to show you my strongest magic!" He ripped the cloth blinding him, his eyes emerging. Purple irises split apart into quadrants; an eerie magic indeed.
The remaining fight took about four seconds.
Erza's light eclipsed those eyes, going from the pitch black of his bandages to the bright white of Erza's magic in instants. She was glorious, a warrior born. Not a bad thing to be the last thing that you'd ever see. Aria's heavy body slammed into the floor with a very final sounding pair of thuds. He had been bisected down his spine.
Levy squealed with pain as Gajeel grabbed her forearm and dragged her to her feet. He was looking a little shaky himself. He was utterly confused.
"You can cast magic." It was a statement, not a question. "How?"
"I don't know! It just happened! I was thinking water over and over again and I just made it!" Levy was angry due to confusion. Her life had ceased to make any kind of sense. Her face fell. She raced from the room shouting, "Jet! Droy!"
Gajeel almost stopped her, violently angry from being ignored for other men…but he owed them for the moment. And he felt oddly relieved that she was alright. His eyes widened. The Element Four had not been accounted for from his point of view. He hurried to escort her. He watched her as she stabilized her friends, taking ripped strips of cloth from her own dress to stop bleeding.
"You are a healer?" He asked.
"My father got into enough drunken brawls for me to have experience," she replied in a hollow voice.
"You…just make no sense to me," he said angrily, arms folded and eyes closed.
"Later," she said forcefully. "First we have to find out the situation and get these two help!"
Gajeel shook his head in an annoyed manner. See, this was just the kind of thing…forget it. There might be three more people to kill. He'd deal with this later. What they both forgot was the book Levy had left in Reedus' room. It had spilled open and the words on the page had jumbled around. At the very centre, five letters had been pulled together, out of the text. W. A. T. E. R.
The next few minutes were stressful. The corpses of Aria and Sol were added into the consensus, and Porylusica's infirmary was bustling with injured, include Jet, Droy and an unconscious Mira. They found Lucy and Mr Leo who explained that she'd left the water user tied up with her henchman Mr Taurus. Gajeel hurried to the storehouse to find Taurus unconscious with a large bump on his head.
"She has a Nice Body," he mumbled drowsily.
Gajeel scowled. The fool had let the water user get away.
And just who had killed Aria and Sol anyway?
Juvia gasped for air as she fled into the city. After capture, Lucy had removed her sword and stripped her of her armour, leaving her in a simple cotton undergarment that all knights wore. It had been child's play to tempt the brutish fool left to guard her. At least her attire made her less obvious than a suit of armour.
But…she had nowhere to go. The gate was watched by the guard. The city was big, and she was lost within the maze of houses. If she kept fleeing she'd reach the peasant's districts. Maybe that'd be a good place to lie low. Become inconspicuous by becoming covered in filth. Bide her time and make her escape when the opportunity presented itself.
Escape to where?
Jose would never take her back after this! What could she do? Her warrior's instincts and training kicked in. Survive first. Everything else later.
The knights of Fairy Tail thundered home, travelling to the castle in record time – to find the situation resolved. Three members of the Element Four lay dead and the last had fled. Still, the toll on the servants and guards was huge. The King himself spoke of their honour and sacrifice. They would be included in the funeral procession of all the fallen soldiers.
But there were unresolved problems. There was an enemy unaccounted for. Laxus and his cronies had disappeared. A mystery knight had slain Aria. Mira was unconscious from something Lisanna seemed reluctant to explain.
And Gajeel had problems a little closer to home.
Lord Gerard Fernandez finally made his way back to his mansion late at night. He closed the bedroom door to find the svelte form of his wife draped over his bed.
"I hear that Sir Mystogan fought bravely today," Erza purred.
"Oh?" Gerard cocked an eyebrow as he began to disrobe. "Well, I heard tale of sightings of a female knight. With red hair. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Erza giggled, an odd noise from the severe woman. "Some of us have a harder time hiding our hair!" She laughed as her husband embraced her, lips kissing hers deeply.
Elfman was cradling a crying Lisanna to his side. She was bawling her heart out after a stressful day. It was Manly to cry, he assured her. They sat before Mira's bed, the woman's breathing coming slow and shallow.
A Man should protect his sisters, he thought. I wasn't here for them. This is my fault. I never want to see their tears again. A Man must become stronger. For them, I will stop anything in the world that dares hurt them. That goes for Ever too. I better check in on her before she gets angry…but I don't want to leave my sisters for the moment. Please be patient, Ever.
In another mansion Lady Evergreen started as she heard a fluttering. On her windowsill was a carrier pigeon. She couldn't help but recognize the sender by the bird's plumage.
"Oh Laxus, what do you send me?" She purred, a wolfish grin spreading over her face.
Levy sat on her bed, breathing out. She was exhausted both emotionally and physically. It had been a very long day. As it stood, she had had no recognition for any part in saving the city. Gajeel had forced her to kneel before Sir Jonah for messing up his room. She smiled blandly. She'd have done that anyway.
The door thumped closed as Gajeel entered his chambers. He glowered at her from a distance, expression unreadable in the gloom.
"You and I need to have a little chat," he said.
Yo, sorry the quality is a bit down on these last few chapters, but the next chapter is heavily Gajeel and Levy and shaping up well, IMO.
