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Chapter 11

This was becoming too regular an occurrence. Her head pounded, her body ached, lethargy clung to her mind like a bad taste in your mouth. Seriously how many times in the last two days had she woken feeling like death itself? Speaking of which…

She would say it all came rushing back, except it came it came in broken fragments, like a puzzle waiting to be put together. Except with her head swimming in a pool of incomprehensibility, solving such a puzzle was the last thing she wanted to do. No, today all she wanted was to sleep the day away. However the fragments spoke loudly; not wanting to be ignored, they spoke of flying, of being attacked, running and running still. She was going to die, she remembered; there was a man standing over her and then Gajeel… Gajeel had saved her! She focused forcing the memory forward, yes; he had come to her rescue at the last second! Then they had escaped, Gajeel flew them through the air away from the demons…

Her memories faded there as her headache became too much to handle. Wearily she opened her eyes, the light might as have been lava at that time for the way it stung her pupils. Blinking the moisture back into her eyes the scene before her became clearer, she was in a bed in a room she didn't recognise. Yep, this was definitely getting old. Looking around, it was clear it wasn't her local hospital; the walls were cobblestone and wooden beams stretched across the ceiling. Under better circumstances, she would have admired the architecture a bit more – as it stood Levy become more and more worried about the predicament she was in. The only solace lay in a black exceed sat in a nearby chair, slightly slumped as he snoozed. Lilly being here must mean she was safe. She was right they had escaped.

Smiling to herself she moved forward to nudge her fierce guardian awake, has she leant forward though an uncanny weight pressed against her back. Startled Levy flung herself forward, afraid of an attack from behind, but the weight followed her glued to her back following her movements as if part of her body. Now completely out of bed and standing surprisingly sturdy for how she had felt mere moment before, Levy realised just what the weight was. From the corner of her eyes she saw the corners of paper coated in words, words she recognised from one of her many books. She followed the trail of letters to see them overlapping with other pages from other books; a page from her favourite chapter of her dearest fairy tale, the paragraph of a poem she held close, the famous lines her beloved characters spoke when they had won the fight and saved the damsel. All of them present in a collage of her reading life that reached behind her shoulders and connected to her back. The feeling was both unreal and completely natural as she read along her new wingspan she found she could move the wings to bring the pages into view, no easier that bending her arm or flexing her toes. It was a marvel, to say the least, the fogginess of her brain cleared as she lost herself in memories of the past with the stories that defined her very nature.

It was about the time that she was trying to read the pages hidden behind her shoulder did it dawn on her that she had wings. Wings! Levy turned this way and that, only confirming that they were in fact wings. Wings! On her back! What was curiosity and wonder soon became unreasonable panic, and just like another sane person in her situation all Levy could think to do was, well, scream.

The noise echoed throughout the Guildhall, the two resident dragons winced at the vibrations in their sensitive ears while others glanced curiously towards their infirmary where an ever keen Mira quickly flew to. As she entered the room she witnessed Lilly trying desperately to calm down the young woman Gajeel had carefully dumped here days prior. She said dumped as he literally flew through the infirmary window, tucked her in before telling Mira to 'take care of the shrimp', grabbing a job and taking off again. 'The shrimp' was currently in hysterics, slumped on the ground talking to herself about 'waking up' and it 'all being a just dream'. Lilly had coaxed her back onto the bed just as Mira grabbed a glass of water and placed it in the woman's hands.

Slowly Levy drained the water in the cup, all while holding onto the glass like it was her lifesaver in the vast ocean. If she had wings, then that meant… The conversation through her flat window played through her mind. You got wings when you died. She died. She was dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. The word repeated again and again until it had no meaning, it was just a sound, a movement of her tongue and a vibration in her throat. It didn't stop the sting though, the thought of her life being over. All those things she wanted to do! Things she never saw. Books she never read. People she never spoke to. Levy never considered her life to be filled with regret but now it was over, the things she regretted doing/not doing was all she could think about. She was fortunate that her family had long since passed; orphaned when she was young she had been taken in by her grandmother who had passed a year ago. Least there were few people who would miss her – even so, it was a weak comfort.

Mira and Lilly looked at each other nervously; this wasn't uncommon for new winged. It sometimes took years for them to come to terms with their deaths, some never truly got over it. Those winged tended to go mad, which led to darker paths towards life as a demon as they lashed out at others. Right now this girl needed support, a family – and nothing said family like Fairy Tail. Mira put a comforting hand on the woman's knee as she knelt in front of her. "My name is Mira-Jane; it's a pleasure to meet you." A soft smile welcomed Levy back to reality, to her beating heart and her breathing lungs. Swallowing hard, her throat still dry despite the water she had just had Levy found her voice to reply.

"I'm Levy McGarden." The reply was unsure like she didn't know who she was anymore. She was trying to piece together how she had died; she remembered escaping with Gajeel and then when he was pulled from the sky. Magnets; she remembered Gajeel fighting a demon who used magnet magic to pull him around. The memory fogged there again, Levy tried to hold onto the thought by speaking to Lilly. "There was a demon; he used magnet magic to fight Gajeel." Saying the words out loud kept the memory in place while she fought to remember what happened next.

Lilly looked at the blue-haired woman worriedly, he knew what she was trying to do and he didn't know how she might react when she found the answers she looked for. Furthermore, he didn't know how the guild might react if they found out what had happened. Nervously glancing at Mira who was understanding enough, she would probably give Gajeel a chance to defend himself before tearing him limb from limb. The same could be said for Natsu and Wendy; the three were dragon slayers and had some kind of sibling understanding about them; the kind that would result in a fistfight between the men as Wendy stood by to heal the injuries. As for everyone else though; trust was thin as is, this just served to be another noose from which they could hang the iron dragon slayer.

"Lilly, I died… Gajeel was there." Levy spoke again. "It was an accident, he told me to run… I didn't. H-He tried to save me again." Levy was sobbing now, words spilt from her mouth but through the gasps and coughs, they couldn't understand what she said.

Mira did what her elder sister instincts told her too, taking the young woman in her arms she stroked her head, softly shushing her cries and reminding her that it was all okay. Lilly watched on as Mira gave into her element, caring and comforting with unrelenting protectiveness that rivalled the dragons of the guild. The perfect woman for the job. Levy gradually calmed down and pulled away from Mira who let her do so but stayed close offering reassurance still, rubbing her eyes red with the heel of her palm Levy looked at Lilly. The two softly smiled at each other, and Lilly said the only thing he could.

"I'm sorry, we failed you." He bowed his head low, he didn't ask for forgiveness. Gajeel had sworn before he left that he didn't deserve such kindness and Lilly held his fate with his partners. They were both to blame for the woman before him, they had promised to protect and failed. Back in Edolas, such incompetence leads to banishment. Instead, small arms scooped him up and held him close, if they were in public he might have protested but here in the quiet comfort of the infirmary he allowed it; graciously accepting the kindness he had been shown.

No words were exchanged for several minutes; the wounds were too raw to speak about yet. The silence offered Levy the chance to come to terms with her new arrangements, sadly this only came with more questions than answers. Before Levy could ask about what was to happen next, a busty blonde girl entered the room. "Mira? People are wonderin- Oh!" Lucy stopped at the sight of Levy, sat in the protective space of Mira and Lilly. Sensing the woman was still in need of comfort; Lucy moved to join the group, extending a hand to Levy she gently shook with her. "I'm Lucy, welcome to Fairy Tail!" Just like the stars on her wings, Lucy brightened the darkest night, bringing light to the situation and making Levy feeling just a tad more at ease.

"Why don't we get you down stairs, and get you something to eat?" Mira added, looking to Lucy asking silently if she would help ease Levy into the controlled chaos below.

Understanding completely Lucy quickly jumped in to help ease the bluenette further. "Don't worry we'll look after you, you can ask us all the questions you want when you've got your strength back!"

With those words, the weakness in her body became apparent once again. Levy nodded in agreement flashing her bravest smile as she found her footing again. Walking slowly, the trio plus one Exceed made their way to the guild hall. Levy was taken aback from the sheer noise; the infirmary had been almost silent, here, what could only be a million conversations/arguments were existing all at once. It was quite intimidating truth be told, hadn't it been for the two women escorting her Levy would have fled back to the infirmary without a second thought. As it stood, however, she was seated at a quiet table in the corner with Lucy while Mira went to the bar to deal with her myriad of customers who knew better than to complain about her absence.

Across the room two men stood in awe, eyes only for what could only be described as an angel who walked into the guild hall and was now seated at the far end of the room. A pair of bird-like wings (falcon-like for the keen eyed) had taken off before their owner was even aware he was moving; in less than a second, he was at the table of the angel with his mouth agape. Lucy looked at Jet confused as to his sudden arrival and doubled in confusion as Droy rolled up behind him. While Jet had bird wings, Droy had wings that appeared to be two giant leaves sprouting from his back draped in thick vines. The two truly looked like that belonged in a nature special. Surprisingly Levy spoke first of the group.

"Um, Hi." Unsure what to do in the situation and why two guys had basically run over to gawk at them; she had suspected they were here because of Lucy (the girl was drop-dead gorgeous for heaven's sake) but when they had only stared at her, her suspicions grew. Suddenly aware of how rude they were being the men slapped themselves out their stupor.

"Hi there, I'm Jet!" A cheesy grin accompanied the ginger man as he thumb pointed to himself

Not to be outdone the second man quickly jumped in. "And I'm Droy!" A brief look of annoyance wasn't lost on Levy as she became confused by the two men further.

"We are team Shadow speed!"

"No team plant gear!" Droy quickly interrupted

Lucy and Levy watched as the two men continued to bicker about their team name. Lucy was used to the interaction, the two may be best friends but they fought like an old married couple and hardly ever agreed. Said couple were now locking heads and pushing against one another arguing about what their team name was. While Lucy looked exasperated with the debate Levy looked at the boys fondly, clearly, the two cared for each other like brothers, it's no wonder they fought like this.

"Why don't you compromise and be called Shadow Gear?" Levy offered in a chipper tone, her smile had the two boys dumbstruck once again, before erupting into two praising cheerleaders

"Levy that's amazing!"

"You're so smart Levy!"

The continuous babble came from the two boys as Levy giggled to herself at how easy the fight was to solve.

"You should lead our team!" To this day Levy still wasn't sure which one suggested it first (ask either one and they will claim it was them), but both were so eager to invite her into their group she found it hard to say no. Despite the fact that she had absolutely no idea what this 'team' did!

Fortunately, Lucy stepped back in to save Levy from her adoring fans; "Backup guys, she only just got here!" watching as the excitement visibly drop in their faces Levy offered another smile promising she would 'think about it when she was settled'. Waving cheerily as they moved on, Lucy noted how the bluenette had visibly relaxed after meeting Jet and Droy ad was now tucking into pancakes courtesy of Mira.

Sitting in comfortable silence as she ate; Levy continued to think about, well, everything. Here she was breathing, eating, living when by all rights she should be in the ground – depressing herself she sunk into the seat. The motion wasn't lost on Lucy who tried to distract her from the darkening mood.

"Do you read?" The three words which were a bookworm's dream in any social situation; Levy almost jumped out of her seat with anticipation to talk about her favourite stories but forced herself to rein it in – she had scared plenty of people with her literature enthusiasm.

"Yes, I love to read! I had a huge collection back home!" At the word home, Levy felt a slight pang of despair. All of her books, gone. She almost cried at the thought, it was a lifetime's worth of collecting, so many rare and treasured books – Levy hoped they would be cared for now she was gone.

Lucy panicked again watching Levy's moods oscillate violently over the subject and tried again to coax her out of her homesick thoughts. "Would you like to see the guild's library?" Without waiting for an answer, Lucy stood up and encouraged her new friend to do the same. Together they entered an upstairs room which contained bookshelves as far as the eye can see – each one packed with a collection of tomes varying in size and colour. The excitement in Levy's eyes was barely contained by her brown irises as she took tentative steps closer to the books. Her outstretched hand fingered the binders grazing over each letter which clued her to the contents within.

So lost in her exploration she didn't notice the fond look Lucy gave her, nor how the blonde followed behind her. "I think this book might be useful for you – it's a history of this world" In her outstretched hands she held the book Lucy and Natsu recovered from the old building basement. Levy slowly took it again studying the cover, this would definitely be useful, and hopefully, by understanding this world, she would feel more comfortable.

"Thank you!" Levy couldn't contain it anymore; she launched her arms around the blonde hugging her tightly.

Lucy could only laugh in response "Your one of us now! We all look after each other." Her soft smile gave the small woman the reassurance that she was going to be just fine here.