Chapter 10

Levy didn't know what to think of her captors. The first three days were a living hell, full of pain so excruciating she thought she might die. But when the army moved their base to a forest outside of Marguerite, her guard friend, Jet, had brought her to Zeref himself instead of the terrifying general like he was supposed to. She stood next to the wall of the tent silently, listening to Jet explain what happened to his leader.

"General Redfox did this?"

"Yes, sir."

Zeref sat silent for a moment, very calm, before answering, "Thank you, loyal soldier, for bringing this to my attention. I will take care of everything from here. You are dismissed."

Jet saluted and turned around to leave, but paused and looked at Levy. She pleaded with her eyes, don't leave.

Jet glanced back to Zeref and he said, "Don't worry, no harm will come to the girl. You may leave now, soldier."

"Yes, sir!" And with that, her only friend left her. He left her with the man who had planned the attacks on six states in Fioré and invaded them successfully, including Magnolia, her home. He looked surprisingly young, maybe a little older than her.

Zeref was studying different pieces of papers and had four books laid out in front of him. One of them was open to a map of Fiore, she recognized another as a strategy book. He opened a large scroll and laid it on one of the books and stared at it for a minute. The scroll was a large blueprint of what looked like Crocus palace.

She put together the pieces and realized he was planning his attack on Fioré's capital. A wave of fear rushed through her and she shuddered, wanting to run. She had nowhere to go though. No home, no family.

Her eyes welled up and she let the tears fall as she studied her grimy hands. She hadn't bathed in almost a week and her clothes were filthy and torn after violently being ripped off her several times in the past few days. Her whole body was sore and weak, especially her legs, and riding horseback for six hours had made it ten times worse.

Zeref was completely ignoring her and didn't seem at all bothered by her sobs. She ended up sitting down with her head in her hands, trying to calm down, but couldn't until she heard another voice join her crying outside of the tent. At first, she thought she was losing her mind until a very short blonde girl ran into the tent, holding a crying baby.

"Will you take him? I need a break!" she asked, sounding exhausted. Zeref set down his blueprints and took the screaming baby from the girl.

Zeref rocked and muttered to the child until it calmed down. The girl sat down next to him and slumped against his shoulder.

Levy sniffed and the girl noticed her.

"Who's this?" she asked as she studied Levy.

Zeref was still looking at the baby when he softly answered, "General Redfox found her in Magnolia and decided to keep her as a pet. A soldier in Redfox's division brought her to me a few minutes ago."

The girls' confused stare turned into sympathy and Levy refrained herself from breaking down again.

The girl got up and walked into the "room" on the other side of the tent where a large tarp was hung, acting as a wall. She came back holding a bundle of clothes and handed them to Levy.

The girl smiled innocently, "We should be about the same size, right?"

Levy frowned, the slightest bit insulted. The girl couldn't be older than thirteen. Levy was eighteen.

The girl pointed to the room and said, "Go change."

Levy slowly stood up, and walked to the room, ignoring the ache in her legs. She changed quickly, fearing being exposed for too long. She wore a black shirt and white trousers that were a little too short for her legs. There was also a long white coat with the Arcana insignia on the shoulders. She reluctantly put it on, she hated wearing their symbol, but the collar covered the embarrassing bruises on her neck.

While she was pulling on the coat, she heard Zeref talking to a guard on the other side of the tarp.

"Go retrieve General Redfox. I need to discuss something with him."

No.

She wanted to hide. Her breaths shallowed and her eyes welled up again. She didn't leave the room and tried to stop hyperventilating.

The blonde girl peaked her head in and asked, "Everything okay in here-"

She stopped when she saw the tears on Levy's face. "Oh, don't worry, we're leaving before the general arrives. We're going on a field trip!"

It was the best news Levy had heard in days.

Although she in no way shape or form trusted this girl, Levy much rather preferred going on a "field trip" with her than being in the same room as that monster, even if there were two other people present.

Levy nodded and wiped the tears from her cheeks. The girl gestured for Levy to follow and she did, exiting the tent.

They headed along a row of tents, and then another before the girl said, "I'm Mavis, what's your name?"

"I'm Levy."

Mavis smiled at her and continued leading her through the city of tents. They passed soldiers and Levy was surprised to recognize a handful of them from Magnolia. They must have recruited them when they attacked.

Levy heard a horribly familiar voice come from the tent they were walking towards and shuddered. They passed the tent right as he walked out, and she was face to face with the man who would forever be in her nightmares. She froze on the spot and he stared at her in confusion. Then he saw Mavis and regained his smug nature.

He smirked and looked at Levy's new clothes, "I see you've settled in."

She didn't answer and let Mavis pull her away, leading her down the row of tents. Levy dared to glance back at him, and saw him grinning at her as she walked away. She snapped her head back and tried not to break down again.

She failed.

After walking through the whole camp, Levy and Mavis had stopped at a stream a few yards into the forest that surrounded the mile of tents. Levy had managed to finally calm down after her encounter with General Redfox and had taken off her boots to dip her feet in the refreshing, cold water. Mavis had run off somewhere downstream to pick flowers, but Levy was too exhausted to try and follow.

She was so confused about everything that had happened in the past week. One minute she was captive to the most horrible person she had ever met, and the next she was on a playdate with Zeref's… little sister?

Who was she, anyway?

Levy thought about for a minute but decided she didn't care; as long as she wasn't the general's personal sex slave anymore. She shuddered; anything was better than that.

"Are you okay now?"

Levy jumped and turned toward the voice. Mavis was standing a few feet away holding an armful of dark blue flowers.

"Who are you?" Levy asks her.

Mavis laughs and sits down next to her. "I already told you, I'm Mavis. Mavis Vermillion Dragneel, if you wanted my full name."

Levy narrows her eyes, "No. Who are you? What is your role in all of this?"

Mavis sets down the flowers and sits down next to her, dipping her already bare feet into the water as well.

"Well, what do you want to know? My part in our army, or my relation to Zeref? I can only guess which one you are confused about," she answers with a sarcastic tone.

Levy doesn't answer, and Mavis continues, "Zeref is my husband, and we built this army together."

Levy blinks. Mavis laughs again.

"But you're-"

"Only thirteen?" Mavis cuts her off.

Levy nods.

"Zeref and I aren't as young as we look," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

"What do you mean?"

Mavis smiled slightly, "We're actually ten years older than our physical appearance. I am 23, Zeref is 29, and the baby is our adorable son August," she said the last part proudly.

Levy stared at Mavis, shocked, and opened her mouth to ask something else, but Mavis holds her hands, "That's enough questions for now. Do you like science?"

Levy paused, "Yes?"

Mavis rolled her eyes, "How many books have you read?"

Levy chuckled, it would take years to count how many books she had read, "I have no idea. A few hundred, maybe more?"

Mavis beamed, "I knew I liked you! Come on, I need help with something."

Mavis pulled her arm and Levy grabbed her boots. Mavis scooped up the navy flowers while Levy tied the laces of her shoes. The two of them walked through the camp at a quicker pace than before; Mavis was really excited.

Levy tensed when they passed General Redfox's tent, and jumped when she heard a frustrated yell and a crash. Mavis hurried them past the tent and led them to the center of the camp.

Levy was panting when she entered the large red tent, and Levy stood in the entryway as Mavis ran inside. Zeref was still sitting on his spot on the floor, but he seemed upset. August was sleeping in a basket in the corner, swaddled in a blanket.

When Mavis emerged from the room bearing a bulky satchel and a bundle of white cloth, she handed the things to Levy and crouched in front of Zeref who was furiously scribbling something in the margin of an open book.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

He stopped writing and smiled at her, "Lieutenant Vastia has returned."

Mavis' eyes went wide, "Are we invading soon? Where is General Scarlet?"

Levy was beyond lost and didn't even try to figure out what they were talking about.

Zeref's eyes darkened still smiling, "We aren't going to be invading anytime soon. Erza has made sure of that," he practically spat the last part.

Zeref didn't wait for Mavis to respond and said, "She prevented the assassination. If I ever see her face again, I will kill her myself."

"I knew she was never going to be able to kill him, but I didn't suspect her to betray us. What will we do?"

"I'm promoting Vastia to General. He has proven himself to be loyal," Zeref said as he shook his head and sighed.

"You made the right choice, you're a good leader, Zeref," Mavis said and kissed his head.

She walked to the entrance and glanced at Levy, "Let's go, we have things to do."

Levy followed her outside and they walked down a few rows of tents until they arrived.

There were four tables set up in a small clearing in the camp. The tables were covered with trinkets and glass vials and bottles, a few filled with different liquids. Four poles held up a large tarp that gave shade to the work area.

Mavis stopped behind one of the tables and gestured for Levy to give her the satchel. After Levy handed it to her, Mavis began rummaging through the bag and pulled out a water flask and a vial of cloudy white liquid.

"Flowers," Mavis extended her arm and Levy set the white bundle of cloth in her palm.

She poured the water into a bowl and unwrapped the cloth. Mavis picked one of the wilted flowers up with a pair of tweezers and gently placed it in the water. Unscrewing the lid of the vial, she grabbed an eyedropper from the table and very slowly placed it into the liquid. Mavis squeezed a drop into the bowl.

Levy watched the effects curiously; the second the drop hit the water, the flower petals shriveled up and turned transparent, leaving the water a dark navy blue. Mavis removed the dead plant and picked up a syringe and a clean vial. She filled the vial with the blue liquid and handed it to Levy.

She hesitantly took it from her and stared at it. Whatever the stuff was, looked ominous.

"Drink it."

Levy snapped her head up and stared at Mavis like she was insane. Mavis only shrugged and gestured for her to 'go on'.

Levy sighed and slowly moved the vial to her lips. She drank it quickly, but hesitated to swallow. The liquid tasted like water, except with a hint of sweetness and a starchy aftertaste. Levy wrinkled her nose at the texture but stopped when she felt a soothing rush of energy into her legs, the ache in her hips already going away. For a moment she thought she had been drugged, but realized she didn't even feel tired. She sighed and closed her eyes, enjoying the relief.

"How do you feel?" Mavis was smirking.

Levy paused, at a loss of words, "Amazing."

Mavis nodded, "Good. Now come here and help me, we have fifty more of those to make before the flowers die."

Levy tilted her head, "Why?"

Mavis looked up from the table and smiled, a curious glint in her eyes, "This is going to ensure the success of our cause."


Holy crap this was a long one. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I think the Gruvia shippers will enjoy chapter 12 ;)