Hi again guys.

Before I say anything more, I want to say that I am so terribly sorry. I didn't ever mean to disappear for like 3/4 months without notice. I was busy, I guess. No, that isn't exactly true-

I'm a shitty procrastinator with little motivation. However, you guys motivate me more than anything. So, I love you guys, and I hope you forgive me for my prolonged absence. I really did want to finish up the chapter, but I never really got to it. You have no idea how terrible I feel.

A more upbeat note, I have your chapter that you all very much deserve. So I hope you guys enjoy this, I think I finally know where to go with it. Maybe. We'll see. ^^

&
Enjoy


"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." - Frank Herbert

"Gajeel! Gajeel!" Levi's screeches split through the darkness.

Her bare feet splashed in the mud, her shoes lost somewhere behind her in her desperate dash through the woods to find the Iron Dragon Slayer. A menacing darkness loomed over the already shadowed wood, and Levi felt a heaviness pressing on her chest that was indescribable and impossible to lift, no matter how far she ran or how much she screamed. Her legs bled from slices that ajar twigs had inflicted on her, and she could just barely feel the blood ooze down her frozen legs and between her toes.

Levi's breathing was jagged, her lungs dry and cold, and they burned as she continued dashing through the darkness. She tripped over a stone and scraped one knee as she fell to the littered mud, her toe throbbing as she forced every muscle to move again and push herself back up.

"Gajeel.. Gajeel where are you..." Levi breathed out painfully. Her dress was soaked through, splotched with brown and red as if someone had taken a water based paint and painted all over the bottom half of it. The now transparent fabric stuck to her legs uncomfortably, and dripped tainted drops of water down her legs as she ran.

The woods were spinning, and the ground beneath her feet felt unstable; as if her feet were sinking farther and farther into the mud with every step she took, dragging her down and slowing her pace.

Levi squealed as she felt her hair getting tangled into low rising tree branches, scratching her face and confusing her as she desperately tried to free herself.

Tearing away from the tree, Levi clamped her face in her hand, wiping away a drop of blood nearly slipping into her eye. She stared at the ground, frozen where she stood as tears began forming at the corners of her eyes.

Levi wondered if she could ever find Gajeel in these woods. She was afraid of running in circles around these threatening branches to never come across the Dragon Slayer. She had been running for longer than she knew her lungs could manage, still with no avail of finding him.

"Gajeel.." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she recalled what the anonymous voice had said before she ran away in denial.

"Destroy your darkness."

"What are you talking about! Gajeel.. no, I can't do that!"

"You will not be alone. I am with you. You must carry out the deed."

Levi shook her head in denial as her lip began to quiver. "No.."

Levi dropped to her knees as she shook her head. "Where are you, Gajeel..."

"The scroll. It spoke of a 'true evil.'"

The voice sounded around the back of her mind once again. Levi shook her head and let out a tired, exasperated sigh as she blinked away tears.

"I never got to translate–" Levi started.

"The 'true evil' is your comrade, lost within the darkness of a menacing shadow, lost until a light shows him the way or destroys him forever. It is not his choice, however, how the light effects him. For it is your decision as to what the light shall do, And only your choice, for you are the light. You shall be his beginning, or you shall be his end." The voice sounded grim, it's words echoing in Levi's mind, reaching every dark place within it. This voice was asking her to do something absolutely ridiculous, and there was no way for her to comply with these tasks.

"No.." Her voice wavered. She didn't want to believe any of this nonsense. Gajeel was good now, the only dark that was left in his heart were the painful memories from when he was cold, ruthless, and lonely. But he was none of that now, in Fairy Tail, with so many comrades and fond memories. Levi saw that within him, the light that began to muster with all its might in his heart since the very first day he arrived at the Guild. There was no way he could be overcome by any darkness by any means.

"I don't believe you!" Levi yelled in defiance, tears once again rolling down her cheek as she began to relive all the precious memories that she had stored in her mind that she had shared with the Iron Dragon Slayer.

There was a silence between them. Levi stared out into the dark nothingness, waiting for the persistence to end so that she could find Gajeel and get back to their lives.

"Shall I show you, the future that shall come?"

Levi flinched, and brought her hands to her chest as she shrunk away. The thought of having to see the predicted Gajeel scared her; she didn't want to see him in that sort of evil, uncontrollable state ever again.

"No.." She breathed out.

The voice ignored her, replacing her white, empty surroundings with a heavy darkness; soft black mud beneath her feet and bones surrounding her on all sides. Surprise struck Levi as she turned in a circle to take in the scene.

Suddenly, the bodies of her friends appeared from nothing, forming a tighter circle around her. She followed each of them with her eyes as they appeared, until they stopped appearing. Levi blinked, and as she opened her eyes again the corpses of her comrades were no longer around her. In their stead, a dead tree now stood before her, black as night. The branches loomed over her threateningly, a faint, smoky light peaking through the breaks in the branches and gracing over her face. Levi shrunk away as she imagined the branches twisting and turning and plucking her right off the ground.

Levi closed her yes and breathed in, suddenly the smell of something acrid wafted into her nose. Something warm dropped between her eyebrows, dripping down to the hollow of her eye-socket before she reached up and smeared it off. Staring at her hand, she rubbed two fingers together to feel the liquid.

Realization hit her like a brick when heavy, coppery stench of blood filled the musty air, and more droplets of the sticky liquid dripped onto her face and tattered hair before she looked upwards at the tree once again.

Levi's eyes widened as terror tore at her heart, her mouth gaped open in pure fright. A scream burst from her lungs and she brought her hands to her face to cover her eyes. She fell to her knees, however unable to take her eyes off of the body before her.

"Tha..that's me! Oh god, that's–!" Levi's breath was shallow and ragged, and slowly she inched away from the other her crucified to the tree.

The Levi before her looked immensely different from the time that she had actually been crucified.

Her body was butchered, slices like claw marks flayed her flesh, stakes driven through her elbows to hold her body to the tree.

Levi's gaze fell to her chest.

Her ribs poked indignantly from it, as if an animal had eaten away at her chest until it reached her bones and immediately lost interest. Leaving an empty, gaping hole where her organs originally occupied.

A cry of agony escaped her lungs, emitting echoes around her until they faded into the distance. She furiously shook her head as she raised herself; her eyes never falling from her body on the tree.

"No..." Levi began to inch away, shakily sliding her knees backwards one by one, her muscles almost frozen in terror.

"Stop!" She yelled as she stood and tried to run away from this horrible sight. Instead, she collided into something warm and firm, but.. familiar. Levi grasped onto the fabric her hands only graced lightly over. She looked up at what halted her dash, and a pang of happiness struck her heart.

"Gajeel!" She smiled.

He said nothing, looming over her, his gaze never wavering from where it was rested.

Levi's smile began to fade as she realized his gaze was placed on her. Not her, however, but the brutalized Levi behind her, bleeding and pinned to the tree.

Her eyes widened as she observed his face; twisted in sick contempt, an evil smile plastered across it. His eyes had a crazed gleam to it, and his features were accented with a menacing shadow.

A sickening cackle raised from his throat, making Levi flinch away at how unnatural the noise was that was raising from his throat. A wild hunger danced in his eyes, and he glanced down at the mass of red he held in his hand.

His now long, bloodied claws were digging deep into.. a heart. No, not just a heart.

Her heart.

Levi felt as if all the air in her lungs had been forcefully yanked from her chest. She brought a hand to her mouth, although a scream couldn't muster. Terror gnawed on her limbs, freezing her solid as ice. All she was able to do was tremble before the crazed man.

Blood oozed around his fingers as he dug his claws deeper. Spurts of blood began to burst from it, landing around her feet as, bit by bit, her own heart began to be nothing but a left over piece of fresh kill for her comrade.

"Gajeel.." She cried to herself. Her body shook violently at the scene before her, and tears soaked her cheeks as they streamed down to her chin and dripped onto her dress.

"Gajeel stop.." She reached out towards him with one shaking hand. She grabbed for his tunic, only for her hand to glide right through it.

The Gajeel before her tossed her heart to the side like it was meaningless filth, and she heard, as his retreating figure began to fade, a laugh of contempt rumbling in his throat.

Levi blinked away tears, and when she opened her eyes, she was back in the forest, all by herself. No corpses, no tree, and still no Gajeel.


It hurt. It coursed through him, through his veins, through his mind, and through his heart. It reached every corner, every memory... it veiled everything. Gajeel could feel it tearing him apart little by little, bit by bit. He could feel it masking his sanity, masking his emotions; he felt inhuman. Defiled. He couldn't believe for a second that this is who he used to be.

He felt the blood seeping back onto his hands, back to every crevice of his mind. He could hear the madness again, the echoing hate and the endless loneliness. It was all slowly coming back to him as the darkness was forced through him. Gajeel wanted to fight it, he never wanted it back. He liked who he has become now, with friends and reasoning to keep himself in line. Despite the reminder of who always will be curtained by blue hair, hazel eyes and an overly forgiving heart, he repented by continuing on this tiring, worthless game of life, and changing himself for the sake of that reminder.

He didn't want to go back. He did not want to go back. Please, ...please, ...please. He didn't want to go back to that.

He didn't have a choice. It wasn't his choice to make anymore.

Gajeel was afraid.

Fear; it was an emotion Gajeel never felt before Fairy Tail. Hell, he hadn't felt a damned thing before Fairy Tail. There was no remorse. No sadness. No love. It was always just Gajeel.

Now he could hear the screams, and he could feel the joy. The contempt of a successful elimination. The pleasure of taking an innocent's life.

Gajeel was slipping, his grip on himself was too loose now. There was no use fighting it, he had been dragged to the point of no return.

He realized that his defense hadn't been too great anyways. Perhaps he was just kidding himself, and he hadn't really changed. Maybe it was just a mental thing, maybe he had convinced himself enough that he was different now, that he had believed it. Perhaps.

"Accept it." He could hear the dragon demand. He couldn't respond.

His vision was obscured with a veil of shadow, and all he could see was black and white. It was so dark.

He tried moving, but he couldn't. He didn't even have any control over his movements, however, he was still shaking furiously. He could feel that. His jaws were clenched tightly shut, making them ache uncomfortably.

He was back in the forest now, Acnologia wasn't there anymore although he was sure he was somewhere, observing. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

Gajeel could see that the stars weren't visible still, and neither was the moon. They were wiped away by the darkness of this place. Or maybe that was just him.

Then he heard it.

A heartbeat. No, not just any heartbeat. It was her heartbeat.

He could hear her feet splashing on the cold mud, the rain drops landing on her skin drop by drop. Tension built up in him as the sounds became louder with each noise she made, with every heartbeat.

His body began to tremble harder as he predicted what will happen to her when she stumbles upon him. He regretted ever coming out here. Why did he come out here? God, he's such a fucking idiot. This is all his fault.

The splashing stopped, and the heartbeat increased.

Goddammit.

She was right behind him now; he could feel her eyes burning into his back. His knees felt weak as she began to walk towards him. The rhythmic splashing of her feet sending his body into a fit of absolute rage, and he didn't even know the reason why. He could almost feel his claws digging into her flesh; he craved to feel the rush.

Gajeel was so, so terrified.

He tried to scream out and tell her to run away; he had no clue what he would do to her. But his voice never sounded, it never got any farther than the tip of his tongue. Why was this happening?

"Gajeel, what are you doing out here?" She tried sounding relieved, but he could hear the fear pressing to show more dominantly in her voice. She was almost reaching two feet away from him now, and both of their hearts beat in sync. She was as scared as he was.

Did she know? Could she tell? Has she predicted that he would tear her limb from limb, just as he has?

She was only a foot away from him now. His heart was aching so terribly, because he couldn't do anything but watch hopelessly the same scene unfold before him once again.

Please stay away. His voice wavered inside him, but it couldn't reach his lips. He felt as though he was trapped in a cage within himself. He hated it so much, he wanted to break free and save her from himself, but he could do absolutely nothing.

He felt her hand reaching out towards him before it touched the crevice in his spine.

He spun around and elbowed her in the face, sending her crashing into a tree a few yards away.

He flinched.

No. Oh, god no.

She wheezed as she fought for breath after it was knocked out of her. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, causing a hungry growl to rumble in Gajeel's throat.

"So, I'm too late.." Levi sounded regretful. He barred his teeth at her.

Sorrow was reflecting in her eyes, as if she knew what was happening. Where was the fear? The fear that he craved so terribly to relish in as he tore at her flesh? It pissed him off.

Gajeel didn't even know what to think anymore. Darkness had almost clouded everything completely, and the last glimmer of sanity was beginning to fade.

"Gajeel. Gajeel please don't give up." Levi stared directly into his hungry slits. "You can beat this. I know you can. I believe in you Gajeel, so please.." Her voice shook in rhythm with the rest of her body. But despite all this her eyes reflected nothing but determination.

She raised herself to her feet with support of the tree, though she cupped her face in one hand and kept one eye shut.

He slowly stalked towards her, and she pressed herself back against the tree. Looming over her, he placed a hand on her stomach. He speculated her eyes, which stared back into his fearlessly.

Gajeel sneered and dug his nails into her stomach. Her eye twitched, and she clenched her teeth, but she had no other reaction to the pain. He smirked at her. He brought his other hand to her face and traced teasingly around her features.

Stop.. Please stop this. He begged. Still no words came out.

He slid his nail across her cheek quickly, slicing it open. Levi seethed at the sting, but she never pulled her gaze from his. Gajeels smile vanished.

He brought his hand to her neck, dug his claws into her flesh, and threw her across the clearing. He laughed as she tumbled into the middle of it, coming to a skidding stop on her side.

He heard her cough, and watched, humored, as her arms shook beneath her as she attempted to raise herself back to her feet. She failed, collapsing back onto her side and breathing heavily.

The sweet scent of Levi's blood made Gajeel's mouth water heavily. He wanted to shed more.

No.. no, I don't! Levi, run for fucks sake!


Levi placed a hand on her neck. Blood oozed from the five gashes left by Gajeel's claws. She turned over onto her back, watching as the demented Dragon Slayer stalked across the clearing, preparing to finish her off.

She still couldn't believe that what the voice had told her was true. However much Levi wished she could, she couldn't deny what was right in front of her.

You see now, don't you? A new voice echoed in Levi's head. This voice was dark, and menacing. It was full of malice and misfortune. She could hear the evil seeping from his words.

"See.. what?" Levi's voice was raspy as she choked out words.

The voice rumbled in a laugh. He is beyond your help. Give up, pathetic vermin. Your dim glow cannot illuminate even an ants tomorrow.

Levi furrowed her eyebrows. She coughed, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

"That's.. not true. I'll show you, .. Metallicana.." Levi's vision began to blur, and the image of the stars above her began to waver.

"It's impossible to rekindle a fire that had already died, you stupid Dragon."

She looked back at Gajeel, who was only a few steps away from her now. Levi raised a hand in desperation, reaching for anything to grasp to lift herself from the ground, but her body ached from the brutal blows from the possessed man.

Levi felt a grasp around her neck once again, raising her from the ground to the eye-level of the Dragon Slayer. Her legs dangled helplessly a few feet above the ground, and she kicked around in failing attempts to wriggle free of his grasp.

Levi fought for breath as she stared into his emotionless garnet eyes.

"Gajeel.." She choked, lifting a hand to get a grip on his clothing. Her fingers glided across the fabric on his chest.

"Gajeel... listen to me. Listen to my.. voice." Levi choked out, scratching at his knuckles as they clenched tighter. A growl raised in his throat as she continued to struggle.

The Dragon pulled her closer to his face, barring his teeth dangerously as she continued to speak. Finally able to reach him, she placed a hand on his chest, right over his heart. She felt it beating, thumping hard against his chest. Levi could almost feel the vibrations thump through her own flesh. She smiled.

"Gajeel.. you won't hurt me... a second time.. will you?"

Gajeel stopped abruptly, a growl caught in his throat, and loosened his grip on the fragile girl for just a fraction of a second. His eyes widened, realization sparking in them like a flickering light bulb.


"What is this.."

A darkness engulfed Gajeel, becoming a sightless abyss of soundless, colorless dread. A heaviness weighed down on the Dragons chest, and he could feel his fingers trembling. He felt as if he had ventured too far into a cave with no end, one with no escape on the other side. A deafening silence hung in the air, sending shivers up his spine and making Gajeel's skin crawl with the terror of a loneliness he never thought could exist.

Gajeel reached out infront of him, his fingers straining to slip through the thick atmosphere.

"Levi.." Gajeel kept his voice from trembling. He was unsure of why, but for the oddest reason the man felt.. unnaturally fearful. His heart pounded against his chest harder than if had been battling for days and nights without rest. He felt worn out and weak, his body threatening to collapse with every breath he drew in.

Her voice echoed in the back of his mind, beckoning him further. But, Gajeel could hardly move from his spot. The air surrounding him was dense and threatening, making his muscles stiff and ache, and plastered his feet to the ground beneath him as he trembled from an unconscious, uncontrollable fear. A dark mist wrapped around his wrist as he brought it back down to his side. He struggled to unravel it, but it tightened around his bone and roughly tugged him forward. Stumbling to accommodate the forceful gestures of the mist, Gajeel's feet finally pulled away from the suction fighting against him, as if they had been tugged from a pool of deep mud. He glanced down, but could hardly see anything besides a few inches down his torso. The air, where ever he was, was too thick to even want to move around in.

"Gajeel." Her voice whispered from somewhere behind him. It sounded different, as if there was a second voice behind her own tongue.

"Levi!" Hope overflowed in Gajeel's eyes as he whipped around. Something caught onto his other wrist, yanking him back the opposite way the small girls voice had come from.

Gajeel growled frustratedly at the mist wrapped around his wrists.

"Get the fuck off of me.. goddammit!" He yanked away with all of his strength, but the grip around his wrists only tightened. He winced, fighting against them as hard as he could. But the mist only persisted to pull harder, to wrap around him tighter, around his waist and around his neck, pulling him towards and invisible destination.

"Wrong way." She giggled quietly in his ear.

Gajeel was helpless against this entity, pulling and scratching at the mist only for his fingers to slip through it.

"Levi! C'mon, let go of me! Please..!" Gajeel's voice began to crack.

She giggled, and continued in a soft whisper.

"Come to me."


I hope you all enjoyed!

Let me tell you, this took longer than I thought it would to write. But hey, it happens. I love writing for you wonderful people! :D

Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you think! Thank you for reading this, and I'll talk to you next chapter, (which will hopefully come out sooner than this one did. No more 4 month absences.) (: