YOU DESERVE THIS.

I KNOW, I'M AN AWFUL PERSON.

TAKE THIS CHAPTER. JUST TAKE IT. I'M GOING TO GO SIT IN THE CORNER AND THINK ABOUT MY PRIORITIES.

I LOVE YOU.

YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND HATE ME FOR DOING EXACTLY WHAT I SAID I WOULDN'T DO.

BUT HERE'S YOUR CHAPTER.

DISCLAIMER; (Have I been doing these?) I don't own anything except the words. Characters&Fairy Tail belong to Hiro Mashima.

&
ENJOY.

"The trick is to learn to see with your heart, not with your eyes." – Alyson Noel

Levi clutched onto the possessed man's shirt. His hand was still wrapped considerably tight around her small neck, but not tight enough to make her struggle for air. The girl dangled her feet restlessly, her jaw beginning to ache for release, her toes yearning to feel grass between them once again.

Gajeel's wrist was slippery and cold from tears that slipped from the delicate woman's cheeks, mixing with the cold rain drops that fell from the sky in an endless stream. Levi listened to the gentle patting on the grass as the droplets fell from the tall man's forearm to the damp blades beneath them, the sound echoing loudest among the rest of the melding patter of rain on grass.

After begging him to find himself again, Gajeel had gone tense; regret glimmered across his face for a moment just long enough for Levi to recognize it, vanishing just a quick second later. The girl had reached him, this she was sure of. She could see the scared confusion pooling in his shallow garnet irises. He hadn't moved for a while, only staring blankly into the defenseless girls eyes as she dangled helplessly before him. Levi wasn't exactly fearful of this man anymore. He hadn't made any further motions to harm her, despite his previous actions.

However much the girl new she had reached his mind, where ever he was inside of it, Levi had anticipation boiling deep in her chest, afraid that when he does come to again he will still be the same Gajeel that is ready to kill her. Her heart beat against her chest and tears welled up in her eyes as she painfully waited, possibly just for him to come back and smile cruelly at her, all hints of his true self enveloped in darkness. She could almost feel her neck snapping as she imagined him growing quickly bored of toying with his delicate prey.

Levi tried her best to drown her fear with the knowledge that somewhere, somehow, there was a gift of light inside of her. She was unsure if she had succeeded in placing the light in Gajeel's heart like the voice in her mind had instructed her to do, but she had hope that the tall man would find his own way out of the evil cage he was trapped in.

She had to have hope, or else she would lose her precious companion forever, and it would be all her fault.

"Come find me, Gajeel." She whispered, her voice wavering despite herself. The patting of tears splashing against the blades of grass beneath her echoed in her ears once again. Levi smiled through the tears despite herself.

"Come to me."

He heard it again, the whisper. It echoed in the darkness, leading him in multiple different yet awfully similar directions. Through everything that she had gone through, Levi's voice continued to sound courageous and strong. Despite how weak and fragile the small girl appeared, she was truly stronger than anyone Gajeel had ever met. He was almost envious of her emotional strength.

Gajeel was ready to silently crumble, alone and trapped in this never ending darkness that surrounded him. He had to scream at his body to continue moving after he pulled away from the shadows, but they nipped at his feet persistently as he trudged along this sightless abyss. Fear weighed down on his bones, he could hear them creak and felt them ache as he pathetically slumped one foot infront of the other. His muscles felt as if they were a thousand pounds underneath his skin, and his mind was ready to split in two.

His wrists and neck burned in the places the shadows had tangled themselves around like they were strings of fire. He was sure they were raw and bleeding, he could feel the darkness seeping into his open wounds, but he didn't care. He wanted nothing more than to be out of here, to distance himself as far as possible from the fragile girl he was sure was still dangling before him.

He had done it again; injured her, beat her, shown her a terrible side of himself that he never wanted her to see a second time. He had promised himself that something like that would never happen again, but here he was, weak and helpless, at the mercy of that stronger side of himself with nothing to stop it.

Gajeel looked up, wondering if he had walked a long distance or hadn't moved a single foot, but he couldn't tell. All he could see was black, black, and more black, as if he was walking around with his eyes shut. But they definitely weren't shut. The more he walked around the more they stung, and the more they ached as they strained to depict anything out from this darkness.

"Le..vi." He croaked, trying to call loudly to the girl. He only just realized how dry his mouth was. His lungs began to burn, feeling like they were shriveling up inside him. Gajeel coughed dryly, only making his lungs burn worse.

Gajeel felt like his insides were on fire. This must be Hell.

Then suddenly his lungs didn't seem so dry, and his tongue had a foreign moisture to them. Something thick and warm oozed over his bottom lip and slipped onto his chin. The man wiped it off with a hand, sniffing the air and faintly picking up the sent of warm copper.

Fuck.

Gajeel smacked his tongue in his mouth a bit, and, just as every other time, his nose was correct.

It was blood, oozing out of his mouth and down his chin and neck.

How was he bleeding?! Gajeel frantically smeared his mouth with the backs of his hands, the quick movements making him spit blood into his hand and splatter onto the invisible ground beneath his aching feet. His heart beat painfully against his chest as he felt the thick liquid begin to slide out of his nose. Panic consumed his mind once again as the last of his hopes of escaping alive withered into the nothingness around him.

His body was deteriorating in this place, his organs surely evaporating inside him like the bite wound of a venomous snake. This miasma was killing him, slowly, painfully, but more importantly: quicker than he could hope to escape it.

Levi began to try and wriggle free from the man's grasp as she watched him, mortified as the blood poured from the creases of the man's mouth and nose. She needed him to hurry, before it was too late and Gajeel's body killed itself as he stood here absently, as if nothing was even happening.

Levi tugged at his fingers firmly wrapped around her neck. They wouldn't budge, no matter how hard she pulled or scratched at them. After a few minutes to no avail, Levi pushed against his chest with her feet in an another attempt to get free from his grasp. Her neck began to ache and her stomach began to sting. His fingers began to pinch the sensitive skin under her chin as she defied this man's effortless strength. Giving one last shove against the black-haired man's ribs, the girl went limp and dangled helplessly by her neck, staring into the tall man's dull eyes, into the trees beyond them, the grass beneath their feet, and finally, the sky; ominously dark, hanging like an oppressive curtain over their heads.

There was nothing she could possibly do with her level of skill and knowledge that could ever possibly do even the least bit to help the situation the two mages were currently in. Worry was forced to simmer reluctantly in Levi's heart, her mind desperately scavenging for bits of hope for the man before her whose life was grasping onto its own drops of blood and humanity to keep sight of himself.

Levi's stomach began to ache terribly. The previously numbed pain came onto her aggressively, her entire body wrenching with past wounds woken by her desperate, clumsy dash through the woods. Levi's left arm hung limp and numb, her shoulder numb from overuse after her awful dislocation injury inflicted by Ivan only a few days ago, however it seemed like months, even years prior.

It felt like something was gnawing into the small woman's stomach, eating away at her flesh and intestines. She shakily brought a hand to her stomach, feeling a warmth trickling through her soaked, torn dress. Levi felt as if there was a leak in her stomach, there was so much blood. She hadn't noticed before, running through the forest; her body had been frozen and numb and shaking as she was searching for the Dragon Slayer now standing before her. Her bullet wound from the market place had reopened, despite it closing nicely a few days ago. All the violence and abuse had reopened it, and now, as she waited longingly for the Dragon Slayer to regain his true consciousness, her blood endlessly dripped down her legs, off her icy toes and onto the grass she dangled above.

Levi's voice wavered from fear for herself as she called out to the Dragon Slayer once again.

"Gajeel.. Hey, Gajeel.. w-we need to get out of the forest. Soon. Or I may.. u-uhm.."

She searched his eyes for recognition for what seemed to be the millionth time that night.

"I'm not sure what is going to happen, Gajeel... P-please.. Hurry.."

A grunt rumbled out of his throat, hardly audible through the endless but soft stream of rain, yet it startled the girl nonetheless.

Then silence, absolute silence as Levi stared into the garnet eyes of the Dragon Slayer; both heartbeats pulsed out of sync in the girls ears as her teeth clattered and her muscles tensed.

"Gajeel...?" She croaked. The man frowned for a second, flickering his eyes between hers. The corners of his lips quivered a bit before curling up into a brilliant, gleaming smile; all of his perfect, pointed teeth shone softly in the peaking sunrise. The girl couldn't help smiling at herself as she stared at the man's once again familiar features creasing in all the right places. The short moment seemed to had lasted forever, cutting off as Levi began to hear the mans knuckles popping as they released her small, bruising neck.

The girl collapsed onto her knees, the once firm blades of grass now disgusting mud. No care had been given to release her gently, and now, as she gawked up at the man in absolute shock, her mind began to race and her heart began to pound as terror overcame her – this is not her Gajeel. He kept his gaze on the girl, his smile curling more dramatically on his taut face than it had been before. Levi raised herself to her full height only a mere three feet from the Dragon. Slowly, she began to back away towards the cover of trees behind her, hoping that they could give her at least some means of protection. He only watched her with hungry eyes; a hawk eying its prey before it's snatched up mercilessly without a single thought. Levi knew that he could smell her fear, she knew too well how much the scent made him hunger.

Now feeling the scratch of bark on her fingertips, the girl released a sigh that had been painfully blocked up in her lungs. The small wisp of air, a gunfire in the dead silence between them, sounding of "GO!" as if running a national marathon.

The Dragon threw a giant metal fist at the tree, just missing Levi as the girl stumbled out from underneath his iron-scales wrist to behind a tree only a few strides away. It didn't matter where she went, however; the man was fast, with the yearn for the hunt overwhelming his sanity. It didn't even appear that the man was thinking; he was flailing his arms about in every direction, gauging out a ginormous hole into every tree he came across.

Dashing for the clearing, Levi snatched up a thick sliver of oak that had flown past her shoulder. It was sturdy enough, and had a perfect tip on the end. Splinters jutted out into her cold, sore palms as she gripped it as if it were her own soul depended on it. This is her last chance, her very last option. If all fails, then, well, there's nothing left. That's that. Her fate would be sealed, left with no choice but to submit into this demonic form of what used to be her comrade.

Levi turned to Gajeel, watching as the Dragon did the same, hungrily licking the blood from his chin that had slipped out a few moments before he snapped back into this demonic state.

Levi raised her arms and did the unthinkable.

She left her chest bare, her stomach bleeding, her knees weak, her eyes strong and her faith never wavering. She stood in the middle of the clearing, the scent of her honey-sweet blood wafting around the uncontrollable beast she continued to call a friend. She tempted him and threatened him both at once as she stood there in the clearing, the sun gleaming over her tattered hair and the streaming blood. Her arms glistened as they raised in line with her shoulders, never falling and never shaking as Levi watched the Dragon stare at her in dark disbelief.

"Gajeel, I am not afraid of you." Her voice cracked as she hissed his name. "I will never fear you ever again. You're weak, Gajeel. So pathetically weak."

The Dragon stalked towards her, his teeth bared and his face wrinkled in anger and disgust towards her. Levi just waited, her knees beginning to quiver as he reached arm length. Soon she could feel the heat of his heavy breath against her cheeks as she looked up into his livid glare. His arms were shaking as he loomed over her, fighting his inner desire to rip her to pieces that very second.

Please be with me.. she mentally whispered to the voice within her, bringing the splintering dagger to her lips.

Levi lunged at the man, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and digging her face into his chest. She readied the stake between his shoulder-blades as he began to yank on her hair and dig into her back with his claws.

Always.

"I'm sorry Gajeel, please don't hate me.." She smiled into his shirt as tears began to stream down her cheeks once again.

Placing another hand on the stake, she pulled into her own chest, hoping that it would pierce far enough to damage him. She felt his flesh tear to accompany the foreign object in his back, making her stomach flip with nausea. She had never done something like this, and the fact that this was her trusted comrade only made her want to vomit.

Gajeel shrieked, a hint of his own voice underlying the voice of the Demon that possessed him. Metallicana's voice.

"Forgive me..!" Levi wailed into his chest, yanking the stake out and shoving it back in again, feeling even more flesh tear and rip on the serrated edge of the now crimson soaked stake. His claws tore into her back as he writhed in agony, ripping into her flesh as he tried to pry the girl off of him.

Levi screeched as Gajeel's iron claws reached critical depths in the muscle of her back. Feeling as if the ground split under her feet, her knees gave out beneath her. Levi clutched the fabric of Gajeel's shirt to hold herself up, her nails digging into her palms and her teeth puncturing her plump lower lip. Her chest was welling up within her, ready to burst from the pounding of her heart.

"You can't have him, Metallicana... Not yet! He's ours," Levi's words muddled together as she sobbed into the man's chest. "He belongs to Fairy Tail... He belongs to me!"

The feeling in Levi's legs began to fade as a weightlessness overcame her. Her gown was nearly drenched in her own blood, oozing from her already four day old bullet wound.

"Please..." Levi whispered into the suddenly still night. "Free him."

Levi released her most precious friend, watching as he collapsed, wriggling around in the grass screaming as a phantom version of himself fought for a last grasp on Gajeel's being. A black shadow flashed over his body, mimicking Gajeel's movements.

Levi stepped towards the flailing dragon, only to stumble and fall to her knee's, triggering a curtain of white to fall over the world once again.

Silence gripped the nothingness, only the patter of blood dripping from the flayed flesh of her back echoed into her ears. Levi's eyes flickered lazily from one empty area to the next, awaiting some sort of calming message from the ominous voice in her soul. Nothing came.

"Will he die?" Her voice cracked through her damp, bleeding lips.

"No. He will not."

A small drop of cold water fell from her hair onto Levi's shoulder, sending a shiver down her arms.

"Will I?" She breathed out.

The voice was silent for what seemed like a lifetime.

"Close your eyes, Levi."

"Will Gajeel be saved?" Levi mumbled, her eyelids becoming heavy.

"Sleep will help heal you."

"Yes, but.." Levi slid onto her stomach.

"Sleep."

Gajeel's eyes shot open. At least, he felt they did. There was still no significant difference in his ability to see anything whether he closed his stinging eyes or left them open. He may as well be blind.

Rain now roared in his ears, but his surroundings were still cloaked in lifeless hope-crushing black. Gajeel tried to raise himself from the pool of thick, warm liquid he lay in, a cry of sheer agony fleeing his lungs as he only slightly motioned himself up.

"Fuck..!" Gajeel screamed, squeezing his eyes shut.

Gajeel seethed through gritted teeth and dropped himself back to the ground, his wide eyes blinking, stunned, and released a deep agonizing groan. What in the hell happened when he passed out?

Gajeel just wanted it to end. He felt no purpose anymore, no reason to withstand the pain – if he were to come back from this, whatever this nightmare may be, Levi would never look at him the same way. He knew this, and he accepted this reality. It was going to happen at some point anyways.

But why, why like this? Why in this traumatic way?

"Do not wonder why, my son," a low voice grumbled above Gajeel's face. Hot breath brushed against his cheeks, and bright red eyes opened slowly to mirror his own. A cringe still found the strength to spread itself across Gajeel's face.

"Don't you call me that bullshit, you fuck. Get out of my head." Gajeel sneered, his voice cracking as the gleaming crimson infront of him began to blur together with the darkness behind it.

"Where is the scroll?"

"Fuck you." Gajeel groaned. Red eyes narrowed as the air thickened.

"I could kill you, I do hope you realize. I could end your worthless life that you have built around this hopeless guild of misfits, and I could do it right this very second."

Gajeel wheezed, blood bubbling in his lungs. "Don't bother, I'm dead anyways."

Not necessarily. A soft voice echoed.

"However, If I kill you, my resurrection would become impossible. I need your power, Gajeel."

"Resur... resurrection?" Gajeel muttered.

"I am too weak to return to your world. But you... You've become strong, my son. With your power, I could return, and we could be together once again. I never wanted to leave you behind, Gajeel. You've coped well without me here to protect you, I'm prou-"

"I don't.. want to hear this." Gajeel murmured, cutting the dragon off.

I can bring you back. Please. Let your heart accept the light. The voice echoed again. Gajeel's eyes flickered around the darkness in search of the source of this voice; it was beginning to irritate him.

A dagger faded into existence on Gajeel's bloodied chest, white and glowing. Gajeel's aching heart soared at the sight of the weapon. With the remainder of his strength Gajeel grabbed the dagger and aimed it over his heart.

"It doesn't matter to me.. what you want in the future. I don't want it. You left... and I don't want you to come back.."

Gajeel gasped for air that refused to reach his lungs.

"I will destroy you, Metallicana... I swear.. I will.." Gajeel growled, the eyes before him vanishing as he shoved the white dagger into his heart.

For a second that seemed like years, the world held still. It was a moment grasped by time, like the final exhalation of a person fading away. There was no sound, there was no light, and there was no life for that miniscule, desperate second.

Then, finally, with a greedy breath that filled his lungs so blissfully, Gajeel blinked to life again in new surroundings. Never before has he felt so glad to be alive. Gajeel gasped for the delicious air that now came so willingly to him, his body singing with relief with each humongous breath.

Raising himself with surprising ease, Gajeel looked around his blank, white surroundings in confused amazement.

"Welcome back." The soft voice sounded again.

"Where is she?" Gajeel demanded.

"Behind you."

Spinning himself around, Gajeel spotted the small, frail figure of the girl many strides away. She looked so pathetic, curled up on the ground the way she was. Blood seeped down her back from long, deep gashes, her damp hair matted and her dress transparent, stained with brown and crimson. Feeling around his body for the once detrimentally painful wound on his back, Gajeel whipped back around with furrowed eyebrows and barred teeth.

"Why isn't she healed?" He barked into the emptiness. Rage surged through his veins as he awaited an answer that took too long to reach his ears.

"I have healed what I could, but there is darkness soaked into her wounds. I cannot touch them until it fades away."

His tongue itched to spit an offensive remark, but nothing Gajeel said would heal his precious comrade. He wished to scoop her into his arms and heal her himself, but there was nothing he could do, and he refused to go near her. He wouldn't dare.

"Can't.. can't you just try? Can you try again? Please? Just try?" Gajeel hissed impatiently.

"I cannot." The voice stated sharply.

"And why not!?" Gajeel roared. "Just try again, maybe you can help her now! Don't let her just suffer like that, don't.. What are you, weren't you supposed to help her, like protect her or–"

"Weren't you?"

Gajeel winced.

The rest of his words caught like daggers in his throat, the Voice's harsh words hitting him mercilessly like a dozen bullets. There was no way to respond to her, because she was undoubtedly right. Gajeel clenched his jaw and shut his eyes, releasing a defeated grumble.

"You shouldn't say things like that.." A soft mumble came from a distance. Gajeel's eyes shot open, his heart wrenching in his chest as he fought the urge to scramble to the blunette's side. He listened to her shallow breath, relief washing over him as one small, sweet wisp came one after another, after another, after another. Gajeel rubbed his face with a rough hand, lowering himself down onto his back once again, releasing a long sigh and closing his eyes.

"Are you okay now?" Another small murmur came. Gajeel only grunted in response.

"I'm glad I was able to reach you." He could hear a sincere smile on her lips. Gajeel balled his hand into a painfully tight fist and bit his lip with a sharp canine to keep it from quivering.

Gajeel will never understand this girl.

Word Count: 4000

Guys, really, I'm sorry for the super late update. I hope you guys enjoyed, please leave a review, they motivate me to get the next chapter out sooner for all of you!

I'll be updating "Birthday Project Plan" soon as well.

See you next time guys (: