Author's note: So yeah, Gajeel sent Levy back home to Whiterun. But it was for the best...right? Well, this one is going to be LONG so enjoy!
The dwarves were actually a race of elves known as the Dwemer, which roughly translates to "deep elves."
Chapter 14: Elder Knowledge: Part 2
Gajeel walked through the snowy tundras of Skyrim, wearing Orcish Armor that he bought in Winterhold on his way to Alftand. His bag, filled with potions that will help him during his journey in the abandoned ruins. Healing potions, Stamina potions, Strength potions, Cure Disease, Cure Poison, Archery, everything he could get his hands on. Gajeel even traded in his best weapon for one that was a lot stronger. If he was going to come out alive, he'll need a weapon that can get him out he walked through the several feet of snow, Gajeel spotted something in the distance, stone towers. This had to be Aftland.
A rickety looking bridge caught Gajeel's attention and he made his way over to it. From the looks of this place, it seemed like the only available entrance to Aftland. Gajeel threw an old piece of armor he was meaning to sell on the bridge to see if it would fall under the weight, only to see the bridge stay up. It may have been old, but it was still strong. Gajeel made his way across the bridge and soon found himself in an icy cave. The cold made Gajeel slightly shiver but thanks to his Nord blood, it wasn't that bad. As Gajeel went through the cave, he soon came into a building. The structure of the building seemed to be stone but also pipes and the occasional sound of 'tsshhhh' could be heard. No doubt about it, this was a Dwemer ruin. The scent of musk filled the air and it was surprisingly slightly warm in here.
"Gotta be those steam pipes." Gajeel grumbed to himself. Gajeel pulled out his Orchish War hammer and began to slowly make his way through the place.
"Brother..." a voice suddenly said. Gajeel paled at the sound but continued trekking forth "Please brother... Tell Gogotora where the Skooma is." Gajeel got a closer look and realized it was a male Kahjit; but he didn't seem in the right state of mind. No, he was talking to a corpse!
"Please brother... Wake up and tell me where it is." Gajeel tapped the Kahjit on the shoulder.
"Hey pal," Gajeel grumbled "You ok?" the Kahjit looked at Gajeel with a crazed look in his eye.
"No... No! You must be the one who took my skooma!"
"The fuck?!"
The Kahjit pulled out a dagger only to have Gajeel bash him to death with his War hammer.
"The hell is this place?" Gajeel asked himself out loud "Like a fucking nut house in here." Gajeel began to search the camp for anything that could be helpful to him. As he searched Gogotora's brother's body, he soon found a journal that must've belonged to him. Gajeel opened up the journal and read it's contents:
"It's been about a week since Dimaira went missing and now August is gone too! We found blood leading over to the barred off doorway, but Marin seems to think that they found a way through and that they are trying to cut him out of the discovery.
He keeps saying that we need to press on. We've manage to break through into another section of the ruins, an "Animonculory", where the dwarves would produce their automatons.
We learned the hard way that the metal creatures are still alive in there and it hasn't improved Yajeel's mood at all. He holds that the Khajiit brothers aren't involved with the disappearances and has been keeping a hard eye on Marin.
The rations have all but run out and we are going to have to decide soon whether to brave the storm or try to push further into the ruins. I don't know if the echoes of screams I've heard in my sleep are those of our missing comrades, or my own nightmares."
"Looks like I got something to look forward too." Gajeel sarcastically told himself before continuing his journey.
As Gajeel continued his journey through Aftland, he suddenly heard a strange noise, a noise that sound like an unusual growl. He snuck to the corner of the wall and looked down the hallway. Gajeel's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the creature down the hallway. It was in a crouching position, wearing only a loin cloth and makeshift armor, it was definitley some type of elf because of it's ears. It's skin tone was a light, pale blue, showing it hasn't seen sunlight in years, or ever for that matter. But there was one thing that freaked Gajeel out: the creature had no eyes. As Gajeel stared at the creature, he began to remember something Levy showed him once.
It was the night before they reached Sky Haven Temple. They had set up camp near a farm so their journey could be made easier. Gajeel was still up, sharpening a sword while Erza and Yajima slept. Levy was up as well, reading a book, different from the one she read the other day.
"Hey Shrimp," Gajeel asked "what ya readin?"
"I just got this book in Whiterun." Levy admitted "It's about the different species of elves you'll find around Tamriel!"
"So, what would ya find?"
"A lot! Listen to this:
'The Altmer, or self-titled "Cultured People", are a tall, golden-skinned race, hailing from Summerset Isle. They are also known as High Elves by the denizens of Tamriel.' That's what The Thalmor are!
'The Bosmer, are the Elven clan-folk of Valenwood, a forested province in southwestern Tamriel. In the Empire, they are often referred to as Wood Elves, but Bosmer, Boiche, or the Tree-Sap people is what they call themselves.
The Dunmer, also known as Dark Elves, are the ash-skinned, typically red-eyed elven peoples of Morrowind."Dark" is commonly understood as meaning such characteristics as "dark-skinned", "gloomy", "ill-favored by fate" and so on.
The Dwemer, the "people of the deep", are a fabled "Lost Race" of Mer from Dwemereth, which mostly consisted of modern-day Morrowind, where they are believed to have been the most prolific, though they also had a strong presence in Hammerfell, High Rock, and Skyrim. Meric races use the term "Dwemer", which translates to "Deep-Elves" or "Deep Folk". Men commonly refer to them as Dwarves.
The Falmer, or Ice Elves, are a proud race of mer with an unusually great aptitude for magic. They tend towards cold, remote regions, and inhabited a portion of Skyrim before being displaced by the Nords in the late Merethic Era and early First Era. Before that, they had a civilization which rivaled even the Altmer of the Summerset Isles. They resemble white-haired, pale Altmer, and have very long lifespans, as well as a strong resistance to frost. Legends say they favor spears and archery in combat.' "
That must've been what Gajeel was looking at right now; a Falmer. According to Levy, the species went blind and took refuge in the Dwemer ruins when the Dwemer dissapeared. As the Falmer walked down the hallway, Gajeel held on tightly to his weapon, prepared to attack if the foul creature sensed his presence; but it stepped on a trap that was set by the Dwemer thousands of years ago and went flying into the air, killing the Falmer instantly.
"Gihihihi," Gajeel evilly chuckled "dumb ass Falmer." he continued his journey through the hallway, things seemed to be quiet; until a pack of Falmer appeared before him and began to attack "HOLY SHIT YOU'RE A BUNCH OF UGLY FUCKERS!" Gajeel swung his War Hammer and managed to clob two of the Falmer at their temples, killing them instantly. Gajeel continued his assault on the Falmer until each and everyone of them was dead.
"Damn." Gajeel said, wiping the sweat off his brow "How long have I been down here?" Gajeel looked up at the ceiling to hopefully get some form of sign of what time it was. He looked up and found a dark night sky, it had to be late by now. It seemed to Gajeel like a good time to retire for the night. He looked around the Dwemer ruins and spotted a caged off area that was caged off from everywhere else and it had two beds made from stone. Gajeel entered the caged off area by lockpicking the door and then closed the door, locking it. Gajeel settled his bag down on one of the beds and sat on the one opposite of it. Gajeel dug into his bag and pulled out his dinner. Some cooked chicken, Nord's mead, grilled leaks and a baked potato.
After finishing his meal, Gajeel stripped down to his loin cloth and made himself comfortable on the stone bed. As he sat there staring at the ceiling, he began to think about The Dwemer and how they were a mysterious race, and known to be extremely intellegent. But one question really hit Gajeel's mind on the Dwemer's intellegence and he needed answers right away.
"Hey Shrimp," Gajeel said "if the Dwemers were so intellegent, where the hell is their shit-" he stopped himself mid-sentence when he looked at the opposite bed to find Levy not there "Oh yeah, you ain't here."
Gajeel sighed out a sigh mixed with sadness, disappointment and loneliness. Gajeel had to admit, being in this Dwemer ruins by himself was kind of lonely. He knew Levy would've loved this place had he taken her with him; but he left her behind in Whiterun so she would be safe from such a dangerous place like this. No, he didn't believe she was weak: she was far from that. He knew how strong she really was, how intelligent, how beautiful- Gajeel stopped himself when he thought about that. Truth is, Gajeel didn't know why he stopped Levy from going. He knew it was out of protection; but it seemed more than just doing it out of protection, it seemed like he did it out of...love.
At that moment, it hit Gajeel like a ton of stone blocks.
"Holy shit." he grumbled to himself "I'm in love with the Shrimp." it explained a few of the things. Why he loved teasing her so much, interested in her hobbies, why he wanted her to stay in Whiterun so badly for this mission; he was protecting her out of love "Fuck!" Gajeel plopped his head on the pillow that was provided for the stone bed and groaned "What the hell am I gonna do? Shrimp probably hates my guts by now." as he let out a groan, he looked out to the Dwemer ruins outside his little room and watched as the steam pipes let out steam. For some odd reason, this gave Gajeel comfort to fall asleep.
The next day, Gajeel continued his descent from Aftland into Blackreach. He fought for most of the morning nothing but Falmer and automotons that were left by the Dwemer to guard their ruins from intruders. It wasn't until Gajeel reached a set of doors that when he opened them, his breath hitched. It was a large dark cave, filled with lakes, ruins of Dwemer ruins and the trees were giant glowing mushrooms that released a bright blue light. It was an unusual place, but beautiful at the same time.
"Better than I was expecting." Gajeel admitted to himself. Gajeel made his way down the stairs that lead into the cave and began to look around. The ruins that lead to the Elder Scroll was around here somewhere. As Gajeel explored the ruins of the once Capital City of the Dwemer, he suddenly heard a strange noise. Gajeel looked behind himself and his eyes widened in horror; it was a Dwemer Centurion.
Shit! Gajeel screamed internally Must've woken it up when I walked by! Gajeel pulled out his War hammer and began to swing at the steam powered machine. It caught Gajeel's attack and then swung at him with it's other arm, injuring the Nord.
He's as strong as he looks! Gajeel said internally I gotta get outta here!
Gajeel began to try and make a run for it, only to discover five Falmer running over to the battle to help the automoton. The Falmer swung their weapons or shot arrows at Gajeel, damaging his armor beyond repair and slashing at his flesh, injuring him badly. As Gajeel tried to fight back, he began to lose his vision. His heart rate began to beat rapidly as they attacked Gajeel on and on.
Shit. Gajeel asked himself Am I going to die? The Falmer swung another strike Damnit. I don't want to die! There's so much I haven't done. Levy... Forgive me... As he watched from where he was, he suddenly saw a flash of black strike a Falmer and kill it instantly. Gajeel watched what went on. The flash of black attacked the Falmer and severed the leg off the Centurion. Killing the enemies instantly.
As Gajeel was about to black out, he suddenly felt a lot better, a golden light was surrounding him, giving him his vision back and he looked to find a warrior, dressed in ebony, healing all his wounds.
"Thanks..." Gajeel replied "Whoever you are?" the warrior looked at Gajeel and then removed their helmet, revealing blue hair underneath that helmet. Gajeel recognized this person immediately.
"Levy?!" Gajeel said in shock "What the hell?!"
"Look Gajeel," Levy sighed "I know you ordered me to stay in Whiterun but I couldn't! I'm really really sorry I disobeyed you but I couldn't sit there and just-"
She stopped when she suddenly felt Gajeel's lips press against hers. She looked at Gajeel in shock at the fact he did this; but slowly, she melted into the kiss. Gajeel broke from the kiss and looked at her.
"You saved my ass." he told her "How can I ever be mad at you?" a smile appeared on Levy's lips before she kissed him. Enjoying the moment she wanted to occour for so long with her Thane. When they broke apart from their kiss, Levy began to dig through her bag and brought out Ebony armor for men.
"I made you some armor Gajeel." Levy explained "Even though you have that Orchish armor, I felt this would be better in protecting you." Gajeel got up and looked at her with his famous smirk.
"This armor met it's end Shrimp." Gajeel admitted "I could use new armor." he took the armor and went behind a nearby boulder, stripping out of the old armor and into the Ebony armor Levy had made for him.
"Let's go Shrimp!" Gajeel smirked before ruffling the blue haired Nord's hair "Gotta admit Shrimp, you really surprised me on how you took those guys."
"I've been training." Levy admitted "I've been working on my combat skills and my smithing."
"You do read a lot of books, so that's what probably did it." Levy pulled out Gajeel's map and looked at it, noticing it magically changed to a map of Blackreach.
"The Elder Scroll is right over here!" she pointed at a spot on the map that was the area Arlock had told them about "We're over here." she pointed at the spot they stood at on the map "So, we're not too far from it."
"Sounds good to me." Gajeel admitted while equipping his War hammer "Let's go."
with that said, the two Nords made their way to The Tower of Mzark.
The Tower was large and gorgeous. The feeling of elegance, Dwemer and mystery filled the air as they walked up the ramp. The first floor had a giant sphere with various lenses fills the entire first floor of the room, the second floor sits on the upper part of the sphere and, hanging from the ceiling, a series of lenses conceal a container.
"This is amazing." Levy gasped in awe "The Dwemer were really a fascinating race."
"Yeah. Protective over their shit though." Gajeel grumbled. As they climbed the ramp, they came across a control panel which obviously controlled the mechanism in the room.
"That must be where The Elder Scroll is." Levy pointed out "Gajeel, do you still have the keys Arlock gave you?"
"Haven't left my sight since I got them."
"Can you get them out for me?" Levy asked Gajeel nodded, pulled them out of his bag as Levy studied the control panel "I think what Arlock said before we left might be a clue on how to open the mechanism. Let's see: 'You look to your left, you see one way. You look to your right, you see another. But neither is any harder than the opposite. But the Elder Scrolls... they look left and right in the stream of time. The future and past are as one. Sometimes they even look up. What do they see then? What if they dive in? Then the madness begins.'."
"So, left, right, left right, up?" Gajeel asked, Levy nodded "Fucking nutcase I swear." Levy took the two keys and began to use them as they were intended.
Gajeel watched in amazement as the mirrors moved around the room to the destination of their choice before reaching their intended places and opening the mechanism and revealing a large item; an Elder Scroll.
"There it is!" Levy shouted "The Elder Scroll!" they jumped down from their position and began to run over to The Scroll, soon coming face to face with it and in shock at the size of it.
"By the Gods this fucker's huge!" Gajeel said with wide eyes.
"This is going to be a pain to carry." Gajeel took the Elder Scroll and then strapped it to his back.
"I'll carry it Shrimp. Stuff like this is fucking easy to me." Levy nodded in agreement.
"Come on," Levy said while motioning her hand "Let's go meet up with Wessologia." Gajeel nodded and followed Levy out of the Dwemer ruins and back onto the Surface World.