BlackLynx17: One more chapter after this before I return to Juvia and Gray, is anyone excited? I would start rereading their story if I was you. Thanks for the reviews!
Elements Of The Heart
Chapter 20
Rogue
Levy was sitting on the steps of the Wisdom Tree, humming lightly, shaking her head side to side as she waiting for her queen to return home. She wasn't there when she got back; more than the usual Shadow Elements must have tried to be saved today. Hopefully all of them that were trying got through. Even if it made Levy's life more busy, maybe it could prove to Erza that they were all changing.
Right around sundown Levy started hearing footsteps. She quickly stood up and bowed to the guards passing before Erza appeared right behind them, a scowl on her face. Levy opened her mouth to voice herself, that was when she noticed how exhausted her friend looked.
"Erza?"
"Hmm? Oh, Levy. Hey, come along." Erza said walking past her.
The guards waiting for Levy to start following their queen before walking behind them, escorting Queen Scarlet into her room before finally leaving her. Erza sighed as she dropped her coat on the floor, tossing her crown over on her table before falling down in her bed. Levy quickly followed, lying down on the bed right next to her and watching her sleeping face.
"How'd it go?" She whispered.
"Three new recruits out of seven."
"That's good, we used to get one out of ten."
"I guess so."
"Then what's wrong Erza? Why are you so... tired?"
Erza opened her eyes lightly, "a rogue Shadow Element came up and asked for an audience with me. I was surprised; that's never happened before. He told me about his idea that could help better our Elements, if I sent guards in to help the Shadow Elements instead of making them work on their own."
"That's great Erza! Isn't it? If you think about it some Elements might not even know how to redeem themselves and get saved, if we sent some of our guards-"
"They'd get killed. It was a horrible idea Levy. First off, this rogue wasn't even the king, just a side thief, secondly you should have seen how many people were behind him; they would have barely made a difference. Thirdly Levy if I sent my men in there, without at least 50% of the Shadow Element's supports, they'd be held as prisoners or worse, hostages. No Element will risk there lives for a thief, I wouldn't make my people lose their lives for Elements who already had the chance to live their lives."
"Don't we want to help them though? Isn't that our purpose? Why we have the barrier? Why we save them and give them a second chance?"
"Levy-"
"Isn't it? We don't have the right to keep them locked up in there Erza without hope."
"We have every right to after all the people they killed from us! They're murderers Levy!"
"Not all of them! If you truly believed that then why are we even rescuing these Shadow Elements?!"
"Enough Levy!"
"No! I want to know why?! A Shadow Element has reached out to us for help! He wants to help his people, so why aren't we trying to help them?!
"Stop talking about things you know nothing about!"
"Why aren't you telling me the truth Erza?! Why are you refusing to help them?"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Erza screamed, "GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!"
"We can ask people for volunteers! Maybe the old Shadow Elements will go back in, I'm sure we'll get enough to help us Erza. This is a wonderful idea, a wonderful plan that can save the lives of many. Why are you hesitating? Erza!"
"GUARDS!"
The doors busted open, five Earth Elements running inside getting ready to protect their queen. Erza was furious, her hair wild as she leaned up from her bed and pointed a finger straight towards Levy.
"I want her thrown out! Out of my room! Out of the Wisdom Tree until further notice! NOW!" She yelled.
"Right away, your majesty."
"Erza! Erza please listen! Erza talk to me!" Levy screamed as the guards grabbed a hold of her.
"I'm tired of listening to people for the day, leave me." Erza said lying back down.
"ERZA!" Levy screamed before the doors closed in front of her.
She bent and squeezed, turning her body all around to try and get out of the guards grip. It was unsuccessful though and Levy was place gently on her feet outside of the Wisdom Tree.
"I'm sorry Levy, you need to leave though." Jet told her, a slight frown on his face.
Levy huffed and growled, glaring up at the tree, "YOU'RE SO STUBBORN SCARLET! DO YOU HEAR ME?! SINCE THE DAY WE'VE FIRST MET YOU'VE BEEN AS STUBBORN AS A WEED PLANT! UGH!"
Levy turned around and huffed as she stomped back home, kicked out of her friend's house and day job. She was too worked up to visit the new Earth Elements recruits and when she started cooling down she realized she was too sad to as well. Erza... hadn't believed in her. She hadn't believed in Rogue or his plan either. Gajeel... his people... they were going to be stuck in there.
And it wasn't fair! Not everyone was bad! Not everyone deserved to be in there! Like Gajeel said, the kids born there didn't ask to be born there! They were- they were...
"We were just lucky." Levy sighed out.
Erza made some good points about everything, still though. For her to just abandon them... it just wasn't fair! There was a chance that their plan could work, it wasn't a high chance, but if they worked on it, maybe got the king on their side then it could stand a chance.
…
The shadow king... didn't Gajeel say that he was adopted by the shadow king? Him and his brother?... That's it! Levy could ask Gajeel for help! If she tells him that the only thing keeping Erza from helping is support, then maybe Gajeel could convince the king to start helping! That should give Erza enough reason! And to show good faith, Levy could lead the team that will infiltrate the Shadow Country. There would have to be some good faith, someone high up would have to do it to show the trust in the plan. Maybe Levy could inspire others to come, she had a lot of friends. It was dangerous, sure, but Gajeel would protect.
… Gajeel would protect her. Levy... she was willing to go so far for him. She wanted to help him and his Elements so much.
"Why though? Why do I feel so happy knowing that I can be with him soon?" Levy asked, looking up at the sky.
She saw an arrange of flower petals dancing in the wind and wished they could give her the answer.
"Erza is bound to be regretful and try and apologize tomorrow, she won't change her mind though. I'll need to speak with Gajeel first. The sooner I tell him the sooner he can tell his king and try and help. When the time comes though, this will mean I'll have to tell Erza about him... she'll forgive me. Stubborn as a weed plant like always, but also very forgiving as a person." Levy told herself.
The next time they were supposed to meet would be in two days. Erza would have been tried to find her, bring her back and make it up to her. Levy was scared that she'd come up with a way to convince her different, so maybe she'd get lucky if she waited at Gajeel's spot. Maybe he often visited without Levy being there, to watch the flowers like he said he did.
It was a risk Levy was going to make. She would need to pack a pair of clothes for the nights there and some food. At least two days worth just in case she had to wait that long. If worse came to shove, she could venture inside of the Shadow Elements and find Gajeel and the king herself. She was betting her life on this, she believed in the hands it was going to though.
The night was dark, windy, but she wasn't cold. The flowers she laid it provided her warmth as Levy stared at the endless void that was darkness. They protected her from all dangerous that could appear in the night, her ancestors wishing her luck on her journey."
"Rogue! Where are you Rogue?!" Gajeel called out around their home.
No matter what room he ran into it was Rogue-less and pretty soon his guards had told him that Rogue hadn't returned from the barrier yet. Gajeel quickly ran out of their castle and into the metallic twists and curves of roads, towards the barrier. He looked around for his brother, asked his citizens and punched the ones that gave him smart ass answers.
Finally when he made it to the guarded hole the barrier, he spotted the crowd, but didn't spot his brother.
"Move it, get out of my way! Rouge?!" Gajeel yelled breaking through.
"My King, he's over here!" A guard yelled.
Gajeel started running, their citizens moving now that they noticed their king's present. Gajeel's heart stopped when he saw Rogue collapsed, dead looking on the ground.
"RYOS!" He yelled cradling him in his arms.
He felt a heartbeat, his brother was moving. Rogue was alive, but unconscious. Gajeel sighed out in a small breath of relief before he turned to the bystanders.
"WHAT?! HAPPENED?!"
"We are unsure ourselves, my liege. The queen had just left hearing Rogue's proposal taking the last rescued with her. Rogue suddenly started yelling out and collapsed when she left. We haven't touched him since then or moved him at all."
"Ryos." Gajeel whispered picking up his brother.
"OUT OF THE WAY! I WANT THESE STREETS CLEARED NOW!" He roared getting up.
He walked back to the Junk-Yard carrying Rogue all the way and brought him to probably the only doctor in the Shadow Element that he hid away in the castle. Midnight wasn't exactly shocked to see the two boys walk in, they were always getting in mishap and trouble, and quickly did his job.
"He's just passed out Gajeel, give him a few hours and he'll wake up normally." Midnight told him.
Gajeel let out a breath of relief, "thanks Doc. Are you sure everything is okay though?"
"He's perfectly healthy, yes, but it's strange on how he suddenly passed out. Rogue's always been a strong lad, his shadow abilities far more advanced than any others. I don't know what could have caused this." Midnight said rubbing his chin.
"Hopefully Rogue will be able to tell us himself when he wakes up."Gajeel said.
"Precisely, you can keep him here for now Gajeel. Best not to move him too much around, if the situation changes then come get me immediately." Midnight called out on his way out.
Gajeel nodded and pulled up a chair to Rogue's side, sitting right there beside him. He was supposed to be protecting his little brother, preventing things like this from happening. He wasn't hurt though, maybe just over exhausted.
"Geez Rogue, was talking to the queen that scary you had to go faint? Or have our subjects been giving you a hard time since you're trying to change everyone up?" Gajeel asked.
He was met with silence; he was fine with that. Soon Rogue would answer his questions, until then though Gajeel found himself a little bit tired as well. His eyes started dropping as he rested his head on Rogue's bed, slowly falling asleep behind him.
Someone was kneeing him in the face. Gajeel looked up, his eyes twitching, and started glaring at the person. Once he noticed it was Rogue the glare faded and he yawned, rubbing his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. Rogue moved around, groaning as he did so. Gajeel smacked his leg once and let out a yawn.
"It's about time you wake up Ryos."
"How many times must I tell you brother, the name's Rogue."
Gajeel blinked, a shiver coursing down his spine. He looked over at Rogue with an eyebrows rose and flinched when his eyes finally opened. His eyes... they were a bloodlust red; his brother did not have eyes as sinful as these.
"Rogue?" Gajeel asked.
"Ding ding, ding! Bingo!" Rogue smirked widely showing his sparkling teeth.
Gajeel stood up from his seat while Rogue did the same, leaning up from the bed and stretching him arms out wide. He started cracking his neck around next, taking a huge inhale of breath.
"What's wrong with you Rogue?"
"What's wrong with me?! Nothing bro, man do I feel great! Like I've been asleep for sixteen years or something." Rogue chuckled tossing the covers off of him.
"It's just yesterday, it was yesterday right? Yesterday, something happened when the Queen of Earth Elements refused my proposal. I just, you know, I just sort of snapped and realized, I had been going about this all wrong! You were the right one and of course you would be because you are our king!" Rogue cheered getting up from the bed.
Rogue... Rogue didn't act this way. He didn't talk this much, act this weirdly, smirk like- smirk like Gajeel himself. Something was very wrong. Rogue would never talk about his plan like this either, thinking that saving their people was useless. His brother was better than this.
"No, Rogue. Your plan is the good one. I see that-"
"HAHAHAHAHA! Oh brother! That was a good one Gajeel, my plan was shit though! Now yours! Befriending an Earth Element! Pretending that you cared, making her fall in love with you only so you could kidnap her and use her, all that lying and deceit! You are definitely worthy of being our Shadow King! Oh our previous king had no balls at all but you Gajeel, you're special. I can't wait to see the expression on that poor Earth Element's face when we drag her across the barrier." Rogue grinned, licking his lips.
Gajeel froze. A low growl came from his throat before he reached out for Rogue's throat, slamming him against the wall and squeezing tightly.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Hahahaha, you think you would recognize your own brother." Rogue grinned.
"You aren't my brother! Ryos would never talk like this, now tell me who you are before I have you imprisoned or worse!" Gajeel said, tightening his grip.
Rogue chuckled a little, coughing up air, "I'm the brother you always wanted Gajeel. One that is just as dark and as evil as you. Hmm, here I was thinking once I broke free that you would be so proud?" He faked frown.
Gajeel's grip loosened slightly, "who are you?"
"You've been calling him by my name this whole entire time, maybe since I'm out you'll call me his name instead?" Rogue asked, using his hesitation to knock his arm off of him.
Midnight's words echoed in Gajeel's head, 'Rogue's always been a strong lad, his Shadow abilities far more advanced than any others.' At that moment Gajeel's mind went far back, to a distant memory where him and his brothers were children. This was before their King rescued them, Gajeel had stolen something from a rather high gang to sell for money. They had found their hideout, he tried to protect Ryos. He tried his best, but there were too many of them. At that moment when they were supposed to die something had happened. The whole room was covered in darkness and when Gajeel woke up, Ryos stood over all of them, laughing, grinning, his eyes the same bloodlust red.
He fainted and woke up again a minute later, forgetting everything, acting like his usual Ryos self. Before that though, he had changed to something else, someone else. The shadows had taken control of his brother.
"Give me back Ryos." Gajeel growled.
"Sorry bro, but Ryos is long gone. It might have taken a while, but the shadows have emerged and come out to play! Ryos was weak, he should have been born in the Earth Elements or some other worthless one. Now I am worthy of being called the younger brother of the Shadow King, worthy of being the Shadow King itself."
"What do you mean?" Gajeel demanded to know.
"I mean that if you cannot fulfill your promise to the people and kidnap that Earth Element the next time you two meet, that I will overthrow you and take the crown myself. It'll be an easy thing to do, I won't be as weak as you though and simply banish you. It'll be a public execution; think of that threat as a little boost to keep your mind straight."
"God dammit, who do you think you are threatening me?!" Gajeel roared tacking his brother on the ground.
"Return my brother to me right now or else I'll!" He yelled, raising up his fist getting ready for a hit.
"Or else you'll what?! Hurt me?! Kill me?! You'll kill your own brother!?" Rogue laughed in his face.
Gajeel wound his fist back and slammed into the ground, right next to Rogue's head. This had him laugh harder as he summoned the shadows to his sides, tossing Gajeel off of him and against the wall.
"She's made you weak Gajeel, just like Ryos hoped for, but don't worry. I'll be sure to accompany you on your journey next time and lead you back on the path of the shadows. The light doesn't suit you very well brother, not at all actually." Rogue chuckled heading for the door.
Gajeel coughed up blood and wiped it from his lips, glaring up at the after image of Rogue. He always knew his brother was strong and now he knew why. He had to do something, if he didn't then Ryos would never come back and Levy... Levy would...
She'd get captured. Tortured. Used. Killed. He'd kill her. Gajeel rather kill her than let Rogue do anything to her, even touch a singe hair on her head. He wouldn't harm her.
So that was his answer... huh. A Shadow King didn't deserve to be happy, he deserved to be alone. This would be the only way to save Levy and his brother. Gajeel picked up himself up and quickly escaped their home. He'd have to beat Rogue there, staying there all day and all night even though they met tomorrow. Gajeel for once hoped for some sort of miracle as he disappeared into the junk piles.
Gajeel wasn't going to give the ones he cared about to the shadows.