"So you're back." Levy mumbled as Gajeel walked into the dining room where dinner was being served. He wasn't quite sure what was on the table, but he knew it had a funny name. The tea pot had called it 'escargots', whatever that meant.
"I am." He nodded as he made his way to his usual seat, once known as the guest seat. It had been across from Levy's on the large table but after a while it got hard to talk so Levy ended up moving her seat over so she was at his side instead. Gajeel didn't mind, as long as he got the end seat. The end seat was a sign of power and respect, Gajeel liked power.
"How was it? Did you sell that new prototype?" Levy questioned, small sparkles shining on her eyes when she mentioned it. That was one of the projects Gajeel allowed her to help with. It was one of the ones that worked out very well. One that she was excited.
But none noticed it. The few that glanced at the shop, or even visited it, ignored the prototype. Gajeel believed they were stupid for doing so, he believed that it was one of the most useful things he had made. But that didn't stop others from not caring about it.
As the excitement continued to twinkle inside her pretty orbs of light, Gajeel couldn't find himself brave enough to tell her the truth if it meant the excitement would die. So he let a lie slip out of his mouth. "No..." he murmured which was actually honest at first but then the lie bolted from his lips, "But they don't want the prototype. They said they'll wait for the finished product."
Glitter of happiness and exictement burst around her as a big, beaming smile grew on her face. "Really?" She asked with wide eyes, leaning over to grab his arm. When her fingers touched him, he felt the electricity again. He had felt it a few times since that day but he stopped thinking much of it. She was strange, that was the best answer to it he would ever come up with.
"Yes." The lie slid from his lips again but it was believable. Believable enough to keep her happy.
"That's awesome!" she exclaimed and pulled herself back onto her chair again.
A light chuckle slipped by him, the laughter echoing for a moment before it fell into a smile instead. "Yeah...it is." Gajeel exclaimed with a nod, the smile still on his face but it wasn't nearly as bright as hers. He wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or not.
"We need to get started on it right away!" she stated, slamming her hands onto the table while her smile transformed into an expression of determination. Her eyes stared out in front of her before glancing over at Gajeel, her determination directed at him. "We need to get everything done." she said.
"... We're eating right now." Gajeel mumbled but Levy didn't acknowledge his words as she stood up, her chair slamming to the ground behind her. Her hand grabbed onto his forearm. Though her fingers couldn't wrap around his arm entirely, she didn't care. She pulled on him using the strength she had and to humour her, Gajeel got up and allowed her to drag him away.
No one seemed to believe her. They listened and pretended to believe her but when she offered to show them, they declined. They all thought she was nuts.
It was not a feeling that Ikagura enjoyed.
The boys only tolerated hearing her 'crazy' because she was hot and she knew that.
So instead of spouting nonsense like some mad man, like Gajeel's father used to do, she decided to be a little bit more mischevious. She decided to lure someone into the forest.
"Mmm are you sure we're not there yet?" The man mumbled as he tried to get closer, attempting to wrap an arm around her waist but Ikagura only sped up.
"Not yet." she replied but kept up a flirty tone to keep him interested, "We'll be at special spot really soon."
"Okay.." the man replied but kept following her anyways.
She gave him a smile, a suggestive smile that immediately got him more excited to get to her 'special spot'. Males were simple in her mind, they each had the same thoughts. They each were easy to control.
But not Gajeel. Gajeel was different. He wasn't swayed as easily. She wanted different. And him living in a castle for the past month was very different.
But she wanted someone else to see it. She wanted someone else to know because when she marrys Gajeel and becomes a princess, she wants people to know. Unlike Gajeel, she wouldn't want to be hidden. She'd want the entire world to know.
It didn't take long for them to walk into more familiar surroundings, surroundings that told them it was close. It wasn't anything too giant, anything too noticeable. Just certain ways trees were shaped or certain bushes that still had little pieces of her dress in it. When the man behind her saw that, she could almost sense the smirk coming off him. But she didn't care. She was more interested in her own smirk that was starting to form when she realized how close they were. How close she was.
"Are we almost there?" the man asked again and Ikagura ignored him for a few seconds as they neared it.
"Now we are." she answered as she brushed away some leaves to reveal the structure in front of them. The giant, black castle that was hidden within the forest.
The gazing gargoyles and haunted aura of the house was open for another pair of eyes to see, but there was more that time. More than just what Ikagura had witnessed.
Standing in the snow was a woman, a petite woman but a woman none the less. She had short blue hair and purple cloak wrapped around her body to keep her warm. Beside her was Gajeel, holding a blueprint in his hands as the girl pointed things out. A few times he chuckled at her words, forcing a jealous knot to form in Ikagura's stomach since she had never been able to make Gajeel laugh. Even though it had nothing to do with romance, the knot stayed.
"Who is th-" the man behind her started but Ikagura covered his mouth, not wishing to be spotted.
There wasn't anything too unusual about the girl except her location. She walked and she talked like a normal person. Her smile was larger than most of the people Ikagura knew but that wasn't anything too big.
Yet there was one thing.
One thing that completely alarmed Ikagura.
As the strange girl searched for something unknown, she came upon a pile of snow. She did not bend down to brush it aside, she did not even kick it to get some of it off. Her hand merely flicked to the side and the snow followed. Without even needing to touch it, the snow flew off. Pushed by an invisible force.
There was no shock on her face, no surprise. She had no reaction to the impossible action she had done. She was used to it.
"She's a witch." the words slipped through Ikagura's lips as she watched the girl casually pick up a sheet of metal from the ground. Why it was there, Ikagura didn't exactly know but it wasn't her biggest concern. The fact that Gajeel was living with a witch was a concern for her. Not even a hot witch either. In Ikagura's eyes, the girl was the sterotypical witch with the ugly nose and warty face. Nothing that she could figure out Gajeel would find attractive.
"What are we going to do?" The man asked when his mouth was released but his voice was droned out by the jealous knot that only grew within Ikagura. When the witch brought over the metal sheet she ahd found, Gajeel smiled. He actually smiled. And then playfully, he pet her on the head like he would a dog. To some it would've seemed rude but to Ikagura it was clearly a flirt. At least in the way Gajeel did it.
"Ikagura?" he mumbled, whispering beside her, "We should leave. This isn't safe."
"...Right." Ikagura nodded but the anger and jealousy in her veins was ruling out the self security part of her. When she didn't physically respond, the man grabbed onto her wrist. She didn't react to it, she knew it wasn't to attack her but to protect her. But her eyes remained on the two, even as the man pulled her away for their own safety. When they were half way back to the village, Ikagura found her own pacing instead where she had pushed through all the bushes. Panic was running through the man's veins but Ikagura couldn't find it in herself to be scared. She only held a jealous rage at the thought of someone trying to take what belonged to her. Even if that someone was a witch.
"We need to do something." The man exclaimed with wide eyes as they forced themselves out if the forest, back to the village in front of him.
With rage in her eyes and a plan in her head, Ikagura nodded, "Yes...we do."