AN: Yay its not late! And its longer than normal! Woot!
Since this is so long don't hate me if I don't post one on Sunday. But I will try my hardest to do so!
*Parts of this I made up, I'm not sure if Bosco is really is anti-magic but for the purpose of this fic it is.
Gajeel's POV
-flashback-
"Gajeel that was Mira-"
"I told you I don't give a damn what that demon wants. I'm not gonna go back to the guild until we find Bunny Girl. It's too depressing there, everyone is just moping around until she decides to show up. Pretty selfish of her, if you ask me." I interrupted and continued to stomp through the forest we were in. I wasn't sure what forest it was just yet but I had some idea. We had been walking for what seemed like years but was only a few weeks. When Bunny Girl's spirit had arrived and told us she was alive I hadn't been surprised. But when Virgo said that she refused to come back right away I was pissed. Didn't she know that everyone was lost without her? So that's why I decided to continue looking for her despite what she wanted and Master said. And the fact that I had let my anger and concern get the best of me and unintentionally hurt Bunny Girl's spirit, I knew I needed time away from the stifling guild.
"But Gajeel, Mira called to say that Lucy has returned."
"What!? After all this time searching and she returns on her own? Gahh!"
"Well we could have waited like everyone else did, and we could have been there if you hadn't silenced the lacrima for two weeks without telling me." Lily scolded, glaring at me.
"They had been calling us every damn hour it seemed like. At least I didn't break the damn thing." Sitting on a boulder I pulled out the map and tried to find where we were. We had passed some guild that's mark looked like a four some time ago, but we hadn't come across any other towns or guilds since then, just a bunch of trees. "Hmmm, if Quatro Cerberus is the name of the guild we just passed then that means we're at the edge of Fiore, or we've crossed the border into the country of Bosco. Let's hope we didn't accidentally hop the border, the people of Bosco don't take kindly to mages and magic; definitely not a place we want to be." I mumbled shoving the map back into my pack. "Hey Lily... Lily?" I said looking up to find him gone.
"Over here, Gajeel."
"What are you doing over here... Who's that?" I said pointing to the rail thin girl, who couldn't be much older than Wendy. Her bright red hair was matted to her sweat and blood covered face making it hard to see what injuries she had in her head but her others were clearly visible. What little clothes she was wearing were torn in places that revealed shallow cuts that smelled faintly of iron and something else I couldn't place.
"I don't know she just appeared out of the trees and passed out. Look at her wrists and ankles, they're bleeding. I've seen injuries like this before, they're from shackles rubbing the skin raw while the prisoner struggles. But for them to be this deep she must have been captive for quiet some time." He said gingerly probing the wounds. "These are really fresh..."
"Damn it, we must have entered Bosco by accident." Rustling and yelling in the distance alerted me to the incoming people who were talking about some bitch and how she wouldn't get away with killing one of their own, no matter the ransom price. Just what we needed. I thought before growling in frustration and picking up the bony girl, tossing her over my shoulder. "We gotta go Lily, her 'friends' are coming this way."
Running in the direction of Fiore I jumped over rocks and fallen trees as Lily flew above me, looking back every so often. When we were at what I assumed was the border of Fiore, the girl came alive kicking and screaming. The volume of her screams pierced my ears, making me cringe in pain. When she felt my hold on her loosen slightly, she flipped to the ground and took off running.
"We can't just leave her, Gajeel." Lily said hovering above me.
"Arghh! Fine." Following behind the banshee of a women I hid behind a tree when I saw her stop to look around for signs she was being followed. Looking frustrated with herself she shook her head and continued on. She led us to a hidden cave, several paces from where we had originally found her. Sniffing the air, I realized that the people who were chasing her weren't that far away and quietly cursed before entering the cave.
Entering the cave all of my enhanced senses shut off. I couldn't see in the dark, I could no longer track her scent, hell, I couldn't hear anything besides my own breathing. What is this place? "Gajeel, you okay?" Lily asked from beyond the cave's entrance.
"This place is fucking with my powers. I don't think magic works in here." I growled. Not believing me, Lily flew into the cave only to have his wings disappear the second he had crossed the threshold and he fell to the ground. "Told you."
Unconcerned by the lack of magic in the cave he looked around for the girl. "Where'd the girl go?"
"How the hell should I know, I just told you I'm magicless in this place." Rustling through his bag Lily pulled something out and a moment later light appeared."You keep a torch in your bag?"
Shrugging Lily handed me the torch and we proceeded to find the strange girl. After a hundred or so feet we came to a fork and looked at each other unsure of what path to take. "Right." Lily said, already walking in that direction. "There is blood on this wall." He said pointing to it. Staring at it, I saw the logic in taking this path but I felt that something was off.
"Wait. We haven't seen any blood this entire way here and now she fucks up and leaves a bloody handprint?"
Halting, Lily looked torn as he thought of what I had said. "When you put it like that..."
"Then we'll go left." I said feeling better about that decision.
"If we don't find her on this path you owe me a crate of kiwis."
"And if we do, you have to make me some of those shaved iron cupcakes, at least a dozen of them."
"Deal." Lily said before I placed him on my shoulder and turned to the left pathway.
Unlike the entrance tunnel this one was curved. At first the tunnel didn't look any different from the one we had been in before but after ten minutes of walking the rocky ground changed to miss covered floors and moist walls. If I hadn't know better I would have thought we were still in the forest, by all of the plant life that littered the ground. Up ahead I heard a splash followed by a big sigh of relief. Coming to a stop suddenly I extinguished the torch when I saw a stream of light coming from an alcove in the side of the wall. Placing Lily on the ground behind me I motioned for him to stay where he was and silently moved to the side of the entrance, pressing my back against the wall in an attempt to keep hidden.
Listening to make sure the girl was still busy with whatever she was doing I peered into the room to get a quick glance of the layout, and to see if anybody else was with her. The room was filled with even more shrubbery than the tunnel, and in the middle if it all was a steaming pool of water in the center of it all. The girl was facing away from the entrance as she soaked in the hot spring. Turning away from her scar covered back I looked everywhere else and was glad to see that no one else was in the cave with her.
Leaning back into the tunnel I told Lily all I had seen. He wanted to approach her first, his reasoning being that no one who initially saw him thought of him as menacing in his smaller form so she was less likely to run away or attack upon seeing him. Agreeing that I was intimidating upon first glance, I agreed to his plan. Watching as he slowly made his way to the woman, I remained out of the room but was ready to come running to his aid at a moment's notice.
When Lily made it to the pool of water behind the woman he cleared his throat and raised both of his hands to show that he meant no harm. "Hi. My name is-"
"Ahhh! What are you doing here?" She yelled as she tried to cover herself with her arms and by sinking deeper into the water, all the while slowly backing away from Lily. "Where did that metal man who was with you go?" She said peering behind him and towards the entrance where I was.
Slinking deeper into the shadows and away from the entrance I waited with bated breath to see what Lily wanted me to do. "His name is Gajeel, and like me he won't hurt you. We were helping you escape your captors not taking you to them."
"Where is he?" she asked again still peering at the shadows I was hidden in.
Without looking away form the scared woman Lily called to me. "Gajeel, why don't you come out slowly and show her that we don't mean any harm." Doing as he suggested I walked into the room with my hands open out in front of me. "See there's no need to be afraid. We just want to help you."
"I don't need your help." She said wincing as she jarred her injuries when she backed into the edge of the pool.
"We can get you to some place safe, out of Bosco."
"Ha, there is no place safe, they're everywhere. No matter what country you take me to, they'll find me and kill me."
"Why didn't they kill you while they held you captive if they wanted you dead so badly?" I asked, taking a seat by Lily.
"..." She stared at us in silence, judging whether she could trust us or not. "What guild are you from?" She asked trying to get a better at my shoulder.
"Fairy Tail."
"As in Lucy of Fairy Tail?"
"What do you know about Lucy?"
Giving us another once over she hesitantly spoke. "Let me see your mark." When I twisted my body so the black mark was facing her, I heard her hem and haw before she nodded. "I was trying to get to Lucy when I got captured a couple of weeks ago... For the past couple of years men have been after my mother and I. We were run out of our home in Seven and crossed into Bosco purposely, thinking that since they were so anti-magic over here we thought we'd be safe but we were wrong. They followed us somehow and waited until we let our guard down a bit before they attacked. My mom, she fought them off with one spirit and summoned another to guard me and lead me away. That's when I found this forest and eventually this cave. I waited for days for my mother to meet up with me but she never did, and when her spirit faded away I knew that something had happened to her.
"She was the strongest Celestial Mage in our region, able to keep her gates open for days at a time, but I knew she wouldn't have closed her spirits gate without warning me first. Summoning Leon, my spirit, and asked him what had happened to my mom and he told me that her keys had been shattered and her magic stolen from her, ultimately killing her. That's when my spirits told me I'd be safest with Lucy and to find her as quickly as I could. But before I could leave I got captured.
"I know I'm not any of your concern but can you take me to her, or at least warn her that she's in danger?"
Nodding my head I put my hands down and picked up Lily to give her some space. "Get dressed and we'll make a plan." Waiting in the tunnel, for her to get dressed I heard voices coming from down the way. Seeing flashes of light I ran back into the room, decency be damned.
"Hey! I'm not dressed yet!"
"We gotta go. You're friends are here." Even with my magic on the fritz I could smell the fear pouring off of her in waves. "Come on, grab what you need, or we'll leave without it." That got her moving, scrambling over the plants, half dressed she dug out something from beneath a pile of rocks. Clutching what she had dug up in her hand close to her chest. " Is there another way out of here?"
"Ye...yeah, follow me." Leading us to the wall across from the tunnel entrance she pushed in a random rock and opened a hidden door. Ushering us through the door she closed it just as the intruders walked into the room. From inside the passageway I heard the men shouting to fan out and canvas the area.
Stumbling through the pitch black passageway, we made it out of the cave in minutes. The moment we stepped out into the fresh air of the night I felt a rush of magic flow through me, as Lily's wings appeared. The relief of escaping the cave and having my magic return to me was shattered when men surrounded us, restraining both of our arms.
"We won't let you get away again girly. Tie them up and watch them." He said before disappearing though the tunnel. Once the majority of the men disappeared and the remaining men had tossed us on the ground I watched their attempts to catch Lily. Completely distracted by the exceed they didn't notice my iron club until it was too late. Knocking them back against the cave wall, I cringed when the sound echoed through the cave, alerting the others. With the way she is she won't be of much use in a fight. If anything she'll be a distraction. Making short work of my restraints I began pounding the wall above the cave opening mercilessly, showering the ground with chunks of rocks. Ignoring the yells of Lily, the girl and the men in the cave I sealed the entrance with the ruble.
"Let's go." I said and took off running, when I didn't hear the sound of following footsteps I turned around and stopped. "What now?" I snapped.
"He...he t...took my keys. I can't leave them with him, he'll destroy them like he did my mother's." She said on the verge of tears.
"What if he's already destroyed them?"
"He hasn't... I know he hasn't. My contracts are still intact, I can feel them."
Running a hand over my face in disbelief of the amount of bad luck that had been thrown our way I let out a big sigh and tiredly told Lily the new plan. "Lily get her the hell out of here. I'll meet you at the hotel we stayed at by Quatro Cerberus, if I'm not there an hour after you get there have them contact Fairy Tail to send someone to get you two.
"Don't worry I'll get your keys back..."
"Rea."
"Alright go before they capture you again and something else goes wrong." Not staying to see them off I trudged through the forest making my way to the main entrance just in time to meet the men who were exiting.
"Damn brat, she's caused us too much trouble over the past few weeks. Well we'll see how she likes it when we destroy these." The leader, a burly man with unkempt brown hair covering his face and head, said as he walked out of the cave with four less men than he had started out with. Shoving the hair backwards he revealed a scar laden face that looked like an animal had taken a set of claws to it recently. Tossing Rea's keys up into the air and catching them as they fell back down he stuffed them deep into his pocked before turning to his men in anger. "She wouldn't have escaped again if it hadn't been for that damn man that was with her. Where the hell did he come from?"
"Don't worry sir, we'll get her, and that key her mother gave to her, despite her new friend."
"That isn't what I asked Cain. Where the hell did he come from, I thought we had people watching the borders of our camp."
"Sir, I think he came from Fiore. He had a guild mark on his arm."
"Damn Julien, he's supposed to have a handle on Fiore. There was only eight Celestial Mages he had to take care of in that damn country. Eight! How hard is that?! We've had to take care of at least three times that in Seven, and then had to follow the last two to this god damn country where we're being hunted for using our magic. I swear the next time I see him I'll -"
"What was it you were about to say Andre? Please continue so I can inform the High Priestess of what you plan on doing to her only son."
Clearing his throat Andre stood to attention and watched another man approach from the trees. Whereas Andre was round and short, barely as tall as Bunny Girl, this one was lean, was at least half a foot taller and had his black hair neatly shaven. His clothes were dirt and wrinkle free, which had to be hard to accomplish considering we were in a fores. He looked like one of Max's novelty dolls, perfect. "Nothing. I'm gonna do nothing Kato. Please forgive my insolence." He said with a bow of his head.
"As I thought, still nothing but talk. How...disappointing. Have you found the girl? And the Jeweled key?"
"...no. She got away again. Someone from Fiore came to her aid. And we couldn't find the key anywhere in the cave. Several of my men died, when they landed in a spike filled pit when they were checking the right wing of the tunnel."
"She couldn't have gotten that far. Go, find her, and kill her on sight. I've had enough of her escapes." Kato said before he did an about face and returned to where ever he came from.
"As you wish." Andre said sarcastically, with a roll of his eyes. With a jerk of his head Andre's men fanned out to begin their search of the forest while he remained at the cave to relieve himself. Well hell, you just made this too easy. I thought with a smirk. Coming up behind him while he was distracted I put him in a choke hold, squeezing tighter to cut off his protests before he could alert the others. Beating on my hold hands and kicking at the ground he floundered for a few seconds before passing out. Dropping his ass on the ground I refused to go digging in his pocket for the keys so I just tore the pocket off and shook the two silver keys loose and put them in my own pocket.
"Thank you, for dealing with that infuriating man, Gajeel, are you sure you don't want to finish him off for me as well?" Taken off guard by the unexpected voice I spun around.
"Iron Dragon's Roar." Attacking nothing but thin air I was annoyed when I couldn't find a single trace of the man.
"Ah ah ahh, I'm not over there, and to think Dragon Slayers are so highly coveted. It's a little disheartening to say the least, when the thing you've up to your whole life is nothing but hype."
With a gust of wind passing in front of my face I felt searing pain radiate from my arm. Looking down I saw an inch deep cut from my wrist to my elbow with blood bubbling as it poured out of the wound as it hung limply at my side. Gritting my teeth I caught a glimpse of him, Kato, when he stopped at Andre's body by the cave mouth. Bending down over the unconscious man, he brought both of his hands to his each side of his head and twisted without the slightest bit of hesitation. The sound of the bones cracking reverberated though out my body. Keeping a close eye on him I backed away from him, removing the hand that was covering the still bleeding wound.
"What do you want?" I asked waiting for him to make a move. In a blink of an eye he vanished, and the same gust of wind fell upon me. Summoning my scales when I had lost sight of him, I just barely blocked his knife from piercing my other arm, but still felt a sting of pain as one of my scales were torn off.
"Nothing really, just the deaths of anybody who dares to oppose my goddess, and unfortunately that means you, and that pesky flying cat of yours."
"You stay the fuck away from him." I snarled, jumping at him and aiming my iron clubbed leg at his head. Hitting nothing but dirt I immediately swung my leg behind me, catching him on his stomach and sent him flying toward the trunk of a tree. Flipping through the air he landed against the tree with his feet and pushed off and sent himself flying at me with his knifes out. Dodging the larger of the two daggers, I winced as I felt his other dagger dig into the exposed spot on my arm. "GAH!"
"Really Gajeel is that the best you can do? Now I understand why Andre was so annoyed with Julien. If all Fiore mages are as weak as you then he really shouldn't be taking so long to get rid of those pesky Celestial Mages, your guild mate included. "Oh yes, I know all about your puny guild, and their lack of standing in the world. It's just a shame we could't keep the Heartfilia girl alive, I'm sure she'd be loads of fun." He said licking his lips at the thought.
Growling I attacked him again with both iron clubbed legs, getting frustrated when he was able to block each kick I spat out several kunai out at him, nicking his cheek. Wiping his cheek Cain's hand came away with blood. Bringing his blood covered fingers to his mouth he licked them clean before barring his teeth at me and disappearing.
"No one...messes... with my... face" he said, chipping away at my scales each time he passed by. Standing still with my eyes closed I focused on the rustle of the leaves and the feel of the air around me as it thickened each time he came closer. Tracking him with sound alone, I swept my foot out to my side, tripping him.
Before he was able to land I was on him, "Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" I shouted, punching and holding him to the ground with my fist as he slid across the forest floor, hitting rocks and trees as the the momentum of my punch and body weight kept him going. "And no one messes with Fairy Tail." I panted, spitting on his precious face when I turned him over to make sure he was out. Releasing my scales I grabbed the rope out of my bag and tied him up before dragging his sorry ass into the cave. Walking until I got to the fork, I tossed his body callously into the path on the right, mentally hoping he'd land in the pit of spikes and left.
Finding a stream on the way back into town I dunked my still bleeding arm into the water, hoping to alleviate the burning sensation that was still there. Letting the cool water run over it for a couple of minutes I worked on the rest of me and rinsed off my blood as best I could so I wouldn't cause too much of a commotion when I entered the town. I was past the hour time limit I gave Lily, but I knew he'd give me another ten minutes before he actually did as I said, either way I knew he would keep the girl safe; to some extent she reminded him of the Edolas Coco he had cared for so much. Using my shirt to dry myself off I threw it over my shoulder and continued walking, taking extra care to listen for anyone following.
I came close to several of the men I had seen back at the cave, but avoided them because of my time constraint and my still bleeding arm. How I'd love to kick your asses. I thought as I bypassed them. Half walking and half jogging, I made it to the hotel with seconds to spare, and headed up to where I smelled Lily and the girl. Leaning against the door I knocked, "Lily open up."
"Gajeel you made it just in time." Lily said as I stumbled into the room and sat on the bed without saying anything.
"So you met Kato hmmm?" Rea said nodding towards my arm. Without waiting for me to respond she began gathering things to mend my arm, and set them on the pillow, before putting the kettle on.
"Here let me take a look at that." Rea said, her tone brooking no argument. Sitting next to me on the bed she placed my arm on her lap and inspected it. Putting her thumbs on each side of the cut she pushed the torn edges together, squeezing. Clenching my teeth in pain, I watched as the blood poured out faster, until something else appeared from the wound. As soon as the black substance appeared in place of the blood Rea squeezed harder, replacing one thumb with her pointer finger she dug into the gash on my arm with her free hand and pulled the black thing out. With each tug I felt another jolt of pain, as the thing unlatched itself from my arm. "Lily get a cup of boiling water and something to cover it please." She asked, keeping a firm grip on the foreign substance. When Lily appeared with the cup of boiling water Rea gave one last tug and yanked the thing completely out of the wound before dropping it into the water and covering the opening. Instructing Lily to keep the cup covered, she returned to my arm and began squeezing again. When she saw no hint of black oozing out of the laceration she grabbed the clean gauze from the pillow and wrapped my arm up.
"What the hell was that?" I asked putting a hand over my band-aids after she was done.
"That was a mutated leech... I'm not sure what he calls them, but every time he pierces you with his larger dagger he releases one into the wound. It literally will eat the exposed tissue and release a small bit of acid with each bite.
"I had escaped several times before you found me, but each time they were able to find me and I never knew why. But one day when Leon was out and checking me, he noticed something in my wounds. I'm guessing since they are apart of Kato's magic he is able to trace where each one of his demented creations are. Actually we've been here too long, we should get going before he comes looking for us." She said getting up from the bed and taking the cup from Lily, and heading to the bathroom. Leaving the door open she dumped it into the toilet and flushed the leech.
-end flashback-
"Once we left the hotel we came immediately here after Lily and I took Rea to get fed and cleaned up at our place... hold on." I said opening the storage door to find Lily. "Lily! Go get the kid and bring her here will ya? She ain't safe alone."
Continuing back where I had left off I spoke. "...but she gave me the key because she wanted Lucy to have it right away. As to why it's so dirty, she kept it hidden in the ground for Mavis knows how long, she's been keeping it safe for years from those lunatics.
"Now go back to telling me about Bunny Girl getting poisoned... You're telling me that the same bastards that attacked us, held Rea captive and killed her mother, attacked Bunny Girl and poisoned her? When the fuck did that happen?"
"About two weeks ago as I said. It is my belief that the very same group of people also destroyed Sabertooth's guild in an effort to draw Lucy out, actually I know it is. Both Rogue and Sting positively identified the leader of the group to be the one who attacked Lucy before she returned to us."
An: Hey all sorry it was so long, but I hoped you liked it. Let me know what you thought, is there something I didn't clarify, something I should improve on, something you loved or hated, etc? Please and Thank you!
BronzeDove: I know, I was totally not planning on their exceeds getting hurt or going missing, but it just happened. It also explains why they weren't there to help them off the crashing chunk of ground they were on. Yes Julien did! I'd love to have a protective friend like Natsu... or just Natsu lol.
Rose A: Haha I'm glad you're loving it! I'm sorry that I forced you to stay up reading it though. :P
artificialartofficial: I'm sorry you're not okay, I'm in the same boat as you though, or at least I was when I was writing it! Gotta wait til the next chapter for the key reveal!