Levy gulped as Fried approached her. He stopped a couple of metres away, appraising her condition.

"You're hurt," he said simply.

"Yes I am," she replied guardedly.

"You're in no state to fight," he stated.

"No, I'm not." Fried pursed his lips at the stilted conversation. Neither liked being so abrupt when more flowing language would do.

"A shame, I think I'd rather liked to have crossed written magic with you again. Still, this is easier. Give me any fragments you have. Please," he added as an afterthought.

"I don't have any." At his expression, she tipped her handbag upside down, her notebook and a few other items falling out.

"What is in the notebook?" He asked, not fooled for a second. Levy stooped and picked it up. It burst into flames in her hand, the word 'Char' visible.

"Nothing."

"I thought you were smarter than that. Now we have to do this the hard way." His hand strayed to the hilt of his sword. "Tell me everything you've discovered."

"No."

Fried's eyes flashed, but after a moment his posture relaxed. He wasn't about to attack an injured guild mate like this. Like most people in the guild, he saw Levy as a frail non-combatant. It wasn't right. He walked past her, up the trail, ignoring her. Levy breathed deeply, unable to believe what she was about to do.

For Gajeel.

"Laxus went down like a bitch!"

Fried froze, but didn't turn.

"I mean, he lost to me! Who'd have thought that the Thunder Dragon was such a weakling?"

Fried turned, one visible eye consumed by fury. Levy turned her back to him and began to walk away, back down the path.

"I'll have to tell Natsu that he's a pushover now. He'll enjoy kicking his ass too!"

The sound of metal on metal. A sword being drawn.

"Darkness Script…"

Gajeel was raging impotently at an empty sky. He grabbed a nearby tree and uprooted it in an enormous effort, and hurled it down the mountainside.

This wasn't right!

He was a man; shouldn't he be protecting his girlfriend? Isn't that what men did? Elfman could surely give him a lengthy dissertation on the subject.

It was her plan.

"But I hate it!" He screamed.

He wobbled slightly, panting. He'd picked up a few injuries from Bixlow and Wendy. After the adrenalin high of battle, he was really starting to feel them now. He literally punched himself in the face.

What do yer injuries matter? Yer worthless! She's the precious thing!

For the hundredth time, he turned back down the mountain, stopped and went back up. His feet began moving by themselves, and in his rage addled state it took him almost five minutes to realise what he was doing. He was tracking a scent.

Cana.

Take her out before she reaches the top, and then there's just Fried to go. All of the time in the universe to check that she's alright.

Fried had to admit that he was impressed. Levy was cancelling runes as fast as he could cast them. It was no small feat, particularly when considering that she was already weary. It was the difference in their disciplines; he was a fighter who used written magic, and she was a magician of written words who fought when she had to.

Still, he was a fighter, and above and beyond his runes, he'd struck Levy several times with his sword, though he hadn't tried to land any serious blow. Both of her biceps were bleeding, and she kept blinking as a cut on her forehead dumped blood into her left eye.

Fried's eyes narrowed. This wasn't like Levy. She never sought battle if it could be avoided, and she clearly couldn't win – so what was she doing? She wasn't casting any spells, merely defending herself.

Stalling.

"Hmph. You've been learning too much from that brute. It's the same as in the cathedral."

Levy's expression became quizzical.

"Gajeel sacrificed his own body then to protect Natsu. You're doing it now to protect him. To think that you of all people…tch," he finished with a dissatisfied noise. "But there's one thing you've missed. Without you, there's no way that Gajeel can solve the riddle."

"No, we've planned for that!" Fried was amazed; her voice, her eyes, they were full of confidence. Was this the same girl who could only stand and watch as Gajeel and Natsu fought Laxus a year ago? The girl generally considered being fragile now sacrificing her own body as part of a battle strategy?

Suspicion came to him. "You knew."

"Yep, you placed tracking runes on all of us when Erza was explaining the rules. I noticed. I must say, you are very discreet." She giggled, and made a motion over her shoulder. A rune appeared and vanished. "And of course, which of us would be most valuable to track down?"

"In a test of linguistic prowess?" Fried couldn't help but smile. "But the flaw remains; if I strike you down now, Gajeel has no chance of solving the riddle."

"I wouldn't underestimate his mind, if I were you! But anyway, I've already figured out the answer!"

The three cards drawn: Lightning, Reverse Tower, The Lovers

"Jolt of Fate!" Roared Cana, smiting Gajeel with lightning. He waded through it, and punched Cana unconscious, finally ending their extended brawl. She had been far tougher than he'd given her credit for. He gasped. In his anger, he'd tackled Cana head on, and taken far, far too many hits. But as is often the way with Gajeel, he used physical pain to extinguish emotional.

Cana had several fragments with her. He took them all and moved further up the mountain until he found a large slab-sided rock to place them on. He laid them out and just stared at them.

He instantly was fouled by his basic reading problems. Trying to pick out words in a jumble. He felt lost, trying to take it all in, but reading nothing. He forced himself to slow down and read each individual fragment.

They seemed to be nonsense to him, but he listened to Levy's advice in his head. Look for patterns. He frowned, thinking. These three words, afternoon, morning, evening were all times of day. He put them in a group together. There were also three numbers, two, three, four. He moved them next to the others.

So…three times and…no. None of them were evening hours.

He felt his anger rising. This wasn't his field! He was here to smash shit, and smash it good! Why the fuck did Shrimp think that he could do this?

"Look at the shapes, Gajeel," he heard her say.

Hmm….these two fitted together…What am I? He blinked. That was the question! The riddle described some kind of object, and asked what it was. Okay, think, moron, think.

Now Fried was absolutely amazed. "You know the solution?"

"I think so. I found three fragments. All said 'I go' on them."

"How does…"

"I was confused at first, but I think I was actually very lucky to find those three. Assuming that they are not repeats, then I think I know what the riddle is."

"But…ever since you found the third piece, we've been fighting! You've had no time to decipher it!" Fried sounded annoyed at the concept. "There's no way you could ponder that while cancelling my runes!"

"Sorry," she said, sounding sincere.

"But…why like this? Why not have you go up the mountain and Gajeel stay lower down?"

"Because you were after me. You'd avoid Gajeel like the plague, assuming that if I was down, he could never pass the test. I bet you sent Bixlow to intercept him, believing that his eyes could take Gajeel out, but we planned for that, too."

"Gajeel can't do it!" Fried snapped, angry.

"Oh? He's smarter than you give him credit for. And in case he isn't, I can broadcast the answer from here!" She was smiling. Fried wasn't sure how she planned to do that, but he had to knock her out. His hand went to his sword again, but as it did so, Levy's expression changed, looking confused. She collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Fried ran over to her, kneeling. "Are you alright?"

"I…I don't…," she said confusedly. She was very pale and had lost a lot of blood. As with most of Levy's problems in life, it was due to being very small; which meant that she had less blood to lose. Fried looked at the distant mountaintop wistfully, then back down at his comrade.

This brilliant comrade, who had effortlessly outthought him.

"Well played," he said quietly, producing medical supplies from his pack.

****morning ***** four legs

In the afternoon I go on two

***evening ***on three

What am I?

Gajeel stared at the words, trying to decipher their meaning. If only by the shape of the pieces, he was sure the order was correct. There were still pieces missing, but he couldn't do much about that.

The second sentence being complete, he was sure of the other two. So the question was, what had four legs, then two, then three over the course of a day?

He looked up at the sky, thinking. Shrimp would know, he was sure of that, but he couldn't be sure that she would be able to signal him with the answer. He was annoyed, but she'd asked him to think for himself, so he should. If she was willing to risk her body, he should try to use his mind.

No animal changed the number of its legs, at least not on a daily cycle. Maybe cut off? No it went two then three. Did anything other than animals have legs? Tables and chairs…but they didn't vary either.

"Try to think figuratively. Often, a riddle is not literal." She had said that at the beginning of the day.

Not literal? He frowned, crossing his arms. Maybe…not a day? Did it mean…beginning, middle, end? He felt smarter than he'd ever felt in his entire life. Maybe all that book reading was paying off. But still, what changed legs like that? What the hell had three legs?

Not literal.

So like a leg, but not a leg? Okay, think about two. What has two legs? People was the obvious thing, but then there were birds, monkeys and a whole host of monsters. Hell, most Celestial Spirits…

Hmm…Gajeel had a thought. Monkeys and Apes, they had two legs, but didn't they often do walking with their hands? He smiled. He'd been called a knuckle-dragger more than once, and by Shrimp in a few moments of annoyance. But three? Naturally, Gajeel's mind went to fighting. If an ape went into combat, charging on all fours, rearing up on two to fight, and then losing an arm in that fight, it'd be left with three. He laughed at his silliness. There was no way…that…could…be…it.

Wait. An ape that started life on four…it then went on two…and not lost…but fashioned a third limb?

He sighed deeply. Levy had put all of her trust in him to be smart enough to figure this out. Was this the right answer? Was there a penalty for giving Erza the wrong answer? Did they get more than one attempt? His resolve hardened. If the Shrimp was putting her faith in him, then he was going to try.

He ascended the mountain, into the barren upper reaches. Nothing lived here, making Erza's scent easier to track. In the end, she confronted him. Lording it over him by standing on a large rock, she asked the question.

"What is the riddle's answer?"

"A human being," Gajeel replied, voice uncertain.

"Oh? Are you sure?"

"A baby walks on four legs, an adult on two, and an old geezer needs a walking stick, for three." Gajeel had never been so unsure of something in his life…except maybe for admitting his feelings to Levy. Erza stared at him neutrally, but then smiled.

"Congratulations, Gajeel. That is the correct answer."

"Alright great, fuck you." He turned to hurry down the mountain, his injured legs moving with renewed speed. "I've got something more important to deal with."