XXIX: Butting Heads
By the time night fell on the three travelers meandering through the East Forest, Plue was looking quite ill. Levy fussed over him relentlessly, eventually opting to carry him while he pointed the way. The poor thing could barely walk, he was so weak.
Jet and Droy wanted to stop for the night, but Levy urged them to keep walking, Plue backing her up. No one could deny the short, stubborn blunette when she had her mind set, especially when she had support on the matter. So they continued in the dark, the word 'light' heading the way so they could see. Despite the glow Levy managed to keep up, they could still not see more than a few feet in front of them. The clusters of trees were thick, and an eerie fog was descending upon the ground, dampening their clothes and making vision almost impossible. The three of them nearly jumped out of their skins when they heard a howl in the distance.
"Levy, I really think we should stop," Droy whispered, his voice an octave higher than usual.
"No!" Levy hissed back. "Stopping now isn't going to do us any good. We need to keep going. Besides, we're almost there, aren't we, Plue?"
Plue nodded, waving a feeble hand in the forward direction. Levy set her shoulders in determination and pressed on, Jet and Droy lagging behind her. They'd seen that look before. Now there was definitely no way she was giving in.
Eventually Plue made a noise for them to stop and pointed urgently. Levy walked for a little longer, heading to his directions, until a gigantic structure materialized from the mist. The Shadow Gear gaped, taking in the rusted iron castle that appeared to be held together by a few bolts. Great, curling squares of metal littered the green yard thriving with overgrown weeds, as well as glass and - Levy gulped - the bones of animals. Or at least, she hoped they were animals'.
Plue hopped down from Levy's arms and fearlessly skipped toward the iron stronghold, scrambling through a hole in the dilapidated gate. He looked back and pressed a paw to his lips, signalling for them to be quiet. Levy gritted her teeth and followed suit, sliding through the hole with a little difficulty. There was no way that her companions were going to fit.
"Stay out here and keep watch," she breathed. "We'll be right back." I hope, she added in her head, but she didn't say it.
Plue was a white specter in a cemetery of an abandoned hope. Levy couldn't help but notice as she looked around that everything radiated a sense of neglect. As if someone had just given up on it. With a little care and attention, this place would be awesome, she thought. Lots of room for books.
He lead her to the back of the stronghold and squatted down at the foundation of the structure. There were a series of small, rectangular windows near the ground, barred to keep intruders out. Or to keep prisoners in.
Levy heard a familiar voice. "Plue! Oh, what happened to you?"
She hastily crawled forward as Plue slid through the bars of the window and into the room beyond. She peaked in and saw Lucy with Plue in her arms, gazing down at him with worry. When Levy's form blocked the moonlight, the blonde looked up in alarm.
"Levy!" she gasped.
"Hey, Lu-chan. I'm here to rescue you."
Lucy looked close to tears. "Levy-chan, you shouldn't have come. You should've gotten somebody else to come."
"I would have, but nobody believed me. Don't worry, you can count on me."
"No, that's not it," Lucy said, shaking her head. "You don't know what he's like, it's awful. He uses me as target practice, and - "
"Shh! I don't want to hear it." Levy whipped out her solid script pen and the notepad she always carried around. She wrote the word 'sharp' and watched as it materialized in the form of several lethal knives. "I'll get you and Natsu out of here, don't worry."
Lucy's eyes widened. "LEVY, LOOK OUT!"
Levy screamed as someone grabbed the back of her collar, hoisting her at least three feet off of the ground. She came face-to-face with two seething red eyes.
The Beast smirked and peered down at a horrified Lucy. "This is the reinforcement you sent that thing after?" he sneered, letting Levy drop to the ground as he erupted into hearty laughter. "How sad! I wasn't expecting much, but I was expecting better than a little blue pipsqueak!"
Levy scowled. She grabbed her pen and her notebook and scribbled one word: fire. The word sprang from the page and engulfed the Beast, extinguishing after only a few moments. He raised an eyebrow at her, his metal scales unscathed.
"That's the best you got?"
Levy gasped as the Beast's foot connected with her abdomen and she flew backward, clutching her midsection in pain. She heard Natsu's surprised voice, then saw a shadow as the Beast bared down on her again.
"Stop it! Gajeel, just let her go!" Lucy cried from her cell, out of eye shot from the scene. The Beast - Gajeel - paid her no heed. He grabbed Levy by her hair and yanked her off the ground. Tears sprang into Levy's eyes from the pain, but she pressed her lips together and refused to cry out.
"You cryin' now, shorty?" Gajeel taunted, his breath hot and metalic in her face. Levy squeezed her eyes shut and didn't dare open them as the first of the tears spilled, racing down her cheeks and dripping off her chin. "You know what I do to crybabies?"
Levy felt Gajeel shift his weight, bringing an arm back for another blow. She braced herself for the hard, solid impact.
"Gajeel!"
The punch didn't come. Levy opened one eye, peering over Gajeel's shoulder at the source of the voice, a huge black cat that stood on two legs and carried an equally huge sword. He glared at the back of Gajeel's head, daring him to make another move. Levy closed her eyes again before she was tempted to look at the Beast's expression.
The cat spoke again in a calm, dangerous voice. "Let her go. She's weaker than you are, and smaller. It's cowardly and cruel to try to fight her. Let her go. Now."
Levy didn't think he would do it. There was a moment of hesitation, and she took that moment to prepare herself again. But, to her surprise, Gajeel relaxed his grip on her hair and she dropped to the ground. She winced as he turned on his heel and stomped away and out of sight.
There was a sigh from the cat. When Levy looked up, he was no longer huge; in fact, he was right around Happy's size. She blinked. Maybe she was hallucinating.
"You should leave now," the cat told her, gazing intently in the direction the Beast went. Levy sniffed and wiped her face with the back of her hand, ignoring the throbbing pain in her midsection as she stood up.
"No."
The cat glanced at her sharply. "What?"
"No," Levy repeated, louder this time. "Not without my friends."
"Levy-chan, just go home," Lucy moaned from her cell.
"No! I'm not leaving without you three!" Levy shouted, clenching her fists. "You wouldn't abandon me, and you know it! How can you ask me to do that to you?"
"If you're not going to leave, I'll have to take you prisoner," the cat said. "Either that, or you convince Gajeel to release them, which, I assure you, is not going to be easy."
"Take me to the Beast," Levy said.
"NO!" Lucy, Natsu, and Happy yelled at the same time.
The cat shrugged. "Very well."
"Pantherlily! Don't let her go!" Happy pleaded.
"I can't deny her request if she actually wants to see the Iron Dragonslayer," the cat, Pantherlily, said. Levy admitted that it probably was unusual for people to ask to see the Beast, but she kept her mouth shut on the matter. Something else caught her attention.
"Iron Dragonslayer?"
"Yes. Gajeel is not a beast, contrary to popular belief. He is an Iron Dragonslayer," Pantherlily explained solemnly.
Levy glanced at Natsu's face peeping from the bars of his cell. "Like you?"
"Yeah," Natsu replied, disgruntled.
"His dragon's gone, too?"
"Yes, Metallicana left seven years ago," Pantherlily said.
"Metallicana." Levy tried the name out on her tongue.
"Enough chit-chat," the cat declared. "I'll get you cleaned up, and then you can go see Gajeel about your friends."
Levy nodded and followed him to the doors of the castle.
"Levy-chan! Please, don't do this!"
The blunette stopped and turned to Lucy, giving her friend a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here," she said for the third time that night.
This time, she hoped it was the truth.
