"Here you go," said Fried, dropping the book into Levy's hands. She caught it and sagged, barely righting herself. It was enormous, at least a thousand pages.

"Were they sold out of the extended version?" She said sarcastically, and Fried smiled. He felt a little sad. This girl had bested him utterly, and yet it was he had become a full S-class mage, whereas she was on probation. This book was her attempt to maintain that status.

"It's training just carrying it," he said smiling. He liked Levy; they were on the same wavelength. "So, you're trying to learn body enhancing magic?"

"Yes, like your Darkness and Wings spells. If I can learn ways to increase my physical power…," she trailed off. The natural end to the sentence was 'I'll be really strong', but Levy, of course, felt stupid even thinking those words of herself.

"I wouldn't advise learning the Darkness spell – well it's not covered in this book anyway, but it's a seriously dangerous spell to master. However, there are a lot of spells before that to practice."

"I don't plan to become a Darkness Script magician – I want to learn how to apply these principles to Solid Script," Levy said, thinking. "I want to further my own discipline."

"Interesting. I've never heard of solid script being used in that manner. I wish you luck. Please, come see me if you have any questions."


Gajeel watched Levy with some amazement. She sat on his sofa, the enormous tome on the table. The pages were thick with text, with only the occasional arcane diagram to break it up. Even with x60 wind reading glasses, it was taking her some time. Her expression was clearly confused. Even for her, this was a lot of complex information at once.

Gajeel sat down next to her and gently removed her glasses. She blinked, and looked at him quizzically.

"I think maybe it's a bit much at times sixty speed," he said.

She smiled lopsidedly. "Maybe a little." She rubbed her eyes. "But I'm used to the grammar syntax, though it modulates in an unusual way, going between…"

"Shrimp."

"Right, sorry." She yawned, stretching. Eyes closed, arms still raised, she smiled. "Gajeel, stop looking at my breasts."

"Fuck no."

"Fine, but carry me to the bedroom." If she was going to be little, with a powerful boyfriend, she might as well enjoy the benefits. Gajeel grinned. He loved carrying her; it was just a reminder of how small and adorable she was. He closed the door behind him with a foot.


Gajeel spent his days training his second origin, learning to use it properly. It was odd, like trying to drag water out of a bottle with your fingers. Inside your body. But he hoped that it would be good practice for dragon force, though they'd turned up no information on that so far.

Stuff from my other fic: In the past, Gajeel had activated dragon force twice, subconsciously. Both times he was high on rage, and had just eaten the Shrimp's purest iron. Maybe it wasn't the Iron's purity; it was the love in it? He was annoyed by how sappy that sounded. He had no recollection of doing it, though. It was maddening.

About a month passed. Both Levy and Gajeel trained their new abilities, and with Jet, Droy and Lily went on a few small missions, trying to get used to the concept. There were a few issues. Gajeel generally travelled light, sleeping wherever he got tired and eating whatever he killed. Shadow Gear brought camping gear to sleep in and cook with.

Gajeel hated the luxury they afforded themselves, but between him finding meat, Droy picking herbs and Levy cooking, he had enjoyed having proper meals. He was learning to slow his pace for them, but if he needed to press on, Jet was always available to help.

Then Levy ran up to him one day, as he was walking to the guild. She was holding a book in her hands. Breathlessly, she pressed it into his hands. It was large in page size, similar to A3 paper, but distressingly narrow in terms of page count. It was leather bound, well worn with age. On the cover was a stylized dragon's head. He read the title.

'On Dragons and Their Magic' by Marko Houh

They hurried to the guild and Gajeel laid the book reverently on a table. Fortunately Natsu was on a quest, which avoided a whole bunch of questions. Levy had already read the book and let Gajeel look at it for himself. He could see how she'd finished it so quickly; it had only a little text and lots of drawings and diagrams.

But all the text was gibberish.

"It's four hundred years old. The text is ancient writing," Levy explained. "The title was added later."

"The same era as Zeref?" Gajeel asked.

"Yep. But when I look at this book, I see an author out of his depth. He has only a little knowledge, so puts in lots of pretty pictures to pad the text."

"So it's useless?" Gajeel was despondant.

Levy turned to a specific page.

"Metalicana!" Gajeel shouted, looking at the image drawn there.

"What he has written looks pretty accurate," Levy noted. "Look here, there are spells listed for Iron slayers. " Gajeel looked. There were simple drawings of humans using spells. There was iron scales, his sword, demon logs…and these…these he'd never seen before. He grinned, something to learn.

Levy turned a few more pages, drawing his attention to a section that she told him was called dragon force. She explained as best she could.

"Think of there being two components, a key and a reservoir. First generation slayers have an enormous reservoir, gifted from their parents. Second generation slayers have a very small one by comparison. However, the implanted lacryma acts as a key, letting them unlock it easily."

"So the third gen have the best of both worlds. A big power supply and the ability to open it," Gajeel noted. Levy made an affirmative noise.

"But you being a first generation, have no key. In order to unlock it, you need an outside source. Natsu has used Etherion and the Flame of Rebuke. You've managed it with my iron, but it seemed like you needed extreme emotional bias too, and couldn't maintain it."

Gajeel felt his hopes die. "So…there's no way to do it by myself?"

"You eat more metal than just iron; maybe the trick is to find a metal that can unlock it…maybe gold or platinum?" Levy suggested.

"Gold tastes like shit. Never had platinum, though. But my strength increases most from Iron. I get nothing like the same from other metals." The conversation was pretty much over, but Gajeel had a thought. "How'd ya get this?"

"Umm…well I know every library and book store in Magnolia; I just cast my net wide, asking questions, and eventually someone dug this up for me." She seemed embarrassed to admit it.

Gajeel grinned. "What would I do without ya?"

"Something stupid, probabl…kyah!" Gajeel cuffed her over the back of the head. "Stop doing that! It's where I keep my thinking organ!" She said, voice laden with humour.

"Oh? Then we better take care of it," he said kissing her forehead.


Gajeel was practising one of those spells. He raked his hand into a claw shape and focussed. A sort of second hand formed within the first, made out of iron conjured from his body. That was the easy part. Now he had to produce a length of chain from his palm. He could do so, but it was slow, working on the chain link.

Eventually, the chain was several metres in length. He had made a grappling hook. He grinned. His big weakness was ranged combat, being almost utterly a zero-range fighter. He spun the hook over his head in a great circle – well here goes nothing.

He launched it at the guttering on a nearby house. It found a purchase and he swung himself, using his great strength as a launching platform. He'd done it! He was flying…sorta. Wait…wall…wall…wallwallwallwall!

Gajeel smashed through a wall and into someone's living room. He looked up groggily at the couple living there, jaws hanging open.

"Sorry. Bill it to Fairy Tail," he said, throwing the claw back out of the hole he'd come through. The couple watched him jump back out, followed by a muffled cry and the sound of another wall collapsing. "Motherf-!"


Levy stood in her own practise ground. Okay, now was the time to try. She thought she'd correctly bound the grammar to the new syntax, and rewritten the form of the letters properly. She should have transferred one of the darkness script spells to solid script…but maybe this was a poor choice for the first one.

Oh well, live dangerously.

"Solid Script: Wings!" She wrote the word in front of her, appearing in small white text. She drew the word backwards, implanting it onto her chest. She squirmed briefly as the word's power flowed through her, erupting out of her back. Stylized wings, like Fried's except white instead of ruddy purple grew from her shoulder blades.

She'd done it…now she just had to use them. Panicking, she looked up into the sky. It was really big, she thought. She was amazed at how she hadn't thought this part through. What if the spell failed in midair? Maybe little people shouldn't try to go high, she consoled herself.

"Grow a spine, Levy!" She shouted at herself. She flexed the wings, feeling how they moved and jumped…catapulting herself across the ground and into some bushes with a cry of surprise. She hung upside down, caught by the branches, and sighed. What sort of idiot did things like this?

In the distance, she heard a crash and a familiar voice.

"-ucker!"


She conferred with Fried at the guild that night, and they went outside together in the cool night air.

"Darkness Script: Wings!"

"Solid Script: Wings!"

Fried looked on with growing fondness. Simply casting that spell was a feat in and of itself. "Okay, let's try going straight up. Bend your knees, raise your wings, and then jump and bring them down." Levy did so, and they both shot straight up, but Levy hurtled far higher, managing to spread the wings and catch herself.

"Hmm…either your spell is much more powerful…," Fried began thoughtfully, looking up at her.

"Or?" Pressed Levy, vaguely grateful that she wasn't wearing a skirt – that was something to remember.

"…or…how much do you weigh?" Levy blanched.

"N..not less than eight stone!" She shouted, lying badly. Fried looked like he was about to exclaim in surprise and she shouted. "If you use any synonym of the word 'little' I'm casting inferno!"

Fried smiled and raised himself to her level. "You'll have to be more careful with modulating power since you're so…light." Levy was unable to be angry at someone engaging in linguistic battle. She suddenly noticed what she was doing.

"Waah! I'm so high! Oh God, I'm gonna fall!" She felt a hand clamp around her wrist.

"Come with me," said Fried, and he led her through the sky, slowly teaching her how to use her wings.


Unseen by her, Gajeel watched with his eyes wide. She was an angel! Her glowing white wings stood out against the night sky. The image was ruined a little by the panic in her face, but a cute angel sounded just about right to Gajeel.

He looked at Fried with annoyance. He was perfect for Levy wasn't he? A clever, kind and wordy bastard. Whereas Gajeel had spent the afternoon going through walls. He wasn't looking forward to explaining his tab to Makarov.

Tch. He couldn't control the power properly, and producing a length of chain took time. It was frustrating. He looked up suddenly as he heard a cry. Levy's wings had vanished and she was falling! Gajeel was running before his brain had even figured out what was going on. He could see Fried dashing from above, but couldn't tell if he'd make it.

She was falling near the tall guild building. That was it! "Slayer art: Iron Hook!" The claw shot out on an instantly extending chain, slamming into the guild wall under Levy's trajectory. He retracted, drawing himself in, grabbing and cradling her with his offhand as he did so. He slammed into the wall, killing her speed as he dragged his hand and feet through the stonework. Great, another wall to pay for.

"Are ya alright?" He asked. She looked a little shaken.

"Uh-huh, lost it for a minute there." She looked at him. "You're really good at heroic entrances aren't you?"

"I try, Gihi!"


A few days later, they were looking at the S-class quests together. They found one, and took it to show the other three members of their team, congregating around a table.

Please Help!

A group of evil mages is plundering our holy religious treasures.

Archaeological sites are being attacked too.

We fear an ancient evil is to be awoken.

The mayor of Xian'We,

Wai Man Kwan

Reward: 50'000'000 Jewels.

"F…fifty million!" Droy cried.

Jet, paying more attention, frowned. "Xian'We? That's a foreign city. Why are they applying with us?"

"It's not far away," Levy said. "From Harjeon port, it's a short boat journey, and then a short train trip from there." Gajeel looked green from the word 'boat' onwards. "If there are religious problems, they may prefer outsider help, to be more objective."

Lily was smiling. "Let me guess: you like the archaeological part, Gajeel likes the ancient evil part."

"Archaeological in a foreign language!" Levy corrected happily.

"Well, it does seem to suit you two," Droy said. "But we'll be gone for a long time."

"The nature of being S-class. Ya up for it?" Jet and Droy smirked. Neither would back down before the Iron Dragon.

"We know we're weak compared to you two," said Jet, "but we were S-class candidates too! We ain't gonna give up before we even start!" Droy nodded in agreement.

"A five man cell," said Lily eagerly. "Like Natsu's team, if you don't count Happy and Charla."

"Gihi! We'll show Fairy Tail our strength! We'll come back victorious from our first S-class quest!"


"Fairy Tail?" Asked a hooded figure in a darkened room. His voice smooth and sophisticated, flowing like silk.

"Yes, boss. It appears the weakling mayor of Xian'We sent abroad for help." The man speaking was kneeling, wearing shogun armour, his face bestial.

"A powerful guild." He smiled under the hood, fangs bared. "Haven't you crossed swords with them before?"

The kneeling man made an annoyed noise, but his partner, shrouded in darkness spoke, a high and grating voice. "It'll be good to pay them back for the destruction of our old guild, pe-pero."

"In the orient, I'll have the home field advantage," said the first.

The leader stood, tall and slender. "I look forward to you two reaffirming your loyalties to me. Blood is such a good medium for important promises, don't you think?" His long cloak parted as he lifted an ornate staff in one hand. "Once we find the site of the first god, nothing can stop us! I do so hope the rest of my men are busy searching."

"Uh, yes boss!" The shogun warrior quailed. "We'll join them immediately!" They scurried away, afraid of their leader's wrath.

The wrath of the Sun Dragon Slayer.


Well, I hope that at least gets people interested. A word of warning: assuming that I'm allowed to, I'll be changing the name of this fiction soon. I'm bad at naming stuff and 'the cutest lovers' was the best I could manage – urgh. But, like Katekyo Hitman Reborn, we're moving from cutesy day-to-day stuff to epic battles. Working title is 'Iron Body and Shining Soul' or something like that.

Props to Skafe for the Iron Hook spell. At this rate, I'm gonna have to keep giving you shout-outs!

This is probably old news to most of you, but look up Fairy Tail 263 on mangareader. So Jet likes Levy, but he dislikes Shrimp? Gajeel is confused!