At long last they reached the lair of the kraken. It was dark, misty, both dry and moist at the same time. When they found a place to tie their ship at, Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel went off to hunt for the sea monsters while Erza and Laxus stayed behind to protect the ship.

The three men went down into deep, dark caverns that were filled with murky waters and had cold winds echoing around them. As it started getting darker, Gray lit a match that he had brought.

"I don't like this place." He said.

"We won't be here long." Natsu said. "We're just going to get the ink and get out."

"It's not that simple." Gajeel said. "Krakens kill on sight and they'll eat anything that moves. They live in caverns and they're typically nocturnal."

"So the beast should be asleep right about now?" Natsu asked.

"Yes but don't assume that the creature won't wake til nightfall."

Further on they walked until at last the reached the area where sea beast slept. It was hideous, slimy, and utterly repulsive. A legendary, giant, cephlopod like monster that had been known to destroy hundreds of ships and devour the lives of thousands. The bones of it's victims were scattered all over the place.

"Keep quiet." Gajeel hushed. "Make no loud noises, one false move we'll all be lunch."

"How are we going to get the ink?" Natsu asked in a whisper.

Gajeel quickly pulled out a dagger and an empty jar.

"Here's the plan, I'm going to cut the kraken with this which will cause ink to bleed out of it's wound. While I'm keeping it busy one of you fill this jar with the ink and the other will help me keep it distracted. Now which one of you is it going to be?"

Natsu and Gray looked at each other.

"Draw straws?" Gray suggested.

"Using what?" Natsu asked.

Gray turned to Gajeel and took notice of his long black mane.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked.

"Gajeel forgive me." The religious pirate told him.

"For what? Ouch!"

Gray plucked a strand of his hair.

"That."

"Why you-"

"You're turn Natsu."

"Oh no. Don't you dare!"

But Natsu did the exact same thing.

Gajeel would have angrily beaten them both to a pulp in an instant if it wouldn't risk waking the kraken.

Gray and Natsu compared to two strands of hair they had plucked. Gray's was the biggest which meant he would be the one charged with collecting the ink.

Gajeel quietly crept over to the sleeping kraken and made a deep cut in it's side with his dagger. The monster woke and screeched in pain, acting quickly Natsu and Gajeel distracted it while Gray began collecting the ink bleeding out into the jar. Once enough had been filled he sealed the jar up.

"I got it! Let's go!"

The three pirates bolted out of the caverns but the kraken wasn't going to let them escape the easily. It slithered after them like a serpent, snapping it's jaws hungrily and trying to grab them with it's tentacles.

"Why is it following us?!" Natsu shouted.

"Why do you think?! It's hungry! We're it's idea of an entree!" Gajeel responded.

"Just keep running!" Gray said. "Keep running! And don't look back!"

They did just that. They just ran and didn't look back. They managed to reach the ship but they still weren't safe.

"To arms!" Natsu ordered. "Load the guns and the cannons!"

"Aye-aye!" The crew responded.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked.

"Miss Heartfilia get below deck now!" He told her.

"Why?"

"Just do it! And you mermaid! You go with her! And neither one of you come aboard deck until you hear me blow this whistle!"

The two young women nodded and went below deck. Aboard deck, the kraken's tentacles rose up from the sea and began trying to crush the ship.

"Fire!" Natsu ordered.

Guns and cannons went off, many bullets and cannon balls struck the monstrosity but it barely made a scratch.

"Nothing's working!" Erza said.

"Step aside! I'll handle this." Gajeel stepped up with a harpoon in his hand. "Gray you're a clergyman right?"

"No not really."

"But you're an ordained priest right?"

"No. I'm not that either."

"But you know the Bible right?"

"Yes."

"That's close enough. If I die pray for my soul Gray."

"Alright."

With harpoon in hand Gajeel jumped into the sea and swam toward the kraken. He made his aim and the harpoon was fired straight into the monster's heart. It let out a horrible shriek unlike any that had ever been heard. As it sank back into the sea it grabbed hold of Gajeel dragging him down with it.

"Oh no you don't you bloody sea demon!" Gajeel shouted. "There's no way in hell I'm dying with you!"

He went under, the waters became calm and quiet. Everyone on the ship waited, wondering if this was the last they would ever see of Gajeel Redfox.

"Is he dead?" Laxus asked.

"No it takes a lot more than that to kill him." Natsu said. "I predict that he should rise from the surface in five...Four...Three...Two...One."

Gajeel poked his head out from the sea, his entire body covered in black ink, holding his harpoon in the air victoriously. The other crew members cheered for him excitedly.

He climbed back on to the ship and received many impressed comments from his comrades. He later went to take a bath and wash off the ink from his body. Once cleaned off and dressed back in his clothes he found Juvia in his quarters. In her hands she held some blue seaweed with spots.

"What are you doing in here Angelfish?" He asked her.

"I saw blood on the floor and figured that you were wounded so I'm here to help."

"That's sweet but I don't need help. Besides I'm not even wounded that badly."

"Your arm is still bleeding."

She pointed to the large gash on his left arm that was causing blood to flow out.

"The kraken bit you didn't it? I better fix it before the venom sets in."

"Venom?"

"Yes. Krakens happen to carry deadly poison in their saliva. If it's not fixed soon the venom will mix with your blood and make you very ill. But luckily for you I jumped in the sea and collected some spotted seaweed. They're supposed to have great healing properties and if you bind them over your wounds with the bandages your wound should heal in just two days."

"Who told you that?"

"Uh...My friend Levy. She taught me a lot of things."

"I see." He held up his arm and allowed Juvia to clean it then bind it up with guaze and the spotted seaweed. "Were you and Levy close?"

"Yes. She was the only sea creature I knew other than myself who was fascinated by humans. She would tell me the most amazing things about the world above. While my sisters would only tell me about the bad stuff in the human world she would tell me about the good stuff. I met her when I was fifteen and I wanted to know about humans in a more positive light that's when my sister Beth told me about her. She was a sea nymph who had been living in the human world and had gotten to know them better. My sisters and all the other sea creatures thought that she was strange but I thought that she was very smart and incredible."

"You're not the only one who thinks that." Gajeel mumbled.

"She also had a real gift for storytelling. Whenever she told a story I felt like the events were happening right in front of me. I loved all of her stories but there was in particular that was always my favorite."

"What story was that?"

"It was a tragic love story about a sailor from the land and a maiden from the sea, they met one night during a festival on the beach. He was playing a song which she heard and the music was so wonderful that she couldn't resist dancing to it and the sailor thought that she looked so beautiful dancing in the moonlight. They fell desperately in love and made plans to marry but then one day the sailor told the maiden that they could never be together because they came from different worlds. He left her with a broken heart and locked away his own so he would stop having feelings for her."

Gajeel gripped his hand tightly as he listened to her words.

"That is a very sad story." He said.

"Yes it is. But I still love it, if only the ending was different."

"Yeah if only it was." Gajeel sighed sadly. "But the sad thing about this human world Angelfish is that there are no happy endings and that love doesn't always conquer all."