Chapter XVIII

Don't Touch Her

In the days to come, the - now-former - Dragon-slayers carried on like they normally would. However, now there was always a slight sense of dread whenever they had to take up jobs. Gajeel was still driven to provide for his family, Wendy still had to support herself, and Natsu mostly had to have the cash for food and and replacement clothes.

At least their friends stuck close to them for the most part, trying to show them that they were still friends whether they were dragons or humans. Things were still so normal that sometimes a thought crossed their minds: Why not just get it over with and be done with dreading?

When Zyma wasn't on Mount Hakabe, she was at the Guildhall, trying to maintain good graces with her mates. She liked to linger around the Request Board and offer to go with others on jobs, or to fly them to their clients. Sometimes people would take her up on the offer.

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Well, it had been a couple weeks since the trip to the Necropolis, and after going on a few jobs already, some of the tension that Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel were dealing with just sort of eased up. However, they'd been developing more scales over their skin. Their days as humans were dwindling; but right now, they had work on the mind. Gajeel was still driven to provide for his family, Wendy needed to support herself, and Natsu needed more money for food and some extra clothes.

"Hey, this job is to take care of some dark wizards that are causing trouble in Hyacinth. The reward is for 375,000J," Levy told Gajeel.

"Gihee, a good job to make some arrests then," he replied.

"We're not working for the Magic Council anymore,' Levy murmured.

"Hey man, beating up some bad guys? That's a job with my name on it!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Beat ya to it, Salamander," Gajeel told him.

"Jet, Droy, are you coming with us?" Levy asked, and those two were immediately by her side.

"Maybe we should go on a more relaxed job, Natsu, look at your left hand," Lucy spoke.

Natsu looked at it, already there were scales on his hand, and his pinky and ring fingers were now tipped with short claws. Under the sleeve he covered his arm with, the scales had crept up his upper arm. Of course, Gajeel was in the same boat, getting more scales as well.

"Look here, Natsu, this one might bring back some memories! This flyer is asking for someone to infiltrate a ball to destroy something and to steal another item. It's paying pretty well at 130,000J!" Happy spoke.

"Hey, that sounds perfect!" Lucy declared, though she was also thinking that a job like that would require Natsu to use very little power.

"Yeah, that does sound pretty good! Alright then, let's go!" Natsu declared.

Cana approached the Request Board and gave it a good look before turning to Wendy: "Hey, there's a flyer here for finding a missing kid from Cedar Town. Want to team up with me on this one, Wendy? I'm sure a healer would be great for this one."

A cold draft swirled around the tavern, centered around Zyma.

"Cedar Town! Helleborus wasn't that far from there!" she exclaimed.

"It sounds like a good pick, Cana. I'll go with you on that one," Wendy spoke.

"I'd like to come with you on this one," Zyma told them.

Wendy drew a serious face and told her: "I think that Cana, Carla, and I will be enough for this mission."

Zyma eased up and then told them: "Well, I know the way there and can get you there quicker than any train. Would you at least let me fly you there free of charge."

"I think we ought to take you up on that offer, not only to save some money, but because in kidnappings, time is of the essence," Cana replied, looking to Wendy. She looked back and nodded to Cana and then told Zyma: "We accept your offer for a ride."

"I'll be waiting outside for you then," she replied.

The dragons of Fairy Tail - and their comrades - presented their flyers to Mirajane, and then got ready to leave. Gajeel and Levy offered up a chunk of their earnings to Alzac and Bisca if they'd babysit Athena for them.

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Team Shadow Gear met up with their client at Hyacinth. He was the mayor who'd heard of Fairy Tail's reputation for solving problems and their crazy power.

"Thank you for coming so quickly, the people of Hyacinth are practically too scared to leave their homes for fear of these devils," the mayor told them he poured them some tea and then asked: "Would you mind telling me who you are?"

"Of course, I'm Levy and I use Solid-Script magic, and my friends are Jet - a speed wizard, Droy who uses Plant Magic, Gajeel who's the Iron Dragon-Slayer, and Pantherlily a battle Exceed. Gajeel, Pantherlily, and I also spent some time working in a custody enforcement unit with the Magic Council"

"Wonderful, I've heard how terrifying a Dragon-Slayer's magic can be... The fear that this dark guild instills in my people ought to be returned. Capture as many as you can, or drive them off making them regret that they were ever born. I beg you!" the mayor pleaded.

"Gihee, you picked the right guild for the job, but we need some details about them," Gajeel stated.

"They call themselves Pixiu Wing. They have a habit of mugging and kidnapping the people. If the person they've kidnapped happens to be a wizard, they have their magical power drained as if by some sort of vampire-type magic. Their guild mark looks like the profile of a lion head with a wing behind it."

"We're on it, Sir," Jet replied.

"Thank you, and I've made reservations for you at the Mandrake Inn, near the outside of town. There are only two rooms, but the beds are nice and the food is good."

They shook hands with the mayor, dropped their stuff at the inn and then did some surveyor work in the forest surrounding the town. Jet made some pretty easy work of that. Droy managed to set up some alarm plants.

When night fell, Gajeel, Lily, and Jet did a late patrol after dinner that went on for nearly two hours.

"You find anything, Gajeel?" Jet asked.

"Nothing, I didn't hear or smell anything out of the ordinary, and I even tried to make myself a target."

"I'll go around the city one more time, and if I don't find anything I'm going back to the inn."

"Alright, and stay alert, I don't need any scumbags getting the jump on you," Gajeel replied.

"I'll circle from above," Lily stated and he flew up to the sky.

Gajeel climbed up to the roof of the Mandrake Inn and closed his eyes, keeping his ears perked to any strange sounds, and his nose raised to search the air for any new smells. There was nothing, not even when Jet returned. Gajeel jumped from the roof and told him: "I couldn't smell or hear anything out of the ordinary."

So they turned in for the night, Jet and Droy were roommates sleeping in separate beds, and Gajeel, Levy, and Lily were together. The room also had two beds, but they pushed them together to make a big bed, plenty of room for the three of them.

The next morning they started investigating in the forest. Gajeel had a hard time picking up scents at all.

"Something's wrong, I can only smell you guys," he spoke.

"You mean just us?" Jet asked.

"Yeah, I can't even smell this forest. Someone's using magic to hide their presence. If there's a wizard who has scent magic we're going to be in a bit of trouble."

It crossed everyone's mind. If this wizard could produce a nasty stink that could nauseate Levy, Jet, Droy, and Pantherlily, then it would likely bring Gajeel down to his knees and out of commission.

"Lily, will you fly up and scout the area?" Levy asked. Lily gave her a nod and took to the skies. His eyes snapped over to a shining object obscured by tree branches. He also believed that he saw something moving over there, he quickly swooped down and reported to them.

They advanced further into the forest, and that was when everything went to hell!

With their scent camouflaged and the inability to have seen them beforehand, the dark guild Pixiu Wing ambushed them from above and more of them came up from the ground! Between a mix of magics using sheer winds and shifting earth, team Shadow Gear was separated.

Jet and Droy were at least together, but Lily, Levy, and Gajeel were all on their own.

Jet ran in circles delivering swift and powerful kicks to their opponents, and then Droy threw down his seeds: "Knuckle Plants! Thorn Whips!" These attacks knocked their foes off their feet and gave them the opening they needed to make a run for it. Though they had grown stronger as wizards, they were at least outnumbered ten-to-one.

Luckily, they found Lily in his battle form down in a valley, nearly overwhelmed by his Pixiu Wing group. They had an air mage that made it impossible for him to fly, and the stench mage that had camouflaged them earlier was throwing some powerful stinks his way, nearly sapping him of his will to fight.

"Chain Plant!" Droy cast, tying up some of Lily's assailants. They then helped Lily to knock out some of his guys; Jet moved fast so the wizards wouldn't have the time to cast spells, as Gajeel and Levy had the best forms of defense.

"Have you seen the others, Lily?" Droy asked.

"No, everything moved too fast for me to see what happened to Gajeel and Levy. Hopefully they weren't separated from each other."

With the added support and a few swings of his sword, they managed to knock out enough enemies to make another run for it.

They found Gajeel... alone.

He was relying more on his simpler spells and holding his own against his onslaught of enemies. He was covered in his iron armor, one arm was turned into a sword and the other a club, and he was practically doing a dance of combat.

"HEY GAJEEL!" Jet called out.

He looked up and saw that his friend was safe, but then Droy called out: "IS LEVY THERE WITH YOU?!"

Those five words made his blood run cold with the realization that Levy - his love, his light, and the mother of his child - was alone in battle among these scumbags!

There was no time now to hold back, he had to get to her! So he switched over to his Iron-Shadow Dragon Mode and roared, slithered through the shadows, and then clobbered everyone around him with his lance attack!

"Hurry! I can smell her!" he called out and he started running. Jet and Lily were immediately with him while Droy lagged behind... He had been trying to lose some weight but it was slow.

They halted at the top of hill to behold a horrific sight: Levy had already been overwhelmed; and they had arrived just in time to watch one wizard strike her with a spell that struck her face and spilled her blood; and that was when Gajeel went over the edge. He activated his Dragonforce, and then his body seized up. He stooped over with an arm across his crest, his heart rate suddenly spiked, and his breathing turned to panting through the accelerated heat beat and his pure rage. Jet, Droy, and Lily felt a sudden increase in magical power.

"Gajeel...?" Jet spoke.

"GET BACK!" Gajeel shouted, his eyes wide. Jet and Droy huddled together, as Gajeel was swallowed up by swirling shadows he threw his head back and let out a great war bellow that crescendoed into a low, earth-shaking, and incredibly loud and beastly roar!

Levy's attackers couldn't help but to halt and then look over to the sight of the terrifying commotion. What they saw was a great shape flying overhead and then landing in the center of their ring. They could hardly believe their eyes as a dragon stood before them with his body curled around Levy. He displayed his wings and let out another bellowing roar!

Pixiu Wing screamed, and those who couldn't run fast enough took a hard hit from a sweep of a dragon's tail! The dragon then finished driving them off with a breath attack that took out all the trees in its path.

Right after that last attack, Levy finally came to and her eyes widened when she saw the great dragon sheltering her and drawing long pants of breath.

"Gajeel?" she spoke. The dragon perked at her voice speaking his name, and then craned his head to look at her, the shadows surrounding him faded away to reveal the dragon's relaxed form. His metallic scales were a dark steely grey, his underbelly was black, and he had a wild mane of black hair. Overall, Gajeel Dragon looked more organic than Metallicana - whom looked almost like a machine. His wings were bat-like with steely-grey fingers and black membrane, his head was shaped more like a traditional dragon but maintained his piercings.

"Gajeel," Levy spoke again. The dragon lowered his head some more and he felt as Levy embraced his face, and he watched as she looked into his eyes.

"Your eyes haven't changed."

She was right, though the whites had turned dark, he maintained his red irises and pupil shape. He gently pulled his head away from her embrace and tried working his mouth.

"Levy," he managed. Though his voice had a draconic rumble, they could still recognize it.

Levy's face lit up and she brought her hands to her chest: "You're my Gajeel, and I don't plan on leaving you!"

"Hold up, we still need to round up as many of these dark guild wizards as possible!" Lily called out. Jet and Droy took off with him while Levy turned to Gajeel Dragon and asked him: "How would a dragon make arrests?"

A light sparked in Gajeel's eyes and he replied: "Climb on my back and we'll find out... Hold on tight now."

Levy climbed up him and held fast to tufts of his mane and Gajeel Dragon spread his wings and gave them a hard stroke, they went 'SHING' like Erza's slashing blades. He flew over his friends' heads and circled over where all Pixiu Wing members were located. His iron clubs erupted from the ground, urging the Pixiu guild members to regroup. Levy also sent her spells their way, and they herded the dark guild closer to their friends: Lily and Jet fought them into submission, and Droy bound them together with his Chain Plant.

"Alright, Team Shadow Gear is the best!" Levy cheered. Gajeel swooped down and landed. It was a bit rough, but a good job for his first time. Levy jumped from his back to join the others and celebrate a little bit with them. She then turned to Gajeel and told him: "We need to turn these guys in to the client, Gajeel, and get paid. I'd like for you to get some rest and I'll come back to you. Will that be alright?"

"Go ahead then... I'd likely scare the whole town away like this," his voice rumbled.

"I'll stay with you then," Lily told him.

As Levy, Jet, and Droy headed back to Hyacinth, Gajeel Dragon hunkered down and Lily sat close to him.

"That was quite the job," Lily spoke.

"More than we expected," Gajeel replied. He dragged his claws through the dirt and grumbled: "Zyma - that brat - better stay true to her word."

"About teaching you how to turn human again?"

"Yeah, I need to hold Athena in my arms and sing my songs to Levy... No way I can carry a tune with this dragon's growl!"

"Those are your only concerns?"

"I can't see my future without them," Gajeel replied.

Levy ran back a short while later and told him: "We got paid, the client was impressed, and I told him that the reason you didn't show up was because you were recovering from a tough fight, he sends you his gratitude and the gratitude of all Hyacinth."

"Think that Athena could go for a new outfit?" Gajeel asked.

"With this money, we'll get her something really special... but, Gajeel, we should discuss your situation."

"What's there to talk about, Levy?"

"Well, first off, I want to thank you for that save earlier. I was afraid that it was going to be the end for me... If only I were stronger."

"No, don't you dare talk like that! That wasn't your fault! If I was certain that you were alone and fending off those scumbags yourself, I would've gotten to you sooner, but now they're captured, and arrested."

"Gajeel, I feel like your transformation was partially my fault," Levy stated.

Gajeel shook his head: "Don't blame yourself. It's worth everything to make sure that you're going to come home safely, back to our little girl." He gently reached an arm towards her and she took one of his talon-tipped fingers in her hands: "We'll get through this together, Gajeel, I'll come with you when you're ready to go to Mount Hakabe."

"Athena will need you and that brat Zyma said that she can't teach it to me until a few days have passed."

"I'll make arrangements, Gajeel. When you can take human form again, we'll go on a little family trip. How does that sound?"

"Perfect," he replied.

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Some drama and some fluff for you. Please review! I'd love to hear some feedback.