Chapter 17

Gajeel pov

I had a gut feeling that Lil was planning something. I didn't know what it was but when he asked the shrimp to talk privately I wasn't gonna give him the chance. I didn't want her to find out the load of shit I got myself into but I was gonna try to not let her know something was up.

Gajeel: "You guys can talk later alright… let's work on this first."

Lil gave me one of those knowing looks like he knew exactly what I was trying to avoid. Shit. She put him down and started looking for smaller things that she could toss but he kept giving me that look. It was pissing me off and I was hoping that I wasn't gonna be having my own funeral today.

About an hour later

I was pulling out my newly trashed refrigerator when I heard the shrimp whimper a little.

Levy: "Gajeel!"

Gajeel: "yeah what?"

I stopped moving it out of its space and hurried over see what was going on. When I got to her she had my guitar in her arms and it was obvious I'd need a new one. The neck was snapped off and being held up by the thickest three strings while the body had been smashed in. I thought it was an emergency or something but when I realized it wasn't I took in a deep breath.

Gajeel: "Just toss it."

The shrimp looked confused by what I just said like it made no sense or something.

Levy: "Don't you want to see about getting it fixed? There must be something we can do …"

Gajeel: "Nah I've been thinking about getting a new one anyway, it's fine."

I ruffled her hair and though she didn't look convinced I just walked away. I was being serious about tossing it anyway. It was one of the last things I had from Phantom Lord and I had been debating about donating it for a while now. I was done with that place for a long time now and every time I played on it I felt guilty. It just made me remember what I did to her and her lackeys. Heck I generally went to that music store to practice cause it bothered me so much.

Lil flew up to me while I was walking back to the kitchen.

Lily: " I'm gonna start on dinner. There's some frozen spaghetti sauce that we need to use."

I found out after I got back lil decided to buy an ice chest to salvage what little we could from the fridge. It wasn't much just my beers, Levy's smirnoffs and random frozen foods we should've eaten a long time ago. When we originally came back the food was still frozen meaning that those ass holes had left maybe an hour before we got back. I think they just showed up as an afterthought after failing to take the kid.

Wendy was doing better since what happened, her arm was almost healed now. Unfortunately we had no sign of that white cat of hers but we found out from Makarov that the sky god slayer was taken just after the last incident with Kurohebi and the rune chick. He suspected that Ivan was getting impatient. Makarov had nothing to say on what to expect from that ass hole though.

After I managed to remove the fridge I was freaking tired. I decided that I could lay down until the food came out. I plopped on the couch and laid back with my arms behind my head with my feet hanging off one end. I started dozing off almost immediately.

Levy pov

I watched Gajeel sleep from the island in the center of the kitchen since all of the barstools were in the garbage heap outside. It was bittersweet because ever since I got here I felt something was off. I had a feeling Lily was going to tell me earlier but it was clear Gajeel didn't want me to know whatever it was.

Lily: "He looks relaxed doesn't he."

Levy: "yeah it's rare to see that."

Lily: "Can we speak outside?"

Levy: "sure."

It was cloudless outside and slightly cold. Lily looked to me for a second before speaking.

Lily: "What have you guessed about what happened?"

I thought about my answer a second before I told him my ideas. They were along the lines that Gajeel upset Ivan in a very personal way, but that I had no idea what he'd done. Lily just nodded his head throughout my explanation but I could tell I'd get answers eventually when I finished he looked out at the horizon then back at me like he was fighting an internal battle to tell me.

Lily: "Did you know Gajeel was doing a personal job for Master Makarov since he joined the guild?"

This was news to me. It was a little strange but it made sense. I motioned for him to continue.

Lily: " He infiltrated Raventail for us and at the grand magic games Laxus leaked that he was a spy since then he's been waiting for something to happen. Whatever caused Ivan to start this is dangerous. He's been trying to fight this on his own and I don't think it's isolated to him anymore."

I stood speechless at the information Lily gave me. It made sense. It explained the spikes I saw in the wall and his disappearances from the guild. It explained why he talked about some missions differently than others some he bragged about endlessly and others he talked about like he was going through the motions. I realized that he probably was trying to protect us but it wasn't working now.

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