Chapter 19

Gajeel pov

He woke up with a jolt. This was one of the nightmares that left him scared shitless. He was still on the couch thank Mavis, so he didn't wake anybody but damn this one was bad, he wasn't shaking this one off any time soon.

He sat up and went to the loft to check on the shrimp, he could smell she hadn't left last night. She was sleeping on his bed spread out on her stomach like she was trying to take over. Lil was at the foot of the bed curled up in a ball, it was cute. If he could sleep he would've joined them but it would've been near impossible now.

The sun was about to come up and I was thinking about jamming outside on my guitar when I realized I'd have to get a new one. I had a new song and I needed to hear it out loud. It was a pain in the ass but it was my only option.

It was so early that the town was quiet except for coffee shops and bakeries. I snagged some iron on my way out to hold me over till I got to the guild later but it ended up being my first stop cause I realized I hadn't eaten last night. I went straight to the bar near the demon.

Mira: "Hey Gajeel! What brings you here this early?"

Gajeel: "Breakfast, yah got any steak and eggs?"

Mira: "Sure thing. Iron too?"

Gajeel: "yeah."

Nobody was really here yet except that chick the shrimp was working with. She was walking out the door.

Mira: "Rana! where are you going?"

She stopped in the doorway.

Rana: "That music store I was at the other day."

Mira cringed.

Mira: "Wait! Gajeel can you go with her? it's that same one you go to normally and I don't want her to get lost … especially considering last time… please?"

I pretended to think about it. I was going anyway but I wanted to see if she'd offer anything for it. She brought out my plate and before she gave it to me she whispered something.

Mira: "The food is free if you could do this."

That was enough for me so I nodded my head and Mira called over Rana. She sat next to me and stared at the wall till I finished eating. It was freaking creepy watching her blank eyes stare at nothing.

Gajeel: "c'mon kid. Let's go."

Rana: "I'm not a kid."

She got up anyways after my comment. We walked there without talking. Once we got there we went our separate ways. I went straight to the counter where the owner Darius was sitting working on paperwork.

Gajeel: "Got any new guitars?"

Darius looked up looking surprised and confused.

Darius: "I thought you had one man."

Gajeel: "not anymore."

Darius: "you're not the type to break your own shit so, what happened?"

He got up then and went to the custom section and I followed. Suddenly music started playing behind us. I was wondering who it was cause I didn't smell or see anybody new but he answered my question before I asked.

Darius: "that girl is good, that one you came in with. She plays like something else let me tell you."

I gave him a confused look. I had no idea she could play and I honestly didn't believe it.

Darius: "She's the best I've heard. Come on let's watch."

We turned the corner and the kid was playing like nobody was watching. Her fingers were flying on the keys, it was obvious she knew exactly how to make the piano's sound bend to her will. I stared at her and I started seeing that glow I saw that other day, it was growing and I could feel the massive amount of magic coming from it. It felt like Laxus level or higher amount of power and I wasn't about to mess with her.

Darius: "She does that, I figure she's got some rare magic that causes that. Let's let her do her thing … so what do you want for this new guitar… black?... grey? Any other color? … we got some new self tuning models too…"

I knew what I wanted already but I let him do his thing. Sometimes that guy new what I needed more than I did.

Gajeel: "Black acoustic with silver trim and that self tuning if yah got it."

He went to the back and brought back exactly like what I was looking for. The guy added a couple of personal things to it.

Darius: "test it out, see how it plays."

I strummed the guitar strings experimentally, it sounded perfect. I started on a few chords of a song I'd been working on though it didn't sound right no matter how hard I tried.

Darius: "How about playing something from one of the books here. You're still figuring that one out man, it's hurting my ears."

Rana: "you're in the wrong key."

I didn't notice Rana till she said that, heck, I didn't even notice the piano in the other room had stopped . Darius jumped and stared at her like she had a second head. It looked like she scared him too.

Rana: "May I?"

The short girl motioned to the regular guitars on the shelf. Darius looked confused as ever and started rubbing the back of his neck.

Darius: "yeah knock yourself out."

She picked one up and started playing. It was the same thing I had started on but somehow that kid knew how to make it sound right.

Rana: "You started in the key of "D" so the major third would be an "F" sharp. You've been trying to play a regular "F" the whole time."

Gajeel: "yah ain't half bad kid."

I tested out the portion she figured out for me and a little extra with the added fix. It sounded great. Maybe that kid was more than what I thought she was.

thanks to everybody who reviewed and faved.