Chapter 6

Journey

Levy and Gajeel walk through a small, but absolutely beautiful neighborhood. She took notice of the fancy housing and small, locally owned food shops.

"Gajeel!" Levy says excitedly. "We have to eat at one of these places! I'd love to support small business owners."

"Sure," he replied, feeling good inside that she's happy.

"I wouldn't mind having some kiwi juice," Lily says, trotting behind them.

"Well, let's go meet with the seller and then we can grab some food and start our journey," Levy planned. Gajeel and Lily nod in agreement as they follow Levy down the road.

"So where are we supposed to be going?" Gajeel asks.

"Here," Levy says, handing him the flyer. "The house we are going to looks like this. We should be coming up on it soon."

Gajeel takes the flyer from the mage and studies it. "Seems fancy. Maybe they'll have some iron pieces for me to eat," He says with a wide grin.

"Gajeel!" Levy swats his arm. "Don't eat their belongings! I'll make some iron for you!"

"Yeah, but I've never had expensive iron before! I've always been curious about what it tastes like," he says, ruffling Levy's hair.

She puffed out her cheeks. "Gajeel, you big dummy!"

"Hey, at least I'm not fun sized!" He laughed uproariously. "You could fit in my travel bag!"

Levy pouted at the man messing with her. "You keep it up and I won't make you any iron for the whole trip!"

"Fine," Gajeel jokingly grumbled. Levy's iron was like a delicacy; he didn't want to miss out on any of it.

Pantherlily walked behind them and quietly observed the two magic-wielders flirt with each other. 'I'm glad Gajeel has finally come to terms with Levy being around,' he thought to himself.

They start down a narrow path and take in the scenery. The path was lined with trees taller than you could see and the ground was covered in multicolored leaves. The path seemed to be curvy, but still going straight. Small stepping stones were cemented into the path, as if it was someone's personal area. "We must be nearing the seller's home," Lily says.

"We are pretty close, still have about a mile to go," Levy says, looking at her map.

They continue down the path for about 20 minutes or so and reach a circular shaped clearing featuring a big fountain made of stone in the center. Surrounding the fountain were four benches. In front of the clearing stood a big stone house that was at least three stories tall with ivy crawling up the sides. There were neatly trimmed hedges around the perimeter of the house that paired nicely with the berry trees to either side of the house. The land looked like it was very well taken care of.

"This is the house!" Levy said, fueled by her excitement. Gajeel couldn't help smiling to himself as he watched the glimmer in her eyes. Man. What he would do to see her eyes shine like that all the time.

"Let's sit down first and eat some of the fruits I brought from home," she says. "I wasn't sure how long we were going to be here discussing things, and I wanted to make sure we're alert and ready."

"Sounds good, Shrimp," Gajeel says as he sets their belongings down. "What do ya got?"

"I have an apple, some mixed berries, a few bananas, and a few other things," she replies, rooting around her bag.

"I'll just take some iron," Gajeel said, smirking.

"Ugh, fine."

Solid Script: IRON

The word 'iron' drops on the ground in front of Gajeel, almost landing on his feet.

"Hey! Warn somebody before you drop metal in their face!"

"You're an iron dragon slayer, so why does it matter?" Levy stuck her tongue out at him. Even though it was harmless, it still made something inside him stir.

'Oh, no. What have I done?' Lily asked himself as he realized that he was going to have to listen to them flirt annoyingly for the whole trip. 'Why can't they just speak with each other about it, like normal people?'

"I'll take the banana," Lily says, interrupting their shenanigans.

Five minutes later, they're finishing up their snacks and they made their way over to the porch.

"This house is amazing! I'd love to live in a place like this with a family sometime in the future," Levy thought out loud. 'There go those eyes again.' Gajeel thinks to himself as he watches little blue's excitement. A big home and a family, huh? 'I could work with that.' He frowned almost immediately after hearing those words in his head. This woman had him going domestic, and he didn't know how to feel about that.

They knocked on the door and after about 30 seconds, an older woman answered. "Hello," She greeted with a warm smile. "How may I help you kids?"

"We're the wizards from Fairy Tail that you've requested," Levy says.

"Oh! Welcome! I've been expecting you. Thank you for being so prompt," The lady says as she invites the two mages and the cat inside her home." Would you care for some tea?"

"Yes, please," Levy says. Gajeel and Lily decided not to partake as the woman excused herself to collect the beverage.

Levy noticed the intricate carvings in the ceiling and noticed they were enchantments. The lady came back with the tea and handed Levy her cup. "Thank you." The lady smiled warmly as she sat in her chair across from the trio.

"My name is Clair StJohn, and I need you three to translate and transport five very valuable tablets to a buyer named Kaomi Rin and then return the payment to me. Kaomi lives about a three day's walk from here, taking the time to translate and rest, which I do advise. The tablets will take a while to translate, and the journey will be dangerous. Translation during travel is not recommend," Clair explained. "Why can't you deliver these tablets?" Gajeel asked. Levy smacked his leg and glared at him. The older woman smiled softly.

"It's ok, young one," She looked at Levy. "I used to be a very lively woman until my husband died. He was the best wizard I've ever known, but being the best came at a price," Clair explained. "He was one of the world's smartest script mages. He would always take these extremely challenging jobs, of course they paid well. He had enemies. He translated a lot of things and had knowledge that knew no bounds," She looked Levy in the eyes. "You remind me so much of him." Clair took a sip of her tea. "Well," she continued. "He was a wanted man and he was tired of living life on the run. Our home was continuously attacked and the older we got, the harder it was to fend off the attacks. He placed enchantments all over the house and around the surrounding area to slow them down. After a while, he turned himself in to keep them away from me and they tortured him to try and get information out of him. He wouldn't give up any information. That stubborn mule."

Levy watched as Clair looked down at her lap and twiddled her thumbs. "They ended up killing him."

Levy looked at the grey-haired woman. "We don't have to talk about it anymore if you're not comfortable with it."

"No, no dearie. I'm at peace now. It's always going to be hard to talk about a lost loved one," Clair says. "I would have given any and everything up for him to live, but that just wasn't an option. I feared they would have continued after me even with him giving himself up, so I had a friend of mine strengthen the enchantments right after he left."

"And did they?" Lily asked.

"They did. The enchantments held them off long enough for me to defend myself but it's still extremely hard."

"Let me guess, they're after the tablets," Gajeel said.

"Yes, and it's too dangerous for me to deliver them on my own. I know they will attack once the tablets leave this house." Clair said.

They stayed and chatted for a bit, as it seemed the older woman didn't get much company.

"Let me gather the tablets, and send you on your way." Clair stood up and went upstairs.

Gajeel leaned into Levy. "Are ya scared, Shrimp?" He says low in her ear sending shivers down her spine.

"N-no! Why would I be?"

"Ya heard the woman! It's dangerous out there!" He laughed and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry," he says low in her ear again. "I'll protect you."

This sends thoughts racing through her head. 'Whoa. That voice….wasn't his…'

"Here you go, dearies." Clair came down the steps holding tablets about the width and length of a 500 page book. The trio accepted the tablets and put them in their bags.

"You kids have a very safe trip. I'll be awaiting your return."

"Thank you so much for having us," Levy says as she hugs the elderly woman goodbye.

"You have a very nice home," Lily chimes in. Clair walks them to the door and smiles warmly at them before closing the door behind them.

"I'm starving!" Gajeel practically roared.

"Here, have some iron until we get back to the village. We can try one of the local restaurants." Levy uses her script magic to make him that delectable iron of hers and he chomps it down.

"She said it would be dangerous as soon as the tablets left the house so you and Lily walk ahead, I'll stay back." Gajeel suggested.

"No! What if something happens and I can't find you?" Levy said.

"Relax, I'll stay within a range where you will still be able to see me." He really just wanted to watch her walk. He wasn't going to admit that though.

Gajeel's inner dragon made an appearance while they were meeting with the seller, and he couldn't have been more worried.

'No need to worry, my partner.'

Gajeel growled.

'I won't hurt the woman you love. Just know, you won't be able to keep this up much longer.'

The dragon was right. This was becoming unbearable. He wanted to do anything for the small goddess. Anything to see her smile. He also had an undying desire to be inside of her. Almost every time he thought about her, his dick got hard. He needed to know what she felt like.

'I can make that happen.'

'No!'

'The more you struggle, the more you'll want her. You are only hurting yourself.'

Gajeel pondered on the dragon's words as he watched her petite ass strut in front of him, a tent growing in his pants.

Two hours pass and they've made it to town and eaten dinner, now in search of a place they can rest at for the night. Walking for a few minutes, they found a cozy looking inn.

"This should suffice," Lily says as they enter the inn. "I'll get my own room." He walks up to the front desk and pays for his room key. "Knock on my door when you are ready in the morning. I'm in room seven," The cat says, finally free of those two. 'I guess I did this to myself. It's all for the greater good.' Lily just wanted to see his companion happy.

Gajeel and Levy walk up to the front desk, both wondering how this is going to play out. "We should probably get one room with two beds to keep costs down," Levy said, blushing.

Gajeel noticed her face and smirked. "Ya wanna be that close to me, huh?" He laughed.

Levy's face turned a shade of red that could put Erza's hair to shame. "I'm just trying to save Jewel!" She pouted.

"I'm sorry, we only have single-bed rooms," The lady at the desk said to the short girl.

"We'll take it," Gajeel says as he pays the woman and takes the key. "Come on, Shorty. We'll figure it out."

Levy reluctantly followed the iron man as they made it to their room. As they entered, Levy scurried to the table to start translating.

"You're going to translate them now? It's late," Gajeel says, eager to get her attention.

Levy was not oblivious to his attempt, as she was fighting the urge to jump his bones as well.

"I really should get started. I want to get this done as quickly as possible," she says, avoiding his gaze.

He could smell the wetness settling in her core. "I'm gonna take a shower."

Levy nodded, still refusing to meet his fiery eyes.

"You could come with," he said, undressing her with his eyes.

"Gajeel!" Levy shouted, throwing a pillow at him.

This was going to be a long night.