Chapter 13

Trouble

Morning came and Lily was the first to rise, not wanting to be around them just in case they started their morning off with their… activities. He grabbed a kiwi juice from the fridge and decided to go for a stroll.

Levy woke up before Gajeel, which meant she could get started on translating without him distracting her, which was a good thing to her. She wanted to get this job done as soon as possible. She sat up and looked over at him. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep. She traced the outline of his abs, admiring his perfectly sculpted body. She knew her touch would probably wake him up, but she didn't care. She couldn't help it.

Gajeel groaned at her touch, waking up and staring at her. "Gihi. Take what you want," he smirked, making Levy blush.

"I should probably finish that last tablet," she says, getting up. "We can make it to the buyer today!"

Gajeel watched as his Shrimp got excited, he loved seeing her happy. He looked around the room and noticed Lily wasn't there.

"Where's Lily?" He asked.

"I don't know, maybe he got hungry or something."

"Why would he go off on his own?" Gajeel asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He should have learned his lesson last time one of us left like this."

"Relax," the small black cat said, entering the room. "I'm right here. I just wanted to go for a walk, just in case you guys… did anything."

Gajeel laughed. "We haven't yet, but we sure can if you want!"

"Don't be foolish," the exceed said shaking his head. "It's like you guys think you're the only two that exist when you're… together."

Gajeel and Levy looked at each other, smiling because Pantherlily was right. No one else mattered when they were one.

"Don't worry, cat!" Gajeel laughed, patting the top of his head. "You'll find love one day!"

Lily glared at him.

"I'm finally finished!" Levy said, excitedly as she shot up from the table. "Let's go!"

The trio gathered their things and started making their way to the buyer.

"So," Gajeel started. "How long 'til we get there?"

"A few hours," Levy said, staring intently at the map. "I think it's best if we stay off the main paths. We'll have less of a chance of being attacked."

"How long will taking shortcuts lengthen the trip?" Lily queried.

"Not too much longer, maybe about thirty minutes, or so."

Levy knew they were most likely going to get attacked again, probably by Remo. He was visibly upset that Levy was able to halt his plans. She thought about ways to get to his charm.

"Oh, Gajeel," she says. "Did I tell you he had a charm in his hair?"

Gajeel looked at her, confused. "Huh?"

Levy realized that no one knew what she was thinking about so she probably sounded silly. "I'm talking about that spatial mage that attacked us," she clarified. "He had a charm in his hair, most likely to keep his powers under control."

"What, you think he's going to attack again?" He asked.

"There's no reason for him not to attack. All I did was nullify his magic."

"Yeah, but think about it," Pantherlily says, joining the conversation. "He knows you've translated the tablets by now. If you already know a spell powerful enough to cancel out his energy, then why would he risk attacking again?"

"He could bring enemies to distract us, maybe?" She said, thinking of all the possibilities.

"That asshole is gonna get what's comin' to him if he fucks with us again," Gajeel said.

"I hope he doesn't, even though I'm sure he will. I don't want to have to use another one of those spells. It took a lot out of me to even do that one. If I did have to use it, it'd have to be a last resort."

"Don't worry," Lily said. "We'll all stick together. At least we're headed directly to the buyer."

"We need to figure out ways to get his charm if he does attack again," Levy said.

"So let's say we get this charm," Lily says as he stops to think, putting his paw on his chin. "What's supposed to happen? His powers will no longer be under control, wouldn't that make things crazier than they need to be, or would it just cancel itself out?"

Levy thought about it for a few seconds. "In the books I've read, a lot of the time the mage can't handle it, so removing the charm gets them hurt in the process. There have been a select few cases where the mage has advanced far enough to be able to control it on their own, but not very often."

"So, they either wear a charm, or get hurt?" Gajeel says with a sadistic grin, cracking his knuckles. "Sounds good to me."

Levy leads them down a series of paths and trails, some which were covered with thick brush, making the trip more difficult than it needed to be.

"Damn bushes!" Gajeel exclaimed, slicing through shrubbery as he walked through with his arm as an iron sword. "We better be close!"

"I'm sorry," Levy said, genuinely saddened for her companions. "It's only to avoid being attacked! I promise, but we are getting close. Only a few more miles."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled. After a few seconds, he stopped, smelling the air around him. "Fuck!" He whispered.

"What is it?" Lily asked, turning around to face the slayer.

He paused for a second. "They're here. And there's a bunch of them."

"Where are they?" Levy asked, mentally preparing herself for combat.

"We're surrounded." He says with an almost grim look on his face. "There's no way we're getting out of here without a bloodbath." The grim look turned into an evil grin, a grin that Levy was ashamed to say that she found sexy, but now was not the time for that.

"You're right." A voice from above the trees said. An all too familiar voice.

"Remo!" Levy gasped. She knew he was going to attack, it still sucked, though.

"A bloodbath there will be!" Remo said, as he cackled.

A few seconds later, they were surrounded by men in beige cloaks.

"These men don't have magic powers," Levy deduced to herself. After what little thought she had time for, she realized what was going on.

"It's a setup!" Levy shouted, as the men lunged at the trio.

"Gihi," Gajeel smirks, wanting to release some pent up stress, as he runs into them, head first, wiping them all away.

"Lily!" Levy exclaimed. "We need to do something about Remo! This is a trap of some sort."

"I agree, but there's no time to plan anything."

"Where is he? Can you smell him?"

"Unfortunately, my nose isn't as good as Gajeel's, but I may be able to hear him." Lily tried to listen for the spatial mage, but there was too much going on around them for him to pinpoint Remo.

"I don't think I'll be able to locate him by listening." They watched as Gajeel sparred with the enemies, singlehandedly taking all of them out one by one. "I don't think it'll be much of an issue though, Gajeel is almost done."

As soon as he said that, more enemies appeared out of nowhere, as if they were fabricated from thin air.

"Shit," Gajeel cursed. "Lily! Get Levy to safety!" The dragon slayer knew what was going on based on what Levy told them back when Remo made his first appearance.

Lily went to pick Levy up, but one of the enemies –or fabrications, tackled Levy from behind and vanished right along with her.

If Remo hadn't seen hell, he definitely was about to. Gajeel saw red. He watched as he took Levy, he wasn't sure where, but he took her. He wanted to kill, and Remo was his target. Lily watched as his partner visibly raged, attempting to calm him down.

"Gajeel!" Lily said, in his battle form, trying to hold the raging dragon back. "I know you're upset, but going on a rampage like this will not solve anything!"

His attempts in holding him back were futile, being thrown to the ground by a very angry Gajeel. Lily knew the anger wasn't directed toward him, so he got back up in attempt to reason with the slayer.

"Listen, I'm sure Levy is fine, wherever she is."

That wasn't enough for him. He knew his Shrimp could hold her own, but he was angry –no, pissed at himself for letting her get away again. What purpose did he serve if he couldn't even protect his mate? Now, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't find her. He wouldn't be able to smell her out, and he couldn't hear her.

The last thing Levy remembered was seeing more enemies appear, then she blacked out. She opened her eyes in what looked like the same place she was in when she was taken, only everything had a sepia tint to it. She knew Remo had taken her. She stood up, weakly, as her magic seemed to be seeping slowly from her body. She glanced around and saw the tablets laying on the ground next to her. She picked them up, and scanned the area for Remo.

She saw nothing. Just sepia trees and brush. 'I guess I have no choice but to use the nullifying spell again.' She thought to herself as she closed her eyes and started reciting the spell. She felt a strong gust of wind as she finished and mentally celebrated, but her celebration was short-lived, as she opened her eyes and saw that nothing changed. 'What?'

She heard a chuckle that sounded like it was coming from all around her.

"Your little trick may have worked on me before, but not this time," He said.

"Show yourself, you dick!"

Remo smiled. "You know, you're a feisty one. I like you."

Levy looked everywhere, trying to find him, but failing.

"You won't be able to find me. I rule this universe."

"What do you want with me?! You have me! So why not just take the tablets or kill me or something?!" Levy was fed up. It felt like this guy was playing games. This guy had better kill her and get what he came for. Either way, Gajeel wouldn't let that guy live once he got his hands on him.

"Kill you?" He said, surprised. He appeared in front of a weakened Levy, slowly walking toward her. Levy went to reach for her script pen, quickly realizing she couldn't move. "Why would I want to kill you? I actually came today to recruit you."

"I'll die before I join you," She scowled.

"Hmmph, you should choose your words wisely." He stopped about a foot away from her, taking in the details on her face and body. "I see why that dragon slayer is so in love with you. You've got it all," he smirked at her. "Brains, beauty, body," He leaned in closer, noticing the mark on her neck. That simple but not-so-simple snakebite looking mark.

Remo was very educated, especially when it came to different mages or magic types. In reality, he and Levy had a lot in common. He was shy and awkward, but very smart and well spoken. He didn't really like to put himself in situations that required him to fight, which is why he always resorted to using his spatial magic. But that mark, that damn mark. He knew all too well what that meant. This woman was that dragon slayer's mate. Remo knew, once he saw it, that her mate would hunt him down and kill him. He was going to have to fight. Either that, or die.

Levy watched as the orange-haired mage's eyes grew wide seeing the mark on her neck.

"You and the slayer," Remo started. "You guys have mated?"

Levy nodded her head.

"Then," He says taking the tablets from her. "That changes things."

After he took the tablets, Levy realized she was released from whatever grip he had her by. She fell to her hands and knees, feeling extremely weak.

Remo knew, no matter what he did, the dark-haired slayer was going to come after him. He'd literally just signed his death warrant. He turned his back to Levy, pondering. He knew she was too weak to fight, so he let her free from his hold.

He turned around, facing her again, carefully thinking of what he's going to do or say. Levy eyed him, reading his emotions. She saw nothing but sadness and regret. She almost felt bad for him.

Remo noticed this, and backed away quickly. "There's no turning back now," he said with sad eyes. He was good at keeping his face straight, but his eyes told stories that Levy could read for hours. She didn't understand his sudden change in demeanor. 'It happened after he saw the mark, but why?'

"He's going to kill me," Remo said quietly, but loud enough for her to hear. Levy then understood. She knew Gajeel wouldn't even think twice when he finally came in contact with Remo.

"No matter what I do, your mate will find me and kill me eventually."

Levy tried to read the situation. This badass of a spatial mage just crumbled in front of her, scared to death of Gajeel. Maybe he wasn't as badass as she thought. She literally didn't know what to do, her strength was diminishing.

Remo suddenly became enraged. All he wanted to do was get the tablets and move on with his life. He never wanted to hurt anyone, but sometimes his powers got to his head. He liked having the power to control a universe, and whatever people he may have trapped inside of it, but something in his head snaps when he doesn't get his way. Now he was in a situation where he would have to fight for his life and it was all his fault.

His anger was meant for himself, but he directed it toward the blue-haired girl. Hell, that slayer was going to kill him anyway, why not kill the girl and get the tablets? Now he'd have a reason to come after him.

It quickly became very windy, the leaves swirling around in small clusters. It seemed the wind was coming from him. Levy saw the anger radiating from Remo, and realized he was mentally unstable. Extremely unstable. 'He could have been a good guy,' she thought to herself as she watched him get angrier and angrier.

"I'll give him a reason to come after me, then," he said as walked toward her, with intent to kill.