Chapter 52

Happenings

Jade saw how the boy had been brainwashed as he was the moment she saw Eli. She'd never seen him use his powers, so in the beginning, she assumed he didn't have any. 'How naïve of me.' He was all about brains and brawn, and that made sense as to why he wanted to steal the boy's magic. But before that, she flowed with the air, simply bypassing Gajeel's blockage of the basement door, and offered her aid to someone she had wronged.

She would finally redeem herself after eight long years.

She saw that the boy was attacking his own father, using fabricated iron throwing stars to toss at high speeds in his direction. How would he have gotten out of that without her help? Especially with whatever was going on in the room in the corner. It was only a matter of time before Eli showed himself and his newfound energy.

She used a similar technique to the one she used to apprehend Ryn, only without the 'death effects'. She balled her hand into a fist, deftly freezing the air around Gajeel and the air inside of the boy, causing him to stop in his tracks and go stiff.

She watched the throwing stars fall around his feet as he looked at Zeke in alarm, most likely wondering if she'd hurt him. Why on Earth would she do that? What did she have to gain from doing so? She told him he wasn't in any danger, and to go grab him while he could. A slightly puzzled look flashed across his face for less than a second before he scurried over to his son, holding him tightly so that he wouldn't break free.

Not even minutes later, the man in question emerged from the room in the corner with one glowing eye and radiating new and unstable power. 'So, that's how he did it. He has the 'Evil Eye' magic within him.' To her knowledge, anyone with Evil Eye was able to control people to their will and make them do whatever they pleased. The only two flaws with that particular type of magic were the fact that it was limited to only one eye, and if that eye became damaged, it could cause severe issues and a possibility of not being able to use it again.

She smirked as she floated to the ground and asked him what he intended to do with a brainwashed kid slayer and unstable energy. A rhetorical question, of course, because he probably didn't even realize the energy was unstable. Not to mention what he genuinely could do if he took the kid under his wing… which was absolutely nothing. Sure, he looked into slayers and their magic, but nowhere near as extensively as he should have. He knew nothing about how to train or teach them, how to help them grow, or even how to use the powers.

Yet, here he was, in all his cocky glory as if he knew everything.

She knew he kept his original powers under wrap, just as she did hers, though, she had a better reason to do so. He was under the assumption that she was unaware of his control over Zeke, so she decided to use that to her advantage and lure him in closer. How could she piss him off enough to do so?

She decided to call him out on his bullshit.

She clearly saw through his shitty plans to not share the power and keep it all for himself and called him out on it. And just as she expected, she hit the nail right on the head. He'd stomped over to her angrily, wrapping a hand around her neck as if he could actually do something to her, completely forgetting that his eye was exposed. 'I mean, let's get real. Hah, I'd definitely wear some eye protection if this was the source of my power.' Then again, nobody was supposed to know about it.

Fortunately for Jade, she was knowledgeable in the magic world, as she had nothing but time to gain information about everything that interested her, Evil Eye being one of them since not many mages possessed that power. But unluckily for Eli, that meant she had the upper hand. 'Also, who wouldn't question a single glowing eye?' It was a dead giveaway to anyone with common sense. Perhaps that's why he didn't use it much.

She wanted to poke the bear one final time. Knowing he and Ryn were in on everything together, he had a special connection with her and she knew it. He'd never act on it, but the tension was there. She laughed, hard, telling him she was dead, and she had a good time saying it, too. And her laughter only grew stronger as the grip on her neck tightened. 'Ha! As if!'

She'd gotten him right where she wanted him, with an unprotected eye and all, and decided to stop the buffoonery. Without thinking twice, one of her skinny fingers, preferably one with a sharp nail at the end of it, stabbed him in the eye, resulting in exactly what she thought would happen.

He'd released her, his hands flying up to his injured and now bleeding eye as she watched him panic internally. They both glanced at the boy, who was now limp in his father's arms, finally free of his tyranny.

Eli couldn't control his rage. He tried so hard to use his new slayer magic, but failed miserably. He only managed to create a flimsy version of scales which she was one hundred percent certain Gajeel was laughing at on the inside. Hell, even she thought it was amusing. 'That's what happens when you act like you know it all.'

Gajeel shot a worried look at Jade, his expression asking a million questions, but the main one being, was his son ok? She offered a small smile and a nod, indicating that it was fine to let him go and put him down now, which was exactly what he did.

Eli's attempt to create some sort of iron rod left Gajeel feeling good and confident, which it should have. Eli had virtually no powers he could use properly, and he was solely relying on his new energy… that was also failing within him, unbeknownst to him.

Gajeel taunted him, with the correct version of iron scales, and even fashioned one of his arms into a chainsaw of sorts, which was funny to Jade, but… she saw something far more interesting about to happen very soon. Something interesting, but catastrophic.

She informed him to grab his son and get him away from Eli, while also letting Eli try and use his new abilities. Of course, Gajeel didn't like that idea—who would? But the way she spoke let him know that something big was happening. He stumbled his way over to his son, scooping him up gently and bringing him to the far side of the room, away from the man in question.

Eli, of course, didn't like that one bit, thinking they were making fun of him and making it seem like he wasn't strong enough to defeat them. Which only blew his head up even more, somehow. He was able to thicken the layer of scales on his body and turn his fingers into claws, but Jade noticed the more energy he used, the more unstable he became.

Eli was too blinded by fury to notice the weird bubbling of energy within him and continued to try and master at least one skill he could use to fight them, the easiest so far being the claws. Too bad that wouldn't be nearly enough to take either of them down. He saw the chainsaw that the slayer made and he took a liking to it, trying to mimic him and make his own, but that seemed to be the icing on the cake.

Jade snapped her fingers, encasing Eli in his own air pocket while also securing herself and the two slayers in their own as well. This was to keep them safe from whatever was happening, and to secure Eli in an air dome to keep his imminent destruction to himself and to not take the rest of the building down while they were in it.

Gajeel's head snapped up to look at the woman as his hold on Zeke tightened. He'd asked her what the hell was going on, and she calmly explained that the magic he stole was far too strong for his body to handle, and the more he used it, the worse it became.

Eli was imploding.

The air pocket she put him in only angered him more, only speeding up the process. He dropped his hand from his bloodied eye, attempting to use his mind control tactics while failing miserably. He was upset. Angry. Wracked with fiery rage. Jade could see it all. She could see how he bit off more than he could chew, and how he couldn't control his new power. She saw the energy bubbling more and more the angrier he got, and by then, he knew something was wrong.

Once he felt it, though, it was too late.

Jade and Gajeel watched the man become frantic, looking at his arms and hands as they shifted messily between his normal form and his newly discovered dragon scales. He'd said the words 'wait' and 'no, please' as if either of them could do something to help… and neither of them wanted to, anyway.

Jade missed Revan so very much. He'd be able to protect them a smidgen better with runes or something like that, while laughing and saying something about how she never needed his help. That wasn't the only reason she missed him, though. She missed having someone to talk to and vent to and even flirt with. And now, somehow she lost the ability to use her black magic which was the reason she couldn't be with him in the first place. Life was cruel.

No matter, she was doing somewhat fine without him, and although her air magic was nowhere near as strong as her black magic, she was still considerably stronger than most and would definitely be able to hold her own against anyone and anything that breathed air.

She reinforced their own air dome just to be on the safe side, as she knew they didn't have enough time to take down the slayer's blockade and exit the building before Eli destroyed himself. She looked down at Gajeel, who was clutching his son so tightly it looked like he was squeezing him to death, but she knew better than that. She nudged him, wanting him to watch the show before them.

Eli's body was expanding in a painful manner. He looked like he'd been injected with venom, or was having an allergic reaction all over his body. His face, neck, arms, and legs swelled up to almost triple their original size, looking like he was going to blow at any minute. But Jade knew this was a different type of blow-up.

Gajeel's eyes widened when he saw the man's body reacting the way it was. First, he was swelling up, now the swelling was going away just as quickly as it came. He glanced at Jade, who had a very satisfied smirk on her face. She didn't appear to be worried or afraid, so that gave him some relief.

Eli's body was shrinking into itself, disappearing completely limb by limb until a searing bright light that almost blinded them came from the air pocket he was in. They screwed their eyes shut, then reopened them when they felt a deep rumbling coming from the basement they were in. It was the force of him imploding, and thank God she put him in an air pocket or he would have leveled the building and the surrounding area, too.

The building shook quite a bit, but not enough to make it collapse any more than it already had, which was a good thing. It only meant they'd be able to leave the area with no issues, and Jade definitely had some things to go figure out. She relaxed a bit finally, seeing Gajeel follow suit and calm himself down. It was finally over.

"Uh…" Gajeel started, not really knowing what to say. He'd spent eight years hating this woman only for her to turn around and save him and his son with no hesitation. He owed her. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Thanks fer… what ya did back there."

"It wasn't a problem," she said, taking down their air dome and moving towards the steps. "We should get out of here before this place collapses, hm?"

"Yeah…"

Gajeel took down his iron barrier and followed her through the building to the back. The entrance had been completely destroyed and she told him it would be safer to leave through the emergency exit.

He walked through the bodies and the destruction, carrying his son proudly. If he had to, he'd do it all over again. He would do anything to protect his family, even at the sake of his mental health. He'd reverted to his Phantom Lord days for a moment and even that was enough of a toll on the wall he had to put up to block that part of his life out. That's not who Levy fell in love with. That wasn't who she mated and had a child with. But damnit if anyone threatened his family's wellbeing. He was sure she would understand.

The cool air was a welcome treat to being in the dark building, and he hoped it was helping Zeke as well. 'Levy…' She was waiting for them. She'd been gone for a few days and this wasn't the way he was supposed to see her again! And on top of that, he wasn't even sure he should bring up the fact that she was pregnant again! He remembered that sweet smell she made the first time and committed that smell to memory.

Though, he knew his mate. And he knew she would want to tell him on her own, especially since she didn't get to the first time. He could give her that.

"I think I shall go," Jade said, looking off into the distance. She had things to figure out and she was sure they would have a sweet reunion that she didn't want to intrude on.

Gajeel looked at her, surprised. "Yer… not gonna see Lev? I'm sure she's gonna wanna thank ya fer savin' us."

Jade turned and faced him with a soft smile. "I'm sure she knows I mean well, and vice versa. Look, I wanted to redeem myself and repay you for what I've done in the past. I know it doesn't fix things, but at least now you know I was never against you."

Gajeel grunted in acknowledgment, giving her a small nod, but not fully wanting to accept her just yet due to his stubborn nature. "Before ya go, could ya tell me what happened ta Zeke?"

"He was affected by Evil Eye," Jade answered. "Eli must have hidden that power from his subordinates since to them, he was already intimidating enough without it. Ask Levy, I'm sure she knows about it."

And before he could reply, she gave one final farewell and flew off, vanishing into the trees. 'Since when could she fly? Also, why did her energy feel weird?'

He walked around the front of the building, seeing Lily carrying Levy off in the distance. Despite everything that's happened, he had a smile on his face. He missed her so much. He wanted to hold her, to smell her hair, to never let her leave him like that ever again.

Once they spotted him, Lily let Levy down so she could run toward the two, tears streaming down her beautiful face. Even stumbling a bit on her way over to them, she still kept her focus. "GAJEEL! ZEKE!"

He wanted to grab her and spin her around, but since he was holding their son, he settled for letting her embrace them as long as she wanted.

"I'm so glad you're ok!"

He didn't know what to say after that whole ordeal, but what he did know was his mind needed a break. He'd almost corrupted himself being that angry for so long. He prided himself on the change he made when he was accepted into Fairy Tail, into her heart. He wasn't about to let that ruin things after so long and coming so far. He needed a breather.

He watched fondly as she inspected her son, seeing that he was unconscious, but well, then giving them a hug after. Where does he start? "Levy…"

"It's all my fault," she said in a voice that broke his heart. How could she think that?

"If I hadn't left…" she began again, tears forming in her eyes for the millionth time that day. "…this never would have happened. I'm so sorry."

He couldn't sit there and let her blame herself like this, but he wasn't in a position to console her as he usually would, so he could only settle for words and hope that helped.

"Lev, it's not yer fault, promise," he leaned into her, offering as much comfort as he could. She was still rattled, but who wouldn't be? Imagine staying with your friend for a few days to come back realizing your child is missing. He was honestly glad it was him who found out in the first place, to be honest. She would have shut down and wallowed in stress and that was definitely not good for her or the bun forming in her oven. "Somethin' woulda still happened regardless."

"Gajeel…" she was still a little on the shaky side, but getting better with time. But why was she nervous? She had something to tell him, but she was certain he already knew! 'Ugh! Why hasn't he said anything about it yet?!' Was he giving her the chance to tell him herself? Then, should she ask about Zeke instead? He seemed fine, from what she could tell. He was breathing and his energy was coming back to him, albeit slowly, but coming back nonetheless.

Those gears. Those gears he usually loved to see turning in her head were making him antsy this time around. Only because he knew they weren't good gears. They'd have to talk about everything that just happened, rehashing some pretty negative memories. But if they could overcome everything else they've been through, they could overcome this, too.

"Let's talk when we get home, ok? I know there's a lot on yer mind." Gajeel couldn't wait to get home and rest with her. He hadn't had a decent night's sleep since before she left and they were both desperate for some. He just hoped she wouldn't bring up the destruction he brought forth when they finally talked about it all. 'Ah, who am I kiddin'? I know Lev, and she's definitely gonna worry.' The topic was unavoidable.

He let her hook a secure arm around his midsection, and they walked, Lily flying close behind.