Home sweet home. I know I'm about to be chewed out in the worst way, but hopefully, Master Makarov will show some mercy. Slowly, but surely, I reached for the door handle. Happy place, Levy. Maybe I'll be able to slip into the guild hall without anyone noticing I was ever gone. I know it's wishful thinking, but a girl can hope, right? I'll be fine. I came back in one piece, didn't I? That's enough for Master to take it easy on me.

"Levy!" Nope. Mercy was nonexistent.

"Hi, Master…" I bit the inside of my cheek. Again. Happy place, Levy.

"Where have you been?" Master pulled me aside, "You've been missing for a day and a half! We were all so worried."

"I…" I held back the tears as much as I could, but eventually, the dam broke, "I'm so sorry, Master…I had to…"

Master Makarov looked up at me, his eyes full of worry and concern, "Levy…Did you go to Phantom Lord alone?"

Tears streamed down my cheeks, "I'm sorry, Master. I had to. I didn't just go to Phantom Lord. I got inside."

"And what was your plan for after they found you out?" he wondered, "What were you going to do?"

"I don't know," I confessed, "But I figured I would've figured something out."

"What if you would've gotten hurt?" Master took my hand, "Or worse? Levy…It's bad enough we have Jet and Droy in the hospital. We wouldn't want you there, too. You shouldn't have gone alone."

"I know," I shook, "But…I'm sorry. I have no excuses. I understand any punishment you have for me."

"While I can't commend your momentary lapse in judgment," he scolded me, "I have to applaud your bravery. As long as you promise me you'll never ever go to Phantom Lord by yourself again, I can let you go with a slap on the wrist."

"No!" I insisted, "I deserve something. Any kind of punishment."

"Alright then," Master allowed, "As your punishment, I want you to go see Jet and Droy. Those two are worried sick about you."

I wasn't quite sure what to think, "Are you sure that's it?"

"That's it," he confirmed, "We all make mistakes, Levy. It's what makes us human. It's not often you do, but that's why I'm letting you skate by like this. Not to mention, yours was for a noble cause. Just don't do it again. Now, as your punishment, you'll go straight to the hospital and see the rest of your team. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master," I nodded, "Thank you."

"Go on," Master shooed me out, "Get out of here. Send them my best."

"I will." Good…I thought for sure Master Makarov would've been angrier than that, but I'll take what I can get. And all I need to do is see my boys. I had all intentions of seeing them today anyway. That was the initial plan for when I got back, but I'm sure they'd understand if I stopped by the guild first. Regardless, I headed straight for Magnolia General from the guild hall and up to Jet and Droy's room. Hopefully, they won't be asleep from the painkillers. Last I knew, they were on some pretty strong stuff. They had to be.

Sure enough, when I walked in, Jet and Droy were both sitting up in bed and recovering quite nicely, "Hi, guys."

"Hey, Levy…" Jet gave me a little wave.

"Where were you?" Droy wasn't quite as cordial. In fact, I'd go as far to say he's not exactly happy with me. Then again, after what I did, I'm not surprised.

"Well," I took a seat between the two of them, "I just got back from Phantom Lord."

"By yourself?!" they both freaked.

"Levy!" Jet growled, just as angry as Droy.

"I got it," I settled them, "Master already yelled at me about it. I don't need it coming from you guys, too."

"So…" Droy wondered, "What happened?"

"You can't just tell us you got into Phantom Lord," Jet coaxed me, "and not tell us the details."

"Well," I began, bracing myself for whatever may come next, "I got in."

"It's further than we got," Droy gave me a little nudge, "Then, what?"

"It got cold on the way there," I went on, "Really cold. I got caught up in a blizzard, so I found the nearest place for shelter I could find. Little did I know, that was the Phantom Lord guild hall. I just thought it was an abandoned castle. But when I woke up again…"

"Come on, Lev," Jet begged, "Don't leave us hanging."

A little smirk crept across my face, "I met a beast."

"Like…" Droy jumped, "An actual beast? That place has guard dogs?"

"It was a guy," I assured, "But he sure did conduct himself like a beast. All I did was fall asleep in front of the fireplace. I had hiked all that way and got caught in a blizzard! I just wanted to use a few feet of their fireplace. Is that too much to ask for?"

"Not at all," Jet stood by me.

"Yeah," Droy followed suit, "How could someone turn you away?"

"He didn't exactly turn me away," I clarified, "It was more like…He got angry for not finding me and throwing me out sooner. Or so I thought. Instead, I, uh…May or may not have ended up under his capture…"

"Levy!"

"Hold on!" I stopped them, "I got out. See? I'm sitting right here. I promise I'm not a hallucination. I climbed down the tower he kept me in and I came straight home. And all Master Makarov said I had to do for my punishment was give you two some peace of mind."

"Those jerks from Phantom Lord need to pay!" Jet snapped.

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Droy agreed.

"We'll go for them again," I promised, "One day. Once you two are healed up again."

"We'll heal twice as fast!" Jet squeaked.

"And those Phantom Lord guys won't know what hit them!" Droy shared Jet's enthusiasm.

"No," I shoved a finger in each of their faces, "You both need your rest. Now, I'm going to head out. Am I going to have to call your nurse in here to knock you out?"

"Go ahead," Jet allowed, "Our nurse is gorgeous."

"I wouldn't mind seeing her again," Droy swooned.

I let out a heavy sigh of exasperation. These were my boys, "You two are hopeless."

"You know you love us, though, Levy," Jet took my hand, "You wouldn't trade us for the world."

"And you're both lucky for it," I shook my head, hiding a little smile on my face, "Seriously, guys. Get some rest. You deserved it. I'm going home."

"Fine," Droy let me go.

"But Levy," Jet pointed out, "It is good to have you home. Don't scare us like that."

"How about this?" I sat at the edge of Jet's bed, "No more solo missions. Any of us. We either go together as a team or we don't go at all. I won't scare you two if you two don't scare me. Is that something we can all agree on?"

"Absolutely," Jet nodded.

"Without a doubt," Droy did the same.

"Good," I got up and headed toward the door, "And guys?"

"Hmm?"

"Be nice to your nurse," I ordered, "Don't be weird with her."

"We won't…"

Those were my boys. My hopeless boys. They were lucky I loved them. And I was lucky to have them. It's too bad we couldn't have stormed Phantom Lord together. I'm sure we would've been unstoppable. Then again, of course we would be. We were Shadow Gear. If we couldn't take on a few wizards from Phantom Lord, we might as well hang it up. It's good to see they were healing nicely. I'll count that as a win. But right now, I just wanted to go home. I still had a chill in my bones and the thought of my nice, warm bed put a fuzzy feeling in my chest. And I was here for it.

When I got back to the guild hall, a familiar, dark figure caught the corner of my eye. Was that…? If I didn't know any better, I'd think that was the guy from Phantom Lord who grabbed me and held me captive. What would he be doing here? But then, when I looked again, no one was there. I must be seeing things. In my defense, it is getting late. I should probably get to bed. Tomorrow will be a better day. It won't start with me being locked away in a room at Phantom Lord. Then again…I could've sworn it was him. You're tired, Levy. Go to bed.

When I walked into my room, it was almost as if a light glowed around my bed. Hello, beautiful. Oh, how I missed you so. And once I crawled into that bed…Once those sheets were giving me a well-deserved hug? There's nothing like it. Sweet mother of all holy…I looked on the shelf next to my bed for a little evening reading material. Let's see…I've read everything here at least twice before. If Lucy would hurry up and work more on her novel, I'd have something, but oh, no. I can't have that.

I understand. She had other things going on. Lucy had made the suggestion once that I should start writing. Unfortunately, I was no writer. But I had a feeling deep in the pit of my stomach that there was a story about to unfold. It'd start at Phantom Lord. Because I can promise that once Jet and Droy are out of the hospital and back to fighting shape, we will be going back. And when I come back, I'll have allies at my side.

Besides, I'd love to give my kidnapper a piece of my mind again. And maybe drive the heel of my shoe into his foot. He'd deserve it. He more than had it coming. His guild hurt my friends, but he's the one that held me against my will. Although, the security could've been a little better. What was stopping me from slipping out the window? That's right. Nothing. And he tells me I'm just a pretty face. How dare he?

The more I thought about it, the more Lucy seemed like she was right. Maybe I should start writing this down. At least my side of things. I could give it to her and I know she'd find something to do with it. Besides, this was already shaping up to be quite the story. It all started with Jet and Droy going missing. And then…The snow hit. The cold, biting, harsh, bitter snow. I could hardly see a foot in front of me. But my only source of salvation would only attempt to bring me suffering. However, thanks to the cunning of our young heroine…Teehee…Would I really be that vain about it? Why not? Now, where was I? Oh, yeah!

Thanks to the cunning of me, our young heroine, I'd knot the bedsheets together and climb down the tower. Why? Because nobody could hold Levy McGarden captive without her say-so! And it was all so she could get back to her wounded team back home. The thought of leaving them so broken tore her up inside. We'll just leave out the part where I'm horribly underprepared for that initial trip to Phantom Lord. We wouldn't want to completely paint our hero in such a negative light.

Wow. The more I thought about it, the more I realized this was shaping up to be quite the adventure. And if the feeling in my bones was right, it's only just getting started. I know I said I was looking for more adventure, but I didn't think it'd happen so soon. But I guess that's just what adventure is. And it always happens when one least expects it. I know this could've ended up so much worse, but if we're being honest, this is getting kind of exciting. And it's only just the beginning.