The underworld was surprisingly cold. "I kind of thought Hell would be hot…" Lucy said quietly, shivering. She hadn't dressed badly, was in leggings, boots and a long sleeved sweater but it wasn't near enough for the bone chilling cold they were in.
"Not every being fears fire and heat, Hell is what it needs to be to punish the souls of the damned." Zen responded and Lucys eyes widened a little as she looked around. Grey dirt, rocks and a black and grey sky, little light, just the ugly sort of twilight amount that allowed shadows to mess with your vision.
She shivered again and started when warmth suddenly fell over her shoulders and she looked wide eyed up at Zen who was wrapping his wonderful cloak around her, securing the clasps as Laxus, Wendy and Cristoff took the lead to try and find a trail or hint of where they may need to head. Once he had it pinned into place he gave her a faint smile that was about as warm as the air before turning back to the three Dragon Slayers.
"I'm going up, nothing will spot me against this damn sky, I see some nasties up there but they're slow fliers so I can avoid them. I'll see what I can scout." he looked hard at Bickslow then, nodding toward Lucy and his brother nodded seriously back, no word had to be spoken, Bickslow knew what Zen wanted. He was to stay with Lucy no matter what, be her protection in Zens absence. Zen wasn't sure how he'd react if something attacked Lucy…how Lucys magic would hit him under that circumstance…and he didn't want to find out here if he could avoid it.
Bickslow smiled faintly, his older brother may not be happy about how he was taken, how he ended up bound and mated to Lucy, but now that he was, it was clear he honored it. He wasn't thrilled with the whole thing either, he hated what Lucy and the others had done to his brother but he liked Gajeel, considered the man a friend and he also thought Lucy was a hell of a great woman who could make his older brother happy if they could work things out.
He frowned then as his babies huddled close, very uncomfortable with their environment. "It's ok guys...just keep close, I've got ya." He told them soothingly.
Long wings swept out and in a moment Zen was rapidly near impossible to spot against the black and gray sky.
Vander took up the back, covering their rear, Bickslow in front of him, his totems weren't pleased with where they were at all, silent and refusing to move more than a foot or two from Bickslow.
"Evil...terrible dark…" Papa said quietly and for once none of the others repeated what he'd said.
It was a deeply disturbing atmosphere, when they spoke the sound died so fast they found they needed to be close to each other to hear, sound did not carry, if they were 10 yards away none of the others could hear them if they screamed at the tops of their lungs.
The smell of death, decay, was everywhere, and so was death itself. They followed behind the slayers, and learned Laxus and especially Cristoff down right repelled some of the the dead things that seemed to be everywhere, moving through the spongy grey ground beneath them, walking just on the edges of how far they could see, which wasn't far.
When a lumbering corpse of something that looked like it was human once had started to attack them, Cristoff just pulling his magic made it shy away and Lucy's Golden soul also seemed, for the most part, to repel what was around them. Vander they seemed oblivious to, Wendy they tried to grab at and Bickslow they shied from a lot.
"It's because you're young...and...um...a virgin…" Bickslow said. "Taking you would be a violent painful act...that attracts them…"
They walked for an indeterminate amount of time, nothing changed, it didn't get lighter or darker, Vander told them it wasn't likely to. Lucy tried Herologeums keys and smiled faintly when she knew, when her spirit pushed the information to her even though she knew it was very hard for him.
"6 and a half hours, we've been walking." She said.
Laxus smiled at her "Good, so you'll be able to keep time for us, tell us how much we're using." He was grateful for that. Freed smiled faintly too, he'd told Laxus, warned him that walking the plains of hell was a timed thing, at first the dead would be repelled by their lifeforce, but in time darker things would find them, things that wanted to feed on them, hurt them, add them to the landscape here.
If Gajeel was still alive, he'd been here for just over 2 weeks, his life energy would be bleeding and that would draw darker things. His shadow magic might protect him, but not for long, they had to find him, and get out of this plain as fast as possible, they weren't shadow mages, they would have no way to hide their lifeforce once it started bleeding out of them.
Cristoff Vander and Zen would likely be very good protection, and wouldn't start bleeding as fast as the rest of them, but this was the first plain of Hell, the underworld, powerful evil dwelled here and there were forces here that would not be kind about their presence.
Lily stayed with Levy, eyes watchful as she walked behind Wendy, Lucy close behind her followed by Loke, Bickslow and Vander.
"I'm going to send out a tracking rune, it won't be able to bring him back to us because I can't make it work like that here, I...I need a direction to send it though…" Freed said softly.
"Wait for Zen...maybe he'll find something." Laxus said firmly.
They walked for another 5 hours before Zen returned to them, looking a little frayed, his shirt sporting distinct claw marks.
"There are draconic Lich flying up there...everything else was seriously repelled by me but those things….they're about the size of a skyscraper and nasty as fuck...slow though, easy to outrun but we need to keep moving…" He said unhappily seeing everyone looked tired. 11 hours of walking without a break showed.
"Ok...so...I spotted some rocks over this way, maybe 20 minutes from here, we should be able to hide in them and rest…" He offered.
Laxus nodded, grateful of something that could provide some semblance of shelter from the landscape, and the frigid cold was starting to wear even on him. He was almost wishing they had found Natsu before they'd had to leave...almost.
They made their way to the rocks and found a mostly sheltered section where Freed and Zen set up runes and wards. Zen, Cristoff and Vander all three used the storage abilities that blessedly still worked and soon sandwiches, fresh clean water and blankets were passed out.
"I hate to say it...but we'll likely only have a few hours...5 tops before we should move, we can't stay in any one spot for long…" Zen said, his eyes scanning the darkness outside their camp, the gold in them seeming to glow faintly.
Laxus nodded, "Two sentrys watch while everyone sleeps, after three hours they wake two others so they can catch at least a couple hours…" He looked at Cristoff who smiled faintly "It's ok Laxus, Zen and I can handle it, we'll be first watch." He said and Zen nodded, settled down against a higher rock while everyone got as comfortable as they could.
"Three hours, wake me and Vander." Laxus said firmly and Cristoff nodded, moving to another elevated position. Zen froze when Lucy climbed into his lap.
"Lucy…" He started to object but she put a finger over his lips "No...no games, no jokes. Bottom line...I'm scared, this place is...bothering me...you make me feel safe, like when we were heading for Crocus...only you...and you're warm and when you were flying around I...I hated how far you were...so...please... Zen, I won't sleep at all if I'm not...touching you." She whispered and Zen sighed faintly, eyes softening on her.
"Fine. As you will." He said quietly and adjusted how he was sitting, his black wings curving around them a bit as Lucy curled up inside his cloak pressed snug against him.
He felt the same way, wouldn't admit it, he was still frustrated, confused...angry about what she had done, how she had gone about it all...but every foot of distance he put between them as he'd scouted had been painful and he wanted to hold her as much as she wanted to be held he was sure.
The rocks beneath him even made his light heated blood feel cold and the dark side of his magic usually gave him exceptional resistance to cold along the same lines as Vander enjoyed. He was an Evening Star after all, his magic seated in the dark side of Angelic and Celestial magics so he could only imagine what it was doing to Lucy. His mate fit into him perfectly though, laying against his chest with his cloak wrapped around her a blanket over them both the top of her head tucked nicely under his chin.
He smiled a little again...his mate...she was his, he felt her, felt her exhaustion, her stress, her fear, felt it as sure as he felt his own. His arms tightened around her and she hummed softly, finding a comfortable position and in minutes her breathing evened out in slumber as Zens eyes scanned the dark.
He was losing a hold on his anger, just having trouble still being mad as they went, this place was horrific, and if they were right, if their friend was here, then he deserved this effort to rescue him. Lucy had sacrificed her own freedom as much as Zens with her choice to bind herself to him so they could do this. He wasn't sure, if given a choice if he would have said no, but he was sure he would have wanted to think about it...time, now that they were here and he felt the oppressive draining nature of the place, he knew if Gajeel was alive, he didn't have a lot of time.
They would have a lot to work on, he and Lucy, when this was over, their world was at war, but they still had to live, and they would be together for the rest of their lives now, neither one had any choice in that anymore. He would not get to choose who he loved, Lucy was his only option if he wanted that, and he had…once he was free of Pergrand the freedom to fall in love and get married had been a treasure he'd looked forward to finding one day. That option was gone, taken from him by force and he couldn't help feeling bitter and angry about it. Still, if they could manage friendship at least it would mean a happier life for both of them.
Somehow they would have to sort through it all and he had to accept that for whatever reason, he just wasn't fated to ever really be free, he was meant to have limited choices in big parts of his life. Looking down at Lucys beautiful sleeping face he drew a breath and sighed it out, it could be so much worse, he could still be in the pits, fighting every minute of every day and night to stay alive and prevent others from molesting killing or raping him.
He didn't doubt a lot of men would want the woman in his arms, he'd thought more than once about tempting her, seeing if maybe during their trek to Crocus she would accept him for some badly needed release in each others arms but he'd heard Cana tease Lucy about not being with many men, long dry spells, and knew Fiorans had this odd value on that, on…celibacy instead of indulgence and acceptance,so he'd left it alone.
While it had been rushed and drowned in desperate need that had made it brief, his first time with her had left an impression, even inexperienced Lucy was lusty, he'd bet on her being more so as she learned her way around sensual pleasures and being the one she learned with was a whether he liked the circumstances or not, an appealing thing to him.
Still, he had to get her to where he could trust her, because if they were to be mates, maybe even lovers, for the rest of their lives, he wanted to be able to love the woman, and that wouldn't happen if he couldn't trust her, couldn't have faith that she cared about him enough to think of him, consider his feelings before she made a decision that would affect them both, and now...most decisions she made would affect them both. It was a lot to think about, and they had so much to work through right in the middle of a damn invasion.
Not only was he not meant to ever have much freedom in the big choices in his life, he also seemed fated to just never have an easy time of things. He could let it bother him, or, he could enjoy snuggling the beautiful woman in his arms, take in the far too delicious feel of her soft curves pressed into his body, the strawberry scent of her that was so much better than the hideous smell of this place.
Zen could sense what was lurking in the darkness around them as well or better than the Dragon Slayers, he knew he could see it better, the more evil the thing was, the easier it was for him to see it, they were sort of outlined, their forms containing a resonating energy unique to an evil presence. He was an Archangel...evil couldn't hide from him, like nobody could lie to him, he always knew, and as they lied something would almost whisper the truth to him behind their lie while his magic punished them for speaking it.
Looking up he could see the outlines of a Dracolich, the massive things were terrifying, but they seemed intent on hunting the skies, once he'd landed and taken cover they had only descended so far chasing him before climbing again, like they didn't want to get too close to the ground.
He had seen some horrific things today and didn't doubt the others on the ground had too. Scouting was difficult, there was a ceiling to high high he could fly before the larger evils were simply too thick in the air to risk it and he'd never gotten above the disgusting stinky "clouds" he wasn't sure were clouds. His wings still shed whatever the stuff was like water, and he'd had no trouble flying, the cold had bothered him a little, which was telling, he could fly through some serious ice and such and not get cold because of his magic, but here...he felt the chill.
Wrapped in a blanket though with Lucy snuggled into him he was warm and he knew it was only because he was holding her, he could see the others, Cana, Levy, Wendy, even Bickslow and Freed were shivering a little. Vander was fine, accustomed to colds embrace because of his magic, Cristoff was a Lunar Slayer, he could handle cold and heat extremely well and Laxus as a Lightning slayer seemed to be doing ok as well. He frowned slightly and nodded at them to Cristoff who watched a few moments and nodded, frowning himself.
They would maybe need to have everyone sort of dogpile or something the next time they rested to share warmth. He smiled a little when he saw Wendy, not even opening her eyes, grab her blanket and crawl over to Laxus, snuggling into the big slayers side and the Lightning mage shifted, arms closing around the younger mage and pulling her in, Wendys shivering stopped shortly after that.
Three hours later they woke their relief and Zen was asleep quickly, holding Lucy close, grateful of the sweet scent of her hair to help combat the reek of death that permeated everything around them.
It was Vander who sensed it, his dark red eyes snapping wide open, as he shot up from a reclined position.
He met Laxus' eyes and indicated direction and the Dragon Slayer turned, narrowing his eyes to stare into the soupy darkness, he saw nothing, smelled nothing but the reek of this place, heard nothing but what he had heard since they crossed into this, the rattling of bones, moans and groans, whimpers and hideous sounds he didn't want to name.
Vander pressed his lips together and silently jumped down from his position, nudging Zen who was instantly awake, carefully settling Lucy before snapping his gaze in the direction Vander indicated and blanching.
"Everyone up." He said and Vanders boot hit Cristoffs hip, the big slayer snarling but when he came to his feet he'd equipped his broadsword. Bickslow was up fast, like Vander lithely scaling the rocks they were hiding in to try and get a look, forcing his reluctant babies to branch out and try to get a look at what was approaching.
Freed woke Levy and Lucy, Wendy rousing when Cristoff had risen because she had cuddled up to him when Laxus had gotten up to do his sentry duty.
"It's...it looks like a worm or snake or something…" Zen said, keeping his eyes on it, that he could see it through the soupy darkness said it was a substantial evil, and it felt demonic, instincts inside of him were kicking in he'd felt rarely since escaping the pits of Pergrande...but he knew them. Narrowing his eyes as they started glowing his wings lifted and while he didn't think to summon it, his armor equipped, his longsword appearing in his hand, his shield appearing in the other and in two steps he was airborne, charging the thing, the desire to fight it, destroy it, annihilate it from existence too strong to suppress.
Cristoff and Vander exchanged looks trying to call out to their older brother but it was Lucy "Don't! Zen! Don't fight it alone!" She called and he halted, hovering, wings churning the icy air, eyes glaring at the approaching creature, noting with satisfaction it was slowing, lifting its pointed head from the ground...it wasn't mindless it seemed.
He turned and returned to the others, landing on the rocks.
"We have to stay together...No running off!" Lucy said in a shaky voice and he drew a breath to argue but bit it back at the look in her eyes, at feeling her fear not of losing her way out of here if anything happened to him, no, she didn't want him far from her, couldn't bear to lose him. He was surprised by it, they still barely knew each other, bound and mated or not, but...he felt it too, so, he turned and faced the approaching creature beside Laxus.
The thing circled them, staying far enough away not to be visible to anyone but Zen, though the Dragon Slayers finally picked out the sound it made as it moved...and it's scent.
"Blood, it smells like...burning blood." Wendy hissed.
It was a while before it did anything, it seemed uncertain about going after them, it wanted one or more of them, but didn't want to confront others, which was anyones guess.
They stayed among the rocks, hoping they would provide some shielding, it was tough not knowing what the thing was capable of. "Zen, you have Lucy, Cristoff, Wendy, Bixy, Cana and I have Levy…" Laxus said quietly "When shit goes down you do not under any circumstances leave the woman you're guarding, understand me?"
All three men nodded "Vander, I'm going to rely on you to snatch people out of harms way if something gets bad." He added and Vander rolled his eyes "So like what...start moving people NOW right?" He snorted and Laxus cast the smirking mage a nasty look that didn't phase the younger man in the least.
It was almost 2 hours of tense waiting, and Cana was about to scream with it, Lucy was trembling, Levy was glaring out into the darkness with Lily close at her side. As it got closer Zen narrowed his eyes…"It's not alone...there are two women on it…" He said frowning when he saw them.
"Women?!" Laxus growled.
"Yay! They see us!" came a spritely voice.
"Shut up Juliet."
"But Heine! We hunted them all the way here isn't it great they see us and we can kill them now? They won't even go to heaven since they're already in Hell!" The spritely voice, Juliet it seemed said brightly.
"Eternal damnation is why Emperor Spriggan sent us here after them...to assure they would not even find peace in the death we bring…" Heine replied.
"Fucking Alvarez...seriously? What you guys have like a summer home here or some shit? Fitting, your Emperor belongs here...gonna have to make him move here permanently, though maybe a deeper level...this one's too fucking scenic for his ass." Vander sneered.
"You will be the only ones damned to an eternity in this place. How did you get here? Our mistress wishes to know." Heine demanded, still beyond the range of their vision but her voice sounded closer…
"Just picking out where we plan to send you and your fucking Emperor." Laxus growled.
"Tiresome, very well, we can torture it out of one of you I'm sure…" Heine said and out of the darkness thick bands of some rubber substance came shooting at them just as a goo started raining down on them from above.
Chaos ensued quickly but, thanks to the skills and power of those the women had come after, it was managed. Laxus sent Lightning snaking out in the direction of the voices, gratified when the worm thing hissed.
Bickslows babies started firing and Freed started tossing out runes to counter the slippery goo that they had been doused with.
The bands were deflected repeatedly then dodged by Vander, who seemed unaware of the goo all over everything as he lightly sprang around the rocks, flipping and somersaulting out of their grasp over and over and Cristoff and Zen hacked at them with their swords, cleaving them but more kept jetting in to replace them.
Lucy shrieked as a glob of goo fell and hit her, burning right through her shirt into her skin she still managed to don her sagittarius stardress and start peppering the area with arrows.
Zen cursed, angling closer to Lucy, the next hail of the globs his wing shot out over Lucy and Cana, shielding them both and shedding the globs though he hissed in pain as whatever the substance was burned through even his steel like feathers.
Wendy drew a breath, gagging a little on the rancid air and released a roar and for a few minutes,the area was clear of the churning greyish black...mist… that hung over everything and they could see the massive worm beast, no eyes, just a huge maw of sharp teeth attached to a greyish slime covered body that was about 60 feet long and easily 10 feet thick.
Laxus' lightning had found the slime coating its body to be a good conductor and the creature was writhing and hissing under his assault. A small orange haired girl in pigtails was running toward then, swings of her hands sending down more barrages of goo and slime, some of it hissed and burned into the rock when it hit, Cana was trying to get to the side to cast more exploding cards as the thick black bands still trying to catch Vander when a blob the size a basketball hit her and seemed to glue her foot to the rock, making her jerk to a halt with a gasp as the stuff also burned through her shoe in moments.
Bickslows babies started blasting at it as the Seith jumped down from the rocks above to try and help her get her foot loose before she was burned too badly.
"Solid script, sodium bicarbonate!" Levy yelled, her lightpen flying and a dusting of the stuff rained down over Bickslow and Canas leg and foot, the goo hissed and popped and in a moment Cana was free.
Levy exchanged a look with Freed, both smirking and starting to move quickly to produce more, Levy dusting Lucy with it as she fired arrows at the pig tailed girl.
Vander vanished suddenly, appearing beside Heine and without hesitation, swinging his swords at her.
She barely dodged, one sword glancing across her back and making her gasp in pain as the razor sharp blade rended her flesh. The bands shifted, grabbing Zen suddenly and the big mage wrenched an arm free, cleaving one then another but Heine kept them coming trying to get a grip that held on him even while dodging Vander and sending another band after him.
Cristoff grit his teeth, vaulting out from the rocks and charging toward the Pigtailed girl, as soon as he caught her eyes he whispered a spell and the woman crumpled, screaming and clutching at her eyes. Lucy took the opportunity, gritting her teeth herself and thinking about her friends, Warren, Master Makarov...her next arrow flew between the girls hands and lodged with a thunk between the hands clutching her eyes.
"NO! Juliet!" Heine screamed and all of the bands shot at Lucy, Zen, still in the thick of them, almost rode them, long wings snapping down rending most then He grabbed Lucy, pulling her into his chest as his wings shot around them both, deflecting the last two heavy bands as Vander appeared behind the woman and ran both of his swords through her, one through her neck, the other through her chest.
As she crumpled to the ground he turned and everyone focused on the massive worm creature that Laxus had been dealing with mostly on his own while they fought the women. It took them a while to bring it down, and, when they finally did it had more to do with the Holy fire and light Zen and Cristoff pumped at it, which seemed to reduce it, weaken it until Cristoff chanted something and the beast was suddenly engulfed in silvery light and vanished.
"Wha...where did it go?" Cana asked nervously.
"Banished...he banished it to another plain…" Freed said softly.
Cana sagged, leaning on Freed while Bickslow came down from the rocks to join them. Levy watched Zen step from Lucy, carefully not looking at the Celestial mage who almost winced at how fast the big man stepped away from her, seeing the regret and sadness in Lucys face so plainly made her heart wrench in her chest.
The love of her life was here somewhere and Levy had no doubt at all she would give up her life gladly to save Gajeel, even just to see him again at this point, to meet those crimson eyes...feel those heavy studded arms around her...she'd give anything. Her own sacrifice though suddenly seemed to pale a little watching Lucy watch Zen.
Though the big man hadn't hesitated to come to protect her, had wrapped her in his cloak before he'd taken to the skies and had pulled her into his arms to sleep, it dawned on Levy...she'd read it in the book Crux had given her, the Archangel bound to a wizard would assure their safety ahead of their own without thought, would be driven to keep them comfortable and safe. It wasn't just Zen being kind she was seeing, wasn't him forgiving Lucy for what she had done, he had no choice in some of it, part of his free will was gone.
Lucy knew it though, that was evident in her sad eyes. Levy bit her lip, she wanted Gajeel back more than anything, needed him, loved him with all she was and wanted no life without him in it, but the price she had begged her friend to pay…
Lucy had done it, had not given Zen that chance to say no because Levy had pushed her, played on her feelings, her love of her and Gajeel, reminded her of the sacrifices all of Lucys friends had made for her over the years and Levy knew that had been manipulative, her desperation had driven her to that. As Loke had said...there was so little time, every minute Gajeel was alone in this place was one closer to him succumbing to it if he hadn't already.
What would happen, what would she do if this proved to be a hopeless endeavor, if they never found Gajeel or...found him dead...The idea sent a horrible cold through her she shied away from. That Lucy had bound Zen without his consent, that she had mated with him, which, according to what Levy had read...was a permanent bonding of their souls.
That the mating had happened meant that Lucy and Zen were compatible, the text suggested that if the mage felt strongly for the Archangel, that they sensed they could...love the Archangel, they were light based magic users, love figured big in things they honored and protected, the text suggested the mage and Archangel take time to know each other, to give feelings time to develop before taking the step. It also said that as the binding took hold, as the soul fragment was taken from the Archangel, to invite the mating to happen the mage taking the Archangel should kiss them. The wording of it had been awkward for Levy…written in an ancient language from the times of the Holy Wars…but she had gotten what it all meant. Thinking back though…"invite" could just as easily mean other things…harsher things…
But even the book said to give it time, that a good relationship mattered, would make both parties stronger and happier. That mages that just forced the whole thing and essentially enslaved the Archangel, and the book had even called it enslavement, the lack of trust, the resentment, would make the Archangel mage…less effective.
Honestly, the information had been pretty harsh, making it sound like Archangel mages during the Holy Wars were…tools…that Celestial based wizards could just pick up and use like some wand….a wand that couldn't say no, couldn't ever leave…and was compelled to make the holder "feel safe and comfortable." She shoved the thought aside…she didn't want to dwell on the negatives, especially not here, and Lucy wasn't like those mages who might do something like that, she was a good person…she'd make Zen glad it had happened, it would just take time.
Besides that, Levy had read it all before Lucy had done the deed, known it...but had been so overcome by the prospect of getting Gajeel back...she hadn't cared. Now though, seeing it right in front of her, two good people, one her closest friend, unhappy...having made a huge sacrifice...she felt terrible for insisting Lucy not talk to Zen first, not give him the chance to say no.
Being around him she could tell he was a good person, and there was a strong chance...he would have been willing to go through with it even though he didn't know Gajeel, based only on the fact his friends cared about the lost man. His brothers hadn't hesitated to come, the chilly looks they gave Lucy though...that had angered Levy at first but she had to admit...she couldn't blame them. Their brother had been taken against his will. Bickslow had already quietly argued with both Cristoff and Vander while they had been walking, defending what they were doing, had even taken Vander on and Vander was clearly, of all of them, the most opinionated and…the one who always got a hard nasty edge in his gaze when he looked at Lucy, Bickslow though had insisted to Vander, Gajeel deserved this effort to rescue him.
Zen had said nothing more about it, had been putting forth every effort to find their lost friend like everyone else was, had accepted his role...but it was clear he hadn't warmed to the idea of belonging to Lucy yet. Levy pursed her lips, correcting herself, he didn't belong to her, no…this wasn't as bad as that, Levy refused to accept it and refused to linger on the idea.
They headed out, leaving their impromptu shelter and Zen took to the skies again. It was how they spent what, according to Lucy, was the next 5 days. They were exhausted, filthy, some of the goey gunk from Juliet just couldn't be removed from their clothes, hair, and there was no water aside from what Zen and Cristoff could generate with their magic, which was fortunately clean and refreshing. Gods….how was Gajeel surviving...the water issue had Levy horrified...without water Gajeel would have died within the first few days here…
They came into a boggy area, the "water" was murky, foul smelling, and there were things in it, vile things, at this point only Cristoff Zen and Bickslow repelled the things around them anymore, Zen teaching Freed and Levy holy runes they could place on everyone to help deter the things.
They still ended up fighting things off more and more and hours into the bogs Zen landed, he'd only been able to find a small outcropping of rock where they might be able to get out of the wet but wouldn't have any real shelter.
Huddling together for warmth, Levy leaned into Lucy, looking out into the murky darkness around them and tears slid down her cheeks. "Gajeel...where are you?" She whispered. Lucy bit her lip, tears stinging her own eyes she hugged her friend "I'm sure he's alive Levy, he's so smart and resourceful, and so strong...if anyone could survive here it would be him." She said quietly.
"Oh I could...I mean I wouldn't want to vacation here but ya know, it's sort of thrilling, all the dead creepies really keep the blood pumping." Vander drawled, earning himself a half hearted kick to the shin from Cristoff. The levity was sorely needed, they were all so horribly drained.
Lucy inched back a little, Zen was behind her, his long legs on either side of her, she and Levy were both pressing in close to him, he and Laxus were the only two who were still generating warmth in any measurable way and the two men were in the middle of the group sitting back to back leaning against each other, everyone else settling around them. Cristoff was still faring well, so was Vander, Loke seemed ok too, though he admitted he was feeling the chill.
Lily was wrapped in Levys arms providing what warmth he could, Wendy was curled in Laxus' lap and they followed the same sentry plan, though it was wearing on the men who were doing it, they got less sleep than the others, but, because they weren't suffering from the cold, it only made sense they could take that loss better.
Lucy looked up at Zen, he'd been...distant, though she was laying against him one of his arms around her, he still felt too far away for her to be happy. She almost scoffed at the idea, they were in the first plain of hell...happiness really wasn't something she should be worrying about right now. He had kissed her before they had left, told her to focus on this rescue and they would work on what was between them when they got back. She had to trust that, hope somehow she could earn his forgiveness for not taking the time to talk it all through with him.
The more time went by, even with the distraction of what they were doing, the worse she felt about what she had done, she should have stood her ground, should have insisted on telling him before she took him. She had run away from home because her father was trying to force her to marry a man, now...she had just forced a very good man who didn't deserve it, to be bound to her for the rest of his life. There was also the painful fact she had taken him without his consent. He hadn't gotten a choice…she couldn't shake at all that how she had gone about this…had been wrong.
His amethyst and gold eyes came down to hers and he smiled faintly, he could feel her worry, and he was getting to where he knew when the bond was pushing him to take actions, comforting her now was something it was pushing for.
Surprisingly though...it was something well within his character to just naturally want to do. She was his, he was hers...as bad as the circumstances leading to that were it was fact and enough for him to know he didn't want this to be a bad relationship. Reaching down his kissed her forehead "Rest love...you need it." He whispered and she smiled hopefully up at him and he dipped his head a little more, brushing his lips over hers. "Rest...I mean it." He said against her lips and she smiled, nestling in under his chin then, reassured and comforted. Zen blinked, looking out through the darkness around them, surprised he felt comforted and reassured too.
His eyes scanned hard through the darkness...seeing the dead moving out there...Gajeel...you bastard...you had better be alive...He thought.
A/N Thank you to those leaving reviews and sending me PMs. Really does keep me coming back to work at all of this.
DESNA