Chapter 5

When Levy came too, the world around her was still dark. It didn't take too long for her to figure out that she had been knocked out and dragged somewhere. She could feel that her attackers had definitely beaten her before restraining her. Her hands were bound tightly behind the chair she had apparently been thrown in, each ankle also receiving rope burns as she tried to move. There was a lightning pain in her shoulder, she could tell at least two ribs were rebroken since it was hard to breathe, and she hoped her ankle was only sprained. Her lack of sight, due to a blindfold, irritated her as she tried to rely on her other senses to get a clue of where she was.

Levy could feel a slight draft, letting her know that there were windows near by, but possibly boarded up. There was a distinct lack of warmth, letting her know that it was definitely past dark outside and that the place she was in didn't offer much light of its own. The only thing she could smell was dust, and faint cigarette smoke. Focusing on her hearing, she was able to pick up slight whispers in another room. She sighed as she knew she wouldn't be able to make out what was being said and moved her attention else where.

Flicking her foot in a way that would make the heel make a sound, she discovered that the floor was concrete. That narrowed the ideas down some; houses and small shops or businesses usually had wooden floors. Levy didn't have time to figure more out at the moment as she heard footsteps starting to leave the room with the whispers.

"Soooooo... the mayor decided she was going to call in some help." A male voice started to speak when a figure was a few steps in front of her. "A little script mage to end her fears and rewrite our story. That's too cute." The figure spoke with a blend of sarcasm and venom.

"Story? What do you mean?" Levy asked, trying to see through the blindfold at the source of the voice. "To whom does the story belong?" She added as she could sense the figure start to circle around her, like a predator.

"Why, the guild of the Illuminated Tri-Eye, and I am the master, Arsic. For years, we ran this town, were good to our people, and lived how we wanted." The voice came from behind her now, causing her to shudder. "That was until that pesky council decided to interfere. Everyone was fine, there was no reason for them to come."

"You mean the people living in terror of magic was not a reason." Levy's anger quickly built as she listened. "You tortured the innocent people that had just been passing through. Your guild took over everything in this town and barely let anyone outside of your guild have anything. You rationed out every source of food and work! And you terrified anyone who attempted to leave." Levy had read all about the Illuminated Tri-Eye guild, that's where she had recognized the symbol in the writings. "Y'all wer-"

SMACK

Before Levy could say another word, her face exploded in a deep stinging sensation as the world around her tipped. She hadn't been able to process the first part before her whole weight fell against the concrete, causing her skin to scrape and the pain in her head become much worse. As her head throbbed, she opened her eye to see that the blindfold had shifted and her abductor was standing above her.

"We were doing what was right for our guild." Arsic hissed. In the dim light, Levy barely saw the man's dark green hair, his hostile orange eyes brightly staring at her as the guild mark on his forehead peeked underneath an orange beanie, and he wore a white muscle tank with loose, baggy blue jeans.

"Sorry, the truth is gonna hurt. You were doing everything wrong." Levy replied sternly. "Everyone that you were meant to help, you hurt. You took what you wanted instead of giving what you could." That's when Levy smiled. "You were only doing things for yourselves, not for your family!"

Anger snapped within the captor as he manifested a wooden bat the same time he kicked Levy as hard as he could in her ribs.

"This will hurt more, bitch." He yelled before he started to beat her disadvantaged form with the bat until it refused to swing downward again.

Arsic turned to see what had been obstructing his swing as a hand began to solidify around the head of the bat and he was met face to face with burning red eyes. Rogue closed his hand hard enough to splinter the wood in thousands of pieces before he began to back Arsic to the wall.

"Rogue... T-Thank you." Rogue could barely hear Levy's forced whispered words before she fell unconscious.

"Anyone who hurts a friend of Sabertooth, shall know true darkness." The dragon slayer scolded as he sensed the shadows of the room being drawn to him. Allowing his power to take over, he felt the scales begin to cover his arms and face. "And NO ONE is suppose to hurt Levy." He growled, seeing the fear in Arsic's eyes before his Shadow Dragonforce took full control.

Rogue sat on the ledge of the balcony of the room he shared with Levy, Frosh in his lap as he looked out to the town that they had just saved. He held Frosh to him as the events replayed in his mind.

The Illuminated Tri-Eye guild had dissipated once the Mayor had saved the town, but for years they met in secret until they had located as many members as they could and began to plan to reclaim the town they thought was theirs. Rogue had arrived at the abandoned warehouse where the dark guild had formed their hideout and where he tracked Levy's scent. He had just made it to the boarded window when he heard what sounded like Levy fall and the smell of blood filled his scents. Rogue felt his inner dragon rage within him as he pushed through the boards and saw Arsic begin to beat Levy with the bat. Reaching out, he gripped the bat to stop any more pain being inflicted to Levy as he allowed his solid form to manifest. Rogue could feel that his eyes were glowing, they always did when his inner dragon was wanting out. This time, he would allow it.

After he had beaten the leader of Tri-Eye until his dragon was satisfied, he defeated the other members so that the Mayor's personal council could make the arrest until the Magic Council arrived. He didn't have to wait long, as he carefully picked Levy up and walked past Mayor Eskridge back to the hotel. The mayor had made sure that the town's best doctor was waiting for them outside their room. Rogue had placed Levy on the bed, picked up a sleeping Frosh from the couch, and went to the balcony to allow the doctor time and space to work.

Rogue didn't know how long he had been outside exactly as he waited on an update about Levy. He knew it had been a few hours as he watched the sun rise and Frosh began to stir. Soon the balcony doors opened and the doctor stepped outside. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and used his lighter to start one. He smiled over at the dragon slayer as he leaned against the rail Rogue was perched on.

"She will be fine. She needs time to heal and plenty of rest though. Her ankle was twisted, there was a muscle pulled in her shoulder, her wrist was fractured, but not enough to need a cast, and a few of her ribs showed signs of being rebroken. She will need to come of active missions, but since she is a script mage, it won't put her completely out of work." The doctor spoke, both relieving and upsetting Rogue, before he added, "Though, she may need some help for a while, sometimes getting around or just doing basic things."

"Thank you for everything." Rogue said quietly as he nodded. He felt terrible for allowing Levy to get hurt. The whole reason she asked him to come was to protect her. A hand then placed itself on the dragon slayer's shoulder.

"No, thank you for protecting the town. You both risked a lot, and she was lucky that you were able to protect her before things got any worse. Don't get yourself down. You've done good, now just make sure she's okay." The doctor said before he flicked his cigarette butt off the balcony and went inside. He left a few, mild, pain prescriptions for Levy before he left the room and exited the hotel.

Rogue sighed as he slid off the rail and went inside the room. He placed Frosh on the edge of the bed before he looked down at Levy's now sleeping form. She was laid out in the middle of the bed, her arms and legs bandaged to help the scrapes and cuts she received. Her hair was fanned against the pillow, looking like a much brighter blue compared to her pale skin as the early morning sun began to stream through the windows. Rogue moved to close the balcony shades before he pulled the blanket up to cover Levy. He sat down on the edge of the bed and gently held the script mage's unbandaged hand.

"Levy, I'm sorry."

This time when Levy woke, pain immediately filled her body. She groaned quietly as she slowly opened her eyes. She felt relief wash over her as she recognized the shared hotel room through blurred consciousness. Her body was too sore to try to sit up and her throat burned from dehydration. She began to look around the room, trying to gain focus, before she saw Rogue sitting on the couch, his head in his hands, with Frosh curled up beside him. Levy smiled as she tried to speak.

"Ro-," her voice barely got a whispered start of his name before no more would come out, but that was all that was needed. Rogue's head shot up and he was at her side in seconds.

"Levy. I'm so glad you're awake." He said, gaining relief as she smiled at him. He carefully moved to shift her so that she was sitting up against the pillows and headboard before he grabbed a bottle of water out of the mini fridge and a straw. He helped her open the bottle and get a drink before he sat next to her on the edge of the bed.

"Are you okay? What happened? What time is it?" Levy's hoarse voice finally was able to be used as soon as she got a drink. The main thing she remembered last was getting kicked in the ribs.

Rogue smiled at her, surprised the first thing she asked was about him and not about her own condition.

"I'm fine. It's almost dark now, but I got to you as soon as I could and took care of Tri-Eye until the mayor got there. As soon as she was there, I brought you here so that the doctor could take care of you." Rogue began to go over her injuries that the doctor had informed him of and the other details of the fight that Levy asked of. "I am so sorry that you got hurt, Levy. I hope that you'll forgive me." Levy looked down at her hands in her lap.

"Rogue, I don't blame you, so you don't need to be forgiven. It had been my idea to split up so we could cover more ground. I'm really thankful that you came along on the mission and that you were there in the end.. to save me." Levy was disappointed in no one but herself. She took a mission that she thought she could handle, and still needed saving because she had been too weak.

"I wouldn't have had to if they wouldn't have snuck up behind you. If they would've faced you head on, you would've taken them out then been back to the hotel in no time." Rogue spoke with full sincerity as he handed her the water again. "Don't put yourself down, Levy. You are as strong as you are smart."

"Th-Thank you Rogue." Levy felt her cheeks warm as she took a drink. "So, about the mission? I still need to translate the pages."

"The mayor sent a message earlier, they were able to get the mage from Tri-Eye that originally wrote them to translate and remove them to hopefully lighten his sentence. Our mission is complete and the mayor will send our payment with us as soon as you're ready to go home."

Levy nodded as she thought about the mission and sighed with relief. "Do I have to wait a while to travel?"

"Well, mission wise, yes. The doctor said active missions are going to be off the table for a while while you recover, but you don't have to stay here to heal." Rogue said before Levy looked up at him with a smile.

"Let's go home, Rogue." Levy said before Rogue gave her a nod and began to pack their things for her.