It's the next one that needs the hefty overhaul, my bad. That one, ugh, I'm so excited to work on it. It's going to be amazing. Here's a short one to hold you until then.
As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading.
"He's doing well," Gajeel said as he cracked his neck and settled in closer to his wife. Levy's strengths on the battlefield were better served without her actually being there, so she fought from their home in her realm. Since the pantheon they were fighting was not Gajeel's, he was not involved and could relax with her while she worked.
He glanced at the field and scanned the other Champions. "They all seem to be."
"What she did was foolish," Levy said again as she adjusted the flow of the forces once more, using a fallen tree to cut off the enemy's advance into a weak spot. "She put a target on his head and didn't even go with him to help fight."
"She can't, she ain't that kinda goddess."
"Which is why it was foolish." She cursed as she sent a message to one of their officers. "I don't know why she thought it was a good idea to choose a Champion when she couldn't even join him on the battlefield."
"Even without her there, the seal alone is enough to make him stronger than practically every other human there," he pointed out. "Unless he's overrun, then it's a good bet he'll live through this."
"Until the other side sends their champions after him," Levy snapped. Gajeel didn't have anything to say to that, so Levy focused all of her attention on her job.
Hours later, the humans had retreated from the battlefield to rest, so Levy got up to stretch. "I'm going down to consult with the gods on the field. I'll be back soon."
Gajeel grunted. When she had left, he rolled over and looked across the table where she had been working. At least half of the opposing army had been wiped out, but they were still outnumbered three to one. They had held out so far, but they were fighting a losing battle, as far as Gajeel was concerned.
When there was movement along the edges of the field, Gajeel perked up and propped himself up so he could see better. It was definitely Natsu that was awake, and sneaking along the battlefield with that glowing symbol a bright beacon in the night. Gajeel grunted and settled back into his seat. The other pantheon would no doubt see him there and he'd be killed in an instant. Even with Lucy's protections, he couldn't be saved on his own against the gods' Champions.
The longer he watched, the more surprised he became. Not only had he not been discovered yet, he'd managed to take out multiple look outs with what looked like little to no effort. As he entered the enemy camp, Gajeel got to his feet, curious and a bit excited to see just how far he'd get.
When Levy returned, she had a headache and a fire in her veins that would not easily cool. "Those idiots," she hissed. "Can you believe them? I told them how foolish it would be to continue! They need to find a better battlefield. If they want any chance at winning, they need to find somewhere they can funnel the enemy to them-"
"Or a soldier with the seal of Lucinda of the Night Sky."
Levy frowned. "What?"
Gajeel grabbed her hand and pulled her to her table where he pointed. "Look."
Confused, Levy looked over the field, not seeing any changes from earlier at first. When she did, she leaned forward and gasped. "How did he…?"
"There's no moon out tonight, so the only light is from the stars. Seems that blessing musta given him some sorta night vision or something, because no one has stood even a slight chance against him."
Levy looked up at her husband and noted that he looked proud, almost impressed which was very rare for him. She rewound the map back to the sun setting and everyone returning to camp so she could watch Natsu in action. After the first two watchouts were killed, she noticed something was off. She switched back to normal speed for a while and just watched, trying to figure out what her brain had noticed but hadn't quite processed yet. When she finally realized what it was, she became confused. "What is that idiot doing?"
"What is it?"
Levy pulled out the script for the day, reading through the actions of the soldiers and the movements from the day. She went through over half the army before she finally found it.
"Oh no…"