A nice, long chapter for you guys! Stuff is gonna start happening, hehe!
Lucy was quiet. Too quiet.
Levy looked through the mirror and stared at her friend, who was busy pulling back the covers on Levy's bed. She didn't help her get dressed, per Levy's request, but still insisted on performing at least some of her lady-in-waiting duties. Levy didn't mind the company, as it gave them time to chat about their days. Usually the room was filled with their excited voices, but Lucy was suspiciously silent.
Her friend helped her untie the bandana in her hair and Levy picked up her brush to start combing through the tangled locks.
"So…" Lucy said, folding the pink fabric carefully and placing it in the drawer with the others, "What exactly is your relationship with your new guard?"
The brush in Levy's hand clattered to the floor. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Uh huh, then explain to me why your face is the same shade as Captain Erza's hair."
Levy ignored the gleam in her friend's eye and picked up her brush.
"I'm not leaving until you tell me."
Levy brushed through an especially large tangle.
"Does it have anything to do with the dragons currently lounging in the gardens? Or perhaps you just kiss random guards now."
The brush dropped again, leaving Levy's fingers frozen by her hair. "Y-y-you saw that?"
"Don't worry, I was the only one. I was curious about what you were up to, so I followed you a little bit. I must say, you were very friendly with those dragons." Lucy picked up the brush and handed it to her with a smirk. "So...are they your friends?"
Levy gave up the pretense of fixing her hair. She would probably end up dropping her brush again anyway. "Yes, they are. More like siblings actually, since I grew up with them."
"Wow, that's amazing! So Sir Redfox really is a dragon?"
Levy turned in her chair and nodded, grateful that her friend had dropped the kissing topic. "He really is! But he's the only one that can turn into a human. I still don't really understand, but he told me that when he almost...d-died," her voice choked on the word, "he woke up in a bright white place and saw a man and a woman standing nearby."
"Wait, did he say what they looked like?"
"Um…" Levy squinted at the excited tone in Lucy's voice, "the woman was short with blonde hair and the man had black hair and eyes? I think Gajeel said he was her husband."
Lucy squealed and spun in a circle. "I can't believe he met them!"
"What? Met who?"
"Only the most powerful mages in all of Fiore's history!" she said as if Levy should have known. "They're the ones who first discovered magic, the ones who helped the dragons defeat Acnologia!"
"Oh...well that makes sense then on how they were strong enough to change Gajeel that much."
"I want to hear all about it! Do you think you could ask Sir Redfox for me?"
"Hmm? Oh, sure."
Lucy continued babbling about mages and magic and someone named Mavis, but her distracted thoughts wandered back to the events of that day. She loved seeing Wendy and the others again, but mind was a confused swirl of emotions.
Did Gajeel really love her? The others didn't seem shocked at his coerced confession and surely Gajeel wouldn't have kissed her like that if he didn't at least feel something for her.
She squeezed her eyes shut and held her hands to her warm cheeks. She shook her head back and forth, embarrassment filling her down to her toes. She couldn't believe she kissed him! And on accident too! And when he pulled her close and kissed her back…
"Fiore to Levy!"
Levy startled and saw Lucy bent in front of her with a smirk. "You looked seconds away from melting into a Levy-sized puddle on the floor. What were you thinking about just now, hmmm?"
"NOTHING!" she squeaked, pushing past her friend and flopping face first onto her bed. She pulled the covers up and over her head and heard Lucy's laughter through the soft fabric.
"Goodnight then! Have fun dreaming about your dragon!"
"I'm not going to-" She jerked up with a glare ready, but Lucy had already shut the door behind her.
Levy pouted and laid back down, tucking the blanket around her. She stared at the far wall, trying and failing to keep her mind off of Gajeel and his baffled look when she pulled back from their accidental kiss.
She had never seen his eyes that wide before.
Giggling into the empty room, she flipped over to her other side and looked out the window. The moon had risen high in the sky and Levy wondered what the others were doing. Makarov had given them permission to stay for a few days. Were they still in the gardens, or did they find somewhere else to sleep for the night? With Gajeel an official member of the Mage Knights, he couldn't leave the castle grounds without permission, so they were probably all lounging in the same field she left them earlier that day.
The idea of sleeping under the stars surrounded by warm scales was too good to pass by. With a smile that was positively impish, she flung the blankets to the floor and padded to her door. Lily looked up at her from his bed in the corner and gave a lazy yawn, his eyes blinking slowly at her.
"You coming, boy?"
At the sound of her voice he crawled from his bed, stretched his back, and joined her at the door. She opened it a crack, craning her ears for any movement. Hearing nothing, she opened it wider and looked back and forth down the hall. All was quiet and empty.
She sneaked into the hallway, waited for Lily to join her, and closed the door quietly behind them. On silent feet they snuck through the castle, avoiding all of the guards. They passed through the kitchen, Levy snagging a loaf of bread on their way out into the gardens. The sky was dark but the moon and stars gave her just enough light to find her way through the landscaped gardens. She jogged to the back field, hearing the laughter and grunts of her friends well before she got to the field.
The moonlight sparkled off of Wendy and Sting's pale scales. Rogue had become a sulking ball of shadows near the wall and Natsu and Gajeel were, of course, wrestling. She didn't call out a greeting, knowing that their sensitive noses had already picked up her scent minutes ago. Instead, she stood by the bench, forced Gajeel's kiss and his tender hold to the back of her mind, and watched the wrestling dragons with a fond smile.
It had been years since she had seen Gajeel in his dragon form. She had forgotten how strong and powerful he was. He was strong as a human as well and she idelly wondered if his two forms were somehow connected in a way.
She took a bite of bread and silently cheered when Gajeel pinned Natsu's wing onto the ground. The red dragon retaliated by swiping a claw at Gajeel's snout, causing him to rear back and free the pinned wing. They both growled and tackled each other again.
Levy moved to Wendy's side. "How long have they been at it?" She leaned against her pale blue scales.
"Not very long. Gajeel said he wanted to make sure he hadn't lost his touch, but he already beat Sting and Rogue, so I think he's just fighting Natsu because he missed it." There was laughter in the female dragon's voice and Levy chuckled with her, completely agreeing.
She took another bite of her snack. "I'm surprised they've managed to stay this quiet. Usually they cause enough racket to shake the whole mountain."
"They didn't want to alert the guard. Gajeel told us how scary Erza can be."
Levy chewed thoughtfully and nodded in agreement. The dragons rolled in the grass, their movements becoming sloppy as fatigue caught up with them. Gajeel twisted to Natsu's back and clamped his jaws around his neck. Natsu hissed and thrashed on the ground, unable to break Gajeel's hold. He kicked Gajeel with his hind legs and whined deep in his throat.
Gajeel released his hold and backed away, growling softly.
Natsue bared his teeth, eyes flashing. "That last bite was a little hard, don't ya think?"
"Oh, can the wee hatchling not handle it? Or are you just a sore loser?"
"Tch, I just let ya win cause yer girlfriend's here."
Levy choked on her bread, drawing everyone's attention. She waved a hand, tears forming in her eyes. "Don't mind me, just...go back to your bickering."
Gajeel gave Natsu a parting hiss and came to her side. "You ok, Shrimp?" He folded his legs under him and set his head in the grass.
"Yeah, just swallowed wrong, that's all." She smiled at him and bit back a giggle when he tucked his snout under his wing and peeked at her with one eye.
His eye blinked, widened, and he jerked to attention, staring in the direction of the castle.
"What is it?" she looked between Gajeel and the other tense dragons.
"Sounds like trouble," Sting said drawing abreast to Gajeel. "Rogue, what do your shadows see?"
Rogue moved next to his brother. "Magic approaching. Still a ways off, but coming quickly. Strong magic, enough to level the whole city."
Wendy and Levy sucked in a breath, looking at each other in fear.
"How long do we have?" Gajeel growled.
"An hour? Maybe less."
"We need to tell my father."
Gajeel looked at her and nodded, crouching down so she could climb onto his back. "Lily, go home-gah!"
The panther leapt after her right as Gajeel took flight. Lily scrambled to find a hold on Gajeel's smooth scales, but slid off the side with a loud whine. Gajeel caught him in his claws with an exasperated groan.
"Stupid cat."
They flew to the training grounds, catching the attention of several knights. The dragons landed and Levy slid off Gajeel's back as he placed Lily gently on the ground. Gajeel shifted into his human form and Levy rushed over to her cat's side. She knelt in front of him to check for injuries and saw Erza striding towards them.
"Princess, this is too much, even for you."
"Wait," she shouted, standing to her feet, "how is the attack my fault?"
Erza slid to a stop. "We're under attack? I have not been informed."
Natsu folded his wings. "Its' true."
"And how can you tell?"
The red dragon shied under her direct gaze. "M-my nose?"
"Levy!"
She spun at her name, and hunched her shoulders sheepishly when she saw her father's angry scowl and a large group of knights coming toward them. She recognized many of the new Mage Knights as well as Jet, Droy and Macao. Lucy stood next to the king, her eyes frantic with worry.
"Levy!" she cried, launching herself into Levy's arms.
"Lucy! What's the matter?"
"You were missing and I couldn't find Lily anywhere, and I thought something happened to you."
"I'm so sorry, I'm perfectly fine! I just wanted to sleep outside tonight, that's all. But something's happened and-"
"Are those your dragon friends?" Lucy asked in a hushed whisper, slapping her arm to make her stop talking.
Levy saw Gajeel speaking with Erza and her father near the pavilion, most likely informing them of the upcoming danger. Satisfied that was being taken care of, Levy turned to her friend.
"Want to meet them?"
At Lucy's excited nod, Levy tucked their arms together and led her over to the group of dragons. "This is my friend and lady-in-waiting, Lucy."
Sting bowed his head in greeting. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Sting and this is Rogue. We're the Twin Dragons."
"Not really twins," Rogue corrected softly. "Technically cousins, as you humans call it. Our fathers were born from the same clutch."
Lucy greeted them and turned her bright smile to Natsu. The flame dragon ducked his head and scratched at the ground.
"I'm N-N-nnnnnnnnn…" He stuttered, shrinking into himself.
"I'm Wendy!" The small dragon shoved Natsu out of the way, earning herself a small hiss from the older dragon. "I'm so happy to finally meet another one of Levy's friends! It's only been us two girls for years!"
Lucy laughed, "I can imagine! I bet you all missed her terribly." She looked back at Natsu, who startled and tucked his head under his wing.
"Of course we missed her! I was stuck all by myself with these males."
"Levy's part of our pack," Rogue set his chin on her head and ruffled her hair. Levy rubbed his snout, shocked at the rare sign of affection.
Sting shouldered his partner in crime. "As you can see, he's been even more depressed since she's been gone."
"I am not depressed."
"Oh? Then who did I hear crying about how much he missed Levy's smell?"
"I did not!"
The weight lifted from her head and the two dragons moved to the side, circling and hissing at each other. Levy and Lucy exchanged a look before bursting into laughter.
"My, my...what a happy little party we have here."
Everyone froze at the sultry voice above them. Levy's jaw dropped when she saw a dark-haired woman on the roof of the pavilion. Her arms were folded casually at her stomach and a man stood grinning next to her.
"Who're you?" Natsu shouted, apparently finding his voice again.
"Why don't you ask your king, there. Surely he can recognize one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. Right, Makarov?" The woman grinned evilly.
Levy looked to her father, stepping backwards when she saw his wide eyes staring at the woman. "Ultear?"
The woman cackled. "Right you are. And I'm so looking forward to destroying this little kingdom of yours."
Levy lifted her hands to prepare her Solid Script. Gajeel roared and turned his arm into a metal club, shooting it directly at the woman. Before the club could make contact, the air around them blurred and Levy was pushed to the ground. Her lungs struggled to breath and she groaned as the pressure threatened to bury her into the earth.
Everyone in the clearing collapsed under the invisible weight. The dragons growled in anger and Gajeel's arm turned back into his flesh hand.
"Good work, Bluenote. Keep them right there; I want to take a closer look at this Mage Knight."
Levy managed to push up onto her elbows and crane her neck. The woman casually knelt in front of Gajeel tilting his chin to study his face. Gajeel glared daggers at the woman, looking ready to bite her hand clean off.
You dummy, get out of there!
"Hmmm, now what is this magic of yours? I sense that it's new, like someone just recently gave it to you. I wonder what would happen if I turned you back a few years?"
A flash of light surrounded Gajeel and Levy shut her eyes against the brightness. He could hear Gajeel struggling, his yell of pain turning into a growl. The brightness disappeared and she opened her eyes, seeing Gajeel in his dragon form.
"G-Gajeel…"
A warrior's cry shot out of the darkness. The woman leapt backward, narrowly missing Erza's silver sword aimed at her neck.
"Jacob! Do your job!" She shouted, turning heel and running into the darkness. Erza flew after her on silver wings.
"Ultear!" The man shouted, running after the two women. The gravity pushing on them disappeared and the group rose to their feet, shaking unsteadily and heaving great gulps of air.
Levy hacked into her hand, "Wh-"
A hand snaked out of the darkness and covered her mouth, choking off her breath. The edges of her vision turned blurry and a deep buzz muffled her ears. She heard Lucy's faint voice ask her a question, but she could no longer see her friend. She caught Rogue's eye across from her and his face filled with fear. His mouth formed her name...and everything went dark.
Dun dun duuuunnnn! I should just leave it here for a few days, let ya sweat a little...but I won't gihee