Chapter 14 : Retrieval

Crawling in the vents proved to be difficult for Gajeel. Unlike Levy he was large and barely fit in the vents, moving was nearly impossible. Every step forward was a strenuous activity. He swore he would pummel that Jellal guy into the ground just for the sole reason of causing him to have to crawl in this stupid ass vents. Eventually, thankfully, he and Levy made it to the desired location. It really was perfect. The vent was on the ceiling in the corner of the Throne Room Erza was talking about. It was large enough that Gajeel could easily fit through it. He looked cautiously through the vent, trying to see how many people were in the room. He only saw one man with blue hair who must of been Jellal. He sat in his throne like a true King, admiring his chess set nearby. He lazily moved the pieces around until he heard the knocking of the door. Three short knocks was all it took to snap his attention from the chess board.

"Enter" He said simply.

Erza walked in. The plan was in motion, he just needed to wait for her signal. She walked with purpose towards the bluenette, who Gajeel just noticed had a red tattoo underneath his eye. She crossed her arms and spoke with distance "I've checked with all the guards. No disturbances."

"Hmm that is quite strange" He turned around and returned to his chess game. Picking up the black king and looking at the piece in his hand "Very interesting"

She perked up, nerves flashed through her eyes "Sir?"

He turned back around, piece in hand "I am finding quite a few disturbances."

"Sir?" Gajeel could see Erza swallow thickly.

Jellal casually walked over to the middle of the room towards the book. He stood in front of it and stared at it perched onto a pedestal. He placed the chess piece in front of the book with knowing. With an intent that made the hair on the back of Gajeel's neck stand up. Jellal spoke softly "Erza I was truly hoping you wouldn't betray me, but I suppose these things can't be helped."

Gajeel couldn't wait any longer. If he knew something was up and if he knew there was a "disturbance" then he probably knew about him and everyone else who had come to get the book. Probably knew about Levy, which might result in her getting hurt.

He looked at Levy, who was crouched in the opposite side of the vent seeing the whole scene play out before her. He could see the fear in her eyes, she knew what he knew. That there was an excellent chance that there existence was known and so their safety was at risk. He had to act. He slammed through the grate landing on the floor with a loud, deafening thud. Erza's head snapped towards him and he wasn't sure whether she was mad or grateful for his presence. Jellal on the other hand didn't move at all. He just hummed with a little half smile and looked deep into Erza's eyes. When they had eye contact he smirked "So this is the man you brought to take me down huh Erza?"

Erza didn't saw anything, the words seemingly locked in her throat. He just laughed at her lack of her response and turned his attention to Gajeel. "So let's begin"

With that Gajeel released an iron punch and his arm turned into a steel and jutted out to attack Jellal. He swiftly dodged the blow and so Gajeel tired to follow him in order to slam him into the wall. Jellal was to swift for his movements so he returned his arms to their previous state. As Gajeel completed this action Jellal seemed to come down from the sky to deliver a kick to the face. Gajeel blocked this by turning his arms to metal which caused Jellal to be pushed back. He landed on his feet and just as he was about to launch another attack on Gajeel, he was faced with another barrage of attacks coming from his left. It was Erza decked out in her signature gray dress, swords surrounded her as she flew one after another after the blue headed man. He seamlessly hopped around dodging every sword going his way. Then Gajeel added upon the assault, attempting to hit him with his metal poles jutting from his arms. The combined onslaught was good enough to keep Jellal from activating any strong attacks. He was constantly pushed into a defensive position. This was good enough for now.

Levy knew this was her moment to be of use. This is why she was brought all the way her. Why she faced this risk. She stared at the book, that looked like a tome. She questioned herself, wondering if she could even pick up the book. Much less get it through all the fighting unnoticed. She just had to get Jet and Droy and they could take her back. What about the other guards? Where were they and how much of a concern would they be to her mission? She had been in the corner the whole of the Throne Room the whole time, brought down when Gajeel dropped down from the grate. She had to find her courage. Somehow. She slowly got up and crouched low, hunched over and moved as quickly as she could to rest behind the Throne. She saw the chess set and quickly grabbed a white rook. She stared at what looked marble, at the carving of a tower. Levy thought she could use the piece later as she slipped it into her pocket. She peaked out from behind the throne and looked to find Jellal's location. He was still in the middle of the room, dodging attacks. She decided when he was trapped in a corner she would move to the center of the room. Hopefully he would be to preoccupied with Gajeel and Erza to notice a small Levy crawling towards the book. It was not very long before Erza's clearly endless assault and Gajeel's powerful attacks were enough to push him into a corner on the opposite side of where the door, her escape, lay. She had no choice, now was the time.

She quickly moved, willing her body to take each step closer to the middle of the room. Before she knew it she was there. Hiding from the fighting behind a a white, short, column that held the book on its pedestal. Slowly she got up, using the column as support. She was just going to snatch the book and run out of the room, through the doors, to Jet and Droy. Simple enough, right? She asked herself, in attempt to convince herself that that was indeed the slowly turned to face the book. The book was big, she was certain it would be able to cover her entire torso and the book appeared to be made out of some kind of metal. She took a deep breath, after hearing so much about this book it was surreal seeing the book in person and being so close to it. She cautiously stuck a hand out and slowly went to reach out to the book. She tentatively grabbed the book and that's when all hell broke lose. She felt an electric shock throughout her entire body. She felt the pain rip through her body, felt the electricity course through her veins. She didn't want to scream and bring attention to herself but she was in so much pain. The choking sob that escaped her lips was a truly involuntary action. Her last actions were to hold the book with all her might as everything faded to black.

yay cliffhanger

And that's that. It's been a while, my bad.

Thanks for all those still reading :) I appreciate it sosososososo much