Juvia POV


Lisanna and I made it to the center of the town where a large building was. It resembled a library and even had a sign hanging in front of the door that was blank.

"Do you think that this is the place that Card told us about?" I asked.

"Oh no, I'm sure that there's another giant library at the middle of the town around here."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit your character..."

"I know, sorry. I was just trying it out."

"Juvia forgives you. Now, come on," I began to push open the double doors to the building.

We headed inside of the building, but we left the doors open so that way if one of the others came across the building, it was an incentive to come inside. That way if we needed help, we would get it.

"You know, this place looks more like a museum than a library," Lisanna pointed out.

For a moment, I just stare at the shelves and shelves of books before me. From far away, the shelves are a collage of stories, each story taking the physical form of a book with its own unique size and color. The shelves are quilts of writing, they are stages of an art unique from any other.

"Outside appearances can be deceiving," I responded.

"No kidding."

We walked down the hall past quite a lot of shelves filled with books.

After a while, we came to a part of the hallway that was cluttered with old pottery and a wooden sign hanging from the ceiling.

"Please do not harm the pottery," I read aloud. "Rule breakers will be severely punished by the guards."

"What guards?" Lisanna asked, looking around. "I don't see any guards here."

I noticed statues standing at the other end of the hall, shaped to look like ancient warriors complete with armor.

"Maybe it means them?" I pointed to the statues.

"...Juvia, those are statues," Lisanna said, looking at me with a deadpan expression.

"Juvia knows, but this is a dream world where anything can happen, remember?"

Lisanna face-palmed.

"And even if anything can't happen here, maybe the statues are enchanted?" I suggested. "Paw does seem powerful enough to do that sort of thing, after all."

Lisanna face-palmed with her other hand. X-Box Achievement: Double Facepalm

"How did I not think of that?" the ivory haired girl groaned.

"Juvia doesn't know," I answered. "Maybe you couldn't help but forget? A lot of strange and unsettling stuff has occurred today."

"Yeah, that's probably it," Lisanna removed her hands from her face. "Anyways, let's go."

We slowly made our way through the hallway, being careful to not knock over and break any of the pottery. It took a while, but we made it to the other side of the hallway without breaking the items.

"Finally across..." Lisanna was relieved to finally be out of the hallway, as was I.

We continued through the building, coming across a few similar hallways. But when we had finally reached the end, we came to a pair of fancy looking double doors that had warrior statues sitting on both sides of it.

"Levy must be in here," Lisanna predicted. "Are you ready to go in?"

"Juvia is ready, but be careful."

"I'm not planning on letting my guard down even for a second," said Lisanna with an unintended pun. "Especially when Paw could be in there with her."

"That's not the only reason for you to be careful...the statues could come to life and attack us when you touch the doors if they're enchanted like the others," I warned her.

"How do I not think of this stuff?" she grumbled to herself, sounding irritated.

"Don't beat yourself up...you are probably just too focused on the task at hand that you forget to think about it," I responded. "But come on, let's go."

Lisanna grabbed the door handles and tried to open them up, but they were too heavy. I ended up having to help her push them open, and luckily the statues didn't come to life and attack us during this.

That's a relief. I thought to myself.

Once the doors were open, we headed inside and the doors shut behind us.

The walls of the room all had old paintings hung up on them, and there was a regal looking throne at the other end of the room. A long, jade green rug with tassels on the sides lead up to the throne, and big letters made out of all sorts of fonts were embedded into the floor, almost looking like just a normal part of the ground.

"Wow, this book looks like it's thousands of years old," the real Levy was sitting on the throne, her legs crossed. "Are you sure that it's okay for me to read it?"

"Of course I'm sure," Paw-in-the-form-of-Gajeel was offering an ancient looking tome to her. "I'm sure that you'll take great care of it."

"Thanks!" she smiled as she took it from him.

Levy delicately opened up the book and began to read it as Paw moved to stand at the side of the throne. She glanced over, apparently seeing us, and couldn't stop herself from frowning.

"Oh great, just great..." I could hear Paw mutter to herself. "I knew it was a bad idea, letting those four take care of them. But did I listen to my instincts? Noooo, of course I didn't."

Paw was about to head towards us and most likely attack, when Levy looked up from her book.

"Gajeel? Did you say something?"

Levy noticed us and smiled in our direction.

"Oh, hello there!" she greeted us in a cheerful manner. "Who are you?"

"Levy, it's Lisanna and Juvia," I tried to tell her.

"Don't tell me you don't remember us," Lisanna frowned.

"Remember you? But how could I remember you if I don't even know who you are?" she tilted her head, not understanding. "And how do you know my name?"

"Because we're your friends and you need to remember us. If you don't, then you might die," Lisanna explained.

"I might? Doesn't that mean you're not sure if I'll die or not?"

"Well, we don't exactly know if you'll die or not because you weren't pulled into your dreams by Paw like the others, so..." I couldn't stop herself from trailing off.

"Then that means that there's a large chance that I'll be completely fine!" the smile returned to her face. "And if there is someone named Paw that's coming after me, Gajeel will protect me, right?"

'Gajeel' looked at her and nodded.

"Right, I'll protect you. But there's no need for me to do so," she responded. "Paw wouldn't hurt a fly."

"If that's the case, there's really nothing to worry about," Levy turned her attention back to us. "So I appreciate your concern for me, but you don't have to worry. I'm not in any danger."

"He or she or whatever is lying to you right now!" Lisanna loudly exclaimed.

Levy frowned at that as she gingerly closed the book, placed it off to the side, and standing up from her throne.

"You know, there's not supposed to be any loud voices in a place like this," she spoke in a soft tone, but was audible enough for us to hear. "And I don't like the fact that you called my friend a liar, either, when he's been nothing but truthful to me."

"We're sorry, but-"

"I've heard just about enough from you. You're not even supposed to be in here...this room is off limits to everyone but Gajeel and I," she shifted her attention to Paw. "Gajeel, could you please get rid of them for me?"

"Gladly," Paw smirked, her teeth slowly becoming sharp and her eyes turning turquoise as well.

She began to walk toward us as we got ready to fight.

"Stay away from us!" Lisanna yelled.

"No can do, you broke the rules...didn't you see the sign above the door?" Paw asked as she marched towards us. "Trespassers will be punished, and you fit right into that category."

Paw was only a few feet away from us when the doors hurled open, causing her to stop.

"Shrimp!"

We looked behind us to see that Gajeel was here, and my beloved Gray with him.

"Gray-sama!" I was so happy to see him. "You found Gajeel!"

"He wasn't hard to find him," he responded. "I heard him yelling like a madman from halfway across town. Dude has some fucking lungs."

Gajeel ran towards Levy, but Paw quickly blocked his path.

"Get out of my way," Gajeel growled at her.

"I'll get of your way if you turn around and leave," Paw snapped.

"Not a chance," Gajeel threw a punch, but Paw leaned to the side in order to dodge it.

"Eh? Two Gajeel's?" Levy sounded confuzzled. "How is that possible?"

"Simple! This one isn't real!" Gajeel tried to tell her as he continued trying to attack Paw, but she kept moving out of the way. "This Gajeel is a monster in disguise, shrimp! I'm the real deal!"

"How are you my real friend if you're the one calling me names?" Levy frowned.

"I'm not calling you names! It's more like a nickname!" Gajeel claimed.

"Bullshit! What kind of nickname is 'shrimp'?" Paw asked as she dodged his attacks. "He's a fake, Levy! Don't listen to him!"

"She's lying, Levy! Don't listen to her!" the iron dragon slayer beseeched, continuing to try and hit her.

"No, you're lying!"

"I, ummm...uhhh..." Levy didn't know what to think, torn between the pair.

The fight between the two continued with Gajeel throwing attacks and Paw dodging them like it was nothing.

"Ugh...forget this," Gray huffed impatiently. "Juvia, I need you to make the floor from here to Paw wet; try to make her legs wet too if you can."

"Yes, Gray-sama!" I obeyed, happy to serve my love's needs.

I used my magic to make a large puddle connecting from Paw's legs to the ground in front of us. Paw was too distracted with dodging Gajeel's attacks to notice that her legs were soaked in my water.

"Thanks, Juvia," he thanked me.

Gray stepped in the puddle and used his magic to freeze it, ice spreading from the water to Paw's legs. They became frozen, rendering her unable to move.

"H-hey!" she stuttered, "No fair!"

"Gajeel, go to Levy!" Gray yelled to the dragon slayer. "I'll keep Paw from bothering you."

"Thanks, stripper," Gajeel replied.

Gajeel turned his attention to Levy, who couldn't help but flinch when his gaze locked onto her. He then began to walk toward the blue haired girl.

"Stay away from me!" she squeaked, pressing her back against her throne.

"Shrimp, it's me...the real Gajeel. I'm not gonna hurt ya, so calm down," he said slowly, continuing his advance towards her.

"But how do I know that you're the real one and not just a trick or an illusion?" she demanded. "Or if you're just lying?"

"Take off that scarf and you'll see," Gajeel assumed that it wasn't keeping her asleep like Wendy's. "I bet that you'll remember everything if you just take it off."

"No, I can't...Gajeel told me to never take it off because it's a symbol of our friendship," she pleaded, "and even if you are the real one, then that means you were one of the people who forgot about me in that hole and left me behind."

"What?" Gajeel stopped.

"I was trapped down in a hole before the Gajeel over there saved me. He gave me the scarf that I'm wearing and told me my friends forgot about me and left me there," Levy explained, her eyes full of hurt. "So if you are my real friend, then that means you left me behind to rot in that place."

"And what kind of friend does-?" Paw tried to ask.

"Quiet you," Gray commanded, putting his hand on her mouth and freezing it over, forming a makeshift gag. Her eyes widened in surprise. She tried struggling to get it off, to no avail.

"Hey...before I say what I'm about to say, none of this leaves this room and it never happened either," Gajeel looked over his shoulder at us. "Got it?"

We nodded, and Gajeel looked back at Levy who was glaring daggers at him.

"Shrimp, I didn't forget about you. The reason I didn't come after you was cause I didn't know you were trapped in a hole. But if I did, then I would've gone back," he told her. "I couldn't stop thinking about you while we were saving Wendy."

"What?" her tawny brown eyes softened as she gazed at him.

"Hell, I would never admit this in a million years, but you mean enough to me to the point where I don't care if these guys hear me say it," Gajeel chuckled. "If it means that I can bring ya back to your senses, then I'll say it as much as I have to. I care about you."

"You...no...how do I know that you aren't just saying that?" Levy pressed further back into the chair.

"If I didn't care about ya, then I wouldn't have gotten this for you, would I?" he asked, taking out the satchel. "Here, catch."

Gajeel tossed it to her and Levy caught it. She held it in her hands, looking over it.

"What...what is this?"

"It's a bag. I got it for you at a store we came across," he answered, "you kept dropping your papers, so I thought that you could use it. If I didn't care about ya then I wouldn't of thought of you, now would I?"

She looked at him with a small smile on her face.

"You do care..." she said softly, looking at him with gleaming eyes.

"Right, I do. Now take off the scarf," Gajeel told her. "Trust me, you'll remember everything."

Levy seemed slightly reluctant as she reached for her scarf with one hand.

"Nfh! Dohf!" Paw tried to plead, but her voice was muffled by the ice.

Levy pulled off her scarf and Paw's eyes looked slightly heartbroken, but I didn't say anything about it.

"So? Did it work or what?" Gajeel asked.

"It worked, I remember everything," Levy answered. "Sorry that I let myself get caught."

"Don't worry about it, just come on," Gajeel said, motioning her over to him.

Levy headed towards Gajeel and stopped in front of him.

"Oh and Gajeel, thanks for caring about me," she smiled at him, and he blushed.

"W-whatever, just don't mention it. I'm serious...don't," he commanded, looking away from her like the tsundere he was. "Now, let's go."

Gajeel and Levy walked towards us, but Levy stopped when she was in front of Paw.

"Shrimp? Why'd you stop?"

"Gray, can you take the ice off this thing's mouth?" she requested. "I want to ask it something."

"Sure, but it's a her, not an it," the devil slayer answered, walking back over to Paw.

"How do you know that?"

"Long story, but it happened after we rescued Wendy," he replied. "Apparently, she's called a PawPrinted Dream Dweller, but we call her Paw because she said she doesn't have a name."

"Oh."

Gray came over and dispelled the ice that was preventing Paw from vocalizing.

"Okay, now that you can talk, I want you to tell me something," Levy spoke to her. "Why did you come after me?"

"Because I saw that you were trapped so I came up with a plan. I would kidnap you so your friends wouldn't have their information anymore, that way there would be a larger chance of failure for them," Paw explained. "And once it was all over, I was planning to get rid of you, but I got attatched to you and I wanted to love you like how I love the others."

"If you wanted to love me, then why did you manipulate my mind and make me forget my friends?" Levy asked, frowning.

"Is there some other way to love people?" she looked confused.

"Yes, there are many different ways."

"Different ways to love people? That sounds silly...there's only one way for someone like me to never be lonely again, and that's by loving them and making sure that they'll never leave you!" Paw claimed, before her eyes sifted over to the boys.

"If the ones you loved were threatened to be taken from you, wouldn't you do everything in your power to stop that?"

Gajeel averted his eyes, and I frowned. I knew how Gajeel only had a few people truly close to him, and not much else...he would definitely relate to her words. My eyes moved over to Gray, who was looking at the floor, his body tense. My beloved Gray has lost everyone he's ever loved his whole life, of course he knows how that feels. It probably haunts him every day...just what kind of game is this she-beast playing at?

"But you don't have to-"

"I'm done listening, so you listen instead...if you want you leave me when I've done nothing but love you, then go ahead. Just don't come back," Paw snarled, causing the entire left half of her body to become enveloped in shadowy markings. "You're the one choosing to abandon me, after all."

Paw's voice sounded both angry and hurt. She shut her eyes tightly as she turned her head away from Levy.

"That goes for you and the other two! If you choose to abandon me after all I've done is love you, then don't come back!" she yelled.

Paw began to disappear after that.

"Wait!" Levy tried to stop her, but it was too late. She was gone.

"You know, even though she's the enemy, I can't help but feel sorry for her now," Levy frowned.

"Why's that?"

"She feels so alone despite the fact that there's all these people around her, real or not. But now that she isn't lonely anymore, all of her friends are leaving her and being taken away," she answered.

"There's nothing we can do to fix that though," I reminded her. "If we don't rescue the people that are trapped here, then they'll die."

"I know, but still..." Levy looked a bit sad.

"Just try not to think about it," Gajeel told her. "That'll probably help you."

"I'll try to," Levy responded.

"Anyways, let's get out of here," Lisanna said. "The others are probably looking for us right now."

We left the room after that, but I was unable to get Paw's words out of my head.


PawPrint-Writer(author): Raise your hand if you feel sorry for Paw *raises hand* but don't raise your hand if you don't.

Review plz?

RevlisCharm(beta): *also raises hand*