Chapter 10: Trust and Acceptance
Summary: The chapter wherein we saw a glimpse of the dragon's tortured past and... the arrival of prince charming. Well, as charming as the lightning bastard can be. ^_^
Disclaimer: Fairytail and its characters belong to the amazing manga artist Hiro Mashima. Some dialogues in this chapter were taken directly from the classic movie Beauty and the Beast. These were marked with bold fonts to allow the readers to distinguish the dialogue taken from the actual movie.
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly
Just a little change
Small, to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast, 1991
"The rampaging dragon you saw… that was my father. Metalicanna."
Golden eyes widened at the revelation. "Then, why did you give up on finding your… Your Father?"
There was a heavy pause before he grimly stated. "He would not want to see the man I have turned out to be. It seems I have become the very thing I despised the most. Instead of becoming the hero like I envisioned when I was young, I never imagined I would become the villain who would stop at nothing to get my revenge. "
Levy's brow creased in confusion. "I- I don't understand. How –"
"Metallicana was lured by a mage who had stolen something valuable to him. Half mad with rage, he went into the enemy's lair risking everything for that blasted trinket. " It was then Levy realized he was talking about the pendant which he had given earlier. Dainty fingers instantly flew to the ornament as she let every information sink in her muddled mind.
"You caught on quick, Fairy." He appraised – his eyes lingered to the pendant as if accusing it for everything that had happened. "It was ironic. That trinket was everything to my father and nothing but a tool to the bastard who started all this."
"Funny how something so trivial can be someone's blessing and a curse for someone else. When I learned of my father's unknown fate, I vowed to get stronger. Half dragons couldn't transform fully until there were at the right age. With nothing on my mind but vengeance, I made a deal with the master of the Raventail." A desolate smile appeared on his face, his laughter dying on a broken note.
"Little did I know I was just a pawn waiting to be moved across the board of their game."
"I took the bait, telling them the secret the dragons had kept for years in an exchange to speed up the process of transforming me a full pledged dragon. I told him about the lacrima – its existence was so rare only the mightiest dragons knew where it can be found. . "
When he finally spoke, his voice held that tone full of remorse and regret. " Later on, I realized the very person who attacked my father was the same man who I blindly trusted with my father's secret. Ivan Dreyar."
Her breathe hitched as the new found information struck her.
"He went berserk when I was dangled some mere plaything right before his eyes. It didn't help that the lacrima had already transformed me. " Something in those narrowed, tortured eyes made her want to reach out to him. Yet she stood there unflinching, face impassive as she refused to give away any hint she knew the man who caused his grief.
It was the Master's prodigal son.
"I was... No, I am still carrying that burden. It didn't help the lacrima had side effects when it was mixed with the blood of a dragon rushing in my veins. I could change into this human form just like my mother but… this steel and scales covering me like a second skin-" a midst the shadow, the haunted look in his eyes were apparent.
"It stayed like an ugly reminder of how hell bent I am on revenge. … "
It was about retribution. Justice to his father. A revenge for forcefully taking what was HIS... His confession caught her off guard.
Here was a flawed hero trying to right his wrongs. Here was a warrior, hardened by the hands of time as he survived countless of struggles. Here was a man who had shed his armor, his heart bare in exchange for someone's trust. Levy now held it in the palm of her hands and she realized…
The dragon has given her a choice:
Either to crush this hope thereby granting her the freedom she badly, desperately wanted and go back to her guild – her old life. Or… she could move forward leaving the life she knew in exchange for something she realized she wanted more than her freedom...
His trust.
With a new resolve, she decided to take a leap of faith. Levy didn't know when she had started to stretch out her hands in an attempt to reach him in the dark. Then she felt him, hard and cold as his iron component yet it didn't deter her from capturing the face she was not allowed to see.
Levy tried searching his scars with her fingertips – realizing for the first time, the deepest wounds inflicted on him reside not in his face or body, but embedded deep on his soul. "Do you know what scars do? They tell a story of a battle, of fight struggle to be won."
The moment he looked at her in the eyes, he wavered. He had seen his reflection countless of times in the eyes of the victim he had ruthlessly attacked and killed. Had seen that unflinching cold reflection of his in the eyes of many men who swore vengeance on him. However, the man gazing back at him from those deep golden eyes was completely a stranger.
A stranger who he might have been if he wasn't plagued by the gruesome past.
A stranger who still had a chance of correcting every wrong he had done.
A stranger... who might have a chance to be with her.
" It tells a story of triumph of victory, of conquering your enemies." Her voice brought him out of his self pity. " These blemishes can be a reminder of your past, but you have survived, Gajeel. YOU are alive to tell the tale. "
Fighting a growl, he kissed the hand nearest to his lips. "How could you freely offer yourself to this beast whose face, whose life, you don't even know?"
This made her pause. She scolded for feeling this way – for feeling secure in the arms of this stranger when, ironically, he could be the greatest danger she would ever have to face.
"Your face, your identity... those things I may not know. And I won't pry until you're ready to tell me who you truly are." Her hands cupped his face lovingly, "As for now..."
"I'm content to love neither a beast nor a monster... but simply a man held back by his curse."
Amidst the dark, she trailed light kisses over each wound, each blemish, each cut.
"None of your scars can make me love you less." Her hands wandered tracing a fine finger over a scar across his well defined chest – savoring the increasing beat of his heart against her palm.
His eyes firmly shut as his grip tightened more in the sheets of the cushion. Control… He told himself. This maiden doesn't know what she was asking for. He had to bite his lips to keep from moaning beneath her sensual touch. The taste of blood lingered bitterly in his was not a word any beast like him lived by. He never knew the essence of the word until this maiden lived in his abode. And this game she played – this dangerous game is one of the most agonizing battles he had ever fought in years.
Gajeel was aroused knowing his surrender promised him of sweet torture and blissful agony. Every ounce of self restraint breaking, he grabbed her and sealed her lips with his. He dragged her bottom lips , drawing out every ounce of pleasure in that heated kiss. He savored the luscious intoxication of her, the way how her body seemed to fit just perfectly beneath him, and how she doesn't even put up a fight in this battle.
His lips hovered above hers just close enough to tease her with a kiss when suddenly...The whole freaking lair shook with a blast of lightning.
.
..
…
Bloody heck…
Whoever came barging in his den just have to do it at the WRONG TIME!
It seriously pissed him off… just when he was getting hard and arouse. Tch! Gajeel gritted his teeth. He'll throttle the bastard with all his might and maybe all these pent up desires will go away!
"L-lightning?" her voice was incredulous and it brought Gajeel back from his reverie. "There's no way… no it can't be. But there's only one mage who have that kind of power!"
Without thinking, she ran to the open door and bolted out as she called for his name. "LAXUS!"
What the…
What the hell just happened?!
The dragon was left there dumbfounded - unable to comprehend everything. Then, as the realization dawned in him, he clenched his fists as he felt betrayed, hurt. Were all of these just a pretense? A mere charade?! Her kisses and promises might have been nothing but sugar coated lies. And he was foolish to take the bait and believe that someone could finally accept him...
Still … why did it struck a nerve when his keen sense heard the hope in her voice as she uttered the name of this stranger?
"But really Laxus, there's no need –" his ears perked up at those words. A new hope surged in him. But just as he glanced down his lair, an emotion he had long forgotten stirred inside him.
Fear.
It took a numb moment to recognize the man standing below his abode radiated something close to resentment and saw the stranger's fist sparkling with…
With lightning?
His blood ran cold.
Time seemed to unfold as if it cruelly, deliberately slowed down. The seconds ticking were like a grim indication of the foreboding moment that was about to unfurl. As realization struck, a snarl of distress rumbled out of his chest as he tried to stop the inevitable. The moment the stranger gathered a large amount of lightning in one fist, Gajeel blasted the iron walls without thinking of the consequence.
Adrenaline rushed through his veins and he dashed out from the blasted ruins – just in time to see the lithe figure of a woman welcoming with open arms the doom that could possibly become her death.
Levy ran down the glen, unable to suppress the smile that blossomed on her lips. "L-Laxus! I'm so glad you found me!" Her voice was lilt with anticipation of meeting a familiar face. "But really Laxus, there's no need –"
A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed.
Levy shut her eyes bracing for the impact. When a second had passed and she was sure the lightning should have reached her, she opened her eyes just in time to see the black scales not of a man but a large hulking dragon made of steel.
"Ga- Gajeel?!" her mouth dropped in pure unconcealed horror when a trickle of blood dripped on the dragon's left arm, effectively staining the grass below. Then her eyes turned to her former comrade. A look of indifference was all he cast at her. Her lips quivered in grief. Levy never felt so betrayed and unwanted in her life.
"Levy… Leave." The beast growled. When she hesitated, he snarled at her. "THAT'S NOT A REQUEST!" (1)
Levy was tempted to defy him but the tone in his voice hold no room for objection. How ironic that a mere stranger would willingly protect her from one of the people she eagerly wanted to return to.
"So, the rumors are true about other existence of monsters like you, eh?"
Gajeel growled in derision. "It fucking makes me wonder who the real monster here is."
The only answer he got from the lightning mage was an arrogant infuriating smile. Gajeel snapped his jaw open in a savage growl, revealing razor like pointed teeth. "Want to find out?" Laxus mocked. "How were able to persuade her in trusting you? Flowers… Chocolates… Promises you don't intent to keep?" (2)
"I don't know who you are," the dragon snarled ignoring his taunts. "But striking a blasted bolt to your comrade? Some kind of friend you are, bastard. "
"I know of no acquaintance who are weak, beast!" Laxus retorted back. "Tell her there's no one waiting for her back in the guild! She never have to-"
"I HAVE NO INTENTION OF GIVING HER BACK IN THE FIRST PLACE!" He fired back furious. Gajeel was seething. Rage visible in those maddening scarlet eyes. Are these the kind of companions she desperately wanted to return to?
The dragon and the lightning mage assessed each other. While the lightning mage was much smaller in physique due to his form as a dragon, he wasn't taking any chance.
Then it happened.
With a loud cry of fury, Laxus conjured bolts of electricity aimed for the dragon. Gajeel instantly went on defense, effectively covering his body with iron steel scales aside from metal. He delivered his attacks with precise movement all the while avoiding the bolts of lightning meant for him. A lightning imbued fist shot out straight to his chest as Laxus released a large amount of electricity. His fist collided with the metal scales that made the dragon staggered backwards.
A crack appeared and black steel plates broke near his chest. If there's one weak spot a dragon has, it would be near that area to allow their hearts to beat freely from the thick hard scales.
"You want to play, bastard? Alright. I won't hold back this time." A cynical almost twisted smile was all the dragon cast before he became one with the night. Crimson red eyes crinkled in dark amusement before it turned to onyx black. His expression was savage- animalistic as she never had witnessed before.
And like a shadow that blended into the night, he taunted his prey before attacking him with swift deadly assaults. "SHOW YOUR SELF!" Before the lightning mage can move, a shadowed claw grabbed his foot from below and immediately pulled him inside the ground.
Silence ensued for a while…
Before several metal poles with pointed spikes abruptly shot up from the ground and Levy didn't even know who was left alive. But there's one thing she realized, that wasn't Gajeel.
A blast of lightning made the ground beneath her rumble. Then suddenly, the earth gave way showing a crater where both of them sprawled across the ruin yet both were adamant in giving in. The mage and the dragon were both spent and injured from each other's attacks. Laxus was heaving and furious.
"LIGHTNING DRAGON'S ROAR!" this immediate revelation made Gajeel stop in his tracks thereby taking a direct heat from Laxus.
"G-Gajeel!"
Even with the destructive blast and high damage it caused him, the dragon survived but it left him paralyzed from electric shock."You maybe a dragon in your own right, but I can fight in par with you as long as I have this lacrima implanted in me!"
Lacrima…?
"Ba-bastard… where the hell did you learn it?! Who gave you that information?!" Just when the dragon was standing up, Laxus wasted no time in generating another blast of electricity to strike the injured beast.
"SOLID SCRIPT: ROCK!" If lighting has one weakness, it would be the ground. And true enough, her magic prevented the attack from reaching Gajeel.
Yet Laxus was determined to end everything with his wrath. "RAIRYU NO HOKEN!"
The script mage can only hold on for that long. Her powers weren't in par with his monstrous ability to generate lightning bolts at his will. True enough, the shield broke after a while.
"Tch! Pathetic! THIS is the excuse my father wants to save and bring back to the guild?!" Laxus bellowed, a streak of lightning ignited at the tip of his fingers as he walked toward the script mage.
"It's because of you and your feeble magic that made the guild look weak! TRASH! "Levy stood her ground. While she may be physically weaker and smaller than this man, she wouldn't back down he thought she would cower in his presence, then he's sorely mistaken. With the pen tightly gripped in her hand, she was about to cast a word when a metal pole sailed past her shoulder and struck Laxus right in the face.
Her mouth dropped in shock.
"YOU'RE STILL BLOODY ALIVE?!" Levy and Laxus both exclaimed in unision.
"IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!" Gajeel's attacks spiraled into a tornado releasing shards of black metal and iron in the process. It might have inflicted heavy damage to his opponent's body but he wasn't taking any chance. The bastard was hiding powers that could par with a dragon's.
"You plan to end this fight?!" Enraged, Laxus gathered his remaining energy to produce enough electricity to hurl at his opponent. Arms raised in a fighting stance, he was about to strike the blasted creature when Levy stretched out her arms in a feeble attempt to protect the dragon.
"If you plan to kill him, you'll have to kill me too."
That simple declaration made Laxus cease midway in his attacks.
"What's stopping you, Laxus? You already threw a lightning bolt the moment you saw me! Why don't you do it again?! " Levy challenged. "And when my body is found electrocuted and burnt to crisp with the power you wield, Master will surely know his grandson is the cause of MY death."
His blue eyes widened at that realization.
"No one has the ability to produce lightning bolts with the help of … of a Lacrima. Let's see if the master will ever take back you back just the way he banished your fath-."
"DON'T MENTION THAT BASTARD IN FRONT OF ME!"His eyes blazed with fury. "I NEVER considered that man as my father!" A nerve struck him and he was tempted to strike her… but…
But she was right.
As much as he hated the girl, hurting her would only take away his only chance of getting what he wanted the most.
Acceptance from his grandfather.
Laxus hated how people under him cower at the mere sight of the power he wield yet… yet he was so defenseless to this fragile woman who wields nothing but words instead of swords. It was stupid! It was unmerited! It was … It was just so unfair! He has everything others sought to have! Power, glory, riches – even the loyalty of some of the most powerful mages. He has them at the beck of his call! He clenched his fist in anger.
But nothing…
NOTHING could compare to the one thing he craved for since he was a child. And he would do anything just to acquire what this fragile fairy has- a recognition… an acceptance…a family.
Even if it meant giving up… as for now.
"You can go to your bloody guild for all I care." The dragon said after awhile, quiet unwilling to move from his position. The words stung in his mouth. But he needed to confirm if she really wanted to be here– To be with him.
Levy turned her head and stopped in her tracks. Before her, lay a black, wounded dragon covered in bruised steel and gashes. While it was smaller than the dragon she had seen in the book, there was an unmistakable resemblance between the two mystical creatures. This dragon was nothing like the rumors described it to be, Levy realized. In place of claws, this creature has razor like knives at the tip of its paws. Instead of reptile like scales she had envisioned in her books, the creature was covered with steel plates like an ancient Japanese armor.
But the feature that stood out the most was the color of his eye. Those vermilion crimson hue- it was the color she had secretly grown to love.
Levy choked her tears as she realized who this creature is.
"Ga-Gajeel…?" a tear glided down her cheek as she stared at the dragon's eyes; that look - she knew she had seen it numerous times on her captive's face. She will always recognize those deep maddening eyes no matter what form he is.
When the dragon refused to meet her in the eye, she tried to soothe him. "I'm … I'm sorry for dashing out in the glen." After all, she did run out of the castle without speaking any word to him.
"I…I never plan to go anywhere. I was just overwhelmed and happy that someone- "
"I heard it back then." He grumbled. "Still, if you plan on breaking your promise, you might as well save –"
"Don't Say that! We're here together now. (3) " Levy bit her lips. "I never planned on living you…"
Still, the dragon was adamant to block her out. Holding the jaw of the dragon, she looked at him squarely in the eye and affirmed. " I came back. I couldn't let him-" (4)
"It's not that I'm stopping you or anything." He gruffly retorted back.
Unnerved by his indifference, Levy clenched and unclenched her fist. No matter what form he is – he is still the galling, exasperating beast she knew!
She wasn't expecting this blasted creature to utter something in the lines of "You came back."(5) She would never admit it but she was quiet disappointed- disillusioned even! She had memorized the coming up lines word by word , she was even ready to lift his big paw and…
Levy furiously shook her head to ward off such far fetch dream. She wasn't expecting anything!
At least the temperamental beast in her favorite story was quiet tolerable unlike… unlike THIS BEAST in front of her!
When she still didn't receive a response, she puffed her cheeks in aggravation and stomped in the opposite direction. Fine! He wanted to settle things this way?
"Shall I go and tell them that you declined to devour their offering?!" Levy called back.
The dragon turned at her furiously. "AFTER YOU ASSAULTED ME WITH YOUR WAYWARD KISSES BEFORE WE WERE INTERRUPTED?! DON'T THINK I'M NOT CONSIDERING IN TAKING THAT OFFER RIGHT NOW, WOMAN!"
.
..
...
That made Levy trip.
Omake: "O-oi, you've been kissing the ground for awhile. " The dragon grudgingly stated. She lay there face flat on the ground refusing to move, her ears a bright shade of red. Then, it occurred to him.
"I'm not… I'm not THAT BAD of a kisser that you would prefer the blasted ground than me!"
Levy wanted to cry. Why did she have to be stuck in a fairytale with an insensitive, dense beast?
Author's Note: Oh, for those who were expecting the naughty tease, blame Laxus for barging in and making his debut in THE WORST TIME POSSIBLE. =P
Citations:
(1) "THAT'S NOT A REQUEST!" The MOST famous line associated with the Beast/ Adam " Beauty And The Beast, Dir. Gary Trousdale, Walt Disney Studios, 1991.
(2) "Chocolates… Flowers… Promises you don't intend to keep." Beauty And The Beast, Dir. Gary Trousdale, Walt Disney Studios, 1991.
(3) "Don't say that! We're here together now…" Beauty And The Beast, Dir. Gary Trousdale, Walt Disney Studios, 1991.
(4) "Of course I came back. I couldn't let him…" Beauty And The Beast, Dir. Gary Trousdale, Walt Disney Studios, 1991.
(5) "You came back…" Beauty And The Beast, Dir. Gary Trousdale, Walt Disney Studios, 1991.