They found Pantherlily exhausted and lying next to the entrance. He had been overwhelmed by the amount of men that Jose had brought with him and they had left him for dead. Fortunately, the large cat was much more durable than they had thought and was sloppily trying to patch himself up.

"You're supposed to warn me when we're raided, cat," Gajeel growled, although the worry for his friend was clear on his face. Wendy rushed to his side, taking the stitching needle he held in his hand and sewing the wound on his side together.

"I'll remember that next time," he grunted, flinching with the effort. Once the small girl had finished, he bowed in thanks and painfully pulled himself to his feet, "So… we're retrieving Levy?"

"We? You might need to stay here," Gajeel said, looking at him critically.

"Don't insult me," Lily growled in reply, "You look like shit too,"

"Yeah but I just need to drink something," he glared, but the panther glared back, never willing to budge when he decided something, "…Fine. But I'm not saving your ass if you get hurt,"

They embarked into the hazy void of the Dark Lands. Occasionally, Gajeel would disappear and reappear, always coming back with a little more energy than before. The others didn't seem to notice his disappearances except for Lucy who watched him warily. She didn't know what to think of the brooding man. When she'd lived in the Dark Lands, she had never actually seen a vampire, let alone travelled with one. She'd heard that vampires were fearsome creatures that stalked the night, preying on the innocent and draining their lifeless bodies of all of their blood. A blood-drinker he was, but he seemed very shy of the fearsome vampires she'd heard about who'd been able to take down armies and control blood, sometimes using it to manipulate their victims. Staring at him, she was extremely skeptical.

"You gonna keep starin', Blondie?" he growled at her after catching her watching him for the millionth time.

"How do you expect to kill Jose? He's probably the coldest man who ever walked the earth and an even worse vampire. Not to mention, he left you pinned to a wall for your efforts last time. So even if Levy is still alive, how do you expect to take him down?" she eyed him angrily.

"I have some tricks up my sleeve," he growled, his red eyes flashing, "And trust me, she's still alive,"

"How do you know?" Erza spoke up, drawing the attention of the brooding vampire.

He realized just how much of a sorry bunch they were. One were-cat that was badly wounded, a small defenseless healer girl who was whispering something to help mend his wounds, a brutish red-head who knew her way around a sword, a fire-eater that was nervously messing with a lighter, a black-haired street kid and his teary-eyed girl, a blonde heiress who seemed only good for muttering insults and shooting him suspicious looks, and a retired mercenary-turned-vampire with a bad temper. In all honesty, he had no idea whether or not Levy was alive or even if he could save her if she was still breathing. Her life hung a thin thread: Jose's battle with either removing his only threat to completely destroying the land of sunlight or torturing some poor helpless light-dweller.

"Because Jose likes to play with his food before he eats it," he muttered, desperately hoping that for once he was right.

Levy had stopped struggling long ago, resigning herself to the fact that there was no way for her to get free. It took a day for their giant group to navigate messily through the fog and finally making it to Jose's fortress. Her tears had ceased hours ago. All she felt was numb, as if this was all just a nightmare and she just desperately needed to wake up.

Went they'd gotten to Jose's huge throne room, he'd had her tied to a pole next to his cathedra. The rest of the men sat at tables strewn about the place, drinking and eating. Some of them came up to her to spit insults or make crude comments about her or what they would do to her if they could get a hold of her. She just couldn't get the thought of Gajeel out of her head. A fresh wave of sorrow rushed through her as she pictured him there, crucified in the library, left to endure pain until someone took mercy on him and let him down. She desperately hoped Lily was ok, though she was sure she'd also seen him lying on the floor dying as they'd dragged her away.

A dark shadow passed over her, "Enjoying yourself, fairy?"

She looked up into Jose's ruthless purple eyes. He smiled sadistically as he stared at her.

"What do you want with me?" she whispered, looking up at him boldly.

"Isn't it obvious? I want to kill you," he smiled, making a terror-filled chill wash through her.

"Why? What did I ever do to you?" she demanded, her brain feeling like it was about to short circuit.

"That's simple… you lived," his smile turned into a disdainful frown, "I just think its hilarious really. After all this time I'd thought I'd ridden the world of the last of the McGardens… and here you are,"

"What?"

"I'm sure you've heard of the legend that one day a human would lift the barrier that kept the dark in the Dark Lands and the light safe and sound in Fiore?" she nodded, remembering the tale. Though, she had thought it was just a child's story, "Well, I'm quite fine with the darkness we have here, in fact, I had plans to expand it. So, of course something like that would get in my way and so I did a little research and found out that the human would in fact come from the McGarden bloodline," he smiled then, a disgusting smile that made Levy's stomach turn, "Its cute… you see, before Gajeel was a vampire, he was nothing more than a mercenary. He was strong enough to endure the darkness and killed many vampires in exchange for great wealth. I was his last job, but when he came to dispatch me I offered him something better.

He killed the entirety of the McGarden family, and I granted him the power he'd been searching for,"

Levy's stomach seized. She could feel the color drain from her face. She'd always known she'd been adopted but her parents had just told her that they had never known her biological parents whenever she'd asked. She had never put much research into tracing her bloodline, not that she really could without knowing her parents' names. She'd never dreamed she'd had a family that lived in the Dark Lands… or that they had all been brutally murdered by none other than the vampire she had come to know and, yes, even love. She felt like her world was shattering around her.

The despair in her eyes made Jose smile, "Your entire existence was due to his weakness that day. He trapped your family in their house and burned it to the ground, all except your mother who managed to escape, but he quickly killed her as well. I had never realized that she had been trying to protect you, or that he had betrayed me by hiding you in Fiore. But none of that matters now, because now, you're mine,"

Tears ran down Levy's cheeks as she looked at him, her voice coming out firm and defiant in front of the monster before her, "Gajeel will save me,"

"Please," he scoffed, his eyes flashing, "if he gets down and survives his injuries, do you honestly think he'll come for you? Who do you think commanded him to draw you into the Dark Lands? You don't honestly think he cares for you, do you?" he laughed, the sound making Levy cringe, "Vampires don't have hearts. Unfortunately for you, you had to pay for that lesson with your life,"

Suddenly, Jose's head snapped up and he narrowed his eyes at the door. Levy could hear loud noises coming from the other side, and then the doors swung violently open as a man flew into the hall, landing at Jose's feet like a ragdoll. Levy gasped, looking to the door.

She didn't know whether to feel joy or terror.

Gajeel stood in the doorway, fury making his red eyes almost iridescent. His hands were spread, the tips of his fingers elongated and forming into talons. His shirt was torn and blood ran down his mouth and chest. The sight of him was so fearsome it put Jose to shame.

"Gajeel," Jose growled, stretching out the word into a hiss.

Gajeel smiled a Cheshire cat grin, his teeth dripping blood, "Miss me?"

"Bring me his head!" Jose barked. All of the men in the hall jumped to their feet and charged. Suddenly, fire burst into the hall, sending them sprawling back. Familiar pink hair charged into the room, tilting his head back and blowing on the lighter in his hand, sending fire spiraling towards their attackers. Erza and Lily burst in after him, both furiously cutting through men with their swords. Juvia and Grey burst in as well, followed by Lucy and Wendy.

Gajeel's eyes locked with Jose's and he headed straight for him, slicing the throats of anyone who got in his way. Jose didn't seem fazed; he just watched Gajeel's approach, a growl coming from his lips.

The two vampires clashed, growling and hissing at each other like animals. Gajeel grabbed Jose by the arm and used his brute strength to sling him against the wall. Jose tried to brace himself and brought his leg up to kick Gajeel in the jaw, sending him tumbling backwards. He pounced on him but Gajeel rolled out of the way and grabbed his face, slamming it into the ground over and over and over again until Jose's face was gushing blood.

Suddenly, men poured into the hall, filling it to the brim with fighting bodies. One by one, each of her friends were taken down. Levy's small bit of hope suddenly began being snuffed out as three men grabbed a hold of Gajeel, dragging him off of their bloodied leader. It took several of them to restrain him, pulling him to the ground and twisting his arms back almost far enough to break them.

His eyes seared with hatred.

Jose gathered himself as the rest of Levy's friends were brought forward behind Gajeel. He wiped the blood from his mouth, spitting on the ground in front of Gajeel. He walked over to his throne and pulled out a sword from behind it. He bared his teeth at them.

"So, you came to save her, did you?" he growled spitefully, "Well, now you all get to watch her die,"