a/n: I'm back! Sorry for being off for so long. I had writer's block for a while. To help me out with this story, could you guys comment an event or a small scene that you want to happen in the reviews. It can be something small like Levy gives Gajeel a peck on the cheek after something happens or Gajeel has to take care of an injured Levy. Anything like that really. But thanks again for reading! Love every single one of you. Mer x
Levy's breath caught as the darkness surrounded her. She couldn't help the uncontrollable trembling that began at her feet and moved towards her shoulders. The rational part of her mind couldn't console the rest of her body. It never could. Not when complete darkness was involved.
Her knees were locked and her breath hitched whenever she heard a sudden noise. Clenching her hands into fists, she began to whisper words of encouragement under her breath.
Gajeel looked over to where Levy's quiet whispering was audible. With his enhanced vision, not even he could make out objects in the shroud of black. But he knew, for a while now, that Levy was not overly fond of the dark. He slowly began to move towards to the flowery scent of old parchment and roses.
Inching closer to Levy, he could hear and sense Jopp's presence cowering under the desk. He too was shivering in fear. In fear of what? Gajeel thought. Finally reaching to where Levy's scent was the strongest, he reached out a hand and sighed when he felt the bookworm's warm waist under his hand.
Levy squealed and jumped when she felt a large object suddenly press against her waist. Her heart was hammering in her chest and her trembling got worse.
"Shhh," Gajeel murmured. "It's only me. Relax, Shrimp." He reached out again and drew Levy towards his body trying to calm her panicked state. He felt Levy's body slacken as she gave into his hold and that made him grip on even tighter. "It's okay, now. The dark ain't gonna hurt you, Shri-", he was cut off by a loud sniffle from under his chin.
Levy shifted in Gajeel's arms, coming to her senses. The dark always did that to her, ever since she was a child and that happened. Tears began running down her cheeks as she realised that Gajeel had obliviously saved her from reliving her worst memories as she usually did.
She pulled away reluctantly but grabbed Gajeel's hand instead, clutching it between both of hers.
"Tha-thank you, Gajeel..." she whispered feebly. Gajeel only grunted in response.
Now that his Shrimp wasn't trembling in fear, he was concerned with finding the source of the darkness. "Oi! Old man! Why the hell did it go dark in 'ere?" he addressed Jopp loudly.
"Sssshhhhh! No, no, be quiet! They're coming, they're coming, they're coming, they're coming, they're coming..." Jopp repeated the last words over and over again until it sounded a bit like a mantra albeit, an unhelpful one at that.
"Who's coming?" Gajeel asked. "Oi! Oldie, I'm talkin' to ye! Who's bloody coming?" Gajeel spun around, facing where he assumed the desk was and asked in a louder voice.
"I believe, that the runt was talking about us. Wouldn't you agree, Caruthe?" A new voice echoed in the darkness. The voice was beautiful and educated, clear-sounding and resonating. But what gives beauty as a first-impression usually turns out to be corrupt underneath.
"Who's there? Show yerself you bastard!" Gajeel taunted the voice, annoyed that the man behind the voice was choosing to hide behind a shroud of darkness.
The voice just laughed. "Caruthe, I think we should show ourselves to them. It was fun playing with them while it lasted."
A bright white light suddenly pierced the room, drowning everything in a harsh glow. It took the inhabitants of the room a while for their eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness. Levy looked behind and her eyes widened. Gajeel followed suit and so did Jopp.
Standing in front of the door to the office, were two tall men. The door was still closed and barred. They're projections? Levy thought to herself but mentally shook her head. No. Not projections. One of these men was able to bring forth light to repel the darkness. Magic cannot be used across projections.
"And who're you suppose' to be, eh?" she had almost forgotten that the Iron Mage, her teammate, was still standing next to her, his eagerness for a fight literally dripping in fumes from his very being. She remembered his words of consolement and her face threatened to flush red before she suppressed herself. Now's not the time, Levy. She mentally chided herself.
"Who are we?" The beautiful voice from before mused. The voice belonged to the shorter and the lankier of the two men. He was dressed in long crimson robes with gold thread embroidery on the sleeves. But anything beautiful about him ended at his neck. His face was horribly ugly as if the Creator of the Universe had decided to intentionally create the ugliest man on the planet. "Who are we, he asks!" he repeated again, with a short bark that was meant to pass as laughter. "
"Who are we, he asks!" he repeated again, with a short bark that was meant to pass as laughter. "We, are Night Omen! You would do well to remember that name, uneducated lout." The man's tone had changed from amused to disgusted in a matter of mere moments.
"Memik," the man's companion spoke, preventing Gajeel from launching into a series of comebacks he had ready for the ugly man.
"These commoner's are not worth our time. Get rid of them and continue with the planning." The second man was more broad in the shoulders than the first man, Memik. He was middle-aged, but anyone could see that he was handsome in his youth. He too wore long robes of the same fashion, though his were a deep midnight blue and the embroidery was in silver.
"I shall see it done, Caruthe," Memik took a step forward and raised a hand, palm facing away from him. His eyes glowed an eerie green as he proceeded with his magic.
"Oi! What do ye think yer-"
"Wait! You can't-"
Both Levy and Gajeel were cut off from their simultaneous protests as the air they were breathing began to thin. A few moments later, the life was visibly drawn from their faces, cheekbones prominent against the stretched skin of their face. Levy knew no-one would last much longer if the man continued sucking out their life source.
"ARRGGHHH!" Levy whipped her head around as fast as her weakened state would let her.
Somehow, despite having his very soul sucked out of him, Gajeel had managed to attack Caruthe, temporarily throwing Memik off balance.
That moment's hesitation on Memik's behalf allowed enough oxygen to return to Levy that she had already figured out the flaw in Memik's magic.
She drew herself up to her feet and took out her Solid Script pen. "I. Don't. Need. Gajeel. To save. Me." Levy wheezed out forcibly. I can fight my own battles! she finished her thought as she began to write in the air.
Gajeel was already engaged in a full-scale fight with the leader of the pair. His right arm was now an iron pole barring Caruthe from backing away any further and he was using his bare left arm as a shield against the intense white light the dark mage was aiming at his eyes.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw a flicker of orange and swish of blue. His Shrimp had stood up to fight and with an eager expression on her face was writing in the air. Gihi, he thought, I can't let my Shrimp be the only one winning. He pulled his attention back to Caruthe, and with more intensity than ever, he barrelled into the older man.