A/N: Oh, my heart is throbbing so greatly for my Jellal now after reading the latest Fairy Tail chapter. I can't wait to read more of him. Damn, I hope he won't die in Tartaros' hand. *sobs* I think I might wail for the whole week if that ever happens.
Chapter 6
The ground shaking fiercely, and Gray had to bend a bit just so he won't fall. Wendy, Lucy and Carla were crouching on the floor, hands cupping their own heads as the crumbles fell on them. The earthquake-like shake ended after around ten minutes and the dusts started to clear up. Gray looked around, trying to search for possible cause. Then a huge iron pillar protruding from the ceiling and went far deep into the ground came to his sight.
"Is it another enemy?" Lucy gasped.
Gray clenched his fist, ready on his stance just in case if anything happen. Then he felt someone approaching. Oh shit. Are they not done? Are they facing another enemy now?
But the familiar long black haired figure that landed in front of them was someone they totally didn't expect.
"Gajeel!"
"Yo! I came to save your asses, gihee," he brushed his spiky black hair as he rested his palm on his iron pillar.
Gray sighed in relief, standing back up as he faced his guildmate. "Too bad, you're too late. The enemy's dead."
Gajeel scoffed. "And who said I came to help you defeat an enemy?"
Gray frowned at that. "You were the one who said it."
"I said I came to save your asses," Gajeel repeated. "And that is getting your asses out of here."
Lucy, Wendy and Carla looked at each other before turning back to Gajeel. "What do you mean?"
"You're already lost, so I used this to get you out," Gajeel tapped his iron once again.
"We're lost?" Lucy flattered.
"Hell yeah," Gajeel grinned mischievously. "The moment you asked your guardian cheerleader or whatever you call that to dig a hole for you, you already lost."
"It's celestial spirit!" Lucy corrected him.
"Whatever."
"Gajeel, explain your statement," Carla urged.
Gajeel was about to answer when suddenly his black exceed came flying to him. "Gajeel, preparation complete."
"Good," Gajeel flashed his signature grin. "Let's get them out of here."
"Wait a minute, you can't just drag us out without explaining!" Carla almost lost her temper.
"You're lost! What better explanation than that?" Gajeel accused.
"Yes, tell us why we were lost?" Carla shot back.
Gajeel's grin turned into one that almost showed disgust, but Carla decided to brush it away. It's Gajeel, what do you expect?
"This guild is a rotating guild," Lily interrupted, knowing Gajeel wouldn't be good at the task anyway. "When you entered through underground, you lost the natural map already. Unless you know exactly the structure of the guild, you cannot get out of here."
Lily waddled his way to one of the door, then flew up to the knob once he reached it. "Try registering what room is that," he gestured to the room as he opened the door.
"What's wrong with the room?" Lucy asked.
"Nothing," Lily said as he closed the door back. "The problem is not the room. The problem is the door." After waiting for a few minutes, Lily opened the same door again. "See it by yourself."
They peeked through the door.
And it was a totally different room from before – from the same door.
"What on earth is happening?" Lucy gasped at the view.
"It was rotating, so the next room will be a different one," Lily concluded. "It's like you're playing rubic cube. Unless you know the structure, you will never find the way."
Erza stared at Juvia wide-eyed. "So how the hell are we supposed to find a way?"
Juvia looked down at Natsu, watching how he was sweating and panting, slipping his consciousness by then. "We are only one level from the lowest, all we need to do is to get down and find the exit door. As for Gray-sama, Gajeel-kun is with them. He will try and get something static to guide from the entrance to the exit."
Erza breathed out. "And that static thing is his iron?"
Juvia nodded before pouted. "Only Gajeel-kun can do that. Even though Juvia wishes to be with Gray-sama," she sighed. "Gray-sama, forgive Juvia for not being useful."
Erza decided to ignore her. "In that case, we'll meet them at the exit. Take Natsu there, Juvia. We don't have time anymore. I'll take care of this guy."
Juvia cradled Natsu into her arms, nodding in agreement with the scarlet haired Titania. Fern had already slashed another few needles in between his fingers when he saw the two almost leave, but before he could throw the needles ahead, Erza already dashed towards him, swaying her sword ruthlessly. Fern had to back up to a corner to avoid the attack, running almost too fast for Erza's eyes to catch.
Fern tapped his foot a few times on the rocky floor before running towards Erza even faster than before. Erza wanted to dodge, but for a split second, her eyes suddenly blurred, and her head stung. Her legs bent a bit in response she couldn't fathom herself. Just as she gained her composure, Fern had already appeared right before her eyes, ready to hit his needles directly into her skin.
Blood spurted out at that moment. And for a moment, Erza thought she was definitely struck. That was until she registered the blue haired water mage crouching in pain in front of her, clutching the needles penetrating her lower abdomen.
"Juvia, what the hell are you doing?" Erza almost scream at that.
Fern didn't expect this to happen, but striking the water mage wasn't bad at all. Instantly he pulled out the needle and jumped back, giving some space between them. And Juvia bent a leg forward in attempt to keep herself up. Blood trickled down her pale skin.
"Erza-san was... Distracted," Juvia's voice came somewhat restrained.
"I..." Truth be told, Erza wasn't sure why herself. She had never been distracted in a battlefield before. But for that split second, she had lost control of her senses. She had no explanation for it herself. Even though the stinging pain in her head was still throbbing. She took a glance at Fern. Could it be that she was somewhat poisoned in the process?
"Are you okay, Juvia?" Erza tried to lull the issue.
Erza saw Juvia shaking her head, her hands pulling out some water away from her body. "Juvia is fine. Juvia is water herself, not all poison can effect her."
"I'm sorry, it was just a spur of a moment. Please go now, I'll be fine," Erza reassured her.
Juvia was breathing steadily, her eyelids half opened as she stared into nothing. There was a pregnant silence between them before Juvia heaved a sigh. "Erza-san, please take Natsu-san to the ground level and meet Gajeel-kun there."
"What?" Erza frowned. "No, you go! It wasn't anything I couldn't manage-"
"Erza-san," her voice came out pleading. "Please. You are not in any shape to fight for god knows why. Your eyes gave it away."
Erza unconsciously rubbed her eyes at that.
"At the ground level, you will see the exit door. The door will head you to the deep ocean water," Juvia said, voice seething low. "Black Urchins is a guild of deep sea. That is why the guild was designed in such a way. Their members are dead people who was given life, thus living in a deep sea isn't any problem for them. But please do not hesitate to open the exit door."
"Juvia-"
"Erza-san," Juvia interrupted, hands clutching on her wound which Erza noticed had stopped bleeding. "Would Erza-san do Juvia a favor and trust her?"
Erza was taken aback at that. She trusted Juvia alright. She trusted her so much that she knew Juvia would be alright when fighting alone with Meredy on Tenrou Island. She trusted Juvia to the point that she knew Juvia would be able to replace Natsu in the Grand Magic Games. But this wasn't the trust issue they're facing with. It was Natsu's life.
"And Erza-san needs to see Wendy too," Juvia added softly.
Erza would want to retort that, but the throbbing pain in her head wouldn't allow her. Okay, maybe Juvia was right. It wasn't the time for her to be selfish at this. "Alright," she nodded. "I'll leave the rest to you," and she scooped Natsu off the floor, not caring if his position isn't really comfortable as she walked towards the exit.
"I won't let you," Fern's body shone another bright light, as thousand of fine needles shot out again from his body. Erza's eyes widened at the sight when she glanced back.
"Double Wave!" Juvia swiped both her hands at that, sending waves of water from both sides, trapping all the needles from Fern successfully. Fern frowned as he watch his needles fell onto the floor. Erza took it as a cue to go, disappearing behind the door with Natsu.
"Maybe you're more fun than I thought," Fern said flatly, eyes staring into Juvia's blue ones.
"Are we seriously crashing along the floor to get out?" Lucy complained as she watched the floor around the iron pillar crumble down.
"Stop complaining and jump down. This is the only map we got," Gajeel said gruffly. Wendy, Carla and Lily jumped to the lower level as instructed.
"But what will we do after we reach the exit door?" Gray asked. "We can't simply dive into the deep water, can we?"
"Just jump," Gajeel commanded. "We already got that planned. The important thing now is just to get to the exit."
"And what about the Black Urchins master?" Gray asked again, jumping down from his current level together with his team, following the pillar's direction.
"Black Urchins doesn't have a master."
"What?!"
"Or let's just say, the master isn't here," Lily corrected his statement. "The demon that resurrected them aren't anywhere here. We have to get on another search for that. Since the beginning, this guild is just another distraction from the Balam Alliance."
"But Jellal said they have nothing to do with Ballam Alliance," Gray countered.
"They don't," Lily nodded. "In the sense of they don't work for them, then they don't. But they were created to make us believe so and distract us from them."
"Are they planning something that need us to get distracted?" Gray asked.
"That's a sick way to put it, but that's the probability."
Gray groaned in annoyance.
When they finally reached the lowest floor, they saw Erza and Natsu both lying almost unconscious, panting heavily as if their lives were at stake. Gray's eyes widened at the sight, promptly picked Erza up as Lucy attended Natsu.
"Erza, what happened to you?" Gray shook the Titania slightly.
Erza's eyes slightly open, registering the raven haired guy staring down at her. "We were poisoned," she whispered barely audible. "Natsu... Is he alright?"
"The poison had spread throughout his body," Wendy's voice shaken, her hands busy casting healing spells on Natsu's being.
"Save him," Erza whispered again, eyes almost shut close.
Gajeel looked up, the ceiling started to fall bit by bit. Probably the effect of how the crashed most of the floor to get down there. He saw his iron penetrating a door in the room. "We have to get out of here. This guild is going to collapse!"
Gray had already picked Erza up, ready to break through the door, awaiting Gajeel's sign. But Erza had squirmed in his arms.
"Juvia is still up there," she tried to protest.
"Juvia will be fine," Gajeel said, approaching the door that was penetrated by his iron pillar. "She's a water mage, she is bound to fight at places like this. We have to get out now."
Lucy and Wendy had helped Natsu up, with Wendy's hands still continued to heal Natsu. Gajeel turned his right arms into a huge iron hammer.
"Listen peeps," Gajeel begun. "When I destroyed this door, everyone must dash out, y'got me?"
After receiving nods from his guildmates, Gajeel raised his arm high, smashing it into the door to crash it into pieces. Gushes of water flowed into the room, almost pushing them inside, but Gray had tried to materialize the water to make some way for them. The resistance was high, but after they managed to step out into the sea, there was a sudden gush of wind replacing the resistance. Gray had to hold Erza tighter as to not let her lost in the deep sea.
It happened too fast for them to register anything. It felt as if the ground was swept upside down, pulling up the ground to the surface as the water flowed downwards. It was probably merely one minute – or maybe less. Then the next thing they knew, they were pushed to the shore. Gray looked around to register that they were at the foothill.
Gajeel coughed a bit, looking up when he felt more comfortable. "That was a horrible timing," he said to the man that approached them.
Gray looked up to him – Jellal. He squinted, carefully putting Erza down. He didn't feel easy with the presence of the said man.
"Jellal," Lucy gasped at the blue haired man. "How did you...?" the question was left incomplete, but Jellal understood anyway.
"Heaven Breakdown," Jellal showed his palm as if the magic was still there. "It breaks the ground and bring you guys up. Gajeel told me to cast it when the water swirls as a sign you guys already break out."
"Where is Juvia?" Meredy cheerfully popped out from behind Jellal.
"She's still fighting," Gajeel said before turning to Erza and Natsu. "But before that, we need to do something about these two."
A/N: Aww, man, I really love GajeelxJuvia, it's Juvia's pairing I love the most. Of course I do love Gruvia and GaLe too, but I do think GajeelxJuvia would make a better couple. They are like the two people who had been through darkness all alone and they found each other then find their lights together. I'm really fond of this type of relationship. They had seen each other in their worst times, and support each other through it. If it wasn't for Juvia, Gajeel might not be where he is now. If Gray is Juvia's light, then Juvia is Gajeel's light. This pairing has a lot of potential I feel like it's wasted. But yeah, if this pair is created it would involve GaLe, Gruvia, Lyvia and makes the thing more complicated and I think Mashima isn't one who is up with massive love triangles. Oh well.
And let's see, if I'm not lazy, I might give a gist of Juvia's fight. If not, I'll just skip it. Huhu. ^^;;