. Oculto .

Trying to explain what had happened since she'd left the guildhall to do a job on her own took forever. For one, Gajeel kept trying to interrupt as Wendy tended to his leg, wanting to drag the short blue-haired woman back over so that he could somehow pin her until his leg was better, so that she didn't have to take Eberos. Why she couldn't take Natsu instead, he didn't understand, but it pissed him off that she refused to listen to what he had to say.

And everyone had so many questions!

Lucy, one of the smartest people Levy knew, had problems weaving together a story alongside her without giving away the dragons!

"So," commented Lyon as soon as Levy finished, his dark eyes curious as he watched her. Levy turned her attention on him, feeling a stab of guilt at what he said next. "You're working with the person who did...this?" He gestured around them, and she knew he meant Oak Town.

"Our three guilds were asked to tend to the town and clean it up, rebuild even," Lisanna had whispered to her. "We've been working together for a few days now."

"Yes," Levy said, not bothering to lie. "Eberos is...he claims to be the dragon slayer of Acnologia. We don't know if that's true, but I think it is from the magic I've seen." Most of the mages in her guild shifted uneasily, not excited to hear this news.

"Why?" Lyon demanded.

"Because I think that he can actually deal with the linnorms pretty decently," Levy retorted. Her hazel eyes were sharp. "I think he's a good person at heart, honestly. It's not his fault that he's the way he is."

"You're fuckin' nuts," Gajeel declared. "That bastard's not right in the head, shrimp."

Levy ignored him - again - and then glanced over when Mirajane asked softly, "Levy, why don't you want anyone else going with you when you head back? Surely it would be better to have backup...I mean, two linnorms…"

Levy raised her chin proudly. "Natsu, Lily, Eberos, and I will have it handled, Mira. We'll be fine. We have a plan worked out, and we don't think it would be smart to bring more people in."

"That pyro is pretty good at distractions," Gray muttered, exchanging a look with Erza. They knew Natsu best next to only Happy - who had curled up against Lucy's shoulder - and Lucy herself. "But why wouldn't you take Happy and Lucy back? You're leaving Gajeel here, too."

"No she ain't," Gajeel growled.

Again, the blue-haired solid-script mage ignored him and instead said firmly, "Lucy wants to stay here and look for a child and his mother, both of which helped the five of us a great deal, particularly when Gajeel was trying to figure out where Lily and I were. And Natsu will focus better if he knows for certain she's safe."

They all looked to Lucy, who nodded, smiling faintly.

She agreed with what her friend was saying.

"I'm going with," Gajeel snapped, losing patience. Most glanced his way, and his crimson eyes burned into Levy's when she finally met his gaze. There was a fierceness she didn't expect there, just daring her to leave without him. "Whether my goddamn leg is entirely healed or not."

"Gajeel," Wendy began, "It wouldn't help them if you were limping along the way...it'd be really bad for everyone. You especially."

"I ain't staying behind," he retorted.

"How about this," Gray suggested, "You can take one of us along. Just to replace Gajeel's spot and so that there's more defenses against this Eberos guy. I mean, sure he's working with you now, but…"

Levy clenched her jaw, uncertain. It seemed like a good idea.

But the dragons, damn it!

Gajeel looked her in the eye as she thought it over, narrowing his own, and Levy swallowed thickly before saying hesitantly, "Is Chelia here?"

"She's tending to the residents injured in the attack," Jura called from where he was sitting, his eyes not giving away any of the emotions he felt. "Would you like me to fetch her?"

"Yes," Levy decided, turning to Wendy. "I know other people need it, but if Chelia helped heal Gajeel's leg, too, would he be okay to leave with me tonight?"

All eyes turned on Wendy, who slowly nodded. "Yes. He would be able to. As long as he wasn't running for his life for a day or so, he'll be fine to use it."

Relief flooded Levy. She hadn't wanted to take Eberos. And his abilities to destroy the linnorms would be better used in distracting and destroying alongside Natsu. Beaming, she pleaded, "Please do that, Wendy. We won't be going forward until the day after tomorrow anyways-"

"Weren't Natsu and the others days away?"

Levy froze, gaze darting to Rogue. Her eyes widened fractionally at the sight of his thoughtful red eyes, and Lucy cut in hastily, "She meant the day after they get there, Rogue."

"Did she?" was all he muttered back, narrowing his eyes suspiciously before turning on his partner when Sting whined that he wanted to go and kick some linnorm ass.

Levy threw Lucy a grateful look, and the blonde smiled comfortingly.

Lucy had her back.

"Levy!"

Levy shrieked as she was sent toppling to the ground. Gajeel, used to dealing with the threat of Eberos for a while now, snapped his head back around to investigate what had happened, and then snickered. "Gihi!"

Levy winced, feeling a small set of arms wrapped around her. It took her a moment to figure it out, and then she beamed. "Kenai!"

Kenai grinned up at her after scrambling off, his eyes glinting with exhaustion, grief, pain, and more. "Hi! I'm glad you're back, Levy, we were worried about you!"

Ignoring all of the amusement of the people around her, Levy wrapped her arms around the boy tightly. She remembered what Lucy had told her; Kenai's father had been killed shortly after returning to Oak Town, in the attack.

Kenai returned it just as tightly.

Mira frowned and gently told him, "Kenai, we told you to stay with-"

"Mom didn't want me there," Kenai said bitterly. "She told me to go away. I heard Levy was back, so I came to say hi."

Levy felt a flash of surprise, remembering just how loving Ell had been towards everyone she'd interacted with. Choosing not to say anything about the matter, Levy climbed to her feet, urging Kenai over to Gajeel to say hello to him as well after he'd greeted Lucy. Kenai's eyes glowed excitedly as Gajeel rolled his eyes and ruffled his hair affectionately.

Mira made a sound of sympathy. "Life has become rough for him," she murmured softly. "We've been worried about him...I think I'm going to offer to bring him home with us if it keeps up like this."

Levy's heart ached for the poor kid. Stretching, she asked, "Alright. So I'm going to see to our supplies, make everything's in order, take care of Salutem - we'll leave the horse here - and then Gajeel and I will leave after Wendy and Chelia have fixed him up."

"Got it." Lucy bit her lip. "You'll watch over Natsu, right? You know how excitable that moron gets, and he forgets to be careful…"

"We'll watch him," Levy reassured.

Suddenly, a cry that pierced their ears filled the air, and they all paused to listen. Gajeel froze, and the other three dragon slayers went still, too, though their eyes lit up with eager excitement.

"Dragon?" Sting questioned after a moment.

Wendy's gaze filled with fear. "Acnologia?" she whispered, but Gajeel shook his head, soothing her fears with a gruffly said, "Ain't no evil bastard out there, Wendy."

"Is that seriously a dragon?" Gray questioned curiously. "We've been hearing distant sounds like that for a while now, but that one was pretty close…"

"I'll check it out with Sting," Rogue offered, but Levy cut him off, again spinning a tale of lies.

None of these people had seen or been around linnorms, so she used it to her advantage.

"Linnorms," she corrected in a lie. "Right, Gajeel? They share the cries of dragons...or something extremely similar." Her eyes burned into his. "They're still a long ways off, I think. Probably searching the area to make sure that everything is how it's supposed to be."

"What the shorty said," Gajeel said after a moment.

Rogue turned a piercing look on Gajeel, who looked elsewhere as Wendy bent back over his leg, her lips set in a disappointed pout. "I wanted it to be a dragon," she murmured. "Maybe they'd know where Grandeeney was…"

Levy bit her lip as Gajeel began to distract Kenai, who'd been about to say something, and her eyes went wide. Kenai knew that a dragon was around; Lucy had mentioned his excitement about them when they'd figured out the riddle. She exchanged a look with the blonde, who gave a quick nod.

Lucy would make sure to keep Kenai quiet about the matter.

Taking a deep breath of relief to have escaped that little ordeal momentarily, Levy promised to be back soon and ducked out of the place that Fairy Tail was using as a base. She made her way over to Salutem, who nuzzled her cheek with a damp nose and made a happy crooning sound when she scratched his chin.

"...I'm taking you back with us," she declared with a laugh when he shook his antlered head and snorted on her. "After all of this is over." She ran her fingers over his nose, smiling to herself sadly. She was relieved that Gajeel was able to heal fast enough to come with her, even if it used up valuable magic that innocent people probably needed more.

Eberos frightened her. She wasn't afraid to admit it. He really did. She doubted he meant to frighten them as much as he did - she was sure he was just behaving what was normal-like for him - but at the same time...something told her that he acted dark for the sheer hell of it.

Something told her he liked seeing their fear when they thought he was going to do something to them.

Patting Salutem's neck one final time, Levy squared her shoulders.

"Let's get you taken care of so I can check on how Jet and Droy are doing in regards to the supplies…" The solid-script mage lowered her voice. "Metalicana's waiting, after all."

Gajeel was crabby by the time Levy came back. She couldn't blame him though. He was surrounded by their worried nakama, all asking question after question without letting him catch a break. Lucy had managed to slip away with Kenai - someone told her that the blonde wanted to check on other people, too.

"Gajeel," Levy said, cutting off a question that a random Lamia Scale member had been about to ask. Levy received a dirty look for the interruption, but the blue-haired woman didn't care. She planted her hands on her hips as Gajeel looked her way. "Salutem's ready. He's got a sled full of supplies we'll have to pull." She smiled at her two teammates, who were exchanging worried looks with one another. "They got us plenty."

Gajeel grunted. "Good. The way Salamander eats, we'll be lucky if it lasts us a day." He swung himself to his feet with care, not putting too much weight on his leg. Wendy had warned him to be a bit more careful than usual for at least the rest of the day. Chelia had agreed with her. "We ready to go then?"

"Yeah." Levy swallowed thickly, thinking of how badly this could go if there were somehow more than the two linnorms they'd originally come up with. She turned to their nakama, who all looked a bit reluctant to let them go like this.

"Levy," Mira said after a moment, biting her lip. "Maybe one of us should go with you…"

"No," Levy said firmly, "It's a bad idea, believe me. We're having enough trouble dealing with Eberos and the linnorms without having to explain the presence of other people when we already have a plan." She smiled kindly at the silver-haired barmaid. "Thanks for your guys' concern though. We'll be careful, I - oof!"

"Return safe," Lucy whispered into her ear, tightly hugging her. Lucy pulled back, smiling at her. Levy wondered where the hell she'd come from. "You know who better make sure you're safe, or I'll rip his tail off."

To the rest of the guild, they sounded as if they were discussing Lily.

But Levy knew better.

And so did Gajeel.

Lucy was threatening Metalicana - and quite possibly Igneel.

"I'll make sure Natsu comes back safe and sound," Levy told her, and then yelped when she was tackled by Jet and Droy. Both looked furious with something and she returned the hugs they gave her.

"Let us come, Levy," Jet pleaded.

"Yeah, we'll help," Droy agreed.

Levy smiled gently, pulling back after a moment. She stepped over to Gajeel's side, gently poking the iron dragon slayer's arm. "Don't worry, guys," she said fiercely, her eyes burning with determination. "I'll be fine. I've got Gajeel with me."

"Gihi!" Gajeel snickered, resting his elbow on her head. She grunted under his weight as he leaned heavily on her. "Not like I'd let the shrimp just up and keel over."

Mirajane pressed her lips together, unhappy with the fact that they were refusing help. She could tell them that Makarov had put her in a temporary guildmaster status and order that they take at least Erza with them…

But something told her not to.

So she smiled and waved. "Please, be careful and come back safely."

"We will," Levy told her firmly, turning away. "Come on, Gajeel, Salutem's outside, and Natsu's gotta be getting tired of Eberos. I'll be surprised if Lily hasn't clobbered them both by the time we get back…"

Lucy watched them leave, clutching Happy to her chest.

Her grip tightened worriedly, and Happy looked up at her anxiously. "Lucy?"

She only smiled, watching as Gajeel hoisted Levy onto Salutem's back before swinging up himself, taking control since he wasn't hurt this time. "They'll be fine," she decided, turning to go back inside.

Gajeel would never let Levy get hurt.

And if he did…

He knew what certain death awaited.

"Should reach that old iron bastard soon," Gajeel noted quite some time later, glancing down at the blue-haired woman in his arms. She wore a look of determination and excitement; she looked forward to figuring out what was hidden in the temple that the linnorms defended.

"Good," Levy murmured. "I'm hoping he didn't decide we weren't coming back."

"I'm hopin' the fuker-" He grunted when she elbowed him sharply. "I'm hopin' he doesn't blast us when we come out of nowhere."

Levy settled down with a thoughtful look. The sun was almost gone, she noted. That wasn't good, but they would be fine, even if something came out of the sand and wanted a fight.

Out of nowhere, Salutem suddenly began to slow, his breath coming sharply as he took in various scents. He bellowed a happy sound and then lunged forward without warning. Levy gasped, relieved that Gajeel's arms were on either side of her to make sure she didn't fall. He grumbled about the animal, even as it sprinted down a sandy hill.

She frowned when she didn't see anything, even as Salutem slowed to a halt, turning on his hooves and shaking his antlered head with care. "Where's-"

Something red glinted in the sands, blinking slowly, and she gawked without hesitation as Metalicana suddenly lifted his head. Sand came off of him in sheets as he stood, shaking it off, and she realized that the sandy hill had been the dragon's body covered in the grainy substance.

"Gihi," the dragon cackled, lowering his massive head to look at them. "Thought you mages were nosy and hid myself so if some others came lookin', I wouldn't be here."

Levy's head snapped over her shoulder to look at Gajeel. "Did you know he was there?"

Gajeel shrugged. "Guessed from the smell of iron. He can hide his magic, but not that."

Metalicana clicked his jaws, watching them for a moment longer before snickering. Levy eyed him warily until he taunted, "You brats finally decided to stop dancin' around? Have a bet goin' with the fire breathing freak over who's gonna have hatchlings first. You brats or his brat and the golden one."

Levy's jaw dropped and Gajeel glowered. "Shut up, you old metallic piece of trash metal! That's none of your stupid business!"

Metalicana's large tail swept through the sand. "Plenty of my business, stupid. I wanna know my future daughter-in-law."

Levy flushed bright red, pretending she didn't acknowledge the fact that she actually wouldn't mind having the iron dragon for a parent when she no longer had parents of her own. She was quite fond of Metalicana now a days, she was starting to realize.

Ignoring the fish-like look on Gajeel's face as he gaped and gawked at the iron dragon, she cleared her throat and said, "Metalicana, can we get going please? No one's able to win a bet just yet, I'm afraid, but Natsu's probably ready to light Eberos on fire at this point."

"More like Eberos' is gonna want to rip him apart," Gajeel muttered as he slid from Salutem's back. Salutem shifted to keep his balance, and patiently waited as the iron mage pulled Levy down, too, his fingers gentle on her waist. Together, they unhitched the massive deer, and Levy stroked his nose as Gajeel went to give their packaged supplies to Metalicana. "Go back to Oak Town," she ordered Salutem. "Hopefully we'll be back, okay?"

He made a low crooning sound and nudged her gently before dancing away. Levy watched him bound off, looking happy to be running around. Levy pouted and then went to help her companion.

When all of the supplies was secured in Metalicana's talons, the iron dragon lowered his head. "Come here, little one, there ain't no way ya can climb up there like the brat."

Levy flushed. "I could," she protested, planting her hands on her hips and glaring up at him. She paused. "I think I could, anyways. If I really, really wanted to."

"What are ya, a kid?" Gajeel huffed, ruffling her already wild blue hair and screwing up the headband she'd put in before they'd left. She glared at him and then yelped when she was lifted by the dragon.

By the time Gajeel reached his back, Levy had situated herself. "Least Lucy will be safe, right?" She looked nervous now, not exactly looking forward to going back around Eberos again.

His crimson eyes narrowed as he told her, "Yeah. Let's go kick these things' asses."

When they were ready, Metalicana's heavy body rocked backwards onto his haunches. He cracked his jaws open to roar like he usually did, and then thought better of it before simply making a loud rumbling growl and launching himself into the sky. His large body cast a massive shadow over the ground, and Levy found herself amazed once again by the sheer size of the dragon.

She smirked.

She was allowed to see and know him when many of the others couldn't.

She did feel a little guilty that Wendy couldn't though.

Sensing her distraction, Gajeel gently poked her side and she squealed, slapping a hand over his to shove it away. "Gajeel!" she hissed, earning a cackle from her nakama. He settled down for the time being, and Levy did the same, smiling as a breeze washed over her face - until a thought crossed her mind.

What would happen when this was over and she and Gajeel were forced to say goodbye to the iron dragon Metalicana?

It seemed like ages before lazy crimson eyes spotted the shadow in the distance. Eberos squinted in the direction, seeing nearly nothing in the darkness of the night while Natsu snored away and Lily cuddled under his arm. Igneel kept watch, not trusting him.

Eberos didn't care.

He didn't want their trust anyways. It wasn't like he wasn't going to go through with his plans at a later time. They were useful for the moment, and he wanted to use them to get rid of the linnorms and figure out what was in the temple so that he could take it - and Levy - for himself.

Not that Levy would be kept alive.

He wanted to watch her blood run along the sand and see what it tasted like…

Forcing himself to focus, Eberos didn't bother to wake the people he'd been left with. He watched the Fire Dragon King lift his head to study the night sky, noting the shadow, too, and a rumble of warning left his throat.

Eberos just barely caught the sound that should have been too far pitched for him to be able to hear. It was a request, he realized, narrowing his eyes. Demanding to know if it was Metalicana.

Metalicana's answer was a loud rumble like thunder as he began to descend, finally awakening Natsu when he hit the ground, his taloned feet making the sandy earth shake and tremble beneath them. Igneel snorted as sand flew.

"They're back!" Natsu cried, shooting to his feet, and Lily zipped up to go and see who'd returned, looking worried.

Eberos prayed that Gajeel hadn't returned, but his hope fell away when the iron mage suddenly threw himself from Metalicana's back and stretched his arms above his head, giving Natsu and Eberos a triumphant look. "Sorry to disappoint you two bastards, but I'm good as new."

"You're going to strain your leg, Wendy and Chelia said to rest it," Levy scolded as Lily dropped her beside him before falling into her arms with a purr. She hugged him, exchanging a smile with the Exceed.

"Who did you meet?" Natsu asked curiously as he scampered over, and Igneel became suspicious.

"Just how many people might be aware of a dragon?" the dragon snapped.

Levy grimaced. "Sabertooth, Fairy Tail, and Lamia Scale were all there and helping out. Only the other dragon slayers were truly suspicious, but we tricked them into thinking we'd come across a wyvern at some point and that the weird roars belonged to linnorms. Don't worry, you guys are safe for now."

Igneel didn't look convinced, and Metalicana's irritably clicked his jaws at the Fire Dragon King, resting his head on the sands between Levy and Gajeel with a dark look in his gaze. "The brats wouldn't lie, stupid."

"Yeah!" Natsu reassured his father. "Gajeel can be kind of stupid, but Levy rarely ever lies. The only time she's lied is when it concerns the guild being in danger, like she did to our nakama. How was Happy?" he asked eagerly. "Did you see him?"

"He's with Lucy," she promised. "He was very relieved to know that you're alright. Eberos, they're aware of you. So don't try anything," she warned.

The dark-haired man curled a lip and then smirked. "No promises," he purred back, red eyes glinting almost playfully.

He couldn't wait to get his claws on Levy and rip her to shreds. He was more than curious as to how her blood would taste, how her flesh would rip beneath his teeth-

"So...tomorrow then," she said, cutting off his thoughts, and he focused on her. The way her hazel eyes filled with determination stirred something warm in his gut, and he couldn't wait to get a move on, because now that Gajeel was still here, he had his own plans.

"Tomorrow," Natsu agreed, and Gajeel gave a curt nod, watching Eberos carefully.

"Tomorrow," Eberos echoed with a mocking smirk at the other dragon slayer.

Definitely tomorrow.

Sorry about the later in the day update! Was busy this weekend!

To SmileyFace207, who asked about Grandeeney...sadly, she will not be. Sorry!

Thanks to reviewers (Dragonfan47, CoSmO333, SmileyFace207, SilverGhostKitsune, MissOtak1, sassykitten1701, Tigerwoman188, AfterWriter, and Typhlosion8!) as well as those who favorited and followed!