Chapter 5

The hours ticked by as each of them took a turn to watch the door waiting for their captor to come and retrieve them. Whoever had thought out this plan had not thought out this plan very well. It was purely executed and asking to get beaten up. Rogue slipped out of bed, his turn, to watch the door. Sting was already sitting at the door. Completely asleep seeming as if he was staring out the door continuously. Rogue sighed sitting down next to the door. Whoever had created this trap was purely an idiot. But they were also idiots at the same time expecting this man to be stupid enough to come right on through the front door. And right through the front door he came. Approximately at one o'clock in the early morning hours. "Let us out!" Rogue found himself growling as he made it to the door, his hand barely swiping their cloth, halfway out the door before the magic activated sending him flying back crashing right into sleeping Sting. "Huh...I did question putting your magic into the system. Shocking that it was actually necessary" The man said squatting down as he examined him from the floor just outside the door safely as if he were some sort of zoo animal out for display. "Come here, let me see how big you've gotten." This person teased as the door from Juvia' s room was struggling to be unlocked. The scent that was moving was her's. Gray seemed to be asleep at the foot of her bed still. "Is everything alright?" She asked moving outside in her pajamas as she caught the attention of this man. "Dear Juvia. I just couldn't let you leave. You were a valuable asset." This man laughed as terror stretched a crossed her face Gray's footsteps suddenly up and walking towards the door upon noticing that Juvia wasn't there. "No! Don't come out here!" She shouted as her arm turned into water smashing the door shut. "Come on Juvia, there's no shame in what you've done. You should be proud of all your accomplishments." This man laughed and then turned towards Rogue. "You've even gotten someone I've been looking for a long, long time. You'd wonder with Gajeel's streak back then and how he treated the other guild members why he would hide the little dragon slayer." This man laughed seeming as if he was going to reach in the door and pat Rogue on the head. "Rogue! Move!" Juvia shouted shoving the pile of dragon slayers back where Sting blinked his eyes open. "Did you know about Gajeel hiding him too?" This man asked as Sting scanned him over. He obviously seemed familiar to the young blue-haired fairy tail wizard as Rogue rolled off of him, there was a mix of shock, fury, and confusion blazing within the shadow dragon slayer's eyes as he stared at their captor just sitting outside the door realizing that he was completely safe.

"What does Jose want with Juvia-Chan?" Juvia asked seeming to pull away from the man who seemed to wear a guise of a gentle smile. "You know this boy can't possibly like you. Come back to us. I'm reforming the PhantomLord guild. You know this is the only place we can accept such a woman. PhantomLord's beautiful S-class rainwoman." Jose smiled extending his hand as he seemed to only notice her as she pulled away. "Juvia-Juvia wants to stay with Gray."

"He hasn't even noticed you once has he?"

"He made Juvia's rain stop."

"We at PhantomLord cared for you even with your rain. Did he love your rain?"

Juvia paused Gray's voice when he first saw her weather echoing within her head "Man, isn't this gloomy."

"Come here Juvia." Jose beckoned as Juvia reached up only for her wrist to be caught by a certain ice mage. "It doesn't matter what you've done in your past. To me you have no shames. FairyTail is your home with or without the rain." Gray barked while his eyes contained fierce daggers of bitter ice. Jose sighed and then glanced over towards the "boy" sitting on the floor. "And what about you? Wasn't it one of your aspirations to join our guild before we dismantled?" Jose asked as Rogue's eyes became wide. "You can't have my brother!" Sting shouted and within the blink of an eye the blonde was already out the door and have the former master of PhantomLord on the ground a new bruise a crossed his face. "I don't know who you are but you can't have him. He's a member of SaberTooth now. Nothing you say can change his mind!"

"What if I say I have information on where that little bluenette that Gajeel brutalized for me on where she is? What was her name again...hm..."

"Don't you dare." This was coincidentally Gray growling actually being there remembering the event as anger boiled within his chest. This situation wasn't just going to go up and over everyone's head once he mentioned what had happened.

"Let me think I've got it..."

"Don't you dare." Juvia grabbed Gray's arms pulling him back. "Juvia don't stop me!"

"Juvia just wants to find Levy-Chan. Any piece of information is a good information even if its wrong!"

"If its wrong he's going to freeze to death. Slowly."

"You won't have to worry about dirtying your hands." Rogue said slowly standing up as he looked towards Jose whose eyes became wide as if they saw something he clearly didn't understand. Malice. Bloodlust. It was easily there in those pure red eyes. "I've been hunting for two months. I'm exhausted." Rogue explained as Jose nodded seeming to understand how dangerous of a situation that he truly was in. "PhantomLord was part of one of the a-alliances so back at the old base is the records of where all of their old bases were...and one of them seems to glow...its just past this town..I was trying to gather the old members of the guild so that I could rejoin the alliance."

"They'll just kill you. Don't bother."

And that was that. Sting beat the heck out of Jose until the magic that kept Rogue and Juvia locked within a room finally came down. "Guess we're tagging along for this mission to find Levy." Gray smiled such a topic seeming to lighten his mood.

"Juvia-chan's happy that she'll get to see Levy-chan once again." Juvia nodded as the twin dragons nodded at each other.

"Are you sure?"

"Levy's one of our's of course."

"Okay."

"Its still early." It was approximately two o'clock in the morning as they left the hotel stealing any supplies they could. "What was that place?" Juvia glanced back towards the building once again. Obviously a hotel on the outside as Rogue pulled a paper out of his pocket. "Figures Sting would have to pick the kidnapping guild as a place to stay for the night." Rogue grumbled as Sting shrugged. "Any information upon them at all is worth at least ten thousand jewels. You do understand that right Sting?" Rogue sighed as Sting nodded at Rogue's lecture over safety concerns. "But now I have the information on them turned in, the taxes, money, and extra things are put into Sabertooth's account. I've been thinking ahead. I'm still the guild master you know." Sting smiled triumphantly. As Rogue took a glance at Juvia and Gray walking ahead, Juvia holding onto Gray's arm smiling as she said something about "white knight in shining armor" Gray apparently trying to brush the act off while having the scent of...powerlessness flowing off of him. He felt like he hadn't helped. It was obvious, but he was hiding that from Juvia. This wasn't his place to say anything.

"Juvia." Rogue called as Juvia glanced back towards the dragon slaying duo, acknowledging them. "What did he mean when he said that Gajeel was hiding me?" Rogue asked as Juvia's smile faded, her arm loosened around Gray, and then she looked back towards Rogue. "Juvia and Gajeel-kun were hiding Ryos-Chan after finding Ryos-chan in the woods and discovering that Ryos-chan was a dragon slayer...Jose...Jose had been on a dragon slayer hunt for the longest time to see who he could brainwash from a child up. Gajeel-kun thought it'd be dangerous with your abilities if Jose was capable of getting a hold of you...Jose...Jose was desperate and even had several lacrimas installed into kidnapped children..." Juvia stopped and begun looking at the road in front of her. As Sting glanced away understanding what that meant. Especially since Gajeel, although normal, was the only dragonslayer to make it out of there alive. "Not all children make it thru the process." Juvia begun again. "And where he was taking them from...they didn't have the food or the bodies to survive the situation to begin with." Juvia whispered as she looked up at Gray with eyes that looked like she was going to push him away. "Juvia's sorry...Juvia, Juvia helped kidnap these children." She whispered reaching up to push him away as Gray pulled her closer. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't. He would've gone out and taken other children anyway." Gray whispered as she nodded into his chest.

"Let's set up here for the night." Sting sighed approximately at three in the morning, in the middle of the forest, still too far away from the next town to see the town's light.

And that's what they did.