"Hello again, Levy"
"H-how'd you know my name?" Levy asked the shock of the situation causing her to stutter; she kept her eyes on her attacker to ensure that he wouldn't make any sudden movements.
"It's my duty to know things about you, Levy...after all it was you that released me" he said, while smugly smiling about the last part, causing a pang of guilt to hit her. Levy stood there shocked at his revelation, when she deciphered the text leading to him being released, the ending must have resulted with a connection between the two mages, allowing him to know things about her. Distracting her from her thoughts, Gajeel began to stir and that's when she knew that she needed a plan to get out here alive, she needed to stall him...somehow.
"You seem to know so much about me" Said Levy standing confidently, she needed him to focus all his attention on her "at least tell me your name"
Her attacker smiled, admiring her newfound confidence.
"Well, that seems fair" he sighed, quickly adding his usual evil smile that sent shivers down Levy's man "I have many names but the one I most like is, Payne, it has a certain...ring to it"
"Well then, Payne why do you want to kill me?" levy asked, she glanced back towards Gajeel who had now turned to face her, only Payne didn't notice as his entire focus was on her.
"Kill you, no I just want your soul" he laughed, his laugh echoing through the silent room.
"M-my soul?" Levy stuttered, both shocked and disgusted at his revelation
"Yes your soul" Said Payne, smiling at Levy's shock "I'll rip it out of your body while you're still breathing then I'll laugh while you scream from the-". Levy watched in shock as a large metal arm had appeared, knocking Payne into the wall as if he were a ragdoll; she turned to find Gajeel as he slowly retracted his metal arm, looking very pissed off.
"I got bored of his talking" He shrugged; he turned to face Levy "are you alright?"
"Yeah and thanks" said Levy shyly "his evil monologue was starting to freak me out".
The two mages stared at the motionless body of Payne, who was lying in a pile of rubble which was once a wall.
"Maybe you hit him a little too hard" levy sighed as she took a few steps closer to his motionless body.
"Well he deserved it..."Gajeel growled "I don't think I hit him hard enough". Levy smiled; even though it looked like he was just being rough...and well Gajeel, offering to hit her attacker with a much harsher blow surprisingly hit a warm place inside her. The sound of the infirmary door being hit loudly followed by loud shouts from various guild members, managed to capture the attention of both mages.
"Levy-Chan, are you awake, open up its me, Lucy!"
"Yeah open up we heard some weird stuff going on" shouted someone else.
"Levy, open the door, we need to see you!" Jet and Droy shouted, earning an eye roll from the iron dragon slayer.
"They won't stop unless I open it" Levy sighed, as she began to open the door.
"Levy-Chan!" Lucy shouted as she grabbed the script mage into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're okay, Droy told us what happened"
Levy smiled, once Lucy had released her from her death hug. "Yeah, Lu-Chan, I'm fine now"
"You're fine now..." Jet started.
"But we couldn't help you before" Jet finished, whilst sniffling sadly.
"Jet, Droy..." said Levy as she walked over to her team mates " in that library the two of you stood by my side and that is all that matters to me"
"B-but you still ended up here" Droy pointed out.
" Yes and that's always going to happen when you take missions, you get hurt but what matters is, I'm still here, and very much okay, so you two did a good job" Said Levy softly, causing most of the guild members, including Jet and Droy and excluding Gajeel, to shed a few tears.
"Levy..." Jet and Droy wailed in unison as the grabbed her in the world's tightest hug.
"I'm glad to see that you're well, Levy" Said the Master "But maybe you, Gajeel could explain what happened here"
"Gajeel?!" exclaimed most of the confused guild members, as they turned to see the iron dragon slayer, leaning against one of the still—standing-walls with his arms folded across his chest.
"Gajeel, I never saw you enter with the rest of us" Erza pointed out, earning a few nods of agreement from their fellow guild mates.
"Who invited him in here" Said Jet whilst giving Gajeel his 'best' death glares.
"He came in when, Payne, the one from the library attacked me again" Levy sighed as she gestured to the giant hole in the wall.
"But Levy-Chan" said Lucy softly "there's nothing there"
"What!" Levy gasped "But Gajeel knocked him into the wall and he wasn't moving"
"He must have left, when this lot came in" Gajeel sighed causing some of the weaker members to take a step back.
"Now he's gone, will he not come back?" Wendy asked, a finger placed against her chin in thought.
"Not necessarily, Wendy" Said Erza to the youngest dragon slayer "now he's gone, he can re-gather his strength for another chance to attack Levy"
"I don't understand, why Levy there are much more powerf- ow!" Natsu started but was interrupted when Lucy punched his arm. "Luce, what was that for?!"
"Levy-Chan is standing right here, Natsu!" Lucy whispered loudly
"It's okay, Lu-Chan" Levy smiled "And Natsu's right, there are more powerful mages than myself, so why Payne wants me is a mystery"
"Levy-Chan, Droy told us that Payne came out from an ancient book, so maybe there are books about him in the guild library" Lucy suggested.
"Lu-Chan, you're brilliant, I should go now, and there might be a way to stop him!" Levy said excitedly.
"Levy, I think that it's best to take someone with you" The Master suggested, even though the guilds library was a safe place t be, he wasn't ready to risk the safety of one of his children.
"Levy I'll go with you!" Jet shouted, whilst waving his arms about frantically.
"No I wanted to go with you first!" Droy shouted
" Thanks guys, but I don't want you two to get hurt again, because of me, so I think I'll just take Gajeel" Said Levy as she took the iron dragon slayers arm and started to lead him out of the infirmary.
"What!" Jet and Droy shouted in unison, their mouths left hanging wide open from shock.
"So see you later" Said Levy quickly, as she ushered Gajeel out of the room, leaving her team mates and many members of the guild speechless.
Gajeel silently watched as his shrimp continued to read through another book, she had on those red gale force glasses that were perched on the edge of her nose, her hazel eyes constantly scanning the page. Gajeel smiled smugly to himself at the thought that the shrimp chose him to protect her out of all the other guild members, allowing the two of them to have some alone time however it was sad that the only reason behind it was to find ways to stop a crazy evil mage from stealing his shrimp's soul. The soft sound of his shrimp sighing caught his attention, dragging him back to reality from his thoughts.
"You find anything?" He asked
"Yeah, some things" she yawned while stretching, giving Gajeel a sneak preview of her flat stomach. "I know why Payne was imprisoned in the book in the first place and how the mages did it"
"Explain" He said
" Well a script mage wrote the ancient text while a rune mage made sure that no one would be able to decipher it" Shrimp explained.
"But you did" Gajeel said, a hint of confusion in his voice.
"That's confusing too, but I'm hoping that these runes will help answer that riddle...but they seem pretty hard to crack" Said Shrimp sighing with defeat.
"Did you find a way to stop him?" Gajeel asked
"Um yeah" she said picking up one of the large books from the table and moving it closer for him to see. "It says here, that the only thing that can stop his dark influence is with something called a 'heavens light pearl' so I think that it must be in the same town where I found the book".
Gajeel nodded.
"I best we better get ready" Shrimp sighed as she stood up; she stretched her arms up in the air, one of her hands knocking her glasses off her face and onto the floor.
"I'll get it" He said as he bent down to get her glasses.
"No, Gajeel, its fine" She said as she also bent down, causing them to bump their heads.
"Oi, Shrimp, I said I was getting it" Gajeel moaned as he rubbed his head.
"Sorry" Shrimp mumbled as looked up to face him, giving him the chance to stare deeply into her hazel eyes.
"Gajeel..." she said
"Hmm"
"You're staring" shrimp whispered. Smiling?
"I know...does it make you...uncomfortable" he said as he leaned closer towards to her face, invading her personal space and making their faces inches apart. Gajeel could hear her heart beating faster only he wasn't sure if it was his own. Why was it only the shrimp could make him react this way. There was a loud creaking noise which made both mages jump and turn towards the door.
"Ooh" Said Cana smiling evilly "Didn't realise I was interrupting something". Gajeel watched amused as Shrimps face turned a bright red, earning an evil smirk from drunk mage.
"Cana, what's wrong?"Shrimp asked, once her face had returned to its normal colour.
"Master wants to know if you have any information on Payne" Said the drunkard, whilst leaning against the door.
"Yeah, I'll go up to his office now" shrimp said while picking up various books from the small table "Gajeel, see you later". And with that she was out of the door.
"I'm watching you" Said the card girl as she slammed the door behind her, leaving him alone in the library. Why was everyone in this guild crazy?