[Disclaimer: I, obviously, do not own what parts of the following chapter quote the series, only all the padding and follow-up. Also to note, quotes will be from the dub for this.]
-
Magnolia was just over the next hill. Sure, the train would have been faster, but Team Shadow Gear sometimes liked to travel on foot coming back from a job (though naturally they made haste to each one, lest a situation grow worse); it gave them more private time together. So it was not without a tinge of disappointment that they approached the town, now, but only a tinge. Magnolia was their home; Fairy Tail was home. So Jet and Droy simply took the opportunity to shower Levy in a few more kisses- a gesture she most happily returned- and the three of them headed into town.
Everything seemed peaceful for the moment: a nice, quiet Magnolia day, though naturally they knew that would probably end the moment they stepped inside the guild hall. Especially if Erza had brought Natsu and the others back yet.
At that thought, Levy frowned. I hope Lulu's okay.. The others, too, of course, but she had quickly become very fond of Lucy, and while she knew Natsu and Gray were stronger than they were often given credit for, and Erza was S-class, the newcomer's true strength was still something of a mystery. She felt for a brief moment as though she were forgetting someone, but quickly counted four wizards and decided it must just be paranoia.
Suddenly, the silence was broken sooner than expected by a chorus of feminine shrieks, causing the team to immediately raise their guard as they sought the source. The sound was followed by a lower, somewhat different sort of scream. "WHATHS HAPPENIN' TA ME!?"
"...Was that Natsu?" Droy asked.
"I think you're right," answered Jet.
Some general light commotion began to stir, mixed sounds of reaction it seemed, as the familiar voice continued, growing closer. "THERIOUTHSLY THSOME'NE HELP MEH," it went on, crying out similarly in steady intervals, sprinkled with brief pauses and occasional screams.
About the time they pinpointed from which direction it was coming and started heading that way, a frantic, fire-drooling Natsu ran right past them. ...Wait. Fire-drooling?
"Natsu!" Levy called out after him, making haste.
The pink-haired wizard stopped, turning around with hopeful eyes. "Nat-thu?" he asked, a slight lisp caused by the fire that wouldn't stop cascading from his mouth. His expression quickly fell as he laid eyes on Shadow Gear. "Oh ith juzt you guys." A hand went to his face, careful to avoid his flames, and he touched the bridge of his nose in a rather specific manner as he thought. "Yer right, though, Nat-thu woul' know how ta fit thiz! Thanz!" With a nod, he made a beeline toward the guild.
"...So that was weird," Jet deadpanned.
"Is it just me, or did Natsu seem... not quite himself," Droy didn't quite ask.
Biting her lip, Levy got a sinking feeling. "We better hurry after him. C'mon guys!"
-
Though they did hurry, Natsu- or not-Natsu?- was moving surprisingly fast. Naturally this wouldn't have been a problem for just-Jet, but the only thing they knew at the moment was that Natsu was acting weird, so getting ahead of him would have done no good. Besides, he was a bit tired after that last job anyway, so he simply kept pace with his teammates a pretty steady distance behind the Salamander.
Shortly after Not-su rounded the last corner to enter the guild hall, they heard him cry out, "Hey guyz! Ya gotta help me!" Shadow Gear themselves turned just in time to see him wind to a stop in front of a group of guildmates, suddenly quiet. How odd.
Macao, Elfman, and Mira all commented on Not-su's fire-drool, which seemed reasonable enough, but then Happy did something odd. Floating about, he sighed, "Ah, I must admit, flying is way more fun than I thought it'd be." What? Suddenly, he did a 180: "I shouldn't be wasting my precious time like this! I need to be changed back at once!"
"Changed back?" commented all of Shadow Gear in unison. Levy couldn't help but breathe a small laugh at this; the boys were rubbing off on her, it seemed. The enjoyment was short-lived, of course; there was a serious issue at hand.
"What're we gonna do," sobbed a rather downtrodden Gray, before.. drooling ice cubes? What was with magical drool today?
Noticing this, Mira spoke up. "Hey uh.. Gray? Or uh, Lucy?" Lucy!? "You're dropping ice-"
As they continued briefly, everything clicked for Levy. "That's it!" she gasped to herself. If Gray was actually Lucy... then that grumpy-looking Lucy over there must actually be Gray, right? And judging by the dramatic mood shifts and overall serious demeanor of the strange Happy, and the uncharacteristic blush and bright smile on Erza's face, Levy would be willing to bet that they had switched as well. So that left Natsu with... it was hard to say, though odds were good it was one of those he'd stopped to stare at. Since Elfman and Macao seemed normal, odds favored Wakaba or Loke.
At the same time, she remembered an odd job request she'd noticed just before they left. She considered it herself, and had thought of grabbing it next if it was still there when they returned, but evidently someone here had gotten to it first. Still, if it was that translation job...
Stepping up to the doorway, Levy struck a confident pose. She didn't need to tell the boys to match her. "No need to worry, Lucy!"
With tears in his/her eyes, Gray-Lucy exclaimed, "Levy, it's you!"
"L-Levy!" exclaimed Loke. (Possibly Natsu?)
"The Shadow Gear team is here to save the day!" boasted Droy. "You guys will be back to normal in no time!" If there was anyone capable of fixing a magical blunder, it was his ingenius little Levy, after all!
"Oh yeah, we got this," growled Jet in a tone perhaps a little.. 'enthusiastic' for the situation at hand. Well, enthusiasm always was sort of his thing.
"Now, do your thing, Levy!" rang their ever-perfect unison. This earned a comment from Mira about how 'we' meant 'her', which bothered them just enough to earn a sheepish smile, but honestly no more than that. Levy was both their brains and their heart; why should they care if anyone thought she was more capable than them? She was more capable than much of anyone, so it was only natural they were no exceptions.
Everyone helped Levy get up to speed, including an apparent time limit in which they had to find a spell, and she continued to reassure them, including a mention of Lucy's novel she still needed to read, which for the bookworm may honestly have been a bit stronger motivation than she'd be totally willing to admit.
Happy-Erza insisted Levy needed quiet, but she didn't really. In fact, when her boys started up a cheering squad, she found it a bit relaxing, helping her settle back down even upon realizing the task before her was much more difficult than she'd thought it would be. Of course, she definitely understood how a massive drum sounding in one's ears could be upsetting, and if Droy were standing a little closer- such that it was actually right in her ears- it might still get to be a bit much. But as it was she found her heartbeat slowing to match the steady rhythm, and the reminder of their constant support helped her carry on.
Unfortunately, it seemed she may have gotten a little too relaxed, such that her mind started to drift just a bit as she worked. At some point, she recalled this was originally a translation job as it was posted, and her brain seemed to stick to that and send her off on a tangent. It wasn't until she provided them with the finished translation- an adorable little piece of a fairy tale nature, fittingly- that she was reminded she was actually looking for a counter-spell.
Now doubly stressed, her cheer team still didn't bother her, nor did Elfman joining them (a bit odd, but kind of cute, really), but the reminder of their countdown certainly did. Yes, Macao, she knew she was running out of time, thank you.
As the seconds ticked down, Makarov offered a tiny moment of hope, but it was quickly dashed. Then he made it even worse by revealing the counterspell must be performed one pair at a time. Then, with nerves rising, on the brink of boiling over, an epiphany struck, and the desperate script mage grasped at the straws in presented.
A quick sweep through the words, a quick mental test-run before she risked putting the words on her tongue, was all the preparation she dare allot. "I've got it!" she announced. For a moment, Levy thought perhaps she should also explain the risks if she was wrong about this, or simply performed it wrong, but they all insisted there was no time for explanations, and she couldn't help but agree. If she did it wrong, there were risks, but if she didn't do it at all, it would be worse, she was sure.
So, with a deep breath, Levy began reading the text backwards, attempting to cast the spell for each pair despite the limited time.
"Inak oram ikisarm urad ogu! Inak oram ikisarm urad ogu! Inak oram ikisarm urad ogu! Inak oram ikisarm urad ogu!" As bright lights and runes filled the guild hall, Levy's hopes began to mix with a feeling of dread. There were three swapped pairs... and she'd just said the incantation four times. [Yes, she really does, in both versions.]
To her endless relief, however, as the light faded, Lucy spoke up, completely back to normal! Thank goodness she hadn't messed it up! She was able to explain her method, then, but the celebration was short-lived, as-
"I'M STILL IN THE WRONG BODY!" cried Natsu and Loke, still in each other's voices.
"WHAT?!" cried the girl, horrified. Erza and Happy, it seemed, were still stuck as well! Had.. had Levy simply run out of time? Was Macao's counting off? Had only the first incantation made it in time?
"Now, now, don't lose heart. There's gotta be another way," said Mirajane, the actual content of her words overshadowed by her sounding rather more... rugged than usual? ...Oh no. Why.. why was she sitting like that. Why did she have Makarov's staff.
"Something's not right.. Hey guys, did I get shorter!?" Oh merciful heavens, the Master's voice was high and innocent. Levy could have broken down crying right there, and it didn't even stop then.
As Mira-Makarov began admiring his/her new form, a deep voiced Cana began preaching about manliness, and a confused Elfman quickly passed out after drinking from Cana's barrel.
This is bad... thought Jet. Levy doesn't handle pressure very well as it is. But what could they do? Should they get her away from there, or encourage her to keep trying? He wondered if his partner in crime was having similar thoughts. Wearing his ever-present smile despite, or perhaps to mask, his concern, he spoke up, "Hey uh, Droy?" That was strange, he could have sworn he was standing on the other side, but the corner of his eye definitely saw a coat nigh-matching his own to his left rather than right. With little thought he turned- and saw himself?! It was only now that he realized he was suddenly holding the drum.
"Yeah, what is it now, Jet," droned Droy, who had indeed been in a similar line of mental questions, though with a little less optimism, as his frown betrayed. Turning toward the source of the voice without much thought- what the hell!? And only now did he realize he wasn't holding the drum.
"HEY MAN, STOP LOOKIN' LIKE ME." At least their unison power was still in-tact.
Levy nearly shut down. No... Not them...
"I don't think anybody's gonna be able to tell the difference with you two," deadpanned Mira-Makarov. But he was wrong. Levy.. didn't know if she could take this.
As the commotion raged on, ranging from outrage to confusion to despair to elation depending on the person and whose body they were in, Levy's brain finally just sort of gave up and shut off. "Sorry guys," she droned. "But I think I'm in way over my head." She sank into her seat, then, and lay her face against her open book. She was done, at least for the moment. She was just done existing and she was going to do her best to just fade into nothing for a little while.
Over in a corner of the room, a bit away from the rowdy wreck that was the victims of the spell, brown eyes set on Levy before their owner sighed. Another look at the body they were set in confirmed pale skin and lavender hair, before shifting over to see a more familiar sight some paces away, examining his own hands.
Approaching, Laki's voice called in a hushed tone, "Hey, Alzack." The word felt so strange to say to another. "She looks like she's in really rough shape. Can we just.. wait to tell her?"
Alzack's eyes looked to himself, who was not himself, and his voice answered, "Yeah, sure... Laki." Both prayed as much as anyone they'd fine a remedy, but there was no sense adding more pressure to the situation for now. "Why don't we.. go sit down and I'll tell you how to be me."
Laki-Alzack nodded, if a bit hesitantly. He really doubted he was going to get Laki's so-called 'poetic' style down with any amount of explanation, but he may as well try.
Back with the main group, Jet and Droy finally seemed to snap out of their stupor.
"Whoa, dude, Levy really needs us," said the Droy-bodied Jet.
"Shit, you're right," answered Jet-Droy.
Taking seats on either side of her, each lay an arm across her back comfortingly. "Hey, you got this," cooed Jet in Droy's voice. Levy didn't seem to react, though she did appreciate the thought.
"You heard Makarov, right?" assured Droy in Jet's. "There's bound to be another way."
Mira's ears seemed to catch that, and Makarov broke from his self-admiration to speak up. "Oh! I should probably mention, I was only teasing about the thirty minutes part."
"YOU WHAT!?"
The voices of every (conscious) member present rang out together, but Levy's was perhaps the fiercest as she found herself suddenly on her feet, her hands slammed against the table.
But the supermodel guild master only chuckled before settling into his usual demeanor. "Well not entirely of course. There really is an old legend about the Changeling spell that says as much," he explained with a nod. "Buuut it isn't the only legend, and I wouldn't really buy too much into it. We'll simply have to keep looking." So all that time she spent worrying about the time- Levy just. Ugh. "Not that I'd be able to complain too much if you can't find anything!" he cackled after a moment more, and Makarov-Mira's frantic cries signaled the start-up of the others again as well.
Sighing, Levy slumped back into her seat, deciding she may as well start glancing through the pages of her book again, but seeing no reason to hurry right this moment.
"Hey, it'll be okay," Lucy's voice- and actual-Lucy- assured her as the blonde took the seat across from Levy. "You got Gray and me switched back, right? So you must have done something right~ You've just gotta figure out what that was and do it again!"
The bluenette sighed. But what if every pair switched back makes even more switch? ...Might it be possible to set it up so that the side-effect pairs are also corrected? Ugh, it was too much to think about right now. Whatever the case, Lucy had a point; some success was better than none, side effects or no. "You're right, Lu. Thanks.."
Jet-Droy frowned a bit at this, while Droy-Jet carefully eyed Lucy a moment. Why did her reassurance work when theirs didn't? Whatever the case, it was brushed aside for now. At least something had worked, as was further evidenced by Levy sincerely getting back to work. All right. They'd opt out of cheering this time, thin as her nerves already were. They'd simply sit here with her, ready to help if she needed anything at all.
-
Several hours passed, and the weary word mage pressed on. The others had mostly settled down, finally, and were either trying to distract themselves or the others, or discussing what it might be like to stay as they were. The main exceptions were Loke-Natsu, who kept trying to pick a fight with Gray, who in turn kept insisting he didn't want Loke to get his body back beaten to a pulp, though that didn't stop a few blows from being exchanged; and Elfman-Cana, who had finally woken up with a wicked headache and stomachache both, and now lay sprawled on a table perpetually groaning about how much she hurt and how much she wished she could have a drink. Although a few outside wizards came and went, of those present at the time of the switch only Wakaba had yet gone home for the night, begrudgingly admitting his wife had plans and would be even more angry with him than usual if he were late.
Finally, Levy sighed. "I think I need another book."
"Of course!" replied Lucy. "Is it downstairs? Would you like me to get it?"
But Levy shook her head. "I don't think so. It's one I have at home.."
Instinctively, Jet stood up. "I can run and-" He stopped cold, then slowly sat back down. "I... can't..."
"You're only realizing this now?" remarked Gray.
But his wasn't the only delayed realization, as Droy suddenly looked in awe at his new body. He had.. always been a little envious of Jet.. and now... "I uh... I could try."
"Haven't you been payin' attention!" barked Cana-Elfman. "All our powers totally stink like this! ...'course if these cards were more manly.." s/he muttered as an afterthought as s/he idly picked one up.
"Then again, it would be pretty hard to mess up running," chided Happy, whose devilish look gleamed even with Erza's face. Truth be told, he was rather looking forward to seeing Droy fail.
"You sayin' somethin' about my magic?" Jet snipped.
"She, er, he's got a point though," Droy noted. "If I can use even a little of Jet's power I'd still be the fastest one here, unless anyone's got a vehicle on hand." He was pretty sure, and correct in assuming, no one did.
Levy nodded. "All right." Had this actually been Jet, he could have carried her there with ease. In fact, for their most urgent missions, he'd even been known to carry first her in his arms and then Droy on his back, and they'd still make better time than the train, within a reasonable distance. Naturally, this was reserved for only the most dire circumstances, as it did leave him rather drained once they got there.
As Droy would likely be struggling as it was, though, Levy did not want to add to his burden. Thus, she made a point of giving him rather explicit directions to her quarters in Fairy Hills- as, obviously, the young man had absolutely never for any reason been there before, especially not that time everyone else had been away for the day on jobs or vacations. She also gave him some rather more necessary directions to roughly where the book was located in her room and what to look for there, as she wasn't 100% sure of its exact location herself.
With all that out of the way, Droy finally stood. Heading toward the door, he looked out at the evening sky, the sun not quite setting but beginning to color the horizon slightly, and took a deep breath. Then he took off.
-
This is amaziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing, the wizard mentally exclaimed, elated. He had no delusion he was going even half as fast as his bro could, but he still felt so, so fast. A few times, he even took a little detour to lap a nearby building or block just because he could. As a result, by the time he reached Fairy Hills, he was a little more tired than he would have liked, but he still felt pretty all right.
Man.. Maybe instead of just envying Jet's abilities he should seriously start asking him to tutor him- assuming they got their original bodies back of course. It was difficult to learn new magical specialties after one's first, especially the later one started training, but if it was really this fantastic maybe it wouldn't hurt to try.
Upon reaching Levy's room, Droy found it... fuller than he remembered. Did she still have room to walk in here? ...Well, she was pretty tiny. Uhh...
Finding the book took much longer than getting to the building, but eventually he was pretty sure he had the right one. ...Another one looked kind of similar, though, so he grabbed both just in case.
He had thought he'd spent so much time searching that he'd be pretty rested by the time he set out again.
He had thought wrong.
Unlike the trip there, the trip back had no detours, but all the same, Droy basically tumbled into the guild hall when he finally made it there. Getting to his feet, he plopped both books on the table and panted, "Please tell me one of those is right."
Levy barely looked at them, but quickly confirmed, "Er, yeah. But are you okay?"
Droy moved to grab hold of the seed-carrying belts his original body wore, nearly pulling Jet into the floor when he collapsed with them. "WHOA, hey!"
"Running is exhausting," Droy sobbed. "I just wanna go back to growing things, I'm so sorry." It seemed he was talking to his seeds now. "I promise I'll never leave you again just please stop my legs from being on fire."
"I don't think it works like that.." Romeo commented.
"Uh-oh, he's going delusional," chided Erza-Happy.
"Why don't you man up for a change!" harped Cana-Elfman.
Meanwhile, Loke-Natsu was grinning deviously. "Did someone say fire?"
"You don't have any fire right now!" Gray reminded him. ...Probably. He was closer to Loke than most of the guild was, barring all the bimbos who were a completely different kind of close, but he still only had a vague idea of what Loke's magic was like. He knew it was strong- enough so that they'd agreed to team up if one-but-not-both of them made it to S-class tryouts, but as for what type it was? Something bright that didn't look like fire.
"Dude, seriously, you're makin' both of us look bad," Jet complained as he first tried to pry off his bro, then opted for simply taking off the belts.
While the squabbling picked back up around her, Levy simply sighed and went back to work. Thankfully, the new book did have some of the things she hoped it might, and as it turned out the extra was on some related subjects, so while it didn't have much in the way of additional material, it was great for cross-referencing and double-checking. She'd get this yet.
-
The hours ticked further on. Macao finally needed to get Romeo home, and Gray eventually excused himself as well, wishing everyone else luck. This got others thinking of sleep as well. No one found the idea of sleeping in the guild hall particularly appealing, but it was getting late; hopefully they'd have more luck in the morning.
"So should we just... go home like this?" Natsu asked.
"I don't see why not," sang Happy, before suddenly frowning. "Though I just realized my bed's gonna be really small.. Maybe I should sleep in Erza's room and she could go with Natsu!"
"Not on your life, cat."
"Oh, Happy, I know! We can stay with Lucy!"
"Could you not-?" interjected Loke nervously.
In the end, almost everyone simply went to their usual residences, resulting in "Happy" sleeping in Erza's room in Fairy Hills; "Loke" and "Erza" shacking up at their home by the lake (earning quite a few looks and incidentally starting several rumors on their way there; who knew Loke was that good with the ladies!? who knew Erza went for guys like that!); "Cana" and "Makarov" heading to the Strauss household, oddly drawing little notice; and "Elfman" heading to Cana's place. Loke attempted to go home, but found "Natsu" had a bit of trouble getting in, so eventually he decided to crash with actual-Natsu and Happy for the night.
Laki had quietly gone to Alzack's home, while Alzack now found himself at Laki's. As he carefully repeated the instructions to himself, afraid of opening the wrong girl's door, one near him happened to open. Standing in it was a rather scantily clad Bisca.
"Oh, hey Laki~" she greeted her neighbor. "That was some incident at the guild today, huh? Glad to see you're okay."
"I- Yeah!" Alzack was quickly realizing what a certain occurence felt like to women. Why did she even have clothes that revealing? "B-but I'd better get to bed." Stop staring, stop staring- no looking at different parts still counts as staring, stop.
"Hm? You never go to bed this early," Bisca frowned.
"Well, you know, busy day, bye." S/he quickly rushed into the next room and slammed the door before realizing he really hoped this was- uh. Yyy-yeah it was Laki's all right. Wow that girl had some issues.
Back at the guild hall, it was just Levy, Jet, Droy, Lucy, and Makarov now; and Levy looked like she was beginning to nod off.
"Hey... Lev? You should probably get some sleep soon..." Lucy warned, finding she then had to stifle of yawn of her own.
"No, I..." she weakly argued. "I've got this. Gotta..." It seemed even partial yawns were contagious.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Jet, and he shot Droy a look. Even coming from the wrong face, the latter understood it immediately as their 'just go with it' look.
"Levy, you're pushing yourself way too hard. Most of the people afflicted by the spell won't be back until morning anyway."
Droy agreed, though he wasn't sure yet what the look was about. "You need a break, or you might overlook something important, and that wouldn't help anyone."
The bluenette gave a disagreeable groan, but couldn't really argue the point.
"It's true," Makarov told her. "You've given an admirable effort, child, but you need to rest now. The Thunder Legion should be home some time tomorrow, as well." Although Lucy was not sure what the significance of that was, Shadow Gear all nodded. Fried and Levy were both formidable, but working together there was little they couldn't achieve; Levy simply hoped this wouldn't prove one of the exceptions.
It was then that Jet's plan became apparent. "C'mon, Levy. You should come home with us for tonight."
"What?" She fought to keep her voice close to neutral, but her gaze had snapped to him a bit quickly, and now facing away from the onlookers she gave him a what the hell do you think you're doing look.
"We know you way too well," he went on, fully casual.
Now Droy caught on, and joined in. "Without someone to watch her, she's likely to get back up and keep working all night," he explained to the others. Levy fought the urge to facepalm; if the boys were half as clever about languages as they were conspiring against her, they'd be back in their own bodies by now.
Rubbing Mira's chin, Makarov nodded. "That does sound like something Levy would do." That wasn't to say he didn't have any suspicions; he simply chose not to voice them for now.
Equally concerned, Lucy pitched in, "Well hey, if you'd be more comfortable staying with another girl you could stay at my place, too."
Levy froze, not quite sure how to respond to that. Fortunately, Jet had it. "Until you fall asleep, and then guess where she'll be!"
Droy flashed Jet's infamous grin, indicating himself with a thumb. "Meanwhile, me and Jet can take shifts and make sure she stays in bed."
Lucy considered this and nodded. "Yeah, okay." Then she thought a bit more. "Should I come too and provide a third watch?"
Dammit Lucy. Seemed the team was even thinking in unison now.
This time Levy took the reigns, flashing her friend a look that was equal parts amused and offended. "Geez, Lucy. I'd think of all people you would trust me. I don't need a babysitter, let alone three. You need sleep too, ya know!"
Lucy gave a sheepish laugh to that, sweating slightly. "S-sorry Lev. You're right. So.. I guess we'll all meet here tomorrow?"
Shadow Gear and Makarov all nodded their agreement. "I think it's time we all got some well-deserved rest. Sleep well, my dear children." Levy dearly hoped they got this figured out tomorrow, because she was never going to get used to hearing things like that in Mirajane's voice.
With that, Lucy headed home, Makarov headed upstairs to his quarters, and Levy went home with her beloved boys- for the first time with no need to hide it, and both intent and ability to stay until morning.
-
She knew she should be a little upset with them: for taking advantage of a dire situation, for risking drawing unwanted attention to the nature of their relationship, for not talking this plan over with her first.. The list went on.
But as it was, Levy knew that everyone was right about waiting until morning, just as she knew that- as much as she might like to deny it- they were absolutely right that if left to her own devices she'd end up compulsively working through the night. Certainly she'd tell herself, 'no, I'm going to bed now', but then her mind would get to working, and it would be 'well maybe I could check just this one thing' or 'oh I didn't think of that thing before, I don't want to forget it in the morning'.
Here, though... Just knowing the guys could keep guard if she gave them reason to meant they wouldn't actually need to. Since she didn't want to cause them that trouble, she would actually be able to control her impulses. Here, she could relax.
With too little energy to even pick a room, she instead collapsed across the couch, covering her face with a forearm and letting out a long groan. "Just think, this morning the biggest thing I had to worry about-" ...was Lucy and possibly the rest of her team getting themselves killed on that S-class quest. "...Wow I can't believe this situation is an improvement," she deadpanned. Come to think, she'd been so busy focusing on the spell all day that she had no idea how that went. She'd have to ask about it after they got all of this fixed.
Each of the boys took a seat in the floor then at opposite ends of the couch. "Cheer up, angel," Jet cooed. It was odd hearing such an affectionate title in Droy's voice, as Droy didn't really do the whole pet names thing. Which was fine, of course, but she did enjoy them at times, so she might have extra savored the rarity of that particular sound.
"Is there anything we can do to help you unwind?" asked Droy.
Levy gave a slightly sarcastic laugh. "Go figure out a counterspell for me?"
Droy pursed Jet's lips. "... I was thinking more on the lines of dinner, or a massage. Or maybe a drink."
... Levy's arm moved up toward her forehead to peek under it at the guys. "A massage... does sound kind of nice..." Seeing a wider smile break across Droy's face than Jet's was a little uncomfortable, but she supposed at least they were both smiling. Really, they got off pretty easy, compared to some of the other swapped pairs. Levy wondered how Loke was holding up, and poor Mira.
"I do assume that was a back massage," Jet teased.
"Right, sorry," she said as she snapped out of her thoughts. Rather than simply turning over, Levy first sat up and removed the blue vest she wore that day. That left just the yellow 'shirt', which was really more of an extra cute, publicly-acceptable bra. With only a few moments of consideration, she shrugged and removed it as well.
As she moved to lie down, then, she noticed the guys were staring especially intently. "So.. not fair.." mumbled Droy.
Levy just rolled her eyes, then went ahead and lay on her stomach. "Seriously, guys, it's not like you haven't seen them before." That didn't really matter much, honestly.
Any annoyance that caused quickly melted away with the massage, though, as did much of her stress from the day. Everything... would be fine...
They pampered her until she was practically melting, and on the verge of falling asleep. She didn't do so, though, instead actively fighting it to drift instead into the arms of her nearest lover, which happened to be Jet- er, uh, Droy. Maybe she was a bit tired. But that was fine. "Thank you guys," she whispered before moving in.
Moving up to the now-empty couch, Jet simply grinned. Honestly, he never minded watching Levy and Droy make out. Sure, he had a little at first, but he got over it pretty quickly; anymore, he found it more arousing than anything. Today in particular, however, was especially appealing. ...You know. For some.. mysterious reason. ...Reasons. Which definitely were not related to Droy's appearance or Levy's attire.
As she started waking up a bit more, Levy suddenly recalled the latter herself, blushing profusely. "Oh, uh- Sorry! This is.." She covered herself with her arms as she scanned for where either shirt had gone. "..probably giving off kind of the wrong idea."
Droy gave a bemused smirk. "Levy, I'd hope you knew us better than that." Both of them knew good and well that the only way anyone was 'asking for' anything was if they were literally, verbally asking for it. He did sincerely hope Levy didn't think either of them was that sort of guy.
"S-still," she muttered, putting on a light pout.
"It's not like we're gonna push you toward anything you don't wanna do, beautiful." In a playful faux-mutter, Jet added, "No matter how drop-dead gorgeous you might be."
She had to blush and fought a laugh at that. "Thanks guys.."
As Jet watched his own lips kiss Levy's cheek, though, another thought occurred to him. "Though... ya know..." Levy turned to him with a raised eyebrow at that tone, and Jet averted his gaze 'innocently'. "If uh... If you did happen to want to... it would kind of be like..." His voice grew a bit weaker and he trailed off, unsure now if he should really finish that thought.
"Be like..?"
He cleared Droy's throat. "It would sort of... be like.. being with both of us at once.. you know?" He offered a sheepish grin, hoping that would be enough to pass it off as a joke if she found it off-putting.
Instead, though, Levy went a bit slack-jawed. It... sort of would. Sort of, but... still..
Droy seemed to be having a similar reaction as he looked over Jet and then Levy. "That uh... certainly would be... interesting."
Even as Levy considered it, though, her anxiety began to flare back up. "But-" She pursed her lips a moment to gather her thoughts before continuing, moving up to sit on the couch again now and motioning for Droy to join them. "That's... It's definitely 'interesting', but it... Even if it would be sort of like that it still.. wouldn't be, you know? I don't.. really..."
So it seemed she was still stuck on the 'who first' thing. Really, he couldn't speak for Droy (except, you know, when he could), but Jet literally did. not. care. Would he like being Levy's first? Absolutely. But did he mind being a close second? Not really. And she would be his first either way, so what did it really matter? (Naturally, he could think of quite a few ways to 'include' everyone, but he was pretty certain Levy would not at all go for a few of them, and others included things they'd done before, things that she felt were "less special" or "didn't count".)
But though he'd tried to explain this before- a lot, really- she was still so convinced that he was only trying to make her feel better. If he had to, he would probably guess that she never had gotten over her initial guilt of falling for more than one person and had never really totally adjusted; she was more concerned with everything being 'fair' than with what each of them individually wanted or needed, which ironically could sometimes result in her being more neglectful or overbearing toward one or the other than if she wasn't thinking in terms of 'fairness'. It was only even in the past few months that they'd reached a point where she was comfortable going out with just one of them romantically without worrying about the other feeling left out- thankfully, as this had resulted in quite a bit more quality time.
All the same... If she needed even more to set her mind at ease, then he was happy to do whatever it took. "Well hey. You know whichever of us was sitting on the sidelines would get a hell of a consolation prize."
Levy was almost afraid to ask. "...How so?"
"Well, how often does a guy get to watch himself making love to the girl of his dreams?"
"I-"
"...That is a fantastic point," Droy noted. "...Wow. Uh." Yeah he.. was honestly probably a bit more possessive than Jet, but he.. would be pretty okay with that, really. "Yeah."
Levy felt her face heating. "Well... If I don't figure out how to reverse the spell..." she muttered.
"But you will~" they sang in unison, earning a small laugh from their beloved.
Was she really considering this? Certainly, the uniqueness of the situation did not at all remove all of her reservations surrounding the issue. She still wasn't sure if she was ready in general for this, let alone right now. She still didn't consider herself a very sexual person by nature. But with all that in mind, it wasn't as though she absolutely never wanted to try it ever, and... would there ever be a time that she might feel more comfortable than right now?
"I..." She tried to make a list of scenarios that would feel more opportune than this one, but found she couldn't really come up with any. There was a brief thought of 'find a spell to fuse you into literally one person', but honestly that wasn't what she wanted either. She didn't love Jet and Droy because they each had things she wanted in one lover; she loved Jet for Jet, and Droy for Droy; she loved the ways they were similar, and the ways they were different.
She did love them both, so very much. And she knew how much each of them wanted her, and even if she didn't always 'want' them in quite the same way or to them same degree, she did want to fill that need for them. Besides, it... was supposed to help with stress, right? Their lighter playing usually did, at any rate. And given the day she'd- they'd all- had...
So then, Levy had decided that she definitely did want to do this, on multiple levels. Now it was just.. ... Well?
Turning to Jet- er, no wait it had been Droy- she hesitantly asked, "Did... I hear you offer a drink earlier?"
With a blink, Droy nodded. "Uh, yeah." He quickly got up to retrieve a few- thank heaven for ice lacrimae- and brought them to the living room before taking his seat again.
Quickly looking them over and choosing the strongest-looking with little regard for taste, Levy cracked open the bottle and began swiftly downing it.
"WHOA HEY," both cried.
"Slow down, what's up?" Jet pulled the bottle away from her face but did not take it away.
Flashing him an anxious, forced smile, she offered, "Trying to take care of my nerves?"
But why? Jet wondered. "...You mean to-?" She nodded.
"Are... are you serious?" Droy asked; she nodded to him as well.
"You know you don't have to-" Jet started.
"I- want to," she assured them, if with an ounce of hesitation.
"..Are you sure?" Droy asked.
"Like right now, while you're still sober, 100% sure?" Jet added.
"Guys, it's fine. Are you trying to talk me out of it now?" she didn't quite snark.
Quickly releasing his hold on her drink, Jet answered, "Not at all. A-as long as you're sure, babe." Though he was trying to remain calm, he couldn't fight the grin spreading across Droy's face.
"Y-yeah.." Man.. Now Droy was getting nervous, too. He eyed the drinks nearby, but Jet's tolerance was a bit lower than his own, and if Cana and Elfman had been any indication he'd need to be really careful. Of course, Cana wasn't exactly the best standard. ..He supposed one drink with her probably wouldn't hurt.
Jet rolled his eyes. Looked like he was going to have to be the responsible one for tonight.
Finishing off her first bottle, Levy found herself giggling a bit. "I love you guys~" Then she grabbed another.
"W-.." Jet rolled the letter around before deciding to discard it. Correcting, he wrapped an arm around her and replied, "I love you too, angel."
"..More than anything," Droy agreed.
-
The next morning when Levy awoke, she found she had a pretty noteable headache, but was pleasantly surprised to realize she remembered pretty much everything~ ...Except how she got to Jet's bed. Maybe they brought her here after she fell asleep..
Speaking of, it felt absolutely fantastic to wake up with each of them lying next to her in a place that was actually familiar to boot. Normally the only times she got to sleep so close were somewhere in the middle of the wilderness on far-out-of-town jobs.
After a long gaze and the slumbering redhead next to her, she shifted to see Droy- which was to say, Jet- bright-eyed just watching her. "Morning, beautiful," he purred with a soft smile.
"H-hey," she rasped back, still only about half conscious herself. "When did you wake up?"
He averted his gaze. "Oh I uh... didn't, really..." Levy frowned. "I just don't.. really sleep much, heh. I always thought it might be because of my magic, but now I.. think it might actually wear me out. Also it's apparently a mental thing," he laughed softly.
Levy just sighed, then glancing at the nearest window decided it was far too early and buried her face against his chest. "Sleep."
He wasn't quite sure if that was a command or a narration, but he just pretended to go with it. "Sure.."
-
When she awoke again, it was mid-day, and she saw a figure in front of her, getting dressed. With a great yawn, the tiny mage mumbled, "Morning Jet..."
With something between a smirk and a grimace, he answered, "Still Droy."
Levy shot upright. "SHIT." Scrambling out of bed and looking for her clothes (how the hell were her shorts way over...?), she continued to curse under her breath as her mind raced. "Shit shit shit shit. Everyone's probably already there, they're all waiting for me, I- shit."
Occasionally as she hurried to get dressed, she barked at the guys to do so as well, though they didn't really need it. Once she was completely ready, she darted out the door, barely making sure they were behind her first.
Upon arriving at the guild hall, she found that the Thunder Legion had only recently arrived back in town and Fried should currently be on his way; more good news, most of the Changeling's victims had not been waiting terribly long- save for the two that arrived earliest that morning, aka the two she hadn't known about until just then. "Oh, fuck me," she muttered under her breath. ...She could practically hear the thought: 'again?' Although both the guys appeared totally straight-faced, and she almost doubted anyone had even heard her vent just then, she shot them a precautionary glare just in case.
It seemed neither Lucy nor Gray were here yet this morning either; just as well, as neither needed to be, but Levy was a bit surprised. Brushing that thought aside, though, she took her place back in front of her books, which thankfully had not been touched (probably the only time the Master would ever be able to keep everyone off such things, of course, considering most of the worst offenders were in the group that needed it most) and began skimming through while waiting for Fried.
Soon enough, the Rune Mage did arrive, and quickly delved right in.
After some hour or two of collaborative searching, however, Fried finally spoke up. "Ah, Levy. What is this?" He pointed not to the tablet, but to the flowery text on either side of it.
"I looked there, but I couldn't find any hint of a hidden message," she groaned.
"What if it's not so hidden?"
"...Huh?"
Fried began explaining the correlations he was drawing between words, and it was very complex, including several simultaneous spells that must be cast at once. But the short story everyone else got was that they had to have everyone pair off and hold some wires while Laxus shocked them, as indicated by the "storm" mentioned in the text, providing a catalyst for the spells, as it were.
"Oh... I am gonna enjoy this," grinned Laxus deviously.
"Can we please..." whimpered Natsu-Loke.
"Not...?" finished Happy-Erza.
But it was too late. Laxus used perhaps a bit more force than necessary (whether intentionally or due to 'this is my holding back' aspects), and everyone was left pretty charred and crispy-looking, but when they got to their feet, everyone was in the correct bodies! Levy was literally in tears.
"Thank you, thank you so much Fried!" called Levy.
"Think nothing of it," commented Fried.
"C'mon, let's get out of here," Laxus complained.
"As you wish," said Fried simply.
Within a few minutes, the brawlers were back to brawling, the womanizer was back to womanizing, the drinker was drinking, and all was right with the guild. One minor irk persisted, which was the two now-properly-bodied teammates sitting on either side of her showering her in rather physical, rather public affections. Still, she supposed they would be easy enough to justify, just for today. So Levy allowed it... and she enjoyed it while she could.
-
In another town, in another guild, rain dripped lightly on the roof, drip drop.
By now, a good number of members had begun to catch on to certain patterns in the rain. And this particular pattern meant 'if you value your life, don't interrupt Gajeel'. Naturally, the one responsible for said rain had no idea that it changed so drastically, for it matched her mood so fluidly and she was so used to the rain as a constant that she missed the trees for the forest, as it were.
One person, however, did not fear the Dragon Slayer, and happened to have business with him.
There was a small knock on the door. "Go away," the grinding voice growled.
"I have a job for the lot of you," Master Jose stated. Everything inside the room went quiet at the sound of his voice.
"...Go tell the others."
Jose tutted and shook his head. "I have, but this particular mission shall require all five of Phantom's Elite, I'm afraid." As he turned the doorknob, there was a clang of great commotion, but when the door actually opened, both the Dragon Slayer and the Rain Woman sat in entirely innocent positions across the room from one another. Jose flashed them a facetious smile.
"So what's the big deal anyway," Gajeel spat.
"Why, a simple recovery mission is all," the Master assured them.
Raising a knuckle to her chin, Juvia hesitantly asked, "Master..? If the job is simple, why does it require even Gajy..l?" She recovered, if barely.
"You see my dear," he explained. "A poor delusional noble girl has run away from home, and her father fears for her safety. Clearly we must devote our utmost care to ensuring her safe apprehension and journy home."
"So why'z at gunzern ne?" Gajeel asked, beginning to munch a handful of bolts.
"Ah, that's exactly where you come in. It seems the girl thinks she's a wizard, and the guild that is harboring her happens to be a bunch of little upstarts who think they're better than us." Both members's eyes flashed fiercely. "Ah, yes. And worse, some people are starting to believe them! Clearly, we cannot let such an affront to Phantom's reputation stand. So I simply thought that you might be willing to teach a lesson to anyone who might prove disagreeable to your mission while you're looking for the girl, yes?"
Gajeel broke into a bit of a smirk. "I suppose I could manage something like that.."
"Juvia understands." The rain woman nodded with determination. This guild took her in. They gave her a chance when no one else would. They accepted her, supported her. It was here that she met Gajeel. She was a proud Phantom Lord wizard, and she would gladly do anything Jose asked of her, especially when that something was defending the pride of the guild she so deeply loved.
A storm was coming for Fairy Tail.
-
A/N: Yes I realize this chapter was over half as long as the whole rest of the fic. No there wasn't a good enough breaking point. Yes this was all written in 24 hours. Yes I am exhausted. (I've edited for any spelling/grammar issues sleepiness might have caused now, though, so don't hesitate to call my attention to any that remain.)
Also changed to M to be safe because I don't know fine lines between ratings. Anyone think there's a chance it'd be passable as T or not at all?