Magnetism, chapter 4

[mirime_vy]

Title: Magnetism
Chapter: 4
Pairing: Gajeel/Levy
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima's characters and setting, my story.


Lucky Ollietta regarded one of her good friends with a barely hidden amusement.

"You look like you had a rough day," the purple-haired girl commented. Her blue-haired friend made a frustrated moan.

"You have no idea."

Levy McGarden was at the end of her tether. Okay, that might have been an exaggeration but after the inquiry Mirajane had put her through, she felt all wrung out. Her tiredness might also have had something to do with the stack of old books she was taking to the dormitory to read. Lucky had considerately offered to take some of them from her.

"What are they about?" the wood-magic user asked after failing to decipher the ancient writings on more than half of the tomes.

"Ancient magic. I'm doing a little research for a friend."

A friend. Strange that she came to think of Gajeel as such. Then again, Levy was good when it came to making new friends, even if this friend was much rougher around the edges than others.

"Couldn't you ask Jet and Droy to help you out?" Lucky panted a bit. The books were large and heavy. Levy shrugged, her load almost twice as much as Lucky carried.

"They have run off somewhere. They didn't want to tell me where so I didn't press them."

"In moments like these it would be nice to have a potential life-partner of a male persuasion."

Levy did a quick translation of Lucky's sometimes strange way of speaking.

"You mean a boyfriend?" she hazarded a guess.

"Yes. Someone strong to carry all of these for us."

"That would be nice," Levy agreed and then shared a sigh with Lucky. "Too bad we don't have any."

The girls looked at each other and giggled. It didn't make the books any lighter but it lifted their spirits a bit. They continued chatting as they walked the familiar path to the Fairy Hills, neither of them sensing the presences that were trailing after them.

The fact that Fairy Hills, a dormitory for female mages, was protected by powerful spells was a known fact. Not so known was the nature of those spells and their settings and triggers. For example, there was a magical barrier set up to activate only when a male tried to get into the dormitory uninvited and unannounced, in other words: trying to sneak in. When that happened, the barrier activated, literally throwing out the intruder.

As Levy and Lucky opened the main door, there was a loud blaring noise, like an alarm and the air around the dormitory shimmered for a moment before settling down. And outside the invisible barrier, two very unlucky mages laid in a heap. Lucky squeezed her shoulder in sympathy and slipped inside, whispering a promise of delivering the books into Levy's room. Levy closed her eyes briefly.

"Jet. Droy. Explanation. Now."

Her two friends slowly got on their feet, wearing identical sheepish expressions.

"It's not what you think, Levy."

Several mages stuck their heads out of their respective windows, trying to see what was going on.

"Everything alright down there?" Bisca called out.

"Yeah," Levy called back. "Just a little accident with protection spells."

The sniper nodded and closed her windows just in time to stop an eagle from flying out. Levy turned to Jet and Droy, who still stood outside the barrier and took mercy on them.

"Come in."

Hesitantly, they went. And the barrier didn't react at all. Seeing their expressions, Levy explained.

"It only activates when you are trying to sneak in. If you are invited, it stays dormant."

"Makes sense," Droy spoke. The girls living in the dormitory usually liked to bring guests inside. If the barrier activated for every male without exception, it would put a damper on the visits.

"Yeah. It's similar to Fried's enchantments in how the rules for an activation are written. It's really fascinating."

Levy had been growing more and more fascinated with the enchantment magic ever since she had disspelled those enchantments during the Fighting Festival. She had even entertained a thought of asking Fried to teach her some of the basic ones. It was, after all, very close to her own kind of magic. But there were other things for her to deal with at the moment.

"Is this that surprise you were talking about?" she asked pointedly.

"Listen, Levy," Jet took an initiative. "We just wanted to look after you. But you seemed pretty annoyed with us for that so we decided to do it in secret."

"Guys, it's really nice of you but-"

"You don't get it, Levy," Droy cut her off. "We have failed to protect you three times by now. Two of those times you could have died, if not for Gajeel. I still don't like the guy but he seems to be doing a better job of protecting you than the two of us. And, well..."

"We are a team, Levy," Jet took over. "And we are your friends. We just want to do our share in taking care of you. I guess we were jealous of Gajeel. We were afraid that you would replace us with him."

There, they said it. Levy listened with an open mouth. Were they really that blinded by their fear and jealousy?

"Come here, you big idiots," she said and yanked both of them into an embrace. Having one of them on each side of her, she continued to give them a tongue-lashing. "We have been best friends since we were little kids. You could never be replaced by anyone. How could you even think that? Sure, I consider Gajeel a friend now. But he's not you and you're not him. I won't pick him over you two or the other way around. It's like you were being jealous of Lucy."

"Lucy's not a guy," Droy pointed out. Levy was glad her face was hidden between the two of them so they couldn't see her blush at the insinuation.

"That's not the point here. I'm not going to fall in love with him all of a sudden. But even if I did, I would still want you for friends. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes. And we are sorry for being... like that."

"Apology accepted," Levy smiled and pulled away. And then her face turned strict again. "Now get those books. Lucky and I were forced to drag them all the way here while you were trailing me in secrecy. You can do some work at least now."

"Yes, m'am," they both almost saluted and Levy shook her head with exasperation.

"C'mon. I'll make us some tea."
So, there was a barrier protecting the building. An interesting concept of the barrier at that. But nothing insurpassable. He had already formulated a plan that was likely to succeed. All he had to do was wait for little Levy's friends to leave and the lights in the building to go out.

Kain Jebel leaned against the tree in a more comfortable position. He could wait just fine. He had done a lot of waiting in his life for far less important things. He glanced at the torn picture from the magazine.

Levy stood up so much amongst those other women. She was so innocent when compared with them. A modest lily, bright and pure. She deserved the paradise. And she would enter it tonight. Nothing would get in his way. Nothing.

It was about an hour before the two men left the building and Jebel stretched his legs, knowing he would have to wait for a while yet. The sun had gone down already but there were many lighted windows. The inhabitants of the building had yet to go to sleep and he didn't want a chance meeting in the hallway to ruin his chances.

One by one, the lights went out until there was only one left. He waited for it to wink out but after a half an hour passed, he realized that someone was probably planning on staying up late. Nothing he could do about that, he would have to risk it. Another chance like this one could be long time in coming.

Jebel stood up and walking confidently, he walked up the path that led to the main door. As he passed the barrier, he felt a tingling sensation but nothing more. So he was right. The barrier reacted only to those who tried to enter stealthily. After all, it would be pointless for the barrier to stop either friends of the people inside or someone insignificant like a delivery boy. There were probably other magical protections inside but he would deal with them as he encountered them.

The door was locked but a bit of a manipulation with a lock and he was inside easily. He set down the lobby towards the stairs, guessing correctly that living quarters were on the upper floors. And the last stroke of luck came as he realized that the doors had little nameplates on them.

Levy McGarden was written on the third door and he was unpleasantly surprised to realize that the only light in the building was coming from her room. Recalling the stack of books she had carried, she was most likely reading. Unfortunate. But she was so close. He couldn't turn away now, not after coming this far.

The former leader of the Approaching End put his hand on the handle and pressed it slowly down. The door wasn't locked! It must have been a sign that his decision had been correct. He pushed the door open slowly, hoping it wouldn't creak and betray his presence. It went easily, the maintenance of the place really superb.

And there she was, his blue-haired soon-to-be angel. She was sitting at her desk, her noticeable hair pulled up into a ponytail. She had glasses that kept falling down her nose as she was bent over an old book, several other books spread around her as she occasionaly checked something in them. She was totally engrossed in her work. She made it so easy for him.
Levy swore to herself as she ran into another dead end. A promising lead turned up to be nothing more than a mythical allegory, recorded by an aspiring story-teller. Talentless story-teller at that. It was a pain to read his work and Levy was tempted to throw the book across the room. But the book was innocent in this and she restrained herself.

She pushed her glasses back and leaned into her chair, letting out a yawn. Maybe she should call it a night and look at it again in the morning, fresh and res-

"Hello, Levy."

Her scream was cut short by a hand that was clamped over her mouth. She was dragged out of the chair, a couple of books falling down as the chair got unbalanced and she was spun around to face her attacker. Her eyes widened as she recognized him. Kain Jebel.

"We meet again, litle girl and this time we won't be interrupted."

Levy tried to struggle but he was bigger and stronger, his grip on her unyielding. He started dragging her towards the window. She tried to bite into his hand but was unsuccessful. He held her arms in such a way she couldn't try to scratch him or hit him. Kicking was her only option but he twisted her body around until her legs were hitting only the air.

"Stop struggling, Levy," he said angrily. "It's for your own good, can't you see that?"

"Mhmuhmhh!" she tried to scream but it was very muffled. Their progress to the window was hindered by her efforts but not much. She knew that unless she thought of something very quick, this man would finish what he had started in the forest near Sakura several days ago and kill her.

"Levy-san?" a knock on the door accompanied Juvia's voice. Juvia had a room next to her. Did she hear her scream? "Juvia heard a noise. Are you alright?"

Jebel froze and Levy got a burst of inspiration. Kicking him was fruitless but kicking something else... They were right beside one of the tables which was overflowing with books. Levy sent out a short prayer for it to work and then kicked the table with all her might.

The books shook and since they were stacked in such a precarious position, they started to tumble down. The resulting noise was enough for Juvia to open the door and enter the room.

"Levy-san?" she asked but the pause was enough for Jebel to act. He tossed Levy to the side where she landed rather painfully on the toppled books. Jebel gestured with his right hand and a hail of sharp rocks careened towards Juvia. They passed through her body without doing any real damage, since she liquified herself immediately.

"A water mage, eh?" Jebel sneered. Juvia nodded, her face set in an unusual scowl.

"You have attacked Juvia and Juvia's friends. Juvia cannot forgive that. Water slicer!"

She lashed out at him with a highly pressurized water stream, half-expecting him to block it using his earth element. He surprised her when he conjured a shimmering liquid wall.

"Lake shield!"

Her Water slicer rammed into the water wall, both liquid-based spells losing form and drenching everything in their vicinity. Levy winced from where she laid at the floor, half from the pain in her side, half from knowing the damage the water would wreak on her books.

"Didn't expect that, eh?" Jebel taunted. "I have control of all of the elements. Your measly one is no match for me."

Juvia's eyes narrowed. Time to bring out the big guns.

"Water lock!"

She got the satisfaction of seeing his face contort in anger and shock as he was engulfed in her water prison. He was thrashing around, trying to break out of it but Juvia tightened her control on the sphere, never giving him any openings to exploit. His movements slowed down as his air supply slowly ran out. And then-

"This is not over," he mouthed in Levy's direction as he put his left hand over his heart and disappeared from the bubble. The water sphere contracted inside to compensate for a sudden loss of matter and Juvia released the spell automatically, blinking several times as if to assure herself it had really happened. The shock wore off quickly, though, as she turned to help Levy who was slowly climbing to her feet.

"Are you alright, Levy-san?"

"Yes," Levy replied, the shock catching up with her finally. Juvia caught her arm as Levy's legs threatened to give up from under her. "Thank you. If you didn't come..."

"Who was that man?" Juvia asked, supporting Levy and helping her towards her overturned chair.

"Kain Jebel. He... Our team ran into him during our latest mission. He almost killed us all. But Gajeel saved us and the guy disappeared."

"So he came back for revenge?"

"I don't know," Levy shook her head helplessly. "I have no idea what he wants from me."

"Levy? Juvia?" Cana Alberona stood in the doorway and Bisca, Lucky, Miki, Mirajane, basically all of the girls living in Fairy Hills stood behind her. "What happened here? We heard some ruckus."

Levy sighed and looked to Juvia for support.

"We need to inform the Master," the water mage decided.
"This is getting serious. Levy escaped unharmed this time but we can't risk another incident like that," Makarov was rather angry. One of his children had been attacked again, a child that was universally beloved by all in the guild.

They all sat in the Fairy Tail's bar, most of the guild present despite the early hour. After sending the message to the Master, Cana had moved Levy into her own room, the rest of the girls standing guard around the room with Juvia and Cana inside with Levy. Her honour guard was present even now, surrounding Levy all the way to the guild building with the addition of Jet and Droy. Their guilt trip had been thankfully cut short by Levy who had explained that there had been really nothing they could have done to change the events of that night. Still, they hovered over her like extremely concerned mother hens.

"What I don't get is how he got inside," Cana spoke. "There are several enchantments on the building and surrounding property to prevent exactly this kind of situation. He shouldn't have been able to so much as enter the premises, never mind the building itself."

"That magic relies on the intent, Cana," Makarov explained with a sigh. "As long as your heart does not recognize your intent as evil or harmful, the magic lets you pass."

"He wanted to kill her!" Cana exploded. "How's that not harmful?"

"The bastard's really crazy," Gajeel spoke from where he was leaning against the wall. "From what I heard, he thinks he's doing people a favour by killing them. He wanted to off the bookworm back in Sakura and he probably decided to finish the job."

"That's sick," the card-user said in disgust.

"I'm not arguing with that."

"The question is: how we stop him from trying again?" Jet said into the silence that followed.

"Levy-san is welcomed to stay with Juvia. Juvia can protect her."

"That's very kind of you, Juvia-chan, but it doesn't solve the main problem," Makarov said. "The Council has assured me they are doing their best in trying to track Jebel down but their organizational structure is still shaky. That's why I want to ask all of you to keep an eye on things in Magnolia. If Levy's his target, he will come back and I want us to be ready for him."

"Of course, Master."

The things settled a bit after that. Since they had come to a decision, most of the members either went back home or to pick some jobs from the request board. Mirajane, who was taking the requests down, didn't comment on the fact that all of the accepted jobs happened to be located in Magnolia itself or in the surrounding area. Levy remained seated at the table, Jet and Droy at her sides.

Gajeel caught Juvia's eye and motioned her to come over.

"Gajeel-kun?" she asked for an explanation.

"You fought the guy. What is your opinion?"

"He's strong. Juvia would have to work hard to take him down. You want to fight him, Gajeel-kun?"

"Hell, yeah," he confirmed. "First he disappears on me before we can fight for real, then he stalks a girl like some creep and then the fucker gives you better fight than he has given me? I'm royally pissed off, Juvia."

"Has it ever occured to you that you have violent tendencies?"

Gajeel glared at her.

"Don't you start with that, too."

"If you have been told that before, it's probably true," the water mage teased.

"Tell me what kind of spells he used, that's far more useful to me."

"He boasted of being able to control all of elements but he used only earth and water against Juvia. And he was able to teleport himself out of Juvia's water lock."

"He's a coward," Gajeel said with a disdain. "Always running away. Fucking coward."

Juvia only nodded in agreement.

"What will you do now?" she asked. She knew him quite well and he wouldn't be asking all of those questions if he didn't have some kind of plan.

"I'll talk to someone first. After that, it depends on what I find out."

Following his line of sight, Juvia's eyes came to rest upon Levy. She looked back at Gajeel.

"What does Levy-san know?"

"That's what I want to find out, Juvia."

All three members of the Shadow Gear looked up when Gajeel came to them. Levy forced a weak smile.

"Hey."

"Can I talk to you?"

"Sure."

"Alone," he specified.

Both Gajeel and Levy were rather surprised when both Jet and Droy got up without prompting.

"We'll go look at the missions," Droy told them. Gajeel stared as they left and then turned to Levy, sitting down across from her.

"What's with them?"

"We cleared the air between us," she smiled. "Now, what do you need?"

"Did you find anything on those rituals?"

"Not yet. Jebel's visit kind of interrupted my research," Levy said. "But I'll keep looking. Nothing's better incentive than having someone after your life, right?"

Gajeel nodded approvingly. Aside from being somewhat pale, she seemed to be holding up well, considering the recent events.

"How long will it take?"

"Hard to say. Anytime from a day to a week. If I don't know what kind of ritual I'm looking for or its exact results, I have to go through all of them."

"That sucks," he declared. Levy nodded.

"And you're not even the one doing the research."

"Just keep on it and let me know the moment you find it."

He stood up but before he left, Levy spoke up.

"Gajeel, I just want to thank you. For trying to take him out," she clarified at his puzzled expression. He looked away.

"I'm not doing it for you," he said in a rougher-than-usual voice. "I want to settle my score with the bastard, that's all. No need to thank me."

"But I still benefit from it, right? It's only natural that I thank you."

"Then save your thanks for when he's dead."

"Okay," Levy nodded. "I will."

With a last puzzled look in her direction, Gajeel left to talk to Makarov and Levy didn't have to wait for long for Jet and Droy to come back.

"Thank you for behaving, guys," she told them.

"We took your words yesterday to heart, Levy," Droy said.

"You were right, as usual," Jet added.

"And that's why I'm the brain of the team," she smirked. "Now, I have a research that I need to be getting back to. Let's go."

She found the ritual later on that afternoon in an ancient text dedicated to magical healing.