BOOK 1 - Fairy Tail (Pirates) AU: The Curse of the Black Fairy

CHAPTER VII: The Violent Way Out

Levy and Gray were running as fast as they could, but some of the pirates quickly caught up with them. Gray had no choice but to fight them. He drew out his sword and faced the pirates directly.

"Go!" he told Levy.

The bluenette seemed reluctant at first but then she ended up obeying. She continued her way while Gray stayed to give her some time. After that, a few more pirates arrived on the scene, ready to fight. Meanwhile, Gray was easily taking down most of the pirates. That is until Juvia jumped into action as well.

Both the bluenette pirate and the raven-haired blacksmith crossed swords at that moment. Gray actually felt surprised at how well the girl was managing against him. Even better than the other pirates in fact.

"I don't know who you are, but you are not leaving this place alive!" Juvia yelled, angrily.

But then, Gray managed to disarm her in a swift move. Juvia ended up between the wall and Gray's sword. She had no chance of fighting back at all, but the truth was that the raven-haired boy was hesitating about finishing the job or not.

"Wh-what are you waiting for?" Juvia asked as Gray startled.

"I... I won't keep up with this" Gray replied. "Curse or not, I don't really wanna hurt you" Gray then sheathed his sword again and began walking away.

Juvia couldn't understand it. She couldn't understand why Gray didn't kill her. Of course she couldn't die because of the curse, but the fact that he even refused to try and keep fighting was enough to leave her... captivated.

Then, another cursed pirate arrived and tried shooting Gray down. However, he realized at the last second and dodged the bullet. He rushed to knock down the pirate after that, but then he realized that the shot from before had caused a crack on the wall. What is more, the crack spread all the way to the top of the cave and caused a stalactite to fall.

Gray widened his eyes in shock because he noticed that the stalactite was about to hit Juvia. "Look out!" he desperately yelled as he pushed Juvia out of the way. He ended up on top of her, causing the bluenette to blush "Are you okay?"

"Ah? Y-yeah..." Juvia replied while flustered.

"Good"

After that Gray stood up and apologized for not having more time. He continued his way and left Juvia quite intrigued. Not only because of how the raven-haired boy beat her and then saved her, but because for the 1st time in 7 years... she felt something.

<<Meanwhile with Levy>>

    The bluenette was running away while being chased by a pirate. She didn't dare to turn around and see his face, but then such pirate finally caught up to her and tossed her over the ground.

    "It's over, you sneaky worm" the pirate said. However, he then startled in shock at the sight of Levy's face.

He knew her. And the truth was that Levy knew him too. But more than just that, both of them actually used to be very close back in the day... Back when they belonged to the same crew.

"L-Levy?!" the pirate asked in disbelief.

"Gajeel?!" Levy asked in the same manner.

Both of them remained there in silence for a while, not saying a single word. Then, another duo of pirates arrived and immediately tried to stab the girl, but Gajeel didn't allow it. The boy with piercings on his face surprisingly stopped the pirates the moment he saw them trying to kill Levy. In addition, the pirates felt confused about what was going on.

"What the hell are you doing?!" one of the pirates asked.

"I... Well... Kgh...." Gajeel didn't know what to say. He really didn't want Levy to get hurt, but he also didn't want to go against Jose's orders. "I... J-just leave her, okay? She has nothing to do with us or the curse"