Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 59 - The Missing Fairies

There wasn't any more trouble in the Exceed village after Gajeel and Lily tossed the Dark Wizard jokers out of there. They rested for a bit, and, even after the fortnight the former guild spent away from action. It was nice. In those two weeks, Gajeel and Lily aggressively trained, honing their skills to ensure they'd never get caught up in a situation like what happened in the capital before.

Though, with all the free time to sit around and eat and keep watch over the village, came long periods where all Gajeel could think about was Levy, and what she was doing. How, or if, she was surviving.

He stood at the edge of the village, watching the nearby grove sway in the gentle breeze while the winds swung through the forest. He tugged his knee closer, resting his chin on it.

She'd have a lot to say, and write, about the Exceed village. She hadn't even really had the chance to see or meet them like he did on Edolas. That girl would be researching and asking all sorts of questions—while Gajeel was doing nothing, she'd have been letting her curiosity take over.

It all made him wonder what sort of game she was playing. She was trying to outsmart August, whom Gajeel was repeatedly told was the smartest guy in the Empire, just below Zeref himself. And he had the power to back it up.

Little Levy was going to take down the big bad Wizard King? Gajeel smirked at the thought. Sure she was, he just lamented he wasn't there to see her do it.

His guard shift ended. He sauntered through town, stuffing his hands in his pocket while he made his way toward the little cottage where he could get a bit to eat. Lily proudly took up Gajeel's post.

He took his seat, initially alone, before a retinue joined him, flanked by some guards as they led Queen Shaggotte to the table. The rest of the room cleared.

"I trust you're finding our accommodations suitable," the Queen said. "We've not had much interaction with humans before."

"Yeah, it's all good," Gajeel said.

A plate of steaming meats landed in front of him. Gajeel licked his lips and dug in. The Queen smiled at him.

"I wished to ask you a question, Gajeel, if that's okay."

"Sure thing, queenie."

The Exceeds at her sides tensed but said nothing. Gajeel meant no disrespect—he was just hungry.

"You're guarding us now, but, you could be with your friends," the Queen said. "Why is that? Don't they need your help?"

Gajeel gulped down the food he'd shoveled into his mouth. "Way I see it? We need to wait for an aftershock."

"Aftershock?"

"Yeah. Guess you guys ain't heard of earthquakes where you're from. When one bad thing happens, another, smaller bad thing has to follow. So I'm here to make sure you guys are all good through that aftershock."

"You think someone else would target us?"

"Why not? One dark wizard goes missing around here might attract some unwanted attention." Gajeel shrugged. "Plus I think Lily is enjoying himself."

"His presence has surely been missed. Thank you for reuniting us all."

Gajeel just gestured again with his hands and continued eating.

"Besides," Gajeel said. "I'm sure my friends are fine. They're tough, they can handle anything the Empire throws at them."

***

The soldiers descended on them from almost all sides, seeming to come down from the sky like great black drops of rain. They slammed into the earth in the open countryside and blocked all routes of escape, kicking up dirt all around the group of would-be-escapee Fairies.