Brain and Brawn

Chapter Eleven: Betrayed

 Levy yawned and stretched out. She froze when she realized she wasn't the only one in bed with her. There was an arm around her and black, spiky, hair stuck out of the covers. She blushed as the events from the night before came flooding to her memory. Next to her Gajeel stirred and opened his eyes.
    
"Mornin Shrimp," he flashed her his cocky smile. He pulled her to him in a hug and kissed the top of her head.
    
Levy buried her face in his chest and sighed in content. "Morning Gajeel."
    
There was a knock on the door and they both shared a confused look. Gajeel got up and threw on his boxers. Levy sat up and wrapped the covers around her while she watched her iron dragon scrounge about for his clothes. He opened the door and smiled.
    
"Hey buddy!" He yelled.

Lily poked his head around Gajeel and smiled at the blushing bookworm. "Looks like getting my own room for the night was a good idea," he winked at Gajeel.

"So that's where you ran off to!" Levy smiled as the two continued to talk back and forth. She had never really seen Gajeel this happy and it made her happy to know she was the cause of his happiness.

"You two need to get ready so we can head out to the ruins," Lily said. He motioned for Gajeel. "Come on let's give the girl some privacy."

Gajeel frowned and shook his head. "Nope. I'm not leaving her side. She was attacked last night by another bandit while we were having our talk."

Lily's eyes got big in surprise and he muttered an apology. "I shouldn't have drug you out of the room."
    
Gajeel placed a hand on his partners shoulder. "It's alright man you didn't know. We'll be down there in a minute or so." He closed the door and turned around only to find Levy already dressed. He threw his arms in the air. "And I missed the show!" He pouted.

Levy chuckled, stood on her toes, and kissed the dragon slayer. "Let's go. I don't want to leave Lily waiting for to long."

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"You're moving a lot faster today than you were yesterday," Lily said about an hour into Levy's translation.

"I'm trying not to worry so much on the little things," she muttered. "Those bandits want what's in that royal crypt so I'm trying to find out where it's located."

Gajeel leaned over Levy's shoulder. He was never more than five feet from her since they left. He was worried about another attack. "Any clues so far?"

She nodded. "There's mention of a mechanism that opens the way to the chamber but the details are blurred." She flipped through her notes. "Past the eagles nest, through the sentinel door, and under the dragons claw."
    
Lily scratched his head. "A riddle," he muttered and looked around. He pointed towards a cluster of dead brush. "Past the eagles nest!" He shouted. "It's talking about landmarks!"
    
Levy gathered her material and hurried over with her two guards close behind. She circled the brush and yelled happily as she ran off in another direction. "Through the sentinel door!" She yelled as she stopped in front of a hidden archway with a knight standing in front if it. I think this is where you two come in," she stepped aside.
    
Gajeel cracked his knuckles and slammed against the statue while Lily pulled from the other side. Once out of the way Levy scurried on into another large chamber. "This must be where more important members were buried," she said. "All of these ruins are untouched," she ran her hand over the wall of one of the crypts.
    
"Hey Shrimp!" Gajeel called from a small distance away. She found him pointing at a rock formation. "Under the dragons claw," he murmured. Levy ran to it and started to stick her hand under the rock but Gajeel pulled her away. "Are you crazy Levy! Who knows what's under there," he rolled up his sleeve. "Here let me do it."
Gajeel stuck his hand under the formation and was relieved when it wasn't trapped. He felt around until he grasped a lever and pulled it down. Behind them the wall shifted away and there stood a door.

"The royal crypt," Levy breathed and slowly walked up to the door. She looked all around it but found no handle. "There seems to be a trick to opening it."

"I got this!" Gajeel laughed and sent an iron club straight at the door only to feel his arm vibrate from the impact and the door remain unscathed. "What the hell!"
    
"Let me try," Lily suggested. He swung his sword at the door and got the same results as Gajeel. "It won't budge."
    
Levy took a closer look at the door and rubbed some of the dust away. "It's not going to budge. There's a key required to open it." She made a Solid Script: Light to see better. "The key engraving looks familiar," then she gasped as she understood. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!"
    
"Very good Miss McGarden," a voice behind them made all of them jump. "Seems you've found exactly what we were looking for."
    
Gajeel growled and stood protectively in front of Levy. "Old man Viktor!"
    
Lily pointed his sword at the old man. "You betrayed us!" He roared. "You had the key this whole time!"
    
The old man nodded and another person, a woman, appeared out of the shadows and stood next to him. "We had the key just not the location of the door. We tried for months to get far enough into our translations to find it's location but with none of us fluent in ancient Fiorian it seemed we would be unsuccessful. But now you've made it very easy for us to get to what we want."
    
"What is behind this door that you want so badly?" Levy yelled from behind Gajeel.
    
The old man shrugged. "Honestly I'm not one hundred percent sure. Legend tells that it holds an ancient magic artifact that allows it's holder to change the past."
    
"Why would you want something like that?" Lily asked.
    
The old man glared at the black Exceed. "I lost my family in a raid that ransacked my home village twenty years ago. My wife, my son, my home all burned to the ground for no reason."
    
"You want it to save your family," Levy said softly.
    
Viktor's eyes shot to Gajeel. "I'm not the only one in this room who would want to change the past am I right Redfox?"
    
Gajeel tensed and wrapped his arm around Levy behind him. "Shut up old man."
    
"Let me past and I'll let you use the artifact to change your past," Viktor tempted him. "You can go back and save the guild you're in now from being attacked by Phantom. You can save your friends from being hurt. You can prevent your attack on the woman you love." He held out his hand. "Don't you want that?"
    
Gajeel grabbed Viktor's hand. "Yes I do."

Authors Notes: Duh duh duh! Is Gajeel giving into temptation? Is that artifact really behind the door or is Viktor bluffing?