It's All Fair in Love and Guild Mates

Part 12

Gajeel x Levy, Natsu x Lucy, Gray x Juvia & Erza x Jellal
Disclaimer: I do not own the Fairy Tail story line or any of the characters in it. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

  Natsu watched as Gajeel collapsed, writhing in pain as he joined Levy on the cold cobble floor. He began to understand what was happening. So he uses that shiny arm of his to suck people's magic power from them, thought Natsu. Guess that means he's powerless if he were to lose it.
  "NATSU LOOK OUT!" Lucy screamed. The grin that was spreading across Natsu's face faded as he was thrown backwards into the wall behind him.
  Tears dripped down Lucy's face and onto the stone floor. "Don't touch him!" She yelled. "Don't touch him! Natsu don't come any closer, it's a trap! Natsu it's a-"
"Shut up!" The Carver struck her again, the sound of his hand slapping her face echoed across the room.
   "Don't you dare!" Natsu bellowed as he lunged towards them. Irate, his entire body engulfed with flames of rage, he swung a fiery fist at the Carver- only to be hit with the his magic arm. Natsu crumpled to the floor in pain.
   The Carver's eyes lit up with greed as he stood over him, absorbing his magic power, "You're magic is quite unique, Mr. Dragneel. So much more satisfying than your little girlfriend's."
  Natsu clenched his fists as he yelled out in pain, tears streamed down Lucy's face as she screamed at the Carver to stop, jerking against her restraints. He doesn't know! she thought. He doesn't know he can't fight and make a full transformation at the same time!
  The Carver stopped once he had absorbed most of Natsu's power, two large, faintly glowing orbs swelling into two of of the three empty spots on his metallic arm.
"Natsu!" Lucy sobbed.
   The pinkette's head lolled to the side, his onyx eyes fluttering between open and closed. "Lucy. . ." he mumbled weakly, his body beginning to glow.
"What did you do to him?" The celestial wizard demanded. "Natsu!"
"Weakened him just enough," The Carver stood and turned towards her. "To kill you in front of him without a problem." Lucy's eyes widened in terror as he inched towards her, magic hand outstretched.
"Oh no you don't," someone growled from behind the Carver. "CLUB OF THE IRON DRAGON!"
   The Carver was thrown forwards, crashing into the stone wall next to Lucy. Gajeel's hand morphed into an iron sword, slicing the chains that were holding her.
Lucy gasped, "Gajeel!"
"Take care of Levy," Gajeel ordered. "I'll deal with this guy."
"Okay." Lucy nodded, making her way towards her unconscious friend.
"Oy!" Gajeel kicked Natsu lightly. "Salamander! Are ya planning on nappin', or beating the crap out of this guy for touchin' your girl?" Natsu groaned in response. "Fine, keep sleepin'," the iron dragon slayer huffed. "If you won't get up, I guess that makes me the better boyfriend."
   Natsu shot up from his fetal position. "THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I'M OBVIOUSLY THE BEST BOYFRIEND!" Natsu's head whipped to Lucy, "Tell him, Luce!"
"I don't think we ever talked about you being my boyfriend-"
"LET'S GET THIS BASTARD, GAJEEL!" Natsu bellowed, ignoring Lucy's comment and springing to his feet.
   The Carver, recovering from the blow, stumbled back into a standing position only to be confronted by two, extremely angry dragon slayers.
"Listen here, Geezer," Natsu growled. "I don't care about you, or what you want with our power. But I do care about one thing, and it's the fact that you hurt Lucy-"
"And Levy," Gajeel added.
"And we're gonna kick your ass for it," they said in unison.
"Roar of the. . ."
"Roar of the. . ."
"FIRE DRAGON!"
"IRON DRAGON!"
  With a devastating attack of fiery iron, the Carver was once again knocked backwards, crashing into the wall once again. When the dust cleared, Gajeel and Natsu saw he was recovering, chuckling and then said in a low voice,"It's been a while since I've had a thrill like this. Get's the blood pumping."
"Hey, Lucy!" Natsu called back to her. "Take Levy and get out of here, fast. Things are about to get real ugly."
"No!" Lucy protested. "I won't leave you!"
"Look, blondie. We're not really giving you a choice here!" Gajeel snapped, dodging a sudden ice attack from the Carver. "Levy's injured and needs medical attention, so find Wendy and scram!"
"Gajeel," Levy mumbled.
   Lucy looked over at her friend and sucked in a deep breath. She got to her feet and slung Levy's arm over her shoulder, hoisting her up. She looked up at Natsu fiercely and yelled, "You better not die on me you idiot!"
  Natsu chuckled and dodged another round of hits from his opponent. "Don't plan on it!"
  Lucy sighed, starting to make her way towards the hole in the wall that the dragon slayers had entered in. She looked over at her shoulder at him one last time and whispered, "I love you, Natsu. Good luck."
Natsu smirked, watching her disappear through the entrance. "I love you too, Luce," he said under his breath.
  Gajeel watched as Lucy dragged Levy away. He shut his eyes momentarily and muttered, "Be safe, shrimp."
*
"Now that the girls are gone," Gajeel started.
Natsu jumped to his feet,"We can get serious."
The Carver let out a longer spew of crazed laughs. "This is just what I needed, something to get the ole blood pumping. Bring it on, boys."
And the battle raged on.
*
Lucy dragged Levy up several flights of stairs before finally stopping, nearing exhaustion. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up, she thought worriedly. And I don't think I have enough magic power to summon a spirit like Virgo or Loke.
She glanced over at Levy, her breathing was shallow but steady, and Lucy didn't want to risk her condition worsening. "Oh, Levy," she sighed heavily. Then she thought of Natsu, who was downstairs risking his life for her, fighting for her, and then her mind was made.
  Her hands shaking, Lucy pulled out a golden key. "Open! Gate of the sea goat! Capricorn!" With a flash of celestial golden light her goat spirit, Capricorn, donning butler attire appeared.
"Lady Lucy," Capricorn greeted mildly. "I would like to inform you that your magic power is nearing low, and summoning me could be of damage to your health."
"I know," Lucy replied grimly. "I just really need your help right now. Is it a possibility that you can get me and my friend to my other guild mates before I run out of magic power?"
"As you wish, my lady," Capricorn gave her a quick bow before scooping up the two ladies in his arms. "Though I am not pleased with you putting a strain on your body, I will carry out this assignment."
"Thank you, Capricorn."
*
Natsu didn't know how long the fight had gone on, all he knew was how angry he was. And his anger kept him going. He could feel Lucy's strain, her heartbeat, her tears, and he used this as fuel against his opponent. He threw punch after, punch, attack after attack. Gajeel right beside him, but still the Carver would not fall.
"Damn it, this guy really doesn't run out of juice!" Natsu cursed. "And I thought I could be out of here in time to have a dance with Lucy."
"Hey, Salamander," Gajeel grunted. "This isn't the time to be worrying about dancing."
"Well I know that!" The pinkette retorted in a childlike tone.
"That's not what I mean," Gajeel heaved a sigh of exhaustion.
  "Hey Gajeel, why you lookin' all fuzzy like that," Natsu asked.
"It's not like I want to look like this, it's the freaks creepy spell!" Gajeel yelled.
Natsu then remembered how the Carver had already absorbed a large amount of Gajeel's power, and how a wizards life source is directly tied into their magic power. If he hadn't jumped in when he did, there wouldn't be a Lucy for me to dance with he thought suddenly. "Yeah," he said. "I know what you mean."
"This guy hurt Levy," the iron dragon slayer clenched his fists. "And he came so close to hurting your girl. I don't know about you, pinky, but I'm ready to kick this guy's ass."
"Oh talk, talk, talk," the Carver interrupted. "Talk all you want. It's no use, even now as we speak, I'm sucking away at your magic power."
"The hell you mean by that, you slick bastard," Gajeel snarled through gritted teeth.
"My magic is complex, but extremely easy to master. It's what most call anti-wizardry magic," said the Carver as he rolled up his tattered sleeves. "By sacrificing one of my limbs, it becomes an empty vessel for magic absorption. Not only am I able to take in more ethernano than a normal wizard, but I'm also able to absorb magic power from other wizards, which is stored in the orbs on my arm."
"The hell," Gajeel said. "Erza said you couldn't use your spell and defend yourself!"
"Well, she was mistaken," The Carver continued. "Not only that, but once I've taken some of a wizard's power, I'm able to continue extracting it from them, no matter their location. Unless there orb is destroyed but, the more power they exert, well," the Carver chuckled. "The more I get too keep."
"So that's why this guy's so hard to beat," Natsu said and then turn to his friend. "Hey Gajeel-"
"Levy. . ." Gajeel mumbled.
"What?"
"Levy!" Gajeel yelled. "He's still taking power from her!"
"Glad you figured it out, my boy. Not as quick as she was, but definitely not brainless." The Carver then mused, "Oh look, her orb's almost full. I feel better already." He tapped a smaller orb on his arm, pulsating with blue light. "She'll make for a nice toy, that's for sure. Beautiful piece."
"Damn you. . ." Gajeel clenched his fists and then shouted, "DAMN YOU!"
"Gajeel," Natsu said quietly. "I have an idea, I think we can take this guy down in one hit."
*
  By the time Capricorn had gotten her to Erza and the others, Lucy had almost been entirely drained of magic power. I guess that guy's sleeping charm did a number on my magic reserves, she thought before thanking and dismissing her spirit. I hope Natsu's okay.
"Lucy!" Wendy, and the exceeds rushed to her aid. The guild masters as well as their members crowded around the fading blonde and unconscious Levy. "What happened? Are the others okay? What about Natsu and Gajeel?" The young dragon slayer rambled on, worry clearly laced in her voice.
"Well don't ambush her, child!" Carla scolded. "Can't you see she's exhausted?"
"It's okay," Lucy said weakly. "It's Levy who needs your help, the Carver got her the worst."
  Master Macarov appeared, analyzing the situation. "I believe she's in need of your healing magic, Wendy. I can sense her magic power depleting by the minute."
"Right," Wendy nodded. The worry in her eyes turned into raw determination. "Lily, go find Gray and Juvia. Tell them we found Lucy and Levy and to find Meldy and Jellal right away."
"Right." Lily then turned and flew off to his destination.
"Are you sure you're okay, Lucy?" Happy asked.
Lucy smiled weakly, stroking his head. "I'm fine, just tired. Natsu's in the basement with Gajeel. They found us and told us to go get help."
"Carla, can you find Erza and tell her to go help Natsu and Gajeel in the basement?" Wendy's request sounded more like a polite order than a favor, but Carla gave her a skeptical look and obliged.
"You," Macarov pointed at a handful of Rune Knights. "Go with her." They nodded, jogging after the flying cat without question. He then leaned over and whispered to Wendy, "I don't want any guards around if you're planning on bringing Jellal over."
Wendy gave him a short nod before turning to Levy, her small hands quickly going to work.
*
"One hit?" Gajeel hissed. "Are you insane?"
"Do you want to save Levy?" Natsu demanded. Taking his guild mate's silence as a yes, he continued. "Erza was right about him not being able to defend himself and turn us into lacrima."
"But he just said-" Gajeel protested.
"He was bluffing." Natsu lowered his voice, "He can draw from our magic power but he can't turn us into lacrima and fight us at the same time. He has to beat us in order to make a full transformation."
"Okay, but how do we beat him?"
"He's takin' our power through those orby things, right?" Natsu asked, Gajeel gave a short nod in response. "If we blow all our power onto one attack, it'll be too much for him to handle." Natsu grinned, "And what better way to blow out our power then by busting Levy's orb?"
A sly grin appeared on Gajeel's face. "Let's do it."
  The two dragon slayers turned to their opponent. "OY!" Natsu yelled. "Why'd you stop? Things were just starting to heat up."
  The Carver chuckled,"I admire your spirit, dragon slayer. Yet another thing that will be stripped from you by the time we're done."
"You know you keep sayin' things like that," Gajeel crossed his arms. "But I'm havin' a hard time believing it. Better stop making promises yer mouth can't keep."
Before the Carver could respond, huge amounts of magic power began emanating from the pair or dragon slayers. By tapping into their dragon force, they were able to access lost power, as well as emit large amounts of it.
"It's not going to work," he chanted. "No matter how much power you beef up with, I'm just going to take it from you."
"We'll see about that," Natsu muttered. "You ready, metal head?"
Gajeel brought his fist into his open palm. "Sure thing, pinky."
  The pair then launched themselves towards their enemy. Natsu leaped into the air, bellowing, "DRAGON SLAYER SECRET ART! Exploding crimson, flame blade!"
  The carver was so distracted trying to dodge Natsu's arial attack that he didn't notice Gajeel lurking next to him. "Iron shadow dragon mode, IRON SHADOW BLADE!"   Emerging from the darkness just as Natsu released his attack Gajeel made a swipe at Levy's blue orb, slicing several others on his arm.
*
"I can't heal her!" Wendy cried.
"What happened?" She turned to see Gray and Juvia jogging towards her. Jellal and Meldy, now in their Crime Sorciere uniforms, not far behind them.
"Where's Erza?" Jellal asked as Meldy went straight to assisting Wendy.
"I sent Carla to find her and tell her to help Natsu and Gajeel with the Carver," Wendy replied quickly. She glanced over at Meredy. "What are you doing?"
"Getting rid of the sensory link. Gajeel doesn't need the extra weight of her exhaustion while he's fighting," she explained. "Though I'm sensing another link, not sensory but it's definitely having an effect on her."
"Do you think it's the Carver's doing?" Juvia asked worriedly.
"It might be." Meredy's eyes scanned Levy,"The spell seems to be sucking her magic power from her."
"Can you undo it?" Gray said, his voice laced with concern.
"I can try," she replied honestly.
*
  Erza raced down the staircase, shouting orders behind her at the squad of Rune Knights on her tail. "When we get down there stay on alert but do not act. Wait for my orders, and under no circumstances will you engage the enemy. Your jobs are to subdue, arrest, and assist in battle if absolutely necessary." She slowed her pace, switching out into her normal armor. She looked over her shoulder at the soldiers, making her last request very clear. "And whatever you do, do not interfere with the dragon slayers."
  She and the squadron of rune knights continued down the stairs until they came to a clearing.
  Dust and rubble littered the floor, a smoky haze kept Erza and the Knights from seeing much farther than a few feet in front of them. The entire underground room was in ruins. "Natsu?" Erza called. "Gajeel?" She waited a few moments for the dust to settle before she got a response.
"Hey Erza?" A voice that sounded like Natsu's croaked. "I think we have someone you've been looking for."
  Out of the shadows appeared Natsu and Gajeel, battered and beaten, with an old man with an artificial arm slung between them.
"Gentlemen," Erza turned to the Rune Knights. "We've captured your prisoner."
  Natsu gave one of his signature grins as the knights hauled the Carver off in handcuffs.
Gajeel grunted, "I can't feel her anymore. Levy, is she okay?"
"Last I checked Meldy and Wendy were healing her," Erza gave a small smile. "She'll be fine."
"And Lucy?" Natsu was quick to ask. "Is she-"
"Barely a scratch." The redhead chuckled. "Now, let's get you two patched up."
*
  Lucy had passed out before seeing Levy fully recovered. When she regained consciousness, she saw that her friend was fine and Gajeel was right alongside her.
"Oh good! You're awake." Levy said with a warm smile. "Natsu was looking for you."
"Levy? Where-"
  Gajeel cut Lucy off. "Pinky's with Titana gettin' patched up by Wendy. I'd get your skinny butt over there if I were you."
  Lucy didn't even have time to register that they were holding hands, she was already on her feet and walking around the guild member section of the banquet before they could say anything else.
"-really Wendy I'm fine. It's just a bruise." She heard a familiar voice say from behind her. "I just want to see her."
  Lucy spun around to see Wendy wrapping Natsu's bare chest in bandages. "She's really drained, Natsu. I think you're better off leaving her alone for now."
"Natsu!" Lucy shrieked with joy.
  His head snapped up to look at her. "Luce? You're okay!" He went to get up to embrace her, but winced and fell back into his chair.
Lucy rushed over to him and threw her arms around his neck.
Natsu's heart skipped a beat. "L-Lucy?" He stuttered and slowly wrapped his arms around her waist.
"You're an idiot," she whispered in his ear.
He gave a wry smile, "I missed you too, Luce."
"Oy! Get a room you two!" Gray teased.
  Embarrassed, Lucy slid out of Natsu's embrace. Then he shouted,"At least I can get a room!"
"What did you just say, hot head?" Gray hissed.
"I'm calling you a wimp, ya icy perv." Natsu smiled smugly. "Ask her out already!"
"Gray, my love!" Juvia flung herself into his arms. "Of course Juvia will be your wife!"
"W-wife?" Gray gulped. "I mean girlfriend, yeah. But wife's a little much-"
"That should keep him occupied for a while." Natsu turned his attention back to Lucy. "Now how about that dance, we never got to finish."
"But Natsu, you're hurt-"
  Natsu waved her off and dragged her out on to the dance floor, where the party was still going on. Once they were far enough away from the rest of the guild, he stopped and pulled her close to him. She slung her arms lazily around his neck, and his arms returned loosely around her hips. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Now, where were we?"
"You stepped on my foot." Lucy giggled.
"Sorry," Natsu said quickly and started to slow his pace.
"It's okay," she replied and nuzzled her head into his chest. She listened to the sound of his rapidly beating heart and closed her eyes. They stayed like this for a while, swaying along to the music in silence. It was only until Natsu said anything that she realized how close she was to him.
"Luce," his voice husky. She lifted her face from his solid chest, his face now dangerously close to her's. "Don't kill me."
"Natsu, what-" He didn't let her finish, instead he leaned in and gingerly pressed his lips against hers. Her heart fluttered in her chest and her grip on his shoulders tightened, pulling him closer.
  In the background she could hear the sound of her friends cheering, but all she could think about was her partner.
He pulled away, just enough so their eyes could meet. A goofy smile plastered on his face. She brushed the tufts of pink hair out of his eyes, and in that moment she knew, her life just wouldn't be the same without him.