Beauty and the Beast (Gajevy Fanfic)

Chapter 13

"Levy! Are you ok?!"

Levy froze at the sound of that voice. "W- Laxus?!" She gasped out, stunned as the village stud lifted himself off her and drew his sword. Levy's head felt heavy with fatigue, and after the jarring change in altitude, it was swimming horribly. She knew there was something important going on, but she couldn't place it.

There was a low growl somewhere off to her left, then the sound of metal scraping against metal. The screeching sound shocked Levy back into the here and now, and she sat up, eyes wide. There wasn't much light to see by, the moon was a silver sliver in the sky, and barely shone at all. Still, Levy didn't need that much light to see what was going on. Gajeel and Laxus were engaged in a furious one on one battle, both snarling and furious. Fear gripped Levy's chest.

Gajeel was strong and had his metal scales to protect him, but Laxus was unbelievably fast and had a knack for getting his sword to hit the small gaps between Gajeel's scales. Levy sucked in a horrified gasp as Laxus embedded the point of his sword in Gajeel's chest. Gajeel roared and ripped the offending weapon out, tossing it to the side. Sneering, Laxus drew a dagger from his belt and shot an arrogant, taunting look at Gajeel. Gajeel lunged. "Stop it!" Levy yelled.

To her relief, Gajeel froze, his claws inches from Laxus' exposed and tender throat. He turned to look at Levy, and as he did so, Laxus jerked forwards. The world seemed to slow to a halt. Levy couldn't see anything other than Laxus and Gajeel. There was a smug, triumphant smirk on Laxus' face as he drove his dagger even deeper into Gajeel's chest. Gajeel's expression went from apologetic to stunned. He coughed as Laxus wrenched the knife from his flesh, then fell to the ground as his knees buckled.

He caught himself with his hands, his breath coming in short, shallow gasps. Laxus turned and raised his knife over Gajeel's prone form, intending to finish the beast, once and for all. Levy stared, horror causing her chest to seize up and her eyes to burn and ache with tears. "LAXUS, NO!" She screamed as the blonde man raised the knife above his head, preparing to strike.

Laxus, to his credit, stopped. He looked up at Levy with confusion written all over his face as Gajeel's arms gave out underneath him, and he crumpled onto his side. "Levy?" Laxus asked, his voice sounding utterly bewildered.

Paying Laxus no heed now that he was no longer so much of a threat, Levy scrambled on all fours to Gajeel's side. With shaking hands she rolled him over onto his back. He coughed again, but even that sounded weak and feeble. "No. No, Gajeel!" Levy gasped, her hands hovering over the wound on his chest. "No! Please! Please don't die!" She begged.

Gajeel turned his head to look at her, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps, and smiled. "Thank you." He breathed, his eyelids fluttering.

"NO!" Levy cried, her eyes going wide in horror. "Don't you dare! Don't even think about dying on me, Gajeel!" She threatened, but Gajeel's breathing continued to slow, and the tension drained out of his muscles. Levy's hands were slick with his blood as she tried to stop him bleeding out all over the forest floor. "Please!" She begged, sobbing heavily. "Don't give up, Gajeel!"

Struggling to force his eyes open again, Gajeel peered up at her with clouded eyes. "It's fine." He breathed. "I don't- don't mind dying." He snorted softly. "Better than living like this, anyway." He added, tapping a clawed finger against his scaled chest.

Levy glowered at him through her tears. "Selfish bastard." She told him, her voice thick with her emotions. She let out a shaky sigh then leaned forwards, brushing her lips over his. They were warm, despite being covered in metal. "If you die, I'll never forgive you." She murmured softly against his lips.

"Levy! What are you-? What?!"

It was only then that Levy even remembered Laxus was there. She looked up at him, glaring fiercely through her tears. "Go get Polyushka." She ordered. When Laxus didn't move, her glare intensified. "NOW!" She roared.

Laxus jumped, looking a little scared. Levy wasn't aware of it, but she looked quite deranged and intimidating at the moment, covered in dirt and blood and tears, her eyes sparking with a combination of fear and fury. He quickly recovered himself, and stood a little taller. "Why should I?" He asked.

"Because Gajeel is going to die if you don't!" Levy spat, before turning her attention to Gajeel, who was still only just breathing and seemed unconscious, and putting more rational thought into stopping the bleeding.

With a snort, Laxus turned away from the sight. "Good riddance." He said coldly.

Levy looked up and glared at him from under her fringe. Her eyes practically glowed with fury, and Laxus found himself shivering. "If he dies, Laxus Dreyar, I swear I'll kill you." She said in a terribly calm voice. There was so much conviction in her words Laxus couldn't even bring himself to scoff. He believed her. She would find a way to kill him, probably a particularly painful, drawn out way, too, if the beast died.

Still, Laxus was never one to back down or admit wrong-doing. "Why do you care?" He demanded.

Biting her lip to keep the sobs at bay, Levy stared at Laxus for a moment, before sucking in a breath and speaking in a surprisingly strong, level voice. "Because I love him." She stated. Laxus stared at her. He felt a sudden urge to laugh – surely she was joking? – but before he could, Gajeel let out a high-pitched whine of pain and his back arched off the ground.

Looking down, Levy saw to her horror that Gajeel's skin appeared to be rippling. It was twitching and shivering so violently in looked like liquid. He whined again, keening in pain as his muscles convulsed and trembled beneath the surface of his skin. Levy gasped out his name in desperation, unsure as to what she could do for him. She brushed a her fingers across his cheek, trying to comfort because it was all she could do, and as she drew her fingers away, bloody scales came with them. Horror turned to panic, and she turned to Laxus again. "Please go and get Polyushka!" She begged, and Laxus was so stunned and disgusted by what he was seeing, he didn't hesitate in sprinting off.

Turning back to Gajeel, Levy saw that even more of his scales had fallen free, dropping onto the forest floor and leaving smears of blood in the dirt. She brushed some of the loose scales off his chest, and saw something that brought her out of her panic. Beneath the scales, fresh new skin was weaving over the exposed flesh.

The transformation lasted for ages. Levy wasn't sure how long she sat there, trembling as Gajeel thrashed and convulsed, but eventually, he relaxed back into the ground and started breathing a little easier. Levy pulled back a little and stared. He looked entirely human now, but he was still recognizably Gajeel. She realized with a start that his wounds had closed over as well. He was breathing, his chest rising and falling evenly, and Levy reached out a tentative hand to stroke his cheek. His skin was soft, entirely unlike his metal scales, and Levy had to smile.

Word count: 1248