Beauty and the Iron Dragon (A GaLe Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Chapter 3

Levy looked around behind her, but found nothing before heading down the cold, dark, narrow stairway. The farther down she went, the colder it got, and being wet didn't help one bit. She stopped in the middle of the stairway to see a golden candle and a black clock on the side against the wall. So she wouldn't knock them over, Levy carefully walked around them, against the wall. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she couldn't see a thing. "Solid Script Light!" Levy exclaimed as the word "light" appeared glowing in the air. "Levy! What are you doing here!" Levy heard her father ask in what seemed be a cell. Now that she could see, she was in a dungeon. What did he do to get thrown in a dungeon!, Levy thought inside her head. "I came to find you" Levy answered while running to her father and kneeling down in front of the cell window. "Who put you down here?" she asked worried. Suddenly, her solid script light was broken and she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Someone wanted to see me?" a man's gruff voice asked, she could feel him smirking at them. "Y-yes, I'd like to know why my father was put in this cell" Levy stuttered. She couldn't tell if it was because she was cold or scared. "What, you're so scared you're stuttering shrimp?" the man's voice asked in a taunting tone. "I am not a shrimp!" Levy said standing up trying to face the voice, but all she met was darkness. "Yeah you are, you're so short" the voice said back, enjoying her reaction. "We're getting off topic! I just came here to get my father and go home" Levy said ready to go home with her father. "Sorry, old man's not getting out anytime soon. You can go back to whatever damn life you had before" the man said before his footsteps were heard, signaling he was starting to leave. "Levy, there's nothing you can do" Makarov said sadly. Then she had an idea. "What if I take his place?" Levy asked, as she heard the man's footsteps stop. "What!" Makarov yelled. He couldn't believe his ears, Levy has done some crazy stuff in the past but this, this topped all of them. "Levy, do you know what you're saying!" Makarov asked his daughter. "Yes I do" Levy answered. "That's a funny joke" the man said in a sarcastic voice. "It's not. I'm serious. Solid Script Light!" Levy answered with a hint of sadness, as the word "light" appeared once again. "But I'd like to see whom I'm talking to" Levy said feeling a bit better now that she could see. Looking at the staircase, she could see a black boot just where the light ended. "I'm not sure you want that shrimp" the voice answered facing her. "Levy don't made this deal! Go home!" Makarov pleaded from his cell. "I'd rather know that not know at all" Levy said, ignoring her father. After that was said, the man started moving closer to her, taking small steps. When he came into the light, Levy stared wide eyed with her jaw dropped. He was frightening. His eyes were red. Instead of skin, he had iron scales with iron studs all over him, but mainly his head, which had long unruly raven hair going down his back. Four studs on each arm, and three on his ear. Three replaced his eyebrows, while another three on both sides of his nose. If that wasn't scary enough, he looked about six feet tall with a strong build. "Oi, does the damn deal still stand" he said showing his teeth, which had two big fangs. "Once you agree, you can never leave this hell hole" his gruff voice said. "Levy! Think about this!" Makarov yelled behind Levy. Levy looked down at the ground, knowing her reply. "You have my word" Levy said quietly as a tear rolled down her cheek. Then in mere seconds, she was left alone, her father's cell door open. She could barely hear the echoing cries of her father from outside the door. She dropped to her knees and started to cry with only one thought on her mind. I'll never see him again, was the only thing she could think. "Oi, why the hell are you crying?" the frightening man asked. That's a stupid question, Levy said in her mind. "I didn't get to say goodbye" she whispered as tears came rolling down her cheeks and wouldn't stop. "Follow me" the man said holding the golden candle in his hand. She couldn't help but notice that his nails were practically claws. Slowly Levy stood up and followed the man, too depressed to care where they went. As the walked down a hallway, the candle pointed to the small girl behind him and his master and mouthed "talk". "You can go anywhere in the castle except for the rooms with iron doors. Got that?" he asked in a gruff tone. She merely nodded in response. When they came to a white door and stopped just in front of it. "Any questions?" he asked. "What's your name?" she asked turning her head towards him. Her eyes brown were a little red, since she was crying not too long ago. "What's yours shrimp?" he asked back. "I told you, I'm not a shrimp. And it's Levy" she answered. "Gajeel" he answered back gruffly before opening the door for her to walk in. In his other hand Natsu mouthed the words "invite her to do dinner". "You're going to dinner!" Gajeel yelled before slamming the door. Once they were a safe distance away, Natsu whacked his candle hand on his forehead. "You weren't supposed to yell at her! Now she's probably even more sad!" Natsu yelled at Gajeel. "Shut up salamander!" Gajeel ordered before dropping the candle, using Natsu's nickname. He seemed to give everyone a nickname so he didn't actually have to say their real names, plus the fact that it annoyed them. Meanwhile in Levy's room, she had been sitting on her bed for a few minutes before she heard a voice. "Hey, are you ok?" a kind voice asked. Levy lifted her head and looked around but saw nobody there. "Over here, by the mirror" it said again. Levy got up and walked over to the full length mirror, and what she saw amazed her. There was a girl in the mirror. She had blond hair that went well with her pale skin and brown doe eyes. And like a lot of the people she met, tall. "How is this possible!" Levy said looking up at her. "That's a long story for later. But in the meantime, I'm Lucy! And you are?" Lucy said putting her hands behind her. "Oh, I'm Levy" she replied. "So, how did you end up here?" Lucy asked curiously. Once again Levy started to cry. "I'm sorry! Forget I asked" Lucy pleaded once she saw Levy's state. "It's ok" Levy smiled while wiping her eyes. "If I can ask, how did you end up in that mirror?" Levy asked Lucy. "Yeah sure. But first get into more dry clothes. You must freezing" Lucy said pointing to a door on the wall, which Levy assumed to be the closet. Levy couldn't help but be amazed by the size of it and dresses in there. A few minutes later, Levy came out in a dress that was beautiful and elegant, while still being casual. "Perfect! Grab a blanket while I explain everything" Lucy said sitting at the bottom of the mirror. Levy sat down in front of Lucy so she could hear whatever she said, word for word. "Once upon a time, everyone in the castle was human," Lucy said, starting at the beginning of her tale.