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

Chapter 17

Makarov had been searching for that dang castle for a months now. Where is that infernal castle!, Makarov angrily thought as he rode Zefer. It didn't take Makarov long to realize that he forgot his horse when he was only five minutes into his journey. So, he went back to get his horse. Now, he was somewhere in the north region of the kingdom. Makarov just wish he knew specifically where. But he couldn't give up. Levy was out there somewhere, probably sad and lonely in need of her father. Taking a look at his map, Makarov took a right turn down a snow covered pathway, and put his map back in his bag. It started to snow ever so slightly. "Oh Zefer, we'll find her I promise you that" Makarov told his horse. Walking for a few more miles, Makarov came across a little inn. "We'll stay here for the night, you deserve some rest" Makarov said, patting his horse. After renting a room, and putting Zefer in his temporary stall, the old man went to bed. Don't worry Levy, I'm coming for you, Makarov thought as he fell asleep.

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"Shut up metalhead!"

"How about you shut up for once, since you talk so much!"

"I talk too much! How about you!"

"Idiot!"

"Moron!"

"Pyro!"

"Scrap metal!"

Despite being small, Natsu somehow still held his massive amount of strength from when he was a human. And being a former Fire Dragon Slayer, as Levy had recently found out thanks to Lucy, there was quite a lot of strength. They had been fighting in the dining room for hours, over Mavis knows what by now. Most likely a stupid reason, Levy thought as she watched the fight. Behind her Gray, Lily, Happy, Carla, Wendy, and Erza were placing bets on who would win. "Are you guy's really placing bets?" Levy asked the little group behind her. "It adds some fun to the whole thing" Gray said. "Well, I can't take it anymore. Solid Script Water!" Levy said as the dragon and candle got splashed by water. "Oi! What the hell shrimp!" Gajeel yelled at the top of his lungs. "Yeah! You put out my flames!" Natsu whined. "No more fighting, I can't take it anymore! You can settle this with a game of blackjack or poker" Levy said as she stood in front of the two men, more like children at times really. "Wait, you know how to play blackjack and poker?" Lily said with a surprised voice as he flew off somewhere. "When I was eleven my dad taught me how to play. Whenever I played at the bar in town, I practically robbed the whole place. My way of helping Dad at the time" Levy said with a proud smile. There was a was a moment of silence, until Gray broke it. "How did you get into a tavern at age eleven?" the black clock asked. "They closed down because they didn't check your age. And it's not like I got a drink or anything" Levy said and they all nodded. "Let's play poker. I'm gonna beat your ass salamander!" Gajeel said with a smirk. "Oh, I'm playing too" Levy said as Pantherlily flew in with a playing deck. "Won't make any difference shortstack. I'm undefeated! Let's play poker" Gajeel said with a smirk. Behind them, the little group was already placing bets. This was going to fun, with a dash of excitement.

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He lost. He lost everything. They both lost everything. Gajeel couldn't believe he lost everything to Levy. That blue haired woman was a poker demon in disguise, and nobody knew it this whole time. He's just thankful they ended up using cake slices instead of cash. But still, he lost. The iron dragon never lost at poker, he should have been able to beat Natsu and Levy in minutes. Heck, he even lost at blackjack since he and Natsu wanted a rematch. Her father, taught her well. She could make a living with her skills if she wanted to. "Gajeel? Are you ok?" Levy asked. For ten minutes straight, Gajeel looked at the floor with the most defeated look she had ever seen. "Sure shrimp" Gajeel said plainly. "You might want to leave him be for a while" Lily told Levy. "Why?" Levy asked with a confused face. "He never lost a single game, I'm pretty sure you hurt his pride" Lily replied. For Gajeel, it does make sense, Levy thought to herself. Deciding that she couldn't do anything about it, Levy walked out of the dining room and towards the library with Lily flying beside her. "So Lily, how much jewl did you lose?" Levy asked. "Oh, I didn't lose anything. I bet all my jewl on you" Lily said with a smug smile. "Huh?!" Levy exclaimed, her face showing nothing but surprise. "In my opinion, if you can beat a whole bar with ease, you can pretty much beat anyone. Plus your smart, so that helps" Lily explained. "Ok. Wait, what do you mean, plus your smart?" Levy asked. "Oh look, the library! Let's go read!" the black exeed told Levy as he sped up to the library doors. Oh well, I can get him back another time, Levy thought. Meanwhile, Gajeel had just snapped out of his state to find Gray, Happy, Carla, Erza, and Wendy with the most ticked off faces he ever saw. "What the hell happened to you guys?" Gajeel asked. "We lost everything because Lily bet all his money on Levy, and we decided to bet three fourths of our cash on you and Natsu, so now we're practically broke!" Wendy cried. "Well don't blame me! She robbed me of my cake!" Gajeel yelled. "But you weren't playing carelessly! YOU DISGRACED CAKE!" Erza shouted as she threw the leftover cake at the iron dragon, who dodged it easily. "That's it, it's on!" Gajeel yelled as he single handedly started his second fight for the day. In the library, Levy and Pantherlily could hear the loud bangs and crashes coming from the dining room. "What is going on over there?!" Levy asked as she looked up from her book. "If we know Gajeel, and we do, he probably started another fight" Lily said from the warm comfort of Levy's lap. "The whole reason I played poker and blackjack was to put an end to his fighting habit!" Levy told Lily. "This is Gajeel we're talking about. Fighting is just what he does. Even if it means a new dining room, plus I don't think he'll be playing either of those games for a long time" the black exeed said with a small smile. He has a point, Levy thought. "How much did you get from betting on me?" Levy asked, looking down at Lily. "Almost one hundred and thirty thousand" Lily told Levy with a smile. "How much did you bet on me?!" Levy asked with surprise in her voice. "That doesn't matter, just keep reading please" Lily said as the small blue haired solid script mage kept reading her book.