Searching for happiness (Attack on titan X Fairy Tail Crossover)

Chapter XII - A fight between fairy and kelpie

"What ...what's going on here?", Gray whispered next to me, completely stunned, while I stared as if spellbound at the man opposite us.

"Come on, my little one.", the man now shouted and put his hands on his hips, "How long are you going to play hide and seek? You're out of age, aren't you?". I clenched my teeth and forced myself to breathe calmly. What the hell was he doing here? Why was he, of all people, Ripper?

"How did he discover us so fast?", I heard Erza whisper beside Gray and I frowned. Well, knowing it was him, it did not really surprise me that he had already tracked us down. He had always had a sense of ambushes and hiding places, and at the same time, I blamed myself for not providing better camouflage. But how could I have expected that exactly the man who had taught me to submerge perfectly would be here today?

"Who is that, Levi?", Wendy asked in a thin voice behind me but I did not answer. My thoughts were racing wildly because I was trying to work out which approach would be the smartest. This man was not to be underestimated. I was sure that he would certainly kill my comrades here without any emotion, because I had seen this action by him with my own eyes many, many years ago. And even though we had some capable magicians among us, he was still a very dangerous and serious adversary. As I thought this through, I finally made a decision.

"You stay here. This man is too dangerous. With luck, he may not know exactly how many we are. I will talk to him and distract him. Meanwhile, you try to escape undetected.", I whispered to the others, who immediately gave me dumbfounded glances.

"Are you crazy?", Natsu whispered behind Wendy, "We will not leave you alone with this guy.". Briefly, I looked into his fiery eyes and for the first time had the feeling that he was serious about what I said.

"Then plan an ambush as soon as you sneak away. But if you all stay here, it is too dangerous for you. This man there has already killed people with his own hands!", I muttered, glaring at them. They should escape from here! Why did not they just do what I told them? If they faced him, they would be in mortal danger and for no price in the world would I lose more of my comrades!

"Alright.", Erza whispered suddenly in agreement and looked at me seriously. She seemed to understand that I wanted them all out of the line of fire and gratefully I gave her a curt nod.

"But ...", Wendy protested softly, but Erza put a hand on her shoulder, which made her instantly silent. Slowly I got up and left our hiding place in a crouched position, feeling the girl's gaze on my back.

A dirty, low laugh escaped the man when he discovered that I was now showing myself to him and his cold gaze bored directly into mine. Every muscle in my body was tense, always ready to go into battle. Slowly, I walked up to him and listened to my hasty breath. I was not allowed to make a mistake now. One mistake and this would all end in disaster. It was almost eerily quiet when I finally stopped at a safe distance from him. In the distance you could hear a little owl, whose sound mingled gently with the soft sound of the ocean waves. This soothing soundscape did not really suit the current atmosphere, which was so full of excitement and mistrust.

Then he slowly raised his hand and pushed his broad hat off his face a bit to grin at me. His thin face was now riddled with a few wrinkles that made him unable to deny his age, but his dark brown hair still seemed to have a healthy, strong color. A thin beard graced his chin, and from his gray eyes, which were so much like mine, he looked at me piercingly.

"Huh?", he suddenly broke the silence and scratched his head, " You have not grown up since then. Are you already a man?". Inwardly I was seething with anger and wanted to beat his stupid grin off his face, but I forced myself to stand still. He wanted to provoke me and lure me out of reserve, but I would not do him this favor.