Gajeel ran as quick as the tiny legs of Levy could, cursing the day he agreed to swap bodies. He ran towards the guild with all his might, tripping over the uneven laid cobblestone street. He ignored the limits of the fragile body of his girlfriend. He was panicking.
Levy was kidnapped a minute ago and her older sister was taken as well. He had no idea whom had taken her nor did he know where they went. He had to guess.
Levy could be in danger if she was stuck in his body and the kidnapper was out to take revenge on 'Gajeel'. She couldn't even use all of her magic when residing in the wrong body.
He cursed loud as he gasped for breath. This body had trouble sprinting. Make a mental note: train Levy when this was over.
The bandanna that kept Levy's unruly hair in place loosened. Thick strains of hair escaped.
'LEVY....!', he yelled as he entered the guild. 'LEVY IS KIDNAPPED'.
Many eyes looked at him strange. 'What do you mean?', Mirajane asked careful.
'LEVY AND ROSE ARE GONE!'.
'Then who are you?', it seemed like Mirajane understands the situation better than some others. For example: Wakaba walked up to Levy and checked her body for any abnormalities. It was Levy's real body so of course there was nothing to see. 'Aren't you Levy?', he asked.
'WOULD I ASK FOR HELP IF I WERE? I'M GAJEEL YOU IDIOT', he pushed Wakaba away.
'Gajeel, how?'
'How could I possibly switched bodies with Levy?', was his sarcastic response. 'Welcome to a world with magic', he threw his arms into the sky for a pinch of drama. 'Are you going to help or not!?'
'We will split up', Mirajane was already into her satanic form. She quickly split the members of Fairy Tail into team. Gajeel was out of the door before he was assigned to one. He didn't want to waste a second of his time. However, he did feel a lot of gratitude for these people he secretly called friends. He was alone for the biggest part of his life. He finally had people he could rely on and they could rely on him.
He ran through the city of magnolia, trying to sniff with the little amount of dragon slayer magic he could obtain at the moment.
A brick almost hit him, rolling a few meters further. He turned around but he didn't notice a suspect in the crowd.
Some people surrounded "Levy" to ask if she was startled and alright. Gajeel mumbled a quick response and noticed a letter wrapped around the brick, just like the other time.
He reached out for it and noticed a quick handwriting with an address.
He grabbed a nearby man by the collar and asked where he had to be.
'Are you really going there, Levy?', the man asked, obviously knowing the script mage.
Gajeel decided to answer him in a manner Levy would. He let go of the man. 'They took my friends, I need to go if I want to safe them'.
The man nodded, he believed Gajeel. 'Do you know the pet shop in the west?', he continued to direct Gajeel to the right direction and prayed for good health of both Levy and her friends.
'Thank you', Gajeel clutched the piece of paper in his fist and hurried towards a seemingly abandoned mine shaft in the west. They used to mine for gems there. But that was a long time ago and people weren't allowed inside.
Gajeel inspected the mine before entering. The wooden beams showed signs of neglect and the edged were moulder. He had to be careful if he was going to start a fight in this place.
To late he realized that he forgot to warn the others. He removed one of Levy's sleeves, matching her dress and placed it near the entrance. They could find him. There were enough people who could see or sniff the sleeve if they wanted to. It was still Levy's scent. Gajeel decided that Natsu would be dumb enough to search for Levy's scent, even after swapping bodies.
It was cold in the cave. Moisture gave an eerie shine as he entered and it was trouble to see the inside. He would have turned if it wasn't for the faint shine of a torch in the distance. He sought out his path by following the walls with his hands. Gajeel tripped over a rock but managed to walk to the torch unharmed.
A next torched was placed a small distance further. Gajeel was able to walk this distance but made it himself easier and grabbed the first torch. 'Levy?', he called out. It came in handy being smaller. He didn't need to duck in places where he could normally hit his head.
He walked with uneasy steps over the uneven ground. At one point he hit his toe against something he thought was a rock. He stumbled a little but didn't fall. He swiped his hand over the ground. A chain stretched just above the ground.
Gajeel decided to follow this lead and ignored all other paths he walked past.
Yet another torch lit a wider space further ahead. Gajeel didn't have to duck anymore. The ceiling was higher at this spot. It seemed that this was a hot spot during the mining. The rocks were round at the edges. At least most of them. Gajeel had to pull Levy's dress when it was stuck behind one of the rocks.
He walked a little further and reached the torch. That's when he realized that the cave was very bright lit just around the corner. He was still following the chain. A gear wheel was attached to the wall giving the chain a chance to make a strange angle.
He could hear soft mumbling just around the corner.
He extinguished his own torch and peeked around the corner, careful not to alarm possible enemies.
It wasn't difficult to see, but hard to believe. The path split towards two separate tunnels. Both blocked the way with a giant cage. Gajeel didn't even need to search anymore because each cage was filled. One contained Rose. Her hands clutched the bars. She was fuming with anger.
Levy, in Gajeels body, was unconscious. She resided in the other cage.
Gajeel allowed himself to peek some more around the corner but Rose noticed. 'Levy!!!', she called out to him. The real Levy had to be unconscious for a while now if she didn't have to opportunity to tell Rose about the scheme. 'Come quick, that crazy patsy is gone'.
Gajeel nodded, he would play along for a moment. He walked up to her but the chain started to rattle and the other cage started to move away from him. The moving cage was Levy's and she moved further into that tunnel... away from Gajeel and Rose.
He quickly stopped moving and froze in place. That cage didn't move without reason. He had to overthink his next move.
'What is happening?', Rose asked. Adrenaline was probably running through her veins but she sounded awfully calm.
'I don't know', Gajeel sounded a little on edge. 'How should I know?'
'You're smart. You will figure it out', he noticed that her eyes glittered both hopeful and scared. She had to be crying a moment ago. 'Take your time'.
It was meant to be comforting but it felt as if all worlds pressure and responsibilities rested on his shoulder. How did Levy deal with this day in and out?
'What is happening?', he needed some help to figure out the situation.
'Some weird girl kidnapped me. I'm not sure but I've got a feeling that she is involved with Gajeel', Rose spat.
Gajeel did his best not to grunt annoyed. 'What makes you think that?', he asked.
'I know you trust him, but I've heard that he was part of a dark guild. He probably infiltrated Fairy Tail for your magic. I need you to trust me on this'.
A strange conclusion. Especially in you know that there are others in the guild with stronger magical abilities. And if that wasn't enough to convince her: "Gajeel" was locked in the other cage.
'When are you going to trust me??', Gajeel glared at her. 'I know that he was in Phantom Lord. That is when we met', he talked for himself, ignoring the fact that he had to act as if he was Levy. He forgot, for a moment, that he was trapped in Levy's body. 'We talked about it. We have peace with it! Why can't you?'
'HOW CAN YOU FORGET THAT HE PINNED YOU AGAINST A TREE', she screeched out. 'HE IS MANIPULATING YOU', she clutched the bars and pulled them. It was an outlet for all frustrations. 'HE IS USING YOU!!!'
'NEVER!', he wanted to yell and growl and punch but he sounded weak using Levy's voice.
'Are you done?', a voice asked behind Gajeel. A girl around his age held a remote in her hand. Her finger rested on one of the buttons. The chain ran between her legs.
'That's her', Rose hissed, ignoring their fight for the time being.
The girl wore a hoody. The iconic shadow of pacman decorated both front and back. 'I can't believe you would fight when there is a crisis happening'.
'Did you kidnap them?', Gajeel had to ask. She seemed incapable to commit a crime.
A wrinkle appeared in the corner of her nose: 'Don't you fight daily, Levy? Shouldn't you know how to pick out the bad guy from a crowd? So much for a hero'.
'You're reading to many books, kid', Gajeel huffed, sounding more like himself then Levy. He wanted to punch this girl, she was annoying. He began to walk towards her. She quickly grabbed the removed tighter and pushed the button. A chain started to rattle and the cages of both "Gajeel" and Rose moved away from him.
The real Gajeel looked up, surprised at the girl and stood still. 'What is your deal?', he growled.
The girl looked more victorious this time. More confident then scared. 'They are dead meat if you walk to me', sounded her threat.
'Who are you even?', Gajeel gritted his teeth. He would have been able to send an iron club in her face if he was in his own body.
'Your worst nightmare. Now: for the rules of this game. You need to pick between sister or boyfriend', a demon-like smile smouldered on her face. 'I will give you one minute to decide. Choose one, the other will lose their life. Choose me and they will both lose'.
'Are you kidding me?', it was Rose. 'Kidnap him if you need to kidnap anyone!', her finger was pointed at "Gajeel", not knowing that it was her little sister who rested in that body. 'We've got nothing to do with you!'
The girl lifted her head, looking with a superior shine in her eyes. 'Choose', was her answer, directed at "Levy".
Gajeel looked at his own body. He noticed a bump on its head. Levy must had a firm hit against the head if she was still unconscious.
He looked at Rose who had a pained look on her face. Through her eyes it must seem as if Levy had a difficult time to choose between a sister and a boyfriend who had physically abused her. No wonder she looked pained because Gajeel didn't seem to be sure.
But Gajeel didn't have to choose. He sat on the grounds, his legs and arms crossed. He wasn't going to play this game.
'Choose, or I will', was the girls threat.
The dragon slayer would have fought if Levy's body had the strength in her. He didn't even take over her mental strength that was needed with this kind of enemy. He could only hope that he could muster the patience and wait this fight out. Levy's sleeve laid in front of the cave. He had to wait for the others.
'CHOOSE', the girl yelled like a child who didn't got their way.
Rose bent closer and pushed her cheeks against the bars. 'Are you really going to leave me here?', Gajeel looked up. She was near tears. Her voice broken.
'I'm not leaving anyone', was his answer, sounding like Levy once more.