~Gajeel~
I clenched and unclenched my fists as I made my way through the darkening forest to meet up with Levy and Lucy. It would be dark in a little less than an hour, so I was getting anxious. I still didn’t like the whole I had to shift during the full moon right in front of an unprotected Levy thing, but I had no choice but to trust her. If the spell really did work, then I wouldn’t be cursed by the full moon madness any longer.
“If it works,” I reminded myself, knowing not to get my hopes up too far. There was always a chance that the spell wouldn’t work. If it doesn’t, I might hurt Levy again. The thought sent pain like a searing hot blade straight through my chest. She had reassured me over a dozen times over the last week that things would turn out fine, but I was still nervous.
“Gajeel!” Levy waved, spotting me as I entered the small clearing. I smiled at my mate, pulling her into a soft kiss. “Are you ready?” She asked, blushing slightly when the blonde cleared her throat loudly.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I nodded.
Grabbing my hand, Levy led me to the center of some sort of magic circle. There were candles of all colors surrounding it, and they let off a strange scent. I wrinkled my nose against it, causing Levy to chuckle. “Sorry about the smell, but it’s part of the set-up for the spell. You’re supposed to take a few good deep breaths of the smoke.”
“I have a bad feeling about this,” I sighed.
“Hey,” she said, looking up at me with a smile, “it’s going to be fine. We just have to believe it’s going to work.”
“It’s going to,” Lucy said, confidently. “As much research as we put into this, I think it will work.”
“For the spell,” Levy instructed, facing me while making sure to hold onto one of my hands, “we have to maintain contact until after the seal has been drawn. After that, I’ll let go of you and leave the circle while Lucy finishes the spell.”
“And then what?” I asked.
“Then we see what happens,” she smiled. “If you turn back into a human, we’ll know it worked. And if not—“
“—if not, use that,” I said, pointing to the gun on her hip.
“What?” Her eyes widened. “Gajeel, I can’t—“
“Shrimp, if I lose control, I’d rather it be my life than yours. If I come out of that circle still effected by moon madness, I want you to shoot me. You don’t have to kill me, just wound me enough that you can get to me without getting hurt.”
“But—“
“Promise me,” I urged, staring into her large hazel eyes.
Finally, she looked down and sighed. “Alright. It won’t come to that, though.”
“Let’s hope not,” I nodded.
“Well, let’s get this started,” Lucy said, pulling out a small dagger and handing it to Levy. I cringed at the sight of it, knowing what she was going to do with it.
~Levy~
“Are you ready?” Lucy asked in Stelian, looking hesitantly at the dagger after she handed it to me.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “If I’m going to meet Ivan at midnight we should probably get started.”
“Right.” Lucy grabbed her spell book and flipped to the page containing the sealing spell. We had modified it a little based on our research, and I began praying silently that it would work. I knew that, if it came down to it, I wouldn’t have it in me to shoot Gajeel. Even wounding him would be impossible. The thought of shooting even his damned wolf whiskers made my stomach churn uncomfortably. No, I wouldn’t be shooting anyone but Ivan tonight. And I will be shooting him.
“Begin breathing in the smoke,” Lucy instructed so Gajeel could understand. Once she turned back to her spell, she began speaking in Stelian once more. Her spell book was written in the ancient language, so it was convenient while trying to think of a way to perform the spell without Ivan finding out what we were doing. And, it made adding to it a lot easier—since the Stelian language was so melodic.
As Lucy spoke, I could feel the spell’s power growing within the magic circle. Gajeel felt it too, because he clenched my hand a little tighter. When it was finally time for the blood exchange part, I lifted the dagger and met Gajeel’s eyes.
“You have to cut my hand,” I instructed.
“What? No,” he immediately snapped.
“Gajeel, I can’t cut it when I only have one free hand. I can’t let go of you, so you have to do it.”
Looking torn, he took the dagger from me. “Shrimp, I—” before he could finish, I swiped my hand across the blade, cursing as pain stung my palm.
“I thought you said it was a finger prick,” he frowned, worriedly.
“I lied,” I smirked, smearing my bloody palm against his naked chest. “Now, this is the hard part,” I warned him, taking the dagger back.
“And that wasn’t?” He asked.
“I kind of have to…carve the symbol on your chest with the dagger.” I said the last part quickly, taking a deep breath once it was out.
“Do it,” he nodded, never flinching.
“You’re sure?” I asked.
“I just cut you, didn’t I?” He chuckled. “I’ll heal fast, so make it quick.”
I nodded, working fast. It was a small symbol—thankfully—and was from the Stelian language. It meant to cleanse one’s soul, and was meant to repel evil spirits from a person’s body. With the way we re-worked the spell, that evil spirit was Gajeel’s moon madness.
Once the symbol was there, I pressed my palm to Gajeel’s chest once more, allowing my blood to flow into the cuts as they began to heal. I let go of Gajeel’s hand, meeting his eyes. “No matter what happens, I love you,” I said, kissing him.
He looked shocked, but I didn’t give him the chance to respond. I pulled away, jumping out of the circle and moving quickly away from it as Gajeel began to shift.
“It’s going to work,” Lucy whispered, grabbing my uninjured hand. I didn’t answer. I was too nervous to speak, honestly.
Gajeel’s red eyes slowly turned gold, and they met mine before he began trembling. In an instant, he was no longer a human, but had shifted into a werewolf. I stared at his eyes after he shifted, waiting for them to turn scarlet. He wasn’t moving to attack us, it was more like pacing around the circle, shaking his head every so often in an annoyed gesture, so I took that as a good sign. But, after several minutes his eyes were still golden.
“Lu-chan, what’s taking so long?” I whispered.
“The spell takes time,” she told me. “Your blood has to mix with his and work all the way through his veins. It shouldn’t take much longer now. Then we’ll know if it worked.”
I focused on Gajeel, silently pleading with my eyes for him to snap out of it. Suddenly, he faced us, a low growl creeping up his throat.
“Not good,” Lucy said.
“Wait,” I frowned, stepping towards the circle.
“Levy!” She snapped, holding onto my hand tighter, “what the hell are you doing?!”
“Look,” I told her, feeling relief flood me when I looked into his eyes—his crimson eyes. With a wink, the wolf disappeared, leaving behind a smirking Gajeel. A very naked, smirking Gajeel.
“Clothes,” I gasped, realizing Lucy was there. I threw him the duffel bag we had prepared, and turned around with Lucy while he got dressed.
“Shrimp,” he said from directly behind me. I jumped, turning around only to be met by his lips pressed firmly against mine. “Thank you.”
I blushed, grinning at him like a giddy fool. “No problem.”
“I helped too, ya know,” Lucy chuckled, rolling her eyes at us.
“Right,” Gajeel chuckled, shocking both Lucy and me pulling her into a hug. “Thanks, blondie.”
“Okay, no more hugs,” she laughed, “they’re just too weird coming from you.”
“I quite like his hugs,” I teased, causing her to make over-exaggerated gagging noises.
“So, what now?” Gajeel asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me against his side.
“Levy, it’s almost midnight,” Lucy told me in Stelian.
“Oh, that’s right,” I gasped, completely forgetting about Ivan. I hated having to leave Gajeel so soon after we were finally able to cure him, but I had to finish things with Ivan first. After tonight, we’ll have the rest of our lives together, so it’s alright.
“Actually, there’s something I have to do,” I said to Gajeel. “Go back to Fairy Tail with Lucy and I’ll catch up.”
“No way,” he frowned. “I can’t leave you alone until tonight is over—“
“It’s a surprise for you,” I lied. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, alright?”
“It’s really no big deal,” Lucy added. The plan was to tell Gajeel about the spell with Ivan once she got him back to the guildhall. By then I could be halfway done with the spell already, and the guild could help delay him so he doesn’t go charging after me before the spell is complete.
We found a simple but powerful spell that even I can cast during a full moon that would weaken Ivan, and I had made sure to engrain it into my mind. Once I got close enough to him, I’d stab him with the enchanted dagger Lucy had made and infused with her own magic, and then I would recite the spell. By that time, Fairy Tail would show up and the rest would be finished quickly. Once we kill Ivan, all of this will be over.