"They seem to be getting a little more aggressive, Master," Mirajane said, brows furrowed in concern. "When Elfman gave them their breakfast, they growled at him."
Makarov frowned into his morning coffee. "This isn't entirely unexpected, my dear."
"This whole thing is just a giant pain in the ass," Gray griped. He was stuck in the guildhall with Juvia to try to act as defense in case the dragon slayers tried to make an escape. Unfortunately for him, Juvia seemed thrilled about this.
"Juvia thinks it's romantic," the Water Mage murmured dreamily. "If only her beloved Gray had a Devil Slayer mating season...he'd steal her away!"
Gray rolled his eyes, trying to remain unaffected by her words. He didn't want to think about what might happen in that situation. "Is it even safe for Mira and Juvia to be guarding them, Gramps?"
"I wonder that, myself," Makarov admitted, looking a little helpless. "Gildarts isn't here right now, and we can only do so much. We'll just have to continue limiting their contact with them unless there's an emergency."
"Juvia promises that she we'll not be taken by another man, my love!" Juvia asserted, a determined expression on her face. Makarov considered her thoughtfully.
"They might not even go after Juvia," the old man mused. "She probably smells too much like Gray."
"What's that supposed to mean??!" Gray yelped. "D'ya think I smell or something?!!"
Mira chuckled as she counted her cash register. "No, Gray, you just spend too much time together. Dragon slayer noses are sensitive to these things, you know that." She tapped her nose in a cute way.
Makarov nodded. "Right you are, Mira. Although I do worry about you. As much as I want to see you married to my grandson, I'd like it to be consensual."
Mirajane blushed a little at this. "Oh Master, I dunno about that. You really think Laxus would go after me of all people?"
"I hope so!" the old man said jovially. "I could live through him vicariously!"
Gray groaned at the innuendo, but then perked up all of a sudden. "Hey, do you hear that?"
"It sounds like roaring coming from the cellar!" Juvia answered.
Mirajane approached the door, putting her ear to it. Gray and Makarov tensed at her closeness, but she simply stood and listened. "They sound restless," she informed, approaching their little group once again. "Like they're arguing and pacing down there."
"You don't suppose they could break their shackles and the rune barrier Freed created, do you?" Gray asked, subtly moving in front of Juvia.
"I think it's only a matter of time," the Master replied, lowering his head.
-
Levy sat among stacks of books, hidden away in the depths of the library. She had been trying in vain to find any sort of information to try and help pacify the dragon slayers, working through the night. She had fallen asleep for a few hours, and then had woken up and gotten right back to work. She threw aside yet another book with no answers.
"I wish I could just find something useful," she muttered to herself. "For Gajeel."
For once, the script mage was at a loss for what to do. Gajeel's discomfort was surely increasing by the hour, and she couldn't think of any solutions.
Well, there was one...
But that seemed more like a last resort. Right?
Levy eyed Anna Heartfilia's book again. Maybe it was worth rereading, just to make sure she hadn't missed anything?
She flipped through the information they already knew. The cycle, the pheromones, etc. She found a section entitled "Consequences".
A dragon slayer mating cycle lasts about a week. If the dragon slayer is successful in obtaining a partner, they will often desire to make them a permanent mate. This is accomplished by marking their partner with a bite at the junction of the neck and shoulders. Once this process has occurred, the dragon slayers will feel aftereffects for some time. This may include increased protectiveness and sex drive, especially from males. It is speculated that this is due to the hope of offspring having been conceived during the mating. If a union results in offspring, this protectiveness will last the entire gestation period and the mother's recovery.
If a dragon slayer is not successful in finding a suitable mate within the ideal timeframe, their aggressive behavior will persist until a partner is found. However, for actual dragons, it was instinctually understood that any partners available after the peak mating season were likely too weak or too young to produce viable offspring. In dragon slayers, this is not likely to be the case, but the leftover dragon instincts create increased desperation to prevent this throughout the week.
Lastly, if a dragon slayer begins to experience corruption from their dragon magic, and undergoes dragonification, their connection to their mate becomes secondary to their desire to destroy. Mates are sometimes forgotten completely, or even accidentally killed.
Levy shivered at the final paragraph. While she knew their dragon slayers were safe from such a thing from occurring, it must have been somewhat terrifying to experience this 400 years ago.
Anna was so knowledgeable about the dragon slayers, she must have known some personally. Levy kept reading, hoping that their might be an additional solution.
She was starting to think there really wasn't one.
-
Erza, determined to carry on, put one foot in front of the other. She had had to stop for a few more breaks since her last one, and the exhaustion was starting to get to her.
Sighing, she sat once more, vowing only 15 minutes rest. Her eyes drooped closed once or twice, and suddenly the world went black.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she was startled awake by trampling in the bushes near her. She grabbed her sword in an instant, looking around with wild eyes. Finally, her eyes settled on Wendy, Jellal and Sorano, holding their hands up placatingly.
She sprang up from her log, embarrassed. "J..Jellal. You came."
"We're pretty concerned about Erik. Sorano is concerned about Yukino too," Jellal.
"Right right," Erza muttered. "Have you found anything?"
"Not yet," Wendy said, sadly. "And there's more bad news, Rogue took Kagura."
"Kagura was taken?!"
"It's all my fault too," Wendy said with a sniffle, starting to tear up. "I wasn't able to keep him from getting her. I-I wasn't strong enough."
Erza brought Wendy in for a hug. "It's ok, Wendy. We'll figure it out. We have to."
"We're going to have a hard time finding all 3 unless we split up," Sorano said, arms crossed. "I want to find Yukino, but we have to find Erik too."
"Meredy, Lucy and Cana are going to look for Kagura. Sawyer is scouting for them now," Jellal explained. "But I suppose you're right. We might have to split up."
Erza thought for a second. "Wendy, can you catch Kinana's scent at all? I bet she and Erik aren't moving like Sting is. If you can point me in their direction, I might be able to find them, while you track Sting."
"Good idea, and I'll go with Erza," Jellal offered. The red head blushed a little, turning her face away.
Wendy nodded, before starting to sniff around. She moved a little through the little area, before she finally seemed to find it. "Aha! They're that way!" the young dragon slayer called out, pointing down a path. "And Sorano and I will find Sting!"
The two pairs nodded and set off in opposite directions. Erza peeked at Jellal shyly, more excited than she was willing to admit that she got to be alone with him.
-
A roar sounded out in the cellar. Natsu grit his teeth in frustration. His body felt like it was burning. He paced back and forth restlessly. Gajeel's blood red eyes watched him back and forth, and a low growl seemed to reverberate in the man's chest. Laxus' lightning sparked around him from time to time, unable to be fully contained by his magical cuffs.
They were starting to lose track of time, though it had only been about a day and a half. They were starting to feel an agonizing need to go find their mates.
They couldn't really help it. Try as they might to remember why they had agreed to be locked up down here in the first place, their hind brains urged them that they were wasting valuable time.
The three men grew more agitated by the hour, and being in the presence of each other, traditionally rivals, only seemed to exacerbate the issue.
The door opened, and Elfman came down to bring their dinner, as he had for every other meal. The large man watched them cautiously, fearing the feral looks in their eyes. He made to kneel and place their tray on the floor, but was suddenly tackled by Natsu with a snarl.
It was instant bedlam. Elfman awoke his Beast Soul Takeover, Gray started to come down the stairs, and Laxus removed his magical cuffs with a burst of lightning.
Gajeel smirked at the other man before simply biting through his with his teeth. He then leapt up, chucked Gray down the stairs towards Natsu and Elfman and made it to the doorway.
He came face to face with Juvia and Mirajane, who had taken up fighting stances to try to stop him.
"You're in my way," he growled, preparing an Iron Dragon's Roar at the two women. He was instantly punched by Laxus.
"Stay away," the blonde man hissed, before looking directly at Mira, who had activated her Satan Soul.
"Same to you, pal," Elfman's voice called as he sought to bring his giant fist down on the man.
Laxus shifted to the side, before shooting forward towards the eldest Strauss. She exchanged a few blows with him back and forth, but he seemed unrestrained in his fighting, and quickly managed to grab her tail and throw her down. He used the opportunity to grab her a take off.
"Laxus!" The giant fist of his grandfather tried to smack him down, but the man moved to quickly, and managed to evade them.
Juvia tried to fight Gajeel, but just like Laxus, he moved to quickly, and didn't seem to be held down much by the water she sent his way. Examining her with shrewd eyes, he suddenly aimed an attack upward towards the ceiling and leapt through it.
Juvia growled in frustration before heading downstairs to check on Gray. The man was on the ground incapacitated, as Natsu hovered above. His eyes seemed like pure fire, and Juvia's heart beat wildly in terror.
She prepared an attack, but it was no use. She shoved straight passed her, and threw her over the stair banister. The last thing she remembered before blackness took her was seeing him leap through the same hole as Gajeel.