~Gajeel~

Once Fairy Tail arrived, the fight ended quickly. After the last few demons were taken care of, I sprinted towards the wrecked doors, hoping to catch up to Levy and the Shadow Stalker. They can’t have gotten too far. If I can catch her scent, I’ll be able to find her!

“Wait,” Lily said, suddenly appearing in front of me. He had shifted back into his human form, and I noticed a few gashes across his chest and on his arms. I growled at him, refusing to transform back. He’s wasting time! That damned demon is getting away with Levy!

“Gajeel,” Makarov said, “shift back. It would be useless to go blindly after her. Let’s come up with a strategy.”

I sighed, giving him a small nod. I felt my muscles contract as the shift changed my body. In no time, I was crossing my arms and scowling down at the old man. “Let’s make a plan quickly.”

“Perhaps the hagraven will be able to give us more information,” Lily suggested.

“Good idea.” I retrieved my clothes and put them on as I made my way to the cells in the basement. The hagraven was staring at us excitedly when we finally reached her.

“Did they succeed?” She asked, a wicked grin in her face. “Master Ivan’s plan was a success, wasn’t it?”

I reached through the bars and grabbed her by the throat. “Where are they taking her?”

“You’re all going to die,” she cackled, unaffected by my hand around her throat. “Master Ivan will kill you all!”

“I’m going to kill you if you don’t start talkin’, damn it!” I snarled, beating her face against the bars. “Tell me where that bastard took Levy!”

“When you find her, it will already be too late,” she snickered. “Master Ivan has her now, so there’s no way you can stop him.”

~Levy~

“Damn,” I groaned, feeling consciousness slowly beginning to come back to me. I felt like I had been hit by a bag of bricks. “Oh, yeah, I kind of was,” I grumbled, remembering how the Shadow Stalker had slammed into me at full force. The impact had knocked me out, then it must have run off with me after that. The battle was in full swing when I went upstairs, so I hope Lily, Gajeel, and the others are alright. While I knew they could take care of a few pesky demons like those with no problem, I also knew Gajeel was exhausted, and it was getting close to the full moon.Meaning, the moon rage will begin effecting him as the day progresses. Come nightfall, he would lose control completely. I need to make it back to him by then.

The only problem was, I had no idea where the shadow stalker had taken me.

I made my way to my feet, stretching my bruised muscles. The room I was in was well-lit, so I could see perfectly. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really anything to see. There was absolutely nothing in the room—not even a window or a chair.

“Good afternoon, Levy.”

I spun around, automatically reaching for my gun. I looked down in momentary panic when I realized it was gone, but quickly returned my eyes back to the source of the voice, not wanting to take my eyes off of him for too long. “Ivan,” I said, coldly.

“I hope my shadow stalker wasn’t too rough on you,” he smiled. There was nothing friendly about his expression. On the contrary, it sent chills down my spine and a spike of fear straight to my gut. There was death in his smile.

“What do you want with me, Ivan?” I asked, backing towards the lone door I had spotted before he had come.

“I’m going to use you,” he said, the smile never leaving his face.

“For what?” I continued slowly backing towards the door, grateful that he hadn’t seemed to notice—or that he didn’t care.

“To annihilate Fairy Tail.” His words froze me in place, and I found myself gaping at him with wide eyes.

“What makes you think I would help you do anything, let alone destroy my family?!” I asked, incredulous.

“Because you will have no choice,” Ivan smirked. “If everything goes according to plan, I will be able to use your powers to render all of the human-borns completely powerless, making them easy targets. After that, the rest of Fairy Tail will be destroyed. Once those human-lovers are out of the way, I can move on to the other guilds. They will either join me, or die.”

“You’re crazy if you think that will work,” I frowned. “My powers only work while I’m touching a human-born. You can’t really take out an entire guild like that.”

“For now.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“In time, my pawn.” He disappeared before I could question him further, leaving behind only an echo of laughter.

Gajeel, I sighed to myself, hurry the hell up!