KEY:
Russian

“Damn,” Gajeel growled. He knew that lightning asshole had hit him pretty hard, but he didn’t appreciate pounding in his head as he began regaining consciousness. His arms were also throbbing, no thanks to the thick chains wrapped all the way from his wrists to his shoulders, trapping him firmly to the wall behind him. Looking around, he realized he had no idea where he was. It was cold, he could tell that by the mist in the air left by his breath. How long have I been out? That was important information he wished he knew. It might give him some idea about where the hell he was.

When he heard footsteps approaching him, he tensed, waiting for that lightning bastard and the rest of Etherios’s followers to appear. Needless to say, he was shocked when Etherios himself walked into the cold cellar, and it felt as if his deep green eyes stared into Gajeel’s very soul, sending ice through his veins.

“Where the hell am I?” He spat after a long silence.

Etherios sighed, leaning against the wall as if they were having an average conversation. “Such a cliché question. You couldn’t be a little more creative?” Gajeel’s native Russian rolled off Etherios’s tongue as if he had spoken it his entire life.

“You wanna talk about cliché?” He scoffed. “Try getting kidnapped by a damn lunatic villain, and waking up chained to a wall in some creepy-ass dungeon.”

Etherios clicked his tongue, visibly annoyed. “I’m no villain, Gajeel. I am doing the world a favor by purging it of those weak humans. You are either one of the strong, or it is only right that evolution picks you off. We are the next generation, my friend, so it is time to take our rightful place on top.”

“Lunatic villain,” Gajeel frowned. This guy is crazier than I thought. Talk about watching too many damned X-Men movies…

“I am not a villain!” He snapped, annoyance slowly turning to anger. His green eyes flashed with fury for an instant before he took a deep breath and smiled. “You will soon see that I’m in the right here, Gajeel. You’ll join me in time.”

“Like hell.” Gajeel growled. “I refuse to help you hurt any more of the people I care about.”

“Those people will turn on you eventually. The more powerful you grow, the more they will fear you.”

“They won’t—”

“Do you think that pretty blue-haired summoner will stay with you forever?” Etherios scoffed, amused. “Gajeel, she will be the first to leave you. She may even be more powerful than you are.” He paused a moment, then smiled. “Perhaps I’ll recruit her next. I was going to kill her with the others, but she managed to take down quite a few of my men. I may have use for her.”

“You leave Levy out of this!” Gajeel snarled, pulling against the chains.
The metal screeched as he pulled against it, but it never budged.

Etherios laughed, crouching down so they were eye-level, that damned smile still on his face. “Perhaps, if you cooperate, I’ll give her a place in my ranks beside you. Wouldn’t that be nice? You could have your power and your woman.”

“If it’s coming from you, I don’t want it,” Gajeel spat in English.

“We’ll just see what she has to say, then,” He sighed, getting to his feet. “She may be more willing to join me. That is, if she’s still alive.”

Gajeel felt the blood rush from his face. “What do you mean?”

“From what Darryl told me, he left her practically smoldering on the ground.” He chuckled. “All of your little friends got a little shock when what remained of my men left them. I wonder how many are still alive? We’ll find out when they arrive, I suppose. It has been nearly two days since our last visit to Italy, so they should be arriving within the next couple of days. Pantherlily will be with them, I’m sure. I’ll take great pleasure in watching that bastard finally die.”

“Lily’s organization will stop you,” Gajeel said.

“He has been trying for several years, unsuccessfully. Do you honestly think your friends will be of assistance to him in the war that is about to happen? His men have been training for years, honing their skills and learning how to fight against others with powers. You and your friends are practically children, with no experience in battle, and with barely an understanding of the limits and true extent of each of your powers. You will be killed before the real fighting even begins.”

“We held our own against your men in Italy,” Gajeel snapped.

“Yes, but we see how that ended, don’t we?” He smiled, looking pointedly at the chains on my arms. “Next time, there won’t be chains awaiting the losers, Gajeel. Remember that.” He left before Gajeel could reply—if he’d even been able to reply. He knew Etherios was right. There would be no mercy in the next fight. Etherios’s men wouldn’t be trying to capture and leave. No.

They’d be there to kill.

Gajeel pulled again at the chains on his arms, again to no avail. They creaked, but they never gave way. He sighed in frustration. He should have expected Etherios to be prepared with chains that could hold him—he knew exactly what his powers were, after all. But that still didn’t stop him from trying. When he thought his arms might pull from their sockets from the force of his struggling, the door to his cell opened.

“Those chains aren’t going to budge, no matter how hard you pull on them,” a woman said, smugly. She flipped a long orange curl over her shoulder, glaring at him with golden eyes. “They were designed by master Etherios himself. Not even he could break them.”

“What the hell do you want?” He growled, glaring back at her.

She smiled, sauntering over to him as if he should be impressed. “I came to bring you dinner and take you to the little boys’ room. After a couple days knocked out, you probably need it, right?”

“And you’re taking me?” Gajeel scoffed, wondering if Etherios really was a lunatic, sending such a small woman to guard him, especially knowing his strength.

“Don’t act so shocked,” she said, sounding bored as she unhooked his chains from the wall and clasped them together behind his back. “Obviously I can handle myself. Why else would master send me?”
Not wasting any time, he attempted to pull free, and immediately felt a strong zap through the chains that sent him to his knees.

“Metal is a very strong conductor of electricity,” she said, casually. “My twin brother brought you down to bring you in, so I can handle keeping you in check long enough for you to do whatever you need to.”

“Damn,” he grumbled. So, she’s that bastard’s sister. She walked them down a hallway, stopping in front of a large door. With surprising speed, she undid his chains, clasping them together in front of him.

“You have exactly four minutes,” she told him, opening the door to what he saw was a bathroom.

“How do you know I won’t break through the wall on the other side and escape,” he frowned.

She laughed, the shrill sound grating every nerve in him. “Go ahead and try, but if you do, you’ll get a nice little zap. This room is made of metal.” And he knew what that meant with her lightning ability.

Cursing, he went inside the room and slammed the door behind him. Ok. I need a plan. He inspected the room, looking for any possible way out. There was none. That bastard Etherios thought of everything, didn’t he? And I don’t even have a phone to contact the others with. He suspected he was in another country entirely, so he doubted he could reach his friends in Italy, anyways.
Levy. The thought suddenly assaulted him, now that he had a moment alone. Etherios had hinted that she’d been badly injured before they’d taken him away. Lightning was dangerous—and that man hadn’t used just regular lightning. It was strong enough to bring him down, so it was powerful. He couldn’t imagine how that might affect someone without his stamina. Damn it! How the hell am I supposed to protect her if I’m stuck in God-knows-where with no plan, and no idea how the hell to escape?!

It hadn’t even been a week since he’d told Levy his feelings, and he’d already managed to fuck up by getting captured by Etherios. What an idiot. Levy’s never going to take me seriously if I’m a god-damned damsel in distress!

“Thirty seconds,” came that annoying woman’s voice from outside the door.

“I’m comin’ damn it,” he snarled, opening the door and going into the hallway.

She didn’t bother adjusting his chains behind him, she just grabbed one of his arms and pushed him forward. She was pretty strong for such a small woman. The idea for an escape suddenly hit him, and he almost felt like an idiot for taking so long to think of it.

Wendy.

Why he couldn’t get out, he could help the others get in. Or at least tell them where he was. Etherios had said they could be arriving soon, meaning they had a general idea where the Etherios’s hideout was. And I can lead them to me.

He paused, frowning. No, that won’t work. She’ll be staying back in Italy because this mission is too dangerous. If Lily knew what was good for him, Wendy had better be made to stay in Italy where it was safe.

Shit, there goes that plan. What else?

“Eat,” the woman instructed, locking his cell behind her as they entered it. She didn’t tie him back to the wall, but instead handed him a plate of food.

“What if I’m not hungry?” He snapped.

She rolled her eyes. “Eat the damned food.” When he hesitated, she grabbed one of the rolls off the plate and took a bite of it. “It’s not poisoned, you idiot. Master need you alive, otherwise you’d already be dead.”

“Why do you follow that bastard?” Gajeel asked, stuffing his face. He was hungry, whether he wanted to admit it or not, and the food was decent.

“Master Etherios is a revolutionary,” she said, a look of wonder coming over her face. “He has big plans for this world, and I want to be a part of that.”

“What kind of plans?”

“He already told you, I’m sure,” she sighed. “He wants to get rid of all the weaklings, and pave the way for the strong. Those without gifts could never truly accept us, even if they pretend to at first. There will always be a part of them that fears us, and eventually that fear will win out, causing them to turn on us. So it is up to us to strike first. Eliminate them before they eliminate us.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” he scoffed. “You can’t just go around killing people because they don’t like you. That isn’t a good enough reason.”

“What if they try to kill you first?” She asked, angrily.

He smirked. “You think someone without powers could kill me?”

“They will develop ways,” she said, a dark look coming over her. “If the fear is great enough, they will find a way to hurt you, even if you have done nothing wrong.”

“And who hurt you?” he asked, handing her his empty plate.

She looked startled. “Who says someone hurt me?”

“Listen,” he sighed, “just because you met one bad person, it doesn’t mean everyone without powers is evil. My dad has no powers, but my mom and I do, and he loves us just as much as any other husband and father would.”

“And what about the children born of regular parents?” She snapped. “Not everyone is understanding.”

“Maybe not, but like I said, not everyone is as fearful as you claim they are. Some are accepting. If we don’t give them a reason to fight, they won’t. If we live our lives, most people won’t even know about us—”

“Why should we have to stay hidden?!” She dropped the plate to the ground, stepping towards me. “Just because they might fear our power, why should we have to hide? We didn’t choose to be this way! We didn’t choose these gifts! So why should we be punished for them?!”

“And why should those without gifts be punished?”

She stopped abruptly, her golden eyes wide. “I—”

“May.” They both turned towards the door of the cell when a man spoke. That lighting bastard—her twin brother—stood in the doorway, his arms crossed and his eyes hard.

“Jay,” she said, straightening, “why are you—”

“Master Etherios requests our presence in the council room. Chain up the prisoner and come. Now.”

She nodded, quickly doing as he said. Before leaving, she met Gajeel’s eyes, conflict obvious on her face. At another command from her brother, she rushed out, leaving him alone once again.

Sighing, he leaned his head against the wall. Maybe I can convince her to help Lily and the others when they get here. She was strong, and he could tell she didn’t really want to fight, it was more because she felt she had been wronged. However, before she’d left, she looked like she might have agreed with what he said.

“I might have a chance out of here, yet,” he said, hoping he’s read her expression correctly.

{Super harchlings!not much of a note from me.

As always don't ask for updates Yada yada.

Both of our computers have messed up so we will update as soon as we can {