Trapped in The Labyrinth

Chapter 9: If You Can't Get Through It, Destroy It!

P.S. The name of this chapter has nothing to do with destroying... I just thought it'd be a nice name for it. Sorry if you were mislead.

Disclaimer: If only I owned Fairy Tail... *screams "Why can't I own Fairy Tail!" at the sky*

Chapter Nine:

If You Can't Get Through, Destroy It!

-Levy and Happy-

Levy had once again shut herself off from the rest of the world. He wasn't there when they reached the destroyed cavern, and Levy had the littlest of little hopes that he had dug himself out. I mean, he's Gajeel for Pete's sake! He wouldn't let little rocks kill him. So they had searched the surrounding areas, looking for any trace that showed he was still alive. That's when she found it. She had screamed her head off when she saw the mauled body lying on the ground in front of her. At first, she thought it was just a minion of Archimedes, but what she found next confirmed her suspicions. She saw the mane of black hair, and Levy's mind went into overdrive.

It can't be him! It can't be him! It can't be him! Levy thought. It was the only thing on her mind. When she checked the left shoulder of the person, she completely lost it.

Because there, on their left shoulder was the black Fairy Tail guild mark that only one person had.

Levy began to scream for the second time that day, and she didn't stop; she didn't stop when her throat hurt; she didn't stop when her eyes stung; she didn't stop when Happy tried to calm her down; she didn't stop when she felt light-headed and her ears hurt from her high pitched scream. She stopped only when she couldn't scream anymore.

Then the tears came; the never ending flow of tears. She cried until her eyes were blood red and her body was completely empty of water. After the sadness the anger came. She was angry at herself for being weak. If was stronger, then she could have saved him. She began to bang her head against the cavern walls, thinking of it as punishment for letting Gajeel die. She almost gave herself a concussion; if Happy hadn't been there, she would've passed out in the middle of the path. She didn't fight Happy when he snatched her away from the wall and started to carry her. He didn't care if he was about to pass out; as long as he could keep Levy safe, he would continue on.

After Levy's emotional breakdown, she holed herself up in the darkest corners of her mind, keeping herself sane with memories of Gajeel and the times they had together.

Meanwhile, our little blue cat was deep in thought. That couldn't have been Gajeel... Happy thought. I saw him save Lucy when she jumped out of the Sky Prison. So who - or what - was that thing impersonating him?

-Erza, Jellal, Juvia, Gray, Wendy, Romeo, Carla, Lucy, Natsu, and Gajeel (Okay, everyone's almost together...)-

Natsu immediately lit up the entire cavern, using his body as a candle. Romeo also helped, using what little fire magic he could.

"Is everyone okay?" Gray called out. He looked around and saw enough faces, so he assumed that everyone was there.

"Where's Erza?" Jellal said. Everyone turned to where the re-quip mage had been standing moments ago. The cavern regained its lighting again, and Archimedes looked smugly at the Fairy Tail mages.

"Looks like I grabbed the wrong girl..." he said with a sly smirk on his face. Jellal marched to the front of the little group, anger clear on his face. No one tried to stop him, because they knew what lengths he'd go to just to get the girl of his dreams back.

"Give Erza back. Now." Jellal growled in a low and menacing tone.

"Sorry, no can do. Until I have Lucinda safely in my arms, Emily's descendant shall stay with me," Archimedes chided. Seconds later he was sprawled on the floor with a bloody nose.

"I said," Jellal snarled at the frightened man, "Give Erza back!" He used his magic to throw him against the wall. Archimedes used this as an advantage to escape.

He melted into the wall and said, "When you are ready to give me Lucinda, all you have to do is call my name and I'll appear. Then you can have your Erza back." He disappeared in a matter of seconds.

Jellal looked at Natsu, then Lucy. "No." was the only thing that came out of Natsu's mouth. He had just gotten her back, and wasn't about to let him have her again!

"Natsu..." Jellal pleaded, but was cut off by the Dragonslayer's fierce tone.

"I'm not going to let you take Lucy away!" Natsu stepped in front of her, ready to fight if necessary.

"Wait, Natsu, I have a plan!" Lucy said, breaking through the intense tension between Natsu and Jellal. They both looked at her, as did the rest of the group.

"Let's hear it then," Jellal said, eager to hear any ideas to save his beloved.

"This is what we'll do..." Lucy started as she explained the plan to them.

~Five Minutes Later~

"I'm sorry Natsu, but I have to do this," Jellal said as he cast a sleeping spell on Lucy and picked her up. "Archimedes! Come out here you son of a bitch!"

"NO!" Natsu bellowed as he lunged for Jellal, but it was too late. Archimedes had already grabbed the sleeping Lucy from Jellal's arms and walked back into the wall. Seconds later, Erza was thrown through the wall and into Jellal's arms.

"YOU BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" Erza yelled at Jellal. He squirmed in fear of the red headed mage.

"Nice performance guys!" Lucy said as she stepped out of the shadows. Natsu went to her side immediately.

"Huh? Lucy? But I thought... What's going on?" Erza said, completely confused for once in her life. Everyone began to laugh at the confused Erza, but Jellal explained it before she could get violent.

"Erza, that wasn't Lucy," Jellal explained. "It was just one of Lucy's spirits. Gemini, I believe."

"Yup, that's the one," Lucy said, done giggling at her friend. "I had Gemi and Mini copy me again so they could transform into me. We gave Archimedes the fake one so we could get you back. It was my plan."

"I thank you for that, Lucy," Erza said, sniffling a little.

"You're welcome, Erza," Lucy said. The keys on her ring began to glow, and she took this as a sign that Gemini returned to the Spirit World. "Gemini said Archimedes looked pretty pissed when he found out it wasn't me and we should start moving now because he's on his way here."

The cavern began to shake violently, and the group took this as a sign that Archimedes was near. They began to run down the corridor, hoping that they could evade him.