"You're a PRINCE?!!" Slick half-shrieked, staring at Gael in complete shock.

      Gael grinned, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Yeah. But I don't have any claim to the throne, since I'm not firstborn and all that. So it's really not important."

     Gajeel stood up abruptly, his hands curled into fists so tight his knuckles turned white, "You're... serious? You're the prince of Carpagia?"

     "Yeah, what's the big deal?" Gael shrugged his shoulders carelessly, "My brother hates me for some reason, so I got kicked out of the castle a long time ago. It's unimportant."

     "When did your brother turn on you?" Levy seemed unsurprised by this, "Before or after Julio came along?"

     "A few days after Julio became the king's advisor," Gael replied, "Weird though, when he kicked me out, he was acting... strange. Almost like a blank slate. It was weird, come to think of it."

     "Puppeteer magic," Levy breathed, "I knew it-" she broke off with a gasp as Gajeel overturned the table, his red eyes b!azing as he pointed a finger accusingly at his father's face.

     "You knew you were the prince of Carpagia and you didn't tell me?!"

     Gael didn't flinch at Gajeel's anger as he said calmly, "I didn't think it was important to anyone. It's not anything worth caring about."

     "Yeah? Then why'd you put the picture frame face down so we couldn't see it?" Gajeel snarled, saying fiercely, "I don't give a damn whether or not you're the king of this city, this country, or the whole blasted continent! The only part I care about is that you went out of your way to hide it from me. Mom did that, and now you! Why can't any of you just look me in the eye and say 'This isn't really important or whatever, but I'm really a prince' ? That woulda been good to know!"

     "You're upset because we didn't tell you every little thing about our lives, and you feel left out...?" Gael raised an eyebrow.

     Gajeel's eyes narrowed, "Yeah, I feel left out. I'm about to turn nineteen. I knew my mother for six years. I knew my father for a day." Levy clamped her hands over her ears as Gajeel shouted, "And I find out they were both hiding something from me! I have every right to be mad!"

     Gael opened his mouth to say something, but Gajeel stormed out the door, seething.

       "Gajeel!" Levy shouted after him, then glanced back at Gael, "It's not your fault, Gael. Your his only parent and he thinks he can't trust you.... I'll see if I can calm him down." She morphed into her succubi form and flew off.

     Levy found Gajeel sitting on a tree stump, staring out at a small creek. His elbows rested on his knees, and his chin rested in his hand as he stared out at the water.

     She landed beside him, morphing into a human again and sitting in the grass beside him. She hugged her knees to her chest, watching the water sparkle in the starlight.

     "Levy..." Gajeel muttered after a long moment of silence between them as they listened to the crickets chirp and the gurgle of the stream, "Why... does everything gotta be a puzzle? Why can't we ever get the whole truth? Not from Mom, not from Dad... not even from that crazy old witch and her cat."

    Levy sighed as a cool wind blew over them, glancing up at the sky's bright array of twinkling orbs, "If everything was the truth, this world would be pretty dull, don't you think?"

     Gajeel didn't answer, just let out a deep sigh. He too looked up at the stars hidden behind thin wisps of cloud.

     "Everything works to a conclusion," Levy said quietly, "Every story, every path. Sometimes it takes a little bit of struggle to find it, but there's always a result in everything. It's our job to make sure the result is good, right? Not everyone is truthful, but sometimes a truth can be dangerous. People will tell in their own time." she glanced over at Gajeel, "Right know we have to decide what the conclusion will be. So are you going to sulk or do something about it?"

     They were quiet again for a long moment, then Gajeel growled, "It ain't that simple." he was refusing to look at her, keeping his gaze on the rippling water in front of them, "It ain't a go or stay question."

     "It it, it really is. You can stay mad at your father and sulk, or you can go and use this new information to help achieve your goals. Truth be told, you're the heir to the Carpagian throne. Julio is using puppeteer magic to mess with the minds of rulers throughout the continent, to cause the extinction of magical creatures. And with our abilities, we fall under that category. So either we complain about our lives' problems, or go do something about it and find our conclusion to this battle. So what're we going to do, Gajeel?"

       "There's nothin' we can do, shrimp," Gajeel muttered after a moment, "We're just kids. Two seriously messed up kids."

     Levy slowly shook her head, smiling slightly, "All kids are kids. That doesn't make us all the same, right? Zaubera was right. It's our cores that make us significant. Gajeel, I know you have an amazing heart deep down. You're determined, loyal, courageous, strong, sweet, and a just flat out amazing guy. Nothing's impossible, and this isn't an exception. It's a challenge. We need to stop Julio. Once we beat him, all signs of his magic will wear off the leaders, freeing them. They'll fix everything from there."

     Gajeel gave her a long look, "This ain't our problem. Why're we doin' this? Let someone else handle it."

    "No one else knows about it," Levy sighed.

     He shifted down from the tree stump to sit beside her in the grass, "So... what d'you think I should do about Gael?" his voice was uncertain, but she gave him a reassuring smile, giving his hand a squeeze.

     "Just hear him out. Push past what he didn't tell you and listen to what he does."

     Gajeel gave a small nod and an even smaller smile, "Here I was, considerin' myself to be unlucky. Yet I've had an amazing streak of luck."

     "What's that?" Levy asked curiously.

     Gajeel gave her a slightly lopsided grin, "I have you as a succubi."

     Levy smiled warmly at him, and silence fell again as a breeze ruffled their hair. After a long moment of just silence, she got to her feet, smiling at Gajeel. "I know it's hard right now... you just need to have the strength to pull through." she ruffled his hair, pausing only to cup her hands around his cheeks as she gave him a kiss on the forehead before heading back to the house.

     Gajeel felt his cheeks flush, but he didn't move, continuing to keep his gaze on the water. He couldn't keep a tiny smile from lingering on his face.

      Then he heard Levy scream.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Sorry about the long wait, peoples!! I've had a lot of stuff going on recently, so I apologize if updates slow a little. But I'm nearing the climax here! Once I'm done with this book, I'll probably start a new one, also about Gale. I only have fifteen million ideas for these books!!! Anyway, thanks for reading, voting, and just being awesome!   —gajevyx99 out