{Kon'nichiwa my awesome and amazing GaLe shippers!! I really hope you enjoy this chapter, and please vote and comment below to show the love!}

(And also, over 300 reads already?!?! Seriously, you guys are awesome! Thank you all so much!!)

(Shout outs go to....well, I think you guys know who you are :3. Everyone should know who all of you lovelies are by now!)

Now, onto Chapter 8!!!!!

-Levy-

When they arrived in the village of Tenrou, they noticed immediately at how strange this little village really was.

Almost every building around was incredibly run-down, the windows shattered and the yards overgrown with weeds and such. One would think that the village would house no residents, and yet the trio saw many walking down the streets, though no one smiled or chatted amongst one another.

"I don't like this place at all," Gajeel mumbled, having already transformed into his human form.

"Is it because of the village's appearance or the fact that you despise us humans?" Levy wondered, trying not to draw too much attention to them.

Gajeel simply snorted. "Both."

She then proceeded to slap the dragon hybrid on his shoulder. "Idiot!"

Some of the residents glanced over at them, causing Levy to blush and keep her mouth shut.

"I know this place looks strange, but we do need answers about Shadow Gear," Lily mentioned, climbing up Levy to snuggle in her arms.

The little bookworm smiled slightly down at the black and white cat, rubbing his ears. It caused Lily to smile brightly and purr.

"Lily's right Shrimp. Let's just find someone and ask 'em about the thieves." Gajeel grabbed onto Levy's arm, dragging her along with him towards a random villager.

But what the cat and dragon didn't know about was the fact that Levy already knew where the Shadow Gear's clan was located at. It was her that created the thievery in the first place. She knew that asking around for directions would be a waste of time.

It was her fault for the condition of the village. Three years ago, at the young age of fourteen, Levy had planned an attack, her first attack. Of course, she would never show her face during these attacks. She merely planned them and instructed her minions to perform the task for her. They were all a bunch of idiots anyways, allowing their faces to be known throughout the entirety of the kingdom. She knew better, but she also never corrected her little workers.

But her first attack was on this little village, and it was a huge success. Her minions managed to collect every jewel, every valuable item. All that was left, was a village of damaged beings, both physically and emotionally. It was all her fault, and yet she cared nothing of it at the time.

"Darnit! I told ya to tell me where Shadow Gear is! Why won't ya tell me?!" Gajeel's demanding voice rang out all throughout the village.

Levy, snapping out of her thoughts, sighed at his stupidity and walked over towards the hybrid and the frightened man.

"Gajeel! He obviously knows nothing. Let's just hurry through the village and figure it out on our own," she offered, dragging the still ranting dragon away from the man, who had most likely wet his pants at the menacing looking Gajeel.

"Then why did Gramps tell us about this place?!" Gajeel asked, obviously not calming down.

He has a good point. Why did Makarov send us here? They know nothing about Shadow Gear. The only connection that they have towards my old clan is the mere fact that they were the very first victims of Shadow Gear. Wait a minute....

"Shrimp! Stop daydreaming and come on! Didn't you say you wanna leave and find it on our own?" he snapped at the short woman.

"Don't call me that! And sorry, I was just thinking about something that might help us!" she defended herself.

He scowled at her. "Tch, whatever. Let's just go."

Holding Lily closely to her, Levy followed Gajeel through the town. It broke her heart seeing this village again, still so devastated after the thieving. She would have thought that the village would once again be well and thriving, but she assumed wrong.

"What were you thinking about?" Lily asked as he sat up in the blunette's arms.

She smiled down at him. "I just...remember reading something about this village. It has a connection to Shadow Gear, and I think I may know where the clan is located."

"Why didn't you say something sooner, Shrimp?! Hurry up and tell me! I wanna kick some butt and get my money sooner than later, ya know," he growled at her.

Levy pouted at Gajeel, though she didn't really pay attention. And yet something...rather odd happened. She noticed that Gajeel's scowl immediately went away once his eyes looked upon her pout. He even appeared guilty, which confused the bookworm even more.

"Gajee--"

"Look Shrimp. I didn't mean to make ya all sad an' stuff. I'm sorry, okay?"

With a small gasp, Levy snapped her head upwards to stare at Gajeel. She couldn't believe her ears when she heard his statement.

"What did you say?" she asked.

He snapped at her. "You know darn well what I just said, and I ain't gonna repeat it!!"

But instead of feeling sad like before, the little bookworm smiled at the hybrid, giggling.

"Thank you, Gajeel." she said to him softly, a small smile on her face.

"Tch. Yea, whatever. Can we just go kick some butt already?" he grumbled out, his cheeks slightly tinted pink.

Pretending that she didn't notice his blush(or her own for that matter), Levy McGarden began to walk away from the village. "Come on, Dragon Boy! If I remember correctly, I remember the story mentioning that the clan is this way!"

"Don't call me that, and I'm comin'!"

Catching up to the small blunette, the trio traveled onwards towards a mountainous region. Small clusters of trees appeared every now and then, but for the most part, this area was pretty much barren. It consisted of hilly fields and flower-covered meadows, which then formed into the mountain range.

This area brought back so many unwanted memories to Levy. She remembered when she was thirteen, a runaway from her own village. It was here that she made her first home, and she wondered if the small little shack was still around. Though with the hurricanes that last year's summer brought, she highly doubted it.

She was even more frightened than ever before now. She wasn't dumb, as she knew what the result of this quest would be. Gajeel and Lily were going to find out about her past, and it made her feel...so depressed. Despite only knowing the dragon for nearly two days, she already had become use to his rude ways. He kidnapped her, and yet she doesn't seem to mind anymore.

But why?

What will happened when Gajeel and Lily find out that Levy was once apart of the Shadow Gear clan? What will happen when they discover that she herself created this clan?

The last thing that she wanted was for them to hate her. True, she already believed that Gajeel hated her guts, but Lily was such a cutie. She already considered him a friend, but would that sweet little cat hate her too?

"Shrimp!! Look out!!"

"Wha?--"

But it was already too late. A duo of cloaked figures had already grabbed Levy, pulling her away towards an odd looking cave. With her hands bound behind her, she ended up dropping Lily onto the ground.

Gajeel leaped forward, ready to kill the two mysterious men. However, it proved to be a fail, as one of the men tossed a smoke bomb on the ground. It exploded, causing Gajeel to temporarily go blind.

Throughout the ciaos, the duo of mysterious figures successfully managed to steal Levy away.

~~~~~~

Levy awoken to discover that she was tied up to a chair, her feet chained together. Despite struggling with all her might, the small woman failed to loosen the rope, even by just a little.

Glancing around, she decided to take in her surroundings. Immediately, she recognized this place as her old office. She was at Shadow Gear Headquarters, a place she promised herself to never go back to, no matter how hard her life became.

The office itself brought back such terrible memories, memories that reminded her of all the innocent people, the men, women, and children, that all died under her very command.

"Let me go! Let me go right now!" she demanded, struggling against the chains and ropes once more.

"Hmm...I don't think we should. Should we?" a male voice called out from within the shadows.

"Haha! Of course not! She needs to remember that she belongs here, with us! And not those worthless targets.." another male voice spoke out from the same spot.

Instantly, Levy knew who those voices belonged to. She never wanted to see those idiots again, but it seems that now she had no choice.

"Jet? Droy? Is that you?"

As if on que, two men appeared from within the shadows. One of the men, Jet, was of average height and fit, with orange hair and black eyes. His lean build suggested that he was a fast runner. The other man, Droy, was quite the opposite. Though he was tall, he was also very much overweight, with black hair that pointed up in a very odd hairstyle, eyes that were black as well.

"Hello, Levy. Nice to see you again," Jet purred out, his attraction towards the girl still very much obvious.

She had known that both men were in love with her, and seem to still be. But she didn't love them back, turning each down in a heartbeat. It didn't stop them from attempting to impress her, however, as they always volunteered for the most challenging of jobs. Eventually, Levy appointed the duo as her right-hand men, but she made sure that they knew she did it for their skills and not for any romantic reasons.

"What do you want with me?" Levy asked them bluntly, getting straight to the point.

"Isn't it obvious? We want you to become our leader again!" Droy barked out, his eyes glaring at hers.

"My apologies boys, but I'm not who I use to be. My leadership to this clan is now in the past, and it will never return into the present," she said as calmly as she could.

Smirking, Jet slowly walked up to her. Levy assumed that he was only going to try and intimidate her, but that thought was quickly erased when she felt a horrible pain in her thigh, causing her to cry out in agony.

"You will join us again now!!" Jet yelled at her, digging the dagger further in her thigh.

"N'never!! I'll never join this c'cl'clan again!!" she bit out, despite the horrible pain coursing through her body.

The dagger when completely through her thigh, stabbing through the wooden chair as well.

"AAHHG!!"

The orange headed man leaned closer to Levy, his smirk never fading away. "Either you join Shadow Gear again and become our leader, or we will slowly torture you until every last drop of your blood is dripped onto this floor."

Levy choked back a sob, refusing to say anything.

After a few minutes, Jet sighed. "You could have made this easy for all of us Levy, but oh well." He glanced over at Droy, "Bring the...supplies that we will need."

The little bookworm began to cry softly.

Gajeel...please find me! I don't care if you're an idiot! I need you!