Levy Pov.

I ran down to the kitchen, to check up on the cookies. The room was a dull grey, and it was a bit of a mess. Flour all over the table, and pots and pans out of place.

"Hello?" I called out, looking around.

"Oh, yes?" A man with long black hair and slanted sly eyes came out from behind a door. He was tall and confident in his stance, not a plump slouching man. Which meant he wasn't the chef. But, he did have a strange sort of charm to him.

"Where's the chef?" I asked, just getting straight to the point. I didn't have time to discuss anything much. I would be scolded by my parents if I didn't make this visit quick.

"Well, you see this huge mess? He's cleaning it up. Because you know, we don't have servants to do our work." Wait... Did he actually just say that? Quite a risk to utter such words in front of someone like me. The daughter of the ones who hired him. But that nerve, is what truly intrigued me. No one talked to me like that before. They all were just acting polite whenever I was around. Honesty, felt so good to hear.

"You're right. You don't. I'm sorry about that. I know I shouldn't do this but let me help." I said grabbing a rag.

"I can't let you do that. The Mcgardens would not be pleased if I let a guest clean up after our mess. Although I do appreciate your offer." He said, snatching the rag from me.

"Excuse me?" I asked

"I said I appreciate your-"

"No, the other thing. You called me a guest." I gazed upon him. Did he really not know who I was? I never saw him around the manor, but still.

"Yes, I presume you are apart of the Fullbusters, no?" He tilted his head.

"No. I'm not apart of them. Yet." I hinted. His eyes widened.

"Don't tell me you're-"

"I'm miss Levy Mcgarden."

Gajeel Pov.

Crap, how could I be so idiotic? She's the daughter of those millionaires! She has the power to expel me from this manor! And... She's helping me clean up? She started washing the pots.

"Listen, ugh, you really don't have to do that." I informed her. She shrugged her tiny shoulders... She was so small. No offence to her size. But she's short.

"Well I need the cookies to be made, so this will help move things along." She said. She seems so different from anyone else I've served. This is bizarre. Well I'm not going to turn down someone cleaning up after my mess. I also grabbed a rag and cleaned up. It was gone before not to long.

"Now, let's start to bake the cookies!" She smiled.

"You have your chef to do that, I suggest you get back up to your fiancée." I teased. She frowned at me. What? Oh come on that upset her? After all that happened? That's what ticks her off?

"I suppose I can't just hide here for all that time. Huh?" Wait what? Why would anyone want to hide here? What is up with her?

"Well you could, I just don't see any reason to desire to do so." I said, leaning on the countertop.

"You know what I despise? Force." Her words suddenly seemed sharper. With more of an edge.

"Force?"

"The force, the power, like an upper hand. It uses all these little things against you, making you do what they want. But it's not your own desire. You know what I mean, right?" She asked of me. Her hands beginning to tremble.

"I know exactly what you mean, I hate it to. Making you do their dirty work. It's unpleasant." I didn't have much time to realize I was on the start of a rant.

"Yeah, we all have that thing, that force that has the power over you. For me," she clenched her fists tightly, "it's my parents." her words do take me by surprise at first. She has this luxurious lifestyle all thanks to her parents, and they have all the means to take care of her. Hell, they could hire someone to take care of her for them... But they aren't warm people. They're cruel, and emotionless. I guess growing up with that would make for a tough upbringing.

"I could say the same. That force for me, is your parents as well. But the thing that will constantly hang over me is poverty." I sighed. Levy starred at me, she appeared to be thinking.

"If life is that unfair... For both of us." She began to look up from the floor boards. "Then maybe it's not worth the pain." I quickly placed a hand over her mouth.

"Listen. It may be tough and harsh, not forgiving in the least. It tears you down to shreds. But what it means to be living, is something more. It means you find your path and follow it. That's a gift. So don't just through it away like trash." I wouldn't let anyone be so, desperate to leave themselves behind. That, I can not stand for. Her face was completely bewildered. Probably not expecting me to be so optimistic about this sort of thing.

"I-I, but what if you don't have a path? so people had to make one for you?" She asked me.

"Don't follow it, only follow the path you create. That way you know it's yours." I said dryly.

"What if I can't find it?"

"You will. As long as you still have the courage to strive for it."

"If I'm honestly speaking, which I like to do, talking to you has been more interesting than any other conversation I've had." She told me. I grinned.

"I'm a pretty interesting person."

"As I can see. I come down here for cookies, and instead get a life lesson." She laughed.

Levy Pov.

I started to make my way upstairs, back to the chamber of misery. But today wasn't completely a waste like most. That man... I hope I can speak with him some time again.