A/N: Hi everyone! This is my first time writing something horror related so your reviews about this first chapter will really help. With that, enjoy this chilling story of a brand new adventure for Fairy tail.

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Chapter 1: Slit-Mouth Woman

The room was unusually dark. As the person entered the dark space, he could only see the heaps of parchment papers and countless books littered all over the place, illuminated by the light from a hundred candles placed arranged in a circle in the middle of the room.

At one end of the room, a group of twenty people wearing a white expressionless mask were huddled together muttering something to each other. In the other end of the room stood a tall individual wearing a black tuxedo, polished shoes and pristine white gloves, his face however was hidden behind a white smiling mask, different from the ones the rest were wearing.

As the person entered the room breathing nervously, the people immediately noticed his presence and looked at the newcomer.

Nothing moved.

Nothing breathed.

There was absolute silence.

"Why, it appears we have a new guest." The tall individual broke the eerie silence and proceed to welcome him. "There is always room for weary souls such as yourself to listen to my tales. I am extremely grateful for your presence here tonight my friend. My name is Edgar Thornwell, but you may call me Edgar."

As the man known as Edgar finished his introduction, he fluidly ushered the man to have a seat with the rest of the audience. "Come now, no need to be shy my friend, the storytelling is just about to begin."

As the last of his audience settled down. Edgar picked up one of the hundred candles and began to speak. "Good evening everyone, and welcome. My name is Edgar Thornwell and I'll be your host for the night. I am but a humble travelling, a writer and I love to tell a tale or two to people such as yourselves."

As Edgar took a deep bow, not one person dared to utter a word or even clapped. They merely observed the movements of this man continued to stare at the smiling mask which hid his face. As Edgar returned to his normal posture, the candle light he held underneath his face seemed to make the smiling mask even the more creepier. "Let us begin then, shall we?"

Edgar then dug a hand into the inner of his coat before producing a nondescript hard cover book. He began to flip through the pages before stopping at a certain part.

"…this will do. Come around the candles my friends, and let me tell you a story…This is a famous tale when I was travelling in the eastern continent…"

This is the story of a woman who lived in the time of X700 in a small town known as Mushashi in the far eastern continent, a beautiful woman named Kuchisake was being married to a man who was her childhood sweetheart, and everyone was jealous of their happy marriage.

However, their happiness was short-lived. Her husband had suspected her of being unfaithful - and he was right. Kuchisake had indeed fallen for another man, though she was deeply ashamed for her own actions and attempted to end it.

On a fateful day, Kuchisake was finally caught in the act when her husband found her together with the other man, even though she was just trying to end the relationship. Flying into a jealous rage, her husband knocked Kuchisake unconscious and tied her up. When she woke, he threatened to kill her if she left him, and used a large pair of scissors to slice her face into a permanent smile.

"Who will think you're pretty now?" he asked before slicing her head from her body. But when he was done, regret set in, and he stabbed himself to death.

In the coming years, the villagers claimed to see the spirit of Kuchisake as a woman with flowing black hair, with her mouth covered by a mask to hid the grotesque scars her entrenched husband had inflicted on her. No longer was she Kuchisake the beauty, but the Slit-Mouth Woman the vengeful spirit.

When a person was foolish enough to be enthralled by her beauty, she would approach the person and ask him or her if they though she was beautiful. If the person said no, the woman would take out a large pair of scissors from underneath her coat and immediately kill the child. If the child said YES, the woman would remove the covering from her mouth, revealing an horrific gash.

A few people in the audience began to fidget restlessly.

She would then repeat the question, "Am I pretty/beautiful?" If the person said no, he would be cut in half with the large pair of scissors. However, if the child said YES, well…...

Everyone around the storyteller gave a shiver. A few of them even gave a whimper as they began to guess what was going to happen to the unfortunate man.

He would live…with scars completely identical to the Slit-Mouth Woman, personally inflicted using the scissors to slash his mouth wide open.

…

"T-there's no way that story could be true right…haha…" One audience member began to laughtnervously.

Edgar only paused for a while, letting the story sink in before smiling at the man. "Who knows?"

After finishing the first story, Edgar tore out two pages from the hard cover book and burned them to ashes using the candle. With that, Edgar blew out the candle he was holding and extinguished its light. He observed as the tendrils of smoke seeped through the ceiling and into the outside. Unbeknownst to them, the smoke began to snake its way to Hargeon Town while glowing an eerie green.

Edgar let out a small smile behind his mask as he muttered, "And so it begins."

...

...

XXX

Hargeon Town Port:

Dennis was a sailor working in the ports of Hargeon Town. He was just finishing the final shift for the night before heading back home.

"This is this for today then." Dennis bid his superior goodbye before making his way back.

As he was walking down the deserted street, he suddenly caught sight of a lady wearing a beige coat which reached down to her knees. Dennis was behind her so he could not see her face, but her flowing black hair like liquid ink flew beautifully in the wind. Dennis could not explain the feeling he had looking at such a beauty from behind, and unknowingly let out a sentence.

"Beautiful…"

The woman wearing the coat stopped in her tracks, apparently having heard the man's voice and whipped her head around. Dennis, was for a moment, in a panic. It was really rude of him to say something like that suddenly, and second, he was afraid that it was just an old lady who just looked young from behind.

However, his worries disappeared as he marvelled at the woman's features. Her blue eyes were partially hidden by the black hair as they gazed curiously into dennis'. Her nose and mouth were covered by a face mask for some reason but Dennis could tell that she was definitely an attractive lady.

"Excuse me?" The lady asked in a soft voice.

"Ah, no…I just-uhmm." Dennis struggled to find the right words. "I'm really sorry since we just met…but I just find you very beautiful!"

There was a pause, before the woman put her right hair over her mouth and gave a cute laugh at the sudden confession. Dennis was confused by the unexpected reaction but the cute laugh of the lady shot an arrow through the sailor's heart.

"This must be my lucky day!" Dennis thought as the lady recomposed herself. "To think such a girl exists! And I though Mirajane from Fairy Tail is beautiful…"

"Thank you." The lady said. "Not many people actually say that to me. I know this is sudden, but could you follow me? I need your help with something."

"Sure! No problem!" Dennis would not care less of what she needs his help for. He could only continue to stare at the woman while following her. Occasionally, she would look back and smile, causing the sailor to love the mysterious girl even more as time passes by.

Soon, the both of them arrived at a dark alleyway near one of the residential houses of Hargeon Town. To be honest, Dennis never really liked this part of town. He loved the day when Hargeon Town was bustling with noise and people, but never in the night where the darkest of alleys creeps him out. He was also bothered by the fact that he and the lady was covered in darkness, save for a single lamppost flickering near them. He really wanted to ask why the girl would need his help in a place like this, but he was determined to show no weakness, especially to a cute girl like her.

"So…what kind of help do you need?" Dennis inquired as the girl turned around to face him.

"Do you really think I am beautiful?" The girl suddenly asked an odd and unexpected question.

"Huh?" Dennis thought. "What kind of question is that? Is she just a little insecure?"

Not planning to think so much, Dennis replied. "What are you talking about? You are the most beautiful girl I have ever met in my whole life."

"I see…" The girl began to fiddle around with the straps on the face mask.

"How about now?"

The girl suddenly ripped off her face mask, causing the male sailor to scream and fall down at what he was witnessing right now. The girl's mouth was ripped at the sides to show that her mouth was slit from ear to ear, looking as though it was an forced creepy smile. That was not even the worse part, the flesh around the sliced mouth was decaying and rotting, revealing yellow jagged teeth.

"GAGGGGGGGGGHHHH!"

"What's wrong? Am I pretty?" The girl tilted her head and asked.

"Ah-ahhahh..STAY AWAY!" Dennis cried out and began to run in the opposite direction in an attempt to get out of the dark alley.

However, Dennis noticed a flash of movement and found himself staring right at the disfigured girl, who is now brandishing a large pair of scissors caked with blood and what looks like pieces of flesh at the edges. She gave him another smile, not this time with the disgusting mouth wound fully revealed and eyes with a mad light in them.

"B-BUREGHHEEEEE!" Dennis could not take it any more and began vomiting out his dinner.

"That's really rude of you…" The girl pouted. "I just want your answer…AM I BEAUTIFUL NOW?"

"Y-Yes…yes! You're beautiful! You're beautiful! I swear!" Dennis answered a bit too quickly. He figured if he could make the girl happy, he could be released, or have a chance of escaping.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…yes please…I swear!" Dennis replied weakly.

"I see…" For a moment Dennis though he could be freed from this nightmare, but the girl suddenly kick him down to the floor and positioned the giant pair of scissors to his face.

"What are you doing!?" Dennis screamed. "I said you're beautiful didn't I!? Let me go please!"

"Since you were kind enough to call be pretty…" The girl gave a maniacal laugh. "I want to make you as pretty as me. OPEN WIDE!"

"GARGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" The sailor gave a strangled cry as the blade began to tear into the right side of his mouth.

…

…

XXX

Makarov Dreyar, the Guild Master of Fairy Tail, sat in his desk chair with his arms crossed while a pile of papers lay before him in an organized pile. He continued to watch the sky through the window in his office as he gave a huge sigh.

"Peace and quiet." Makarov said to no one in particular.

"You really got to appreciate the moments when those brats are not making any trouble." Makarov said as he turned back to the task set before him; noticing a blue envelope that was delivered to him earlier this morning. The delivery man apparently said that it was urgent and the sender requested the contents to be viewed ASAP.

Makarov sighed. "Let's see…" He sliced opened the enveloped and proceeded to read its contents. Makarov's eyes slowly widen with horror at what was written.

"Are you serious? How horrible…!" He gasped as he realised why it was an urgent mission. He quickly scrambled out of his office to brief everyone on the situation.

"Cana," Makarov called out over the mayhem being caused in the guild hall, "Cana could you come in here please."

A minute or two passed before the door finally opened to reveal a strikingly beautiful woman. Cana Alberona was a brown haired, brown eyed beauty of a girl. Despite being eighteen, Cana had a body that left most women green with envy along with the talent of being able to outdrink some of the most hardcore competitive drinkers in the guild...and not suffer alcohol poisoning in the process.

How she managed to hear Makarov over the craziness of the guild eluded the man but he did not dwell on the matter. "Something you need sir?" Cana asked as she folded her hands behind her back.

"Yes, could you possibly calm everyone down out there, we have a job and I need to brief everyone on the details concerning it."

Cana raised an eyebrow. "What kind of job is it?"

"The urgent kind."

Cana frowned at Makarov's unusually serious response. "I'll get right on it, master."

Makarov gave Cana a smile of his own before he hopped out his seat and popped his back with a resounding "crunch" to relieve the knot that started to form his back. Makarov grunted as he rubbed his sore back.

"I'm really getting too old for this." He muttered as he and Cana left his office.

"You alright?" Cana asked with a concerned frown.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," as he shook his hand at Cana, "just the usual aches and pains associated with getting old...and putting up with a bunch of obnoxious brats." Makarov gave Cana a mischief filled grin.

Cana chuckled slightly. "Then you can retire now, master."

"Then who is going to settle the property damages?"

"Good point."

The two entered the guild hall just in time to avoid getting nailed by a glass that was haphazardly thrown in their direction.

"So...who started it this time?" Makarov asked as he observed the chaos before him. A large mass of guild members were engaged in an all-out brawl while others were trying to avoid getting dragged in it by staying on the side lines.

"I think you know." Cana said as she cocked her head to the right to avoid someone's boot hitting her in the face.

"...Natsu and Gray?" Makarov asked as he ducked from being pelted with a plate.

"Natsu and Gray." Cana said knowingly. Whether it was one thing or another, the Fire and Ice mage always seemed to be causing trouble. The two let out tired sighs before Makarov hopped up on the bar counter and gave a loud voice that seemed to reach the ears of the guild members and cause them to pause. Even Happy the cat who was trying to escape the pandemonium hovered in mid-air without moving.

"QUIET DOWN YOU DAMN BRATS! WE GOT A JOB!" Makarov roared. His words instantly registered with the guild and everyone grabbed a seat where they could and directed their attention to Makarov. Clearing his throat, Makarov held up the job request form for all to see.

"Earlier this morning I received an Urgent Mission request from Hargeon Town. There are a series of murders happening in the area suspected to be done by one person. There have already been three casualties and eight traumatised residents in the hospital. Given the severity of this job, it has been designated an S-Class mission."

Makarov paused for a moment while the entire guild began to murmur amongst themselves.

"That sounds a bit vague master." Erza called out. "Is a mage responsible?"

"That is the problem…" Makarov sighed. "The council has been unable to identify who or what the perpetrator is. The victims themselves are too traumatised to tell us anything. All we know is that these incidents occurred at night in deserted areas. The killer is suspected to be extremely elusive and a master of stealth."

"And what of those surviving victims?" Lucy Heartfilla asked. "What happened to them?"

Makarov's eyes hardened before answering "They lived, but their mouths were split open like a blade cut through them. The ones dead were found with their bodies bisected in half."

Most, if not all of the guild members gave out cries of shock and anger of the brutality of the murder. They have never heard of someone being able to kill in such a vicious way before and in such a huge number.

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Natsu Dragneel slammed his fist in his palm. "Let'g go and get this guy, Jii-chan!"

"Patience! Natsu!"

Makarov cleared his throat again as he dug into his coat then withdrawing a piece of paper. "I hold in my hand the names of people I assigned for this job. Now, given the fact that this is an S-Class job, a complication has arisen. We are short three of our S-Class mages, with only one in our presence." Everyone directed their attention to Erza. The redhead swordswoman leaned against a support beam with her arms crossed as she continued to eye Makarov.

"That being said, I have created the team based on some of our guild mates who are closely matched in strength to our S-Class members. I believe these people will be the most optimal to getting the job done."

Makarov looked at the list in his hands.

"The team for this job are as follows," Makarov paused to make sure he had everyone's attention, "Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, and Happy!"

"Master Makarov," Erza said tersely, "Why us?"

"For good reason." Makarov replied as he addressed the four.

"We are dealing with an extremely elusive killer here…Natsu will definitely be useful with his dragon senses. As for Gray, the council wishes for the killer to be captured alive so his ice magic is essential. Lucy has been in your team for the longest. And lastly, I have faith in your ability as a leader to see through this mission."

"Would it be safer to wait for Mira or Laxus to take this job? Couldn't you have at least waited until someone more qualified returned or-" Makarov raised his hand cutting Erza off. Makarov let out a deep sigh before giving Erza an understanding look.

"I understand what you're saying Erza but the fact of the matter is that we simply do not have the time to wait or delay this job any longer than it has to be. The longer we wait, the more time the rouge group has to cause more damage...people's lives are at stake here. The council has specifically asked for our help and I do not intend to let this killer go scot-free. I don't think the two of us could live with fact that we let innocent people get hurt while we procrastinated with this job."

"But Master-"

"Erza, you've worked together with the selected people before. You know what they're capable of. They can be unorthodox at times but they are just as capable as any other S-Class mage in the guild. So long as you are there to guide them, everything will turn out fine."

Makarov gently took Erza's hand into his own. "I have the utmost confidence in your abilities." Erza lowered her head slightly and avoided looking at Makarov for a moment before nodding with a confident smile. "You're right Master...I'm sorry to have doubted your judgment." Makarov smiled brightly. "That's the spirit. Now have everyone pack up and meet up at the train station, time is of the essence!"

"Got it Jii-chan!"

"Roger, master."

"Yes, master!"

"We won't let you down, master."

"Aye sir!"

…

…

XXX

Hargeon Town:

With the screeching of metal on metal and the hiss of steam, the train carrying the Fairy Tail Team came to a stop. No sooner, had the conductor opened the doors to the passenger car did Natsu Dragneel bolted towards the nearest trash can as a series of dry heaves erupted from his chest.

For crying *cough* out *blegh* loud." Natsu muttered as Lucy and Happy came over to him and patted him sympathetically on the back.

"You really need to have that cured." Lucy said as Nastu began continued to vomit.

"We never been here in ages..." Happy said as the blue exceed hovered off the ground. "Hargeon Town…this is where we first met lucy remember?"

"This is where it all began." Lucy gave a nostalgic smile has she took in the familiar scenery.

Natsu wiped what was left of the bile off his lips as the rest of his team disembarked from the train, their luggage in tow.

"Alright everyone, listen up." Erza said as the group formed up in a semi-circle around her as she pulled a map out of her back pack.

"We will be meeting the mayor and be briefed about the mission. The faster we catch the killer, the sooner the town will be at peace."

"Right!" The others said in unison as Erza set a brisk pace for the mayor's office.

XXX

The Crocus team sat in a small briefing room located within the mayor of Hargeon Town's office. The mayor was a short man in his fifties wearing a brown suit.

"Mages of Fairy Tail, I cannot thank you for enough for coming to our city on such short notice. We have tried to contain the situation as best as we could but we are running out of options. Even the council can't do anything in this case…"

"Think nothing of it Captain, we're just glad we can be of assistance." Said Erza.

"Yeah, once we kick these guys' asses into next week, you won't have to worry about them ever again." Natsu said confidently.

"Thank you all. Let us brief you on your mission." His tone was grim as he motioned for an image to be shown on the projector.

The image that appeared caused Lucy to gasp quietly and cover her mouth. The image showed a bloodied alley way with a man lying on the floor. What shocked the team was that the person's top half is separated from his lower half.

"The first casualty was reported four days ago, when a woman saw a man in this alleyway with his body split in half. The guards have done our best to apprehend the one responsible but have found ourselves outmatched at every turn. These murders all happened at night and we believed that the killer is in possession of a bladed tool."

"Wait a minute." Gray interrupted. "I understand that you have survivors as well. Are you really not able to ask how the killer looks like?"

The mayor nodded grimly as another image moved into place. Showing several patients in the hospital, their mouths ripped open in a permament smile, but their eyes are locked in terror. Some of them could be seen screaming, causing the Fairy Tail team to be horrified by what the killer is capable of.

"How terrible…" Erza whispered.

"These-are the survivors. One of them was a sailor called Dennis, and his succumbed to his injuries a day later. " The mayor answered with a sigh. "Forget interrogating them, we cannot even get them to calm down. They are in extremely stable levels of fear and terror, and continue to have nightmares. At this rate, they may even scare themselves to death."

"Is this part of the killer's magic?" Lucy turned to Erza and the mayor.

"I don't know. But I will tell you this, the killer only targets non-mages, and has ways to kill even with the guards patrolling the area. We suspect that the killer has some sort of stealth magic which allow him to bypass the guards unnoticed."

With those words, the projector was switched off. The Hargeon Town mayor sighed and look at each individual member of the group.

"I know you people didn't have to come here for this. Believe me, I don't want anything to happen to you...but we're simply out of options. You're the best of the best so I pray you'll be able to stop who or what is causing the situation."

"Given the severity of the situation, I give each and every one of you the authorization to use lethal force. If you have to kill these people to stop them, then so be it. If best, immobilize the killer so that he can be interrogated but I would ask you to avoid collateral damage but that would be asking too much. "

Erza raised her hand slightly.

"How will we be able to find this killer?"

"The killer targets people at night. But as the evidence shows, they will go for non-mages." The mayor took a deep breathe. "That is all for the briefing, you may start your search when you are ready. I wish you the best of luck."

And with those words the mayor left the mages to their own devices. Erza was the first to stand up.

"Alright everyone, here's the plan. We'll be baiting the killer tonight." Erza unfolded a map of Hargeon and placed it on a nearby table with the rest of the group forming a circle around it. Happy hovered near Natsu.

"Originally, I want to spent one day for our plan, but delaying would mean more people will be hurt. We will catch the killer tonight!"

"W-What tonight!?"

"Isn't that too soon Erza!?"

"How would we be even baiting him?"

"The killer only attacks at night, targets non-mages and always lures his victims to this this area." Erza explained as she pointed to a couple of alleyways.

"So this is the plan…"

…

XXX

"Why is it always me…?" Lucy silently cried as she stood in an alleyway.

"Lucy looks the weakest in our team." Happy commented while he hovered down from his hiding spot. "With this, the killer is sure to appear!"

"Who are you calling the weakest you damn cat!"

Evening was passing by quickly and the residents were finishing their daily work and closing shop. However, there was a hint of fear and uneasiness in their eyes as they too were informed of the recent murders, and were instructed by the guards to lock their doors before sundown.

"Who do you think we're going to run into?" Natsu asked casually as he looked down from the tree he called his hiding spot.

"In this city, it could be anyone. We don't even know how this guy looks like." Lucy answered back worriedly.

Natsu, having noticed Lucy's concern, jumped down and gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey, if anything happens, you know I'll be there for you right?" Natsu stated with a comforting smile.

Lucy returned the smile and gently placed her hand on Natsu's. "Yeah...I know." Natsu was about to reply when he suddenly heard Erza's voice. "Quick! To your positions, the sun is setting!"

Natsu and happy quickly jumped back to their tree hiding spot while Gray continued to hide in a trash bin in the alleyway. Erza was in her Flight Armour and continued to survey the area from the sky. She also brought out the item the mayor gave to her: a stealth Lacrima, an item capable of invisibility as long as the person does not move. She quickly activated it and vanished from the view of her team. With that, they were ready, a direct confrontation with the killer.

…

…

By now the sky has been dark as three hours and there was not a single soul in sight. There was only silence.

"Oi Erza!" Gray whispered furiously in the mini communications lacrima from his trash bin hiding spot. "No one's coming! Is it possible that the killer knows we're waiting for him?"

"Be patient." Erza replied. "I'm sure there's still time."

"Yeah Trash boy." Natsu laughed. "Have some patience."

"I don't want to hear that from a hard-headed idiot like you flame brain!"

"What was that!?"

"Wait guys! I hear something!" Lucy interrupted by whispering softly in her mini communication lacrima. "Be quiet!"

For a moment everyone was quiet as they strained their ears to hear anything.

"I don't hear anything!" Natsu whispered.

Suddenly out of the corner of the alleyway, a woman as tall as lucy stepped out and slowly approached lucy who was shocked at the sudden appearance.

"W-Where did she come from?" Lucy thought to herself.

"What's wrong!?" Gray asked.

"Some lady appeared in the alley and is walking towards lucy!" Natsu reported from his hiding place. "I didn't even sense her!"

"Wait! She could be a civilian! But stand-by!" Erza ordered the two. "Lucy, be careful and keep away!"

The mysterious lady stopped a few feet way from lucy, allowing her to see the lady in full view. She had long black hair that partially covered her eyes. The lower part of her face was covered by a mask and she wore a beige overcoat which covered the majority of her body. She also wore dark brown boots. Even thought most of her body was covered up, Lucy could guess that she was a rather beautiful lady.

"Hi there miss, you are very pretty indeed." The girl suddenly threw an unexpected compliment.

"Huh? Wha- who are you?" Lucy asked while keeping a safe distance. "Don't you know it is dangerous around here tonight?"

"Do you think I am beautiful?" The girl seemed to ignore Lucy's warning and asked an odd question.

"What?" Lucy thought. "What kind of question is that?"

Not planning to think so much, Lucy replied. "you are rather pretty, but please you have to get out of here, there is a-."

"I see…" The girl interrupted while fiddling around with the straps on the face mask.

"How about now?"

The girl suddenly ripped off her face mask, causing the lucy to step back in shock at what she was witnessing right now. The girl's mouth was ripped at the sides to show that her mouth was slit from ear to ear, looking as though it was a forced creepy smile. That was not even the worse part, the flesh around the sliced mouth was decaying and rotting, revealing yellow jagged teeth.

"W-wha-!" Natsu covered his and Happy's mouth to prevent any sound.

"What's happening!?" Gray demanded since he cannot see anything from his hiding spot.

"My god…" Erza stared in horror at the girl in front of Lucy. "What happened to her!?"

"What's wrong? Am I pretty?" The girl tilted her head and asked.

Lucy began to shake uncontrollably at the grotesque sight before saying-

…

"Open! Gate of the Lion: Loke!"

With a flash of light that blinded the deformed girl and a chime of a doorbell, the leader of the zodiac spirits wearing a tuxedo and sunglasses appeared before Lucy with a bow.

"You rang?" Loke flashed a smile.

"How dare you…HOW DARE YOU!" The girl screamed, baring her face in full view while brandishing a giant pair of scissors. "I AM GOING TO PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE JUST LIKE WHAT I DID TO THE OTHERS!"

Loke who turned around at the noise quickly shouted. "What the hell is that!?"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Ice-make: Lance!"

A torrent of flame and lances of ice shot where the killer was standing and the impact caused smoke to cover the area.

"Gray, Natsu!" Lucy cried in relief.

"Looks like we got our prey."

"I'm all fired up!"

"Can someone explain to me what's going on?" Loke asked frantically.

"That is the killer who has been bisecting people in the last few days." Lucy explained quickly.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" the deformed girl gave a crazy grin as she appeared behind lucy from the smoke. "I'LL PUT A SMILE ON THAT FACE!"

"Lucy!"

From the sky, a heavy mass swooped down and pinned the assailant down with tremendous force, causing the ground to crack and the surrounding smoke to clear, revealing Erza in her Black Wing Armour, standing on top of the killer.

"Erza!" The three boys shouted.

"No mercy as always…" Lucy sweatdropped. "Aren't we supposed to catch her alive?"

"Aye…" Happy followed up.

"Don't worry." Erza assured her. "I only make sure that her arms are dislocated."

"But to think that such a lady would commit such a crime…" Loke commented as he observed the fallen girl.

"That's enough…" Erza stated as she gathered everyone. "Gray I need you to inform the guards that we have secured the killer. Natsu you can-"

"CREAK!"

The entire team turned around and watched in horror as the girl began to stand back up. Her bones began to snap back to position in a disgusting manner.

"Mages huh?" The girl said as she rose to her full height, "I'll just have to kill you..."

"CREAK!"

"Eepp!" Lucy hid behind Natsu .

"What the…"

"What is she!?"

"CREAK!"

"My name is Kuchisake, the Slit-Mouth Woman." The lady gave another horrifying grin at the Fairy Tail Members. "I shall make you all as pretty as me."

"Like hell you are! You creepy lady!" Natsu pounced immediately and lighted his fist on fire. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

With surprising speed, Kuchisake raised jumped above Natsu before slamming him down on the floor.

"Human-Decapitating Scissors!" Kuchisake swung her giant scissors at the remaining people with blinding speed. Gray, Happy and Lucy both jumped out of the way in time to avoid wide slash. While the two mages and exceed managed to avoid the scissors, Loke managed to catch the blade with both his hands and stared hard at Kuchisake.

"As much as I hate to hit a woman," Loke stated. "I'm afraid this can't be helped. Light of the King: REGULUS GATTLING!"

The punches of light caused Kuchisake to grunt in pain and swung her blade wildly, forcing Loke to back off temporarily.

Kuchisake began cackling like a lunatic she was as her scissors began to grow in size.

"Happy, find a safe place to hide. We'll handle this guy." Erza said as she and Lucy took defensive stances, the latter reaching for the Celestial Keys on her hip. Happy nodded frantically before flying off to a safe distance, anxiously watching as the three mages squared off.

"Gray!" Erza shouted to the ice mage who managed to reach behind Kuchisake. "Hold her down!"

"Got it! Ice Make: Lock!" The ground around Kuchisake froze, locking the killer in her place

"Don't get in my way!." Kuchisake screamed. "I just want to be pretty! WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!?"

"Shut up creep, one way or another you are going to pay for the crimes you've committed." Erza stated with a dangerous tone as she approached Kuchisake wearing her lighting Empress Amour, her spear crackling with electrical energy. "Go down."

Kuchisake screamed in pain as Erza electrical attacked hit her, and in a desperate attempt, threw her giant scissors in the direction of Lucy.

"Not a chance!" Loke appeared in front of Lucy and effortlessly swiped away the giant weapon. "You won't lay a finger on my contractor!"

"HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU!" Kuchisake screamed in desperation as blades began to burst out of her fingers. "I WILL BE PRETTY, I WILL BE BEAUTIFUL! I WILL MAKE EVERYONE UNDERSTAND-"

"I have no idea what you are taking about." Erza interrupted as she rushed towards Kuchisake, delivering another slash using her lightning spear at her unguarded chest. "As far as I can tell, your soul is already rotten to the core.

Kuchisake tried to free herself from the ice prison, but – "Ice Make: Chains!" Another spell by Gray continued to keep her in place while Erza continued to keep her down using her blades. However, with her grotesque blade hands, Kuchisake grabbed both blades with her hands and sneered. "You cannot defeat me!"

Erza suddenly smirked. "Who says its going to be me? NATSU!"

"Alright!" The Fire Dragon Slayer jumped from behind Erza and inhaled a deep breath.

"Shit!" Kuchisake cursed. "I forgot about him when I-"

"Loke, help him as well!" Lucy shouted.

"I thought you never ask!"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Regulus Impact!"

"UNISON RAID! GRAND LEO COMBUSTION!"

Kuchisake screamed as the column of fire and light in the form of a lion's head ignited her entire body and sent her crashing into the alley. The side of the wall partially collapsed from the impacts. A large pile of rubble had formed where Kuchisake once was.

"Did we get her?" Lucy asked as she approached Natsu and Loke who continued to hold their defensive stances.

The rubble began to shift and to everyone's shock, Kuchisake rose from the rubble. Her entire body was still ignited and her clothes were burnt off, revealing her now charred skin and burning flesh. her once maniacal grin had now shifted to an expression full of hatred. The disgusting mouth slice wound seemed to glow an eerie red in the fire.

"Just what is she…?" Lucy asked fearfully.

"Definitely not a human. That's for sure." Gray answered her, not taking his eyes off the burning killer."

"You…" Erza had reverted back to her normal armoured attire while pointing her sword at Kuchisake. "Are you a demon?"

"A demon?" Lucy thought. "From the book of Zeref?"

Kuchisake only laughed as she pointed a finger at the fairy tail team.

"You still want to fight!?" Natsu roared with both his hands bursting with flames. "Just try it!"

"Nothing is over…" Kuchisake rasped. "This is only the beginning for you fools. For it is only the prologue."

"Prologue? What the hell are you talking about!?" Erza demanded. "Answer me!"

"Calm down Erza!" Gray stepped in between to prevent Erza from approaching the burning figure. "We can get the answers as soon as the guards interrogate her!"

Kuchisake give a loud laugh before the flames completely engulfed her. "I'm sorry, master…"

With that, nothing remained except two sheets of parchment paper. And due to the fire, they were quickly burned into ashes as well.

…

…

"What the hell was that? In the end, who was she?" Happy asked as he hovered over the remains.

"I don't know…" Erza said warily. "But if what she is saying is true…this is not over yet."

...

...

XXX

Edgar closed his book. "With that, the first tale is finished."