Chapter 7: The Tear and the Moon.
Early one morning just as the sun was rising, a certain Dragon Slayer entered the port town of Hargeon. Natsu got the strange feeling that he had been here before, he had been but he'd forgotten about it but still had some residual memories of those events and therefore got the feeling of deja vu walking its streets. Not that he knew what residual meant, hell he didn't even known what this 'dave ja vu' thing was, but could he eat it?
There were few people on the streets at this time of day, a little past five in the morning, and the vast majority of them were 'folk of a less than savoury nature' otherwise known as criminal scum, smugglers and black market dealers those sorts, most closing up for the night as suns first light beamed down lighting up their shadowy work. For a moment Natsu wondered if criminals were allergic to sunlight, but that couldn't be it, he'd committed more crimes than most people could count and he quite liked the sun. Frowning he pursued that line of thought further until…
"Hang on a minute" he stopped suddenly "How am I supposed to get to this Island again?" had Ultear mentioned anything about that? He wasn't certain, it had been a long time ago, two days in fact… Okay, so it wasn't that long ago, but he'd still forgotten. Scowling Natsu scratched his chin, thinking trying to recall the details of his conversation "Hmm…" he leant his head back "err…" he scratched his head "ano…" he stood on one leg "umm… AHAH!" clicking in fingers in celebration for his success, Natsu grinned "Malty, I'm supposed to look for a guy named Malty… no wait" he recalled further details of the conversation "Was it that this Cobalt guy would find me? Or is it that I have to find Dolt? Hmm…" he leant his head back again, trying to remember. Natsu blinked "You know standing up there is dangerous."
A grinning figure looked down at him from the rooftop, wearing a green cape, maroon undershirt, and blue pants. The man's face was hidden by the strange tribal style mask he wore. Most of the mask was a dark maroon colour, with four white horns emerging from the sides, two from the top one on either side around the ear, the eyes holes and three whisker-like marks on either side of the nose were yellow and in the centre of the forehead a symbol in the same pale blue as the lines marking out the nose and eyebrow, but it wasn't a symbol Natsu recognised.
"I suppose it is" the man told him landing nimbly in front of him having leapt from the roof, his tooth flashing grin remained on his face "I am Zalty, I believe we have a common associate."
Natsu stared him down expressionlessly before anger flashed in his eyes. In the space of a second he was in front of 'Zalty', his hand wrapped around the other man's throat and slammed him against a nearby wall, hard enough to shake dust from the bricks. Moving in till he was close to the others man face, close enough to stare through the eyes holes into the eyes beyond them "What are you doing here… Ulfear."
The man's eyes widened, then his grin returned "You noticed?" slowly the illusion faded, leaving in its place the voluptuous body of Ultear Milkovich. She reached up and removed the mask from her face, the one piece that hadn't disappeared with the illusion.
"I have a nose" he stated simply, not loosening his grip, nor moving back.
Ultear's eyes widened a fraction, before she smirked again "Enhanced senses, wields fire, is incredibly forgetful. Tell me Salamander, are all the rumours about you true?"
"I wouldn't know" Natsu told her darkly "But those ones are…" he blinked "Wait, what was that last one again?"
She giggled. That confirmed that then.
His grip tightened suddenly, choking off her airway, Ultear's eyes widened and she met the downright murderous eyes of Salamander, before his gripe relaxed just as suddenly, letting her breath again "You still haven't told me why you're here" Natsu said, his impatience as obvious as the hand around Ultear's throat.
She smiled, now weary of his hand, having been painfully reminded of its presence "Is that not obvious? I am Zalty."
Natsu sighed "I see" a flaming fist smashed through the walls inches from Ultear's face, close enough for the flames to just lick her pale skin, his eyes bored into hers, pinning her in place "Lie to me again, and I kill you" he released her neck, pulled his fist from the wall, and took a full two steps back.
She giggled, rubbing at her throat "Do I annoy you that much? If so, my apologies."
"You don't bother me in the slightest" Natsu told her his tone rife with boredom "I just don't like being lied to. Don't do it again" he made to walk away, then stopped "That's not entirely true actually, I don't mind being lied to. But I don't like being lied to by someone who claims to be an ally, or an employer. Become my enemy more officially and you can lie to me all you want."
"And if I do become your enemy, will put your fist through my skull?"
"No" Natsu turned to her, his face blank of expression "It'll be much worse" he stared at her and only at her, his eyes more threatening than a gun to the head or a sword to the throat, Ultear shivered in genuine fear, before smirking and in the same moment Natsu grinned.
"I think we are going to get along very well Salamander" Ultear told him.
"You know, I was thinking exactly the same thing" they spent a moment just grinning at each other, until Natsu finally turned away "Now, where's this damn boat, let's get this over with" if he was going to hell he was sure as hell condemning himself, Natsu wasn't about to give anyone else the satisfaction of it. Well he might give Erza the satisfaction, provided she cut off his head before he tore out her neck, or as he tore out her neck as the case may be. Either way he was definitely going to hell, it's just in this case hell was a boat.
Smirk still firmly in place, and not looking like it was going to fade away anytime soon, Ultear sauntered past him, her hips swaying perhaps more than entirely necessary "This way" she said, beckoning him with a long pale finger and leading him through the town of Hargeon towards the docks.
Her original assessment of him had been utterly and completely correct.
Salamander was going to be so much fun.
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Erza savoured the hot water as it rushed over her naked form, loving it's almost searing heat on her skin as she ran her hands through her luscious scarlet hair. There was something about today, maybe because her injuries had finally faded away and she was allowed to remove her bandages, and had just done so before getting into the shower, maybe because she hadn't dreamt of Salamander that night, instead she dreamt of delicious strawberry cake, or maybe for some other reason unknown to her, but it made her feel good, better than she had felt since that mission involving Eisenwald and Salamander in fact. It made her feel like it was just a part of her past, it was over, no longer worth consideration or thought.
Wrapping herself in a fluffy white towel Erza dried her hair with another, finding the task of drying her hair slowly with only the towel and her hands to be rather calming, monotonous but not in a unpleasant way. Once she was done the towel she wore had absorbed most of the moisture from her skin and she was quick to wipe away any that was left.
Done with that she headed over to her wardrobe, wanting to dress today rather than requip for reasons she couldn't explain. As she opened up her underwear draw she came face to face with them, a set of underwear she had bought a few weeks back, well before the Eisenwald incident, well before Salamander. A pair of scarlet panties and matching bra.
"You should consider wearing red panties… Red, same colour as your hair… they'd look so much better…"
Her fist impacted with a heavy thud, shattering the wardrobe and spilling its contents all around her feet, but Erza wasn't focused on that, she was trying to restrain herself from destroying anything else, from conjuring up a set of swords and carving every piece of underwear that she owned that was even vaguely red into a thousand pieces, and any in white as well for that matter, from burning her entire wardrobe down and staring again from scratch, or from just smashing up a few sets of her less used armours.
Eventually her breathing calmed and she relaxed, rage dying down, leaving just a loathing of herself for being so weak to her emotions and a far stronger loathing of Salamander for making her feel weak.
She glanced down at the red underwear, now partly hidden in the mess of clothes and splinters 'I wonder if I'd really look good in them?'
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"Morning Erza" Mira's cheerful welcome and smiling countenance brought a deep sense of calmness in Erza, a calmness she had been sadly lacking since the events less than half an hour before.
"Mira" Erza felt her previously stern features slip seamlessly into a smile at the sight of the barmaid's own, seemingly ever present on the silver haired girls face, only fading when the situation was that serious, which it thankfully rarely was.
Mira offered her an even brighter smile, her closed eyes and slightly tilted face only adding to the perfection of her upwards curved lips.
After that concise but satisfying greeting Erza made her way over to the stairs leading up the guild second floor.
"Erza!" Mira's tone was slightly panicked, and her smile was distinctly absent.
"What's wrong?"
"You're taking an S-class job?"
Erza blinked and tilted her own head in confusion "Yes" she responded. She was an S-class mage after all, she was perfectly entitled to take S-class requests. After a moment without response from Mira Erza continued her way up.
"Erza!" Mira's voice called again, but this time she had to lean over the bannister to look down at the eldest Strauss sibling who was staring up at her. For a moment their gazes met and Erza felt something of their old rivalry building, but rather than the need to constantly blame Mira and the desire to beat her up on a regular basis, and the utter annoyance at her ugly face, awful clothes and fucking grating voice, they hadn't exactly gotten on, it felt more like a challenge. And Erza didn't back down, despite being somewhat confused. After a moment Mira sighed "Erza, do me a favour and take the cheapest, please?"
Once again Erza blinked, still confused, but nodded "I will" she responded, heading over to the board and quickly locating the cheapest job 'Cursed Island' she felt a grim smile appear on her face. This would be perfect, partly to get her back into the rhythm of jobs, she hadn't gone on one in more than a week after all, and partly to get her attention far away from Salamander.
Mira watched Erza leave from behind the bar, wiping down a glass distractedly, and it had been clean for at least five minutes. She let out a sigh that betrayed her worries, maybe she was being silly, Erza was an S-class mage after all, she could handle S-class job, unlike… 'Unlike me…' she shook away such thoughts, unwilling to succumb to them. She was just worried. Erza had been pretty beaten up when they brought her back after all, they needed to get Porlyusica's help, no easy task, in order to ensure her full recovery and now, the moment she was healed, she headed out on a S-class job where the slightest mistake could easily spell death.
She put down the glass with a heavy thump, now certain that she wouldn't lose this worried feeling until Erza came back, with some oversized ornamental trinket in tow, to lay into the guild about how rambunctious they had been in her absence. The thought almost brought a smile to Mira's face, not a difficult task by anyone's standards, but it fell short despite that.
She was worried.
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The train journey to Hargeon passed swiftly, the time flying by. As she exited the train she remembered her previous adventure in this place, her meeting with Lucy, the delicious strawberry cake she had eaten, and… and… her smile faltered… and Salamander, burning a man to death and leaving him stabbed into the wall, the mark of his guild Torched Heaven seared into Bora's flesh. It had been a disgusting sight, Erza was used to seeing things far worse but it still rankled her that she had been so close to Salamander and not caught him, and more so that she allowed him to get away with such an atrocity.
By now her hands had balled into fists and her hair was beginning to whip about violently in a cascade of her own magical power that had begun to build and rage around her, creating a visible scarlet aura about her person. She calmed herself quickly, not wanting to cause a scene, though she already had and most people were now a good twenty or thirty feet away from the terrifying redhead, and thought nice, peaceful thoughts that put a smile back on her face.
If any of the townsfolk knew the real reason behind the armoured redheads bright smile they'd back away quickly as it involved stakes, swords, whips and cudgels and Salamander's durable body and all the painful delights she could deliver to him before finally turning him over to the council where he would doubtless be sentenced to death. A wonderful daydream for Erza to indulge in before she got down to the gritty business of 'convincing' the first captain she saw to take her to Galuna Island.
"Galuna Island?" the captain, a bearded, hatted, eye-patched and rather round man who wore a tiny jacket that was undone up the front and left most of his hairy midriff and chest bare, said grumpily at her inquiry "Get outta here, I'm not going anywhere near that place" as he was about to turn, mumbling about idiot mages with their idiot, and unreasonable, requests, the captain felt a shiver run down his spine, like someone had just stepped on his grave… and shoved a sword clean through it. When he turned his head around to look at the red haired mage he found her face wreathed in shadows, her intense brown eyes the only thing visible of her visage, intense brown eyes that bore deep into his soul, ripped it out, boned it, gutted it and filleted it "Oh, Galuna Island?" he said, suddenly all charm "Of course I'd be willing to take you there, of course, it's no problem whatsoever miss, no problem at all" his crew, having heard his sudden charm glanced over and hearing the name Galuna stared incredulously, until they saw the red haired young woman whose aura of power and domination set their neck hairs on end. When her gaze didn't diminish the captain, now willing to do anything to stop her from glaring, suddenly said "I-in fact I'll take you there for free, couldn't possibly charge a nice young lady like yourself" he slowly back away, wanting to put some space between him and the scary lady, even though, no matter how much space was between them, he still wouldn't be able to get away "and you can have my cabin for the journey, bit of a mess but I'll tidy up. O-okay?"
Erza stopped frowning and smiled gratefully, people could be so understanding and kind "Thank you for your assistance."
The captain nodded nervously and led her aboard, while shouting at his crew to get ready to set sail, he wasn't sure how long she would be willing to wait. He decided mentally to not even grumble mentally about unreasonable mages, there was something about her that made him certain she would know.
He was a storm hardened captain, had spent two years stranded on a deserted island, fought off a sea serpent with nothing but a harpoon, lost his eye in mortal combat with Funky J Roofy, the most badass pirate in all the land.
And this girl was more terrifying than all of them put together, which would be fighting Funky J Roofy and his sea serpent pet with only a harpoon in the middle of a giant storm after spending two years alone on a deserted island, with nothing but coconuts for sustenance, there always seemed to be coconuts. Anyway, she was definitely scarier than that.
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Natsu tumbled over the edge of the boat, scrambling for purchase in the soft sand, before throwing up onto the beach before him. Behind him Ultear, sitting on the prow of the ship and half smirking half grimacing, restrained the urge to giggle along with the urge to gag. The rumours of Salamander's weakness to transportation were true it seemed, in fact the rumours, which generally made things out to be more than they were, didn't do this particular matter justice.
Throughout the boat ride he had been near catatonic save to whine about the boat, and given how sick he had looked the second he stepped onto the floating contraption it was a surprise he managed to hold it in all the way to the shore.
Salamander really didn't fare well on transportation.
He puked a second time, completely emptying his stomach, the taste of bile and half-digested food thick and disgustingly bitter in his mouth in no way aiding his tumultuous stomach. He gagged again but had nothing left to disgorge. Hacking and spitting several times Natsu tried to clear his mouth of the taste and stop the continual swaying of the world that really wasn't helping as he felt like he was still on the fucking boat he had just gotten off of "I hate boats" he moaned weakly.
Ultear couldn't restrain her giggles this time, and desperately tried to hold them back with a hand over her mouth as Salamander glared back at her, but she only found his weak sickly glare to be even more amusing.
"Fuck you" he cursed at her.
"I'm sure you want to" she teased, crossing her luscious white thighs, but Natsu was too busy hacking and spitting again to notice, both her reply and her legs. Once Natsu had crawled over to the ocean and swilled seawater through his mouth, saltiness preferable to bile, and then finally clambered to his feet, Ultear spoke again this time more seriously and of the matter at hand "You remember your job? You are to watch over Deliora's revival, if we're forced to meet in front of the others I will be in the guise of Zalty, please don't spoil my disguise this time."
"Right, right" Natsu waved off her seriousness lest it infect him too.
"Another thing" she stood up and moved over to where he stood, placing her finger gently against his chin "I'll be watching" with a sly grin she turned to leave.
Natsu caught her wrist before she could "You sort of explained it before, but it seems odd to me that you'd waste the resources to pay me for this job when you're going to be on the Island the whole time" Ultear met his gaze fearlessly, in part because there was no threat in them, just curiosity "I've been on jobs that turned out to be ambushes before" he told her "There were twenty of them, all dark mages, all reasonably skilled, a few with some rare and quite powerful magic items. All but one of them is dead, the rest of the guild followed, and I located and killed the false employer shortly after that."
Ultear frowned "Is that a threat or a warning?" she wondered, genuinely curious.
"A warning."
She nodded in acceptance "Either way, this isn't an ambush, just a means to an end" his eyes searched hers for any sign of dishonesty and apparently found none as he nodded and let go of her wrist, turning away to head into the thick forest that blanketed the island "Salamander" her voice stopped him after two paces, but he didn't turn to look at her "You said all but one of them, what happened to the last?"
Natsu grinned, and turned his head to meet Ultear's searching gaze "Him? He joined Torched Heaven."
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"HALLOO!" his voice echoed through the temple, the loud noise out of place and unwelcome in such an old and haggard place "HALLOO!" he called again when there was no reply, his voice sounding up the steps, over the pillar, through distant corridors and beyond.
He had been searching the island for well over an hour, and seriously regretted not asking Ultear for directions, but eventually his search had led him to this place, an old rundown temple that had seen better days and better years and likely better centuries. It's outer walls were covered in cracks, roots thick as he was grew through the breaks in the rock, the carvings that had once decorated this place had been worn down over the years, losing their detail and sometimes fading altogether, leaving just a few bumps in the rock to evidence their existence.
The only reason he had even found this place was because of how it smelled. The rest of the island was covered in a strange, foreign scent that Natsu had never smelt before. But this place, this place stank of humanity.
After another moment with still no answer forthcoming, Natsu entered in through what might've been a doorway or an archway, though if it was a doorway it lacked a door, and weren't arches rounded at the top, he supposed they could be squared but thought they were all rounded and that that was why it was an arch and not a square-way or something.
Inside more plants grew through the cracks, drinking up what little sunlight penetrated the hall, a collapsed pillar sat directly ahead and to his right was what might've once been a fountain and after that a set of stone steps leading to a raised level. There were several carving inside the temple to match those on the outside, only these were far more preserved being more protected from the elements in here. More than a few bore more than a passing resemblance to a crescent moon.
'Ga-Luna Island…' he chuckled, how amusing, then looked around "No answer, huh? Maybe they're out" he wondered "Maybe they're dead" he scratched his head "Or maybe they're…" he moved, a hand with razor sharp nails passing by his cheek. Natsu struck as they passed, his fist breaking the man's nose and he would've flown back slamming into the far wall, if Natsu's other hand hadn't reached out quickly, grabbed the other man by his skull, and brought him back down for another punch.
He let the now limp man fall to the ground and glanced down at him, kicking him onto his back to get a better look. Natsu blinked as he stared. He had short brown hair and on top of his head was a pair of canine ears, his lower face was a different colour to the rest of him and capped with a dark nose strongly resembling a canine muzzle. He was bear chested and wore only a pair of jeans with a shield symbol on the leg, the shield bore the emblem of a skull with a pair of dog ears much like the one's on the man's head "Is he…" Natsu blinked "A dog? Did I just beat up a dog?" he grimaced, wincing uncomfortably "Again" that was an embarrassing memory, but the stupid little mutt had stolen his pasty and you never, ever stole Natsu's pasty. After a brief scrap with the Runes Knights, which left an entire unit decimated, and finally being persuaded by Spitfire, who was in the area, that he could always get another, Natsu left the dog whimpering, burned, but alive. Poor dog… or perhaps, lucky dog.
Natsu looked up "So tell me, is he your dog?" he asked the figures who stood still in the shadows, thinking they were hidden perhaps.
A man, with blue hair spiked upwards and very odd squared eyebrows who wore a long green coat and a woman with pink hair tied up in pigtails and blue eyes who wore a purple and pink dress, stepped out of the shadows, their gazes locked on him as Natsu's gaze switched from one to the other at regular intervals.
They stared him down flatly, not a hint of concern for their fallen comrade in their eyes, that is until Natsu slammed his foot down on the man's skull just as the downed man was about to lift up his once again clawed hands. After that there a bit of concern.
They glanced at each other, then the girl stepped forwards saying "Allow me" before magic swirled around her palms "Doll Play Attack" the pinkette announced, not Natsu the girl "Rock Doll!" behind her the rubble gathered, merging together until they formed a whole. Then the girl stood atop a giant golem forged of rock, a small smile playing about her lips at Natsu's clear amazement.
"W-whoa, it's huge!" Natsu said, staring up at the titanic golem in amazement, nowhere near as big as Lullaby, but he hadn't exactly been paying attention to it, at the time it had been little more than a nuisance that was in his way.
"Rock Doll" the girl said waving her arm dramatically "Crush him" barely waiting for the order to be spoken, the golem-like creatures giant arm raised, its hand clenching into a fist, and swung.
Natsu felt a grin twitched onto his face as his fist became consumed in flames "You wanna play? Then let's play" he met its punch, the ground beneath him cracking, the ground around them shattering, the sheer force of their collision caused a shockwave that lifted Toby, who had been lying just to Natsu's right, up and threw him away. After a second Natsu grinned, and let a tiny bit more force enter his flame coated fist.
His fist sheared through the stone, but his arm wasn't that long so instead of continuing further through the arm Natsu let a bit of explosive force travel up through the rock. And the entire thing blew up in a shower of stone and flame. The rock doll shattered, returning to rubble from whence it came. It broke apart like a glass bottle over someone's head, or rather Natsu's head as glass bottles were actually pretty tough things, but Natsu's head was tougher. A glass bottle versus Natsu's head, it was obvious which of those was going to take more damage, heck you'd need a borehole drill to cause even a scratch in Natsu's cranium, and you still wouldn't get through to the soft mushy centre, or the hollowed out centre as the case may be.
The girl landed with a thud on the ground, rolling over twice before slamming to a halt against the wall. Slightly bruised and battered, she still managed to get to her feet and looked up at Natsu, the man who had just shattered her most powerful magic with his fist.
"That all?" Natsu asked after a moment.
"Tch" the blue haired man scoffed at his two comrades, before stepping forwards and facing Natsu head on "I will be your opponent" he said with a cocky grin on his face "My name is Yuka Suzuki."
"Oh, goody" Natsu said unenthusiastically, not bothering to return the introduction. Why couldn't he fight anyone strong? He wanted to fight someone strong? Someone who could press him to his limits? Someone like… He gritted his teeth and charged forwards towards Yuka.
His flaming fist swung round, but Yuka simply raised his hand in response, summoning up a shield of transparent blue energy. Natsu's flames dispelled against the magic.
"Nullifier" Natsu said, recognising the type of magic.
"You know" Yuka smiled arrogantly "Then you know it's pointless to continue you this, just surrender and accept your defe…"
"FIRE DRAGON'S FLAME ELBOW!" Natsu roared, he already figured out the weakness, when he pressed he could move through the barrier, but with difficulty, so all he needed was a boost, and several explosive tons behind his elbows was force aplenty. His fist caught Yuka right in the face and sent him into the wall behind him, the wall buckling under the force of his flying body and cracking beneath him.
Natsu scowled "Is that it?" he looked around, the girl was struggling to stand, dog-man and Yuka were also struggling to their feet, but they were all defeated "IS THAT ALL?!" not waiting for an answer he was instantly in front of the girl, and punched her clean in the face, knocking her right off of her feet with the force of his blow. Then he was over to the dog-man and grabbed and threw him at the girl, landing on top of her. He walked almost calmly over to Yuka and picked the blue haired man up by the hair, Natsu smacked his fist across the man's face twice, then he threw him over as well.
Why? Why were they so weak? So pathetic? He wanted a challenge, a battle, something that got his heart racing, where every moment he was inches from death, he wanted to face an enemy who could match him blow for blow, who would hit him with all the force he hit them, who would try and kill him as he would try and kill them. He wanted Erza Scarlet… and he couldn't have her, and that pissed him off.
Fire raged through his body, gathering in his lungs, he wanted something and he couldn't have it, it was so frustrating, he wanted it, and when he wanted something he took it, but she wasn't there to take "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" and so he roared, sending fires hot as the flames of hell raging towards his three downed foes, fire that would burn them all the ash in mere seconds, that would reduce them to nothing.
But the scent of torched flesh didn't reach his nostrils, momentary screams of pain as fire consumed their being were never voiced, and as the flames died away the reason became clear. A barrier ice stood between him and his victims, a barrier that had blocked him flames, a barrier behind which a fourth person stood, glaring sternly at his three comrades.
"Reitei-sama!" they declared in unison, staring at their saviour.
Reitei had only contempt for them, though his eyes were unseen in the dark eyeholes of his skull like helm "Can you not even handle a single man?" he asked, voice cold as his magic.
They flinched, Yuka dropped to his knees "My apologies, Reitei-sama" his comrades soon followed suit, but Reitei didn't care.
He was about to reprimand them further when, in the space of a second, a sound like glass shattering sounded, a small fragment of ice sliced a slim cut onto his exposed face, and Natsu's burning fist, having smashed through the ice wall, was now on a crash course with Reitei's chin.
"REITEI-SAMA!" Sherry screamed upon seeing the leader she looked up to and admired and maybe even lo… lo… lov… lov… NO! There were more important matters right now, such as Reitei being punched and sent flying. But she needn't have worried as he flipped over in mid-air, landing in a ready crouch, and glared up at the man who had attacked him.
"I really, really hate being interrupted" Natsu said heatedly, glaring at the man half standing before him "Now who the fuck are you and why are you getting in my way? Be warned this is sudden death and a wrong answer will see you immediately eliminated, and no, this is not a quiz, and yes, I do mean sudden death, yours."
Reitei frowned and slowly stood up to his full height, rubbing briefly at his bruised chin and staring at Natsu intently and icily. This man was worthy of due caution, for a fire mage to shatter his ice, never mind that such a notion was downright insulting, it also displayed said fire mages immense power "I could ask you the same" he said in response "Who are you? Why are you here?"
Natsu's glare darkened, then he blinked "Wait a second, I haven't introduced myself, have I?" he scratched his head sheepishly "Jeez, sorry about that, um, my names Natsu, I'm from the evil Dark Guild Torched Heaven, and I'm here on a job… something about deli chicken I think, I definitely remember deli chicken being mentioned."
Reitei blinked 'D-deli chicken?' then he shook his head "From Torched heaven you say" he looked at him sharply "Then you know our mutual… contact."
"Contact?" Natsu blinked again "You mean Ulty?"
Hidden behind his darkened eye holes Reitei, also, blinked "Do you mean 'Zalty'?"
"Was that it?" Natsu frowned and scratched his chin "Yeah, yeah, it probably was… might not've been, but whatever. So you're this Raygay guy?"
"Reitei" Reitei said, his voice reassuming its cold commanding nature "Zalty mentioned that he was hiring some extra assistance. Unnecessary, but he insisted" he glared at Natsu "I don't know what games he's playing, but rest assured that I do not trust him, nor do I trust you. You are to observe only…"
"Unless there's a threat to this 'project', I was listening… and I sort of remember, a bit of it, not much to be honest" not for the first time Reitei twitched in annoyance, amusement and possibly wonder, it was one of them "And don't worry, I'm in the same boat of 'not trusting Salty', we aren't exactly friends" 'Though I have the strange feeling she'd smother me in her thighs to kill me, a death and a treat. Then again, the only thighs I want smothering me to death are Erza's…' the fact that he found the death part more exciting than the thighs part spoke wonders for Natsu's mental health, or lack thereof. He sighed and spoke with no enthusiasm "Anyway, that's my job, watch over this 'project'… Err" Natsu scratched his head "Just out of curiosity what was the project again?" his stomach growled "And do you have any food?"
Definitely not for the last time, Reitei twitched.
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It had been late evening when Erza leapt the remaining hundred odd meters from the ship to the shore, needless to say the sailors were shocked, amazed and terrified in equal measure, and now night was nearly upon them and she had just arrived at the gigantic wooden gates that towered far above her that led into the village. Or at least she hoped led into the village.
Ignoring the large sign with the words 'KEEP OUT' written on it, Erza knocked on the gate. After a moment with no answer she knocked a little harder, after another moment with no answer she pounded on the door rather heavily "EXCUSE ME!"
With the gates shuddering from the force of what could only be a battering ram, two guards hurried atop the walls, and instead of an army of inhuman monsters and a ram shaped like a wolfs head dragged by great beasts and moved by trolls, they found an armoured red-haired girl, knocking on the gate with nothing more than her gauntleted fist, the wood shaking out dust with every knock, and it was beginning to crack too.
"HEY, STOP THAT!" he shouted.
Erza blinked and looked up at the two guards "My apologies, I thought you couldn't hear me" she said, bowing formally "I am Erza Scarlet from the mage guild Fairy Tail, I accepted the request made by this village."
The guard blinked and glanced at his partner, then shouted down "We heard someone accepted, but weren't expecting them for several days."
Erza smiled "I found a captain kind enough to take me here immediately."
Glancing briefly at the wooden gates the girl had been well on her way to smashing down, the guard nodded, he could believe that, that she had found someone to take her that is, after all who the hell would refuse someone like that.
"Okay then, before you enter show me your guild mark" Erza shifted her pauldron to give him a better look at the blue mark on her arm "Okay, OPEN THE GATE" he shouted, and the gate was slowly cranked up with a low rumble "AND SOMEONE GET THE CHIEF!"
Erza waited until the gate was at just the right height for her to walk under without having to crouch before entering, once inside she was shown to the central square, which was actually a circle. Did that make it a central circle then?
The villagers were all dressed in heavy robes and veils that covered them head to toe, the chief, a short man bearing a wooden staff capped with a stone shaped like a crescent moon, stepped forwards to greet her "I am Moka, the chief of this village, thank you for coming here" Moka said "I know this may seem sudden but please look at this. Everyone!" at his word they all stripped of the robes they wore, revealing beneath the deformed arms and legs, heads and chests, some with horns, others with bestial teeth, all distinctly not human, demonic even.
"I see" Erza said neutrally looking at them intently but showing little to no sign of shock.
Moka blinked, she wasn't shocked? Not at all "R-right" he coughed and continued with his dramatic speech "Every living creature on this island, dogs and birds, even insects, are affect by this curse."
"May I ask what makes you so certain it's a curse?" she inquired suddenly "I've heard of diseases that cause such deformities, could it not be one of them?"
Moka shook his head "We have consulted many doctors, and they've all said that it is no disease, and it passes from species to species so easily. No, this must be the work of a curse, the Moon's Curse!"
"The moon's curse?"
Moka nodded "Yes. Since ancient times this Island had absorbed the light of the moon, allowing it to shine as beautifully as the moon itself, but several years ago the moonlight suddenly turned purple."
"And after that" she gestured at his demonic arms "this happened?" Moka nodded "I see" she frowned "I've never seen a purple moon though."
"People from the mainland always say that, but I tell you the moon is purple."
Erza frowned again, and stroked her chin as she thought 'So if they're to be believed the moon is purple on this island. Which means it can't be a spell affecting the moon directly or caused by the moon as it's localised to this island, after all just yesterday I saw the moon and it certainly wasn't purple. But first I need more information' "If you don't mind could I…" she stopped as purple light hit the ground around her and turned her gaze upwards. The moon, the perfect, beautiful, bright moon was glimmering down with an eerily purple light
"It's a curse" Moka said, his voice sounding strangely strained. Erza looked down and found him visibly sweating and his body tensed "The moons curs-ARRRRRGGGHHH!"
He screamed suddenly, collapsing to his knees, the others were screaming as well, choking, pulling at their hair, gripping their heads, then all of a sudden their bodies starting shifting. Starting from their deformity it spread like wildfire, until it covered their entire bodies.
The screaming stopped before Erza could move to help, and they slowly struggled up. Some had gained scaled skin, others skin turned red and blue and purple, more still had wings, others had claws and tails once deformed humans had been transformed into, what were undeniably, demons.
"When the purple moon comes out" Moka said "Our bodies turn into these horrible demons. If this isn't a curse then what is it?"
Somewhere in the crowd a child was crying, comforted by a larger man, but both were horrifying demons, their freakish features serving to mock the touching but not uncommon scene that played out before her.
"Once morning comes most turn back into their human forms" Moka told her "But some… some don't, they lose their soul and become real demons. We decided… we decided to kill those who didn't turn back."
Erza's eyed widened.
"You must understand, if we didn't they'd kill others, and we can't imprison them, they're too strong. So we… we…" Moka started crying, tears dripping down his purple face "We kill them, even… even Bobo… even my own son!"
"I understand" she said "I'll help you."
"There is only one way to stop this curse" Moka told her "You must… DESTROY THE MOON!"
Erza blinked then leaned back to stare up at the purple moon 'Destroy the moon? Impossible, not even the strongest mage could do it, never mind the affects it might have. Besides I already don't think it's the moon, but instead something else that's affecting this island' "Before that, I need some more information" Erza told him "Please tell me everything you know about the curse, when it started, how it started, what's its first effects were, what else you've done to try and cure it."
"I…" Moka frowned, he didn't really see what that had to do with destroying the moon, but she was going to help so he'd do whatever he could to help "Of course."
Over the course of several hours Erza gathered a clearer and clearer picture of what was going on, everyone had a piece of the puzzle and she talked to them all, taking that piece and putting it into place, but at the end of it she still lacked several major pieces, lacked some information, yet had a good idea of what was going on.
It was as she pondered this that she noticed something "That light, over there, what is that?" a shaft of purple light had gathered and was beaming down upon something hidden behind the walls and likely within the forest.
"T-that is…" Moka looked away uncomfortably "There is a temple dedicated to the moon over there, it's been there since before I was born."
"And the light?"
"I… I don't know" he confessed "We have tried to get near the temple" he told "but every time we get close we end up back here. I know it sounds stupid and unbelievable but I swear it's true, we leave the village bearing weapons, head straight towards it, and then we're back at the gates."
'Another piece of the puzzle' Erza thought, she was almost certain that she now knew what was going on here, but… 'But first I need to get a look inside that temple.'
Just as she was about to ask for directions there was a sound, a metallic sound, also akin to nails scraping down a black board, only a thousand times worse, and a billion times louder. It hit them like a physical wave, knocking one man over, sending others to their knees, but Erza remained stood, hands clasped over her ears, glaring in the direction it had come from. The beam of light. The temple.
"I will return" Erza shouted back at the villagers, once the horrific sound had died down but while most were still recovering from the intensity, sprinting at full pelt towards the gates. But they were closed and opening them would take too long so she requipped into her Black Wing Armour and leapt clean over them, landing on the dirt track at the other side she quickly made a bee line straight for the beam of light.
Erza, at that point, had no idea that Salamander was on this Island, but more than that, she had no idea that Salamander had arrived two days past.
Now I do believe the correct phrase to put here is "You just got punk'd" no?
Well I'm back, sort of. This chapter it done, but Chapter 8 isn't so I better get working on that, I had real trouble with 7 and 8 originally and rewriting them is perhaps an even bigger bitch, but I'm struggling through, with any luck I'll have Chapter 8 ready by next week, but no promises.
On a different note, do you believe that the greatest amongst us rise to power and fame, do you truly think that the best men become King's? That is a message to everyone who feels that NeoShadows isn't God-King of NatsuXErza, and that the honour should go to Tendencies Wrath (aka Kuroyagi), I can't remember if I've read much of his work, but then again I can't remember my age, my name, what I did yesterday, or even what day it is today, but I have definitely read some of it, and its brilliant, great, something I could never match. So ask yourself, is the greatest person ever the one with power, the one who rules? Look at history and you will find your answer, it is full of selfish, egotistical, arrogant monarchs (and no I'm not trying to insult you God-King NeoShadows(I am trying to overthrow you, still)), not the truly great men and women. Anyway that became a bit more philosophical than I intended so...
Toodles (Do you think I should change my endprhase to 'The Toodles is a lie'?)
