The guild was completely silent as they watched the Master. A few minutes earlier Mira had run down the stairs yelling about how one of the S-class missions had gone missing and after the master's initial surprise he simply shut his eyes and crossed his arms in thought.
"Some fool was dumb enough to steal an S-class mission?" Wakaba questioned Mira, the silver haired barmaid nodding in response.
"Whoever it was they must be pretty stupid to steal one of those missions." Laki declared, nearly every member of the guild murmuring in agreement.
"Oh, I know who took it. A little blue cat snuck up here and snatched it from the board." Laxus casually declared as he leaned back on his chair.
"So Natsu and Happy huh? Can't really say I'm surprised about that." Macao said with a sigh.
"Then that's probably why Lucy hasn't shown up this morning, she must have gotten dragged into this as well." Cana commented as she surveyed the crowd but couldn't see any sign of the blonde mage.
"Those three have quite the guts to steal a S-class mission." Alzack murmured seriously, Bisca nodding along with him.
"I knew Natsu was stupid, but I didn't think that Lucy was on his level."
"That's a serious breach of guild rules. You're not gonna let this one slide, are ya Gramps?" Laxus arrogantly asked, the Master ignoring the jab hidden in his words.
"Laxus! If you saw Happy steal the mission why didn't you stop him!" Mira angrily chastened as she once again climbed the stairs, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.
Laxus however couldn't care less for her anger, simply shrugging at the barmaid. "All I saw was a cat trying to be sneaky with a piece of paper in its mouth. I had no way to know if it was Happy or not. And besides, I would never dream that Natsu would break the rules."
Mira glared daggers at the blonde mage, a look that would have sent any other member of the guild scurrying away but only caused the arrogant mage to chuckle.
"It's been a long time since you've given me that look."
"Well this isn't going to go well…what job did the fools take?" The Master asked.
"Solving the curse of Galuna Island." Mira answered, her eyes never leaving Laxus.
Instantly the guild was in an uproar, everyone shocked by the sheer stupidity of taking the mission that had not been completed by any of the many guilds in Fiore for over a year. And Natsu thought that he had the stones to solve the curse of Galuna?
"Laxus! Go and retrieve those fools at once!" The Master commanded as he leapt down from the bar counter and walked into the center of the guild in order to see his grandson better.
"You wish Gramps, but I've got better things to do then going to play baby sitter for Pinky." Laxus dismissed at first before remembering who exactly the dumbass dragon slayer had paired up with. A cruel smile spread over his lips as he stared down at his grandfather. "Actually gramps, I would be happy to go if it gives me the chance to play around with that new looks like she could give me a good time."
Mira blinked in surprise for a second before slamming her hand down on the table, her glare only growing worse as she continued to stare at the lighting mage.
"If you touch one hair on her head Laxus…"Mira threatened, causing Laxus to simply laugh loudly again.
"Ha! Don't worry, I don't mean like that. I mean that she looks like she could put up a halfway decent challenge. Although, I wouldn't mind tussling around with her like that since she's got such a smoking figure."
Mira's anger lessened for a moment as she considered Laxus's cryptic words. "What do you mean? Lucy's just as frail as any normal girl."
Laxus stared at Mira like she was stupid before turning and staring at the rest of the guild in turn and seeing their equally confused faces. "Unbelievable…to think that none of the lemmings can tell that there's a wolf in their midst's."
"What do you mean by that Laxus?" The master questioned, his curiosity about his newest child momentarily outweighing his anger for Natsu stealing an S-class mission.
"That's for you all to figure out." Laxus said with a casual wave of his hand. "But I will tell you this; whatever you think about that chick is probably far from the truth. She's hiding something and I for one can't wait to see the skeleton's in her closet."
The guild was silent for a moment as they thought about Lucy and her strange behavior, not able to fully deny that there was something slightly off about their new member. However, all thoughts were interrupted when the Master cleared his throat and glared back up at his grandson.
"Regardless, you are the only one who can force Natsu back Laxus, so get going at once."
"Hold it old man; I can't just let that statement slide." Gray declared as he stood up, a confident smirk on his face.
Lucy watched Natsu struggle back to his feet after slowly pulling his limp and pale body from the train. The trip to Hargeon for transportation to the island had been long and arduous for the dragon slayer, as his motion sickness appeared to be in full swing ever since he realized that they might have to take a boat to the island that the job was located on. Lucy did empathize with her pink haired teammate and had even offered to walk to the port again in order to avoid using the train but Natsu had quickly shot down that idea, looking particularly nervous as he did so but Lucy was unable to determine why exactly.
The three were currently asking what felt like the hundredth sailor if they would be willing to provide transport to this supposedly cursed island but no one had had agreed and a few had even refused to speak to them after their request to be taken to the island.
"Sorry kids, but no sailor is going to even go close to that island." The sailor they were currently talking to said with a shake of the head.
"Ah screw this, why don't we just swim to the island?" Natsu screamed out in frustration as he stared out at the sea.
"Mmm…we might have to at this point." Lucy agreed as she began to stretch out her arms, she herself not exactly too upset over the fact that they might have to forgo the boat trip.
"You really need to stop going along with Natsu's stupidity Lucy. Otherwise you're going to end up just as thick as he is." The voice of Gray commented from behind the two, causing all three mages to jump slightly and turn back around to see the black haired mage grinning arrogantly at them.
Lucy tilted her head to the side, her surprise evident on her face. "What are you doing here Gray? Are you here to join us on the mission?"
"Hell no, I don't want to face Erza's wrath. I'm here just to bring you back." The ice mage denied with a shake of his head.
"Like hell you are! We're not going back until we finish the job!" Natsu shouted as he ignited his hands.
The sailor they had just been talking to stared at the four of them with a now shocked expression. "You four are mages? Are you here to lift the curse on the Island?"
"You bet mister, we're mages from Fairy Tail!" Natsu announced as she showed off his shoulder, the red Fairy Tail emblem clear as day.
"You're not doing this mission Natsu!" Gray denied but was ignored by everyone but Lucy, who was staring at him curiously.
The sailor was quiet for a moment, his eyes narrow slits as he inspected each Fairy Tail member in turn, before gesturing with his head at his boat. "Get in."
"Hey! Don't encourage him!" Gray yelled at the sailor before being brutality kicked by Natsu, forcing the ice make mage unconscious.
"Natsu…is this really all part of the Super mission?" Lucy questioned tentatively, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"A-ah…of course it is Luce! The old man likes to through some curve balls in these things…" Natsu said as he turned away.
Lucy stared at Natsu for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and joining Natsu and the now unconscious Gray in the boat, her stomach already feeling queasy.
As the day slowly turned into night Gray finally decided that he wasn't going to break out of the ropes Natsu had used to restrain him and instead decided to simply watch Lucy and Natsu with interest. Natsu was leaning over the edge of the boat, his face a pale green color and his cheeks buldging occasionally with whatever it was he had eaten last. Nothing out of the ordinary there, but it was Lucy that was the more interesting one.
The moment their little fishing boat got out to the open waters the Elemental summoner had collapsed in almost the same manner as Natsu, her face equally as pale and she refused to move, the only sign that she was actually still alive was the occasional pathetic groan that escaped her lips.
"Wow Lucy, you suffer from motion sickness too? Happy commented from his place on one of the seats, his eyes wide in surprise as he watched the two writhing mages.
"Only on boats…ugh." Lucy groaned as she placed a hand over her eyes, attempting to alleviate the headache that had been caused by her nauseousness.
Happy laughed to himself, already used to seeing humans suffering from their stomachs rebelling against them, but Gray only narrowed his eyes. He couldn't help but remember Laxus's strange words.
She's never seemed like she's all that strong. I mean sure, that whole river in the sky thing was pretty impressive, but still…Laxus thinks that she could go up against him? Why would he know more about her then those of us who have already worked with her? However, no matter how much he thought about it he couldn't get answers due to the mage in question being too indisposed to answer any questions.
So rather than wasting his time questioning a woozy mage, Gray instead turned his attention to the man who was currently piloting the boat. "So what the hell man? Why did you all the sudden decide to take us to the island? I thought no one goes to the island anymore?" Gray questioned sarcastically.
The man glanced down at Gray before once again staring out at the open sea. "I used to live upon that island young man, and rather than calling me "Man" I would prefer if you called be Bobo." The man named Bobo said before pausing, likely to collect his thoughts. "I was forced to flee from the island due to the curse…this terrible demon curse." He said before revealing his deformed left arm.
Gray recoiled slightly as he inspected the appendage, Bobo's skin had turned completely purple and the entire are appeared to be cover with insect looking armor. The fingers were longer then they should be and ended in tips, looking more like the talons of a bird of prey than a man's hands.
"Your hand…that's…" Gray heard Lucy mumble quietly ,her eyes opened weakly as she stared at the man.
"This is what happens on that island, an island that we have just arrived at." Bobo announced as the man looked up, Gray following his line of sight to see a tropical island off in the distance.
"So that's Galuna Island huh?" Gray questioned as he turned back to face Bobo, only to see that the sailor had disappeared. "What the hell, where did the old man go?" Gray screamed before noticing that a massive wave was barreling down on them.
"Everyone hold on to something!" Gray shouted at the three other mages, knowing that with his hands still tied that it was going to be a miracle if he made it out of this ok.
However when the wave was just seconds away from washing over them Lucy sprang into action. Despite the nausea she was no doubt feeling she pointed her right arm at the oncoming wave and Gray could see the blue gem on her armband begin to glow.
"Spirit of Water, manifest and obey my will!" She shouted, although with not as much force as she would have normally.
Gray was shocked to see that rather than dragging them into a watery grave the wave had completely stopped moving, almost as if time around them had stopped entirely, before the entirety of the wave twisted into a vaguely human shape.
Gray stared up in awe at the water spirit before hearing the sound of something falling behind him. Turning around, Gray could see that Lucy had once again collapsed, her hand over her mouth clearly trying to hold back the inevitable.
"P-please spirit…take us to the shore…" Gray heard Lucy murmur quietly before she groaned loudly at the fact that the boat was now speeding towards the shore.
The moment the boat hit the stability of the islands beach both Lucy and Natsu sprang from the ship and sprawled out on the beach, their breaths in short ragged bursts.
"Unbelievable you two…it's embarrassing to think that I'm in the same guild as you guys."
"Just be glad you don't have to deal with this too Gray. You can't understand the pain we're going through." Lucy said before standing and staring at their surroundings. "Now that we've arrived we should probably find the town that put out this Super mission." And the blonde mage began walking into the dense jungle, her nausea apparently completely gone already.
Gray however didn't fail to notice what she had said. "Natsu…what did she mean when she said Super mission?"
The fire dragon slayer flinched slightly before crossing his arms and turning to the side. "Well…I knew that Lucy would refuse if she knew what an S-class mission was so I might have…told her it was something else."
"Are you nuts? Forget the fact that who knows how Lucy's going to react to that, if Erza hears that you lied to bring her along on your suicide mission I can only imagine what she'll do you."
"I know that! But I couldn't think of another way to get her to come with us." Natsu growled out, his frustration with the situation obvious.
"We're going to make it up to her later Gray, but she's our teammate and a team is supposed to go on missions together." Happy sadly mewled.
Gray narrowed his eyes as he stared at the two pathetic mages, both looking miserable at the fact that they had lied to Lucy, before sighing loudly and grinning confidently. "Well, you two will have to make it up to her later. But until then let's take down this mission. I'm sure that if we manage to beat the mission Gramps will be pissed for awhile but he'll still be proud of us."
"Heh, who would have thought that you would say something intelligent for once Gray." Natsu joked.
"But it will be up to two to make up for the lie you told her. And if she gets so angry that she leaves her team you have no one to blame but yourselves. Got it?" Gray warned, causing both Natsu's and Happy's expressions to drop but Gray couldn't care less, they had to sleep in the bed they made.
When the four Fairy Tail mages finally reached the small town that had posted the request the night had gone on for so long that the date had changed. The four mages each looked exhausted as they stared up at the massive wooden gate.
"Excuse me? We are here for the job request!" Lucy shouted out but received no immediate response.
"…should we break in?" Natsu questioned as he slammed a fist into his open palm.
"…maybe, give it a minute." Lucy commented, causing Gray to smack her lightly on the back of her head.
"We don't destroy a client's property Lucy."
Lucy pouted slightly before nodding at Gray, during which time two figures appeared on top of the massive walls.
"Who goes there?" One of the figures shouted.
"We are mages of the Fairy Tail guild and we have come here to complete your request." Lucy yelled as she turned back to the gate.
"Why weren't we notified that the request had been accepted?" The other guard questioned, clearly not trusting them.
Lucy turned back to face her companions, an anxious expression now on her face.
"There must have just been some mix up with the paperwork." Gray explained casually, causing Lucy to sigh in relief as she was unsure what they would if the village.
The two men seemed to be whispering to each other on top of the wall before both turned to stare down at them again. "Show us your guild marks!" the first man shouted.
Lucy held up her right hand, her pink guild mark plain as day, while the others each showed off their own respective marks. There was silence behind the gate for a moment before the entire wall shuddered and the massive gate began to lift into the air. When the four mages entered the village proper they were greeted by what appeared to be nearly every member of the village standing before them, each person covered in cloth to obscure their features.
"Welcome to our village, mages of Fairy Tail, I am Moka the village chief. Now then, forgive me for being so forward but there is something we would like you to see." The man in the front introduced himself before turning to his people and nodding. In one fluid motion the members of the village removed their cloaks to reveal that each person bore a limb similar to Bobo's.
Moka went on to explain that around three years ago the moon had begun to turn purple and since that fateful day each of the villagers had one of their limbs transformed. Their village had consulted with a multitude of doctors, both the magical and physical kind, but no person had ever given them a definite definition on what afflicted them.
It was at that moment that the moon, its light indeed having turned purple, came out from behind the moon, causing the people of the village to take on a completely demonic appearance.
Lucy narrowed her eyes in suspicion, not at the villager's appearances in general but at what their appearances meant. Her mother had once mentioned the demon race, and what she had mentioned had sticked with Lucy her entire life.
These people...they look almost exactly like what my mom described. does this mean that there's a clue to the dragon's fate somewhere on this island? Lucy thought seriously to herself as Natsu jumped forward, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Wow! You guys look so awesome!" He exclaimed, causing the villagers to stare at him strangely despite the fact that Lucy agreed with Natsu's declaration.
Moka went on to explain that due to the curse of the moon each and every night they would take on these demonic appearances and return to human form in the morning. But that one poor soul had fully succumbed to the curse and had turned into a mindless beast, forcing the villagers to put him down in order to keep them safe.
Moka then showed them a photo of the man who had lost control, the same man who had taken them to the island and who was also the son of Moka; Bobo.
Lucy heard Gray mutter something about the man disappearing because he was a ghost, but Lucy couldn't put any faith in that explanation. "It" had easily detected the man's presence when they had been negotiating for him to take them to the island and even though she couldn't fully pay attention to him during their travels, she was certain that the man was standing there with them even if she couldn't explain his sudden disappearance.
"There is only one way to free us from this evil curse and end our suffering…you must destroy the moon!" Moka shouted as he pointed vindictively at the celestial body in question.
"Understood." Lucy said with a nod, drawing all attention to herself. "However, before I attempt to remove the moon from the sky I will need to recover the magical energy that I've lost today and would prefer to strike from the highest point in the island. I understand that you would want us to remove the curse as soon as possible but would it be alright if we retire for the evening and remove the moon tomorrow?"
Moka frowned slightly and shut his eyes in thought for a moment before replying. "Understood, I shall have someone show you to a building you may use for the evening."
Lucy bowed slightly, the other three boys following her lead a second later. "Thank you, Village Chief, I promise your days of suffering will end before we leave this island."
When the four Fairy Tail mages finally found themselves in a small hut to sleep in for the night Gray instantly turned to stare incredulously at Lucy.
"Lucy…don't tell me that you actually think that you can destroy the moon?"
"By myself? No." Lucy replied, causing both Gray and Happy to sigh with relief. "But if I borrow the power of one of my spirits it should be possible."
"Nope, not even remotely possible, you can't destroy the moon Lucy!" Gray desperately shouted at her, hoping beyond hope that she wasn't actually capable of doing what she claimed she could.
"Then what do you suggest we do Icicle breath? We took a job and if we back out without completing it it'll make Fairy Tail look bad." Natsu commented from his seat.
Gray was silent for a moment as he racked his brain for something to keep the two idiots from doing something that would cause irreversible damage to the world. "…ok…the mountain." He murmured, drawing the others attention. "Tomorrow we go investigate the top of the mountain here. On our way in I saw what looked like ruins on the top of the mountain so before we…destroy the moon…we go see if the curse has something to do with that mountain."
Lucy was silent for a brief moment before nodding her head. "Understood…and as I said earlier, I would prefer to attack from the highest point on the island so going to the mountain was something I would have preferred to do anyway."
"Right…sure…"Gray said with a sigh and turned to Natsu. "Honestly Flame Brain…how can you put up with this?"
"What are you talking about Snow Cone? How can you not enjoy the randomness that is Lucy?" Natsu questioned with a grin, only causing Lucy to tilt her head in confusion.
The next morning was mostly uneventful as they slowly explored the island. The only exception being when a gigantic rat dressed in a maid outfit had attempted to attack them but before it could even land a single blow Lucy had sniped it between the eyes, knocking the beast out cold.
They did however discover an ancient temple that was decorated in moonlike symbols.
"Is this what you saw from the boat Gray?" Lucy asked as she gingerly placed a hand on the stone walls, the stone beneath her hands slightly crumbling at her touch.
"Ya but based off of what we can see here it doesn't look like anyone's used this place in years." Gray commented as he looked suspiciously at the moon carvings that decorated the wall.
"Man, this place is falling apart. Even the floors look like they're about to collapse." Natsu said as he stamped his foot on the ground, instantly causing the ground beneath them to collapse and dropped their group into an underground cavern.
"Natsu, you dumbass, what the hell do you think your doin-." Gray started to curse before noticing something that caused his eyes to go wide in surprise and horror.
Before their group was a massive humanoid creature trapped in an equally as large block of ice.
"No…there's no way! How…how did this get here?!" Gray yelled in shock, his cool persona shattering under the stress of the situation.
"You know what this thing is Gray?" Natsu questioned, his eyes never leaving the creature that had caused his rival to react so violently.
"It's a demon…the demon of destruction." Gray started to say, before pausing to collect his thoughts.
However, Lucy was able to pick up where he left off. "Deliora, a demon created by Zeref." She answered quietly as she stared up at the demons massive form, her thoughts unreadable on her blank face.
Gray turned and grabbed Lucy's shoulders so fast that Natsu and Happy couldn't even tell he had moved. "How do you know about Deliora Lucy?" He asked, his voice strained under the pressure of the situation.
Lucy pulled her gaze from Deliora to stare at Gray, her gaze nearly as cold as the glare that she used on her foes. "I mentioned this before Fullbuster…but there was a time in my life when I was…"persuaded" to learn all I can on Zeref's demons." She explained before staring back up at the demon. "Deliora here is one that I was forced to learn about in person."
Gray gulped audibly before turning back to face his past. However, before he could say anything more Lucy grabbed him and Natsu by the arms and pulled them behind a nearby rock wall. Gray was about to yell at her for her actions but the blonde mage quickly placed a finger over her lips, silencing the ice make mages protests.
A few seconds later the group of three strange mages that Lucy detected approached the chamber, complaining about intruders and how they had to deal with them before someone known as the Cold Emperor learned of their presence. Eventually they ran into an adjoining cavern due to Happy throwing a stone in order to distract them.
As Lucy extracted herself from the rocks her eyes fell upon Gray's back, the ice make mage staring up at the monster with fury in his eyes.
"I understand that you want to possibly go after this Cold Emperor immediately Gray, but those mages spoke of something happening at night. If we want to learn what they are doing on this island we should probably wait until then before making a move." She commented quietly.
"…you're right…" Gray quietly said with fists clenched at his side.
"Wait what! We've got to hang around here until the night time? It's only the middle of the day!" Natsu shouted, before recoiling slightly at Lucy and Gray's stares. "…Fine, well I'm taking a nap. Wake me when its time." The Fire Dragon Slayer mumbled before walking over to a flat slab of stone and lying down
Lucy watched her teammate for a second before staring once again at Gray's back. The Ice Make mage had taken a seat right in front of the demon and hadn't said anything for a few minutes. But Lucy could tell he was having a hard time dealing with seeing the demon once again.
Lucy gulped silently as she gathered her wits and slowly moved to sit beside Gray but said nothing, her own gaze falling on the demon as well.
The two sat in complete silence for awhile, each dueling with phantoms that no one could help them with, before Gray finally turned to stare at Lucy with a curious gaze.
"You said…that you encountered Deliora too…how did you meet with this thing."
Lucy was silent for a moment as she tried to think of a way to phrase her answer. "When I was younger my…caretaker would have me travel across Fiore in order to complete tasks for them. It was on one of these trips that I was forced into a confrontation with Deliora…a confrontation that I barely escaped with my life intact."
"…sounds like your parents weren't exactly the most heartwarming people."
"I never said they were my parents, they were simply the people who told me what to do." Lucy explained, sighing at Gray's uncomprehending stare. "I explained this to Mira but I never knew my parents. There was a person who taught me what I know who I refer to as my mother but there was no blood relation between us."
The two fell back into silence for a moment before Gray leaned back. "That's nearly the same relation I had with the lady who taught me my magic…Ur. She wasn't related to me at all but after my parents died to Deliora she was all I had."
"May I ask…what happened to her?" Lucy asked tentatively, knowing full well that from the Ice mages tone that nothing good had happened to the woman.
"…she sacrificed everything she had in order to cast Ice shell upon Deliora." Gray quietly said, his hands clenched in front of his chest.
"I'm sorry…" Lucy murmured with downcast eyes, not sure where to go from there. She had never been that great at comforting the other children besides for hugging them until they stopped crying, but she couldn't imagine the same strategy working on the young man next to her. "If you wouldn't mind…would you like to tell me about her for awhile?"
Gray's head whipped up to stare at her, his eyes wide in surprise for a second before a lonely smile crossed his face. "Sure Lucy…I've got plenty of stories to tell."
Lucy sighed in exhaustion as she oversaw Cybele's construction of pitfalls around the village, her mind going back to what happened earlier that night. When night had finally fallen a beam of pure moonlight had descended into the Deliora chamber causing the ice to begin to melt. The four mages had instantly moved to the top of the ruins to find a large amount of people chanting a spell with immense concentration.
None of the Fairy Tail wizards present could identify what exactly the spell being used was meant to do, but each of them knew that whatever it was it was what was responsible for the ice covering Deliora starting to melt.
When the mages were seconds away from attacking the three strange wizards from earlier in the day along with a new figure that had a faced obscured by a helmet, a figure the others had referred to as the Cold Emperor.
When the Cold Emperor heard about Lucy and the others infiltrating the island and discovering Deliora he ordered something that even someone with Lucy's background was shocked by; he ordered the elimination of the entirety of the village, something that no one present was willing to let happen.
The second after the false emperor ordered the villages destruction Natsu leapt out from behind the rock, roaring about how they were the ones who had been sent to investigate. However the Emperor, a man Gray revealed to be someone by the name of Lyon, still ordered his men to attack the village. When Natsu attempted to attack the man his body was quickly encased in ice and Gray turned and ordered Happy to carry Lucy to the village, something that both were not too keen on doing as it meant abandoning Gray and Natsu.
The moment that they arrived at the village Lucy ordered the confused villagers to assemble in the town square and informed them of what was coming.
"While I appreciate you informing us of the danger young lady, the moon still curse's us. Why have you not destroyed it?" Moka questioned the moment Lucy finished speaking.
Lucy turned to the elderly man, a rare frustrated glare on her face. "We decided that the safety and protection of your village took priority over the completion of your mission. However, if you really desire the moon to be destroyed this exact second I can expend my magical energy in a single arrow and leave us all at the mercy of those who seek your destruction. Will that be acceptable?"
Moka looked ready to respond when he was tackled by a few other demonized villagers. "N-no…we are perfectly happy with you trying to save our lives Miss Lucy." Another man said.
"But Lucy, with only the two of us how will we keep them from destroying this place?" Happy questioned.
Lucy stared down at the blue cat with an amused expression before tapping her bracer. "What are you talking about Happy? We have all the help we need right here." She said before holding out her right hand, the brown gem glowing brighter than normal. "Oh ever shifting spirit of the earth, manifest your champion before me. Come forth; Cybele!" Lucy shouted, a pink haired girl in a maid's uniform appearing before her.
"You summoned Mistress? What can I do for you?" The fully recovered Cybele asked with a bow.
While Gaian was an earth spirit who specialized in moving massive amounts of earth, Cybele explained that she instead took pride in her ability to precisely move the earth without disturbing the surface. Under Lucy's orders the pink haired spirit created an innumerable amount of shallow pits around the entrance of the town while still leaving the top layer of soil intact, creating perfectly hidden pitfalls.
"Lucy…you don't really expect pitfalls to stop them right?" Happy asked nervously, not really comfortable leaving the safety of the village in the hands of someone who was naive enough to think that one of the oldest tricks in the book would work.
"Of course not Happy, but when someone's trying to get themselves out of a pit they tend to stop paying attention to their surroundings." Lucy explained as she fiddled with the bowstring on her weapon.
"Oh I get it…but thank goodness. I was really afraid for a second there that you might be even stupider than Natsu." Happy commented with a snicker that Lucy promptly ignored.
It wasn't even a few minutes later that Lucy heard the sound of the earth collapsing and a man's startled scream from outside the village wall. Lucy instantly drew her bow and aimed at the now exposed pit, intending to fire the moment she saw the outline of a person. However, her preparedness was for naught, as Natsu's pink hair followed shortly by his annoyed face was all that popped out of the hole.
"Seriously guys? Why are you digging holes right now?" He questioned somewhat angrily as he hefted an unconscious Gray over his shoulder.
"Natsu? How did you….no never mind. Cybele!" Lucy shouted, causing the spirit to pop out of the ground only a few feet from the hole Natsu had fallen into much to his surprise. "Please guide Natsu to the gate." She shouted before dropping down to the ground and standing next to the entrance to the village.
Not a minute later, Natsu and Cybele entered through the now open gate and were greeted by Lucy, Happy, and the rest of the village.
"What happened to Gray? Did he lose to the Lyon person?" Lucy questioned in concern for their unconscious teammate.
"Donno, found him unconscious up by the ritual site." Natsu said as he passed Gray to one of the villagers and looked around. "But where did those bastards go? Didn't they leave before me?"
Lucy frowned as she considered Natsu's words. "Indeed…it seems strange that they have been taking so long despite the fact that they had a head start."
It was at that moment that the sound of something flying through the air echoed through the area, drawing the attention of everyone present. Everyone was shocked to see a massive rat flying through the air, the three subordinates standing upon its back. Within the rats claws was a massive bucket.
Lucy narrowed her eyes in suspicion as a drop of greenish fluid dropped from the bucket and began to fall, its path down to the earth leading it right to where Lucy was standing. Lucy was about to jump out of the way, her instincts screaming danger, but before she could Natsu tackled her out of the way.
As it turned out both were correct in their decisions, as the place that Lucy had been standing had melted down leaving a hole in the ground.
"Oh god! It's carrying acid!" One of the villagers shouted, causing the others to begin running around in panic as the rat released its payload.
Natsu and Lucy however refused to give into the panic, the two of them locking eyes for a moment before both sprang into action.
"Natsu! Gather everyone in the center of the village. Be prepared to use your flames to dispel the goo. Cybele! Please switch out with Gaian!" Lucy shouted, the two in question nodding as the moved as she ordered.
As Natsu moved to the center of the village Cybele was covered in a warm brown glow, her shape shifting into Gaian's more bulky form. The spirit took one look at the sky and knew exactly what Lucy intended to do. Both Lucy and her spirit slammed their palms into the ground before staring at each other, their magical energies channeling into the soil beneath them.
"Unison Raid: Three Layer stone barrier!" the two shouted, the earth shacking in response to their words. A second later the earth around the village exploded upwards, forming three separate layers of thick stone.
As Lucy struggled to maintain the integrity of the barrier she could feel the acid strike the outer layer, the stone comprising it melting under the strain. NO! I refuse to fail these innocent lives! Lucy screamed in her mind as she poured more magical energy into the two remaining barriers.
Luckily, it appeared that when the acid first came into contact with something it would quickly dry out, leaving the second barrier only slightly scorched and the final dome completely unscathed.
The moment Lucy confirmed that the acid was no longer a threat she released the magic, her body slouching as her magical levels dipped far too low. She nodded at Gaian, who nodded back and released his own hold on the barrier, causing the earth to crumble back down, and closed his own gate likely to recover.
Lucy on the other hand had no time to take it easy, as two mages had jumped off of the massive rat while the third remained airborne.
Lucy drew her bow and turned to face Natsu and the villagers, intending to ask her partner to deal with the two on the ground while she dealt with the rat and the other pink haired mage. However, before she could even utter a single syllable, Natsu had sprinted past her at the dog man and the shorter man with massive eyebrows.
The two mages exchanged grins for a brief second before Natsu moved past her line of sight and Lucy fell to a knee, drawing her bowstring and firing in a single fluid motion. The rat, apparently not anticipating the chance of being counter attacked, was struck by Lucy's arrow in the dead center of its chest. Roaring in agony, the rat's tail stopped spinning and both the rat and the mage that was riding on its back fell from the sky in the general vicinity of the beach.
Lucy rose to her feet and started to run in the direction that the rat had fallen, something that Happy noticed instantly.
"Lucy! Where are you going?" The cat shouted out as he alternated between watching Natsu's flames get blocked and Lucy's retreating form.
"I'm going to confirm that the other two were defeated. Stay here with Natsu and make sure that no one else shows up!" Lucy shouted back as she rounded a corner, not waiting for the blue cats reply.
The moment Lucy was sure that she was alone she allowed "It" to refocus some of her remaining magical energy into her legs, allowing her to move at an accelerated pace to the place that she saw the rat hit the ground.
When Lucy finally arrived at the location that the massive rat had fallen she was only able to confirm that the rat had been defeated, as there was no sign of the pink haired woman.
"How dare you…how dare you do this to Angelica!" Lucy heard a voice shout from the cliff to her right.
Staring up, Lucy could see the pink haired woman glaring down at her, tears flowing from her eyes. "Because of your interference the Cold Emperor will no longer love me! I, Sherry Blendy, will relieve you of your life in exchange for my loss of love!" She screamed as she gestured to a nearby tree. "Doll attack: Tree Doll!" She shouted, a nearby tree extracting itself from the ground and turning to lash out at Lucy.
Dodging out of the trees roots, Lucy aimed her bow at the center of what could be considered the wood dolls head but hesitated. My magical arrows won't be of help here…the tree won't stop just because it's in pain. Lucy thought grimly as she leapt away and unto the nearby beach where she could dodge the attacks easier. I'll have to summon a spirit to fight against it. However, I can't summon any earth spirits after summoning two greater spirits so close together…I'll just have to rely on a water spirit. Lucy said as she held out her arm, the water gem glowing brightly.
A second later a spirit of water rose up from the seawater behind Lucy, its long arms whipping out and striking the wood doll in an almost whip like fashion and sending the now shattered tree flying into the air.
"How dare you do that to my doll you loveless witch!" Sherry shouted out in anger before smiling cruelly. "But no matter, if you're going to summon spirits to help you then you'll only be digging your grave even deeper."
"What are you talking about?" Lucy said in confusion before receiving her answer a second later when her water spirit struck her in the back, sending her rolling across the sand and opening a large gash across her skin. Using her momentum to roll back onto her feet, Lucy saw her water spirit sliding across the ground until it was between Lucy and Sherry and despite the fact that it had no face she could tell that it was staring at her.
"What did you do to my spirit?" Lucy questioned quietly, anger making its way onto her normally expressionless face.
"My magic allows me to control any object and creatures that I desire, and that includes spirits." The woman explained before laughing haughtily. "Now be destroyed by your own magic!" Sherry shouted as she pointed at Lucy, the water spirit moving in response.
However, Lucy wasn't about to sit back and allow her own spirit to attack her. The moment the spirit started to move she severed the connection to the plane of water, forcing the spirits physical manifestation back into its own plane of existence.
"Hmph, so what if you can send your spirit back. I can use all of nature to attack you and you can't summon any of your spirits to defend yourself. I shall send you to the afterlife with love!" She shouted as she cast her magic on the stones around the beach, a massive rock golem rising underneath her.
This isn't good…I don't have an avenue for victory anymore. Lucy thought without a hint of panic as she dodged the golem's massive fist and hid in the dust cloud that had been kicked up by the impact. My bow won't affect his rock golem either, and if I aim for the mage she'll just put the wall in the way. And my spirits are all susceptible to her magic…do I not have a choice but to unleash "It"?
But as Lucy was struck by the golem's massive arm, the air in her lungs exiting her body along with a good deal of blood, her choice was made for her. I can't handle this myself…I'll just have to leave this to you…
.
.
.
"Confirm. Target mage identified. Processing…"
"Warning: Primary magic unable to access due to seal."
"Warning: Secondary magic unsuited for current engagement."
"…method of engagement confirmed. Physical combat confirmed for current altercation."
Lucy shuddered as a strange numbing sensation overcame her body the moment "It" took control over her limbs and accelerated her mind. As the rock golem began to swing its massive fist in an attempt to crush Lucy.
However to the Lucy of that moment it might as well as been not moving at all. With "It" pumping adrenaline throughout her body the world had slowed to the point that it wasn't moving at all. "It" moved her eyes so fast that Lucy herself wasn't entirely sure what she was currently looking at but was sure that "It" knew exactly what it was doing. "It" quickly calculated the most efficient method of attack and that method required Lucy's body to remain stationary until the last second.
As the stone fist slowly approached Lucy could do nothing but watch it inch closer to her face, as "It" was already in control of her limbs.
"It" waited for the last second before collapsing Lucy's legs out from underneath her, almost as if she was a puppet whose strings were cut, and with an explosive force pushed off the sand with Lucy's arms, sending her flying almost completely horizontally to the ground and directly between the golems legs.
Just as "It" expected, the golem's blow sent up a massive amount of dust, completely obscuring Lucy's movement. The moment that "It" confirmed that Sherry's attention was still on the spot that Lucy had been standing in just moments ago "It" launched itself off of the ground onto the golems shoulder with the intent to strike down Lucy's opponent.
However, "It" quickly realized that Lucy had no weapons that could inflict fatal damage, and instead chose to simply lash out at Sherry's exposed neck, striking her hard enough to knock her unconscious.
The moment the puppeteer mage fell unconscious the golem began to collapse under its own weight, forcing Lucy to regain control over her limbs and grab her now disabled opponent and leap to safety.
As the two mages rolled across the ground Lucy dropped Sherry and remained sprawled out, her limbs almost paralyzed. It had been a long time since she had relinquished control to her other side and just as she expected her body was no longer able to keep up with "It's" demands, and now her muscles were screaming out in pain because of it.
"Hah…hah…hah…I knew that I should have kept up with my training after leaving that place." Lucy complained to no one in particular. However, she wasn't able to take it easy for long, as a powerful and furious entity was approaching slowly and methodically.
Lucy's head shot up, her eyes darting back and forth as she tried to determine the source of the magical energy, and could see a red headed woman dressed in armor approaching the beach.
"Erza? What are you doing here?" Lucy asked, her guard dropping once she realized that one of her family was the one approaching.
Erza looked around for a moment before her eyes settled on Lucy, causing the blonde haired mage to flinch at the anger in her gaze. "…I have come here to retrieve you four, and I trust that you understand why?"
"N-no I don't…does this have something to do with our super mission?" Lucy quietly refuted, feeling a little too much anxiety at the fact that she still couldn't move and the hostility the red headed woman was giving off.
Erza's eyes narrowed even more but her hostility lessened somewhat. "Lucy…do you not know what you have done here?" She questioned, and after seeing Lucy's confused stare placed a hand on her forehead. "You and Natsu took a S-class mission without approval. Something that could be grounds for expulsion depending on the Master's anger."
"…eh?"
Natsu winced as he watched Erza pace in front of the villagers and interrogated them, knowing exactly what they were going through as he had suffered at the hands of the red haired demon only a few minutes ago.
After Gray had thrashed the white haired ice guy and Natsu had punched the once frozen demon into oblivion the two mages had met up with Erza Lucy and Happy who had been dealing with Leon's lackeys.
However, when the two boys approached they had quickly realized how deep the shit they were in was. Lucy had refused to meet their gaze, seeming to look at everything but them, and Erza had turned to glare at them for a second before beating them senseless.
"How dare you two toy with a maiden's innocence! You shall suffer for your transgressions!" Erza had shouted before beating the two to a pulp.
Natsu honestly did feel bad for lying to Lucy, but like he told Ice nuts he couldn't think of a way to get Lucy to come with Happy and him on the mission. He could tell that Lucy wouldn't like to break the guilds rules and wouldn't come with them normally, so he told her a half lie with the full intention of making it up to her later.
However, he would have never thought that she would react to the truth like this. Lucy hadn't looked him in the eye since they had met up and even when he had tried to apologize she had simply moved to stand on the other side of Erza, causing the red haired demon to glare at Natsu once again.
"I see…I understand the situation." Erza murmured quietly, brining Natsu back out of his thoughts. "Lucy! It's time for us to destroy the moon!" She announced, gesturing for the blonde haired mage to join her.
"…understood." The blonde haired mage answered dejectedly, causing Natsu, Gray, and Happy to flinch at her tone.
As Lucy muttered something under her breath a green glow appeared next to her, eventually taking the form of a man wearing a long fur covered overcoat.
"Well now, this is quite the audience for my debut as your spirit." The man said with a chuckle before turning to Lucy. "What can I do for you today Lucy?"
"We're destroying the moon." Lucy answered quietly as she drew the bow from her back and aimed upwards.
The man's eyes widened slightly before his shoulders began to shake in laughter. "I see…then I suppose you will want to borrow some of my magic then?" the man asked, to which Lucy only nodded her head in confirmation.
The man moved closer to Lucy, causing Natsu to narrow his eyes in anger, and placed a hand on her shoulder. The two stood there for a moment, eyes closed in concentration, before a green glow suffused their bodies. The glow growing brighter and brighter before condensing at the tip of Lucy's bow.
It was then that a strong wind began to pick up in the area, blowing aside a few loose objects and sending anything too small flying through the air. Natsu watched as the man took a step away from Lucy and held his hands out almost as if he too was holding a bow in his hands.
Natsu's eyes widened slightly as a faint line of green energy arched across the space between the two, their magic's melding together into one powerful spell.
Lucy opened her eyes then and pointed her bow directly upwards, an action that was mirrored by the man next to her.
"Unison Raid Air Strike: Sky Peirce!" The two shouted as Lucy released her arrow, a sonic boom sending nearly everyone nearby flying backwards a few feet.
By the time that Natsu sat back up the arrow had flown far above the village, the arrow itself glowing in a bright green light with the world around it seeming to warp in response to the magic.
However, something completely unexpected happened as the arrow ascended into the sky. When the arrow had passed the height of the nearby mountain the sound of glass shattering echoed across the island and a purple barrier that had been invisible to the naked eye broke into pieces.
"What? What just happened?" Natsu questioned as he watched the arrow continue to fly off into the night, leaving a shattered sky in its wake.
"The moon drip spell created a magical film over the island, altering the memories of the people of this village." Erza explained, drawing looks of confusion from everyone present except Lucy who was still staring up at the sky.
Natsu's mouth went slack as Erza explained that rather than a curse, the islanders had originally been demons and that the pure magic of the moon drip had confused them, causing them to think that they were originally humans.
The villagers had been ecstatic when Bobo had flown back in, the other villagers unfurling wings of their own and joining the man they had thought was dead. However, Natsu noticed that someone was still apparently completely oblivious to the now happy mood. Looking over, Natsu could see that Lucy was still staring up into the sky, but her sights were not on the now celebrating demons, but on the moon itself.
"Something wrong Luce?" Natsu asked as he moved to stand alongside his partner with a grin on his face.
"…I didn't hit it…" She murmured quietly as she frowned up at the sky.
Natsu was about to say something more but before he could Lucy seemed to realize exactly who was talking to her and after ducking her head and looking away she turned and sprinted behind a nearby building.
"Luce!" Natsu shouted as he reached out to stop her but was stopped himself by Erza's armored hand.
"Leave it alone for now Natsu…you can figure out a way to make it up to her later." Erza ordered with a sad smile on her face.
However Natsu shrugged off her hand and sprinted after the blonde mage, ignoring Erza's command to stop. If he didn't patch things up with Lucy now he might never be able to make it up to her. And Natsu couldn't stand the thought of not being able to go on missions with her again.
Natsu sprinted through the village as he tracked the wayward blonde by her scent, leading him to find her standing behind two buildings on the far end of the village. However she was no longer by herself, as she had been joined by an ecstatic looking Bobo and Moka.
"Thank you, Miss Lucy, for your help here. If it weren't for you and the other Fairy Tail mages I don't think I would have ever been able to return home." Bobo said with a bow, his father mirroring his actons.
"Indeed, and despite the fact that you did in fact fail to destroy the moon and miss Erza declared that we cannot offer you and your group the Jewel reward for your victory after seeing that you are an elemental summoner I would like to offer you this as a token of our gratitude." Moka said as he held out his hand, a pitch black lacrima held within.
Natsu watched as Lucy gently took the orb from the smaller demon, her face covered in surprise before she smiled and curtsied. "Thank you, Chief Moka, I shall take care of this till the end of my days." She said as she placed the gem in the bracer, the lacrima glowing with a black light.
The three stood there for a moment before Lucy looked back up. "Chief Moka, Sir Bobo, if it is not too much trouble, I would like to ask something of you and your people's past."
Natsu could see looks of surprise on the two demon's faces as they nodded their heads in approval.
Lucy paused before continuing, almost as if she was trying to gather her courage. "…long ago my mother spoke of beings that greatly resembled your people and told me that what I would one day seek could be found in the history of such people…if it isn't too much to ask, would you please share with me the origins of your people?" Natsu heard Lucy ask with a bow.
Natsu could see looks of confusion on the two men's faces as they watched Lucy, a look that was all over Natsu's own face as well.
Wait…her mother? The same mother who told her to look for the dragons? Does that mean that this has something to do with pops?! Natsu thought almost in a panic as he tried to hide himself in the shadows of the tent, knowing that Lucy would drop the question in she knew that he was there.
"…while I don't quite understand why your mother would know of our people Miss Lucy, I can't see any reason to hide our origin from you." Moka declared as he scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "You need not look so nervous; I shall share with you what I know."
"…thank you very much." Lucy murmured as she stood back up, her face serious once again.
Moka crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment, before staring up at Lucy. "Our people have lived on this island for generations, but passed down in my family is a record of where our ancestors once came from. From my understanding our people originated far to the east of Fiore, beyond the desert and the mountains that cover the continent, and fled to this land to escape from something. but what this thing was has been lost to time. We do know however that whatever it is it was beyond understanding...it was death incarnate."
Natsu could see a shadow pass over Lucy's features as she absorbed the information before she bowed again. "I see…thank you. This has been a great help." She murmured quietly before turning and heading back into the center of the village where the entirety of the village was now celebrating, Moka and Bobo following after her.
Natsu stepped out of the shadow of the tent, his fists clenched as he watched the three move in and out of the torchlight. Luce…what exactly are you hiding?
Do you guys like chapters being long like this? Or would you prefer them somewhat shorter but more often?
Either way, look forward to next time! where we'll see Natsu make it up to Lucy and the start of the Phantom Lord arc!