Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.

I do own the idea for the fic though.


A change of scene.

(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)


Chapter 7

The Memory Remains 2

Howling Moon.


Still at night…

"I think I heard of Laxus and Mystogan before." Lucy mused as she balanced her steps over the thin border of the canal's walls, her small Celestial Spirit, Plue, following her through the normal path. She had her arms extended to the sides to maintain equilibrium and her mind in the events of that day. "With strong mages like them… Fairy Tail really is a great guild."

With Master Makarov at the top to control everything, Erza, Ryota, Laxus, Mystogan and the other two to keep the guild standing while he was gone; Fairy Tail surely was a great guild. Actually, it was the only guild in Fiore with six active S-class members in it, from what she read in the Weekly Sorcerer.

The blond girl snickered as she realized the current standings of the guild. She was part of Erza's team with Ryota and Gray, all of them being strong mages, and since she was in the same team, she could be tagged as another strong mage from the guild as well. "Now I finally understand the chain of command in Fairy Tail."

Of course, many would disagree to that.

The new addition to the guild was more unique than powerful, with her Celestial Spirit magic being something really rare in these lands yet with many openings in it, one of them being the essential low level of the caster of such magic.

Who would tell her that when there was no one around to hear her?

No one, but it didn't matter, she realized her own flaws and weaknesses herself, so there was no need to get her out of the clouds or explain things to her. The blond girl was smart enough to know how much she could face and when it was the moment to retreat. "I'll work even harder starting tomorrow!"

As an old saying goes.

Don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today.

She walked to where her apartment was, next to the canal, humming a soft tune to herself as she wondered how to start the next day and some ways to earn more experience and coin. She needed to pay her rent after all. Maybe take an easy job to get accustomed to working on her own, or maybe something a bit more challenging to practice some more with her spirits?

'I wonder if Luminer or Erza could help me decide on that…' She wondered idly as she went up the stairs, blushing slightly when remembering the pink-haired Councilor and his words to her when they were about to embark on a really important mission.

"I heard your name is Lucy, nice to meet you," Luminer whispered in the same tone as before, slightly closing his eyes. "It'll be a pleasure to work with you."

'Maybe I could ask Luminer… alone… when Erza isn't around…' She wasn't blind. Of course not, she knew the wizard from the Council had a settled interested on the knight with scarlet hair and she was not willing to step in the middle to try and change the pink-hair's point of focus.

At least not when the other point of focus was close-by.

And again, as an old saying goes…

All is fair in love and war.

'Yes! If he's alone tomorrow, I'll ask him for a special training…' Lucy giggled mischievously, covering her mouth with one hand as she went straight for her apartment, opening the door without any big worries…

"Welcome back."

"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!" …and almost having a heart-attack when she found Gray sitting on her bed with nothing but his boxers to cover his nudity. She forgot whatever she was thinking and lunged forward with her legs aimed for a kick, successfully hitting the Ice Wizard on the gut and sending him flying through the window next to her bed. "Y-you pervert…!"

After a while, and some explanations, later…

"You should've waited outside, Gray." Lucy grumbled lowly to her team partner, seeing him rubbing the hurt spot she hit earlier while she drank some tea to calm her nerves. Of course, he was fully clothed now, with ropes tied around certain parts of his body to keep the man from stripping nude again. "Or you could've talked to me tomorrow."

"Oi, what're you saying? We're a team, right?" Gray asked plainly to the blonde, crossing his arms and staring seriously at the girl to make a point. "If you go into my house I wouldn't freak out like this."

'Why would I want to enter your house when you're not in there and why would I even want to go in there in the first place?' The Celestial Spirits Wizard thought dryly after the statement was done, not finding an answer to her rhetorical questions and sighing in defeat to the man. She looked at the brunet and her posture slouched, not knowing how else to react. "Why are you here, Gray?"

"You know... earlier today… I've made a decision." The man whispered slowly, his eyes hidden behind the bangs of his hair. He tapped the table strongly and stood up, throwing his chair away and surprising the girl before him. "We'll do an S-class job and catch up to the others!"

He searched inside his coat, struggling with the ropes around it, and pulled out a yellowish piece of paper.

A job request.

And it had 'S-Class' written in bold, red letters.

"We'll go to the cursed island! Galuna!"

Lucy stayed mute for a minute, looking in bewilderment at the young man showing the request and clenching his teeth in mild anger until she finally grasped what he said.

Her eyes widened beyond belief.

"WHAT!?"


The next day…

In Hargeon…

It didn't take them long to arrive to the port city from Magnolia. Taking a train in the middle of the night, when there were no complications or many passengers to slow the boarding procedures, Erza and Luminer were now walking down the streets of the city of Hargeon at a relative slow pace.

Reasons?

None.

They just had a nice rest and meal and were heading to the port as they wondered what would be waiting for them in the supposedly cursed island. From what the pink-haired Councilor revealed: one of his men was scouting the place not long ago and found a group of cultists working there.

What were they doing or why, he did not say.

"So unreliable," Erza sighed reluctantly, feeling now a bit down on spirits when she found out there was not much information about what they had to do. It was only a call to ensure everything was in order on the island, not much else. "Who is this man that called you, Luminer?"

"You mean Belcross?" Luminer looked at the woman in wonder before grinning from ear to ear, remembering the face of his subordinate in his memories. He folded his arms behind his head and continued walking as he told the knight what he knew. "He's been a friend of mine in the last three years… a handful at times, but a good guy in the end."

"Belcross…" The Titania frowned at the name, searching through her mind for a face that could match the name. She was sure she heard it before, somewhere, she just couldn't discern when. Her face perked up and turned to look at the Councilor. "You mentioned him when I was on trial the other day." Her eyes narrowed as more memories flowed. "Something about Belcross, Menas and a Division…"

"Good to know your hearing's good, Titania." The pink-haired chuckled amusedly, remembering the woman was inside a carriage when the talking about the Division was made. "But yeah," He stopped walking and moved his arms to cross them over his chest, a proud smirk on his face. "The Division is my team in the Council, the strongest mages from across the continent gathered to fight under my command." He chuckled again. "Pretty awesome, huh?"

The woman's eyes widened for a second and then narrowed, finding something off in the story. "How is it I never heard of it before?"

"Oh! That!" Luminer's eyes widened this time, a bit in fear of what just happened. He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, looking everywhere but at the wizard with him. "It's supposed to be a covert group and all of that, with only the Chairman and me knowing of its existence… since, you know, we deal with special jobs most of the time."

'Does he even realize he's revealing more of it as he keeps on talking?' Erza thought dryly, hearing the man babbling more and more information that probably shouldn't be revealed to the public. She shook her head in mild amusement, assuming it was the pink-hair's natural innocence making a second appearance. "Stop, Luminer, you're blowing your group's cover with all you're babbling."

"U-uh? Whatcha mean?" The sage stopped his rants and asked lamely, staring blankly at the scarlet-haired woman for a second before noticing he did it again. He brought a palm to his face and slapped himself hard, not believing how easy it was for his mouth to start running when talking with the Fairy Tail wizard. Was he getting used to her somehow? He only showed this side of him with those in the Tower; it never happened something like this to him. "O-oh crap… if the Chairman hears of this…"

"Don't beat yourself down." If it weren't because it was a serious matter, the woman was sure to have at least chuckled at the image before her, but instead, she sighed and motioned Luminer to follow her. The man did as told, still berating himself over what happened, but he did. "If it comes down to explaining, tell them you informed me for the sake of the mission." She shrugged slightly when the pink-hair's head rose to look at her questioningly. "I cannot work with you if I don't know why or for what."

"E-erh… right." Luminer nodded slowly, believing the made up story himself and taking the lead once again after sighing in relief. He would not have to explain anything to the Chairman then, or suffer some kind of punishment for his thoughtless actions. "A-anyway, the Council had a ship prepared to take us to the island…" He looked around the port and saw a big vessel donning the symbol of his organization, smirking as he took hold of the woman's hand and dragged her along. "There they are! C'mon!"

Erza gasped at the action of her hand being taken so easily, the sensation being strange to her in many ways, but still managed to blurt out some words to the now hyperactive sage. "L-Luminer! W-wait!"


Meanwhile, at the opposite side of the port…

"Aaaaah! I haven't been here for a while!" Lucy beamed as she oversaw the coast next to the port city of Hargeon, using one hand to cover the light from the sun and smiling contently at the memories she had of the place. "This is where I met Ryota for the first time!"

'Wasn't that a couple weeks ago…?' Gray wondered plainly, remembering the S-class wizard returning to the guild with the blond girl two weeks ago or something. He sighed and shook his head, shoving his hands inside his pockets as he remembered this was his idea and that he was in charge of looking after the new member of the guild. "Lucky me…"

"Uh? You said something?" The blonde asked to her partner, having heard a whisper a second ago. He waved a hand in dismissal and she turned to face the port again, her enthusiasm still intact. "Anyway; first, we should find a boat that can take us to the island."

"I could always make a boat with my magic, you know?" Gray suggested lazily, not really up to the task of looking for someone who could take them to their job's location.

"You're kidding, right? I won't sit over freezing ice, Gray." Lucy answered in a blink, the image of sitting over a boat made of ice sending shivers down her spine.

So they started to look for a means to get to the cursed island…

"Galuna Island? Get outta here! I'm not going anywhere near that place!"

"No way, I don't even wanna hear that name."

"That island is taboo amongst the sailors in this town."

"There's a curse! It's just too fishy!"

…without much success.

"I don't know what you guys think to find there," a fish-faced sailor with a large moustache, manning a small wooden boat, stared at the two wizards without even a glimmer of joke in his eyes. "But no sailor wants to go near it." He looked at the shady ships docked on the port, shaking his head in denial. "Even pirates avoid that place."

"Noooo…" Lucy moaned pitifully, seeing their last option not willing to take them to the island.

"Then we go with my idea," Gray nodded firmly, getting his hands ready to cast his magic. "I'll make the boat right now!"

"Gray… I said no." The blonde repeated tiredly, feeling her enthusiasm fading as she took a set on the stony floors of the port.

"Aw, c'mon! It won't be for long!" The Ice wizard insisted, concentrating on the image of the ship belonging to the fish-faced sailor to create a similar one. "You won't even notice it is cold."

Not noticing a large, black silhouette standing behind the blond and himself.

"You guys were here." Ryota said calmly, his mouth a thin line of boredom. He extended his arms to take hold of the two wizards by the shoulders, scaring them all the way to hell and back, and forcing them to turn around quickly to look at him.

"R-Ryota!?"

"W-why are you here!?"

"Duh, Master ordered me to bring you back." The red-eyed wizard muttered with a tired tone, his stare fixed on Gray and his frightened posture. He shook his head and pointed a finger at the younger guy, a bit of disappointment flowing through his words. "Seriously, Gray… what the hell you think you're doing?"

"U-ugh…!" The brunet's head fell at the question, his fists clenched at the sides while he gritted his teeth and being found so early by Ryota of all people. "I-It's none of your business…"

"You do know you can get expelled 'cause of this, right?" Ryota continued, his finger now pointing at the startled blonde. "And because you didn't think things straight, Lucy might get expelled too."

"E-EXPULSION!?" Lucy was quite the definition of shock, surprise and fear at the moment.

"Blergh, I shouldn't even be saying this but," the man pointed a finger to the island in the distance, more specifically, to the large vessel heading towards it at the moment. The great and black ankh symbol of the Council could be noticed on the veils as the winds pushed it to its destination. "Erza is heading to that island," all of the present, even the speaker, shivered in fear at the implications of that simple fact. "And you know what she'll do if she finds out."

"E-Erza is heading there…!?" Both wizards repeated dumbly, seeing the ship belonging to the Council indeed heading towards the cursed island.

"Yep, so I advise you two grab your stuff and follow me back to the guild before shit hits the fan." Ryota jumped off the wall and started to walk in direction of the train station, stopping and turning around when he noticed the youngsters weren't following him. "C'mon guys, this is seriously out of your league."

"No way." Gray growled loud enough for his friends to listen, his head low and his bangs covering his eyes, his fists were shaking at the thought of returning to the guild after the stunt he pulled. Not only was he going to face punishment, he was going to be ridiculed for attempting to make an S-class job without being an S-class wizard himself… "There's no way I'm backing down now."

The Iron Wizard sighed, understanding what his friend was thinking and why he wanted to do the job. Still, that didn't mean he approved of it. "Gray, c'mon… you're not ready."

"How do you know that, huh?" …they knew, everyone surely knew why he dared to steal the request in the middle of the night. His head rose up and glared at the S-class wizard, determination flowing through him. "I don't care if I'm not ready…! If I'm expelled or anything…! I will do this job and I will complete it!"

Ryota and Lucy remained quiet after that verdict; the blonde not knowing how to react to such strong words while the red-eyed wizard grumbled some curses under his breath.

'Goddammit, he cannot be this childish.' He knew the reason why Gray wanted to do this, why the sudden need of the man to prove himself better to the others. It was because of what happened in the last days, during their mission to stop Eisenwald, Erza's trial and yesterday's situation with Laxus. 'What happened to that laid-back attitude now?'

The sudden appearance of one person made him realize he was getting out of shape.

So now, he was jealous.

And he couldn't blame him; he was slightly irked himself, but not as much as to commit such idiocies or take such risks to impress the others. 'I mean, I would probably be pissed like him but I wouldn't go this far…'

"Jeez…" The older mage shook his head in bemusement, clearly regretting what he was about to do. He retraced his steps and stood next to the youngsters, his eyes falling on the fish-faced sailor who was listening to the conversation all along. "Hey, you…"

"Uh? Me?"

"Yeah you, who else? You will take us to Galuna Island." Ryota proclaimed seriously, surprising all of his listeners with his words. He stepped onto the boat and showed his guild mark to the man, seeing his widening eyes with little interest. He had better things to do, but he couldn't leave these two off by themselves. "We're wizards from Fairy Tail and we're here to help."


Aboard the Council's ship…

"Sorry you have to endure this, miss." A blond man apologized respectfully to the woman sitting at the head of the vessel, shaking his head at the picture of his superior fighting back the urges to throw up everything he ate while he rested his head on the woman's lap. "He suffers motion-sickness and-"

"Don't worry, I know," Erza answered calmly, her gaze on the pink-haired youngster resting before her. She met eyes with the blond Captain and gave a small smile of appreciation. "And I don't mind."

"If you say so, okay." Marseilles gave a short nod of understanding and turned on his heels, wanting to check the rest of the ship before they were to arrive to their destination. "Let us know if you need anything."

The knight gave a short nod in answer, seeing the blond man disappear inside the ship's lower compartments before shifting her gaze to the groaning man on her lap, watching his facial expressions with mild interest. He was cheerful as a little boy mere minutes earlier and now he was doing these weird faces, as if he were being tortured horribly when in fact it was the simple action of riding a vehicle wreaking havoc inside his body.

'Now that I think about it…' Her hands moved to push aside some strands of pink hair obstructing her vision of the man's face, the action earning some unconscious twitches from the sage and startling her slightly. He calmed down after a bit and resumed his inner struggle, letting the woman continue with her thoughts and ministrations. '…he never really talked about himself or what he did before joining the Council…' The battle that took place when they met for the first time flashed in her mind. 'Except for his missing foster-father… that is a real dragon, according to him.'

She sighed in defeat.

"You seriously are a mystery, Luminer." Erza whispered softly, wondering some more about the pink-haired and his foggy persona while her hands moved slowly to scratch the sage's head, softly running her fingertips across his hair, against his scalp…

"Hmmm~."

…and getting a seriously unexpected reaction from him.

'D-d-d-d-d-d-did he just… p-p-p-purr!?' The scarlet-haired knight thought in astonishment, not believing the sound that was coming from the man on her lap and that was making her face heat up. The rumbling started from the man's throat and, on contact with her legs, it sent shivers down her spine due to the closeness besides a little bit of nervous trembling.

It's like a domino effect, to be honest.

Like a vibrator and-

Nevermind.

"T-that… feels… nice…" Luminer managed to blurt out in his condition, contently snuggling his head against the woman's lap and holding her legs tight with his arms without a care in the world, further paralyzing Erza's body and mind with his actions, not letting her form a coherent thought that could save her from this predicament.

'C-c-c-c-calm down, Erza,' her conscience told her as best it could, dumbstruck to the core and unable to phrase anything without stuttering. 'Y-y-you just… h-h-h-hit a spot… t-t-that's all…' The woman nodded slowly to the reasoning and looked at the sage again. 'H-h-he's the son of a dragon, isn't he? I-I-I-It's only obvious he would… h-he would… p-p-purr.'

She closed her eyes and inhaled a good amount of air, exhaling it slowly, trying her best to calm her nerves and return to normal. She wasn't going to let this get the better of her, oh no. It was only an accident, so to say. She brushed his scalp while he was in pain and found a sensitive spot, nothing else. 'Remember, son of a dragon, nothing to be all flustered about.'

With her nerves back to their old steel, Erza nodded to herself and moved her hands, her fingers brushing the same spot of before without her noticing…

"Titania~."

…and breaking the gates of Hell open once more.

"K-k-k-k-k...!"


Somewhere else, on that same sea…

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!"

"I-It's getting dark…" Lucy's trembling worsened at hearing the loud shriek that sounded in the distance, further hiding herself in the small boat she was sharing with her guild mates while she tried not to think about the cursed island or the fact it was an S-class job what they were about to do. Her first S-class job, no less. "A-and I'm getting this creeping feeling… of anxiety."

One could almost see the tears wanting to burst out in waterfalls from her eyes.

"I got you two on the clear to do this job and now you're talking like that?" Ryota rolled his eyes in irritation, still feeling like he should have left Lucy head back to the guild instead of bringing her along with them. She was capable of defending herself in case anything happened, but she was still inexperienced, and that was one of the things that could get you killed during this kind of jobs. He shook his head and faced the boat's owner, having a question for him ever since they left the port. "Oi, old man, why did you let us on the boat after all?"

"You told him we're mages willing to help, what else could it be?" Gray asked sourly from his position at the front of the vessel, not really in the mood for anything after seeing the weight being S-class had when dealing with people during jobs. They spent with Lucy two hours looking for someone to take them to that blasted island and Ryota only had to ask the first person he saw? Damn, that made his day brighter.

"Shut up, popsicle, ain't talking to you." Ryota muttered with the same sourness of his friend, frowning in his direction.

"My name is Bobo," the fish-faced sailor started after a short moment of silence, using both hands to steer the boat's direction, one of his arms been covered by a cloak he had tied around his neck. "I once lived on that island…"

"…wait, what?" The Ice Wizard's interest returned in a flash, his eyes falling on the man who they thought that was just another poor fisherman trying to make a living.

Bobo's eyes grew somber, remembering something from his past on that island. "…but I escaped from that cursed place."

"Can you tell us what kind of curse is it?" Lucy voiced out weakly, still a nervous wreck. There was just no way for her to calm down with all the things she was hearing now. It all sounded like a cheap horror story, in her writer's opinion, but it was still frightening when facing it in person.

The sailor remained silent, letting the water splashing against the sides of the boat being the only sound that could be heard in the distance aside from the soft breeze of the sea. He looked ahead and hardened his eyes.

"Misfortune will befall you if you go to that island," Bobo recited grimly, moving his cloak aside to let the young wizards see his left arm while the right one maintained the course of their boat against the flow of the ocean. "Can you really get rid of this curse?"

The wizards' eyes widened in fear and disbelief.

The sailor's left extremity was a dark shade of purple at the forearm, going brighter as it went up to his shoulder.

It was twisted, bonny and unnatural.

Something they have never seen before.

His eyes got deathly serious when meeting with those of the wizards, no hint of joke or amusement in his words.

"This demonic curse."


Somewhere on the island…

Galuna Island was not always a cursed island, even if it was always called like that.

Its nickname came from the strange occurrence that happens during the night on that place.

Which in all truth, it is certainly a very unique and weird occurrence, even for a world of magic such as this one.

But let's get explaining, okay?

As the name goes, it's Galuna Island.

From Spanish, it is called the Island of the Moon.

But not just your normal moon, you see.

'Another nice evening, I see.' A man thought idly as he made his way through the branches of the trees plaguing the lands of the small piece of land in the middle of the sea, his eyes focused on the road ahead and the task he had to fulfill before the arrival of his superior, his white hair billowing against the soft breeze as well as his black coat.

It was quite the excitement in his opinion; it had been a long while since his boss and he had taken down a mission together just like old times, beating the hell out of everyone on their path and getting the job done before things escalated to major issues that would require a more noticeable presence of their organization.

'I can hear them…' He thought again, his ears perking up at the almost unnoticeable noises coming from the top of the mountain he was heading to at the moment, where the light from the moon shine the strongest. He groaned when the noises grew a bit louder and revealed to be the same old chants he had been hearing since he got there a month ago. 'I could lend those guys some of my disks… couldn't hurt to listen to another genre, right?'

He got to the end of the forest, close to the top of the small mountain and looked ahead with squinted eyes, trying to discern the figures moving in the darkness, noticing a large group of people congregated around some old ruins and rocks in a closed circle with their arms extended wide to the sides.

'I swear I'll crack their skulls open if they continue with that shitty chant.'

His thoughts were certainly merry, don't you agree?

'And that eyesore…' His eyes rose to the source of light in the sky, narrowing slightly at the strong brightness of the now purple-colored moon hovering above them, his main focus being the strange beam of light that happened to head from up there all the way to the ground, just in the middle of that congregation and over whatever thing they were surrounding. 'This is seriously some freaky shit.'

It was a secluded place away from all prying eyes where the cultists could perform their sinister ritual without anyone being aware of their presence, anyone but this young man watching them right now.

"You again! Nishishishishi!" A small old man with a strange mask and staff snickered to his left, calling his attention away from the group of cultists to the tree a few meters to the side. "Didn't I tell you to stop eavesdropping, boy?"

"Eh? You mean me?" The young man made a confused face, pointing a finger at himself and getting a nod from the short man. He sighed and shook his head, running a hand through his white-hair in conflict. "But I cannot do what you tell me to do… I mean, I have orders and all of that, y'know?"

"No, I didn't know, and even so, I don't care, boy." The small man answered with the same snickering as before, using his staff to point at the white-haired man and then at the forest around them. "Get away from here and don't return! It's for your own good!"

"Awwww, do you even know my boss?" The young man whined, grasping his hair in distress with both hands. "He'll burn me to a crisp if I fail to do what he asked me to do!"

"Nishishishishi! Then let it burn, young man." The masked old man snickered again, clearly unfazed by the youngster's predicament. "Come back as a ghost if you can; prove to your boss you've got some conviction in ya!"

The white-haired man's demeanor did a complete twist, resembling more the likes of his thoughts when he was growing closer to the top of the mountain a few minutes ago. His eyes were partially closed back then but now they were wide open, staring intently at the small man and frightening him a little. "Oi, didn't you hear me, shithead? I won't leave, no matter what bullshit you crap out."

Blue lightning creaked around his hands as his eyes focused on the old man, boring holes through his now sweating head.

"I've got orders, old man, and that means I'll carry them out…"

He disappeared in a sudden blue flash and then reappeared on the same branch on which the old man was standing, shocking him to the core with his speed and his scaring him to the soul with the killing intent in his serious lavender eyes.

"…no matter the costs."


Back to Team Ryota…

Or Team Gray…

Whatever…

The youngsters kept their eyes glued on the bizarre extremity that was shown to them, still not grasping the reality of the situation. It was a real demonic arm in the flesh, literally, and it was turned that way because of the curse that was plaguing the island to which they were heading right now.

"O-old man…" Gray tried to speak but not a single sentence could be spit out of his mind.

"B-by curse you mean…?" Lucy too, though she did grasp the meaning of this which she was seeing. That arm was the punishment bestowed on the sailor for staying on the island for too long…

…and the same will happen to them if they are not careful.

Bobo's stare remained fixed on the youngster for a few more seconds before shifting to the horizon, spotting their destination in the distance with no change in his face.

"There it is." All heads turned to look in the same direction, spotting a small elevation in the distance, among the waves of the sea and the darkness of the sky. "Galuna Island."

"W-wow…" The blonde whispered in nervous awe, feeling the same anxiety of before returning at full strength to her at the mere sight of the island. It wasn't just a matter of the setting, the restless waters, the chilling breezes or the dark skies, the island itself emanated an eerie aura that practically yelled everyone to stay away. She shook her head from the fear that was starting to get to her and looked back to the sailor… "S-sir…?"

…not finding him where they last saw him with their eyes wide as plates.

"W-where did he go…?" Ryota asked slowly, moving his neck robotically as he inspected their surroundings in search of the fish-faced man. "I-I'm pretty sure he didn't fall off the boat…"

"Y-yeah, me too…" Gray nodded in the same fashion, seriously unnerved by this sudden event. Cursed island plus demonic arm plus a disappearing sailor didn't spell anything good for them, in his honest opinion. He heard a weird noise behind him but his eyes fell on the blond wizard with them, finding her with her eyes fixed on something behind him with her mouth open wide in shock. "H-hey, Lucy, a-are you alright?"

In answer, the Celestial Spirit wizard raised an arm and pointed a finger behind the black-haired man, making their partner and he turn around to see what had the girl speechless and losing their voices as well.

The weird noise he heard earlier was a tidal wave.

Such luck.

"H-holy shit…!"

"H-hold tight!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

To be continued.


AN: Heads up, people! Chapter 7 is here. *nods* Fresh out of the oven, a nice read to start out the incoming year and it's 365 days... 364 since we already went through the 1st of January, but it doesn't matter! Ha-ah! *chuckles* Now, we start seeing a bit more of Natsu's job in the Council, not just his boring meetings and obligations, which are pretty lame, but his real line of work, the one that made him famous. *whistles* Of course, with this you're all probably thinking there will be a long list of OCs going to be introduced and taking the spotlight and whatnot... I regret to announce, that this is not the case, as instead, they will only play small roles in the story... until a certain point where things will get epic and their involvement with Natsu will play a great role. *blinks*

Oh damn, that was a spoiler. *chuckles*

Of course, that 'certain point' is far away, so worry not. They will not get in the middle of the important canon arcs or anything like that. At least, not now. Even if I bang my head against a wall I cannot come up with ways to include them in the Galuna arc, Phantom Lord arc, Tower of Heaven arc with roles that are actually important to the story. Which is good... I guess, it's good to have OCs and all but no one likes it when they start taking all the spotlight or a ridiculously more powerful than the canon characters.

So... yeah, that's it with the OCs.

Back to the story; we have the Galuna Island arc starting and that means one thing... Gray will take the lead role from now on. *nods* Obviously, even if the story is NatZa and the summary says it revolves around the changes in the FT-verse because of his involvement with the Tower, I won't have the guy solving every single situation. Nope. This arc belongs to my bro Gray. *brofists with Gray and sees the universe explode at the awesomeness* Yush~!

And while you wait for Chapter 8, I've got another quiz for all of you, dear readers, that I'm almost positive you will find interesting.

Here it is: From where are the names used as titles in this story? (Y'know; Blackened, Poor Twisted Me, The Wait, Howling Moon, etc...)

1. Kuroyagi came up with them randomly.

2. Kuroyagi took them from a game/series/movie's OST.

3. Kuroyagi took them from a band's song-list.

4. Kuroyagi stole them from another author.

5. Kuroyagi took them from random books.

6. No Idea.

Again, the winner gets... something. *grins* Now, this time I'll make it interesting. The winner will get to ask whatever question he or she has and I will answer truthfully to it. *nods* Even if it's about the new ultra secret plot-line I planned for this story's remake, I'll answer truthfully, but only if you get this quiz right.

Until next time, dear readers, don't forget to leave your encouraging words and thoughts in a review.

Saludos.