**Quick Author's Note: Hey guys! I got really excited about finishing this story arc so here's the next chapter already! I hope you guys enjoy this one too. Let me know what you think in reviews and/or favorites please (I hate plugging for those but the more I have the more people will probably see my story). Thanks for the support and encouragement. Enjoy! End Author's Note.**
"Natsu," Raven spoke after they had been searching for what seemed like forever. The sun was peaking even further over the horizon. "I need to sleep." Raven hated to be the one to complain and stop their search but she was straddling the edge of twenty-four hours without true sleep. "I used a lot of my magical energy getting to the island, fighting Lyon, and then Toby." She bit her lip, unwilling to admit that it unnerved her that it still wasn't replenishing. It had been years since she had used her energy until it was nearly gone. She hated feeling like she was admitting weakness but without any ice around there was nothing that she could do to replenish her magic except rest. "I don't know that I could fight if it came down to it." She told him, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to.
Natsu paused their walk to look at her. She could see that he had circles under his eyes as well. He stretched his arms widely. "I guess I'm getting pretty tired as well. We can sleep, but only for a little while." He smiled at her. "The real question is where?" He said looking side to side.
It was Raven's turn to smile at him. "When you spend your life on the road you learn to sleep just about anywhere." She sat down right where she was and nestled herself against a tree. A root poked mildly uncomfortably into her exposed lower back but she ignored it.
"So you travel a lot?" Natsu watched her as she settled into the roots. "Don't you have a guild?" He found a spot leaning against the tree opposite hers and settled in. Raven closed her eyes and shook her head no. "Well, why not?" He asked when she didn't elaborate on her own.
Raven couldn't stop the frown that appeared on her face. "I've been… on a mission of sorts." She bit her lip again.
"What kind of mission?" Raven could feel Natsu's eyes on her even though her own eyes were closed.
Finding Kayerith. Finding you. She wanted to say, but instead she just shrugged slightly. "It's complicated. We can talk about it later. For now, I want to sleep." She turned her head and rested it against her own shoulder. Natsu seemed to understand and didn't say anything again.
There was silence between them for a while. Just as Raven was leaving consciousness she heard Natsu say, "Hey Raven, I have an idea." She ignored his voice, opting instead to float off into the land of blissful sleep.
"Hey, Raven, wake up!" Raven was beginning to resent the voice that had pulled her from sleep not once but twice in the last twenty-four hours. Immediately she noticed that she could feel her magic again. She opened her eyes to blinding sunlight. The sun was past being high in the sky.
"How late did we sleep?" She asked, snapping awake. She knew that the answer was well past noon.
"I don't know, but I came up with an idea last night. I was going to tell you but you were already asleep." He explained. Raven only vaguely remembered hearing his voice, maybe? His grin made her weary of what his 'idea' could possibly entail.
"What's your idea?" She asked hesitantly, remembering the brilliant 'idea' Lucy had with the pitfall trap.
"Well, I was thinking, the moonlight has to shine directly on the top of the temple in order to reach the bottom where Deliora is being stored, right?"
"Sure," Raven said, shrugging. She hadn't actually seen where Deliora was.
"So, if we break all the support pillars on one side of the temple, it will tilt the temple and the moon drip won't be able to be on Deliora anymore!" Natsu was beaming with pride at the brilliance of his idea. Raven stared at him.
"You don't really think that will work, do you?" She asked him skeptically.
"Of course I think it will work!" Natsu seemed almost hurt that she would question the clear genius of his plan. She arched an eyebrow at him, and then shrugged.
"I suppose it's the only thing we've got. Best case scenario this somehow, actually works. Worst case scenario the temple collapses on us and we die. Either one will stop the moon drip." She shrugged again. "I guess it's worth a shot." She rose from her pseudo-bed on the ground and brushed the dirt from her jeans. She bent over backwards and cracked her back, stretching on her way back up.
"Yes!" Natsu shot a triumphant fist in the air. "It'll be easier than trying those villagers anyway because I can see the temple from here." He pointed over Raven's shoulder to the left. Through a small gap in the trees Raven could see the temple.
It didn't take long for them to reach the line of trees in front of them temple. As they emerged Natsu gave a final stretch and a massive yawn. "Man, I finally come up with the perfect plan and then I go and oversleep."
Raven resisted the urge to yawn in response to Natsu as well as the urge to laugh at his idea of the 'perfect plan'. His plan was ridiculous, but it might be so ridiculous that it works. She instead focused her attention on looking for enemies on either side as they approached the doorway to the temple.
Just outside the door Natsu stopped and looked at her with a smile. "You ready?" Raven matched his smile and nodded her approval. "Alright then! Let's do this!" He yelled running into the temple.
The entrance room to the temple was filled with a large staircase and several dozen support pillars. Natsu grinned and without another word engulfed his fists in fire and punched the closest pillar. "Ice-make Hammer." Raven whispered with a wicked smile. From her casting circle Raven pulled a large Warhammer made entirely from ice. She swung the hammer full force and sure enough the pillar gave way under the force of the blow. Several pillars later the temple began shaking under her feet. I can't believe this is actually working. She smashed another pillar.
Natsu roared suddenly, drawing her attention away from smashing the next pillar for a moment long enough to see him shot a hole through the ceiling of the temple. As he looked up to exam his handy work he began laughing. "You know, I usually end up breaking stuff by accident. It's kinda funny how hard it is when I'm doing it on purpose." Confused, Raven ran over to look at what, or who Natsu was talking to. Several floors up, through the hole he had created, Raven could see Lyon, Toby, and a strange masked person.
"What is with all the masks around here?" She exclaimed, throwing her arms with exasperation.
"What are you doing here?" Lyon yelled in disgust.
"We're knocking this place over!" Natsu yelled right back. "Then you won't be able to shine moonlight on that demon you've got underground."
"Insolent fools! Just who do you think you are?" Lyon scowled down at them. "You dare challenge me?"
"Okay, will someone please explain what's going on, because I'm lost?" Confusion was written all over the face of poor Toby. If he hadn't been an enemy, Raven would have felt bad for him.
"I told you, you're dumb." Raven shrugged with enough exaggeration that he would be able to see it even though he was several floors up.
"Hey-"He started angrily.
"Evidently these two are the reason the temple is now tilted." The strange masked man explained over Toby. "I suppose they destroyed the support pillars on one side. Doing so caused the temple to shift in that direction. This, in turn, will prevent any moonlight from shining directly on Deliora." He gave a soft laugh. "It's an ingenious plan. I'm actually quite surprised these dopes were the ones that came up with it.
Raven could see the anger on Natsu's face surface as the masked man called him a dope. "So, you gonna fight me or what?" He challenged them, fire erupted from his feet.
"Flames shoot from his feet?" Lyon asked, seemingly unimpressed.
"When Yuka fought that guy he was able to shoot fire from all over his body!" Toby shouted, clearly scared of Natsu's fire.
Raven was only just able to dodge out of the way of Natsu's surge of flames as he leapt into the air and used them to propel himself upwards at the would-be enemies. She ran back under the hole just in time to see him slam into Lyon head first. Even from this distance Raven could see the cracks appear across Lyon's skin. Just as the animated ice version of Lyon shattered Raven realized what he had done.
"Dammit!" Raven tightened her grip on her ice Warhammer and pulled from more of her energy. "Ice-make Dragon Wings." Massive leathery ice wings erupted from her back as she leapt into the air after Natsu.
"Ice-make Eagle!" Lyon shouted. "You can't dodge them midair." He looked so triumphant. Natsu shot a burst of fire from his mouth, propelling him downwards and out of the path of Lyon's eagles. He immediately spun around, launching fire from his feet in a spinning kick at Lyon, who managed to duck out of the way.
"What kind of ridiculous magic is this?" Lyon asked as he jumped into the air to dodge another attack from Natsu.
"That's Dragon Slayer magic!" Raven shouted as she swung her Warhammer at him in the air.
"Ice-make Shield!" Lyon managed to get off a shield just before Raven's hammer connected with his side. The ice of his shield shattered as soon as her hammer hit it but it gave Lyon enough time to dodge away from her as well.
"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu yelled, fire glowing in his throat as he prepared to shoot more flames. Suddenly he was gone and fire was pouring from a hole in the floor.
"What did you do?" Raven shouted accusingly at Lyon. It wasn't until afterwards that she realized Lyon looked just as shocked as she did though.
"Very fortunate Cold Emperor." The strange, small, masked man said. It was his magic. Raven realized. "Luck is on your side."
"Can we leave the whole Toby got charred things a secret too?" Toby asked from the corner he was standing in. No one even acknowledged he had spoken. Raven's wings flapped slowly around her. Lyon's focus was still on the hole in the floor where Natsu had been moments before.
"This isn't over! Think fast!" Raven yelled, spinning in a circle to build momentum before hurling her Warhammer in Lyon's direction. He turned and dodged her hammer as it shattered against the floor. "Ice-make Bow." She commanded, pulling her ice bow from the casting circle.
"Not you again." Lyon retorted as he watched her hovering over the temple floor. Raven drew the ice string back on her bow and shot at Lyon. Spontaneously her arrow split in two and one spun off towards the masked man. Both Lyon and the masked man managed to dodge her arrow.
"What did you do?" Raven demanded, turning her attention towards the masked figure.
"Whatever do you mean?" He grinned back at her, infuriating her more.
"Don't play dumb with me!" She shouted at him angrily, drawing her bow back again.
"Your magic had to of caused that hole in the floor." Lyon added suspiciously. He doesn't know what kind of magic it is either. Raven realized, looking at the confused and angry expression on Lyon's face. What kind of leader doesn't know his own underlings?
"Don't you have ever the watchful eye?" The masked man shrugged with a gentle chuckle. Raven didn't like how he was making light of the situation. She loosed her bow again, this time sending the arrow and its two splits towards the masked man. He dodged all the arrows with what seemed to be ease. This guy is more powerful and Natsu and I realized. I didn't know Lyon had someone like this working for him. "Please, allow me to explain my actions, sir." He said, acknowledging Lyon and not Raven. "You are the only one strong enough to defeat Deliora so it is imperative that you remain safe until its resurrection."
Raven could instantly tell that there was something larger going on behind this man's words. He was lying directly to Lyon with near mockery and still Lyon was too blinded by ambition to see it. Who is this guy?
"Are you suggesting that I could fall victim to such paltry magic?" Lyon's voice was even angrier than it had been a moment ago. Magic started to overflow from him in a passive display of power. The room around them nearly instantly dropped about thirty degrees and began to freeze over, encasing them in a large ice shell. Raven smirked, perfect. "Leave me." Lyon ordered the other two. "I can take care of this myself." Lyon said looking from Raven, who was still flying, to Natsu, who was climbing back out of the hole that he had fallen through. Raven was glad to see that he was okay. "Once I finally defeat the demon everyone will worship my name: Cold Emperor Lyon. I've worked too hard to let a brat like him tarnish it." Lyon was looking off into the distance as if remembering something from a time before.
"As you wish," The masked man bowed slightly to Lyon. The smile never once left his face. This guy really unnerves me.
"So, you wanna try to defeat Deliora?" Natsu asked from his place half out of the hole. The masked man darted from the room, quickly followed by Toby. The ice crept over the door, officially sealing them into the room with Lyon. Natsu crawled the rest of the way out of the hole.
"You are so unhinged." Raven scowled. "You'll never be able to defeat Deliora." Raven's expression was dark as the image of Grandma Saya commanding her to flee from the ground filled her mind.
"The thing looks half dead already! So let me get this straight, you're going through all this trouble to melt that ice just so you can fight it?" It was Natsu's turn to sound incredulous. "That's pretty messed up if you ask me."
"I must rise about Ur's legacy." Lyon said, completely unfazed by their words. "I will not rest until I have fulfilled my dream!" He shouted launching his eagles at both Raven and Natsu. Raven immediately folded her dragon wings around her body as a shield, sending her crashing to the ground. She could feel the eagles shattering against her more stable ice wings.
"Why go this far? Couldn't you just challenge her and be done with it?" Natsu shouted at Lyon as he dodged eagles. Natsu doesn't know.
"I would if I could, but Ur has been dead for years!" Lyon shouted angrily, still throwing eagles into the air.
When the eagles stopped Natsu spoke again. "I didn't realize that she ended up dying when she sealed it." His voice was serious.
"Yes, but she'd still be alive if it wasn't for Gray!" The resentment in Lyon's voice was astonishing. She furled her wings now that the eagles had stopped. She was just in time to see the eagle appear behind Natsu.
"Look out!" but she wasn't fast enough and the eagle hit him full force in the back. "Natsu!" She darted into the icy mist that clung to the walls of the room. Natsu was there, scrapped up but still clearly capable for fighting.
"It'll take a lot more than that to keep me down." He whispered to her reassuringly. As the mist cleared he addressed Lyon. "Look, I don't know what happened to you in the past, but I do know what you are doing in the present, and it's hurting a lot of innocent people. And since you don't seem to realize that yourself," Natsu's hand burst into flames again. "I'll have to knock some sense into you."
Natus darted into action, charging Lyon. They're magic circles met and exploded in a massive burst of energy and fire. Raven her hands up to block her face from the blast, and in the process dissipated her ice bow. Dammit, I've got to stop this. "Ice-make Sword." She pulled a large sword from her blue casting circle and followed Natsu's lead. After several long minutes of dodging, swiping, and fighting with neither side gaining ground they jumped back from each other.
"This could go on forever, so do yourself a favor and give up." Natsu called.
"I would never give you that satisfaction." Lyon scowled.
"It's two versus one, you'll never win." Raven added. Lyon's scowl deepened.
"Then you're asking for it." Natsu gave Lyon a wolfish grin. "You ready to finish this Raven?" he asked.
"I think it's past time for us to be done here." She agreed.
"Oh, is it now?" Lyon said, suddenly quietly calm once again.
Raven heard the ice crack behind them and instantly braced for an attack from Lyon. "What the-"Natsu said looking directly at the crack in the ice. Raven turned to examine it too and suddenly it burst, revealing Gray standing on the far side.
"Oh, it's Gray!" Natsu and Raven said together. He was still shirtless, wrapped in the bandages Raven had given him, including the cut off bottom of her shirt. Lyon was silent with a shocked expression.
"Leave him to me." Gray said, walking into the ice tomb that surrounded them. "It's time we settled things once and for all."
"No way, man! You already lost to him once." Natsu exclaimed immediately with an edge of rivalry entering his voice.
"And it's not gonna happen again." There was something in his voice, his expression, and his body language that made Raven believe him. "I'm ready to end this now."
"You seem awfully confident." Lyon smirked at his childhood rival.
"You were right, Lyon, I'm the one to blame for our master's death." He paused, seemingly for dramatic effect. "You've threatened my comrades, brought harm to the villagers, and now you are trying to destroy what Ur gave her life to create. It's time we accept our punishment. Together." Gray finished his speech and faced off against Lyon.
Lyon's eyes went wide as Gray assumed a strange casting stance. "That stance!" Lyon backed away. "Not Iced-shell." Raven was unnerved at how upset Gray's stance made Lyon.
"Iced-shell?" Natsu asked looking at Raven. She shrugged slightly to symbolize her ignorance of the spell. Suddenly, Natsu's eyes went wide in understanding though Raven was still confused.
"Are you insane? You wouldn't dare!" Lyon's stance implied that he intended to flee should Gray attempt whatever spell they were talking about.
"If you wanna live, change the villagers back to their human forms and then leave this island and never return." Gray demanded. A bright blue light appeared beneath Gray as he started to draw on his magic. "If you'll agree to that then I'll stop. If not, then this is the end."
"Is that so? Well, I don't believe a word of it." Lyon stood from his stance and looked directly at Gray. Lyon thinks Gray's bluffing. Raven realized. Something in Gray's expression told Raven that he wasn't though. "You're bluffing." Lyon challenged. Gray's expression darkened and his magic intensified, creating a small vortex around him.
Raven's cut off shirt began blowing in the vortex Gray's spell was creating. "No, I'm not."
"You'll die!" Lyon shouted over the noise of the spell's wind. He drew on his own magic and created a similar light blue circle. Gray dumped more magic into his spell, increasing the powerful yet again and threw Lyon backwards. Raven threw up an arm to shield her eyes from the light. What the hell is he doing?
"Don't do it!" Natsu shouted to Gray.
"All these years I've lied to myself. I didn't want to admit that Ur died because of, but she did, and it's time I took responsibility. So I will, here and now. I'm not afraid to die, if that's what it takes!" Gray shouted back as if that justified his actions.
"Stop this now!" Lyon screamed, fear in his voice.
"What's it gonna be Lyon?" Gray shouted over him. "Are we gonna die? Or are we gonna live? It's up to you."
"You wouldn't, you're not brave enough to give your life!" Lyon shouted. He's actually insane. He still thinks Gray won't do it. "You're nothing but a coward!" Yea, cause challenging him is going to convince him not to cast the spell.
"Just watch me." Gray said. Raven could feel that he was moments from finishing the casting of the spell.
"Don't do it!" Natsu yelled at Gray again, but seemingly to no avail.
"Natsu, Erza, all my friends in Fairytail, the rest is up to you." Gray said, as if they were his parting words. "I don't want to leave you, but my time is up." He said, confirming Raven's thoughts. "Iced-she-"
"Shut up!" Natsu's fist connected with Gray's face so hard that it interrupted the spell. Everyone stared in shock at what had just happened. Natsu was breathing heavily from the effort if took to throw himself through the spell's vortex.
"Natsu!" Gray wheeled on him with raw fury in his eyes.
"You can't just bust in here and steal the scene with a bunch of fancy talk. Get to the back of the line pal."
"Back of what line?" Gray was still furious.
"I was here first so it's my fight." Natsu said matter-of-factly. Raven stared at the scene of childish rivalry that had literally been life or death just moments before. What. The. Hell.
"What? When I got here the first words out of my mouth were 'leave him to me,'" Gray shouted at Natsu. Raven glanced at Lyon; he seemed just as shocked as she was.
"Yea, and I said 'no way man' like a second after that!" Natsu shouted right back.
"Why you-"Gray growled, so angry that he couldn't even finish his sentence.
"What, you want some?" Natsu said loftily, clearing mocking him.
Gray grabbed Natsu by the front of his shirt, suddenly serious again. "I don't care who said what, I've got a score to settle with him, you understand? And I'm ready to die if that's what I've got to do."
Natsu retaliated by grabbing Gray's wrist. "Yea? And how's dying gonna settle it?" Natsu faced was filled with as much rage as Gray's now. "Cause it sounds like you're running away to me." Gray stared at Natsu.
Suddenly, interrupting the once again dramatic moment the temple started crumbling again as it rocked back and forth. Raven braced herself against the shaking of the temple, before leaping back into the air with a mighty flap of her wings. The temple slowly began straightened itself again.
"What? No!" Natsu began pounding on the floor of the temple, completely forgetting about the situation with Gray for the time being.
"This is bad, now the moon's gonna shine on Deliora again." Gray concluded with a frown.
"Pardon the interruption." The masked man from before ran back into the ice cavern through the hole that Gray had left in the ice wall.
"I should have known." Lyon said addressing him. "I take it you did this?"
"Indeed I did sir. The moon will be out soon so I thought I'd take the liberty of straightening the temple for you."
"That weirdo fixed it all by himself?" Gray asked.
"And after we went through all that trouble to mess it up too." Natsu seemed only mildly irritated. "Hey, so what'd you do to fix it huh?" Natsu shouted. The masked man turned to them as if noticing them for the first time. He immediately began laughing. "Tell me how you did it you jerk!" Natsu overreacted.
"If everything else is in order I suppose I should commence the moon drip ceremony." He said, completely ignoring Natsu's question. Just like that, the man darted off again.
"Hey! Would you quite ignoring me you demon monkey!" Natsu screamed darting off after the masked man. "Get back here!"
"Natsu!" Gray shouted after him.
"I'm gonna pound him a million, no a billion times! I'll let you handle that ice guy." Natsu said from the doorway to the hallway. "It'll look bad if you lose again."
"Yea."
"And not just for you."
"I know what you mean."
"But for all of Fairytail." They said together. Natsu disappeared into the tunnel leaving Gray facing Lyon and Raven flying behind him.
"I'm going to help Natsu." Raven announced. She didn't trust the masked man and she knew he was more powerful than he let on.
"Right. I've got this covered." Gray nodded to her before she flew off down the hallway.
Natsu, where'd you go? Raven thought as she darted as fast as her wings would carry her.