Hey, guys. This is moonlitraven14. First off, I am like really addicted with this game called Town of Salem. It's like mafia and I love it so much. Let me know if you play it too so we can play a game together. That would be awesome. Secondly, I would like to give another shout out to Whovian4444 for her review. As always, thank you for all of the love and support Enough rambling. Without further ado, here is the newest installment of Shadow Tail! :)

Chapter 9

It has been hours since the teens had left the town on Greenwick on such a peculiar note. Having begun with excitement and full of chatter, it has now trickled down to nothing more than the occasional comment to keep everyone together and down the same path.

It seems that everyone has been thinking about what happened in Greenwick, Lucy though, her eyes wandering off into the distance. She could see the expanse of fields and farmlands on one side and thick mangled trees on the other. The mountains ahead have been inching ever so slowly towards them as they walked, the peaks shrouded in dark clouds that threatened rain.

"Hey, Luce. What are you thinking about?" a voice asked from her side. She turned her head slightly to see Natsu watching her with a mix of curiosity and anxiety.

"I'm fine, really. I just hope we get there soon. My feet are killing me," Lucy replied, with wasn't entirely false. The road to Frostford was nothing but a wide strip of dirt and gravel, and rocks somehow kept finding their way into her boots. She would've like to take her boots off to shake out the debris, but they had a schedule to keep and she didn't want to selfishly ask for a break.

"My feet don't," Happy joked, doing laps around their heads while they shouted and tried to bring him down. She heard soft laughter behind her, and turned to see Clary laughing softly behind her hand, her eyes shooting down when she saw she was caught. Lucy just laughed and turned back when she heard a throat clear.

"We're almost there," Erza said.

Curious, Lucy turned to see what was in front of her- and stared.

In front of her was what she could only describe as utter destruction. Dead fields spread all around, crops blighted. She could even see a few animal carcasses dotting the stretch of wilted crops, killed from either lack of food or something. Ahead a sign hung off of its rusted hinges, swinging in the increasing wind. As they walked by it into town, Lucy could see a word written out in chipped paint:

Frostford

The town was in no better state. Once beautiful cobblestone houses were now just piles of rubble. Many buildings were razed to the ground, and several trails of black smoke curled off into the sky. The rumbling storm clouds above added to the eerie atmosphere the wrecked town gave off.

"Wow..." was all they could say as they walked past heaps of stone and glass. Scattered papers flew about with no destination, only adding to the littered streets. The air smelled heavily of smoke and oncoming rain, but Lucy could've sworn she got a whiff of something viler, something rotten.

A soft pulse of red light came from ahead, and she could hear Isabelle audibly gasp. Jace and Alec quickly crowded in, asking her questions so fast and complex it hurt Lucy's brain to try and interpret. Whatever they had asked, Isabelle just shook her head, waving off their concern as if whatever freaked her out momentarily was nothing. The two exchanged a wary glance but back away to keep walking.

"I think the mayor's office is up ahead," Gray called out, pointing in front of them. Lucy could see pass the wreckage and noticed a large building sitting on the other side of the desolated town square; the only building still left standing.

After picking through debris, they found themselves in front of the hall, it's once grand marble and oak stained by fire and ash. Shoving open the rusty doors, the group made their way inside to get their mission.

The halls were lavish, decorated with elegant painting and tapestries, a grand crystal chandelier casting the light down in rays of brilliance. Why is it that, Lucy thought as they made their way towards the mayor's office that this hall was the only thing that wasn't razed to the ground?

The group paused in front of a pair of large mahogany doors, rapping on it with the door knocker. "Come in," a voice said, and with a quick look, Erza, Jace, and Gray pushed open the doors to the room beyond.

The office would've been described as beautiful, the perfect definition of a space of power if the town wasn't destroyed. Now, papers and books chocked the floor, almost occupying the whole room. Seated in a leather chair was a very stout man, twitching nervously. Once they approached, Lucy could see his gray hair disheveled, rich bruises painted under his eyes from so many sleepless nights, his suit crumpled, the coat tucked half in and out of his pants.

"Thank you for accepting my request, mages of Fairy Tail," the man said, his eyes casted down, his hands twisting. "I am Coil Reed. I am the mayor of this town."

"Not much of a town left to be mayor of, though," Jace commented, looking out at the destruction beyond the window pane.

"Jace," Alec hissed, appalled by his parabatai's behavior.

"He's right, though," Coil said sadly, turning to look outside of the window at the ruins of his town. "Everything was fine until about 3 weeks back, at the time of our evening festival. We didn't even know what happened until it was already upon us. I watched the deaths of many of my fellow townspeople; hard workers just slaughtered in the night. I escaped the destruction around me and made it into my office, where I called desperately for help, but there was no response. Whatever attacked us had taken out all of our communication methods, making it impossible to get a message out. The noticed the men from Greenwick who came to investigate, but I was never able to say a word of caution before they were struck down by the same monsters that attacked days before. I sent out a request to nearby guilds, pleading for help. Many groups and individuals soon followed, seeking fame and the prize I had set. Many were arrogant, some even mocking me and my position, but no one who has come so far has ever return."

With a sigh, he turned back to them, his face pale and eyes watering. "Please, I beg of you. Please say you'll accept the job and rid this once peaceful town of these monsters?"

X

"Please, I beg of you. Please say you'll accept the job and rid this once peaceful town of these monsters?"

The words still echoed through Clary's mind as the teens stood outside in the remains of the town square. The clouds had split while they were inside listening to the details of the job, and now Clary stood soaked to the bone in the pouring rain. The others didn't look any better, all of them drenched in soot-laced raindrops.

"Ok," Erza shouted, clapping her hands together, which emitted a wet slapping sound. "I believe we should break off into pairs to investigate the town and surrounding woods. One mage to one New Yorker would be the most fair, don't you think?"

"Hell, yeah! Jace, you won't escape me this time!" Natsu shouted, shooting a finger at the golden boy. As the others laughed about the two being paired together, Clary saw the world burning, flames dancing in her vision and Natsu and Jace shoulder to shoulder to face off some unknown threat.

No. That couldn't happen right now, right? It wasn't raining in the dream, so this can't possibly be the dream. Clary kept arguing to herself, the icy fear rooted in her stomach spreading through her, making her numb. No, this is too much of a coincidence. I have to make sure they don't pair up.

"Actually, I think that Natsu and Jace should partner off with someone else," someone said, stealing Clary's thunder. Clary whipped around, her soaked curls flying, to see Lucy staring hard at the two."

Isabelle blinked. "Why don't you believe they should be paired together?"

"Both of them have destructive natures, which aren't needed right now. This is an investigation, not an opportunity for the two of them to have a rematch from their fight a couple of days ago."

"I agree with her," Clary said, striding over to stand by her. "Jace, I know you're itching for a fight, but try to keep it controlled for the time, okay?"

"Great. You're starting to sound like Alec," Jace pouted, receiving a retort from his parabatai.

"Alright, then. I'll take Jace. Alec, you can take Natsu," Erza said.

"I call this hunk," Isabelle called, happily curling around Gray's arm before he could protest.

"Fine. Wendy, you and Carla pair up with Simon. And Lucy, you partner up with Clary."

The two girls turned to look at each other, not quite sure what to say about the sudden pairing. But, they only responded with a "Sounds good".

"Alright. Meet back here in 2 hours. If you find something, send a message up immediately requesting assistance."

With that, the pairs split off, each taking off into different directions to find the cause of Frostford's downfall.

X

High above the valley floor, amid the trees and tangled branches of the forest, a lone figure sat. They were wrapped in a full body, purple velvet cloak that made their body almost shapeless, the hood drawn to block the rain that had begun to pour. The figure watched over the town with unattached interest, bored from their post.

The inside of their cloak began to buzz, and the figure drew out a communication lacrima, buzzing from a call. I really don't want to deal with him right now, they sighed before clicking to accept the call.

"How are things on your end?" the lacrima emitted, the gravelly voice from the person on the other side never failing to make them shiver. From what, they didn't know.

The figure huffed, shoving back loose, damp strands of crimson behind their ears in frustration. "Everything's fine. I still don't know why you're making me sit out here when I could clearly use my skills somewhere else."

A grunt came from the other side, low and harsh. "I already explained it to you a million times. You're here to keep a watch over Frostford until the time when we can officially come into town and do what we need to do."

"But we already got the Angel's Stone. Why anything more?"

"We can easily defeat the monster attacking the town. We just to be patient. All of our allies are back to be able to stage the perfect performance. Besides, I do need someone to keep a look out for any obstacles that may get in our way," the voice explained, the cloaked figure only nodding in response.

They pulled up the pair of magic binoculars they had been using this entire time to watch the town from their position on the cliff. Just the same old thing: rubble mounds, twisted metal, a group of strangers standing outside of town hall, litter everywhere-

Wait. What? The figure looked closer, eyes squinting through the lenses to make sure they had seen that correctly. But their eyes were not deceived: a group of ten people and what looked like cats stood outside in the middle of the town square, talking.

"Hey, Master. I found something interesting."

After a moment's pause. "What is it?"

"There is a group of mages in the town. Ten total, all in their teens."

"I'll make sure to send my pets, if that's what you're asking. If you have nothing else to add, I will be leaving now." And with that, the lacrima went dark, the call ended. With a sigh, the figure turned back to watch the group. They seemed to be splitting off into pairs and were walking off into different directions. The figure watched one particular group: both girls, one blond and the other one with red hair like theirs. Their lips quirked up a bit as they watched the duo and stopped. One of them, the redhead, had strange symbols decorating their limbs. The small quirk broke off into wide, fanged grin as they continued to watch them until they disappeared into the thicket below. These must be the people that Emilia saw a few days ago.

Standing up, the figure walked to the ledge of the cliff, the rain and wind ripping at the cloak. "Well. Things just got a lot more interesting."

And they jumped.

X

The town razed to the ground, the mayor's pleads, and the mysterious figure. With all of these new variables, will the Fairy Tail gang be victorious? Let me know what you think and any other comments or review that you would like to share. Til next week, bye bye! :)