The House of Aranthos broke out the beer-like substance after that. The entire House got drunk together, ultimately destroying the maggot infested hall even more than Fairy Tail would on any given night. Juvia and Gray pretended to join in the festivities, but were careful not to ingest anything. The 'beer' was slimy drool. There was no way they could drink it even if they tried without being violently ill, instead sloshing it around, spilling most onto the ground.
After awhile, demons began to pass out. Juvia nodded to Gray as the last ones fell over in their drunken stupors. It was time.
She ran. She ran up the staircase, grabbing the horn lacrima that had been carefully hidden outside the castle wall. Blowing into it, she sighed with relief that her teammates were still there. They emerged from their spots simultaneously, joining her as she raced down the stairs again.
Gray's arm tattoo lit up, even under his disguise, as he started slashing demons with his ice magic. His teammates joined him, flanking his side. The slaughter took about 10 minutes tops and they faced very little resistance with the demons all being in drunken stupors. The Royal Guard used regular swords, disemboweling demons left and right. Gajeel, Levy, Cana, Erza and Jellal stood back afterward. The entire House was dead (or re-dead) with the exception of Kuno, who was roughly slammed against the wall by an adrenaline-charged Gray. Gajeel held the other arm.
Kuno laughed, rumbling the walls with the heat of it, "So you were the traitors!" he bellowed.
"Before we kill you," Gajeel hissed, inches from his putrid face, "Tell us…where is the gate to find Andromeda?"
"I won't tell you," Kuno continued to laugh, his raunchy breath searing Gajeel's eyebrows.
"No problem," Cana spat, raising a card, "We'll find it ourselves."
She chucked the card, trapping him inside. Erza promptly sliced it in half with her sword.
Juvia collapsed to the floor, her eyes wide in fear. Gray was beside her instantly.
"I can't do this!" she cried, "It was awful! These demons aren't even the final stage. They're hideous! I ate bugs… oh Mavis…."
"Shhh," Levy soothed, "We're okay for now. We don't know our next steps. You have time to recover before we get going again. Deep breaths."
Juvia glanced at her gnarled skin, "I can't! I can't! We slaughtered them! We butchered them like animals! Demons or not, we had no right!"
"Yes we did," Cana crouched beside her, "Think of why, Juvia. It'll be okay."
Juvia's sharp breaths started to subside as she forced herself to calm down.
Gajeel and Jellal were already on the move, exploring the nearby corridors for a gateway. They didn't know what they were looking for, but they assumed it was nearby.
Beside Juvia, Gray was sitting against the wall, stone-faced. He'd come down from his adrenaline high. That had been utterly brutal. Fairy Tail mages did not kill. Fairy Tail mages did not lie. Today, he and Juvia had broken both those vows.
"Gray?" Levy asked softly. She reached out to touch him, pausing at his disguise. It's still Gray underneath, she chided herself. She laid a hand on his arm. The demon slayer tattoo was still prominent on his darkened skin. He continued to stare straight ahead, a single tear running down his cheek.
"Should we send them back to the guild?" Jellal asked, rejoining the main group, "They both look so…traumatized. Maybe they can't continue."
"They'll be okay," Erza said, hugging Juvia's demon body, patting her back reassuringly.
Gajeel rejoined the main hall, stepping over fragments of bodies, "There's a door at the end of that hall that leads to another staircase leading down," he announced.
"Did you go down?" Levy asked, shooting him a look as he growled at her contact with Gray.
He stopped growling, acknowledging her death stare as he took in Gray's condition. Juvia was a heap on the floor, sobbing now.
"No," Gajeel said slowly, waving a hand in front of Gray's face. Gray didn't even blink, "I thought I'd wait until we could all go together."
Arcadios appeared by Cana's side, "I think I agree with Jellal," he stated, "These two need to heal at your guild. They are unable to continue."
"No," Juvia said quietly as she sat up, wiping the remnants of her tears away, "We will see this through. We learned something important and there's still a lot to be done."
"And what did you learn?" Erza asked, helping Juvia off the filthy floor.
Gray seemed to have snapped out of it a bit as well, "Hell seems to have a contract out on the Princess," he said in a monotone voice, "Those two messengers were survivors from the House of Dorthos. It seems they weren't there when Lucy obliterated their comrades. They were trying to join Aranthos in exchange for information on the Princess's whereabouts."
Arcadios smashed the wall behind him with his fist, "Damnit!"
"We didn't get to hear what those demons had learned," Juvia continued, "Kuno had them cannibalized before they could divulge their information. But if those two knew something, chances are…"
"…some other demon is going to figure it out too," Cana finished.
"Okay, so we need to warn the castle," Jellal said, helping Gray to his feet, "Who's going to go?"
"I have to stay," Cana's voice lowered with the realization, "I'm the only one with card magic and the ability to wield the card Hisui gave us to trap Andromeda."
"Gray and Juvia are the obvious choices," Erza said, "You need a break from here already."
"No chance," Jellal shook his head, "We stand our best shot if the seven of us stay together."
"Can we agree that it would be okay to spend the night in the forest instead of in here?" Levy asked, edging closer to Gajeel, "I don't think I could stay here tonight. The smell is making me nauseous. The bodies are already decomposing…well, what's left of their already-previously dead bodies are decomposing."
Gajeel nodded, "I can agree to that."
They were headed up the stairs now to make camp in the surrounding forest. The Royal Guard would take watch shifts to allow the seven mages a chance to sleep, although with the adrenaline coursing through their veins, no one was sure they would actually sleep anyway.
"We can't go back to the guild looking like this," Gray motioned to his and Juvia's demon-like bodies.
"That's true," Erza acknowledged, "You'll be killed on sight."
Arcadios called a couple of the guards to him, scribbling out a message on parchment paper and handing it to them, "Use the Celestial gates," he instructed them, "Get this note to Tomo and Hisui and then do not leave their sides. You must take them to Fairy Tail to be protected. Do you understand?"
Both Royal Guards nodded their heads, disappearing instantly.
"The rest of us need to get some sleep," Erza said firmly, "I know it feels like maybe sleep will be elusive tonight, but we need to try. We need to find that gate as soon as possible."
Erza took Jellal's hand and lead him to a piece of grass surrounded by trees as the others disbursed to find their own grass patches, laying down beside him, "Well, this was quite the wedding night."
He tried to chuckle, but failed, "One we'll not forget, that's for sure."
Across the clearing, Gajeel and Levy held each other tight.
"What have we agreed to?" Levy asked, burying her face in his neck, "Poor Juvia and Gray."
"We'll be okay," Gajeel stroked her hair, "We made it through Phase 1 of the plan. We have control of Aranthos. This would be considered progress."
"Hmm," Levy sighed, "Progress. I mean, we've killed demons before, but they were attacking us with the intent to kill us. This was outright slaughter, Gajeel. I understand why Gray and Juvia were so upset."
"Shh, Shrimp. It'll be okay. Once we get rid of the threat, we get to go back to our regular lives, right?"
"That's the problem," she said softly, glancing across the clearing to where Gray and Juvia held each other tightly, both sets of eyes wide open, "I'm not sure normal means the same thing anymore. I guess we'll have to figure out a new normal. They can't unsee what happened. We can undo what we did either."
"No, we can't," Gajeel agreed, "But in the long run, all of Earthland will be saved. Keep looking at the bigger picture."
She nodded against his chest, allowing sleep to claim her.
Cana was lying nearby Gajeel and Levy, listening to their conversation. She rolled over, forcing herself to close her eyes. Beside her, Arcadios reached out his arm. Finally giving in to his advances, she rolled into his chest, loving the comforting embrace he held her in.
Gray and Juvia were lying awake. They were aware that their comrades were slowly but surely able to calm themselves enough to sleep. But not them. Neither of them would sleep a wink that night.