Chapter XX: The Cursed Island
Lucy pulled the shawl around her shoulders tighter; despite the slight hypothermia that was nipping at her, she felt her cheeks burn brightly. Perhaps it was from the fever that she was bound to get, or perhaps it was from the stares that she and her team mates were getting. She was more inclined to believe that it was because of the stares
Lucy had expected a curse; but she however had not been prepared for the severity of the curse. She had expected to meet a band of miserable, possibly hungry people, who needed a new home to live on, and deliverance from a strange, evil beast.
But, she did not expect the people to be beast's themselves. Oh yes, they were monsters. Lucinda wouldn't dare say it, and she was guilty about thinking about it, but they were ugly. They all had a similar characteristic; the Galunians were short and stout, and they had strange scaled skin that glistened in different colors. They had jaws that should've been maws; their lower lips bulged out because of the massive, hooked fangs that curled upwards. There eyes were small and beady, and bright red. Their hair was course and unruly. They had claws that could've cut through metal like butter; they shined wickedly in the moonlight. And, they had wings. Not like Happy's delicate white wings; these wings were leathery and black, thin like paper, with veins that stretched across them. Lucy shuddered at this slightly; point blank, the Galunians looked like devils.
Which was strange, since, when the old man had discovered Lucy and her friends, ragged and haggard from their tumultuous battle at sea, they had all looked...well...normal. But as soon as the sun had set, they had turned into the monster's that surrounded Team Natsu right then.
Thus, was the curse of Galuna Island.
But the people themselves, despite their menacing looks, were actually very gentle and caring. If it hadn't been for them, Titania would've rusted over, Gray would've passed out from his numerous injuries, Natsu's motion sickness would've been his undoing, Happy would've died from exhaustion, and Lucy would've frozen to death from hypothermia. They were good people, open and friendly, and that was their saving grace.
A she-devil came up to Lucy and pressed a crude cup into her hands. The cup was warm; the she-devil gave Lucy what was supposed to be a smile, but instead, it looked like she had bared her large fangs at her. Lucy gulped, thanked her with wobbly words, and brought the drink to her lips. Even after drinking about three cups of water, Lucy's throat still itched from the raw sea water. The drink was warm and delicious and it went down smoothly.
But still, the Galunians stared.
At last, Erza cleared her throat, and stood, her body giving off strange squeaks and groans. Her metal vessel still had not fully recovered, and she wore several quilts around herself so that she would not rust
"Galunians!" she announced
The people all stared at her; they were in the center of the village. The Galunian's themselves had not fully tamed the wild island they called home. Instead, their village was small and sheltered, barred off from nature by tall wooden walls.
"I am Erza Scarlet" she waved a hand at the three companions plus the cat that lay behind her "And these are my comrades. Natsu, Gray, and Lucy. We are wizards; we have come to help you lift the curse!"
Silence.
Then, applause. They began to laugh, which sounded like a choking, dying animal and whoop. Several villagers leaped into the air, snapping out their bat-like wings and rushing high above, howling and screaming at the top of their lungs.
The shortest of the villagers, an old devil stooped over with age, hobbled towards Erza. He was the tribe leader, the one who had rescued Lucy. Except when he had, he'd been just a plain wrinkled old man. Now, he was a full on monster. He reached out, clasped Erza's hand and gave a hacking laugh
"Thank you, thank you beautiful spider lily," he gazed at her with sincere gratitude "You are the first wizards to have attempted to set us free from this curse. Please, please, accept our gratitude. We will pay you triple of what the reward money is, and, we will feed you and clothe you all."
Lucy trembled in her shawl, sneezing slightly. She wiped away at her nose.
Erza flashed him her brilliant smile; Lucy was stunned. She hadn't seen that smile in a while.
"You are welcome, Chief," she replied
He laughed again "Such a nice spider lily" he commented, removing his hands from hers. Turning on his people, he said, in a proud vioce
"In a short while, Galunians, this curse that has afflicted us for eight years will finally be lifted! We will become whole again and Galuna Island will love us again!"
More whoops and hollers; more midair flips; more joyous whoops. Somehow, after battling mermaids, nearly drowning, and slowly getting sick, Lucy felt that, hearing these terrible shouts of joy and relief, her battle had been worth it. Helping these people was worth it. She smiled into her cup, brought it to her lips, and drowned out their reverie in her gulps.
As promised, Team Natsu and the Chief of the Galunian's discussed what they were to do about the curse...
Well, almost all of Team Natsu.
When everyone was inside their safe, warm abodes there was still one figure roaming about under the dark night. His bright cat eyes shined like beacons in the night
Gray Fullbuster was uneasy. Something about Galuna Island unsettled him;he was attuned to his heightened senses well enough now to understand that the cold, prickling sensation that set the hairs on his neck on end meant something serious. It took everything he had just to repress that feeling; his cat-like instincts were struggling with him, harder than they had ever before. There was an innate desire to run, and abandon everyone. Gray looked up at the moon, and noticed that it was a sickly purple. A high, nervous growl bubbled up from somewhere deep inside of him.
Gray hated Galuna Island; he just did. He couldn't explain why, but he just knew that he shouldn't be there. He walked along the edges of the tall, wooden walls of the small village. He pressed a calloused hand against the wall; he sighed. He could leave, he knew he could. All he had to do was break through and run away...
But, dammit, he'd grown attached to that ditzy blonde, that scary redhead, and he couldn't believe it himself, that stupid pinkette. He hadn't had friends in a long time, and he didn't realize how cold he had become until the day he met Lucy Heartfilia. He'd forgotten what family had felt like, but Fairy Tail felt almost like family. Groaning, Gray leaned against the wall. He was torn in two. He wanted to leave Galuna Island, his senses were tingling with warnings, but, if he left his friends, then that proved he was still just a cowardly lion.
"You can't let the past eat away your future, Gray" his head snapped up, his eyes wide. Pushing himself off the wall, he looked left and right. His heart was racing, and it took him a while to realize that the voice, her voice, had only been heard in his head. He grabbed at his ears, and yanked hard.
"...Ur..." he said, his voice softer than the wind. He looked up at the moon again, the moon he hated, grinning down on the island that he hated. Something inside him gave way, and he pushed his instincts down.
Gray decided he wouldn't leave. He'd stay for Happy, Natsu, Erza and Lucy. And, blinking at the moon, he decided he'd stay for her. To honor her memory.
He made his way back to his team
"It's the moon, I tell ya" whispered the old man, his voice thick with the alcohol that he had ingested; and oh indeed, he had ingested a lot "The moon cursed us. Before, our people thrived on the moon. It raised a special typ'a flower ya see, and that flower had so many uses. It was edible and it helped with disease, growth, its uses were endless! But that wasn't what really helped us. But, ever since the moon turned on us-hick-we haven't seen one moon flower in eight years. If you want to free us from this curse, we gotta destroy the moon!" His old wrinkled eyes drew shut, and he leaned into the wicker chair; his whole body grew soft. The cup in his hand tipped slightly, threatening to slosh its blood rest substance all over the matted floor of the Chief's hut.
Lucy, who was fresh and clean and rejuvenated, gave the old demon man a wary glance. She didn't know if he was asleep or not, but, she was glad for it. He was a kind, sagacious island man but he, like a familiar old man, he proved to be a lech!
"What the hell is he blabbering about the moon for?" Natsu asked, his eyebrows furrowing deeply. He brought a fat drumstick, dripping with juices and sauces, and took a deep bite, chewing loudly. Lucy gave him a disgusted look "Must you be a pig?" she snapped. He gave her a smile full of meat. Rolling her eyes, Lucy turned to Erza, who sat a little ways away from them. Her hands were clasped together and she was in deep thought "Erza" Lucy said "We can't destroy the moon-why that's impossible!"
The old man hiccuped from his make shift wooden throne at the center of the small warm hut.
"Erza...? You heard me right? He wants us to destroy the moon! T-that's just not possible ...Erza what are you thinking?" Lucy's voice stretched through several octaves; she did not like the pondering look on the TinWoman's face.
"Yo! Erza! What are you thinking about?" Natsu said through his meal; he spit pieces of chicken out with each word. Lucy felt her mouth upturn in disgust; she had a sudden passionate desire to throttle Natsu, a wish that she hadn't had in a long time.
"Cover your mouth!" she ordered
"No," Natsu replied immaturely, taking another bite out of his food "I ain't bugging you am I?"
The blonde balled one delicate, pale hand. "You are being a vile, disgusting mongrel!"
"Stop speaking some foreign language, Luce! You know I don't speak your gibberish!" A piece of chewed chicken landed on the front of Lucy's shirt; her mouth popped open. She quite liked that shirt; she'd worked hard to buy it. It was a lovely shade of pink, and it wasn't really qualified to be called a shirt, since all it really covered was her chest and half of her stomach, but still, it was a pretty shade of pink! And Natsu had just ruined it with his filthy half chewed meat! She gritted her teeth and tugged on his ear, pulling him towards her "Fool," she snarled "That means, you need to stop bei-"
"Ho, ho! A lovers quarrel I see, ain't that sweet?" The old man's surly voice returned back to them, hoarse from the wine. Lucy quickly released the straw man's ear, her cheeks flaming
The old man laughed, slapping one gnarled, clawed hand against one scaly knee "Ah, you kids are just precious! Now tell me, are you gonna destroy the moon or what?"
"Chief, I'm sorry, but you see we can-"
Titania rose suddenly, placing her hands on her hips. She thrust her chest our triumphantly and said "We have decided! We WILL destroy the moon!"
Lucy's mouth popped open again "Lucy.." Natsu whispered "Lucy, I think the redhead has finally lost her screws"
But the Chief was delighted. He laughed heartily and offered them more food than they could eat and thanked them more times than Lucy could care to remember. She was gazing at Erza warily, for perhaps the pinkette was right, and Erza had lost a few screws in her metallic head. But she stood so proudly, with such assurance in her stance, that Lucy couldn't help believing that she had something planned. Which was amazing, because, had it just been her and Natsu, the mission would've hit a brick wall. Neither was stupid, it just was that they'd never dealt with something like this.
A piece of the wall, which was in fact the door, slid aside, and a familiar mop of black hair, and white ears, walked in. Gray walked in, looked around for a moment with a haggard, tired look in his eyes, and settled himself down far away from them. Rolling on his side, he said nothing. Lucy wondered what was wrong with him.
"Bless you!" the old man sighed, his beady black eyes filling tears "Oh, I must go tell my people! We will celebrate so well when the moon is destroyed!" He hopped off his chair, and hobbled out, each pained step filled with the wear of time, yet buoyant with the wieght of joy.
When he was gone, Lucy whirled on Erza "Erza, you must be joking! You know, even with all our powers combined, we can't destroy the moon! That's just madness!"
Erza said nothing; instead, she crossed her arms over her chest, and took the old man's seat in the wicker chair, crossing one shiny cinereal leg over the other. She closed her eyes, letting a self approving smile slide across her beautiful features. Her hair fell like a curtain around her face.
"Lucy, of course we're not going to destroy the moon" her words were clear and sharp "Instead, we're going to defeat the one's who have caused this."
This was possible crazier than her first idea; Natsu scratched his head "But how the hell are we gonne beat up some people who aren't here anymore?"
Erza's smile grew wider "Recall what that BoBo fellow said? He said before he left, he met a gang of Crownie children. And the curse descended at around the same time, right? Plus, he mentioned a massive cave that held something within it that was so frightening he left right away? I have reason to believe that these children are still here. We need to find them, and interrogate him"
Lucy was in awe; Titania's cunning was amazing. She'd made so much of so little, and it all seemed so plausible. Lucy bounded a hand in the other "Your right!" she said "But...it's been eight years...they wouldn't be children anymore. Depending on their ages, they'd be teenagers..possibly our ages"
"Which means, especially if they know magic, that they are dangerous to us."
Lucy frowned a grim frown "We're going to have to fight"
Natsu whooped "Alright! I'm so bored! Let's kick some ass"
Lucy cut him a glare "You just nearly drowned at sea"
Natsu pouted "No, you guys fought those mermaids" he looked in the other direction, his face sullen "I wish you woulda woken me up"
Lucy rolled her eyes "Idiot.." she sighed "Gray? And what do you think?"
Gray rolled over, his face pale "I don't care. Do what you want"
The Celestial mage quirked an eyebrow, but right then, the door to the hut parted, and several young island woman, dressed in traditional island clothing which showed off their exotic appearances came in
"H-hello" one said, she by far was the lovelist of the devils "M-my n-name is..Jorina...We don't speak mainland language..v-very well..b-but please...join us for celebrations?"
They nodded; they decided that it would at least have some fun before the real problems began.
Authors Note: Mercifully, not nearly as long. I'm telling you, I had a week of no internet, and I am completely spamming you with new chapters. Thank you for putting up with my bullshit! Teehee...