Hey guys. I'm sorry it's been a while. Some really serious things came up that made me unable to post, but now things are back in order I'll be back with regular updates from here on out on all of my stories. I wanted an honest opinion though. Do you think this story needs some if it's earlier chapters updated? Please let me know. If enough people say yes, I'll update some of the older chapters that may have been a bit confusing.

Chapter 27 : Enter the Ruins

"So, I guess we should head to the ruins first," Erza said, placing the note back down on the table. With a smile, Lucy spoke, "It may be better to get some information on the ruins. If we know what we might be up against, we'll have a better chance at finishing this faster."

"Usually I would agree with you, but do we really want to upset these people the day before their festival?" Gray questioned, "It might make them a bit angry or we may even get kicked out of town."

"Good point, but I still don't think it's good to run in head first," Erza sighed.

"We'll be fine, Luce! We have to go now! After all, the festival is tomorrow. If we do this today, we can stay and eat a bunch of food at the festival!" Natsu cheer. Happy grinned, drooling a bit, "Think of all the fish!"

Lucy snickered, "Is your head full of nothing but food?"

"No! I think of other things too. Don't you think the festival would be fun though, Lucy? Just think about it! There would be a ton of different foods to eat and probably a bunch of booths with games to play! There are probably a ton of prizes too!" Natsu said, pouting a bit. Lucy rolled her eyes and nudged Natsu, "I never said it wouldn't be fun. We just have a mission we have to think about before having fun."

"Great! Let's go to the ruins then and get this over with!" Natsu said happily before once again grabbing Lucy's wrist and dragging her Natsu ran towards the ruins – with Lucy trying to keep up – Erza, Gray, and Happy chased after to duo. Before long, the five of them were at the ruins.

The ruins were made of marble buildings that had been weathered with age. The once white marble was now a rather pasty gray. Along with that, vegetation of all kinds grew throughout the ruins. Vines and moss covered many of the buildings that seemed to be its own civilization sometime in the past. It was any historian's dream and the place was truly a beautiful sight. It took Lucy's breath away to see such beauty.

Besides that, there were tons of different animals which obviously lived in the ruins. There were some animals that Lucy had never even seen before. A rainbow of colorful birds lived in the trees all around the ruins. It almost seemed as if the ruins was some type of untouched utopia just waiting for someone to join it's mini world.

As Lucy tried to catch her breath, Natsu was more than ready to go. Before he ran off again, Lucy ripped her wrist away from him. Confused, Natsu looked at Lucy, "What's wrong, Luce?"

"You run too fast! Can we at least think of a tiny bit of a plan before you drag me off again? I'd at least like to catch my breath!" Lucy sighed.

"Alright. Sorry," Natsu sighed. Meanwhile, Erza and Gray were speaking amongst themselves to try and figure out a plan that may work out. After a bit of conversing amongst the whole group, Erza smiled, "Okay. So everyone understands, right?"

"It's simple," Gray said, "We all stick together. If we get split up, don't try to find the beast. Instead, try to find us. If you see the beast and you're alone, run or call out for us. It won't do anyone any good to try and beat it yourself."

"Okay. That seems like a solid plan. Let's go on in then," Lucy said. Together, the five of them entered the ruins, unaware of what was to come.

Meanwhile…

"Are they going in?" someone whispered, sitting next to another silhouette. The second person nodded, moving a pair of binoculars from their face, "Yeah, they just entered the ruins. I feel kind of bad. They have absolutely no idea that they aren't coming back."

"It's for the better of the town though. You know that if we didn't do this than that horrifying beast would come into town and devour everyone," figure one said.

"I know that!" the other one hissed, "That still doesn't make it right to sacrifice people to that beast every year though. One day it's going to come back and haunt us, I know it."

"Who knows, maybe for once these people may defeat that monster. It'd certainly do everyone some good. We'd never have to sacrifice anyone again," the first one said.

The second man sighed, shaking his head, "If only…."