Good Morning my faithful followers.

First of all, there is not actually a chapter 22 yet. I have started re-editing and as a result, I have had to break a couple of chapters in half. Or more than half depending on the chapter. I do have 22 written but it hasn't been edited yet and is not ready for fan consumption. But it should be ready in the next few days. So, until then... sit back and relax. And maybe read the story from the very beginning. Maybe you'll see the changes that I've made. Have fun.

It's been a while. And yes, before you ask, I am in fact, ALIVE. Sorry I've been gone so long. I have a really bad habit of getting distracted easily. Like, it can get really bad at times. BUT! I've finally managed to type and edit this story as well as a chapter for one of my other stories. A great day if you ask me.

As for the questions, yes this will follow the tv series. For the MOST part. I may cut it early but that just depends on factors to be determined. And I'm sure you're all waiting for when Lucy's father arrives but since it pertains directly to the story, I can't really fill you in on the all, I had an ending in mind before the final season came out. As for my updating schedule, it depends on the amount of distractions that enter my life. Essentially, it gets done when it gets done. That's it for questions. Feel free to ask as many as you want, you may or may not get an answer.

On a quick side note, a few weeks ago I got a review from Reb where they analyzed various aspects of Dragon Scales. All of it was positive and ALL OF IT was appreciated. And if any of you ever feel like like a review is too long, you can always PM me instead. I love all you and I love hearing the theories you can come up with.

Now, onto the Story!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

~Chapter 21~

You know that moment when there's nothing to do and you're bored out of your mind? Minutes or hours after you finish everything you can do (or were supposed to do), and there's absolutely nothing else to do? Yeah, that was Lucy right now. After wandering away from the part of the fence where her friends were talking, Lucy attempted to fill the space. She ate breakfast (despite the low afternoon almost evening sun), attempted small talk with the villagers and promptly got extremely bored afterward. There was nothing to do in this stupid village. Nothing she could help with, at least. So, she was basically stuck wandering in circles. What a great way to pass time, by the way. So great. But not even Lucy's sarcastic thoughts could force the time to pass by any faster.

So, she just ended up finding a quiet spot and stared at her two partners as they talked out their problems. She guessed that they even had problems by the way Natsu's face was squished into a glare. It didn't seem like she was waiting there that long, thank Mavis, before the air around them seemed to change. And at the first sign of things wrapping up, Lucy jumped up from her spot and moved towards the fence. When she got close, she shouted the words that were sure to tie the bow on the conversation.

"Are you guys done yet!?"

She watched as the "hastily"' broke apart, Natsu casting an inquiring look to the area around him. It seemed to Lucy that he was making sure that no one saw that little exchange. It did make sense, to Lucy at least. He didn't like people knowing he had any feelings. The blonde shook her head in amusement but didn't say anything else. She had already ruined the moment, she figured it wouldn't be long before the boys came down on their own. She wasn't disappointed. It was only a couple of minutes before they flew down from the fence. When they landed, she was met with an unhappy glare and a boreder than ever half-smirk. Lucy only smiled back. There wasn't much else she could do at the moment. Oh well.

"Finally! That was a really long talk, you guys," Lucy huffed, the smile never leaving her face.

"A talk you interrupted," Happy shot back.

Lucy waved her hand dismissively as the trio started towards the gate. She could tell they weren't truly angry with her. Anger was a feeling she could always tell if it was genuine. They walked through the gate, the cool evening breeze ruffling their clothes.

"I know. But we have to get this mission started if we don't want Erza to return with an army to drag us back."

"Will she really do that?" Happy responded, fear slipping into his voice.

"Probably not, but I don't want to find out. Plus, you would know better than me," Lucy answered with a shrug.

"Eh. So anyway...Which way should we go now?" Happy wondered.

Natsu didn't answer and instead began walking forward through the forest. Happy and Lucy looked at each other before shrugging and following the Dragon. The walk was filled with both a mix of silence and quiet mindless chatter. That is until thunderous steps shook the ground around them. And like idiots, they froze. Well, Lucy did. It wasn't Lucy's fault. Not really. She wasn't quite knowledgeable enough to know that when in this type of situation, you don't just freeze.

As the ground thumped around them, she turned (stupidly) and was faced by a huge silhouette blocking the setting sun from view. Beaty yellow eyes locked onto hers, rooting her in place. A growl-ish squeal pierced the air, planting fear into her heart. The panting of the creature caused the heart race, spreading the fear and quickly turning it into panic. As the panic settled in her chest, her lungs constricted horribly forcing her to take shallow pants.

"L–Lushy? Lushy! Oh, not again! Natsu! Natsu! It's happening again!"

At Happy's shout, the Chaos Dragon turned, his eyes locking onto Blondie's non-moving form. He shouted at her to move but she didn't seem to hear him. And what did Happy mean it's happening again? What exactly was happening to her? Normally, he could smell the air to at least get some idea of the situation, but at the moment all he could smell was what was coming off the silhouette. What even was that thing? It just stared at them from the darkness, its hulking form unmoving. The answer came about two seconds later when it finally moved, it's dark in shape revealed for all to see.

"A rat!"

"A rat?"

Lucy remained silent. The huge creature lumbered forward with Lucy directly in its path.

"Blondie! Move!"

She didn't.

Exasperated, he sent his magic after her to drag her away before she was crushed by the giant rodents foot. What was going on with her? It was as if she had forgotten everything she ever learned. And he meant everything. It seemed like the only thing she could manage to do right now, was to breathe. And even then it seemed as if she was having some difficulty with such a small little action.

However, when she was close enough for him to hear her breathing, he noticed something else. Something… almost… toxic to their situation. Fear. And it was coming off her body in waves. She was… afraid? Afraid of what? There was no way she was scared of the giant rodent. It… It just wasn't possible. Or was it? Around people, she had yet to show even a single drop of fear. She spoke up against what normal people would classify as terrifying people. Powerful people who were so much stronger than her. And yet, she didn't back down. She stood toe-to-toe with them and never gave them a single inch.

Now? Now was different. Now she was petrified. Frozen with fear. Barely breathing. And Happy had said again. He said 'It's happening again!' So, if this was the second time she was this shaken when was the first? And of course, the Chaos Dragon couldn't think too deeply on the matter. Not with this giant rodent chasing after them. And what happened next definitely wasn't something he was happy about in any way.

"Chaos Dragon's Phantom Zero." The Chaos Dragon had sent a concentrated beam of mahogany fire at the rodent when another voice rang out.

"Ice Make: Floor!"

Oh great. It was him. And if he was here then she was probably around here somewhere as well. So much for getting rid of his problem. The rodent screeched behind him it was hit by one magic and tripped by another. The ground shook as it landed heavily, the altogether force sending it straight into unconsciousness. It was pitifully easy with how quick it went down but it worked out. One problem down, and two more to go.

Beside him, the blonde continued to stare into nothingness. Her eyes were wide and unfocused. Her breathing was still coming in short pants and hardly slowed after the rodent went down. Her body still shaking as her panic and fear continued to flow throughout her body. It was as if nothing had changed. And to make matters worse, Fate had chosen now to distract him. Familiar scents filled his nose in seconds later, a rustle of bushes had his attention. The Chaos Dragon pulled his lips back in a snarl. At least he didn't have to find them but he did wish that they hadn't been found quite so quickly. It had only been a couple hours since their flight over the island. It should've taken them longer than this, right? Not that it mattered anymore anyway.

Chaos only wished that he'd thrown them further. Or at the very most, he wished that they weren't there at all. But you can't change the past. So here, in the present, his body was tense as he waited for his prey. He didn't move, he didn't speak, and kept his breathing slow and even. He had to be ready when they showed up. He knew who was coming. He knew what they wanted. However, his stance didn't change as the bushes continue to rustle. Not as a rustling stopped. Not as his acquaintances from Fairy Tail finally showed themselves. Sometimes, he really hated how resilient and strong-willed the members of Fairy Tail were. They always seemed to get in the way and overturn his plans. Huh. That must be what the bad guys they go after feel like. Interesting.

In front of them, the Fairy Tail members said nothing as they stood at the edge of the path. It was weird. Them just standing there silent and unmoving. However, they didn't stay like that for long. Slowly, Titania raised her hands in surrender. She still said nothing, as she was probably waiting to something that hadn't happened yet. The Ice Princess, on the other hand, did not. He just glared at the trio until he received a painful elbow in the stomach. He doubled over in pain, trying hard not to let out a groan of pain (weakness) in front of either weakness hating party. Erza would probably try to beat the weakness out of him while Chaos would probably go and eat it. Figuratively. Maybe.

He took deep breaths to dull the pain and when he was able to stand straight, he too raised his hands in surrender. Other three looked on in confusion. What the heck was happening? Wasn't it just a few hours ago that the two groups were fighting against each other? So what happened in those hours of separation? What made them do a complete 180 like this? Luckily, it was Happy who spoke up.

"Uh...What are you guys doing?" Happy asked, his head tilting to the side.

"What does it look like? We're surrendering," the Ice Prick huffed back.

When the Dragon and his partners only stared at him with looks of critical disbelief, he turned to look at his own female companion.

"Erza, I don't see the point in this," he growled.

"Isn't it obvious?" She hissed back.

"Uh... no?"

The snowflake shrugged and slid his hands back into his pants pockets, his shirt already discarded. Titania sighed in disappointment.

"Ugh. We're doing this because it is obvious that Lucy isn't going to let this go. She won't come home with us."

"I know that much," Ice Breath huffed.

His fingers crawled towards his pants, already starting to undo them as he spoke.

"So, we are left with the next best thing," she continued.

She paused for a second too long, making Gray open his mouth once more.

"What's the next best thing?"

"Gray! If you would shut up and let me finish, I would tell you!" Titania screeched.

"S–Sorry! Continue."

"Thank you. The next best thing here would be to accompany her on his mission. This is an S-class mission, after all."

"And what? Isn't Natsu good enough? He's an S-class mage too, you know," Happy spat.

"He is also a dangerous Dragon Slayer. She needs protection from him as well."

"Since when!? Since when has she needed protection from Natsu provided by you?"

Happy's blood was boiling. He'd never heard such lies in his life. The facts were right there in front of them! But all these people only saw what they wanted to see. They contorted the facts to fit the picture they saw of him. Not the picture that was actually there. How dare they!

Happy's little body shook with anger. He could show them. He would show them! However, before he had a chance to say more, gentle hands picked him up. The hands brought him to their body and a soft hand combed through his fur. Fingernails scratched at his skin and Happy could feel himself relaxing.

"It's ok, Happy. It's ok."

A soothing voice reached his ears causing a purr to rise in his throat. He opened his eyes, not realizing he closed them and found big brown eyes staring back at him. It was like staring into deep pools of chocolate. Lushy. Of course it was her who was preventing his explosion. She was good at things like this.

The angry voices of those around her were what pulled the Blonde out of her fear induced paralysis. It was like sharp claws had ripped through her fear like it was thin fabric. And now that she was free, she was finally able to put the beast out of her mind. And that in addition to petting Happy, she was able to get her heart rate back under control.

"Hi, Lushy," the feline's voice missing its sharp edge.

She giggled at Happy's quick change in attitude.

"Hi, Happy. Feeling better now?"

"Yeah... I guess."

"Good. Then let's have Natsu handle the rest. It shouldn't take long."

And indeed, it didn't. Natsu didn't say anything and instead turned and continued on the path he chose. Lucy follows his example of not responding and fell in stepped beside him, leaving the Fairies behind. They didn't move at first, hardly twitched really, neither knowing what to do next. They hadn't expected this. This... lack of a reaction. They weren't sure what they were thinking would happen, but it wasn't this.

So they stood there just shocked at this unexpected turn of events. They were stunned silent for a few seconds as they tried to process what had happened as well as come to a decision. It only took a few steps of their friends leaving to decide. They speed walked into action, falling behind the others and followed silently. Both knew that one wrong move could be their last.

"Are you alright now, Lushy?" Happy asked, too quietly for the others to hear.

He wasn't about to let anyone else in on Lushy's fear. He knew it was a bit selfish, but he didn't care. If he let other people know then they would try to comfort her. Then, she would get closer to them and then where would he be? And he wasn't the only one. Unbeknownst to Happy, he wasn't the only one who wanted to keep weaknesses within their circle.

"Yeeeah... I'm ok," she murmured softly.

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Happy. I'll be ok. You don't need to worry."

She gave a smile but it was one of those ones that you can just tell they weren't really ok. But there wasn't much Happy could do about it right now.

"I don't believe you but ok. If you say so."

Happy may keep a lot of thoughts to himself, but thoughts like these were ones that he felt needed to be said aloud. He stared skeptically at her. He knew it would happen again. This paralyzing fear that she harbored for extremely large creatures. This fear had claimed her twice now. Happy knew that until she managed to do something about it, this fear would continue to plague her for who knows how long.

The blue feline cast a glance at his father. The only one not in the loop. He hadn't been there to see it the first time. He didn't see her freeze with fear. He hadn't seen her pathetic attempts at self-defense. How her rational brain refused to function. But he was here now. He saw the fear. He experienced her inability to function. But that didn't mean he understood what was happening. Things like these, things that happened in the moment were always hard to decipher.

Hard to get the facts straight. Hard to relate to. Especially if you don't know why someone acted the way they did. And this is where his father was. Standing in the middle of only half the facts. Maybe later Happy would fill him in. Just as long as no one else was around.

The group walked silently for the next few minutes, not wanting to break this mini–truce that had formed. It wasn't long before the Moon Temple loomed before the group. The top stretching high into the sky. Various plants and trees grew along the outside, camouflaging well amongst the foliage. It was too bad the inside wasn't as cool as the outside. Crumbling stone pillars stood here and there, and large pieces of stone were scattered across the floor. Even the floor looked unstable to walk on.

"Whoa. This is the Moon Temple?" Happy wondered aloud.

"It doesn't look too safe," Lucy murmured.

"I agree. Let us depart from this waste of time," Erza agreed haughtily.

She turned and took two steps with authority (definitely stomping) before the ground cracked beneath her. Two pairs of wings were out in an instant and half a second later, the ground gave way. Two screams and a yelp filled the air before being replaced with a loud thud and silence. Groans of pain came next.

"Gray! Are you alright?" Erza asked, sitting up.

"Yeah... I'm alright. Where's Lucy?"

"Here. We're fine," the blonde breathed, her eyes locked in her partner.

She'd seen his wings unfurl, but she wasn't expecting him to grab her when the floor broke. His arms were locked securely around her waist, her fingers wrapping around the fabric of his shirt. Both Happy and Natsu had used their wings to slow their descent but neither were about to let the other two do anything before they did. The reached the ground quickly, Gray calling Lucy's name as they landed. Happy didn't bother touching the ground and went to wrap himself around Lucy's neck instead.

As they touched the ground, the Chaos Dragon heard something. A slight whistle, too quiet for regular mages to hear, sounded in his ears. It felt like... a breeze? But that meant that there was air moving somewhere close. And if the air was moving then...

Without another word, the Dragon took off, one of his arms still wrapped around the Blonde and the feline still around her shoulders. When Erza and Gray realized that the others were leaving, they were quick to follow. However, what they found when the tunnel widened was unlike anything they'd ever seen before. Well... most of them. The tunnel ended in a cliff with sparkling water far below. But the cliff wasn't what stunned them. No, it was what was towering high above them in the huge cavern and they found themselves in. Before them, a huge glacier filled the space and frozen inside was a huge horrifying monster. Three pairs of eyes were wide with shock, a fourth was intrigued, and the fifth was staring in pure horror.

"D–... D–... Deliora? H–How? How could this happen? Why is it here!? How did it even get here!?" Gray shouted.

At first, his voice shook with fear. But as the questions came pouring out of his mouth, the angrier he became. His blood was simmering but the anger he felt couldn't shake the paralyzing fear that was crawling up his spine. And he wasn't the only one.

As Lucy's previous shock from the giant rat had just worn off, she was not faced with something just as terrifying. She could that familiar feeling of fear starting to creep back upon her. It started in her toes, rooting her to the spot and moved upward. Her limbs started to stiffen, her breathing was getting faster, and once again Happy was the first to notice. Quickly he leapt onto Natsu's shoulder and wrapped himself in such a way around his neck that he knew he wouldn't be overheard.

"Natsu. It's happening again," Happy hissed.

"What?!" he hissed back.

"Lucy seems to have a paralyzing fear of large creatures."

"What are you talking about?"

"She's scared. And it's not the first time. The first time was on Mt. Hakobe with the Snow Vulcan. Then giant rat, and now this. If we don't do something she'll shut down and I don't know when she'll be back. I want to help but I don't know how to. I'm not good at getting rid of fear!"

The Dragon Slayer paused for a minute. The gears turning rapidly in his mind.

"Maybe we don't need to get rid of it."

"What are we gonna do with it then?"

"We're going to redirect it."

"How do you figure we do that?"

He spoke slowly, practically thinking aloud, the gears spinning even faster in his head.

"Ice Princess seems to know all about this thing, right?"

Happy nodded, his eyes following his father's to stare at Lucy. But he was already moving before the words finished leaving his mouth.

"But his own fear seems to be preventing him from sharing all the facts. So, why don't we get her to pull the information from him?"

Natsu's eyes glowed as he stalked towards her. He already had a plan in mind. First, he had to her attention off of it. And what better way to do that than to suffocate her with his power? Coming to stand in front of her, the Chaos Dragon just stared down at her smaller form. This was getting borderline troublesome. This constant requirement And yet, he couldn't deny her usefulness. Well, not at this moment. Not with her eyes unfocused and staring at his chest. It wouldn't take too much to change it. And snapping out his wings without warning and growling in irritation proved just that. He could see the light returning to her eyes and a smile to her face. It also gave him the unwanted attention of Titania.

"Hey! What are you doing to her?!"

The blonde turned to look at the shouting to Titania just in time to see a dark blue claw crash into the ground in front of the red-head.

"Did I call your attention?" he growled.

She didn't speak. She couldn't. And she wasn't sure why. Which was exactly what the Dragon Slayer wanted. Satisfied she wouldn't interfere, Natsu turned back to the blonde.

"Look at me," he hissed. She brought her eyes up to look at him.

"Put away your fear. Now is a time for getting information. That thing isn't moving so focus on getting the Ice Prick talking."

She nodded slowly, before turning to stare at the shaking Ice Mage. Natsu was right. This was the time for getting information. Not letting fear overwhelm her. Carefully, she approached her comrade.

"Gray? Can you tell us about it?"

Her voice was soft and quiet. Almost as if she was approaching a deer. She thought it was interesting how in truth she was the deer.

Gray's eyes never left the sparkling glacier, his eyes glazing over as he relived the memories. His mouth open to speak fortunately for the rest of them, he did. Deliora was a demon of destruction 10 years ago and it was sealed inside a glacier up in the northern continent. It had ravaged the region of Isvan, taking countless lives and destroying everything in its path. Gray's master, the one who taught him ice magic, was the one who risked her life to see that away.

He opened his mouth to continue the footsteps in the distance cut him short. Lucy's eyes widened before she grabbed her companions and dragged them behind a large grouping of rocks. Just as she managed to hide, a voice echoed around the chamber.

"The voices seemed to be coming from down here," the first one observed.

Natsu bared his teeth in recognition. He remembered those eyebrows and that bright, spiky blue hair. Beside him was another man. This one taller and was holding his stomach and either hunger or pain. He growled in response to the previous statement onto the next one about how Eyebrows hated to be awake during the day. Even though it was evening and the day was clearly ending.

The growled responses didn't last long. Not after Eyebrows commented on the dog hairs that sat in his companion's hair. Toby, as Eyebrows revealed, yelled in protest that the ears were decorational and not caused by the Moon Drip. Not long after that, another body entered the cavern. Her pink hair was split into two pigtails and there were two white feather things that were attached to a collar thing around her neck. They really drew away from her black dress. Well, at least Lucy thought so.

This new pinkette called for the attention of Yuka and Toby and both males turned towards her. The dog-faced Toby waved his acknowledgment, while the bushy eyebrowed Yuka grumbled at her appearance. He acknowledged her as Sherry before she revealed that they had some troubling news. News that was hardly troubling to the Fairy Tail Mages.

According to Sherry, someone had attacked her precious giant pet rat. Well, the only good news about that statement was that there was only the one rat and they didn't have to worry about any more attacking them. Of course, that also meant that Sherry was going to be looking for revenge when she found out who was responsible. You know what they say. When one door of worry closes, another one opens. Great. Just great. And what was better was when Yuma's mutterings of intruders reached their ears. A low growl rose in Natsu's chest.

"Who are they calling intruders? They don't smell like local themselves," Natsu hissed.

"And they don't appear to be infected by the curse either," Gray pointed out.

"Way to put that together, Sherlock," Happy teased. Gray opened his mouth to speak but Sherry's next words stopped him.

"And it's almost time to start collecting moonlight again. It makes me so sad."

Collecting moonlight? What could they possibly be collecting moonlight for? Lucy's mind whirled she tried to think about spells and rituals that called for collecting moonlight. Her mind went so deep into her thoughts that she completely missed Sherry's next words. But Gray didn't. Gray paid close attention to Sherry as she told her companions of how "The cold emperor would be displeased." That there was someone else on the island. And how they should "Get rid of them before he finds out." Gray almost laughed out loud. Those non-islanders thought they could get rid of Fairy Tail so easily? Ha! Not in this life. It this Cold Emperor struck a chord within him. It was familiar per se but there was something about it that seemed...

At the same time, Natsu himself had finally managed to calm his simmering blood from Sherry's previous comment. That is until she said something new to spike the temperature of his blood. Something about not allowing them to live now that they'd seen Deliora. Something about how they would "gift" the "intruders" the gift of eternal sleep. However, instead of anger boiling in his blood, he felt something else creep into his bones. Fear was nonexistent, so was it… Competitiveness? Presumably. After all, if they thought they could kill him, then he would just have to kill them first.

Turning his head, the Dragon Slayer locked eyes with the blue feline. They needed to get out of here. They needed to not only do something about this apparent Cold Emperor but about this creature Deliora as well. Natsu gave Happy a nod and the Exceed wasted no time creating a distraction. Just a small one though. And in front of the Fairy Tail mages, the non-islanders turned when the sound of tumbling stones reach their ears.

"Over there!" Yuka directed. And like idiots, they raced down the face towards the intruders they wouldn't find.

"It looks like they're gone," Erza murmured as they stood.

"All that and they didn't even talk about what they want with it. I'm not even sure how they were even able to find it!" Gray hissed, his eyes glued back to the monster beside them.

"I don't know if it has anything to do with the curse on the island! But I do know one thing. It doesn't belong here! I'm gonna find this Cold Emperor and if I find they aim to tarnish my Master's legacy, I'm gonna make them regret the day they were born!"

None of the other mages said anything as Gray seethed to the open air. Erza raised her hand in the beginning of a comforting motion, but Lucy's own hand stopped her. There were times where anger needed to be unleashed to open air. Where once it was said it would float away with the breeze and never seen again. This was one of those times. Erza lowered her hand, confliction echoing throughout her body. She wanted to help so much it almost hurt. But the hand on her shoulder reminded her that sometimes space could help more than a hug. Not that Erza actually believed that, of course. She'd always been there when her friends needed her. Why should this be any different?

"So, I have a question. If it was in the northern continent, what's it doing here, on Galuna Island?"

Gray didn't turn at Lucy's question.

"I don't know."

"Do you think it has something to do with the island's curse?" Erza wondered aloud.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it did," Gray answered, "it may be enclosed in ice but that thing's still alive."

"So... what? The ice melts and it's free? If that were the case, wouldn't it have been freed before now?" Lucy asked.

"No..." Gray whispered, realization striking once more. And with it, the tale of his past continued."

"When my master, Ur, risked her life to deal it away, she cast a spell called Iced Shell. It covered the demon in a form of unmeltable ice. It's so strong that even the most powerful flame spells have no effect on it. But if they knew it couldn't be melted, then why did they bring it here?"

"Do you think they wanted to melt it?" Happy suggested.

"But why!"

"I don't know!" Happy yelled back at Gray.

"We need answers," Natsu growled.

"I agree," was Ezra's response.

"But from where?" Asked Lucy.

"The Moon," Gray answered. "It should be out soon. After all, it was almost dusk when we left the village."

"But why does the Moon matter?" Lucy prompted again.

"The curse. Deliora. The Moon. I have a feeling it's all connected. And don't forget those guys said something about "gathering moonlight"."

"I heard that too," Erza agreed again.

"So we have a plan?" Happy wondered.

"We have a plan. Now all that's left is to wait," Lucy stated.

"Yeah... wait," Gray murmured.

As everyone made themselves comfortable, Gray sat and stated at the ice enclosed demon. And as he sat there, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering back to when he first started his training as an Ice Mage. He remembered the trek up the snow-covered mountain where Ur lived. The patterns he had to learn to activate his magic. The times it didn't work. The determination it took to get them right. The satisfaction he felt when he finally accomplished it.

But it wasn't too long before something happened. Before he was ripped from his thoughts. It was when the ground started to shake that everyone realized it was time. Then a purple beam of light started to shine from the ceiling. But the only thing the light touched was the frozen demon. Everyone looked on in shock, the Chaos Dragon less so, and wondered what the heck was going on.

"It's a beam of light!" Erza exclaimed.

Well, wasn't that obvious.

"Shining down from the ceiling!" Gray continued.

Still just a bit obvious but it warrants surprise when you're in a huge cavern and there isn't anything above you but rock.

"But why is it purple?" Asked Lucy, "Is that moonlight?"

Now those are better questions. Maybe not the best but definitely better.

"What's happening, Lucy? I'm scared," Happy proclaimed.

"I don't think this is a coincidence," Natsu growled, a bad feeling warming its way through his insides.

And of course, the Chaos Dragon is the only one who had any sort of good sense. Mostly because the next line out of anyone's mouth was,

"We got a find out where this light is coming from!" Gray yelled, "Come on!"

Without another word, the Ice Mage took off running, the others close behind. Gray pushed himself harder, the hallway turning into steps back up to the main floor of the temple. On the floor was a large magic circle, it's purple glow filling up the area. But a quick glance revealed that it wasn't the spell's origin. The beam continued up to the ceiling where it disappeared once more. Not waiting for anyone else to comment, Gray took off again, his legs taking his body up more stairs and to the top of the temple. There they were greeted by robed people in masks standing in a circle in the middle of the area. Lucy didn't what the symbol on their masks meant but she didn't care. She was more concerned about the chanting the people were doing. And in the middle of the circle was another magic seal. Above that was another, smaller magic seal, and another smaller seal above that. And the higher it got, the smaller the seals became.

"It looks like those robed freaks are chanting some spell to collect moonlight."

But didn't they already have some idea of that? Probably. But what better way to stir conversation than my repeating something you already knew?

"And shine it on Deliora," Happy continued, "But what for?"

"I know," Lucy spoke up, the memories of a book finally resurfacing.

"It's a Belianese Spell. They call it Moon Drip."

OOOHHH a cliffhanger. So, I know how some people hate cliffhangers but I honestly don't mind cliffhangers as long as they don't too often. Also, I hope you guys don't mind that I keep skimming over parts of story and dialogue. There is so much to add and change to make this story make sense so I feel like not every single piece is all that important. Oh well, we'll see how it turns out.

What did you think of the chapter, guys? It took a little more work than I was expecting especially since I had to reconfigure the time of day. That would've been an interesting read, now wouldn't it? But it's all fixed now and you don't have to worry about it. Hopefully I can get the next chapter out soon. Until next time!

~Brought to you by Jazmin Gato

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~Peace out!