Two days. We've been stuck in Clover Canyon for two days. With no food or water whatsoever. My stomach was twisted in knots, but I tried to stay strong, for Lucy. She was relying on me, and by Mavis I will keep her safe. We soon came across Web Valley, one of the hardest places to navigate. "Come on Happy!" Lucy complained, "Don't tell me that you got us lost again! We've been walking for forever and a half and we still haven't found Magnolia yet! Why are we following a Cat anyway!"
"What do you mean again?" Happy questioned, "How rude! I wasn't lost last time so this is the first time I've gotten us lost."
"First time or not, let's just try to make it our last, ok?"
"Man, I want some food." Natsu groaned.
"We all do." Gray retorted, "Talking about it makes us hungrier."
"I can't help it if I'm hungry, jerk!"
"No, but you can stop running you're mouth, can't you?"
"Listen up!" Master Makarov but in. "We need some food…"
"Yeah! We know!" Natsu and Gray chorused.
"Enough." Erza ordered, however it was undercut by a loud groan from her stomach.
"You're stomach's trying to tell you something, isn't it?" Natsu wondered.
"No it's not, you're hearing things."
"Uh, yeah, real convincing Erza." Gray stated.
"Will you all shut up." I snapped. "We're all hungry." There was then a large squeal, and I turned to see Happy grinning like a crazy kitten, looking down into the cavern below.
"What are you excited about?" Natsu asked.
"Down there!" Happy cheered, pointing down into the cavern. "Look, Natsu!" Happy added, "Look!" Everyone peeked down to see a school...flock...group of Wing Fish. They were flying around, smiling wide as they chanted about how they could fly. "Those are Wing Fish! They're a legendary delicacy, and they're super yummy from what I hear."
"A legendary delicacy?" Gray muttered.
"Wing Fish, huh?" Erza added.
"Sounds good to me." Natsu declared.
"Well done Happy." Master Makarov sobbed, placing his hand on the blue cat's shoulder. "You make this old man very proud."
"Guys, enough with the growling stomachs." Lucy groaned. Lucy's stomach then let out a loud gurgle.
"You were saying?" Gray teased.
"Shut up." I hissed at him, glaring darkly.
"Now!" Happy declared, having pulled a fishing rod out of nowhere, "Time to fish!" Pretty soon, everyone was holding a fishing rod and was sitting on the side of the cavern try and catch a Wing Fish.
"Aw, come on you stupid fish!" Natsu complained, "Just shut up and let me eat you!"
"We've gotta fish harder guys!" Happy stated, a determined look crossing his features.
"I don't know, are you sure these things really taste that good?" Lucy asked.
"Lucy, at the moment, anything will do." I told her softly, turning to her. "We haven't eaten in two days, so even if this tastes horrible."
"I didn't know you were that hungry."
"You're going in my belly!" Happy declared. "Right now! You hear! Happy's gonna eat you fish!" It was another couple of minutes before Happy put down his fishing rod. "Whatever, I give up."
"That was fast." Lucy commented.
"Well, I couldn't catch a single fish." I tuned out the rest of their conversation, my grip tightening on the fishing rod. I was starving, I needed to eat, and eat now. In the end, we only managed to catch one fish, it was thin and only half the height of Happy.
"All that effort and only one fish?" I muttered.
"All that trouble for onefish." Erza added. Natsu then used his flames to cook the thing.
"Go ahead and eat it Happy." Natsu said.
"But that wouldn't be fair to you guys, would it?" Happy asked.
"They're way too small to split up, if we had a bite we'd just want more." Gray explained.
"Hurry up and eat it before we change our minds!" Master Makarov demanded.
"Ok, don't mind if we do!" Happy declared. He took the fish, and then proceeded to chomp down. When he finished, Happy each pulled faces. "Gross!"
"Are you kidding me!" Lucy exclaimed. After that ordeal, we all started on our way again to try and find home. I kept close to Lucy, trying to keep her safe.
"I hate to say it, but…" Natsu started.
"All that fishing…" Gray continued.
"Made me hungrier." Master Makarov finished. We soon came across a village made of stone.
"A village!" Erza gasped.
"Houses!" Gray added.
"That means only one thing!" I cheered.
"Food!" Everyone cried. We all ran forward, hoping to the beings above that the people living there would share. We then came to a stop, looking around and realising that the town was empty and eerily quiet.
"There's no one here." Gray commented.
"It does seem awfully quiet, doesn't it?" Lucy wondered.
"Maybe they're taking an afternoon nap or something." Natsu added. "Hey! Anybody here!"
"We're starving like crazy out here!" Happy called. "Somebody cook us some dinner!"
"Wow, Happy, ever hear of the word please?" Lucy asked.
"Are we seriously asking whether or not the entire town is taking a nap?" I asked. "It's too quiet for that."
"Well, it's either that or they all got drunk and passed out." Master Makarov commented.
"I think that only happens back at the Guild." Lucy told him.
"We do love our spirits, don't we." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in through my nose.
"Yami, what do you smell?" Erza asked me. I then opened my eyes.
"Food, freshly cooked, as if it had just been set on the table." I reported, my eyebrows pinching together. I lifted my hand started to count out on my fingers, "No alcohol, no scent of any person, just...emptyness."
"That's strange."
"She's right." Gray agreed. "Who would leave food just sitting around like that and then just leave? Where the heck are they now."
"Who cares!" Natsu cheered, preparing to run off. "I'm ready to dig in!"
"Not so fast." I said, grabbing Natsu by the ear so he stayed put. "We have to investigate what happened here first."
"We've heald out this long." Erza added, "We can hold on a little-" Erza was cut off by the sound of her own stomach.
"I think you're stomach might have different plans." Lucy said.
"Hmm...yes." Master Makarov agreed. "But which one do we listen to?"
"Search the area for mushrooms or anything that looks edible!" Erza ordered, shouting over the sound of her stomach. "And don't eat the food in the village, ok? While you're all doing that, Master and I will try to figure out what's going on."
"Yeah, yeah, I hear 'ya." Natsu muttered, rubbing his ear as he left, "Let's go Happy."
"Aye…" Happy responded dejectedly.
TIMESKIP
Natsu, Gray, Happy, Lucy and I found ourselves in the forest, foraging for anything edible. We actually did come across a whole grove of mushrooms. "Stupid Erza." Natsu complained, "How am I supposed to get full on a bunch of mushrooms? That food back there smelled really good too!"
"Hey, mushrooms." Gray realised.
"I take it back! These look tasty!"
"But why mushrooms?" Lucy wondered.
"It's so obvious Lucy." Happy said.
"Oh yeah, do enlighten us." I asked sarcastically.
"Natsu's gonna eat a poisonous mushroom, then something weird'll happen to him. You know the cliché, right?"
"Give me some credit Happy." Natsu said stuffing his face with mushrooms. "You really think I'd fall for some lame gag like that? No way."
"Say's the boy eating said mushrooms."
"These mushrooms aren't that big but if I keep eating a ton of them I'm bound to get full sooner or later."
"And here comes the setp!" Happy commented.
"Better start picking faster." Gray said, munching on a mushroom as well. Natsu then clutched his throat. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"And here's the gag!"
"That was scary." Natsu said, oblivious to the mushroom that just sprouted from his head.
"You're head is scary!" Lucy shouted.
"I was hoping they'd turn him purple." Happy sulked.
"Uh...that's what you were hoping for?"
"Hey, what are you all worked up about?" Gray asked, joining us once more. I looked up and saw that he too had a mushroom on his head.
"Just take a look at one another, ok?" Lucy asked, waving her hand dismissively.
"Why?" They asked, turning to the other. They then started to fight over their new head adornments.
"You two are idiots!" I shouted at them. "It doesn't matter how you look! THis could be really bad!" I groaned when the two of them just started to fight properly.
"You can fight later!" Lucy exclaimed, "Worry about the mushrooms first!" When the teo paused from fighting, I crossed my arms. "Come on guys. Turn off the stupid, would 'ya?"
"Lucy! Yami! Look!" Happy called. "I found a big one!"
"Holy cow that's big! I don't even wanna know what that would do to 'ya."
"Oh man!" Natsu gasped. "Wow! It's huge!"
"Yeah, it's so big we could eat off it for days." Gray agreed.
"We're not eating any more of these things." I insisted. "No one is getting a mushroom on their head-HAPPY!" I leapt forward and grabbed Happy's cheks, pulling them apart. "After watching Gray and Natsu you still wanna eat one of these things! Spit that out right now!"
"But it's yummy." Happy complained. He then gripped his throat, and soon after a mushroom sprouted from his head.
"Well, I guess that happens to everyone who eats these things, huh?" Natsu questioned.
"I wonder if the villagers knew some way around the problem."
"Who knows. Maybe they like the way it looks."
"Yeah, maybe we'll be in style when we get back to town."
"It's not as funny this time!" Happy wailed
"We're you trying to be funny?" Lucy questioned. "Uh, Natsu, is it just me or is your mushroom growing?"
"Why does he get all the good gags!" There was then a loud growling, and my head snapped over to the village.
"You hear that?" Natsu asked.
"What is that?" Lucy wondered. I glanced over to the boys as their mushrooms shone, and then fell off.
"Yay! The mushrooms are gone now!" Happy cheered.
"Take a look at your head, Happy, your mushroom seems to be hanging on." I said. We then turned heel and ran, sprinting back to the village.
"Erza!" Natsu shouted. We all stopped short when we found them, red lines glowing an angrily beneath our feet.
"Lucy, stick close to me." I said, inching closer to her. The ground started to move, and the buildings began to sway.
"Woah, what's with this place?"
"Why is everything moving?" Lucy questioned, latching onto my atm and pressing close.
"It looks likt the houses are having a dance party, huh?" Happy commented.
"I think you're missing the point here."
"It can't be…" Master Makarov muttered.
"It's time to rumble gramps." Gray said, somehow already having lost his shirt.
"No, wait!"
"What? Why?"
"We need to get to higher ground. There's something I have to check."
"Alright guys, let's go." Erza ordered. We all started to run from the vilage, somehow making it to higher ground. When we reached a cliff, we looked back down to the village and saw that it was now a bunch of monsters writing around.
"It can't be." Master Makarov muttered.
"Oh man, it looks like we got out just in time." Natsu stated.
"Now I see, it was a Magic Circle." Erza said, causing everyone to gasp. My eyes traced the runes of the circle, and they widened.
"Master…" I breathed shakily. "Those lines...that's 'Alive'. I thought that Magic was banned years ago!"
"What does it do?" Lucy asked.
"Just look. The Magic is doing it's work right now. This beans of Magic can turn any inanimate object into a living creature."
"It appears the villages cast the forbidden spell only to end up being eaten by the very Monsters they bought to life." Master Makarov added.
"But why would they use Magic that's been banned?" Lucy asked.
"The village was home to a Dark Guild." Erza reported.
"No way…" Natsu muttered.
"While investigating, I came across a collection of Magic Tools tucked away in a shed. Upon closer inspection, I realised they were tools used to practice Black Magic."
"Knowing how reckless Dark Guilds can be, they probably thought up some crazy plan and wound up getting burned in the process." Master Makarov explained. "But! There's one thing we should be grateful for."
"Oh yeah, and what would that be?" Natsu wondered.
"The Dark Guild's mischief bought these creatures to life and most living creatures can be turned into food!"
"Let's go and eat then." I stated, jumping off the cliff and running towards the Monsters with Lucy, Erza, Natsu and Gray close behind. "Black Dragon! Sword Horn!" My head connected with one of the Monsters, and I knocked it out. "Black Dragon! Roar!" Aiming my attack just above the creature, the heat of it managed to cook the Monster. My stomach let out an embarasing gurgle. One of it's smaller tentacles had fallen off, so I grabbed it and took a large bite. As soon as the flavour hit my tongue, I gagged. It was horrible. I spat it out instantly.
"What were you thinking Gramps?" Natsu demanded as we all gathered around him. "There's no way we can eat that nasty stuff!"
"You tryin' to kill us you old geezer!" Gray said.
"True, I would hardly call this edible." Erza stated.
"If you knew it was hardly edible why'd you force me to eat it!" Lucy exclaimed. A dark aura formed around me and I glared at Erza.
"You forced her to do what?" I snarled, my eyes turning blue. Erza flinched and took a hesitant step back. There as a thud as Happy collided with the side of the cliff, riding a chair. The mushroom that was on his head finally falling off.
"You're mushroom finally fell off." Gray pointed out, "Look."
"I don't wanna know about the stupid mushroom!" Happy complained, "I wanna know why you guys didn't help me! How could you be so mean? I thought we were friends!"
"We are!" Natsu insisted.
"You were just goofing off, right?" Gray wondered.
"What are we going to do now?" Erza asked. "I would rather starve than eat more of that stuff."
"Guess that's what we get for trying to cook up a bunch of Monsters."
"Man, this whole thing is just the worst." I stated. "Just cooking that thing made me even hungrier." There was a roar, and my eyes snapped over to a Monster towering over Happy.
"Look out!" Natsu shouted, sending a flaming punch. I looked around me and noticed that there were more Monsters.
"Man, these things are nasty." Gray commented.
"In more ways than one." Erza added.
"Let's get these guys dealt with." I stated, dropping into a fighting stance. "Black Dragon! Iron Fist!" After a good majority of the Monsters were dead, we gathered. Unfortunately, the things were persistent, and more Monsters took their place. "These things are never-ending!" There was a rumble that caused me to stumble and try to regain my footing. I reached out for Lucy, wanting to keep her safe.
"Great, what's happening now?" Lucy demanded. A light shone from the Magic Circle.
"Are you kidding me!" Natsu exclaimed.
"Oh wow! It's so pretty!" Happy complimented.
"You're missing the point again!" Lucy shouted. "What's going through that little mixd up head of yours?"
"This is bad." Erza stated. I took another step closer to Lucy. The ground then started to crack, and soon broke away from under our feet.
"LUCY!" I screamed, reaching out and trying to grab her hand.
"YAMI!" Lucy cried, straining to brush her fingers against mine.
TIMESKIP
"I'm starving." Natsu complained. "Like for real." We continued on our journey, Happy flying beside us.
"I can't walk another step you guys." Happy commented.
"Well good thing you gave wings, unlike the rest of us, you show off." Gray scolded.
"I still don't get what happened." Lucy admitted.
"Um, Master." Erza started, prompting me to look at her.
"Yes?" Master Makarov acknowledged.
"I'm not satisfied with your explanation, sir."
"That so…"
FLASHBACK
We all stood around the now-human-again villagers. "Now spill it." Natsu demanded, "What were you trying to pull?"
"We were using the Magic Circle to cast Forbidden Spells." One of them admitted. "But those Monsters appeared and took over everyone in the town."
"So the Monsters we fought, you were all trapped inside them." Erza stated. I cringed, feeling a pit in my stomach.
"Oh...you made me taste one of those things." Lucy groaned.
"When you stepped into the Circle, it activated the spell and we no longer had control of ourselves." A man with a tree on his head continued.
"Well, you won't have to worry about that happening again." Master Makarov said.
"What'dya mean by that Gramps?" Natsu wondered.
"There's no need to sweat the details, my boy." Master Makarov pointed at the villagers, "Now, as for all of you villagers, you should be grateful that someone came along to free you from your possession. I assume you've learned your lesson from this gross misuse of magic, and as long as it doesn't happen again, I won't report you to the Council. Is that a deal?"
"Yes, of course." The female from before said. "We never wanna go through that again. Thank you so much."
"You have our word." Tree-head added.
FLASHBACK END
"When we finally defeated the Monsters, it seemed to activate some kind of self-destructive spell within the Magic Circle." Erza revealed, "That's when you came in."
"That's right." I added, remembering the events. "You managed to not only free the Dark Guild from their botched spell, destroyed the Magic Circle and saved us all, moments before we were to be crushed."
"How did you do it?"
"I'll tell you girls some day." Master said to us. Erza and I exchanged looks. "But what matters now is…"
"We're still hungry!" Everyone complained.