Answers to reviews:
Deadpool322: True.
HeirOfRohan: yeah, they'd be evenly matched and the fight would most likely come to a draw unless they dished out their strongest moves/armour.
Dr1zzy: Anytime.
"This must be the place." Drake said as he and his friends stood before the gates of a village.
The group of wizards and the Devil Hunter had been making their way through the jungle of Galuna Island. For the most part, spending around an hour or two searching for the village that was supposedly here, Drake, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Happy finally arrived at the village. But at the moment, none of them knew what to expect about the village, especially know that night had fallen and visibility was reduced to a couple yards. It also didn't help that the villagers within also put up a massive wall using thick logs with the ends sharpened into points. On the main gate, and despite the low light, Drake was able to make out a sign, the famous two words: 'Keep out', written on it.
"Well, we found the village," Gray noted.
"Check out that gate…," Natsu remarked, "When they say 'Keep Out' they mean it."
"Yet you break into Lucy's apartment." Drake gave him a look before he looked the gate over. "So...do we knock? Is there a doorbell we can ring?"
Lucy stepped forward and yelled. "Is anyone there!? We came to help you!"
The only answer they received was silence.
"Let's bust in," Natsu said, an impish grin on his face.
"No way!" Lucy yelled at him.
"We can't always rely on punching our way through things." Drake said with his arms crossed. "Though I am pretty temped to kick the gate down for blocking our way."
Finally, a voice called out from the top of the wall, "Who goes there?"
The group looked up to see two guards staring down at them.
"We're wizards from Fairy Tail," Lucy answered, "We're responding to your request!"
"Why weren't we notified that you'd accepted the request?" the voice asked suspiciously.
Lucy tried to come up with a reason, but Gray beat her to the punch, and called out, "There was probably just a mix-up with the paperwork!"
"Nice," commented Drake, quietly as he shifted in his spot.
"Then let me see your guild emblems," the lookout challenged, "right now!"
Natsu moved his scarf, which had partially concealed his red guild mark on his right shoulder. Happy shifted his knapsack to reveal his green mark on his back. Gray lifted his shirt to show his blue emblem on the right side of his chest. Lucy showed the pink emblem on the back of her right hand. Lastly, Drake showed the blue mark on his coat's shoulders.
Needless to say, the guards were stunned. Those emblems were legit!
"They're here...," the lookouts stammered in shock, "They're really here!"
Without another word, they got to opening the gate. "it's like we're walking into a giant monster's mouth." Happy commented.
"Are you trying to freak me out…?" Lucy said, annoyed.
The group stepped forward, only to be greeted by a large crowd of people wearing cloaks, hoods, and cloth across their faces, concealing almost all of their features.
"I am Moka, the village chief," the lead figure said, leaning on a staff with a crescent moon on the top, "and on behalf of everyone here, I welcome you. Pleasantries aside, there's something you need to see; now, my people!"
The villagers as one dropped their cloaks, and for a moment, Drake's right hand instinctively went right to the handle of Ebony, assuming they'd attack. However, he froze before he could even wrap his index finger around the trigger, as did the rest of the group. The wizards and demon hunter were greeted by a familiar, yet disturbing, sight.
The villagers, for the most part, appeared human, but no one didn't have a monstrous appendage. Ranging from scaly arms with clawed fingers, bestial legs tipped with talons, even horns; not a person was unaffected by the curse, even the children weren't spared from its viel changes.
"It's just like the guy on the boat," Gray murmured.
Drake was quiet, as he felt his instincts and demonic side flare up. This usually happened when he sensed nearby demonic power or demons themselves. He had grabbed his guns on reflex but hadn't drawn them due to seeing these weren't the usual types of demons he's slayed, nor are they like Lullaby. But looks can be deceiving. Seeing these people, like this, it made him wonder what kind of demons this world had that they could do this to people. Granted, the demons in his world could be much more gruesome in their torture.
Natsu, on the other hand, noticed something else. "Oh, wow, your sideburns are huge!" he pointed at the sideburns on the elderly chief's face, which stretched down to his waist.
"That's what gets your attention?" Drake deadpanned as he gave the Dragon Slayer a look, momentarily forgetting his unease.
"Not that!" Moka snapped, "I meant my arm!" he held up his purple, clawed arm for emphasis, "Everyone on the island is suffering a disfigurement because of this curse; not even the animals are unaffected."
"Ever think it might be a disease?" asked Drake, "No offense."
"We've consulted with dozens of doctors, young man," Moka said wearily, "But every one of them says that no such disease exists."
Drake nodded. Sometimes in his world, a human makes deals with Devils that can lead to disastrous consequences for the human making the deal. Sometimes it ends with the human becoming a slave to the demon... or a demonic creature. But most of the deals went with the human soul as the demon or Devil's price.
"Any idea of how this started?" questioned Drake, wanting all the details, or as many details as the villagers were willing to give.
"It all started when the moon fell under an evil spell," began the chief, picking up where he left off.
"An evil spell?" repeated Lucy, wanting to be sure she heard him correctly.
"Since ancient times, this island has absorbed the light of the moon, causing it to glow almost as beautifully as the moon itself." Moka's voice turned fearful. "However, three years ago, the moon's light turned purple and bathed the island in an eerie glow."
"Hey, everyone!" Happy called out, pointing up, "The moon is coming out from behind the clouds!"
The wizards and demon hunter looked up to see that the light of the moon that came down was indeed a creepy shade of purple.
"Stand back," Moka warned, "The change is upon us!"
Before anyone could ask what he meant, all of the villagers began to convulse, moaning in absolute agony. Their bodies began to shift, scales, fur, and spikes covering them; now, instead of a single area of their bodies. Their human limbs shifted into those of a demon, giving every one of their appearances the look of a demonic being.
'It's like those old werewolf movies.' Drake thought, having watched them back in his world.
"I am sorry if our appearance frightens you," Moka apologized. He was now sporting purple, scaly skin, as well as fangs, pointed ears and a pair of horns.
Drake shrugged. "Meh, since a heck of a lot worse than this. I've fought monsters that belong in people's nightmares."
"These poor people," Lucy whispered.
"Oh man," Natsu muttered, before his face suddenly brightened, "YOU GUYS LOOK SO COOL!"
Everyone else could only stare at him in disbelief while he started to gush about how awesome they looked, at least, in his mind.
"Huh…?" everyone uttered, dumbfounded.
"He said we looked cool…," a male villager repeated in shock.
"No one's ever said that about us before…," a female villager said.
"Natsu!" Lucy slapped him upside the head, "That's insensitive! They don't want to be like this!"
"Really?" Natsu asked, confused, "Well, sorry about that. I guess we should help them out."
"That is what we're here for." Drake snapped, glaring at the Dragon Slayer.
"Get a clue, man." Gray sighed.
"Anyway, as you can see," Moka said, trying to get everyone back on track, "whenever the moon comes out, everyone in the village takes on the form of a demon. If this isn't a curse, then what is it? We return to normal when the sun rises; however, there are some among us who lose their minds and never change back. The only thing we can do for those poor souls is to put them to death."
The others were shocked. This wasn't just a curse that changed how they looked; it drove them insane and made them dangerous enough to force the villagers to kill them!
"But they might get better someday!" Natsu protested.
If they do that, then it's like there won't be anyone left alive by that time," corrected Drake grimly, seeing where this was going.
"He is correct," Moka confirmed sadly, "We've tried to capture them, but they always break free," Tears began falling from the old man's eyes as he pulled out a photograph, "There is no way to reverse it. This curse has forced me to take the life of my own son."
Shoulders shaking in grief, Moka let the photograph fall to the ground, letting the others see a picture of a man with wide eyes, a mustache and goatee, and a bandana on his head.
"That's the guy who took us here on the boat!" Lucy said softly, "We just saw him yesterday and…"
"Shh!" Gray interrupted and whispered. "Now I understand why he just disappeared like that. He's dead, but his soul couldn't rest in peace."
'A ghost…' Lucy thought, beginning to panic.
Drake narrowed his eyes; magic as a starter, then a cursed island, now ghosts? He knew better than to write off ghosts seeing his line of work. Hearing even more about this world just makes him feel even more out of place on this rock.
Moka picked up the photo, then gave the group a low bow.
"Please lift the curse," he begged, "If you do not, it is only a matter of time before we fall victim to it and die!"
"We won't let that happen!" Natsu shouted, then lowered his voice when Moka looked at him, "We're going to fix this, I promise."
Everyone else in the group nodded in agreement. "What must we do?" Drake asked with a deadly serious expression.
This job involved demonic stuff, a demonic curse, therefore, as a Demon hunter, it was Drake's job to lift that curse and kill any demons that may be involved in this. Plus innocents were cursed, and Drake had vowed to protect humanity like his father before him.
There's only one way to lift this curse," Moka said, pointing towards the moon. "The moon…the moon must be wiped from the sky!"
"...Uh, what?"
Needless to say, the village chief's demand has left the team rather stunned. All of them wondered if they really had to destroy the moon. They were ushered into a small hut, away from the purple light that shined on the island.
Inside, Happy was looking up at the moon. "I never knew the moon could be so creepy," Happy said sadly, staring up at the purple moon through a window in the hut.
"Hurry up and close the window!" Lucy shouted, "You heard the chief; we have to stay out of the moonlight! You may not care, but I don't wanna risk turning into some freaky monster!"
"I'm not so sure about this job, guys," Natsu said, looking more irritated than worried.
"How can these people expect us to destroy the moon?" Gray asked.
"I wonder how many punches it would take?" Natsu wondered, raising a fist, "You think I can handle it?"
"Natsu, nobody can destroy the moon." Drake sighed, sitting on his backside, laying his back against the wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed. "You're insane if you think you can destroy the moon at all."
"For real," Gray agreed, "don't be stupid, man!"
"Natsu, there isn't a wizard strong enough who could do that," Lucy said, shaking her head.
"But that's what we were hired to do!" Natsu objected, "If we back out, it'll make Fairy Tail look bad!"
"What they're asking can't be done!" Gray countered, and then asked, "How were you planning to get to the moon anyway?"
"With Happy, of course," Natsu said, pointing at the cat.
"Huh!?" Happy shook his head, "I don't think so."
"Even if Happy could get you that far, you'd die from lack of air." Drake said bluntly. "But I've got a feeling something else has caused this curse."
"How do you know?" Asked Lucy, looking at the white-haired hunter.
"The village chief said it was a demon's curse, and dealing with demons and demonic stuff is what I do for a living. Also, we won't need to destroy the moon. The request asked us to end the curse, never said how. And since they haven't given a lot of detail, I'm guessing these guys are only assuming it's the moon. Mean it can be something."
"Yeah," Lucy agreed, "I'll bet that if we do some investigating around the island, we'll find the real source of the curse and stop it."
Anything else Lucy might have said was interrupted when Gray threw his shirt at her face. Drake just groaned and facepalmed; he'd admit, it was impressive how fast Gray could strip, but it was weird and annoying as hell. The Ice-Make wizard had stripped down to his boxers and the silver necklace he wore in less time than it took to blink.
"You kids can do what you want," Gray remarked as he pulled his socks off, "but after the day I've had, I need some shut eye."
"Please don't take off any more…" Lucy pleaded, a sweat drop running down her head.
"Yeah, our investigation starts tomorrow morning," Natsu added, and then jumped onto the sleeping mats that the villagers had laid out for them, "Let's hit the sack!"
Happy jumped face-first onto the pillow, "Aye, sir!" came his muffled cry.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Gray replied, lying on his sleeping mat face-down.
"Yep, got a date with some hot girls in beach world." Drake said with a smirk as he closed his eyes and began drifting off to sleep. However, even as he did drift off to sleep, his mind was still troubled. There was something to this island, besides the obvious curse. But perhaps a little of that, because somehow, the magical properties of the cruse seemed familiar. Like, demon magic from his world...
Drake was the first to wake up early and he had a rather grumpy expression. Why? Because of Gray and Natsu's VERY loud snoring. Thankfully he did sleep without waking up, though that was because he had knocked Gray and Natsu out as a warning to shut up.
"I hate waking up this early," Natsu whined.
"Hey, you guys kept me up all night with your snoring," Lucy snapped, "and you don't hear me complaining! Let's go!"
"Aye," Natsu, Gray, and Happy all moaned.
"Stop your whining and let's get this over with." Jayden said with a huff.
"See, Drake's got the right attitude!" praised Lucy as she smiled at the Demon Hunter, who waved her off. With all said and done, she then pulled out a silver key and pointed it forward, "Open, Gate of the Clock Constellation: Horologium!"
In a puff of smoke, the clock Drake had seen when he, Natsu and Lucy went to rescue Macao appeared. it was also the clock Lucy hid in because of the cold on that mission.
Drake shook his head when Lucy climbed into the clock. "Lazy." he commented.
"'Let's go', the lady says forcefully," the spirit said, repeating what Lucy had said from within him, and then marched towards the mountain.
Drake and the others shared looks before they followed after the clock spirit.
"You really think there's another way to lift the curse?" asked Natsu, looking at Drake.
"Has to be. Destroying the moon is impossible." Drake said, keeping his focus forward. "Plus the moon is in space and it's there for a reason. getting rid of it will cause the worst kind of problems like end of the bloody world."
"Wait...hang on..." Gray interrupted, giving Drake an incredulous look, "how do you know that?"
"I'm from another world." Drake rolled his eyes. "And I pay attention in school. Destroying the moon is a big bad idea. I only know one being powerful enough to possibly destroy the moon, a demon by the name of Mundus."
"Good, because if you could destroy the moon, it would cause all the salmon to go extinct," Happy mentioned "And they're my favourite fish!"
"'Will you guys keep it down?'" Horologium asked, "'We don't know what's lurking out here, so we shouldn't draw any attention,' the lady demands impatiently."
"'Says the one hiding in a damn clock.'" Drake retorted with a scoff. "He retorts with a scoff."
"Listen, this curse is freaking me out, and I'm scared, she says nervously," Horologium repeated dutifully.
"Are you kidding?" Natsu asked, pumping his fist, "S-Class quests are awesome!"
"We're likely gonna break something," commented Drake, his tone was both resigned, but also excited. Like he was anticipating the fight, that was most likely to come.
"Yeah," Gray said arrogantly, "but I bet I could just freeze that stupid curse."
"You guys are idiots, she says disparagingly," Horologium replied, though he sounded like he agreed.
"Says the hypocrite," muttered Drake, recalling what Lucy had said, that she wouldn't risk her life over money when she was the first one up and ready to go on this S-Class Quest. However, not a second later, they were all stopped by the sound of giant footsteps.
Everyone turned to see a giant figure behind them. It was easily thirty-feet-tall, but the sun was behind it, so the light got in their eyes, preventing them from getting a good look. Whatever it was, it started to laugh in high-pitched, menacing hiss.
"Oh now we're talking!" Drake grinned. Finally a giant monster to fight. It may be a giant rat, but Drake has seen weirder and this world seems to have weirder so it was his kind of party.
"IT'S HUGE!" Gray exclaimed.
"No," Natsu said, gathering flames around his hands, "but I bet it wants a fight!"
"What are you waiting for?! Beat it up, you guys, she yells frighteningly," Horologium said.
Whatever the animal was, it started to reach out towards the group, only to be shot several times by Ebony and Ivory thanks to Drake, who followed it up by a leaping uppercut that sent the creature off it's feet and crashing onto it's back. Revealing it to a giant rat wearing a black corset-style top with pink frilly edges tied up the front with black strings. Completing the outfit was a white lace headband and a red ribbon tied across its chest. It also had turquoise fur and a huge tail.
"It's a giant rat, she exclaims worriedly," Horologium said, speaking for Lucy though sounding rather concerned himself.
"No shit." Drake muttered. "It's big... but I've fought bigger than this overgrown rodent."
The punch clearly stunned the rat, but it was getting up shortly, reaching up to rub its paw against its now sore jaw. Glaring at the wizards, it began to take a deep breath in.
Not wanting to let himself or his friends get hit by whatever it was about to do, Gray ran forward and put his right fist on top of his left hand, which was palm-up. A cold mist gathered around his body.
"Ice Make: Shield!" a giant fan-shaped shield of ice erupted from the ground. Unfortunately, it didn't do any good, because the rat belched forth a noxious, foul-smelling gas.
"Damn! Smells like hot garbage!" Drake said as he waved a hand in front of his face with a disgusted expression. "This thing swallow a sewer or something?"
Natsu lay on the ground, nearly unconscious from the stench, and it affected Horologium so badly that he was forced back into the Spirit World, leaving Lucy to the mercy of the rat.
"Run!" she screamed, attempting to get away from the massive rodent, but it was all for not as it began to reach out towards her. However, the rat suddenly lets out a surprised screech in pain as a sharp sensation sliced across its back. Flipping over it was Drake, Rebellion drawn as the son of Sparda landed back on the ground. Turning it's attention to him, the rat hissed in anger.
"Hey, rats aren't my type." Drake taunted as he placed Rebellion on his right shoulder. "You guys smell too badly and carry who knows what."
The rat let out another hiss, giving him a look that said, 'I'm bigger than you by a lot, so what are you going to do?'
"Why don't you crawl back to the sewer or whatever garbage infested dump you came from... or get your ass kicked? It's your call, pal." Drake said.
Fed up with this human's insults, the Rat raised its tail and brought it down right towards Drake. However, this is exactly what the Demon Hunter wanted. Sheathing Rebellion, he caught the tip with his right hand, his coat billowing in the wind that was caused by the tail coming right towards him. The rat tried to pull it's tail free, but Drake's grip wouldn't allow it.
With a nearly savage yell, Drake pulled the Rat, swinging it up into the air and brought it down with a might smash. The wizards watched in amazement as the Demon Hunter completely flipped the rat over. The rat was the most surprised as it was completely over classed in strength.
"I wouldn't look so surprised," taunted Drake, as he grinned almost ferally at the rat, "if you knew what I've fought, you would know that you're not even the largest thing I've beat."
The rat started to take a deep breath again, no doubt in order to use its gas attack, but the hunter wouldn't have any of it as he released the tail and delivered a uppercut to it's chin that knocked it clean out. Drake landed on his feet and brushed some dirt off his shoulder.
"Better luck next time, stinky breath." Drake said with a smirk. "Now, we should take the chance to find shelter before it awakens."
"We should kick it butt while we have the chance!" Gray and Natsu yelled simultaneously as they started beating up the knocked out rat. Drake sighed and shook his head as Lucy's spirit disappeared, leaving Lucy behind.
Drake looked around before spotting a nearby temple and narrowed his eyes. "Guys! To the temple! Now!" He yelled with a fierce expression and a strict tone that could rival Erza's.
"AYE SIR!" Lucy, Natsu, Gray and Happy yelled fearfully and sprinted towards the temple with Drake behind them.
They were soon walking through the ruin's entrance, entering into a large, mostly empty room.
The inside of the temple, like the outside, was in complete disarray. Stones and columns were all but destroyed, and the room looked like it was ready to come down at any moment. It was surprising that it was able to last as long as it did.
"Well this place has seen better days." Drake commented, seeing it looked ready to fall apart.
"Wow…this place is massive," Lucy noted.
"So, what's with all the moon symbols?" he asked, pointing to the multiple carvings on the walls.
"Well, it makes sense, Galuna used to be called the 'Island of the Moon'," Gray responded.
"Moon island, moon related curse," listed Drake, before smirking wryly, "bet we're gonna run into something with 'moon' in it. Was that rat the 'moon rat'?
"Yeah." Lucy said to herself, "You really gotta wonder what all of it means."
Natsu, who had stopped paying attention, started stomping on the stone floor. "Man, this place is a wreck. The floor doesn't even look safe to walk on."
"Well, don't go stomping on it!" Lucy yelled. Her words came too late, however, because the floor did indeed break apart, sending the entire team plummeting into a dark hole.
"Natsu, you idiot!" Gray yelled, "look what you did!"
Drake reacted on instinct and caught the closest person near him, which was Lucy. Not even realizing it, Lucy wrapped her arms around Drake's neck, shutting her eyes.
Shifting his grip so that he held her in his left arm, Drake managed to get Rebellion in hand and stabbed the sword into the wall, slowing their descent just enough so when they were closing in on the ground, he pushed off and caught Lucy in a bridal form. His feet collided with the ground with a stomp while the others fell into rocks.
A moment later, a piece of rock in a pile of rubble was shifted as Natsu's head popped out, "Hey!" he looked around frantically, "Is everybody okay?"
"I'd be better if you hadn't knocked out the floor!" Lucy retorted, glaring at the pink-haired wizard, not even noticing she was in Drake's arms.
"Here's a thought," Gray growled, lying on his stomach, "if you think before you act, maybe you wouldn't cause so much destruction!"
"Hey hang on...," Natsu looked at the hold Drake was holding Lucy in, then a devilish grin formed, "Getting comfy, Lucy?"
Not realizing what Natsu was talking about, she noticed the arms holding her then turned to see Drake was holding her, "Was wondering when you'd notice," commented Drake teasingly. This prompted Lucy to blush as she scrambled out of Drake's arms.
"T-thank you," thanked Lucy, facing away from the Demon Hunter to hide her blush.
"Don't mention it." Drake shrugged as he recalled Rebellion to his right hand and sheathed the sword across his back. "Is everyone okay?"
Natsu was excited at being in a cave though. "Look, a secret cave!" The Dragon Slayer ran through said cave, yelling, "This is so awesome!"
"Would you quit running around like a crazy person!?" Gray shouted.
"One of these days we're gonna get so fed up with him that we just wanna knock him out and leave his ass in the woods or something." Drake groaned as he ran a hand down his face.
"I'll agree to that." Gray nodded as they went after Natsu. though he didn't get far so they caught up with him in seconds to see him staring up at a...
"Woah." Drake commented.
"That's what I said," Natsu said, not losing sight of what lay in front of them.
What they were looking at was a giant chunk of ice, roughly reaching a height of fifty feet and had a was far too circular to natural; the ice itself was a light blue that seemed to glow some otherworldly, but somewhat calming as well, light. However, the ice itself isn't what had their attention, it was what was encased in the ice. In it was a creature that was just a foot smaller than the ice that sealed it. It had dozens of scales, fangs, and claws, though it appeared to dead, however that didn't stop the presence of death and destruction.
"A demon?" Drake tensed, right hand instantly reaching for Rebellion out of instinct.
"That's impossible…" Gray trailed off. Drake turned his head to Gray and noticed that he out of everyone there looked the most disturbed. His pupils were shaking, sweat was dripping down from his brow, and he went pale. And his face carried with it a look of absolute shock and horror. "Deliora!?"
"You know this demon?" Drake asked looking at him, but Gray just ignored the Demon Hunter.
"How? How could this happen?" his voice grew louder and slightly hysterical, "How is it here? What the hell is it doing on Galuna Island!?"
"You've seen this thing before?" Natsu asked, less unsettled by the monster and more by the fact that Gray rarely lost his composure like this.
"T-there's no way…," Gray didn't seem to hear them, his arms trembling.
Lucy grabbed his shoulder, "Gray, try to calm down."
The ice wizard took a deep breath and his shaking lessened, but his eyes had a haunted look about them.
"Can you tell us about this?" Lucy asked gently, pointing at the creature.
"It's Deliora, the Demon of Destruction," Gray told them.
"Demon of Construction?" Natsu asked.
"Destruction," Happy corrected.
"But why is it here?" Gray asked no one in particular, "It doesn't make any sense."
Drake's hearing picked up footsteps nearby and he gestured for everyone to hide and be quiet, so they all hid behind a rock formation. Happy holding onto Drake's shoulder.
Once they were hidden, two men came out of the cavern.
The first man was a short, slim young man distinguished by his extremely brushy, squared black eyebrows. His eyes, too, are black, while his hair, which was arranged in a number of spikes pointing upwards, was unusually bright blue. He sported a green coat reaching down to his knees, sporting black sections in correspondence to the sleeves' outer part and on the sides' lower parts, below the plain dark belt with a rectangular buckle which, together with the two vertically striped, overlapping hems placed on the front, kept the garment closed. His pants were dark and loose, while his plain shoes were light-colored.
The second was a lean-built, mildly muscular young man of average height with distinctive animal features. He had a pair of canine ears sitting on his head, a small dark nose and a lower face which was colored differently from the rest of his body, bearing a resemblance to a canine muzzle. He had shoulder-length, straight brown hair, large round eyes with black pupils, and dark eyebrows. Tattoos adorned both of his biceps: the right one bears the kana Sashimi (さしみ), while the other was adorned by a single, more elaborated one that looked like a guild mark. He was bare-chested, wearing an extremely loose pair of pants with mildly torn hems, held up by a long belt covered in many rhombs, with the part left out from its plain rectangular buckle hanging down. Such pants bared a large, dark shield-shaped logo emblazoned on the right knee. Then, there was a red collar covered in hollow studs around his neck, and donned a pair of simple dark shoes, each adorned by a light, stylized footprint, similar to that of a cat, or maybe a small dog.
"The voices seemed to be coming from down here," said the short man before sighing. The dog man scratched his stomach. "I hate being awake during the day. But I don't want to be out there during the night."
Drake narrowed his eyes as he peeked over the boulders to watch the two guys. Listening in on their conversation.
"So, Toby, were you exposed to the Moon Drip? I mean, you've got those pointed ears," the blue-haired man said jokingly. This, however, just aggravate his companion.
"I already told you, they're a fashion statement, you jerk!" Toby yelled.
"I'm just teasing you, idiot," the blue-haired man said calmly.
"You don't have to be so mean about it," Toby grumbled.
"Moon Drip? Did he mean the curse?" Lucy whispered.
"It's possible," Drake said, noting how the short man pointed out Toby's ears. "And if I had to guess, they're the ones behind it."
"Yuka, Toby! Something terrible has happened!" said a feminine voice, as a third person emerged from the cave system. That person was a young woman with blue eyes, pink hair, large breasts, and a curvaceous body wearing make-up to match her appearance. Her hair was tied into pigtails, her choker tied into a ribbon, a purple and pink short spaghetti dress with light pink trimmings, black leggings, and high-heeled sandals. Her dress appears to have two long and thin wings at the back.
"What is it, Sherry?" Yuka asked as Toby greeted the woman with a friendly wave.
"It's Angelica," Sherry said mournfully. "She's been attacked, and I'm so sad."
"You're crying because your stupid pet rat was attack?!" Toby barked.
"That rat belonged to this chick?" Drake muttered with disbelief.
"Angelica is not a rat," Sherry said fiercely, "she's a brave hunter, prowling the jungle to protect us. She is… love."
"Okay...she's crazy." Drake muttered quietly to Happy who nodded in agreement.
"These guys are a bunch of weirdoes," Lucy whispered, "especially the chick with the pet rat."
"Rats can be a lot of things, but love, ain't one of them," agreed Drake.
Natsu narrowed his eyes at the trio, "Judging from the scent I picked up, they're not from the island." He stated.
"And they don't look like they have the 'demon curse'," Happy pointed out.
"Intruders, you say?" Yuka's raised voice brought their attention back to the strange trio.
"And it's almost time to begin collecting moonlight again," Sherry sighed, "Oh, this makes me so sad. This news will displease the Cold Emperor. We should get rid of the intruders before he finds out. Yes, we must find them before the moon's first light."
"Agreed," Yuka said, a sadistic smile on his face. Toby only nodded.
"If they were here, then they've seen Deliora, and that means we can't allow them to live," Sherry said, "We shall give them the gift of eternal rest. We'll give them… love."
"You're talking about death, right?" Toby asked, confused.
Drake looked down at the ground and picked up a rock from the ground. He quickly threw it down the tunnel and got back behind cover. The rock hits against the walls of another cavern, getting the attention of the trio responsible for the curse. After hearing the echoing sound of the rock, they went to investigate. Leaving the Fairy Tail alone in the demon's final resting place.
"Good thinking, Drake," Lucy complimented with a smile
"What now?" Natsu asked grumpily. "Why didn't we just jump those guys and beat some answers out of them?"
"Because we have no idea what they can do," explained Drake, narrowing his eyes at the Slayer, "Also," he jabbed a thumb at Gray who was still staring at the frozen carcass of Deliora, "Gray's not in any shape for a fight."
Natsu sighed; as much as he didn't want to admit it, Drake was right, "This job keeps raising more questions."
"Aye," Happy agreed, "like, who is this 'Cold Emperor'?"
"Obviously not Elsa," commented Drake sardonically.
Gray, meanwhile, was off in his own little world. 'Deliora… what could they want with it? And how the hell did they even find it and bring it here?'
"Gray?" Lucy asked, "What do you know about this thing?"
"It was sealed away inside a glacier on the Northern Continent a decade ago," Gray answered, "An immortal demon ravaged the town of Isval; countless people lost their lives. My master, Ur, the woman who taught me my magic, sacrificed everything to seal it. I don't know if it has anything to do with the curse, but that demon doesn't belong here. We have to find out who this 'Cold Emperor' is. If he's tarnished Ur's legacy, he's gonna regret the day he was born!" He raged, a cold mist billowing off of his arms.
Drake, Natsu and Lucy shared looks, worried for Gray...
And that's it for this chapter folks. I hope you all enjoyed part 2 of the Galuna Island arc.