"We're here Wendy," I said nudging her awake.
She had slept for most of the trip due to her ongoing motion sickness.
"Alright," Wendy moaned as she got a hold of herself enough to stand and exit the train.
"Is this it?" I asked once we were outside.
The train station was only a small, dilapidated platform with one weathered kiosk in the center. We certainly weren't anywhere that got many visitors.
"Are you the wizards from Fairy Tail?" we looked over to see a short, squat looking man with glasses jogging towards us.
He stopped briefly to catch his breath while we walked over to meet him.
"Yup, I'm Lucy and this is Wendy. We received your flier two days ago but had to make the trek out here," I explained to him.
"Yes, we are a ways away from Magnolia, so I am very grateful that you made the journey out," he said appreciatively.
"It's no problem," Wendy replied with a smile now that she had collected herself.
"May I invite you two ladies back to my house so I can explain the mission more in depth?" the squat man asked as he took a handkerchief out to wipe the sweat off his brow.
"Of course, but may we ask who you are?" I inquired since he still hadn't introduced himself.
"Oh, how foolish of me, my name is Levi Dhell. I'm the town's mayor," he replied kindly.
"It's nice to meet you sir. Lead the way!" Wendy replied before we followed the mayor off the crumbling platform.
"Is this the town?" I asked uneasily, looking around at the humble looking cottages that were seemingly abandoned.
"Where is everyone?" Wendy asked, feeling on edge.
"Yes well, there aren't too many people left who are brave enough to stay. I fear to say that those remaining are only those too poor to be able to leave themselves," Mayor Dhell admitted, wiping more sweat from his brow.
"That's terrible!" I gasped, looking over the desolate village.
I still hadn't seen anyone so those that the mayor was mentioning were most likely keeping indoors.
We soon arrived at the centre of town at a building that was only slightly bigger than the other cottages. Everything in this town was humble in size constructed seemingly out of need than extravagance.
"We do have food of our own, we don't want to put you out or anything," I said as the mayor led us inside to a bare room with only four chairs and a table inside.
It looked like there was a small kitchen in the back and a closed door that was most likely a bedroom. Being the mayor didn't seem to afford any extra commodities.
"Don't be ridiculous, the least I can do is offer you tea," he explained before leaving to put on a pot of tea in the kitchen.
Wendy and I sat beside each other in a pair of worn, mismatched chairs. We stayed quiet but looked at each other with wary gazes. How was it that such an unassuming town had such a dangerous issue?
The mayor came bumbling back minutes later with a tray of tea cups.
"Thank-you very much," Wendy and I said as we each accepted a cup.
"No, it's I who should be thanking you. I am so fortunate that two strong wizards such as yourselves answered my flier. The reward isn't enough for something so dangerous. That's why I haven't reached out before now to an official guild. But with most of the town displaced, I must admit I'm desperate," the mayor confessed nervously.
"We're not worried about the reward Mr. Dhell. We are happy to help without you having to worry about such things," Wendy replied earnestly.
I nodded. It was easier to agree to such a thing now that I didn't have any rent to pay.
"So, what has the whole town so distraught anyway? The flier said something about a devil, but I've never heard of such a thing," I said with a frown.
"Yes, well I've never actually seen it for myself, but I know it comes out at night and hunts down the townspeople," the mayor trembled.
"Hunts them down?" I asked, feeling even more uneasy.
"Yes, many of the townspeople have reported to me that this thing breaks into their homes and mercilessly recruits individuals of his choosing for his 'legion'," the mayor explained, perspiring even more.
"Legion?" Wendy asked worriedly.
This was sounding worse and worse with each detail and nothing like we had seen before on our excursion. What was this horrible creature explicitly hunting down defenceless townspeople?
"Yes, the survivors always explain that the creature states he wants these people for his legion. Then he points at them and they're consumed by some sort of shadow. After that, no one ever sees them again," the mayor explained more gravely.
He was ghostly white now. I felt sick to my stomach and assumed Wendy felt the same way looking at her fearful expression. I looked out the window and noticed that the sun was already setting.
"Right. So this leaves us with only one option. We must go out into the village and protect the village from this devil creature," I said with a new resolve.
There was no way we could back down from something like this, where people were disappearing and had no way of defending themselves.
"So, you'll take the job?!" the mayor exclaimed.
"Of course, we're Fairy Tail wizards. It would give the guild a bad rep if we refused now," I replied confidently.
Wendy stood up as well.
"That's right. We'll do everything we can to help your town Mr. Dhell," Wendy added.
"That's wonderful! Thank-you so much!" the mayor responded unabashedly.
"We just ask that you stay indoors. We'll come find you when everything is over," I said, feeling he would only get in the way and that we could protect everyone better if they remained indoors.
"Of course! It's no secret that I'm useless in defending everyone," the mayor admitted.
Wendy and I nodded in agreeance before exiting the mayor's home. We were already in the center of town which was helpful, and it looked like there were only two main roads that intersected nearby. The town's small size would definitely help, and I figured we needed every advantage if we were going to have a shot at ridding this town of whatever was lurking at night.
"I have a bad feeling Lucy," Wendy said, not hiding the shiver running down her spine.
"I know, I feel it too," I agreed. "But we can't lose our nerve now."
"Right!" Wendy agreed.
We took advantage of the last remaining daylight to survey the few streets in town before returning back to the center. I then watched as the sun disappeared and the moon brightened above us.
"Do you feel that?" Wendy asked shakily.
"Yea, it's like something just appeared in town with incredible magic power," I responded uneasily.
"Do you think something like this could actually be some sort of devil?" Wendy asked in a whispered tone.
"I honestly have no idea," I replied shakily.
I suddenly wished that Natsu and the others were here with us for backup. But, then I shook my head. This is exactly the reason we left Fairy Tail in the first place. Maybe if we somehow pulled this off I would finally feel ready to go back. There was no way I was going to turn my back now and I still needed to prove to myself that I didn't need saving.