Rizzo let out a groan as she plopped down on a rock. Around her, her guildmates came to a stop. It's been days since they left Clover, and now they seemed lost in Web Valley. She felt exhausted from all this walking, and she wasn't the type to shy away from exercise.

She rubbed the back of her neck as her music continued to play in her ears. She had pulled out her lacrima headset a few hours back hoping the music would distract her from her grumbling stomach. So far it wasn't doing as she'd hoped it would. She pulled down her headset to rest around her neck as she wondered how much longer it'd be until they reached home.

"Ah gees!" Was the first thing she head after her headset came off.

Rizzo looked towards the blonde of their group as she was frowning at Happy who happened to be their guide out of here.

"Come on, Happy," Lucy said. "Don't tell me 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?!"

Rizzo sweat-dropped at Lucy's ranting though supposed she couldn't blame the blonde. It was hot out here and they were going on empty stomachs. That's enough to make anyone irritable.

"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, okay?" Lucy suggested.

Rizzo could agree to that one. The less time she spent wandering around lost in some hot canyon the better.

"Man, I want some food." Natsu complained as he rubbed his empty stomach.

"We all do." Gray retorted. "Talking about it makes us hungrier."

Natsu growled turning to glare at Gray, which had Lucy sighing. Well, she's sure of what was going to come next.

"I can't help it if I'm hungry, jerk!" Natsu snapped as he got in Gray's face.

"No, but you can stop running your mouth, can't you?!" Gray demanded.

Rizzo rolled her eyes at Gray before putting her headphones back on her ears. She then slid down the rock she was on to sit on the ground to use the rock as a back rest. She had a feeling this argument was going to last a while, so she might as well get comfortable. As she leaned back closing her eyes, Makarov snapped at Natsu and Gray to shut-up. Once they were silent, Makarov gave a sigh.

"We need some food." Makarov whined.

"Yeah, we know that!" The boys snapped.

Lucy sweat-dropped guessing everyone was a bit irritable. She then blinked looking to Rizzo who's been pretty quiet for a while. She saw the pinkette resting against a rock with her headset on, and Lucy could kind of make out music coming from the headset. She just couldn't tell what was playing.

"Enough." Erza said glaring at the boys and Makarov. "Can't you all take a page out of Rizzo's book and remain calm?"

She pointed at the pinkette who was lightly dozing as she waited for her friends to quit bickering. Gray almost envied her. He wished he could rest so easily, but with his growling stomach, he highly doubted that'd happen. He then blinked when another growl entered the air. Everyone looked towards Erza with wide eyes as the redhead blushed in embarrassment.

"Your stomach's trying to tell you something, isn't it?" Natsu asked.

"No, it's not!" Erza said firmly. "You're hearing things."

"Yeah, real convincing, Erza." Gray said sarcastically.

Happy then gave an excited squeal that even reached Rizzo's ears, which had the pinkette sitting up and sliding down her headset. She frowned in confusion at the cat as he was gawking excitedly over the side of the canyon. What was up with him?

"What's up, Happy?" Rizzo asked as she stood up.

She walked over to the side of the canyon to stand with the blue feline as he gave a happy giggle.

"Down there!" Happy said pointing. "Look, Rizzo, look! You too, Natsu!"

Natsu, who joined Rizzo beside Happy, looked over the edge with Rizzo. They both blinked in confusion as they saw fish flying around the canyon while singing merrily. Rizzo frowned feeling as if those fish were mocking them. Stupid fish.

"Those are winged fish!" Happy said. "They're a legendary delicacy, and they're super yummy from what I hear!"

As Happy did a little dance and cheer for his discovery, Rizzo looked to the others as the boys started grinning.

"A legendary delicacy?" Gray asked.

"Winged fish, huh?" Erza murmured.

"Sounds good to me." Natsu said.

He was almost drooling at the thought of getting something in his stomach right about now. Makarov went over to Happy to place his hands on the young feline's shoulders.

"Well done, Happy." Makarov said as his stomach continued to growl. "You make this old man very proud."

Lucy sighed hanging her head wondering how much longer she could take of this.

"Guys, enough with the growling stomachs." Lucy said.

She then blushed in embarrassment as her stomach growled loudly for everyone to hear. Rizzo and Gray stood on either side of her as they looked at the blonde.

"You were saying?" Gray asked.

"Yeah, that kind of sounded like a growl to me, Lucy." Rizzo added on.

"Shut-up." Lucy grumbled.

She kept her head low unable to meet their gazes, but honestly she was pretty hungry. She could probably eat five of those stupid singing, flying fish.

"Now!" Happy, who suddenly had a fishing pole in paw, began. "Time to fish! Rizzo, get ready to do some cooking."

Rizzo quickly pulled out a pan and spatula from her bag—causing Lucy to gasp in shock—as she nodded to Happy.

"You got it!" She said ready to cook.

"How did you fit that in your bag?" Lucy asked. "Wait, can you even cook?!"

…A FEW HOURS LATER…

Rizzo gave another groan as she hung her head low. They wasted so much time on those stupid winged fish, and her stomach was still empty. She can't believe they only caught one, and Happy didn't even enjoy it when they gave it to him. Apparently those legendary delicacies weren't worth a hoot.

"Man, luck is just not on our side today." Rizzo complained as she walked alongside Erza.

The redhead hummed her agreement with the two actually able to be within two feet of each other without Rizzo being pissed off about it. Honestly, Rizzo didn't have the energy to be annoyed by Erza even if the redhead started bugging her.

"Yeah, and I hate it say it," Natsu began, "But,"

"All that fishing," Gray continued.

"Made me hungrier." Makarov finished.

Rizzo silently agreed with the guys as she wondered if they'd ever catch a break today. She knew that he second she returned to Magnolia that she was going straight to Fairy Hills to raid the fridge before going to her room for a nice hot shower and a well needed nap.

"A village!" Erza said getting the others' attention.

Everyone looked with wide eyes at the village in front of them. It looked like a pretty well-kept place too despite being in this hell hole.

"Houses." Gray said.

"And that means there must be—!" Happy was cut off.

"Food!" Natsu cheered as he ran into the village.

The others were right behind while ready to find something to eat to silence their growling stomachs. Rizzo was sick and tired of listening to hers. They made it to the center of town before stopping as they started to realize a few things seemed off. Rizzo frowned looking around since it all seemed too quiet for her.

"There's no one here." Gray said.

"It does seem awfully quiet, doesn't it?" Lucy asked.

Rizzo didn't like it one bit. No village should ever be this quiet. Unless it was abandoned, and this village didn't strike her as an abandoned village.

"Maybe they're taking an afternoon nap or something." Natsu suggested then shouted, "Hey, anybody here?!"

"We're starving like crazy out here!" Happy shouted as well. "Someone cook us some dinner!"

As Lucy rebutted Happy for his lack of manners, Rizzo exchanged a look with Erza. Both female wizards didn't like this quiet. Something had to be up.

"Do you really think the entire town is taking a nap?" Gray asked.

"Well, it's either that, or they all got drunk and passed out." Makarov said.

Lucy frowned because she highly doubted the entire town had gotten drunk. That seemed a bit ridiculous.

"I think that only happens back at the guild." She said aloud.

Makarov chuckled not seeming to be able to deny that fact. It wasn't like he felt the need to either.

"We do like our spirits, don't we?" He asked.

"That's one way of putting it." Rizzo said as she walked over to one of the village houses.

She knocked a few times on the door before it swung right open. As she stepped in to look around, Natsu, Gray, and Happy poked their heads in after her. Rizzo stopped at the table while looking down at the prepared food in front of her. She put a hand over the bowl of soup on the table to feel warmth coming off of it. This was freshly made. Someone had to have left in a hurry after making this.

"Well, anyone here?" Gray asked.

"No, but someone left a prepared meal." Rizzo said as the others stepped in. "It was just recently made. They had to have left right after preparing it and quickly, but there's no sign of someone having done so."

There would have been some mess left behind if someone had been in a rush to leave.

"That's true." Erza said. "Something isn't right here."

"Who cares?!" Natsu said. "This stuff looks good! Let's eat!"

However before he could even touch the food, Erza whacked him upside the head.

"No, Natsu!" Erza said. "No one is to touch the food in this village until we know what's going on."

Natsu pouted wanting to just dig in into the good smelling food. Normally Rizzo would be right with him, but all this didn't set well with her.

"I'm heading out to look around the village." Rizzo said. "Maybe I'll find someone or at least a clue as to what's going on."

"That's a good idea." Erza said. "Everyone, the Master, Rizzo, and I will look around the village for clues. The rest of you look for mushrooms or anything edible."

As the boys gave a half-hearted "aye-aye", Rizzo rolled her eyes. She didn't like Erza getting bossy, but she didn't have the energy to snap at the redhead. As the group headed out, Lucy frowned.

"Why mushrooms?" She asked herself.

She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Something bad concerning mushrooms.

Rizzo stood on top of some rocks looking down into the village for any signs of people. She saw none. Well, there was Erza, who was walking from house to house to look for clues, but no one else. Not even the Master who was probably inside eating despite Erza's orders for them to not eat the food. Rizzo then tilted her head with her eyes narrowing. What were those lines on the ground she could see?

"Those are so pretty weird cracks in the ground." Rizzo said. "Almost as if they had been put there for a reason."

Rizzo looked behind her guessing she could try to get an even higher vantage point. She started climbing higher up on the rocks until she reached the top. She crouched down while looking down at the village. Her eyes widened as she realized what those lines in the ground were for.

"It's a giant magic circle." Rizzo said. "This can't be good."

She stiffened as a growling noise entered the air, which had her looking around. Where was that coming from? The growling grew louder by the seconds and then grew louder still.

"I don't like this." Rizzo said. "I better report to Gramps."

Rizzo stood to move on, but stopped when she noticed that the cracks in the village started to grow. This could only mean the magic within the circle was activated. They didn't have much time until whatever spell was cast here takes over completely, and since they didn't know what kind of spell, it was too dangerous for them to remain in the village. Rizzo spotted Erza and Makarov on the ground below, and the others were running up to join them.

"Everyone, get out of there!" Rizzo shouted getting their attention. "Move!"

Erza frowned at Rizzo's urgent tone knowing the pinkette had to have seen something form her perch to get her this riled up. Erza then looked around with the others as the buildings started to warp around them.

"It's a giant magic circle!" Rizzo continued. "Move to higher ground before whatever magic there consumes you!"

Her words had Makarov's eyes widening as he realized the danger his children were in.

"You heard her!" Makarov said. "Everyone to higher ground, now!"

No one argued with Makarov as they hurried to climb on top the large rocks out of town. Rizzo moved down to join them just as the village was turned into a nest of monsters.

"This magic is a forbidden art." Makarov said. "It was outlawed a long time ago. It is known as Alive."

"What does it do?" Lucy asked.

"See for yourself." Makarov said. "It's exactly as it looks like. It has the ability to turn inanimate objects into living creatures. It appears the villagers cast the forbidden spell. Only to end up being eaten by the very monsters they brought to life."

"But why would they use magic that's been banned?" Lucy asked.

Rizzo, who crossed her arms over her chest, had a pretty good idea as to why the villagers cast this magic.

"Must be a dark guild of sorts." Rizzo said.

"Yes, while investigating I did find dark magical tools that would point towards that theory." Erza said.

Rizzo guessed those guys learned the hard way not to play with magic like this. This kind of stuff is outlawed for a reason. Sure, she doesn't follow every rule given by the Council, but she knew better to break rules like the one that banned this magic.

"I guess whatever they had been cooking up back fired." Rizzo said.

"Yes, it appears they were burned in the process of whatever they had been planning." Makarov said. "But there's one thing we should be grateful for!"

"Oh yeah, and what would that be?" Natsu asked.

"The dark guild's mischief brought these things to life." Makarov said. "And most living creatures can be turned into…FOOD!"

As Lucy looked at the Master as if he was crazy, Rizzo grinned along with the others. Well, they might not look like the prettiest of cooking ingredients, but Rizzo supposed she could make do. As the boys and Erza jumped down to start catching their food, Makarov looked up at Rizzo.

"Rizzo, be a dear and whip me up some lunch." Makarov said.

"Sure thing, Master." Rizzo said. "Any requests?"

"Nah, anything you prepare will be just fine." Makarov said.

Rizzo nodded her head before she jumped over the side of the small cliff. Lucy gawked after her guildmates as Rizzo brought forth her violin. She landed in the middle of some of those creatures, and they turned their sights on her. She grinned looking unconcerned as the rest of her friends fought for their own food.

"Now, Song of the Seven Swords!" Rizzo said.

She played this exotic, fast pace tune with seven curved blades appearing. They quickly went to work at chopping up the monsters who screeched in pain as they died. Once they were all cut into the right sized pieces, Rizzo brought her song to an end.

"Now I believe it's time to cook you." Rizzo said. "Now, Song of the Raging Phoenix."

She played a different tune with things becoming extremely hot. Fire ignited around the sliced up monster cooking the meat to a beautiful golden brown. Once they finished cooking, she stopped playing her violin all together.

"Well, that looks yummy if I do say so myself." Rizzo said as her violin returned to the other dimension she kept it in. "Though I wish I had some spices."

She then shrugged guessing there was no helping things. She picked up a few pieces while taking them back to Makarov as the others were just starting to eat theirs.

"Here you go, Master." Rizzo said holding him out the food. "I'm not sure how good they'll taste. It's not like I'm in a kitchen."

"It's alright." Makarov said. "Thank-you, Rizzo."

Rizzo nodded then jumped when Natsu popped up while glaring at Makarov who was about to eat.

"What were you thinking, Gramps?!" Natsu demanded. "There's no way we can eat this nasty stuff!"

"Are you trying to kill us, you old geezer?!" Gray demanded.

He grunted in pain a second later as Rizzo pegged him hard in the face with a rock.

"What the hell was that for?!" Gray demanded.

"Why don't you stop yelling at the Master?!" Rizzo snapped. "I'm sure you just cooked it wrong or something, ya icy delinquent!"

"Oh yeah?!" Gray challenged as he grabbed some of what Rizzo had cooked for Makarov. "Then you try some!"

He tried to shove it into her mouth, but she pushed against him to stop him. They ended up rolling across the ground tussling while shouting insults at each other. Lucy sweat-dropped though wasn't surprised. She's actually surprised it took them this long to be at each other's throats. They continued fighting while ignoring the others who were trying to figure out what to do next. The two didn't stop their fighting until a reformed monster appeared above them. It snarled at them before going in to attack.

"Oh no!" Lucy exclaimed. "Gray, Rizzo!"

Gray immediately forgot about his fight with Rizzo as he grabbed the girl into his arms. She gasped as he jumped back while taking her with him. He landed on higher ground while keeping his arms around her. He glared down at the monsters as they all started reappearing.

"Is there no end to these slimy bastards?" He asked as the others started fighting them.

"Don't know, but I think things just got worse." Rizzo said. "Look."

She pointed with Gray following the direction of her finger. His eyes widened as he saw the magic circle was back and it was glowing even brighter.

"Shit." Gray said as the ground started crumbling around everyone.

"Everyone, run!" Erza yelled.

No one had a chance of getting away as the ground completely crumbled underneath them. They all shouted as they started dropping towards the circle and the monsters.

"Gees, when will this day end?" Rizzo complained as she hobbled along with the others.

Gray and Natsu just groaned in reply ready for things to be over with too. They don't know what happened, but just as they were about to be consumed by the magic circle, everything was suddenly better. Even those villagers had been turned back to normal. And after a stern talking to from Makarov to the villagers, the wizards of Fairy Tail headed for home once more.

"I still don't get what happened." Lucy said.

She wasn't sure if she'd ever understand what happened, but she guesses she don't want to try and figure it out. Rizzo, who had been trying to understand, was just getting a headache. Rizzo finally let out an annoyed growl before looking up at the sky.

"Why can't it all just be over?!" She yelled.

Coco: I know this chapter was a bit short. Sorry DX I'll try to make the next one longer, I promise!