Author's Note 1: Sorry about the wait! I'm still looking for a new job and I've gotten back in Tales of Graces F. P.S. I don't own anything except my OCs and original magic.
Chapter 7: The Curse of Galuna Island
"You know, you still have a chance to back out of this." Lyle said to his son as the younger man was packing his bag for the mission at hand.
"Not gonna happen, Dad." Zeke replied as he packed his information Lacrima.
"If it's about what Laxus said..."
"It's not!" Zeke turned and shouted. His father gave him the 'really?' look and the archer shrugged. "Okay, it kind of is."
"All I'm saying is that you don't have do an S-Class job just because that's one everyone expects." Lyle stated. "It took me almost a year before I had the courage to go on my first job."
"Yes, but it's two years since my last S-Class mission." Zeke replied. "And the only reason I failed was because I went alone. This time, I got the rest of Morningstar to back me up."
Lyle sighed at his son's stubbornness. 'Well at least he's going with his team.' He rubbed his temples before looking Zeke in the eyes. "Just keep this in mind; if the mission goes south, there's no shame in coming back ahead of time."
Zeke looked at his father and put his hand on his shoulder. "I'll be fine."
As Zeke left to go meet up with his friends, the older S-Class wizard looked back at a photo of Team Crosshair in their youth. He sighed, thinking about how much time had passed since those days. Now he was a husband, a father and now saw his son about to take on the same type of missions he used to take.
And then...
'This really brings back memories.' Lucy thought to herself as the group walked through the streets of Hargeon. After Mirajane explained the nature of S-Class missions, the Celestial Wizard was naturally scared but then remembered that she had her team with her (that and the other reward was a rare Celestial Key). After boarding the train, the group had arrived in Hargeon to catch a boat to Galuna Island. 'Hard to believe its only been a few weeks since we meet.'
The five of them continued their trek through the town and saw that the port town had greatly recovered since their battle with Bora the Prominence. They reached the dock and started asking around for a boat to Galuna Island, however nobody seemed to be willing to take them. Every sailor seemed to be afraid of the supposed curse, including the guy they were currently talking with.
"Look, sir. If it's a money issue..."
"It's not that." A sailor with a beard, bandana and his body mostly covered in a cloak interrupted Zeke. "That island is cursed. Why do you even want to go to Galuna so bad?"
"We're going to get rid of the curse!" An annoyed Natsu yelled as his head burst into flames. "Why else would we get on damned water carriage of nausea!?"
The sailor raised his eyes at the flaming young man and looked at the group. "Are you guys wizards?"
"That's right." Alyssa replied as she tried to put out her boyfriend's fire. The bandana-wearing sailor looked over the group for a second.
"Get on." He said, gesturing to his row boat. Zeke and Lucy looked at each other in confusion as the group boarded the boat. As soon as they started to leave, Natsu's chronic motion sickness kicked in as he leaned on Alyssa.
"Is your friend going to be alright?" The sailor asked.
"Ya, he just gets that way on boats. And trains. And carriages. And park rides. Basically anything that isn't an animal." Happy replied with a deadpan expression, making the sailor sweat-drop.
"Anyway, I'm Zeke." The brunette archer introduced himself and started introducing the others. "This is Natsu, Alyssa, Lucy and Happy. We're Team Morningstar of Fairy Tail."
"I'm Bobo." The sailor greeted back.
"So Bobo, why did you change your mind when you found out we were wizards?" Lucy asked, making the sailor frown as he looked in the distance.
"I'm a former resident of Galuna Island." He said, making the four gasp. "I escaped from that cursed place, but my father and everyone else on the island are still suffering from that damn curse. You guys are the first wizards who have taken an interest in breaking the curse."
"Speaking of which, what exactly is this curse?" Zeke asked. "The job request wasn't very specific about it."
Bobo just sighed as he removed his cloak, revealing his demonic left arm. The four of them looked in shock as the cursed man looked at the five with a pleading look. "Can you really get rid of this?"
The group gave each other a look before Zeke looked up at the cursed sailor with a determined expression. "We'll try."
Hours passed as night fell on the sea, Team Morningstar and Bobo still sailing through the ocean.
"There it is." Bobo said, pointing to a crescent-shaped island in the distance. The wizards looked at the island as Lucy noticed a spec of light coming from the highest point of the island.
"So that's Galu..." Alyssa said before noticing that Bobo was no longer on the boat. "Bobo? Where are you?"
"Did he fall off?" Happy asked as he looked over the side, a bit freaked out at this.
"What the hell?" Zeke asked as he looked around. "Bobo! Are you okay?"
"Guys." They heard Natsu moan and saw him pointing towards something. And that something happened to be a massive tidal wave heading their way.
"AHHHHH! WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!?" Lucy shrieked.
"Everyone hold on!" Alyssa yelled as she held Natsu and Happy close to her.
"That crazy fortune-teller was right!" Zeke yelled, this being the second tidal wave he encountered this month as it started to pull them in. "OH SHI..."
And that was the last conscious thought any of them would have for a feel hours as the massive wave hit the boat.
On the island, a young man with dog-like features stopped and turned towards the ocean.
"Something wrong, Toby?" A blue-haired man in a green outfit asked.
"Could've swore I heard someone screaming." The dog boy said. "Meh. Must be my imagination."
A few hours later, Natsu started to come to as he heard the sound of seagulls in the distance. He sat up and saw that he was now on an island in the daytime and that his team was lying around him, still knocked out. 'This must be Galuna.' The dragon-slayer thought to himself as he looked around, noticing the bizarre-looking plant life. 'It doesn't look cursed, just weird.' He then walked towards Alyssa and held her up into a sitting position. "Alyssa, wake up!"
The orange-haired woman woke up from her boyfriend shaking her. "Natsu?" She looked around and saw her teammates starting to get up.
"Uh...I feel like I just went ten rounds with a vulcan." Lucy stated as she got up, cracking her joints.
"I saw my life flash before my eyes." Happy groaned. "And I really need to expand my food pallet."
"I've been saying that for years." Zeke replied as he wiped the sand off his pendant. "So is everyone okay?"
"Seems like it." Alyssa replied as she got back up. "Luckily we landed on the sand."
"On the plus side, the boat's been totaled." Natsu said, revealed to see the accursed vehicle destroyed.
"How is that a good thing?" Lucy asked. "That means we're stuck on cursed island!"
"Well we can just swim back to the mainland after the mission's done."
"It took us seven hours to get here by boat." Zeke retorted. "It would take twice as long to swim back. And that's if we don't get eaten by sharks or die of hypothermia."
"Just a suggestion." The dragon-slayer pouted.
"Anyway, this island only has one village, so they're probably the ones that sent the request." The archer said as he pulled out the request, which thankfully had a map of the island on it. "Let's get a move on!"
The group journeyed through the island and reached the village by nightfall, coming across a large wooden gate with a big 'Keep Out' sign on it.
"Hey, is anyone home?" Zeke asked loudly.
"Can someone please open the gate?" Lucy asked.
No one answered for a bit before Natsu made another suggestion. "Let's break it."
"NO/NO WAY!" Zeke and Lucy yelled.
"Geez, take a joke." Natsu replied.
"Hey, there's someone up top." Alyssa stated, pointing up to two men standing behind the wall.
"Who's there?!" One of them asked.
"We're from the Fairy Tail guild!" Lucy replied to the guards. "We're here because of your request!"
"You're the team from Fairy Tail?" One of them asked.
"We were expecting real wizards, not a bunch of kids." The other guy stated.
"All of us are over eighteen, ya jerks!" Natsu yelled. "Except for Happy. He's about eight."
"That's almost fifty in cat years, so respect your elders!" Happy yelled at the guards.
"You guys aren't helping." Alyssa stated.
"Besides, we're one of Fairy Tail's strongest teams. We were officially approved by our guild master to handle this mission." Zeke stated, making the two guards look at each other before turning back at the group.
"If you're really wizards, then show us your guild marks." The group smirked and did just that, Zeke pulled down his shirt collar, Natsu, Alyssa and Lucy showing theirs and Happy taking off his backpack and showing the green guild mark on his back.
"Those are real! Open the gate!" One of the guards said.
"I'll go alert the chief. You guys can come in." The other guard said as the gate started to rise. They walked in and noticed that the guard was covered in a cloak that concealed everything but his eyes. He lead the team to a group of villagers gathered in the middle of town, all wearing the same concealing clocks as one of the smaller figures approached them.
"Thank you for coming, young wizards." The old man said. "I am Moka, the chief of this village. And must warn that what you are about to see terrify you. Everyone, take off your cloaks." The villagers did just that, showing that each of them had gained some kind of demonic feature on their body, Moka having his right and left leg being demonic. But the ever-blunt Natsu's attention was drawn to something else.
"Your sideburns are huge!"
"Why thank you." The elder replied, believing it to be a complement.
"Woah." Lucy said. "So everyone..."
"Yes, everyone, even the animals are affected by this curse." The elder said with a heavy expression.
"Just throwing it out there, but are you guys sure this is a curse?" Alyssa asked. "Maybe its some kind of disease."
"That's what we first thought. But I've shown this arm to many doctors and none of them have ever seen a disease like this. And the moon's magic also plays a role in this."
"The moon's magic?" Lucy asked as Moka nodded his head.
"Since ancient times, this island has been bathed in moonlight, making it beautiful. But a few years ago, the moon over Galuna suddenly turned purple."
"Come again?" Zeke asked, confused by such a statement. "I don't think the moon can turn purple."
"Everyone on the mainland says that, but it's true. At least for this island." Moka replied. "After the moon changed, our bodies started to change with it."
"Ah! Look at the moon!" Happy yelled, the group turning to see the clouds that blocked the moonlight started to pass, revealing a purple full moon. Lucy covered her mouth in shock as the others looked in shock as well.
"That's not physically possible." Zeke stated, creeped out by this unnaturally phenomenon. "The moon looked normal last night."
"Oh no!" Moka said, getting their attention. "It's starting again!" He yelled in pain, the rest of the villagers doing the same and scaring the group. They continued to look on in horror as the inhabitants of Galuna become more and more demonic until their transformation had ended.
"Sorry about that." The elder apologized as his transformation was finished. "This is what happens to us when the moon comes out."
"That's horrible." Lucy whispered. The group saw a few of the demons starting to tear up.
"Woah. You guys...look awesome!" Natsu exclaimed, surprising everyone. "I mean you got horns and claws and I even think I see a few wings on some of you! That's so cool!"
"Natsu, you're being really insensitive!" Lucy chastised him. "They don't want to look like this!"
"Oh, right! My bad!" Natsu apologized
"That's the first time anyone's said that we look cool." One of the villagers said. A few of the island girls giggled and the dragon-slayer felt a creepy tingle down his spine.
"If this isn't a curse, then what is it?" Moka said, reminder everyone of the situation. "Sure we all transform back to human by morning. But recently, there are those who don't change back. They lose their minds and become vicious monsters."
"So what happens to them?" Zeke asked as he looked around the village. "I don't see any prisons, so what do you do with the people that turn feral?"
"We tried to lock them up, but every time they would just break out." Moka replied as tears started appearing in his eyes. "We have no choice but to put down anyone who becomes a mindless monster."
The group recoiled at this information. "What?! You just kill them?! They could've turned back to normal if you had just..." Natsu started to yell until he noticed Moka clutching a photo in his hands as he continued to cry.
"I know this law is sinful, but we had no choice. We had to defend ourselves. I was even forced to kill my own son when he lost himself!" The elder cried out as he showed them the photo. As if the earlier transformation and horrific implications weren't enough to terrify the team, they recognized the man in photo as Bobo!
"But...that's impossible." Lucy trembled. "We saw..." She stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see Alyssa shaking her head no.
"That's why he disappeared." Zeke whispered to himself. "He can't rest in peace as long as this keeps happening."
"It's only a matter of time before we all become mindless monsters!" Moka cried as he bowed to the Fairy Tail wizards. "I beg of you! Please save our island!"
"Don't worry." Alyssa said as she kneeled down to the demonic-looking man and placed her hands on his shoulders. The man looked up and saw the comforting expression on her face. "You guys won't suffer anymore. We promise."
"Thank you." The elder said as he wiped away his tears, his expression becoming serious. "We've realized that there is only one way to lift this curse." He pointed upward. "You must destroy the moon!"
"HUH?!" Team Morningstar yelled, utterly baffled by this statement.
And then...
"I never thought the moon could look this creepy." Happy said as he looked up at the moon.
"Then stop standing outside the window." Lucy said as the group was unpacking their things in a cabin that the villagers loaned to them. "You heard the chief. The more we're exposed to the moonlight, the higher the risk of us turning into demons."
"Regardless of that, we need a game plan." Zeke said as he unrolled his sleeping bag. "And since destroying the moon is out of the question, we have to find what caused it to turn purple."
"Right. Even if we that, we couldn't destroy the moon." Alyssa said as she changed into her pajamas behind a privacy screen.
"That? What do mean by that?" Lucy asked, only for no one to answer.
"Looks like we'll have to do some investigating." Natsu stated as he laid down on his sleeping bag as Alyssa emerged wearing full-body purple pajamas. "We'll start looking first thing tomorrow."
"Aye, sir. That means no hanky-panky for you two." Happy said with a mischievous expression as he pointed at Natsu and Alyssa.
"HAPPY!" The red-faced couple yelled at the cat as Lucy tucked herself into her bag. As the group went to sleep, they and everyone else on Galuna Island were unaware of a man with bird-like features watching the island from the sky. After observing the moon for a bit, the blue-feathered birdman flew away from the island, no one aware of his presence.
Morning came around hours later as Natsu got up and started to stretch. He noticed Lucy was styling her hair and raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't think you'd be the first one up." The dragon-slayer commented.
"Well, between the curse looming over us, a village populated by demon people who can go nuts at anytime and you snoring like a dragon, I had a hard time falling asleep." Lucy replied as she finished her hair.
"Sorry about that." Natsu said in embarrassment. A little while later, the group was full-dressed and walking through the jungle to investigate. Well, Natsu, Alyssa, Zeke and Happy were walking while Lucy was sitting inside Horologium.
"Are you sure you can use your spirits like that?" Alyssa asked.
"I'm not taking any chances with a cursed island, she states."
"Whatever makes you feel safe." Zeke replied as he looked over a map that Moka gave them for their investigation. "Alright, we should probably start with the Moon temple. Apparently whenever the villagers send someone to investigate, they something get sent back to village with no memory of what happened. If that's not a sign of cursed weirdness, I don't what is."
Natsu was about to say something until he picked up on the sound of rustling and growling. "Guys, something's headed our way! 6 o'clock!" The group turned in the direction the dragon-slayer pointed out and saw a massive rat burst from the trees, freaking Lucy and Happy out.
"Natsu! Alyssa! Maneuver 35!" Zeke ordered as his teammates nodded. Alyssa held out her hands like platforms as Natsu and Zeke jumped on before she tossed them into the air, evading a blast of air unleashed by the giant rat. As they got up higher, both Zeke and Natsu launched their respective spells.
"Arch Shot: Rapid Succession!"
"Fire Dragon Roar!"
The magical arrows and fire were more than enough to blast the rat into unconsciousness as the two landed.
"Sometimes I forget how crazy strong those three are." Lucy said inside Horologium.
"They're the strongest team." Happy said as he stood next to her.
"When did you sneak in?!"
"Well, that was annoying." Zeke said as he banished his longbow before looking around and seeing something in the distance. "Hey guys! I found the temple!"
"Alright!" Natsu and Alyssa said as Lucy and Happy followed them after Horologium vanished. As they entered the temple the group noticed how ancient it was with cracks and moss everywhere.
"Wow...I wonder when this place was built?" Lucy commented as Team Morningstar looked around.
"I'd say a few hundred years." Zeke replied as he wrote down notes on the ruins.
"It's big, I'll give it that." Natsu commented with his arms crossed.
"There's moon drawings all over the place." Alyssa stated.
"Considering Galuna was originally called Moon Island, that's not much of surprise." The archer stated back as started looking over the walls for cursed glyphs or other things of that nature.
"Hmm." The blonde wizard muttered as she placed her hand on her chin. "A moon island, a moon curse and now moon emblems. Something seems very fishy."
"I wonder if this old place is even sturdy." Natsu said as he gave the floor beneath him an experimental tap. When he heard an echo beneath the floor, he placed his ear on the floor and started lightly tapping the floor. Hearing this continuous echo was enough to warrant an investigation. "Hey guys! The floor underneath us is hollowed out! I think it leads somewhere!"
"Hang on." Alyssa said as she, Zeke and Happy got back a fair distance, Lucy doing the same as Natsu jumped and unleashed a fireball, destroying the spot and revealing a tunnel down. Zeke pulled out ropes from his backpack and the group lowered themselves down the hole, finding a series of tunnels that went underneath the temple. With Natsu using one of his lit hands as a makeshift torch, the group traversed the tunnel and started to notice the temperature around them starting to shift.
"Anyone else feeling a little nippy?" Alyssa asked as the group reached a clearing and found something extraordinary.
Standing above a pool of water was a horned demon the size of Lullaby, frozen in a large block of ice. The group looked on in awe at the sight.
"Okay. I think we might've found the source of the curse." Zeke said in astonishment as he pulled out his information Lacrima to see if any recorded demons matched the frozen creature in front of them.
"How is that Ice even holding when it's 98 degrees outside?" Alyssa asked as Natsu sniffed the ice, recoiling in shock. "What's wrong?"
"Well, aside from the demon, this ice almost smells...alive." The dragon-slayer said, utterly confused at what his senses were telling him.
"This just keeps getting creepier." Lucy said as she looked up at the monster, fear evident in her eyes.
Meanwhile, a ship was sailing the waters as the midday sun shined on them. The flag of the ship had a star in place of the usual Jolly-Rodger with a sword and a pistol forming and X behind it. Behind the wheel of the ship was the same blue-haired pirate that had taken on the Tortoise Guild a few days ago. He was currently talking in a twenty-something woman in a brown vest, short yellow hair and tanned skin.
"According to Aquila's report, we should reach Galuna Island by nightfall." The woman reported.
"Thank you for informing me, Oswell." The young captain replied as he looked into the distance, enjoying the smell of the sea. "I want our portable cannons prepared to leave as soon we drop anchor.
"Aye-aye, Captain." Oswell replied as she traveled down to the lower deck, leaving the captain along as he gripped a necklace underneath his coat.
'Another step to achieving my goal.' He thought to himself, steeling his will for the upcoming battle. 'And no one, not even the infamous Fairy Tail is gonna stand in my way!'
To be continued...
Author's note 2: Sorry for the longer wait times and shorter length of these last two chapters. But next chapter is when we get to the heavy stuff!
(We see Chibi versions of Zeke and Alyssa standing in front of the frozen demon.)
Alyssa: This island just gets more and more bizarre the more we explore it.
Zeke: I know. A purple moon, people turning into demons, a giant rat in a maid outfit...
Alyssa: Wait! What maid outfit?
Zeke: You didn't notice that. We seem to running into weird stuff involving maids a lot.
Alyssa: Now that you mention it, that is pretty weird.
Alyssa: Next time: The Cold Emperor! See if you can catch me!
Thanks for the support and please remember to read & review!
