SailorStar9: We now continue with Chapter 119 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny and my OCs.

Chapter 119: The Demon Returns

"Who's this woman?" Hiroshi wondered.

"One of their comrades?" Rala asked.

"What are you doing here?" Lucy blinked.

"I followed you, Blondie." Flare replied. "Actually, I've been following you all this time. Just kidding. I had nowhere else to go." she admitted. "So I came back. This is my hometown. This emblem is the crest of the Sun Village."

"Flare-san, you are from this village?" Wendy was astonished.

"Giants raised me when I was young." Flare recounted. "But when I came back, the villagers... my family... you'll pay for this!" she swore.

"Like, we're not the one who froze them." Hiroshi argued.

"We came here to get the Eternal Flame." Rala added.

"Oh no, you don't !" Flare glared. "The Eternal Flame is the village's guardian deity. It's precious to us. I won't let anyone defile it!" and extended her hair to attack the two treasure hunters.

"Leave her to me!" Hiroshi cut off the hair with his chainsaw.

"Gate of the Crab, I open thee!" Lucy summoned Cancer. "Cancer!"

"Hair restoration scalp care!" Cancer went to work.

"We're gonna protect the giants." Lucy promised.

With her revived hair, Flare went on the attack, smacking Hiroshi into a bush.

"Claw of the Sky Dragon!" Wendy's kick sent both Rala and his hammer to the ground.

"You..." Drake took the opening to fire his rifle.

"Water Shield!" Ulyo's barrier forced the bullets into a standstill.

"Gate of the Centaur, I open thee!" Lucy pulled out another key. "Sagittarius!"

"I am here once more!" Sagittarius reappeared and countered Drake's bullets with his own arrows.

"I just got a good idea." Lucy grinned as Sagittarius' and Drake's standoff continued. "Gate of the Maiden, I open thee! Virgo! Take this opportunity to burrow through the ground and come up behind the sniper." she instructed.

"On it." Virgo proceeded to try and drill through the frozen ground. "Princess, I can't burrow." she reported. "This ice is permeated with special magic, so I can't get through."

"Marksmanship and I lost..." Sagittarius winced when Drake's shot hit him.

"You can't take modern weaponry lightly." Drake chided after Sagittarius vanished. "When it comes to rapid-fire performance, you can't beat a rifle."

"Hair Shower: Wolf Fang!" Flare renewed her attack.

"It's just hair!" Hiroshi scoffed. "That's no match for my sword." and sliced through Flare's hair.

"This hair was bestowed upon me by the Eternal Flame." Flare retorted. "It's my pride. Hair Shower: Fireflies!" she exploded the flaming locks of hair, the impact throwing Hiroshi to the ground.

"Little girl..." Rala glared, Wendy's kick preventing from helping Hiroshi and grabbed the Sky Dragon Slayer with his hammer. "Average strength won't free you from the clutches of my Stronger." he grinned.

"Uh oh!" Drake stopped Ulyo and Lucy from helping Wendy.

"My hair..." Flare was held back by Hiroshi tying her hair to a tree truck.

"How's that?" Hiroshi smirked. "Now your Hair Magic is totally tied up in knots."

"Like shooting fish in a barrel." Drake added, trying to decide which one of the girls to take out first.

"I expected no less." Hiroshi shrugged. "Now you, like, realize just how strong Sylph Labyrinth is? Better wait another, like, a decade before you pick a fight with us again, mages. You women should act like women and just shake your ass in front of men."

"You guys really are morons, aren't you?" Lucy chuckled. "You'd better wait a century before picking a fight with mages again!"

"Offensive Strengthening: Arms!" Wendy broke free of Rala's hammer.

"Even if it's tied up, I can extend my hair." Flare added, tangling Hiroshi with her extended hair.

"Found you." Loke grinned, appearing behind Drake. "Lucy!" he tossed the sniper into the air.

"Wing Attack of the Sky Dragon!" Wendy's attack took out Rala.

"Hair Shower: Zigzag!" Flare let her hair loose, smacking Hiroshi on the face.

"River Whip!" Ulyo wrapped her water whip around Drake and sent him towards Lucy and Virgo.

"Lucy Kick!" Lucy readied her kick.

"And Virgo Kick!" Virgo added her attack, the girls sending all three treasure hunters flying.

"I was in this village when I was little." Flare recounted after the girls settled down. "I was raised in this village. Everyone in the village was kind to me, but I hated being different from everyone, so I left. Before then, I'd never seen humans the same size as me. That actually scared me."

"And then, you joined Raven?" Lucy asked.

"I didn't know how to make money." Flare explained. "I didn't know anything when I joined Raven Tail. That Guild hated Fairy Tail. They always badmouthed it. But I didn't know any better, so I took their word for it. And things turned out as they have."

"That's okay." Wendy assured. "Let's patch things up."

"Yes." Flare nodded. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right." Lucy reassured. "I don't have a grudge against you."

"When you came back to your hometown after all this time, the village was like this, right?" Wendy asked.

"Yes." Flare nodded. "I was the only little person here and they were all so kind to me. It's hard to see the village like this."

"Don't cry." Lucy soothed. "They're all still alive."

"Maybe the Eternal Flame could melt the ice surrounding them." Flare wiped away her tears. "Follow me. I'll take you there."

Elsewhere...

"Crap..." Gray cursed, stopping on top of a cliff. "I can't find Natsu and I got separated from Ulyo and the others. Hey, you!" he spotted Doriate below.

"This is annoying." Doriate tsked. "Having to deal with them one by one."

"What the hell is with your mouth?" Gray gaped, seeing the oversized teeth protruding from Doriate's mouth.

"The better to eat you with." Doriate grinned and turned Gray into his child form with his 'Law of Retrogression' magic from his roar.

"What the hell is this?" the shocked Gray looked at his diminished form. "I'm a kid? Deliora..." his mind flashing back to the demon that ravaged his hometown.

"It happens sometimes." Doriate smirked, climbing up the cliff to Gray and hearing the regressed ice mage scream in terror. "When I turn people into kids, they get flashbacks. Not that I give a rat's ass! You're not going anywhere." he held Gray up in his his grip. "I'll tell you just one thing before I kill you. There's a world out there you must never set foot on. It's past the gates of Hell. But you lowlifes are standing at the entrance right now. Although I don't know why I bother telling that to a brat. Cold!" he was forced to drop Gray when the boy frozen his hand.

"Ice..." Gray turned to a frozen giant. "Demon..." he turned to Doriate. "Kid..." he looked at his hand. "Moon Drip..." he recalled the broken bottle. "Too many things here bring back memories. Pathetic." he chided himself. "To let something like this make me forget myself. Did you do this to the village?" he glared at Doriate.

"What if I said 'That's right'?" Doriate grinned.

"You used creepy Ice Magic like that." Gray readied for his fight. "I'll show you what real ice Magic is."

"The Eternal Flame is over here." Flare led the girls towards the shrine.

"We have to meet up with Natsu and the others soon." Lucy reminded.

"Hold on, everyone." Flare looked at the frozen giants. "I swear I'll bring you back to normal."

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.