Chapter 10: Iceberg Dead Ahead
"Attention passengers, our arrival at Iceberg Terminal will be approaching in ten minutes. Please wait for the train to come to a complete stop and exit the car swiftly and safely. Thank you." The PA system boomed throughout the vessel and Juvia could feel her stomach dropping. She wasn't surprised that she was nervous, but she needed to get it together and focus on the mission.
"Everyone ready?" Erza asked, the group nodded in agreement and made their way to the exit.
The second Juvia's foot touched the platform, the cold air ran all the way up her spine. "HOLY SHIT IT'S COLD!" Cana shouted. Seems Juvia wasn't the only one who felt it.
"To be fair Cana you haven't changed back into your winter clothes…" Wendy sighed. Cana blushed, realizing her entire torso and upper chest area were exposed, and rushed to the nearest changing room. Juvia guessed Cana usually didn't wear much clothing, so it slipped her mind to change earlier.
The group made their way to the nearest restaurant to eat and plan their next movements. Everyone seemed determined, calm, and ready to go. Juvia admired their spirit and made a silent prayer that it would be enough to win this battle. "Juvia, are you feeling, okay?" Levy leaned over and asked. Juvia smiled "A little nervous, but other than that fine. Why?" Levy nodded, happy by her response. "Good, just let one of us know if you start to feel different, okay? The book didn't specify when you would start to feel weaker as we approached Yura Palace. So, we'll just have to learn as we go, alright?" Juvia nodded, suppressing her nerves again, she didn't want anyone worrying about her this early in the journey. She would go until she absolutely had to say something.
"Alright, the base of Mt. Kumo is two blocks from here, if we stay at a good pace, we should be able to cover about one-fourth of the mountain by nightfall. Once there we will set up camp." Erza stated while looking over the map of the country.
They finished up and headed towards the mountain, as the team approached the base everyone's eyes seemed to slowly gaze up at the behemoth of rock that stood before them. It was so high that they were not able to see the top of the mountain, let alone the supposed palace. "I know you said it was a large Levy, but this is nothing like I imagined." Lucy gulped. The mountain almost looked down on them with menacing intent, as though you could feel the evil radiating off of it. "Hey look, there's a sign in front of the path." Wendy started leaning down so she could read it. "Caution; climb at your own risk. Traveling is not recommended. You have been warned."
"So much for words of encouragement." Gajeel's eyes rolled as he spoke.
"Well, we didn't come this far to chicken out now Iron Lung" Natsu snickered
"Who are you calling chicken, dragon breath! If anyone is a chicken, it's your hot head" Gajeel barked.
"Dragon breath? We'll see about that. I bet I'll make it to the first-mile marker before your marshmallow!" Natsu challenged.
"You're on!" with those last words the two dragon slayers sped off with ludicrous speed.
"Well, that's one way to have the spirit, come on let's try and catch up." Lucy sighed.
So it began, the trek into the unknown, the unfamiliar, the unexplored. While it was very cold compared to Magnolia, it seemed that everyone had packed the correct gear to stay warm. The snow wasn't falling, which made the hiking much more bearable, they could only hope that this clear weather would last along the journey. The ground was also pretty thick, Lucy had even face-planted a few times, getting her feet stuck in the snow. "How does Kurayami travel? He can't possibly go up and down this mountain on a daily basis." Wendy asked as Carla clung to her shoulder.
"The last time we faced him it seemed he was able to teleport, I would assume this location is simply so other people can't come and go," Carla explained, and everyone nodded in agreement. It wasn't long before they reached the first-mile marker, but when they arrived there wasn't any sign of Natsu or Gajeel.
"Gajeel? NATSU!?" Levy shouted
"Where could they be? You don't think they went ahead, do you?" Cana asked.
"Wouldn't surprise me with those morons. Probably wanted to keep the competition going." Gray signed clearly annoyed.
"They couldn't have, I have the map, they only went the mile cause that's how far they knew to go," Erza said.
*Thud-thud* Suddenly Juvia felt a tightness in her chest. "Agh" Juvia let out a wince, she could feel her heart beating. "Juvia?" Levy asked. Gray quickly turned around in concern "Juvia wha-" "GRAY-SAMA BEHIND YOU!" Juvia screamed in horror. The mountain began to shake and a giant monster lept from the hidden woods. It was an octopus-looking creature with large tentacles; two of those which held familiar figures in their grasps.
"Gajeel!" Levy cried.
"Natsu!" Lucy shouted.
"Ghh-guys! Get us down!" Natsu yelled. The grip was strong around him, and he wasn't able to move.
"OPEN GATE OF THE ARCHER SAGITTARIUS STAR DRESS!" Lucy opened her celestial key transforming herself with the spirit of the archer. A large bow and arrow appeared in her hands. "Hold on guys I got you! This should take down this big guy, nice and easy. "STAR SHOT!" Lucy fired a series of homing arrows at the creature, each of them exploding upon contact. "HAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW" The creature screamed, dropping the boys and using its now available tentacles to shield its eyes.
Natsu and Gajeel rushed towards the group and away from the creature. "What the hell is that thing!" Lucy yelled at Natsu. "HOW WOULD I KNOW!" Natsu jabbed.
"Clearly you pissed it off wiseasses now what did you do?!" Gray yelled
"We didn't do a damn thing, I made it to the mile marker first, hot head and I were arguing about it and this thing came out of nowhere! Grabbed us from behind." Gajeel explained
"EXCUSE ME? I WON YOU ASSHAT!" Natsu glared daggers at him.
"WOULD YOU TWO IMBECILES KNOCK IT OFF!" Erza barked.
The smoke quickly cleared and the creature leaped back into action. "My arrows barely made a scratch!" Lucy was in awe. That spell is usually used for multiple targets she thought for sure it would at least disable the creature in some way.
"WATER SLICER!" Juvia sprang into the clearing, creating a single wave of multiple blades that resembled scythes at the creature. The blades targeted all eight of the creatures' tentacles, cutting each one-off. Almost simultaneously they all detached and fell from the creature's body and soon the entire monster toppled to the ground of the forest.
Juvia gave a smile of relief and kneeled on the ground hoping to catch her breath. It was only one spell and she felt weak and dizzy. "Juvia!" Gray rushed towards her to help her stand. "Are you alright?" Juvia breathed in "Yes Gray-Sama Juvia is perfectly fine, just a little winded."
"Yeah but-" *crunch* The group looked over towards the corpse of the creature. It started to move. "That thing isn't dead!?" Lucy yelled.
The creature rose to its feet finding a balance and soon started to shake. With loud booming splints, each tentacle began to grow back! "No way…" Wendy whispered.
"I've had enough, YO- EIGHT LEGS!" The creature turned towards Cana who made herself front and center. "You like making things appear? Well, watch me make YOU disappear!" Canna pulled her card deck from her bag.
"CARD CONVERSION!" With a swift move and jump, she threw one card towards the creature and with a flash of light, it disappeared altogether.
"WOW! Where did he go?" Lucy asked
"It didn't here take a look for yourself." Cana picked up the card from the ground and showed it to the group. Inside the face of the card was the creature! The spell she uses traps others in another dimension inside the cards themselves. "That's amazing!" Wendy smiled.
"I think I'm gonna keep this little guy for later." Cana placed the card back in the deck and put it away.
"That was intense," Gajeel stated. Everyone looked beat and they had only just begun walking. "Come on everyone, we have to get going. Keep your eyes out and the competitions to a minimum. We stay together, we fight together, agreed?" Erza asked and everyone nodded.