A momentarily look of shock took form on Seraphina's face, The Cold Emperor beat Gray? There was no way. She frowned at the thought, he wouldn't be defeated easily, but he definitely knew the guy, Lyon… maybe their past wasn't good and he used that against him. Her lips curled up passively, she knew for sure that tactic would work on her if anyone from her own past showed up.

Suddenly she remembered where she was and quickly masked her face before turning to her opponent. Kaya was standing there with a smug look on her face, hazel eyes gleaming with glee. Seraphina smiled as well knowing that she definitely thought they had won. However, there was no way she was going to let that happen.

"So, is there any reason why you're so happy?" Seraphina asked cheerfully, "because I didn't know that getting your butt kicked would make you so cheerful!"

Kaya rolled her eyes, something she seemed to do often. "You fairies are all talk and no action, huh?" She claimed more than asked. "Pretty boy definitely thought he was going to win, guess that didn't work out for him, huh?"

"Ahaha, you know I think that's actually so funny!" Seraphina giggled. Upon seeing Kaya's confused expression she laughed and elaborated further. "Everyone always seems to talk bad about Fairy Tail, but at the same time they really seem to forget that we're the best guild in Fiore!"

She then spread her arms dramatically and punched the air. "And we always beat the baddies, pow-pow!"

Kaya rolled her eyes once again. "Yeah, right, let's see what you can actually do!"

Seraphina grinned. "Okay, but you may want to look above you!"

"Hah?"

Kaya cocked her head up almost immediately, looking around wildly for anything that could possibly cause her harm. Had she cast some spell when she wasn't paying attention?

"Wh-?"

Kaya looked back down, wide eyes frantically searching for her opponent, scowling all the while for having fallen for such a cheap trick. A childish one at that. Not even having a chance to recollect herself, a blur of lavender crossed her vision and a fist collided with her stomach.

"Grk!" A grunt escaped her as she staggered. With Kayas defenses weakened, Seraphina appeared behind the mirror mage with her hands clasped tightly above her, before slamming them down on the girls head. Kaya staggered before keening forward and landing on the ground with a dull thud.

A heavy sigh was released from Seraphina's lips as she looked down at her defeated opponent. Traveling as fast as she just did was incredibly draining, but it was necessary in order to defeat Kaya as quickly as possible, as the bluenette had no time to react.

"Haha, well I still win~!" the lavendette declared passively. She stood in place for a couple moments biting on the inside of her lip before she remembered all that had just happened.

Shaking her head and bringing herself to focus she turned to the edge of the mountain where Gray had fallen down. He was still laying down on the ground so she rushed over in order to check if he was okay.

"Oh darn, you got messed up bad, can you even get up?"

Gray was completely unresponsive for a couple moments but he finally stirred.

"S-seraphina?"

She smiled widely in response. "Well, glad to see that you're conscious, but still not in the greatest condition.."

With that, she went to help him stand up, but Gray shrugged her off.

"I can stand."

He struggled to his feet and she smiled softly knowing that his pride was definitely what made him decline the assistance. But that couldn't really be helped, Gray certainly had an ego.

"Where's Lyon?" Gray asked.

"Well, he did throw you off a mountain so he could be at the top of that," Seraphina replied. She looked up at the top, there wasn't really a point in going there. Even if Lyon was there it seemed he and Gray had some personal problems, which would most likely make him mad if she were to try and fight him. Also with him in this condition it wouldn't be good, he needed some medical attention.

"I nee- agh,"

Seraphina quickly grabbed onto Gray's shirt in order to keep him up. She grunted a bit while struggling to pick him up, completely limp boys were heavy.

"Yeah, what you need is to go get bandaged up," Seraphina continued for him. "Come on, we'll go back to the village, we also need to meet up with the others. Lyon's other flunkies should be there too."

Gray didn't say anything, but even if he didn't agree there wasn't much he could do in protest. With that in mind, she positioned him in a way that made it easy to carry him. His left arm hung around her shoulders and she held him up by his waist.

"Okay, are you ready to go on a trip?" Seraphina asked, Gray gave no response; which was expected, but what he said next wasn't.

"I had no right, no right at all to be telling Natsu that he couldn't go on that job." he began. "I'm just as bad as him, no, worse."

The lavendette frowned while glancing at him, she wasn't very good at dealing with emotional situations, as if him flipping out on her earlier didn't make that obvious enough.

She then felt something wet fall on her shoulder, confusing since there wasn't a single sign of rain. Turning around she saw that rain wasn't the cause of that at all, instead, it was the tears silently slipping out of Gray's eyes as his teeth were grit in obvious pain.

Normally when situations got tense or emotional she'd try and change the topic fast so she wouldn't have to deal with it. But, strangely enough, she felt like she couldn't right now.

"Gray… seriously, what's gotten into you?" Seraphina said before pursing her lips, that was a bit blunt.

"Whoops, that was aggressive... but you're not usually this depressing," she mulled it over, "actually you are but still, you would never compare yourself to Natsu in that way. Just because you lost one fight doesn't make you any worse!"

"You're a member of Fairy Tail, better yet you're Gray Fullbuster! The ice mage who freezes the hearts of bad guys and beats up Natsu on the daily," Seraphina continued with a grin, maybe she was a motivational speaker in her past life, she was pretty good at it. "Plus any person who calls themselves 'The Cold Emperor' just needs to be humbled, and as long as you're on this island you have another chance to kick his butt. So quit feeling sorry for yourself, kay?"

Gray didn't respond, but he did seem to relax a bit which made Seraphina feel a tad bit better. She frowned though thinking back to how he had reacted in the cave with Deliora. Gray was one of her close friends and even though she tried not to act like it she did feel awful about what happened. However, if Seraphina was to genuinely apologize she couldn't be facetious in the slightest- which was something she didn't even think was possible.

"Gray..."

"Wh-what?"

"You're super heavy!" Seraphina complained dramatically, "do you secretly have rocks in your pockets?"

"You're just weak!" he retorted.

Seraphina grinned, "Now there's the Gray I know! Always there to make fun of everyone!"

They walked on in silence after that, well Seraphina walked and dragged Gray around because he was essentially down for the count. Which he was upset about, he let Lyon get to him and that was the only reason he lost their fight. Next time he wouldn't hesitate, he needed to win; for Ur's sake.

But he couldn't help the shadow of a smile that traced his lips when he thought about Seraphina's words; if he could beat up Natsu on the daily there was nothing keeping him from taking Lyon.

And… he was pretty good at making fun of people.


At the foot of the mountain of the moon temple Kaya remained on the ground, clearly defeated in battle. It was completely silent until she shot up from the ground with a murderous growl, completely awake now and obviously upset.

A mirror formed at her feet before shattering into a million pieces and impaling the area surrounding her. She clenched her fists and frowned, her eyes set afire with a deadly glint.

"Oh, she's so going to get it."


Lucy looked at the pitfall trap made before her and smiled, this trap was going to work perfectly. The attackers would try to come in and BAM, they'd fall down and then they'd be able to apprehend them easily!

She grinned if this worked that basically would mean she defeated them on her own, and that S-Class title would totally be hers.

"Lucy…"

The blonde sighed knowing that whatever the blue cat was about to say was going to bother her, but she wouldn't let it get to her.

"Yes, Happy?"

"I'm afraid to break it to you, but I'm afraid you might be… stupid."

"Gee thanks!"

"It's just the trap is the oldest trick in the book, if they fall for it they're even dumber than you!"

"Yeah."

"That's true."

"I'm sorry Princess, but I have to concur."

"You too!" Lucy demanded as she stared at Virgo. The pink haired maiden always took her side on everything, why not this?

"Pssh, whatever," she declared. "You'll see, my trap will work perfectly!"

"Ms. Lucy! There's someone coming!"

Perfect, the blonde thought. "Open the gate!"

The guards began to open the large gate at the entrance of the village. Everyone watched in mostly worried anticipation as a figure got closer and closer to the village.

"Hey, is everyone okay!"

Lucy blinked. Why was that voice so familiar, and why would their opponents be asking if everyone was okay?

As the figure lumbered closer she hung her head. "Natsu?!"

"Are you guys all okay?"

"STOP NATSU! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"

"What?" he asked, why was Lucy being so weird?

"JUST STOP PLEASE!"

The pinkette frowned and then stopped right at the entrance to the village. Which elicited a sigh of relief from everyone.

He then looked at the ground and frowned. "What's with the grass?"

"NO, DON'T" Lucy tried to warn him but it was too late, the pinkette took a step forward and immediately fell due to the trap.

"Very funny," Natsu grumbled. "But we don't have the time to be playing practical jokes on each other!"

Happy sighed disappointingly. "Don't blame me it was all Lucy's dumb idea."

"I SHOULD'VE KNOWN"

"It wasn't a joke it was a trap!"

"I'm glad you're okay though!" Happy said. "I was worried about you!"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, before he glanced around and frowned. "But I haven't seen Gray or Seraphina, have you?"

"No, last time we saw Gray was when he was fighting the Cold Emperor, and I think Seraphina went after those other wizards."

"Well, I hope they're okay. Maybe they defeated them and that's why they haven't come here yet." Lucy suggested.

"Or maybe they're still fighting," Natsu realized. "We should go and help them, I never even got to punch the Cold Emperor!"

"We probably should go and check to see if they're okay," Lucy agreed. "But we also have to protect the villagers. I think Seraphina and Gray can handle themselves, for now, the villagers have no one but us to protect them."

"Hmpf, fine." Natsu agreed.

"Looks like we can do both!" Happy cut in. "Here they come!"

"Hello people!" Seraphina greeted excitedly. "We are back so pleaseeee leave the gate open!"

"Uh oh, Gray doesn't look too good." Happy noticed as the pair came close to the village.

"Yeah…" Lucy agreed. "Maybe the fight didn't go too well."

"You're right, it didn't," Seraphina answered from the entrance. She frowned as she looked down at the ground. "Why is there a hole? Ooo, did you make a pitfall trap that's such a cool idea! What smartie-pants came up with that?"

"See, at least someone appreciates my talent!" Lucy replied snarkily.

"Gray's hurt and all you care about is your trap?" Happy asked before shaking his head sadly. "Nice to see where your priorities are."

"What! No, I didn't mean it like that!"

Seraphina set Gray down on the ground gently and looked at him with a concerned expression. He was completely out now, but hopefully, he'd wake up soon. They still hadn't completed the mission, and him knowing The Cold Emperor could be really important to doing that. It would also suck if he was hurt that severely too.

Looking up at everyone else though she pursed her lips in confusion. "So why haven't Lyon's buddies made it here yet? I took care of Kaya, but the others should've been here already."

"Yeah…" Natsu frowned realizing that too. "And my iceberg and you carrying Gray slowed us down."

"Hmm," Seraphina hummed in thought before jumping up and clapping her hands. "OOO, I know! It's because they know how strong and amazing we are so they're too scared to even face us."

"I don't think that's it," Lucy muttered before grinning. "Okay guys, hurry up and cover up that hole! It's the perfect opportunity to set up the trap again."

"They're not going to fall for that," Natsu declared in a deadpan voice.

"Didn't you fall for that?" Happy asked and Seraphina couldn't help but laugh.

"Shut up!"

It was silent for a moment until a slight buzzing sound appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Seraphina frowned and glanced around unable to pinpoint the exact location of the sound, but it was definitely becoming louder and louder.

"Over there!" A villager called out pointing towards something in the night sky, Seraphina looked up to see what he was pointing to.

"A giant flying rat is heading this way!"

"And it's carrying a bucket!"

"What but now my pitfall trap is totally useless!" Lucy yelled, seeming very, very angry.

"Wait a second!" Seraphina called out. "Isn't that the rat from before? The one that smelled horrible?" She took a breath and was already feeling lightheaded with the memory of the scent. "I don't think I could deal with that horribleness again, aghh."

As the rat became closer the bucket became more obvious and Seraphina wondered what it contained, it couldn't be anything good considering they were flying right over the village.

The bucket moved a little bit and with that caused some of its contents to spill out. Seraphina frowned as a huge glob of it fell down, that smell… it couldn't be anything good.

"Watch out, Lucy!"

The flash mage thought her warning came far too late, but thankfully Natsu had noticed the potential dangers of the scent as well. He grabbed the blonde and was able to throw her out of the jelly's path, and it was a good thing he did as well.

The ground where Lucy was standing previously had all but vanished, the jelly eroded the ground and left a divot.

"THAT GIANT RAT HAS A WHOLE BUCKET FULL OF IT!"

With that, the whole village promptly began to freak out. Seraphina looked up to where the rat was flying overhead and glared. They really had no problem killing everyone in here because some Cold Emperor told them to?

A determined smile then took form on her lips, thankfully they weren't about to let them do that.

"Yoohoo, Natsu!" Seraphina called out. She pointed to the jelly. "I think you can do something about that!"

"You're right!" He agreed before running forward. "Tell everyone to get into the center of the village, come on Happy!"

"Okay, come on everyone!" Seraphina shouted. "We've got thisss! But you need to get to the center of the village, now!"

Seraphina then turned to where Gray laid on the ground, she attempted to pick him up but a couple of the villagers said they would carry him.

Her eyes softened and she let go, plus they'd probably have a much easier job carrying him. However, she still felt bad, almost like she was responsible for making sure that he'd be okay.

"Uh- can you make sure he gets bandaged up please?" Seraphina asked of the villagers, "he was beat up pretty badly and I want to make sure he's okay!"

The villagers nodded and Seraphina smiled, Gray was gonna be just fine.

Everyone else had already made it to the center of the village, which is where Natsu would be able to diffuse the jelly out from using his fire magic. Seraphina frowned hoping it would all be dispersed, she wasn't sure if any of her light shields would be able to hold up long enough against that death jelly.

"No, I'm not leaving Bobo's grave!" A desperate voice shouted.

Seraphina turned around to see the chief of the village clutching on to the grave of his son, Bobo. He was most definitely not gonna let it go, but at the same time she couldn't allow him to die, no matter the sentimental value.

"Flash Boost,"

With that, she grabbed him as fast as she could and pulled him from the grave; even though he protested extensively. Looking up Natsu had managed to completely separate the middle of the goo descending upon them, however, now it spread to the outer rim and was coming down fast.

"NO, Bobo's grave, you kept me from his grave!" The chief struggled in her arms attempting to break free and go out, but it didn't work out. If Seraphina could carry Gray through an entire forest she could prevent an old village chief from running to his death for a couple of seconds. Then the jelly hit the ground and dissolved every part of the ground it touched.

A huge crater was formed and it surrounded the entirety of the village. It was insane to think they had concocted a substance that could do all that in a matter of seconds.

Even worse, the fact that magic ten times more dangerous than that acid jelly existed, and that was very scary to think about.

A bit of debris still remained from the dissolved dirt, but soon it cleared and Seraphina looked up in confusion. Bobo's grave was still left standing and Virgo stood next to it.

"The grave is okay, just as you requested princess," the pink haired maiden assured.

"Thanks, Virgo!"

Just as those words were spoken the top of the tombstone was kicked to the ground. Seraphina's eyes narrowed as did Lucy's and Natsu's, it was sure to be trouble.

"Three wizards and some villagers…" the blue haired guy began, "shouldn't be more than fifteen minutes."

"Woah there, bud! Don't cha' think that's a bit cocky?" Seraphina asked with a quirked brow, "trust me, we'll beat you just fine."

She smirked knowingly, "ahaha, just like your other friend. What was her name? Keara or something, right?"

The dog boy promptly freaked out, "no way you beat Kaya!"

The lavendette winked and grinned, "wanna bet on it?"

ZING

In less than the time Seraphina could blink something sharp flew past her ear, cutting off a couple inches of hair as well as drawing the slightest amount of blood. Reflexively she threw her arms up, and just in time as she avoided the barrage of punches that soon came her way.

She frowned as she quickly jumped back, "well, well, guess I didn't go hard enough on you, huh?"

Kaya stood in front of her, absolutely fuming, a murderous glint in her eyes. "Yeah, guess not, but that's something you're so going to regret, Fairy,"

With that, the mirror mage raised her arms and several tools of her magic rose up behind her, all perfectly poised and ready to strike.

"Seraphina!"

Behind her, Natsu and Lucy looked as if they wanted to rush towards her, but she smiled at them and gave a thumbs up. She'd be perfectly fine.

With her own bright glint in her eyes, Seraphina grinned and turned to her opponent, "Bring it on."