A Different Fairy Tail
By oathkeeperRoxasxNamine09
Chapter 11: Demon Isle! Galuna Island
Everyone in the guild turned their attention to Makarov and Mirajane. Was this true, a request was stolen? No one in their guild would steal a request. Money is one thing but stealing isn't the correct way to do it. Everyone left the guild, no one could have stolen it.
"What? A job sheet's missing?" Wakaba asked his lips on a cigar.
"If it was on the second floor, it was an S Class job," Macao responded.
"What kind of dummy would run off with that?" Laki asked while standing with Reedus.
From above, Laxus sat on the second-floor table, his arms folded, feet on the table, and sighed. "I saw Lady Ur take it; she was with a cat with wings."
"A cat with wings? Happy?" Mirajane asked, knowing they're three flying cats in their guild.
"Ur took it? It's not like her to just up and go without a word, then again Mystogan is the same thing," Jet pondered.
"She also said she was bringing Lisanna with her, which explains Happy's inclusion," Laxus added. Everyone was slightly shocked he was telling them, was he telling the truth?
"Lisanna, then again, Sting, Lucy, even Kyuri, and Cyan aren't here. She took them as well?" Macao asked.
"How come, I know Lisanna has experience in an S-Class mission but the last time she was on one, Natsu…" Droy asked, only for Elfman to snap at him from afar.
"Shut it Droy, don't speak of it like that!" everyone flinched, knowing why. That mission affected them all, why bring it up?
"Still, I trust Ur, she'll take great care of them. But why an S-Class request? I can't even shake what's going on with her." Makarov spoke out loud. He crossed his arms and was in thought.
"Well, what if someone stole it from Ur?" Levy asked and all eyes were on her, "I'm not saying Lisanna stole it, but what if Happy snatched it from her at some point and they left before she could get it back. She's probably hunting them down."
"For once, I'm confused," Laxus said, "Hey Gramps, you don't think Lisanna and then stole it, Ur told me she was taking it," and mentally flinched, 'She did threaten me…'
Laxus remained still on the second floor, the day was ending, and he was ready to head home. Footstep caught his attention when Ur walked up to the Second floor, Happy was carried in her arms.
"So, this is the second floor, wow," Happy said amazed, his years in Fairy Tail, he wondered how quiet the floor was compared to the ground floor.
"Stay right there, I'm going to get the mission I sent paperwork for. I had to send that paperwork to the residents, they should know I'll arrive soon. I didn't mention others, but this was my decision, oh Laxus," and her gaze looked to the blonde wizard, "You're a rare sight,"
"Same to you, you're always busy. Mind telling me why Dragnell's cat is with you?" he asked irritated.
"Just a witness, plus I promised if he's no here to sneak any requests, I'll take him up here," Ur replied and talked to the S-Class board, grabbing the request, and looking to Laxus with a hand to her hip, "It's very last minute, but it looks my searching these past years finally paid off. I'm taking this request, let the master know so there are no misunderstandings,"
"Sure whatever," he groaned, waving a hand to her.
"I mean it," Ur said before putting her hands to her hips, "I know you don't like the others, but this is important to me and if you like to get them in trouble," and the air felt colder in just the floor, Laxus sitting, watching his drink, his headphones, all cast in ice, "I'll show you just how an ice Wizard kills their opponent, from the inside out,"
"S-Sure Ur, I'll let gramps know, just no freezing me okay?" Laxus stammered, knowing Ur, being older than him, could easily do so. The ice slowly disappeared into steam and Ur smiled at the young man.
"Good to see we agree,"
"Still, as much as that girl is turning into Natsu every day, her stealing an S-Class mission knowing full well, she is her little crush's replacement," Laxus jeered, which made much of the guild wince. Lisanna, and to an extent Sting, were never extras of Natsu. Even with that Takeover Lisanna had, she always was herself. Sting was Natsu's little brother, but he wasn't his extra. Still, it was uncalled for, even for a joke, "but, she knows the rules, she wouldn't steal a request from Ur, of all people.
"He's right, Ur took it, Happy was with her," Alzack agreed.
"Lisanna's isn't crazy, is she?" Laki asked, blinking a little.
Mirajane walked up to him on the second floor, her hands to her hips and not in the nice girl attitude. It is one thing to bring up the last S Class mission Natsu Dragneel went on, but to leave out the fact it was the mission she allowed the Dragon Slayer to go on? That was low.
"Laxus! Why didn't you try and stop her if you knew?" she replied hotly at the blonde wizard
"All I know Ur came up and took a request and Happy was with her," and looks to Mira, still smiling, "Then again, wasn't it two years ago a certain someone took Lisanna and Cyan on an S-Class request with Natsu? Isn't that right, Mirajane?"
Mirajane's eyes were a complete change to her usual look. A dark tone now resonates with the once blue eyes as a dark, menacing scowl was upon her face. 'How dare you speak about that, you bastard? What happened wasn't my fault; it wasn't any of our faults.'
"Oh?" Laxus realized, eyeing the look on her face. "You haven't given me that look in a while."
"This is bad." spoke up Master Makarov, "What job flyer was taken?" he added, looking up at Mirajane and the smiling smugly Laxus.
"The cursed Island of Galuna, master," Mirajane explained.
"What?!" responded Makarov, eyes widening.
The members of the guild house all gasped in shock at the revelation of the mission Lisanna, Happy, Ur, Sting, Lector, Cyan, and Kyuri were on.
"Galuna Island?!" Macao and Wakaba repeated.
"That's insane!" gasped Laki, her hands to her mouth.
"They are stupid!" responded both Alzack and Bisca.
"Laxus! Go bring them back!" Makarov ordered the S-Class mage on the second floor.
"Don't be silly. I have my work to attend to later," he replied. He looked down and kept his smile. "Members of this guild are supposed to be able to take care of themselves… Right?"
"Out of everyone here, what besides, you can bring back them by force?!" Makarov shouted, "Even if they didn't steal it, there's something we don't get!"
From behind the elder master, Gray stood up from one of the tables and announced, "Gramps." Makarov look to the Ice mage as he added, "I can't let that comment go."
"You'll go get them, Gray?" Makarov asked.
Gray nodded a serious look on his face, "Yes. Ur's my teacher and I don't even know what goes on with her. I'll go after them and bring them back here. If it is just a misunderstanding, they're fine, Ur is an S-Class, if she took the mission, it's her responsibility. Besides, she could have asked me,"
"I see… We owe you, Gray. We'll let Erza and Luke know as well. We'll make sure it's not a misunderstanding for them and Byakko," Mirajane said. Gray nodded and hurried out of the guild.
At the port town of Hargeon, the group of Lucy, Lisanna, Sting, Happy, Lector, Kyuri, and Cyan were following Ur while in town. Lucy was very nostalgic about coming back here, this was where she first met Lucy, Happy, Lector, Sting, and Kyuri, ends up watching Lisanna and Sting beat the fake Salamander before her very eyes. Sure, they had to leave before the army caught them, but it was great to meet real Fairy Tail wizards.
"Wow! This brings back memories!" said an amazed Lucy as they stood in town. Natsu and Happy were right behind her with smiles too. "This is the town I met Lisanna and you guys"
"It's only been a week or so Lucy, no need to feel nostalgia now," Lisanna reminded her, Happy riding the back of her bag.
"So that's where you met. I heard there was a commotion going on where someone named Salamander was in town. At first, I thought it was Natsu, but it turned out to be a fake," Ur said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, Sting-Kun and Lisanna beat that fake good!" Lector exclaimed.
"Don't forget I helped beat that faker, I've met all of you again too," Kyuri reminded them, her hands behind her head.
"That's great to hear," Ur assured but smiled like a parent to their child, 'She's grown so much in three years, I'm so proud of her. I never thought I see a smile from her again,'
"So, what's the plan to get Galuna Island? We're talking about some island out in the ocean, so you must have an idea," Cyan wondered curiously and today wearing her mask.
"Let's go and find a boat that'll take us to Galuna Island." Lucy shrugged. and looked to Ur, "an innovative idea Ms. Ur?"
"An excellent idea. We'll need a boat to hold six Wizards and two cats. Sting, will you be okay on a boat, you know, motion sickness/" Ur asked the blonde Dragon Slayer.
"I'm okay, I can endure it for a little while," He assured the Ice Wizard.
"You're a lot more mature than I thought Eucliffe," Lucy noted, only for Sting to stare daggers at her.
"Zip with passive diss Lucy, or we swim. Hope your brain can float with how empty it is," Sting jeered only for Lucy to laugh.
"It's amazing your best comeback is thinking I'm stupid, that's adorable," Ur sighed while Happy and Lector sat on Lisann's bag eyeing the two. Cyan and Kyuri just looked bewildered, can the two just cut it out?
"You know, if I didn't know any better, Lucy-san and Sting-Kun are like long-lost brothers and sisters," Kyuri said, and Lisanna pinched the bridge of her face.
"I don't know but I hate the idea," she admitted and walked over them, clapping her hands, "Alright StingLu, we have an S-Class request to do," and the two blondes stare back at her.
"Fine, but don't call us StingLu Lisanna, it makes us sound like a couple," Sting pointed out.
"I agree, it sounds silly. Me and Sting, now that is a cliche, I'm in love with him, ahahahahaha!" Lucy laughed finally following Ur and company.
"I feel insulted…" Sting groaned.
"Sting, don't worry, someone will love you, maybe," Ur said smiling.
"Thank Ms. Ur, I feel so much better," Sting replied sarcastically. Cyan and Kyuri laughed a little.
"I love this group," Cyan admitted cheerfully.
The group walked towards the port to ask for a boat, at least big enough to carry them to Galuna island. Some fishermen heard their request but weren't happy. Ur did most of the talking telling the fishermen it's an official business she heads there.
"Galuna Island? We aren't going near that place!" one of the fishermen responded
"Forget it. We don't even want to hear that name." said another
Disappointed and curious as to why no sailors or fishermen would want to go, they spoke to another group for answers.
"Look, we just need to get to the island, why won't anyone take us there?" Lisanna asked honestly
"Sailors around here won't even talk about that island." a man wearing a green shirt in a boat spoke.
"That place is cursed." Added the second man wearing an orange shirt, a white cloth tied on his head, and carrying a wooden crate in his hands, "Going there'd be nothing but unwelcome news."
They spoke to another sailor, a man with tan skin, a black beard, a blue hat, and a green cloak with a wide collar. "Dunno what your story is, but you won't find any sailor who'll go there. Even pirates won't go there." He said to Lucy while Lisanna and Happy sat on a wooden crate near her. Ur, Kyuri, and Cyan faced the fisher and Sting just sighed.
"You can't be serious…" Lucy replied.
"Hey Ur, what about you and Kyuri using your magic to build us a boat?" he requested.
"Sorry Sting, the waters get rough for even our magic to withstand these waters," Ur explained.
"Besides, making an iceboat, even with my magic, it's too advanced, I never sculpted something that big," Kyuri added.
"So, we have zero means to get to the island, and the only way we could, the waters aren't good for their magic," Lucy said and placed a hand to her rapier with a sigh, "God, do you have anything else to make our day worse?"
"I Found you!" a voice called from behind Lisanna and Lucy, smiling. He clapped a hand on their shoulders, causing them to scream in panic, and turned to the face who snuck up behind them. Gray Fullbuster stood behind them; dressed in a blue shirt, blue bag on his side, and brown pants. All eyes looked at the black-haired Wizard. Ur was shocked, what's he doing out here
"Gray!" Lucy said wide-eyed.
"What are you doing here?!" Lisanna asked, eyes widened too.
"And how did you know we were here?" Sting asked.
"At least we aren't getting Erza or Luke on us, they hound us like dogs!" Lector exclaimed.
"Gramps told me to bring you back," Gray replied.
"Wait, what do you mean, bring us back?" Ur asked.
"Gramps thinks you stole an S-Class request, but someone said Happy, and Ur have taken it. I turned up to see who had the request," he said and looked to his teacher who was between a headache or worry, "If Ur is here, then she has it? But Ur, you normally let Master know, why did you not say anything, we all thought someone stole the request?"
"I have my reasons, but no one stole the request, I took it," Ur explained hand to her chest honestly
"Look Gray, you know I'm not insane to steal a request, the last one I went on 'he' vanished, so I know the risk!" Lisanna shouted.
"Look if you all come back with me, Gramps he might not kick you out if this is only a misunderstanding." Gray said, smiling at the scowl on Lisanna's face, "Let's go. I've known you for six years, but you're way too cautious like Natsu like everyone said,"
"Kicked out?!" Lucy repeated, terrified. She just joined, now she is on thin ice already. What a horrible time to be involved with an S-Class request. Cyan saw the panicked Celestial Spirit Wizard but turned her attention to what Gray said about her adopted sister. Cautious like Natsu, the mission from two years ago? She didn't realize Gray would use that chestnut on them.
"I-I-I'm not Natsu!" she stammered.
"Screw that! We're doing this S Class request!" Kyuri shouted back to Gray.
"Stay out of it Kyuri, you were gone for three years, a certain Takeover Wizard knows what happened, and the longer she pretends it's not a big deal, more people will get hurt!" Gray explained. Sting and Lisanna growled at him, once again, everyone thinking they're placing Natsu, they are Natsu, who did they think they were, guild or not, they are not Natsu
"Gray, they are with me, you think I'm going to get kids hurt again?" Ur asked her tone more seriously on 'again'. Gray looked at her but paid none of the minds.
"Plus, not all of you have the skills to do one. Man, if Erza and Luke hear about this…" he groaned, stepping back a bit. He imagined the angry looks on their faces, and Luke wasn't an S-Class Wizard. He trained with Erza all the time, he's almost S-Class potential with that rate he's going.
"Eep!" screamed the seven of them. They forgot about Erza and she'll kill them for taking that mission, but if she catches them, is the worst part. Ur sighed and placed a hand to her forehead.
"Honestly, can those two try to be nicer and not terror you? Erza will listen to me, as for everyone else, Well… I'll make sure Makarov doesn't punish you for a misunderstanding," Ur said, and Lucy panicked even more.
"Look Gray, just tell Master I took it, no need to get us all punished!" Happy exclaimed, flying to the Ice Wizard.
"Yeah, Sting-Kun and Lisanna-san are good!" Lector agreed.
"I'm going to show Erza what I can do! We can't turn back now!" Kyuri retorted standing close to the raven-haired Wizard. Everyone looked at her, she was being serious and standing up for Lisanna and Sting, that comment wasn't sitting right with her, so she stood proudly before Gray.
"It's a direct order from the master; I'll drag you back if I have to," Gray replied sternly. Ice formed in the Ice mage's hand, "Don't blame me if you get hurt like two years ago for her and Natsu!" he explained.
"You're itching for a fight!?" Kyuri ordered her ice forming from her hand as she was ready to brandish her blade at him.
The sailor who was watching noticed the ice forming on the two wizards' hands. "You guys are Wizards?!" he asked. The nine of them look to the sailor, "Are you going to break the island's curse?" he added.
"Yes." Ur, Cyan, Kyuri, Sting, Lucy, and Lisanna replied with smiles on their faces.
"You're not going anywhere!" Gray said with gritted teeth.
The sailor stared at the sight of them, his mouth agape. At first, he thought these kids and women were some insane kids who wanted to play around at Galuna, but if they're Wizards from a Wizard guild, they could be helpful.
"Get in!" He ordered to the Wizards before him, "I should be able to carry the seven of you and your pets,"
"Umm, thank you," Ur said immediately, bowing her head.
"Pets?!" Happy and Lector repeated feeling offended by that. They were Wizards too.
"Huh?" Lucy questioned; did he change his mind that quickly?
"Seriously?!" Lisanna and Sting asked eagerly.
"Hey!" Gray called and Kyuri grinned darkly. With one swift swipe with a sheathed katana, Kyuri sent Gray flying into the air and crashing to the ground, a huge bump was now visible on his head.
"I waited three years for that!" She giggled mischievously, placing her sheath back to her hip.
"A little much there, Ky," Cyan noted to the girl.
"I also think that's a bit overboard." Lucy laughed nervously
Sting walked over and hoisted the Ice Wizard onto his back and smiled, "Well, we got our transportation! We'll take the boat there!"
"We're taking Gray with us?" Lucy asked curiously. She didn't mind, but Kyuri did knock him out, so there's no way he'll help them willingly if he comes too. She knows Kyuri and Gray have bad blood, but was it worth it?
"If he goes back to the guild, Erza and Luke will come next…" He replied with a hint of panic in his voice.
Lucy was frightened. Erza and Luke finding out are scary, especially how kind Luke was training her. She looked at her bag, rapier, and scooted to the back of the boat, "I got the bow!"
"Maybe it's best if we wait for them, they'll listen to me," Ur suggested to the teens.
"They'll kill us before you explain!" Sting shouted. Ur nodded, unfortunately. Erza was an ask questions later kind of girl, and Luke, while well mannered, has some of Erza's traits.
"Fair point, let's set off everyone!" Ur ordered.
"Aye!"
Lisanna's group was now travelling by boat to Galuna Island as nighttime passed, Sting in question feeling sick for being on transportation. His face resembled that of a butt as he wished he didn't agree to this. Lisanna put a hand to her friend's back, soothing him.
"There, there," she cooed.
"Didn't think it would be nighttime so soon," Cyan said, her mask off her eyes right now.
"Yeah, but the moon looks beautiful right now, almost romantic," Kyuri admitted.
"When did you think of romantic scenery?" Ur asked her, chuckling. Kyuri giggled bashfully, guessing it was just something she picked up in the three years.
"It's getting late now; I hope we make it there soon," Lucy said to the group. She sat in the boat hugging her knees together, hugging her bag and her rapier for protection.
Gray (who had woken up to find he was captured), groaned, "You tie me up and then say that?" He looked to the sailor whose back was facing the sea and starry sky and added yelling, "And you, why did you agree to take us?!"
"Calm down Gray, I'm sure he had a reason to change his mind," Ur assured him, "Can you tell us who you are?"
"My name is Bobo. I used to live on Galuna Island." the sailor introduced, looking at the captured ice Wizard.
"Huh, you're from there?" Lucy asked.
Bobo didn't reply with a yes, his eyes fixed on the nine of them. He turned his head, the moonlight casting a shadow on the left side of his face, "I fled from Galuna Island. Disaster will befall you all, too. Such is the fate of those who visit that island."
Lucy's brown eyes stared unblinkingly at Bobo, "Can you lift the curse?" the man asked them. She looks to Happy, Cyan, Kyuri, Ur, Lisanna, and the sickly Sting, Gray still pissed for being captured as she gasped to find what Bobo revealed to them. His other arm wasn't the same as the arm he used to steer the boat; in fact, it wasn't even human. It looks like a demon's arm, a dark purple one to be more accurate. "This demon's curse..." He added holding it out in the moonlight while casting a shadow.
"Mister! Your arm…!" Gray said while Happy looked back to the sailor seeing his arm. The girls all looked terrified, all but Ur who appeared unfazed.
'Then my hunch is correct, it is connected to it,' she thought.
Lucy's brown eyes remained open witnessing what she saw, "Curse? You don't mean…?"
Bobo lifts his head slightly, looking at something in the distance. "There it is." he added, "Galuna Island.
An Island could be seen in the distance. There it was the destination of their request and the start of their adventure. There was no going back now. No time to ask to return to the mainland. They saw the island, each with their feelings of seeing the island. Gray a stern look, Happy's and Lector's mouths agape, and
Lucy was a little fearful. Sting was unfortunately not seeing the island, still over the edge trying to throw up. Lucy gasped, noticing something strange with the mountain, "What is that? The mountaintop is glowing…" as, above the mountain, many blue-robed figures circled a glowing light in the center. Their arms spread out; faces covered by a mask with a strange symbol on it as they chanted. Lucy then realized Bobo was gone as she stood up on the boat in shock, "Huh?! Where did he go?!"
"…Did he fall overboard?!" Gray asked, turning his head.
"But he didn't jump off!" Ur exclaimed.
"Where did he go?!" Cyan exclaimed.
"He just suddenly disappeared!" Lector exclaimed while his partner Sting was still sick.
Sting could feel the waters hitting his face as right behind them, a big wave was forming behind them as Gray asked while Lucy looked down to the water, "What's that sound?" He looked back to see what the sound was but panicked when he saw the wave. "H-Hey!" he called nervously to Lisanna, the girls, Happy, Lector, and Gray.
Lucy turned and screamed as the group's boat was caught up in the tidal wave. "Giant wave!" she screamed as the wave was ready to engulf them into the sea. Sting looked at the waves, still feeling sick as Happy turned too.
"It's going to engulf us! Hold on!" Gray ordered the others.
"Okay!" Cyan yelled towards everyone, only for Kyuri to grab onto her and Lisanna.
"Happy! Lector! Lift the boat into the air!" Lucy ordered the blue and red cats as the waters were ready to take them.
"I can't do that!" Happy and Lector yelled back as they were sent into the water, the water forming a whirlpool swirling the four into it. First was the seasick Sting, then Gray, then Lucy, Lisanna grabbing Cyan and trying to grab Lucy's hand, Ur who reached out for Gray, Kyuri reaching out for her friends, and lastly Happy and Lector were swallowed into the sea with panic looks on their faces.
The next morning, the warm sun was overhead as Lucy could feel its warming rays. She stirs a little in her sleep before opening her eyes half-open. The blind sunshine and the sound of seagulls greeted the Celestial Wizard as her vision became clearer.
"Where am I?" she asked herself, seeing the clear view of the slightly cloudy sky and palm trees. Her body felt heavy before noticing Lisanna on top of her, clutching Cyan's hand and everyone's things.
"Lisanna!" she exclaimed, slipping to get the Takeover wizard off her. She turned her over and put a hand to her cheek, slapping her lightly.
"Are you okay?! Come on, wake up!" she shouted, and Lisanna's face muscles twitched, and her eyes opened, the sun rays in her line of vision, for a moment a pink-haired face appeared, only to be replaced by Lucy's concerned face.
"Lucy," Lisanna said hoarsely, getting her back off the sand to embrace her, "You're okay! I'm sorry, you could have gotten hurt because of me!"
"Relax, I'm breathing!" Lucy said cheerfully getting out of Lisanna's embrace. Besides the girls, Cyan was getting up, dusting off the sand from her shorts.
"Lisanna-nee, Lucy-san, glad you're okay!" Cyan said happily to the pair. Cyan canned the beach they landed on, looking towards her comrades, "Everyone okay?!"
Over by their comrades, Sting was in the sand his butt up in the air still sick, Happy's head was in the sand, Ur looking the calmest (being the one grown-up of the group), Kyuri was picking up her katana, and Lucy's rapier, Lector was sitting on the Ice Sculpt Wizard's shoulder, and Gray face first in the sand too. The boat they came with was wrecked too, pieces of wood all around.
"Oh, boy…" Lucy said at once, seeing the mess they made coming here, if here is Galuna Island.
"Coming from my continent to Fiore wasn't this bad," Ur groaned indifferently, wondering if maybe an iceboat was a better idea, "are you kids, okay?" she asked parentally.
Sting finally recovered the excitement on his face. "Oh, we're here?!"
"A giant wave washed us ashore…" Lucy pondered remembering the details of last night.
"Looks like we lucked out..." Gray growled in annoyance finally recovered too.
"Well, we didn't suffer any damage and our stuff made it to shore. Not one of my best request ventures, but this was a better outcome," Ur admitted proudly.
"How do you have such optimism Ur?" Lucy asked and looked to see Kyuri passed her rapier, "Thanks Kyuri," and placed it back to her belt, sheath, and all.
"What was with that man, anyway?" Lisanna asked her thoughts to Bobo, his demon arm and his abrupt disappearance, and what he was talking about, "He said something about a demon's curse..."
"Don't worry about details! Let's go exploring!" Sting said excitedly waving his arms.
"Aye!" Happy and Lector chimed in jumping up.
"Guys, we are on Galuna Island, we don't know what to expect here except our mission, so no exploring until we know what we're dealing with," Ur said, hands to her hips. Once the three boys were calmed down, she added looking at the flyer, "There's a village on this island, and the village chief is the one who posted the job. Let's go there first."
"Not so fast," Gray said, getting the eight's undivided attention. He got up from the group as Sting looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Now what?! The boat's busted! You can't take us back!" Sting reminded him.
"No. I'm coming with you." he decided. Lucy and the girls slightly gasped, "I can't let you guys beat me to the second floor, and it'll be no fun if you get kicked out over a misunderstanding." He smiled, "If we do this job right, Gramps will be happy for all of us, not just Ur since this is an S-Class request." Sting grinned at the Ice Wizard's decision, with Happy and Lector jumping up in agreement. Lisanna sighed in relief, and Ur looked almost proud of him. Kyuri crossed her arms with a smile, Gray caving in that there's no way he could drag them back. Cyan was delighted Gray was in a better mood to help them, it means more hands for this mission. Lucy smiled too excitedly, "Let's go!" Gray added, smiling.
"Yeah!" chained the team Strauss members.
"Aye!" Lector and Happy cheered in agreement, ready to get this request underway.
Nighttime came once again as the group walked to the village chief of the island. Ur took the lead, as this was her mission, best she did the talking for them. After a long walk through the forest, they found themselves staring at a large wooden fence with a 'KEEP OUT' sign in the front.
"It's nice that we made it, but what is this?" Gray asked, arms folded.
"This is the only village, didn't think of the concept of keeping people out," Cyan said.
"Well, this place is cursed, maybe they didn't want intruders finding them?' Kyuri suggested.
"What does 'Keep out' really mean for this place?!" Lector asked too, paws folded.
"Excuse me! Please open up!" Ur called anyone on the other side. Lucy and Lisanna frowned from beside her. They waited for a few seconds, but to no response.
"Should I break it?!" Sting suggested balling his fist, Lucy shook her head, still waiting for a response.
"Who is there?!" a voice from above the gate called. The voice got their attention, seeing figures up on top of the gate. Ur stepped forward and cleared her throat, speaking up to the guards.
"My name is Ur! I sent a letter telling your chief I would arrive soon!" she called them.
"Wait, you can do that without a request?" Lucy asked down-founded.
"S-Class works in crazy ways," Lisanna replied nonchalantly.
"And them?" the second guard asked, pointing to everyone else.
"They are my associates from the Fairy Tail Wizard Guild! They're assisting me in this request!" she added. The two guards looked at each other and backed down.
"You said they're all from the Fairy Tail Guild?"
"Yes!"
"Then show us your emblems!" the guard ordered.
One by one, Team Struss and Ur showed their emblems, each not only a different color but on different parts of their person: Lisanna's white and on her left thigh, Sting, white and on his left shoulder, Happy and Lector, blue and white and on their backs, Gray, dark blue and on his right chest, Kyuri, black and on her left shoulder, Cyan, white and on her right thigh, Lucy, pink and on the back of her right hand. and Ur, dark blue and on her right shoulder blade.
"Oh!"
"They're real!"
"Another guild is helping us!"
The last line caught Lucy's eye; another guild was there. With their proof given to them, the gate pulled up as Lisanna, Sting, Lector, Cyan, Kyuri, Ur, Lucy, Gray, and Happy now had permission to enter. Ur sighed, at least they didn't have to show these were real or one of them strip naked, well Gray can do that himself (unfortunately).
"It's like going into a giant monster's mouth." Happy notes.
"Kinda." Lucy shrugged as the gate finally stopped.
"Okay everyone, let's get inside the village," Ur ordered the group.
"Okay!"
Inside stood the villagers of the Island, but their faces were covered by wraps with only a slit to see their eyes. They each wore cloaks like Bobo but were lighter than his. The one most distinguished was the one in front carrying a moon staff.
"I am Moka, the chief of this island village." He greeted the Wizards, "Let's get right down to business. I should introduce the other Wizard from a guild who's assisting here. Come forward dear," Moka ordered, and someone steps in front of the Fairy Tail Wizards, wearing a sky-blue cloak, they remove their hood and reveal their face, shocking everyone, including Lisanna and Cyan.
"Good evening Fairy Tail Wizards, my name is Roiyaru Mitsu, I'm from Lamia Scale," Roiyaru introduced. Her appearance looked identical to Cyan, her hair a lighter shade of blue, tied in a loose ponytail behind her head. Giving them a view from under her cloak, she showed a red mermaid guild emblem. Ur noticed the emblem; it was from Lamia Scale. She scanned the group, speaking more, "I'm pleased to meet all of you, I hope we can get along, even though we're from different guilds," and her eyes scanned all the members of the guild before her eyes rested on Cyan. Roiyaru's mouth was agape and covered her mouth, tears welling up from her eyes, "It can't be? Cyan?" and walked over to Cyan.
"What?!" Team Strauss exclaimed, but the most shocked was Cyan. She couldn't believe who was standing there, she was sure she died three years ago.
"Roi-nee, you're alive?" Cyan asked and everyone took a double-take, all except Lisanna, who remembered the girl three years ago, asking Lisanna to take care of Cyan. She was certain she'd be okay after tending to her wounds, but to be alive was still insane. Roi came closer and embraced the Takeover girl, tears falling from her eyes, but feeling overwhelmed by her wellbeing. She was alive, she didn't kill her sister. From underneath their cloaks, the villagers wanted to cry at the sister reunion before them. But it was time to get serious, best break up the reunion for now.
"I'm so glad you are doing okay, Cyan," Roiyaru said, hugging Cyan tighter and Cyan hugging her back.
"Ms. Roiyaru, would you finish your moment with your sister after we inform the Fairy Tail guild?" Moka asked and Roiyaru released her sister and stood with the Fairy Tail wizards, "Now then. Please have a look." He looked back from the mages and to the villagers and shouted, "Everyone!"
One by one, they each removed the cloaks, each revealed to have either a demon blue arm or a demon leg or even horns. While their normal selves dressed in islander fashion, felt uneven to the demon limbs. They frowned, disappointed at what they looked like... Gray, Cyan, Kyuri, Lisanna, Ur, and Lucy observed the villagers' appearance, linking them to Bobo.
"Just like the man on the boat." Gray realized.
"Yeah." Lucy agreed with a hand to her chin.
"Hey Lisanna-nee, I mean Lisanna," Cyan said looking from the villagers and her sister (now having two sisters), "Don't they have body parts that look demon-like?"
"Yeah, and you still call me sister," Lisanna replied smiling at her. Cyan blushed, looking away as Roiyaru giggled.
"Ur, those are….?' Kyuri asked and Ur nodded. To her.
"Yes, they're partial demons. I wonder..." and pondered in thought.
"Crazy sideburns!" Sting blurted out seeing Moka's long white sideburns.
"No, this is what I want you to see." Moka replied still holding up the demon arm as more of the villagers had saddened looks, "Everything on this island is affected by this curse, even dogs and birds."
"I don't mean to question you, but what makes you believe it's a curse?" Gray asked calmly, "Couldn't be a contagious disease?"
"We've consulted dozens of doctors, but they say no such disease exists." Moka replied, "Plus the moon's magic has something to do with us taking these forms."
"The moon's magic?" Lucy asked considering.
"This island has absorbed moonlight since ancient times. It made the entire island shine beautifully like the moon." Moka replied, "However, some years ago, the moon's light suddenly turned purple."
"A purple moon?" Lisanna repeated.
Happy and Lector gasped; looking up into the sky to see the clouds parting, "Oh! The moon is coming out!" Everyone looks up at the sky to see the clouds parting too as the moon was made visible into the sky. But there wasn't as normal as they thought it would be, but a moon tinted in purple hung over their heads.
"It's true! The moon is purple!" Lucy gasped.
"Now this is creepy," Gray commented as the area was bathed in the purple moonlight.
"That's not normal," Cyan admitted.
"But the moon was just fine when we got here!" Kyuri exclaimed.
"It's a curse." Moka said sweat drops falling from his face, "This is the moon's magic."
On cue, the villagers began to scream in pain as they held themselves while the group was panic-stricken and didn't know what to do for them as they watched in horror at the pain they seemed to be going through.
"Wha-What?!" Lucy said eyes widened.
It was like watching a horror movie as the villagers' bodies started to rip, revealing demonic arms and faces too. The group was watching the transformation happening right before their eye.
"What the…" Lucy said in disbelief.
"What's going on?!" asked Gray.
"What the heck?!" Sting asked eyes widening.
"So, this is why no one is allowed to Galuna without permission," Ur said.
"My God, they look just like…" Lisanna breathlessly.
"Like they're becoming monsters," Cyan finished.
"Holy crap," Kyuri mumbled, one hand gripping at her clothes.
After the transformation was over, Moka and all the villagers were now complete demons, their bodies' assorted colors ranging from red, blue, and teal, horns, and elongated noses too. Some appeared with reptilian scales, and some were like regular demons. There was no doubt about it, this was the curse placed on them.
"I apologize for the shock," Moka said apologizing to Lisanna's group.
"As a takeover wizard, I'm used to this," Lisanna said matter of fact.
"What in the world is this?" Gray asked bewildered.
"Poor people…" Lucy said in a soft synthetic way.
"What happened to you?" Cyan and Kyuri asked in unison
"You're so…" Sting added slightly hesitating to say, "Did you become demons?"
"Yes, this is the curse that was befallen on us," Moka replied.
"Oh no," Sting frowned at the response.
"Anyway, as you can see, we take on the form of demons whenever the purple moon is out," explained Moka, as one of the demonized children was crying while his parents tried to console him as more of the demon villagers were crying too, "If this isn't a curse, what else it is?!"
Lisanna's mouth was agape in shock, her thoughts turned to something of demons before. A faint memory of her sister, with an arm unlike her own, made her sympathize with the citizens of Galuna Island. Her eyes looked solemnly at them, feeling horrible for them.
"Come morning, we'll be back to normal. However, these are some who lose their minds and never change back." Moka continued.
"Oh, no…" Lucy said softly.
"We've since made it a rule…" Moka added lowering his head in shame, "to kill those who transform into mindless monsters."
Lisanna and her group gasped in horror at this piece of info. They killed those people who turned like that. Ur, Lisanna, Cyan, even Roiyaru all flinched at that. Having each dealt with death before, the idea of killing the ones who lose their minds isn't right, there had to be another way.
"But even though they might turn back to normal?" Sting asked.
"We have to, or they'll kill us all!" Moka replied, "We tried capturing them, but they just break free." he added, shaking his head in disappointment. He closed his eyes and continued, "As a result…" he held a picture in his hand and shed a tear of the picture of someone, "I had to kill my son. My son, whose mind became that of a demon." he continued, shedding even more tears. The group gasped, realizing who the man in the picture was. The same man who brought them here by boat…
"Th-that man…" Lucy stammered. "Huh, but yesterday we…!"
"Shh!" Gray ordered as Lucy looked back to him for a second. Even if the two were the same, it won't be true for Moka who said he killed his son, "I figured out why that man vanished. It's because he can't rest in peace." He whispered to the Celestial Wizard.
Lucy's brown eyes widen with shock. If he was right, then Bobo wanted to remain dead to his father. Or as Lucy thought, 'A ghost…?'
"But he was real, how could he be a ghost?" Cyan whispered.
"I've heard stories that spirits of the departed could last in the mortal plane until it was time to pass on," Ur said, only for the girls to look at her.
"So, his son… is a ghost?" Kyuri whispered.
"Please, save this island!" Moka pleaded tearfully, hands to his eyes, his voice cracking, "It's only a matter of time until we all lose our minds and become demons…!"
"We won't let that happen!" Sting demanded to the chief, "We'll figure something out!"
"As S-Class of the Fairy Tail Guild, I swear I will break this curse!" Ur announced, hand to her chest.
"I'll help the best I can. So, how can we break the curse?" Lucy asked, doing her best to sound confident.
Moka lowered his head down again, speaking to the group, "There's the only way to lift the curse… The moon…" they look up to the moon as he added, "Please destroy the moon."
Sting, Lisanna, Cyan, Kyuri, Happy, Lucy, and Gray gasped slightly at their request. Destroy the moon? That's an odd and weird request. Who would want to destroy the moon? Even Ur, the adult, felt as uneasy as Lisanna put her hands behind her back, acting her leader role finally.
"We'll find out about it, right now we need to get some sleep," Lisanna said calmly.
"Very well, I'll show you to your quarters," Moka replied and led Lisanna's group to a spare hut for them to sleep in. They each dropped their bags near the wall and decided to think about the request they were given. Happy looked out into the sky, his gaze on the purple-tinted moon and sky. Lector stared out the window as well, his own eyes looking at the moon.
"The more I look at it, the creeper the moon seems."
"Happy, Lector. Hurry and shut the window." Lucy, dressed in her pajamas, asked the blue and red cats while digging into Lisanna's bag, "You hear the village chief. We'll wind up demons too if we're exposed to the moonlight for too long."
"Man, talk about a tall order." Sting groaned, sitting in a chair while Gray sat thinking.
"Asking us to destroy the moon is a bit much…" Cyan said, while her biological sister Roiyaru sat with her.
"Chief Moka can act a little bit, but even he told me that, but right now, my mission isn't just here, it's exploring the island," Roiyaru explained.
"Think Sting and you could, do it?" Kyuri asked, polishing her katana.
"I don't think we can even fly that far to even destroy it or any of our magic able to reach it. This might come as a shocker, but I don't know." Sting replied.
"For once we agree. Even if we did, there's the possibility we might screw up nighttime without the moon." Gray commented.
"Meaning…" Lucy said entering the conversation arms folded, "Destroying the moon should be the last time we do it if we can't break the curse. I don't like the idea either, but if we have to, we have to."
"I agree, but he did ask us to destroy it. It would tarnish Fairy Tail's name to take a job and then back out of it." Lisanna replied.
"True, but Lucy has the right idea. We'll search the island tomorrow and see what we can find. It might lead to what is causing the curse and how to break it." Kyuri said
"Remember, this is my request, so try to behave and follow my order, okay, and both of you," Ur's black eyes snapped at the pair Gray and Kyuri, making them flinch, "Be good, the both of you, get into a fight and I'll punish you,"
"Y-Yes ma'am!" both stammered, and the others watched, Lisanna trying not to laugh. Besides Erza, Ur keeps Gray from doing crazy things when she's around. Although, she remembers times Ur caused her fair share of mess. One time Ur made a few broken properties in a chase to catch some thieves and remembered Master Makarov getting the complaints from the Council. Ur may be an adult, but like the older generation members, has made her troubles. Her relationship with Gray and Kyuri, like she was a mother to them, makes her attitude more normal, compared to both fearing Erza.
"Well, let's get some sleep and look into it, everyone try to get enough sleep, I don't want any tired faces tomorrow," Ur added, grabbing a pillow, and sleeping in her area.
"Yes Ur," Cyan nodded, and tugged at Roiyaru's dress, "Roi-nee, let's get some sleep,"
"Sure," Roiyaru said, the reunited sisters going to take their place to sleep.
"I guess we should hit the hay," Gray agreed, already removing his shirt and pants, and now in his underwear. Lucy, Lisanna, and Kyuri stared blankly at the ice Wizard.
"Please don't remove anything else," they said dryly.
"Ur's right, night everyone!" Sting said, laying his head on a pillow.
"Aye," Happy agreed, also sleeping on a pillow as well.
"Night everyone!" Lector exclaimed, sleeping on Sting's stomach.
Lucy stretched with a yawn, all her fellow guildmates were getting ready to sleep, so she should sleep too, "Yeah, I'm sleepy too. Let's go to bed,"
"Um, Lucy?" Lisanna asked the two in the dark after everyone was sound asleep (Sting, Gray, and even Kyuri snoring) and Cyan, Roiyaru, and Ur were all asleep, as well the cats, "Why are you sleeping by me?"
"It's too loud with all their snoring. How can someone younger than me snore so loud?" Lucy asked bewildered, seeing the sleeping forms of Gray, Kyuri, and Sting who were snoring, sprawled awkwardly, or in Gray's case, praying he still wore his boxers.
"Okay, I get that. The other thing," and looks at Lucy, who was laying on top of her. If there was an awkward placement she's put in, it's having a girl who's liked for some time using her as a pillow, "Why are you sleeping on me?"
"You're just so warm, I'd rather be near you than that snoring lot," Lucy admitted. Lisanna blushed, looking away for a moment and Lucy put a hand to Natsu's scarf, putting the side of her head to it, "so warm…"
"I'm starting to believe you don't have friends," Lisanna admitted, and Lucy pouted at her. The pair remained silent for a few minutes before the pair looked up at the ceiling.
"Hey, Lisanna?" Lucy asked curiously.
"Hmm?" Lisanna asked.
"Do you miss him, Natsu I mean?" she asked her hands to her front. Lisanna took a moment to think and smile.
"Yeah, I do. I'm always going to miss him, that's why I won't give up looking at him. To be honest, there was a time I, liked him more than my friend. I was a silly kid, dreams of being a wife, but I grew out those fantasies," and sighed, "There's, someone else I like, even if they don't accept me yet, I'll always protect them. That's what a Fairy Tail does,"
"Well, I root for you," she replied, smiling at her.
"Thank you,' she replied, hiding her blush, "I have a question for you, what's your last name? You know all of ours, what's yours?"
Lucy paused, her face looking hesitant to speak up, and sighed a little, "I'll tell you one day, I have a few things I rather not talk about. We all got our pain and loss, that's what your sister told me when he said about Natsu and Sting's dragons. So, I'll tell you one day about myself, just will you still accept me?"
"Dummy," and wrapped her arms around her head, her hands to her collar, "You're my teammate, I will always accept you, to the bitter end,"
"Thank you, Lisanna," Lucy replied, feeling her heart swell happily, "Well, goodnight,"
"Goodnight,"
"It's too early," spoke Sting as the ten were up and awake early in the morning. They waved goodbye to the villagers and with Ur in front of them, started to leave the gates and set off. Sting and Gray felt very sluggish of the group, while the girls and Ur had the most energy, especially Cyan, who was happy to reunite with her biological sister, walking with her. Kyuri walked with Ur, the Ice Sculpt Wizard letting Lector ride her shoulder. They were outside the village, gloomy and tired looking at the three boys as both Lisanna and Lucy were energized and ready to go. Lucy was dressed in a green blouse with a pink tube top underneath and a tan skirt. In her hair was a pink ribbon. Her keys, rapier, and whip on her belt as always.
"It's crazy early in the morning." groaned Gray.
"You guys didn't sleep enough?" asked Roiyaru
"Okay! Let's put our energy into this and get going!" Ur ordered her guildmates and Roiyaru.
"Right!" Lisanna, Kyuri, and Cyan said excitedly too.
"Aye…" the four boys said gloomily. Of all the mornings, the girls had to be the ones fired up. Lucy took a silver key from her belt and called out.
"Open, Gate of the Clock Constellation! Horologium!" and appearing from the magic circle and crashes to the ground was the clock spirit, Horologium.
"The time is 7:48." The Clock spirit announced.
As they started their walk through the forest, Roiyaru turned to Gray, "You think there's another way without destroying the moon?"
"We have to find it." Gray replied, "Besides like what we talk last night, we can't destroy it. People won't be able to go moon-viewing anymore."
"Right," Lisanna said, walking in-between the two boys, "And the cycle would be out of control without the moon. We can't have that."
"Exactly, but we should be careful out there. We don't know what's out there, she says calmly." Horologium (with Lucy riding inside) translated.
'I wish she walks on her own.' Sting and Lisanna groaned in thought.
"I've heard Celestial Wizards can use their Spirits in diverse ways but this," Ur admitted, as the oldest, she has never seen such a lazy young wizard.
"Uhh, are you sure you're using your celestial spirits properly?" Gray asked looking back at her and Happy.
"Don't forget we're dealing with a curse; we don't know what else is affected," Lucy said to the others.
"She says," Horologium translated to the outside.
"Well, we'll going to break the curse, my pride of an S-Class won't let a mission be unfinished," Ur said, hand to her chest.
As they continued walking, there was the loud sound of something big that made Lucy open her eyes quickly. Sting, Gray, Lector, Cyan, Roiyaru, Ur, and Lisanna turned their attention to the source of the sound.
"What that?" Sting asked concerned.
The three then flinched in shock as something big was looming over them, its eyes gleaming yellow. Sting was panic-stricken, Lisanna too, and Gray looking scared as well. Lucy, (while a little nervous, finally climbed out of Horologium's case, gripping her rapier in her hand, Cyan and Roiyaru took a fighting stance, while Kyuri held her katana grip tightly
"Wha-what the…?!" Sting exclaimed.
"It's huge!" Gray realized.
"It is!" Lisanna shouted.
"Whatever it is, let's beat it up," Lucy said, taking her rapier out.
Gray placed his left hand over his right palm mist emanating from around as a light blue magic circle appeared. He announced, "Ice-Make…" as Gray conjured a shield made of Ice, adding, "Shield!" as protecting everyone. But the creature emitted a cloud of foul-smelling gas, which smelled bad as the wizards were disgusted. Inside Horologium, Happy was wondering what was happening outside,
"Be careful you guys, the cat exclaimed," Horologium translated.
"When did he get in there?" Lector asked.
But Horologium covered his mouth from the smell as his time was up, and poof went the spirit and Happy out in a circle of gas. He drops down to the ground as Happy screamed in smelling the foul odor.
"Stinky!"
As the foul odor was gone, what attacked them as the girls described what they saw.
"A rat!" It was a giant rat, possessed rodent-like features. From how it was dressed, it appeared female. She wore a black corset-style top with pink edges and laced black in a cross-section, a white lace headband, and a red ribbon tied across her chest. She also has turquoise fur and a huge tail.
While Gray and Lisanna were still on their feet, Sting was out of the smell, his eyes spinning
"Sting!" Gray exclaimed.
"Are you okay?!" Cyan and Kyuri exclaimed.
"He has a keen sense of smell, so…" Lector assured Gray.
As the rat bared its fangs, Sting got up and screamed.
"Run!"
"You don't have to tell us twice!" Lucy and Kyuri exclaimed, sheathing their swords and the ten started to run with the large rat casting after them. They continued to scream and dodge, covering their noses as the rat let out most of its horrible breath. Gray grunted in annoyance, his hand and Ur's charged with ice.
"Ice-Make: Floor!" As their hands were placed on the ground, a sheet of ice appeared, causing the rat to trip and fall.
"Thanks, guys!" Sting exclaimed.
"That was close, what's giant rat doing out here, yeah it's an island but still!" Cyan exclaimed.
"And what a facetious… wait for a second," Roiyaru trailed out, "someone dresses this rat,"
"Aww, I know it tried to hurt us, but wasn't it bit much, Ms. Ur, Gray?" Lisanna asked, feeling bad for the poor rat.
"You're really kind to animals, you know that?" Gray commented.
"I feel awful too," the Mitsu sisters groaned, also feeling bad for the rat.
"Hey guys," Lucy pointed out, pointing to something that looks like a temple, "There's some sort of building!" she looks at them adding, "Let's get inside while we can!"
"Yeah, let's beat on it while we can!" Sting, Kyuri, and Gray exclaimed in unison, punching, and kicking the defenseless-out cold rat.
The Mitsu Sisters and Lisanna grabbed them by their shirt shouting, "Don't hurt the defenseless rat!" and drags them to the temple followed by Happy, Lector, Kyuri, Ur, and Lucy. Inside the temple (known as the Temple of the Moon), the group observed the inside of the temple. Like any temple, it was old and broken, with pieces littering the ground.
"Wow! This place is big!" Sting exclaimed in amazement. His expression turn serious before he put his ear to the stone.
"It's all busted up," Lucy commented.
"Just how old is this place?" Gray asked arms to his hips.
"Judging by how broken it looks a few hundred years, give or take," Lisanna observed picking up a piece of the temple.
"Huh? What are those?" Sting asked, looking at something in the walls. A red moon was on the walls, but like the temple shabby appearance showed age. On top was a crescent moon with many full moons scattered all over the wall they were facing.
"They're moons." Gray realized eyeing the moons on the wall along with the rest, the Ice mage reading something bizarre for them to hear, "This place was originally called 'Island of the moon'."
Lucy started to ponder, a left hand to her chin, "A moon island, a moon curse, and moon emblems… There's something fishy about these ruins."
"Like some sort of connection, these and the temple has?" Lisanna asked with Lucy nodding in agreement.
"My master said this place has been acting off for a few years, that's why the request was given to guilds," Roiyaru explained.
"Roi-nee?" Cyan asked.
"Moon carvings, a purple moon at night, there has to be a connection," Kyuri pondered as well.
"Sting, what's up?" Ur asked, looking at the blonde Dragon Slayer.
"Something is down there, a cave?" he asked.
"Maybe?" Cyan asked, "Maybe it's a clue to the moon's curse?"
"Yeah, we need to get down there, Kyuri, Lucy, slam your blades here," Sting order, tapping his foot on the ground.
"S;am it?" Lucy asked.
"Yes, if my brother was here, he'll make us fall, but let's be smart, aim here and we'll down, we got enough wings for all of us," he explained.
"Wings?" Happy asked, then it hit him, "Oh! Lector, Cyan, Lisanna, and I! Roiyaru has to be a Take Over Wizard, like Lisanna, so we float the rest of us down!"
"Bingo!" Sting replied, "this place is important, I won't damage the wall the ground is fine, so girls, take it away," he ordered.
"Okay!" Lucy and Kyuri exclaimed and walked where Sting pointed to. With blades in hand, they held them, Kyuri channeling her ice magic through it and Lucy her own magic energy through it.
"Lisanna, Cyan, take hold of them, Roiyaru, Lector, take hold of Ur and Gray. Happy, you hold on to me," Sting ordered.
Everyone nodded, Cyan activating bat wings from her back and holding Kyuri's waist, while the ice Sculpt Wizard could use her katana. Lisanna (obviously) took hold of Lucy's waist. Roiyaru's back spouted white bird wings, taking hold of Ur. Her eyes eyed her sister, seeing how compensated she looked using her magic.
'Good, she's come such a long way. Mom and dad would be proud of her,' she thought with a smile.
With Happy and Lector now holding Gray and Sting, Sting looked at everyone ready. He held his hand, holding up a finger, "one," and Lucy and Kyuri were ready to stab their blade into the ground, "two," their blades seeing channeling magic, all ready to go, "three!" and with one strong slam into the ground, Lucy and Kyuri thrust their blades into the ground and the stone broke, creating a large hole that opened. Lucy and Kyuri (still floated by their comrades) could see there was something of an underground cave that Sting heard.
Floating downwards, the group stood where the part of the floor fell, Lisanna letting go of Lucy's waist (/hiding her own blush of holding her) and Cyan letting go of Kyuri to face everyone landing before them.
"Well, Sting's deduction of something could be down here might be right. This Cave looks like it might lead to the ocean," Ur observed.
"Think so?" Lucy asked, sheathing her rapier.
"Think so, let's look father in, it might lead to a way to lift the curse," she suggested.
"Well, let's go!" Sting ordered, picking Lecter up, placing him on his shoulder, and walking ahead, Gray, Ur, Lucy, Happy, Kyuri, and Roiyaru following, leaving Lisanna and Cyan alone. Lisanna still had a blush on her face only for her adopted sister to dig the hole deeper.
"You know if you want to hold Lucy-san again, there's always when we get home," she suggested, and Lisanna's face went even redder. She kept her composure and grabbed Cyan by the ear, dragging her.
"I will never let you borrow books from Levy again," she hissed.
"You mean sis!" Cyan exclaimed.
The girls followed the others noticed Sting stopped, followed by everyone.
"Oh!" he said and gasped at what he was looking at. The rest of Team Strauss and Roiyaru finally caught up with the Dragon Slayer, finally exiting the opening to see what was going on.
"Sting?" asked the girls curiously.
"What's up?" Gray asked.
"What is this?" Sting asked, staring at something he couldn't believe his eyes were in this cave. Once Lisanna, Happy, Lector, Ur, Roiyaru, Kyuri, and Lucy stood next to the Ice, they gasped too, eyes lacking pupil like their fellow wizard.
"No… way..." Ur breathed, no one catching her words.
Demon Deliora—Fairy Tail Volume one Soundtrack)
What Team Strauss was staring at was not normally found in caves, let alone secret ones. Gray couldn't believe what he was looking at, why was it here?
"Wha-What the…?" Sting stared mouth open wide at this too, shock beyond relief. Lisanna stared fearfully at it, a little scared. Even Lucy was terrified looking at it. Cyan's eyes shook, already ready to protect her friends if it hurt anyone. Inside encased in ice, was a demon. It was large, bigger than an average building; its appearance was well-built like a demon should be with dark blue skin. Gray confirmed what this demon was, eyes still wide in shock.
"Deliora…?!" He steps forward, still flabbergasted that it was here, "That can't be, what is Deliora doing here?! It's impossible, he can't be here!" he added, his voice shaking in anger, fist clenched.
"You know this thing?" Cyan asked him, the girls, Sting, Lector, and Happy running up to his side.
"It's… It's…!" Gray stated, trying to find the right words to describe anger boiling inside him.
"Gray, calm down," Lucy and Lisanna said solemnly placing their hands to his shoulders for support.
Teeth clenched in anger; he took a sharp breath before looking back up at the iced demon. The girl released him with everyone looking at him,
"Tell us, what this thing is?" Lucy asked.
"Deliora… The demon of destruction…" Ur spoke up, everyone's eyes to the S-Class Wizard.
"You know what this is Lady Ur?" Kyuri asked.
"Yes," she nodded, "In fact, it's why Gray and I left our old home and joined Fairy Tail. This was something I was sure never left the old continent we lived in until some time ago and reports were that it disappeared,"
"What?" Gray asked coming to his teacher, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I made a promise to keep information only an S-Class and Saints like myself from the public, it's also why no one knows I was the one who sealed it."
"What?!" everyone exclaimed softly.
Gray stared at the iced demon, eyes still narrowed in anger, "He looks the same as then… What's going on?" he asked.
Lucy, Kyuri, Cyan, Roiyaru, and Lisanna stared wide-eyed at it too, both blue and brown eyes staring unfixed to it before turning around with a gasp at the sound of incoming footsteps. The footsteps were getting louder, meaning who or what was coming into the cave they were standing in.
Entering the room were two young boys… one more animal than man. The one on the left is a lean-built, mildly muscular young man of average height with distinctive animal features: he had a pair of canine ears sitting on his head, a small dark nose, and a lower face which is colored differently from the rest of his body, bearing resemblance to a canine muzzle. He had shoulder-length, straight brown hair, large round eyes with black pupils, and dark eyebrows. Both of his biceps are adorned by tattoos: the right one bears the kanji Sashimi, while the other was adorned by a single, more elaborated one. The unknown person on the left lacks a shirt, revealing himself to be bare-chested. He wore an extremely loose pair of pants with mildly torn hems, held up by a long belt covered in many rhombs, with the part left out from its plain rectangular buckle hanging down. Such pants bore a large, dark shield-shaped logo emblazoned on the right knee: this depicted a stylized skull, bearing ears like his ears, with a pair of bones crossed below it, most likely tibias. The whole symbol is highly reminiscent of Jolly Roger. He had a red collar covered in hollow studs circling his neck and donned a pair of simple dark shoes, each adorned by a light, stylized footprint, like that of a cat, or a small dog.
The individual on his right is a short, slim young man distinguished by his extremely brushy, squared black eyebrows. His eyes, too, are black, while his hair, initially arranged in several spikes pointing upwards (with a particularly large one-topping his forehead), are, unusually, bright blue. He wore a green coat reaching down to his knees, sporting black sections in correspondence to the sleeves' outer part (each of such sections going up to the high collar) and on the sides' lower parts, below the plain dark belt with a rectangular buckle which, together with the two vertically striped, overlapping hems placed on the front (completely superimposed from the waist up, but splitting some inches below it to create a slash), kept the garment closed. His pants were dark and loose (getting more fitting in correspondence to his ankles), while his plain shoes were light-colored. "This is where the voices were coming from." Yuka sneered looking around for the source of the voices.
Toby growled his hand to his stomach. Sting, Lucy, Gray, Lector, Cyan, Kyuri, Ur, Roiyaru, Lisanna, and Happy had hidden behind some rocks, seeing the two enter where they once stood. Happy and the others were relieved that they were safe, but saw them coming closer, the short one of the two was complaining.
"It's daylight. I'm sleepy…"
Toby growled as they continued walking past the team, unknown to them they are here.
"Toby." asked Yuka to his comrade, "Have you been soaking in the moon drip? You have ears."
"No! These are decorations! Get it through your head!" he snapped while Yuka still smiled.
"I was only teasing you, idiot," Yuka assured him.
Toby groaned sadly at the remark. "You're so mean."
"Moon Drip? Could that be the curse?" Lucy pondered, looking past the rock she was hiding behind to hear their conversation. Lucy gasped as another person entered the cave.
The third person to enter inside the cave was a young woman (sixteen in appearance) who has blue eyes, pink hair, large breasts, and a curvaceous body. On her face was make-up to match her appearance, to which Lisanna made a note to think it was too much. Her hair was tied in pigtails, her choker tied into a ribbon, a short purple and pink spaghetti dress with light pink trimmings, black leggings, and high-heeled sandals. Her dress has two long and thin wings at the back.
"Now that's something you don't wear in an island getaway," Kyuri whispered.
"I don't believe it, it's really them," Roiyaru whispered, catching Cyan's attention.
Sherry walks into the cave, announcing her presence to Toby and Yuka, who tired about to see her, "Toby, Yuka, I have sad news." she said sadly.
"Sherry," Yuka said simply.
Toby greeted the pink-haired girl with a happy growl and wave.
"Someone beat up Angelica." She confirmed hands together in a worried look, Lisanna then facepalms in annoyance.
'We are so screwed now; they know we are because those two idiots beat up a rat… So that rat is hers. No wonder it dresses like a maid, that girl's got weird taste.' Lisanna thought.
"It's just a dumb rat! Don't give it a deluxe name!" Toby shouted.
"She is a rat!" Sherry retorted, "Angelica is a hunter that races through the darkness… And…" she paused, "love."
"What's she talking about?' Lisanna thought again, already thinking this girl is weirder than the other two.
"Take about a serious weirdo. Especially that last thing she said." Lucy whispered wide-eyed.
"You have no idea…." Roiyaru mumbled.
"They're not from this island. They smell different." Sting said giving the three a sniff with his nose.
"And they don't seem cursed, either." Happy interjected,
"Intruders, huh?" spoke Yuka, getting the four mages back to listening in.
"Just when the moon's light is nearly gathered, too. So sad," spoke Sherry sadly. She looks to her comrades adding "Let us get rid of the intruders before the Cold Emperor hears of this." She paused, Yuka smirks and Toby's teeth showed as she added, "Yes, before the moon shows itself… "
"Yeah." nodded Yuka. Toby growled in agreement. Sherry continued on, "Now that they've seen Deliora, we cannot let them leave alive. We will give the intruders internal sleep…" she paused, but added, "In other words, love."
"You mean death," Toby assured her a sweat drop going down the back of his head while Yuka remain smiling.
A sound of a rock being thrown to the ground snapped the trio from their conversation, "What was that?" asked Sherry.
"Over there!" spoke Yuka running from the two others to see what the source of the noise was. Sherry and Toby followed him, in search of the sound. They left the cave and Lucy, Natsu, Lisanna, and Gray rose from their hiding spot, the young blue cat Happy floating to them
"Good job, Happy!" Lucy whispered happily.
"Aye!" said Happy smiling; Lisanna patted a hand on his furry head, proud on her 'son'.
"Aww, we should've caught them and interrogated them!" Sting said eyes narrowed,
"Not yet." Lucy reassured him, "Let's check things out a little more first."
"This is getting to get complicated," Sting replied arms folded with his eyes narrowed.
"It's complicated because they are from my guild," Roiyaru said, and everyone's gaze turned to the Mitsu sister.
"What?!" they exclaimed slightly, not too loud for them to hear them.
"Yes. My mission wasn't just the island curse but look if my guild members were here. Sadly, they are involved with someone trying to unseal a demon," Roiyaru said, before her eyes looking to the iced demon.
"I wonder who this 'God Emperor' is…" Happy asked floating near Lisanna.
"Why did they bring Deliora here…?!" Gray said angrily, "How did they find where he was sealed, anyway?!"
"Where was he sealed?" Lucy and Lisanna repeated.
"This thing was sealed in an iceberg in a northern continent." Gray added, his mind flashing back to what the demon was, "It's an immortal demon that ravaged the Isvan region ten years ago… Master Ur, the one who taught me magic, risked her life and sealed it away!" he looks to the iced demon, hands clenched in anger, "Dunno what it has to do with the island's curse, but it doesn't belong here!" and his hand began to charge with Ice magic, his hand now emitting a mist. The others were concerned and worried for the fellow mage as he added, "Cold Emperor… Who are you?!"
There was anger in Gray's eyes that not even Sting or Lisanna have ever seen before, it was a side of Gray they had never witnessed before. It felt not just anger, but another feeling… a feeling of darkness.
"You'll have hell to pay if you make everything she did, pointless!" he gritted angrily.
"Gray…" the girls said at once, even Kyuri sounding sympathy for. Ur looked at where the demon was, it was now making more sense, someone brought it here, but how? A large ice cast Demon would be easy to spot just floating into the sea. Whatever it, as much she could feel Gray's anger, but the question remains: who knew of Deliora's sealing, only a few know? So, it means one thing.
"Someone on this island knows Deliora was sealed by me, meaning, the cold Emperor… is someone from our past," she confirmed, making Team Strauss and Roiyaru gasped.
"Lady Ur, if what you're theorizing is true and this Emperor is using my guild's members to help him… We aren't just dealing with a sealing demon, we're dealing with ghosts of both our past: my guild and someone you know," Roiyaru said and crossed her arms, "I promised master I'll get them back, but it almost means, stopping them from unsealing this demon," she turns back everyone, "Lisanna, Sting, Happy, Lector, Lady Ur, Gray, Lucy, Cyan, Kyuri… we need to keep this island safe, we won't let them unleash Deliora."
Everyone nodded but Gray's eyes were still fixed on Deliora, the demon Ur sealed away. He was furious, someone was trying to break the ice, the ice formed from Ur's life, it's as much a part of her. He wasn't going to let this happen. He will end Deliora for good this time, no one will have to risk their lives, for his mistakes.
To be continued in chapter twelve: Moon Drip! The emperor of their past