The following morning, Natsu had taken Wendy to his usual training spot so that he could help her improve. Carla initially wanted to come along, but after the pink-haired mage told her that it might be dangerous for her and that Wendy would progress more if she didn't have to worry about accidentally hurting her, the white feline reluctantly agreed to stay behind.

Right now, the two siblings were standing in front of each other. Whereas the pinkette was simply looking at her with a small smile, Wendy appeared rather nervous and unwilling.

"I don't want to fight you, big brother." she told him.

"Don't worry, Wendy. I know what I'm doing." he reassured her with a fond smile. "Now, come on. Show me what you've got."

Feeling a little better about the whole thing, Wendy's gaze turned from one of worry to one of focus as her eyes narrowed. "Alright, here I come. Sky Dragon's Roar!" she called out and gathered air and magic in her mouth before unleashing it in the form of a tornado at Natsu.

She didn't expect her attack to cause him any damage. Truth be told, she didn't even expect her attack to push him back whatsoever. But the one thing she would never have expected to happen was what actually took place.

Instead of dodging, blocking or deflecting the breath attack like he easily could have, Natsu simply opened his mouth and ate the oncoming wind. Seeing this shocked the blue-haired girl to the core as her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

When he was done consuming the attack, the pink-haired mage grimaced a bit as the usual pain that came with the associated curse ran though his body. When he looked back at his little sister, he was amused to see her staring at with her mouth agape.

"Y-You are a Sky Dragon too?" Wendy finally asked, incredulously.

"No. Well, now yes but a few seconds ago I wasn't. It's complicated. I'll explain later. For now, let's carry on with the training." he responded.

After nodding in understanding, the young girl gathered magic around her fist and jumped at her mentor. "Sky Dragon's Twirling Fist!"

As she was nearing him, Natsu merely sidestepped and she missed him completely. She would have fallen face first in the dirt had it not been for her opponent who grabbed her other arm, thus stopping her fall.

"You put too much of your weight into your punching attack. It makes your balance fragile." he explained and then let go of her arm and she stood firmly on her two feet again. "Okay. Now try again."

At the same time, in the city of Hargeon, the three Fairy Tail mages could be seen making their way to the port, the next step iin their journey on their stolen mission.

As they were doing so, Lucy was getting emotional over the memories her presence here brought back to her. "It feels like it was only yesterday that I met Natsu and you here."

"It wasn't that long ago. Are you turning into an old lady or something?" Happy mocked, trying to hold back his laughter with his paw while his cheeks puffed out.

The glare he received in response was enough to convince him to be quiet. "Anyway, Gray, I've been meaning to ask you. Why would you go so far to compete with Natsu?" she asked the ice mage.

"I don't know. It's just…the guy just shows up one day out of nowhere and instantly becomes one of the guild's strongest mages while I had already been part of it for many years and he beat me without breaking a sweat in our first spar. And now, his kid sister does pretty much the same thing all over again. I don't hate him or anything but I just need to prove to my guildmates, to Gramps, and to myself that I am a match for him." he explained.

"But you're not though." the feline argued.

When Lucy noticed the cat's comment was about to earn him a punch, she changed the subject. "By the way, why did you steal the request and come along with us Happy? Aren't you Natsu's partner?"

"Aye. But just because we are partners doesn't mean we can't do jobs separately from time to time. Besides, I want to impress Carla by completing a difficult job. There be anything impressive about it if Natsu's with me." the blue-furred creature explained.

Lucy nodded in understanding. She still think this whole think was a little insane but she could understand the logic behind both of the males' actions.

"And also because Gray promised me fish if I took the request for him." Happy added, which made the blonde girl fall over comically.

"Whatever. Let's go find a boat to get on that stupid island." Gray interrupted.

"Galuna Island? No way! I wouldn't go there for all the gold in the world!"

"Hell no! I'm not going anywhere near that place!"

"No sailor in his right mind will ever take you there. Even pirates avoid it like the plague."

Those were some of the answers they received but after asking almost all of the sailors in the port, it became clear none of them were willing to help them. The group was now walking along the dock, depressed and frustrated.

Finally, Gray's exasperation got the better of him and he snapped. "This is so stupid! How the hell do they expect us to lift their curse if we can't even get to their damn island?!"

However, his outburst proved useful as it attracted the attention of a nearby fisherman. He was a dark skinned man of average height with black hair, black eyes, and a large, black mustache, which went from his nose, around his mouth to his chin. He had a blue cap adorned with skulls, a light green cape, which was wrapped around his chin, and a white T-shirt. He also sported dark pants, which were held up by a pink rope tied around his stomach, functioning as a belt, and dark boots.

"Excuse me, but did you just say you've come to lift the curse on the island? Are you wizards?" he asked, catching the trio's attention.

"Y-Yeah." Lucy confirmed.

"Then, get in." the man instructed, pointing at a small wooden boat, about the size of a life raft.

Some time later, the Fairy Tail mages and their benefactor were all on the latter's rowboat. Happy was standing at the front of it, looking down at the sea for fish. Lucy was behind him, contemplating the scenery. Gray was sitting with his arms crossed over his chest, looking into the distance. Finally, the sailor was at the end of the boat, using a paddle to steer it.

"By the way, Mister, why did you agree to take us when no one else would?" the ice mage asked, finally breaking the silence.

After a few seconds, the man answered. "My name is Bobo. And it's because I used to live on that island long ago. I managed to escape this cursed place." His revelation shocked the wizards and, once again, silence reigned over the group. Until the man, now known as Bobo, spoke back up. "Do you really believe you'll be able to remove this curse? The demon curse?!"

His last statement was accompanied with the revelation of his left arm from under his cape which was clearly demonic in nature. Needless to say, this shocked the Fairy Tail members even further as they felt a cold chill run down their spines.

"Your arm…" Gray trailed off.

"W-When you said "cursed", you meant…" the blonde girl wondered.

"We should have brought Natsu with us." Happy noted aloud.

"There it is. Galuna Island." Bobo interrupted them and they all turned to where he was looking and indeed saw the shape of a large island coming into view.

When they turned back around, they were baffled and confused to see him gone. He had disappeared without a trace.

"W-Where did he go?" Lucy asked, slightly freaked out.

Gray opened his mouth to reply but stopped when he noticed something else. "Wait. What's that sound?"

When the trio turned to look at the source they were horrified to see what was causing it.

"IT'S A TIDAL WAVE!" the Celestial wizard remarked.

What's worse was that it was right above them so they had no way to dodge it. As they started being sucked in, they gradually panicked more and more.

"I told you we needed Natsu! He could have eaten that wave in two seconds flat!" the blue-furred cat complained.

"Happy! Grab the boat and fly us out of here!" Lucy instructed.

"That's an insane idea!" the feline argued.

Then they all started screaming as the water swallowed them completely. When the waves subsided, there was no indication they had even been there.

Simultaneously, back at the Fairy Tail guild hall, all the members were drinking, chatting, joking around. Except for one particular white-haired barmaid who had just noticed something that made her panic tremendously.

"Master! I don't know why but one of the S-class quests has disappeared!" she screamed while running down the steps to the second floor.

At first, Makarov kept drinking his coffee as if he hadn't heard her but after a few seconds, he spit it out comically.

"You mean someone stole a job from the second floor?" Wakaba asked for confirmation because of his disbelief.

"Who would be crazy enough to do that?" Macao wondered.

"Well, it's either someone really strong or really stupid." a young girl with lavender-colored haired replied.

"I know what happened." a voice called out from the second floor. When everyone looked up, they weren't all that surprised to see it belonged to Laxus. He was sitting on a wooden chair with his feet resting on a table. "Last night, a little blue cat came up here and ripped it off the board."

"It was Happy?" Mirajane reacted.

At the same time, everyone started talking among themselves, wondering why the blue feline would do that. He couldn't even fight.

"Silence!" Makarov yelled, effectively making his members quiet down. He then turned and looked up at his grandson. "Are you sure about this, Laxus?"

This question made the young man scoff. "What you think everyone is as old as you? I know what I saw."

His comment earned him quite a few glares from his guildmates but not from his grandfather who, instead, scratched his chin with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"I see. There's nothing to worry about then." the guild master declared, which surprised everybody in the room.

"W-What do you mean, Master?" Lisanna asked, on everyone's behalf.

"Well, Happy most likely took the job at Natsu's request. My guess is he wanted to take Wendy on a job and didn't feel like waiting." the old man explained.

"So you're okay with him bringing a child on an S-class quest?!" somebody yelled in shock.

"Don't forget that "kid" tied with Gray yesterday. Natsu knows her and her magic better than all of us combined, and if Natsu deems her strong enough to meet this challenge, I'll trust his judgment. Besides, have you seen the way he behaves with her? He won't ever let anything bad happen to her and he is more than strong enough and competent to handle this mission. And even if I disapproved, as an S-class wizard, Natsu has every right to take this mission and bring anyone he wants with him. Yes, it was very rude of him to take it in a rush, without informing any of us and I'll definitely give him a piece of my mind about it when he gets back. But all in all, he didn't do anything too bad." Makarov replied.

His response got pretty much everyone to agree with him and resumed what they were doing before. Even Laxus seemed to have lost interest in the whole thing.

That changed when the doors of the guild opened and the very man they were just talking about walked in, along with a blue-haired little girl who was holding a white-furred cat in her arms. When they saw them, everybody just stared at them with wide eyes, except the blonde S-class mage who started smirking.

"Don't forget your element is air, Wendy. The higher you are when you launch your wing attack, the better." the pinkette advised his little sister who nodded in understanding. He was about to say something else when he noticed the unusual deathly silence in the building. When he looked up, he saw the excessive amount of attention he was getting. "What? Why are you all staring at me?"

His comment got his little sister to also look around the room. For some reason, she was quite uncomfortable and bothered that her brother was the center of attention in such a way.

Without wasting anymore time, Makarov hurriedly asked what everyone was wondering. "Natsu! Did you ask Happy to take a job for you last night?"

His question make the pink-haired mage raise an eyebrow in curiosity. "Why would I do that? If I want to take a job, I'll come myself and not during the night."

At this point, everybody got a look of horror. Except for Laxus who was laughing his ass off.

"This is bad. This is really bad."

"If it wasn't him then who was it?"

"Whoever it was, they're as good as dead now."

The sudden tension and agitation didn't sit all too well with little Wendy and she instinctively moved closer to her bother for safety and reassurance. When he noticed it, the pinkette rubbed the bluenette's head which was effective at calming her down.

From the corner of his eye, Natsu saw Mirajane walking towards them. "What's this all about?" he asked the white-haired girl.

"One of the S-class quests is missing and Laxus claims he saw Happy steal it last night….Do you believe he could have done that?" she responded and then asked cautiously.

"Of course, that tomcat would." Carla answered before Natsu could. Ordinarily, Wendy would have reprimanded her for her rudeness, but she wasn't in any mood to do so at the moment.

Natsu sighed before answering. "Knowing him, he would steal that mission for anyone if they promised him fish."

"Any idea of who specifically?" a voice close by asked. When the small group looked down at its source, they saw it belonged to the current guild master.

When Natsu scanned the room, he noticed everybody was looking at him, waiting for his answer. "I don't mean to point any fingers but…where are Gray and Lucy?"

His remark made his guildmates gasp in realization. They didn't have much time to dwell on these thoughts as the sound of Laxus' laughter echoed through the guild hall. "Man, I knew they were idiots but this goes beyond what I ever imagined. Breaching the rules in such a way will get you kicked out for sure. Isn't that so, Gramps? I suppose it doesn't really matter since they'll die on the quest anyway."

"This isn't looking good. Mira which job did they take?" the old man said, ignoring his grandson.

"The one about the curse on Galuna Island." the barmaid replied. Everyone was shocked by this and exclaimed different things in surprise, save for Natsu who maintained his composure and Wendy who had no idea what was going on.

"Laxus! Go and fetch them immediately!" Makarov ordered.

"Yeah, right. I'm not gonna waste my time on those losers. They took the job so they must either complete it or die trying." the blonde man refused.

'Forget what I said. He's much worse than Yuri.' Natsu thought and was surprised when he didn't receive and answer.

"I don't care how you feel about them! They are your guildmates and you need to save them!" his grandfather argued.

"Don't bother." a voice behind the old man calmly called out. Everyone turned around to see it was Natsu's. Even the young Sky Dragon Slayer was looking up at him curiously. "There's nothing you can say that will make him change his mind. I'll go get them. Happy is my partner so it's kind of my responsibility anyway." he announced and started making his way to the door, easing off their worries. Until what happened next.

"I'm coming too." a familiar voice stated from behind him which made him stop in his tracks. Upon turning around, he saw Wendy walking after him with a determined look.

When she reached him, he knelt down so that they were the same height and spoke up. "Are you sure about this? You have become strong but this is an S-class quest we're talking about here."

"Yes, Wendy. I'm sure Natsu's capable of taking care of it on his own." Carla agreed.

"He is but there's no way I'm letting him out of my sight again. I'm coming and that's final." the young girl declared.

Her response got Natsu to smile a bit as he rose up. "Fine, but you'll do what I say without arguing, okay?"

After his little sister nodded in agreement, the trio set off for Hargeon.

As the sun shone on her face, Lucy slowly woke up and saw that she was on a beach in a tropical setting. When she got on her feet, she was greeted by the sight of Gray lying unconscious on his stomach, Happy with his head buried in the sand and the numerous debris of what was their boat scattered everywhere.

After pulling the cat out and waking the ice mage up, the Celestial Spirit mage took out the job's request which, by some miracle, had survived the whole ordeal. "It looks like there's only one village on the entire island. And its chief is the one who filed the request. So I guess that's where we're going."

After several hours of walking through the dense jungle, it was now nighttime and the group finally reached the town which was surrounded by massive walls made of tree trunks with a "KEEP OUT" sign on it.

"Okay, we made it to the village. Now what?" Gray wondered.

"Apparently, they don't want us here. So, maybe we should just turn back and call it a day." Happy suggested, pointing at the sign but was ignored.

"Excuse me! Is anyone here?! We've come to help you!" Lucy called out loudly.

After a short moment of silence, two men appeared a the top of the wooden wall.

"Who goes there?" one of them asked.

"We're wizards from Fairy Tail who have accepted your job request!" the blonde girl answered.

"You are? Then why weren't we notified someone was going to come?" the second guard countered.

"Oh, um…" Lucy reacted, not really knowing what to say.

"It must have been a mix up with the paperwork." Gray responded.

"Then show us your guild marks, right now!" the same guard ordered.

As the trio complied, both of the guards became extremely excited. "Those look real. They're really here!"

Shortly after, the large gate rose and the team walked in. When they did, they saw that all the villagers were gathered in front of them and, more surprisingly, they were all wearing beige cloaks and masks to hide their features. The person at the center was holding a plain staff composed of a wooden handle with a silver crescent finial.

"Welcome, Fairy Tail wizards. My name is Moka and I am this village's chief. Now, there is something we have to show you." he said and after that, all of the villagers removed their disguises one by one, revealing that they all had some part of their body that was demonic in nature.

This made the trio freak out a bit but not so much since they had seen it on Bobo before. "It's the same think that this boat guy had." Gray noted.

"As you can see, the curse has caused everyone on the island horrible disfigurement. Even the animals are affected." the town mayor explained.

"I don't mean to second guess you, but what makes you think it is necessarily a curse? It could be an infectious disease of some sort." Gray suggested.

"We have asked every doctor we could find, but none of them knew what it was. Furthermore, all of our symptoms began at the same time the moon got corrupted." Moka refuted.

"What do you mean "corrupted"?" Lucy asked in concern.

"Since the dawn of time, our island has been absorbing the light of moon, allowing it to shine with the same beautiful glow. However, a few years ago, the moon turned purple and it changed everything."

As he explained the story, the clouds in the sky began to clear, revealing the moon that indeed was purple. When that happened, and the moonlight reached them, the villagers started to scream in pain and their bodies changed into that of full demons, much to the group's shock and horror. After the transformation was over, their pain seemed to lessen as well.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. We didn't mean to frighten you." a now purple Moka with pointy ears and horns apologized. "But at least, it allowed you to see that whenever the purple moon comes out, everyone in the village turns into a monstrous demon. If it isn't a curse, what is it? We return to normal when the sun rises in the morning. Well, that is what usually happens but unfortunately, sometimes some of us are unable to return to our human form and lose our minds."

"No way." Lucy whispered.

"And in order to ensure the safety of those who keep their sanity…we have no choice but to kill those who don't." the chief admitted, shocking the trio even further.

"B-But why? Couldn't you just lock them up until the curse gets lifted?" Happy asked.

"We've tried but they always broke free. There is no alternative. There is no way to save them." the old man explained while taking out a picture. When he was looking at it, he started crying. "I should know. I had to sacrifice my own son for the good of my people."

As he was crying, he lowered the picture, allowing the Fairy Tail members to see whose it was. When they did, they gasped in shock.

"That's the guy who brought us here. But, we saw him-" the blonde girl started saying but Gray hushed her.

"That's why he disappeared without a trace. He's dead but he can't rest in peace until the curse is broken." the ice mage explained in a low voice.

"Y-You mean he's a g-ghost?!" the Celestial mage whispered/yelled, her eyes wide with terror.

"Please save us from this curse. I don't know how much longer we can hope to last like that. If it goes on too long, we'll all lose our minds and die." the village mayor pleaded with his head down.

"We will. We promise." Gray swore.

"We have come to the conclusion that there is only one way to lift the curse. The moon must be destroyed!" Moka announced.

For a few seconds, the team just looked at him in utter confusion. When they finally said something, it wasn't even a real word.

"EH?!"

Natsu, Wendy and Carla had reached Hargeon too and were currently roaming the port. However, the intense training and travel had exhausted the poor Sky Dragon Slayer. Not to mention the emotional turmoil she had recently suffered and from which she hadn't quite recovered yet. Not at all.

"Natsu, I'm tired. Can we stop and rest for a bit, please?" she asked in a tone that clearly emphasized her point.

Natsu gave her a compassionate smile before answering. He hadn't been tired ever since he lost the ability to sleep almost three centuries ago but he still remembered the feeling. "As soon as we find a ship, you'll sleep all you want Wendy."

"What do you mean "find a ship", Natsu?" the white feline asked.

As soon as the words left her mouth, the pink-haired mage stopped in his tracks and pointed at a galleon docked nearby. "That is what I mean."

This made both females look at him with wide eyes. "You mean that we are going to steal it?" Carla asked in disbelief, even as the pinkette was untying the ropes holding the boat in place.

"Come on, Carla. You don't know me very well yet, but you should know I wouldn't just seize anyone's ship like that. Look at their flag." he responded.

When the former Cait Shelter members looked up, they noticed the pirate flag hanging from the back.

"Even so, this is a massive ship and neither of us is in any condition to help you steer it." the white-furred cat argued.

"Steer it? I use Water Dragon Slayer Magic remember? Now, hop in."

Wendy was too tired and had too much faith in her brother to argue so she silently complied. Carla wanted to object, but knowing it was pointless, she quietly got into the boat as well. As soon as Natsu joined them, he used his magic to manipulate the water and move the ship. When he did, Wendy's cheeks puffed out, her face turned green and she fell on her knees with one hand on her mouth and the other on her belly.

"Wendy!" Carla exclaimed. "What's happening to her?!" she asked Natsu in worry.

"Oh, right. I had forgotten about that." Natsu realized, scratching the back if his head.

"Forgotten what?! What is it?!"

"Motion sickness." he answered bluntly.

"Motion sickness?" the cat repeated dumbly.

"Yes. All Dragon Slayers develop it when they reach a certain amount of strength. It is extremely unpleasant but nothing more."

"Well, can you do anything to help her?" Carla questioned, a bit relieved but still feeling bad for her partner.

"Now, I might." the pink-haired mage answered. He then placed both of his hands on either side of his little sister's head and whispered. "Troia." Wendy's head was then enveloped by a soft blue light and her expression returned to normal as she fell asleep. Natsu then requipped a blanket and wrapped it around her tightly. "You should grab some sleep as well. I'll wake you both up when we get there."

Carla nodded in confirmation and got under the blanket before falling asleep too.

After that, Natsu walked away from them a bit. 'So, what's up?' he asked in his head and once again didn't receive any answer. 'Mavis, I know you're there.'

'Of course, I am. Where else would I be?' his old friend finally answered, though in a sarcastic tone.

'Why have you been so uncharacteristically quiet recently? Are you mad at me or something?' Natsu asked calmly what he really wanted to know.

Fairy Tail's first master sighed before answering. 'I'm not mad at you, Natsu. Not at all.'

'Then what's wrong?' he asked, feeling like the blonde girl had been sincere with him.

'Nothing, it's just…I've been thinking a lot recently. That's all.' she denied not really surprised when her host didn't buy it.

'Mavis, enough. You should know better than to try to lie to me. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine.' he assured her.

"But I do want to." Natsu was surprised to hear her voice not in his head but in his ears and from above him. When he looked up, he saw Mavis floating in the air but she soon came down and landed in front of him. She then looked down with a guilty look in her eyes. "I'm sorry if I've made you feel like I was mad at you. It wasn't my intention. I just…I guess I've just been so caught in my own thoughts."

She looked back up in surprise when she felt Natsu's warm hand rub her head the same way he did with Wendy. "It's okay. I understand." His words visibly eased her worries and the two walked to the ship's railing and sat on it next to each other. "So, you wanna tell me what it was about?"

She nodded and looked at the wooden floor once again before speaking up. "At first, I just wanted to let you enjoy your reunion with your little sister so I stayed quiet. But as I saw you…the memories started flooding my mind and I didn't know what to do or say." she admitted with a sad expression. As she felt her pink-haired friend drawing circles on her back, she continued. "It has just occurred to me, I have never told you about my past, have I?"

"I know you grew up on Tenrou Island but that's about it." he confirmed.

"Yes. At the time, it was the property of the Red Lizard guild. My parents owed them a significant debt and they died when I was about 6 years old. As a result, I was forced to pay it back by cleaning the floor, clothes or making food. This went on for a few month until one day the Blue Skull guild attacked us and killed everyone except me. At the time I thought Zera had survived too but…well, you already know. Then, seven years went by until one day, Yuri, Warrod and Precht arrived in search of an artifact called the Tenrou Jade. Long story short, we figured out Blue Skull had stolen it so we decided to join forces to take it back from them. We managed to locate them and attacked but we were defeated and that's when I met you so you know the rest." she told him and paused while tears began to accumulate in her eyes. "If it hadn't been for you…I don't know what we would have done. And now, my parents, Zera, Yuri…they're all gone and I…feel so alone."

As the tears started to flow down her face, Natsu wrapped one arm around her waist and used his other hand to gently grab her chin and then turned her head so that she was looking at him in the eye. "Hey, don't say that. You're not alone. You think I'd just let anyone live within me? You're my friend, Mavis. And that means a lot to me."

Upon hearing his words, the blonde girl wrapped her own arms around him and buried her head in his chest. "Thank you." she mumbled repeatedly, crying her eyes out in both sadness and happiness.

"I never thought the moon could be so creepy." Happy observed while staring at said orb in the sky.

"Just close the window. You heard the chief's warning: we have to avoid the moonlight or we might turn into demons too." Lucy instructed, now in her pajamas while unpacking her things.

"Do these people seriously expect us to destroy the moon?" Gray wondered, sitting on a chair with his arms crossed.

"Yeah, we sure can't do that. But if we investigate, we might be able to lift the curse a different way." the Celestial Spirit mage established with her hand holding her chin in thought. She was stopped in her reflection by a shirt hitting her in the face.

"Okay, fine. We'll do that tomorrow, but for now, I need some sleep." the ice mage said, stripping down to his underwear, voluntarily for once.

"Aye." Happy agreed.

They then both threw themselves on their respective bed.

"Okay, I'm pretty tired too. Good night." Lucy stated and then went to bed too. A few minuted later, both males were snoring quite loudly, thus preventing her from sleeping. "How am I supposed to sleep between these two?!"

The following morning, the small group was walking through the island's forest, trying to find some clue as to how to lift the curse. Well, the ice mage and the cat were walking. Lucy had summoned Horologium and was sitting inside.

"Did you just summon your spirit because you're too lazy to walk?" Gray asked.

"No. But we don't know anything about this curse so I'm protecting myself, she says." the clock transmitted for her.

Gray was about to retort when a loud stomping noise interrupted him.

"What's that?" Happy asked.

When the trio turned around they were shocked to see a giant rat looking down a them. It was wearing a black corset-style top with pink frilly edges which was tied up the front with black strings. Completing her outfit was a white lace headband and a red ribbon tied across her chest. She also had turquoise fur and a huge tail. It then attacked them with some sort of gas with a…surprising property.

"It stinks!" Gray yelled.

When the gas reached Horologium, the smell was so bad it sent him right back to his own realm, releasing Lucy and Happy, who has somehow sneaked in, in the process.

The group then started running away from the rat who gave chase. After a short time, Gray turned around and gathered magic in his hands.

"Ice-Make: Floor!" he called out as he brought both of his hands on the grass which was instantly covered with ice.

The rat then slipped on the newly-formed ice and skidded towards the trio fast. As it was sliding on its back, Gray gathered magic in his hands again to prepare another attack.

"Ice-Make: Hammer!" he created a hammer made of solid ice about twice his own size and pulled it backwards. When the rodent was close enough, he swung it like a baseball bat and sent the animal flying in the air, all the way across the island.

"Well done, Gray!" Lucy congratulated and then noticed something through the trees. "Look. There is some sort of building over there. We should check it out."

"But I wanted to keep kicking that thing's butt." Gray whined, making the girl sweat drop.

"R-Right." As she turned her head, she noticed something from the corner of her eye. "Hey, look. There is some kind of building over there. Let's check it out."

The building the blonde had just referred to was a large, sand-colored temple with vines growing around it, testifying to its antiquity and its abandonment. Above its entrance was a large crescent moon drawn.

It was only when they went in that they realized how massive it truly was. And that it was in ruins.

It was then Happy noticed symbols on the wall. "Hey what's that?" he asked, pointing at them with his paw.

"Moons, which makes sense. This island is also called the island of the moon." Gray responded.

"Moon island, moon curse and moon symbols? That's too much of a coincidence for my liking." Lucy said in a slightly concerned tone.

"Yeah? Well, it doesn't seem like we'll find anything worthwhile here so we might as well-" as the ice mage was talking, he was also walking in the room.

It turned out to be a big mistake as the floor was in the same condition as the rest of the building and it collapsed under his weight, making the three mages fall down a pit underneath.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" they all screamed as they were falling down.

Since the drop wasn't so big, they didn't sustain any serious injury. It was however big enough to prevent Happy from being able to lift both of them out. Especially since Lucy was one of them.

"Well done, Gray." Lucy commented sarcastically which made the dark-haired man rub the back of his head in embarrassment. "What do we do now?"

"The only way I see is over there." Happy answered, gesturing to a thin passage they might be able to squeeze through.

"Good enough for me." the ice mage shrugged.

After a few minutes of walking, as they turned around a corner, the trio entered a gigantic room and saw something that made them gasp in shock and Gray specifically to get a horrified look in his eyes.

As the dragon siblings and the white cat got off their boat and landed on the shore, they saw something rather surprising flying through the air.

"Is that a…mouse?" Wendy asked innocently in confusion.

"Well, I guess we know where to start." Natsu said, slightly distracted by a presence on the island he had felt the moment he touched the sand. An ominous presence.

Despite his statement, the pinkette started walking in the opposite direction, much to his two companions' surprise.

"If that's the case, where are you going then?" Carla asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I need to know what's going on on that island before I can go and get these three. Now, come on. I can smell that there is a village over there." the pink-haired mage responded.

With a nod of acknowledgment, the two females followed him inside the forest.