"W-What do you mean "releasing Deliora"?" Lucy asked for all of them.
"Well, you see, there is simply no way a demon like Deliora could be restrained by regular ice. So, the only way he's been trapped for 10 years is because Ur has been holding him in. Unfortunately, the only thing I can do to save her is to concentrate her soul and magic into a reduced chunk of the ice…." Natsu started explaining.
"Which would turn the rest of it into simple ice." Erza finished, connecting the dots.
"Exactly. And when that happens, Deliora will be free within minutes." the pinkette confirmed.
"So, either we try to arrest Lyon and his followers and leave Deliora here forever but we also abandon Ur in her current state, or we rescue her but then we'll have to deal with the demon she sacrificed everything to seal away. How do we make that choice?" Carla summarized and wondered.
"We don't." Natsu answered, slightly surprising and confusing his guildmates. "He does." he added, pointing at Gray and thus, bringing everyone's attention on said ice mage.
"B-But why me?" the dark-haired mage stuttered.
"Because you're the only one who can. None of us here knew Ur when she used that spell except you. Therefore, only you can determine whether or not saving her is worth risking the lives of everyone on this island." the pinkette of the group responded.
His explanation caused everyone to remain silent and look at Gray while waiting for his answer.
As for the aforementioned ice mage, he was also silently staring at something, except it was the grassy floor. This went on for a minute or so before he finally spoke up. "Do it."
However, his decision didn't sit too well with one particular red-haired woman. "Gray! I understand what this means to you but how can you justify risking dozens of people to save one?"
Before the ice mage could rebut, the other S-class mage in the tent interrupted him. "It's not just that. She sacrificed herself ten years ago so that you and Lyon may live. To undo what she did now would make her sacrifice back then pointless. If you really want me to do this, I will. But, you have to think carefully about this."
Once again, Gray remained silent for a considerable amount of time while looking down at the ground, deep in thought. Then, he gave his answer. "I was a little boy back then. I was weak and foolish and I made a stupid mistake that she had to pay for. Today, I have a chance to fix that mistake. And I'm gonna take it."
His speech and the determination in his eyes convinced his teammates to accept his decision without arguing. Even Erza. Although, one question remained.
"So, how are we going to do this?" the blonde of the group was the one to ask it and, again, they all turned their gaze towards Natsu.
"I can take care of saving Ur on my own but it will take some time so I need you guys to make sure Lyon and his followers don't restart the Moon Drip ritual or I won't be able to stop the ice from melting." the pinkette instructed.
"Lyon is mine!" the dark-haired mage exclaimed with determination.
This made Natsu raise an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that? Last time I checked he kind of wiped the floor with you. Not to mention you still haven't fully recovered. Don't you want to let someone else handle it?"
The pinkette's comment made his guildmate blush and stutter in embarrassment. "Y-Yeah, I'm sure. It will be different this time. I have a plan. Trust me."
"Alright. It's settled then. Natsu will go to the demon and get to work, Gray will confront and defeat the enemy leader and the rest of us will take down his followers and ensure that their ritual doesn't take place." Erza summarized, taking the leader's role out of nowhere.
Nevertheless, everyone nodded in confirmation and started making their way out of the tent and towards the temple.
'I thought you said Deliora was almost dead.' Mavis noted.
'I did. You see, when I scanned the ice earlier, I felt its life force was almost spent which doesn't make sense because it is immortal. So, the only explanation is that it has been slowly absorbed by the ice surrounding it over the course of the decade.' her host supplied.
'So, if we let them finish melting the ice, Deliora will die the second it is released. But, if you return Ur back to normal, the life force will go back where it came from: Deliora.' the blonde girl understood.
'Exactly.' the pinkette confirmed.
'I see. By the way, you might want to keep an eye on Gray.' the First Master advised.
'Why?' her host asked.
'It's just a theory but…I think he is planning on doing something very stupid…something that doesn't involve him surviving all of this.'
Some time later, the group of Fairy Tail wizards was making its way back to the temple. Erza was walking in front. As usual. She was followed by Lucy and Wendy with the cats and further back Gray and Natsu. The latter had intentionally slowed down to be next to the former who was so deep in thought that he hadn't even noticed his guildmate's presence. As for the pinkette, he had been silently observing the ice mage, trying to see whether Mavis' assessment was correct and, if it was, judge what to do about it.
When he deemed he had been observing long enough to have his answer, he broke the silence and thus pulled his teammate out of his own contemplations. "Don't"
After turning his gaze towards his interlocutor and blinking several times, the dark-haired mage responded. "Don't what?"
"Whatever stupid thing you are thinking about doing to defeat Lyon, don't do it." the S-class wizard clarified, shocking Gray.
"W-Wha…How did you know I was…?"
"Because I know that look in your eyes. The one that screams that you feel responsible for what is happening and you want to fix it, whatever the cost." the pink-haired mage explained.
"Natsu, I am responsible. Not just for Ur's sacrifice, but also for Lyon's descent into madness. I mean, ever since I met him, he's had this obsession with surpassing Ur…but he would never have done anything like that before…" Gray explained in a guilty and depressed tone.
"I understand that Gray, but…Ur sacrificed everything to save you and Lyon. And now that the time has come for you to repay the favor, you want to kill yourself to destroy Lyon. Then tell me, what did she save you for?"
Inside one of the rooms of the temple, Lyon was sitting on some sort of stone throne with his arms crossed, looking down coldly at Toby who had a large lump on the back of his head.
"So, you're the only one left? How pathetic." Ur's former pupil berated while glaring at the dog man. "That being said, I must admit these Fairy Tail wizards are quite impressive." he then acknowledged, reminiscing the humiliation he had suffered from Natsu and clenching his fist tightly in anger.
It is at this point that a new person entered the room. It was a masked individual of very short stature with extremely long green hair and wearing a brown cape.
"I hate to say it, but this unfortunate turn of event could very well put Deliora's resurrection in jeopardy." the mysterious man announced.
"Zalty. You're stealthy as ever I see." Lyon lazily observed.
"Assuming all goes well, the demon should be revived at some point tonight. However, we should be wary of these wizards. If they were to somehow interrupt the ceremony, we would find ourselves…unable to release it from its prison…perhaps forever. Salamander is extremely powerful and so is his guildmate Titania who has just recently joined them. Both of them could easily ruin our plans." the man, now revealed as Zalty, explained.
"It's good to see you are as well-informed as always." the Cold Emperor complimented before lifting his hand and summoning frost in it. "But you worry too much. As strong as they may be, they are no match for me."
"I'm glad to hear that. It is a great relief." the short man declared before bowing in respect. 'Even though one of them made a fool out of you.' he then thought with a smirk which was soon replaced by a frown. 'And of me too once before. Never again.' "Nevertheless, if it comes to it, maybe I shall join the battle, for old times' sake."
"Wait! You can fight too?!" Toby exclaimed in shock.
"Yes. Although it's been some time since I last used it, I do dabble in a particular form of Lost Magic."
"Since we recently lost two of our wizards, I suppose we could use another one." Lyon accepted.
"You're gonna need a lot more than one, Lyon." a voice declared as a figure slowly entered the room, making everyone turn their head towards them.
The only one to recognize the voice was Lyon whose eyes narrowed as he heard it. "It would seem you haven't learned your lesson the first time, Gray."
As they stepped into the light, the Cold Emperor's theory regarding the figure's identity was proven correct.
"You're wrong, Lyon. I actually have learned a lot in just a few hours. You're the one who never learns anything. And that will be your downfall." his former fellow student countered confidently.
However, his declaration merely made the lighter-haired ice mage scoff and it was Toby who spoke next. "Oh yeah? Well, who's the idiot who decided to take on three enemies at once?"
"Actually, keeping the three of you here as long as possible was exactly the plan." the Fairy Tail wizard revealed, making two of his opponents' eyes widen.
"What do you mean? What plan?" Lyon asked hurriedly.
"The plan to distract you while my friends take out the rest of your followers so you won't be able to cast Moon Drip tonight…or ever." Gray answered with a smirk.
"Why you! Toby! Zalty! You two go and defeat Gray's guildmates at once! I'll join you once I'm done with him." Lyon ordered with a bit of panic in his voice.
Without another word, both of them followed his instructions and ran out of the room, leaving both ice mages alone.
"Looks like the odds have evened out." the Fairy Tail wizard observed, his smirk still present.
"So what? What makes you think this time will be any different then the last?" his former rival mocked.
"Because this time, there's more at stake than there ever was before and I'm willing to do whatever needs to be done to stop you." Gray responded.
"Oh yeah? How so? You're going to kill me like you killed Ur?" the light-haired mage taunted in an attempt to hurt his interlocutor.
"You're right. What happened to Ur was my fault. But what's going on here and now…that's all on you. You admired her so much. Do you think she would have wanted that? Just forget about Deliora." he pleaded.
"Are you kidding me? After all this time, you have the nerve to beg me for a favor? Has this guild of yours turned you into a coward or are you just one by nature?"
"Listen to me. There's something I need to tell you. Something I should have told you long ago but I couldn't. Ur is still alive. Iced Shell doesn't really kill its caster, it turns their body into the ice itself. The very ice you have been melting…is Master Ur. I wanted to tell you the truth 10 years ago, but Ur had made me promise not to." Gray explained.
"And why are you telling me this now?" Lyon asked in obvious anger.
"Because now, we have found a way to bring her ba-" his adversary tried to answer but was cut off when a hand was placed on his stomach and a tiger made of ice was formed through his body. He then collapsed on the ground.
"You moron. You really think I haven't spent years trying to find everything I could about that spell? I have and I know how this spell works. I am positive Ur is long gone. There's nothing left but a large chunk of ice." the lighter-haired made told him with a cruel and mad smirk.
As for Gray, he was trying and failing to get back up but kept ending up on his elbows and knees. That didn't stop him from being furious at his former friend though. "Y-You knew? You knew and you still went ahead with this Moon Drip stuff?"
"Knowing and believing are two separate things. And if you believe Ur is still alive, and even be restored to her human state, you may be the biggest fool on earth." the Cold Emperor insulted as he was walking around him.
"N-No. You're wrong. Ur wouldn't lie to me and neither would Natsu. If he said he could save her, he didn't just say it to give me false hope." Gray declared as he managed to get back up, though with considerable difficulty.
"Tch. That just means he is as much of an idiot as y-" Lyon started saying but was cut off when he received a violent right hook which sent him flying into the wall behind him. When he recovered from the blow he looked visibly shocked and had a large mark on his left cheek that would certainly turn into a bruise. "H-How?! You shouldn't be able to move with that wound!"
"I'm done…" the Fairy Tail wizard muttered slowly with his bangs hiding his eyes, until he lifted his head, revealing that they were filled with nothing but anger and exasperation. "I intended to save you. But, if it is between saving you or saving Ur…I won't hesitate. Ice-Make: Lance!"
Lyon's eyes widened as the attack caught him off guard. So much so that he didn't get the time to cast a spell to defend himself and resorted to lunging as far away as he could. He managed to dodge almost all of the lances but one of them left a pretty deep cut on the exterior side of his left arm. The pain and humiliation made the Cold Emperor grit his teeth. "You…I am to fight against Deliora soon. I don't want to waste my magic power on you."
"Too bad for you, I don't give a shit what you want and you won't be the one to fight Deliora anyway. Ice-Make: Sword!" After summoning his weapon, the dark-haired mage lunged at his former rival to attack him with it.
Seeing that he wouldn't be able to avoid this fight, Lyon decided he might as well humor Gray and hold off Deliora's resurrection for another day or two while his magic would recover. "Ice-Make: Eagle!"
When he noticed the birds shoot out of Lyon's fist and fly towards him, Gray skidded to a stop and used his sword to destroy most of them but was still it by a few. Moreover, by the time they were all shattered, his weapon had been completely destroyed too.
The two ice mages then entered a short but intense stare down before they both rapidly lifted either one or two hands and cast another spell.
"Ice-Make: Hammer!"
"Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!"
On the roof of the temple, Wendy, Erza, Lucy and the two felines were surrounded by the unconscious bodies of dozens of Lyon's followers. They had caught them in the middle of their preparation for the casting of Moon Drip and none of them knew any magic so the fight wasn't even close.
"That should be all of them." Erza declared while reequipping her sword away.
"Aye!" Happy agreed.
"What do we do now?" Lucy asked, tying her whip to her waist.
"We go down and get ready. If this demon is as fearsome as Gray claims and Natsu succeeds, we need to be prepared to fight it." the red-haired knight answered and received a nod of approval from everyone.
But, as they started walking away, they heard loud footsteps behind them and turned around. When they did, they saw Toby emerge from the stairway that had lead most of them here the day before.
"Ah-Ah! I knew we'd catch up to you on time!" the newcomer declared.
"We?" Wendy asked in curiosity and confusion.
"Yes, we. Me and…" the dog man confirmed as he turned around, expecting to see his ally but started frantically looking around when he didn't. "Wait…Where the hell is Zalty?!" When he tried turning back towards the Fairy Tail wizards, he was hit by a sword and thrown all the way across the island, for the second time today. "AGAAAAIIIIIINNNNN?!" he yelled as he disappeared in the distance.
"Let's go." Erza instructed, putting her sword away again.
The only remaining member of the Fairy Tail team, who had a body of his own at least, was back in the underground chamber containing the frozen Deliora. More specifically, he was standing right in front of the aforementioned ice, close enough to be able to touch it without having to fully extend his arm, which is exactly what he was doing. As a matter of fact, that is the only thing he had been doing for several minutes. Ever since he got back into the room, the pink-haired mage had been trying to "feel" the unusual ice as best he could to assess the exact situation, with his eyes closed in concentration. Finally, he reopened them and took a few steps backwards while rubbing the back of his head.
'This is gonna be harder than I thought.' he concluded.
'Why is that?' Mavis asked, always curious and looking forward to learn everything she could.
'Because after years of melting, a considerable portion of Ur's soul was transferred to the ocean through the resulting water.' Natsu answered as he followed the long line of water that flowed from the puddle he was standing in to the sea with his eyes..
'I see. And, do you think you can extract that water from that of the ocean?' the Fairy Tactician proposed, trying to think of a solution.
'Theoretically, yes. But, it complicates things in a major way.' the pinkette observed.
'I don't really understand how it works.' the First Master admitted.
'Well, you already know that dragons and Dragon Slayers can feed off of their own element to restore their magic power. What you may not know is that, after reaching a certain level of mastery of their magic, they are able to control this element at will. I have mastered my Water and Ice Dragon Slayer Magics centuries ago but I have never attempted to do anything even remotely as complex as this. Not to mention, we are literally talking about living ice and water here. Which makes me think…what would happen if I ate that ice?'
'Wouldn't that be…like…cannibalism?' the blonde asked, half sweat dropping, half amused.
'Technically, I'm only part human. So, Ur and I are different species.' the Triple Hybrid noted, amused as well.
'It's still gross.' Mavis countered.
'Meh.' her host dismissed. However, he stopped joking around when he felt a recording lacrima being turned on behind him and his sensitive nose picked up and identified a specific scent. But, it was so strong, it almost made him throw up. 'Ugh! Why do you girls put on so much perfume?'
'Don't ask me. I have never bought, let alone put on any perfume….Wait….Where is this coming from?' the ghost asked in confusion.
'From over there.' Natsu answered as he turned around. "Come out. I know you're there."
As soon as he finished his sentence, Zalty jumped out of his hiding spot and onto an elevated rock. "I see your reputation wasn't exaggerated. I had come to revive Deliora, but it would seem you had already thought of everything. I'm curious though, how did you know I was there?" he said while chuckling.
His amusement ended at what came next though. "If you really knew my reputation, you would go easier on the perfume…Ultear."
"Ultear? I don't know what you mean. I-"
"Don't try. Don't even try. I have neither the time nor the inclination to play games with you right now. So, remove that stupid disguise of yours and turn off that equally stupid lacrima." Natsu instructed, clearly unhappy and not amused.
With a defeated sigh, "Zalty" removed his mask and, in a flash of light, turned back into her true form. She then used telekinesis to make a green orb fly into her hand. Once she grabbed it, it briefly glowed. "You just had to go and ruin my fun, didn't you?"
'That's what he does.' Mavis teased.
'You, be quiet.' Natsu requested. "Like I said, I don't have time for games. Now, what is a member of the Magic Council doing here?"
"Why, I have been sent here to evaluate the situation, obviously." the dark-haired woman answered.
"You're telling me that the council sent one of its own members to check on Deliora being revived and didn't even try to stop it? Even though that's what Wizard Saints are for? If that's not bullshit, I don't know what is." the pink-haired mage mocked, which got his interlocutor to frown and even pale a bit.
The humiliation of her lies being called so easily finally got the better of the young woman who got enraged. "You want the truth? Alright. The truth is: you are wasting your time trying to stop Deliora's resurrection. You may be able to stop it tonight, but Lyon is too obsessive. He'll just come back and try again and again until he succeeds."
"We're not trying to stop him forever. We just need to stop him tonight." the pinkette simply countered.
His response made the council member raise an eyebrow in confusion. "And what difference will that make?"
"It will give me enough time to save the woman who cast the spell to create that ice." the Fairy Tail wizard answered, which earned him a surprising reaction from the dark-haired woman.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT! You cannot save her! I forbid it!" she screamed in outrage and…hatred?.
However, her screaming only caused Natsu to raise a brow in curiosity. "Why not? And, "forbid it"? Seriously? You should know you have neither authority nor power over me."
The panic of what her outburst may give away made Ultear ignore his second statement. "I-I only meant that we can't afford to release Deliora just to save a single woman, whoever she might be." she tried to justify but, unfortunately for her, Natsu wasn't buying it at all.
"You were willing to let Deliora be released for nothing like a minute ago. Fine. Don't tell me. But from now on, try not to lie to me again. As I have repeatedly shown you, it's no use." he reacted, pretty tired of being lied to by someone who thought she was so much smarter than him.
After that, the two remained silent for a bit, with Ultear staring down at the floor with a slight frown and Natsu studying her expression. He was about to ask her to leave so he could get to work when she spoke up. "Say…That thing you said about being willing to help me…did you mean it?"
"I did. Why? You didn't seem too keen on the idea back then." the Fairy Tail wizard confirmed with curiosity.
"That was because I was upset and offended that you were remaining insensitive to my charm. But I have thought about it since then and, if your offer still stands, I'd like to take it." the council member confessed.
"Sure." the pink-haired mage slowly said, eyeing her carefully.
"Thank you. When you are done here, use my scent to find me. I'll be waiting for you in the forest." Ultear happily thanked before walking away, her former interlocutor watching her with slanted eyes.
'She's lying through her teeth, isn't she?' Mavis stated more than asked.
'Yep. But, it will be interesting to find out why.' the pinkette agreed.
He then turned back towards Deliora. 'Okay, let's get to work.' he declared as he started making his way back to its ice prison. Once he reached it, Natsu placed his hand on the cold surface and closed his eyes in concentration. A few seconds later, the water on the ground began to slowly move on its own, making its way back towards where it came from. All of this stopped however when vibrations and a loud noise resonated from above, breaking Natsu's concentration. 'Damn it Gray! Keep it down up there.'
Said ice mage wasn't so much concerned about how loud he was as he was trying not to get killed by his opponent. Both of them had been throwing spells at each other for some time now and were feeling quite drained, both physically and magically. Nevertheless, neither one of them was showing any sign of backing down.
"Ice-Make: Eagle!" Lyon called out as he sent his usual ice birds at Gray who managed to either dodge or block them all. "I won't let you stop me! I have spent too much time and effort for this moment. Ever since we separated, I have been gathering both knowledge and allies. Finding this island was fortunate. It allowed me to gather the light of the moon to awake Deliora. Although, transporting him from Brago was quite challenging. Not to mention it took three years to melt that ice."
"You've spent three years on that stupid plan of yours?" the darker-haired mage asked in disbelief.
"STUPID?! How dare you?! Especially while you have spent the last 10 years wasting you life in some foolish guild!" the Cold Emperor yelled in pure anger.
"Because unlike you, I actually listened to what Ur said when she declared there were mages stronger than her in the western part of the country. I went there to try and find one who could help me fix my mistake. And she was right. Fairy Tail was full of very powerful wizards, especially its master. That's how I met Gramps. I asked him but he told me he couldn't help me melt the ice. Not only that, but he even told me no one could. At least, not without killing her in the process. But he was wrong. There is someone who can. But even if there wasn't, I would have never killed Ur without a second thought like you would. You make me sick."
"You think I care? I have lived my entire life for this moment. Our master is already dead. She has been for a long time. The only way to prove that we have surpass her is by destroying what she could not: Deliora!" the light-haired wizard declared as he covered his right fist with a gauntlet that resembled a wolf of some kind. He then jumped towards Gray and tried to punch him with it repeatedly but the other ice mage kept dodging.
"You have the ambition, I'll give you that. But it has made you lose yourself." the Fairy Tail wizard quickly summoned a sword made of ice and used it to destroy his enemy's weapon. "Someone as narrow-minded as you will never surpass Ur! NEVER! WAKE UP, LYON!" He then used his sword to attack Lyon directly and slashed at his chest.
However, his attack caused Lyon to shatter into a pile of ice. This made Gray's eyes widen in shock but he turned around when he felt a rise in magic and a drop in temperature behind him.
"Ice-Make: Snow Tiger!" Lyon yelled out as he created a tiger made of ice many times bigger than him and launched it at Gray.
The dark-haired mage showed no sign of alert and jumped above the creature. "Ice-Make: Prison!" he called out and trapped the ice feline in an even more imposing cage.
The Cold Emperor then tried to make his creation escape the trap by manipulating it into breaking the prison but the cage's ice was denser than the tiger's and it couldn't even put a dent in it.
"You see? Single-handed casting is too unbalanced for your creations to be reliable. Ur taught us that but you are too arrogant to listen. Ice-Make: Ice Cannon!" Gray declared and created a large, bazooka-like hand-held cannon and fired a cannonball made of ice at Lyon.
The other ice mage was too shocked to either dodge or protect himself and took the full blunt of the attack. When the dust cleared, he was lying on the floor, unconscious with countless bruises and there was a massive hole in the wall behind him.
When he saw he had won, Gray allowed himself to sigh. A decision he quickly regretted when he felt excruciating pain from the first wound Lyon had given him today. "Why didn't I do that earlier?" he muttered as he covered his wound with ice to lessen the pain and stop the bleeding.
When he was done, he looked back at his former comrade and then through the wall he had previously created. It was big enough to allow him to stare at the ocean, so he did. And as he did, he started smiling a bit. "Good luck, Natsu. It's all up to you now."
Back with the aforementioned pink-haired guild member, he was still in the same position as before. Only this time, he was surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of small water droplets levitating in the air. Every once in a while, one of those droplets would float towards the giant ice structure and freeze, merging with it. As time went by, Natsu was getting increasingly frustrated at the slowness of his progress.
'Argh. It's no use. I can't undo years of Moon Drip in a single night.' Natsu inwardly declared after opening his eyes but keeping his hand where it was.
'Why are you going at it this way? Can't you just freeze all of the water at the same time?' Mavis suggested.
'I could, if it didn't hold a part of Ur's soul. Each individual drop needs to be placed exactly where it came from. Otherwise, I don't know who or what we'll extract from that ice but it won't be Ur.' the pinkette explained in clear exasperation.
'Well, we know Ur is still alive in there. And we know that she has been draining Deliora of its life force over the course of 10 years. So, do you think there is a possibility she could actually be conscious in that form?' the dead girl theorized.
'Maybe. I don't know a lot about this spell but if she is as formidable of a mage as Gray let on, it wouldn't surprise me all that much.' her host responded.
'Then, she might be aware of what we are attempting to do. And if she is, all you have to do is help her put herself back together instead of trying to do all by yourself.' the First Master proposed.
The first thing her idea did is make her old friend sigh. 'Well, it's a bit of a far-fetched theory but it's worth a shot.' he established. He then closed his eyes again and concentrated.
A few seconds later, all of the water in the air was gathered in a huge bubble that was risen to the top of the ice prison. From there, Natsu stopped using his magic on it and simply waited. For a little while, nothing seemed to happen. But then, the water started moving on its own with a portion of it flowing down the Iced Shell while most of it remained at its top. Once it was completely reorganized, the liquid stopped moving and stayed perfectly still, as if it was waiting.
'Well would you look at that.' Natsu thought, genuinely impressed.
'Maybe next time, you'll think twice before calling one of my ideas "far-fetched".' a sassy Mavis complained.
'Okay, fine. Please forgive me, O great Fairy Tactician. I solemnly swear I shall never doubt thee again.' the pink-haired mage sarcastically apologized which made his blonde friend giggle.
When both of them had calmed down from their banter, Natsu refocused and started freezing all the remaining water right where it had positioned itself, completing the restoration of the Iced Shell back to its original state of 10 years ago.
'Now for the hard part.' the pinkette thought as he closed his eyes tighter as did his grip on the ice. Shortly after, the blue and green reflections in the ice began to slowly concentrate towards the spot where his hand was, leaving the rest as transparent as regular ice. This stopped when only an area a little shorter than Natsu and about as thick as him still presented these particularities. Then, part of this area of the ice began to melt, creating an ice statue of a woman of average height with a slim, curvaceous figure.
This statue then slowly transformed from its blue and green color into that of a light-skinned human and the ice from which it was made began to soften without turning into water. When the process was complete, all that was left was a young woman with dark purple hair at chin length that was quite unkempt, cascading down the sides of her face and covering her ears with only a few strands of it hanging down her temple, some falling between her eyes. Said eyes were closed as a sign of her state of unconsciousness, which is the very reason why she instantly fell forward and would have hit the ground face first if Natsu hadn't caught her in time. Since she didn't have any clothes on, the Fairy Tail wizard reequipped a large towel and wrapped it around her body. He then gently laid her on the ground and examined her to make sure he hadn't messed up. He stopped in surprise when he got a good look at her face. Unbeknownst to him, the spirit inside him had similar thoughts.
'Don't…you think she looks somewhat…familiar?' she asked.
'Never mind looks, she smells very familiar.' he responded.
'Well, I guess now we know why Ultear didn't want you to save her.' Mavis noted. She then noticed that the woman's lower right leg was still made of ice and got one of her typically mischievous ideas. 'You missed a spot.'
'That must have been here before.' the pink-haired mage refuted.
'Nope. You failed. Try again.' the blonde girl insisted, the sound of her voice making it obvious she was smiling.
'Mavis…I…SWEAR-' her host started yelling but stopped when he was interrupted by what appeared to be an earthquake.
Realizing what was happening, the pinkette rapidly turned his gaze towards the giant demon whose eyes now shone with a red glow. Even more concerning, the now normal ice it was encased in showed various large cracks.
'Oh…right…I had forgotten.' Natsu awkwardly admitted.
He turned back towards Ur and knelt down before picking her up bridal style. When he got back up, the ground started shaking again, even more violently this time. So violently that it made some pillars in the room and large pieces of the ceiling fall over as well as parts of the wall collapse. But, worst of all, the ice that was holding Deliora was falling apart at an alarming rate. When an extremely large piece of it that was covering its right arm and half of his head fell off, the huge demon emitted a shrill cry that added to the shaking and was heard throughout the entire island. Its high resonance finished breaking the ice prison and for the first time in over a decade, Deliora began to move. Very slowly at first, thanks to its years of inactivity. That would buy the Fairy Tail mages some time, but not much.
By the time this happened, Natsu had already exited the temple while carrying Gray's mentor. He was quick to find his teammates with the help of his nose. They had positioned themselves on a hill not far away that gave them a perfect view of the temple. Thanks to her own nose, Wendy was the first to notice the pink-haired wizard's approach.
"Big brother!" she called out, bringing everybody else's attention to him as well.
The first thing they noticed was the unconscious woman he was transporting.
"Is that…" Lucy muttered in shock.
"…Ur…" Gray finished just as low but with tears in his eyes. "I-Is she…?"
"She's fine, just sleeping." Natsu reassured as he passed him his former teacher.
The dark-haired mage was now crying profusely. "T-Thank you, Natsu. Thank you s-so much."
"I would hate to break this touching moment, but if all the shaking and noise we just heard are any indication, this is still far from over." Erza declared and then looked towards her pink-haired guildmate for confirmation.
"Yes. Deliora is free. It is still waking up, so we have maybe a minutes or two before it blasts its way out of the temple." he stated.
"I see. In that case, Natsu and I will face and destroy it while the rest of you take Ur back to the village and stay to defend it in case things get out of hand." the red-haired knight ordered.
Although Gray wanted to end things personally with that damned demon, he knew he was no match for it, especially in his current condition, so he reluctantly agreed. However, there was someone else who was just as unwilling to go as he was and Natsu noticed it.
"Wendy, you're staying too." he declared, surprising or shocking everyone.
"Natsu! This is-" the other S-class mage began to berate but was cut off.
"Not a discussion." the older sibling said in a firm tone to emphasize his point.
Before anyone could add anything, the same horrible shriek as before rang through the air as Deliora emerged from the only building in Galuna Island, transforming it into a pile of rubble in the process. Seeing that there was no time for an argument at this point, Erza sighed in defeat.
"Very well. The three of us will take it from here. The rest of you, go now." she instructed.
With a nod, the rest of the group ran off towards the makeshift village as the three of them started to walk down the hill they were on. As dawn arrived, and the sun began to rise on the horizon, Deliora uttered another of its hideous cries, signaling the beginning of a battle that would decide the fate of this entire island. If not much more.