Gray was still worried by what they all saw in the cave beneath them. Gray couldn't wrap his head around the idea that any human being would want anything to do with Deliora. He terrorized so many people. Shaking his head, Gray ran passed the rest and made it to the surface first, lowering his body behind rubble when he saw a group of people. He made sure the others behind him knew to keep quiet.

Erza crouched next to him while Natsu and Lucy were on other side. Happy and Marie hovered in front of Lucy, making sure their wings were hidden from sight. Gray noticed a man dresser in armor speaking the the three they just saw moments ago. "So," the man started. "Was everything alright?"

"Yes sir, everything is still going accordingly. I think Toby misspoke when he told you that he heard intruders down in the cave. Block head..." The bushy eyebrow man informed. The masked man, Reitei they called him, nodded. Gray immediately recognized the voice and gasped. The man continued, "What about the villagers?"

"What about them?"

"They've been spotted trying to come up here and figure out what is going on. The nosy cretins."

"Kill them. Leave not one alive." All three nodded and bowed, walking away from the scene. Lucy gasped and put a hand to her lips.

"The hell is he doing here!?" Gray whispered, solely focused on the man who continued to speak with others. Erza and Natsu looked over his way, though Gray hadn't noticed. He bit hit lip and glared at Reitei. What business did he have here!? Gray honestly thought he would never see him again.

"You know this man?" Erza asked Gray quietly. The ice mage nodded solemnly and looked down at his feet in deep thought. Just then, Lucy's spirit, Lyra, popped right next to her. Lucy squeaked out and gave her spirit a hard look.

"I thought you went back to the spirit world!" Lucy screamed, making sure to lower her voice at the last minute. Lyra completely ignored her and looked to the group of strangers.

"I think I figured out why they need that monster we all saw in that cave. That ice, I could sense it, it was very powerful ice. Like it was a human's magic, almost like they used their body to cast a spell," Lyra mumbled. Gray looked away. "Anyway, the moon is colored purple tonight you see, this is a type of magic called moon drip. They can gather magic from the moonlight, this can melt any type of ice in particular."

"Wait...don't tell me..." Lucy murmured to her spirit. Lyra nodded.

"They want to use moon drip to melt that demon encased in the ice, since that type of ice is definitely not the usual ice people come across. It has magic infused in it. So, they're going to fight fire with fire. Magic against magic." The woman said without missing a beat.

"Are you absolutely sure!?" Gray gasped.

"Of course. Whoever they are, they're gathering moon drip magic and plan to shine it on Deliora." Just as she said that, multiple magic circles stacked up on each other, reaching high in the sky. Lyra took this time to leave, as the moonlight shone through each magic circle. It created a bright purple light and the light traveled right underground, to where Gray guessed was at Deliora's location. Multiped cloaked men were the ones that controlled the magic circles, getting on their knees and chanting incoherent sentences.

Reitei laughed and watched as the others continue to cast the spell. Gray could feel the dangerous aura beside him and looked that way, noticing the way Natsu and Lucy figit. Like they wanted a fight. Gray growled towards the two, silently telling them they'd be dead if they even attempted that. Though he was completely ignored.

The moonlight slowly dissipated back into nothing, the ritual was over. That's when Natsu thought it would be smart to stand up, startling everyone around him. He pointed right at Reitei and gave him a maniacal smirk. "Alright, now that that's over let's get the party started!" Natsu yelled. The armoured man laughed, his helmet making the sound echo.

"I wondered when you all would come out of that ridiculous hiding spot." Gray scoffed and stood up, along with Lucy and Erza. There was no use in hiding now, especially since it seemed the man already knew that they were spying. Reitei made direct eye contact at Gray. "I see you're here too Gray. Nice to see you stuck to your word and joined a pointless guild. How like you." He laughed condescendingly.

"Yeah well at least I moved on."

"Moved on you say," Reitei hummed, the mirth laced in his voice gone. "Then how come they all still don't know about your past? Why don't you tell them? Tell them that it was too who murdered our master." Erza furrowed her brows. Looking at Gray with mild surprise. Lucy let out a deep sigh and looked at the man with crossed arms.

"I don't believe that." She said simply. Gaining attention from those around her. "I'm sure you're wording it that way to make us turn on Gray. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for what happened to your master. So don't try us again with bullshit!" Gray smiled in relief at Lucy's word. But his gaze hardened when he remembered what he had to do. He turned his attention to both Happy and Marie.

"Happy! Marie! Take Lucy and Erza and get out of here. I have to this on my own!" They just nodded, Happy swooping Lucy while Marie grabbed onto Erza. Erza gasped and looked back Gray with desperation. Gray was solely focused on the enemy.

"Ugh! Let me go! I have to get back and help Gray and Natsu!" Lucy yelled, trying to get out of Happy's grip. Marie hushed at the blonde and explained that Gray needed to whatever he had to do on his own. Gray was grateful to Marie for that. She seemed like the only one who understood his situation, besides Erza. Gray looked over to Natsu, just in time to see magic swirl around him. Gray gasped when the air cleared, revealing Natsu encased in a huge ball of ice.

"What the hell, Gray!?" He banged on the ice.

"It wasn't me stupid!" The ice mage countered. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Reitei's crazy smile. Shutting out his reasoning, he used a foot to push Natsu down the steep hill they stood atop. In surprise, Natsu couldn't block his attack and rolled down the hill pretty comically.

"Gray! I'll get you back for this asshole!" He vowed, his voice getting harder to hear the father he got away.

"Sorry Natsu," Gray chuckled for a moment, before looking up at Reitei. "Lyon..."

"Ah, it was obvious huh? And I must admit you're a lot more intelligent than I first thought. Knowing that my magic sphere could shatter your friend in an instant, you risked the friendship and had him tumbling down a hill." Gray scoffed.

"I won't allow you to hurt anyone else! Now tell me, what is the point of killing those villagers and why the hell do you want to revive Deliora! You and I both know just how dangerous that beast is!" Gray interrogated, magic swirling around his hands. Notcing this, the temperature dropped further as Lyon activated his own magic.

"I have no business with those nosy villagers. I only just learned of them a few days ago. But if they're going to try to stop me, I'll make sure I'm ten steps ahead," He cackled, continuing. "And as for Deliora, it's all too obvious why I want to revive him."

"Then why don't you tell me."

"To pass Master Ur of course. She was the one that trapped him, using iced shell. Thus turning her own body into the very ice I'm trying to melt. If I can revive him and defeat him then I will have successfully passed our master, the master you murdered!" Lyon shouted, finally attacking. He shot ice birds at Gray. Gray used his icd shield, though it was to no avail. The birds swooped around his shield and attacked him from the side. Gray coughed, getting knocked on his back. He slid further away form Lyon and hit a wall behind him.

Groaning, he stood up and put a fist to his open hand. "Ice geyser!" Shooting ice spikes up to Lyon, they were immediately blocked by an ice tiger. Gray gasped, steeling himself and giving the tiger a glare. "Ice hammer!" He shouted, trying to see if he could break the tiger.

"It's useless Gray. My magic will always be superior. Not only does my ice magic move but I've trashed using two hands to fight. Using one is so much more powerful. Don't you see? I've already surpassed years ago. While you were busy playing house at a guild, I spent my life training for the moment I defeat Deliora!"

"Yet you don't realize that using one hand is unbalanced magic. And do you honestly believe I stopped training too? I'm on an S-Class mission aren't I? I'm not that naive little boy anymore, I'm more powerful than I've ever been!" Gray, bloodied and beaten, went to cast one more spell. Though Lyon beat him to it.

"That may be true, but it won't do you any good. I've already beaten you." Lyon paused, powerful magic surrounding his hand. "Ice snow tiger! Ice ape! And ice dragon" a giant gorilla and dragon appeared beside the ice snow tiger and stood still. Until Lyon shouted at them to attack. Gray screamed as they all aimed their attacks at him. He felt his body drain of power and he stood for a moment.

Each animal disappeared as he fell to the ground. He knew he was going to lose conciousness soon, but he still tired to stand. Lyon gave him a faux pitied expression. "Gray," Lyon said seriously. "You should just leave now. Leave the island. This battle was over before it started." The uninjured ice mage walked away. Gray laid there for a minute. He wouldn't allow himself to lose conciousness.

A lone tear rolled down his cheek.

...

Natsu frowned as he began to try and pull himself out of a pit half of his body got stuck in. "Dammit! This ice is so annoying!" When he managed to pull himself out, he began to walk back up the hill. Normally, he would stay out of other's personal fights, but he had a bad feeling. One that told him that Gray had a little more than just a few scratches.

Inching his way back to the top, he stopped to get a good look at the man laying there on the ground. Natsu shook his head as he smelled the tears that stained the lce mage's cheeks. He wobbled over to Gray, hauling him up on the ice behind his head. Gray opened his eyes in surprise, his blurry vision catching a head of pink hair. More salt attacked his nose as he began to walk downtown he hill.

"Natsu..."

"C'mon Gray, stop you're crying. We gotta get back to Lucy and Erza, I'm sure they could use our help. Especially since those weirdos were going to attack the village."

"I...I lost" The ice mage mumbled. Natsu could hear all his faint whimpers and quiet sobs as he slid down the mountain. Anger filled Natsu's body as he suddenly stopped, startling Gray.

"Stop crying already you big baby, so what if you lost a fight? That's what it means to be human! But you're a Fairy Tail wizard so no matter how many times you fail, you'll get up on your icy ass and keep fighting until you win! That's what it means to be a wizard!" Gray's tears suddenly stopped with Natsu's words. A small smile appeared on Gray's face then.

"Yeah...you're right. I vow to beat Lyon." He murmured in determination.

"I don't know who this Lyon guy is but that sounds more like the ice princess I know!" The fire mage said, then tripping on a twig. "It's so hard to walk with this thing!" Gray laughed, before he finally allowed himself to pass out. Natsu sighed and walked silently back to the village. He noticed Lucy laughing with the blank faced Virgo and smiled. "Lucy! Erza!"

Lucy looked to him and gasped, waving her arms back and forth. "Natsu! Don't come any closer!"

"wha-" Natsu was cut off as the ground beneath him gave away, he fell on his back and groaned. "What the hell?" He sat up and rubbed his head, suddenly feeling much lighter. He looked down to see the ice finally broke. He laughed happily and looked up to see Lucy leaning over with a sheepish smile.

"S-Sorry about that..."

"Whatever you did, it worked!"

"What worked?"

"You broke the ice around me! Now come on, pull us up, Gray is hurt." Heairng this, Erza came around and grabbed Gray when Natsu pushed him up to the surface. She carried him on her back, taking him to their infirmary so a couple of the women from the village could treat him. Lucy grabbed onto Natsu's warm hand and helped him climb out of the hole.

"Alright, so we're all here then." Lucy hummed. "It's strange, those guys working for Reitei haven't come around yet. I mean, they left before we left." Natsu nodded, looking at the giant hole in front if the gate.

"By the way, what the hell was that hole for?" Lucy grinned shyly and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well-" she started, but was interrupted by Happy.

"She thought it would be a good idea to allow Virgo to dig a hole so that the enemy's would fall in it." He puffed up his cheeks and snickered.

"Did you honestly believe they would fall for such a trick?" Natsu laughed.

"So what, you fell for it didn't you?!" Just as Natsu was going to retort back, a rat became visable in the sky. Lucy gasped. "My trap was useless after all!" She whined. The rat above carried a gaint bucket of green slime while the three of them stood on top of it.

"That took a lot longer than it should of." The shortest one of the three said.

"Well, excuse me! I can't help it that it took longer!" The dog man said aloud. The bushy eyebrow man rolled his eyes. The pink haired girl ignored them completely and looked down at the villagers with disgust.

"What ugly people...who knew that moon drip could effect them like this..." Natsu heard, using his heightened sense of hearing. He glared up at the woman. "The only thing that can help them now is sweet embrace of death. Filled with love!" That's when a drop of that green jelly fell from the bucket towards Lucy.

"What is this...?" She must of not noticed the smell, too engrossed with figuring out what it was. Though Natsu could smell the spicy scent, it was toxic and dangerous.

"Lucy!" Natsu screamed out, embracing her and pushing her out of the way of the jelly. It fell right through the ground. Lucy gasped as she watched with horror at what could of happened to her. "Couldn't you smell it!?" He said to her with wide eyes. Lucy could also hear the mild annoyance laced in his voice.

"I-I was too focused on trying to figure out what it was, sorry," Natsu picked her up on her feet. That's when Lucy gasped. "That could of went right through me! And they have a whole bucket of that stuff!" Natsu growled up st the giant rat when he realized she was right. He immediately ran to the middle of the village and yelled at Lucy and Erza

"Lucy! Erza! Gather everyone up in the middle!" Lucy knew what Natu was planning to do and nodded, she proceeded to gather everyone. Erza ran to Gray and the women tending to him and got them to run to the middle. "Let's go Happy!" Natsu called.

"Aye!" He flew me up to the sky just as the rat flung the jelly onto the village.

"With the flames of my right hand the flames of my left...the combination of the two will send you flying! Fire dragon dazzling blaze!" A hole was made through the jelly to spread around the middle of the village. Everyone froze as the ground around them melted away from the acid. Natsu landed smoothly with Happy and wiped his mouth. The two men working for Reitei landed on the ground and glared at Natsu, kicking over Bobo's grave in the process of walking up to him.

"Bobo's grave!" The elder of the village cried. Lucy gasped as the man with the large eyebrows stomped on it, like he was trying to make a point. She gave off a deadly aura, getting everyone else to step back. Just as she was going to say something, the rat flew passed her and she was gone.

Natsu looked up in surprise to see her holding onto the claw of the beast. "Why did I do that?!" She yelled aloud. She then smirked and began to tickle the creature. "Maybe this will get you to put me down!"

"Like that would- wait, what are you doing Angelica!" The pink haired woman screamed as the rat laughed from being tickled. The rat's tail stopped moving, thus having the two girls fall to the ground. Natsu blinked as he watched the rat crash.

"I'll go get her..." Happy sighed as he began to fly off to get her. Natsu nodded and turned back to the enemy.

"Let me handle this..." Natsu heard the short man say to the dog guy.

"If you take him, Natsu, I will take dog ears, okay?." Erza asked Natsu, tapping his shoulder. He turned to her and gave her a smile and a nod. He smirked as he attacked the man, the dog guy said his name was Yuka. Though Yuka had some sort of liquid barrier to block the fire attack. Not only did it take away his fire, but it electrocuted him as well.

"I can block any attack using my wave manipulation. It can numb any kind of attack inside the wave and send an attack back." Natsu growled and ignored his words, attacking him again, but using more fire power. "It won't work." He said. Natsu became angrier and gave the mage a snare.

"As long as I don't use magic I can get past this, right?" Natsu said, getting a brilliant idea. Yuka gasped, but his surprise quickly disappeared.

"Sure, but as long as I'm protected by my wave, you won't be able to touch me." Natsu cackled at his words and stuck his head in the wave, feeling the pain surround his face. He punched the liquid again, but instead of reeling back, he kept his first there.

"What are you doing?!"

"Then all I have to do is get through the barrier!" Natsu blasted fire from his elbow and shot his fist right to Yuka's face. Effectively knocking out the mage without having his magic touch the wave barrier he used. Natsu grinned and wiped his face. He stood there, looking at his handiwork. Erza came up next to him, and he turned to the unconcious dog man.

"How'd you do it?" Natsu asked her. She sighed and answered.

"I was told he was a very powerful mage, in fact, stronger than the young man you fought. Though I'm not sure he calculated his own intelligence. I was able to trick him into touching his forward and using his acid claws on himself. He would of been a formidable enemy if he wasn't so stupid." Erza chuckled.

...

"ouch..." Lucy groaned as she woke up from being knocked out by the rat crushing her. She lifted herself from the giant creature and rubbed her stiff muscles. That's when she heard a cry from behind her. It was the girl she learned was named Sherry. Lucy felt slightly bad when tears rolled down her face.

"You hurt poor Angelica once again! I'm going to show you the most important thing on this wretched earth, love! By destroying you!" She cried. Lucy frowned and pulled out her Taurus key.

"Open, gate of the golden bull! Taurus!" The perverted bull came out of his gate and immediately looked at Lucy with a lustful gaze.

"Miss Lucy, lookin' good as always! I'm utterly speechless!"

"Do you tell him to say that? Oh my, how desperate must you be." Sherry commented.

"I do not tell him to talk that way. He's just a huge pervert. Taurus!" She turned to the axe wielding bull. "Get her!" Just as he was about to move, he stopped, holding his axe in the air. Lucy furrowed her brows. "What's up, Taurus?" He then turned around and charged at Lucy instead.

"My magic is doll attack, I can control anything except humans!" Sherry boasted, using her nimble fingers to have Taurus push Lucy to the ground and try and attack her. Lucy growled and pushed back on her spirit, not wanting to seriously hurt him. She was lucky that she had just learned to force a gate close.

"Close gate of the golden bull!" Lucy yelled, allowing her spirit to disappear with an apology. Lucy shook herself off as Sherry looked at her with surprise. "I guess I should of just started with my dragon slaying magic." The blonde mumbled.

"What are you saying!?" Sherry called out. Lucy sucked in a breath and held it there for a moment, before releasing it on the doll controlling mage.

"Celestial dragon roar!" Unfortunately, Sherry dodged.

"Dragon slaying magic!?" Lucy didn't answer and ran to the ocean, grabbing Aquarius and opening her key. The mermaid popped out and gave Lucy a nasty glare. Lucy rolled her eyes and pointed at Sherry, who was running towards the both of them

"Use your water and take her out!"

"Tch."

"Aqaurius, one of the strongest celestial spirits!?" The pink haired girl awed before shaking her head "I'll just control it, just like last time!" Sherry yelled. Using her magic, she began to try and control Aquarius. "Get her Aquarius!" Sherry laughed. The mermaid shook, grabbing her urn, controlling the water in the ocean.

"Nobody controls me dammit! Not the stupid blonde and definitely not a brat like you!" Washing the two mages away, she disappeared, telling Lucy she was going out with her boyfriend. Lucy took the tile to stand up and punch the enemy across the face, knocking her out.

"Dammit, I should stop calling out Aquarius." Lucy chuckled.

"Lucy!" A small voice called to her, flying into her chest.

"Happy!"