"Come on you two! We're going to be late for the train!" Lisanna yelled as she ran ahead down the busy streets.
"Calm down Lisanna! The train doesn't leave for almost an hour!" Elfman shouted back, turning the heads of many a passersby.
Mira just laughed softly at her younger siblings' interaction. Despite her calming demeanor, she shared her sister's enthusiasm. There was a bright light, and she shielded her eyes as the sun reflected off the water of the canals.
It was a nice sunny day in Magnolia, and the three Strauss siblings were on their way to their first S-Class Quest together. It would be the first mission in a while that they had got to do as a family.
It had been a couple months since Mira had passed the trial to become an S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail, and after going on a few of the perilous requests by herself and with her other S-Class guildmates, she finally found one she was confident herself and her siblings could accomplish together.
"Are you really sure we can go on this job with you?" Elfman suddenly asked Mira, glancing between her and Lisanna nervously.
"Of course. It's within the right of an S-Class Mage to take any member of the guild they want on a job, so long as they trust that said member will act safely and responsibly." Mira said, as if she had the rule book written out beside her. "And there's no one I trust more than you two. So long as you listen to your big sis everything will be just fine!"
"Yeah, you're right." Elfman seemed to cheer up at her words of encouragement. "Though I think you'll have to explain that part about listening to you to Lisanna a few more times."
"Don't worry, I'm sure she knows how important this is." Mira giggled, looking off into the crowd that said sister had ran into.
"I'm going to go go catch up with her. Make sure she doesn't end up hopping on the wrong train in her excitement or something." Elfman huffed, wandering into the crowd as well.
Mira watched as Elfman stomped off with a smile on her face. 'He tries to act all tough, but he's really just worrying about us.'
The wind suddenly began to pick up, and Mira had to shield her eyes again from the dust it picked up. When she opened them however, she found herself standing inside a small log cabin with her siblings.
'Where am I? Wait, I've seen this place before…' Mira realized. As she tried to remember from where though, a creaking sound caught her attention, and she turned to find an old man in a rocking chair. With the clouds that had rolled in, he now sat in the shadows.
"So, you are here to accept the job, are you?" An elderly man who was sitting in the corner of the room asked.
"That's right!" Lisanna affirmed.
"You must be careful. The beast you are hunting is both tough and clever. It's almost a demon in its cruelty." The elder said sadly.
'No… not this mission!' Mira finally figured out.
Elfman smirked. "A beast, huh? Well, it's a good thing my magic can take over such monsters. We'll take care of this without issues." He said, trying to encourage the older man.
"That thing will be out of your hair by tonight. Come on Mira, let's trounce this thing!" Lisanna said, and she and Elfman quickly walked out the door.
"No, wait!" Mira shouted as she whirled around and tried to follow them. The second she passed the doorway, however, there was a flash of light and and a thundering boom, blinding her once more.
When she opened her eyes, she was once again in a new yet familiar location. The house she had left was nowhere in site, instead being surrounded by a forest. Or the remains of one.
Trees were knocked down by the dozen, ripped apart by massive claws. Fires blazed haphazardly amount the wreck, the storming rain desperately trying to extinguish them. Mira observed the destruction in a trance.
"AAAAAAAAAHHH!"
A harrowing scream echoed out from the forest. Despite the rumbling thunder deafening her ears, the scream reached them perfectly. It was one that had replayed a million times in her mind.
"Lisanna?!" Mira shouted, beginning to run in the direction she heard the wail. As she ran past the destruction in her way, she began yelling frantically. "LISANNA?! ELFMAN?! PLEASE, WHERE ARE YOU?!"
The sight of two bodies amongst the carnage reached Mira's eyes, and she finally reached her siblings. They were both lying face down on the ground, bleeding profusely. The rain having dyed the grass surrounding them a crimson red.
Mira reached down and turned Elfman over. "Elfman, talk to me! Are you- ahh?!" She gasped in horror at the sight, unable to finish. Her brother was covered in grievous wounds, including a great scratch mark that reached across his entire chest.
"No, Elfman! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… It's all my fault!" Mira cried into her brother's bloody body. Her own body shook, wracked with guilt and despair. Tears began to flow from her face, drowned out by the sudden downpour.
"Mi…ra…" a weak voice pleaded.
Mira turned and saw her sister, struggling to even talk. She immediately ran over and picked her sister up, revealing her condition. She was in an even worse condition than Elfman. There were slashes and burns from head to toe, resulting in her pale skin and white hair being dyed a deadly shade of red.
"Lisanna! Please, talk to me!" Mira cried.
"Mira…" Lisanna moaned, her head tilting towards the sound of her sister. The wounds where her eyes should be boring into Mira's soul. "Why… Why did you do this?"
"No! I didn't… I was trying to help!" Mira pleaded frantically.
"But you hurt us so much. You were like a demon…." Lisanna said slowly.
Mira shut her eyes in pain. "No… I'm your sister! I'm not a demon! I'm not…"
"I'm not…I'm not…" Mira mumbled under her breath, writhing in her sleep.
She hung suspended inside of a large cylindrical container of odd purple liquid. An apparatus was attached to her face to allow breathing, while many other cables and devices were strapped across her body.
Across from her inside the small room was a similar tube, completely empty. There was an odd, almost living material growing on the various surfaces of the ancient room, connecting the two pods. Two figures stood in the room, watching Mira's struggle in her sleep.
"What the hell is she mumbling about now?" Doriate asked, staring into the tube that contained Mira.
"Something traumatic, most likely." Lamy shrugged as she fiddled with the living monster that seemed to grow along the walls and into the tube.
"I assume you have a reason for mentally torturing this woman other than personal satisfaction?" Doriate spat.
Lamy rolled her eyes at the man's disgust. "Of course. Unlike some people, I just know how to have fun with my work." She got up from her previous position and walked over to the other side of the room, inspecting the empty pod. "This isn't some average Mage. This is 'The Demon' of Fairy Tail. She absorbs the souls of demons and uses their power as her own."
"Take-Over Magic? I've heard that kind of Magic is rare, not to mention dangerous." Doriate said.
"It is. The risk of being taken over yourself is incredibly high, yet this woman has no problem taking over demons, some of the strongest willed beings on the planet." Lamy exclaimed. "She's even absorbed the Demon of Destruction, Deliora."
"Wait, she can control Etherious of that power?!" Doriate shouted, attention now fully drawn. "But even you haven't mastered giving humans the full power of Zeref's Books!"
"And that is why she is so important to us. Figuring out what makes her so compatible with demons will greatly improve our ability to create artificial Etherious." Lamy explained. "The demon growing throughout this room is like the one that manages the regeneration chamber back at our base. Its purpose currently is to draw out Deliora and recover it from within her."
"… But why is she inside a pool of liquified Moon Drip? Is there no other way to force it out?" Doriate asked.
"Trying to separate Deliora's soul isn't as easy as it looks. If we simply kill her the soul's she captured would likely disappear with her. And without the Moon Drip, even if she's unconscious during the process she'd call on the power by instinct and start trashing this place again." She sighed in exasperation. "Our best bet is to subconsciously manipulate her into rejecting Deliora, so she'll release her hold on the soul without even realizing it."
"And how long will this process take?" Doriate asked impatiently.
Lamy clapped her hands. "Oh, it's almost done! Kyoka taught me well, so by now her mind by now is as fragile as a fancy porcelain shop!"
"Tell me when your finished then, I have work to do." Doriate declared, turning to leave.
Lamy looked back at Doriate in disbelief. "What work?"
"Did you forget already? We've already found one brat trying to come and rescue this woman." Doriate said, pointing at the Mage in question.
"So what? You can deal with a single kid." Lamy said dismissively, turning back to her work.
"You don't get it, do you? These people are like ants…" Doriate said as he walked off. "Where there's one of those bastards, there's probably a dozen more hiding somewhere."
"I'm in, beginning infiltration." A child with a white scarf wrapped around his head said in a gruff voice.
"Natsu, you don't need to commentate us sneaking around. In fact, you really shouldn't." Lucy said with a sigh.
"I'm just glad that worked again. No one ever thinks to look down, do they?" Erza said as she walked out of a hole in the wall.
"Where are we now though?" Elfman asked, looking around at the moss-covered stone walls surrounding them.
"Well we didn't go back up, so we most be in the temples basement." Gray surmised.
"That is correct." Virgo said, standing to the side as the other exited her tunnel. "As you anticipated, the ice only went a few feet underground. Before I could dig back up however, I stumbled into this room. Should I dig another entrance to above ground?" She asked in her usual deadpan voice.
Lucy shook her head. "No, this should be fine." She looked at her surroundings again. They appeared to have arrived in an alcove of sorts, with no sign of anyone having been there in ages. "I doubt anyone will accidentally stumble upon our entrance here. We got lucky."
"Yeah, but now what? We have no idea how big this place is, so how are going to find my sisters?" Elfman asked.
"Like you said, we have no idea how big this place is. I say we split up to cover more ground." Gray suggested.
"Agreed! The sooner we find Lisanna the better." Natsu said, in a rare agreement with the Ice-Make Mage.
"Finding our friends as fast as possible is nice and all, but you two do remember our current condition, right?" Lucy asked the two. The confused look she received from them in response made her sigh and put a hand to her face. "Of course not. I don't know either of you lived past the age of ten…"
"With considerable help." Erza answered. Natsu and Gray both turned to Erza to defend themselves, but she just continued on, interrupting any interjection. "You all bring up a good point. We need to find our captured friends as soon as possible, but we also need to be cautious not to get captured ourselves."
"So, what do we do them? Split up or group up?" Lucy asked.
"A mix of both. We'll split up into two groups." Erza declared. "Lucy, Natsu. You'll go one way, while Gray, Elfman, and I will go another. If one of the groups finds Mira or Lisanna, we are to take them and retreat immediately."
"Wait, why is our group smaller?" Lucy asked worried.
"Because you can summon Celestial Spirits, who are unaffected by whatever turns us into children." Erza reminded her. "I imagine someone like Taurus can handle those guards better than we can."
"I suppose so. Hopefully we won't have to fight that much though. Summoning a Zodiac Spirit in this state is pretty tiring." Lucy said.
"Speaking of fighting, I have an idea on how to even the playing field…" Erza said with a smirk, before summoning something with her Requip Magic.
A lone member of Succubus Eye patrolled casually down the ancient corridors of the rundown temple their guild had taken residence in.
He held a torch in one hand, and a small sword in the other. The combination was more useful in these cramped spaces than the halberds his fellow guildmates outside wielded.
Swaying the torch around the dark corridor, a sound suddenly reached his ears. It was coming from ahead, almost like whispers. He held his torch out, trying to light the way as far as it could.
Just then, a whip shot out of the darkness like a lunging serpent. It coiled around his outstretched hand, and there was a tug from the other end. Caught off guard, the man fell forward, his armor clanking loudly as he hit the stone floor.
His torch went flying from his hand, sailing down the corridor until landing in front of his assailants. There were five of them, all children, and they didn't look happy. A girl in armor, another with a whip, and three boys.
"What the f-"
"Hold him down!" The armored girl commanded, and the three boys rushed forward. He tried to get up before they could reach him, but his own armor made that harder than it should have been, and soon the three were on top of him. One holding each arm, and the big one on his back.
He looked up at the two girls in annoyance as he slowly overpowered the children. "Nice try, but it'll take more than a dog pile to beat me-"
"Now, break them!" The armored girl said, issuing another command.
He looked at around at the children in confusion. 'Break them? What is she-?!'
A glance at the boys on his arms made it suddenly apparent what their goal was. Both had pulled a hammer out from somewhere in their oversized clothes and were lifting it over their heads. Their targets were obvious, and he began to panic.
"No, wait! Not that!"
The sound of glass shattering rang out as the two swung down on each of the man's gauntlets, smashing the glowing purple part in the center of it. The light then began to fade from the gauntlet, until they were completely dim.
A moment later, the guard began to shrink, until he was the same size as the children surrounding him. Once the process was complete, he climbed out of his now oversized armor, and realized that he was surrounded and defenseless.
"Now…" The armored girl began, holding her sword up to his naked chest. "You're going to tell us where our friends are, correct?"
"I can't believe that guy told us everything." Lucy said in amazement as they ran down the halls of the temple
"These Dark Guilds are always the selfish and cowardly type. Once they lose their unfair advantage, they'll do anything to protect themselves." Erza sneered.
"I'm just glad these hammers worked." Grey said, looking at the weapon in his and Natsu's hands in amazement.
"They're special hammers tuned specifically for magical equipment. I usually use them to fix my armor, but magic is inherently fragile, so if you set them the right way it can easily have the opposite effect." Erza explained.
Their first victim proved to be quite the talker after pointing a few sharp objects in his general direction. He revealed that he was a part of a Dark Guild called Succubus Eye and was helping their parent guild research the effects of something called Moon Drip.
He was unaware of the nature of the demon's curse but did reveal that whatever was turning people into children was their doing. He also told them about the two white haired women they'd taken as prisoners recently, and where to find them.
Lisanna had been taken down to the cells at the bottom of the temple's basement only a couple hours ago, while Mira had been kept closer to the center of the temple. Apparently, their higher ups were 'interested' in her.
As they approached a branch in the path, Erza turned her head to address the others. "Alright, this is where we split. Lucy and Natsu, head further down to the cells. The rest of us will recover Mira."
"Right!" They all agreed in unison, before they reached the fork and the two groups went their own separate ways.
Natsu pounded his fists together as he ran, trying to calm his nervousness. "Come on Lisanna, we're almost there! Please just be careful until then!"
Lisanna wandered around her cell for the fifth time in the past minute. Or was it the sixth? She was having a hard time keeping track of the time, between her current blindness and the lack of anything to do.
There wasn't even a guard to yell at her to be quiet or anything. As far she could tell, anyway. After a minute straight of yelling herself hoarse earlier, there wasn't a single other sound. No steps, no shuffling, and no voices.
She couldn't believe it! Were they so confident she wouldn't get out that they didn't even bother to leave a guard?! The thought annoyed her greatly, not only with her captors, but with herself. Because they were right, she really couldn't do anything.
The cuffs around her wrists were more like two gauntlets connected with a short chain, meaning with a bit of bending she was able to work her hands from behind to in front of herself. She then spent some time feeling around her cell. She honestly didn't learn much with that other than its general size. Three stone walls and a row of iron bars.
Her next step was trying to get her cuffs off. She'd need her Magic to get out and save her sister, and if what that Lamy woman said is true her cuffs were what was preventing its use.
She tried everything she could think, from banging them into each other or the cell bars, to even biting it! Unfortunately, she didn't have the strength or bite of a Dragon Slayer, and any attempt to remove the restraints seemed to damage her more than the cuffs.
And so she was stuck. As she was there was no way out of this cell. The only option was to wait until an opportunity presented itself, likely in the form of a guard checking in on her.
The sound of footsteps could be heard approaching for the first time since she had awoken. The sound of armor rattling could also be heard as the figure approached. Lisanna immediately focused, walking to where she thought the center of the cell was and preparing herself.
"Oh, you're still awake?" A female voice asked. It was muffled, as if they were wearing a helmet.
"What are you here for? What do you want with me?" Lisanna asked, fishing for information.
"I'm afraid what we're doing here is top secret." The woman replied smugly. "That said, you'll likely be getting a firsthand look at it soon, once we're done with your friend."
"Wait, what do you mean? What friend?" Lisanna asked.
"I assume she's related to you, judging how similar you look. Well, except for all of that." She mocked.
Lisanna still knew what the guard was referring to without needing to see where she was looking and tried to cover her scars despite her lack of ability to do so. "What are doing to Mira?!" She demanded.
"Hell if I know. But considering the mad scientist setup that bunny looking freak has going on in there, she probably won't be leaving in one piece." The guard shrugged.
Lisanna rushed over to the bars separating her from her captors, gripping them in anger. "I swear if you lay a finger on my sister-"
There was a loud clang as the guard banged the bars back. "You'll what? Fight me? Someone like you probably couldn't even beat a child." The guard laughed.
"Really? I was pretty sure I could take you on, but maybe I underestimated your age." Lisanna said back.
"Why you little-!" The guard began, before stopping herself and letting out a laugh. "Oh, I see what's going on here. Nice try, but I'm not that gullible. But if you really want the cell door opened that badly I could always have one of the guys come down to check on you next. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to let themselves in."
Lisanna cringed at the woman's laughter while she made such threats. She knew the people she was dealing with were likely amoral, but experiencing their attitude firsthand chilled her to the bone. She was about to give up and go sit back down, when a peculiar sound could be heard approaching down the hall.
It sounded like two pairs of feet approaching, but the clanging of armor couldn't be heard with them though. She doubted it was the two that were here when she woke up, considering the pace they were approaching at.
"What the hell?" The guard muttered under her breath, finally noticing the sound that was quickly approaching. Lisanna could hear her turn to look down the hall. "Who goes there-"
"Fiery Sneak Attack no Jutsu!" A voice that Lisanna hadn't heard in years shouted.
"What type of attack is-Gah?!" The guard suddenly shouted and there was a great crash as she presumably fell to the floor. Armor banging against the ground and much grunting reached Lisanna's ears.
"Natsu?! Is that you?" Lisanna asked with a mix of hope and confusion. Maybe the time spent in the cell had made her crazy, but Natsu sounded like he was far younger for some reason.
"Yeah! I'll, ugh, get out out in just a moment! I just need deal with this- ow, fuck! Lucy, a little help here?"
"I'd be able to help better if you didn't run ahead!" A prepubescent voice said with a huff, far different from how she remembered Lucy sounding as well. For some reason, the two of them sounded half their age.
There were some more sounds of struggle, and a few moments later there was the sound of glass shattering, followed by the guard howling in annoyance. "What do you think you brats are doing?! I'll kill you! I'll, I'll…" as the guard threatened her friends however, her voice began to change, growing in pitch. By the end of her rant, she sounded like she was no older than 10. "Uh…"
Something slammed violently into iron bars in front of Lisanna, and she heard someone fall over a moment later.
"There, problem solved!" Natsu said cheerfully.
"Geez Natsu, did you have to be so rough at the end there?" Lucy (at least she assumed it was Lucy) asked.
"It's not like their actually kids. Besides, if they messed with Lisanna then they had it coming." Natsu said in disgust.
Lisanna was still having trouble believing her ears. "Natsu, Lucy, is that really you? Why do you two sound so weird?"
"It's some weird magic these guys are using. It turns us all into kids. I guess you wouldn't know about it if you've had the cuffs on this entire time." Lucy explained.
"Speaking of, step aside! It's time we got you out of there!" Natsu said.
Lisanna stepped to the side, hopefully out of Natsu's way. A moment later there was a great bang, and she heard the door to her cell fall to the floor.
"There, now to get those cuffs off." Natsu continued.
"How are you going to break it if you're both kids?" Lisanna asked.
"What do you think this is for?" Natsu said cheekily, obviously presenting something in his hands.
"Umm… what is it?" Lisanna asked, hoping it was not an easily identifiable item.
"… it's a hammer?" Natsu answered after a moment of confusion.
'Drat…'
"Lisanna, are you okay? Why aren't you looking at us? You know neither of us care about how you look. Or..." Lucy said, before gasping. "They didn't do anything to you, did they?!"
"No!" Lisanna said immediately. "I mean, they didn't hurt me at least. It's just that they used some sort of anti-magic on me and my eyes..."
She could hear Natsu's anger growing clearly. "What?! Those bastards! Once I'm full sized I'm going to tear them all in half!"
"I don't follow. What do her eyes have to do with anything?" Lucy asked, surprised at her fiery friends' sudden outburst.
"I have artificial eyes. I had to get them due to my… previous injuries." Lisanna explained.
"Oh…" Lucy finally realized. "So, since they ran on magic…"
"Yeah." Lisanna finished lamely.
"… Grahh! Just thinking about this is pissing me off! Just hold your hands out so I can break you out of here before I feel like clobbering bad guys." Natsu said.
Lisanna held her arms out, and she felt something slam into the gauntlet on her right wrist. There was the sound of glass shattering, and she felt her Magic slowly returning to her. As Natsu began to reel back for his second swing however, Lucy suddenly shouted, realizing something important.
"Natsu wait! The curse-"
"Huh?"
Too late, and the second gantlet broke just like the first. Lisanna felt the Magic flowing back into her but was immediately overtaken by an entirely different feeling.
"W-What's happening to me?" Lisanna asked as her body began to change, shrinking down in size, until she felt almost half her previous age. She quickly realized the little amount of clothes she still had on had fallen off completely and was entirely exposed. "My clothes!"
Lucy just sighed. "That is what has happened to everyone on the island. Welcome to the club. Here, my old set of clothes have probably dried by now, let me help you." She said, summoning a set of clothes with her Magic. "Natsu, give us some privacy."
"Huh, why?" Natsu asked.
"Why-? Because Lisanna needs to change! Go keep watch or something!" Lucy demanded.
"Fine, fine!" Natsu agreed in a huff, muttering as he walked away. "So sensitive. You don't see anyone else complaining…"
Lisanna could hear Lucy let out another weary sigh at Natsu's antics as she helped her change into the oversized clothes. "Seriously, does he have no sense of privacy?"
"Not really." Lisanna laughed. "I've tried everything I could to knock some decency into him, but after a while I realized it was a lost cause."
"I can't believe he does that to everyone." Lucy admonished.
"It's not like he purposefully goes out of his way to peep on girls. If you don't make a fuss of it then he won't."
"But he keeps sneaking into my house all the time! What's that about?" Lucy complained.
Lisanna stopped changing for a moment. "That's… different. That just means he thinks of your place being as much a home as his own. At least, that's how he explained it to me."
"If that's the case then his home must include half of Magnolia."
Lisanna could practically hear her friend's eyes rolling while she talked. "Actually, he only does it with my room. Well, until you joined at least. Now he hops between the two of us."
"Really? Why would he-"
"Hey, are you two almost done? I'd like to get out of here before another guard shows up." Natsu said from further away, still sounding grumpy at being forced out.
"Just about!" Lucy called back, before making some final adjustments to her friend's clothes. "There. it's not perfect, but it'll do."
"Finally, we can get out of here!" Natsu said, reaching over and grabbing Lisanna's hand, before walking off with her right behind him.
"We can't leave yet! What about Mira?" Lisanna asked as she followed along.
"Erza's team is dealing with it. Our job was to leave as soon as we found you, and I don't know about you, but I don't dare go against her orders." Natsu said, fear heard in his voice.
"That's right! Speaking of orders, why are you here Lucy?!" Lisanna asked, suddenly remembering that this was an S-Class Mission.
"Because I couldn't leave your idiot brother to run off after you by himself." Lucy revealed to her. "And besides…"
"What?"
"Well, I knew you'd have run off to rescue me no matter what, so I wouldn't be a very good friend if I didn't do the same." Lucy explained, a hint of embarrassment caught by Lisanna's ears.
Lisanna felt herself smile at her friend's declaration. She held out her other hand, an felt Lucy grab it a moment later.
Natsu laughed happily. "Of course you're a good friend! You know I'd do the same for either of you as well, so don't worry. The three of us will always protect each other!"
Lisanna didn't need to see to know Natsu was beaming one of his trademark smiles back at her. It was like she could feel the warmth radiating off him. He was right, the three of them would be able to protect each other, no matter what came their way.
Deep in the underground passages of the temple, Doriate walked slowly and alone in the near darkness. Despite his calm exterior, the man was wound up inside, ready to pounce at every shadow.
His every instinct told him there was prey to be hunted. And thus, he prowled the halls like a hungry beast looking for its next meal. His eyes, well adjusted to the darkness by now, analyzed every brick of the run-down corridor for clues.
Finally, he noticed something right in the middle of the path. It looked like an ordinary stick or branch, but if that were the case then it had no reason being down here. He reached down and picked up the object, bring it up to his face and taking a sniff.
'Oil…'
One of his men must have dropped their torches. And he doubted they would have purposefully left it here. Most of those idiots had a fear of the dark that made most children look fearless. So, what happened?
Doriate found his answer as he reached the end of the corridor. Checking one of the nearby alcoves, he found bits of armor shoved haphazardly into one corner, along with a tied up child, likely one of his guards, in another. Between them was a hole in the wall, easily big enough for a person to walk through. The conspicuous passage seemed to slant upwards, and while it was easy to get mixed up this far down, he was willing to bet it lead to somewhere outside the ice wall that currently separated the temple from the rest of the world.
'Perfect.' Doriate thought, before kneeling down and untying his guildmate. He then gave him a few rough taps on the cheek. "Wake up!" He demanded threateningly.
The child immediately shot up. "Y-Yes sir! I wasn't slack off I swear!" He said in a hurry, before noticing his miniature stature. "How did I-?! That's right! Boss, there's intruders!"
"You don't say." Doriate replied dryly, reaching into a pouch on his waist and pulling out two more Moon Drip Cuffs. "Put these on. I want you to figure out where this leads and have guards placed there."
The guard saluted, before taking the gauntlets. "Got it! I'll also make sure the temple is put on high alert-"
"No."
"No, sir?" The guard faltered.
"We don't have enough men to fully search this place without them possibly slipping through. No, continue as normal. We'll let them think everything is perfectly fine, and have them come to us." Doriate revealed.
"Excellent plan sir! I'll be sure to be discreet." The guard insisted.
While the guard changed, Doriate merely sat and waited…
For the hunt to begin.
Further into the temple, three children snuck down an ancient hall. Unlike the bottom levels, these halls were lit with torches, indicating common use.
"Alright, we should be almost there." Erza whispered.
"I hope so. We've been searching for a while now." Gray said in an equally hushed voice.
"Does anyone think it's weird how few guards we've seen?" Elfman asked.
"It is rather odd, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth." Erza replied.
Outside of a close call or two, they've barely ran into a single guard. They haven't had to even fight anyone yet. They worked their way (hopefully) closer to the center of the temple, preparing for any possibility.
"Considering how important Mira appears to be to them, I doubt we'll be so lucky once we find her." Grey guessed.
"I don't care if there's an entire damn army up there! I'll save my sisters!" Elfman exclaimed dramatically, somehow being both loud and quiet at the same time.
Erza shook her head. "Hopefully we can just release her and run. A prolonged fight is the last thing we-"
"GRUAAAAAAAAAA!"
A monstrous scream suddenly echoed against the temple walls. All three of them nearly jumped out of their skins at the blood-curdling roar.
"What the hell was that?" Erza asked, ears still ringing.
"It can't be him…."
"No, Mira…"
Erza turned around to see both Elfman and Gray cowering in fear. "What's wrong guys? Do you know what that sound was?!"
"Of course I do. It's only the sound of the monster that killed my family and haunted my dreams for years." Gray said dramatically.
"I only heard it once, but it was definitely a monster. One that hid inside my own sister, waiting for a chance to break free." Elfman added.
Erza's eyes widened when she realized what they were saying. "You don't mean that…"
"Yeah…" Grey nodded. "That was the roar of the Demon of Destruction, Deliora!"
Next Chapter: Devil's Duet, Beastly Brawl
