The six Fairy Tail Mages continued to sprint through the forest and away from the temple full of Dark Mages. They had narrowly escaped, slipping through a hole they made in the 'unmeltable' ice wall. But that did little to solve the issue of a dozen or so armed guards that were likely after them.

"Keep running! We must reach the village before they catch up! We can't fight them all as we are!" Erza yelled from the front of the pack.

"I don't see anyone chasing us though. Do you think they gave up?" Gray asked as he glanced behind himself.

"Why would they? Slow down if you want, but I'm heading as far away from this place as possible!" Lucy said in a huff.

Natsu looked back as well into the darkness. "Sorry Luce, but we'll be going back there sooner than you think."

"What, why?!"

"Because we still have a job to do."

As they ran, the clouds above began to darken and stir, as if a storm had begun to build.


Back inside the ancient temple, Doriate turned down another dark and damp hall towards Lamy's makeshift lab. He wasn't looking forward to explaining how they lost so spectacularly to a bunch of children. He was knocked out of his worry suddenly when a great crash could be heard echoing across the hall. It was as if someone had overturned a table of silverware.

'Don't tell me there were more intruders!'

Doriate immediately began to sprint the remaining distance to the lab. He whirled around the corner and leapt through the doorframe. "What's going on in… oh."

The entire lab has been trashed. Both tubes were broken, the liquids inside spilt onto the floor. Half the room appeared to be frozen solid, and what remains was smashed to pieces. In the middle of it all sat Lamy, clutching an ornate book and crying her eyes out.

"It's just not fair! It's not, it's not, it's not!" The demon whined like a child.

Doriate simply let out a sigh and braced himself. "What happened here?" He asked hesitantly.

"What happened?!" Lamy said accusingly. "What happened is that a bunch of kids came in and stole my best subject! Where the hell have you been?!"

"Dealing with the kids who went after our prisoner. And no, we didn't catch them." He added before Lamy could ask.

"What. Happened." Lamy asked angrily.

"Turns out keeping anti-magic material near a magical wall wasn't the best plan. They used the Moon Drip to make a new hole in the wall." Doriate explained. "I swear, they're craftier as children. I don't think setting up that device to project the Law of Retrogression everywhere on the island has made our job any easier."

"Do you have any good news?" Lamy asked, glaring up at him.

"Well, we know where they're headed, so if you want us to deal with them…" Doriate trailed off, glancing down at the book in Lamy's hands. "What's up with the book? Is that Deliora's true form?"

"Ah, that's right!" Lamy exclaimed. "I need you to bring the first woman we captured back here as soon as possible!"

"And why's that?" Doriate asked. Lamy responded by flipping open the book and pointing it in his face. The text on the pages were entirely alien to him. "What exactly am I supposed to be… looking… for." He quickly noticed what was so strange about the book. At the bottom of one of the pages, the demonic text was slowly fading away, as if it was floating off the pages. "That's not normal, right?"

"Of course, it's not normal!" Lamy complained. "I thought the transfer was complete, but it appears even with Deliora removed there is still some sort of connection between the book and the girl. Furthermore, she has a strong enough control over that connection to drag Deliora back into her, word by word! Her strength of will must be incredible to force a demon like Deliora under her will."

"I doubt that's what it is, considering she was out cold last I saw her." Doriate pointed out.

"What?" Lamy squeaked. "But if she has this kind of power without even trying…" She suddenly shot up and looked Doriate in the eyes. "Forget capturing her. If she wakes up, she's likely to undo all my work. Get out there and kill her!"

"If time is of the essence, then I'm afraid I got more bad news." Doriate revealed. "They've probably made it to the demon village by now, and without magic that wall of theirs will take time to get through."

"You are just full of disappointment tonight, aren't you?" Lamy said spitefully.

"You're the expert here! Is there really no way to slow the process?" Doriate growled, patience waning.

"It's a bit more complicated than a little tape!" Lamy began to rant. "If Deliora could form a will of its own somehow the process would be slowed considerably, but I don't have time or equipment to grow an Etherious from scratch! Where would I find a perfect host for- oh!"

"What?" Doriate asked, worried at the girl's sudden silence.

The scientist began to giggle, looking down at the book in her hand. "Of course, that would solve both my problems at once." She looked up at her partner with a glint in her eyes. "Well, Doriate, looks like you'll get your end of our deal sooner than expected."

"What is that supposed to- Guh?!" Doriate choked in surprise at a sudden pain in his gut. Looking down he could see that Lamy had somehow wedged the book into him, which was slowly pulsing as it sunk into him. "The hell? What are, agh, playing at Lamy?" He got out before the pain began to spread around to the rest of his body, bringing him to his knees.

"It's rather simple. I'm just turning you into a temporary container for Deliora so he can stay together for a little longer. You'll transform a bit, and your instincts will naturally draw you towards your missing half. Killing two birds with one stone, literally!" Lamy laughed. "Don't worry, I'll turn you back to normal afterward. Well, if you have any will of your own left, that is."

Doriate continued to writhe on the floor as his body began to change, his skin changing colour and horns growing from his head. He tried to reach out to Lamy, glaring at her through the pain. "Damn you, you witch! Damn yo-argh! Ahhhh!"

Doriate began to slowly grow larger and more demonic by the moment. Soon his curses devolved into incoherent growls and yells as the transformation overtook him. He suddenly turned away from Lamy and launched himself out of the room, likely towards the other half of the demon he'd now become.


"Quick, open the gate!" Erza shouted as they finally reached the village. The wooden gates slowly opened, and she and her friends rushed through. A moment later, the gate slammed shut behind them, and the Mages could finally catch their breath.

"Thank goodness we made it." Lucy sighed. The others all just grunted in agreement.

"What happened out there?" The village elder asked, the demon curse and childlike appearances resulting in a most inhuman clash.

"The temple has been taken over by a Dark Guild." Erza began to explain, as the rest of the village gathered. "We were able to retrieve our friends, but they proved to much for us to defeat at the time."

The villagers quickly began to shout in surprise and worry.

"Dark Mages? How do we fight that?!"

"If these people couldn't beat them, what hope do we have?!"

"We're doomed! Forever cursed!"

"ENOUGH!" Erza shouted over them all, regaining their attention. "Don't lose hope just yet. While we may not have beaten them tonight, we learned much about our enemies. I promise as a member of Fairy Tail that we'll complete this job."

"Damn right!" Natsu agreed, pounding his fists together.

"It would look bad to leave our work half finished." Gray added.

This calmed the villagers down, and they quieted down. Erza then continued to speak. "That said, could you look after some of our guildmates. They've been through a lot and could use rest." She gestured back to the Strauss's.

The elder nodded, his youthful body and energy betraying his true age. "Of course. After what you've done, it's only fair."

Just then, the village darkened, the moonlight being cut off. With the moon's rays gone momentarily, the villagers returned to being human. The elder looked up with a cautious glare. "The clouds have begun to stir so rapidly lately. This isn't good."

"What's so bad about some cloudy weather?" Lucy asked.

"The weather around here usually comes in cycles." Another villager began to explain. "It's far too early for a storm like this to be brewing, and so quickly as well. I fear a big one is coming."

Elfman looked up at the sky as well. "That doesn't sound good. But maybe it'll keep those Dark Mages away if they know what's good for them."

"Either way, let's get some rest. Tomorrow will be a big day." Erza said, ushering the group towards a nearby hut. She cast a glance up at the growing storm before she entered, feeling something in the pit of her stomach.

'Something about this doesn't feel right to me. Is it just nerves, or is there something more to this feeling?'

She eventually turned and entered with her friends, attempting to push the feeling to the back of her mind.

Up in the sky the clouds began to slowly swirl, as rain gently fell to the ground and thunder echoed in the distance.


"What do you mean we can't come along tomorrow!"

"Lisanna, you're blind." Erza said tiredly. "And I know your magic mitigates it, but you're still not at 100%."

Lisanna's magical bat ears twitched in annoyance but she remained silent, unable to come up with a proper counter.

"And Elfman, that Full-Body transformation obviously took a lot out of you. You need to rest up too." Erza added before he could voice his complaints as well. "Besides, someone will need to keep an eye on Mira while we're out. I'm sure she'd prefer you two to be by her side when she wakes up."

They both nodded in begrudging agreement, but Lisanna muttered something under her breath that Erza couldn't catch.

"What was that Lisanna?" Erza asked seriously, expecting a compliant. The youngest Strauss sibling fidgeted for a moment, before repeating her comment in a louder voice.

"I said she'd probably prefer you to be by her side just as much." Lisanna said, averting her gaze.

Erza's eyes widened at the comment, before coughing awkwardly. "Yes, well, we are friends. But I have a job to do so…"

There was an awkward silence in the tent, as everyone simply listened to the sound of rain against its fabric. Eventually, Lucy decided to finally speak up.

"Speaking of the job, how are we supposed to complete it? We still don't know what's causing the curse, and we don't have the element of surprise anymore." Lucy asked.

"Not entirely. Just because they know how we got in, it doesn't mean they can prevent it. And I fear the element of surprise stopped existing when Mira first showed up." Erza explained.

"There seemed to be mentions of Moon Drip everywhere there. From what I remember, it's a magic gained from collecting the light of the moon. But it's not something you can just do in your backyard." Lucy said.

"How do you know so much about it?" Grey asked.

"As a Celestial Spirit Mage, I got obsessed with looking up and trying all kinds of Magic related to space." Lucy said happily, before her face fell. "I wasn't very good at a lot of them."

"So that comment about your backyard-"

"I was ten, okay?" Lucy interrupted. "You need to set up a complex and ancient ritual for it to work properly, apparently. That must be what the temple is for."

"You would be correct, young lady." The village not-so-elder confirmed. "The temple back in the day was used to worship the moon itself. Unfortunately, those who followed the faith left ages ago, and the place fell into disrepair."

"So, their goal is to gather up this Moon Drip? But then what was that crazy lady doing with Mira?" Elfman questioned.

"Deliora. They were after Deliora." Gray said.

"You mean that big-ass demon Erza's mom beat?" Natsu asked.

Gray nodded. "Yeah. Mira absorbed it, but it appears these guys were trying to take it out of her."

Erza thought back to the room they found Mira in, and she remembered something important. "That's what that second tube was for! And the roar?"

"The same as Deliora's. Trust me, I'll never forget that nightmarish sound." Gray admitted somberly.

Everyone was quiet after that, only the sound of rain remaining once again. The sound of thunder could also be heard in the distance, slowly growing louder.

"Well, we're not getting any work done in this weather. Let's rest up and try again tomorrow." Erza insisted once again.

Everyone began to slowly make their way to beddings that had been provided by the villagers. As they got into the sheets, Natsu could be heard grumbling. "It's going to be impossible to sleep with all this noise. How much louder is that thunder going to get?" The Dragon Slayer moaned.

"It is getting rather loud. And there sure is a lot of it." Lisanna agreed.

"At least you can put your fancy super-ears away. No earmuffs are going to help me." Natsu complained.

"We're not in danger of being struck by lightning, are we? If a freak storm passes overhead, what's to stop it from frying us?" Lucy asked, glancing at the roof of the tent worriedly.

"it's fine. The villagers said storms happen all the time here, remember? I'm sure this place is sturdier than it looks." Erza reassured. The thunder suddenly stopped, and she motioned up at the sky. "See, it's already passed."

"GRUAAAAAAAAAA!"

Everyone suddenly shot up as a terrifying roar echoed throughout the village. A moment later, the loud booms could be heard again, but everyone quickly realized it wasn't thunder.

Elfman glanced around in shock. "That roar again?! Don't tell me it's-"

"No! It's impossible!" Gray shouted frantically, running out into the rain.

"Gray, wait!" Erza shouted, as she and the others quickly followed.

They ran out and chased the icy boy up one of the lookout towers near the wall of the settlement, except for Lisanna, who waited at the bottom. Once they reached the top, the source of the noise became readily apparent.

As tall as the trees stood a great Demon. It seemed to grow with each step, pulsing with a monstrous energy. It was still a way off but was clearly shambling in their direction.

"That's Deliora?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"It's… smaller than I thought it would be." Natsu said, almost disappointed at the living calamity walking towards them.

"It's barely half the size it used to be, but it looks like it won't stay that way." Gray said, noticing the way Deliora seemed to be slowly increasing in height.

"Damn, how are we supposed to kill that thing?! We can barely take a full-grown adult!" Lucy questioned.

Deliora stopped walking again, and a ball of energy began to build in its mouth.

"Hey guys, is it just me, or is it looking right at us?" Elfman asked nervously as the energy grew larger.

Erza's eyes widened. "Everyone down, now!"

Everyone began to scramble off the tower, climbing and jumping over the side. A second later, a beam shot out of the demon's mouth, arcing across the treetops toward the village. The beam reached the tower they had been standing on and it was quickly vaporized as the beam continued.

A great explosion could be heard off in the distance wherever the attack landed, and all the villagers suddenly ran out in a panic.

"What was that?!" Lisanna asked, as all the villagers gathered around them.

"Deliora is out there somehow and seems to want to destroy us." Erza said.

"What do we do?" One of the villagers asked.

"The only thing we can do, fight!" Natsu proclaimed, before Lucy and Lisanna both smacked him over the head.

"Are you insane?!" Lucy yelled.

"The strongest members of our guild barely beat that demon! What chance do you think we have?" Lisanna asked incredulously.

"Well what else can we do?" Natsu shot back.

Erza let out an insufferable sigh. "Natsu is right, unfortunately. It seems Deliora is in a rage, and no amount of complaining will put us out of its sight."

"I… suppose you have a point. But how do we fight it? Can we even scratch it?" Lucy asked.

There was a silence as everyone tried to come up with a plan. It was Gray who spoke up first. "I have a way to stop him, though it's a last resort." He declared.

"What would that be?" Erza asked immediately.

Gray hesitated for a moment before explaining. "It's called Iced Shell. It's the ultimate Ice Magic, and traps whatever is targeted in an impenetrable shell of ice."

"That sounds perfect!" Lisanna said.

"Yes, too perfect." Erza agreed while giving Gray a look. "What is the downside to this 'ultimate' Magic?"

"The reason that the ice is so strong is because it's made out of the user's body and soul." Gray answered.

Lucy gasped. "What? But that would mean…"

"Yeah, the user sacrifices themselves to become the ultimate prison." Gray said in a melancholic voice. "I had planned to use it on Deliora, back when I ran away. Of course, Ur stopped me before I could go through with it."

"…" Natsu stared at the somber Gray with an odd seriousness. He slowly wandered over to the Ice-Make Mage, raised an arm…

And slugged him in the face.

Gray nearly fell over at the sudden blow. "Guh?! What the hell was that for, you flaming bastard?!" He shouted, grabbing Natsu by the scarf.

"That was for suggesting such a stupid idea! You'd have to be an idiot to think we'd go along with a plan like that!" Natsu shouted back, gripping Gray's currently oversized shirt.

Gray butted heads with Natsu in annoyance. "At least I have one beyond trying to punch it in the face! We don't have many options at the moment! It's not like a way to beat him will just magically fall from the sky!"

Just then, something fell from the sky into the center of the village, throwing up dust and causing the villagers to scatter.

"It's throwing stuff at us now!"

"Everyone get to cover!"

As the dust began to settle however, the members of Fairy Tail recognized what had landed inside the village.

"No way, how did that get here?" Gray asked in disbelief, his feud with Natsu forgotten.

Sticking out of the ground stood a pillar of magenta ice, the same colour as the mysterious wall that protected the temple. It stood at least six feet tall and was perfectly cylindrical.

"Did the demon manage to break off a piece of the wall and chuck it at us?" Lucy asked.

Erza shook her head. "No, it wasn't carrying it a moment ago. Besides, it's form is too perfect to have been broken off."

Gray looked at the object for a few more moments before wandering over to it. "Hmm. Elfman, Natsu, help me get this thing out of the ground."

"Uh, sure." Elfman shrugged, and the three soon began to pull the icy object out of the ground.

With one last tug the pillar was removed from the ground and tipped over, revealing a pointed end. It looked like a giant peg of sorts.

"Great, now what are we supposed to do with this thing?" Natsu asked unimpressed.

"Heh, just shows how little you use that head of yours." Gray smirked. "This right here is our ticket to victory. Ice Make: Ballista!"

With a trained motion, Gray summoned an apparatus of ice, designed like a giant crossbow.

"I see!" Elfman exclaimed. "If we use the weird ice as a projectile, we're sure to do a ton of damage!"

Erza hummed in thought. "It is our best idea so far, but there's one major problem."

"What's that?" Lisanna asked.

"We only get one shot." Erza explained. "Your ice isn't likely to do much damage, meaning this one bolt is all we get, unless more start magically falling from the sky."

"So? It's a big target, how hard can it be to hit?" Natsu grumbled.

"Unfortunately, the bigger it is the more likely we won't hit something important. Not to mention Deliora is famous for the punishment it can take. Unless we can guarantee a decisive blow, this plan is still up in the air." Erza finished.

"We'll just have to take the chance! Unless one of the villagers happen to be an elite archer, we have no other options!" Natsu said, already pushing the ballista towards the gate.

"Wait, that's it!" Lucy suddenly shouted. Everyone turned towards the Celestial Mage expectantly. She walked over to the village elder and held out her hand. "Elder, we need our reward early!"

Everyone present tripped to the floor in disbelief.

"Lucy?!" Lisanna gasped in disbelief.

"Now is hardly the time for that!" Erza said.

The village elder looked like he was about to agree with Erza, but before he opened his mouth a look of understanding appeared on his face.

"I see, wait here a moment." He said, before quickly turning and entering one of the tents.

"HE AGREED?!" Natsu and Gray both yelled, mouths agape.

The elder exited from the tent as quickly as he entered. He held out his clenched fist, unfurling it and dropping a gold key into Lucy's hand. She held the key up in the air, drawing up all the magic remaining in her small body.

"Open, Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"

In a flash of golden light appeared an odd man. He was dressed in an old looking style of clothes and had a hood and sleeves that made it look like the man was part horse. In one hand he held an ornate short bow.

"Hello! How may I assist you, my new master?" The Celestial Spirit asked formally with a bow.

"Oh right, Sagittarius is the spirit of archery!" Good thinking Lucy!" Lisanna praised.

"Sagittarius! Sorry, but we don't have time to make a formal contract. Can you help us with this?" Lucy asked, gesturing toward the freezing ballista.

Sagittarius looked at the device quizzically. "Hmm, this weapon is a bit different than my usual preferences, but I can assure you I will be able to aim just as well! What is my target?"

"That." Natsu answered, pointing out the now open gate towards Deliora. The demon had approached much while the Mages had come up with a plan.

"Ah… I see." Sagittarius stuttered. "Very well, I shall line up the shot." The spirit quickly moved to the ballista and began to adjust it.

"Uh, are you going to fire it, or…" Natsu asked.

The Spirit continued his adjustments, not even turning to answer. "Ensuring an accurate shot with a device such as this requires great calculation. Weight, angle, distance, and weather must all be factored in. I should be able to fire in about 60 seconds."

Just then, another ball of energy began to charge in Deliora's mouth, as it stared directly at them.

"I don't think we have 60 seconds!" Elfman shouted.

"At least it's standing still now. This is a much easier shot." Sagittarius said happily.

"Damn! We have to block as much of the attack as we can!" Erza shouted, running to the front of the village. She Requipped as much of her Adamantine Armor as she could onto her tiny body, almost dragging the half-circular great shields on each of her arms along the ground.

She lifted the shields up and locked them together, summoning a magic barrier along with providing a great physical defence. However, due to the shields each being larger than herself, they began to fall back due to the weight.

"Come on, hold damn it!" Erza growled as she began to falter under the wait. The weight suddenly lifted, and she looked around to see Natsu and Elfman helping to hold up a shield each. Ice also began to appear, creating support fo the shield and additional barriers. Erza looked behind herself to see Gray standing there. "Guys, thank you."

"Save the thanks for after we're safe! Here it comes!" Gray shouted.

With a great roar, a beam of energy shot out of Deliora's mouth directly at the entrance of the village. It hit the shield, and the Mages all buckled under the pressure. Ice could be heard shattering, and cracks could be seen forming in the shield.

"Just a little more!" Erza yelled. With a great explosion the beam reached its conclusion. The force shattered the shield into a million pieces and the four of them went flying back, but the village was miraculously unharmed.

"All lined up!" Sagittarius said.

"Fire!" Lucy yelled.

"Yes ma'am! Flèche du Diable: Baliste Style!" With a shout, Sagittarius pulled the firing lever for the ballista, launching the magenta bolt across the stormy night sky.

Deliora, still recovering from its attack, didn't have a chance to dodge. The projectile aimed true, striking the demon right in the heart. It staggered forward for a moment as if the attack hadn't happened, but soon the great monster fell forward onto its hands and knees.

Deliora began to growl, which slowly grew into a roar that grew louder and louder as it reached a massive hand out towards the village. When the wailing ceased so did the demon's body, and it slumped over unmoving.

"Is… Is it dead?" Lucy asked.

"It isn't moving. I can't believe it, we actually beat Deliora?!" Gray asked hopefully.

Natsu laughed happily, still lying on the dirt. "You're damn right we did!" He cheered.

The villagers soon followed suit, and soon the entire village was celebrating wildly, drowning out even the stormy weather around them.

"It appears my work here is done. I look forward to our official contract!" Sagittarius said with a salute.

"Likewise, Sagittarius. We couldn't have done this without you. Thank you!" Lucy said as the Celestial Spirit's gate closed, and he vanished in a golden glow. As soon as he disappeared, Lucy fell to her knees in exhaustion.

"Lucy! Are you okay?" Lisanna asked as she and Elfman rushed over to her.

"I'm fine guys, really." Lucy assured them. "I just went a bit overboard summoning so many Spirits in one night."

Elfman chuckled, holding out his arm. "I know how you feel. Come on, let me help you up- Gah!" He cried out suddenly, clutching his outstretched arm in pain.

"Elfman?!" Lisanna cried in worry.

"It's nothing. Just landed on it funny is all." Elfman tried to deflect.

"Don't try to act all manly now. Let me ice it." Gray said bemused. He walked over as well and began to create ice on Elfman's bruised arm.

As they helped each other out, Erza wandered over to the still knocked down Natsu. "Need a hand?" She asked jokingly.

"Nah, I don't feel like moving right now. I think I'll just nap here until tomorrow." He said tiredly.

Erza let out a laugh, giving the Dragon Slayer a warm smile and holding out her hand. "Out in the rain? Come on, get up."

"Fine." Natsu pouted. As he got up, he looked past Erza and up at the sky in confusion. "Uh, what's up with the sky?"

"Hmm?" Erza turned to follow his gaze, and a feeling of unrelenting panic came over her without warning.

The clouds in the sky had began to swirl around a single point, and in the eye of the storm there was a great white light. The core snapped with lightning of the same bright colour.

"That's not a normal storm…" Natsu said obviously. He looked over at Erza to ask her about it but noticed the panic on her face. "Hey Erza, what's wrong? Do you know what that is?"

"No." Erza said, staring wide-eyed at the phenomenon. "No. But for some reason I have this thing bouncing around my head, shouting that if we don't run away then we're as good as dead!"

Natsu looked alarmed at his usually stoic guildmates panic, but before he could respond a beam of light reached down from the storm and engulfed the island in a blinding light. Looking around, the two could see the surroundings become bleached and sucked up into the sky.

The light grew greater and greater, until they were blinded by it. A great force pushed them down, and suddenly they found themselves unconscious.


Natsu tried to open his eyes but found everything around him was still dark. He tried to move his limbs but found them weighed down by something on top of him.

'I've been buried?! Crap, what just happened? There was a great light and then… The others!'

Worried for his guildmates, Natsu began to push up against whatever held him down, clawing through the material like it was sand. He felt a hand reach open air, and soon a faint light could be seen.

"Aaaah!" Natsu gasped, breathing deeply as he reached the surface. As he caught his breath he looked around at his surroundings in confusion. "Where the hell am I?"

The land around him had become completely barren. There were no trees, no buildings, or anything else that could be used to discern his location. His surroundings were nothing but a sheet of white, as if the entire land had been reduced to ash.

Natsu slowly got up, and quickly realized something important. "I'm big again!"

Checking himself over, he quickly confirmed that he was indeed the proper size. His clothes were rather tight and awkward, but they were loose fitting enough that he could at least move.

Before he could begin to explore however, a hand shot out of the ground beside him. It clawed at the air dramatically, waving around wildly.

"Ahhh!" Natsu shouted, before stopping and looking at the arm closely. "Wait that looks like… Erza's arm!" He quickly grasped the hand and helped tug her friend from the ash.

Erza appeared in a cloud of dust, coughing and sputtering as it flew everywhere. "Thanks, Natsu." She said as she brought herself to her feet as well.

"No problem! Do you have any idea what…" Natsu began to ask before stopping abruptly.

Erza gave Natsu a perplexed look as the dust finally cleared. "Is something wrong Natsu?" She asked, following his gaze down to notice that her armor was missing, along with most of her clothes. "Kya!"

With an incredibly uncharacteristic squeak, Erza quickly used her Requip to materialize her usual armor. In a flash she was back to looking decent. "It appears we're back to normal again." She said as if nothing had happened, if you ignored that her cheeks were as red as her hair.

"Yeah, we are. But I'm not sure where we are." Natsu said. "We need to find the others as soon as possible."

As they discussed a plan of action however, the ground a few feet away shifted, and something emerged from the earth. Natsu and Erza got ready for a fight but instead of some monster appearing, a walking, talking, grandfather clock strode towards them. There was a pane of glass on the front of it, showing four fully grown Mages crammed inside. The pane swung open, and Lucy, Gray, Elfman, and Lisanna all stumbled out.

"Jeez, could you take up any more space?" Gray shouted at Elfman.

"It's not my fault! And put on some clothes you streaker!" Elfman shouted back.

"You're one to talk! It's not my fault my clothes vanished! We all have the problem, just look at Lucy!"

"How about we don't!" Lucy yelled as she ran behind Horologium and summoned new clothes to change into.

"I can't believe I'm thankful for being blind right now." Lisanna mumbled as the others continued to bicker and change.

"Guys, you're all okay!" Natsu cheered, running over to them.

Grey stopped butting heads for a moment to acknowledge Natsu. "You guys are okay too? What the hell just happened?"

"Can you tell us what happened, Horologium?" Lucy asked as she emerged from behind her Spirit looking slightly more modest.

"I'm afraid not." Horologium responded sadly. "I merely detected a great amount of magic and activated my Automatic Danger Response Mode."

"What happened to our clothes though?" Elfman asked.

"The technique prioritized your bodily safety over all else. Apologies, but I brought clothes from the Celestial Spirit World along with me." The Spirit responded. They all looked at his interior, and sure enough, a pile of clothes lay inside.

"Uh, thanks." Gray said, reaching in and picking up the clothes. Horologium then disappeared back through his gate, leaving half of the Mages to awkwardly change in silence.

After everyone changed, they circled up and began to figure out where they were.

"So, what exactly happened? And where's the village?" Lucy asked.

"I think this is the village." Erza revealed.

"What, really?! What makes you say that?" Natsu asked.

"That's still here." Erza said, pointing up.

The others (excluding Lisanna) followed her finger to the clouds above them. The storm appeared to be dissipating, but it was clearly the same swirling pattern from before.

"But if we didn't move then what happened to everything else?" Lucy asked, growing slightly panicked.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but could someone give me more detail on what's around us? I haven't got much out of you guys other than it not looking good." Lisanna reminded them.

"Sorry Lisanna. What's happened to the surroundings is that they've disappeared. Everything is flat and bleached, like a sheet of white." Erza explained to her blind companion.

"There's nothing at all?" Lisanna asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, it's weird as hell. At least whatever was keeping us small disappeared as well." Natsu added.

"Still, I think our first step should be to look around for anyone else that remained. Me and Natsu were fine for some reason, but there's no sight of the villagers or- Mira!" Erza suddenly remembered.

"She was sleeping in one of the huts! Sis could be buried anywhere around here!" Elfman said.

At that, everyone immediately shot off and began searching for their missing friend. They began digging through any large pile of ash, hoping to find Mira buried within them. After a few minutes of searching, the mood began to turn.

As Erza searched another pile futilely, she felt the face she was putting on for the others begin to crack. 'Damn it! We came all the way out here to make sure you were fine! Lucy and your siblings risked everything to help! You can't just disappear after that!' Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted a hand sticking out of the ground. She immediately began digging around the limb. 'Please be Mira, please be Mira!' Eventually, a familiar mop of white hair could be seen. Erza quickly unburied the rest of her, and found her friend unconscious, and wearing a black and white dress. She couldn't help but cry out in relief. "Mira!"

Everyone turned at the cry, and quickly ran over.

"Sis! It's really her!" Elfman cried.

"Is she okay? Is she injured?" Lisanna asked frantically.

"She looks unarmed, and her breathing seems normal. But it appears she still hasn't woken up yet." Erza said as she checked her friend over.

"For now, maybe. But we should get her back to Porlyusica as soon as possible." Gray suggested.

Natsu looked over surprised. "I agree, but what about the mission?"

"What about the mission?" Gray shot back. "In case you haven't noticed, the entire island has disappeared. There's no one lest to do the job for."

Erza nodded in agreement, answering before Natsu could start an argument. "Gray is right. At this point, out only option is to go back to the Guild and report this incident to the Magic Council. Hopefully they'll have some insight into what happened here." She finished with a sigh.

"Sounds good. Just one problem though." Lucy asked Erza.

"And that is?"

"How are we getting back?"

"… Oh." Erza tried to come up with an answer but quickly realized she couldn't. "Does anyone have an idea?" She asked lamely.

"We could swim back." Natsu suggested immediately.

"Not all of us have your inhuman stamina!" Lisanna yelled.

"Hey Gray, could you make a boat?" Elfman asked.

"Not one big enough for all of us. And I'd need to stay on board to ensure it stays together, so I can't just make a bunch of them. I could only take half of us." Gray said.

"Then how about I take the other half on my boat?" A familiar voice called out from above them.

"Who's there!" Erza shouted, as everyone took a defensive stance.

They looked up to see a winged demon floating there in the moonlight. He appeared to be a grown-up version of the demonified villagers. He floated down in front of the group, holding his hands up placatingly. "I happen to have a boat a bit offshore. It should easily carry half of you." The demon said.

"That voice, where do I know it?" Lucy asked out loud.

"Mr. Boatman? What are you doing here?" Lisanna suddenly asked.

"Mr. Boatman? Wait, you're the guy who gave us a ride to the island! How are you a demon? Is the Demon Curse still around?" Lucy asked the inhuman sailor.

"Nope, it's all gone now, see?" The man said, pointing a demonic arm at the moon above him. With the storm clouds now gone, the moon easily shone in the night sky with its normal golden glow. The alien purple light that had covered the island was surprisingly missing.

"Sweet, I guess we did complete our job after all!" Natsu cheered, before Gray slugged him in the back of the head.

"Idiot! We had nothing to do with it!" Gray shouted. "Wait a minute. If the curse is gone, then why are you still a demon?"

The man's face fell at Gray's question. "I suppose I can tell you all the truth now. It matters little now. Come, I'll tell you on the way back."


It was midday before the Fairy Tail Mages were able to return to Magnolia. The boat ride took almost until sunrise, and even the first train from Hargeon to Magnolia didn't arrive at its destination until the sun reached its peak. Luckily, they were able to catch up on their sleep on the train ride. Except for Natsu, who spent most of the time moaning and groaning through his motion sickness.

As they walked down the familiar streets of Magnolia down to the Guild Hall, they all mused on what the boatman had told them.

"I can't believe that the villagers were actually demons the entire time." Lucy muttered.

"It all seems a little far fetched, but it does add up if you think about it." Erza said. "Why they couldn't approach a holy temple. Why the island was considered cursed long before this so called 'Demon Curse' existed."

"We were never able to figure out what that Dark Guild was after unfortunately. Not that it matters since they vanished along with everyone else." Gray said. "If they were after a monster like Deliora, it couldn't have been good."

"I just hope that Mira will wake up soon." Elfman sighed.

"Ah, don't worry! Mira's tough as hell, so I bet she'll be up in no time!" Natsu comforted cheerfully. "And when she does, Lisanna will be right there with her!"

Erza nodded in agreement with Natsu's statement. Mira and Lisanna had been left in the care of a perturbed Porlyusica. She was rather upset at the number of injuries the group had accrued in a single night, but eventually she just relented and kicked the rest out so she could get to work. Hopefully fixing Lisanna's eyes should only take a day or so, and she'll be back with the rest of them in no time. Mira's condition was up in the air however, as they had no idea when she would wake up. All they could do was hope and pray.

"So, what do you think that freaky storm that destroyed the island was? I've never heard of anything like it." Lucy asked.

"I don't know what caused it, but I felt something rather odd afterwards." Erza said. "The air itself felt empty, like the magic had been drained out of it."

Elfman thought back and tried to recall if he noticed anything. "The magic itself? It did feel a bit odd, but I suppose I didn't try to use magic afterward. I was running pretty dry already."

"Tell me about it. Things got pretty damn crazy." Gray moaned. "Between the demons, Dark Guilds, and being turned into kids. It's a miracle we didn't have to walk back to town naked." He said, mindless to the shirt he had just tossed off.

"Like you would have even noticed if you were wearing clothes or not." Natsu said, giving Gray a glare.

Everyone finally let out a laugh at the two's antics. However, Gray's words reminded Erza of something she hadn't realized until now. 'Mira was wearing a dress when we found her, right? But she wasn't wearing anything when we brought her back to the village. Hell, Elfman barely had time to through his shirt around her. So where did that dress come from?' Erza mused.

As they neared the Guild Hall the atmosphere around them grew strange. The townspeople were oddly quiet and kept giving them worried glances.

"What's up with everyone?" Lucy asked, picking up on the mood.

Gray simply shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm sure all will be explained when we reach the… Guild?!"

"What the hell?!" Natsu shouted as the Guild Hall of Fairy Tail finally came into view.

The Guild Hall was damaged extensively, with great iron rods sticking out of the structure at all angles. It was totally trashed, and the culprit was obvious, as they had hung a flag with their symbol over where Fairy Tail's mark was displayed.

"Phantom Lord… Those bastards!" Natsu growled.

"Everyone, you're back already?" A voice called from inside the hall. Levy soon ran out to greet them, followed by the rest of Team Shadow Gear.

"Levy, are you okay? What happened here?" Lucy asked her friend.

"It's Phantom Lord! They've really done it this time!" Levy said worried.

"This is more extreme than usual. The Master is going to have a headache dealing with the paperwork to fix the Hall." Elfman said in agreement, but Levy shook her head.

"The Hall? Who cares about the Hall!" Droy cried.

"Yeah! We've got bigger problems!" Jet insisted.

"Bigger problem? Just what did they do?" Erza asked. But at the question, Team Shadow Gear appeared to hesitate and refused to look directly at her, causing her to grow more worried. "Levy, please. What happened!"

Levy's eyes teared up a little, and she finally looked Erza in the eyes. "Phantom Lord took Wendy! They kidnapped her!"

Next Chapter: Declaration of War