IMPORTANT: I DO NOT OWN THE COVER PHOTO OR ANY OF THE FAIRY TAIL CHARACTERS/PLOT: ALL CREDIT GOES TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS!

~LITERALLY YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!
-I cannot express my gratitude enough for all the amazing reviews, and spam of Favorites&Followers this story has gained. I appreciate all of you guys so much and always love any input you provide! Thank you so much for all of your support with time between updates and your understanding of the things going on in my life. As usual, enjoy this new chapter and let me know what you think of it!

HAPPY SPRING BREAK! (Well what's left of it anyways)

*wordcandy: In response to your review I have tried to fix the spacing/format of my paragraphs. I'm still fairly new to writing and still getting the hand of everything, but did my best to start a new paragraph each time a new speaker was introduced! I'm hoping that this is what you meant by your comment. If not, would it be too much trouble for you to elaborate?

-I will be responding to other reviews at the end in the A/N. Thanks again~


-Galuna Island : The Following Morning-

Lucy woke up with a face-full of sand and a giant crab right next to her head.

Much to the blond's relief her silver exceed was sleeping peacefully, and still cradled protectively against her chest. The night before when Lucy and her friends were violently thrown from their boat by a monstrous wave, the girls instincts kicked in and she immediately grabbed her exceed and used her arms to shield her head. Aside from Draco and her Celestial Spirits, Saiya was the most important thing to Lucy. She was the glue that held her life together, and without Saiya by her side Lucy didn't think she could keep living. So upon seeing that her silver-companion was alive and uninjured a sigh of relief left the blonds lips. After sitting up with a groan Lucy took a moment to take in her surroundings.

Happy wasn't too far to her left. He too seemed virtually uninjured but was sleeping in one of the most uncomfortable positions Lucy had ever seen. His head was sticking out from under the wooden boat, which was crushing all of his body below his neck, with a piece of seaweed stuck to his head. Further down the beach, but only a few feet away, was Natsu who was literally sleeping hanging upside-down from a tree. Somehow a piece of rope had wrapped around his feet and got entangled with the branches of the tree, causing him to be suspended in the air and to sway with the breeze. "Honestly," Lucy scoffed. "How can he have such bad motion sickness, but can handle being hung from a tree and tossed in different directions?" She asked herself. While Lucy would have rather stayed on the topic at hand she knew she had to find the last member of the team.

Lucy had no sympathy for Gray when she found the place he was sleeping in. He was laying on a rigid boulder that was almost boiling under the sun's immense heat, and she could only imagine how red his skin had to be since his pants and shirt was elsewhere on the beach. Lucy didn't quite understand how he still managed to strip with his hands and feet tied, but she guessed that there was nothing you could do to stop a pervert's habit. Inwardly Lucy was glad that he managed to land in, what she considered, the most painful spot because he did insult her Celestial Spirit's abilities -twice. Which is why as she glanced at the giant crab that still hadn't moved since she woke up a sick plan began to form in her mind.

After gently placing Saiya on the ground Lucy scooped the crab up into her hands and slowly crept toward Gray's sleeping figure. In the blink of an eye she had grabbed the front of Gray's boxers and shoved the crab in, making sure that she did it aggressively so that the animal would get mad, and waited for the fun to begin.

Gray woke up with an agonizing scream and a giant crab pinching him...


Natsu was still laughing and it annoyed Gray to no end. "It wasn't that funny, idiot flame brain!" Lucy's little prank back at the beach made everyone wake up and as Team Natsu looked for the village, which was located somewhere in the center of the island, Natsu wouldn't stop talking about it. Needless to say, Gray didn't find it funny.

"N-no, it really was!" He cried. "Y-you s-screamed like a little girl! I don't think I've ever seen you strip so quickly either!" Natsu snickered, as he hunched over in laughter.

Scowling, Gray glared at the pink haired boy and clenched his fists. "Yeah? Well I'd like to see you wake up with a big-ass crab in your pants!"

"Would you two idiots stop fighting and hurry the hell up? We found the village so we should get a move on." Lucy interjected from several feet away, as Saiya gently placed her back on the ground. "Might I remind you that the next person the old man is likely to send will be Erza? If we don't start the mission now then we'll definitely be in trouble." She added from over her shoulder. "Or you could just stay there and keep arguing like children. I don't exactly mind getting all the credit for finishing an S-Class request."

"O-Oi wait! We can't let her beat us Happy! Let's go!" Natsu roared, as he took off after the blond.

"Hey! I'm not gonna let you two make S-Class before me!"


"Anyone home? We're wizards from Fairy Tail responding to your request!"

Lucy's eye twitched. It had been an entire minute since she announced her teams presence, and no one came out to greet them or even give a simple response to signal that anyone was there. Natsu quickly suggested that he could just break them in with a 'Fire Dragon Iron Fist', which Lucy had immediately shot down, forcing the Fairy Tail wizards to patiently wait in silence. "C'mon Luce! Why can't I just burn a way in? Its just wood!" The pink haired mage groaned.

"Because Natsu. They obviously have a gate for a reason so we can't just go destroying it for absolutely no reason." She sighed.

"Eh? But if I burn it down because we're trying to get in, then wouldn't that count as a reason?" He questioned.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Lucy sighed again. "That's besides the point. We're not just going to burn-"

"Huh? Wizards from Fairy Tail? Show us your guild marks!"

The sudden pair of voices made Team Natsu freeze, and look up at the top of the gate in surprise. Lucy slowly lifted her right hand and Saiya spun around to show off the golden mark on her silver fur. Happy removed his green knapsack, Natsu turned to show off his forearm, and Gray lifted his shirt in order to expose his chest. The colorful array of guild-marks made the two men gasp and scramble to open the village gates.

"I-It's Fairy Tail! I-It's really them! Someone, hurry! Open the gates!"


"I must formally apologize for the previous delay. We were never notified that you accepted our request, you see, so we didn't prepare for your arrival today. I am Moka the village chief, and on behalf of my people I would like to thank you all for coming. But all pleasantries aside there's something you need to see. Now my people! Show these wizards what the curse has done to us!" As the villagers removed their cloaks Lucy's eyes widened in surprise as she recognized their demonic limbs, and remembered when Bobo showed her his own cursed arm. "Not a single person on this island has been spared from the curse placed on this island, including the animals. Everyone here has suffered terrible disfigurements because of it."

Shaking his head in confusion, Gray stepped forward with a serious question. "Pardon my rudeness, but how are you even sure that this is the result of a curse? This could just be an infectious disease or a sickness for all we know."

"That's a very good question young man, but we know for a fact that this is no sickness. We have called several doctors and medical officials for inspections but none of them can diagnose us with any type of disease." Moka explained. "However, after the moon was placed under an evil spell and turned the color purple our symptoms suddenly began. Unless you can provide us with another explanation we have no choice but to believe that none of this is a result of a disease."

"Huh? You think this is because of the moon? I've never heard of a spell that can do this. Have you, Lu?" Saiya murmured, as she turned to face her blond friend.

"As far as I know there's no such spell. But at the same time, I haven't felt any effects of this so called 'curse'. If the moon's effects are so widespread that it's effected every person on this island then I should have at least detected something by now. Unfortunately I don't know how much help I can actually be. Because I use magic related to the stars I don't know that this curse could even effect me." Lucy sighed while the clouds began to move away from the moon.

"L-look! It's starting to come out from behind the clouds!" Happy gasped, as he saw the purple glow.

"Oi Lucy. Get behind me." Natsu exclaimed before coming up behind the blond girl. "We don't know how this curse will effect you. So stand behind me." Meanwhile, all the villagers began to scream as their bodies began to fully change. Natsu unknowingly reached back and grabbed Lucy's hand before tugging her closer to his body as to further protect her from the moons light. Some of the villagers dropped to their knees during the transformation and others clutched their faces in agony while body parts turned into monster-like limbs.

"I a-apologize if this transformation has frightened you. This is what happens to us every night that the moon comes out. If this isn't a curse then what else could this be? By morning we will return to our normal human forms, but some of my people suffer for an eternity because they can no longer return to normal. And for these poor unfortunate souls I have no choice but to put them to death. It's not fair to these people to let them continue suffering when they've already succumbed to an irreversible transformation. I should know, I had to kill my own flesh and blood; my son, Bobo." The village chief cried. "Please lift this evil curse from our island. I fear that if it isn't lifted soon we will all fall victim to it, and then we will be forced to die!"

"We're not gonna let that happen!" The two dragon slayers chorused much to the villagers surprise.

"There's only one way that this curse will come to an end. The moon... the moon must be destroyed!"


As Lucy unpacked her bag Gray and Natsu watched her with a keen eye. She was frowning and her eyes were darker than normal which had raised their concerns. "So Lucy, there's really nothing you can do? I mean, we couldn't possibly destroy the moon." Saiya murmured.

"With or without my dragon slaying magic there's nothing that I can do. As far as I know nothing is wrong with the moon. What concerns me is that it only looks purple from on the island. When we were sailing over here it looked the same as it always did." Lucy explained, as she clenched her fists. "But I can't help but feel like we're missing something big. I don't know what turned the moon a different color, or why the villagers only change when it's out at night. Something else has to be here that we don't know about which is causing them to react this way."

Lucy yelped in surprise as she felt an arm wrap around her stomach, and her body slung over someones shoulder. "Well, there's nothing that we can do about it right now. We'll start the investigation in the morning, so we might as well get some sleep now." Natsu said with a nonchalant expression.

"H-hey, Natsu! P-put me down!" Lucy yelled, as she thrashed around in the boys grip.

"For once I agree with you, flame brain. I could use some shut eye right about now." Gray grunted as he laid down on his futon.

"Yep! Good night Luce!" Natsu grinned after laying the blushing girl down. "And don't let the bed slugs bite!" He laughed.

"..."

"It's bed bugs bite, you idiot. Where'd you get slug from?"

As Natsu and Gray's playful banter died down, and all her friends fell asleep, Lucy finally grabbed at her shoulder and grimaced. She refrained from telling anyone how badly her scar was burning, or how it suddenly flared up when Natsu had touched her skin. For a moment it felt like Lucy was suffocating, and the shadows around the room looked like they were crawling up the walls. But as her two companions snoring reached her ears the pain momentarily died down. "Draco.. What did you do to me?"


-The Following Morning-

Lucy barely slept throughout the night. Two of the three male members of her team snored all night, which had unfortunately kept her awake the entire time, and because of the immense pain in her shoulder that never seemed to stop burning. Without anything to do she set out into the forest while her friends were asleep and did some investigating on her own. Which brings us back to the current situation Natsu and Gray woke up to. "What the-?! Lucy's missing!" Happy screamed, as he pointed at the empty bed.

"D-don't tell me that the curse actually reached her? What if she's out there in a cage or something?!" Gray yelped.

"There's no way I'm lettin' them kill Lucy! Gimme back my friend!" Natsu roared, as he jumped out of the window with a flaming fist. Gray followed the pink haired boy closely as he sprinted into the center of the village, yelling profanities about what he'd do if Lucy was actually hurt. The villagers walked toward the slayer in confusion and quickly tried to calm him before he suddenly went on a rampage and destroyed something.

"You mean your blond friend? Oh, she left a little while ago. Said something about how she was going to search the rest of the island for clues on what caused the curse. Why? Did she not tell you?"

Natsu, needless to say, was absolutely confused. He didn't understand why Lucy would suddenly leave without telling anyone, especially without knowing that types of effects the moon's light could have on her. Not only was she at risk by not knowing what the moon could do, she also couldn't use her dragon slaying magic. What was to say her Celestial Spirits alone could protect her from anything else inside the forest? The unsettling feeling in Natsu's gut only grew as he considered all the bad things that could happen to Lucy when she was alone, and in the blink of an eye he was sprinting through the woods tracking her scent.


"Lucy! Where are you-?!" Natsu fell to the ground with a grunt, as his body suddenly collided with something.

Groaning, the person sat up and gingerly rubbed their head. "Jesus Natsu! Look where you're going why don't you?"

"L-Lucy, you!" He gaped. "W-where were you?!" Natsu demanded, as he roughly grabbed the girl by her shoulders.

Flinching Lucy shoved Natsu away and slowly stood up from the ground. "You two were snoring so loud that I couldn't fall asleep. I didn't see the point in waiting around for you guys to wake up, so I decided to go looking around. What's the big deal anyways? Did something happen back at the village?"

"Did something happen?! You weren't there when we woke up, that's what happened! What was I supposed to do if something happened to you, huh!?" Natsu yelled in fury. "You can't just leave without telling anyone and not expect anyone to worry about you!"

"No one asked you to worry for me, Natsu! I was planning on coming back to get you guys so there's no need for you to be mad at me!" Lucy fired back feeling just as angry,

As the two Dragon Slayers fought they were unaware of the creature sneaking up behind them. The giant rat snickered evilly and swiped at the two wizards before spraying a green gas from it's mouth. Natsu and Lucy narrowly avoided the animal's claws and yelled in surprise as the gas quickly surrounded them. "Ice Make: Shield!"

Gray showed up in the nick of time and protected both of his friends from being engulfed by the rat's spray with his ice creation, while Natsu and Lucy quickly covered their nose. The rat took of running and Lucy grabbed her two companions wrists before turning on her heel. "Follow me!"

After using some of their magic to defeat the giant rat Lucy led her team to the Temple of Moon. It was a broken down building with a ceiling that was falling apart, and was almost completely covered in cobwebs. Gray talked about the irony of the situation, how there was a temple dedicated to the moon on an island cursed by the moon, while Natsu pointed out how unstable the floor was while he pounded his feet on it. "I found this place when I was out searching last night. But I didn't look very far into it because you guys weren't with me. Maybe now we can actually-!" Lucy's statement was cut off with a surprised scream as the floor suddenly crumbled from underneath her feet. Saiya quickly grabbed onto her blond friend and activated her wings, while Natsu, Happy and Gray all fell into a lower level underneath the temple.


Lucy's pain skyrocketed when her feet touched the ground, and she collapsed to her knee's when Saiya set her down. Natsu turned around in confusion when the girl's gasp reached his ears while Gray visibly froze in the background. Lucy began to clutch at her shoulder while she squinted up at Gray, struggling to form the words that she wanted to say. "G-G-Gray!" The blond stuttered, as her vision began to fade. "Y-y-you c-can't g-go n-n-near t-t-that!" Lucy cried. She tried to crawl toward the ice mage but the pain building up in her shoulder proved to be too much when her arms came out from under her. "I-I-It's... I-It's..! D-D-Deli-" Before Lucy could finish her warning her body slumped over and her eyes rolled shut.

"This can't be!" Gray screamed. "What's this doing here?! It's Deliora! What the hell is it doing on Galuna Island?!"

"Listen, Gray! I don't know what's going on here, but something's wrong with Lucy! She passed out for some reason and she's burning up! C'mon man, you have to come help me!" Natsu yelled, as he pulled the girls head into his lap. "Gray? Are you listening to me?!"

"Deliora.. The demon of destruction.. Just how did it get here?!"

"Gray this isn't funny! Something's seriously wrong with Lucy, and I think I hear somebody coming! Are you even paying attention to me?!"


Inside Lucy's dream she was near snowy mountain next to a woman's house. Inside she could hear two young boys arguing and the woman laughing. As she approached the window she saw a boy that really resembled Gray, and another person with white hair that looked like the ground outside. "Honestly Gray when will you ever learn? At this rate you'll never be a great Ice Wizard like me, or Ur!" He snickered. Lucy couldn't help but think that they truly resembled a family, and for a moment her heart thumped painfully.

"Draco.. Why did you leave me?"


A/N: Was this new format easier for everybody to read? Thank you everybody for all the amazing reviews!

-Shunakoo25: I wish Gajeel and Wendy would show up already too, but I do have to follow the stories plot! I promise I'll try to get to those arcs soon!

-Darkverger1: I'm glad that you think so, and Lucy's magic will be unsealed soon! Thank you for your support with everything that's been going on.

-Trewill91: OK LITERALLY I LOVE YOU. I swear its like every-time I get a review it's from you and I love it so much! It's so great that you not only leave reviews but provide legitimate points that I need to address (like the one about rocks and stardust). Thank you~~

-OtakuGabby: I'm so glad that this story is one of your favorites, and I promise that I will try and update again soon.

-Guest: I didn't know that Lucy's ability to merge with her spirits was called Star-Dress form because I don't follow the manga, sadly. For now I'm going to continue calling it what I already do, and I will incorporate the actual term later on in the story, unless it becomes a big problem that bothers everybody. Thanks for letting me know!

(*I will be responding to more reviews in the next chapter if I haven't gotten to you yet!)

Before I end this chapter I just really wanted to let you all know how much I appreciate you. When I first started this story I never imagined that it was ever going to become this big or get such great readers. I cannot express how much I appreciate each and every one of you. Your feedback and constant reviews not only encourage me to write to my best ability but help me become better a better writer as a whole. Thank you so much for being so patient with me and with the awkward periods of time between reviews. I love you all so much, really, thank you!

HAS ANYONE EVER BEEN TO OHIO?

So, if you didn't know, I'm in an art program called Winter-Guard and my season is quickly coming to an end. I literally have one competition left and then my season is over, and I'll actually be free for updates pretty much every day! This last competition is the most important and I'm traveling from North Carolina all the way to Ohio. I'll be gone for roughly 5 days (Wednesday-Sunday) but I promise that I'll be free to update after that. I'll get to see guards from all over the world, and I'll be missing everyone during the time that I'm gone!

I'll try to update in the next 2 days but I will be practicing for most of the time, so please continue to be patient with me. (it will pay off I swear)

I really just want to thank you all again for supporting me in this rough time that I've been going through, I cannot thank you enough!

Leave a review, and favorite/follow if you haven't already! (Holy crap we've almost reached 200)

-xxTheNightmareBeforexx