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

I'M BACK WITH THAT NEW CHAPTER I PROMISED~~~~

OH MY FREAKING GOD WE HAVE 201 FOLLOWERS ON THIS STORY! YOU GUYS ARE LITERALLY THE BEST, I'M FREAKING CRYING RIGHT NOW. I LOVE YOU ALL!

**This is chapter is in real time. It's no a flashback scene!**

ENJOY!


-Galuna Island : Below the Temple of Moon-

As he sat underneath the old, abandoned temple Gray had a lot of time to think. Something, he wasn't exactly sure what it was, clicked inside of his brain when his eyes first landed on Deliora, and memories of his childhood came flooding back. They ranged from bright glimpses of training with Ur and arguing with Lyon to dark recollections of when everything went wrong, eventually leading to Ur's death. A particular memory, though, brought him more surprise than the typical sadness associated with his past. It was weird having a new memory to a past that he thought he knew everything about, but it was also oddly satisfying knowing that there was a brighter twist to his story. This was just one that he knew nothing about; until now.

So, with a lot of time to waste, Gray was able to dissect this memory and think about what it had to do with his new blond friend. He thought about what had happened when they first met, why he couldn't remember who she was when they saw each other again, and, more importantly, how Lucy would react once she finally woke up from her seemingly endless sleep.

He imagined that when the blond did wake up she would be dazed, or at least in a state of slight confusion. He envisioned that she would slowly glance around the cave as to take in her surroundings, ask what happened to her, and console her hysterical exceed that barely left her side. Along the way, amidst the chaos, she would nod his way, acknowledging what had happened between them, and that would be the end of things. They wouldn't make a big deal out of what had happened or of their shared memory, and they would instead keep is as a secret a secret that just the two of them would bear. Yet he had so many assumptions about how Lucy would react when she finally came to her senses that he wouldn't be prepared for the real thing. Everything that Gray thought was going to happen was so far off base that it was almost laughable. Because when Lucy finally did wake up she didn't do anything close to his assumptions.

"Gray, you bastard!"

Lucy launched to her feet in the blink of an eye with a feverish shriek falling from her lips. She lunged at Gray's unsuspecting figure like a maniac before latching onto his chest, her arms and legs pinning him from going anywhere. The Ice-Make wizard stumbled backward under the girls weight and his hands darted out to steady her body so they didn't fall over. For a second, Gray thought Lucy was mad at him. Her erratic behavior and actions all suggested that she was, especially because her fingers were digging painfully into his side, but when the soft melody of her laughter reached his ears he realized he was wrong.

When she glanced up to meet his confused gaze, Gray then noticed the teasing glint in her brown eyes alongside the small smile pulling at her lips, and as he looked down at her posture he saw that she was just hugging him tightly, not purposely trying to inflict his pain. She seemed genuinely happy to have seen him again, which was odd considering how mad she'd been at him when they first landed on the island, but he gladly welcomed the newfound emotion without difficulty.

"You know, it's rude to leave a lady by herself in the cold. Especially in an area that she's not familiar with." Lucy sighed in mock annoyance before pulling herself away from Gray. Her hand found its way to her hip and her head tilted to the left as she playfully glared at her friend. "Honestly! You'd think that your mother would've taught you some better manners!"

"Is that so?" Gray smirked back. "Well, then you'll just have to give this lady my apologies. I thought my help was more than enough. After all, I did give her my only jacket and it was freezing cold outside. I guess I'll have to apologize to my mother too for acting like such a barbarian."

Lucy huffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder at Gray's witty response. "Oh, you poor thing you! It must have been terrible to have to walk in the snow!" She snorted. Playfully rolling her eyes she added, "Don't worry about it. I'll make sure the lady gets your shitty apology."

Off in the background, Natsu made a sound as he slowly woke up from his own nap, and Lucy realized her peaceful moment with her old friend was about to end. With a small click of her tongue, Lucy turned on her heel and started in the other direction. As he glanced at her back Gray was immediately reminded of the end of their first meeting when both of them went their separate ways, and he was hit with a sudden feeling of melancholy.

"Hey Gray," Lucy glanced at him from over her shoulder and smiled softly. Almost as if her grin was contagious he felt his own start to form as she finished off her statement. "Thanks for everything you did for me that day. I don't think that I would I would be standing here right now if it weren't for you, so, you know, thanks."

"Yeah, no problem." He nodded his head. "Just let me know if you ever need to borrow my jacket again. God knows how badly you react to the cold!" He joked.

Lucy's eyes flashed mischievously as she said, "Aren't you the one who never wears any clothes? All of us would be lucky if you don't end up getting naked for a day, you damn stripper!"


Natsu waking up, however, was a completely different story. He had to be the most obnoxious and nasty human being that Lucy and Gray had ever seen; it was almost painful to watch him come to his senses. Half of his face was covered in dried spit due to the steady stream of drool that dripped out of his mouth, and to make matters worse, every time he breathed a giant snot bubble would pop in and out of his nose. As his brash snores echoed throughout the cave Lucy scrunched her nose up in disgust.

"That's nasty." She shivered.

As if hearing her voice was the only reason he woke up in the first place, Natsu's eyes shot open and he yelled in surprise, scaring Lucy half to death, before bolting to his feet. He tripped over himself and his sleeping exceed in the process, just so he could tackle the blond to the ground. When they hit the ground a loud thud bounced off the walls of the cave and the pinkette didn't waste any time in burying his face in the girls chest. Lucy violently writhed around in the boy's grip as she pushed and shoved at his face in an attempt to keep the snot and drool away, while Natsu talked enthusiastically about how happy he was to see that she was finally awake, and rubbed his face on her clothes anyways.

"O-Oi!" The blond cried as she tried to pry herself out of Natsu's grip. "Let me go! You're going to ruin my shirt!"

Much to her annoyance Natsu ignored her pleas and continued to do as he pleased. "You really are a weird one Luce! Who just passes out for no reason? You're the biggest oddball I know!" He yelled as he practically smothered her. With a more serious edge to his tone, though, he suddenly asked: "Why'd you pass out anyways? Are you sick or something?"

With a small scowl tugging at her lips, Lucy shoved Natsu away and looked at her hands so she wouldn't have to meet his prodding gaze. "I don't know, to be honest. All I really remember is falling through the floor and feeling an extreme heat coat my body when we got down here. I thought it was your fire at first but somehow I knew it wasn't, it was too different, and after that I passed out. I haven't got the slightest clue why any of this happened." She confessed.

"Well I don't know much about why this happened either but you did have a crazy fever for most of the time that you were passed out, which may explain why you felt so hot all of a sudden," Gray interjected as he found a spot on the ground to sit on. "Saiya said something about might knowing what was going on. She told me that you shouldn't stress about it because she had everything under control and that if you finally did wake up we were supposed to keep it that way."

As Natsu opened his mouth to say something another voice was added to the conversation, cutting him off before he could say anything. "And you did a good job doing exactly that," Saiya grinned. "Hey, Lu! Glad to see that you're finally up!"


Saiya floated to the blonds side and landed gently in her lap, a soft smile brightening her face upon seeing that she was awake. Lucy instinctively reached out and patted her exceed's head with the same happy expression written across her features. "Seems to me that you have an idea of what's going on here. Mind sharing with the rest of us? We're kinda just sitting in the dark here." She hummed.

"I'll tell you what I think is going on because I don't know that everything I'm about to say is going to be true, but it's all we've got so far and I guess that's better than nothing." She explained. "Now bear with me because I'm pretty sure that this might be hard to follow. I have reason to believe that you passed out because there's too much magic trapped inside of your body. Those runes that have been preventing you from using your Dragon Slaying Magic have flared up twice since we've gotten here when you've been sleeping, and I think it has to do with this 'Moons Curse' the islanders were talking about. Without realizing it you've always been slowly absorbing magic from the sky because it's another way that you get your element. But you've always absorbed it in such small amounts that you've never consciously realized that you've been doing it. Since this is such a natural process that your body goes through it's never been something you've had to worry about; until now." Saiya revealed.

"OK, so I've been absorbing stuff from the moon. Why's it affecting me now when it hasn't in the past?" Lucy questioned.

"I'm getting to that. Like I said, your body has always absorbed this natural magic in small amounts. But I believe that because there's some sort of curse on this island that's affecting the moon, you've started to absorb this magic rapidly in larger amounts. Normally this wouldn't be a problem for you, though, because you'd be able to naturally spend this extra energy by using your Dragon Slaying Magic since it uses the majority of your reserves. I think that those runes are doing more than preventing you from using your magic, even inadvertently, which is what's causing this problem to happen. Since we've gotten here you've barely used any of your Gate Keys, and since you can't use your other magic, you haven't really gotten rid of any of this extra energy."

Natsu scratched his head in confusion, not really following the conversation, but Lucy and Gray's eyes widened in realization. "Wait! So you're telling me that since I can't use my regular magic, and because I haven't been using my Celestial Spirit magic, all of this energy has just been building up in my body without anywhere to go? What happens if I don't continue to use any of it?"

"I don't know and that's what worries me the most!" Saiya frowned. "We have to get those runes off of you, Lu, before anything bad happens! I can't loose you!" The silver exceed buried her face in Lucy's stomach and started to cry, overwhelmed with the idea of never seeing her best friend again. "I don't want to imagine what'll happen if your magic continues to build up inside of you!"

"I don't understand a word any of you just said, but Luce has two magics right? Why can't she just use the spirit one and get rid of some of that energy?" Natsu called out.

With a sigh, Lucy shook her head disappointedly. "It's not that easy. All of my spirits have schedules, so I can't just call on them whenever I want. Besides, most of them would cause a ruckus and probably destroy something, and I don't really want this cave to fall in on us. Even if I were to call on someone other than the Zodiac I don't think that they would use up enough of my magic to actually make a difference. And I can't call on two at the same time either, so don't go suggesting that." She answered.

"But there has to be a spirit you can call on. Even if it doesn't use up a lot of magic they will be using some of it! That counts for something doesn't it?"

"I mean, I guess it's worth a try. Let me see..." Lucy muttered as she sorted through her keys. "Horologium's busy... Taurus will make a mess... I can't deal with Virgo's antics right now..." She said to herself before yanking a key off of her belt, a determined glint shining in her brown eyes. "Let's hope that you guys are right about this because I don't really want to pass out again. Open! Gate of the Harp Constellation: Lyra!"


-15 Minutes Later-

Lucy was already regretting summoning Lyra, and she hadn't even been out for that long yet. Thus far she'd whined about how the blond didn't call her out enough, to which Lucy had to remind her that she was the one who stated that she could only be summoned three times a month, called her a meanie, and sang a song that made Gray cry, but somehow managed to make Happy and Natsu feel content at the same time, so at least something good came out of her actions.

"Lyra has an ability to sing songs that relate to what her audience is feeling. She's the master of seeing into the heart." Lucy explained as Happy asked why Gray was so upset after her spirit finished singing.

"I'm also very knowledgeable of magic! Speaking of that, though, what's going on with you Lucy? I noticed a magic fluctuation in your body when you first summoned me. Is there something going on that your other spirits and I should know about?" Lyra questioned.

Sheepishly Lucy rubbed the back of her neck and looked in the other direction. "Ah, there's no need for you to worry about me!" She chuckled. "There's just some small stuff going on. It's nothing that's really important or life threatening." Lucy lied.

"Are you sure-?"

Lyra was cut off when the ground suddenly started shaking, causing Natsu to wake up as small rocks fell from the ceiling. A magic circle formed right over Deliora's frozen figure and began to emit an eerie purple light that seemed to make the ice melt. A wave of heat suddenly shot through Lucy's body and she had trouble keeping herself together. She didn't want anyone worrying about her more than they needed to, so she'd keep her pain to herself until a better time. It seemed that she couldn't hide it from everyone though because her spirit pointedly glanced at her in concern when she bit her tongue to hold back a pained cry.

"We need to find out where that light's coming from. C'mon!" Gray's yelled as he ran by, effectively snapping Lucy and Lyra out of their small staring contest. The blond slowly turned around before running after her team so she could catch up with everybody, and muttered a small apology under her breath as she passed by her spirit. Lucy couldn't tell what hurt worse: the pain her body was experiencing or the guilt she felt when she saw Lyra's hurt expression.


When they finally got to the top of the temple, Team Natsu was surprised to find a group of people standing in a circle, chanting some sort of incantation. They ducked behind a broken wall and watched as the worshipers carried out the spell in confusion, and whispered about what they thought was going on.

"They're collecting light from the moon and shining it on Deliora... But why?"

Happy almost screamed when Lyra came up behind him and Lucy had to slap her hand over his mouth to muffle the noise. "I can answer that. They're using an ancient spell called Moon Drip, probably to melt the ice surrounding Deliora." She explained.

Gray's head whipped around to look at the spirit in surprise, and he said: "That's impossible! Nothing can melt the Iced Shell!"

"I'm afraid that's not entirely true. If you're careful and perform the spell right concentrated moonlight can reverse any magical seal, even the famous Iced Shell. I'd guess that they're trying to melt the ice around Deliora in order to revive it." In the midst of the serious situation, Lyra grabbed Lucy's hand and pointed at the purple light. "I know that there are bigger problems going on right now, but I think that if you can get under that magic circle while they're still chanting the incantation there's a chance that the runes sealing away your magic could be broken*."

"Eh? That's a really good idea, Lucy! This might be the only time we have such a good opportunity!" Saiya whispered.

"I don't know exactly what's going to happen once you get under there, but you have to understand that if you do go under the Moon Drip you'll be taking a big risk. High levels of concentrated magic can really damage the human body, so there's no guarantee that you'll be safe if you're exposed to it. Calling out a spirit was a good idea to use up some of your magic, and I'm grateful that you decided to summon me for the job, but I think that's only a temporary solution for a big problem." Lyra added.

Lucy frowned at her spirit in uncertainty and said, "I don't know about this Lyra. I can't just leave everyone behind like this! Besides, it's too big of a risk. You said it yourself, there's no guarantee that I won't get hurt if I go under that light-!"

"No, you should go do this Luce. You're the Celestial Dragon Slayer! You eat stuff from the sky all the time, and you've already absorbed a bunch of this crap already! Who's to say that you can't just eat the light when you get under it? You deserve to have your magic back!" Natsu grinned. "You don't always have to fight by yourself, you know. It's alright to accept our help. We're friends, after all, so go and unseal your magic! We'll cover you!" Lucy's eyes widened at how genuine Natsu had sounded before she slowly nodded her head.

"Alright. It's a big risk but I'm willing to take it. You have to promise not to do anything stupid without me, though! God know's that you two love to get into trouble." She said. Saiya activated her Aera Magic and grabbed Lucy by her shoulders, not really giving her any more room to argue or time to change her mind. "I'm really sorry about lying to you Lyra. I just didn't want any of you guys to worry about me, so I didn't tell you the truth about what was going on." The blond explained as she glanced at her spirit. "But I promise that next time I'll let you know if something's going on with me."

Tears of joy swelled up in Lyra's eyes and she playfully cried about how "Lucy-chan is so cute when she apologizes" before giving her a big thumbs up. "Now go get em' kid! Unseal that killer magic of yours!" She cheered as Lucy and Saiya took to the sky. "You deserve to have it back Lucy. You're really too nice for your own good." Lyra giggled. "But I guess that's what makes you, you!"

"They're right, you know," Saiya said as she flew closer to the moon drip seal. "All of us are your friends so you don't always have to shoulder the burden by yourself. True strength is having the courage to accept help when you're down. You're the strongest person I know Lu, but that doesn't always mean you have to stand by yourself. Friends are there to stand with you. That's why I promise that I'll do anything for you! Because you're my best friend!"


The purple light was all she could see and for a minute, Lucy was consumed with panic. Now something terrible was going to happen to her, something even worse than having her magic sealed away! It was like when she and Saiya finally entered the Moon Drip and landed underneath its spell the world had stopped. Lucy couldn't hear the people underneath her chanting anymore or feel Saiya's small paws against her back. Something had to be wrong, this wasn't normal! Now she was going to turn into a hideous demon just like the islanders!

If she could describe the sensation in words it felt like she was suspended in the ocean. Lucy was aware that there was a world going on around her, she just couldn't experience it from underneath the 'water'. What was even odder though was that the heat Lucy previously felt had completely disappeared, and now she didn't feel any more pain.

When she glanced down at her arms Lucy could see that Freed's runes were shining brightly, the same way they had when she'd try to use her Dragon Slaying Magic, but were also peeling off of her skin like paper, and the panic she previously felt slowly faded away. Each word written onto her skin would shatter into thousands of tiny pieces and disappear into the purple light, never to be seen again. With each rune that disappeared it made her feel lighter than she had the minute before, and it was refreshing. It felt like she was being cleansed. It was as if this giant weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders, and she could actually breathe again. There was no more pain or discomfort, just the familiar warmth of her magic as it flowed through her veins. Lyra's plan had actually worked!

Gradually Lucy regained her bearings until she could see past the purple light and hear the group's chanting. Now it felt like the Moon Drip floated around her body rather than through it, and Lucy realized that it was because she didn't have a seal present on her body anymore. When Freed's runes locked away her magic the concentrated moonlight flowed through her body, from the inside out, to dispell the seal and get rid of it. But now that the runes weren't present anymore there wasn't a reason for the moonlight to enter her body, so it just flowed around her.

"Lucy...?" Saiya murmured as she looked down at the unmoving girl, worried that the Moon Drip hadn't worked and that something bad had happened in return. "Is everything OK?"

Smirking, the blond looked up at her exceed happily. "Guess who's back to being a Dragon Slayer again?"

"That's amazing!" Saiya said in awe before looking past her friend in confusion. "Hey, uh, Lu? That's great and all, but I think we have another problem..." She explained as the girl turned to look at what she was referring to.

"Just do what you've been told! Go and destroy the village! I'll handle these nosy wizards myself."

"Well, that's not good..."


Gray panted as the Cold Emperors magic clashed with his own. Shards of ice went flying in every direction causing Happy yelp as he was hit with a few. Natsu roared in surprise when a thick layer of ice encased his body, limiting his movements as it froze his arms and legs in place after he attempted to attack the armor wearing mage. "Lyon! What the hell are you doing?! Stop this insanity, right now!" Gray demanded as he stepped in front of his friend's body, acting as a human shield.

"My, my, Gray. It's been a while hasn't it? I haven't seen you since we were-"

"Celestial Dragon Iron First!"

Sherry cried out in horror as Lyon was roughly punched in the face by a golden fist and sent flying backward. His helmet hit the ground, creating an obtrusive voice that would make Natsu cover his ears if he could. Lyon glared at the blond that was tauntingly smirking at him, a cocky glint flashing in her eyes as she noticed the giant welt starting to form on his cheek. "Sorry but that creepy helmet had to go. Didn't anyone ever teach you how to dress? You'd think that girl back there would give you a little fashion advice!" Lucy's smirk grew to the point that you could see the edges of her sharp teeth, the glint in her eyes turning to something far more dangerous. "You know, I don't really understand why you'd think it's a good idea to revive Deliora, but let's get one thing straight!"

Lyon darted to the left to avoid Lucy leg as she attempted to kick him, a deadly snarl falling from her lips as she finished off her statement. "I won't forgive anyone who tries to hurt my friends! If you try to bring back Gray's darkness I'll make sure that there'll be hell pay!" The black haired wizard reached out for Lucy in concern with wide eyes when Lyon extended his hand toward her; a scream of her name falling from his lips.

"Ice-Make: Arrows!"

"Celestial Dragon Wing Attack!"

When the two spells clashed they canceled each other out, and Lyon cursed when he was sent sliding back several feet. In the background, Yuka and Toby were holding back a livid Sherry, who was furiously glaring daggers at the blond wizard as she faced off with her leader. "You seem to have acquired quite the interesting magic. I can sense traces of the Moon Drip in your attacks, you must be quite the wizard to have absorbed the moon's light without having any terrifying side effects." The white haired boy exclaimed as he surveyed Lucy's figure with sharp eyes. "However, no matter how strong the wizard may be, no one stands a chance against any of my ice attacks. It even seems that someone as skilled as you can't escape unscathed."

Lucy clenched her teeth and growled as she used her hand to cover the deep cut on her arm made by one of his arrows, glaring as he smirked down at her. She gasped as she was roughly pulled back by the collar of her shirt, barely avoiding another one of Lyon's attacks in a moment of weakness, as Gray yanked her backward. "Saiya, Happy, grab Lucy and get her out of here!" He demanded as he used his Molder Magic to make a shield, protecting both of them from any possible oncoming attacks.

"Aye, Sir!"

As the three Fairy Tail wizards flew away, Lucy flailing her arms around in retaliation, Lyon smirked and glanced at Gray. "You seem to have acquired quite the group of friends Gray. Tell me, what was that girl's name again? I'd love to fight with her some more! It would be the perfect way to prove my newfound strength if I killed a such a strong wizard as herself. Perhaps I'll pay her a visit when I'm done with you!"

"I won't let you lay a hand on Lucy. She's a member of the guild and I'll protect her with my life!"

"Is that so? I guess I'll just have to take you up on your word, then."


A/N: THERE WILL BE NO GRAYLU. No one has asked me to do it, or mentioned it ever happening, but I just wanted to say that it wasn't going to happen. I don't want anyone getting confused with the beginning of this chapter, it wasn't meant to spark up some type of romance between Lucy and Gray, but a mutual understanding between the two. They're going to have more of a sibling relationship, like the one that I've already set up between Lucy and Erza.

OK so I know that there was a little more to this episode that I didn't put in, but there wasn't really any point for me to explain what was going on with Erza as she headed toward the island, or go over the rest of the fight between Lyon and Gray. I was going to make Lucy fight with him at first, but then I remembered that someone had to protect the village so that's why I didn't make that happen.

Did the explanation about why Lucy passed out make sense?

-There was a mixed response of reviews from the last chapter, which is fine because I'm not always going to be able to please everybody (it's a given, and not really possible), but I will do my best to fix everything that I can. So I know that the flashback was kinda long but I felt like it just needed to happen, and if I ever decide to do one again in the future I'll put it in a different font (bold or italicized) because there was a little confusion about that.

*I would like to thank Shunako025 for suggesting the idea of using the Moon Drip to unseal Lucy's magic, it was really helpful when writing this chapter.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this update! Thanks for all the reviews I've gotten so far!

I don't know if I'm going to have time to update Tuesday or Wednesday because I have stuff going on later in the day, but if I have time I definitely will!

-xxTheNightmareBeforexx

So I know that this doesn't really have to do with anything, but I really just want to thank you all for your continuous support. When we reached 100 followers I was amazed because I never thought that my stories would get that much, and now we've gotten 201. I literally cried when I saw that so many of you were reading this, and I really have to thank each and every one of you for helping my dreams come true. I truly enjoy writing for you guys and nothing brings me more joy than reading your reviews. THANK YOU SO MUCH!