A/N: And here is where the actual plot picks up. Sorry this took so long.
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Anime Fan x9000: Oh my gosh. Thank you! That's so sweet 0/0
Hope you enjoy ^_^
…
Ame's POV:
…
Team Shadow Gear and Ame got quite the welcome when they returned from their job. Apparently, news had already reached Magnolia about what had happened to Seleva's mountain and Master Makarov wasn't too thrilled. Though he was surprised that rather than demanding an apology and compensation, the mayor of Seleva was actually thanking Fairy Tail for demolishing a mountain.
So they didn't get in trouble, but Makarov did give them a stern warning that they shouldn't do something like that again.
After that went down, Levy helped Ame use some of her reward money to get an apartment in Fairy Hills. Cana said she didn't mind having a roommate, but Ame insisted that she needed to make her own way. Besides, they were actually neighbors. Ame's apartment was situated between Cana's room and what Ame assumed was Erza's room. Well, rooms. The Requip mage actually had five separate rooms. Somehow, that made sense to Ame given the Titania's reputation. Plus Ame was sure that she remembered reading somewhere that Erza used four of those rooms to store armor that didn't fit in her requip space.
Ame's apartment was a quent space, which was just right for her. The walls were painted a light shade of green and furnished with plush white couches and white-grey tables. There was a large window in the kitchen with a sizable window-sill that Ame used as a place for her Arcenciel Rose. The blossom had taken nicely to the new place, much to the Shadow Mage's delight.
Getting moved into her new apartment was no problem for Ame since she had so few possessions to actually move. She only had the box of clothes from Levy and the Arcenciel Rose. Though when Ame opened the box, she was surprised to find that the shirt she had been using as a sleep shirt while she stayed with Cana was in there.
Ame had never felt so uncomfortably warm in her life at the sight of the shirt that belonged to Gray. She couldn't believe that Cana had snuck the shirt into the box when she wasn't looking! How did the Card Mage even pull that off without Ame noticing? A mystery for another day perhaps.
But it briefly occurred to Ame that she would need to buy food and toiletries like a comb, shampoo, toothpaste, and a toothbrush. Although, that was fairly easy to find in a local grocery store.
Ame had just come home from the store, her arms weighed down with grocery bags full of food. It was mostly processed stuff, like pasta and peanut butter, but Ame didn't know how to cook. Maybe she could ask Mira for lessons? That would be a good idea, but perhaps later when Ame had enough to pay off the rent next month. The Shadow Mage had about 70,000 jewels left, 30,000 shy of rent. Now she knew how Lucy felt all the time.
Ame sighed internally as she fished around in her pocket for her keys. I'll have to take another job. Maybe I'll go alone this time so I don't have to split the pay? I could find a simple job that could pay 30,000 that I could do on my own.
A small smile bloomed on Ame's face at her thoughts it was hard to believe that this was her life now. Living in this fantastic world going on adventures and helping people with her magic. It was like a dream come true.
Finally finding her keys, Ame unlocked the door and walked inside, lightly kicking the door closed behind her and dropped the grocery bags in the kitchen with a heavy sigh.
"Th-That was h-heavy!" she grunted, rolling her stiff shoulders.
About fifteen minutes later, all the groceries had been put away in their proper spots and Ame entered her main sitting room with a plastic cup of water for her Arcenciel Rose. However, there was something else waiting for her on the coffee table.
A large cardboard box with a cartoonishly large purple and white satin bow on the top and a small card under the corner. Ame laughed lightly at the sight. Did someone drop this off when she was shopping? That wouldn't surprise her at all given Fairy Tail's reputation of breaking-and-entering in their friend's homes whether they liked it or not.
Ame walked to the box and picked up the card:
Welcome to Fairy Hills, Ame!
We hope you enjoy being part of our family here at Fairy Tail! Please accept this package as a little welcome gift from all of us!
Sincerely, your new neighbors and friends.
Below that was the names of every Fairy Tail member who was taking residence in Fairy Hills. The only questions Ame had was how did they get in here without a key or even organized such a large operation so quickly and without her noticing, but the gesture was more than enough to make her dismiss the apparent invasion of her privacy. Tugging the ribbon off, Ame opened the box.
Neatly arranged inside was basic household essentials like proper plates, silverware, glasses, and some cookware as well as some nicely scented bar soaps and body and hand towels; and some little things to decorate the apartment with. There were bed sheets to replace the plain white covers that currently covered the bed, some books that were most likely from Levy, paper and pens, candles, throw pillows, and wall decorations. And questionably, a bottle of whisky. No question who that was from.
There was a lot of stuff in the box and Ame was thoroughly touched by the consideration that was put into this package, especially since most of the people she hasn't even met yet. Still, she'd have to thank them all later.
Another fifteen minutes passed before Ame had almost everything that was in the box in a place she was happy with. Everything almost seemed to match well with each other. Except for one thing.
The bed sheets.
The bed sheets must have been a joint effort but one that probably hadn't been orchestrated as well as the rest of the gift. What gave that away was how mismatched the bedding was. The mattress cover was a solid cream yellow, one sheet was silky and navy blue with a checkered pattern, the other was fleecy and garnet red with the Fairy Tail emblem in a lighter red, the winter comforter was green with pink and purple floral patterns, and the pillow sleeves were a metallic silver that actually caught the sunlight. Ame had a few spares, but they were as hodgepodge-y as the ones she put on her bed minus the comforter, of course. It was the middle of summer.
It was rather humorous to Ame that they couldn't really seem to agree on the bed coverings, but Ame actually liked the mess of colors and patterns mostly because it was a considerate gift from her nakama.
...
Three more days passed by rather quickly. Cana was still helping Ame grow her magic and much to the small mage's delight, she was progressing rather quickly. She already had a few new spells under her belt, though her execution of said spells still needed a little polishing.
Ame had thanked everyone in Fairy Hills for the thoughtful gift they left her. There were many apologies for the mismatched covers, but Ame quilled them by informing them that she actually liked it.
The next day, Ame was walking to the guildhall from Fairy Hills alone today. Normally, she would have walked to the guild with Levy and Cana, but today they were gone before she woke up. Ame had stayed up later than usual the night before to study Rika's journal. And maybe watch her Arcenciel Rose glow its many colors.
So that all piled together to Ame waking up later than normal. However, when she entered the guildhall, it was strangely silent.
Ame looked around the quiet building in confusion until Makarov spoke up.
"Laxus bring them back!" he ordered.
From the second floor, Laxus laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. I have another job to take care of. There isn't a single mage that can't take care of his own stuff, right?"
Makarov didn't seem satisfied with that answer. "WHO ELSE BUT YOU CAN FORCE NATSU TO COME BACK!?"
A chair slid a across the hardwood floors and someone stood up.
"Gramps. That's an unforgivable insult." Gray said.
Makarov narrowed his eyes at Gray, then his gaze swept in Ame's direction.
"Alright Gray. Go ahead, but Ame will be going with you."
"Huh!?" the Shadow Mage gasped, surprised that the guild master referred to her by name.
Gray looked over at me, eyes narrowing a little. She offered a kind smile and waved at him and a ghost of a smile appeared on Gray's face before he walked past her and through the door.
"Come on." he said simply, "We can't waste time."
Ame glanced back at Master and he nodded at Gray's retreating figure. The short man smiled widely at her.
"Well Ame? What are you waiting for?" he grinned.
Confusion still swam in her head. Ame wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew better than to disobey Master's wishes. She turned around and ran to catch up with Gray. When she did, he glanced at the small mage out of the corner of his eye. In response, she glanced back up at him, but he said nothing. Awkward silence settled between them.
Ame figured this was something she should have expected. She had never spoken to Gray face to face before. She was willing to bet that he had no idea Ame had even existed, so as far as relationships went, Ame was a stranger to him.
"U-Um...S-So who a-are we g-going after?" she said, awkwardly breaking the silence.
Gray looked down at her. "Natsu and Lucy. They stole an S-Class quest last night."
Ame's obsidian eyes widened in false surprise. "A-An S-Class q-quest?!"
He nodded, looking away. "The Galuna Island quest. Tch. I can't believe that idiot would do that! Does he want to get kicked out of the guild? Where could they have gone anyway!?"
"W-Well, i-if t-they're going t-to an i-island, then they'll n-need to g-go to Hargeon t-to g-get a b-boat…" Ame mumbled awkwardly.
Gray looked back at me with a vaguely surprised look on his face. "When did you join Fairy Tail anyway? I've never seen you around before."
Ame rubbed her neck awkwardly. "U-Um...well, I-I j-joined only a-about a w-week ago. T-To be h-honest, I wa-wasn't planning o-on joining u-until M-Master asked me t-to. I di-didn't even kn-know I ha-had magic u-until j-just minutes b-before."
"Huh. So you're new to magic then?" he asked.
She nodded, slightly embarrassed. "I-I'm not t-terrible, b-but th-there's still a-a lot of r-room for i-improvement."
Gray grunted in understanding and silence fell over them again. Once again, Ame made an attempt to break the ice.
"G-Gray-san? I-If I m-may ask, w-where did y-you learn magic?"
Gray went rigid and stopped walking. Ame immediately halted as well as guilt settled over her. Mentally, she was slapping herself for bringing up as sore a topic as who he learned magic from. Especially since she knew it was a sore topic from the get-go!
"I-I'm s-sorry. I d-didn't m-mean t-"
"It's fine Ame." he assured, "I learned magic from Ur. She was an Ice-Maker magic from the North. She taught me everything I know. She even directed me to Fairy Tail. So I've got a lot to thank her for..."
Despite how he tried to hide it, Ame could see how damaged he truly was, talking about Master Ur. Ame lowered her head in shame.
"I-I'm sorry I b-brought it up. I-I didn't k-know it w-would be s-such a sore t-topic."
Gray placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't beat yourself up over it Ame. Like you said, you didn't know." the Ice-Maker mage reassured.
They continued walking. "So, lame question, but what magic do you use?"
"S-Shadow Magic. M-Master g-gave me a j-journal to s-study from." she said.
"Huh. The old man seems to like you a lot." Gray mused.
Ame sweat-dropped. "Y-Yeah, he does. I d-don't know w-why though. N-No one's e-ever been s-so nice to me b-before..."
"Huh? Whatch'a talkin' about?" Gray asked.
Ame clasped her mouth shut, realizing her misstep. "U-Uh...nothing…"
…
The trek to Hargeon wasn't too bad. It didn't feel as awkward as it did before. Gray seemed to have warmed up quickly to Ame, much to her surprise. She had expected him to react indifferently or cold towards her, but he was surprisingly accepting of her once they started to talk.
Ame told Gray a little about what she was learning. He was impressed that she was teaching herself magic, but Ame didn't really understand why since Cana was helping her learn as well. And there was the odd time that Ame asked Makarov for help understanding a certain passage in the journal.
After a while, Gray started telling her about some of the shenanigans that Natsu pulled when they were kids, though it always seemed to end in the two fighting. And then getting their butts kicked by Erza.
Ame noticed that not only did Gray seem happy talking about all the little adventures he had at the guild since he joined, but that he was taking special care not to talk about his past before then. Ame was never going to push him to talk about that anyway, she wasn't a hypocrite after all. The last thing she wanted to talk about was where she was before Fairy Tail. The memories of that cold house and those harsh people seemed worlds away to her now, and that's how she wanted it to stay.
Finally, they arrived in Hargeon.
Much like Magnolia, the manga didn't do the port town of Hargeon justice. Of course, it was hard to capture the smell of the sea, fresh fish, and restaurant food and sounds of people bustling through the streets and talking to vendors in the streets in a manga panel. And it didn't take Gray and Ame long to catch sight of the runaway mages.
They were trying (and failing) to flag down a boat to take them to Galuna, but Natsu, Lucy, and Happy were met with a stern 'no' from all they asked. From what Ame could see, they were starting to get a little discouraged. Well, Lucy was. Natsu looked determined as ever.
Ame was prepared to just walk up to them, but Gray stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. He had a mischievous look on his face.
"Stay here for a minute." He ordered, a sly grin on his face.
Quietly, Gray snuck over to Natsu and Lucy, who at the moment had their backs turned in their direction. The sneaky ice mage made the duo jump in surprise when he clasped her hands on their shoulders. Ame couldn't help but laugh as Gray began to explain why they were there and eventually joined them.
But by then, Natsu and Gray were already at each other's throats about going back to the guild.
"WELL I'LL TAKE HER ON ONE-ON-ONE! ERZA DOESN'T SCARE ME AT ALL!" Natsu roared.
The Fire Dragon Slayer didn't seem to even notice Ame's presence, but on the other hand, Lucy did.
Lucy looked over at Ame, her eyes widening in recognition. "Huh? It's you. You're that mage from the other day that just joined."
The small mage smiled and waved at Lucy. "H-Hi. Y-You must b-be Lucy-san. I-It's nice t-to meet y-you. I'm A-Ame."
A fond smile broke over Lucy's face. "Aww~ You're so cute!"
However, a shadow falling over the small mage, interrupted her conversation with Lucy. It didn't take her long to recognize the figure as Natsu and he seemed to be...sniffing her…
"You smell weird Rainy." he said.
Shivers ran up Ame's spine and she quickly ducked behind the nearest possible object. In this case, that was Lucy.
"Hey flame-for-brains! What do you think you're doin' scaring Ame like that?" Gray demanded getting up in Natsu's face.
"Well it's not my fault she's such a scardy cat! Why don't you go ahead and take her back to the guild so I can do my job?"
"No way! Master's orders! I'm going to bring you back even if I have to use force!"
Lucy sweat-dropped. "They forgot all about us…"
"A-Aye.." Happy muttered, floating beside them.
"S-Should we st-stop them?" Ame asked timidly, stepping back out from behind Lucy, "I-It looks l-like this c-could g-get messy..."
However, that question was asked too little too late as the argument reached its climax.
"I'll show Erza what I'm made of! No way I'm leaving now!" Natsu fired back.
Ice appeared around Gray's hands. "Then don't whine if you get hurt!"
Natsu ignited his hands with his own magic. "WHAT, YOU WANNA FIGHT!?"
"W-Wait, you two!" Lucy protested, getting in between the two.
Suddenly, a voice interrupted them. "You guys...are mages…?"
Everyone stopped where they were and turned to face a lone fisherman who was looking at them with a miffed expression.
"Are you...here to stop the curse?" he asked.
Natsu extinguished his flames, a wide grin on his face. "Yeah!"
"Y-Yeah, kinda sorta…" Lucy trailed.
"I WON'T LET YOU!" Gray protested angrily.
"G-Guys, I-I'm not s-sure that's t-the best idea…" Ame added timidly, but apparently no one heard her meek protest.
The fisherman stared at the group for a few more seconds before speaking.
"Here, hop in." he offered.
Natsu grinned even wider and glanced towards Gray and Ame with an evil glint in his eyes. Ame gulped, knowing what he was about to do, but before she could say or do anything, she was out cold.
…
The ground beneath Ame was gently rocking when her consciousness returned to her. A sharp pain jolted through the side of her head as she sat up. Next to her, someone squeaked in surprise. Opening her eyes, Ame saw it was now night and she was sitting on a boat next to Lucy and she looked rather worried and even a little scared.
"A-Ame! I'm so sorry-"
The Shadow mage interrupted Lucy with a dismissive wave. "I-It's f-fine Lucy-san. That w-wasn't y-you that k-kicked me..."
Ame's eyes drifted towards the Fire Dragon Slayer, who was currently leaning over the side of the boat with his face green with nausea.
Serves him right. Ame thought bitterly as she nursed the throbbing pain on the side of her head.
As she had expected, Natsu hit very hard. But thankfully, it seemed like he held back enough not to shatter her skull.
Once the pain subsided, Ame glanced around the boat. The fishermen was steering the boat quietly and Gray was still knocked out. And tied up. Ame finally noticed that she wasn't tied up like the Ice mage, and she was glad about that, though she thought tying Gray up was a little excessive.
"So, Ame. Can I ask you something?" Lucy asked.
The small mage turned her attention to the Celestial Mage and nodded quietly.
"How old are you?"
"I-I'm 15." Ame answered.
Lucy's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "What!? Seriously! I would have thought you were 12! At most!"
"M-Most people d-do. I a-am really s-small…" Ame admitted sheepishly.
"W-Well, that aside, how do you like Fairy Tail? I haven't gotten a chance to talk to you since you joined."
Ame beamed. "I love it! I-I'm s-so glad I-I could j-join!"
"It's odd how Master Makarov invited you personally." Happy interjected.
The Shadow mage sighed. "I-It is...b-but he p-probably has a r-reason…"
When she thought about it, Ame wasn't sure what she would have done if Makarov never invited her to join Fairy Tail. She doubted she would have found out she possessed magic any time soon, which would have begged the question to how she was going to survive in this world alone. But she was thankful that she didn't have to worry about that after all.
"Hey Ame!" Happy said, "Do you like fish?"
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Really cat? You're asking her about that?"
Ame answered Happy regardless. "U-Um...well...I've never r-really had f-fish b-before. O-Or at le-least good f-fish."
A horrified expression settled on the blue cat's face. Happy stalked off to the front of the boat, muttering something under his breath that Ame couldn't hear.
"What a strange cat." Lucy sweat-dropped.
Ame shrugged, grinning. "I t-think he's k-kind of sw-sweet. I-In his o-own way."
"I guess that's one way to describe Happy...other than annoying..."
Ame's eyes drifted down to something that glittering on Lucy's belt. Sparks of gold and silver flashed in the moonlight. The Shadow Mage immediately recognized what they were.
"You're a C-Celestial S-Spirit Mage!?" Ame exclaimed, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.
"Huh? Well yeah." Lucy said pulling the key pouch off her belt and holding it out for Ame to see, "Do you know what these keys are?"
Ame nodded. "I-I've r-read about Z-Zodiac Keys i-in books, b-but I've n-never s-seen them in p-person b-before. I-Is it okay if I-I hold at t-them?"
"Sure, just don't drop them. One of my spirits really doesn't like it when I drop her key."
Ame nodded and gently took the pouch in her hands, but kept a firm grip on them out of fear of dropping them. What Ame didn't expect was to be jolted with warm magic energy. The metal of the keys was warm to the touch and practically electrified with magic. Magic that Ame could feel tracing back to Lucy. It felt warm and strong.
"W-Wow...it's s-so warm…" Ame smiled, "I c-can feel the b-bond between y-you and your s-spirits Lucy-san. It's wonderful!"
The Shadow Mage gave Lucy her keys back, and the Celestial mage was smiling at Ame.
"You're a really nice girl Ame." Lucy grinned.
Across from them, Gray groaned. The Ice-Maker mage was finally awake and he wasn't happy at all. He glanced around for a moment, taking in his surroundings before speaking.
"You...dragged me along with you!?" he exclaimed.
Lucy sweat-dropped. "S-So sorry."
"S-Sorry Gray-san. I-I couldn't r-really do anything…" Ame apologized.
Gray sighed and directed his attention to the fisherman. "Hey old man, why did you let us on the boat after all?"
"My name is Bobo, I once lived on that island." he explained while keeping his eyes trained on the ocean in front of them, "But I escaped from that cursed place."
Ame's eyes widened. "E-Escaped!?"
"What kind of curse is it?" Happy asked.
Bobo's expression darkened as he continued to speak. "Misfortune will befall you, if you go to that island. Can you guys really get rid of this curse?" Bobo for once made eye-contact with the mages as he swept back his cloak, revealing a demonic arm, "This demonic curse."
All Ame could do was stare at Bobo's arm. It was a dark indigo color on his forearm, almost resembling a char, but became more like a gnarled tree up to his shoulder.
"...That arm…" Gray trailed.
"The curse...you mean...um…" Lucy stuttered, at an apparent loss for words.
Bobo's eyes snapped back to the horizon. "There it is."
Ame looked over her shoulder. There was a mass of land appearing on the horizon. A chill ran down Ame's spine as she realized what it was.
"G-Galuna Island…" she trailed.
Lucy and Gray followed her gaze, but when they turned back to ask Bobo a question, he was gone.
"H-Huh? Where is he?" Lucy asked, startled.
"B-Bobo-san d-disappeared!" Ame exclaimed.
"Did he fall in?" Gray inquired, panic in his voice as he looked over the side of the boat, searching for the fisherman.
Before any further inquisitions could be made, the boat began to rock harder than before and for the first time since Ame woke up, Natsu spoke.
"Wha-What's that sound?" he asked, still sounding a little sick.
Horror crossed the faces of everyone in the boat as they saw what was hurtling towards their small, unmanned vectile.
"KYAAA! TIDAL WAVE!" Lucy shouted.
"Hold on everyone!" Ame ordered, gripping the sides of the boat as it began to rise on the wave.
The massive wall of water crashed down on top of them and for the second time that day, Ame was cast into darkness.
…
Ame wished that it was the sun that woke her up when she finally came to, but instead she was rather rudely awoken by someone shaking her like a ragdoll.
"WAKE UP RAAAIIIINNNYYY! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE TAKIN' A NAP!"
Ame groaned and lightly gripped the person's wrists, stopping them from shaking her further and cracked open her eyelids. It was unbelievably bright and the light hurt Ame's eyes and on top of that she was once again missing her glasses. But she didn't really need them to recognize the pink and black blob in front of her.
"Natsu-san...please don't s-shake me l-like that…"
The Fire Dragon Slayer laughed with embarrassment and released Ame's shoulders.
"You know her name isn't 'Rainy', right Natsu?" Lucy's voice asked as a yellow and pink blob in Ame's field of vision.
"It isn't?" Natsu asked innocently.
"ARE YOU REALLY THAT STUPID!?" Lucy exclaimed in annoyance.
Ame chuckled. "I-It's okay Lucy-san. I-In a way, Natsu-san i-isn't c-completely wrong."
"What do you mean Ame?" Happy's voice asked as a blue and white blob in her vision.
Ame ran a hand through her wet and tangled hair and hummed. "W-Well, my n-name means 'rain', s-so 'Rainy' i-isn't too far o-off..."
"It does?" Natsu asked, "I never knew that!"
"U-Um...I know t-this is a-an awkward t-time to a-ask, but h-has anyone s-seen my glasses? I-I can't s-see without th-them…" Ame asked, awkwardly.
Something tapped against Ame's leg and glancing down, Ame saw a blue blob holding something out to her. The small mage gently took it and recognized it to be her glasses. Putting the old plastic framed glasses made a world of difference for Ame's vision. Instead of a mass of greens, yellows, blues and purples, Ame could see that they were on a beach a few feet away from a forest. The sands of the beach were decorated with the wreckage of Bobo's boat and Lucy and Natsu's luggage. Unfortunately, the lenses were watery and crusted with sand from the beach which it made it harder to see but not impossible thankfully. Ame took the glasses off for a moment and cleaned them off on the hem of her dress before putting them on again.
By then, Gray had woken up and Natsu had left Ame and was now prancing about the beach chanting about exploring the island.
"There's supposed to be a village on this island. The mayor there is our client for this job." Lucy hummed, "We should go there first."
"Wait." Gray interrupted, standing up.
Natsu turned around. "What!? We've already come this far; you can't take us back!"
"No." Gray said simply, "I'm coming with you guys."
Lucy and Natsu stared at Gray like he grew a second head, which only served to amuse the ice-mage.
"It'd irritate me if you guys get to the second floor first. And if you guys get expelled, then that'd be boring." he grinned.
With that said, everyone's gaze suddenly snapped in Ame's direction, taking the small mage by surprise.
"H-Huh? W-What are y-you all l-looking at me l-like that f-for?"
"Well you're the only one that hasn't agreed to come on the job." Natsu stated matter-of-factly.
Ame sweat-dropped and smiled. "W-Well of course I'll h-help! I-It's our j-job as m-mages of a-a g-guild to h-help pe-people in n-need!"
The Shadow mage was taken by surprise when a heavy weight slammed into her and knocked her off her feet. Except Ame didn't hit the ground, instead Natsu was hugging her while spinning around in a circle.
"Hooray! Rainy is coming too!" he cheered.
Ame was once again taken off guard by the Fire Dragon Slayer's eagerness. Natsu eventually let go of her and sprinted ahead. Lucy chased after him while scolding him for things that Ame couldn't quite make out.
Gray and Happy were the only ones who stayed behind with her. A heavy sigh escaped the Ice-Maker mage's lips.
"We should go after them before they get into trouble."
"Knowing Natsu, he's already found it." Happy sweat-dropped.
Ame released a small giggle at the blue cat's words. "T-True. W-We should g-get going then. Be-Before they l-leave us b-behind!"
The small mage sprinted after Natsu and Lucy, leaving Gray and Happy to follow after her. The group of mages trudged through the humid island forest and Ame was quite miserable. It was hot and sticky and she felt like the air was clinging to her like cobwebs, which was majorly uncomfortable. Happy had gotten tired of flying and had decided to take up residence on top of Ame's head and was now sleeping peacefully. Ame wasn't overly fond of the blue cat sleeping on her head as it trapped heat and made her more miserable, but he was sleeping so peacefully that Ame couldn't bring herself to wake him up. Relaxed silence blanketed the group for a while until Natsu broke it.
Ame snapped out of her haze suddenly at hearing Natsu say her name, but she didn't quite catch what the pinkette had asked her. "Huh? I-I'm s-sorry. C-Could you r-repeat that?"
"What kind of magic do you use, Ame?" he repeated.
"W-Well, I'm a s-shadow mage…" Ame explained, "I-I can m-manipulate s-shadows j-just about a-anyway I like."
The pinkette's eyes widened in excitement. "Oooohhhh! So you're like that weird guy from Eisenwald!" Natsu exclaimed.
Ame recoiled slightly at the mention of Eisenwald, but before any more could be said, Lucy promptly smacked Natsu on the back of the head.
"Don't compare Ame to a dark mage! They might use the same magic, but the differences are night and day!" The Celestial mage scolded passionately.
Natsu and Lucy started to bicker childishly amongst themselves, though Ame wasn't sure if it could be called bickering. They were kind of teasing each other. Well, Natsu was anyway and Lucy was overreacting to his words.
"Hey Ame!" Happy's voice asked from on top of her head, apparently waking up from his nap, "Have you ever heard of the Catmander?"
A mischievous smile pulled at Ame's lips as she hummed quietly. "W-Well, I have a f-few times. B-But I've heard the n-names 'Titania' a-and 'Salamander' m-more often."
Ame could feel Happy's joy from on top of her head and it made her smile even wider. However, Natsu seemed to have heard her say the name 'Salamander' and broke away from his shouting match with Lucy, much to the Celestial Mage's annoyance.
"Hey Rainy! Do y'ah know who the Salamander is?" He asked, sounding somewhat proud.
Lucy face-palmed behind him in annoyance at Natsu's somewhat prideful expression, but Ame had an idea.
"Hmm. Is-Isn't the S-Salamander s-some guy n-named 'Bora'?"
The Fire Dragon Slayer went cartoonishly white at Ame's words. Then he kind of went off.
"NO!" He shouted angrily.
A snort escaped Ame's mouth, which soon erupted into an unbridled, hiccuping laughter directed towards the flabbergasted Dragon Slayer. His somewhat outraged expression dissolved into a confused one.
"I-I'm j-just kidding w-with you Natsu-san. B-Bora has n-nothing on your sk-skills."
Still, that didn't seem to make the Fire Dragon Slayer calm down.
"You're so mean Rainy! And I thought Lucy was bad!" He whined.
"What's that supposed to mean!" The Celestial mage promptly exclaimed.
The two mages resumed bickering between each other, much to Ame and Gray's amusement. The ice mage was cracking up at Ame's clever play on Natsu, though he was obviously trying to hide it. However, Ame noticed something was missing.
"G-Gray-san where's you s-shirt?" Ame asked.
The ice mage looked down at himself and his eyes widened to the size of saucers when he discovered that he was now bare chested.
"Gah! When did that happen!?" he exclaimed.
Luckily, Gray was able to recover his missing clothing article fairly quickly and the two of them caught up to Natsu and Lucy fairly quickly. Though, once again, Ame couldn't shake the eerie feeling that she was being watched.
…
When night fell, the temperature cooled greatly, much to Ame's relief. And even better, they had reached the village gates. The gates were made of giant wooden stakes that were sharpened to a point at the top and there was even a massive "keep out" sign on the gate.
"What kind of village is this?" Gray grumbled, eyeing the sign.
"EXCUSE US! COULD YOU OPEN THE GATE!?" Lucy asked, raising her voice to hopefully be heard by the guards.
"This sucks." Natsu muttered impatiently, "Let's break it."
"NO." Lucy exclaimed.
Finally, a guard appeared over the side of the wall. He eyed the group cautiously.
"Who's there?" he asked from the wall.
Lucy turned back to the wall, putting on a friendly smile. "We're from the mage guild Fairy Tail. Erm...we saw your request…" she trailed.
"Fairy Tail? We know nothing about you guys accepting our request." the guard informed.
Lucy seemed to sweat a bit out of nervousness.
"I think there was some confusion. If we can't get in, we'll leave." Gray said, piping up.
"O-On what b-boat, Gray-san?" Ame murmured under her breath.
However Natsu wasn't so keen on the idea. "I'M NOT LEAVING!" he barked.
"Shh…Natsu-san. N-Not so l-loud." Ame hushed, putting a finger to her lips.
Thankfully, he quieted up. And they didn't seem to have to think about leaving anyway.
"Show me your symbols." The guard ordered.
Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and Happy moved to show their guild emblems. It took Ame a moment to remember that she was also there and needed to show hers and pulled her hair to the side to show the sunshine yellow mark on the side of her neck.
Another guard appeared and the two deliberated for a moment before the gate began to rise. The first guard spoke down to them.
"Get in. I'll get the mayor." he informed.
With little hesitation, the group of mages entered with Ame bringing up the rear. Of course, with this arrangement coupled with her height, ment that Ame couldn't see much of the village beyond the tropical huts and the large watch tower that loomed on the far side of the village.
Ame could sense many people assembling in front of them, then parting a ways to allow a single person to pass to the front of the crowd.
Working her way to the side of the group next to Gray so that Ame was able to see around the taller mages. The mayor had a large white wooden staff that's top was shaped like a crescent moon. Like all the other people in the village, the mayor was decked out completely in robes that cover their faces.
"Mages. Thank you for coming here." he said in a low, gravely voice, "I'm sorry if this is sudden, but you must see this." The mayor turned to address the villagers, "Everyone, please remove your robes."
The villagers did as they were instructed and removed the pale robes, revealing that each of them bore an inhuman feature on their bodies. The group was taken aback by the sudden reveal.
"I knew it." Gray muttered.
"W-Whoa...d-do they all ha-have this?" Ame commented, observing the crowd.
"Whoa! Awesome sideburns!" Natsu exclaimed.
It was true since the mayor had sideburns that were about two and a half feet long. However, now wasn't really the time to comment on that.
"Well...I actually wanted to show you this hand." the mayor said, slightly taken aback by Natsu's sudden comment, "Did it surprise you?"
The mayor lowered his arm. "Everyone on this island, even the dogs and birds are affected by this curse."
"It's not like I'm questioning you, but what makes you think there's a 'curse' on this island?" Gray inquired.
"I've shown this to many doctors, but they all said that there's no such disease." he explained, "Also, the moon's magical power has something to do with how we look."
"The moon's magical power?" Lucy questioned.
Ame nodded. "Y-Yeah. Hasn't t-this island a-accumulated the p-power of the m-moon since a-ancient times?"
The others looked at her strangely.
The Shadow Mage giggled nervously. "I-I read a-about it o-once."
The mayor nodded. "That is correct. That's what makes this island so beautiful because it shines with the light of the moon. But a few years ago, the moonlight suddenly started to turn purple."
"Purple?" Happy asked.
"I've never seen a purple moon before." Natsu commented.
Lucy nodded in agreement.
"People from the mainland all say that. But in reality, the moon did turn purple on this island. After the purple moon appeared, our bodies started to change."
At that moment, the clouds above began to creep across the sky, revealing a bright purple moon hanging in the sky.
"It's true. The moon really is purple!" Lucy gasped, a hand covering her mouth in horror.
"That's creepy." Gray commented.
"This is the curse of the moon's magical power." the mayor declared.
Suddenly, the villagers began to scream in pain, gripping their heads. The suddenness of the screams had even startled Ame, making her jump back and hit her back on the wall. Natsu and Gray seemed panicked by the sudden outburst, maybe believing it to be an attack of some kind.
"What's going on?"
Suddenly the villagers started to change, their features becoming demonic and grotesque. When it finally stopped, the villagers had become demonetized. Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and Gray's jaws dropped and Ame covered her mouth with her hands in faked horror.
"Sorry if we scared you." the mayor apologized, "When the purple moon is out, our bodies change into these ugly demons. If this isn't a curse, then what is it?"
Ame's hands dropped back to her sides as her eyes skimmed the villagers. All of them were so horrified by themselves that they were driven to tears.
"Once it becomes morning, everyone will return to normal, but recently there are some people who did not change back and lost their souls." the mayor explained.
"Can't be…" Lucy mumbled.
"We decided to kill anyone who'd lose their soul and turned into a real demon."
"What!?" Ame exclaimed, "B-But w-what if they do t-turn back!?"
The mayor sighed dejectedly, "If we'd left them alive, others might get killed by those demons. And even if we locked them up, they'd just break out and escape." with trembling breath, he pulled a photo out from his cloak, "That's why…" he said, his voice breaking, "I had to kill my own son when his soul was lost."
The group gasped as they got a good look at the picture. It was Bobo.
"That's the guy who got us here…" the small mage whispered, "But we just saw him-"
Gray suddenly shushed her. "I guess we know how he disappeared. I'm sure...he can't rest in peace like that."
"Are you saying that he was a ghost?" Lucy hissed.
"I acknowledge you as famous mages, so please. Save our island." the mayor begged, bowing his head to them, "If this keeps going...everyone...will lose their souls and become demons!"
Natsu stepped forward, determination burning around him. "I won't let that happen!"
The mayor rose, seeming a little relieved. "There is only one way to get rid of this curse. Please destroy the moon."
Silence settled over the group for a moment as the strange request set in.
"WHAT!?"
…
A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. Hopefully the next one won't, but I won't make any promises.
See you all next time :)