I couldn't believe it. The roar was almost as loud as a Dragon's, and I could feel the magical energy pouring out through it. I had dispatched of the last cultist and Erza, Lucy, Happy, Mizuki and I found ourselves in the temple once more. "What the heck was that noise?" Lucy asked. "It sounded like some kind of Monster growling."
"It was probably just your stomach Lucy." Happy commented.
"You know, you're not as half as funny as you think you are."
"So, do you think that sound might have been Deliora?" Erza questioned. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath through my nose. My eyes snapped open when I smelt something different.
"It's Deliora…" I breathed. "They actually managed to do it...it's alive again…"
"Look over there!" Mizuki said, pointing to something. I looked over to see a beam of purple light shining from floor to ceiling, connected by a Magic Circle. "That's the Moon Drip Spell!" Another roar shook the temple.
"Hey! You need to eat something!" Happy scolded.
"And you need to shut your trap before I hurt you." Lucy retorted.
"That may be the demon growling but someone is still performing the Moon Drip ceremony up there." Erza reminded us. "Which means they haven't fully revived it yet, so we still have a chance to do something. Let's go!" Erza started to run towards the stairs leading to the top of the temple, me close on her heels.
"Deliora's below us."
"Putting a stop to the Ceremony is our only hope, we've got to hurry!"
"Come on Lucy." I called. "We gotta get up there!"
"Can't you fly?" Lucy asked me as she ran after us, Mizuki and Happy flying after her.
"My wings are massive." I reminded her. "I can't fly here without hurting myself." We eventually made it to the top of the temple, and I had enough room to take off. I spread my wings and flapped them, sending a gust of wind down as I lifted myself into the air. I turned and saw Toby performing the ceremony by himself. My eyes narrowed. "Eclipse Dragon Claw!" I screamed, flames encasing my foot as I shot towards him. My foot connected with his face and he shot backwards. I landed as the Moon Drop Ceremony stopped and the purple light faded.
"Go Yui!" Mizuki cheered, throwing her paws into the air. "She stopped the Ceremony!"
"You mean this guy was doing it all by himself?" Happy wondered, gazing at the dog-like man.
"Too late!" Toby shouted. "It's over! The Ceremony's already been completed."
"What?!" I demanded. I turned on my heel when a wave of Magic hit my wings. A large teal beam of Magic shot into the sky as another roar shook the temple.
"Woah...no way…" Lucy breathed.
"So loud!" Toby wailed. "It's gonna bust my ears!"
"Ahhhh!" Mizuki, Happy and Lucy cried. I spread my wings and flew up, watching as water gushed from the temple. Something had happened. There were no more roars...so Deliora must have been defeated. Tears sprung to my eyes as I flew down again, landing on the top of the temple again. I sunk to my knees, grateful that at least one part of my past had been saved. I put my clawed hand on the stone. Did you know, Mum? I thought. Was this the reason you trained me? I closed my eyes as the tears fell down my cheeks.
TIMESKIP
"Oh yeah!" Natsu shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "That's right! We won!"
"Aye sir!" Happy agreed. We found Gray and Natsu again who had defeated Lyon, and we left the temple.
"You know, I was kinda worried there for a while." Lucy admitted. "But it all worked out thanks to your amazing teacher."
"We totally finished an S-Class Quest all by ourselves!" Natsu cheered.
"You think Master Makarov will let us on the second floor now?" Erza's eyes settled into a heavy glare, directed at Lucy, Happy, Natsu and Gray. "Oh no! You're still gonna punish us, huh?"
"Is there still something your all forgetting about?" Erza demanded. "You came to this Island to help the villagers, the quest was to return them to their original forms. You still haven't completed your S-Class Quest yet."
"But I don't understand, the Curse should be lifted now 'cause Deliora's dead."
"Wrong." Erza pointed to me. I was standing a little bit away, Mizuki in my arms. "This Curse you're talking about never had anything to do with the Demon. If that were the case, Yui would have been returned to her normal self. She and the villagers have been affected by the intense Magic Energy released from the Moon Drip Spell. In other words, Deliora's death hasn't changed their current situation whatsoever."
"Oh no!" Lucy gasped.
"Well then, we better go and change them back." Natsu declared, lifting his hand.
"Aye Sir!" Happy agreed, flying up and connecting his paw to his friend's hand.
"Yeah, but we don't know how." Gray reminded us. "Leon, do you know?" Gray turned to his friend.
"To be quite honest, I don't have a clue." The Silver-Haired man admitted.
"You don't know?" Natsu demanded.
"But they told us the Curse started about the same time you guys got here." Lucy said to him.
"When we first arrived three years ago, we were aware there was a Village somewhere on this island." Lyon started to explain. "But we had absolutely no reason to communicate with the Villagers so we left them alone and they never came to the Temple to see what we were up to."
"You defaced that Temple." I spat at him, my tail flicking back and forth angrily. "You're lucky you didn't ruin it more than you already have!" Erza placed a hand on my shoulder to calm me before speaking.
"In three years, you've never once met?" Erza clarified.
"I don't understand." Lucy admitted. "The light from the Moon Drip is so bright you can see it from practically anywhere on the Island. It's kinda weird they saw it every night and never went to investigate."
"The Villagers weren't transformed by the Moon Drip, it doesn't affect the human body." Lyon told us.
"What?" Erza muttered.
"Yeah right!" Mizuki explained, summoning her wings and flying closer to Lyon. "Mizuki thinks you're lying! You just wanna lie so you and your friends can go of scott free! Just look at Yui! She wasn't like this when she came to the Island!"
"Just think about it." Lyon asked us. "I've been exposed to it as long as they have and my appearance hasn't changed one bit."
"Oh yeah, that's true." Lucy realised.
"I wouldn't trust them. Those Villagers are hiding something. But, I'm sure you Guild Wizards can handle it."
"We're not done with you." Natsu stated. "You destroyed the Village and-" Natsu stopped talking when Erza squished his cheeks together.
"That's quite enough, Natsu." She ordered. "They were simply doing what they believed to be right." Erza told him. I looked away, remembering what Toby told us about siding with Lyon. "So there's no need to criticize them for it." Erza let go of Natsu. "Let's go." Erza turned, placing a hand on my lower back above my tail to guide me away.
"But...what are we gonna do to lift the curse?"
"I have no idea."
"Oh, great." Lucy muttered.
TIMESKIP
"Mizuki thinks this is weird." She said from her spot on my head. "No one's here." We had returned to the storage area near the village, but it looked to be deserted.
"You sure they came here?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah, this has been their camp." Lucy told him. "I wonder where they could have gone."
"Hello!" Happy called.
"Since we're here I'm gonna grab bandages and some medicine." Gray stated as he made his way into a tent.
"You finally made it back!" Someone called as footsteps rapidly approached. We turned to see one of the villagers running towards us. He stopped, a grin across his beak and light in his eyes. "There's something you need to see. Please, follow me to the Village."
"The...Village?" I questioned.
TIMESKIP
My mouth was wide open when I saw what the villager was talking about. The Village itself...it was back. "Woah, are you kidding me?" Lucy gasped.
"Yesterday it was a total mess but now it looks perfect." Happy added.
"What's going on here?!" Natsu demanded, slamming his fist on one of the walls. "Everything's back to how it was. It's like the Village went back in time!"
"Now that it's fixed you probably shouldn't touch anything." Lucy commented. " 'K Natsu?"
"Are you saying I destroy everything I touch?"
"Kinda."
"Back in time...was it him? Nah, couldn't be, unless he had a change of heart...Ah! Who cares!"
"Not me!" Happy cheered.
"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked. I looked around, watching the villagers happily, a voice cut through the night.
"When are you Wizards going to destroy the Moon for us?" Moka demanded. "Well?!"
"Destroying the Moon is a simple task, sir." Erza told him.
"What?" I asked. "Erza, we can't! We don't know what it'd do to me if-"
"It will be ok." Erza assured. "But before I do that I need to ask you all a few questions. Would you be so kind as to call everyone together for a meeting?" Within minutes, Erza had gathered everyone from the village. "Let me make sure I have my facts straight. The first time the Village took on these Demonic forms was when the Moon began to turn purple, is that correct."
"Yes." Moka replied. "During the day we're fine but when the Moon comes out we transform into what you see now. Even Yui, who only just returned has been Cursed." I looked away.
"And the Moon first turned Purple about three years ago, right?"
"Wow, has it really been that long?" Someone muttered.
"We've learned that the Moon Drip Ceremony has been performed on this Island every night for the last three years." Erza started to pace. "And each night it produced a beam of light so brilliant that you couldn't possibly have missed it-" Erza yelped as she stepped on Lucy's pit-fall trap and fell in. I cringed, that would have hurt.
"Woah, even Lucy's pit-fall trap is back." Lucy commented.
"She screamed like a girl!" Natsu breathed.
"Yeah, and it was cute." Gray added.
"I'm so gonna be dead meat when she gets out!" Lucy wailed.
"Are you ok Erza?" Mizuki asked, flying over to the hole.
"I'm fine." Erza replied, pulling herself out of the trap. "Seriously, didn't you ever wonder where that light was coming from? I don't understand, why didn't anyone investigate?" The crowd started to murmur before Moka spoke again.
"Well...we would've looked into it but according to village law, our people must never go near that temple." Moka admitted.
"But who cares about Village Law when your own people are dying?" Lucy asked. "You obviously knew there was a problem 'cause you contacted the Magic Guilds."
"Ah...well…"
"Why don't you tell us what's really going on here?" Erza requested.
"To be honest, we don't even know that ourselves. Allow me to explain, we've tried to investigate the light many times. We take up weapons we've never had to use. I'd trim and style my sideburns and then we'd venture into the jungle towards the Temple. But we could never get near it. We'd get close enough that we could see it through the trees and then suddenly we'd find ourselves back at the village gates."
"But...how's that possible?" Lucy asked. "It doesn't make sense."
"It's been a mystery." I added. "But...for some reason...I've always been able to go to the Temple, even though I'm one of their people."
"We got into the Temple with no problem at all." Natsu agreed. "How weird…"
"We didn't say anything to you earlier because we were worried that you wouldn't believe us." Someone said.
"We're telling you the truth." Another added. "We've tried to go back to the Temple many times."
"But not a single villager has ever been able to get inside since Yui."
"I get it...yes…" Erza muttered. Erza's Heart Kreuz Armour shone red and disappeared, only to be replaced by another set, her Giant Armour, which gives her enhanced strength and aiming capabilities. "Natsu, come with me, I'll need your help to destroy the Moon." I paled, the tone in my Mate's voice told me she was dead serious. I looked down, clenching my clawed hands. This is it, I'm gonna lose my Moon Dragon Slaying Magic.