Unknown entity328 is here with the next chapter of Avent of the Stray! I still have a lot of school work to catch up on, but I took occasional breaks to write this chapter and finally finished it! It wasn't easy juggling school, work, writing this chapter, and getting my life back together in general. But I managed to do just that! Although, I admit I struggled to juggle all that along with my irl stuff. Anyway, time for the chapter to begin!
Chapter Eight: The Cursed Town
After outrunning the angry guild masters in the town of Clover, Team Natsu and Makarov made their way back to Magnolia. However, due to losing both the magic mobile and the railway from Erigor's attack, they had no choice but to walk. Unfortunately, because none of them had a map, they decided to let Happy lead the way home. This, however, was a mistake on their part as they ended up wandering into Clover Canyon. It wasn't long before they were walking around in circles. To make matters worse, they were quickly running out of supplies, food specifically.
Initially, Kren wanted to avoid going through Clover Canyon, knowing that it was a natural labyrinth. However, he remembered the village within the canyon that needed help. While understanding the village housed a dark guild, no one deserves such a fate. Being taken over by creatures they created was not something he'd wish on his worst enemies.
With that in mind, Kren chose to remain quiet and instead focus on ways to regain his memories. He gets occasional flashbacks every now and then, but not enough to make sense of them. His memories of Aquacia are especially fuzzy, almost impossible to describe in words alone. All he could remember was Aquacia's voice, her scent, her warmth, and what she taught him about dragon slayer magic. Anything else was a complete blur, unwilling to become clear at all.
No matter what he did, Kren couldn't remember anything about his past with the water dragon. He doesn't remember if she was gentle or strict, what her personality was like, or even if she did anything other than training with him. The more he thought about it, the more Kren finds himself being jealous of Natsu. The fire dragon slayer remembers everything about Igneel while he was struggling to remember his own dragon. Kren quickly shook that jealousy off, rationalizing that it wasn't Natsu's fault he couldn't remember Aquacia.
"Aww, jeez!" Lucy shouted in exasperation, looking over the cliff that Happy led them to. "Come on, Happy. Don't tell me you got us lost again." She held up her clenched hands while Happy looked down the cliff. "We've been walking for forever and a half, and we still haven't found Magnolia yet. Why are we following a cat anyway?!"
"What do you mean again?" Happy asked, upset by the blonde celestial wizard's accusation. "How rude! I wasn't lost last time, so this is the first time I've gotten us lost."
"First time or not, let's just try to make it our last, okay?" Lucy said wearily, letting out a small groan as the exhaustion of travel caught up to her.
"Preferably not in Web Valley." Kren added, looking up and down the cliff to see it was actually a fissure. "I don't really feel like dying in a place like this."
"I assume you've been here before, Kren?" Erza inquired, having seen the wary look in the water dragon slayer's eyes.
"First time here." Kren replied, casting an uneasy glance into the fissure. "But I heard some less than assuring rumors during my travels."
"Man, I want some food." Natsu complained, holding his stomach as it let out a low growl.
"We all do." Gray said irritably, giving Natsu a side glance. "Talking about it just makes us hungrier."
"I can't help it if I'm hungry, jerk!" Natsu shouted, getting in Gray's face.
"No, but you can stop running your mouth, can't you?" Gray countered, butting heads with Natsu as sparks started flying.
"Can you guys not fight for two minutes?" Kren asked as he got between Natsu and Gray, pushing them away from each other. He could swear his stomach was trying to eat itself at this point, but pushed it aside for now. "I'm as hungry as you guys, but arguing isn't going to change anything!"
"Listen up!" Makarov shouted, his voice full of authority that quickly became weary with hunger. "We need some food."
"Yeah, we know!" Natsu, Kren, and Gray yelled.
"Enough." Erza said, but whatever she was about to say next was interrupted by the sound of her stomach growling.
"Your stomach's trying to tell you something, isn't it?" Natsu said plainly as he Gray, and Lucy stared at Erza.
"No, it's not." Erza denied, keeping her composure as she crossed her arms. "You're hearing things."
"Uh, yeah." Gray said, not believing the words of the requip wizard. "Real convincing, Erza."
"Kinda hard not to miss the growling of a stomach." Kren said, rummaging through his pockets for anything edible. He then heard Happy gasp and let out a squeal of delight and looked in his direction. "What's up, Happy?"
"Look, down there!" Happy said excitedly, pointing down the fissure at a school of flying, multi-colored fish. "Those are Wingfish, they're a legendary delicacy!"
"A legendary delicacy?" Gray mused, looking down at the flying fish.
"Wingfish, huh?" Erza closed her eyes in contemplation.
"Sounds good to me." Natsu grinned.
"I'll get the fishing rods." Kren said, inwardly rubbing his stomach for the inevitable discomfort as growling stomachs could be heard from everyone. 'I know they'll taste disgusting, but I'll eat anything at this point.'
"Well done, Happy." Makarov said, placing a hand on Happy's shoulder as tears comically fell down his face. "You make this old man very proud."
"Guys, enough with the growling stomachs." Lucy said right before her own stomach began to growl as well.
"You were saying?" Gray gave Lucy a side glance and grinned.
"Shut up."
"Now, time to fish." Happy said, accepting the fishing rod Han handed to him.
With that said, everyone cast their lines and sat patiently on the edge of the fissure. Kren found it a bit disturbing they're about to eat fish that could talk. However, hunger won him over in the end, and knocked what little morals he had left aside. It's been two days since they ran out of food, so he'll eat anything edible at this point. It was at that moment that Kren wished he had brought some seasonings along. While disgusting alone, Wingfish might taste good if seasoned correctly.
As time went by with not a single catch, everyone was getting impatient. The more he heard the flying fish chatter, the more Kren wanted to shut them up. It almost sounded like they were mocking them with their careless chatter. In fact, Kren was one minute away from just flooding the entire fissure.
"Aw, come on, you stupid fish." Natsu complained when he once again failed to get a bite on his line. "Just shut up and let me eat you."
"Fishing takes patience, Natsu." Kren said calmly, giving his fellow dragon slayer a side glance.
"This coming from the guy who was about to flood the place." Gray muttered, remembering how he and Natsu struggled to stop him.
"I don't know." Lucy said, a look of uncertainty in her eyes. "Are you sure these things really taste that good?"
"Be quiet and fish." Erza said sternly, her eyes fixed on the flying fish below them. "Anything edible will do."
"I didn't know you were that hungry." Lucy said nervously.
"You're going in my belly!" Happy yelled, causing Han to jump and drop his fishing rod. "Right now, you hear? Happy's gonna eat you, fish." Three seconds later, Happy set down his fishing rod and stood up. "Whatever, I give up."
"That was fast." Lucy said, crouching down and wrapping his arms around her legs.
"Well, I couldn't catch a single fish." Happy explained, lowering his head sadly.
"You really want to eat one, don't you?" Lucy asked, smiling encouragingly at the blue feline. "You shouldn't give up so easily." Happy looked at Lucy as she continued to give him an encouraging smile. "You can do it, little guy."
"I would've chosen better words, Lucy." Han said, flying out of the fissure with his fishing rod in hand.
"I can't help that I'm little!" Happy wailed, tears in his eyes as he ran away from Lucy, who looked at him slack jawed.
"What?!" Lucy cried out. "I thought I was cheering you up!"
After the little skit Happy and Lucy pulled, everyone returned to fishing. Kren couldn't help but snicker as he compared watching from a screen to having a front row seat. A few moments later, Kren had a craving for his mother's home cooking. While she may not be a five-star chef, Kren always loved his mother's cooking. He then thought about how she and his father were doing.
Did they learn about his disappearance, are they worrying themselves sick, how are they holding up? These questions filled his mind for another hour before he finally felt something tug on his line. With the help of everyone, they were able to hook a Wingfish, albeit a small one.
"That was harder than you'd think." Lucy said tiredly, looking at the fish they set on a flat slab of stone.
"All that trouble for one fish." Erza sighed, shaking her head in disappointment as Natsu used his flames to cook the fish.
"Go ahead and eat it, Happy." Natsu said, holding out the cooked fish to his feline friend.
"But that wouldn't be fair to you guys, would it?" Happy looked at everyone with uncertainty. "Besides, Kren's the one who caught it, shouldn't he eat it?"
"It's way too small to split up." Gray explained, gesturing to the size of the fish. "If we had a bite, we'd just want more."
"Besides, you were the one who found the Wingfish, Happy." Kren added, shrugging his shoulders. "It makes sense you get the fish."
"Hurry up and eat it before we change our minds." Makarov said, using every ounce of willpower not to snatch the fish and eat it, bones and all.
"Okay!" Happy said excitedly, staring at the fish with stars in his eyes. "Don't mind if I do."
Happy delightfully took a bite of the fish, unaware of everyone's reactions behind him. Makarov was crying rivers holding his stomach. Natsu was reaching out hesitantly to stop Happy. Gray held his head and gritted his teeth. Erza had her back to everyone to not witness their only food vanish before her eyes. Kren swallowed the building saliva in his mouth while holding back a ravenous Han. Lucy was hunched forward, her arms hanging limply as her bangs formed a shadow over her eyes. All the while the sound of growling stomachs filled the air.
"Who knew that one fish could bring so much joy?" Lucy questioned dejectedly, watching as Happy stuffed the rest of the fish in his mouth. "I never thought I'd be jealous of a cat."
"Gross!" Happy shouted, eyes bulged and face contorted in disgust.
"Are you kidding me?!" Lucy exclaimed, slack jawed and eyes wide in disbelief.
"So much for being a legendary delicacy." Han sighed, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head.
Deciding it was useless to fish for more, the group decided to press onwards through Web Valley. As they traversed through the maze of fissures, they realized that fishing made them hungrier than they were before. Kren made a mental note to try and find a lacrima that had dimensional storage properties. He didn't know if such a lacrima existed, but it would be a handy item to have. The sound of gasping brought Kren out of his thoughts and saw they arrived at the gateway of a village.
"A village." Erza said as they stopped before the gateway.
"Houses." Gray looked around at the many buildings that make up the village.
"Then that means there must be…" Happy said hopefully.
"Food!" Natsu shouted, running into the village followed by Gray, Makarov, Erza, Happy, and Lucy.
"Should we go in?" Han asked, looking up at Kren who remained where he stood outside the village.
"Not sure." Kren frowned, taking a few steps back from the gateway out of fear it'll come to life. He stopped mid-step when his stomach growled, causing him to blush at how loud it was. "Well, maybe for a little while."
"Uh-huh." Han gave Kren an amused smirk before hopping onto his shoulder as the water dragon slayer stepped into the village. Once they reached the center of the village, they spotted the rest of their group looking around. "Awfully quiet for a village."
"Maybe they're taking an afternoon nap or something." Natsu suggested, looking around for any signs of movement. When he didn't, he took a deep breath and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey, anybody here?!"
"We're starving like crazy out here." Happy called out. "Somebody cook us some dinner!"
"Wow, Happy, ever hear of the word "please"?" Lucy deadpanned, feeling uncomfortable when no one came to see who was making a racket.
"You really think the whole town's taking a nap?" Gray questioned, his eyes narrowed as he scanned each and every window in eyesight.
"Well, it's either that or they all got drunk and passed out." Makarov said jokingly.
"I think that only happens back at the guild." Lucy pointed out, sweatdropping at the thought of an entire village getting drunk.
"We do love our spirits, don't we?" Makarov mused with a slight chuckle.
"I'm gonna see if I can find someone to talk to." Kren said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder to a residential district behind him. "Maybe they can tell us why this village is a ghost town."
"Good idea." Erza nodded, completely missing Natsu and Gray running off somewhere, probably in search of a kitchen. "Come find us if you found someone."
"You got it." Kren gave the requip wizard a thumbs up before looking down at Han. "Let's go, Han."
"Right behind you, Kren!" Han raised a paw as he sprouted his wings before flying beside Kren as they ran into the residential district.
While Kren lied about finding someone, he did intend to learn what he can about the village. From what he knows, the dark guild attempted a banned type of magic that turned inanimate objects into living creatures. They attempted this spell by engraving the magic circle all around their village. What they didn't expect, however, was for the spell to go out of control and take over them. In a way, it's similar to what that Vulcan did to Macao back at Mt. Hakabe. If Kren can figure out how the spell worked, then maybe he can free the people before it runs amok. Having no luck, he and Han decided to reconvene with Erza and Makarov in the center of town.
"Did you find anybody?" Erza asked once they approached her.
"Not a single person." Kren replied with a shake of his head while Han shrugged. He looked over to Makarov. "What about you, master?"
"Nope, not a single soul." Makarov placed his hands behind his back. "The whole place has been deserted."
"But if that's the case, why do all the houses have freshly cooked food on their tables?" Erza wondered, looking down in thought when she noticed a distinct line on the ground. "Hold on, what is that?" She and Makrov followed the line with their eyes while Kren frowned. "This isn't an ordinary crack in the ground. It must serves some kind of purpose"
"I think you guys should see something." Kren said, catching Erza and Makarov's attention as he pointed to a nearby shed. "I found a lot of magic staves and items in that shed."
"Are you sure?" Erza asked, approaching the shed and opening it to see that there were indeed magic items inside. She frowned as she looked at each magic item. "I have a bad feeling about this village."
"We should continue investigating." Makarov said, looking down at the seam on the ground. "Let's start with this."
"Right." Erza and Kren nodded before following the seams while Han looked from the sky.
As Kren and Erza followed the seam, they found more than one and split up. Han watched on from the sky and saw that the seams formed patterns. He noticed that Kren was looking at the buildings instead of the seam. Most likely on guard for when they came to life and attacked them.
"This looks just like the other seam." Erza said when they met up again and stared down at two seams that crossed each other. Makarov simply hummed in thought before a low growling sound was heard all around them that had Erza on high alert. "What's that sound?"
"It sounds like wild animals." Kren surmised, coating his fingers in a thin layer of water in preparation for a fight. The seams on the ground began to glow red followed by the buildings around them.
"Erza!" Natsu called out as he, Gray, Happy with a mushroom on his head, and Lucy ran up to them. "Be careful, Happy."
"Aye." Happy said nervously, feeling a little scared at what was happening.
"Whoa, what's with this place?" Natsu asked, looking disturbed to see the buildings becoming distorted and moving.
"Why is everything moving?" Lucy asked, holding her face in panicked disbelief at what she was seeing.
"It looks like the houses are having a dance party, huh?" Happy said, sprouting his wings and floating in the air.
"I think you're missing the point here." Lucy said, giving the flying feline a deadpan side glance.
"It can't be." Makarov muttered as the ground beneath them began moving as well.
"It's time to rumble, gramps." Gray said, missing his top and preparing to use his magic.
"No, wait!" Makarov shouted, effectively stopping the ice make wizard.
"What? Why?" Gray asked, confused why his guild master is stopping him.
"We need to get to higher ground." Makarov explained, turning his back to his children and took off running. "There's something I have to check."
"All right, guys, let's go." Erza ordered, running after Makarov followed by everyone else. "Try to stay close."
Once they were outside the village and on higher ground, they watched as the buildings changed shape. They were now gray, serpentine-like creatures with no eyes with spines on their backs. Tentacles also formed in some parts of the village while in others formed worm-like creatures. Beneath the creatures were a red magic circle within a larger purple magic circle.
"Looks like we got out just in time." Natsu said, not wanting to know what would have happened if they didn't get out in time.
"Now I see." Erza said, looking closely at the magic circles beneath the creatures. "It was a magic circle."
"That's right." Makarov said, nodding his head in confirmation as he stared down at the creatures below. "Those lines we saw in the village were carved into the ground to form a massive magic circle." He frowned as he carefully inspected the magic circle. "A circle used for a type of magic that was banned years ago."
"You're talking about the spell "Alive", right?" Kren said, catching Natsu, Gray, and Lucy by surprise. He looked down at the creatures as they moved around looking for prey to feed on. "It's living magic, a spell that turns inanimate objects into living creatures."
"That's right." Makarov said, frowning at the water dragon slayer's knowledge of the spell. "But how did you know that?"
"Uh, well…" Kren said nervously, choosing to keep his eyes on the creatures below. 'Craaaap, why did I have to go and open my big mouth?!'
"Anyway," Makarov continued, filing away Kren's slip up for later contemplation to get back to the matter at hand. "It appears the villagers cast the forbidden spell only to end up being eaten by the very monsters they brought to life."
"But why would they use magic that's been banned?" Lucy asked, confused why a whole village would use such a dangerous spell.
"This village was home to a dark guild." Erza replied, shocking Natsu, Gray, and Lucy. "While investigating, Kren came across a collection of magic tools tucked away in a shed."
"From what I saw, they looked like tools used to cast forbidden black magic." Kren added, remembering seeing a particular magic tool that was especially nasty.
"Knowing how reckless dark guilds can be," Makarov said, taking over the explanation. "They probably thought up some crazy plan and wound up getting burned in the process. But!" He suddenly held up a finger, catching everyone's attention. "There's one thing we should be grateful for."
"Please tell he isn't going to say it." Han pleaded, one paw over his stomach while the other was over his mouth.
"It's inevitable, Han." Kren sighed, crossing his arms as the familiar pain of hunger made itself known.
"The dark guild's mischief brought these creatures to life." Makarov continued, oblivious to Han's plight. "And most living creatures can be turned into… food!"
Lucy screamed while Natsu and Gray chuckled sinisterly. "That smirk makes your nakedness creepier, Gray!"
"These things can taste like garbage and I'd still eat them!" Kren shouted, jumping off the ledge with Han flying after him.
"You're not serious, are you?!" Lucy exclaimed, thinking that Kren had lost his mind. She is further shocked when Erza jumped moments after. "Even Erza's gonna eat those things?!"
"Alright, how should I prep?" Kren wondered, landing in front of some creatures before linking his fingers together and stretching his arms. "How about we wash the ingredients first?"
"You're not seriously gonna eat those things, right?" Han asked, sweatdropping with a look of worry on his face as he floated behind Kren.
"We haven't eaten in two days, Han." Kren replied, cracking his knuckles before taking a deep breath. "And my stomach needs something in it right now!" He positioned his hands like a trumpeter as a magic circle formed. "Water Dragon Roar!" A vortex of water was released, slamming into the creatures and pushing them back. "Water Dragon Talon!" Kren swung a leg that released blades of water, slicing the creatures into tiny pieces. "Now we ground the meat and make them into patties."
"Kren's gone off the deep end." Han muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching and sweatdrop growing in size as he watched the water dragon slayer gather the meat.
Meanwhile, Natsu cooked his batch of creatures and let them steam under some boulders. Gray froze his batch completely in ice, turning them into monster popsicles. Happy was currently fighting a chair, which Han found funny. Lastly there was Erza, who re-quipped into an apron wearing a chef's hat, and sliced her monsters into bite sized pieces. When Han looked back to Kren, he saw he had already finished cooking one monster burger, without any vegetables or condiments.
"Aaand done!" Kren said, holding up his burger, eyes glimmering with hunger and drool trailing down his chin. He looked over his shoulder to Han who decided to keep his distance. "Want some, Han, I don't mind splitting!"
"I'm good." Han said, holding a paw up and polite refusal.
"Suit yourself." Kren shrugged, turning his attention back to his burger and gulped. "Source material aside, this looks good."
Han simply floated as he made a cross on his chest and clasped his paws in prayer. In unison, Kren, Natsu, Gray, and Lucy each took a bite of their creature dishes. The result was to be expected. Natsu, Gray, and Lucy all cried out how disgusting what they ate was. Kren, on the other hand, simply stopped chewing. In fact, he stopped moving altogether, which worried Han greatly.
"Kren?" Han called out, floating over to the water dragon slayer. "Kren, you okay?" Circling around, Han screamed upon seeing how pale Kren was and a dull glazed look in his eyes. Panicking, Han roughly shook Kren with all his might. "Kren, spit it out, spit it out right now!" When shaking didn't do anything, Han moved on to slapping Kren repeatedly. "Wake up! Don't go into the field of flowers! Don't follow the light! Don't cross the river styx! Don't die on me, Kren!"
Kren spat out the disgusting thing in his mouth and gasped before looking dazed. "Where am I? I thought I was in a field of flowers."
"What were you thinking, gramps?!" Natsu yelled, getting Makarov's attention. "There's no way we can eat this nasty stuff!"
"You trying to kill us, you old geezer?!" Gray added.
"Kren was three seconds away from death, you senile old fart!" Han yelled angrily, flailing his arms and legs.
"True." Erza said, the only one seemingly unaffected by the taste, crossing her arms and eyes closed in thought. "I would hardly call this edible."
"If you knew it was hardly edible, why'd you force me to eat it?!" Lucy cried out, raising and lowering her hands rapidly.
"What are we going to do now?" Erza asked, everyone ignoring Happy slamming into a cliff, resulting in his mushroom falling off. "I would rather starve than eat more of that stuff."
"Guess that's what we get for trying to cook up a bunch of monsters." Gray said in bemusement.
"Man, this sucks." Natsu muttered, his hands on his hips. "All that barbequing made me even hungrier than before."
Meanwhile, Happy was having a midlife crisis when no one helped him and thought he was messing around. However, those doubts quickly vanished when more monsters appeared and attacked him. Before he was eaten, Natsu came to Happy's rescue with a fiery punch to the creature. Even more creatures emerged, surrounding them from all sides.
Seeing their work not finished yet, team Natsu prepared for battle. Natsu and Kren worked together with their respective wing attacks. Gray created a wall of ice, freezing some of the creatures in the process. Erza requips into her Heaven's Wheel armor and begins to slice the creatures to pieces. Lucy summoned Taurus, who then began to swing his ax to knock and slice the creatures.
"They just keep coming." Natsu said as he, Kren, Erza, and Gray fell back to join Lucy and Taurus.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake, making Lucy nervous. "Great, what's happening now?"
The magic circle beneath them began to glow brightly, catching their attention. They then realized that the source of the shaking was the magic circle. The creatures began to be pulled into the magic circle. As that was happening, the piece of earth everyone was standing on began to crumble. Unable to get away in time, they all began to fall into the magic circle.
While they fell, Kren noticed that Makarov was calm and had his eyes closed in concentration. When he opened his eyes, Kren had to close his eyes when a bright light flashed before them. When he reopened his eyes, Kren was laying on the ground, completely unharmed. He sat up to see that everyone else was completely fine as well. He also noticed that there were other people he was sure weren't there before.
Sometime later, the group was on the road once again, after Makarov gave the villagers a stern talking to. While uncertain what exactly happened, Kren knew that Makarov was the one responsible for freeing them. Before they left, Kren suggested that the villagers start a new LEGITIMATE magic guild. One to help people who lose their way in Web Valley as a form of atonement. They were quick to agree to the proposition and gave gifts to team Natsu as a sign of gratitude.
Lucy obtained a new gate key, of which she wouldn't tell until she formed a contract. Erza obtained a new sword enchanted with ice magic. Gray received a pendant that will temporarily boost his ice magic, but only one time. Natsu got a lacrima that produces flames that he could eat. Lastly, Kren obtained a dimensional storage lacrima, much to his surprise.
With everything said and done, they were once again on the road to Magnolia. However, they were quickly reminded of how hungry they were. What's worse is that they were already miles away from the village. So with heavy hearts and empty stomachs, team Natsu and Makarov continued their trek, the sound of growling stomachs being their only company.
Time for Review Corner, where I reply to your reviews and answer any questions that you may have.
.731: Yeah, while I was thinking of the plot for this story, I realized there wasn't that many reverse isekai fanfics and decided to give it a shot. I'm glad to hear that you like Kren and how I write the rest of the cast, it wasn't easy I'll tell you. It fills me with great joy that you love reading my work and I'll strive to meet and exceed your expectations.
Raidentensho: I'm afraid I'm unable to answer that question. But I can tell you this much, Kren and Wendy will indeed have a similar relationship, one that will be revealed in the future. I intend to have Kren and Han go on a few jobs on their own before Natsu's fight with Erza. What jobs those might be will remain a secret until they're revealed.
Bigguy45: I hope that this chapter has met your expectations of it. Kren will indeed have a few Dragon Slayer Secret Arts in the future, but when they'll be revealed is yet to be determined.
That's it for Review Corner, I hope that you all are staying safe and having a nice day, my readers!