i need y'all to understand i am editing this coming right off a writing binge where i wrote the last 16,000 words of my thesis in just over 12 hours my hands are shaking if you see something glaringly wrong pls let me know in a comment

chapter four: when the moon hits your eye

When Makarov finally emerged from the mountain of paperwork which had overtaken his office after the magic council 'arrested' Erza, the first thing he did was approach Mira for a stiff drink. Time was immaterial, he'd been locked in that paperwork hell since the evening before trying to catch up. A little day drinking never hurt anyone. It certainly never hurt Cana.

The guild was quiet, and the diminutive master couldn't quite put his finger on why, but he decided to try and enjoy it nonetheless. Mirajane was humming softly as she cleaned glasses at the bar, the pleasant sound carrying over the conversations happening all around the guild, and he sighed over the rim of his drink.

"Is it a slow day?" he asked conversationally.

Mirajane paused, and looked out at all the mages in the hall with sharp eyes. "No, I don't think so, Master. Most of the usual crowd is here," she said before she resumed her task.

"But it's quiet," he insisted. Far from being relaxing, the distinct lack of noise despite the fact that the hall was almost at max capacity was bothersome. Something was missing. Perhaps something was even wrong.

His silver-haired barmaid laughed. "Natsu and Gray aren't here," she told him knowingly. "They went on that S-Class mission along with Lucy and Happy."

Makarov tried to gasp and swallow at the same time and ended up choking on his beer. "They what?" he demanded.

"Miyako-chan took them!" Mirajane said hastily. "I approved it. She didn't tell you?"

She handed him a napkin and he began dabbing at his soaked shirt. "Lead with that, Mirajane. I thought those brats actually stole an S-Class mission from the second floor!"

"Even Natsu doesn't have the balls to break that rule," Macao called over with a grin.

Makarov's mustache twitched like he didn't quite agree, and he set his beer back down on the bar. "Miyako-chan took them, you say?" He stroked his chin. "I thought she'd be with Laxus… they left together yesterday, did they not? When did this happen?"

"Freed stopped by shortly after they left and he picked up another S-Class mission for the raijinshū. He mentioned they were leaving that evening and wouldn't be back for at least a month," she said slowly. "Then Miyako-chan came back to the guild in the evening looking to take a job too. I got the impression something happened between her and Laxus."

He made a disgruntled sound. "He just got back after being away for two months and couldn't even spend an evening with his sister before running off again?"

Mirajane didn't respond, but she did scowl at the counter as she wiped it down.

Makarov sighed heavily. That boy. He really was especially thick. Miyako wouldn't admit it out loud, but he knew Laxus's cavalier treatment of his little sister was really starting to get to her. She missed him even when he was right there, not that he had been lately anyway. Makarov could only hope those two found some way to mend the growing rift between them. They'd been so close when they were little, the distance between them now was painful to witness.

"Natsu and Gray, huh?" he mumbled to no one.

Miyako was the youngest member of the guild, and had been for her entire life. Making friends with the older kids had always been a challenge for her given her introverted nature, but he knew Natsu and Gray had managed to worm their way into her life more so than any of the others, except her older brother of course. Natsu through relentlessly challenging every mage in the guild, including a young Miyako, and Gray through his silent acceptance of her preference for quiet.

If he was being honest, Makarov was very grateful to Gray for his patience, and could even muster up an appreciation for Natsu's tenacity. Both their friendships had gone a long way in bringing his granddaughter out of her shell. But even so, it was brave of her to take the two of them on an S-Class job at the same time. Makarov took a long drink from his mug. "Good luck to her. She'll need it."

-O-

Miyako lead the small band of Fairy Tail mages through the gates.

The villagers were gathered before the entrance. All wore, tan robes and head scarves that concealed their entire faces, unadorned, except the one that stepped forward and introduced himself as the chief of the village. His head scarf was decorated with moon phases in green, blue, and red, and he carried a staff with a smooth stone carved into a crescent moon.

"I am the chief of this village, Moka! But first, I have something to show you."

The villagers removed their cloaks and Miyako was not shocked to see that their various body parts were demonic rather than human, just as Bobo's had been. Some had legs that had been transformed, for others it was their arm, and quite a few had horns protruding from their heads. The chief himself had a dark, purple claw instead of an arm. Miyako put on her mage glasses just as she'd done on the boat. All of them shuffled awkwardly under her scrutiny, eyes cast to the side, shame-faced.

"Fascinating," Miyako murmured quietly.

Like Bobo, the dark magic in their bodies was completely natural. She'd examined cursed mages before, and the foreign magic's influence on the body was obvious, like an infection. You could see where healthy magic intersected with the curse magic and festered. But that was not the case here. It was most curious, and Miyako took her glasses off, brow furrowed in thought.

"Like the man on the boat," she heard Gray murmur.

"Those sideburns are incredible!" Natsu choked out in shock, staring at Chief Moka with wonder-round eyes for all the wrong reasons.

Moka waved his claw in the air. "No, no," he said. "This is what I wanted to show you. Every living thing on this island has been cursed like this. Dogs and birds, without exception."

"Not that I doubt you, but what basis do you have for calling this a curse?" Gray asked. "Have you considered that it might be an epidemic?"

"We've consulted countless doctors, but they say there is no disease like this" Moka explained. "And this appearance of ours is linked to the moon's evil spell."

"The moon's spell?" Lucy queried.

Moka looked up at the sky, though the moon was still hidden behind a veil of clouds. "This place has absorbed moonlight since the ancient times and the island once sparkled beautifully like the moon. But some years ago, the light from the moon started changing to a purple color."

"A purple moon?" Natsu repeated dubiously.

But even as he said that, the drifting clouds shifted enough that moonlight began spilling through the haze, and sure enough, it was tinted a bright lavender.

"It's the curse," Moka hissed, eyes quivering. "This is the evil spell of the moon!"

The moon bathed the villagers in its light and suddenly, they all began clutching at their heads, their stomachs, shrieking and squalling. Miyako jolted from the sudden noise, and watched with wide eyes as the partial transformation spread throughout the rest of the villagers' bodies. Their ears became pointed, their teeth sharpening to points. Noses flattened or became hooked like beaks, their skin developed colored scales or hardened like exoskeletons.

And when it finished, for a moment the only sound was their heavy breathing.

"I… apologize for startling you," Moka managed laboriously.

"What in the world is this?" Gray demanded lowly. "Miyako, have you ever heard of something like this before?"

Miyako opened her mouth to respond but before she could get a word out, Natsu was exclaiming, "How cool! Awesome! You got horns and spines and stuff! How can I get some?"

"Hey! It's a real problem for them to look like this!" Lucy snapped.

"Really?" Natsu asked incredulously. "My bad. I guess we better do something about it."

Moka scratched the back of his head. "Getting back to the matter at hand. When the purple moon appears, we all change to these demonic forms. If this cannot be called a curse, then what is?" he said solemnly. "When the morning comes, everyone returns to their previous forms, however, some never change back again! Their very minds have been stolen from them. The ones who have been turned into demons, who have lost their minds… we have no choice but to kill them!"

"But there might be a way to return them to normal!" Natsu argued.

"If we leave them be, then everyone would be killed by that demon!" Moka insisted. "Even when we lock them up, they destroy the jail! So…" The chief's eyes begin filling with silvery tears. From his cloak pocket he produced a photograph, clutching it carefully with his sharp claws. "I killed my own son. My son whose mind was turned into that of a demon!"

His hand trembled and the mages were just able to get a glimpse of the photograph.

"That's-! But just yesterday-!"

Gray tuts sharply, cutting Lucy's rambling off. "I know why that guy disappeared," he murmured. "He couldn't rest in peace, could he?"

Miyako tilted her chin up, basking in the purple moonlight. No, Bobo had been living. Her glasses had at least confirmed that much. There was something else at work here.

"Please save this island," Moka entreated, choking on his words, head bowed. "If things stay like this, all of us will lose our minds and turn into demons!"

"We won't let that happen!" Natsu declared heatedly. "We'll do something about it, right, Miyako-chan?"

She glanced at Natsu, with a small smile tugging at her lips. He had always been so passionate. "Yes, of course," she told Moka. "You have my word that we will get to the bottom of what's happening on this island."

"There is only one thing that would rid us of the curse," Moka said. "The moon… please destroy the moon!"

-O-

"The moon keeps getting creepier the more you look at it."

Lucy huffed and stopped scrummaging in her bag long enough to sharply tell the cat, "Happy, hurry and close the window. The chief explained, remember? If we get exposed to too much moonlight, we'll turn into demons ourselves!"

They were staying in one of the villager huts for the night. It was actually quite cozy, decorated with bright colors, and they had provided four tatami mats for them to sleep on, but Lucy couldn't help but shiver at the purple light spilling in through the windows.

"Do they seriously expect us to destroy the moon?" Gray asked.

He and Natsu were sprawled on a couple of chairs. The dragon slayer sat up at Gray's question and wondered, "Who knows how many punches that'll take!"

"You're actually planning on destroying it?" Gray spluttered incredulously. "What are you thinking?"

Lucy stood from her task and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't think there's a wizard that could actually do that," she said.

"But 'destroy the moon' is the request," Natsu pointed out. "Right, Miyako-chan?"

They all turned toward the fifteen-year-old researcher. Miyako was sitting in the corner of the hut with her eyes closed and her hands resting on her legs like she was meditating. Like Lucy, she'd changed into her pajamas, a pair of plaid pants and an oversized bar t-shirt that said 'serving up crazy' that Lucy didn't think actually belonged to her.

"Their request is 'save the island'. The chief's proposed plan is destroying the moon, but that is neither possible, nor will it solve the problem," she said without opening her eyes.

"See, idiot?" Gray said, leaning back in his seat victoriously.

Natsu had the nerve to look disappointed. Lucy had no doubt he would have been more than happy to punch the moon given the opportunity. She could only thank the stars that Miyako was with them.

"You don't think the moon is causing the curse?" Lucy asked.

She'd kept a close eye on Miyako during Moka's briefing, and had seen the flicker of doubt on the young mage's features as the chief explained the situation. She'd shown the same incredulity to Bobo back on the boat. Lucy didn't quite understand it though. There was very clearly something happening on this island.

Miyako opened her eyes, and her gray irises were almost black in the low light of the room. "I don't believe there is a curse at all," she said.

"How can you say that?" Gray asked, looking surprised. "You saw the villagers transform right in front of your eyes. We all did."

She hummed in agreement, but went on to say, "A curse requires malicious intent, which an inanimate object, such as the moon, is not capable of. Now, there are lunar based curses a mage could invoke; however, again, I have my doubts that that is what is happening here. When I used my mage glasses to examine the villagers, there was no sign of any foreign substance in their magic."

"But what about the moon being purple?" Lucy pointed out.

Here, Miyako smiled. It was not a nice smile. It was all glinting teeth and slightly manic eyes. "Now that is fascinating. I don't know yet. We'll have to begin investigating tomorrow. So, we should all get a good night's rest."

A shirt smacked Lucy in the face, and she scowled and turned towards the offender. Gray was stripping down to his boxers and said, "Walking all day after that shipwreck… I'm beat."

"All right! Tomorrow we go exploring!" Natsu said enthusiastically. He and Happy dove onto the far-left mat face first. "Now to bed!"

"Aye sir!"

Gray finished peeling off his socks and took the far-right mat. "We'll think about it in the morning," he said through a large yawn, eyes falling closed before his head even hit the pillow.

"I'm tired too," Lucy admitted, pulling back the blanket on the mat next to Natsu.

She heard more than saw Miyako going around and blowing out the candles, leaving the room in cool darkness, before the heavenly body mage curled up on the mat between Gray and herself. Exhaustion radiated from the marrow of her bones, and Lucy felt herself drifting. However, just as she was on the edge of oblivion, a loud sound stirred her from slumber's depths and she peeled her tired eyes open. As she blinked at the thatched ceiling, she became aware that the loud sound was Natsu snoring directly into her ear. Like all other activities, it seemed the pink-haired mage slept loudly too. Lucy groaned and used the pillow to cover her ears, though it did little to drown her companion's beastly snoring out.

It was going to be a long night.

-O-

Miyako woke up in a familiar position. She'd always preferred to sleep in the cold, and if she fell asleep while Gray was near (a situation that was not all together uncommon when she was a child, spending late nights at the guild waiting for jīchan to finish up paperwork), she'd inevitably wake up with her head pillowed on some part of Gray's below average temperature body. This morning was not an exception. It seemed the sticky, tropical air had driven her straight into the ice-make mage's arms at some point during the night.

She pushed herself into a seated position, blanket pooling at her waist, and rubbed at her eyes with her fists. Gray was still fast asleep, blanket kicked to the side, as he lay with one arm thrown out next to his head and the other at his side where she'd been curled up. The other two mats were abandoned, one neatly made up and the other a nest of pillows and blankets. That's when she heard a soft murmur of voices coming from outside the hut, and she stood, intent on finding out where Natsu, Lucy, and Happy had gotten too.

"Hey! Morning, Miyako-chan!" Lucy greeted her brightly when she stepped outside.

The blonde was squatting by an open flame, tending to some eggs and bacon sizzling on a cast-iron pan. Happy sat next to her, happily munching on a particularly large raw fish, but Natsu was nowhere to be seen.

"Natsu was getting restless so I sent him to play with some of the village kids," Lucy said, interpreting her squinty-eyed gaze. She grinned and shook her head, "He wasn't kidding when he said you and Gray weren't morning people!"

Miyako made an ambiguous sound and sat next to Happy. "Times'it?"

"Mm, about nine-thirty," she answered, her fingers brushing over one of her silver keys, Horologium if Miyako were to make an educated guess. "I was going to wake the two of you up earlier, but Happy mentioned you guys didn't get much sleep last night on account of you dragging Natsu and I out of the ocean."

She hummed in agreement. Nine-thirty was a bit later of a start than she wanted, but it had been a long two days of travel, and she'd never liked morning anyway. The smell of crisp bacon was going a long way in perking her up though, and it wasn't long until Lucy thrust a clay plate with a couple slices of bacon and an egg under her nose.

"Thanks," she managed,

Lucy waved her off. "I'm gonna wake Gray. Happy, why don't you go find Natsu and let him know we'll be ready to go in like thirty minutes?"

Happy agreed and took off. Then, Lucy went inside the hut, and returned a moment later towing a half-asleep Gray, who she forced to sit down next to Miyako. Gray had a plate of breakfast forced into his hands as well. By this point, Miyako was feeling much more awake and excited for a day of exploration.

Twenty minutes later, Miyako was ready and anxiously waiting for Natsu and Happy to return so they could leave. She was dressed appropriately for traipsing through a dense jungle, in a pair of cargo shorts, durable boots, and a moisture wicking t-shirt. With her bag slung over her shoulder and her favorite pen tucked behind her ear, she was ready to go.

"Yo!" She glanced over her shoulder and saw Natsu waving his arm, Happy perched on his shoulder. "Let's go!"

"Where are we going, exactly?" Gray asked in a sleep-rough voice. He had his hands shoved into his pockets, still not looking fully alive quite yet.

Miyako extended her arm and pointed to the one mountain on the island that towered above the nearby trees. "When we were on the boat, before that wave engulfed us, I noticed an unnatural light on the peak of the island. There isn't much known about Galuna Island, geographically or historically, so that seems like as good a starting point as any."

"I noticed that too," Lucy said. She was staring up at the mountain dubiously though, shielding her eyes with her hand.

"Great!" Natsu exclaimed, and before anyone could stop him, he took off running towards the jungle, cackling madly. "S-Class! S-Class!" he chanted.

"AYE!"

-O-

Even though Miyako seemed sure there wasn't a curse on the island, Lucy still didn't feel safe. The purple moon had long since set, but the second she got the chance, she pulled out Horologium's key and summoned the clock spirit to take refuge in his cabinet.

Miyako's eyes had lit up when she summoned him, seemingly fascinated with her unconventional use of the clock. Natsu and Gray had raised their eyebrows, ribbing her lightly, but Lucy didn't care. They were the ones outside with the bugs and the mud and the curses, while she was curled up all nice and cozy in a safe place.

It was all going relatively smoothly. They'd stumbled upon an overgrown path leading to the base of the mountain, giving credence to Miyako's theory that there was something worth finding at the top. The boys were in high spirits, and Miyako had her head on a swivel, using her mage glasses to get another perspective of the island.

But then the ground started shaking like an earthquake. Lucy tensed up, but couldn't look over her shoulder because Horologium's glass didn't extend to the back half. Still, the boys' horrified expression gave Lucy the impression she didn't want to know anyway.

"What the heck!" Natsu yelped.

"It's huge!" Gray said.

Horologium finally turned around and Lucy's jaw dropped. Gray hadn't been lying. There was a frankly massive green mouse looming over the trees. Its beady eyes fixed on the Fairy Tail mages, and it reared its head back like it was about to attack.

"Ice Make Shield!"

Gray got the shield up in front of all of them preemptively, but it was useless against a gaseous attack like the green gas the mouse spewed out of its mouth. It was so noxious, Horologium returned to the spirit world almost immediately, leaving Lucy in a soupy, putrid haze. The sound of coughing echoed in her ears, both her own and her fellow mages'. Lucy's eyes began watering from the wretched smell. It made her lungs positively burn.

"I've got it!" she heard Miyako wheeze out.

A moment later, the air began to clear, and Lucy got a look at what had happened. Miyako stood between them and the mouse, her hand glowing golden and extended to the sky, where the noxious green gas swirled above their heads, before it suddenly dispersed.

The mouse didn't seem perturbed that its gas attack was nullified. It made a chittering sound, like the mouse equivalent of laughter, and got down on all four paws, looking ready to charge. Lucy yelped, already turning tail before Natsu even shouted, "Run away!"

Running was not easy. Even though the gas was gone, it's effects still lingered. Lucy was left dizzy and fawn-legged, and she suspected her friends were no better. But still, they darted into the trees, hoping to lose the humongous beast in the jungle's natural maze.

"Gray!" Miyako shouted, apparently shaking off the gas's effects. "Make it skate!"

Lucy didn't get what she meant right away, but Gray apparently did. He turned and placed his hands on the earth. "Ice Make Floor!"

Slippy ice encased the jungle floor, starting at his hands and rapidly spreading out. The mouse didn't stand a chance. The second its paws skittered on the ice it was sent sprawling, sliding on the frictionless surface until it crashed into the trees and was left in a dazed heap.

"Do that from the start!" Natsu complained, voice slightly nasal because he was still pinching his nose closed.

Gray turned to glare at him. "No complaining!" he snapped.

"Look!"

Everyone turned at Miyako's command. The mouse had chased them slightly off the beaten path, but there, between the thicket of trees, Lucy could just make out what was definitely a man-made structure.

"It's a step pyramid!" Miyako said excitedly. She'd apparently already forgotten about the mouse, and was pushing branches aside to get closer.

The rest of them could only scramble to keep up with her.

The step-pyramid as Miyako had called it, was colossal. It looked ancient, but the exterior appeared to be in pretty good repair. A staircase led up to the entrance, which was decorated with red crescent moons that looked quite familiar. The interior wasn't as nicely preserved. Huge piers lay on the floor in ruin, and Lucy hoped they weren't too structurally important. Maybe they'd been decorative?

"What era is this thing from?" Gray wondered as they stepped inside.

The wall opposite the entrance along the central axis was decorated with relief carvings of the phases of the moon.

"The moon, huh?" Natsu said, head tilting to the side.

"The island originally was called 'The Island of the Moon'," Miyako said. Her hands hovered over the wall like she wanted to touch, but knew better. "The village is entrenched in moon symbolism as well. Long ago there was probably lunar cult, and this was its place of worship, likely a site of many religious ceremonies. We're on sacred ground."

Lucy glanced around uncomfortably. "These ruins are suspicious."

"They're in horrible shape," Natsu commented. He wandered into the center of the room and began bringing his heel down on the floor forcefully. "Is it even safe?" he wondered.

"Hey! Stop-!"

Lucy never got to finished her reprimand. The next instant, Natsu's foot broke through the floor and it lost its integrity faster than she could process. It was like one minute she was standing there, and the next her stomach was in her throat.

"Natsu, you idiot!" she heard Gray yell, his voice echoing in the chasm that had opened up beneath their feet and swallowed them

She closed her eyes and braced herself for a bone-shattering impact, and was shocked when she hit the floor and instead found it malleable enough to break their fall, almost clay-like in texture. Lucy peeked open an eye. "What-?" she started to say.

"Everyone okay?" Miyako asked breathlessly.

"No thanks to Natsu!" Gray said vehemently. "Why can't you think before destroying things, you idiot!"

It was then Lucy remembered that Miyako had some control over the earth, and had clearly exercised her power to give them a soft landing. She looked up at the hole Natsu had created. It was dizzyingly far away, just a speck of light against a dark back drop.

"Happy, can you fly everyone up there one at a time?" Lucy asked.

The cat tilted his chin up and eyed the distance. "Sure," he said agreeably, his wings already extending behind him.

"No, wait," Miyako said, holding her hand out.

The fifteen-year-old had her head cocked like she was listening to something. Then, she turned narrowed eyes to an off-shoot of the cave they'd landed in, pushing her mage glasses up her nose. "There's something down here," she murmured. "Gray, can't you feel the cold draft? It's powerful ice magic."

Gray finally stopped glaring at Natsu long enough to take stock of their surroundings. Now that Miyako had mentioned it, it was very cool, even beyond what was to be expected of a subterranean cave. It sent a shiver down Lucy's spine. And the cool wind did appear to be emanating from the tunnel Miyako had indicated.

"Yes! Let's go cave exploring!" Natsu said enthusiastically before running off.

When they caught up to the dragon slayer, he was rigidly standing at the entrance to a cavern the tunnel let out to, breaths coming out in puffs in the cool air. Lucy followed his wide-eyed gaze and gasped. It was a monster. It was a monster encased in a block of ice as large as a glacier, and it stood in the center of the cavern, glittering purple and blue like stained glass in the stray light leaking in from the fractures in the ceiling. It was beautiful and horrible all at once.

"Deliora!" Gray whispered in tremulously. "You're joking! Why is Deliora here!"

Lucy had never heard Gray like this before, sounding so fragile and terrified. The Ice Make Mage stepped forward on shaking legs like he was in a trance, hands clenched into fists.

"I can't believe this. There's no way it'd be in a place like this!"

"You know this thing?" Natsu asked.

Gray was frozen stiff, shaking as if he felt the cold from the ice. His pupils were pinpoints. "That's- that's," he stuttered and finally broke off.

"Gray, calm down," Lucy murmured worriedly, folding her fingers over his hands.

It looked painful, but he managed a few deep breaths. They rattled in his lungs, and he shook his head, still incapable of speech.

"It's a demon of Zeref," Miyako's voice cut in. Lucy glanced at her sharply. She was staring up at the demon with a crease in her brow. "The so-called Demon of Destruction, Deliora. It roamed the northern continent for years, destroying towns and massacring their populations. It was unstoppable."

"It's just like it was back then," Gray whispered.

"You heard people's voices around here?"

A disembodied voice echoed down the tunnel, accompanied by a number of shadows lurching towards them on the wall. The Fairy Tail mages had just enough time to dive behind a few stalagmites when a couple of wizards entered the cavern. Lucy caught a glimpse of them before pressing her back to the stone to hide.

"It's noon, I'm sleepy," a man with spiky blue hair complained.

His companion, a shirtless man with long, shaggy hair and a pair of dog-like ears poking out of the top of his head, made a whining sound in the back of his throat.

"Toby, you got exposed to Moon Drip?" the first asked lightly. "You got ears and stuff."

Lucy poked her head out from her hiding spot. They were both quickly approaching the frozen demon. Moon Drip, she wondered. Was that the curse? Could Miyako be wrong?

"No dude!" the man, Toby, exploded. "They're, like, fashion!"

The blue-haired one rolled his eyes. "Just teasing, you dolt."

"Yûka, you're so mean!"

A third person joined Yûka and Toby. She had bright pink hair pulled into high pig-tails. "I bring sad news," she said softly.

"Oh, it's you, Sherry."

"Angelica has been bullied by someone!" she declared.

"It's a mouse, dude! Don't go giving it no fancy names!" Toby shouted.

Sherry scowled. "She is not a mouse! Angelica is a hunter that runs through the darkness… and ai!"

"They're not from the island."

Lucy jolted. Natsu was leaning over her shoulder, his nose twitching.

"They smell different," he explained in a low tone.

"Intruders?" Yûka queried, and Lucy tuned back into their conversation.

Sherry sighed. "And we haven't collected all the moonlight we need yet! How vexing! Let's exterminate the intruders before Reitei-sama hears of them. Yes, before the moon's true form appears. We can't let them survive if they've seen Deliora. We must put the intruders to sleep for eternity. In other words… ai!"

"You mean death?" Toby asked, sounding genuinely confused.

There was a clattering sound that echoed down the tunnel, and all three mages turned towards it. They nodded in silent agreement, before chasing after the pebble Happy had thrown to lead them away.

"Nice one!" Lucy praised as she stood up.

Happy grinned at her in response.

"What? Why don't we catch 'em and make 'em answer questions?" Natsu complained.

Miyako shook her head. "No, we don't engage them until we have to. They don't want their leader finding out about us yet, and neither do we. This job has gotten more complicated. Whatever is happening on this island is clearly tied up with a demon of Zeref and whoever this Reitei-sama is. This is delicate, understood, Natsu?"

Natsu had the nerve to look offended.

"Why did they bring Deliora here?" Gray asked, his eyes trained on the demon encased in ice. "And how did they find the place it was sealed away?"

"The place it was sealed?" Lucy asked, suddenly feeling wary. Gray was far too affected for this to not be personal, and based on what Miyako had said earlier, she almost didn't want to know how Gray was familiar with the demon.

Gray finally tore his eyes away and looked down. At the very least, those three wizards almost catching them had given him the time to collect himself. "This thing was sealed in a glacier on the northern continent. An immortal demon that ran rampant ten years ago in the land of Isvan. The demon who Ur, the wizard who taught me magic, gave her life to seal away! I don't know what connection it has to the curse this island, but this thing shouldn't be here. Whoever this Reitei person is, I ain't gonna let him get away with throwing dirt on Ur's name!"

i just realized i never indicated i have an upload schedule, but, i'll be trying to put out a chapter roughly once a week. i mean i get busy with college and work sometimes, but i really like Miyako i'll try not to leave her for too long

~ calliope