chapter six: his darkness

Miyako was not ashamed to admit she got a bit lost on her way back to the village. It wasn't her fault, it really wasn't. She knew the village was on the leeward side of the island, which was south from the temple, but when she'd looked up to find the north star, she found she wasn't able. This island was so far removed from civilization, light pollution hadn't even crossed her mind as something to worry about, and yet, that's precisely what was happening here. Or, at least, something similar.

She stared up at the sky with a puckered brow. The purple light from the moon was beginning to give her a migraine, and now it was drowning out her stars. She wondered if Lucy was experiencing a similar sort of disorientation, or if the summoner wasn't as sensitive to celestial bodies as her secondary magic made her.

A dull throb echoed behind her eyes, and she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. This job was becoming a hassle. She lowered herself onto an upturned tree and took a moment to breathe. It was then that it occurred to her.

This whole time she'd been making the mistake of thinking about the moon as if it had literally turned purple, but it hadn't, of course it hadn't. It only appeared purple, which meant there was something affecting the perception of the moon for anyone who viewed it from the island.

"Fascinating," she murmured, turning her eyes back to the sky with renewed vigor. She'd been so distracted by Deliora she'd forgotten what the actual request was.

Miyako stood and craned her head back, golden hair spilling down her shoulders. Something in the air, she mused, wondering how literal that could be in the case. She picked a heavy stone off the jungle floor and weighed it in her hand.

It would do.

She channeled the strength of Mars and the swiftness of Mercury into her arm, and called on Uranus for a boost from the wind, and then launched the stone as hard as she could towards the moon. It quickly became a dark speck against a purple back drop, before disappearing all together. Miyako strained her ears. For a moment, nothing, and then she heard it.

Thunk.

Her rock had hit something, and it definitely hadn't been the moon. Miyako smiled. A hassle it may be, but this job was also so very interesting.

Now, if only she could find the village. At this point, her safest bet was climbing to a high spot and looking for the light of their fires.

Only, as she was climbing up a steep hill, Natsu did what Natsu did best: make noise.

An intense explosion had her whipping her head around, and there in the sky like a signal flair, a brilliant eruption of flame that could only be the work of Fairy Tail's Salamander

-O-

Lucy had thought summoning her surliest spirit to fight against Sherry had been a brilliant plan. And it had worked- for a minute. Aquarius, being Aquarius, had swept away not just Lucy, but Sherry as well, in a single, monstrous wave. Lucy's had a lot of experience getting caught up in Aquarius' attacks and shook off the dizziness quicker than Sherry was able to. So, on that front, it had been a success.

The doll-attack mage's rock doll crumbled as she collapsed on the beach when Lucy struck her in the solar plexus, a move she's picked up from watching Erza. She breathed a sigh of relief, pushing her wet hair back from her face and wincing when she brushed against the cut she'd received before the job had even officially started. Her fingers came away tinged red and she winced. It had reopened. The celestial summoner sighed and sunk down onto her knees.

"Angelica… avenge me…"

Lucy looked sharply in Sherry's direction. Angelica? That giant mouse? Had it not been a doll? She turned in horror when she heard a familiar squeaking fill the air and her eyes widened when she saw Angelica descending from the sky.

Move, Lucy told her body. I need to move!

But her exhausted muscles refused to respond. Summoning her two most powerful spirits in a row had drained her near dry and left her defenseless and all Lucy could do was close her eyes and brace for the impact.

"Happy!"

"Aye!"

Lucy's eyes popped open just in time to see Miyako swooping down like a savior angel, with Happy as her wings. The young mage's fists were glowing red with power and she delivered a vicious upper-cut to the mouse. Angelica's head snapped backwards, and the force of the blow threw her into a boulder where she landed like a ragdoll.

"Miyako-chan!" Lucy shouted. Relief flooded her veins like powerful muscle relaxant and she collapsed back onto the sand, laughing.

Who knew bookish Miyako had that in her?

"Lushy, thank goodness!" Happy cried as he flew into her chest and cuddled up. "Guess what? I found Miyako-chan while I was looking for you!"

"Yes, I think she noticed that," Miyako said as she came and kneeled next to them.

Lucy struggled into a sitting position, watching as the younger blonde began rummaging in her bag. "We were worried when you never showed up at the village," she said sternly.

Miyako rubbed her neck. "I got a bit turned around," she admitted, tilting her head back and looking up at the sky for a brief moment, before shaking her head and pulling out a med kit. "Couldn't find the north star."

"Oh? That's easy. I'll show you. The north star- what!?"

Lucy blinked up at the stars, or where the stars should have been, wondering if she'd hit her head harder than she'd thought. It was a perfectly clear night, and yet…

"It's moon drip," Miyako explained. "Like light pollution."

It was rather disorienting for the celestial mage, to be so far removed from the lights of the city, and to still not be able to see her beloved stars.

"Ouch!" she said sharply, jerking away from Miyako's hands.

The young researcher made a tsking sound and grabbed Lucy's chin firmly so she couldn't flinch away from the alcohol-soaked gauze she was cleaning her cut with. Her movements were sure and practiced, but her hands shook slightly as she placed the butterfly bandages. She smoothed over them with her fingers and said softly, "There."

"Thanks," Lucy breathed out. "Miyako-chan… are you okay?"

Miyako's brow creased as she packed up her kit. "Happy told me Gray was injured," she murmured. "I knew he wasn't in the right state of mind to- but, he asked, and I left him. I'm supposed to be the team leader, and I let him get hurt," she finished miserably.

"Miyako-chan," Lucy said softly.

On instinct, she reached out and grabbed the younger blonde's hand. Miyako looked up at her in surprise, and Lucy shot her a brilliant grin. "This is Gray we're talking about," she said easily. "He would have fought Lyon even if he had to do it with you clinging to his back and trying to throttle him from behind!"

Miyako giggled and covered her mouth, and Lucy realized she'd never heard the heavenly body mage laugh before. It was a nice sound.

"Next time, Gray will kick that Lyon's butt!" Happy said assuredly. "So, don't be sad, okay, Miyako-chan?"

"Yeah," Miyako agreed, giving the blue cat a small smile. She still looked a bit unsure, but Lucy thought seeing Gray with her own eyes might alleviate that a bit.

Suddenly, Miyako pushed herself off the beach and extended her hand toward Lucy. "Can you walk yet? We need to find Natsu and Gray and regroup."

Her legs were still a bit wobbly, but Lucy managed to stand with Miyako's assistance.

"Happy, can you get us a bird's eye view?" Miyako asked.

"Aye!"

-O-

Consciousness returned to Gray in stages that he had to fight tooth and nail for. It had been sound at first, the low murmuring of familiar voices pulling him from inky darkness. Touch was next; he was lying on something soft, a light weight on his chest and legs. That's when the pain came too, dully radiating from every part of his body. Then, the soft murmuring became words and Gray strained his ears to make sense of them.

"-should have been able to find this place," he heard Miyako's voice say. "If Gray doesn't wake up in the next few minutes, I'm going to look for him."

He tried to open his eyes, but when that failed, he made an unintelligible sound in the back of his throat to let her know he was awake.

"Gray!" That was Lucy's voice. He felt her grab his hand, and he squeezed as tight as he could manage. "He's awake, Miyako-chan! Gray can you open your eyes?"

It took him a few seconds, but he managed to flutter his lids open. His blurry vision was filled with yellow and he blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

"Lean back, Lucy," Miyako's calm voice came.

The yellow, Lucy's hair he was now realizing, fled his vision. It hurt, but Gray managed to turn his head to the side and finally lay his eyes on Miyako. She was sitting cross legged on the floor next to him, reading glasses perched on her nose, her journal open on her lap. He swallowed hard at the familiar sight, guilt forming a lump in his throat.

He half expected her to, well, not yell. Miyako wasn't Erza, but he had been scared he'd find disappointment in her eyes. All Miyako did was give him a small smile though. There was something heavier wrinkling her forehead that he couldn't quite identify, all he knew was that it wasn't anger. Still, the lump didn't disappear.

"Miya-chan," he rasped, throat dry.

"Here, Gray," Lucy said.

And the celestial summoner was helping him into a sitting position, a hand on his back, the other holding a cup of water to his lips and the cool liquid felt glorious going down. He took careful sips, knowing better than to chug it all at once, even though that's what he wanted to do, and he was able to clear his throat and try speaking again.

"Where's Natsu?" he managed.

"We don't know," Happy said, and for the first time, Gray noticed the blue cat curled up against Lucy's stomach, his mouth trembling. "He wasn't at the village ruins when we checked."

Miyako sighed, letting her glasses hang around her neck again. "Natsu is a very capable mage. I'm not worried about him, but we need to regroup as a team… Gray, do you know what Lyon is planning to do with Deliora?"

Gray closed his eyes. Part of him still couldn't believe how selfish and delusional Lyon was being. He shook his head and explained, "Lyon's aim has always been to surpass Ur. Now with Ur gone, he wants to defeat Deliora, a foe she couldn't kill, to surpass her."

He heard Lucy inhale sharply. "It's the only way to surpass someone whose dead."

"No," he rasped out, flinching despite himself. "He- Lyon doesn't know. It's true that Ur is no longer with us, but, she's still alive!"

"What do you mean, Gray?" Happy asked uncertainly.

He sighed. "The city I lived in was attacked by Deliora. It didn't even take a day for it to be destroyed. I was saved by Ur and Lyon who just happened to pass by. And for me, that's how it all started…"

They listened patiently to his story and when he was done, a heavy silence fell over the tent. "I see," Miyako said eventually.

Gray hung his head. They knew now, they knew what he'd caused with his near-sighted pigheadedness. Lyon's words from that day still lived in his head, and he was terrified to hear them from his nakama now.

A hand appeared in his vision, and he looked up at its owner in shock. "Miya-chan," he murmured hoarsely.

"Stand up, Gray," she said firmly, and he took her hand unthinkingly.

She still believed in him, he thought numbly. He hadn't realized how important her opinion of his character was to him until he'd been certain it was ruined. And later, when she looked him in the eye and told him, "Go, Gray. Finish things with Lyon," he knew he wasn't going to let himself lose to that bastard a second time.

He'd die first.

-O-

Miyako didn't look like much, but she was a good fighter. The second she'd mastered control over Mars and Mercury, Laxus had trained her to utilize her enhanced speed and strength in combat. Still, even with those boons her magic had granted her, she was never going to win on brute strength alone. Laxus knew that, and so he'd helped her develop a style all her own that used one other aspect of her magic to give her an edge: diversity.

Her mastery over the wind and sky didn't put her in the same league as Erigor, just as any lightning she could summon via Jupiter couldn't hold a candle to what Laxus could do. She was more of a jack of all trades, master of none, but she could bring all these elements together in a way that made her versatile and tricky to corner.

She leapt above an enemy mage to dodge an attack, getting a boost from the wind, and kicked off the air like it was solid. Then she swung around and kicked the mage into a tree. She summoned the earth and it dragged him down, screaming, until only his head was above the dirt.

"Miyako-chan!" Lucy called out.

Without looking, Miyako called down a bolt of lightning and it struck the three mages that had tried sneaking up on her. They ended up drooling and twitching on the ground and she frowned.

"Lucy, have you noticed?" she queried.

The celestial summoner nodded sharply. Her unfurled whip had already tasted blood, but she'd yet to have to call on any of her spirits. "There may be a lot of them, but their magical power is weak," Lucy commented.

"They only have five real wizards amongst them," Miyako agreed.

"I just can't get serious against these guys," Happy piped up, and out of the corner of her eye, Miyako say Lucy barely refrain from rolling her eyes fondly at the cat.

Miyako quickly glanced around. "Can you handle this?" she asked out of curiosity. Lucy was still new to the guild, and to combat missions like this likely, so she wanted to see what the summoner could really do given the opportunity.

"Leave it to me!" Lucy said, already reaching for one of her keys. "Gate of the Giant Crab, I open thee! Cancer! Make them all powerless to fight!" she directed when the spirit arrived swiftly.

"Okay- ebi!"

Needless to say, Miyako was incredibly impressed by how many mages Cancer was able to dispatch in a single attack. In a matter of seconds, the remaining wizards were lying motionless on the ground and completely bald. Cancer's scissors had sliced through their thick hoods as well as any hair they might have had.

The crab-like man sheathed his scissors once again, looking to Lucy for approval, which she readily gave. With the danger over, Miyako approached the spirit and held out her hand.

"Thank you for your assistance, Cancer," she said. "Might I ask what it was you did?"

Cancer looked startled, but shook her hand after glancing in Lucy's direction. "I can cause temporary paralysis by cutting off sensation at the spinal cord- ebi," he explained.

"He doesn't actually cut their spinal cords or anything!" Lucy jumped in to explain, looking nervous. "His magic just tricks the brain into thinking that's what happened. It only lasts for thirty minutes."

"Your scissors are capable of that?" Miyako said. "That's amazing."

"Thank you- ebi. Is that all you needed from me- ebi?" Cancer asked, and then he disappeared in a shower of gold when Lucy nodded and gave her thanks.

Happy was shaking his head. "Ebi," he murmured in a disapproving tone.

Lucy scowled in his direction. "Shut up, cat!"

Now that the fighting was over, Miyako took a moment to reorder her thoughts. They should probably go in search of Gray to make sure he didn't need back up. They still didn't know where Natsu was, and tonight was supposed to be the last night of the ritual. She opened her mouth to convey all of this, but never got the chance.

A loud roar cut through the air and the three of them scrambled to cover their ears, exchanging wide-eyed looks of shock.

"My ears are ringing!" Happy cried.

The sound almost registered on two completely different frequencies at once. A sound that was both so low it reverberated in her ribcage and shook her teeth, and so high-pitched that she felt like her whole body was going to shatter like glass.

"What the heck was that voice just now!" Lucy demanded when it subsided. "Was that even a voice?"

Miyako shook her head like a dog ridding itself of water, eyes automatically cutting towards the ruins, where it seemed the sound had originated from. A pit was growing in her stomach. "Could it have been Deliora? I don't understand though, the ritual participants are all right here, paralyzed," she murmured.

"Look!" Happy said, pointing at the moon. "It's moon drip!"

And sure enough, purple light was once again pouring down from the sky. Miyako cursed under her breath as another roar erupted from the ruins. The purple light continued to beam down and she realized, "It's not too late. Even though Deliora is able to make noise, the ritual hasn't stopped, which means it's still incomplete! Happy, grab Lucy, we're heading to the top!"

"Aye!"

Miyako summoned the winds once again. She wouldn't call what she could do flying, not in the sense that Happy could fly. It was more like she was standing on the air and manipulating its density, like a human hot air balloon. If she made the air beneath her less dense, she could rise through the air, and then call on the wind to give her some sense of control over the direction she was going. It wasn't incredibly stable, and wind hated to be harnessed, so she couldn't maintain her 'flight' for long periods of time, which is why she didn't use it often. However, this was going to be a short trip.

When they reached the top of the pyramid, they found Toby, and only Toby, performing the ritual. Angrily, Miyako called out, "Stop!"

She didn't like using her charm speak, but if it meant stopping a ritual that intended to resurrect one of Zeref's demons, she'd set aside that particular moral. Toby, against his will, immediately froze, and Lucy used her whip to knock him out of the ritual circle. The magic circles began shrinking, the purple light fading, and Miyako breathed out a sigh of relief. She released her hold on Toby, and he rolled over and snarled.

"Wow, he was doing it himself!" Happy said in surprise.

"You're too late!" Toby shouted. "The ceremony was over!"

Miyako didn't want to believe him for a second, but then she felt it. The air began to grow heavy with concentrated magic- it almost stole her breath away- and then, suddenly, a beam of brilliant green light burst through the temple ceiling and shot into the air. It was accompanied by another roar, this one somehow louder than any of the others, and Miyako squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears against the onslaught.

It died down after a minute, but fear still gripped Miyako's heart with icy fingers.

"Oh no," Lucy whispered, and Miyako glanced back over at her companions.

The older blonde was visibly shaking, eyes blow wide. Happy had jumped into her arms and his face was buried in Lucy's chest, but Miyako could see that his blue fur was standing on end. She took a deep breath, and did her best to compartmentalize her own panic. As calmly as she could, though she knew her voice still trembled despite her best efforts, she said, "We need to find the boys. Brace yourselves, this is the fastest way down."

Lucy's brow furrowed in confusion, but there was no time to explain. Miyako called on Saturn, the ground beneath them crumbled, and they were free-falling.

The cavern was flooded and Deliora was free. Lucy and Happy made oomph sounds when they landed in the softened earth just as they had before. The whole journey had taken seconds. But those things only registered in Miyako's peripheral.

What mattered more was how Gray was standing before Deliora with steely resolve, his arms held out and crossed in front of his body, an impressive amount of magic building in the air around him.

"Do you know how long it took me to melt that ice!" Lyon was shouting from where he was sprawled on the ground, struggling to even push himself up on his forearms. "You're just repeating history! One day I'll melt it and challenge it again!"

"This is the only way," Gray said in a level voice. "Right now, this is the one thing I can do to stop it!"

It clicked in Miyako's mind. "GRAY!" she shouted, just as Natsu stepped in front of him.

"I stopped you before cause I didn't want to die," Natsu said without looking back. "Maybe I didn't get through to you? If you're going to use that magic, then do it."

Gray was stunned into silence. The magic around him began to wane, and Miyako took her chance, stepping forward hesitantly, and folding her fingers around Gray's wrist. He jumped when she made contact, then turned to her with wide, desperate eyes.

Before either of them could say anything, Deliora roared again. The colossal demon raised its fist, attention on Natsu, who stood challengingly before it, arms already ablaze with fire up to his elbows.

"Dodge!" Gray cried out when Deliora swung.

But Natsu didn't; he met the attack head on. Miyako screamed when their fists collided, feeling helpless and scared for Natsu. She didn't know what she thought was going to happen. Part of her had so much faith in Natsu that she expected him to win against all odds. The more realistic part was sure she was about to witness Salamander's, no, her nakama's death, and she could already feel tears gathering on her lashes as she shouted his name uselessly. But then, before her eyes, Deliora fractured, splintering like it was made of stone, and began crumbling. She was barely aware of it, but Gray and she were clinging to each other.

"That wasn't me!" Natsu said, in just as much shock as the rest of them.

"Deliora was already dead," Gray croaked out.

Water began rushing from the cavern, the added weight of Delioria's body forcing it out through various cracks. There was silence amongst the mages, and then, Lyon's trembling voice rose above the water. "For ten years it's life force has been sapped by Ur's magic. All we saw was its last moments… I can't compare! I can never surpass Ur!" he cried out, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Your teacher was pretty cool!" Natsu said, a bright grin on his face.

For a moment, Gray didn't move, didn't say anything. It was only because Miyako was still wrapped around him that she felt the fine tremors run through his body.

"Gray," she murmured, and the tension snapped.

She found herself supporting his full weight very suddenly. His nose was pressed into the juncture between her shoulders and neck, and his tears soaked into her shirt as he quietly muttered words she wasn't sure she was meant to be privy to. "Thank you, teacher."

Gray was a good deal taller than Miyako, and he'd had to fold himself practically in half to become the little spoon in their embrace. Tentatively, she threaded her fingers into his hair as he trembled and sought refuge from the world in her arms.

"It's over," she told him. "It's over."

i don't think i'm the best at writing action but i tried my best, y'all. sorry i missed the update last week, but it was the last week of term and even though i already had half of this written, i literally couldn't find a moment to spare. also, i was wrong. there's going to be one more chapter for this arc, as you probably noticed, and then we'll say goodbye to galuna island.

and shout out to the first reviewer on this story. you're a guest, so i'm thanking you in my a/n. miyako isn't going to be super op (as i'm trying to demonstrate in this chapter, she's like lucy in terms of relying on her wits and versatility rather than brute strength). she's gonna change the story more through her relationships with the characters as opposed to fighting in any major way, so i'm glad you think i'm doing a good job in that department. thanks again for reviewing

~ calliope