A/N: Hello, everyone! Welcome to a new chapter!
Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail, I only own my OC.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: DELIORA'S AWAKENING
Deliora awakens as the ice melts off. The roar vibrates throughout the island, terrifying everyone. "Finally, the time has come!" Zalty exclaimed.
Erza states that since the Moon Drip is still ongoing, it hasn't been completely freed. She races towards the peak of the ruins, meaning to interrupt the ceremony in order to stop its progress.
Zalty laughs to himself as he sees Deliora being freed. "Damn it! I ain't got time to waste... I'll finish you off, quick!" Natsu snarled. Zalty hits Natsu with a flying Orb.
"I can manipulate this as well, my little Salamander..." Zalty flies the Orb around the cave.
"Just try me!" Natsu gets up. As the Orb flies into him, Natsu destroys it with a punch. Zalty restores it and hits Natsu with it. "It fixed itself again!"
"I can control the time of objects. In other words, I can return the crystal to a time before it was broken." Zalty explained.
"Time? I can't believe that." Natsu scoffed.
"Time Arc is a magic that has been erased from history. In other words, it's one of the Lost Magics. Next, shall I progress the crystal's time into the future?" Zalty attacks Natsu with the Orb.
"Natsu!" Aira called out, still trying to slow down the ice on Deliora. Natsu tries to break it once more, but it keeps restoring itself.
"It won't work." Zalty said.
Natsu prepares another punch, but the Orb stops. "It stopped!"
"I can also stop its time, see." Zalty demonstrated.
"But it looks like it won't work on humans." Natsu said.
"Well, don't you have the sharp eyes." Zalty said. "It is accurate to say that it will not work on living creatures. That is exactly why I cannot simply reverse time on the ice that is Ur." Zalty responded.
"Honestly, I don't get you. So you're going to resurrect this thing only to let Lyon defeat it. Lyon might be happy with that, but what's in it for his friends?" Natsu asked.
"Who knows? I only joined them all quite recently." Zalty added.
"Then what about you?" Natsu asked. "What are you really after?"
"Oh my... I can't let anything slip by you, can I?" Zalty laughed. "Reitei-sama... Or rather that spoiled brat could never defeat Deliora in the first place!"
"Wait, that's really dangerous!" Natsu said. "So you'd defeat it yourself?"
"Of course not. I want to make it mine." Zalty said. "There exist techniques to control even immortal beasts. It would be incredible for me to control such awesome power, do you not think?"
"How stupid. Sorry I asked." Natsu sighed. "I wanted it to be a plan that's gonna get me really fired up to stop!"
"You still do not understand." Zalty laughed. "There will always come a time when one needs power."
Natsu lights his fist on fire. "And when the time comes, I'll just believe in my own power, and the power of my friends... The wizards of Fairy Tail!"
"That ego will lead to your destruction... Ceiling, speed your time and crumble!" Zalty accelerates the time of the ceiling to make it crumble.
"Each and every one of you are screwin' up this island for your own stupid reason! And I'm not gonna take it anymore!" Natsu angrily yelled.
"Can those wild flames capture my Time Arc?" Zalty asked. Natsu jumps from the rock, charging at Zalty.
"Time Arc, Time Pork, whatever! Get the hell off this island!" Natsu destroys the Orbs. "Oh yeah, I can manipulate time, too. The future. One second from now I'm gonna blow you away!" Natsu punches him with Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.
"Nice, Natsu!" Aira complimented.
Meanwhile, Erza defeats Toby at the peak, who claims that they are too late as Deliora is completely free.
Gray goes underground and is now facing Deliora. He picks up the melted ice which is now water with his hand and reminds him of Ur.
"Gray! You're here?!" Natsu jumps on the rock along with Aira.
"Natsu! Aira!" Gray called out.
"We've got no choice now. Let's destroy that thing!" Natsu said.
Lyon interrupts while crawling near them. "It's impossible for you! I will... defeat it..."
"Lyon..." Gray watches him as he crawls closer.
"In order to surpass Ur, I will be the one!" Lyon laughed.
"Looks way more impossible for you. Stand back!" Natsu said.
Deliora roars out loud as Lyon looks up at it. "Finally, we meet again... Deliora!" He is reminded of the first time he looked for Ur. "The one monster that Ur was not able to defeat... I will... defeat it with my own two hands!" He attempts to get up. He also remembers about the time when she scolded him for asking why she accepted Gray. "I am... going to... surpass you!" Gray knocks him out by chopping on the back of his neck.
"Enough, Lyon." Gray said. "Leave the rest to me. I will defeat Deliora!" He positions himself like he did before. "Iced Shell!"
"Don't do it, Gray! Do you know how long it took to melt that ice?!" Lyon yelled. "You're just repeating history! One day I'll melt it and challenge it again!"
"This is the only way. Right now, this is the only thing that can stop it!" Gray said. Natsu stands in front of him. "Natsu!"
"I'll fight it." Natsu claimed.
"Move, Natsu! Don't get in my way!" Gray yelled.
"I stopped you before 'cause I didn't want you to die. Maybe I didn't get through to you?" Natsu reminded him. "If you're gonna use that magic, then do it."
Deliora attempts to strike Natsu. "Dodge it!" Aira yelled.
"I'm not gonna give up 'till the end!" Natsu punches back with his fiery fist. His power is so great that Deliora crumbles to pieces. They all stare in utter shock when Deliora crumbles. "What? That wasn't me..." Natsu looks at his fist, thinking that he's stronger than expected.
"Y-You're kidding me..." Lyon said. "It can't be... No way!" Deliora breaks down. "Deliora was already dead..." Lyon clenches his fist and growls in anger. "For 10 years, it's life force has been sapped by Ur's ice... All we saw was it's last moment..." He slams his fist to the ground. "I can't compare... I can never surpass Ur!"
"Your teacher is pretty amazing." Natsu complimented.
Gray remembers Ur's words. "I will seal away your darkness." He cries to himself in gratitude and longing. "Thank you very much... Teacher..." Natsu gives him a toothy grin.
Lucy meets up with the rest of the crew underground. Happy flies into Natsu for a hug. Cain lands on Aira's head. Natsu and Aira get scared when they see Erza, they attempt to escape but Erza catches them by their scarves. Gray helps Lyon get up.
"Ur's ice was melted into water and flowed into the sea. Even so, Ur is still alive. That's what Gray said. I think so as well. Ur will watch over her two students from the ocean, forever. She's telling them, "don't fight any longer."
Natsu, Happy, and Lucy celebrate. They have completed their first S-Class quest, but Erza interrupts them and reminds them that the quest was not to destroy Deliora; it was to destroy the moon. Now they need to cure the villagers, but have no idea how. Gray asks Lyon, but he too, has no clue. Furthermore, he states that Team Lyon has been there for nearly three years, and in that time, not a single villager has approached them. He also calls attention to the fact that he and his team have been under the same light for the same time, but they have no deformity. Erza then explains the other survivors' ideas and history, and partially forgives them. Gray stands back to talk to Lyon and suggests that he join a guild, which Lyon brushes off as pointless.
They return to the village and is surprised to see it restored. "Huh? It's restored." Happy said.
"So everyone was here?" Natsu asked.
"Because the village is gone." Lucy said. "But why did everyone vanish?" Happy calls out to see if anybody is still there.
"Anyway, I'm gonna get some medicine." Gray goes in one of the tents.
"You've all returned? There's a problem." One of the villagers informed. "Please, hurry to the village!"
They go to the village and it's returned back to normal. "What's this?" Lucy asked in surprise.
"I thought this village was all messed up yesterday!" Happy said.
"It's back the way it was. How the heck? Almost as time has been reversed..." Natsu pounds on one of the buildings.
"It's all fixed up now, so it's be better for you to not touch it." Lucy sweat drops at him.
"Say what?! What's that supposed to mean?!" Natsu angrily asked.
"Exactly what I said." Lucy sighed.
"Wait, time?" Natsu remembers Zalty who knows how to control time.
"Was it him?" Aira asked Natsu about Zalty.
"Couldn't be... Maybe he had a change of heart?" Natsu said. "Whatever!" He eventually forgets about it and walks away.
"Huh, you okay with that?" Lucy asked. "Oh yeah, our bags!" She walks over to where the Chief is sitting in front of his son's grave. "I see Bobo's grave is back to normal too. Thank goodness."
"It was all of you who returned the village back to normal, yes?" Chief Moka asked.
"Um, that's not it..." Lucy said.
"I do appreciate it." Chief Moka stands up to face Lucy. "However, Wizards! How long exactly until you destroy the moon, huh?" He gives her a stern look. Lucy nervously sweats, feeling uncomfortable.
"Destroying the moon will be a simple task." Erza walks over to them.
"Hey, did she just say that with a straight face?" Aira asked.
"Aye... Well, that's Erza for you." Happy said.
"However, I have something I want to clarify first. Will you gather everyone?" Erza asked. They all gather in one spot to hear Erza's explanation. "Let us review. You all appeared in these forms after the moon turned purple. Correct?"
"To be precise, it's only when the moon comes out we look like this." Chief Moka replied.
"After considering what we've heard, this has been happening for the past 3 years, yes?" Erza asked.
"Yes. It has probably been that long." A villager said.
"However the Moon Drip has occured on this island every night for those past three years." Erza said, walking around with her eyes closed. "You should have been able to see this light falling on the ruins every day." She accidently walks into Lucy's pitfall. "Kya!"
Natsu and Snow feel the chills down their spines when they see Erza fall. "The pitfall was also resurrected!" Happy pointed out.
"She just said 'Kya!'" Natsu commented.
"That was really cute." Aira muttered.
"This is not my fault! This is not my fault!" Lucy shakes her head in fear.
Erza gets out of the pitfall, acting like nothing happened. "Therefore, was it not most suspicious place on this island?"
"She's acting like nothing happened." A villager said. "She's tough." Another villager said.
"I don't understand why you never investigated." Erza stated.
The villagers look at each other, understanding her point. "It is a tradition in this village never to go near those ruins." Chief Moka responded.
"But this is no time to be bound by traditions. You've had victims, just look at the amount of reward for the guild..." Lucy said. Chief Moka nervously sweats, stuttering a bit.
"Will you please tell us the truth?" Erza seriously asked.
"W-We really don't understand ourselves." Chief Moka stated. "In truth we've tried to investigate those ruins many times. We never use weapons, but we took them up, I trimmed my sideburns perfectly, and we all headed toward those ruins... But we couldn't get near. As we walked toward the ruins, before we knew it we were back at the village gate! We cannot come close to those ruins!"
"What does it mean? You can't get near them?" Lucy asked.
"We all went inside them, no problem." Natsu said.
"We didn't tell you because we thought you wouldn't believe us." A villager said. "But it's the truth. No matter how many times we tried to go there..." He explained. "...not a single villager has ever set foot in them."
"I thought so." Erza said, understanding their explanations.
From a distance, Zalty can hear them talking. "As expected from Titania. She's already figured out the trick." He laughs to himself.
Erza slowly requips into a different armor. "Natsu." He turns to look at her. "Come with me." She requips into her Giant's Armor. "We're going to destroy the moon!" Natsu gets excited while the others scream in shock. "We'll destroy the moon, and everyone will return to their original forms!" All the villagers cheer for them in happiness.
"Will we get to see the moon destroyed right before our eyes?" A villager asked. "We'll finally be back to our old selves!"
"If we're gonna destroy the moon, wouldn't being on top of the ruins help? It's higher up there than here." Natsu asked.
"No, this will do." Erza replied. "And the villagers can't get near the ruins."
"Destroy the moon?" Gray asked.
"Well, this is Erza we're talking about, but still..." Aira muttered.
"W-What does she plan on doing?" Lucy asked.
"Quite heart-racing, don't you think?" Happy added.
"In a lot of ways..." Lucy commented.
"This is the Giant's Armor. It powers up my ability to throw. And..." Erza summons a large sword. "The De-Malevo-Lance, which repels the darkness." All the villagers stare in amusement.
"Awesome! So you'll chuck that at the moon and blow it up?" Natsu said, excited to see the moon blow up.
"Seriously, that's not gonna work..." They all said with a straight face.
"However I do not think it will reach the moon with only this. That's why I want you to give me a boost with your flame's power." Erza explained. "When I throw the spear, hit the back-end of the spear as hard as you can. By combining the throwing power of the Giant Armor and your flames, we will destroy the moon!"
"All right! Got ya!" Natsu said.
"Let's go!" Erza and Natsu go to a place where they are going to launch the spear.
"Why are the two of them so into this?" Aira asked.
"They're not actually going to destroy the moon, right?" Lucy asked.
Natsu and Erza stand on a tower, looking at the moon. Erza positions her spear for Natsu. She readies herself, launching the spear back. "Natsu!" Natsu punches the back-end of the spear.
"Awesome!" Happy stares in amazement.
"Holy..." Aira breathed.
"They're destroyin' stuff again!" Lucy said. The spear flies into the moon and crashes into it.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Lucy and Aira shouted. The moon crumbles, but it appears that the purple part of it breaks instead of the moon.
"The moon?" Natsu looks at it in confusion.
"That's...!" Chief Moka's surprised, looking at the moon as purple stuff rains down on them.
"It wasn't the moon that she broke... it was the sky!" Lucy said.
"What's goin' on?!" Natsu asked.
"This island was covered by an evil lens." Erza replied. "A gas was released during the creation of the moon drip. That has crystalized and became a lens covering the sky. It's thanks to the lens that the moon looked purple." The villagers start to shine. "With the evil lens broken, this island's true radiance should return." The villagers stop glowing, but they didn't change back to normal.
"They're not... going back to normal?" Gray asked.
"Oh, no..." Happy said in disappointment.
"No. Everything is the way it should be." Erza said. "The evil lens didn't affect their bodies, it affected their memories."
"Their memories?" Lucy questioned.
"The false memory that they became demons during the night." Erza responded.
"What is the meaning of this?" Lucy asked. "Don't tell me..."
"That's how it is." Erza replied. "They were demons from the start." They shake in fear, realizing that they have been demons all this time.
"Seriously?!" Aira exclaimed.
"Yeah... Now that you mention it." The villager said. "I'm still a bit confused..."
"They all have the power to change into humans. They ended up thinking that their human forms were who they really were. That was the false memory that the moon drip caused in them." Erza explained.
"But why were Lyon and the others okay?" Lucy asked.
"Because they are human." Erza replied. "It seems it only affects the memories of demons. It's also because they are demons that they can't go near those ruins. Being of darkness could never get near those ruins that have absorbed so much holy light."
"Impressive!" A voice shouted. "I'm glad I trusted you." They all realize it's the Sailor that brought them to Galuna Island in the first place. "Wizards... thank you!"
"It's the ghost!" Lucy and Happy hug each other and scream in horror.
"The dude from the boat?!" Gray exclaimed.
"Bobo..." Chief Moka muttered.
"But you're..." A villager added.
"We don't die from being stabbed in the chest!" Bobo laughed.
"You disappeared from the boat..." Gray stated.
They all jump in fear when they see Bobo quickly fly up in the air. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth back then." Bobo said. "I was the only one who gained back my memories. So I left this island. Since all the people in the village thought they were humans, they were all scared of me!" He laughs to himself.
"Bobo..." Chief Moka starts to cry. He flies in the air to hug his son.
"Finally back to normal, huh, pops?" Bobo happily hugs his father. All the demons fly in the air and gather to two, happy that the Chief's son is still alive.
"A Demon Island, indeed." Erza smiles at the demons.
"But, you know... Just looking at all their faces... They look less like devils..." Natsu smiles at them. "...and more like angels!"
"Tonight we're having a feast! A demon's feast!" All the demons fly around, screaming in joy.
"I bet a demon's feast is gonna get kinda rowdy..." Lucy stated. The Fairy Tail crew happily joins the demons' feast. Lucy, Erza, and Happy are all at the dinner table eating with the demons. Natsu eats fire from the torches while Gray sits somewhere else, eating his own food with Cain beside him. Aira is nowhere to be found yet.
"Are your injuries feeling better?" A demon asked Gray. Her name happens to be Lulu.
"Aren't you..." Gray looks at Lulu in front of him.
"Have you forgotten?" Lulu transforms into a human.
Gray finally remembers Lulu by her appearance. "Oh, you're the one..."
"Do you recognize me now?" Lulu asked, transforming back into her demon form.
"Yeah..." Gray agreed as he smiles at her. "By the way have you seen Aira?"
"It is quite odd for him not to be around. Normally, he and Natsu would be fighting at a time like this." Cain added, also wondering where his partner was.
"Is that him?" Lulu points over to where the demons are flirting and hugging Aira who looks a bit uncomfortable. Gray sweat drops at Aira who's trying his best to smile.
"Ever since you came to this village, we think you're just the greatest, Aira!" The demon blushed.
"Yeah! You're super cool!" Another demon jumps in.
"But, you like us better in our human forms, don't you?" A demon asked.
"I wouldn't say that exactly..." Aira sweat dropped. "I think this look kind of works for you."
"Aira's so kind, I knew it!" The demon blushed.
"We're full of confidence!" Another demon hugs him tighter.
"Let's dance together! We'll do the groovy demon's dance!" The demons never let go of him, hugging him tightly as Aira calls out for Gray for help. Gray continues to chat with Lulu, not helping Aira.
"So Aira's popular with those kind of girls, huh?" Lucy teased.
"He looks like he's having a lot of fun." Happy said.
"I'm surprised he's so calm around those demon girls... after his past with women..." Cain thought.
"It's as he says..." Chief Moka said. "We all feel that our appearance is a weakness, so we never interacted with any other islands..."
"That's why we started the rumor that Galuna Island was cursed!" Bobo said.
"So that's why the people at the port were scared of the island." Lucy said.
"But from now on, I think we'll be able to get along better with the people from the continent." Chief Moka said. "We should cooperate and help each other."
Erza agrees with the Chief. "If you speak to them in this way, it won't matter how you look, you'll be understood."
Yuka and Sherry descend from the mountains, and speak of retribution. At first it appears as though they came to fight for what the group did to Lyon, but after Erza quickly disarms them, they reveal their true motive. They come for punishment, feeling guilty for what they did to the village. They remember their days of pain, and the reason why they followed Lyon. Natsu quickly forgives them, and invites them into the feast.
From the shadows, Zalty sees it all, and using his Orb, he communicates it to Siegrain. He releases his transformation and turns into Ultear. Siegrain hopes that they never interrupt their plans, and the communication is cut.
The Next Day...
Natsu wonders where Yuka and Sherry went and Happy tells them that they left. Lucy examines Gray's face. "It looks like you'll be left with a scar.
"Huh? It doesn't bother me." Gray said.
"It's on your face!" Lucy said.
"I don't care where I get scarred. As long as they can be seen." Gray stated.
"Oh, that's deep!" Lucy winks at him.
"You'll get used to it." Aira commented.
"Huh?" Natsu turns to look at them. "What's a wound you can't see?"
"Nothing." Gray replied.
"Sheesh, you always ruin it when someone says somethin' cool!" Aira scoffed.
"What's cool?" Natsu asked.
The Fairy Tail crew is ready to leave the island back to Magnolia.
"W-What? You won't take the reward?" Chief Moka asked.
"That's right. Your gratitude is all we need." Erza said. Behind her, Natsu and Aira are strangling each other's cheeks. "This was not a job our guild officially accepted. Just a few idiots running off to do a job on their own."
Chief Moka laughed. "Even so, that doesn't change the fact that you saved us. If I say this is not a reward for the guild, but it's a "thanks" to our friends for saving us, would you accept it?" Natsu and Aira stop fighting and Lucy and Gray stare at the Chief.
"It's hard to say no when you put it that way." Erza sighed. They all smile when Erza accepts the reward.
"70 million Jewel!" Aira said in excitement as fire comes out of Natsu's nose.
"All right!" Lucy cheered in excitement.
"However taking it would be against the guild's principles." Erza said. "We'll be happy to take only the key you offered as the reward."
"We don't want that!" Natsu, Aira, and Gray yell together, wanting the reward instead of a key.
"Hell yeah, we do!" Lucy argued.
"I'll be happy to take you back to Hargeon." Bobo offered.
"No. I have a ship already." Erza looks at the pirate ship.
"A pirate ship?!" Everyone shouted in surprise.
"You hijacked it?!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Such is..." Happy added.
"Madame!" The Pirates start to wave at Erza.
"Madame?" Lucy questioned.
"They seem to have taken a liking to me." Erza responded.
"Such is the Great Erza!" Happy commented.
"Enough with "the Great" already!" Lucy sweat dropped.
"All you mates come on board as well!" The Captain of the Pirates welcomed.
"Mates?" Everybody questioned.
"Eww! I don't want to board that!" Lucy whined.
"I'll be happy to swim instead!" Natsu offered, smiling at Lucy.
"Not happening!" Lucy refused. The Fairy Tail team get on board as the villagers wave them goodbye.
"Thank you very much, everyone!" Bobo shouted.
"Stay well!" Lucy waves back at the villagers while Natsu and Aira are suffering with motion sickness.
They all leave using the ship Erza stole with every villager wanting them to come and visit.
Lyon and the others see from afar, and Lyon, having followed Gray's advice, asks Sherry if guilds are fun.
At Era, Ultear arrives and meets with Siegrain. They are both disappointed about Deliora's fate, and it's revealed that the daughter of Ur is actually Ultear. She belittles her mother, nevertheless, they both think highly of her Magic. Ultear thinks highly of Natsu too, and Siegrain thinks that for his plan to work, he must get stronger.
At Magnolia, Team Natsu finally returns home. "We're back!" Natsu happily cheered.
"But man... All that work, and one key is all we get?" Aira scoffed.
"And it was a full-blown S-Class quest, too." Happy responded.
"It wasn't a proper job. This much is just about right." Erza said.
"Yup, yup! No complaints!" Lucy grinned.
"You're the only one who got the reward, Lucy! Let's sell it!" Happy teased.
"You thieving cat!" Lucy said. "Besides, there are only 12 of the gold 'Zodiac' keys in the whole world! They're super-duper rare, see."
"That cow and maid?" Natsu chuckled, smirking at Lucy.
"As I progress, my Spirits will get way stronger!" Lucy shows off.
"So, what's the key we got this time?" Gray asked.
"The Archer, Sagittarius!" Lucy replied, giving him a thumbs up.
"Isn't that half man, half horse?!" Gray asked, imagining how Sagittarius looks like.
"No, I think it's the other way around." Lucy thinks of a different picture. Natsu thinks of a random creature. "That's not a man or a horse..."
"Easygoing, aren't we? You haven't forgotten that you'll be punished when we get back, have you?" Erza reminded them about the punishment.
"Punishment?!" Natsu asked.
"I thought we'd dropped that already!" Lucy said.
"Don't be silly. Accepting your actions was a field decision on my part. You still must receive your punishment." Erza stated. "I think you should be mostly forgiven for what happened this time. However your judge will be the master. And I have no intention of defending you. So be prepared to take your punishment."
"He's not gonna make us do that, is he?!" Happy worriedly asked.
"Wait a sec! I never want to do that again!" Aira freaks out, thinking about his past.
"Is it going to be worse this time?!" Gray wondered, sweating nervously.
"What is that?!" Lucy worriedly asked, scared of what the punishment is going to be.
"Don't sweat it. We did a good job, so Gramps'll be impressed!" Natsu calms her down, patting her shoulder.
"How frightfully positive of you..." Lucy commented.
"No, I think it's pretty much decided already. I look forward to it." Erza said. Natsu nervously chuckles and sweats uncontrollably which freaks out Lucy. Natsu attempts to leave, but Erza drags him back.
"Not that! Anything but that!" Aira talks to himself, shaking in fear.
"Like I said, what the heck is that?!" Lucy's question is still unanswered. "Tell me!"
A/N: There you go!
Hope you enjoyed!
~Kyle