Mama Mirajane-2
It was a usual morning at the Fairy Tail guild hall. With one little acception.
"Scythe, where are you, Scythe sweetie please come out of where you're hiding." Mira exclaimed looking around frantically.
"Is she still at it?" Jet, and orange haired man with a big hat, asked seeing Mira looking around the small spaces of the guild hall.
"She's been searching for the kid all night all over town, she must be exhausted." Droy, a black haired man with an affinity to eat large amounts of food exclaimed. Yet he always stayed thin.
"Mirajane, please calm down, we'll find him." Levi exclaimed putting a comforting hand on the white haired woman's shoulder.
"I just can't stand the thought of what might happen to him out there." Mira exclaimed with deep concern in her eyes.
"Maybe it's Lauxus's fault. His attack on the kid probably scared him away." Wakaba stated putting a piece of gum in his mouth, with a hint of venom in his voice directed towards the blonde magic user.
"I haven't seen you smoke once in the last week, what gives?" Macao asked his friend and teammate.
"I'm doing it out of courteousness for Mirajane, we don't know if Scythe as asthma." Wakaba sighed.
"I'm sure that Lauxus's attack on him might be the case." Velvet exclaimed sitting on the bar counter drinking a can of soda.
"To top it off one of the S-Class fliers is missing." Mira cried out. "You don't think Scythe might have tried taking a job and taken the S-Class by mistake do you?"
"It could be possible, he is only five after all, and wouldn't know what he's getting himself into." Makarov exclaimed cupping his chin.
"Actually…" Lauxus sneered from the second floor. "I saw a little blue cat take the flier and the little brat followed him. Probably out of curiosity. I trailed them for a bit, and saw the brat climb into Natsu's backpack, before they headed off to that blondes place."
"What?" Makarov asked shouting a bit.
Mira's expression went grim with fear and the horror of what might happen.
"LAUXUS. Natsu, Happy, and Lucy are one thing, but you should have stepped in when a child got involved." Makarov shouted, sounding more pissed off than ever.
"Hey, it's not my fault the kid feels adventurous." Lauxus exclaimed before receiving a fist to the gut. The impact of the blow destroyed the chair and made cracks in the ground of the second floor.
"If my little boy gets hurt because of your carelessness, I will make you pay." Mira stated.
"You haven't given me that look in a, long time." Lauxus chuckled, trying to hide the fact the attack actually caused him more than a bit of pain.
"Which job was it?" Makarov questioned pinching the bridge of his nose.
"To remove the curse on Galuna Island." Mira explained.
"Are you serious?"
"Scythe's barely six years old, if he gets killed…" Macao shouted, stopping as he didn't want to think about what might happen.
"Then we better get him back right away." Wakaba exclaimed nearly choking on his gum.
"Lauxus, you are to go get them and bring them back here right now. You're the only one strong enough to do it by force." Makarov shouted.
"I'm sorry Master, but I have to disagree with you on that one." Grey exclaimed standing up.
…
"Hargeon port, feels like it was yesterday that we met here." Lucy smiled. "Alright, now let's go find a boat to take us to Galuna Island."
"What are you crazy, why can't we just swim there?" Natsu asked, sounding desperate to not get on any mode of transportation.
"You're the one calling me crazy?" Lucy asked with an 'are you serious' look.
Lucy and Natsu began asking boaters around for a ride to Galuna Island, but there wasn't any such luck as to finding one.
"Are you serious?" The final boat captain asked. "Not even pirates will go to that island, it's cursed."
"Well, that settles it, I guess we're swimming then." Natsu smiled.
"We found you." Grey stated popping up behind them with Velvet at his side.
"GAAHH, Grey, what are you doing here?" Lucy asked, surprised at the Ice-Maker's sudden appearance. What really surprised her though was he was fully dressed.
"Gramps found out about your hair brained scheme and sent us to bring you back." Grey exclaimed.
"Why, we're not in danger yet." Natsu stated.
"If you come back now you might avoid being kicked out of the guild. Not to mention avoid a world class beating from Mirajane." Grey smirked. "Seriously bringing a five year old to Galuna Island. I can't believe you'd stoop so low with your apprentice Natsu."
"Huh, what are you talking about?" Natsu asked noticing Velvet was struggling with something, or someone, in his bag.
"Get out of there this instant young man." Velvet exclaimed trying to pull Scythe out of the mostly empty backpack.
"What?" Lucy questioned before fully opening the flap of the bag. "Scythe, how'd you get in there?"
"What no way. Scythe get out of there." Natsu stated putting his bag down.
Scythe stepped out of the bag and looked around at the teens staring at him.
"So he stowed away huh? Mira will be happy to know you didn't intend to bring him." Grey chuckled. "At least it's a surefire way to avoid the beating she had planned for you."
"Well you can take him back, but I'm going on this S-Class quest." Natsu stated.
"You're way out of your league here, just come home. When Erza finds out not only about the unauthorized S-Class Quest, but also about you bringing Scythe along, she won't care if it's by accident, she's going to be so angry." Grey exclaimed with his face going pale as if he were the one in trouble.
"Uh-oh…" Natsu, Lucy, and Happy exclaimed.
"Please Grey, you've gotta save me, I told them this was a bad idea, but they forced me to come along." Happy exclaimed flying behind Grey and landing on his right shoulder.
"You are such a liar." Lucy shouted.
"Come on Scythe, we're going home." Velvet exclaimed, transforming into her humanoid form and taking Scythe by the underarms.
Before she could take off though, Scythe struggled out of her grip and ran behind Natsu, and Lucy, and stuck out his tongue.
"I guess once he heard them talking about the quest, he wanted to join." Velvet sighed standing beside Grey.
"Oh for the love of. What have you been teaching this boy Natsu?" Grey asked as he prepared his magic.
"I've only been teaching him how to control his elements, and how to fight like a dragon." Natsu smirked preparing his magic.
The boater saw their magic and intervened.
"Excuse me, but are you wizards?" The boatman asked gaining their attention. "Have you come to lift the curse off the island?"
"Yeah." Natsu smirked.
"Well maybe." Lucy exclaimed with a bit of a worried look.
"Not gonna happen." Grey and Velvet stated gritting their teeth in annoyance.
After a moment of silence, the boatman surprised them.
"Get in." He stated.
Scythe ran for the boat and hopped in.
"What?" Lucy asked.
"Seriously?" Natsu smiled.
"No way."
"Scythe get out of the boat now." Velvet exclaimed.
Natsu smirked as he kicked Grey, sending him into Velvet and knocking them both out as they hit the stone wall behind them.
"There we go, we're ready when you are sir." Natsu stated hauling Velvet and Grey onto his shoulders.
"You sure we should bring them with us?" Lucy asked.
"We can't let them go back and tell the guild, cause the next person they're gonna send is Erza." Natsu explained with a frightened face.
"Natsu, Scythe actually changes things. We can't go on this job with a five year old. It's too dangerous. His caretaker is probably worried sick about him." Lucy exclaimed. Her skin crawled when Natsu had another creepy smile.
The scene changed to Velvet sitting on Scythe's head, while the child was holding a fishing rod with a basket of fish beside him.
"Later that day."
"Why the hell did you tie me up along with Velvet and Grey?" Lucy shouted from where she sat.
"Because I wasn't gonna risk you going back to the guild and sending Erza after me." Natsu exclaimed as he seemed fine.
"So why aren't you puking your guts out right now?" Grey asked.
"I don't know, it's actually been like this since the train."
Scythe pulled at Natsu's vest and pointed at himself.
"You got rid of my motion sickness?" Natsu asked.
Scythe nodded his head and held out his hand producing a small black ball of magic.
"What is that?" Velvet asked.
"It looks like a pocket of condensed air." Grey exclaimed. "So he has more than just fire and lightning?"
"It would appear so." Lucy exclaimed. "If I weren't tied up I would be able to call Grandpa Crux of the Southern Cross to help find out what kind of slayer magic he has, 'cause so far, Master Makarov hasn't had any luck in finding the answer to that question."
Scythe started to walk over to Lucy as the boat wobbled with the water. He intended to untie Lucy so she could do just that, but a large wave crashed against the side of the boat and sent him over the other side, while he hit his head on the edge of the boat.
"SCYTHE." They all screamed before Natsu dove into the water after his apprentice.
Natsu swam after the drowning boy, his blood pumping with the fury of the thought that he would lose his friend and fail to keep him safe. As he neared Scythe, and under water current pushed him back. Natsu was running out of oxygen and was forced to resurface for more. On his way up, he saw Lucy's water spirit Aquarius swimming down at a speed ten times faster than his. Aquarius had reached Scythe just as he had sunk to the bottom of the bedrock.
She swam back up trying to use her control over water to prevent the boy from drowning as she held him and rocketed back up to the surface, where Natsu had just gotten back aboard the ship. Aquarius resurfaced and gently placed the boy onto the floor of the ship where the newly freed Velvet, Grey, and Lucy were all waiting.
"He's not breathing." Grey exclaimed as he and Velvet check his pulse.
"Move aside." Aquarius exclaimed pushing them to opposite ends of the boat.
With her control over water, Aquarius traced her fingers over Scythe's chest and up his throat, she lifted her fingers over his mouth and a trail of water followed, allowing the boy to breathe again.
"Oh thank goodness. Totally worth calling me from my vacation for." Aquarius sighed.
Scythe got up on shaking legs, and looked up at Aquarius before he ran to her and hugged her. It was a shock to Aquarius to say the least, even more so to Lucy as she knew Aquarius would have punched him by now, due to personal experience.
Scythe let go of the hug and gave Aquarius a big smile.
"Well, I guess my work here is done." Aquarius exclaimed disappearing, with a smile on her face.
"Am I crazy?" Lucy asked dumbfounded.
"Why do you ask that?" Velvet inquired.
"Aquarius just smiled. She is never that nice to me, not even when I was Scythe's age." Lucy exclaimed.
Scythe walked over to one of the seats of the boat and sat on it, before laying down completely and falling asleep.
"You're lucky that Scythe wasn't killed because of this." Grey exclaimed getting mad at Natsu and Lucy. "This is your fault to buddy, why'd you decide to let us on?"
"The name's Bobo. If you must know I used to be a citizen of Galuna Island." The boatman exclaimed. "But I had to flee, I just couldn't take it anymore. I should warn you, tragedy befalls anyone who steps foot on the island. There's no avoiding it, that is, unless you're able to lift the curse."
Bobo removed his cloak and showed his left arm, it was completely different from earlier as it was now black and covered in beetle like armor.
"This vile demon's curse." Bobo stated.
"Whoa, you're arm, what happened to it?" Grey asked.
"Is that… the curse?" Lucy inquired.
"We're almost there." Bobo exclaimed ignoring their questions.
All their attention was drawn to a light in the distance. It was an island that wasn't too far from their position.
"That's Galuna Island."
"That's weird, why's the mountain top glowing like that?" Velvet asked.
"What the where'd he go?"
All their attention was drawn to the now empty boatman's position, where Bobo was nowhere to be found.
"Did he fall out?" Grey asked.
"It's like he disappeared into thin air." Happy stated.
The boat began to rock more as the waves got bigger, eventually, the boat was being lifted.
"What's that sound?" Lucy asked.
Grey turned around to see what the sound and motion was.
"Uh, Lucy, Natsu, Velvet…"
They turned their heads to see a giant tidal wave lifting their boat and practically throwing them to the beach of the island.
They all began screaming their heads off, somehow Scythe was still sleeping through this and was peacefully dreaming.
It wasn't long until the wave washed them all away, and they ended up on the shore of the island. Scythe jumped up in surprise as he noticed something was off.
He noticed the others laying on the ground near the sandy beach, and walked over to them. He stood behind Lucy and bent over looking down at her face with a curious look.
He poked her cheek a few times, but when that didn't wake her, he resorted to his next method. He found a sand crab and put it near her nose, before its pincher pinched both her nostrils shut. Lucy jumped into the air screaming as the pain from it woke her up. She pulled the decapod off her nose and rubbed her sore nose and looked at Scythe as he was trying to keep himself from laughing.
"Very funny you little pipsqueak." Lucy smiled. 'Can't forget he's just a little kid, despite all he's been through, wish I knew what that was.'
Further towards the water, Natsu, Grey, Velvet, and Happy were just picking themselves up as they had recovered from the crash.
"Looks like we made it you guys." Natsu cheered.
"We're lucky that wave washed us ashore." Lucy exclaimed.
"Well I don't know if I would call it lucky." Grey exclaimed.
"I can't help wondering what happened to Bobo." Velvet sighed as she sat against a rock.
"Right after he told us about the curse, he vanished." Lucy added.
"Forget about that stuff for now and let's go exploring." Natsu smiled waving his arms around.
"Aye sir." Happy shouted as he and Scythe jumped for joy.
"We've been here for thirty seconds and you guys have already forgotten about the mission?" Lucy asked sweat-dropping.
Later, the group was huddled around Lucy as they she started to explain the situation.
"Apparently there's only one village on the whole island. The village chief is the one who originally put in the request. So I guess we need to try and find him." Lucy explained.
"Not so fast." Grey exclaimed picking himself up.
"Give it up Grey, we can't take them back to the guild now that our boats been destroyed." Velvet sighed.
"You're right. I'm going with them." Grey stated causing Lucy and Natsu to go wide eyed in shock. "There's no way I'm gonna let you clowns make S-Class before I do, and if you were kicked out, the guild would be pretty boring. Gramps will be upset, but if we pull this off he won't stay mad at us for long."
"I'm coming to. Not like I can fly back to the guild from here, I mean I don't even know which side of the island we landed on so I'd be completely lost if I just went flying in a random direction." Velvet sighed giving in.
Natsu, Happy, Lucy, and Scythe all smiled as their friends chose to come with them.
"Let's do this." Grey smiled.
…
Later on, by nightfall, the six of them managed to make it to the large wooden fence with a keep out sign.
"Well, we found the village." Grey exclaimed. "Now what?"
"Well whatever you do, don't be too loud, I just got Scythe to sleep." Velvet exclaimed carrying Scythe on her back in a makeshift carrier as he slept, in her humanoid form.
"Check out that gate. When they say keep out they mean it." Natsu stated.
"Anyone home?" Lucy shouted. "We came here to help you."
"What did I just say about being quiet?" Velvet asked pulling her ear.
"Sorry, sorry." Lucy wined trying to avoid Velvets wrath.
After a moment of silence, there was no sign that anyone had heard her.
"Let's bust in." Natsu smiled raising a fist.
"No way." Lucy exclaimed turning to the pinket.
"Who goes there?"
The five that were still awake looked up to see two men on the gate looking down at them.
"We're wizards from Fairy Tail, responding to your request." Lucy exclaimed.
"I'm backing away since there is going to be more shouting." Velvet sighed in defeat.
"Why weren't we notified when you accepted the job?" One of the two guards asked.
"Sorry it was probably just a mix up with the paper work." Grey exclaimed, coming up with a good excuse.
"Then let me see your emblems right now."
Natsu showed the emblem on his shoulder, as Happy showed the one on his back. Grey showed the emblem on his chest, as Lucy and velvet showed the emblems on their hand and neck.
"They're here." The two guards exclaimed in unison. "They're really here."
After that, the gate was risen and a group of the villagers were gathered around to greet them.
"It's like we're walking into a giant monsters mouth." Happy chimed.
"Are you trying to freak me out? Because it's working." Lucy exclaimed.
"I'm Moka the village chief. On behalf of everyone here I welcome you." A short man dressed in robes exclaimed. "Pleasantries aside, there's something you need to see."
Moka and the rest of the villagers behind him removed their cloaks, revealing that every one of them had at least one body part that was touched by the curse.
"It's just like what happened to the boat guy." Grey exclaimed.
"Yeah." Lucy softly said, feeling sorry for them all.
"Oh wow, your sideburns." Natsu exclaimed.
"Not that, I was try to show you what's happened to my arm." Moka exclaimed. "Everyone on the island has suffered horrible disfigurement because of this curse. Not even the animals have been spared."
"Please excuse me for asking, but what makes you think it's a curse sir? It could be some kind of infectious disease." Grey exclaimed, as to which Velvet backed away from the group.
(Que Music… Superman: Five for Fighting)
"We've consulted with dozens of doctor's young man." Moka exclaimed. "But they all agreed that no such disease exists. You see, our symptoms began around the same time the moon fell under an evil spell."
"What kind of spell?" Lucy asked as Velvet walked up beside her.
"Since ancient times, this island has absorbed the light of the moon. Causing it to glow almost as beautifully as the moon itself. However, several years ago, the moons color began to change, and an eerie purple glow was cast upon the island." Moka explained.
"So the moon turned purple?" Natsu asked.
"Ah, it's coming out from behind the clouds." Happy exclaimed looking up.
As Moka had said, the moon indeed was purple.
"Oh wow, it really is purple." Lucy exclaimed.
"Man that's creepy looking." Grey stated.
"It's the curse. Stand back, the change is about to begin." Moka exclaimed.
Suddenly, all the villagers were in pain, and were screaming or trying to suppress the pain. But it was no use, as their bodies began to fully change. They became demons, and the screaming only stopped once the transformations were complete.
"Why is this happening to them?" Natsu questioned, a look of fear in his eyes.
Later on, after all of the villagers had changed, they all stood before the group of six, as it was, they weren't humans anymore.
"I'm sorry if our appearance frightens you." Moka exclaimed.
All the screaming and commotion had woken up Scythe and he had witnessed the last half of their transformations. He was frightened, and hid behind Velvet's head, but could not hide from the screaming that had occurred. He hugged Velvet tight from behind and she was able to feel him visibly shaking.
"It's okay, I'm just completely confused." Grey exclaimed.
"You poor people." Lucy stated.
"Oh man, you guys look so cool." Natsu stated.
Everything there grew silent, all except for Velvet trying to calm Scythe down as she wasn't paying attention to what the fire breather had said.
"Shhhhhh, it's okay Scythe. Everything is fine." Velvet exclaimed now holding him in her arms.
"Um, pardon my intrusiveness, but why did you bring a child along on this job?" One of the villagers asked.
"Oh, he followed us from the guild hall and stowed away in my bag. By the time we found out he followed us, it was too late to head back." Natsu explained pausing Lucy on her lecturing. "Though I do think a jungle environment will help improve his training."
"You are his master after all." Velvet chuckled.
"Back to the matter at hand. As you've witnessed, whenever the purple moon shows its face in the sky, everyone in the village takes on a horrific demon form, if it isn't a curse, then what else could it possibly be?" Moka asked. "We'll return to normal once the morning comes and the sun has risen. However, there are some poor souls who can no longer switch back to their human forms for they have lost their minds."
"How sad." Lucy exclaimed.
"The fate for them, these unfortunate souls in the grip of madness, we've no choice but to put them to death." Moka explained.
"But they might change back to normal someday." Natsu stated.
"If we wait for that to happen, the monsters would surely kill us all. We've tried capturing them, but they've always broke free. It's no use." Moka explained as he started to cry, staring at a picture of a very familiar face. "Once it takes hold, there's no way to save them. I should know, I was forced to kill my very own son."
The group all saw the picture and they were shocked at who they saw.
"That's the guy… from the boat…" Lucy stated. "But we just saw him yesterday he…"
"Shhhhhh…" Grey silenced Lucy. "Now I understand why he disappeared on us like that, he's dead, but his soul can't rest in peace."
'A ghost?' Lucy thought.
"Please lift the evil curse from our island." Moka pleaded bowing to them. "If this goes on much longer we may all fall victim to it. We'll die…"
"We're not gonna let that happen." Natsu stated interrupting Moka's plea. "We can fix this I promise you."
"There's only one way, this retched curse can be lifted." Moka exclaimed. "The moon, the moon must be wiped from the sky."
(End Song…)
Later on that night, Happy, Grey, Natsu, and Lucy were in a hut that they were permitted to use.
"I never knew the moon could be so creepy." Happy stated.
"Hurry and close the window. You heard what the chief said, we gotta stay out of the moon light. You may not care but I don't wanna risk turning into some freaking looking monster." Lucy exclaimed.
"I'm not so sure about this job guys." Natsu exclaimed.
"Do these people really think we can destroy the moon?" Grey inquired.
"Wonder how many punches it'll take. You think I can handle it?" Natsu asked raising his fist.
"Are you kidding me?" Grey asked. "Don't be stupid man."
"Natsu, there's not a wizard alive, who's strong enough to do that." Lucy sighed.
"But that's the job we were hired to do, isn't it?" Natsu asked. "We can't take a job and then back out, cause that would make Fairy Tail look bad."
"What they're asking can't be done. How do you think you're gonna get to the moon anyway?" Grey inquired.
"With Happy." Natsu stated pointing upwards.
"Ah. I don't think so." Happy stated.
"Okay we can't destroy the moon, but if we do some investigating, we might be able to find a different way to lift the curse from the island." Lucy exclaimed before a shirt was thrown at her.
"You kids can do what you want, but after the day I've had, I need some shut eye." Grey exclaimed removing a sock.
"Please don't take off anymore." Lucy wined.
"Okay, our investigation starts tomorrow morning." Natsu smiled.
"Scythe are you in here?" Velvet asked opening the door to their hut.
"No Scythe isn't in here, what's going on Velvet?" Lucy asked.
"Scythe isn't in our hut, and he's not anywhere in the village either." Velvet exclaimed frantically.
"What? We gotta find him." Grey exclaimed jumping to his feet.
"You need to put on some clothes before you do anything." Lucy stated.
After Grey got dressed, he joined the others in their search for Scythe.
"Scythe… where are you buddy?" Natsu shouted out.
"Scythe, come on this isn't funny like the prank you pulled on me this morning." Lucy exclaimed as she shouted out.
"Hey Scythe, come on out, I'll give you a soda before bed." Velvet called out.
"What's all the ruckus?" Moka asked as he and several villagers came out of their huts.
"We're sorry to wake you, but have you seen Scythe? He's gone missing, and we can't find him anywhere." Lucy exclaimed. "He's the little boy you saw with us earlier."
"No, but I'll send out a search party for him. We may hate these forms, but they can come in handy when needed in times of crisis." Moka exclaimed.
So a search party was sent out for Scythe, but little to their knowledge, he was not anywhere they would expect him to be. He was on a direct path to the temple, with something drawing him there, something familiar.
"Well, what do we have here?"
Scythe, still in his stupor, looked up to see a man with big eyebrows, a dog looking man, and a pink haired woman with fly like wings on her back.
"Oh, he's just adorable. What are you doing out here all alone little one?" The woman asked bending down to look at him in the eyes. "He seems to be under some sort of trance."
"Could he possibly have a connection to Deliora?" The dog man asked.
"Possibly Toby, Sherry, grab him. Let's bring this boy to the Cold Emperor." The big eyebrow man exclaimed.
"Right away Yuka." Sherry stated picking Scythe up by the underarms and carrying him with her like he was a teddy bear.
…
"Scythe… where are you?" Lucy shouted as they walked through the jungle.
"We've been searching all night. It's nearly noon. Where could he be?" Grey asked as they walked towards the temple on the top of the mountain.
"The only place we haven't looked is the temple atop this mountain. But why would he go there?" Velvet asked as she flew at the head of the group.
"I don't know, but if we don't find him, Mirajane is gonna kill us." Happy exclaimed.
"Here you all seem tired." Velvet exclaimed handing them each a monster energy drink.
"How do you have so many things in that tiny bag of yours?" Natsu asked opening his drink.
"It's sort of like Erza's pocket dimension for weapons, only this is more compact and anyone can access it. In short it's a pocket void bag." Velvet explained.
Before anything else could happen, large rumbling like giant footsteps was heard coming in their direction. They all looked up to see a giant blue rat in a maids outfit.
"Whoa, what the…?" Natsu asks.
"It's huge." Grey added.
"What are you waiting for, beat it up you guys." Lucy shouts hiding behind a tree with Velvet and Happy.
"Alright." Natsu smirks downing his energy drink.
"Let's beat this thing." Grey smiles throwing away his empty drink can. "ICE MAKE SHIELD."
A large ice shield in the shape of a snowflake appeared in front of the group, blocking the giants rants rancid breath attack.
"Oh no, what's wrong?" Lucy asked, having summoned Horologium and hidden in his clock container. Velvet and Happy were in there on either side of her. "Did you two seriously just sneak inside here?"
"Aye." Happy exclaimed.
"Yep." Velvet stated.
Though do to the rancid stench of the bad breath from the giant rat, Horologium was no longer able to take being in the human world and disappeared to the Celestial Spirit world, leaving Lucy and the two cats to fend for themselves.
"Stinky." The three exclaimed plugging their noses.
"C'mon Natsu, get up man." Grey exclaimed.
"The smell knocked him out." Happy stated seeing Natsu passed out on the ground.
Though apparently he wasn't out for long as he shouted for them all to run.
"Let's go." Natsu shouted still holding his nose.
As the giant rat chased them, it tried hitting them with two more rancid breath attacks and that was really starting to get on their nerves. Grey looked back and noticed two black bands on either of the rants pinkie fingers.
"Hold up, those black bands, they're Scythe's." Grey exclaimed.
The rest turned around the see what he was talking about, and they saw that the rat was wearing the bands as pinkie rings on its smallest fingers.
"ICE MAKE FLOOR." Grey shouted slamming both his fists into the ground and covering it in slick ice.
The giant rat slipped and fell on its back.
"You should have done that in the first place. Now I'm going to get some answers out of it." Natsu exclaimed. He jumped into the air and landed hard on the rat's stomach.
The rat looked up at him with confusion before fear was etched into its face. Natsu's expression showed he was pissed, and demanded answers.
"Answer me this you stinking rat. Those bands on your pinkies, did you kill the boy who owned them?" Natsu growled igniting his fist.
The rat shook its head no and waved its arms around to try and get him to understand its answer.
"Is he still alive?"
The rat shook its head yes and pointed at a building that it was trying to keep them away from.
"So he's in there?" Natsu questioned.
The rat shook its head yes again.
"Good." Natsu stated before jumping off.
Once he was off, the rat got up as fast as it could a scurried away in fear.
The group walked into the temple and were amazed at its size.
"This place is massive." Lucy exclaimed.
"Yeah, and it's falling apart." Natsu exclaimed.
"I wonder how old it is." Grey exclaimed.
"Maybe this place has something to do with the curse and Scythe's disappearance." Velvet exclaimed.
"Huh, what are those?" Natsu asked turning his head towards several carvings.
"They're moons." Grey stated. "It makes sense, Galuna used to be called the Island of the Moon."
"A moon island, a moon curse, and weird moon symbols. You really gotta wonder what all of it means." Lucy exclaimed.
"Man this place is a wreck." Natsu stated walking off. "How are we supposed to find Scythe in this maze of a place?" He questioned stomping on the ground. "This floor doesn't even look safe to walk on."
"Well don't go stomping on it you dummy." Lucy exclaimed.
Before long, the floor beneath them crumbled and they began falling.
"Natsu, you idiot, look what you've done." Grey shouted.
Velvet and Happy spread their wings. Velvet caught Lucy and Grey, while Happy caught Natsu.
"How can you hold both Grey and Lucy, I can barely hold Lucy because she's so heavy." Happy exclaimed.
"Lucy isn't heavy you jerk. Never insult a woman on her weight." Velvet exclaimed. "Besides, if you can barely lift her, then you need to cut back on the fish and gain some actual protein and a workout regimen to build muscle."
Velvet set Lucy and Grey down gently on the ground, while Happy dropped Natsu on his butt with a soft thud.
"Where are we?" Natsu asked, getting up and dusting himself off. "Is everyone okay?"
"I'd be better if you hadn't knocked out the floor." Lucy stated.
"Here's a thought, if you think before you act maybe you wouldn't cause so much destruction." Grey exclaimed.
"So, can the two of you fly us out of here?" Lucy asked.
"Afraid not, with that distance, it would be a while and even though I'm strong, I'd have to make two trips for you and Grey." Velvet sighed.
"No sorry." Happy simply said.
"We're underneath the temple." Grey exclaimed.
"Wow, it's a secret cave." Natsu smiled jumping up and down. "This is so cool, let's go check it out."
"Would you quit running like a crazy person?" Grey questioned, a bit agitated.
Later on, deeper within the cave, Natsu ran to the end and stopped and stared in awe of what was in front of him.
"Natsu?" Lucy asked as she and grey came up with Happy and Velvet on their shoulders.
"What is something wrong?" Grey questioned.
"Hey guys, what's that?" Natsu asked now looking up with concern.
Grey's eyes widened in disbelief, as if he'd never wanting to see something like that again, while Lucy, Happy, and Velvet, all looked up in shock.
The thing they were staring at was a giant ice-burg, with a giant monstrous demon inside. Grey had a look of horror on his face, as if it shouldn't have been there.
"That's impossible." Grey stated. "It's Deliora. But how, how could this happen, why is it here, what the hell is it doing on Galuna Island?" Grey questioned in anger.
"You've seen this thing before?" Natsu questioned.
"There's no, no way." Grey stated shaking.
"Grey please, try to calm down." Lucy stated.
Grey took a minute to calm down, taking some much needed deep breaths, as he hesitantly looked up at it.
"Now, can you tell us about it?" Lucy asked.
"It's Deliora, the Demon of Destruction." Grey simply stated.
"Demon of Construction?" Natsu questioned.
"Destruction." Happy corrected.
"But why is it, here? It doesn't make any sense." Grey exclaimed with confusion and anger in his voice.
There was a moment of silence, then there were footsteps heard.
"The voices seem to come from down here." Yuka exclaimed as he and Toby got closer to the chamber the demon was in. "I hate being awake during the day. So Toby were you exposed to the moon drip? You've got those pointy ears."
"I already told you they're a fashion statement you jerk." Toby exclaimed in frustration.
"Lighten up I was just teasing you." Yuka stated.
"You don't have to be so mean about it." Toby sighed.
From their hiding places, Lucy, Natsu, Grey, Happy, and Velvet, could easily hear what they were saying.
"Huh, the moon drip. Could that be the name of the curse?" Lucy questioned.
Not long after Yuka and Toby stopped to look up and Deliora, Sherry walked in sounding sad.
"Yuka, Toby. Something terrible has happened." Sherry stated.
"What now Sherry?" Yuka asked while Toby waved at her.
"It's Angelica, she's been attacked and frightened, and I'm sad." Sherry exclaimed.
"You're moping around because somebody beat up your stupid pet rat?" Toby questioned.
"She's not a rat." Sherry stated. "She's a brave hunter prowling the jungle to protect us. She is, Love."
"I don't know who these people are, but talk about a bunch of weirdos." Lucy exclaimed. "Especially the chick with the pet rat."
"Judging by the scent I picked up off them, they're not from the island." Natsu stated.
"An' they don't look like they have the demon curse." Happy exclaimed.
"Intruders you say?" Yuka asked.
"And it's almost time to begin collecting moonlight again." Sherry sighed. "All this makes me so sad. This news would displease the Cold Emperor."
"Then we should hurry and find the intruders." Toby exclaimed.
"Has the child been prepped for the ceremony yet?" Yuka asked.
The five hiding behind the boulders shot their heads towards Yuka.
"Yes, he has been dressed in the ceremonial garments. If he is connected to Deliora somehow, then exposing him to the source of the moon drip should work." Sherry exclaimed. "I still find it strange, a child barely five years of age wondering around the jungle in a trance."
"Well after the ceremony there shouldn't be anything to worry about from him." Toby exclaimed.
Happy flew over down the tunnel a bit and threw some rocks farther down. Leading Yuka, Toby, and Sherry to think they're chasing someone.
"Nice job cat." Lucy stated as Happy flew back to them.
"C'mon, we should have grabbed them and beat some answers out of them." Natsu stated.
"Natsu, they have Scythe. We can't risk them doing anything to him." Velvet exclaimed. "I hate to suggest this, even with Scythe's life on the line. The best way we can save him and stop this moon drip ceremony is if we wait for night fall."
"Deliora, I still don't know what anybody would want with it. Or how they were even able to find it." Grey stated.
"Was it hidden somewhere?" Lucy asked.
"It was sealed away, on a glacier on the northern continent. A decade ago this demon ravaged Isval. Countless people lost their lives." Grey explained. "The woman who taught me how to use my magic, my master Ur, sacrificed everything to seal it away. I don't know if it has anything to do with the curse on this island. But I do know that it doesn't belong here. This Cold Emperor, we have to find out who it is. If they tarnish my master's legacy, they're gonna regret the day they were born."
…
Meanwhile, on a pirate ship with either a pumpkin or an orange for a skull and a fork and knife for crossbones. Upon this ship, were the beaten up crew and a red haired Erza, accompanied by the white haired Mirajane. Both their expressions, were enough to make even the wildest of beasts go crying to their mommies.
"Um… what are ye wanting to go to the cursed island for anyways? Arg, it's scary." The captain stated steering the helm.
"When rules are broken, then those who did it must face justice." Erza exclaimed.
"Not to mention these people who broke the rules, have my little boy in their company. I'm not going to let that slide." Mira stated darkly, cracking her knuckles.
"Whoa, so cool." One of the recovered crewmates exclaimed.
"We'll follow the two of you anywhere." Another exclaimed.
As the crew cheered them on, the captain joined in and fully agreed to take them.
"Set a course for the cursed Island of Galuna…" The captain shouted.
"Aye-aye sir…"