I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.
TheCarlosInferno: Introducing another OC Dragon Slayer in this fic is something that I had never actually considered when I started this fic, but after going over what we discussed about this a few times, I came up with some ideas that I think will produce some interesting results.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"In a land far far away lies the Kingdom of Fiore, a small and peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace. For most people, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some however, magic is an art, and they've devoted their lives to its practice. These are the wizards and mages, and banded together into magical guilds, they ply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore, but there is a certain guild in a certain town that stands high above the rest of them, one from which countless legends have been born, a guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. This guild is known as Fairy Tail."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Morning came, and the sun had long since risen over the skies of Magnolia.
Luke made his way into the guild hall with a mug of coffee in hand "Hey have any of you guys seen Bolt? He never came back to the apartment last night."
"That makes two problems we have to deal with now." Cana let out a sigh "I showed up this morning to take a job request but it turns out that one of the S class quests has gone missing."
"...Oh shit."
"Yeah."
"So to sum up, my talking cat with wings is missing and so is one of the S class quests, and I'm noticing a distinct lack of Natsu trying to fight me and/ or Gray."
"Yep."
"Yeah, I've got a bad feeling about this."
"As you should." Freed spoke up from his place at the bar "Two small feline creatures came up and ripped it off the board before sunrise, I only noticed because I was here helping to clean things up from the night before."
"So Bolt and Happy snatched it?"
"That is what I said yes, and such a thing is a serious breach of the rules. Such a thing requires a high level of punishment does it not?"
"Anything else you know?"
"I do believe that I saw two figures, one pink and one gold accompanying them out of town this morning."
"And you chose not to go after them?"
"I believed that it was the proper course of action to inform everyone else rather than take matters into my own hands. Besides, I had never dreamt that Natsu would actually go so far as to break the rules of the guild."
"I figured it would happen at some point, just not like this. So which job did they take off with anyway?"
"To my knowledge, I believe that it was lifting the curse on Galuna Island."
"Son of a bitch, and Natsu just went way up on the stupidity meter. I don't suppose you'd be willing to go down there and drag them back before they get themselves killed?"
"I understand your reasoning, however based on my previous experience with Natsu I highly doubt that I would be capable of bringing him back by force."
"And by that you mean I'm the only one in the guild who could."
This was all the prompting Gray needed to get out of his seat "Yeah no offense Luke but I'll have to disagree with you there."
"And there we go. Fine go get them, but take Lisanna with you since she's probably the only person who could talk Natsu down. I need some coffee in me before I can do anything in the morning in the first place."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, in the port town of Hargeon…
Lucy looked around the port town of Hargeon with fond nostalgia "Wow this really brings back a lot of memories, it seems like only yesterday when I met Luke and Bolt here for the very first time."
"It practically was yesterday." Bolt pointed out "You don't have to get all mushy, if you do then you're gonna sound like an old hag or something." he was silenced by a comical glare.
"Ignoring you, let's just go and find a boat that will take us to Galuna."
"Might not wanna mention a boat though."
"Why?"
"Well…"
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Natsu pretty much exploded almost on cue "To hell with the boat, why can't we all just swim for it."
"That's why. Seriously, if you think this is crazy then just wait until you actually see this jackass in action."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Unfortunately, getting a boat to take them to Galuna Island turned out to be easier said than done, case and point.
"Galuna Island? No way in hell, not for a million Jewel! Around here it's bad luck to even mention that name!"
"Yeah sorry guys, but I don't think anyone around these parts would be willing to take you out there. That island out there is cursed, so unless you've got a death wish I'd stay the hell away from there."
"I don't know why you'd want to go there in the first place, but no sailor worth his salt is gonna take you to Galuna Island. Not even pirates will go near that place."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
1 montage of rejections later…
Lucy let out a sigh of rejection "Well that just about sucks."
Natsu gave a huge shit eating grin "It looks to me like we're gonna be swimming there after all, lucky us."
"You mean lucky you, and we're not swimming!"
"Why the hell not?"
"First of all, you're the only one with that problem. Second of all, out in the ocean is all sorts of insane stuff that you'd have to be on crack to think that I'd face."
"Third of all, you'd have to get past the two of us." a new voice cut in, freaking out the party and causing them to whip around and find Gray and Lisanna standing behind them "About time you noticed us, we've been standing here watching the two of you arguing for like ten minutes at least."
"What the hell are you guys doing here?" asked Natsu.
"Everyone back at the guild found out about what you guys are doing, and Luke asked the two of us to bring you back." Lisanna told him.
"But why? It's not like we're in danger yet."
"That's not the point Natsu, I'm trying to make sure that the dad doesn't do anything that will get himself or our baby hurt."
"You guys have kind of a weird relationship." Lucy commented.
Bolt gave a shrug "Don't worry about it too much, it's actually not as kinky as it sounds out loud."
"That's not what I was thinking."
"It's an inside joke, like how Alzack is such a sucker with his feelings for Bisca, or how Wakaba is actually married."
"Seriously?"
Getting back on track, Natsu was being as much of a stubborn jackass as usual "Look I don't care what anyone says, mom or otherwise, I'm going on this S class quests."
"And I wanted to drown you but Lisanna threatened to do Erza levels of terrifying things to me if I did." Gray told him flatly "Just come back to the guild and you might avoid being kicked out of the guild."
"Kicked out?!" Lucy was immediately terrified.
"Well Luke vouched for you with the Master, and seeing how he's the only one in the guild that doesn't willingly wreck shit for fun you'll probably just get off with a slap on the wrist or something like that."
"Blonde chick with fake boobs be damned, I'm doing this quest!" Natsu barked, ignoring the death glare he received from Lucy.
"Even I know that you're way out of your league here, just come home already before you do anything else stupid. Erza already knows about this, just imagine how angry she'll be when she sees you."
"...Oh shit."
Happy wasted no time in hiding behind Lisanna "Please Lisanna you've gotta save me, I told them that this whole thing was a bad idea but they forced me to come along with them!"
"Oh you're not getting out of this you little bastard!" Bolt caught Happy in a full nelson and pulled him to the ground.
Natsu was still being stubborn "I have to prove my power to Luke and all of those bigshot jackasses who don't get how strong I am, so I'm doing this and I don't care what any of you say."
Gray wasn't having any of it "Look we got orders to bring you guys back to the guild, I'll drag your ass back to the guild if I have to. Don't make me have to kick your ass. Actually, on second thought I really want to so go ahead." he summoned some ice.
"I'd like to see you try!" Natsu summoned some of his flames.
"Magic users?" the last sailor of the previous montage of rejections was quick to take notice of this "Excuse me, but are the four of you wizards?"
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Have you come to lift the curse that's been placed on Galuna Island?"
"It's why we came here in the first place."
"...You know what screw it, get in."
"Wait are you serious?"
"Not a chance in hell-" Gray was cut off by a comical kick to the crotch by Natsu while his guard was down and thrown into the boat.
"Alright that takes care of that, we're ready when you are."
"Are you sure about this?" asked Lisanna "I mean did you have to hit him like that?"
"Well it's not like we can let him go back to the guild hall and bring someone else like Erza back with him, it's pretty obvious she'll be the one they bring next."
"And what about me?"
"Well you're coming with us obviously, aren't you?" they locked eyes in what seemed like a touching moment.
"...You know it's never fair when you use the puppy dog eyes."
"Dog?!" Happy croaked from where he was held in a chokehold by Bolt.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Nightfall came, and the moon was shining brightly over the skies.
Lucy looked around at the seasick form of Natsu and the eerily calm waters surrounding them and shuddered "Okay, now I'm starting to get scared."
"Yeah well look on the bright side." Gray told her from his position tied up at the far end of the boat "At least you're not tied up with ropes riding up your-"
"Okay okay, don't need to hear that."
"And I don't need to live it, and yet here we are." Gray rounded on the fisherman next "And for the record man, this is your fault too. Why did you decide to let us on in the first place?"
"The name is Bobo, and if you must know I actually used to be a citizen of a tribe living on Galuna Island." the fisherman, now known as Bobo, told him "But I had to flee, I just couldn't take it anymore. I should warn all of you now, tragedy befalls anyone who steps foot on the island. There's no avoiding it, that is unless you're able to lift the curse." he lifted his cloak to reveal, much to the horror of the others, his demonic looking left arm "This horrible curse of a demon."
"Dammit man, what the hell happened to your arm? Is that part of the curse?"
"...We're almost at Galuna Island, off in the distance. You'd best prepare yourself?"
Lucy glanced over at the island and noticed something "Wait a second, why is the top of the mountain glowing like that?" she glanced back at the others, only to find that Bobo had suddenly disappeared "What the heck?! Where did he go, did he fall out or something? It's like he just disappeared into thin air! How the heck is that even possible?"
"Um, hey you guys?" Lisanna pointed to where a tsunami was about to swallow all of them and their boat.
"TSUNAMI!"
"Easy you guys we can't panic right now, just hang on." Bolt told her.
"Can't you and Happy just grab onto the boat and fly us out of this?!"
"What do I look like to you, a bodybuilder?!" and then they all got washed away by the tsunami in a comical fashion.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Morning came, and the sun was shining brightly over the daytime skies.
Lucy opened her eyes and found herself and the others all sprawled out along the beach surrounded by bits and pieces of their broken boat "Ow, my head… Where are we right now anyway?"
"I think we made it to the island." Lisanna helped Lucy to her feet "At least I think this is the place."
"I guess we're lucky that wave washed us ashore."
"I'm not so sure if I would call it lucky though."
"I can't help but wonder what happened to the guy who brought us here though, right after he told us about the curse he just vanished."
"Screw that!" Natsu suddenly bolted upright "I say the hell with all of that creepy stuff for now, let's just go exploring! Who's with me?"
"We've only been here for like all of 30 seconds and you've already forgotten about the mission at hand."
"The what?"
"That's what I thought." Lucy pulled out a map and motioned for all of them to come and take a look at it "From what I gather there's only one village on this entire island, and the chief of the village is the one who originally put in the request to Fairy Tail, so I guess we need to try and track him down."
"Oh yeah, that."
"Not so fast you guys." Gray pulled himself to his feet.
"Look Stripper just give it up, there's no way you're taking us back to the guild now that our boat got destroyed."
"Well duh I already know that, I'm going with you guys."
"...Say what?"
"There's no way in hell I'm gonna let a clown like you, two chicks and two talking cats with wings make S class before I do, and if you got kicked out then the guild would end up being pretty boring. Sure Gramps is gonna be pissed, but if we pull this off then he can't stay mad at us for long. Now let's get moving."
"Oh hell yeah, now we're talking!"
"Enough talking, let's just do this."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Nightfall came.
Gray and the others found a massive wooden gate with a large "KEEP OUT" sign hanging in front of it "Well it looks like we found the village, now what the heck do we do?"
"Check out the gate, when they say keep out they really mean it." Natsu muttered "So what now then?"
"Just get their attention I guess. Hey is anyone in there, we came here to help you!" he received no reply.
"I say we bust in."
"That's not the answer for everything you moron."
"Who goes there?!" a few shadowy figures poked their heads out from over the other side of the fence "Identify yourselves!"
"We're wizards from the Fairy Tail guild and we came here in response to the job request you guys sent out."
"Why weren't we notified when you accepted our request?"
'Right, because the idiot took it without permission. Sorry about that, it was probably just some kind of mixup with the paperwork."
"Then let us see your guild marks right now!"
"Alright then, show them posing style." so they did, posing as they showed off their guild marks on their right pec, right shoulder, right hand and left shoulder (Gray, Natsu, Lucy and Lisanna respectively "Good enough for you guys?"
"Holy crap it's you guys, you're really here!" and so they opened the gate to the village.
Bolt glanced up at the gate "Wow, it's like we're walking into the mouth of a giant monster in some old horror movie!"
"It's like you're trying to freak me out on purpose." Lucy grumbled.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail chica." Bolt glanced ahead and noticed all of the villagers wearing very concealing cloaks "And now it looks like we're walking into a cult."
One of the shorter ones stepped forward, this one holding a cane and his face partially visible, in contrast to the others "My name is Moka and I am the chief of this village, on behalf of my people I welcome all of you here. But now putting aside all pleasantries, there's something I need all of you to see. Now my people, show them the curse that has been inflicted upon all of us for all this time!" he had them remove their cloaks as he did as well, revealing all of their demonic features.
"Woah, damn this is just like what happened to the boat guy."
"So you see where the problem lies."
"Yeah, with your sideburns."
"Yes- No not that you wretched feline, I was trying to show you what happened to my right arm!"
"I know, but to be fair your sideburns are horrible."
"...Ignoring that, everyone on this island has suffered horrible disfigurements as a result of this curse and not even the animals have been spared."
"Okay, so if you don't mind me asking what exactly makes you think this is a result of the curse anyway? For all any of us know, it could just be some kind of infectious disease."
"We've already consulted with dozens of doctors young feline, but they all reached the same conclusion that there is no such disease in existence. You see, our symptoms began around the same time the moon fell under an evil spell."
"What kind of spell exactly sir?" asked Lisanna.
"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 color of the moon began to change and an eerie purple glow was cast upon the island."
"So then the moon turned purple?" asked Natsu.
"Indeed it did young man."
"Hey you guys check it out!" Happy and Bolt pointed up at the moon above them glowing the aforementioned purple "It's coming out from behind the clouds, wow that really looks super creepy and ominous."
"That would be the curse. You must all stand back, the change is about to begin." and with lots of groaning in what seemed like agonizing pain, all of the villagers took on what seemed like purely demonic transformations, much to the horror of the Fairy Tail group "I must apologize if our appearance frightens any of you."
"It's not that scary, it's just really confusing." Gray assured them.
"Oh man…" Natsu on the other hand had comical stars in his eyes "You guys look so freaking awesome, I mean you all have horns and other stuff and I'm so jealous!"
"...I know what you're thinking and yes, he's being totally serious."
"It's awesome!"
"Natsu come on, you have to be more sensitive about this." Lisanna scolded him "They don't want to look like this, and that's why they asked for help."
"Wait seriously? Oh, well then sorry you guys, I guess we're gonna help you out then. That's why we're here right?"
"Yes."
"Okay just checking."
"And that's why she's here." Gray muttered.
Moka quickly got the conversation back on track "Anyway as all of you have now witnessed, whenever the purple moon shows its face in the sky everyone in the village takes on a horrific demonic form. If it isn't a curse then what else could it possibly be? 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."
"That's horrible." Lisanna muttered.
"The fate for them, these unfortunate souls in the grip of madness, we've no choice but to put them to death so that they can find peace in the next world." this left Lisanna and everyone else horrified by the revelation.
"But… But what if they actually do change back to normal one day."
"If we wait for that to happen then the monsters will surely kill all of us, we've tried capturing them but they've always broken free. It's of no use." tears fell down his face "Once it takes hold there is no way to save them, and I should know because I myself was forced to kill my own son due to this." he held up a picture.
"Oh my gosh."
"But… But that's the man from the boat." Lucy muttered "We just saw him yesterday-" she was silenced by a head shake from Lisanna "But…"
"Lucy, now I understand why he suddenly disappeared on us like that. He was killed by the others, but his soul wasn't able to find peace."
"You mean… a ghost?"
"Yeah."
"Please." Moka bowed to them, with the rest of the villagers doing the same "Please we all beg of you, lift the curse from our island. If this goes on much longer then we all may fall victim to it as well, we will all die."
"We're not going to let that happen." Natsu tried not to snarl "We can fix this and we will fix this, I promise."
"There… There is only one way this wretched curse can be lifted, the wretched moon that haunts all of us so must be wiped from the sky!"
"...Awesome."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A little bit of time passed, and the group settled down in a hut in the village for the night before they would start their job in the morning.
Bolt glanced out at the moon from the window of the hut "Eesh, I never knew the moon could turn out to be Erza levels of creepy and unsettling."
"Hurry up and close the window." Lucy hissed "You heard what the chief said before, we have to stay out of the moonlight! I don't know if you care or not, but I have no intention of taking the risk of turning into some freaky looking monster!"
"...Too easy."'
"I don't know about this job you guys." Gray muttered "I mean do these people really think we can destroy the moon?"
Natsu lit up in a very disturbing way "I wonder how many punches it's gonna take to destroy that son of a bitch, you think I can handle it?"
"It's a wonder how the hell we handle you, come on man that's just stupid even by your standards. There's not a wizard alive who's strong enough to pull off some crap like that."
"Hey ice hole that's the job we were hired to do isn't it? We can't take a job and then back out of it like that, that would just make Fairy Tail look bad."
"Well what they're asking just can't be done, how the hell do you think you're gonna get to the moon anyway?"
"How do you think, I'm gonna fly up there with Happy."
"...I walked right into that one."
Lucy frowned in thought for a moment "Okay so we obviously can't destroy the moon, but if we do some investigating then we might be able to find a different way to lift the curse from the island and the villagers."
"Whatever lets you sleep at night." and then he started stripping down to his boxers "I say you do whatever the hell you want, but after the day that I've had I need a little bit of shuteye right about now."
"Please don't take off any more clothes than that."
"This time it's actually on purpose."
"Alright then, our investigation is starting tomorrow morning and I'm gonna go ahead and hit the sack." and Natsu promptly did just that.
"Yeah that sounds like a pretty decent plan to me." and so Gray followed his lead.
"I think I'm going to get some sleep too." and then Lisanna did as well.
Lucy was the only one left awake, with one thought on her mind 'How the heck does anyone sleep through the likes of the beast and the perv snoring like a bunch of pigs? Lisanna, you pretty much look like a saint in comparison, dealing with these two idiots and the two smartass cats like a real pro.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Morning came, and the sun was just rising over the skies of Galuna Island.
Natsu and Gray were still feeling a certain extent of burnout from being awake as early as they were "Oh god it's so early, I never get up as early as this."
"The two of you kept me up for half the night with your snoring." Lucy pointed out dryly "I'm not complaining, so I say you two have no right to whine now let's get going."
"Yeah yeah."
"Good, now then. Open, Gate of the Clock Constellation, Horologium!" she used a silver colored Celestial Key and opened the gate.
"You mean that clock dude Cana mentioned before?"
Sure enough, Horologium appeared before them in all of his clock like glory "The time is now 7:48."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Soon enough, Natsu and the others were wandering their way through the dense jungles of Galuna Island "So do you guys really think we'll be able to find another way to lift the curse on the island or something?"
"I don't think we really have any other choices." Lisanna told him "The people in the village may think that the moon is cursed, but the idea of destroying it seems kind of crazy. Not just because it's impossible either, but because doing something like that might have some serious consequences that could hurt a lot of people."
"Oh crap you're right, if we didn't have the moon then the tides would get all crazy and at night the sky would be pitch black!"
"Along with all sorts of other natural disasters."
"And no fish!" Happy's expression was one of horror "Without it salmon could go extinct, and fish would be blind at night!"
"Well I don't know if I would call that a natural disaster Happy."
""Would you all please just keep it down? We don't have any idea what's lurking out here so we shouldn't draw any attention to ourselves." the lady demands impatiently." this was Horologium actually speaking for Lucy while she was inside of him.
"You know you really oughta walk on your own." Gray pointed out "I mean do you just summon spirits like this guy because you don't feel like doing it yourself or what?"
""Listen you guys this curse is seriously freaking me out, we have no idea what we're up against and I'm honestly kind of scared." she says nervously."
"You decided to come along with Natsu and the cats didn't you?"
"Oh hell yeah!" Natsu pumped a fire fist "This is totally awesome, as far as I'm concerned S class quests kick serious ass!"
"And for all we know, I could probably just freeze that stupid curse before it gets too out of hand to begin with."
""...You guys are both idiots." she retorts disparagingly."
"Yeah well-" Gray's retort was cut off by a loud stomping noise, prompting them to turn around and pretty much freak out at the sight of a giant mousing wearing a maid uniform looking over the lot of them "Holy shit that thing is huge! And insert easy joke about Natsu and his small IQ here."
""What the heck are you guys waiting for? Beat it up already!" she yells frantically."
"Alright alright I'm on it, just chill out. Ice Make: Shield!" Gray proceeded to create a shield out of ice, only to be met with a horrible noxious gas from the mouse as a result, causing him to cringe, with Natsu and Lisanna doing the same.
""Oh no, what's the matter? And why are the cats climbing inside here with me?!" she yells despairingly." and only seconds later Horologium himself disappeared as well, leaving Lucy and the two cats at the mercy of the fumes.
"A giant rat getting the best of two flying cats, what the hell are the freaking odds?"
Lisanna quickly tried to snap Natsu out of the stupor he had been left in "Come on Natsu you've gotta get up, it's coming for us!"
"New plan, grab the idiot and get back!" Gray motioned for all of them to get back while he charged at the mouse in the maid costume "Ice Make: Floor!" he quickly covered the ground beneath them in a thick layer of ice, causing the mouse to slide and fall on its ass.
Bolt glanced up at Gray "You know you could've done that in the first place and saved us a lot of hijinks."
"Shut up you snarky little cat!"
"Hey guys check it out." Lucy pointed to a nearby building "There's some kind of building over there, I think we should go and hide while we have the chance."
"I say we kick its ass while we have the chance instead!" Natsu and Gray then started beating the crap out of the unconscious mouse.
"The two of you are just exhausting."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A few minutes later, inside the Temple of the Moon…
Lucy and the others looked around the inside of the temple in awe "This place is massive but it's falling apart, you have to wonder just how old this place really is."
"Hey what are those things?" Natsu glanced up at some carvings on the walls above them.
"Those are some kind of lunar based drawings. It makes sense after all, from what I've heard Galuna Island actually used to be called the Island of the Moon. I mean a moon island and a moon curse combined with weird moon symbols, you've really gotta wonder what all of this means."
"Dammit this place is a wreck, I mean this place doesn't even seem like it's safe to walk on anyway." he started stomping on it for emphasis.
"Well don't go stomping on it you idiot or-" Lucy was promptly cut off when the floor beneath them suddenly shattered and they started falling down into a deep cavern "Natsu you idiot look what you did!"
"How the hell is this my fault?!"
"You stomped on the floor and shattered it!"
"...Oh yeah."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
One comically long fall later…
Natsu pulled himself out of the rubble and comically gasped for air "Hey is everyone okay after all of that?"
"You tell me you flame brained jackass!" Gray rounded on him "I think we'd all be better if you hadn't blown out the floor from your sheer stupidity! Here's a thought for you, if you bother to pull your head out of your ass and think before you act then maybe you wouldn't cause so much pointless destruction."
"Blah blah blah, hey Happy you think you can fly us out of here?"
"No sorry guys, it's too high up."
"So where are we anyway?"
"It looks to me like we're underneath the temple." Lisanna told him "Actually I might be able to use my Animal Soul to get us out of here."
"What exactly is Animal Soul?" asked Lucy.
"Oh you see, me and my brother Elfman both have the ability to use Take Over magic, but mine is more centered around the features of animals that I've encountered." she promptly summoned a pair of wings "For example, I should be able to use my wings to fly us out of here-"
"Holy crap it's a secret cave, this is so totally awesome! I say we go check it out while we've got the chance!" and then Natsu and Happy suddenly rushed off.
"...As long as Natsu and Happy don't end up doing something like that."
"Should we go and get them?" asked Lucy.
"I know how to do this, just let me calm him down."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Natsu and Happy rounded a corner but stopped in their tracks in awe at the sight that was waiting for them "Holy crap."
"Hey Natsu, Happy, wait up!" Lisanna and the others came up after them "What is it, is something wrong?"
"Maybe, we found something and I don't think it's too good. I think we can punch it pretty good though."
"What the heck are you-" Gray froze in pure horror at what they were seeing, in the form of a massive demonic creature frozen in a block of ice "No… No way… that's impossible… It just can't be… That's Deliora… but how… how could this happen? Why is it here? What the hell is it doing on Galuna Island?!"
"Wait a second, Gray you've seen this thing before?"
"What the hell is it doing here?!"
"Gray get a grip for a second, you having a stroke isn't gonna do anything except probably make me laugh. Now what do we need to know about this thing before I burn it?"
"You can't… That thing is Deliora, the Demon of Destruction."
"The Demon of Construction?"
"The Demon of Destruction you idiot, this is no time for you being an idiot! But why the hell is it here of all places? This doesn't make any sense!"
"How the hell should I-" Natsu suddenly whipped around at the sound of footsteps "Someone is coming."
"Don't just stand there, hide!" Lucy quickly dragged everyone to a hiding spot nearby so they wouldn't be seen.
Within seconds two figures by the names of Yuka and Toby made their way into the area, appearing to be aware of the presence of Gray and the others "The voices seem to be coming from down here, honestly I hate being awake during the day. So tell me Toby, were you exposed to the Moon Drip as well? After all you do have those pointy ears."
"Dammit you jackass, I already told you that these are a fashion statement!" Toby barked, and I mean literally barked.
"Lighten up, I was just teasing you."
"I don't have to be such an ass about it."
"And you don't have to be so sensitive about it."
Lucy frowned in thought 'The Moon Drip huh, could that be the name of the curse that affected everyone on the island?'
"Oh great, now what?" Yuka glanced back and let out a groan.
Next onto the scene came a tall young woman with pink hair "Yuka, Toby, something terrible has happened."
"What is it now Sherry?"
"It's Angelica, she's been attacked and now I'm sad because of it."
"Say what?!" Toby barked like a literal dog "You mean you're moping around because some jackass beat up your stupid pet rat?!"
"She is not a rat, she's a brave hunter prowling the jungle to protect all of us. She is the true embodiment of live."
Lucy cringed at what they were hearing "I don't even know who these people are but talk about a bunch of freaks, especially the chick with a pet rat."
"Judging by the scents I'm picking up from these guys, I'd say they're not from the island either." Natsu noted.
"And it doesn't look like they're cursed like the villagers are."
"Intruders you say?" Yuka raised an eyebrow that drew their attention back to the conversation at hand.
Sherry nodded "Yes and it's almost time for us to begin collecting moonlight again, oh this makes me so sad. This news will surely displease our Cold Emperor, we should get rid of them before he finds out about it. Yes, we must find them before the moon's first light."
"I agree."
"Since they've seen Deliora we can't allow them to live, we'll give all of them the gift of eternal rest. We will give them love."
"You realize you're talking about death right?" Toby pointed out, only to be met with the sound of a clacking noise.
"What was that?"
"Over there, come on!" and so they all rushed off in the direction they heard the noise coming from.
Lucy glanced over to see Bolt flying back towards them "Nice work cat."
"Oh please, that was nothing." Bolt let out a snort "Do you have any idea how many crazed feminists have tried to kill me? A lot, to put it simply I had to learn how to draw people's attention away from me."
"Nice. I think."
"Dammit." Natsu grumbled "I say we should've grabbed them and beaten some answers out of them while we had the chance to."
"Not yet, first we have to do some investigating."
"Damn, this job keeps getting more and more complicated. Who the hell is this Cold Emperor guy anyway?"
"Deliora…" Gray muttered "I still don't get what the hell anyone would ever want with the likes of that thing, and how the hell were they ever even able to find it?"
"Was it hidden away somewhere?" asked Lisanna.
"It was sealed away inside a glacier on the Northern Continent. A full decade ago this immortal demon ravaged Ishvar, a lot of people got killed as a result, including my parents. The woman who taught me how to use my magic, my master Ur, she sacrificed everything in order to seal it away." he clenched his fist to the point where it was bleeding "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 guy, we have to find out who he is because if they tarnished the legacy of my master then I'm gonna make them beg for death!"
"Dude as much as I love watching you lose it this is kind of unnerving, are you even sure this is the demon your master sealed away?" asked Natsu.
"There's no doubt about it, I could never forget the face of that thing."
"So then why and how would this thing be transported all the way from the northern continent to Galuna Island?" asked Lucy "Do you think this demon is the source of the curse on the island and the villagers?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if it did, it may be sealed away in a gigantic chunk of ice but that thing is still alive and kicking."
"Works for me!" Natsu promptly summoned a ball of fire "How about you let me have a go at that thing, I'm not afraid of some stupid demon!"
"Natsu you do realize that brute force isn't the only way to solve a problem." Lucy pointed out dryly.
"So what, a little bit of fire oughta do the trick-" Natsu was promptly silenced by a fist to the face from Gray, sending him crashing to the ground.
'Holy crap, Gray just punched out Natsu! Then again, this wouldn't be the first time he's done something like that.'
"God dammit what the hell was that for Gray, what's wrong with you?!"
"Shut it." Gray let out an outright snarl "The last thing any of us need or want is for you or your flames to get anywhere near that thing, if that ice melts and Deliora gets revived then there's no way we'd be able to take the thing down."
"Oh get real, do you really think a huge chunk of ice would be that easy to melt?"
"...No I guess not."
"Well duh."
Lisanna and Lucy made their way over to Gray "Hey are you alright?"
"I'm the one that got hit for no reason, tell this icy prick to watch his temper!"
"Natsu please, Gray is obviously hurting right now."
Gray let out a sigh "Many years ago, my master Ur cast a spell called the Iced Shell on this demon here, enclosing it in a gigantic block of ice that can't be melted. It's so strong that even the most powerful flames have no effect on it, if they knew that the ice could be melted then why the hell did they bring it here?"
"Well maybe they didn't know." Lucy offered "They might have brought it here to try and melt it somehow."
"But why the hell would they do that?!" his sharp and angry tone left Lucy considerably freaked out.
"I don't really have any clue." this calmed him down somewhat.
"I just don't get it, who would bring Deliora here, and more importantly why would they bring it here?"
"We need answers." was Natsu's simple response "I say we go and track those guys down and get some."
"Not a chance, we're gonna stay here and wait."
"Wait for what?"
"What else, for the moon to come out."
"The moon?! But it's the middle of the afternoon! Screw that man, if I have to hang out here then I'll die of boredom!"
"Then you'll be doing all of us a favor."
"But Gray why does the moon even matter?" asked Lucy.
"Call it a hunch but I have a feeling that the curse on this island and Deliora are somehow connected to the moon, and I heard those guys we saw earlier say something about collecting moonlight."
"Yeah we all heard that one, I guess that means that waiting until nightfall is the only way we're going to figure out what's going on."
"NO WAY IN HELL I'M WAITING, WE'VE GOT WORK TO DO!" Natsu exploded in a comical fashion, followed by him dropping to the ground snoring.
"...Well that worked faster than I was hoping it would."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The waiting quickly turned out to be extremely slow going.
Lucy looked down at the snoring form of Natsu "It must be nice being him, he doesn't have to worry about anything except for eating, fighting and sleeping."
Lisanna gave a small smile "Well that's Natsu for you, and that's just part of his charm."
"I have to admit I am a little bit jealous though." she glanced over at the other fight loving jackass.
Gray sat close to Deliora, brooding over past memories 'Ur… back then I was always way too reckless and impatient, I let my obsession cloud my judgement.'
"Oh man, I know I agreed to wait but this is just so boring. Oh wait, I know!" Lucy pulled out a silver Celestial Key "Open, Gate of the Heart Constellation! Lyra!" and she used the key to open the gate.
From within said gate emerged what looked like a young girl with a harp "Oh wow, I haven't seen you in forever Lucy!"
"Hey Lyra, been awhile."
"Say, how come you never call on me anymore? It's not fair, I would love to help you out but you ignore me you meanie."
"Meanie huh? You're the one who told me you were only available three days a month weren't you?"
"Are you sure about that?"
"Great, another one with some seriously fucked up quirks." Bolt muttered, earning a few glares that he quickly brushed off.
"So what would you like to hear me sing, any requests?"
"Nope, do whatever you want." Lucy assured her.
"Alright! Now listen up Lucy, I think I've got a song that you and your new friends are gonna love!"
"Yeah I bet, you see guys Lyra has the most beautiful singing voice. Just a few notes will leave you almost totally at peace."
Sure enough, Lyra began to sing as she played her harp, quickly soothing the others "Words are born into the air, and quickly fade out in the wind. But they find their way inside you, where they live on forever more. When the skies are dark and full of rain, look inside your heart. Light, so warm and all aglow, shining just like the sun. You can see just how much you've grown, how strong you are. A path will open up to you, and it starts from the day that you first heard those words."
While soothing to some, the lyrics forced Gray to further reminisce about his time when he was training under as a kid, and a single tear flowed down his cheek 'Ur…'
Lucy was quick to notice this "Hey Gray what's the matter?"
"It's nothing, I'm fine."
"But you seem upset. Then again, one of Lyra's talents is being able to sing certain songs that relate to what her audience is feeling. Her song really got to you didn't it?"
"I told you I'm fine."
"Hey Lyra, maybe you should sing something a little bit more upbeat."
"You should've said that in the first place."
"I think we should just skip the song." Gray muttered "We need to be quiet, we don't want to be found out."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
More time passed, and everyone else had fallen asleep, at least until a tremor caused the cave to start shaking.
Gray and the others were quickly woken by said tremors "What the hell is all the noise about, is it night yet?" he glanced up to see a beam of light shining down from the ceiling "Guys we have a beam of light shining down from the ceiling, this isn't gonna be good! But why the hell is it purple? It must be moonlight."
"Okay this is obviously getting super freaky." Bolt pointed out "Especially considering it's shining on Deliora, and I don't think that's a coincidence."
"Let's get moving, we've gotta find out where the hell this light is coming from." and so they all rushed off.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It didn't take Gray and the others long to get back to where they were before in the old temple and discovered the Magic Circle summoning the moonlight "Why the hell would someone cast a Magic Circle inside this old temple of all places?"
"I say let's find out." Natsu took the lead on the next charge as they made their way up the stairs and out into an area with open night sky.
What they found was what looked like a number of cultists chanting over the beam of moonlight raining down on the temple "Zeram, sen, dioluna…"
Natsu and the others quickly hid "What the hell are they doing?"
"Zeram, sen, dioluna, koo-nah, koo-rah-kah…"
"Looks to me like those robed freaks are chanting some kind of spell in order to collect the light from the moon and shine it on the demon down there, but why?"
"I think I've heard of this before." Lisanna muttered "It's a Belianese spell called the Moon Drip, so that means that I know what they're trying to do."
"You mind filling us in on this?"
"They're using the Moon Drip spell to melt the ice surrounding Deliora, they're trying to bring it back to life."
"What?!" Gray let out an outright snarl "But they can't, the ice used in the Iced Shell spell can't be melted."
"I hate to say it but that's not entirely true, while the Iced Shell is powerful it can be melted using the Moon Drip. Focused energy from the moon can break any magical spell."
"But those idiots, they've never even seen what Deliora is really capable of!"
"I think this means that what the villagers believe is a curse on them might actually be side effects of the Moon Drip, concentrated moon energy can contaminate one's body. The people in the village must have been exposed to way too much of it."
"I'll make them pay for that." Natsu let out a snarl and prepared to charge at them, only to be stopped by Lisanna grabbing him by the shoulder "What?"
"Someone else is coming this way."
Sure enough, a new figure appeared on the scene clad in a cloak with a metal helmet that concealed his face, followed by Yuka, Toby and Sherry "Do the three of you have anything to inform me of?"
"Other than being such a waste of a day, no." Yuka grumbled to himself "I lost so much precious sleep for nothing, we searched all day for those intruders but never found any trace of any of them."
"Maybe there weren't any!" Toby barked.
Sherry glanced over at the masked figure "I'm afraid I have some sad news to report my Cold Emperor sir, we thought we had some intruders during the day but it seems that they got away from us somehow. I cannot speak of love in this situation."
The Cold Emperor frowned "Intruders you say?"
Natsu and the others studied him from afar "So that guy is their leader huh? Look at that jackass, he's just trying to act all high and mighty and wearing that stupid looking mask."
"I don't know, I think it looks kind of cool." Lisanna commented, receiving various odd looks as a result "What?"
The Cold Emperor glanced over at Sherry "So tell me, has Deliora been awakened yet?"
"Not yet sir, it should be either later tonight or tomorrow at the latest." Sherry told him.
"I see."
"Which one dammit?!" Toby barked.
"My time has almost come upon us, if you see any of those intruders again then dispose of them using any means you deem necessary. I don't want or need anyone to get in my way."
"It must have been some of the villagers." Sherry noted "After all, they're the only other people on this island."
"Then destroy the village if you have to."
"What?" Natsu let out a quiet snarl "But the villagers didn't have anything to do with this, we've gotta take these guys down."
"It's such a shame too, I was hoping to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed but I suppose that in life there are times when difficult decisions have to be made and I've come too far to give up now."
Gray was left frozen in place, staring at the Cold Emperor in true horror "That voice… no, it can't be…"
"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT!" Natsu bolted out of his hiding place and let out a roar and a blast of fire "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS SNEAKING AROUND BULLSHIT! It's not any of the villagers, we're the intruders you're after!"
"Oh for crying out loud." Lucy muttered "I guess that means there's no turning back now is there?"
"There never is." Lisanna told her "But then again, that's part of what makes Fairy Tail so enjoyable, whether it be good or bad."
Sherry focused her gaze on the guild mark on Natsu's shoulder "I know that mark, they've come from the Fairy Tail guild."
"This is interesting." Yuka noted "The villagers must have gone to one of the magical guilds for help."
"Don't worry about any of them, just go and eradicate the village." the Cold Emperor repeated his order "It doesn't matter if it's deliberate or not, anyone who stands in the way of my goal is considered my enemy."
"Bullshit!" Gray and Natsu both charged at him in a rage "You stop this crazy bullshit ceremony right now!" he quickly attacked with a blast of ice.
The Cold Emperor dodged the attack with ease and countered with a blast of ice of his own, cancelling out Gray's attack in the process.
"So you're an Ice Make user too huh?" Gray let out an outright snarl "I guessed that it was you when I heard your voice… Lyon. How the hell could you do this, do you have any idea exactly what you're doing?"
"Oh so it is you Gray, it's been quite a while hasn't it?"
"Why the hell would you revive Deliora of all things?"
"To think that you were one of the wizards from Fairy Tail called to this island to help those poor villagers, did you come knowing you would find me here or is this just a mere coincidence? No matter, it doesn't make any difference to me."
"An acquaintance of yours Cold Emperor?" asked Yuka.
"Just do as I ordered you to, I can handle the intruders on my own."
"Yes sir!" and so they left.
"I don't need their help to deal with the likes of you."
"Hey, get back here dammit!" Natsu charged after them in a comical rage.
"Natsu you idiot stop, don't go near him!" Gray barked, but he was ignored.
"Ice Make: Diamond Cage!" the Cold Emperor, now identified as Lyon, quickly used an ice spell to trap Natsu in a block of ice, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Bolt, Happy, get Lucy and Lisanna out of here!"
"We're on it, just kick his ass!" Bolt grabbed Lucy and took off, with Happy grabbing Lisanna and following his lead.
Gray took the opportunity to attack Lyon with a blast of ice, only for it to be countered by Lyon's ice shield 'Dammit!'
Natsu on the other hand was trapped in a block of ice "Dammit I can't move, get me out of this thing!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lisanna looked down at Natsu's comically frozen form "We can't just leave Natsu frozen like that, we have to go back for him!"
"He was hit with a type of ice magic that instantly freezes the air, if we had stuck around any longer then we probably would've ended up frozen too."
"But we can't just leave him, we have to save him!"
"But we have to save the village!" Happy had tears brimming in his eyes "Who's gonna do that if we've all been turned into ice?"
"Happy…"
"Look, Natsu might be an idiot but he's tough as iron." Bolt told her "He can burn his way through a stupid chunk of ice any day. Besides, he's the dad to you and Happy so he's gotta protect you guys right?"
"Yeah, yeah he is." Lisanna wiped away a tear.
"Look just let those two idiots do their job, we have our own job to do."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lyon looked down on Gray and Natsu "So you distracted me long enough for the girls and the cats to escape, I should commend you for your chivalry but such things are ultimately pointless in the end. There's no way the four of them can stop my minions."
"Save it." Natsu snarled "Don't underestimate the power of wizards from Fairy Tail! Now!"
"Yeah yeah I get it." Gray promptly dealt Natsu a swift kick, sending him tumbling down the side of the temple.
"Hey dammit Gray, what the hell is the big idea?!" and then Natsu completely tumbled off the scene.
"About time I got the chance to shut him up, now it's just you and me."
"I see you're as reckless as you've always been." Lyon noted "He was one of your allies was he not?"
"You and I both know that with one spell you could blow that ice up and him with it."
"So then you chose to send him safely out of the range of my magic, that was actually quite a clever move."
"I don't understand why you're trying to pull this superior act with me Lyon, because you're not my superior! We're not Ur's students anymore!"
"I'm well aware of that fact, painfully aware." Lyon removed his helmet, revealing his head of white spiky hair "Our beloved teacher is no longer of this world."
"Her final act was sealing that monster away, are you really so callous that you would try to destroy the legacy our master left behind?"
"Don't try to lie to yourself Gray, we both know you're the one that killed Ur and yet you don't seem to feel any sense of guilt. How cruel of you."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Natsu pulled himself out of the ground in a comical rage "Gray you son of a bitch, I swear you're gonna pay for this." he quickly tried to melt the ice using his flames, only to quickly run into a problem "Dammit my fire power isn't making a dent in this ice, what the hell is the deal with this stuff? No forget that, I've gotta get back to the village. I'll just have to run the old fashioned way I guess." he tried that, but quickly ran into a problem in the form of his arms, legs and head being the only things free of the large chunk of ice "God dammit, this is a lot harder than I thought it would be!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The battle between Gray and Lyon had begun, weapon based Ice Make magic against animal based Ice Make magic, but after a lengthy battle Lyon ended up coming out as the victor between the two.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, on a pirate ship off the coast…
Luke glanced around at the unconscious bodies of the pirates littering the ship "A little bit much don't you think?"
"It gets us to where we need to go, and besides you know what has to be done when someone breaks the rules of the guild." Erza barely even bothered to look at him from where her gaze was positioned on the open seas.
"How do you think I feel, my cat is one of the ones who did it."
The captain nervously glanced back from his position at the steering wheel "So why do the two of you want to go to Galuna Island again? It's quite scary you know."
"Just keep steering, once we get there you and your crew can go."
"How about this, if you drop us off somewhere then you can have the boat. Please I'm begging the two of you, I've heard that this island is cursed and anyone who steps foot on its soil turns into a demon!"
"I'm not afraid of taking that chance."
"But why do the two if you have to go there in the first place?"
"Two reasons. One, my cat is there and up to something insanely stupid."
"...Okay."
Erza's expression darkened considerably "Two, as S class mages of the Fairy Tail guild we cannot just let it slide when they break the rules no matter who it might be, and that is all we can tell you.
Despite the clear intimidation, the soldiers were gawking at Erza with hearts in their eyes "She's so cool and so hot too, hey we'll help you catch these guys if you want!"
"I appreciate the offer but myself and Luke are the only ones necessary in retrieving our comrades." that left them in heartbroken comical stupors.
"You know just what to say don't you." Luke let out a chuckle.
"I've had many years of practice, how else does one get anywhere in life."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"What the hell is the matter with you Gray? Don't tell me you're giving up that easily."
Gray opened his eyes, finding his vision having grown blurry, but he found an ice covered figure looming over him 'Ur… is that you?'
"Get up already Gray." as it turns out it was just Natsu, still trapped in the block of ice "Well you officially look like shit, he beat the crap out of you didn't he?"
"Natsu… what the hell are you doing here?"
"I couldn't remember how to get to the village so I climbed back up to look for it. Anyway I see the place now so come on, let's get moving." he grabbed Gray by the back of his shirt "You good for the trip?"
"Yeah, yeah I can walk. What about Lyon, where is he?"
"I don't have a damn clue, by the time I made it all the way back up here everybody else was already gone." Natsu promptly slung Gray over his ice covered shoulders "Alright now hold on, we've gotta hurry and get back to the village before your buddy and his friends do." and so he started walking.
Gray spent a few minutes reflecting on past memories, recent or otherwise 'Ur… you said before that Deliora was out of my league, and looking back now I realize how much of a fool I was that day. Hey Natsu?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't believe in you. I'm no better to be honest." tears began streaming down his face.
"Dammit you idiot just come on, quit feeling sorry for yourself just because you lost one stupid fight. You're a member of Fairy Tail aren't you? People in Fairy Tail don't just call it quits when times are tough, that means you just put the bad shit behind you and keep moving forward! Oh god dammit."
"What?"
"Now that I'm carrying your icy ass it's even harder to run while I'm stuck in this thing. You're seriously packing on the pounds these days."
"Oh like you're one to talk, I've seen what you eat."
"And what the hell do I eat?"
"Anything and everything!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By this point, Lucy and Lisanna had made their back to the village and informed them of the situation "Listen up everyone, the people who caused the curse that transformed you are planning an attack of the village. They're planning to destroy the village and kill all of us but we have a plan, we'll capture them and lock them up until they tell us how to change all of you back to your normal selves."
"You sure that's actually gonna work?" asked Bolt.
"Unless you have a better idea this is what we're going with."
"Well the only thing is that those three are all wizards, catching people like that isn't exactly gonna be a walk in the park."
"You're right, and the four of us are the only ones we have right now that actually can fight people like that."
"So how do we go about that then?"
Lucy pondered for a moment, before inspiration finally struck "I just had a brilliant idea."
"Is this gonna be some kind of plan where me or Happy get used as bait?"
"You'll see soon enough."
That was when Moke came up to them "What are all of you doing out here?"
"Listen sir we don't have a lot of time right now, the enemy is going to attack the village any second."
"What enemy?"
"The ones that are responsible for the curse that transformed you and your people, they've been hiding in the old temple in the jungle."
"I don't care who's in the temple, why haven't you destroyed the moon?!"
"Oh right , that. Well you see, it wasn't the moon who did this to all of you exactly but now we know exactly who did." Lisanna told him
"You lie! Just do as I ask of you!" he had to be held back by a few of the villagers.
"Sir please we just need you to calm down."
"Get your hands off me you fools, don't listen to her, she doesn't have any clue what she's talking about!" and he was promptly dragged away.
"Uh… okay."
"Don't mind him, he doesn't really mean any of that." one of the villagers assured them "He's just upset about everything that's happened. He's been like this since Bobo died."
"The poor man."
"Yes."
"Well if it helps, we know how to trap the enemy." Lucy told him.
"We'll be happy to help if you need us."
"I'm the greatest Celestial Wizard that Fairy Tail has right now and Lisanna is a super tough Anima Soul magic user, so why don't you just leave this to us. You don't have to worry, this will be a piece of cake. Oh my god I've always wanted to say something like that.'
"You seem like you're getting a little bit overconfident." Lisanna pointed out.
"Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!"
With the use of a key and the opening of a gate, Virgo appeared before them "You summoned me princess, what can I do for you?"
"Listen up Virgo, we don't have a lot of time."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A few minutes later…
Virgo popped back up in front of Lucy and the others "As you requested princess, I have completed the task."
Lucy nodded in approval "Good work Virgo, my plan is gonna work perfectly."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"What did you just say?"
"Hey Loony." Bolt got her attention.
"Yeah what do you want?"
"I hate to be that guy, not that it's accidental in the slightest, but I'm pretty sure you're an ego driven lunatic."
"Oh gee, thanks for the encouragement."
"Lucy your trap is the oldest trick in the book, no one smarter than Natsu would actually fall for that trap."
"Oh come on don't be ridiculous, a pitfall trap will get them every time."
"You can tell what it is just by looking at it." Lisanna pointed out.
"Yeah well it doesn't even matter because there's only one way to get in and out of the village to begin with, that means that the enemy is gonna have to go over it if they want to get in."
"I still don't think there's any way they'll actually fall for that." Bolt pointed out.
"Oh come on, I actually come up with my own plan and you just diss me like that?"
"I call it like it is, do you not even know me by now?"
"Screw it, go ahead and doubt me as much as you want and then you'll see."
"Miss Lucy get ready, it looks like there's someone heading this way!" one of the villagers called out to her.
"That has to be them, open the gate!"
"Right!" they opened the gate to the village.
"Now come to mama-"
"Hey you guys, are you okay?" as it turns out it was just Natsu carrying Gray, totally unaware of what was going on.
"...Oh crap oh crap oh crap! No Natsu stay back, don't come any closer!"
"Wait what?"
"Natsu stop, it's a trap!" Lisanna cried out to him.
"Oh, why didn't you just say so." so he stopped right before he hit the trap.
"Oh that's a relief, for a second there I thought-"
"What's with the grass on the ground here?" and so like an idiot he stepped on it and fell into the trap with a loud thud.
"Natsu!"
"Well I'll be damned, he actually fell for it." Bolt commented "Maybe I really should stop doubting you."
"Very funny asshats but we don't have any time to play some stupid pranks on each other for shits and giggles.
"Hey don't look at me or Lisanna or the other cat, the blonde was the one who decided to set the trap."
"I should've known dammit!"
"Yeah tell me about it, anyway are you okay down there? You still good to kick some ass when the time comes?"
"Well I'm fine, but Gray is down for the count."
"The guy in the stupid mask beat him down that badly?"
"...Oh hey cool check it out, that huge chunk of ice is gone. I guess it broke when I fell into this stupid trap."
"See?" Lucy let out a nervous chuckle "I told you the pitfall trap would work, at least it got him out of that stupid chunk of ice."
Lisanna gave a sheepish grin "Actually Lucy, I'm pretty sure it was because Natsu left the user's range of magic."
"Don't care, I'm free!" Natsu leapt out of the trap and set Gray down on the ground "So how come Lyon and his lackeys haven't made it here yet?"
"That actually is a pretty good question, they left for the village before you did but you got here first. I wonder what could be taking them so long."
"Yeah I know, and with Gray and that giant ice cube weighing me down I was pretty slow to begin with."
Lucy decided to make the call "Okay guys back to the plan I came up with, hurry up and cover that hole again!"
"No one's stupid enough to fall for that."
"Oh shut up!"
"Hey guys look overhead!" Happy pointed to what he was seeing flying overhead "It's some kind of giant flying rat, and it's carrying a huge bucket!"
"Hold on, what?! But now my pitfall trap is totally pointless!"
"You say that like it wasn't already." Bolt pointed out.
"Shut it!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sherry glanced down at the village and let out a sigh "I didn't realize that the double poison jelly would take so long to prepare."
"Well we did time it perfectly." Yuka pointed out "Those wizards were able to make it back to the village."
"We cannot rest until the demon Deliora has been revived by the Cold Emperor, anyone who dares to stand in our way must be dealt with by any means necessary." and from the bucket fell but a single drop, plummeting down towards the village below.
"Even if that includes death."
"Especially then."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lucy glanced up and saw the jelly falling towards her "What is that, some type of jelly or something?"
"Get down!" Lisanna suddenly pulled Lucy out of the way before the jelly could touch her, leaving it to dissolve into the ground "That smell, whatever that stuff is it's really dangerous without a doubt."
"And you mean the gigantic rat has a whole bucket full of the stuff and they're gonna dump it all over the village? I shouldn't have said that out loud should I?"
"No, no you shouldn't have." Bolt pointed to where the villagers were freaking out.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Yuka looked down on the villagers with complete and total disdain "Absolutely hideous, who would've thought that the Moon Drip could turn people into these beasts?"
"The look like the demon children of Deliora." Sherry muttered "Angelica, would you like to do the honors?" she was met with a squeal as Angelica poured the jelly down over the village in order to ensure its destruction.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lucy pretty much lost her shit when she saw this "How the heck are we gonna protect ourselves from acid jelly?!"
"Alright listen up!" Natsu suddenly barked at them "Lucy, Lisanna, I want the two of you to get everyone in the center of the village! Happy, you ready to fly little buddy?"
"Aye sir!" Happy sprouted his wings, grabbed onto Natsu and the two of them quickly soared overhead as the villagers followed his instructions.
Moka however, was being particularly stubborn "I'm not going, I refuse to leave the grave of my son!"
"Wait what?"
"Just ignore him, let's do this little buddy!" Natsu coated both of his arms in his flames "The flames of my right hand combined with the flames of my left, you put them together and they really fire things up! Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" he hurled a two handed blast of fire upwards at the incoming wave of jelly, dispersing the wave in a fiery explosion and causing it to blow, but at the same time also causing a drop of the stuff to rain down on Moka while he was still at Bobo's grave.
Fortunately, the smoke cleared to reveal that Virgo had saved him at the last second "Tell me princess, do you wish to punish him for disobeying your instructions?"
"Yeah I think we'll pass on that." Lucy and the others glanced around at where the village once stood, now replaced by a large corroded crater "Oh man that could've gone better, I mean he just destroyed the entire village!"
"Well the important thing is that no one got hurt." Lisanna assured her.
Moka was more awed by something he considered to be more important "Bobo's grave, it's still standing…"
At least it was, until it got kicked down as Sherry, Yuka and Toby waltzed their way towards the villagers "The Cold Emperor ordered us to eradicate the village and its people, we were trying to show all of you a sense of mercy by making your deaths quick and painless, but since that clearly didn't work we'll now have to resort to bloodshed."
"According to my analysis, we have to deal with 50 villagers and 3 wizards." Yuka noted "I doubt this should take us more than 15 minutes or so."
"Get ready you two." Natsu got into a stance that readied himself for a fight "People where we come from know not to screw with Fairy Tail, you ready to find out why?"
"How dare you show such disrespect…" practically snarling with rage, Moka had to be held back by a few of the villagers "How dare they kick over Bobo's grave, when I get my hands on you you won't know which ways are up and down!"
"Okay do you guys wanna get the old guy somewhere that's actually not here?" Natsu jerked a thumb and the other villagers dragged the chief away despite his screaming.
"Hold on a second…" Gray pulled himself to his feet.
"Oh so you're awake."
"Yeah, now let me help."
"Let me think about it. Thinking, thinking, thinking, not a chance in hell. We don't need any help from you."
"Natsu, don't do this to me man-" he was met with a fist to the gut.
"Just lie down and get some rest already."
"One day… I'll shove that fist… right up your…" and then he passed out, only to be gently placed on the ground by Natsu.
"And that's what we call tough love, you're lucky Lisanna is here or I'd aim lower."
Lisanna glanced over at Lucy and gave a small smile "That's what he considers tough love, he knows that Gray is in no condition to fight so he's being as gentle as he can be. He's a little bit rough around the edges, but deep down and Gray really do care about each other." she looked over to one of the villagers "Can you and the others look after him for us?"
"Not a problem Miss Lisanna, he's in good hands." one of them picked up Gray and slung him over his shoulder "Alright you guys, let's get moving." and so they left.
Sherry gave a malicious grin "We're not leaving this place until every single person in this village is dead. Angelica?" this prompted Angelica to start flying away using her tail as a rotor like a helicopter.
"There's no way we're gonna let you get away with this!" it was only after Lucy finished her brief tirade that she realized her brief lapse in judgement "Oh crap, I got too excited and grabbed onto her toe!"
"Well that confirms it, this bitch be crazy." Bolt noted dryly.
"Leave the people from the village alone, they didn't do anything to deserve this you crazy sons of bitches and actual bitches!"
Sherry glanced back "What exactly does she think she's doing?"
"Hey what's the matter, are you ticklish?" and then Lucy started tickling Angelica.
"You can try as much as you like, it's not going to work." and yet it did "Or maybe it will- Wait no Angelica you have to fight it, keep spinning your tail!" and yet she didn't and they started falling "We're going down!"
"Yes I did it- Why the heck did I do that?!" and they crashed somewhere in the jungle a fair distance away, causing everyone in the village to sweatdrop at the scene.
Yuka let out a sigh "Well that's just great, now he's going to be ticked."
"I DON'T HAVE ANY TICKS YOU DOUCHE!" Toby barked at him.
"I wasn't talking about you."
"So do you think Loony made it?" asked Natsu "That big rat might have crushed her when they landed.
"If that's the case then she's probably a goner." Happy let out a sigh "I'll go and check on her for you."
"Thanks little buddy, just be careful."
"Got it." and so he flew off in search of Lucy.
"As for me and Lisanna, well I say the two of us stay here and take care of them. Fire Dragon Roar!" he breathed a blast of fire in Yuka's face.
"Animal Soul: Cat!" Lisanna activated her Animal Soul: Cat form, allowing her physical strength to be increased to the point where a few slashes from her new claws could send the likes of Toby flying away in an instant.
"Point for team NaLi, whatever the hell that means but Luke has a t-shirt with that on it hanging in his closet!"
When the smoke cleared, it revealed that Yuka had shielded himself from the flames "A wizard with the ability to breathe fire. I see, so you must be the Salamander of Fairy Tail I've been hearing so much about."
"You got that right, now what of it?"
"You know we used to be members of a famous guild ourselves, so it wouldn't be wise for you to just blow us off so casually. In fact this is the same guild that houses Iron Rock Jura of the Ten Wizard Saints, surely you've heard of the guild known as Lamia Scale." he was met with a blast of fire aimed at his face "Hey cut it out you imbecile, you should listen when people are talking to you."
"Give me one good reason to, do you really think I give a damn what guild you came from or who the other members are?"
"You should."
"Well he's right, what matters is what you're doing here not where you come from." Lisanna told him firmly "We came here to help the villagers and you're putting them in danger, which means that we have to stop you."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah it is." Natsu summoned flames in his fist "And that gives me more than enough reason to kick your ass."
"...New plan. Hey Toby just stand back and deal with the cat girl, I've got this one handled so you don't need to get involved.
"CAT GIRL!" Toby pounced at Lisanna, which led to a comical cartoon style brawl that led them out of the area, leaving only Natsu and Yuka.
"Wave!" Yuka fired from his hand what looked like a blast of magic energy.
"I'll tear that thing apart!" Natsu prepared to unleash a blast of fire, only to be forced to quickly roll out of the path of the attack.
"Oops, I guess you weren't ready for that one then."
"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu breathed out a quick blast of fire.
"Wave!" Yuka used his magic to deflect the roar "The pulsing energy that comes from my hand diffuses all types of magic used against me, which means that none of your spells will have any effect on me."
'So that's why my fire power couldn't destroy his barrier, now I get it.'
"I specialized in an anti-wizard form of magic while I was with the Lamia Scale guild, and I'm sure you can understand why. It doesn't matter how strong they may be, all wizards are powerless before my power, and that includes you!" he fired a two handed energy blast at full speed.
"You wanna bet? Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu launched forward a fire fist.
"Wave!" Yuka used his Wave to block the attack "It's like I told you, against the likes of my Wave your magic is completely useless."
"That doesn't mean I'm gonna let you off the hook, it actually means that I'll just have to kick your ass without it."
"Wait what?"
"Like this!" he stuck his fist through "Hey check it out, I broke through it!" and then he screamed in agony.
"You put your bare arm inside a vortex of magic energy, not a smart move."
"I'm not know for smart moves, what I'm known for is kicking ass!" Natsu promptly forced his entire body inside the vortex "Guess what asshat, your magic doesn't have a chance in hell against my brute strength so what the hell are you going to do now?!"
"You might have broken through my Wave but now you're stuck Salamander, your flames aren't going to work now that you're inside."
"But I can still use them outside, and you just gave me a great idea! Fire Dragon FLAME ELBOW!" and so he used his fire magic to increase the speed and force of his punch, allowing him to punch Yuka so hard that he was sent flying away a great distance "And that's how we kick ass Fairy Tail style. Now all that's left is for Lisanna to wrap it up with the guy who's actually dumber than I am." he looked over to Bobo's grave stone and promptly proceeded to put it back as it was before "Hey don't worry man, we're gonna find a way to change your people back to normal. And we'll be sure to avenge your death too, that much I promise."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lyon found himself alone in the cave, staring up at the frozen form of Deliora 'Not much longer now until my dream becomes a reality.'
"Hey Cold Emperor." that was when someone else showed up in the cave, this one having shaggy brown hair and wearing a black t shirt, pants, boots and black gloves "So be real with me for a second, why exactly did you choose not to kill Fullbuster earlier?"
"My reasons aren't that complicated Noah, I feel no need to shed any more blood than is absolutely necessary."
"Says the guy who ordered his lap dogs to kill the villagers, which makes you look like a frozen hypocrite. Face it, you've got a soft spot for Fullbuster even if you won't admit it."
"Don't be absurd, I simply have no desire to get any more blood on my hands than I actually have to, but if he does get in my way again then I won't hesitate to kill him."
"Whatever lets you sleep at night, in the meantime I'll be heading out to see if your lap dogs need any backup."
"Do as you wish."
"I intend to." and so Noah departed from the cave, leaving Lyon alone with his thoughts and the gigantic frozen form of Deliora.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Toby let out a low whistle "Damn that guy beat Yuka, he must be awesome."
"You have no idea." Lisanna dropped into a stance "But I can't let you hurt him or anyone else here."
"I'm not scared of you Cat Girl, I'll have you know that I'm even stronger than Yuka is. Go ahead and take a look at my Mega Jellyfish Paralyzing claws, I bet you'll never guess what these babies can do!"
"They can paralyze people?"
"Holy shit how did you know that, hey do you have ESP or something?"
"No, you're just… Well, you're kind of stupid."
"NOBODY TALKS TO ME LIKE THAT YOU STUPID CAT!"
"Watch it you dog!" they started clawing away at each other in a comical fashion.
"With just one strike from my paralyzing claws you'll be frozen and begging for death!"
"Hey wait hold on a second, I think you have something on your forehead."
"What you mean right here?" he punctured himself with his own claws, paralyzing himself and causing him to pass out.
"Well that was… incredibly easy." Lisanna transformed back and let out a sigh "Maybe Natsu is rubbing off on me too much."
A/N:
And thus starts the Galuna Island arc, as well as adding Lisanna into the team roster of Team Dragon. The only reason I didn't add her during the Lullaby arc was because I didn't want to overcrowd the team roster too early.
Noah is an OC that was recommended to me some time ago by TheCarlosInferno, and he'll be taking the place of Ultear in this arc for the sake of some plans that I have in mind for him. And no he won't be joining Fairy Tail, just throwing that out there.