Why are my hands purple? Why do my hands smell like grape? I haven't had grapes for like a year… WHY DO THEY TASTE LIKE GRAPE? What did I do?

Updated 2023/10/22

Guest, thank you! I'll try and sneak a little NaLu in, but as stated in the description this is gonna be relationship free so you might have to close one eye and squint the other and turn your head just so. Also, Natsu is gonna have to really warm up to everyone.

The real narnia, haha, thank you. Yes, welcome to this story. You have Empra to blame for the smarter Natsu. (She's a bit like me, total bookworm. I sorta envision her with horn rimmed red glasses… Huh.) once again, you have Natsu meditating to blame on a certain sparky gold dragon. Ooh, Laxus. I'm looking forward to Laxus. That's gonna be fun writing. Thank you, once again, and happy reading! :)

Enjali, yea, I was kinda toying with the idea. Like, 'should I? No, I really shouldn't… DOING IT'. You'll find the others thoughts are along the lines of 'what the hell is he doing' and 'why the hell is he doing that'.

Erza Ashley, ok, uh, let's all calm down here… Aaand she's gone. Alright. That went well.

Warmachine375 , well, hopefully I'll be able to work around any reservations, but I'm sorry to say, I'm not caught up with the manga. The last episode I saw was the one that had Natsu melt the Grand Magic Games arena. (I should probably check when more are coming out…). I am planning on diverging more from canon, but I find stories that go too far in that aspect a tad bit.. Ah, how to say it… I find stories that go that way less enjoyable to read. I struggle a bit with keeping what's going on and who's who straight. For example, the story BLAZE. I managed to keep things pretty straight for the first one or two chapters but after that I ended up pretty lost. I imagine it's an excellent story, just not the type I can enjoy. My intentions for this story is to have it be a bit more of a… Character study? No, more character focused. See, this Natsu has trust issues, which will be addressed I more detail in a couple chapters, and I plan on kinda building up to that and then.. Well. We'll see.(Also I don't think it's a good thing for the author to be confused as to what's happening in the story…) Ive also seen the 'Natsu absolutely demolishes Lullaby' story a few times. I think we can agree Lullaby ends up pretty demolished in canon, but as I've said this is more of a character study and I want Natsu to learn he can trust Fairy Tail, and I imagine Lullaby will be instrumental in that. (Eh? Ehhh?) oh, right, another thing, I'm planning on having Natsu being more reserved in showing off his magic, something I hadn't thought of when I wrote the first couple chapters. I'm planning on fixing that in the near future. Once again, his reasoning for that will be revealed in a couple chapters. Ooh, this God Serena guy seems interesting. I'll be looking forward to that. Mm.. Now I kinda want to do something with Natsu training with someone to hone hi- AH-HA! I KNOW WHERE I CAN WORK THAT IN! I see it all so clearly now! Thanks for the idea! It is ok if I use it, yes?

If you'd like, I can work with God Serena, I imagine. I'm already planning on reworking the Daphne arc in such a way, I could try and do the same with God Serena. Granted, I don't exactly know his character or design or motive or anything, just his name.. And that he has eight Dragon Slayer Lacrimas, but other than that.. Hey, I'll do my best and give God Serena a good run. I do indeed like your suggestion, and thank you for the input. Thanks for the fave and follow! :)

Phoenix, I did indeed update! Thank you! Yes the cliffie was an absolute necessity 100% yep. Your wish is my (still slightly delayed) command!

Phoenix(2), ah! Thank you! Good to see people are picking up on the bounty, I was little worried I was being too vague. Ooh, there's a thing I haven't thought of. I may just do that! Well have to wait and see, won't we? Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with Avatar, but I may do something where he can heal minor injuries like a scrape on the knee with his Water Dragon Slayer magic. Come to think of it, Whirls personality does kinda hint that she'd be a good healer, doesn't it... Hmm…

Geez this replying to the review section is getting long… I think I'm gonna have to switch up my formula a little. Anyone who's logged in I'll reply to with a PM and leave this section for the guest reviewers like Erza Ashley and Phoenix, among others.

Having an Etherious smile at you is nothing short of spine chilling. Even Erza, the great Titania, finds herself frozen for a moment in the face of Lullaby, despite how much damage she had managed to do to it previously. It feels like looking into something greater than yourself, like it can see the parts of your whole and it finds you funny.

Then, of course, the spell is broken as a fist the size of a car impacts Lullaby's face and sends its head snapping back.

"Master!" gasps Erza, breaking her gaze from the reeling Lullaby. She finds Makarov at her knee, face searingly angry.

"You did well, my children. But you've also done enough. Leave the rest of this fight to me."

It isn't in a Fairy Tail mages spirit to back out of a fight, even if the odds are overwhelming and defeat seems inevitable. That given; everyone scrambles back from Lullaby, Lucy lending Erza a shoulder to lean on, and Gray dragging Natsu back by the arm.

"Dude, leave it to him. If gramps wants to let loose then we have to be further back than this."

"Uh—" says Natsu, and it looks for a moment like he wants nothing more than to resist, before he gives in and goes with them— "Okay."

Lullaby's head jittered as it followed them in their retreat, struggling to hold itself up under its own weight and damaged neck. Gray only glanced over his shoulder once— just long enough to see it reaching for them— and that was all he needed to know they either had to pick up the pace or hunker down.

"Erza!" He calls, trusting her to make the call, and she must see what he did because a moment later she's behind them all, requipping to her Giant's Shield armour.

"We're going to hunker down here!" She calls, "In case Master Makarov needs any help!" Which is an optimistic way of putting 'if we keep running, we're vulnerable,' Gray thinks.

He doesn't voice this thought, instead covering their backs with a thick dome of ice— the temperature drops significantly, but no one comments on it.

"I can help," says Natsu, and something must happen between Gray finishing his portion of the shield and him turning around, because the pink-haired idiot is slumping into unconsciousness before he can do anything. Lucy catches him before he earns himself a bloody nose, and Erza looks over her shoulder at Lucy's surprised exclamation.

Worry clouds her face, with a hint of anger around her eyes, as she asks— "is he alright?"

Gray tried to think of what might have made the mage drop like that, and finds an answer he doesn't like— Natsu had been closest out of all of them when Lullaby began trying to sing, what if the song still took effect? Weakened effect, yes, but this was an etherious.

Natsu might be—

The world trembled, and an entire row of trees to the right of them leapt out of the ground, curling themselves into a knot before leaping at the fight— it was hard to see through the ice, but Gray was fairly certain that Gramps had swatted away the offending lump like an overgrown fly.

"His pulse is steady," says Lucy, before he can return to his previous doom-and-gloom train of thought. Tension drains from Erza's shoulders as she says so, before she braces herself again for any potential attacks.

"We'll have to find out why he collapsed later, then."

A moment later everything trembles again, and cracks begin to spread through Gray's ice, which he hurriedly repairs. Erza grunts, and slides back a bit— noise gets in through the gap now present between the edge of her shield and the ice, and it sounds like Lullaby is trying to sing again.

"What do we do?" asks Lucy, face pale.

"Stay… put," Erza says, sounding for all the world like she's straining against something, "and stay… out! of the way…"

"I don't think we have much choice about that second part," Gray says, shifting nervously as the cracks begin to spread faster than he can seal. Something's got to give.

And then something does. A furious shout that Gray realizes is Gramps echoes inside their bubble, and a moment later Erza falls to a knee, shield dispersing as she rubs at her forearms. It's clear, with her out of the way, that Gramps had been bracing himself against them, locked in a wrestle for dominance against Lullaby— Gray watches as he lunges forward until a brilliant flare of magic catches his eye, and he realizes what happened— the other guild masters had finally pulled their heads out of their asses and come to help.

The three of them gather in the entrance to their dome, watching as Makarov finally manages to overcome Lullaby— the demons screeches garbled by the holes seared into its throat, and then drowned out by the sound of a tree being twisted in half. Makarov pulls Lullaby's head free from its shoulders, and lets it drop like the worlds most oversized bowling ball.

For a moment— just a moment, barely a second— it feels like Lullaby is looking at them, and trying to smile, and then the magic that gave it life is gone and the etherious crumples to dust.

Fiasco resolved— the rest of Eisenwald sentenced in accordance with the severity of their crimes— Fairy Tail parties as hard as is customary. Lucy could drink with the best of them— Cana excluded— but she had chosen to remain (mostly) sober, enjoying occasional sips from the drink Mirajane had passed her. The reason for this wasn't particularly far from where she had seated herself at the bar— Natsu had woken up as they were hashing out a plan to reclaim their luggage and return to Fairy Tail. He hadn't had any explanation for his sudden bout of unconsciousness, so Lucy wanted to keep an eye on him for a while, just in case.

(He had said just the other day that using excessive amounts of magic tired him, hadn't he? It seemed like such a sudden collapse for it to be that, though…)

Well, that, and it was a lot to throw at someone for their second ever job, and he seemed to be struggling to adjust.

"Hey," she says, eventually, and his attention snaps right to her even under the roar of the crowd, "if you're tired, you can sleep at my place. It's been a crazy couple days!"

"Aren't there dorms?" He asks, and Lucy winces— "Yes, but… you need a key from Gramps, and…"

They both turned to watch the crowd for a moment— he was buried somewhere in there, and undoubtedly unbelievably drunk.

"Ah," says Natsu, wisely.

"Here, cmon," she sets her drink on the counter and scoops up Happy, instead. The little exceed is totally limp, she'd almost be worried if she couldn't feel him purring, "I'll show you the way."

"Thanks," he responds, and they both forge through the crowd with minimal difficulty. The cool night air of Magnolia is a relief after the busy atmosphere of the guild, and without a word between them they both pause to appreciate it.

"You said you have another dragon slayer in the guild?" Natsu prompts, after they've begun moving again.

"Huh? Oh, yes, Laxus! I did mention that he's gramps's actual grandson, right? He figured it out when he was pretty young, I think."

"Figured it out…?"

"Yes, with the lacrima. It's a bit of an open secret in the guild, so you'd probably learn sooner or later."

"Uh… right," says Natsu, and Lucy is left with the feeling that she mistepped somewhere. But where? Whatever— they've reached her apartment, and she hands him Happy as she fishes out her key.

"I don't have a spare bed, so you'll have to sleep on my couch. I also want to make contracts with my new spirits right away, if that's okay with you."

"That's fine," he says, looking a little uncertain at the drooling cat.

Thankfully, the contract making is quick and easy, even if Virgo is a bit… eccentric. She's beginning to think that's just the way of Zodiac Spirits. Natsu had passed out again halfway through Nickola, but he had roused briefly when she checked on him, so it was nothing more than being tired.

Which, now that she was away from the hubbub of the guild, she realized she was too. She went through the motions— a quick, hot shower, teeth scrub, swap into her favourite pajamas, and she was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.

She woke up to Natsu's face scant inches from hers.

She shrieked, undignified, and lashed out, smacking him in the face and shoving him back. He cried out in surprise in turn, rapidly putting his hands up to show he meant no harm— "Sorry! Sorry, but someone keeps knocking at your door, so—!"

"So you woke me up by staring at me?!"

"Uh… yes?"

"That's not—" she cuts herself off before she can say anything impulsive, instead gripping her hair in frustration and breathing deeply for a moment. "Okay, doing that is creepy and rude. I may have let you stay in my house, but that wasn't an invitation to watch me sleep."

"Oh… sorry?"

"It's" not fine "fine. Just… don't do it again."

She smoothed her hair back out, before remembering what he had said about knocking at the door. Conveniently, the knock came again at that moment, so whoever it was probably hadn't been waiting too terribly long.

Really though, out of her current list of friends, those likely to knock instead of just bursting in… it was a short list.

(Erza would knock, Lucy would grant her that, but she'd also knock down the door if she thought Lucy was taking too long— she worried.)

It wasn't Erza, but Lucy could have guessed that by the fact her door was still on its hinges. In fact, it looked like no one was knocking on her door at all, bafflingly, until a voice reached her from below and for the second time that morning, she almost jumped out of her skin. Oh. Oh! It was just Gramps.

"Good morning, Lucy," he greeted, peering past her, "and Natsu too. I thought I saw you too leaving together last night."

"It's nothing weird!" Lucy blurts, before her brain can get the better of her. Happy helpfully snags the back of her pajama shirt and drags her out of the way as she physically hides her face in her hands.

"Of course," Makarov allowed, graciously, "I just wanted to ensure our newest member was settling in properly."

"Oh, thank you," said Natsu reflexively, "yeah, everything's great. I was wondering if I could get a key to the dorms, though…?"

"Hrm? Oh, of course, you wouldn't have anywhere to stay, other than with Lucy… it's rowdy there, but that's to be expected for Fairy Tail!"

Lucy dragged her hands down her face, just in time to catch the look of apprehension that flickered over Natsu's face. Oh yeah, that was right, didn't dragon slayers have heightened senses, or something?

"I'll get a key and room settled for you, then," Makarov continued, "swing by the guild later, Mirajane will sort you out."

With that, he was gone, and Happy drifted over to close the door.

"Your guild is very friendly," Natsu says, conversationally.

"Our guild, now. You're as much a part of this as I am."

"Oh… right." Sheesh, the guy acted like he had forgotten.

"Hey, I wanted to apologize for last night, actually," Lucy said, changing the topic, "I didn't mean to imply anything about your parents, or Laxus's situation."

"Huh? Oh— oh, that's— you're fine. It's not like you're too far off the mark, anyway…"

That last bit had been more of a mumble than anything, so Lucy chose to not address it— not yet. She could at least let him settle in before they started prying into more private stuff, if at all.

"You can take a shower, if you want— I'm going to get dressed, and then we can go to the guild and see if Gramps has everything sorted like he said."

"Sure," he said, and stepped into the bathroom. She took the opportunity to shuck off her pj's and switch into her more casual, day-to-day outfit, noting with a frown that even though he had been in there a while, she didn't hear the shower running. Not that she was listening! Just that… well, her apartment was kinda small, anyway, and it was a loud shower— or at least it was according to Gray, who had broken in once while she was in there— but maybe he was exaggerating or lying or… something.

Whatever! Natsu eventually stepped out, completely dry, which lead her to believe he had only pretended to use her shower to be polite. He was an odd guy. Whatever.

He made it a week in the dorms.

Even sequestered away in the quieter areas, the noise was overwhelming— if there was a part of Magnolia that never slept, it had to be the dorms. The irony wasn't lost on him.

Lucy had invited him on another couple jobs in the time interim, which had been kind of her— all of Fairy Tail was kind, really— and he had managed to scrounge together enough jewel to (potentially) find somewhere else to stay.

If trying to sleep in the dorms was a fruitless endeavour, then trying to find a reasonable place to stay in Magnolia was like burning down an orchard. Did that metaphor make sense? He was too tired to think of another one. He liked this place, wanted to stay, but the living conditions absolutely weren't doing it for him.

Everywhere was so pricey… maybe Lucy would let him stay the night again. No, then she'd want to know why.

Okay, step back from the problem a bit. All he really needed was somewhere reliable to sleep, everything else he could manage with his requip and his magic. He didn't want to just sleep randomly about the town, though, that wouldn't solve his problems— it'd probably make more for him.

… it had been a very long time since he slept in among nature. He wasn't sure why the thought hadn't occurred sooner.

Magnolia was rimmed by forest, and it only took him a few minutes of looking before he found a suitable tree. Ugh, so much easier than the hours apartment hunting took.

It didn't matter, then, that it was closer to mid-afternoon than it was night— he was tired from the dorms and the jobs and the apartment hunting— he hunkered down and fell asleep.

"Have you seen Natsu today?"

Lucy jumps as Erza near apparates behind her, one gauntleted hand slamming down on her table.

"Whuhhh," she says, intelligently, before managing to spit out "No? Why?"

"He's not in his dorm, either." (Had Erza broken in to the male dorms? possibly. Lucy wasn't going to ask.) "Master wants to speak with us."

"Oh? Okay," unsure what that had to do with Natsu, she stood and followed Erza to Makarov's office, surprised to find Gray was already waiting there as well. Wait, them plus Natsu was the team that took on Lullaby. Was something up with that? Maybe some sort of accolade for staring down incredible danger.

"Didn't find him?" Gray asks, which tells Lucy he knows more about what's currently going on than she does.

"No," Erza responds, looking troubled. Well, she can probably get Happy to sweep around— Erza has probably already checked with Mirajane to see if he's taken a job, so.

A job… surely Gramps wasn't going to send them to face something like Lullaby again. No, no no no, that was S Class work. They were not going on another S Class job— or, at least, she wasn't. Gray could gladly go waste his life if he so desired.

It's a job. Gramps collected them all to send them on a job. Lucy groans, heartily, and Erza claps her on the shoulder hard enough to bruise. "Cheer up, Lucy. It will be fun! We don't spend nearly enough time together."

"Why are we the ones even being sent on this job, gramps?" Grays asks, which is reasonable— they're being send to a remote, uninhabited island for a month. To look at plants. And animals. Lucy does appreciate the occasional job that's not just fighting all the time, but this is— this is camping.

Makarov sighs, looking suddenly tired, before answering— "The truth is, the magic council is breathing down my neck after the Lullaby incident. They want to know what you all were doing there, and they won't accept any of my answers,"

"Ah," realizes Lucy, "so you're sending us away for a while to get them off your back."

"Yup!" Makarov admits, entirely shameless.

"We'll look for Natsu today, and leave tomorrow," decides Erza, "we will investigate this island to the fullest extent of our ability as Fairy Tail wizards."

They don't end up finding Natsu, even when Happy goes out to sweep the entire town. While it's not exactly illegal to take a sudden vacation without telling anyone, the guy could have better timing about it. Lucy grumbles about that as she figures out what to pack— it won't be the first time a job has taken an exorbitantly long time, but that doesn't make packing for it any easier. She should probably be fine with just the basics— and maybe her manuscript, too. Erza will likely pack enough for all of them, combined, so it's not like it's urgent.

Thankfully, Natsu is in the guild hall the next day, and Lucy pulls him aside mostly to ask where the hell he was yesterday.

"Oh," he says, "I was sleeping in a tree."

"A— like, in the park? We checked there, I thought…"

"No, outside of town."

"In— there are vulcans in those woods!"

"… yeah? So?"

She huffs, before giving in with a shrug. Well, at least he fits in with the general weirdness of Fairy Tail. "Just let us know next time, I was worried."

"Uh, sure. Were you wanting to go on another job, or…?"

Oh, that was right— he didn't know. "Uh, kind of! Gramps actually sent all of us on a job— Me, you, Gray, and Erza. We're investigating an island, for, uh… magical… research?"

"An island?" Natsu's face wrinkles in distaste, and Lucy only remembers then his motion sickness.

"It'll be fine!" She says, before Natsu can say anything else, "Erza can knock you out again for the ride, or, uh, ah!" She jumps about a foot in the air as a gauntleted hand comes down, hard, on her shoulder, Erza suddenly appearing next to them. For a woman covered head-to-toe in armour most of the time, she could be so sneaky.

"Good, you found him! Are you all packed? We're going now!"

Erza does offer to knock Natsu out for the boat again, but he declines as best as he can, while doubled over and suffering. Poor guy, at least the boat ride is only a couple hours or so. The captain of the vessel offers Natsu a room under the deck, which he also turns down— Lucy thinks she hears something about the sun making it feel marginally better, but it's hard to tell. Most of the ride passes in awkward silence, and they make land without issue— Gray constructs an ice ramp to help them get Erza's luggage down, and then, after a moment of consideration, they slide Natsu down it too.

He recovers considerably once he's on the sand, and he's able to help them find somewhere suitable to camp, which is a relief, Lucy had been a little concerned she would be sleeping on sand the whole month. (Never again.)

Less relieving is the fact Erza pulls out a saw the second they decide to settle down.

"Uh, aren't we supposed to be… observing the wildlife?" Lucy tries, as Erza brandishes her saw at several trees, as if they'll fall down from her will alone.

"Yes, and we can do that. These are just trees."

"Can't argue with that," says Gray, and Lucy groans as Erza selects her first victim.

She keeps them all awake the whole night with her sawing, and she continues well into the next day. They end up exploring away from the camp just to catch a break from the noise. Returning, though, she's actually managed to make an impressively functional cabin. It's small, and only has three beds, but it's so much more than any of them were expecting— even Lucy and Gray, who had known Erza for years.

Still, "are there supposed to only be three beds?" Gray asks, mildly concerned she may have forgotten one of them.

"Yes," says Erza, not exactly assuaging that fear, but at least addressing it, "because one of us will always be keeping watch. And there are four beds." She points up, and sure enough, dangling above all of them, is a hammock, "For Happy."

Happy gasps with delight, and immediately cuddles in, falling asleep instantly after the sleepless night before.

"Great," groans Lucy, around a monstrous yawn, "then I'm also gonna take a nap. Construction is so loud…"

"Is it?" Erza asks, looking genuinely baffled, "my apologies, I hadn't considered that. I will take first watch!"

"It's the middle of the day," Natsu points out, reasonably.

"You will all sleep!" Erza continues, as if he hadn't said anything, "and we'll take watch in thirds, so at least one of us is always getting a full nights sleep."

"It's easier to just go along, sometimes," Gray confides, before slumping in to one of the beds himself. Erza steps outside, leaving Natsu in the middle of the cabin feeling a bit lost.

She had said that someone would always be on watch, implying that the beds would be shared between them— meaning that he wouldn't be stealing from her if he took the last one. It has a mattress and everything, and he takes a moment to be impressed— either that wagon held infinitely more than it looked like, or her requip space was genuinely ridiculous. He was leaning towards the second option, personally.

He doesn't wake up until the next morning— which meant that he had slept clean through two watch changes.

Truthfully, he hadn't expected to sleep at all. Especially with people he wasn't one hundred percent comfortable with awake and moving about. (Never again, he had thought.)

"Good morning," Erza greets, the first to notice him up and about. Lucy and Gray echo her after a moment, and he returns the pleasantry.

"You slept well!" Lucy says, cheerfully, only for Gray to grumble at her.

"Too well," he says, before yawning, "why didn't you wake him up for third watch, again?"

"I tried!" Lucy snaps, "he just rolled over and covered his head with a pillow."

"Yeah, well, you could have just grabbed it—"

"Did I do that? Sorry," Natsu interrupts before Erza can. Both Lucy and Gray pause in their bickering as if suddenly remembering that he's there.

"… It's no big deal," Gray allows, eventually, "but you're taking first watch tonight."

"Sure," Natsu agrees easily, taking a seat next to Lucy— they're sort of gathered around a pile of wooden scrap, leftover from Erza's construction job, no doubt, and Lucy herself is using a bit of rock and steel in an attempt to light it. It's a bit sad to watch, she's not very good at it.

Erza claps her hands, gathering everyone's attention— she's gotten a rock from somewhere, to prop her foot up on dramatically. "Alright! Once Lucy gets the fire started, we can use the smoke to return to camp. We'll move out in groups of two and three, and start by doing a loop of the island. I want to get an idea of the size of this place. We'll meet at the far side, and cut straight back across to get back to camp. Who wants to be on what team? Lucy, you're with me."

"Guess that leaves us grouped together," says Gray.

"Aye," agrees Happy, solemn as the grave.

"Not you! … I mean, I guess you could group with us if you wanted, but wouldn't you rather go with Lucy?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah!"

Quietly, Gray buried his face in his hand, and not long after, they split into their groups.

The island wasn't particularly interesting— there was one spot of the beach that looked churned up, but that could have been caused by anything, and a smattering of shed scales that Natsu insisted on collecting 'just in case'.

"What do you want these for, anyway?" Gray asked, bending to pick a couple more out of the sand— they were a pale blue-ish colour, and stood out on the beach. He had gathered a fair few, though Natsu seemed to have collected more, like the guy could sniff them out.

"I've got a good sense of smell," he answered, and maybe he could actually sniff them out— "if we want to figure out what left these scales behind, I can track em by scent."

"Huh." Alright. They were allegedly here to document the wildlife, so. Once they had whatever Natsu considered enough, it was simple enough to finish up and regroup with Erza and Lucy.

"So, basically," Gray surmised, "there's absolutely nothing interesting here."

"It's still important to do a good job!" Erza said immediately, as if she happened to know a lot about land surveys. "Any missed wildlife could reflect poorly on Fairy Tail's ability to do a good job."

"Right, of course," Gray said, primarily to get her to stop talking. He loved her as much as any other member of the guild, but sometimes she could really get going on that spiel.

And so the days passed.

And passed…

And passed.

If there was one benefit, at least, it was that they got to know each other fairly well. Not exactly deep, soul searching stuff, but Gray now knew that Natsu always tried to take first watch because he hated being woken up, that Lucy snored even if she said she didn't, and Erza was actually way more knowledgeable about plants, wildlife, and climate than he gave her credit for. He was sure there must be similar things about himself that the others had picked up on after the extended time spent in close contact, but he wasn't super bothered about that.

In a similar way, they learned about the island.

Which was why it was such a surprise when, with just a week left, they found the lizards.

Or, more specifically, the lizards found them.

It was Gray's turn at watch, and he was whiling away the hours while practicing with his make magic, spinning progressively more and more complex shapes. It was an old, familiar exercise, and it helped lift the boredom somewhat. He personally thought that the entire practice of keeping watch was pointless after the first week, but he wasn't going to bring that up with Erza. And even if he did, it wasn't like they had another bed.

He had his suspicions that something had been getting into their food for a while now anyways, so he had been keeping an eye on that more than he had been anything else. Tonight was the night his suspicions were proven correct.

The lizard— because that's what it was— was light blue, and… kind of stunningly obvious against the greens and browns of the trees and bushes. It was also determinedly dragging away a fish that he's pretty sure was meant to go to Happy.

He stops feeding magic to most of his practice, letting it melt in the warm air until a sliver is left, which he flicks to pin the fishes head to the ground. The lizard gives it another determined tugs, and then let's go, lifting its head. It blinks slowly, as if taking in the spike, and then turns very slowly to look at Gray. It goes still, like he won't notice it if it doesn't move.

Behind it, a second lizard scutters past, an orange in it's mouth. This one is orange, and it gets almost to the bush before it realizes it's friend isn't moving.

"Ah-ha," Gray says, "so it's you two whose been stealing our food, huh."

The lizards blink slowly in turn.

Technically, they had never found the source of those scales, but that had just made him think that whatever shed them didn't live here. Evidently, not the case. He leans forwards, pressing a hand to the earth, and a cage of ice springs up around the two. He leaves the ground clear— it isn't like they've committed a serious crime, and he knows enough about lizards to know they're cold-blooded. There's nothing to be done about the general chill caused by his magic, but they won't be in there for long. It's maybe ten minutes before Erza gets up, and when she gets up, so does everyone else. Not necessarily by choice.

Like clockwork, everyone gets up when predicted, and before long the lizards have a collection of wizards peering at them.

"My fish," Happy mourns, little face pressed to the ice. The blue lizard inside tears off a chunk and swallows it.

"So this is what's been stealing our food…" Erza says. She also presses her face close to the ice. "Apologize."

The lizards exchange glances, and then each press their faces to the ground. The effect is somewhat ruined by the scraps of fruit and fish littering the ground around them.

"That's weird…" Natsu says, "I recognize their smell, but it's… new." He pulls out a scale, comparing it's shade of blue to the lizard— as Gray had thought, a perfect match.

"We should figure out where they've been staying," Lucy says, ever the pragmatic one.

Erza narrows her eyes at them, but seems to accept their apology, as she stands back up. "You're right, Lucy. Gray, let them out."

He, obligingly, stops feeding his magic into the cage, and it melts swiftly. The lizards do not move.

"Go," Erza says, much in the same tone she used earlier, and then they're gone.

They're fast little things, and familiar with the island. If it wasn't for their vibrant colours, Gray would have lost sight of them more than once.

And then he did. As did everyone else, if the discordant way they came to a halt was any indication.

"Huh…?" Lucy nudged at a bit of foliage with a boot, but nothing happened. "Where'd they go?"

Natsu sniffed at the air pointedly, a troubled expression on his face. "I've lost them completely. Their scent just… stops."

They explored the area, but it was really as if the lizards had just vanished into thin air.

Nothing for a day. Nothing for two.

On the third day, Natsu perked up, sniffed, and took off. Thankfully, he was a lot bigger and easy to follow than a couple of lizards, and he led them back to the same area before stopping, expression frustrated again.

"There must be something here we're missing." Natsu paced a length, and Gray took the break to catch his breath, and then huff in frustration.

"Yeah, we could tell that already. Did you run all the way out here just for that?"

"No. I caught a whiff of them again… I thought we could try and catch them away and figure out what they're doing, but they must have heard us coming."

He 'caught a whiff'? From all the way back at camp? Damn, that was a strong sense of smell.

"I have an idea," Lucy said, fishing around on her belt. A ringing bell and flash of light later, Virgo was at her side, bowing subserviently.

"What can I do for you, Princess?"

"We're trying to find a couple lizards," Lucy started, but trailed off. Virgo looked… really focused. And also like she wasn't listening to Lucy at all. Her focus narrowed, razor sharp, and then all traces of the subservient maid were gone.

"You need to get off of this island," she said, and then the earth under them was heaving.

Later, with the benefit of hindsight, they would realize— or figure out— a few things. Why guild wizards were requested for this job. Why, despite the relative accessibility, size, and lush greenery, nobody lived here. Where and how the lizards were vanishing to. What prompted Virgo's response.

And, finally, exactly what kind of demon had been fast asleep until the presence of Virgo woke it up.

But, at the moment, all there is is the wild bucking of the earth under them, and noise like the world is ending.

Everyone reacts in different directions. Lucy and Happy go straight up, Virgo goes down. Natsu leaps back while Gray goes left, and Erza simply requips a sword and braces herself.

The lizards, not that anyone is paying much attention to them anymore, go right.

What happens next is best described as a solid chunk of the island… standing up.

Humanoid in shape, made of earth, trees and rocks dotting it's back, it's only non-earthen features it's eyes, teeth, and talons, it's unquestionably a problem. Unquestionably a threat.

The low rumbling that had filled the air resolved itself into a roar, the creature fixing it's blank gaze on them. It reaches for Erza first, her being the closest, mouth open and hungry. A bare second passes between action and reaction, a swift requip into her Heavens Wheel armour providing the blades to slice through the soft earth of its arm.

"What the hell is that thing?" Gray shouts, ice already leaping forwards to swallow up its legs.

"A problem!" someone shouts back.

Erza moves up it's arm, blades churning the earth of its shoulder and chest. Lucy keeps a safe distance, feeling the tug of connection with Virgo on her magic, and a moment later the maid pops out of the top of the monsters head.

"This is a greater earthen demon," she says, conversationally.

"Oh?" Lucy replies, as if this is a normal place to be having a conversation.

"Yes. It will not be affected by most regular magics."

Contrary, the demon lurches, screeching, as one of it's legs snaps off. Virgo vanishes back into it, and then remerges at it's new 'top', which is more a 'shoulder' than anything else.

"Traditionally, the best way to deal with earthen demons is to find their core. However, other methods have been used, such as massive physical force, or spells to induce servitude and sleep."

The creature builds a new leg for itself out of new dirt, its arm regenerating in a similar way as it reaches up to swat at Erza. Fire bathes its back a moment later, the trees catching like matchsticks.

"Is this really the time for a lecture," Lucy wonders out loud.

"I will continue looking for the core. Please stay safe, Princess." With that, she was gone.

Well, she might as well try and get word out to the others.

"We need to find its core!"

Fwoosh, groan, smash.

"What?"

"THE CORE!"

Bang, crack, slice.

"Huh?"

"JUST KEEP ATTACKING!"

Erza catches the creatures open mouth with her blades, severing its head into two. The top half slumps back, eyes bright, as the body collapses into dirt.

"What were you saying, Lucy?" She asks, wiping sweat from her brow.

Lucy huffs, as Happy sets her back down, wings puffing into ether. "It was supposed to have a core to destroy."

"Oh," Erza says. She prods at the dirt a little with her sword, and Virgo sprouts out like a flower. "…is that it?"

"No, that's— that's Virgo. Uh, did we get it?"

"No," Virgo says, looking a little disappointed as Erza lifts the sword away. "However, since this half is no longer moving, the core must still be within its head."

They turn to find the demon building a new body for itself out of fresh dirt.

"That's cheating!" Natsu yells, and another swathe of trees go up in flame.

"He seems like a different guy when he's fighting, huh."

"Yeah, kinda."

"Erza," Natsu shouts, "cut it in half again!"

She's already moving. With a clear, focused goal in mind, a saw blade of swords spins out, splitting the still-reforming demon in half. The upper section crumbles, while the lower half continues to pull in fresh matter. It's flow is cut by twin streams of ice, though one is much wilder than the other. Erza brings her blades around, splitting it vertically this time, and then again, and again. Each split is eaten up by ice until they're left with a miniature version of the initial demon, frantically chipping at ice with tiny claws.

"We should destroy it now," Virgo says, "while it's weak."

"I agree," Gray adds, "it's a demon, it's not going to bring any good."

The demon hisses and spits at them, trying to look intimidating when it's barely the size of a cat. Natsu scruffs it like one.

"I dunno," he says, "it's not like it was doing anything before we disturbed it. Why'd it get all mad, anyways?"

"I believe that may have been my fault," Virgo says. "My magic connects me intimately with the earth. Being summoned on top of it, I would have driven my magic into it before I realized what it was." She pauses, thoughtfully. "Like poking a sleeping bear."

The demon chirps miserably from Natsu's grip.

"We can just leave it alone, right?" Lucy says, won over immediately. "We were here a whole month before we noticed anything was off!"

"And leave it to attack the next people to drop by? And what about those lizards. They must have known something was up."

"They were lizards, Gray, they probably thought they found a nice place to live. Which we've… kind of ruined." Lucy shrugs, somewhat regretfully— but such was the life of a Fairy Tail wizard.

"Actually…" Virgo says, crouching to take a handful of earth. "This earth is unusually fertile. I predict that regrowth will be swift and plentiful. Such is life after punishment…"

Everyone simultaneously chose to ignore the latter half of that statement.

"So the demon makes, what, fresh earth?" Natsu lifts it, and gives it a considering look. "I don't really see what's wrong with that."

"It attacked us," Gray says. "It's not peaceful."

Natsu raises an eyebrow at him, and then pointedly sets the demon down. It looks around at the field of ice and semi-hostile mages, and then sits down. It looks… just kind of sad.

Erza huffs, and draws everyone's attention with it. "I can't allow us to act on impulse. We're only here for four more days— we will observe it and its behaviours dutifully. If it proves itself to be peaceful, we will leave it be. If it doesn't…" her gaze narrowed. The soft earth of the demons body spiked, and then it purposefully shuffled around to face the other direction.

"I don't like it," Gray says, but he doesn't act on those feelings.

"… does anyone else hear that?" Natsu asks, and they turn to find an advancing contingent of Rune Knights.

"Wow," Lucy says, before the absurdity of the situation can catch up, "they really do find us every time we cause destruction…"

The rune knights stop, and a messenger from the magic council hops out.

"Halt! Erza Scarlet, Lucy Ashley, Gray Fullbuster, and Natsu Dragneel! You are hereby under arrest by the command of the magic council! Surrender peacefully, or come by force!"

Hello again everyone. Seems like every time I dedicate to working on this fic again, tragedy strikes me. Let it say something that, despite that, I'm still working. I've never doubted that this fic will be one that I finish, no matter how long it takes me.

So! This chapter! Back when I started it, I took a look over the general look of the fic, and realized that, as written, Natsu spent, like, a week with Fairy Tail before the phantom lord incident. So, not to say I don't think Fairy Tail would go after him with even such a short period of time, it felt very… cramped. So I added a month. By being extremely self indulgent.

Remember opening 18? I always wanted to see them actually fight that big ol earthy guy. So I stuck it right on in here. Granted, if that thing was supposed to be an opening eighteen type enemy, it would probably obliterate the opening one team. So I toned it down a little. Anyway! Not to jinx myself, again, but progress should be pretty smooth from here on!

… oh my god. oh my god I just realized. This is— all I've done here is rebrand the galuna island arc. Go to an island, deal with a demon. That's— I promise that was one hundred percent unintentional. How on earth did I pull that off? Wow. I'm gonna go contemplate life and loops for a bit.

Most people seem to complain about writing fight scenes. I, personally, really enjoyed it. It's a great way for me to flex my writing muscle, me thinks.

I should really get a Beta reader sometime. Hmm.

Anyway, back to panicking over the fifteen assignments I have due on Monday. ~ShadeShadow