"And so the mages that arrived here before us are the real culprits behind the curse, there's no reason to fear the moon," Lucy told the villagers, "still what appears to be the purple haze surrounding it bother me."
"Maybe you should capture one of them and ask how to get rid of the purple glow," Happy ponders.
As much as the mayor, Mocha tried to fight her on her stance that the moon not being the issue, at least he didn't go back and forth with her for long.
The villagers had various unsure reactions to Lucy's news and hearing about the mages that wanted them out of the way but they seemed to at least trust them enough to hear her out.
That's what mattered.
"I've got a plan," Lucy decides.
"Lucy, I hate to be the one to have to tell you this but I don't think a pitfall is going to be enough to stop Lyon's group," Happy says as they watch Virgo dig outside the village gates.
"I know that Happy but they will buy us more time," Lucy insisted.
"Oh good I was beginning to think you were kind of a dummy," Happy never looked more relieved.
"Thanks, Happy. I really appreciate the faith you have in my intelligence," Lucy smirked sarcastically, "For now we'll have to wait a little while longer but I think I finally understand what's going on now."
"Lucy! Happy!," out of nowhere Natsu encased in a gigantic ice boulder comes rushing towards them with a knocked out Gray over his shoulders, Guys, are you all alright?!"
"Wait Natsu don't come any closer!," Lucy tries to stop them but before they know it, it's too late and both boys are in the hole.
In the time it took to get them out the ice magic that encased Natsu had worn off which Lucy and Virgo suspected it was because Leon's was no longer within range for the cast magic to still affect Natsu. So it was nice to see even the most powerful magic a mage could cast still had its limitations.
It was great timing because the next thing they knew, the trouble had arrived. The giant rat was back and somehow to their further misfortune it was flying now, making her pitfall idea pointless now. She was flying with her tail in a helicopter like fashion. It carried a gigantic bucket of a liquid Lucy couldn't help but think was nothing sweet. The fushia haired woman, dog-like guy, and short man with thick eyebrows were riding on its back, Leon's people.
"We took too much time making poison poison jelly but at least those mages are in the village as well now," the short one comments.
"Death awaits whoever gets in our way," the girl in the group replied with a dark yet fearful look in her eyes, "unless we kill Deliora our dreams will never come true."
"This isn't good," with the help of Natsu saving her with his faster reflexes she narrowly dodged the first splash of poison jelly their enemies dropped.
"Everyone to the center of the village," Natsu yelled as everyone ran for their lives, Happy flying much faster in the air than on his feet.
"What are you going to do," Lucy questioned, knowing simply ducking for cover wouldn't be enough to save them. Natsu must have a plan to scatter the jelly in a way separate from the center of the village.
"Just wait and see," Natsu smirked, "Happy give me a lift!"
"With flames on my right hand and flames on my left. Together they make: Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"
Much like she predicted the jelly scattered in a way it wouldn't touch everyone as they made it to the center of the village all except…
"Oh no, mayor!"
"He refused to leave his son's grave…,"
"Princess," Virgo appeared with the mayor in tow, "I have collected this mayor at your request. May I receive punishment now? Or perhaps the mayor would like the cheering up?"
"Now's not the time, Virgo," Lucy sighed, "Thanks you though."
"Yes," Virgo nods, "maybe next time then."
The destruction the poison jelly had caused to the village was bad. Homes and plant life reduced to ashes quicker than a natural disaster. How could anybody be so cruel?
"For pity's sake we were going to give you an instant death," the girl that accompanied Leon said as their feet met the soil, "but I guess now we have no choice to shed blood."
They seemed rather confident in their abilities as the shortest guy assessed the situation.
"50 villagers and two mages," he said, "this will be over in fifteen minutes."
"Hey I'm included so 3 mages," Happy protested.
"They destroyed Bobo's tomb…how dare they," the mayor grumbled.
"Now's not the time mayor, we have to run," a few of his loyal villagers prevented him from attacking such ruthless mages.
"Leave Gray to us," another said as they ran as the ice mage still had yet to wake up.
"I won't let you get away, it would disappoint Leon," said the girl signaling the rat beast, "Angelica."
"No stop!" Lucy yelled and before she knew it her and the girl were flying in the air, the rat holding her master in her hands and Lucy holding on to the beast's foot.
"Lucy what the hell are you doing," Natsu yelled.
"Now's not the time to be catching a free ride to who knows where!" Happy added, slightly annoyed another animal was trying to take his thing. Flying was his thing alright!
"I might be crazy for what I am about to do but I can't just sit back and watch as you try to harm innocent people, how's this," Lucy said, tickling the foot of the rat she was attached to.
It worked causing Angelica to laugh hysterically, losing the concentrated control she had over her tail to remain in flight. Like that they were falling out of the sky.
Luckily Angelica's large and soft body was enough to protect her once they crashed to the ground and it was enough to knock the beast out cold. Unluckily it wasn't enough to knock her master out.
"Because of your actions, Girlie," Fushia girl said, "Leon will be disappointed in me. I won't be loved anymore!"
"Love?"
"And look what horrors you've allowed to my poor sweet Angelica! For this I won't forgive you!"
"Great! I'm not particularly fond of you either," Lucy retorted anyone willing to harm innocent people just because they think it will get them attention from a love interest made her want to throw up.
"Wood Doll!," with that call from fushia haired a large tree suddenly came to life, its suddenly carved out eyes like a jack-o-lantern glared as it attacked.
"Open gate of the bull: Taurus! Star Dress: Taurus Form!"
Together Lucy and Taurus axed the tree down like the finest woodsman.
"Celestial spirit magic and on top of that the golden keys to the ecliptic zodiac!?"
"Happy to serve such a woman with a gorgeous body!" Taurus cheered.
"You make all your celestial spirits behave so perverse?"
"I don't force them to act any particular way," Lucy grumbled, "THAT'S JUST HIS PERSONALITY AT THIS POINT! IT'S NOT LIKE I APPRECIATE IT!"
"But celestial spirit mages that come across me are rather unfortunate,"shortly after Taurus' battle ax was turned towards her leaving her the chance to barely miss getting her head chopped off.
"What's the meaning of this, Taurus," Lucy asked as they fought, it was good Taurus' star dress form increased her strength and agility to be able to keep up.
"Lady Lucy…I can't control my body…"
"The name is Sherry and my magic, Doll Play Attack has the power to control all life forms except humans and celestial spirits fall into that category too. Just to let you know," The fushia girl said.
"That's inconvenient," Lucy notes, "Close: Gate of the bull!"
"What that shouldn't be possible…I thought you could only open and close celestial spirit gates if both mage and spirit agreed on it…" Sherry said shocked, "I've miscalculated…who exactly are you?"
"I'm just Lucy, your typical mage in Fairy Tail," her star dress dissolved once Taurus was forced back home. She'd have to bring out the whip.
"Don't even think about summoning another spirit. I can control them all,"
"Somehow I highly doubt that but me personally? I'd like an encore performance. Open Gate of the lesser dog: Plue!"
"Puun," Plue cheered as he was summoned.
"Doll Play Attack: Puppeteer!"
Sherry took control of Plue just like she did Taurus previously, distracting her just enough.
Plue attacked Lucy but his tiny and soft snowman like form wasn't enough to do any real damage to anyone let alone Lucy. She smiled down at the cute little guy as he kicked and punched at her ankle. It felt like a stuffed animal was tapping her.
"Huh what you tricked-,"
Lucy used her magical whip from the celestial spirit world to grab ahold of Sherry's ankle and fling her away into the nearest rock formation knocking her out cold.
"Phew that was close," Lucy sighed, "for a minute there I thought I'd have to lure her to the beach and summon Aquarius. She'd barely be affected by Sherry's control over her to take me out because she would do that herself anyway despite being strong-willed enough to overcome that kind of magic."
"Needless to say I'm tired though," she said, collapsing to the ground.
"You've been naughty, Lucy," a voice suddenly said, "you've been a very naughty girl."
"Erza!"
"Do you know why I've come?"
"Is it too late to beg for your forgiveness and repent?"
"Oh great you're safe Lucy," Happy happily flew towards her until he too noticed Erza. He tried to quickly make a u-turn but Erza caught him by the tail.
"Where's Natsu?"
"Listen Erza," Lucy said, "I know we're wrong for taking an s-class quest without being s-class but these people were in desperate need of help. There's-," she paused, already knowing somehow Erza was nowhere near interested in her pleading their case, "At least let us finish the mission."
"You guy's betrayed the master," Erza glared, " don't assume you can get away with that."
XOXOXO
"Erza!" Gray was shocked to hear what happened to the village while he was knocked out but glad Natsu and Lucy had managed to save the villagers from Leon's petty schemes. Still none of this froze every nerve in his body like seeing her here of all people.
"Oh hey Gray glad you could finally join us," Lucy said, tied up with rope like a criminal at Erza's feet. Happy in the same situation beside the honey blonde.
"Lucy told me everything," Erza informed, "and weren't you supposed to stop them?"
"..."
"I'm too shocked to say a word,"
"Wait, where's Natsu?"
"That's what I'd like to know as well,"
Lucy watched quietly as Gray tried to reason with Erza who was acting pretty cold about the trouble the villagers were in and the danger the threat of Deliora being revived would have on not just the village but potentially the entire world.
Gray even went against Erza's demands for the two of them to retrieve Natsu and that they all go back to Fairy Tail immediately, even when she brought out her sword. She wasn't expecting this turn of events, she always thought Erza's word was law to everyone in Fairy Tail especially Natsu and Gray. She imagined they looked up to and respected her far more than they kind of feared her temperamental strength, almost like how you'd see an older sibling.
Watching them argue was like watching a family dispute.
Erza turned to Lucy and Happy. Lucy took note of Gray's blood on her blade. Perhaps he had got through to her about how serious they all were in just helping this village.
"This is absurd," Erza said, "well why don't you go ahead and free yourself, Lucy."
She used her sword to free Happy from his ropes as Lucy concentrated enough of her magical energy in one area of the rope to snap it. It was just a normal human rope afterall.
"We'll take care of this job."
Lucy smiled and Happy cheered.
"But don't think this will excuse you guys from being punished," Erza added.
"Right…of course,"
"Aye," Happy chimed in.
Gray told Lucy, Erza and Happy more about his past before he joined Fairy Tail. He told them his earliest memory is of surviving Deliora destroying his home then Ur and Leon finding him. He told them what his life was like learning ice make magic with Leon under their teacher, Ur.
Apparently he got his stripping habit from Ur believing an ice mage grows stronger by growing a resistance to cold weather as quickly as possible and she achieved this by wearing as little as socially acceptable in public as crazy as that sounds.
Finally he told the events that led up to her turning herself into the ice shell spell that was currently Deliora's prison. He told them why he was so personally invested in this mission outside of all the terrible things Leon's group had done already.
When more followers of Deliora's temple attack them, Erza tells Gray to go ahead and help Natsu with Leon as only Gray can get through to the other student of Ur.
Lucy and Erza make quick work to take out the followers of Deliora's temple but there's just so many of them by the time they're almost finished and can help their friends, they hear a monstrous, demonic cry once they finally reached the temple.
"What was that," Erza questioned.
"What was that voice just now…I mean was it really a voice," Happy wondered, "hey maybe it was your tummy, Lucy?"
"Could it have been Deliora, the demon they were talking about?" Erza asked.
"Wait, that light," Happy said as they glanced over to where he was looking, "I've seen it before…"
"Moon drip," Lucy reminds.
They hear the monstrous, blood curdling screech again.
"Again?" Erza asks.
"May I repeat," Happy adds, "You should really eat something, Lucy."
"That joke wasn't any funnier the first time around, Happy,"
"Come on," Erza said, "we heard Deliora's roar but the moon drip ritual is still going on which means Deliora hasn't been fully revived yet!"
"Which means we can still stop it before it's too late," Lucy agrees.
There was only the dog like mage, Toby that was there guarding the moon drip ritual. Erza quickly left him unable to defend himself so they succeeded and stopped the moon drip light from pouring down into the temple.
It wasn't in enough time much to their misfortune.
Little did they or Leon with his group, or the temple leader and followers realize Ur was a far more powerful mage then any of them had realized. While she was imprisoning Deliora as an iced shell she was also slowly but surely draining the life force out of the uncontrollable demon.
Deliora was long gone.
Ur promised that she'd seal Gray's traumatic past with Deliora and she did and Gray couldn't stop crying for a long time afterwards.
Their mission wasn't over just yet but it wasn't resolved the way the mayor insisted. Not like it would ever be a good idea for anyone if they were actually able to destroy the moon and decided to go along with it.
"I have some doubts about the moon drip's influence on a human body," Leon had told them, "we've basked in the same light for three years."
They followed Erza's lead and not reprimanding Leon and his group because they were blinded by their hatred of Deliora because the demon had also destroyed their homes in the past but to Lucy that didn't quite excuse them in her book for the damages they've caused the villagers of Galuna island. Only Natsu and her had really seen how low they were willing to go, she supposed.
Once the Fairy Tail mages had got back to the village they had one more thing to do. The mayor spotted them from where he sat at his son's supposed final resting place. He urged them to tell him when they were finally going to destroy the moon like he asked.
"It's easy to destroy the moon," Erza said much to everyone's shock she turned to the younger mage girl, "and what have you learned throughout the entirety of this s-class quest, Lucy?"
"Well…it seems that the villagers all gained their current appearance after the moon turned purple," Lucy said after all the villagers gathered at the center of the village.
"Huh, that was right isn't it?"
"We turn into demons only when the moon is out to be exact," the mayor cut in.
"And that started three years ago?" Erza asked.
"Yeah that sounds right,"
"But the moon drip ritual has taken place every single day for three years on this island shouldn't you guys have investigated it a lot sooner," Gray inquired.
"It's tradition to not go anywhere near the ruins of that temple," the mayor stated.
"The reward for your request was rather high, surely someone investigated the ruins despite all this, you had casualties," Lucy stated.
"Tell us the truth," Erza demanded calmly.
"In all fairness we are just as confused as you mages are. It's true we attempted to investigate the ruins many times but for some reason we just couldn't get close to it. We began to notice that even if we walked straight towards the ruins we somehow still ended up right back at the village front gate," the mayor admitted, "we lied because we feared no one would actually believe us."
"There's someone here," Lucy said to herself as she sensed the presence of the masked leader of followers of Deliora's temple who also manipulated Leon and his group. She had a feeling he wasn't who he said he was and he was working with someone else on top of that.
Could prove worrisome for them later…especially Erza and Gray.
"As I thought," Erza said, "Well Lucy, do you know what should be done now?"
"I-I think I do…you wouldn't happen to have really really large weapons in your toolbox would you, Erza?" she nodded, "if you and Natsu worked together it can happen."
"Yay we're going to destroy the moon," Natsu cheered.
Erza called forth her Giant's armor requip and summoned a massive spear called The Evil Crushing Spear that was also capable of neutralizing corrupted magic.
Together using a thermal powered boost from one of Natsu's fiery punches and Erza's throwing power increased by the magic of the armor and in the spear they were able to send the spear flying off like a rocket ship to which it destroyed the layer of concentrated corrupted magic they formed on top of the island's atmosphere, which is also was caused the moon to appear purple on the island.
"Whoa pretty," once the shell layer of corrupted magic from the moon drip broke it caused glitter light sparkles to appear everywhere as the village went back to its original shine.
The villagers memory was also restored as the corrupted magic was also affecting their memories making them forget that they were always demons to begin with.
"Amazing I'm glad that I left it in your hands, mages," a new voice had said.
"Bobo," the mayor cried.
"Are you the sailor that brought us here," Gray yelled.
"He is," Lucy exclaimed, recognizing that particular core. Something no amount of magic can alter, corrupted or not.
"But you disappeared from the ship didn't you," Happy asked.
"Sorry I can also fly," Bobo showed off the wings that suddenly sprouted from his back and flew much to the blue cat's annoyance.
"Mmm a demon island huh," Erza said to herself.
"But if you look at their faces…," Natsu muttered.
"They're more like angels than demons," Lucy smiled as the fairy tail mages watched as the demons flew and played happily in the night sky remembering themselves and having a good time after a lot of hardships and what they thought to be endless troubles.
They prepared a feast and a party the night in celebration of everything and the mages that helped them.
Erza took charge at the end as they declined the financial reward but Lucy was glad she accepted the golden gate key reward for her sake. Apparently Erza also made friends with some pirates and they are taking a pirate ship home.
"We'll miss you guys, thanks again," the residents of Galuna island said their goodbyes, "Fairy Tail is the best!"
XOXOXO
"Lots of work for just some lousy gate key," Gray pondered as they made their way back to the guildhall. Erza pulled her usual comically large cart of suitcases behind her.
"If only we had got the money," Happy added.
"I had no choice, we didn't officially accept that request anyway just be glad you got something," Erza replied, calm.
"I can't say I'm mad but then again I am the only one who benefitted," Lucy admits.
"Hmmm what if we sell it," Happy asked.
"How could you even suggest that," Lucy exclaimed, " I don't think you guys understand sure there are a lot of silver celestial gate keys in the world but there are only twelve golden ones in the entire world, they're hard to come by and i am lucky enough to have five."
"It's too bad they're all crazy," Natsu joked.
"Hey, they're spirits with the knowledge and wisdom of immortal beings they could stand to be just a little out of what we perceive as normal," Lucy defended her friends.
"So what celestial spirit did you end up getting," Gray inquired.
"I'm glad you asked, Gray," Lucy replied, pulling it off her key ring, "This one is Sagittarius the Centaur."
"It's a horseman?"
"More like half-horse, half- man in old fantastical legends," Lucy informed them noticing the spaced out look on Natsu's face, "and I don't know what you're thinking, Natsu but I get the feeling whatever you're picturing in your mind is not even close."
"By the way, Lucy," Happy speaks up, "what's that extra shiny one you keep on you. I don't think you've ever summoned that spirit. It looks even shinier than gold."
"Oh this one," Lucy pulls out the platinum key off her key ring replacing it with Sagittarius', "Hm how should I put this…this one is a platinum key it holds something very important but…"
"Yeah, yeah?" Natsu, Gray and Happy question together, getting excited. Even Erza's interest peaked not knowing much about celestial magic lore herself.
"I can't remember so I don't tend to use it," Lucy laughs remembering anytime she attempted to recall what this key does all it really grants her is a headache that's not worth it.
The three males fall comically as the rest just continue walking as if nothing's happened. They laugh and complain about her forgetfulness and the antics of the celestial spirits that they already know.
"You're all so carefree, it is almost like you've forgotten that you'll face your punishment when we get back to the guild," Erza reminds them, "for your sake you better hope Master Makarov doesn't use that."
"Oh no not that again," Gray falls to his knees in despair, " I am telling you I'd rather die than experience that again."
"Don't say that Gray, You're scaring me now," Lucy said wondering what that could possibly be and her overactive writer's imagination was not helping either.
"Don't worry, Lucy," he put a hand on her shoulder, "the old man loves me I'll talk him down for you."
"I doubt this is something we can talk our way out of, maybe its best we just accept whatever punishment is in store for us," Lucy considers not wanting to think of Virgo.
"I like your spirit, Lucy," Erza laughs, "you won't be able to talk your way out of this one, Natsu you all best prepare."
She grabs him, being sure to drag him the rest of the way there with Happy, Gray, and Lucy reluctantly following behind them as Natsu screams in terror.
Nothing would prepare them for what happened to their guild once they got home.