(Hey readers, thank you for understanding the wait. This is one of the reasons why I don't use a schedule for story writing. You never know when something in life comes up.)
Chapter 16: The Cursed Island Finale
Let it be known; I do not own Fairy Tail nor Pokémon which fully belong to their rightful owners. The only thing I own is my OC and this stories plotline.
"Someone speaking"
'Someone thinking'
"Someone/People in a flashback speaking"
"Someone with power talking/Someone using Moves or Magic"
*Someone doing something*
(Comedy effect)
(When I'm talking)
(Speaking through their minds)
-Pokémon speech-
(Last Chapter Erza had arrived on the island and had captured, er I mean "found" Lucy and Happy. They went back to the villager's camp where they were all staying. Jay and Erza got into a heated argument, and it seemed that Jason's energy was causing a reaction with the Icicle Plate (wonder what that could mean). Afterwards he left and met up with Natsu to enact the fire wizard's plan, which surprisingly was to destroy half of the support pillars so the temple would tilt to one side and stop the Moon Drip's light from reaching Deliora! Unfortunately, they were discovered by Lyon, Toby and a masked man called Zalty. While Natsu fought Lyon, Jay told the Pokémon he brought with him to round up and subdue any cultists they could find before helping Natsu. With the others, they were on their way to the temple and Gray was telling them about his history with Lyon and their teacher Ur. When they arrive at the now tilted temple, they're attacked by cultists that were stationed outside. Erza, Lucy and Happy engaged them while telling Gray to go on ahead. Back inside the temple, Jay was able to get the Plate from Lyon with Natsu's help, just then Gray arrived to settle things with his old friend. But to do that he planned on using Iced Shell, the very spell that cost Ur her life.) "Answer me, Lyon!" Gray said. "Do we die together or live together?"
(Insert S.O.W. Sense Of Wonder opening here)
(third PoV)
"Do it." Lyon answered. "You don't have the guts to die. There's no way you do!"
"…Too bad." Gray said.
He then started to activate the spell.
"Gray no!" I yelled.
"Gray!" Natsu yelled.
'Natsu, Jay, Erza and everyone at Fairy Tail…' Gray thought. 'It's up to you now… Sorry, but I'm making my exit! This is… the end!'
'No… no, no no!' Jason thought in fear as he tried to move towards Gray but couldn't due to the wind. 'I can't lose anyone else! I swore I wouldn't!'
"Iced…" Gray shouted.
"You idiot!" Natsu shouted while punching Gray in the face.
This interrupted and canceled the spell.
Lyon was taken aback by the action while Jay was just relived. Natsu was panting as he was pushing through the wind to get to Gray.
"Natsu!" Gray snapped as he was kneeling.
"You break into mine and Jay's fight spouting "responsibility" and do that?" Natsu said. "Give me a break! Don't be takin' our kill!"
"Your kill?" Gray asked.
"Now that I got the Plate from him you guys can have him." Jay said with a shrug.
"Then I'm the one that's gonna beat him!" Natsu proclaimed.
"Didn't I tell you that I'd take him down?" Gray asked as he stood up.
"And did I ever say, "yes roger that, sir"?" Natsu asked.
"Why you little…" Gray growled.
"But he does have a point." Jay said.
"Not helping Jay!" Gray snapped.
"You wanna go?" Natsu asked with a smirk.
"I have to be the one that finishes him off!" Gray said while grabbing Natsu's scarf. "I'm prepared to die!"
Natsu then grabs his arm.
"Since when is dying finishing a battle?" he asked. "Well? Ain't that just running away, huh?!"
Gray is shocked because deep down, he knows it's true. Suddenly the temple started shaking again. Everyone looked up in confusion.
"W-What's that?" Natsu asked.
Over to the Pokémon that Jay brought with him, they were knocking out cult members when the temple started to shake.
"What's going on?" Herb asked.
"I don't know." Scala answered.
Silver looks around then to the floor as he realizes something.
"The temple is evening out." he revealed. "No… it's more like returning to the way it was before!"
"Guess Jay was right about something happening." Striker said.
Back with the trainer and wizards, they too came to the same conclusion.
"What the heck?!" Natsu exclaimed as he went around punching or stomping the floor in anger.
"Now the light of the moon will land on Deliora again!" Gray exclaimed.
"But how?" Jay asked. 'If the right side went down then that would mean someone took out those pillars, but it was the left side that came up.'
"Sorry for the interruption." the masked man Zalty entered to room and made his way to Lyon.
"Zalty, is this your doing?" Lyon asked.
"The moon will be out soon, so I returned the temple to normal." Zalty said with a laugh.
'So it was him, but how?' Jay thought. 'Is it some kind of repair magic or…*looks at the hole Natsu fell through*'
"What the heck is he?" Gray asked.
"After all our hard work tilting it!" Natsu said. "How'd you fix it back up?"
Zalty looks at Natsu and after a couple of seconds starts laughing.
"How did you fix it back up!" Natsu yells.
"I suppose we should begin the Moon Drip ceremony." Zalty said as he ignored Natsu.
"Good luck with that." Jay spoke up, getting the enemies attention. "Since you need people to do the ceremony."
"What did you do?" Lyon asked with a scowl.
"I brought some friends with me and told them to knock out any cultists they find while me and Natsu fought you." Jay answered. "Just in case the temple leveled out somehow."
"You what!" Lyon said shocked.
"Oh… you're quite smart to have thought that far ahead." Zalty complimented. 'Those "friends" of his must be some of his Pokémon that he brought with him while the rest are no doubt protecting the villagers.' "Be that as it may, as long as one person is doing the ceremony, then it will be enough."
Zalty then ran out of the room.
"Ignored?!" Natsu exclaimed. "Oh, it's on, masked-man!"
Natsu then began chasing after Zalty.
"Hold it, bub!" Natsu demanded.
"Natsu!" Gray shouted.
Natsu stops and turns to Gray.
"I'm gonna wallop that bastard a million times." Natsu said. "You handle things here!"
Gray was taken aback by what Natsu said. Jason walked past him.
"You heard him." Jay said. "Mess up and he'll never let you live it down."
"You lost last time, and it's a disgrace." Natsu said.
"Yeah…" Gray agreed.
"Not for you." Natsu clarified.
"I know." Gray said.
"For all of Fairy Tail!" they said.
After that, Natsu and Jay left to chase after Zalty while leaving Lyon to Gray.
(Jay PoV)
"Hold it right there, you masked-bastard!" Natsu yelled at Zalty who was laughing. "How did you fix the ruins?!"
'How did he fix them?' I thought. 'By repairing the columns, you'd assume it's some type of repair magic. Except he also made that hole for Natsu to fall through, almost like he was controlling…!'
Zalty then stopped at raised his right hand up, creating a magic circle. A piece of the ceiling fell towards Natsu.
"You think that'd work on me?" Natsu asked as he destroyed it with a flaming jumping spin kick.
Suddenly, Zalty waved his hand, and all the rubble went back to normal.
"As you can see, that is how I returned the ruins back to how they were." Zalty said.
"What kind of magic was that?" Natsu asked.
"Time magic." I said getting both of their attentions. "Or at least a magic that has time-based qualities."
"My, my." Zalty said. "And how did you come up with that answer?"
"Back in the room only you, Lyon and Toby were there." I started explaining. "We know what magic those two use but not you. Sure, repairing the pillars could be labeled as some sort of fixing type magic, but you also made that hole Natsu fell through, turning the bricks to sand. Almost like you sped up time."
Throughout my explanation Zalty's grin became larger and soon began to laugh.
"Most impressive!" he praised. "Only after seeing the results of my magic twice and experiencing it once you were able to figure out! You truly are a smart one! I might need to alter my plans after all!"
"Alter your plans?" I asked in suspicion.
"One of the Lost Magics." Zalty said. "Magic so powerful and with such grave side-effects that they've been erased from history itself."
"From history?" Natsu muttered.
"Lost Magic." I muttered. 'Is it really that strong that people feared it?'
"Your Dragon Slaying magic is also so." Zalty revealed. "As well as yours, Jason Nox."
'How the hell does he know my name?!' I thought with widened eyes.
"Mine?" Natsu asked.
Then Zalty vanished.
"He disappeared!" Natsu gasped. "Where'd he go? Damn it!"
"He probably used his magic to speed himself up to run away." I said. 'I hope things are going better with Gray.'
(Third PoV)
Unfortunately, they were not. Gray, in an attempt to stop Lyon, revealed the truth that Ur is still alive as the ice that imprisons Deliora. However, Lyon knew this already but didn't see her as "alive" anymore and took the opportunity to land a cheap shot on Gray since his guard was down, thinking Lyon would finally stop. Enraged at this, Gray gave up on trying to reason with Lyon and decided to stop him with force, starting with a punch to the face that sent Lyon across the room.
"Impossible!" Lyon gasped. "How can you move with such a wound?"
"That's it." Gray growled.
"Huh?" Lyon asked.
"I've had enough of trying to save you!" Gray clarified.
"So you'll attempt to defeat me, the elder pupil?" Lyon mocked. "I've been holding back for my battle with Deliora. I didn't want to waste my magic power, see."
"We'll settle it this way." Gray said raising his fist.
"So, no magic then?" Lyon said. "Fine by me."
'I know Jay said he took the Icicle Plate from Lyon and his magic power had dropped,' Gray thought. 'But if Deliora is breaks free, I'll need all the magic I have to stop it.'
With that thought done, Gray charges at Lyon. Just as he was about to throw a punch, his opponent hits him where he landed the cheap shot from before.
"Aim for your opponent's weak points when fighting." Lyon said. "Ur taught us that, remember?"
"Don't you dare speak that name!" Gray yelled.
He went for another punch but got kneed in the same spot. Lyon then began to land a combo of hits to Gray's face.
"What's the matter?" Lyon asked condescendingly. "You were gonna finish it with your fists, remember?"
Gray attempts a punch, but Lyon kicks him into the ice. Gray pants and recalls something.
"Oh yeah…" Gray mutters. "There was a guy I fought like this before…"
"This is the end!" Lyon proclaimed as he rushed Gray.
Gray tries to stand up but was too slow and Lyon hits him. Breaking through the ice and hitting the wall behind it. Gray gets a flash back to when he and Natsu were kids. They were having a fist fight to see who was better. Natsu was on the ground and Gray still standing. Watching the two was Master Makarov and kid Erza.
"Stand up!" kid Natsu ordered.
"You're the one that should stand up!" kid Gray snapped. "This is the end."
The two charge at each other and Gray hits Natsu.
"I win." kid Gray said as he being to walk away.
"Wait!" kid Natsu said as he stood up. "This isn't over yet!"
Kid Gray was surprised and then smirked.
"Fine by me…" kid Gray said.
The two rush to continue their fight. In the present both Gray and Lyon are panting.
"In the end, you were no match for me." Lyon said as he was about to leave.
"Wait!" Gray said as he got up. "This ain't over yet!"
"You should've died a long time ago!" Lyon yelled.
The ice mage's traded blows but only Lyon was thrown back.
"I can't lose, no way!" Gray proclaimed.
Lyon slugged Gray in retaliation.
"Not while I haven't shown him I'm the best!" Gray shouted while head butting Lyon.
Lyon countered with an upper cut using his knee.
"I'm not gonna lose!" Gray swore.
They then started wailing on each other. Not bothering to block or counter their opponents' hits. In the past, it was the same with kid's Natsu and Gray.
"I can't stand… losing to you!" kid Natsu shouted.
"Shut up!" kid Gray snapped. "I'm the winner!"
"I'll destroy/crush you!" both yelled at the same time.
"I won't lose!" Gray yelled at Lyon. "I'll defeat you!"
"That's enough outta you!" Lyon shouted back.
Kid's Natsu and Gray traded blows that ended their fight in a draw as they both fell on their backs.
'I don't know why…' Gray thought. 'But the sky that day was so blue it got on my nerves…'
Gray then kicked Lyon in the face, sending him across the ice ring. Lyon pulled himself up and used the wall of ice as support.
"Me being brought to my knees by someone like Gray?" Lyon said. "I couldn't bear it!"
"Then get over here." Gray challenged.
Angered, Lyon held up his hand and made a magic circle.
"Ice Make: Snow Dragon!" Lyon announced.
A dragon made of ice appeared and attacked Gray, catching him off guard by the sudden action. He was knocked to the ground and rolled backwards. Though the strange thing is that compared to the ice dragon from before, this one looked more rugged.
"You broke our promise!" Gray grunted. "We said only our fists!"
"Who gives a crap? Deliora will be resurrected soon anyway!" Lyon scoffed with a deranged smile. "No one will be able to stop me!"
"We're going to stop you!" Gray said.
"Even when Zalty has started the Moon Drip?" Lyon asked with a sneer as he removed his cloak.
"Don't underestimate Natsu or Jay." Gray warned with a smirk. "You guys can't even hold a candle to that jerk and guy."
(Jay PoV)
Natsu was able to pick on Zalty's scent and tracked him down. The trail seemed to lead us back to the frozen Deliora.
"Are you sure he's down here?" I asked.
"Yeah!" Natsu replied with confidence. "The nose knows."
We soon entered the cavern and saw the masked man standing in front of Deliora.
"Found you!" Natsu declared as he jumped at Zalty with a flaming fist. "Let's start by burning you to a crisp!"
Zalty was able to jump out of the way in time and dodged Natsu's attack.
"Those are some fine fighting words." Zalty complemented with a chuckle. "But… How did you know I was here?"
"His nose is sharper than a bloodhound's." I answered while making sure to cut off any escape routes.
"And you smell like women's perfume for some reason…" Natsu added.
I blinked. That threw me off a bit but it's whatever. Hey everyone has their likes, dislikes and stuff, who am I to say anything. Doesn't mean I don't find it weird.
"Why did you come all the way down here?" I asked, getting my mind back on track.
"You see, I must ensure Deliora is resurrected no matter what." Zalty answered.
"Just give it up already!" Natsu said. "It's not going to happen."
"Oh yeah? And why is that?" Zalty asked.
"Gray will blow that guy away, and the two of us will blow you away." Natsu said while pointing at the masked weirdo. "One million times. And that'll be that."
"We'll see…" Zalty said as he looked back at the ice.
I was confused. It sounded like he had nothing to worry about. I looked at the ice and saw the reason why causing my eyes to widen.
"Natsu the ice!" I called out.
Natsu glanced at me, then looked as well and was shocked.
"L-Light?!" Natsu gasped. "Who's above doing the ceremony?"
What we were looking at was the light of Moon Drip being casted.
"With just a single person the moon drip is quite weak…" Zalty explained. "But we've already gathered plenty of moonlight. Just a tiny bit more, and…"
As if to prove him right the top of the ice broke off, allowing melted ice water to flow.
"See?" Zalty said.
"How?!" I exclaimed. "All my Pokémon should've rounded up all the cultists!"
"It's true, those creatures did get them all and it was smart to tell them to do so even after I fixed the ruins, the ceremony couldn't be done." Zalty said. "Luckily for us, someone that is able to cast the Moon Drip spell was close at the time of your attack…"
'Close at the time?' I thought before figuring it out. "That Toby guy!"
"Correct." Zalty grinned.
"Oh, crap!" Natsu exclaimed. "The ice is melting off Deliora! We have to do something about the guy on top!"
As Natsu began running towards the exit, Zalty used his magic to cause a section on the ceiling to crash beside Natsu and kicking up the water from the melting ice.
"I will not let you escape." Zalty said looking at us. "Chasing after me was a mistake, you see. My little "Salamander" and Trainer…"
Natsu attacks Zalty again, who dodges once more.
"Are you sure about that?" Zalty asked. "If you use fire magic here, it will accelerate the ice melting off Deliora!"
"Nice try." I said. "But Gray already told us fire magic wouldn't melt ice made from iced shell."
"If you could use fire magic to melt the ice, then you wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble!" Natsu said. "It'll be faster to beat you here, then smash the guy up on top."
"I'm surprised at how quickly you can think on your feet in the midst of battle." Zalty said.
The cavern began to shake, no doubt due to Deliora waking up. Hope Striker and the others find out about the ceremony happening and can get to the top fast enough.
(Third PoV)
Above with Gray and Lyon, things were wrapping up. There was a pause with the shaking.
"The ruins are shaking again…" Gray said.
"The Moon Drip ceremony has begun." Lyon said. "The ice has started melting off Deliora."
'Then Ur's…' Gray thought.
"I suppose this is it. You were unable to stop me." Lyon said as his magic builds up around him. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this moment? I spent ten years gathering allies, knowledge, then I finally learned of this island. The island where you can gather the light of the moon, Galuna!"
Lyon then raises his hand and summons ice eagles at Gray who dodged them. Just like the ice dragon, the eagles lacked the details they had during the battle on top of the ruins.
"We transported Deliora from Brago!" Lyon said. "That was three years ago."
Gray creates an ice barrier to block the rest of Lyon's attack.
"You've been doing this pointless crap for three years?" Gray asked. 'Jay's right. I can feel that Lyon's attacks weakened. Without the Plate to boost his power, he'll lose.'
"Pointless?!" Lyon snapped. "That's rich, coming from someone who's been playing around in some guild for ten years!"
Lyon sends a giant eagle at Gray who jumps to the side.
"I just trusted what Ur told me!" Gray said.
Lyon gasps as he remembers what she said.
"There are a ton of wizards stronger than me in the countries to the west." Ur said.
"And I finally arrived at Fairy Tail…" Gray said. "It was true. There were a ton of amazing wizards. I couldn't believe it!"
At the time, Gray had asked Makarov if anyone there could melt Iced Shell. He said only the caster could undo the spell. He was about to say something but changed his mind.
"Melting the ice would be no different than killing Ur." Makarov explained.
"When I think back on it, I realize that gramps was going to mention the Moon Drip, I bet." Gray said. "And to think that it would be her own pupil that is trying to kill Ur! You've disappointed me."
"Say what you will. I've lived my entire life for this day." Lyon said. "How can a pupil surpass his teacher when she's already dead? Think about it!"
Lyon covers his right fist in ice shaped like a lion's head and starts punching at Gray with it.
"It's Deliora! If I can destroy the one thing that defeated our teacher, then I can surpass her!" Lyon said like a crazy person.
"That ambition of yours is nice, but you haven't realized you've taken a wrong turn along the way!" Gray said.
Gray creates an ice sword and breaks Lyon's lion gauntlet.
"You think someone as blind as you could beat Ur?" Gray asks. "Think again! Not in 100 years!"
He then slashes at Lyon, only to destroy an ice copy. In Gray's surprise, Lyon appears behind him.
"Ice Make…" Lyon says. "…Snow Tiger!"
Just as it was about to pounce on him, Gray leaps up with a backflip and counters.
"Ice Make Prison!" Gray says.
Gray makes a cage of ice that traps the tiger within. He then stands on it and looks down at Lyon.
"This is what you are, Lyon." Gray tells him.
"What?" Lyon growls.
"A caged beast who knows nothing of the world." Gray said.
"Foolishness!" Lyon snaps. "I'll destroy that Creation Magic of yours!"
He flicks his hand to direct his creation to bust out of the cage but fails. Lyon was shocked by this.
"Creations made with one hand are out of balance." Gray said. "So when it counts they don't have the power. You had the Icicle Plate to cover for you, but Jay took it."
Gray takes his pose and creates an ice bazooka.
"Ice Cannon!" Gray shouts as he fires it at Lyon.
All Lyon can do is scream as the blast hits him. The blast makes an explosion that breaks the temple wall and makes way outside.
"Ur taught us that, remember?" Gray stated.
"G-Gray…" Lyon tries to speak but fall on his back.
Gray sighs know the fight is over, only to flinch in pain.
"Ow!" Gray exclaimed as he starts covering his wound in ice. "I should've braced it before…"
Around the same time Striker, Herb, Scala and Silver were still fighting the members in the temple. Silver came up with the idea to "pull a Natsu" and alert the enemies, so they would come to them and not waste time finding them. It was going well so far, until Herb noticed something.
"Hey guys?" Herb called out.
"What is it, Herb?" Silver asked.
"We're sure all the cult members are here, right?" Herb asked. "So no one could preform the Moon Drip."
"That's right." Scala answered. "At least as far as we know. There could be more outside to guard the place before we arrived."
"Then what's that?" the poison/psychic type asked, pointing down the hallway.
The three current Pokémon looked where he was pointing and saw the light from Moon Drip.
"CRAP!" Scala exclaimed.
"Someone must be doing the ceremony!" Silver theorized.
"Scala, Herb, we'll clear a path for Silver!" Striker already coming up with a plan. "He's the fastest of us here, so he'll head up and-"
…However… A horrifying roar rang through out the area.
"Oh no…" Striker said, eyes widened as his fur stood on end, sensing the abundance of anger and hatred, the same as the other Pokémon, even the ones back in the villager's camp.
Outside the temple with Lucy, Erza and Happy, who had beaten all the cultists, also heard the roar.
"Eek!" Lucy yelped as she covered her ears.
"My ears are ringing!" Happy exclaimed covering his.
"What the heck is that sound?" Erza asked.
Back in the cavern with Natsu, Jay and Zalty due to being right in front of the demon, they had it the worst… especially Natsu.
"It's so loud!" Natsu screamed.
Jason, while covering his ears, looks at Deliora. Multiple cracks were forming, and its eyes began to glow red.
"Ā, kuso!" Jay swore. (Kuso stands for "shit" or "fuck". Use whichever one you want here.)
The upper part of the ice imprisoning Deliora shattered, finally freeing itself.
"Here it comes!" Zalty cheered.
"T-That voice…" Gray said.
"Deliora…" Lyon said.
Gray clenched his fist.
'Damn it… Has it been resurrected?' Gray thought. 'I've got no choice then…'
(Jay PoV)
Deliora was unleashing a terrifying roar, as if signalling its return.
"Finally, the time has come!" Zalty cheered excitedly.
"Damn it!" Natsu said. "We ain't got time to waste…"
"You keep masky busy." I said. "I take out Deliora and-"
Suddenly something flew by and nailed Natsu in the head!
"Gah!" Natsu grunted.
"What now?" I snapped.
"I can manipulate this as well, my little Salamander and Trainer…" Zalty cooed as a crystal orb floated around him.
"Of course he has something to fight long range with." I growled.
"Just try us!" Natsu said.
Zalty waved his hand, sending the orb at us. Natsu punches, shattering it but it Zalty repairs it. The orb wraps around aiming for Natsu again, but I blast it with a Thunderbolt. Once more its fixed.
"It fixed itself again!" Natsu said.
"I can control the time of objects." Zalty explained. "In other words, I can return the crystal to a time before it was broken."
"Time? I can't believe that." Natsu said.
"But there are limits to what you can do, isn't there." I said. "You can't us it on people. If you could, you'd probably already done so by turning us to babies or old men."
"It's true." Zalty confirmed. "Time Ark lets me increase or stop an objects time, but it will not work on living creatures. That is exactly why I cannot simply reverse time on the ice that is Ur."
"Because by using Iced Shell, Ur became the ice." I said. 'Meaning in a sense, she's still alive!'
"I honestly don't get you." Natsu said. "So you're going to resurrect this thing only to let Lyon defeat it. He might be happy with that, but what's in it for his friends?"
"Who knows?" Zalty shrugged. "I only joined them all quite recently."
"Then what about you?" I asked. "What is your goal in all of this?"
"Oh my… I can't slip anything by either of you, can I?" Zalty asked. "Lord Reitei… or rather that spoiled brat could never defeat Deliora in the first place."
"Wait, that's really dangerous!" Natsu said. "So you'd defeat it yourself?"
"No Natsu." I said, figuring out his plan. "He doesn't want Deliora defeated. He wants to control it."
"Correct." Zalty said. "There exist techniques to control even immortal beasts. It would be incredible for me to control such awesome power; do you not think?"
"How stupid." Natsu said dissatisfied. "Sorry I asked."
"Geez, talk about being overconfident." I said.
"…Huh?" Zalty responded.
"I wanted it to be a plan that's gonna get me really fired up to stop!" Natsu complained.
"You still do not understand." Zalty said. "There will always come a time when one needs power."
"What we understand is that you're a power-hungry idiot that thinks they're all that but really aren't." I retorted. "You're not the first wack job I've met that thought they could control creatures like Deliora while fucking up innocent people's lives in the process and they've all failed."
"And when the time comes," Natsu began to speak as his fist burst into flames. "We'll believe in our own power, and the power of our friends…"
"The wizards of Fairy Tail." I finished.
"That ego will lead to your destruction…" Zalty warned. "Ceiling, speed your time and crumble!"
The ceiling above us crumbled and fell towards us, but we weren't worried.
"Like I said before." I said while raising my hand. "You're not the first person I've met that selfishly ruined people's lives for their own gain."
"Each and everyone of you are screwin' up this island for your own stupid reasons!" Natsu growled. "And we're not gonna take it anymore!"
"Can those wild flames capture my Time Ark?" Zalty asked.
"They won't need too." I said. "Hurricane!"
Appearing around us was a tornado, blasting the falling rocks away. Zalty was surprised by this and more so when Natsu jumped out of it towards him. Zalty sent his crystal orb at him and used his magic to multiply it to make a dozen.
"Time Ark, Time Pork, whatever!" Natsu said. "Get the hell off this island!"
Natsu punched the orbs, destroying them all and created a smokescreen that blinded Zalty. He looked at the smoke, trying to figure out where Natsu would appear from.
"Oh yeah, I can manipulate time, too." Natsu called out.
He then came from the far-right side, catching Zalty off guard.
"The future!" Natsu said. "One second from now I'm gonna blow you away!"
For the first time, Natsu was finally able to land a solid hit on the time mage, sending his ass at the one of the rocks in the cavern, knocking him out.
(third PoV)
At the same time as this Erza, Lucy and Happy had entered the ruins and met up with Striker and the other Pokémon as they finally finished with the last batch of cultists. They quickly made their way to the top and upon seeing Toby, Silver rushed at him.
"Plasma Fist!" Silver yelled.
He punched Toby and knocked him away, putting an end to the ceremony.
"All right, now the Moon Drip will stop!" Lucy cheered.
True to her word, the light faded away.
"Wow, he was doing it himself." Happy said.
"Luckily we made it in time." Striker said.
"Too late!" Toby suddenly yelled. "The ceremony's already over!"
Before anyone could say anything, a green light erupted where the light from Moon Drip was! As the green light washed over Deliora, the demon gave off another roar.
"Oh no…" Lucy said.
In the cavern, Jason and Natsu look at the now resurrected Deliora and they're not the only one's as Gray also arrived at the same time. He kneels down and scoops up some of the water.
"Ur…" Gray said sadly.
Hearing his voice, Natsu leaped over to him while Jason remined at his current spot.
"Gray!" Natsu said. "You're here?"
"Natsu!" Gray said surprised.
"We've got no choice now." Natsu said. "Let's destroy that thing!"
They all hear someone chuckling and look back, even Jay. They see its Lyon, dragging himself across the ground.
"It's impossible for you!" Lyon said. "I will… defeat it…"
"Lyon…" Gray said, pitying his old friend.
"In order to surpass Ur, I will be the one!" Lyon proclaimed with laughter.
"Looks way more impossible for you." Natsu said, pointing out Lyon's current state. "Stand back already!"
Deliora gives off another roar.
"Finally, we meet again… Deliora!" Lyon said.
The defeated emperor remembers when he was asking the people who was the strongest wizard around. A man answered Ur would be, saying she secluded herself due to shock after losing her daughter.
"The one monster that Ur was not able to defeat…" Lyon said as he barely stands up. "I will… defeat it… with my own two hands!"
Another memory plays in his head, this time after Ur takes Gray in and starts to teach him Ice Make magic.
"You just picked up that brat, and now he's your apprentice?" kid Lyon complained. "How could you?"
"He said he wanted to learn magic." Ur said. "Is it such a big deal?"
"Aren't I enough as a replacement for your child?" Lyon demanded.
Angered about what Lyon said, Ur slaps him.
"Lyon." Ur speaks. "I have never thought of you as a replacement for my daughter, not even once. You are you. My beloved apprentice."
"I am… going to… surpass you!" Lyon said.
But Gray walks behind him and chops Lyon in the back, knocking him back down.
"Enough, Lyon." Gray said. "Leave the rest to me."
He starts walking through the water towards Deliora and takes the Iced Shell stance.
"I will seal Deliora!" Gray said. "Iced Shell!"
Once more, the magical energy surrounds Gray.
"Don't do it, Gray!" Lyon shouted. "Do you know how long it took to melt that ice? You're just repeating history! One day I'll melt it and challenge it again!"
"This is the only way." Gray said. "Right now, this is the one thing that can stop it!"
However, before Gray could unleash the spell Natsu stepped in his way.
"Natsu!" Gray exclaimed.
"Sorry Gray, but you're not fighting it." Natsu said.
"Move, Natsu!" Gray ordered. "Don't get in my way!"
"I stopped you before cause I didn't want you to die." Natsu said. "Maybe I didn't get through to you? If you're gonna use that magic, then do it."
"Natsu…" Gray said.
"Besides," Natsu said motioning over his shoulder. "I'm making sure you don't get in his way."
Gray and Lyon look up and noticed Jason, who still hasn't moved from his spot.
"Jay…?" Gray asked.
"He's got it all handled." Natsu said.
(Flashback)
Back when Natsu and Jason were hunting down Zalty, Jay spoke to Natsu.
"Natsu, if we fail and Deliora gets freed, I want you to let me handle it." Jay requested.
"Huh?" Natsu asked. "How come? I want to fight it too!"
"This isn't the time for that Natsu!" Jay snapped. "Deliora is too dangerous. If it gets off this island, let alone these ruins, thousands of people will die!"
Natsu looks back at Jason and sees the seriousness in his eyes.
"What do you need me to do?" Natsu asked.
"I need you to keep anyone else back that my enter the cavern." Jason said.
(End Flashback)
"What does… he think he can do?" Lyon asked.
"Just watch." Natsu said. "You might be surprised."
Jason takes a deep breath and opens his eyes.
"Multitype:" Jay spoke."Ice Form!"
In a flash, Jason's cloths changed. Natsu and Gray were used to this, but Lyon was surprised. Not much changed for Jay this time, only the gold becoming light blue and the green becoming white. Once his change was finished, Jay looked up at Deliora with a glare.
"For too long you've terrorized innocent people." Jay said. "Even worse, you've been a consent darkness that's shadowed my friend for years!"
The demon looks at Jay and growls at him, like he can understand what he's saying. Jason then took the all too familiar Iced Shell stance, shocking both Ice Make users.
"Impossible!" Lyon shouted.
"Is he?!" Gray gasped.
"I can't use Iced Shell, nor would I ever if I could." Jay said. "But since it all started with this, I think using this pose would be a poetic ending, don't you?"
Seeing the stance that sealed him away for ten years enraged Deliora. With a roar, it swung a fist at Jason.
"Dodge it!" Gray yelled.
But Jay just stared it down.
"Quit your roaring and die already!" Jay yelled as he whipped his arms the sides. "Sheer Cold!"
SNAP
In an instant, the entire cavern froze over. The only thing's that didn't were Jay, Natsu, Gray, Lyon and the water. Gray and Lyon weren't sure what shocked them more. The fact they felt cold, which should be impossible due to the type of training under Ur, or the fact Deliora was once again frozen, this time not in a dome of ice but as an ice sculpture! Speaking of Deliora, its fist was an arms length away from hitting Jason.
'He did all this in one spell…' Lyon thought in shock. 'He was right. I was only scratching the surface.'
"The thing about "immortality"." Jay started to say as he raised his fist to Deliora's. "If you can't destroy the body, then aim for the soul." And taps it.
At once, cracks begin to form all over its frozen arm, leading up to the demon's upper torso and down the rest of its body. Both Gray and Lyon gasp at the sight.
"Y-You're kidding me…" Lyon gasped.
Parts of Deliora start to fall off.
"It can't be… No way!" Lyon begged what he was thinking was untrue.
Eventually Deliora, the Demon of Disaster, was no more, broken into thousands of little pieces.
"Deliora was already dead…" Gray gasped.
The force of Deliora's broken body falling into the water caused it to flow out of the ruins, and into the sea.
"For ten years, its life force has been sapped by Ur's ice…" Lyon said. "All we saw was its last moments…"
He slams his fist on the ground in frustration.
"I can't compare… I can never surpass Ur!" Lyon cried.
"Your teacher is pretty amazing." Natsu praised to Gray.
"That she is." Jay said as he turned to face his friends. "Wish I had the chance to meet her."
Gray said nothing as the final words of his mentor played in his head.
"I will seal your darkness."
Unable to hold it in, Gray started crying.
"Thank you very much… Teacher…" Gray said.
"You know… she's not fully gone." Jay said as he made his way to them.
"What do ya mean?" Natsu asked.
"You can't "kill" ice or water." he explained as he looks at the water. "The water here will now become part of the sea."
Jay then looks at the two ice mages with a smile.
"Ur will now be able to look after her two apprentices." Jason said. "Forever. So maybe you two should stop fighting."
Both Gray and Lyon gasp at what he said.
(Jay PoV)
Afterwards Erza, Lucy, Happy and my Pokémon met up with us in the cavern. Natsu and Happy we're glad to be reunited, but not so much with Erza. I thanked my team for all their hard work and returned them for some earned rest. We all made our way outside, with Gray helping Lyon.
"Oh yeah, it's finished!" Natsu cheered.
"Aye, sir!" Happy cheered along side him.
"Really, I wasn't sure what was gonna happen there for a bit." Lucy admitted. "But Ur's really quite amazing!"
"Now we all managed to finish an S class quest!" Natsu cheered.
"Yippee!" Happy cheered.
"Do you think we can go up to the second floor now?" Lucy asked.
Gray simply chuckled.
"I didn't come for the quest remember?" I stated. "I came to help the villagers, that's all. You can keep all the rewards and praise. Besides, aren't you all forgetting something?"
The four stop their celebrating and look at Erza in fear.
"Oh, crap!" Lucy said. "We're gonna be punished!"
For some reason I can hear an organ playing Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.
"Before that, you have something to do, remember?" Erza stated. "Wasn't the real point of this job to save the villagers who have been turned into demons? The S class quest is not over yet."
"But Deliora's dead, so won't this stop the curse?" Lucy asked.
"No." Erza said. "The source of that curse was not Deliora."
"Then what did cause it to happen?" I asked.
"The tremendous magical power of the Moon Drip has caused disaster to befall the people." Erza explained. "The fact that Deliora has now crumbled would not have improved the situation."
"Oh, no…" Lucy gasped.
"Then we'll hurry up and cure 'em!" Natsu said as he raised his hand up.
"Aye, sir!" Happy said, giving Natsu a high-five.
"How should we do that?" Gray asked before realizing something. "Hey, Lyon!"
Gray turns to Lyon, who is sitting and resting on a rock a few feet away from them.
"Let me tell you right now: I have no idea." Lyon said.
"Say what?" Natsu asked.
"What!" Happy replied like he was answering Natsu's question.
"Wait, if you guys don't know, how else are we going to…" Lucy started to say.
"Three years ago, when we came here, we knew there was a village on this island." Lyon began to explain. "But we did not interfere with the villagers. And they never came to see us even once."
"Three years… not once?" Erza asked.
"And wait, the Moon Drip would've landed on the ruins every night." Lucy pointed out. "So it's really strange that they'd never come to investigate."
"There's also remains the number of questions about the effect the Moon Drip has on people's bodies." Lyon said.
"Wait… Are you trying to say that it's not your fault?" Natsu asked with suspicion.
"I think he's telling the truth." I spoke up, noticing something.
"What makes you think that?" Erza asked.
"Lyon's exposed himself to the light of Moon Drip the entire time he's been here, right?" I asked. "If so, then why is he still human but the villagers who've been exposed just as long aren't?"
"That's true!" Lucy gasped. "You're right!"
'But if that's the case, then does that mean answer is the moon itself somehow?' I thought while looking at said moon.
Just then something clicked.
'Oh no fucking way it's that obvious.' I thought.
"Be careful. They're hiding something." Lyon advised. "Well, anyway this is a job for you guild people."
"Oh, I don't think so!" Natsu said. "You're the one who destroyed the…"
He was kept from talking further by Erza.
"That's enough." she ordered. "They have their own version of justice."
I understood what she meant. Striker told me what everything he heard from Toby. Lyon's lackies and all the cult members, who turned out to all be survivors from the dead demon's attacks, had families taken from them by Deliora. They all banded together in hopes that Lyon would be able to destroy it and avenge their loved ones. It reminded me of my dad and my revenge on Team Rocket.
"There's no need to criticize what they did in the past." Erza continued. "Let's go."
"Go?" Natsu asked. "But how are we going to lift the curse?"
"Who knows…" Erza answered as she walked away.
Natsu, Lucy and Happy followed her as I looked at Gray, nodded and walked away.
(Gray Pov)
When Jay did that, I understood what he meant and looked at Lyon.
"What are you looking at?" Lyon asked heatedly.
"Go join a guild somewhere." I told him. "You'll gain friends and rivals, and I know you'll find a new reason to live."
Lyon looks to the side.
"Pointless… Just go already!" Lyon said.
I simply smiled and left to catch up to the others.
(Jay PoV)
We arrived back in the camp, only there was something strange going on.
"Huh? It's deserted." Happy said.
"So everyone was here?" Natsu asked.
"Because the village is gone." Lucy explained. "But why did everyone vanish?"
"I left the rest of my team here so they should be safe." I said.
"Hey!" Happy called out.
"Anyway, I'm gonna get some medicine." Gray said as he entered a tent.
"You're all okay." A voice said relieved.
Turning around we see it's Hime.
"Hime!" I said. "Is everyone okay?"
"Everybody is fine, Jay." Hime said. "Kyra sensed you'll returned and asked me to come get you."
After Gray came back out, Hime teleported us to where everyone else was. Much to our surprise it was at a fully restored village.
"What's this?" Lucy asked.
"I thought the village was all messed up yesterday!" Happy said.
"It's back the way it was. How the heck?" Natsu asked while banging on a house. "Almost as if time has been reversed…"
"It's all fixed up now, so it'd be better for you not to touch it." Lucy said.
"Say what?!" Natsu snapped. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Exactly what I said." Lucy responded with a sigh.
What Natsu said caught my attention and from the look on his face, he realized it as well. The image of Zalty laughing flashed through my head.
"Was it him?" Natsu asked.
"He would be the only logical choice." I said. "But I don't see a reason why he'd do it."
"Maybe he had a change of heart?" Natsu guessed. "Whatever."
"Aye, sir!" Happy said.
Natsu walked off, not really caring the reason why as Happy floated behind him.
"Huh, you okay with that?" Lucy asked.
"This is just one of those things you let go, Luc." I said. "Trust me on this."
"If you say so." Lucy said. "Oh yeah, our bags!"
As she was about to run off, we spot the elder Moka sitting in front of Bobo's grave, fully restored just like the village. The elder thought we fixed the village and wouldn't listen when trying to tell him otherwise. He then demanded when we're going to destroy the moon.
'Right~…' I thought. 'Forgot that's how he wanted all this to be fixed.'
"Destroying the moon will be a simple task." Erza said as she approached.
"Huh/Ehh?" we all asked.
"Hey, did she just say that with a straight face?" Gray whispered to Happy.
"Aye… Well, that's Erza for you." Happy whispered back.
"However, I have something I want to clarify first." Erza said. "Will you gather everyone?"
Soon everyone is by the entrance to the village.
"Let us review." Erza said. "You all appeared in these forms after the moon turned purple. Correct?"
"To be precise, it's only when that moon comes out do we look like this." Moka corrected.
"But the moon can't always be purple." I said.
"And considering what we've heard, this has been happening for the past three years, yes?" Erza asked as she began walking to the side.
"Yes." a villager answered. "It has probably been that long."
"However, the Moon Drip has occurred on this island every night for those past three years." Erza said. "You should've been able to see the light falling on the ruins every day."
Before she could continue, Erza fell… into the pitfall trap Lucy made…
"Kya!" Erza yelped in surprise.
…and made an adorable sound.
"The pitfall was also resurrected!" Happy said.
"She… just said… "Kya"!" Natsu said having a slight blush.
"That was really cute." Gray said with a little blush.
"This is not my fault! This is not my fault!" Lucy said while freaking out a bit.
As for me, I was trying my hardest not to laugh by sucking in my lips.
'You mustn't laugh!' I thought while trying to keep it together. 'You mustn't, you mustn't, you mustn't!'
Erza simply pulled herself out of the pit. (cue *Ahh* soundtrack here)
"Therefore, was it not the most suspicious place on this island?" Erza continued… like she hadn't just fallen into a hole.
"She's acting like nothing happened." a villager whispered.
"She's tough…" whispered another.
"I don't understand why you never investigated." Erza said.
"It is tradition in this village never to go near those ruins." Moka explained.
"But this is no time to be bounded by traditions." Lucy said. "You've had victims, and just look at the amount of the reward for the guild…"
The villager leader had nothing to respond with.
"Some places are just like that." I said. "I've seen it lots of times before, but they all had a reason as to why."
"Will you please tell us the truth?" Erza requested.
"W-We don't really understand ourselves." Moka said. "In truth we've tried to investigate those ruins many times. We never use weapons, but we took them up, I trimmed my sideburns perfectly, and we all headed towards those ruins… But we couldn't get near. As we walked toward the ruins, before we knew it, we were back at the village gate! We cannot come close to those ruins!"
'And that's when they must've sent the request.' I thought.
"What does it mean?" Lucy asked. "You can't get near them?"
"We all went inside them, no problem." Natsu said.
"We didn't tell you because we thought you wouldn't believe us."
"But it's the truth. No matter how many times we tried to go there…"
"…not a single villager has ever set foot in them."
"I thought so." Erza said.
Wait… has she noticed something I haven't?
Watching all of this happen was Zalty, who was sporting a huge lump on his face where Natsu punched him.
"As expected from Titania." Zalty chuckled. "She's already figured out the trick. As well as the Trainer it seems."
Erza began to walk forward as pink mist flowed off her body, revealing a white shirt and blue skirt while showing her Fairy Tail mark being located on the middle of her left upper arm, colored blue.
"Natsu." Erza said. "Come with me."
As the mist faded, it allows us to see she changed into a new set of armor.
"We're going to destroy the moon!" she announced. (Cue *WOW* soundtrack)
Natsu was ecstatic while Gray, Lucy and Happy were shocked.
"HUH?!" the three yelled.
'Guess she figured it out too.' I thought.
"We'll destroy the moon, and everyone will return to their original forms!" Erza said.
All the villagers began to cheer.
"Will we get to see the moon destroyed before our eyes?"
"We'll finally be back to our old selves!"
"If we're gonna destroy the moon, wouldn't being on top of the ruins help?" Natsu asked. "It's higher up than here."
"No, this will do." Erza responded. "And the villagers can't get near the ruins."
"Destroy the moon?" Gray asked. "Well, this is Erza we're talking about, but still…"
"W-What does she plan on doing?" Lucy asked.
"Quite heart-racing, don't you think?" Happy asked.
"In a lot of ways…" Lucy said.
"This is the Giant Armor." Erza said. "It powers up my ability to throw. And… *holds up right hand and summons a spear* The Lance of Haja, which repels the darkness."
"Awesome!" Natsu excitedly. "So you'll chuck that at the moon and blow it up?"
'Seriously, that's not gonna work…' Gray, Lucy and Happy thought.
'I guess that'd work.' I thought. 'Though she's gonna need a power boost.'
"However I do not think it will reach the moon with only this." Erza said. "That's why I want you to give me a boost with your flame's power, Natsu."
'There it is.' I thought with a smirk.
"When I throw the spear, hit the back end of the lance as hard as you can." Erza instructed. "By combining the throwing power of the Giants Armor and your flames, we will destroy that moon!"
"All right! Got ya!" Natsu said.
"Let's go!" Erza said.
"Why are the two of them so into this?" Gray asked.
"They're not actually going to destroy the moon, right?" Lucy asked.
"Don't worry." I said gaining their attention. "Nothing bads gonna happen. Just watch."
Erza and Natsu made their way up a watch tower. Erza reeled back her arm as the gauntlet charged up.
"Natsu!" Erza signalled him.
With a yell, Natsu punched the bottom of the spear with an Iron Fist. The added force caused the roof of the tower to explode as the spear launched towards the moon.
"Whoa!" Happy cheered.
"Holy…" Gray deadpanned.
"They're destroying stuff again!" Lucy complained.
Everyone watched as the lance sailed through the sky, upwards at the moon. Until the weapon hit something causing a flash. Then cracks appeared on the moon.
"You've got to be kidding me!" both Gray and Lucy cried.
"Wait for it." I spoke.
The cracks grew on the moon, but then they suddenly appeared on the sky too before shattering like glass!
"The moon?" Natsu asked surprised.
"That's…" Moka exclaimed in shock.
The moon was completely fine and back to its normal pale color. But it seemed some kind of dome was destroyed instead as pink sparkles rained down.
"It wasn't the moon that she broke…" Lucy said. "It was the sky?"
"Not exactly." I said.
"What's going on?" Natsu asked.
"This island was covered by an evil lens." Erza said.
"A lens?" Natsu asked.
"A gas was released during the creation of the moon drip." Erza explained. "That gas crystallized and became a lens covering the sky."
"It's thanks to the layer that the moon looked purple." I explained to my fellow members.
Suddenly, all the villagers began to glow.
"It's also the cause of the quote-unquote "curse" these villagers have been plagued with." I said with a smile. "With the layer gone, so is the curse and they'll return to normal."
"With the evil lens broken, this island's true radiance should return." Erza said to Natsu.
The glowing died down, but the villagers remained as they were.
"They're not… going back to normal?" Gray asked.
"Oh no…" Happy said.
"But they should have." I said shocked.
"No. everything is the way it should be." Erza said calmly as she made her ways to us. "The evil lens didn't affect their bodies, but their memories."
"Their memories?" Lucy asked.
"The false memory that they became demons during the night." Erza said.
"What is the meaning of this?" Lucy asked feeling a bit unease. "You don't mean…"
"That's how it is." Erza confirmed. "They were demons from the start."
Natsu, Lucy and Happy freaked out.
"Seriously?" Gray asked a demon villager.
"Yeah… Now that you mention it." the villager confirmed. "I'm still a bit confused."
"Well… I didn't see that coming…" I said, completely shell shocked.
Erza went on to explain that the villagers had the ability to take on a human form, but because of moon drip, they ended up thinking that's what they really looked like. The reason Lyon and the others were fine was because they were human, and it only affected the memories of demons. It also explains why they couldn't get close to the ruins, due to absorbing so much holy light.
"Impressive!" a new but familiar voice said. "I'm glad I trusted this to you."
Me, Gray, Lucy and Happy looked behind us and were shocked by who we saw.
"Wizards… Thank you!" Bobo said now in a demon form.
"It's the ghost!" Lucy and Happy cried.
"The dude from the boat?!" Gray said.
"Bobo…" Moka said shocked.
"But, you're…"
"We don't die from being stabbed in the chest!" Bobo reminded with a laugh.
"Does that mean that all of the other villagers that were thought to have lost their minds are alive?" I asked.
"That's right." Bobo nodded. "They've all been hiding, waiting for everyone else to regain their memories."
"So no one was truly killed." I sighed in relief. 'Thank Arceus…'
"You disappeared from the boat…" Gray said.
Bobo suddenly vanished from our sights, startling Gray, Lucy and Happy. Now that I was looking at him, I was able to faintly see what he did.
"So that's how you did it." I said while looking up.
Bobo was now hovering in the air with wings coming out his back.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth back then." Bobo apologized. "Once I regained my memories, I left this island. Since all the people of the village thought they were humans, they were all scared of me!"
"Bobo…" Moka started to cry in happiness. "Bobo!"
He then sprouted wings of his own and flew up to embrace his son.
"Finally back to normal, huh, pops?" Bobo asked his father.
Soon ever villager grew wings to fly up to Bobo.
"He's alive!"
"Bobo's still alive!"
"All right!"
Us humans simply watched from the ground with smiles on our faces.
"I guess this is a Demon Island, huh?" I asked.
"A Demon Island, indeed…" Erza said in agreement.
"But, you know…" Natsu said walking towards us. "Just looking at all their faces… They look less like devils… and more like angels."
"I guess so." I said. "Devil's never cry after all." (Reference!)
"Tonight we're having a feast! A demon's feast!"
"I bet a demon's feast is gonna get kind of rowdy…" Lucy said.
"Aye…" Happy said.
Afterward everyone celebrated with a feast in the middle of the village, I even let my Pokémon out to join in. Gray was quite the ladies' man with all the female villagers. The village chief and his son admitted they where the ones that made the rumor about the islands curse, all because they were afraid of interacting with humans based off their looks. Now however, thanks to us they'll branch out to the mainland. We of course wished them the best of luck. Unfortunately, good times like these come to an end. Alpha, Arc and Garo suddenly moved to the path that leads to the gate and started growling while my other Pokémon tensed up, which drew everyone's attention. Especially mine since I knew that meant trouble. Looking that way, we saw some familiar faces.
"Those are…"
"Reitei's pals?"
"Sherry and Yuka." I said standing up.
Gray moves away from the village girls.
"Gray…"
"Leave them to us." Gray said. "Don't worry."
"What do you want?" Erza asked as she stood up.
"You guys did Lyon Reitei pretty good…" Yuka said. "He can't even move."
"We have come to pay you back." Sherry said.
"Wait a second!" Lucy said getting up. "Didn't you hear? We and Lyon have already…"
"That's a separate issue." Yuka interrupted.
"We will end this once and for all." Sherry said.
"Cool!" Natsu said. "Show me what you got!"
"Wait!" Bobo said. "We can't keep relying on you for everything!"
"Yeah, that's right!"
"We have to protect our own village!"
"I can appreciate the sentiment." Erza said. "However, leave this matter to me. Jason."
Understanding what she wanted, I called out to my Pokémon.
"Alpha, Arc, Garo. Standby." I ordered.
Immediately, they stopped growling but stayed where they were. Erza then stepped past them and stood across from Sherry and Yuka.
"Fairy Tail's Titania?" Sherry stated. "You did me quite a service on that beach."
"This will be a worthy opponent." Yuka said.
"Watch out, Erza!" Lucy yelled. "That woman can manipulate rocks and trees!"
"And weird eyebrows dude can neutralize magic!" Natsu added.
"I see." Erza said. "Then I better finish this up before they can pull any tricks!"
Erza immediately rushed the two and swiftly took them down with one hit each. Although… something wasn't right in my eyes.
"Awesome!" Natsu said.
"She's strong barehanded!" Lucy said in awe.
"Such is the Great Erza!" Happy said.
"The Great?" Lucy asked.
"Impressive." Sherry said as she got up.
"It's true…" Yuka said as he wiped his mouth. "We're no match."
"You're not here to fight, are you?" I asked them. "Why did you really come?"
The reason they came was to atone for what they had done. When they said they wanted "pay back", they really meant the villagers getting pay back on them. Like what Toby said, they had lost their homes, friends and family to Deliora and hated it. But in doing so they became blinded by hatred and ended up no better than that demon by hurting the innocent villagers. After hearing their reason, Natsu pulled them into the celebratory feast regardless of their protests. Watching the whole thing, hidden in the trees, was Zalty as he used his orb to communicate with someone.
(third PoV)
"As you can see." Zalty said.
"Yes." ? said. "Why did you return the village to the way it was?"
"Call it a bonus." Zalty answered while giving a thumbs up.
"What am I to do with you?" said ? who turned out to be Siegrain. "But Fairy Tail exceeded my expectations. I hope they never get in our way."
Zalty took off his mask to reveal his face, but then started glowing and his appearance changed and showed it was Ultear all along.
"Yes…" Ultear agreed. 'But it's a shame I couldn't get Jason like I wanted too. Oh well~.'
The next morning the group was packing up to head out.
"Where'd 'brows and the chick go?" Natsu asked while eating some fire.
"After they couldn't eat anymore, they left." Happy answered.
Over by Lucy and Gray, the former was observing the latter's face, more specifically his new scar.
"It looks like you'll be left with a scar." Lucy said.
"Huh? It doesn't bother me." Gray said.
"It's on your face!" Lucy said.
"I don't care where I get scarred." Gray said. "As long as they can be seen."
"Oh, that's deep!" Lucy said.
"Huh?" Natsu asked. "What's a wound you can't see?"
"Quite you!" Gray snapped. "When I say somethin' cool, don't step all over it!"
"That was cool?" Natsu asked.
"It was more edgy." Jason said.
Later, everything was finally pack. Moka was about to give the reward for the request but…
"W-What?" the chief asked. "You won't take the reward?"
"That's right." Erza confirmed. "Your gratitude is all we need."
The rest of the group were standing by the cart with all their things on it. With Natsu and Gray keeping their fighting on the downlow.
"Oh no, no, no…" Moka said.
"This was not a job our guild officially accepted." Erza explained. "Just a few idiots running off to do a job on their own."
"Oi! Don't lump me in with these idiots!" Jay snapped. "Like I said before, I came here to help the villagers! Not for money or fame!"
"Even so, that doesn't change the fact that you saved us." the chief said with a chuckle. "If I say this is not a reward for the guild, but it's a "thanks" to our friends for saving us, would you accept it?"
Natsu, Gray and Lucy looked on in hope of Erza accepting.
'Now that I think about it, I never did find out how much jewels this quest was worth.' Jay thought.
"It's hard to say no when you put it that way." Erza said.
"70 million jewel!" Gray said excitedly.
"Alright!" Lucy exclaimed.
"70 Mil?!" Jay said surprised. "S class pays a lot."
"However taking it would be against the guilds principles." Erza said. "We'll be happy to take only the key you offered as the reward."
"We don't want that!" Natsu and Gray shouted.
"Hell yeah, we do!" Lucy yelled.
"A key? As in a celestial key?" Jay asked as his head whipped towards Lucy. "You got hooked into coming here for a damn celestial key?!"
Lucy flinched and awkwardly chuckled, looking away from him.
"I'll be happy to take you back to Hargeon." Bobo offered.
"No. I have a ship ready." Erza said.
When they made their way to the beach, they see Erza's ship.
"A Pirate ship?" Gray asked in shock.
"You hijacked it?" Lucy asked.
"I've only known you for a short while, but this does seem like something you'd do." Jason said.
"Madame!" a pirate, who seemed like the captain, waved.
"Madame?" Lucy asked.
"They seem to have taken a liking to me." Erza said.
"You know you can't keep them when we get back to the mainland, right?" Jay asked with a deadpan.
"Such is the Great Erza!" Happy said.
"Enough with "the Great" already!" Lucy said.
"All you mates come on board as well!" the captain said.
"Mates?" Gray asked, pointing at himself.
"Eww!" Lucy exclaimed. "I don't want to board that!"
"I'll be happy to swim instead!" Natsu said.
"Not happening!" Lucy snapped before she had an idea. "Hey Jay-"
"You're not using my Pokémon." he instantly replied while walking towards the ship.
"Oh come on!" Lucy complained.
Soon all the Fairy Tail members boarded the ship.
"Yo-ho!" the pirates shouted as they set sail.
"Thank you very much, everyone!" Bobo yelled.
"Stay well!" Lucy yelled.
"Come back and dance with us again!"
"Good luck with your work!"
"Fairy Tail's the best!"
"Come see us anytime!"
On a cliff, watching the ship sail away was Lyon, who was all bandaged up, and his group.
"There they go…" Yuka said.
"I-I'm not crying!" Toby said while crying.
"Wait… Why are you crying?" Yuka asked.
"Are you sure about this?" Sherry asked Lyon. "And after finally reuniting with your younger fellow pupil… in other words… love!"
"It's fine." Lyon said.
He looked to the clear sky, feeling that a darkness finally lifting off him.
"Hey… Are guilds any fun?" Lyon asked.
(Insert Tsuioku Merry-Go-Round)
(TO BE CONTINUED)
(AND WE'RE DONE! The Sub-Zero Emperor Lyon Arc is finally over! The last chapter taking over 10,000 words to do so, but it's worth it for the next chapter to have a clean slate! As always, feel free to write a review on your thoughts about the story.)