Riku led Lucy to the area where he and Belle agreed to meet earlier, learning of what transpired on his end since they left the guild.
''Oh, so that's why...well, your client's definitely a first. Everyone's so spooked by this curse that you'd think it was the end of the world.'' Lucy mused.
'He was trying to figure it out on his own, he thought there was practically no proof and most of the fear was caused by rumors but no one wanted to help him. He couldn't exactly make it here on his own.' Riku explained. 'In the end, with this situation-the best thing he could do was file a request.'
''Brave man...'' Lucy's words died in her throat when she saw Belle-mainly due to the person accompanying her.
Erza...Lucy held back a squeak at her expression. Bravery was one thing the blond wasn't feeling right now! Now she really understood why Erza could strike fear within the guild so easily.
Riku gave her a puzzled look, following her line of sight '...What's going on?'
''No idea.'' Belle was clearly just as puzzled. ''Lucy-that look on your face...''
''I imagine that would be guilt, Belle. And she should be guilty.'' Erza stated, leaving the girl to shift uncomfortably while Riku and Belle exchanged puzzled looks. ''This happened after you two left, here's the situation.''
The duo could only stare at Lucy in surprise once they were brought up to speed.
''Okay, I can totally believe that Natsu and Happy would be so reckless as to pull something like that off but you should know better...Gray can pretend all he wants but he's just as bad as they are. S-class jobs are super dangerous for a reason. Besides, it's totally gonna hurt the guild if you can't do it.'' Belle pointed out.
''I couldn't agree more.'' Erza added firmly.
Lucy shuffled uncomfortably. Really, after seeing the reward, she'd essentially blocked everything else out. ''I...didn't think that far ahead.''
Riku sighed 'Well, there's no point in complaining now. We should be focusing on how to fix this.'
''Indeed. Lucy, where are Natsu and the others?'' Erza demanded.
''Well...''
And so Lucy took them to the village, explaining what happened on their end.
As they discovered earlier, the Cold Emperor, the leader of the strange trio from the cave was Lyon Vastia-a mage who Gray was familiar with. They hadn't had a chance to ask how the two knew each other before the Cold Emperor simply disregarded them before ordering an attack on the village for trying to interfere with their mission. That was when they were able to clarify the group's intentions, the ritual they had seen earlier was to melt the massive block of ice.
Unlike Gray who wouldn't condone the idea of the Iced Shell being melted, Lyon was out to do exactly that-intending to defeat Deliora. But given what Gray told them of the demon, they wondered if Lyon could pull that off. Regardless, the group stepped up to challenge them and Gray attacked Lyon, only for the latter to counter with his own ice magic. Happy, Natsu and Lucy had to leave to chase after Sherry and the others and warn the villagers while Gray and Lyon battled.
Lucy tried to set them up with a pitfall trap (left quite annoyed when the new arrivals remained as skeptic of the plan as everyone who had seen it). Though it didn't work since the three arrived on the flying rat, holding a bucket of a corrosive jelly like substance. Natsu burned it up before it could cause any harm, but Sherry tried to chase the fleeing villagers on the rat only for Lucy to attempt to distract her, which lead to her being carried away to the beach where they had their battle and Riku found her.
The celestial mage told the villagers about the new arrivals before asking about their friends, only to be surprised to learn that only Gray and Happy were here. They had seen Natsu rush off earlier but no one had any idea where he was now.
The four headed to the hut where their two friends were last seen, finding Happy talking to Gray, who was leaning against a wall.
''Hey, there you are.''
Both started at Lucy's voice, stiffening when they saw Erza's expression. Experience had told them this look only meant bad news-and given the situation...
Yeah, they were in trouble. No doubt about it.
''Gray, Happy. I trust you know why I'm here?'' Her tone indicated it wasn't a question.
''A-aye...'' The latter managed weakly.
Gray looked similarly unnerved for a moment before shaking himself ''Look, I know taking the job was wrong but that doesn't matter now...''
''Of course it does!'' Erza cut in at once, outraged that he could even say that. ''You all not only broke the guild's rules but betrayed Master Makarov as well. That's why the four of you are going back to the guild with me.''
''No way!'' He fired back, getting to his feet. ''We can't just leave in this situation!''
''You can and you will.'' In her opinion, it was lucky that Riku and Belle's job had to do with this island anyway but it wasn't the time to explain that. ''This job should be left to experienced mages to begin with-someone else can finish it.''
''You don't know that!'' Gray snapped. ''Lyon's lost it-he's so convinced that he can pull his stupid mission for some reason. He doesn't even care who he hurts! That monster's here too-that moron might as well be spitting on what she's done for us. I won't let him get away with it.'' Erza's unchanged expression angered him ''You don't even care that innocents could get caught up in trouble? They're not going to stop at this. What the hell, Erza? You're better than this, it's just heartless!''
Erza bristled, where did he get off? He didn't even seem to care at all that they broke the rules and just continued to do what he wanted. She was here to make sure they could be returned to safety...
Her thoughts were cut off when a hand landed on her shoulder, making her look to see it was Riku's.
'You two need to calm down.' He eyed them evenly. 'We don't know the full scope of the situation but the fact is, we're knee deep in this now. Odds are, they won't let us leave even if we all wanted to. Like it or not, Erza, Gray has a point. They could drag the villagers into this, knowing they were the ones who wanted help in the first place. They've already done it before.'
''That's...'' Erza bit her lip, realizing he was right. Gray's words had aggravated her so much that she wasn't really thinking. She still believed it was foolish and reckless of their friends to come here but she would never condone dragging innocents into this now. It was true, leaving now may as well mean leaving the villagers defenseless.
'So bottom line is, we need to do something. We can't just back out now, that's just wrong and it'd be even worse for the guild then. It looks like this is really a big deal for Gray too...' The ice mage looked away but his expression spoke volumes. '...you're the one who said we need to be a good team, Erza. What kind of team would we be if we leave things as they are?'
''He's got you there.'' Belle injected slyly.
''Aye! We've got to finish this!'' Happy added.
''I think so too.'' Lucy was relieved to see that Riku's intervention was giving the chance for calmer heads to prevail.
''...Well, like I said, I wouldn't have just left anyway...'' Gray spared Riku a grateful look. ''...we started this mess, so we'll fix it.''
Erza exhaled ''...Fine. We'll see about how to finish this job.'' Lucy and Happy cheered. ''However, this doesn't get you off, you three and Natsu are going to answer for this when we get home. Am I clear?''
The two faltered and lowered their heads ''C-crystal...''
Riku and Belle shared awkward looks ''Well...it wouldn't be Erza otherwise. But hey, small mercies and all, right?'' The latter mumbled.
'Let's just take what we can get.'
Erza cleared her throat, sparing them a look ''This is still about teaching them a lesson. First things first, Riku do you think you can find Natsu?''
He shook his head 'About that...I picked up on his scent earlier and it lead to the forest. But the trail's weak-he must have gone that way a while back. There's no telling where he'd be now.'
''It's all right! Natsu can take of himself-he must have some kind of plan.'' Happy stated.
Belle gave him a dry look ''That's not nearly as reassuring as you think it is.''
Erza's expression made her agreement clear ''Leaving that aside, what else do we need to know?''
''Let's see...'' Gray began to think.
Since it was already late, the group agreed to rest up for now and head to the temple in the morning.
Erza glanced back at the others, seeing that most of them were asleep. She did regret some of what she said earlier but Gray's dismissive behavior really got on her nerves. She knew her friends thought she was far too strict but it was because she believed rules were there for a reason. The fact is, S-class requests were only meant for mages of that rank and it was to help ensure their safety. She knew this time was somewhat different given the Cold Emperor's scheme but that did not mean letting them off lightly either.
Her expression softened when she saw Riku draping a blanket over Belle's body, the cat shifted a little but smiled when he stroked her head, remaining asleep. The redhead really liked how their relationship grew until they became the great team they were today.
Riku had found Belle in the forest shortly after a storm. The poor cat had been terrified and for a while it was only his presence that let her be comfortable around anyone. That had been a little over a year since Happy came into their lives and so they'd come to learn a few things about the cat, this helped Riku take good care of her. This had also brought out a gentle side of Riku that Erza didn't think they would have seen normally.
The brunet tended to keep to himself a lot when they first met and it took them sometime to earn his trust. But even then, she knew he was kind. For even when they hadn't known each other, Riku had gone out of his way to help them. Especially if one considered the circumstances when they first met him...also the fact that as she was well aware, Riku's circumstances had been difficult even before that. If anything, learning about that made him a truly remarkable person to her. Riku may have thought she was the stronger one between them but to her, it was the opposite.
Joining the guild was a true turning point for the both of them and while both hadn't had it easy trying to adapt, Erza would freely admit that Riku's influence had actually been a big help to her. He had really tried to understand-to learn all he could about Fairy Tail and he came to adopt the guild's philosophy well. Before she even knew it, he was slowly but surely warming up to the others. He'd made it clear that some of the guild's antics were annoying to him but still, he opened up to the others and came to make good friends. For instance, Riku was the one to get to know Elfman (who was rather meek back then) and helped encourage him to deal with the problems of his Take-Over magic, which eventually lead to their training sessions. Besides, Erza didn't think they could have become friends with Mystogan or Laxus if her old friend hadn't been there. She knew the turning point for the blond had been that day, when his father came back...Riku was the one who truly came through when they needed help the most.
The brunet approached her then, seeming pensive 'Erza, back when you first got here did you see...well, I'm not sure how to describe it but...in the sky...it kind of looked like the island was...'
She raised an eye ''Ah, you saw it too? Well, that certainly was a surprise...Hm, I've been meaning to ask, did you sense anything about the island?''
Riku shook his head 'That's why I was wondering if it could have anything to do with the curse. Something about it just seems off...'
''Agreed. We must be some missing some vital information but that can't be helped. For now, let's focus on dealing with the situation around Deliora. We'll deal with the curse afterwards.''
He nodded back and she gave a small smile ''Let's try to get some rest now-we have a busy day ahead of us.''
'Right.'
The following day...
Natsu had actually spent the night in the woods and was on his way to the temple. As Happy mentioned, he did have a plan to stop the Moon Drip ritual and he was raring to get started.
''So, Sherry and Yuka lost...'' A man with silver hair and dark eyes looked at the newly arrived Toby, who seemed cowed. Another individual was nearby, a man wearing a mask with bushy green hair was looking on with a grin.
''Do keep in mind we can't afford any setbacks at this stage of the plan, Cold Emperor.'' He remarked.
Lyon scoffed ''Don't be ridiculous, Zalty. This isn't a setback, none of those fools will stop me.''
''You seem confident, that's good. One of our opponents is Fairy Tail's Salamander, you know. I hear that the famous Titania and even Bahamut arrived last night.''
''Hmph, that won't change a thing.'' Lyon stated. ''I waited this long to achieve my dream, I won't let those pests get in my way.''
''Now that's what I like to hear! I think I'll lend you a hand too.'' Zalty grinned.
The ice mage stood but then, the temple began to tilt...
As the rest of the Fairy Tail group headed towards the temple, Gray told them all about what happened ten years ago. How he met Ur and Lyon after Deliora destroyed his village. Eventually, he trained under the woman who taught him and Lyon Ice Make magic. His intention was to take revenge on Deliora. Lyon wanted to surpass Ur, who believed to be the strongest mage he knows. Even now, those goals were driving them forward.
Once, when they were shopping, the three heard that Deliora was in a nearby area. Gray saw red at that and immediately went to fight the demon despite Ur's attempt to stop him. He was no match for the monster and soon Ur and Lyon caught up to him. Lyon was knocked out in the ensuing battle and Ur continued defending both boys. She lost her leg in the process but replaced it with an ice prosthetic. Knowing she likely couldn't stop the demon, Ur addressed told Gray to take Lyon away.
In return, Lyon had also taken matters into his own hands and decided to use Iced Shell to stop Deliora. But Ur, fully aware of what that would do to him, proceeded to freeze the boy then and there. She did agree with Lyon's assessment that Iced Shell was the only way to end this. The spell that turned the user's own body to ice to trap their enemy.
She asked Gray to tell Lyon that she died and encouraged them both to see the world. There were mages stronger than her and she wanted them to keep living to the best of their ability. Gray could only watch as the spell was completed and later, he had no choice but to tell Lyon what their master asked of him. Lyon had been furious and blamed Gray for it. That was the last time they had seen each other before coming to this island.
''What does beating that demon have to do with surpassing Ur? No matter how you look at it, this is crazy!'' Happy exclaimed. After all, what was he going to do if that plan failed? Or did he just not ever consider that?
''Indeed, we were fortunate with the turnout around Lullaby. The risk is simply too high, this is a demon created by the darkest mage in known history. This is entirely foolish.'' Erza stated.
''Don't I know it.'' Gray agreed. ''Lyon thinks that if he can beat the demon Ur couldn't, he'd surpass her. He's so damn convinced that he can do it that even the possiblity of failure won't enter his mind. But I won't let this continue. He doesn't even know...the truth about Iced Shell.''
They looked at him in surprise ''The truth?'' Belle echoed.
''Well, this is interesting...'' Zalty watched the ensuing battle between Natsu and Lyon.
It turned out that the cause of the temple shaking violently earlier had been Natsu. He'd managed to tilt the temple in an attempt to ensure that the moonlight wouldn't reach Deliora so their ritual would be stopped. Who would think of something like that? He really was an unpredictable fellow, wasn't he?
''Fire Dragon's Roar!''
Zalty raised a hand and before anyone knew it, a hole opened up under Natsu, making him fall and the blast miss as a result.
Lyon looked on in surprise before glancing at Zalty ''What did you...?''
''Remember that we can't lose you yet.''
The ice mage's eyes narrowed dangerously, in moments ice was quickly covering most of the room ''Are you insinuating that I'd lose to that hotheaded fool...? Don't underestimate me.''
Natsu climbed back up the hole ''Why the hell are you doing this stuff? What good is reviving that demon gonna do?''
''It's for my dream! I must surpass Ur!'' He declared.
''Well, just go fight her or something!'' Natsu snapped.
''I would if it were possible!'' Lyon retorted, surprising the latter. ''But she's dead because of Gray!''
He fired a blast of ice at the dragon slayer, who blocked it, scowling before he charged back again, fist at the ready...
''Are you sure about this, Gray?'' Belle asked as they arrived at the temple's entrance.
''Yeah, it'll be fine. I can get through to him.''
In a way, she could understand because of what he told them about Iced Shell but at the same time Lyon didn't sound like the kind of guy who'd listen...
But before she could voice her doubts, the cat picked up on something ''Whoa, what...?!''
The temple was tilted, it usually pointed at the moon but now it was mostly sideways, with the top pointing to the right.
For a moment, no one was sure what to make of the strange sight but then most of them caught the damage around the area as well as the scorch marks, which left only one conclusion.
Erza sighed ''So this is what he was up to...''
'Yup, this kind of thing is 100% Natsu.' Riku stated.
''Aye Sir! See his plan worked, and you guys were all skeptic...'' Happy began to grin.
Belle's response took the wind out of his sails ''Tell me I'm crazy but that might have to with the fact that your plans have an excellent record when it comes to failure.''
Happy was about to retort but then both cats noticed Riku stopping, his eyes narrowing ''What's wrong, Riku?''
But just then, a group of people wearing robes and masks and holding a variety of weapons rushed out.
''There's Fairy Tail!''
''All right, don't let them take another step!''
''What's going on?!'' Lucy recoiled.
Erza's brow furrowed as she requipped a sword ''It seems Lyon gathered up quite a bunch of followers.''
Gray ground his teeth, wondering why on earth those people would help his former fellow pupil. They had to be out of their minds...
Riku fended off an ax-user 'Get going.' Gray looked at him in surprise. 'We can handle this. You know what you have to do, don't you?'
Lucy grabbed one of her keys ''He's right-go and settle things. We'll deal with them.''
Erza met his eyes and nodded, a sword in hand ''We'll catch up with you as soon as possible.''
''Thanks!'' As he hurried into the temple, a couple of archers made to snipe at him. One was stopped by Riku, who blocked the arrow with his great sword before it even came close to Gray. The second was halted by Belle, who cast a wind spell deflect the arrow.
''You seem to believe you have us cornered, I say it's time we correct that misunderstanding.'' Erza declared, leveling her sword.
Gray glanced back, vowing to make sure his friends' efforts wouldn't be in vain.
Natsu gathered flames in his fist as he prepared another attack, raising an eye as he heard the sound of footsteps drawing rapidly close. But it was the newcomer's scent that made him pause.
''Gray?'' He blinked.
''He's mine. I'm going to make up for what happened in the past and I'll start by stopping him now.''
''As usual, you just talk big.'' Lyon scoffed. ''You couldn't beat me before-what makes now so different?''
''I'll make it that way.'' Gray's stance made him stop and staretook a stance ''...You were right, Lyon. I'm the one to blame for Ur's death. But here you are today, not only putting your own people and innocents in danger, you might as well spitting on her sacrifice! I won't let you!''
''That's...the Iced Shell?!'' Lyon's eyes were wide. ''You wouldn't...!''
''I'll stop if you do. Get rid of this curse-the villagers have been through enough. Leave the island and never return. If you don't, this is the end.''
Natsu looked in confusion, wondering what this meant-he'd never seen Gray use that spell before...And when he said the end...something just wasn't right here.
A fierce wave of snow and ice surrounded Gray as magic circles formed around him.
''I don't believe that-you wouldn't dare.'' Lyon returned smugly.
''Care to find out?'' Gray demanded.
''You'll die!''
Natsu's eyes widened-what?! That was what he was planning?
''I'm not afraid to die. What's it going to be, Lyon?! It's your choice!''
''That's enough of the bluff! This is a trick!'' He snapped.
''It isn't. Let's see you deal with this.'' Gray silently apologized to his friends.
''ICED SH...!''
He never got further than that for a hard punch sent him flying backwards, disrupting the spell almost at once. The surprised ice mage slowly looked up, seeing a furious Natsu.
''What the hell are you playing at?!''
''That's my line, you flaming moron! I said I'd take care of him!'' Gray snapped.
''How? By throwing your life?'' Natsu demanded hotly. ''How is sacrificing your life the best you can do? Being ready to die is one thing, right now you're just running away!''
Gray stared at him in shock. Was he really? He'd never even...
The three started as the temple shook suddenly and the fire and ice mages saw Zalty joining Lyon.
''Sorry to intrude-I just thought this place could do with a little...modification of sorts.'' He grinned.
''Wha...hey, the temple's upright again.'' Gray realized, glancing around them.
''What?! You little...!'' Natsu seethed. But Zalty merely smirked and ran off. ''That does it! Hey, you take care of this idiot, that one's mine!''
''I got it. I won't lose again.'' Gray returned. It went unsaid that they both knew what that meant. Losing twice to the same opponent wasn't just bad for him but for Fairy Tail.
Erza and the others were able to deal with the attackers with relative ease. Despite the weapons they carried, they seemed to have little experience. Only few of them were mages and even then, they weren't all that skilled either.
But still...
Erza knocked a sword out of her attacker's hand, knocking him down. Riku blocked a spike club with his sheathed blade before its taking its user out and Belle blasted an enemy with light magic.
Happy whacked one of them with his bag and Lucy threw him down with a flex of her whip. Erza's brow furrowed as she noticed that all of their enemies' clothes had the same symbol. It looked familiar but she couldn't remember where she had seen it...
''They're so persistent...'' Lucy trailed off.
''Aye, they just won't stop.'' Happy agreed, frowning. But why try so hard? Even if they were losing big time, they seemed determined to do whatever it takes to hold them off. This attitude raised one particular question.
Was Lyon's scheme really worth all this to them?
The earth shook a little around them, bringing attention to the temple as it was somehow brought upright again.
''But how...?'' Happy stared.
Erza's eyes narrowed, knowing this meant the ritual could be continued. In that case...
''Riku, Belle, we have things well in hand here. Go and see what you can do to stop this-Natsu and Gray might need help too.'' She stated.
The first nodded back while the second flew up ''We're on it!''
As they headed into the temple, Lucy held up one of her keys ''Gate of the Crab, I open thee-Cancer!''
''It looks like this is going slower than what the others told us yesterday.'' Belle remarked as they noted the purple light form in the distance.
'Yeah, but even then they've made a lot of progress already...' Riku paused. '...can you go deal with that end? I found Natsu's scent...I think he just went by here and there's...someone else.'
''Okay!'' She flew towards the level where they knew the ritual was taking place. Riku went in the direction the scents were coming from. Soon he could see Natsu coming to a stop before what he realized Deliora and the huge ice block trapping it.
''Riku?!'' He exclaimed. ''When did you...?''
'I'll explain later.' The brunet glanced at Zalty, who was standing not too far away. 'So he's another enemy?'
''Yeah! That jerk ruined all my work and fixed up the temple just like that!'' Natsu huffed.
Zalty chuckled ''Now don't take it too badly-it was a good effort, you were just unlucky that I was prepared for plenty of setbacks.''
''Oh yeah? Well, let's see you try to handle this!'' Natsu scowled, holding up a flaming fist.
Zalty's grin returned as he noted darkness gathering around Riku, who was also bracing himself for battle. ''So I have two dragons to entertain? This should be interesting...''
Well, let's stop here.
I hope this was good. I thought about this chapter a lot and admittedly, I wasn't sure how to handle this arc for a while but I think I should be able to wrap it up pretty soon. At least I have a much better idea on how to deal with the next arc so there's that. What started out as the source of the curse was actually this floating lens in the sky, right? So I figured it wouldn't be too strange for people to notice it well enough-Natsu and the others just didn't have the chance considering that they were washed up by that tsunami.
Hm, anywho, that's all I had to say. Thanks for reading so far and I hope you keep it up. Till next time!