Chapter 8

The Demon Curse

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Change

Fairy Hills

Laki Olietta's Room

Laki woke up in her room at Fairy Hills. She yawned before swinging her legs off the bed. She passed her collection of 'art' before reaching her dresser. Pulling out a clean copy of her outfit, she smiled as she looked at the photos atop the dresser.

One was picture of her getting her guild mark as a kid when she first joined the guild. Natsu had his arm slung around her and she had a visible blush on her face.

The second was one of her, Erza and Mira when she first moved into Fairy Hills. She chuckled a bit at the memory behind that picture. She asked Natsu to help her move in, but wasn't aware that boys were never allowed in the dorm.

When Erza found him wandering around, she nearly killed him. Laki ran to the guild for help, but when Mira heard the situation, she joined Erza and put Natsu in the hospital. The two decided to take a photo to commemorate the event, and to this day, Laki is scared to tell them the truth.

The third was her favorite. It was just her and Natsu, on a hill after a job together. It was the closest thing she ever got to a date with her crush. Until today.

'Today is the day.' She thought to herself. 'No fear, no hesitation. I'm gonna ask Natsu out.' Laki walked over to her bathroom and closed the door. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, she looked in her bathroom mirror.

She held her hair and began holding it in different styles. She held it in a side ponytail and smiled. She tied her bow into her hair, letting her hair stay that way. She looked in the mirror one last time before she left her room and headed to the guild.

Once outside the guildhall, she placed her hand on the door but then she froze in fear. 'I-I can't do it.' She backed away from the door before bumping into someone. She turned around and looked up at Gray.

"Hey, Laki." Gray then noticed the look on her face. "What's wrong? Did Natsu say no?"

"N-no." Laki shook her head. "He didn't. In fact, I haven't asked him yet."

"What?" Gray looked shocked. "You're still scared?" His answer was a nod from the girl. He smiled a little before putting his and on her shoulder. "What if I'm there when you ask him?"

Laki looked up at the Ice Mage. "Thanks, Gray." The two turned and walked into the guild hall. Gray sat down at a bench, while Laki sat down at the bar next to Cana, and waited for the Dragon Slayer.

"So, Laki." Cana drunkingly nudged the purple haired girl. "I noticed you changed your hairstyle. Hoping to get Natsu's attention?"

"Keep it down, Cana." Laki covered her friends mouth. "I don't want the whole guild to know. Especially not Mira."

"Too bad." Cana poured herself another drink from her barrel. "If you told her, she might be able to help you."

"I know that." Laki looked down at her hands. "It's just, I don't want her and Elfman to know. I feel like I'm betraying them if I ask him out."

Cana started patting her friend on the back. "Tell you what. Why don't I talk to Mira for you? I'm sure she'll understand if I don't say your name."

"Thanks, Cana." Laki turned her head as she saw the master sit down on the bar next to her. "Morning, Master."

"Morning Laki, Cana." The master poored himself a mug of beer and began drinking from it.

"Ahhhh!" Everyone but the master looked over to the stairs and saw Mirajane running down them. "Master, one of the S-Class requests has gone missing!"

Makarov did a double take and a spit take, which ended up in a soaked Laki. "What!?" He then realized what he'd done to Laki. "Crap. Sorry, Laki."

"It's fine, master." Laki took off her glasses and rubbed them on a bar rag. "I would have done the same thing." She said, putting her glasses back on after cleaning them. "But right now, we have bigger issues than me getting a little dirty."

"Yeah, like who'd steal a job from the second floor." Cana added.

"Oh, that reminds me." Everyone looked up to see Laxus on the second floor. "I saw some cat with wings fly up here and then he ripped it off the board."

"It was Happy?" Mirajane asked.

"So that means that Natsu and Lucy are behind this!" Wakaba declared, stirring up an uproar of anger.

"Laki, do you know about this?" Alzack asked as he approached the bar.

"Calm down." Bisca told her secret crush. "I walked to Fairy Hills with her last night. We never ran into Natsu or Happy. Besides, with Erza in charge, there's no way those two could have snuck in."

"That's what you call a breach of the rules." Laxus said as he leaned against a support beam. "Hey, Gramps. If they make it back alive, they'll be expelled right? But the big word there is if. No way those three survive an S-Class quest."

"Laxus, if you knew it was Happy, why didn't you stop them!?" Laki asked after staying silent for a few minutes.

"Chill out, termite lady." Laxus said, insulting Laki's magic. "All I saw was some cat flying away with a piece of paper in his mouth. I had no idea it be Happy, or that Natsu would break the rules to this level." He looked up at the sound of footsteps and saw Mira walking over to him with an evil look on her face. "Been a while since I've seen that look."

"This isn't good..." Makarov mumbled. "What job is missing?"

"To lift the curse off of Galuna island." Mirajane said, never taking her eyes of Laxus.

"What!?" Makarov shouted. The whole guild was abuzz with fear. "Laki, go bring him back!"

"Me?" Laki asked in surprise.

"I highly doubt Laxus will do it." Makarov looked back up and the blonde had disappeared. "You're the only one Natsu will listen to. Try and convince him to come back before he gets hurt!"

"Hold on, master." Both looked over to see Gray standing up from his seat. "If anyone is going to bring fire breath back, its going to be me."

"No, Gray." Laki protested. "It has to be me. I'm the only one who can bring him back. He'll listen to me."

"And what if he doesn't?" Gray asked as he walked over to the bar. "Can you really force him to come back? Can you bring yourself to hurt him after everything you two have been through?"

"Enough!" Both looked down to their master yelling at them. "You'll both go after them! Now, get out there and bring them back!"

Both mages nodded and ran out the guild hall towards the train station. They panted at the station as they questioned the ticket seller about the tickets a pinkette man bought. The seller sold them exact copies of the tickets a blonde and a man fitting their description bought last night. The two maker mages boarded the train bound for Hargeon.

"So, why'd you decide to come along, Gray?" Laki asked her companion.

"I told. I don't think you can force them back." Gray responded. "The way your head is now, you might have ended up joining them on the job."

"That's not it." He looked up at Laki, who crossed her arms. "You just don't want Natsu to complete an S-Class quest before you do."

"Whatever." Gray shrugged it off. "Worst comes to worst, you better be ready to do whatever it takes to bring Natsu back."

"Don't worry." Laki adjusted her glasses. "I'll stop him." As Gray starred out the window, Laki was deep in thought. 'Why didn't Natsu ask me to come along? Why'd he ask Lucy? Could... they be...?'

Hargeon

"Wow, talk about a flashback." Lucy said, admiring the view of the city. "This is where I first met you two, and Laki of course."

"Quit being all nostalgic. It wasn't that long ago." Natsu told her. "It's weird."

"You sound like an old lady." Happy chuckled before Lucy shot him a death glare.

"Well, let's go find a boat to take us to this Galuna Island." Lucy started to walk away but was stopped by Natsu.

"Do we have to take a boat?" Natsu asked hoping to avoid his motion sickness. "Can't we just make a swim for it?"

"That's a bit much." Lucy sighed.

The two made their way to the docks, and began asking sailor after sailor for a ride over. Every single sailor down right refused to even say the name of the island out loud, let alone be willing to sail people over there. They eventually ended up with the last sailor in the docks.

"I don't know why you wanna go there." He spoke. "No sailor worth his salt is gonna take you to that place. Hell, even pirates are scared of that place."

"Seriously?" Lucy asked.

"Looks like we're swimming." Natsu grinned.

"You don't wanna swim there." The sailor told Natsu. "Unless you're not scared of the huge sharks that swim out there."

"I ain't scared of no fish!" Natsu shouted back.

"We found you." Both the wizards and cat jumped around to see a smirking Gray and an upset Laki standing behind them.

"Gray! Laki!" Lucy shouted.

"What are you two doing here!?" Natsu asked his friend and rival.

"Master found out about this little scheme and asked us to bring you back." Laki explained.

"He found out already!?" Natsu asked shocked.

"If you two come back now, you might avoid expulsion." Gray smirked.

"We could be expelled!?" Lucy asked scared.

"No way, snowballs." Natsu stood up to Gray. "I'm going on this S-Class quest!"

"Natsu, please." Laki begged. "None of us are ready for an S-Class quest. Just come home with us." She then stepped back in fear. "If Erza ever found out about this..."

All three of the culprits gulped in fear. Happy spread his wings and hid behind Laki. "Laki, help me. This was all Lucy's idea. She forced me to come along."

"You lying little flea bag!" Lucy shouted at the cat.

"I'm doing this to show Erza what I can do." Natsu squared up to Gray. "No way am I leaving now. I'm going on this quest, whether you two like it or not!"

"Master ordered us to bring you back, even if we have to force you!" Gray pulled back his hand and it was encased in ice crystals. "Don't complain if you get hurt!"

"Right back at ya, pal!" Natsu shouted as his own hand was engulfed in flames.

"Wait you two!" Lucy shouted before she noticed Laki had her Harvester of Souls on her neck.

"Don't interfere, Lucy." Laki ordered. "This has to be done."

The fisherman looked at the spectacle with wide eyes. "Magic?" He stood up in his boat. "Excuse me but, are you kids wizards?" The four looked over to the fisherman. "Are you here to stop the curse?"

"Yeah!" Natsu answered, deactivating his flames.

"Maybe..." Lucy replied, trying not to decapitate herself.

"Ain't gonna happen." Gray gritted through his teeth.

The man stared at the group before coming to a decision. "Hop in, now."

"No way!" Gray protested before ending up knocked out by Natsu, shocking Laki.

"Alright. Ready when you are, sir." Natsu said as he slung Gray over his shoulder.

"Wait, why are you bringing Gray with us?" Lucy asked as she crawled under Laki's scythe.

"We can't let him go back to the guild." Natsu explained. "If he does, the next person they send is Erza."

"Hiek!" Lucy panicked and quickly ran onto the boat, before looking over to Laki, still holding her scythe. "Hey, Natsu. What about Laki?"

"Obviously, she'll be coming with us." Natsu explained as he grabbed some rope and started tying up Gray.

"What!?" Laki asked shocked, letting her scythe drop to the ground. "Why would I do that?"

"Come on, Laki." Natsu raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you really wanna go back to the guild and tell them not only did you fail to stop us, but you also lost Gray?"

"N-no, but..." Laki started to mumble, before sighing in defeat. "Alright, fine. You win. Let's go." She climbed into the boat and sat down next to Gray.

"Alright!" Natsu shouted. "Let's go tho the S-Class island!"

Seven Hours Later

Sea to Galuna Island

The sun had set and the group still wasn't close to Galuna island. Natsu was hanging over the side of the boat, ready to throw up and Gray had woken up.

"Okay, I'm getting this really creepy feeling." Lucy said as she stared out to the sea.

"Oh, shut up!" Gray roared at the blonde. "At least you're not tied up!" He then turned to Laki. "I told them you'd end up going along with Natsu, and I was right."

"Quiet, Gray." Laki said before turning to the fisherman. "So sir, why'd you change your mind about letting us on board?"

"First off, it's not sir. It's Bobo." The fisherman told them. "If you really must know, I use to be a citizen on Galuna Island."

"Really?" Lucy asked.

"But I had to flee." Bobo stated. "I just couldn't stay at that cursed place. I must warn you. Misfortune will befall you if you set foot on the island. There's no way to avoid it, unless you can lift the curse."

"What kind of curse is it?" Laki asked in curiosity.

Bobo sighed as he pulled back his cloak and shocked the passengers that could stand. His left arm was transformed into something demonic. "It's a vile demon curse." He stated.

"Holy crap, your arm." Gray stated.

"Is that the curse?" Lucy asked, scared.

"We're almost there." Bobo stated as he looked up. The wizards followed his eyes. "That's Galuna Island." The island in front of them had a glowing peak on it, confusing the passengers.

"Hey, why is the mountaintop glowing?" Lucy asked Bobo, but got no response. She turned around only to find him gone. "Where'd he go?"

"Did he fall out or something?" Gray asked.

"It's like he just disappeared into the air." Happy added.

A rumbling sound came from seemingly nowhere, scaring Lucy. "What's that sound?"

Laki turned around and came face to face with a rouge wave. "Um, guys!" The other turned around and freaked out. "I think we have a big problem."

"Happy, can't you just lift this boat and fly!?" Lucy asked in a blind panic.

"I'm not strong enough!" Happy answered as the wave crashed down on them, pulling them all to the bottom of the sea.

Next Morning

Galuna Island

Lucy groaned as she woke up from the shipwreck. She felt the sand cling to her body as she pulled away from the beach. She looked around for her friends, but could only find a few pieces of wood from the boat. She followed the wreckage and it lead her to her friends.

Lucy gasped when she saw the intimate position Laki and Natsu were in. Natsu had his face in Laki's chest and Laki had her hand on his chest.

Laki groaned as she woke up and had her vision consumed by a pink blur. She slowly looked down and realized that Natsu was unconscious on her chest.

"Eek!" Laki quickly pushed Natsu off her before standing up and grabbed her bow off the ground. 'Geez, I go to all this trouble to clean and style my hair for him and now it's ruined.' She quickly retired the bow atop her hair and brushed herself off before realizing that Lucy was watching them.

"Laki, I..." Lucy started before Natsu woke up.

"Wow!" Natsu sprang up. "We made it! We're on Galuna Island!"

"I guess that rouge wave washed us all ashore." Laki said, trying to hide her massive blush.

"Still, I can't get that guy out of my head." Lucy said aloud. "That whole demonic curse thing. And then after he told us that, he just vanished."

"Who cares about that!?" Natsu responded. "Let's just go exploring!"

"We've been here for about thirty second and you already forgot about the job?" Lucy asked. "There's suppose to be a village on this island. The mayor is the one who posted the request, so we should head there first."

"Hold on a second." All three looked over to see Gray standing up.

"You can't take us back now!" Natsu protested. "We've come so far."

"That ain't it." Gray told the group. "I'm coming with you." His response shocked the group. "No chance am I letting you clowns get to the second floor before me. Plus, if you were kicked out of the guild, it be a pretty boring place. If we pull this off, no way Gramps can stay mad at us for long." All the wizards smirked, including Gray. "Let's go."

"Yeah!" Natsu shouted as he lead the group with Happy on his shoulder, followed by Gray, Laki and Lucy.

"Hey, Laki." Lucy spoke up to her friend. "About what I saw..."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Laki said, quickly trying to change the subject.

"You can't just ignore this." Lucy grabbed her by the shoulders. "I saw what I saw. You and Natsu were..." She couldn't finish a Laki covered her mouth.

"Keep quite, Lucy." Laki begged. "I don't want him to know."

Lucy grabbed Laki's wrist and removed the purple haired girls hands from her mouth. "I understand." Lucy told her. "You're worried it will change your friendship with him. Don't be, you'll never know what the future could hold if you're scared to face it."

"Hey!" Both girls looked over to see Natsu and Gray waiting for them. "You two coming or not?" Natsu asked.

"Coming!" Both girls ran over to the guys and the group continued to walk.

Hours passed and the sun set again before the group reached a massive wooden door. Nailed to the door was sign with the words 'Keep Out' painted on it.

"Well, we found the village. Now what?" Gray asked.

"Look at that gate." Laki muttered. "When they say keep out, they mean it."

"Anyone home!?" Lucy shouted. "We came here to help you! Could you please open the gate!?" No response came from inside the gate.

"Let's bust in." Natsu suggested with a wicked smile.

"No!" Lucy scolded him before noticing two people atop the gate.

"Who's there?" The guard shouted down.

"We're Fairy Tail wizards." Lucy shouted up. "We saw your request, so we came here to help."

"Fairy Tail? Why weren't we notified that your guild took the job?" The second guard asked.

"Um..." Lucy tried to think of a good excuse but nothing came.

"It was probably some kinda mix up with the paperwork." Laki quickly responded for the group.

"Then let me see your emblems right now!" The second gaurd shouted down. One by one, the wizards barred their emblems for the guards to see. "They look real..." He muttered to the first guard.

"Someone finally accepted our request!" The first guard almost cried tears of joy. "Open the gate! I'll get the mayor!" The massive frame opened and the wizards walked in. Soon, they met with a mob of cloaked figures.

"Thank you for coming here, mages." One figure hold a staff spoke. "I'm Moka, the village chief. Pleasantries aside, there is something you must see." Moka turned around to face the mob. "Everyone, take off your robes!" The group did as asked and took off their robes, revaling horrifying mutations similar to what the boatman had.

"Holy crap! Those sideburns!" Natsu said, uncaring about the arm.

"Not that." Moka told him. "Take a look at my arm. Everyone on the island has suffered grotesque disfigurement from this curse. Even the dogs and birds have been affected by this."

"I don't mean to be rude, but are you sure it's a curse your dealing with?" Gray asked. "It could be some kind of new, infectious disease."

"I've taken this to over a dozen doctors, young man." Moka responded. "But even after they searched through all of medical history, they found nothing about this that could possibly be called a disease. Also, the moons magic has something to do with this."

"What do you mean, the moons magic?" Lucy asked.

"Since ancient times, this island has absorbed moonlight, making it shine as beautifully as the moon itself." Moka explained. "But a few years ago, an evil spell was cast upon it, causing the moon to turn purple."

"The moon turned purple?" Laki asked. "Natsu, you ever seen a purple moon?"

"Not that I can think of." Natsu said scratching his head.

"Everyone from the mainland says that." Moka told them. "But the moon did turn purple on this island. After the purple moon showed up, our bodies began to change."

Happy looked up from Natsu's shoulder and gasped. "It's coming out from behind the clouds." As the clouds flew by, the moon was indeed revealed to be glowing purple.

"It's true... A purple moon." Lucy covered her mouth in horror.

"That's really creepy." Gray added.

"This is the curse of the purple moon." The wizards looked back at Moka who was shaking in fear. "Please, stand back. The change is about to happen." No sooner when he finished, his eyes went wide. The villagers behind him cried out in pain as the moon light hit their skin, accelerating the mutations.

The screams finally died, as all the villagers had been transformed into demons. "I'm sorry if we scare you, but when the purple moon is out, our bodies transform into those of vile demons." Moka finished his explanation. "If this isn't a curse, then what is it?" Several of the villagers began crying.

"We return to normal when the sun rises, but..." Moka let out a depressed sigh before continuing. "Recently, there were some people who didn't change back, for they had lost their minds."

"How sad." Lucy muttered.

"The fate for those people, who had lost their souls to the demon curse, we had no choice but to put them to death." Moka confessed, shocking the group.

"But can't you just keep them tied up or something?" Natsu asked. "They might turn back to normal someday."

"We tried that at first, but they kept breaking out." Moka told him. "And if we let them live, then the monsters would kill us all." Moka pulled out a photo as tears filled his eyes. "Once the curse has them, there is no hope for them. That's why... I had to kill my own son." He hung his head in shame and the wizards got a glimpse of the picture, and they gasped in shock.

It was Bobo, the man that brought them over to the island. "But we, yesterday..." Lucy started before Gray shushed her.

"I guess we know why he just vanished on us." Gray whispered. "He's dead, but his soul won't rest until his island is safe." Lucy froze in fear, realizing Gray was talking about a ghost.

"Please help us." Moka begged the wizards. "If this keeps up, everyone will lose their souls to this wicked curse. We'll all die."

"We won't let it happen!" Natsu shouted at the chief. "We'll fix this, I promise."

Moka looked up with hope in his eyes. "There is only one way to stop this curse." Moka told them. "Please, destroy the moon!" His words were shocking to the group. "I'm sorry, you must be tired after walking all the way here. Please rest a bit. Lulu." A blue female demon walked up beside the chief. "Take them to a spare hut."

The demoness nodded before walking away. The wizards quickly followed her to the spare hut. Lulu held the curtain door open for them and the group entered. As the wizards prepared for bed, Happy stared at the moon from the windowsill. "I never knew the moon could be so creepy."

"Would you close that window already!?" Lucy snapped at the cat. "Did you forget what the chief said? We have to stay out of the moon light. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna turn into some freaky demon."

"I'm not so sure about this job." Natsu said from his straw chair.

"Do they honestly believe we can destroy the moon?" Gray asked.

"I know." Laki muttered from behind Natsu. "It's just not feasible."

"I have no idea how many punches it will take to destroy it." Natsu said.

"Are you kidding me!?" Gray asked shocked.

"Natsu, it's impossible to destroy the moon." Laki told the pinkette. "In fact, I don't think there's a wizard alive who can do it."

"But that's the job." Natsu reminded them. "If we take a job and back down, it'll make Fairy Tail look bad. We'd be a disgrace to the guild."

"It doesn't matter." Gray told him. "Impossible remains impossible. Besides, how are you gonna get up there in the first place?"

"Happy, duh." Natsu pointed to his feline friend.

"I can't fly that high for that long." The cat reminded Natsu.

"Look, this whole 'destroy the moon' thing comes from the victims perspective." Lucy reminded them. "Maybe if we do some investigating, we can find a different way to break the curse." She was taken out of her thoughts when a shirt hit her face.

"You kids can do what you want, but I'm going to sleep." Gray yawned as he pulled his socks off.

"Gray, show some respect to Lucy." Laki scolded the other maker-mage as she took of her boots and placed them near her mat.

"Alright." Natsu chimed in. "Tomorrow we explore the island. Let's just sleep for tonight." He and Happy plopped down on the same mat and fell to sleep.

"Sounds like a plan to me..." Gray muttered as he drifted to sleep.

"Yeah, I'm sleepy too..." Lucy rubbed her eyes before climbing into her own mat. "Good night." She closed her eyes to sleep, only to wake up. "It's so loud! How can I get any kind of sleep when the beast and the pervert keep snoring?"

She then looked over to see Laki pull out a small box from her pocket. Laki opened the box, revealing two purple earplugs. "Yes. Thank you, Laki." Lucy reached for the box, only to have Laki slap her hand.

"Sorry, Lucy." Laki told her. "I only have the one pair, and seeing as your the one who Natsu invited, I think you should be the one to listen to him." She put the plugs in her ear and smiled at Lucy. "Night." She pulled the mats blanket over her shoulder and fell to sleep.

Lucy stared at her friend with wide eyes and an open mouth. 'What'd I do to her?'

Next Morning

"It's way too early." Natsu groaned as they walked to the village gate.

"I've never gotten up so early in my life." Gray complained.

"I don't know what you two are complaining about." Laki said as she walked beside Lucy with Happy on her head. "Me and Lucy slept great last night."

"No thanks to you." Lucy told her, earning a tongue from Laki. The group soon reached the gates to the village.

"You're all up early." The guard shouted down. "Let me guess. A little nerve racking sleeping around a bunch of cursed people?"

"It's not that." Lucy shouted back up. "Listen, since we can't destroy the moon during the day, we want to explore the island a bit. Is that okay?"

"What?" Natsu asked surprised. "Are we really going to destroy it!?"

"Go ahead." The guard pulled a lever and raised the gate up. "But be careful. In the forest there is..." He looked up and saw their shadows walking into the woods. "Huh. Already gone."

"What is this!?" Natsu asked as soon as they left the sight of the guards. "Yesterday, you told me that it's impossible to destroy the moon!"

"Natsu, it is impossible to destroy the moon." Laki told him. "I'm pretty sure Lucy only said in front of the townspeople."

"Even if we could destroy it, we won't." Gray added. "Because if we did, we might really screw up the whole world. The moon isn't just some big chunk of rock in the sky. It helps regulate the ocean currents and I don't know about you guys, but I don't wanna live underwater."

"It wouldn't be all bad." Happy said, making the three wizards look down to the cat. "We'd have an endless supply of fish."

"Would you guys please keep it down?" The wizards and cat turned around to see Lucy sitting inside a walking, talking grandfather clock that they could only guess was a Celestial Spirit. "We have no idea what's out here, so we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves, she demands grumpily." The spirit spoke for her.

"Can't you just walk on your own?" Natsu asked her.

"He's right." Gray added. "Are you sure you should be using your spirits this way?"

"Look, this curse has me freaked out, okay? It's not something we can just beat up and leave. That has me scared, she says nervously." The clock spirit told them.

"Are you kidding!?" Natsu shouted in joy. "I'm burning with passion! S-Class quests rule!" This earned a giggle from Laki.

"Relax, Lucy." Gray said confidently. "I bet I can just freezes this curse. You'll be fine."

"You guys are idiots, she says." The spirit said as Happy climbed inside.

The group stopped walking as the sound of huge foot steps and a low growl reached their ears. Natsu, Gray and Laki, turned around and gawked. Behind Lucy was a giant rat dressed up like a maid.

"What the hell?" Laki shouted.

"It's huge!" Gray said just as loud.

"Don't just stand there, beat it up, she yells frantically." Horologium says for Lucy.

The giant rat reared its head back with its checks puffed, ready to spit something out. Gray dropped into his maker stance and channeled his magic. "Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray slammed his hands to the ground at the same time the rat unleashed some kind of breath attack.

"Gross!" All three outside the the clock spirit held their noses as they were assaulted by the stench. The spirit himself was then affected and returned to the Spirit World, leaving Lucy and Happy unprotected from the smell.

The rat let out as good as laugh as it could before stomping over to the group.

"Natsu, get up!" Gray shouted at the downed pinkette.

"I don't think he can." Laki said shaking Natsu. "His nose is so sensitive, I think he was knocked out by that smell!"

The rat glared before dropping to all fours. Laki grabbed Natsu and carried him as the group ran from the rat chasing after them. It unleashed its breath attack two more times before Gray finally had an idea.

"Ice-Make: Floor!" He slammed his hands to the ground, freezing it over. The rat tripped on the ice and fell, banging it head on a rock.

"Huh, what?" Natsu finally woke up on Laki's shoulder and looked at the downed rat on the icy ground. "I could have taken it."

"Shut up, Natsu." Gray gritted though his teeth. "You couldn't even stand a second ago."

Lucy looked over her shoulder and saw a massive stone temple. "Guys, look. There's a building over there. We should hide in there while we can."

"We're beating it up while we have the chance!" Natsu and Gray responded, kicking and punching the unconscious rodents head. Lucy stared in shock while Laki tried to pull Natsu away.

"Natsu, please." Laki begged. "You were just knocked out by that thing. You need to rest."

Natsu looked down at Laki and knew she was right. With a sigh, he stopped hitting the rats head. "Alright, fine. You win. let's go."

"Yeah, this is kinda boring." Gray said, still punching the rat. The group quickly ran into what appeared to be an ancient temple of some kind.

"Talk about spacious." Lucy was in shock at how big the temple was inside.

"Yeah, but it's falling apart." Natsu observed.

"I wonder when it was built." Gray pondered.

Natsu looked up and found some weird looking rocks. "What are those?" The others looked up at the stones.

"They're moons." Gray said.

"Makes sense." Laki added. "This island was original called Moon Island."

"Moon island, a moon curse, and now moon shaped stones." Lucy muttered. "This can't can't get any creepier, can it?"

"Man, this place is old." Natsu walked away from the group and started stomping on the ground. "Is this floor even sturdy?" He asked himself, stomping harder.

Lucy looked over to Natsu. "Don't go stomping on it, then!"

Her words came too late, as Natsu broke through the floor. The crack spread over to the others and the whole group fell down the massive hole in the floor.

"Natsu, you idiot!" Gray shouted at his rival.

"Natus, grab on." Laki shouted and Natsu did as she asked. "Wood-Make: Harvester of Souls!" Laki crafted her scythe and dug it into the wall, trying to stop their decent. However, all the scythe did was slow them down, as they soon reached the bottom of the hole.

"Thanks, Laki." Natsu said before running over to uncover the others from a pile of stone. "You guys okay?" Natsu asked as he freed the others.

"I'd be better if you hadn't knocked down the floor!" Lucy scolded him.

"Why do you always have to act on instinct!?" Gray asked Natsu infuriated. "Here's an idea. If you thought before you acted, maybe you wouldn't destroy as much stuff as you do!"

"Where are we?" Lucy asked, looking up at the hole Natsu created.

"Underneath the temple." Laki told her.

"Wow! A secret cave!" Natsu shouted with joy. "I'm gonna go check it out!" He added, running from the room.

"Would you stop running around like a crazy idiot!?" Gray shouted at his frienemy.

Natsu didn't hear him as he was to far ahead. The others had no choice but to run after him. As Natsu rounded a corner, he froze at the sight before him.

"Natsu, what is it?" Lucy asked with Happy on her shoulder. Gray and Laki followed suite.

"Hey, guys. What's that?" Natsu asked as the other walked forward. Once they saw the same thing Natsu saw, their eyes went wide in fear.

In the center of the room was a gigantic chuck of ice, but what was more terrifying was what was inside it. Trapped in the ice was a massive demon.

"Th-That's impossible." Gray seemed to be more affected by the demons presence than the others. "It-It can't be. Why is it here!?"

"You've seen this thing before?" Natsu asked as he ran over to Gray.

"Gray, what is that thing?" Laki asked her fellow maker mage.

"Deliora..." Gray let out in a soft whisper. "The demon of destruction." He looked up at the demon. "But why is it here!? It doesn't make any damn sense!"

Lucy stared at it before she heard footsteps from behind her. "Someone's coming. Hide!" She told the other wizards, who hid behind rocks.

"Is it around here that you heard the voices?" A blue haired man with large eyebrows asked another man with dog features. "This better be important. You know I hate being up in the day."

The two walked past where the wizards where hiding and continued towards the demon. "So, Toby." The man with eyebrows spoke. "Have you been exposed to the Moon Drip? You have those ears of yours."

"I keep telling you! It's a fashion statement!" The now named Toby yelled at his companion.

"I'm just kidding." The blue haired man chuckled.

"Yuka, Toby." Both turned around and saw a pink haired woman in a gothic lilica style dress walking up to them.

"Sherry, what is it?" Yuka asked.

"It's Angelica." Sherry said. "Someone hurt her and I'm sad."

"It's a stupid rat. Get over it!" Toby shouted.

"She's not a rat." Sherry retorted, holding her hands to her heart. "She's a hunter that prowls the forest to keep us safe. And love."

"So, we have intruders?" Yuka asked.

"Moonlight will gather soon." Sherry said as she walked over to the frozen demon. "We must get rid of them before the Cold Emperor finds them, and before the moon shine in the sky."

"Agreed." Yuka nodded.

"Since they've seen Deliora, they can't be allowed to live." Sherry continued. "We'll give them eternal sleep. We'll give them love."

"You do mean death, right?" Toby asked. The group turned and left the room.

"Those three definitely weren't from the village." Natsu said popping out from behind the rocks. "We should have just grabbed them and asked them questions."

"Not yet. Let's see how this goes." Lucy told him.

"This whole thing is getting way too complicated." Laki muttered. "First a demon curse and now a frozen demon. And who's this cold emperor?"

"Deliora.." Gray muttered as he stared back at the demon. "How the hell did they even find it!?"

"Was it hidden or something?" Happy asked.

"Yeah." Gray nodded to the cat. "It was sealed inside a glacier on the northern continent. Ten years ago, this immortal demon ravaged the Isbin area and countless people lost their lives." The others stared at their friend. "The woman who taught me ice magic, my master Ur, gave her life to seal this monstrosity away."

Gray was now shaking in anger. "I don't know how it got here, and I don't know who this Cold Emperor is, or what he wants, but I won't let him disgrace Ur's name! We're going to stop him, no matter what!"