It had been two weeks since Lucy joined the Fairy Tail guild. She settled in quickly. Most everyone loved her. She made friends, went on jobs with them, and even found a cute little apartment near to the guildhall.
Lucy also hadn't seen Natsu since he rescued Macao from Mt. Hakobe. Happy had taken to staying at her place in the fire mage's absence. She didn't mind looking after the blue cat, but she wondered what his partner was up to. When she asked around, all she got were strange looks or vague answers such as, "Probably on another one of those death missions..." or "Out looking for that 'family' he claims he had. Could be a couple months before we see him again." Lucy worried for him, but she knew he could take care of himself. Besides, she was doing great without him.
In the past two weeks, Lucy had taken down a crazy rich guy, rescued one of her favourite authors, acquired a new celestial spirit, and rescued every guild master from one of the Black Wizard Zeref's demons all by herself!
Okay, maybe not all by herself.
But she had the help of her two newest friends, Gray Fullbuster and Erza Scarlet. She had heard many alarming stories about Titania through magazines and fellow guild members alike, but she was really an angel. Maybe just had the wrong way of going about certain situations sometimes.
A few days after the Mt. Hakobe incident, Erza had returned to the guild wielding a giant tusk. Everyone was on their best behaviour when she arrived. She came looking for Chaos and Gray to help her on a mission but ended up taking Lucy as a replacement after hearing she'd been hanging around the Chaos Dragon. Thinking he only stuck around her because she was powerful, Erza assumed Lucy would be a fit fill-in to assist with a rising threat.
Boy, was she wrong.
Lucy was a big help anyway, despite the misassumptions regarding her level of skill, and they still managed to complete the mission without delay.
That brings us to today. Lucy was about to head off to bed before she heard a knock on her front door.
"Who could that be so late?" She grumbled as she peeked through the peephole and opened the door. "Gray?" The shirtless man grinned.
"I got us a job! Check out the reward!"
"Seven million? That could pay my rent..." Lucy froze when she saw the red stamp at the top of the job sheet. "S-CLASS?" Lucy shouted. S-Class jobs paid extremely well, that she learned from Erza. But they were reserved for ultra strong, extra experienced mages. Lucy and Gray were the opposite of that.
Master Makarov had made it explicitly clear S-Class jobs were not to be taken by those who aren't S-Class, meaning if you weren't Chaos, Titania, Laxus, Mystogan, or the mysterious Ace of Fairy Tail, those quests were forbidden. "We can't take this! How did you even get it?" As if on cue, a certain blue cat flew through the open door and landed on Gray's head.
"Thank you for the fish, Gray. And all for a silly piece of paper." Happy drawled contently between munches. Lucy facepalmed.
"C'mon, Lucy. Think of the reward!" Gray grinned. Lucy looked back down at the job sheet in her hands. She could really use the money...
"Fine! Let's go get this over with. I can't believe I'm going to be expelled from the guild in my second week." Lucy sighed as Gray cheered.
The next morning, at the Fairy Tail guildhall, the only topic of discussion was the missing quest.
"I wonder who took that job."
"It came from the second floor, so whoever stole it probably won't be coming back."
"The second floor? So, it was S-Class?"
"Who would be stupid enough to take one of those? It's just a death wish."
An amused voice boomed from upstairs. "The cat. A cat with wings flew up and grabbed that Galuna Island quest right off the board." All attention turned to the blonde lightning mage on the second floor. He sat back with a devilish smirk on his face as the guild began to put two and two together.
"Happy? Does that mean Chaos..."
"Chaos would've checked in. The only other people that cat would help would be..."
"Gray and Lucy!" The guild was thrown into a panic.
"No one's survived Galuna Island! Let alone the three biggest idiots in this guild! It's over! This is the end!" The guild continued to panic until Mirajane spoke up.
"Laxus! Why didn't you try and stop them?" Mira marched upstairs to the lightning mage and glared down at him. No one had seen Mirajane Strauss angry in a long time, but it was no secret that Mira liked Lucy and considered her a close friend, almost a sister. Anyone would be mad at someone who put a close friend into imminent danger.
"How was I supposed to know that was Happy? Any random cat could've flown in and snatched that request off the board. Oh well. Anyway, they broke strict rules. If we're to have an unbiased and fair system, they need to be punished. Am I right to assume they'll be expelled when they return, Gramps? That is, if they return." Laxus laughed.
"Enough!" Makarov shouted. It was enough to soften Laxus's boasting cackle to a quiet snicker. "Laxus, you will go retrieve them."
"Pfft, don't be stupid. They got themselves into this mess. Don't send me to clean it up. Besides, I have my own work to deal with. This is Fairy Tail, Fiore's strongest guild. Anyone here should be able to take care of themselves, right?"
"Laxus! No one else in this guild can bring those three back by force! If you don't leave now, there's a near inevitable chance Gray, Happy, and Lucy will die!" Makarov urged. Laxus turned his head. Suddenly, the guild erupted into chaos. People shouted at each other. Who should go bring them back? Should they be expelled? Would they even be alive to be found? Amid disarray, someone cleared their throat loudly at the entrance to the guild. All heads turned towards the figure in the door.
"Hey, old bastard."
"Oh, this brings back memories! This is where I met Natsu!" Lucy clapped excitedly.
"Natsu?" Gray asked.
"Chaos." Happy explained.
"Oh, yeah. I kinda forgot he has an actual name. Speaking of, why are you two so close?"
"He's a sweetheart once you get to know him. He's just not very good at expressing his emotions."
Gray narrowed his eyes. "Just be careful, Lucy. He's dangerous."
"Dangerous? We're all technically dangerous. Why is Natsu the outcast when there's still stronger and far more dangerous people than him out there?" The tension between Gray and Lucy was so thick, a couple of nearby people had stopped to stare.
"Guys, look. Let's go catch that boat!" Happy broke the silence. Gray and Lucy averted their hard glares from one another as they followed Happy to the fisherman's boat that sat by the dock.
"Excuse me," Lucy waved at the two fishermen in the boat. "We're trying to get to Galuna Island. Would you please give us a ride? We'll pay you!"
"Galuna Island? Not a chance!" The first fisherman shouted.
"We ain't goin' near that place! Not for all the money in Fiore!" The other cut in.
"Forget about it. Go back where you came from. We don't even wanna hear that name. The sailors 'round here refuse to speak about it."
"That place is cursed, I tell ya'. Goin' there'd be nothin' but bad news."
Lucy and Gray made quick eye contact. What was so bad about Galuna Island that the locals were frightened of the name alone? How would they get there if the sailors and fishermen refused to get near it? As the trio contemplated the fishermen's words, someone appeared behind them, a heavy fist grabbing the collars of Gray and Lucy's shirts, a flaming tendril rising to grasp the hovering cat's tail.
"Found you."
Gray, Lucy, and Happy all screamed.
"Chaos!"
"What are you doing here?"
Ignoring Gray completely, Chaos focused his attention to Lucy.
"The old bastard ordered me to bring you back. You're in a lot of trouble; I can only do so much to get you out of it. Come on, we're going back." Natsu released his captives and turned around, beginning to walk away, expecting the three to follow. Happy offered an apologetic glance to Gray and Lucy before flying after Natsu.
"No!" Lucy shouted. Natsu stopped in his tracks, ears twitching at the refusal. "We want to do this quest. We're going to do this quest."
"You don't have the skill for it, Lucy." Natsu turned around. "Same goes for you, Fullbuster. Now come on. I have other things to do." The ice mage shuddered at the thought Chaos knew his name.
"I'm not leaving!" Lucy stamped her foot on the ground, letting Natsu know she was not moving. She felt like a stubborn kid, but she couldn't let him think he was in charge of her. Especially when he barely bothered to communicate with her. "You left for two weeks without a word. Not even a tiny hint as to where you were going or what you were doing. I just showed up at the guild one morning and was told you were gone! You can't just suddenly show up and expect me to follow you around again, I'm not some dog for you to train, Natsu!"
Seething with anger, Natsu paced towards her. His fists were on fire, as he stared her down with a threatening glare. Even with a demon like that in front of her, Lucy stood her ground. Gray was backing up slowly, but Lucy's feet stayed glued to the concrete, and she held his glare right back.
"She has a death wish..." Gray mumbled.
Natsu stepped closer and closer to Lucy, who remained still and composed. Even as the temperature rose, she didn't break a sweat, holding her own hard gaze.
"Fine."
"Aha!" Lucy clapped. "So, the super scary Chaos isn't as strong as he looks, huh?" Chaos growled and marched over to the boat.
"Let us on."
"Y-yes sir!"
Gray's jaw dropped and Happy shook his head with disappointment.
"I thought you two were gonna stop fighting so much."
"This is normal?" Gray pointed in confusion.
The party of four got in the boat. A different fisherman had agreed to bring them to Galuna Island. During the trip, he asked about their intentions with the island and was shocked to find out they intended to break the curse. Natsu was unnervingly quiet, and Lucy was beginning to piece together he was like that on most forms of transportation. Probably why he preferred walking when he could. So, she left him alone. She asked the fisherman to tell them about Galuna Island to keep Gray distracted.
The fisherman used to live on Galuna Island. He affirmed it was cursed, and that disaster would befall anyone who set foot on its soil. He had removed an outer layer of clothing to reveal a demon's arm attached to his shoulder, prompting gasps from all in the boat, save Natsu. When the fisherman's story ended, he disappeared. Lucy spotted a strange glowing mountain in the centre of the island as a giant wave pulled the boat underwater.
Daylight shone over the land by the time the group had recovered from their rough landing on the island.
"We're here?" Gray stood up first, rubbing his head.
"A wave must've washed us ashore. We really lucked out." Lucy said, scanning her surrounding which included the remains of a wooden boat and a broken fishing rod. "Where's Natsu?"
"He went exploring! I tried to stop him, but he threatened to barbeque me!" Happy came flying in, a panicked expression on his face. Lucy sighed.
"You know I'd never let him do that to you. But we should go find him first. The job flyer says there's a village on this island. Maybe he went there. Come on." She began walking into the forest. Gray and Happy hesitantly trailed behind her.
Not too long later, the three mages arrived at a high and scary looking wall.
"I think this is it." Lucy said, looking down at the job sheet and back up at the wall.
"What does it mean, 'keep out'?" Gray looked at Happy, who shuddered in response.
"Excuse me! Please open up!" Lucy shouted as she banged on the gate. There was nothing but silence.
"Should I break it?" Gray asked.
"No!"
Lucy paced back and forth in front of the wall looking for an entrance, until a voice came from above.
"Who's there?" Two figures were standing on top of the wall, looking down at the three travellers.
"Ah, hello! We're from the Fairy Tail wizard guild! You guys put out this job offer, right?" She held up the flyer.
"That's impossible! Someone from Fairy Tail already came here, which means either he's lying or you're lying!" The guard shouted. Lucy let out an annoyed puff of breath.
"If he had pink hair, a bad attitude, and was wearing a black cloak, it was our friend. He ran off ahead of us when we got here." She shouted back. "Look, we can prove we're from Fairy Tail! Wanna see our guild marks?" She held up her hand. The two men at the top of the wall looked at each other then back at the mages. The wall lifted, surprising the trio.
"It's like going into a monster's mouth..." Happy whined.
"Don't say stuff like that!"
On the other side of the wall was a large group of people covered head to toe in white. The man who stood at the front held a crescent moon shaped staff, and it could only be assumed he was the chief of the island's village. He introduced himself as Moka and said Natsu had already run off. At his call, each person in the crowd dropped their white coverings and revealed every person had a limb which was that of a demon. From the children to the elders, everyone had an arm or a leg or an extra body part which was not human.
"Like the man on the boat." Gray noted.
"Everything on this island is affected by this curse. Even dogs and birds." Moka explained. "Every doctor we've consulted claimed this cannot be a disease. There's no doubt it's the moon's magic."
"The moon's magic?"
"This island has absorbed moonlight since ancient times. It made the island shine beautifully like the moon. Some years ago, the moon's light turned purple." The clouds parted to reveal the moon, which glowed an eerie purple hue. The villagers began to scream, clutching their heads and dropping like flies.
"What's going on?!" Gray got into ice-make stance. All the villagers began to completely transform into full demons. Lucy clutched her keys, preparing to call a spirit. When all the people fully transformed, they stood back up like nothing had happened. Only they were no longer human.
"This is it. The moon's curse on our island." Moka said. The people looked away in shame.
"You poor people..." Lucy sympathised.
"This is... so cool!" Gray shouted. Everyone blanked. "You're so lucky! I want horns and spikes too!"
"This is the first time..."
"...we've been called 'cool'..."
"Pull yourself together, Gray! They aren't used to this." Lucy scolded. Gray's laughter died and he looked at Lucy.
"Sorry."
"Anyway, this is the curse. Come morning we'll be back to normal. However, there are those who lose their minds and never change back. We've since made it a rule to kill those who transform into mindless monsters. Our own people... but we can't let them live as they'd kill us who are sane. We've tried to capture them, hoping they'd change back... they always break free. As a result, I've had to kill my own son. My son... whose mind became that of a demon." Moka began to cry. Lucy gasped. Gray and Happy were dead silent. Lucy and Gray looked at each other in silent shock. The photo was of the fisherman who had brought them to Galuna Island.
"He can't rest in peace..." Gray said softly, hoping Lucy would catch the hint.
A ghost. Lucy thought.
"Please, save our island! It's only a matter of time until we all lose our minds and become demons!" Moka was on his hands and knees at this point. Begging the young wizards to help somehow.
"We won't let that happen! We'll figure something out!"
"There's only one way to make that happen." Moka's demeanour changed drastically. "The moon. Please destroy the moon."