One Cold, Demonic Night (Part 1)

A/N: We're finally getting to what I would call the start of Fairy Tail being good. This chapter was a challenge to right, especially since most of it is original content, which will be happening more often the further we get into the series.

There are a few surprises that I'm excited to see how you guys feel about it. Make sure to comment your thoughts, I love hearing reactions to my ideas, both positive and negative.

Our Fairy Tail mages are riding the train back from the capital, leaving the resident dragon slayer feeling queasy as usual. Natsu is currently laying in Lucy's lap, trying not to throw up on the floor. "Ugh, train's are the worst things humans ever made. Why can't you all just fly like Igneel?"

Lucy has a sweat mark on her face at his remark. "Humans don't have wings, Natsu. Maybe you can grow a pair of wings one day and then you'll never have to ride a train again." Natsu doesn't respond, as the train hitches for a second, leaving Natsu's face an even darker shade of green. "Eviiiil…"

Lucy then looks toward Gray, who is trying not to fall asleep in his chair. "Man, how can you sleep so easily all the time? Erza had to yell at you last time, so you didn't fall asleep during the Lullaby mission."

Gray responds with a yawn, stretching in his chair. "I just find it really easy to sleep on vehicles. Though sometimes I end up in no clothes when I wake up." Lucy sighs at his acceptance of unusual stripping. "Why do you always strip all the time? Doesn't seem like the kind of thing you just pick up randomly."

Gray gives her a sad smile while not meeting her eyes. "It was something my master taught me. The best way to learn elemental magic is to immerse yourself with that element. We trained in a frozen wasteland for a year. One time, she told us that she once trained in a Strong Magic Region where even your breath turned into ice." Lucy smiles after hearing Gray's explanation. "Wow. I'd love to meet your master one day, she sounds great-"

"She's dead."

Lucy gasps at Gray's quick response. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know. I didn't mean to make you upset." Gray waves his hand in a placating manner. "Don't worry about it. It was years ago. I don't talk about it much. *Ahhh* I think I'll take that nap now."

Lucy sighs as Gray then falls asleep. She looks to the only other (seemingly) human companion in the train – Charmy – who hadn't stopped eating since they got on the train. "Oh, my Meal Prince, I will make you mine one day." Lucy's face gains a sweat mark. "I hope that Noelle and the others are having a better conversation in their room."

In another room on the same train across from the rest of the Fairy Tail mages, Noelle, Mimosa, and Yuno are listening to Asta attempting to describe his kidnapping with the Wizard King.

Key word, attempting.

"-And then two of those guys went BAM, and then he appeared like ZWOOSH, and then they were in bubbles like POP, and then-" Asta's fanboying is interrupted by Noelle putting her hand on his mouth. "Okay, Dorksta, we get it. The Wizard King was really cool and strong. You've been telling us that ever since you got on the train."

Noelle then takes her hand off Asta's mouth with a blush on her face once she realizes what she did. "L-let's talk about something else besides Dorksta's stupidity." Asta, ignoring the insult to his intelligence tries to think for a few seconds before a lightbulb goes over his head. "Oh, I know! Why didn't you and Mimosa tell us about you guys being royals?"

Noelle and Mimosa flinch at Asta's blunt question while Yuno simply rolls his eyes. "Asta, master of subtlety." He mumbles sarcastically. Mimosa is the one to speak up. "We didn't wanna tell anyone because we wanted to join Fairy Tail on our own merits. We knew we couldn't keep it from you all forever, especially since you would run into people from the Noble Realm who recognized us sooner or later. We still have the royal pins that designate us as members of the royal family. We just didn't think that we would meet up with our families so soon after we left."

Yuno chooses this time to inject himself into the conversation. "Why did you two join Fairy Tail anyway? I know that Noelle's siblings are part of the Silver Eagles, but Mimosa's cousins seem nice. I'm sure you could have gotten into a better guild like the Crimson Lions or the Golden Dawn. You would have been treated like the royalty you are."

"Well, to be honest," Mimosa says while pointing her fingers together, "Noelle was the one who wanted to join a Common guild and chose Fairy Tail because it was so popular. I was supposed to be a new recruit in the Golden Dawn because Healing magic like mine is super rare."

"Well why didn't you join them?" Asta asks. "Because Noelle couldn't get in," Mimosa says. "Despite being a royal, her lack of magic control alienated all of the Royal guilds from accepting her. Me and Noelle have been friends forever, so we promised to stick together no matter what. To me, that meant joining her wherever she went."

"You didn't have to do that, Mimosa!" Noelle exclaims. "I don't even know why you're still my friend! I was awful to you when we were kids, you should've just found better friends and left me alone! I'm not-"

"Don't finish that sentence."

Noelle recoils as Asta and Mimosa both speak at the same time. "You are worth it Noelle, no matter what your brothers say about you," Mimosa says earnestly. "Yeah!" Asta says forcefully. "You're nothing like those jackasses at the capital. You and Mimosa are the nicest girls I've ever met, and you're both friends with me and Yuno despite the fact we're from a small town like Hage."

The two girls blush at Asta's compassionate comments while he keeps talking. "Me and Yuno realized a long time ago that we're closer as a family than people who are blood related. Ever since, we both decided that we'll treat every friend we meet as family. So, I'm asking you, Mimosa, Noelle." Asta gets on his knees in front of the two of them and hold their hands.

"Will you be an important part of my family?"

…

…

…

The door to both rooms explode in a blast of water, shooting Asta into the room where Lucy and the other are, waking up Grey and shocking Lucy.

Charmy just keeps eating.

Asta's eyes have become swirls as he tries to comprehend what just happened. "Was that a yes or a no?" He asks groggily. Noelle can be heard shouting from the other room, "What the hell, Dorksta? You don't just ask someone something like that?!"

Back in the cabin with Noelle and her group, she and Mimosa's face are blood red as they freak out in embarrassment. 'What kind of idiot asks someone such an important question like that?!' Noelle shrieks inside of her head. 'We haven't even known each other for a month yet! Not to mention he asked both of us at the same time! I mean, maybe if he asked me out first – wait what am I saying?!'

Mimosa's thoughts are very similar, but more accepting. 'Did Asta just ask me and Noelle to…? Oh, I don't know if I'm ready for such a big commitment! I would if he asked me again one day.'

Yuno just stares at the antics with his usual deadpan stare. 'Man, he's really bad at this romance stuff. Does he even realize what his question implies?'

The rest of the train ride Noelle and Mimosa ponder Asta's question while Asta sleeps off the concussion Noelle gave them. None of them could know however, that just one mission, one simple night, would start of a series of events that would soon push them all to their limits, awaken something new in all of them, and find out their destinies.

(A few days later…)

A few days after they got back from the Royal Capital, Yuno and Asta had went up to Erza at the same time with the same request.

"Will you please train me?"

The entire guildhall was shocked at their question, and then outright fainted when Erza accepted their request. Erza explained that she understood their desire to be stronger and was inspired by their rivalry and brotherly bond.

"You two could certainly teach a few people a lesson on rival behavior," Erza said while glaring at Gray and Natsu, who both looked away in fear. "You also remind me of myself when I was younger," Erza says before giving a quick glance at the bar where Mirajane was serving. "Though why do you want me to train you? Especially Asta, you've already beaten me."

"Yeah, but it was really close," Asta explains, "and I pretty much won because you didn't understand how my Anti-Magic worked. You probably have a dozen armors I've never seen, while I had to use all of my abilities against you. Not to mention that you're way better at using a sword than me. If I fought you again, I don't think I could win again."

Erza nods at Asta's explanation. "I see that you learned a lot from our battle, and I'm glad to see that you haven't let your victory over me make you overconfident." She then turns to the other aspiring Wizard King. "How about you Yuno? If I understand correctly, you and Gray have been training recently, plus you're a long-range Caster, aren't you?"

Asta has visible question marks on his head at her question. "She means that I fight by forming magic attacks out of mana and launching them at people, unlike you, a Holder that uses specific tools to fight." Yuno explains. "And yes, I am, but I've seen that mages like you and Natsu are successful with your physical strength as well as your magical abilities. I may have just gotten a spirit, but I can't just rely on one set of skills; I need to be good at everything if I want to be Wizard King."

Erza gives the two of them a smile after hearing their responses. "I'll gladly train the two of you, but be warned," She says ominously before slamming her hands down on their shoulders, "Because you'll be doing the training regimen I normally use, and I can tell you now, it's not for the faint of heart."

The two rivals gulp in fear, wondering what they've gotten themselves into before Erza drags them out of the guildhall. "Now, let us start right away!" Erza says while smiling with a star in her visible eye.

Natsu, who had been watching the event in earnest, groans out loud. "Man, this sucks! First, Asta steals my fight with Erza, now he's training with her?!" Natsu then gives a sly grin as a light bulb pops in his head. "I know, I'm gonna train my own students to compete with her! Hmm, Yuno has a four-leaf book, and Asta has a five-leaf, to keep up with her…"

Natsu looks at another table where Lucy, Mimosa, and Noelle were talking. "So you two know about my mom?" Lucy asks the two royals. "Yes," Mimosa says. "We didn't mention it because we figured that you didn't want them to know for the same reasons as us."

Lucy smiles at her fellow runaways. "Aww, thanks you guys. Whenever you want to talk about your family, I'll be right there to help you two." Before the conversation can continue however, Natsu grabs Lucy and Noelle and pulls them away.

"What are you doing, let go of me you lizard!" Noelle screams. "Natsu, usually you only drag me on your dumb schemes, but what do you want Noelle foe this time?!" Natsu gives them a grin, showing them his fangs. "We're going to train to beat Erza and her students!"

Before they can ask him any more questions, Natsu rushes out of the door in a trail of smoke, Happy not far behind him. Gray, who had been eating at the bar, rolls his eyes, while also noticing that he's currently shirtless. "Oh boy, Natsu and Erza are unbearable whenever they decide to do something. They have no idea what they're in for."

Natsu finally stops in the middle of the forest near his and Happy's house. "Alright you two, are you ready to get started?" Lucy and Noelle are still gasping for breath after being dragged around by the dragon slayer. "No," Lucy says between gasps, "We don't*hah* even know *hah* what we're doing here."

Natsu then looks at her like she said something ridiculous. "Well duh, we're here to start our training to beat Erza and her students!" Lucy looks at him with an exasperated look on her face. "Is that why dragged us into the middle of nowhere? To train with you?"

Natsu gives a stupid grin and nods his head. "Yeah, and I'm sure you two can do it! Luce you've gotta get stronger if you want to get Celeste to respond to you, and I know it's gonna happen soon, you just have to work hard for it! Not to mention that those Eyeball guys are coming after you for some reason, and I'd never let them do that!" Lucy blushes and scratches her cheek in embarrassment. "Oh Natsu, that's really nice of you to-"

"You too Noelle!" Natsu exclaims, making Lucy fall on her face from interrupted. "I don't know you very well, but I can tell you wanna get strong enough to show up your siblings, right? Well, I can understand that. Also, I saw your shield against that attack Lullaby threw at you. You called it a dragon shield and I thought was cool. You've got the fierceness of a dragon in you, you just need to unleash it."

Lucy and Noelle roll their eyes at Natsu's idiocy before he continues. "You two have only just started training your magic, but I bet both of you will be unstoppable once you've learned how to actually use your magic. So what do you say?"

Lucy and Noelle look at each other before remembering what Fuegoleon said to them at the Royal Capital. 'One wrong decision means one lost life, so get strong enough that it doesn't happen!'

'I want to be strong enough so that no kid loses their mom like I did,' both think in unison before accepting Natsu's offer. "Great!" Natsu says with his usual goofy grin, "Now, get ready for 'Natsu's Super Duper Dragon Slayer Special Training Regimen!'"

"You just made that up didn't you," Lucy says with a deadpan look on her face. "Yep!"

(One week later…)

It was the middle of the day when the doors to the guildhall slammed open. The one's who opened the door were the four new mages who had been in intense training for the past week. You could tell that they were tired from the way that all of them had sunken eyes and the way all shambled over to an empty table before falling face down on it.

Mirajane and Mimosa, who had been working in the bar for a bit, walk over to them. "What happened you guys, I haven't seen you all in weeks," Mimosa says. The quartet responds with a unison groan while still facedown on the table, "Erza/Natsu."

Mira giggles at their response. "Well, those two always give 200% in whatever they do, so I'm sure the training was worth it." Asta, as the only one who can form reasonable sentences, responds, "Oh it's definitely worth it. I've learned a lot about sword fighting while training with Erza. When we first started, Yuno couldn't even last the whole day, but now he can do half of one."

Yuno does not respond, having fallen asleep a while ago. Lucy then speaks up for her experience. "Natsu's training was helpful, although it was kind of hard to understand him sometimes. He's not the most knowledgeable about how magic works, so we did a lot of physical training. Despite all that, I've still got no luck in summoning Celeste again. I tried focusing on mana signals from my grimoire like Yuno did, but it feels like it's waiting for something, I just don't know what."

"Well, I assume your training sessions are over since you've come back to the guild," Mimosa says. "Yeah, but I'm kind of tired of all the training for so long," Lucy says while stretching her arms behind her head. "I'm gonna head home and sleep it off, hopefully nothing insane happens."

As Lucy and Mirajane walk away from the group, Mimosa notices Asta had disappeared from the table. "Hmm, where did Asta go?" "I'm right here." Asta says, popping up behind her, giving her a shock. "How did you do leave with none of us noticing?" Mimosa asks.

Asta face gains a smug aura and stars appear in his eyes as he rubs his nose. "Heh heh, I call it my Stealth Mode. I don't have magic, so people don't sense me sneaking up on them as long as I'm really quiet. I used to play pranks on Yuno and Sister Lily all the time in the orphanage, though I usually got blasted with water in Sister Lily's case."

Yuno, who had finally woken up from his nap, notices the piece of paper in Asta's hand. "What are you holding there Asta?" Asta gives a sly grin. "I got us our first job as team Black Clover." The three other grimoire holders look at him in confusion. "Team Black Clover?" Noelle asks in confusion. "Where did you come up with that name?"

"Well, my grimoire is black, we hang out with the Black Bulls, our grimoires have clovers, and we fought Lullaby in Clover, so team Black Clover," Asta explains. "Why is it 'Black' Clover, what about Green Clover?" Yuno asks. "Well, it doesn't role off the tongue as easily," Asta answers.

"I like the name personally," Mimosa says with a blush on her face. "Hmph, I guess that will suffice," Noelle says arrogantly. "Great," Asta says, "Let's go now!" He then grabs Yuno and Noelle before running out of the building. "Oh, wait for me!" Mimosa yells before following them out the door.

The newly formed Black Clover has just gotten off the train on the way to the port town of Hargeon, when Yuno asks Asta, "So what, is the job we're supposed to do?" Asta pulls out the flyer. "It doesn't say much, it just says that they need help on a cursed island. I figured that my swords could dispel whatever curse they have, we just need someone to bring us there."

They then spend an hour trying to find a boat that will take them, only for them all to either laugh at them or scream in terror until they leave.

"Ugh, why does no one wanna give us ride?!" Asta exclaims in frustration after the twelfth refusal, "We just wanna go to a cursed island!" Yuno and Noelle look at him with deadpan stares before simultaneously saying, "I think that's the problem."

Asta has a sad cloud over his head, causing Mimosa to rub his back to console him. "Don't worry, Asta, I'm sure someone will take us to Galuna Island." A nearby sailor in a boat turns his head after hearing Mimosa talk. "Are you four wizards?" The four nod their heads and the man asks them to get in his boat.

Back at the Fairy Tail guild, a loud shout is heard from the second floor. "Oh, no!" Mira exclaims as she runs down the stairs. "Master! One of the requests from the second floor is missing!" Makarov spits out his drink as everyone looks shocked. "Who would be dumb enough to take an S-class mission without permission!" Makarov exclaims

…

"Natsu," everyone sighs simultaneously. Erza growled in anger, a red aura surrounding her. "When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna-" Suddenly the doors burst open, revealing the 'culprit' everyone expected.

"Hey guys, what's going… on?" Natsu says with Lucy and Happy at his side before realizing that everyone is staring at him in shock. "Natsu, you're still here?!" Makarov asks in shock. Natsu looks at him in confusion. "Yeah, I just got back from getting Lucy from her apartment."

Lucy then looks at him in irritation. "Yeah, he said he wanted us to go on a job to test our training, even though we finished training a few hours ago." Makarov puts his hand to his face, pondering who took it. "If Natsu didn't take the job, who did?"

"I know who took it."

Everyone turns to look at where the voice came from, revealing it to be Laxus. "I noticed a tiny little burglar taking the note. He was so small and insignificant; I barely even noticed him." Mira gasps as she realizes who he's talking about. "You mean, Asta?! Oh no, now that you mention it. Yuno, Mimosa, and Noelle aren't here either!"

Laxus laughs in amusement at the guild's shocked reaction. "Hey old man, taking an S-class mission without permission is a pretty big breach of the rules. They're in a lot of trouble when they get back, aren't they? That's if they even manage to come back at all."

Mira stomps to him in anger. "If you knew, then why didn't stop them!" Laxus gives a shit eating grin in response. "All I saw was a small boy with a piece of paper in his hands, how was I supposed to know what it was?"

Mira gives Laxus a hard stare, to which he just chuckles. "Heh. Haven't seen you make that face for a long time." Natsu scratches his head in confusion. "So, what's everybody upset about?" "Asta and his friends left on an S-class mission to Galuna Island," Mira explains. "We only found out a few minutes ago and thought that you did it at first."

Flames surround Natsu's head in an instant. "Wait, you're telling me that they left without telling me?! That's not gonna fly, right Happy!" "Aye, sir!" Lucy has a sweat drop on her face at Natsu's reaction. "Of course, you're more upset about not being included, than whether or not our friends are okay."

"Gray, Natsu, Lucy!" Erza calls out, "We're going after them before they get themselves hurt!" She then grabs Natsu and Gray by their shirts and drag them out of the building, Lucy and Happy right behind them.

(Later…)

It is now nighttime as team Black Clover has been riding the boat for a while. As the island appears in sight, Noelle notices that the boat captain has been quiet for a while. "Mister, why did you suddenly decide to take us to Galuna Island?"

The boat driver frowns before responding. "My name is Bobo. I was a native of that island long ago before I escaped that accursed place."

"What is the curse, anyway?" Mimosa asks. Bobo looks of in the distance before he starts moving his cloak off his body. "It's a vicious curse that affected my people. Please help them, from being destroyed by the true nature of the curse. It will ruin us, the demon curse!"

Bobo unveils his right arm from under his cloak, revealing a dark spiky arm in place of a normal human arm. They all gasp, but before anyone can comment, they notice a large shadow over them.

Yuno reacts quickly, opening his grimoire and summoning his Celestial Wind Ark. "Everyone, get on quick!" Once the other grimoire holders get on, Yuno turns back to where Bobo was. "You too, sir! Hurry up and-"

Shockingly, Bobo had disappeared when no one was looking at him. "Where did that guy, go?!" Asta exclaims. "There's no time! Yuno, get us out of here!"

Yuno directs the ark away from the tidal wave, which crashes over the empty boat they were in, leaving no sign that it ever existed but the debris that sink under the waves.

"Why did that wave just show up out of nowhere?" Mimosa asks. "I don't think that was a coincidence," Yuno says. "I bet that who or whatever is responsible for the curse on that island, doesn't want anyone interfering with their plans. Though whoever caused a wave that size to attack us must have an insane amount of magic power."

(Somewhere on Galuna Island…)

In the middle of a dark cave, Ultear looks at her orb in fascination, watching team Black Clover arrive to the island shore. "Hmm, so they're the ones who arrived here. I doubt that they could do anything to stop our plan. A group of novices they may be, but that boy's swords…" Ultear says looking at Asta.

"He may be able to do in one night what I've failed to accomplish over a year. The Silva and Vermillion girls lack offensive capabilities, so I'll send that fool's group to deal with the rest, he should be able to handle them. If they fail, they at least made good entertainment."

Ultear then turns to face towards a giant slab of ice in the middle of the cave. Inside of the ice is a giant demon with a face frozen in a permanent expression of anger. Ultear's expression becomes unreadable as she looks upon the frozen demon.

'Tonight, will mark the end of this three-year long endeavor. Who knows what will happen tomorrow, for the night is my domain, and I embraced that a long time ago.'

After escaping from the surprise tidal wave, team Black Clover had landed on the island and were walking inland. "Hmm, that guys arm was like mine," Asta says while holding his covered right hand in front of his face. "I wonder if he also made a pact with a demon like me."

"I don't think so," Yuno says. "I think it was part of the curse on the people that he mentioned. Though I don't know how he disappeared like that." Stars appear in Asta's eyes as he makes a conclusion. "I got it! That was a ghost who was waiting for people to come to the island, and he left because he trusted that we could handle it! That wave was just a test, but we succeeded!" Mimosa's face sweatdrops at Asta's explanation. "I think that's a bit too complicated an explanation compared to Yuno," Mimosa says.

They eventually reach a wooden blockade, signifying the village that sent out the request. On front of the wall is a sign that reads "KEEP OUT" in big blocky letters. "I guess this must be the village," Noelle says. "Hey! Can you guys open up your doors!" Asta shouts with his unnaturally loud voice, causing his companions to cover their ears. "We're Fairy Tail wizards, here to help you out with a curse!"

A guard peers over the gate. "We never received word that anyone had taken on the quest!" Yuno glances over at Asta in confusion before the guard continues. "Show us your guild mark's to verify yourselves!"

Everyone shows off their guild marks, convincing the natives to open the gates for them. When inside, the village elder and everyone else appear in cloaks. "I bid you welcome young wizards," says the chief, "I am Moka, the village chief. I understand that you are here to dispel the curse on this island?"

"That's right old man!" Asta exclaims while pulling out Demon-Dweller from his grimoire. "My swords can dispel magic and stuff, so I figured that I could fix whatever problem you have." The chief shakes his head. "I'm afraid it's not as simple as that. The curse is affecting our bodies, however it is not on this island." Asta looks at him in conclusion, "What does that mean?"

"I will explain," Moka says. Every sentient creature on this island, whether they be human or beast, afflicted by this curse. We thought it was a disease at first, but there is no record of this anywhere in the world. We figured out that the cause of this is the moonlight on this island. Originally, this island was known for gathering moonlight and glowed as brilliantly as the moon itself, but a while ago, the moon started turning a dark violet. And whenever the moon comes out-" he stops before suddenly gasping in pain.

The Fairy tail mages watch in shock as the villagers transform under their eyes, crying out in pain the whole time while the moon illuminating them in a dark shade of violet. Eventually, the screams of pain stop, revealing the villagers now in demonic form.

"Forgive us for scaring you," Moka says, "This is what happens when the moon appears, we take these horrid forms! Once morning comes, we return to being human, but sometimes there are those of us who do not return! Unfortunately, they are now lost to us!"

Asta gets a bad feeling when hearing Moka's words. "What do you mean by 'lost?'" Asta asks while clenching his fists. "W-We tried to keep them locked up, but they kept breaking out, so eventually we had to put them down," Moka says with tears in his eyes before pulling out a picture of the boat driver. "Even my own son, who became a demon down to his very soul!"

As the chief starts crying, Asta walks up to him and grabs him by the necklace. "Asta, what are you doing?!" Noelle shouts. She starts to run toward him before Yuno puts his hand in front of her. "What the hell is wrong with you guys?!" Asta yells in ager. "You don't just kill people because they're being difficult!"

"Well, what would you have us do then?!" Moka asks in tears. "I would never give up on the people I care about!" Asta shouts. "My magic is never giving up, and I know that my friends would feel the same! Death never saves the people you love; it only makes everyone feel worse!"

Asta then let's go of Moka's necklace and steps back. "Me and my friends are gonna solve your problem, so don't go killing anyone else until then, got it!" The chief nods at him dumbly, prompting Asta to turn around and start walking away.

"Come on guys, we've got a job to do."

(Later…)

The Fairy Tail mages are walking through the forest, hoping to find the problem causing the moon to be purple. Mimosa walks up to Asta, who is still angry from the earlier conversation in the village.

"Umm, Asta?" Mimosa asks. "You seemed really angry at the chief earlier. I understand being upset at them for killing their friends, but you've only been that mad when talking to Noelle's siblings." "I'm sorry, Mimosa," Asta says. "I just felt angry as soon as that moon showed up and those guys transformed. My Devil Breaker arm's also been feeling kind of weird for a while as well."

Asta pulls off his makeshift sleeve, revealing the red cross on the Devil Breaker glowing a darker shade of red. Asta looks at his arm for a few seconds before turning around in a circle, noting how the mark on his hand changes. Yuno notices Asta's odd action. "What are you doing, Asta? We don't have time for your usual stupidity."

"Guys, I think I know where to go!" Asta exclaims. The rest of the group look at him in confusion. "I think my Devil Breaker is reacting to whatever is affecting the rest of the village. Since my arm is a demon arm, I must have started getting mad like the other villagers." Yuno then gets a serious look on his face. "Then we better hurry, who knows what might happen to you if you stay under this weird moonlight for too long."

The group follows Asta, using his demonic arm to direct them towards their goal. After a while, they hear a rustling in the trees. "What is that?" Mimosa asks. "Get ready," Yuno says. They all open their grimoire ready to fight the hidden threat, which reveals itself to be a giant, horrifying-

Rat in pink lingerie.

…

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Asta and Noelle shout in confusion. Yuno has a comedic blank expression on his face and Mimosa looks at the rat bewildered. The rat then puffs up its cheeks, shocking the wizards back into focus.

"Get behind me, guys!" Asta says while pulling out Demon Slayer sword, expecting a breath attack. What he received instead was a wave of nauseating gas coming from it's mouth. Asta smells it first, falling backwards on the ground and twitching.

"Oh, that is the worst smell I've ever smelled," Asta groans. "Hope I never have to smell something that bad again." Yuno then uses his Towering Tornado to get rid of the gas and trap the rat inside. When the spell ends, the rat falls from the sky onto its back with swirly eyes.

"Okay, now that we've dealt with that, let's keep moving," Yuno says nonchalantly while Asta is still spasming out on the floor.

Asta's demonic arm eventually leads the group to an ancient temple surrounded by wildlife. Plastered all over the temple are symbols of moons and trees, though most of it unrecognizable as time has led to them being eroded over time.

The group spreads out, trying to look for clues. "My arm is telling me that something is around here, but I can't tell where it is exactly," Asta says. "Also, while I'm not feeling as angry, I'm still getting a bad feeling from this place." "Yeah, I can sense a strong mana signature, but it feels completely different than a human's," Yuno says. "It almost feels a bit like Celeste's magic back in the dungeon, but there's more to it."

While looking around, Mimosa notices a part of the room covered in plant life that seems to be growing through the floor. As she gets closer to it, she realizes that the plants have traces of the weird mana signature. "Guys, I think the source of that weird mana is from over here!" Mimosa yells out.

The rest if the group gathers around Mimosa's discovery. "These are probably reinforced with magic, let me handle this." Asta pulls out his Demon Slayer to chop the vines away, revealing a small alcove, holding a dark green box inside. Mimosa grabs the box, opening it to reveal a mysterious orb with a dark green glow inside of it.

"This must be the source of the all the wild plant life around here," Mimosa says while reaching for the orb before it pops up and gets sucked into her grimoire.

…

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Asta shouts. Mimosa looks at her grimoire in bewilderment. "I don't know, I've never heard of a grimoire just absorbing something! I know that they can be used to hold things, but I've never seen one do it automatically!"

Before the group can ponder on what the lacrima flying inside her grimoire means, the plants around them start dying, and the floor beneath them caves in without their support. Thankfully, Yuno uses his wind to catch their fall and they land safely to the ground.

"Phew, having someone with wind powers sure saves us from a lot of trouble," Asta says before realizing that his arm is glowing even brighter now. They follow where it's pointing too, finding a giant monster sealed in a tomb of ice, it's terrifying expression captured perfectly from its imprisonment. From above, purple light shines down on the demon, a magic circle glowing below the ceiling.

"This thing must be a demon," Asta says. As he begins to put his sleeve back over his devil arm, his grimoire opens up, Liebe popping out of it. "Yeah, that's definitely a demon," he says while frowning. "But I've never heard of a devil like him anywhere in the underworld. They usually look more like me, pale skin, and a pure black body. This thing looks like something out of a scary children's book."

"Why is there a demonic creature, trapped in ice, underneath an ancient temple, on a random island with a cursed purple moon?" Noelle asks. Before they can question the oddities too long, Yuno senses new mana signatures coming nearby. "Everyone, hide and lower your mana levels."

After they hide, they see a man with blue hair and big eyebrows, a woman with pink hair in a goth outfit, and a man who looks like a dog walk in. The pink haired woman, Sherry, complains about her rat, Angelica, being attacked by intruders, and moans about 'love,' much to the Fairy Tail group's confusion. They mention their Cold Emperor wanting to collect moonlight to unleash something called Deliora when Liebe throws a rock around the corner to get them to leave.

Once the mystery group leaves, the Black Clover team begin putting pieces together. "I've heard of the name Deliora before, but where?" Noelle asks. "It was big news ten years ago," Mimosa says. "They said an unstoppable demon was attacking the Spade Kingdom to the North of Fiore, but the government didn't do anything about it for some reason and was never attacked. Eventually it just disappeared one day, but no one knows what happened to it."

Yuno turns to face the demon. "So, this must the same Deliora that rampaged in the Spade Kingdom a decade ago, huh?" Without realizing it, Yuno's hand reflexively goes to his neck where his pendant is. "This 'Cold Emperor' must have somehow known about it and moved it all the way here and is trying to release it for some reason. We should go see what's causing the magic circle upstairs" As they walk off, Noelle takes a moment to scoff at the current situation. "What kind of loser calls themselves the 'Cold Emperor?' It reeks of overcompensation."

The group eventually reaches the top of the temple, where they see a group of mages in long robes chanting underneath the moon. While watching them in hiding, a man in horned mask and cloak appears with the odd group they saw underneath the temple earlier. "He must be the so called, 'Cold Emperor,' if the gaudy outfit wasn't enough of a clue," Noelle says mockingly.

"So, you haven't found the intruders yet?" the Cold Emperor says. "Then we have no choice but to exterminate that village. The intruders probably fled once they heard us looking for them."

To no one's surprise, Asta chooses that moment to jump up and shout at the top of his lungs, "HEY! WE'RE THE ONES YOU'RE LOOKING FOR, LEAVE THE VILLAGE ALONE!" With their cover blown Yuno sighs, "One day, you're gonna get us all killed with your recklessness."

Yuno then uses his wind magic to blow away the cultists, knocking them all out. Before his allies can attack, the Cold Emperor stops them. "I said to attack the village. They ordered outside help, so they shall pay for the interference."

"What the hell?!" Asta shouts. "Those villagers have nothing to do with this! You're the one causing problems for them, so leave them alone!" Yuno orders the girls to go protect the village. "Me and Asta can handle this guy, you two need to make sure the villagers are safe!"

As the girls leave, the Cold Emperor raises a hand to summon a wall of ice in front of them, but Yuno launches a Crescent Moon Sickle and destroys the ice before it can get to them. "So, you two are the ones Zalty mentioned," says the Cold Emperor. "We would greatly appreciate if you gave us your swords."

"I don't know who this Zalty is, or how you know about my swords, but I know that I'd never help a guy like you!" Asta screams. "I think there's been a misunderstanding," says the Cold Emperor as icy air appears around his hand. "That wasn't a request." Yuno, sensing what their opponent is doing, tries to warn his rival. "Asta, watch out!"

In a flash, Asta's body is encased in a ball of ice, leaving his grimoire trapped and his arms stuck pointing out of the ball. "What the hell is this?!" Asta shouts. He struggles to move and eventually falls over on his face. "Yuno, get me out of this stupid thing!"

Yuno looks down on the fallen swordsman for a second, before blasting him down the hill with a gust of wind. "YOU STUPID JERRRRRR-r-r-r…," is heard as Asta falls down the hill, leaving only Yuno and the Cold Emperor.

"So, you realized that your friend was a liability and disposed of him, how cruel," says the Cold Emperor. "No," Yuno says, "I just didn't know how to get him out of it, so I figured he could figure it out on his own. Besides, he's been saving me a lot of the time, so I figured that I should get a chance to help him out."

"How foolish! let me show you why they call me the Cold Emperor!" he says before casting a spell. "Ice-Make: Eagles!" Yuno gasps as he recognizes the spell name, multiple frozen eagles shooting out at him. "Wind Magic: Towering Tornado!" Yuno summons a tornado in front of him, thinking it would block the eagles, only to proven wrong as the eagles fly around the tornado and hit him in the back. As Yuno recovers, he decides to counter with his own barrage. "Wind Blade Shower!" A dozen blades of wind appear and shoot out at his opponent.

"Ice-Make: Shield!" A wall of ice appears, leaving the wind daggers embedded in the frozen wall. 'He almost broke through my ice wall!' the Cold Emperor thinks in shock, before Yuno launches another volley of attacks at him. "Swift White Hawks + Tornado Fang!" A horizontal vortex of wind blasts towards the Emperor, who dodges only for an eagle of wind to tackle him out of the air.

As the Cold Emperor rolls along the ground, his helmet falls off, revealing a head of snow-white hair underneath. "Your magic is similar to a friend of mine," Yuno says while the ice wizard recovers. "Do you know a man by the name of Gray Fullbuster, by any chance?"

"Gray… Fullbuster?" says the ice mage through gritted teeth. "Of course I know him. We studied under the same master. He's also the reason that our teacher died." Yuno looks at him in shock. "That's not possible! I know Gray, and he would never do something like that!" The emperor laughs heartlessly. "Oh, if you're saying that, then you know nothing about your friend Gray, or the darkness that lies inside him!"

Before the conversation can continue, a masked man appears to interrupt the fight. "Stand down, Lyon. This one is beyond your league." "Zalty," says a shocked Lyon, "I didn't think that you were going to get involved." "Well, I wasn't going to, but this one's power is greater than I expected," Zalty says. "Stand back and keep the ritual going."

As Lyon walks into the temple, Yuno warily watches the new arrival. 'This guy's power is insane! Their mana level is at least on the same level as Erza, maybe as high as the Wizard Saints in the capital!' Yuno's thoughts are interrupted by the masked man's words. "The moon is such a beautiful thing, is it not?" Zalty says while looking at the purple moon.

Yuno simply remains quiet as his new opponent keeps monologuing. "The moon is simply a rock up in the air, but the moon has been worshipped throughout history. Despite the fact that Sun shines for the most of the day, the moon's radiance is the only light that human's can look at without hurting themselves." "Why are you telling me this," asks an annoyed Yuno. "Simple," Zalty says smiling menacingly at him. "To warn you that the moon can be just as harmful as the sun."

A green orb suddenly appears from the new wizard's bracelet and flies toward Yuno at a blistering speed. Yuno barely dodges the orb before launching a Crescent Moon Sickle at the orb, breaking it. "You're gonna need more than a marble to beat me," Yuno says cockily – only to be hit by another orb on the back of his head.

"The night may end, but the moon will always return in its full form," The orb then duplicates, and they all glow the same dark purple as the moon. "Lunar Phase!" The orbs then swarm Yuno, who tries to dodge the barrage of orbs with his newly enhanced mana senses from the capital, but the number of orbs is too much and keep giving him glancing blows.

Yuno summons his Gale White Bow to destroy them, but some of the orbs flicker away in a purple mist. "Ephemeris Albedo. The moon is only bright because the sun shines off it, so don't let the visions you see in the night distract you."

'This is worse than that witch in the capital,' Yuno thinks. 'These hurt a lot more than those ash balls, and I can't just keep dodging. Guess it's time to get serious.' Yuno stops dodging the orbs and stands still for a second as his grimoire opens and a burst of wind knocks the orbs away.

"Let me show you that even wind can cut sharper than blades," Yuno says with Yuno floating next to him. "Okay, Bell. Let's show her our power! Wind Spirit Magic: Sylph's Breath!" A giant wave of green wind shoots out and before he can react, swallows Zalty inside as it flies into the distance, blowing down several trees in the forest.

"Shows that jerk how great my Yuno is!" Bell says cheerfully, but Yuno stops her. "He's not done yet," Yuno says, "I can still sense their magic." "You would be right," a female voice says from behind him. Yuno turns around and sees Ultear standing uninjured. "I can tell from your faces, that you're confused, let me explain a bit."

"That mask I was wearing, let me disguise my body into a different form so that no one would recognize me, but you knocked it off with that big attack of yours." Ultear says. "And for how I escaped, my miniature moon's let me swap with them and they'll take the damage with my spell Lunar Apogee. So, to beat me, you will have to destroy all of my moons, but don't forget," She says as the broken lacrima repair themselves, "The moon returns when night falls."

Yuno frowns as his opponent has remain unharmed throughout the fight. "Well then, let's try out our new spells. Wind Spirit Magic: Sylph Barrage." A green orb of wind appears in front of Yuno before tendrils of wind shoot out of it, tracking the orbs and destroying all of them. "I'm getting pretty tired of the night life, I'm much more of a morning person."

Ultear frowns at this upset. "Hmm, I can tell that you are skilled at manipulating mana, but you are nowhere close to my level. Very well, I think I should give you a taste of true power." Yuno looks at her, astonished by her words. 'She can manipulate mana like me? That means that she hasn't even been trying that hard! Who is this lady?!' Ultear then puts her hands on top of one another, forming a circle between them. "I understand that your guild has a Dragon Slayer in its ranks, said to be the most destructive type of magic. Well, let me tell you, a dragon's power is nothing…"

"Compared to a god's!"

A violet aura surrounds Ultear as the air around them gets considerably cooler. Yuno stares in awe at her power before readying his own spell to attack her. "Bell, full power, NOW!" A green aura also appears around Yuno as he and Bell charge their magic to the fullest to counter Ultear's attack.

"Wind Spirt Magic: Sylph's Breath!" Yuno shouts as he and Bell launch every last drop of their power into the spell. However, just as it nears Ultear, the moon wizard smiles deviously.

"Mana Zone…"

A barrier as purple as the moon appears around them and much to Yuno and Bell's absolute terror, Sylph's Breath dissipates instantly as a purple beam of light appears inside of it and blasts straight towards them.

"Moon God's Parallax Realm."

'BOOOM!'

Aren't I stinker, leaving you on that bombshell of a reveal.

That's right, in this series, Ultear does not have Arc of Time, but instead is a Moon God Slayer. Based on recent events in Black Clover, I felt like Ultear's Time magic would make her feel redundant and it was explicitly worse than Julius's. She's the leader of the Seven Kin of Purgatory and I feel like she's weakest member, so this was a great compromise, though the explanation is not coming for a long time. This is the first time I'm giving someone completely different element than in canon, and it won't be the last.

Speaking of changes in canon, this time it was our favorite magicless swordsman who took on the S-Class mission on Galuna Island. Why did he think it was such a good idea? Did he learn nothing from his time in the capital or is there more to it?

Another change you might have noticed is the strange orb that Mimosa found this chapter. That, my friends, is the first step on the, 'Make characters who were supposed to be important stronger' plan, and the 'Explain how the Fairy Tail magic 'system' works, specifically Slayer magic' plan.

Final thing I want to mention in this chapter is the mana zone that Ultear used at the end. In case you didn't notice, I'm a huge Jujutsu Kaisen fan, so I figured that treating Mana Zone like the Domain Expansions they become later would be really cool. I also realized that I didn't want Yuno to just have Mana Zone for the whole series, so he's still learning how to use it.

Next time should be the end of the Galuna Island arc, and with it the return of our Fairy Tail cast as they find out about the potential disaster on the island. Gray will have to face demons of his past and present, both physical and mental-

-And both on the island, and inside himself.