Chapter 57

Trauma Therapy

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

Nicholas and Brianna popped out of the orbs and landed on the ground. "Crap, we gotta get back to Erza now!" Nicholas declared. "Normally I wouldn't worry about her, but like this, she's in trouble."

"Uh, I think we are too." Brianna nervously said. The boy turned around and stared as a pack of large wolves stepped out of the frozen woods, drool escaping from their lips.

"Oh, come on!" Nicholas complained as the wolves launched themselves at the two children. He jumped in front Brianna and prepared to fight, only for a black stone wall to rise up and block the canines. "What the heck?"

"Looks like I made it in time." The two turned around to see Kuro walking over. "What the heck happened to you two?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Brianna asked. "Shouldn't you be in jail?"

"Ivan was the mastermind, he got most of the sentence." The green-skinned man replied. "And I'm here to see Flare's home."

"Her home?" Both 'children' repeated in confusion.

With Flare

"When the giants found me, I was just a baby." Flare explained to the two girls. "They raised as one of their own, but I never felt like I was one of them. I wanted to go out into the world and see other people. For the first time, I saw people who were the same size as me. I was scared.

"I didn't have any skills beyond what I could do with my hair, so I was broke. Ivan was the first person to offer me a job, so I agreed. In doing so, I joined Raven Tail, a guild built around his hatred for yours. But I was grateful to him, and Kuro was there to help. But in the end, he used both of us."

"Well, that's all in the past now." Wendy said.

"I'm sorry." The redhead replied.

"Don't worry about it." Lucy said back. "But if the giants were already frozen when you got here, then you can help us save them."

"You're right." Flare wiped the tears from her eyes as she stood up. "The Eternal Flame might be able to help them. I'll lead you there. Just follow me."

In a frozen tree, Carla looked at Slate, standing on Happy's shoulder. "Is it still there?" She asked.

"Not that I can see." Slate said, jumping off. "But I don't think we should press our luck." A screech caught their attention and they hugged the trunk. "What in the hell is that thing?"

"I'm not sure we want to find out." Happy said as the single eye looked down from the sky. "It's big enough to eat us, that's for sure."

"How are we supposed to fly with that thing on patrol?" Carla asked.

With Erza

"You said this would be a fight to the death…" Erza repeated, holding up her sword as best she could. "Do you truly mean that?"

"I never leave survivors during my revenge." She chuckled back. "That's how we end up in situations like yours. Enough chattering, it's time for you to pay." Glowing orbs popped up around the redhead and exploded, blasting Erza around like a pinfall. She tried to charge only for more to cut her off. "Only six hits to bring you to your knees." Minerva joked before unleashing even more blasts.

"You used to be Titania, a force to be reckoned with. Now a mere child at my mercy." Erza slid along the ground before another blast forced her towards Minerva. "I'm going to enjoy this. I have a lot of stress from that time you beat me with a halberd!" She kicked Erza in the face and blasted her into the air.

'How am I supposed to beat her like this?' Erza asked herself. 'Do I need to defeat the caster to undo this spell? But where are they?'

With Gray

Gray walked through the frozen village, looking for his guild-mates. Footsteps caught his attention and he looked down to see Doriate walking. "Hey! You one of those thieves!?"

The large man turned and Gray stepped back in shock of the mouth. "Now it's just being annoying, showing up one at a time."

"The hell is up with that mouth?" Gray asked, making the giant smirk.

"All the better to eat you with!" He shouted and Gray shrank into a child, much to his surprise. Gray looked down and saw Doriate climbing up at him, and his eyes went wide. Doriate reached him and pulled his fist back, only get a scream from the child. "Reliving old memories, huh? Not the first person to have that happen too. Might as well put you out of your misery."

He reached up and grabbed his head, squeezing on the mage. "I'll tell you one thing before you die. You should never ever enter the gates of the netherworld. And right now, you and your friends are standing at the edge." Ice crept onto the arm and forced him back in shock. "What the hell?"

"I can't believe I lost my cool." Gray said, wiping his eyes of tears. "Too many familiar things messed with my head. It won't happen again. This curse of ice your doing?"

"And what if was?" The demon asked back.

"Then you ice smells as terrible as you look." Gray retorted. "Time to show you what Ice magic can really do."

"Let's see you try it, kid." Doriate chuckled back. "The Law of Retrogression might make you look like a child, but that's just a bonus. Its real power is lowering all your stats. You're as helpless as a rabbit corned by a wolf. Now were should I start?" He took a step and crackling caught his attention. Looking down, he found himself standing over blue ice instead of purple. "What the hell?"

"I added to the landscape." Gray chuckled before the cliff collapsed. Doriate fell to the ground and landed hard as Gray looked down. "Don't you know anything about Maker Magic? It's all about imagination, and I'm a kid now. Thanks for the idea boost, pal."

"Not impressed." The giant growled before he climbed up again. "I doubt you actually have enough magic power in that body to hold out for long." He reached the top and found nothing, angering him even more. "Hiding won't help you."

"Look down, stupid." Gray called out. The large man looked down and found himself standing over Gray on a clear sheet of ice. "I can't believe you fell for the same trick twice."

The ice broke and Doriate fell onto a frozen bush. The leafs were like knives and punctured his back before a small hammer bopped him on the head. Slush then fell down his shirt and he shuddered in cold. "So you aren't the wizard behind all this. A real ice wizard wouldn't even feel that.

"You're nothing but a bully, that's why you turn people into kids. It's the only way you'll have a chance in a fight." Doriate growled in anger as her eyes suddenly went blank.

With Erza

Minerva stood over the fallen child, the redhead's sword in her hand. "I think I'd like to hear you beg for your life." She demanded, the blade at Erza's neck. "Plea for your life, and I might just let you live."

Erza opened her eyes and stared at the dark wizard. "You can't abandon your pride as a wizard." She declared, shocking Minerva. "Your magic is a means to protect your friends and loved ones. It's not too late, you can still get out of the darkness."

"You'd rather lecture me than beg for your life!?" She shouted back, pulling the sword away. "This is the last time you'll insult me, now die!"

She swung the blade as a mist swathed over Erza, her body returned to its normal age. Wasting no time, she moved out of the way and kicked Minerva in the face. A reverse enziguri hit her again and forced Minerva back. "How could Doriate be defeated!?" Minerva asked in shock as Erza stood up.

"No matter, it'll be just as fun to kill you at your best." 'And if she tries to use her Nakagami Armor, I'll have a surprise waiting for her.' "Before we start, you might wanna cover up down there."

Erza looked down and pulled her shirt down as hard as she could before a smirk covered her face. "That makes two of us." Minerva looked down and found her skirt was missing, now in Erza's hand. "I'll admit it was an accident."

With Gray

Gray stared at his normal body for a second before Doriate let out a deafening roar. He charged Gray and swung his fist, sending Gray crashing into a frozen tree. "Damn, this guy is angry. Did he break the spell out of rage?" He asked before his eyes went wide. "No way."

Doriate had bulked up even more, his size becoming larger and his muscle mass gaining growing, especially in his arms. His skin changed color, becoming darker, and his now loose hair grew into a mane, with two light streaks extending some inches up from the sides of his forehead. His eyes were blank, his canines even larger and his ears gained needle-like protrusions.

The legs were now reminiscent of a bird's, complete with five large talons. His clothing exploded off of him, leaving only his pants intact. "It can't be… this guy is a demon of Zeref?"

The monster slammed its fist forward, sending Gray flying backwards through a few trees. "Damn, he's strong. And that thing is something quick." Doriate opened his maw and unleashed a deafening roar that echoed through the woods. Gray instantly returned to his child form, much to his annoyance. "You gotta be kidding me!"

With Natsu

The boy tripped and crashed into a tree, his body back to its normal size.. "What the heck? I was just starting to get used to that body." Seconds later, his body returned to the kid state. "That is getting old."

With Erza

Glaring in annoyance, Erza could only look at her shrunken body. "So Doriate is still kicking. Looks like I have the upper hand again." Minerva declared. Erza looked up and tilted her head, causing Minerva to look down. "Why was I affected!? Has he lost control!?"

With Nicholas and Brianna

"And we just got back to normal too!" Nicholas complained.

"What was with that blip?" Brianna asked, holding her clothes up again.

"I didn't think this kind of magic even existed." Kuro said, now a child as well.

"Kuro?" A voice called out from behind a bush, confusing the three. They walked out of the frozen foliage and found Lucy, Wendy and Flare, all transformed into kids as well.

"Do either of you know what happened?" Lucy asked her guild-mates as she held her clothes up.

"I can see my feet again." Flare said as she hugged Kuro.

"This has to be someones magic, right?" Wendy asked, her skirt haven fallen to the ground.

"Little blondie, you're so cute." Flare chuckled.

"I know, right." Lucy replied.

"Can we focus on turning back to normal?" Wendy asked.

With Gray

A trio of cries caught his attention before he looked to see the Exceeds fall from the sky. "Why can't we fly anymore?" Happy asked.

"You turned into a kitten, Happy!" Carla shouted in surprise..

"Gray, you're a child too?" Slate asked.

"Did he use his magic and affect the whole village?" Gray asked. The cats looked over to Doriate and screamed in horror before running behind the wizard. "I gotta stop him before he does some major damage!" Gray fired a shotgun blast of ice at his foe, only for the monster to just walk through it. "Not even a flinch."

Doirate jumped into the air and kicked Gray in the face, sending him flying back. "That nearly killed me, and it was a single hit?" His eyes went wide as he remember Doriate explaining his magic. 'If he hits me again,…' Doriate rocked back and forth before launching himself forward. 'I'm screwed!'

"GRAY!" The Exceeds launched themselves at him and picked him up by the arms and head, pulling him away from the crushing fist.

"Thanks guys." He said.

"There's three of us, but this is as high and as fast as we can go." Slate said.

Gray looked back and found the fist had stopped just inches of the purple ice. 'That's it! Whatever this ice is, it had magic properties that can actually hurt this thing. If I can hit him with the power of this stuff, I can beat him!'

The cats' magic gave out and they bounced along the ground as Gray pushed himself up. Doirate roared and charged the trio and Gray leaned back, his rear hand touching the ice. "I'm lending you my body for a spell! Channel yourself through me!" The magic of the ice pushed through him and blasted the demon in the chest.

The beast roared in pain before he flew backward, crashing through several frozen trees. He crashed to the ground and Grays body returned to normal, as did the cats.

"What the heck is up with this ice?" Gray asked himself. "How could it travel through me? And why does it feel so… familiar?"

"You opened it…" Doriate groaned out, catching Gray's attention. As did the fact that he had regained his human form. "The Gate to the underworld. It can't be undone, and I'll see you-"

A massive, one eyed bird creature suddenly landed behind him and bit down, eating the giant. "WHAT THE HELL!?" Happy shouted in horror as the creature turned its attention to the group.

With Natsu

"Makin' us big, making us small…" Natsu grumbled in annoyance as he fixed his scarf. "If it wasn't for that, we could have beaten the crap out of him."

"Natsu!" He turned around to find Lucy and Wendy with Flare hiding behind them. Next to them were Brianna, Nicholas and Kuro as well, the later holding Flare's hand. "What's the big idea rushing off like that?"

"What are they doing here?" Natsu asked, pointing at Flare and Kuro.

"This is Flare's home." Kuro replied. "The giants raised her and she brought me here since we had nowhere else to go."

"Does that mean she's gonna turn into a giant?" The pinkette asked.

"No, she was just raised by the people here." Wendy replied.

Natsu walked over and stared at Flare, making her flinch in fear. "So this village situation must be pretty tough for you." He said stepping away. "Fairy Tail's reputation is stake, so we'll definitely get things back to normal."

Flare stared him in shock, a small blush on her face. "The Eternal Flame might be able to get the village back to normal…" Wendy said.

"So Flare is going to lead us there." Lucy continued.

"I could have sworn I heard a voice coming from this mountain." Natsu said as he stared up at the frozen struture.

"That's not a mountain." Flare said, catching the group off guard. "That's the village's guardian… that's the Eternal Flame."

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"WHAT!?"

"How is that not a mountain!?" Natsu asked in shock.

"The Eternal Flame is frozen solid…" Lucy mumbled. "That's why it looks like a mountain. We placed our hope on the Eternal Flame returning the village to normal. But even the Flame is frozen…"

"RUN FOR IT!" Everyone turned to the side to see Gray and the Exceeds running from something. A massive cyclopic bird ran after them, scaring the group.

"What the hell is that!?" Lucy asked in horror.

"I have no clue, but it definitely wants to eat us!" Carla shouted back.

"Gray, knock it out or something!" Natsu shouted.

"I can't use magic power I don't have!" He shouted back. "But I think I have a way to melt the ice around here!" He looked ahead and almost double taked at Flare and Kuro. "Aren't those two from Raven Tail?"

"I'll explain later!" Natsu shouted as he ran forward. "I'll take care of this freakin' bird! That mountain is the Eternal Flame! You need to melt it! Let's do this!" The duo traded high fives as Natsu unleashed a burning punt to the creature right in the eye.

The bird flew backwards before it opened its wings slowing the momentum before it dived and pinned Natsu under the its talon. A sick smile on its face, it launched Natsu into the air. Turning around and diving at the creature, Natsu ignited his firsts and slammed them into the eye.

Gray raced forward and clasped his hands in the flame before the entire thing started glowing. "Come on, change back!" The entire 'mountain' started glowing brighter before the entire thing just vanished, shocking the whole group.

Yeah, this was the bit where shit started getting scary for this arc. I mean, I can't tell when I crapped my pants more: When Doriate went Beast Mode, or when that freaking chimera bird popped into view. Also skipped over some minor stuff here and there, but the overall chapter is still pretty good. See ya next time.

P.S, there's a poll up on my profile about another FT story I have. Feel free to vote on it if you want to, I can't force you.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang