Capítulo 8: Galuna Island.
" Ah, Galuna Island, you know it doesn't seem so scary up close like this. In fact, it's quite nice actually." Satoru said to Erza as he observed the sandy shored beach.
Galuna island, which was known for its dark curse, was actually a famous tropical island before it fell. So, seeing it up close was like a stark contrast to what was known about the island.
" Yes, it is quite the view, but do not forget what it is we are here to do, Shira." Erza told the man.
" I know, I know. Let's go find the idiots quickly. Let's split up. We'll cover more ground that way." Satoru told the woman.
" Yes, that is a good idea. Good luck."
" Same to you."
*Swish!
Erza and Satoru both vanished quickly from the beach.
Erza fluttered through the forest of Galuna like a fairy in the wind, confident as ever, however there was an unease in the pit of her stomach. She had a vague understanding of what was going on, on the island.
" Demons... I just hope, Shira can handle it." Erza muttered to herself.
" Hmmmm!" Satoru grumbled angrily as his face twisted into a frown.
...
Satoru traversed through the forest, jumping from tree to tree.
' This island is too big to cover all of it in a single night.' Satoru thought to himself.
He came to a sudden stop and squatted down to rest.
" This is going nowhere fast. It's almost too dark outside. Pretty soon, it's going to be too dark to see anything." Satoru muttered. " Haaaa. Guess, I better get comfortable. " As Satoru was sitting under the moon, he noticed something strange with it. " Hm, the Moon... It's purple here." He muttered.
The color of the moon had suddenly changed from its normal white, to that of a purple hue.
" That can't be right. That's definitely not normal. Something tells me, that's gonna be a problem."
.....
A little while later.
* Boom!
Under the bright purple moonlight, a sudden explosion rocked the island.
Satoru's eyes snapped open, and he jumped to the top of the tree line; there was an explosion in the distance, that was felt all around the island, and a moment later a large pillar of fire erupted from just beyond the horizon.
" That's Natsu!" Satoru exclaimed.
[ Heavy Violence.]
Satoru jumped down to the ground and started running through the forest towards the pillars of fire, which obviously belonged to the fire wizard.
' I gotta hurry, Natsu's fighting something.'
Kicking it into high gear, Satoru quickly crossed the distance of the forest, covering ground and picking up dust so intense it looked as though a sandstorm was forming.
The sound of explosions grew closer and closer, until eventually a giant pyramid came into. The pyramid appeared to be made of stone with some kind of ancient markings carved into them. It was covered all over by moss, which covered up some of the markings. Though more oddly, the pyramid appeared to be leaning quite a bit.
Speeding up the stairway into the pyramid, Satoru exploded into the main hall. It was empty, however weirdly enough, there was a giant hole in the ceiling were there was a cold steamy mist coming from above.
" IT's cold... That must be Gray." Satoru muttered. He closed his eyes and started feeling the air for them. Searching for their magical traces. " Yeah, Natsu and Gray are up there right now. And... Someone else. His magic feels like Gray's. " Ah!!!" Satoru felt the ground below him. There was a dark presence down there. It was faint, but still. " There's... A demon's down here." Satoru stated.
As he was feeling the situation out a group of men dressed in purple robes wearing some kind of insignia, a backwards c with a single dot in the center, surrounded him.
" Do not falter! We must cut down all those who oppose the master!"
This small unit of six or seven men and women charged towards Satoru one moment.
As if things weren't bad enough, things got even worse when the temple started shaking again.
The temple began realigning itself and soon enough the temple straightened out. and a bright purple light started shining down through the roof of the temple.
" I don't have time for this." Satoru muttered.
With a wave of his hands, Satoru weaved in, through, and around each wizard like a feather in the wind, striking each of them before they'd even seen him move.
In one single moment, they dropped to the ground with a thud, their masks falling off revealing the whites of their eyes.
" Now... I've got to..." Feeling the power rising above him, Satoru questioned himself.
Help Natsu and Gray. Or....
" They can handle it." Satoru declared.
There was something that needed his attention more than anything else. And besides Natsu and Gray could handle themselves.
Satoru raised his hand up and with one solid breath, he thrusted his hand straight down into the floor, drilling a hole even bigger into the ground straight to the basement, where Satoru could feel the evil presence of a demon.
The pyramid trembled slightly from his strength.
" Whoa, what was that?" Natsu wondered. He continued chasing after the scent of Zaltius, the emperor's servant, through the pyramid.
Satoru on the other hand landed right in the middle of dark and damp cave and there sitting snuggly in the middle of it was a giant block of ice, and buried deep within it was a demon much larger than any he's seen in quite some time.
" The last one was pretty big. But this one is even bigger."
Satoru took note of the demon's condition, and that of the ice. It was melting.
" That light is melting the ice. Soon the demon will be free. Unless I do something about that light."
" Huh?! What's this?"
Satoru turned upon hearing the voice and met the gaze of a man wearing a strange tiki mask and a brown robe.
" Who are you?" The man asked.
Satoru started to open his mouth, however, before he could utter a word Natsu came running into the cavern.
" There you are!" He shouted. " I'll burn that grin off your face." Natsu tried punching the man.
And though he was distracted at first, he was still quick to dodge Natsu's blow.
" Hey, why are you running huh..." Natsu asked the man.
" Natsu."
Natsu's vigor and energy from just a second ago vanished and he screamed to the top of his lungs.
" AH!!! Shira!!!"
" Natsu, be quiet." Satoru told the young man.
" Huh? What do you mean?"
" Take care of that guy. Now." Satoru told the man. " I need to focus."
" What do you think you can do? The ritual is already underway and soon enough, Deliora will be freed." The masked man stated.
Satoru, using all of his strength, grabbed a large boulder from the ground and jumped with it towards the hole in which the moonlight was flowing through in.
" Ha, you really think a rock, regardless of its size, is going to stop this?" The man asked.
His hand raised towards Satoru's back.
" Yiiaaaah!"
Natsu jumped at the man and blasted him with an explosion of fire that sent him skidding backwards.
" Sorry, but I've been given a job. I'm not gonna let you get in his way, ya hear me ya freak?"
Natsu and the masked man faced off against each other as Satoru got to work trying to patch the hole.
However, with each blinking moment that went by, the Ice melted more and more, and it was beginning to vanish faster by the moment.
[ Ost- Akuma Deriora.]
' I gotta hurry!'
Satoru's mind was fixated on stopping the ritual as fast as possible.
He jammed the boulder into the hole in the ceiling, though making the hole bigger, the boulder fit snuggly into place after a little working.
The light was stopped.
" Alright, looks like your little plan just went up in flames, huh pal?" Natsu stated.
The man stopped fighting with Natsu for just a moment, to look over at the demon deliora. ' No. I can't let that happen. I'm just going to have to risk it.' He thought to himself.
The masked man began prepping a spell of his own, and aimed it right at Satoru and the ceiling, intending to deal some kind of harm.
Natsu, seeing this, rushed to try and stop him.
However.....
Satoru landed on the ground in front of the demon, quiet. His face told the story.
' I was too late.'
"REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!!"
The sound of the beast roaring to life filled the cave, shaking it violently. The scream was so intense and powerful that it penetrated the deep underground walls all the way to the very top of the pyramid and beyond, alerting everyone near the structure of its presence.
The giant demon's purple eyes came to life and the upper half of its body smashed its way out of the ice keeping it trapped.
" YES! It's FREE!" The masked man shouted in excitement.
" No way." Natsu muttered as he held onto his ears.
" Natsu, go find Erza and the others and leave this place now." Satoru told the young man.
" But."
" That is an order Natsu. You want to fight, then go deal with the guy on the roof, the one who's handling this ritual." Satoru told the boy.
" How do you know about that?"
" It doesn't take a genius to figure out some one is the cause of the moonlight. Now go. Trust me... You don't wanna be here when that thing gets loose."
Natsu's nose caught a whiff of the air.
' Huh? Shira's scent changed. It's... darker.'
" No can do, Shira. I've gotta take care of this guy. You want the demon, he's all yours, but ain't no way I'm running away from this fight." Natsu declared.
' Shira? So, that's his name. That name sounds familiar.' The masked man said to himself.
Satoru sighed.
Of all the times that Natsu needed to be stubborn now was not the time. Satoru would have scolded Natsu, but this wasn't the time for that.
" Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." Satoru told the man.
" Alright, now. I'm all fired up!" Natsu exclaimed while smashing his two fists together.
" Fired up? Well, how about you try simmering down." The masked man jokingly said to Natsu.
Natsu jumped at the masked man.
The man in the mask pulled out a small crystal ball and threw it at Natsu, who shattered it with his fist with ease.
Having seemingly destroyed his weapon, Natsu continued forward, however, the crystal ball reformed itself and smashed right into Natsu's stomach.
" But I broke it, right?" Natsu asked.
The man laughed at Natsu and began explaining his powers to the young man.
" I can control an objects time. Meaning I can take the crystal back in time before it was broken." The man explained.
Natsu landed on a rock formation, clutching at his gut. " What kind of Magic gives you that power?" He asked.
" I practice one of the lost magics called the Arc of time. It's extremely rare and quite powerful. Do you want to see what happens when I throw this crystal ball into the future?" The man asked.
He then started raining down blows on Natsu, who screamed in pain.
' Isn't he going to step in and help? Or... Does he really plan on letting this kid fight all on his own? Now that's cold.' The man thought to himself. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Satoru ignored the fight and focused entirely on the demon.
Natsu, however, raised his fist to break the orb again, but before his fist could connect the orb suddenly stopped.
" Huh? It stopped in mid-air." Natsu muttered.
" Did I mention, I could also stop time on an object?" The man asked Natsu.
" Nice trick. But I'd be more impressed if it worked on people." Natsu told the man.
" Ah, but that's the rough. I can only control inanimate objects and since Ur turned herself into the ice that trapped Deliora, I can't turn back the time on that ice which is why we need the moon drip."
" Okay, lemme ask you something. Why are you guys doing this?" Natsu wondered. " It seems to me like you're working hard to revive this demon just so Lyon can kill it to boost his ego. So, what are you gonna get out of it?" He asked.
" I can't say. I only just joined so; I can't speak on the others behalf." The man told Natsu.
" Okay, so what do you get out of this?"
" Ah, straight to the point, are we? Hahahaheh! The cold emperor Lyon is an arrogant twit. That's where I come in." The man told Natsu. " You see there are spells that give the caster power over immortal monsters, like this one here. With a single spell, I'd become the most powerful man in the world because I have a demon at my beck and call!"
" Man, that was lame. Seriously, that was it? I'm sorry I even asked." Natsu groaned.
" Hahahaha! I suppose you're too young to even understand right now. But one day you'll understand how important it is to have power on your side."
" Well, you might as well forget about all that. After all, we've got Fairy Tail's resident demon expert here, and he's a real knack at taking down monsters of all shapes and sizes. And besides, I've got plenty of power on my side, because I got my friends at fairy tail on my side." Natsu told the man.
Natsu's hands ignited with new found vigor.
" If you let your cockiness, get the best of you, then you'll fall just like the ceiling above you!" The man shouted. He raised his hand to the sky and shattered the ceiling above, letting the moon drip back into the cave, causing the ice to melt on the demon even faster than before.
" I've had enough of you and your buddies screwing things up for the people on this island! It's time I put a stop to it!" Natsu exclaimed.
[Ost-Natsu]
" You don't seriously believe you can stop my arc of time with your puny flames, do you?!" The masked man asked Natsu.
" I don't care about your stupid magic." Natsu stated. He jumped into the air right towards the man. " I JUST WANT YOU OFF THIS ISLAND!" He exclaimed.
Natsu smashed through the pieces of rock heading straight towards him and destroyed them with ease creating a cloud of black smoke.
" I may not be able to control time." Natsu spoke. He emerged from above the cloud and flew straight towards the man. " But I can see the future. And it's me kicking your butt!" HE shouted. He punched the man hard in the face and sent him crashing into the bed rock below knocking him out.
Satoru cracked a small grin, knowing full well that Natsu had defeated his opponent, just as he expected....
" But now... Comes the hard part."
" REAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!!!"
* Crash!
The remaining ice shattered and the water from it flowed out freely into the sea.
" I don't believe it."
Satoru heard Gray's voice from behind him. And he turned.
" Gray."
" Shira...."
" Hey, what are you doing here?" Natsu asked Gray. He jumped down to the two men and stood behind them.
" Natsu." Gray muttered. "
' there's only one thing left to do now, we gotta take that thing down." Natsu exclaimed.
" Natsu, Gray. Your parts in all of this are over. It's time to go." Satoru told the two young men.
" What?"
" No way, you can't take this thing on alone, Shira. I don't care how strong you are." Gray told the man.
" Y-You... You three aren't strong enough to defeat Deliora... But I... I will defeat it." Lyon muttered. " I will finally surpass Ur."
" You can't fight. You can't even get up off the floor." Natsu told the man.
Crawling like a worm through the cold, rocky, water was Lyon. He was visibly disturbed by the sight of Deliora, as was Gray. Satoru knew he couldn't let either of them get involved.
" None of you are going to fight it. Gray, take Natsu and this boy and leave. Now, that's an order gray!" Satoru told the man.
" NO!" Lyon exclaimed. " I'm going to do the one thing, Ur never could." He said as he stumbled to his feet. " Finally! My dream will be fulfilled."
Satoru appeared behind Lyon and with a single chop to the back of his neck, he dropped the boy.
" That's enough. You've caused more than enough trouble." Satoru muttered. " Now, you two." He said as he looked at Natsu and Gray. " Take him and go. I won't say it again."
" I'm sorry, Shira... But no." Gray told the man.
" What was that?"
" You don't know what's going on here. I have to do this. I need to do this. This demon, this monster, Lyon, and all of his flunkies, all of this is my fault!" Gray told the man.
" Gray...."
" It's my responsibility now, to clean up the mess he's made." Gray muttered. He crossed his arms and faced the demon. " Iced Shell!"
" Are you crazy Gray?! Using that magic... Will kill you!" Natsu yelled.
" I can't worry about the future if I don't handle the mess of past. I have to do this to keep it from killing us all right now!" Gray yelled. " This is my curse!"
Satoru listened to Gray speak and understood.
" You idiot." Natsu said to Gray. He jumped in-between him and deliora, blocking his path.
" Natsu?! Don't be stupid, get out of the way!" Gray yelled.
" If I didn't let you, do it before, why am I gonna let you do it now?" Natsu asked the man. " Go ahead and cast the spell if you want. But I'm not budging no way." Natsu exclaimed.
Satoru's face cracked a small smile.
Satoru appeared in front of Natsu, grinning. " You two idiots. What am I gonna do with you?"
" Shira?!" Natsu and Gray both yelled out his name.
The bloodlust that had been filling up inside of Satoru quickly diminished, and he prepared to meet Deliora head on.
Deliora raised his massive fist and struck out at Satoru.
Satoru raised his left leg and slammed it back into the ground gaining momentum and building energy.
Shirahama Style: Twisting Iron Fist!
By taking in a sharp breath and passing that air into his lungs, Satoru creates a spiraling tornado of window that surrounds his fist. That force of the tornado and power behind his body drives itself straight into Deliora's giant fist, stopping it.
The two fists clashed together, but something was wrong.
Shira felt almost no force behind the demon's fists as he struck it. Like he had hit a hollow shell.
Sure, enough the demon's body began to crack and soon enough it shattered entirely.
" Whoa! Man you're stronger than I thought." Natsu muttered.
" No Natsu, this demon..." Satoru muttered.
" It can't be!" Lyon exclaimed. " Deliora....."
" Was already dead." Satoru told the others.
" For ten years, Ur gradually depleted the demon's life force... And what we just saw... Was the demon's last dying breaths!"
* Sob! Sob! Sob!
[ Fairy tail main theme-slowed]
" My dream is dead! There's no hope now, I'll never surpass Ur." Lyon cried.
Natsu was amazed.
" Man, your teacher was awesome!" Natsu said to Gray.
" You've saved my life again... Thank you Ur." Gray cried.
Satoru looked at gray crying and chuckled a little. The thought of it truly was amazing. " Well, I'll be." Satoru muttered quietly.
Erza, happy, and Lucy reunited with Natsu and Satoru, while Gray helped Lyon to his feet. For the first time in years, it appeared as though they both had finally found the closure they needed on this part of their lives.
' This was needed after all; it was just the wrong person who needed it. Well, I'm happy for you Gray.' Satoru remarked.
......
And then.
" Oh yeah! That's right we won!" Natsu exclaimed.
" You know, I was worried there for a while." Lucy spoke up. " But it all turned out okay thanks to your amazing teacher." She said to Gray.
" We totally finished an S-Class quest all by ourselves!" Natsu exclaimed.
" You think Master Makarov will let us on the second floor now?!" Lucy asked.
She, Natsu, and Happy celebrated until a stern cough brought them back to reality. Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Lucy all turned towards Shira and Erza who were glaring at them.
" Oh no! You guys are still gonna punish us, huh?!" Lucy asked the two of them.
" Isn't there something you are forgetting about?" Satoru asked the group.
" You guys came to this island to help the villagers return to their normal form. That's what the request was for." Erza explained.
" Which means, you guys still haven't finished your S-Class Quest yet." Satoru stated.
" But I don't understand. The curse should be lifted now because Deliora is dead." Lucy told the man.
" Wrong. This curse you keep talking about never had anything to do with the demon. The villagers were affected the intense magic produced by the moon drip spell. In other words, Deliora's death isn't going to change their situation whatsoever." Erza explained.
" Well, we better go and change them back." Natsu stated happily.
" Aye sir!" Happy flew up and high fived Natsu.
" Yeah, but we don't know how." Gray spoke up. He then turned to Lyon, who was sitting nearby. " Lyon do you know?"
" To be quite honest, I don't have a clue." Lyon told the group.
" You don't know?" Natsu groaned.
" But the villagers told us the curse started the moment you got here." Lucy stated.z
" When we first arrived three years ago, we were aware there was a village somewhere on this island. But we had absolutely no reason to communicate with the villagers, so we left them alone. And they never came to the temple to see what we were up too." Lyon explained.
" In three years, you never once met?" Erza asked the man.
" But the moon drip light is so bright you could practically see it from anywhere on the island. It's kind of weird that they saw it every night and never went to investigate." Lucy stated.
" Hm, I don't think the moon drip was responsible for whatever is afflicting these villagers." Satoru spoke up.
" That's right." Lyon said in agreement.
" What? You're just saying that so you and your lackeys will be off the hook." Natsu exclaimed.
" Just think about it. I've been exposed to the moon drip just as long as they have, and my appearance hasn't changed one bit." Lyon stated.
" Oh yeah, that's true!" Lucy exclaimed.
" I wouldn't trust them. Those villagers are hiding something..." Lyon sat back and crossed his arms. " But I'm sure you guild wizards can handle it."
" We're not done with you." Natsu stated. " You destroyed the village-"
Before natsu could say another word Erza grabbed his mouth and shut it. " That's enough Natsu, they were simply doing what they thought was right, that's no reason to criticize them. Let's go." Erza told the boy.
" But... What are we gonna do to lift the curse?" Natsu asked.
" I have no idea." Erza told the boy.
" Oh, great." Lucy murmured as she followed behind Erza and Natsu.
" Eh, we'll figure it out." Satoru stated.
The three of them and happy started walking back towards the village while Gray stayed behind to deal with Lyon.
" Hey, Shira, just so you know... You might want to watch out for the villagers, okay. When they're under their curse they look a little... Different." Lucy told the man.
" What do you mean?" Satoru asked the woman.
" Well... You'll see. Just... Try not to freak out."
....
And then.
Natsu, gray, Erza, Lucy, Happy, and Satoru all walked into the villagers camp, but no one was around to greet them.
" What's going on?" Satoru wondered.
" This is weird, no one's here." Lucy muttered.
" Are you sure they came here?" Natsu asked the woman.
" Yeah, this has been their camp. I wonder where they could have gone." Lucy muttered.
" Well, since we're here, I'm gonna grab bandages and some medicine." Gray said before stepping into one of the huts.
The group stopped to look around, and suddenly a green skinned man with horns appeared in front of them.
" You finally made it back." He said.
Satoru turned towards the man and his eyes opened up and filled with anger.
' A... Demon?!' Satoru didn't shout it verbally, but his face certainly did.
" Calm down, Shira. This guy is one of the villagers." Lucy told the man.
His anger subsided briefly, but there was still a hint of disgust and anger on his face.
" Please, you have to follow me back to the village. There's something you need to see." The man said.
Satoru followed Erza and the others to the demon's village, although begrudgingly, choosing to keep his distance.
Upon arriving, Satoru discovered the demonic villagers celebrating. Eating and drinking like normal people. And if not for their appearances, he could believe they were. However, demons have always been a conflicting matter for Satoru. Satoru- Fairy Tail's regent demon expert, he's faced many demons and monsters in his time, but... This was a first.
Demon's acting like family. With children playing without a care in the world. This is... This is such.
" Excuse me, mister."
Satoru looked down at his feet to see a young demon child, a little girl, standing in front of him.
" Yes... What is it child?" Satoru asked.
" You guys helped our village out alot. I just wanted to say thanks!"
Satoru choked on his breath a bit and then coughed to clear his throat. " Well, don't worry about it. Now, why don't you go on and play with your friends. We still need to focus on dispelling this curse." Satoru told the girl.
The young girl smiled and nodded her head.
Satoru straightened up his frown a bit and patted the young girl on the head before sending her off on her own.
It was an awkward moment for him truly.
He was going to go back to brooding, but the sudden clapping from Erza took his attention.
" Everyone! Can I have your attention please? There is something I must know." Erza exclaimed.
The demon's in the village all began gathering around Erza.
" Okay, now that we're all together, there is something I want to know, but before that let me go over the facts. The first time all of you in the village first took on these forms is when the moon first turned purple right?"
" Yes. During the day we're fine but at night we take on these forms." The elder explained.
" And the moon first turned purple three years ago, right? We learned that the moon drip ceremony has been performed on this island every night for the past three years." Erza explained. " And it produced a beam of light so bright you could hardly miss it- Kiyah!"
As she was explaining, Erza suddenly stepped into a pitfall trap and fell straight to the bottom. Shocking the people around her.
" Wow." Satoru muttered.
" She screamed like a girl." Natsu whispered.
" Yeah, and it was cute." Gray stated.
Lucy however was freaking out.
" She's gonna kill me when she gets out!"
Erza quietly climbed out of the pit continuing her point.
" Seriously, didn't you ever wonder where that light was coming from?" Erza asked.
" She got up like it was nothing." One of the villagers stated.
" Yeah, that's Erza." Satoru said jokingly.
" I don't understand, why didn't anyone investigate?" Erza asked the villagers the reason why none of them ever investigated the temple.
" Well, we thought about it, but village lore prohibits us from going near the temple." The elder explained to the group.
" I don't buy that. You knew there was a problem with that temple otherwise you wouldn't have called upon the magic guilds. So, what's the real reason? What aren't you telling us?" Satoru asked the man.
" To be honest... We don't even know ourselves." The elder stated. " Allow me to explain. We tried to investigate the light many times. We took up weapons we never had to use, and I trimmed and styled my sideburns and headed into the village to investigate. We'd get close enough to see it from the trees and then we'd wake up back near the village gates."
" But that doesn't make sense." Lucy muttered. " How's that possible?"
" We got into the temple without any problem at all. How weird." Natsu muttered.
The villagers proclaimed their truth over and over again, stating they didn't say anything earlier out of fear of disbelief.
" I get it.... Yes." Erza murmured.
Satoru looked up at the sky and then it clicked for him as well.
" Oh, now I see it." Satoru said to the woman.
Erza started changing armors. " Natsu, Shira, come with me. I'll need your help to destroy the moon." Erza exclaimed boldly.
" Hm."
" Haha! Awesome!"
Natsu and Shira both agreed while Gray, Lucy and Happy were left in disbelief over what they were hearing.
Erza reappeared in her giantess armor, a gold and black armor made to increase Erza's sheer brute strength.
[ Fairy Law-ost]
" You wanna repeat that, Erza?" Gray asked the woman.
" We're gonna destroy the moon." Erza proclaimed. " It's the only way we can return the villagers back to their human for."
" Where are we gonna go? The temple? It's a lot closer than here." Natsu asked the woman.
" No, we're gonna do it here. The villagers need to see this." Erza stated.
This declaration sent the villagers into an uproar. They all started dancing and cheering. The thought of being returned to normal excited them.
" This is giant armor; it increases my strength and allows me to throw farther. And this..." Erza said as she held out her hand. " This is the spear of Hadja. It repels darkness." The spear of Hadja repels all darkness in front of its long blade. Adorned with a red and black headpiece, the spear of Hadja was quite beautiful.
" I see. So, you want to use the spear to try and knock the moon out of the sky." Satoru muttered.
" That's right, but I'll need more strength than this armor can give me. Which is why I need you and Natsu. Natsu, when I give you the signal, I want you to hit the back of my spear with your flames giving it a boost." Erza told the boy. She then turned to Shira. " Shira, when you see the chance, I want you to use your wind magic to increase Natsu's fire power giving the spear an extra thrust. Got it."
" Makes sense." Satoru told the woman.
Erza nodded and quickly got into place. She raised her spear up towards the sky and readied herself.
" NOW!" She yelled.
" YIAAAAAGH!"
Natsu slammed a powerful punch into the spear just as it was leaving Erza's hands sending it flying off into the air like a rocket.
" SHIRA!"
" ON it!"
Satoru summoned all his strength and exploded into the air.
" SHIRAHAMA STYLE: FLAMBAGE SHOT!"
Satoru summoned an explosive gust of wind on his leg and kicked the back of the spear with all of his might. The kick increased the fire erupting from the spear turning it into an even bigger, brighter, and hotter blaze. Sending the spear spiraling straight into the sky.
*Crack!
The moon appeared to crack and suddenly a large purple barrier shattered, and the moon was revealed to be clear underneath.
This confused many below.
" The moon." Natsu muttered. " It's still there. What happened?" Natsu asked.
" The moon drip spell formed a noxious membrane around the island, covering it. This caused evil energy to be released in the form of gas. That gas crystalized and formed an invisible shell around the island. That's why the moon looked purple here." Satoru explained to the boy as he landed on the ground.
" Exactly right." Erza muttered. " Now, everything will go back to the way they were three years ago." Erza explained.
The crystals from the sky quickly dispersed, however, there was something wrong or at least it appeared to be.
" What's wrong?" Gray asked. " They're not transforming."
" That's because these are their true forms." Erza stated.
" What?" Satoru asked the woman.
" The moon drip never effected their appearance. However, it seems it did alter their memories." Erza stated.
" You mean.."
" Yes, they think they are humans who have been transformed into demons, but it's the other way around." Erza explained.
Satoru's eyes shot open.
' What?!' First was mentally. " WHAT?!" Satoru now verbally shouted his surprise.
" Is that true?" Gray asked one of the demons.
" I don't know. I mean, we looked pretty human when you met us right?" He responded.
" Yes, because you possess the abilities to take on human forms." Erza stated. " Your false memories led you to believe that your temporary states were your true forms, when in reality, you had fallen victims to the moon drips side effects."
" Hold on, how come Lyon and the others weren't affected?" Lucy asked.
" I couldn't say. maybe it is because they are humans. As far as I can tell, demons were the only ones susceptible to the memory loss." Erza told the girl. " I knew what was going on the moment I heard that none of the villagers could go to the temple. The moon light collected there was sacred, therefore creatures of darkness couldn't go near it."
Satoru was shocked upon learning this. Having not traveled with Erza, he never learned about the temple, he only showed up thanks to Natsu's loud tactics.
" You are quite perceptive. I knew I could trust you and your friends." A voice said.
Lucy and gray both jumped in terror as the demon stalked forward.
" You're the guy from the boat." Gray exclaimed.
" Yup, thanks wizards. I owe ya one." The man said.
The demon walked forward and was greeted by the shocked surprises of his fellow demons.
" Bobo..." The elder muttered. " I thought you were..."
" Getting stabbed in the chest hurt pretty bad... But you'll need to do more than that to kill a demon." Bobo told the group.
" But on the boat..." Gray spoke up. " You just disappeared into thin air."
Bobo suddenly vanished again, only this time it was clear he flew up into the air.
" He can fly?" Gray muttered in surprise.
" Sorry bout that. I was the only one without any memory loss. But everyone else, suddenly thought they were cursed humans. hahahaha!"
The elder started to tear up and then suddenly he sprouted wings too and flew straight up into the sky and hugged Bobo affectionately.
" I'm so glad ya finally snapped out of it pops!" Bobo exclaimed.
Shortly after that all of the demons began growing wings and joined the two in the sky and celebrated their reunions.
"Well, that settles it. They are definitely demons." Erza muttered.
" I don't know." Natsu spoke. " If you look at their faces... They look more like angels to me."
* Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
The sound of Satoru clenching his fists and cracking his knuckles was just barely audible. Though the look on his face...
Satoru quickly descended into the shadows.
Erza looked back at him, sensing the sheer violence growing behind her, and joined him.
" Easy, Satoru. These people are no threat to anyone." She said to the man. " Can't you see it. They're no different from you or me. They're just people."
Satoru looked at the man and let out a deep and heavy breath of frustration.
" Not all demons are monsters. Give them a chance. After all, you gave Mira a chance." Hearing that from Erza was like a shotgun blast to the chest.
Yes, at some point, Mirajane also took the form of a demon. And she was... Or still is one of his closest friends.
" I... I know Erza." Satoru relaxed a little. At least enough to hide his anger.
Perhaps she was right.
" I... I will be respectful." Satoru told the woman.
" That's all I'm asking. Now come on, let's join them." Erza said to the man.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him along into the crowd as the village celebrated.
The night went on with a blast, the villagers cooked the wizards of fairy tail a feast, they danced and drank and overall, it just seemed like a nice time. Even Satoru, though still feeling reserved, found himself enjoying the food being offered to him.
However, just as things seemed to finally be going well, two unexpected guests reared their heads.
" Uh oh- It's the cold emperor's minions." One of the villagers muttered.
This drew Satoru's attention. He turned towards the gates and stood in front of the demons along with Erza.
" Can we help you?" Erza asked the two of them.
" You fairy tailers are tough. The cold emperors so banged up he couldn't make it down here." The man with blue hair and abnormally large eyebrows said to Erza.
" That's why we came to pay you a visit in his place." The woman with pink hair and pig tails stated.
" Wait a minute, I thought we were cool." Lucy spoke up. " Didn't Lyon tell you guys what happened?"
" Yes, but that doesn't matter to us." The man stated.
" We wanted to settle things with you ourselves." The woman muttered.
Natsu jumped to his feet and ran forward with flames in his hands, ready to attack.
" Wait natsu!" Bobo exclaimed. " Thanks for the help but let us handle these clowns. If we want to protect our village, we have to be able to defend ourselves."
" Normally, I'd agree with you gentlemen, but I think it's best if we handled this one." Erza told the villagers.
She and Satoru stepped forward, ready to fight.
" So, we meet again Titania Erza, Queen of the fairies." The woman muttered. " You gave dear angelica quite a beating earlier.
" Watch out for that creepy chick!" Lucy shouted. " She can control inanimate objects."
" And don't even bother trying to use your magic against mega brows." Natsu warned.
" Is that right?" Satoru muttered. " Then I guess we'll do this the old-fashioned way."
Erza and Satoru both dashed forward faster than either of their opponents could react to, and laid them both out with one single attack.
The woman and the man hit the ground hard.
" Wow, you're truly an amazing warrior." The woman murmured as she tried getting up.
" No kidding. We're completely outclassed." The man spoke up and said.
" Wait..." Satoru said. " So, you're not here to attack?"
" I doubt this will make up for the trouble we caused you, but we wanted to apologize in person." The man said to Satoru.
" So, you guys came... To settle things in a good way." Happy spoke.
" The cold emperor told us everything. Thanks to you we can finally let go of the pain deliora delt to us so many years ago." The woman spoke.
This news shocked Gray and everyone else, besides Erza, who had already learned from another member of Lyon's group the truth.
" You mean, you were victims of deliora too?" Gray asked the two of them.
" When we were children, the monster ravaged our village. We watched it murder our friends and family."
A chord was struck within Satoru's own heart. A familiar story was playing out in front of him.
" The cold emperor had a plan to kill the demon once and for all. That's why we joined him." The woman explained.
" We wanted revenge. But we were so focused on getting it, we didn't realize that we were hurting innocent people." The man spoke up.
" We were so blinded by our hatred we ended up acting no better than the demon itself. From now on, we'll treat other people with respect.... And love." The woman stated.
Satoru stood quietly for a moment. " You guys..."
Just as he worked up the courage to say something, Natsu suddenly jumped in and cut him off.
[ Fairy Tail theme.]
" ALRIGHTY THEN!!!" Natsu exclaimed. " You guys should stick around and join in on the feast!" Natsu told the two of them.
" We were just enemies a second ago." The man said to Natsu.
" I don't think that's a good idea." The woman protested. " I'm trying to watch my figure and."
" Enough about all that! Let's party!!!!" Natsu yelled. He dragged the both of them into the village and started making them join the festivities.
Satoru, however, was standing quiet, when a strong metal hand plopped down on his shoulder. Satoru looked up to see Erza smiling at him.
" Okay, okay..." Satoru managed to crack a large smile on his face. " Don't you start. Let's just enjoy the rest of this feast."
" After you." Erza told the man.
Satoru grinned once more.
He and Erza walked together towards the feast laughing along the way.
The rest of the night was filled with joyous cries of laughter and cheer. A far cry from the despair felt earlier. And as he feasted, Erza couldn't help but feel that this little quest was important, not just to Gray and Natsu, but maybe this is what Satoru needed as well.
After all...
' How long has it been since he's smiled that big?' She wondered.
"HAHAHAHA! Let's go!
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