Chapter 7: Food For Days!

Previously...

The smoke cleared to reveal Natsu, Gray and Erza, walking out of the ashes triumphant from their battle with Lullaby.

"There's no doubt about it!" Lucy celebrated.

"This is Fairy Tail's strongest team!" Ramza grinned.

"We're an awesome guild, aren't we?" Makarov said with pride.

Currently...

The group were walking through the web valley, hopefully walking the right way home. For Lucy, however, she seems to think otherwise.

"We've been walking for forever now, and there's still no sign of Magnolia!" Lucy crossed her arms. "Why're we trusting a cat to lead us, anyway?"

"Hey! We cats have a great sense of direction!" Happy protested.

"You've already used that one." Lucy said.

"Hmph!" Happy looked away.

"Okay, let's just find our way home, alright?" Lucy compromised.

"Man, I want some food..." Natsu clutched his stomach.

"We all do!" Gray grumbled. "Just talking about it makes us hungrier!"

"Wait, you guys feel hungry?" Ramza frowned.

"Really hungry." Natsu looked at him. "You're not?"

Ramza shook his head. "No, I don't feel hungry."

"Well, that's good for you, but sucks for us!" Natsu threw his hands in the air in exasperation.

"I need food too..." Master Makarov groaned.

"Master! You're not helping!" Natsu and Gray said together.

"Enough." Erza said, but not before her stomach growled.

"Your stomach's tryin' to tell you something, isn't it?" Natsu said.

"No, it's not! You're just hearing things." Erza replied.

"Uh, real convincing Erza." Gray said.

"Hey, look at that!" Happy cried.

"What is it?" Natsu asked.

"Look down there!" Happy pointed.

The gang looked down the ravine to see a bunch of flying fish floating in the air.

"Those are wing fish!" Happy said. "They're a legendary delicacy! And from what I hear, they taste really good!"

"Whoa, really?" Natsu drooled at the thought of tasty fish.

"A legendary delicacy?" Gray pondered.

"Wing fish, huh?" Erza said.

Makarov put a hand to Happy's shoulder. "Well done Happy! You've made this old man very proud..."

"Okay, can we just get some and eat?" Lucy said.

"Now," Happy said while taking out a rod. "It's time to fish!"

"Hang on, why don't you guys use your magic to get some?" Ramza raised an eyebrow.

"Too hungry..." Erza said while her stomach growled.

"Alright, I guess I can get some fish for you." Ramza shrugged his shoulders.

"Really!?" Everyone went up to him and shook his hand. "You're a life saver!"

"I've been thinking of this when I saw Gray do his Ice Maker magic." Ramza conjured a small magic circle. "So if he can make a lance, I can make something else."

"You can't-" Makarov started to say, but he was left speechless when he looked at the instrument that Ramza was wielding.

"Wind Make: Bow!" Ramza now held a transparent bow in his hand, and he tested the string by plucking it. When it vibrated like a regular bow would, he positioned himself at the edge of the ravine and aimed. He took shot after shot, pulling up the fish he caught in a windy rope. He then gathered six fish and gave it to Natsu.

"Alright, take these and cook 'em." Ramza instructed. He then noticed the others looking at him as if he came from space. "Uh, guys?"

"Hang on, wind make?" Gray frowned. "Haven't heard of that before."

"That must be some sort of original magic..." Erza said as he looked at the bow.

"I'm pretty sure it isn't, right master?" Ramza glanced at the old man.

"It may, then again, it may not." Makarov said vaguely. "Now, just cook it already!"

"Aye!" Natsu quickly roasted the fish and stuffed one inside his mouth. The others took one each and promptly chomped into it.

"Urgh!" Erza spat out what she had bitten, alongside everyone else.

"What's wrong?" Ramza said with concern.

"These taste terrible!" Happy puked rainbows over the ravine.

"Screw you Ramza! You made us eat this!" Gray growled.

Ramza raised his hands in surrender. "Nope! You guys wanted the food and I provided!"

"I hate your logic..." Lucy grumbled as they all threw the fish over the ravine.

"I feel even hungrier now..." Natsu rubbed his stomach.

"That fish didn't help at all..." Gray groaned.

The group turned around a large rock and was greeted with a stone road.

"A stone path?" Erza wondered.

"Hey, look! Houses!" Natsu pointed at some stone buildings in the distance.

Gray squinted. "That's a village! That means..."

"Food!" The gang then ran towards the village but when they got there, it was deserted.

Gray looked around. "There's no one here."

"It's so quiet..." Lucy said.

"Like a ghost town." Ramza said.

"Maybe they're having a afternoon nap?" Natsu then cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, "Anyone there?"

"We're starving like crazy over here!" Happy added. "Somebody cook us some food!"

"Wow, you're quite demanding." Ramza commented.

"I doubt the whole town's taking a nap." Gray sighed.

"Either that, or they were all drunk and passed out." Makarov suggested.

"That's more unlikely." Lucy said with an exasperated look on her face.

Suddenly, Natsu dashed to the nearest house. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm gonna go raid a kitchen!"

Gray followed closely behind him. "Shame on you for even thinking of robbing the place!"

Natsu huffed. "You're just jealous that you didn't think about it first."

"Yeah, right." Gray said as he busted down the door.

"Hey, nobody's here." Gray said with a frown.

"Who cares, look at this!" Natsu's eyes sparkled as he looked at the food in front of him. Loaves of bread and bowls full of soup decorated the table inside the house.

He grabbed a piece of bread and sniffed it. "Still smells fresh! Let's dig in!"

"Actually, don't." Ramza grabbed his hand to prevent him from eating it. "Isn't it suspicious?"

Natsu looked at him like he was crazy. "C'mon, man."

"Natsu." Erza glared at him. "He's got a point."

"Yeah." Gray said. "Isn't it weird that there's just food here, with nobody around?"

"And if someone did cook this, where are they now?" Ramza put a hand to his chin.

"Who cares? Let's eat, Happy!" Natsu opened his mouth to bite, but Erza glared him down again.

"We must investigate this village first. If we have managed to go this long, then we still ca-" Erza was interrupted by her growling stomach.

"I think your stomach has other plans..." Lucy said while hiding her giggle.

The master nodded in agreement. "Yes, but which one do we listen to?"

"Search the area for mushrooms or anything edible. Don't eat anything in the village, you hear?" Erza commanded, stomach still growling, "While you're doing that, master and I will find out what's going on in the village."

Natsu snorted. "Yeah yeah, let's go guys."

"Wait, why mushrooms?" Lucy wondered.

She got her answer as they headed into the woods nearby full of multicolored mushrooms.

"These are a lot of mushrooms..." Gray muttered.

"Woah, these look tasty!" Natsu's mouth opened and watered.

"Why mushrooms?" Lucy asked.

"It's obvious, don't you see?" Happy put in, "He'll eat a poisonous mushroom, then something will happen to him! You know the cliche, right?"

Natsu picked up some nearby mushrooms and stuffed them in his mouth. "As if I'll fall for some lame gag like that."

He then swallowed, and picked up more mushrooms. "If I eat enough of these, I'm going to be full sooner or later, right?"

Gray followed his lead and dropped mushrooms into his mouth. "Better start picking faster."

Natsu then turned a shade of blue and clutched his throat.

"Hey man, you alright?" Ramza asked.

"Here comes the gag!" Happy raised a sign saying so.

A red mushroom suddenly sprouted from Natsu's head. "That was pretty scary. I thought I suffocated or something."

Lucy's eyes bulged. "Your head is scary!"

"Aw, I thought it would be purple or something..." Happy said dejectedly.

"That was what you were hoping for!?" Lucy asked erratically.

"What's all this talk about?" Gray walked in, but with a blue stalk on his head as well.

"Dude, your heads!" Ramza exclaimed.

"What?" Natsu and Gray said in unison as they looked at each other.

"Pfff, hahaha! There's a mushroom on your head!" Natsu laughed.

"Oh yeah?" Gray snickered, "Well I bet yours is bigger than mine!"

"Welp, they're at it again." Ramza chuckled.

"Who cares what size they are, this could be really bad!" Lucy said worriedly.

No one listened as Gray and Natsu started brawling, as Ramza laughed at their antics.

"Stop laughing!" Lucy glared at Ramza, "And you two! Fight later and figure out the mushrooms first!"

"Hey guys, check out this mushroom!" Happy presented them with a large, brown mushroom.

"Holy cow, that's big!" Lucy exclaimed. "I don't wanna know what that'll do if you eat it..."

"Oh wow, that's huge!" Natsu said.

"It's so big, we could eat off of it for days!" Gray agreed.

"How 'bout we don't eat anymore mushrooms?" Ramza said. "We already have those ones growing on your heads, and we don't want more problems."

Happy responded by eating the mushroom.

"What did I just say?" Ramza glowered at the cat.

Lucy grabbed Happy by the cheeks and shook him. "Spit that out right now!"

"But it's yummy!" Happy protested.

He then proceeded to grab his throat, and a small fungus grew on top of his dome.

"Aaand, there's that." Ramza sighed.

"I guess that's what happens when someone eats these things." Natsu said.

"I wonder if the villages had some way around this problem..." Gray pondered.

"Maybe they liked how it looks?" Natsu offered.

Gray chuckled. "Yeah, maybe this'll be the latest fashion trend when we get to town."

"Uhh, Natsu?" Ramza pointed at his top. "Is your mushroom growing?"

He patted his fungus. "Yeah, I think."

As fast as it grew, the mushrooms on his and Gray's heads suddenly popped off.

"Yay! They're gone now!" Happy rejoiced.

"Not quite..." Lucy pointed to the mushroom still on his head.

"Get this thing off me!" Happy wailed.

"Alright, let's get back to the others." Ramza decided. They then walked back into the town, Erza and master Makarov standing at the centre.

"Erza!" Natsu called, but the ground suddenly pulsed red from the cracks in the stone. "Careful Happy..."

Soon, the buildings started to grow red as well.

"What the?" Ramza asked, "Why's everything moving?"

"The houses are having a dance party!" Happy cheerfully said.

"Uh, I think you're missing the point." Lucy sniped.

"It can't be..." Makarov muttered.

Gray's hand started to coat with ice. "Time to rumble, gramps."

"No, wait!" Makarov interjected.

"Huh? Why?" Gray raised an eyebrow.

"You have to get to higher ground!" Makarov ordered, "There's something I need to check!"

"Alright." Erza rallied her teammates, "Follow me and stay close."

No sooner that they had climbed up the rocky cliff next to the town, the buildings turned into monstrous beasts.

"We just got out in time!" Natsu said, relieved.

Erza gazed at the monsters."Now I see, it was a magic circle."

"She's right. We saw some lines covering the village, creating a massive magic circle." Makarov said, "A type of magic that was banned long ago: a form of sealing magic known as 'Alive.'"

"What does it do?" Lucy asked.

"They say that it makes unliving things living..." Ramza murmured, "I've only read about them before, but never once did I think that I would see it."

"Yes." Makarov nodded. "It seems that the villagers cast this spell, only for them to be eaten by the monsters that they brought to life."

"Why would they use magic that's been banned?" Pressed Lucy.

"This village," Erza paused, "Was once home to a dark guild."

"No way..." Natsu said.

"While investigating, I came across some magic tools in a shed." Erza explained, "Upon closer inspection, I realized that they were tools for dark magic."

"Knowing how reckless dark guilds can be, they probably thought of some cray plan and wound up getting burned in the process but," Makarov raised a finger, "There's one thing we should be grateful for!"

Natsu frowned. "What's that, gramps?"

"The dark guild's mischief brought these creatures to life, and most living creatures can be turned into..." His face became one of happiness, "Food!"

"Whattt!???" Ramza and Lucy yelled in unison, while Natsu and Gray began to grin darkly.

"It's time to eat!" Natsu whooped.

"I don't care what they taste like, but I'm starving!" Gray proclaimed.

Surprisingly, Erza was the first one to engage the monsters. She dashed down the cliff at tremendous speed.

"Erza!? Even you!?" Lucy cried.

Natsu just grinned. "Time to get my grub on!"

"Okay, they're really hungry." Ramza sweatdropped.

"Save some for me, you two!" Makarov waved.

Natsu stood in front of a monster that looked like a giant serpent. It growled at him, but he just punched his fists together.

"Listen up, dinner! Before I eat you, lemme tell you a little secret! I'm an awesome chef and I love to flambe!" He then cast a magic circle, jumping at the monster with his flaming hand. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

The monster reeled back from the attack. "Sorry pal, but you're toast!" Natsu punched the snake again, making it drop to the ground, defeated. He then kicked at the nearby cliff, dropping rocks on it.

Natsu smiled at his handiwork. "We'll cover him up, then let him steam for a bit."

Gray dashed past Natsu, encountering another monster. "Normally I'd save dessert after the meal, but not today! Ice Make: Fishnet!" A stream of frost emerged from his hands and flew towards the beast. Upon contact the frost expanded, covering the entirety of the monster in a cold block of ice.

Gray chuckled. "Anyone want a monster popsicle?"

Ramza glanced to the side to see Happy, armed with a club, battling a... chair?

"Even if you're a chair, you can't taste worse than a wingfish!" Happy reasoned as he whacked at the chair.

The seat evaded the club and sent its leg at Happy, causing the cat to jump and land on the chair. It leaped then bounced away, trying to shake the cat off.

"Okay..." Ramza muttered.

It was Erza's time to shine. "Stand back! It's time to start cooking." She was then covered in a magic circle, her armour requipping to one that resembled a sushi chef. In each of her hands was a long chef blade, sharpened to slice through food or in this case, monster. Kitchen utensils circled her, poised to strike her meal.

She then ran forward, slashing her blades wildly at the monster. It then exploded in a flurry of little gray sticks, which rained down and formed a small mountain. "The trick is to cut them into bite size pieces." Erza said cheerfully, "They must be 5 centimetres long and 4 millimetres wide."

"I think you kinda got carried away there..." Ramza said in exasperation.

"And what's with that outfit!?" Lucy screeched.

A little while later, all monsters in sight were dispatched due to Natsu's fire, Gray's ice or Erza's swords. They all took a piece, and threw it into their mouths.

"Gross!" They all said in unison.

"Gramps! There's no way we can eat this stuff!" Natsu complained.

"You trying to kill us, old man!?" Gray exclaimed.

"True," Erza added, "I hardly call this edible."

"Well, that sucks." Ramza sympathized.

As if on cue, the chair that had Happy on for a ride smashed loudly into the wall next to them. As he came about, the fungus on his head rolled off.

"Hey, your mushroom!" Gray pointed at Happy's head. "It finally fell off!"

"I don't care about the mushroom, I wanna know why you guys didn't help me!" Happy bawled, "I thought we were friends!"

"We are!" Natsu said.

Gray crossed his arms. "You were just goofing off, right?"

Happy looked dumbstruck, but nobody noticed.

"What are we going to do now?" Erza asked, "I'd rather starve than eat that stuff."

"That's what we get for trying to eat a bunch of monsters." Gray said.

"Argh, all that barbecuing made me even hungrier than before!" Natsu grumbled.

A yelp suddenly came from Happy as a monster came up behind him. Natsu moved quick to protect him.

"Look out!" Natsu hit the monster with a flaming punch.

But as he knocked it down, four more came at him. Five swarmed the others, and countless more monsters behind them.

"These guys are just endless..." Ramza muttered.

"So let's just blow them to pieces!" Natsu cast a magic circle, flames appearing on his arms. "Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" He sent twin torrents of fire at the beasts, roasting them to a crisp.

"Ice Wall!" Gray put his hands to the floor and a pillar of frost blocked the monsters from advancing.

Erza requiped into her iron angel armour and flew, slicing through the beasts that came at her.

"Let me help!" Ramza held a hand in front of him and a bow materialized. He cast another magic circle, creating a dozen wind bows in the air. He notched a translucent arrow and the other bows loaded as well. "Wind Volley!" He let go of the string, and a hail of arrows rained from his bows.

"Me too!" Lucy grabbed a key from her waist and swished it in the air. "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"

The muscular spirit materialized with his trusty axe. "You're looking smooth as ever, miss Lucy!"

Lucy ignored his comment. "Less passion, more bashin'!"

Taurus obliged by raising his axe high, then smashing it into the ground, creating a shock wave that sent monsters flying into the air. The team attacked with renewed vigor, with Natsu roasting more of them, Gray freezing the monsters, Erza slashing at them, Ramza raining more arrows, and Taurus smashing at everything. They fought furiously, but soon they were surrounded.

"They just keep coming!" Natsu shouted.

"Wait, what's happening now?" Lucy noticed that the monsters began to shake violently and started to glow red.

Gray looked below him and said, "A magic circle!"

"Oh, just great!" Ramza said sarcastically.

"You kidding me?" Natsu demanded.

"This is bad..." Erza gritted her teeth.

Soon the monsters began to sink into the ground, but the magic circle shone even brighter.

Erza gasped. "Run for it!"

The grounds beneath them erupted, magic flowing out like a geyser of hot water. Oddly enough, the master was the only one composed about this, as the others screamed as they all fell through the air. As fast as time, a bright light covered their eyes, and the group fell to the ground unscathed.

"Wait, what?" Lucy wondered.

"I thought we were falling...?" Ramza looked around and saw the master facing a large group of people.

"Oh, you two are awake." The master glanced back at them.

"So, what were you trying to pull?" Natsu raised an eyebrow at the people.

"We were using the magic circle to cast forbidden spells, but those monsters appeared and took over everyone in town." Explained a villager.

"So the monsters we fought, you were all trapped inside of them?" Erza asked in disbelief.

"You made me taste one of those things..." Lucy said, nauseous.

"When you stepped into the circle, you activated the spell and we had no more control over ourselves." Said another villager.

The master chuckled lightly. "Well, you won't have to worry about that happening again."

The villagers looked at him in surprise.

"Whatd'ya mean by that, gramps?" Natsu asked.

"There's no need to sweat the details, my boy." Makarov then pointed at the villagers, intent on making a point. "As for all of you, you must be grateful that someone came along and freed you from the possession. I assume you learned your lesson from this gross mistake of magic and as long as it doesn't happen again, I won't report you to the council. Understand?"

"Yes, of course!" A villager replied, "We never want to go through that again. Thank you so much."

Another villager piped up. "If we may, can we present you a gift as a sign of our repentance?"

"Oh?" Makarov put his hand to his chin. "And what is this gift?"

A man came up to him and gave Makarov a book covered in a black cover, with golden bindings. "It is a spell book we purchased from a stranger that came by and said that it could prove helpful." The man looked away, "But it is in a language we do not know, and not even the best scholars in our village could figure it out."

Makarov eyed the book suspiciously. "A stranger, eh? Did he say what his name was, by any chance?"

"We do not know his name." The villager admitted, "But we saw that had white hair and crooked glasses. He also wore a green bandana around his neck, with some sort of trinket in the middle."

"Then I shall take this book." Makarov gently took the book from the man's hands and placed it in Ramza's. "And I believe that this must be for you."

Ramza raised an eyebrow but raised no questions. He stowed it in his pack neatly.

"Master! We do not know what that book contains!" Erza spoke up, "For all we know, it has a curse!"

"Erza!" The master glared at her, but his gaze softened. "I am sure that this book has no curse."

"How are you sure, gramps?" Gray asked.

"Ah, I just know." Makarov said vaguely. "Now come, we must be on our way back to Fairy Tail."

As the group walked out of town, the villagers cheered for their saviors. "Thank you for everything!"

The master just waved back, grinning. "No problem!"