S-Class, Journey To Galuna Island...

Chapter 14 - S-Class, Journey To Galuna Island...

"Wait, wait, wait… so apparently on top of the huge reward you also get a gate key for doing this?" Lucy wondered aloud, a mischievous glint coming into her eyes.

"Then I take it you suddenly want to come?" Ichigo asked amusedly.

"Maybe…" Lucy replied.

Magnolia: Fairy Tail Guildhall

Mirajane Strauss currently stood on the second floor, sweeping up the last of the debris that was caused by Laxus's 'little accident'. It almost made her laugh just thinking about what had happened, but given that the blond-haired man was within ten feet of her, she restrained herself.

'Well, that's all taken care of.' Mira thought, looking around the upstairs area with a content smile.

The white-haired woman's look of ease and mild happiness vanished the very second that her eyes fell on the request board, or rather at the sight of what was missing from it. Of the three quests that she knew to be up here, only two remained, and she also knew for a fact that no one had taken it out, otherwise she or the master would have been directly informed.

Without any further delay, she rushed down the stairs, an urgent look plastered onto her face. Upon seeing the master drinking a cup of coffee, she wasted no time informing him, which likely wasn't a great idea as he was mid-sip.

"Master, one of the S-Class requests is missing!" Mira exclaimed.

The esteemed leader of the Fairy Tail guild didn't seem to register those words for a second or two, but it shortly became very clear that he did given that he quite literally spat the coffee that he had just drank directly onto the floor, a horrified expression now gracing his traditionally stern features.

"What?!" Makarov shouted, turning to face the barmaid.

"An S-Class quest is missing? Wonder who did it." Macao thought aloud.

"It's either someone really strong or really stupid." Wakaba commented.

"Anyone have any idea who did it?" Someone asked to no one in particular.

"I know who took it… I saw a little blue cat snatch it off the wall." Laxus spoke out from the second floor, carelessly resting his feet atop the wooden table on which he sat.

"It was Happy?" Mira asked pensively.

"That's crazy, he must've taken it for Natsu, Lucy, and Ichigo." Someone reasoned.

"They've got some nerve…" Azlak stated.

"I don't know about that, but they're really dumb if that's true." Bisca added.

"That's a serious breach of the rules. Hey gramps, a stunt like that'll get ya kicked out of the guild, am I right? I guess it doesn't matter though since it's not like those four losers are gonna make it back from an S-Class quest alive." Laxus scoffed.

"Laxus, if you knew then why didn't you stop them?" Mira asked, lightly glaring at the blonde-haired man from her position next to the master.

"Oh lighten up. All I saw was a blue cat flyin' off with a piece of paper in its mouth tryin' to act all sneaky. I had no idea it was Happy… besides Natsu's not cleared for S-Class. I never dreamed he'd break the rules." Laxus replied, a cocky smirk present on his lips.

The white-haired barmaid directed a look towards the S-Class wizard that would have caused lesser men to cower in fear. A sinister aura was laced in her expression, and the glare that she directed at him could send chills down the spine of most who saw it.

"Hmph… you haven't given me that look in a while." Laxus commented amusedly.

"This isn't good… I expect this kind of thing from Natsu but Ichigo isn't someone I'd picture doing something like this. I thought he'd be more responsible." Makarov thought aloud, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"Master Makarov, it is possible that Ichigo didn't know that S-Class jobs were forbidden for wizards who aren't cleared for it. Lucy didn't know, and before I explained the purpose of the second floor to her Natsu had dragged Ichigo off." Mira said, coming to the defense of their latest member.

It may have been for a reason other than openly disproving the notion that the orange-haired teen was irresponsible, but it was still a valid point. Moreover the fact of the matter was that if Natsu intended to drag him along he wouldn't explain that it was forbidden strictly for the purposes of getting his cooperation.

"That is true… if not likely. Still, Lucy and Natsu should know this is forbidden and must be punished all the same. If it turns out Ichigo was aware of this as well, then he will share in their reprimanding." Makarov stated.

"Which request was taken by the way?" Macao inquired.

"I think it was the one on Galuna Island." Laxus replied, his smirk increasing in size as he spoke. Incidentally this prompted Fairy Tail's former demon to glare heavily at him, though he just ignored it given that he was perfectly aware she wasn't able to follow through.

"The cursed island?!" Several exclaimed.

"Are they insane?!" Another shouted worriedly.

"Laxus, go and fetch them at once. That request is far too dangerous for them to even consider." Makarov ordered.

"Yeah right, I've got better things to do gramps. And besides, everyone in Fairy Tail is supposed to be able to take care of themselves… right?" Laxus replied callously.

"I don't care how you feel about Natsu! The fact is you're the only one strong enough to bring him back by force!" Makarov lightly shouted, his patience quickly thinning with his increasingly arrogant grandson.

"Sorry master…" A voice called out from behind the orange-clad wizard.

Everyone turned to see Gray get up from his seated position with a serious look on his face, his eyes directed towards Makarov before next he spoke.

"…but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to disagree with you there." He finished.

Fiore: Port City of Hargeon, Some Time Later…

"Wow… it seems like only yesterday we all met here for the first time." Lucy sighed out nostalgically.

"It practically was yesterday…" Natsu commented blankly.

"Lucy sounds like an old lady the way she's remembering it." Happy stated.

"Who're you callin' old?!" Lucy shouted angrily.

"Before you try to kill Happy, we should probably go out to find a boat." Ichigo said, looking off towards the harbor as he spoke.

His words, however, caused his fellow male guild member to panic, mainly due to his distaste for any form of transportation. Thus, with a distressed look, Natsu began to beg for practical mercy.

"Are you crazy?! Forget the boat, I saw we swim for it!" Natsu exclaimed fearfully.

"Yeah… that's not gonna happen. Let's go." Ichigo said before walking off, Lucy and Happy in tow.

"But… but…" Natsu began to whine, though his words were ignored.

City of Hargeon: Docks

"Galuna Island? Not even for a million Jewel. Its bad luck to even mention that name around here." The sailor replied.

"I see… well, thanks for listening." Ichigo said, eliciting a friendly nod from the two men who currently sat within their boat.

Thus far the group had tried many different ships and vessels that had been docked in the port, but none of them had even given the slightest hint that they would take them to their destination.

In fact, everyone had said the exact same thing. Perhaps the island was cursed, but to this point it wasn't known if that was superstition or if the island truly did have some unnatural properties. Moreover, if it did have something abnormal about it no one had told them what it was.

"Well, it looks like we're swimmin' after all." Natsu stated with a content smile.

"Aye." Happy said in agreement.

"We're not swimming Natsu!" Lucy shouted in an annoyed tone.

"But no one said they'll take us and one of them said not even pirates would go there. Ya got any better ideas?" Natsu countered, a somewhat serious look gracing his features.

"There has to be someone who will take us. I still can't believe how many people seem to be afraid when we only mention the name. Also they all gave us pretty much the same reasons for not wanting to take us." Lucy thought aloud.

"What could be so scary about this island anyway? I mean, if a message could get out of it then that means someone had to be capable of sending it, which also means that there are people who at least travel out of the island. It just… it just doesn't make any sense to me." Ichigo stated.

"Well it is cursed." Lucy commented.

"Maybe so, but what the hell kind of curse is it? Whatever it is, it's clearly scary enough to rattle every ship-owner we've talked to so far." Ichigo mused.

"That is a good question… Natsu, do you have any idea?" Lucy questioned, assuming that perhaps the dragon slayer knew something useful given that his guild was the one taking on the job request. It was a shot in the dark, but still worth a shot.

"Beats the heck out of me, but I…" Natsu began, only to be cut off.

"…am in a lot of trouble." Gray said from behind the group, finishing the pink-haired wizard's sentence.

Everyone turned to face the ice make user, taking on expressions of shock or confusion given what their comrade had just said on top of the fact that he didn't really have a reason to be here, or at least that was Ichigo's perception of the situation.

"What are you doing here?!" Natsu exclaimed.

"The master sent me here to stop you from doing goin' on that quest. If ya come back now you might avoid being kicked out of the guild." Gray said, smirking slightly as he spoke.

"Wait, kicked out?" Ichigo asked confusedly.

"Oh… so you really didn't know." Gray reasoned, taking note of the substitute's lost expression.

"Know what?" Ichigo asked warily, glaring slightly at the pink-haired dragon slayer off to his right given that he now believed something was being hidden from him.

"S-Class quests are only supposed to be taken by S-Class wizards, which are chosen by the master himself. That's also why the second floor exists, so regular guild members can't access the quests in the first place. If you aren't S-Class and you take on one of the quests then you can get kicked out of the guild. That's why I'm here to take you back." Gray explained.

"Like hell you are! I'm goin' on this job whether you try to stop me or not!" Natsu stated.

"Don't change the subject! When exactly were you planning on telling me that going on this mission could get us kicked out of the guild?" Ichigo asked with narrowed eyes.

"Well I really wasn't…" Natsu replied, releasing a nervous chuckle as he spoke but simultaneously causing his comrade to growl as a result.

"At least he's honest." Lucy though aloud, sweatdropping slightly.

"Since it turns out that you really didn't know, that mean's Mira and the master were right. If you come back now, you'll probably get off of the hook while the rest of you get a light punishment… maybe worse for Natsu." Gray stated.

"We're leaving, now." Ichigo said firmly, turning to the pink-haired teen as he spoke.

"But the mission!" Natsu whined .

"Don't care. If it's really that against the rules then I definitely don't want to piss off the old man and make a scene. Yeah I'd rather not go back, but truth is I can't really afford to be on this ice with him." Ichigo said.

"Smart choice." Gray commented.

"Fine, you can go back and I'll just take on the mission by myself." Natsu stated.

"Natsu, just think of what Erza will do when she finds out about this. She's gonna be so mad that I just…" Gray began.

The ice mage grimaced and released an involuntary shiver, which was really saying something given that his magic made him basically immune to coldness. Natsu and Lucy paled at the mention of the redheaded model of justice, especially given that she really would have a severe reaction to this.

"Just another person I'd like not to piss off. Come on, we're leaving. Just let one of the S-Class wizards take care of the Galuna Island thing." Ichigo said.

"Sorry, did you just say Galuna Island?" A man in a nearby boat questioned.

Each looked over to see a plain looking man within a moderately sized boat, giving off an expression akin to hope. Momentarily, the group forgot about the issue at hand in favor of addressing the apparent sailor.

"Yeah, can you take us there?" Natsu asked.

Before Ichigo or Gray could even speak so as to cancel out the request of the dragon slayer, the man chose to speak, his words instantly catching the attention of each and every one of the wizards regardless of their standing on the 'stay or go' issue.

"Are you wizards? Have you come to lift the curse?" The man asked hopefully.

"Yeah." Natsu replied cheerfully, though his answer prompted his latest friend and comrade to smack him upside the head.

"No, we're going home." Ichigo corrected.

"I see… well that's very unfortunate. The people of that island are suffering horribly and they could really use the help of some powerful wizards." The man stated in a disappointed manner.

"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked warily.

Previously, the substitute had been able to distance himself from the mission out of pure ignorance. If he had chosen to go on the mission and wound up getting kicked out of Fairy Tail, that clearly wasn't worth it. However if it turned out that lives were actually at stake, there was no chance in hell he could turn back now. Regardless of whether or not that was unfortunate or fortunate, this turned out to be the case, as evident by the saddened expression of the man and the reply he gave.

"It is far too tragic and bizarre to explain…" He replied heavily.

"See, tragic suffering. How can we ignore that?!" Natsu pleaded.

The orange-haired teen knew that despite the fact that he was manipulated he knew perfectly well what he would have to do. There was no way he could ignore an entire island suffering, and he figured the master would end up understanding if and when they competed the mission. As long as none of them died, of course, but if he was there then that was effectively had no chance of a death occurring. Thus, releasing a sigh, he gave his final words on the issue.

"Dammit, fine. We're going." Ichigo conceded.

"Yes!" Natsu cheered.

"Then get in. I will take you to the island." The man stated firmly.

"Hey wait a minute, you can't just…" Gray said.

The raven-haired teen didn't get another word out as a result of being knocked out by Natsu a moment later. He then threw Gray over his back and prepared to enter the vessel, a grin still etched on his face. His actions, however, drastically confused everyone else present, mostly due to the abruptness thereof.

"Why did you knock him out?!" Lucy squealed.

"Well we can't have him heading back to the guild because we need the head start against the next person they'd send after us." Natsu explained.

"You mean Erza?" Lucy asked fearfully, causing the dragon slayer to nod as his skin turned solid white.

"I still don't know why you're so afraid of her. She seemed nice to me." Ichigo commented.

Perhaps she had a few quirks and was a little rough around the edges, but at heart she was very clearly a good person who looked out for others before herself constantly. That was practically the definition of someone you didn't need to fear.

"No, always fear, never nice." Natsu uttered robotically.

'Does that even make sense?' Ichigo wondered.

The group then got on the boat as per the request of the man who had volunteered to take them to the cursed island. Shortly thereafter, they were off.

Sea Leading Up to Galuna Island, Some Time Later…

Everyone had sat in awkward silence for quite some time. Their trip through the sea had, thus far, been uninhibited. However, at the moment several things serviced to create this awkward silence.

The first was that Natsu was practically jumping off of the boat due to his severe motion sickness. It was a bit of an interesting observation that he was worse on a train or in a car than on the sea, which didn't really make sense yet it appeared to be the case. Still, it was horrible either way, so it was a moot point.

Perhaps the biggest contributor to the awkward silence thus far had been Gray himself. Since they had gotten onto the ship, he had been tied up despite the slight protests of Ichigo, who believed that the raven-haired teen wasn't dumb enough to blow up the boat while they were in the middle of the ocean and even if he did Ichigo would just be able to knock him out again. However, he had been awake for some time and had done nothing but scowl and glare, obviously being unhappy with the current situation.

"We're nearing the island. The fog is a big indicator." The sailor stated.

True enough, a murky and ominous fog covered the ocean as far as the eye could see. The waters themselves were fairly smooth and easygoing, but even so it wasn't exactly calming to be surrounded by the mist.

"Okay, now I'm starting to get scared." Lucy commented.

"Look on the bright side, at least you're not tied up." Gray growled out.

"Calm down, we're nearly there so there isn't any point in protesting." The boat's owner pointed out.

"Hey look this is your fault too buddy. Why'd you even decide to take them to the stupid island?" Gray asked angrily.

"The name is Bobo, and if you must know I used to be a citizen of Galuna Island… but I had to flee… I just couldn't take it anymore." He replied.

The man took on a solemn look and paused briefly, which caused a great sense of unease to hit everyone present given that the reason was the island itself. Very clearly they were in store for something very unpleasant when they finally made landfall.

"I should warn you that tragedy befalls everyone who steps foot on the island. That is unless you're able to lift the curse." Bobo continued.

He flashed his arm a moment later, revealing it to be twisted from a human's appearance that would have been consistent with the rest of his body. It was purple and demonic, a clear foreshadowing of what they would likely witness on the island.

"Whoa, your arm… what happened to it?" Gray asked, sweating slightly at the sight of the demonic limb.

'What the hell?' Ichigo wondered. Upon seeing the limb, he immediately felt something just off about it. He couldn't explain why, but it just gave off a different aura of energy than the rest of the sailor's body.

"Is that… the curse?" Lucy asked quietly.

The man said nothing in direct response to the question, rather he chose to ominously look out into the sea before next he spoke.

"We're almost there. That's Galuna Island." Bobo stated.

Everyone present shifted to the point the ship's owner had reference, at which time they saw a large mountainous tropical island off in the distance. Strangely enough, however, the highest peak that appeared to be at the dead center of the island gave off a strange ethereal light.

"What's that strange glow on the top of the mountain?" Lucy questioned.

'A better question… why can I sense anything coming from it?' Ichigo wondered. His sensory abilities were not the greatest, but he was still far and above average in that regard and this should have been able to sense the energy signature this far out. However, he simply couldn't.

No answer was given to Lucy's question by the man that had gotten them so close to the shore of the island, which prompted her to look back towards where he should have been in order so that she could repeat her question. When she did so, however, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did he go?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"What the hell?" Ichigo uttered, having not felt the man's presence leave. That struck him as strange, mainly because he knew magic wasn't used. In fact it actually gave off the impression that something had happened causing him to just vanish.

"Did he fall off?" Gray wondered aloud.

"It's like he disappeared into thin air." Happy stated in an awestruck tone.

"Ugggg…" Natsu groaned from the side of the boat.

"At least we're close to the island." Ichigo mused.

The boat began to rock rather heavily, a stark contrast to the previously smooth motions that had accompanied clam waters. Since this was the case a majority of those present suspected it was Natsu trying to jump off the boat.

"Natsu, your motion sickness can't be that bad. If you're gonna try to jump off at least make it so you don't rock the boat." Ichigo said.

"That's not Natsu…" Lucy trailed off warily, looking fearfully behind the boat.

"Then what caused the…" Ichigo began.

Both he and Gray turned to see a massive wave forming directly behind him. In fact it had already started to grab their vessel and force it into the air with the large amount of surging water.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Lucy shouted in a panic.

Ichigo, in response to seeing that they were about to be capsized and thrown into the ocean, grabbed the combat pass he always found necessary to carry with him and quickly decided to take action.

"Everyone, grab onto me now!" Ichigo shouted urgently, just as the wave was about to hit.

The wave definitively swallowed the ship whole and spat it out towards the island, smashing it into a thousand pieces and leaving nothing more than a pile of useless debris. Whether or not the Fairy Tail members were caught up in the raging waters, however, remained to be seen.

Magnolia: Fairy Tail Guildhall, The Next Morning…

Erza Scarlet entered the guildhall with a small smile on her face, a good change from her usual scowl. Currently, everything was running smoothly, at least to her knowledge. All of the guild's affairs were in order and damage reports for the last two days were shockingly low, which likely had to do with her direct presence.

In fact, everything was running so smoothly that she didn't even need to lecture anyone at this time, which incidentally allowed her the luxury of having a certain sparring match with a man that currently owed one to her.

She rather looked forward to it, mainly because of the fact that she had never seen his swordsman skills up against a suitable opponent. Yes, she had seen a very impressive attack mounted on Lullaby, but that didn't show her much of his actual skill, just his raw power.

Still, the scarlet-haired woman needed to find Ichigo in order to actually have their spar. With this in mind, she walked up to the main bar to greet her former rival and good friend in order to ascertain this information. Had she not been so absorbed in her own goals for the moment, she likely would have noticed the worried expression on Mira's face, a clear indicator that something was amiss.

"Good morning Mira." Erza greeted as she took a seat at the bar.

"Oh, hey Erza. Going on another job?" Mira questioned, momentarily forgetting the severity of the guild's current situation in favor of a pleasant conversation.

"No, not today at least… I am actually looking for Ichigo right now. Do you know where he is at the moment?" Erza asked.

"Really? Why do you need to see him?" Mira asked curiously, though she wasn't particularly sure why she had the desire to know the reason before answering the redhead's question.

"I was promised a spar and I anxiously await seeing just what he is made of." Erza replied with a small smirk etched on her face, eliciting a chuckle from the white-haired woman in front of her.

Mira's good natured appearance changed, however, the second she thought on where Ichigo actually was. They had sent Gray out the previous night, and at this point she assumed the worst case scenario, which was that the ice make user was knocked out and taken with them so that they could complete the S-Class request despite the fact that it was against the rules. That, however, was a dead-on assumption.

"Well… it might be difficult for you to do that right now. You see…" Mira began.

The barmaid then informed Erza of everything that had occurred thus far and she happened to be shockingly calm throughout the entire explanation. That was either the calm before the storm, or Fairy Tail's strongest female wizard had suddenly learned to control her temper. The latter was obviously an impossibility.

"By now I'm pretty sure that they've either convinced Gray to go with them or knocked him out and took him with them." Mira finished.

She waited for a few seconds to see Erza's reaction, and again to her surprise the redhead said nothing. That, however, only lasted for a few seconds which was then followed up by said wizard grabbing a nearby wooden mug and snapping it into a hundred tiny pieces within the palm of her armored hand.

'Now that's what I expected… I mean, her anger issues aren't good, but still that's about what I expected.' Mira thought, sweatdropping slightly.

"I may very well kill that idiot for doing something so foolish, and Gray may share in his fate if he decided to go along with it. I'll deal with Lucy and Ichigo when I find them, but rest assured I shall take great pleasure in dragging them back here by force." Erza stated before walking off.

"Good luck… also don't actually kill them!" Mira shouted, ending on a more serious note. Her parting words seemed to fall on deaf ears, unfortunately. She just dearly hoped it was just Erza's unimaginable anger talking when she claimed that would be the case.

'No… she's more rational than that… I think.' Mira thought.

Galuna Island: Shoreline

Natsu awakened to the unfamiliar feel of beneath his body. Slowly, he picked up his upper body and began to observe his surroundings. All he could really see, however, were trees, water, and sand. At the very least he knew they were one the island.

"Natsu, are you awake?" Lucy called out from nearby.

The pink-haired wizard completely got up from the ground and turned to face the celestial mage who had opted to accompany him. She looked to be in good enough shape, which was good considering the last thing he remembered was her fearful scream.

"Yeah, I'm awake. How'd we get here anyway?" Natsu asked confusedly.

"You don't remember?" Lucy asked with a raised brow.

"Don't be too surprised. He was so out of it cuz' of his motion sickness that I'm surprised he's even awake right now." Gray commented.

Both Natsu and Lucy then turned to look at the raven-haired teen, taking note that he was both fine and also untied. For some reason he also had no clothing on outside of his underwear, but given that it was possible they were swept ashore by a large wave that could be overlooked, for once.

"Who untied you?" Natsu inquired.

"That's the first thing you say to me?!" Gray roared angrily.

"Calm down you two. Anyway, Natsu, to answer your question we were taken to the shore by Ichigo. He used that weird disappearing technique thing… I can't remember what it was called. When we got to shore, you were out cold, so he said we should just stay put." Lucy explained.

"As for who untied me, I don't know. It happened when I was asleep, I just assume it was Ichigo since Lucy decided to pass out after Ichigo said we should just stay here." Gray added.

"Where is he anyway?" Natsu asked, taking note that the substitute was nowhere to be seen.

"He's over there sleeping against that tree!" Happy chirped, having walked up to the group as they were conversing.

"Hey there little buddy. Glad to see you're alright… now can ya do me a favor and go wake up Ichigo for me?" Natsu said with a small smile.

"I'm a cat Natsu, but even I'm still nowhere near dumb enough to fall for that." Happy countered.

"Alright… then Gray, can you wake him up?" Natsu asked, angering the raven-haired teen with his dual-purposed joke and insult.

"Alright flame brain, let's go! I'm gonna enjoy beating you into a…" Gray began, only to be cut off.

"Would you two calm down? I'm awake and we've got work to do." Ichigo said tiredly as he picked himself up and dusted off his pants. Sleeping on a beach was less than preferable, but still it wasn't anywhere near as horrible as sleeping on the floor of Natsu's home.

"Forget that, let's go exploring!" Natsu stated cheerfully.

"Aye." Happy chirped in agreement.

"Hell no! If we're breaking the damn rules in the first place then the mission comes first." Ichigo exclaimed.

"Count me in too." Gray stated, drawing a confused look from the other members of the group.

"What makes you think we need your help?" Natsu sneered.

"You basically kidnapped me and dragged me to this place. If I'm here I might as well get some experience and help ya out a little. Just be grateful I ain't leavin' to make sure Erza comes here to drag you back in a body basket." Gray replied.

"Fair enough…" Natsu conceded, obviously knowing his demise at the redhead's hands was a distinct possibility.

"Anyway, we need to find the village as soon as we can. I remember hearing noises off from this direction, so that's our best bet." Ichigo stated, gesturing a finger out into the woods as a point of reference.

"Sounds good to me." Lucy replied, after which they began to walk off.

Forests of Galuna Island, Some Time Later…

"When are we supposed to get to that village again?" Lucy asked tiredly.

Thus far most of the day had gone by without any progress. It had been slowed down repeatedly due to Natsu and Gray coming at odds with one another, and then there was also the fact that Lucy needed to rest every so often.

On top of that, Natsu occasionally got motion sickness when traveling up steep slopes and just about every other mile Gray happened to lose his clothes. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly a quick and easy trip thus far.

Happy, ironically enough, kept a cheerful expression and didn't complain in the slightest thereby making him the least cause for annoyance on Ichigo's part. The feline did, however, act in unison with Natsu in the effort of antagonizing a certain ice mage, but still he was likely the least troublesome of the three.

'These three wouldn't last a second in Huceo Mundo.' Ichigo thought.

"Just bear with it for a little bit more? It's almost dark anyway, so regardless we're probably going to be stopping soon." Ichigo stated, eliciting a nod of understanding from the blonde-haired teen.

"We'd be there faster if the stripper didn't lose his clothes every two seconds." Natsu growled out, giving a sideways glare towards the wizard he had been referring to.

"Oh yeah, well what about your stupid motion sickness ya fire breathing moron?!" Gray countered.

"I swear if you two start to fight one more time I'm knocking you both out and dragging you to the village." Ichigo threatened.

"Could you do that anyway? It'd sure end up being quieter…" Lucy commented.

"Blame him!" Natsu and Gray shouted in unison, pointing to one another as they did so.

"What'd I just say?!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"Look Natsu, I see fire!" Happy stated in an upbeat tone, pointing off into the distance.

Everyone present looked where the blue-furred cat had directed, each seeing a glow that was characteristic of fire. It didn't appear to be all that far off, which was fantastic news given that there was only supposed to be a single village on the entire island.

"Well what're we waitin' for? Let's go!" Natsu shouted, after which he ran off with Happy flying at his side.

"Wait, don't run into the village before we… dammit, why can't you stay still and listen for once?!" Ichigo shouted before he ran off after the dragon slayer.

The remaining two just looked at one another and shrugged, subsequently after which they followed suit and began to rush after their fellow guild members without delay.

Outside the Village, Some Time Later…

"See, I told you it was fire!" Happy stated proudly as he and Natsu came up to the large wooden barrier that surrounded the village.

Atop the gate was a small fire that allowed the gatekeeper to see below. Currently he appeared to be asleep, but nevertheless the village itself was directly in front of them.

"Dammit Natsu, I said to wait!" Ichigo exclaimed as he came running through the forests, stopping directly next to the pink-haired teen.

"Sorry, didn't hear you." Natsu replied in his usual tone of voice.

"Whatever… anyway, I was going to say you should be careful just in case it wasn't really the village since we really don't know what to expect on this island. But I guess it doesn't matter since this is actually the village." Ichigo reasoned.

"See, everything worked out alright." Natsu stated.

"Why didn't you guys wait up?" Lucy asked as she and the final member of their party joined the two. Well, three if you counted Happy.

"You asked us to wait up?" Natsu asked confusedly, earning a small glare from the blonde due to the stupidity of his question.

"Natsu, I swear I'm gonna…" Lucy began.

"Hey, any of you guys notice the big sign that says 'Keep Out'?" Gray cut in.

Each turned to look at the center of the wooden gate, seeing the very sign the ice make user had been referring to. However, the village itself seemed deathly quiet, as if no one was actually in it. That didn't seem to be the case though as there was still the single sentry that kept watch over the gate, though currently he did no such thing as he was sleeping.

"Yeah, but they asked for our help so I assume it's probably just for protection. All we have to do now is wake up that guard." Lucy reasoned, after which she began to tap her chin in thought as if to illustrate she was going over what they could do.

"I've got it." Ichigo stated.

A moment later he threw a pebble-sized rock directly at the man's helmet, hitting it dead on and successfully starting him a great degree. The sentry then began to look around confusedly, not even taking notice of the technical intruders that were just outside the gate where he really should have been looking in the first place.

"I'm gonna have to try waking you up that way." Natsu said with a chuckle, a grin etched on his face.

"If you ever do wake me up that way then I'll just consciously throw you into a wall." Ichigo stated, glaring lightly given that he wouldn't put it past the dragon slayer to do something like that.

"Geez, I was only kidding." Natsu replied defensively.

"No you weren't." Happy commented.

"Quiet you." Natsu said in a whisper.

"Hey! We're down here!" Lucy shouted, successfully getting the guard's attention.

"Halt intruder! Who goes there?!" The man shouted back.

"We're wizards from Fairy Tail. We're here to help you." Ichigo replied, raising his voice so as to allow the gatekeeper to hear his voice.

"Fairy Tail? Can you show me your emblems as proof?" The man requested.

Each of the Fairy Tail members revealed their guild marks simultaneously, after which the guard seemed to gain an overjoyed expression. Without a moments delay he opened the gates wide open, allowing the newcomers to enter the village unhindered.

"That was easy…" Natsu commented.

The group began to walk through the preliminary parts of the small underdeveloped village, seeing large amounts of people as they did so. However, each and every one of was covered from head to toe by a plain tan-colored cloak that allowed for nothing more than bits of the face to be seen.

'Something's not right here… I'm getting the same weird vibe I did when we were with that man on our way here.' Ichigo thought.

'This is a little weird…' Lucy thought.

Up ahead they saw a gathering of village people, at the forefront of which was what appeared to be a short elderly man carrying a wooden staff topped by a stone carved in the shape of a half-mood.

"I am Moka the village chief and on behalf of everyone here I welcome you. Pleasantries aside, there is something you need to see… now, my people!" The man said.

All at once both the villagers and the chief dropped their cloaks and revealed their full appearance. Said appearance shocked each of the Fairy Tail members and frightened some of them to a degree, but that was to be expected given that each and every one of the men and women possessed an unnatural demonic limb.

"It's just like what happened to the boat guy." Gray reasoned.

"Everyone on the island has suffered horrible disfigurement because of this curse. Not even the animals have been spared." Moka stated.

"Excuse me sir, but have you considered that this might not be a curse? It could be some sort of infectious disease." Gray said, raising a fair point.

"We've consulted with dozens of doctors, young man, but they all agree that no such disease exists." Moka replied.

'Still… something seems off here. This island feels really weird… and even right now my senses aren't what they should be.' Ichigo thought.

Since he had entered the island he could feel his spiritual senses and his ability to even remotely feel trace amounts of magic energy by extension dwindle severely or even outright vanish. Being right up in front of the villagers at the moment, he could feel their respective energies, but he couldn't manage to do it from the shore or even as they had approached. Normally even he had a better sensory ability than that.

'Moreover… the type of energy they have isn't human, or at least it doesn't feel like it. Maybe it's the curse?' Ichigo wondered.

"The symptoms occurred around the same time the moon fell under an evil spell…" Moka began, breaking the substitute out of his thoughts.

"What kind of spell?" Lucy questioned.

"Since ancient times this island has absorbed the light of the moon, causing it to glow as beautifully as the moon itself. However several years ago the moon's color began to change, casting an evil purple glow all over the island." Moka continued.

"So it caused the moon to turn purple?" Natsu though aloud.

"Look, it's coming out now!" Happy exclaimed, pointing a finger towards the sky as the purple glow began to appear.

Thus far the night had been very cloudy and the moon itself had yet to make an appearance, but the second it did there was no mistaking the eerie glow that it gave off.

"That can't be right…" Ichigo thought.

Anything turning the moon purple was absolutely ridiculous, and moreover he felt something off about the moon itself, as if it was giving off some kind of energy. No matter how many times he had looked up at the moon in this or his own world, no similar feel was ever given off. It was eerie in nature and rather ominous, the combination of which he severely loathed.

"It's the curse… stand back, the change is about to occur!" Moka warned.

"What the hell?" Gray exclaimed.

The villagers began to wail rather loudly and squirm with no indication of stopping. Their reason for doing so was quickly revealed when bit by bit their human limbs shifted into those of a demon, giving each and every one of their appearances the look of a complete demon.

'So this is why they don't feel like their human…' Ichigo thought, his sympathy for the villagers growing the longer he remained in their presence.

"Why is this happening to them?" Natsu wondered aloud, holding a great sense of sympathy as he was forced to watch the suffering populous.

"I'm sorry if our appearance frightens you." Moka apologized as the transformations came full circle.

"No problem… I'm just a bit confused." Gray replied, his facial expression giving credence to his words.

"You poor people…" Lucy muttered.

"Yeah, but you look so cool! You've got horns and stuff, it's totally aweso…" Natsu said excitedly, only to stop upon being hit upside the head by the orange-haired teen.

"Time and a place Natsu, time and a place." Ichigo stated upon the dragon slayer turning to him with a confused look present on his face.

"Anyway, as you've witnessed, whenever the purple moon shows its face in the sky, everyone in the village takes on a horrific demon form. If it isnt a curse… then what else could it possibly be?" Moka said urgently, tears coming to both his and the others' eyes.

"We'll return to normal when morning comes and the sun has risen. However, there are some poor souls who could not return back to their human forms because they have lost their minds. The fate for them is unfortunate, and we've had no choice but to put them to death." He continued.

"But they might turn back to normal!" Natsu countered.

"That is unfortunately not possible, once the madness grips them there is no turning back. I should know, I was forced to put my own son to death…" Moka replied, tears once again streaming down his cheeks as he presented a picture.

"Wait, but that's the guy who…" Lucy began, only to be cut off by one of her companions.

"Don't… I think I understand why that guy disappeared like that. He might've died, but his soul couldn't let go." Gray stated.

"Like a ghost?" Lucy asked fearfully.

'No… that definitely wasn't it.' Ichigo thought.

If that had been the case then he would have been very easily capable of sensing that he was a soul. Moreover, a soul itself from a deceased body couldn't possibly contain traces of a curse that seemed to only affect a physical appearance. Things just weren't adding up, and the more he thought about it the more the entire situation bugged him.

"Will you please lift the evil curse from our island? If it isn't done soon… we will all surely die." Moka stated, desperation prominent in his voice.

"What can we do to help?" Ichigo asked, now giving off a deadly serious expression.

There may have been off about this island and he didn't really know what that was as of yet, but that wouldn't stop him from fixing these villagers. Their suffering was something he couldn't ever bring himself to turn a blind eye to, and with that in mind he no longer cared about what would happen as a result of their completing this job request.

"There is only one way for this curse to be lifted… the moon must be taken down from the sky!" Moka replied, shocking each member of the Fairy Tail guild with his answer.

Galuna Island: Housing in the Village, Some Time Later…

"Well that was interesting…" Lucy commented as the group came into the hut.

"That's one way of putting it." Ichigo replied.

"Do they really expect us to blow up the moon?" Gray questioned, looking to no one in particular for an answer.

"I could do it. I just need to know how many punches it would take." Natsu said with a determined look on his face.

"It's the moon you idiot, you couldn't fly that high if you wanted to." Ichigo stated.

It was possible in his world to venture to the moon, but even then blowing it up, physically, would cause a hell of a lot more problems than a curse that covered a single island, so even suggesting something like that was out of the question.

"Then what exactly are we supposed to do? The moon's the problem here, right?" Natsu countered.

"I don't know… but I've got a bad feeling about this island. Ever since we got here it's been bugging me. I can't sense anything outside of it, and even while we're on the island I can't sense anyone's presence unless they are nearby. Moreover, that purple moon… I can feel something emanating from it. I don't know what it is, but I am pretty sure it's a type of magical energy." Ichigo stated.

"Still, I think blowing up the moon is a bit much…" Lucy said.

"I'm not so sure the moon is the problem." Ichigo thought aloud as he prepared his makeshift bed.

"What do you mean?" Happy asked curiously.

"Think about it. The villagers turn into demons whenever the purple moon shines on them, but the moon itself wasn't always purple and it's only ever purple on this island. That tell me that something's going on that turned it purple in the first place, and all we need to do is find out what that was in order to lift the curse." Ichigo reasoned.

"Seems simple enough… we can go searching the island first thing in the mornin'!" Natsu exclaimed.

"That's probably our best bet." Gray said in agreement.

"I don't think we have any better options." Lucy commented.

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

"By the way Ichigo… I've been meaning to ask you somethin'. Why did you decide to go along with this moron's idea to go on an S-Class quest? Was it for the status in the guild or something like that?" Gray questioned.

"I don't really care about becoming an S-Class wizard at this point and even the money doesn't really mean anything to me. In fact, if it came down to it I'd do this job for free without the consent of the guild. The reason is because these people are suffering, and I can't overlook that. Rules might be important overall, but they don't matter if lives are at stake." Ichigo replied.

"I see… I kinda figured you'd say something like that. Still I hope it's worth it, because Erza's gonna be coming for all of our hides pretty soon." Gray mused, paling slightly as he finished.

"Again, I don't see why you're all so afraid of her…" Ichigo trailed off.