"Are those icicles?" Ultear exclaimed, examining the dead villagers face.

"Stop criticizing his face and try to think about who did this, Ultear," Jellal said.

"We already know who did," I chimed in. "The Dorocha."

"Where did you find him?" the king asked, running his hand through his blue hair nervously.

"We find their bodies at night," the village girl said. "And they look like this."

"We'll stay overnight and try to get a glimpse of the Dorocha," Jellal told her. "Maybe we can catch it."

"You can't, sire," the girl whimpered. "They're like ghosts. We tried to fight them but our weapons go through them. And they scream in the night. They frighten our children and kill our men."

"We're going to have to try."

~ ~ ~

"Erza, Ultear. You guys go over there. Try to get a glimpse of the Dorocha."

"And where will you be?" I asked.

"Always worried about Jellal," Ultear whispered in my ear. I pushed her away and returned my attention to Jellal.

"I'll be with Macao in the front. Yell if you need anything."

"Where's Natsu and Gray?"

"Back at the castle."

We nodded and he left.

Ultear turned to me, her long black hair glistening in the moonlight. "This will be easy. You can use your magic, right?"

We ducked behind a wagon full of hay and waited for the Dorocha. We both had our hands on our sword, even though it didn't harm them. Ultear had a torch with her as well.

When the first Dorocha appeared out of thin air and screeched, I was prepared. I held out my hands and muttered a magical curse. The Dorocha should've died. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. The Dorocha continued flying, it's mist-like skeleton face zooming towards me, its mouth opened.

"Erza, watch out!" Ultear yelled, pushing me out of the way and brandishing her torch. The Dorocha screeched and disappeared.

"My magic doesn't work against them," I whispered mournfully. "I'm helpless."

"No, you're not," she said. "You're just like the rest of us against them. And guess what? Apparently light repels them."

"But it doesn't kill them."

"So pessimistic as always," Jellal said appearing from behind me. We both jumped.

"I'm not a Dorocha, I swear," he laughed. Then he turned serious. "I heard yelling. Are you guys okay?"

"Fire and light repels Dorocha's," Ultear said proudly.

"That's useful," he said. "We'll tell the villagers. Then we should head back to Fiore."

"And then what?" I asked.

"We'll...find a way to get rid of them...somehow."

That's when I realized how hard it must be as a king.

~ ~ ~

Ding Ding Dong Ding Dong

"We've got another victim," Natsu shouted, heaving a man towards Porlyusica. 

"Bring  him down to the dungeons," the physician said. "That's where Mira and I are treating them."

"But this one's dead," Natsu told her.

"Then drop him, for God's sake!" Gray growled. "We have to worry about the dying people, not the ones that are dead!"

They ran into the night, where people from the Outer Sectors and the Inner Sectors were flooding in through the now open gates.

"Gray, look!" Natsu shouted, jabbing his friend in the arm.

Three young kids, no older then five, were huddled in the corner crying.

"Quick, get them before another Dorocha does!"

"But there are two of them right th-"

"READY? GO!"

The two knights ran for the kids, scooping them up just in time. The two Dorocha disappeared into the night.

"When is Jellal, Macao, Ultear, and Erza coming back? We need them!" Natsu groaned.

~ ~ ~

"Thank you, thank you!" the green haired lady cried, reaching for her daughter. 

"Mommy!" the little girl whimpered.

"Come on, Bisca," the man said. "We need to find shelter in the castle."

"You can find rooms in the North Tower," Gray instructed.

"Thank you," the man said and disappeared with his wife and daughter.

The other kids rejoined with their parents and left for the tower.

~ ~ ~

"I've never felt so terrified," I told Porlyusica as she knelt beside the frozen people, attempting and failing to heal them. "I feel so useless."

"You're a knight, Erza. Your sword is second-nature."

"But my magic is first-nature."

"Is that a thing?" Mira asked, trying to get me to cheer up.

But I was completely serious. Magic came before my sword.

~ ~ ~

"Wow," Jellal joked. "Dinners on time for once."

I set the tray down and started to leave. Maybe my spell book had a chapter on Dorocha..

"Wait," he said suddenly. "Don't..Don't leave."

I turned around and sat beside him.

"Erza..Are you scared?" Jellal asked feebly. "I never believed in ghosts. But now..What happened to Gray last week. And starting yesterday the Dorocha..."

"I'm scared," I admitted. "Everyone is."

"You know," he said slowly. "I might be even more scared then you."

Normally, I would've teased him about being a scaredy-cat. But things were different now.

The room soon grew cold and we both looked up, realizing the window had creaked open.

We exchanged looks and I got up to close it. Was it a Dorocha? Was something hiding behind the curtains?

I crept closer and closer until something wrapped around me and I let out a scream.

"Calm it, Scarlet," Jellal whispered, his arms around my waist. He bit his lip, trying not to laugh.

"Calm it?" I asked, turning around in his embrace. "Why on earth did you have to do that?! Are you trying to kill me?"

"To see if you were really scared," he said honestly. "You're the bravest person I've ever-"

The door opened and Siegrain stared open-mouthed at us. "Um..guys? Not the right time to-"

"Erza was scared," Jellal said blatantly. "She thought she saw a Dorocha behind the curtain."

"I didn't know Erza could get scared," Siegrain said, shrugging his shoulders. "Anyway, Porlyusica found something about the Dorocha."

~ ~ ~

"A soul for a soul," the physician told us. "It appears that Minerva sacrificed Morgause in order to rip the veil that keeps the spirit world and our world separate. We need to sacrifice someones soul to mend the rip."

"Morgause is dead?" Jellal and I asked in unison.

"It appears I never killed her but injured her badly. Morgause gave up the will to live and asked Minerva to do this."

"How do you..." I trailed off when Porlyusica glared at me.

How does she know all this?

"We need to get going immediately," Jellal said. "Where to?"

"A place called the Isle of the Blest. I believe the keeper of the spirit world, the Callieach is waiting for us there."

"But who are we going to sacrifice?" Natsu asked.

"Oh no," Gray started. "Not you. We are not going to sacrifice our king."

"I'm the king," he snapped. "I can do what I want. And this is my decision. I will save Fiore."

"I'm not trained to be king!" Siegrain cried. "You can't do this, Jellal! I can't lose you too!"

Jellal's face softened and he leaned close to his brother and whispered something.

~ ~ ~

"We're leaving now?" Ultear asked in dismay. "No offense, but night is when the Dorocha come out! We need to wait till morning!"

"We can't wait," Jellal said softly. "I know it's dangerous. But we have to go to the Isle of Blest as soon as possible."