~*****~

"Where is everyone?" Happy asks.

"Are you sure they came here?" Natsu hums.

"Yeah, this has been their camp." Lucy nods. "I wonder where they could have gone."

"Hello!?" Happy calls loudly.

"Since we're here, I'm gonna grab bandages and some medicine," Gray says as he enters a tent.

"You finally made it back!" We hear a villager exclaim. We turn around to see him still in his demon form. "There's something you need to see! Please, follow me to the village!" Erza is quick to whirl me around, I suppose to make my throbbing leg jostle around.

"I suppose this is punishment enough," I comment dryly as a tear escapes my eye.

"Not nearly enough." Erza retorts.

I groan loudly as we continue onwards. The village is back without a problem, and everyone seems to be frolicking with joy. "Whoa, are you kidding me?" Lucy asks.

"Yesterday it was a total mess, but now it looks perfect!" Happy adds.

"What's going on here?" Natsu asks as he taps on one of the walls. "Everything's back to how it was! It's like the village went back in time!"

"Now that it's fixed, you probably shouldn't' touch anything, 'kay, Natsu?" I mention.

"ARE YOU SAYING I DESTROY EVERYTHING I TOUCH?!" Natsu bellows at me.

"Did you forget us totally wrecking that temple?" I chuckle.

"Oh, yeah," Natsu says as he plops his fist onto his hand. He begins murmuring to himself but in the end, decides to ignore whatever he'd been thinking about and strolled off happily.

I chuckle and roll my eyes. "Can I sit down now? My leg's gonna break if you continue to jostle it around." I mention to Erza.

She gives me a side glare before helping me sit on one of the benches. I hiss and grasp at my leg. "You did a brave thing, attacking that giant demon by yourself." Erza says softly, her hand rubbing my head. "While I may be cross with you and the others, I'm still proud of what you did."

I snort. "Thanks, Erza. And I still don't think you're scary, you big softie."

"Then I guess I'll need to try harder," She smirks before trailing off after Lucy. It doesn't take long before I'm being hauled up again for a town meeting. Natsu helps me walk-- thankfully mindful about the injury. "Let me make sure I have my facts straight." Erza says once everyone arrives. "The first time everybody in this village took on these demonic forms is when the moon began to turn purple. Is that correct?"

"Yes." Moka nods. "During the day, we're fine, but when the moon comes out we transform into what you see now."

"And the moon first turned purple about three years ago, right?" Erza questioned.

"Wow, has it really been that long?" One villager asks.

"Yeah," Another nods.

"We've learned that the Moon Drip Ceremony has been performed on this island every night for the last three years. And each night, it produced a beam of light so brilliant that you couldn't possibly have missed it." Erza says as she strolls right into the pitfall trap Lucy left.

I snort and begin to guffaw loudly, throwing my head back as I begin to snort. "Whoa! Even Lucy's Pitfall Trap is back!" Happy exclaims.

"She screamed like a girl." Natsu hummed.

"Yeah... and it was cute." Gray adds.

"I'm so gonna be dead meat when she gets out!" Lucy cries.

Erza gets out as if nothing happened to her. "Seriously. Didn't you ever wonder where that light was coming from?" Erza asks. I cup my hand over my mouth to stop the laughter, only to double over and sink to my knee to stop it. I keep snorting into my palm. "I don't understand. Why didn't anyone investigate?"

"Well, we would've looked into it, but according to our village lore, our people must never go near that temple." Moka explains.

"But who cares about village lore when your own people are dying?" Lucy asks. "You obviously knew it was a problem 'cause you contacted the Magic Guilds."

My laughter stops as I peer over at them. They all look quite frustrated. "Perhaps you all forgot?" I ask as Natsu helps me back up. "Let me see if I can paint a scenario..." I hum in thought. "You all would get your weapons, get decked out in all that gear you probably never needed to use, am I correct so far?"

"Uh... yes," Moka nods.

"And then when you got close, you suddenly wound up back at the village?" I add.

"But how would that be possible, Aria?" Lucy asks as I get a murmur of agreement.

"Yeah, we got into the temple without any problem at all." Natsu comments. "How weird."

"We didn't say anything to you earlier, because we were worried that you wouldn't believe us." One villager mentions.

"We're telling you the truth." Another adds. "We've tried to go back to the temple many times."

"But not a single villager has ever been able to get inside." A third says.

I hum again. "So then the side effects only effect certain people, then." I mention.

"Natsu. Come with me." Erza says as she glances at us, her armor changing to a new looking set. "Since Aria and Gray are incapacitated, I'll be relying on you to help me destroy the moon."

Natsu laughs gleefully as I find myself suddenly being thrown at Gray. I grasp onto his bare shoulders and grimace as we glare at one another before turning our glares onto Natsu. I don't mention the heady flush on Gray's face. "REALLY?!"

"It's the only way we can change the villagers back to their human forms." Erza states. The entire village cheers at Erza's claim.

"Where you wanna go? Do you think we should climb up to the top of the temple?!" Natsu asks excitedly. "It's a lot higher up there!"

"We'll do it from here." Erza hums. "The villagers can't go near the temple, and they need to witness this."

"I don't know what she's thinking," Gray hums as I lean against him. "I mean, she can do some amazing things, but still."

"So, what do you think she's gonna do it?" Lucy asks.

I sigh loudly and palm at my face. "This is exciting, huh?" Happy chitters.

"More like terrifying." Lucy comments.

"This is giant armor. It increases my strength and allows me to throw farther," Erza explains. "And this..." She summons a large spear and holds it effortlessly as it slams into the ground. "This is the Spear of Haja. It repels darkness."

"WHOA! I see what you're planning now! You're gonna use that spear to knock the moon out of the sky!" Natsu exclaims.

"Gimme a break," Lucy, Gray, Happy, and I all murmur. "That's never gonna work."

"That's right. But I'm afraid I'll need more strength than this armor can give me." Erza says. "So Natsu, I'm going to need to use your fire power as a boost. Whenever I begin to throw the spear, I want you to hit the back of it with your flames."

"Like a firework." I comment.

"Yes. Now we'll have to time our attack perfectly. But I think you should give me just enough power to do the job." Erza nods.

"Sounds like a killer plan to me!" Natsu shouts happily. "Then let's do it."

"They don't really think they're gonna pull this off, do they?" Gray asks.

"Well, I think they've totally gone off teh deep end this time." Lucy sighs.

"It'll be funny to talk about later, though." I shrug.

Erza and Natsu go up to a tower and successfully launch the spear through the air with Natsu's firepower working in tandem with Erza's armor. "They did it!" Happy cheers.

"This is bad..." Gray sighs.

"What are they thinking?!" Lucy exclaims.

We all shriek in surprise as the spear actually hits the target. "NO WAY!" We all bellow.

The purple moon shatters, along with a portion of the sky. "Whoa!" I exclaim. "Oh!" I exclaim.

"What?" Gray asks as I jostle around.

"It was side effects!" I exclaim. "The spell's energy created a little membrane around the island. The spell doesn't effect humans, it effects the memories of demons!" I laugh as everyone glances around.

"So... these are they're true forms?" Gray asks.

"That's correct." Erza nods as she approaches us. "The moon drip never had any effect on their appearance. Aria is correct, the side effects seem to only effect demons."

"They think they're humans who have transformed into demons. But it's the other way around." I mention with a shrug.

"S-So, you mean--" Lucy stammers.

"Yep! They're super cool demons! Always have been!" I laugh.

"Hey, is that true?" Gray asks immediately.

"Well, maybe," One villager hums. "My memory's hazy. We all looked pretty human when you met us, didn't we?"

"Yes, because you possess the ability to take on human forms. Your false memories led you to believe that your temporary states were actually your true forms. In reality, you were demons who had fallen victim to the moon drip's side effects." Erza explains.

"Hold on. How come Lyon and the others weren't affected?" Lucy asks.

"Have you not listened the entire time?" I ask irritably. "Demons are the only ones who are affected by the moon drip." I grip at my forehead. "I get it now. The reason they couldn't go near the temple was because it was sacred. Creatures of darkness can't go towards it. Am I right?" I ask Erza.

She nods. "Yes. That's correct."

"You're quite the detective! I knew I could trust you and your friends!" A familiar voice echoes out. "Thanks, Wizards! I owe you one!" Bobo exclaims as he approaches us.

"You're the guy from the boat!" Gray shouts as I scream and curl my face into his shoulder, shrieking about a ghost.

Moka shudders. "Bobo..." He stammers.

"But I thought you were--" One villagers gasps.

"Getting stabbed in the chest hurt pretty bad, but you gotta do more than that to kill a demon." Bobo explains happily.

"B-But on the boat, you just disappeared into thin air," Gray comments as I peek out from his shoulder. He disappears again, causing me to scream.

"I really hope you kids can forgive me for not telling you the truth sooner!" Bobo laughs from up above.

"He can fly?!" Gray stammers.

"I was the only one who didn't have any memory loss. I had to leave, 'cause everyone went nuts. I knew I was a demon, but everybody else-- suddenly, they thought they were cursed humans!" Bobo explains.

Moka flies up to greet his son with tears. I move away from Gray and cough into my fist. "Yeah, they're definitely demons," I comment dryly as my face flushes.

"I don't know. If you look at their faces... they kinda look... more like angels to me." Natsu hums as he approaches us.

I giggle and ruffle his hair.

~*****~

I yawn tiredly as I listen to them have a wild party outside. My leg still throbs as I wait for my bone to melt. I totally wanted to join in on the fun, but Erza was quite adamant that I stay inside and rest. "You all right in here?" I hear Natsu asks as he enters the little hut I'm in. I nod languishly.

"Yeah, the bones nearly all thawed." I hum affectionately. "Come sit. I'm sure some of that fire out there can burn a little longer."

Natsu beams and bounces onto the pillow besides me, leaning back with a delighted sigh. "You sure got it pretty comfy in here. Too bad, once morning hits, we're gonna be hauled back to Fairy Tail for punishment." Natsu hums.

I snort. "As if it'll be bad. The villagers are back to normal-- well, back with their memories, anyway-- and Deliora is dead." I yawn and stretch upwards. "Go ahead and join them. Don't let your last minutes of freedom be wasted slumming it with a crippled wizard." I giggle.

"Aw c'mon, you're fun company! I'd rather hang out with you all night!" Natsu cheers. I snort and wave my hand at him.

"Fine, but don't complain when I start whining about my leg." I mention.

"What, are you gonna hang out in here with Aria by yourself?" I hear Gray ask as he enters the room. "Eyebrows and the love girl just left." Gray comments as he plops onto the other pillow besides me, sighing loudly. "It got way too loud out there."

I scoff and peer at him. "Wow, that's gonna leave a nasty scar." I comment as I stare at him.

Gray shrugs. "No big deal."

"On your face?" I ask, my brow raising delicately.

"I don't mind having a few scars as long as I can see them." Gray says. "It's the ones you can't see that sting."

I swallow down that strange pull to coo at him. "Smooth talker," I comment impishly.

Natsu grunts irritably. "So you've got invisible scars?" Natsu asks.

"Shut up, Natsu!" Gray shouts. "Every time I say something cool, you gotta ruin it!"

"How was that cool?" Natsu asks.

I snort and laugh again. "If you didn't strip all the time, I'd probably start looking at you in a different light, you know. Be careful, cause I tend to get mega flirty with guys I like." I mention to Gray as I tug on a lock of his hair. "Now both of you quiet down, I can feel my leg bone aching." I begin to hiss and grasp at my leg to try and warm it up.

I don't make a comment on either of their flushed faces.

~*****~

By the time morning hits, my leg bone is completely thawed, and I'm raring to go. "What? But miss, you deserve the reward!" Moka exclaims once Erza denies accepting it. "Please, take it!"

"Thank you. But your gratitude is payment enough." Erza hums.

"That's nice, but you should take the money," Moka retorts.

"I can't because your request was never officially accepted by the guild." Erza states. "It fell into the hands of foolish wizards trying to prove themselves." Erza explains as I scratch at my cheek in embarrassment.

Moka just laughs. "Foolish as they may be, if it wasn't for them, we never would have been saved. What if I give you the money not as a reward, but instead as a thank-you gift" Moka suggests. "It's the least I can do after everything you've done for our village."

Erza just chuckles. "When you put it that way, you make it hard to say no."

"So you're really gonna take it?" I ask dryly. I hear the others behind me exclaim in excitement.

Erza chuckles again. "No, I'm sorry, but I cannot accept it. Accepting your reward would be contrary to our guild's principles. However, we'd be happy to take the gate key you offered along with it."

"THE GATE KEY!" Natsu and Gray exclaim unhappily.

"Come to mama!" Lucy cheers.

"Well, at least let me take you back to Hargeon." Bobo offers.

"Thank you. But I have a boat waiting, sir." Erza declines Bobo.

"You do?" I raise a brow. She nods with a chuckle and leads us all down to the beach, where a giant pirate ship waits. "O-Oh... you do." I stammer as I stare at it.

"A pirate ship?!" Gray exclaims.

"You kidding me! Did she hijack it?!" Lucy exclaims.

"This is awesome!" Happy says excitedly.

"AHOY ME BEAUTY!" The pirates all cheer.

"So, not only are you the Queen of Fairies, now you're the Queen of Pirates, too?" I ask impishly.

"That's right," Erza smirks. "They've become quite fond of me."

"That's the great Erza for ya!" Happy cheers.

"You're such a suck up." I sigh as I rub his head.

"Ahoy! Come aboard me ship, mateys!" The captain cheers.

"Mateys?" Gray echoes.

"I don't wanna!" Lucy shrieks. "I'm not riding that creep boat!"

"Hey, if you wanna swim, Aria and I will join you!" Natsu hums.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan to me," I laugh.

"YOU TWO ARE INSANE!" Lucy shouts at us.

As soon as we're on the boat, Natsu and I are groaning unhappily and leaning against the railing.