Watch out for my 31 Days of Halloween coming out December 1st!

~
You and the others settled down in a small hut afterwards. The rest of them were in the room next to you, unpacking and getting ready to go to bed. You were sitting in front of a mirror, staring at yourself.

'All right Y/n. Calm down.' You closed your eyes and slowly exhaled. Your heart seemed to of slowed. For a second.
It picked back up when you felt an arm wrap around your chest. You snapped your eyes open and saw a woman in the mirror. Leaning down and hugging you against her chest—tightly. Black and white hair cascaded down her back, strands framing her face.
Red eyes peered into yours, leering at you.

"You're not very good at keeping secrets, are you?" She was speaking, but her lips weren't moving. "Telling Dreyar and Scarlet about our little relation. You do horrible under pressure." You wanted to speak, but your throat felt tight. Like she was choking you, but her hand was no where near it. Your reflection flashed. Distorted. S/c skin turning black, then white—eyes turning dark like an abyss, deep red dots in the center.

"Y/n!" Natsu burst into the room. Everything went away at once. The images, the woman, your headache. "Come on! We're ready to go to sleep! What are you doing?" A quiet, shaky breath left you before you turned around with your signature smirk. It was strained.

"Oh, just admiring my hot bod." You stood up and rubbed your chest, still feeling her cold arm around it.

"Well hurry it up! We have a lot to do tomorrow!" He ran out of the room. You slowly followed him, face falling. When you walked into the other room, you already saw Natsu and Gray lying face first in their futons. Lucy was getting ready to go to sleep as well.

"I can sleep in between them, if you want," you spoke. She looked at you and smiled.

"Are you okay with that? I don't really trust them..."
You nodded at her and jumped onto the futon in between them

"I'm fine with it." You shrugged.

Some time in the middle of the night, both Gray and Natsu woke up. Neither of them knew, though, because you were in between them. Your back was facing Gray and your face was in front of Natsu. Both of them had to resist the urge to hug you. Instead, they turned away from you, faces warm.

~
The next morning, the five of you were up early. You and Lucy got really good sleep last night, so you were well rested.

"It's too early," Natsu groaned from behind you.

"It's crazy early in the morning," Gray added to the list of complaints.

"Who are you blaming for not being able to sleep?!" Lucy exclaimed, "Okay! Let's put our energy into this and get going!"

"Aye..." The three of them groaned out in unison.

The five of you were walking along a pathway—well, Lucy was inside Horologium.

"Are we really gonna find another way besides destroying the moon?" Natsu asked.

"We have to," Gray replied.

"Destroying the moon is so stupid and will cause major damage to the earth." You sighed and shook your head.

"Really? What would happen?" Natsu asked.

"... it's too much work to explain. Take a guess."

"Oh right! Then there'd be no more limited-time-only Fairy Tail moon-viewing steaks!"

'Oh god.'

"I can't live without that moon-viewing salted fish!" Happy flew up to your side.

"'Stop that, you guys. We don't know what's out here. Could you please not shout so loud?' She says."

"Walk on your own," Natsu said pointedly.

"Are you sure you're using your celestial spirits properly?" Gray asked.

"'We're dealing with a curse here. Intangible stuff is scary!' She says."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that," you murmured.

"S-Class quests rock! I'm all fired up now!"

"I'll freeze this stupid curse! There's nothing to be scared of!"

"'You guys really are stupid,' she says."
There was a loud thumping from behind you. You stopped before everyone else and turned.

"Oh dear." Your words made the others stop and turn. Natsu and Gray shrieked. A giant rat stood above you.

"What the...?!"

"It's huge!"

"'Beat it up, you guys!' She says."
You launched from the ground, a magic circle appearing below your hand.

"Third Circle: Ver'un!" You pulled out the thin, blue blade from the circle. "Endless Abyss!" Faster than anyone could see, you slashed at the rat multiple times. A shadow of darkness fell over its body, but nothing covered the sun. The darkness wrapped around the rat, blinding it.
You flew over their heads.

"Go! Go!"
The others ran after you. The spell wasn't long-lasting and the rat broke out of it sooner than later. It ran after all of you, spraying some skunk-shit at you all.

"BRUH THAT SHIT'S NASTY!" You covered your nose, eyes tearing up.

"Ice Make... Floor!" Gray covered the ground in ice. The rat stepped its foot onto it and proceeded to slam on its back.

"Why didn't you do that first?" Natsu asked with a grin.

"Quit complaining!"

"Look! There's some sort of building!" Lucy said, looking over at a temple. "Let's get inside while we can!"

"Oh yeah, that doesn't look totally suspicious," you said flatly.

"Just hurry it up!"

When the five of you entered, you saw just how beat up and decrepit is was. Growth was wrapping itself around the broken pillars. You're surprised it's still standing.

"Wow! This place is big!" Lucy breathed.

"It's all busted up!" Natsu added.

"Just how old is this?" Gray asked. You walked up to a piece of a pillar and gently slid your hand down the worn down stone.

"Old," you said, "This has been here a while."

"Really?" Lucy inquired. Your eyes traveled up to the opposite wall.

"Moon emblems," you said, walking up to them. The others joined you at your side.

"This place was originally called 'Island of the Moon'," Gray said from your side.

"A moon island, a moon curse, and moon emblems..." Lucy thought, "There's something fishy about these ruins."

"I sense magic emanating from here," you spoke, "I can't pinpoint where. It's just... here."

"Man, this place is falling apart." Natsu walked away from you. "Is this floor even safe?" He then proceeded to stomp his foot against the stone tiles.

"Stop that!" Lucy scolded. The floor beneath his feet collapsed.

"Oh no..."
All of you fell through the floor deep under the temple.

"Natsu, you dumbass!" The five of you fell into a chasm below. All of you collided into the ground in a pile of stone and rubble. With a groan, you sat up, holding your head.

"Hey! You guys okay?!" Natsu popped up from the rocks.

"No! This is your fault!" Lucy said from the side.

"Why don't you ever think about the consequences?!"

'Huh? What's that?' Slowly, you stood. You ignored the fact that you plummeted into a secret cave.

"Hey, where are you going?" Lucy asked. You walked into a thin stretch and looked around.

'This magic presence...' You turned a corner where it grew colder. Your feet slid to a stop before a large hunk of ice.

"Huh...?" You said out loud, staring up at it. Your eyes were wide with shock. "... Deliora?"

Ja ne!

{Ruby Red}