Calming the Chaos

24.

"It wasn't you guys, so don't worry," I called up.

I heard Natsu huff. "I'd say that you slept better than any of us last night," he said quietly. I flushed again and looked at the ground. He's more talkative than usual. I'm not sure how I feel about it since what he says keeps embarrassing me.

"Before we destroy the moon, we want to investigate the island. Could you open up?" Gray asked.

My eyes widened. "What?" I asked incredulously. "We are going to destroy it?" There's no way we could destroy the moon.

"Be my guest," the guard said. He opened the gate and we walked through.

As we walked through the forest, I couldn't help but to think about the dilemma we faced. There was no way we could destroy the moon, so there was no way we could complete this request. Then what are we still doing here? "It's impossible to destroy the moon," I stated.

"Correct," Erza said.

"Then why are we trying to figure out how to do it?" I asked.

"For a smart woman, you're slow," Natsu stated. I flushed in embarrassment again and looked away. Apparently I'm the only one who doesn't know. What am I not getting?

"I just said that for the villager's benefit," Gray explained.

"What?" I asked. I really am slow.

"There's something else going on here, and we need to investigate to find out what that something else is," Erza explained. She nodded at Gray. "And nice work on getting out of the village without raising suspicion." That makes a lot more sense than destroying the moon.

We continued walking through the forest, and I continued to become more paranoid. I moved closer to Natsu until our arms brushed every so often. I glanced up at him and saw that he seemed a little annoyed, so I moved a little bit away from him. A sudden loud thumping noise made everyone stop. I jumped. Natsu yanked me behind him and looked around. Gray and Erza looked around as well.

"What's that?" Happy asked. I hugged him a bit tighter.

A giant rat suddenly came out of the forest and screeched at us. Everyone gasped. Natsu quickly pulled me in front of him so he was between me and the rat.

"A rat?" Erza asked.

"It's huge," Gray yelled. The rat puffed up its cheeks as if preparing to blow something on us. "You're thinking of blowing something at us? Well, with my ice-make shield-"

The rat blew gas at us. It smelled disgusting. I started coughing. This is the most disgusting thing I've ever smelled. It'll take a long time to get this smell off.

"That stinks!" Gray yelled. "What is that smell supposed to be?" Let's hope it just stinks and isn't poisonous. I looked behind me and saw Natsu unconscious on the ground.

"Get up, Dragneel," Gray yelled. "That's just pitiful."

"His nose is more sensitive than most," Erza explained between her coughs. "We need to get out of this stench."

"Fly, Happy," I said. He suddenly flew out of my arms. I turned around and pulled Natsu's arms around my shoulders. I hooked my hands under his knees and lifted him up, so I was carrying him on my back. I started to run after Erza and Gray. I was much slower than them, but I kept running as fast as I could.

Gray noticed that I was falling behind, so he turned around and waited for me to pass him. "Ice-make floor," Gray yelled. The rat slipped and hit its head on the ground, which instantly knocked it out.

"Good job, Gray," Erza said as we stopped.

Natsu burrowed his nose in the crook of my neck and took a deep breath. My cheeks flushed. Why did he do that? I looked around and spotted a building. "Look, there's some building," I said. "Let's make a break for it while we can."

"Let's break this thing's head while we can," Gray said as he starting hitting the rat's head. I raised a brow at him. It's already unconscious. What's the point of hitting it more?

"Let's go," Erza said. We followed Erza into the building. My eyes widen a bit. It's a temple.

"Wow," I said. "This is huge." I turned to see Gray, Erza, and Happy looking around too.

"It's falling apart," Happy said.

"Just what age was this thing built in?" Gray asked.

"There are marks that look like the moon," Erza said.

Gray nodded. "I heard that this island was originally called the Island of the Moon," he said.

"Island of the moon," I mumbled. "Curse of the moon, and a moon symbol. There's something not right about this ruin."

"You're right," Natsu mumbled sleepily. I yelped in surprise and almost dropped him. "You can put me down now, woman." I let go of his legs so he can stand. He unwrapped his arms from around my shoulders but didn't move away from me. I flushed a bit. Isn't he too close?

"Lucy, look at this," Happy said. He held up a bone for me to see.

I felt a bit uncomfortable. Who or what was that bone from? "That's really cool, Happy," I said with a shaky smile.

Happy smiled. "Come here and look. I found more," he said.

I started walking over to him and tripped. I caught myself by stomping my foot on the ground. Then the floor broke.

"Lucy," Erza yelled angrily.

I flinched. "I'm sorry," I said as we fell. I felt Natsu wrap his arms around me and pull me to him. He gave me a disapproving look. I closed my eyes and held on to him with a heavy weight in my stomach. I didn't mean to break the floor.

"What a freakin' weak-willed floor," Gray yelled.

"Since when did floors have any will at all?" Happy asked as he fell down with us. Can't he fly?

We landed in a pile of rubble. It was surprisingly soft though. I opened my eyes and saw a black and orange shirt. My eyes widened. I looked up and saw Natsu under me. He broke my fall. I scramble off of him. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" I asked.

Before Natsu could answer I saw Erza glare at me. "We're on an S-class mission," she yelled. "Any wrong move could mean our death. We're lucky we didn't die just now. Think before you get us all killed." I flinch and look at the ground. "We shouldn't have taken you on this mission. You aren't ready."

I flinched again. "Useless and untrained! That's exactly what you are!" My eyes filled with tears at the memory. "You're only an embarrassment!"

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm so sorry." A tear slipped down my cheek.

"Sorry? We were almost killed and you say 'sorry'?" Erza asked. I flinched again.

"Enough," Natsu commanded. He knelt down in front of me and softly pats my head. I quickly wiped away my tears and looked at him. My eyes widened when I saw the soft look in his eyes. "Be more careful," he said. I nodded and gave a tiny smile.

"What's that?" we heard Happy ask.

"What?" I asked. Natsu turned around, and I looked over his shoulder. I gasp when I see a giant monster in the ice.

"There's a huge monster frozen in ice!" Happy yelled.

"Deliora?" Gray asked in horrified shock. "That's impossible! Why would Deliora be here?"

FINALLY! I have completed all changes that needed to be made! I know Erza was a little too rude, but I gotta agree with her, they would have died had they not been the main characters.

I apologize to all of you for the long wait. School, took up most of my time, unfortunately. Please forgive me. 

Comment, Vote & Share. 

Check out Seven Deadly Sins.

See you in the next chapter!