Lucy summoned Mr. Mohawk, and they departed southwards to Harbour of Hargeon without dilly-dallying. When they arrived at their destination, it was already past midnight. They thanked the horseman, and the latter returned to the Key with a high-pitched neigh. Not far away, three boatmen were playing cards on a table with a missing leg. Two of them wore only singlets and short pants, whereas one had his entire body wrapped in a thick cloak.
Lucy approached them. "Good evening, could anyone of you send us to Galuna Island?"
"Galuna Island? You've got to be kidding me! I'm not going anywhere near it! Even pirates avoid it!"
"I don't even want to hear that name! That island is a taboo among people of this port!"
Only the boatman in the thick cloak remained silent, but no one seemed to care about it.
Natsu let out a broad grin. "We'll swim there, Lucy! Sounds like a good idea to me."
"No way! How could you possibly swim that far?" Lucy retorted.
She was about to argue with Natsu when she heard merry singing not far away. That kind of tune that was of equal parts to divinity and spine-tingling. Natsu and Happy's ears tweaked in alertness too. As the Fairy Tail's mages no longer paid attention to them, the boatmen snorted and returned to their game. Didn't the boatmen hear the singing? Lucy exchanged glances with her comrades, and for the first time of the day, they reached an agreement.
They followed the sound of music and had soon arrived at a beach, where two ladies were sitting on a boulder. The lady with her blue hair wove into a long gleaming braid down to the side of her waist was blowing a flute. Her skin was a burnished gold under the moonlight, which made her look like a goddess. The other lady with straight, blond shoulder-length hair was playing her harp. Both of them had their eyes closed as they relaxed into the music.
The Trio took a few steps closer. Suddenly, Natsu exclaimed, "Whoa, she's so beautiful!"
Lucy followed the direction where Natsu's finger was pointing and gasped when she realized the blue-haired lady was actually a mermaid. She donned on a crystal tiara that made her look majestic. Blue seashells brimming with semi-translucent pearls covered her bosoms.
"Indeed, I've never seen a lady as beautiful as her." Lucy agreed with misty eyes.
Whereas the blond lady next to her look akin to a human. She wore a white silk shawl over her head, and her silk evening dress draped from her chest to her sheen, sleek and smooth.
A sudden pop came from behind Lucy, and Virgo appeared in her usual maid attire. In her hand was a toothbrush with a tube of white cream on it. "Princess," she gave a light bow before continuing, "I was polishing your gift, when Brother Cancer insisted me to ask for your permission to summon him. He said he must say Hello to his idol."
"Ah... Well." Lucy chanted and the Gate of Cancer opened.
Without greeting Lucy, Cancer bolted towards the blue-haired lady; a bouquet of red roses in his hands. As he reached her, he knelt and thrust the flower to her. "My fair Lady Aquarius, I've been longing to meet you, but I'd never seen you in our world."
"She's the ever-hard-to-get Aquarius?" Lucy let out a gasp that sounded like the croak of a frog.
Aquarius grimaced at the scent of the roses, and her eyes flung open. They turned to blue slits as she howled, "How dare you! We're almost reaching to the chorus!" With a massive force, she smashed the flower. It landed in front of Natsu, bald, as the petals had all fallen off.
"Aquarius..."
Cancer ran back, sobbing, and planted his head onto Virgo's shoulder. Virgo patted it gently.
"Filthy humans! How dare you spoiled my mood!" With a beastly roar, she lifted her arms. Crisscrossed branches of lightning streaked down from the sky with a sharp crack. Tall waves from the sea surged up suddenly. Her fangs elongated as she shouted, "Begone!"
The waves splashed Lucy and the gang back to the harbour. Natsu coughed out a family of soft-shell crabs. Virgo occupied herself with taking seaweeds down from Lucy's hair. The still-sobbing Cancer hugged the wilted flower to his chest, mumbling something like "I'll never fall in love again". Lucy waved her Key, and Cancer retreated into it. Happy was the happiest creature after the attack, swallowing a fat eel at his heart's content.
Two tidals of waves emerged from the middle of the sea, with Aquarius and the blond lady standing on each of it. Aquarius regarded them with a smirk. "Humph, filthy humans! Serve you all well! Let's go!" They dived off the waves and disappeared into the sea water.
"No, wait, Aquarius!" Lucy called after the air. "She's the strongest of all, and she's gone."
Virgo was comforting Lucy when a familiar voice called from behind them.
"I. Found. You."
They turned around and was flabbergasted to see Gray.
"Master ordered me to bring you guys back."
"No way! I'm going to do this S-Class job no matter what!" shouted Natsu.
"It's impossible with your skill!" Gray retaliated. "Follow me back now!"
"Like you wish! There's no stopping me now!"
"In that case, let's duel! If you lose, you'll follow me back!" Water vapour sizzled in Gray's hands.
Fire enshrouded Natsu's fists. "You asked for it, Boxer Boy!"
They were about to fight, when the boatman in thick cloak called out, "You guys are mages? You want to go to Galuna Island so that you can lift the curse, is it?" As Natsu and Lucy nodded, the boatman pointed to his boat. "Please get in! I'll send you there for free."
"Oy, we're having a duel! Don't get in our way!" Gray snapped at the boatman.
A foot landed on Gray's head, and he collapsed immediately on the floor.
"Guess we've to bring him along then." Natsu pushed the unconscious Gray into the boat.
When they had all boarded the boat, Virgo excused herself back to the Stellar World.
Gray woke up not long after in the middle of the sea; Natsu looked like he was about to faint.
The boatman introduced himself. "My name is Bobo. I once lived in Galuna Island, but I ran away from that cursed place. If you go to that island, you shall all encounter grave misfortune. Are you really the best candidates to lift this curse?"
"We are Fairy Tail's strongest team!" Happy vocalized.
"Humph. Then, I hope you won't let the residents on the island down." Bobo removed his cloak and pulled off a glove, showing them his charred left arm with claws. "This, is The Demon's Curse! It's what I got after being shone by the moonlight. It happens to every one of them too."
"You mean the moonlight in Galuna Island will turn people's limbs to... this?" asked Lucy in awe.
"Ill fate... It always befalls the innocent. Look, we're almost there." Bobo pointed to the distance.
Lucy squinted and saw an island not far away. Silvery glint shone out from the summits of some mountains in the island as if they had gathered all the moonlight there. "So that's Galuna Island? It's beautiful. It doesn't look like it's cursed to me, Bobo."
Lucy turned to regard the boatman and realized, "He's gone!"
"He must've jumped off the boat while we weren't looking," Happy suggested.
Gray studied the calm ripples surrounding their boat. "It didn't look like it."
"Guys, we have a bigger problem now!"
Lucy pointed to a tall wave next to her. Aquarius was standing on it, holding an enormous clay urn. An eerie deep rumble came out of it. Aquarius had that smirk on her face that told Lucy something nasty was about to take place. The blond-haired lady stood next to her on a shorter wave, holding the similar golden harp laced with little starfish specimen. Her feet had transformed into the silvery tail of a serpent.
"What song should we sing to these filthy humans this time, Lyra?"
"Lady Aquarius, nothing fit the ambience than Flying to the Moon." Lyra ran her fingers across the strings of her harp, and a sorrowful tune, like the rhythm of funeral music, haunted them. She began singing in a melancholy voice, "Fly away, let the water wash away your sin--"
"Then to the moon, they shall fly!"
Aquarius put the clay urn in an upside-down position. The urn enlarged, and a fierce waterfall tumbled down from it. The water hit the surrounding waves with such force that a whirlpool was created. The boat which Lucy and her comrades sat in churned in the whirlpool like a piece of fabric in a spinning washing machine. Aquarius let out a burst of shrill laughter as if she'd become berserk. "Begone!" She raised a hand, and the whirlpool shot up to the sky.
The boat broke into shards. The attack was so sudden that even Happy didn't have the time to flap his wings. The water beat around him, and he lost his conscious instantly. Lucy muttered something like "Aquarius, she's my idol", before water filled her lungs. Her vision became dizzy, but she managed to catch a glimpse of Gray hugging Natsu. Great, we're doomed even before the real quest has started. She winced before her world blackened.