Darkness Unknown

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

When they got to the village, the chief looked at them expectantly.

"Well, what do you have? The moon must be destroyed tonight!" Erza opened her mouth to explain but Natsu beat her to it.

"It will be solved by tonight. Would you be so kind as to give us a place to rest? We were up all night." He was cool and respectful to the chief.

The chief nodded and waved to other villagers over. "They will show you the way." Natsu nodded.

Once they were all settled, Gray tired again to apologize.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I said. I was mad and wasn't thinking." He looked down and away from Natsu.

"It doesn't matter. You meant what you said and spoke how you thought of me. Not that it matters what you think or anyone else for that matter. Forget it and move on. I already did." Natsu's steely voice was betraying him. Everyone, even Happy, could tell it hurt him a little bit more then he let on.

Gray cringed. It wasn't like he said at all. He really wasn't think when he said Natsu didn't understand loss.

Before Gray could argue anymore, Natsu left and went into the rooms the chief had given to them. The rooms were spacious and had enough room for all of them. There was a girls side and and boys side speared by a thin wall. In each was two sets matts with blankets and pillows. It was pretty modernized for a village.

"Get some sleep. We only have probably three or four hours until the time changes again." Natsu promptly took the one in the darkest corner the furthest he could get away from the rest of them.

Erza watched him for a second before sighing. "Come one, he's right. We can fix this later." She shot one last glare at Gray before going into the girls section. Lucy frowned at Natsu before following Erza. Happy looked at Gray then Natsu. "I think I'll sleep with Lucy." He left, only leaving Gray and Natsu.

Gray glared at Natsu's back. Why could he just accept the damn apology? Then he thought about Deliora and Ur. He couldn't begin to comprehend why someone would want Deliora loose. It was an uncontrollable monster.

Pulling away from that train of thought Gray sighed and got into the empty matt.

When Erza woke up all she could see was darkness. For one blind moment she was transported back to her childhood, filled with darkness. She started to panic until she realized where she was.

Galuna Island with Lucy, Gray , Happy...and Natsu. Not at the tower...I'm safe. She took a deep breath and went outside.

Outside was pure chaos. Everyone else had got out before her and had moved into action. The village was surrounded by the cloaked figures who were chanting and grabbing people as they tried to escape. The cloaked figures were moving everyone into the center of the villages and setting fire to the parts they passed. Children were screaming and the old were getting caught up in the chain of cloaks. Erza equipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor.

She charged forward only to be stopped by Lucy's screams for help. It seemed that Natsu had pissed offed Sherry by defeating Yuka. Sherry had turned Taurus against laugh and was now chasing her around. But before she could charge to help Lucy, a masked figure got in her way.

"Well, well, well...It seems they moved ahead without my say. I am quite disappointed. Oh well." He turned to Erza. "You must be with those annoying wizards. No matter. The others will take care of you." He muttered to her before walking through the circle and into the darkness. The moon was high in the sky but the light coming from it was purple and evil looking. It felt evil and heavy. Erza tried to charge the cloaked people but remembered what Natsu said. They were all people of the village and she couldn't hurt them; they were being controlled. She requipped into her normal attire and start dispatching the cloaked people with careful hits and strikes, knocking them out gently.