These Blood-Soaked Pages (Fairy Tail) [Book 1 of Reaper's Scythe]

VIII - Dungeons and Dragonslayers

The sun's morning rays shine bright as the five wizards (and two Exceeds) reach the port of Hargeon. Everyone but Erza is carrying only one suitcase. The armored wizard has her ton of luggage with her as usual, although she notices it's a little heavier than it normally is. Lucy ends up summoning Taurus to roll the pile up the gangway.

Once everyone is aboard and the ship is about to set sail, a shout can be heard from the docks. Several of the members of Fairy Tail are waving, and shouting things like "Good luck!" and "I know you can bring Natsu back safely!"

When the clock strikes the hour, the anchor is lifted and the ship begins to sail away from the port, into the west.

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Natsu's letter to Fairy Tail arrives soon after the group departs, but it is too late for Makarov to call off the mission since they have already left.

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A few hours after departure

"This is so boring! We seriously have to be on this stupid ship for days?" Gray complains. "Plus it's so warm!" He takes off his shirt.

"Gray, your clothes," Mira calls out.

"I MEANT TO TAKE OFF MY SHIRT THAT TIME!"

The she-devil is not living up to her nickname as she tries to distract a motion-sick Wendy with her transformation magic.

Wendy runs over to the side of the ship and vomits. "Mira-san, that's not really helping..."

"Perhaps cake will help? Normally it's just for me, but I can make an exception this once." Erza walks over to her pile of luggage, opens one of the bags and frowns. "I thought there was cake in this one, but there's only water."

Mirajane sweat-drops. "I think cake would just make her feel worse..."

"Nonsense! Cake fixes everything!"

"IT'S TOO HOT!" Gray strips down to his boxers.

A quiet voice can be heard from Erza's luggage. "Gray-sama is too hot..."

"Juvia?" The armored wizard fishes around in the suitcase filled with water until she pulls out the stalker in question. "What are you doing here? And more importantly, what happened to the cake I had stored in there?!"

"..."

Well, at least the sight of Erza chasing Juvia around with a sword seems to cheer Wendy up a little.

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About a week later, in Vistarion

The first phase of the plan goes well. So well on fact, that it makes everyone even more nervous.

Nobody even had to try to cause a distraction. The guards outside the palace try to arrest Gray for walking there almost entirely in the nude, so when he fights back and more guards came Lucy, Mirajane and Happy quickly consult with Erza. The threesome take the opportunity to sneak in through a small tunnel that was probably some sort of escape route.

The passageway is pitch-black, and it somehow carries an eerie feeling. Lucy guesses it hasn't been used in decades, at least. After walking for what seems like hours (but was probably only minutes), light filters into the tunnel. Flickering torchlight shines through the gaps in a grate blocking off the exit, but Lucy manages to pry it off with her Fleuve d'étoiles. Happy flies out to survey the room. There is a hallway leading to the right, and to the left a set of stairs that leads down into what he assumes to be the main area of the dungeon.

"The coast is clear," the Exceed whispers to his companions when he returns. "Not even one guard, unfortunately, but there's a hallway that looks like it leads out of here."

"Good, there's probably a guard stationed at the entrance of the hallway then." Lucy pulls out one of her keys, the one for summoning Gemini. "Chances are they won't know where Natsu is being kept, but they'll probably know who would."

Mirajane nods. "Try not to make any noise, okay Happy?"

"Why me?!"

"Shush!"

"Aye..."

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"Stupid Rakheid and his stupid lessons," Natsu mutters as he prowls down the dark hallway. He adjusts the cloak he's wearing to conceal the wings and horns from his transformation -after about a week of training, he has mastered transforming into his Etherious form. After all, it's not like he never knew, more like he forgot and had to be reminded. The hard part is controlling his power. One time he tried summoning a small flame for light while in his Etherious form, and he had nearly set his room on fire.

Whenever he was transformed at first, there was an instinct in the back of his mind telling him to kill Zeref but eventually he learned to block it out. When he asked his brother about it the dark wizard wouldn't meet his gaze. "I did want you to kill me, when I was controlled by the curse, but now... Don't get me wrong, I still want to die, but all of the demons I created would die too... and that includes you, I'm afraid."

Speaking of the demons, Rakheid had been working on reviving the Nine Demon Gates in a lab near the dungeons, away from the more populated areas of the castle in case anything went wrong. That's where Natsu is headed now, since he is understandably curious.

As he passes the hallway leading to the dungeons, an almost unnoticeable breeze carries three familiar scents to him. What? No way...

A furry blue face peeks out around the corner and looks around. Happy doesn't notice Natsu at first because his cloak blends in with the surroundings, and even once the Exceed does notice he doesn't recognize his friend thanks to the disguise.

"Eeek! I mean, I'm not real, you're hallucinating!" Happy quickly flies a few feet away from him.

Lucy and Mirajane run out of the hallway. "Happy, are you OK?" The she-devil asks before she sees Natsu.

"Luce... Happy... Mira... what are you all doing here?"