The Curse of the 9th Master

Chapter 5:

"Achoo!"

Erza and Lucy flinched back slightly, hoping they didn't get sneezed on.

"That's disgusting man. Why'd you come if you're sick?" Gray asked, tsking and swiping his arm to a safe distance away.

"Well. I told Makarov that-" *sniff* "-That I would bring back the Potion of-" *sniff* "-Healing. I promised him," Natsu said, continuously sneezing.

"Jeez, if you're gonna come with us, just try not to spread the sickness," Gray said with a look of disgust, "I mean seriously, it's pretty disgusting."

"Uh huh," Natsu said sarcastically, clenching his hand around the tissue he was holding.

Lucy stared at the tissue hard before trying to change the subject, she didn't want to hear anymore of this.

"Uh, so, where exactly are we right now?" She asked, looking around at the vast trees blocking her view.

"Hmm..." Natsu said staring at the map he was holding, "We're at... Oh! The forest of Alabrela."

"Wait, what?" Lucy asked, grabbing the map from Natsu's hands. She stared right at it, her eyes searching for where they were.

"Hold on! If we're in the Forest of Alabrela, then that means... We've been going the wrong way!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Natsu!"

Ezra, Gray and Lucy all walked happily among each other not bothering to look at back at Natsu, who was dragging his feet and rubbing the big red bump of his head.

"We've made it," Erza said, spotting the enormous tree, "But first, we have to cross the sea."

Tenrou Island was indeed a vast island in the middle of the sea with the Tenrou Tree marking in the middle of the land.

"C'mon, I see a boat we can use down there," Lucy said, pointing at a small wooden boat that was docked near the shore of the blue waters.

Gray looked back at Natsu as they were walking down to the shore, he had a sick and horrified expression smacked on his face. Gray didn't think twice. Knowing Natsu, he probably wasn't going to like the boat ride across the water to the island.

"Ugh.. I hate boats," Natsu groaned. His head was lying near the edge of the boat, with an expression that made all the fish laugh from under the water.

"True. But you also hate all moving vehicles...Including boats," Lucy chimed in, then switching her eyes from Natsu to the great blue sky above them, "I just hope everyone will be alright back at the guild."

"Even Laxus?" Gray asked warily. Laxus had changed, and definitely not for the better. Even if they do get the potion needed to cure Laxus, would they be able to see him as the person he was before?

Lucy nodded. "Even Laxus."

"He may act different now, but we know it's not his fault. He was destined to be the 9th Master and to be cursed. We couldn't have stopped it from happening. But we can fix it," Erza said, reassuring everyone, "And besides. He'll still be our Laxus. Nothing will change that."

"Yeah. I guess so," Gray said with a small smile. He was lucky to have such great teammates like them.

"Ack! Not to intrude in your sappy little talk but are we close?" Natsu said from the corner of the boat. Everyone have forgotten about him for a second.

"Its not sappy. We're just a bit worried, that's all," Lucy retorted, before trying to look for any sign of land.

"We're almost there," Erza replied.

"Great," Natsu said, "And what are you worried about? Who, Laxus?" Natsu asked, out of curiosity.

"Yeah, who else?" Gray snorted.

"That bastard? I wouldn't be worried about him. He'll be fine. He's strong and isn't willing to give up, for the sake of the others. As long as someone believes there's good in him, he'll continue to fight it," Natsu said, shakily pushing himself up and joining the others, "I mean, what kinda person would he be if he weren't all brave and tough. He is Makarov's grandson after all. He has the tough Dreyar blood running in his veins. He'll be fine. I promise you."

Everyone was speechless. Lucy was the first to speak.

"Yeah, you're right. Laxus will be fine."

"I agree," Erza said, nodding approvingly.

"Since when you become so sappy? Ya Flame Brain," Gray said, smirking at him.

Natsu grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "I dunno, I guess it just came to me."

When the boat finally stopped moving and softly drifted onto the soft sand of the island, there was no surprise when Natsu immediately jumped out. He raced onto the sand and laid flat down, creating a sand angel.

"Ah ground! Sweet, sweet land! I've missed you so much!" Natsu exclaimed, hugging the ground.

"Ah, man. That's disgusting," Gray said, offering Natsu a hand. He pulled Natsu up and they rushed to catch up to Erza and Lucy, who were already walking to the tree.

When they got there, they all looked up at the giant tree. The Tenrou Tree stretched way beyond what they could see. It was vastly large, as if the tree could stretch on for miles.

"How the hell are we going to get up there?" Natsu said, a puzzled look on his face.

"The answer is so simple even you could know it," Erza said, directing a finger at Natsu before looking at the tree, "We climb it."

2 Minutes Later...

"Woah! Check out the view!" Natsu exclaimed, grinning, "I can see everything from here!"

Everyone was currently climbing the Tenrou right at the moment and they were able halfway up, rapidly climbing it. The view, however, was incredible. They indeed could see almost everything from the height they were at. One small mistake, and soon you'll be nothing more than a puddle at the bottom of the tree.

"Do any of you know what kind of guardian's going to be up there?" Lucy asked, praying it wasn't going to be anything that could eat or swallow her.

"I dunno. Maybe a cool acid-dripping monster with sharp fangs and 10 eyeballs!" Natsu replied, rambling on and on about all the possible things they could see.

Lucy shivered, holding on tighter to the tree. She really hoped there wasn't going to be anything scary like that.

When they finally reached the top, they found that it was a large empty room, shaped like a circle. The floor was the wooden bark of the tree and leaves covered around and mostly above the room. In the middle, there was a small white pedestal, smoothly carved and looked as if made out of finely polished marble. But the pedestal wasn't what Natsu and the others were looking at. It was what was on the pedestal that caught everyone's attention.

Placed right on top of the pedestal was a small glass bottle. There was a small cork blocking the golden liquid inside the bottle from pouring out. At first glance, everything seemed fine. It looked as if the room was unprotected. But as you begin to observe your surroundings more clearly, you'll see a small figure hidden behind the bottle.

"Who are you?" And what is your business here?" A voice spoke. Everyone watched cautiously as a figure stepped from behind the pedestal, facing them. Although Natsu, Erza, Lucy, and Gray were all at a safe distance away from the figure, they stilled sensed faint traces of magic from her.

She had short light blonde hair, almost white in fact. Her eyes were a glossy gold color, twinging with a mix of chocolate brown. She wore nothing except for a small, plain white dress. Barefooted, as she slowly approached them.

Gray was the first to step up and away from his teammates, walking just a bit closer to the girl.

"We're from Fairy Tail. And what we're here to take-" Gray said, pointing his hand to the glass bottle, "-is that potion."