Fairy Tail Rewind (Completed)

Chapter 10 Part I -- The Cursed Island

In sheer darkness, Lucy heard the seabirds calling and the waves shushing against the sand.

"Where am I?" She opened her eyes to see coconut leaves swaying above her in the azure sky. Painfully, she hauled herself into a sitting position. Despite the soft beach which was cushioning underneath her, her muscles still sore. With much difficulty, she yanked herself up.

Not far away from her, Natsu sprang alive. "Oh, we've arrived! Where's Happy?" He looked around and saw Happy's tail waving at him in mid-air. The rest of Happy's body was nowhere to be seen. Shocked, Natsu limped to pull Happy out as the cat had sunk head-down into the sand.

Lucy checked her belt and felt relieved to see her Keys were still attaching to it. The ointment vial was unharmed too. After brushing the sand off her dress, she said, "Aquarius must've washed us here. I wonder what had happened to Bobo? He vanished just like that."

Natsu let out a victorious howl. "Who cares? Let's go exploring!" 

"All of you, stay where you are!"

Lucy spun around and saw Gray standing up with much effort.

Natsu steeled his fists. "The boat was shattered! There's no way for you to bring us back now!"

"No, I'll go with you. It'll be irritating if you got to the second floor before me." Surprisingly, he beamed at them. "Plus, it won't be fun if you got expelled." His cordial tone was amusing to hear.

Happy chimed in, "Aye, Sir! If we do this job right, Master shouldn't have any reasons to complain. We'll prove to them that it's time to change the rules."

Lucy brought out the wet pamphlet and studied the map. After making sure of the location of the village where they were supposed to head to, they set off with high spirit. Though the island wasn't big, it was full of messy paths. They had only found the village at nightfall. It was surrounded by tall wooden fences, with a watchtower built at the top left. Candles planted in coconut shells were hung between the gaps of the fences, lighting up the surroundings.

Lucy squinted and saw movements in the watchtower. She shouted, "Excuse us, could you please open the gate? We're from Fairy Tail!"

A guard answered, "We didn't hear that someone had accepted the request."

"Ah, the confirmation must've been delayed somehow," Gray replied nonchalantly.

Another guard popped his head out. "Show us your marks!"

Lucy lifted up her right palm; Natsu adjusted his scarf that had been covering his right shoulder; Gray shoved Happy aside as the cat was blocking the tattoo on his chest. There were gasps of exhilaration and surprises, then came the cracking sound as the gate being pulled open. 

Goosebumps camped on Lucy's arms the very instant she walked into the freakish compound. Tanned villagers donned in thick cloaks welcomed them. From the gaps where the cloaks were fastened, Lucy could see simple grass bras and grass skirts shielding around their privates. Even though they wore bangles and necklaces made of multi-shaped sea-shells, the accessories failed to brighten up their doleful expression.  

The oldest man with a humpback strode towards them on a thick wooden staff, wearing a grim expression. His silvery hair was as long as Lucy's. "I'm the chief of this village, Moka. Before we explain what've happened to us, there's something we must show you."

The villages removed their cloaks in sync, revealing ugly charred limbs.

"Every living creature on this island bears the same curse." Moka hugged a brown puppy up with a demonic jaw and said in a sorrowful resonance, "Even animals are of no exception."