Multiple hours passed with me towing a boat, which Lucy and Gray were sitting on, through the ocean as I swam toward Galuna Island; we did come across a few sea monsters, though I easily defeated everyone we encountered until I spotted the Island's silhouette in the distance through thick fog. "I see the island in the distance; we're almost there." Hitting the boat's hull, snapping Gray awake, I continued swimming while he and Lucy attempted to look through the thick fog. "We're close? I can't see a thing through this fog." "Yeah, it's ahh, s-super thick. Whatever, wake me up when we arrive." Said Lucy and Gray, failing to see through the fog, while the latter returned to sleep.
It took about thirty minutes before we finally reached the coast, where I walked out of the ocean while pulling the boat ashore, prompting Lucy and Gray to exit the boat. Brushing my soaked hair behind my ears, I turned around and glanced at Lucy, who was mindlessly staring at me, causing me to tilt my head. "Is there an octopus stuck to my head or something?" My words seemed to spur Lucy out of her daze as she furiously shook her head with a blush while Gray laughed. "Hehe, don't worry about it; she's just fascinated about what she saw." "G-Gray!" Watching Lucy attack Gray, who continued to laugh, I was still confused, but I just shrugged my shoulders and enjoyed that they were getting along.
"Alright, you two, settle down for now; we need to figure out where the village is." Grabbing the two's heads, I gently pulled them apart, causing Lucy to huff as she fixed her attire while Gray snickered, though a smack to the back of his head set him straight. "Lucy, lead the way." Gesturing to Lucy, who nodded, she pulled out the quest paper from her pouch and began to lead us to where the village was; getting slightly lost along the way, we ended up not arriving at our location until late at night.
"Okay, so, I think THIS is the correct village." Said Lucy with a confident expression, earning a skeptical from Gray and I as she had led us to two other villages before this. "Don't give me that look; it's my first time on this island. Besides, I don't see either of you trying to help me." Said Lucy with a slight frown as she placed her hands on her hips while eyeing us, causing me to nod in agreement. "Touche." Taking the lead into the village, Lucy and Gray followed behind as we entered the village, though, unlike the other villages, it was quiet, which wasn't surprising, as it was late at night; however, it was a bit too quiet… 'Like it's deserted.'
Furrowing my brows, I stopped and eyed our surroundings, observing every house before my eyes settled upon the purple moon in the sky. "Um, a moon shouldn't be purple, right?" Asked Lucy, though before I could answer, someone exited one of the houses, prompting our gaze to immediately shift to him. "A demon?" Although it wasn't my first time coming across a demon, it was still a rare occurrence, though it was a surprise this time as we'd already been informed beforehand. "You're a resident of this village?" Stepping forward, I asked the demon, who exited the porch, allowing the moonlight to illuminate his figure. "Yes, I am. I'm the Village Chief, Moka... Seeing as how you three aren't terrified of my appearance, I take it you're here to complete our quest?"
"It's not my first time seeing a Demon, but yes, we're here about returning you and the villagers to normal, though from what I can see, you look completely normal to me." Nodding to Moka, I gave him a brief once-over, though from what I could see, there wasn't anything wrong with him; while my Indestructible Magic allowed me to see through things that directly affect the body, it wasn't perfect. "You, you'd call THIS normal?" Asked Moka with a bit of anger as he gestured to himself while I raised an eyebrow, only for him to take a deep breath before shaking his head. "If you three wouldn't mind, may we discuss our predicament in the morning, when the transformation will revert?" Asked Moka softly, though before I could refuse, Lucy pushed me aside while nodding. "Of course, Sir."
Glancing at Lucy with a twitching expression, I grunted and stepped back beside Gray; she was better at talking to people than I was anyway, so I didn't mind if she took the lead. "Thank you… You may use that home there; the previous resident had been a victim of the curse that plagues us." Said Moka lightly as he gestured to the house adjacent to us with his cane before turning around and entering his home. "Is it just me, or doesn't it seem like we'd incur bad luck for using a dead person's home?" While I didn't care about Gray's superstition, Lucy's enthusiasm instantly vanished as her expression froze. "N-Now that you mention it, maybe we should camp outside?" Asked Lucy with a wry smile as she glanced at me.
"Y'all two can do that. I'm going to sleep; I'm a bit tired." Yawning, I approached the house and entered before plopping onto the couch, only to hear Gray and Lucy enter a minute later while grumbling under their breath. "Haa, well, hopefully, all the bad luck goes to big bro since he entered first." "Yeah, hopefully… Good night, big bro." Rolling my eyes, I responded in kind and turned onto my side, falling asleep a few minutes later.
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After a good night's rest, we talked to Moka, the village chief, first thing after waking up, and during the talk, we met the rest of the villagers, who all sported demonic appendages such as arms, legs, horns, or even wings. "The curse affects the whole village; during the night, when the purple moon is the brightest, we transform into demons, and only when morning arrives do we revert. However, sometimes, unfortunate ones don't revert, and… And we're forced to kill them before they could harm the rest of us." Remarked Moka weakly as he hung his head in shame while the three of us frowned. "When did this start happening?" Asked Lucy with a pitiful gaze.
"Three years ago… During that time, we've consulted with various doctors, and the result was always the same, so it could only be a curse we were inflicted with… Please destroy the moon and lift this wretched curse upon us." Stated Moka pleadingly as he leaned forward and grabbed Lucy's hand, causing her to offer a confident smile. "Of course, we've accepted the quest and won't leave until it's completed; you can count on us!" At Lucy's claim, Gray and I gazed at each other, though we remained silent as she spent a few more minutes questioning Moka before we eventually left his house.
"Haa, how the hell does he expect us to destroy the moon?" Asked Lucy as she slumped her shoulders in defeat while I gently flicked her head. "First off, that's completely impossible; even with my strength, I wouldn't be able to touch the moon, let alone destroy it." "So, what do you think is causing the curse, big bro?" Asked Gray while we walked through the village, though I simply shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. "They've got the whole curse thing wrong; they're not humans, they're demons, though for some reason they believe it's the opposite way." Glancing at some of the village residents, I shook my head, confused as to why they truly believed themselves to be humans, but the only logical reason I could think of was that the curse affected their memories.
"C'mon, let's scout the island further." Gesturing to Gray and Lucy, we left the village, taking our time to investigate the area around the village while slowly expanding the range, though along the way, we came across a giant blue rat. "What the hell? That's not a celestial spirit, is it, Lucy?" "Um, I don't think so." "I'll take care of this ugly rodent." Said Gray while stepping forward as he swiftly removed his clothes before using his Ice-Make magic to encase the rodent within a block of ice, freezing it. "Weird." Muttering under my breath, the three of us continued past the defeated rodent and continued scouting, only to come across a temple in the distance a few hours later.
"Now, if that isn't suspicious, I don't know what is." Said Gray while whistling, and I couldn't help but agree with him as it prompted us to head toward the temple; once we arrived, I busted a hole through the side of the wall, and we entered the temple. "Huh, for a temple, I was expecting a few booby trAAAAAAHHHH—" Said Lucy as she followed right behind me, only for the ground beneath to crack, prompting us to fall through the ground. Reacting quickly, I pushed off the piece of ground, lunged towards Lucy, and grabbed her before crash-landing on the ground a few seconds later, followed by Gray gently landing beside us.
"Are you okay, Lucy?" Exiting from the crater, I gently set down Lucy, who heaved a sigh of relief before nodding. "Haa, yes. Thanks, big bro." "Who the hell would've thought there was a–" Glancing at Gray, who had been consumed with fear, I followed his gaze and looked at a massive glacier with a demon encased within. "Deliora." Said Gray and I, though our reactions were vastly different.