As night fell, Chen Fan and his companions stood before a massive enclosure. A sheet of paper was plastered onto the wooden gate.
"No Entry," Gray read aloud.
"What the hell is 'No Entry' supposed to mean?" Natsu grumbled, looking annoyed.
Lucy stepped forward and shouted toward the gate, "Excuse me! Please open the door!"
There was no response.
Clack. Natsu cracked his knuckles, a ruthless smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Should I just destroy it?"
"No!" Lucy snapped, turning back to glare at the violent Dragon Slayer.
Suddenly, a voice drifted down from above. "Who are you?"
Lucy looked up, her expression filled with pride. "We are members of the Mages Guild, Fairy Tail!"
"We never heard anything about the request being accepted."
"Well, about that..."
"There must be some mistake. The message was probably delayed," Gray cut in smoothly. He had been hanging around Chen Fan so much that he could now lie without so much as a flush of his cheeks. The boy was truly being led astray.
"Everyone, show me your Guild Marks!" the voice from above commanded.
Swish. Natsu bared the mark on his arm. Happy showed the one on his back. Lucy displayed the back of her hand, while Gray pointed to the mark on his chest.
Finally, it was Chen Fan's turn. With a look of utter disdain, he raised his right hand and extended his middle finger toward the rafters. Resting on that finger was a Guild Mark that looked exactly like a ring a custom request Chen Fan had made specifically for the sake of showing off.
After a long moment, the person above finally caught a glimpse of Chen Fan's mark. "It's true! They're real! They actually came!"
With a series of heavy clacks, the massive enclosure gate began to rise slowly.
"It feels like we're walking into a monster's mouth," Happy remarked from the side.
"Don't say such disgusting things," Lucy whispered back to the cat.
As the gate opened, Chen Fan and the others were met by a group of people completely swathed in heavy clothing. The man at the front spoke up. "I am Moke, the chief of this village. Forgive my abruptness, but please, look at this." He turned back to the villagers. "Everyone!"
A series of rustling sounds filled the air as the villagers shed their outer cloaks, revealing the truth beneath. Gray's expression turned grim. "They're just like the boatman uncle."
"Yeah," Lucy replied, her voice trembling with fear.
"Whoa... their sideburns are huge!" Natsu, the brainless wonder, actually chose this moment to crack a joke.
Thump! Chen Fan smacked the back of Natsu's head and roared, "This isn't the time for your jokes! If you want to be a critic, learn from Lucy! She's the professional!"
"Aye, Lucy's retorts are indeed quite formidable," Happy added with a serious nod.
The villagers broke into a cold sweat.
"Hey! Is this really the time to be discussing my retorts?" Lucy screamed at them before turning back to the chief with an apologetic bow. "I am so sorry. Please, continue."
"What I want to tell you is that every living thing on this island is like this," Chief Moke explained. "Dogs, birds none are exempt. They have all been placed under this Curse."
Gray interrupted, "With all due respect, how can you be sure it's a Curse and not some kind of disease?"
"We have consulted dozens of doctors," the Chief explained. "None of them had ever seen such an ailment. Furthermore, these transformations are linked to the Moon Drip."
"Moon Drip?" Lucy and the others looked puzzled, unsure of what the Chief meant. Only Chen Fan stood to the side, letting out a bored yawn. To be honest, while his memory of the details was a bit fuzzy, he knew these people were physically fine their memories were simply failing them. To put it bluntly, they were just 'mental.'
Moke continued, "Since ancient times, this island has been able to store moonlight. The entire island would glow like the moon itself; it was a beautiful place. But a few years ago, the moonlight suddenly began to turn purple."
"A purple moon?" Natsu repeated.
Happy, sitting on Natsu's shoulder, looked up at the sky and pointed. "Look, the moon is out."
Everyone looked up. The clouds were slowly swept away by the wind, revealing a moon that radiated a haunting purple halo.
"It's true... it really is purple!"
"It's enough to make your skin crawl."
"What a beautiful moon," Chen Fan remarked with a sigh.
Zip, zip... Every eye turned to stare at Chen Fan, the tense atmosphere vanishing instantly.
"You're the one who shouldn't be making jokes right now!" Lucy shrieked.
"This is the Curse. This is the power of the Moon Drip," Moke said. Suddenly, his eyes bulged out of his head. Almost simultaneously, the villagers began to contort in agony. Lucy and Gray jumped back in shock. Even though Chen Fan was mentally prepared, the sight still gave him a start.
Slowly, the villagers' bodies began to swell. Their skin stretched taut, and claws erupted from their hands and feet. Horns sprouted from some of their heads. The transformation was gruesome.
"What is happening?" Lucy asked nervously. Soon, the change was complete.
"I apologize for frightening you," the Chief said, his voice now raspy.
"How is this possible?" Gray asked, stunned. Lucy looked on with pity.
Natsu, however, was beaming with excitement. "Whoa! This is so cool!"
"Huh...?" A collective gasp of disbelief echoed through the air. Chen Fan facepalmed. He gave up. Compared to a mindless guy like Natsu, his own attempts at humor were weak.
Natsu, oblivious to the mood, continued cheerfully, "That's awesome! Give me some of those horns and spikes too!"
"That's the first time someone's called us cool, but I can't say I'm happy about it," a villager whispered to the Chief.
"You idiot! Everyone is suffering because they look like this!" Lucy yelled, unable to take it anymore.
Natsu finally blinked, coming back to reality. "Oh, really? Sorry, my bad. Guess we have to find a way to fix it."
"You finally understand the situation," Happy sighed.
"Read the room once in a while," Gray added.
Lucy turned to Chen Fan. "Chen Fan, can't you see anything?"
"I could help, but it would be a temporary fix, not a cure for the root cause." The villagers and the mages looked at him expectantly. Chen Fan continued, "I can't make any guarantees. Let's let the Chief finish." He masterfully steered the conversation right back to Moke.
Seeing this, a wave of disappointment washed over the crowd. Chief Moke resumed, "Back to the topic. When the purple moon appears, we transform into these demonic shapes. If this isn't a Curse, what is? By morning, we return to normal, but some have lost the ability to change back. They lose their minds entirely."
"How can that be?" Lucy asked, distraught.
"Those who lose their minds are put to death. The last person here to turn into a mindless monster... was my son." He held up a photo of Bobo, tears streaming down his face.
Natsu spoke up with passion, "Maybe there's a way to turn him back!"
Gray, however, stared at the photo of Bobo in shock. "The boatman uncle!"
"It really is him!"
"Aye..." Lucy and Happy recognized him as well.
"So that's why he disappeared," Gray concluded. "He must have been the uncle's ghost."
"A ghost...?" Lucy squeaked. Girls tended to be sensitive about that sort of thing.
"Hehe..." A soft laugh broke the heavy atmosphere. Everyone turned to see Chen Fan chuckling to himself.
He had actually stopped listening to the subpar plot beats a while ago. Bored by the melodrama, he had mentally blocked out their voices and watched them like a silent play, eventually losing his composure and laughing. Realizing everyone was staring, Chen Fan quickly swapped his expression for one of deep sorrow, making them think they had imagined his laughter.
Chief Moke continued, "My son must have wanted to find someone to save us, even in death. There is only one solution we can think of now: you must destroy the moon. Please, we beg of you." He bowed deeply, his sincerity palpable.
The group was soon shown to a guest house. Exhausted from a long day of physical activity his body wasn't used to, Chen Fan crawled into his blankets and fell fast asleep.
Happy perched by the window, staring up at the purple orb. "That moon... the more you look at it, the creepier it gets."
Lucy turned to the cat. "Happy, close the window. Didn't you hear the Chief? If we're not careful, we might turn into monsters too!" She covered her face at the thought of becoming a demon. "Horrifying!" she muttered, effectively mocking herself.
"This is a real headache," Natsu said, sitting lazily in a chair. "I'm not exactly the thinking type. And the one who is the thinking type is already asleep."
"Destroying the moon is a bit much, though," Gray noted.
"How many hits will it take me to break the moon? I'm really not sure!" Natsu was actually contemplating the physics of the task. If Chen Fan were awake, he would have jumped out of bed to lecture them; educating these idiots was one of his favorite pastimes.
"Are you seriously planning to destroy the moon? What is wrong with you?" Gray shouted.
"Yeah, I don't care how powerful a Mage is, destroying the moon should be impossible," Lucy added thoughtfully.
"But the request is to destroy the moon. If we accept but fail, it'll hurt Fairy Tail's reputation."
"If something's impossible, it's impossible!" Gray raised his voice.
"Shut up, all of you!" Chen Fan roared from his bed.
The room went dead silent. Years of Chen Fan's accumulated authority made its impact felt instantly.
Natsu whispered to Gray and Lucy, "I'm going to sleep. We'll talk tomorrow." He tiptoed to his bed. Gray followed suit, stripping his clothes off with such speed that they seemed to vanish into thin air.
Feeling the fatigue herself, Lucy blew out the lamp and lay down. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. "Wait! Between a beast, a pervert, and a flasher, how am I supposed to sleep?!"
"Shut up!" four voices barked back this time, even Happy joined in. Lucy dejectedly pulled the covers over her head, terrified of what might happen if she actually woke them up again.
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