Cherreads

Chapter 52 - Chapter 52: Lost!

"Happy." "Yep." "Where the heck are we?" Asked Gray with a blank expression as he eyed Happy, who we had trusted to lead us back home to Magnolia. "I don't know." Replied Happy softly with a smile, only for him to swiftly fly towards Natsu as Gray attempted to grab him in anger. "Argh! Get back here, you flying fur ball!" "Oi, back off, Gray!" While Natsu fought Gray, protecting Happy from him, Gramps eventually broke them up with a hit to the head. "Stop it, you two. We're lost, and now isn't the time to be fighting." "Tsk, I don't even have the energy to argue." "Hmph, neither do I, so you're lucky, Gray."

With the two sitting on opposite sides of the magic vehicle, the cabin descended into silence once more while I gazed out the window, observing the canyons we'd gotten lost within, only for the ground to shake violently. "Tsk, another earthquake?" Clicking my tongue at the umpteenth earthquake that occurred just today alone, I used my magic to strengthen the magic vehicle, causing it to shimmer gold, serving as added protection against whatever rocks were falling atop us. After the earthquake subsided, I retracted my magic from the vehicle and closed my eyes, letting the hours pass by, though the more time that passed, the more irritable Gray, Natsu, and Lucy became, considering we hadn't eaten anything in over a day.

However, Erza, who had been driving the vehicle, suddenly stopped, causing me to raise an eyebrow while the others widened their eyes in hope. "Please tell me we've found food!" "I don't care what it is; I'll eat it!" "Ugh, I'm starving!" Gray, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy stormed out of the vehicle while Gramps and I followed behind, only to see a village. "What the hell is a village doing in the middle of nowhere?" Suspiciously eyeing the village, Gramps offered me no valuable words of insight and shrugged his shoulders while the four ran toward the village. "You four, get back here!" Yelled Gramps with a frown as he begrudgingly chased after them while Erza and I trailed behind, eyeing the deserted village.

"Something's off; the scent of humans is faint, and I can hear moaning." Furrowing my brows, I approached one of the houses while using my magic specifically on my eyes, allowing me to see the true form of the house in front of me, which was nothing but a monster using transformation magic. "So can I, and these seams in the ground are suspicious… Did you find something, big bro?" Erza asked with a slight frown as she pointed to the ground while approaching me, causing me to nod before gesturing for her to follow. "Yeah. Let's go and inform the others; Gramps has probably already figured it out, but he will have trouble dealing with those three."

Following the path the five took, we eventually reached them only to arrive at a weird scene of Natsu, Gray, and Happy with mushrooms growing out of their heads, confusing us. "They probably did something stupid." Nodding in agreement with Erza, she went to help Gramps wrangle the three while I silently watched, though just as they finally managed to get the three under control, the ground lit up, and the buildings, which were merely monsters using transformation magic, were beginning to distort, something Gramps instantly noticed. "Everyone, head to high ground!" Stated Gramps as he pointed to a hill, which we all went to; standing atop the hill, we looked down at the village, where monsters no longer roamed freely, which to us looked like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

"Hehe, I wonder how they taste roasted!" Natsu grinned as flames erupted from his mouth, and he stared at the monsters hungrily. "Come! Let us feast!" Said Erza solemnly as she re-quipped into a chief's attire while knives floated around her. With perfect synchronization, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy attacked one of the monsters, using their magic to 'cook' the monster to their liking with hungry expressions. As for me, I grabbed a random monster by the tail and took a bite out of it, only to scrunch my face in disgust. 'Even compared to other animals, this is the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten.' Releasing the monster, I spat the food in disgust and rubbed my mouth before returning to Gramp's side while he gave me a weird look.

"What?" "You're a weird one, Cooper." Shrugging my arms at Gramps, we watched the others kill the monster before taking a bite, only for their expression to mirror my own as they promptly spat out the disgusting meat. "You're not hungry, Gramps?" "No, I am; it's just after seeing you taste the monster, I lost my appetite." Said Gramps with a shake of his head as he approached the others, while I joined him. "Ugh, this is absolutely disgusting!" "I-I can't eat this." "I-I think I'm going to be sick." While Natsu, Gray, and Lucy complained at its horrid taste, a magic circle suddenly lit up underneath our feet, though before it could activate, I flooded it with my magic, causing it to shimmer gold before breaking into hundreds of pieces. Following that, Gramps suddenly evoked one of his many magics on the monsters, dispelling their human possession magic, forcefully separating them from the villagers they possessed, and freeing them.

While the villagers were sprawled on the ground groaning in pain, the monsters huddled together and aggressively stared at Gramps, who suddenly released his magic power; although Gramps had mentioned that Laxus and I were strong enough to become Wizard Saints, neither of us was comparable to him. 'I don't even know if the two of us combined could defeat Gramps. Though I might be overestimating since he's always been stronger than us.' Even though the title of Wizard Saint was used to refer to the strongest in Ishgar, there were different levels even within that category.

With Gramp's eruption of magic power, the previous aggressive monsters were quickly subdued as they lowered their head, submitting themselves to him. "Good… I won't report you all to the Magic Council so long as you don't do this again; otherwise…" Said Gramps as he stared at the monsters while trailing his sentence, giving off an ominous future if they didn't listen to him; however, they seemed smart, given how profusely they were nodding. "Hmph, alright, good. Now, get out of here before I change my mind." Watching the monsters quickly flee the village, we checked on the villages, ensuring they hadn't left any harmful, long-lasting effects before returning to the vehicle.

"Ugh, I'm still starving." "I-I want to eat." Unfortunately for everyone else, since they found no food to eat, everyone was cranky for the rest of the ride back home with me driving the vehicle; as for me, I'm used to going a few days without eating, so I was okay.

__

___

Once we arrived at Magnolia, the first thing we did was return to the guild to gorge ourselves on food, stuffing our faces until we were satisfied; afterward, we scatted and headed to do our own things for the rest of the day, only for tomorrow to arrive which was the day of Natsu and Erza's battle, something the whole guild was excited for.

"Huh, what are you writing, Lucy?" Standing behind Lucy, I looked over her shoulder and gazed down at the note she was writing, causing her to scream while she nearly leaped out of her seat. "B-Big, bro! W-Why are you in my apartment!?" "The window was unlocked. Also, I came to inform you about Natsu and Erza's duel; it's happening in an hour." At the mention of the duel, Lucy nodded while continuing to write. "Oh, nearly forgot about that. Just let me finish writing, and then I'll go."

Nodding at Lucy, I left her alone and searched for her pouch, which I found hanging in the closet, though unfortunately for me, I didn't find Aquarius's key. "If you're looking for Aquarius's key, it's in my cleavage." Said Lucy while I frowned at her words before clicking my tongue as I sat down, patiently waiting for her to finish writing. After twenty minutes, Lucy and I left her apartment and stopped by the postal service before heading to the guild, which we arrived at ten minutes later, as I bought us some kebabs.

When we arrived, there was a massive crowd in the backyard where the fight was going to be held; Erza was already present and was waiting for Natsu to arrive. "Who do you think the strongest in the Guild is?" Asked Elfman. "Hmm, I don't know, but it's between Laxus and big bro… I think I'd take Laxus. As cool and strong as big bro is, he doesn't have the sheer destructive power of Laxus." Said Max while tapping his chin. "Fair, but I can't see Laxus ever beating big bro; he's like an immovable object and an unstoppable force of nature." Said Alzack. "Disregarding those two, we can all agree Erza is the strongest female mage, right?" "I don't know; Mira is strong as hell."

While the others were arguing about who was the strongest in Fairy Tail, I approached the Thunder God Tribe as they'd returned from a quest the night before, and I hadn't seen them in a while.

More Chapters