"Those who are now the strongest were once the weakest, persevere, thrive, and become addicted to becoming stronger."
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"Everyone," Kali said as she looked at the scene in disbelief. "What are you all doing? I take a quick nap and when I wake up, you guys are fishing?"
Makarov, Erza, Gray, Natsu, Happy, and even Lucy were sitting on the edge of the cliff with a fishing rod in their hands.
"We're fishing because we're hungry and there's no food in the area. It's Happy's fault that we're lost."
"Aye! Don't pin this on me! I didn't get lost before and this is my first time!"
"How does that make any sense?!"
"Anyway," Kali interrupted. "What're you all fishing for? I don't think the strings can reach all the way there. Heck, I don't even think there's even a river down there."
"We're fishing for flying fish." Erza answered.
"Flying fish?" Kali asked in a confused tone.
"Mhm, it's said that the fish is delicious…"
"Has legendary delicacy…"
"And it's a Wingfish…"
Kali looked at Gray, Natsu, and Erza helplessly before turning away to do her own thing. Of course, it was to take another nap. After all, she wasn't as hungry and desperate as them.
When Kali woke up, she sensed a gloomy atmosphere. In an instant, she already knew what happened.
"You guys weren't able to catch any huh?"
"Don't rub it in our faces!" Happy exclaimed with tears in his eyes. "I tried my hardest!"
"Since we didn't find any, let's move on. We have a higher chance of finding food somewhere else other than sitting here endlessly waiting for a wingfish." Erza said as she and everyone else got ready to leave.
"You know, it was a good thing that you guys didn't catch any." Kali said as she walked with the group.
"Why is that?" Gray asks.
"Because those wingfish taste horrible."
"Ehhh?!" Happy squealed. "But the paper said that it was delicious!"
"Well, the paper lied to you and wasted your time."
"How do you know that?!"
"Because I've tried wingfish on my journey. I'd rather not have you all suffer from the disgusting taste."
"Then why didn't you stop us from trying to fish it?" Lucy asks."
"I needed some entertainment since the journey was boring." Kali said with an innocent smile.
"You-"
"Don't," Makarov said. "She's always like this, let's continue walking-"
"Look!" Natsu exclaimed. "There's a village!"
"There has to be food there!" Gray said as he dashed off along with Natsu.
Soon enough, everyone besides Kali was heading towards the village.
"Seriously," Kali muttered as she shook her head. "Why would a village in the middle of Web Valley have food?"
Kali grew even more suspicious of the village when there was actually food placed on the table in one of the houses.
"Don't eat it yet, the food could be poisoned." Kali said.
"Huh? But no one's here?" Natsu comments as he's about to take a bite of the bread which Erza stopped him from doing.
"Listen to her Natsu. I'm suspicious of this village as well. Master Makarov and I will investigate the village in the meantime. The rest of you should look for mushrooms-"
Before Erza could continue further, Kali interrupted her.
"I don't think we should eat mushrooms in a place like this. I have a feeling they won't be regular mushrooms."
"Then, change of plans. The rest of you will look for people instead."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go Happy." Natsu said with Gray trailing behind and Lucy in the lead.
Kali gave Erza a silent round of applause. "You've become a great leader."
There was a tint of redness on Erza's cheeks. Being complimented by Kali made her elated.
"H-hurry up and go!" Erza exclaimed.
Kali chuckled before following behind Gray and the others. By the time she caught up to them, they were already chewing on mushrooms.
Kali turned to the only sane one which was Lucy and asked, "Would you mind explaining why there are mushrooms on top of their head?"
"Well…they were desperate for food so they decided to eat the mushrooms." Lucy explained. "And they also forgot what you said about mushrooms."
"I'm not surprised, after all, hunger is a dangerous feeling."
Suddenly, there was a small shake in the ground and the mushrooms on Gray and Natsu's head fell off except for Happy's.
"Erza! Gramps!" Natsu exclaimed as he dashed back along with the other three. Kali sighed and started running after them.
By the time they got there, the surrounding houses were moving in a wavy way, it was strange. On the ground, there were two red lines separating the village into four parts. One line was vertical and the other one was horizontal.
"Let's get to higher ground, I want to check something." Master Makarov said as everyone moved to the cliff.
"So? What is it that you want to see, Gramps?" Gray asked.
"Look down there."
Below them, the buildings began to turn into creatures. They took the shape of serpents, crabs, and octopuses.
"Master, could this be a magic circle?" Erza asks.
"Yes, those lines that you found were part of the magic circle. And this particular magic circle was used for a sealing spell long ago." Makarov said.
"It's Alive Magic isn't it?" Kali suggested.
"Oh? I'm surprised you know of this."
"Well, I've encountered something like this during those S-Rank missions. Though, they weren't as weak as this."
"I see." Master Makarov said. "The magic that turns inanimate objects into living things, it's been a while since i've seen this magic."
"Then, I'm pretty sure I know why there aren't any people in this village." Kali stated.
"You do?" Natsu asks. "Tell us!"
"The villagers must've activated the hidden spell, only to be eaten by the monsters." Kali explained.
"This is also a Dark Guild's village." Erza added.
"Nani?!" Natsu asked in shock.
"I found numerous magic tools when I checked a shed earlier. None of them existed for good purposes." Erza said.
"Knowing the Dark Guild, they must've been planning something vile again." Gray said with disgust.
"And during the process, they ended up destroying themselves." Makarov said as his gaze turned sharp. "But there is one thing that we should be grateful for."
"What is it?" Natsu asked in anxiousness/
"Remember, these creatures are living things. And most living things…can be eaten!"
"Eh?! You're going to eat it?!" Lucy exclaimed in terror.
Before Lucy knew it, Natsu, Gray, and Happy headed towards the creatures at a speed she couldn't track.
"Erza?! You're that hungry too?!" Lucy once again exclaims in shock as she looks around only to see everyone down there except for Kali. "Ah, at least there is someone that's still sane."
"Of course I am, did you think I wasn't going to come prepared like them?" Kali said as she pulled out several bowls with food.
"You had that on you the entire time?! Why didn't you share? Moreover, where did you even pull it out from?"
"You're going to give me a headache if you keep yelling like that."
"Sorry."
"And to answer your questions, I pulled it out from my pocket, I didn't have it on me the entire time, and I didn't share because it wasn't finished cooking until now." Kali replied. "Anyway, want some?"
"With pleasure!"
Before Kali could even open her own bowl, Lucy had already started gulping down the food as if it was her last meal. She was about to start eating until she noticed something.
Lucy was too focused eating the delicious food, after starving for so long, the taste was heavenly. She was so focused that she didn't know Kali was in front of her until Kali was only a few inches away from her face.
Suddenly, Lucy felt her face getting hot.
"W-what?" Lucy stammered.
"Don't move," Kali replied. "There's a strand of hair stuck on your eye."
"Oh."
Kali lightly blew at where the strand of hair was and went back to where she was before once it disappeared. However, she noticed something off.
"Lucy? Why are you red? Is the food perhaps too spicy for you?" Kali asks. "Though, I don't remember adding anything spicy into it."
"It's n-nothing."
"Are you sure?"
Lucy quickly nodded her head, "It must be from the strand of hair that was stuck in my eye."
"Ah, so it was that. Well, be careful next time."
While Lucy was eating her food, she was also now in a deep thought about why she was feeling this way.
Was it because of Kali's mesmerizing eyes? The yellow spirals with multiple rings that always seemed to entrance her. Or was it her appearance? Her pink-ish hair that seemed to slightly change colors in the sunlight, her fit body, and the sharp gaze she always had. Or was it her personality and magic?
That was when Lucy's thoughts of Kali stopped. She realized she didn't know anything about Kali's magic or much about Kali's personality.
"Lucy? Hello?" Kali asked as she waved her hands in front of Lucy's face. "You're staring at me a bit too hard."
"E-eh?" Lucy stammered as she snapped out of her trance. "Ah! Sorry!"
Kali simply smiled. "It's fine, I don't mind having a beautiful girl staring at me anyway."
Lucy quickly turned around to hide her reaction which made Kali laugh.
'If Mira was here, she'd definitely hit me.'
"Also, aren't they taking a bit too long?" Lucy asked.
"Now that I think about it, you're right. But they'll be fine, I didn't sense anything dangerous from that huge earthquake earlier." Kali replied.
"Huh? There was an earthquake."
"Yep, you seemed to be thinking about something intense when it happened." Kali said. "Since we're finished with our food, let's wait for them here."
"Alright," Lucy said but felt something was amiss. "Kali, is there something you want to ask?
"Your intuition is just as sharp as your mother's." Kali murmured under her breath with a smile.
"Hmm? What was that?"
"Nothing, and look. They seem to be coming back."
Several figures appeared before them with tired expressions.
"Why do they look so tired?"
"Well, looks like they weren't able to find any food after all."