"-And that's everything!"
Lucy finished in one breath, her chest heaving.
She stared at Natsu. "Did you get all that? Every life on this island is on our shoulders now."
"Uh-huh." Natsu rubbed the back of his head.
"So basically, we just have to burn up the moon, right?" Natsu cracked his knuckles, his eyes blazing with alarming enthusiasm. "Leave it to me!"
"You can't burn up the moon! Do you even know how far away it is!?"
"We won't know until we try!"
"We don't need to try to know that!!"
"Besides, it's daytime right now. We can deal with the moon after dark."
"Let's go out and see if there are any other clues on the island about lifting the curse!"
The three of them bickered their way out of the village.
As they argued, however, Lucy's steps began to slow.
"Um... Natsu."
"Hmm?"
"I've been wanting to ask since yesterday." She rubbed her fingers together and ventured cautiously,
"Stealing a request sheet from the guild and taking on an S-Class Mission above our rank... is that really okay?"
"Oh, that." Natsu laced his hands behind his head, but his tone grew a little grave,
"If we get caught, there's a really scary punishment."
"P-punishment!?" Lucy's voice shot up. "What kind of punishment?"
The words had barely left her mouth when she noticed something was wrong.
The boy and cat ahead of her stopped at the same time.
Natsu's shoulders began to shake. Happy trembled even harder, his wings going limp as he dropped straight to the ground and clutched his head with both paws.
"...Don't ask, Lucy."
"Huh?"
"It's..." Natsu's face turned white as a sheet, his teeth chattering. "...Something we can't talk about."
"We can't even think about it." Happy curled into a ball, his voice