Her eyelids shimmered with soft green eyeshadow, her left cheek adorned with vibrant emerald magic tattoos, while her right cheek bore deeper, inky green ones.
Her hair was elegantly pinned up by a peculiar dark green flute, her ears now pointed and elongated, their tips decorated with intricate green patterns.
She wore a light green outfit that blended elegance with a battle-ready vibe, holding a long flute in her hands, its jade-like surface glowing with a gentle, warm green.
"So beautiful!" Lucy gasped, covering her mouth in awe. The Mirajane before her was a stark contrast to the sinister, demonic form from earlier. She radiated a unique beauty, blending sanctity and death in a way that felt contradictory yet perfectly harmonious on her.
Mirajane smiled warmly, inspecting the jade flute in her hands, feeling the power flowing through it.
"I never would've guessed," she said, "that the life force I absorbed could be transformed through this flute and used to heal others. It's a pretty handy trick."
With a thought, her magical aura faded, and she reverted to her familiar, gentle-smiling barmaid self.
Roger stepped forward, his right hand once again summoning a "Lullaby."
"All we need to do now is pretend Lullaby's seal is breaking, then have Happy fly it far from the town," he said.
Lucy tilted her head, eyeing the flute in his hand. "It looks the same, but… it doesn't feel as evil or scary as before?"
Roger chuckled lightly but didn't respond. Instead, he flicked his fingers.
In an instant, the skull at the flute's tip lit up, its third eye glowing with an eerie red light! With a whoosh, the flute shot into the air on its own, hovering right in front of Lucy. It let out a sharp, distorted cackle, neither male nor female.
"Heh heh heh! Little girl! What do you think now?! Feeling the thrill yet?!" it screeched.
"Wah!" Lucy yelped, instinctively swatting at the creepy flute.
The flute deftly spun in midair, dodging her hand, and smoothly returned to Roger's grasp.
Roger raised an eyebrow at the still-shocked Lucy. "Now do you feel it?"
Lucy wiped the sweat from her forehead, muttering, "Ugh, way too much feeling…"
Erza, arms crossed, turned to Natsu and Gray, who were bickering nearby. "You two! Go get the kid. We're heading out!"
"Ehh?!" they groaned in unison. Natsu protested, "Can't you just use that 'Wakeflower' gauntlet of yours to snap him out of it?"
Erza's eyes narrowed, her voice stretching into a low, "Hmmm?"
That single sound sent Natsu and Gray rigid, sweat beading on their foreheads. "Y-Yes, ma'am! We're on it!" they stammered, bolting to the unconscious boy. Each grabbed an arm, carefully lifting him and trailing behind the group.
Lucy watched, dumbfounded. "He's just a little kid… Do they really need to carry him like that?"
Happy fluttered to her ear, whispering, "If Erza told you to carry the kid, would you dare say no?"
Lucy instantly recalled Erza's terrifying interrogation of Erigor, her neck shrinking as she muttered, "Uh… nope. I wouldn't dare either."
The group marched out of the station in a lively procession.
As they stepped outside, a teary-eyed old woman rushed toward Natsu and Gray, her voice trembling with relief as she saw her sleeping grandson, unharmed. "Oh, thank goodness! Little Lei's okay! Thank you! Thank you, wizards!"
She looked ready to kneel in gratitude, but Natsu and Gray quickly handed the boy back to her.
Roger stepped forward, his tone gentle. "He's just a bit shaken up, but he's fine physically. He needs some rest and should wake up soon. It'd be best to take him somewhere familiar to sleep it off."
"Yes, yes, of course!" the old woman nodded vigorously, wiping her tears as she took her grandson, bowing deeply to the group.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! I'll make sure to send a reward to your guild!"
Before anyone could protest, she hurried off with the boy, disappearing from the station.
The crowd around them seemed to have grown even larger.
Suddenly, someone pointed at the wooden flute in Happy's paws and shouted, "Look! That cat's holding a flute! Are its eyes… glowing?! Red light!"
All eyes turned to Happy and the flute.
Roger immediately faced Happy, his voice urgent and grave. "Happy! The sealing magic is about to break! You need to fly Lullaby as far from the town as possible, now! We can't let it unleash its true form here!"
"Aye, sir!" Happy's wings flared with blue light. Clutching the flute tightly, he shot into the sky like a blue comet, speeding northwest.
Roger turned to the uneasy crowd, his expression apologetic. "I'm so sorry. We've defeated the dark guild, but this magical item they left behind is too dangerous and unpredictable."
"We've only managed to temporarily seal it. Now we have to move it far from the town to prevent it from going berserk and causing even more destruction."
The crowd blinked, stunned. This was their first time seeing wizards apologize for not doing better after completing a mission.
This… didn't quite match the "wrecking crew" reputation of Fairy Tail they'd heard about.
Before anyone could respond, Roger rallied his team. "Hurry! We need to catch up to Happy! The seal could break any moment, and we have to stop it before it plays its deadly melody!"
The group dashed off toward the northwest, vanishing from sight.
The onlookers stood in silence for a moment before a man spoke slowly, "Fairy Tail… seems a lot more reliable than the rumors say."
Whispers spread through the crowd.
"They're known for wrecking stuff, but… they seem pretty responsible too, don't they?"
"The commotion in the station earlier, all those screams—must've been the dark guild, right? Were they too harsh?"
"You're sympathizing with a dark guild? If they're not tough on enemies, should they wait for the enemies to be tough on us?"
"Look! Over there, in the northwest sky! What's that?!"
All eyes turned northwest. In the distant sky, a massive purple magic circle suddenly flared to life!
Jagged purple lightning crackled around it. Seconds later, a colossal, twisted figure made of gnarled wood emerged at its center.
It was enormous, mountain-like, with sharp wooden spikes jutting from its back and three hollow eyes glowing red on its face. Its chest was hollowed out, revealing the stormy sky behind it.
"That… that's Lullaby?!" The crowd's curiosity turned to terror. Screams erupted as people scattered, fleeing in the opposite direction of the monstrous figure.