I dedicate this chapter to BonnieQ, who encouraged me to post a fic in English and also she is my role model in writing.
Chapter One – The Harmony Fighting Games
"Whaaaat?" Everyone in the guild's tavern like building asked in unison.
"We saw them on the clearing near the lake as they… well…" said Natsu with dumbfounded look on his face.
"Aye, they were sweating and panting." Cutted in his best friend's words Happy, the naughty blue cat. The crowd was stunned; they looked at each other with disbelief.
"You are totally misleading them, it would be better if you don't say anything." Lucy scolded Natsu and Happy. "It's not what you think, the thing is that…" tried to save the situation the blond Stellar Spirit mage.
"Hey brats! I have a big announcement, so please shut up already and listen to me!" Master Makarov - in his huge form - interrupted Lucy's attempts to make things clear. He cleared his throat with his left fist lifted in front of his mouth.
"This year is special;" said the old man while shrinking back to his usual size. "It gives place to an extraordinary event, which was never held before. It's a competition called…" - the master kept a small, mood-elevating break – "The Harmony Fighting Games!" The whole Fairy Tail guild cheered happily at the exciting news and broke out in agitated conversations and guessing.
Whom did they talk about and what kind of event is this so called "The Harmony Fighting Games"? To reveal every secret, we must go back 21 days in time…
21 days ago …
The sun shined brightly on the clear blue sky, it was a warm summer afternoon; only few people walked on the streets of Magnolia the hometown of Fairy Tail magical guild. The Guild Hall was almost empty too: except Mirajane who cleaned some bottles behind the bar, humming a cheerful song and Reedus painting a picture from her.
The main doors opened and a yawning Gray stepped in slowly, waving to the members inside.
"Good afternoon Gray, the usual?" asked Mirajane with a bright smile on her lips.
"Yes, please put extra ice in it." He suppressed a yawn while walking to a table close to the bar.
"Are you bored?" the white haired girl started to chit-chat.
"Awfully… Natsu, Lucy, Erza and Wendy went to a mission to the desert. So I skipped it, guess why?" He muttered. "Before I realized everyone else took a mission, they didn't leave one for me, the board is empty. I think this is the layoff of missions or I dunno, vacation season. That's why I'm playing a slacker right…" he yawned again, even his eyes watered with the act. "…now. Sorry."
"Then I have good news for you! Master wanted to talk with you; he asked me to tell you if you appear to visit him in his room." The bartender beauty said with her usual kind smile.
"Finally! Thanks Mira, I'll drink it later." He pointed to the liquid what she just put before him, springed up from his chair, smirking and headed to the stairs towards the first floor where Master's room was located.
"I hope Jiji has something interesting for me, like a special embassy on a snowy place…" The ice mage lost in his thoughts, imagining arctic surroundings, snowy mountains, seals, penguins, ice bears and these kinds of things. The Exhibitionist recovered from his musing when he reached Master Makarov's big oak door which had a gold Fairy Tail symbol on the top of it. He quickly knocked in.
"Oi, Oji-chan! You wanted to see me!" the black haired boy waited patiently but there were no answer. "Jijiiiiiii! Are you in there?" No answer.
"Where the hell is he... and I started to believe he'll give me a good work…" He thought fuming. Then he heard a sound from the inside, like knocking. The Ice Mage started to eavesdrop. "Hmm I'm sure somebody is inside, I don't care and get in." He convinced himself. "Whatever I see…" He thought back when he saw the Master in the pool, without his… "Oh God, why am I thinking on this?" He shook his head to erase the disgusting thoughts which appeared deep from his mind.
"Do you hear me Jiji? I'm coming in!" He said while knocking in again, now more intensely.
Gray slowly opened the door plugged his head into the door's slit and peeked in.
"Hey, Masteeer! Are you here?" Asked the Stripper and stepped into the room. He turned to the right and he can't believe what he saw with his own eyes;
Master Makarov had earphones plugged in his ears and he danced around his armchair in a very funny way; few times thrumming with his fingers on the small coffee table next to the padded armchair, then jumped up while he held his arms upwards, shaking them back and forth.
Gray stared at him google-eyed with jaws dropped, then after a minute he burst out in loud laughing, while holding his belly.
"Bwuu-hahahaaaa-haaaa. Jiji, what the hell are you doing?" He asked, mopping tears out of his eyes.
Makarov stopped his crazy dance and stared back to the laughing boy.
"Hey, you shameless brat! Didn't I teach you not to step in a room without knocking?" He said, blushing, taking out the earphones from his ears and coughing embarrassed. "I should give you a punishment…" He cleared his throat again. "...but I have a task for you."
Gray stopped laughing, sniffled a last and then his face became excited and serious.
"What is it Jiji?"
"Sit down boy, it needs a longer explanation." The small man said while walked to his desk and put the music player and earphones into a drawer. The black haired boy took a seat in front of his guild master slash stepfather, waiting for further details.
"Well, as you know there is a few magical tournaments exist and we usually participate on all of them to raise Fairy Tail's reputation. These events boost individual skills and strengthen the team spirit in many ways, so I'm always proud if we can participate on them." Master said folding his hands on the desk before himself.
"It happened we got an invitation to a brand new competition 'The Harmony Fighting Games'."
"I see and how does it affects me?" Asked the Ice Mage on a serious, but curious tone.
"Let me finish it and you'll know…" Gray rolled his eyes on his comment. "So the organizers of the tournament – the Synergistic Magical Association – select different type of magical attributes by a draw and they're sending out the results to every magical guild. I got this message yesterday." He took a piece of paper in front of Gray, and the Master pointed to a line with his tiny finger where he could read these words in fancy handwriting:
Fairy Tail's this year's magic type is:
Ice Magic
"So I'll be the competitor? What is the main goal?" The Ice Mage asked while dropping his T-Shirt unconsciously (he lost his white, long jacket somewhere before he entered into the room) to the floor.
"If you let me finish, khmm…" The old man rolled his eyes reprehends.
"Sorry Master…" Gray said apologetically.
"Where was I?" He was thinking for a second and then he continued, slapping his forehead lightly.
"Oh, I got it. So the rules are simple: a guild can take part in the games if they have a member with the skills what the Synergistic Magical Association drawn, this is the first filter. This mage can take a partner with him or her and – here comes the fascinating part – the main goal is to fight together against another pair. It's kind of a duel, but victory depends on the harmony and unison between the partners." Master Makarov said, giving a suggestive look to the boy.
"Every participant will fight with another team; the winners qualify themselves to the next round. It continues until only two teams left, the final battle will be the matchplay. Every team has a chance until they win; when they lose they're out of the game. The competition will last for 10 days, so they can manage all matches. There is still 30 days preparation time to practice and shake together with the chosen partner." Master took a deep breath and sighed loudly.
"So the question is that, are you still interested?" he asked from the Ice Mage.
Gray bethought on the information what he heard with a sober expression on his face and he answered smirking.
"Of course I am! How can I decline a request to fight?"
"I was sure you won't say no…" Makarov muttered under his thick mustache. "The second very important question is that who will be your partner." The old man said, thinking for a second. "Well I think I leave the choice to you. You know the best who will be the ideal companion to co-operate for this tournament. I have only one condition." He kept a small break while looking deeply into the Exhibitionist's dark eyes. "Please choose wisely…" Another long silence and telling look. "The main prize is 15.000.000 jewels!" He said and laughed out loudly, when he saw Gray's flabbergasted frown.
"I gave you 3 days of thinking, because I must report the participant's names until Friday. You can leave now, I'll tell you further details if you chosen your partner."
"I don't need 3 days for that…" Gray said slightly affronted.
"You don't?" Master said with raised interest, gathering his brows wonderingly.
"I already made my choice…"
Author's Note:
First things first: My native language is NOT English, so please point out my mistakes kindly, I'd like to learn from them.
I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. ;) This idea popped into my mind months ago, but I forgot it completely. Yesterday I found my 'Writer Notebook' where I take notes when I have a new idea and this multi chaptered story bugged me to write it immediately. I'd like to thank BonnieQ for the kind words, it's your merit I had enough courage to post this story.
Please leave me review if you liked/ didn't like it, I really appreciate every suggestion.
Thank you for reading!
Hestiana