The Sky Labyrinth was terrifying to Lucy. There was endless directions to go, and guilds were fighting each other. The worst part, was that Wendy was missing, and it made Lucy extremely anxious.
"We gotta get there an'beat those Sabertooth bastards to a pulp!" Natsu exclaimed.
Lucy tensed, the memory of their verbal fight with Sting and his friend was still very fresh in her mind. Gray noticed Lucy tense up, but he did not say anything. They had told the ice wizard about what happened, so that's what he assumed Lucy was upset about.
Lucy wanted to sigh, but she decided against it. If she showed so much as a symptom of how she felt, it would appear suspicious. Alone time was what she needed at the moment, but the only way that was possible was by winning. Losing against the other guilds was not an option; she wanted to show Sting how strong Fairy Tail could be.
"Open, Gate of the Compass, Pyxis!"
Out rushed Pyxis from her key. She felt a wave of joy at finally getting to see one of her spirits. The last time she summoned one of them was three days ago, and she was really starting to miss them.
"Alright Pyxis, which way is East?"
Pyxis eagerly pointing in the direction of east, but nobody else on her team was saying anything. Lucy looked behind her and realized that Erza was holding a perfectly functioning compass.
Pyxis was immediately saddened and Lucy realized that she wasn't actually needed at the moment.
"Good job Pyxis..." Lucy said awkwardly as her spirit returned.
"Now let's head East!" Natsu exclaimed.
Heading east didn't work out well for them. The group continually hit dead ends, and had no idea where to go.
"Maybe we should try heading a different direction for a while," Elfman suggested.
Erza shook her head. "It has to be around somewhere, it is called a labyrinth, after all."
"Maybe we should head back and try a new way east," Lucy added.
"That's a good idea, Lucy. Let's-"
"I told you, this isn't the proper way! I saw Fairy Tail come this direction!"
The Fairy Tail group all turned to the direction of the voice and Lucy tensed up again. She knew that voice well. Why did it always have to be Sabertooth that they ran into? There, in the distance, stood Sting. He was the lead in the Sabertooth team, and he wasn't showing any signs of weakness.
Sting started walking quickly, closing in on the Fairy Tail team that was trapped in a dead end. "So we meet again," he spoke loudly.
Natsu's fist started to flame. "You bastards! Now we can finally fight you!"
Lucy wanted nothing more than a direct exit from the situation. Never had something felt as tense as their current predicament; it was something that could be snapped by a simple word. The other members of Sabertooth looked ready to attack if they were to receive one simple command from Sting. Gray and Erza shifted into offensive position, waiting on who would make the first move. Lucy subconsciously took a step backwards, not wanting to fight them.
Sting met her eyes, and his facial expression softened subtly. "Not so fast, Natsu. I have a proposition."
"Oh yeah, and what would that be?" Gray questioned Sting skeptically.
"Both of our teams walk free, no combat, but you have to give us everything you've written down about this labyrinth."
The woman beside Sting looked at him in surprise, and the rest of his team dropped their offensive positions in confusion.
Sting's friend's face twisted up in bewilderment. "Sting, I thought-"
Sting held up a hand to his friend to silence him.
"No way in hell!" Natsu yelled in response.
"Natsu, wait. We're not ready to do combat right now. Think about it! They know everything about us and we know nothing of them. They have the advantage," Lucy spoke. She hoped that Natsu would listen to her logic rather than his anger.
"Lucy are you sure about this?" Erza asked quietly, so that the other team could not hear.
"Yes, besides, we've found nothing that they can use."
Erza gave a nod of confirmation and Lucy walked over to the Sabertooth group cautiously. Natsu looked infuriated, but Lucy kept going. She took the papers out of her pocket and looked up to Sting who had his hand outstretched, ready to revive the maps.
Lucy looked into his eyes again, and was met with regret. She wanted to talk to him, to hear more about what he had to say, but she couldn't. She wished she had listened to him earlier instead of telling him to go away, but she could not reverse her choice.
As she was about to hand him the papers, the labyrinth started to shift.
"What the hell is happening?" A muscled man from Sabertooth asked.
Stairways were shifting, turning upside down, moving in opposite directions. The Sabertooth team members managed to hold onto something, as well as the Fairy Tail members- minus Lucy.
"Lucy!" Natsu called out.
She was falling now, and fast. It would be a short trip to the ground from the maze. It wasn't the way she wanted to leave the games or lose for Fairy Tail, it scared her.
Sting started running, then jumped. He propelled through the air and caught Lucy in his arms. The two landed roughly, rolling onto a pathway just a bit away from their respective teams. Both Lucy and Sting had cuts covering them from their rough landing, but they were fine overall.
Lucy was trying to reel in her head. She was falling, and Sting had just jumped through the air to save her. He could have let her fall, and Fairy Tail would have been eliminated, yet there he was, helping her up from the ground. The celestial wizard looked to the other teams and saw surprise clearly written on their faces.
She looked back to Sting, who had a devious look on his face. "I'm sorry about this Lucy," he told her, then looked to his team. "Yukino, now!"
"Right!" She said, taking a key out.
So she was the celestial wizard Sting told her about. Lucy was amazed when Yukino brandished a Zodiac key and summoned Libra.
"Libra, gravity change!" She commanded.
Her spirit nodded, and next Lucy knew, she was pinned to the ground.
Sting kneeled down beside her. "Nothing personal, but we had an agreement," he said, then took the papers from her hand.
As he walked off, Lucy could hear her guild members struggling to get up from the ground. Natsu sounded especially upset. Lucy was still stunned from almost falling, so she tried to regain her composure and failed. Her day kept getting worse and worse as it dragged on. Of course, she was thankful Sting rescued her from falling, but it didn't erase the biting feel of failure. She had almost lost it for her entire team.
Apparently they could get up again, because Gray tapped her on the head. She rapidly blinked, trying to get the tears of frustration out of her eyes.
"Lucy, it's alright. We'll do what you said and head back then go east. It's not your fault that happened." Gray comforted, then held out his hand.
"Yeah, we'll get back at them later! Let's go win!" Natsu said.
Lucy smiled. She loved her friends with all her heart, and this was one of those moments that affirmed her love for them.
A fight with Twilight Ogre and several decisions finally lead them to the doors of the Grand Magic Games. Despite everything that happened to them in the labyrinth, they made it. Lucy was exhausted now, but it was completely worth it. They'd made it.
"We made it, first place!" Natsu said.
The announcer looked at them in protest. "Actually, your team came in eighth place."
The giddy looks on their faces fell, but at least they made it, even if they had a few close calls along the way.
It was 3 AM, but they were finally back. Lisanna and Happy had found Wendy while they were out, causing Lucy to feel more relaxed. Wendy wasn't conscious, but at least they found the young dragon slayer.
Lucy went to visit Wendy in the infirmary for a while, then she went straight to her bed. She was more than drained from their busy day and felt she deserved some hard earned rest. Only, she couldn't fall asleep. She tossed and turned, tried every trick in the book, but nothing worked. She swore it was five in the morning, because she could see the light from the sunrise outside. She had enough of trying to fall asleep and got up from her bed.
She looked around the room and saw Gray's bed was empty. When had he gotten up? The balcony door was open, so he must have been outside.
Lucy walked onto the cold balcony wearing her pajamas. There was an excellent view of the sunset rising over the city, but she was too tired to appreciate it. Then, she spotted Gray. He was sitting up against the wall, lost in thought.
"Gray?" Lucy questioned.
"Lucy? What are you doing up?"
"I was going to ask the same," She said.
"Sometimes I get nightmares," he shrugged.
Lucy nearly gasped. "About Deliorah?"
"Yeah..." Gray said, not wanting to elaborate. "So what are you doing up?"
"I couldn't fall asleep."
Gray looked concerned. "I wanted to ask, are you alright? During the labyrinth you seemed a bit off. Is something bothering you?"
Lucy shook her head. "I was just upset that I almost let you guys and Fairy Tail down. But we're all here, right?"
Gray nodded and the two watched the sunrise for a tiny bit before heading inside, both hoping they'd be able to fall asleep.
Although Lucy had only gotten a few hours of sleep, she felt ready. The booming cheers of the crowd outside boosted her energy and she felt excited. This was it, the start to a competition that would be difficult, but also allow them to prove themselves. Their team was doing this for their guild members who were left behind, and they wouldn't forget their purpose.
Elfman help up Wendy's outfit and complained about not fitting into it. Lucy smiled in amusement. They argued about their clothing for a few minutes until the announcer came on.
"Fairy Tail!" He introduced.
They walked out of the hall together, making sure they entered with determined looks on their faces. Only, they weren't prepared for the booing of the crowd. What had they done to deserve it?
"What the heck is this?" Lucy asked.
They looked around in surprise at the booing, but they didn't lose their pride. They would prove everyone wrong, not matter what was going to happen.
Erza patted Lucy on the back. "Don't let it get you down. As long as we have the support of our comrades, we can do this."
"Right," Lucy said, looking up with a smile on her face.
Then the other guilds were introduced, and finally Sabertooth. They were welcomed with an insane amount of cheering, clearly meaning they were a favourite among the crowd.
Sabertooth came out looking proud and confident with Sting at the front of them. She was seeing him for the first time that day, and already he had managed to anger her. It wasn't necessarily his fault, she was more jealous that the crowd cheered for him and his guild.
He made eye contact with her and winked. She almost blushed, but if anyone noticed, she'd be die from the embarrassment, so she turned away from him and back to her guild.
The announcer went through the rules of the games and the matches coming up. Apparently she and Gray were slotted to compete that day. She couldn't believe she was facing the girl who eyed her creepily from Raven Tail.
Lucy's match was starting. She traded off with the Black haired man who had just lost. Sting liked the look on her face, and apparently the announcers did too. She looked nothing but determined, like she was ready to wipe the floor with Raven Tail.
At first, Lucy appeared to be holding herself well against Flare, but it had taken a turn when Flare had Lucy held in the air. Lucy wasn't even struggling against her binds, instead she was crying out, begging Flare to not brand her.
Sting was confused. Why wasn't she fighting? Was there something he wasn't getting?
It was weird to see his guild mates yawning at the battle, while he was so invested. That morning they had confronted him about sparing Fairy Tail in the labyrinth. His answer was that he wanted to face Natsu properly, in front of everyone. But that was only a half truth. Honestly, he didn't want Lucy's guild to be eliminated or for her to be hurt.
Sting watched as Lucy suddenly broke free and summed her spirit Gemini. He watched in amazement as she was casting some sort of spell; it was incredibly powerful. The entire arena was lit up by stars and everyone could feel the magical pressure.
Now his guild mates were paying attention.
But her magic failed. Why? She seemed so sure when she was casting it, but it just stopped. Flare was declared winner, and Lucy fell to the ground in exhaustion.
Had that actually just happened?
Lucy was curled up on herself, crying. Sting couldn't believe how quickly the event turned on her, it was like she was about to pull the finishing move, and then gave up.
Something clearly wasn't right. Natsu went down to help Lucy up and give her a speech, making Sting wish he could help her. He wondered if she would even allow him after the previous day. Was she still angry at him?
Sting left Sabertooth's view of the games intent on finding Lucy. He wasn't going to take no for an answer.
An: I'm in my final year of high school, and so far I've been lucky and haven't gotten much homework. That could change and if it does, I'm sorry that the updates will be further apart. I also have to re-watch some of the Grand Magic Games episodes because the last time I watched them was in February ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also, sorry for the lack of dialog in this chapter.