Outside the roar of the crowd boomed, making me lift my head as I listened. The crowd was so loud out there, there had to be thousands of them, a full stadium. I'll admit, I was slightly nervous. So many people watching me, I remember the last time I was here and the same nerves affected me then. I didn't particularly want people watching me fight. What if my clothes rip in an embarrassing place or I trip over? My hair was practically in a complete disarray due to my frantic fiddling. "You need to calm down Fae, it's really not that scary, I'll be right here beside you." Mira told me sweetly as she pulled back my hair into a ponytail, combing it until it lay silky smooth and flat against my head. "So there's no reason to be frightened."
"You're right." I nodded my head with a gulp. "But tell that to the thousands of people out there who hate our guts. Can I go home? Cana can still take my place as reserve, right?" I questioned but Mira only chuckled and grabbed my hand as our turn to appear out in the stadium came. Just before we appeared I took a deep breath to calm myself, settling the nerves inside me until they were made from steel. My clothes fluttered as I took the first step into the light, the white coat hiding my face with a black cloth tied like a neck scarf around my neck pulled up over my face to hide the lower part so that no one would recognise me. With recent events in mind, I wanted to hide my identity as much as possible just in case I was recognised by someone who might then relate my whereabouts back to my father. I still had to hide a little longer from him.
Anyway, it went without saying that the crowds were shocked to find that Fairy Tail had two teams participating, however I think Natsu was a little offended by the fact that a second team had been installed into the games and made his complaints known loud and clear.
The last team to appear was Sabertooth and as they came parading out into the open I glanced over at Natsu, seeing his expression darken further. Confetti was scattered down into the stadium as the cheering of the crowd reached an all time high, screaming for their favourites as they came strutting forward. I hate those jerks already.
"Well what do you know, it's the sissy, looks like you made it after all." Sting said to me as he walked over with a cocky shrug of his hands, reaching out and draped a finger across my face as he began to circle around me. He must have recognised the intense glare in my eyes. "Remember our agreement, little girl, you're going to pay for what you did to Rogue."
"I'm touched that you care so much for your friend, seeing as it's apparent he's incapable of defending himself." I answered smoothly, flicking his hand away from my face, grateful that my mask protected me from his slimy hands. "I feel sorry that Sabertooth is stuck with such incompetent fools such as yourselves." Gajeel gave a bark of laughter and Laxus smirked behind me as Sting took a step back, smirking down at me with his arms folded across his chest.
"You say that now but when the battling round comes, I hope you'll watch closely. We'll show you how real wizards fight these days seeing you're seven years out of sync." He answered and I lifted my head, eyes blazing like twin suns straight at him and he backtracked slightly as I gave off a burst of magical energy that I couldn't quite control until I had calmed myself down.
"Not all of us were trapped in the time lapse, you know. I have dedicated myself to training hard and I am now resolved to bring back Fairy Tail's honour, even at the ultimate cost." Spinning around I pointed my finger at him. "Even if it means I must bring the entire wrath of the heavens crashing down upon our enemies, I will do so without regret!" I yelled before thrusting my hand into the air, pointing my forefinger directly into the sky and the others all cheered with me, copying my stance and the crowd actually gave a small cheer for us before I turned around and purposefully kept my back turned to them, refusing to look at them again as the rules were explained and the participants for the first round chosen between us.
I was glad to hide away again once Juvia had been chosen to go in for the game of hidden, basically a massive scale hide and seek contest where the participants had to catch the others whilst remaining hidden themselves. Maybe I should have opted to go in, I could have easily sensed the other participants around the other false dummies and evaded attacks at a moment's notice with my speed. Oh well, Juvia's already lost us one point, can't get much worse than that.
I should have kept my mouth shut.
The game was over quickly but it soon became apparent that Fairy Tail had many more enemies than I first anticipated. "Raven Tail and Sabertooth seem to have a personal vendetta against us, particularly Raven Tail. Does anyone want to explain?" I questioned, turning around to look at everyone else in the team.
"I've been wondering the same thing." Gajeel agreed and Mira gave a sigh so I looked to her for the explanation.
"The master of Raven Tail is Makarov's own son, Ivan." My jaw went slack as I stared at her. "They obviously want to prove their strength, however the easiest way to show that is to prove how weak we are. Ivan has never forgiven his father for expelling him from the guild and now it seems he's returned to seek his revenge." Mira said to me.
"Wait, if Ivan is the master's son, then that means…" I looked towards Laxus who had his arms folded across his chest, a dark look in his eye as his lips curled slightly.
"Yeah so what? I don't care what my old man does, so long as he doesn't mess with Fairy Tail." He growled at my look and I quickly looked away, shrinking away into the shadows where I hugged my waist. This was trouble. With both Raven Tail and Sabertooth against us getting to the top was going to prove a whole lot harder.
At the end of the game I was disappointed that our team had only gotten one point and our other group got nothing but I was confident there was still time to pull it all together. The battle round was next and I was happy to watch Lucy battle against a woman called Flare, one of Raven Tail's members. She did so well at first, managing to call out two spirits both at the same time and she continued on a high streak until something went wrong.
From what I could hear between the two of them, Flare was threatening to kill Asuka. I had bellowed in rage and tried to warn the others, even going as far to try and leap into the fight and pummel her myself but both Laxus and Gajeel restrained me as I yelled furiously, rage burning in my eyes and I felt a spike of darkness surge within me. No, not her again! Not after all this time!
Did you miss me? You pathetic little fairy, of course I'm not gone. I'm still here, I'll always be right here. You can't keep me locked away forever, one day I'll break free and then you'll be sorry.
Get yourself under control Fae, this is not how you're meant to represent the guild, stay strong and focus. Channel your emotions, let them fill you with strength. As I went still Laxus and Gajeel slowly let me go, hovering close beside me as I opened my eyes, red tinging the outline of my irises. "You good?" Gajeel questioned and I lowered my head slightly, clenching my fists at my side.
"No. I'm angry." I answered as Natsu saved Asuka from the sneak attack, burning Flare's hair before it could touch our little treasure and Lucy instantly began her comeback with a powerful spell. The spell of the stars. It was incredible to see and I smiled softly, watching as she used Gemini to amplify her power but at the last minute I sensed a dynamical shift in power and Lucy's attack became null and void, the magic disappearing completely as if it had vanished into thin air. Raven Tail! Those damn creeps and cheats, I'll bury them all alive!
My rage pounded in my chest with each heartbeat and I could only stand there uselessly as Lucy fell to the ground, losing the match. This was not fair, how could the judges not see that this was all fixed? Lucy's attack should have knocked out that freaky girl without question but she wasn't even touched!
I hardly noticed the rest of the fights, still locked in my own inner anger however I did come around long enough to see the wizard from Sabertooth knock out his opponent with one hit with black lightning. He hadn't even used much strength, as if flicking away an annoying fly. I'll have to keep my guard up if I do come to face with one of them, because they meant business.
When our turn came around for the last match, I almost didn't realise that my name had been called out on the loudspeaker until Mira gave me a gentle nudge. "Are you ready for this?" She asked me tenderly, touching my shoulder so I took a deep breath and nodded my head, leaving our sheltered and safe viewing box to step out into the open as my opponent was then announced. Jura Neekis of Lamia Scale.
I lifted my head as I met him at the centre of the stadium, feeling the wind pick up slightly before it settled once more. I knew this man was powerful, being one of the ten wizard saints, could I really beat him? I'm a little younger than he is and don't have the same amount of experience, however I knew one thing for certain. I can't just give in! I have to do this, for Gray, for Juvia and definitely for Lucy! Fairy Tail is counting on me right now and I am not about to let them all down, not when they've done so much for me. I owe it to them.
"Personally I would like to see Fairy Tail do well in this competition but I'm afraid the old hag would throw a fit if I let you win." He said to me as I stood there, desperately trying to calm the hammering of my heart in my chest as the crowds all stared at me. "My sincerest apologies but I won't be holding back, even if you are a girl." The crowd oohed at the jab, my eyes narrowing sharply but I did not respond.
"Well folks not much is known about our mysterious female competitor here, not even her name has been revealed! With all this mystery I can't even begin to assess whether or not this is a good matchup or not, can she handle a wizard saint? Probably not." The announcer spoke and I felt my anger spike once more. How dare he underestimate me?! The little jerk. Maybe I should bring him down here and teach him a lesson!
"Boo! You suck!"
"Get out of here! No one wants you!"
"You're weak, good for nothing! Just go home you loser!"
"Jura's gonna eat you for breakfast!"
"You're nothing more than a cowardly rat."
"You'll never make it in this world, it's gonna eat you up and spit you back out like the reject you are."
"Useless! Can't you do anything right you little brat?"
"I wish you'd never been born. You can't even defend yourself! You're no more use to us or our family than a drowned fish in a barrel."
"You're no daughter of mine."
The words continued to roll in my mind as I listened to the crowds continue their insults and demand that I reveal my face however I closed my eyes and blocked them out. All the noise and the faces, all the memories I pushed away. All that remained was myself and Jura, the punk I was about to bring a whole lot of hurt to.
"You can do it big sis!" Romeo's voice hollered and I lifted my head towards my friends, smiling beneath my mask as it kept me comforted and safe. "We're all rooting for you, let's show everyone the true power of Fairy Tail!"
"AYE!" A collective cheer rose from my family and I gave a small chuckle before turning to face Jura, keeping myself standing perfectly still as I found myself naturally calming down. This was no big deal, I've had worse. As the gong rang, there was a moment of pause and everyone held their breath. I didn't make a move and neither did Jura who smirked at me, taking up my challenge before thrusting out his hands.
A large rock fist erupted from the ground and shot straight towards me, making everyone cheer in awe as it came crashing with tremendous power straight at my face. I was almost insulted, hardly any power had gone into this attack. He obviously thought to take me out with a single hit. The jackass.
Sliding a foot backwards slightly I balled a fist and punched straight forwards calmly, pounding it straight into the rock and it shattered right in front of me, crumbling into pebbles and the cracks rode back up the arm all the way back to Jura who widened his eyes in shock as I remained standing in the exact same place. Silence deafened the entire stadium and I couldn't help but smirk proudly. Looks like all that training has paid off, I've never felt as powerful as I do now, in fact, I bet my power could rival even his.
Jura's face hardened and with a grunt, sent several podiums of rock straight for me and I looked up, watching for a moment before leaping up into the air to avoid the first one as it crashed down into the ground where I had been standing then landed on the next one that came at me, using it to race away as they snaked after me, the rock bending and moving at an incredible pace, forcing me to climb higher and higher until finally I sprung up into the air and twisted, drawing my swords as everyone gaped openly.
With a slash of one blade I cut through the rock as it powered towards me, shattered to pieces and I began to descend, slashing each blade at any rock podium before I landed on one and began to slide down, angling my feet to keep myself balance whilst my eyes then locked on Jura. He's strong, exactly what I'd expect from a wizard saint. His eyes betrayed his irritation and he collapsed the structure I was sliding down, leaving me with open air and I turned a summersault to then land on my feet easily. "You are not what I expected, I apologise for underestimating you. In fact, I am fairly certain I could guess your identity." Jura said to me and I inclined my head to him gratefully before darting forwards.
I ran straight at him before disappearing from sight, causing the crowd to gasp as I then reappeared mid flip over his head, arcing my body to then bring my foot crashing down on him and he cried out from the strike, falling to his knees before forming a protective cave around him as I turned to punch a fist forwards with a yell, the katana it had held being thrown into the air and my fist broke directly through the rock all the way until I connected with a softer body, another cry coming from within as the structure crumbled around him.
Twisting my body once more I delivered another strike as Jura whirled around straight to his chest, sending him flying backwards. As he did so I opened my hand and caught the katana I had thrown upwards, calmly holding them both in my steady grip once more. "Incredible! This young woman is holding her own against one of the ten wizard saints and, to our knowledge, she hasn't even used magic as of yet!" Planting my foot on the ground I tilted my head to the side slightly, waiting for Jura to recover himself and get back up.
"What you waiting for? Don't let him get back up!" Natsu yelled but I ignored him. I'm sorry Natsu, but that's not my style. I have to exercise some degree of restraint otherwise the fight would just be boring. Jura brought himself up to his full height, drawing in a deep breath through his nose to focus his energy before thrusting out a flat hand and the ground tore up around me, creating a wall of rock around me before it slammed together and I only just had time to fling out my hand to create a shield around me, blocking the attack.
As the dust cleared and the rocks fell away I stood perfectly unharmed, my eyes narrowing further in focus as I glanced towards the time. Maybe I should think about wrapping this up, after all, I am in a time limit here. Having withstood the force of the attack I sprang forwards and began to dart in and out of attacks as Jura continued to attack with all his might and I could sense his magical energy slowly beginning to deplete.
All at once he gave a yell, taking on a wide stand and as I stood still a magic circle appeared at my feet, making me look down as I felt the ground began to tremble and quake whilst his body glowed with a golden aura. No way, this was intense power! I was almost so impressed by its sheer strength that I almost forgot that I was being attacked. "Focus Fae, GET OUT OF THERE!" Natsu was yelling so I quickly widened my stance, dragging my elbows deep against me and my body began to glow as I activated my absorption magic, closing my eyes as I readied myself for the blast.
"Rumbling Fuji!" It came like an eruption from a volcano with just as much power, sending me flying straight up into the air with an ear splitting scream before I sucked it in and dealt with it, gritting my teeth as the bright blue light blared around me noisily, making me flinch away from it as I absorbed the magical energy from the attack straight into my body, something that didn't go unnoticed by the commentator as the light sunk back into the ground and I continued my ascent having been tossed forcibly up into the sky.
"Amazing! The competitor has used an absorption spell to take all the energy from the attack whilst withstanding it herself! Get ready folks, because this is going to be a blast!" Suddenly my necktie fluttered from my face and I broke concentration, staring as it floated up into the air away from me as my hood dropped back also and instantly everyone gasped as my features were revealed to the entire world. Damn it, now I'll never get a moment of peace. "It's Faerie of Fairy Tail! The wizard who carried her team to second place all by herself has returned to the games! Ready yourselves everyone, we cannot expect anything less than a spectacular show with this woman in the ring!" I blushed at his words as Jura stared at me open mouthed before smirking knowingly as I recovered and turned my hands down to him, making him stop once more.
A circle of magic appeared before my hands and the same channel of bright light instantly blasted down straight at him even as he formed a protective stature around him, however with the power now doubled, it stripped back the rock piece by piece until finally it struck Jura himself, causing him to bellow from the strain his own attack put him under.
The last of the attack ended as I still continued to fall, the air rushing around me and I knew that if I landed like this I was going to break much more than just an ankle, so I flung out my hands and focused my magic. "Take Over! Regular Form." My voice called calmly and everyone gasped as I shifted into my winged form, flapping my wings as several gasps rippled through the crowds and I touched the ground again, calmly looking to see Jura struggling to sit up. "Do you yield?"
"Never!" He grunted, wincing from the pain before bringing himself up to his feet. I smirked, upper lip tilting.
"Good." I powered forwards without another word, form shifting to my new and improved Sword and Shield form, the spear appearing in one hand however I balled my fists and punched upwards as Jura attacked with a strike to my back but my wings folded and protected me, easily holding off the blow as I then landed my own and he was sent flying backwards, his feet scraping over the ground to retain balance.
"Yeah!" Natsu and the others cheered as I gave a flap of my wings, bringing myself back away from Jura as he coughed and spluttered.
"Excellent, I haven't felt so energised in years!" He suddenly grinned, turning towards me. "You are indeed a worthy opponent." I bowed my head gratefully but said nothing more. We flung ourselves into the battle, giving it all our willpower in order to overcome the other. With his powerful attacks I had no choice but to defend mostly until I could get up close, as any long range attack was deflected. My power from afar wasn't good enough, I had to be close unless I wanted to use an even more powerful form, but I was saving those for later.
As the minutes ticked by we started to run out of time, so I sucked in a deep breath then pounded my fists together. "Take Over, Volcanic Priestess." I announced, transforming before everyone's eyes once again into my most terrifying looking form. "Lava Explosion!" The ground erupted in a chain of eruptions, forcing Jura to dodge back however just as he landed, the next link in the chain erupted around him and caught him in the attack, forcing him to take on full damage as he had no time to shield himself.
I burst through the flames, eyes gleaming viciously and the last thing that Jura saw before a final Magma Bullet Punch ended the match, sending him flying across the stadium as I then expelled the magical field, returning to normal.
When I touched my feet to the ground I walked towards my fallen necktie, picking up the black fabric then tied it around my neck to keep it from feeling bare, my fingers lingering briefly out of habit to seek the necklace that was no longer there. Giving a sigh I then turned and approached Jura who lay motionless on the ground, the entire stadium silent as I slid down the small crater his body had created then knelt at his side, turning his face slowly to face upwards then waited.
The referee called him defeated and me the victor however I ignored the crowds as they screamed, remaining crouched at Jura's side as he finally stirred and flinched, gritting his teeth and his eyes slid towards me so I gave him a gentle smile once they were focused. "Thank you for a great battle. You pushed me to my limits and taught me valuable lessons." I told him honestly. "I've never needed to move so fast in all my life, you certainly deserve your title as a wizard saint."
"No, thank you. You taught me a valuable lesson to not underestimate any wizard I meet. I should not have judged you based on your guild name and appearance." I arched an eyebrow slightly but let it slide, instead taking an arm and pulled it around my neck to help him stand to his feet. The crowd seemed to go wild for my kind gesture and screamed the place down as I helped Jura stagger back to his own guild where Lyon was waiting.
"Thank you, it is good to see that chivalry and good sportsmanship is not dead." He said as Jura went off with some other guild members to be treated for his injuries.
"It was an honour to fight one of your own once again." I answered before giving a respectful bow. Wanting to get out of there as fast as possible I turned and powered forwards, disappearing in a blink of an eye and reappearing before my own guild's designated waiting area where I walked inside then slumped against the wall, finally collapsing with deep breaths as I allowed the strain my body had just undergone to show itself.
"Fae! You were so wonderful! I'm very proud of you." Mira beamed as she raced towards me with Juvia following behind.
"Such power, I did not quite realise you had such strength in you until recently. You are a very worthy opponent, you should be proud of your performance today, you succeeded where I failed." Juvia said in a resigned tone, making me smile at her warmly as I got to my feet and placed my hands on her shoulders.
"It's only the first day Juvia, I shouldn't worry about it, you were just getting warmed up. Hm?" I beamed at her. "I was just lucky today, that's all."
"You hardly bat an eyelid, you looked indestructible out there!" Mira claimed as I let my head roll back against the wall once I'd sat down again, Juvia helping me to sit with an arm over her shoulder as I had staggered slightly, feeling weak at knees as the nerves suddenly hit me again. I closed my eyes to rest a little as Mira and Juvia both touched my shoulders carefully, waiting for me to recover.
"I had to look strong for the guild's sake. The more powerful we appear individually, the less others will doubt our strength. I just hope I did the others proud, that's all I wanted. To make our struggles to get here worthwhile." I sighed and Mira nodded her head reassuringly.
"Don't worry, you brought the guild great pride today. You've bumped up our score and that means we're already on our way to the top. Now come on, let's get you some proper rest somewhere nice and quiet, you've earned it." Mira smiled at me so she and Juvia helped me stand and walk away from the braying crowds of the stadium.
