Wendy, why do you look like a little kid now? Your long hair had so much to offer…Well, it probably won't last forever, just like this story. But we still have far to go. Chapter 7 begin!
Chapter 7
A stillness settled over the dining hall to the point that Wendy wasn't even sure if anyone was breathing. She, herself, had felt her breath catch, as well as an unnatural fear for her brother settle over her heart. Yet in the midst of all this, it seemed as though Natsu and Minerva were the only two people in the room. Natsu remained defiant, but Minerva's face was quickly changing to one of impassive rage as she realized that she likely couldn't intimidate the boy before her.
"What did you say to me?" she asked, her lip twitching menacingly.
"You heard exactly what I said," Natsu said angrily. "I'm sick of you acting so high and mighty. You and your entire guild."
"That's what royalty-"
"Oh, shut the fuck up already!" Natsu screamed at her. The confrontation was beginning to garner quite the large number of viewers now, but neither Natsu nor Minerva seemed daunted by this fact. "Royalty this, royalty that…You're like a broken record! You're just like the rest of us, Minerva. You don't deserve special treatment, you don't get special treatment."
"How dare you talk to me that way, Fairy Tail Trash?" Minerva said calmly, but the audience shivered in fear. Wendy, however, felt her face etch itself into a scowl and Natsu's look was one that could melt faces off, almost similar to a movie that they had once watched together.
"Another thing, you and your guild need to learn some manners," Natsu said angrily. He took a step towards Minerva and much to the crowd (and Wendy's) surprise, the girl took a step back. "In all the years that Fairy Tail won, we never once tried to push that on other people. All you people have done since you won is tried to lord it over everyone."
"Because we're the best. Trash like you should have learned that by now," Minerva told him coolly, her face losing its rage. In response, Natsu threw his head back and laughed.
"The best? How can you be considered the best when you didn't even beat our best?" In the distance, Wendy could now see some other members of Fairy Tail approaching the argument. "You know that a bunch of our best players didn't even participate last year thanks to those rumors you started."
"Where's your proof, Dragneel?"
"I don't need proof, because it doesn't matter. We'll beat you this year!" Natsu proclaimed as he punched his fist into his open palm. Minerva raised an eyebrow, as if he were some impetuous child that she was indulging. "You see, you hurt Lucy, and that's a serious offense in my book. So I'm gonna make sure you never hurt anyone in this program ever again by beating your ass in the Games!" At this point, Natsu threw his arms out wide as he turned in a circle to look at the crowd.
"The age of Fairy Tail is over? Screw that, we're just getting started! If anything, the era of Saber Tooth's reign is at an end, and that starts with you, princess," he said mockingly.
"Words won't help you," Minerva said smugly.
"That's true, but when Natsu says something, he usually follows through," Erza said, at last emerging to stand by Natsu's side. Gray flanked the other side and even Cana joined them, leaning on Erza lazily with a bottle in her hand.
"You may doubt Natsu's words, but Fairy Tail never loses to the same guild twice," Gray proclaimed.
"It's true," Cana said, taking a drink. "Boast all you want Queen Bitch, but Fairy Tail's taking it home. Try all you want, you can't stop us…'cause we're Fairy Tail, bitches!" Cana raised her drink into the air and was met with a sudden roar of approval from the crowd, even from those who weren't Fairy Tail.
Minerva smirked from the declaration and folded her arms. "Well, if you're that confident, then why don't we raise the stakes a little?"
"What are you talking about, Minerva?" Erza sighed out wearily.
"I think such boasting deserves a bet being placed on the table to settle this once and for all," she answered. "Should Saber Tooth win the Games this year, you'll all agree to the program being shut down and rebuilt the way myself and my father envision it."
"Preposterous!" Erza yelled, but Natsu threw a hand out in front of her.
"What do we get if Fairy Tail wins?"
"Impossible, so choose whatever you'd like," Minerva said with a dismissive wave. Natsu then grinned madly.
"Good. If Fairy Tail wins, then you leave the program and the school forever!" The bet echoed through the hall, dampened only by the number of murmurings in the crowd. Minerva's lip twitched a bit, but she refused to answer Natsu.
"I think that's an excellent proposal, Natsu. I'm glad to see you using your brain for once," called an elderly voice. All eyes turned to see Director Makarov enter into the argument with a rather pleased grin on his face. "Well, Minerva, you proposed the bet, so do you not agree to the terms?"
"I-I'm not-" Minerva spluttered out. It was the only time Wendy had ever truly seen her lose her cool and resort to inelegant blubbering. Her face looked so confused as she stumbled over her words, as though she couldn't believe the bet they had come up with.
"Should Fairy Tail win, you and your father will leave Magnolia High forever. Should Saber Tooth win, I will step down and allow your father full control over the rebuilding of the program."
"Gramps, are you sure?" Gray asked worriedly. He was instantly silenced by a glare from Makarov before the director turned back to Minerva with expectation. She seemed agitated but soon after sighed.
"Very well, I agree to your terms," she conceded, leaving the crowd to let out even more mutterings than before. Makarov smiled widely.
"Excellent. Then if both yourself and Natsu can come with me to my office, we can draw up some paperwork so that neither of us reneges on the deal," he said, motioning towards the exit. Minerva scowled but turned in its direction. "Levy, Wendy, if you could escort Lucy to the nurse's station, I would most appreciate it."
"I'll come pick you up from there, Luce!" Natsu said before he trotted after the director and Minerva. Lucy sighed as Levy slung her arm around her and the three girls began to make their way from the dining hall. When they were finally clear of prying eyes, Lucy finally lost it.
"That idiot! He bet the whole program just because Minerva slapped me around a bit?" she snapped angrily.
"A bit? You're bleeding onto my arm, Lu-chan," Levy said.
"Oh…sorry, Levy." Levy just laughed. Wendy smiled a little.
"Don't worry, Lucy. Auntie Porlyusica will fix you up in no time," she assured the older girl. Lucy smiled but winced as she did so and a hush fell amongst them for a moment. "You know, I think Natsu cares about you more than you think he does."
"Wh-what? Where did that come from, Wendy?" Lucy asked, completely flustered.
"The boy's clearly in love with you," Levy pointed out. "I mean, sure, he goes ballistic for all his friends, but standing up to Minerva was in a class of its own."
"Natsu does not love me," Lucy denied. Wendy raised an eyebrow.
"I notice that you didn't deny the fact that you love him," Levy said with a twinkle in her eyes. Lucy flushed but didn't attempt to deny it. "Just tell him. I'm sure you'll feel better."
"Levy, love does not exist for people our age, okay? Besides, I don't want to-"
"He does love you, though…well, as much as he can," Wendy piped up, causing both of the older girls to affix her with a stare. "He told me as much, once."
"Then why hasn't he said anything to me?" Lucy asked as their feet finally hit the steps of the nurse's station.
"He says that actions speak louder than words."
"Of course he would," Lucy said exasperatedly. "Ugh, thanks for telling me, Wendy. You should get some dinner. Levy and I can handle it from here." Wendy cast her a skeptical look but decided to take her advice and left for the dining hall once again. As she walked away, she could have sworn she heard some banging noises from inside and smiled.
There was comparatively little time left for Wendy to grab dinner, but thankfully Erza had been prepared and had a fresh plate waiting for her. Wendy snarfed it down without a second thought and joined both Gray and Erza on their way to the guild hall. When she arrived there, she wasn't surprised to find it in full gossip mode about the events that had taken place in the dining hall. She departed from the older musicians to join her section where Romeo was discussing the topic animatedly with Laki. Wendy ignored it and all other things until Laxus stood before them.
"Here's how tonight's gonna go," he said to them, his face being abnormally serious, "we're gonna spend three hours on ensemble practice before we split. During the last hour, we have small band practice and the sectional participants can practice as well. Now, get up here section leaders." In less than a minute, all ten section leaders stood before the band. Mirajane was the first to step forward.
"Competing for the flutes will be…Lucy Heartfilia," Mira said happily. A loud round of applause followed as Lucy stood, her face covered in bandages. Juvia was next and Wendy found herself on the edge of her seat.
"Juvia has decided that the one who will compete for the clarinets…is Wendy Marvell-Dragneel!" Wendy, smiling with embarrassment, stood up and gave a small wave. At the cheers that followed, she felt a sense of pride fill her and the desire to prove the Juvia's choice was not misplaced. Her eyes soon found Romeo who gave her the widest grin imaginable and she found that same smile creep onto her face.
The announcements began to come quickly after Wendy sat down. Meredy would be performing for the oboes (Wendy gave her a thumbs up at this), Erza was the only one for the bass clarinet, Gajeel was to play for saxophones, Gray on trumpet, Bickslow on trombone, Elfman on baritone, Lisanna on tuba, and Laxus announced that he would be taking drums (even against Natsu's protests). All in all, it looked to be a stellar team, and that combined with the flawless ensemble performance they pulled off only served to encourage their chances of winning.
The members of Fairy Tail left the guild hall that night in high spirits.
The following morning at Crocus Fields dawned with an abnormal amount of activity. The entire place was buzzing excitedly and Wendy's cabin was even more so. Lucy and Juvia had been up the earliest, eagerly getting out makeup and all manner of things to prepare for the dance that evening. Erza was the only one amongst the girls who had actually brought a dress (along with every other clothing known to mankind) and had hung it on the bedpost before all seven girls went to the dining hall together.
"Juvia was not asked to the dance by Gray-sama," Juvia lamented with a pout. "But Juvia will not despair! If Gray-sama will not ask Juvia, then Juvia will ask Gray-sama!"
"You go, Juvia," Levy cheered her on. Ultear stifled a chuckle while Lucy couldn't.
"By the way, Levy, did Gajeel even ask you?" Lucy asked as they were getting their breakfast.
"If you count him saying, 'Shrimp, you, me, dance,' as asking me, then yes." Wendy snorted at Levy's impression of her cousin as she finished buttering her toast. "He's just shy."
"Or stubborn," Wendy commented as they finally sat down at one of the tables.
"Gaji's just not good with feelings," Juvia said.
"That's right. I've forgotten that you've known him longer than everyone here but Wendy," Lucy noted.
"If you count being tossed around by an exuberant two-year old as a baby to be knowing him."
"My goodness, Wendy, I think you're spending too much time with Romeo," Erza clucked. "You're becoming far too snarky for your own good. I miss the sweet little girl who used to steal Lucy's candy with me."
"That was you? !" Lucy shrieked. "First it's Natsu and my room, now you? !"
Erza gave a fake little smile. "Um…no. Oh, look at that, Jellal's calling me. I'll see you on the practice field."
Of course, Jellal was nowhere in sight, but Erza was long gone before Lucy noticed that fact. She thankfully didn't turn her anger and indignation on Wendy, though, and the bluenette was allowed to eat in peace. Of course, there was still the occasional chatter such as Meredy stating how happy she was to be going to the dance on her own, or Ultear's vehement denial that she and Gray were involved in any way ("He's like my brother, so it'd be creepy!"). Still, Wendy started skipping towards the field arm in arm with Meredy and a complete look of joy on her face. Chelia ambushed her once she'd arrived.
"Excited for tonight?"
"Yeah!" Wendy confirmed, offering an exuberant wave to Romeo as he approached.
"So, how're my two favorite girls?" Romeo greeted, slinging his arms around them. Wendy blushed, but Chelia started a conversation with him that only ended when the drum majors called the band to order. Once they were all in position, Wendy noticed Director Makarov and the other teachers standing upon a new scaffold that allowed them to overlook the field.
It was upon the director's order that practice, or rather finalization, began. The band moved as one. There were a few shoddy moments here and there, Wendy felt, but the show seemed to move rather seamlessly and when they all finished, the teachers gave a polite applause as praise. Director Makarov made them run it a few more times to be safe, but eventually nodded his head as he brought a megaphone to his lips.
"Good job, brats," Makarov announced to them with a smile. "I'm proud to say that we've developed a good show this year and I think we'll have a strong performance in this year's competitions. Now, a few end of camp notices to give you before your heads become so full with thoughts about the Games that you forget.
"First, all guilds are to report to their guild hall tomorrow morning to receive their guild colors for the Games. If you're late, you're out. After we conclude the Games, we'll have uniform fittings on the last day. As soon as you've picked up your uniform, you'll be free to leave. Also, starting the week before school we will begin to have practices twice weekly until the end of marching season. That's all I have for you, so go have fun. Tomorrow the Grand Music Games begin!"
The crowd cheered briefly before dispersing, most of them chatting idly about the night's upcoming festivities. Wendy smiled about it as she packed away her instrument, even ignoring all of Chelia's jabbering. Her pleasant musing was brought to an abrupt halt when the fourteen-year old felt Lucy grab her arm.
"Come on, Wendy. We've totally got to get ready for tonight," she said brightly, and before Wendy knew it, she was being dragged away like Lucy was a kidnapper. Thankfully, their progress was quickly impeded.
"Yo, Lucy, aren't you coming to the pool?" Wendy heard Natsu ask. She looked up at the sound of her brother's voice and saw both him and Romeo there. Lucy let go of Wendy and sighed.
"No. You do realize that girls actually take time to prepare for this sort of stuff," she scolded him.
Natsu shrugged before saying, "I don't see why. You're beautiful enough without all that fancy crap." It took only a second before Lucy's fist made contact with the back of Natsu's head.
"Not here, pyro," she said through gritted teeth. "I though we agreed to not broadcast stuff like that around others."
"It's just Wendy and Romeo," Natsu whined in protest. Lucy wasn't amused.
"You do realize that we both know you're going to the dance together, right?" Romeo asked with a quirked eyebrow. Lucy stopped her attack on Natsu to blink at the boy while Wendy suppressed a laugh.
"Did you tell them?"
"No!"
"We spied on you," Wendy confessed. She really couldn't stand lying, and though Lucy was annoyed by their knowledge of this, she didn't seem to be particularly infuriated.
"Look, we just wanted to hang out at the pool since it's the first time we've had a chance to," Romeo said in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "All the other guys will probably be there too."
"Romeo…" Lucy said in a teasing voice and Wendy could already feel a sense of foreboding. "Is this some lame attempt to see Wendy in a bikini?" Yep, there it was.
"Lucy, that's so inappropriate!" Wendy whined. However, at the same time her mind was drawn to the swimsuit that was packed in her suitcase. It probably was too revealing, but if Romeo…No! She shouldn't be thinking like that. Don't let Cana's words get to you, she repeated in her head. Of course, judging by the accidental redness on Romeo's face, he was probably already imagining it. That made Wendy feel even more self-conscious.
"Hey, that's my sister!" Natsu protested loudly. "Don't go talking about her like that!"
"You do realize Wendy's fourteen years old, right Natsu?" Lucy pointed out. The scowl didn't leave Natsu's face.
"Doesn't mean I want to see her in the same kind of stuff that I see you in…"
"Aw, Natsu, does that mean you like seeing me in a bikini?" Lucy asked with a girlish giggle tacked on at the end.
"Honestly, I've practically seen you naked, so the novelty of it's kind of worn off."
"Shut up!" Their younger companions laughed at the two's antics. Wendy was practically doubled over while Romeo had thrown his head back with gasps of laughter.
"I'm glad to see my children are having fun," said a gruff male voice that made Wendy stop laughing. She whipped around and her eyes lit up at the sight of her father standing there.
"Dad!" she said happily. Not caring much for image, she ran to him and hugged him tightly as Natsu quickly did the same thing. "What are you doing here?"
"We came to watch the Games this year," Igneel said with a grin.
"Mom's here, too?" Natsu asked. "But you guys never actually come for the Games."
"That's because we never had a chance to," Igneel confessed with a dubious scratching of his head. "But with both our kids in the program this year, we figured it'd be a great opportunity. Not to mention you gave us that phone call, Natsu."
"When did you call mom and dad?" Wendy asked, her lips turned into a pout. Natsu crumbled under the younger girl's gaze and immediately adopted a look that plainly asked for forgiveness.
"When I was in gramps' office yesterday," Natsu admitted. "I knew you didn't have a dress for tonight so I called them."
"Yeah, Grandine's with the clothes in the car," Igneel said, pointing in the direction of the parking lot. "Probably shouldn't keep her waiting. You can come along, Lucy, and you too…uh…"
"R-Romeo Conbolt, sir. I'm a f-friend of Wendy and Natsu," the young boy stuttered nervously. Igneel inspected him for a moment before laughing loudly and thumping him on the back.
"All right, come on!" The red-haired man then turned in the direction he had come from and began to lead their troupe. While they walked, Wendy snuck in a hug with her brother.
"You know, you're the best brother ever."
"Don't you forget it," Natsu said playfully, flicking his little sister's nose. She wrinkled it before bumping her brother as they saw the form of their mother getting closer. Wendy instantly took to waving at her mother. Grandine quickly stepped forward and caught her daughter in a hug.
"I missed you, mama. I'm happy to see you," Grandine chuckled lightly and comfortingly.
"And I'm happy to see you…and Natsu, of course," she said as an afterthought. "Now, I have your dress in the car along with Natsu's dress clothes."
"Hey, I just called for Wendy," Natsu said in protest. Grandine simply frowned at her son.
"And you have about as much dress sense as your friend Gray does," she scolded. Grandine then caught sight of Lucy and smiled at her. "Lucy, your father won't be able to make it out here until tomorrow so he sent you a dress with us."
"Let me guess, another business deal?" Lucy inquired wearily.
"Nah, just supply negotiations with Metallicana's metal company," Igneel informed her with a shake of his head. "When will that Bolts-for-Brains learn that family is more important than work."
"Coming from the man who's attending the Games to cover it for the Magnolia Times," Grandine said dryly. Igneel blanched while his son laughed raucously.
"Grandine, do you mean to anger the great Igneel?" Of course, the "great" Igneel found himself at his wife's mercy only a few seconds later.
"Don't be such an ass. Girls, why don't you get your dresses?" Wendy and Lucy nodded, opting for silence under the sight of Grandine gripping Igneel's ear so harshly. The two quickly grabbed their dresses and Lucy looked onto Wendy's sky blue dress with admiration.
"Wow, yours looks so pretty, Wendy," Lucy commented as she slung her pink dress over her shoulders. Wendy smiled a little uncomfortably, which only ratcheted up when she saw Romeo standing there so awkwardly. Unfortunately, her mother also noticed him.
"Who's this?" she asked, letting go of her husband's ear and dusting her hands off. "Don't tell me that my precious little Wendy's already found a boyfriend."
"O-oh no, ma'am," Romeo said nervously. Wendy would have laughed if she didn't feel pity for him. "I'm Romeo Conbolt. I'm a f-"
"I'm only teasing you, young man," Grandine said with a wink. "But you seem respectful enough, so I'm glad to have met you."
"L-likewise." Romeo looked as though his nerves were about to give out, so Wendy walked over and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, which seemed to calm him down. Grandine smile approvingly before turning back to her husband.
"Well, we're meeting Porlyusica for dinner at the Honey Bone Hotel, so we should really head back to the city. I'm sure Happy and Carla are getting antsy, too. We left them there."
"That woman hates me," Igneel grumbled. Grandine slapped him on the back of his head. "Children, if I'm dead tomorrow, please make sure to put 'Loving Father' on my tombstone."
"Shut up, Igneel," Grandine chided. Wendy's father seemed to be pacified by this. "You'll be just fine. We'll see the two of you tomorrow, so take care of yourselves until then, okay?"
Natsu and Wendy then bade their parents farewell as they got back into the car and began to drive towards the heart of the city of Crocus. Natsu shook his head with a laugh while Wendy couldn't help but agree. Sometimes their parents could be such a riot. That thought having been expressed, the quartet went back towards the camp. In the distance, they could see a few kids playing a game of kickball whilst they could also hear some screams that seemed to have radiated from the pool. Wendy's brother appeared to scowl at this, but let it pass off and replaced it with a grin. The girls and boys soon separated and went towards their respective cabins.
As soon as Wendy put a foot inside their cabin, chaos was unleashed. It appeared that Mirajane and Lisanna had stopped by for preparations and as soon as they caught sight of Wendy, they instantly pulled her in like a vacuum cleaner. After that, Wendy was subjected to what she viewed as hours of torturous preparations. Sure, she liked to feel feminine once in a while, but Wendy never envisioned spending an equal amount of time applying makeup as she was actually going to spend at the event.
The end result made her feel pretty, though. While she certainly knew it was herself that she was looking at in the mirror, she couldn't deny the fact that she looked very different. For some reason, Mira had taken her naturally straight hair and made it wavy, adorning it with a star clip on her right side. Combined with her blue dress, it almost made her look ethereal, or as Lucy so cheerfully put it, "Like a maiden of the sky!" It gave Wendy the confidence boost she needed by the time there was a knock on the cabin door.
"Wendy, Lu-chan, your boyfriends are here to pick you up!" Levy called. Wendy sighed but Lucy took her comfortingly by the arm and led the both of them outside where Natsu and Romeo were waiting together.
"Wow, Lucy, you look better than I remember!" Natsu said as she took Lucy's hand. Wendy rolled her eyes; either her brother was trying somewhat poorly for a compliment or he had actually forgotten that he had seen her just a few hours beforehand.
"Wendy," Romeo greeted, pulling at his collar. Wendy was surprised to see him in his dark red dress shirt, since she wouldn't have thought he would bring one, but then she realized that he probably got one from his visiting parents like she had. "You, uh, you look nice."
"Thanks," she responded with a smile as they linked arms together and proceeded towards the dining hall. The sun was starting to set, casting a burning glow over the fields that the duo looked over. It was a serene and peaceful look that made Wendy feel at ease. She turned to look at Romeo, and in the light of the sun, he appeared to be burning. It was a little impressive and made Wendy blush a bit. Thankfully, she was able to get her voice working. "So, I've never actually been to one of these things with someone else."
"Neither have I, really," Romeo confessed. "I don't really know what you're supposed to do at dances besides…you know, dance."
"Same here," Wendy said in an exhale. She was very appreciative of the fact that she wouldn't be alone in not knowing what to do. "Though I'm not a very good dancer. Clumsy and all…"
"Neither am I, so at least we'll both have sore feet!" Romeo joked. Wendy laughed as they entered the doors to the dining hall.
It was like the room had transformed. Instead of the numerous tables that usually dotted the landscape of the room, there was only one large table with a number of soda cans and bottled water along with a buffet of food that Natsu was quite eagerly digging into. A stage was set up against the far wall where Laxus was sitting with a disgruntled look as music blasted over the speakers. On the wall opposite were numerous booths that seemed to have sign-ups for numerous competitions.
"So…what do we want to do first?" Romeo asked. Wendy scanned the area with a finger on her chin.
"Let's check out the competitions," Wendy said brightly. Romeo nodded, as though it were a good decision. The two made their way to the booths and saw the five contests: karaoke, pageant, throwing, dancing, and to Wendy's great surprise, eating. Naturally, Natsu and Lucy's name was on every single one of them.
"Wendy, I'm not doing karaoke or pageant with you," Romeo said warningly. Wendy chuckled out her agreement, knowing that she didn't have enough self confidence for either of those things. However, after a bit of discussion, the two had put their names down in the couples category for both dancing and throwing. Neither of them expected to win, but they still wanted to have fun. Gildarts, who was manning the last booth, sent them on their way with a wink as they went to get food.
"Juvia, my love, you have arrived!" called the voice of Lyon, who Wendy saw dash to the entrance in a gallant manner. "You need not attend this Festival alone, for I am here."
"She looks more uncomfortable with him here than on her own," Romeo pointed out. It was true: Juvia looked more agitated than when Wendy had left the cabin. Though, whether it was because Gray wasn't here yet or because Lyon was, she couldn't be sure. With a shake of her head, she turned back to the food and froze.
"Let's go, Romeo," she said, trying to pull him away. The boy wouldn't budge.
"What's wrong? I'm hungry…" he whined in protest. Wendy was quite adamant, however.
"I hate pickled plums…" Wendy squeaked out as she averted her eyes from the sight of the detestable food. Romeo quirked an eyebrow, but picked up both plates of food and brought them over to a wall where they could eat in peace. He had just finished his own dinner when he started laughing.
"I'm sorry…I didn't know you hated pickled plums!" he laughed out. Wendy glared at him.
"It's not funny!"
"Actually, it kind of is…but that's okay," Romeo said. Suddenly, Wendy felt herself pulled to Romeo in a one-armed hug. "I'll protect you from the big bad fruit."
"Stop making fun of me," Wendy said. Considering he had stopped laughing, however, she wasn't sure if he ever had been. So, she chose to finish her food in silence. When she was done, Romeo took her plate away and returned to her side as they proceeded to people watch.
Gajeel arrived with Levy, his hair slicked back in an unnatural fashion and tied into a ponytail behind him, while Levy pretty much looked the same as always. Meredy and Ultear had come together on account of both having no dates. Meredy quickly greeted both Wendy and Romeo and then watched the show as Gray tired to sneak in (he had already lost his shirt, but not his jacket) but was quickly caught by Juvia and Lyon. Elfman and the one called Evergreen arrived soon after, bickering the whole way, followed closely by Lisanna and Bickslow.
"Yukino, you look so pretty," gushed Lucy when she saw a silver-haired flutist from Saber Tooth arrive arm in arm with Rogue. Rogue appeared to be disinterested but Yukino was more than happy to have an animated conversation with her fellow flutist.
Scowls passed over both Wendy and Romeo's faces when Sting arrived on his own. In fact, other than Rogue and Yukino, it appeared that all of the Saber Tooth musicians were arriving alone, and Minerva didn't show up at all. Other guilds weren't quite so snubbing, with some inter-guild relationships being obvious to Wendy while Romeo pointed others out with humorous little anecdotes. Chelia arrived, too, chatted them up briefly and then left to insert herself into the Gray-Juvia-Lyon love triangle. The biggest bomb dropped when Erza arrived in her yellow dress.
"I knew it!" Mira screeched from the stage where she had been talking to Laxus. "You really thought you could hide your relationship with Jellal from me? !"
"Yes, Mira, Jellal and I are dating," Erza said with a confident smirk; a far cry from her reaction the other nights. "Perhaps you'd like to tell everyone about your secretive relationship."
"Th-that's not important!" Mira said defensively, having clearly lost the battle between herself and Erza.
"Like everybody in the guild doesn't already know that she and Laxus have an on-again-off-again relationship," Romeo said with a scoff. Clearly, Mira didn't think this way because she brushed off the subject in order to announce the beginning of the contests.
"We'll start with the karaoke contests," Mira announced with a smile, shaking off her previous confrontation. "Singles will have prizes up to fifth place, while couples can only get prizes up to third."
"All right, Lucy, let's win this! I'm all fired up!"
"The hell you'll win, Salamander! Shoo-bee-doo-ba!"
"You sound like an idiot, Gajeel!"
"You wanna go, popsicle pants? !"
"I wasn't even talking to you, Fire Breath!" Wendy and Romeo shook their head and settled back to watch the all out brawl between the three most violent men in their guild.
In the end, Gray actually teamed up with Juvia before Lyon could in order to compete against the two of them which forced Lyon to team up with Chelia (who almost died of happiness). What followed could only be described as a travesty on every level. The Singles competition wasn't too bad, although the judges, who happened to be the teachers, simply gave Orga first place to shut him up. The couples made Wendy want to turn away and deny the fact that her and Natsu were actually related. Gajeel and Levy ended up taking first after Levy counter balanced her date's singing voice, Natsu and Lucy took second, with Gray and Juvia in third even though all of them were terrible. Erza lamented this fact, but Romeo stated that it was her fault for freezing up on the stage.
Next came the pageant, where Cana rocked the singles, which was no doubt aided by the fact that one of the judges was her father. When Erza and Jellal then took part in the couples portion, Wendy was glad that she and Romeo hadn't signed up, because they undoubtedly would have lost. This kind of premonition came true when the couple took first and Rogue and Yukino came in second while Lisanna and Bickslow amazingly took third thanks to their…unique attire.
Then Mira set up for the throwing competition which was a large booth with dolls on sticks that forced the competitors to test their aim by trying to hit them. Bacchus took the cup for singles with Meredy and Sting falling behind him. Seeing her fellow freshman win made Wendy excited to compete, but then she found out the new rules for the couples portion.
"The boys will be the throwers, but they'll be blindfolded, so it's up to the girls to lead them!" Mira said jubilantly. Romeo grumbled about this but still agreed when Wendy put the blindfold on him.
Sheer chaos was what came next as rubber balls flew in every direction. Some hit their mark, but most did not. Wendy, herself, almost got hit a few times by Elfman who was then attacked by a still blindfolded Natsu. This commotion severely cut down on their time limit, making all the scores pitifully low.
"Elfman and Evergreen come in first with five points," Mira said. "In second and third are Lyon and Chelia, and Sherry and Ren with four and three points respectively."
"Sorry we didn't do that well," Wendy apologized once Romeo had taken off his blindfold.
"Hey, you gave good instructions. I clearly just suck at throwing," Romeo muttered, his pride clearly hurt at scoring only one point. Wendy just linked her arm with his.
"Maybe we can do better this time." That was their hope, but when the singles competition finished (Vijeeter from their guild took first), Wendy found that her nerves couldn't be worse.
"Don't worry! We're just here to have fun," Romeo assured her as he took her hand and placed his other on her waist. The other couples around them did the same and when Mira and Laxus turned the music on all of them began to move. Both Wendy and Romeo tired desperately to avoid stepping on each other's toes and were barely able to. Other couples weren't so lucky, like an arguing Elfman and Evergreen. As the song seemed close to its end, Wendy sighed in relief before almost tripping over her feet. Romeo caught her, however, and in the end, Wendy hoped that it just looked like she had rested her head on his shoulder. Then Mira called time and conferred with the judges for results.
"In third place, we have Gray and Juvia, winning them a one day pass to Ryuzetsu Land in Crocus," Mira said happily. Wendy's eyes widened while Juvia squealed; clearly the prizes for this competition were much better than the others. Gray and Juvia accepted their prize together and then walked off the stage arm in arm. Juvia leaned her head on Gray's shoulder, and to everyone's surprise, Gray actually looked a little happy about it. They also seemed to disappear after that.
"Second place," Mira called to remind everyone that she was still there, "goes to our cutest couple, Wendy and Romeo, who get a pair of tickets to any attraction Rose Garden for an evening." Wendy flushed in embarrassment but went up with Romeo to grab her prize. "Finally, first place wins an all expenses paid dinner and play at Scherezade Theater in Onibus. That prize goes to…Natsu and Lucy."
"Hell yeah! Suck it, stripper!" Natsu cried as he and Lucy bounded onto the stage. Of course, Gray wasn't there to hear his taunt. Mira handed the two their prize before Natsu lifted it into the air. Then, to much squealing, clapping, and laughing, Natsu handed it off to Lucy and kissed her. She seemed shocked for a moment before eagerly kissing him back until the two fell off the stage.
"Hey, Wendy, wanna head out before that eating contest starts?" Romeo asked in between peals of laughter. Wendy nodded and took his hand as he led them outside where some students from Quattro Cerberus had started a bonfire.
"This was nice," Wendy commented. Romeo flashed her a grin.
"Good. I'm glad you had a nice time." After that, they sat in silence, staring at the stars and fire shining in tandem. It was comforting, like a reassurance of the future to come.
Wendy didn't know when it happened, but at some point, all the members of Fairy Tail joined them outside, as though their guild was sharing their hopes for the Games in that one moment. At this, Wendy just gripped Romeo's hand tighter. Tomorrow the Games would begin, but for that moment, Wendy was happy to be right where she was: next to Romeo and all of Fairy Tail.
Author's Note: This was a supersized chapter and I didn't mean for it to be! Now we'll finally move on to what I've been building towards this whole story. After all, the stakes are raised imaginably high now. A quick note is that it is that time again where I may not post next week due to work on my other story but I will try my best. On another note: What. The. Hell? Silver, who are you really? But what's really awesome is that Wendy's going to get all the guilds involved…I still don't think it'll work but the girl gets points for effort. Also, the new episode made me cry manly tears. Still, tell me what you thought of this chapter, or the new chapter or episode of Fairy Tail in a review. Until next time, Dare to Be Silly.