- Chapter Ten -

Part 1

It was the first day of the Grand Magic Games, and the teams were all inside the conference hall, where everyone meets before the actual event. The room buzzed with excitement, and absolute eagerness to finally get into it and prove which guild was the best in Fiore. Sabertooth stood in a circle, chatting about the possible things that could be happening in the first event, while Fairy Tail pepped talked each other.

"This is finally it," Sting said excitedly, "The first time in the Grand Magic Games against Fairy Tail," He glanced over at the other guild. "How damn exciting!"

Minerva smirked as she followed Stings gaze, "You know what? I really want to rip that blondes hair out. I think it's make a good lamp shade."

Rilee rolled her eyes at Minerva's twisted mind.

"I'm going to pound them," Sting said as he punched his hand.

Rogue put a hand on Sting's shoulder, "Don't get to confident, now. It is Fairy Tail."

Rilee nodded, "I'm scared to face them. You should all be to."

Orga raised an eyebrow, "I never thought that I'd here you say that, Rilee," Orga looked around the crowd, "I heard there was another lightning user around here somewhere. I hope we face off."

"Another lightning user?" Rilee asked curiously, "From what guild?"

Orga shrugged, "I don't know."

Rilee's palms began to sweat.

"Laxus?" Rogue asked.

"It might be. But I didn't see him with Natsu and the rest, so -"

"He must be in the B team then," Sting blurted out. "Apparently you can have two teams participate."

Rilee let out a sigh, "Great," she said as she shook her hands.

"Why are you so afraid anyway?" Sting said, "He's your brother, you'll be more than fine."

Rilee didn't reply.

The speakers boomed as a low voice tested the microphone. "Okay - okay, is it on?" The man asked someone behind him. "It's on?" The man turned back to the crowd and put on a grin. "Welcome, to the grand magic games!" He said, a little bit to enthusiastically. "This is the first event of the games, and we encourage you to try your best, because every point counts!" The man paused for a moment, "And because the only teams advancing will be the top 15!" The crowd was shocked. There were more than one hundred teams in the conference area, and by the end of the day 85 of them would be gone. No one expected that at all. "I know, I know, the announcer said, "All of you are shocked, right?" He waited for a response, but got nothing. "Due to the increasing numbers of guilds participating each year, we decided that to cut the team numbers short with in the first day would be the best way to determine the best guild in Fiore. I mean, first in first served."

"What?" Sting said, "Did that sentence make sense? Or am I just really dumb?" Rogue elbowed him.

"Anyway, lets get moving," The announcer raised his hand, and a screen appeared behind him, showing a map with fifteen crosses on it. "The first event is simple," he said as he pointed at the map. "The first fifteen teams to find a flag advance to the next round." The announcer smirked as teams nodded confidently. "But there's one twist. These flags are constantly moving," Rilee raised an eyebrow. "The flags move to its own accord, so you have to be quick."

"Then what are the use of the crosses?" A voice yelled out.

"I'm glad you asked that," The announcer said. "As you can see, each cross on this map has a different color," He explained, pointing to the crosses. "The flags that you will be catching also are colored. So, for example, if you catch the red flag, you return that red flag to the red cross, and only then will you be confirmed onto the next round."

"Then that must be simple," Sting said to Sabertooth. "All we have to do is wait at a cross and ambush whoever comes close."

Minerva raised an eyebrow, "We could do that. But only losers would do that. We're not going to wait for someone to bring the flag to us. We're going to get it ourselves."

Rilee nodded, "For once, Minerva's right. I don't like the thought of someone doing all the hard work for us."

"Us?" The announcer said as he looked directly at Rilee, soon enough the whole room was.

"How can he hear me all the way from over there?" Rilee questioned as Rogue shrugged.

"There is no us in this challenge," The announcer said, "Only one player will be allowed to participate in this event, sorry dude."

Rilee's eyebrow twitched. Why does everyone think Im a dude?

"With that being said," the announcer spoke, "Teams will have five minutes to choose their participant. Participants will advanced to the front of the room, then the challenge will commence. Good luck!"

"Okay, so whos going in?" Orga said immediately.

"I want to go," Sting said as he saw Natsu walk to the front of the room.

"No," Rogue responded, "You're not going. All you'll do in there is pick a fight, and ignore the point of the challenge," Rogue turned his head to Rilee. "How about you? You'll finish it in no time. Literally."

Rilee shook her head, "No way. I think Orga should do it."

"Me?" Orga said, a bit surprised. "Why would I go when you'd finish it a lot faster?"

Minerva nodded. "I agree, you're going in."

"Me to," Sting said.

"Me to," Rogue repeated.

Rilee let out a sigh as she looked at the front of the room. "Wish me luck."