Chapter 10: The Grand Magic Games – X791
The sun was barely up when Lucy felt someone nudge her shoulder. She blearily opened her eyes and then looked to Natsu who was leaning over her with a smile. She stretched and look him in the eye before leaning up to kiss his cheek. The boy sat back and she looked at the others who were still fast asleep. Lucy sat up and he put a finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet while she nodded and got out of bed. The girl got some of her clothes and went to change wondering why Natsu had gotten her up so early. She sighed as she ran a brush through her hair and walked out dressed in shorts and a shirt with boots. Natsu grabbed her hand and left with her out of the room quietly.
Lucy eyed him funnily as he crept by the other rooms and down the stairwell with her in tow – she had long since stopped questioning what the Fire Dragon Slayer was planning long ago but today she was seriously wondering what he was planning. He looked around a corner and nodded before they were gone out the door and were running. She couldn't help but laugh as he began to race her and she refused to loose against him as he took her out of the part of town they were in. the moon was still in the sky, stars present, and she couldn't help but admire how beautiful the night looked. Brown eyes looked at the boy a little ahead of her and she smiled.
In mere moments it seemed they had reached where Natsu wanted them to be. He collapsed against the ground as she did the same breathing heavily as she closed her eyes. A brush of a warm hand across her own caught her attention and she looked at the boy lying next to her as he smiled at her with the same smile that had encouraged her to head to FairyTail. He laughed a bit and then looked at the sky while Lucy watched him for a moment. Sometimes wondering what he was thinking was a good thing, but moments like this when it was quiet and peaceful it was better to not ask but to just wait and see.
"Why are we here?" she asked.
"One of the locals told me that Croucus has the most beautiful sunrises and that they have rainbow morning glories that bloom on this hill when the sun just starts to rise." Lucy blinked at him.
"Is that why you brought me up here? Because you wanted to show that to me?" she felt tears well up in her eyes.
"Of course Luce…why else would I?" Lucy felt her cheeks flush before she moved towards him. The boy smiled and she leaned forward and placed a kiss to his lips before laying against him with a smile on her face as her hand carted through his hair.
"Thank you Natsu – its sweet of you to do this…" she stated this and his hand brushed through her hair.
"Are you ready for the Games?" Lucy looked at.
"Yep, I have an idea on how to win a match," she told him grinning.
He smiled and then she felt the faint rays of warmth crawling up her legs. The two of them sat up as the sun rose and around them in the field on a hill morning glories that glowed in hues of a rainbow colors from blues to reds and pinks. Lucy looked around her in awe of the beauty of the flowers that had sprung into life around them before she watched Natsu who was smiling at her wonderstruck face. She wrapped her arms around him and smiled as he took a deep breath and she closed her eyes enjoying the warmth he gave off – and then she felt his hand knot in her hair momentarily and she felt the tremble in his chest. Lucy frowned slightly before looking at him.
"Natsu? What's wrong?" she asked.
"I…do you think I've changed?" Lucy frowned.
"No, you're still Natsu – I don't get why people think you've become so different I think the fact that your just being yourself without hiding means you trust us," she said. The boy holding her smiled.
"Thank you Lucy…" she smiled and kissed his forehead before wrapping her arms around him tighter.
"It's okay…I'm going to stay with you forever – I won't leave you behind and I know you won't either," Lucy told him this and he nodded.
"I haven't and I'm not about to now."
It was after the sun had risen that the two of them headed back to the hotel to get what they would need for the Games. Natsu led Lucy back with his hand wrapped around hers as they entered the hotel to see most of the guild there eating breakfast before pausing to look at them. Lucy waved as Natsu led her to a table with Saya, Gajeel, Gray and Levy. They sat down and got something to eat before they began talking with their teammates about their plans for the Games. None of them had any failsafe strategies, but they figured in the long run they wouldn't need them. The talk of the games had everyone excited and nervous – all of them knew that FairyTail was the Underdog. But that didn't stop them in the slightest.
Two hours later the group competing was brought to a room at the stadium to get ready for the opening ceremony. Natsu looked at Gray who was holding up a violet colored jacket in questioning while the two girls were doing the same. The clothes had the guild mark on it in white over the heart area, and varied. Natsu's own favored what he normally wore except with a black violet and white trimmed color scheme. He shrugged and Saya huffed as she and Lucy went into a small separate changing room to get changed both unsure about what the master was thinking. Gray finished changing while Natsu had shrugged off his shirt and the Ice Make Wizard eyed the cut at his throat still wondering about the similar one that Saya had.
He shrugged it off as Natsu finished changing and the girls came out. Lucy's clothes consisted of a purple shirt with what looked to be a bit of armor of the same color with gold accents, a purple ribbon in her hair, leggings, white boots, and a matching violet skirt. She had on her normal belt with her whip and her keys in place while Saya stood there looking a little irritated. Her clothes were black legging-like pants, knee high boots, a shirt that showed her mid-drift and a longer over shirt with three clasps that went to just below her collar bone and a hood – it was violet while the shirt was black – it showed off her guild mark, but she was decidedly not pleased about it.
"You look fine Saya don't worry about it," Natsu said with a grin.
"If you say so…" Lucy smiled to her.
"Your good Saya – are you ready for the Games?" she nodded. Her hair was up in a high ponytail that showed off a pair of red cross stud earrings. She eyed them oddly but brushed it off as they were told to be ready.
"Its time are you guys ready?" Gray asked.
"Yea, let's go show them what FairyTail can do!" the five of them cheered for their guild and walked out of the room ready to disprove the people of Fiore.
As they walked towards the entrance of the arena they could feel the crowds and knew that they would have to wait for someone to call on them. They heard the announcers introducing themselves and discussing the preliminary game – the crowds were excited and their hearts pounded in their chests as they waited for the people in the commentator's booth to begin. And then they heard the fireworks. Saya's eyes grew wide and Natsu gripped her wrist in reassurance while Lucy smiled at the girl. With the nods of her teammates Saya nodded and then the speakers began.
"HELLO EVERYONE! WELCOME TO THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES!" the crowds erupted in cheers.
"I hear we have a good crop of guilds this year," said Yajima.
"Yes, I hear we have an underdog team as well." The crowds seemed to settle a bit.
"Well, I welcome everyone to Croucus, Fiore for the eighth Grand Magic Games! Today our guest commentator is Jenny Realight a guild member of Blue Pegasus, now Jenny how are you feeling for the games?" the blonde beauty next to him smiled.
"Thank you for having me Mr. Yajima. I'm excited to see what will happen with the games this year!" Yajima smiled.
"Now, let's announce our teams for this year!" The crowd became loud again as Yajima the commentator began to prepare the list of the teams.
"From Lamia Scale, Lyon Vastia, Toby Horhorta, Chelia Blendy, Yuka Suzuki, and Jura Neekis!" the crowds erupted in applauds for the group.
"That's one of the Ten Wizard Saints!" said Jenny with a smile.
"Now for Blue Pegasus, Eve Tearm, Ren Akatsuki, Hibiki Lates, Ichiya Kotobuki, and…a bunny?" the groups waiting felt a mixture of confusion and laughter stir inside them.
"Don't worry, the guy in the costume is fine," Jenny reassured Yajima who nodded.
"Next we have the all-female wizard guild Mermaid Heel! Competing for them we have – Risley Law, Milla Anah, Beth Vanderwood, Arana Webb, and their powerhouse Kagura Mikazuchi!"
Saya and Natsu looked to each other while the others in their team took note of some of the names. They were names that definitely came from the Orient, but at the time it only was a fleeting thought. Their minds were more focused on the teams.
"We have up next Quatro Cereberus! Semmes, Warcry, Jager, Nobarly, and Rocker!" they received a polite clap but it did cause a laugh from the FairyTail team.
"Nice to see at least that much hasn't changed," said Lucy.
"Yea no kidding."
"Our next team is FairyTail Team B!" the others paused.
"WHAT THE HELL!"
"We have Laxus Dreyar, Juvia Lockser, Mirajane Strauss, Cana Alberona, and Erza Scarlet!" the crowd looked nothing short of shocked.
"Two teams? Is that legal?" shouted one of the Lamia Scale members.
"It is!" the crowd seemed to get a little antsy.
"If that's their B Team then who's their A Team?" came a rather loud question.
"Next we have the guild RavenTail! Alexei, Flare Corona, Obra, Kurohebi, and Nullpudding." Some felt a little odd about them and the Dragon Slayers with FairyTail's second team looked uncomfortable.
"That's not right…there's something wrong with them," Saya said.
"Agreed…let's not worry – we're up in just a moment."
"Next we have the team to beat! From Sabertooth we have – Orga Nanagear, Yukino Aguria, Rufus Lore, Rouge Cheney, and Sting Eucliffe!"
The five of them came out surprising the teams that were thus far out – Sting and Rouge looked just as smug as they had when Natsu had knocked Sting for a loop. To their appearances both Saya and Natsu bristled ready to take them down another notch when they got a chance. Lucy placed a hand on Natsu's shoulder and he nodded to her while Saya narrowed her eyes.
"And finally – FairyTail Team A – Gray Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox, Lucy Heartfilia, Saya Dragnoir, and Natsu Dragneel!"
The crowds were stunned into silence as they walked out of the entry way instead of raising their fists and being determined to show strength, they came into the arena pouring out power and faint aggression on the behalf of the three Dragon Slayers. Most of the groups looked to the team in surprise as they stood there with determination written on their faces. Even their guild mates looked surprised by the coldness in Natsu and Saya's eyes.
"Our teams are here! Now let's begin our information for all the new comers, this tournament will be divided into five days – starting with our first game HIDDEN! WE WILL RECONVENE TO EXPLAIN THE RULES MOMENTARILY!"
Once the commentator stopped speaking Lyon came over to FairyTail's A Team and looked them over. He had to admit that since he'd last seen them the group looked as if they'd gotten stronger, but his eyes were currently on the new addition. Natsu caught his eye and bared his teeth to which the Ice Make Wizard looked shocked. Some of the other members were watching alongside the other teams knowing that there was something about to happen.
"Well, I didn't expect any of you to join – heard FairyTail had entered, but I didn't think that you'd feel up to it after the Infinity Clock incident….anyways I see you have a new addition," he stated.
"Go back to your own team Lyon." Gray looked at Natsu who seemed on the verge of turning the other Wizard to ash.
"Come on now is that anyway to speak to an old friend of your guilds?" Natsu tisked.
"At this moment none of you are our friend or comrades – your enemies standing in the way." The others seemed to very much agree to this.
"Even your own Guild Mates?" Saya cast them a glance – her eyes tinted a strange blue momentarily.
"Even they aren't our comrades…they're enemies we'll take down regardless of what we have in common," she said with a vicious smile. Lyon shivered.
"You two are just as feral as I was expecting." Natsu and Saya looked at Kagura.
"What do you want?" she sighed.
"I wanted to check out the competition – like the rest of the guilds here that are too afraid to come within a few inches of those two Dragon Slayers," she said pointing at Natsu and Saya.
"We're not wild animals Mikazuchi…we just don't take things lying down." She huffed.
"But looking at the two of you I wouldn't guess that Natsu Dragneel, a person I heard had a very warm personality would act like a cold hearted monster," she stated. Saya felt her eyes widen and particles of metal sprang to life around her.
"Do you really want to continue talking? Because if you do I can happily consider some means of disposing of your corpse when I'm done with you." The girl frowned.
"Your cold hearted girl, and like that boy you're a monster," she told her.
"Kagura…I think you best…" Fire erupted and the girl paused in shock.
"Why not turn around and walk back to your own guild Mikazuchi? Before you end up as nothing but a pile of ashes," Natsu threatened her and she backed up.
"It's not just for show – he's powerful…more so than I realized."
"Fine, we'll settle this on the field." With that she left and Lucy looked around them. Natsu and Saya's magic had vanished, but that small display had left the arena silent and the guilds around them scared.
She looked to the others who were very much wide eyed – Juvia had even stopped ogling Gray to witness the ferocity that Natsu and Saya were putting off. Erza looked concerned and startled while Laxus was appeared amazed and shocked. Lucy looked at Jura who was eyeing the two of them in actual fear he was one of The Ten Wizard Saints and he was scared of them. As she looked at Mira and those she'd known for so long she saw them look at those two as if they'd never seen them before. She took a deep breath and grabbed Natsu's hand and he looked at Lucy.
"I know…but we have no choice right now Luce…we need to reign in this win for FairyTail," he told her.
"Erza and Mira both are shaking so just tone it down some okay?" he smiled at her.
"I'm just spooking them a bit is all – Saya may be what's got them scared," he said looking at the girl.
"I'll be fine…let's just find out what's going to happen."
Saya had called it at the right time, because…
"WE'RE BACK LADIES AND GENTS! NOW ONTO THE RULES OF THE HIDDEN GAME!"
"Oh boy," said Gray.
"HERE'S THE GAME: In the game each participant will be sent to a different location in a magically created town in which it will be filled with clones of the competitors!" Jenny smiled as Yajima explained the game.
"Here are the rules – Wizards win one point when they attack another competitor, they'll lose a point when they are attacked by another competitor or if they attack a clone. Ten seconds after being attacked the Wizard will respawn in a different area of the city. Restarts can happen as many times as necessary until the time limit is reached – this game will last thirty minutes," she said.
"NOW GUILDS CHOSE YOUR COMPETITOR!"
The guilds broke apart and began picking their player and then they heard the buzzer go off once everyone had decided. They looked up at the roster board.
"We have our competitors! For Sabertooth! We have Rufus Lore, for RavenTail we have Nullpudding, for Lamia Scale is Lyon Vastia, for Blue Pegasus we have Even Tearm, for Mermaid Heel is Beth Vanderwood, for Quatro Cereberus is Jager, for FairyTail B Team is Juvia Lockser, and for FairyTail A Team we have Gray Fullbuster!"
"THEN GAME WILL BEGIN SHORTLY COMPETITORS GET READY!"
"I can't believe I agreed to this!" Gray said as he looked at the roster.
"You got this – just stay focused." He looked at Natsu and Saya who smiled.
"Thanks guys…listen…If I lose I want you all to mop the floor with the others got it?" Saya nodded.
"I'll send'em reeling!" she declared.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Natsu grinned as Gray got ready.
"Okay, wish me luck."
"You got this Gray!" the others were led to the spectator's booth for teach team and the magical town sprang to life. Gray vanished and the others looked around them.
"Do you think we got this?" asked Gajeel.
"Of course, if Gray loses don't worry – we still have the battles."
"Let's just hope we can handle this…"
"LET'S COUNT DOWN!" The crowd cheered.
"THREE!" the guilds were quiet.
"TWO…." Saya looked to Natsu who was watching the counter with a white knuckled grip in his sleeve.
"ONE! BEGIN THE GAME!" the competitors disappeared and reappeared in the city.
"I've got a bad feeling about Lore and that purple guy," said Gajeel.
"You aren't the only one…"
Gray began wandering the streets which were visible to everyone via the Lacrima Screens – Natsu had a nagging sensation in the pit of his stomach and couldn't help but feel something bad was going to happen. He glanced at Lucy who was watching intently, Happy and Lily were standing on the wall cheering Gray on while Saya watched to, but Natsu couldn't stand the knot in his stomach much longer – it felt like he had swallowed coal. He took a deep breath and looked to Saya who was watching with a blue tint to her eyes. Just at a glance he knew what she was doing and in that moment he could no longer wait it out. Nullpudding, whatever he was planning it was going to end badly for Gray.
"Saya wa, watashi wa anata ga nanika o suru hitsuyō ga arimasu," he spoke and the others in their group looked at them. The booth next to theirs on the left which was the other FairyTail team looked at him – Laxus and Juvia both seemingly surprised. Those who hadn't heard him speak like that till now had similar looks but he ignored them.
"Are wa nanideshou?" he took a deep breath.
"Reivunteiru wa kurodesu - karera wa keikaku shite iru ka o shiraberu," he said this in an icy tone as he watched the screen with hard eyes that had paled into a bright reptilian green.
"Sate Natsu, watashi ga shimasu. Mata chikaiuchini o ai shimashou." With that the girl walked away and Laxus narrowed his eyes much like Erza.
"What are they up to," she said.
"I'm not sure…but it's making me feel off…" she glanced at Laxus.
"Should I go and stop her?" he shook his head.
"No, whatever it is…ah…" Erza looked back to see a demonic smile on Natsu's face, his eyes hidden by his bangs.
Her eyes grew wide as he turned back to the screen, his eyes the typical blackish dark jade as he watched Gray jump out of the way of one of Nullpudding's attacks. Laxus felt himself staring at Natsu still – he wasn't believing what he'd just seen, but he realized easily that just Erza and him weren't the only ones. Mirajane, and Cana, had as well – and so had his grandfather even though he wasn't going to say a word about it – he looked to Mavis who sat on the wall frowning at the screen but giving approving glances to Natsu who only smirked as they stared between the other FairyTail team and Gray.
"Just what is that kid planning – what does Saya have to do with it? What's going on?"
He was close enough to hear a growl come from Natsu as Gray was knocked aside and Juvia done very much the same as Rufus stood upon a roof. He realized that the wild look had returned, but his eyes weren't dark nor bright green – they were blood red, ice blue tinted the area just around the pupil when he glanced his way. It was greenish blue like a color he'd seen before but didn't want to put a name too. His eyes widened as he tried to wrap his mind around it.
"Sayonara…" he heard Natsu mutter this – thankfully he too had the intensified hearing of a Dragon Slayer – and his eyes went wide. Though he never knew where it came from he knew that language and knew what it meant.
Those words meant goodbye. But who did he say it too. Before he could contemplate it any further the buzzer went off and the group stared wide eyed at the loss from both of FairyTail's teams.
"AND THAT'S IT! OUR WINNER IS SABERTOOTH!" the crowd cheered but inside FairyTail was trembling in rage and questioning.
Tomorrow there would be another game – battles and opponents. But now Laxus and Erza were both wondering more on what Natsu and Saya both were up to.
{Chapter 10: The Grand Magic Games – X791 – END}
Author's Note: Mystery, action, drama, romance, and did I sense a bit of fear? Yes but is it from external foes or potentially internal ones?
I'll ease your worry – Natsu and Saya's conversation will put some ease on that stressor:
Saya wa, watashi wa anata ga nanika o suru hitsuyō ga arimasu – Saya, I need you to do something (Natsu)
Are wa nanideshou? – What's that? (Saya)
Reivunteiru wa kurodesu - karera wa keikaku shite iru ka o shiraberu. – Raven Tail is Black – Find out what they're planning. (Natsu)
Sate sate Natsu, watashi ga shimasu. Mata chikaiuchini o ai shimashou. – Alright Natsu, I'll see you soon. (Saya)
Those two are on top of things aren't they? Well thanks again to my two reviewers SakuraPetal91 and Wacko12 (bring some more people in guys!)
Oh! Funny thing – I was at the library yesterday and I found a book written by a guy named Roy Porter – he was a Victorian Medical Historian, but he had a wife who had something in common with someone. In the book he dedicates it to:
"The love of my life, Natsu." Call that crazy but I find it interesting that he was married to a woman named Natsu – a good joke to put in later maybe? Well…that's all for now
{NEXT TIME…
The first round went bad – but does that spell disaster regardless of FairyTail having two teams? Laxus and Erza are both uncomfortable with Natsu and Saya's secretive behavior….but when Saya reveals what she's learned what does that mean for this guild and those around them? Next time:
Chapter 11: Underdog – Play the Game!}
Arigatou Nakamas!