I just realized I've been torturing poor Sting and Lucy. It doesn't even stop here, haha sorry about that. It'll get better, I promise ; )

Lucy woke up in a start. Her night had been spent by constant thrashing in her bed from side to side. At some point in the night, Wendy had stood by Lucy's side asking if she was alright, but the celestial wizard had denied anything was wrong, then had gone back to sleep. It was safe to say, Lucy didn't feel well-rested. But a crummy sleep wasn't going to deter her. She had a match to win for Fairy Tail.

Blearily, she continued to make small-talk with her guild mates. It wasn't the ideal morning, with clouds outside, unusually cold weather, guild mates staring at her and her foreboding match; the day wasn't shaping up nicely.

"What happened last night Lou?" Levy asked, sitting down beside Lucy.

"Levy, can I tell you later? I'm not really in the mood to talk about it right now, sorry."

Levy nodded slowly. "Is it because of your upcoming match?"

"I just don't want to let down Fairy Tail again, you know?"

"But you didn't let us down. You tried your best and that's all we can ask from you, Lucy." Levy told her.

Lucy gave Levy a small smile. Although it was not genuine, Levy took it as Lucy's acceptance. In truth, Minerva would be competing, and from what Sting had told Lucy, she had a lot to fear from Sabertooth's lady.

After finishing eating, Lucy had gone upstairs to prepare herself for the competition. She still hadn't seen Natsu that morning, and found it odd that his boisterous voice didn't occupy the room.

Noticing Erza walk by, Lucy tapped on her arm tentatively, trying to get her attention.

"Lucy?"

"Erza, have you seen Natsu at all this morning?" Lucy questioned.

"No, I can't say I have. Perhaps he went out early this morning with Happy."

Now that Lucy thought about it, she hadn't heard Happy either. The exceed was nearly as noisy as Natsu, no wonder the morning had felt so dull.

"Thanks Erza, I'll go get ready now."

As Lucy turned away from Erza and headed to her room, she couldn't help but wonder where Natsu had gone off to. He'd been upset the previous night, that was obvious. The question was, did the vision bother him, or was it the fact that she had lied to him? Either way, she didn't have time to go out searching for him that morning. Lucy had a competition to get to.

As Sting stepped into Sabertooth's booth, his heart sped up. He had faith in Lucy, yes, but Minerva possessed a powerful command of her magic. Not only that, but Minerva had no mercy for those who showed a glimmer of weakness. Lucy would have to not only outsmart Minerva, she would have to be wary of the other mages as well. Outmaneuvering was the only way Lucy could beat Minerva.

As the announcer began to name off the Wizards, Sting noticed a common pattern; they were all girls, minus Quatro Cerberus of course.

It wasn't like him to worry. In Sting's life, it was do first, think later. But now he stood back, unable to intervene, simply a spectator of fate. Rogue turned to Sting and tried to give him the most supportive look possible, having noticed Sting's agitation.

Sting glared back at Rogue, not wanting Rogue to give away anything. Little did Sting know, his behaviour that day said it all clearly. He had been nervous ever since waking, a far cry from the regularly confident and outgoing dragon slayer.

"My lady will do well," Rufus commented.

"I don't know, that Fairy Tail girl's magic specializes in water," Lector replied.

Sting wanted to hit Lector on the head. Maybe it was just paranoia, but to Sting, anything could give away his secret. Even a mouthy Exceed. It felt like the slightest mention of Fairy Tail would get his guild members thinking, and then they'd find out on their own; an irrational thought.

Sting watched as the announcer started the match, and the girls started to fight. He hated to think it, but Lector's statement was correct. The Fairy Tail water mage commanded the water, but Lucy was holding her own against the water mage.

When the water mage fell out of the water, the mood in the stadium changed.

Orga chuckled darkly. "Hey Sting, it's that chick you saved. I bet Minerva is going to want some payback."

Sting was thankful their eyes were set on the match, otherwise they would have seen his muscles clenching. "I don't care," he spoke. Lies lies lies, when would they stop?

"Like she could stand up to Minerva anyways," Orga laughed.

Sting wanted to yell. Anything but keep silent like he currently was. He stood silently watching Minerva carefully evaluate Lucy, hoping the displacement wizard would have a shred of decency. Lucy had a bright mind, he knew that, but Minerva had power. Lots of power.

Sting had expected Minerva to flaunt her power, and take out Lucy as quickly as possible. Which is why he was surprised when Minerva landed her first flow on Lucy's gut.

He'd never seen Minerva use physical violence on someone. She always used her magic to assert dominance. Now, Sting could clearly see Minerva had a vendetta against Lucy. Oddly, he thought Minerva's issue with Lucy ended days ago, but he could clearly see it hadn't.

Sting waited for Lucy to try and fight back, and she did try. Lucy tried to fight back, all to no avail. Sting's anger grew when he saw Lucy's keys in Minerva's hand. Lucy took those keys with her everywhere, always careful to not damage them. And he knew from Yukino that a celestial wizard's keys were important to them.

Minerva didn't stop there. Over and over, she landed a hit on Lucy, even going as far as to laugh cruelly.

Agonizing: the only word that could fit how it felt to watch Lucy be brutalized. Sting shook violently, with uncontrolled rage, or perhaps fear for Lucy's life. He didn't know which one, and didn't care.

He didn't understand how the match was still continuing, how could they not have called it? Lucy was going to die if Minerva kept going.

But Minerva stopped, and pulled Lucy close.

The microphones could hear garbled words, too drowned out for anyone to make sense of them. Minerva spoke the words to Lucy harshly, and Sting knew what Minerva was whispering the second she ripped off Lucy's necklace.

Minerva knew.

As the gong sounded to end the match prematurely, Minerva held Lucy out of the water sphere. Sting felt his heart skip a beat as Lucy plummeted to the ground, hoping dearly that she would be okay.

Relief flooded him when Natsu and Gray broke her fall.

The stadium's crowd fell into disarray. Angry shouts, cheers and really, anything imaginable came out of their mouths.

He couldn't take it anymore, he had to get down on the field. It appeared his guild mates thought the same way, though they were likely going to the field to support Minerva. Sting's mind was elsewhere.

As Rufus and Orga stood in front of Minerva, Sting was left in the middle staring at Lucy.

Lucy's torture was the final straw. Sting would no longer hide, no longer lie. No more living a secret life.

Sting stared Minerva in the eyes, knowing there would be repercussions for what he was about to do.

"Sting..." Minerva said lowly, making sure her voice conveyed warning.

Sting didn't care. "I'm not hiding anymore. I don't care about this guild's power if this is the price," he spat.

The crowd had gone silent now, listening intently to Sting and Minerva's argument. They didn't know what the two were talking about, but they knew it had a negative connotation. It was almost as if Sting and Minerva were having a private conversation.

Sting took one last look at Minerva and backed away, joining Fairy Tail's side.

The crowd went wild with whispers.

"What's this?! Sting has joined Fairy Tail's side!" The announcer cried out.

As Sting stood beside Fairy Tail, Gray gave a nod of understanding. Now that the crowd had no idea what was going on, but picked up on the drama, they cried out for a fight.

"You'll regret this Sting," Minerva stated.

"I don't care." But he did. His life would change after this event, that was inevitable. He'd most likely be kicked out of the guild, and lose the only place he had called home for years. Maybe it was time for a change. He knew he had changed over the past week and a half, so why shouldn't his life change with him?

Sting glared down his own guild beside Fairy Tail, thankful that Rogue had chosen to stay out of the tension.

Distantly, he could hear Lucy groaning in pain as the two girls healed her. Sting resolve was strengthened. What Minerva did to Lucy was not right in any way.

"We're not going to fight. It won't help us in the end," Erza told her team.

Natsu turned around in a huff, his desire to see Lucy triumphed over his desire to fight at the moment. Sting could say the same about himself. He looked to where Lucy laid on the ground, her beautiful face now littered with bruises and cuts.

He desperately wanted to see Lucy, but he would have to wait.

What he had done was a complete act of defiance. Jiemma and Minerva would not take kindly to his actions, and if his gut feeling was right, his actions affect more than just himself.

As Sting left through one of the hallways, he heard footsteps that were advancing quickly. He turned to see Minerva rushing towards him.

She slammed him against the wall, and he struggled against her iron grip.

"Do you know what you've done?!" She seethed.

"I haven't done anything wrong," he spat.

Minerva laughed humorlessly. "My father will be more than furious for your display. You'll be kicked out of the guild."

"So..?" Sting asked cautiously. He was already aware that would happen.

Minerva let go of his shoulders and turned around with a flourish. "Despite what Dobingal thinks, he is no replacement for any of us. I'm no fool, I know if you leave, we stand no chance against Fairy Tail."

"Then why the hell would you do that to Lucy if you knew?!" Sting asked.

"She needed to be taught a lesson, you did too! 'Get in the way of victory and you're out' my father always said."

"And what? You thought that would make me want to stay in the guild?" Sting questioned venomously.

Minerva laughed. "No, but this will."

She gave a wave of her arm and magic materialized. For a moment, Sting thought she would attack him too. Instead, he was surprised but a crying Lector.

"I'll convince my father to let you stay. The catch is, Sabertooth has to win the games, or Lector won't be of this world anymore."

Sting hated Minerva. How far was too far for the pursuit of power? What would she do next just to prove a point? She was blackmailing him, just so Sabertooth could prove themselves.

"What's next Minerva? Murder? Though I think you came pretty close to murder today. I'll play your stupid game, and when this ends, I'm leaving," Sting said grudgingly.

He gave one last look at Lector before turning on his heels to leave.

It was like the day's events hadn't sunk in fully yet, and he was numb. At some point later that day it would all come crashing down on him, the worry, the stress and the hatred.

Unknown to him, and everyone else in the arena, a star pendant lay on the dirty ground, all but forgotten in the chaos.

An: Sorry for posting this on Halloween. I promise Lucy and Sting will catch a break at some point ;)

I love reading your reviews guys, keep 'em coming!