Chapter 96: Let The Games Begin!
Hey, valued reader? Congrats on making it this far through the story! But before you go any further, I want to make sure that you're up to speed with the spin-off story, "Phoenix's Eye: Apocrypha". Because if you haven't been paying attention, the events in Apocrypha have been happening pseudo-simultaneously with the main story, and this is the chapter where the two plotlines merge back into one. So if you haven't already, you should really take a break from this story and go check out that one!
Also, I'm sure you noticed that this chapter is two days early. That's because I'm going on a trip with no internet for a week, and I won't have a chance to post this chapter on the usual Sunday. So hey, we get to start the GMG two days early! Is that awesome or what? Now, on with the story!
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Previously, on "Crowns of Thorns" . . .
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Finally! You have no idea how difficult this chapter was to write! Especially since Prince was messing with me the whole way.
Prince: Knock knock.
Oh. No, you are not -
Prince: Joining you in the Author's Note? I have all of one chapter left to star in. After that, it's a whole lot of nothing. Unless . . let me take a look at your backlog.
No! Your plot's over! You do not get to interfere.
Prince: Damn, you're only up to Chapter 96? It'll do. See you then! :P
-[CoT]-
It was only a couple of days until the beginning of the Grand Magic Games, and after the completion of their training, everyone had returned to the Phoenix's Eye Guild Hall.
With a couple of notable exceptions. Namely, Artorias and Donna. As well as Kenzie and the Black Eye Pirates.
But as Tyria walked back into the guild hall, it was as lively as it had ever been - with the addition of several new Electrian guild members.
The Prince of Hell tailed her, striding in behind her and grinning like a maniac as he looked around. "This place looks fun!" he exclaimed.
"Hey! Tyria's back!" Lync exclaimed, recognising their friend.
"What, no recognition for the Prince man?" the assassin huffed.
"Tyria?" Pierce immediately twisted in his seat and recognised his girlfriend, before leaping out of the booth and rushing towards her. The bluenette in question beamed, accelerating as the two rushed forwards each other's warm embrace.
For a moment, they were surrounded by stars and nothing existed except the other.
And then Hare raised a hand and murmured; "Fukke navraku jan," With a flash, a green energy projectile shot at Pierce's feet, inflicting a «Stumble» effect that lasted exactly one-fifth of a second.
Which was enough to cause the Tamer to lose his balance and tumble forwards, colliding with Tyria and knocking her backwards, ending with them both collapsing in a heap.
Prince burst out laughing.
Pierce blinked, wondering why the ground felt so soft. "What happened?" he asked, trying to pick himself up, but pausing when what should have been solid wood was instead warm flesh.
Tyria spluttered, uncomprehending, as she registered the fact that Pierce's face was buried in her chest.
Prince laughed harder.
As Pierce looked up, suddenly realising where he had landed, their eyes met, and Tyria flushed, embarrassed. The blond was about to splutter and insist that he had not been trying to disrupt her virtue, but they were interrupted by Hare and Kit bursting into unrestrained laughter.
Clumsily, they got back to their feet. Boomer rushed over to help them, but he was a little too late. "The sum total of three months of training is, for Hare, the ability to trip people over from across the room," he explained.
"There's more to it than that, you little twerp!" Hare shouted in response.
Prince burst into a spontaneous round of applause. "Now that is a good use of time!" he heartily endorsed. "But seriously, why is everyone ignoring me?"
"So, am I the last person to get home?" Tyria asked, looking around.
"Hello?"
"No. We're still waiting on Artorias and Donna," Pierce explained. "And I heard that Kenzie and her pirate crew are sailing to Crocus directly and will meet us there,"
Prince waved his hand in front of Tyria's face. She didn't react.
"Good, you're back!" a familiar voice exclaimed, and everyone looked up to find Feng Chriona leaning on the balcony of the second floor of the guild hall.
"Master!" Tyria grinned, looking up at her.
"Don't get too excited. The old hag's spent the last three months sitting on her ass," Lync huffed.
"Boo! Lame! Get out of here, you old bat!" Prince moaned.
"I have been cleaning up the guild's affairs! Do you have any idea how much paperwork piles up in seven years?!" the cantankerous Guild Master roared. "This guild wouldn't even exist anymore if Faraday hadn't kept us afloat!"
"Where is Faraday, anyway?" Pierce asked, stepping forwards. "She's the strongest wizard in our guild. Shouldn't she be here to help out?"
Feng jumped down to the floor of the guild hall and shrugged, shaking her head, her bushy grey hair swung back and forth as she did. "No one's heard from her. I suppose she sees little things like tournaments as beneath her notice,"
Tyria huffed. "Right," she grumbled, discontent but knowing she couldn't affect the outcome.
Shaking his head, Prince echoed the sentiment.
"Well, anyway! I think it's time to announce my choices for the team to enter the Grand Magic Games!" Feng declared.
The guild immediately went quiet. Pierce quietly led Tyria back to their table, where Grace, Kit and Kinana were waiting.
"Anyone got popcorn? I need some popcorn!" Prince hollered. No one could hear him.
"My first choice is, of course, the most powerful wizard we have available in the guild!" Master Feng declared. "So the leader of our group is . . myself!"
Everyone paused at this. "Hey, wait," Hare frowned. "Isn't there a rule against Guild Masters competing?"
Feng smirked. "Yes, there is," she admitted. "But who said I'm the Guild Master?"
From his seat at the bar, Russell grinned. "She's got my blessing,"
As one, a dawning realisation came over the Phoenixes. "You never officially gave Feng back the position of Guild Master, did you?" Sarah realised, addressing Russell.
"Nope," the Paper wizard grinned. "Your Guild Master says give them hell!"
"Hold it!" Everyone turned in surprise again to see Alice furiously rifling through a book. "Sorry, Master, but that's a no-go," the orangette shook her head. "This clause states that no Guild Master, current or former, can enter the Grand Magic Games as a participant," she explained, holding up the book, which was labelled in cursive script; 'GRAND MAGIC GAMES RULEBOOK'.
Feng deflated. "Well, shit," she growled, shaking her head in dismay.
Prince rolled his eyes. "Laaaaaaame!"
"You didn't even read the freaking book?" Russell demanded.
"Neither did you, you old pervert!" the aged woman retorted, ignoring the fact that she was more than twenty years older than him.
There was a moment of silence, before the Fire Wizard shook her head. "Fine," she grumbled. "Well, there is one other powerful wizard we have at our disposal. Someone go find Gabriel Atsphuria. Tell him he's been drafted to enter the Games,"
"Buhwha?" Prince spluttered. "Who's that?"
"Wait. The Headmaster joined the guild?" Tyria asked in surprise.
"Yep. It was a big surprise but we were hardly gonna say no," Lync confirmed.
"Wow. The Headmaster's one of the most powerful men in Electria," the Electrian nodded, getting excited.
"Yeah, if he's fighting for us we're bound to win!" Grace agreed, enthused.
Having gone back and read Chapter 35, Prince shook his head. "This might actually be interesting," he muttered in excitement.
"Actually, that's a no go too!" Alice interrupted. "There's another clause stating that any participant in the Games has to have been a member of the guild for at least one year," she shook her head. "I think it was included to prevent rogue wizards from hiring themselves out to guilds to compete for money,"
"Bullshit!" Prince protested.
Feng blinked. "Let me see that bloody book!" she demanded, storming over to Alice's seat and wresting it from her grip, before scanning it. ". . . Well, crap," she moaned, before pinching her nose in irritation and turning around. "Pierce, Tyria, Grace, Boomer, Sarph. Since Gabriel and I are disallowed and Artorias, Kenzie and Faraday are absent, I'd better pin our hopes on our strongest team rather than our strongest individuals. Also, Hare, you're reserve member. Congratulations, you lot,"
"Oi!" Everyone turned to see a tan-coloured cat dressed like a cowboy, with a whip of barbed wire hanging from his belt, speak up. "And why dun't ah get no consideration?" Garrotte grumbled.
Prince quirked an eyebrow. "Who are you?"
"I said strongest team, not strongest individuals. Listen when your Guild Master speaks," Feng snorted.
"Y'all ain't no Guild Master, remember?" Garrotte smirked.
"Like hell I'm not. Russell! If our little loophole is illegitimate, I want my title back!" Feng, obviously still in a bad mood about her plan being foiled, beckoned Russell over and gestured to her office. The older man obligingly followed her.
Everyone looked around at each other as the two Guild Masters disappeared, and several glances went to Team Pierce.
"I guess we're competing!" Grace grinned.
"Go Team Pierce!" Boomer agreed.
"Just so we're clear, I never agreed to that name!" Hare hollered.
"Neither did I! I'm gonna kill you all in your sleep!" Prince shouted.
Nonetheless, four glasses were put together, and from her seat Hare also raised a glass.
"Wait," Kit paused, looking around at the humans. "What about me?" he protested.
"I suppose you can't see or hear me either," Prince moaned.
Pierce blinked. "Um . ."
"Is this gonna be another 'I have to sit out because I'm a member of the guild and not just one of your beasts' situation?" the yokai groused.
"Probably . ." Grace nodded, and Kit shook his head. "Stupid tattoo,"
"More importantly, where's Sarph?" Grace frowned.
"Out training," Boomer shrugged. "Just because he didn't go anywhere doesn't been he'd been idle,"
"Should we go get him?" Grace asked.
"Naah. We'll catch him up when he turns up for dinner," Pierce assured his sister.
-[CoT]-
In a ditch, on the outskirts of Crocus, there was a massive burst of light.
A boy with blond hair, wearing a khaki jacket and tan-coloured pants, stumbled, trying not to lose his balance in spite of the large, scaly mass slung over his shoulder which he clutched at with his sole remaining arm. He looked around frantically, but soon realised that he was alone.
"What the - where am I now?" Prince questioned, looking around in confusion. His gaze settled on Kynigós. "Who's this guy?"
"I guess we did get separated after all," he sighed, before sitting down on a nearby rock and setting down the being he was carrying. "Good thing I've still got you," he smiled at the young, white baby dragon.
Prince frowned. "You just wait here, I'm gonna go read the Apocrypha storyline," he commanded Kynigós, before changing stories and hitting up Log #1.
Zena mumbled something in her sleep, and Kynigós winced. The little dragon had single-handedly re-energised the Eclipse Gate. That had to have taken it out of her. "We can't stay in the open," the hunter resolved. "We need shelter, and I need information. When are we? Did we make it in time? The Dragon King Festival's on July 7, X791," he reminded himself. "I need to find out what the date is. I need a newspaper," the boy realised, looking around.
In the distance, he could see some buildings. It looked like a town. A quiet one.
"Guess that's the target," the hunter resolved.
It took a couple of hours, but soon he managed to reach it, having avoided any of the locals spotting Zena, and quickly holed up in a disused shack, leaving Zena to sleep on the ratty bed.
Prince, having finished Apocrypha, looked around in dismay. "What a dump,"
But Kynigós couldn't sit still and wait for her to wake up. He had to do something. So he decided to hope that he'd be back before Zena woke up, and forged outside, making for the market.
"And what the hell are you supposed to be?" the proprietor of the local newsagent skeptically asked, critically eyeing Kynigós' khaki jacket with its lingering, faded stains of dragon blood, his dirty, messy hair, ragged tan-coloured trousers and the ratty hunter's pack slung over his shoulder. As the man's gaze fell on the hunter's rifle, whose butt protruded over his shoulder, he stiffened, and blustered; "Ah, I don't want no trouble,"
"I want you to have trouble," Prince sadistically smirked.
Kynigós paused, following his gaze, and realising where he was looking. "Relax. I just want a paper," he snorted. With shaking hands, the owner gave him a newspaper from a shelf behind the counter, and the hunter eyed the date.
June 28th. X791.
A grim smile tugged at the hunter's lips. "I've got ten days," he nodded, satisfied, before addressing the shopkeeper again. "Hey. What city is this? Am I still in Crocus?"
"Uh - yes," he nodded.
"Thanks," Kynigós nodded, tucking the paper under his arm and deciding to head back to Zena. After months of being on the run, he barely even remembered the idea of paying for something. But that was alright with the shopkeeper. After all, only a crazy person would chase up someone dressed like that for a scant few jewels.
"Chase him up! Chase him up! It's what I'd do!" Prince encouraged, shouting in the shopkeep's ear in the vain hope that his words might register.
He hummed to himself as he walked down the street, ignoring the myriad of stares he received for his unusual attire. He had ten days to stop the dragons. But where to start?
A thought occurred to him. The dragons were coming in ten days. But coming from where? Ten thousand dragons were hard to hide. "I need a map," Kynigós resolved. Where were they hiding?
-[CoT]-
Two days later, on the 30th of June, the wizards of Phoenix's Eye arrived in Crocus.
"I miss the Garuda," Tyria complained as they got off the train.
"Tell me about it," Pierce sighed.
"An airship would be nice. Also, do we really need so many scene breaks?" Prince complained. "I'm getting motion-sick here!"
"Boomer should already be in the city. He and Ariel went ahead to arrange our accomodations," Sarph recalled.
-[CoT]-
Prince rolled his eyes. "A flashback now? Well, I guess it saves time,"
"Okay, so where are we going to stay during the Games?" Sarph, ever a man of logistics, questioned.
"That's easy," Ariel had suddenly piped up, crossing the guild hall and eyeing Team Pierce. "I have a cousin who lives in Crocus. She has a pretty big place, I'm sure she won't mind having some of us over for a week or so,"
"Great," Pierce immediately endorsed the idea. "And we won't have to pay any rent. Which is good, because heaven knows money is tight,"
-[CoT]-
"Whoa. Ariel's cousin lives here?" Grace gasped.
They were standing outside one of the tallest buildings in Crocus, with whitewashed walls. It looked to be ten floors tall.
"Does she have the entire building? A whole guild could live here," the greenette remarked.
"No. It's one of those new high-rise apartment buildings, with lots of people living on top of one another," Sarph clarified. "Ariel's cousin probably only has one floor, maybe not even that,"
"Well," Tyria glanced down the street and saw the Sonic Boom, it's glowing white streaks looking dim in the sunlight. "We know we're in the right place," she wryly commented.
The five Phoenixes trooped inside, finding themselves in a small lobby. Boomer awaited them, reclining in a velvet armchair. "Oh, hey guys!" he exclaimed with a smile. "Been waiting for you. Come on!" he declared and beckoned to the stairs.
"I thought you hated stairs," Hare snarkily pointed out as their pudgy teammate lead them into the stairwell.
"I do," Boomer adopted a long-suffering expression. "But what's at the top is worth it. Oh, also, about Yuki, -"
"Who's Yuki?" Pierce cocked an eyebrow.
"Ariel's cousin. The one who owns this place. I should warn you, she's . ." Boomer paused, trying to find the right word.
"Come on, spit it out," the cantankerous Speed Wizard demanded.
"I mean, she's nice. Or, at least, not rude. Just . . she's really quiet, and not one for conversation," the stout boy retorted.
Eight floors up, the Phoenixes emerged into a large room. "Whoa," Pierce breathed.
It was sparsely furnished, with carefully cut marble making up the floor. Simple couches were pushed against the walls, with a small coffee table that had a lacrima projector mounted on it nearby. On the other side of the room, a large table with six chairs around it dominated the space. An entire wall was taken up by a massive window. There were no rugs or pictures anywhere, and the entire room was utilitarian and somewhat unfeeling.
One of the doors along the sides of the room swung open, and a familiar bluenette emerged. "Guys!" Ariel exclaimed with a wide smile, waving them over to the couches. "It's good to see you all!"
The seven guildmates took seats around the couches, all looking around. "So, where's our mysterious host?" Pierce questioned.
Ariel blinked. "Huh? Oh - great," she groaned, standing and returning to the door she had entered from. "Yuki! Our guests have arrived!"
After a moment, a petite girl, looking to be the same age as Pierce, Tyria and Boomer, with smooth hair coloured a faded purple, wearing a short-cropped blue dress with a black cardigan over it, as well as blue stockings and brown leather shoes. A book hung loosely from her right hand, and, at Ariel's invitation, she stepped forwards and gazed, somewhat blankly, at the Phoenixes, unable to fully wrest her eyes from the ground. She raised her free hand in silent greeting.
Several members of the group were unnerved by their host. She seemed to exude silence. "Hi!" Grace, ever sunny, beamed.
"Hello," Yuki replied, almost monotonously.
There was a moment of silence.
"So, you own this building? The whole thing?" Pierce asked.
"Yes,"
"But you're, what, sixteen? How did you get it?" Hare asked.
"Inheritance," Yuki informed them without inflection.
"Sorry, she can take a while to warm up to new people," Ariel apologised, while surreptitiously elbowing her cousin, who twitched.
Tyria started. For a second, she had thought she had seen what almost looked like a river of blue and purple light play across Yuki's brown eyes. She looked around, but no one else seemed to have noticed it. "So, Yuki. Do you use magic at all?" she asked, probing.
"Sometimes," Yuki enigmatically responded.
"How much have you heard about Phoenix's Eye?" Sarph tried.
"Everything,"
"Everything?" Hare skeptically questioned.
"Everything," Suddenly, Yuki was eyeing her directly. "Princess Hare," the Speed Wizard blinked in shock. "How did you - ?"
"I keep her well informed," Ariel provided.
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure I never told you," the Sylph suspiciously pointed out.
"I overheard it," the water witch responded.
The conversation was interrupted as a door swung shut, and everyone simultaneously realised that Yuki had taken advantage of the argument to slip out.
Ariel sighed and sat down, shrugging helplessly. "Sorry, guys. Yuki's the type who's more comfortable with books than people,"
"She'll probably get along well with Artorias, then," Pierce remarked.
"I don't know. He's been branching out a lot lately," Sarph mused, a clear note of approval in his voice.
"Anyway, though," Ariel smiled. "If memory serves, the preliminary round begins at midnight tonight," she informed the group. "I suggest you get some rest," she advised.
"Can we go explore Crocus? I've never been here before!" Grace eagerly asked, but Pierce shook his head. "No. It's already half past three. We all have to take part in the preliminaries, so we're going to need every drop of magic we can muster. Besides, we'll have plenty of time to explore the city between rounds," he assured her. "The Games run for a week, after all,"
"Oh, alright," the Dragon Slayer sulkily accepted the logic with a pout.
The hours rolled by, several of them taking naps or warming up, and it was half past eleven almost before they knew it.
"So, we're just supposed to stay here?" Tyria asked. "Are they going to teleport us all to the preliminaries or something?"
"I doubt it," Sarph shook his head. "The Games are big, but they don't have that kind of power backing them. They'll probably send an escort or something and want to make sure they know where to find us,"
"Makes sense," the tech wizard admitted, but frowned. Something didn't ring true with that theory . . . if the preliminaries started at midnight, wouldn't there be travel time involved between the places of residence and the location of the tournament?
It wasn't long, though, until a distant bell rang twelve times. It was midnight.
And, suddenly, the building shook, and the Phoenixes were subjected to the strange sensation of rising. "What the heck is going on?" Boomer, who had been abruptly woken up, spluttered.
Everyone rushed to the window, and saw that, all over the city, other buildings were being lifted into the air by some strange machinery. As they were, a giant pumpkin with a green hat and a smiling face appeared in the sky. "That's one big illusion," Sarph nodded.
"Attention, all contestants competing in this year's Grand Magic Games!" A squeaky voice echoed through the entire city, and the Phoenixes took note. "Gooooooooood morning!"
"That's Mato," Tyria recognised. "The mascot, right?"
"Yeah. He must be a big shot," Hare shrugged dismissively.
The somewhat unsettling voice continued; "To narrow down the one hundred and thirteen guilds in this year's games to a more manageable eight, let's begin the preliminary round!"
"Hold on, how many?" Tyria blinked.
"I didn't know there were that many legal guilds in Fiore," Pierce remarked.
"Although the number of guilds increase and multiply every year, 'the games have gotten boring now', is all I ever hear!" Mato was now fully formed in the air and doing a little jig.
"Great, now he's rhyming," Hare, already unimpressed by the cartoonish character, rolled her eyes as he continued. "Let's whittle them down, I say to you, and give just eight a cheer! The rules for this preliminary round are simple. Now, you will all be participating in a race! The finish line is at the Domus Flau coliseum! Only the first eight teams to reach it will move on to the Grand Magic Games!"
"He's certainly quite chipper," Sarph observed, before starting as a path of stone slabs appeared before them just outside the window, leading up into the sky.
"You're free to use magic in any way you see fit. There are no restrictions!" Mate beamed, throwing his hands upwards and keeping up the wide smile. "But remember; only the first eight teams to reach the finish line will clear this round! However, all five team members must cross the goal for it to count!"
"Guess there's no splitting up," Tyria sighed.
"Works for me," Pierce admitted. "We're Phoenix's Eye's strongest team, remember? We're better together,"
"One more thing," Mato's voice took on an even more sinister tone. "We are not responsible for any loss of life that may occur in the Labyrinth,"
"Wait, what did he just say?" Sarph blinked.
"That we might die?" Grace blanched.
"No, not that. What 'Labyrinth'?" the knight questioned, and Tyria sweatdropped. "Good to know you have your priorities straight,"
"Look!" Ariel commanded, and the seven Phoenixes raised their heads to the sky, which was suddenly dominated by a massive, spherical construction full of confusingly intricate geometry. "Whoa," the Dragon Slayer gasped.
"So! Without further ado!" Mato shouted. "Let the Grand Magic Games Preliminary Round begin!"
"Alright, you heard him! Let's get to it!" Pierce shouted. "Phoenix's Eye forever!"
The rest of the team took up the catchcry. "Phoenix's Eye forever!"
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{looks at chapter title} I think Prince is trolling me.
Prince: You got it! Catch me if you can! :P
Actually, it's a funny coincidence that you should pop up in this particular chapter. I'd like you to meet Yuki Nagato.
Yuki: Hello.
Prince: . . Oh crap I thought I was the only one!
Oh, you have no idea. {chuckles}
Yuki: Goodbye.
Prince: Oh n01001111-
Moving on from that bit of unpleasantness. The Grand Magic Games are officially starting! Finally! Seriously, I have been waiting for this for so long. I have so many plans. Phoenix's Eye is going to pull so much crap these Games. It's gonna be awesome!
. . . I said back when I originally wrote this chapter and discovered, twelve chapters later, that the GMG has been the hardest arc to write for yet. I do not like this format. Just putting that on record here. My muse does not like the tournament format.
Anyway, hope everyone's excited! Peace!