Chapter Thirty Four - The 1st Annual Grand Magic Games: DAY FOUR - July 4th, X773
Lucy was nervous, but it wasn't that surprising. It was her battle day, after all.
"Don't worry, you're going to be fine," I told her.
She took a deep breath and nodded. "Who's doing the game part?"
"I am," Cana said, and we neared the entrance to the field.
"Have fun!" I told her, smiling. "And remember – you don't need to be stronger to win. Just smarter."
She nodded, and entered the field along with the others. From Team B, Wakaba was participating.
"Alright, everybody, welcome to day four of the 1st annual Grand Magic Games, kabo!" Mato said. "Today we will be playing a game called Hunt. Kabo!"
So this was the unfamiliar one, huh? But that means….
I groaned.
Laxus got Chariots.
A jungle formed on the arena, and all the contestant were transported in.
"This game is pretty simple – there are over fifty magical items hidden in this jungle, kabo. You're going to be going on a treasure hunt for them, kabo. You have thirty minutes to collect as much as you possibly can, kabo. Go! Kabo!"
Cana closed her eyes and concentrated on the magical energy before taking off, and she slowly started collecting the magical jewels hidden under the surface. She had found five before she ran across another mage, and, smirking, she whipped out a Sleep Card and hit him with it. When the Lamia Scale mage collapsed, she searched him and came up with his jewels, and she got another eight.
She requipped all thirteen, to make them safe, and continued along, finding two more before she ran into the Phantom Lord mage and knocked him out too. She took his six, and ended up with twenty one.
Before she left, she hit him with another sleeping card, so he'd sleep through the rest of the game.
Moving onwards, she spotted Wakaba taking jewels from the Quatro Cerberus mage and continued on.
She found another six before the gong rang, and she ended up with twenty seven.
Wakaba had the next amount with sixteen.
The next was the Blue Pegasus mage, with seven.
The Lamia scale mage had woken up and gotten three.
"Congratulations, on both Fairy Tail Teams taking the top two spots, again, kabo! And the Fairy Tail Kids are killing it at 70 points! Kabo!"
We really were. The scoreboard read:
Fairy Tail A – 70 points
Fairy Tail B – 42 points
Quatro Cerberus – 26 points
Lamia Scale – 24 points
Phantom Lord – 20 points
Blue Pegasus – 10 points
"Everyone, the games are breaking for lunch, and afterwards, today's battle portions will begin! Kabo!" Mato announced, and the five of us headed inside.
We met up with the rest of the group and gathered for lunch.
Makarov ended up joining us, eventually, and I said, "Hey, Master, if we get over 100 points, will you get us a giant trampoline that spans one whole side of the training room? And let me dig a hole for us to jump into? Don't worry, we'll fill it with foam."
He sighed. "Fine. If both teams' average ends up being over 100, I will get you a giant…trampoline."
The kids cheered, even though I'm certain none of them knew what a trampoline was.
Now that I think about it, I didn't know if Makarov knew what a trampoline was, either.
"Alright," I said, and mentally did the math needed for us to average out at one hundred, before whispering to Laxus. "We need another 88 points."
He nodded.
I turned to Cana. "Cana, I have a question. How much Sleep Cards do you have, and how long do they last?"
"How long do you need them to last?" she asked.
The final shouldn't take longer than an hour, right?
"An hour and a half to two hours," I whispered.
Just in case.
She nodded. "How many do we need?"
"Twenty. But if you could make thirty, in case…"
If they went by the same rules as last year…
5 x 4 alone was twenty. (5 leaders x 4 teams)
4 x 4 was sixteen. (4 members left per team x 4 teams)
That is thirty six points.
Add eighteen if we get first and second place in tomorrow's game – fifty four. Which means in order to get thirty four more points…
We needed to win every battle; the two matches today and the two tomorrow.
Geez.
This will be tough.
But we can probably do it.
Probably.
After eating, we headed back to the arena.
"I already told you this, Lucy," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You'll do fine."
She nodded. "Fine. Right. Right…"
Phantom went first, and absolutely crushed Cerberus. I couldn't help wincing at the absolutely brutal beatdown, and I was a bit happier realizing that after this and what they did to Levy, Ame would probably demand they amend the rules for next year.
"Next up, we have Fairy Tail A vs Blue Pegasus!"
"See?" I whispered to Lucy. "You've got the easiest guild! This will be a piece of cake! Literally, I'll make a cake! After the games, though."
She giggled.
"Go get them."
"And it seems we have two new contestants from each team. From Blue Pegasus, Ichiya!"
Wait.
What.
What.
WHAT.
That was Ichiya? No fucking way, I refuse to believe that the absolute hottie I was staring at was Ichiya.
No fucking way.
"Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, wow, talk about a long name, Bob!" Makarov said.
It was him.
That's just fucking weird.
And…kinda creepy, even.
How the hell did he get so ugly? Was it because of his potions?
No, Porlyusica looks good for her old age.
"Lucy," I whispered to her as she got on the field. "He's something called a Perfume Mage; try to stop him from sniffing his test tubes, because they can do things like enhance his strength."
"Got it," she said.
"Don't underestimate him," I told her. "He may be from Blue Pegasus, but he's strong. Also, if possible, don't show off too much."
She nodded. "So they underestimate me," and strode onto the field.
"And from Fairy Tail Team A, we have Lucky Lucy Heartfilia, daughter to Jude and Layla Heartfilia of the Heartfilia Konzern and Railways, kabo!" Mato said. "Makarov, why is an heiress in your guild, kabo?"
"Because she belongs there!" Makarov bellowed.
The gong went off and the match started.
"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" Lucy called, summoning the giant cow.
"One of the Ecliptic Zodiac?" Goldmine shouted.
"How old is she, Makie?" Yajima asked.
"Lucy turned six about a month ago," Makarov said proudly.
"A six year old is contracted to one of the Ecliptic Zodiac?" Goldmine gasped.
"It's not that impressive," Jose said dismissively.
"Not that impressive?" Goldmine shouted. "Do you know how much power it takes to open one of those gates? Not to mention there's only twelve of them in existence! And she's six!"
Taurus hit the ground but Ichiya jumped, pulling out a tube and sticking it in his nose. He grew to a much larger height.
"Fine, I guess I'll just have to use more power on you!" Lucy yelled, and requipped another key. "Open, Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!"
"We are!" Scorpio shouted as he appeared next to Taurus.
"Two Golden Gates?" Goldmine screeched from the commentators' box.
Geez, I didn't know he liked Celestial Spirit Magic so much.
"Taurus, Scorpio, do unison raid, Sandstorm Axe Aldebaran!" Lucy commanded.
"Yes, Miss Luuuuuuucy!" Taurus said.
"A UNISON RAID!" Goldmine was yelling. "YOU CAN'T TELL ME YOU'RE NOT IMPRESSED!"
"I'm not, and stop shouting in my face!" Jose growled.
"A little six year old girl is supplying two golden gates with enough power to do a Unison Raid together. If you don't think that's impressive, then I don't know what is," Goldmine said, turning away angrily.
I was laughing again. "Ahhh, I never knew he was so passionate about Celestial Spirit Magic! Hahahahahah this is hilarious!"
Ichiya was hit with the Unison Raid but still managed to stay standing, and he breathed in another test tube – what for, I don't know.
"You leave me no choice!" Lucy said, and then, without closing the two Zodiac gates, she brought out another key.
"ANOTHER GOLDEN KEY?" Goldmine was screaming.
"STOP YELLING!" Jose yelled.
"Open, Gate of the Snake Charmer! Ophiuchus!"
With Taurus and Scorpio clearly standing there, a giant magical circle appeared, and Ophiuchus came coiling out of smoke.
There was absolute silence.
"Well?" Goldmine said.
"It's a bit impressive," Jose squeaked.
All three of the spirits attacked together, and Ichiya lay out on the floor.
"The winner is Lucy-"
"I'm….not…finished…." Ichiya panted, standing up.
"Geez, you think the guy would've learned to stay down by now," Laxus muttered.
"Open, Gate of the Eagle! Aquila!" Lucy cried, and gigantic eagle appeared.
Lucy pointed at Ichiya, and an enormous lightning bolt left Aquila and hit Ichiya, knocking him out.
"And the winner is Lucy Heartfilia, of Fairy Tail!"
Lucy thanked and then dismissed her spirits, and she came over to us.
"Ellie-nee, Ellie-nee, did you see that?" she cried.
I laughed and swung her around. "Yeah, I saw that. You were showing off, weren't you?"
She blushed. "Maybe, just a little bit. But I didn't use Star Dress or Urano Metria. So it's not like I really showed off."
That was right. Lucy had gotten Star Dress the first time around after she sacrificed Aquarius's key, and opened three gates.
Now that she can definitely open four, I shouldn't be surprised at all that she got it.
"And you've mastered those?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yep, I've been training very hard."
"Good," I said. "And we can probably use them in the final."
I went back to thinking about my plan.
Fairy Tail B ended up going against Lamia Scale, and Macao, who was participating, easily defeated his opponent.
That was twenty more points for our team, so now we only needed 68 for the trampoline.
The end of the day's scores read as thus:
Fairy Tail A – 80 points
Fairy Tail B – 52 points
Phantom Lord – 30 points
Quatro Cerberus – 26 points
Lamia Scale – 24 points
Blue Pegasus – 10 points
Jeez, and just like that, Phantom Lord is tailing after us again.
Ugh, it gives me the shivers and some weird chills thinking that Phantom Lord is right behind us.
Just…ugh.
"Yeah, we're totally gonna win this!" Laxus said cheerfully.
"Yeah, but will we win the trampoline?" I asked. "That is the real question."
"What is a trampoline?" Cana asked as we made our way back to the others.
"I'll explain later tonight," I told her. "When everyone is together. But it will definitely help with our training and be super fun! But I don't know how to make it, which is why I made the bet with Master."
"Do you really think we can win enough points?" Laxus asked.
"I've been coming up with strategies for the final battle, and I think we will," I told him.
"Lucy, I'm so proud of you!"
It wasn't Layla who said this, but rather Jude, who ran forward and scooped Lucy up in a hug. "That was amazing, and I'm sorry for dismissing you and your magic! You did a fabulous job, and I can't wait to see you get stronger!"
Lucy smiled and relaxed into her father's embrace.
Later that night, we all ate dinner and then gathered into the bed (with Levy still in a separate one) and I began regaling them with tales of trampolines.
"It's amazing!" I said. "You know how the bed bounces us a bit?"
They all nodded.
"A trampoline is made in a way to bounce you really high. It's made for bouncing. So we can jump around on it, and into pits filled with fluff. It's really fun!"
Well, it looks fun. I never actually got the chance, seeing as I was just the orphan kid looking through the gym window.
"That sounds really interesting," Freed said.
I nodded. "Freed, I was wondering if you could put runes on it to make it bounce us like crazy, and we play a game where we have to try to land on our feet?"
He cocked his head. "It's possible."
I turned to Evergreen. "It should help with your flying, too."
Her eyes lit up.
"It sounds like a lot of fun!" Levy said. Then she deflated. "But I'll probably have to wait a bit."
"Maybe," I said. "But it might be good for us to try it slightly impaired. I'm only worried about you flying and your cast hitting you and breaking another one of your bones or something."
"I may be able to soften it," Freed said. "Maybe…"
"Couldn't we just wrap it in fluff?" Cana asked.
I shrugged. "That could work. It would probably hurt a bit, and maybe leave a bruise, but it shouldn't be that bad." I turned to Levy. "It's up to you, Levy."
She bit her lip before shrugging. "It's not like I need to decide right now, is it?"
More than a few of us laughed, and we collapsed into our beds.
"Thank you," Brandish said.
We quieted down. "For what?" I asked.
"For being my friends," she said quietly.
We all rolled over to her and mobbed her with hugs.
"You don't need to thank us for that, silly!" Lucy said. "We'll always be your friends!"
"You're a member of Fairy Tail, Brandy," I said. "That means you're nakama."
She smiled. "Thank you, Nora."
"NORA?" everyone else cried.
"Oh, just shut up and go to sleep!" I yelled.
There were some scattered chuckles and mumblings. "Goodnight, guys," I said.
"Goodnight."
Hey guys. I'm glad to announce that I have over 200 reviews, and that by the end of this arc, we should be over 100,000 words.
And thank you for all the support on my job and a slower schedule. You guys are the best. :)
To the one guest reviewer who said I don't like Blue Pegasus - I actually love Blue Pegasus, but the best asset they have is Christina and the Trimens. They're not really meant for fighting - they're hosts. So even though I fucking love the Trimens, they're not there now. So no.