Chapter 16: Day Five
_Sol vs Quattro Cerberus_
Sol stood in a courtyard deep within the city. He raised his hand to the sky, heat from the Sun radiating onto his palm. He took a deep breath and focused on the ground beneath him, listening to the cracks. He had been sitting there for several minutes. The final day had only just begun.
Finally, someone showed up.
He opened his eyes to see all of Quattro Cerberus standing in front of him. The five men were all in attack position, their eyes giddy with excitement.
"I can't believe we actually found him!" Rocker shouted out.
"Alright, boys! It's about time we start our comeback!" Bacchus hyped up the group. "After today, everyone's gonna know that Quattro Cerberus is the strongest guild in Fiore! Because we're – "
Sol cut the five of them down in one blow, blasting them all backward into a nearby building. Nine points.
He walked over to the group and leaned over, a smile on his face. "Because you're wild." He then summoned five bottles of Skooma out of thin air, setting them all down in front of the group. "Better luck next year."
The group could only watch as Sol walked off, beginning his search for other competitors.
_Sol vs Beth, Risley and Jenny_
It wasn't long before Sol managed to find Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel skirmishing in the streets. At first glance, he noticed that neither Ichiya nor Kagura were present at the battle, but he had expected nothing less. Dealing with them separately was favorable, anyways.
The two sides both stopped their fight as they noticed Sol's magic power. They turned to see the Dragonborn walking calmly down the street, a hood masking his face.
"Hey, what are you doing here? Can't you see we're in the middle of something?" Jenny yelled.
"Technically, we're all in the middle of something." Sol continued walking, not bothering to look at any of them.
"That's not what I meant!" Jenny was flustered now. "What are we standing here for, isn't he worth ten points? Get him!"
The four Blue Pegasus members charged him but were knocked back when Sol casted a wind spell around him.
"This is ridiculous! Aren't you gonna fight us?" Jenny pouted, getting up off the ground.
"I thought you'd never ask." Sol then pointed his finger at Jenny and sent a lightning bolt directly at her, blasting her backward into a nearby fountain. Needless to say, she was out of the competition for good.
Sol barely turned in time to deflect a blow from Risley and Beth, who had snuck up on him from the opposite side.
"Arana, Millianna, you take care of Blue Pegasus! We've got this." Risley yelled out to her companions with confidence.
"Are you really trying to test my patience?" Sol's tone of voice shifted to mild annoyance.
"Nope, just proving to everyone who the strongest girls in Fiore are!" Beth launched another attack at Sol, but this one simply missed.
"Some of the strongest warriors I've ever met in my life are women." Sol raised one hand, frost forming on his fingertips. "You two aren't one of them."
Sol pointed his palm out at Risley and Beth, freezing them like statues where they stood.
Arana and Millianna both shouted out "Hey!" in unison as they saw what fate befell their comrades. This brief distraction gave the three remaining Blue Pegasus members enough time to wipe them out in quick order.
The three looked up just in time to see Sol disappear behind the corner of the street, out of sight as the presence of his magic faded.
_Sol vs Ichiya_
Jura saw Ichiya a short distance away, his back turned as he watched Hibiki get frozen in Gray's ice. He was about to strike down the Blue Pegasus leader when he heard a voice. One he was all too familiar with.
"We meet again, Wizard Saint." Jura turned to see Sol walking toward him calmly, shrouded in darkness. "Tell me. Do you really expect to win?"
Jura didn't bother to waste words, sending a small rock pillar directly for Sol's chest. It passed right through him.
"So, I guess you aren't gonna fight me, huh? Why is that not surprising?" Jura pulled back the rock pillar, making it disappear.
"Because I'm smarter than you give me credit for." Sol continued to walk straight at Jura, not pausing for a second. "Why defeat you when I could knock out two birds with one stone?"
A look of confusion spread across the Wizard Saint's face. "What?"
"Oh, if only you'd open your eyes. I'm sure you'd catch on then." Sol was now within arms length of Jura, but he continued to walk right through him, sending chills down his spine.
Jura turned around to look at Sol, but he had vanished. He looked around further to see Ichiya had suddenly disappeared. That's when it hit him.
"Two birds… with one stone." Jura felt completely embarrassed when he realized what Sol had meant. Scoring points alone wasn't good enough. He meant to win by scoring points while also taking points away from his competitors. Clever.
_Sol vs Kagura_
Erza found herself staring down two of the strongest women in the competition. The tension in the air was palpable, an enemy striking at any given moment.
In unison, they broke toward one another at blinding speed. It was at this moment that Sol decided to make his move.
He appeared standing in the middle of all three women, deflecting all three of their blows as they struck. His presence alone had startled all of them, leaving them vulnerable. Sol proceeded to knock them all back to where they originally stood.
"You?" Minerva's face held a look somewhere between confusion and disgust.
"The lone wolf." Kagura somberly gripped her katana with determination.
"What are you doing here?" Erza prepared her own sword, scowling as the words came out.
"My suspicion is that all three of you are leaders." Sol remained where he stood, looking up at the sky as opposed to any one of the surrounding women. "The question is, which one of you should I beat?"
"If your so confident in your abilities, why not take out all three of us?" Erza stood as firm as her words.
"Ha! Like he'd ever get the chance." Minerva scoffed, raising her hands and summoning an explosion directly in front of Sol.
The explosion appeared to do nothing, as Sol simply stepped through it. "Well, for one, beating all of you wouldn't be very entertaining to the crowd, and I'm sure I'd never hear the end of it." He began walking away from the group. "Besides, you should've learned by now that the most dangerous enemy is the quiet one. I've already made my choice."
Erza and Minerva both gave confused looks at each other before they turned around to see Kagura had seemingly disappeared. They both turned back to see Sol waving goodbye as he walked away.
"Guess I'll be seeing one of you later."
It didn't take long for the two women to realize what his parting words implied. Simultaneously, they turned to face each other, both determined to win.
_Dimaria's POV_
Dimaria watched Sol confront the three women on the battlefield below. Part of her wished she could be down there instead of him, just to show them what a true goddess of war could do.
She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw a translucent Sol sat down next to her. "Having fun?"
"Not really." Dimaria put one hand on her chin, hunched over in mild disappointment as she watched multiple screens displaying the remaining competitors. "Care for an update?"
"Sure, why not."
"Well, right after you left them, Hibiki and Eve got taken out by Toby and Yuka. They almost got Ren too, but Sting stole the point. While they were distracted, Rufus took them out with that shooting stars attack."
"They really didn't figure that one out?"
"Guess not. Doesn't matter, cause not long after that he got into a fight with Gray. It looked like Rufus was gonna win, but Gray managed to pull it off somehow. Gotta hand it to him."
"Yeah, him and Juvia seem like nice enough people."
"Yeah," Dimaria agreed, "they're actually fighting Sherria and Lyon right now. In fact, all of Fairy Tail is fighting right now. Gajeel vs Rogue, Laxus against Olga and Jura, and…"
"…Erza and Minerva." Sol looked up at the screen showing the fight he just left. The two hadn't taken long to get back in action and were exchanging blows at the moment.
"The only person they can't seem to find on camera is Sting. Guess he's playing the long game for now."
"Ha. Jokes on him, I've been playing it this whole time." Sol got up and started to fade away as he walked toward the door.
"Uh, speaking of that, what exactly did you do to Ichiya and Kagura?" Dimaria turned to stop Sol from leaving.
"Basically, the same thing I've been doing with you the past few days. I hid them."
"Are you really gonna be all mysterious and not tell me?" Dimaria crossed her arms, a look of mild annoyance spreading across her face.
Sol turned around just as he reached the door, and an orange spark ignited in his eye as he winked. "Do you really want to know?" And without another word, he disappeared.
It was the kind of devilish look that made Dimaria scared, excited, nervous and in love all in one instant. And she couldn't stand it.
What a nerd…
_Sol's POV_
It had been about an hour since Sol had left to see Dimaria back at the coliseum. The sun had set, and all was quiet. He ran through the events since his arrival in Earthland during this time, lying down on a bench underneath the shade of an oak tree.
What a crazy couple of months…
He remembered at this point that Mavis said he'd been trapped on Tenrou for seven years.
Seven years away from home.
Sol was snapped out of his thoughts when a white explosion flourished in the night sky not too far away from him. He could hear a faint shouting, a voice he recognized as Sting's, but couldn't make out exactly what he said.
Who cares what he said? Just get the job done.
Sol picked himself up off the bench and set off toward Sting to meet his challenge. It wasn't long before he arrived.
"…I'm trying to treat you with the respect you deserve. That's why I'll destroy you all together!" Sol could see Sting gloating in front of the injured Fairy Tail team. Apparently, the message was for them too. "I've been waiting for this moment. I'll show you how strong I've become. I'll do it for Lector!"
"Enough talk from you." Sol stepped forward out of the shadows and hit Sting with a paralysis spell, then with his other hand used a telekinesis spell to pick up Sting's frozen body and hurl him through the air and into some nearby shrubbery. "Why don't you rest for a bit?"
"You." Laxus snarled through gritted teeth. "Let's get this over with, I've been dying to wipe the smirk off your face."
"Is that so? Well, if we're going to be fair about this…" Sol put out his hand and cast a healing spell on five mages in front of him. They were suddenly back to full strength, much to their surprise. "What, did you really think I was gonna let you fight me in the shape you were in? That's no fun."
"Doesn't really seem like your style." Gajeel cracked his knuckles and his jaw, testing out his newly healed limbs. "Oh well, you're only up by one point, and we know how to beat you."
Sol's smirk widened. "You know, it's funny just how wrong one can be in a single sentence."
The Fairy Tail mages stood silent, momentarily perplexed at what Sol had just said.
"What are you playing at?" Erza stepped forward, sword in hand.
"Well, to start, you don't know how to beat me. You only have a guess." Sol gestured as if he were explaining himself to a group of children. "And I'm afraid you won't get the chance to find out, because I'm going to surrender to you."
"WHAT!" A collective gasp from the group in front of him. Gray stepped forward out of shock. "Why would you do that?!"
Juvia piped in cheerily behind him. "Does this mean we win, darling? Oh, I'm so excited."
"No, Juvia." Sol lowered his head, barely holding in laughter. "It doesn't."
"How could that be? We saw the scoreboard just before coming over here, it said you were only up by one. If you surrender, we'd win by nine! Explain yourself!" Gajeel yelled in typical Gajeel fashion.
"Why don't you ask Erza? Seems like she's figured it out." Sol gestured to the Fairy Queen, who had her head bowed in seething rage.
"You…monster." She could barely get the words out through gritted teeth. "She wasn't the only one, was she?"
"Of course not. I managed to get Ichiya before we met up, too." Sol snapped his fingers, and the short wizard along with Kagura appeared unconscious at his feet. "If I did the math correctly, that should be ten points. Now I'm up by eleven. Game over."
The group looked on in dismay as they realized what had just happened. Laxus was the first to speak up. "What did you do to them, you freak?"
"If I told you I kept my word from yesterday and just put them under a sleeping spell, would you believe me? If we're being honest here, it doesn't matter what I did to them. They're unharmed but incapacitated, and that means I win."
They stood in silence for a few moments before Lola's voice cracked through the sky and declared Sol the winner. Fireworks soon lit up the night above them.
I did it. I won.
"Oh, and one more thing, Gajeel." The Dragonborn signaled to the Dragon Slayer, who looked up in surprise. "If you took a moment to reflect, I'm sure you'd realize you were also wrong in saying that what just occurred is 'not my style'."
"Yeah, whatever." Gajeel scowled, looking at the ground in frustration. In fact, all five of the Fairy Tail wizards seemed incredibly distraught. Sol realized in that moment that the competition was over, and he didn't have to act like such an ass anymore.
Now's the time to build bridges, not burn them.
"But what I'm about to do certainly isn't." He spoke up, and the group looked up in anticipation of an attack. Instead, a large box appeared in Sol's hands. He set it down and opened it up, revealing the 30 million Jewel in prize money from winning the competition.
"Look, I know I may have not been the nicest guy in the word these past few days." Sol scratched his head. He was never good at apologies. "But I only act that way because I'm competitive. That's the only reason I even joined these Games in the first place. It was never about the money." He looked down at the box, then sat it down in front of them. "I don't have any use for it, and since I competed alone, you guys are still the strongest guild. Take it."
All five of them were completely bewildered at this point. Nobody, not even Sol himself, had expected this sudden change of heart. While Gajeel and Laxus still looked at him with anger, Gray walked right up to Sol.
"We get it, man. No hard feelings." He extended a hand, and it took Sol a second to realize that he was meant to shake it. Remembering the dinner they had shared the previous night, he took the olive branch and they shook hands.
Needless to say, Juvia's mood lightened considerably. Erza, after checking to make sure Kagura, Ichiya, and Sting were alright, accepted Sol's apology. Gajeel scoffed at the idea of getting sentimental when Juvia brought it up, and Laxus remained silent, much to Sol's disappointment.
Guess some are gonna take longer than others.
"Say, I know Natsu and I got into it pretty hard yesterday, but why wasn't he competing today?"
The group seemed to not know how to answer that question, which began to worry him. If they couldn't directly say, then chances were that they were trying to keep a secret, and that they were worried he'd go looking.
Again, Gray seemed to be the most open and approachable of the group. "It's complicated, but we could actually use your help, if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course, I'd love to help."
Sol and Gray both looked at the others. While the group seemed hesitant to agree with Gray's offer, they came to the consensus that it was worth it.
"Great, Master Makarov will fill you in on the details. Let's go"
A/N: Well, that's it for the Grand Magic Games! Now all that's left is the Dragon King Festival and Eclipse. I tried to mix it up with this last day in terms of separating the different battles, leave a review letting me know what you guys think. Cheers!