A/N: Heya! Wassup guys! wiErD here and I've got the next chapter for you guys.
Hope ya like it! Have Fun and Happy Reading!
Disclaimer: I don't own FT or any of its elements... All goes to Hiro Mashima. Support the official release.
- Grand Magic Games -
It began about four years ago before the return of the Tenrou group. The Grand Magic Games. An annual festival that gathered all guilds in Fiore to battle for the title of the strongest guild. Fairy Tail once had that title seven years back through their accomplishments as a legal guild. There was no denying of the feats that they achieved in those past years that made the title rightfully theirs; ending the dispute between Phantom Lord and also taking out two of the leading dark guilds of the Balam Alliance was not something that was easily achieved in the following months.
Aside from their infamous... escapades carried out by some of their members that involved mostly property damage and countless complaints from the normal folk, they cemented their reputation as one of the most respected and well-known guilds in Fiore.
Of course, this fame did not last for long after the return of Acnologia that supposedly killed all core members on Tenrou Island.
New guilds rose to take their place. Some familiar ones remained while new ones emerged successfully to inherit the title of the strongest guild. New foes and old rivals now came together as the most anticipated festival in the country would now begin.
Team Natsu now has secured one of the slots by clearing all the preliminaries. They are now guided towards the inner walls of Domus Flau, a famous landmark of Crocus aside from Mercurius, the royal castle. It is a large coliseum that stands atop a large rock formation, towering several hundred meters high above the ground. Four huge statues stood in a straight posture on the outside while the inside consisted of a large battleground at the center and a multitude of seats of the audience surrounding the outer rims.
Since this was the start of the festival, people from all different places came by to the stadium, effectively filling all available seats as they shouted and cheered for their favorite teams. So loud that the sound could be heard even outside of the arena. People of all ages came to watch for the upcoming fights and battles, expecting their favorite teams to shine in this event.
It was the literal definition of a magic festival.
...
Natsu and the rest had situated themselves inside the colosseum's lounge rooms. Apparently, they were in the middle of trying out their new clothes as given by the coordinators of the event. The pinkette was the first one to have come out of the dressing room as he began to take a good look at his new clothes.
His clothes consisted of an open-collared, one-sleeved overcoat tucked in his baggy pants. His sleeve covered his left arm with a faux leather brown armband while leaving his right completely exposed together with his guild mark. His scarf wrapped around his neck as usual and was the only thing retained from the clothing change.
Their team decided on a matching color suit as a symbol of unity as a group. Natsu had his clothes in purple color, courtesy of Erza of course.
No one could pay any second thought to her own choices so they were stuck with it. The rest of them soon finished up in their separate rooms with each of them having different styles of their clothing.
Natsu eyed the ice-mage who stared right back at him with a cold look. "Ain't that a bit surprising, Gray? You're wearing clothes longer than usual." He started. A look of mockery was visible on his face which the ice mage glared in response.
"What's that supposed to mean? Mind your own business and you better show us the results of your training in those three months. It'd be embarrassing to see you lag behind and lose consistently." He answered.
"Hah! Just you wait. I'll make sure I'll beat everyone! Even if it's you, Ice-queen!"
"Haah! You looking for a fight?! We may be on the same team but I can still kick your ass. I'm not the same as I was back then."
"Hah, tell me that again with your clothes on, you creep!"
"What the?! Not again!"
"Not again me, stripper! Get some clip to stick your clothes on you for once!"
...
"They sure are lively." Wendy smiled wryly as she watched the male duo go at it again.
It'd been only just a few minutes since their last beef with each other and they were already onto their next bickering once again. Luckily, Erza wasn't in the mood for any face-smashing. In fact, their boisterous energy seemed to put a smile on her face, seeing how they were pumped up for the fight.
They needed all the energy they could get to this festival. As this was their first time participating, they had to make their first impressions on the crowd. And they wanted it to be explosive just like those two.
"Let's give them a blind eye for now. This just boosts our confidence for the upcoming games. It's good to have some heat out before the start of the festival." Erza walked beside the girl with her arms crossed. Her stiff and collected self continued to bear no sign of breaking off though there was a tinge of excitement coming off from her expression as she smiled towards them.
"I don't know about you guys. I'm quite nervous about what's gonna happen. There are lots of other strong mages we encountered during the preliminaries. It's not going to be a walk in the park." Lucy joined in with slight anxiety.
"Well, that just makes this event even more interesting. Bring all the strongest ones for me. I'm all fired up!" Natsu joined in with a toothy grin as he clasped his fists together with confidence.
Moments later, one of the coordinators has called on to their rooms, urging them to prepare themselves as they are now led to the hallway.
It was time.
A bright light beckoned their eyes as they walked closer to the exit, revealing all the splendor of the festivities of the Grand Magic Games.
Loud cheers roared from all around as the air was deafened by the thundering shouts of thousands. All matter of celebrations were thrown all around the place as the group baffled in amazement. The energy of the atmosphere was just compelling. There was not a place they'd visited that had this much vigorous spirit and hype.
Moreover, this event was greatly sponsored by the royal family. And in truth, this was the first time they ever supported an event in ages since they rarely show themselves in the spotlight of mage battles and only focused on political matters of the country alone. The effects on people should be pretty obvious. This massive cheer wouldn't settle any time soon.
"Uwaa... That's a lot of people out there." Lucy remarked, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Now I'm feeling more nervous going out there."
"Come on. It's not that bad, Luce." Natsu said, slinging an arm over the girl's neck with a toothy grin. "We came this far. We ain't backing out now."
"He's right. Rather than worrying about other things, let's just have fun in this event with a competitive spirit. Remember, we came here to win." Erza joined in as Lucy bodyslammed the pinkette for getting too close.
"Everyone's there as well. Let's not disappoint them this year." Gray chimed in.
"Let's do our best!" Wendy said.
And with that, their worries disappeared as they all nodded to each other. Their heads turning back to the tunnel before them as they waited for the event to begin.
...
As the cheers continued, commentators of the event soon took the spotlight as three people sat on their seats, announcing the start of games. A multitude of giant lacrima-powered screens appeared in front of the audience, indicating the start of this year's Grand Magic Games.
"The Annual Grand Magic Games has finally arrived! Good morning, everyone! I'm Chapati Lola. I'll be here covering today's events. Aside from me, we have Yajima-san, a former member of the magic council who will be commentating throughout the days' event. It is nice to have you, Yajima-san."
"Indeed. The pleasure is all mine."
"For our day one's guest, we have Jenny Realight from Blue Pegasus who is currently holding the title of Miss Fiore for her extravagant photos and participation in the Sorceress Weekly. It's nice to have you as today's guest, Miss Realight."
"Likewise. As I want to say first before the start of the games, Blue Pegasus will be taking it this year!"
"That's good cheer for Blue Pegasus. No doubt that it will serve as a boost of confidence in the coming games for their members." He paused. "Now, without further ado, let us all welcome our eight teams who managed to clear the preliminaries."
As soon as the announcement fell to the guilds, cheers grew louder as eight teams with every five members were slowly revealed out from different corners of the stadium, making their way to the center where a large bonfire was cast alongside with eight banners that signify the eight teams' insignias.
"Now let's get on with our eight competitors that managed to clear the preliminaries. Starting with the guild that boasted their wild energy. The Hounds of Hell's Army. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you. QUATRO CERBERUS!"
As soon as they heard the announcement, five people emerged from one of the tunnels, and not long after, a swarm of cheers followed them.
"WILD!"
"Quatro Cerberus? What's that?" Natsu asked, turning his head towards Erza.
"If I remember, that's the guild of Guildmaster Goldmine. A fellow friend of Master. I think you've met him back during the Lullaby incident." The scarlet knight explained.
"Huh." Natsu stumped. "Didn't know he had a guild though."
They stopped as they continued to watch from the shadows.
"Quatro Cerberus has been one of the consistent guilds that entered the games, although they've yet to win the spot. However, don't let that distract you that they are powerful on their own right to be able to contend consistently and possibly win this year's title!" Chapati commented.
"And with that said, our next guild is another contender of today's games. They are the azure wings that sparkle in the darkness. Give it up for BLUE PEGASUS!"
Another group of five emerged from another tunnel as they made themselves known to the crowd. A loud cheer echoed across the coliseum with the same vigor as the last one. Natsu and the others knew most of the people in that group since they met and fought with each other back at the alliance to subjugate the Oracion Seis.
"Good grief. I hope my opponents won't be too rough on me." Hibiki said, his sparkling gaze caught many women heart-struck as he made his way into the center along with the other two men beside him.
"I've been training for a while now. Maybe it's time I show everyone our power." Eve joined.
"I wonder if she's watching right now. Not that I care..." Ren whistled along, his eyes seemingly turning on and about to the crowd as if looking for someone.
"This year, we'll be taking the spotlight. Men~"
A slight chill went across Erza's spine as soon as she heard the familiar phrase that haunted her since Oracion Seis. Her face started to sweat profusely and her body began to tremble at the sight of the figure she didn't want to stay near with as much as possible.
"You okay there, Erza?" Natsu turned towards her, noticing a falter from her character. "You look like you seen a ghost or something."
"I-I'm fine."
He tilted his head in confusion until the announcements caught his ears, prompting him to turn his attention back to the outside.
"Next we have the guild that is probably the closest thing to have ever achieved the title the same as the reigning champions from last year. Will their tenacity overcome the fangs of the beast? They are the Goddess of Love and War's Sacred Destroyers! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, LAMIA SCALE!"
With that declaration, another group of five people entered into the fray. What happened afterward was a thunderous roar of cheers and applause that rocked the entire coliseum with such noise that easily overpowered the last two ones. There were new faces mixed with familiar ones that had met Fairy Tail during the Oracion Seis crisis but the most prominent star among them was the tall man that garnered most of their attention as they walked into the spotlight.
"It's Jura!"
"You kidding?! He's in it this year!"
"This year's games just got interesting!
The group watched as the group made their way into the center, giving them a large reception from the crowd. Most of them centered around Jura which got them thinking about their potential opponents.
"They looked like they didn't change at all," Lucy remarked, watching from the sidelines. "Looks like they got another member."
"They're pretty popular, aren't they?" Wendy said.
"Hey, Gray. Lyon's there too, right? Haven't seen him in a while." Natsu looked at the raven-haired mage beside him.
"Of course, idiot. We've been gone for seven years." Gray retorted, glancing his head to the side as if avoiding his gaze from the scene.
"Tch. What's with you all of a sudden?" Natsu clicked his tongue. "You better not lose to that guy, you hear me?
"As if I would lose to him!"
...
Meanwhile, Erza was silently observing the group with her own thoughts as well.
According to some members shared with her, Lamia Scale had been a consistent competitor of the annual event throughout the years. Their reputation further grew at the rise of new members as well as their existing ones. They made achievements over the past seven years putting down dark guilds and protecting cities and villages. But the major boost to their fame was rooted in the rise of Jura Neekis to the seat of the Ten Wizard Saints. A seat that Makarov, their guildmaster had once taken as one of the powerful mages in Fiore.
No wonder why people were so excited to see him. As it stood now, he was seated in the fifth seat which surpassed Makarov in terms of power and status. And this was him as a member of the guild and not a guildmaster which would otherwise prevent him from participating if that was the case.
She doubted that she could fare against him in a duel. The gap of the wasted time put a far distance between her and the others to the current mages. Three months and a blessing from Ultear and Crime Sorciere managed to fill in that gap with such little time but they were still lacking experience.
She couldn't speak for the pinkette since he trained on his own for three months. She couldn't gauge his abilities but his performance in the preliminaries gave her some inkling of his improvement.
She would have to see it when the time comes but for now, she would use this time to assess her group's capabilities and gauge their opponents. And by the looks of it, winning the title was not gonna be easy.
"And now coming in next is the guild that had once held the title seven years ago. Their wings plucked away and had fallen ever since. But now, they were ready to fly again. Will they able to reclaim their past glory in this year's games?! Let's give it up for FAIRY TAIL!"
...
Natsu and the rest of the team walked out with their heads high and their spirits pumped up as they made their appearance to the crowd that easily grew some support despite having their guild's reputation as the weakest guild. A warm reception covered the entire arena showing their support and cheers for the guild that was once dubbed as the weakest in the past seven years.
The events that transpired at the preliminaries, as well as the performance made by fire dragonslayer, was enough to garner attention and support from the audience. Unfortunately, the contempt of the majority still outweighed their growing support from the others and the cheers were mainly a mix of 'boos' and 'aahs' from the people.
There were some people who hadn't forgotten about their guild's achievements in the past and began showing their support as well.
"I didn't think we would be congratulated this much. I was expecting it to be less than this." Gray muttered.
"Well, coming back from being the weakest into a competitor in this year's games was quite an inspiration. Let's not betray their support, alright guys?" Erza assured. The rest of the team answered in a unified shout with their heads held high as they made their way to meet with the other introduced guilds.
"And now for our next competitor. It's a peculiar guild that is probably the only guild in Fiore to have an exclusive rule in recruiting their members. That's right, folks! It's an all-female guild! They're the dancers of the deep blue seas! MERMAID HEEL!"
Five females emerged from the entrance and made their way into the spotlight as soon as their guild name was announced. Another wave of cheers boomed all across the coliseum as the members were welcomed and cheered by many, most of them entirely men for obvious reasons.
Natsu traced his eyes towards the newcomers and immediately spotted the swordswoman. He caught her in the midst of her current guildmates, seemingly acting as some sort of a senior. He also looked at the other members surrounding her. It seemed like she got some good friends with her. He worried that she might be the type of person that was always isolated from the rest of the guild. An inward sigh of relief went across his head after thinking about that.
He then turned his eyes towards the insignia of the guild that also bore its name.
'Mermaid Heel, huh? So that's the guild she's currently joined.' He thought.
At that same time, he noticed her staring at him for some reason. Their eyes met for a second before Kagura shook her head, seemingly avoiding his gaze, and pressed on alongside her group.
He slightly frowned but was cut short when Gray's voice called him back to reality.
"Oi! Don't start dozing off in the middle of the event. The ceremony's not yet over so pay attention."
The pinkette ignored the retort and silently caught up with his group as all teams now began to stand on their respective corners at the bonfire as several magic lacrimas appeared high from the air in the colosseum, revealing the faces of the commentators from their seats. Their announcements were still ongoing.
"Now that we're done with our fifth team, we will now introduce you to our next guild that made into the main event. And my oh my, they're a new guild that finally joined in today's games just like Fairy Tail. The fact that they made this far shows their capability to challenge the title of the strongest guild." Chapati announced from his seat as the presented guilds looked at the last corner where the supposed next team would appear.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you. RAVEN TAIL!"
When those words were announced, a mixed reaction came from the crowd as five figures emerged from the shadows of the last tunnel. They made their appearance to the crowd that was showered with cheers, due to having seen their performance from the lacrima screens.
However, while the crowd gave them a good reception, Fairy Tail members turned their eyes towards them in disbelief. Makarov, in particular was one of the people who immediately expressed his displeasure towards their reception.
"RAVEN TAIL?! WHAT'S A DARK GUILD DOING HERE OF ALL PLACES?!"
As soon as he said that, it became clear for the surrounding audience of what they just heard him and raised concerns about the background of the aforementioned guild.
"A dark guild?"
"Is that true?"
"This is the first time I've heard of them."
"What's the Council or the League even doing?"
Murmurs circled around them though it was not long before the commentators began to explain.
"Well, it's true that they were once classified as such and that the guild was around for more than seven years. However, recent updates from the League announced their approval to legalize them as a legal guild since they have been performing well and helping to keep the peace in the country."
...
"That's bullshit!" Natsu said, angrily.
The mere thought of them helping the country was clearly a lie.
Raven Tail has always been an enemy to Fairy Tail. Their history goes as far back before he and Happy even met with Lucy.
There's no way they would've 'helped' the country. If anything, they were poised to cause mayhem and violence wherever they were. Not to mention, their main purpose was to bring down Fairy Tail. Not to mention, their lack of involvement during the last stages of the preliminaries proved that they were not here to just simply compete.
"There's got to be a mistake."
"Regardless, they are now part of the games. The League does not shy away from potential guilds that contributed to the magical world. If they approved them then that would mean that they're not a dark guild."
"Even so that's still―" Before Natsu could even protest, he was stopped by Erza who placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Leave it, Natsu."
"Erza. You can't possibly agree to this?"
"As much as I want to complain, we have no choice now that they're here. I can't let you lose your focus just because of them." Erza reasoned with a firm look. "We still have the games ahead of us. We have to do our best and watch our backs."
Natsu wanted to say something but immediately understood her words. He gritted his teeth as he held his cool and relented to her request.
"Fine."
Erza smiled at him to show her assurance.
"Let's protect each other and win this year's games, Natsu."
"Yeah. Count on it."
...
After the introduction of Raven Tail, the introductions continued on as the team waited in anticipation for the last two teams.
"There's two more. I wonder what guild is the other one." Gray said.
The other members all looked at him with the same question.
Whatever they are, they might be renowned just like Sabertooth or Lamia Scale. Although, they haven't heard of any guild that might be on par with the other top guilds so they could only wait as the announcers began their introduction.
Erza had an idea who might be the other guild. She just don't want to believe it yet. But considering the people that consisted of that team, it wouldn't surprise her one bit. The only thing she needed to worry was the reaction from the rest.
"There are only two teams left that made it in the preliminaries. And what a surprise! I don't think this had happened since the creation of the first Grand Magic Games festival. This is definitely unexpected! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, FAIRY TAIL B TEAM!"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"
Natsu and the rest couldn't believe their eyes as the mentioned team finally emerged from the entrance.
There was a mix of confusion for the crowd as well. It was understandable that they would feel conflicted towards the development that was going on right now.
It was more shocking for the original team as soon as they recognized the familiar faces that comprised the second team.
"You kidding me?! Gajeel?! How?!" Natsu gaped in shock.
"Mira-san too?!" Lucy said.
"Juvia? Why is she here?" Gray added.
"Laxus-san awawawa..." Wendy stammered.
The last member got Erza squinted her eyes in suspicion.
"Mystogan?" She muttered. "No, that's not it. You..."
The scarlet knight stood there in unease. Her eyes peering over to the masked man standing behind the four.
"Jellal?"
As soon as she said that, the man in question shot a gaze towards her and passed a disapproving look as if to not say anymore about the subject.
The group was then approached by them as Jellal walked near her.
Erza took the opportunity to gather information.
"What's the meaning of this, Jellal?" She muttered lowly to avoid anyone from catching their conversation.
"It's complicated. But your master was an understanding person. We told him about our situation and approved of this arrangement." He briefly explained.
"So it was for that objective, huh? Though last time I heard, you weren't able to get near the event grounds." She replied back.
"That was before I thought of this idea. It fitted perfectly for me since Mystogan and I are the same person." He explained.
"This is still against the rules."
"Don't get so worked up, you two." Another voice joined in as soon as they saw Laxus walking towards them and stood beside Mystogan with a sling of one arm over his shoulder. "This is a festival. No need to get too serious on the first day."
The two mages nodded in response.
"Remember, Mystogan is a lot less talkative than this." He added. "Make sure not to stand out too much, right Mystogan?"
"Understood." Mystogan lightly shook his head in response. He then shot another look towards the scarlet knight who simply nodded in turn.
After a few moments, Laxus turned his attention elsewhere and left the two once again.
Mystogan walked past Erza but not before starting another conversation.
"So is there anything odd you noticed lately?"
"I'm suspicious about Raven Tail but apart from that, there's nothing at the moment."
"I see. Their magical presence seemed different from the one we kept detecting from the past games."
"We're going to keep an eye on them just in case." She said.
"What about the mysterious presence?"
"No, I got nothing yet."
"Alright." He said before resuming his pace to return to his team. "We'll talk about this some other time."
"Be careful out there."
There was no more reply after that. Instead, Erza noticed a slight nod from the departing figure as she, in turn, returned to her own teammates who were waiting for her.
...
It was time for the last team. Everyone from the stadium stood with anticipation as the one team that most of them had been rooting out for was about to make their introduction once again to this year's Grand Magic Games. All noises went silent and the announcers resumed their talks as they turned their attention to the last team to be mentioned in the event.
"And now, for the last team that made it through the preliminaries! That's right! You all know who they are! They are the strongest! The invincible! The complete dominators. The reigning champions! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, SABERTOOTH!"
A thunderous roar erupted as the main attraction of today's favorites finally took center stage.
Every mage of every guild turned their heads to Sabertooth as they walked out from the tunnel with their heads held high, greeting the massive support shone upon them by the crowd. There was no other way to boost one's confidence than this.
As a result, their members were given confidence more than the rest of the other guilds that came before them.
"They've come," Natsu muttered, looking over to the blonde-haired mage. The man took the opportunity to approach him, stopping just a few meters and decided to eye on him from head to toe.
"Looks like you've prepared well. Looking forward to fighting you on the field, Natsu-san." Sting spoke expectantly.
There was little need to hide his confidence in this matter. Natsu noticed that he was being looked down upon directly however, he didn't let himself getting provoke and simply smirked in return.
"We'll see about that."
A short standoff went between them until Sting turned back to his teammates to prepare for the upcoming matches.
As soon as all members were assembled, they all made their way to the center wherein they were greeted by a pumpkin mascot who in turn began his introduction to today's game event.
"Welcome all of you! Once again, congratulations on your qualifications from the preliminaries. Now, we will move on to the first game event at today's festival! Hope you all have fun!" The mascot declared, snapping its fingers.
Soon afterward, a large stone wall burst out from the ground with some writings that indicated today's games along with the future games on the succeeding days. Spectators marveled at the sight of magic in display as the stadium was drowned once again with noise.
However, for the participants down below, their surprise was something else. It was the descriptions that were written on the wall.
"And with this, the Grand Magic Games' program has been unveiled!" The mascot declared, followed by another wave of applause in the process.
Natsu eyed the writings on the wall. "It looks like a contest and then a battle on each day. Interesting. I wonder what kind of contest is that Hidden thing."
"Yeah. Judging by its name, it may be something akin to stealth or hiding." Gray joined in. "Look over there."
The others followed the ice mage's finger, pointing at something on the wall.
"Those are the points for each rank in the contest."
According to the mascot, the contest will be centered on a ranking system for all participants. Points are distributed according to their ranks; 1st place gets the most points with a perfect score of 10 while 8th place gets nothing. Other ranks have points on their own which will be distributed as follows:
2nd place = 8 pts
3rd place = 6 pts
4th place = 4 pts
5th place = 3 pts
6th place = 2 pts
7th place = 1 pt
In addition, guilds are free to choose their participant to enter the contest which gives them ample time to select their member that fits the criteria of the said event. In the case of today's contest, guilds will have to choose a member that specializes in hiding or concealment.
However, rules are different in the battle section.
Instead of guild members choosing for their participants, the organizers will be the ones who get to choose to pair who against who. Moreover, the choices will be influenced by the fans. Through that process, a battle between two renowned mages will be common, depending on how they perform in the games. This is also a way to create hype for the crowd who wanted to pit their favorite mage against another.
The points are also modified differently. The winner gets 10 points and the loser gets 0 points in return. A draw or a tie will give both players 5 points if the fight extends longer than the clock which is only set to 30 minutes.
"Oooooooh! That sounds fun. I'm getting all fired up!" Natsu grinned widely.
"B-But wouldn't that kind of system a disadvantage for the one who participated in the contest and was chosen to fight in the battles as well?" Lucy said in concern.
"That's the worse part of the selection. In any case, we should consider who to send out in the contest and their popularity to the fans. If we're not careful, we might end up exhausting one of our core members and might not participate in future game events." Erza pondered in thought.
"Guess I shouldn't be troubled by the popularity. You two, on the other hand." Lucy said, eyeing the pinkette and the scarlet knight in the process.
"Hmm? What do you mean, Lucy?" Erza tilted her head in confusion.
"Nothing. I forgot sometimes how oblivious you two can be." She said.
The celestial mage was right though. The team was comprised of two mages who had renowned titles throughout Fiore. One being the Salamander and the other being the Titania. On the other team, there's Laxus, Gajeel, Mystogan, or even Mirajane. While seven years had most of the population forgot about them, their performance in the preliminaries garnered some attention to consider rooting out for.
It's uncommon if they were pinned to fight against each other right off the bat. Hope she was wrong though.
...
"Now then, let us start our first contest, Hidden. Please select your participant for the match. After each team submits their participant, I'll explain the rules." The mascot stated.
The group gathered together as they began their discussion.
"So who are we gonna give the opening game to?" Lucy asked.
"Since we won't know anything about the contest other than the title, we have to choose wisely who to send." Erza said, pondering in thought.
"You Erza and Natsu should be out of the question for now. There's a chance that you two might get chosen to fight in the battles section." Gray reasoned.
"That's what I wanted. To be honest, I'm not good at hiding and stuff. How about you do it, Gray." Natsu said.
"We got a shot in sending Lucy too since she has an arsenal of celestial spirits. Wendy is a good candidate too." Erza added.
"Eh? Me?" The two girls answered in surprise.
"So it's me, Lucy-san or Gray-san." Wendy joined.
"I'll have to vote for Gray on this one."
"I vote for Luce."
"What about you, Wendy?" The scarlet knight turned towards the petite girl beside her.
"I-I'll have to vote for Gray-san." She said timidly.
"I guess that settles it. Gray, you're up."
"Alright. Leave it to me." The ice mage shook his head. "Sorry about this, Lucy."
"Don't worry about it. Good luck on the contest." She reassured.
"Oi! Gray! Don't screw this up! I'll beat you up if you lose to the B Team." Natsu shouted.
"I know that already." He turned to head out towards the center before being stopped by Erza. "What is it?"
"Be careful with Raven Tail."
"Huh?"
"Remember back when we're at the prelims? That group might've been behind that." She muttered.
Gray adopted a grim expression as soon as he understood her words. The events that transpired back when they were separated was an incident that wasn't ruled out as just coincidence. The group that attacked them was suspicious enough that there might be someone out there wanting to bring down the team from qualifying. Although that was foiled since they were able to pass at the end but the group behind the attack remains unknown.
Raven Tail was the only thing that probably fit the description, seeing that they were here together with them.
"Got it. I'll keep my eyes open out for them."
And with that, he went ahead of the group and met up with the rest of the participants from the other guilds.
"It looks like all the teams have decided their participants for the opening contest. Yajima-san, what are your thoughts on the participants so far? Is there someone we should be rooting out for?"
"Hmm... Rufus of Sabertooth is indeed everyone's favorite but I'm gonna be keeping an eye for Gray."
"What about you, Miss Jenny?"
"Of course, that would be Eve."
"Well, that all remains to be seen. But we're just about to see how our contestants will fare on this contest! Let us look forward to their performances!"
...
Back at the edge of the stadium, the rest of the A Team watched from the sidelines as the participants are gathered at the center. It looked like the mascot was explaining to them the rules of the Hidden contest. Since they're here to watch, they took the time to converse with each other about the games so far.
"It's finally starting." Lucy started.
"Let's cheer for him. Juvia might be from the other team but we should also support her too." Erza smiled.
"Do you best, Gray-san, Juvia-san!" Wendy cheered.
Meanwhile, Natsu was looking somewhere else. His eyes drifted towards the other side of the stadium where he could spot the Mermaid Heel members. There he saw Kagura standing together with her guildmates, although she seemed uninterested to observe the match due to her closed eyes and indifferent expression. A frown went across his face as he thought about the moment he was with her during the preliminaries.
He swore to himself.
He didn't know it yet but somehow, he needed to find a way to prevent her from going that path. It was a path that one would never be able to come back. There's nothing satisfying that would come from it. It was fortunate that she didn't kill anyone yet but the bloodlust he felt through her when she talked about the man responsible for her brother's death was so strong that he feared that she might kill someone by accident.
He needed to avoid that at all costs.
Although come to think of it, he never asked about the name of the man who killed her brother.
For some reason, he gripped his fists even harder. Whoever that man was, he was the reason why she became this way. And if that man was still alive to this day, he swore he would never see the light of day.
The next time he had the chance to meet Kagura, he would ask. Perhaps he could do something about it. And maybe prevent the killing from occurring.
"Natsu, is something wrong?" A voice cut through his thoughts, prompting him to avert his eyes away and towards his teammate in the process.
"N-Nothing. Just lost in thought." He excused.
"That doesn't look like nothing to me. Come now, what's on your mind." Erza pressed.
Ugh, this should be something he needed to keep it to himself. He wanted to hide it from his guildmates, especially from her.
And this is the reason why.
Looking at her serious expression, it doesn't look like she is going to stop bothering him until he talks about it.
Natsu mentally sighed.
Guess it wouldn't hurt for a bit of advice or two from a friend.
"Say, Erza. What would you do if you have a friend that wanted to have revenge? Would you stop him or would you let him?" He asked.
"That's a weird question from you, Natsu." Erza said, looking a bit surprised by the question.
"I guess so. Anyway, would you stop him or help him?"
A short pause went by between them as the female knight tried to recollect her thoughts. After that, she looked at him with a somewhat solemn expression.
"It's a bit complicated." She paused. "I... had friends lost their lives from someone. There's not a day of me thinking that the person who took their lives must pay. I often think about delivering justice to them myself."
"Like from a certain someone, I reckon."
Erza chuckled at his response.
"I wish I could say that wholeheartedly. Before I learned of his circumstances, I still harbored that kind of feeling. But after learning everything from him, I just stopped."
"What do you mean by that?"
"How can I say it... I just didn't think any more about it. I simply said to him about the sins he made and the lives that he took. I reminded him of all of his mistakes. So that he would never forget the scars he made to me and to everyone else." She muttered sadly.
"And what did you feel about it? Are you still mad?"
"I might be. But thinking back on it, I knew that I could not bring back the people he took from me. If I killed him for revenge, it wouldn't bring back Simon. Nothing would come at the end of the path of revenge. At least, that's what I thought when I realized that he was still alive." She said.
"I see."
'So she still thinks about that day, huh?' Natsu thought.
"Plus..."
"Plus?"
"I was saved by someone from that path." She paused. "No, that's not it. I was saved twice by that person. From both that path and my sacrifice." She smiled softly.
He noticed that she was not putting up a strong front like she usually does. Instead, he could only see a warm expression from her. At that moment, Natsu realized that this was the first time he saw this soft side from her. From the Titania of all people.
He was so used to seeing her being the bossy type in front of everyone in the guild. Her stoic and firm personality was cemented to his mind that he could not think of any impression she would have towards others. Not to mention, her scary tone when angered still traumatized him to this day so it was a shock for him to see her like this.
Moreover, her conversation seemed to be implying someone.
"I-I see... t-there was such a person, huh?" He said, turning his eyes away from her for a moment. At the same time, a small blush was visible from his cheeks.
"Yes. I might not be the same person as I am now if it weren't for him. In fact, I would not be able to move forward to the future if he didn't save me at that time." She confessed.
"I-Is that so? Well, good for him, I guess." He said, lowering his voice in the form of a whimper but it was not unheard from the scarlet knight who giggled at his response.
"In any case, it's not that whether you should help him or stop him on the path revenge. The better question would be, what can you do for that person?" She said.
"What I can do?" Natsu repeated the question as if registering the thought just now for being so foreign to him until now.
"That's right. I don't know who this friend of yours is but I will answer this as someone who was saved from that path, it's up to you to decide what to do for that person." She spoke.
Natsu shook his head for a moment, thinking about what she just said. It wasn't long until he noticed her holding out her hands to him, placing hers to him as a sign of reassurance.
"If that doesn't work, you can rely on me."
"Erza." He muttered.
"Just as I relied on you at that time, you can always rely on me on your troubles. If you ever need help, I'm always here for you, Natsu." She offered which somehow brought his worries to rest.
Natsu felt his doubts disappear almost immediately on those words. He smiled in content as he looked at her with gratitude. "Thanks, Erza."
She eventually let go of her hands and smiled in return.
"Anytime." She paused but not before twiddling her fingers and suddenly turned her eyes away from him for some reason. "J-Just so you know, I don't usually do this with someone. What I said before, I really mean it. Don't you forget that, okay?"
"Okay okay. When did I ever doubt you?" Natsu chuckled before sporting a toothy grin.
It looks like things got a little better for him now, thanks to her advice. Although, it seemed like she couldn't put a straight face towards him like she usually did and kept avoiding his gaze for some reason.
"Anyways, let's get back on the contest. We need to show our support to Gray." She said, pacing frantically as if wanting to change subjects.
"Yeah." He agreed as they both turned their attention back at the games.
He can worry about Kagura some other time. Right now, they have a game to win.
Although at least that's what he thought as soon as he and the others began to watch the contest unfold.
In front of the lacrima-powered screens, they saw what was happening inside the contest. Their faces could only morph to that of shock as they witnessed the state of their teammate's performance.
What the hell is happening?
...
Gray was looking frustrated more than ever. His situation was not looking well for him right now.
The game Hidden was a lot difficult than he thought it would be.
The rules of this contest were simple.
All eight participants will be teleported somewhere around the magic constructed city in hopes of finding each other in the process. All of them are considered 'it' and will have to look for each other. They're free to use any kind of magic they wish if it meant landing a hit or finding one throughout the large city.
On paper, it sounds easy enough. However, the event has a catch.
Multiple copies of all eight participants were planted all across the city, filling it to the brim that from an outsider's point of view, it would prove difficult to spot for the real one. Every single copy was generated by magic and was crafted meticulously to imitate the real person. Added to that, if one participant managed to hit a copy by mistake, he would lose a point and would be teleported into another place to start over. However, hitting the real one will guarantee 2 points and the targeted one will subsequently lose 1 point.
Gray carefully waded through the thick crowd of imitated copies of himself and other participants. All the copies were generating a magical presence that was similar to his, as well as, the others. In this setting, he couldn't tell exactly who was the real deal. The only advantage he had over the copies was that he was the only one moving.
The same goes for the other seven participants.
Thinking back on it, he recalled the participants that were called together with him.
There's Lyon from Lamia Scale, Juvia from the B Team, Eve from Blue Pegasus, Beth from Mermaid Heel, Yeager from Quatro Cerberus, Nullpudding from Raven Tail, and Rufus from Sabertooth.
It was a fairly normal matchup with the exception of Rufus who seemed to be favored by everyone due to his affiliation with the reigning champion guild.
He still hasn't seen his magic yet but his reputation from the masses seemed genuine enough that he needed to take an eye out for him during the match.
However, the one thing he's cautious about was the purple-colored guy from Raven Tail.
Heeding the scarlet knight's warning from earlier, he immediately put up a guard towards the mage despite not being in the game. It was probably due to the fact that he was the first one who raised a complaint about him and Juvia being on the same guild.
He raised suspicion towards the short man and even advised Juvia the same.
For all he knew, he might be plotting something during the game against him or Juvia for that matter.
As a result, he was looking tense throughout the contest in order to not let himself caught off guard.
The contest was not a game that prioritizes massive mage battles that flaunted big spells right off the bat. If anything, it was the complete opposite of that. His magic is very limited to these kinds of games but it did not stop him from doing what he can for the team.
Rather than trying to walk carelessly around the populated city, he simply limited himself to not move in order to disguise himself along with the copies. And when necessary, he would move to enact his plan to attack any suspicious activity.
A few minutes went by and so far, he did not spot anything or anyone at the moment. He hadn't been attacked nor he had attacked anyone which set him at 0 points.
Other participants began their move too as commentators continued to provide information from the outside.
"It looks like Juvia just touched another clone of Gray. This put the B Team at -2 already."
'That girl... Is she planning to throw this game?' He thought as he listened to the voices above.
Nevertheless, he needed to worry for himself at the moment as he still hadn't encountered any mages yet.
And sure enough, he finally got it.
"Found you."
A voice caused him to glance back. At the same time, however, he barely dodged an incoming strike towards his back as he rolled to the side and stared at his attacker.
"You are that guy from Raven Tail."
"Do you even have the time to speak?"
As he said that, Gray noticed another spell launched at him. He dashed away further as a wave of ice spikes smashed towards the wall. His eyes peered to his left, revealing another participant.
"Lyon?"
"Your opponent is me, Gray."
However, Gray turned his head for a moment towards Nullpudding who was no longer in sight. He gritted his teeth before returning his attention back to Lyon.
"You're exposing too much, Lyon." Gray answered.
"As long as I get to fight you, regardless of any contest. After all, I'm fighting to fulfill our promise." He said.
"Kh―As if I agreed on that!"
Placing his hands together, a short burst of ice magic appeared around him as Gray stretched his hands out. The ice forming into a shape of a large intricate hammer was made. The raven-haired mage didn't waste time idling around and brought down the massive down at Lyon.
Unfortunately, he was able to dodge away from the impact and prepared a counterattack.
"Ice-Make: Eagle!" Invoking his spell, Lyon sent out multiple eagles in the shape of ice towards Gray.
Gray used the buildings to shield himself away from attack as he jumped into one of the doors and entered inside it. He didn't waste time making a run for it since the confrontation garnered a lot of attention which would attract other participants in the process.
Dashing through the back door, he made his way towards the other direction and away from the scene.
'This should be good for now. Right now, I have to—'
His thought was cut short as he found himself smashing to the ground. He failed to anticipate an attack coming from above.
"Got you."
"You bastard!"
Gray tried to get back up but before he could anything, his body glowed in bright light was teleported elsewhere.
In just like that, he was somewhere yet again in an unknown part of the city.
"What a tactic! Gray was suddenly ambushed by Nullpudding! This puts Raven Tail 1 point and Fairy Tail A Team down to -1 point!"
"Looks like Lyon took out Yeager which puts Lamia Scale to 1 point as well. A minus 1 point for the Quatro Cerberus."
"Eve scored two hits on Beth and Nullpudding, giving him 2 points for Blue Pegasus!"
"Juvia landed a hit on Lyon. Although it seemed like he didn't put any effort into dodging it. Fairy Tail B Team is now only at -1 point."
The commentators also commented on the current events on other participants.
The current standings are as follows.
...
Rankings
1. Eve +2
2. Nullpudding -+ 0
3. Rufus -+0
4. Lyon -+0
5 - 8. Yeager - 1
Beth -1
Juvia -1
Gray -1
...
"There's still 20 minutes before the clock ends. Plenty more opportunities to take and lose points. Who will win and emerge from the shadows and who will vanish into nothingness?"
Gray quietly paced along the streets once more before taking a short turn to another alleyway. This time, there were no clones placed around his area which made it easy for him to ascertain his current situation without being seen. In addition, the place was cramped that any form of attack would only come from three sides. The front, back, and from above.
And sure enough, he was able to anticipate another attack towards him as he sighted Nullpudding descending down from one of the buildings and readied his spiked arm.
"As if I would get tricked by once." He said, clasping his hands together and stretched outward above him.
"Ice-Make: Shield Dome!"
Ice formed around the mage in a form of a dorm which stopped the mage's attack with ease.
Gray wasn't yet done as he proceeded to put his right hand to the ground, summoning another spell.
"Ice-Make: Spikes!"
Without a moment too soon, several large spikes jutted from the ground and went straight to Nullpudding, scoring multiple hits.
The mage in question simply let out a grunted response as he was sent flying back away as the ice vanished around the raven-haired mage.
"You gotta do better than that, you ugly bastard." He taunted as he watched him vanish from the alleyway after the system detected his hit.
With this, he managed to return his score back to zero. However, he needed to score more to get his rank up.
At that moment, he heard the commentators announce his encounter.
"What a good tactic from Gray. It seems like Nullpudding's trick isn't going to work twice on him now."
Gray walked from building to building, avoiding any detection from the others. While he was content with his current progress in the contest, something was still missing.
The Rufus guy still hadn't made his move yet. So far, all seven participants have been mentioned throughout the commentators but no sign of the Sabertooth guy.
'I'm having a bad feeling about this.' He thought.
He turned to another corner to the left but before placing both his hands to the ground, summoning an ice wall in front of him to block a wave of snow coming his way.
On the other side, Eve was making his move against him as he proceeded to confront the ice mage.
"Sorry, but I'll be taking you out, Gray-kun." He said, getting another spell ready.
Gray inwardly grunted as he proceeded to move away from the scene but the ice wall was slowly breaking apart. He ran back to where he was just as the wall broke apart and a wave of snow launched towards him.
He then stopped and turned his attention back at the wave. He clasped his hands once more and created a curved wall just in time as the wave was redirected away from him and into the copies in the process.
"Wha―" Eve was taken back by surprise as his attack hit several copies in the process. There was little time for him to make another response as the system detected his attack on the copies and sent him teleporting elsewhere.
"What an amazing turn of events! Gray just used Eve's own attack against him!"
"Looks like Eve-kun lost 3 points for hitting copies. This would be a blunder for him."
Gray smiled in content as soon as his assailant disappeared. He made a note about not using too many powerful spells that affect large areas. He used Eve's magic against him with that kind of thinking.
However, just as he was about to make his move. He was cut short when he heard the commentators once again.
"Looks like Rufus has made his move! He's been standing at the top since the start of the contest."
It was at that moment, Rufus started to speak as well.
"This has been truly a disappointing contest. All of your magic, your movements, and your tactics. I've memorized them all."
Through that announcement, the whole stadium became dim. The surrounding city was suddenly changed into the night and from the center of it all was the red-coated man who stood on top.
Spectators baffled at the change of scenery and watched as Rufus prepared his spell for the first time.
"This contest has gone way too long. Let me show you a spell worthy of praise and applause. And a perfect ending to this farce."
Extending his arms sideways, a yellowish glow occupied his body as his magic presence grew stronger, causing the other participants to look up towards his position in shock and disbelief.
At that moment, a burst of light shone outward from his body and the lights began soaring throughout different places as if like a shooting star.
Gray couldn't tell what was going on as the light quickly soared towards him, temporarily blinding him as it got closer.
"Memory-Make: A Night of Falling Stars!"
...
A/N: And there you have it. Chapter is done. I know it's been long overdue but I'm glad that I managed to publish this regardless. I apologize for the late upload. Well, better late than never as they say. I'll do my best to update this more often and hope that it doesn't end up running late uploads like last time.
Anyways, what do you think of the chapter? Leave your thoughts on the review and let me know what you think.
That's it for now. I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Peace!
- The wiErDos send their regards.