Introducing my first other OC. (Do unintroduced Celestial Spirits count as OCs?)

It's pronounced Ah-May-Sheesh-toe. Ah-may for short.

Also, I probably won't be finished with the training until the end of this week, so you guys probably won't get another update until Saturday or Sunday.

Chapter Twenty Four - Mercurius

It was two days later, on December 27th, that I realized that I was confused about the timeline, and that there was something I needed to do immediately. So I did what was possibly the most dangerous thing I've ever done.

I broke into Mercurius.

I needed to talk to the King.

I went to the Queen first. She was in a separate room, reading aloud to herself, and it was decently late at night.

I guess I thought she'd have green hair, like Hisui, but instead her hair was a deep purple color – not as dark as mine, but it was really vivid.

Before she could scream at the sight of me, I dropped to my knees. "Please give me a chance to speak, your Majesty. The fate of the future depends on it."

She seemed stunned in silence, before she started to speak again. "Why did you not go through the official channels?"

"I am but nine years old, my Queen," I said. "They would not approve me."

She waited a bit, before she said, "Audience granted. You may speak."

I relaxed a bit, but stayed kneeling. "Your Majesty, I come here bearing knowledge of the future."

"Do you have any proof?" she asked.

"I know that you are pregnant, and will bear a child."

Her eyes narrowed. "That hasn't been released to the public, and barely anyone in the palace knows it. However, you need more than that to convince me."

"I will admit, I imagined you would look different," I said, gazing at her. "I thought you would look like her."

There was a sharp inhale of breath. "Her?"

"Yes, your majesty. You are carrying a daughter."

She deflated a bit. "I don't look like her?"

I observed her face. "No, you definitely look like her. She has your face, and even the same type of hair, but her color is a light green. The color of jade."

"Hisui," she breathed.

"Yes," I said. "Though I am curious about how quickly you realized her name."

"Do you know my name, child?" she asked.

I blushed. I probably should have looked it up. "No, I do not."

She chuckled. "That is alright. My name is Ameshisuto, though I tend to go by Ame, as it's shorter. My family has a tradition of naming daughters after their hair color, and gems that match. My name means Amethyst."

"I see," I said.

"You may sit, child. And there is no need to be so formal, I despise that."

"I'm sorry," I asked, standing up and moving to a chair across from her. "But I'm a bit confused on why you haven't called the guards."

"To be honest, so am I," she said. "I've been trained to do so, that is definite. But something else seemed to stop me. In addition to that, I am a mage as well. I'm not very good in a fight, but I'm very good at knowing someone's intentions, and I can tell you mean me no harm."

I thought about tickling her. "How about now?"

Her brow quirked. "I'm not quite sure what it's saying, I've never seen that before. It seems innocent, but also mischievous…what is it?"

"I was thinking about tickling you," I said, shrugging.

She laughed. "Alright. So, what was it you wanted to speak about for the future?"

"There will be a point in time," I began, "where Fiore will go to war with Alvarez."

"They have quite a few powerful wizards," she began quietly.

The Spriggan Twelve haven't gathered yet, but they still had August and Irene.

I nodded. "It will be a few years away – Hisui should be of age by then, but it might change."

"So what do you propose we do?" she asked.

"At some time in the future, your husband will start something called the Grand Magic Games. Each guild enters a team of five people, and the winner of the games is declared the strongest guild in Fiore. They also won 30 Million Jewels, but that can be changed if you want it to."

"Alright, and you're suggesting…"

"Move it up," I said. "I want the Games happening earlier. Now, I'm fairly certain my guild will win, and when it does, there can be an article in Sorcerer Weekly with an interview with us. In it, I'll mention our training methods, and how we hope other guilds will adopt them, and that we're looking forward to a stronger fight the following year."

"I see," she said. "You hope to encourage all of the guilds by making it a competition, so they all get stronger."

I nodded. "Exactly. I'm pushing my guild pretty hard, and I've told Master to talk about it at Master Meetings, but this would be the best way to push them. In addition to this, I'm hoping that by making a huge spectacle and showing others how strong some of Fiore's wizards are, that other people will try becoming mages, too."

She seemed lost in thought. "30 Million is a bit much,"

"You don't need to do that," I said. "It's 30 Million in X791. You can start out with a much lower number and build it up as it gets hyped up. You can also sell out seats and stands, and make merchandise. That should help raise the revenue, and it will also help you give out a bigger reward."

She stood up. "Let's go, we must speak with my husband."

King Toma was not very happy that his wife talked to a stranger who magically appeared in front of her.

Now that I think about it, I can't help but wonder how Rogue ended up telling Hisui about the future. Maybe he just snuck in through the shadows?

Huh, maybe Hisui and her mom are alike in that way.

"Ame! You can't be serious!"

"I trust her, Toma! My instincts are telling me to trust her. They've never shouted this loud before, even in the past."

I listened enough to realize that Ame wasn't always royalty, or even nobility, which explained why her expressions were pretty clear when we spoke – she hasn't adjusted to formality.

I haven't heard the whole story, but I'm assuming that Ame's instincts made her take a left instead of a right or something, and they bumped into each other and fell in love.

Or something like that.

"Toma, she knows I'm pregnant!"

"Ame, several people in the castle know you're pregnant! That doesn't mean she knows the future!"

"She knows it's a girl!"

That made Toma pause. "How do you know that, girl? We haven't even found out the baby's gender yet."

I frowned. "Why not? I'm pretty sure that there's a potion a magical doctor can give you that determines it…"

"Look, even if you don't believe she knows the future, at least listen to her idea. It's a good one!"

"We don't even know her name!"

"I'll gladly tell you my name," I said. "If you promise that you will not hurt my guild in any way for the things I do."

He paused. "Such as?"

"I mean that I don't care if I'm arrested. I mean, it would certainly throw a dent in my plans, and I'd have to write out a super long list of things for them to do since I couldn't do it, but as long as the conditions are decent, I don't care! Just leave my guild out of this. Don't disband them, or anything."

He paused. "Fine. Your determination is…interesting. Please continue."

"My name is Eleanor Rigby," I said. "Though I prefer to go by Elle. I am a member of Fairy Tail."

"That explains a lot," Ame muttered.

"At some point in the far off future, you will create something called The Grand Magic Games, or GMG for short. It's a competition between wizard guilds to determine the strongest in Fiore."

I could see the interest in his eyes. "That sounds intriguing…"

"At some point, years after it's created, Fiore will go to war with Alvarez. We will be unable to prevent it. I'm hoping that the Grand Magic Games, and the competitive atmosphere will help other guilds grow stronger, so we're more powerful. I'm already working on my own guild."

His eyes narrowed. "Go into more details, please."

"There's usually a preliminary round that shortens the number of guilds competing. I suggest that you have two teams for the top four guilds."

"What do you mean?" he asked, interested.

"After the top four guilds – which I suspect will be Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, and Quatro Cerberus, get past the preliminaries, there will be two teams of five for each guild. On the first four days, there is a game play in the morning. For example, one was a race, another was a monster destroying competition, one a battle in water or hiding in the city…etc. Then the latter half of the day, it's a one on one battle between pairings from different guilds. On the fifth day, there is a mandatory day of rest, and the last day is a huge battle royale. You can keep all ten participants from each guild, with forty players, or you can make each guild choose the top five contestants. After the winner is announced as the Strongest Guild in Fiore, there's a banquet thanking them for the entertainment and for helping with inter-guild relationships. It's a competition, but it's still friendly, and there are even times when you can change the battles so certain guilds work together. Generally, it starts on July 1st, and the banquet is on July 7th…Anyway, generally, there's a money reward included as well. You probably cannot spare money right now, but if you advertise the right way, sell out tickets for seats to watch the games, and make merchandise, you'll probably make income, and you can give part of that money away as a reward for the following year. Then, the winners will get an interview with Sorcerer so they can talk about their guild life and training regimen. I'm hoping that it will make everyone stronger, so we can also defend against Alvarez more easily."

"What makes you think that the guilds will fight for this country?" he asked.

"Of course they will!" I said. "I know for a fact they do! I also know for a fact that even though some of their opponents are much stronger than them, they keep fighting until the very end."

"What about Phantom Lord?" Ame asked. "They are quite a powerful guild as well."

I stopped. "Huh. Guess I forgot about them."

"Do they not exist in the future?" Ame asked.

"No, they were disbanded because they're basically a dark guild and Jose Porla is absolutely insane. I suggest you keep an eye on him."

Toma narrowed his eyes at me. "I will, but back to the Games…There's something you're leaving out, isn't there?"

"Are you sure you want me to say it?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"You end up dressing up as a pumpkin and becoming the mascot."

Silence. "I WHAT?"

"You put a pumpkin mask thing on your head, go by the name Mato, which is really just Toma scrambled, and go around announcing events and saying 'kabo' at the end of each sentence. You also raise your voice so people don't know that the King dresses up as a pumpkin sometimes."

There was silence.

"Say I believe you," Toma said. "What would you have me do?"

"Whether you believe me or not, I'd have you make the GMG real. If you can't do that, however…"

Toma was quiet before he said. "If the child is a girl, I will believe you. For now, the Grand Magic Games sound extremely interesting. I will speak to my advisors, so we are ready in six months. But for now…"

He pressed a button and yelled, "Guards! Imprison this girl for three days, please."

"Toma!" Ame said.

"She still broke into the castle," Toma said. "She will be allowed to visit us in the future if she goes through the front entrance – I will post a picture so they know to let you in and show you to a guest room. But you can't just break into places."

Okay, honestly, I was kind of surprised by how well that went. I walked over to the guards. "Alright, goodnight, Your Majesties. Have a nice evening!"

The guards didn't put me in cuffs, but they did lead me to the dungeons, where I was put in a pretty barren and old cell.

I figured that this was mostly a test – to see if I'd escape (after all, if I got into the castle easily, I should be out of the castle easily. I wasn't wearing magic inhibiting cuffs, either).

So for three days, and three nights, I sat around and didn't do much of anything. I didn't even requip a light pen and plan anything. I just spent my time sleeping, and meditating, for the most part.

Ame was the one who let me out. "Elle, my dear, I'm sorry about Toma-"

"Don't worry about it," I said, smiling. "It's fine, and I get where he's coming from. He's also the King, and he needs to make some tough decisions."

She nodded. "Alright, no breaking into the castle unless it's an emergency."

"Understood," I said, and requipped out a card as we walked to the exit. "This card should light up if I need to teleport directly into the castle. It should give you a warning. It's also a way to call me, if you need to, and I will come directly into the castle when that happens as well. If magic is sent through it – no matter whose magic – I will appear immediately. If you want me to come visit so we can discuss, hold down the signal."

She took the card and nodded. "Do you have another I can give to Toma?"

I nodded and handed her another, before curtsying. "Thank you, Queen Ame, for giving me a chance."

"Like I said," she said a bit absent-mindedly, and I realized she was looking at the stars. "I almost felt like someone else was making me give you a chance."

I followed her gaze and looked at the stars.

Someone else, huh?

I wonder what that meant. Was it the Celestial Spirits? The one that put me here?

Or something else entirely?

"Either way," I said. "Thank you."

"One more thing," she said. "Toma suggested having a running commentary, and wanted to know if you had someone to recommend."

I paused. "Well, originally, there were two other people that are probably too young to comment now. But Yajima was one. He's on the magic council, though he was retired by the time the GMG was formed. I'm thinking that instead of three judges, you can have each of the guild masters commentating live, so they can brag about their opponents and explain things that are happening. Yajima will be the neutral judge."

She nodded. "An interesting idea, and I'm sure Toma will like it as well."

"If that's all, I'll be going now. Goodbye, my lady. Have a nice evening."

She waved and I popped to Tenrou, happy to finally be in my bed again.