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Chapter Thirty One - The 1st Annual Grand Magic Games: DAY ONE – July 1st, X773

We woke up the next day fully refreshed, and went down for the games.

My skin felt oddly empty without my bracelet on, and my magic hummed under my skin like an itch.

Makarov met us on the way down. "Now, I've made costumes for you-"

"No thank you," Cana said.

"I agree," Laxus said.

"You guys are supposed to match!" Makarov said.

"What color are the costumes?" I asked.

"Purple," Makarov said.

I frowned and looked pointedly at Juvia and Levy. "Are you sure that's the best choice? How about black and gold?"

"It doesn't matter, because-"

Ignoring him, I requipped my ColorS, and started changing my outfit. My pants and jacket were black with gold trimmings, and my shirt was the other way around.

He deflated.

I turned to the others. "How do you want yours?"

"Black with gold," Cana said, gesturing to her dress.

"Like Onee-sama's!" Juvia said, pointing down at her shirt and skirt.

"Black with gold," Laxus said.

"Me too," Levy said.

Done changing everyone's colors, I put away the ColorS and turned to Makarov. "There. All better."

He sighed. "Fine. You guys will be going in last because you came in first place. They're going backwards."

He left our tunnel and made his way to the commentator's booth, where I could also see Goldmine, Bob, Ooba, and Jose.

Damn, I was hoping he wouldn't get through.

But the amount meant that three guilds got two teams through.

I hope Phantom isn't one of them.

"Guys," I said. "The judges booth has five masters, including our own, which means that three guilds got two teams through. One of those masters is Jose Porla, the guild master of Phantom Lord. They have a thing against Fairy Tail, so be careful if you're against them. No fooling around or showman ship. Take them out as quickly as possible."

They nodded (though Levy looked a bit confused), and Laxus stared at Jose. "I don't like him."

"I don't think anyone likes him," I said.

The girls giggled.

Suddenly, a gong sounded, and trumpets filled the arena. "Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first annual Grand Magic Games! I'm Mato, and I'm your host, kabo!"

"Did he just say 'pumpkin'?" Laxus asked.

"Yes."

"First, introducing Yajima-san, kabo."

"It's a wonderful opportunity to be here," Yajima said.

"And the rest of our commentators are the guild masters of the participating guilds. They will introduce themselves as their teams come on the field, kabo."

"That's going to get annoying real quick," Laxus said.

"Did you completely miss him doing that last night?" I asked.

Laxus ignored me.

"In sixth place, Blue Pegasus, kabo!"

Sixth place? Why six instead of eight? Does that mean that only one guild has two teams?

"Elle, I thought you said there were eight teams."

"The rule book said six," Levy said. "I told you yesterday."

"In fifth place, Quatro Cerberus, kabo!"

But didn't Ame say 'all forty' contestants yesterday? Ahhhhhhh!

I couldn't remember.

"In fourth place, Lamia Scale, kabo!"

"Are you sure about the rule book, Levy?"

She nodded. "I got super confused when you said there were eight teams, because I distinctly remember there were only six!"

"In third place, Fairy Tail, kabo!"

"Who's on the other team?" Laxus asked.

"Macao, Wakaba, and three other people I don't recognize."

"One of them is Clarke!" Levy piped up. "He's the one who's been helping with Solid Script Magic!"

She pointed at a white haired mage who seemed to be in his late fifties, but still pretty spry.

"Who are the other two?" I asked.

"The girl is Maggie," Cana said. "She's an Iron-Make Mage."

The girl looked to be in her early thirties, and had light brown hair.

Iron-Make, huh? I thought.

"The guy is Rex," Laxus said. "He's a Speed Mage."

The guy had indigo colored hair, and seemed to be in his late twenties.

I should really pay more attention to the rest of the guild.

"It's a decent team," Cana admitted. "Would've been better if Dad was doing it. Or even Enno; that would be interesting."

"Hmm, if our other team got third, that means that Phantom got second," I muttered to myself.

Laxus snickered. "Our guild got two teams through."

"Yeah, we did," I said, smiling.

"In second place, we have Phantom Lord, kabo!"

The Phantom team came out, and I actually recognized Aria and Sol, which made me wonder how old they were. Totomaru wasn't on the team, though I think that's because he's too young. Aria seemed younger than Sol, but he still seemed to be in his early twenties.

"What is this? There are five guild masters, and five teams out here! This means that one guild had two teams that passed the qualifying round. And first place, winning by a landslide and only taking 1 minute and 54 seconds….is Fairy Tail! Kabo!"

And we walked into the stadium.

There were immediately roars of upset and other things. Something I was expecting. I mean, technically, none of us were even teenagers yet.

"What are you thinking, Makarov?" someone yelled, and everyone actually quieted down to hear our Master's response.

"I'm thinking that there is a reason they got first place," Makarov said calmly. "They may be children, but they are smart, and resourceful. I suggest you don't underestimate them."

"With all of our teams introduced, we have our first game up today. Participants, step forward, kabo."

I walked forward, and I noticed Macao step forward for his team. I didn't recognize any of the other people who stepped forward.

"And we will be starting off Day One with Pandemonium, kabo!"

What?

I had been expecting Hidden. I had been planning for Hidden, ever since I saw the Preliminaries yesterday.

This was a different matter.

But is it easier? I wondered.

"Alright, everyone pick a number!" Mato said.

We reached forward and all grabbed a stick, and I noticed mine said 6.

"What's yours?" I asked Macao.

"5," He said.

I nodded.

Last was probably the best position for me.

I probably couldn't take 100, but I could take whatever was left.

We all waited patiently as Mato explained the rules, and showed us the chart with the amount of monsters on it.

S – 1

A – 4

B – 15

C – 30

D - 50

Quatro Cerberus was first, and asked for seven. One was a B monster, two were Cs, and the rest were Ds. It took him awhile, but he eventually managed to take them all out, and ended up with seven points.

S – 1

A – 4

B – 14

C – 28

D - 46

Phantom Lord was second, and asked for twenty. He managed to take down an A monster, three Bs, and two C monsters (the rest were Ds), but fell to the S Class at seventeen, and Phantom Lord ended up with no points.

S – 1

A – 3

B – 11

C – 26

D - 35

Blue Pegasus asked for three, and managed to defeat them all, though he seemed really tired. Which was a bit sad because they were all Ds.

S – 1

A – 3

B – 11

C – 26

D - 32

Lamia Scale went next, and I was surprised to actually recognize him. It was Jura, but he was a lot younger, and if it weren't for us, he'd probably be the youngest in the competition, at sixteen. Despite that, he was obviously very skilled and had quite a strong magical presence.

Though he still didn't have hair.

He asked for ten, and ended up with the S Class monster, which he managed to take out.

I couldn't help but be a bit relieved.

He also got an A and two Cs, and the other six were Ds.

S – 0

A – 2

B – 11

C – 24

D - 26

Before Macao entered, I whispered in his ear. "Macao, I'm taking all the monsters that are left. So take more than ten, because you're not going to get another chance. It's the only way you'll get second place."

With the amount left, he could take as little as eleven to get second place, and the most I would have to fight would be 52.

"Can you take fifty?" he whispered.

"Yes," I whispered. My magic hummed, agreeing with me, eager to be set lose.

He nodded and walked forward. "I'll take thirteen."

Baka.

Macao went forward and waited for him to be surrounded before he exploded his flame outwards, destroying all the Ds he had gotten immediately (which was four), and even taking out over half his Cs (which was three).

He had taken down seven, but he still had two Cs left, three Bs, and one A.

To my surprise, I watched as he stopped the spell and started running around the room. Behind him were the Cs and one B, and it all made sense when the ground started exploding after him.

Timed bombs, huh? Smart…

He now only had two Bs and the A.

He continued to run around the room, maneuvering the two Bs into crashing into each other and then sending down an explosive bomb from above.

They turned to dust, and the A was the only one left.

The A went to smash him and then Macao formed a shield out of his fire, backfiring on the monster and defeating all thirteen.

Did he get that trick from me? I wondered.

And as he left, these were the results I had to fight.

S – 0

A – 1

B – 8

C – 19

D – 22.

I stepped forward, and I could feel all eyes on me.

"Good luck," Macao whispered.

"Go, Ellie-nee!" Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs, and I managed to catch sight of her in the stands, with an unsure Brandish right next to her.

I smiled and it turned into a smirk.

"I will take fifty."

"Fifty?" the Phantom Lord mage shouted, having woken up. "That'll leave none for the rest of us."

"Congratulations, you can count as well as I can," I said dryly. "I know there will be none left for you."

"You can't take on fifty of those things!"

"Watch me," I said, and I walked inside.

It was dark in there, and I could hear noise as the monsters were generated.

I could hear the commentators, and it suddenly occurred to me that I've been tuning them out the whole game.

"Do you think she was reckless, Makarov?" Yajima asked.

"Oh, Elle's always been reckless," Makarov said, laughing. "But I think she can handle it."

Yeah. I can.

"How old is she?" asked Goldmine.

"She turned ten two months ago," Makarov commented.

As I waited for the monsters to finish generating, I held up my hand in the Fairy Tail sign.

And then I was surrounded by fifty monsters.

I took a deep breath and bellowed, "Mars's Wave of Agony!" putting a powerful burst into it.

As part of my magic rushed out of me, fire bursting from my palms, the itch started to disappear, and I felt much better from finally releasing it. I kept the fire going, burning the closest monsters to ash, and I felt really alive.

Finally using my magic at it's full potential again felt amazing, and even stronger, since I'd been training with a smaller amount of magic available for the past two months.

"Is that what I think it is?" Yajima asked.

"Probably," Makarov said, laughing.

"What is it, kabo?" Mato asked.

"That is something called Planetary Magic. It's a Lost Magic, and I can't help but wonder where a little girl learned how to use it."

The fire died down and I observed my enemies. It seemed as if I had taken down all the D monsters, a few of the C monsters, and one B monster.

Which means that I had one A, seven B, and twelve C monsters left – twenty in total.

"And Elle has taken down thirty monsters with one spell, kabo!" Mato yelled.

This was going to be the hardest.

I jumped into the shadows and appeared from the ceiling behind the A monster, "Venus's Sword!"

The sword (which was around twenty feet long) went through him and I hit the ground. Because I fell over twenty or thirty feet, I put a small burst of fire from under my feet, to slow my descent. Turning back to the monster (and glad that I only had one A), I commanded him to attack the other monsters.

"Oh dear, what is this?" Bob asked.

"Venus's Sword allows her to do what she wishes to her enemies when they're hit," Makarov said.

The A monster turned for the B monsters and took them all at once, destroying five of them until it was destroyed itself.

Two B monsters, and twelve C monsters.

Let's try and get this done all at once. "Arms of the Earth!" Vines shot from the ground and imprisoned the remaining monsters, keeping them in place, and I prepared myself for Venus's strongest spell.

As I had mentioned before – not all of the strongest spells are equal.

Venus's tends to be easier to cast, and it would also fit the situation better. An earthquake, tsunami, or volcanic eruption would not fit the situation, abd despite my power increase, I didn't really know if I could keep them running, even on a smaller scale.

With the vines keeping the monsters in place, I closed my eyes and summoned my magic. "Venus's Brilliant Blast!"

A beam of light exploded around the entirety of the Pandemonium house, and as it cleared, I was the only one left standing; all the other monsters had turned to dust.

The building was also completely destroyed.

I raised my hand in the air as the Fairy Tail sign, and a loud cheer went up throughout the stadium. The rest of my team was cheering wildly.

"Elle had defeated all fifty monsters, kabo!" Mato shouted. As the cheering died down, he continued. "In first place is Fairy Tail A, the younger team, with 10 points," he announced. "Fairy Tail B is in second place with 8 points, followed by Lamia Scale with 6 points. Quatro Cerberus is awarded 4 points, and Blue Pegasus gets 2 points. Phantom Lord receives none, kabo."

A scoreboard appeared, and we were ordered as he listed.

Fairy Tail A – 10 points

Fairy Tail B – 8 points

Lamia Scale – 6 points

Quatro Cerberus – 4 points

Blue Pegasus – 2 points

Phantom Lord – 0 points

"With the games portion being done for today, we're going to take a lunch break and then reconvene at two pm, kabo!" Mato said.

My magic still itched.

Looking at the clock, I saw it wasn't even noon, and I made my way back to the rest of my team, where I was glomped by tiny children.

"Nice job," Laxus said. "You've got us off to a great start."

"Thanks," I said, requipping the bracelet and putting it back on my wrist. My main roared, wanting to continue fighting, and there was a moment of dizziness as my magic settled. I blinked it away and steadied myself as discretely as I could. "Let's go eat some lunch. I want to introduce you guys to some people."

We went back to our tunnel, and Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen came over to say hello.

"You did wonderful, Ella-sama!" Freed yelled, hugging me.

I laughed. "Thank you, Freed."

"It was quite the show," came a rough voice, and I looked up to see Porlyusica, who was opening up the door to the infirmary.

"You came!" I said, smiling and walking inside. The other kids followed me, and we all say down on some of the spare beds.

"Well, I wanted to see what would happen. Plus I expect at least one of you to get hurt somehow."

"Thank you," I said.

I turned to the others. "You know how you can sometimes say things that throw others off guard?"

They nodded.

"I don't know which one of us will be up against Quatro Cerberus, but please ask them why they hell it's called Quatro Cerberus. In the legends, Cerberus only has three heads."

"Maybe it's supposed to be four different three headed dogs…" Juvia said.

I snorted. "Twelve heads are better than three?"

Levy giggled.

The door opened and Makarov walked in, followed by Macao and Wakaba. "I wanted to congratulate you, Elle. You did a wonderful job."

I smiled. "Thanks! Though…" my smile turned evil. "Maybe I should thank that Phantom mage for taking care of so many monsters for me."

Macao snorted. "Please do that. Please."

"That the one that got no points?" Wakaba asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, and the one who said I couldn't take down fifty. Maybe they organizers will learn from this and put more in next year."

I turned to Makarov. "How hard would it be to make one of those things ourselves? Because it's a great exercise."

Wakaba snorted. "Exercise, she says."

Gildarts rushed into the room and hugged Cana. "Cana, you did such a good job out there!"

"I don't fight until the battle portion, Dad!" Cana yelled.

Gildarts froze up. "YOU'RE FIGHTING?"

"Did he think this was a beauty competition or something?" Laxus asked, sweatdropping. "Geez."

"Yes, I'm fighting! Get over it!"

"What did you mean by 'proud of her'?" Levy asked.

"Well, you all looked so cool out there, especially because you're kids. And then Elle was so badass, taking down half the monsters for herself!"

I smiled. "Thank you, Gildarts. Don't worry, Cana is going to be kickass during the fights."

"Oh, Ellie-girl, I wanted to hug you," Enno said, running up and hugging me. "You did an awesome job down there, and you looked so cool! I think half the audience was in shock!"

She let go of me right as a tiny missile shot through the door and tackled me to the ground.

"Ellie-nee, Ellie-nee!"

"Hey, Lucy," I managed to get out, gasping for breath.

"You were amazing!" Lucy said.

"I apologize," Layla said at the door, looking sheepish. Brandish stood beside her quietly. "I don't know if we're allowed back here."

"It's fine, Miss…" Makarov asked.

"Heartfilia. Layla Heartfilia," she said, shaking his hand.

He raised an eyebrow and turned to me. "I didn't know you knew the Heartfilias, Elle."

"I know Ame, too," I said.

"Ame?" he asked.

"You know," I said. "The Queen."

An arrow shot through his heart, and he turned white and collapsed to the ground.

Before Lucy had a chance to get off of me, Enno scooped her up into the air and hugged her. "Oh My Gosh, you're absolutely adorable!"

She put her down and smiled at Lucy. "I'm Enno, it's nice to meet you."

Lucy held her dress and curtseyed, and Enno squealed again. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia. It's nice to meet you Miss Enno."

Enno's squeals reached a crescendo and she started crying large anime tears as she held up Lucy again. "Sooooooo cuuuuuuuuuuute!"

I pulled Lucy out of Enno's grasp and led her over to Levy. "Levy, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is Levy. You both like books. Begin."

And then I walked away, after making sure that Enno gave Lucy some breathing room.

"Hello, Brandish," I said to the girl as I joined her. "My name is Elle."

"Hello," she said quietly.

I didn't know much about Brandish, other than what had happened with her mother in the original timeline. I knew she was very loyal, however.

"So, I hear you've been practicing magic with Lucy," I said.

Brandish nodded. "Yes. I've been meditating and practicing with her, but I need to be careful, because my magic seems to change things."

"I believe that your magic is called Command T," I told her. "It allows you to change something's mass; make it bigger or smaller. It could come in handy in the future."

She nodded.

"Are you having fun with Lucy?" I asked.

She smiled a bit and nodded a bit more eagerly.

"Elle is the one who suggested you start spending time together," Layla put in.

Brandish smiled at me. "Really?"

I nodded. "Let me introduce myself properly. I'm Eleanor Rigby, and you can call me any variation of my name except Eleanor. If you were paying attention to the comments earlier, you should know I practice Planetary Magic, with a specific type of element for each planet."

Brandish nodded. "I can call you what I want?"

I nodded. "Sure."

She paused then said. "I'm going to call you Nora," and then got up leaving me in a sorry of shock. She joined Lucy and Levy, who already seemed to be the best of friends. All of the girls were spending time chatting in the corner, in fact. Enno was talking with Layla, and they were getting along pretty well, too, though Layla was several years older.

Well, Nora is a first.

"Do I want to know what you did?" Laxus asked, gesturing at his grandfather, who was still lying on the ground with an arrow in his heart. At least he was slowly regaining his color.

"Probably not," I said, and requipped out food. "Lunch, everyone."

Lucy and Brandish fit in with the rest of the kids pretty seamlessly, and it was fun, all in all.

Until Jude came in. "Lucy, Layla, Brandish, what are you doing? We need to get back to the stands, and I don't think you're allowed back here."

"It's fine, Mr. Heartfilia," Makarov said. "They're welcome to stay back here if they like. You could even sit with our guild so you get a better view."

"Oh, Daddy, can we? Please please please?" Lucy begged.

Jude sighed and nodded.

"Yay!" Lucy shouted, hugging him, and the Heartfilias and Brandish followed Enno, Freed, Bickslow and Evergreen back to Fairy Tail's section.

Gildarts gave Cana one more hug for good luck, and then we were on our way, splitting paths with Macao and Wakaba as we made our way to the field.

"You're going to do great, Cana," I said. "I think the biggest thing you need to worry about is getting knocked out. As long as you're standing until the end, it will at least be a tie. So just remember to block. I'm sure you'll be able to get them out pretty quickly, though."

She nodded. "Right. I'm ready."

"The battle portions have been organized so no one faces the same team twice, kabo! However, that eventually means that Fairy Tail will have to fight itself, kabo!" Mato announced.

First up was Lamia Scale vs Phantom Lord. I recognized the Phantom Mage as Aria, and I sighed when he won and earned ten points, which put Phantom Lord tied with us.

Next was Fairy Tail B and Blue Pegasus, and Wakaba went onto the field and utterly trashed the pretty boy standing there, putting them at 18 points.

Then it was Cana's turn, and she was going to be fighting Quatro Cerberus.

"Remember," I told her as she got ready to leave. "Ask them why they're called Quatro Cerberus when Cerberus only has three heads. Quatro is Spanish for four, and Tres is Spanish for three."

She cocked her head. "What's Spanish?"

I sighed. "Just tell me what it should be."

"Tres Cerberus," Cana said.

"You've got it," I said. "Go get them. Roast them like the dogs they are."

"Onee-sama, I thought it was pigs?" Juvia asked.

"It can be both," I said dismissively.

"I don't think it can," Laxus disagreed.

"It can be both."

"Why don't we ask Levy?" Laxus said, and we both turned to her.

She sweatdropped. "Freed and I will look it up later. For now, Cana…kick their butts!"

"Yeah, what she said," I said. "Kick their ass!"

"I didn't say that, Elle-chan."

When Cana went onto the field, she was smiling widely.

She stood across from the Quatro Cerberus member, and I was extremely glad that they put in mics to catch what the competitors were saying, because it was hilarious.

"Come on, I don't want to fight a little kid!" The man said.

"More like you don't want to lose to a little kid!" Cana said.

The gong rang and the fight started.

"Cards Volley!" Cana yelled, throwing her cards in the air, and a series of explosions hit the ground around her opponent, sending him flying.

"How old is Cana?" Yajima asked.

"Cana is currently six years old. She will be turning seven later this month."

"Look, kid, I don't want to hurt you!" the other mage said as he got up from the ground.

"Guess I'll just have to hurt you then!" she yelled, hurtling her cards in the air. "Summon Lightning!"

She hit him with one card, and it shocked him a lot.

"Jeez, you don't even want to cast one spell?" Cana asked.

"Wind Whip!" the mage panted, sending wind at her.

"Funhouse Cards!" Her mirrors reflected the attack back at him, and he dodged out of the way before it hit him.

"I have a question," she said.

"What?" the mage asked, panting.

"Why is it called Quatro Cerberus when a Cerberus only has three heads?"

The mage froze.

Looking at the commentator's box, I could see Goldmine slowly sinking out of view.

Cana rolled her eyes and cast, "Sleep Card!" at him before he could move again, and he passed out.

"Oh come on," she said. "Weak."

"Why are you calling him weak?" Goldmine asked, still hiding.

"That card doesn't work on stronger mages," Cana said. "It doesn't work on any of the kids on my team, or my dad."

"Your dad?" Bob asked.

"Gildarts Clive," Cana said.

All the judges (with the exception of Makarov) had a look of revelation on their face.

"And Fairy Tail A retakes the lead with 10 points, kabo!" Mato said, and we all looked at the scores for the end of the first day.

Fairy Tail A – 20 points

Fairy Tail B – 18 points

Phantom Lord – 10 points

Lamia Scale – 6 points

Quatro Cerberus – 4 points

Blue Pegasus – 2 points

Cana had joined us in the tunnel. "I was all pumped up for a fight, and it ended up being an easy win," she said, groaning. "Now I feel jumpy!"

"We can spar later, if you want," I offered. "I still have a bunch of energy, too, and I don't fight until Wednesday."

My magic hummed eagerly in agreement, and I felt slightly bothered by how alive it feels, even if it was dampened by the bracelet.

Those monsters were a lot easier to take down than I thought, and I wondered if it was me, or because they get a lot stronger in the future.

But it was probably just the latter.

This was the first year of the games, after all.