"For the last time, Hayden, I am not entering the Miss Fairy Tail Contest!"

"Come on, princess, think of the money!"

This argument was becoming more frequent over the last couple of days as Hayden thought it was an amazing idea for me to enter the Miss Fairy Tail Contest. The seven hundred thousand jewel prize was certainly tempting as it was five months of rent, but I'd be damned if I went up on stage and acted like a pretty little princess.

Each time the Harvest Festival came around, I was known to leave town as fast as possible to avoid the crowds so this was the first time I would see any of the festivities. I had always been told that the festival was a sight to behold, especially the Fantasia Parade. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious, but I'd much rather use the festival as an excuse to go on a short trip with Phillip and get away from the guild.

"I can very easily go on a couple jobs and make the same amount of money, there is no way in hell I'm signing up!" I growled, glaring over at the red head as we walked through Magnolia. I had wanted to spend the day with Phillip to see his reaction to the festival, but my friend had decided to spend time with Happy. This left me alone with the annoying earth mage. "Do you really expect me of all people to go and make a fool of myself just for money?"

Hayden clasped his hands together and looked to me with his pleading auburn eyes. "I'll leave you alone for a week if you sign up!" When I ignored him, he tried once more. "Two weeks!" No response. "A month!"

"That's tempting…" I grumbled, but still shook my head. "If you want the money so badly, why don't you sign up. You'd certainly do better than some of the girls around here."

"I wouldn't be caught dead in a beauty contest!"

"Then stop trying to get me to join!"

Hayden opened his mouth and looked as if he wanted to respond, but something caught his eye causing him to close his mouth. He came to an abrupt stop and I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you looking at?"

Following his gaze, I noticed he was looking at one of the many stalls that was selling Fairy Tail merchandise. The shelves were lined with plushies of Happy, Phillip and Plue as well as figurines of various members. I had never been a fan of Phillip being turned into a plush, but I hadn't been able to stop the production. I suppose I could just be happy that I had never been turned into a figure. If I were to become a piece of merchandise, then it was only a matter of time before reporters from Sorcerer's Weekly went looking for a shot of my face. It was better to stay hidden for Rogue's sake.

As the thought crossed my mind, I realized what Hayden had focused on. My eyes widened. They had to be joking.

A line of figurines of myself sat beside Hayden's. The figure depicted my normal outfit and even had a little Phillip standing beside it. My brow furrowed and I reached over, picking up one of them and glared at the stall owner. "Who gave you permission to make these?! I certainly didn't! Who the hell do you think you are-?!"

Before I even had the chance to escalate into hitting the man, Hayden wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back. "Cool it, these guys have permission from the guild association to make whatever products they want. They don't need to individually ask us permission so leave him alone."

"Do you not understand how bad this is?! What if someone sees these?!" I exclaimed, trying to push past his grip. "It starts with figurines then goes to reporters trying to take pictures, then before you know it there's an article in Sorcerer's Weekly questioning the identity of Fairy Tail's hidden mage. It'll lead Rogue right to me!" I continued to try and claw my way out Hayden's grip to no avail. Why did he have to be an earth mage? He was as sturdy as a mountain no matter what I tried. I was stuck.

His voice was quiet when he spoke into my ear. "Do you realize how many reporters are in town now for the festival? If they're gonna write a story about you, they'll be sure to catch a few pictures of you throwing a tantrum and threatening a vendor. Now calm down."

At his words, my form quickly settled. Although I was no longer ready to charge at the vendor, my red eyes still glared his way. I opened my mouth a few times to say something more, but I thought against it. I hated to admit it, but Hayden was right. Over the years, I had avoided the press by simply avoiding contact with others and staying away from popular events that they would be at. Now I was taking more risks by being out in the public more often. Maybe that risk was a mistake…

Before I delve further into that thought, Hayden released me and patted my shoulder. "See? That easy." He reached over and plucked the figure out of my hands and walked up to the stall. "Sorry about the commotion." He held up the figure and smiled. "How much?"

My teeth clenched and I did my best not to reach over and hit him. Instead I turned on my heel and started to make my way down the street. Even if I had managed to stop him, he would come back later and buy it when I wasn't there. And at this point, I didn't have the energy to care.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen! The Miss Fairy Tail Contest is about to begin!"

The majority of the guild as well as a large civilian crowd gathered inside the guild hall as the Miss Fairy Tail Contest began. I sat beside Hayden with Phillip happily sitting in my lap, Natsu, Gray and Elfman sitting around us as well. My expression was uninterested as Max introduced the event. Each guy in the crowd was extremely excited, but some of the members of our guild looked as if they couldn't care less.

"Entry number one is an exotic beauty with an otherworldly stomach!" Max introduced, gesturing to the side. "Cana Alberona!"

I deadpanned. "How the hell is that a compliment?"

One by one, the girls performed on stage. Cana, Juvia, of course, even Mira. Though the transformation mage was the one that many had come to see, she turned her face into Happy causing the crowd to gasp. I struggled to hold back laughter and when Mira shifted her face into Gajeel, I found myself letting out a hearty laugh. Natsu, Gray and Elfman, hearing my laughter, turned to me in shock.

"You laugh?!" They all shouted.

When I managed to calm down my giggles, I wiped a tear from my eye. "Duh, I'm not a robot." When they continued to stare at me in shock, my eyes narrowed. "I am not a robot!"

"Entry number four, this Titania needs no introduction! Erza Scarlet!"

At Max's words, the boys turned their attention back to the stage. As Erza began to change outfits, I found myself becoming disinterested once again. After Mira's performance, I found myself wishing that this had been a comedy contest instead.

Erza changed into a goth loli outfit and I rolled my eyes at the excitement of the crowd. "I guess we know who's winning this."

Levy and Bisca performed right after Erza and then it was finally time for the final contestant. Lucy. I heaved a sigh in relief. That meant I was almost free to leave. With the Fantasia Parade that night, Phillip had expressed interest in playing some of the games scattered through the city. He and Happy had played a few the day before and he wanted to see if he could beat me at a few. It would be the first time Phillip and I would have time to ourselves in a while and I was looking forward to it.

However, to my dismay, just as Lucy was about to start her performance, a new voice came over the loudspeaker. "Entry number eight." Wait, wasn't Lucy the last one? "I am the only real fairy here. I am the definition of beauty, I am the definition of everything. This victory goes to me! Evergreen!"

My eyes widened at the sight. Evergreen? What the hell was she doing here? Instinctively, I put a hand over Phillip's eyes and watched the brunette suspiciously. Her and the rest of the Thunder Legion never showed themselves at the guild for more than a minute or two to grab a job and then leave. Whatever she was here for, it couldn't have been anything good.

"Lucy! Don't look her in the eye!" Gray quickly jumped up to warn the blonde, but to no avail as Evergreen had turned her to stone before she had the chance to react.

At the sight, Max made an announcement for the bystanders to run and the crowd quickly dispersed, leaving only guild members behind.

"What are you doing Evergreen, are you trying to ruin the festival?" Makarov shouted as he stepped closer to the stage.

Evergreen chuckled. "All festivities need entertainment, do they not?" As she spoke, the curtain behind her rose to reveal the other contestants, all of which had been turned to stone.

"The hell?!" Hayden exclaimed, getting to his feet. "What do you think you're trying to do, Evergreen?!"

The others shared his anger and as I glanced towards Makarov, it looked as if he could lash out at any moment. "You turn them back this instant!"

Above the stage, a bright light formed before a bolt of lightning shot down. I shielded Phillip from the light and when it finally cleared, Laxus stood before us. My eyes widened. Of all people to lead an attack like this, Master's grandson?!

I stood defensively as I looked around the room. It seemed the others were noticing what the threat really was as well. Freed and Bickslow stood on the second floor, looking down on us as if we were beneath them. I clenched a fist. What were they playing at?

"Let's play old man." Laxus smirked down at his grandfather. Makarov once again demanded that they be returned to normal which only seemed to entertain Laxus more. "Just how many of them will survive till the Fantasia Parade, hm?" At his words, a bolt of lightning shot down inches away from where Lucy stood causing us all to tense. Laxus walked over, throwing an arm around the stone blonde. "I'm taking these girls hostage. Break the rules and they will shatter one by one. Like she said, this is entertainment."

"Quite joking, Laxus!" Makarov exclaimed, his fists clenched in what seemed to be fear.

"I can assure you, I'm not joking." Laxus chuckled.

Freed jumped down from the balcony and spoke. "Let's find out who the strongest member of Fairy Tail truly is."

"The rules are simple, whoever is left standing at the end, wins!" A dark smirk formed on the lightning mage's face. "A battle of Fairy Tail."

At first glance, the idea didn't seem half bad to me. I would finally get the chance to see where I placed within the members of Fairy Tail in terms of strength. Although it was clear I wouldn't be at the top, it would be a starting place for what more training I had to do to grow stronger. However, this was the Thunder Legion making up the rules. None of us would be winners as they long as they ran the show.

"Sounds good to me," Natsu grinned, clearly not having a good understanding of the situation. "Nice and simple.. I'm all fired up!" The pink haired boy stepped forward, ready to take on Laxus right then and there and I couldn't help but shake my head. Not once had the boy been able to beat the blonde and today was certainly not going to change that.

Natsu leaped forward, his fist surrounded with fire and Laxus made no quick movement to dodge the attack. Instead, his grin simply grew. "Take it easy, will you?" Not even a moment later, a bolt of lightning surrounded Natsu, knocking him on the ground unconscious.

"If you want to turn the girls back to normal, you have to defeat us first." Evergreen stated plainly.

"There's four of us and close to a hundred of you." Bickslow grinned, his tongue sticking out as his puppets mimicked his words.

"You have three hours." Evergreen continued. "Take any longer and the girls will turn to sand."

"All of Magnolia will serve as the battlefield. Once you find us, the battle begins." Laxus finished, looking out at all of us almost mockingly.

Makarov clenched his teeth. "Laxus.. I've had enough of this!" He exclaimed, growing in size till he was as tall as the room.

Seeing this, Laxus didn't seem worried at all, in fact, he seemed more invigorated than ever. "I said cool it, old man. This is strictly entertainment…" A bright light surrounded the stage causing us all to shield our eyes. "Let the battle of Fairy Tail begin!"

When the light faded, we all looked forward to see that the Thunder Legion was gone. I blinked. What had just happened? Did he seriously think this plan would work? As much as I was curious as to who was the strongest, there was no way anyone would fall for that.

Much to my shock, a majority of the guild members fled the hall and out into town in hopes to confront Laxus. My eyes widened. That was exactly what he wanted. Did they not remember that Laxus was the one who made the rules? If they wanted a fair fight, then they had another thing coming.

Once the guild hall emptied, the only people left were myself, Hayden, Makarov and Gray, excluding Natsu and our cat friends. Gray had quickly made his way through the door with Makarov close behind. However, when the old man tried to run through the doorway, an invisible force stopped him. No matter what Gray tried, our master couldn't leave.

I walked up to the doorway, glancing up to see purple runes laying out even more rules. "Looks like Freed added a few other precautions. No stone statues may leave and no one over eighty may leave either. You're stuck here until the game is over." I furrowed my brow. "We're in a lose lose situation."

"Geez.. Talk about meticulous." Gray muttered, turning away from the door. "Guess we don't have another choice… I won't show mercy even if he is your grandson. Laxus is going down." And with that, the ice mage went to join the fray.

My gaze lingered on the runes above and I couldn't help but feel my adrenaline rising. Was this fear? Or did I truly want to go out there and join the useless fight? As I glanced down at Phillip, I found myself conflicted. Nearly every fiber of my being wanted to take my friend and get him to safety as fast as possible. However, if I did that, then I would be no different than I was during the Phantom fight. I heaved a sigh. Fighting with the guild was my best option if I were to ever move forward.

Hayden stepped up beside me with a confident grin on his face. "Wanna go see what this fight is really gonna be about? Gotta say, I'm curious."

"I suppose I am as well." I spoke, releasing Phillip and allowing him to spread his wings. "Stay in the sky, alright? I don't want you anywhere near the ground just in case there are any other unexpected rules."

Phillip nodded. "Yes, ma'am! I'll let you know if I learn anything new." Noticing my worried expression, he flew over and hugged my arm. "I'll be safe, I promise."

I patted his head. "You better or you're buying dinner tonight."

The three of us exchanged one more look before beginning to run through the door. That is, the boys did. When I went to exit the guild hall, I found myself being stopped by the barrier as well. "What the hell?!" I exclaimed, pounding my fists against it. "I am neither a stone statue or over eighty!"

Makarov looked at me in shock before glancing at the rules. "There's no rule that says you shouldn't be able to leave."

I growled at the thought as I continued to try and press my way through the runes despite knowing it wouldn't work. Did Laxus not want to face me? That didn't make any logical sense as I should've been an easy opponent for him. If there was one thing I knew, it was that water didn't mix well with electricity of any kind. My body was made up of more water than an average human, one good attack and I would be done for. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I would not be able to defeat Laxus today.

"Just go." I muttered, solemnly looking at Hayden and Phillip. "Track Laxus down and end this nonsense."

The look on Hayden's face screamed sympathy but he quickly shook it away and gave me a thumbs up. "Don't worry, if anyone is gonna squash that bastard, it's me." He held a hand up and waved. "See you soon!" With that, both him and Phillip fled the scene.

I lowered my hands to my side as I watched them go. How is it that I ended up here? I was never one to miss an opportunity to prove my strength to others, now I was stuck here without the chance. What's more, is I was actually putting my trust in another person to fight for me. Who was I anymore?

Behind me, Natsu began to stir and once he awoke, he was quick to get to his feet. As he charged towards us, I narrowed my eyes. Natsu's true strength was still an unknown to me. He was able to defeat Gajeel despite the battle being a challenge for him. If he was able to muster whatever strength he used that day, he could very well be the one to take Laxus down.

However, after being quickly debriefed on the situation, Natsu took off running to the door, only to be stopped just like I had been. It was beginning to fall into place now. There was something about those ruins that was keeping Dragon Slayers from leaving. But we weren't stone nor stone statues so what was keeping us here?

As Makarov tried to decipher what was happening, the runes changed once more. I narrowed my eyes. "Status update. Jet versus Droy versus Alzack?"

"What is heaven?" Makarov shouted.

"Why… Why are they fighting?" Natsu questioned, his eyes wide at the sight of the words.

"I see what's happening…" I muttered, gaining their attention. "This is a battle of Fairy Tail to see who is the strongest. Laxus said the last one standing wins. Which means we'll have to fight each other until only the strongest member is left." Their eyes widened as I continued. "Freed wrote these rules so we will have to watch these fights go down one by one."

As I finished speaking the runes updated showing that Alzack had beaten both Jet and Droy. "So what that means is…" Makaraov began.

"Laxus is weeding out the weak from the strong and he expects to come out the victor." My fists clenched at my sides as a dark aura surrounded me. "And he isn't even playing fairly."

What angered me the most, is this was something I would have agreed with not very long ago. I would have wanted the chance to prove that I was worthy, to show the other guild members that I was stronger than I was given credit for. But now I stood before the barrier and wanted nothing more than the battle to come to a swift end. All it would take is knocking Laxus down and I wasn't sure there were many people out there that could do it.

I was shocked to think that I wanted the guild to be safe. I wanted the stone statues behind me to return to their life like forms no matter how annoying each of them was to me. And at that moment, I would give anything to go out there and save them myself. Now I had no other choice than to trust those that were out there to handle the situation in the best way possible.

I'm putting my faith in you Fairy Tail. Don't mess this up.