Zeldris peered over the stone structure that held the guild back from the edge of the arena. He was resting his weight on it, still a bit groggy from only recently having been woken up.
He finally mumbled to his three friends who surrounded him in a disgruntled awe of the pyrotechnics, "I don't remember the pyrotechnics being this extravagant. I don't like it."
"Cheer up Zel, you're still on the reserve list for team B," Terre Mere said.
"Aye! The number one reserve at that." Romeo added.
"So, shouldn't you be down there with your teammates?" Gabriel asked as Terre Mere and Romeo looked at each other in concern.
"Not all the reserves needed to be down there" Zeldris retorted, still half-asleep.
Romeo, Terre Mere, and Gabriel looked at each other with suspicion about Zeldris's response before Gabriel said, "Well regardless, you should still cheer loudly for your teammates and guildmates!" as Terre Mere and Romeo nodded in agreement.
Zeldris perked up enough to at least look alive and put on a fake grimace, "and win against them," he said, in a teasing competitive spirit. The trio laughed at Zeldris's words as another massive set of fireworks filled the sky above the stadium.
"Welcome folks to the Grand Magic Games of 794!" A voice came over the loudspeakers of the stadium. "I'm your main commentator Chapati Lola, assisted by Fiore's number one celebrity chef, the wonderful Mr. Yajima!"
"Glad to be here as always." Mr. Yajima responded.
"The organizers have changed the rules a little bit this year to make the games more competitive. So, they changed the number of teams allowed this year from eight to ten! That means this year's preliminary round was more intense than ever, with 150 teams competing for ten slots. Teams were represented from three different countries and two different continents!" Chapati Lola announced. A loud roar of excitement emerged from the crowd.
"Now, it's time to announce the ten teams who completed last night's preliminary round!" Lola continued, gaining an even louder cheer.
"Each team will consist of five members and one or two optional reserve members with them," Mr. Yaima said.
"First off, in tenth place and barely squeaking in, but looking to put the nightmares of 791 and 793 behind them, give it up for top dogs Quattro Cerberus!" As the commentator announced, the team walked into the main area of the area; the crowd reacted with more boos than cheers for the traditionally lower-placing team.
"Led by their top dog, the god of wine, the great and powerful Bacchus! This team is totally wild!" the commentator finished.
"What are we boys?" Bacchus said from the arena floor.
"WILD!" all the team members shouted.
In the center was their headman, Bacchus, who wore what looked like a purple shirt with the bottom two thirds cut off to display his abs but still with the collar and sleeves intact, he finished off the look with baggy brown pants that stopped just below his knee. To his right was Rocker, the best dressed of the five with a black with red trim, his blonde hair shaped into twin peaks. To his right was Semmes, who was the most bizarre looking of the group. With burgundy pants, a large bodysuit like shirt with a massive yellow x on it, his face was white as paper with two blue curved lines on it and arguably looked more like a spinning top than a human being. To Bacchus's right was War Cry, who wore a dog fur with a red mohawk on top of it, with green sleeves on his wrist and beige pants. To his left and the final member of the squad was Jaeger, a shirtless man with long white hair, earmuffs, and dark blue pants. The five of them moved to the side to make room for the next group.
"Coming in 9th in the prelims, a guild that one time rivaled the great Fairy Tail guild in their own town! The first of three teams making their debut in the games this year. Give it up for Twilight Ogre!" The commentator finished. An odd mix of five characters appeared from the tunnel. Including a notably nicely figured woman who seemed more interested in posing her stuff than anything else.
"Led by their topman Thibault, and their rising star Mattan Ginger, this guild is hoping to make some noise and climb the ranks of the magic guilds in fiore!" Lola finished announcing. The crowd responded with mixed sounds, few cheers but not many boo's either.
In the middle was their leader, Thibault, who was the shortest of the men, with a red shirt, and hair tied into two balls that were kept in check by a silver headband with two horns jutting out. To his immediate right was a man in a dark gray shirt with a blue cape with a collar that covered his awful mouth; this was Shrieker with dark brown hair shaped into a single spike. To Shrieker's right was Dusty, with a similar hair style for his blonde hair and was dressed in a dirty orange shirt and black pants. To Thibault's left was the person in Twilight Ogre who stood out the most was Mattan Ginger, with flames following behind her, she wore a purple bikini with lavender sheer tights, white gloves, and a something similar to a purple swimmers' cap with two cat ears on it, she seemed to spent more time posing for the crowd than anything else. Finally, to her left and arguably the most imposing of the members was Bludger, he had dark brown pants and shirt, but the most imposing thing about him was the cloak he wore over his head that seemed to cover part of his eyes, to accompany all this was his weapon, a massive hammer he wore on his back.
"Coming in 8th place in the prelims, a controversial guild that is also making their debut in the games. They have been cleared to compete by the magic council, please welcome the Alvarez Guild!" The crowd went rather quiet as some familiar people walked onto the field in black robes. Zeldris and Romeo froze in shock.
"Romeo, isn't that-" Zeldris said.
"Yeah Zel, yeah.." he said, their minds flashing back to the fight they had and the curious exchange with the black robed members.
Mr. Yajima's voice came over the loudspeakers saying, "the Magic Council did scrutinize their entry and interrogated each of the five members. No member had any ties to the Alvarez military or any connection to what happened during the battles of 792. Due to this, the Council allowed them to enter despite the protests of some..." He finished saying, rather ominously.
Finally, Terre Mere spoke up to Romeo and Zeldris pulling them away from their petrified looks, "what is it? Do you recognize them or something?"
Zeldris and Romeo nodded, as Zeldris said, "they were the ones setting fire to the village, the disgraced brother Hendrickson had contracted them to help him destroy the village".
The quartet of wizards looked at each and odd silence fell over the guild as they had been excited till the arrival of the black robed wizards and Zeldris's admittance. As the quintet of Alvarez wizards moved aside, faces down but still looking towards the crowd as they took in all the sights, including Zeldris and the members of Fairy Tail.
"Meanwhile, in our seventh spot, is a crowd favorite! Give it up for Mermaid Heel!" Lola announced to quite the roar of excitement from the crowd. As five ladies walked out onto the stadium ground. All the guys were enjoying the eye candy minus Zeldris who rolled his eyes at them, after looking them over of course.
In the center was Kagura Mikazuchi, the strongest of their guild. She wore what could only be described as something like a cross between a dress shirt for a suit and an actual dress. It was white in color, trimmed with gold and a red tie. Her clothing was complete black tights similar in color to her jet-black hair kept in check by her white headband. To her right was Beth Vanderwood, with dirty orange hair, she wore blue denim coveralls and a black shirt. To her right was Aranya, who wore a beige colored body suit with a spider web design on it. This inspiration was matched in her hair, as her bright green hair was braided into eight different strands. To Kagura's left was Risley Law, a plus-sized woman with blue bikini-like clothing accompanied by a blue loin cloth with the guild's emblem on it. Finally, was Millianna who wore a bikini set accompanied with purple and black striped thigh high socks, all of which left little to the imagination, not that anyone minded, Zeldris included.
"Led by Kagura Mikazuchi, this guild has had some up and down results over the years, but they are ready this year and look to take home the gold." Lola finished announcing.
"A guild full of ladies? How quaint." Zeldris remarked to no one in particular. Terre mere and some of the other ladies of Fairy Tail glared at him for his snide remark.
"In a disappointing sixth in the prelims, the guild that has more wins in the Grand Magic Games than anyone else, let's give it up for the crowd favorite Sabertooth!" Lola continued announcing with the crowd shouting its approval of the guild.
"They only came in sixth?" Romeo asked in shock. This shock was mirrored across the entire stadium. Many knew they were not necessarily the same rough and tumble fighting force prior to their defeat in 791 by the Fairy Tail guild but no one thought it was that bad.
Zeldris broke the silent shock, "I bet they are pacing themselves since the preliminaries allowed ten teams and are saving themselves for the games". Romeo nodded hesitantly.
In the center was the shadow dragon slayer Rogue Cheney, with jet black hair, dark gray shirt and pants, with a black cloak and with a black waist guard as well, all lined in faded yellow. To his right was Minerva who wore a rather concealing and lengthy blue dress which was trimmed in faded yellow as well. To her right was a mountain of a man, Orga Nanagear, who stood shirtless with mustard yellow pants and waist guard. To Rogue's left was Yukino, in a rather flamboyant blue and white dress which was fur lined in some areas. Finally, to Yukino's left was Rufus in his traditional red Commendia Dell'arte.
"Coming in fifth place is a guild that exudes class that is equal only to its intoxicating parfum. Please welcome Blue Pegasus!" Lola said, finally getting to the second half of the competing teams. Five very well-dressed males walked into the stadium grounds as a somewhat nauseating smell of perfume that was far too intense. Zeldris surveyed the quintet like he had every other team, he dismissed them but did not say anything out loud about it.
"Now, coming in at an impressive fourth place is our final team that is debuting in the games this year. These are wizards who had bad streaks, who once were bad but now they are good. Please welcome Crime Sorciere!" Lola announced. The crowd gave a lukewarm cheer to the six wizards that came out. Erik led in front, Meredy off to his immediate right followed by Sorano. On his left was Sawyer and Richard, behind the quintet was MacBeth, the reserve member for Crime Sorciere. He was formerly known as Midnight when he was a part of the Orasion Seis. He wore a black high collared shirt with mustard green trim, beige pants, and a large overcoat in a similar mustard green.
Zeldris stood up and took notice of them. His eyes of course locked on the pink haired wizard of divine good figure who discovered him and was able to give him a new lease on life, Meredy.
Terre Mere noticed Zeldris's gaze and was first to remember his encounter with the pink haired woman, whom Erza told her was the one who rescued him. She decided it was high time to tease her friend considering Zeldris's vulgar remark from before.
"Does somebody have an interest in a certain pink haired wizard of a certain fourth place team in the competition?" Terre Mere casually said aloud to no one in particular. Many of the guild members picked up on it and murmured to themselves about cherry designed underwear and about women's razors or rather the lack thereof.
Zeldris went as red as the clothes he wore, "No, I don't!" he tried to deny the allegation, but it was obvious he was at least thinking about her, since it was the first time he had seen her since the incident, and she looked as stunning as the time when she saved him.
Meanwhile, as the wizards walked onto the grounds, Erik quietly said to Meredy, "He's interested in you." as the wizards waved to the crowd and moved aside for the third place team.
This caused her to blush bright red and look towards the Fairy Tail guild's suite area. The two locked eyes for a moment but blushed even more and looked away.
"In third place," Chapati Lola continued announcing "is a guild who with great stealth snuck into third place and are looking to pull an upset this year, please welcome Lamia Scale!" The crowd roared with cheers, much louder than before.
In the center was the ice wizard, Lyon Vastia, with spiky hair that was silver in color like snow. He wore a medium and dark blue designed shirt with yellow trim and navy-blue pants. To his right was the Yuka, with his short stature he wore a green tunic and his most notable feature being his thick black eyebrows. To his right was Toby Horhorta, who stood shirtless with his blue jeans and dog-like ears poking out of his dusty brown hair. On Lyon's left was the attractively figured Chelia Blendy with a blue blouse that was quite open, and a sky-blue skirt with the bright colors that matched her bright and bubbly personality. Finally, was a blast from the past, a blue suited man that looked to be made from blocks, this was Wally Buchanan who joined Lamia Scale.
"In second, is one of the two teams who tied last year! You know them, you love them, please welcome the defending co-champions, Fairy Tail Team B!" Lola announced as the Fairy Tail guild shouted and cheered as loudly as the main crowd did.
"Finally, the other team you have been waiting for! The team who placed first in the preliminary round. The team that beat the odds to an incredible upset in 791 and tied with team B to win last year! Please welcome the other co-champions of Fairy Tail team A!" Lola finally had finished announcing the teams who were entered in the games that year.
Each team surveyed each other, exchanging banter, and catching up with old friends. Zeldris also checked out each of the team members and judged them, admittedly eager to battle.
"While the teams catch up or establish rivalries, let's announce the format of this year's games," Chapati Lola said, as Lacrima screens came down to show the crowd what was going to play out.
"For five days there will be one main event with one member of each team. Followed by five battles a day involving each of the guilds. The wizards in the events are chosen by the teams while the wizard battles will be chosen by the fans and the event organizers," Lola announced.
A small man in a striped shirt, wearing a mask in the size and shape of a pumpkin with a green wizarding hat walked onto the grounds. This was the referee for the games, Mato.
"Rules for the events will be announced after the wizards are chosen for the events. Now, our first event, one that we call Demolition Man!" Lola finally finished.
Mato then said to the wizards on the field, "teams please choose your participants for our Demolition Man event, all other wizards please head to your suites!"