A week later, at the ocean. The participants of the S-class Trial Exam are currently on a ship that is sailing to Tenroujima as everyone is in a foul mood because of the scorching hot sun.

"Why is it so god damn hot?" whined Lucy while in her bikini swimsuit and sprawled on a sunbed as almost everyone else was also dying from the heat.

Levy, who was currently sitting at the table with Cana and Wendy looks at her best friend.

"Lu-chan, you're showing off too much." Said Levy

"damn it's so damn hot! Is Natsu in the air making this heat?" Gray said while looking above to try and spot the Dragon Slayer

"No, it's not him." explained Cana. "The currents around this area keep clashing with each other, so it's not affected by other types of weather or climate. It's summer here all year long."

Gajeel, who continued to stare into the horizon, squinted his eyes and straightened himself in his seat. "Is that the island?"

Everyone looked at him, before turning around. Their eyes widened.

In the middle of the ocean is an island that had a giant tree in the middle of it but It was also emitting warm, powerful magic that appeared to soothe one's troubles.

"Beautiful..." gasped Lucy.

"It is said, that Fairies used to live on this island." said a voice from behind as everyone turns and sees Makarov standing above the cabin of the ship while wearing a hawaiian shirt and a fan in hand. "It is also the place of rest of Fairy Tail's First Master, Mavis Vermillion."

"The hell's up with that outfit, old man?" said Gray while pointing at Makarov

"What am I supposed to do? It's hot." Said Makarov while fanning himself "Well, now that the island is in sight, allow me to explain the first stage of the exam."

Everyone focuses their attention to the old man who snaps his fingers and a magical tablet appeared with drawings forming with each second.

"First exam?" asked surprised Wendy.

"It's always divided into stages." explained Mest from behind her.

"As you can see, there is smoke rising up from that beach." continued Makarov and pointed at the place at hand. "That is where you're headed. Upon arriving, you will find eight paths. Only one group can enter each path. This is what awaits you upon entering."

As soon as he finished, the magic table has been completed.

7 paths have been formed. 4 of them were decorated with faces of Natsu, Mirajane, Erza, and Gildarts, with HARD BATTLE written above. 2 other paths met each other in pairs at one point called BATTLE, while the last path was called QUIET.

"Hard battle?" asked Wendy.

"That's where the monsters are." explained Bickslow.

"So Battle must be us fight each other." deducted Levy.

"What does Quiet mean?" asked Lisanna

"Battle means two teams will meet each other and fight. The winning pair will continue to Second Stage." said Makarov. "Hard Battle is the most difficult one. In order to pass, you must best an S-Class Mage in combat. Quiet is the only path where you can pass without fighting anyone. this exam will test your strength and luck!"

"if it's luck, we might be able to do this!" said Lucy to Cana.

"but only at a 1/7 chance that we can get the quiet zone" said Cana, pointing out that they have a slim chance of getting pass.

"logically only a maximum of 6 teams can get pass this part of the exam" said Makarov

"are you kidding, Master!? Erza and nee-chan's path are one thing but getting Natsu and Gildarts path are off limits!" exclaimed Elfman knowing best that whoever gets the road that leads to two monsters won't ever become an S class mage.

"Worst case scenario, three teams get further." added Levy, her enthusiasm gone. Gajeel, on the other hand, was beyond excited.

"Well then, now that we've talked things through!" roared Makarov. "Let the exam begin!"

"Huh?" Gray blinked his eyes in confusion

"We're still on the ocean though." added Loke, also confused.

Their only response was Makarov's grin.

Suddenly, flapping of wings could be heard on the ship, as Freed and Bickslow took off the ship, both flying towards the island.

"So that's how it is." huffed Gray and ran towards the board. Only to hit something invisible. "The hell?!"

"Sorry!" yelled Freed. "I'd rather be the first one to choose a path. They will disappear after 5 minutes!"

Gritting his teeth, Gray started to look for another way of getting out. On the other side of the ship, Evergreen chuckled to herself and pulled out a pen.

"What are you laughing about?" asked her Elfman.

"I've known Freed for long enough to learn a thing or two." she said while doing something with the runes. "Something of this caliber...I can bypass with my eyes closed!"

A hole soon appeared as Evergreen jumped out first before Elfman followed.

"Let's go, Elfman!" exclaimed Evergreen as she and Elfman jumps into the water.

"The hell geezer, they're going to cover the island in runes!" yelled Gray.

"It's not like this is a race, you know..." Makarov told them

"Yes! I can rewrite it!" exclaimed Levy as she did the same thing as Evergreen.

"Levy- chan..." started glad Lucy

"But only for me and Gajeel!" added the bookworm, before jumping into the water with Gajeel, the gap closing behind her.

"L-Levy-chan" Lucy cried in tears as her best friend had betrayed her.

"sorry, Lu-chan!" said Levy as she and Gajeel started swimming away.

"are you kidding me!?" exclaimed Gray.

"how many minutes are left?" said Lisanna

"only four minute left" replied Juvia.

"then that means Levy finished the rune in just a minute!?" exclaimed Cana

Four minutes later, the runes on the ship flashes before dissapearing

"it's gone!" everyone exclaimed

Gray and Loke jumps out of the ship before Gray uses his magic on the sea water

"Ice Make: Floor!" Gray exclaimed as he use his magic to turn the water beneath his feet into aa road of ice, as he and Loke slid their way towards the island.

"Are you kidding me?" deadpanned Lucy at the sight of the males in the distance. Then, she felt something brush her leg, as Juvia and Lisanna swam towards their destination underwater, with Lisanna turned into a fish.

"Don't tell me we're the last ones..." started Lucy.

"Mest and Wendy should still be on the ship." Cana said only to be wronged as they see on the ship that Mest and Wendy were nowhere to be found. "they're gone?!"

The two soon swam as fast as they could to the island as they are the last one.

"Damnit! Let's go Lucy! We're way behind!" Cana shouted


After a few minutes of swimming, Lucy and Cana arrived at the island where they find six out of eight paths closed as there is only two paths left.

"Path A, B, C, D, F, G, are sealed up" said Lucy while Cana looks at the remaining paths which is Path E.

"we only have a 6/7 chance that either of this path is a quiet or a battle or even a hard battle" said Cana while shaking as they have a very big chance to get something bad rather than good.

"let's go" said Lucy as Cana nodded before both went to Path E where they prayed with all their hearts to get the quiet path.


meanwhile, Lily and Charla flew above the quiet, peaceful island, the sound of the ocean and birds being the only distractions. Having arrived on the island earlier, they helped the S-Class mages to set up the first stage of the exam. With the exam finally taking place, they had some time to look around the island.

They flew beside each other, circling the island for the second time. Each time they did so, they managed to find something new, be it a new animal, or piece of nature.

Lily seemed to be more interested in the island than his companion. Charla simply hovered in the air beside him, her face stuck in a gentle frown.

"Is something wrong?" Lily asked her. "You've been quiet for a while now."

Charla shook her head. "No. I'm fine."

"You're worried about Wendy, aren't you?" said Lily, noticing what might be wrong.

"I told her I'm against it, but she still went through with it!" said Charla while fuming

"She gave you the silent treatment for a whole week? Now that's stubborn." Lily stated with surprise, although he couldn't hide that he was slightly impressed. "Are you that scared of this Mest person?"

Charla sighed and shook her head. "No, I know he wouldn't hurt her. I just have a very bad feeling about this whole exam thing."

"You mean that future related ability of yours?" asked Lily, knowing of her ability

"Yes. But all I've seen were small fragments, so I can't say for sure. Call it a hunch, if it makes it easier to understand." Replied Charla

"I'm curious and interested in this Mest person." Said Lily while rubbing a paw to his chin.

"Why so?" asked Charla

"He claims to be Prince's disciple. Something is fishy about this." Said Lily as his statement got Charla anxious.


"I can't believe we've had to run into her, of all people..." cursed Elfman as he and Evergreen was face to face with the she-demon herself

"How many times are you going to repeat that?" asked Mirajane as she is in her Satan Soul while facing both pairs who are not lucky to come in her path. "I told you before, if you run into me, do not expect me to go easy on you. You being my brother doesn't change a single thing."

"I'm here too, you know!" Ever shouted at Mira

"Now then, what will you do?" she taunted the two as she smirks evilly that made the two shivers in a fright


at Lucy and Cana's path, both girls are having the worst day of their lives as they had chosen the wrong path.

"s-something tells me that we aren't so lucky" said Lucy while sweating a lot as Cana who is just sweating a lot like her, nodded.

The two are in a cave as they are facing Erza who smirks at the two.

"seems that you two have bad luck today, huh?" said Erza as she summoned a sword in her grasp.

"I t-think E stands for Erza, Lucy" said Cana as she and Lucy hugs each other.

"y-yeah" Lucy agreed.

"let's go" said Erza as she readied her sword before she dashed at the two.

"Kyaaaa!" the two screamed as they chose the wrong path.


at Path G, Loke slid on the ground from a blocked kick, his arms crossed in front of his face. He shook his sore arms off and looked around the area, searching for his opponent.

"Troublesome bastard." cursed the spirit under his nose.

Gray, who was right behind him, punched his hand, before creating a set of ice spears.

"ICE MAKE: Lance!"

The weapons launched themselves at Mest, who appeared for a second, only to then teleport away, unscathed. Gray scoffed in annoyance and joined Loke in the search.

"Doesn't he get tired? He's been jumping like that for over 5 minutes now." wondered aloud the Maker.

"Since he travels very short distances, he can probably keep this up for a long time. His magic hasn't dropped that much since the beginning of this fight." explained Loke. "At this rate, we can either tire him out, or somehow manage to hit him once, but heavily."

"I'll go with one, strong hit." said Gray and punched his palm. "I'd rather avoid long fights for the time being, and there's still Wendy"

He sent an ice hammer in Mest's direction, who teleported away and jumped back, creating some distance.

"Looks like it won't be that easy." noted Loke.

Gray smirked. "Nope, it'll be over before you know it."

He once again punched his hand and placed both of his palms on the ground.

"Ice Make: floor!"

Ice has quickly spread all over the ground of the area, making Loke almost slip in his spot.

"Well then, now what?" asked Loke

"Useless. You won't be able to catch me." said Mest and vanished once again.

"Tenryu no Hoko!" Wendy appeared as she fires a breath attack at Loke who dodged her attack

Gray let his guard down and loudly breathed out, his eyes closing themselves. He knew he'd never be able to catch Mest with eyes alone, so he has given up on using them. Focusing his senses, as well as thinking of all possible patterns of teleportation he has seen up until now, he'd decided to put it all on one card – prediction.

Loke did not say anything in order to not interrupt his partner, so he simply watched the area, anticipating an attack.

Suddenly, Gray snapped his eyes open and threw a quick right jab to the side, his thumb scratching Mest's cheek. The man gasped in shock, as he was grabbed by the collar by smirking Gray and tossed over his shoulder. Mest turned around in the air and landed on his feet, only to then slip on the ice and fall onto his knee.

Loke did not waste this chance and rushed the man, catching him with a light enforced punch to the face. Mest was blown away, his back smashing into a nearby rock.

"What?" he gasped, shocked.

Gray clenched his right fist and grinned. "I have some experience when it comes to fighting people who can teleport. I just put it into use."

Mest wiped his mouth and stood up. "Miracles don't happen twice."

"Why don't you come here and find out whether it was a miracle or not by yourself?" taunted him the Maker.

Mest scoffed and dashed at Gray, who remained unguarded. Just 3 meters away, Mest vanished. A second later, Gray quickly turned around in his spot and readied a left straight, with Mest doing the same just behind him.

"Wha-" gasped Mest, before being hit straight in the face. Gray quickly followed with a left kick to the ribs and finished with a right kick to the stomach. Mest slid on the ice, his hands clutching his abdomen.

He was then ambushed by Loke, who threw a quick right hook at his head, which was evaded with Mest vanishing once again. He appeared behind Loke and tried to kick him, only to be blocked. The spirit brushed the strike off and threw one more punch, once again avoided. Mest teleported to his right side, however, instead of trying to block or counter, Loke smirked and lit his hand up so much, it blinded Mest.

Gray used this chance to create an ice bazooka, aimed at Mest and ready to launch at any moment.

"Ice cannon!" A giant ball of ice launched out of the weapon, hitting Mest straight in the torso. A powerful explosion of ice covered most of the cave, ice and frost spreading all over the rocks. When the icy mist went down, it revealed a defeated Mest, as he sat against the rock wall, his head hung low.

"Well, I'll be damned." whistled impressed Loke. "That was excellent," he added and raised his hand.

The two then looks at Wendy who was the only one left

"I rather fight Mest all over again than hurting Wendy, but!" Gray said as he reached behind his pocket

"I will pass and become and S-class!" Gray shouted as he pulled out a jar full of pickled plums

"Pickled Plums!?" Wendy screams as Gray eats the pickled plums and his mouth puckered up that made Wendy feel that she was the one eating it

Wendy runs away before Loke appears in front of her with a jar of pickled plums that was shining

"Regulus Shining Star!" Loke exclaimed as he eats the glowing pickled plums and showed Wendy his glowing puckered face

Wendy screams as she had nowhere to run

Before long she fainted as she laid on the ground knocked out

Gray grinned as he and Lyon hi-fives.

"First Stage, cleared!" he exclaimed happily.

The two then grabs their bags and head to the tunnel where the second exam lies up ahead

"With Mest and Wendy out, it definitely makes things easier." noted Loke, as they walked down the path.

Gray hummed and ducked to walk under a rock sticking out of the ceiling. "I have to say, I don't exactly remember him fighting anyone."

"A memory loss joke? Lucy would love it." Said Loke with a laugh "He got pretty far in the last exam, don't you remember?"

Gray turned around to face him. "Then who was his partner?"

Loke opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He closed it and focused his eyes on the ground, trying to remember.

"Who...was it, indeed?" he asked and grabbed his head with his hand. "I can't remember anything."

"Looks like memories regarding Mest are always pretty hazy" pointed out Gray.

Loke's eyes widened. "Now that you mention it, whenever I try to remember something about him, it always cuts off at some point."

As they both continued to try and remember something, they walked out of the cave and got blinded by the sun.

"Gray, Loke!" someone called out to them.

After getting used to the light, Gray spotted Lucy and Cana standing right in front of them, both grinning. Behind them sat Gajeel and Levy, their expressions being polar opposites of each other, with Gajeel's face twisted in a scowl, and Levy's in a happy smile.

"So, you guys have made it through huh?" asked Lucy to the two as she raised a hand.

"Yeah." nodded Gray and gave her a high five, with Loke doing the same a second later.

"Well, congratulations." Said Cana with a smile

"Is this everyone? No one else made it through?" said Gray seeing how many teams are around.

"we don't know what happened to Freed, and Elfman yet" Lucy replied before Makarov came in

"Is this everyone?" Makarov walked out from behind the bushes and slowly strolled to the candidates. "I guess it's safe to assume it is. Time to announce the official results."

The elder cleared his throat and pointed with his hand at Gray and Loke.

"Gray and Loke defeated Mest and Wendy in Battle and passed!" Makarov announced as the two smirks

"Gajeel and Levy, pass the Quiet Route and passed!" he announced as Levy raise a victory sign while Gajeel grumbles.

"I wonder what happened to Juvia and Lisanna?" Gray asked out of the blue

"Juvia and Lisanna entered the wrong path" said Makarov before his face turned horror. "that boy is truly a demon!"


At Path H, Natsu stood over a boulder as he looks down to the floor where Lisanna and Juvia laid unconscious.

"I'm rather disappointed in you two" said Natsu to the two as he had defeated them easily.

"we couldn't even attack" said Lisana and Juvia


"yikes, we're lucky, aren't we?" said Loke imagining how Natsu beat the two.

"Freed and Bickslow went through Hard Battle Against Gildarts and failed" Makarov said as Gray smirks

"talk about bad luck" said Levy

"Cana and Lucy went through Hard Battle against Erza and Won!" said Makarov as Gray looks shocked.

"Natsu and Gildarts are impossible but how you two won against Erza?!" exclaimed Gray, wanting to know how the two defeated the scarlet knight.

"fufufufu, it's a secret" Cana told him as she and Lucy smirks


At Path E, Erza is on the ground with her face red as her hair while surrounded with novel books that are all smutty and the scarlet knight is weak against smutty love novel which she was forcibly read by Lucy and Cana.

"i-indecent.." muttered Erza.


"That leaves Elfman and Evergreen." noted Cana.

"if the Path D is still open and that means the only route left they could take is..." added Lucy, before her face dropped, with Cana doing the same beside her. "...Mirajane's."

"Poor things." sweatdropped Levy.

"We would've beaten her." smirked Gajeel.

"Hold on a second!" yelled someone from behind trees.

The group turned around to the sight of Elfman and Evergreen, both of them injured and supporting each other, but happy nonetheless. "You forgot about us! We defeated Sis!"

"What the-" Makarov failed to supress his shock.

Gray facepalmed in disbelief, with Loke laughing behind him.

"You've bested Mira?" frowned Cana. "How?"

As soon as she asked the question, the giant's face took the shade of pure scarlet. "I-I can't tell...as a man." Elfman stuttered out.

Makarov cleared his throat. "In that case, it is time to make it official. Gray and Loke, Cana and Lucy, Elfman and Evergreen, Levy and Gajeel. These four teams shall advance onto the Second Stage, which will begin in 20 minutes. Allow me to explain the details of this exam."

Makarov snapped his finger, and a magical drawing of the island showed up. "Somewhere within this island, there is a grave of Fairy Tail's founder – Mavis Vermillion. Your objective is to find this grave within 6 hours. There are no clues, no headstarts, no checkpoints. You have 6 hours to find it. Those, who find it, will become S-Class. If all of you fail to stumble across the grave, the exam will be ended with no one taking the rank. That is all. You have 20 minutes to restock your supplies and treat your wounds. You will need it."

"No clues? This place is too big to search through everything." noticed Lucy.

"Looks like this stage is also dependent on luck." Said Cana

"What a boring exam." yawned Gajeel


Wendy is crying and pouting as she feels guilty for losing and not allowing Mest to become an S-class wizard.

"how long are you going to make that face for?" said Mest while sighing.

"buutt….buut" Wendy pouted.

"hey, Wendy. Do you know why this island is called the Fairy Tail's holy land?" asked Mest while looking up.

"eh?" Wendy wipes away her tears and answered "because this place is the place where the first Fairy Tail Master Mavis sleeps"

"that's not all" added Mest. "this island is normally hidden by a strong barrier, and that's why no one can find it with any type of magi"

"wow" said Wendy while looking amazed.

"and that isn't just because Mavis' grave is here" said Mest before smiling "it's because a huge secret about Fairy Tail is also hidden in here"

"what do you mean?" asked Wendy while looking at Mest who stands up from the ground.

"I don't know myself, but what do you say?" asked Mest before glancing at Wendy with a smile." Wanna go explore?"

"yes!" said Wendy with an excited face.


Meanwhile at the beach, Charla and Lily, with Lily continuing his previous thought.

"The Prince has avoided making contact with people of this world. Even when he visited the guild, he'd always put everyone to sleep, so that no one could see his face. I find it hard to believe he'd take a disciple." Said Lily with a serious look.

"Where are you going with this?" asked Charla

"It might be just a wild guess, but...is that Mest person really a member of the guild?" asked Lily with a serious hard gaze.


That's a wrap!

Bye bye