Here's the next chapter! The poll on my profile is still open! I hope you all enjoy!
After Porlyusica kicked everyone out of the infirmary, Zale and Lisanna went to the stands in the stadium where everyone else in Fairy Tail was to watch the games, including Callista, Flynn and Amber.
"How're the little girl and her cat doing?" Callista asked Zale as he came up to them.
"Their names are Wendy and Carla, and they're not doing so well." Zale replied. "Most of their magic was sapped and they'll need significant time to recover."
"Will they be alright?" Amber asked.
Zale knelt to Amber and petted her head. "As long as they get plenty of rest, they'll be fine."
"Why would anyone do such a thing?" Flynn wondered. "Is there someone trying to cheat their way into the games?"
"I don't know about that." Zale put his finger to his chin. "Wendy and Carla are the only ones I've heard that are in this condition. If someone WERE trying to cheat, why target members of what's currently deemed as the weakest guild on the continent? And why Wendy and Carla? Wouldn't it make more sense to attack Laxus, Erza, Mira or Natsu? They're the guild's powerhouses. Maybe whoever attacked them had a different objective in mind."
"Hey, Zale, while you're being a neurotic, we're going to be watching the opening ceremonies." Callista interrupted.
Zale looked back into the arena to see which teams made it past the preliminary round, the crowd really excited for the coming events.
"It's that time of the year again!" A voice spoke over speakers throughout the stadium. "Welcome to the X791 Grand Magic Games! I am your commentator, Chapati Lola. And joining me is our analyst and former Magic Council member, Mr. Yajima. Thank you for being here with us, sir."
"Nishe to shee you." Yajima said to Chapati.
"I'm also joined by today's guest commentator, the star of the Miss Fiore Pageant, Blue Pegasus' Jenny Realite!" Chapati continued.
"Blue Pegasus will win this year!" Jenny said.
"Now, let's meet our competitors!" Chapati said.
"Nishe to shee… testing, testing… Nishe to shee-"
"Mr. Yajima, your mic is working, I promise." Chapati told the elder man before switching the topic back to the games. "First, ranked eighth in the preliminary… the former top guild in Fiore is seeking to reclaim their title! Don't let their name think they're dainty, this guild is full of ruffians! Fairy Tail!"
"BOOOOOOO!" A collective jeer echoed from the stands, except for the other Fairy Tail members.
"Fairy Tail has come in last place every year, but this year they managed to rise above over a hundred other guilds." Chapati continued. "The whole continent's been abuzz about the return of Team Tenrou. Will their long-lost guildmates make them number one again?!"
"Congratsh, Fairy Tail." Yajima gave a thumbs-up to the guild.
As the Fairy Tail wizards in the stands cheered, they heard a strange voice cheering alongside them.
"Hurray! Hurray for Fairy Tail!" A young girl with flowing blonde hair sat on the edge of their booth.
"MASTER MAVIS!" All of the Fairy Tail mages, including Zale, yelled in shock.
"Why are you here?!" Zale asked.
"I came to cheer you on, so here I am." Mavis answered.
"Er-'Here I am', huh?" Makarov somewhat groaned.
"Zale, who are you all talking to?" Callista asked.
"Only those with Fairy Tail's mark are able to see me." Mavis said.
"I… That's not… the problem…" Makarov said.
"Come on!" Mavis whined. "It's so boring on Tenrou Island!"
"Mommy, everyone's talking funny…" Amber said.
"In seventh place, the pack of hellhounds, Quatro Cerberus!" Chapati resumed the announcements.
Five boisterous male wizards entered the arena shouting 'wild' and howling.
"In sixth place, an all-female guild! The dazzling dancers of the deep, Mermaid Heel!"
Zale took notice of the five women that had just come out into the arena.
"That's Bellona's guild." Zale said. "I wonder if she's cheering her guild mates on…"
Do your best… Zale could picture Bellona saying those words in the most unconvincing and unenthusiastic manner possible.
*That sounds about right…* Zale thought before a dark-haired woman in a white blazer caught his attention. *She looks fierce. Is she the one Jayden said he sparred with? If she is, she must be pretty damn strong.*
"In fifth place, the blue wings sparkling in the night, Blue Pegasus!"
Ichiya, the Trimens and a rabbit man posed for the audience.
"Go get 'em, guys!" Jenny cheered for her guild mates.
"Is it just me or is that a rabbit?" Flynn questioned.
Sitting near Blue Pegasus' Guild Master, Bob, in the stands was a young man with spiky crimson hair, wearing a black leather jacket over a neon orange shirt, beige cargo pants and black boots.
"Did Ichiya really have to bring HIM along?" The young man questioned about the rabbit.
"He insisted and wouldn't budge an inch." Bob said. "Jenny really wanted a chance to fight Mirajane and I couldn't separate the Trimens. I'm sorry, Grant sweetie."
The young man was Grant Viridion (Age 20), a powerful wizard from Blue Pegasus.
Grant sighed. "Well, there's always next year…"
"In fourth place…" Chapati continued the announcements. "Representing the goddess of love and war, the holy destroyers, LAMIA SCALE!"
Zale recognized most of the Lamia Scale wizards that stepped into the arena from when they visited Fairy Tail after their return from Tenrou Island. Their team consisted of Lyon, Toby, Yuka, the Wizard Saint Jura and a pink-haired girl he didn't recognize.
Elsewhere in the stands, Soren had his attention on the girl on Lamia Scale's team. When she tripped and fell, his body shook and tensed up in anger.
*She's the one they gave it to…* Soren thought. *How could they reward a klutz like that with HER magic?!*
"I've never seen her before…" Zale said as he saw the girl. "But she does remind of that girl…"
As soon as Zale thought of Sherry, he began blushing at the thought of her revealing outfit and slapped his cheeks with his hands.
"Mind out of the gutter, Zale!" He quietly exclaimed to himself.
"Moving on, in third place…" Chapati continued. "This is unexpected! This is this guild's first time participating in the games, but they managed to take third place! The midnight marauders…"
Entering the arena were five wizards; a tall cloaked man with a long nose and a top hat, a short man with purple skin and a large chin, a lanky gothic-looking man, a woman with braided dark red hair matched with a dark red dress and someone in golden armor and a cape.
"RAVEN TAIL!"
All of the Fairy Tail wizards were shocked upon hearing Raven Tail's name.
"Wait! How can they be here?!" Zale exclaimed. "Aren't they a dark guild?!"
"Who is this Raven Tail, Zale?" Callista inquired.
"Growing up, Master Makarov's son, Ivan, was excommunicated from Fairy Tail for putting his guild mates in harm's way." Zale replied. "That was when he formed the dark guild Raven Tail."
"They're not a dark guild." Flynn spoke up. "At least, not anymore."
"How?" Zale asked.
"They never did anything, so they were deemed a legal guild just recently." Flynn clarified.
When Zale looked back at the Raven Tail wizards, he saw a small black creature perch itself on the tall cloaked man, change its face to that of Wendy's and fall over like it was playing dead, which made Zale clench his fists.
"So it was them…" Zale growled.
"Uncle Zale?" Amber looked up at him.
"They attacked Wendy and Carla!"
Meanwhile in the audience, Grant noticed the lone female representing Raven Tail.
"That woman…" Grant muttered to himself. "I feel like I've seen her before… But I can't put my finger on it…"
"Something wrong, Grant honey?" Bob asked.
"Nothing to be worried about, Master." Grant gave his Guild Master an assuring smile.
"All right!" Chapati's voice interrupted any further conversations. "Only two more teams made it to the finals!"
Murmuring filled the crowd, wondering who one of the guilds was since they were sure that the other was Sabertooth.
"Taking second place in the preliminaries…"
"I wonder who else got in…" Flynn said.
Zale smirked. "Oh… I have a pretty good idea…"
"Now THIS is a shocker! Who could've seen this?!"
When the next team came out and revealed themselves, Zale's smile widened.
"FAIRY TAIL TEAM B!"
This team consisted of Laxus, Mirajane, Gajeel, Juvia and, much to most everyone's surprise, Mystogan.
"M-Mystogan?!" Zale exclaimed. "But how-?!"
Zale recalled that Mystogan was actually a version of Jellal from Edolas and that the worlds of Earthland and Edolas were now closed off from each other. There was only one explanation as to how this could be possible.
"No… He couldn't have…" Zale said to himself.
"Hey, Zale, how come I've never seen him in the guild?" Flynn asked as he pointed at 'Mystogan'.
"Er-That's Mystogan. He's not the most… social person." Zale somewhat lied, but then noticed the audience was questioning why Fairy Tail had two teams and everyone else had one. "Looks like the games' committee didn't inform every one of the rules this year."
"Now, for the final team!" Chapati continued. "In first place, they need no introductions! You all know who I'm talking about! The powerful! The unequaled! The undefeated champions! SABERTOOTH!"
The last team to come out consisted five wizards, four young men and one young woman, and the young man with spiky blonde hair reveled in the uproarious cheers from the audience.
"So…" Zale said. "They're the strongest guild in Fiore…"
"Now that we've seen all the teams, what are your thoughts on the lineup, Mr. Yajima?" Chapati asked.
"It musht be nice to be sho young." Yajima replied.
"Uh… That's not what I meant…" Chapati said. "And now… The moment you've all been waiting for! It's time to announce how this year's games will work!"
Rising from the ground in the sandy arena was a large tablet engraved with the words 'Grand Magic Games' at the very top and below it were a list of five days with the first one listing 'hidden + battles', the next two below it listing '? + battles', the fourth saying '? + tag battles' and the lowest was just a series of question marks.
"First, I'll explain the contests." Chapati said. "Teams will be ranked from first to eighth place based on their performance. Points will be given to each team based on their rank. Each team is allowed to choose one member to participate. As for the battles, the sponsors will pit competitors against each other based on factors such as audience votes. The rules for the battles are simple; each team will have one member face off against a member of another team once. The winning team will be awarded ten points and the losing team gets zero. In the case of a draw, both teams will receive five points. And now for the opening contest! Hidden! Teams, choose your participant! Once everyone has come forward, we will explain the rules!"
"So this is a competition of luck almost as much as skill…" Zale said.
And so the contest known as hidden went on, which was a game of hide and seek across a false city. Due to the constant badgering by Raven Tail's contestant for the contest, Nullpudding, Gray and Juvia came in eighth and seventh place, respectively. The rankings as of the first half of the first day are as follows:
Sabertooh 10P
Raven Tail 8P
Lamia Scale 6P
Blue Pegasus 4P
Mermaid Heel 3P
Quatro Cerberus 2P
Fairy Tail B 1P
Fairy Tail A 0P
The insults from the crowd were made Zale grip onto the edge of the balcony and clench it with black water forming around his hand.
"If it weren't for that Raven Tail prick… they wouldn't be laughing at us…" Zale growled.
Callista and Flynn sadly looked at Zale trying to contain his anger.
"I have just received the lineup!" Chapati's voice broke their silence. "For the first match of day one, we have Fairy Tail A's Lucy Heartfilia!"
"That's me!" Lucy said as she stepped forward.
"Go get 'em, Lucy!" Flynn cheered.
"Versus Raven Tail's Flare Corona!"
The woman of Raven Tail looked at Lucy with crazed eyes.
"Blondie…" That was all Flare said before stepping into the arena.
As soon as Grant heard that name, he felt like a part of his memory had become clearer.
"'Flare'… I know I've heard that name before…" Grant whispered to himself. "Could she be…"
A/N: And on that note, this chapter is done! Phew, this didn't take me that long to write, but I've been busy and distracted by several other things. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and please remember to vote on my profile poll. Stay tuned for next time!