Chapter 3

The Fairy Tail guild was stunned, to say the least. Erza had just been bested in a sword fight. I looked down at her. She had her head down, accepting defeat. I looked down to where Gajeel was still unconscious. Natsu had crawled away, obviously trying to get away. I looked at Makarov, he was unmoving. I huffed in amusement and helped Erza stand up.

"Thanks for the fight. At least, now I have someone to train with!" Erza thanked.

"It was my pleasure. No one can stay conscious after that attack! You were the first!" I complemented.

I felt a tugging on my arm and looked down.

"Stephanie, is Erza going to train with us?" Wendy asked.

I looked up at Erza, silently asking her if she wanted to. Erza nodded. I looked at Wendy and nodded.

"She can." I stood up. "Meet me here at dawn tomorrow. We'll hed up to the mountain again. That's okay with you, isn't it?" I directed the last part at Erza and she nodded.

Everyone unfroze and little Romeo turned to his dad.

"Dad, I think we can do it this year! We have all our strongest members back! We could win, especially if Stephanie joined!" Romeo exclaimed.

Everyone turned to him.

"Romeo, we're not going to enter. We have come in last place every time!" Macao declined.

"What's this?" Makarov asked.

"A tournament to declare the strongest wizard guild. It's called the Grand Magic Games and Fairy Tail have lost each year. The next tournament is over three months from now. The guild to beat is Sabertooth. Every member is really strong. Not to mention, they have twin dragonslayers, Sting and Rogue, the White Dragon Slayer and the Shadow Dragon Slayer. They compete every year and haven't lost a fight!" I explained.

"We can win it this year!" Romeo yelled.

"I told said no, Romeo. We're not competing this year!" Macao scolded his son.

I looked around me and saw the Tenrou team, and the now conscious Gajeel, all nodding their heads.

"We should do it. Show them that Fairy Tail is back in business!" Natsu piped up.

I snapped my head around trying to find the guy but to no avail. I tilted my head when I heard quiet laughter above me. Natsu was in the tree, right above me and waiting to drop. As he dropped, I jumped up and hit him with the staff. He hit the ground as I landed softly.

"I was so close!" he whispered as he twitched.

Makarov turned his head away from the idiot and I walked back to Erza. I opened my mouth to talk, when I heard something in the bushes behind me. I turned around and...

"Lyon? Jura? What are you doing here?" Gray asked.

"I came to pay my respects towards your return!" Lyon stated.

"Wizard Saint Jura. It's been a while!" I greeted.

"St... Stephanie? What are you doing here?" Jura asked, horrified.

"I was here yesterday, seeing if the rumours of their return was true. Now, I'm training Erza and Wendy!" I said.

"Why train Erza?" he questioned.

"We just fought and I won!" I answered.

Jura nodded with wide eyes and hurried off to talk with Makarov.

"What's the deal with him?" Gajeel wondered.

"I don't know. I've never seen him like that before!" Lyon admitted.

"I know. He's afraid of me. He wanted to fight and I almost killed him with a single punch!" I confessed.

"Are you the strongest wizard saint?" Lucy screamed.

"No. I'm not a wizard saint. Never have been, never will be."

"How can you beat Jura if you're not a wizard saint?" Gajeel asked.

"That's a good question for another time!" I refused to answer.

Romeo ran behind his dad and yelled, "See, Dad? With Erza and Wendy training, we definitely stand a chance! If Natsu and the others train too, we would be unbeatable!"

Macao sighed. "You really want to enter this year, don't you?"

"You should do it. Heck, I'll even come and watch!" I said.

"That would be awesome, Stephanie!" Romeo exclaimed.

|Time skip to arrival in Crocus|

"Is this your first time here?" I asked.

Erza nodded. "We only travelled when we were doing jobs. I personally never took the time off to visit Crocus."

"Is this their first, too?"

"I would think so."

"You'd think that they'd be a bit more energetic about it, wouldn't you?" I said.

"I'd have to agree with you," Makarov interjected.

"So would I," Erza agreed.

"Stephanie, you don't mind that I didn't put on the Fairy Tail team, do you?" Makarov asked.

"Oh no, not at all. I had fun just training with Erza and Wendy until they visited the Celestial Spirit World," I answered.

Both Erza and Makarov chuckled. We walked to the inn that we were staying at and Levy read the rule book once we were inside. She said the rules while Makarov nodded. The Fairy Tail team went off to explore.

"Laxus, Juvia, Mira, Gajeel, Stephanie. I would like to have a few words with you if you don't mind."

We followed the old geyser into a smaller room so our fellow guildmates couldn't hear us.

"I have decided to put in a second Fairy Tail team. Levy told me quietly that the rules state that we can have a second team."

"Let me guess, you're choosing us?" Laxus guessed.

"I am."

"Cool, thanks master!" Mira cheered.

"As long as I get to fight Salamander!" Gajeel agreed.

I smiled. "I'm in."