Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything aside from a few OCs.

Warnings: same as in previous chapters.

Enjoy!


Lucy looked up as she heard a knock on her hotel door.

She glanced at the clock curiously. It was nearly midnight. Who would come to see her at this hour?

The blonde got up, striding to the door and opening it, and was surprised to see Macao, of all people.

"Lucy, have you seen Romeo?" he asked her worriedly.

"Romeo?" her eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully. "No, not since we checked in. Is he missing?"

He exhaled slowly, trying not to panic, which wasn't easy because it was his son. "He went with Wendy and Carla to the castle Mercurius to see the flowers, and they were supposed to be back an hour ago. I thought maybe they just didn't notice the time, but…"

Lucy bit her lip in concern. "I can't go anywhere, since participating mages have a curfew tonight, but…"

She quickly requipped one of her silver key. "Open, Gate of the Hunting Dogs: Canes Venatici!"

A pair of bloodhounds appeared, immediately going to Macao and sniffing at him.

Macao, fully trusting Lucy, stood still. "What are they doing?"

"Romeo's scent will be similar to yours, since you're his father." She explained. "They're memorizing your scent so they don't mistake it for his. Do you have anything that belongs to Romeo with you?"

"No, but I'll find something from our room." Macao answered, before turning to leave.

"Bring them with you." Lucy instructed. "I don't know what the game masters are planning, but I'm guessing there's a reason we're supposed to be at our hotels. I can keep their gate open for hours, even if whatever it is requires magic, so don't worry about that."

As she said it, a loud voice boomed over the city of Crocus. "ATTENTION ALL MAGES COMPETING IN THIS YEAR'S GAMES!" they heard. "GOOD MORNING!"

"Knew it." Lucy muttered before shooing Macao out, locking her door behind her before meeting the rest of her team. Kozue and Meredy were there too, just in case.

Toph cheered, eager for the challenge to begin.

"As you all know, mages will not be the only ones participating in the Games this year!" the voice said. "As such, to make things fairer for our guests, only 8 teams from Fiore will be allowed to compete this year!"

"What?!" Meredy asked, startled.

The mages blinked up at the giant projection of the pumpkin mascot.

"To narrow down the 113 guilds to a more manageable number, let's begin the preliminary round!"

"Seriously?" Gajeel asked, looking more than a little annoyed as Team B appeared behind Team A.

"Well, this is news." Erza said.


"Has there been a preliminary round in years' past?" Ichiya asked, glass of wine in hand.

"No." Hibiki denied, shaking his head. "This is completely new. Though I suppose it makes sense that it would be necessary."


"So this must be the reason we were required to take our places at midnight." Lyon mused.

"113 guilds narrowed down to a meager 8 in one fell swoop." Jura stated.


'This doesn't make sense. Why would they keep this preliminary round a secret till now? Why all these new procedures?' Erza wondered with a frown.

First the new rule that allowed more than one team per guild—which was in place even before they opened the Games to non-mages—and now this?

Kozue glanced at her, but decided not to reply to her thoughts.

"The rules of this preliminary round are simple!" the mascot announced.

"What the—" Gray cried out in shock as the world started moving around them. Or, more specifically, the building.

Juvia stumbled, knocked off balance, and Gray caught her arm to keep her from falling over the railing.

Which, of course, caused the blunette to swoon at the contact.

"What's happening?!" Erza demanded, ignoring Gray shouting at Juvia to try and wake her up. "Look, the inn is rising up!"

"The other ones are doing it to!" Mirajane shouted.

"Now you will all be participating in our race! The finish line is at the Domas-Flau coliseum! Only the first eight team to reach it will fight in the Games!"

"That's a path!" Juvia cried, finally waking up as a staircase made of wood appeared before them all. She blushed as she (very reluctantly) removed herself from Gray's arms.

"I suppose we'll be following it?" Erza asked.

"It appears so." Jellal said.

"You're free to use magic in any way you see fit!" the pumpkin continued. "There are no restrictions! But remember, only the first eight teams to reach the finish line will clear this round! However, all five members must cross the boundary to count!"

Gray looked at Juvia warily, thinking about her strange habit of falling unconscious at the oddest times.

"One more thing! We are not responsible for any loss of life that may occur in the labyrinth." The mascot said slyly.

"Say what?" Laxus asked.

"So, without further ado, let the preliminary round, Sky Labyrinth, BEGIN!"

The Fairy Tail teams looked up, seeing a large sphere made up of buildings and staircases.

"Huh." Natsu muttered, wondering how they'd gotten that up there.

Team A was already running up the path. Their response time was quicker because they'd been in the Games before. Jellal turned, running backwards, and grinned at Erza. "See you at the finish line, Scarlet."

And then he turned back around, leaving behind a blushing redhead.

"Come on, Titania." Mirajane said with a giggle, resting a hand on her old rival's shoulder.


When Team A reached the labyrinth, Toph took a deep breath, extending her senses as far as they could go. She had long since memorized the footsteps and heartbeat of the pumpkin mascot (and as such she knew who was behind that mask), and she felt him arrive at the finish line.

Considering she could feel him through the earth, she could also feel which route to take to get them there. And she would be able to focus on that route, not be distracted by the odd sights surrounding them.

Her eyes snapped open. "Got it."

"Then let's go." Raven murmured, levitating higher than the others so they would have a warning of any threats, whether from the other guilds or the labyrinth itself.


"From the ground, the coliseum was to the east." Erza muttered, pulling out a compass.


Team A arrived at the finish line first, surprising no one.

There was a large video lacrima that showed what was happening in the maze, and they saw their Team B beat up other guilds to acquire the maps that every guild but them had apparently decided to use to navigate the arena.

"Well…whatever works, I guess." Ultear decided.

"Thank god we have Toph." Charlotte muttered, seeing the other team do their best to piece together the maps.

Toph gave her a thumbs up.

An hour later, and the teams that would be moving on had been decided.

Fairy Tail Team B had ended up in second place, since even though Erza's plan of using the maps hadn't worked very well Laxus had managed to travel via lightning to the finish line, trace a route back, and then lead them there.

Like most people would plot a route while doing a (much less interesting) maze.


As soon as the teams were dismissed to go back to their hotels, Lucy rushed to where she could feel her spirits.

She ended up in a makeshift infirmary, with Romeo, Wendy, and Carla asleep in beds and while Makarov, Porlyusica, and Makarov stood over them. Canes Venatici stood guard from the corner of the room.

Lucy's eyes widened at the sight.

She bowed to her spirits in thanks before dismissing them back to the spirit world.

"What happened?" she asked immediately after that, concerned for her younger friends. "Are they hurt? I can summon Phoenix, he's good with healing magic…"

"Quiet, child. They were attacked and had their magic drained." Porlyusica said without preamble, blunt as always. "They are not physically injured, and they will be fine with rest."

Who would do that to a twelve year old, thirteen year old, and a semi-harmless Exceed?

And what if they tried it again?


*The next day*


"ATTENTION EVERYONE, THE 8 TEAMS HAVE BEEN DETERMINED!" the pumpkin, Mato, announced.

"In first and second place, we have Fairy Tail Teams A and B respectively!

3rd place Sabertooth!

4th place Raven Tail!

5th place Lamia Scale!

6th place Blue Pegasus!

7th place Mermaid Heel!

And in 8th place is Quatro Cerberus!"


"What the hell?!" the other guilds shouted in shock.

The three judges went on to explain that the council had added a rule this year allowing for guilds to enter more than one team, and though it was in the handbook printed in black and white, apparently only Fairy Tail had taken advantage of it.

"That's not fair, if you ask me." Jenny Realight, guest judge, model for Sorcerer's Weekly, and Blue Pegasus mage said with a sniff. "What if one of the events is a battle royale between the guilds? There's nothing to stop Fairy Tail from teaming up."

"Guess that's their reward for being the only guild with two teams." Yajima said with a laugh. "Go Maki!"

Makarov could be heard cheering in the background.


"There a reason you keep gawking?" Gajeel growled as the Sabertooth guild walked out.

"Nothing important." Rogue said dismissively. He glanced at Raven, who nodded at him in greeting.

Whatever was between them, neither would hold back.


"At least we know who our biggest competition is." Gray muttered from his place beside Juvia, glancing across the Sabertooth mages.

Natsu scowled, glaring at Sting. "That blonde really rubs me the wrong way."


Meanwhile, another Sabertooth mage was staring at a certain blonde from Fairy Tail Team A in shock.

'No way…' Yukino thought, horrified as she realized that her role model would be competing against her.

Sabertooth's Celestial Spirit mage had only joined the guild a few months ago, and she hadn't attended the Games as a guest, either, so she had had no idea…

Lucy Heartfilia…with ten gold keys and a dozen or so silver keys…

If the two of them had to battle, Yukino had very little doubt that she would lose against the beautiful S-Class mage, pride and status as a Sabertooth mage be damned.


Watching from the stands, three groups of people were stunned to see certain people either on one of the Fairy Tail teams or in the stands with the rest of the guild.


"Nii-san?!" Yukio yelped, seeing his brother cheering wildly.

Shura and the junior exorcists behind him, Rin's former trainer and former classmates, all of whom had tried to defend Rin and stood firmly behind him, where ecstatic to see their friend alive and well.

Shiemi smiled as she noticed the blue-eyed half-demon had a hand around another girl's waist. In hindsight she realized that he had had a crush on her (though she had liked Yukio at the time), but she couldn't have been what he needed, back then, so she was happy that he had found someone who was.

"Itachi…" Sasuke exhaled, dark eyes wide as he saw his older brother, who he had thought was dead for years.

His heart clenched, remembering the pain that both of them had gone through, how Itachi had sacrificed his happiness, reputation, and (arguably) sanity to that Sasuke could live.

Sasuke at least had had the support of their village, but Itachi, forced out as a missing ninja after being blackmailed into committing a massacre…Itachi hadn't had anyone.

He glanced down as he felt something hit the back of his hand, and wasn't particularly surprised to find out that he was crying.

Naruto took ahold of his hand, squeezing it in support as the blonde also tried to comprehend what he was seeing.


Stoick stiffened in fury as he noticed a familiar black beast positioned behind the weird Fairy-whatsit guild.

The Night Fury was alive.

And if the person on the demon's back was any indication…

So was Hiccup.

His fists clenched around his axe, using all of his restrain to stop himself from going over there and killing the beast, his traitor of a son, and anyone or anything that got in his way.

Once he had regained a bit of control, he realized something, and glanced over at Astrid.

The young blonde was completely unsurprised to see them there.

Right.

Maybe he should start listening more…


Please review! :)