Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything besides a few OCs.
Warnings: same as in previous chapters. Again, possible yuri in the future.
Enjoy!
"Our very first act of this year's Games will test the abilities of Fairy Tail Team A's Celestial Spirit mage Lucy Heartfilia against the crimson intensity, Raven Tail's Flare Corona!"
Lucy hopped down into the stadium as the redhead from Raven Tail stared at her, head tilted, with a creepy expression on her face.
The blonde examined her carefully. Long hair, braided. Revealing red dress. Scar on her shoulder. Crazed red eyes…
"Too bad for you blondie." The girl said, voice unexpectedly soft and child-like.
Lucy's eyes widened, slightly surprised.
This girl…she was a member of Ivan Dreyar's guild. Master Makarov's banished (and disowned) son…
"Come on!" Natsu roared. "Knock Miss Creepy-Eyes into next week!"
"If you win it'll keep us in the running!" Erza called out.
"Yeah! Knock her lights out!" Elfman shouted, before turning to the pinkette and redhead. "You two do realize you're on different teams, right?"
They stared at him blankly, unsure what he was getting at.
The Beast Takeover mage sweat-dropped.
Lucy smiled slightly at her friends' words of support, glancing towards their place in the stands to see Laxus nod encouragingly at her. "I'll do my best."
"Your best won't be good enough, girl." Ivan sneered from his place in the stands, glaring at the girl who was reportedly in a relationship with his son, not knowing that she was also thinking about his guild.
'Raven Tail…' her eyes narrowed angrily. 'Canes Venatici told me that they were the ones who attacked Wendy, Carla, and Romeo, just to get our attention. And during Hidden they focused more on Juvia (not Itachi, since Nalpudding couldn't find him) than on winning. They have a lot to answer for…and they will. I'll make sure of it.'
"That's a dangerous look in her eyes." Pantherlily observed, arms crossed.
"Yeah, it's like somebody lit a fire under her butt." Happy agreed.
"She knows she's going up against one of Ivan's brats." Makarov scowled. "I want carnage out there, Lucy, you hear!"
Lucy sighed at the Master's shouts.
"Is something wrong Master Mavis?" Romeo asked the spirit of Fairy Tail's first master, Mavis Vermillion.
"I can't help but wonder what Raven Tail guild is trying to achieve." The pale blonde answered quietly.
"With all due respect it's obvious they're trying to humiliate us!" Makarov cried.
Mavis frowned, staring at Ivan. "Let's just hope it's something that petty."
Hisui E. Fiore, crown princess of Fiore, watched the proceedings from the safety of the castle on a large video lacrima.
The green-haired beauty tensed slightly, sitting up straighter as she saw Lucy Heartfilia step out into the arena for her first battle.
She had been the one to request that the blonde Fairy Tail mage be a participant in the first official battle of the Games, and since her wishes were second only to her father's, her wish had easily been granted.
Not that she had any malicious reasons for keeping watch on Lucy, but she needed another Celestial Spirit mage so that the Eclipse Gate could open in time…
Because if it didn't, Fiore would fall with the rest of the world.
The two women got into place.
1…
2…
3…
The gong sounded.
Flare immediately launched an attack, sending a Hair Wolf at Lucy.
"Hair magic…" Lucy mused, Cancer's key appearing in her hand in less than a second. 'Well, that's an obvious choice.'
She didn't even need to speak, and a moment later the Crab spirit stood in front of her, locks of crimson hair at his feet.
"MY HAIR!" Flare screeched furiously, glaring darkly at Lucy before digging her hair into the ground. It sprang up, wrapping itself around Lucy's legs.
She tried swinging the Celestial Spirit mage around the arena, but unfortunately Cancer hadn't yet gone back to the spirit world, and immediately let his summoner free.
Lucy was flung to the wall of the arena, but managed to twist her body so that she hit it with her feet, launching back towards Flare in a way reminiscent of Natsu.
The fights was over in seconds as Cancer shaved the Raven Tail's head completely, rendering the crimson red locks useless as they lay at Flare's feet.
Flare collapsed onto her knees, staring at her hair in horrified shock.
Her gift…the last piece of home she had…gone.
She didn't hear the announcement declaring Lucy's victory (Fairy Tail Team A had gained 10 more points), but she did notice when the blonde mage knelt beside her, and looked up blankly.
"I'm sorry about that." Lucy said sheepishly, seeing the devastated look in the other woman's eyes and realizing that vanity was not the reason for it. "Cancer can grow it all back just like it was, if you'd like. It won't take him more than a few moments."
"Ebi." Cancer agreed.
Flare hesitated only slightly, nodding and squeezing her eyes shut in fear. What if they didn't actually help her? What if they were about to humiliate her? Beat her like Master?
She tensed as she felt something touch her, only to realize that it was her hair hitting her shoulders, and her red eyes opened in astonishment.
The Fairy…had actually followed through on her words?
She immediately sent a pulse of her magic into her hair, making sure that the magical rejuvenation hadn't caused her hair to lose its magical properties.
Flare nearly cried when she felt it dance to her will.
She got up slowly, glancing nervously at the blonde and celestial spirit before bowing slightly in thanks.
And with that, she walked away.
Hisui hummed to herself.
The blonde seemed like a kind, compassionate person, from what she had just seen. She had certainly not been obligated to have Cancer grow Flare's hair back, especially given the history between Makarov Dreyar and his son Ivan, Raven Rail's guild master.
She found herself respecting the girl.
Hopefully she wouldn't have to take drastic measures to gain the girl's cooperation.
But she would if she needed to.
Such was the responsibility of a leader. They had to balance the needs of their people with their own morals, especially when so many lives depended on which action they took.
And who knows?
Maybe her visitor from the future had been wrong (or was outright lying). If the Games didn't follow the path the person had laid out for her, then she wouldn't follow through on the Eclipse Project 2.
Of course, if things did follow that path, then she had no choice but to believe the person.
After all, there was no way they could predict all of those outcomes accurately.
"The hell?" Erik said aloud at the redheaded Raven Tail mage's unexpected thoughts.
Kozue winced, and when Warren glanced at them in confusion, having not been actively 'listening', she showed him what the girl had been thinking.
"Damn." He grimaced, understanding why the other two were reacting like that.
"What?" Laxus, Jellal, and Erza demanded at the same time, worried that Flare would try and get revenge on Lucy.
The mind-reading trio (though Erik would protest, because his magic wasn't technically mind-reading) glanced at each other, knowing what the other three were thinking.
Warren said. "It's not like that, it's just…"
"Girl's got issues." Erik finished.
"Okay…" Laxus frowned. "That's not exactly surprising…"
'She isn't like the rest of the mages in Raven Tail.' Kozue said, biting her lip worriedly as Flare walked back to her guildmates, flinching as Ivan berated her harshly.
Erik could hear all of it.
"You!" Ivan snarled, grabbing Flare's face and yanking her towards him.
Flare bit her lip, careful not to cry out. It was always worse when she did that.
"You lost to that Fairy Tail bitch!" he continued, squeezing her face. "Is that girl better than you?!"
"No, master!" Flare answered, pain in every word. "I'll do better next time!"
"See that you do." Ivan said darkly, tossing the woman away.
Flare tried to hold back tears as her teammates walked away from her without so much as a glance.
"She's their punching bag." Erik realized with a dark scowl, finding it hard to imagine that a guild would do that.
After all, Angel had never been treated like that back when they were in Oracion Seis; she had been just as much a part of their makeshift family as the rest of them, and unlike the Oracion Seis, Raven Tail was a legal guild. "They don't care about her at all."
Lucy swore under her breath, catching the last part of the conversation as she arrived in their area so that she could watch the next match.
She had known something was off about Flare's interactions with them…
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