Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything but a few OCs. One, Lena, will be introduced in this chapter.
Warnings: same as in previous chapters.
Enjoy!
"And that's it for the battle rounds folks, and what an entertaining spectacle those were!" the judge called out after Jellal had secured his victory. "And now for a new addition to the Games…"
Everyone in the stadium, participants and audience members alike, quieted down to hear what he was about to say.
"This year there will not only be one event in the morning before the battles rounds, but another guild-wide—or group-wide, I suppose—event afterwards." Yajima announced, cutting the other judge off. "If Fairy Tail decides to compete, they will only need to send up one competitor, as they're competing as a guild and not as two separate teams in this event."
"Participation is not mandatory, and though the guilds will be scored it will be purely to rank them, and those numbers will not be added to the total from the first event and the battle rounds. It's purely for fun." The other judge said, glaring at Yajima slightly.
"Though it's still an opportunity for the guilds to compete to see who's better, even if they're not being judged by physical or magical strength." Jenny added slyly.
"That's true." Yajima agreed. "And now we'll let the groups decide whether or not to participate…we'll announce the details of the event afterwards."
"Heck yeah!" Natsu cheered with a grin.
The rest of the Fairy Tail mages grinned (or nodded their assent).
Yukio glanced at Arthur Auguste Angel, Paladin of the True Cross Order and, as such, leader of the exorcists.
The blonde smirked, running a hand through his long blonde hair. "Sure, we'll play their game. We haven't made a very good showing so far, after all, since we didn't get the chance to battle today. This will prove our superiority."
Yukio and the rest of the team weren't so sure, but they didn't say anything, though Shura made a face at the man behind his back.
Ivan sneered.
He didn't care if any of these weaklings thought that they were better than Raven Tail. He knew the truth.
His only goal for entering these stupid Games were to try and pry the details of Fairy Tail's greatest secret out of his son, and all he needed was to trap Laxus alone.
This event was unnecessary to his goals.
Raven Tail would not be participating.
Stoick's eyes brightened at the announcement.
With any luck those damn fairies would sent his beloved former son out to compete.
Unlikely, but possible.
And then it would be time to play.
The Hairy Hooligan tribe would compete.
In rapid succession, the other magic guilds agreed to participate in the surprise event, though some of their guild members couldn't compete for obvious reasons.
"This should be fun!" Chelia said cheerfully.
"Alright, the competitors have sent in their decisions!" Chapati, the judge (AN: who's name I just looked up) announced. "And it looks like the only group who opted out was Raven Tail!"
The magic guilds didn't care. Their friendly competitive spirit (or not so friendly in Sabertooth's case) didn't really extend to a guild that was only recently declared legal, having been dark for years.
"And the surprise event for day one is…a trivia game!"
"LEVY!" nearly the entire Fairy Tail guild cried as one, turning to the startled blunette.
"Okay!" she shouted, raising her hands in surrender, more than a little startled at their reaction. "I'll go!"
Gajeel did his odd little laugh from beside her, amused.
"Looks like I'm up." Hibiki said, adjusting his sleeve.
"Good luck!" Eve called as the Archive magic-user walked sedately down to the arena.
Kagura hummed, glancing at everyone in Mermaid Heel thoughtfully.
Who was the smartest in the guild?
"Lena?" Risley suggested.
Everyone looked to the back, where Lena was seated with a book held loosely in her hand.
The girl in question, a purple-haired beauty with pink eyes, glanced up before nodding in acceptance.
"Rufus." Jiemma, Master of the Sabertooth guild, commanded.
"Of course, Master." The blonde said smoothly with a bow.
After a few minutes, the competitors were all down on the floor of the coliseum.
"Alright folks, the groups have made their decisions!" Chapati called out.
Levy McGarden for Fairy Tail.
Hibiki Lates for Blue Pegasus.
Rufus Lore for Sabertooth.
Fishlegs Ingerman for the Vikings, because he was arguably the only one with a brain in the entire tribe, now that Hiccup was gone.
Izumo Kamiki for the Exorcists.
Lena for Mermaid Heel.
Yuuka for Lamia Scale, because Jura was still unconscious.
Bacchus for Quatro Cerberus.
"And the topic of this trivia game will be…testing the participants' knowledge of their guild members!"
Some of the groups were regretting their choice now.
They had chosen their 'champions' based on intellect. And some of them…well.
If they had known the topic they'd have chosen differently.
Rufus winced slightly.
Getting to know your guildmates wasn't exactly a priority in Sabertooth.
"Levy, what is your teammate Jet's real first name?"
"Sarusuke!"
"Correct!"
"Seriously?" Natsu snickered.
Jet hit him upside the head, hissing at him to shut up.
"Rufus, what is the name of the dragon who taught Rogue his Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic?"
"Skiadrum."
"Correct!"
Rufus let out an unnoticeable sigh of relief.
Master Jiemma didn't take well to failure.
"Hibiki, what guild was Master Bob in before he founded Blue Pegasus?"
"Fairy Tail!"
"Correct!"
"You go, baby!" Jenny cheered for her boyfriend.
"Fishlegs, which of the twins on your team is older?"
"Uh…um…Tuffnut?"
"That's incorrect!"
"You idiot!" Ruffnut shouted down at him.
The blonde girl huffed in exasperation. Why did everyone assume her brother was the older one?
He was just as immature as she was!
"Lena, where did Millianna grow up?"
Jellal, Erza, and Erik flinched violently at the question.
So many memories…some good, most bad…
Jellal's fists clenched as he remembered his part in keeping Millianna and the others there even after their initial captors had been defeated by the revolution Erza had led after Rob's death had angered her enough to take a stand.
From behind the three, a lone tear slid down Ultear's face.
She would never be able to make it up to him, she knew.
By possessing him, she had ruined his life, and the lives of so many others.
Dealing with that guilt, endlessly (and fruitlessly) trying to make up for her many mistakes…that was the burden she must carry.
A burden that would never be lifted.
From the other side of the arena, Millianna's eyes widened in shock at the question.
She let out a pained meow, and her guildmates looked at her in concern.
The brown-haired cat lover nearly cried in happiness as Lena glared at Chapati, answering him coldly with a 'none of your damn business.'
She had chosen her guild, her home, well.
Chapati blinked in surprise at the unexpected coldness.
It was just a general question, nothing more.
He had noticed the other Mermaid Heel mages' reactions, too. Especially Millianna's.
What had caused such a reaction?
He hadn't meant to bring up any bad memories.
"That's incorrect." He forced himself to say, regretting that he'd chosen that question, even at random.
"Izumo, what are the names of Yukio's parents?"
The purple-haired, red-eyed girl smiled innocently. "His mother's name was Yuri Egin and his father is Satan. Though he was raised by a man named Fujimoto Shiro."
Yukio's mouth dropped in horror as Izumo answered the question, causing a lot of people to look at him with narrowed eyes, whispering amongst themselves.
Why couldn't she have taken a leaf out of the Mermaid Heel girl's book?!
Why were they so quiet? Why did no one look terrified?
He didn't know that it was because Rin's own demonic heritage wasn't a secret, and they had realized that the two boys were related.
Yukio held back a whimper, forcing himself not to glance in his brother's direction, instead glancing at his teammates, all of whom stared straight ahead, smiling as the judge announced that they'd gained a point.
Did they really hate him so much?
'Not that I can blame them.' He thought, closing his eyes sadly, regretting everything that he had done. 'There's no excuse for betraying your family like that…'
And on and on it went.
Some of the participants did well (Fairy Tail, Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, and the True Cross Order), and others didn't do so well.
Secrets were told, and laughs were had. People were embarrassed (like Jet) or angered (Yukio) by what was revealed.
But one result of the event was that they all found out at least one new thing about someone.
Except Raven Tail.
Because with the exception of Flare they were a group of bastards.
"And the final score for Day 1 is as follows!" Chapati announced. "This is the combined score for the first event and the battle rounds!"
1st place is Fairy Tail Team A with 30 points!
2nd place is Sabertooth with 29!
3rd is Blue Pegasus with 27!
4th is Fairy Tail Team B with 8!
(Remember, Team B didn't battle on day one, so they'll have a chance to make it up the next day.)
5th is Lamia Scale with 6!
6th is Raven Tail with 5!
7th is the True Cross Order (exorcists) with 4!
8th is Quatro Cerberus with 3!
9th is Mermaid Heel with 2!
And in last place we have…the Hairy Hooligans with 1!"
"Enjoy your night, everyone!" Yajima called out. "Day two begins bright and early tomorrow morning!"
Please review! :)
Remember, the numbers are fairly low because the scores from second event didn't really count for anything but bragging rights.
The trivia game is very very loosely based on the Capricorn Cult Quiz from the Eclipse arc (or whatever it's called), except without the painful penalties if the competitors get the question wrong. I figured that would be overkill since the second event of the day is supposed to be more fun and relaxing.
