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

Warnings: same as in previous chapters.

Enjoy!


"Where are they?" Asuka wondered aloud, glancing around at the roller skating rink they'd found themselves at to celebrate their success on day one.

Hey, at least they weren't at some bar drowning their sorrows.

…Though Cana, his dad, and Wakaba were still managing to get drunk at the attached restaurant.

"Oh, Gray." Juvia sighed at the little girl's comment. She hadn't seen Gray either, and now that she thought about it, Lucy, Erza, Jellal, Ryder, Jack, and a few others were gone, too.

Her blue eyes glazed over as her imagination went wild.

"The truth is…I love you. I always have." Lucy fell into Gray.

"I can't! My heart belongs to Juvia!" Gray cried.

"Give me a chance, that's all I ask!" Lucy begged.

"She could be confusing my beloved and taking him all for herself!" Juvia panicked, tears streaming down her face.

"We're right here Juvia." Gray said dryly.

"Her imagination must not have an off switch." Lucy said from her place on Laxus' lap. She smiled at the Lightning Dragon Slayer when he put a hand on her waist, supposedly so she wouldn't fall…

But mostly to reaffirm that Juvia's little fantasy hadn't come true and he was the asshole lucky enough to be with Lucy.

Gray shook his head before wandering over to Macao. "How are Romeo, Wendy, and Carla?"

"They're all still pretty weak." The older man said warily. "Porlyusica hasn't left their side. I wouldn't have either, but she kicked me out."

Gray frowned. "They'll be alright. They're tougher than they look."

Macao smiled softly at the Ice-Make mage's retreating back.

"So were all of you. Still are." He said quietly.


"Your majesty, I am pleased to report that the first day of the Games ended without incident." A muscular soldier said, bowing in front of the king.

The royal hummed. "The magic battles were quite good."

Arcadios, the soldier, kept his head down. "If his majesty has any requests concerning tomorrow's battle portion I will happily arrange it."

"Hm…" the king thought about it for a moment. "I would like to see Bacchus for sure…make certain to include him in the match up."

Arcadios was about to ask if the king had a preference as to Bacchus' opponent, when a woman's voice chimed in.

"I, too, have a request." Hisui, princess of Fiore, said in a firm voice.

Arcadios was struck by her beauty and grace, as always, but his most prevalent emotion was the utmost respect he had for her. "Yes, princess?"

"Yukino Aguria from Sabertooth again." She said.

"Eh?" the king turned towards her curiously. "Aguria-san fought in one of today's battles. That would be highly unusual, daughter."

Hisui gave him a small smile. "She's a Celestial Spirit mage like me, papa. I know that Heartfilia-san will be chosen for a few events, but she's the least popular on Sabertooth's team this year, so it's unlikely that the audience or judges will choose her again."

The king smiled softly at his daughter. Beautiful, intelligent, and strong, just like her mother had been.

It didn't matter that she only had a contract with one silver key. She would make a fine queen, magic or no.

Seeing the king's assent, Arcadios nodded. "It shall be done, princess."

"Thank you." Hisui nodded.


"Who's up next?!" Natsu cheered, standing on a table.

He'd have joined the others out on the rink, but apparently even roller blades gave him motion sickness.

Max was groaning on the floor in front of him.

"Another knock out."

"A seven year training gap and this guy catches up in three months?" Warren asked.

"Have you ever felt completely outclasses? Vjeeter asked his friend.

Gajeel smiled. "Not bad, kid. You want to try your luck against me?"

He wasn't skating either. He had told people that it was too boring, but in reality he had taken one step before feeling like he was going to throw up.

Damn it.

That was Salamander's weakness!

Though he noticed that Laxus wasn't out there either, even though Lucy had asked him. She had stopped when he quietly whispered something to her, and she had smiled sympathetically.

Did he get motion sickness too?

"Ah, give it up up." The blonde man in question sighed. "If you chumps go at it we'll be footing the repair bill."

"What's the deal, thunderbolt?" Gajeel asked, patting him on the head as Levy tried to pull him away. "Trying to impress granddad with your good guy routine?"

"Are you trying to get fried?!" Levy demanded, still trying to yank him away.

"Hey!" Freed came over. "Stop it, Gajeel! I won't allow you to mistreat him like this! Mess with Laxus and you mess with the Thunder Legion as well! Assemble Laxus Bodyguard Core! Laxus needs us!"

He turned towards Evergreen, only to find her completely drunk, sitting on the floor, Cana snickering away on the other side of the table.

"Someone can't hold their liquor!" the Card mage said in amusement.

Freed looked horrified, despite the red flush to his cheeks (which wasn't a reaction to Laxus, as most would assume) to indicate that he'd been drinking as well.

"Now this looks like a party worth joining." A shirtless man with purple armored sleeves and shoulders came up from behind Cana. His hair was tied up in a bun with white ribbon hanging from it, he wore odd earrings that looked like gourds, and he had five small purple triangles tattooed under each eye.

"Oh yeah?" Cana asked.

"How 'bout a couple drinks to pass the time?" he asked, slamming a shot glass on the table.

"Ah…" Cana stood up. "So we're skipping the introductions and going straight to the fun part. You got something to prove, do ya?"

"Hey pal, some free advice: do yourself a favor and walk away." Macao muttered.

"Her alcohol tolerance is about as strong as her daddy!" Wakaba chimed in.


Thirty minutes later, Cana was on the floor, passed out.

To be fair, she had been half-drunk when the competition started.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Macao and Wakaba shouted as the man took another shot.

"I don't believe it!" Jet said as the man stood up and let out a laugh.

"He literally just drank her under the table!" Laki said, wide-eyed.

"I've never seen Cana drink until she drops before." Warren said.

"Thanks for the trophy, Hot Stuff!" the man said, swinging her blue top as he started towards the door, swaying more than a little.

"Do you have a death wish?!" Macao demanded.

"If Gildarts finds out he's gonna be pissed!" Wakaba added.

The man laughed.

"Hand it over!"

"Mocking our guild won't help you either!"

Macao went to punch him, but the man made an odd movement after hitting the ground, and suddenly Macao was the one on the floor, and Wakaba quickly joined him.

"This guy's out of his mind!" Warren cried out.

Erza came into the room, staring at the scene. "Is that you, Bacchus?"

Bacchus groaned as he sat up. "Well well, if it isn't Erza Scarlet." He let out a giggle.

"Still a drunk." Erza observed.

"And when I'm sober you'll still be smokin' hot."

Jellal glared from where he was standing by the back door, where he'd come in with the redhead, and Erza herself sighed.

"You know how to flatter a girl." She said dryly.

"You know him?" Lucy asked curiously.

"I heard you'd gone into hiding a while back; it seemed like such a shame." Bacchus ignored Lucy.

"Something like that." Erza agreed. "What about you? I hear you're actually competing in the Games."

Bacchus burst out laughing. "At first I saw this little trip as an excuse to get hammered and sample the local color. But after watching Warcry make a fool out of himself and our guild, my manly spirit got thirsty for vengeance! I'm entering the Games as a reserve member and I plan to cause all kinds of trouble."

He started walking away. "My soul is shaken and stirred! Maybe we'll have our own little party in a battle round; it'll be nice to settle the score. You know what we say in our guild: you will always be—"

"Wild." Erza finished dryly, rolling her eyes.

"At least you're still good for a chuckle Erza!" Bacchus laughed before leaving.

"Who was that walking distillery?" Freed asked with a huff.

"A member of Quatro Cerberus. He's one of their S-Class mages." Erza answered. "I've run into him on more than a few times over the years, and I know his strength all too well. 'Drunken Hawk' Bacchus, master of the Drunken Chop Hanging Palm. We've fought on many occasions. There's never been a clear winner."

"You mean he's a strong as you?" Macao cried, suddenly glad that he'd gotten off as easily as he had.

"What's it matter?" Natsu asked from where he was fighting with Gray, the two boys pulling at each other's hair. "That's ancient history now. There's no way Erza's gonna lose to a cocky windup."

"Who said Erza's even gonna fight him, nerd?" Gray argued.

"If she won't, then I call dibs on him!" Natsu said around Gray's finger, which was now hooked onto his mouth in an attempt to get him to shut up.


"Tell me more about this vision of yours. What exactly did you see?" Porlyusica asked.

"It was confusing because it was only bits and pieces. They're never very clear." Carla said, putting a paw up to her head as she tried to remember every detail. "There was a white knight. An enormous magic circle."

"Can you recall any more?" Porlyusica urged her.

"I saw something that defied all reason." Carla said nervously, dropping her arm.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I saw Mercurius come crashing down. And as it happened I thought I heard someone singing. Lucy."


Valka was out flying with Cloudjumper on her annual expedition to explore new lands when she saw something interesting.

A Night Fury.

She had thought they were all gone.

But even more interesting: the man riding atop the beautiful dragon (wyvern, technically, but she had been raised a Viking and they had thought they were dragons), and the white-haired boy flying in the air beside them with a shepherd crook in his hand.

Valka hadn't been around humans much (or at all) over the last…oh, was it almost two decades now?

Point being, she didn't really remember how to start a conversation.

And so, minutes later, the two males and dragon were unconscious, and they were headed back to the home of the great Bewilderbeest, the king of all…wyverns.

She never had been good at controlling her curiosity.

And that was when she realized that she was now a kidnapper.

Great.

Hopefully these three were friends, not foes.


Please review! Pretty please. :)