A Game begins.
"I have absolutely no idea how you managed to sit through that two separate times all by yourself," Cana stated as the group exited the bustling train platform, hidden behind some rather cheap disguises to remain inconspicuous until they regrouped with the rest of the guild. The card mage had put her hair up in a tight bun, a sunflower maternity dress making her look like an innocent housewife. "At least we had each other to talk to, and kiddies to entertain,"
"I'm not sure how either, but I am glad that there's only one more for a very long time," Lucy replied, adjusting the gauzy gypsy-styled mask she wore as part of her disguise. She knew she looked really out of place, hair out and her decked out with the embroidered blue skirt and coin belt. She looked like she should be traveling into town via caravan, not train.
Oh well; at least the last caravan she had been a part of wasn't likely to be in town. And she already had experience with strange looks being directed at what she wore.
"You and I both," Mira sighed, looking down at the currently sleeping baby in her arms through fake glasses, her long white hair gathered up under a black sunhat, a matching modest black dress allowing her to be pass off as bookish new mother. "This little one hates moving transportation just as much as her father and the other Dragon Slayers do."
"That just means she'll have her daddy's magic," Erza replied, hiking her gurgling son higher up on her back as he tried to reach for his mom's fake, curly black afro. The redhead had chosen her own outfit, despite Mira's attempted interjection, and the end result was something usually only seen at a disco. Sparkling pants included. "I wish I could know what Orion's magic will be,"
"He should start displaying signs of it in a year or two, Erza," Wendy murmured, grabbing the redhead's glittering sleeve so that she wouldn't get separated, since her disguise as a blind, impoverished youth required her to wrap layers of cloth over her eyes, making sight impossible. "What I'm worried about now is if people are watching us; I can't tell,"
Lucy grimaced behind her mask, avoiding eye contact as another random person openly gawked at the oddball group. It was one thing to be stared at while wearing gypsy clothes with a group of actual gypsies, and another with people dressed even stranger than her. "Yeah, they're looking at us, but I don't think our cover's been blown yet,"
"I suppose we do look like a strange group," Mira said, though she was glad when they turned the corner into a less busy part of the station.
Or so they thought, because instead of only a handful of people sharing the hall with them, they were greeted with a barrage of flashing lights and the rapid fire of interview questions flying around as a group the Fairy Tail women were very familiar with stood being interviewed.
"Sting! Do you think your relationship with your old guild master's daughter has improved how things in Sabertooth are run!?"
"What members are going to be on the Sabertooth team this year, Sting!?"
"Rogue, how are things between you and Yukino!?"
"Orga, how do you plan on taking out the competition!?"
"Does Sabertooth plan on trying to take back the title of number one guild from Fairy Tail!?"
The girls watched the group of Sabertooth mages answered the mob of reporters' questions without giving away any of their actual plans for the Games, causally heading toward the exit, the paparazzi dodging a step behind them.
"What should we do?" Cana whispered, trying to shield her face with one hand while the other hugged her belly protectively, panic in her eyes.
"There's still a chance they won't recognize us," Erza reasoned, placing the pair of sunglasses she had hanging from her shirt on, and pulling her afro further down on her head, smiling at Orion's curious look and babble.
"Let's keep going, then," Mira said, pulling her yawning daughter's swaddling further over her face before adjusting her own disguise, obscuring her highly recognizable features even more. "There's another exit down the hall, so let's try and go around them,"
Lucy nodded, feeling more confident in her disguise than the others. "I'll lead the way, Erza, you behind me since the both of us stand out the most and we'll allow for Cana, Mira, and Wendy to be less noticed,"
The other women nodded, Cana taking the redhead's job as the blue haired girl's guide, sticking close to the disguised barmaid. They kept their heads down, quietly moving behind the buzzing mass of reporters and journalists, slowly making their way past the commotion and towards their destination farther down the hall.
So far, so good, Lucy thought, watching Sabertooth walk on, unaware of them being there. Now to just keep it up…
"Watch out!" someone yelled, and Lucy turned, too late to catch herself as she walked right into a bellhop carrying dozens of small boxes.
Before she knew what she was doing, Lucy's body moved on it's own, dancing as she lightly redirected the falling cargo back into the arms of the startled man, managing to not let a single one touch the ground.
Turning towards the still staring bellhop, she clapped her hands together and bowed, oblivious to all the eyes staring at her in her flustered state. "I am so sorry! I should have been watching where I was going, I didn't mean to…"
The man blinked, then blushed, hurriedly shaking his head. "No, it's ok miss, but what you did was - "
"Sorry, again!" the blonde said over her shoulder as she turned away, only now noticing that both the eyes of passer-bys, the press, and Sabertooth stared at her in surprise. She'd done exactly what she had hoped to do in the beginning, though, and that was to take the attention away from her friends, who now stood at the entrance to the other hall, madly gesturing for her to hurry up. "But my friends are waiting for me!"
She ran for the other hall, ducking and weaving around people who could't react and move out of her way in time. From the time she caught the first box until she and her guild mates blended into the shadows of hall that would lead them to an exit, Lucy could the particular gazes of the more powerful Sabertooth wizards, suspicious as they tried to get a read on her.
"No one recognized you, right?" Cana said worriedly, scanning over the blonde's shoulder as they quickly walked away, trying to see if anyone was following them.
"I really, really hope not, since I don't think anyone got a good look at my face," the blonde stated, once again adjusting the mask that covered the lower half of her face, glad she had it on at the moment. "But Saber is definitely going to look be watching out for me later,"
Erza nodded. "We'll have to be careful once we're out on the streets, so that we can avoid a confrontation,"
"You wouldn't happen to know any side routes that might be useful, would you Lucy?" Mira asked as they arrived at the already opened exit, blending into the foot traffic as much as they could. "Even if they all lead to the castle, I would like our odds better if we could get out of the crowd as soon as possible,"
Cana and Wendy muttered their agreements, having to jostle around people in order to keep up. Luckily for everyone, Lucy knew several ways through the alleys and residential sections of the city that would lead to the palace, and for the next ten minutes she lead her friends around the city, at one point having to split up from them because Sabertooth had spotted her distinctive long blonde hair and cultural outfit.
After a chase which only ended after Lucy managed to use some of her new acrobatic skills to cartwheel over Orga's head, landing on a nearby wagon and sending the two hovering Exceeds into confused tail spins as she leapt past them and disappeared behind the top of a near by hotel.
She regrouped with Erza and the others, and it was only another fifteen minutes until Lucy arrived at one of the side gates onto the palace grounds, the guard, the same on she had first talked to when she got to the castle eighteen months ago, flagging her and her guildmates through without a second glance.
Erza raised an eyebrow at the behavior. "They'll just let anyone with you into the palace?"
Lucy shrugged. It was a perk of being like a sister to the princess. "Depends on the guard, since others might just stop to ask your names,"
"How much further are going to have to walk, Lucy?" Cana asked, digging the heels of her hands into her lower back and stretching. "A heavily pregnant woman shouldn't walk so far so fast,"
The blonde smiled, sharing looks with the other two mothers while Wendy shook her head. "Not far, since Hisui should be in the library around now, and it's on ground level with comfortable chairs,"
"Hallelujah," the brunette muttered, following her friend from a staff door into the castle halls, ignoring both the expensive paintings and pottery around her, as well as the curious stares from passing maids and butlers. Moving one hand back, she pulled her hair out of it's confines, the loose waves springing back to full force. "We can get out of these awful costumes, finally"
"Do you think Hisui-san would mind getting us a carriage or car to the hotel where the rest of the guild is staying at?" Wendy asked, reaching behind her head to untie the bandages around her eyes, blinking at the sudden light. "Cana is right, she shouldn't exert herself so close to labor,"
"I don't see why not, but it might be smarter to wait for a bit since she'll be going to the stadium for the qualifying matches," Lucy stated, opening the door to the large library, already scanning the mainly brown room for a splash of bright green hair.
"What qualifying matches? Isn't the maze going to take care of the excess teams?" Mira asked, the events from two years ago replaying in her mind.
"We try and spice it up every now and then," a new voice stated, and the Fairy Tail girls looked to the right, spotting the princess leaning on a railing for the second level of the royal archive. "So this year, a single member of each guild is going to fight in a battle-royal knock-out styled fight until there are eight teams remaining,"
"I see," Erza stated, tossing her fake hair aside onto a nearby table, glasses following soon after. "More fighting from the get-go,"
"Yeah," Hisui sighed, coming down the stairs so they could all be face-to-face. She and Lucy shared a brief hug, glad to be reunited after two weeks apart. "I'm afraid my father has gotten used to seeing melee style fighting from supervising Lucy's training,"
Said blonde winced, rubbing nonexistent bruises. "Is he going to be dressed like the pumpkin again?"
"He says the Games wouldn't be complete without it's mascot," Hisui said, smiling dryly before turning her attention to the four other mages, eyes widening in surprise as she noticed Cana's stomach and the two bundles carried by Erza and Mira. "Holy crap, since when were you three mothers?"
Cana smirked, pointing one finger at herself, then at the other two women seated at the table with her, hardly taken by surprise by the princess's sudden spunk. "Since not until another few weeks, one month, and two months ago,"
The princess clapped her hands in delight, cooing over the infants and their proud mothers for a moment, before a confused line marred her brow. "How come this hasn't been on the front page of every tabloid in Fiore, while Lucy's stint as an acrobat an hour ago is plastered to every newspaper in Crocus?"
Lucy choked, taking a folded piece of paper from the princess, and finding it to be picture taken from when she had used the Thunder God Slayer's head as a springboard with the caption under it reading in bold black 'Mystery Woman Dances Around Sabertooth.'
"How did this get printed and delivered in the time since that picture was taken!?" The blonde shouted, the paper fluttering to the floor as she pulled her hair in frustration.
The young Sky Dragon Slayer picked it up, bringing it over to the other women, reading the article as she did so. " 'Today, within the streets of the capital and on the opening day of Daimatou Enbu, as the famous wizards Guild Sabertooth was making their way towards the stadium for the Games, they ran across a lone female - it is not known if she has any magical abilities to speak of, but it shall be presumed so until confirmed otherwise - who later managed to elude capture by several of the guild's elite mages, as shown above where she is seen flipping over the Lightning Mage Orga Nanagear, before disappearing several seconds later.
"It is unknown the reason for both Saber's confrontation with the woman, or her reason for being in Crocus in the first place, but we might see her again as a participant in the GMG. Several witnesses said they have seen her performing in the city before, but always in the company of a green haired woman and extremely tall man. Is she the trump card to an upcoming dark horse? Was the reason for her engaging with Sabertooth to gather information on possible opponents? Are the green haired girl and tall man in her team? We will find out later this afternoon when we kick off this year's Grand Magic Games!"
"They've totally blown that out of proportion," Cana said, as she and everyone but Lucy, who was still panicking over the fact she was in the papers, sweatdropped. "And they don't know what the confrontation was about my ass; there were reporters when Lucy pulled that stunt in the train station,"
"That was instinct!" the blonde protested, arms windmilling around in circles. "This is different! Now this disguise is totally useless, and when they find out I'm from Fairy Tail, they'll say it was a declaration of war! Not to mention they brought Hisui and Arcadios into it!"
"The outfit can be changed, most of the attention is at you and not me and Dios, and they won't know who you are until the last event," Hisui reassured, earning several strange looks from the others in the room. Chuckling nervously, the princess gave Lucy a sudden pleading look. "I need to ask you a favor, Lucy…"
"And that is…?" The blonde stated hesitantly.
"That you be the the goal of the last event," the royal jade blurted out, getting many raised brows and one giggling baby for a response.
"What do you mean by that, exactly?" Mira asked, giving Jessamyn one of her fingers to play with, the babe squealing in delight.
The green haired woman sighed. "What I mean, is that because the games this year is based off the one from two years ago, the last event is going to have people from each team running around the city fighting, but I want you to be in it, the main objective of the last match being to catch you, extra points being given to opponents they manage to take down along the way."
"But I promised Master I'd regroup with everyone at the games," the blonde argued. "And Fairy Tail is participating; this might be read as cheating to other people,"
"Not really," Cana said, a sly look on her face. "Your guild mark might be back, but it's hidden by concealer and that jewelry," the brunette nodded at the Slave Bangle Lucy wore on her right hand, the decorative chain hiding most of the back. "Not to mention, you haven't spoken with Master in over a period of six months. Officially, you're not a member of Fairy Tail right now,"
"That's how it is," Hisui stated. "Please? If you don't do this, things are going to turn into a slugfest almost immediately between the weaker guilds,"
Lucy was silent for a moment, before sighing. Her friends weren't against it, so what was the harm in doing it? Besides, this was Hisui asking. "Fine, but I still expect a newer version of this disguise,"
Hisui smirked, looking at all the mages before her. "No worries; its already waiting for you in the carriage we'll be taking to the stadium, since I had a feeling something like this might happen."
Lucy glared at her royal friend, blushing at the snickers she heard from behind her at the table. "You suck,"
The royal jade smiled. "I know. And we leave in ten minutes, so let's get going, shall we?"
"I have to say, I like this outfit more than the last one," Erza stated, uncovering her eyes as the blonde finished changing halfway through their journey from the palace. "It seems more suited for battle,"
"It's the harem pants," Cana said, scooting over so that the blonde had room to sit down.
"I think its the tassel belt," Wendy responded, thinking that the clothing article reminded her of a smaller, layered version of the cloak Yukino wore to the last GMG. "The golden-orange against the dark blue pants and top makes her look serious,"
Mira raised a hand to cover her giggle. "The way you're wearing the bandana and mask reminds me of how Mystogan dresses; not to be recognized,"
"And the orange highlights your hair and skin," Hisui added, pleased that the color pallet she chose worked for her friend.
"Thanks, guys," Lucy smiled, but it was difficult to tell with so much of her face being covered up. "So when we get out of the carriage, I'll be off with Hisui, and you'll be off with your disguises once you meet up with the guild?"
"Yes," Wendy replied, allowing Mira to retie her blindfold and mess up her hair. "I think Erza and Mira-san are planning a big reveal when they're called out,"
"Oh, let me join," Cana asked, bending over her pregnant belly and the space between seats to take Erza's arm. "People need to be reminded that while we're the top Guild, we're also totally unpredictable at times,"
"Sure, it might help take some attention off of Lucy if she's noticed," Mira smiled, thought the blonde could detect a coy edge to it. "After all, Natsu should be the one to unmask you during the last match,"
"Miiiiirraaaa," Lucy whined, red creeping up her face at the romantic idea the white haired woman was getting about her and the pink haired Dragon Slayer. "I've told you guys, even if he and Lisanna aren't together, I still don't think he likes me like that,"
The four other Fairy Tail women smirked, the three that could see giving each other knowing glances. Lucy didn't like it; they'd been doing that since she approached the subject of Natsu a week ago, and the blonde felt rather unsettled by whatever it was that they were keeping from her.
Hisui noticed the looks as well, and Mira grabbed her, whispering into the princess's ear, her eyes slowly widening as the information was given to her. Lucy's eye twitched.
"You'll tell Hisui but not me? How is that fair?"
Mira just winked at her, waggling a finger in front of the blonde's face as the carriage pulled to a stop at the royal family's secluded parking spot. "All is fair in love and war, Lucy,"
The blonde sweatdropped, looking over her shoulder as she followed the jade princess out of the right side of the carriage while her other friends took the left. "I'm not sure if it's either of those, but I'll have to ask you again later,"
The bartender nodded, patiently waiting as Erza and Wendy helped Cana down. "I look forward to seeing the last match, Lucy, and I'm sure you'll know what we're talking about by then!"
Lucy grumbled, waving goodbye over her shoulder to the others, following Hisui as they became surrounded by a combination of palace guards and Rune Knights, escorting them to the balcony that the royal heir and her sister of the road would occupy while watching their king waltz around below disguised as a pumpkin.
"So...Hisui," the blonde started, taking a seat on the balcony railing as her princess dismissed the guards.
"Don't even," the girl replied, eyeing the blonde for a second before looking out over the arena below. It was packed full of spectators, eagerly watching the countdown on the Viewing Lacrima until the games started. "I won't tell, since I don't want to ruin anything,"
The blonde pouted, looking away from her giggling friend and focusing on the countdown instead, as the last remaining seconds ticked down and the audience cheered louder with each until the clock reached zero, and in a puff of smoke, the King - dressed as Mato the pumpkin - entered the center of the arena.
"Welcome everyone to the Grand Magic Games!" he yelled into his mic, making the audience go wild. "This year, we've reached a record number of guilds participating in the Games, one hundred and fifty seven! I guess they all feel confident in the training they did in the two years since the last Games, huh?
"But since we can't have that many people in the tournament, let me introduce to you the first event!"
The crowd roared as the words on the screens changed from flashing zeros to the words Elimination Style Battle Royal.
"The point of this match is to take out as many other mages as possible, and a half point will be awarded for each person someone takes out! If we call time and there are still more than eight teams left, the total points gathered will determine which teams will compete. We will now ask that each guild send out one participant into the arena to represent themselves."
Lucy and Hisui watched the events below, pointing out who was from what guild as a little game of their own until the real action started, and in Lucy's case also scope out who her guild would be up against.
"Lamia Scale is smart, sending Sherry in; her doll magic can take out a lot of the weaker mages at once," Lucy said, watching as the pink haired woman did just that, summoning an earth doll the moment Mato said start. "She just got six points right off the bat,"
"True, but if she and Ren would stop flirting, they'd have more," Hisui replied, watching as the Blue Pegasus member went in for a swift kiss from his fiancé, women in the crowd cooing at their cuteness.
"I don't think they can help it…" Lucy stated, knowing full hand how 'love' oriented each of the two mages was. But still, she shifted her attention to some of the other guilds competing. "I think Bacchus put his guild through the grinder over the last few months; I'm surprised they haven't been taken out yet,"
"Them, and Twilight Ogre," Hisui responded, watching as the the mage from that guild battered people out of the way with his giant club. "I think they might take Raven Tail's place as a team this year,"
"You're probably right," the blonde stated, half listening to Chapati Lola - the same announcer from the previous games - as he pointed out all the different fights going on at once. "That Dobengal guy from Sabertooth must be acting as Sting's replacement, since masters can't fight,"
"Yeah, and he seems to be pretty strong," the royal jade replied, before a smile crept on her face. "It looks like your friend Juvia is holding her own; she just got your team another another five points,"
"Her magic is also good for this kind of fighting," Lucy smiled, resisting the urge to cheer out loud for her blue haired friend along with the rest of the guild. "Most of us from Fairy Tail are good at melee fighting, now that I think about it."
"I guess so," the princess said, watching as time was called and the dozen mages left standing froze. "It must come from all the guild brawls you told me about,"
"You're likely right," the blonde said, watching as the points were tallied up with Sabertooth getting the most, two points ahead of Fairy Tail. The other guilds weren't quite as close to each other as those two, but in the end, the same teams from last time, plus Twilight Ogre and a guild Lucy had never heard of had made it past the qualifying round.
The king took the mic again, cheerfully carrying on as though there weren't unconscious bodies being cleared out of the arena all around him. "Now that the teams have been settled, let's introduce to you who is going to participate in this year's Daimatou Enbu!"
The crowd cheered, mad in their excitement for the event to begin. The guilds didn't seem phased though, as the teams calmly made their way over to the perky pumpkin.
"First up! A guild that can go toe-to-toe with the current champions! If you read today's headlines, you'll know them as the ones who had a run in with the mysterious Dancer! Its everyone's favorite, Sabertooth!
"Next, the all females guild that has made quite the stir in the modeling industry during the last year! Men, you'll have your hands full if you ever commit to one of them! Let's hear it for Mermaid Heel!
"Following those two, lets introduce the next two at once! They've been allies to the champions for years, one known their beautiful mages, and the other famous for being home to one of the ten Wizard Saints! You guessed it, it's Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale!
"Now the next guild is mostly famous for how weak they were during the last games, despite their wild spirit and S-class mage taking the field! Now they come back, stronger than ever to redeem themselves! Cuatro Ceberus!
"These guys used to think they were top dog around the city of Magnolia! That was before the current champions came back from their seven year absence and put things back in their place! Lets give Twilight Ogre a nice welcome!
"This is a relatively new guild that popped up just after the last Grand Magic Games two years ago, and their specialty is water magics! They've already made it to the main events, so let's wish them luck! It's Azura Wave!
"And finally, the ones we've all been waiting for! They went missing for seven years before coming back to reclaim the title of the strongest guild two years ago! They have a pool of proficient mages to choose from, so let's meet who's on this year's Fairy Tail team!"
The blonde found a proud smile filling her face as the cheering crowd doubled their efforts, staring at her guildmates as their presence dominated the field, so close, yet so far from Lucy at the same time. She ignored the commentators and king giving everyone a brief synopsis on each teams' members (she knew most of them personally anyway), eyes trained onto a man with pink hair below.
The first thing she noticed was that he had grown out the bottom half of his hair. She never would have pictured the Dragon Slayer to have a pony tail, or had she ever pictured him to actually be able to pull it off with a new, longer tunic-styled coat whose sleeves had gashes where the connecting seam of the shoulder usually was, allowing his bright red guild mark to be seen.
While she noticed the changes to how he dressed, Lucy could also see small physical things that had changed about her best friend that she would never have noticed if she had stayed back at the guild. He was taller, probably closer to Gajeel in height than her now, and more filled out in build, which wasn't surprising, given men typically looked gangly until their mid twenties.
But it was the expression on his face that was new to her entirely, because even when shit hit the fan and exploded in their faces in the past, Natsu had never once lost his hyper, goofball charisma that never failed to make her smile.
Now, that look had all but disappeared from his features, leaving them almost blank as he scanned the crowd, eyes taking in each detail where they settled before moving on.
She inhaled sharply, twisting around and getting off the railing, retreating into the shadows of the inner balcony. She couldn't stand it. She wouldn't be able to handle him looking right at her, probably right in the eyes, and not want to run into his arms.
She didn't notice Hisui follow her from the railing until she felt a cool hand on her shoulder, and heard the calm voice of the princess, her traveling friend and sister. "It's okay, you don't have to meet him right now, and he doesn't know you're here yet. You can still get your emotions together, get what you want to tell him straight, and then go back to them."
Lucy exhaled, slowly letting the air and panic leave her system. She shouldn't have gotten so worked up over something she would have to face in the next few days anyway. "I guess I just missed him more than I thought…"
The royal jade nodded, understanding even as her own eyes shown with a flicker of emotion towards her own crush who was currently God-knows-where in the country with his sister and the caravan. "You've been suppressing your feeling for him for way too long, Lucy, and that includes how hurt you are being away from him all this time,"
"I know…" the blonde sniffed, but put on a brave face as she turned to face her companion. Hisui was trying to help her with this 'long-disatance-love' thing, and she didn't want to repay her friend by breaking down into a sobbing mess. She was stronger than that, damnit. "And I also know that if I'm basically going to fight him in the next few days, then I need to get my shit together,"
Hisui snorted, but was glad the gypsy was feeling better. "Amen. Now lets continue watching; I think that everyone in the audience just noticed there are a few people missing from your guild,"
The blonde smirked, sharing a look with the ruling princess. "Then it's time for their big reveal. This should be good, knowing Cana and Mira,"
The white haired mother watched sadly as the blonde disappeared from the balcony railing, the girl noticing that Natsu was scanning the crowd for her. She was glad when the princess followed after, both women out of sight when the pink haired man looked in that direction, giving the area a customary once over before systematically moving on.
"I feel bad for Lucy," Wendy stated, following where the barmaid was looking, and Mira could tell her heart went out to her surrogate sister. "Maybe we shouldn't have encouraged her to be a part of the last event."
"She will be fine," Erza said, requiping her disco outfit into her casual sleeveless blue blouse and pleated skirt, her son squealing and giggling in joy at the display of magic. "She's still the strong woman we all know and love,"
"Yeah," Cana agreed, taking off the feminine sunflower dress and exposing the strapless grey maternity shirt she had on under it, along with a pair of matching dark grey shorts. "So let's make this as fun as possible to cheer her up,"
"That can be arranged," Mira smirked deviously, removing her hat and glasses. "Just follow what I say…" she spent the next few minutes outlining the bases of her plan, allowing for Cana and Erza to interject and put out their own opinions. Now all they had to do was wait for the designated signal.
"...but it would appear that neither Erza or Mira are among the team, or with the waiting members of Fairy Tail! What could have made them decide to not use either of their best mages?" Chapati Lola asked, turning to his other announcers for support.
Doranbolt, this year's guest from the magic council, followed his co-host's observations with one of his own. "It would also appear that they're not the only ones; a few others are missing as well,"
"I don't see blondie or the little blue girl," Flare said, acting as the other announcer due to her prior experiences in the games. "Fairy Master, where are they?"
There it is, Cana thought, taking a deep breath before shouting at the top of her lungs down into the stadium. "UP HERE! AND YOU ALL BETTER LISTEN UP, BECAUSE WE GOT SOME THINGS TO SAY!"
When the last syllable left her mouth, a close up of their faces appeared on the Viewing Lacrimas, the brunette's arms slung around around her two companions' shoulders, Wendy behind the three since she had nothing to do with the message they were getting across by having Erza and Mira playing with their engagement rings in full view of the camera.
The brunette let a cocky smirk slip on her face, listening to the collective gasp run through the crowd. "We're all taken! So shove off if you don't want our fiancées to go ape shit on you! And that means you, Ichiya; Erza's already taken, so deal!"
Said perfum mage wasn't able to respond, since upon seeing the ring on his beloved's third left finger he had been turned to stone, unable to do anything while the Trimen fussed around him, trying to bring their master back to life amid both the shouts of congrats from women and men howling at the unjustness of it not being them.
"Shut up already people!" The brunette snapped, taking her arms back and crossing them under her bosom. The aggressive nature of the shout did wonders to make the audience stop talking, even if most muttered between themselves, confused. "I said we had 'things' to say, so stay quiet until we're finished!
"Now," Cana continued, her and the other mothers turning their head to look at Wendy, who could now be seen on screen with them. "Let's inform them of our other news, shall we ladies?"
"We shall," Mirajane replied, taking her daughter from the Sky Dragon Slayer, moving the gurgling baby's arm up and down to wave at the camera. "Say hi to daddy, sweetheart,"
Erza nodded at the teen girl, also accepting her child back and angling him towards the camera so he could be seen playing with her vibrant red hair. "In case you could not tell, we have started our families as well as being promised in marriage."
"Incredible!" Chapati shouted into his mic, the entire stadium cheering loud enough to be heard for miles around the capital city. "Not only have they managed to elude the press until this point, but their after baby bodies look as though they never gained an ounce in the first place!"
The male population of the crowd cheered in agreement, despite the fact that the camera hadn't dipped past the top half of the women's chests at all.
"But the brown one isn't holding a baby," Flare stated, voicing the thoughts of many of the women and men (who hadn't lost their minds to the idea of a female's body) who had noticed the same thing.
Cana sighed, shaking her head as she placed one of her hands on her hips, the other pointing at her belly. "Oi, cameraman, angle it lower,"
"Nevermind," the former Raven Tail member said, watching as the image lowered, Cana's huge baby-belly taking up most of the viewing screen. "She just hasn't had it yet,"
"No shit," the card mage rolled her eyes, the camera going back up to their faces. "This is how you deliver the news, people! You in the comment box suck at it!"
Doranbolt leaned closer to his mic, amusement in his eyes and voice. "Since this is not my full time job, I won't take offense to that,"
"Same," Flare stated, both guest speakers totally ignoring their other co-host, who sat white in shock at the brunette's words.
"Um, Cana?" Wendy stated, having just noticed a major flaw in their epic plan. "This might be a bad time, but how are we going to get down?"
"Huh," the card Mage said, looking down from the head of one of the four giant stadium statues they were standing on and then at the white haired Take-Over Mage. "How do we get down, Mira? I never thought to ask,"
The collective audience sweatdropped, while some in Fairy Tail facepalmed, and the fiancees of the three women plus one S-class father started to panic.
"Simple," Mira said, a magic circle appearing under her as she grew a pair of wings from her back. Jessamyn noticed them and made a desperate attempt to grab the appendages, cooing in wonder. "Happy, Charl, and Lily can take you guys down,"
"Ah, I see," the blue haired youth said, the two other women nodding as the three cats made their way over to them, having no other choice but to comply with the barmaid's plans. "Thank you, Charl,"
"Less talk," Happy grunted, straining to pick up the heavily pregnant Cana. "More flying,"
"Well…" the king stated, getting over his shock of the games getting interrupted like that. "I guess that's one way to let the cat out of the bag. But there will be time for celebration after the first official match has ended! Teams, pick one player besides the one who was in the qualifying round to send out!"
Lucy felt her smile widen even more at the king's dismissal of recent events, but one look at her companion and all her control melted, both girls collapsing into a fit of hysterical laughter.
"Did you see Laxus's face when Mira held up Jessamyn?" the princess giggled. "He even waved back! No doubt he'll be the doting father figure,"
"Forget that; Gildart's face when Wendy asked how they would get down was priceless, with Bacchus coming at a close second!" Lucy laughed, clutching her stomach from laughing so hard. "I swore his guildmates were ready to catch him if he fainted,"
"We should," Hisui giggled, attempting to pull herself together, hearing her father start to announce the new participants. "Probably watch the next match,"
The Celestial wizard wiped a tear from her eye, picking herself back up to sit at the railing again. "Yeah, since you haven't told me what event's are coming up yet except for the last one,"
"No? Well, this one is…"
"...the Naval Battle!"
No reunion with Lucy and Natsu just yet, but you guys are probably going to both love and hate me in the next chapter...where I included their reunion even though it extended the chapter by like 2,000 words and then ended it.
With that being said, after the next chapter, we have officially reached the end of the notes and pieces of story I've got written. Meaning chapters are going to take longer to update. Like, way longer, since the poll for plots is up (FT won by a landslide, no surprise) and I'll be writing the winner of that, as well as another story in another fandom. Sorry, but just think of this as a filler until the next, 8,000 word chapter. Until then vote on the poll on my profile, please!