So I fixed the last chapter and stuff- so um ignore that comment I made about the few hour time skip ahah. I also changed the times but it's not big I think that you'll be confused, since I'll explain the funeral and stuff further into this chapter. I actually do regret choosing this time period for this story to take place in, heh, my mistake. I'm trying to make this story as canon as possible in light of that, so do please bare with me.

But actually. Thank you all for reviewing and favoriting and reading and everything; you guys are so awesome and I honestly wouldn't have continue to write this fic for a whole (well almost) a year if it weren't for you guys. Thank you.

We ended up having a big sleepover after that. One where En practically had to leave the door open for everyone who was still coming back from the funeral that morning.

Apparently since the councilmen had sent many complaints when the news came to fall upon their ears; the officials had decided to hold the funeral early into the morning and withhold the games until early noon for everyone to have a proper day's rest and what not. Though honestly, I think it's just so they could get it over and done with.

It was hardly a funeral though- more like a ceremony; I was told that the burial would take place sometime tonight. Not like I was going. I was told only the people who were closest to the old me could go.

The afternoon sun seeped into En's large hotel room as someone on the bed accidentally brushed their hand against the curtain in their slumber causing almost everyone else around them to groan. I, myself, was lying wide awake as I felt people start to shuffle around, watching as people greeted me happily before waddling their way out the room.

I closed my eyes tiredly as I felt my head slowly go up and down on En's stomach, balancing my breathes with his. It was strange. So strange.

The moment they saw me, they just knew it was me. No questions asked, it was like just simply seeing my face sealed the deal. I found myself subject to a million hugs and tears as one by one more of my L'arc Sibyl guild mates returned from the service-ceremony-funeral whatever.

Most of them, in all honesty though, actually just dropped onto En's hotel room floor and sort of fell asleep there at my feet after seeing me. Which was how this whole sleepover began.

You see, while En was tossing me around, trying to get me to hit a ceiling light involuntarily; Emily had taken the opportunity to steal En's bed sheets and set a small fort in the corner of his room. So when people started dropping in a tired daze, we figured to just start weaving people around the makeshift fort and see how many people it takes until Emily woke up or the room was filled.

One layer of people later and an hour of trying to get some late individuals to fit onto the stomachs of other people, we concluded that the moon dragon slayer can and will sleep through anything when she set her mind to it. A weird joke that we seemed to laugh at the whole time we played human pyramid before we got annoyed by the other's presence and threatened to use the bodies of our guild mates as projectiles.

In the end, we ended up sprawled near the doorway, sleeping through lunch and maybe just an hour or two until the Day 4 of the Games started.

I never got to do such silly things when I was still Lily; not even Sting's odd morning pranks could measure up to the new-found level of weirdness En and I had achieved a few hours ago.

Or maybe it wasn't as new-found as I thought...

"You're awake," my eyes snapped wide open as I stared at a face that literally was two centimeters away from mine. His gray eyes staring back at me dully with a slight sparkle, "Lily."

"You son of a-" I made a move to throw a punch at him only to find that he managed to grab my wrist before it even dared brush a single hair on his face and he pulled me up to my feet with a small yank.

I glowered angrily at Krued as we just stood there awkwardly in the hallway. Me, still in my PJs- which really did just consist of Emily's old worn t-shirt and my panties, and Auguston, already in his full signature outfit. I stared at the many buckles decorating his outfit before I noticed a lone plaid piece of cloth hanging from the buckles secured around his waist like a belt.

"That was meant to be a scarf," I joked under my breath, raising an eyebrow as I stared at him in curiosity, "though I didn't think you would actually..."

I let whatever I was trying to say hang in the air as I watched the Acting Lieutenant Colonel shrug and turn away shyly. A smile had found its way to my lips as we both silently reminisced the making of the plaid scarf or now random piece of cloth he wore.

It seemed like such a long time ago... He was turning fourteen and I had somehow managed to trick him into making his own birthday present as I was running short on time and the jobs and requests were starting to pile up. It started with me having to teach him how to knit properly, and then it was him practicing on his end of the scarf while I did my own.

Finally, when I was happy with the length Krued's clumsy teenage hands (actually I shouldn't say that, he was- is older than me) were able to carry out, I joined the two ends together, wrapped it up and gave it to him as a birthday present the very next month. Though in a fight between En and me a few years later, the scarf had torn itself apart and that was the last I actually saw of it.

"Someone broke into Sabertooth earlier," his voice pulled me out of my thoughts almost immediately as he put his hands into his pockets, "they're all furious for revenge"

I nodded calmly as a frown danced around my lips. I was tempted to ask by earlier if he meant whether yesterday or a few hours ago but I knew that my throat wouldn't dare let a word slip as I recalled the last words Sting had said to me.

"Sabertooth members only"

It wasn't my business anymore. I wasn't a Sabertooth mage anymore. Nor was I a L'arc Sibyl mage until I got my stamp.

Now I was just guild less. With my loyalties tied nowhere.

Minerva was back.

Minerva. was. back

Miner-

"Lilian?" I shook out of my thoughts as Alexander came to stand beside me by the railing, "you ok?"

I merely shrugged as I kept my eyes trained on the naval battle. To say I wasn't the slightest bit shaken up at the sight of the master's daughter would be like saying the sky was filled with all sorts of naughty stuff.

Minerva, like her father, knew no mercy.

Knowing that, it only made me fear worse for Emily who was participating in the naval battle. A fact that Ace wouldn't shut up about as he praised her for staying invisible and not letting any men see her in her swim suit. Honestly, it was funny how much of an older brother the usually aggressive and sarcastic kid was to the moon dragon slayer.

Even if it was a bit annoying at times...

"Go, Emily! WOOOO!" the dark blond mage would cheer beside us, in this impossibly loud screech that no human should be capable of, "URGH! NO, YOU SICK QUATRO PUPPY MAGE! Get away from Emily!"

"How do you even..." I heard Cecelia mutter darkly under her breath, I could almost hear the sweat drop as well in her rather comedic disbelieving voice, "she's invisible."

Ignoring all the commotion around me, even the worried remarks from my former mentor; I kept staring at the huge suspended bubble of water with a mild interest. Lucy had summoned Aquarius right off the bat. Catching everyone off guard before the water lady from her guild returned the attack.

I could only hope that Emily had a plan up her sleeve, or lack of, as I watched all the girls starting to gang up against each other in the water. Not even a second after the celestial spirit and the water lady's power struggle, Jenny Realight managed to kick the only man in the battle out while Risley and Chelia battled it out.

My heart was starting to pound in anticipation as I found myself leaning forward around the railing. I don't know why, but there was just something attention grabbing about this one event. Well, it was that, or it was the fact that it was the only event I actually paid attention to. Or maybe it was because I finally realized Emily re-materalized right behind the young lady of Sabertooth.

I swear, I've never felt more scared for someone else in my whole life as I screamed, "no Emily don't!"

She was blasted out of the bubble along with the water lady by Minerva before I even had the chance to scream.

And before I knew it; it was Sabertooth vs Fairy Tail.

The horrible sinking feeling wouldn't leave me either as I watched Minerva play around with Lucy; I felt like crying in frustration when I knew- when it was just oh so obvious that the master's daughter would win and the celestial mage would be damn lucky to even be able to make it out of this alive. My tensed jumpy behavior didn't go unnoticed by my guild mates either as they all turned to me just as I was about to start tearing up.

"If I lose here... I won't be able to face everyone who tried so hard!" My hands were already closed around my mouth as her voice was projected throughout the whole arena, "I won't betray everyone's emotions; that's why I won't give up!"

Lucy, you're making a horrible mistake.

My hands went from my mouth to my ears as the noise started to buzz around me once again.

It didn't even matter if I wasn't Lily anymore; I didn't want to see Lucy to be beaten up this way, didn't want to see Minerva's cruel face as she tortured the Fairy Tail mage. I didn't want to hear the cries, the screams, the pain.

I didn't want to hear Sting's ever loud string of laughter either as the battle ended with the Minerva hanging the blond's body out the bubble like a trophy.

It's funny how differently you can view a person once you felt that you've completely disconnected yourself from them.

Because really, I didn't realize how much of a true bastard Sting Eucliffe was until Emily joined me in the stands and I stood aside awkwardly as her and Cece started gossiping about the boys participating in the Games during the short break it took for Fairy Tail to reorganize themselves.

The truth from their words was still hanging above my head when the dong sounded and Emily returned to the L'arc Sibyl team. I was always aware of Sting's attitude, but my obvious crush for him always brushed it off as sarcasm- extreme sarcasm. And now? Now, as I searched the Domus Flau for him and felt my heart drop at the sight of his blond head, now I knew how much of an idiot I've been.

How much of an idiot I still am.

When I was Lily, it seemed perfectly ok for me to hang around the twin dragon slayers- though I wasn't exactly strong; I was just a special exception passed from the former master before Gemma. No one seemed to complain anyways, just as long as I didn't cause them trouble. Much trouble. They didn't seem to mind at least. They were the ones who dragged me around with them, after all.

And now? As Lilian Evan Orelohr? Even if I used to be a S classed renown model mage, I was nothing to them.

Absolutely nothing.

"Lilian," I bit my tongue almost immediately as Alexander pulled me out of my thoughts, this time with a hard shove on my shoulder and a yank so I was now facing him "tell me what's wrong."

Maybe I was just paranoid but I swore I felt a pair of eyes glare up at the two of us then.

"Nothing," I whispered as I averted my eyes, "I'm just..."

"The truth, Lilian." He hissed beside me before yanking my chin towards him furiously, "now."

Alexander was always a tad bit scary when he wanted to be, and he always made sure to tune it up a notch every time he was around me. Harsh guy, he was, but in all honesty- he had every right to. He was my mentor, my teacher, I was as close to him as I was close to En. He knew me like he knew the spells he drilled into my head during our earlier days. So he knew, like any adult would know, that the only way to get their disciple to fess up was to use the ever so useful tool of intimidation.

I swallowed down my nervousness as I struggled uselessly under the red head's grip.

"It's not the important," I muttered as Alexander started getting more ticked off and started pulling at my cheeks, squeezing and pinching my baby fat. "Alexander!"

"Lilian!" He mocked my high squeal evenly as he glared at me through his glasses. Raising his eyebrows in challenge as he pulled my cheeks upwards, "you just came back only to be depressed. What's up with that. Hmm?"

"It's not-" I averted my eyes then, catching a pair of angry catlike eyes staring straight at me and deflated against my former mentor's hands.

I was nothing to him anymore; my dreams to have him notice me for me should be nothing too.

But they weren't. And I only surrendered under Alexander as he dropped his hands at the sudden change of mood and patted my head in sympathy, giving me an awkward one-armed hug. After a while he steered us towards the railing and pointed towards the arena where a triple tag battle was starting to take place between L'arc Sibyl, Blue Pegasus and Quatro Puppy.

En and Auguston were going against Ichiya and the Bunny Suit dude from Blue Pegasus and Rocker and Bacchus from Quatro Puppy. An interesting battle no doubt but I was too deep in my own thoughts and too lost in the buzz, the noise to even pay attention.

Which was why I hadn't reacted much when I looked up to see the small gross perfume guy turn towards the guys and give them a crooked and disgusting smile before shooting them into the sky. Because I had seen stranger-

had I?

I can't even remember anymore...

What exactly was strange, nothing was strange in Sabertooth with-

"Oh! Do you hear that?!" This time it was Cece's loud sing-songy voice that jolted me out of my thoughts, "I think someone's calling someone~"

She pointed down at the arena with a squeal and true to her word, there was En; standing there waving his arms around like an bruised up idiot as he cried out, "Oi! Little miss flat board stone head! Come down 'ere!"

I felt all the blood rush to my face as she pushed me playfully. A small course of chuckes rang throughout the crowd, some even turning to stare at me as I stormed my way down to the back entrance way to the arena.

En was so dead to me.

When I finally got there however, it wasn't like anything I was expecting because the moment I rounded the corner, En had thrown an arm around my shoulder with Auguston proudly stating out loud for the whole world to hear had it been lined up in that long winding hallway...

"We are going on our first job since forever today. Right here and right now."

Let me just say, that Natsu infiltrated Sabertooth the day before the funeral / before the news of Lily's death was spread and hence both parties were forced to do the cremation. Thank the heavens no fighting broke out. (no actually it's my fault. I completely disregarded the days and messed up).

Daah... welll... review?