As the clock struck Midnight, Rezef felt a tug. Quickly grabbing her cloak, she looked up to the sky to see the figure of a pumpkin announcing the first event of the Grand Magic Game; a sky labyrinth. This was a preliminary event made to select out of the 113 guilds willing to enter the event who would participate. Nox felt the ground under her feet shake, as she found herself now part of a giant structure in the sky.

She could hear the noises of the guilds all around her, and the shiver of the air as they passed by. Nox closed her eyes. Letting her mind fall into shadows, she disappeared into the darkness the moonlight could not chase.

The world of shadows was, to Nox, a beautiful place. Everything was flat, and yet it was far more beautiful than any creation of the real world. The shapes were blurry, but she only had to think of where to go to feel the cool rush of the shadows brushing against her skin as she sped by. It felt like a long, twisted and calm river in which she would gladly drown if it meant blocking out the pain.

Nox came out of the shadow world. Time had a different flow in there, and what was an hour in shadow time was merely a minute in the real world. She looked around herself. A gate with a sign "congratulation" above it seemed like the exit, as a pumpkin man waited for the winning participants. She took a step toward it, and the pumpkin turned toward her with a look of shock on his face.

"_how... when..."

"_yes?"

The pumpkin man shook his head, before shouting into his recorder;

"_Midnight Fear comes first by finding the exit in less than a minute! Record Broken!"

Nox casually walked through the opening and turned to the pumpkin man;

"_can I go back to bed now?"

Nox loved to look at the stars, which was why she was currently sitting in the lobby of her hotel. The ceiling was made of glass and allowed a beautiful view of the night sky. She leaned back into her seat, one leg tucked beneath her feet whilst the other dangled gracefully down. She had her gaze riveted onto the moon and waited for the Sabertooth guild to come back to the hotel. She wanted to know if they had made it.

Finally, after what seemed like seconds to her but turned out to be hours, she heard the loud, obnoxious voice of her favourite dragon slayer. Blondie came through the opening and Rogue soon followed. She saw their two Exceeds following them and three other people seemed to be there as well. As soon as they had passed the front door, what they said became understandable.

"_we smashed everyone!"

"_not everyone, one guild managed to come before us but could not be bothered to wait for her opponents." The guy who had spoken wore a red hat and a mask. He looked like a joker. Nox furrowed her brow. She did not really like the aura coming from him. Next to him was a very big man, who seemed to have a large amount of sheer power and finally a little woman. She was a celestial mage if her keys were anything to judge by. Nox sat back into her recliner. The shadows were engulfing her when she saw Rogue stop and sniff the air. Sting looked at him and did the same. At the same time, both turned around and looked dumbfounded.

"_Nox!"

She casually waved her gloved hand as Frosch came crashing into her chest like a bullet. The little Exceed was soon crying her eyes out again, as Lector came over to give her a hug.

"_hey guys." She said, standing up. She came over to both dragon slayers and gave them a short hug each. She laughed when she noticed Sting had her bell hung up to his trousers and gave him a peck on the cheek. He replied with a pat on the head and they let go of one another.

"_careful with the pats, Blondie. Wouldn't want to anger me now would you?"

"_no teasing then." She pouted.

"_fine, keep patting."

They three of them laughed heartily as Lector took his place again on her head. Frosch had finished crying and was sitting on her shoulder as Nox turned to Rogue, who introduced every member of his team:

"_Nox, this is Rufus Lore, Orga Nanagear, and Yukino Aguria. They are all part of Sabertooth's team."

"_not meaning to be rude or anything, but what are you doing here, girlie?"

"_back on nickname terms are we, Blondie? And very simple, I am participating in the Grand Magic Games of course! Did you think I would let go an occasion of have such fun with ya two?"

Translation: I couldn't wait to see you two again, I missed you guys.

"_oh, I can't wait to beat your sorry arse!" shouted Sting.

Translation: I missed you as well.

"_WE cannot wait to fight against you Nox." Rectified Rogue.

Improved translation: WE missed you too."

She sent them a dazzling smile under her hood, and gave them each a short hug before waving to their team and going back to her room. She felt strangely happy.