A/N THANK YOU! *bows* Every email alerts I get that someone reviewed, faved and subscribed on this story made my day extra amazing! I thought only three or few of my friends will be interested to read this out of pity… You don't know how much you made me extremely happy!
Oh, and please note that there aren't much facts revealed about Sting, Rouge and the rest of the Sabertooth guild, so I had to improvise. Though, I'd leave the name of the female Sabertooth member unknown for when she'd be introduced in the manga. But the Sabertooth guild master shall be extemporized. :D I must admit I'm having a really hard time making up Sting and Rouge's elements. So if you find Sting really weird on the next chapter, do blame it on me. ~,~ Anyway, any wild guesses why Sting was called the white dragon slayer and Rouge the shadow dragon slayer? Please share your thoughts. ^_^
The rating is T because it doesn't contain M-stuff. I'm poor at writing smutty things. So, sorry :(
Special thanks to Bareerah123 for this beta'd chapter. :) I LOVE YOU ALL! *hugs* Enjoy! :)
Notice: All review responses are removed on this chapter. ~,~
Chapter 2: THE REWARD AND THE EGO BOOST
Lucy couldn't restrain her tears any longer, her knees couldn't stop trembling, and the delight she felt just a moment ago was now subsumed by the memories of the things that had happened last night.
FLASHBACK:
"Do you not trust Cana, Lucy?" Master Makarov asked the blonde celestial mage, a twisted smile etched across his face.
Lucy's anger somehow wavered at the question thrown to her by the perverted master, "Of course I trust Cana, but why the hell are most of you agreeing to this? I'm not an object!" She yelled furiously.
Well, she's used to her guild doing this to her, and believe her, she trusted Fairy Tail with her life, but her pride wouldn't take it if the participants of this drinking contest were mostly from her own guild – just to patch things up, they're not participating because she was the reward, it's mainly because they wanted to battle the other guilds. Ah, she was so vain, but she couldn't help it. Even Cana wasn't participating for her, it was because the card mage loved booze, especially free booze – with the exception of Loke who had forced open his gate and the trimens, who would grab every opportunity to get into her pants – err – skirt, she meant.
"Oi, jiichan! Don't involve Lucy on this." Gray had been protesting too. Kami knows how grateful Lucy was for the ice mage's backing up.
Makarov grinned, "If you're that worried, Gray, maybe you should join in too."
Gray's eyebrow twitched, "What are you trying to imply, jii-chan?" the younger mage compelled, slight blush creeping across his face.
"We had a bad start, yet we ended up at second and fourth place. I'm confident we'll end this contest first." The old master declared, pride shining in his eyes as he look at Cana who was already swigging a barrel of alcohol straight. He then turned his gaze to Gray and Lucy, "It's payback time… Hihihi." Makarov sniggered evilly.
"Yajima-san?" Lucy shot the former council member a puppy eye look, begging for aid somewhere.
Despite the limited interaction with the blonde lady, the old man could see through her. He's a good judge of character, after all. "Don't worry Lucy-chan, some guilds are participating because of the reward…" Yajima retorted, his eyes softening at the blushing celestial mage.
Caught! Wrong move, Lucy thought, blood racing up to her face.
"…like those boys from Blue Pegasus." He continued as he slightly shifted his head to look at Ichiya and the trimens as they pulled out a dramatic and stomach-turning poses behind Lucy.
"You smell really nice, my lady!" Ichiya remarked as he sniffed her blatantly, which made Lucy jolt in surprise and run to hide behind Gray.
"W-what the hell?" was all that came out of Lucy's mouth. Disgusting! I could totally understand why Erza shakes in fear by just the sight of Ichiya-san.
Ichiya, along with the other three men, started babbling irrelevant and flirtatious things she didn't bother to listen to.
"Come to think of it, Lucy… I could take this chance to get my revenge on that Carnival Mask guy." Gray commented, now cupping his chin, as he glanced at the blonde behind his shoulder.
"Not you too, Gray!" Lucy yelped, now feeling helpless. The last sane man she knew from her guild had also fallen into the pit of trap their master had set, and she would never admit it out loud, but she was to some extent, if not noticeably, disappointed that Gray would join the contest not because of her, but because of the opportunity of beating the Rufus guy from Sabertooth. "You don't even know if that guild's joining this stupid competition with all these…" she hesitated for a moment, glancing at the cluster of guild masters behind her, she leaned in closer to his ear, "…old fogeys?"
"Oh, we would blondie." A taunting voice from a table not far from where they stood spoke out.
Startled, Lucy turned to look at the owner of the voice, which surprised her to no end. It was the leader of the Sabertooth guild, the proclaimed strongest guild of Fiore.
She felt chills as his eyes met hers, it was without doubt intimidating, so she thought pursing her mouth was the best thing to do. The last thing she wanted was to stir the interest of Sabertooth guild unto her (there comes her self-vanity attack).
Her sight landed on the other members sharing the table with him. The two exceeds were looking at her smugly as if she was some kind of insect.
The masquerade man (also known as Rufus) had already began a staring contest with Gray.
The only girl was also looking at her with face void of emotions.
The lightning man who loved to sing (also known as Orga) was focused on a cordless microphone.
And lastly, the shadow dragon slayer (also known as Rogue) was coldly staring at Gajeel, who was currently being bugged by Levy to join the drinking competition.
Lucy let out a defeated sigh, what the hell did I get myself into?
Yajima stood up and clapped his hand, drawing the attention of most mages in the banquet, "Let the drinking contest begin!" he announced.
The whole place roared in excitement, each participant was given a barrel of alcohol. The rules were simple: Keep drinking until the last mage stands without eating anything, and the reward: Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail and of course, the ego boost.
Lucy stood next to her master, who was at the same moment, drinking a bottle of alcohol while being nagged by the guild master of Lamia Scale. Lucy found herself drinking a milkshake, she was watching Natsu as he indulged himself with alcohol while glaring at Sabertooth's leader. Gray was also found in the same situation, and surprisingly, the mighty titania too. Great! Her team was really into it. Even Loke had found himself competing with Cana.
She roamed her eyes to find Happy, but the exceed seemed to be in some sort of another contest as well. Fish-eating contest? The blue exceed, along with Lily, Charle and Wendy was seated on a separate table. Happy was eating bunches of fishes nonstop while staring at the Sabertooth's arrogant exceed who was doing the same.'Oh, so nauseating,' the blonde pondered in her head.
After some time passed, one by one, participants were passing out. Even the Blue Pegasus trimens were already down. The intoxicated trimens were now shouting dramatic apologies towards Lucy. Somehow, this made Lucy smile, at least some people weren't doing this for competition alone?
Sherry was the only one that participated from Lamia Scale, dogged to defeating her lover, Ren, who had already passed out. Due to this, the Lamia Scale mage dropped out and shot Lucy a 'you-won't-be-able-to-touch-my-Ren' look.
Loke too had run into her, the first time Lucy saw his loyal lion spirit into a drunken state, and just before he would throw up on her mistress, he suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. The celestial mage found herself laughing in both relief and worry. That Loke, she shook her head.
Another hour in and most of the participants, especially those from other guilds had dropped like flies, leaving only the heartiest of drinkers. Now, Fairy Tail Mages namely Natsu, Gray, Erza, Cana, Gajeel, Elfman and Mira were the only ones left from their guild.
Yes, indeed, Mira had participated, solely for Lucy. But her will was starting to betray her.
Elfman would time to time warn her elder sister to stop drinking, because he says, that he would, as a man, defeat all the rest of the participants. Though he wasn't really confident with defeating Cana, at least she's still a guild mate. Until both Elfman and Mira dropped their heads on the table. Another two down.
A little more time had passed and there were only three participants from Fairy Tail left.
Yep, only three were left!
Erza, before passing out, had requipped into her pajamas first and lied down atop of a table, with alcohol splattered all over. She wasn't a very good drinker. If she had a weakness, that would be alcohol. What prompted her to join the competition – or rather, who? It was Jellal, who had insensitively told her that she had gained some weight since the last time he saw her. Because of this, even though Erza was drooling to eat some of her favorite cake, she instead drowned herself in liquor. That damn Jellal!
Gajeel had also given up, as he started to chew on the iron railings. The said act disqualified him in the contest.
With this, Rogue from Sabertooth had withdrawn. These people are so obvious, Lucy thought.
Lucy gawked at her guild mates worriedly, she was of course confident that Cana would win this. The last participants were now seated in one table, it seemed to her that the Sabertooth leader could drink better than Natsu. Natsu isn't a strong drinker, and he'd eventually look for food, which his face had been showing since Gajeel had dropped out. But no, the fire dragon slayer was determined to outdo the white dragon slayer, so his meal could wait.
Just when she was about to check on Gray, she heard him yapping in delight. Rufus had withdrawn too, saying that alcohol isn't a good food for his ever precious brain, and then a loud thump was heard. Gray slumped limply on the table, with his head rested on the surface.
In the end, it was only Cana, Natsu and Sting of Sabertooth who remained. The noise was stifling – Lucy could now feel the tension. Sober spectators were now focused on the three last remaining participants.
Happy was tied up by a word brawl with the Sabertooth exceeds, some betting on who'll win.
"I'll beeeaaaat –hic- ja hell ou –hic- tta ya!(I'll beat the hell out of you)" Natsu spoke, apparently unaware that he was practically shouting, showing signs of drunkenness. Lucy was amazed that her best friend was able to stay in the competition this long. On normal days, he'd pass out with just one alcoholic shot. But she guessed Natsu was this determined to battle Sting, even in such a pathetic game.
The white dragon slayer smirked arrogantly, she could tell he's obviously not a seasoned drinker like Natsu if he could still pull out a face like that, even though he's as red as crimson already.
She had underestimated Sting. He's still going strong as Cana. Lucy wanted to believe that he was just good at acting. How could someone rival Cana's drinking habit? Lucy stood up, walked towards Natsu and tapped him from behind. The boy slowly turned his head to look at her, his eyes were obviously dying to close. "Stop it, Natsu. Leave it to Cana." The celestial mage said, trying to assist the waving body of her best friend.
"N-nowee –hic- eey I'd jooo –hic- jat! (No way I'd do that!)" Natsu retorted, as he brought a barrel up and drank from it.
"Come on, Natsu…" Lucy pleaded, but sounded more like a demand. "Before Erza wakes up."
Momentarily remembering about Erza, Natsu shuddered, and then, just as Lucy had expected, Natsu fell limply off his chair. With no other choice, the blonde rapidly held onto him, preventing the fire dragon slayer to fall off completely. She glanced at Cana who was presently pulling a face at the aftertaste left in her mouth. The drunkard of a mage then caught her eye and gave the celestial mage a reassuring look and grin. "Take care of Natsu, this contest is nearly done…" Cana declared confidently, a faint blush could be seen on her cheeks.
Oh, the magic of alcohol. Lucy said inwardly.
Sting let out a cough, causing both Fairy Tail mages to look at him, "What a weakling Natsu-san! So disappointing!" He swiftly said, as he warily turned to look at Cana, "Save your bragging for later, dipsomaniac, when you've actually achieved your goal, hmm?" he drawled, his implications heavy in the air.
Cana cocked an eyebrow at the finalist. She was indeed impressed that someone else had actually gotten this far. She was about to strike back when a voice interrupted her.
"Sting, let's go…" the white-haired girl of Sabertooth heralded.
The leader then fixed his eyes to the Fairy Tail celestial mage, who was still looking at him in pure disbelief while assisting the drunken salamander. "Not yet." He retorted, a wicked smile etched across his face, "I'll take my prize. I'm all fired up."
Lucy's heart pounded violently. 'Eeeh? Do you really think you'll win against Cana? You're already showing signs of drunkenness. What an arrogant bastard!' was what she wanted to say, but for some reason, she was very intimidated by him, so she shrugged it off and just mouthed to Cana a: "Good luck!"
Cana nodded understandingly, and shouted, "More booze here! As long as it's free, I'll drink 'till I die!"
The audience had once again raised their spirits up and boomed with cheers. The peak of the contest had begun. The next couple of barrels were smoothly drank by the two.
Lucy couldn't believe what she was seeing. Despite the opposition of the other Sabertooth members, Sting Eucliffe still continued to challenge Cana, and she must admit, it was making her nervous. Not that she was getting too ahead of herself. She didn't want to think that the man wanted her as the reward. Maybe he was talking about the ego boost of winning. It would indeed be an embarrassment that one of the current strongest mages in Fiore would lose to a woman in a drinking contest.
She called out for Happy, who was at the moment, still busy grinding his teeth in irritation with the arrogant exceeds of Sabertooth. When he finally noticed the passed out Natsu, he flew towards the blonde and took Natsu to their room, thus marking the end of his fight with the annoying Sabertooth exceeds. He was accompanied by a worried Wendy and Charle.
Lucy shifted her sight to the last two participants.
Makarov, too, was beginning to get uneasy.
The excitement was rising every second, Cana was almost done. The Fairy Tail Mage was going to outdo Sting… and he was so close too, but he knew his system couldn't take in more alcohol. Cana just kept chugging down the barrel of alcohol, feeling rather woozy at this point.
Lucy clasped her hands against her chest, she knew it… Cana would win this, but not until the brown-haired girl dropped the barrel of alcohol and fell down back first on the floor. She had lost the battle. Fairy Tail, once again, had lost against Sabertooth.
Sting tossed the empty barrel of alcohol on the floor, it seemed like luck was really on his side. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, just then, the few spectators that had remained in the banquet roared. Makarov landed on all his fours, regretting why he agreed on making Lucy the reward.
Lucy, on the other hand, was dumbfounded.
"Amazing Sting-kun, you really are the best! Yup!" Lector squealed like a fan girl.
"Fro thinks so too, ribbit!" Frosch cheered, raising one paw.
"Oi, blondie, come to Sting-kun!" Sting growled, clearly unaware of the loudness of his voice and the embarrassing way of addressing himself.
"Are you serious, Sting?" the white haired mage of Sabertooth prompted in disbelief. Their other guild mates were surprised as well.
Sting smirked, "A reward is a reward, wasn't it? Now you're my property." He tilted his head and shot Lucy a smug yet giddy look. "And you all call me Sting-kun from now on!" He ordered his guild mates, tone hinting absolute authority. This had earned him several awkward and questioning glares from his friends. Rogue on the other hand, stayed poker faced.
Lucy shuddered, "E-eh?" was all that came out of her mouth, she was forcing her brain to process what just happened. This was supposed to be Fairy Tail's game… Cana was so close to winning, she slowly turned to look at Cana's direction, how the hell did this man outdo Cana in a drinking contest? She ran towards her sulking master, "M-master?" she turned to look at Yajima, "Y-Yajima-san?"
Yajima let out a cough, "That marks the end of our little game. The winner, Sting Eucliffe of Sabertooth." He announced.
Now it was Lucy's turn to land on all fours, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. "MASTER!" she yelled out.
Makarov stood up and gave Sting a stern look, "I'm frankly quite surprised you were able to keep up with Cana. Will you claim the reward?" he asked.
Sting stood up, he must admit, the alcohol was getting into his system. He was feeling all nauseous and dizzy, but he had to take his reward. The woman who seemed to be closest to Natsu-san. He walked towards the old man and extended his hand, "Yes," he paused for a brief moment and glanced at the blonde celestial mage, "I worked hard for it, right?"
Makarov was anxious, he won't just hand her child over to someone they just met in the Games. And aside from that, how would he be sure that Lucy is safe with them? The old master focused his eyes on Sting's hand, "…perhaps I could offer you some other reward?"
Yes, Sting was drunk, but he still could understand what the Fairy Tail's guild master was trying to imply, "No," he scowled, "Are you going against your word, Makarov-san?" he spurred.
"My child is not a thing!" Makarov answered the young man quickly.
"It was you who agreed on having her as the reward, right?" Sting pressed, patience almost at its limit.
The old man clenched his fist, it was all his fault, yes. Just before he could answer back, the First master's spirit floated beside him. Her face manifesting total disappointment, "Hand her over, she won't get hurt…" the first master directed, her brows furrowed. "Don't disgrace Fairy Tail just because of this… What an idiot!" she grimaced.
Depression lines started to appear above Makarov's head, he sighed, "Return her to us, untouched and safe. Or..." Makarov stated, proffering a begrudging hand towards the young Sabertooth leader. "…we'll take her back by force." he said in a warning voice.
Sting nodded, a mark of respect and acknowledgement of the agreement. "I certainly will return her, if she's willing to return herself…"
"Lucy, keep in touch with us, he won't hurt you… I don't feel any danger from this man." Mavis gave Lucy an assuring nudge. The blonde could tell the first master's unfathomable frustration towards Master Makarov, but she could trust first's sureties with regards to Sabertooth, right?
.
to be continued...