Hi guys, so new chapter! I hope you guys like it, this one is pretty long so it's making up for all the other shorter chapters XD So updates from now will probably be on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, because I'll be planning, writing and editing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Woo, I'm being organised for once.

Anyway, how did you guys like the first episode of the filler arc? I thought it was pretty good personally (I miss Aquarius so much T^T) Also, thank you guys so much for all of the support and to my Beta Reader. I'm so sorry I can never get my drafts over to you any earlier then 11 in the middle of the night XD Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 18 (On a Night of Falling Stars)

Normal POV

Natsu held back his arm from grabbing onto Lucy's shoulder as she passed by him. He couldn't help his heart from dropping to the pit of his stomach as he realised who the Dark Energy was coming from.

Zeref wasn't here after all.

No, no. Not her, please not her. Natsu thought frantically. Erza must have sensed Lucy too, because she was gazing at her retreating figure with narrowed eyes. "Lucy-" "Was who we sensed, I know." Erza answered, her eyes cold as ice as she glanced at the former Fairy Tail Mage.

Natsu gulped. "I just thought that after what Gildarts had said and how things had been so quiet..." He trailed off. What was he thinking? Of course Lucy was a suspect. She had beaten the Raijinshu to a pulp not that long ago, she had destroyed all of the active Dark Guilds at that point. Hell, she had even destroyed Tartarus.

She might have joined a guild, but she still wasn't the Lucy he had known. She probably joined Sabertooth just to spite them.

He looked down at his hands as he realised that the Lucy he had known was already dead, dead and forgotten like yesterday's memories.

But that wasn't right. He had seen her yesterday, seen the look in her eyes. Seen the small smile she had for that white-haired girl that was with Sabertooth. The small smile, although a ghost of what her smile used to be, was the one and the same.

He wouldn't mistake that smile in a million years.

Erza frowned at her team mate who was silent at the moment. She knew what the pink-haired teenager was thinking, and she knew he was right. She hadn't seen Lucy yesterday, but the Lucy that had passed a minute ago didn't sound or look like anything Gildarts had described her as.

She even had her keys in the same pouch she had kept them in since she had met her. Surely anyone who hated their Celestial Spirits wouldn't have done that.

How could they have been so stupid as to not suspect her either? Gildarts had already reported her using Dark Energy, something straight out of Zeref's books. Of course she would stink of Dark Energy. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her.

But a small voice in the back of her head still questioned if it really was the blonde Celestial Mage emitting all that Dark Energy.

She quietly snuck over to Jellal/Mystogan. "We found it." Jellal nodded. "It's Lucy Heartfilia, isn't it?" Erza froze, shocked he already knew - but this was Jellal. Of course he knew. "Yes." Jellal sighed. "Maybe this time it's her but we've felt the Dark Energy for seven years now and Lucy, to my knowledge, has been with you at Tenroujima for the past seven years."

Erza didn't say anything. Jellal was right, Lucy had been with them at Tenrou for the past seven years. There was no mistaking who it could have been at Crocus at that point in time. Zeref. "It isn't necessarily him, Jellal." Erza whispered as she turned around, gazing at Lucy from afar.

"Maybe, but keep an eye on her. I'll meet with her tonight." "Be careful, I'm not sure if she... She's a threat or not." Jellal smiled softly under his mask. "You want to believe she's not, don't you?" He whispered gently. Erza's breath caught in her throat.

Maybe it was how Jellal said it or maybe it was just that Erza was scared. She did want to believe Lucy was the same Lucy, but that didn't make Gildarts' statement a lie.

She guessed she'll just have to wait and see.

Above them, Mavis Vermillion was also curious about the blonde Celestial Mage. She didn't understand why, but for the first time in centuries she knew that girl could see her, or feel her presence.

The girl was in another guild though, so it was completely impossible for her to see her at all. Mavis was the embodiment and founder of Fairy Tail - only the mages who had the spirit of Fairy Tail embedded in their mind and soul could see her.

By that, she meant that only the people with the mark of Fairy Tail could see her. The mark wasn't just some decoration either, it was the mark of a family. So who was this girl really? Could a Fairy Tail Mage still sporting the guild's mark on her skin really be in another guild?

"Makarov, who is that girl?" Makarov turned towards Mavis with a far-away look in his eyes. "Her name is Lucy Heartfilia." Mavis turned towards the playing field again. "She's not from our guild, is she?" Makarov didn't answer for a moment and just followed his master's gaze.

"She was." He answered after a moments hesitation. "So she has left the guild?" Makarov nodded. Mavis shook her head. "She never left, she can still see me." Makarov's eyes widened in shock. "But I took away her guild mark, the way she had requested it."

Mavis only smiled gently. "I guess it's not the mark that makes us family, it's our hearts that decide who we are." Makarov relaxed and smiled back. "Maybe you are right, First Master, maybe you're right."

Suddenly Chapati spoke, breaking the silence that had settled on the playing field. "Ok, everyone, you've waited long enough! I will be announcing the program for the Grand Magic Games now."

A stone the size of a decent-sized building burst out of the dry dirt beneath their feet, sending a spray of dust here and there. On the flat stone were line after line of words carved into the stone. Each saying something that had to do with the five days of the Grand Magic Games, multiple battles and a blank where the events should have been.

"Starting with the competitions, points have already been divided among the teams, according to their ranking in the elimination round from first to eighth."

"Now for the competition part, each team can select one of their members to take part. And for the battle part, the results of fan votes will be taken into consideration when the sponsors make their pairings."

" The rules for the battle part are simple, as you can see the teams face off against each other, with the winning team receiving ten points and the losing team receiving zero points. In the case of a draw, both teams will receive five points each."

"And now for the Grand Magic Games' opening game, let's begin Hidden!"

As soon as Chapati said it, the word 'Hidden' appeared on the stone next to the words 'Day 1'. Everyone looked at the stone in confusion. The game was unknown even to the spectator who had watched for years.

"One person from each team will participate. I will explain the rules of the game after all of the players are on the playing field."

Lucy's POV

All around me people were volunteering to compete in the first event. I could still feel both their gazes on me, even now, minutes before the game was about to start.

Part of me wished I could switch into my Poison Dragon Slayer mode by will so I could hear what they were talking about but if there was anything I learned for the past few months is that, you don't ask questions you're not prepared to hear the answer to.

This was one of those situations.

I couldn't tell what Natsu and Erza were thinking but their hostile looks told me otherwise. They think I did something.

What could I have possibly have done?

I sighed as another person near me volunteered.

"The first person to step up is Quatro Ceberus' Yaegar!"

I looked up to see Yaegar's face broadcasted across the arena's stone walls. Yaegar was a tanned, muscly man who had long thick white hair that was tied up in a long ponytail that reached his back. He also had thick eyebrows and small eyes that made him look like very intimidating.

On his neck he also had a red collar that had multiple spikes across it. I smirked, his appearance awoke the sadistic side of me and reminded me of that man I had fought in Strawberry Village. Big, muscly and stupid.

What was his name anyway? I didn't get to wonder too long, because another person had volunteered at that point.

"From Mermaid Heel, Beth Vanderwood."

A ginger-haired girl appeared on the screen, replacing Yaegar's muscly face. She was a slight girl that looked like she belonged more on a farm in the countryside than in a magic festival. She had two braids that reached half-way down her back and a pair of large brown eyes.

I wouldn't admit it but I didn't actually think much of her. She didn't sound like much according to the little talk I had heard when her name was called, she didn't look like much either.

It wasn't long before another person volunteered again.

"From Raven Tail, Nulpudding."

I scowled as soon as his face appeared on the screen. Word had gone around that Raven Tail was a dark guild and had only been recognised this year. I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as I looked over to their guild master.

It wasn't the fact that they were a dark guild that bothered me, it was that they were a dark guild and were still alive that bothered me.

I wasn't proud of what I had done six months ago but that didn't mean it didn't matter to me. The fact that these people were alive meant that I had done a sloppy job and had missed them.

I crossed my arms and glared at the volunteer. He was short man who had bright purple skin, oily yellow hair and small eyes. His face wasn't just ugly that way - he had a giant chin that jutted out of his face and two spine-like things extending out of his already gigantic chin.

He must have seen the way I was looking at him, because he turned around and met my eyes. I narrowed my eyes at him and he grinned. I didn't grin back.

"Eve has been called out! From Blue Pegasus, Eve Tearm!"

Eve Tearm.

That name was familiar. I looked away from Nulpudding and back onto the screen where a boy about the same age as me was smiling. He had messy blonde hair that looked like a weird bowl hair cut, large eyes and charming smile.

He reminded me of someone...

Who was he-

Eve.

Suddenly, it hit me who Eve was. He was that guy from Blue Pegasus that helped with us with the Oracion Seis incident.

I shivered at the memory of the time I had first met him. He was just a child back then, but now... Now he was an adult.

I stared at his face on the screen. His cheeks and nose were sharper now and he looked just a little taller. I scowled - he was just another reminder of how much time I had lost when I was trapped at Tenroujima. A living, breathing memory.

Suddenly, it was hard to breath anymore. I gasped for breath as I crumpled onto the ground. Sting noticed first and grabbed me before I could fall. I shook him off, despite how hard it was to even breathe, let alone stand up straight.

But him being this near to me wasn't helping much either.

His touch still sent shivers up my spine, even though what had happened this morning was, as far as I was concerned, part of the past. It was over. Yes, I couldn't forget it had ever happened, but I could pretend it did.

He seemed angry that I would shake him off just like that but he didn't say anything. I couldn't believe him - he doesn't have the right to be mad at me for this. I wasn't the one that kissed him this morning, he kissed me first.

I sighed and walked away from him, putting as much distance between us as I could. He didn't need to see me at the moment, neither did I.

Suddenly, it was our turn to pick someone and we realised we didn't have anyone planned. I opened my mouth to volunteer when Rufus cut me off. "I'll go." He said softly as his picture flashed onto the screen.

I stared at him as he walked away towards the middle of the field. He turned around to meet my eyes and winked. I felt my breath catch in my throat and my protests disappeared. Did he know?

"From Sabertooth, Rufus Lohr!" Chapati announced, as he looked over to Fairy Tail Team A. I followed his gaze and looked over to the six who were standing a little stunned but before anyone could volunteer, Lyon Vastia spoke up. "I volunteer to go as well."

"From Lamia Scale, Lyon Vastia!"

Gray looked sharply towards the white-haired boy and I realised that Gray would be joining in too. There were no questions about it, because Lyon and Gray had studied under the same Master. Of course they'll have some kind of competitive relationship among those two.

It was then that Gray spoke up, ignoring Natsu and Erza's protests. "Shut it, I'm going." Natsu glared at the ice Mage. "I swear to god, Ice Princess, if you screw up-" "I get it Flame Butt, just let me do it." Natsu growled and threatened to punch him but Erza stopped them both just in time.

"Don't. The event will be starting soon." They both sighed and nodded.

"From Fairy Tail Team A, Gray Fullbuster!"

I frowned at them. I had never actually fought Rufus or even seen him fight. I only knew he used memory magic which was supposed to be an Ancient Magic. But I also knew Gray and Lyon were both pretty powerful. Memory magic or not, those two together were hard to beat.

Finally it was Fairy Tail Team B's turn to pick. "I'll be a man and volunteer!" Elfman declared standing up. Mira patted his shoulder gently. "Good luck!" Elfman grinned. "Of course, only a man can win this after all." Mira giggled.

"And from Fairy Tail Team B, Elfman Strauss!"

"All of the participating players from the eight teams are all set! And now for the rules of the opening game, Hidden!"

A short man suddenly appeared in the middle of the arena, his face hidden by a huge pumpkin mask which, I realised with a jolt, was the same mask from the night before.

"Participants of Hidden, please come forward."

Normal POV

The eight volunteers walked out into the middle of the playing field, each looking a little nervous. The pumpkin man who seemed to be calling all the shots at the moment, introduced himself as Mato.

After a quick introduction, he yelled, "Field Open!" Suddenly, the entire arena was transformed into a holographic 3D image of Crocus and the worst part, it was filled with unmoving clones of all the participants.

Rufus couldn't help but grin at the other players' dismayed expressions. He wasn't sure what the game's goal was but he knew he would probably win this. It was just a game of Hide and Seek, after all.

He'd never thought he'd have to break out one of his strongest spells minutes into the game.

"The rules of Hidden are simple. All eight of you have been transported to different parts of the arena. Your job is to find each other among the millions of clones around you. The winner will be the person who gets the most points at the end of the game."

"To win a point you must engage in battle with the other players, and the winner will get a point. The loser will be transported to another part of the city and start all over again. If you attack a clone, one point will be taken off you and you will also be transported to another part of the city. May the best guild win! "

Suddenly, the game had started and explosions were heard all across the arena. Gray took off first, making his way out of the heart of the city into the outer circle.

Outside the hologram were large screens showing each of the players' progress. The spectators were all staring intently at the screen, waiting for something to happen.

They got what they wanted, of course.

Suddenly Elfman was upon Gray, only his arm in his Beast mode. Gray turned around fast enough to dodge him, though, and moved swiftly to the side so Elfman's fist only cracked the ground.

Gray chuckled making Elfman look up. "Didn't expect to see you here." Elfman grinned. "Of course, it was the manly thing to do." Gray rolled his eyes. "How did master get you guys to compete anyway? Weren't we good enough?"

Elfman laughed and sent a fist flying at Gray's right cheek, Gray only dodged again and prompted for an answer to his question. "He said if we won the games you six would be our slaves for the day." All the colour from Gray's face left him.

"W-WHAT?!" Elfman stared at him curiously. "You didn't know?" "What do you mean I didn't know?! Of course I didn't know, god damn it!" Elfman shook his head at Gray. "That's not a very 'man' thing to do." Gray glared angrily at what he guessed was the direction where Makarov and the rest of Fairy Tail were sitting.

"Well what's in it for us?!" Gray shrieked, throwing his arms into the air. Makarov laughed and yelled into the arena, "It applies to you too!" Gray raised an eyebrow sarcastically at the voice but didn't say anything. Before he could do anything more, something crashed straight into both him and Elfman.

It was a few minutes later when they realised they had been attacked and had both been sent to different parts of the city now.

Somewhere outside Chapati was speaking again. "And Raven Tail makes their first move as Nulpudding scores them a collective two points!" The charts showing the progress of the players changed, and suddenly Nulpudding was in the lead.

Gray swore under his breath as he realised Nulpudding's attack wasn't even that strong, and if he had been on-guard he would never have been hit. Suddenly, snow began to fall from the sky.

Small ice crystals fell and collected on the ground by Gray's feet. He narrowed his eyes at the fake sky above him. Since when did holograms generate snow?

It turned out it wasn't the hologram after all, it was actually Eve who was using his Snow Magic as his tactic. "That's our Eve!" Hibiki cheered as he looked over to the screen, where the camera was fixed on Eve.

"It looks like Eve has also worked up a tactic for this game, what do you think Yajima-san?" Yajima smiled and nodded. "Yes, young Eve is definitely a clever one. It seems like he is using the coldness of the snow to find out where his enemies are."

"Because unlike the clones, their real counterparts breathe! I can smell the parfum of victory in the air!" Ichiya exclaimed excitedly.

Both Ichiya and Yajima were right - it wasn't even minutes later when Eve had successfully attacked and defeated Beth, Yaegar, Nulpudding and Elfman, leaving only Rufus, Lyon and Gray.

It wasn't long before the two ice makes clashed. "I see you haven't been found by pretty-boy yet." Lyon smirked. "Of course not, Ur trained us in the snow. Remember?" Gray only grinned at the white-haired boy before putting his right fist to the palm of his left hand. "I'm not going easy on you, Lyon, friend or not." Lyon grinned.

"Wouldn't dream of it either, Gray." Lyon, after saying that, put his own fist on his left palm. Gray smiled approvingly. "Two hands?" "That's what Ur taught us." Gray nodded before looking up challengingly at the other ice Mage. "Ice-make, Sword!" He announced before an ice sword appeared in his left hand.

He held it by his side and glanced at Lyon before rushing at him, sword in hand. Lyon smirked before casting his own ice-make. "Ice make, Eagle!" There was a flash of white light and suddenly a swarm of ice eagles were shooting straight at Gray, their eyes bright, their talons cold and sharp.

Gray didn't even flinch.

The eagle shot at his legs first, threatening to trip him over, maybe cut up his legs. But Gray was too fast for them, he dodged each and every one of them, left and right. None of them could catch him.

It wasn't long before they changed tactics and shot for his shoulder and chest, but they didn't do the job either, each one either missed or was cut straight in half by Gray's ice sword.

Lyon only smiled at his fellow student's furious defending. He knew that if Gray got out through the eagles, it would be his downfall. Lyon couldn't help but feel proud, somehow, to know that at least one of them was powerful enough to take down the other. It was comforting to know Ur's teachings didn't go to waste completely.

One of them was going to succeed in this world, and Lyon wanted it to be Gray.

Suddenly Gray was out of the swarm of eagles and was running, sword pointed towards Lyon. Lyon shook his head, his fist contacting with his other palm to cast another ice-make but it was too late.

Gray had reached Lyon in just a few seconds,the few seconds where Lyon couldn't cast ice-make fast enough. But instead of piercing Lyon straight through, Gray stabbed the sword into the ground, making ice erupt from the frozen cobblestone ground.

"Ice make, Geyser!" Gray declared as even more ice protruded from the ground, trapping Lyon inside a spiked ice prison. He chuckled. "Can't catch me with the same move twice, Gray."

"Ice make, Snow Tiger!" Lyon yelled and suddenly a giant ice tiger appeared behind him, destroying the prison in one powerful blow. "This isn't a game Gray, show me all you've got." Lyon snapped, smiling ever so slightly.

Gray shook his head while grinning at the fellow ice Mage. "You're right, this isn't a game, Lyon. It's a battle to see whose guild is better." "I'm sure Ur would have been proud of you." "Me too." They were both silent for a minute, their eyes stuck to each other as if daring each other to make the first move.

And he did. Well, Gray did. "Ice Make Unlimited, One Sided Chaotic Dance!" Gray yelled as hundreds of swords appeared behind him. Lyon smirked ever so slightly before sending the Snow Tiger ambling straight at Gray.

Rufus stood on the highest point of the holographic city, a clock tower in the middle of town, with his hat tipped slightly over his face. He couldn't believe how anyone could have dismissed this place entirely. It was great - great view, great resting place, great place to wait.

He wasn't sure when he was going to finally have enough of this game. It was a rather easy game, in his opinion. So easy, in fact, he couldn't see how the clones had even confused people. It was so obvious to him.

None of them were like the original copies.

Like the one for Yaegar for example. His hair was a grey-ish white but his clones were all a shade lighter. How could someone miss that? Or like the one for Gray - their eyes were tilted just a little higher above the face than the real Gray, but Rufus saw it anyway.

It gave him an... itch, of sorts. It wasn't that he wasn't aware most people didn't have the same detailed sight as he did (he did train for it, after all). It was just annoying sometimes.

Even now as he looked down at the two ice-mages go at it, he knew someone was waiting in the sideline to pounce on the remains. Maybe to cop a point from the exhausted winner. Or maybe interfere. Either way, it was not his problem.

It was then that Nulpudding jumped straight into the fight between the two ice mages, causing both of their ice creations stop in their tracks as they realised that Nulpudding had somehow gotten one of the clones with him and was standing in between their battle.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Gray hissed, as he scowled at the purple-skinned man. Nulpudding only giggled and waited. "You wouldn't want to hurt me would you? Or would you rather lose even more points than you already have?"

Gray narrowed his eyes at the short man in front of him. "Why are you doing this? This isn't even benefiting you in any way." Nulpudding shook his head and chuckled again. Lyon must have seen the pissed-off look on Gray's face, because he looked over to Nulpudding who had his attention focused on Gray at the moment.

He quickly signalled to Gray what he was about to do. Gray grinned but didn't say anything. Nulpudding didn't seem to suspect anything either.

Suddenly Lyon slammed his fist into his palm before exclaiming, "Ice Make, Eagle!" The ice eagles appeared again and shot silently at Nulpudding but he intercepted it before it could hit him, destroying most of them so they lay useless on the cold ground.

He shook his head at Lyon and grinned before laughing again.

At this point, Rufus was getting bored. Human interaction had always seemed boring to him somehow, this being one of those moments. He shook his head before returning to his position on the post.

"Yajima-san, have you noticed team Sabertooth hasn't moved an inch since the beginning of the game? Even though the fight is right beneath him." Yajima nodded. "That is true, I wonder what the young man has thought up."

It was at that moment when the entire sky turned dark, and all the players that were playing in Hidden began to glow with a bright yellow light. Rufus, who was now standing with his arms outstretched to the heavens, was smiling.

"Memory Make, Night of Falling Stars!"

I hope you liked it! I spent at least three hours pausing and playing episode 158 for this thing =.= Anyways, read and review