Hi guys! Sry about the later update, but if it's any consolation I did stay up till eleven in the middle of the night writing, so forgive me? Thank you to my Beta Reader who has done an amazing job on the editing and to you dear reader for sticking around so long! Or this story would have been taken down on the first day it had been published XD

Anyways, as promised Part 2 is out I hope you guys enjoy it! Ps, this chapter doesn't have a lot of romance in it because I had it centred around Gray and Rufus' fight. There was also another big fight that was suppose to happen in Day One but it got cut. Don't worry it'll happen in the later chapters, otherwise enjoy c:

Chapter 19 (Reject Me, Reject the World: Part 2)

"Yajima-san, have you noticed that 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 that 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!"

The world was alight with golden fire.

Gray struggled fiercely against the glowing light that held him captive. He didn't understand how this... thing... was holding him, but it was and really that was all that mattered.

Reality was torn out of his eyes as it was filled with a glowing yellow light that made him flinch. Brighter and brighter it grew until he had to close his eyes. "Damn it." He muttered. He couldn't lose like this; he refused to.

This was not how it was going to end, and that was final.

Suddenly the light was gone, leaving him in a wavering darkness that for a few seconds seemed even worse than the light just now. Ominous. And there was something else he was forgetting, a sort of a nudge that poked at his rib-cage.

A nudge that grew into a pain that coursed through his veins and felt like it had stopped his heart. But it was still painfully, torturously beating. He felt his vision go black and white as he bent underneath the burning pain that felt like he was on fire. At the same time a cold was making it's way to his right side.

But that was impossible.

He was an ice Mage. He didn't feel the cold. Suddenly he was wrenched onto his feet, the pain worse than ever. Now, he only wanted one thing and one thing only - the pain had to go.

He leaned against what he thought felt solid, maybe a wall, panting as sweat gathered on his forehead. A loud buzz started to ring around Gray's ears, blocking all sound out of his ears.

What the hell was this? Was that Rufus guy this powerful? Screw that, could Gray even make it out of this alive? Did it matter if he made it out alive?

Thousands of thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to numb the pain down to a minimum. He was barely coherent now, he doubted he could continue playing when the pain subsided. If it could stop.

The buzzing had gotten louder too - so loud, it felt like a fly had somehow flown into his ears. Gray swore he was starting to taste bile in the back of his throat.

Suddenly, all at once, as if it had reached a crescendo, everything stopped. The pain, the buzzing, everything was gone, leaving only an exhausted Gray heaving on the cobblestone ground below.

Outside of the 3D playing field the arena was ringing with worried voices and curious spectators. What was happening?

"No one's ever been killed at the Grand Magic Games." "Could that have started now?" "They all look pretty dead." Even the emcees were looking a little confused. What had just happened?

"E-everyone is else is wiped out!" Chapati stuttered into the microphone in front of him. The chart that had been dominated by Nulpudding five minutes ago dropped, and Nulpudding's name was replaced by none other but Rufus Lohr.

Lucy couldn't help but shiver. She had no idea the silent Mage that hung around the guild so much, never speaking, never reacting to anything, could have possibly been this powerful. No wonder he was chosen to be in the games. Hell, she didn't even know if she could fight him and win.

Suddenly she turned around and glanced at the other three in her team. They all had blank expressions on, none of them looked particularly surprised. Lucy couldn't help but feel nervous. If Rufus could be this powerful, then exactly how powerful are the other three?

Could it be that even with her Celestial Spirit Magic and her Dragon Slaying Magic, she wasn't nearly strong enough to defeat them?

Suddenly the arena was alight with screams of surprise, tearing Lucy out of her thoughts as one of the mages who was hit by Rufus' spell slowly got up.

Lucy couldn't help but smile as she realised who had gotten up, even after the beating he had gone through. Of course Gray would have gotten up; he was Natsu's rival after all.

She shook her head. Neither of them ever know when to give up, do they?

Gray was standing up, albeit a little shaky but he had done it, he was alive and standing. His feet for the first time in years were shaking, his shoulder felt like they were seconds away from hunching forward and the headache that was making its way into the left side of his head felt a little too much like a hangover.

But despite how tired he was, he wasn't - no, he refused - to let it end this way.

Because Sabertooth was going to pay, even if it meant crawling to the top of that tower.

Gray took a step forward, his bones creaked as if they were being dragged, his headache got just a little bit worse inch by inch and his feet were shaking more than ever. But these things hardly mattered now. He looked up towards the top of the tower where the memory Mage stood patiently looking down at him.

"I do not remember a time when someone has recovered from that spell so quickly." He whispered, a grin tugging at the side of his lips. Gray forced his face into a smirk. "Well, I am alive and standing too. So why don't you get your ass down here so I can beat it."

Rufus chuckled. "I'd rather stay up here Fairy." Gray shook his head. "Don't you want a good fight out of me?" Rufus shrugged. "Human interactions bore me." That was all the encouragement Gray needed.

Suddenly he was flying up towards the tower, jumping from one building roof to another as if he was flying. Sure he was using all the energy he had left and he doubted he would have enough energy left to be able to fight Rufus when he got there, but screw it.

It didn't matter.

He ran at the Memory Mage at lightning speed, his fist already at his left palm. "Ice Make, Lance!" He yelled as long, curve lances appeared on either side of his arms.

Rufus didn't even react. Gray extended his arms as far out from his body as possible and fired.

The lances were precise and hard to dodge away from but they weren't for the Memory Mage as the lances shot straight through him, making his body waver a bit but nothing more.

Gray stared dismayed as both his lances fell limply behind his opponent who was looking rather smug at the moment. "Don't you see? You cannot hit me, nothing can ever hit me because I am nothing more than a beautiful memory."

Gray scoffed. "I'd hardly call you beautiful." An emotion that resembled anger flew across Rufus' features, but it disappeared quickly. By then, Gray had reached the roof as well and was standing with his fists in the air.

"You think I'm scared of your fists, ice Mage?" Gray shook his head. "No, but when I'm done with you, you will." As soon as he spoke he shot his fist at Rufus' cheek, or where he thought was Rufus' cheek. "Are all of your kind this stupid? My, this is an easier game than I thought."

Gray took another shot, this time aiming for Rufus' stomach. But he missed again, his fist only connecting with thin air. Rufus chuckled suddenly on the other side of the roof. "Or maybe, you're just denser than the rest."

As soon as he said it, Rufus raised both his arms into the sky. "Fine, if we are to fight, then I will make it interesting for myself. Memory make, Colourful Slashing Flames!" A pillar of fire shot straight at Gray, so hot it burnt straight through the roof making a large charred path in its wake.

Gray, who had been sent farther away from Rufus, was crouching on the roof surface panting harshly but the burning fire never reached him because something was in the way.

A thick sheet of ice that exploded from Gray's extended arm in front of him had stopped the fire in its path and not only that, the fire was slowly disappearing into smoke until there was nothing more than charred dust.

A mixture of confusion and anger raced across Rufus' face, breaking his usual calm composure. "How did you..."

Gray didn't answer. Suddenly the shield was gone and he was standing up, his shoulders shaking more than they ever had, he didn't look like he could stand up. It was a miracle even to his opponent.

"We're not ignorant because we are, we're ignorant because we choose to be. Now get out of my face." He snapped. "Ice make, Crescent Blades!" He screamed before a thousand crescent shaped blades appeared behind him. "Go."

Suddenly the blades were upon Rufus, shooting at him at lightning speeds. There was nowhere to run now, nowhere to hide. This was his faith.

Not yet.

The blades who were aimed at a solid object a second ago flew straight past Rufus' mirage like body before falling to the cobblestone ground below. Gray swore under his breath. He could have sworn this would be his opponent's weakness. He couldn't possibly have moved that far and that much time.

He was wrong.

Suddenly Rufus was behind him. His hat was off, revealing his long blonde hair that seemed more than a little ruffled. His mask was also off, giving everyone their first glimpse at a Rufus' face.

"You're annoying me, ice wizard. I'll have to get rid of you." Gray laughed. "Get rid of me?! Oh, it'll take a lot more than just running away to get rid of me." "Is that so? Well, why don't we see who will be running this time."

Rufus tucked a stray hair behind his ear before crossing his arms and pointing them to the roof tiles. "Memory make, Karma of the Burning Lands!" Gray didn't even get enough time to run before the world burst into flames. Everywhere there was fire, so much fire.

And Gray was tired, oh so tired.

Suddenly in the back of his head Natsu's voice called out, "Oi, Ice Princess, you're going to give up just like that?" Gray could see it now, down to the last hair on Natsu's smirking face.

"I ain't letting you win just yet, Fire Breath." He muttered. "Ice make unlimited, One Sided Chaotic Dance!" He screamed. Suddenly, the same blades he had fought Lyon with appeared behind him and soared straight at the fiery mass in front of him, extinguishing it immediately.

Rufus was out of cards now, out of moves, out of anything. He stared at his hands and then slowly back at his opponent. "Y-you've defeated my memories." Gray only shook his head silently at the other Mage before staring out into the sun.

"Why are you doing this anyway? Why did you volunteer for this?" Rufus was silent as he absorbed what the ice Mage was talking about. "Why.. Why did I volunteer?" Gray nodded.

Rufus couldn't hide the small smile that tugged at his lips. "You have no idea how much you've hurt her, do you?" Gray's breath caught in his throat as he tried to comprehend what Rufus had said. You have no idea how much you've hurt her, do you?

But before he could question Rufus further the buzzer for 'time up' went off. They both looked up as the buildings and the clones disappeared beneath them leaving them sitting on the dry earth below.

On the far wall were the results. Fairy Tail team B ranking in last, team A ranking in second last, Mermaid Heel ranking in sixth, Quatro Cerberus ranking in fifth, Blue Pegasus ranking in fourth, Lamia Scale ranking in third, Raven Tail ranking in second and Sabertooth ranking in first.

"And that concludes our opening game, Hidden!" Cheers erupted from the crowds of people as the players headed back to their seats. Rufus was quick to get up, dusting himself off as if nothing had happened. Gray was still a little shaken after what Rufus had said to him.

He really shouldn't be but he just couldn't imagine Lucy being friends with anyone else but them. He knew and remembered painfully what had happened six months ago but he had thought...

He sighed and quickly glanced at the Sabertooth booth where the blonde Mage was standing at. They had to stop thinking that she was hers, because she wasn't theirs, not anymore.

Lucy's POV

I was walking along the streets of Crocus around twelve that day - it must have been near midnight anyway, because even the celebrating guilds had gone to bed that night. I was alone.

I can't remember exactly why I was outside that late, that night: maybe it was because I couldn't sleep, maybe it was just a coincidence or maybe it was faith. Either way, it didn't matter. Because I would have still talked to him anyway.

The day had passed by quickly after the opening games that day, the battle parts weren't all that interesting, although I had been to see a lot of the people that I had known almost seven years ago - they had gotten a lot stronger since I had last seen them.

Ren, Jura and Mystogan.

I knew he wasn't Mystogan the moment he had walked into the arena, not just because I had been there when he had left Fairy Tail but because he didn't feel like Mystogan to me.

Plus, Mystogan didn't use Dark Magic.

It took me a damn long time to figure it out too - who it could have been, I mean. Who could have looked so similar to Mystogan that he'd even fooled the judges, the spectators, even the other guilds.

But when I did figure it out, when it had all clicked into place, I couldn't help but felt the urge to kick myself. It was so obvious.

'Mystogan' was actually Jellal Fernandez.

But as soon as I figured who it really was, I realised that they were more questions that I hadn't even come near to answering.

Why is Jellal here?

Why is he on one of Fairy Tail's representative teams?

How did he get into the Domus Flau without getting flagged?

It wasn't much later did I finally knew the answers to these questions.

That night

Someone was following me.

I looked behind me one more time before going into a sprint. This was the second time I'd been followed in my life and the first time was my own father. But this couldn't be him, he was dead. So who else would be chasing me?

The first name that popped into my head was Natsu, but it couldn't be him. The look on his face the last time I had seen him was enough to tell me he hated me. But even then, I couldn't stop my heart from quickening just a little bit.

Suddenly Natsu's face disappeared only to be replaced by a different face, a face so different to Natsu's yet so similar. They both had that psychotic shine in their eyes, the same wide toothy smile. I held back the grin that was forming on my face, no, no I can't use Sting as a replacement. He is not Natsu.

But I want him to be, don't I?

All of a sudden the person that had been following me quickened, his footsteps echoed against the silent streets of Crocus. I couldn't help but feel nervous now. Who was this person?! Was he trying to kill me? A hundred thoughts raced through my head as my sprint became a run.

I had to get back to the inn, right now. I quickly glanced around me and realised that there was going to be a crossed section up ahead. I let out a breath of relief - maybe I can lose him that way. But as I turned the corner, I realised that I hadn't actually been to this part of the city yet.

This part of the city was foreign to me, where alleyways seemed to be the norm apparently. Everywhere I turned there was an alleyway, either filled with trashcans or just plain ratty looking, I couldn't help but gag; this place was the complete opposite to what I had thought Crocus was.

Suddenly I was turning another corner and ran straight onto someone's balcony. I stopped abruptly in front of the railing before I could fall onto the crashing waves below me. I looked around me, the moonlight clearly giving me a better view when I realised that the person was still here.

I froze as footsteps began to echo through the alleyway where I had come from. A cold tingle crept up my spine. No way, I should have lost him by now. This can't be happening.

Suddenly a cloaked figure walked out of the alleyway, I held back a scream that was building it's way up my throat as I backed away from the figure who was closing in me ever so slowly.

It wasn't until my back was pressed against the steel roped railing did I realise that this was it or never. I'll have to face this mysterious stranger.

The stranger, realising that I had stopped running, stopped abruptly in front of me.

We stood like that for a few minutes, each waiting for each other to say something first to break the silence. But before I could say something, he spoke, "Lucy Heartfilia?"

So yeah, I hope you enjoyed this chapter c: Read and review.