Hey guys! I hope you liked the last chapter! I'm sorry these chapters are progressively getting worse. Thanks to all of you who still read this story, I really appreciate it. WIth that being said, I hope you like this chapter!

Disclaimer ~ I do not own Fairy Tail

I hope this next contest is more fun.

"Ok, so I guess Crystal won that last contest," The master says as all eyes turn to me. I try to avoid everyone's gaze and play with the hem of my jacket.

Mira speaks up. "Now we'll start the second competition. For this the rules are simple. You get 10 minutes to pick a song and rehearse. You can have partners, and whoever sings the best, wins. If you don't want to sing, you don't have to, but you must tell the master if you don't want to participate. Once you have a song prepared, tell master what place you want to go. Now you may begin."

I see almost everyone get up and tell the master that they don't want to participate. Only a few of us stay.

I look around and see Mai, Rin, Wendy, and Mira are the only others staying and picking a song. I look around for the Unknown, but he must still be in the woods.

I get up and go into the woods to make a song. I'm sure the others will make up their songs, and Rin and Wendy will be partners.

I begin to make up the words and, after a few failed attempts, realize that I can't make up songs. I decide to just go up on stage and wing it.

I walk back to the camping area, and see that Rin and Wendy are the only one's left, and that they are, no doubt, working together.

I go tell the master that I have a song, and that I would like to go last.

"Sure," He replies.

I go back to my spot, sit and wait, and before long it starts.

The master walks in front of one of the tents we can all see and begins to talk. "So since we only have about 5 people participating, this is going to be a pretty short competition. But, none the less, the order will be, Mira, followed by Rin and Wendy, then Mai, and finally Crystal. So let's give a warm welcome to Mira!"

Everyone claps and cheers. Judging by what I've heard, she's a really good singer.

She starts playing her guitar, which she brought with her for some reason, and begins singing after a while.

"With you gone, I brush the desk

As the shadow drops, I'm alone again today

Looking up at the sky, I pray

Knowing you're under this same sky

At times when you're shaking with tears

And times when you seem to be engulfed by the darkness

Don't forget...

You always have...

You always have a place to return to

And people that are waiting for you,"

As she finishes her song, everyone starts cheering. It was really beautiful.

Looks like I'm going to have some pretty tough competition.

Mira exits the stage, and the master comes back on. "That was beautiful, Mira. Next up we have Rin and Wendy!"

Everyone claps and cheers.

RIn begins singing. "Words are born into the air

And quickly fade out in the wind

But they find their way inside you

Where they live on forever more…"

Then Wendy picks up the melody. "When the skies are dark and full of rain

Look inside your heart

The light, so warm, will come and glow

Shining just like the sun,"

Rin joins Wendy for the last verse, and their voices blend together. "You can see, just how much you've grown

How strong you are…

A love will open up to you

And it starts from the day, you first heard those words,"

The master walks back to the front, with tears in his eye's. "Girls that was beautiful," he sniffles. "Anyway, next up we have Mai."

More claps and cheers. Even a whistle, from Gray.

Mai smiles as she walks up.

She takes a deep breath and begins to sing.

"When you left, that day

I couldn't stop thinking

What if I lost you

What if I never saw you again

I remember everything

The way you smiled at me

When you looked into my eyes

I saw the world change

Now you're gone

I'm all alone

And although it hurts

I know you'll be back soon,"

She ends her song, and Gray starts cheering like crazy.

Mai blushes slightly as she walks back to her spot.

The master walks back up. "That was great, Mai. Now finally Crystal!"

Everyone starts clapping as I walk towards the stage. Natsu whistles and cheers. "Yay! Go Crystal!"

I feel a small blush rise to my face.

I feel like there's a stranger in my body. I scan all the faces looking at me, and look into the forest to ignore them. Then I see him, standing in the shadows.

The Unknown

How long has he been there?

I breath and begin to sing the first song that come to mind.

"Maybe one day, I'll see you

Maybe one day, I'll be there

I know you're gone

and it hurts to see,"

A hush falls over the mages, as I continue my song

"I know, how you were

Before you left me here

I know you'll wait

On the other side,"

I feel tears start to spring into my eye's as I remember my parents deaths. As I sing I realize that the song I'm singing, is one that they sang to me as a child.

"But I can see

You're standing there

Your face, shining bright

I know you're fine, now,"

I end my song and walk back to where I was sitting before. I hear claps and cheers, Natsu keeps cheering once everyone has stopped. The Master comes back up, and Natsu stops cheering.

"Well I guess that's it," He says. "Myself and the mages that didn't compete will be judging,"

Mira, Rin, Wendy, Mai, and I stay sitting, while the others walk into the forest to discuss.

No one really talks, except Rin and Wendy, who are having their own conversation. Time seems to slow down, but eventually they come back.

"It took a while, but we have finally reached a conclusion," The master says. "You all performed spectacularly, but we need to have a winner. Since we couldn't decide between two specific people, we decided to make them joint winners and the others they are joint for second place. So in first we have Mai and Crystal. Rin and Wendy are joint with Mira."

"Although in my opinion, Mai did better," Gray says.

"No way! Crystal did even better than she did!" Natsu yells back.

Me and Mai exchange a look, and laugh.

It feels good to laugh again.

"Well I guess that's that. Time to go to sleep," The master says, as he puts out the candle. I check my watch, which reads 11:30

I blow out my candle and fall into a dreamless sleep.

I wake the next morning to sound of Natsu and Gray fighting.

I brush my hair with a brush that I had packed before we left, in the backpacks we were allowed to bring.

At first I want to tie it, because it comes down just past my waist, and it's hard to fight with my hair out. But then I decide to leave it open, and tie it when I do fight. I change out of my pajamas and that's when I notice a searing pain in my arm. I open the cast that Mira made for me. The wound is gone and there is a scar.

I put the contents of one of the vials in my mouth and swallow. It doesn't have a taste.

Immediately, the pain in my arm goes away. I rewrap my arm, and put my t-shirt and jacket over it.

I check my watch, which reads 10:32, and then head out of my tent.

Everyone, except Natsu and Gray, who are fighting, is sitting around fire.

"Sure took you long enough," Mai says as I sit down. I ignore her.

Mira smiles at me and hands me a cup of tea and a tray of biscuits.

I take a sip of the tea, and take a biscuit.

Once I finish eating, I speak up. "When are we starting matches?" I ask.

"Around twelve, to set up the arena. Erza's already started, so me and Mira need to join her," He says, before leaving to help Erza.

I look around for the Unknown, but he must be in the forest.

Everyone else seems to be here.

Time flies and before long we're heading towards the battlefield. There's nothing that looks built, except for the fact that the field has been leveled.

"So since the first two trials were wasted, we are only going to have one trial. In this trial, everyone will be facing 3 people. There will be a 30 minute time limit. This will be a three day process. Everyone will have one fight per day. After the three days, the four people who have won the most matches, or tied, will become S-class mages," The master explains.

"We will be telling the only the matches for today, and in order," Mira explains. "The first match will be Gray vs Mai. The second will be Lucy vs Cana. The third will be Natsu vs Crystal. The fourth will be Rin vs Alex. And the final battle will be The Unknown vs Wendy."

Once she finishes speaking, everyone meets up with their competitor. Natsu finds me in the crowd.

"So, looks like I do get to fight you," he smirks.

"Yeah, I guess you're better than nothing," I sigh.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" He asks, getting really defensive.

I laugh. "Nothing," I say.

He smiles. He opens his mouth to say something, but gets interrupted by the master.

"Okay, now that everyone has gotten a chance to meet their competitor, we will begin the first match." The master says. "Now can Mai and Gray please step onto the battlefield."

Mai moves forward towards the field, and so does Gray.

They say a few words, and then the match begins.

Hey guys! I hope you liked that chapter! By the way, the songs that were sung, the first two were from Fairy Tail. The one that Mira sang was the one she sang when Gajeel first joined the guild, and the song Rin and Wendy sang was the song that Lyra sang during the Galuna island arc. The last 2 I made up. And Oh my god, It's snowing now. Whyyyyyyy. Anyway, I'll see you next week. Bye!