AN: Thank you NinjaFang1331, AliceCullen3, and Goku275.
Day 4 Event: "Naval Battle"
One member from each team is placed in a sphere of water. Anyone who leaves the sphere is out of bounds, meaning they lose. The one left in the water at the end is the winner. But, when only two players are left in the water, a special rule goes into effect.
The five-minute rule: when only two contestants are left, for a period of five minutes, the first one that goes out of bounds becomes ranked last.
As the rules were explained, Yukino felt a knot form in her stomach. Earlier, she had resolved to fight again and convinced the rest of Team Fairy Tail B to let her compete. Now, she was starting to regret that decision. Pisces was useless underwater, leaving Libra as her only heavy hitter (excluding Ophiuchus, which would be overkill). Fighting at half-strength was never good, but it was especially bad given her opponents.
Juvia (Fairy Tail A), a powerful water mage. Sherria (Lamia Scale), a God Slayer. Risley (Mermaid Heel), whose gravity-based magic could counter Libra's. Rocker (Quattro Puppy), whose drilling magic could improve mobility underwater. Jenny (Blue Pegasus), the one who dealt her a humiliating defeat two days ago. And Bluenote (Raven Tail), another user of gravity-based magic and a former member of Grimoire Heart.
Not to mention, Princess Hisui E. Fiore was in attendance for the day's Games. Yukino could not think of anything that could make the event more stressful for her.
"Oh, wait," thought the Celestial Spirit mage grimly. "I bet Sorano's watching the Games from wherever she is right now."
Yukino started taking deep breaths. Panicking would get her nowhere but last place. She could do this. She was a member of Fairy Tail!
When the time came for the event to begin, Yukino entered the watery battlefield feeling nothing but determination.
"I'll make this quick," boasted Bluenote. "Fall!"
Suddenly, the other seven competitors were yanked downward, toward the bottom of the field. Most of them were unable to react, too shocked and overwhelmed by the increase in gravity. Most of them.
"Open!" cried Yukino. "Gate of the Heavenly Scales! Libra, shield me from Bluenote's magic and give him a taste of his own medicine!"
The Celestial Spirit obeyed, and the pressure on Yukino decreased to the point where she only needed to kick her feet to stop from falling. Meanwhile, the Raven shot upward for a few second before stopping, having countered Libra's magic with his own.
"Water Cyclone!" shouted Juvia, firing her spell at Bluenote while Yukino held his attention. He was the biggest threat, both for the event and in general, so taking him out first only made sense.
Unfortunately for Juvia, Bluenote spotted her attack and twisted to avoid it. However, while the spell failed to hit the Raven, it disrupted his concentration enough to end his Fall spell. (He was able to maintain the magic that was stopping Libra from ejecting him from the battlefield, though).
As the immense weight pressing down on them disappeared, two of the now-free mages immediately struck at their opponents. First, Jenny targeted Rocker, kicking the Puppy out of bounds. Second, Cosmos fired a spell at Yukino, whose attention was still on Bluenote.
"Take this!" exclaimed the Garou Knight as she pulled out four seeds. The seeds quickly grew into a group of vines and wrapped around Yukino's arms and legs. "These beautiful vines will stop you from avoiding my attacks or having your Celestial Spirit push me out of the arena!"
Yukino struggled to escape her restraints, then stopped when an idea occurred to her. "Libra! Change my gravity to Cosmos's direction!"
"What!?" shouted Cosmos, surprised by the command. Yukino shot toward her like a torpedo, the Fairy's feet slamming directly into her stomach. "Oof!"
As the wind was knocked out of her lungs, Cosmos lost her grip on the vines she had grown. Yukino, having felt her restraints loosen, followed up with another order to her spirit.
"Send her flying, Libra!"
And, like that, the Garou Knight was eliminated.
Juvia observed the two matches going on around her. After defeating Cosmos, Yukino and Libra had returned to battling Bluenote. Meanwhile, Sherria, Risley, and Jenny were locked in a three-way fight with one another. This left the water mage free to cast a powerful spell.
"It's time to send you all out at once!" declared Juvia. "Nobody within the water can beat me! And with my Second Origin, I have a new ultimate attack to unleash now…"
The water began to swirl as Juvia shaped powerful currents with her magic. For some inexplicable reason, these currents appeared to be full of hearts.
"This is for you!" proclaimed Juvia. "The Wings of Love! Juvia Adores Gray!"
Jenny, Risley, and Sherria were ejected from the field in that order by the spell 'The Wings of Love! Juvia Adores Gray.' Yukino, Libra, and Bluenote survived through gravity manipulation, their fight abandoned.
"Are you looking at me with wonder and love, Gray?" thought Juvia happily as Chapati sang her praises to the crowd. She looked at Gray in the audience, only to be sent into shock by his expression. "He's pulling back in revulsion!"
The weight of her love's expression crushed Juvia, causing her to drop so far that she fell out of the arena.
"Kyaan," went Juvia as she hit the ground, hard. It was at that moment she realized the heavy feeling was not her emotions, but Bluenote taking advantage of her distraction.
With her defeat, only two competitors remained. The five-minute rule was in effect.
"Looks like it's just you and me," stated Yukino confidently. "You know, for a former member of Grimoire Heart, you don't seem all that tough."
Bluenote snorted. "That's because it's boring to go all out and instantly annihilate everyone. Now that there's only two of us, though… Black Hole."
The Raven extended his arm, a dark orb forming in it. A strong pull emanated from the orb, dragging everything nearby into it. This included the arena, which was beginning to steadily shrink, and Yukino and Libra.
"Libra, counter th— Urgh!"
Another force, Bluenote's Fall spell, started pulling Yukino and Libra in the direction opposite Bluenote. They felt themselves getting crushed by the two gravitational pulls, the pressure increasing with each second that passed.
The crowd watched with a growing feeling of anticipation as the battlefield grew smaller. Slowly, Yukino and Libra moved closer to Bluenote. When only inches remain between him and his foes, the arena barely containing them, the Raven spoke.
"My five minutes are almost up, so I better finish this now."
With a cruel grin plastered on his face, Bluenote released his Black Hole. The spell's pull suddenly gone, Yukino and Libra shot out of the arena with enough force to form cracks. The latter was unsummoned moments later, either from the damage she accrued or from her master blacking out.
Nobody clapped, watching the victorious (former) Dark Mage with fear and disgust.
Results
Ranking (first to last): Bluenote (RT), Juvia (FTA), Sherria (LS), Risley (MH), Jenny (BP), Cosmos (GK), Rocker (QP), Yukino (FTB).
…
1st: Raven Tail, 48 points.
2nd: Fairy Tail B, 37 points.
3rd: Fairy Tail A, 34 points.
4rd: Garou Knights, 33 points.
5th: Mermaid Heel, 31 points.
6th: Blue Pegasus, 30 points.
7th: Lamia Scale, 28 points.
8th: Quattro Puppy, 15 point.
"I hope Yukino gets better," said Lucy to Erza. With the conclusion of the 'Naval Battle,' the two of them had been chosen to fight Kama and Neppa of Team Garou Knights.
"I agree," responded Erza. "I can only hope that Team Raven Tail is paired with Team Fairy Tail B so that those cowards can be taught a lesson."
"Now," announced Chapati, ending the Fairies' conversation. "Let the battle begin!"
"Requip! Flame Empress Armor!"
"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull! Star Dress: Aquarius Form!"
The two women transformed, then Erza and Taurus charged at their opponents while Lucy stayed back to provide support.
The knights were unfazed by this. Neppa punched the ground in front of him, and pillars of acid erupted in a line. As the pillars reached Erza and Taurus, the two were forced to abandon their charge and dodge to opposite sides.
Kama took advantage of this, launching himself at Erza. With his twin scythes, he engaged Titania in a duel, leaving his partner to deal with Lucy and her spirits.
Silently, Neppa fired bullets of acid at Taurus. The bull tried to use his axe as a shield, but still suffered enough damage to get sent back to the Celestial Spirit World.
"If raw power won't work, then how about this," mumbled Lucy as Neppa fired another volley of acid. "Open! Gate of the Scorpion!"
"Sand Buster!" shouted Scorpio. With a blast of his Sand Magic, he blocked the knight's attack and obscured himself and Lucy from view.
"Tch," went Neppa as he prepared another spell despite not knowing his opponent's exact location. However, before he could fire it, a maid with shackles on her wrists popped up from the ground just long enough to bury his legs.
"Good job Virgo!" praised Lucy as the sand settled. She had stealthily summoned the maid(en) while hidden from view. "Now, Aqua Metria!"
The Fairy shot a wave of water at Neppa, which struck him with enough force to knock his legs free. However, the knight got back up, sporting only a mild injury and a pissed expression.
"That's it!" shouted Neppa furiously. "I'm sick of this!"
The Garou Knights were an elite squad of the kingdom's best executioners. Yet, since they started working on the Eclipse Project, they had met with nothing but failure. Why was it so difficult to capture two young mages!?
"I'll melt you ALL!" screamed Neppa. The pressure had gotten to him, causing the knight to abandon all restraint. He unleashed his magic, indiscriminately firing off streams of acid in all directions.
The crowd was sent into a panic. Spectators in the lower rows fled to higher ground as their seat were dissolved by stray blasts.
"Neppa!" yelled Kama, his duel interrupted by his subordinate's outburst. "Calm dow—!"
Kama was forced to stop speaking and use his scythes to protect himself as one of Neppa's blasts shot his way. Before he could continue, a scream rang out.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!" shrieked Lucy. Though she and her spirits had been stopping the acid that came their way, one of the skyward strikes had landed on the upper left part of her body.
"Lucy!" exclaimed Erza. Knowing she needed to stop this chaos immediately, Titania Requipped into her Adamantine Armor and dashed toward the berserk Neppa.
She used the armor's shields to block the acid and, upon closing the gap between them, to bash the Garou Knight's head. Neppa dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Sadly, this didn't stop Lucy's pained screams.
An intermission was called as the damages caused by Neppa were repair. During this break, Princess Hisui went to the announcers' box to address the competitors and audience.
"Excuse me," she began. "My name is Princess Hisui E. Fiore, and I would like to apologize for what has happened here today. The Garou Knight are supposed to be our defenders, keepers who uphold this kingdom's laws. And yet… and yet one of them acted recklessly and caused grievous harm. I'm so sorry."
The princess gave a bow, then continued speaking. "However, I want to assure all of you that this was a mistake. The only thing that the Garou Knights, including Neppa, want to do is protect Fiore and its inhabitants. They chose to step out of the shadows in an attempt to restore the crown's reputation after the Tartaros disaster. I beg of you to give them all another chance."
This was met with some grumblings. An adolescent woman getting struck by acid and screaming in agony was hard to forget.
"I know that trust must be earned, though," spoke Hisui. "So, as a gesture of good will, I would like to invite Lucy Heartfilia and Yukino Agria — who was harmed earlier — into Mercurius to receive medical care from my family's personal doctors. While in the palace, the two of them will be treated as well as foreign dignitaries. So, what do you say?"
Everyone in the Domus Flau turned to look at Makarov, the target of Hisui's question. The guild master thought about the offer for a moment, considering the ramifications of his response on the girls in question and the guild itself, then gave a nod.
"Fairy Tail would be glad to accept the olive branch that you have accepted," answered the guild master. "We know better than anyone that accidents happen—" this earned a chuckle "—although I cannot promise that my children will not fight with particular ferocity should they face a Garou Knight in the final event."
"Thank you," said Hisui. "And I would not blame them for that. It speaks of the strong bonds that your guild is famous for. I know that, with two teams of Fairy Tail mages, this year's final event will be one for the history books."
With that, Princess Hisui's speech concluded and the 12 Gold Keys were in the kingdom's grasp.
Omake
"Let me propose a toast!" said Arcadios enthusiastically. When the two Celestial Spirit Mages had been acquired, he had decided to open a 50 year old bottle of wine and share it with the Garou Knights. "To the princess!"
"To the kingdom!" spoke Kama, loyal as ever.
"To our reclaimed honor!" stated Kamika, feeling vindicated.
"To the beautiful future," added Cosmos, thinking about the Eclipse Project.
"To this wine!" offered Neppa, still concussed from Erza's shield bash.
"To dumb luck," joked Uosuke, annoying the others. It bruised their pride to be reminded of the embarrassing truth that the mission's success was by chance.
AN: Day 4 ended up being longer than expected, so Team Fairy Tail B's fight will be in the next chapter.
Also, I feel like saying that Makarov pausing to think about Hisui's offer was him determining things like if Hisui intended to honor the offer (yes), whether or not royal doctor could do better than Porlyusica (too close to tell), and the consequences to Fairy Tail if he said no (earns the kingdom's ire, makes them seem like jerks who won't accept an apology, etc.).
That's all for now. Goodbye!