AN: Thank you NinjaFang1331, Goku275, and AliceCullen3.
As I began uploading this chapter to , I noticed that it has been a full year since I started this fic. It's possible I should have done something to celebrate this fact, but I did not realize until just now. Oh well.
EDIT: I accidentally had '3th' instead of '3rd' at the end of the chapter.
"I can't believe we have to start things off by waiting around," complained Natsu.
Currently, Chapati was giving an explanation of the final event's rules to the audience. Around the dragon was the rest of Team Fairy Tail B; Laxus, Gajeel, Rogue, and Romeo. All of them were panting slightly, still not fully recovered from having their Second Origins unlocked.
"You heard what the First Master said," responded Laxus. "We have to rest for now. With the deadly magic the Garou Knights use, a slip-up could leave any of us too injured to fight You-Know-Who. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have that rematch without as much backup as possible."
"Laxus is right," added Rogue calmly. "We must remain patient. When the time is right, we will punish the Garou Knights for their misdeeds."
"And when that time comes, I will make them suffer," thought the Shadow Dragon Slayer darkly. Though his face remained stoic, his hands curled into fists so tight that they almost drew blood.
For a split second, Gajeel — noticing Rogue's rage — gave his guildmate a look of concern. It vanished before anyone saw, though.
"The final event…" mumbled Romeo, although the others all heard him with their dragon-level senses. "…can't help but feel nervous."
"Don't worry," said Natsu reassuringly. "You're fighting in the Grand Magic Games. It doesn't matter if you win or lose. Just take pride in the fact that you're representing our guild and remember to have a good time."
"Thanks," said Romeo, smiling as his body loosened. "I will."
At that moment, Chapati reached the end of his introduction. "…Let the final Grand Magic Game… Begin!"
Soon, battles began across the city. The audience looked on, primarily with excitement, but also with some confusion as to why Teams Fairy Tail A and B were not moving.
Lamia Scale began to crush Quattro Puppy. Yuka and Toby double-teamed Nobarly, the former sealing the Puppy's magic while the latter engaged him in physical combat. Lyon encased Semmes in ice as Jura stomped Jäger, both victories being too quick to truly be called fights. +3 point for Lamia Scale.
Then, Toby and Yuka prepared to battle Bacchus, Team Quattro Puppy's leader, only for their target to be eliminated by Kama instantly. They got angry at the Garou Knight but were taken out by a surprise attack from Kagura before they could do anything. Kama retreated before Kagura could engage him, not willing to face such a strong opponent so early on. +5 points for Garou Knights, +2 points for Mermaid Heel.
Meanwhile, Beth and Araña faced off against Ren, Hibiki, and Eve, and Flare fought Rocker. Despite the Trimen's displeasure at fighting ladies, they won rather quickly and decisively. Flare had a similarly easy victory. +2 points for Blue Pegasus, +1 point for Mermaid Heel. Team Quattro Puppy eliminated.
And, as everybody's eyes were on these encounters, another, much more serious battle went on completely unseen. One that would determine the fate of the entire world.
Two guards stood watch at the door to Mercurius. Another guard approached them, leading a tied-up, drooping woman with almost-white hair and skimpy clothing.
"Who's this?" asked one of the guards in front of the door. He gestured to the captive, trying to avoid leering at her body.
"Angel of Oración Seis," answered the third guard, earning looks of shock. "Found her in an alley, wasted and muttering about a sister in the GMG. Probably talking about one of those Fairy girls, I think."
"I do see the resemblance," murmured the other door guard before turning to the first guard. "What'll we do?"
"Hmm," hummed the first guard. "Neither His Majesty, Arcadios, nor the defense minister are here. The only thing to do is toss her in the dungeons."
"Yes, sir!" replied the third guard. The first two guards opened the door, which he then took Sorano through.
"Hey!" exclaimed the second guard, glaring at the third guard. He pointed to his left. "The dungeons are that way!"
"Ah," went the third guard. "Forgive me. I was only transferred here recently."
The third guard began moving in the direction the second guard indicated. Once he and Sorano were out of sight, they stopped moving. The guard disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing Minerva. She was panting slightly, as her Second Origin had been unlocked at the same time as the mages participating in the final event.
"Glad that worked," said the Fairy as she brought Millianna and the Exceeds out of her Territory. "Although, it's a bit sad that it was so easy."
"According to the guard, the king and several other important figures aren't currently here," stated Sorano, wiggling out of her bindings. "That, combined with the fact that they aren't expecting any trouble after getting all twelve Gold Keys, means there is likely only a skeleton crew in the palace right now."
"Lucky us," commented Happy with a smile.
"I really hope you didn't just jinx us," complained Carla, frowning as she remembered her vision of Dragon Natsu crashing into Mercurius. A vision that occurred after F-Blaze and F-Wendy arrived in the past.
They weren't out of the woods yet.
"Why are we still doing this?" grumbled Neppa, in a bad mood after Arcadios and Kama verbally tore into him for his actions the previous day. There was still a bump on his head where Erza had shield bashed him. "We have all of the keys."
"Because that would be suspicious," pointed out Cosmos. She had been assigned to watch over him and prevent another disaster. "Besides, we were tasked with competing in the Grand Magic Games to restore the beautiful reputation of the royal family. We will fulfill this mission, even if the Eclipse Project renders it all pointless."
Neppa frowned but couldn't reject Cosmos's words. It was the duty of the Garou Knights to serve the Kingdom of Fiore without fail.
The two stealthily approached their targets; the Trimen. Exchanging only a nod, they unleashed exploding spores and spheres of acid on the unsuspecting mages.
At the last moment, Ren noticed and used his Air Magic to push Hibiki and Eve to the side, limiting the damage they took. Unfortunately, his actions were in vain. Against the kingdom's profession executioners, the two of them did not last long. +3 points for Garou Knights.
Elsewhere, Uosuke faced off against Jenny.
It proved to be a poor matchup for the Pegasus. Uosuke's Terrain Effect: Cold Zone made her Machina Soul, which put her body in direct contact with metal, incredibly self-destructive. Not five minutes passed before the frostbite did her in. +1 point for Garou Knights.
"I wonder when they'll start to move," said F-Blaze as she and Ultear watched a projection of the Grand Magic Games. The time traveler was, of course, referring to the Fairy Tail teams. "It's boring to watch a bunch of one-sided victories."
The two of them were staying at the inn, where they could watch over the rest of Fairy Tail's mages as their Second Origins were unlocked. Said mages were all locked inside an adjacent room that Wendy had placed an Enchantment on (under F-Wendy's supervision) in order to conceal the surges of Magic Power and screams of agony.
Their presence was not strictly necessary, but, in the unlikely event that something went wrong, it would be better to have them on hand. Plus, Ultear could fix any damage caused by the Fairies while they writhed around in pain.
Excluding Sorano, the rest of Crime Sorcière had disguised themselves and spread throughout Crocus in preparation for the worst case scenario. Acnologia.
"You know, I've been wondering something," spoke Ultear casually. Some idle chit-chat would make the boring parts of the GMG go by faster. "Your younger self always says 'mya' when she speaks. Why did you stop doing that?"
Had the former Dark Mage had a more normal childhood, she may have realized that asking this question was the same as stepping on a landmine.
"After losing Mom, Dad, and so many others, I felt too miserable to use it. By the time I finally felt happy enough again, it just felt… too childish."
Ultear frowned. "I… understand how you feel. I got… separated from my mother at a young age, and some bad people convinced me that I had been abandoned and replaced by her. After that, it felt impossible to just be a kid. I even tried to use Time Magic to erase my suffering, though unlike you I failed."
F-Blaze looked at the older woman with curiosity. She hadn't heard much about Ultear, aside from the fact that her mother used to have a grudge against the lady.
Ultear paused for a moment, then continued. "If I can offer some advice, you are a kid. Don't let the terrible things that have happened to you take away your childhood on top of everything else. It only lasts for so long before you lose it forever. Even if, like your parents, you never lose sight of your inner child, there's a certain innocence that just can't be replaced."
"I'll… think about," replied F-Blaze, mulling over Ultear's words. "After the Acnologia crisis is behind us… mya."
Sting buzzed with anticipation as he watched the battle between Uosuke and Jenny. Despite being the only member of Fairy Tail A who just had his Second Origin unlocked, he was currently the most enthusiastic person on the team.
"…And Jenny is down!" announced Chapati. "Now, the only remaining member of Blue Pegasus is their leader, Ichiya! Can he turn things around all by his lonesome?"
Uosuke's victory over Jenny. That was the signal.
"Let's go!" cried Sting and his teammates as they ran toward their respective destinations. In a different part of the city, Fairy Tail B was also splitting up.
Now, because there were twice as many Fairies as there were Garou Knights, not all of them would be able to get revenge. Five mages had been chosen to fight, with a few alternates in case things went poorly.
However, in spite of his energetic demeanor, Sting was not one of those five fighters. In fact, he wasn't even an alternate. This had annoyed the dragon slayer more than a little, but his chosen opponent made him feel… well, not okay with the situation… but, at the very least, Sting felt like fighting this opponent would be a good outlet for his frustration.
Up ahead, the dragon slayer saw his destination and picked up speed. On this street, the odds of somebody interrupting their clash would be very low.
"Let's do this!" yelled Sting excitedly as he reached his opponent. "I'm all fired up!"
"Heh, you took the words right out of my mouth," said Natsu with a grin.
No matter how many times he lost, Sting would never stop challenging his master. After all, if you want to get stronger, you have to face the most powerful opponents you can find.
Cosmos grimaced.
Before her and Neppa stood Gray of Fairy Tail A and Rogue of Fairy Tail B. Clearly, the two teams had coordinated in order to get revenge on her teammate for his actions on Day 4.
"I just had to be assigned your babysitter," said Cosmos dryly. "This is not going to be beautiful."
Wordlessly, she and Neppa bolted in opposite directions. Although they were a squad, as executioners wielding lethal magic they primarily battled alone. Against mages from a guild like Fairy Tail, which practically ran off of friendship power, a team battle would be suicide.
As she ran, Cosmos noticed that the Shadow Dragon Slayer was following her while the Ice Mage was on Neppa's tail. This caused the Garou Knight to develop a small smile. At least she wouldn't have to worry about cold weather ruining her beautiful plants.
Current Rankings
1st: Fairy Tail B, 47 points. 5 members remaining — Natsu (Leader), Gajeel, Laxus, Rogue, Romeo.
2nd: Fairy Tail A, 44 points. 5 members remaining — Erza (Leader), Gray, Juvia, Sting, Wendy.
3rd: Blue Pegasus, 42 points. 1 member remaining — Ichiya (Leader).
3rd: Garou Knights, 42 points. 5 members remaining — Kama (Leader), Cosmos, Kamika, Neppa, Uosuke.
5th: Mermaid Heel, 39 points. 3 members remaining — Kagura (Leader), Flare, Risley.
6th: Lamia Scale, 36 points. 3 members remaining — Jura (Leader), Lyon, Sherria.
7th: Quattro Puppy, 15 points. 0 members remaining.
Omake
"…"
Mest could only gawk at the scene before him. By following the card that F-Wendy Enchanted, the Fairy had found himself in a village that Gildarts passed through. Or rather, the remains of a village that Gildarts passed through.
As Mest soon discovered, the S-Class Mage had gotten overexcited while watching his guildmates compete in the Grand Magic Game and accidentally destroyed the village with his magic.
"Is it possible…" mumbled Mest as he continued following Gildarts's trail. "…that Natsu was never the most collateral damage-causing member of Fairy Tail."
AN: The final event has began, as have the anti-Acnologia measures. Yukino, Gildarts, and Mest (having started his mission immediately) are the only members of Fairy Tail whose Second Origin has not been unlocked. Depending on your viewpoint, they are either very unlucky or very lucky.
Goodbye for now!