Upon the next day after Sky Labyrinth event, Erza and the others had participated and got 8th place on the list of 8 guilds who managed to pass the Preliminary round.
Right now, upon the colosseum of Domus Flau. hundreds of thousands of spectators sat in the stands, each of them eagerly anticipating the start of the Grand Magic Games.
"The crowd sounds lively." Said Erza.
"Yeah, it's pretty intimidating when you think about it." Lucy commented.
"how many people just gathered here?" said Gray, thinking of how many people come to see the big event.
"Well this is a pretty big event in the kingdom." Erza pointed out. "It makes sense that there would be a lot of commotion and people here."
Everyone was wearing the same clothes as they had purple and white colour combination as well as the addition of a white Fairy Tail symbol on the front.
"Hey guys …" said Elfman as he holds up a small dress in hand "I'm not supposed to wear this, right?"
"i-I don't think so" said Lucy, clearly knowing that the small dress is meant for Wendy herself.
"we didn't thought of the clothes for a sub member and all…" added Juvia with an awkward smile
"I guess I could just wear what I had on earlier until I get something made." Elfman grumbled before frowning. "I hope Wendy and Charla are alright…."
This got the others to frown a bit as last night, Lisanna and the others found Wendy and Charla but not in a good state.
Flashback
Erza and the others burst into the stadium infirmary as they find Wendy and Charla resting in the same bed together, both looking very weak while Lisanna with Natsu and Kiara nearby.
"What happened?" Lucy asked Lisanna.
"I don't know for sure." Replied Lisanna before frowning while looking at Wendy and Charla. "we got Kiara to help find them by the palace's garden, but when we got there…"
Soon enough in the conversation, Wendy began to stir in her sleep as she woke up.
"Wendy? Are you alright" asked Erza as everyone looks at the young girl.
"Er..za…-san?" muttered Wendy in a weak voice.
"thank goodness that you're alright" said Lucy with a relieved smile.
"What happened to you two?" Gray asked Wendy.
"I can't really remember…" Wendy winced when she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder.
Before anyone could ask on what is wrong with Wendy, Genbu suddenly appeared out of nowhere as the Tortoise spirit of the South Sky in his small turtle hermit form.
"this is a very dire condition for the young girl" said Genbu as he looks at Wendy and placed a hand on her forehead, a warm and pulsing green glow coming from the spirit and upon the young dragon slayer.
"Genbu?" said Lucy as Genbu pulled his hand away and scratches his chin.
"the young lass is very weak, as if her strength was sapped away" said Genbu while looking at Wendy. "something evil had befallen her"
"it's magic power deficiency, a condition caused by a sudden loss of magical energy. She's been weakened physically, but luckily it's nothing bed rest won't cure." said a voice as everyone turns to see Porlyusica coming into the room while walking towards Wendy and Charla.
"Porlyusica?" Lucy said with widened eyes.
"Why are you here?" asked Lisanna
"Am I not allowed to cheer on Fairy Tail?" asked the guild medic to her.
"No, of course you are!" Lisanna replied hastly
"a human who has no signs of magic like Daimou and the others? How peculiar" said Genbu while scratching his chin and had an interested look.
"You said Wendy suffered a loss of magic?" Erza inquired, Porlyusica nodded in confirmation.
"How in the world did that happen?" Elfman questioned.
"There was this black creature…I think." Said Wendy while trying to remember before the memory of a black creature jumping on her as it showed its teeth to her. Wendy gasped before she started to tear up and then hides under her blanket.
Everyone looks at Wendy as she started to cry under the blanket.
"I'm sorry everyone…" Wendy whimpered as she cried. "I trained really hard…but I'm still holding everyone back."
Everyone looked at Wendy with sympathetic looks in their eyes and a fire raging in their bodies.
"Elfman-san..." Wendy called out to Elfman who made a noise when he heard his name. "Please…take my place."
Elfman looks at Wendy with a bit of a surprised face before he firmed it and nodded.
"you got it! I won't let you down, Wendy!" replied Elfman with a serious face.
"can't you heal her already, Genbu?" asked Lucy. "you have that remedy potion from Lingyue, right?"
"well, my potion and medicine only work for sickness and injuries" replied Genby while combing his long white beard. "this is a sickness that is connected with magic, which I do not have such knowledge to cure"
"I'll handle her treatment" said Porlyusica as she went to a table that has some medicines and potions. "go and enter the game while I heal her"
Erza and the others nodded while leaving behind Porlyusica, Natsu, Kiara, Genbu, and Wendy with Charla.
"that goes for you too" said Polryusica as Natsu looks at the guild medic. "I know of your plan from Makarov"
Natsu made a chuckle sound once before he with Kiara left while Genbu disappeared back to the Spirit world.
Flashback
"The person who attacked Wendy, and Charla are most likely in the tournament, right?" asked Juvia while adjusting her hat.
"We don't know anything for sure." Lucy answered as she affixed her key pouch to her belt. "But it's probably a safe bet that they are."
"Think someone was trying to sabotage us?" asked Gray.
"Doesn't matter!" Elfman shouted. "We only got one goal, do our best for Wendy. A real man never goes back on his word."
"Let's go." Erza said as the group exited the locker room and walked through the tunnel towards the stadium center.
Upon the coliseum, the crowds cheered wildly as the GMG is on its way to start.
"Well it's that time of year again folks!" an excited voice announced over the stadium intercom. "It's time for the greatest magic spectacle in all of Fiore, the Grand Magic Games!"
The crowd roared with excitement as the annual festival has started.
"I'm your commentator, Lola Chapati and joining me is former member of the Magic Council and the current owner of the 8island restaurant: Mr. Yajima! Thank you for joining us Mr. Yajima." Chapati announced.
"It's nice to be here." Yajima said over his microphone.
"And our guest commentator for the day is none other than Ms. Fiore herself, from the Blue Pegasus guild, Jenny Realight!" added Lola while looking at Jenny who is sitting beside Yajima.
"Thank you for having me." Said Jenny before smiling. "This is going to be Blue Pegasus' year!"
"With the level of this year's teams, it's anyone's guess!" said Lola before turning his attention to the field "Speaking of which, let's get on to announcing our competitors, shall we?"
The crowd continued to show their anticipation for the competition as the teams began to exit from their respective tunnels.
"First up, they placed eighth in the preliminary round, but they're looking to reclaim some of that former glory. It's the rowdy guild with the dainty name, Fairy Tail!" Lola announced as Erza and the others stepped out of the tunnel first and was met with the boos from the crowds
"They're booin us?" said Lucy while looking at the crowd.
"What's their problem?" Elfman asked irritated.
"Fairy Tail has come in last place at every Grand Magic Games in the past, but this year they've cleared the preliminaries and got the 8th place." Commented Lola on the mic. "with the return of the Tenrou group, things can be coming to a big change for the guild!"
"Congratulations Fairy Tail." Said Yajima with a smile.
"HOORAY! HOORAY! FAIRY TAIL!" shouted Makarov as he with the rest of the guild are by a stand as everyone cheered for the team. "Let's hear it for Fairy Tail!"
"Yes, let's all hear it for Fairy Tail." A familiar voice said happily. All of Fairy Tail looked to the side, all of their eyes widening in surprise.
"Is that…?" said Erza
"I-I think so." Lucy nodded.
"What the…?" added Gray as the first master of Fairy Tail Mavis appeared beside everyone by the stand.
"What are you doing here, First Master!?" Makarov asked with widened eyes.
"I wanted to cheer you all on, so here I am." Replied Mavis with a smile.
"Here I am?" Makarov repeated. "You can't just…"
"Don't be such a downer, Makarov." Mavis interrupted. "Only those with the Fairy Tail mark can see me. So, you don't have anything to worry about"
"That's not the issue here." Said Makarov
"But it's so boring staying on Tenrou Island all the time. I deserve some fun every once in a while, too." Mavis whined.
"I guess the first has some personality" said Lucy with a sweatdrop behind her head.
"seems so" added Juvia.
"I see Ikaruga and the others, but I don't see Natsu" said Elfman, seeing that the salmon haired mage wasn't at the stand with their guild members.
'could he be also looking for the mysterious magic presence?' thought Erza before she hears Lola continuing with the guild calls
"Now, our seventh place team." Exclaimed Lola. "It's that vicious pack of hellhounds, Quatro Cerberus!"
"Oh yeah!" one of their team members yelled.
"Wild!" Another proclaimed.
"Heh, heh. We're gonna win it this year." Goldmine, the Quatro Cerberus guild master, smirked.
"Coming in sixth place we have an all-female guild." Lola said intrigued. "It's the beautiful dancers of the deep, Mermaid Heel!"
"that one…" said Ikaruga, catching sight of a woman in Mermaid heel who wields a sealed katana in her grasp.
"In fifth place, the sapphire wings that sparkle in the night, Blue Pegasus!" Lola announced.
Out from the tunnel emerged Ichiya and the Tri-Mens, along with a person in a giant rabbit costume. All of them struck a pose.
"You can do it, boys!" Jenny cheered over the mic.
"In fourth place, the holy destroyers, Lamia Scale!" Lola announced next.
Lyon emerged from tunnel; Jura, Yuka, Toby, and a young girl with dark pink hair following behind him.
"Is that Jura of the ten wizards saints?" a spectator asked.
"No way!" another shouted.
"Fourth place?!" Obaba, the Lamia Scale guild master, shouted angrily as she shook her fist in the air. "Were you idiots even trying?!"
"Sorry, Master Obaba." The young girl nervously apologized. "It's because I'm so clumsy." Then as if on cue, the girl tripped on fell on her face.
"Try and keep it together Cheria." Lyon said helping her to her feet.
"Sorry, Lyon." Cheria apologized.
"Who's that?" asked Lucy while looking at Cheria.
"What happened to that chick who kept going on about love?" Gray questioned, referring to Sherry Blendy.
"and Blue Pegasus has a rabbit….man?" added Juvia while looking at the blue rabbit man.
"Cheria is Sherry's cousin." Yuka explained.
"Cheria's super strong." Toby grinned.
"Oh no, I don't have nearly enough love as my cousin." Cheria denied innocently.
"Can't you take a compliment?!" exclaimed Toby to Cheria.
"Calm down." Yuka told the dog faced man
"Don't forget Gray…" Lyon said, glaring at his rival. "If we win, Juvia joins Lamia Scale."
"I don't remember agreeing to that, but I'm not gonna lose to you." Gray retorted with a smirk while Juvia blushes at the wager that the two have for her hands.
"If we're trading members, I'll be glad to take Erza." Ichiya said as he slid over towards the requip wizard.
"don't talk so casually about that!" Erza shouted while backing away from him
"I'll take you then." Ren said, wrapping his arm around a surprised Lucy. "But's it's not because I like you or anything." He looked away, a small blush on his cheeks in typical tsundere fashion.
"Still the same, huh?" Lucy sweat dropped.
"Then I'll take Wendy." Eve said dreamily as he walks towards who he thought was Wendy but it turns out he was face to face with Elfman, who had quite the scary look on his face.
"What happened to you, Wendy?" Eve asked with an awkward smile.. "Puberty has not been kind."
"Are you an idiot?" said Elfman with a sweatdrop behind his head.
"I'll just join Mermaid Heel then!" Hibiki said happily as he walked towards the uninterested female wizards.
"you're way off their theme!" shouted Toby to Hibiki
"Moving on, in third place...well this is something!" said Lola as he reads a paper in his hand. "This is this team's first time in the games, but they managed to take third in the preliminary."
The team in question walked out of the tunnel and every Fairy Tail member's eyes widened in shock.
"It's the midnight Marauders, Raven Tail!" Lola announced.
"Raven Tail?!" Gray shouted, having quickly risen from his spot on the floor.
"That's Master's son, Ivan's guild" stated Erza.
"But aren't they…?" Lucy began.
"They're a dark guild!" Makarov shouted from the stands. "What are they doing here?! Are they letting dark guilds in the games now?!"
"Calm down Master." Macao said as he, and Wakaba tried to restrain from the old man from jumping onto the arena floor.
"I do sense an evil from them." Stated Mavis with a keen look.
"Well according to the info guide, Raven Tail has been around for more than seven years; but they've only just become an official guild." Lola explained.
"Then they are no longer a dark guild if the league has recognized them." Added Yajima in comment.
"Damn you Ivan." Grumbled Makarov. "How did you do pull this off?"
"Fairy Tail." The armored man who led the team said as Erza and the others turns to look at him. "that little girl has greeted us before"
Next to the armored man stood a figure with a top hat and a long nose, a small black creature on his shoulder. The creature snickered, transforming its head to mimic Wendy's. It hit itself and fell over.
"so you guys hurt Wendy, huh?" said Gray as he and the others have angry looks at the Raven Tail group.
"Let's enjoy the festival." Said the armored man who turns and walked away with his team.
"Ivan…" Makarov said in a low angered voice.
"Alright, we're down to the final two teams who passed the preliminary round." Lola said.
"Two?" "Sabertooth is obviously one of them, so who's the other one?" "I don't know."
"Is there another powerful guild hiding around?" asked Gray with a curious look.
"I'm not sure." Erza replied as she and everyone else in the stadium awaited Lola's next announcement.
"Now for the team who took second place in the preliminary round." Lola's eyes widened as he looked at the paper in front of him. "This is certainly a shocker. Perhaps with this they may have a chance after all!"
"What is he talking about?" Lucy asked to no one. As the mystery second place team entered the arena center everyone's eyes once again widened in disbelief, including team Fairy Tail's.
"Coming in second place, Fairy Tail B Team!" Everyone's jaws nearly dropped as they watched the second team from Magnolia's premiere guild enter the stage.
Erza and the others' jaws drop to hear that there is another Fairy Tail team in, but their eyes instantly popped out when they saw who the team consists of.
Mirajane, Gajeel, Laxus, and a long thought to be forgotten member; Mystogan himself.
"nee-chan?!" exclaimed Elfman in shock.
"Gajeel-kun?!" added Juvia in surprise
"Laxus is here too?!" Lucy asked with her mouth wide open. "That can't be allowed!"
"and that's…." said Erza as she looks at Mystogan. "could you be….Jellal?"
In response 'Mystogan' put his finger over his lips and shushed.
"really!?" said Lucy, Gray, and Juvia in unison.
"there's another Fairy Tail team?" "talk about a surprise" "wait a minute, only four? Where's the last member?" the crowd chattered as the last statement got the entire participant's attention.
"who is the last member?" asked Erza with a curious and confused look. In reply, Laxus turns to lok at their entrance tunnel.
"hey. The games are starting" said Laxus as several footsteps are heard from within the tunnel, everyone looks at the tunnel entrance and their eyes slowly widens to see the last member of Fairy Tail B team.
"sorry, I got held up a bit" said a voice before a patch of salmon pink hair came to the light of the stage.
"EEHEHHH!?" exclaimed Erza and the others in surprise as so did Makarov by the stand.
Natsu Daimou came to the stage as he is the fifth member of Fairy Tail B Team.
"Natsu?!" exclaimed Gray and the others as the man nodded his heads once to greet them.
Natsu wore black sandals, black jeans, and black vest where on the right side is covered in a long sleeve while the left side is sleeveless and showed his artificial arm, Chitetsu is strapped on his waist.
"this is a big surprise for us all! Who would've thought that the Salamander of Fairy Tail would join the GMG for the first time in years!" commented Lola as Yajima nodded with a smile.
"I've heard from my Master that Salamander never wants anything that has to do with fame and anything" added Jenny with a surprised look. "this is a big surprise for us all"
"why is Natsu there?! Where's Cana!?" exclaimed Makarov in surprise before he hears a drunk laugh in the stand as he turns and sees Cana drinking a barrel of beer. "eeehh?!"
"Why does Fairy Tail get two teams?" "Yeah, what's the big idea?"
"What the hell's going on?" asked Gray
"I see that everyone is confused about the revelation of Fairy Tail having two teams in the games." Lola announced. "However, there is nothing in the rule book against an event like this."
"But we didn't know this was happening." Lucy argued.
"I think Master is behind all of this." Said Erza while looking at Fairy Tail's stand where Makarov is looking purely confused to Cana while taking quick glances to Natsu on the field. "I think, though"
"But if Fairy Tail has two teams, won't they be able to switch out members at will?" Jenny pointed out.
"That's just an advantage they will have to utilize." Yajima commented while giving a thumbs up. "that was a great idea, Ma-boo"
"Ma-boo?" said Lola and Jenny.
"so you are joining the games?" said Lucy to Natsu who nodded.
"can you even join? You were the Guild's Master, right?" said Gray to Natsu.
"the rules state that Guild Masters cannot join, nothing about former guild masters" replied Natsu as his words caught wind and to Makarov's ears.
"former?" said Makarov before his face went into shock. "FORMER GUILD MASTERS CAN JOIN?!"
The realization of Makarov sank to the darkness as he did not think of the 'no guild master can join' rule not applying to former Guild Masters.
"seems that Master just realized it" said Elfman with a sigh as Natsu shakes his head before he turns and caught sight of a member of Mermaid heel who is looking at him before away.
"isn't she?…." Muttered Natsu with a skeptic look.
"may the best mage win, Elfman" said Mira to her little brother with a grin. "I'm not gonna go easy on ya just because we're family"
"n-neechan" muttered Elfman with a scared look.
Erza approach Mystogan as she looks at him for a moment
"Je-Mystogan..." said Erza, remembering to call him Mystogan and not his real name. "Why are you here?"
"I'll explain the situation for another time. For now, I am Mystogan" replied Mystogan.
"You said you weren't going to enter the games." Stated Erza
"I hadn't thought of this option yet." Mystogan told her. "From what I've been told, this 'Mystogan' and I are nearly one and the same."
"Come on Erza, no need to be all worked up. It's a festival." Laxus interrupted, draping his arm over Mystogan's shoulder. "Right, 'Mystogan'?"
"There you have it, Erza" said Mystogan.
"But…" said Erza, but she paused and decided to ask later.
"That masked man is wearing a disguise, isn't he?" asked Mavis as Makarov's jaw dropped.
"I'm so so so sorry." Makarov apologized to Mavis. "I don't know anything about why Natsu is taking Cana's place at all! I just thought the best for the guild!"
"I told ya not to do it." Macao scolded.
"He just wouldn't listen to us." Wakaba said to Mavis.
"He doesn't feel like an evil presence." Said Mavis with a sceptic look. "Is he strong?"
"Y-yes." Makarov stammered. "He used to be one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
"Ok" said Mavis
"Ok?" Makarov repeated as the first master nodded with a wide smile on her lips.
"If it's to help Fairy Tail win then I approve." Said Mavis as her eyes sparkled.
"That's the first Master for you." Said Droy with an awkward smile.
"She fits our guild to a T." Levy said with a nervous smile.
"Have you noticed anything odd?" Jellal whispered to Erza before she rejoined her team.
"Other than the fact that I don't trust Raven Tail…no, nothing." she answered.
"I see" Jellal said with a nod.
"Now for the moment you have all been waiting for!" Lola exclaimed on the mic. "The team who came in first in the preliminary round." The crowd began to roar excitedly as the number one team entered the arena. "You know who I'm talking about!" Lola exclaimed. "The reigning champions, the powerful, unrivaled, incomparable…Sabertooth!"
Sabertooth's team entered the stadium to deafening applause. Sting led his teammates while raising his hands up to the crowd.
"they're Sabertooh, huh?" said Natsu, finally meeting the strongest and number one guild of Fiore.
"yeah" replied Mira to the man.
"let's have some fun, Natsu-san!" said Sting to Natsu who crossed his arms and keened his eyes.
Rogue's eyes were to Gajeel as the Iron Dragon Slayer returned Rogue's gaze with an irritated look.
"The hell are you looking at?" Gajeel growled.
"Gajeel." Said Rogue under his breath before looking away.
"So that's Fiore's number one guild, huh?" Elfman said as Lucy nodded in confirmation.
"The two guys in front are the dragon slayers." Lucy said, directing Erza's eyes towards Sting and Rogue.
"Now that all of the teams are present, what do you think of this year's competition, Mr. Yajima?" Lola asked.
"Ah, to be young again." Yajima reminisced.
"That's…not what I meant, Mr. Yajima." Lola sweat dropped. He cleared his throat and powered through. "Well folks, the time has come…" as Lola spoke a huge rock slab arose from the ground. "It's time to announce the rules for this year's Grand Magic Games!"
Surveying the slab, everyone saw that each successive day had a series of question marks followed by the word "battle".
"So every day has a battle in it." Said Gray.
Natsu look at the giant rock slab as he notices the schedule on it.
Lola began to explain the basics of the Grand Magic games as each day started with an event wherein each team would be ranked and awarded points based on their performance.
First place earned ten points, eighth place received zero points, and every ranking in between were awarded points on a specific scale. While teams could choose their representatives for events, battle match ups were determined at random through sponsor votes.
"What?" Erza said a bit taken back to the rules
"They pick who fights for us?" Gray asked irritated.
"That means we could be completely worn out by an event and then turn around and fight." Said Lucy with a worried look.
"That seems pretty harsh." Commented Elfman.
"this put all of us at a disadvantage too" added Juvia.
Lola further explained that while a team may lose in an event, they could make up for it in the battle portion of the day. In battles wins totalled ten points, loses resulted in zero points, and draws awarded five points per participating team.
"Now for our opening contest…the Hidden!" Lola announced. "Will each team pick a member and step forward." He instructed. "We will explain the rules of the contest once everyone has decided."
"I'll take this one!" Yeager, the representative of Quatro Cerberus, shouted as he stepped forward; his guild mates cheering him on.
"All we need is a win to start this off, right? Will you let me take care of it?" Beth, Mermaid Heel's representative, asked to the dark haired swordswoman who nodded
"I'll permit it" stated the woman.
"Go Nullpudding." The armored leader of Raven Tail instructed.
"Right, boss." Said Nullpudding while stepping forward.
"I'll handle this." Eve Tearm of the Tri-Mens said as he stepped forward. His team encouraged him with a pretty well choreographed chant and dance.
"Looks like almost every team has their members chosen for the Hidden." Lola said. "But who will the reigning champs, Sabertooth, choose first?".
All eyes fell upon Sabertooth as they stood together before a blonde haired man in a red hat and mask stepped forward.
"Allow me." Masked man said while having a smile. "It seems the birds are singing pleasantly in my ears on this day."
"There he is!" Lola shouted. "The Minstrel Who Sings to the Red Moon, Rufus!"
The crowd went wild, most noticeably the women as they all cheered for Rufus who is Sabertooth's participant.
"he seems popular." Said Juvia as Lucy nodded in agreement.
"I should go first since I'm a real man!" Elfman blurted out.
"And how does the word 'hidden' apply to you?" Gray asked curtly.
"Judging by the event's title, it must have to do with stealth." Erza pondered.
"I wish Wendy was here." Lucy lamented. "Since she's so little I bet she would do well."
"If you need to be small, maybe Yuka or I should go." Said Cheria, thinking of the same thing as Lucy.
"Don't call me little." Yuka retorted.
"No need." said Lyon as he smirked. "I'll start us off. We're gonna start things off quickly."
"So that's how you wanna play it, huh?" Gray said. "Fine, show me what these games are all about."
Gray stepped forward, naming himself representative for Fairy Tail A.
"go! Gray-sama!" cheered Juvia with a smile.
"who is going for this one?" asked Mira to the others before the group realized that Natsu had named himself Fairy tail B team's participant.
"seems like the Salamander is going on the first event!" said Lola as the crowd were curious and excited to see the man go on the event.
"hey! Don't just go and do it on your own!" exclaimed Gajeel.
"Natsu going first, huh?" said Lucy as everyone in Fairy Tail knows how strong the salmon haired mage is.
"think Gray can handle Natsu if he fights him?" asked Elfman.
"Gray-sama can do it!" said Juvia while huffing.
"Are the teams set?!" Lola exclaimed, all the teams' participant nodded in agreement. "Then, let the 7th ANNUAL GRAND MAGIC GAMES….BEGIN!"
That's a wrap!
Bye bye