Cynthia laid on a bed in the room of the hotel, her entire body nearly covered with bandages. She wasn't alone, of course; in fact, she was being healed by Aira, Wendy, and Chelia, while Zain and Porlyuisca watched over the process. Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Makarov, Mavis (though Aira and Chelia, Zain couldn't see her obviously) and Mirajane walked inside the room shortly after. "How's she doing?" Lucy asked as they stood around the perimeter of the room.

"I can't feel my everything…" Cynthia replied. "Though I can't feel my arm more…"

"You shouldn't be talking," Porlyuisca said in a stern tone, which caused Cynthia to hush.

"I'm surprised she's still conscious…" Zain said while adjusting his glasses. "Those hits would've crushed most normal mages…"

"Well…I'm far from normal…" Cynthia said with a smile, but she stopped once again as Porlyuisca glared at her.

"How are her injuries now?" Erza asked as she looked towards the three healing mages around Cynthia.

"They're…getting better…" Aira replied as she closed one of her eyes, feeling herself starting to reach her limit in healing. "I don't think…I can go much longer…"

"Her arm…is the worst spot…" Wendy explained as she too started to feel the limits of her healing, but she forced herself to keep going.

"We still don't know how her arm got such an injury…" Chelia replied. "But…since we're all healing her…it shouldn't take too much longer to get it fixed at least a little bit."

"Heh, you beat their S class with one arm…that's pretty good!" Natsu said as he gave Cynthia a thumbs up.

"Will she be okay in the end?" Makarov said as he looked towards Zain and Porlyuisca.

"She should avoid serious movement for a while, at least a week," Zain nodded.

"Also, her arm, she shouldn't use that arm for a very long time. Even with all this healing, it'll take a long time for that arm to heal." Porlyuisca said as she added onto Zain's statement.

"A-Ah…Gomen…I can't go on anymore…" Aira said as she sat down on the nearest chair, sweat beading down her forehead as she took a few breaths.

"So in other words, it would be wise to withdraw her from the team?" Erza asked, though she meant it more as a statement than a question.

"If you want her to be back to normal then yes," Zain nodded.

"That's….fine with me…" Cynthia said with a slight smile.

"A-Are you sure…?" Wendy asked, almost feeling herself give out, but she and Chelia held on strong as they continued to heal Cynthia.

"Yeah…you really wanted to help the guild out…" Lucy said as she crossed her arms, looking to Cynthia.

"A-And I did, didn't I?" Cynthia replied as her smile began to widen. "I got us ten points, putting us way ahead, right? You see…I wanted to help you guys out so much because you've helped me so much in the past…I knew if I could help be a part of the effort to win the Grand Magic Games, I could be able to repay you guys for everything you've done. Plus…I wanted to show everyone that I'm not a tool…that I'm a wizard who's been nurtured by the best family one could ask for…and of course, there's always White Eclipse I can count on too…" Cynthia said the last part as she smiled over at Aira. "I hope I got through to Alex, too. So, I think I've done my part…and I feel good about it…I really do feel like a person now…so…Natsu…I want you to take my place and enter the team again. And win."

"Heh you can count on it!" Natsu said while giving a smirk.

"S-Sorry, Cynthia…I can't go on…" Wendy let out a heavy sigh as she took the seat next to Aira breathing heavy.

"I can…go on for just a little more…" Chelia replied as she clenched an eye shut. Even the sky god slayer was starting to feel her limits approaching.

"Oh…I just remembered…" Zain blinked a few times as it came back to him. "It appears Cosmic Star has something to do with her injury. Heather claims she saw it, but there isn't much we can do to support the theory without proof.

"Cosmic Star, huh….They've been testing the limits of my patience lately…" Makarov said as he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"We've done everything we could…" Chelia said as she took a seat across from Aira and Wendy, catching her breath.

"There's not much more we can do tonight, it seems..." Lucy sighed somewhat.

"Actually, there is something you can do," Porlyuisca said while looking towards everyone but Cynthia.

"And what's that?" Aira asked.

Porlyuisca cleared her throat, and then grabbed her broom which was resting in the corner of the room, swinging it around wildly at the mages. "GET OUT AND LET THE GIRL REST!"

"W-We're going, we're going!" Chelia flailed her arms around comically before fleeing the room with everyone else. As everyone was leaving, Wendy was the only one who stayed.

"Someone has to watch over her," Wendy nodded sternly.

"…Alright, fine…" Porlyuisca nodded, exiting the room herself, shaking her head as she closed the door behind her. "She does have a heart, doesn't she? Both of them…bah…"

.

.

"Today was an alright day…" Luke said as he threw himself on the couch in one of the hotel rooms. The room in use right now was more of a meeting placing for the current White Eclipse team in the games, Luke, Reve, Taya, Kuro, and Takeru.

"12 points…not bad…we did drop a little however," Reve said leaned against the wall. "Doesn't matter though; we'll come out on top again. This was only a minor setback."

"What are we going to do about Cosmic Star?" Tayakata asked. "According to Luke's girlfriend, they're cheaters."

"Well there's not much we can do with them now…" Luke started before he caught what Taya had said, immediately sitting up on the couch after. "W-What? Girlfriend!?"

"Yeah, girlfriend!" Kuro said with a teasing grin.

"She's not my…" Luke started as he looked away, his cheeks puffing out as he crossed his arms.

"Shadow Eyes, Luke," Takeru said with a smirk. "They see all."

"O-Oh yeah!? What about you and Selene, eh!?" Luke said hoping he could shift the topic onto Takeru.

"Nice try, Cloud, but this is about you," Reve chimed in as his own smirk appeared.

"Dammit Reve…we're not!" Luke protested, but he knew the teasing from his comrades wouldn't end anytime soon.

.

.

"Flynn, are you alright?" Tsami asked as the bandaged up speed mage just looked out the window, hearing her, yet not acknowledging.

"Give him some space…" Rylo nodded. "He's taking his loss pretty hard."

"At least we managed to gain a few points today," Evanee nodded.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Alexander asked.

"I'll be taking the event," Evanee said with a nod.

"Alright…that doesn't exactly exempt you from the event, does it?" Rylo asked.

"According to the way things are done, that's how it seems to be," Alexander replied with a nod. "So, in case she does happen to be picked, it would be wise if she conserved her magic for the match."

"Heh, there's only one place to go from here!" Rylo smirked as he twirled his top hat around.

"And that's first place, heh…" Taranis smirked slightly.

.

.

Inside Cosmic Star's hotel room, Alex was just now beginning to come to, her white hair still the same, but her attitude was that of the red-haired one. Her alternate personality was literally beaten out of her. Not only that, but her body was covered from head to toe in bandages. "Ugh…What happened…?"

"She beat you that hard, huh?" Magnus asked as he scratched his head. This entire situation was not one he was prepared for. He did not foresee this outcome.

"She…?" Alex blinked a few times before it finally hit her. "Wha…no…no way…Sis beat me!?"

"Yeah, she showed quite a bit of will power as well…" Gaia sighed. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine…my arm is the worst though…I think I remember trying to defend against her roar, but it didn't work…" Alex said while wincing. "I vaguely remember what happened. It was dark, but I heard Sis speaking to me..."

"Quite frankly, I'm disappointed." Karma stated, causing all eyes to look over at him. "Gaia, you failed to win the event. Alex. You are supposed to be one of our best, but you lost to a wizard with a lower rank than your own. I believe I taught you both better than that. Instead of a perfect 20 of a day, we've fallen behind."

"I'm so..." Alex began, but Gaia shook her head.

"Do not speak to Alex that way." Gaia said while narrowing her eyes at the old man. "She did her best with the situation given to her."

"Do not speak to ME that way!" Karma shouted suddenly, causing Gaia to growl. "I do not care if you are a Dragon, Gaia. Your powers have been weakening over the last hundred years. Clearly it has been showing as well, allowing that little girl from Fairy Tail to get the better of you!" The tension in the air was thick.

Gaia snarled. Karma wasn't wrong about that, but even so. "I will not let you talk to her that way, Karma. Reprimand me if you wish, but Alex is off limits."

"Gaia..." Alex frowned.

"And you." Karma turned to Magnus. "You said Alex would win today. Your Foresight has never been wrong. So why today, Magnus?!"

"..." Magnus closed his eyes for a moment. Karma relied so heavily on Magnus' foresight... "It appears that Cynthia's own force of will was able to deny the future I had seen."

"Is that a fact?" Karma lifted a brow. Clearly, he was not impressed with that answer. But he was aware that nothing could be done about it this time. "See to it that the future you see involves us winning."

"That...has not changed." Magnus said slowly. Although, there was some doubt beginning to form in his mind now. Cynthia was able to defeat Alex, which wasn't supposed to happen. The future he had seen up until that very moment always played out...

"Eeesh..." Yakuza could still feel the tension. Everyone else could as well.

"It's a good thing I prepared for this situation…" Karma said with a nod. "Alex cannot fight any longer, but we have one more person waiting int he wings."

"You mean…" Yakuza looked over to the old man, who had a sly grin on his face.

"The motto IS "We do whatever it takes" right?" Karma asked.

"I live by that motto!" Daryan said with a nod, not quite feeling the atmosphere around him.

"Glad you do…" A voice said from the doorway, causing those who were standing to turn around.

"Ah shit…" Yakuza groaned.

A male with a black coat, blue pants and black boots walked in. The male hair short, curly black hair and yellow eyes. "Shadowlore of the Bloodmoon, at your service." The male said with a smirk.

"Enough of the fancy name's, Sawyer," Gaia said while rolling her eyes.

The male didn't respond at first; he merely slid his hands into his coat pockets, rolling his eyes in response to Gaia's eyeroll, but his was more of a joking gesture than anything else. "You can call me that if you really want to, but I'm only going to respond to Shadowlore."

"Whatever, "Shadowlore…"" Gaia said with a sigh. "So, I assume you've been here the entire time, hm?"

"Of course I have!" Shadowlore nodded, a grin appearing on his face. "I gotta say, nice job scoring that date with Kagura, Daryan. She's a keeper, and she's not too bad looking if you know what I mean, heheheheheh…"

"Heh, all in a day's work!" Daryan said with a cocky smirk, but he then looked towards Shadowlore in confusion. "Wait…what's that last part supposed to mean?"

"Well…I may have gotten lost when looking for you guys…and I may have accidently stepped into the Mermaid Heel spa area…" Shadowlore replied as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Accident, huh?" Daryan sighed before merely shrugging. "Anyway, you're here…"

"And I'm sure you all know what that means," Karma started. "Since Alex won't be able to continue for who knows how long, Sawyer…er…Shadowlore…is going to be her replacement."

"Well, as much as I don't really like it…" Yakuza started. "I guess no one else really stands a chance now…such a shame, really."

"That's right. Also, Magnus." Karma's voice gained a serious expression, the senile old man in Karma's face almost banishing.

"Yes, master?" Magnus sked while raising a brow, but he already knew what was going to be asked.

"You've done a good job playing fair lately," Karma said with a nod. "I praise you for it, but I think now's the time for you to stop holding back. I know you've been thinking it's fair to hold back, but when you think about it, it's not really fair to everyone else and us if you do, understand?"

"Ah…so you want me to use my knowledge to win the games for us…" Magnus said as a slight smirk formed on his lips. "I knew you would ask this…" A magic circle appeared on Magnus's head, spinning in a clockwise motion. Eventually the circle dispersed, the motion looking as though something was unlocked. "There we go. From this point onward, I know exactly how the Games will end. Cosmic Star will end the Games in 1st place."

"Ah, I'd hate to be the poor bastard who has to go up against Magnus." Shadowlore said with a slight smirk.

"And I'd hate to be the poor bastard who gets to see what you can do, Shadowlore," Magnus said as his smirk widened.

.

.

Inside the Council outpost building in Crocus, Siegrain, the six captains, and Layanna watched the footage from Day two of the Grand Magic Games. Of course, at the end, most were surprised by Cynthia's astounding comeback at the end, thus gaining her the victory. "That was quite a fight she put up…" Siegrain said while giving a nod.

"She's a freak of nature, I tell you!" Correll said while crossing his arms. "You gotta believe me, Siegrain-senpai, she's no good."

"Don't say that, Correll," Siegrain said while waving a hand. "She gets along just fine with Eve from what I saw. Plus her power is quite…intriguing…"

"That's what everyone says…I still believe she's a possible threat to everyone in Fiore," Correll said while tapping his foot.

"She's been alright for now…" Layanna nodded. "I've been...keeping watch over her."

"That's my job…!" Correll replied.

"Don't fret, Correll," Siegrain said as a slight smirk appeared on his face. "I think of it as this; I have two trusted people to take care of her should she lose control again."

"I was wondering about that Exerion stuff." Kemuri said while taking a puff from his cigarette. "Looks like someone was trying to sneak in that material. Can't exactly fault the girl for having snagged some. I'll just make sure nobody else can, if it's really Etherion."

"That would be greatly appreciated, Kemuri." Siegrain remarked. Cynthia displayed why having even a small piece of that was dangerous. It was better in the hands of the Council.

"Of course. I'll get to it right away." Kemuri nodded and made his exit.

"What about Jellal, sir?" Odin asked rather curiously. "I know he and his guild are also wanted."

"Jellal…yes…I'd almost forgotten about him. He seems to know his place at the moment, seeing as how he hasn't gotten rid of me just yet. He must still think I am allied with that guild…"

"And the assassin?" Aloy asked.

"The only thing we've managed to find out about the assassin so far is that it's a female, other than that, nothing." Siegrain nodded. "But, do not worry. I will keep my word as chairman of the Council and bring the assassin to justice."

.

.

Inside Tartaros Castle, Ruika was reading a book with Gale Force reading glasses, Aries' key set on the table. "I see…" The celestial mage mumbled to herself, eventually closing the book and placing it on the table, picking Aries' key back up. "You may have SOME use after all…"

"Talking to yourself again?" Maggie asked as she walked into the room, looking around the library for a particular book.

"The useless key I stole from Lucy may have some use to me, that's all," Ruika replied. "What are you in here for?"

"There's some book Dait's been hiding, and I'm looking for it." Maggie replied.

"Do you really think he would hide a book in plain sight…?" Ruika asked while raising a brow.

"It's hard to tell with him sometimes," Was Maggie's response.

"Right…anyway…" Ruika grabbed Aries' key, holding it out. "Alright, Gate of the Ram, I open thee. Aries." In a puff of smoke, Aries appeared, though there was something off about her appearance. She wasn't fidgeting nervously, nor did she show any fear to the female who stole her from her rightful owner. "So far it's working…" Ruika said with a slight hint of satisfaction in her voice. Just then Bryon and Tobias walked into the library, the two actually holding a decent conversation. "Aries, suffocate them."

"Yes, ma'am," Aries replied with a nod, turning around to face the two males.

"Oh hey, its Lucy's lost little lamb!" Bryon exclaimed while chuckling. "Oh, I crack myself up…"

"Wool Bomb!" Aries shouted, covering the two males with dark pink wool.

"G-Gah! What's going on…!?" Tobias shouted in utter confusion. "I didn't do anything!"

"This is so comfy yet so suffocating…!" Byron yelled out.

"Alright, enough," Ruika commanded, and Aries dropped the Wool Bombs, leaving the two males gasping for air.

"W-What the hell was that for…!?" Byron asked, groaning somewhat as he caught his breath.

"It was a test," Ruika replied. "To see if Aries would listen, and she did, perfectly."

"I thought you said she'd be useless…" Tobias coughed while standing up.

"Even the most worthless spirit can have some value." Ruika replied with an innocent smile.

Maggie, on the other hand, was laughing at the expressions on Byron and Tobias' faces. "Oh that was rich! You two blokes shoulda seen the looks on your faces!"

"Is us almost dying THAT amusing to you to!?" Byron shouted.

"YES." Maggie replied. "It certainly saves me from having to make my own entertainment."

"S classes I swear…" Bryon started.

"What was that?" Kiora said as she and Ur appeared behind Byron, her black hair shading over her eyes. Her presence and tone caused a shiver to quickly make its way up Byron's spine as he turned around.

"N-Nothing!" Byron nodded frantically.

"It wasn't me this time!" Tobias put his hands up in defense.

"It sounded like you two were making fun of us S classes," Ur said as she crossed her arms, glaring towards the two mages, a sadistic smirk forming on her lips.

"We were just joking around, right Tobias!" Byron said as he nervously smiled over to the elemental mage next to him, but to Byron's surprise, Tobias had fled, only leaving a smoke clouded outline of his body. "DAMMIT TOBIAS!" Byron shouted.

.

"Daityas is busy at the moment," Rugal said as he and Horoki took puffs of their cigarettes. "I know a few of your members are busy as well, such as your master, your ace, Myou, and Veronica, yes?"

"That's right," Horoki replied as he leaned back against the wall. "Alright, I want you to relay the information I'm about to tell you to Daityas, alright?"

"I'm listening," Rugal said with a nod.

"Alright, so here's the deal," Horoki started, not speaking again until he took a big puff from his cigarette. "The thing the little girl at is called Exerion, but that's just a cover name. Its real name is Etherion, and it's a rather powerful substance. We, Silent Sanctum, found a castle that's literally filled with Etherion, and we've been carrying shipments of it to "factories" to begin planning with it." Horoki then pulled out a clipboard, throwing it over to Rugal, who caught it and began examining it. "These are the shipment records…but I don't see how that little girl could've gotten her hand on even a small piece of it…"

"I suppose it could be a mystery to solve for another day," Rugal replied. "But with it out in the open, the Council is probably going to start hunting for it now."

"The only way I see it...one of the shipments we were using must've gotten mixed up and put on a public guild request. They probably didn't realize what they were shipping and Fairy Tail took the job." Horoki grunted. "I should've done the work myself. Damn it. Jikan's not going to like this..."

.

While sitting on his throne, Daityas began to think of the events that took place during the Grand Magic Games' Day 2, mainly the fight involving Alex and Cynthia. "She seems to have grown stronger than he originally anticipated…" Daityas thought to himself. "Of course, the idiot couldn't control her power as well as he thought he could…pathetic…" Daityas rolled his eyes. "Nakama bullshit…disgusting, yet it seems to work on those weaker humans…I wonder…just how well would her power work with Tartaros…"