Chapter 77

The Blooming Capital

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback you

Location / Date / Time Skip

5 Days Later

Capital of Fiore, Crocus

The team was lying on the ground of the city in sheer pain from the ceremony. "I still don't feel good about this..." Gray said. "We don't even know of that spell worked."

"Yeah... but I do feel like my magic power has increased." Lucy confessed. "All my muscles are just super sore."

"Don't you feel embarrassed for yourselves?" Erza asked, standing up like nothing was wrong.

"Why are you not even winded?" Lucy asked.

"She probably already had her second origin to begin with." Gray surmised, making the blonde nod.

"Gotta be honest... this is my first time in a city this big." Natsu said.

"Yeah." Rose nodded. "It's almost like Edolas times two hundred."

"So you guys finally made it!" The team looked forward and saw Makarov with Asuka on his head, Team Shadowgear and the Conells walking over. "We already finished with registration. Let's get on with this event already! We'll show them the power of Fairy Tail."

The people around them started laughing at the statement, angering Natsu. "It's okay, Natsu." Laki said, holding his hand. "We'll show them how wrong they are in the games."

"You all ready?" The master asked. "The 30 mil-" He cleared his throat before pointing at the team. "Give every last bit of your strength! We're aiming for the number one guild in Fiore! All for Mavis, who saved our lives!" The team nodded as he placed the little girl on the ground. "The matches start tomorrow, but we don't know anything about the rules."

"The competition changes every year." Alzack said, picking up his daughter. "When Bisca and I didn't compete, there was a massive shooting contest."

"And when I stayed out, it was a race." Jet said. "The winners' determined over a bunch of contests over the days."

"I've read up on all the competitions over the years, and they're all completely different." Levy added.

"Who cares!" Natsu said, punching his open hand. "We'll take whatever comes up! Just hope there's a big fight."

Erza stared off into space before Makarov handed her a book. "Erza, read the rulebook by tomorrow."

"Leave it to me." Levy said, taking the book and putting on her magic reading glasses. "Seems like there's three major rules we can't break. No guildmasters can be involved, no one who doesn't have the guild's emblem can participate, and every game will remain a mystery until they begin. At which point the rules will be explained.

"And there's a warning at the end. All participating members must return to their lodgings at 12."

"12 o'clock?" Erza asked. "Why then?"

"No clue." Levy answered.

"We came all this way to this huge city, we may as well hit the town!" Natsu cheered before he and Happy ran into the city.

"Wait up!" Laki shouted as she and Rose followed them.

"Hold on! Do you even know where the lodgings are?" Erza asked.

"Honeybone Inn, right?" The Wood Dragon Slayer asked as they faded from sight.

Honeybone Inn

Erza entered the room and studied every square inch of the building before taking a shower. "There doesn't seem to be anything suspicious about this place..." She mumbled before a knock on the door caught her attention. "Lucy? I thought you seeing the town?"

"I finished, thought I'd come back early." The blonde replied before placing a small bag on the table. "Good idea to clean up."

She walked into the bathroom, ignoring the still confused Erza. "Why didn't you go with Laki and Natsu?"

"I didn't want to be the third wheel on their date." The blonde replied, closing the door. A scream caught her attention and Lucy opened the door, only to see an angry Erza in front of broken window. "Ichiya?"

"Unfortunately." She replied.

With Natsu and Laki

The sun had set as the two walked down the street. "I can't believe this place is so filled with flowers." Laki said.

Natsu looked around before finding a red tulip. "Laki..." He mumbled before offering it to her, a blush on her face.

"Aw, my favorite." She said before taking the plant. She sniffed the flower before a single bee floated out of it and flew at Natsu.

"Get away!" Natsu shouted, swinging his arms. His girlfriend chuckled at the scene before wrapping around his arm.

"This has been pretty great." She said.

"Fight!"

Natsu turned with excitement before Laki nodded and the pair raced over to see two men standing on top of some beaten wizard. "Still want more?" Sting asked.

"T-those are the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth." Someone mumbled in fear.

"Sabertooth?" Natsu asked as the two pushed themselves forward, catching the 'twins' attention.

"Well, well, if it isn't Salamander and the Green Woman." Sting teased. "So those rumors about you competing are true after all."

"What about it?" Laki asked as Happy and Rose stared at Lector and Frosch.

The blonde chuckled before leaning in. "Why don't you leave that loser and come with a REAL dragon slayer?" He asked before Natsu pushed him back. "Sorry for speaking the truth. After all, you couldn't even beat Acnologia."

"You didn't see what kind of power that thing has!" Rose shouted.

"That wouldn't matter." Rogue said. "He wouldn't stand a chance against slayers like us."

"What does that mean?" Happy asked.

"Let me spell it out for you." Lector said. "You two and those others from your guild were all trained by dragons. Then that blonde of yours had a lacrima implanted in them. But Sting and Rogue here are hybrids: They were trained by dragons AND had dragon lacrima implanted in them! They're the ultimate Dragon Slayers!"

"Does that mean you two lost your parents on July 7th in the year 777x?" Natsu asked.

"Not exactly." Sting chuckled.

"The truth is... The dragons that taught us this magic... We killed them ourselves to become true Dragon Slayers." Rogue declared.

Laki covered her mouth in shock as Rose and Happy trembled in fear. "...You bastards!" Natsu shouted. "You killed your parents!?"

Sting chuckled before Rogue turned to leave. "If the main event ends up being a battle, we'll show you both the power of a true dragon slayer." The two turned and left, their cats walking after them

Honeybone Inn

"They're late..." Erza said, playing a card. "I win this time."

"Go again?" Lucy asked before the door opened and the rest of team Natsu walked in.

"Where have you been wandering around all this time?" Erza asked, immediately berating the trio.

"The worst meal of my entire life." Gray answered.

"Let's just say we've met our competition." Laki spoke for her, Natsu and their Exceeds.

Natsu was shaking in fear before his anger exploded. "I'm gonna get those guys, no matter what!"

"Anyway, where's Wendy?" Erza asked the returning members.

"She's late?" Gray asked in surprise.

"She's with Carla so I don't think they're lost." Rose said before turning to the clock. "Still, it's not like them to be late."

The doorknob turned before the wooden door opened, letting Elfman and Lisanna walk in. "Yo! We brought snacks."

"No matter how many times I see it, I can't believe your new muscles." Laki chuckled as the two siblings set the stuff down.

"Just a shame the rest of the world won't be able to see how manly I am now." Elfman added, trying to hid his disappointment.

"Hey, do you mind if I ask you a favor?" Erza spoke to the youngest sibling. "Wendy hasn't come back to the lodging yet..."

"And if we're competing then we can't leave here after 12." Gray added. "No clue why, but the rule says be here at 12."

The clock stuck twelve before a voice called out from the outside of the building. "Good morning all guilds in this year's Grand Magic Games!" A giant see through pumpkin headed man declared, shocking everyone. "In order to reduce the participating teams from a whooping 113 down to a more manageable eight, we will now begin the 'preliminary event'!"

"Preliminary!?" Gray repeated.

"No one said anything about that!" Erza added. 'If they're going to have a preliminary event, they should have told us. This whole set up is mysterious. And too many guilds, as well. Are we to be suspicious of the organizers themselves?'

"Every year more and more guild come, which is great!" The pumpkin man said. "But this year there's just too many, so we've brought the competing number down to eight. The rules of the game are simple." The entire city began shaking before the many inns began raising up into the sky.

"You will now all compete with each other! The goal is the event grounds Domus Flau! The first eight teams to make it there will participate in the games themselves." A causeway shot out of the balconies and rose up even higher. "Feel free to use any magic you like there are no restrictions!

"As long as you're one of the first eight teams to make it. But if all five members don't make it, you still lose! One last thing: we take no responsibility for anyone who loses their life in the labyrinth."

"Labyrinth!?" Natsu asked before the whole team stared up in shock as a massive sphere appeared.

"The Grand Magic Games preliminary event, Sky Labyrinth, has begun!" The projection shouted before fading away.

"So that's where we're trying to go, then?" Lucy asked.

"If this is a competition, we'd better hurry..." Gray said.

"Wait!" Erza said, grabbing his shoulder. "The rules say that all FIVE members need to be at the goal. Wendy is still missing."

"This is bad!" Natsu shouted.

"If Wendy's not here, a man will take her place!" Elfman shouted before grabbing the other four and running up the stairs. "Let's switch members!"

"We don't have a choice..." Gray mumbled. "There's no time to wait for Wendy."

"Erza!" The red head turned around to see Laki, Lisanna, and the Exceeds leaning over the railing. "We'll go find Wendy!"

"Good luck, everyone!" Happy shouted.

Elfman let the other four go and they raced up the path before finding themselves in a mass of stairs and pathways. "This is a giant 3-D maze..." Gray mumbled.

"I'm awful at things like this!" Natsu shouted.

"We should try and head east as a basis." Erza said, pulling out a compass. "Let's go, and Lucy take notes. We'll need a map so we don't get lost." The five raced forward before another group caught their attention. "Someone's there."

"Twilight Ogre!?" Natsu asked.

"I never expected to run into someone this someone this soon! Take them out!" Teebo shouted only for them all to get taken out.

The ground began shaking before Lucy started tipping over. "The entire labyrinth just spun!"

"Everyone, head this way!" Erza shouted before jumping onto a ledge. Elfman acted fast and grabbed Natsu and Lucy's arms before pulling them up. The shaking stopped as another Ogre member fell over. "It stopped."

"What kind of crazy maze is this?" Natsu asked.

Gray glanced over and saw a map fall away from the Ogre member. "Looks like Ogre had a map too. How lucky." He chuckled, taking the map. "If we put this together with the map we made, we should get a much clearer picture of this place."

Erza smiled with sparks in her eyes before everyone but Lucy smiled as well. "I think we've just figured out another way to deal with this preliminary." She said as Lucy stared at them in horror.

The group raced forward and started fighting anyone they could find, stealing their maps in the processes. Every time, Lucy apologized and put the maps together before they reached the goal.

Under a brightly lit sign was the pumpkin headed mascot clapped. "Congratulations on completing the preliminary event!"

"Of course we did." Natsu chuckled. "I bet we got first place!"

"Nope. You just barely made 8th place." The mascot replied, crushing their hopes.

Streets of Crocus

The four had split up to cover more ground before regrouping after thirty minutes. "Where did Wendy and Carla get off to?" Lisanna asked, looking around.

"Over there!" Rose shouted before the three turned to see a bag on the ground. "That's Wendy's bag..."

Domus Flau

The crowd's cheers penetrated the walls of the coliseum, echoing in the Fairy Tail locker room. "Listen to all that cheering..." Erza mumbled.

"They couldn't all be mages from Fiore." Gray said without a shirt. "There's probably a lot of regular people here too."

Natsu looked down at his purple outfit and grumbled in annoyance. "Why are we wearing this?" He asked, looking at everyone's clothes.

"Master said we should all dress in matching team colors." Lucy replied before turning to Gray. "PUT ON YOUR SHIRT!"

Elfman sat on the bench in shock of his garments. "You can't possible expect... me to wear this?" He asked, holding up Wendy's outfit.

"No, it's perfect!" Natsu chuckled.

Elfman hung his head before speaking up. "I know I ended up joining you guys out of necessity, but what about Wendy? Is she okay?"

"Magic Deficiency Syndrome isn't something you can just recover from." Erza said. "But with Porlyusica here, Wendy and Carla should make as quick a recovery as possible."

"Is the person responsible for this in here?" Natsu asked, wrapping his scarf around his neck.

"It's too early to tell, but I think it's very likely." Lucy answered, hooking her keypouch onto her belt.

"Were they going to lower our battle power or something else?" Gray asked, throwing on his jacket.

"Whatever the reason, right now our only choice is to do this." Elfman replied. "We win this for her, and she'll recover in no time."

"Let's go." Erza declared before they marched out of their locker room.

As they neared their assigned entrance, the voice of the announcer started to get clearer. They made out the announcer's names before the heard their cue to enter the arena. Natsu raised his fist into the air only to get booed by everyone.

"Even though they've gotten last every single year, Fairy Tail managed to crawl their way through the preliminaries." The main announcer, Chapati, spoke. "Though of course, they made in 8th place. With the return of 'Team Tenrou' who have been causing trouble all over the place, can they possibly become the top of Fiore?"

"I'm just happy to see them again." Yajima said with a thumbs up.

Lucy hung her head before Erza patted her back. "Keep your cool, Lucy." The Fairy Tail Guild box was erupting into cheers, making the girls smile. "All we need is the cheers of our fri-" The entire team and even the guild stared in shock as Mavis cheered as well.

Makarov struggled to speak before Mavis chuckled. "Don't worry. Only people with the guild's crest can see me." She said with a smile. "Besides, being stuck on Tenrou Island forever is really boring."

"That's weird..." Natsu mumbled, looking into the guild. "Where's Laki?"

"Next up is the seventh place in the preliminaries, the hounds of hells armies, Quatro Cerberus!" The men roared into the arena as the crowd did a complete 180 and started cheering. "Coming in sixth place, we have the all female guild. The dancers of the deep blue sea, Mermaid Heel!"

"A guild like that exists!?" Happy asked, unaware of the drooling humans behind him.

"Fifth place is the azure wings that sparkle in the darkness, Blue Pegasus!" The playboys came out and so did a giant blue bunny, making Jenny Realight on commentary cheer for her guild. "Fourth place is the goddess of love and war's sacred destroyers, Lamia Scale!"

A girl with pink hair in pigtails tripped onto the ground before pushing herself up. "Where's the usual 'love girl' at?" Gray asked as Natsu continued to stare at the stands.

"Maybe she's getting a snack?" He mumbled, confusing Gray.

"This is one Sherry's cousin, Chelia." Yuka explained.

"She's really strong too." Toby added before the girl stood up.

Lyon and Gray stared at each other with intense hate in their eyes. Erza kicked Ichiya as far away as she could after he sniffed her. The Trimen started flirting with every girl there, forcing the announcer to clear his throat. "Moving on, coming in third place we have a surprise first time entrant. The midnight raiders, Raven Tail!"

"Raven Tail!?" Natsu asked, finally snapping out of his surprise as Gray and Elfman stared in shock.

"That's Makarov's son Ivan's guild..." Erza whispered to Lucy.

The blonde turned to her in shock. "But doesn't that make them..."

"A dark guild!" Makarov shouted in anger before Macao had to restrain him. "The Grand Magic Games are okay with letting a then participate!?"

The crowd started whispering in fear after some heard the multiple time master. "Well, according to our information, Raven Tail has existed for more than seven years. But have only just been approved as an official guild recently." Chapati said.

"If they've been approved by the Magic Council, then they are not a dark guild." Yajima added.

The armored member walked and looked down at the team. "Fairy Tail... That little girl was our way of saying hello." A small imp creature appeared on a blue penguin-like creature's shoulder before it took Wendy's face and fell over.

"You're the one who did that to Wendy!?" Natsu growled in anger. "I won't forgive you..."

Alexei chuckled before turning around. "Enjoy the games." He walked away, ignoring the glares.

The crowd started whispering in anticipation of who the second place would be. They knew first would be Sabertooth, but eveyr major guild had been accounted for. "Looks like another powerful guild is hiding." Gray said.

"Do you think the other one has anything to do with that mysterious energy Jellal mentioned?" Erza asked.

"Well, now... this is definitely unexpected!" Chapati shouted as everyone watched the assigned entrance. "It's the least expected... the unbelievable..." The team exited the hall and everyone's jaw hit the floor, be they in the arena or the stands. "Fairy Tail Team B!"

Laxus, Mirajane, Gajeel, Juvia, and Laki walked out all in black versions of their normal outfits. "I need some serious answers!" Natsu shouted before the crowd joined in his demand.

"Well, it seems as though there's a lot of confusions over the new revisions to this year's new rules." Chapati said before turning to the chief. "Care to explain?"

"Of course." Yajima nodded. "This year each guild can have not one, but two teams enter into the tournament."

"Nobody told us!" Lucy complained.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Natsu asked his girlfriend.

"The master wanted it to be a surprise." She replied, pushing up her glasses. "Besides, I didn't want you to go soft on me."

"Don't think I'm gonna hold back, Laki." He smirked, reassuring the crowd. If a couple was willing to go at full power against each other, who could argue against that?

"Now, for the last team that made it through the preliminary round." Chapati said, psyching the crowd up. "That's right! You all know who they are! The strongest! The invincible! The complete dominators on the battlefield! SABERTOOTH!"

Sting walked out first followed by his team before turning to the pinkette. "Heard there's already a wager for one of your girls. Care to add to that?"

"I'm gonna kick your ass..." Natsu growled out.

"Not if I get to it first." Laki said, glaring in disgust.

Gajeel sensed a pair of eyes on him and turned to find Rogue staring at him. "What the hell do you want?" The teen just turned and walked away.

"That makes up all the participating teams." Chapati said, though it was hard to hear him over the crowd's cheers. "And with that, we can get to the lineup for this year!" A massive stone tab rose up and excited everyone. "As far as the matches go, the points are distributed based on what place you take. And each team is allowed to select which member they want to put in.

"As for the battles, the organizers will pair up wizards that the fans suggested. The battle rules are simple: each team will battle and the winning team receives ten points. The losers get nothing, and if there's a draw, both teams get five points. Without further ado, I bring you the opening to the Grand Magic Games! Let's begin Hidden!"

Members of each guild stepped forward, all declaring themselves the winner. Yeager from Quatro, Beth from Mermaid, Nalpudding from Raven Tail, Eve from Pegasus, the masked man from Sabertooth known as Rufus Lore, and Lyon from Lamia Scale.

"If he's going, then so am I." Gray said, staring at the other student of Ur. "Let's find out what kind of tournament this really is."

The two shared a glare before Juvia declared herself the last entrant. "If you lose to him on purpose, I'm gonna kick your ass!" Gajeel shouted.

The Games have started and we meet the opposition. For the record, the 'bet' over Laki is not taken because that would be dumb. Skipped some details here and there because I don't want to rehash every minor thing. And I just thought they weren't important. See ya next time.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang.