"I'll go ahead and volunteer first guys." Gray said after hearing that Lyon was going to participate in the games' first event, Hidden. "I've been curious about how these games work."
"Alright, good luck Gray." Erza said as the group decided to retreat to their booth.
After confronting Raven Tail for hurting Wendy, the first challenge was revealed to be Hidden. The contestants being Yeager from Quatro Cerberus, Beth from Mermaid Heel, Nullpudding from Raven Tail, Eve from Blue Pegasus, Rufus from Sabertooth, Lyon from Lamia Scale, Gray for Fairy Tail Team A and Juvia for Team B. However, Lucy's uncomfortable feeling remained and she held Gray back for a second, surprising him, Erza, Elfmen and Natsu.
"You okay, Lucy?"
"Gray... I can't explain it but I have a very bad feeling about the game." Lucy said in a low and worried tone. "I want you to be careful and if anything happens don't be too hard on yourself... promise?"
The raven haired mage was surprised from her words. He knew that Lucy didn't think him to be weak (throughout their death battle in the Celestial Spirit World, she had complimented his skills many times), so if she was going so far as to warn him about a gut feeling... he was sure to be wary of his surroundings. Especially since Raven Tail is participating. Gray recomposed himself and nodded, the blonde letting go of his arm with a relieved sigh.
"Don't worry, I got the message." He said making Lucy be much more at ease. "I'll make sure to be the one seeking instead of hiding."
With that, Lucy followed her teams to the arena's sidelines and watched as a small city neighbourhood materialized itself in the middle of the arena. Soon enough, once the town had fully materialized, Gray and the other contestants found themselves to be separated from one another and surrounded by multiple doppelgängers. Chapati then explained the rules which were simple enough to follow, just make sure you attack the the real contester and you gain a point.
As they watched Gray try to pinpoint the real from the fakes, Team A realized that Nullpudding kept coming for Gray and didn't bother to seek for any of the other contestants. What's more, Rufus had yet to make a move and that alone made Lucy realize that he had a plan that was surely to ensure victory. She realized that she might've made a mistake in trying to get even with Raven Tail by fully paralyzing Obra for three days, and if that was the case, Lucy wanted to apologize to Gray after everything was over.
Nashi, who had already broken from her silent trance after her mother's team appeared, looked at the lacrima vision screens with hopeful eyes. She prayed that Gray be alright, knowing full well like her nakama that Raven Tail was just targeting their guild. It made them angry but the peach haired girl knew that it would be bad if she began to release her magic unconsciously if she got too angry and held it all back. Reassuring herself that both her parents would redeem them.
It was then that Erza noticed something on the lacrima vision and pointed her finger towards it. "There! On the rooftop!"
The screen that showed Rufus then zoomed out, showing him simply standing on the top of a roof with a bored look. His aura surrounded him as the sky above the makeshift city turned dark and only the real contestants were left glowing, indicating to the saber the locations of each contestant. Once he casted his spell, each mage was struck and electrified, giving Sabertooth seven whole points and putting them in first place on the score board.
Gray became frustrated and he immediately got up after recovering and went to attack the masked man, only to be hit again by Nullpudding. All of Fairy Tail became frustrated at this and stared towards Raven Tail's booth in fury, Nashi being the only exception as a way to not draw attention to herself. When the city disappeared, she only watched her Uncle Gray walk passed the rest of Team A with shadows casted over his eyes. She knew he was disappointed in himself, but knew that it would be his drive to win from then on.
It was then that the crowd began to mock Fairy Tail, despite Lucy's presence. Actually, they were mocking the entire guild except for her. "As expected from the weakest guild in Fiore!" They cried while laughing, only agitating their anger. "Honestly! You would be nothing without the Athena! She should just leave before you embarrass her even more! You being in first place was because of her!"
Lucy took a deep breath and calmed herself, knowing anger wouldn't get her anywhere. "Fairy Tail doesn't fall easily..."
As the insults continued, Natsu only looked at Lucy. He knew that Lucy and the others knew better than to take such foolish remarks to heart, but he couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed despite still looking confident. In fact, for some reason, he felt compelled to cover her ears and try to block away the insults. Even though the crowd cheered for her, hearing them mock the family she loved so much must be heartbreaking to her. How he just knew that was the case was beyond him.
But soon enough the crowd dialled down as the first match was announced. "Here you go folks, an exciting treat for the first battle!" Chapati announced. "Flare Corona from Raven Tail vs. the Athena, Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail Team A!"
When the fairies heard that, they were in shock while Lucy just smirked and cracked her knuckles. While she, and everyone else in the arena for that matter, expected this, the Tenrou Team were confused as to why she was being matched for a battle so early considering her reputation and magic power. Natsu, Erza and Elfmen, along with Team B, looked at Lucy for answers, but she only shrugged in response as she made her way to the centre of the arena and the teams retreated to their booths.
"After five long years, we will finally see and know the Athena's powers to its full potential!" Chapati announced excitedly. "Yajima, I heard that she was being considered as one of the Ten Wizard Saints, isn't that right?"
"WHAT!?" Everyone who was part of the Tenrou Team cried. "Why are we only hearing about this now!?"
"I only heard bits and pieces of the decision from old colleagues of mine, but yes it's true." Yajima confirmed, making Makarov's eyes pop out even though he should've expected the situation considering Lucy's abilities. "However, in the five years of her fame, not once has she shown her magic nor explain her magical prowess, so they have postponed the decision."
"I guess when the organizers heard that she would be participating, they decided that now is a good time as any to put her in a battle to finally measure her skill and ability and see what she is truly capable of." Jenny commented.
"Go Mama!" Nashi cheered, earning a wave from Nashi. "Win for the guild and avenge Uncle Gray! I know you can!"
"Though Fairy Tail and Raven Tail obviously have some sort of a rivalry going on, it is a shame that the organizers didn't pair her to battle with Jura." Chapati said. "He is a Wizard Saint after all and she is a candidate for the rank."
"Well whatever the case, I'm sure everyone here knows who they're rooting for." Yajima replied, the cheers of the crowd getting louder.
Lucy watched as Flare approached her and smiled wickedly at her. The blonde knew that there was definitely going to be some foul play, but it definitely won't be something she couldn't handle. Besides, she did not plan on showing her her dragon slaying magic unless she was in a complete bind. Her spirits and Star Dress forms were more than enough to handle one of Raven Tail's members. She was going to win. She had to. For her team. For the guild and for Nashi.
"Gray will take his vengeance once he lets out some steam." Lucy thought as she got into her stance. "But I did say that if they hurt my nakama, they will be hit in return... gotta keep my word after all."
When the gong rang for the start of the match, Flare's hair immediately grew and moved on its own to tackle Lucy. The blonde empress' eyes narrowed as she back flipped away from the hair and grabbed Taurus' key, summoning him as she landed on her feet. The bull spirit went to slash Flare in half using his axe, but the red head dodged by jumping away. Lucy then took out Scorpio's key and summoned him, the scorpion spirit shooting a stream of sand towards the raven.
Flare immediately blocked the attack, her hair growing large and dense enough to act as a shield. When the attack ceased and her barrier dropped, Scorpio lifted Taurus in the air using his sand so that the bull could attack the girl from above, but she dodged yet again only to be brought into the air by Scorpio's sand storm attack. "What!?"
Once Lucy locked eyes with the red head, she thanked the two and sent them back to the Celestial Spirit World. But as she did so, Flare believed she had an opening and made her hair twist together to turn into a raging wolf, surprising the audience. However, the fairies had faith and Lucy smirked as she took Cancer's key and plunged it into her chest. A bright light surrounded her and to everyone else's shock, Lucy had transformed into her Cancer Star Dress, slicing through Flare's hair.
"Whoa! Did you see that!?" Chapati shouted in amazement. "Lucy Heartfilia has just changed her gear into what looks like to be an outfit based on one of her spirits! Could it be like requip magic!?"
Yukino, one of Sabertooth's team members, stared at Lucy in awe. The blonde's hair was tied into two high pigtails and in her hands were dual back handed scissor shaped swords. She sported a white and blue chinese styled outfit that had a red belt around her waist and the mark of Cancer embroidered on the top. The silver haired saber had never seen celestial spirit magic be used like that before and judging by the crowd, no one had expected it either.
"My hair!" Flare cried in anger. "You just chopped off my hair!"
Lucy just smirked, daring her to try and land a hit on her. "Oh I'm sure you can grow it back!" She replied, dashing straight towards the red head. "I told you... I will return the beating in full!"
Just as the blonde was about to cut through, Flare blocked the attack with her hair yet again. Then, another clump grew itself and grabbed Lucy by her ankles, bringing her high into the air before slamming her body down on the ground. But Lucy recovered quickly as she used her whip to grab ahold of Flare's wrist and both were pulled into the air, trying to force the other to let go. But the raven set the hair tied around Lucy's ankles on fire, but Lucy didn't mind it since Igneel is the only one capable of burning her to a crisp.
She unwrapped the whip from Flare's wrist, and before anything else happened, chopped off the hair tied around her with her blade. Flare cried out in pain again as Lucy dismissed her Star Dress, chuckling at the fun she was having. It was a shame she decided to leave her dragon slaying magic hidden for now unless necessary, but where would the fun be if she showed all her skills to the world? She was hoping to use it on Sabertooth, if she gets to battle Sting and Rogue anyway.
But just as she was about to grab Taurus' key to use his Star Dress form, Flare tilted her head to the side as her hair dove into the ground, her smile becoming sinister as the she began to talk in a hushed voice. "I don't think you would like to attack me anymore, blondie." She said. "Unless you want that peach haired brat to die before you."
Lucy's eyes widened as she knew instantly that Flare was talking about Nashi. She froze on the spot, her eyes wide as she felt her heart beat race, the crowd muttering amongst themselves about her actions. Both A and B teams looked at the blonde empress in concern, Lucy was completely paralyzed. "What the heck is happening, Luce!?" Natsu thought.
Flare laughed hysterically as her hair grew again and a clump grew itself to go and attack, but the hair only burned upon contact, startling everyone in the arena as they felt Lucy's magic aura grow. None of the people in the arena, except for Fairy Tail, knew that she had that much magic power in her. The blonde disappeared and reappeared instantly behind the younger girl, binding her hands and hair together, and whispered in her ear, loud enough so that two certain fire dragon slayers could hear.
"How dare you try to use my own daughter as hostage..." She said in a malicious voice, Natsu and Nashi gasping at what they heard. "It seems you don't realize just who you're messing with."
At that moment, Natsu barged into the booth where the rest of Fairy Tail was while Nashi had already turned around as both she and her father burned the piece of hair that was sticking out through the stone. "Lucy! Take her down!" Natsu yelled.
"Mama! I'm okay! Beat the meanie and win!" Nashi added.
The blonde smirked at their words and Flare's body began to shake as Lucy summoned Loke and transformed into her Leo Star Dress. Using the transformation as a cover, she channeled her celestial dragon slaying magic. Then when they both made eye contacted and nodded with each other, letting go of Flare so Loke could trip her and kicked her high into the air. When the red head looked up, she saw Lucy with her glowing eyes and her foot being surrounded by both Loke's Regulus magic and her celestial dragon slaying magic.
"Celestial Dragon's..." She chanted in a voice so low, no one heard her as her foot collided with Flare's gut. "... Regulus Kick!"
Flare was immediately blasted all the way to the ground and landed with much force and a hard impact. Lucy, on the other hand, gracefully landed on her feet despite wearing heels and thanked Loke before sending him back to the Celestial Spirit World. "Of course! Any time, Lucy." He said as he vanished.
When the dust cleared, Flare was completely knocked out and the gong rang while the crowd cheered in absolute amazement. Team Raven Tail likely cursing the blonde empress under their breaths since she had also rendered Obra useless and thus, was unable to to cancel out the blonde's attack. Alexei grumbled in dissatisfaction as he watched in utter annoyance as Fairy Tail cheered for their win and the crowd chanted 'Athena' over and over again, causing Lucy to blush.
"Amazing! Lucy Heartfilia, Fairy Tail's Athena, has won" the battle!" Chapati shouted. "Did you all feel her magic power grow throughout the arena!? What kind of celestial magic was that!? There is definitely more power in her, ladies and gentlemen! She doesn't even look the slightest bit tired!"
"Yeah! That's my Mama!" Nashi cheered.
As Fairy Tail rejoiced, Sting and Rogue stared with narrowed eyes at Lucy. They were still bothered about how sure and certain she sounded when she said that they didn't truly slay their dragons. Seeing her performance just then, they knew she was keeping her true abilities hidden. For what purpose and why? They did not know. All they knew was... she was mysterious and seemed like a worthy and strong opponent. None of them must underestimate her.