"You want to get up and go to Gazania without any warning and visit Sting?"

Wendy didn't sound incredulous, just a bit bemused. And I understood that. We were one month into an intense training regime. Or a modest one that seemed intense as we tried to shift our daily responsibilities to others to prepare for the Grand Magic Games. Wendy seemed to be having an easier time of finding people to do that than I did. Her clinic was now entirely self-sustaining and any major operations or treatments she had to be on hand for had been scheduled to fall mid to late summer.

My projects weren't as easy to hand off to other people. The guild contracts could be divided between myself, Levy and Freed and that reduced my workload significantly. But my writing took a bit more work to get a handle on. Mostly because there was no one else I could hand part of it off to. I had been cutting back on picking up new things as I finished them. Reviewing a historical thesis, completing a second draft of another theater performance, working with a psychologist, a Memory Magic Specialist, and a Rune Knight investigator to try and track down Archer's origins. These things were not something that someone else could just step into and take over. They commitments that were the result of years of effort, or a promise I had made.

"It's only fair. He and Rogue both go hours out of their way to come see us here but we've never gone there. Or at least I haven't."

"I don't make that trip too often either. Rogue doesn't want to cause drama with his guildmates by being that obvious about his 'fraternizing with the enemy'."

I tilted my head and gave Wendy a searching look. Because she was a kind, empathetic person who valued her home, she would understand about not wanting to force Rogue to feel uneasy in his home by intruding. But wasn't she, on some level, a little annoyed that Sabertooth was forcing Rogue to make this choice? That Rogue could come to her and she couldn't go to him? It was a restriction on her freedom and once she had found her wings again, there had not been anything that Wendy allowed to keep her chained.

She does dislike the situation. But Rogue's comfort is not her only priority, so is Frosch's.

Sabertooth wasn't like Fairy Tail. They had very strict requirements for their wizards to gain membership. And even now after years, neither Frosch nor Lector were considered full members of the guild. They were granted a fellowship due to their connections with Rogue and Sting.

Is it likely that Sabertooth's other members would target Frosch or Lector as payback for the boys fraternizations?

They would not allow that. They follow the philosophy 'might makes right'. Sting and Rogue are strong enough that they have earned the right to do as they please even if it is not approved of. They have made it no secret that they will fight to defend their being able to come see you and Wendy.

This was where the mindset Jiemma had been encouraging was coming back to bite him in the backside. If you were strong, you could get away with anything in Sabertooth. Sting and Rogue were their top performers, neck and neck with each other. Even if they spent time with people in another guild, he couldn't make any claim that it was to their detriment. Ordering them to stop would be a classic example of giving his men an order he wasn't sure they would follow. It could fracture his control over the rest of the guild. So he likely ignored it as much as possible and tried to find other means to undermine our friendship by pressuring Fairy Tail.

I leaned in towards Wendy.

"They wouldn't do a thing to our cute little cat friends. They know better. They can't afford to rock their own boat by upsetting two of their aces. Especially with us putting teams in the running for the first time."

The Sky Dragon Slayer leaned back, she never liked the reminder that she had stayed petite and short while I had grown taller than her. But she was considering what I was saying now. Then a little smirk of mischief curved one side of her mouth, making her brown eyes sparkle.

"Well, turnabout is fair play. Where do they live?"

-vVv-

We had every intention of walking right into their apartment, entering without breaking, and just hanging out until they came back. A bit of on the nose payback for all the times Sting had tried to waltz into my apartment. But from the moment we landed in Gazania, the city where the Sabertooth Guild Hall was located, we had eyes on us. The citizens were not hostile, but we definitely were noticed.

We have been noticed by more than the citizens.

I reached out and gently knocked my knuckles against Wendy's. She took the cue and cased our surroundings with a deep inhale. And then she smiled and turned deliberately up one street. And there they were. Rogue had eyes for no one but Wendy. The more I observed the two of them the more scary my screw up with the romance filter became because the boy was painfully obvious.

You're avoiding looking at him.

And Morgana's comment made me look over at Sting. And it sounded cliche to say, but he had a goofy looking grin on his face. Leaving the lovebirds to their own greetings.

"Don't make that face, dude."

"Don't tell me what to do. What are you doing in my town?"

"You've literally been breaking into my room for years. You mean you can dish it, but you can't take it?"

There was a flash of a smile from him that let me know I might have made a mistake. And his tone was painfully sincere.

"I'll take anything you give me, Princess."

Frik, the only immediate response I have is to go for violence. And that feels like he wins if I do that. I need a response, Morgana?!

Being able to think faster than most was a state I generally enjoyed. But right now, my thoughts felt as slow as molasses. And Morgana was being silent. Like a traitor. So I opted for a shoddy deflection.

"I promise I won't hold it over your head for too long when you tap out." Safe! Change the subject, quickly! "Your town also has apparently never heard that it's rude to stare."

There were now twice as many people gawking at us as there had been when it was just myself and Wendy. With a lot more wide eyes.

"Two out of three of the Furies, this far out of their usual stomping grounds? Just one of you would be a unique sight, let alone both. To what do we owe the pleasure, princess?"

Sting gestured and we turned back towards Wendy and Rogue, who had come back down to Earthland.

"Correcting the balance in the universe." I said blithely. "It seems every time we saw you, you were the ones going out of your way to come see us for the last several years. And relationships don't work like that."

"We put in the travel time because you're both worth seeing. It's not a competition."

Rogue told me firmly, hand in hand with Wendy, though he let her go to lift his arm for a quick hug from me, which I gave him. And then he took her hand again and interlaced their fingers this time.

"We know, Rogue. But any relationship, friendship and otherwise, should have both give and take. And we can't help but notice we've been doing a lot of 'taking' when it comes to time spent." The Sky Sorceress squeezed her boyfriends hand. "So that's why we're here now."

"What were you gonna do if we were busy or out of town?"

The four of us were making a very quiet spectacle in the street. It was easy to forget in our usual circles, but wizards were public figures. And this Sabertooth's city. And we were Fairy Tail wizards having a public, amiable conversation.

"I knew you weren't." I said offhandedly. "And even if you were, we were betting on Frosch letting us into your place."

"Don't make Frosch complicit in your mischief, he's done nothing!"

-vVv-

Farchild was watching, but was not approaching and from what I could tell, had no plans to do so. It seems one encounter with an irate Dragon Slayer was enough for her for a lifetime. But I knew there was a story brewing about the sight of us together. So I decided to nip that in the bud a tiny bit.

I pulled out my pen and started writing delicately on the palm of my left hand. Sting leaned over, brows furrowing as he tried to follow the script I was putting down. I didn't slow down for him as I finished it with a small flourish of magic power to activate it. The resulting amber magic circle didn't flare bright and flashy, but started up on a soft, subtle glow. It was no bigger than my palm.

"Don't think I've seen that one before."

"I'll tell you all about it after the Games."

I teased, sliding my glove back on.

"Well I know it was bigger than what you actually put there. You had some of your short hand in there, so I know it can't have been a complete spell. You've got the rest of it in your book somewhere."

"Well done, you're learning. This is a little trick I call Copyright. Basically, if anyone tries to tell a story about me, it'll alert me immediately."

Truth be told, this spell was something I had been working on once I started gaining public notoriety. 'Story Magic: Copyright.' I would be made aware of pictures taken of me, or stories written about me, without my consent. It couldn't stop the people from taking that course of action, but it could give us an edge on reacting to it.

Farchild's current story had started out as thinly veiled questioning at how long Sting and I had actually been together and why we were so hesitant to define our relationship when we were obviously so close. She had then gotten a flashback to a memory of intense heat and a death stare, and thought better of it. Now she was going for a more tame strategic espionage angle that Wendy and I were here to get insider information from Sting and Rogue about how Sabertooth was going into the games this year. Not that they would tell us, but that Wendy and I would trick it out of them.

Ooh, a defamation lawsuit in the making. Jude's got a lawyer who loves dealing with those.

"Fae?"

"You are saying someone was watching Fae?!"

Rogue had just asked me something while I zoned out.

He asked if we had had another instance of being observed by the Watcher. This is the first Sting had heard of it.

"Not...exactly." I hedged, lacing my fingers together in front of my face. "Someone broke into my apartment and stole some of my books. Which they will suffer for once I catch them. But they were careful to act while I wasn't around. And whatever is keeping me from identifying them just looking in on me is working just as well on them physically being in my place."

"We've moved out temporarily and are staying at some alternate locations."

Wendy assured Sting with calm assurance. Rogue interjected, drawing out eyes to him.

"Have you considered staying here?"

"Every night since the first time you asked."

"What?"

Sting and I asked this in unison, looking at our friends with bemusement. Wendy gave me a sheepish look.

"It happened while you were out of town. Rogue asked if we, or I, would be alright with crashing with him here in Gazania until that Watcher disappears or is caught."

That was very in character for him. All things considered we were probably lucky Rogue wasn't proclaiming a witch hunt and tracking the man down after what happened the last time one of us had a stalker.

"That's a sweet but kinda stupid offer." I said bluntly to the Shadow Dragon Slayer. "Assuming they are focused on me, making me scarce and difficult to access will force an escalation before I have everything prepared to catch them. Or, it could force them underground and make finding them that much harder, thus we would never be able to leave because we couldn't know for certain if he was gone."

The next words that came from me were only thought of in the lightest sense, but I was reading an undercurrent of something in the Shadow Dragon Slayer that needed to be addressed.

"I know you're all about moving in the shadows, but it's kinda weird to try and pull that stuff on us. I like living where I do and as much as I love you both-" I should have been put in charge of a masterclass of 'How to Avoid Eye Contact' as I felt Sting smirk. "-it's still a rude thing to do to friends."

"I agree." Wendy said firmly, shooting me a smile that said she was both appalled and grateful for my lack of a filter. "I love you, Rogue. And someday I would love being able to be together more often. But moving to Sabertooth territory right now, especially on short notice, wouldn't be a good thing for us. It would make things more complicated with your guild, take me far away from any of my clinics and separate me from my friends. And if this is anything like Oris, I'll need them the most."

I wouldn't say Rogue was pouting, but he certainly wasn't happy. Sting was giving him an incredulous look, but wasn't making an open comment. I didn't pursue it either.

There's a lot being left unsaid here. But I don't think this is the right place to say it.

This kind of awkwardness had always been conspicuously

The strange tension in the air was broken by a dog barking up the street. Frosch jumped onto Rogue's head in fright, claws out. He yelped. Sting and I were laughing. Lector was trying to detach his friend from the Shadow Dragon Slayer. Wendy was doing a combination of both.

Thank you, puppy for breaking the worst of the tension.

Conversation turned, once the Exceed was no longer latched onto his partner's head, to the past Games. Some of the events that had been presented. This wasn't just about who was the best fighter, there was also an element of being adaptive and capable in a variety of areas. I think Rogue was trying to conceal some of their long term strategies from me with some subtle magic. But I was fairly confident I knew who they would be putting forward as a team regardless.

There's one person in particular that I'm concerned about...Rufus Lore. I'll need a special strategy to deal with him.

But I still mulled over the strange little talk previously. About Wendy potentially moving. Or myself potentially moving. Some parts of it were on brand for both of them, them wanting to protect us especially given our experience. But something else about the whole thing just registered as being slightly off to me. Why was Rogue bringing this up now? Arguably, Fairy Tail had never been in a better position to protect us since the Tenrou Team had returned. And however formidable the two of them were, they couldn't match the nearly twenty people that were now available who hadn't been before.

And wasn't that a 'fun' conversation to have.

How we had managed to avoid talking about us going head to head with a homicidal stalker, I didn't know. But the conversation had happened and for legalities sake, it was a very good thing that people couldn't get into prison to see Oris. He was still in protective confinement to keep prison justice from sending him to his grave rather than a trial.

And even hours afterward, with a very pleasant day spent with our friends, I was still thinking about the strange awkwardness that had been in the air after Wendy turned down Rogue's offer to live with him. I couldn't put my finger on why this bothered me so much. But it did.

-vVv-

I had been busy working on a new delivery system for spells, based on the old bit of scrubber from Eric's first job. Something that was combining a number of ideas I had had in the past to make something that would hopefully be versatile and useful in many situations. But Ultear sending a message was enough to make me take a break and go to a secluded spot to meet her. We were meeting in our second building. A small tavern area that served as a gathering place for locals on the far north side of Magnolia. It serviced locals and the rural area, and was a place for local job requests to come to us directly rather than through a 3rd party. Sara, the barmaid from my childhood days, ran the establishment and had happily forged a working contract with Fairy Tail. Our guild flag hung in the window.

And just down the road to the south, the remains of Twilight Ogre's Magnolia base was being demolished.

Ultear and Meredy were both disguised with very good transformation magic as well as makeup. To the outside viewer, I would be chatting with a pair of young girls, one blond and one a redhead, who were working on a school project and wished to interview me. Inside the protective illusion, we were talking business. And Ultear had just made me an offer.

Which I had mixed feelings about.

"You really don't make fair offers."

"Well it's not much of an offer if it isn't something that you want, now is it?"

I gave Ultear a flat look as she smiled at me as sweet as can be. Sighing, I reviewed what she had relayed to me.

A peculiar presence had been building gradually over the last few years of the Grand Magic Games and in recent days, both Ultear and Meredy had noticed something odd. Their specialities were fairly different despite both being considered Lost Magic. But Ultear's sensitivity to time's flow and Meredy's empath magic aligning was definitely something to pay attention to. Given that I had often been out of the country during the summer months when the games took place, I had never been in place to look into it for them. But now, I would be right in the heart of it, exactly as it was on going.

"You know you could have just told me nothing and my own curiosity would have led me nose first into whatever is brewing."

"Yes, but this way you can take it more seriously because it's work. And you're too much of a professional to treat that lightly, even if it is a request for a friend."

I felt a dull pulse of irritation at this. Not just because it was in some ways true, but because it felt condescending in some way. Like I was this smart and capable person, but couldn't be trusted to use good judgment. It was like I was being put back in the same box that I had lived in as a child: The 'too smart for her own good' box.

Feels way too familiar.

The emotion made Meredy look at me and our eyes met. Then she gave a small, understanding smile and looked away. I knew she told Ultear nearly everything, but we had an understanding. The Time Mage was even more of a mother hen to Meredy than she was to me. Simon was good about balancing her for the most part, but he wasn't here right now. I didn't intend on keeping the feeling bottled up. The behavior wasn't going to change if I kept swallowing it or ignoring it when it came up. But I didn't want to be brash or hurtful about this either.

"Ultear, you're doing the thing again where you're looking at me like I'm still ten. I'm not. I can deal with bigger problems now. And I can take bigger risks." I tried to lighten the mood. "I take a lot of calculated risks, and I'm not terrible at math."

It was something I had joked with her before. It didn't get the smile I was hoping for this time. But Ultear accepted the criticism with a nod.

"I am sorry that I keep doing that. I can't seem to stop worrying about you."

Her eyes grew distant and I knew she was using a little trick of Visual Magic to examine a future involving me. She could only see vague suggestions. The most likely outcomes. She had been the one to gift me with shoes and clothes in my exact size. After I had stopped growing. Ultear could see plateaus in my growth with Arc of Time. Physical and magical.

In my research, I had come across mentions of the Second Origin. Typically, it was a barrier that could be bypassed either with years of dedicated focus and training, or a sudden, often traumatic breakthrough. It could either bolster your existing pool of magic, or grant a strong secondary magic. I would have to review that with Wendy later, but I thought Natsu's recently playing with lightning alongside fire was a manifestation of the principle.

But judging by the worried gleam in Ultear's eye, she saw reason to be worried in that future she was seeing. And she had offered, as payment for my being nosy during the Grand Magic Games, to unlock my Second Origin fully.

I had been working up to it gradually since I'd hit my magical growth spurt. It would take years to reach the level I could attain if I accepted her help. There were so many more in depth designs that I couldn't tap into due to not having the capacity to power all the moving parts, even with a story and a lacrima supporting the item's function. She was offering me a priceless gift.

I wanted to access my own strength of my own accord and ability. I didn't resent her offer, or have anything against relying on others' help to get stronger. It wasn't even that she was granting me new power, she was simply letting me access more of my own on an accelerated timetable. If I hadn't already been making progress in it, she couldn't even offer this. She could literally only speed a process that was already happening. Not initiate it.

You already know what your answer will be.

I didn't have to affirm Morgana was right. She already knew that she was.

"I can't promise that I'll be safe every time. So by giving me this, you are probably only going to give yourself more cause for worry."

I took some pride in my ability to judge my own capacity. If Ultear was boosting my abilities, I would escalate accordingly.

She gave a tired, fond smile.

"I know. But I'd rather help you be prepared and worry than its not enough, than regret not doing anything."

That...was really ominous. Don't you think that was ominous?

I concur.

"Ultear, is there something that I need to know?"

She gave me a tight smile.

"Something I'm trying to prevent."

So that told me she had gotten a glimpse of something jarring enough pertaining to me that told me she wanted me to have every resource I could get going into the Grand Magic Games.

"...Alright, I'll accept your deal, and your job."

I had worked with Ultear for years. I trusted the woman. She had come a long way from the semi brainwashed soul that had sought the ultimate killing power. I knew she didn't use Arc of Time to try and look into the future lightly. So whatever disturbance of her element she was feeling, coupled with Meredy's empathic talent, had to be very serious.

Ultear's shoulders slumped slightly.

"Thank you..."

For a second I saw the weight that rested on her. Hades probably hadn't prepared Ultear for the full range of the magic she was learning. She had been taught just enough to be useful to his goals, but not the whys and hows. She had been raised to be enough of a fanatic, she probably wouldn't even have minded the consequences that much if it accomplished her goal.

Knowledge was power. And with power came responsibility. This was a very strong, absolute truth, bound into our world's fundamental structure. You gained knowledge and familiarity with whatever your magic let you influence. Thus, Natsu would be intimately familiar with fire, heat, plasma, and be able to use it on an instinctive level. Lucy could empathize and connect with minds that were very different from her own, and gave her the side benefit of being able to work better with other mortals. This pattern meant that Ultear was dancing on the verge of what was acceptable for a mortal to know of the Law of Time. The cusp of what she could still do. One of the irrefutable laws that carried heavy consequences if she overstepped what she was permitted to do.

I found it rather concerning that while mention of meddling with the Law of Death was rare, it was recorded. But there was no known penalty for crossing the Law of Time's boundaries. Both of us knew better than to believe there weren't any.

Divining was nothing new. People had been trying to predict the future for thousands of years, and some had more success than others. Cana could make predictions based on the probabilities represented by a deck of cards. Ultear could go a bit further with Arc of Time. How much further and how she accessed that ability...I didn't know.

Morgana didn't know either.

That was something I couldn't know unless I spent a lot of time and energy figuring out how to utilize Time Magic. Which was on my list if I ever wanted to get an Eye of Agamotto totem off the ground. But for now, I'd just have to trust Ultear and wait until there were enough pieces laid out to predict things the old fashioned way.

"How do we do this?"

-vVv-

I had buyers' regret for a whole week after Ultear guided me to fully unlocking my Second Origin. It was every pain I had ever undergone during my growth spurt, turned sideways and warped through a new dimension of discomfort. And that was with Wendy's help in pain management. The true worst part of it was the month I had to spend relearning how to handle my expanded magical capacity with the same careful control that I needed to use runes.

But in the end, I couldn't deny the results.

Ultear had doubled my effective fighting time at current capacity, and given me the ability to utilize up to three totems if they aligned to the same story, or two conflicting ones. And this dramatically changed my team's planning sessions for the Grand Magic Games. And we had plenty of those. I also gained a greater capability to use generalized, non-specific stories. Which let me pour through my previously discarded or abandoned ideas and produce some unique and fun outcomes. The special project I had wanted to make as a contingency for combating Sabertooth's team had been completed and the tests showed that it should work as intended.

But time marched on. We all focused on preparing. I tied up the remaining loose ends of catching Rilt, and updated the totems that had previously been out of reach to be ready for fully active use. Team Shadowgear took over a third of my Rune maintenance workload. Simon helped rearrange all my remaining publishing deadlines to allow me a sabbatical.

Jude was released from the hospital with strict orders to take it easy, and good odds of him actually following them. He wanted to be able to watch Lucy in the games, after all. Simon seemed to be anticipating years of vindication. Makarov assumed senior guild member status, and seemed to be having a lot of fun teasing the possibility of him jumping in on the games as a participant. That was mostly a strategic feint. People could prepare for what they knew was coming. Final team registry happened the day before the games began and Mavis had calculated the lowest traffic time of day for Simon to put in that Fairy Tail was entering 3 different teams instead of 1.

This meant anyone looking to pull a fast one would be prepared for at most 6 of our members. Those that were the biggest Rockstars. And the remaining people who would actually be there could effectively blindside the masses who didn't expect them to be there, or be viable threats. Sneaky? Perhaps. We were mostly doing it for shock value and to give everyone a fair chance at competing. The suggestion had been made after our initial strategy meeting to just put everyone down as participants and let their skill filter them out.

It had been vetoed by Laxus. Who did not elaborate on why. But he didn't really have to. We all still remembered that pitting Fairy Tail against itself was not conducive to our unity. So we'd cherry pick our best teams and aim to get all of them in the running.

Everyone made massive improvements with the months of dedicated training time. Natsu got a handle on his Lightning-Flame, Lucy worked with Capricorn and her other spirits and got to the point where she could hold open two Golden Zodiac Gates at once. Gray upped his speed and precision with Ice Make Magic and worked on practicing a few new structures and applications. Kagura upped her combat endurance by sparring with Erza until the ground shook. Wendy got her practice in fixing them up until they could get back to it.

All of us were busy. But being busy was excellent for making time pass.

Before much longer, it was time for Fairy Tail's debut in the Grand Magic Games.

-vVv-

Magic made some things absurdly simple that might not be immediately obvious. Among them was construction and renovation. The Gildarts Shift wouldn't have been possible without magic. As it wouldn't have been needed if not for Gildarts' Crash Magic, it tended to even itself out.

There were two things competing for my attention right now. First, there had been extensive work done on the city, specifically roads underneath my feet and under certain buildings. Second, the whole city had been ringed and woven through with runes for copying, spatial shifting, spontaneous creation...

Identified: the consultation piece we were brought in for last year on the Gildarts Shift was implemented in recent alterations to certain structures in the city.

That was true. I'd been called upon as well as the engineers who had re-designed Magnolia to adapt to Gildarts and minimize public property damage whenever he came home. They wanted some insight on how we had adapted the foundation of the city to move while still retaining its defensive capabilities. I'd incorporate that half the city could be raised on command, or the entire city raised far above sea level and the reasonably expected height of a tsunami. The non-disclosure agreement had been gnarly to get through to work on that.

"What's up, Fae?"

Happy paused before he devoured his latest fishy snack, looking up from his position at my ankles.

"Just a feeling."

I never got explicit confirmation, but the questions they were asking made it sound as though they wanted to be able to isolate specific sections of the city.

I paused outside of one inn which was boasting the flag of the Dizzy Thorns, a guild that specialized in agriculture. Droy had worked with them a lot over the last few years.

Casting my attention underneath my feet, I could sense mechanisms poised and ready to loft the whole building and everyone inside of it up at least three stories.

OK, once up there, where are they supposed to go? Flight is not that common of a capability to have for wizards.

I slowed my pace somewhat as Natsu and Gray began to bicker about the directions we had been given. Lucy was deep in conversation with Wendy and Erza. Only Happy slowed his pace to match mine. I felt his eyes on me as I slowly scanned everything around us, trying to see or sense what I was still missing...

Enchantments for conjuration and abjuration are anchored in the new renovations under the streets. Searching for function...conclusive, they are to project floating walkways anchored from the inn door stretching towards a center point.

Can you look for the same parameters across the city?

I need a better view.

"Hey, Happy. I gotta check on something really quick, you go on ahead with the others. I'll meet you at the inn."

-vVv-

I didn't want to draw too much attention to my behavior. In Magnolia, people would roll their eyes or laugh if I was spotted somewhere I didn't necessarily belong. Crocus was a city that generally saw me as a professional rather than a magical tool artisan with a knack for causing explosions.

Fine. A mad scientist. Magnolia had seen me being only a few steps away from a full blown mad scientist. I had a long white lab coat that helped me focus at the expense of occasionally triggering bouts of maniacal laughter. I had on occasion, forgotten to take it off before I left my office or apartment so these episodes had sometimes taken place in public if I had a random burst of inspiration.

Magnolia was tolerant, indulgent even of my quirks. Crocus would not be so forgiving. especially while I was trying to keep a low profile.

Still, it was quite common that people never looked up. I had exploited this fact for years, and wasn't about to stop now. So I managed to scale a sizable church spire without being noticed. With Morgana's help, I scanned as much of the city as I could see. She found dozens upon dozens of lines of motion potential extending all over the city. Each one leading to a hotel or lodging house. Or, in some instances, right to a guild hall door.

OK this is definitely something they are planning for the Games.

Affirmative. The Games will begin in 14 hours and 35 minutes.

Sitting on the roof, I turned that thought over in my mind. As far as I knew, the Games would begin tomorrow morning with some preliminaries. Though there had been a rule announced that all contestants had to be in their respective inns at midnight. The phrasing had made it sound like a curfew.

Whittling down the total number with a preliminary round hadn't been officially announced. But anyone with eyes and the ability to peek at the registration for the games would know that there were dozens more guilds than could possibly showcase their abilities in a single week of events. And unlike in years past, additional entertainment had been arranged for evenings while the schedule of the contests took place during the daylight hours. This year, over one hundred wizarding guilds were going to be in the running. The organizers would have to cut the numbers down somehow. But how that related to these raising platforms around the city was as of yet unconnected. But it did come to me, having experienced the entertainment industry for several years.

The best way to engage a crowd? A big, banging opening number with a catchy tune in a musical. For a contest such as this...?

This is a public spectacle. The game designers take crowd input very seriously. And for the last seven years, the games always began in the morning. Someone might have said things were getting stale and they decided to up the ante and try to catch people with their pants down with an unexpected challenge. Making it sound like the 'in the inn by midnight' rule meant curfew rather than a starting line is doubtless gonna surprise some people.

Morgana affirmed her conclusion that the first part of the Grand Magic Games would in truth begin tonight. Without being officially announced. The hotels and inns where all the guilds were staying were either exclusively rented out to potential participants with all civilians being housed elsewhere. Meaning those who could react the fastest to an unexpected change of plans would have an advantage.

Or to those who could gather information most effectively. And I had a hunch there were at least 2 guilds who would already know.

Sabertooth because their leadership had put a lot of importance on winning this epic scale PR battle. And Blue Pegasus since information was their natural specialty.

So now I had to go have a chat with someone. I was Fairy Tail but I was also going to be competing against my guildmates to some extent...

"I need to talk to Simon."

-vVv-

Simon didn't tell me what I needed to do one way or the other. I told my team to be ready for action tonight. And I decided to inform the other team leaders, Erza and Laxus, to be ready.

"The warning is appreciated, Fae, but this could be detrimental to your team's performance."

I waved her off with a grin.

"For the next 12 hours, we're still one guild before we're three teams. Besides, I don't care much which team wins as long as everyone has a good time."

And if I can find that strange magic Ultear talked about.

At this point, I was invested in figuring that particular mystery out. After I could function again, I met with Ultear and Meredy to register a combined imprint of the magic they had been sensing near the Games for the last few years. They said that it came and went in intensity but that it had been growing and only was discernible this one week of the year. If the games were delayed or moved up, then the presence followed. I wove the enchantment into a lacrima on my

The Tenrou people had not spent as much time in Crocus as I had. It had been suggested that I go make an appearance at the theater, one of my adapted Nirvit history productions was running tonight.

Nah, I got other things to do now.

I sent the director of the production my apologies for not being able to swing by and set a time to be together and be ready for whatever city sculpting our surroundings would be undergoing, and went out for a walk.

Crocus was a big city. The same magical support that let people perform all kinds of fantastical renovations on existing structures allowed them to raise new buildings and redraw city maps on a large scale. The city planners worked hard to make sure Crocus was habitable and comfortable for all its citizens. There were large penthouse style buildings to act as the residences for nobility. Most manors were kept outside of the city limits, to allow more space for commerce, trade and compact housing for the lifeblood of the city.

People.

The people were riding high on energy during their busiest week in the whole year. The windows of the shopping district were arranged attractively with eye-catching wares. Lights were strung in the streets, banners proclaimed guild sponsorship. I took a long, slow walk, searching for any sort of ping of the peculiar magical signature I was supposed to be keeping an eye out for.

I didn't pick up anything particularly weird for several hours. At least not until I came across two people that I didn't know but had flagged as potential problems.

Raven Tail was a former Dark Guild that had in recent years been legalized by the Magic Council. And it was run by Ivan Dreyer, Makarov's son, Laxus's father. The circumstances that let him get his guild activities legalized were very hush hush. To other people. Ultear had concluded he was using their established connections with the black market and smuggling operations to set up stings, several steps removed. Ivan had actually assisted in breaking the criminal chain that had allowed Bov Oris to make off with the national treasure he used to 'court' Wendy.

The two members I was seeing here were called Nullpudding, a stout man with the combined physical features of a purple puffer fish and a poisonous toad, and Kurohebi, slender, dark haired man who also went by Black Snake. And I didn't want or need to know more than that. The common factor all Raven Tail members had was either a personal grudge or sufficiently petty mindset to cause Fairy Tail problems.

If I just ignore them, will they go away?

I wondered, keeping on the alert for a ping from my bracelet as I walked past the restaurant where they were sitting.

Morgana twisted to focus on their conversation.

"A fairy walking alone? That's a rare sight."

Kurohebi remarked and I felt his resolve sharpen. Our stories would align unless I did something drastic to discourage him. And drastic wasn't what I was up for right this second so it looked like I would be dealing with him.

"Especially the little princess. Let's go offer our greetings."

Ah frick, Nullpudding is coming along too.

I kept walking as if I didn't know they were coming, steering for inhabited parts of the street. Keeping things in a public forum would be safest for me if they decided to talk to me rather than just follow me. Morgana noted that both were superficially polite, but not nice people. Definitely not the kind of person I wanted to talk to.

What do a snake and a puffer fish have in common? Both are venomous and all around unpleasant to be around. With the exception of Kinana, or course.

Even as I walked though, I could sense there was a secret that both of my subtle stalkers were mulling over in the back of their minds with vindictive glee. It was almost enough to make me want to delay to see if I could root out anything else in conversing with them. Only almost though. Things were going to get crazy stressful in short order, and I didn't need their shadows hanging over the first event.

I did wonder after about 30 minutes of them failing to catch my eye, who was the one in charge of this dance. I knew they were coming for me, but I had no cue that they knew I was aware of them. I had not been keeping track of where I was going for the last little while, and found myself approaching a causeway that was more of a melting pot of businesses and restaurants.

Laxus is nearby.

That made me look around a bit more closely, wondering where the Lighting Dragon Slayer was. And mentally beating the still present, fluttery pink part of my brain that was besotted with him into silence.

Of all the people it could have picked, why did puberty have to pick him?

It could have been Mystogan. Or Freed.

That comment from my soul-sister made my stomach twist in an unpleasant way.

I retract my complaint. Laxus is an entirely acceptable subject for a first crush.

I don't think Sting would mind too much.

I paused looking at an outdoor stage that catered to a few different eating houses. They all had seating outside that looked towards the stage where a few people were playing lively music.

Ok, I can't wait to hear this reasoning.

Laxus is a blond that you have known for a long time, a Dragon Slayer and highly capable wizard. If these are indicative of your 'type', it is not unlikely that you could develop an attraction to Sting as more than a friend.

I forced my feet to keep moving as I felt my cheeks flushing at Morgana's observations.

Right, not bringing that up any time soon.

I wanted these games to be fun, not an exercise in teenage romantic drama. Or pseudo-political maneuvering drama. I was not optimistic that I would get my wish, but I was still making it. I was steeling myself for an encounter with the two Raven Tail mages when Morgana suddenly alerted me to someone was detecting us. Not watching, detecting.

That's important?

He is not using sight or any normal means of sensation to do so.

"Took yourself for a walk, princess?"

I felt a faint crackle of electricity in the air and smiled up at Fairy Tail's Lightning Dragon Slayer.

"Figured it was the time to do it."

There were less than three hours to go until the Games began, putting the start time at midnight. He gave a faint smirk, looking me over with a practiced glance. Checking for signs of distress and disturbance. Then his gaze flitted briefly back towards Nullpudding and Kurohebi.

Does he know them?

They have met.

"I was just leaving to head back. Walk with me?"

I tried to not nod too quickly or feel any disappointment when all he did was fall in step beside me and start moving without a backwards glance. I did look back to trace where he had been coming from and in doing so caught a man's eye. He was staring at me with pure venom. And though I had never met him, I knew him.

Ivan Dreyer. Laxus's father.

"Laxus..."

His hand tapped my back, shifting slightly to conceal me from his father's gaze.

"Later, Fae."

"Might not be able to hold back."

I conveyed that in a whisper that was absorbed into the crowd. The two Raven Tail members who had been tailing me were retreating swiftly now that I was no longer alone.

"That's fine."

In spite of him saying that, I tried to keep my invasion of privacy as light and non-intrusive as possible. Morgana complied with that.

Apparently, Ivan had sought Laxus out after his banishment. Raven Tail had a track record of picking people up with grudges against Fairy Tail and he had assumed that his son would be an easy sell. Gajeel had joined easily enough. (Though he still seemed unaware that the Iron Dragon Slayer had been a double agent the whole time.) Laxus had turned him down, and he had not entirely accepted that. Then any plans of coercing Laxus to join them in the future had been waylaid by him getting stuck on Tenrou Island for seven years and then being brought back into the guild under Simon's leadership.

This was their first meeting since Laxus had returned from Tenrou. He had tried to reach out several times before, but Laxus had always ignored the messages. Given the throbbing phantom headache that Laxus experienced whenever he looked at his father for too long, I did not fault him for that decision.

I knocked his hand with the back of mine, making his eyes flick down towards me.

"Are you ok?"

"Don't worry about it. If he becomes an issue, I'll handle it."

I didn't doubt Laxus's word or his ability to do just as he said. But I was pouting a tiny bit that I wouldn't get the chance to unleash my more destructive information mongering abilities on deserving targets. The tendency to hurt others was not something that just stopped unless you put work at it and had outside support. And Ivan's support had been a Dark Guild. I doubted that was conducive to addressing the issues that made a man perform experimental brain surgery on his son. Not to save his life, but to put him in his debt and let him get more control over him.

"What are you thinking?"

I felt a faint fizzle of power and lifted my hands to find that part of me had subconsciously manifested feline ears that were twisted out in irritation. And even now, the projections flatten in chagrin and nervousness.

"Nothing important."

I blatantly lied, covering the minor illusion with my hands. I tried to find whatever passive story effect I had subconsciously latched onto to manifest literally cat ears on the top of my head to telegraph my every thought and emotion. An unwanted side effect of my Second Origin it seemed.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're lying?"

"I absolutely am fibbing, but you're not getting the truth out of me today."

-vVv-

I watched the countdown Morgana had provided. Erik and Kinana were ready by the window. Wendy and Kagura were running final checks on our plans for the decided strategy.

Wendy had tied her hair up in a braided crown and locked it down with pins. A streak of bright orange and yellow from the thread and beads from the Nirvit hair ornament she wore stood out starkly against the dark blue. A sleeveless white top was covered by a light blue jacket with the Fairy Tail symbol on the back in orange, since her guild mark was currently covered by her outfit.

Kagura had braided her dark purple hair into a long tail, weaving her iconic white ribbon through it to secure it and protect it rather than wearing it as a headband. Her usual glaive was being inspected and oiled in preparation for the signal. The alternative weapon I had prepared for her wasn't going to make an appearance until later. I was hoping to be able to save its debut once we were in the final bracket. Her attire had a strict, military feel to it. Long sleeve, high collar, a clean crisp shirt beneath it. Her jacket was tan and cream with a dark belt, her pants were tucked and stepped into high boots. The whole outfit was cut close with minimal drag, but with all kinds of pockets for surprises and supplies.

Kinana's hair was cut in a sleek pixie style, a smattering of scales outlining her eyes and making the green in them. She had a halter top secured around her neck, leaving her back and shoulders exposed. In a sense. At first glance it looked like she was wearing a skin tight purple top as an underlayer. In reality, her arms were covered with her snake skin. She was keeping her options open in case she wanted to fly without shifting into full snake form.

Erik's head was bowed and his eyes were closed, brow furrowed in concentration. I knew he was listening across the city for people who were forewarned like us, or more likely to be better prepared. He had a long pale coat with a dark undershirt, and flared collar with additional runes placed to minimize flashbangs or similar devices from neutralizing him. He looked up, eyes opening.

"Sabertooth has been forewarned about the preliminaries as well."

Which meant they were definitely going to be our biggest rivals in this competition. They were capable, with versatile players such as Rufus and Yukino, and powerhouses like Sting, Rogue and Minerva in their corner.

Under normal circumstances, I felt they would simply secure their spot and ignore everyone else. That was what would determine victory in this first round. But this wasn't normal. This time, the target that Minerva and Jiemma had been gunning for was actually taking a step out into the open. I cleared my throat, drawing the attention of every member of my team.

"Alright, I recommend Plan Murphy."

Kagura raised one brow, Wendy sighed, Kinana tittered and Erik gave a wolfish grin in answer and rose from where he was sitting to stand by Kinana's side.

"I love Plan Murphy."

"Couldn't we at least try plan A first?"

The Sky Sorceress asked plaintively. Carla looked at us all with wary concern.

"Do I want to know what you are referring to?"

I moved to the window, feeling the count down slip into the final minute before midnight.

"Murphy's Law is summarized with the following: 'Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, at the worst possible time and in the worst possible way'."

"I do not believe it is possible to make a plan that can fully encapsulate that law. Certainly not in any reasonable time."

I grinned, feeling the air around me hum with anticipation as my spell book floated out from its carry strap, pages flipping to where I wanted to be when the timer went off. The bells tolled midnight across all of Crocus.

"Attention all contestants participating in this year's grand magic games! Gooooood morning~!"

The familiar voice of the announcer rang throughout the air, sounding like he was enjoying himself immensely.

I'm just gonna sit on revealing his actual identity because the payoff later will be funny.

I carefully steered my thoughts away from the incriminating truth so Eric wouldn't have the surprise spoiled for himself with his mindreading.

"Although the number of guilds multiply each year, the games have gotten boring now is all I ever hear! Let's whittle them down, I say to you, and give just eight a cheer!"

"Certainly not. But what we're doing is a bit different from trying to avoid Murphy."

Wendy chuckled as she rolled her shoulders, taking a deep breath, her eyes lightening several shades or a more rosy color than their usual warm brown. The ground under our feet quaked and the mechanisms I had helped design engaged, lifting the entire inn smoothly into the air. The furniture had all been bolted down in advance and by my warning, our peers had also secured all of their belongings, as well as made sure they were still dressed and ready for whatever the night might bring.

The Emcee spoke on, describing the rules and objective of the race.

We were racing to the colosseum where the rest of the games were held. Only the first eight teams would secure a place in the final bracket of the Grand Magic Games. And this was an honest to goodness, no holds barred, throwdown of epic proportions to brutally reduce the total contesting teams down to a fraction of their current number. And, of course, a disclaimer for potential death.

Glad someone talked to the man about the liability of a performance like this.

He was of course, partially bluffing for dramatic effect. The organizers would not be held responsible, but the parties guilty of manslaughter or murder certainly would be.

"Plan Murphy means, for everyone else, for the duration of this event: We are Murphy's law."

"So without further ado, let the Grand Magic Games preliminary round begin! Welcome to the Sky Labyrinth!"