Here is the fifty-first chapter in this story released in accordance with my release schedule for this story. It's finally time, the Grand Magic Games are over, the dragons and Future Rogue were defeated, Crocus is being repaired and everyone's ready so what better way to celebrate that a Grand Ball for all the participating Guilds along with many other invited guests. A great chance to relax, mingle, and have a bit of fun, what could possibly go wrong? That is it the administrative stuff I have for y'all and while there are no questions to answer here as the ones asked I've already answered in previous notes or with the very pretense of this story but there is a guest review that need a response so I will do that now. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate.

To KGBeastboy (guest), thank you for your review and suggestions, I will now address them. On the Kagura front, while that is a good idea, she kinda needs to be pretty tipsy at least for the whole Yukino thing as her intoxication helps spark it so Yami can't really stop her at the start but maybe he can help prevent it getting worse after the brawl so that she can sober up a bit and have a good time once the King arrives. Charmy eating is a given but Cana's more about drinking so I'm not sure that will happen though Charmy will have some fun with others. Oh the reaction to Natsu is going to be good, just wait for it as it's coming. No worries on being busy, happens to all of us. I admit I don't really use Ao3 though I do have an account there now and if this site has issues again I'll begin cross posting the Black Trio there, but I did check out the premise of the story and it's an interesting and unique one I'll say that much. Do keep reading and enjoying my works.

Anyway, that is it for this pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the fifty-first chapter in Black Bull Banishment.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.

Chapter 51: Begin the Grand Ball

As they entered the ballroom of the Fiore Royal Palace, most of the Black Bull women stared and marveled at the size and grandeur of the room. It was a large, mostly rectangular room with a high dome inlaid with gold and split evenly with golden lines vertically creating a number of sections. Within each section were intricate carvings, symbol, and other reliefs that were too much to take in at a glance but it was all uniform for the sections to look good and give off the right impression for a room like this.

The golden vertical lines extended down to just below the dome and the wall that held it up, expanding slightly due to the structure as they reached the base of the dome, and highlighting the décor around that point. Said décor were a collection of fine statutes depicting men and women all armed with various sets of armor or weapons from swords and shields to spears, axes, a scimitar, a staff, and other weapons. Each of the statues was standing on a plinth that looked to be made of marble with gold inlayed reliefs and a crest of sort that jutted out over the room.

It was an eye catching style that likely had some relevance to the history of Fiore though to the Black Bulls it was a bit alien as weapons and armor weren't common in their work beyond the few like Asta and Yami who used swords and the occasional spell that created a suit of armor like Noelle's Valkyrie Armor. They were clearly the main feature though so the Black Bulls took them in before looking below the statues to see thick gold band and then three high windows below each statue broken up into sections by marble beams inlayed with gold that connected to another gold band below.

The style continued down to even more plinths with the same designs as the ones that the statues were on only these were empty with open arches behind them. Due to their size there were two per section and the sections were broken up by an alternating marble beam atop a long, cylindrical marble pillars with a gold top and interior towers complete with four pillars to hold it up.

Those towers were clearly the highest viewing points for people to look down over the whole ballroom from and they were higher than the next viewing area as below the towers there was a final section of marble and gold below that banded the room. Only after that was there more places for people mingle as there a long circular balcony that ringed the room and completed the dome portions with pillars instead of a railing. It worked well as the final break before the rectangular room thus splitting the ornate ceiling and dome from the four walls of the ballroom.

For the most part after that it was just normal walls of the same color and ornate styles with plenty of paintings at eye level ringing the room though there was one last thing that stood out in the ballroom. That was that there was another balcony a story up on one of the short sides of the ballroom with curving stairs up to it and two pillars holding it up as it jutted out into the room. It was clearly used for important speeches as it allowed for someone to stand at the edge and address the whole room and with the King likely coming later it was almost certainly going to be used by him.

Overall it was an impressive sight and there was even more that they couldn't take in that's how big and fancy the ballroom was. Even Noelle and Mimosa, who were royals themselves and had been raised in palaces, couldn't deny that this was more opulent than what they'd grown up with or seen in the Clover Kingdom.

However, despite the opulence, there was no sense of oppression as the various Guilds mixed and mingled all over it with some chatting in the open areas, some gathering by the food and drink stations to enjoy them, and others checking out the artwork on the walls or making requests of the musicians present so the Black Bull women fell at ease quickly as they entered. That and the sounds of happy chatter and the smell off good food hit them and broke any stupor that they might have.

"I smell yummy food!" Charmy said and instantly she hurried off towards one of the food tables as a cloud of cotton formed under her to lift up to table height and thus making eating the food easier and faster for her. "I'm going to eat it all! Come to me my delicious nums!"

"Be sensible Charmy!" Noelle called out. "This is a fancy reception, use manners at least when you eat!"

"Don't worry, I'll look after her." Vanessa said with a grin that did nothing to assuage Noelle but rather add to her worries as Vanessa headed off after Charmy and expertly took a bottle of champagne from a fancy dressed server that had the bottle and several on a tray he was carrying. "Don't mind if I do, this is a nice start to the night. Hey Charmy, make sure you find a table with a lot of wine on it!"

"And it's going downhill already." Noelle said with a sigh as Grey used that moment to slide away and find a place to be unnoticed but in the large, open, room it that might be hard and she'd have to search and avoid people until she found a place. "And the guys haven't even arrived yet."

"Well it could be worse." Nero said as the guys minus Yami and Asta arrived en mass from another entrance without the girls noticing and swiftly split up. "Fairy Tail is setting a good bar for us. That said, I am impressed with that pour, it might give Vanessa a run for her money."

Said pour that Nero had noticed had been done by that Cana woman who'd shown up for one event as Fairy Tail team B's reserve. Noelle hadn't needed to ask who as she turned at Nero's words to see Cana doing so while wearing a maroon dress with a pink ruffle and detached, matching, sleeves. That and she was loudly declaring it was time to party as she was pouring a whole bottle of wine into her mouth while holding it at arm's length above her head so it really wasn't hard to notice her.

Once Noelle and Mimosa saw that they saw several more members of the Fairy Tail contingent that had arrived and it was clear that Nero was right, they were somehow currently worse than them which Noelle felt was an achievement. That said, the main reason for it was because the Ice Mage who Asta had beaten in both Hidden and the final clash of the Battle Royale was only wearing only a baby blue ascot and boxers so it really wasn't hard to be worse than that at a fancy ball short of engaging in a full scale brawl.

"Yeah that could definitely give Vanessa a run for her money." Noelle agreed as Cana went for another bottle of wine. "And none of us would dare to show up in public in our underwear so we've got that going for us."

"Asta doesn't wear a shirt these days though just those sleeve things." Mimosa pointed out not that she minded Asta's attire even if she was a bit startled by it when he first started wearing it though she now understood why she felt that way. "But I do hope he's cleaned up, he looked good at the magic ball we went to."

"True he did." Noelle admitted flushing at the memory of how sharp Asta had looked at that event while her acknowledged feelings allowed her to be a little more honest about how badly she wanted to see Asta all spruced up again. "I wonder where he is."

"Probably getting into some kind of trouble, it's what he does." Nero said in her usual tone. "But he'll be fine and will arrive in time, he wouldn't miss something like this."

"True so until then we should socialize." Mimosa said. "That is what this event is about and we are the new to Guild here so it's expected from us."

"Correct, we can't let the Clover Kingdom down." Noelle said with a nod and at that she led the other two deeper into the ballroom hoping that the others were having a good time and not getting into too much trouble.


"This place is loaded with real man food! I can't get enough of it!"

The loud voice at the table next to Magna's got his attention just as he was about to dig into a plate of clearly top tier meat as it was a sentiment he fully agreed with. Well that and the voice sounded just like Captain Yami's only less threatening and more focused on manliness if that was even possible so that also got Magna's attention right away and he turned to the speaker.

"You bet it is!" Magna said to the speaker before he fully processed who he was. "So many manly options! I can't choose just one so I'm trying them all!"

Almost as soon as the Black Bull men had reached the ballroom they'd split up to do their own things without noticing that Asta wasn't with them. After all, he had been with them when they left the changing room and were focused on the upcoming Grand Ball that they just presumed that Asta was with them and when some of them broke off upon getting to the ballroom it only furthered their ignorance as to Asta's absence.

The first to head off was Zora who had slipped away the second he'd entered the room to do what he did best at a fancy event like this. Next Gordon had left them and gone over to a special section where Henry had been set up and was entertaining a bunch of guests with his Recombination Magic to check in on his friend when he saw that it was all set up. Finally Gauche had headed to find a spot to stare at a picture of Marie in peace and not bother talking to anyone as was to be expected from him. That just left Finral, Luck, and Magna and they'd all decided to go to one of the tables to get some food to start the night off.

Said table just so happened to be next to the one that Elfman, Lisanna, Mira, Lucy, Gray, and Yukino were at enjoying their own food. Naturally, it had been Elfman to speak and Magna had responded in kind before any of the Fairy Tail members or Yukino could speak.

"You know it!" Elfman said looking over at Magna and recognizing the Black Bull as one of their team members, the Fire Wizard that had almost beaten Olga on the first day, and that he was with the Lightning Wizard Luck who Elfman had beaten on the second day and the Spatial Wizard that had won Chariots and spent half an hour on the third day making that cat obsessed girl in Mermaid Heel fall without hitting the ground. "Glad to see that another real man here. Come join us!"

"Don't mind if I do." Magna said as he moved over to the next table with Luck and Finral following him over as there were strong fighters and beautiful women there, well there were both but to Luck and Finral their reasons were specific and had no crossover. "How can I not join some real men and women; you guys got some serious guts you know that?"

"Same could be said for you guys." Gray said as he tore into a chicken leg. "I still can't believe we lost it in the end. You stopped our comeback just short."

"Say, why are you only in your boxers?" Magna asked with his mouth full as he looked at Gray and just noticed it. "Is that some new fashion statement or something?"

"And does it work on the ladies here?" Finral asked.

"It doesn't." Lisanna said. "Well, it does on one specific lady but that's different."

"Ok good to know." Finral said glad that this wasn't some kind of taste preference in Fiore.

"Huh? Wait where'd my clothes go?" Gray said as he swallowed his food and looked down as if only just noticing that he was only in boxers and an ascot. "Oh man, when did that happen?"

"Really?" Magna asked as Gray looked around as if his clothes were nearby.

"I think it's funny." Luck said laughing. "And I saw that you're pretty strong, you beat that man in the fancy hat and he was really good, though neither of you are as strong as Asta. Well? How about a sparring session sometime?"

"Not now Luck and besides, as was just confirmed, this isn't proper attire around ladies." Finral said. "Or in such a setting I presume."

"Unfortunately we're used to it." Lucy said with a sigh. "He's like this in the Guild Hall as well."

"Yeah we can relate to that." Magna said as he ate as Gray gave up looking for his clothes, which were back in the Fairy Tail men's changing room as he'd taken them off after putting them on, and went off to find a new outfit. "We've got our own shameless wizard who just lounges around in underwear all day. Course ours is actually witch and now she's used her comfortableness in underwear to model and really bring in the big jewel for us so we don't complain."

"Oh right you're talking about Vanessa, I'd love to meet her one day." Mira said with a smile. "I hear she's become quite the star in my absence."

"Yeah she's around, just look for the drunk flirt in red with a bottle of wine and you'll find her." Magna said as Vanessa was, at that moment, drinking heavily and making her way over to a few members of Lamia Scale who'd caught her interest. "She won't' be hard to miss."

"That also describes Cana though." Lucy said as Cana loudly shouted nearby that she was seeing double as she drained two bottles of wine at the same time while Macao tried and failed to remind her of their setting. "So it might not be easy."

"Vanessa's Guild Mark is obvious so you'll be able to tell that it's her." Finral pointed out. "But if there's another like Vanessa then that's not good."

"It could be fun though." Luck said happily. "You guys are strong so who knows what could happen when you let loose."

"We could say the same for you guys." Lisanna said. "You have no idea what you did when one of you beat Erza. That's not something we see every day, or at all really."

"Yes, I was quite impressed by that." Mira said. "I've had my own share of tangles with Erza back in the day but they were pretty even so to see someone beat her was something else."

"It was so hard to watch but so manly at the same time." Elfman said crying at the memory. "And then Asta beat Gajeel, Gray, and Laxus to make him even more manly. We may have lost but damn is that kid something else."

"Yeah lil rasta is something special." Magna said grinning. "Makes me proud to be his senior."

"I just want to fight him." Luck said shadowboxing. "And Erza for that matter, she looks fun to fight."

"Asta was the best in the Battle Royale, that can't be denied." Mira admitted. "Beating Erza and Laxus is no small feat, let alone doing it almost back to back in the same event. People will be talking about this for a long time. I must ask though; what kind of demon is his Takeover Magic. It didn't look complete so I couldn't really make it out."

"Please don't remind me that there's someone who is apparently a combination of you and Erza when he fights." Lucy said. "I didn't see it and I'm already sure that I'll have nightmares about it. Someone like that shouldn't be possible."

"Huh, oh right that." Magna said swallowing his latest mouthful of food as Finral got alert as they'd not yet discussed how to reveal Asta's true power to people here. "Not sure, he learned it one day when we were all trying to find a healer for his arms after a particularly nasty injury he picked up so I didn't see how it happened, he just came back to the Guild with that change. Classic Asta, though, always getting stronger. Makes us want to do the same."

"Yup, Asta taught me how to use my magic in a battle and how I could actually be useful without any offensive magic." Finral said who was there when Black Asta was forcibly manifested by the Witch Queen but decided not to go into any details about it. "He's turned us around, we used to be the worst of the worst in our old home always causing chaos and doing more harm than good whenever we got involved in something."

"Yeah don't get us started on the damage we caused." Magna added. "It was excessive."

"It was still fun." Luck said. "I had a good time but Asta taught me how much more fun it was to fight alongside friends."

"Sounds like us with all the destruction and Asta sounds like Natsu in particular." Mira said with a smile. "We tend to go overboard a bit when we do a job."

"It's actually very annoying as it usually means we don't get paid, especially when you're on jobs with Natsu." Lucy said though she was only complaining about the first part. "But yeah we tend to get the job done but get fined for what we did to complete the job."

"Yeah but we do so in the most manly way possible!" Elfman said loudly.

"Not as manly as us!" Magna retorted. "You've not seen how we handle jobs."

"Oh you want to go there punk!" Elfman said. "How about you show me how manly you are by out eating me."

"Oh you're on, Charmy's prepared me perfectly for this, I can't lose even if you do sound like the Captain!" Magna said as he loaded up his plate with even more food while Elfman did the same. "First to finish the table wins!"

"Let's do this!" Elfman roared and the next moment the pair had devolved into an eating contest that had no place in a ballroom.

"And there goes that decorum." Lucy said with a sigh as Mira chuckled at the display.

"Just be careful brother." Lisanna said. "Don't choke on the food."

"Well how about we show them how to properly behave." Finral said as the music picked up and he noticed that there was indeed a dance floor as he'd expected. "Any of you lovely ladies care for a dance?"

"Sorry I'm waiting on someone." Lucy said which Mira instantly knew was Natsu and smiled at that.

"Not feeling it." Yukino said, she'd been silent the whole time as she was still nervous about being here as Sabertooth was also present and she wasn't sure how she could handle running into them so soon after everything. "Sorry."

"I have to look after my brother." Lisanna said. "Someone has to."

"Maybe later." Mira said still smiling. "The night is young after all."

"Then I'll be back later." Finral said not dejected as he turned. "Onto the other lovely ladies."

With that he left causing the four women to sweat drop at that. The Black Bulls were certainly interesting but the situation had devolved to the eating contest with Luck supporting Magna and Lisanna looking after Elfman so Lucy took that moment to take her leave of the table and find a quieter place while the contest picked up in earnest.

As Lucy moved away from the table while Elfman and Magna continued to engage in their 'manly' eating contest, she noted that Yukino hadn't come with her but Mira was with her so Lucy didn't worry about her. She knew that Yukino would be ok and she could always go back to her in a moment she just needed to step away from the table. Besides, she was more worried as to why Natsu wasn't here yet and what he might be up to but it was Natsu so she couldn't really do much there except trust that he'd arrive soon.

As such Lucy had decided to grab some food at one of the free tables and just wait around for a bit. She didn't really have any other plans so she didn't notice the person arriving until she was interrupted as she was enjoying a bite to eat at a table with a graduating plate tower centerpiece filled with fruit by said person greeting her.

"Hello Lucy!"

The sound startled Lucy and cause her to jump and instinctively pop the rest of the food into her mouth and gulp it down a bit too fast as she recognized the voice and turned to the speaker. It was of course the Princess but to Lucy's surprise she had her arm through that of a tall, tanned, well built, man in a black outfit who Lucy would have failed to recognize had it not been for the quarter cloak over his right shoulder bearing the emblem of his Guild.

"Princess Hisui!" Lucy said surprised as she addressed the newcomers and her mind processed who the man was having seen him when he arrived to try and destroy the Eclipse Gate. "And, um, you're the Guild Master of the Black Bulls, aren't you? Er…"

"Yami Sukehiro but you can just call me Yami." Yami said trying his best to be formal in the situation as he racked his brains for the girl's name and thankfully it came to him. "Miss Heartfilia if I recall, you're the girl with all the keys who was with the kid that crashed a dragon into the gate, right?"

As Yami spoke he took in the blonde girl and noted that she was wearing a two tone pink dress that was pale pink on the dress part and a more standard pink on the top with a plunging neckline lined with white fur and a gold design that highlighting Lucy's impressive assets and drew the eye from the silver necklace she wore though Yami's gaze didn't linger there. A blue divider thing splitting the two pink halves was the only other bit of color on the dress.

Meanwhile, Lucy could tell that the whole being formal was a strain for the Black Bulls' Guild Master. So much so that she almost missed the fact that he sounded a lot like a more serious and threatening version Elfman which confused her but as he was a beefy man she just chalked it up to similar physiques playing tricks on her.

"Yes and Lucy is fine." Lucy said as she gave both the Princess and her escort a short, proper, curtsy while recalling what Yami had done to try and destroy the gate during the battle with the dragons. "Natsu's the guy who crashed the dragon, he's a guildmate and a good friend of mine."

"I could tell from both of yours ki at the end." Yami said remembering the scene and how it had kinda reminded him of how Noelle and Mimosa's ki was around Asta. "That kid's got guts I'll give him that, reminds me of one of my own knuckleheads who's late it seems. I'll kill Asta for being late to this."

"Yes, well, Natsu's also not here yet." Lucy said with a sigh as it would seem that she wouldn't get to forget about the Black Bull as the image of a fused Erza and Mira flashed in her mind but after what Asta achieved, and Natsu later for that matter, Lucy expected that both boys would be brought up for all night. "I'm sure that Natsu is on his way, there is a lot of good food here after all."

"I don't doubt that they will be here, they were two of the big heroes of the Games and battle after all." Hisui said with a smile unaware that Natsu's actions at the end had pretty much made everyone forget about how the Black Bulls, and Noelle in particular, had actually killed one of the dragons. "I'm glad to see that you're enjoying the food Lucy. Our chefs went all out for this so I am pleased to hear that their work is being appreciated."

"Probably a little too much if I'm honest." Lucy said as a grape bowl with a dragon like design coming out of the center was placed on a nearby table and Mr. Lavian picked a grape before Charmy arrived at the table on a cloud of cotton and began to vacuum it up. "Though not as much as others are it seems."

"Your chefs will have a run for their money with Charmy around." Yami admitted as she expertly cleared the table and moved on. "I apologize for my Guild member's appetite, it's as impressive as it is disturbing."

"No need, I like to see a healthy appetite and the chefs will be happy to hear that none of their work went to waste." Hisui said with a smile. "They did prepare this for everyone and we know many have large appetites here. Plus I heard what Miss Charmy did, that magic recovery food she can make is something that we've never heard of before."

"Huh?" Lucy asked looking over at the small black haired girl who was now working on her 4th table of food since arriving in the ballroom with such speed that Lucy felt like she'd get heartburn just from watching the display. "She's the one who makes it? We heard about it a few months back when we stopped by your Guild's store in Magnolia, I didn't know who did or how though. I've also not had the chance to enjoy it yet though."

"It's a useful spell that she knows and a game changer in battle." Yami said as he grabbed a large mug of beer that was on a tray. "Helped keep us in it against the Sea King Dragon and restore us after we killed that lizard so that myself and a few others could go out and aid the other battles."

"Yes, according to my father, we were well prepared thanks to Miss Charmy and the healer in your Guild." Hisui said as Yami took a deep drink of the beer and noted that it was a good one. "Magical and physical healing, having both in general was a big boon to us but to see that they're both in the same Guld, well it's no wonder you were the shock of the games. The Black Bulls have impressive members to say the least, especially as Healing Magic is a lost art these days."

"Mimosa's magic is one that our home continent is known to have as we've preserved some of the lost magics there." Yami said fudging the details due to the presence of Lucy though Hisui wasn't surprised to hear that in Yami's world Healing Magic wasn't as uncommon as it was in Earth Land. "She's a valuable member of my Guild. Couldn't have pulled off the win without her healing us throughout the week."

"Healing Magic is a big boost; we'd be lost without Wendy." Lucy admitted recalling her own healing session after what happened against Flare and glad that Noelle had knocked her out of the Naval Battle when she did as Lucy had a feeling that Minerva might have really hurt her if it had just been them after Natsu's attack on Sabertooth. "I've not met many who can heal though, it's so rare here. This Mimosa must be talented to learn it."

"She is, I'm glad that she's part of the Guild." Yami said as he finished his beer and looked around noticing Makarov was off to the side with a few other older men not being bothered by the formality of the situation. "Er, Princess, as we are at the ballroom…"

"Oh right, of course." Hisui said smiling at the man. "Please go and socialize, I am sure many will want to talk with Fiore's new top Guild Master and I shouldn't monopolize your time. Thank you for escorting me to the ballroom and I look forward to our next meeting. I'll send the invite to the Grey Deer tavern as your Guild Hall is never in the same place twice thanks to that member you told my father about."

"Appreciated it Princess." Yami said glad that Hisui understood what he wanted before he had to be a bit rude. "The invite will be forwarded to me by whichever of my knuckleheads is manning the tavern at the time."

"Your escort?" Lucy asked as Hisui removed her arm from Yami's and he bowed to her before he began to walk away.

"He is the top Guild Master now so it was fitting that I ask him to escort me to the Grand Ball but that's beside the point, I hear that you are part of the illustrious Heartfilia family." Hisui said as Yami walked away. "That's quite the…"

Yami didn't catch the rest of what Hisui said to Lucy as he was too far away by then and he didn't really care easily navigating through the crowd. Thankfully, while the Black Bulls had won the Grand Magic Games, Yami as their Guild Master wasn't featured that much so he wasn't as recognizable as the team was though he was certain that that would change by the end of the night.

For now Yami didn't mind that it allowed him to avoid being stopped as he made his way over to Makarov. As he did, Yami noticed that the others with Makarov were the small man of a similar age with a toothbrush moustache and the crossdressing Guild Master of Blue Pegasus.

He'd had only briefly interacted with Bob in the wake of the Grand Magic Games but Yami could tell that the man was a good Guild Master even if he was rather excentric, though that seemed to be par for the course with the Blue Pegasus members. The other man looked familiar to Yami but he didn't know where he'd seen him before so he ignored it as he grabbed another beer and approached the older men.

"Ah Yami, welcome, I was just telling Bob and Yajima here that I never thought that I'd see the day that the King would invite me to a royal shindig like this." Makarov said with a slight slur noticing Yami as Yami approached holding his mug up and towards his fellow Guild Master. "Not with all the apology letters I've had to write for my Guild's actions."

"You and me both, I've gotta write one of those letters to the King here for cutting a line through the Palace." Yami said with a grin as he joined them. "And back where we're from, the King there's an incompetent, petty, tyrannical fool who'd never invite a commoner like me to his does. Not that he would after I destroyed part of the Throne Room shortly before we left."

"So you come from a kingdom as well." Bob said turning to Yami as Makarov took a deep drink from his mug. "That's not a surprise as most nations here are kingdoms or some kind of noble fiefdom. A shame that your homeland is run by someone like that though, that's not how a King should act."

"Yes I was wondering about that." Yajima said and as he spoke Yami realized that he was one of the two main announcers from the Grand Magic Games. "The Black Bulls aren't from Ishgar, are they?"

"Nope we're from a far off continent that as far as I know doesn't have a name." Yami said keeping things deliberately vague. "Things got a bit dicey there thanks to said foolish King and one of his relatives who runs the Magic Parliament there so we decided to pack up shop and leave for greener pastures. A trusted friend and mentor of mine back home spent some time in Fiore some decades back and recommended it as a good place for a fresh start, which was the first time we heard of this place or the continent of Ishgar for that matter. Still, with our skills and expertise, becoming a Wizard Guild when we got here just made sense and the Magic Council actually reward hard work without looking down on you."

"Yes, while there is nobility it's not classist here for the most part though as with any system there are a few bad eggs." Yajima said with a nod. "You're not the first group to realize this and won't be the last. I'm glad to see that you've made Fiore your home, you've really shown it in the Grand Magic Games and taught us a lot."

"Fiore's welcomed us with open arms, we're happy to be here." Yami said smiling as he took a drink. "Only been here for two years but already feels good."

"You said things were dicey back where you're from." Bob said intrigued by that part of Yami's tale. "Sounds a bit scandalous, what happened if I may ask?"

"It was a little scandalous actually." Yami said with a grin at Bob. "There was an incident a little over 2 years ago where a terrorist group, basically a Dark Guild as you'd call it, decided to try, and overthrow the Kingdom and we stopped it. However, in part to save face given that one of the traitors was a high ranking noble who partially redeemed himself at the end when he was a major part in rectifying one of the issues, the nobles there didn't want to blame their own so pinned it on two of my guys who were actually critical in saving the day, alongside myself of course. To avoid issues we voluntarily left because the system was rigged against us, you know how it is in a place where class is so entrenched."

"Alas that can happen but it does sound wonderfully scandalous." Bob said lapping up Yami's abridged and vague story. "You must tell me more about your home, feel free to come by my Guild Hall anytime. We'll treat you right."

"I appreciate it." Yami said unsure what that meant but if he got free booze he wouldn't complain. "If I'm every in the neighborhood I'll drop on by and I'll pass it on to my Guild members.

"Well first you've gotta bring your Guild around mine." Makarov said as he finished his drink. "We need to celebrate rising to the top two spots together and my guys won't take losing to you lightly. Especially because we needed that prize money to buy back our old Guild Hall."

"Just let us know when." Yami said grinning glad to have an excuse to further deepen his Squad's ties to Makarov's Guild as that was what Julius had recommended while Makarov began to cry at the loss. "We tend to be moving our Guild Hall around as we look for where's best for training at a given moment but we can go anywhere thanks to Finral."

"Ah yes a Spatial Wizard of his caliber is a rare luxury, one of the many advantages you're Guild has it seems." Yajima said. "It's no wonder that you did so well, you're full of surprises."

"We've only scratched the surface of what we can do." Yami said his grin broadening. "Now that we're at the top it's time to really surpass our limits."

The others just laughed at that while Makarov cried at how Fairy Tail came up just short and more drinks came by. So far Yami was having a good time but he knew that it was only a matter of time before his knuckleheads did something to embarrass him. Still, they'd earned this so hopefully they were at least having fun.


"I still miss my sock; it would be perfect for this!"

The sound was followed by a wail and an attempt to comfort the man, both of which got Vanessa's attention as she finished her latest bottle of wine and put it on a nearby table. She recalled that there had been a sock incident in the Grand Magic Games where one of those Raven Tail guys had destroyed a sock after his one on one duel with the sock's owner in Lamia Scale who'd claimed to have lost the sock for three months only for it to be around his neck. It had been the man's secret and he told it as part of the bet when he lost only for the Raven Tail guy to point out where the sock was before destroying it.

It had been an ugly moment and one of several that showed Raven Tail's true colors, though by then they already knew that that Guild was no good following what they did to Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail the day before, but Vanessa hadn't thought more about it until now when she heard the wail and turned to see the speaker. It was who she thought it was, the dog themed man in Lamia Scale who was lamenting his sock's death to his friend and guildmate with the most impressive eyebrows that Vanessa had ever seen who was trying his best to comfort him.

The dog guy, Toby, though Vanessa didn't remember that that was his name, was in a blue jacked with gold trim over a white shirt and matching ascot with his hair pulled back and tied off in a red bow at the nape of his neck and a set of glasses on his head. Interestingly he didn't have any dog ears like before which showed Vanessa that they were simply for show though he still had the odd muzzle like lower face. By contrast the eyebrows guy, Yuta, though again Vanessa didn't recall his name, was in a full top hat and tails outfit complete with red bowtie and a white tie for his hair.

"See, I even keep the pieces of it with me to memorialize my lost sock." Toby said pulling out the shredded white remains of his sock that he was carrying in one of his pockets. "I need to find a place to bury it and a nice gravestone for it."

"Seriously, it's just a sock." Yuta said as Vanessa got an idea and made her way over to the men to help out. "You can get another and that's beyond repair."

"So long as you have the fragments, nothing's beyond repair if you know what you're doing." Vanessa said getting their attention. "Allow me to be of assistance."

The two men turned to Vanessa and stared at her as she approached them. Even without the distinctive location of the Guild Mark on her chest, which was naturally on proud display thanks to the low cut of her dress, they'd recognize the woman right away.

That was because Vanessa Enoteca was the currently ranked as the number 2 model in all of Fiore behind Jenny Realight but with the Black Bulls' win he could potentially become the number 1 thanks to the increased profile of her Guild. Of course the return of Mirajane Strauss and Fairy Tail's own return to the upper echelons of Wizard Guilds following their own performance in the Grand Magic Games were they cemented their status as the second place Guild, she could easily retake her spot atop the Fiore model's list before Vanessa could challenge for it.

Of course that wasn't what Toby was thinking about at the moment. He was too preoccupied with what she'd said to him and he had to confirm it.

"Can you really help my sock?" Toby asked as Vanessa walked up to them and grabbed a wine bottle on the tray rather than any of the wine glasses on that she passed with a smooth ease despite being at least 3 bottles deep already. "Can you save it?"

"It won't be fully the same but I can repair it." Vanessa said smiling as she held up her free hand and created some red threads from her palm. "I am a Thread Mage, well Thread Wizard as they call it here, so repairing fabric is a synch for me so long as you have some of the original remaining."

"This isn't free, is it?" Yuta asked bluntly.

"Good observation eyebrows." Vanessa said with a grin. "Just buy me a few drinks as thanks next time you're in Crocus. With my work I'm usually based here running our tavern and modeling for Sorcerer Magazine so come on buy and show your appreciation that way."

"That could be expensive." Yuta pointed out. "I hear that you can drink as much as Cana or Bacchus. Oh and my name is Yuta by the way."

"Don't know about this Cana woman, she's that Fairy Tail girl who was their B team's reserve in the third event, right?" Vanessa asked and Yuta nodded. "Well then I can't speak to her drinking talents then. I know Bacchus, though, he comes around whenever he's in Crocus to challenge me. Good drinker, we're 2 and 2 in contests, lost two of my best bras to him from it."

"See, it's going to be expensive Toby." Yuta said looking at his friend and deciding not to ask a follow up question regarding the apparently semi-regular drinking contests between Vanessa and Bacchus. "Is it really worth…"

"Fix my sock!" Toby said holding out his hands to Vanessa with the remains of the sock in them. "I'll pay it."

"That's a good boy and don't worry it's just a couple drinks and some chit chat when you're next in Crocus, that's all." Vanessa said with a smile and she would have rubbed Toby's head if she had a free hand but instead she just sent the threads from her palm and at the shredded sock remains in Toby's. "This will only take a second or two and then it will be as good a new."

Vanessa wasn't wrong as the threads made contact with the pieces of sock and went to work in a flash of red that was almost impossible for the eye to follow. One second there were remains of a sock, the next there was a whole new sock present that was white but with red lines all over it showing where it had been repaired.

Toby's eyes went wide and tears filled them as he howled in joy at it holding up the sock. Yuta had to admit, it was good work and the sock looked like it was sturdier than before. Hopefully, this time Toby wouldn't wear it around his neck for three months while thinking it was lost the entire time.

"That was a nice thing you did." A new voice said approaching them. "And impressive fine magic control to pull it off. You Black Bulls are full of surprises; we shouldn't have underestimated your Guild."

Vanessa turned to see a silver haired man approaching in a blue jacket with light blue shoulders and sleeves, gold trim, and some designs on the sleeves over a pale turquoise shirt with a darker turquoise ascot at his throat. Vanessa quickly recognized him as Lyon Bastia, the other Ice Mage who had lost to Gray Fullbuster in the Battle Royale though no one actually watched the battle given that Asta and Erza began their duel a few moments later and once that duel began no one could look away from it.

"Don't you know it." Vanessa said grinning. "If I recall you were one of the first to realize how good we were back in Hidden though I don't think our Guilds met again after that. Well other than Charmy punching that Sky Dragon Slayer of yours through a building in the Battle Royale."

"Yes, Asta's ability to reflect magic with his great sword really took me by surprise." Lyon admitted as he reached them not adding that Jura had been part of the 5 man brawl that had two Black Bulls and briefly engaged their Lightning Wizard but that wasn't really a fight as the Black Bulls ended up focusing on Olga in it. "And he beat my rival twice and my unrequited love once, a truly impressive fighter. I must thank him when he appears, it seems no one is talking about my loss to Gray or what happened to Sheila in the Battle Royale because of him."

"Well yeah when you beat Titiania in a sword duel that is taking place at the same time people are going to notice that one over two Ice Wizards going at it even if you are two of the top Ice Wizards out there." Yuta said. "Though I too would like to speak with Asta tonight. He's a fellow Wave Magic user and his style with those swords is very different to how I use it, would be good to compare notes about our different styles."

"I'll let him know on both fronts whenever he arrives." Vanessa said looking around and noting that Asta still wasn't present. "Odd that he's not here though, he usually loves this kinda thing and is the life of the party. Noelle and Mimosa must be worried."

"He's probably been waylaid on the way." Lyon said. "He did win the Battle Royale and beat 4 Fairy Tail members, including two of their top S-Class Wizards, in the process, as well as technically beating a member of Sabertooth and assisting in the defeat of another. He's more than earned the praise he's going to get and vaulted himself right to the top of the Guild Wizards not just in Fiore but in all of Ishgar."

"That's our Asta, always working and overachieving." Vanessa said with a smile. "We've known that for a long time and it will be nice to see him finally get all the credit he deserves after the Grand Magic Games."

"Oh he'll get more than that." Yuta noted. "He's going to quickly become a big thing, especially if he's single. Sorcerer Magazine does a list of all the eligible bachelors and I'm certain he'll make the next cut."

"He is and that may be an issue for some I know but it could also finally push them in the right direction." Vanessa said. "And Asta's oblivious to that stuff anyway so he won't notice any additional attention like that regardless."

"Well I just wish that my…" Lyon began before a voice that belonged to the very person he was about to mention cut through the air nearby.

"Now open up those strong arms my darling Gray and embrace me!"

"I'll pass thank you."

The response was followed by the sound of someone hitting the ground and Vanessa and the Lamia Scale boys turned to see Juvia Lockser in a multi toned blue dress with hearts on the ends of the pleats in the skirt and a matching hat and shoes on the ground as a now dressed Gray Fullbuster stood with his back to her a few feet away. He then turned to Juvia and Vanessa had to admit he looked decent in the dark blue and off white jacket with gold trim.

"And this is the new and improved version of me." Gray said as they watched. "The one who isn't afraid to tell you exactly what I think about your actions, Juvia."

Clearly he answering something Juvia had said to him a moment ago that Vanessa and the Lamia Scale boys hadn't heard though Vanessa noted that while the words sounded harsh, and likely would to Juvia, there was no actual harshness behind them. Vanesa was sure that the Captain and Asta would be able to tell more about Gray's true feelings if they were around with that ki stuff they did, well they could if they weren't boneheads when it came to this kind of stuff that is.

Vanessa watched as Juvia looked up with a wail for a moment before she suddenly did a 180 and leapt up her hands over her face and a blush on her cheeks as she turned from Gray. Vanessa got the impression that while Juvia hadn't realized that there was no meaning behind Gray's words and took them seriously, she'd also not cared about them. The feelings were certainly strong in her, it was impressive.

"Oh my darling is now so brazen and hot!" Juvia exclaimed happily and Vanessa got a new impression, one that showed that Juvia likely had some masochistic tendencies, at least when it came to the boy she was clearly in love with. "How can you get any more perfect my icy hunk!"

"Gah you're even more insane than ever!" Gray exclaimed and this did seem genuine so Vanessa chalked up the issues here more with Juvia's overzealous behavior than anything else. "How is that even possible?"

"Gray, how dare you teat her like that!" Lyon said stepping forward unable to hold it in anymore. "You need to treat her with more respect! She's just showing her love for you, don't be an ass about it."

"What?" Gray asked turning to Lyon, as did Juvia, to see that Lyon was with Toby, Yuta, and that model in the Black Bulls whose name he couldn't quite remember. "This has nothing to do with you Lyon."

"And that includes respecting her feelings for you as well." Lyon continued as if Gray hadn't said anything. "And while I do love her, it's clear that she doesn't feel the same and that I must respect that."

"Yeah no shit!" Toby and Yuka said at the same time.

"Pretty obvious really though an amusing love triangle nonetheless." Vanessa mused as she began to develop a plan, she was always willing to help out a fellow maiden in love, so long as she wasn't a rival like that prickly Captain back home who Vanessa knew that she had to destroy. "She just needs to tone it down a bit, that can be off putting to anyone guy or girl."

"Gah this party is starting to get really annoying." Gray said his frustration starting to get to him. "And why does Natsu get to skip it? If I have to be here then so should he."

"It does seem like he should be somewhere causing a ruckus." Juvia noted her tone going back to normal as she looked around surprised that Natsu wasn't here yet. "It has been rather quiet without him."

"So your brash, loudmouth, clueless, inspirational fighter isn't here either." Vanessa said though it was more to herself than anyone else as Gray and Juvia were still looking around for Natsu. "That's odd, I wonder why neither of them are here."

Vanessa continued to muse that as she finished the bottle of wine she'd recently grabbed and found another. Oh well, it was a party and she was sure that Asta would arrive eventually and if not, well Noelle's sense of smell was now significantly better so she could just sniff him out and drag him here if it came to it as she had to be annoyed that wasn't here with her. For now Vanessa wouldn't worry as she continued to enjoy the party hoping that the others were having as much fun as she was.


"Wow! It's so sparkly, it's almost like a jewel!" Wendy said as she stared over the lip of a fancy serving dish her fingers on the edge of it at the gelatinous amber looking pudding with bits in it while Sheila did the same next to her. "I bet it tastes even better!"

"It's beautiful!" Sheila said agreeing with Wendy's assessment. "And it's unlike any desert that I've seen before so it has to be delicious!"

"Let's eat it then." Wendy said as she took one of the plates.

"Of course." Sheila said as she took another plate and a spoon for it. "Together!"

Wendy nodded and grabbed a spoon and together she and Sheila scooped out a bit and ate the dessert. Their reaction was the same and spoke as one.

"So good!"

"Hmm, fancy new dessert! That's the reaction that screams that it has to be eaten!"

Wendy and Sheila didn't hear the new voice nearby that responded to their reaction to the dessert as they were enjoying said dessert but they had been heard hence and the speaker was now moving her cotton cloud over to the table. Of course it was Charmy who'd heard them as she was fortunately nearby and navigator to the younger girls right away. She'd eaten her fair share of good meat and other mains, appetizers, side dishes, fruits, and anything else that she could find so it was time to enjoy the many desserts to see how good they were and she just had a good sound on one of the desserts.

"That looks so good! I want some as well!"

Wendy may not have heard Charmy but she did hear the second voice and turned to see the spirit of Fairy Tail's First Guild Master, Mavis standing next to her drooling as she looked at the food on Wendy's plate. Naturally, that got a surprised reaction out of Wendy.

"You're here?" Wendy asked as Charmy got several plates of the same dessert and moved away her path taking her towards and past the two younger girls. "What are you doing here? Did you stay after the games or something?"

"Er Wendy, who are you talking to?" Sheila asked. "Is something the matter?"

"Oh no I'm just fine, sorry." Wendy said realizing that she'd forgotten that only members of Fairy Tail could see Mavis and looked away from her and back to Sheila. "Just a bit distracted that's all."

"Can I have some of that, please?" Mavis asked getting closer to Wendy's food.

"I'm not sure that will work." Wendy said turning back to Mavis. "Can ghosts even eat food? If so what can you eat? Also does that mean that you have to go to the bathroom as well?"

Mavis was about to respond to all of Wendy's questions in the negative but before she could the ghost nature of her body showed as Charmy proceeded to float into and through her as Sheila looked at Wendy confused. That got both girls' attention for different reasons and they eeped at Charmy's arrival, Wendy out of shock at her floating on a cotton cloud through Master Mavis's head and chest and Sheila at seeing the girl who'd beaten her floating on cotton and eating whole puddings one after another by simply tipping the whole plate into her mouth.

"You're the girl who punched me through a building and the floors in it!" Sheila exclaimed. "And then you caught me, how'd you do that? That cotton was impossible to get out of."

"First Master are you ok?" Wendy asked. "Does that hurt you or something?"

"Hey, don't you know that it's rude to float through people?" Mavis asked indignantly her arms waving up and down by her side as Charmy came to a halt and turning to look at the blue and dark pink haired girls with the two types of Sky Slayer Magic that they'd seen in Earth Land not realizing that her turn caused her to hit Mavis, again. "And now you've stopped inside me!"

"Huh why do I feel like someone's annoyed at me?" Charmy asked looking around confused, while Mavis raged at Charmy for floating into her and remaining there. "That little bug isn't here, she's annoyingly with my Prince of Provisions but she'll never win him, so there shouldn't be anyone to anger though the bug has it coming."

"Er what?" Wendy asked now really confused as Mavis backed up with a huff and glared at Charmy's back. "Also who are you?"

"Huh?" Charmy asked looking at Wendy. "I'm Charmy of course. Who are you?"

"Wendy." Wendy replied still confused. "I'm a member of Fairy Tail. Are you in a Guild?"

"Wendy, this is the girl that beat me and Juvia in the Battle Royale." Sheila said regaining some composure as she still had a few bad dreams about either a giant sheep punching her through a wall or getting stuck in a ball of cotton and being unable to get out. "She's one of the Black Bulls."

"Oh my apologies." Wendy said with a bow of her head. "You aren't wearing one of those robes that you all seem to wear and I missed the Battle Royale trying to help Lucy and Yukino so I didn't recognize you."

"It's ok." Charmy said dismissing it before holding up her latest plate of pudding. "Thanks for the dessert tip, these are yummy."

"Aren't they!" Wendy said smiling, she was worried that Natsu wasn't here but she was supposed to socialize and this Charmy girl seemed to be her own age so she could be nice to talk to, she'd just ask Mavis about Natsu in a moment as the First Master was hanging around. "They're as good as they look."

"I've gotta get the recipe for them for my sheep cooks." Charmy agreed as she ate another one whole and fully enjoyed it. "So much good food today!"

"Hey, don't you remember me?" Sheila asked getting Charmy and Wendy's attention. "It's not everyday someone knocks me out in a single hit and then catches me before I can heal and counter, just what kind of magic can you use?"

"Wait, this is the person who beat you?" Wendy asked finally processing that as she just couldn't see the short girl happily eating pudding on a cotton cloud as the type to so efficiently defeat someone as strong as Sheila. "How?"

"Sorry but who are you again?" Charmy asked Sheila.

"I'm the girl your sheep punched into a building so hard I almost went into its basement, or so I've been told." Sheila explained a little taken aback by Charmy's lack of memory of her. "I was fighting with Juvia while waiting for Lyon to come back me up when we hit your table of food during the Battle Royale. You then got mad at us for that and next thing I know a giant sheep's appeared and squished Juvia to water. I tried to get away and attack you but then your sheep turned on me and next thing I know I'm coming too trapped in a ball of cotton with my head out unable to move. Seriously, what magic is that? You knocked me out and bound me so tight that I couldn't get out until you dismissed it."

"Oh right I remember that now." Charmy said as she moved her cotton and stood up on it and thrust her finger into Sheila's face. "How dare you waste my food! Or any food for that matter because you should never waste food little girl!"

"Huh, that's what your mad about?" Sheila asked taking a step back at how angry Charmy was about wasted food before it hit her. "And wait a sec, I'm not a little girl! I'm 15, I'm older than you!"

"I'm 21!" Charmy exclaimed much to Sheila's shock. "I'm short, not young!"

"You're 21!" Wendy asked her eyes wide. "But your small and, er, well, like me. How do you manage?"

"Huh?" Charmy asked turning to Wendy, who had her free hand over her non existent chest which she was still self-conscious about despite only being 12. "Oh that. You're young, you've still got plenty of growing to do so don't worry about it. Besides, when you are old enough it's not about size it's about being worldly so you can teach your prince a thing or two. Plus sexiness doesn't need any enhancements, magical or otherwise."

At that Charmy posed showing off her figure and Wendy had to admit the older girl really had a confidence that pulled it off despite her lack of a chest. It was a strange thing to see but Wendy smiled at it.

"So you have a boyfriend then?" Wendy asked.

"Ah love!" Sheila said her shock and confusion over everything instantly vanishing the moment that the love angle came up. "That would explain your strength, you used it because you're in love!"

"Huh, no I got mad because you wasted my food." Charmy said snapping back to the topic of beating Sheila as she bluntly looked at the girl. "And let that be a lesson to not waste it, got it? You got off easy in my book."

"Yes ma'am." Sheila said deciding that it was best to not question Charmy's battle motivations.

"How'd you get your boyfriend?" Wendy asked bringing it back to the boyfriend topic. "You must really love him if you call him your prince."

"Oh no my Prince of Provisions hasn't asked me out yet and he's got this little bug that's always around him getting in my way whenever I try to get a chance to ask him." Charmy said clearly annoyed before she was reinvigorated by her desire to feed her prince. "But I'll win him over. It's all about confidence and knowing what you want, and food because a good way to a man's heart is through his stomach. That and squishing any bugs in your way."

"A little odd but I'm sure my cousin would agree with you there." Sheila said with a nod approving of Charmy's love goals. "Well said miss…"

"Charmy, Charmy Pappitson." Charmy said as a new smell hit her from some freshly laid out food a few tables over. "Now if you excuse me, they put out a new dish and I must try it. Bye, bye."

With that Charmy flew away leaving Sheila and Wendy a little stunned by the whole exchange. It was interesting to say the least and Wendy smiled at it.

"Wendy! I think there's something near me and it wants to eat my food!"

Sheila's wail got Wendy's attention and she turned to see that Mavis had moved while Charmy was talking and was now standing behind Sheila looking down at the half eaten pudding on Sheila's plate her nose almost touching it, well going through it but same thing. Wendy just chuckled as she turned to her friend still concerned that Natsu wasn't here yet as he wasn't one to miss something like this but trusting that he'd show up soon as she continued to have fun.


"How's it going my friend?" Gordon asked as the crowd that had been awed by Henry's magic finally dispersed, chatting amongst themselves with some slipping away order forms or contact information for the Black Bulls' merchandise as Henry ran the business side of the Black Bulls. "You seem to be popular tonight."

"Gordon, good to see you." Henry said in his usually slow, measured, tone. "Yes, people are curious as to why I'm in this so I have to explain and show them. They're surprisingly understanding which is nice."

Gordon nodded in understanding at his friend's situation. Due to Henry's curse they had to get permission for him to use part of the hideout, after he reassembled it and got it out of the city following the battle with the dragons, to come back to the city and partake in the Grand Ball. The king had been more than happy to agree, especially after he heard the story of what had happened and how the Black Bulls had literally dropped their Guild Hall onto of a dragon's head before Henry rearranged it and used it to punch the dragon in the face, and so arrangements had been made.

As such Henry had flown a portion of the hideout to the Palace the night before and landed in the grounds where no one would see before Finral used his Spatial Magic to transport it into a special changing room that had been set up for Henry. The total portion had been large enough for Henry to recombine it into two parts, one for changing in and one for him to use in the ballroom with the second part being moved here by Finral as well so that it was already in place before the Grand Ball began. After that all that was needed was for Hendry to get ready and Gordon had to say his friend looked good.

Henry now wore a crisp, light brown jacket with dark brown trim and gold buttons and epaulets over a light blue shirt with a slightly darker blue ascot, black pants, and black boots. As with all the Black Bull men, Henry had a new quarter cape over his right shoulder and a black belt with a black grimoire holder for his grimoire.

It was fresh look for him but the big challenge had been Henry's nest of hair. That had taken most of the day but he'd managed to comb it, at the cost of 2 dozen comes and some angry birds that were back in the changing room hut still pissed, and wash it so that it was now in a thick braid down his back to his knees and tied off with a black ribbon. Gordon felt that it suited his friend nicely.

"Well you do have a unique condition." Gordon noted. "So people will ask."

"Yes but I don't mind as they are only curious, plus it's nice to be out and socializing." Henry said with a smile. "And many have put in new orders with us after I explain things and what my main role for the Black Bulls is so I'm conducting business as well. The Captain will be pleased with how much work we'll get for this as we've received 5 job quests and 2 whole sale broom orders."

"Such are the perks of winning the Grand Magic Games." Gordon said with a nod. "We will be getting more attention now."

"Tell me about it!" A new voice, one that Gordon recognized as his friend Grey's, came from behind Henry's brick and glass hut that the was in as she poked her head out briefly. "I had to come here because I couldn't find anywhere else to hide and Henry could make space for me. I'm trying to not use my magic but it's hard with this many people around."

"Grey, you don't need to hide." Gordon said kindly. "I know this is a lot but think of all the new friends that we can make tonight."

"I don't want to be myself here." Grey said her shyness in overdrive. "There's too many people."

"Well then just rest here then." Gordon said knowing that it was best to not push his shy friend. "It is peaceful at the moment."

"That's the plan." Grey said from her hiding spot. "The people talking to Henry are gone so I can…"

"Mommy, why is that man in a building?"

"Now dear, it's rude to point."

The new voice got the three Black Bulls' attention and caused Gordon and Henry to turned to see a striking woman with green hair holding a small black haired girl in her arms. Grey just gave a yelp as her shyness got another boost and she shrunk even further behind Henry's hut, which he recombined a bit to give her more space.

They both recognized the woman as Bisca, a member of Fairy Tail and one of the first three members that any Black Bull had met back on their first day in Earth Land a little over 2 years ago. Based on what they'd learned about the woman, the girl in her arms who was still pointing at Henry had to be her daughter Asca though her husband and Asca's father Alzack wasn't with them.

"It's ok, grownups have asked the same thing tonight as well." Henry said slowly smiling at the girl. "I don't mind."

"Still, it's not polite to just ask so I'm sorry for that." Bisca said as she noticed the two men and more importantly their cloaks and the emblems on them. "Oh, you're Black Bulls, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Bisca and this is my daughter Asca."

"Hello." Asca said waving from Bisca's arms.

"We just came here for a brief moment of quiet, this is a nice event but a bit much at times for a 6 year old." Bisca said. "Sorry to bother you."

"It's perfectly fine, we like meeting new friends." Gordon said so quiet that it was almost inaudible. "My name is Gordon and this is Henry."

"Hello." Henry said with a little wave.

"I believe you met my friends Asta, Noelle, and Mimosa a while back, right?" Gordon asked doing his best to make conversation. "They mentioned it shortly after we arrived in Fiore I believe."

"We did, couple years ago in fact." Bisca said with a nod. "To think that in only a few years your Guild would rise to the top, it's almost unimaginable though Sabertooth's own rise was pretty fast as well but they didn't do it when we were at full strength. We had no idea that you guys were that strong."

"Yes, the ghost girl was very upset." Asca said. "She cried a lot."

"Asca, we talked about it, that's not something to say, Mavis wouldn't like it." Bisca said. "Sorry."

"It's fine, we did beat you so it's to be expected." Gordon said not even questioning what Asca meant by ghost girl. "But it was all fun and games and now we're friends just like it should be."

"Yes it was a friendly competition." Bisca said with a smile. "And we came back from our bad start as well so we can't complain."

"We heard a lot about Fairy Tail before coming to Fiore as our Guild Master knows a former member." Henry said slowly. "It was good to see that you are back to what he told us about. He'll be happy to hear it."

"I see our reputation precedes us." Bisca said. "But that will be yours as well soon."

"I still don't know why that man's in a house thing." Asca said before either could reply. "Is he playing or something?"

"Asca, please…" Bisca began but Henry interrupted her.

"It's ok ma'am, I've explained it to others, I don't mind." Henry said though he was going to have to adapt his explanation for a 6 year old. "The thing is I was born with a condition that causes me to make people tired around, it's annoying but so long as I am inside my home, which this is part of, then I won't affect you and I can control with my magic I am fine. This way I can be present as well with all my friends, the King was kind enough to allow it."

"Oh." Bisca said unsure what to say to that.

"I am currently researching cures for my friend." Gordon said proudly. "I am hoping to find something in Fiore that our homeland doesn't have that can help me cure Henry's condition because magic is different wherever you go."

"That's nice of you, I know that any in Fairy Tail would do the same if one of us was sick." Bisca said smiling at that. "It's how a Guild should work."

"I agree." Gordon said with a nod. "Friends look out for each other."

"Exactly which is why…" Bisca began.

"Bisca, there you are." A new voice said getting their attention. "Alzack is looking for you."

Bisca turned, and Gordon, Henry, and Grey, who poked her head out from around Henry's hut at the newcomer's voice, looked at the new arrival. It was actually two arrival, both women in fancy low cut dresses and with long purple hair though one was lavender and the other a dark, near midnight, purple so they weren't sisters.

The lavender one wore glasses, had her hair in a high pony tail with wavey bangs framing her face and was in a red dress with a light turquoise skirt part. Meanwhile while the dark purple haired girl was in an off yellow dress that covered her shoulders but left her cleavage on display and a green skirt part.

Given their familiarity with Bisca they had to be part of Fairy Tail, or at least associated with them. In fact Gordon at least recognized the lavender haired one with glasses as a woman called Laki based off Nero's reports and she was indeed a member of Fairy Tail.

"Thank you." Bisca said before turning back to Gordon and Henry. "It was a pleasure meeting you."

"Yes, good luck getting better." Asca said with a wave before Bisca hurried off to find her husband. "I hope you manage it!"

"Getting better?" Laki asked looking at them and revealing that she'd been the one who'd called out to Bisca. "Oh, do you have some condition hence the, er, bricks?"

"Yes, it is for your protection." Henry said not needing to worry about a more dumbed down version for a 6 year old. "I drain Ethernano from people around me unless I'm in this. Well, I still drain it but it's not direct so you won't notice."

"I see, that is rather fascinating." Laki said adjusting her glasses. "A spell then? One that you lost control of in the past or was cast on you?"

"Curse is a more accurate word, and I was born with it." Henry said. "Thankfully, our Guild Master needed a Guild Hall when he formed the Black Bulls and my home was perfect for it. I can control the Guild Hall with my magic and their presence helps me for I may drain Ethernano but I need to do so as well."

"Ah a curse indeed." Laki said with a nod as she processed Heny's words. "And that would explain what some of the Mermaid Heel girls were saying. Is it true you guys brought your whole Guild Hall to the dragon battle?"

"They did what?" The other girl, who the Black Bulls didn't know but was called Kinana and who worked for Fairy Tail but wasn't a member yet, asked. "How do you move a whole Guild Hall?"

"I did, it was my way of helping." Henry said. "Finral used his Spatial Magic to drop it on the dragon and then I used my Recombination Magic to reform it into something that could fight the dragon. All it did was annoy him but I did help give Noelle the time she needed to fully recover."

"Impressive." Kinana said not sure what else to say to such a story. "I was helping with the evacuation so I didn't see but we heard that you guys fought well."

"Yes, you aided Gajeel, Laxus, and Wendy, right?" Laki asked. "After apparently slaying a dragon."

"Oh we slayed it." Henry said with a nod. "Well Noelle did with a sword she borrowed from Erza and filled with her own magic, but it was a Guild effort. Then we helped out were we could."

"In addition to the three Fairy Tail Dragon Slayers our Guild Master helped the two in Sabertooth and I went to aid my new friend the Poison Dragon Slayer." Gordon said. "I didn't catch his name but I helped him out with my Poison Magic."

"Poison Dragon Slayer?" Kinana asked something going off in her head at that and grimacing at the pain it caused. "Why does that sound familiar."

"You ok Kinana?" Laki asked.

"Yeah fine, just one of those moments." Kinana said shaking her head and smiling without elaborating though Laki knew what she meant. "I had some in the battle as well."

"Right well let's get you some water." Laki said turning to them. "Sorry for leaving so soon but…"

"Marie, you're here!"

"Oh no." Henry said as he and Gordon recognized the voice and turned while Laki and Kinana jumped in confusion before looking over at a third Black Bull male coming over his pace fast and his nose bleeding his eyes on Laki. "Gauche, she's clearly…"

"None of us are called Marie." Laki said confused cutting Henry's slow speech off. "I think you have me mixed up with someone else."

"Huh, then why do you sound like a grown up version of my angelic little sister." Gauche said his expression falling and glaring at Laki ready to use his Mirror Magic on someone who would dare sound like Marie. "That's not…"

"Damn it big brother I'm already here!"

The new voice was Marie's, and Kinana did have to admit to herself that it sounded like a younger version of Laki, and they all turned to see a young blonde girl possibly around Wendy's age standing behind Gauche with her fists clenched by her sides and wearing an adorably pink and frilly formal dress that was perfect for the situation. The Fairy Tail women had no idea how she'd gotten there but Gordon and Henry knew exactly who it was.

It was, of course, Grey who'd turned into Marie with her magic to save Laki from Gauche doing something stupid and causing an incident with Fairy Tail. Naturally, this didn't deter Gauche one bit though whether or not he realized that it was Grey pretending to be his sister was up for debate.

"Marie! You are here!" Gauche said happily his nosebleed increasing as he turned to Grey-Marie and bounded over to her. "Come on, there is so much to do and show you here. Let your big brother guide you through the ball. The night has just gotten perfect!"

Grey could only nod before Gauche picked her up and swung her around before he took her away and deeper into the ballroom. She was sure that Gauche would know that it was her, well mostly sure, and given her crush on him she didn't mind too much, though she did wish that he'd see her for who she was and this whole thing was creepy and not going to look good on them. At least it avoided any issues with Fairy Tail though and that was more important.

"That was…" Kinana said.

"Very strange and a bit creepy." Laki finished.

"I apologize for my friend; he and his sister lost their parents at a young age and then they had their family's money stolen from them so he's always been a bit over protective." Gordon said. "Due to various circumstances after that she was taken in by a local orphanage back home and Gauche joined our Guild to support her, he sends almost all his earnings to the orphanage to help Marie out. Alas we've been away from home for a few years so Gauche hasn't seen her and hearing an adult version of her must have brought back a lot of memories for him."

"Yes but thankfully we got permission to bring Marie here just for this." Henry said playing into the cover story. "So as you can see he's a bit…overenthusiastic at their reunion."

"I see well in that case it's admiral in a way." Laki conceded. "If a bit over the top."

"We have a few eccentric characters in our Guild." Gordon admitted. "I'm sure you understand."

"Better than you know." Laki said with a chuckle as she was one of the many Fairy Tail eccentrics. "Well on that note Kinana and I need to get some water, a pleasure meeting you."

"And you." Gordon said to which Laki and Kinana smiled and nodded before they turned around and left and Gordon turned to Henry. "Well that was nice, we made some new friends."

"Yes it was nice." Henry said. "And the night is young, who knows what could happen."

Gordon just nodded as he looked out over the ballroom planning on heading back into it once the next group came to chat to Henry and see how many new friends he could make. The night was young and Gordon was sure that he would as he stood there watching the room and giving off his usual vibes.


"Oh god what is that horrible smell?"

"It's coming from you ma'am, I'm certain of it."

"That's repulsive, how could you not bathe for such a fancy event!"

"It's not me, I swear! It must be some of the unwashed masses that the King let in for this."

"No ma'am it's you so if you excuse me I'm going to go. I can't bear to be around you smelling like that.

"Yes, me too. I'd like to chat to some of the top Battle Royale performers anyway, I may have a job or two for wizards of that caliber."

"As do I and some have magics that could be of use in other business ventures of mine."

"Personally, I just want to meet some of them. The ladies we saw were as sexy as they were deadly, I hope they're single."

"Don't forget those manly men, I'd love to feel Laxus or Asta's muscles."

"Hey! Don't go! Do you know who I am!"

Zora just chuckled to himself as he heard the shouts and rejections coming from a group of wealthy attendees behind him as he casually meandered through a crowd of non-Guild, invited guests. He held a half drunk glass of champaign in his hand though he was barely sipping on it as it was more for show and to serve as cover while he did his actual work pleased that his latest move had worked so well.

Parties like this didn't appeal to Zora, he wasn't one for the fancy doings of nobility, but he had to attend and so he did. At least this kind of event wasn't as bad as it would be in Clover where people like him wouldn't even get invited in the first place, he had to give Fiore that much credit as they did do a better job on class relations.

That said, there were still a few who resented the fact that this was an event for the Guild Wizards, many of whom had no ties to the upper class or vast amounts of money, and felt that their money or station merited better treatment. Those were Zora's targets and he had an array of tricks, traps, and pranks to have fun with those who looked down on, or worse abused, people less fortunate than them.

Admittedly people like that were rarer in Fiore than they were in Clover but Zora was an expert in finding them out and he'd managed just that when he'd been casually walking through some of the invited attendees. They were the prime targets for his actions as they weren't members of the 7 Guilds that had contested the Grand Magic Games, well 6 after Raven Tail's disqualification of course and naturally no one from that Guild had been invited, so they were here because of money, status, connections, or some combination of the three.

Admittedly it appeared that most were good people who understood the nature and work of the Guild Wizards and treated them accordingly. In fact many were here because they'd chipped in financially or materially to the rebuilding of Crocus and the feeding, housing, and care of the general citizens who had been temporarily displaced in the wake of the dragon attack so Zora didn't have an issue with them.

However, there were a few who were here because of connections or who had done just enough to get invited because this was the social event of the year and they wanted to be in attendance and didn't actually care about helping the common people of Crocus. Those were Zora's targets and he'd just hit his first one.

Said target was an extremely made up and fancily dressed woman who was with several others of her social standing when Zora was called over by one of them having been aimlessly wandering around pretending to observe the paintings on the wall but in reality listening for potential targets. He'd been surprised that they called him over and recognized him as a Black Bull until he remembered that he was wearing a quarter cloak over his right shoulder that had his Squad's emblem on it so that explained it.

He didn't want to go over to the group just because someone had called out to him but, well, connections meant useful information and money for the Black Bulls, both of which would be useful. As such he begrudgingly went over to chat with the richly dressed men and woman.

Zora was glad that he did when he realized that one of the women there was the kind of person he detested as instantly she looked down on him and his mask calling it common and unfit for an event like this. One of the people with her, a man who Zora was sure had a contract with them for wholesale of some of Nero's communication devices, defended Zora by noting that as a Black Bull he was now part of the top Guild and could do where a cool mask at the Grand Ball if he wanted to. That and the Black Bulls were of vital importance to the Kingdom and he hoped to further his relationship with them.

Of course, there would be an ulterior motive but Zora didn't mind, he'd found his target and just needed to wait for the right moment to strike. That came a few moments later when he was discussing some of the jobs that the Black Bulls had done before the Grand Magic Games and the woman turned her back on him to talk to an even more fancily dressed man who clearly was more important to her than Zora and what he was saying. That was perfect and with a practiced excuse Zora told them to contact the Grey Deer tavern for any jobs they wanted done or for contact information for item contracts and left.

As he did he gave them a polite wave, a rainbow stinkbug that he'd pulled from his pocket concealed in his hand, and left. The wave was in keeping with decorum but for Zora it was purely the tool he needed to toss the bug onto the back of the woman's dress and it crawled up and down her neck as it emitted its pungent odor. There was no way that she'd find it now and Zora was clear of the group and grinning as he heard the reactions. That woman would be ignored for the rest of the night as she deserved for how she looked down on those not in her economic bracket.

Yes, this fancy shindig might not be Zora's cup of tea but he could still have fun in his own way and he fully intended to do so. It was in that vein that he created a small pitfall trap right by a man who was rudely berating a server over not having the right vintage of some ludicrously rare red wine so that when he turned he fell into it, stumbled, and crashed to the ground spilling the expensive wine that he had been forced to accept, swill as he called it, over himself and his fine white suit.

Zora chuckled at that as he walked past the spluttering and indignant man with no one the wiser that he'd been responsible and looked for his next target. Yes, whatever else happened Zora would have his own brand of fun while his fellow squadmates did their own things at the Grand Ball.


"Ah Noelle, good to see you made it."

The voice was familiar enough to Noelle to know it by now but even without it, she'd smelt the other woman approaching and after first fighting against each other in the Battle Royale and then fighting together against the dragonlings Noelle had now gotten enough of a baseline to be able to recognize Erza Scarlet's scent. Still, she'd not been expecting Erza to address her as she could smell Kagura nearby as well and had presumed that that was were Erza was going when she picked up the redhead's scent.

Not that Noelle minded, Erza was a nice woman who Noelle wanted to get to know better so she turned to the Fairy Tail woman as she approached Noelle and Nero who were had stopped in one of the common areas to collect themselves after seeing off some guys who tried to flirt with them. Mimosa had dipped off to use the restroom so had avoided the annoying men but she'd be back soon and Noelle could introduce her to Erza when she did. In the meantime she could assess how well Erza had cleaned up for the event.

Noelle had to admit, Erza was looking good, and she was impressed at how well a woman who wore armor normally could pull off the ballroom attire but she did. Then again she'd done something similar for the magic ball where Noelle had first seen her though they didn't interact at it so Noelle shouldn't have been too surprised.

This time Erza wore a full dress that was dark gray on top that had sleeves the went to just past her elbows and a deep cut showing plenty of cleavage and designed to look a bit like a jacket with silver buttons and edgings on the folded parts around the neckline and a gold tassel thing at the center of the chest. The lower half of the dress was blood red though, a few shades darker than Erza's hair, and edged in a dark gray with a lighter white gray line around the hem and a white and gray V band splitting the top and bottom.

It wasn't just the dress that Noelle approved of but also the accessories as Erza had paired the dress with a golden choker, pink gemstone earrings that dangled from a gold loop and had three more gold strands dangling from the gemstones, and red shoes that matched the color of the skirt. Additionally her hair was done up in a loop at the back of her head that fell into the long tail down her back with a fine golden chain on her head with pink gems dangling from it.

However, the most notable thing to Noelle was that Erza's sleeves had slits in them over her biceps and tied at the cuff with white bands. That alone wouldn't be anything to note, it was a certain style of dress sleeve after all, but the fact that Erza's blue Fairy Tail Guild Mark was on her left bicep meant that the design ensured that it was displayed for all to see as she wore the dress which made the whole thing more noticeable.

"Erza, yes I wouldn't miss something like this." Noelle smiled as the woman reached them and Noelle noted that there were three additional scents on Erza that didn't smell like food but she didn't know the scents so she just chalked it up to the general olfactory assault of the room and still getting used to her heightened senses after her magic's evolution and left it at that, not that it would be polite to ask anyway. "I see you're looking good. You look good in that dress."

"As do you in yours, and it's thanks to your Guild that we're all able to be here and fully healed for this ball." Erza said though as she spoke Noelle couldn't help but note that even with makeup on, which was tastefully and lightly done, there was still a faint but scar running along Erza's left cheek in a straight line from just below her lip to her temple. "We owe the Black Bulls a lot for what they did. Nero, you really patched me up after the Battle Royale. That made a huge difference when facing the dragonlings."

"I did what I could, my Sealing Magic is good for cuts and breaks." Nero said. "Though you should get someone with actual Healing Magic to look at your cheek. I sealed the wound but it was deeper than I expect so without specific treatment that scar will remain."

"I know but until I can beat Asta in a duel I think I'll leave it as is." Erza said smiling as she reached up to touch it with her left hand. "It's a reminder of my loss to him and a way to keep me humble as it had been a while since I was defeated. When I beat him I'll think about removing it. I don't think Jellal likes it but he understands why I won't remove it for a while."

"Somehow that's fitting." Noelle said normally she'd be jealous however she could tell that Erza wasn't a rival for Asta, now Noelle could admit her feelings she could also admit to having rivals though she'd not yet figured out who those rivals might be, but rather Erza was someone on Asta's level of combat who had dueled him so they shared a mutual bond that few could understand. "By the way, you got your sword back, right? There was so much going on that I forgot to check."

"I did thank you." Erza said with a nod. "Asta dropped it as he was heading off and I picked it up and put it back in my storage. He called it the Sea Dragon Slayer Sword instead of the Sea Empress Sword and I've decided to keep the rename as it earned that title thanks to you."

"I wouldn't have been able to pull it off if you didn't lend it to me." Noelle said. "Or if Nero didn't think to get it."

"It was the right call." Nero said. "I'm just glad I remembered it during the battle."

"It was perfect for the fight and now I have a Dragon Slaying sword in my arsenal." Erza said. "I also stored the trident you gave me as well and it's still there."

"Oh that's good to hear." Noelle said as Mimosa rejoined them though Noelle didn't pause as she'd smelt Mimosa approaching. "I was wondering about that as well. I'm surprised that it stuck around."

"I'm just pleased to add it to my inventory, it's a useful and unique weapon." Erza said smiling at that before she noticed the newcomer and turned to her. "Oh, hello, I think I recognize you. You're a Black Bull as well, aren't you?"

"Yes, Mimosa Vermillion at your service." Mimosa said with a perfect curtsy. "A pleasure to formally meet you."

"Erza Scarlet." Erza said smiling and doing her best curtsy back before the name hit her. "Hold up, did you say Vermillion? Is that your family name? As in your parents have it as well because mine's made up so it could be that."

"It is." Mimosa answered unsure what Erza meant about her surname though Noelle had a vague idea that it was tied to Erza's past and opted not to bring it up. "I am from House Vermillion in our homeland and Noelle's cousin."

"Yes Mimosa's our healer." Noelle said but Erza was barely hearing that. "As well as a ranged attacker but for the Grand Magic Games and the battle we would have been lost without her healing."

"Thanks Noelle." Mimosa said smiling at her cousin's praise.

"I'm sorry but I have to ask." Erza said still fixated on the whole Vermillion thing. "Do you have an ancestor called Mavis? Would probably be a great grandparent, a great-great grandparent, or at least related to them."

"Mavis?" Mimosa asked thinking on it. "No, I'm certain that I don't have anyone in my family with that first name."

"Are you sure?" Erza asked.

"Yes, very." Mimosa said simply.

"Erza, while we don't advertise it, both Mimosa and I are from two of the three royal families in our home nation." Noelle said surprising Erza with the general news and Nero and Mimosa with the lack of advertising it because while Mimosa didn't mention that she was a royal Noelle often did. "We take excessive pride in our ancestry and lineage as all three families can trace back to the founder of our nation some 500 years ago. Our family trees are extensively and well documented and we have to be well versed in them."

"Oh, I see." Erza said still surprised by the latest development as it just compounded the whole Vermillion. "I didn't realize that you were royalty."

"Thank you." Mimosa said with a smile.

"We aren't here so it's understandable." Noelle said dismissively. "And it would be rude to bring it up."

"They're good examples of our royal families." Nero said bluntly, her tone hiding her surprise that Noelle was understanding about not being realized as a royal though it was only a slight surprise as they were in a different world at the moment. "They actually stand for what their ancestor did, even if it took a bit for Noelle to get to that point."

"Hey!" Noelle said. "I wasn't that much of a brat when I joined."

"Anyway, why do you ask about a Mavis in my family?" Mimosa asked getting the conversation back to the topic at hand as Nero just gave Noelle a look telling that yes she was that much of a brat back when Nero first saw her as a bird. "Do you know someone with the same family name as me?"

"Yes, our Guild's founder and First Master in fact, she was a woman called Mavis Vermillion." Erza said. "She founded it with three others including our current Guild Master's father."

"Ah I see well I'm sorry but I can assure you that I'm not related to your founder." Mimosa said and if Mavis was there and not trying to figure out how to eat some pudding off Sheila's plate she'd have nodded in agreement at that. "There's no way, it's just a coincidence."

"Oh ok well expect some questions from my Guild on it when it comes up." Erza said accepting that it was just a coincidence but still surprised by it. "We take pride in our history so hearing the name Vermillion will bring up these questions."

"That's fine, I am hoping that we can get along well so I don't mind clarifying it." Mimosa said with a smile. "We're already doing a good job on that front after the Grand Magic Games."

"Agreed." Erza said as her brain caught up to her now that the Vermillion confusion had been cleared up and recalling what Noelle had said about Mimosa's magic. "You did heal us after both the Battle Royale and the dragon battle, we owe you."

"I was just doing my duty as a Guild Wizard." Mimosa said. "I only wish I could have helped more on the front lines but my only offensive spell at the moment is a ranged one and wouldn't have worked on the dragon."

"Nonsense." Noelle said. "You were vital Mimosa; without you we'd have lost that battle and I'd probably be in a lot worse shape so thanks for patching me up in the battle."

"Agreed." Nero said as Mimosa flushed a bit at the praise. "You were a huge part in our success Mimosa, don't sell yourself short."

"Healing is important, I can't imagine where we'd be without Wendy at times." Erza agreed. "She's been a…"

"Ah…few that was close." A familiar voice said nearby interrupting them and causing the four women turned to see Kagura in a stunning strapless and elaborate purple dress a few shades lighter than her hair but still dark purple with detached matching sleeves and gold embroidery and a golden choker around her neck stumble and just about catch herself. "I can hardly walk in this thing."

The reason for the stumble was obvious, the skirt part of Kagura's dress was golden with a purple over skirt and came to floor and she'd caught it with her foot as she walked. Clearly she wasn't used to this kind of attire but Noelle couldn't deny that she looked good in it and the stumble got their attention allowing Erza to address Kagura and effectively call her over to them.

"Kagura, there you are, it's good to see that you were able to come after all." Erza said smiling at her. "You went through a lot, we both did, so I was worried."

"Yes, thank you." Kagura said her relationship with Erza was still a bit frosty after all that had happened between them both in the Battle Royale and what Kagura had heard during the dragon battle but she did want to change that and see Erza in a different light. "Noelle, a pleasure to see you again. Mimosa, I must thank you for all the healing you've done both after the Grand Magic Games and during the dragon battle, none of us would be back to fighting shape without you. Nero, um, sorry we didn't get to interact much."

"You had no cuts or broken bones so no need for my skills." Nero said simply. "Thank you for staying to help protect the command center during our battle with the Sea King Dragon, we couldn't have beaten it without your aid."

"I'm just glad I could help." Mimosa said with a smile. "And as Nero noted I only managed that because you and your guildmates helped protect me."

"There are only two talented external healers here and only one is both an area healer and not a Dragon Slayer so it was an honor to help protect one of the most vital assets on the battlefield so that she didn't have to worry about being hit." Kagura said with a bow. "And we got to watch that battle first hand. You're something else Noelle, I'll never forget the sight of a dragon being slain."

"Right, I never asked, how did you kill it?" Erza asked looking at Noelle. "Those things are big and we're not sure what their anatomy is."

"I wouldn't have been able to slay it without the aid of my guildmates that you and your guildmates freed up by staying to protect Mimosa so thank you for that." Noelle said, the setting bringing out her best manners but she was pleased internally about the praise. "And Erza for that matter. It was her sword that I used in the end. As for how I killed it, Erza, I, um, cut its head off using a wound that Asta had created in the back of its neck with one of his swords that can store and project magic, in this case mine."

"It was the wisest strategy to use that sword and all thanks to Nero's forethought." Erza said surprised that that was how the dragon had been killed and wanting to know more about what Noelle had said regarding one of Asta's swords, she was certain that she knew which one it was, but chose to wait until Asta arrived to ask and besides, she wanted to say something to kagura and now was the time for that so she turned back to the other swordswoman. "And Kagura, I'm glad I could speak to you, I have a proposition for you."

"And that is?" Kagura asked.

"Can we please let go of our past and be friends?" Erza asked, the vagueness enough to speak openly about it without going into the deeply personal details of their pasts though both girls knew that Noelle was aware of the issue between them but as a foreigner to Fiore, and Ishgar for that matter, she had no context for it. "I know there's a lot there but…"

"No." Kagura said cutting Erza off before she blushed and looked away as Erza had given her the opening to voice her own desires regarding how she wanted to view their relationship going forward. "Because I'd rather be your sister."

"Do you mean that?" Erza asked her eyes wide and happy but Kagura didn't respond so Erza continued. "Oh you're such a little sweetheart! Come here sis."

At that Erza grabbed Kagura and brought her close causing Kagura to fall forward into Erza's noticeable cleavage with an audible boing sound. Mimosa was confused by the exchange, Nero indifferent to it, but Noelle smiled at how the pair had overcome the issues in the past though she lacked a lot of context regarding what had happened to them.

"That's good that you can move on." Noelle said her own family strife way to deep for something like this. "And so quickly."

"Hey, please let go of me Erza." Kagura protested while three of her four guildmates appeared behind her all dressed up for the occasion as they smiled and laughed at the scene. "This is embarrassing."

"You need a hug Kagura." Lislie said. "Embrace it, and Erza."

"I agree." Noelle said with a nod thinking of how she'd hug Vanessa, who was more of a big sister to Noelle than her actual sister, when Vanessa saved her back in the Forest of Witches. "It's good to see."

"I don't get this but it's nice." Mimosa said with Nero just nodded.

However as that was happening there was a huff and they all turned to see that the final member of the Mermaid Heel contingent, Millianna, was kneeling on the ground behind Erza and to the side of the Black Bull girls in a yellow dress with pink edging and white collar, hem, and tights with cat paws on the hem and cat themed jewelry to accessorize the look. It was an odd reaction but Erza seemed to not be too fazed by it as she turned to look at her old friend.

"Oh, Millianna, I really wish you'd cheer up a bit." Erza said before letting go of Kagura and turning fully to the girl. "We discussed this, I know that it's a lot and it will take time but we all know the full truth of who was behind what we went through."

"Does this…" Noelle began looking at Kagura.

"Yes." Kagura said and that was all that was needed for Noelle to understand that this involved that Jellal guy and while Noelle still had no context for it she knew enough to know that there were serious issues and that she should stay out of it. "Millianna was, er, like Erza only she never got away."

Millianna just huffed again not looking at them so Erza smiled and walked to towards her friend. She'd expected that something like this might happen and had already prepared in advance for it as soon as she realized that the Mermaid Heel girls had arrived.

"Luckily, I have just the thing to cheer you up." Erza said closing her eyes and for some reason reaching both her hands into her cleavage and fumbled around in it for a bit causing Kagura, Noelle, and Mimosa to look on in confusion and Nero in intrigue before finally lifting up her left breast slightly and reaching under it. "And here he is!"

At that and as if it was a magic trick she proceeded to pull out the blue exceed, Happy if the Black Bull girls' knowledge served them right, from her cleavage. For once Happy was actually dressed as he was wearing a navy blue suit over a pink shirt and powder blue ascot tailored to fit his small frame.

"Are ya feeling pumped?" Happy asked smiling as everyone blinked at it and even Nero's usual stoic façade fractured at the surprising rabbit out of the hat, well exceed out of the cleavage to be precise, moment. "Because I am!"

"Kitty-kitty!" Millianna exclaimed, her obsession with cats kicking up a notch at seeing Happy and reaching up towards him before she got control of herself and looked away. "Don't think that you can just persuade me with one kitty."

"Oh I know that one isn't enough." Erza said as she put Happy down and then reached back into her cleavage and quickly pulled out the other two Fairy Tail exceeds Carla and Panther Lily who were in a pink cardigan with yellow skirt and a green and gold suit respectively with neither looking as pumped nor thrilled as Happy with the situation. "That's why I have more for you."

"Ahhhh! So many precious kitties!" Millianna squealed and Noelle noted absentmindedly that she sounded like a strangely insane version of that Mariella girl that had once called Asta dashing but given the general oddness of the situation, and the many questions she had, that was the least of Noelle's thoughts right now. "Meow! Come to mamma."

The reveal of two more exceeds finally got to Millianna and she grabbed all three and hugged them tight on the ground as they complained about her actions. It was an interesting sight for sure but there was one pressing question.

"How did she keep three exceeds there?" Noelle asked as she looked between the exceeds and Erza's cleavage and noticed no change while the exceeds complained about not being stuffed animals and how hard Millianna was squeezing, even Happy was complaining. "That, that doesn't make any sense. There's no change in her size or cleavage, just how?"

"Yeah I can't even imagine that." Mimosa noted her hands going to her amble bosom and patting it. "I'm about the same size if I had to guess and I can't fathom getting one exceed in here let along three."

"Not an issue for me." Nero said bluntly. "They'd be noticeable right away."

"At least that explains the additional scents I picked up on Erza." Noelle said as Millianna finally let go of the exceeds and began to play with Happy's cheeks talking to him in a baby voice. "I was curious, thought my nose was playing tricks on me with everyone else around."

"A Dragon Slayer's nose is very sensitive and I bet your still adapting so that must have been confusing, sorry." Erza said. "But speaking of enhanced Dragon Slayer senses, Happy, do you know where Natsu is? No one's seen him."

"No, I have no clue." Happy admitted his voice slightly different as Millianna continued to play with his cheeks which was concerning because he was the most likely person to know where Natsu was. "Haven't seen him all day in fact."

"Wait, Natsu's also missing?" Noelle asked.

"Yes, his absence is beginning to worry me, I just hope that nothing's happened to him." Erza said cupping her chin in thought before Noelle's words hit her. "Wait, what do you mean by also, Noelle?"

"Huh, oh just that Asta's missing as well." Noelle said with a sigh. "I was hoping he'd be here by now but he's not shown up and I know that for certain as I can't detect his scent in this room and even with this whole enhanced smell thing being new that's a scent I wouldn't miss. I'm sure that he was with the other guys in our Guild but it appears that he didn't arrive with them."

"Same, I'm starting to get worried." Mimosa said. "Where could he be?"

"It's Asta, he wouldn't get lost so who knows." Nero said acting indifferent but she was a little concerned as well. "But he'll show up, he always does."

"Still, the two biggest heroes of the day aren't here yet, that is odd." Erza said. "And I was hoping to talk more with Asta, there's a lot that I can learn from him."

"Same." Kagura admitted. "I saw how he used my fighting style with Archenemy before switching it up to at least one, if not two, different styles with it. He's an exceptional swordsman. I'd like to discuss things with him and maybe spar a bit to see what I can learn from him. I'm actually jealous of Erza for getting to duel him though I don't think I could beat him either."

"Yes, that duel was amazing, one of the best I've ever had even if I lost it in the end." Erza said with a smile. "Asta truly is a top tier swordsman unlike any that I've faced. His adaptability and the fluidity of his personal style is something else. Using your weapon and style, Kagura, that was a total shock. Then he mixed it up and cut me using a style I'm pretty sure he learned from his Guild Master, few can do that."

"Asta is special." Noelle said with a smile that told Erza everything about Noelle's feelings for Asta.

"One of a kind." Mimosa said also smiling in the same way which surprised Erza but made things a bit more interesting.

"He'll be our equivalent of the First Emperor of Ishgar one day." Nero said simply her tone indicating that she didn't have the same kind of feelings for Asta but that she was no less devoted to him in her own way. "I look forward to that day and serving by his side."

"Same." Noelle and Mimosa said together.

"That's some high praise." Kagura said as a server appeared with glasses of wine that she, Erza, and Nero took glasses of while Mimosa and Noelle opted for water as neither wanted alcohol right after realizing their feelings for Asta though their decisions were separate of each other as they had yet to realize that they were rivals. "But he earned it. Few can do what he did to Fairy Tail's best. We might never see something like that again."

"Yes, Laxus will be just as pumped as me to avenge the losses we suffered to Asta." Erza said as she took a sip while Kagura drank almost half the glass in one go which was a bit surprising to the other girls. "Expect people to talk about it for a while."

"We already do." Noelle said enjoying her water and oddly wishing that it was a little saltier for some reason but she ignored it as she continued. "Our fight, the three of us plus Minerva, is getting some chatter as it was a good one but when it was followed up with, well, that, the focus is clear. Only the final duel is getting as much chatter and even then just the part against Laxus."

"Asta did take down Gajeel and Gray with one blow each." Nero pointed out as she took a sip of the god wine she'd selected. "Other than Gajeel failing to eat one of Asta's swords and how he adapted Gray's victory over Rufus into his victory over Gray those two clashes weren't that exciting."

"I wish I saw the Laxus fight." Erza said as Kagura finished her glass of wine and got another from a conveniently passing server before anyone could suggest otherwise. "That sounded epic. I've heard that they will be selling recordings of the Battle Royale so I've got to get my hands on one to see all the fights I missed, especially the last one."

"Hard to talk about wishing to see a fight when you had the first of the two great duels with Asta." Kagura pointed out a slight slur to her voice showing she had a low tolerance for alcohol. "And yours was the better one. What was it like to fight Asta? I know you said it was amazing but what was the actual duel like? There's only so much you can get from watching it on a lacrima screen, being in it would be something else."

"It's indescribable." Erza admitted. "Words can't convey the feeling of facing a warrior like Asta. You just have to experience it for yourself, there's no other way."

"Oh I will, where is he?" Kagura asked as she finished her second glass her cheeks starting to flush. "I want to challenge him!"

"Er, can either of you do anything about alcohol?" Noelle asked Mimosa and Nero. "I get the feeling that if Kagura challenges Asta when he arrives he'll accept it and try to fight her right away and this really isn't the setting."

"Nope, not at this point." Nero said taking another sip of her wine. "I might, theoretically, be able to seal the effects away for later like I can with say pain but that would only delay their onset and would only be possible be before they set in. Now, though, no."

"I'm not sure." Mimosa admitted. "Alcohol is a poison so I don't think I can help much but Gordon might be able to do something about it as he's been studying how to use his Poison Magic to cure. I can probably help with the hangover though. I really should have practiced on Vanessa; she'd have been really useful in seeing what I could do."

"Same." Nero admitted. "Though usually she's already drunk before I could seal the effects away."

"That would have been a good idea." Noelle agreed. "Anyway, Kagura, Asta's not here yet so you can't challenge him."

"Well then get him." Kagura said her voice starting to slur a bit. "I want to set up a…"

"Look, I'm sorry for the way we treated you. It was wrong and words can't convey how sorry we are but we're starting anew so please let us explain."

The words carried through the ballroom and got all their attentions. The girls turned to see a confrontation brewing right in the middle of the room with Sting of Sabertooth standing before Yukino his head down and eyes not looking at her as she turned back to look at him. Behind Sting were Rogue and Gajeel as they had been talking with Sting when Yukino passed them while Lucy and Mira flanked Yukino behind her.

Clearly things had progressed a lot since the Grand Ball started and this was now the center of attention as the room went quiet at Sting's words. That included Noelle, Mimosa, Nera, Erza, Kagura, and the other 4 Mermaid Heel girls who were now focused on the situation now unfolding.

"The way that we were under the master and milady was wrong, a Guild shouldn't be like that." Sting continued as everyone watched. "But the old Sabertooth Guild is gone, it's over and starting today we'll be the kind of Guild that treats our members like family. Both Natsu and Asta have told and shown me that that is how a Guild should operate and just look at how their Guilds performed over the course of the Grand Magic Games. Fairy Tail had been counted out ever since all their strongest members vanished 7 years ago but they returned and rose back from the ashes to almost win. The Black Bulls came from nowhere to win it all in the shock of the games. Both have that value and we should too."

"I see, that is good to hear and I wish you the best of luck in achieving that." Yukino said not looking at Sting but meaning her words. "I truly do."

"I know that the wounds we inflicted on you are still fresh and that it will take time to recover from them." Sting said. "But I'd love it if you were part of Sabertooth again. We're going to change and doing so means writing our wrongs starting with the ones done to you, Yukino. Please, will…"

"Oh you have got to be kidding me?" Kagura slurred getting everyone's attention and Noelle noticed for the first time that she'd moved away from her, Mimosa, Nero, and Erza and was now standing behind Sting and to the side with her hands on her hips and her four guildmates behind her, two on either side, and the three Fairy Tail exceeds with them as well though they were only there because they were still in Millianna's arms. "Stop being such an idiot!"

"Kagura?" Yukino asked.

"Did everyone here just forget that Yukino's life is in my hands after our battle bet?" Kagura asked and as it seemed that everyone had she continued. "That means that I'm the one making the rules when it comes to Yukino and her Guild future and I say that she's gotta join us in Mermaid Heel."

"What?" All six Sabertooth members present, which included their two exceeds, said as one.

"Huh? You're, you're serious?" Yukino asked shocked as Sting walked up to Kagura and noticed that she was red in the face, which combined with the slurring showed him what her condition was. "Are you sure it's not just the wine that's…"

"You're completely wasted!" Sting said cutting Yukino's question off though it was in the same vein as it. "You've got no idea what you're saying!"

"It doesn't matter that I've had a few drinks, I'm perfectly clear on this matter." Kagura said not backing down her earlier thought of challenging Asta to a duel gone now that she was focused on this more important task. "Yukino belongs to us because of our bet and you can't stop it!"

Sting didn't respond, he just growled at that. Of course that caused Kagura to growl back showing how much the situation had devolved and it was about to devolve even further as a third party got involved in the Yukino recruitment discussion.

"Stop right there you two!" Erza said having moved during the confrontation between Sting and Kagura so that she was now standing with Elfman, Lucy who'd also moved, Gray, Juvia, and Lisanna while Noelle and Mimosa blinked at what was going on. "We won't just stand by while only you two get to decide Yukino's fate!"

"We're manly like that." Elfman said.

"Yeah that's right!" Lucy said. "Besides, if Yukino's going to choose to be in any Guild again then it had better be ours."

"Yeah what they said." Gray added helpfully.

"Personally there are already far too many girls in Fairy Tail to compete with for Gray's attention." Juvia said hands on her hips and pouting. "But if that's what Yukino wants I'll support it just keep your eyes off my darling and we'll be good."

"Also she's too much like me." Lisanna complained.

"True, you're both little sister types with the exact same hair!" Romeo pointed out. "Only yours is a few shades lighter Lisanna."

"Oh, I never thought about joining Fairy Tail." Yukino said. "You guys have been very kind to me since everything and Natsu did defend me after what happened with Sabertooth."

"No way, a woman as beautiful as you are." Eva said cutting into the conversation.

"Deserves nothing less than the to be in the most beautiful Guild." Hibiki continued.

"So join us in Blue Pegasus." Ren finished.

"You've got such an intoxicating parfum." Ichiya said popping up with Nichiya. "It will pair well with the other ones in our Guild."

"Yes, we'd love to have you in our Guild." Jenny said. "Another beautiful girl is always a plus."

"If she wants to be with the best Guild then there's no question there." Lyon said adding a fifth Guild to the mix. "She should become part of Lamia Scale."

"Let's not get involved in this guys." Jura said trying stay out of it.

"Get in our Guild now!" Toby shouted ignoring Jura.

"Don't be rude!" Yuta said. "If she wants to join us it should be her choice so be polite about."

"Boys, remind me where did you rank in the Grand Magic Games?" Vanessa said still with the Lamia Scale boys. "Was it 3rd, 4th, or 5th, I can't recall there was such a gap between the top two so don't go sprouting off about the best Guild when it was just decided who was the best Guild. Remind me again who won?"

"Winning the Grand Magic Games doesn't make you the best!" Lyon said. "I mean yeah the winner is the considered the top Guild but still."

"There you go, it's an official way to go straight to the top and we did just that." Vanessa said before looking over to Yukino. "And Yukino, join who you want though the Black Bulls won't make a pitch for you. You'd fit in but we're not actively recruiting at the moment."

"Thank you that's at least some relief." Yukino said raising her arms and waving them as the tensions began to rise. "Please guys, don't do this!"

"I think it's time for Fairy Tail to win something." Makarov said grinning as the Guild Masters began to get involved as well, well other Guild Masters as now that the Grand Magic Games were over Sting was the new Guild Master of Sabertooth and he'd started this whole thing. "That second place is still a bad taste in my mouth and if the Black Bulls aren't in the running then we're the top choice for Yukino."

"All these hot-blooded suitors remind me of my younger days." Bob said with a sigh. "Give it your all boys and girls."

"I'll spin you." Obra added though as that was her normal response to pretty much everything no one was sure what she was referring to until she added. "If you lose this."

"Hey knuckleheads, if a fight breaks out I expect you to win it regardless of the reason for it." Yami called out. "Otherwise I'll murder you, we've got a new reputation to live up to."

"Wait now the Guild Masters are getting involved?" Wendy asked. "This is crazy!"

"That's love for you!" Sheila said. "It can bring this out in people."

"Captain, you can't be serious!" Noelle shouted staring wide eyed at her Captain. "This is not something you do in a ballroom!"

"Are you defying orders Noelle?" Yami asked glaring at her.

"No sir." Noelle admitted. "Just clarifying them."

"Good then execute them if a fight breaks out." Yami said.

"Well come on then!" Gray shouted. "You've heard everyone!"

"Manly battle!" Elfman yelled. "As it should be!"

"Hell yeah!" Magna said as the fighting began and he pulled his flaming bat out of his grimoire. "Let's do this!"

"Finally some fun!" Luck said as lightning sparked off him and he leapt into the fray.

"Wohoo now this is a party!" Vanessa shouted as threads appeared from one hand while she chugged a bottle of wine in the other. "Let's throw down Black Bull style!"

"My food!" Charmy wailed as someone was thrown into the table she was eating at. "How dare you interrupt my meal and waste food! You'll pay for that!"

"Marie get to safety!" Gauche yelled and tried to pick Grey-Marie up but before he could someone sent Sheila into Grey causing her to tumble away and instantly set Gauche off as no one should do that to Marie, or someone who was transformed into Marie, while Charmy created cotton sheep to pound the offending person, Olga of Sabertooth it seemed, into the ground for what he did to her food. "You'll pay for that. It was you, right, die!"

"This is so childish." Noelle said with a sigh as she drew her wand while several mirrors appeared and send blasts of mirror magic at Lislie from Mermaid Heel as she seemed to have been the one who threw Sheila which she tried to dodge but couldn't and took a shot to the chest that sent her into Yuta who was trying to get out of Vanessa's threads. "But it's the Captains orders."

"Well it's certainly different to back home." Mimosa said trying to look on the bright side as Noelle blasted water at any non-Black Bull who got close to them while preparing to use her Plant Magic just in case. "So may as well give it our best shot. This could be a cultural thing after all."

"I doubt that this is officially part of the culture here." Nero said as she sidestepped a flying and crackling Ichiya that Luck had kicked away so that he crashed through a table behind her and then slid back to her previous spot as a burning Nichiya was hit by Magna's bat right after him. "And I'm not much use in a brawl, I can only seal things. At least Asta's not here."

"Yeah that could be worse." Noelle said as she avoid Lucy as some of the Fairy Tail brawlers started to get close. "And there's plenty of water just in case."

"Just be sensible." Mimosa said as she noticed vegitables and vines sprouting by the Mermaid Heel girls. "But don't worry, I can heal everyone after this."

"Whatever, they started it." Noelle said as Rufus sidestepped a charging Gray. "This shouldn't be our fight."

"Given how quickly this escalated, it may not be a cultural thing but I get the feeling that this is normal here." Nero said as the fighting continued. "We should be prepared the next…"

Nero didn't get to finish her statement before Gray was tripped and staggered into Nero sending her flying before falling on top of her thanks to another sidestep by Rufus. That wasn't good as Juvia noticed that Gray was on top of another woman and it got worse when Gray pushed himself up and looked down at the girl in black under him and noticed a very distinctive set of horns atop her head.

"Miss Secré?" Gray asked. "From the magic ball that Count Balsamico threw? What are you doing here?"

"Secré?" Noelle asked as she turned distracted and looked at Nero. "I've not heard that since…"

"Yeah I don't use my birthname anymore." Nero said as she slammed her hands into Gray's chest to push him off her and for a second time sealing his clothes to his body just as she'd done at the magic ball. "I did when I danced with Gray as we were just scouting the competition at the time."

"Gray my beloved are you cheating on me?" Juvia asked as Gray flopped off Nero and rolled up on her back before pushing off the ground to get to her feet. "With that Black Bull?"

"No it was just one dance!" Gray said. "And hold on we're not together so I can dance with who I want!"

"I'll get rid of the rival!" Juvia yelled ignoring Gray's words as she rushed Nero. "Stay away from my darling Gray!"

"Hey, I've already got one jealous Water Mage suspicious of me when there's no reason to be." Nero shouted. "There's no need for another one!"

"What do you mean!" Noelle shrieked. "I'm not suspicious of you and Asta, not one bit!"

Nero didn't get a chance to respond as Juvia was on her and talked her around the waist with enough force to lift Nero up and carry her a few feet until they slammed into a table. Noelle just sighed as she turned to help her friend and squadmate out.

From then on it just devolved into shouts, spells, and brawls with even the Guild Masters getting involved which resulted in Yami grabbing Bob and putting him head first into the wall before hoisting Obra and Makarov up by the scruffs of their necks and holding them at arm's length while Obra shouted about ripping Makarov's mustache off and Makarov shouted insults at Obra. It was total chaos and soon tables were destroyed, food was scattered all over the place much to Charmy's dismay, and smoke and cotton were everywhere.

The only ones not fighting were Yukino and Mira with the former crying and the latter trying to comfort her. The tears were tears of joy though because seeing all this made her so happy which Mira liked to see and she pointed out that whatever Yukino chose there was a place for her which made Yukino grateful.

Things were really starting to get out of hand as what magic was being used stopped as the whole thing turned into straight up brawls. The only thing that was consistent was that the various Guilds looked out for and protected their own as the fighting escalated.

Naturally, those who loved a good scrap like Luck were having a ball of a time with Luck in particular laughing like a maniac as he zipped around. At the same time Magna managed to climb onto one of the few still standing tables and was ineffectively slamming his bat into Elfman's head while Elfman as Elfman slammed the heads of two of the Trimens together while shouting that he wouldn't be outdone by Luck.

Meanwhile Gauche was blasting off beams of Mirror Magic at anyone who he saw while yelling for Marie until a large wood club sent him flying into a table. Finral was avoiding conflict and trying to save ladies with his magic which got him slapped or punched almost every time until Millianna let out a mewling roar and leapt on him scratching his face and screaming about what he'd done to her in their battle. Gordon was trying to come and help Finral but as he ran over Araña sent out a web to stop him so that Millianna could get her revenge. Finally, Zora was staying out of it but was chuckling as he enjoyed the show.

Not to be outdone by the guys, Charmy was sending cotton sheep at everyone spilling food and using them to beat the offenders up while Vanessa was laughing as she slugged back wine by the bottle and tied anyone up who got near here. As that was going on Mimosa was trying to find Noelle and Nero as they'd gotten swept up with some of the Fairy Tail members before she could act and Grey had turned into a mouse and scurried away to safety.

It was a full scale brawl that only continued to escalate and was not fit for the Royal Palace. Thankfully, that was about to come to an end as Arcadios walked out onto the balcony above the ballroom and to the edge. It was time for the King's arrival so things had to be put back to order for him.

"Everyone stop this fighting this instant!" Arcadios said as he banged his sword on the ground to make his point. "This is unbecoming of Guild Wizards!"

The resulting boom got the fighting to stop mid fight. Literally, everyone stopped what they were doing mid moment so there were several interesting freezes such as Erza and Kagura pulling Kagura's hair and one man who had a long candlestick shove up his backside in the fight.

A few feet away from Erza and Kagura, Lucy was on Noelle's back trying to pull her off Juvia while Plue tried to help because Noelle had her hand in Juvia's blue hair yanking her head back and had bitten down on her shoulder to was about try and consume part of Juvia's water body. Noelle was only doing this because it was all she could thing to do to stop Juvia because Juvia had pinned Nero to the floor and was throttling her for dancing with Gray.

Meanwhile Nero had decided to not clear things up until later and was instead trying to use her magic to seal Juvia's water body so as to try and prevent Noelle from consuming all of her. Unfortunately, or possibly fortunately as it might give Juvia the wrong impression and get her to stop seeing Nero as a rival like she wasn't, their positioning had resulted in Nero getting a full, double handed, grope of Juvia's impressive assets.

Elsewhere, the results were just as interesting. Mimosa and Beth had somehow entangled each other in plant life. Gauche was now in some wooden torcher device while Laki looked at him disapprovingly. Finral was on the ground with several slap and claw marks on his puffy face as Millianna hissed over him. Magna and Macau were now fighting over his bat. Luck was mid punch with Freed having gone for Laxus only to be blocked by the other man taking it and punching back. Lastly, Vanessa was sitting on a pile of cotton captured people with her latest bottle of wine as Charmy feasted on saved food next to her.

Even Yami was stuck in an interesting position as his arms were being assailed by two ancient Guild Masters. They weren't doing much without magic but it was still amusing to see especially with Bob behind them trying to get his head out of the wall.

Overall it was a hilarious tableaux for Arcadios to look down on. However, he kept his cool and professional demeanor as he surveyed the scene before him as it died down.

"In honor of your performances during the Grand Magic Games and for your bravery in facing the greatest danger that this Kingdom has ever faced his Majesty would like to personally deliver this message to you." Arcadios said as the smoke settled and the fights finally broke up. "I present the King of Fiore, Toma E. Fiore!"

"Hi mister King." Asca shouted waving from the back where Alzack and Bisca had gotten her to safety when the fighting started.

"Sh dear." Bisca said quieting her daughter as the wall behind Arcadios opened revealing that the center was actually a large set of double doors that led deeper into the Palace.

The moment that they did everyone made sure to stand up straight and smile, many looking none the worse for wear after the brawl. It was time for the King to address them but as a few figures began to emerge from the shadows of the hallway behind the door Noelle got a bad feeling as a distinctive and comforting smell she knew very well reached her nostrils.

"Huh?" Lucy asked her eyes going wide as she saw what was going on.

"Oh no." Noelle said as suddenly two figures in full royal regalia complete with red fur lined cloaks and matching crows appeared on the balcony while two small figures, one with a pumpkin on his head like the Grand Magic Games mascot for some reason, tried to stop them. "This is w…"

"Loyal subjects! Shut up and listen!" One of the two royal looking figures said cutting off any chatter.

"It's time for new leadership here!" The other one said.

"Give me my Crown and backup Crown back you two!" The pumpkin head man yelled from behind them. "How did you even find the latter!"

"Huh?" Everyone said as they took in the pair standing in mirror images of each other on the balcony with the actual king behind and between them jumping up and down in frustration.

"All hail Kings Natsu and Asta!" Natsu and Asta said in unison as they completed they grand entrance into the Grand Ball. "The new rulers of Fiore!"

I think that that's a nice little cliffhanger to end this chapter on and a good, fun start to the Grand Ball. I know that I keep breaking these chapters up but this one was already over 16k words in its draft by the time Natsu and Asta made their entrance that there is still the fun of them at the ball, all the dancing and pairs there that's going to really expand on things, and other chats and fun during the socializing of the Ball, some inspired by great suggestions over the last few chapters. As such I felt that with the length and more to come that this would be a good spot to end the first part of the Grand Ball before we move onto the fun of the next part. That and it was getting a bit unwieldy with everything going on already so breaking it up into multiple chapters works better I feel. There really isn't much more to say here, this chapter was a bit all over the place but such is the nature of the Grand Ball and working in various conversations, meetings, and fun moments. Anyway, that's all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and I will try to answer any questions posed in reviews and PMs as best I can. Until next time.

Stringdog