Chapter Twenty Eight
The day of the competition dawned bright and sunny, warm enough to melt away the snow but not enough to turn the ground mushy. The wizards were in the basement practice room of the Horse's manor, getting ready for their day of eventing.
"Bahaha! What the hell is that!" said Natsu, pointing at Gray's head and clutching his stomach. Gray's hair was done up in tens of tiny braids, each ribboned lock placed in a line along the centre of his scalp.
"You look ridiculous!" guffawed Gray, pointing at the similar row of pink braids that ran over Natsu's head.
"Oh, you've got something to say, frostbite?"
"What are you laughing at, charcoal?" The two of them butted heads, all trace of laughter gone.
"You wanna go, snow lecher?"
"I'm ready anytime, ash-for-brains."
"Boys, enough!" said Erza sharply from behind them. "Lucy was kind enough to lend us Cancer to do our hair for the Task. Do not spoil his hard work by brawling."
Gray scowled and took a step back.
Natsu narrowed his eyes, filled with misgiving at Gray's rapid acquiescence. "Whatever," he said, folding his arms.
A strangled noise left Gray's lips as he turned to face Erza. "What are you wearing?!"
"Is it not stylish?" Erza preened, placing a hand at the back of her braided head and cocking a hip. She was wearing a strapless furry leotard in mud-brown, paired with thigh-high boots in an equally grubby colour. One of the velvety brown ears on her headband folded of its own accord, almost like a wink. "It is a horse costume."
Gray turned blue with shock as Erza turned in a slow circle and his eyes fell upon the thick braid emerging from the back of her costume. "I-i-is that-?" he mumbled.
"Of course," Erza answered, giving a twitch of her tail. A heap of brown clothing appeared in her hand as she turned back to Gray. "I have prepared something similar for you to wear for the dressage."
"No way in hell, Erza!"
Lucy looked up from the mirror where she was having her hair done, her eyes darting toward the bickering twosome. On the opposite end of the room, Wendy and Charle exchanged a wary glance. Gray and Erza had made up only two days ago, after nearly catching pneumonia from standing in a freezing waterfall ("Wendy is not a human repair kit!" Charle has scolded the sheepish duo). What if the peace they had experienced the previous day had been temporary?
"Oh?"
A dark aura flared around Erza, but Gray stared her down. "That outfit is a disgrace."
Erza crossed her arms over her chest. "You presume to give me fashion advice while you walk around nude?"
"Ack! My clothes!"
Lucy, Wendy, and Charle sweatdropped with relief. It would be a few days before they stopped being on edge around those two, but things were looking up. Whatever they had been fighting about was clearly behind them. Cancer snipped the final ribbon on Lucy's hair and called for his next client.
Gray shrugged on his discarded crop top, raising an eyebrow when Natsu silently handed him a make-up pencil. "What's this for?" he grunted.
"For this low-contrast display," Happy replied, floating down to nudge his pallid abs.
Lucy walked up to the trio before Gray could respond to the insult. She looked him over consideringly, her hand on her chin. "You know, Gray. Your clothes look awfully familiar."
Gray looked down at his dark blue crop top and baggy grey pants and shrugged. "I bought this only two weeks ago."
"Now that you mention it. I see it too," said Happy, giving Gray an appraising look.
"He looks like Sting from Saber," came Charle's dismissive voice from the other end of the room.
"That's it!"
"Aye!"
An ominous stressmark pulsed on Gray's temple. "Bastard," he turned to Natsu, "you made me buy eight of these!"
"Oh yeah! That's where I got the idea from!" Natsu replied cheerfully, oblivious to the rage feathering Gray's brow.
"Do not worry, Gray," said Erza, placing a hand on his shoulder. "The emperor's new clothes do not make the man."
"Um, Erza-san," said Wendy from the hairdressing chair, "I think you're mixing two different sayings."
Gray growled, not consoled in the least. "That blond punk has got nothing to do with my storyline," he muttered, stripping off his clothes.
"Eeek!" yelled Lucy and Wendy, hastily covering their eyes.
Charle poked a paw into the gap between Lucy's fingers. "That's not how you cover your eyes."
"Ow ow ow. Charle!" Lucy protested.
"Perhaps the horse costume is not so unappealing now." The unspeakable brown garment materialised once again.
"Don't even think about it, Erza."
Happy stepped back with a satisfied smile, twirling the make-up pencil in his paw. Erza glanced down at his handiwork, flushed pink, and requipped the horse costume away. "On second thought, this look is much more aerodynamic."
Natsu poked a finger into Gray's new ten-pack and flashed a thumbs up. "Nice, Happy!"
Gray caught sight of himself in the mirror and noticed Happy's contributions included rouged nipples. "My body is fine as it is!" he yelled, giving chase to the smirking cat.
"Eroi, Gray," Happy remarked as Gray's boxers flew off.
The cotton pants sailed through the air, fluttering on unseen wind until they landed smack dab on Lucy's nose.
"Why is it always me?"
The training paddock had been rearranged. New jumps, new path, even a new fence around its perimeter. The cross-country course that ran from the manor to the forest and back had been modified as well, with colourful flags strung up on wooden poles to mark the route. Lacrima-recorders floated in the air at regular intervals, relaying their footage back to a large screen next to the judges' table. The Horse sat at one end, their cat-eye glasses perched upon their nose.
"I see you have all followed the dress code," they said, nodding approvingly at their hairstyles.
Lucy eyed Virgo, who had chosen to wear a more risqué version of Erza's costume. Given that Erza's neckline was already dangerously low, she foresaw the day's events ending with the judges being flashed an eyeful at least twice. Her eyes flicked towards the boxers riding low on Gray's hips. Make that three times.
"Will you punish me if we win, princess?"
"I think you mean, if we lose."
A hand fell across Lucy's shoulders, pulling her against a warm body. "You ready to rumble, Lucy?" Natsu asked.
Lucy help up Virgo's key and smirked. "Prepare to lose, Natsu. I asked the Horse if I can summon Virgo today using my own power. My stamina has improved a lot."
"Oh ho! Then I guess I have no reason to hold back!"
"Natsu-san, you shouldn't be holding back anyway," mumbled his teammate.
"Aye!" agreed Happy cheerfully.
"There's no fraternising with the contestants!" Lucy yelled, a stressmark pulsing on her forehead.
"Don't you mean cat-ernising with the contestants?" said Gray, as he and Erza joined the group.
Charle shuddered. "Only an ice wizard could make such a frigid pun."
Across the ocean, in a damp and musty guildhall, someone sneezed. "I feel like someone has stolen one of my manlier jokes."
"Charle, that was truly a wonderful joke. I am moved!"
Charle yelped as she was crushed into Erza's expansive bosom, traumatic flashbacks to her last visit in those sweaty depths racing across her brain. She pulled away and grabbed Happy by the paw. "Sorry, the judges have to go prepare. Good luck everyone!"
Lucy turned to Natsu and shrugged his arm off her shoulders. "That's enough fraternising between contestants too. See you from the victor's podium."
"Those are fighting words, Lucy," Natsu replied.
She raised a balled fist and flashed him a challenging grin. "You'd better believe it, Natsu. I'm all fired up!"
The Horse clapped their hands to draw everyone's attention. "While the judges are occu-pied with the system for scoring, it would be wise to finish your preparations for the day's events." They gestured towards a table on the far end of the paddock. "To ful-filly my duties as horse-t, I have seen to the polishing of your tack."
Erza's brow furrowed as she saw Virgo run forward eagerly. "Tack?" she asked Gray.
"Forget about it."
"We must adhere to the rules of the competition, Gray." She started after the others, motioning for Gray to follow. They drew up just as Wendy strapped a leather harness around Natsu. Next to him, Virgo had clicked a collar shut about her neck and handed the reins to Lucy.
Erza inhaled sharply as memories, brutal and unrelenting, began to swim to the fore of her mind. Memories of the Tower of Heaven. Of being held captive in the Plutogrim by Kyoka. She folded her arms across her chest to hide the tremble that had suddenly started up in her hands.
"It's a nuisance," Gray grumbled, tucking his hands behind his head.
Erza glanced towards him, seeing past the outward annoyance to the concern that lingered below. "Did you keep this from me?"
He looked off to the side. "The Horse mentioned it on the first day. For some reason it didn't register with you, so I figured, 'Why bring it up?'"
"I see." She stared at the restraints laid out on the table. "If it is necessary for the competition-"
"It's not."
"But Gray-"
"They'll dock us a few points for improper grooming, but our dressage difficulty scores will make up for it."
She gave him a considering look. "You have already thought this through."
Gray grunted. "Let's head back." He took a few steps away from her and said, without turning, "It's OK if you want to wear your armour. My new ten-pack can handle it."
Erza smiled. It was true that her first instinct had been to reach for her armour. To shield herself from her own vulnerability. But she realised now that she did not need it. Warmth suffused her as she caught up to Gray, and Erza recognised the feeling for what it was. She felt protected.
Falling in step beside him, she said quietly. "I liked your old six-pack just fine."
"What is it, Natsu-san?" Wendy asked, looking up at Natsu. He had suddenly gone very still, staring down at the tack with a frown.
Natsu looked down at her and across at Lucy, before shrugging off his tack and tossing it carelessly on the table. "We're not wearing this."
"But-," began Lucy.
"I said, we're not wearing this," he repeated, louder.
The two of them watched him join Gray and Erza by the judges' table and understanding clicked. "Alright. Come on, Virgo," said Lucy.
Virgo looked more than a little put out but did as Lucy said. She knew that some things were non-negotiable with the princess. Especially things that concerned her friends.
The three of them worked quickly to move the table into the barn, where it would stay out of sight for the rest of the day.
"You do not have to do this," Erza was saying to Natsu, as they jogged up to the rest of the group.
"You can't wear black accessories with a black vest. That's a fashion disaster," Natsu replied authoritatively.
Erza gave him a half smile. "And you?" she asked, turning to Lucy and Virgo. "Are you concerned about colour coordination as well?"
Lucy grinned. "Let's all start with the same number of points. I don't want to give Natsu any excuses for when I beat him."
"Princess promised me extra-special punishment if I forewent this," Virgo chirped happily.
"I promised no such thing," Lucy muttered.
"To be honest, Erza-san," piped up Wendy, "we did not practice enough with the tack. I'm not confident I can use the equipment well."
"Is that so?" Erza smiled.
A loud clip-clop interrupted the wizards, and they turned as one to look at the judges' table. The Horse stood in their seat and motioned towards the cross-country course. "If you are ready," they waved a hand and a clock appeared behind them, "let us begin."
Natsu flew swiftly down the track, his eyes fixed on the river ahead of him. He and Wendy were the last to attempt the cross-country course. Lucy and Virgo had gone first, finishing the course with ten minutes to spare. Erza and Gray had been next, and they had finished with roughly ten minutes left on the clock too. Natsu knew it would boil down to this jump. The Horse had chosen another crossing for the final event, this one about two feet wider than the one they had trained on. Erza had cleared the river, but landed sloppily on one foot, earning her a penalty. Virgo had not even tried, using a stepping-stone instead to make the crossing in two leaps. If he could make it across cleanly, then he and Wendy would be in the lead.
He grinned, feeling fired up.
He felt Wendy ready herself, rising on her haunches as they neared the jump. He prepared himself too, focusing all his strength in his thighs, and leapt. He soared. The river rushed past underneath. He soared, and soared, and then he was falling, slowly, his feet planted together. Natsu realised too late that he was going to fall short, his feet sliding against the slick mud of the riverbank. He felt the downward pull of gravity on his back as he inched towards the river, but then suddenly, he was able to balance better, his feet regaining their grip. Wendy had leaned forward, altering their centre of gravity just enough for them to keep their balance.
"Nice, Wendy."
"We can do this, Natsu-san. Let's keep going."
They finished the course, taking three seconds longer to do so than Gray and Erza had, but two seconds fewer than Lucy and Virgo. The judges leaned their heads together to confer, each of them pointing at their scoresheets. Finally, the Horse stood up and tapped a foot, making a scoreboard emerge from the ground.
"At the end of the cross-country," they announced, "the scores are: Ms. Heartfilia and Ms. Virgo, 24.9; Mr. Fullbuster and Ms. Scarlet, 22.4; and Ms. Marvell and Mr. Dragneel, 19.7. Congratulations. The show jumping event will commence after a fifteen-minute recess."
The wizards stared at them astonished, their co-judges included. An entire sentence without a pun? They were taking this more seriously than the others had thought.
Charle came over at once. "That was great. Congratulations!" she said proudly.
"But we came in last," Wendy pointed out. Charle had helped Natsu and her train for the competition, but it was unlike her to give out praise where none was due.
Charle stared at her for a minute and then looked at the others. "You all know how the scoring is done, right?"
"We are penalised for falling or knocking a jump over," said Erza.
"You are penalised, correct." replied Charle. "But you all start at zero and gain points for mistakes or 'faults.' Whoever has the least points at the end of the day wins."
"That would've been nice to know before we had racked up so many points," wailed Lucy.
"Time for punishment then, princess?"
"Have I ever said yes?" Lucy mumbled, moving away from the rest of the group to strategise.
Natsu grinned at Charle. "So Wendy and I won? Alright!"
"Only this event, flamebrain, no need to get ahead of yourself," Gray smirked.
"Wendy and I are just getting warmed up, ice cube. Just wait and watch."
"Oh yeah? Erza and I are going to kick your ass."
"Why wait, I'm ready to go right now," replied Natsu, butting heads with Gray.
Gray leaned in, ready to fire off a retort.
"Gray, come. It is time for the next round," said Erza.
Gray pulled away, clapped Natsu twice on the arm, and took off after his teammate.
Natsu stared after him, his brow furrowed. That was twice now that Gray had walked away from a fight with him.
"What's wrong Natsu-san?" asked Wendy.
He shook his head to dismiss the insecurity. "It's nothing. Let's go win this thing!"
Precisely twelve minutes after they had announced the break, the Horse beckoned the Questers forward to draw lots. Erza smiled triumphantly as she drew a flat stone engraved with the number '1' from the small sack. She and Gray would be going first, followed by Wendy and Natsu, and then Virgo and Lucy.
Unlike the cross-country course, the show-jumping course would be run more or less simultaneously, with each duo receiving a staggered starting time. The Horse had said that this was because the cross-country event had overrun and that they wanted to stick to their schedule, but something about that explanation did not sit right with Erza.
"You ready?" asked Gray.
Erza nodded. They had a brief discussion about the course and then Gray climbed on her back. Moments later Happy fired the starting pistol and they were off.
They were just coming up to the first jump when they heard a loud sneeze and the sound of the starting pistol fire again. Gray looked over his shoulder and saw that Natsu and Wendy has started moving. Drat. What was Happy thinking? If he and Erza slowed down for a second, there would be a nasty mid-air collision.
"They're right behind us," he said to Erza.
"It will not be a problem as long as we keep to our practice times," she replied, her words barely audible against the wind.
They leaped the first obstacle without difficulty, and then the second. Gray looked back and saw that Natsu and Wendy and disappeared. No doubt the judges had realised Happy's mistake and called them back. He turned forwards, ready to focus on the next jump. They were coming up to the most dangerous jump in the course. This one was both taller and wider than any of the jumps on the practice course. He started for a minute, sure he had seen something pink and blue out of the corner of his eye, but he dismissed it as his overactive imagination. Instead, he tightened his grip on Erza, careful to keep his hands high on her torso and not accidentally grab something inappropriate.
A frisson danced across her skin in the wake of his touch, but there was a Task at hand and Erza was determined to recoup the ground they had lost in the first round. She gripped Gray's thigh securely, tightened her core, and took the jump.
And met Natsu at the top.
Gray's eyes widened as he took in Natsu and Wendy coming in the opposite direction, on path towards a head on collision.
Erza twisted. Natsu swerved. Wendy screamed. Gray yelled. The four of them crossed each other mid-air, close enough for their clothing to brush against one another. And then a very blurry few seconds later they were back on the ground and home free.
"That was close," Gray murmured, burying his nose in a scaly scarf.
"I hope you are doing OK, Gray," said Erza, clamping her hand around a suddenly much slimmer thigh.
"Huh? Erza?"
"Gray, why do you suddenly feel much lighter?"
"Uwaaaah!" Wendy yelled, realising that she was now on Erza's back.
"Eyah!" yelped Gray, coming to a similar realisation just moments later.
"Wendy, why do you sound and smell funny?" asked Natsu.
"That's cause I'm not Wendy, you fool!" shouted Gray.
"What the hell! Gray?!" Natsu yelled in surprise, twisting to look back at him.
"Eyes on the road!" Gray yelled as they came up to another jump.
It was Natsu's turn to yell as he found himself mid-air over the obstacle, with the realisation dawning that he had calibrated his jump for a much lighter weight. He kicked out at the obstacle underfoot, splintering the wood and adding some momentum to his jump.
Erza jumped over the next hurdle in the course, her forehead creasing in a frown as she realised she was used to someone much heavier on her back. She rapidly recalibrated, but the next jump was too tight. Wendy squealed as she found herself nose-to-nose with the obstacle flying by under her and covered Erza's face with her hands.
The vision in her only eye hindered, Erza growled. "Natsu."
"Yup."
"Erza-san you can't be serious!"
"Here we go again," said Gray, sounding resigned.
The two teams met mid-air over the next jump, twisted, turned, and somehow managed to swap riders again.
"Aaah!" screamed Wendy.
"Urrrghhh," yelled Gray.
"Eeeee!" squealed Virgo.
"Why are you shouting?" demanded Lucy, who was still only a quarter of the way through the course.
"I didn't want us to be left out, princess," she replied.
Over on the far end of the course, Wendy smiled as she landed on Natsu's back. "Glad to be back, Natsu-san."
"Bllf bl blff bl blfff," he replied through a mouthful of Wendy's hair.
"Eek! My hair!"
A few feet away from them and fast approaching the finish line, Erza caught up Gray's legs as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Now, this is more like it," said Gray.
"I understand you are pleased to be reunited, Gray, but do you think this is appropriate?" Erza asked, her cheeks flushing.
Gray realised too late the bountiful softness squeezed within his palms. He turned purple and tried to jump off Erza's back.
The two of them tripped over the finish line before Gray succeeded in disentangling himself, rolling forward in a jumbled ball of limbs. Seconds later, Natsu and Wendy skidded to a stop beside them. Wendy slid off Natsu's back bonelessly, her face blue with shock as she held up the drenched ends of her ponytails.
Back on the obstacle course, Lucy was smirking, feeling confident in her impending victory.
"Princess. I have observed how our rivals have acted. To stand a chance, we too must engage in the hijinks."
"No we don- wait a minute, what do you have in mind? No wait, don't!" Lucy cried, too late. Virgo had already dived into the ground and burrowed under the next obstacle. Out of the ground she leapt, like a magnificent dolphin, arcing gracefully over the next obstacle before burrowing under the one after that.
The other four competitors, momentarily distracted from their own woes, turned as one to watch the display.
"Panties," said Gray, stating the obvious.
"Panties," agreed Natsu, as Virgo once again turned upside down in mid-air and Lucy's skirt flipped up.
"Panties," thirded Wendy, as wide-eyed and absorbed as the other two by the lacy scrap of cloth.
"Hmmm," intoned Erza, thinking that she too needed to spend more time buying such fripperies. They were so much prettier than her serviceable briefs.
"What are you all staring at?" Lucy asked as she and Virgo approached.
"Nothing."
"Nothing."
"Nothing."
"Where did you buy-," began Erza, but was dragged away by the other three before she could give them all away.
"At the end of the show-jumping," announced Happy, "the scores are 43.6 for Gray and Erza, 46.1 for Natsu and Wendy, and 46.9 for Lucy and Virgo."
"How come they get a better score?" Natsu pointed at Gray and Erza.
"You broke one of the jumps," Happy explained cheerfully.
"Why did the princess and I gain points?" piped up Virgo.
"You didn't jump over half of them."
Lucy sweatdropped. At least the penalty for burrowing under the jumps was lower than she had expected.
"This is your fault for going the wrong way," Natsu grumbled petulantly to Gray.
"Oh? Are you saying I made a mistake?" Erza loomed behind him, her aura flaring.
"Eep!"
"Actually, you both went the wrong way," said Charle from her seat behind the judges table.
"What!" chorused Natsu and Erza in unison.
"Didn't you see the arrowheads marked on the ground?" Happy asked.
"We looked at the triangles marked on the ground," mumbled Erza.
"Yeah exactly, the triangles," agreed Natsu. "The long edge pointed right."
"No," Erza countered, "the long edge pointed left."
Lucy sweatdropped. "You're supposed to go in the direction opposite to the long edge."
Gray and Wendy exchanged the weary glances of people who had tried but failed against uncommon sense.
The Guardian got to their feet before they were all subject to even more foolishness and said firmly, "Lunch."
Lunch was a buffet of bite-sized sandwiches, with a few plates of cut fruit served alongside. The Horse watched the fire dragon slayer get cuffed around the back of his head when he complained about eating doll food. Both he and Erza seemed to have recovered from their gaffes rather quickly.
They watched as the armoured mage added a cup of diced strawberries to her plate and came to stand by them.
"You are not eating?" she enquired.
"The horse-t waits until everyone else has been served," they replied evenly.
Erza nodded. "There is no need to stand on ceremony with us." Popping an egg and cress sandwich into her mouth, she continued, "So have you decided?"
"Decided on?"
She looked into their expressionless eyes. "Whether we meet the conditions you have set upon us."
A flicker of uncertainty darted across their liquid black eyes. So, she had seen through their ruse.
"You are studying us, and someone was watching us before you. I do not yet know why you are making this assessment but let us know if there is anything we can do to hasten your decision."
The Horse did not respond.
"It is in our interests to convince you to give us the Key after all."
They let out a deep breath, their lips fluttering noisily in the gust. It was in their interests as well. Perhaps honesty was the way forward. "It all comes hack to the fire dragon slayer. He instigated this journey. His motivations are signifi-canter than the others."
"Ask him," Erza said bluntly.
They looked at her blankly.
She smiled softly. "When it comes to Natsu, what you see is what you get. He does not understand subtext. If you want to know something, then ask him outright."
The Horse whickered. "I see."
Erza finished the last sandwich on her plate and walked off to find herself a drink.
The Horse angled their head to study the wizard who was demolishing the buffet despite his complaints about the food. Ask him outright? All their years of planning, their strategies, their careful ploys—to think they would boil down to one question. A single moment of barefaced cheek. They laughed inwardly at the thought of what Sacerdotisa would say to that.
If that was what it would take to solve their dilemma, then why not?
The Horse seated themselves gracefully on the wooden bench beside Natsu, pulled out their cat-eye glasses and notebook, and turned to look at the wizard beside them. "Was the food per your de-shires?" they enquired politely.
"The sandwiches were great, but they were way too small. I ate 300 but my belly still isn't full up."
"My apologies. Neigh-be you would like a snack?" They clicked their fingers and allowed a matchbox to materialise in their hand.
Natsu accepted the offering happily, striking two matches at once and greedily sucking in the fire. "So, what's up?"
"I steed to know why it is that you took the Quest," they said bluntly.
Natsu paused mid-chew and looked at them quizzically. "Didn't you already ask me that?"
"Yes. But I am gaskin again. What spurs you to become stronger?" No. Perhaps that was the wrong question to ask. They had seen Natsu's quick response when he had learned that Erza would not be wearing tack for the day's events. This was not a man unmotivated by concern for others. "Is it because you wish to protect someone?"
Natsu took a moment to consider the question. "Kinda." He sucked down another fireball and continued, "When I was a kid, all I wanted was to find my dad. I figured if I got strong enough, then he'd come back to me. Being able to protect people was a bonus. But then as I grew older, I realised that I like it. I like working hard to be the best and testing my strength against other people. You know what I'm talking about. Right, Horsie-chan? I bet you've been in a few dressage competitions in your lifetime."
The Horse tipped a shoulder in agreement. It was an urge all sportspeople held. Was that how Natsu saw it then? As sport? They knew there were sports on Earthland and the other worlds where people risked life and limb in pursuit of a thrill. Why should this be any different? Because it had been once, a voice in the back of his mind reminded him. Ambition in itself is not a bad thing, reminded another. "How far will you go to achieve your foals?"
"I think Giltena's the furthest I've been from home."
A beat of silence passed before the Horse tried again. "Will you do whatever it takes to whin-ny, no matter the cost?"
Natsu looked at them as though they had said something particularly odd. "It sounds weird when you say it like that. What do you mean by cost? You asking for a bribe or something?"
May the Heavenly Emperor in His infinite wisdom grant them patience. They closed their eyes for a long moment and contemplated how best to make him understand. "If I offered to shave ten points off your final score if you dun your tack, would you wear it?"
"Nah," Natsu replied, picking his teeth with a matchstick.
"And why is that?"
"I can win without it anyway," he shrugged.
"Is that it?"
"Some things are more important than winning."
The Horse stifled a smile. The answer had been there all along. They had just been too anxious to see it. This was the reason they had asked Sacerdotisa to send the request to the wizard guild all those years ago. It was a place that fostered indelible bonds. One that valued friendship and camaraderie over all else.
They stood and walked to the judges' table. The dressage was a mere formality. Their decision was already made.
They drew lots to decide who would go first in the dressage. Erza, unsurprisingly, drew the 1 again. Gray turned down Erza's offer of a horse armour for the third time that day and stripped off his shirt. Natsu and Wendy were 0.2 points ahead of them. It was time to get serious.
"Are you alright?" he asked Erza, who had suddenly started coughing loudly.
"I'm fine," she replied, thumping herself on the chest. She had no problem with Gray not wearing a shirt, but did he have to look so determined while doing it? The overall effect had her turning quite red. She climbed onto his shoulders, and they began the dressage.
They moved through the routine flawlessly. Gray was an excellent dancer and Erza helpfully shot Natsu a death glare when he began to snigger. Without distractions and other pesky obstacles, such as unpopped popcorn kernels, Erza and Gray succeeded in securing themselves an excellent score, 14.0, putting their grand total for the day at 80.0.
They cleared the floor for the next team, smirking smugly as they leaned against the wall. They had this in the bag.
The smirks lasted until three bars into Natsu and Wendy's music, because Natsu was dancing. And passably well!
"I knew Charle was drilling them for the dressage, but I never thought she'd succeed so well," Lucy murmured, coming to stand beside Gray and Erza.
Gray grunted in response as Natsu and Wendy's dressage drew to a close. He could not even laugh at how ridiculous Natsu looked, he was too gobsmacked by the performance.
The judges had a brief conversation and then announced Natsu and Wendy's scores. "After scoring 14.2 points in the dressage, Natsu and Wendy close out the day with a total of 80.0 points," Happy said.
"No way!"
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Gray and Natsu both glared at each other. A tie? There was no way they could let that stand.
Meanwhile, Lucy was having problems of her own. After all her bluster, it looked like she would have to achieve a miraculous score off 7.2 or less to beat Natsu.
"What are we going to do?" she whined to Virgo.
"Princess," Virgo replied calmly, "I have a suggestion."
Lucy dropped her face into her palm. Why did she have an ominous feeling about this? She listened quietly as Virgo outlined her idea. Well, she had already flashed her panties to the world today. How much more embarrassed could she get? "You're sure this will work?"
"If it doesn't, you can punish me, Princess."
Lucy sighed. "I'm trusting you, Virgo. Don't let me down."
"Roger that, Princess."
The two of them moved into the centre of the dressage arena. Lucy closed her eyes and concentrated as the opening bars of the music began. It was now or never.
Silence fell on the arena as Virgo started dancing. Lucy opened her eyes and looked around to confirm her suspicions. All her comrades were blue with shock as Virgo performed her 'special dance,' batting the air like a kitten first, and then raising a hand to her forehead alternately while jigging on the spot. Lucy grinned sheepishly and snuck a look at the judges' table. Charle and Happy were aghast and the Guardian Spirit was as impassive as ever. Oh God, what if this was a huge mistake?
Virgo made S-shapes with her arms and walked sideways, ending the performance with a dramatic one-legged pose in front of the judges' table.
"Marvellous," the Horse said, rising to their feet. "That performance blew all the others out of the paddock. There is simply no caparison. I have no choice but to award you a perfect score."
Happy and Charle scrambled to finish scoring. They had been too distracted by that, erm, 'dance,' to take any notes. Happy scribbled a fish onto the sheet of paper and held it up.
"Wow, an 8 from Happy!" Lucy crowed, completely misinterpreting the score. But Happy did not argue. He no longer had the mental power to form sentences after that performance.
Charle massaged her forehead and held up her score. She had given them a zero, because she could not in good conscience point out any technical faults in their display.
"Yes!" Lucy crowed. It was an upset! They had won! With 74.1 points, they were an enormous 5.9 points ahead of the others.
She turned to Natsu to rub it in but found him arguing with Gray.
"Let's do a tiebreaker for 2nd place," Natsu said, smacking his fist into an open palm.
"I'm ready for anything you are," replied Gray, and then, cackling, he added, "You don't scare me; I've seen you dance."
"I've seen you dance too." Natsu's cheeks puffed out with barely contained laughter.
The two of them pointed at each other and laughed for a minute before suddenly growing serious again.
"Who are you laughing at, you malfunctioning tinderbox?" Gray asked, butting his head against Natsu's.
"I could ask you the same, you wannabe nudist."
"Just be glad no one back home could see your pathetic display," Gray growled, his eyes narrowing.
"Right back atcha, because yours was worse," Natsu replied.
Unbeknownst them both, Happy pulled out a lacrima recorder from behind the clock on the judges' table and gave a cheeky thumbs up to the camera. This was going to be a bestselling item at the Fairy Tail merchandise stand.
"Don't breathe so close to my face after eating matchsticks for lunch."
"Says the guy who ate garlic ice cream for breakfast."
"Bastard!"
"Jerk!"
And then suddenly fists were flying. A cloud of dust rose to envelop the tangled mass of limbs as they rolled this way and that.
The Horse looked on horrified, their face not expressionless for once as the two wizards managed to decimate the entire west wing of their house.
"Erza, do something!" Lucy cried.
"Well done boys, you only destroyed a part of the house, not the whole house," nodded Erza proudly.
Natsu peeked his head out of the rubble and grinned. Gray may not realise it, but this was the first time since the Snake had poisoned him that Gray had fought him properly. Seizing a handful of his comrade's hair and giving him a grateful punch in the jaw, Natsu gave a whoop of joy. Oh, it was great to have things back to normal!
The room was so pink it hurt her eyes. Why her aunt- no, the General, preferred such garish décor, Usajou had no idea. How did any of her soldiers take her seriously when her office was covered in an assortment of pink cushions and smelled like bubblegum the year round?
The curtains to the bright pink boudoir parted dramatically. "Usa-chan!" called the Rabbit, adopting a cutesy baby voice. "How's my favourite niece? Oh, look at you," she said, pulling Usajou's cheeks, "still as cute as ever. Have you grown at all? Never mind, you have another couple of hundred years of puberty to get through."
Usajou flushed crimson and stepped away from her doting aunt. "General, that's not why I came," she replied, adopting a professional tone.
"Why did you come? My soldiers told me you've been waiting for me for weeks. Did you miss your favourite aunty? Did you, did you?"
So much for professionalism. If Ko-chan could see her now, she'd never take her seriously ever. Never ever.
"General, I have come to you on a matter of great urgency."
"Now where's my lieutenant with my bag." The Rabbit clapped her hands together, "I brought you presents!"
Usajou's eyes shone. "You did! What did you get me- ahem. I mean, General, we need to speak."
"You know I was touring Ishgar right? Then I went down to Stella, and I found you the most adorable stellanium pendant, it's got adorable little ears just like yours. And then I went down to the Southern Continent." Her aunt paused briefly as her luggage arrived. "I know, I know, I should have probably come home to check in before I went elsewhere," she began pulling clothes out of her suitcase haphazardly, "but I thought to myself, if not now, when? Usa-chan isn't going to enjoy all these presents when she's all grown."
"The Ox is gone."
The Rabbit turned at once, an assortment of pink clothing in her hand. "Back to the Heavens?" she enquired calmly.
"Yes."
"Questers?"
"Yes."
The Rabbit set down the items in her hand. "I see now what was so urgent." She called for her lieutenant. "I need status reports on all the provinces in the northwest, now. Tap into our intelligence networks as well, I want information on the southern and eastern lands—comings and goings from ports, police reports, accident reports, anything and everything that even seems the slightest bit unusual–I want it on my table within the hour." She turned then, to Usajou, a steely look in her eye. "When?"
"In the fourth week of December."
The Rabbit cursed under her breath.
"Hebiko-sama has not let our Father know. She asked me to come here first."
"And rightly so." The Rabbit crossed over to her fluffy pink desk and flipped open a notebook on the lushly carpeted surface. "Does she have any leads?"
"She tried to track them, but the trail went cold. She said you would know what that meant," Usajou mumbled nervously. The Rabbit's transformation from doting aunt to formidable General never failed to faze her.
The Rabbit's lips narrowed. "There's only one member of the Great Alliance left standing."
"Oh, that's good news, isn't it?" She was out of her depth and trying her hardest not to let it show.
"No. I can't touch the Questers while they're with them."
Usajou sat down with a thump. "So there's no way to handle the Fairy Tail wizards?" she said, pouting.
Her aunt stiffened, a prickle of recognition running down her spine. "Did you say Fairy Tail?"
Usajou nodded. Anxiety bloomed in her stomach as the expression on her aunt's face changed.
"I think we might have a way to get to them after all."
A/N: Yay, we're back! OK, so before you stop reading: The next two chapters will contain some MAJOR reveals about the plot/mystery so far. They'll probably be out in the second weekend of October (yes, double update), so if anyone wants to re-read... the time is now.
Now onwards to reviews and favourites/follows, thank you to everyone who reviewed and faved/followed! To the Guest who left such a nice review for me! I know a lot of fanfiction authors who actually do publish books and fingers crossed that's me too someday! Please continue to read and please don't let being shy stop you from reviewing! Laziness on the other hand, is a perfectly valid reason, I do that a lot myself, haha. Thanks for the review!
And also big thanks to CrimsonStarbird for always reviewing. I am livid that FFN didn't send me an email notification of your review. LIVID.
I'd also appreciate if you all would let me know how I'm doing with general perspective/multiple perspective scenes. I used to be ok with them in 2019 but nowadays I find myself unable to shift perspectives so easily. So please let me know!
On another note, please don't assume I'll be doing monthly updates, everyone. Finding time, energy, and brain juice to write is hard. I'm trying to write on the weekdays, but that's giving me insomnia, and I'm so tired on the weekends. And that's probably about to get worse because I'm on track to move up at work (w00t w00t, but also touch woot) and now that summer has ended for the academic world, my firm is probably going to have its busiest quarter.
But I'm doing my best, which hardly feels good enough on most days. Still, please do stick with me, because I'm going to finish this story no matter what, and I'll be really sad if no one reads it.
I hope you enjoy the update! Please fave/follow or leave a review (pretty please, *Puss in Boots from Shrek eyes*). Until next time!
