The stars shone brightly in the clear, dark sky, illuminating the city of Crocus down below. Meliodas walked down the lacrima lit streets, looking at each of the buildings as he walked by.
'Hmm...where's that bar the Master told me to go to…' Meliodas pondered. Meliodas continued walking, reaching a wooden bridge that extended off the main road over one of the canals. Connected to the other side of the bridge was a two story building. At the bottom story below the bridge, there were two sun shaped objects mounted on the walls with a sign above the door that read "Bar Sun."
Meliodas jumped down from the elevated road straight onto the bottom story right in front of the door. Meliodas opened the door to the bar and was instantly greeted with the smell of alcohol.
"Ahh! There's nothing like the smell of good booze!" Meliodas said as he walked in. The bar inside seemed to be entirely composed of wood with several wooden tables spread out and a wooden bar counter at one side. Meliodas recognized a few familiar faces sitting at the tables.
"Meliodas! You made it!" Laki exclaimed as she noticed him walk in the door.
"There you are! We thought you weren't going to show up." Alzack commented. Asuka, who was sitting on Alzack's lap jumped down and ran towards Meliodas.
"Mister Meliodas! Are you going to participate?" Asuka asked as she looked up at Meliodas who even in his short stature towered over her. Meliodas looked down and gave her a warm smile before patting her on the head.
"Yup!" Meliodas said.
"Glad you could make it." Makarov said as he approached Meliodas. "Come with me outside."
Meliodas nodded and waved goodbye to his guildmates as he stepped outside with Makarov. The two of them stood on the bridge overlooking the bar.
"As you know, a team of five is required to participate in the Grand Magic Games." Makarov said. "However, there's a difference in the way teams are handled this year from what I was told."
"And what's that?" Meliodas asked.
"A guild may enter more than one team into this competition." Makarov answered.
"When I entered back in X787, there were at least thirty other guilds. Won't things get a bit crowded in that arena?" Meliodas asked.
"I was wondering that as well, but I suspect they might have a way to thin out the teams. Anyway, I want you to know that Fairy Tail will be having two teams join in. I was going to put you on the second team, but it appears there's an issue with the roster of the first team." Makarov said.
"Well who is on the first team?" Meliodas asked.
"That team would consist of Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, Erza, and Gray. Except Natsu hasn't shown up yet." Makarov said.
"Natsu? That's unexpected. I thought he would have traveled together with them." Meliodas commented.
"Anyway, I want you to fill in Natsu's spot in the event he doesn't show up. There were specific instructions to have all team members assembled in their hotels by midnight. However, if he does show up by midnight, I'll put you on the second team and swap one of the members out and put them on the reserve." Makarov said.
"So I guess I'll head over to Erza's team then?" Meliodas asked. Makarov nodded his head.
"They're lodged in the Honey Bone Inn. Do you know where that is?" Makarov asked.
"Oh. I think I remember staying at that Inn when I first came to Crocus. I remember it because their bar had good ale." Meliodas said.
"Good. I believe they're in room 4B. If something happens, come find me." Makarov said as he began walking back towards the bar. "Oh, and keep it on the down low about the second Fairy Tail team. I want to surprise everyone."
---
'Was it around here?' Meliodas thought to himself as he walked through the streets. His eyes lit up as he recognized the building. Meliodas entered the inn and immediately looked towards the bar. A frown formed on his face as he saw the bar area taped off with a sign reading "Closed for renovations."
Meliodas walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. The second door to his right had a sign that read "4B."
Meliodas tried the knob, and to his surprise, the door was unlocked. Meliodas opened the door and three familiar faces stared wide eyed at him.
"Meliodas?!" Lucy, Gray, and Erza gasped. Meliodas paused at the doorway and found his body couldn't take another step. An overwhelming feeling of joy swept over him, yet he couldn't bring to approach them as he stared at them. The three of them immediately ran towards Meliodas, embracing him in one massive group hug.
---
"So Master sent you to swap in for Natsu since he isn't back?" Erza asked.
"Yup!" Meliodas nodded. "Although where is Natsu? I thought he would have come here with you guys."
"A-actually…" Lucy said. "When everyone first came back to the guild, Natsu challenged Max to a battle. And Natsu lost...hard…"
"After the Grand Magic Games announcement, he ran off to start his training. Haven't seen or heard from him since." Gray said.
"Regardless, it's still impressive how far Max has come. In fact, a lot of people in the guild have grown a lot stronger, and it's all because of you Meliodas." Erza added.
"So how was training for you guys?" Meliodas asked. "You all seem a lot stronger than what I recall in Tenrou. You must have spent that entire three months working really hard."
"Uhh…" Gray mumbled. "I wouldn't say three months…"
Meliodas looked at Gray with a puzzled expression.
"It was more like...five days…" Lucy sighed.
"How did that happen?" Meliodas asked.
"My Celestial Spirits thought it would be cool to throw a return party for us but it turned out one day in the Celestial Spirit world is three months here…" Lucy said.
"For only five days of training, you guys did a really good job." Meliodas said.
"Actually, the five days of training wasn't it. Crime Sorciere helped us out." Erza said. Meliodas' eyes widened as he heard Crime Sorciere.
"Ultear developed a technique to open our "second origin." She helped us on the conditions that we investigate a strange magic that's been showing up in every Grand Magic Game." Gray said.
'Second Origin?' Meliodas pondered. I think Ultear started talking about researching that before I left fiore.
"Also, don't worry we won't tell anyone about your identity working with Crime Sorciere, "Zeldris." Gray added with a smirk. Meliodas remained silent but looked at gray with a cheeky smile.
"Oh yeah, wasn't Wendy supposed to be with you guys too?" Meliodas asked as he looked around the room.
"Now that you mention it, she's been gone for a while." Erza noted.
Suddenly, the door swung wide open and everyone immediately turned around to face it. Standing at the doorway, were two figures, one of human size and the other a cat.
"We're back from our intense three month training!" Natsu shouted out.
"Aye sir!" Happy chimed in.
Meliodas looked at Natsu and Happy. Natsu's hair had grown longer than he last remembered it and was very messy. His clothes were dirty and tattered and his white scarf was covered in dirt.
"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Heh, you're late you fire slug!" Gray commented as he stood up and walked up to Natsu. "And why do you smell like a burnt trash can!"
"Cann it you naked ice cube! If you wanna fight, we'll do it right now! I'll show you just how strong I am now!" Natsu retorted as he butt heads with Gray, the two of them glaring at each other forehead to forehead.
"Says the guy who lost to Max of all people." Gray responded.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Erza shouted angrily as she glared at the both of them. Natsu and Gray immediately stepped away from each other nervously.
"Guess things never change." Meliodas said with a smile.
"Woah! Meliodas is here too! You've grown a lot over the last seven years huh!" Natsu said with a grin.
"Wait a second...grown a lot?! He hasn't grown at all!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Yeah what the hell! How do you look exactly the same?!" Gray shouted out.
"Youth must run in my family." Meliodas said smugly as he shrugged his shoulders.
"So you're joining in on the games too?" Natsu asked.
"I was originally going to take your spot if you didn't show up, although since you're here, I'll probably go and see the Master. He has a different plan for me." Meliodas replied.
"Well you might be better off staying here then just in case. By the way, have you seen Wendy on your way here?
"I think she's just walking around the capital." Gray reassured her.
I hope she's alright…" Lucy said with a worried look on her face. However, that worry quickly vanished as she looked right back at Natsu.
"And Natsu! You stink! I can smell you from over here! Go take a shower!" Lucy shouted.
"If you're going to bathe, then I'll join you. It will be just like when we were kids." Erza added in. Natsu stared at Erza, wide eyed and starting to tremble.
"N-n-no...I-I can clean myself!" Natsu said nervously as he began taking a couple of steps backward.
"Nonsense. Come on let's go." Erza said sternly as she grabbed Natsu by his jacket and began dragging him towards the bathroom.
"H-Happy! Meliodas! Someone save me!" Natsu cried out.
"Rest in peace Natsu." Happy snickered as Meliodas waved goodbye to Natsu with a cheeky smile on his face.
---
"I'm really worried about Wendy...it's almost midnight and a young girl like her being out that late…" Lucy said as she immediately imagined Wendy becoming some sort of mob boss. Gray stared at Lucy and sighed.
"I'm not even going to question what you writers imagine…" Gray commented.
Meliodas looked at the clock and saw it was just a couple minutes away from being midnight. The door to the room suddenly opened as Elfman and Lissana walked in, with Elfman carrying a huge box of "Muscle Cola" and Lisanna carrying a large paper bag filled with various food and snacks.
"Meliodas is here?" Lisanna questioned with a surprised look on her face.
"Yo! Lisanna and Elfman!" Meliodas greeted with a small wave.
"Meliodas! You're looking more MANLY than ever before!" Elfman greeted.
"I could say the same about you." Meliodas responded back.
"B-but Meliodas looks exactly the- Nevermind…" Lucy sighed.
"Natsu you're back from training I see!" Lisanna commented.
"Yup! And I see you guys are back from the mountains! How did that go?" Natsu asked.
"We trained super hard hoping to get picked for this but it looks like I won't get to show Lisanna and Mira what I can do." Elfman said dejectedly. Lisanna and Elfman placed their food and drinks down and took a seat.
Meliodas looked at the box of drinks that Elfman had put down. 'Muscle Cola?' Meliodas grabbed one and popped the cap right off. He took a drink and was immediately blown back by the taste.
"Never had this before. It's really good." Meliodas commented.
"Right? Super MANLY!" Elfman said before downing an entire bottle in one go.
"Since you two are here, I have a favor. Could you go and look for Wendy?" Erza asked. "There was some rule put in that we have to stay in our rooms until midnight."
As Meliodas finished drinking his bottle of Muscle Cola, he looked at the clock and it immediately began to chime as it struck twelve.
"TO ALL THE GUILDS WHO HAVE GATHERED HERE AT THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES, GOOD MORNING!" A loud voice echoed from outside. The group immediately went to the window and looked out, only to see a huge pumpkin headed man floating above the city.
"WE WILL NOW WHITTLE DOWN THE 113 TEAMS COMPETING TO JUST 8! AND TO DO THAT, WE WILL START THE PRELIMINARY COMPETITION!" The pumpkin man continued.
'Oh...this must be what Master was talking about. So this is how they're gonna do it…' Meliodas thought.
"THERE ARE MORE AND MORE GUILDS PARTICIPATING EACH YEAR! BUT WE DON'T WANT TO SPREAD THE FUN TOO THIN TO WIN! SO THIS YEAR, THE COMPETITION WILL BE BETWEEN EIGHT TEAMS ONLY! THE CONTEST RULES ARE SIMPLE!"
The entire inn building began to shake furiously as everyone tried to grab onto something. Suddenly, the building began to rise. Meliodas peered over out the window and saw there was a strange mechanism lifting the entire building up into the air.
"WE WISH TO ENGAGE YOU ALL IN A RACE! YOUR GOAL WILL BE THE STADIUM, THE DOMUS FLAU! THE FIRST EIGHT TEAMS THERE WILL ENTER THE OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT! YOU MAY USE WHATEVER MAGIC YOU WISH! THERE ARE NO LIMITS! THE FIRST EIGHT TEAMS TO MAKE IT TO THE GOAL PASS THE PRELIMINARY CONTEST!
"Hey something's forming over there!" Lucy shouted as she pointed to a massive sphere shaped labyrinth forming just in front of the Domus Flau arena. In front of their hotel, a pathway began to materialize, leading straight towards the labyrinth.
"IF ALL FIVE MEMBERS OF YOUR TEAM ARE NOT PRESENT, YOU WILL BE ELIMINATED! AND ONE MORE THING! IF ANY ONE OF YOU SHOULD LOSE YOUR LIVES, THE ORGANIZERS BEAR NO RESPONSIBILITY!"
"So it's all or nothing." Gray commented.
"It looks like I might have to fill in for Wendy instead." Meliodas said.
"Let's show Fiore that Fairy Tail is back stronger than ever and that we're still the number guild!" Natsu shouted out enthusiastically.