Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
October 15, x784.
"So, you actually managed to heal Ur's leg with that weird living metal of yours, huh?" Makarov asked Alfonzo with a bit of joy in his voice as soon as Warren left the stage. "Until now, we were never sure. Ur always wears pants and boots when she's at the guild, so we really had no way of telling."
"Yeah, did it about a month ago, I think." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Right after the Phantom Lord attack. And I guess she never told you about it. Well, she told me not to tell you about it, either."
"But why would she do that?" Macao asked curiously. "I mean, we would have definitely thrown a party to celebrate the good news."
"Yeah, it would have been a pretty big one, too." Wakaba chimed in. "You remember the party we threw for you when you healed your arm, right, Alfonzo?"
"Yeah… You guys threw a grand party, alright." Alfonzo said with a deadpan. "It was so grand that I had to cook for my own party…"
Macao and Wakaba, who were the ones who pestered Alfonzo until he broke down and did the cooking for the party in question, looked away sheepishly after Alfonzo pointed that out.
"Well, I knew about Master's leg being healed, too." Gray chipped in when the silence started getting awkward.
"So did I."" Mirajane added.
"Me, too." Levy chimed in, as well.
With that, anyone who would hang out at Alfonzo and Elicia's mansion to swim in the pool all added that they knew about Ur's healed leg.
"If so many of you knew, why didn't you tell us?" Makarov asked, a little annoyed at this point.
"Because Ur asked us not to." Mirajane replied as the group's representative.
"But why?" Makarov asked, frustration evident in his tone.
"Probably because if she had told you without wearing a skirt or something, you perverted old men would have asked Ur to take her pants off to prove it." Chico said, glaring sharply at the older men in the guild.
Then, as if to prove that Chico had hit the nail on the head, almost all the men in the previous generation of the guild looked away sheepishly.
"Seriously, you guys are gross." Chico said as the other female members of the guild nodded in agreement.
About ten minutes after that, Warren returned to the stage with a smile on his face. This time, he was wearing a black suit, a white dress shirt, a dark red tie, black leather shoes, and had a matching dark red handkerchief showing from his breast pocket.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the intermission has come to an end." Warren said with a smile as he once again took the stage. "Now, it's time for the second round of the Miss Fairy Tail Pageant."
Quickly, all the conversation in the audience stopped as they began cheering at Warren's announcement.
"As previously stated, for this round, the participants will be making or doing something beautiful with their magic." Warren said, quieting the crowd. "Now, join me in welcoming the first contestant for the second round, Elicia Taylor!"
When Warren shouted Elicia's name, although it was subtle, he flinched. Undoubtedly, he was worried about getting another tongue lashing once Elicia came out on stage. Luckily, his worries were for naught. Instead, she nodded at him in satisfaction.
"The design is a bit last year, but it's better than the train wreck you were wearing earlier. Elicia muttered as she took her place in the center of the stage.
With that, Elicia was the first to do a little performance with her magic, in which, she created ribbons in each of her hands with her [Thread Magic] before performing a rhythmic gymnastics routine.
Also, it should be noted that Elicia was wearing a tight fitting, long sleeved leotard that left her legs exposed as she gracefully moved around the stage.
After that, all the participants, in reverse order from the first round, also came on stage and did a short performance that combined their own magic with some form of entertainment.
Some of the performances that seemed to stand out were Ur's, who used her [Ice Magic] to reflect and refract light, creating something akin to a laser light show. Then, there was Marin, who used her [Transformation Magic] to turn into female versions of many of the men in the audience and do impressions. Another notable performance was from Bisca, who did some juggling… with loaded, cocked revolvers.
But the performance that received the most awe and admiration from the crowd was the one put on by Evergreen. Using her [Fairy Magic], she made a nebula appear around her as she danced across the stage with grace. Meanwhile, the light from the nebula not only gave Evergreen an ethereal appearance. Yet, her beauty was of the scene amplified even further when the lights changed colors periodically.
In all, the second round took around an hour to complete, with Sun leaving the stage to a round of applause after she not only sang a song, touching the emotions of the listeners with her [Voice Magic], while performing a sword dance at the same time.
"The ladies of our guild sure are talented, aren't they?" Warren asked as he stepped back onto the stage. "Now, we'll have another twenty minute intermission while the ladies change for the round that I'm sure everyone is looking forward to, the swimsuit round."
With that, Warren left the stage with a smile to a standing ovation.
Meanwhile, back in the changing room, Warren's announcement of the interlude, the upcoming swimsuit round, and the subsequent cheers from the audience could be heard clearly.
"*Sigh* There are so many perverts in our guild." Lucy said while shaking her head as she stripped out of the outfit she wore for her performance. "It's no wonder most of them are single. Well, at least they have good taste."
As Lucy said the last part, she looked down, admiring her own figure.
"The new girl is right." Evergreen replied with a nod and a smile. "It's no wonder they are so excited, they will get to see the beauty that is me in a swimsuit."
"Uh… Yeah." Lucy replied dryly. "That's exactly what I meant."
"Don't mind her, Lucy." Elicia said with a smile. "Ever thinks she is the most beautiful thing on the planet."
"Don't call me Ever!" Evergreen growled in annoyance. "And what do you mean think? It's an established fact that I'm the most beautiful."
"Sure it is, Ever." Elicia replied, not losing her smile.
Like that, Evergreen began to explain what made her so beautiful while Elicia continued to reply casually with a smile.
"But seriously, why are they so excited about swimsuits?" Cana asked with a bit of disdain in her tone.
"I know, right?" Marin said playfully. "It's not like there is someone in this room that basically only wears a bikini top all year around."
"That kinda feels like a personal attack, Marin." Cana replied while narrowing her eyes.
"What? NO… Of course not." Marin replied cheekily. "And who would I even be attacking, exactly? Or maybe I hit a nerve, hmm, Cana?"
"Whatever." Cana said, turning away from Marin as she lowered her pants.
"Those girls are so energetic." Ur said as she watched the younger girls bicker, laugh, and chat.
"Yeah." Ren replied with a smile. "Oh to be young."
"Speak for yourself, Ren." Ur replied with a chuckle. "I'm still young."
"Sure you are." Ren replied with an eye roll.
In the changing room, the rest of the intermission continued in this atmosphere while the audience was getting more and more riled up. Eventually, after the twenty minutes elapsed, Warren made his way back on stage.
"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for has arrived." Warren said, excitement clear in his tone. "The time for the swimsuit portion of the Miss Fairy Tail Pageant is here!"
The crowd went wild at Warren's declaration.
"Determined by another round of drawing lots, the order of the participants entrance has been decided." Warren continued. "Now, join me in welcoming the first contestant of the third round, Juvia Lockser."
In the next instant, the lights in the guild hall dimmed once again and a spotlight was shown on the stage. Then, walking out barefoot, Juvia made her appearance with slow steps. Wearing a blue bikini with white polka dots, it was clear to anyone who saw her that Juvia was nervous.
However, as soon as Juvia met eyes with Gray in the audience, her nervousness was was amplified as she started releasing steam from her head.
"Is she gonna be okay?" Alfonzo asked. "I mean, she can turn into water, right? Doesn't that mean that she's literally evaporating?"
"Nah, she's fine." Gray replied casually. "She does this all the time. I mean, any time we make eye contact, she either shoots steam from her head or has a nose bleed."
As if to prove Gray correct, blood started trickling out of Juvia's left nostril as she focused completely on Gray.
"I'm pretty sure there's a perfectly good reason for the nosebleed." Alfonzo replied. "Oh, and Gray, you might wanna put your clothes back on. I'm not really interested in seeing a half-naked man while there are so many beautiful women in swimsuits."
"Huh?" Gray exclaimed while looking down, only to see that he was sitting in his seat with only his underwear on.
At that moment, Juvia fainted with a sloppy smile on her face.
"Could someone help Juvia to the back stage?" Warren asked from the side of the stage. "I don't think she'll be able to get off the stage on her own for a while."
With that, two of the waitresses turned pageant staff climbed on stage and picked up Juvia before carrying her backstage.
After that, the rest of the ladies took their turns. First after Juvia was Lucy, who wore a sky blue and white striped bikini followed by Marin in a black bikini with cherry blossom petal patterns. After her was Ren who wore a violet one piece with a deep neckline that reached her pelvis, and Erza, wearing a black bikini with white frills, a short, white, frilly apron hanging from her waist, white cuffs, and a white collar with a short, black tie hanging between her breasts, followed after her.
Following Erza, Bisca stepped onto the stage in a bright red bikini that matched the color of her lipstick and a cowboy hat. At the end of her time, she winked and pointed the index finger of her left hand at the audience. More specifically, at Alzack.
"Bang!" Bisca said with a playful smile before turning around.
As soon as her back was to the audience, Bisca's entire face turned red. Unfortunately, because her back was to the audience, she missed the fact that Alzack's face reddened in a similar fashion.
Next to take the stage was Laki in a lavender one piece that matched the color of her hair with Elicia, wearing a white bikini with pink frills, following shortly afterwards. Following her, Sun stepped on stage with a peach colored bikini and a white pareo wrapped around her waist.
Ultear was the next to take the stage wearing a navy blue bikini. Cana, in a maroon bikini followed after her. Then, after Cana, Lisanna took the stage wearing a leopard print bikini while smiling brightly as she waved at the crowd while showing off her suit. Evergreen, in a forest green bikini with attachments that resembled the wings of a fairy on her back was next.
"Now, join me in welcoming our final contestant." Warren Said from the side of the stage after Evergreen disappeared backstage. "Ur, come on out!"
With that, instead of the loud eruption of cheers, the crowd fell silent in anticipation. All the middle-aged men in the guild leaned forward in their seats with their eyes wide open so they would not miss a single detail.
Then, like the first time, the sound of high heels clicking against the floor could be heard before Ur slowly walked out into the light.
When everyone saw her, to say they were surprised would be a vast understatement. Ur, dressed in a series of strings and patches of cloth that were barely enough to cover the important bits stood in the middle of the spotlight with a confident smile on her face.
Then, she turned around to show off the back of her… "swimsuit."… if you could call it that, resulting in more than a few nosebleeds in the audience.
The back of Ur's swimsuit consisted of a string that came from between her butt cheeks and split into two between her shoulder blades and looped over her shouldres. There were also a few strings that came from the front of her body and connected to that center string, no doubt to hold the rest of her suit in place.
Eventually, Ur's time ended and she left the stage with a satisfied smile on her face. To anyone who was still aware enough of their surroundings, it would be clear that Ur was happy with the reaction she received from the audience thanks to her rather daring choice in swimwear, even if there was no applause.
"Once again, a round has ended on a high note." Warren, with tissue stuffed in his nostrils, said in a nasal tone as he stepped onto the stage. "Now, we'll be taking another break. During this break, the staff will hand out the ballot forms to everyone in attendance. You will then have ten minutes to place your votes. After that, we will collect the ballots and bring everyone back on stage to announce the first ever Miss Fairy Tail!"