Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Firoe, Crocus.
June 30, x787.
After taking the time to talk to Alfonzo and Irene for a little while, the members of Fairy Tail eventually went off on their own to enjoy the festival atmosphere that covered Crocus. However, seeing so many members of Fairy Tail out and about managed to scare a lot of people who were familiar with their reputation.
Luckily, the threat of Ur's anger was enough to keep most of the Fairy Tail wizards in line. Naturally, the only exceptions to that rule, since Alfonzo, Elicia, Irene, and Ikaruga were back, most of them were kept under strict surveillance. Meaning, Cana and Erza were touring around the city with Alfonzo, along with the rest of his girlfriends.
Natsu, on the other hand, was too concerned with going around to every food stall he could find with Lisanna and Happy. And instead of causing trouble, for the most part, they were happy stuffing their faces. On top of that, whenever Natsu got out of hand, Lisanna was there to reel him in.
Meanwhile, the other member of the guild prone to causing collateral damage, Gray, was actually on a date through the city with Juvia. So, he did not have the time to destroy anything, either.
Just like that, the day went by peacefully with the members of the guild occasionally running into members of other guilds and Grand Magic Games hopefuls. But eventually, the day wound down to a close. And just as Ur said when they arrived at the hotel, all the members of Fairy Tail were back at the hotel before midnight.
In fact, the teams who intended to participate in the Grand Magic Games actually went back to rest even earlier. Wanting to be at their best when the Games started, they went to bed early.
Unfortunately, they were not destined to get the rest they were looking forward to.
July 1, x787.
*Buzz~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
While everyone was getting the rest they needed before the Grand Magic Games started, a loud buzzer rang out over the city just as the clock struck midnight.
{"Hello! Hello! Everybody wake up!"} A high pitched male voice rang out over the city of Crocus. {"There's no time to sleep! We have to begin the preliminaries for the Grand Magic Games! There are just too many of you here to participate!"}
Accompanying that loud noise and the announcement, when people looked around, there was a gigantic projection of a small person wearing a pumpkin head mask and wearing the attire of a jester with a green, wide brimmed hat in the sky that could be seen from anywhere in Crous.
Naturally, most people were confused to see this weirdly dressed person in the sky. And the pumpkin-headed person seemed to realize that, as well.
{"Oh, how rude of me!"} The pumpkin-headed little man said in a theatrical tone. {"I forgot to introduce myself. You can call me Matto. And I'm the host of the Grand Magic Games!"}
"Ugh! Does he have to be so loud?" Cana, who was awakened when the loud buzzer sounded throughout the city complained as she covered her ears with her pillow. "Couldn't this wait till morning?"
"*Sigh* At times like this, I really envy Lici." Ultear muttered while trying to cover her ears, as well.
Just as Ultear said, while everyone else was awake and annoyed from being woken up so abruptly at midnight, Elicia, while smiling happily, was sleeping while hugging onto Alfonzo.
Surprisingly, however, she was not the only one in that state, though. Shizuka, who after officially joining Alfonzo's harem, decided that she wanted to sleep in Alfonzo's bed, too. And just like Elicia, she was hugging onto Alfonzo in her sleep while smiling happily.
Before any more complaints could be made, a bright light rose from the central plaza of the city. Then, Matto continued to speak.
{"Now, I'm sure you all can see that bright light, right?"} Matto asked in a jovial tone. {"Well, that is a magic circle that will teleport any team who wants to participate in the Grand Magic Games to the preliminary competition where we will cut down the participating teams to the eight who will compete in the main event. So, each guild should send their representatives into the circle. And remember, they have to have their guild's mark to be a valid competitor!"}
With that, teams of five could be seen exiting hotels from all over the city. And it did not take long for them to reach the magic circle in the central plaza. Then, as soon as the first team stepped into the magic circle, the projection of Matto changed to a view of an obstacle course. And as time went by, the viewers could see the teams flashing into existence in front of the starting line.
Eventually, when all the participating teams were on the starting line, Matto's voice rang out once again.
{"Okay, folks, the rules are simple."] Matto said happily. {"When I say go, all teams will start running. Then, the first eight teams with all their members to cross the finish line will move on to the main event that starts in the morning. Use of magic is allowed to make yourself faster or hinder your opponents, too. See, just like I said, simple, right? Alright then, if there are no questions, you can start in... three... two... one... go!"}
As soon as the signal was given, all the teams took off, trying their very best to be one of the eight teams to move on to the main event. Unfortunately, most of the teams were doomed to fail. There were so many guilds in Fiore, yet only eight could move on, after all.
In the end, five of the eight teams were the ones everyone expected to move on. Namely, in the order they finished, Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, Mermaid Heel, and Quatro Cerberus. The other three teams that qualified for the next round were also fairly strong, as well. However, they were much less renowned.
{"Alright, the eight teams have been decided.!"} Matto shouted once the race was over and his projection replaced that of the obstacle course. {"So, I'll see you all tomorrow morning in the newly built coliseum, the Domus Flau! Until then, sleep tight and sweet dreams!"}
With that, Matto's projection blinked out. Then, the whole city began discussing the preliminaries and who they thought would end up winning the entire Grand Magic Games.
"Alright, now that the shows over, let's go back to sleep." Cana said after chugging down a bottle of wine. "We gotta get up early tomorrow so we can get good seats."
"*Sigh* Sometimes I wonder how you ever get up at all with how much you drink." Lucy said as she lay back down in bed."
"I'm just built different." Cana said in a cheeky tone, making Lucy roll her eyes.
"It would seem that Laxus' control of his magic power has improved rather substantially since the Battle of Fairy Tail tournament." Erza said, deciding she wanted to talk about what she saw during the race. "He was able to move so quickly while holding Saya in his arms like that."
"Yeah, and considering that her body is nowhere near as strong as his, he would have had to wrap her with his magic power so she wouldn't get hurt." Ultear added.
"Plus, they looked, like, uber-cute together." Marin added, more interested in gossiping than talking about how fine Laxus' magic power control was.
"Yeah, and Saya blushed from the moment Laxus picked her up till the projection cut out." Sun said, sounding just as excited as Marin. "It was really cute."
With that, all the ladies who were awake started gossiping about Laxus and Saya. And that would have probably continued for much longer if Alfonzo had not said anything.
"Laxus is just lucky Yoruichi hasn't come back yet." Alfonzo said. "She would have been able to take all of her teammates across the finish line, one at a time, in the time it took Laxus to complete the obstacle course."
That statement immediately put a damper on the girl's enthusiasm. And everyone, other than Erza, pouted as they turned their attention to Alfonzo.
"Why did you have to bring up that bitch?" Cana asked in a disgruntled tone. "I mean, why do you even have anything nice to say about her after what she did back then?"
"*Sigh* What I said was the truth, Cana." Alfonzo replied. "No matter what, Yoruichi was the fastest wizard on Ishgar while she was here. And just because you don't like her, that fact won't change."
"Yeah, but no one wants to think about her, Fonzie." Marin said with a pout. "Punching her in the face was kinda nice, though."
"*sigh* I know." Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "but something tells me she's gonna come back sooner rather than later. And when she does, she's gonna make Mermaid Heel a real problem in the Grand Magic Games."
Although none of the ladies wanted to admit it, they all agreed with Alfonzo. And it was not just because of Yoruichi. They knew that if Yoruichi came back, Sui-Feng would probably be right behind her, too. So, Mermaid Heel would get two more strong wizards added to the Grand Magic Games team.
"Anyway, Cana was right." Alfonzo said. "We gotta get up early. So, we should get back to sleep."
"*Sigh* It's too bad Shizuka is here." Cana said in a disappointed tone. "If she wasn't, I could think of a way for you to help me get to sleep. But she's definitely not ready for that, yet."
Not only Cana, but everyone else in the room who was awake was more or less thinking the same thing, even Alfonzo. None of the ladies have had sex in over half a year. And it had been a few months for Alfonzo, as well. So, they were all a little pent up. But with Shizuka present, they could not do what they wanted to do.
"It'll probably be fun to see her face when she first gets some, though." Ultear said as her lips curled into a grin. "Just the thought of it makes me somewhat understand why Lici likes watching so much."
"*Sigh* Lici is a bad influence." Lucy said as she rolled over to find a comfortable position. "You've all been corrupted."
"Stop complaining, Lucy." Marin said as she poked Lucy in the back. "You know you love it. Especially considering how much you like being watched."
Instead of replying, Lucy pulled the covers up over her head to hide her blush. Unfortunately, that only made the other, more mischievous, ladies join in on the teasing. Alfonzo, on the other hand, could only shake his head. Then, he decided he would just go to sleep and let them deal with the consequences of playing around until late in the night.
The next morning, most of the girls were exhausted. Naturally, the exceptions were Elicia and Shizuka, who slept right through the preliminary round of the Grand Magic Games. Despite that, they all woke up early enough to have breakfast with the rest of the guild and get to the Domus Flau early enough that they could find seats so their whole guild could sit together.
And from that point, the Grand Magic Games seemed to just fly by. With play-by-play done by a thin, short, pale skinned man with black eyes, a large square face with comparatively small facial features, and wearing a wig that covered his bald head by the name of Lola Chapatti and color commentary by the ex-Magic Councilmen, Yajima, every event and battle was kept interesting.
There were even a number of guest commentators sprinkled over the seven days of the Games. And just as Alfonzo said, Marin's father was the guest on the first day. And he announced that Sixth Sense shops would be selling lPhones as soon as the Grand Magic Games' first day came to an end.
Naturally, that sent the crowd into an uproar. Although Masumi Kitagawa, Marin's father and CEO of Sixth Sense Holdings, only gave the crowd the bare minimum when it comes to the lPhone's capabilities, just having a way to easily communicate with people over vast distances was more than enough to get the public all riled up.
Like that, the festival brought by the Grand Magic Games went on for a week. However, like all good things do, it eventually came to an end. And when it did, Fairy Tail stood above all the other guilds in Fiore and claimed the title of Fiore's strongest guild, a title they had held unofficially for years.
Then, after a banquet held by the Royal Family to honor all the guilds and the effort they showed during the Grand Magic Games, everyone headed home the following day, bringing a full close to the first of many Grand Magic Games to come.