𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜: 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙
❛ ... ❜
◊
"You were great out there!" Lucy congratulated Rose.
"Yes, I don't think I've ever seen Bacchus be defeated so easily!" Erza added on, a slight smile lighting her expression as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Yeah, you were totally on fire out there!" Natsu grinned, followed by some more praise from the others.
"Thanks," Rose smiled, taking another sip of the glass of water she'd been given. "But I think Wendy should re-join the games, now, because my arm is a bit tender."
That was a lie. Her arm felt perfectly fine, but she wanted Wendy to continue the games. She was healed up and ready to fight, thanks to Porlyusica's help.
"Alright! I'll try my best!" Wendy cheered, a bright smile on her face.
'Unsuspecting,' Rose thought to herself.
"Mira's up next. You coming?" Asked Lucy, gesturing to the door.
"Sure!"
Together, they all made their way out into the hallway which led to the guild's viewing area, chattering away aimlessly.
"We've got to do something about those jerks in Raven Tail," Natsu said, referencing the earlier attempt at kidnapping Wendy, Carla and Porlyusica. "They can't just get away with this!"
"It's as if they're trying to take us out, one by one," Erza added.
Carla paused. "Actually, I'm not entirely sure that's true."
"Wait, what are you talking about?" asked Wendy.
"How can you say that after everything that's happened?" asked Erza.
"The bandits from earlier told Natsu that they were hired by Raven Tail to kidnap Lucy for some reason... but their plan ultimately ended in failure. Not only did they choose the wrong target but Natsu easily stopped them."
"What's so strange about that?" questioned Lisanna.
"We don't know what they were going to do with Lucy if they caught her, either," Erza added.
"I don't want to know!" Lucy protested.
"The method they used raises a red flag. They have a wizard that can instantly drain magic power. That's the one which attacked Wendy and I before the games even began."
"Yes, of course, you're right... and Master Makarov believes that was the same wizard which nullified Lucy's magic from the sidelines during her battle with Flare." Erza provided.
"If Raven Tail has a wizard which possesses that kind of skill, one would think that they would choose him to involve in the abduction."
"Maybe they just thought he would be too suspicious." Gray interrupted. "If they sent one of their guys out just before the battle people might notice it."
"The organisers want everyone nearby since they don't announce who's fighting until just before the match." Lisanna reasoned.
"I think you're giving them too much credit," Wendy stated.
"I don't think they care how they do things unless there's somebody hurt in the end." Lucy scowled.
"Well, no matter what, if they're targeting us in and outside the arena we must remain on guard at all times. No one should go anywhere by themselves." Erza warned.
◊
"What kind of battle is this?!" Natsu and Gray shrieked.
Rose couldn't blame them, considering the way the battle between Mira and Jenny was going.
"I thought this was meant to be a battle...?" she frowned.
"Huh?" Erza and Lucy chorused, their eyes resembling moons.
"They're not gonna make me do this kind of stuff, are they?" exclaimed Wendy with a worried expression, face bright red with embarrassment.
"Oh my gosh..." Rose face-palmed. The two opposing mages had decided to pose in outfits chosen by the judges as part of their battle. Female members from all the guilds participating were streaming down to the stadium, wearing their own outfits.
The ones to initiate this were from Mermaid Heel, the all-girls guild. She groaned once again when yet another team showed up- the cousins from Lamia Scale, Cheria and Sherry.
Rose turned around and noticed the First Master prancing up to them with a cheerful expression. "You shouldn't just stand here like a bunch of party-poopers! Let's all go down there together!"
"She does make a point..." Erza smirked.
"For real?" exclaimed Lucy.
"I don't wanna..." Rose mumbled, covering her mouth as she yawned and curled up in her seat. "I'm comfy here..."
◊
"I said I didn't want to do this!" Rose hissed, backing away from the crowd of swimsuit-clad female mages.
Rose didn't know how they did it, but they somehow had her magically changed into a (thankfully modest), red swimming shirt and dark shorts. A black flame pattern decorated the edge of the shirt, and her hair had been tied into a high-ponytail- the fringe brushed away from her face.
The phoenix slayer's eyes seemed brighter and more childish without the ever-present fringe covering her face.
"I wanna go home..."
Rose retreated to a corner and began to sulk, whilst the rest posed for the crowd.
"Wardrobe change! School swimsuits!" called out Chapati.
There was a poof of smoke and suddenly she was wearing one of the one-piece swimsuits which children at school would wear. "This is humiliating..." Rose groaned and wrapped her arms around herself, wishing they would hurry up and change the theme to something which wasn't swimsuits.
They went through some more weird topics, until Chapati called out, "Cat ears!"
Rose perked up, recognising the word cat almost immediately. She couldn't help it- she was, after all, a dedicated cat-lover.
And then she glanced down. She had been dressed in a pink onesie with black speckles and a creamy stomach. The girl immediately recognised the colour palette.
"Aww yeah, it's a Fro onesie!"
She happily waved her hands around, a grin on her face as she gushed over how similar it was to the little Exceed's one.
"Rose!"
Rose glanced to the opposite side of the stadium and recognised Fro, who was floating towards her with his Exceed wings extended.
"Fro!" the onesie-clad phoenix slayer squealed, immediately tackling the adorable feline. Her arms wrapped around the feline as she secured him to her safely.
"You're so cute~"
The dark-haired phoenix slayer was immediately infatuated with the Exceed's cuteness.
"It appears Fairy Tail's phoenix slayer, Rose Fellia, has a soft spot for Frosch, an exceed member of Sabretooth!"
Rose ignored them.
"Fro, do you want to stay with me for a bit?"
"Fro would like to!"
"Yay!"
They went through a few more outfit changes until the one Rose dreaded the most was called...
"Wedding dresses!"
".... This dress is stifling." Rose scowled and turned around immediately - preparing to leave the arena. 'There is no way in hell I'm staying here in this thing.'
The dress was long, reaching the ground, with a bunch of white fabric roses along the bottom. A short veil had been attached to her hairdo, which was just a messy bun with her fringe clipped back.
"Wait... never mind." Rose suddenly smirked, realising this was the perfect time for her to see some ships up close, in action. She noticed Levy staring at Gajeel, and Lyon and Gray fighting over Juvia. (Gray won)
"Oh, Lucy~" Rose cooed, waltzing up to the unsuspecting blonde mage with a smirk. Frosch was cradled in the dark-haired flame mage's arms carefully. "Are you waiting for Natsu?"
Lucy turned bright red. "N-no!"
All of a sudden, Lucy's celestial spirit Loke appeared.
"W-what?" Lucy gasped, after being scooped up and held bridal style. The two disappeared before Rose could start ranting about Loke interfering with NaLu.
The phoenix slayer turned around and ran straight into Mr Grumpy Emo Penguin, AKA Rogue.
"Uh... hello?" Rose said unsurely.
"Frosch." He scowled.
"Oh... here you go!" Rose passed Frosch (who had dozed off) to him, before realising he was wearing a black and white tuxedo.
'1...2...3...'
"Bwahaha~" The female burst into a fit of laughter, falling over as she tried hard to not cry. She probably looked like she was having a seizure, but she honestly couldn't help it. "You... you really do look like a penguin!"
Rose paused, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Are you done yet?" Rogue scowled at her. Rose could almost see the angry tick mark. Annoying him was almost as fun as it was to annoy Natsu.
"Yea- nope."
The girl collapsed into another fit of giggles, before finally managing to scramble up and contain her laughter.
"Alright! It looks like it's time to move onto another round of swimsuits!" announced Chapati. Before he could continue, he was interrupted by screaming from far above.
Everyone glanced up, trying to figure out what it was.
The sight was enough to burn Rose's retina's out.
"I will never be the same way again..." Rose whimpered, attempting to rub the terrible vision out of her eyes.
Ooba Babasaama, Lamia Scale's current guild master, was standing on the top of the giant statue, and after catching the crowd's attention she leapt down and threw off her cloak.... Revealing the unsightly pink lacy one-piece which she was hiding underneath.
Before any further damage could be made to the minds of the viewers, Chapati interrupted- his voice wavering as he clutched the microphone in his hand tightly.
"And with that crash course, in reality, the mood in the arena has been brought down to Earthland. Party's over, folks."