"You alright, Sherry? I thought we might have gone a little too hard on you," Chelia said with a sincere look on her face, but her eyes had a certain amount of delight at her cousin having lost.
Chelia offered her hand to help Sherry up, but she ignored it and stood on her own.
Chelia giggled as Sherry stumbled a bit.
"You sure?" She asked.
Sherry gave her the same false sweet smile.
"Of course!"
The elder of the two cousins tried not to limp as she made her way to the exit of the arena they had just fought in.
Ren was still lying there, but Sherry didn't seem to notice as her cousin walked beside her, looking completely fine.
The same couldn't quite be said for Wendy.
She had been the one sent to destroy Sherry's minions and she didn't heal like Chelia did.
Chelia glanced at her and gave her a little bit of healing, but it tapered off at the end.
Wendy grabbed her own magical source and healed Chelia's power reserve a bit as well.
"Thanks," Chelia whispered, giving her a wink.
Wendy smiled back.
She wanted to keep talking, but Chelia hurried forward and started talking to her cousin.
Wendy tried to listen in, but the cheering from the crowd in the stadium made that a bit difficult.
Wendy wondered, almost absentmindedly, if Ren was still laying unconscious in the stadium.
She assumed that he wasn't considering they liked to clear them out as quickly as possible.
They'd probably hauled him off, dragging him across the ground.
Wendy tried not to laugh when she heard her Mate speak.
"I thought the battle would last longer!"
Sherry stiffened and Wendy tried incredibly hard to keep a straight face.
"Yes, in fact your gloating has lasted longer than the battle, I believe."
Wendy pressed her lips together to avoid bursting out in laughter.
Chelia giggled at her cousin's words.
"That hasn't been very long at all." She responded.
Wendy trailed after the two of them.
Chelia finally bid her cousin goodbye, with one last snappy comment, before she turned back to her girlfriend and grabbed her hand, skipping down the hallways to Fairy Tail.
"The last day of competition is going to be so much fun!" Chelia said, already skipping several days of the competition as if they were nothing.
Wendy laughed at the words as she was pulled along behind her.
"Yup!" She agreed finally.
<><><>
Minerva looked over at her girlfriend and found herself smiling as they sat at the counter.
"That last fight was pretty intense," Yukino said.
Minerva nodded at the words.
That it was.
Pretty impressive too.
Those two girls had beaten Sherry and Ren.
Those two were supposed to be pretty strong.
"Hey! Maybe we'll be fighting some time soon!" Yukino sounded excited.
Minerva gave her a smile, a thin one (but that was more than she usually gave anyone).
She glanced over at their participant in today's challenge.
Rufus was down trodden as he sat at the bar dejectedly.
Sting tried to comfort him, being the guild Master and all, but it didn't help too much.
Rufus had been depressed ever since his challenge.
Gray and Lyon had both, at separate times, outwitted him.
That was something that shook him to his very core.
Minerva looked at her girlfriend and the pair exchanged a look before they both started to quietly laugh.
The absurdity of Sting comforting someone was laughable.
Tomorrow was going to be interesting.
<><><>
The announcer looked across the stadium allowing the suspense to build within those in the arena.
"From Fairy Tail Team A, Erza Scarlet!"
Lucy glances at her girlfriend, the name argument coming back into mind all of a sudden.
She saw the way the crowd's expressions changed when they heard the name 'Erza Scarlet'.
Perhaps the name Scarlet wouldn't be too bad...
But she still hated Jellal for giving it to her.
But it was alright, she guessed.
And by alright she meant that she could live with it, albeit grudgingly.
"From Fairy Tail Team B, Mirajane Strauss!"
That made the crowd muttered in shock, the old rivalry not forgotten...
If one could call it an old rivalry.
Some whispered that it had never died.
Minerva, who had been alright with letting Rogue go earlier, quickly changed their competitor.
The man didn't seem disappointed, in fact he seemed relieved.
"From Sabertooth, R-Minerva Orland!"
Yukino stared at her girlfriend for a moment with worry before she calmed herself.
She could take care of herself.
Of course she could.
"From Lamia Scale, Jura Neekis!"
Chelia stiffened a bit and looked at her girlfriend with more than a bit of worry.
"He's going to be a challenge. I hope Erza and Mirajane don't get hurt."
Wendy giggled and rolled her eyes at Chelia.
"Oh, ye of little faith. Nothing will come between Mira and Erza's fight... especially if they're going to be in a sanctioned one."
"From Mermaid Heel, Kagura Mikazuchi!"
Kagura looked down at the arena and a small smile grew on her lips.
Wendy was now officially worried.
That made four of the strongest female Mages in all of Fiore.
Minerva. Mirajane. Erza. Kagura.
They were all going up against each other.
Not to mention Jura.
"From Blue Pegasus, Jenny Realight!"
Well.
That makes someone else who had a grievance against Mirajane.
The woman did seem to make a lot of enemies, didn't she?
The audience members were all of the edge of their seats, watching with waited breath to see what the six were going to do.
The women, and Jura (though he was a bit out of place with the other Mages competing), made their way into the stadium arena to await their trial of the day.
Not a single person in that stadium felt sure of who was going to win.
Not even the competitors themselves.
•••
The six took their positions on different sectors of the arena to wait for the announcer to explain the day's challenge.
The audience looked down at all the Mages.
Many more intelligent viewers shifted where they sat, hoping not to be destroyed by the women that were clearly going to be trying their hardest to win.
"Today's challenge will be one of strategy!"
Cana groaned and hit her head against the back of her chair.
She hadn't picked today of all days to go?! Come on!
Well, she knew Mirajane would do good, of course she would! Cana remembered how Mirajane had saved her from that fake kidnapping by use of a strategical game...
But Cana really wanted to do this! It would have been so much fun!
Going up against the Mighty Titania!
She wondered what game they'd be playing today.
Probably something weird and far too complicated.
Reminded her of when she fought against Scorpio in that weird card game all that time ago.
The announcer, after a long and dramatic pause, continued to speak.
"Today's game will be one of cunning, stealth, and strength!"
Cana found herself a bit less upset for having missed this opportunity.
Now that she thought about it she might have actually dodged a ballet.
Wendy, who was sitting beside Cana currently, let out a breath.
Most would have thought it weird for two competing parts of one guild to be sitting together, but despite their competition at the moment they were still incredibly close.
Cana glanced at the girl and knew exactly what she meant, even if she hadn't even spoken.
This was going to be an incredibly interesting challenge...
Good or bad interesting...
Well, that was yet to be decided.
"Those competing will each be given a hand of ten cards. You can play up to two card each turn as your activities before drawing." The announcer explained.
The stadium changed to look like a board game before ten cards appeared.
"The objective of the game is to either run out of cards or make your competitors physically incapable of continuing to play." Those in the stadium stared and looked down at the competitors.
The gleam of competition lit in the eyes of each of the guild's representatives, even Kagura (though she tried to hide her excitement).
They each raised their cards to examine them fully.
"Now... who wants to go first?" The announcer asked, smirking suddenly.
There was a silence before Jenny raised her hand.
The man smiled.
"Go ahead." He said.
Those from Blue Pegasus felt a bit uneasy when they looked at announcer.
He looked a bit too excited.
She played down a card in the air and it floated to the middle of the stadium.
The card was magnified so that all watching could see it.
Choose any player to pick up three cards.
"Who do you choose?" The announcer asked.
It seemed pretty clear at this point that he was the one taking control of the game.
Like the Game Master...
"Mirajane." She said, smirking just a bit.
Three cards appeared in Mirajane's hand.
The next person to play was Erza.
She quietly played a 'skip turn' that ended her own turn immediately, not making herself draw any card for the end of her turn.
Jura didn't play any card and just drew.
Upon Mirajane's turn, she played an attack card and turned to Jenny.
She suddenly transformed into her Satan Soul and did as the card said.
One free attack on any player of your choice.
Jenny let out a shriek and Mirajane did her one attack, slamming against Jenny with her claws out.
When she had finished, a forcefield went up around Jenny as well as the other players.
When Mirajane returned to where she had been, she gained a forcefield as well.
So that they couldn't attack when it wasn't time.
Jenny looked dazed.
She tried to stay on her feet, but she wobbled despite her mental resolve.
Jenny was finally able to stay on her feet and the gameplay resumed on Kagura's turn.
She played a skip that was unlike the one that Erza had played.
This one skipped the next player.
Kagura drew a card to end her turn.
Minerva was supposed to be the next player to take her turn, but she had been skipped by Kagura.
Erza tried not to smirk at the expression on Minerva and Kagura's faces.
Kagura looked smug, though she was clearly trying to hide the expression, while Minerva was trying to hide her anger.
The play started over again and it was Jenny's turn again.
The woman was still wobbly on her feet, but she managed to play a protect card.
It stopped any attack card.
It lasted until Jenny's next turn.
Hardly the beginning of the game and she had already started playing on the defensive side of things.
That didn't bode too well for Blue Pegasus considering her normally headstrong, bold personality.
Erza played a draw card and directed it at Jura, clearly thinking the man was up to something.
And she was right.
Jura drew three cards, well they were really passed through the air to him from the center of the arena.
The man was the next to play and put down an attack card.
Erza instantly reacted by putting down a defense card that allowed her to defend herself from Jura's single attack.
She could even do damage herself if she wanted to...
Jura summoned up his greatest attack, but Erza reacted first.
She requipped into her flight armor, summoning two swords and shooting towards Jura.
The man had not seen the defense card as was surprised as Erza slashed him, cutting both him and his attack short.
With that, the turn ended.
Next came Mirajane.
She glanced at Erza and raised an eyebrow, looking amused at how she had handled the Jura situation.
Mirajane was hoping this challenge would come down to her and Erza, so she decided that she'd work towards that.
It wasn't her trying to give her fellow Fairy Tail members a higher ranking.
Not at all.
She wanted to destroy her.
Mirajane smiled in her normal, sweet way before placing down a draw three, which she directed at Jura.
She, just like Erza, knew he was up to something.