On the morning of the first battle day, Crocus had an extra hum in the air. The Grand Magic Games had already taken the city over. You couldn't pick up breakfast, buy a newspaper, or walk down the street without hearing talk of it. Everyone thought they knew who was going to win. Most of them were happy to defend their opinion, too, if they found anyone with a different one. Harry had heard a dozen debates about whether Lamia Scale would finally defeat Sabertooth this year, if the mysterious newcomers Raven Tail could pull off an upset, or how long Fairy Tail could keep up their surprise run.
Before seven, Harry walked with a baguette under his arm and a bag of muffins in his hand. He'd been an early riser for his whole life, so getting a fast start to his day wasn't a sacrifice. If that let him jump the line at one of Crocus' best bakeries he'd be a fool not to take advantage.
He was crossing a footbridge above a canal when he looked to the right, happening to spot a familiar face. She was by herself on a bench, staring pensively at the slow-moving water.
Harry wasn't the only one who'd seen her. Every thirty seconds or so, someone would try to approach. Some recognized her as a competitor from the Grand Magic Games. Others — all men — saw a breathtaking woman sitting alone and took it upon themselves to offer her company.
Whenever they got within ten steps of her, without even earning a look, they would find themselves teleported twenty steps back. The stubborn ones tried two or three times before they took a hint.
Harry snorted, then spun and teleported.
He landed next to Minerva on her bench in a tricky show of Apparition. In fact, for a few seconds, she didn't notice him.
When she did, she lurched back. "You!"
Harry held out his bag. "Want a muffin?"
She looked at the bag, then at him.
"We're enemies!" Minerva said. She squinted, highlighting her bright eyeshadow. "Do you plan to poison me?"
"We're not enemies. We're rivals. And why would I poison you?" Harry nudged her with his elbow. "Since Fairy Tail is going to win anyway, just take a muffin. Your stomach will thank you."
Minerva scoffed. "Fine! I'll take your muffin. Then, today, I'll take your precious points as well. Try not to cry when that happens."
Harry might've been hurt by her words, except she reached into the bag and took a prompt bite of the poppyseed muffin she retrieved. The crumbs and a seed got stuck around her mouth. It was hard to take her seriously after that.
"Sure, sure, it's as you say," Harry said. "Hold still."
Hooking his thumb inside the sleeve of his shirt, he reached over and rubbed the crumbs off. Minerva turned the color of a Gryffindor tie. She pushed him back hard enough to scoot him along the bench, but soft enough that he wouldn't fall off of it. She kept the muffin and continued to eat it.
"Is this where you come when you need to clear your head?" Harry asked.
"A Sabertooth mage isn't affected by things like worries. We're the best. Our success is inevitable."
"It hasn't looked inevitable so far."
"Momentary stumbles." The robotic way Minerva said the words didn't make them seem like her own, but something that had been memorized well. "Sting and Orga have learned not to fail again. In the end, we'll win. As we always do."
Harry got a muffin of his own from the bag, unwrapping it. He bit in and got a whole blueberry on his first bite. "How do you know that we'll be facing each other?"
"Who said that I do?" Minerva said.
"You told me you'll take points off us today."
It was the format for battle days. All of this had been explained in the announcement of the tournament's format. While guilds could receive one to seven points for their performances on normal days, battle days offered the risk of losing points. Winning your duel awarded one point to your guild and stripped a point away from the loser. Sabertooth, who was two points behind Fairy Tail, could draw level with a victory against them.
Minerva looked conflicted. Her eyes dipped to her muffin. She cleared her throat loudly.
"I'm only saying this so that there's no debt between us!" she said. "It was a good muffin, and good muffins deserve fair payment."
She turned, pointing past Harry at where ordinary citizens of Crocus were walking. If he strained his ears, he could hear snippets of their conversations.
"Sabertooth will battle Fairy Tail because it's what they're talking about. It's an open secret that the games are decided on the fly. They're the pet project of Fiore's royal family, and the royals always pay attention to what their subjects want. Every year past, the last event of the final day pitted Sabertooth against Lamia Scale."
"First versus second."
"The two most popular guilds," Minerva said. "With the most fans, or the most spectators who want us to fail." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Making enemies is inevitable when you dominate. A pity the haters never have anything to celebrate."
She faced forward again, staring at the canal, the smirk fading off her face.
"I'll be competing today. My father declared it."
"I hope you're wrong about facing my guild," Harry said. "I'd like to be able to root for you."
Minerva didn't react the way that he expected. There were no blushes, no stammers, and she didn't even tell him off. She linked her fingers, running her thumb over the side of her knuckle.
"I also wouldn't be upset if I was wrong. Should I face Fairy Tail, I've been told I can kill them. If not, I should at least make it close."
"You don't have to, though," Harry said.
Minerva stared at the water. "Being the best isn't easy. It requires sacrifices."
Again, the words didn't sound like her own.
Harry sighed. He leaned back, stretching against the bench, tilting his head to look at the sky. "Do I have to have a chat with your dad?"
"Don't!" Minerva looked at him, just for a second, before she looked away. "This is your fault for making him so angry. If things didn't make him angry, he wouldn't have to go so far."
"Is that the excuse he likes to use?"
"Just… stop pushing the line! You thought Death's Head Caucus was scary? My father is twice as dangerous! When he wants something out of his way, he blows it to pieces without a second thought!"
"Then he's a bully. That's what bullies do. And I don't like bullies one bit."
Minerva laughed. She turned away, refusing to look at him. "You won't listen."
She got up. Harry's voice stopped her from walking off.
"Minerva. You can tell this to Jiemma— if any of my mages die over these games, he won't have a guild anymore. Whatever he tries won't be enough. Wherever he runs, it won't be far enough. Fight with everything you have today. Don't take it too far. If he complains about that, tell him what I said. If he still won't accept it, come to me."
"And what will you do?" Minerva tried to make it sound sarcastic, but a bit of curiosity got through.
"I'll protect you."
"I don't need that!" Minerva snapped, spinning toward him.
Harry was already gone. Sitting in his place on the bench was a still-wrapped muffin of the kind she'd scarfed down.
O-O-O
Every once and a while, Ultear surprised herself. She thought after all this time that she would know her own character. Yet, she could feel things she never expected to.
"Nervous?" she whispered. "I've fought to the death. I stood across from Zeref. Why am I nervous for this?"
A crowd shouldn't have been able to get under her skin no matter how large it was. She leaned on the last railing between the seats and the arena, watching the first pair of fighters take up positions. One of them was an old student of her mother's. Ultear hoped he wouldn't lose. Ur's magic didn't deserve to look weak.
She couldn't focus on the fight though, even after they began.
She was almost sweating. She could feel her heartbeat. Unless she was mistaken, her mouth was slightly dry. Why? She couldn't make sense of it.
Someone put their arm over her shoulder. She might've thought it was Meredy, were it not for the size of the arm. Ultear found her guild master smiling at her.
"Ready?" Harry asked.
"Of course," Ultear scoffed.
He saw through her.
"Give it everything," Harry said. "If things turn out the way I think they will, this won't be easy."
Ultear set her jaw. She spaced out for just a moment, and when she gave the arena her attention again, Lyon Vastia had already beaten his opponent.
His Ice-Make animals hounded the Blue Pegasus mage he was facing, cornering the man and pounding him into the ground. Ren Akatsuki was an Air Mage of decent ability, from the little Ultear had seen. Lyon was just stronger.
Good, Ultear thought. As it should be.
There was only one more match before hers. It would be a three-way battle. The odd number of guilds made it obvious this would happen. She expected it to be the finale, though.
Kurohebi of Raven Tail, Beth Vanderwood of Mermaid Heel, and Nobarly of Quatro Cerberus were the three there to fight. None of them particularly stood out to Ultear. She squinted a moment later, looking at Kurohebi's smile. His lips permanently curved up while his eyes showed nothing. Ultear revised her judgement. That one was dangerous— in temperament, at least. His magical prowess remained to be seen.
The match started. Harry's arm was still over her shoulder. This time, Ultear watched the fight closely, using it to distract herself.
She was shocked as soon as Kurohebi struck a pose like Lyon's. "Ice-Make: Snake!"
Two serpents made of ice shot out of either of his palms. Ultear grabbed the rail she'd been leaning against. "That's her magic!"
"His magic, you mean?" Harry said. "It's what Lyon used."
"Exactly the same." Ultear would have to tell him more of her history at some point, but now wasn't the time. "He's taken it for his own."
Her fingers curled against the metal they were gripping. The surface started to frost over with pink ice.
Kurohebi's opponents didn't sit around and wait to be beaten.
"Vegetable Magic: Corn Stalk!" A green plant shot straight up next to Beth, growing thirty feet in the air. She grabbed one of the leaves and was carried up with it, dodging the snake. A fitting magic, Ultear mused, for a mousy young girl dressed in overalls.
Nobarly was much bigger than Beth with a long and protruding nose. He crossed his arms. "Fuse Magic: Ten Minutes!"
His spell had no visible effect. The snake hit him and bit his arms. Bellowing, Nobarly stood his ground, managing to withstand the attack without debilitating damage.
Kurohebi hadn't been waiting. He put both of his hands on the ground and caused a sheet of ice to spread out from around them. Once it coated most of the arena, he kicked off, moving dexterously like a skater.
While Nobarly was defending against the snake, Kurohebi skated past, clotheslining him. Nobarly was slammed off his feet. Kurohebi looked down at him before turning away.
"He could've finished him. He chose not to," Ultear said.
"I agree." Harry's voice was stoic.
Kurohebi looked up and watched as a shadow fell over him. Beth was parachuting off of her corn stalk by holding either end of a huge lettuce leaf.
When she was close to the ground, she let go, landing with her eyes on Kurohebi. "Vegetable Magic: Carrot Barrage!"
She launched a stream of daggerlike orange vegetables out of her hands. Kurohebi tensed in order to dodge.
He didn't have to. Beth slipped on the ice, her carrots shooting harmlessly into the air. A groan swept through the crowd. Mermaid Heel had a lot of fans for reasons that had nothing to do with magic.
Again, Kurohebi waited, allowing Beth to get unsteadily to her feet.
"Why'd ya put ice everywhere? That's no fair!" said Beth. "Yer tryin' to make a fool outta me! Vegetable Magic: Potato Punch!"
The ground rumbled. After a brief earthquake, small brown spheres burst out of the dirt. Kurohebi flexibly avoided the few that would've hit him. The main purpose, though, was to break the ice he'd left across the ground.
With her feet underneath her, Beth went back to her signature move. "Vegetal Magic: Carrot Barrage!"
Kurohebi created a shield of ice. The noise the carrots made as they struck it were louder than vegetables should be, clearly hardened into a proper weapon. They couldn't break through, though. Even a mere copy of Ur's magic was too strong for that.
Nobarly picked himself up. He was tough, Ultear would admit it, but his magic seemed useless. Fuse Magic, he called it, his singular use followed by the appearance of a time limit.
"Time in exchange for power," she decided. "That must be his magic. If he withstands for ten minutes, he'll get power in return."
"It would be much more effective a team battle," Harry said.
"He probably hoped the other two would distract each other."
Despite Ultear's guess, Nobarly wasn't willing to watch from the sidelines and whittle down his time idly.
He hurled himself at Kurohebi, coming in from behind. Right as it looked like he would catch the Raven Tail mage, to the point that Nobarly actually grinned, he ran headlong into Kurohebi's palm.
"Double jointed," Ultear grumbled. She didn't like seeing an arm bend in that way. Everything about this Kurohebi was unpleasant. "Nobarly is done."
"I Kurohebi wants to finish it," Harry said.
Ultear conceded the point and he was proven right a moment later. A beam of ice propelled Nobarly back and slammed him into the wall of the arena. It was hard enough to leave him disoriented. Not hard enough to knock him out of the match. The ten minute timer that Nobarly set himself looked extremely ambitious now, with the mage on the verge of defeat long before half of the time was passed.
At the same time he dealt with Nobarly, Kurohebi attacked Beth. She had tried one more time to get him with her carrot attack, bringing her ace out. "Vegetable Magic: Carrot laser!"
The carrots flew faster and in a tighter spread. The ice shield began to crack. Unfortunately, Beth forgot about the shards of ice scattered around her feet. With one pose, Kurohebi had restraints sprout from them.
Beth was tripped as she found her feet stuck. Her arms were pinned down moments later. She wiggled but couldn't get free. "Let go o' me!"
Kurohebi let his ice shield disappear. He bent down, his face totally expressionless for once, and picked a carrot off of the ground.
He bit in and chewed.
Moments later, he spat orange mush to the side. "Disgusting."
Beth howled. "Of course they're gross! These're fightin' vegetables, they've got no nutritional value!"
Ultear wasn't sure what she was watching anymore. Kurohebi stalked toward Beth, picking up carrots along the way.
When he got close, he started to feed them to Beth one at a time.
"Nooooooo!" Beth wailed, slightly muffled with her mouth full. "Empty calories! No nutrients! I won't ever grow up big 'n strong like Kagura if I eat these!"
"This is strange. But cruel," Harry said.
It went on for what felt like an incredibly long time. Minutes passed by without intervention from officials. Beth hadn't conceded, since she couldn't, her mouth stuffed with carrots. Kurohebi kept feeding her until she finally passed out.
Across the arena, a purple-haired woman with a sword looked close to climbing into the arena. Kurohebi looked at her, stretched, and turned to Nobarly, still trapped in ice against the wall. He went toward the man at a lackadaisical pace.
The crowd was booing. Not only was he playing with his food, Kurohebi was stalling. The match should've ended a long time ago. It was no fun to watch anymore.
"Nine and a half minutes," Harry said. He had a small hourglass in his hand, probably summoned with his magic. Most of the sand had passed to the bottom. "Nobarly's time is almost up."
Kurohebi strolled up to the Quatro Cerberus mage. Just as the last grain of sand hovered on the edge of falling— Kurohebi grabbed Nobarly's head and slammed it into the wall, concussing him. Two more blows left him unable to fight.
Kurohebi leaned in, whispering into Nobarly's ear. The broadcast picked up his words, although they were faint. "So close. Did you get excited?"
Kurohebi turned away, waving to the booing crowd.
"I'd like to destroy that man," Ultear said. Not only was he cruel, he was weak. He looked strong against these opponents because they were even weaker. If Ultear was in the arena, he'd have been crushed under her heel the way a bug might be.
"You won't get that chance, but at least you'll be able to blow off some steam," Harry said.
That was all it took to remind Ultear whose turn it was. She was going to take the field and fight. None who had fought before her would've been her match. Yet, again, she felt damnably nervous!
She slipped out from under Harry's arm. "I'll be going, then."
"Ultear!" Meredy yelled.
Ultear looked back. The girl she'd practically raised was in the front row. Jellal was with her. No longer, however, were they alone.
Laki was in the front row. Flare, the strange redhead who understood nothing, was next to them. In the second row sat Dyst, the odd-thinking young man Harry brought back from Crocus like a stray. Macao and Wakaba, two drunk old men, were stomping their feet. That caught on with the rest of the guild, kicking up a fuss.
"Do your best!" Meredy said, smiling so brightly that Ultear almost got blinded.
It finally clicked. Ultear had lived as a dark mage, faced down Zeref, and pitted her against some of the strongest in Fairy Tail. But it had all been for herself. If she lost, then she would be the only one who felt it.
Things were different now. She and Meredy weren't alone anymore. For the first time, Ultear was going to fight for the sake of others.
How could she not be nervous?
Harry returned to his seat, flopping down between Meredy and Jellal.
"Go on," he said. "Kick some ass."
Ultear clenched her fists.
"Naturally," she said.
The solution was simple: don't lose.
The arena awaited.