We nod together before opening the door, the door that leads to a place where failure is not accepted.

~•------------------------------------•~

     For some odd reason, the guild is completely uninhabited, save for Orga, Rufus, and Master Jiemma.

   Our fellow Grand Magic Game victims are standing before Master Jiemma, who is sitting on his throne and drumming his fingers impatiently.

   While we're approaching Jiemma's throne, Rufus dips his hat in greeting and Orga just nods to us. For once in our lives, Master Jiemma is silent. 

   Maybe I should thank him for preserving my hearing. I think, holding back a chuckle.

  As soon as we take our correct positions next to Orga and Rufus, we bow before Master Jiemma, and I fight against the urge to spit on his oh-so-marvelous throne.

"Minerva has not yet returned," Master Jiemma informs us, glowering. "Meanwhile, I place (Y/N) in charge to keep things in line."

   Oh, great. Why me? I feel like putting Rufus in charge would make much more sense, as he's much more logical.

    I see Sting glance at me before quickly looking away. I bow my head, and imagine that Sting just asked me out. Wait...what?!

   "I will gladly take up your generous offer." I reply, thankfully not feeling my face heat up at the thought of Sting and I being a couple.

   Thank goodness my face is cooperating today. It would be quite embarrassing to blush in front of Master Jiemma...he would probably think that he evoked it. *shudder*

  Sting and I had grown a lot closer during training, as we fight well together. I would definitely say that I consider him a...*cough, cough* uh..."friend"...but what counts as a friend in a guild like this, anyway?

    I can at least say that he doesn't seem to hate me.

    "(Y/N)," Master Jiemma says, eyeing me and scowling with displeasure. "I want to speak with you, privately, for some...guidelines."

What the hell, man?! This bull(f/i/t/b) again?! How many times is he going to single me out?

   "The rest of you," Master Jiemma says, his eyes moving to look at every individual as he speaks. "Start packing your necessities; we're leaving for Crocus tomorrow. And, if you're late, don't expect me to be lenient. Now,-"

   A high pitched sound travels through the empty room as Jiemma receives an incoming message on his communication lacrima, and an image of Minerva slowly begins to appear in the glowing lacrima.

"Leave," Jiemma growls. "I have more important things to attend to. (Y/N), I'll meet you in my office."

Jiemma starts walking to his office, and the other Grand Magic Game participants begin to exit the guild via the front doors.

    I walk at a leisurely pace behind Jiemma, catching only a few words of conversation between Jiemma and Minerva, which have no meaning out of context. I turn around and watch as Orga, Rogue, Rufus, and Yukino walk out of the guild, closing the glorious doors behind them, which seals off all entrances to confine the whisperings and information that aren't supposed to reach their ears.

I feel my legs trembling beneath me out of nervousness and fear, and I struggle to withhold my sanity.

How many more times will I have to go through this?

My steps falter, and I practically twist my ankle, so I unintentionally let out a profanity.

Come on. This won't be that bad, right? I've survived Jiemma's rants before. I just need to keep a cool head, and not make any attempts to defy him.

   I hear a door slam, and I quicken my pace to reach Jiemma's office.

   "...going to test her. I don't believe she's trustworthy yet, but in time, I believe she could even rival your power."

    I stop in my tracks.

What? Since when has he thought that?

   "Ahaha! What an amusing remark, father. What magic did you say she uses, support magic? It is foolish for you even to suggest that her magic power is even on the same level as mine."

   I feel my face scrunch up in disgust as I hear Minerva's cocky voice.

Oh, the things they do not know. I haven't tested my limit in a while...

   " 'My little friend' has been monitoring her. He has detected that she has copious amounts of magic power that couldn't have been attained solely from learning support magic."

   His little friend? Those times I've felt eyes upon me and the presence of another...is that the doing of Jiemma's spy? The spy must be very observant, too, to realize that I'm not at my full potential.

"Believe what you like, but she's useless if she isn't using her 'large amount of magic power'. Not to mention that she's rumored to be a Fairy. Are this accusations true?"

"Yes, she was previously in that guild."

"How horrific. What's a filthy bitch like her doing in our guild?"

Uhm, excuse you, I bathe every day.

   I hear Jiemma chuckle darkly.

"It must be like a slap in the face for those sensitive, weak Fairies. We can use her to our advantage, since they won't-"

Jiemma stops speaking abruptly, and I instantly take several steps back so that I'm almost out of earshot.

"What's wrong, father?"

"We'll talk later. I have to speak with her about that disgusting guild."

As if he can talk.

Minerva snickers; I can just imagine her contorted expression.

"Have fun with that. Well, goodbye."

I continue taking steps back until I'm completely out of earshot. I hear Jiemma grumbling something that doesn't sound like a friendly goodbye; it sounds more like a, "Hurry your ass up so we can win." type of thing. How nice.

I appreciate how caring he is for his daughter; she must feel very loved. Jiemma treats all of us like his own, as he's mentioned on several occasions. No wonder Minerva has turned out so 'beautifully'.

The door to Jiemma's office swings open suddenly, and I flinch at the unexpected motion.

He stares at me for a couple moments, probably trying to decide whether or not I was listening. My face is expressionless.

"Enter," he says without a hint of emotion. He doesn't mention his conversation with Minerva, so I assume that he came to the conclusion that I hadn't been listening.

I calmly walk past him, feeling the tension grow by the second.

As soon as he sits down and motions for me to take a seat, I begin to initiate conversation.

"What is it, master?" I ask, my voice sounding surprisingly steady.

"I'll cut to the chase. I do not want to see any members of this guild fooling around- if they do, you are obligated to bring them to me to be punished. If anyone comes into contact with another guild, they may only choose to provoke them. You shall not be a mediator unless you will be deemed as powerful by the opposing guild. Got that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Great; then I can continue." Jiemma replies, a dark, foreboding smile playing across his lips. "When representing Sabertooth, you must be as intimidating as possible: proper posture, mysterious eyes, a powerful aura, and a provocative nature. Be argumentative; question every piece of information that is spoon fed to you- especially by your guild mates. This disunity among us will lead to fear- and fearful people will try to be brave and be careful not to step out of line. Thus, nobody will misbehave...especially not if I'm directly watching them."

   As much as I hate Jiemma and his morals, I have to appreciate his understanding of human behavior. It is like what Ollivander from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone once said about Voldemort: that he did great things. Terrible, but great.

    However, even my appreciation would not be able to smother my disapproval for Jiemma's manipulative ways, so I decide not to comment.

   "(Y/N) (L/N), will you be able to live up to Sabertooth's standards? Or will you succumb to your previous guild's fluffy, sickly-sweet ways?"

   Jiemma's piercing gaze bores straight into my soul. It is terribly electrifying; it encourages me to not turn back to the pleasant guild I had once lived happily in. However, doubt bubbles somewhere deep inside me, and my gaze flits to the ground. Can I really do this? Am I prepared to face dark times?

To defy all that isn't right, I must prove this man wrong. And...I will.

My (e/c) eyes, with unbelievable depth,  come back up to meet his gaze, and I now know that he is not the only intimidating one in this room.

To Jiemma...I am dangerous. That's why he placed me in these games.

I am a mysterious girl with an unknown past and unknown strength; where my loyalties lie is unbeknownst to this excuse of a guild master.

  "I, (Y/N) (L/N), shall never betray the guild I belong to." I smile evilly, dropping down on one knee and bowing my head.

I feel immensely satisfied when a ragged smirk spreads across Jiemma's face.

"Prove it," he says, crossing his arms, "And you shall be considered as one of Sabertooth's greats."

I hold back a tremendous amount of laughter and instead reassure his little dreams, "Of course."

*not.

My heart belongs to one guild: Fairy Tail!*

I have reached the door when he calls out to me.

"(Y/N)," his deep, cold voice resonates through the air, reverberating through my chest and causing shivers to run down my spine. "I'm more intuitive than you may think."

My heart rate suddenly increases seemingly by tenfold, and my fingertips clutch the door, indicating how terrified I am.

"If you manage to reveal one piece of information about us to Fairy Tail, you shall never again know dignity...you will be very familiar with despair, and despair only. No; scratch that. If you even attempt to communicate with them, your regret will come quickly. As you probably already know, I have eyes everywhere. There is nowhere to escape. That damned guild's revival should mean nothing to you."

He hesitates for a moment, waiting for my response. I simply turn around with an unsuspecting expression, furiously trying to hold in my emotions.

"Moreover, I have ways to make them suffer if you do not obey. It is not just about you. With that being said..."

His deadly tone makes the danger palpable in the air.

"...I advise you to agree to my terms."

A slight chuckle forces its way out of my throat.

"I know who I am. And, as I stated before, I already know where my loyalties lie. And you should also know, highly-intuitive-master."

I know I should not have provoked him so openly, but when will I have the next chance to defy him sassily?

His gaze narrows, but he shrugs.

I walk out.

"If that is what you wish,"

"It is."

~•-------------------------•~

heh...heh...heh............

okay, murder me if you want. Lol. (At least this is almost 2000 words!)

Cliff hangers......cliff hangers EVERYWHEREEEEEE

What does Jiemma suspect? What does he know?

And yeah, I know I'm AWFUL at updating. Inconsistency is kinda my thing by this point.

I mean, it's only been another 6-7 months! XD

Okay, okay, I'm actually genuinely sorry. However, I'm more of a random-energy spike sort of writer. Idk.

Thanks for everything anyway! :)

Hopefully I can update a bit more......ha......ha......

~Ari :))