Artwork drawn by trytoepic and colored by Evo_is_Birdy. Results for the Popularity Poll will be posted at the end.

It was about ten years prior when Lucy suddenly received a tip from Loke that the key for Aquarius was last found in a temple near the village of Vergesse. 

Lucy, with a two-year-old and three other annoying children, quickly dropped everything to hop onto a train and head across the country to find her key. She couldn't miss her chance and definitely couldn't stand to have someone else take the key from her. 

When she arrived, she only had the bag she'd hastily packed and a pack of cigarettes, though she didn't smoke. She had remembered Aquarius once exclaiming, "Gah, I could use a cigarette." Knowing that she would most definitely not be glad to see her, because it was Aquarius, she thought having one ready might make her a bit more glad to see her.

When she arrived in the small village via back of a horse's cart, she asked around for any information on the temple and how to get to it. Vergesse was its name, and it was, more or less, a place forgotten by the rest of the world.

The village was tiny, its main street was less than half a mile long, but was buzzy in its own right. It didn't seem like the town to get many visitors, as almost everyone stared consistently at her as she walked down the sidewalk.

It was even worse when she entered the diner. She stepped inside, the bell rang, and literally everyone turned to stare at her. Lucy wasn't sure what to make of it, so as they stared she went ahead and said, "What, never seen a beautiful woman before?" 

"No..." a waitress answered with a shake of her head, "we're more concerned about...that thing." 

Lucy made a face and looked at her feet to see Plue, who she had summoned along the start of her journey to have a companion. "Oh," she laughed, "Yeah, sorry, that's just Plue, he's a celestial spirit--um, do you have any open tables?" 

The waitress set her up at a booth with Plue, writing down her lunch order as she asked, "So, you're a celestial spirit mage? Those are pretty rare, we had one living here a few years back, but I don't think I've met one besides her." 

"Oh--yeah," Lucy nodded, "we are pretty rare, I suppose," Lucy chuckled, "so rare...that even my own children aren't interested in becoming one..."

The waitress nodded with an uncomfortable expression, "I'll have your order ready in a minute."

She stepped away, and suddenly a woman with messy hair leaned over the counter by Lucy's table and asked, "Hey, my busboy just told me there's some crazy lady with a snowman in my diner, is that you?" 

Lucy didn't exactly appreciate being called a "crazy lady" but she shrugged and said, "Yeah, but he's a celestial spirit." 

"Ah, a celestial spirit mage, those are rare." 

"So I've been told..." 

"I see you've got a mark on your hand, that Fairy Tail? I hear they cause messes, you're not gonna destroy my diner are you?" 

"Oh, no ma'am," she shook her head, "I mean, if my husband were here, I couldn't make any promises, but I'm not much of a 'destroyer'. I'm actually here to find a key." 

"A key?" the waitress returned with Lucy's drink, setting the glass down at her table along with Plue's milk. "Like, house keys? Oh my gosh, I lost my keys last week and had to crawl through my back window--"

"No, keys for spirits? You know," she tugged on the ring of keys at her waist, "these guys here...there's one in a temple near here. A golden one actually."

"What? No way, aren't those super rare?" 

"Yeah..." Lucy picked up her glass, "very rare."

"How do you know no one has taken the key yet?" the waitress asked. 

"I don't, actually," Lucy sighed, "but I've read that these temples are deeply protected, and the only way to get in is by sacrificing a contract. So only celestial spirit mages can get in, really. Not to mention that people who aren't Celestial spirits--who just are trading keys but don't actively participate in any contracts with spirits--will be attacked by booby traps."

"Wow, that sounds like quite a sacrifice," the owner nodded, "and...an explanation for why that man who came last month was missing an arm when he came back."

"Oh, it is!" Lucy insisted, "I mean, all my spirits are like family to me. I've had some of them for the better half of my life. Like Plue here, he and I have been together for so many years. He's my special friend."

The two women looked to the left of Lucy, seeing the "little dog" she was referring to. The waitress leaned over to the owner over the counter, "This lady might be nuts." 

"The thing is, none of the books I've read show where the temple is, so I might have to spend days, maybe weeks navigating the woods trying to find it--"

"You mean the temple down the river?" The owner asked, almost laughing. "Oh please, everyone knows where that is, heck, we have a big barbeque on the roof every summer. Sure, we can't get in, but we can climb up on top of it." 

Lucy was a bit shellshocked, her mouth hanging open as she finally managed to ask, "What?" 

"Oh yeah," the waitress nodded, "that's where my wife proposed to me, it was really sweet." 

"Wait--so you can just tell me where it is?" 

"Yeah, it's not like some kind of secret," the owner rolled her eyes, grabbing a napkin from the containers in one swift motion. "Donna, lend me your pen," the waitress passed her pen along to the owner, who quickly jotted down directions to the temple, "you'll really just want to follow the river, but there are some moments where it sorta forks off, so this should keep you on track."

"Oh my gosh!" Lucy stood up, moving towards the counter in excitement as she watched the woman draw the map, "Thank you! Thank you--you're a lifesaver! Well--more so a time-saver, but thank you nonetheless!" As soon as the woman was done drawing up the map, she swiped it right off the counter, looking at it intently in her hands. "Alright, thank you--Plue! Come on! Let's go--" 

She grabbed her bag and was just about out the door before both the waitress and owner shouted, "Wait!" Lucy turned around, "You haven't paid for your lunch!" 

"Oh! Right!" Lucy grew flushed, digging into her bag and pulling out a fist full of bills, "So sorry, thank you again." 

With that, she and Plue left, the waitress shaking her head, "That woman's gonna get herself killed."

Almost immediately, Lucy and Plue were on their way to the temple, Lucy holding the map stiffly in her hands as she followed it to the river, then followed alongside the river for a good twelve minutes of walking. Eventually, Plue got all deflated at had to go home, leaving Lucy alone on her walk.

Eventually, Lucy got a little turned around and found herself at a bridge, one the owner of the diner had not mentioned or drawn in her map.

"Oh, no...oh crap what's this supposed to be."

"Can I help you?" 

Lucy paused, still holding her map tightly in her hands. There, she saw a man sitting alone fishing. Lucy was a bit surprised to see him, and the expression on her face showed it. "Oh," she said, then waved slightly, "hello." 

"Hello," he responded, tipping his hat as most gentlemen do. "Pardon my rudeness, but you look a bit lost. You aren't from around here, are you." 

"Heh, no not at all. I'm actually here because of the Eastern Celestial Temple, ever heard of it?" 

The man paused, "I've heard of it, yes. It's an old legend around here." 

"Oh, great," Lucy smiled, "I've actually been looking for it, but I got a little turned around by my map. This lady at the diner wrote it on a napkin..." she pulled out the map once again, squinting at it intently, "not sure if this is a lake or a coffee stain--no, it's neither. That's definitely blood." 

"Well, I can probably send you in the right direction, show me the map and I can tell you where you are." 

Lucy smiled, crossing the bridge to meet the fisherman where he sat. He looked at the map, examining it carefully as he asked, "So what in the temple interests you?" 

"Well, as you might have guessed from the...well...fact that I'm headed to the Celestial Temple and I've got a huge ring of keys on my belt here...I'm a Celestial Spirit mage." 

"Wow, isn't that rare," he nodded, a thin smile on his face as he tried to make out the blurred markings on the map, "is there something to be found at the temple?" 

"Actually," Lucy lowered her voice, as though someone was listening, "I heard word that this is where Aquarius' key reformed. I was the original bearer, but I was forced to sacrifice it in this whole fight so I could call the Celestial Spirit--I actually wrote a book about it, if you're so curious, go read it." 

The man laughed, "So, it sounds like you're about to be reunited with an old friend." 

Lucy smiled, "I am, actually. I'm really excited too. Now that I, you know, have a husband, she might finally get off me about getting a boyfriend...maybe she'll respect me," Lucy smiled, then shook her head, "probably not." 

The man again laughed, nodding his head, "I'm afraid you're quite a bit turned around. You want to head in that direction," he pointed in the opposite direction Lucy had been headed, passing the map back to her. "The path to the temple only follows the river for so long, around 300 feet back or so it diverges into the west a bit. Just keep walking, there should be a marked path that'll lead you to it." 

"Really?" Lucy squinted to where the man was pointing, "I hadn't realized, thank you." 

"It's no problem," the man smiled, "I don't mind helping a stranger, especially a spirit mage. My wife was one." 

Lucy, though she didn't mean to pry, couldn't help but ask the kind man, "Was?" 

The man's face soured a bit, but not in a bitter way. "Passed away last year, I'm afraid. She loved the spirits, always wanted to find a way into that temple without having to sacrifice any of her spirits." 

Lucy, hoping for a chance of not having to sacrifice any of her own, asked, "Did she find a way?" 

The man paused and smiled, "Have a safe trip."

He tipped his straw hat, then went back to his fishing as Lucy walked away, off to follow her new path and make her way to the temple.

She went back a good 300 feet, then turned as the man suggested. She began to walk west, still holding the map, not squished, in her left hand. She felt as though she'd been walking for ages, and the sound of the river had long since faded from earshot. Lucy stopped, sighing as she pulled the map out again. The loose drawing of the temple was very clearly next to the river, and as she recalled, all the illustrations of the temple she'd seen in books were practically on some body of water.

It could have been a lake, but Lucy felt a bit unsure. There was no sign of water in the direction she was headed, and though she didn't want to believe the nice man fishing by the river was a liar, she didn't want to believe the woman in the diner was wrong either.

So, she followed her gut, which decided it was her best option to follow the river.

It took her some time to find herself back where she was, but this time she just kept following the river. By the time she arrived at the bridge, she was surprised to see the fisherman was gone, but a bit relieved as she didn't want to awkwardly explain to him that she'd chosen not to take his advice. 

She kept walking, far past the bridge and the trees grew thicker and mossy, their roots tangling themselves over the path as she stepped over them. It was thick and chaotic, but it felt right.

Then she saw it, the temple.

It was smaller than she expected, but it did seem to have a good-sized roof for a barbeque. She wondered if she could one day bring the family there some summer to tell them the story of how she retrieved Aquarius' key after so many years. 

Once it was truly in sight, she started sprinting, an activity she hadn't really done in years. Her legs carried her towards the entrance as fast as they could. Where she arrived at a door twice as tall as herself. Though the entirety of the temple was rather worn down, the door was solid, as though it was built just yesterday.

The arch of the door was of lapis lazuli, with golden tiles marking each of the twelve golden zodiac keys. The door itself was golden, with white veins interrupting the shine in an intense pattern. There, connecting the two doors was the lock. It was small and had a clear impression of a key. 

"Well, Pyxis, I guess this is goodbye," she held the key tenderly in her hands, cupping it like it were her child. "Thank you, thank you so much for everything you've given me, and I know your key will reform one day, and you'll find someone else to befriend, but just know that the time we shared has meant a lot to me." Lucy paused, "But, you know, you're not really an attack spirit, and I think I've only summoned you, like, three times in the past ten years if I'm honest. I mean, I could probably just go buy a compass. What are they, like, 100 jewels? I dunno, I don't really go camping a lot."

Lucy sighed, shaking her head. It was time, but this sacrifice would bring her Aquarius back, so Lucy shut her eyes and set the key in its place.

She waited a moment, eyes still shut, until she realized nothing particularly magical had happened. So she jammed the key in there a couple more times before realizing that this wasn't going to work. 

"What--wait? Do I have to sacrifice a celestial spirit I actually really love--oh man, I really hope they can't hear me through these keys..." To be careful, she held the key up to her mouth and whispered an apology to Pyxis.

Lucy looked up at the door, then set Pyxis' key back in place on her ring. Setting her hands on her hips, she looked at the door yet again and tugged lightly on the lock of the door. To her shock, it actually budged.

This sent Lucy straight over the edge. She went running towards the nearest tree, retrieving a fallen branch and dragging it to the door. Stripping it of any twigs, she shoved the thin end into the crack of the door and pushed with all her strength against the branch. The branch, of course, then broke, but not before cracking open the door enough to get Lucy in herself.

Dropping the remnants of the branch, Lucy slipped inside through the tiny crack she'd made for herself. It was a tight fit, but she managed to make her way through. 

The temple on the inside seemed almost familiar, the architecture mirroring that of the actual celestial spirit world's. It was magnificent and seemed as though it'd been untouched for centuries. However, with entry being so simple, Lucy couldn't help but wonder just how untouched it was. If you didn't need to make a sacrifice, then what opened the door (other than Lucy's tree branch.

She recalled reading that once the temple was empty, the temple would no longer protect itself until another key formed inside it. 

This, of course, made Lucy panic. She ran around the temple, going up the stairwell to where she could only assume the key would be.

She entered a new room, and sure enough, she saw a marble pedestal on the other end, an empty marble pedestal. 

Arriving at the pedestal, she looked at its absent splendor. She was too late, someone had already come before her. Aquarius was with someone else.

Lucy sighed, dropping her head, "It's fine, she can be with a different celestial mage, one who'd actually get some use out of her." She felt a bit like crying, like she'd failed her friend. Lucy lowered her head, wiping her eyes to try and stop the tears, however, as she looked down something by the pedestal caught her eye. 

She approached it, kneeling down to pick it up. It was a straw hat, with a big tear right in the middle of it. It looked familiar, and she thought back to when she might have seen a hat like it. 

The fisherman, but it didn't have a tear in it when she met him.

Lucy looked up, noticing the giant ax set up in the ceiling, waiting to come down and take a swing at whoever was trying to steal the key.

"Well...that explains that," Lucy sneered, tugging at the opposite ends of the hat to open up the tear a bit more. She squinted, "Wait, then that means the key was just taken--and he deliberately tricked me so he could take it before me--that--that bastard!" 

Still clutching the hat, Lucy started running out of the temple, hoping she still had a chance of catching him. 

So Lucy started running like a madwoman. 

First, she went to his fishing spot by the bridge, he (of course) wasn't there, but a young couple having a romantic moment on the bridge was there.

Interrupting their tender moment, Lucy began waving the hat in the air saying, "Yo! Romeo! Ever met a guy with a hat like this? Except it's not usually split in the middle? Fishes around here usually? Dark hair, dark eyes, dark voice--he's really quite attractive--I'm married, but I can notice things, can't I?"

The man glanced at the woman he was with, then back at Lucy, "Uh...yeah...that's Alex, he lives down that way," he pointed to the east, where a path was neatly laid out for Lucy.

Lucy shouted with joy, "Yes! Awesome! Thank you so much--young people are good for something!" 

She went off running, leaving the couple along (finally), but came running back right before she disappeared into the trees. "Just some advice--this feeling of love, yeah, that's not gonna last. By the time you've had your third baby, you're gonna be like 'don't touch me, I'm covered and vomit and even if I wasn't I don't want you anywhere near me because we not having another child!'"

The woman made a face, a bit surprised as Lucy had a nice figure, "You've had three babies?" 

"No," Lucy shook her head, "I had five babies--eh, raised four--it's sad but I don't have time to explain."

"Wait--I pregnant right now--how did you keep your figure?"

"You're pregnant!?" The man exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's what I was here to tell you."

"Oh my gosh--" Lucy covered her mouth, "congratulations--kids are hard but they're totally worth it--um--well, instead of rocking my second kid I just did squats. I mean, it's basically the same thing, just vertical rocking."

"Wait--how long have you known? Do you want to get married?" The man was rather taken aback by the announcement, so Lucy decided to make a run for it.

"Okay, bye kids, I gotta go chase a dark and handsome man--again, I am happily married, it's just an observation." Lucy rolled her eyes, unsure as to why she was again explaining this to strangers, she waved the couple off before running down to the path where the man's house was. She had to hold up the skirt as she ran, as the fabric kept tossing between her legs as she ran. It was then she saw a house through the trees, one with two young boys hanging outside of it. 

"Hey!" she quickened her pace, calling out to the two young boys playing. They looked up, a bit startled by the blonde woman running towards them. 

"Go inside, Dominque..." one of the boys said to the other, "I think one of those nutty tourists is here again--"

"Hey--hey wait!" Lucy finally arrived, out of breath and ready to collapse. She fell forward, catching herself on her knees. Shaking her head, she pointed at the house exhaustedly, "Your dad--Alex? Is he here? I need to talk to him, like, right now!" 

The older of the two boys made a face. He kept his eyes on Lucy, not wanting to let her out of his sight as he called out, "Dad! Some crazy lady is here to see you!" 

It took a moment, but the front door slowly cracked open, and Lucy watched as the man emerged. It was, as she expected, the fisherman from before. Alex, apparently. 

"Come on out," she said, in a low tone. The kind of tone she used on her kids when they were in trouble. 

He did just that, slowly coming out of the house with a grim expression and his hands behind his back. "Hello, Miss..."

"Don't you Miss me--you lied to me, you sent me the other way just so you could take the key for yourself! What were you gonna do, sell it? That key belonged to my mother before me, it's been in my family for years and losing it was one of the most painful losses I'd experienced since my mother died--so if you don't give it back we're gonna have some a--"

"I didn't take it for myself--" he interrupted, shutting his eyes as he put his arms up defensively. "I'm sorry, about tricking you, and about your mother...but I needed the key..." 

Lucy squinted at the man, unsure of what he could possibly 'need' the key for. "What could you need it for? You're not a celestial spirit mage, if you were the temple wouldn't have tried to cut you in half--"

"I'm not," he shook his head, "but my daughter is." 

Within the moment, the daughter emerged. She pushed open the front door, peaking out with a quizzical expression on her face. She was cute, seemed to be around Layla's age, maybe a bit younger. Her hair was black, eyes this beautiful violet, but in her arms with a nikora spirit. He was rather thin, his face elongated, and he was shaking like a wet dog. 

The little girl squinted at Lucy, "Hi?" 

"Oh," Lucy's rather intense tone dropped, "hello, little girl." 

"Dad?" the little girl looked up to her dad, "did you make this crazy lady mad somehow?" 

"Would you all stop calling me a 'crazy lady'? Gosh--just--the key--"

"Please, Miss, understand how important this is--" 

"Wait, dad, did you seriously trick this woman into getting a key?" the older son asked suddenly. Alex seemed a bit shocked. He looked towards his son, who simply shook his head in disappointment, "That's pretty bad, dad." 

Alex pursed his lips, shaking his head as she grumbled. He pulled his hand out from behind his back, stretching it out to Lucy. "I'm sorry. I was wrong to have done that." 

Parenting may be hard, but it did hold you accountable for your poor decisions here and there.

Lucy smiled, taking the key from Alex's hand and holding it firmly in her own. She couldn't believe it. Finally, she was holding her key, yet again. Fully formed, unbroken. She was moments from meeting Aquarius again. 

She smiled, holding the key up in the light, however, as she held it up, in the corner of her eye she could see the little girl, watching her intently. 

Lucy lowered her arm, looking at the small nikora in her hands. She suddenly asked, "What's his name?" 

The little girl looked down, "His name is Garrett. Two r's, two t's, don't forget it." 

Lucy snickered, "It suits him." She paused, then with her free hand pulled off Plue's key, "do you think...would you like to meet my nikora? Maybe he and Garrett know each other." 

The little girl's eyes widened, and she eagerly nodded her head. 

She came down from the front door, joining Lucy in the front yard. Lucy held up her key, but before she summoned Plue, found it necessary to introduce herself. "I'm Lucy, but the way." She made a face, "Lucy Dragneel--well, known as Lucy Heartfilia professionally. In case you've read any of my books--"

"I actually know who you are--" the girl bit her tongue, "well, I didn't. I know your name. You have the most golden keys out of anyone at the moment. It's...really nice to meet you. I'm Ema." 

"Well hi there, Ema," Lucy smiled. She wanted to shake hands, but each hand was holding a key, so she instead said, "and this is Plue." 

She summoned Plue, who was quickly introduced to Garrett only to reveal that the two nikora did already know each other, but were not friends. Apparently they had some beef with one another, but since neither of them could understand the "puuns" too well, the reason for their dislike of one another was left for interpretation. 

Eventually, Ema and Lucy sat out in the front yard, Ema telling her all about her silver keys (she owned only three) and how her mother was very well versed in the celestial spirit world. Alex stood on the front stoop, watching silently as his daughter spoke with Lucy, learning all about Lucy's adventures with her spirits, and the importance of befriending her spirits and showing love towards them. Showing them a devotion equal to theirs. 

"I can't believe I almost sacrificed one of my spirits," Lucy sighed, "I mean, people who aren't celestial spirit mages see silver keys as lower grade spirits...but they really aren't. Sure, they aren't as powerful, but they're still...so wonderful. They're all so unique and important. Like...I mean I've used Plue in a battle maybe once, but I could never give him up, and I hope one of my children will one day take him, and my other keys." Lucy shook her head, "I just feel so bad for Pyxis...I mean, I was thinking so logistically I completely ignored how it must have felt for him." 

"I'm sure he'll forgive you," Ema reassured Lucy, "like when I drop Garrett in the bath, and he sorta melts a bit, he always forgives me." 

Lucy smiled, "I'm sure you're right, maybe he and I should go on a quest together, have some fun." Lucy looked down at her ring of keys, then her other hand. The entire conversation, she had been tightly gripping onto Aquarius' key. She pursed her lips. "I bet if I did something like that to her, she'd just about drown me." 

"Who?" 

"Aquarius," Lucy chuckled, "she's really mean and super judgemental, and critical of your love life...and body...kind of like a terrible mom, but I think that's why I always loved her so much. My...well my mom died when I was really young. She was nothing like Aquarius, believe me, but Aquarius was like a mom in a lot of ways. She was originally possessed by my mother...which might have been why she was so critical of me because she wanted to make sure I grew into a woman as brave as my mother." 

Lucy smiled, "You know, I always envied girls who got to have a mom as teenagers, because that's usually when you start to hate your mom, but in this kind of petty way. Because moms are always just trying to make you be your best self but can come off as so mean when trying to do that. But Aquarius, when she was so critical of me, inspired me. She inspired me to be better to my spirits, to have stronger relationships with all of them, and to...well...get a boyfriend."

Ema chuckled, as did Lucy. "The thing is," Lucy said in a softer voice, "as much as I want Aquarius back in my life, because, well, I love her and she's my friend...I don't need her like I did when I was younger." 

Lucy laughed, but Ema didn't get why. She stood up, and turned to Ema, stretching an arm out to help her stand as well.

"This," she held the golden key up with a stark expression on her face, "this is the key to an incredibly powerful celestial spirit by the name of Aquarius. She can only be summoned in water, and on Wednesdays." 

Ema made a face, Lucy sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "She's not very nice, in fact, she'll probably make fun of you and criticize your love life even though you're fine being single. She can only be summoned in water, as I said, and be sure you don't go summoning her something like a puddle of a bowl of soup because she will not be happy about it." Lucy made a pained expression, clearly speaking from experience. 

"She's rude, inconsiderate, and scheduling with her is a nightmare because she's always 'off with her boyfriend," Lucy had to stop herself, realizing she was just scaring the little kid, "but," she knelt down, "when she comes, she'll send them flying. She's incredibly powerful, and...even if she won't say it to your face, she really does love you." 

Lucy placed the key in Ema's hands, "So be sure you love her back, with all your heart." 

The child clutched onto the key, a serious expression befalling her face, "Yes ma'am, I will." 

"That's good," Lucy smiled thinly, rising up with a sigh, "now that I know she's in your care, I can finally rest. I've got my own kids to go back to." Lucy made a face, having a sudden thought, "Maybe I'll take an extra day...visit a spa or something." 

Lucy didn't see Ema or the key ever again, that is, until she stood there staring at both of them in the middle of the arena.

Her reaction was maybe not the wisest or the safest. Lucy sprung from her seat, calling out, "Aquarius! Aquarius!" while trying to find the fastest way into the arena. 

"Let me through!" Lucy demanded! "I'm a mother!" 

"What does that have to do with anything?" 

It was then when Natsu, being the supportive husband he is, stood up in his seat and loudly shouted, "If you even think of stopping her I'm gonna burn this mother to the ground!" 

"He'll do it!" Gray shouted in support. "He's crazy!" 

"He's also already done it once!" Erza added, all supporting Lucy and her husband's threats of arson, as good friends do.

Lucy made her way into the arena in a rather awkward way. Rather than taking the stairs inside the halls of the arena's outer rings, she went right over the wall separating the seats from the actual battlegrounds.

All while this was happening, Aquarius was occasionally watching and groaning to Ema, "Not this crazy woman..." 

"Uh--yeah--Aquarius," the segmented section of the arena the battle was taking place in was at the moment filled with water,  so Ema was struggling to keep herself above the waves along with the rest of the competitors. "Could you help with all this--you know, do your job?"

Aquarius, as one might expect, did not appreciate the sass. She pouted for a moment as Ema essentially drowned for a moment longer, leaving Ema with no option but to shout, "Please!" 

"You know this is why you don't have a boyfriend," Aquarius sighed, flipping her urn to its side, "always nagging." 

"I don't have a boyfriend by choice--thank you very much!" Ema insisted with a growl in her throat, "now help me or I swear I'll open you from a fishbowl next time!" 

"So annoying," Aquarius scoffed, clicking her tongue as she lifted her urn over her head, bringing the crashing waves into her control. Suddenly, the water cleared around Ema, leaving her alone on the suddenly dry ground as the rest of the water (and competitors) spiraled around her.

"Will that do, your majesty?"

"Yeah--thanks for all this," Ema groaned, beginning to climb the spire, "man...is she annoying." 

To win, all Ema had to do was the be the last standing in the arena, and the sweeping was doing her good in that regard. It was sending multiple competitors out of the arena and out of the game.

The second of which was Tsukudani of Mermaid Heel.

"Sorry, Ezzie!" Tsukudani cried out in her last moments, "cats aren't great in water!" 

"Dani!" Ezzie cried out before she went flying.

"There goes Yuki Vera of Blue Pegasus and Tsukudani of Mermaid Heel, putting them in eighth and seventh place respectably."

She was about halfway to the top when something looking like a washed-up cat grabbed her ankle. "Not so fast!" 

Ema panicked and attempted to kick off the hand only for it to grab onto the spire and pull itself free of the spinning typhoon. She didn't know her personally, but it was Esmeralda of Fairy Tail, who was soaked to the bone.

"Lucky for me, I'm an excellent swimmer!" she insisted, clutching onto the spire, "and an excellent climber!"

She was wearing what appeared to be a swimsuit, a bikini top with tight shorts on the bottom, and incidentally a scuba mask. It was an interesting setup.

Esmeralda was about to attempt to pull Ema down, and she could have succeeded had someone not grabbed onto her ankle.

This time, it was none other than the Howl Caedo competitor Liz, whom Ema also didn't know.

"Cute outfit, Esmeralda, but I know every suit you've got tucked away and the weak spot of every one of them!" 

"Liz--oh my gosh--it's so nice to see you alive! We haven't had the chance to speak, how are you?"

Liz made a face, "Esmeralda, I'm threatening you, this isn't the time for a nice chit chat." 

"Right, yes, but it's been so many years and you and I used to train together, so I thought it would be weird if the first thing we did after such a long separation would be throw arms at each other." 

"Not if I can help it!" Liz was already trying to digest all that Ezzie was saying when someone else joined in with a rather unnatural starting line.

Esmeralda and Liz both turned to see a small red-haired woman grabbing onto Liz's arm. They each stared at for a moment, each knowing they'd met her before at some point, but each were unable to place where they'd met her before.

"Um..." Ezzie turned to Liz, who just shrugged, "can we help you?" 

"It's me! Tevy!" The name did not help. "I used to be in Fairy Tail!" 

"Ohh..." Liz and Ezzie reacted simultaneously. Ezzie shrugged and smiled uncomfortably, "Oh my gosh...hey girl, we should...we should totally reconnect some time, just us gals!" 

"Oh f*** off!" 

"How is she doing that?" Liz muttered.

"Actually, she isn't, this entire arena is censored, as this is a family program." 

"But we're all engaging in violent at times deadly fights--how is that a family program?" Ezzie interjected.

"Wait, I kinda wanna test it," Liz said, sticking a finger up, "f***...p****--"

"N******!" Ezzie shouted.

"Whoa--what did you just say?!" Liz interjected.

"You know, female-presenting n******, wait--what did you think I said?" 

"Never mind that!" Tevy shouted, "I was in Fairy Tail--I almost began S-Class but was beat by my mortal enemy Layla Dragneel!" 

"Wait, Layla is your enemy?" Ezzie asked.

"I mean, this is Layla we're talking about," Liz explained, "she's bound to get a few enemies here and there, though I doubt many of them would be entirely mutual..." 

"After I was rejected there, I also lost the Miss Fairy Tail contest...my last hope to regaining my stature as a member of Fairy Tail." 

"I mean, I honestly don't know who you are and I'm a pretty prominent member," Ezzie shrugged, "are you sure you had that high a stature?" 

"I soon left the guild, joining their commonly known enemy, Sabertooth." 

"I wouldn't call them Fairy Tail's enemy...maybe friendly rival--"

"I planned to fight Layla here in games, but could only make it as a back up for the team. Luckily, Mist was almost killed by that scary woman--"

"How is that a good thing?" 

"I was then able to join, but it turns out that Layla was replaced by her scrawny kid brother, Jew!" 

"Oh, no that is not his name," Liz winced. 

"Nevermind that! But you two are Layla's two closest friends! So I'll get my vengeance on you instead!" 

"Well, no, I wouldn't say that," each muttered uncomfortably. 

"You," she pointed to Liz, "her friend since childhood," then to Ezzie, "and you, a valued member of her team!" 

"I mean, she was closer to my cousins, we just hung out a couple times," Liz explained.

"And I'd say our relationship is more a coworker relationship more than an actual friendship. If you want her actual friend I'd say go to Felicity. They seem to have really hit it off." 

"Enough--" Tevy flung her arm out, silencing the two, "I don't care! You two are here, let's just do the vengeance now, I don't have time to get vengeance on so many people, I have a life outside of this plan, you know." 

"You don't seem really dedicated to this plan," Ezzie muttered.

"Yeah, fine, I don't care what you f****** think, I could use the win eighter way." 

Liz and Ezzie share a glance, then shrug, deciding for old time's sake, they'd work together for this one.

Together, they kick Tevy into the flowing water, spinning her out of the arena and out of the game. 

"And there goes Tevy of Sabertooth, putting her in sixth place and leaving only five competitors in the arena." 

By the time Tevy was out, Liz and Ezzie had forgotten about Ema who was just nearly at the top of the spire. She grabbed onto the lacrima at its top, spinning it and changing the weather. "Aquarius! Get out of here!" 

"Later loser," she shook her hand in the air, then disappeared in a flash. 

Quickly, Ema pulled out a silver key, flinging her arm up into the air, "Open the Gate of the Moose, Pamola!" 

What came next was the strangest thing anyone there had ever seen. From her key emerged what at first seemed like a man with large, sweeping wings, but rather than a normal head, he had the head of a moose.

"Oh...my..."

Ema turned to the lacrima, changing the element to wind, sending Pamola soaring down onto the other competitors. "Okay, now I...just need to stay here until the game ends...and then I'll be fine." She slid off her leather jacket and wrapped it around her waist and the top of the spire, effectively tying her to the spire. "Perfect...just, wait this out." 

With Pamola in action, he brought down his horns upon Liz and Ezzie, knocking them off the spire and into the bottom of the arena. 

They collapsed, quickly pulling themselves up. Along with the horns and wings, Pamola had a set of claws for legs, which retracted as they came towards Ezzie. She drew her sword, and with her blade held them back. 

The other remaining competitors (besides those already mentioned) were Cheli Vastia of Lamia Scale and Havih of Deadly Sins. 

For a moment, it was all four of them against the giant moose man. Havih jumped on top of him, trying to bite into his shoulder. He successfully did so for a moment but was quickly flung off his back and out of the arena with the help of the wind tearing through his slim, boney body. 

"And that's Havih of the Deadly Sins out in fifth place."

Cheli had a bit better luck, bringing about a snowstorm in the wind, freezing Pamola's wings and forcing him to the ground. Ema, still at the top, was quick to act with the lacrima, changing the element to fire, warming up the moose. 

Unfortunately, moose don't like the heat very much, which sent him on a type of rampage, ramming into poor Cheli eliminating her from the match as well, while sending Pamola back to the celestial spirit world.

"It appears that Cheli Vastia is out, leaving her in fourth place, but Ema Thompson's moose spirit has left as well. Does she have another trick up her sleeve, or will she just attempt to wait it out." 

All that was left on the ground were Esmeralda and Liz, who were much more keen on defeating each other before racing up to defeat Ema. They stood across from one another, staring daggers until one of them finally spoke.

"Like I said," Liz panted out, "I know every suit of armor you have, and I know each and every one of their weaknesses. And this suit's weakness is this!" 

With one sweeping motion, Liz pulled off the bikini top right off of Ezzie. The audience gasped and readied their cameras, but all were shocked to find two large asterisks covering up where her nipples ought to be.

Ezzie sighed, a bit annoyed that she was being so blatantly censored in such a stupid way. However, after looking at the asterisks bounce around for a moment, it finally clicked for Liz. "Oh! You were saying n*****--oh, yeah, that sounds like I'm saying the n-word." 

"Now you get it!" Esmeralda was relieved to have explained herself, but she was quick to requip into her Flame Armor, dawning a long sword in the process. Her hair seemed to burn with the fire, "I hope you don't take this personally, Liz, but I fear we must fight." 

"That's alright," she grunted, bringing up her fist to reveal a sharp animalistic claw, "I've missed our little brawls, Ezzie." 

With that, the fight began. Ezzie brought down her longsword, Liz holding it back with the strength of her claws. Ema watched intently as she made plans for her next move, but as the fires burned, she quickly made a change to the element. 

Once again, the fire was replaced by waves of water, crashing into the backs of Liz and Ezzie alike, sending them onto their feet. Ezzie returned to her swimsuit, but Liz dawned a different kind of form, that of a water beast, featuring webbed hands and feet. 

She dove through each wave as Ezzie climbed up the spire, escaping the attacks of the waves. Liz did the same, coming up behind her suddenly. She scratched at her back, knocking Ezzie down a bit before she grabbed back onto the spire. 

Ezzie could feel the blood running down her back, but she didn't dare touch it. Instead, she turned around, facing Liz. "Liz, you boast on how you know all my weaknesses as though you don't have any of your own." 

She picked at Liz, who quickly grabbed her leg and dug her claws into it. Ezzie winced, shutting her eyes in fear of seeing something she knew would set her off. 

Stepping into the shallow water at the base of the arena, she pulled Liz out of the water by the shoulders, Liz clawing at her arms.

"Frankly, Liz, I think sometimes you just forget to use your head." 

With that, Ezzie pounded her forehead into Liz's, knocking her out cold. She collapsed into the water, wading for a moment as the announcer began to call out to the audience.

"Liz Strauss of Howl Caedo is unconscious, rendering her no longer able to participate in the match. She places in third, leaving two remaining participants." 

It was just Ezzie and Ema. Ezzie was at the base of the spire, Ema at the top clutching on for dear life. She pulled out her keys, fiddling with them quickly. However, perhaps wet from the water gushing around them, her hands slipped, at the keys collapsed into the water below her.

Ema was through, she couldn't go hand to hand with someone as strong as Ezzie.

Quickly, she untied herself, preparing for the worst to come from Ezzie, but as Ezzie made her climb, she felt something on her forehead.

Feeling the blood on her brow, she knew it would only be a moment before it rushed into her eyes. She sighed, shut her eyes tightly, and threw herself into the water. She went flying out of the arena, and the game had ended. Ema had won. 

"It appears, in a strange turn, Esmeralda Scarlet has quite literally thrown herself out of the match, leaving Ema Thompson of Redmoon Shield the clear victor by default." 

"A strange turn, there seemed to be blood coming from her eyes, blood coming from her...whatever--"

"Wait--are you implying--"

"No, no, I meant her arms, don't quote me on this!" 

Ignoring the uncomfortable comments being made over the speakers, Ezzie was rather preoccupied. She covered her eyes and called out for help, quickly be greeted by the hands of Nashi and Gideon, who pulled her away.

"Good call, Ezzie," Nashi insisted, "keep your eyes shut, you'll be safe soon." 

Liz, coming to in the fading water of the arena, pulled her head up, looking across the arena. She squinted, her head spinning from her injury, but taking notice of the strange behavior.

Ema, the victor, climbed down from the spire, coming to the floor of the arena once again. She knelt down, picking up her keys and sighing in relief that each of them were still there in the time she'd been separated from them.

"That's happened to me, like, a million times, so don't feel bad." 

Ema looked up suddenly, shocked to see none other than Lucy standing above her. She offered her hand out, "Not sure if you remember me, I'm--"

"I know--of course I know--" Ema shot up, taking the hand and shaking it eagerly, "I mean--you're...I, um..." she paused, then suddenly blurted out, "I have a poster of you in my room back home." 

"Oh!" Lucy made a face, then nodded. "That's cool, is it...is it a good one?" 

"The one with the keys and the stars over your...well, I'd say the word but apparently I'd get censored." 

"Yeah, apparently," Lucy made a face, then shook her head to pull herself back to the primary subject, "I know...that Aquarius is your key now, but I was hoping you could do me a favor." 

There was barely any water left in the arena, but it was just enough for Ema to summon her one last time.

She stuck her arm out, calling upon her gate with a confident voice (hoping to impress Lucy with her diction). 

Then, once again, she appeared. She didn't seem surprised, in fact, she came into the world staring right at Lucy, as though she'd been waiting to be called again for this very moment.

With her arms crossed, Aquarius had a good look at Lucy. Squinting, she finally came out with a response, "Nice to see you've finally given up on all..." she gestured at Lucy's entire body, "...all this." 

Lucy sighed, dropping her hands on her hips. She smiled and shook her head, "Oh...you stupid b****." Lucy looked up, wondering where that sharp bleeping noise came from. 

"Sorry, this is a family-friendly show--we can't have any swearing." 

"Wait, you can have violent, brutal matches where people have literally almost been beaten to death, but you can't swear? Man, what a s*** show--d*** it!" 

"Have fun finding a man with a mouth that nasty," Aquarius rolled her eyes, "no wonder you don't have a boyfriend." 

"I don't have a boyfriend because I have a husband--you know that! I know Virgo sent you those scrapbooks--which I want back, by the way!" 

"Oh yeah, forgot about those, I was using one of even the legs of my coffee table..." 

"Those have the only baby photos I have of Jude!" 

"Don't worry about it! He was an ugly baby anyway," she crossed her arms and smiled, "granted, looked just like you did when you were an infant." Aquarius shrugged then went on to say, "Speaking of babies, except, well, more attractive ones--have you seen my daughter? She's been gone, I dunno, like, eight days?" 

"She's been gone two years!"

"Wow, how the time flies," Aquarius sighed, "anyway, how's she doing is she here?" 

Lucy sighed, crossing her arms, "She's doing good, but I'm not sure where she is, she's probably off somewhere with my son." Something struck in Lucy's mind and smirked, "Funny enough, Melody became good friends with my son, looks like we could in-laws--" 

"Oh no you don't! No daughter of mine is marrying some Heartfilia--she better be working on getting back to the spirit world if she knows what's good for her!" 

"We didn't realize she was a kid for months, guess she was too embarrassed to say. I don't see the resemblance. She's nice, elegant, attractive--" 

"Oh pipe down," Aquarius smiled, dropping her hands onto her hips, "looks like you finally learned to speak my language." 

"Yeah," Lucy sighed, "I think I finally did." 

Aquarius smiled weakly, clearing her throat to try and regain her confidence, "Lucy," she began, her voice cracking just a bit, "you're a stupid ugly whore." 

Lucy found herself almost in tears, nodding her head as she replied, "You too...Aquarius, you too." 

She stuck out her hand, and hesitantly, Aquarius took it, shaking it firmly before a bright golden light shined around her. "I'm still pissed you left me with this brat here, but hey, she's way better than you were at this age." 

"Oh--shut up already! Go back to your puddle!" 

"Ha," Lucy could see the faint line of Aquarius' smile, "I've missed you, Lucy." 

With a flash, she was gone, leaving only Lucy. She smiled as well, wiping a tear from her eye as she said, "I've missed you too." 

Lucy thanked Ema one last time, leaving her some contact information so the two could keep in touch, allowing Ema to return to her guild. They were all waiting, ready to celebrate her victory with cheers and confetti. They made an awful mess in the hallway, but Alexandra was eager to grab onto Ema and tell her, "You did it, Ema! You brought the guild up ten more points! We might be able to make it into the top three if we keep this up!"

"Yup," Ema waved her hand up lazily, a bit worn out by the match.

Alex could tell and awkwardly smiled in return, "I'll let you rest, do you need to visit our medic? He's still a bit worn out from having to take care of all of Ace's many, many wounds. Excluding the emotional ones he tore open in the fight, man, I did not expect him to start crying--"

"Okay!" Ace interjected, still in a few of his old bandages, "Why don't I take Ema back to the showers so she can cool off! Okay?" 

Alexandra made a face, not realizing that the two had become friends, she smiled, "Okay...have fun." 

"Don't--" Ace grunted, before realizing that acting defensively would only worsen the whole thing, he shook his head and set his hand on Ema's shoulder, "Come on Ema, let's go." 

"Yeah," she nodded, joining him and ignoring the face Alexandra was making. "Look at her, already devising a way to pull our strings, I swear, that woman is always trying to me some kind of puppet master." 

"Ha," Ace laughed, but Ema didn't seem to get the joke, "Oh right, you joined after all that happened, so you don't get the irony--oh well." He sighed, shaking his head, "So, all that stuff was true? You really do have her previous key?" 

"Yeah," Ema made a face, wondering if Ace by chance didn't believe her, "it's common for celestial spirit mages to give up their keys after losing, but she gave it to me...because I think she realized I needed it."

"Wow, that must have been rough," Ace sighed, "losing something like that. They seemed like they were really good..." having witnessed the conversation, he felt friends was stretching it, "well, they honestly seemed like family." 

"Yeah," Ema smiled, "I really aspire to have that kind of relationship with my spirits. I just...I dunno, I have a hard time getting close to the people in my own guild." 

Ace smiled, "Well, you won me over," he shot her a thumbs up, "I'm sure your spirits appreciate you, and, you know, the guild too." 

Ema chuckled, "Well, maybe you'll warm up to me someday soon." She pat him on the shoulder, then walked off, leaving Ace a bit distraught.

"Wait," he turned to her, straggling behind, "I haven't warmed up to you--what does that mean?" 

He followed her down the hall to the showers, though luckily not into them.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Felicity stood silently in front of Othello and Fidi, who leaned up against the wall silently as he watched Othello spill everything he knew about Liz. 

"I don't know anything about her." 

That was just about it.

"You have to tell me literally anything. I mean, anything." 

"All I know is her name is Liz Strauss, she used to be in Fairy Tail, but she showed up one day and has been there ever since. She works hard, is in the gym every hour. She has a photograph she holds onto. I don't think she had many possessions on her when she showed up--" 

"So she probably didn't plan on staying," Felicity interrupted, "so she isn't there by choice?" 

"There's no way of knowing," Fidi intervened, "everyone is in the guild for one reason or another. At the end of the day, no one really wants to be there, but some at least have the illusion of choice." 

Felicity sighed, "No need to be so cryptic," she crossed her arms, pondering the little information she was given.

"Why do you care?" Fidi spoke with a tinge of annoyance, "it's not like you care about any of us back at there, so why do you care about this random chick--"

"Honestly, I don't, but my friend does," Felicity explained, "but that's not any of your business. Now get going, Othello, don't tell anyone you know me." 

"Okay," he answered flatly, turning around and walking without another word. Fidi soon followed, not before turning to Felicity quickly and giving her a sharp glare.

Felicity didn't seem fazed until he said, "Don't get too comfortable here, got it?" 

"I haven't," she rolled her eyes, "please, I'm just here doing a favor for someone." 

"Speaking of," Fidi smiled, "your friends are back--" 

Felicity quickly shoved Fidi back into the alley, sending him running after Othello. She then pressed herself cleanly against the wall, pretending she had been alone the entire time. She smiled as Zailo came running to her with Malcon and Lugi, waving something wrapped in the air. "I got you something!" he cheered as he came towards her. 

"Oh boy--please don't make me close my eyes only to put a bunch of jelly in my hands again. That was not fun. Not fun." 

"Nah--but it was fun," Zailo insisted, putting the present in her hands, "I had the guy wrap it up so you could be surprised, but it still looked obvious so I had him do it again and wrap up other things with it." 

Felicity smiled as she began to unwrap the gift. After the first layer was gone, she was a bit taken aback as fish started to fall out of the paper. "Ew--what?" 

"I told you, he just wrapped whatever was lying around to disguise it," Zailo again explained as Malcon danced below Felicity as though it were raining fish. 

Felicity grumbled a bit as she dropped the first layer of paper, then the next. By then, it was much more obvious from its shape. 

She quickly tore off the final layer, revealing a ukulele. 

Felicity smiled, trying to find the right words. She decided to go with, "This is the second-best gift I have ever been given." 

"That's...exactly what I wanted to hear," Zailo nodded in amusement. 

"But--I don't have anything in return--I mean, you sorta just got this on the spot--can I get you lunch or something--" 

"No, it's just a thank you gift," he scratched his gift, "all that stuff that happened...where you played for me to calm me down...it reminded me how important a friend you are to me, and all the nice things you've done for me since we met. I just..." he made a funny face, and struck an awkward pose, "thanks for putting up with me, and all." 

With a grin, she clutched the ukulele at her side, then pulled Zailo in for a hug with her other arm. "You're a really good friend." 

During the hug, there was a short moment where Felicity was suddenly reminded of all the things Liddan and her had done the night before. She made a face, one that Lugi noticed. 

She quickly pulled away after that, shaking her head as she went on to say, "And I'm not hiding anything." 

Zailo paused, "Okay?" 

Felicity pursed her lips, "Why don't we go find a place to grab lunch, it's getting around that hour." 

"I'd say it's still a brunch hour," Malcon interjected, "but whatever you say." 

Felicity held up her ukulele as the four began to walk away, strumming it quietly for a short moment before realizing it was dreadfully out of tune. "Dang it," she said under her breath, "now I need to find a tuner." 

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

"I'm sorry," Sylvie groaned for perhaps the fifth time as they walked down the street.

"It's fine," Liddan sighed, a bit tired of the apologies himself. In her defense, this time she was apologizing because she couldn't eat at the restaurant Liddan had chosen (it was primarily seafood, and not only could Sylvie not eat seafood, but just the smell outside the place made her nauseous). "We're gonna run out of options...wanna turn this brunch into lunch and go get some burgers?" 

"I mean," Sylvie sighed, wiping the sweat off her brow, "I guess...what else are we gonna do?" She whined a bit before pulling her arms into her poncho and wiggling around a bit, "This stupid poncho--I'm sweating like a pig in here!" She began to slide it over her head, continuing to go on, "I don't know how my mom manages to dress in that fur-lined coat all the time--I mean, doesn't she ever get hot?" 

"Doesn't your dad ever get cold?" 

"Good point, you'd wonder how they didn't strangle one another over the thermostat." Sylvie yanked the poncho over her head, revealing a more seasonally appropriate blue dress beneath it. 

Liddan couldn't help but think she looked rather pretty in it, especially as she tossed her hair over her shoulder back into place. She had the biggest blue eyes he'd ever seen, but she was just so weird.

"You know what, screw it," she sighed, "it's only fair you pick lunch, I ruined brunch anyway." 

"You didn't ruin brunch," Liddan insisted, "that waitress did, accusing you of all that was...I dunno what was wrong with her today..."

Sylvie's interested peaked, "You know her?" 

Liddan glanced at Sylvie, "Yeah, kinda, I mean, not really." 

"What's her name?" She held her breath waiting for an answer.

"Uh, Doe...something, I don't know her full name. She's usually pretty friendly, a bit snarky though..." 

Sylvie smiled, it sounded like Marigold, but who knows why she was acting the way she was. She couldn't say for certain whether that Marigold didn't know who she was or not, but she definitely didn't want Sylvie to know who she was, which was a bit weird. "She was really pretty though, you know?" 

"What? She chewed you out in public and got you kicked out of her restaurant and you're complimenting her?" 

"Yeah, but she seemed like your type." 

Liddan made a face, turning away quickly, "I don't have a type, what do you mean my 'type'?" 

"I mean, I was thinking that maybe she was just mad at me because she saw you with me and thought you had gotten yourself a girlfriend." 

"Please," Liddan rolled his eyes, laughing slightly until he suddenly went silent. He paused, then turned to Sylvie, "Do you think that was it?" 

Sylvie smiled bigger than she had all day, "Oh my gosh, you like her." It was Marigold, it had to be. Sylvie had never seen Liddan get that excited over anyone but her. No matter what, Liddan would always fall for Marigold. 

Liddan rolled his eyes and put his hand over Sylvie's face, pushing her back, "Don't be weird," she laughed.

"When you go back, apologize for me, okay?" 

"If I go back." 

"You will," Sylvie nodded, then brushed off her dress, "okay, let's go find somewhere to eat. No fish, oh--and please no bars? You know I can't drink and I don't want to have to put up with the smell of cheap beer if I can't at least drink." 

"Alright," Liddan stretched, "sounds like a plan, I saw a nice diner by the waterpark yesterday, we can go there--but we can't go into the waterpark."

"Goodness, Liddan, we've been here only three days and you already got yourself banned somewhere?" 

"I don't want to talk about it--Lugi was in trouble!" 

Sylvie rolled her eyes, following Liddan down the road, "Whatever, it just better not be too far away, my feet are killing me in these shoes." 

The two walked away together, talking as though the incident hadn't even occurred. However, Sylvie couldn't help but cling to the thought in the back of her mind, if that girl wasn't in fact Marigold, then who was she.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Molly had been wandering for most of the morning. She found the games mostly nervewracking, as she was stuck watching all these people (many of which she knew) get hurt and she couldn't do anything. Perhaps she wasn't cut out for such a thing.

However, when she was walking from her seat to the bathroom after the end of the first match, she ran into Wendy, who was rushing towards the infirmary. 

"Oh, Molly!" she greeted her with a smile, "are you enjoying the games, I haven't seen you much this morning." 

"Hello, Miss Wendy," Molly gave a polite bow, as Wendy was her mentor, "I was just running to the restroom." 

"All by yourself? This is a dangerous place, I wouldn't want you lost, you should have a buddy if you're going to be wandering around." 

"I know, but I'll be careful," Molly smiled, "I'm actually quite used to being alone, Lillian would have to leave me by myself quite a lot when I was younger, so I know how to manage." Though she smiled, and though this was true, it felt like more a lie lately. She was used to being alone from when she was younger, but after joining Fairy Tail, she hadn't been alone for quite some time. Frankly, she'd forgotten how to do it.

"Well, I'm off to help Esmeralda, she got a few scratches from the match, but they'd them healed up so she doesn't have any problems," she pat Molly on her shoulder, then walked past her quickly, "have fun--"

"Can I come with you?" 

Wendy turned around, a bit confused, "Oh, I mean, of course you can, but..." she pointed to the doors leading to the public restrooms, "didn't you need to--"

"I can hold it!" Molly insisted, jumping to Wendy's side, "I just don't want to miss an opportunity to watch you work..." or an opportunity to see Jude.

The two women went on their way, heading to the infirmary with haste. There they met the entirety of Team Fairy Tail hanging around Ezzie as she held a cloth over her forehead. 

"Thanks for coming, Wendy," Nashi said, shutting the door behind her, "we just wanted to take care of this before she had any problems." 

Molly came into the room, spotting Jude by Ezzie's bed. She smiled and waved at him, he did the same but seemed rather distracted as Wendy came to Ezzie's side. 

"This doesn't look serious, it should only take a second, then I can wipe up the blood." 

"Thank you, Wendy," Ezzie sighed, sounding mostly just annoyed. It didn't seem like she was in pain, so Molly was rather confused as to what the commotion was all about. 

"That was very kind of you to opt-out when you did, Esmeralda," Wendy insisted, holding her hands over her Ezzie's forehead, "you could have really hurt that girl." 

"I know," Ezzie nodded, "but I admit, if the end, we lose because of one point, I'll be a bit peeved."

The others chuckled, Molly, now standing beside Jude, whispered in his ear, "What does she mean she could have hurt that girl?" 

"Oh, it's okay," Ezzie overhearing, spoke up, "I suppose you didn't really know, but I can have some trouble controlling myself at the sight of blood." 

"Oh," Molly spoke up, a bit embarrassed that she was overhead, "do you get sick or dizzy?" 

"I suppose I get sick...in a way." 

Molly didn't completely understand, but she didn't feel it was right to bother Ezzie about it, so she just kept quiet.

Of course, Elwin didn't have the same decency and suddenly asked, "Wait, what do you do when you get on your period?" 

The entire room grew quiet, and Ezzie couldn't help but feel her bloodlust rise despite having kept her eyes shut since she started bleeding.

Once Wendy finished her work, she went on her way. However, Molly stuck around. She found Jude chatting with Nashi and the others around Ezzie's bed still, and suddenly arrived behind him.

"Jude!" 

"Gah!" Jude cried out, turning around to see only Molly. "Oh, Molly, it's you. Sorry, I thought you were a lobster--" 

Molly made a face, then crossed her arms, "Um, I was wondering if you'd like to chat with me for a second?" Everyone besides Jude was staring intently, making the most stupid face. "Alone." 

"Yeah, sure," Jude looked over his shoulder for the rest of the group to suddenly look away. The two stepped outside the infirmary, more or less alone in the buzzing halls of the arena.

"Did you...need something?" Jude asked it in a dreadfully awkward way, making Molly feel all the more nervous. 

"Actually," Molly shrugged, "I just wanted to see if you were free, just to hang out. You know...just us...like the old days." Her face coiled up a bit, "Ezzie explained to me...your training? It might have just been a week for me...but for you..."

Jude made a face, finishing her sentence for her, "Three months." 

"And I thought a week was bad," Molly laughed even though it really wasn't that funny. "Doesn't it feel like forever, since it was just the two of us? We're always with Rowen or Gillian, and I love being with them but it's never just us anymore." 

Jude felt a bit flushed as Molly gave her confession, "That would be...really cool and all, but I can't right now." 

"Oh..."

"I mean--not that I don't want to--I'd love to--really you're...you...you are," Jude couldn't think of a single nice thing to say, as it seemed his brain had momentarily shut off. All he could manage to say was, "You are the opposite of a lobster." 

Molly again made a face, wondering just what the lobster thing was about, "Well, thank you." 

"No--it's just that Nashi promised me she'd go on a run with me after the next match was announced--that is if neither of us was chosen. She said I need to stay energized for when my next match is..." he scratched his head, looking away in embarrassment, "sorry." 

"It's okay!" Molly smiled, shutting her eyes tightly, "it's okay, really. It's just with Lillian gone...and you...also gone..." she wanted to scream 'I'm lonely' in bright bold letters, but instead, she just reiterated herself by saying, "I've missed you." 

Jude made a face, a pain growing in his chest. "I've missed you too." 

"Well," Molly gave a small nod and salute, "good luck with the games, and enjoy your run." 

"Thank you," Jude nodded diligently, "well...unless I get picked--" 

"Oh, I hope not," Molly croaked, quickly trying to correct herself, "not that you wouldn't be good--I mean, it's just that I always worry when I watch you in the games! I'm worried you'll get hurt! Not that you'll automatically get hurt!" Molly pursed her lips, deciding she best stop talking, "Goodbye Jude!" She quickly spun around and began to run. Partially from embarrassment, but mostly because she still really had to go to the bathroom. 

Behind Jude, who was waving awkwardly to the departing Molly, was Nashi and Elwin peaking out the infirmary door, having been watching the entire time. "Nice going, Nashi," Elwin muttered, "you just cockblocked your own little brother." 

"Don't--he's barely even twelve--don't call it cockblocking--" Nashi hissed, dipping back into the infirmary. 

Molly, after going to the bathroom, was about to head back to her seat to watch the next match but decided against it. She was a bit nervous, after her awkward talk with Jude, and felt too embarrassed to try and make conversation with anyone else for awhile. 

So instead she walked outside the arena, walking down the stone pathway for a bit until she happened upon a bench under a tree. Like this morning, she sat down and took a breath. 

She sighed, not noticing the rustling sound coming from above her. 

"Oh," Molly froze, "it's you again." 

Molly jerked her head upwards and was shocked to find the same man from the tree from that morning.

"What--what are you doing up there?!" Molly hopped up from her seat, "you're--have you been up the trees all day?"

"No," the man, Othello insisted, "I went and got breakfast, then I found another tree to nap in." 

"Aren't trees quite uncomfortable for sleeping," Molly asked.

"Yes, but I don't find most places comfortable, in all honesty," he sighed, looking rather tired. His voice was as deadpan as ever. 

"Excuse me!" Molly looked over her shoulder, looking to see a very young woman looking over at her. "I'm sorry, but...are you okay? There seems to be a strange man from that tree talking to you..."

Molly was lost for words at the sight of the woman for one particular reason. Her hair was splendid. 

It was a lovely light pink set up in a beautiful raided updo, and Molly couldn't help but ask, "How did you do that to your hair?" 

The woman blushed and was surprised that Molly was more fascinated by the hairstyle than afraid of the man hanging above her in the tree. "Uh, I just did it this morning. I really enjoy braiding...do you--"

"Yes!" 

Molly's enthusiasm almost scared the woman, but she sat down and talked with her nonetheless.

"So what's your name?" she asked Molly, who promptly answered and asked the same, "I'm Carmen Alesha, I'm with Mermaid Heel."

"Oh, are you one of the competitors? I'm sorry, I might have forgotten your face, there are so many people..." 

"No," Carmen sighed, "I'm an alternate though, so if something goes wrong, I'll participate." 

"Wow, that's cool," Molly smiled, "you must be strong then." 

"Oh, not as much as the other girls, though," Carmen smiled weakly, "compared to them...I feel like some kid, you know?" 

Molly could emphasize, "I know the feeling, my best friend is in the games, and he's barely a year older than I am--"

"Oh--is he that one kid from Fairy Tail?" Carmen's eyes widened, "Wow, I was impressed he was there, there are several younger folks in the game this year, huh." 

"Yeah," Molly sighed, "he doesn't have time for me right now...and my sister has been away for weeks...." she twiddled her thumbs, "I've been feeling kind of lonely lately, they were my two favorite people, that's all." 

"Your sister?" 

"Yeah, Lillian, she left a few weeks ago to find out something about our family. She practically raised me on her own, we've been like this since I could remember," Molly held up her crossed fingers and smiled. "She would always let me braid her hair, even when I was really bad at it--but I'm really good at it now. You should see--I did my own hair! Didn't even use a mirror!" 

Carmen laughed, "It looks really nice, we should trade secrets." 

"That's good," both of the girls looked up to see Othello still there in the tree, looking down on them, "you should always relish in your talents, even if they feel small in comparison to others or what the world prioritizes." 

"Oh...he's still here--do you know him? Is he a stranger?" Carmen whispered.

"Funny enough, loneliness has a lot to do with self-esteem," Othello went on, "when you feel you need other people because you're incapable yourself, you often fall victim to loneliness." 

Carmen made a face, "Wow--that's...that's a very good observation. Does he just sit up in trees all day giving good advice?" 

"I think so," Molly whispered. 

"Well, he isn't wrong," Carmen sighed, "I mean, I've found I felt most lonely when I felt bad about myself. That I wasn't good enough...I tend to have a hard time making friends, I'm rather shy around most of the girls in the guild. They're all...prettier and taller...and stronger--" Carmen made a face, shaking herself out of the pit of self-deprecation, "it all just makes me feel rather...well, it makes me feel less than. Like maybe I'm not deserving of even being with them." 

Molly frowned, "But you seem really nice, and you have beautiful hair." 

"Thank you," Carmen chuckled, "I condition...but...I have to remind myself that I am valued, and it really does help when other people remind me of that too." She smiled at Molly, nodding her head, "Like for example, you Molly, are wonderfully friendly, and you're just a joy to talk to." 

Molly smiled.

"Feel better?"

"Yes, a bit." 

"And you, eh, tree man," Carmen looked up, "you give marvelous words of wisdom, but I'd suggest you try to give it from the ground." 

"Aw, yes," Othello nodded, "I've been told that before." 

Carmen stood up, "Now, Molly, can I walk you back to your seat? There are lots of strange men hanging above here." 

"Yes, thank you," Molly stood up, and the two joined hands to head back into the arena, leaving Othello alone in his tree.

He watched them leave, then frowned a bit, "Oh shoot, I forgot to ask her about Esmeralda." He shook his head and sighed, "I guess I'll have to find her myself."

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Back in the arena, all the respective teams were waiting for the next match to start, particularly to find out who had been chosen for the next fight. Ezzie in the shower, but the rest were all waiting around bothering Jude about Molly.

"You know, you could've just ditched Nashi," Gideon whispered, "I know you haven't gotten a moment to be with just Molly in a while, she would have understood." 

"Ba-ba-bah!" Nash intervened, "I know Molly and Jude are super cute, but that doesn't mean Jude can just skip out on his training! We're in the middle of the games, they can reconnect afterward."

"Nashi's right," Jude insisted, an annoyed tone poking out as he snarled at Gideon and Elwin, who were predominantly the ones bugging him about the whole thing. "Molly will understand...it's just..." he drooped down, losing his composure just a bit, "it's been literal months since we got to have a real conversation and man...did she always smell that nice? I feel so sweaty when I'm around her--more than before! Is something wrong with me?" 

"Oh no," Gideon made a face, "looks like Jude might have started puberty while he was in there training..."

"Ruh-roh," Nashi laughed uncomfortably, "I'll tell mom it's time for the talk...but don't let my dad know. I don't need him shoving that whole 'Larcade' nonsense down another kid's throat." 

Promptly, Ezzie returned from his shower, her hair a bit wet and pushed back in a tight ponytail. "Have they announced the next match yet?" she asked upon arrival.

"Not yet," Gideon answered promptly, "but we think Jude has started puberty." 

"Oh, already? That explains that magazine I found." 

Nashi's eyes widened, and she jerked her head towards Jude, "Jude--what the--"

"For our next match, we have two previous champion teams coming against each other."

Jude hushed Nashi as the announcer started to speak, but she continued to talk anyway. "Two previous champion teams, that could be us, Fairy Tail's won its share of games."

"From Fairy Tail, the teams newest member, Elwin Strauss! Nephew to the guild's master" 

The crowd buzzed as his photo flashed on the lacrimas hanging above the arena's seating. Elwin gave one last glance to the rest of his team who gave him your typical encouraging thumbs up. 

"You've got this, Elwin!" Nashi hissed, nodding her head, "don't let us down like you usually do!" 

"Thank...thank you?" Elwin made a face, glancing at the other members of the group who all seemed to share his sentiment. Well, all except Esmeralda.

She smiled at him, in this confident kind of way and nodded, "You'll do great," was all she said, "best of luck." 

Elwin smiled back, blushing a bit as he couldn't remember the last time Esmeralda had praised him. The announcers continued as he ran into the arena, making his way near the center for the match to begin.

"From team Sabertooth, another second generation guild member, Kris Eucliffe, son of the guild master, Sting Eucliffe!" 

Elwin felt his heart stop, turning to see Kris walk into the arena from the opposite end. He gulped, watching his friend walk confidently into the arena.

They weren't sure what to say at first, neither of them. Until Kris then dropped his hands onto his hips, shrugged and smiled, "Let's make this a good fight, huh, Elwin?" 

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Author's Note

Hey guys! Thanks for reading! So happy I could get the chapter out, incidentally, it would have been out days ago, but we weren't ready with the Popularity Poll (you can all thank Kevin for that).

Moving onto the poll, here are the results! Thank you all so much for voting and proving what we already knew that Marigold is everyone's favorite character.

It was a pretty clear win, but Marigold was voted best with 17 votes. Liddan made second with 13 votes, and Elwin and Layla actually tying for third with 5 votes (I gave the win to Elwin though, we all know he could really use a win). 

Again, thank you all for voting. If you didn't get to and you're mad that, I dunno, Tobias didn't win, then okay, that's weird he's your favorite character. I mean, like, okay?

About the Artists

trytoepic or Kevin

Kevin did the drawing for the image, and you might know him as the guy I occasionally argue with in the comments section and the guy in the background of my Wattpad profile.

I've known Kevin for a couple of years now. I met him after he offered to start a manga based on the story, which lasted, like, six pages.

He's been a pretty prominent member of the discord ever since it started. I have to threaten to kick him out every other week. He was the one who came up with the idea for the poll and heckled me for months until I agreed, only if he set it up and did the art for the results. So thanks for setting everything up Kevin. 

However, all that aside, he's very dedicated to becoming the best artist he can be, and his progress speaks for itself. So go check him out on his deviantart (he should have links on his wattpad account page.

Evo_is_Birdy or Emma

Emma is the best and she colored this image because Kevin has no sense of color theory (yet, he's figuring things out). You've probably seen her work before as I've shared some of her awesome drawings before. I love her cute style and bright use of color and how all her characters honestly look a little tired and drunk. 

You can check her out on Webtoon, as she's got some comics up there that are great. She's super talented and has some great stuff on there.

Anyway, that's all for now. I hope to see you all soon in the next update. I go on break in a week so I'll be stressing over finals until then, but after that, I'm off for an entire month. It'll be great, woo. Stay sexy you nerds. 

-Katie The Terrible