Part 1: Shadows of Magic (Rogue Cheney Love Story)

Chapter 87

Hope's P. O. V:

My teammates and I walk back as Natsu says, "We've gotta do something about those jerks in Raven Tail—they can't just get away with this."

Erza murmurs, "It's as if they're trying to take us out one by one."

"Actually, I'm not entirely convinced that's true," Charlele says, stopping. We stop and turn to her.

Wendy asks, "Wait—what are you talking about?"

Erza asks, "How can you say that after everything that's happened?"

"The bandits from earlier told Natsu that they were hired by Raven Tail to kidnap Lucy, for some reason. But their plan ultimately ended in failure. Not only did they chose the wrong target, but Natsu easily stopped them."

I question, "What's so strange about that?"

Erza says, "We don't know what they were going to do with Lucy if they'd caught her, either."

I say wearily, "I don't like where this is going."

"I don't wanna know!" Lucy exclaims.

Charlele murmurs, "The method they used raises a red flag. They have a wizard that can instantly drain magic power—that's the one who attacked Wendy and I before the games even began."

Erza says in agreement, "Yes. You're right. And Makarov-sama believes it was the same wizard who nullified Lucy's magic power from the sidelines during her battle with Flare."

Charlele muses, "If Raven Tail has a wizard who posses that kind of skill, one would think they would choose to involve him in the abduction."

Gray suggests, "Maybe they just thought it'd be too suspicious—if they sent one of their guys out right before the battle, people might notice it."

Wendy says, "I think you're giving them too much credit."

Lucy nods her head once as she says, "I don't know if they're that concerned with how they do things, as long as somebody gets hurt in the end."

I clench my fist as I mutter, "All dark wizards are the same." My guild mates give me solemn looks, knowing I have a bad history with dark wizards. It's just pissing me off even more knowing what Raven Tail is doing, or trying to do.

Erza tells us, "Well, no matter what, if they're targeting us in and outside the arena, we must remain on guard at all times. No one should go anywhere by themselves."

I glance at Charlele, a questioning look in my eyes. "Something seems to be troubling her today," I muse silently. "I wonder what that could be..."

As I walk onto my team's balcony, Chapati says, "It's a lovely day here at the games, and it's about to get even lovelier! Welcome to the battle of the beauties! Which pits Fairy Tail B's Mirajane Strauss, against Blue Pegasus' blonde bombshell, Jenny Realight!"

"Hey! What'd I miss?!" I ask, standing beside Mystogan, a. k. a Jellal. He glances at me silently but doesn't reply.

Laxus speaks up. "It's Mirajane vs Jenny."

"How's your brother holding up?" Gajeel asks, glancing back at me.

"With enough rest, Alec will recover soon," I reply. I return my focus to the pretty blonde girl in the arena. "Jenny Realight, huh. I hear she even used to idolise Mira a lot," I think.

My eyes went big when I see Mira and Jenny have transformed into a set of bikini. Mira is wearing an orange set with polka dots and Jenny is wearing a blue set with triangles.