Ever After

Grand Magic Games: Day 1 (Part 5)

*YOUR POV*

     Lucy and Flare took their spots on opposite sides of the arena as the announcer spoke. "Apparently, the masters of these two guilds are father and son, Yajima-san!"
     "True, but if they bear the insignia of different guilds, it doesn't matter if they're parent and child," Yajima responded. The special guest, Jenny ftom Blue Pegasus, spoke.
     "It's so dramatic! I'm getting the chills!" The pumpkin headed staff member came forward, briefly explained the rules, then announced the battle to begin. Lucy wasted no time in calling on her spirits.
     "Here we go! Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" The bull spirit appeared on the battlefield and swung at Flare, narrowly missing as she jumped aside. However, Lucy didn't seem fazed. She summoned another spirit.  "Open, Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!" The scorpion appeared as well and called out a spell.
     "Sand Blaster!" A tornado of sand spiraled towards Flare from Scorpio's hands. But Flare was ready. She let her hair down and it lit on fire, then swirled in front of her as a shield. My jaw dropped as Natsu spoke next to me.
     "She uses fire?!" I responded with another question.
     "Did she just guard with her hair?!" I continued to watch when Lucy called out an order.
     "Taurus! Use Scorpio's sand!" He followed her order, casting Sandstorm Axe, and sweeping sand over the spectators. He then returned to Lucy. She smiled. "Thanks guys, that was great!" They vanished. Then, Flare cast her own spell, clearly enraged.
     "Hair Dog, Wolf Fang!" Her hair became a giant, fiery dog that ran towards Lucy. She met it with another spirit.
     "Open, Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!" He emerged and flew through the dog by cutting it to pieces, then he vanished, his work done. Unfortunately, Flare seemed even more angry. She drilled her hair straight down into the ground and grabbed Lucy's feet with it, then began swinging her around the arena. Eventually, the Raven Tail mage released Lucy, sending her skidding across the sand painfully. Flare said something, and Lucy responded, but I was too far away to hear them. Lucy grabbed her whip and snatched ahold of Flare's wrist. Flare retaliated by grabbing Lucy's feet once more, this time with her hair on fire. They spun in the air for a while until they flew in opposite directions. Lucy lay still for a minute, her feet smoking, before she removed her shoes, revealing nearly no damage to her feet at all. This seened to aggravate Flare. She drilled her hair down once more, but it didn't pop up anywhere. Lucy turned to the stands where most of the guild was. She began to call out something, but Flare grabbed her face with her hair and flung Lucy to the ground. Flare was saying something to Lucy, but I couldn't hear what it was. Her hair became long whips of fire that started to lash persistently at Lucy, burning her. Then Flare wrapped pieces of hair around Lucy's arms and legs, holding her in the air. She took another piece of hair, lit it on fire, and made it a shape. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was the Raven Tail mark. No. She wouldn't... Flare said something to Lucy, which seemed to make Lucy panic. "No! Not there! Please! Put it anywhere but there!" I saw the flames going closer to Lucy's hand, where her Fairy Tail mark was. NO! I lunged forward, attempting to jump into the arena and help Lucy, but Erza grabbed me, forcing me to stay put or risk injuring her and our baby. Just then, I noticed Natsu missing and chose to ask Erza.
     "Hey, where's Natsu?" She looked around.
     "He was here a minute ago..." I sighed, knowing he'd eventually show up and more worried about Lucy. Suddenly, Natsu ran into view on the ither side of the arena with our guild. He held a piece of red hair, and burnt it.
     "She was trying to protect Asuka!" He leaned over the balcony. "You're in the clear, Lucy!" She pulled out a gate key.
     "Thanks! Gemini!" Two little doll-like creatures hit Flare in the head, causing her to release Lucy. I relaxed and watched more. Lucy said something to Gemini, who turned into a copy of her, and both Lucys began speaking as they touched palms.
     "Survey the heavens, open the heavens. All the stars, far and wide, show me thy appearance. With such shine. Oh Tetrabiblos, I am the ruler of the stars. Aspect become complete, open thy malevolent gate. Oh 88 stars of the heavens. Shine!" The galaxy with stars and planets appeared around Lucy. "Urano Metria!" The planets collected around Lucy and Gemini, then shot straight at Flare. She shielded herself and... nothing happened. The galaxy vanished, along with Gemini. Lucy collapsed and the announcer spoke, but I was completely focused on Lucy lying there. The match was called to an end, Flare declared the winner, and I ran onto the arena to make sure Lucy was still breathing. Once I'd confirmed it, I picked her up and carried her to the on-site infirmary. There was no way her magic could've failed. Raven Tail sabotaged us. I just needed to figure out how.