Ever After

Grand Magic Games: Day 3 (Part 1)

*YOUR POV*

I walked up to our usual spot on the balcony for the third day of the games. I pulled Erza closer to me, my hand resting lightly on her stomach as Minerva met my eyes from her place with Sabertooth. She smirked at me and I felt the air grow chilly. Erza seemed to sense it too, so she pulled me in and kissed me. Almost instantly, I felt her warmth melting away the cold atmosphere, her feelings of love and passion spreading through me. She drew back after a bit, leaving me smiling and dizzy. So much so that I nearly missed the announcer speaking until the last word. "Pandemonium!" My head snapped up to the arena and I began paying close attention to whatever Pandemonium could be. "There will be one participant from each guild. Please choose your representative!" Erza stepped forward.

"I'll go." I stared at her in shock.

"What? Erz, sweetheart, no. Please. I don't want you getting hurt. And you're pregnant, so it's not safe for you. I'll do it. Or Lucy can. Neither of us has participated in a competition yet." Erza smiled and kissed my cheek.

"Exactly. I'm pregnant, meaning I have someone to keep alive. You don't, and you just fought in a battle yesterday. Lucy fought the day before, so you're both still healing. And I'm sure the breaking into Sabertooth's guild hall didn't help." I held my wife's hands and rested my forehead on hers, speaking softly.

"Don't remind me. I could've lost both you and our child. I was scared the moment I saw that they had you."

"I know. But I'm here. We both are. Me and our baby. So let me do this. I need to show Sabertooth that I'm not weak and that messing with my family never ends well. Ok?" I kissed her lightly.

"Ok. Just be safe. Come back to me." Erza smiled as she walked down to the arena.

"I always do." I learned out over the balcony, tapping my fingers nervously, as my wife stepped into the arena with the other competitors. Erza was going from our team, Cana from Fairy Tail B, Milliana from Mermaid Heel, Obra from Raven Tail, Hibiki from Blue Pegasus, Jura from Lamia Scale, Olga from Sabertooth, and Novali from Quatro Cerberus. I tensed at the thought of my pregnant wife within five miles of anyone from Raven Tail or Sabertooth, and suddenly felt the urge to grab her and carry her away from all danger. However, that would make Fairy Tail the laughingstock of the guilds, and I wasn't about to let that happen. Just then, a huge magic circle appeared in the sky, directly above the arena. As I watched, a dark castle began to come out of it and slowly drift to the ground. It stopped about 50 feet before it touched and a ramp extended out of it, crashing in front of the competitors. The pumpkin - headed announcer spoke.

"Pandemonium, a temple haunted by evil monsters! There are 100 monsters inside this temple. That being said, they're actually magical manifestations that we created, so everyone can relax. There's no danger of you being attacked. The monsters are D, C, B, A, S! Those are the five levels of battle power the monsters are divided into. This is how it breaks down. Incidentally, if you're curious about just how strong the D-class monsters are..." He pointed up at a screen. I looked and saw a visual of inside the castle. A massive rhino-like creature was walking around, raising dual wherever it stepped. I gripped the railing tightly, using all my willpower not to run and take my wife's place in this competition. The announcer continued speaking. "Ones like these and ones even stronger, 100 of them roaming around inside this temple. That's Pandemonium! Please note that as the class of the monsters goes up, their fighting strength increases exponentially. The S-class monster is so strong that there's no guarantee even one of the 10 Great Wizard Saints can defeat it." With those words, I felt all the color drain from my face. If not even one of the saints could defeat it, there was no way my pregnant wife could. I was so focused on her safety that I completely missed how Pandemonium worked until Erza stepped up to the tower. By everyone lining up, I guessed that she chose how many to challenge and however many she defeated, the others would individually take care of whatever remained. I listened closely for how many she was going to take on. Erza smiled upon hearing the announcer call this a game.

"No," she said. "This isn't a game anymore. All 100 will be my opponents! I exercise my right to challenge 100!" The whole arena fell into silence as my wife stepped up to the castle.