Tomb Of Time And Destiny: A Fairy Tail Fanfic

Part Twenty-three

Juvia POV

A knock sounded at our door, and then a male servant peeked in. "Misses," he said. "We're here to escort you to the games."

"Come in," Erza said, waving him forward. Another came with him.

"Can you walk? Or should we carry you to your settee?"

"Let Juvia try to walk," I said, taking hold of each of their arms, but when I came to my feet, my knees crumpled beneath me and I felt a wave of nausea. From the pain? Or was it the medicine?

Luckily, the men had a firm grip on me and carried me on my bed to the hallway, with Lucy, Levy, and Erza right behind us.

"You okay?" Levy whispered to me.

"Y-yes," I said. I lifted my hand to my head. A wave of dizziness was there, then gone.

The doctor appeared then. Why hadn't I noticed him before? "Are you sure this won't exhaust you?"

I was sitting there, suspended in the air on a bed. It was all I could do not to laugh.

"Juvia doesn't think so," I managed to say.

"Well then, here is another dose of pain medicine," he said, handing me the bottle.

I gladly took a swig, ignoring the unpleasant taste, if it continued to keep that horrendous pain away, then I wasn't going to complain.

We went out to the courtyard, and I was a bit shocked at the hundreds of people that lined the edge, all sitting in chairs and beneath tented roofs, shielding themselves from the sun. Simon smiled and strode over to us, his cousins at his side, as the servants set me on a platform. I just barely kept my squeal in when I noticed the way Jellal's breath caught in his chest when Erza stepped out in all her ball gowned glory.

I caught sight of his father, beside him sat Carmen's and Ava's father followed by Carmen and Ava themselves. I didn't dare look to see where Gray was.

Simon turned toward us and urged us to him so that two of us were on each of his side.

"Ladies and gentlemen," called Simon. "I present at last, the warriors that turned the tide for Fairytail, the she-wolves."

I had expected a cheer, applause, shouting. But what happened next was something I'd never forget.

Every man, woman, and child stood, and as one they bowed or curtsied, as if we were royalty before them. Just like in Mulan. It was deathly quiet, and in the hush, a wave of honor swept over me. I was overwhelmed. I glanced at Lucy and Levy, who looked like they were about to cry, lifting a hand to their lips.

"Fairy Tail is forever in your debt." Makarov said. "Whatever you need, whenever you need it, ask it of us and it will be yours."

"Thank you." Erza said after a moment. "We did only what anyone else in Fairy Tail would have done, had they been in our places. And we would do it again, for Fairy Tail."

He smiled and raised a goblet in the air. "Well said. With that, I declare these games officially begun." And then he rammed the goblet down, and it shattered into a thousand pieces across the cobblestones.

The crowd cheered and returned to their seats as the jousting line was erected.

We watched through twelve grueling rounds of jousting, wincing whenever the lance struck a man. As hardcore as we were, there was something about trying to pierce a man on a horse with a long lance that was a bit... unnerving. Several men somersaulted over the backs of their horses, sending the crowd into a riot of laughter and shouts.