Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
June 30, x791.
As always, the atmosphere in Crocus when the Grand Magic Games came around was just like a city-wide festival. And the wizards of Fairy Tail, who just arrived in their airships, were looking forward to enjoying it to the fullest.
For example, the group of Lisanna, Natsu, Happy, and Miyako were out running around and having a great time while Natsu, happy, and Miyako ate everything they could get their hands on. Lisanna, on the other hand, watched her family have fun while making sure that Natsu did not cause too much trouble.
As for Laxus, Saya, and Chico, they were strolling around hand in hand while Fried and Bickslow followed behind them like bodyguards. Meanwhile, Evergreen was off in another part of the city with Elfman doing the same.
Alzack, Gray, Bisca, and Juvia were out on a double date. And while everything looked harmonious, every time they passed a jewelry shop, Juvia would make a point of staring at the engagement rings on display while Alzack and Bisca teased Gray about popping the question.
The rest of the guild was also out having fun. Though, there weren't as many couples activities. Unfortunately, there was a group of people that had no intention of letting some of the guild members enjoy their day in piece.
One such group who was interrupted was Wendy, Carla, and Lee.
While walking around the gardens of Mercurius, enjoying the beautiful blooming flowers, Wendy was sneak attacked by a small, red-skinned creature with leaf-like green hair and wearing a hat.
However, thanks to Lee's quick reflexes, the attack was thwarted. On top of that, the creature was smashed into the ground hard enough to make the entire garden shake.
Naturally, this drew the attention from the knights guarding the palace, with Roy mustang, having been promoted to general, leading them. And after taking the creature into custody, it was found that the creature was named Obra, a member of a guild called Raven Tail.
Other members of Fairy Tail were also attacked throughout the day. And like Obra, all the attackers were from Raven Tail. Also, like Obra, they were all captured and interrogated. As a result, Raven Tail, who had registered a team to participate in the Grand Magic Games, was disqualified.
"Those useless fools." A tall, middle-aged man with tanned skin, black eyes, black hair with a bald patch on the top, and a strange beard and mustache said angrily after receiving a report from one of his subordinates in the most luxurious suite of a hotel in Crocus. "How did they all managed to get themselves captured and exposed? They were only tasked to distract those weaklings from Fairy Tail so I could convince my son to join me."
The subordinate wizard, feeling the man's anger, remained silent. Because he knew that if he said something to displease the man, Ivan Dreyar, son of Wizard Saint and Magic Councilman, Makarov Dreyar, and the father of S-Class wizard Laxus Dreyar, he would become the outlet for his anger.
Despite being the son and father to Makarov and Laxus respectively, the only identity that Ivan had that mattered to his subordinates was the fact that he was the master of their guild, Raven Tail.
However, anyone who knew their story would find the fact that Raven Tail was somehow able to register in the Grand Magic Games quite strange. Because after Ivan was excommunicated from Fairy Tail and created his guild, Raven Tail, they were classified as a Dark Guild.
"I should have known better than to leave this to those fools." Ivan said after a few moments of thought, which allowed him to calm his anger. "No matter. Even if Raven Tail can't participate in the Grand Magic Games, convincing Laxus to join us is still worth it. To think that my weak son would grow this much after we were separated."
Ivan then started walking towards the suite's door, intending to find Laxus to have a chat.
"But with his power now, he should surely know more about Fairy Tail's secrets." Ivan continued as he reached the door and held his hand out to grasp the doorknob. "With him by my side and the power that Fairy Tail is hiding in my hands, I will become the strongest wizard this world has ever seen."
*Bang!*
Yet, before Ivan could open the door to his suite, a loud sound jolted him from his thoughts. At the same time, his eyes widened as he watched a slender, fair-skinned hand punch a hole in the door before wrapping around his throat.
"It's hard to believe that you and that little old man are related by blood." A playful female voice said from the other side of the door. "But from what I heard about Laxus in the past, you two were quite alike at one point. It's a good thing Alfonzo beat all that power hungry nonsense out of him, though. Otherwise, I'm not sure I would have been able to hold back from killing him."
While the female voice spoke, Ivan, initially caught by surprise started clawing at the arm protruding from the door. At the same time, he flared his magic power, increasing his strength tremendously.
Yet, despite the rise in his physical strength, nothing Ivan did was able to budge the arm or hand wrapped around his neck in the slightest.
Meanwhile, the subordinate who came to report to Ivan was completely dumbfounded. Even though he knew that Ivan was far from the strongest wizard on Ishgar, never had he seen his guild master be manhandled in such a way.
"But it would seem your dreams of power have gone to your head." The female voice said as the doorknob turned before the door was gently pushed open, forcing Ivan to move along with it. "It would seem you haven't been keeping up with your son's growth, either."
As the door opened fully, it revealed the figure of a relatively tall woman with braided red hair, Irene, standing on the other side.
Irene then reached around the door with her free hand and used it to grab Ivan's neck before pulling her other arm through the hole in the dor.
"Because if you had, you would know that there was no way he would follow someone like you." Irene continued, her playful tone even more prominent. "Because you're just too weak."
Seeing Irene's face and hearing her words made Ivan's eyes widen in anger. He then let go of her arm and dropped his hands to his sides.
"You dare call me weak?" Ivan rasped out. "It seems you have no idea who you're dealing with."
From Ivan's sleeves, a large amount of paper slipped out, fluttering to the floor. On their way down, each sheet of paper rapidly folded itself into a Shikigami, a paper doll, before climbing on top of each other and forming a sphere around Irene.
"[Shikigami Magic: Shikigami Dark bomb]." Ivan chanted with venom in his tone.
Completely unbothered by the predicament she found herself in, Irene's smile never left her face. Instead, she only looked at the inside of the sphere made from the Shikigami with intrigue. At the same time, she did not loosen her grip on Ivan's throat.
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
Then, in a violent explosion of [Darkness Magic], the top floor of the hotel was completely blown away, sending the Raven Tail subordinate wizard flying into the city below.
Ivan was no exception, having also been blown away. However, instead of falling from the top floor of the hotel, he managed to get his feet down on the floor and slid to a stop just before the edge, a partially broken wall stopping his momentum.
"Ahahahahaha!" Ivan laughed after seeing the devastation his spell caused. He then looked back at the smoke cloud at the explosions epicenter and spoke with disdain. "You dare call me weak? Regret your ignorance in your next life."
"Eh… I've seen bigger explosions when Natsu… Ah~! Never mind." Irene said, her voice floating form the smoke. "I doubt you even know who Natsu is. Was he even a member of the guild before you got kicked out?"
*Click!* *Click!* *Click!*
After Irene's words ended, Ivan, completely dumbfounded by how steady Irene's voice sounded could only hear the sound of high heels clicking across the floor.
Realizing he was completely outclassed, Ivan's first thought was to run.
Yet, before he could even move his legs, a suffocating magic power pressure washed over him, causing him to start leaking cold sweat while his legs started to shake violently.
"Who… Who are you?" Ivan asked, his voice shaking just as violently as his legs.
"Oh, didn't your spy tell you about me?" Irene asked while tilting her head in amusement. A moment later, she straightened her neck, and an expression of realization appeared on her face. "Oh, now that I think about it, Gajeel's been feeding you false information from the beginning, hasn't he?"
Hearing that, Ivan's expression turned even uglier than it already was.
"It's really cute that you think you have more charisma than the old pervert." Irene continued after seeing Ivan's expression, her smile widening as she did. "It's truly amazing that you can't garner as much loyalty as someone who treats his guild mates like family when the only thing you use them as is tools. Truly baffling, isn't it?"
"Impossible." Ivan muttered, his spirit visibly leaving his expression.
"Well, as fun as this has been, I think it's time to end this." Irene said, completely ignoring Ivan's expression of disbelief. "I'll take you to the authorities. Hopefully, they won't blame Fairy Tail for this explosion."
While considering how to explain the explosion and the damage it caused to the hotel and the surroundings, Belserion appeared in Irene's right hand.
*Thud!*
She then tapped the butt of the staff on the damaged floor. When she did, glowing runes appeared allover Ivan's body.
"[Agony]. [Bind]." Iren chanted activating the [Enchantment] she placed on Ivan.
In the next instant, Ivan's body stiffened before he tipped forward and fell face first to the floor. At the same time, his eyes bulged at the pain that surged through his body as he relived the pain of every injury he had ever suffered in life while his pain sensitivity was raised to five times its normal level.
"Well, that's taken care of." Irene said. "I should get going. If I'm fast enough, I can join the others while they walk around the city and enjoy the festival."
With that, Irene walked over to Ivan's immobile body. Then, she tapped her stave on the floor once again before both she and Ivan vanished, reappearing outside Mercurius, where a number of knights were mobilizing to investigate the explosion Ivan caused.
And just like that, the rest of the day passed, night eventually falling over the city of Crocus.
On a side note, Irene was caught up with questions from the knights, the king, and the Magic Council, Mavis being dragged into it, as well. So, she was not able to catch up with Alfonzo, the kids, and the other ladies while they enjoyed their day.
Even so, Mavis and irene eventually made it back to the Sixth Sense Hotel before midnight, just in time for the Grand Magic Games Prelims to start. And after Mato announced the rules for this year's Prelims, a race through a maze where the first eight teams to finish would qualify for the Grand Magic Games Main Event, wizards shot into the maze that floated above the city in droves.
When the Prelims started and all the teams rushed into the maze floating over the city, Mavis and Irene were sitting down in the suite booked for Mavis while paying attention to the teams progress with their [Magic Power Detection].
"So, how do you think the rest of the kingdom will take this?" Irene asked with an amused expression as she swirled a glass of wine.
"Well, if everything goes as planned." Mavis replied with a smile. "They'll probably be surprised. But I doubt there will be much of an uproar. We're not breaking any rules."
"That's true." Irene replied before taking a sip of wine. "There will probably be some upset guilds, though. And if everything works out as you planned, one of our allied guilds won't make it in to the main event, either."
"I know." Mavis said with a nod. "Hopefully, they'll be able to get over it. And maybe it will even push them to work harder, increasing the power of all the guilds in Fiore."
"There's always the chance that it will breed resentment, as well." Irene pointed out. "We might end up with anew Phantom Lord by the end of this."
"That won't scare Fairy Tail." Mavis said with conviction. "Even if it does create a new Phantom Lord. The original should stand as an example for anyone who has bad intentions towards our guild."
While Mavis and Irene continued to chat, the Prelims finished smoothly with the top eight teams moving on to the main event later in the morning, with Team Steel Threads, Alfonzo, Elicia, Ur, Marin, and Sun, taking first place.