brains and brawn | sting eucliffe

¹⁴ɢᴇᴀʀꜱ ɢʀɪꜰꜰɪɴ ᴊᴏɪɴꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴀᴍᴇ

"Welcome to day four of the Grand Magic Games!"

After coming back from her rendezvous with the white dragon slayer, the girl had been practically bombarded with questions from her team about where she'd gone.

To that, she pulled out the loaf of pumpernickel and a small bag of trinkets that she'd collected at a thrift store- one that she made Sting hide in to wait out some stray fangirls. With a smile, she went on a rant about finding some cool-looking pendants and completely losing track of time.

Amaya, who'd taken to waiting for her as well, let out a deep sigh. "Again? This happens every time we go somewhere."

Gears grinned at her, internally sighing in relief that they believed her lie. "Yep~ but seriously, you guys didn't need to wait up. Raven Tail is gone, and I can take care of myself."

There was a pause as she stared down her group, moving past them to put her bag on her bed- grabbing some pyjamas out of the side of her duffel. She forgot something fairly important though, the fact that there were three dragon slayers in the room along with her.

"Why the hell do you smell like that blond from the tigers?"

Gajeel was the first to say something- of course he was- making the girl pause. For priding herself on being so smart, she sure was an idiot sometimes.

She forgot that spending all day with the slayer would leave a scent behind, but one thing she did know was that none of them would know for how long. Thank god for knowing her best friends' abilities.

"Oh yeah." She blinked- acting like a blatant idiot. "I got lost on the other side of town and had no clue where I was, so I asked the first person I came across. Before I knew who I'd even approached he just offered to walk me back here."

The girl paused as she zipped the duffel back up. "No clue why though. Maybe he was just trying for good karma? Either way, it was the most awkward silence that I'd ever experienced. Would definitely not do it again."

There was another stiff beat of silence as they tried to pick her apart for answers, the girl blinking at them before going to the shared bathroom. "If you don't mind.. I'm gonna go shower. Night!"

And well, yeah. That was pretty much the end of it. She woke up at around eight to get ready, and the group left at nine to be on the field by ten. At least she got a little bit of sleep, having gotten almost none the night before.

So, there she was. Standing on the balcony of her guild's area as the crowd filed into their seats. Mato was announcing the points for each of the guilds' as Fairy Tail stood proud- having taken first and second place right from under the noses of everyone.

To say that they were hyped would be an understatement. A huge understatement, if the screaming of her guildmates at her side had anything to do with it. She was sure that her ears would bleed at this rate, they were certainly starting to ring.

Her gut churned though. This was it. She knew she had to participate sometime today. When was just the question.

"And now, our first event of the day!"

Everyone's eyes turned up to the screen, watching the board with intent, to see if there were any noticeable loopholes in the rules or play of the game. To their surprise, however, only the name was shown.

"One for all?" Gears questioned, the words seeming foreign on her tongue as she tried to figure out the game. Nothing was underneath, no rules, and no hints like usual.

Laxus cleared his throat from the side. "I'll go in for this one. Seems like a group fight or something."

It seemed the guilds were just as confused- at least, until Risley Law from Mermaid Heel tried to walk onto the field, but she was quickly stopped by a voice.