Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 6 - The Road to Glory is Paved in Tears

START OF ARC 2 - GRAND MAGIC GAMES

***

"So," Romeo said to the gathered members of Fairy Tail, "it's probably a long road just to get to the Games themselves. They used to be in Crocus, but, since Stella and Bosco got folded into the Empire, they moved it out to Clover Town."

"Not a large location for such an event," Erza said.

"And isn't that where the geezers used to meet to talk about the guilds?" Natsu asked.

"Clover Town was destroyed by the Emperor to make room for the Games," Laki said.

Max and Laki had joined the bunch. They weren't going to participate in the games but had an interest in their friends taking place. They weren't going to hold the Tenrou group back from anything.

"It is a place fully dedicated to it," Max said. "The Empire brought in a lot of hired help from overseas to make it happen."

"From Alikitasia?" Lucy asked.

Max nodded. "Almost every single event of the Games takes place there. It's a huge facility. Three arenas and the entire city can turn into a battlefield for part of it. Plus, there's one large dome for some of the other contests and events the Empire holds year-round."

"Sounds like a big deal," Gray said.

"It's huge," Laki said. "And it's run, in specific, by the Dragon Division."

The Three Dragon Slayers leaned in at the sound of that.

"Once upon a time," Laki said, "the games were called the Dragon King Festival, in honor of the friendship between dragons, humans, and, believe it or not, Demons. Weird, I know, but, after the Great War between dragons and humans they did away with the name. I suppose the Emperor, who knows his stuff, decided to hearken back to that."

"One year every single Dragon Slayer participated in the event," Max said. "It was pretty rough."

"Did you compete then?" Lucy asked.

Max shook his head. "No. I competed last year. I wanted to test my abilities." He rubbed his arm bashfully. Laki squeezed his hand. "It didn't go well. I got to the bracket round of fighting but didn't last long after that."

"Did better than me," Romeo muttered. "At least you qualified."

Natsu clapped Romeo on the back. "Hey! You'll get it next time you enter unless you fight me or Erza!"

"Thanks, I think," Romeo said, rubbing his head.

"It seems far enough away from Imperial control that we could make a bit of noise and not cause too much trouble," Erza said, tapping a finger to her chin. She was out of her armor, instead wearing her white blouse and blue skirt. Levy leaned over a map of Fiore in front of Erza and studied the changes with her glasses. "Even if we are under the direct watch of the Dragon Division."

"How many of these Dragon Slayers typically enter, then?" Gajeel said.

"One, maybe two," Max said with a shrug.

"Hold on a second, then, how many do the Empire have?" Lucy asked.

Max blanched for a moment, then sighed. "Eleven."

"Ten?" the three other Dragon Slayers burst.

"That's incredible," Juvia muttered. "No wonder they have an entire division at their side."

"There's, uh, I guess more," Laki said. "Nobody is quite sure what they are, or how they came to be, but one of these Dragon Slayers is said to have discovered, within the depths of Stella, an army of other Dragon Slayer-like creatures. Automatons."