Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 10 - Dare to Enter

Finally, finally, Clover Town appeared. Lucy had half a mind to observe the place with how sore and tired her legs were. They had to take the last long leg of the trip almost entirely on foot, mostly because roads became too infested with interest from soldiers as the Grand Magic Games neared and they couldn't risk being caught outside of the city limits.

"It's right there," Lucy said, panting.

Wendy patted her back. "Think of it look good exercise, Lucy."

Frosch giggled. "Blonde lady gets tired."

"I do not," Lucy snapped.

"Frosch thinks so," Frosch said.

She wanted to snap back at Frosch one more time, but the little Exceed was already prancing off down the path with Happy, the two best friends jauntily skipping toward Clover Town. Lucy sighed and picked herself up. She was horrifically sweaty, dirty, and in desperate need of something clean on her. They'd seen one stream on their way into Clover Town, and Lucy was hesitant to ask Juvia to help with a bath. She'd probably get drowned.

"We should hurry," Erza said. "We're almost out of time to enter, I bet, and I doubt they'll be kind about us missing our chance this year."

"So come on!" Natsu shouted, and almost took off were it not for Erza snagging him by the scarf to stop him.

"As you are?" Erza asked. "Absolutely not. We'd be discovered immediately. You're already all to happy to be showing off the guild symbol on your arm, still. We'll need disguises."

"Oh!" Natsu exclaimed. "Yes! Time to be sneaky."

"No," Erza said. "Just incognito. Now, everyone, gather around. I've been coming up with different disguises that should fit each of you and your combat styles."

Everyone gathered in a little circle around Erza, still giving her enough room to cast her spell. There was, unfortunately, not much that anyone could do about the Exceeds, so, for their sake, they'd just have to crawl around as cats and try not to talk so much.

"Requip!" Erza exclaimed, and in a flash of light, a magic circle enveloped everyone.

As it faded, Lucy felt the clothes she had worn get swapped out with a whole new, yet still comfy, outfit.

Indeed, it did match her style. Erza knew her pretty well! The exception was the gloves, but, she had to hide her guild symbol somewhere—plus, it would add a good bit of grip for when she needed to use her Celestial Spirit whip.

Her hair was done up in the usual ponytail, though her shirt had changed to a tank top revealing her midriff, allowing for a good deal of space between that and a skirt that hugged her legs snuggly but comfortably, still. Knee-high blue socks rose up from shoes that were hard enough to break someone's teeth with a strong enough Lucy kick.

"Erza this is so cute!" Lucy exclaimed.

Erza was in new clothes as well, though an outfit Lucy saw once before so it would hide her appearance well. She wore a long-sleeve pink blouse, with the sleeves rolled up to reveal her toned forearms, while her hair descended down in a bang to cover part of her face. Black pants hugged her legs from heavy battle boots, and she wore her sword on the outside, not as a Requip.

"Thank you," Erza said, with a slight nod. "I'll be honest, I'm most proud of Juvia and Wendy's outfits myself."

Those were gorgeous as well. Wendy was still in a flowing dress with sleeves down to her forearm, helping to conceal her guild mark. Her hair was down save for a middle tail at the back of her head that helped divide her hair. The dress was a fine yellow color, allowing Wendy to stand bright and beautiful. Juvia, strangely, wore pants, though this, too was to hide her guild mark. She had a short halter dress on atop it that clung to her body, showing off her figure quite well.