Outsiders (Fairy Tail - Gruvia, Gale)

3. Other Guilds

"The day is finally among us, ladies and gentlemen! The teams have been narrowed down to the top six, who will now be competing for the winning prize! So, without further ado, here are our six teams!"

The crowd roared from outside; their cheers and laughter so close. Juvia leaned against the wall, and closed her eyes.

She had never been in a happy atmosphere such as this before. Only in the guild did she ever feel remotely happy. It felt strange, being out and in the open to everybody. If only every event could have been like the "Sky Labyrinth," where no communication with other guilds were needed; only between your team members, which was easy. They worked flawlessly as a team.

Gajeel, Aria, Sol and Totomaru were getting ready to come out. Then; the guilds started being announced.

"In sixth place, the brilliant Blue Pegasus!" Cheers from the crowd followed, and the team could just about make out the group of wizards walking towards the centre, waving and laughing.

Juvia already hated the games, and they hadn't even started yet. She crossed her arms.

"Hey, you ready?" Gajeel looked over towards her. She frowned.

"As I'll ever be," she muttered, then looked away to listen to the rest.

"In fifth place are the lovely ladies of Mermaid Heel."

"In fourth place, is the incredible Lamia Scale."

Juvia made is clear not to be looking when Lyon Vastia walked on, waving and grinning.

"This is gonna give them the shock of a lifetime," Totomaru smirked.

"In third place, it's Sabertooth!"

Muttering came from the stands, as people grew increasingly concerned, seeing as there were still two guilds to be announced, and all the main ones had already been called.

"And in second place! Oh. Oh, my," the commentator raised an eyebrow, and became flustered. Juvia scowled, then finally joined Gajeel in their line behind Sol and Totomaru.

"In second place, Phantom Lord," the tone of the commentators voice was platonic, unable to fully comprehend what was happening, as the five walked in. Their eyes completely ignoring the crowd, and only looking forward, they walked in with a gloomy, dark ambiance behind them. Nobody clapped or cheered, not even their fellow guild mates sitting in a box stall, seperate to everyone else. They sat and watched, a few grinning, not wanting to draw any attention away from their team.

The other competitors were completely at a loss for words. Juvia deliberately looked down at the floor and ignored their glares.

The crowd was muttering and looking from one to the other. They stopped in the middle, in front of the other teams.

"Aren't they a dark guild?" The other commentator asked.

"No," the main commentator answered. "They're an official guild."

"Would you look at that," somebody said from the Blue Pegasus guild. "They've actually gone outside."

The Sabertooth Guild was staring straight at them.

"Wait, isn't that Aria of the Ten Wizard Saints?" The second commentator asked.

"Indeed it is, Yajima!" The crowd watched him carefully. "This is Phantom Lord's first time competing in the games, which may seem odd seeing as they're one of the oldest guilds in Fjore! But they won their place fair, landing second in the Sky Labyrinth."

More surprised reactions from the crowd. Juvia wanted to leave, quickly.

"Anyway, we must move on, to this years number one! Returning strongly following their heroic win last year, it's Fairy Tail!"

And so the group of wizards walked out, greeted by the loudest of cheers and excitement.

A red-haired girl and a blonde-haired girl lead the group, followed by a pink-haired boy, a spiky black-haired boy, and a blond-haired boy behind them. None of them looked all that intimidating, in Gajeel's eyes at least.

They stared at Phantom Lord with unbelievable surprise and confusion.

"The great Titania Erza," said Aria. Juvia looked up. Erza was watching them carefully, observing them. The rest were talking with other guild members.

The larger blond-haired boy in the back looked more intimidating, however, and narrowed his eyes, before looking up at the huge group of Fairy Tail guild members who were supporting them.

The old man, their Master Makarov, raised an eyebrow, then looked around suspiciously for their Master José. The small man was very surprised to see his guild here, seeing as José always opposed competitions such as this one. This year's Grand Magic Games in particular was going to concentrate on celebrating the strength of the guilds who defeated Tartarous.

The antisocial group ensembled beneath him didn't seem too happy to be there either, each one of them either smirking or staring at the floor.

"That's odd," he said. "Even though he and Aria are both part of the Ten Wizard Saints, they always kept to themselves during meetings. I can't ever imagine a guild under José's control to be allowed to participate. Strange. And Jose isn't here either. Very strange."

A few guild members heard his words, and all their eyes looked down at them. It gave Juvia an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, knowing that they were all watching.

"Anyway!" The commentator started. "Let's proceed to the first round; a game we call Hidden! We'll quickly go over the rules for all of the newcomers..."

But Juvia wasn't listening to the rules. Instead, she stared at the floor, and tried to block all of the staring faces out.

"Hey," came Gajeel's voice. "Don't you think about what anybody else is thinking, alright? We got this. Keep your head held high."

"Right." She did so, and stared straight at the crowd. There weren't any more stares after that.

"Time to pick your contestants for this years round!"

"I'll go," said Sol, who walked forward.

"From Phantom Lord, Sol!"

"Starting us off nice and strong! Sol will make quick work of this!" Totomaru grinned.

"Can we go now?" Aria asked. They barely had to look at each other to know the answer, and left without drawing any attention to themselves, to join their guild mates.

As they walked away, the commentator announced; "From Fairy Tail; Gray Fullbuster!"

Juvia stopped and turned around.

Where had she heard that name before?

Gray Fullbuster noticed her stop, for he had been watching her the whole time. She narrowed her eyes spitefully, and he looked away quickly.

"You okay?" Totomaru asked behind her.

With gritted teeth, she stood up straight, turned around, and said; "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."