Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 1, x791.
"That's... not what I was expecting to hear." Alfonzo said while sitting in the Sixth Sense Hotel's meeting room with Mavis, Irene, and all the others interested in the two visitors from the future after hearing the entire story about the time travelers.
And Alfonzo was not putting on an act, either. Knowing the story of the canon Fairy Tail world, he knew there would be something like this. Though, for both Future Lucy and Future Rogue to not recognize him meant something was completely different than what he was expecting.
"I know." Mavis replied while nodding her head, her usual smile replaced by a solemn expression. "Lici mentioned something about a parallel world. A concept you explained to her in the past."
"Yeah, I remember that conversation." Alfonzo replied with a nod of his own.
'If I hadn't been to other worlds, I would have thought the same.' Alfonzo thought to himself, his head lowered in thought. 'But after all the world hopping shenanigans, I'm thinking this is more multiverse theory than simple parallel worlds.'
Alfonzo then glanced discreetly in Elicia's direction. And when she caught this glance, she nodded almost imperceptibly.
'Looks like she was thinking the same thing.' Alfonzo thought. 'But since there are so many people that aren't in on that little secret in the room, she probably kept that shit to herself.'
Alfonzo then turned his attention back to Future Lucy and Future Rogue.
'So, these two are from the canon timeline.' Alfonzo muttered internally. 'And they need to get back there to make sure their world has a happy ending, huh? *Sigh* This shit is gonna be a pain in the ass. I'm not gonna get any sleep at all, am I? I'll have to come up with a way to send them back to their own timeline, make sure they show up at the right time to have things play out the way they're supposed to, and I should probably go with them to make sure that Ultear doesn't have to sacrifice her youth, too. *Sigh* And that means I'll have to come up with a way to get back, too.'
While Alfonzo was lost in thought, the others remained silent. Everyone knew just how bad it would be to interrupt his train of thought during such a crucial time.
Naturally, the few people in the meeting room who were not familiar with Alfonzo's capabilities started to get nervous when they saw him fall into thought with such a pensive expression on his face.
"Hey, will he really be able to do it?" Future Lucy asked quietly while leaning over towards the Lucy from this timeline and Levy.
"I've never seen anything that Alfonzo wanted to do that didn't become reality." Levy replied. "And I've known him for a long time. More than fifteen years, I think."
"I haven't known him that long yet." Lucy added, a smile spreading across her face. "But I trust my husband."
"Huh?" Future Lucy exclaimed, drawing nearly everyone in the room's attention onto herself. "Did you say... he's your h-h-husband?"
Future Lucy then flicked her gaze over to Elicia, who waved at her with a cheerful smile on her face.
"But... I thought he was married to Elicia.
"He is." Lucy replied with a nod. She then started counting on her fingers as she continued. "And Cana, and Sun, Erza, Ultear, Mira, Marin, Shizuka, and me. He'll probably marry Saeko, Rika, and Irene sometime in the future, too."
Lucy then glanced at Brandish, who was sitting with a bored expression on her face.
"Her, too." Lucy said, discreetly pointing at Brandish with a smile. "But she needs to get over her shyness and tell him how she feels, first. Even if it's obvious to everyone in the guild already."
"Wha..." was the only thing that Future Lucy could say in response.
To Future Lucy's surprise, no one seemed to react to her dumbfounded utterance. Though, Brandish, who glanced in their direction and saw Lucy pointing at her, frowned while simultaneously blushing, as she could figure out exactly what her friend was talking about just by looking at the grin spreading across her face.
*Knock!*
However, before Brandish could say anything, Alfonzo came out of his thoughts, knocking on the table as he raised his head.
"This is gonna be a real pain in the ass." Alfonzo said in a slightly irritated tone. "But I'll take care of getting the two of them back to where they belong. *Sigh* Why couldn't this happen after the damn Grand Magic Games. Now, I'm not gonna get any fucking sleep all fucking week long."
"Do you really have to rush through everything?" Mavis asked curiously.
"I wish I didn't." Alfonzo replied as he placed his right hand over his face. He then continued while dragging his hand downwards, his voice slightly muffled by his hand. "But the longer I wait, the harder it will be to calculate the time flow. On top of that, I'm not even sure what the time difference between our worlds is. So, I'll have to study the dimensional frequency of our guests and compare it to our own."
"Study?" Future Lucy asked, her expression hardening as she did so. "Does that mean you'll have to use us as test subjects?"
"Unfortunately." Alfonzo replied while removing his hand from his face. He then turned to look at Future Rogue with an almost malicious grin on his face. "It's a good thing we've got a bad guy here for me to experiment on. I won't feel any pity if he loses a limb, or two, during the experiments."
Hearing that, Future Rogue's expression hardened, a hint of hatred shining in his eye. Meanwhile, Future Lucy looked completely aghast at the way Alfonzo said what he did. Add the unsettling grin on his face, and she found it hard to see him as a Legal Guild wizard.
"But for now, I wanna get some sleep." Alfonzo said, his expression softening considerably. "I competed today, kicked a bunch of ass, and took the Amar'e, Bianca, and Calvin out to have fun. I'm tired."
"Hmph!" Laxus only snorted as he turned around and started moving towards the room's exit.
Shortly after Laxus, most of the other wizards in the room also got up and started to leave, as well. Meanwhile, Irene slapped some [Enchantments] on Future Rogue, making it so that he could not leave the hotel without experiencing excruciating pain. At the same time, Levy and Lucy led Future Lucy out of the room, towards the reception desk, to book a room for her.
That left only Alfonzo, Elicia, and Mavis in the meeting room, with Elicia taking a seat on Alfonzo's lap now that the serious atmosphere was mostly gone.
"So, how long do you think it will take you to make everything you need?" Mavis asked.
"If nothing comes up, I'll probably be done before the banquet held by the king." Alfonzo replied as he reached up and started combing his fingers through Elicia's hair. "I'll just have to pull a whole bunch of all-nighters to make sure that happens."
"Don't push yourself." Mavis said, her sternness as a guild master mixing with concern for one of the members of her guild.
"Don't worry, I won't." Alfonzo replied while waving dismissively. "I can survive off a few hours of sleep for a week, or so."
"Besides, even if you tell him that, he's gonna do it anyway." Elicia said with a giggle.
*Smack!*
"Mmm~!"
In response to Elicia's playful jab, Alfonzo slapped her on the butt. However, Elicia's reaction, a moan of pleasure, caught both Alfonzo and Mavis off guard. Well, more Mavis than Alfonzo.
While Alfonzo only rolled his eyes, Mavis' face reddened immediately.
"Anyway, I'm gonna head up to my room to get some sleep." Alfonzo said as he stood up, Elicia clinging onto him like a koala. "I'll start working tomorrow during the events."
"Ah! [Archive Magic] really is convenient." Mavis replied with a smile. "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night."
"See ya." Alfonzo replied with a wave as he turned towards the doors.
"Night Night~!" Elicia added in a sing-song tone while also waving at Mavis.
Mavis only smiled in response with a small wave of her own. Then, once the door was closed behind Alfonzo and Elicia, she slipped into thought.
"Time travel, huh?" Mavis muttered to herself. "Just how many wrongs could I change if I traveled back in time?"
After voicing that thought, Mavis shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts.
"No, I need to be happy with what I have now." Mavis said. "If I were to change things carelessly, all of this... could disappear."
Though, she could not help thinking about the man she fell in love with, in the past, nearly a hundred years ago, for a few seconds before shaking her head once again.
After that, Mavis also stood up, left the meeting room, and headed to her own room, as well.
July 2, x791.
{"Good morning, everyone!"} Loli said over the Domus Flau's broadcast system. {"We're back for another exciting day of the Grand Magic Games. And as always, I'm here with Yajima doing the commentary."}
{"It's good to be here."} Yajima said in his usual calm, collected tone. {"I'm really looking forward to what the best wizards the continent has to offer will show us today."}
{"As am I, Yajima. As am I."} Loli said with a smile. {"Well then, since we don't have a special guest for today... Mostly because we were afraid... Afraid she might say something strange... Like she did last year... let's send it over to Mato."}
Although he did not say any names, Darkness, who was patrolling the stands with her two squadmates, shuddered, blushed, and started breathing erratically after Loli's comment. Meanwhile, the two knights, who have been part of Darkness' squad for years, acted as if nothing happened. Then, when Darkness got her wits together again, they continued their patrol as planned.
{"Thanks, Loli!"} Mato's excited voice rang out all around the Domus Flau as his face showed up on all the Lacrima-Vision screens. {"Well then, I think you all know the drill by now. I'll tell you the name of today's event. Then, I'll explain the rules after each team has chosen a contestant."}
*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
{"Good, it looks like we're all on the same page."} Mato continued. {"Well then, the name of today's event is... Chariot!"}
With Mato's declaration, all the screens changed to show the name of the event, "Chariot." Meanwhile, all eight teams started discussing who would participate in the event. Well... most of the teams, anyway.
"I'm taking this one!" Natsu shouted from Fairy Tail Team C's seating area before he jumped into the arena without waiting for input from anyone else.
"Is that really, okay?" Gray asked, exasperated by Natsu's impatience.
"It's not like it matters." Ultear replied while shaking her head gently. "We don't know what kind of game it will be until after everyone is chosen, anyway."
"Besides, Natsu is strong." Erza added in her usual tone. "There isn't much that he won't be able to handle."
"Even so, I have a bad feeling about this." Gray muttered.
"Sounds like you're just jealous that he got the jump on you, Gray." Ultear said in a teasing tone.
Gray only shook his head in response before turning his attention to the other teams to see who they would send up for today's event.
"Juvia thinks Gray would have been the best choice for the game." Juvia said with a sweet smile on her face as she cuddled up to Gray.
Once again, Gray did not respond. Though, he did snake his arm around Juvia's waist and pull her closer, making her squeal in ecstasy.
Meanwhile, Gajeel, after seeing Natsu jump down into the arena, also jumped into the arena, leaving the rest of his team sighing in exasperation. Everyone except Cana, that is, who was too busy drinking to care. Especially since now that Gajeel had volunteered for the event and she was in yesterday's battle, she had no responsibilities for the day.
After Gajeel, it did not take long for the rest of the teams to choose their participants. And those participants were, Ur from Fairy Tail Team A, Rangiku from Mermaid Heel, Sting from Sabertooth, Rei from Lamia Scale, Sorano from Blue Pegasus, and Bacchus from Quatro Cerberus.
Finally, when all eight participants were gathered in the center of the arena, Mato's image reappeared on the Lacrima-Vision screens.
{"It looks like the players for today's event have been chosen."} Mato said enthusiastically. {"Then, let's get into the explanation of today's event."}
With that, all the lacrima-Visions screens once again changed. Now, instead of Mato's face, there was a view of a large number of interconnected, covered chariots running a circuit from the Domus Flau to the outskirts of Crocus.
{"Now, if you'll look here."} Mato said, a small image of himself appearing on the screen next to the interconnected chariots with a pointer in one hand. {"As you can see, we've set up a track for all of you to race on. And yes, the tops of these moving chariots are that track."}
Immediately, the faces of Natsu, Gajeel, and Sting paled. Because as Dragon Slayers, they were at a severe disadvantage in a game like this one.
"See, I told you so." Gray muttered from his team's seating area.
{"You will all move to the starting line, which is at the edge of the city."} Mato said while pointing his pointer at one end of the large circuit. He then continued while pointing the pointer at another spot on the circuit. {"And the first contestant to reach the Domus Flau will be the winner. Also, the use of magic to increase your speed or hinder other contestants is allowed. However, you are not allowed to use your magic on other contestants directly. Oh, and one last thing, falling from the chariots to the ground means instant disqualification. So, be~~~ careful~~~!"}
While most of the contestants were starting to form strategies, Ur, who knew exactly why Natsu, Gajeel, and Sting had paled so rapidly, looked at the three younger wizards with a gaze filled with schadenfreude. Then, she started walking towards the arena's exit to make her way towards the starting line.