Present: The Grand Magic Games

Hours later, the group arrived in Crocus. Evangeline and Laxus separated away from the others to adventure.

"This place hasn't changed at all," Evangeline said as she looked at the buildings lining the main street.

"I'm not surprised. Crocus was always busy," Laxus said.

"I suppose. Say, do you think that Seasons is still open?" Evangeline asked. Laxus shrugged.

"I'd assume so. Dinner?" Evangeline nodded.

"I still have the pass, you know," she said. Laxus shook his head.

"You, my love, have a hoarding problem," Laxus teased. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Mhmm, sure. I'm getting us free food at the top restaurant in Fiore, and you call me a hoarder," Evangeline said as she crossed her arms and walked in the direction of the restaurant. Laxus followed closely behind, and they arrived at Seasons shortly after. The line was outrageous, as they expected, but Evangeline showed their pass. The host seemed amazed.

"Please follow me. I will fetch the owner for you," the host hurriedly said as he sat them in a private booth.

"He'll be shocked at how young we look," Evangeline giggled to herself.

"Yeah, he'll be expecting us to look like dinosaurs," Laxus said sarcastically.

"Are you calling me old?" Evangeline said, faking offense.

"I don't know. I think I see a gray hair-" Laxus said as he reached across the table and went to touch her hair. She playfully slapped his hand away.

"My, my. Look at you two," a familiar voice said from beside them. Evangeline and Laxus turned to face the man.

"Lord Beckett. It's nice to finally get to see you again," Evangeline greeted. She held out her hand to shake his, but he grabbed it and kissed the back of it.

"It is lovely to see both of you again. When I heard what had happened to you, I was heartbroken. I've been attempting to support your guild in whatever way I could. I am delighted that you are all alive and have returned," Lord Beckett told them. He then turned to face Laxus specifically.

"And you, idiot boy, ended up divorced from this lovely flower? However, it seems you have sorted your issues," he said, casting a calculating gaze on Laxus. Laxus sighed.

"Yeah. I made several huge mistakes the last few years before we disappeared. I won't forgive myself for them, and I don't understand why she has. I have no intention of ever letting that happen again," Laxus stated. Lord Beckett held his stare for a moment longer before smiling.

"Good man. Everyone makes mistakes in life, and what matters is that you have grown from them. Now, in celebration of your return, I'll be sending out our seven course meal, on me, of course. I'll have my staff select a drink pairing for each course, as well. Welcome back, Evangeline. Laxus. Please do return, and not just here. Return Fairy Tail to its rightful position as number one in Fiore!" Lord Beckett announced.

"We will. Our friends have suffered long enough in our absence," Evangeline said. Laxus nodded. Upon seeing this, Lord Beckett left the two.

Dinner itself was amazing. The entire cost of the meal was likely close to 80,000 Jewel. The couple walked out of the restaurant and made their way to the orphan statue that Evangeline had connected with so many years ago. She went and stood next to the statue, and Laxus stayed by her side.

"You know," Evangeline started. "We only ever end up in Crocus when we are at a crossroads in our lives."

"What do you mean?" Laxus asked, curious as to what she meant.

"The first time was following my parents' deaths. The second was our anniversary when I started to lose you. Now, here we are again. Older, wiser, stronger," Evangeline trailed off.

"And you are wondering what will happen now," Laxus finished. Evangeline nodded.

"I don't know where it will lead. I have faith that everything will turn out alright, though," Evangeline smiled.

"Ever the optimist," Laxus teased. Evangeline giggled.

"One of us has to be," she said. Then, they felt a familiar magic flare a few blacks away.

"What's flame brain gotten himself into this time," Laxus muttered. Evangeline narrowed her eyes.

"I bet it has something to do with Sabertooth. Come on," Evangeline said, hurrying off to where she felt Natsu's magic.

"Ev, they aren't supposed to know we are in the city," Laxus argued, but stopped when she turned to glare at him. He sighed. "Fine, this is probably more important."

They reached the crowd and weaved their way through. Natsu was facing off with none other than Sabertooth's Twin Dragonslayers.

"How dare you kill your parents!" Natsu shouted at the two. His flame erupted from his fists. Evangeline then froze him in a block of ice.

"Natsu. You cannot go attacking people the night before the games," Evangeline stated, emotion fading from her voice. From inside his ice block, Natsu paled. He apologized, not that anyone other than Evangeline could understand.

"No, I won't let you out yet," Evangeline said, rolling her eyes. The rival dragonslayers looked at her curiously.

"And who are you?" Sting asked, narrowing his eyes at her. She turned to face the two, her eyes cold and hard.

"Some would call me the Demon Evangeline. Others would call me the Lightning Goddess. Others still would call me the Goddess of Fairy Tail. Take your pick. They are all me," she said, letting some of her dark magic leech out into the area. She wanted to ward off the two slayers before Natsu melted his way out of his trap. Rogue, the dark haired one, took a step back. She smirked. He had heard of her.

"Sting, we should leave," Rogue whispered to his friend. "She's killed hundreds without batting an eye."

"Oh really?" Sting whispered back to his friend. They didn't know Evangeline was reading their thoughts.

"She's basically a wizard saint. I doubt we could beat her, even two on one. We need to go, now," Rogue insisted.

"Why? I want to know more, now," Sting whined. Evangeline shook her head.

"Eventually you will, Sting Eucliffe. For now, listen to your friend and leave," Evangeline said, having enough of their conversation. Their eyes widened.

"How could you hear us?" Sting demanded. "Only another slayer could." Evangeline smirked and pointed to her head.

"Your thoughts are very loud, you know," was all she said. The slayers finally left, scared of who she was. Evangeline turned back to Natsu and unmelted him.

"Why did you have to do that! I wasn't going to attack them," Natsu whined. Evangeline shocked him.

"You were fighting in the middle of a street. Not a physical fight, yes, but still a fight. We don't need to get into trouble before you guys are in the games. You could get us disqualified before we even had a chance," Evangeline said. Natsu looked down.

"Sorry, Ev, I didn't think about that. I won't do it again," Natsu muttered.

"Now go back to your inn. It's nearly midnight," Evangeline said. With that, Natsu walked off, back to the place he was supposed to be.

"I guess we should head back as well," Laxus said. He had been silent the whole time, trying to get a read on how powerful the slayers were. He could feel they had a lot of magic, but he didn't think they were too much of a cause for concern. He would be able to take them both on fairly easily, but Natsu might have trouble, let alone some of the other members on Fairy Tail Team A.

"We should. I don't feel like walking all the way over there, though," Evangeline sighed. Laxus stepped up beside her and put an arm around her waist.

"Then it's a good thing I'm known as the Thunder God," he smirked. He teleported them back in front of their inn.

"Mhmm, whatever you say," Evangeline said sarcastically. The two went up to their room and found the rest of their team already there.

"What took you two so long? We thought you wouldn't make it in time," Gajeel grumbled. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"Stop being so dramatic. We still have another 15 minutes before this starts," Evangeline retorted.

"She also just saved Team A from getting disqualified because of Natsu," Laxus added.

"Oh, what did he do now," Mira sighed.

"He decided to pick a fight with Sabertooth's dragonslayers," Evangeline said. Mira shook her head.

"Sometimes… Oh well, at least you stopped him. But now he knows we are in the city," Mira said. Evangeline shrugged.

"I don't think he will assume we are in the games. If anything, he will think we are here to cheer them on. Poor guy is in for a shock when he finds out," Evangeline said, then stopped. Mira and Laxus laughed.

"More lightning puns, Ev? I thought we moved past this," Laxus teased. Evangeline stuck her tongue out.

"I don't wanna hear it! It just happens, okay! I can't control it. The puns just come to me," Evangeline said dramatically.

"So, we still have 10 minutes. What should we do in the mean time?" Mira asked. Everyone else shrugged.

"Juvia thinks that Evangeline should see if all of Team A is at their inn," Juvia suggested. Evangeline nodded.

"Probably a good idea," Evangeline said. She closed her eyes and felt out for the magic signatures of her friends. She furrowed her brows when she felt them all at the inn except Wendy, who was… near the palace?

"Something happened to Wendy. Elfman is in her place at the inn. Her magic is really weak," she said, very concerned.

"Someone attacked her?" Gajeel growled. Evangeline nodded.

"That's all I can assume. She would never get into an intentional fight, and her magic is dangerously low. Lissy is there with her now, though, so I presume she will be getting Wendy to Porlyusica," Evangeline said. Laxus had a dark look in his eyes.

"When we find who did it…" he said, not needing to finished his sentence. Evangeline put a hand on his shoulder.

"We will all make sure they pay. No one messes with my ducklings and gets away with it," Evangeline said darkly.

"You haven't called them that in a long time," Mira commented. Evangeline blinked.

"No, I suppose I haven't. I guess I'm having a hard time calling her my little sister since she's the same age as Romeo, and Romeo will always be my baby," Evangeline sighed. The rest of the mages in the room laughed.

"You'll get over it eventually," Laxus said. Then, a bell tolled.

"Attention guild mages of Crocus! The time for the Grand Magic Games is upon us. This year, there are 113 teams that have entered. Because of the vast number of entries, we have decided that there will be a preliminary qualifier for the Games! Please prepare yourselves for the game: Labyrinth! The first 8 teams to make it to the center of the maze will be our participants this year. Now, being!" A voice announced, and suddenly a stairway into a massive maze appeared. The group took off.

"I can hear Sabertooth mages. They have the center in sight," Evangeline said as the group made their way through the twisting maze in the sky. She stopped them.

"Why are we stopping?" Gajeel growled, wanting to keep moving since they needed to qualify fast.

"Grab onto me. I'll teleport us to the place they were just in. They were first," Evangeline said hurriedly. The four other mages quickly grabbed onto her and she teleported them to the center with her lightning. There, they found a doorway and a man in a pumpkin suit.

"Ah, Fairy Tail Team B! Welcome to the finish line. Congratulations, you have qualified for the Games. You are in second place. Please proceed through the door and back to your inn. Keep your qualification a secret," the pumpkin said, extending a hand to the door. The group proceeded through, as they were told, and ended up back in their room at the inn.

"Well that was a lot easier than I expected," Mira said. Juvia and Gajeel nodded.

"I'm not surprised. We have good trackers on this team. I just wonder how Sabertooth finished before us," Laxus mumbled before flopping down onto one of the beds, pulling Evangeline with him. She sighed.

"I guess we are going to bed now. Goodnight everyone," Evangeline said before she yawned. Mira then yawned after her.

"Sounds like a good idea. Goodnight everyone," Mira said as she laid down on her own bed.

"Goodnight."

"I want them to start announcing already," Evangeline complained. Laxus shook his head.

"Be patient. Besides, the more time the other team doesn't know about us, the bigger their reaction will be," Laxus said. Evangeline paused at the idea.

"Yeah, probably. Natsu will probably try and fight us," Evangeline sighed. Mira gigged.

"You aren't wrong there, Ev," she said.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! I am pleased to welcome you to this years Grand Magic Games!" an announcer said, and the crowd outside erupted in thunderous applause. Evangeline shivered.

"So many people," she whimpered. Laxus put his arms around her.

"Since when are you afraid of crowds?" he asked her.

"Since now," she said. The mages laughed at her response.

"There were 113 teams that registered for this years Grand Magic Games, so we were forced to do a preliminary! These are the 8 teams that qualified! In 8th place, here to return from their fall from greatness, Fairy Tail!" the announcer said, and the crowd started booing. Evangeline found herself glaring out the tunnel towards the field.

"Ev, reign in you magic," Laxus sighed. She stopped releasing her magic, and the crowd above her suddenly felt a lot better.

"They will pay for thinking we are nothing," Evangeline grumbled.

"We never said they wouldn't," Gajeel said. "We will show 'em."

"That we will," Mira said confidently.

"Juvia thinks that there is no one here that can beat Fairy Tail," Juvia added. The announcer had kept announcing guilds during their discussion. The third place guild was then called.

"It's this guild's first time in the games! Please welcome our third place qualifiers, Raven Tail!"

Evangeline froze, as did Laxus. They didn't have much time to be frozen, though, as they were next.

"And in second place, a surprise! Fairy Tail Team B!" Team B walked out of their tunnel into the colosseum.

"Oi, what gives!" Natsu shouted at them and ran over to them. "We are the team in the games! Why are you here!"

"We're here incase you fucked up, Flame Brain," Gajeel taunted.

"Hey guys," Lucy greeted as she walked over to them. The rest of the team was right behind her.

"That's new for you, Ev," Gray said as he looked over Evangeline. She was wearing a new outfit. She had on long leather pants with two sword holsters at her waist, though neither was being used. She also had on a black, one-sleeved leather top with a dragon scale pattern in it. Each scale had a tiny point of light on it, each being a micro-lacrima. Over top of that, she had a black cloak. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, and she was wearing the earrings Gray had given her for her 18th birthday, as well her her dragon opal necklace.

"Yeah, I destroyed so many clothes while training that I needed to upgrade. These are all magic resistant, at least enough that I can use them to train," she said, holding up her hand that was partially covered by the leather sleeve of her top.

"Why dragon scales?" Natsu asked, curious. Evangeline smirked.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out. I want to fight you, Natsu," Evangeline told him. Natsu grinned.

"I want to fight you too, Evangeline," he said. He was serious. After all, he had used her full name.

"Finally, our first place guild, the guild that has been on top since the games began, the one and only… SABERTOOTH!" The crowd went wild as the team from Sabertooth made their way onto the field.

"Better watch out, Fairies. Just because there are more of you doesn't mean anything. We will still win," Sting said as he walked over to the group. Evangeline faced him straight on and her eyes flashed red.

"We will see about that," she said.

"This year will be a battle! Each day, there will be a group event where each team will send one member to compete. After this event, there will be one on one battles. Now, for our first event: Hidden! Teams, please choose one member to stay on the field. The rest shall proceed up to their balcony."

Gray was the first to volunteer from Fairy Tail Team A, and so Juvia decided she was going to volunteer as well.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this," Laxus muttered. Evangeline shook her head.

"Have faith in her," Evangeline scolded. Of course, only minutes later, she ate her words.

"Poor Juvia," Mira sighed. Gajeel shook her head.

"I swear, that woman is insane," he grumbled. Evangeline was staring intently at Rufus, who was on top of a building in the Hidden game. She realized what he was about to do but was too late to warn Gray and Juvia. The game ended with Juvia in 7th and Gray in 8th.

"It's okay, Juvia. The odds were against you from the start," Evangeline told the woman after she returned to the balcony. She was sulking.

"Juvia apologizes. She couldn't resist," Juvia said, looking at the ground.

"Chin up. We have four more days, as well as the one on one battle today," Mira said. The group then turned their attention to the field, where the first of the one on one battles was being announced.

"The first match of the day will be between Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail Team A and Flare Corona of Raven Tail! Competitors, please come to the field." Evangeline narrowed her eyes.

"I have a bad feeling about this one," Evangeline said.

"Why? Bunny-girl can handle her own pretty well," Gajeel said. Evangeline shook her head.

"It's not that. Raven Tail being here is given me a really bad feeling in general, and since she's fighting one, I can't help but think something will go wrong," Evangeline explained.

"She will be fine. Let's just watch," Mira suggested. Evangeline sighed, but did as Mira said. All was going well until Lucy was suddenly tangled in Flare's hair and wasn't fighting back.

"Why isn't she fighting back?" Laxus asked.

"Something has to be wrong," Mira said worriedly. They then heard Natsu yelling out from the stands. He was standing near Askua. Evangeline's eyes went dark.

"She dared threaten a child over a fight?" she said darkly. Lucy then tried to use Urano Metria, and then the spell didn't go off. Evangeline looked up at the stands and saw Obra watching the battle, then stared her in the eye. Evangeline felt his magic, and then connected the dots.

"He did it. He did this to Lucy. He did this to Wendy. I'll kill him," Evangeline said, her voice turning almost demonic. Aspen's power was seeping through the seal, and Evangeline started gaining some of her features. Laxus grabbed onto her before she did anything, though.

"Evangeline. We will get them, but we can't right now. Stand down," he commanded. Evangeline glared at him, but let Aspen's power dissipate. Two more matched occurred. The first was between Ren Akatsuki of Blue Pegasus and Ariana Webb of Mermaid Heel. Ren won the battle. The second was Warcry of Quatro Cerberus and Orga Nanagear of Sabertooth. Orga won the battle easily. Laxus was intrigued by his black lightning.

"I want to fight him," he said. Evangeline rolled her eyes. He then gave her a look.

"You can't do that. You wanted to fight Natsu earlier," Laxus said.

"That's different. Natsu is a guild member. Orga is an enemy," Evangeline argued. They were about to continue when Mira shushed them.

"The last battle of the day will be Evangeline Dreyar of Fairy Tail Team B against Jura Neekis of Lamia Scale! Now, this battle is anticipated to get highly destructive, so we have created a perimeter around the edge of the battlefield to prevent any damage from coming to the audience."

"Well this will be fun," Evangeline said, getting a spark in her eye. The rest of her team shivered.

"Don't kill him, please. He's an ally," Laxus sighed. Evangeline walked away waving a hand.

"I won't, I promise," she said. She made her way onto the battlefield a moment later.

"Now, I can say this battle is probably going to be the most fun one to watch of the day. I have known Evangeline since she was a small child. Never in a million years would I dare to fight her, even if I was still in my prime. She is known as the Lightning Empress, a title that came after she created the spell Lightning's Heavenly Herald's Purgatory Ray: a total annihilation spell," Yajima said from the commentator booth.

"My money is on Jura. He is a Wizard Saint, after all. Regardless of how much power Evangeline may have, it's doubtful to me that she would be able to pull off a win against a saint," Jenny said, flipping her hair. Fairy Tail all deadpanned after her statement. She obviously had never heard of Evangeline before.

At the Sabertooth balcony, Rufus went wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" Yukino asked her guildmate.

"Evangeline Aspen Dreyar. Formerly a Hastings. Credited with the death of Hades, master of the dark guild Grimoire Heart, as well as over one hundred dark wizards. She created the most powerful lightning spell currently known: Lightning's Heavenly Herald's Purgatory Ray. This spell is made of red lightning and creates a storm that can cover the entirety of the continent. It's considered a SSS-Class spell, unable to be performed by any other mage at this time. Also, container of the Demon Goddess Lilith, which is where she gets the title Demon Evangeline. Also proficient in Light and Dark magic, as well as swordplay," Rufus said, recalling all the information he had learned about her.

"Red lightning? I want to try it," Orga said as he stared down at the field. He didn't think she was likely as strong as Rufus's overview made her seem. Rogue, on the other hand, shivered.

"She's a Fairy. If she was any good, she'd be with us," Sting said.

Evangeline stood across from Jura at the center of the battlefield.

"It's been a long time since I've gotten to fight all out," Jura said as Evangeline took a fighting stance. Evangeline smirked.

"Same here. I'm interested to see the power of a Wizard Saint," Evangeline said. She requipped her cloak into her storage dimension, and her magic nullifier sword appeared at her waist. In the stands, Laxus sighed.

"She wasn't even going 100% when she was fighting me," he said dejectedly.

"She didn't want to kill you, that's why," Gajeel said.

"Still, though. She's a fucking monster," Laxus said. The rest of the mages nodded in agreement.

Back on the field, the pumpkin man announced for the mages to begin their battle.

"Rock Fist," Jura cast, making the first move. Evangeline dodged effortlessly.

"Interesting for you to make the first move, Jura-san," Evangeline commented.

"I have heard stories of you power, Lady Evangeline, and I do not wish to get hit by any of it," Jura said. Evangeline smirked.

"I apologize, then, for what I am about to do," she said cryptically. Suddenly, the lacrimas on her top started to glow yellow before they engulfed her in a yellow flash. When the light died down seconds later, she was standing with a yellow armored suit on with a bracer on her right arm, the same one as the sleeve. Around her head was a golden band.

"What is that?" Gray asked. Erza was staring intently at the field.

"It seems to me that she has somehow come across one of the most powerful magical armors in the world. I believe this is Demon Goddess's Armor, which would make sense, as the Demon Goddess is sealed inside of her. Lilith wore this armor. It can become whatever the wearer wants in the situation. This armor likely amplifies her lightning magic," Erza explained.

"And the consequence of her wearing it?" Gray followed up. Erza shook her head.

"There will be none for her, as Lilith is part of her. If any other mortal had that armor on, it would lead to a descent into Hell," Erza put bluntly.

"This is the Armor of The Demon Goddess," Evangeline said, confirming Erza's suspicion. "This armor takes whatever form I need it to. It was created in a time where magic ruled all, and it will bend only to my whims." Jura narrowed his eyes.

"Then I suppose I shall have to get serious," he said as he took on a fighting stance. Evangeline started sparking red lightning around her.

"Raiko: Red Lightning," she cast as she was suddenly in front of Jura and sent him flying.

"Rock Fist," Jura called out, moving his original skill to go after Evangeline. She disappeared from view.

"Do you really think that would be able to catch me?" She said from behind him. He went to send a punch at her, but she was already gone. He turned back and saw her in front of him.

Jura then took up a new stance.

"Sema!" he called out, and the sky became dark. Evangeline could see a large meteor approaching her from miles away.

"God of Lightning, Bend to thy whim: Zeus's Blade!" Evangeline cast. Lightning gathered in the sky and struck down on the meteor in the form of a blade. The meteor turned to ashes and blew away in the wind. Jura was stunned.

"No one has ever countered that before. I guess you aren't just anyone, though, Lady Evangeline," Jura said.

"One more attack each? We are running out of time," Evangeline said. Jura nodded.

"One attack to end it all," he agreed. Evangeline glowed again, this time from the sheer amount of magic she was using. They sky got darker, and lightning started racing around in the clouds. It was still yellow, which relieved everyone who knew what she was capable of.

Jura got ready to cast his spell as did Evangeline.

"Let the eyes of the dragon judge your heart: Elektra's Lingering Soul," Evangeline cast.

"Rumbling Mt. Fuji!" Jura cast as the same time.

From Evangeline's spell, a massive dragon made of pure lightning swooped out of the clouds and crashed onto Jura at the same time that a massive light engulfed Evangeline from Jura's spell. The light died down, and the clouds parted. The arena was covered in dust from the final spells that had been used. They were all anxiously waiting to see who had won. When the dust cleared, many were shocked.

Evangeline stood unharmed in a suit of black scale armor with a blood-red cape attached to it, and she had a black crown atop her head. Jura lay unconscious across the battlefield from her. She transformed her armor back to its original state.

"The winner of the battle is Evangeline Dreyar of Fairy Tail!"

The crowd exploded. They had never witnessed anything so exciting in their lives. If that was what they could see from Fairy Tail, then they were anxious to see what else they could accomplish. Evangeline gave the Fairy Tail signal from the center of the field, and the rest of Fairy Tail followed suit. She then stared right up at the Sabertooth balcony and smirked, her eyes flashing red and her hair flashing black. Sting finally understood why Rogue was afraid of her. She was a monster.

"How the fuck did you learn how to do that," Gajeel cornered Evangeline as she came back to the balcony her team was at.

"My bond with Aspen is stronger, therefore I am able to use more of her magic without having to have her take over. She is blending her soul with mine, rather than one of us being wholly in control at a time. You could say we are now the Demon Goddess Evangeline Lilith," Evangeline shrugged.

"And the lightning dragon?" Gajeel asked. He was staring at her intensely. Evangeline didn't feel threatened, though. She looked over to Laxus, and he sighed.

"That would be because of me," he started. "I'll explain more when we are back at the inn. Too many ears here."

"Fine," Gajeel conceded. The group returned to their inn together, as the events of the day were over. When they got back to their room, Laxus started telling everyone what had happened during the three months he was training with Evangeline and the Thunder Legion.

"Evangeline had strengthened her connection with Aspen enough so that they could merge their souls, and then Aspen pulled both of them into the mindscape that Elektra and I share. That's where she saw Elektra. She created that spell right after meeting Elektra. Elektra loved it, too," Laxus sighed.

"So basically, you two fucks are basically insane," Gajeel said. They shrugged.

"Yeah, basically," Evangeline agreed. Gajeel shook his head.

"Monsters, both of ya," he muttered before leaving the room. Mira stared intently at Evangeline.

"You can merge souls with Aspen," she said. Evangeline nodded.

"The strength of the seal is weakening, and our bond is strengthening. There will come a time where either I have to reseal her and lose this progress, merge her completely with my soul, or she will die. I'm trying to find another option that involves removing the curse that's been on her for centuries. She cannot survive without a host or being sealed into something due to the curse. I'd like to undo it so that she can live on her own again," Evangeline explained. Mira frowned.

"And if you can't?"

"Aspen told me that she'd rather I merge her soul with mine entirely," Evangeline admitted. She merged her soul with Aspen's so Aspen could put her two cents in.

"I'd rather become mortal and stay the rest of that life with her than ever be forced back into an object or a seal. I'd also rather not just die outright," Aspen said.

"I want to figure out a way to remove the curse. I've been trying really hard to find anything about it, but at this point I've hit a dead end. I need to talk to Hibiki and see if Archive has anything," Evangeline said. Her soul was still merged with Aspen's.

"You should ask him this week sometime, then. He'd be more than willing to help you," Mira said. Evangeline nodded.

"At least he doesn't hit on me," Evangeline sighed. Mira giggled while Laxus growled a little bit.

"He better not," Laxus said.

"Anyway. We should head over to the other inn and see how everyone else is doing. I have a feeling they will be intoxicated and useless," Evangeline sighed.

Sure enough, everyone was severely intoxicated.

Evangeline sighed. Laxus was beside her, getting drunk as well. Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow were also trashed.

"I don't know why I expected anything else," she mumbled to herself. She saw someone walking across the bar that she didn't recognize, and he was holding… Cana's bra? She narrowed her eyes at the man that was walking away.

"Bacchus Groh," she muttered. "I'm not surprised. I have a bad feeling about this now though."

"Babe, why aren't you drinking," Laxus said, clearly intoxicated as he swung an arm over her shoulder.

"Because someone in the guild needs to be sober. Hell, not even Wendy is right now! Oi! Who gave babies alcohol! I'll kill you!" Evangeline raged as she realized both Wendy and Romeo were drunk.

"Calm down, it's fine. They'll be fine. It's practice for when they get older and they'll need to party with us all the time," Laxus slurred. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"It's time to go back to the room now," Evangeline said. Laxus followed her out of the bar, and thankfully they made it back to their inn fairly quickly. Laxus passed out as soon as they got back. Evangeline shook her head. He'd have a killer hangover tomorrow.

Again, she was right. Laxus felt like he was dying.

"Why do you let me drink," he groaned. He had a pillow over his face because the light was too bright in the room. She had the curtains pulled and the lights were off.

"Because you wouldn't listen to me anyway," Evangeline said. Laxus groaned again.

"Use inside voice, too loud," he whined. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"I'm talking normally. You need to stop being a man-child and get our ass out of bed. We have to be at the arena in two hours," Evangeline said before she left the room. She went back to the other inn and found everyone from Fairy Tail passed out still. She found two pans and started loudly banging them together. Everyone groaned.

"Why so loud, Evvie," Mira whined.

"Rise and shine, ye drunks! We have day two of the Grand Magic Games today! You have two hours to get ready or else I will zap you into next year!" Evangeline announced as she left and went back to her room at the other inn.

The good news was that Laxus was out of bed and seemed somewhat better. Freed was there as well.

"Anti-hangover rune?" she asked. The two males nodded. "You should probably put one on everyone else, too."

"They don't deserve it," Freed said. Evangeline shook her head.

"At least on our other team, and the rest of my team. The rest can be hungover fucks if they want to be," Evangeline said. Freed nodded.

"Very well. I will see you at the arena," Freed said as he left the room.

"No more drinking that heavily during the games," Evangeline said as she sent a sharp look at Laxus. He nodded.

"Probably for the best."

The second day of the Grand Magic Games started with a game called Chariot. Gajeel went after he saw Natsu was going for Team A.

"It's called Chariot. It's transportation," Evangeline deadpanned as soon as the game started.

"This is embarrassing," Mira sighed. Laxus nodded.

"This is why I didn't go," he said, shaking his head. Mira looked over to him.

"You get motion sickness too?" she asked. Laxus nodded shamefully.

"Don't tell anyone else. I'd like to keep it as much of a secret as I can," he mumbled. Evangeline laughed.

"Oh, hush. It's not a bad thing," she said. Laxus looked at her.

"Whatever you say," he said, shaking his head. They went back to watching the game. Sting, Natsu, and Gajeel were all tied in the back.

"Why do you try so hard?" Sting asked the two Fairy Tail mages.

"Because our family suffered for seven years while we were gone. We have to try, and we have to win because they suffered without us. We need to repay them for all they've done while we were gone. We owe it to them to win," Natsu said, gathering more energy and making it across the finish line before Gajeel, and lastly Sting.

"How is Natsu so good with words?" Mira pondered. Laxus looked at Evangeline.

"Yeah, that would likely be my doing. I was the one that talked to him most when he joined," Evangeline sighed. "It's not a bad thing, though. Natsu's words have a lot of weight to them when he wants them to."

The games then went into the first match of the day. Toby Horhorta was against Kurohebi. They made a bet that if Kurohebi won, Toby would tell him his deepest secret. If Toby won, Kurohebi would tell him his real name. Kurohebi won, and everyone was watching curiously.

"My secret is… I lost my sock and I can't find it. It's been three months," Toby said tearfully. Kurohebi reached towards Toby and took the sock from around his neck. Toby gasped, apparently not knowing that's where it was.

"Tha-" Toby started, but stopped when he saw what Kurohebi had done. The man had shred his sock.

"The more precious something is, the more I wish to destroy it," Kurohebi said before he left the field. Toby started bawling, and the audience was angry.

"When I get my hands on that snake, I'm going to pop is stupid tiny head off," Evangeline seethed. The rest of Fairy Tail Team B nodded in agreement.

"I'm an asshole, but that takes the cake," Gajeel said, glaring at the Raven Tail balcony.

"We will get them later. For now, we need to focus on the next match," Mira said, directing their attention back to the field.

"The second match of the day will be… Elfman Strauss of Fairy Tail Team A and Bacchus Groh of Quatro Cerberus!"

"Oh dear," Mira sighed. Gajeel and Juvia looked at her oddly.

"Juvia wonders why Mira is worried," Juvia said.

"Bacchus is an S-Class mage. Elfman is not. Depending on the circumstances, Bacchus could be a good match for me even," Evangeline said. Gajeel blinked.

"That fucking drunk is actually strong?" Gajeel asked. Mira, Evangeline, and Laxus nodded.

"Elfman is good, but I don't know if he will be able to pull this off," Mira sighed. Evangeline put a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll be alright. We just need to have faith in him," Evangeline said, and the group turned their attention back to the field.

Bacchus and Elfman were going at in, and the two decided to make a bet. Elfman wanted Quatro Cerberus to change their name to Quatro Puppy for the remainder of the games if he won. Unfortunately, Bacchus wanted Lisanna, Mirajane, and Evangeline if he won.

"It won't happen," Evangeline seethed. "I'll kill that little fucker before he gets anywhere near me."

"Elfman will win. He has to," Mira said. Laxus was watching the match, and Evangeline could feel his magic start to leech out. She wrapped her arms around him.

"Elfman will win, don't worry," Evangeline told him.

"I won't believe it until it happens," he said, putting his arms protectively around her. He would kill Bacchus if he tried anything, and he'd have no remorse.

The battle ended with a massive cloud of dust. Everyone was waiting to see what happened. Bacchus fell. Elfman won. The crowd went wild, and everyone in Fairy Tail relaxed. Mira started crying and Laxus pulled her into his hug with Evangeline.

"I wouldn't have let anything happen to you, Lis, or Ev. I'm just glad that's over," Laxus told Mira.

"Hate to interrupt here, but Mira, you got called," Gajeel told the group. They broke away and saw it was Mira against Jenny Realight of Blue Pegasus.

"What better to do to get your spirits back up than a posing battle?" Evangeline winked at Mira. Mira nodded and made her way down to the field.

Mira and Jenny made a bet themselves, deciding that the loser of the battle will appear nude in the next issue of Sorcerer's Weekly.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," Evangeline smiled.

"And why is that?" Laxus asked her.

"I'm going to head down there and join in. Juvia, you should come too!" Evangeline said, dragging the other female with her.

"Ah, I was about to tell them to go down there. Evangeline must have read my mind," a voice said appearing on Team B's balcony. The males jumped.

"Ah, no need to be afraid of a ghost! This will be fun. Enjoy it," Mavis said before she disappeared again, likely off to Team A's balcony.

Evangeline and Juvia made their way onto the field and found themselves in bikinis.

"Evvie! Juvia!" Mira called out to them. They walked over to where Mira was. Juvia then turned her attention to trying to impress Gray.

"This is evil of you, Ev," Mira laughed. Evangeline winked.

"I know. He deserves the punishment," Evangeline said. Mira shook her head. The females appeared in a new bikini. Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale, and Fairy Tail Team A's females made their way onto the field.

"School Girl!" was the next theme.

"Bondage!"

"Cats!"

"Glasses!"

"Wedding!" This time, the males made their way to the field to join their female counterparts. Evangeline was in a dress that she didn't really love, as it wasn't hers.

"Someone looks unhappy," Laxus said from beside her. She turned to face him.

"This dress is ugly," she sighed. Laxus laughed.

"Just because it isn't your dress doesn't make it ugly. I think you are beautiful," he said, pulling her into a deep kiss. The audience whistled at this. They broke apart and Evangeline scanned the field. Lucy had just been dropped on top of Natsu, Gajeel was scaring away Jet and Droy from Levy, and Gray and Lyon were fighting over Juvia.

"Well, I guess this is about right," Evangeline said, shaking her head.

"I do have to say. Lucy and Natsu are better together than Lisanna and Natsu," Laxus told her. Evangeline turned to him and blinked.

"Did you just admit you have a ship?" Evangeline said in disbelief.

"I think I did," Laxus sighed. His wife had rubbed off in him too much. Another bathing suit round had been called, then the leader of Lamia Scale decided to join in. The mood in the arena came crashing back down.

"Well, I can't ever unsee that," Evangeline shivered.

"You think it's bad for you. It's worse for me," Laxus grumbled. Evangeline laughed.

"Oh, I'll make up for that tonight," she told him.

"Oh, really now?" Laxus asked, putting an arm around her waist.

"I got us another room for the night," Evangeline said. She was about to continue when someone cleared their throat.

"Ya know, I don't need to know what you fucks do at night," Gajeel grumbled. Evangeline blushed and hid her face in Laxus's chest. Laxus laughed and shook his head.

"The final outfit of the competition is battle form!" the announcer called. Mirajane used her Satan Soul: Sitri form.

"Well, poor Jenny has to pose nude for Sorcerer's Weekly now," Evangeline sighed.

"Jenny shouldn't have made that bet," Laxus said. Gajeel nodded.

"Never underestimate the demons of Fairy Tail," Gajeel said. "She thought Jura would win yesterday, too."

"She's not the brightest person in the world, that's for sure," Evangeline sighed.

"Mirajane wins! The last match oft eh day will be Kagura Mikazuchi of Mermaid Heel against Yukino Agria of Sabertooth!"

"This won't end well," Evangeline murmured.

"Why do you say that?" Gajeel asked. He didn't know why she was calling it already.

"Kagura is on the same level as Erza in terms of sword fighting ability. Her sword is Legendary as well. Archenemy. She doesn't even need to draw it to slice things up. Yukino won't win. I only hope she doesn't make the bet the is thinking about making," Evangeline said worriedly.

"What bet does she want to make?" Gajeel asked.

"Their lives."

"I have to say, that was incredible. I just hope Yukino is alright," Mira said.

"Kagura isn't doing anything. Sabertooth, though. That's where the trouble may come in. Regardless, it's out of our hands now. I don't know what will happen," Evangeline sighed. Laxus decided to pick Evangeline up and throw her over his shoulder at this point.

"We'll see you guys later," he said, then teleported them back to the inn.

"Well. It's a good thing we are all going to the other inn. Anyway, now that they are gone… Has anyone noticed that Evangeline is like… Different?" Mira asked hesitantly. The rest of the group paused.

"She is. She's less optimistic and much less of the 'Oh I like everything" person she used to be," Gajeel said slowly. Mira nodded in agreement.

"I'm wondering if part of it is her soul merge with Aspen, but, still, I think something else is going on," Mira insisted.

"We'll figure it out eventually," Gajeel concluded.

"I need to dig! I must know!" Mira exclaimed. Gajeel shook his head.

"Best not to pry with her right now, especially since something isn't right with her."

Evangeline woke up the next morning with Laxus's arms wrapped around her. He tightened his hold on her.

"We gotta get up," Evangeline mumbled. Laxus shook his head.

"I don't want to," he grumbled into her neck. Evangeline laughed and shook her head.

"Mira and the rest will come barging in here in five minutes if we aren't up and getting ready. I don't feel on them walking in on us like this," Evangeline told him. He groaned, but let her go.

"Fine," he complained. She turned around and gave him a quick kiss.

"Good. Now start getting ready," Evangeline said as she went into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the other part of Fairy Tail Team B showed up at their door and knocked.

"We're up. We'll meet you downstairs for breakfast," Laxus answered without opening the door. He heard Gajeel snickering to himself but ignored it. Evangeline walked out of the bathroom with an "I told you so" look on her face.

"You don't even have to say it. You are always right," Laxus sighed. Evangeline laughed.

"Your turn. Make it fast, I want food," Evangeline groaned at the thought of food. Laxus rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, love."

Fairy Tail Team B waited on their balcony for the third day of the games to start. The first and second days had held many surprises, and they weren't sure if they were ready for more. The group game of the day was called Pandemonium. Evangeline volunteered for her team, and Erza went for Fairy Tail Team A.

"There are 100 monsters in the castle! Monsters range from D-Class all the way up to the single S-Class monster. Each competitor will state how many monsters they will take on, and we will continue each round until the game is over. To determine the order, we will draw sticks."

Evangeline drew number 8, and saw that Erza drew number 1.

"Well, this is over already," Evangeline sighed. "And I wanted a chance to kill some."

"Why are you saying its already over? The game hasn't even started yet," one of the other mages stated. Evangeline shook her head.

"This was over the moment Erza drew number 1," Evangeline said proudly.

"I will challenge all 100 monsters!" Erza announced. Chapti, the pumpkin announcer, choked.

"All 100? Are you certain?" he asked hesitantly. Erza nodded.

"I will challenge all 100 for Fairy Tail!" Erza then made her way into the castle, and the lacrimavision showed all the went on inside. Erza fought her way through the monsters, cutting them down without mercy. She was getting scraped up and cut, but she did not back down. Finally, the last monster was a small eye that ended up being the S-Class monster. She defeated it anyway, and made her way out of the castle, her sword held high above her head. Evangeline smiled at her friend.

"What an amazing show! Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail Team A defeated the entirety of Pandemonium by herself, all in the name of her guild! Please give us a few moments to decide how the rest of the competitors will be ranked.

"Erza, you should go up to the infirmary," Evangeline suggested. Erza shook her head.

"I will wait here until you have competed. Regardless of if we are on different teams in the games, we are still one guild," Erza told her. Evangeline hugged Erza gently so as to not disturb her wounds further.

"Thankfully, due to Lahar from the magic counsel, we have a Magic Power Finder! These are used in training the Rune Knights. Please send an attack at the MPF in the order of your number sticks."

Millianna of Mermaid Heel was up first. She scored a 365 on the MPF. Lahar seemed impressed with the number, but no one had anything to compare it to. Second to go was Nobarly of Quatro Puppy, and he scored 124. Third to go was Obra of Raven Tail, who seemed to almost peck it and got a 4. At this, Evangeline narrowed her eyes. He was hiding something. Fourth to go was Hibiki Lates of Blue Pegasus, and he scored an 84. He decided to try and get pity from Erza, who had none to give.

"Hibiki! What was that? You must train harder, for that was a disappointment. Do not grovel and spend your energy on training," Erza scolded. Hibiki had tears streaming from his eyes.

"Yes, Titania," he said as he crawled away. Evangeline rolled her eyes.

"He's so intelligent, but yet he chooses to be this," she sighed. Erza nodded.

"He would be much better off if he applied himself," Erza said.

Next to go was Orga Nanagear of Sabertooth, and he scored a 3,825 on the MPF. This seemed to really surprised the audience, as no one had had a score in the thousands yet. After Orga was Jura of Lamia Scale, and he scored a whopping 8,544. Finally, it was Evangeline's turn.

"I will ask what Jura did. May I be serious?" Evangeline said, emotion leaving her voice.

"Of course," Chapti told her.

"Then I will have to ask everyone to stand back," she said, and her armor glowed. She decided to do a full merge with Aspen and use a dark lightning spell they had created. Her armor ended up being black and yellow leather armor with a black band around her head. In her hand, she held a yellow-gold rod that was about three feet long and about 2 centimeters in diameter. The sky got dark, and Fairy Tail was worried she would use her main Ace.

"Glory to the light that guides us through the dark. Let me consume your power: Lilith's All-Consuming Strike!" Evangeline said, her voice sounding darker, more like her demon. From the clouds came a pitch-black bolt of lightning that struck the MPF, and it shattered. Evangeline went back to her normal form, separating her soul from Aspen's again.

"Oops," she said sheepishly. The crowd then went wild, as that counted as a 9,999 on the MPF.

"Absolutely incredible! Fairy Tail has shown us all what the bonds of friendship mean. What will they do throughout the rest of the games? Who knows!"

Evangeline escorted Erza to the infirmary to make sure she got there, then Evangeline made her way to the Fairy Tail Team B balcony. On her way, however, she was stopped by someone unexpected.

"How did you do that?" Sting Eucliffe asked her. She blinked.

"Do what?"

"That spell. I felt the amount of magic, and then your magic changed. Your scent changed," he asked, confused.

"My demon, known to you likely as the Demon Goddess Lilith. We can merge our souls. As for the magic, that's all mine. My parents were both mages, and I trained hard my whole life. I also have a magic that lets me be constantly training, basically. Now, my turn. What happened to Yukino?" Evangeline asked. Sting flinched.

"She was expelled," he mumbled. Evangeline held out her hand.

"Show me," she said. He furrowed his brows in confusion.

"I have memory magic that allows me to see your memories. I'd rather not do so by force," Evangeline told him. He nodded slowly, then took her hand. He pulled up what happened last night. Evangeline was furious.

"I'll kill him," Evangeline said, her dark, demonic voice returning. Her eyes flashed red, and her hair started to turn black. She took her hand from his and turned away from him to find Jiemma.

"No!" Sting yelled out. Evangeline paused and looked back at him.

"No?" she said mockingly.

"It'll be me. I'll kill him. Not you. You don't have the right after all he's done to me, to Rogue, to everyone in that guild," Sting said, feigning confidence. In truth, he was scared shitless. Evangeline knew it, too. However, she appreciated the fact that he had stood up to her regardless of the fact that he was terrified. She let Aspen's soul go and turned back into herself.

"Very well, Sting Eucliffe. I will take my leave now," Evangeline said, raising a hand and waving without facing him. She made her way to her balcony and left Sting standing in the hallway.

"Evangeline Dreyar. What are you?" Sting asked the empty hall. He then made his way back to the Sabertooth balcony.

"There you are! You've already missed the first fight, and the second one is going now," Mira breathed out. "I was worried something might have happened."

"I felt your magic flare. What happened?" Laxus said, staring at her intently.

"I learned what Sabertooth did to Yukino. Then I decided I wanted to kill their master. However, the one I was talking to told me it wasn't my place, but his," Evangeline told them. Laxus furrowed his brows but didn't ask any questions. Mira and Juvia shared a worried glance at each other. They were honestly becoming afraid of Evangeline. She was cruel.

"The third match will be Laxus Dreyar of Fairy Tail Team B against Alexei of Raven Tail!"

Evangeline gave Laxus a quick kiss on the cheek before she let him go.

"Kick his ass," she called out to him before he disappeared from view.

As soon as the match started, Evangeline knew something was wrong.

"Illusion magic, Ev," Aspen said in her mind. As soon as she was told, the illusion broke. What she saw almost frightened her. All the members of the Raven Tail team were on the field, and Laxus was fighting them all. She saw everyone from Fairy Tail putting up the fairy Tail sign, and she did as well with a wink, letting him know she knew what was going on.

Down on the field, Ivan was talking one last time to Laxus before he, too, was taken out by his son.

"Watch out for your demon bride, son. She's capable of darkness you don't understand," Ivan said. Laxus shook his head.

"I don't care. I've seen her at her most sadistic. I've seen her banish people to Hell. I've seen her tear apart those that dare to try and hurt her family. You must not know. She uses Light Magic as well," Laxus told the man. Ivan's eyes widened.

"How? How is one with that much dark magic deemed worthy to use Light Magic?" Ivan demanded to know.

"Because she is Evangeline. She is the Goddess of Fairy Tail. Now, I don't want to hear you speak ill of my wife again, shitty pops," Laxus growled. Ivan asked Laxus about Lumen Histoire, but Laxus didn't know what it was. Evangeline did, by accident of course, and she was concerned that Ivan knew about it. Laxus finished the battle and the illusion magic broke for everyone else.

"Is that? That is all of Raven Tail's Team on the field, as well as their master as a member. Raven Tail is disqualified! But, look at this! Laxus Dreyar has defeated the whole team on his own! This is simply incredible!"

Laxus made his way back to the balcony completely silent. Evangeline met him in the hall outside the balcony and wrapped her arms around him. He returned the gesture and buried his face in her hair.

"I'm sorry you had to do that," Evangeline whispered. He held onto her tighter.

"The whole time I could only think about what they did to our family. And then what he said about you," he mumbled.

"It's over. Our family is avenged. And don't worry about what they say about me. I know Mira and Juvia are becoming a little fearful of me even, but I've always been seemingly cruel. I have no mercy for those that harm my family, or harm innocents," Evangeline told him.

"Still. I'll never let anyone speak lowly of you," he growled. Evangeline shook her head, then pulled back a bit.

"I know. We can continue talking later, and I know that you have something you need to ask Gramps. I'll go with you," Evangeline said. "I know what it is, but I cannot tell you. I'm sorry."

"That's alright, love. We'll go ask him anyway," Laxus said, then kissed the top of her head. "Wendy is fighting. We should go watch."

Evangeline shook her head at the two girls who had just battled. They both collapsed from magic depletion.

"Wendy has always been one to make fast friends. I'm glad she's been able to make a friend in a different guild. She didn't have any before," Evangeline smiled.

"Kid's too nice for her own good," Gajeel grumbled.

"Wendy is still a child. I, for one, hope she continues trying to make friends with others. It's good for her. Especially since she is so shy," Mira said.

"Juvia agrees. Wendy also needs friends her own age," Juvia pointed out. The females all nodded together.

"Well, Ev and I have to talk to Gramps about something real fast. We'll catch up to you later," Laxus told the group and the two walked off before any of the others had a chance to respond.

"Lumen Histoire? How did Ivan find out about it? What did he tell you, Laxus?" Gramps demanded. Laxus held up his hands in fake surrender.

"He only said that it was Fairy Tail's darkness," Laxus said. The group then heard a voice.

"No. It's not Fairy Tail's darkness. It is Fairy Tail's light," Mavis said, appearing before them. Evangeline nodded her head to the ghost in respect.

"First Master!"

"How did he come to have that information in the first place?" Gramps pondered.

"Hades, most likely," Evangeline said, speaking up for the first time. Then, Mavis started to tear up.

"It's my fault. I left Precht in charge. I shouldn't have done that," she cried. The males started to freak out, as they didn't know how to comfort a crying person. Evangeline walked up to her and wrapped her arms tenderly around the girl and stroked her hair.

"It is not your fault, First. You are supposed to be able to trust your guildmates. You did what your heart said was right. There is nothing wrong in following your heart. This is Precht's fault. He became obsessed with the Dark Arts even though he knew the consequences. Besides, everything happens for a reason, First. Now, I heard Mira talking about going to a waterpark today. Would you like to come with me?" Evangeline said softly. Mavis perked up and stopped crying.

"Thank you, Evvie-chan. I needed that. I would love to go to that waterpark! Let's go!" Mavis said as she bounded away, Evangeline following behind her. The males hung back for a few more moments.

"She'll be a great mother one day," Gramps said, nodding.

"Yeah, she will," Laxus agreed.

Evangeline was sitting on a floating chair sipping on her smoothie while watching Mavis play around in the water. She was currently doing a breath holding contest. She was approaching five minutes under water. Laxus was sitting at the edge of the pool next to her.

"How much longer do you think she'll be down there?" Laxus said, his tone reflecting his boredom. Evangeline shrugged.

"It could be a while," she admitted. "Mavis is a ghost, after all. Anyway, relax."

"I'll go get a beer. You want anything else?" Laxus asked. Evangeline shook her head.

"No, the smoothie is good enough for me right now," Evangeline said, smiling at him. He then left.

"So, how are you doing, Evangeline?" Gramps asked her.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" she wondered.

"You don't seem quite yourself, dear. Now, tell your grandfather what is bothering you," Gramps pried. Evangeline sighed.

"Sense of impending doom, as usual," she said. Makarov frowned.

"Something is coming, then?" he asked. She nodded.

"I don't know what it is, but it's freaking me out. At night, I've had dreams of our allies being crucified and carried across a battlefield. I've seen out members beaten and bloodied. Dead. I don't know how, and I don't know why. I don't want it to happen," Evangeline said, tears coming to her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me, Ev," Laxus asked as he sat down beside her and took her hand. She hadn't noticed that he was back.

"I didn't want to worry you. I also didn't know what it meant. I still don't," Evangeline admitted. Laxus gave her a look.

"Remember what we agreed on? No more secrets to keep the other from worrying," Laxus scolded, but he wasn't harsh. She nodded; her eyes downcast.

"I know. I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"I forgive you. Now, when did this start?" Laxus asked her. Makarov decided it was best for him to leave the pair alone for the time being. Even though he loved to meddle, now was not the time.

"Two months ago. I haven't been sleeping very well since then. It's not like my typical visions, either. This came in my dreams and stays in my dreams. There's a voice that says 'don't give up hope,' and I don't know what that means either. With that in combination of seeing everyone basically dying, I don't know what to think," Evangeline explained.

"We'll get through it, just like we get through everything else. We knew something was coming. Now we know part of what. After the games, we need to get together with our allies and tell them. This is something that involves them now, so they need to get on the same training regimen that we have everyone on," Laxus said. Evangeline frowned.

"Will it be enough, though?"

"It'll have to be."

Unfortunately, everyone's day at the waterpark ended due to Natsu and Gray fighting. Again. The teams went back to their hotels and rested for the remainder of the day.

The next morning, everyone was up and ready to go. It was the fourth day of the games.

The group game today was Naval Battle. Juvia volunteered for Fairy Tail Team B, and Lucy went for Fairy Tail Team A.

The game took a turn for the worst when Juvia ended up sending herself out of the giant water bubble. That left Lucy alone with Minerva from Sabertooth. Then, Minerva decided to torture her. The timer finally went off and Minerva stuck Lucy out of the bubble, holding the blonde mage by her neck. Evangeline was the first on the field after Natsu, who caught her before she hit the ground.

Evangeline had merged her soul with Aspen and her armor had changed into a pure black dress with the black crown from her fight with Jura on her head. She released so much magic at once that it knocked most of the stadium off their feet, with the exception of the Wizard Saints that were in attendance, as well as Laxus and Erza.

"You will pay for what you've done," Evangeline spoke, her demonic tone reappearing, but it seemed like two people were speaking from her body at once. There were, of course, since Aspen and Evangeline were sharing equally.

"What do you think gives you the right to torture my guildmate? My friend? My sister?" Evangeline growled, two silver rods appearing near her, one in each of her hands. Then, she felt arms around her.

"Now is not the time, Ev. I know you want to kill her, but that would be messy. You can do it later," Laxus whispered in her ear. He didn't let her go until she stopped releasing her magic. She kept her death glare at Minerva, who was smirking. She was the only one in the stadium smirking, along with her father of course. Everyone else had a healthy fear of the demon container.

Evangeline waited outside the infirmary as Sherria, Wendy, and Porlyusica tried to save Lucy's life. Natsu was going insane, and Evangeline sent a powerful wave of her magic to damped his emotions. His inner dragon senses were going crazy, and he would hurt someone if she didn't act. Her magic hit him like a wall, and he ended up passing out. She sighed. Everyone looked at her in question.

"I had to. His instincts were going wild," was all she said. They didn't ask for any more information. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the door opened and it was announced that Lucy would be alright.

Relief flooded through everyone in Fairy Tail, as their beloved Celestial Mage would live. Everyone packed into the room to see her. She tried to apologize, but everyone shut her down. They didn't want her to feel sorry for what had happened. She had done everything she could and managed to get second place for her team. Gramps then walked in.

"I have bad news. Due to Raven Tail's disqualification, and the resulting odd number of teams, we are being forced to condense into one team. I have chosen the five that will be on this team. Unfortunately, they will have the lower of the two teams' scores. Now, the team will be: Laxus, Evangeline, Erza, Gajeel, and Natsu. You have a few moments to get ready before you are reintroduced to the crowd."

"Now, it's my pleasure to introduce to you, the new Fairy Tail Team!" Chapti said and the team walked out onto their balcony. They all held stone looks on their faces, with deathly glares in their eyes towards Sabertooth.

"Today, at special request of the king, we shall have two on two battles from the remaining guilds! Our first 2v2 will be Ichiya V. Kotobuki and Nichiya against Bacchus Groh and Rocker!"

Much to everyone's surprise, Ichiya won the battle for Blue Pegasus.

"I really did not see that coming," Evangeline admitted, blinking in disbelief. The other four mages nodded.

"Who wouldda thunk that old pervert was actually strong?" Natsu deadpanned.

"He is a powerful mage, he just doesn't act like it most of the time," Erza said, nodding.

"The next battle will be Kagura Mikasuchi and Millianna against Lyon Vastia and Yuka Suzuki!"

This battle was entertaining to say the least. It ended in a draw, as Kagura didn't draw fast enough to end the battle with her last attack.

"Yeesh. I wonder who will be fighting from our team. We will be against Sabertooth, so whoever it is, please hand their asses to them on a silver platter," Evangeline ended with a dark tone.

"We will avenge Lucy, don't worry," Erza said. "They are going to announce it now."

"The final battle that you've all been waiting for… Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox against Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney!"

Evangeline watched the battle intently. She saw the Twin Dragons use their dragon force on command and became worried.

"Come on Natsu. Gajeel," she muttered. Then, Natsu sent Gajeel down into the stadium on a minecart?

"Natsu you idiot," Laxus sighed. Erza narrowed her eyes on the field but kept quiet.

Natsu was able to take out Rogue first, and finally, with one last attack, he took out Sting. Everyone, including the Fairy Tail mages, went wild at the result. She knew from the look on Natsu's face that there had been a discussion on the field, but she didn't know what it was. She didn't want to pry, either, so she would let Natsu tell her about it later.

"Time to head back, then," Evangeline said.

"We have the day off tomorrow, too," Laxus commented.

"Mmm, yeah that's right," Evangeline mumbled. She hadn't remembered that fact.

"Someone's memory isn't working as normal," Laxus teased. The two left the arena together, leaving everyone else behind. They wished they hadn't made that decision after they learned what happened that night.

"They did WHAT?" Evangeline exploded.

"So basically, in order to get Lucy back, we need to win the games," Laxus growled. Gramps nodded, the look on his face grave.

"We are going to assemble a rescue team as well, incase something goes wrong," Gramps said.

"Then I'm going on that rescue team," Natsu shouted. Gramps nodded.

"Of course. You will be able to find her the fastest. As for the main team, we believe Mira should repleace-" Gramps started, but Gray cut him off.

"No. I'll do it," Gray said, his eyes burning with determination.

"Gray, it's not that we don't think you can do it, the odds just aren't in your favor," Mavis explained, appearing with the group.

"I don't care what the odds are. I'm going to do it, odds be damned," Gray insisted.

"Let Gray do it. I believe in him," Evangeline spoke. Everyone turned to look at her. She had defied what the First Master had said was best. Mavis looked at her curiously, then smiled.

"Very well. Gray will take Natsu's place in the games. Now, the rescue team will consist of Natsu, Happy, Wendy, Carla, and Mirajane. We will discuss a plan for that tomorrow. We will also go over the plan for the main battle while the rescue is going on. For now, get some rest. You all need it," Mavis said. The guild dispersed, anxious about what would happen to their celestial mage.

It was finally the last day of the Grand Magic Games. Team Fairy Tail was waiting for the signal from Mavis to start their plan. The rescue operation was already underway. Finally, they got the signal to start.

Evangeline made a B-line for the location she needed to be in to intercept Lyon and Sherria.

"Unlucky for you two, today," Evangeline smirked as she saw the two come into her view. Lyon and Sherria stiffened. They knew she was insanely powerful. They still had to try and fight, though. Evangeline didn't even bother changing her equipment, and opted to use Ice Make Magic to fight the two.

"Ice Make: Cage," she cast, trapping the two. They got out easily, but then they got distracted talking to each other. Evangeline couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Fine then, ignore your opponent without even attacking. That's fine. Everything's fine," she said as her eyebrow twitched.

"Ice Make: Cannon!" she cast, and the two Lamia Scale mages were knocked unconscious.

"Targets 1 and 2 eliminated. On to target 3 and to meet up with my hubby," Evangeline thought to herself. Aspen was mentally shaking her head at her host.

"Ah, finally we meet, Lightning Empress. I'd like to try some of that red lightning of yours," Orga drawled from his spot when she arrived in front of him.

"I don't think you'll like it. It is, after all, red from blood," Evangeline said, shifting into her lightning armor from her battle with Jura. Her magic nullifying sword appeared in her right hand. She didn't merge with Aspen yet, not sure that he was strong enough to deserve that treatment.

"Lightning God's Bellow," Orga cast at her, and Evangeline sliced through the attack.

"Is that really all you can do? I expected more," Evangeline sighed. Orga didn't know what to think. He hadn't even hit her.

"Lightning Gods Charged Particle Cannon," Orga cast again, hoping to hit her with his most powerful spell.

"You may be the Lightning God Slayer, but you will need many more years of training before you can even hope to defeat me in a battle with lightning," Evangeline said, but he couldn't pinpoint her voice. It was like she was everywhere around him.

"Let the eyes of the dragon judge your heart: Elektra's Lingering Soul," Evangeline cast, using the lightning around her, as well as Orga's own lightning, to create the lightning dragon of her husband's lacrima. The battle was over. Now she had to wait for everyone else to finish. She had insisted that she help Laxus with his fight against Jura, but he refused. So, she decided to go and watch.

"Ah, Lady Evangeline. Are you joining in this battle?" Jura asked her upon her arrival. She shook her head.

"Not today. I have faith in my husband," Evangeline said confidently. Laxus looked over to her and nodded. He would do this.

Though he was knocked down and almost declared out, Laxus managed to defeat Jura with a single punch. She walked up to him a supported him as they walked to their meeting spot. Gray, Gajeel, and Erza all arrived, each sporting their own injuries. They saw Sting, the only remaining enemy, approaching them.

"I'll do it. I'll take all of you down. All together," Sting said, and Evangeline knew something was wrong. The tone of his voice sounded wrong.

"Then come. We will take you on. We may be battered and bruised and broken, but we will still defeat you," Erza said. She was using a her sword to support her so she could stand.

"I have to beat you. You don't understand. I will beat you for Lector," Sting insisted, but there was a haunted look in his eyes. Evangeline stepped away from Laxus and walked over to Sting, stopping a few feet in front of him. He collapsed to his knees in tears.

"I can't do it. I surrender," he cried. Evangeline got down on the ground next to him and pulled him into her arms. Sting cried on her, wrapping his arms around her as if she was his only lifeline. Erza hobbled over and put a hand on Sting's shoulder.

"I'll never see Lector again. He's dead because of me," he managed to say between sobs.

"Maybe not. Look up, Sting," Erza told the young slayer, a smile on her face.

"Erzie!" Millianna called out.

"Over here, Millianna," Erza said. Millianna approached, and Sting looked up. He stopped breathing for a second. In Millianna's arms was Lector. Sting released his hold on Evangeline, who released her hold on him. Millianna brought Lector over to him and placed him in Sting's arms.

"I took care of him after I found him. He's okay," Millianna said. Sting held onto Lector and cried even harder.

"Lector, I'm so sorry. I'll never let you get hurt again," Sting said.

"Sting?" Lector asked, finally opening his eyes.

"I'm here buddy," Sting told him. Lector had tears gather in his eyes that then spilled over as well.

"Sting!"

"So, we won, huh?" Laxus said as everyone started to celebrate.

"Hasn't sunk in yet, has it?" Erza smiled. The whole group shook their heads.

"We haven't heard from the rescue mission yet," Evangeline said worriedly.

"They will be okay. They know what they have to do, and they will move Heaven and Earth to get her back," Erza said confidently.

"I know. I just worry. I have this pit in my stomach. It feels like… dread," Evangeline murmured, and then her fears were confirmed.

"Attention mages. I must call upon you to help defend your country. A thousand dragons are on their way to Crocus as we speak. Please, help me defend this country!" The king, who was Chapti during the games, begged the mages who were celebrating.

"Then we fight," Erza shouted over the commotion that had erupted. "Why are we mages if we cannot help those when they are in need? Right now, we are all in need. Let us band together to defeat the dragons!"

This calmed everyone, and the mages began to step up to fight.

Evangeline and Laxus were currently facing off with Zirconis, the dragon that the other slayers in Fairy Tail had talked to the night that Lucy was arrested. The gate had been opened, but quickly closed, but unfortunately 7 dragons come through the time portal.

"Ev, get away from here," Laxus told her.

"And leave you? No, I can't," Evangeline insisted, dodging another attack. Now, Wendy showed up.

"You aren't a slayer, Ev. Take care of the minions," Laxus said. Evangeline didn't budge and saw as Laxus went to get Wendy out of the way of an attack, only to be bitten by the dragon.

"Ew, human male. I didn't want that," the dragon complained. Laxus was flung from it's jaws and Evangeline teleported to catch him.

"Evangeline," Laxus coughed out. He had blood pouring out around him.

"No, shush, don't talk. It'll be alright," Evangeline said, tears gathering in her eyes and sliding down her face. Laxus weakly lifted a hand to try and brush her tears away.

"I'm glad I got to spend my life with you. I love you," he said, then he slipped away.

"Laxus?" Evangeline said, shaking him.

"Laxus, please, come back," she said, tears pouring from her eyes.

"WAKE UP!" she screamed, but he didn't respond. She Rested his body on the ground, then she saw red. Evangeline merged her soul with Aspen and they underwent the transformation into Aspen's true form as the Demon Goddess. The black flowing dress with the silver vambrace on her right arm reappeared, and a black obsidian crown adorned her head.

"You will pay," she roared. Red lightning started appearing around her, striking down dragon minions and hitting dragons all over the city. The sky went black with the clouds as she got ready to blast Zirconis off the face of the world.

"Hear me, Oh demons of the circles of Hell. Grant me the power to rid this place of taint. Let blood run red as your damned lightning. Bend and break the bodies of my enemies. Vanquish them from my earthly plain. Let Heaven and Hell rain down on my enemies: Lightning's Demonic Herald's Tempest!" Evangeline cast, and the storm let hell unleash upon the dragon that murdered her husband. It wasn't her normal ace. She had combined it with Tempest, the magic Laxus's great-great grandfather had used, as well as Aspen's power. The wind ripped through the city but didn't affect the mages or civilians. It sucked the dragons and dragon minions into the air started ripping them to shreds.

Then Evangeline was standing near a building, talking to Laxus again.

"Wait, what?" Evangeline said, and she looked down to see that she wasn't in her Demon Goddess attire.

"Someone used a time spell," Aspen told her in her mind. "It appears what whoever sacrificed their life had only a life worth one minutes time. Don't let it go to waste. Merge with me, now. Let's use the same spell to turn the tide."

Evangeline did as Aspen asked without hesitation. She saw that Laxus had avoided getting killed this time around, then got ready to cast her spell.

"Hear me, Oh demons of the circles of Hell. Grant me the power to rid this place of taint. Let blood run red as your damned lightning. Bend and break the bodies of my enemies. Vanquish them from my earthly plain. Let Heaven and Hell rain down on my enemies: Lightning's Demonic Herald's Tempest!"

The same damage resulted, sending the dragons flying away from the humans they were fighting. At the same time, Natsu punched Motherglare into the wind and thus, into the Eclipse Gate, breaking it. The dragons then disappeared, as did Evangeline's spell.

"What the hell were you thinking, jumping in like that to get killed?" Evangeline shouted at Laxus. They never had shouting arguments.

"And what the hell were you thinking trying to fight a dragon? You aren't a dragon slayer, Evangeline!" Laxus retorted.

"And who was the one that did the most damage to those damned things? Me. The non-slayer. We stand no chance right now, if we have seven slayers who can't even kill a single dragon," Evangeline mocked.

"What would you have had me do, then? Let Wendy die instead of me? She's a child, she shouldn't have to die because of you being selfish!"

"So now I'm being selfish because I watched you die and didn't want that to happen? You have no idea what that felt like for me!"

"Of course, I don't, but you would have gotten over it eventually. Live on and go fight another day."

"No, I wouldn't have. Would you have just sucked it up and been like 'Oh well, Evangeline is dead now, time to move on with my life?'"

"If it meant protecting everyone else, I'd do anything I had to, Evangeline. Now stop being so damn caught up in yourself that you think this revolves around you!" Evangeline was about to say something in reply until she actually repeated what he said in her mind. Her face went blank.

"Well then," she said, emotionlessly. "If that's how you really feel I guess I'll leave now. Goodbye, Laxus." Evangeline left, and Laxus didn't follow behind her. She walked off into the night in Crocus, not even realizing that the whole guild had been listening to the fight. Gray went after her.

"I cannot believe he said that," Ever blinked. She felt her eyes get wet.

"He can't have meant it," Mira tried to convince everyone, including herself. Wendy was sobbing while Lucy held onto her.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," Wendy choked out. Lucy was trying to soothe the young slayer.

"We know, Wendy. They know that. This doesn't really have anything to do with that, Wendy. It's about what he said after. Ev doesn't want you hurt or dead, but she also can't really say she'd rather Laxus have died. It's a horrible spot for him to have argued from," Lucy told the girl. Wendy nodded into Lucy's chest.

"I just don't want Nii-san and Nee-san to fight. They never fight," she sniffled.

"We know, Wendy. We know."

"Did you listen to yourself there, boy?" Makarov said, his tone hard.

"I said what I had to say," Laxus muttered.

"No, boy, you said something you didn't mean and now you've hurt her," Makarov argued.

"I said-"

"You said you wouldn't care if it was her that died because you would just keep going on with your life. You weren't there. You died in her arms, and it brought her back to when her parents were killed in front of her. She snapped. It's a miracle she managed to remember that spell, and it was such dark magic, even for her. We could feel her pain. We felt our hearts breaking in two. Then, for you to say you'd continue on just to protect us, no, my boy. That isn't a fair argument to make. You know that's not what she was getting at. You better pray to the gods that she listens to you when you go and apologize to her. Don't come back here until you've done that," Makarov finished, not allowing Laxus to speak. His grandson went completely silent, the weight of Makarov's words and his own words finally getting to him.

"I did it again," he muttered, putting his head in his hands.

"You did. Now go do something about it instead of running away this time," Makarov commanded. Laxus left the bar and wandered around Crocus, thinking about how he could possibly talk his way out of the hole he had dug himself this time.

"Evangeline, stop right now," Aspen practically shouted in their mindscape.

Why, Evangeline thought back. He made it perfectly clear what he thinks of me.

"Think rationally. This man has crossed oceans to protect you. He didn't mean what he said, not at all. Yes, he was being unfair. Yes, he did something extremely stupid. No, you didn't deserve it. He's human. So are you. So, get over yourself, Evangeline. You aren't the only one hurting. I know your emotions are out of whack right now, but please, I am begging you, go back and listen to him," Aspen pleaded with her. Evangeline felt a tear drip down her face.

"Ev, come here," her brother said from behind her. She turned around and ran into his arms.

"Shh, Ev, it'll be okay," Gray said as he rubbed her back as she cried.

"I.. He.." Evangeline sputtered.

"He made a mistake. You saw him die. He saw you risk your life when theoretically there was nothing you should have been able to do to the dragons. You made a mistake, too. I won't take sides this time since you are both wrong," Gray told her.

"But he hurt me again," Evangeline whispered painfully.

"I know. You hurt him, too, Ev. Not with your words but with your actions. Please, just make up," Gray begged. He separated himself from her and left her, not entirely since he would be keeping an eye on her from a ways away, but enough to that Laxus saw he had to go in and talk to her.

Evangeline looked around and found that she was in her orphan square again.

"And here we are again," Evangeline spoke into the night, knowing Laxus was behind her from his magic.

"Here we are again," he repeated. They were silent for a few minutes before Evangeline spoke.

"You hurt me," she put plainly.

"I know," Laxus said. His tone was defeated.

"You were unfair," she said.

"I know."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to lose you, Evangeline. Regardless of what I said, I didn't mean it. Any of it. Well, some of it. I was worried about you facing a dragon. We are called dragon slayers for a reason. I get why you didn't, though. And I know that either one of us could have grabbed Wendy out of harms way instead of me sacrificing myself needlessly. And honest to the gods, I wouldn't be able to live knowing you were dead, Evangeline. I know that you feel the same. I don't know why I always fuck this up, but here I am. Trying to fix it when I know I can't," Laxus sighed. Evangeline said nothing and didn't move. Laxus felt his heart breaking again, just like when he had hurt her the first time, except there was no possibility of getting what they had back now. He'd ruined it.

"Goodbye, Evangeline. I'm sorry," he mumbled before he turned to walk away. Then, he felt a hand on his wrist.

"Don't go. Please. I just didn't want you to be gone," Evangeline said tearfully. He turned to face her and used his other hand to brush away some of her tears.

"I'll never leave you, Evangeline. I swear," Laxus said.

"Good. I won't let you. Let's not fight again. I don't like it," Evangeline frowned, tears still falling from her eyes.

"Never again."

Two days later, there was a ball at the palace to celebrate the end of the Grand Magic Games, as well as their lucky victory over the dragon invasion. Evangeline was getting ready with the other females of Fairy Tail. She was wearing a long, fitted black dress that had a high slit on the left leg. She had her hair down and curled and was wearing whatever makeup Mira had forced her into.

"Can I go now?" Evangeline whined. Mira and the other girls laughed.

"Yes, we are all ready to go now, so we can leave," Mira told her friend. They walked down to the ballroom as a group and entered to see a huge number of people. Evangeline went straight for Laxus, who was being crowded by women.

"Eh-hem. I would like my husband back, please and thank you. No, I will not share. Please leave before I electrocute you," Evangeline smiled. The women who were clinging to Laxus suddenly disappeared, as if they had never been there in the first place.

"Scary Ev to save the day," Laxus said as he stood up and kissed her. "You look beautiful."

"I must say, you look pretty good yourself," Evangeline smirked. Laxus kissed her again before they sat back down at their table. They sat there for a while, observing all that everyone was doing.

"I missed people watching," Evangeline admitted.

"Yeah, it's interesting that's for sure," Laxus agreed.

"Poor Yukino getting harassed by everyone. She'll go to Sabertooth though. Sting will be a good master. I'm sure of it," Evangeline smiled.

"Seems like you took him under your wing easily," Laxus teased. Evangeline shrugged.

"He needed someone to rely on outside of Sabertooth. Someone that wouldn't judge him for his past or hurt him. He's been through a lot, and I know I spoke down on it, but I got over that. My main issue, really, was them talking down on us, and then Minerva torturing Lucy. Sting and Rogue never did anything really wrong. They are still kids. They need time to grow up, but I think they did a lot of that this week," Evangeline explained. Laxus nodded.

"Makes sense. Anyway, he will have Fairy Tail to come to for help if he needs it," Laxus said. Evangeline smiled.

"Yes, he will," she echoed. Then, she heard a loud crashing and banging. She wasn't surprised by what she saw. Natsu came barging in with the King's Crown.

"What a way to end it, Natsu."

"Mmm, it feels so good to be home, finally," Evangeline said as she flopped back on her bed. Laxus chuckled at her antics.

"That it is. Now we can finally relax," Laxus said, laying down next to her in their bed.

"For a while, at least," Evangeline sighed.

"Just a while?" Laxus questioned. Evangeline nodded.

"Our lives are about to get a whole lot busier," Evangeline said cryptically. Laxus narrowed his eyes.

"Another fight? Against what this time?" he asked. Evangeline shook her head.

"No, not a fight," she said, and started to smile, not that Laxus could see.

"So, if it's not a fight, what is it?" he questioned again.

"I'm pregnant."

-----

A/N:

HA! Gotcha! Bam! How's that for a twist? Anyway, super long chapter. 15,020ish words without authors notes. Enjoy the double length chapter! I'll get working on chapter 11 for you. That will include Tartaros arc. I have more twists coming, and I cannot wait for you guys to read it. I have been so inspired to write again now that I'm done with my classes it's unbelievable.