On the day of the harvest festival, Natsu was stumbling and shaking while muttering something about eating everything in sight. Lucy, Gray, and Juvia all watched from a distance away concerned, or at least one of them was.

"Natsu still hasn't recovered, huh?" Lucy questioned.

"Will he be alright?" Juvia asked.

"He'll be fine once he eats. Trust me." Gray told the two girls.

"You haven't changed a bit, Gray." they all turned to see another member of Fairy Tail, Warren Rocco.

"Hey, Warren. It's been a while." Gray greeted.

"Didn't think I'd make it back in time for the festival, but here I am." Warren admitted with his pack still slung over his shoulder.

"This guy takes on so many jobs, we hardly ever see him." Gray informed the two girls.

"Wow!" Lucy said in awe.

"Umm, I'm Juvia, a new member."

"Ah, so you're the one I've been hearing about." Warren offered the blue haired water mage a kind smile.

"Meet Warren Rocco. He's a master of telepathy magic." Gray introduced.

"It's nice to meet ya." he told Juvia.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Juvia replied politely before gazing around once again at the festival, "Wow...Look at all these people!"

"It's a pretty big deal." a new voice interrupted, "Hey, Warren, long time no see." they all turned to see Dealana. The only one who wasn't surprised by her cutesy outfit was Lucy, who already seen it from before.

"Woah, Dealana! You look–"

"Don't say it!" Dealana snapped at Warren while Gray chuckled.

"Erza took you shopping?" the ice mage asked. Dealana nodded, "Looks great, perfect for the festival." he complimented.

"I'm going to end you all!" Dealana cursed, raising a fist that was much less threatening with her lolita getup and the almost constant blush of embarrassment, "Anyways, people come from all around to see the Fantasia Parade, and I go all around to avoid being dragged into it."

"I can't wait to see it myself!" Lucy cheered ignoring Dealana's last comment.

"You're in the parade, remember?" Gray deadpanned.

"Wasn't there something else I was supposed to be in?" Lucy questioned trying to fill the gap in her memory. It came to her all of a sudden, "I forgot all about the Miss Fairy Tail Contest!" she gasped running off screaming about rent money.

"A contest?" Dealana took a step back as Juvia began emitting a dark aura. Dealana didn't like the Miss Fairy Tail contest, nor did she really enjoy putting on a show for the Fantasia parade, but she couldn't help it. Arashi always scolded her for using her magic for things that weren't serious. "Juvia will not be outdone by Lucy!"

"So I guess you'll be entering too?" Gray asked.

"Good luck! I'll see you all later!" Dealana told them before wandering off again.

"You're not staying?" Juvia asked.

"Like I said, I go all around to avoid being dragged into all the festival stuff. Also, I refuse to give the guys of Fairy Tail the satisfaction of seeing me dressed like this. I'm eleven and their such perverts!" with that, the storm dragon did what she does best and...well, stormed off.

➵

While Dealana was off somewhere in Magnolia, the Miss Fairy Tail Contest was underway and it was Lucy's turn before it was so rudely interrupted.

"Entry number-eight."

"Hey, hold on–I haven't even started to do my cheer yet." Lucy complained.

"I am the very definition of 'fairy', not to mention, the very definition of beauty." the voice belonged to a woman with chestnut brown hair wearing a green, fairy aesthetic outfit complete with wings. Evergreen. "I'm the only woman here who embodies everything men desire. Therefore, the winner is––Me, the lovely Evergreen. Now, this idiotic contest can end."

"Ahhh!" Lucy gasped.

"Whoa. She's back?" Gray realized.

"Then Laxus must be here too." Elfman guessed.

"Can't you go mess up a different contest?" Lucy asked Evergreen without realizing the woman's magic, "Gimme a break here. I really need this prize money!"

"Lucy! Don't look her in the eye." Gray shouted in warning but it was too late.

"I'm sorry, what was your name?" Evergreen asked reaching for her glasses and lifting them to stare at Lucy. The busty blonde gasped and was turned to stone.

"This is bad." Max Alors, the host of the contest, said into the mic, "Everyone, get out of here now!" he told the audience. The people left in a flurry of panicked screams while Makarov approached the stage.

"What do you think you're doing, Evergreen? You'll ruin the festival for everyone."

Evergreen chuckled, "On the contrary, I think things are just getting interesting." Behind her the curtains rose revealing the other Miss Fairy Tail contest contestants, all of which were turned to stone.

"No, Mira!" Elfman yelled.

"She got Erza too?" Happy gasped.

"Don't be a fool! Return them to normal this instant." Makarov ordered but a ball of light appeared and from it, a bolt of lightning struct the stage.

"Well, looks like all your fans decided to head home." It was Laxus. "Pity, 'cause the party's about to start." he declared standing tall on the stage.

"I should've known." Makarov uttered. Gray looked around and gasped. A male with long light-green hair and a red fancy coat leaned against a wooden pillar near the stage.

"Freed?" He questioned as he noticed another familiar face, or mask he supposed. "Bickslow, too?"

"The Thunder Legion." Macao recognized.

"What the heck are you guys tryin' to pull?" Wakaba demanded.

"C'mon let's have some fun!" Laxus taunted.

"I've had about enough of your nonsense. Turn them back, or else." Makarov instructed Laxus, but he was ignored.

"You'd better play nice if you want these ladies to join the parade." he spoke as a ball of light shone from above Lucy, a bolt of lightning barely missing her stone encased self.

"No, stop!" Makarov shouted.

Laxus put an arm around Lucy's statue, "In other words, I'm taking all of them hostage. Break the rules and I'll shatter these chicks one by one. Or I could smash 'em all right now." he threatened.

"I'm not amused, Laxus. Stop fooling around."

"I'm serious, old man." Laxus replied. Freed jumped down and onto the stage beside the lightning mage and Evergreen.

"I've always wondered who was the strongest in the guild. Now it's time to find out."

"Yeah," Bickslow agreed hopping onto the stage as well, "let's have some fun."

"Fun, fun!" his wooden 'babies' echoed.

"There's only one rule." Laxus announced, "Who's ever left standing in the end is the winner. It's a Fairy Tail battle royale!"

"Nice and simple. That's just how I like it." Natsu declared with his fist on the table, "I'm fired up now."

"Glad you could see it my way. If nothing else, you got the right attitude."

"Natsu." Makarov warned.

"This is a festival, right?" Natsu asked walking forward, "Let's party."

"Have you already forgotten how badly he beat you the last time you guys went at it?" Warren asked incredulously.

"I was just a kid back then." Natsu dismissed,.

"What do you mean? That was last year!" Warren yelled at him.

"Yeah, but since then, I've become a man." Natsu replied in anyway he could so he could get the chance to fight. He launched himself at Laxus.

"On the other hand, I think that attitude of yours is gonna get you into a world of hurt." Laxus told the dragon slayer who had a flaming fist ready to punch Laxus, "Why don't you sit back down?" Lightning struck Natsu and he screamed before falling flat on his face.

"Natsu." Gray shouted.

"I told you so." Warren said with a hand on his face.

"He's no man." Elfman remarked.

"Naturally, if you want me to turn the girls back to normal, you're going to have to defeat us first." Evergreen announced referencing the rest of the Thunder Legion,.

"But those odds aren't bad. There's four of us and like a hundred of you guys."

"Lots of you. Lots of you!" his 'babies' echoed.

"You have three hours and not a second more." Evergreen informed them, "After that, these statues of yours will be reduced to dust."

"All of Magnolia will serve as the battlefield. The fight will begin when, and if, you can find us." Laxus gave some more parameters for his sick, twisted game.

"Laxus, how could you?" Makarov was appalled. He knew Laxus had some issues, but he didn't believe that his grandson would go this far. "I won't stand for this!" he said enlarging his whole body with his giant magic.

"Now, now, simmer down, old man." Laxus sneered, "It's all part of the festival, right? It'll be fun!" with that, Laxus had shifted his body into lightning, causing a large amount of harsh light to fill the room and blind everyone until he and the Thunder Legion were gone, his words remained in their heads, "Let the battle of Fairy Tail begin!"

"He disappeared." Alzack realized when the light was gone.

"So it's high-stakes hide and go seek, huh?" Macao asked rhetorically.

"Let's go! We gotta man up and save our girls." Elfman addressed everyone. Everyone shouted in agreement and raced for the doors leaving only a few people behind, including the statues.

"You insolent brat!" Makarov uttered under his breath, before charging for the doors too, "Just wait! I'll stop you with my own two hands! Ah!" he slammed into nothing, or at least, that's how it looked.

"What's wrong?" Gray questioned turning around.

"An invisible wall." Makarov realized still pushing against it.

Gray ran back over, "Don't be silly, Gramps, there's nothin' here." he tried to prove his point by pulling the Master forward. Key word: tried. "Man, what's the deal?" his eyes caught on something towards the top of the door. Upon closer inspection, Makarov identified it as one of Freed's enchantments. The purple runes floating above them.

"What do you mean, 'enchantment'?"

"It's a barrier formed by magic runes. Anyone who steps inside is bound by its rules and the only way to escape is to follow them." Makarov explained quickly.

"Any idea what it says?"

"Stone statues and anyone over the age of 80 years shall not pass." (A/N: YOU SHALL NOT PASS!...sorry!)

"Who ever writes the rules wins the fight, huh?"

"Perhaps, but enchantments like these take time to write. As such, they would be useless in a one-on-one battle." Makarov told him, "Still as you can see, they're quite effective if set up as traps."

Gray looked at Makarov with a serious expression, "You're really stuck? You can't break through?" he asked.

"I'm afraid the rules of the enchantment are absolute."

"Well, I guess that settles it." Gray told him, "It looks like we're gonna have to go into this fight without ya, Gramps."

"I'm sorry."

"I won't show mercy, even if Laxus is your grandson. He's gonna pay for this." Gray finished before running off towards the town. After sending Reedus to visit Porlyusica in the East Forest in hopes for an anti-petrification potion, Makarov noticed Natsu finally recover.

"Ahhh!"

"You're awake!" Happy cheered.

"Hold on. Where'd Laxus go? Actually, where'd everyone go?" the dragon slayer questioned looking around. Natsu made his way over to Makarov, unaware of what happened while he was out. After explaining, Natsu attempted to go through the barrier only to find that he was blocked from leaving the guild hall as well.

While Natsu was trying to push through the barrier a new set of runes appeared, "Battle of Fairy Tail status report." Makarov read, "What? It says 'Jet versus Droy versus Alzack.' Is this some kind of joke?"

"I don't understand why those guys would be fighting against each other." Natsu commented.

"The winner is Alzack. Jet and Droy K.O.'d" Makarov read the next update.

"What?" Natsu gasped, "Stop this stupid game right now! Laxus!" Natsu roared in anger.

➵

At Kardia Catherdral, Laxus walked around, his cloak flowing behind him. "I wonder when the little runt will decide to join in the games. Let's see how long you can endure this game of fairy-eat-fairy, old geezer."

In Magnolia, high atop a tower and leaning against a balcony, Dealana sneezed rather violently. Something wasn't right.

➵

Alright, so, not a lot of Dealana in this chapter, but I felt that all the pre-battle was necessary, plus it prolongs the inevitably amazing battles to come. Dealana has two fights coming her way, and I'm pretty psyched. Let's just say that writing out this chapter is a little warm up for my fingers, yeah?

Also, with the new year, I want to push myself out of my writing comfort zone a bit and work on some writing stuff I tend to avoid due to my lack of skill and confidence. To combat this, I made a small oneshot book that I intend to update whenever I feel like trying something new with my writing. I've also started compiling character profiles for a book of my OCs, though a lot of it is still in the works trying to figure out how I want the profiles to look.

I hope you enjoy this update while I work on deciding some things behind the scenes.