Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 1, x791.
While the eight teams were selecting their participants for "the Hidden," Gildarts, Levy, Irene, the future Lucy, and the cloaked man arrived at the Fairy Tail seating area. The three Fairy Tail wizards who went to investigate the strange magic power signatures then gave Mavis reports on the situation.
Meanwhile, the future Lucy and the cloaked man, upon seeing Mavis, who had been resurrected for a short time before losing her life again in their timeline were shocked into silence. Especially since that short resurrection did not happen in their timeline.
"So, you're from the future, huh?" Mavis asked rhetorically while looking the future Lucy up and down. "But you look about the same age as our Lucy. So, how could that be possible?"
Hearing what Mavis had to say, the future Lucy's eyes widened. Then, she frantically looked around the seating area, trying to find her counterpart from this time period. And when she finally found her, she was completely dumbfounded, still trying to process everything she was seeing.
"How is this possible?" Lucy asked in an astonished tone. "You should have completely stopped aging when you were sealed in the---"
Before the future Lucy could finish speaking, Mavis gently placed her hand over the time travelling wizard's mouth.
"That's a guild secret." Mavis sad quietly. "Instead, why don't you answer my question. We can talk about anything else when we have more privacy, okay?"
Hearing that, the Future Lucy realized that she was about to reveal a guild secret. She then lowered her head with guilt flashing in her eyes. Then, after a moment, she nodded in agreement with Mavis' suggestion.
Seeing the future Lucy's reaction, Mavis smiled. Then, she removed her hand from her mouth before continuing.
"Now, let me ask my question again." Mavis said in a gentle tone.
"No… That won't be necessary." The future Lucy replied while shaking her head. "As for being from the future, yes, I am. I came back from x798, seven years in the future. As for why I look the same age as this Lucy, I'm not sure."
"How old are you?" Irene asked curious to solve the mystery behind this.
"Technically, I'm thirty-one." The future Lucy replied, though it was clear she was not completely comfortable answering a question about her age. Especially because that question was coming from Irene Belserion, one of Fairy Tail's enemies in the history she knew. "But physically, I'm only twenty-four."
"Interesting." Irene replied. "Very interesting."
Mavis, on the other hand, fell into thought. She then remembered a conversation she had with Alfonzo almost seven years ago, back when she was questioning him about [Fairy Sphere] and how he managed to stop it after Acnologia's attack on Tenrou Island.
When her thoughts reached that point, Mavis' head shot up and her eyes widened. Then, she focused her eyes on the future Lucy.
'It's because of [Fairy Sphere], isn't it?' Mavis asked herself, though it was clear that she knew she was right. 'She must have been trapped in time. Alfonzo thought that they would have been trapped for about seven years, too. If his magic item had not worked as intended back then.'
Though it was clear 5to everyone that mavis had realized something, no one asked her about it because of the presence of the cloaked figure.
"Huh?" the future Lucy intoned in utter confusion, not understanding why Mavis was looking at her the way she was.
However, just as her mind finally worked through the situation, and she was ready to say something, Mato's voice rang out over the Domus Flau, beginning to explain the rules for "the Hidden."
Naturally, that cut off the future Lucy's response. She then exchanged glances with Mavis before both blonde women nodded and turned their attention to the arena.
Not long after that, Mato finished his explanation of the rules and the whole arena area was engulfed in a blinding light. And when the light dimmed, the arena was filled with a magically projected town with thousands of people walking around casually.
Though, if one were to look closely, those thousands of people were actually the same eight people. Meanwhile, the lacrima-Vision screens were all focused on the eight contestants.
"You know, a game like this kinda feels unfair to the other guilds." Macao said with a grin on his face.
"Yeah." Wakaba replied while nodding in agreement. "That [Magic Power Detection] Alfonzo came up with seems like it would make this event much easier than the organizers ever thought it would be, doesn't it?"
"And from what I remember, he created that spell when he was only nine, right?" Reedus asked.
"That's right." Wakaba said before taking a puff from his pipe. "In fact, it was when he went on his first quest outside the town. I was the one who guided him back then. Though, even back then, it seemed like he already knew what he was doing."
"Oh, yes." Reedus replied in a nostalgic tone. "That day, I went with Lici on her first quest, too. She made me run around after her the whole time. *Sigh* How time flies."
Overhearing the conversation between Macao, Wakaba, and Reedus, both the future Lucy and the cloaked man wore expressions of confusion. In their present, neither of them had heard of Alfonzo or Elicia. And while the cloaked man was restrained and unable to speak at the moment, thanks to Irene's [Enchantments], Lucy turned to Mavis once again, unable to endure her curiosity any longer.
"By the way, Master Mavis…" The future Lucy said in an uncertain tone. "Who is this Alfonzo? Actually, now that I think about it, there are a lot of people here that I don't recognize."
Immediately, every Fairy Tail wizard in the seating area stopped their conversations and turned to look at the future Lucy in shock and disbelief.
Meanwhile, the future Lucy, feeling the weight of everyone's stares, shrank in on herself, realizing she said something she probably should not have.
Mavis, on the other hand, fell into contemplation once again.
"It seems things are more complicated than I expected." Mavis muttered to herself after a moment of consideration. "Well, we can talk about this later. For now, the event should be starting soon. So, let's just focus on what's going on right now, okay?"
Though she really wanted to know the answer to her question, the future Lucy eventually nodded her head. She then, like the rest of the wizards of Fairy Tail, turned to the arena just in time to here Mato start the event.
As soon as the game started, while Ichiya, Jura, Yoruichi, and Guy started to move cautiously, not wanting to lose points by attacking one of the clones, the other four wizards began to move more boldly.
For one, Rufus quickly moved to a high vantage point. He then took his [Memory-Make] posture.
As for the three Fairy Tail wizards, Alfonzo, Laxus, and Erza, they all blurred into motion, [Magic Power Detection] active and able to detect the difference between the clones and the wizards.
"[Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor]." Erza chanted as she donned a new set of armor.
Erza then floated up into the sky, thirteen swords floating along with her. She then fired all the swords in different directions, sending one each at Ichiya, Jura, Yoruichi, Guy, and Rufus. AS for the other eight swords, she sent four each to attack Alfonzo and Laxus.
"[Memory-Make: A Night of Falling]--- Argh!" Rufus began to chant before a flash of violet light smashed into him, causing him to be teleported away from wherehe previously stood.
*Clank!*
A moment later, a sword impaled the rooftop where he stood only a moment ago.
At the same time, in a different part of the town, Yoruichi vanished from where she stood just a moment before a flash of golden light passed by.
"Tch! You're still as fast as ever." The flash of golden light, Laxus, said as he looked up to where Yoruichi was perched on the wall surrounding a house.
"And you're still too slow." Yoruichi replied in a teasing tone.
Gritting his teeth, Laxus turned away. Then, he began to crackle with arcs of golden lightning once again.
"I don't' have time to deal with you right now." Laxus said with his back turned to Yoruichi. "But we will fight again. And I won't lose to you again, no matter how many of your team mates you bring with you."
*Zap!*
Then, before giving Yoruichi a chance to reply, Laxus shot into the sky like a lightning bolt's return stroke.
"Something tells me that I'll really have to take him seriously if I don't want that to be true." Yoruichi muttered as she started to move, trying to find a real person among this sea of clones.
"Men~~~~~~~~~~~~~!" Ichiya's shrill cry echoed over the town, causing Yoruichi to turn in its direction just in time to see a sword rise into the air.
Yoruichi then turned her attention towards the redheaded swordswoman in the sky with a smile on her face.
"Well, it looks like I found my first target." Yoruichi said with a cat-like grin on her face. "Don't take this personally. Okay, Erza?"
With that, Yoruichi vanished from where she stood with the [Flash Step]. She then reappeared behind Erza with her leg lashing at her shoulder.
*Clang!*
Erza, on the other hand, before Yoruichi even arrived behind her, [Requipped] a sword into each hand. She then raised her sword, blocking Yoruichi's kick with ease.
"Tch!" Yoruichi clicked her tongue. "I guess that's how Laxus felt when I dodged him so easily."
"You'll have to be faster than that to ambush me, Yoruichi." Erza said in a serious tone, all the while, using her flying swords to pursue the other contestants.
"She even said I was too slow." Yoruichi groaned as she kicked off the flat of Erza's blade. "Karma came back around way too fast."
"Even if Karma is fast." Alfonzo, appearing in a flash of violet light, said with a smile on his face. "I'm faster."
*Smack!* *Smack!*
As he became visible to the two ladies, Alfonzo's open hands were already too close for them to avoid. An instant later, his left hand landed on Yoruichi's shoulder while his right landed on Erza's lower back, just above her butt, causing both ladies to vanish from the arena until they were respawned.
On a side note, if Erza's butt had not been wrapped in that armored skirt, Alfonzo would have definitely slapped it, instead.
"That's three points for me." Alfonzo said with a grin.
"It's about to be two!" Laxus said as he appeared behind Alfonzo with his fist reeled back.
"Nah, I'm good." Alfonzo replied, casually turning is body in mid-air to avoid Laxus' attack.
"[Iron Rock Fist]." Jura's chant sounded from another part of the town.
At the same time, a large stone fist covered in a stone gauntlet grew from the ground and flew towards the two Fairy Tail wizards.
"Hmph!" Laxus snorted as he pulled back to evade Jura's attack. "I'll let you off for now."
"You say that like you haven't gotten your ass kicked every time we fight." Alfonzo said in a teasing tone as he moved to avoid the giant rock fist, as well.
"Hmph!" Laxus snorted once again.
*Zap!*
Laxus then flashed away to find another target. And since Jura had made such a ruckus, he figured Jura would make the perfect target.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo also disappeared in a flash of light. A moment later, he was standing behind Guy, who had just opened the [Gate of View] and readied himself to start running around the town to find someone.
"That's not a bad strategy, Guy." Alfonzo said with his right hand raised. "Just don't overdo it. I know how much strain that technique puts on your body."
*Clap!*
As soon as his words ended, Alfonzo lowered his hand, clapping Guy's left shoulder. Guy, on the other hand, froze when he heard Alfonzo's voice. Then, when he felt the impact on his shoulder, he only had enough time to turn his head and see that it was Alfonzo before he vanished.
"Wow, I didn't even get to hear anything about Youth before he disappeared." Alfonzo said with a chuckle.
Meanwhile, at the base of the rock construct Jura created, Laxus was flashing around, trying to land a strike on Jura, who had raised a few [Iron Rock Walls] to defend himself. Unfortunately, there was not much more that he could do, as using any of his more destructive techniques would cause him to lose a lot of points due to collateral damage.
However, to Jura's surprise, Laxus eventually stopped attacking and the sound of crackling lightning faded into the distance.
"He left?" Jura asked himself as he lowered his defenses while looking into the distance where a bolt of golden lightning fell from the sky.
"Yeah, he really wants to win" Alfonzo replied from right behind Jura.
"*Sigh*" Jura could only sigh because he knew what was coming next.
*Smack!*
Then, with a smile on his face, Alfonzo slapped Jura on his bald head before causing the Lamia Scale ace to vanish.
Meanwhile, as soon as he respawned, Rufus saw a fist wreathed in golden lighting enlarging in his vision.
*Bang!*
He then vanished once again after feeling an impact to his left jaw. At the same time, Ichiya also respawned. However, not long after respawning, he vanished once again, this time because of a flash of violet light.
And just like that, the eight wizards continued to attack and defend while trying to find the real versions of the other contestants. However, with [Magic Power Detection], Alfonzo, Laxus, and Erza absolutely dominated this event. And by the time the thirty-minute timer ended, the scores looked like this.
{The Hidden Scoreboard
Rank Team Score
Fairy Tail A 100 Pts. Fairy Tail C 81 Pts. Fairy Tail B 80 Pts. Mermaid Heel 37 Pts. Quatro Cerberus 24 Pts. Lamia Scale 21 Pts. Sabertooth 21 Pts. Blue Pegasus 18 Pts.}
In fact, if the Fairy Tail wizards had not stopped attacking when there were only five minutes left in the event, the scores for the other five teams would have been nowhere near as high as they were. Even so, it was clear to see just how big of an advantage [Magic Power Detection] was in an event like this one.