What you missed during the first night of the GMG.

Chapter 2: Names

July 1, X791

"Pathetic," Cana teased.

The card mage snorted with laughter as she took in the state of her drinking buddies. After a long day of bar hopping and more drinks with the rest of Fairy Tail, Evergreen and Bixlow were clearly done. Across from her, the once self-proclaimed Fairy Queen fought to stay upright by clinging on to her toppled stool for support. Next to Evergreen, Bixlow was pooled on the floor with his tongue lolling out of his mouth and babies barely floating above him. Freed had to be kidding himself if he honestly thought the two would respond to his call to defend Laxus.

"You're a strong drinker, huh?" A gruff voice pulled her attention away from the pair.

"Hmm?" Cana turned her head to see a raven haired man with tattoo's dotted under his eyes grinning a crooked smile.

The man slammed down a shot glass on the table. "Why don't we see who's stronger?"

"Oh?" Cana straightened up and stared curiously at him. "I don't know who you are but-"

"Take my advice and walk away." Macao, who had been observing the exchange with Wakaba, decided to cut in.

"Don't let her looks fool you, that woman's a monster!" Wakaba added.

Excuse me? Cana discretely shot the pair a glare before batting her lashes innocently at the stranger. "You're challenging me to a drinking match?"

He responded by sliding the shot over to her and calling for the bartender.

"I guess we're skipping introductions and getting right to it then," she muttered.

Once the man held a drink in his hand they clinked glasses and downed the first shot.

"Ready for more?"

Cana nodded her head in affirmation as she swayed in her seat.

"Wiiiild." The stranger got the bartender's attention and pointed at a bottle on the top shelf of the bar wall. A server brought it over and filled two glasses before setting the bottle down.

Cana grabbed the bottle and inspected it. "What's this?" She threw her head back and poured most of it down her throat.

"The good stuff," he stated. He grabbed a glass and swallowed its contents.

Cana stiffened as the feeling of déjà vu accompanied by vertigo came over her. She blinked hard to focus on the man sitting by her side. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something like this had happened before.

As she examined the challenger, the realization that she was falling backwards hit her a second too late. The brunette jerked violently in her seat in an attempt to regain her balance, but failed to prevent her inevitable collision with the floor. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was a familiar looking tattoo covering the man's back.

"Uuungh," Cana groaned. Her face smacked repeatedly against something solid as her body bounced up and down. The card mage wiggled in someone's hold, finding that she was slung over a shoulder. Her carrier immediately lifted her down, realizing that she had come to.

"Elfman?" she croaked. She clung on to him in an effort to quell the nausea building within and looked around. "Where..." she trailed off.

"Mira asked me to bring you back to your room. You passed out."

"Right." Cana screwed her eyes shut and massaged her temple with her free hand. She took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes again. "I think I can walk now. The world has stopped spinning," she joked weakly.

The brunette took a step forward and broke into a run. Bile rose up her throat and her insides threatened to follow. Cana rushed towards the nearest flower pot to throw up.

Elfman caught up to her. "Better?"

"I spoke too soon." When Cana felt like there was nothing more, she spat with a finality and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She grimaced as her head throbbed. I need another drink. As her hands rose to fix her hair, the feeling of cloth ghosting over her skin made Cana realize that her upper body was fully covered by a poncho that obviously wasn't hers. She peered under the fabric. "Huh... where's my top?"

"The man you were drinking with took it as a trophy."

"What?!" Cana scowled. "You're kidding! Who was that bastard?"

"Erza said his name was Bacchus. He's part of Quatro Cerberus. Macao and Wakaba tried to stop him, but he took both of them down with one hit."

Cana paused as something tugged at her mind. "Erza knows that dog?" She shook her head and tried to lead the large take-over mage forward. "Let's get going. Fairy Tail owes him an ass-kicking."

Elfman didn't budge. "Cana, wait."

She looked back to see his stoic face and gave up on trying to pull him along. "WhaAat?"

"I have no idea where that man is or where Quatro Cerberus is staying. Do you?" He continued as Cana frowned. "I also have to be back in my room by midnight."

"But we need to get him baaack! While we're at it we can teach Quatro Cerberus a lesson."

Elfman tried to reason with her. "They're not that bad."

"After this I'd put money on them being a dark guild."

The Strauss sibling sighed, "Compared to Raven Tail, they're just a bunch of puppies."

Cana froze as a memory of puppy-printed boxers filled her head.

No way.

Cana looked at Elfman with wide eyes. It finally registered that the challenger at the bar was the man from seven months ago.

Well, technically seven years.

Elfman took her lack of response as a sign to resume walking.

"Elfman? Where's Cana?"

Elfman turned at the sound of his eldest sister's voice. "Mira? You're back already?"

"Yep. Everyone who is participating tomorrow is just about here now," she chirped. "Anyways, where is she?"

"I don't know. She couldn't find her key so she went down to the lobby to ask for a spare. I thought it would be okay since she sobered up on the walk over.

"Ah." Mira furrowed her eyebrows. "I didn't see her there. How long has she been gone for?"

"Ten minutes have past."

Before the two got a chance to worry, a slurred shout echoed across the hall.

"HEEEY! EVERRYONE'S BAACK?!"

Mira and Elfman turned around to see Cana stumbling down the hallway with a bottle of liquor in each hand. "Oh no," the take-over mages groaned in unison.

The seemingly hammered brunette came up to them and threw her arms around the two. "MIRA! Did you get my top back for meee?"

"No, sorry Cana."

"Whaaat?!" The card mage pouted at the eldest Strauss sibling before locking on to Laxus and the Raijinshuu as they tried to get past her.

Cana pointed an accusing finger at them. "I'm guessing you guys didn't do anything about my top either!"

"Cana," Freed sighed and gestured at a semi-conscious Bixlow and Evergreen, "these two were incapacitated, thanks to you. And besides, our priority is Laxus."

The brunette rolled her eyes with great exaggeration. "Yeah, but an insult against one of the guild members is an insult to the guild, and last time I checked you were all a part of Fairy Tail. Cana threw her hands up in the air. "I can't believe you guys let him get away! If our rep was already in the gutter, I don't even want to know where it is now."

Laxus coolly moved the card mage out of his way. "Cana, go to bed. You're drunk. Again."

"I'm not even close," she slurred. Cana huffed and faced the other competing members in the hallway. "WE NEED to put those dogs in their place. I don't care who does it but we need to show them and the other guilds that we deserve MORE respect!"

Elfman stood on the sidelines with his sister as a hysterical Cana tried to rally the thinning masses.

"We should probably get some rest," the she-devil sighed. Mira looked up at her younger brother. "I'm gonna go to bed now. Someone needs to get Cana to her room. Could you do that for me Elfman?"

"I'm your man."

Mira thanked him and wished him a good night before entering her team's room, leaving him alone with the card mage, who was now screaming at the empty hall.

Cana took a long draught from each of her drinks and continued her rant. "Somebody promise me we rename Quatro Cerberus, Quatro puppy if the wagers are still going on in the tournaments."

"Puppy?" Elfman scrunched his nose. "Why puppy? That's not very manly."

Cana turned towards him with doe eyes and hiccupped. "You'd do it right?"

"Only if you go to your room."

She regarded him with scrutiny. "Promise?"

"Yes. And a man always keeps his promises."

"Good." The brunette shoved her drinks into his arms and ran down the hall back to the door of her room. "Pretty sure it's this one," he heard her mutter as she stared intently at its numbers. She produced a key from her pocket, unlocked it, pushed the door open with her body, and stumbled in.

The intoxicated card mage popped her head out when she realized he wasn't coming in. "Don't go yet!" she screamed. Cana hurried back to him and threw her arms around him, giving him a clumsy hug. "Thanks for taking care of me tonight. Also gimme back my drinks." She reached for the drinks in his hands.

"Just doing my duty as a man."

Cana chuckled. "No, really! I owe you big time. How about I read your fortune? It's the least I can do."

Before Elfman could object, the disoriented card mage ran back into her room. Elfman reluctantly followed her in and took a seat on the corner of her unmade bed. He watched as she dug around for her fortune-telling cards, creating a mess.

"Ah." She stood up and opened the velvet pouch she found. "Here we go." Cana knelt down and sloppily shuffled her cards. "Do you have a question in mind?"

"Is this going to take long?"

Cana rolled her eyes. "Think of a topic and cut the deck."

Elfman did as he was told and let the card mage do her thing.

"Ok, so I have three cards here. They represent the past, present, and future." She emphasized each card by pointing to it. "Let's start with the present." She flipped over the middle card and raised a brow. "Too easy. This is about those puppies that call themselves Quatro Cerberus."

Cana proceeded to turn over the very first card she laid down. "The past," she declared. A thoughtful look came over her as she took in its meaning. "Hmm, that's strange. It's for a fateful encounter."

The take-over mage let out a monstrous yawn.

"Must be about Evergreen."

Elfman snapped his jaws shut and felt his cheeks heat up.

Cana waggled her eyebrows. "I don't need my cards to see that something's happened there."

He responded by clearing his throat.

After one last teasing laugh, Cana revealed the final card. "The future. Oh, how interesting," she mused. "It's Jupiter's lightning bolt. This card can be a bit ambiguous." The brunette clasped her chin. "It's usually associated with pain, but it can also be thought of as," she paused and stared at him with calculating eyes, "Victory."

"OKAYOKAY! I'M GOING!"

The irritated screams of Natsu followed by the faint giggles and chuckles of Lucy and Gray from the hallway shattered the serious atmosphere of the reading. Cana and Elfman turned around to see Natsu casually leaning on the open door.

"Yo." Natsu nodded at Cana then addressed Elfman. "If you value your life I suggest you get back to our room ASAP. Erza is even scarier after consuming alcohol."

"Noted." Elfman stood up and helped Cana off the floor. "I'll be there in a minute."

Natsu nodded and quickly wished Cana a good night before dashing out.

"Well, thanks for the reading. I hope you have a good night."

"You too. And it wasn't a problem at all." she replied.

Cana leaned against the door with folded arms and watched him go. "Oh, Elfman?"

He paused.

"Don't forget your promise," the card mage purred before shutting her door.

Elfman grunted in acknowledgement as he walked down the hall, back to Team A's room.