I am a huge fangirl of Sting Eucliffe! I have been interested in pursuing a story about him and a very dorky, cheery, and in-the-background girl such as Beth. She seems so happy and pure that I want to ruin her with Sting's initial jerk personality. -inserts Evil laughter here-.. Alright, all jokes aside, I get to build this ship, and let it sail my way.

This fanfic extracts events and ideas from the Grand Magic Games arc, then branches off to no specific arc as I do not want to complicate the story more with post arcs. I'm not really going on specifics here with dates and numbers and I can't keep track of them all the time. Thanks for understanding, and enjoy! Please also leave your thoughts as I will appreciate them very much.

*This is written purely for the purpose of fandom and entertainment. All rightful content belongs to Hiro Mashima.

It has been a year since Weisslogia disappeared. Little Sting traveled places to places with his exceed, Lector, having no real destination in mind. His home was no longer a comforting location since his father disappeared. Really, Sting had nowhere to go. The only living he could make for him and Lector was to grab small jobs looking for a wizard. Most of the ones he had taken were to help get rid of bandits in small towns. The compensation was small, but enough to feed them on their journey.

"Sting-kun, I'm hungry." Lector said as they walked on the dirt path.

"Don't worry, Lector. The next town is not too far from here. I'll have a nice warm supper for you in no time."

Lector smiled and nodded in excitement.

"You're the best, Sting-kun."

However, their luck was terrible as a group of amateur dark mages managed to steal whatever money they had in their pockets. Outnumbered, Sting tried to fight them off and escape. But he was the only who was able to fight. In his lack of experience, his fighting rendered them moneyless and beaten.

On the ground with a deep cut on his right brow, Sting tried to reach for his exceed.

"Lector!" he called. "Lector, are you okay?!"

Lector opened his eyes to meet Sting's. The tears in them broke Sting's heart, and he had never felt so angry in his life…and so pathetic. How could he vow to be strong and beat Natsu Dragneel when he couldn't even protect his friend and himself? What a silly goal he came up with.

"Sting-kun?" he heard Lector's small voice.

"Lector!" Sting used every bit of his last strength to crawl to his exceed and gather him into his bruised arms. "Gomen… honto gomen," he cried as he squeezed Lector tight. "I failed to protect you, and failed to get you food. Gomen!"

"Sting-kun…" Lector said weakly. "I'm just glad we're both still alive."

At that moment, Sting's goals became clear as crystal. He vowed that he would become a strong dragonslayer. He vowed that no one would ever be able to trample Lector and him again like this. He vowed that he would never see his friend go hungry again. Sting vowed that he would never see those tears of pain in Lector's eyes ever again.

"It won't ever happen again, Lector. I swear it on Weisslogia." And his eyes closed from exhaustion.

Sting felt a light and soft touch against his right brow.

So soft, he thought. And this smell of fresh lemon. Who was touching him?

When Sting managed to open his eyes, a little girl with copper hair, pale skin, big bright blue eyes, and dusted freckles on her nose, was pressing a damped cloth against the cut on his brow.

"Guhh!!" he exclaimed.

"Gomen!" she said as she pulled back. "I tried to be gentle—" The little girl gasped in the middle of her sentence when she looked at him. "Your eyes…"

Sting was aware his eyes were not normal. Being a dragonslayer, they were cobalt but with black slits running halfway the orbs.

He averted his eyes, thinking he had frightened the little girl.

"Gomen!" she quickly said. "They're very pretty that's all."

Pretty? He had never heard someone compliment his eyes such as that. He had always avoided looking at people directly. And those who have seen it called him cursed.

"I put some medicine on your cuts and bruises, but I think the one on your brow is going to scar. Gomen."

"Why are you apologizing?" he suddenly asked her.

"B-because I couldn't treat your brow cut properly, and it will scar." She said bashfully.

"That's not your fault. But thank you for your help."

She smiled and turned around to reach for something in her brown bag. When she met him again, she pulled out bread, a few pieces of meat, and some vegetables.

"I don't have a lot, but here. I believe you and your neko are very hungry."

Sting's mouth watered, but remembered he would not eat this without Lector. However Lector was still deep asleep. Perhaps Sting would take a few bites and save the rest for his friend.

Sting ripped a piece of the bread and shoved in his mouth, savoring the buttery fluff.

"What's your name?" The girl asked.

"Sting. Sting Eucliffe."

"Sting," she pronounced. "What about your neko's?"

"His name is Lector, and he's not a neko. He's an exceed."

"But he looks like one. What is an exceed?" she asked.

"I'm not sure how to explain," he said. "What is your name?"

The little girl smiled and shook her head. "Mama says I should never tell my name to strangers."

He could not care less.

"Suit yourself."

"What happened to you both?"

"We were beaten by some dark mages. And they stole our stuff."

She gasped and her eyes widen. "Dark mages? That is very low of them to prey on the young and weak!"

"We're not weak. We were outnumbered. Lector and I will train hard to become strong."

"Well, I hope they get what they deserve for hurting you and your cute neko!" she exclaimed with her fist in the air.

He didn't understand why the strange girl would care for their justice when they just barely met.

"Sting-kun?" Lector began to stir beside him, and he rubbed his eyes. "Where are we?"

"Your neko talks!" The girl said with her hand covering her mouth in surprise. "Hello there," she said as she

gently caressed Lector's furry cheek. Lector, who was lost at the moment, looked at Sting to fill him in.

"She helped us, and she has food here for you," Sting assured as he placed the small portion of food into Lector's paws. His exceed grew ravenous of what was in front of him, then he began to shove everything in his mouth all at one time.

"Be careful!" The girl said as she began to worry. "You might choke if you eat too fast."

"Lector, slow down. I don't have water here for you."

The girl turned and began to fumble in her bag, and when she found her water container, she pouted because it was empty. She stood up immediately with some sort of determination.

"There is a fresh spring near here. I'll be back quickly with something to drink." Then she disappeared into the woods.

Sting was confused as to why this girl would go her way to help them. They were complete strangers to each other, and she did not owe

them anything.

Shortly, she returned with a full water container and handed it to Lector.

"Here you go," she said.

"Thank you," Lector said as he received it.

"You can keep it. I have a few spare ones at home." Then her own eyes widen and she began to panic. "Speaking of home! I have to go now! Mama would be worried!" she said as she began to shove her tools back into her bag. "You and your neko will be okay?"

"Yes, thank you for your help."

"I'm on your side, remember that! It was nice to meet you, Sting Eucliffe and Lector." The little girl said with a big smile and began to run down the hill. She turned around and waved then resumed running. That was the last time he saw her.

At least he thought it was…

Present

"This is so exciting!" I explained as we entered the stadium's front. "I've never seen such a big crowd, and so many mages gathering together."

"It is your first Grand Magic Games, I expected this reaction from you," Milliana said. "For a country girl anyway…"

I only giggled. Being closed to the ladies in the Mermaid Heel guild, they were the only exception to tease me as a country girl.

"It'll be quite the experience for you, Beth." Risely said.

"All of you are not to take this competition lightly," Kagura, Mermaid Heel's strongest mage said as she stepped in. "This is serious and not some vacation. Hurry it up, and let's head to our quarters."

"Wait! Let me grab my bag under the carriage! Kagura-chan, do you mind moving just a tiny bit to the side?" I said as I plopped down to open the storage space at the bottom of the carriage.

STING'S POV

Fresh lemon. That scent…

Sting had entered the stadium's front with his guild, Sabertooth, until that scent hit him hard in his guts, bringing him the weirdest chills. He was not usually shaken, but this was different. Masking his reaction to it, he told Rogue to let the guild know that he would catch up in a bit.

"Sting-kun?" Lector called him. "Are you okay?"

Away from the public's eyes, Sting rubbed his face with a palm. "Yeah. I think I just didn't catch on with enough sleep last night. Lector, you head on back with the others. I'm going to wash my face quickly."

"Alright. Be safe."

Sting chuckled at that.

"Like anything could happen to me."

Once Lector had returned, Sting followed the scent with his superior dragonslayer nose. What was it about? And why did it make him…feel desire so strongly?

When he approached the source of the scent, he realized it was coming from Mermaid Heel, an all-female guild. One of them… but it seemed to radiate from the woman, standing so proudly, clutching a sword with a stern face and raven-colored hair. The closer he had got to the source of the scent, the stronger his desire had hit him.

Shocked at himself, Sting turned around and laughed.

"It can't be… I can't desire Mermaid Heel's strongest mage that bad," he said to himself and decided to return to his guild. On his way, Sting did realize that something did not feel right in him. Something was close to unlocking a primal urge within him, and it seemed to be initiated by Kagura.

"Are you about done, Beth?" Kagura said in an irritated tone. I popped up with my bag.

"Sorry for the wait! We can go now, Kagura-chan!"

Sting watched as the naked woman slipped on her clothes. She waved at him and left his room.

He walked to the balcony where the moon had shone brightly and gazed at the wondrous overwhelming sight of Crocus. Tomorrow was the first day of the Grand Magic Games, and the excitement in his blood coursed.

"Sting-kun," a sleepy Lector approached him while rubbing his tired eyes. "You're not asleep?"

"Not yet. I'm afraid I'm too excited to sleep. It's only a matter of time before I can fight Natsu-san." Sting said as he propped his head, leaning on the balcony.

"It'll be your time to shine, Sting-kun. You are the strongest."

It was only a matter of time now.

"Lector…" This morning's encounter with the scent was bothering Sting, and he felt the need to only confide in his only best friend.

"Yes, Sting-kun?"

"Something strange happened to me today," he began.

"Strange? What do you mean?"

"I caught a scent, and it hit me like… it was strange, Lector. I was attracted to the scent, like I desired the person with that scent so badly. I've never encountered such a thing before, it was very odd. I cannot even explain the feeling well enough. It was like... it awakened something in me."

Lector raised a brow at Sting and crossed his arms to think. "That's awfully familiar to something I've read in a book at the old library."

"The old library? You go there?" Sting asked with a lifted brow.

"Yes I do. Frosh likes to read about frogs, so I took him there once."

"Interesting," Sting commented, not knowing what else to say.

"Anyway, I've read something similar to what you're talking about."

"I'm all ears," Sting said and propped his arm to brace his face.

"I'm not sure if it applies to dragonslayers, but I often hear similar situations for other beings, such as when an attractive scent awakens the male's primal urges. It's associated to the male finding his mate."

"What!?" Sting exclaimed in surprise. "That can't be."

"It's the closest explanation to your situation, Sting-kun. Did you happen to find out who?"

Sting stayed quiet, not wanting to say.

"So, you did!" Lector exclaimed. "Who is it? Oh come on, Sting-kun. I'm your best friend, aren't I?"

"Of course you are."

"Well then, tell me!" Lector pleaded, grabbing onto the fur of Sting's vest.

"Mermaid Heel's Kagura."

"Ehhhhh?!"

"Yeah, her."

"Well then. Maybe you are in good hands after all. She's strong and beautiful. I think you should consider yourself lucky."

"I don't know. I'm not entirely convinced about the crap you've read in the old library. I didn't know there was history on this aspect of dragonslayers already. Do you think Rogue knows?"

"I doubt it."

"Maybe I'll ask him tomorrow."

"Beth, if you don't sleep, I don't know how you'll have the energy to participate tomorrow when you get chosen in one of tomorrow's battle." Risely said and tossed in her bed.

"Okay!" I closed my book and placed it onto the nightstand beside me. I then reached for the lamp and pulled the metal string to turn it off.

The next day was getting closer, and I couldn't wait to fight and help bring Mermaid Heel to victory.