A peaceful evening in Magnolia. Throughout most of the town, nary a harsh sound was heard but for the usual stir of the local mage guild, Fairy Tail.

"I'm going to take you down, Droopy Eyes!" Natsu, Fairy Tail's fire dragon screeched at the black-haired ice mage, Gray.

"Yeah, right, Slanty Eyes!" Gray yelled back, an ice lance appearing in his hand. He threw it with one smooth motion of his arm, but Natsu dodged it, smiling like a little kid.

A certain blue-haired water mage, Juvia Lockser, who loved Gray with a passion, was looking on with worry. Of course she was confident in Gray's power, but she also felt it was her job to protect him from harm.

Natsu leapt off the roof of the guild, coming at Gray with his Fire Dragon Slayer Secret attack. Juvia knew how powerful this attack was and saw just a whisper of concern on Gray's face. Before the flames could touch his skin, Juvia pounced at Gray, protecting him inside her water body.

"Ha! Nice move Juvia," Natsu said. And looking examining his smoking fist, "I'm out of fuel, then. See you later!"

Juvia then released Gray, melting off of him. "Juvia," Gray moaned, standing and putting a frustrated palm to his forehead. "You can't save me from every fight. I'm fine on my own."

"But Juvia doesn't want Gray-sama to be injured."

"Yeah, I know." Gray let just a little bit of a smile escape. Juvia had gotten in the way of his fight, but while it was so inconveniencing, it was a little cute.

Inside the guild, Natsu sat at the bar between Lucy and Cana, who was talking to Macao. "Romeo's grown up so fast," Macao told her. "His fire magic's developing impressively."

"Mm-hm," Cana responded, putting more focus into her drink. She cared about Romeo, but she hadn't had a drink all day the day before and felt uncomfortably sober.

Mira walked over to fill her up again, and Natsu stared at her pearly white hair as she moved through the light. He knew another girl, once. She was Mira's younger sister, Lisanna, who had the same white hair, like a diamond. Lisanna's hair was much shorter than Mira's and hugged her head, wisping off at the nape of her neck, like white smoke. Natsu lost himself in his memories of her, like when they hatched Happy, who now sat on the counter in front of him. Unfortunately, Lisanna died two years previously.

"What are you thinking about, Natsu?" Happy asked.

"Lisanna," Natsu sighed, catching Mira's attention at the mention of her late little sister.

Lucy turned to Natsu and tried to cheer him up. "You two pretended you were married, right?" she joked.

"Yeah, they did," Mira said, almost laughing, but not fully.

"You know, Loke joined the guild three years ago, did he know Lisanna well?" Lucy wondered.

"Not really," Natsu muttered, annoyed that Lucy somehow brought everything back to Loke. "He was too busy with all his girlfriends to really pay attention to the rest of the guild."

Lucy fell silent after that, but Natsu, feeling bad for exaggerating, gave her a forgiving clap on the back.

Elsewhere, Erza and Levy were talking to Bisca about her good friend, Alzack. "We're just friends, I swear!" Bisca pleaded.

Right," Levy said with a sarcastic wink. "Come on, we all see it. You two are so much more!"

Bisca buried her head in her hands, but Erza vouched for her. "I'm sure Bisca and Alzack are exactly as Bisca says they are."

"Sure they are," Levy rolled her eyes, and Gajeel showed up behind her.

"Hey, Shorty," he said, cracking a smile.

"Oh, hi," Levy greeted him, suddenly cold. "What do you want?"

Gajeel was shocked by her attitude but didn't let it alter his tough demeanor. "I just came by to see if you were okay after the battle you got into on that request yesterday."

"Of course, I'm fine," Levy spat. "it's not like you let me get into the fight at all or have any confidence in my power."

"Good," Gajeel smiled, missing the point. "That's exactly why I came along."

He was about to walk off, but Erza stopped him. "Quit being so full of yourself, Gajeel. I'm sure Levy had the request under control."

"Well, I was there, and she didn't, so I helped her. How 'bout you mind your own business, Titania." He spat the nickname at her like a rotten cherry pit.

"You want to go, Bolt-head?"

Gajeel cracked his knuckles and neck, "Bring it on, Tower Angel!"

Erza's face fell, and the entire guild hall became silent. "Never mind," she muttered, a tear brimming at her left eye. "Just… just whatever. Never mind." Erza sheathed her sword and wandered away.

"Gajeel," Levy scolded.

"What?" he snorted. "She worked on that Tower of Heaven thing, right?"

"Exactly! She did slave labor for years and just had to relive it all a few months ago, not to mention running into Jellal during the battle against Oracion Seis. You're not allowed to mention it, especially if you're trying to insult her!" She gave him a reprimanding smack to the abs and glared.

"Fine," Gajeel groaned.

Some ways away, the Thunder God Tribe, or Raijinshu, sat around a table. Bixlow, Evergreen, and Freed were excited to have Laxus there, who had been allowed to return for the week as a birthday present from the Master, his grandfather. "Look at everyone. Guildmates arguing and offending each other everywhere you look. Almost glad I got kicked out."

"But you miss us, right, Laxus?" Freed prompted hopefully.

"Of course, but you guys have to stay here. Without you, the guild would truly fall to ruin," Laxus laughed and took Evergreen's hand, kissing it. "you've gotten prettier since I left, Ever. Turn any poor boys to stone recently?"

Evergreen slipped her hand back gracefully. "Oh, Laxus, you flatter too much." Everyone knew Laxus was kidding, at least partially, but Freed turned his head, trying not to look. He hated it when Laxus flirted with women and wished he would flatter him some time.

Suddenly, the guild doors burst open, and a tall, thin man walked in. He wore a long robe with a hood and carried a smooth, yellow orb. He held out the communication lacrima, and a voice spoke from it, a voice so loud, it filled the entire hall and could be heard throughout the city. "Fairy Tail!" it bellowed. "I have come here with a challenge. Far and wide, the people of Fiore praise your spirit and talent, but I beg to differ. Prove me wrong the sending thirteen of your mages to accept my challenge. If these thirteen do not come to my base in the forest by dawn tomorrow, I will not hesitate to destroy Magnolia. I know what you all are thinking: why accept my challenge when you could just beat me in battle? Now, I warn you, I am very powerful but peaceful. I do not want a fight if it's not needed. To settle this nicely, the mages I request must come to my base and overcome the obstacles I have set up for them. The thirteen I seek are: Cana Alberona, Macao Conbolt, Alzack Connell, Natsu Dragneel, Laxus Dreyer, Gray Fullbuster, Lucy Heartfilia, Freed Justine, Juvia Lockser, Levy McGarden, Bisca Mulan, Gajeel Redfox, and Erza Scarlet." After stating the list, the voice silenced, and the robed man pocketed the lacrima.

"Hey, you!" Natsu yelled, enraged, as he strode away, but Erza stopped him.

"We have to keep calm in this," she said. "No one knows what he challenge will be, but the most important thing to do right now is uphold the Fairy Tail name."

"Fine," Natsu grumbled.

Night darkened Magnolia, and the guild emptied, sending the fairies back to their homes for the night. Laxus was staying with Freed and Bixlow for the week and was setting up a blanket on the couch. "You don't have to do that," Freed told him. "You're our guest. Take my bed, and I'll sleep on the couch."

"Hey, thanks Freed," Laxus said, dropping the blanket.

"So, what do you think will happen tomorrow?"

Laxus sighed, "Eh, I don't know. It's odd I was asked to come along at all, since I was expelled from the guild. But oh well, it can't be anything we can't handle, right?"

Freed smiled, content with what little attention Laxus gave him. At least for now. "Right."

Across town, in the Fairy Tail girls' dormitory, Fairy Hills, the girls of Fairy Tail sat around the living room in silence until Levy spoke up. "I wonder what the challenge will be."

The room was quiet for a long while. "I don't know," Bisca finally muttered, wondering if she was on Alzack's mind as much as he was on hers.

"Juvia's just glad to be working with Gray-sama," Juvia said, daydreaming.

"And what happens if you have to fight against him?" Evergreen sneered, annoyed out of her wits by Juvia's constant fawning over Gray and peculiar need to speak in the third person.

"Juvia will not fight against any of her friends, especially Gray-sama," Juvia stated, giving Evergreen a terrible glare.

Erza stood. "We should all go upstairs and get some rest before we have to be up for the challenge tomorrow. Remember, we have to be there at dawn." The girls dispersed to their own rooms and soon fell asleep. Cana wished she could have just one more drink, but decided it would only lead to even more and keep her awake far too late.

A strange night followed the strange evening. Lucy was alone in her house, for Natsu and Happy were actually at their own, for once. Gray was lying in his own bed, imagining possibility after possibility for the next day's challenge, each time seeing a different outcome. Gajeel was doing the same, but all of his scenarios prominently featured a certain mage of short height and wavy blue hair. Macao tucked Romeo into bed, telling him that everything would be fine, that the challenge he heard about would be a piece of cake with some of the guild's most powerful mages involved. Closing the door softly, he hoped he hadn't lied.

The sun broke over the horizon, and the thirteen requested mages stood, right on time, in front of a cylindrical, stone building that had appeared in the forest over night. The doors opened, and the same voice from the lacrima called them in. As Fairy Tail mages, none of them were afraid, stepping confidently towards the awaiting test ready to prove the guild's merit. As soon as they were all inside, a white light shone from every direction, blinding them.

When the ligfht finally dimmed, the thirteen Fairy Tail mages were separated from each other in surrounded by tall hedges. "Where are we?" Lucy asked Natsu, who was lying face-down looking like he had been on a train for hours.

"How should I know?" he moaned, rolling over and stumbling up.

"Fairy Tail!" the mysterious voice boomed. "I have placed you in my maze. In the center, magic is being released that will destroy Magnolia if you don't disable it. You will need all thirteen of your to do this. The maze will test you. I've been watching you for weeks and have designed it to target your weaknesses. You may start when I say to go."

"No fair!" Gajeel shouted to the voice. "You said you'd only hurt the city if we didn't show up!"

"I would," the voice said so that only he and Levy could hear. "But you did, so you get the chance to stop it."

Gajeel clenched his fists, but Levy grabbed his arm, "No, Gajeel! There's nothing we can do now but get to the center of the maze."

"Okay, Shorty. Just stick with me."

Gray looked forward. "This doesn't seem too hard."

Juvia's heat skipped. Juvia is alone with Gray-sama! She gasped in her mind.

Laxus stood, waiting, glad he had Freed with him and not some idiot, though he wouldn't have minded Erza, who was a powerful and beautiful person.

The other pairs were Bisca and Alzack, who were prepared to take this maze on just like any other request, and Cana and Macao. Macao was itching to get started for Romeo's sake, but Cana couldn't focus, as she didn't get a chance to grab her morning beer barrel and felt way too sober. Erza was alone.

"Go!" the voice of the mysterious challenger resonated through the maze, and the mages took off.