Previously:

"I don't know," Erza replied as I just simply shrugged.

"Instead of 1 vs 1 battles..." Chapati paused for suspense. "We'll be having 4 vs 4 battles!"

Now:

The audience cheered with having more exciting battles.

"We have the matchups that the former king has requested! First up is another Blue Pegasus vs Quatro Cerberus match!" Chapati announced, reading off of the piece of paper the soldier had handed him. "Hibiki Lates, Ren Akatsuki, Eve Tearm, and Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki from Blue Pegasus! Rocker, Semmes, Warcry, and Bacchus Groh from Quatro Cerberus!"

All the people who were called made their way down to the arena to begin their battle. As they fought (which I'm not really interested in describing), I caught up some more with my team while Callista got to know them.

I had asked about Gajeel's relationship with Levy, knowing that he would get all flustered and embarrassed, in which he responded with that it was none of my business, making me laugh.

"So Gray," I said, catching Gray's attention.

"Hm?" He hummed as a response as he turned his head to me.

"How's it going with Juvia~?" I asked teasingly, catching him off guard.

"What do you mean?" He asked, recovering from my sudden question.

"I mean, does she still love you?"  I asked while giggling slightly.

"I guess she does," Gray said with a shrug.

"What do you mean you guess?" Natsu interjected.

"She professes her love for you every day!" Happy joins in, covering his mouth to stifle a laugh. "She loves~ you!"

"Awww! That's adorable!" I cooed, relieved Happy isn't teasing me this time. "So y'all going out or what?"

"I don't know," Gray sighed, pushing Natsu away from the conversation. "I like her as a friend, but I don't know if I love her."

"You should tell her," Erza urged, chiming into the conversation. "You shouldn't lead her on."

"I agree," I said, nodding my head. "It hurts more when you get mixed signals and having hope than being rejected from the beginning. Gives time to move on."

"And since when were you an expert in relationships?" Laxus joked, making me pout.

"Lushi's forever single~," Happy teased, covering his mouth to hide his laugh.

"Shut up, stupid cat!" I exclaimed, chasing Happy around the balcony. The balcony was filled with laughs as the 4 vs 4 match ended with Quatro Cerberus victorious.

"The next match is Lamia Scale vs Mermaid Heel!" Chapati exclaimed. "Yuka Suzuki, Sherria Blendy, Lyon Vastia, and Jura Neekis from Lamia Scale! Beth Vanderwood, Risley Law, Millianna, and Kagura Mikazuchi from Mermaid Heel!"

The competitors who were called walked out into the arena, facing off against their opposing team.

At the end of the battle, Jura was the last one standing, gaining 10 points for Lamia Scale.

"Next up, Meraki Parastin vs Splitforce!" Chapati informed into the microphone. "Kiran Mavra, Cayden Magnar, Dante Adwin, and Luca Davian from Meraki Parastin! Phedalea Aspect, Kairius Triton, Zero Haztor, and Sarya Ortiza from Splitforce!"

Zero was the brown-haired man I fought who used the Earth magic.

Luca was a pale 18-year-old boy with unnatural gray hair and pale purple eyes. Every time I saw him, he wore a black cloak with his hood up. He had a long collar around his neck, covering the bottom half of his face, with his guild emblem on the collar. He wore 1 black and white dangling earring and black slacks. His collared jacket was fully buttoned, reaching below the start of his pants. His shoes were black with white soles.

Even though I only met him last night, he didn't say much, and even Callista doesn't know what magic he wields. Quite honestly, he's only said the maximum of like 5 words. He's not very talkative compared to his teammates, who said that he's always been like that. They said he only really says anything to cast spells or tell other people to shut up, and even then, he doesn't speak with a loud voice.

The competitors stood side by side with each other as they stood in front of their opponents. When they all stood next to each other, you could distinguish their heights. Dante was the tallest, standing at about 6'1". Then Cayden at maybe 5'11". Luca was about the same height as Cayden and Kiran was around 5'9".

The battle started as Callista, as well as everyone else, cheered for Meraki Parastin. Remo came over to our balcony. He said it was lonely because he was the only one who couldn't fight, much to his disappointment.

Remo and Callista talked and teased each other while Happy and I joked that they liked each other. That had been one of the few times I was the one on the other side joking banter, alongside Happy.

Each person in battle had distinguished their own opponents. Kiran vs Phedalea, Cayden vs Kairius, Dante vs Zero, and Luca vs Sarya.

The battle raged on. Kiran solidified some light, creating a bow and arrow. He shot multiple times at Phedalea but she was quick on her feet. Kiran made a forcefield of light around himself as Phedelea came closer to try and strike. When she hit the forcefield, it sent her back a few feet with a bruise where the impact was.

Cayden requipped into his 'Ocean God' armor, which is much like Erza's 'Sea Empress' armor, but instead of a sword, he wielded a trident. The armor was slick and dark blue with a cape made of water, which contrasted with his reddish-orange hair. Kairius responded by throwing water spells. What an idiot. Due to Cayden's protection against water attacks, he moved quickly to strike Kairius.

Dante created some large monster with his magic. Zero used his Earth magic to create some sort of rock golem, which was only about half the size of the beast Dante created. Dante's monster quickly disposed of the weak golem, crumbling it to dust, moving onto the golem's creator.

Luca and Sarya only really attacked each other without magic, only throwing physical attacks. They observed each other while punching each other as if to search for a weakness. After a few mutual punches, Luca stepped back a few feet before casting a spell. "Phantom wraith's shadow betrayal," Luca said, motioning his hand upward as he balled his hand into a fist.

From beneath Sarya, her shadow turned dark purple before deforming. The dark purple shadow then formed into a person that looked like her before reaching out of the ground. Half of Sarya's shadow had left the ground, the bottom half of her shadow still in the ground while the top half was behind her. The shadow punched her lower back, causing her to let out a painful yell. It seems like he found a weak spot.

"Phantom wraith?" Erza questioned while looking at Remo, who was sitting next to Callista on the stone railing with his feet dangling off the edge. With them next to each other, the height difference seemed drastic. Callista was 4'11", barely scratching 5 feet, while Remo was about 6 feet.

"Luca's a phantom wraith slayer," he replied nonchalantly with a shrug, earning a few questioning looks.

"Phantom wraith slaying?" Laxus questioned with his arms crossed, as usual. Natsu had seemed to be interested in the topic, along with Gray.

"Aren't phantoms and wraiths the same thing?" Gajeel asked as he ate some iron.

"Yeah," Remo responded, leaving us confused. "Phantoms are the element he uses to fight while wraiths are what his slaying magic is used for killing."

"I'm confused..." Callista commented as Remo just looked at her.

"That's not surprising," Remo joked, though it almost made Callista push him off the balcony. She may be small and act like a child, but she sure is scary and can kill a man.

"Oh wait! I get it," I cheered, looking to my team so I could explain.

"Huh?" Natsu voiced, the confused look on his face saying it all.

"It's like any other slayer magic. When saying the magic, you say the element you use to fight with first, and the entity you slay second. Like Fire Dragon slaying, Ice Devil slaying, Lightning Dragon slaying, so on," I explained, earning a few nods, indicating they understood so far. "Phantoms are the element Luca uses to fight. Phantoms are essentially ghosts and shadows. Luca's element is similar to Rogue's, just a little different probably. Wraiths are what his magic kills. Wraiths are basically ghosts and spirits."

"So, he uses ghosts... to kill ghosts?" Laxus said with a confused face.

"Basically," Remo replied as Kairius and Zero were defeated by Cayden and Dante on the battlefield. "If Luca were to ever face a wraith, he could make the wraith fight itself, killing itself inside out."

"That's not creepy," Gray muttered as I giggled at his comment.

"That's kind of cool," Gajeel commented.

"Luca can cause his opponents fearful nightmares, defeating them on the inside instead of having to cause physical damage," Remo added as we observed Luca's battle with Sarya alongside Kiran who was fighting Phedalea. Dante and Cayden stood to the side, not wanting to get into their teammates' fight when they know they can handle themselves.

"Are there any advantages and disadvantages of his slaying magic?" Erza asked. "All slaying magic has its ups and downs."

Erza was right. All slayers could eat their respective elements, which is an advantage of being a slayer. Dragon slayers had dragon force, but they also had to deal with motion sickness when they get too powerful. Devil slayers are immune - to a degree - to demon curses, but they get noticeable black markings and slowly lose their sanity and make irrational decisions. God slayers had magic that no regular slayer could eat but if they master their magic to a third origin degree too quickly, they'll temporarily lose their magic.

Even Titan slayers have ups and downs, which I don't know for sure but I've read it in a book when I studied with Capricorn. Titan slayers are always elemental and can eat any God slayer magic, but becoming too powerful too quickly can lead to immortality, which may not sound bad but imagine having to never being allowed to grow up anymore. You have to watch all your family and friends grow up and die, generation after generation, and you can't die. You either love and lose over and over again, or you stay lonely for eternity. Both sound terrible.

"Well, they can eat their respective element like every other slayer. An advantage of wraith slaying from what Dante's read is that they can rarely get physically damaged. Their bodies are like ghosts, where you can't touch them, but they can always control it," Remo responded, pausing to think about the disadvantages. "From what Dante read, a disadvantage is that after reaching a certain power level of wraith slaying, they'll become mute."

"They won't be able to talk?" Laxus asked before glancing over at Natsu and Gajeel, who were all arguing about who stepped on whose foot. As if reading his mind, I immediately start laughing.

"Dreyar!" I exclaimed between my laughs.

"What?" Laxus chuckled then smirked. He knew I knew. "Can't a guy dream?"

"Huh?" Natsu interrupted as I just waved my hand dismissively.

"It's nothing," I sighed as I stopped laughing, catching my breath.

"Then how can Luca talk? Or has he not reached that level yet?" Callista asked Remo.

Luca cast a spell against Sarya, making her legs to be held down by her own shadow. He seemed powerful enough to reach the requirements.

"No, he has far surpassed that level," Remo answered as Luca defeated Sarya, leaving Kiran to defeat Phedalea. "If Wraith slayers are far passed the level, they can overcome the fact that they can't talk. It's taken Luca years to be able to talk again, but even now, he can barely talk."

"Imagine not being able to talk," Happy commented.

"Yeah," I scoffed jokingly as I playfully rolled my eyes before pretending to cough. "Happy."

"That's not nice, Lushi," Happy said to me before adding, "It's not like I point out your flaws, like your weight or that face of yours."

"Stupid cat!" I yelled, chasing after Happy once again. As much as I hated his teasing and jokes, I sure have missed him.

In the battlefield, Kiran was having some problems against Phedalea. She was too fast, always toying with him and annoyingly laughing in his face, until something in him just snapped.

"Will you shut up, you disgusting rat?!" Kiran yelled, quite out of character. I haven't known him long but he always seemed so happy and nice.

"Aw man," Remo sighed as he facepalmed.

"What?" Gajeel asked, unsure what this guy's on about.

"Mavra appeared," Remo replied, shaking his head.

"Huh?" Natsu asked with a confused face. "Ain't they the same? Kiran Mavra?"

"Kiran kind of has a split personality," Remo replied. "Mavra is his alternate ego. Kiran's the light while Mavra's the dark. Kiran literally means 'ray of light' in Sanskrit while Mavra means 'a dark individual' in Russian. They balance each other out, but when Mavra's in control, Kiran knows nothing about what happens."

"Kind of like Erza with and without strawberry cake," Happy noted.

"Does it just happen randomly?" Erza questioned, ignoring Happy's comment.

"Pretty much. Only when Kiran's frustrated or mad, then Mavra takes over," Remo responded, swinging his legs over the edge of the balcony. "He's always been that way, and Mavra's always been the more powerful one. After Mavra's one-shots rat girl over there, Kiran will return."

"How do you know he'll one-shot her?" Gray asked, quite curious.

"Mavra's insanely powerful and rat girl's insanely annoying," Remo said as he shrugged. "Just kinda seems obvious."

"Woooo! Go Kiran!" Callista cheered.

"Did you cheer for me when I had my match on Day 1?" Remo asked the short girl.

"No," she replied bluntly.

"What, why?" Remo urged.

"Because I didn't know you and I didn't care about you," Callista said with a shrug.

"Words hurt," Remo told her, wiping away a nonexistent tear. "At least I'm not a dwarf."

"At least I'm not a giant!" Callista retorted.

"Oh? Am I giant?" Remo smirked as it went unnoticed by Callista. Child.

"Yeah! A giant idiot!" Callista exclaimed with a huff.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you guys so much for 1.9k+ reads and 120+ votes! It really means a lot to me and it helps motivate me to continue writing and aim to finish this story.

Also - this happened like last week or the week before, this story was 1st in #lucyheartfilia! But since then, the story has dropped to 2nd, which is still amazing! Thank you everyone for the support!