Karissa was next to Gray and simply gazed up at the demon silently while she lied flat on the ground on her back. He sat on the edge of an inclining rock, hunched over with his elbows on his knees. She knew he was both sad and angry since she felt somewhat the same with the first being the stronger emotion within her.
Thankfully, Lucy, Natsu and Happy were asleep in the back. Just moments ago, the blonde wizard thought it would be wise to play some soothing music with the help of one of her celestial spirits named Lyra. A stupid idea honestly. Karissa wondered why she couldn't simply deal with her boredom by trying to sleep like Natsu. Time would pass much faster for her. Gray had put a stopped to it when his sniffle echoed throughout the cave, telling them that it would be best to keep quiet. It was a little after he said that when Lucy and Happy simply gave in to sleep, leaving the two ice mages on look out.
Karissa narrowed her eyes a little and she sat up.
Ouch.
Gray shifted his head a little to glance at her when he heard her sharp inhale behind her teeth. She had her elbow on her knee while her forehead was set firmly in the center of her palm, her face wincing a little. She let out a shuddering breath.
"What's the matter?" he asked softly to not wake the others.
"... Head hurts a little." She replied in the same tone, lightly shaking her head to try and feel better. The sharp pain was slowly fading, just not fast enough for her liking.
"Sleep it off." He suggested. "You can lay down and rest. I'll keep watching out for them."
She presses her lips together. Sleep. That sounded quite nice actually. She and Gray had been sitting in silence for what felt like an eternity. It also didn't help that there was no way of telling what time it was down below. Still, she didn't feel right about falling asleep right in front of Deliora. It only made sense for her to feel cautious in the presence of destruction incarnate.
For all she knew, that thing could break out of the ice and just stomp on her while she slept.
Karissa sighed and scratched her head. "No, I'll stay up." She peered up.
Gray observed her for a while in silence. If they were going to face some enemies the moment the moon came out, he didn't want her being at a disadvantage from some headache.
All of a sudden, there was some light rumble.
Gray looked around.
Karissa put a hand on the ground cautiously. The rumbling got a bit stronger.
The rumbling continued and then there was a loud sound of shifting rocks. Karissa's head shot up when she heard it coming from above. The ceiling above Deliora was creating a hole right above the monster, allowing purple light to shine down on the monster. The others had woken up and noticed the same thing and was baffled at the sight.
Gray clenched his fists and stood up. "We have to find where the light's coming from!" he said urgently.
The group followed Gray's lead up some stairs. As they passed the other floors on their way up, they found the floors in the same state as the ceiling underground. All the temple floors had the same circular hole. The purple light was coming from outside.
That was when Karissa remembered the time she was on the boat tied up with Gray. She had noticed light shinning at the top of the island. That must have been the reason why moonlight was shinning down on Deliora.
Once they arrived at the top, they found a group of people dressed in dark cloaks and masks, and they were chanting something in some ancient language that none of them knew.
Quickly, they hid behind a partially destroyed wall and watched as they chanted all together.
Lucy's spirit, Lyra seemed to know about the spell.
"It's a Belianese spell called the Moon Drip... I see, that's what they're trying to do. They're using the Moon Drip spell to melt the ice surrounding Deliora so they can resurrect it."
Karissa's eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. What kind of people would want to resurrect that horrible monster?!
Her fist clenched tightly. Clearly, they were dealing with people who wouldn't think twice about snuffing the life out of people in Fiore.
"They can't!" Gray exclaimed, "The ice used in an Iced Shell can't be melted!"
"I hate to break it to you, but that's not entirely true. While the Iced Shell is strong it can be melted using Moon Drip, focused moon energy can break any magical spell."
Both Gray and Karissa were getting agitated and angry now that they were aware of Deliora's potential revival.
"I think what the islanders believe is a curse against them may actually be side effects of the Moon Drip. Concentrated moon energy can contaminate your body." Lyra explained. "I'm afraid those poor islanders have been exposed to way too much of it."
Just when Natsu was about to jump up and stop them, Lucy elbowed him up in the face. She pointed out that someone was showing up, a small group was walking towards the people chanting. There was a person wearing a horned helmet walking in front of those they saw from earlier. She saw how that person walked and how the others kept their distance from them. He was definitely the leader.
The Fairy Tail group hid more carefully as they listened to Sherry report to about intruders. She referred to the person as 'Reitei'. She also mentioned that Deliora's revival would be happening today or the next day. Not good.
"At long last..." the leader spoke.
Next to her, Gray inhaled sharply and stiffened. Karissa looked at him from the corner of her eye.
"As for the intruders... I've come too far to be interfered with now."
Sherry nodded. "The only people on this island are in the village on the outskirts."
"Go destroy the village." He commanded.
Karissa narrowed her eyes at him. And he just said that without hesitation. Yeah, he clearly has no care for the lives of others. People like that always makes me fucking sick.
"I'm not fond of blood, but..." Reitei shrugged a shoulder. "It must be done."
"That voice..." Gray spoke in disbelief. "No... there's no way."
"What? You recognize it?" Karissa asked him.
"You mean you don't know?!"
Her reply was cut off when Natsu jumped on the broken wall and started roaring about their identity with a breath of fire. Once they saw Natsu's shoulder, they immediately knew where they came from. Even so, Reitei wanted them to carry out their new mission despite knowing who the intruders were.
"Those who stand in the way, and those who concocted said scheme... All are my enemies."
Oh, you piece of—
His cold-hearted words made both Gray and Natsu angry as they both charged ahead towards the Reitei. Gray slammed his hand in his palm as he ran before jumping up and slamming his hands down on the ground, causing sharp walls of ice to burst one after the other. Reitei's subordinates jumped away from Gray's ice while their ringleader jumped forward.
Karissa gritted her teeth and jumped over the wall quickly and ran too.
When Reitei landed back on the ground, he set his palm on the ground and created his own walls of ice, almost identical to Gray's, making their ice walls collided and shatter once they couldn't go any further.
"Ice Make: Ten Blades!" Karissa created her Dauphine clock hands in a larger form and shot them towards Reitei, all ten homing in on him from different directions.
Reitei held up his hand. "Ice Make: Snow Tiger!"
Magic power emitted around him before a swirl of ice appeared in front of him, creating a large tiger that roared up at the moon before savagely clawing and shattering her ice to protect its caster. When the job was done it shattered away and it made ice rain around Reitei who calmly stood in his place.
"... Snow Tiger?" Karissa muttered as she staggered back a little. Her eyes widened by a fraction as she stared at Reitei with an uneasy feeling in her chest.
―
Karissa jumped away from Lyon and grinned as she kicked him in the back when she maneuvered around him.
The older boy yelped as he tumbled forward from the force. He quickly gathered himself up and created some distance from her.
Karissa watched him carefully with a mischievous grin.
The bluish silvered haired boy put his palm in his hand. "Ice Make: Snow Tiger!"
―
Was it a coincidence...?
It just couldn't be.
But that was one of his favorite spells.
One of his first ones too... he told me that.
"Lyon!" Gray growled, identifying and confirming of the leader. "Damn you... Do you even realize what you're doing?!"
...
...
...
What?
Reitei just gave him a chuckle. "It's been a while, Gray." Then he tipped his head to the side a little to look at Karissa who was standing a few feet away behind him. "And I see Karissa is here too."
Karissa swallowed. She lifted her hands a little and felt them shaking. She was having a hard time processing the reality. Lyon was the one trying to revive Deliora? Seriously?
Needless to say, this was not how she was expecting a reunion between former classmates to occur.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
"To think that you were one of the wizards the villagers called here... Did you come here knowingly? Or was it sheer coincidence? Not that it makes any difference." Lyon spoke calmly. He seemed indifferent to Gray's anger and their reunion after several years. "But judging by that look on your face, Karissa, I'd say it was a coincidence."
"Acquaintances of yours, Reitei?" Yuka asked from behind Lyon's side.
He simply ignored the question and told them to get going. As soon as they darted off, Karissa put her fist in her palm to create a spell that would stop the three. But Natsu went on ahead to chase after them, alarming her and Gray. Natsu was getting closer to Lyon without even thinking about it. The idiot!
"Natsu!" Karissa yelled. "Stop it!"
"Don't go near him!" Gray shouted.
Too late. Lyon used his magic and surrounded the air around Natsu who just stopped in his tracks when he felt the immense chill around him. She saw ice slowly forming around her friend's body.
Diamond Cage... one of the spells he learned from her books!
Karissa looked back. "Happy! You get out with Lucy! Get far away from here!" she said urgently with a grave look. "Now!"
Hearing the alarm in her voice, the blue cat took a moment before nodding his head. He brought out his wings and flew up after grabbing the back of Lucy's shirt. As soon as Lyon lifted his hand towards them, Gray attacked him to buy them some time so that they could fly further away from Lyon.
"Shit! I can't move!" Natsu groaned once the ice surrounded his body. Karissa narrowed her eyes at him and walked closer to him, "That's what you get for acting reckless!"
Natsu needs to get out of here too.
Lyon stared at the three remaining Fairy Tail wizards before him. "No matter. I doubt those two can stop Sherry and the others."
"I wouldn't underestimate Fairy Tail wizards if I were you!" Natsu shouted at him just as Karissa placed a hand on the ice around his body. She harshly pushed Natsu off the edge of the temple, making him roll down. The pink haired wizard gaped at her as she stared down at him.
"What the hell?!" Natsu's voice grew smaller and smaller.
...
...
...
Now, it was just the three of them: three ice mages.
Karissa anxiously looked at Lyon who just chuckled in amusement.
"You put him safely and quickly outside the range of my magic. A very clever move."
"Diamond Cage." She named the spell. "It's one of the spells that you learned in Ur's warehouse. A spell for simple ice magic. The user is able to destroy the target if they blow up the ice surrounding it."
She and Gray were more or less familiar with some ice magic that was not ice molding magic. Ur did mention that it was possible to learn simple ice magic after all.
"As expected from someone who kept up with me." He said, his voice dripping with light haughtiness.
Gray clicked his tongue. "Stop it. Stop acting like you're our senior, Lyon! You're not Ur's student anymore!"
"None of us are." He shot back without missing a beat.
Lyon reached for his helmet and removed it off his head, revealing his natural bluish silver hair and black eyes that she remembered except now he looked like an adult and no longer a child. He stared at the helmet in his hands, "Because Ur is no longer of this world." He said simply.
That was the truth. The harsh and painful truth.
Gray stepped forward and glared at him. "She sacrificed her life to seal Deliora away! You're trying to destroy her legacy!" he shouted at him angrily.
Lyon's eyes narrowed when he said that. He looked up from his helmet and gritted his teeth. "Don't delude yourself. You killed Ur." he spat at him. "How could you live like that?"
Gray stiffened.
"It is presumptuous of you to even speak her name!" Lyon said and lifted his hand, shooting a spell in Gray's direction. He knocked him away with some type of ice puffer fish. It happened so fast that the two younger ice mages didn't even have time to react.
Or perhaps they were still a bit shaken up from the shocking revelation.
Gray flew back against a wall.
"Lyon! Stop it!" Karissa shouted at him and moved closer to him. Lyon shifted his attention towards her when she moved closer. He didn't attack her but his eyes made her stop her in her tracks.
His eyes...
They're...
"Did he tell you what happened?" Lyon asked her as he motioned his chin towards Gray. "Did this idiot tell you the truth of what he did ten years ago?"
Karissa held his gaze for a brief moment. "... Y-Yes. He did." She turned her head away and breathed. "He challenged Deliora when she told him not to. You and Ur had to follow him to stop him... and Ur used the Iced Shell to seal Deliora away. He told me ten years ago. I'm... I'm aware of everything."
"Is that so?" Lyon stared at her with a frown and a quirked brow. "Then it absolutely confounds me how you can stand next to the guy who got our teacher killed. I, for one, couldn't stand the sight of him."
Karissa glanced behind her and saw Gray sitting up from where he was knocked away. He was feeling guilty from hearing Lyon speak now that old wounds have been reopened.
"You know that Ur gave up her life to lock away Deliora... you were there. But you're trying to undo the spell which might result in thousands of people who might get killed once it's revived." She said rationally, "What is going on Lyon? Why are you being like this?"
"What I want has never changed." He simply said as he looked at her. "That's why I'm reviving it."
"You've lost it!" Gray yelled from afar as he approached them.
What he wants?
"So, I'd appreciate it if you two stayed away from here. Don't get in the way of Deliora's revival."
Karissa sighed heavily and dropped her head. Lyon wasn't going to stop. She couldn't quite comprehend things just yet since it was still hard to swallow the truth. She ran her fingers in her hair in frustration.
What does he want from all this?!
Deliora...
Why Deliora...
I can't think straight...!
The jumbled mess of her thoughts that were being thrown around by the memories of the past just agitated her greatly to the point where she didn't want to think anymore. Her heart and mind didn't want to be on the same wavelength. They were in conflict. Instead, she groaned and dragged her nails on her forehead and peeked at Lyon through the gap of her fingers.
...
...
...
I just can't let him do it!
Ur sacrificed herself for this!
We shouldn't be fighting!
This needs to stop!
Deliora must never move!
Karissa inhaled sharply before instantly putting her fist in her palm. Lyon's eyebrows rose lightly as he saw her preparing to use a spell. Gray's eyes widened and he skidded to a stop.
"Are you serious?" Lyon's fingers twitched.
"Ice Make: Frigid Thorns!" the black haired girl touched the floor and created three large ice spikes in front of her.
"Don't be foolish." Lyon warned as he dragged a foot back. "Ice Make: Shield." A shield of ice quickly gathered in front of him before forming a shield-like barrier for his body. It effectively blocked her ice.
She wasn't done. With a focused look, she leaped towards him with her fist in her palm.
Gray hurried over as he watched the battle take place. Ice spells were being shot everywhere and fragments flew around them. He swatted away a piece of ice that flew his way. He tried to help but she just threw an ice spike in front of his feet to keep him away. She didn't want him to help.
He knew exactly what she was doing.
Damn it... Karissa. You don't have to do that!
This isn't the same!
Karissa moved and sped towards him with her hands together. "Ice Make: Ice Halberd!" Karissa shouted before creating the polearm. She dragged her right foot back in a semi circle and held the polearm with the blade pointing at Lyon. The older pupil watched her carefully while she glared at him.
She hesitated but she still swung it towards him forcefully.
I need to stop him!
I have to stop this!
I have to...!
"Ice Make: Eagle!" several eagles flew towards Karissa while Lyon leaned away from her attack, narrowly missing it. The ice eagles were destroyed when she spun the ice halberd rapidly around her. While she swung the weapon downwards after destroying all of them, Lyon used that opening to leap forward with an arm enveloped in ice with a head of a lion.
Karissa's eyes widened when he appeared in front of her.
"You're too worked up." Lyon pointed out the obvious before shoving his hand towards her face. The youngest Sinclost gasped a little and leaned her head away to avoid his attack.
She got nicked on the cheek. Just as he was about to lift his leg to kick her, Gray sent the same walls of ice between them to make Lyon get away from her. The older man jumped away from her and his boots scratched the floor as he stopped. The walls of ice went even further to scare off the followers that were chanting earlier so it left the three of them on top of the temple. Her ice halberd shattered when it got caught in Gray's barrage of walls.
Karissa watched in disbelief as Gray marched over to her and grabbed her arm firmly to pull her away and move her closer to the edge without sparing her a look. He took her place in front of Lyon. Karissa blinked dumbly.
"What are you doing...?"
"He's right. You're too worked up right now. Go find Natsu and bring him back to the village. Keep him away from here."
"But—"
"Karissa. Leave. I'm dealing with this." Her friend stated firmly and he didn't leave any room for discussion as he glared at Lyon.
The black haired girl felt the tension leave her body. She somehow felt relieved when he said that. Her arms dropped to her sides and she gazed at Gray's back. Even if she hated to admit it, she was grateful that Gray was stepping in. She felt awful about that. But that feeling wasn't enough to stop her from tagging out and leaping off the temple and flying away with her wind magic.
I really... didn't want to be there.
―
Lyon was a bit concerned now that Karissa had left for the village. Unlike the cat and the celestial wizard, Karissa appeared more capable, especially considering how she had a great amount of magic power. She might conjure up something big enough to protect the village single-handedly.
But he had faith in his subordinates.
It was almost time. They couldn't afford to let him down at this crucial time.
Still...
Lyon scoffed at Gray. "Really? You switched out with the person who could actually stand a chance against me? Stupid move. Karissa and I were always better than you back then."
"Well things change. I'm a lot stronger than I used to be." Gray growled, irritated by Lyon's insistence on acting like the senior. "Besides, it's not her job to step in."
Karissa had a gap. She was usually quite reserved and shy when it was a regular environment but she became a fierce and skilled mage when it came to battle, a surprising sight for whoever just met her.
This time, however, she was lacking some of that fierceness. It was written all over her face. She was tense. It was the same look whenever Laxus was around: unsure, uneasy and unnerved.
She was unconsciously playing her role.
It was just undeniable proof that she cared for the older ice mage.
She couldn't fight like that.
―
Once Karissa landed on the earthy ground, she stared at it with a look of disbelief. She couldn't believe how she just obediently left like that.
"Pathetic." she berated herself and then used her wind magic to glide around to make the search for Natsu.
As she looked around the forest, she couldn't help but remember that one thing she thought of just moments before Lyon's identity was revealed.
"Go destroy the village." He commanded.
And he just said that without hesitation. Yeah, he clearly has no care for the lives of others. People like that always makes me fucking sick.
Karissa gritted her teeth as she grabbed a tree and with one hand to change her direction.
That boy she once knew who was always so cheerful and eager to learn magic. The boy who was friendly and sometimes affectionate was now someone who spoke of snuffing out lives like it wasn't an issue... It was such a drastic change for his personality.
The image of a cheerful Lyon was like mist being blown away by strong winds only to reveal something completely different.
When exactly did he start seeking Deliora? That question was now clouding her mind after she got a good look at his eyes.
It wasn't the same as Gray's but his eyes held the same type of narrow focus and obsession. He was obsessed with Deliora in a similar way that Gray sought revenge on it. An alarming sight.
But why...?
... what was it again...?
―
...
...
...
Karissa tipped her head. "That's your dream?"
Lyon grinned and plopped back on the bed while Gray and Karissa looked at him, sitting side by side while Ur was finishing up downstairs.
"Yeah! She's the strongest wizard alive so I want to be better than she is one day!"
"Seems far fetched." Gray huffed.
Lyon shot up in a sitting position. "I can make it happen! I'll do my best and give it all I got!" he said quickly to shoot down Gray's opinion. "I'll be better than Ur." He grinned confidently.
"I think it's nice that you already have a dream." Karissa spoke up with a small smile. "I don't really have something strong that drove me to learn magic with Ur... so I think it's cool that you have a dream like that. I hope you can do it, Lyon."
This made the older boy smiled widely. "Just watch me."
―
Karissa stopped her magic and landed on the ground while almost tripping over her feet. It was his dream. It had to be his dream to surpass Ur that was driving him this far. He often to spoke to her about it that she knew how much that dream meant to him.
Lyon was so dead set on becoming a mage better than Ur when they were young. However, that dream became impossible once Ur sacrificed herself to save Lyon and Gray from being killed by Deliora.
Minutes ago, he just told her that what he wanted had never changed. He would never say that to her unless she was aware of what he wanted by reviving a demon of destruction.
Ur sacrificed herself and became the ice sealing away Deliora.
Lyon wanted to surpass Ur.
The question now was: how was bringing Deliora back going to help his dream? Ur could never revert back to normal. He could never hold a match with her.
No. He never mentioned that he was bringing back Ur. He specifically said he was reviving Deliora...
Karissa closed her eyes and breathed in. "... It's not mass murder he's after... Deliora wouldn't just bend to his will... He said he wasn't fond of blood..."
Then it became clear.
The ice mage's eyes shot open. "He wants to kill it...? Because Ur couldn't?"
That would literally be the only reason why he wants to revive it if he still wants to surpass Ur.
"My god he's a fucking idiot." Karissa groaned and dropped her face in her hands. "Thinking selfishly about himself and not others..."
In the quiet forest, she suddenly heard a yelp echoing from her right. It sounded like Natsu. Right, she forgot about him. Where the hell was that idiot?
"Natsu!" Karissa shouted and flew towards his voice.
"Huh? Karissa?" he answered loudly.
She found him climbing up the temple while still trapped in Lyon's ice. He looked like a walking ice cube at this point. She stopped next to him and gave him a look. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like? I don't know where the village is so I thought climbing back up would help." he heaved as he put one foot forward. "By the way, don't think I forgot what you just did back there!" Natsu shouted with sparks of fire coming out of his mouth.
"Sorry." Karissa patted his head. "I didn't want you getting blown up by Lyon."
Natsu just scowled in response. "So that's his name. He got me with a cheap move!"
"Yeah, you ran into that cheap move!" Karissa shot back before sighing heavily.
"So... you and Gray know that Lyon guy?"
"... Yes. He was another student of our teacher. And I just figured out the reason why he wanted to revive Deliora." Karissa used her wind magic to save Natsu from falling back when he missed a step. Then she remembered that Natsu was still in danger with the state he was in. "Wait, don't move from here. Let me check if they're still up there."
Minutes had passed since she left Lyon to Gray so she didn't even know if they were still fighting up there or somehow ended up underground.
Or maybe Gray was down and defeated with no Lyon in sight— a possibility she never thought to consider until she saw it with her own eyes.
Karissa scrambled over to him in slight panic with a cry of his name after getting over her initial shock. He was flat on the ground on his stomach and he was battered.
"Hey?! What about me!" Natsu yelled. "You could at least help me—!" his voice died when he nearly fell backwards. He was almost there; he couldn't fall now.
Wavering between consciousness and unconsciousness, Gray forced himself to open his eyes and look in front of him. He saw the frantic look on his best friend's face and just blinked in confusion.
"... Why are you here? I thought... I told you go to back?"
Karissa bit her lip when she heard how weak and defeated he sounded. There was dried blood on his face and arms from his fight with Lyon. Their former classmate really gave him a beating. It most likely came the from the grudge he held against Gray.
If she didn't regret leaving him before then she greatly did now.
Gray's question wasn't given a response since they heard Natsu heaving when he finally made it up the temple. "Finally!"
"...Natsu? You too?"
Natsu waddled his way over and looked at Gray. "Lame... You're almost beaten to death." He looked around.
Gray groaned as he slowly got up on his knees. "Where's Lyon?" he asked while Karissa helped up on his feet.
"He's gone. There's no one left up here but you." Karissa answered him. He was standing but he was uneasy on his feet. As soon as he stumbled, Karissa reached out and caught him. He was going to need some help walking back.
"Village is that way. C'mon, let's go. Damn, it'll be our fault if they go after Lucy!" Natsu he led the way while Karissa supported Gray.
Aside from Natsu's grunting and yelping while going down the temple, it was quiet until Gray broke the silence.
"Natsu."
Karissa felt Gray's head move towards the pink haired wizard who just looked at him curiously. "Huh?"
"... I'm in no place to criticize you..." he sniffled. "No place at all..." he said in frustration. Karissa felt the way he started dragging his feet so it made her stop to look at him. He was crying.
"Gray..."
Natsu made an annoyed sound before shuffling to look at him while he faced the ground. "Quit feeling sorry for yourself just 'cause you lost!" he shouted. "We're members of Fairy Tail! The guild that doesn't know how to stop! The only way we can live is to keep running!" he finished with a huff.
The black haired girl just kept silent as she followed Natsu and helped Gray who later just passed out on the way, forcing her to carry him with her wind magic.
―
They were able to get back to the village.
For some reason, a pitfall trap was waiting for them at the gate and Natsu fell right in. Unamused, Karissa looked at the whole after stopping a few feet away with Gray levitating behind her.
"What the hell is this...?" Karissa scowled. She looked up and stared ahead where she found Lucy and Happy along with the rest of the villagers staring at her. "Whose idea was this?" Karissa asked slowly, almost darkly.
"Lucy's, obviously." Happy shrugged.
"I knew it!" Natsu yelled, annoyed.
"This is an S-Class quest." Karissa reminded after clicking her tongue while she walked around the trap with Gray. With a wave of her hand, she helped Natsu climb out with her wind magic. "A mere pitfall trap that barely covers the length of the gate is not going to stop Lyon from eradicating the village. If you forgot, there's an entire opening just above our heads."
Happy glanced at Lucy. "I think you made her mad."
"I-It was the only thing I could think of!" Lucy defended with a shudder.
"Someone fill up this hole before someone innocent actually falls in and breaks their leg." Karissa sighed and gently set Gray down on the ground.
Karissa kept her gaze on Gray as she tried wracking her brain over the possible protection she could provide the village with. With her molding ice magic, she could go ahead and create a shell around that was dense enough to buy the villagers some type to escape somewhere or something. That was the only thing she could think of right now.
Suddenly, there was a weird buzzing sound in the air. Karissa blinked. A villager pointed out something strange in the sky.
It was the rat they saw in the forest earlier. It was carrying a large bucket as it flew above the village.
"Welp, gotta kill the rat." Karissa dragged her foot back and put her fist in her palm.
"You're going to attack it from here?!" Lucy gaped. "What if it lands on us?!"
"Better than now than let it do whatever it... wants..." She barely noticed a small drop of green falling down from where the rat was. It was falling in Lucy's direction until Natsu grabbed her out of the way. Karissa's eyes went wide. On the spot where Lucy was standing a mere second ago was now a hole in the ground. It had disintegrated the ground.
"What is that?!" Natsu moved off Lucy. "It smells like trouble!"
The villagers began to panic now that they understood the danger they were in. The rat had a bucket full of that green jelly. There wasn't any time to think about a plan because the rat swung the bucket across, and the green jelly began to fall onto the village.
Natsu ran ahead to the center. "Everyone! Get in the center of the village!" he ordered before flying up the air with Happy's help.
Karissa used her wind magic to pull the far away villagers closer to the center while the others did their part. Everyone watched as Natsu created a giant fireball and threw it towards the jelly. Instantly, the jelly exploded and dispersed everywhere, destroying everything in the village aside from the center. By the time it was over, steam was rising and evaporating in the air.
However, this moment of relief didn't last since Yuka, Toby and Sherry presented themselves in front of them.
"Reitei-sama's enemies must all be expelled. We were trying to show some mercy by making your deaths quick... but it seems there's going to be much bloodshed after all." Sherry sighed with a hand on her hip. "A shame, really."
Karissa stepped forward and immediately had wind swirling around her hands after hearing that threat. "Oh? Lyon's orders are absolute enough for you to take the lives of innocent people?" she casted a protective wind wall behind her to block her enemies from getting past her.
Sherry narrowed her eyes. "He is Reitei-sama. You should properly address him as such."
"Your Reitei-sama can go ahead and eat shit and die." Karissa said darkly, she almost didn't recognize herself when she said that. Her teammates were telling the villagers to evacuate while Karissa was trying to keep them busy.
Sherry twitched. "How dare you—!" Karissa zoomed towards her and appeared behind her in an instant. The pink haired girl gasped when she caught a glimpse of the Fairy Tail mage behind her shoulder.
"Sherry!" Yuka and Toby readied themselves to attack. However, Karissa swiveled around to avoid their attacks so she could properly shove her fist in her gut. The pink haired girl nearly double over while Kairssa just stepped a few feet to laugh mockingly.
"Loosing your cool from such a simple insult. You suck up to him, you must be a creepy admirer." Karissa looked over her shoulder and saw that the villagers were getting away while Natsu, Lucy and Happy remained behind.
With tears in her eyes and a furious expression, Sherry yelled, "Don't mock my love for Reitei-sama!"
"Calm down!" Yuka tried telling her while Toby whined like a dog.
"There's no escaping!" The next thing they knew, Sherry had summoned back her pet rat and jumped on its back. She was going after the villagers. As she flew past them, Lucy, who apparently got too excited, accidentally grabbed onto Angelica's foot, leaving Happy, Natsu and Karissa dumbfounded.
Happy sweat dropped. "Yep, she's stupid."
Natsu stared at the flying rat, "More like insane!"
"I'll help her out..." Karissa sighed. She turned around and used her ice magic. "Ice Make: Frozen Star Assault!" She created a bow and arrow made of ice. The tip of the arrow was a circular spike. She shot it towards the rat and she watched the orb stretched into a star shape before it exploded into a number of arrows. It pierced the rat and immediately made it stop flying, making it crash to the ground somewhere on the island.
Yuka sighed while Toby started barking nonsense.
"That was dangerous... what if Lucy got crushed?" Natsu wondered.
"I have a feeling she's still alive." Karissa shrugged.
Happy took out his wings and decided to go check on her.
...
...
...
"Let me help you."
Natsu and Karissa's heads perked up at the sound of Gray's voice. He was wobbly on his feet behind them. It was obvious to them that he was in no shape no continue fighting for the rest of the day.
Karissa looked at him worriedly while Natsu just stared at his opponents.
"You get out. We don't need you here."
Gray was panting. He must have woken up and ran back while the villagers were transporting him away from the fighting.
"Natsu... Don't mock—" his words died when Natsu walked over to him and rammed his fist into his gut. Gray weakly gripped the arm that punched him while he struggled to stay on his feet.
"Just lie down and rest." The fire mage simply said and ignored the weak death threat Gray threw at him. He held up his body once he fell limp and went back into the realm of unconsciousness. Karissa hurried over to them and offered to bring Gray back to where the villagers were and keep an eye out for them just in case there were more of Lyon's lackeys coming down from the temple. They couldn't just leave the villagers unguarded.
"You going to be okay on your own?" Karissa wondered when she held up Gray's body with her wind magic.
Natsu just smirked and waved his hand dismissively. "Of course! I'll take care of business here without a problem! You just get that idiot somewhere where he won't get in the way."
"Mmkay. I'll see you later then." She patted Natsu's shoulder and started walking.
She walked while holding onto Gray's wrist to make sure he was by her side while she escorted him back. She didn't want someone running up to her from behind and grabbing him hostage while he was unconscious.
The black haired girl looked at him and stared at his face.
This S-Class quest is probably the worst job we've ever been on. It's even worse for Gray since he's lost people because of that demon.
We're forced to face a past that we thought we've moved on from.
She gently stroked his wrist with her thumb as if to console him or something while in actuality she was doing it for herself.
She just wanted this job to be over with.
Maybe this could just be all a bad dream we'll wake up from.
―
...
...
...
"Reitei-sama."
Lyon shifted his head a little when he heard his alias. He was underground looking up at Deliora while the his group and Fairy Tail's were clashing above ground.
"Why did you not kill that boy named Gray?" a man with a mask asked curiously.
Reitei crossed his arms. "No particular reason. You know I dislike blood." he answered simply.
The masked man chuckled a little. "No, no. You say that yet you are exterminating the villagers. It would seem that you have sentiments for your fellow pupil."
Reitei scoffed and lowered his head to shake it. "Nonsense." He looked up at the demon encased in ice. "After such a crushing defeat as a warning, he won't oppose me again. Still, if he does attempt to interfere, then I won't hesitate to kill him."
"Oh?" Zalty tipped his head, "And what about the other one named Karissa?"
Upon hearing her name, Reitei blinked and looked shifted his eyes somewhere else. "I'll deal with her myself." He said simply after a brief pause. "I'm certain she'll come for me. I wouldn't expect anything less. It would be better for me to stop her before she becomes a problem."
"Deal with her yourself? I may be wrong but you could have done so earlier when you closed in on her when you fought her earlier."
Reitei sighed heavily and glanced over his shoulder. "You're talking too much, Zalty. Don't you have preparations to take care of?"
Zalty just chortled behind his mask. "Apologies, Reitei-sama. I will be going now." He said before walking down a tunnel with some of the followers following closely behind.
Lyon listened to Zalty and the followers' footsteps receding until they were completely unheard. The older pupil closed his eyes and breathed through his nose and looked back up at Deliora.
He was so close. It was only a matter of time now.
You should understand more than anyone how much this means to me.