"Hey, look." Karissa pointed at the waterfall, "The water is floating."
Gray followed after her when she bounced over to the waterfall that looked rather beautiful in the sunlight. According to a sign he just passed by, there was a lacrima located below the water, causing droplets of water to simply levitate and float in the air. Karissa carefully squatted down and peered inside the water curiously.
"Find anything interesting?" Gray stopped next to her.
"Fish." Karissa snickered before pushing back her right sleeve behind her elbow and dipping her hand inside the water to fish out something. It was a small lacrima crystal. She held it up and examined it in an excavator-like manner. "It looks nice when it's not a weapon."
"Tower of Heaven?" he took it from her when she handed it to him.
"Yep." She wiped her hand on her jacket and pushed herself back up. She stared at the floating water droplets around them, admiring the scenery.
Gray chuckled inwardly when she looked at the area with an artists' eye. The scenery did look rather nice. He lightly tossed the lacrima back inside the water.
―
"Gray!" Karissa quickly called him and nearly fell off the seat she tried throwing herself onto. Gray, who was just eating some bread and going through a magazine he swiped off a counter, looked at her curiously and wondered why she was all excited.
"What's up?"
She slapped a job request form on the magazine and grinned, "This is the town in the south! Novera! It sells a bunch of cool art supplies last time I checked! I talked about it after we came back from Galuna Island!"
"And...?" he tipped his head, confused.
"Look at the freaking reward money!"
"Huh?"
His eyes lazily wandered downward. He nearly choked on his spit when he saw all the extra zeroes. He snatched the form off the table and stared at it in disbelief while Karissa smirked. She knew he was getting a little angsty about his expenses, and this seemed like an efficient way to get his attention.
"Holy shit?! Just for retrieving some lost auction items?!"
"Right? But..." Karissa casually plucked the form out of his hands, snapping him out of his cash daydream, and merely shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, I just wanted to show it to you since I'll be using the reward money to buy some art stuff. So byeee." She chuckled and walked away from his table until she felt him grab the back of her sweater.
Karissa looked over her shoulder with a grin.
Gray scowled at the shit eating grin on her face. "I need some freaking money. And that job will be hella lot easier to cover my expenses for two months. Can I go with you?"
It was easy.
"Say please?" she jutted her bottom lip teasingly. He knew she wasn't going to refuse.
"Please. I'll meet you at the station in an hour."
Karissa laughed when Gray took the flyer from her hands and went to tell Mirajane that they were going on a job together.
―
Gray and Karissa were out on a job together for their own personal benefits.
Karissa wanted some high-quality markers while Gray needed some more money.
They were currently on their way to Novera on foot since the town was a couple of minutes away from the train station. It wasn't all that bad considering how they were exposed to different types of views of nature that were influenced by the presence of lacrima. According to what Pandora told Karissa, the town usually had lacrima crystals laying around which meant the environment look interesting enough to be a touring spot.
After walking through the forest for a little while, they both stopped when they found a line of weird creatures walking together. They looked a little translucent with their jelly-like form. They had small little hands and feet.
Gray stuffed his hands in his pockets and bent his upper body to get a closer look at them, "Hey, these guys are pretty cute, huh?"
"I guess there's still some creatures we don't really know about..." Karissa squatted down again and peered down at them with her hands on her knees.
"These guys probably live in the forest just like how Vulcans prefer to live in the mountains. That's my guess at least." Gray watched her hesitantly approach her index finger to touch it like as if she was trying to pet a dog for the first time.
When her finger poked the creature, it just stopped and smiled at her while lifting its little arms. It seemed pleased.
Karissa giggled softly and turned her head to Gray, "They don't seem that dangerous—" she was cut off when it suddenly lunged at her and tried to go inside her mouth. Gray jumped and quickly tried prying it off her while she fell back on her rear with a startled muffled yell.
"Get off!" Gray tugged its lower body when it successfully shoved its jelly hands inside her mouth and was about to dive inside. It was pretty slippery. "Hold still!" Gray groaned while Karissa slapped her feet on the ground repeatedly in a panic while she was helping Gray pull the creature.
When he finally got it off of her, he just tossed it aside. It simply bounced on the ground before standing upright and then following its brethren to who knows where.
"The hell was that..."
Karissa stood up and sputtered in disgust away from him. "Ugh, the fuck?! All I did was poke it!" Gray looked at her and scratched the back of his head while she continued sputtering. "I feel like... my tongue is throbbing or twitching..."
"Alright," Gray sighed and walked closer to her. He turned her around in front of him and put his hand under her chin to tilt her head upwards. "Say 'aah'."
Karissa opened her mouth with knitted brows. It was weird to have Gray inspect her mouth, but what can she do?
He blinked and tipped his head. "Aside from the coloration from that candy you ate on the train, nothing looks wrong." Gray let go of her while she just made a sound that was similar to a whine.
"Still feels weird though..." she said and stuck her tongue out so that she could try and peek at it while crossing her eyes.
"Drink some water." He suggested.
"But what if I get poisoned or something by downing it with water?!"
Gray put an arm around her and started bringing her along with him since she kept trying to peek at her tongue like an idiot. Plus, more of them were starting to gather around the area. The last thing he wanted was to get same treatment.
"Then let's hurry up and bring you to a doctor or something. Maybe they'll know what happened since they live near here."
"Ugh..."
Gray watched her stick her tongue out to look at it again.
She snapped her head towards Gray when she heard him snicker.
"Still, it was kinda funny."
"It's not! How about I go grab one and shove it into your mouth and let you deal with that on your own?!"
"Yeah? And risk another fun experience?" He smirked.
"Watch me!" She turned and was about to march back until Gray grabbed her arm and pulled her along with him.
"Okay, sorry for laughing!"
"You don't look sorry!" she lightly elbowed him on the side.
When they arrived in Novera, they asked around for a doctor until someone wondered why they needed to see one so suddenly when they just arrived in town.
...
...
...
"Oh? Those Nobi? They like dark cramped spaces." The little old man smiled. "Don't worry. You're not poisoned or anything. The Nobi just saw the inside of your mouth as a nice place to settle in."
Karissa just looked at the man dumbfounded while Gray covered his mouth and laughed on the side. Karissa's eye twitched.
"... Thanks."
The small old man lifted his hand and bid her farewell and continued with his walk after giving Gray a funny look.
Karissa then rammed her forearm into Gray's stomach to shut him up.
"Oof!" Gray gasped for breath. "Not cool!"
"Stop laughing at me!" Karissa scowled and batted his shoulder when he continued chuckling. "I hate you." She turned on her heel and pulled out the flyer as she walked away from him, pursing her lips in immense annoyance.
Gray chuckled a little more when he followed after her and was able to stop when he fell into step with her.
"Okay, I'm done now. Sorry."
"Eat shit and die. I hope a Nobi crawls up your ass."
"Don't be mean—"
"Because you're actually a few steps away from it with how you're walking around in your underwear." She casually said and didn't look back as she walked even when Gray stopped and freaked. He ran back to his clothes and started hastily putting them back on.
"Mommy, look!"
"Don't look him in the eye, honey."
"How scandalous."
"Karissa! Wait up!" he shouted in embarrassment, ignoring the stares and whispers of the local men and women, when his best friend kept walking without him.
"Byeee."
―
After meeting up with their client and getting the gist of the situation, they checked into the hotel to drop off their stuff since they knew they would be spending the night once they recovered the auction items. Apparently, the reason why they were rewarding so much money for this job was because the client would be earning thrice as much when the auction takes place. The town was known for its art since its prosperity came from it.
The monster that stole the auction items was some type of giant red salamander that breathed fire.
"So, basically, we're looking for Natsu." Gray chortled.
Karissa snickered and swung her legs over the wall to drop down. "You're funny."
"I try." Gray said as he followed after her.
The two walked further inside the forest together where it was quiet. The only sounds around them were their own footsteps and the rustling of leaves. They knew that the salamander lived in the forest and that it was big. Those clues alone were enough to get them started. It would be pretty hard not to notice a big red monster after all.
Seeing how Karissa was quiet and focused on her task, it was hard for Gray not to mess with her a little. He smirked and leaned closer to her while putting a hand gently on her shoulder.
"There's a Nobi over there."
The black haired girl inhaled sharply and instantly stumbled backwards into his chest, eyes darting around frantically. "Where the fuck is it?"
"I'm messing with you, relax." Gray snorted and then she kissed her teeth in annoyance. She moved away from him and shoved his shoulder.
"You're a real ass, you know that?"
"Okay, that's the last time. I promise." He chuckled softly and tousled her hair while she gave him a dirty look. With a huff, she turned away from him and continued keeping an eye out. He fell into step with her and looked around for anything big and red among the nature surrounding them.
Karissa stopped in her tracks and grabbed his jacket, putting him to a stop. He arched a brow and looked at her curiously. "You see something?"
"No wait, be quiet... Do you hear that?" Karissa put a finger to her lips.
They fell silent.
Somewhere in the forest, there was something breathing.
Gray looked around and found no sign of whatever was breathing like that. "Either that's the thing we're looking for or that's some kind of wild animal looking at us like we're food. I hope it's not the former."
"I'll look around from above."
"Go ahead."
Karissa let a gust of wind suddenly throw her up in the air and she caught herself with the help of a gentler one. Meanwhile, Gray did his own searching for anything odd. He was really excited to finish this job since a bunch of cash would be dropping into his pockets right after. If Gray had taken this job on his own, the reward money would have been enough to cover his expenses for a whole four months.
"Hm?" He looked down when he felt his shoe kick something.
It was rectangular looking object that had cool colors. The raven haired mage picked it up and fished out a piece of paper from his back pocket. He held them up next to each other.
"One of the missing objects are a pair of earrings that were designed by an old painter who was also a jeweler. They are extremely valuable since they are practically a miniature painting."
"Is this it...?" he muttered and looked around. "But where is the other one?"
The salamander must have dropped it while it ran away.
Gray tucked it into his pocket and stood up. He looked up at the sky and saw no trace of Karissa. She must have gone somewhere else to find the salamander. In the mean time, he should probably go back and check for the other pair of the earring.
That is until he was suddenly surrounded by a circle of fire.
"What the hell?!" Gray staggered back and looked around him.
The flames continued to rise until there was a wall of fire. He gritted his teeth when he thought about the fire spreading through the trees to reach the town.
"Ice-Make:—!"
Something suddenly jumped at him.
Karissa stopped flying when she turned around and saw part of the forest in flames.
"Not good." Karissa descended closer to the forest and unleashed a wave of ice through standard ice magic. She was at it for a few seconds until she spotted Gray with burnt pants running away to distance himself from something.
Gray skidded to a stop and slammed his fist in his palm. "Ice Make: Prison!"
An ice prison rose when Gray slammed his hands onto the floor, trapping a large red creature inside. The salamander let out a cry and bunted its head on the ice bars to try and force its way through.
"Karissa, I found it!" Gray hollered over his shoulder when he saw her.
"Okay, try to knock it out or something! I'll take out the fire for now!"
The salamander breathed out fire angrily and stomped around to whip its tail against the bars. Gray yelped and ducked when the fire nearly burned his hair. The salamander was making a fuss inside the ice prison and was trying to break out of there violently.
"Yeah, it's like Natsu." Gray grimaced he created an ice shield to block off the flames that were spreading.
The red salamander screeched and ran its body through the bars and successfully busted out. Gray leaped away when its tail slammed down where he previously stood. Whenever Gray tried to trap it, it still forced its way out no matter how sturdy he mage his ice.
"Man, you don't know when to settle down, huh?" Gray got into his stance. "Ice Make: Hammer!"
Too caught up in its anger, it didn't notice the ice hammer materialize above its head and drop on it. The salamander let out a few sounds before falling limply on its side. Gray expelled a sigh of relief and straightened up when it went out cold. A few seconds ago, the salamander appeared out of nowhere, in a smaller form, and just started burning its pants after it lunged at him. He nearly ended up with no pants if he didn't smack it away with a small ice hammer. That alone just pissed it off and made it grow bigger and chase him down.
When Karissa returned, she looked a little disappointed for not helping out.
Gray pulled out the earring. "I found this."
Karissa let him drop it in her hands. "This is one of them, right? Where's the other?"
"I don't know." Gray looked back where he came from. "I was going to trace back our steps to look for it." He looked at the salamander with an irritated scowl. "Until this thing came out of nowhere and burned my pants!"
"It was probably trying to recover it." Karissa guessed with a shrug. They both looked at the salamander as they tried to figure out what to do next. To their surprise, the creature started shrinking and shrinking until it became more or less the size of Karissa's palm.
"So... it's a fire-breathing salamander that can change its size?" Karissa tipped her head. She looked at her friend and held up her hand. "So? What do we do with it?"
"We can't just cage it up. It'll break free." Gray sighed in annoyance as he ruffled the back of his hair. "Hey, don't pick it up! What if it wakes up and burns you?"
Karissa nervously held it in the palm of her hand and looked at him like a child who brought home some random thing they found in their backyard and decided to show it to their parents.
"Put it down." Gray picked it up from its tail and set it on a rock.
"But we can use it to track down where it hides the auction items. I bet it was trying to take that earring you put in your pocket. That's probably why your pants got burned first." She explained and put her hands in her pockets.
"You think it's going to let us take what it stole? That's not going—"
CHOMP!
Gray screamed loudly as the salamander just bit his hand. It hurt so bad. The male ice mage tried shaking it off with all his might but the creature wouldn't let go of him. He tried to rip it off with his other hand but that only made it bite harder.
He whipped his head in the female ice mage's direction who was just watching him with an amused grin and shouted, "Get this stubborn thing off me!"
"Alright, alright. Bear with me, Gray."
"Huh?!"
She puled out the earring and held it in front of the salamander that appeared a little bigger compared to a few seconds ago. The red creature blinked and loosed its jaw around Gray's hand. Its small eyes were moving back and forth between the black haired girl's face and the pretty earring.
Just as it leaped to snatch it out of her hands with its mouth, she moved away from it and held it higher. She heard Gray exhale in relief. The salamander looked up at her, miffed, and circled around her.
I'm a little scared that it'll just light me on fire though...
She blinked.
The salamander tilted its head.
Maybe I'll try...
Karissa created a replica of the earring and dropped it. The salamander quickly jumped up and caught it in its mouth. Once it landed on the grounded, it shrunk in size and started running away from them. Immediately, Karissa created an ice spear and followed after it with the help of her wind magic. She drew a trail behind her as she followed the salamander that was quickly scurrying off.
Eventually, the salamander disappeared into a cave in the eastern part of the forest.
It turns out that the salamander had stolen auction items that had one thing in common: they were all shiny in the light. That gave Karissa the idea to replace it all with small lacrima crystals that were found in the water where the waterfall was.
A win-win situation that made everyone happy.
―
...
...
...
After receiving and splitting their reward, they both retired to their rooms and met up two hours later to eat at a nearby restaurant for dinner. They took their time to eat and just simply hang out together while talking about some stories that made each other laugh.
It was nice to just spend time together like this.
Simple joys like this made Karissa happy, especially when they were spent with people that she was extremely close with.
Sometimes, it made her think that she was born just to enjoy that simple joy.
After dinner, Karissa walked next to a sleepy looking Gray. He had some beer along with the food which got him in that state. He wasn't drunk, but it did make him want to sleep. She was glad she didn't have to drag his drunk ass back to his hotel room.
"You sure you didn't want to buy the markers today?" Gray yawned with his hands in his pockets as they walked side by side. Karissa also put her hands in her pockets and just shrugged nonchalantly. "It's fine. I can buy them tomorrow."
"What if the store is closed tomorrow?"
"Nah. I checked the store earlier when we passed by the store. They're open." She informed him. "The opening hours is just a bit different. They'll open around twelve."
"Just be sure to remember to buy them before we leave or else you would have come here for nothing." He lightly chuckled to himself.
Karissa put her index fingers to her temples. "I got it engraved in my brain." she grinned at him. "There's no way I'm forgetting."
It was a few minutes after they bid each other goodnight that Karissa thought it would good to get him a water bottle to sober up. Now, she wasn't an expert in alcohol, but she knew that water helped people who drank alcohol. She didn't exactly know how much a person needed to drink in order to need alcohol to help them. The girl would probably need to experience it herself to know (which wasn't going to happen anytime soon). So, she just decided to buy a water bottle from the counter and give it to Gray nonetheless before heading to bed.
She was expecting to find him looking all normal and just call her gesture unnecessary since he wasn't wasted in the first place. She never considered finding his room with a broken window and a knocked over lamp until she came in when she realized that his door was open.
"... What happened?!"
She dropped the bottle and ran over to the window in a slight panic. What on earth happened during the few minutes they were away from each other? She placed her hands on the windowsill, not caring about the broken glass that might cut her hand, and peered out into the darkness for any sign of her best friend.
The people that were still out at night looked up at her in confusion since they found broken glass on the pavement. Judging by their reactions, they didn't seem to know what happened either or else she'd find at least someone giving off a clue of his whereabouts.
She gritted her teeth and stepped onto the windowsill and proceeded to jump out the window. She caught herself and levitated herself to the top of the hotel.
"Zephyr Sensory." She muttered before a gentle breeze began to spread out and circulate around the whole town. There wasn't any cool temperature within the breeze, meaning that Gray wasn't in the town anymore.
What the hell... where is he?!
Whoever came here and caught him off guard couldn't have gone too far.
Unless they used teleportation magic...
She forced herself to spread the wind to the outskirts of the town. It was getting a little cooler there. He must have fought back somewhere there. If so, then the temperature around his body should still be cold. She needed to pinpoint the direction.
Karissa closed her eyes and focused. The image of an arrow ran through a painted picture of the map of Fiore, specifically the area they were in, and noticed that Gray's temperature was more towards the south.
All the way to the south near the water? Where the hell are they planning on bringing him?!
Without wasting another second, Karissa sped off and jumped off the building before traveling via wind magic.
―
...
...
...
Gray glared at the men around him. He absolutely loathed the situation he was currently in. It was pathetic.
Five minutes ago, he was just lying down on his bed and just relaxing after a nice meal and time spent with his friend until someone literally crashed into his room by breaking through the window. Despite feeling a little sleepy, Gray had reacted fast enough to dodge the person's hand that tried to grab him. The second time he wasn't so lucky since the person was fast enough to close the distance between them.
Gray thought he was about to get hit so he threw his arms up in defense, however, he ended up having a bright light flash in his eyes, blinding him, and the next thing he knew he was outside in the dark. They had used teleportation magic on him. Still a little startled by what had just happened, his assailant had kicked him down and restrained his arms behind his body before cuffing him with handcuffs that were meant to seal away his magic, rendering him absolutely useless. It all happened so fast.
Obviously, he had fought against whoever tried to take him away but he still ended up being thrown into a cage like some circus animal. When he demanded to be let out, his ten kidnappers refused to listen to him let alone look at him. They were completely ignoring him as they drove the cage towards the south.
It was only when Gray had leaned back against the moving cage to try and think about an escape plan that he saw something shocking. He saw small bodies laid out in front of him. The moonlight that peeked through the tree leaves revealed that they were all bodies of unconscious children.
He was horrified.
This looks like...
Gray's eyes narrowed angrily.
Human trafficking.
Those poor kids.
Angered by the sight, Gray turned around and started yelling at his kidnappers. "Where the hell are you bastards bringing these kids?!"
These kinds of people who chose to trade their fellow human beings for their own gain just made him sick. If only these cuffs weren't sealing away his magic, he would have immediately stopped them.
One of them shifted his head to look at him, annoyed by his outburst. "Someone shut this guy up..." he muttered.
Gray clenched his fists tightly. He needed to calm down and think. This was no time to get angry and waste his time demanding answers. He could do that later once he got away. But escaping on his own would only leave the children in a bad situation. Now that he was thinking calmly, why the hell did they capture a guy like him? Surely, they had to realize that the second they removed the cuffs off his wrists that he was going to break free and beat them up.
The moment they open this damn cage, I'm going to break these cuffs.
He would have to forcefully rip them apart to free his arms. He was confident that he could manage with his fists judging by how weak his kidnappers looked. Magic wasn't his only weapon after all.
All of a sudden, a wind slash zoomed above Gray's head and set the roof of the cage flying off. The metallic sound of the roof echoed in the forest once it fell on the ground.
"Who's there?!" one of his kidnappers lit his hands on fire.
It was deathly quiet.
Gray smirked when he realized who came to his aid. He didn't expect her to find out he was missing.
A figure stepped out of the shadows, causing his kidnappers to fire off their magic in their direction. A shattering sound echoed in the forest upon impact, revealing fragments of ice lying on the ground. Karissa jumped out from her position in a tree and landed on the ground behind two guys. They quickly turned around when she did but only met her fists that punched them against the metal bars of the cage. Gray winced when he got a first view of their collision.
Gray whistled. "That's gotta hurt."
"Stop her!"
Karissa smiled at Gray when he grinned at the sight of her.
"What's up, princess?" Karissa teased.
"The cuffs. They're sealing my magic." Gray turned his back to her and let her freeze the handcuffs so he could shatter them with sheer force.
"Thanks." Gray smirked and froze the bars around him to make them easy to break out of while Karissa dodged magical attacks. He glanced at the children and took note that they were still unconscious, but before he could help them, he needed to deal with these assholes first.
He stepped off the moving cage that had stopped and dodged several attacks with ease. They really were weak against him.
The ring leader of the kidnappers stared in shock as his comrades started falling against the Fairy Tail wizards. They were beating his men with no problem. It made him panic. This was not supposed to happen. His eyes darted to the children in the broken cage and desperately tried to figure out a plan to escape with them. However, he couldn't see a way to escape without having his men supporting him. The girl would most definitely catch up to him with her wind magic.
"Damn...!" he gritted his teeth furiously. He removed his glove, revealing a blue ring, and let out a cry as he shot magic towards the two mages just as they kicked down the last person.
Gray caught a glimpse of the beam of magic coming towards them, but it just happened so fast. They were both struck in the head with a blue light, causing them to freeze up and stare blankly at the ground. The magic power they were emitting completely ceased.
"Kill each other! Tear each other apart! I don't care!" The ring leader screamed at them, frantically.
Gray and Karissa looked at each other with bright blue eyes and got into a fighting stance before they lunged at each other with magic. They were fighting each other just as he ordered them to.
The leader cursed under his breath and yelled at his comrades. "Get the hell up! Do you want to stay here and get arrested?! Move it!"
His beaten men naturally obeyed him and started getting back up on their feet.
"But sir...! What about the shipment?!"
"Forget it! We'll get another batch!"
―
Illegal magic.
Much like Charm magic that hypnotizes the target into a state of attraction, Mind Control magic is forbidden by the Magic Council since it coerces victims into doing activities that they wouldn't want to participate in.
Those under the Mind Control are forced to take a backseat in their own minds and simply watch helplessly as their body obeys orders given to them. And unlike Charm, the spell cannot be broken by simply being aware of the hypnosis, the spell can only be broken after five minutes or once the order was fulfilled.
So much could happen in only five minutes.
Death for example.
Karissa plunged an ice dagger into Gray's shoulder which made him grit his teeth and punch her in the face to get her off him. She recoiled and looked back in front of her and found him lunging at her. He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her on the ground.
Karissa gasped for breath when her back collided harshly against the hard ground.
Gray created an ice sword and plunged it down. Karissa turned on her side at the last moment to avoid it piercing her stomach before glaring at him and knocking her fist sideways into his jaw. He groaned in pain and backed away, giving her enough time create her dauphin clock hands and direct it towards him. The male ice mage created an ice dome around himself which was enough for her ice to only pierce through and stop.
He shattered the ice around him after smashing it away with a battle axe.
She created her ice halberd and swung towards him, lightly slashing him across his stomach. He winced and broke her ice weapon with his battle axe and proceeded to kick his leg up. The female ice mage brought up her arm and blocked his leg with a grunt before grabbing his ankle and swinging him to a tree.
In an instant, Gray's hand was pinned against the three when Karissa plunged a dagger into his palm. He cried out in pain. She stared down at him with piercing blue eyes while she pushed the dagger further into his hand.
The raven haired male grabbed her other hand that tried to pierce him with another dagger and squeezed her wrist tightly until she cried out in pain, forcing her to drop her ice dagger. He used that opportunity to make his own and stab her in the same shoulder. It made her loosen her hold on the dagger that was piercing his hand which gave him the chance to ram his foot into her guts. He sent her rolling back and she ended up writhing in pain on the ground.
His hand ripped out the dagger from his hand and he approached with the intent to kill.
He slashed her on the left side with an ice sword, drawing more blood from her.
It was violent.
Their blood dripped here and there from their fresh wounds.
Their orders were to kill each other.
And that's what they were going to do.
...
...
...
Karissa who was stuck in a dark place, repeatedly slammed her fist against an invisible wall that kept her from having full control of her actions.
At this rate... we'll really kill each other!
She was growing frantic by the second.
"Stop it!" Karissa screamed helplessly as she saw herself slam her forehead against Gray's and then proceeded to grab his hair and ram his face into a tree.
"Fuck! Fuck!" Karissa continued pounding against the wall. "Make it stop! Stop, damn it!"
I don't want to hurt him like this! I don't want to kill him!
Don't kill him!
Why did magic have to be so cruel like this?
The weight of guilt and despair was bringing her down to her knees where she could only cry as the fear of killing him overwhelmed her entire being.
This wasn't supposed to happen! We we're literally just having a good time an hour ago!
Her mind would surely break from witnessing anymore of this nightmare. She just wanted it all to stop.
Karissa pounded even harder on the invisible wall. "STOP IT! STOP! I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS!" her hands simultaneously harshly pounded the wall. "I DON'T WANT TO KILL GRAY!"
All of a sudden, the dark room she was stuck in was illuminated in bright purple light and her hands fell through the wall. Karissa froze in confusion with her tear stained face. What just happened? The next thing she knew, she was very much aware of how she was dodging Gray's attacks. She flexed her fingers a little to try and see if she had control of her body. She did. Her attacks that brought her best friend harm had also stopped.
She was in control again.
Karissa's eyes narrowed. "Okay."
Everything was under her control.
And geez, Gray gave me a nice beating.
Without attacking him back, Karissa evaded his attacks while she tried to wrack her brain over a solution.
Running away from him might not work. He's clearly fighting with a hundred percent of his strength in addition to a violent behaviour. I can't turn my back on him. If I get caught while running away, he might seriously kill me. Plus, I don't even know how long this mind control thing lasts.
Maybe calling out to him might help? He might come out of the mind control like me.
Karissa back stepped away from him. "Gray! Wake up!" she yelled at him. "Don't let that loser's mind control win over you! Snap out of it!"
Gray sent an ice geyser after her.
"Gray!" she screamed at him and blocked his ice geyser with an ice wall. "Wake the hell up! Listen to me! You need to fight it!"
"Ice-Make: Saucer!" he sent a large spinning disk in her direction. Karissa evaded by ducking and then ran up to him to grab his arms to stop him from putting his hands together but he easily broke free.
"Gray—!" her voice died when punched her in the face to stun her and then he swung his leg downward to knock her off her feet. She landed on her wounded side.
Yeah. Okay. That's not working. And if I continue like this, I'll get seriously hurt!
Karissa used her wind magic to push him away from her before he had the chance to strike her.
Then I'll knock him out.
She had to fight back now for her sake and his.
It was a little tough since he was acting violent. It was difficult to find a good opening. He once nearly strangled her to death if she didn't sink an ice claw into his arm. She didn't mind drawing a bit a blood if it meant he would still come out of it alive. Wounds heals and scars remains, unlike a life that can lost forever once it is snuffed out.
When she finally found a perfect opening, she harshly kneed him into his gut, causing him to freeze up from having the wind knocked out of him. He doubled over in pain and left the back of his head exposed. Karissa locked her hands together and raised them up behind him.
When she brought her hands down to strike him, she suddenly froze in place, her hands stopped a hair away from him.
An ice sword impaled her.
Karissa felt the pain.
With gritted teeth, she rested her hands on his shoulders to support herself. "Gray...!" she croaked, with her lips stained red from her blood.
His body glowed in bright purple just as he retracted his bloody sword from her body.
Agh, no good.
Her crimson blood splattered on the grass and she just felt so weak. Her knees buckled and she fell on them before collapsing on the side. Gray had also fallen on his knees and just fell on his side. His ice sword shattered when it fell. He was unconscious. It must have been the effect after he 'fulfilled' his task while under the mind control.
That brought a smile of relief.
That's good. We're all good.
"Geez... if... that's all it took to... complete the order... I should... have just... let him do it..."
They were okay now. The only problem now was the wound he gave her. Karissa grimaced. She could feel the warmth of her blood and it was beginning to pool around her.
Just need to... seal it...
She raised her hand to her front and started covering the wound with ice. It would have to do the trick until she found a doctor.
The back.
As she turned on her side and away from Gray, she weakly reached behind her and tried to find the spot where her life was seeping out of. But her sight was going black. She was starting to slip into unconsciousness.
She brushed her fingers against the torn flesh and whimpered.
Come on... just that last part... It shouldn't be that hard...
It was no use.
Karissa's hand fell limply against the ground. Her dark brown eyes were slowly hiding behind her eyelids that were enveloping her in complete darkness.
―
NEAR THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF FIORE, TWO HOURS AWAY FROM NOVERA.
...
...
...
"So, you don't have it?"
The ring leader of the kidnappers, Sano, was quick to defend himself. "That girl! She was too strong! And things only got worse when she freed the last one we captured. If we tried to take the kids with us, we wouldn't even be here!"
A woman, with dark brown hair and that matched the colour of her eyes, and who looked past her fifties, just stared at Sano with an unamused expression. The people at her side stood silently as she didn't say anything. The silence was terrifying.
Sano's men looked around them nervously.
"So," the woman finally spoke. "You mean to tell me, that instead of casting your magic on them after you secured the shipment, you ran away like a coward and deserted the task I gave you?"
Sano's face twitched as she called him that. He clenched his fist tightly. He had to make things right. It was one thing to displease his employer but it was a complete different thing to abandon his job.
The human trafficker got down on his knee and lowered his head. "I can go back and retrieve the shipment immediately! I just need a chance! Those two probably killed each other by now. I can still do what you ask of me!"
He needed money to live.
And so far, this woman has been giving it to him. He couldn't break it off with her.
"Please, Lady Reiya!"
The woman known as Reiya breathed through her nose as she closed her eyes, she was annoyed.
"Chances are only for those who are deserving of them. I would have given you a chance if you came back with less than half of your men and at least one child..."
"What?"
"Those who flee from a simple miscalculation are not worth my time and money." Reiya sighed and shuddered as she brought her hands together. "I cannot trust you any longer. Our contact ends here."
Sano's eyes widened. "No...!" he stood up in alarm. "You can't! I need you!"
Reiya snorted and gave him a mocking look. "You need me? Yes, but I don't need you." She laughed and shook her head. "'I need you'. My goodness, all poor people are the same, begging money from the wealthy without an ounce of shame."
Sano gritted his teeth. "You... You don't know what it's like! You live in a stinkin' rich house and get to have everything you want! People like us have to resort to this or else we'll die!"
Reiya paused. Her dark brown eyes opened and she narrowed them at Sano.
"Then die." She spat darkly.
"... Huh?"
All of a sudden, one of Reiya's people ran up in front of him and grabbed his whole face. Sano's eyes widened in horror as they saw a young woman stare at him blankly. The next thing Sano's men saw was their leader's body become all twisted up before blood just splattered everywhere. They all screamed in terror as they saw their leader's blood on their body.
Reiya stared at them apathetically as they tried to flee only to be killed by the others who were standing by her side. Unlike the first one who attacked, they left behind their physical bodies after being killed. In some way, this was Reiya twisted way of mercy.
A hooded figure calmly approached the woman and looked at her in confusion. "Lady Reiya, is it really wise for us to leave them like this? Is it not risky?"
The dark haired woman merely waved her hand dismissively and turned on her heel to walk towards the large boat waiting behind her.
"It's fine. Dead men tell no tales."