The team stared at how Master Makarov was just drinking away some booze without a care in the world.
"Gramps, what are you sitting around here for?!" Natsu exclaimed.
Karissa scrunched up her nose at the smell of booze strongly emanating from him. Just how much alcohol had he been drinking?
"Ooh, right you are." Makarov set down his mug and pointed his finger at the group, "How dare you gon on an S-Class quest without permission?!"
Karissa blinked. That's what he's concerned about? C'mon Master…
"Punishment!" He hollered like a typical drunk man, "I'll give you your punishment now! Prepare yourselves!"
"It's not the time for that now!" Natsu shouted but was then cut off when Master Makarov's hand stretched to land chop on Natsu's head.
Karissa, Gray and Happy flinched when they received their own respective chops. Lucy got a spank on the bum though which Mirajane scolded him for.
Erza and Natsu stepped up.
"Master! Do you understand our current situation?!"
"They wrecked our guild!"
With a tired sigh, Makarov propped his head up with his hand and drummed his fingers on his knee. "Well, calm down. It's not something to make a fuss about."
"Seriously?" Karissa arched a brow. "What about those who were hurt? You're really going to let that slide?"
He snorted and picked up his mug. "I don't see why I should get worked up over an attack on an empty guild."
It was empty?
"It was empty?" Erza questioned.
Mirajane nodded by Makarov's side. "It seems the attack happened in the middle of the night."
"I see, so no one was hurt… We were lucky."
Master Makarov let out a laugh and waved his hand dismissively. "There's no need to get cross with someone that resorts to surprise attacks. Leave them be."
Natsu slammed his hands down in front of their guild master. "I can't accept it! I won't be satisfied until we go and crush those guys!"
"This discussion is over!" Makarov state as he straightened up. "Until the upstairs is repaired, we'll take work requests from here." he informed them before running off to the loo with a drunk giggle.
"This is just as hard for the Master, you know. But outright conflict between guilds is forbidden by the Council." Mirajane said.
"They're the ones who attacked us first!"
Karissa sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Rules are rules, Natsu, especially when the Master insists that we follow them."
Natsu looked back at Karissa where he found everyone looking conflict about the issue. It was leaving a bad taste in their mouth.
"If this is how the Master feels about it…" Erza spoke, "Then we have to accept that…"
Without another word, Gray took that as his cue to walk away and talk with Loke while Erza went back upstairs to look at the state inside.
"Karissa!"
Lucy flinched at the booming voice while Karissa just sweat dropped with her lips puckered.
The blonde wizard turned her head and found two people walking towards them. A beautiful young woman and a good looking young man.
The woman had long black hair, longer than Karissa's, that was tied up in a high ponytail with a light purple feather scrunchie. She was wearing a magenta and white spaghetti strap dress that had a slit along the side of her right thigh, revealing navy blue bike shorts. She wore navy blue and white loose sleeve around her arms. She wore knee-high brown boots that had black soles. Her silver cross earrings swayed as she walked.
The young man had black hair that spiked to the left with his bangs parting in an 'M-shape' on the left side of his head. He wore a long violent and black high-collared jacket with long sleeves on top of a white shirt that had a blue 'X-sign' across his chest. Blood red pants that had two black laces hanging by each of his sides along with black and light blue high ankle shoes. His left ear shined a little from the silver ear cuff and the purple earring reflecting the light.
The woman looked upset while the man was smiling.
"Oh, Pandora, Van. What's up?" Karissa asked casually.
"What's up?" Pandora repeated, baffled. "You know what's up missy!" she reached and pinched her cheek harshly to pull her in front of her. Karissa lazily stumbled in her sister's direction and stared at her with a frown.
"Owie." she moaned when her sister pinched harder.
"You go off on an S-Class mission and you have the nerve to ask me 'what's up'?!" the older sibling nearly roared, making Lucy flinched and step back. "You had one damn job! You're lucky I haven't thrown you in the river by now!"
I literally have no excuse for myself. This sucks.
"Okay, Pandora… calm down." Van laughed and removed his older sister's hand off his little sister's. "Master Makarov already punished them for their behaviour."
Karissa let Van gently stroke her abused cheek in silence since she appreciated his defense on her behalf.
"You call that a punishment?! That was a slap on the wrist!"
Van shrugged and lowered his hand. "I think it's fine considering the circumstance."
"Our little sister went on an S-Class quest that she isn't qualified to take! Aren't you at least a little angry?!"
Van tipped his head. "I mean, of course, my baby sister went on a dangerous mission. But I feel like it also helped her gain some good experience."
"I'm surprised you're calm about this. I thought you'd be furious." Karissa gave her brother a look. "I mean about the guild."
Mirajane sighed, "He nearly levelled the building when he saw it."
"He what…?!" Lucy gaped in surprise and attracted the attention of Karissa's two older siblings.
"Who's this?" Pandora quirked a brow.
"O-Oh, my name's Lucy! I just joined Fairy Tail." She quickly introduced herself.
"Ah," Pandora narrowed her eyes. "So you went on that S-Class quest with Natsu."
Lucy shrunk under her gaze. Karissa was right, it was like a second Erza bar that it felt more like she was getting scolded by a scary mother. Both were beautiful yet terrifying when angry.
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
The oldest Sinclost watched Lucy carefully while Mirajane, Karissa and Van watched her examine the young newbie.
"Looks a bit naïve…" Pandora muttered to herself. "I can see why Natsu roped you into this."
"Don't talk like I'm not here." Natsu scowled from the side.
The older woman ignored him and just offered Lucy a polite smile. "Next time, think twice before doing something so reckless."
Van and Karissa looked at each other. It seemed like Pandora judged her innocent on this case.
Lucy laughed nervously and nodded with her hand behind her head. "W-Will do."
After that, Pandora decided to drag her sister back home for a stern lecture with Van trailing behind them. She probably sat in the living room for about an hour before Pandora decided to wrap it up and let her be free. There wasn't any time to worry about a punishment when things were tense.
Also, Pandora told Karissa to pack up some clothes after she took a quick shower, a greatly needed one after the whole fiasco at Galuna Island, and informed her about her stay at Lucy's house. Apparently, the guild had arranged guild members to stay in a group for the night as a precaution. They couldn't be too lax since they knew that Phantom Lord came into town. It was possible that they were still lingering in Magnolia. There was a possibility that Phantom knew where certain members lived.
When asked about why she couldn't stay at her own place, Van explained that the Master thought it would be best for the team of Galuna Island to stick together considering how groups had already been formed. In her house, Pandora, Van, Loke and Cana were going to be sticking together.
In other words, she wasn't welcomed in her own home. Great.
That explained why she was currently sitting in Lucy's room with Erza, Natsu, Happy and Gray while eating some takeout that they bought before coming over.
Karissa was chewing her food when Lucy came home in complete shock over their uninvited appearances.
"Don't gang up on me!" her suitcase went flying towards Natsu and it hit him square in the face after Karissa leaned back.
…
…
…
After explaining things to Lucy, they finished dinner and got ready for bed since it was getting late. Karissa took a pass on the bath since she already showered, leaving the others to spend more time if they wished it. Lucy was nice enough to let the others use her bath first before using it herself. During that time, Karissa had been sketching drawings to feed her boredom monster. She was already dressed in some orchid colored cotton pajamas that had snowflake patterns on them.
Karissa felt Gray drag a chair next to her as she sketched on Lucy's desk. She stopped her pencil and glanced at Gray, who smelled like peaches, and saw him pick up a stack of papers that she neatly set aside.
"What's this?" he asked curiously before turning side ways to give Karissa the space she needed to draw.
"No idea." She resumed her sketch, "Bunch of words, it might be a manuscript or something."
"Hm…"
The sound of Natsu snoring on the table, Happy munching on fish, Gray shuffling papers, and Karissa's pencil dancing on paper were the only things echoing in her room soon after.
Karissa was completely in the zone that she barely registered the fact that Lucy was back inside the room talking with Erza.
"… we've had a lot of smaller skirmishes before this, but never such a direct attack." Erza spoke, pulling Karissa away from her focus.
Natsu huffed in annoyance. "If Gramps wasn't such a scaredy-cat, we could just destroy those punks!"
Gray looked up from the manuscript and gave Natsu a tired look. "Gramps isn't scared. He's one of the Ten Wizard Saints, you know."
Lucy suddenly gasped and ran up behind Karissa and Gray, making the first flinch in surprise, and reached for the papers. "What do you think you're reading so nonchalantly?!" she told Gray as she swiped them out of his hands.
"Hey! I want to know what happens next! What's going to happen to Iris?!"
"Iris?" Karissa repeated.
"You weren't supposed to read it!" Lucy held it out of reach when Gray tried taking them back. "Levy-chan is going to be my first ready. It's already been decided. Anyway, what do you mean by Ten Wizard Saints?"
"A title." Karissa stretched her arms. "Given by the chairman of the Magic Council to the best mages on the continent."
"So, Master Makarov is that strong?"
"Pretty much." she replied lazily before dropping her head on Gray's shoulder and yawning into her hand.
"Phantom Lord's Master Jose is also one of them." Happy piped up.
"He's scared!" Natsu stood up angrily. "The only thing Phantom's got are numbers!"
Gray sighed, "I'm telling you, that's not it. The Master and Mira want to avoid a fight because they know the consequences of two guilds battling each other. It's to help preserve the peace of the entire world of magic."
"Are they that great?" Lucy wondered, worried.
Natsu grinned confidently, "Those guys are nothing!"
Erza shook her head. "No, if it came to blows, mutual destruction is ensured. Our offensive powers are about equal. Master Makarov is said to be on par with Master Jose. Then there are the Element 4, their S-Class level wizards."
"But every guild has their own set of requirements for S-Class?" Karissa interjected. "I don't think we should be holding the Element 4 in high regard just yet."
Karissa had actually done an S-Class exam before but failed. If she couldn't handle it then Makarov deemed her unworthy of the title. It made her realize how high Makarov's expectations were.
"Yeah, they might just be some arrogant punks." Natsu scowled. "No big deal."
"True, but we cannot brush them aside either. But our biggest worry is Kurogane Gajeel. He's the one I believe is responsible for the attack on the guild. The Iron Dragon Slayer."
Karissa sighed tiredly as she straighted up and pulled out another paper to draw on.
Laxus and his group are out of town. Mystogan is also gone.
Mirajane is not really capable of going all out.
Power House Guildarts is also absent.
Out of our six S-Class wizards, only two would be capable of fighting in the potential battle.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Lucy with a worried look on her face. She couldn't blame the girl for feeling overwhelmed; she literally just joined Fairy Tail and was about to be a part of a potential war between to powerhouse guilds in the kingdom.
Karissa pushed eraser of her pencil against her chin. "I hope nothing else happens…"
…
…
…
Something did happen.
Early in the morning, Pandora came knocking at Lucy's house and alerted the group of the latest news. Phantom Lord had laid their hands on members of their guild. Lucy's group rushed to the Southern Park Entrance and found a shocking sight.
Team Shadow Gear were beaten and bloodied, and was crucified on a tree.
Master Makarov looked up at the three Fairy Tail members with a dark look on his face and then slowly lowered his head and covered his face with his hand, shaking. "Wrecking our shoddy beer hall I could bear with… But no parent can remain silent after seeing their children's blood."
He snapped his staff in half in rage.
"This means war." He gritted his teeth.
Karissa stared at the mark displayed on Levy's stomach. The Phantom Lord mark.
"We need to get them down from there immediately." Erza ordered.
Van nodded and went ahead and shifted the earth to create some stable stairs for them. Gray, Erza and Natsu were the ones to go up and take their fallen comrades. Master Makarov was going back to the guild to announce his decision and let the others know his next move. Karissa offered to take Erza's place in bringing Levy to the hospital with Gray and Natsu who had Jet and Droy on their backs since she thought it would be better for Erza to be present with Master Makarov.
On the way to the hospital, Karissa observed the darkened looks on her friends' faces. They hadn't said a word on the way there but she could feel the aura of their rage. They were ready to fight.
Natsu was the one who finally broke the silence. "They're going to pay…"
Levy, Jet and Droy were kind souls. They didn't deserve the treatment they got from those Phantom Lord jerks. Fairy Tail never did anything to Phantom Lord to deserve being provoked like this. Master Makarov had chosen the pacifist route for the sake of everyone, that was him showing his kindness and patience as an elder. However, that patience and kindness was tested and stepped on like a disgrace.
Karissa shifted her head to look at Levy's face resting on her shoulder.
Poor Levy… you really didn't deserve this.
Karissa looked back ahead with a hardened stare. The longer she stared at Levy's battered face just made her blood boil.
Phantom couldn't get away with hurting members of their family.
…
…
Phantom Lord's guild was situated in Oak Town which was northeast of Magnolia.
Master Makarov had declared war and was eager to begin their march to their guild hall. There wasn't any need to come up with a strategy. They were going to charge in and attack the moment they saw those Phantom Lord members.
And they did.
Karissa twirled the ice hammer in her hands and then held it tightly as she glared at the Phantoms. Silently, challenging anyone to step forward.
"She's just a girl!" they mocked.
"What are you gonna do with that? Huh? You think you're scary?"
"It's ten against one!"
"Yeah—" with a burst of wind, Karissa ran towards the one speaking and slammed her hammer into the guy's gut. She heard him gasp when she sent him flying. She swiveled around and swung her hammer sideways to aim for several guys. They were sent flying with the hammer since she purposely let it go.
"Damn bitch!"
"Get her!"
Karissa glanced over her shoulder to look at them apathetically but her view was obscured when her slide in front of her with a nasty glare on her face.
Pandora growled and held her palms out in front of her. Her hands glowed brightly before releasing a powerful beam of light. Those were distracted from the blinding light were met with harsh gut poundings from the middle child. Then he switched gears and used his earth magic to attack relentlessly.
"Oh… thanks Pandora. I could have handled it though."
Pandora whirled around and flicked her forehead. "Family always has your back."
Suddenly, the entire guild hall began shaking. Master Makarov grew bigger until his head almost reached the huge ceiling of Phantom Lord's castle-like guild hall. He looked like a titan towering over ants. The fairies grinned at their leader swatting away fodder while their enemies recoiled in fear. They should be afraid. Their Master was angry, so angry about phantoms attacking them at night when no one was around.
"I… It's a monster!"
"You laid hands on this monster's children! Don't think any humans laws will protect you!"
He continued to swat them away effortlessly despite their efforts to stop him.
Karissa bumped into someone as she backed away to look around her. She was about to throw them over her shoulder until she heard them yelp.
"HEY! Relax! No friendly fire!"
"Oh, sorry Loke."
"No harm done. Literally—" he cut himself off when a blast of magic flew towards them. He grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him before firing off his own magic from his rings.
The black haired girl saw how more Phantom Lord members came at them from behind while Loke wasn't aware.
"Screeching Tempest!" Karissa clawed at the air as she swung her hands down and sent a blast of wind that made an eerie screech as it charged to her opponents.
"Jose, show yourself!"
"Man, do you think he'll tear down the guildhall in search for him?" Karissa wondered when she trusted her back to the ring user. She felt him chuckle in amusement, "He's no Natsu but maybe."
"By the time he finds him, we'll be done with the ones down here."
"I think we'll be done just in time for my next date." Loke smirked as he pushed up his shades.
"You're dead!" a member screamed while coming at her with fire.
Van side stepped into his few and glared at him. "You first!" a boulder slammed into the guy and trapped him against the wall he collided against.
"Piece of garbage. Fucking die!" Van shouted angrily.
Yeah. Never directed the 'd' word towards any of Van's siblings unless you wanted a death wish.
Lucy watched odd woman dressed in blue walk past her in the rain.
"Non, non, non!"
The celestial mage and the woman stopped in their tracks.
"Non, non, non!"
Lucy gasped as she saw the soaked cement ground bulge, "Non, non, non, non, non, non, non!"
A man sprouted out from the bulge, "Bonjour with non in 3-3-7 rhythm!" he fully appeared in front of the woman that passed by Lucy.
Lucy sweat dropped and stepped away, "Another weirdo?"
"Juvia-sama! You can't just walk away from your mission!" he tutted with an accent.
"Monsieur Sol…" The woman known as 'Juvia' identified.
Sol tilted his body oddly to look at Lucy. "My monocle is whispering to me that mademoiselle over there is none other than our precious sible."
Juvia looked back at Lucy. "Oh… She's the one?"
"Cible…?" Lucy muttered just before her eyes widened in alert, "Target?" she realized and stepped back.
"I do apologize for the late introduction." The man bowed. "My name is Sol, one of the Element 4. People call me Sol of the Land… Please call me Monsieur Sol!"
"The Element 4…? Phantom!"
Lucy remembered what Erza told her last night. The Element 4 were considered S-Class mages in the Phantom Lord guild. While Karissa's words regarding the requirements of achieving S-Class did bring some sort of ease to Lucy mind, she still couldn't relax since she was still standing in front of S-Class considered mages.
"Correct!" Sol smiled. "We two have come to collect you for the great Phantom Lord!"
Lucy clenched her teeth at the warning bells ringing in her head. She was in danger.
"And this is the rain-woman of the Element 4. People call her Juvia of the Deep."
Lucy's hands were about to fly straight to her keys at her waist until she remembered something from earlier.
…
…
"Lucy."
The blonde looked up from her seat next to Levy's bed. Karissa was standing after she was silently looking at Droy's bandaged face.
"I'm gonna go back to the guild. Are you going to stay here a bit longer?"
Lucy lowered her head and looked at Levy once more after holding her hand. "Yeah…"
"Alright." The black haired girl walked to the door until she stopped midway. "Oh right. One more thing. Just in case Phantom Lord is still lurking around and laughing at us in the shadows… just in case they come in here to attack Levy and the others again… just yell the word 'Gelum'."
"Gelum?"
"It's a signal."
…
…
"GELUM!" Lucy screamed out loud just as the floor disappeared beneath her feet. Lucy frantically looked around and found herself trapped in a water sphere.
"Non, non, non! You need to be quiet mademoiselle! We cannot attract attention!" Sol put a finger up to his lips. "Il faut être silencieux!"
"It seems like she tried calling for help from a comrade." Juvia focused her magic on the water trapping Lucy, "If so, we must make haste."
Lucy popped her head out of the water and gasped for air. "Wh-What is this?!"
"Juvia's Water Lock cannot be broken." Juvia lifted her hand and forced Lucy to remain inside the water. However, the water broke just before Lucy could pass out since Juvia lost focus on her magic when she felt something kick her body aside. Juvia dropped her umbrella as she fell on the ground.
"Oh dear, Juvia-sama!" Sol looked to the side and found a girl with black hair just before a fist landed on his face. He slumped against the wall.
"It was Juvia's mistake for not turning her body in water fast enough…" Juvia admitted as she gathered her bearings and sat up. She found a girl helping up Lucy to her feet.
"K-Karissa!" Lucy looked at her face in utter surprise. She wasn't supposed to be here. Lucy was about to ask until she noticed how lifeless her eyes looked. Her face was blank and she didn't say a word. She just helped Lucy get up and wordlessly urged her to run.
A clone was left behind to protect Levy and the others just in case.
The clone pushed Lucy back and turned around to face to two Phantom Lord members. The blonde wizard headed the silent instructions and started running away while fiddling with her keys. Who should she call to protect her at the moment? She couldn't use Sagittarius since she wasn't fully aware of what kind of ability that spirit had.
Maybe Virgo can help me?
"Our cible is getting away!"
Juvia attacked the clone with water but it did not even flinch as it grazed its cheek. The rain woman's eyes flickered at that detail.
The girl slammed her hands down and created an enormous ice glacier that damaged the buildings around them.
Lucy flinched with her key in hand when she felt the ground shake from the ice attack. She stumbled and looked back and gasped.
The ice glacier was twice as tall as the buildings and it pointed towards the sky.
Karissa's ice clone whipped its head around when it felt that Lucy was still there. The blonde wizard eeped in surprise when she felt the clone's eyes staring at her sharply. It was practically asking her why the hell she was still there. Lucy honestly felt like it was the real Karissa giving her that look.
"Okay, okay! I'm going!"
The clone suddenly stumbled when it felt something slash across its body. It stumbled and looked back to find Juvia with her hand extended to the side.
"This girl is nothing but a clone left behind by the original." Juvia stated.
Sol hummed in surprise and examined the clone that was beginning to crack. He adjusted his monocle and looked up at the ice. "A mere clone replicating such an attack… Well, it is très impressionant."
Karissa's clone futilely grasped Juvia's hand and started freezing it until its hand flew off from a water slice. Juvia sliced its body one more time, causing it to shatter and fall apart harmlessly.
…
…
…
Karissa flinched. She blinked several times and looked at the entrance of Phantom Lord's guildhall. "My clone… what happened to it…" she muttered worriedly.
She left a clone behind in Magnolia with enough strength to protect team Shadow Gear. The possibility of members of Phantom Lord still lurking in Magnolia made her uneasy. She didn't want to risk leaving them unattended without a guard. That's how worried she was about them.
The clone would react to the presence of magic or if Lucy had called it.
And now she finds out that her clone was defeated?
She had a bad feeling about this.
Something then crashed down behind her. Everyone ceased their fighting and there were gasps. As the smoke cleared, everyone saw Master Makarov on the floor on his stomach while he panted against the floor.
"M-My magic power…" he managed the breathed out.
Loke, Natsu, Gray, Erza and Karissa rushed over since they were the closest to him.
Erza gently held him up, "Master, hang in there!"
"What happened?" Cana stared at their weakened Master.
"How could this happen… I don't sense any magic power from him at all!" Gray exclaimed with concern.
"No magic power…" Karissa muttered.
…
…
"One's magical powers are tied to one's life force." Makarov explained, "I imagine that something must have happened to them and their power depleted to the point where their life faded. There have been many cases like that in the past."
"Does the amount of magic power you have make a difference?" Van wondered. "Like, if you had a lot then could you still live?"
Makarov looked up at the ceiling as he thought about it. He nodded once. "I suppose. It's a bit different when the caster is the one expelling their magic power themselves compared to when their magic is drained. Those with more magic power in their bodies suffer more damage when their power gets drained all of a sudden."
…
…
Her eyes widened. Loosing magic power in a sudden swoop is the most damaging for mages with great amount of magic power. She always carried that with her since she was one of the mages who needed to be careful.
So… does that mean… Master Jose meant to kill him?
Karissa's hands clenched tightly. "That's going too far…!" she growled.
The Master of Phantom Lord allowed the attack on their guildhall and on three of its members. Now, he was trying to take the life of their Master? Evil. Despicable. Monster. She was getting angrier with each second that passed; she never thought she could feel this angry. The sounds around her started becoming fainter as she heard a weird ringing noise in her head. She could only barely hear Erza's muffled voice asking for their Master to hang on.
Her clone back in Magnolia was defeated.
Was Phantom Lord… trying to kill them?
Karissa raised her hand to her head until she heard something that made her stop all movement.
"Why don't we kill them?"
In an instant, Karissa lunged at the closest Phantom Lord member and gripped them by the neck before slamming them down on the floor. "Who the fuck said that?!" She screamed.
No death. No one was going to die.
They didn't seem afraid of her though, not after seeing Makarov in his weakened state. They were standing with renewed fighting spirit.
Karissa was surrounded by many enemies that Loke and Gray had to go to her and back her up, especially with how reckless she was acting. They must have said something to her to calm her down but she just didn't hear it. It was like she just saw red and she knew that she was landing so many vicious attacks on Phantom.
"Karissa! Calm down!" Loke covered her back but then had to guard against those behind him. He narrowed his eyes at their fierceness.
She wasn't careful. She understood that the moment she felt a magic attack strike her from behind which threw her against the floor.
"Karissa!" Gray exclaimed after giving payback to whoever did that. More of their members came to lessen Loke's burden when they saw Karissa receive a blow. Gray got down on one knee and helped her.
"Are you okay?"
"… Yeah, it hurts but I'll be okay." Karissa shook her head to shake her hair out of her face. "Sorry… I don't know what came over me…"
"It's understandable, but you need to be careful." Gray helped her stand up and made sure she was steady. "You gotta keep your cool."
Karissa stared at his serious gaze and then nodded softly.
But then, Erza called for a retreat, shocking everyone. Most were adamant on leaving after what just happened, but Titania was firm on her decision. If anyone else had the right to take authority after their Master, then it would be her. They had to retreat.
And so, they did, with a bitter taste in their mouth.
…
…
…
Van peeked into the house quietly which caught the attention of the three people inside.
"Van?" Alzack spoke and then watched him come inside.
"What are you doing here?" Bisca wondered.
The older mage smiled sheepishly, "I just wanted to hear Master's diagnostic—" he was cut off when a slap echoed in the house, making the three of them jolt in surprise.
Master Makarov was brought to Porlyusica in order to seek healing from the magic that struck him. However, they weren't expecting the healer of all people to just slap him in his state.
"What are you doing to the Master, I mean, the sick person?!" Bisca exclaimed.
Porlyusica just flexed her hand and put it back under her cloak. "This happened because he was too reckless for his age." She gave Makarov a look from the side. "Honestly, what a fool you are."
Then she looked at the three occupying her home. "How long do you plan on staying here?!" she barked. "Go home!"
Alzack quickly gathered himself and stood his ground. "Um, but… with the Master in this condition…"
"Please let us care for him!" Bisca finished, equally concerned as her friend.
"Maybe we can help?" Van offered.
"Go home. The stench of fretting faces is the greatest poison to a sick man." The pink haired woman sighed and looked back at her current patient, "This is from wind magic, isn't it? This is the work of the magic, Drain. A fearful magic that force's your opponent's magical power to flow out. The drained magical power drifts off into the air and soon dissipates. If we could gather Makarov's lost magical power, that would speed his recovery, however… It's already too late. His recovery will be prolonged…"
"In that case," Van walked closer to where the Master rested. "Can I offer mine to somehow speed it up?"
Porlyusica arched a brow at him. "… You're that boy with the abnormal amount."
"Uh… yeah," Van chuckled nervously, "That's me."
"Your magic power won't be enough to help him fully recover." She reminded him.
"Yeah, I know. But anything is better than nothing." Van held out his hands to show that he was ready to help in anyway that he can. "I can spare some magic power for our dear old Master."
The truth about Lucy's full identity was revealed.
It was after they return back to Magnolia under Erza's orders. Natsu had arrived a bit later with Lucy, who ended up being kidnapped by Phantom during the first wave, and she explained the reason why the war between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail was occurring.
First, she started to explain how she got kidnapped in the first place. That's how Karissa found out her clone got destroyed.
Lucy Heartfilia. That was her name. She came from a rich family. But she decided to pack up and run away from home to live the life she wanted to live. However, her father finally pinpointed her location and decided to employ Phantom Lord's help in order to bring her home. According to her, her father never showed any sort of interest back when she still lived with him so she couldn't understand why he wanted her back all of a sudden after a full year.
Lucy screwed her eyes shut, "He's the worst!" her fisted hands trembled on her thighs. "But when you get down to it, it's originally my fault for running away from home, right?"
Elfman scowled with his arms crossed. "That's not true! Your father's the bad guy here—!" Karissa elbowed him on the side while Gray called him an idiot. "I-I mean, Phantom is!"
Karissa looked back at Lucy who continued to blame herself as she sat on the barrel.
"Thanks to my selfish actions, I've caused all this trouble for everyone. I'm really sorry. I guess if I went home, then all of this would end, right?"
"Don't blame yourself." Karissa finally spoke after a staying silent and just listening to her feel guilty. "I get it. You feel guilty because that's your father looking for you. But I don't think Phantom Lord had to go as far as wrecking our guildhall and hurting our members if they were tasked to take you from us." She tipped her head to the side. "They could have taken a more pacifist method by kidnapping you at night, that way no one would have gotten hurt. But instead, they chose to start a war with Fairy Tail… a more violent and difficult route. If you ask me, Phantom Lord is just using you as an excuse to start this war between guilds."
Elfman breathed a sigh of relief when Karissa finished her rational discourse. "Always count on Karissa to speak rationally…" he whispered to Gray. "Honestly, it's making me feel at ease."
Gray arched a brow at him.
"But…"
Karissa wasn't the best at providing encouraging or comforting words. The only thing she had that could help someone feel better were her rational thoughts on the situation.
Natsu grinned at Lucy. "And besides, the term 'lady' doesn't really suit you. You fit better in this dirty bar, laughing and merrily going out on adventures. You said you wanted to stay here, so what good would it do for you to return to a place you hate?"
Karissa nodded in agreement. "No one should stop you from doing what you want. And you have every right to stay here. Your father can't just drag you back home against your own will when he feels like it."
"Exactly." Natsu pointed at himself, specifically at his guild insignia, "This is your home to return to because you're Lucy of Fairy Tail."
Seriously. After all that talk, they weren't expecting Lucy to start crying.
"Don't cry…" Gray rubbed the back of his head, "It doesn't suit you."
The guys around Karissa started to panic at Lucy's tears meanwhile the black haired girl slipped away.
Yep. I don't know how to fix that. I'm not going anywhere near that.
Karissa observed the Mirajane and Cana's progress. They were currently trying to get in touch with the other S-Class mages of Fairy Tail for their help. She saw Cana throw her cards in frustration because she couldn't locate Mystogan meanwhile Laxus, who was being contacted via lacrima by Mirajane, was refusing to help them.
The black haired girl frowned when she heard Laxus laugh about Master Makarov's condition.
"This has nothing to do with me. Handle it yourselves. After all, the old man started this war. Why should I be the one to bail him out?"
Karissa walked closer to where Mirajane and Cana were as he continued to refuse.
Why do you have to be like this, Laxus?
Slowly, everything felt and sounded so distant.
Karissa's eyes narrowed and her hand touched her head.
Loke was leaning against a beam when Karissa walked past him. He eyed her carefully when she looked unsteady on her feet. Concern flooding his mind, he pushed himself off the beam to ask if she was alright until she suddenly fell down on the cobblestone without warning. Without delay, the ring user flew to her side and called her name as others started swarming them after hearing her thud.
"Karissa!" Lucy panicked.
"What happened to her?!" Cana's hands hovered above her body.
Gray turned her on her back and patted her face to try and wake her up. "Karissa! Wake up! What's wrong?"
Laxus, who heard the commotion, arched an annoyed brow since he was in the middle of taunting Mirajane and Cana. "The hell's going on over there?"
"Karissa suddenly fell unconscious…" Mirajane answered him while watching the others tend to her.
Laxus snorted mockingly. "The brat fainted? That's stupid."
It was no use. Karissa just wasn't responding to their voices.
"It must have been the attack from before." Loke guessed as he watched Gray pick her up in his arms since he couldn't just leave her on the floor. "I don't know what kind of spell it was, but it must have had a delay before taking effect."
Natsu growled with his fists shaking at his sides, "Damn them!"
"Damn it, at the worst time too." Gray adjusted her in his arms. Karissa's ability to predict situations and her endurance in battle were things that were necessary for this war. They needed all their members to use maximum force against Phantom Lord so having Karissa pass out was not in their favor.
For the mean time, she needed to stay somewhere—
A huge crashing sound shook the entire guild. Dust started to fall from the wood above them. What on earth was going on out there? Quickly, Gray went upstairs with Karissa in his arms only to find Phantom Lord's guild literally coming straight towards theirs. It had spider-like legs attached to it that helped it move across the water.
"What the hell…?!" Gray's eyes widened as it came closer.
Then it stopped.
Then one of the walls of the castle slid down to reveal a cannon extending outwards that pointed directly towards Fairy Tail. Magic energy began accumulating inside and then fired after a brief pause.
Erza shouted for everyone to get back as she ran to protect those behind her by requipping into a shielding type of armour. Pandora gritted her teeth and did the same until she stopped and slammed her hands on the ground, creating a shield of light that separated Fairy Tail from Erza.
"Van!" Pandora yelled urgently for her brother who wasted no time in listening to his sister.
With his Earth magic, he created made earth rise to create a wall behind the light barrier as a last line of defense.
Erza put her two shields together to try and block the magic fired by Phantom's cannon. But it was too powerful to block, even for her, causing her shield to break and rip her armour apart. The force of the magic blasted through the light shield and the walls of earth. As the ultimate line of defense, Van summoned up two more earth walls that was able to block the magic. The shockwave forced the three mages at least ten feet away in front of their members.
Van, who had given most of his magic power to Master Makarov, was now empty on fuel.
Erza had fallen.
Pandora was alright but she looked a bit tired from spending magic power on that shield of hers.
"Makarov has fallen. And now Erza can barely stand. You don't stand a chance." It was Master Jose's voice. "Hand over Lucy Heartfilia, right now."
However, despite what just happened, the guild refused to hand over their newest recruit and swore to keep on fighting if Phantom refused to back down.
"Then you'll get a second extra-large helping of Jupiter! Quiver in fear for the fifteen minutes it takes to charge!"
Erza was out of commission. Van was out of magic power. Pandora needed more power to create a shield strong enough to make up for Erza's absence. Plus, her Light magic was proving to be effective against the ghouls that Master Jose let out of his guild to attack them as they waited for the next Jupiter strike.
"Gray," Van called him and held out his arms, "Give me Karissa. I'll bring her to a safer place since I'm all out of magic anyway."
Gray nodded at the older brother, "Thanks." He handed her his childhood friend, "I'm going to help stop the Jupiter cannon from firing." He quickly said and then ran off with Elfman after Natsu who flew up to Phantom's guildhall with Happy.
…
…
…
Van decided to bring her home where she would be far away from the battle. He couldn't let her stay inside the infirmary on the first floor since she would be hit by the Jupiter cannon if Natsu, Gray and Elfman didn't succeed.
After shutting the door behind him, he gently laid her down on the couch and then sprinted upstairs for the medical kit just in case she had any wounds she didn't tell anyone about.
Unbeknownst to Van Sinclost, Karissa slowly awoke, revealing eyes that were different. Light purple like lavender to replace dark brown. Black replacing white.
She blinked slowly and lifted her hand to stare at her palm for a few seconds without saying anything.
But then her hand landed back on the couch, and her eyes closed to resume her unconscious state.