She explained everything.
Her name was Karissa Sinclost. She was a mage from Fairy Tail that lived in Magnolia, a town that was in a parallel world. She wasn't from Edolas. With the help of Mystogan, a man who had the same face as a criminal named Jellal in her world because he was Jellal from Edolas, she arrived in Edolas. Her town disappeared out of nowhere and she was told it was sucked into Edolas. She also went ahead and told him that the Lyon she knew, Lyon Vastia, nothing like the Lyon she was currently talking to. She did her best to explain it to him the best way she could, and to her surprise he believed her.
He said that the biggest proof was that she used magic from out of nowhere with using anything. According to him, magic in Edolas always came from objects, often fused with Lacrima, to give them magical function. That explained why Lyon's dagger was glowing. That was different from her world where magic came from within.
Lyon, fully known as Lyon Isaac, relaxed when he realized that Karissa Sinclost had nothing to do with the Karissa of Edolas. The air between them was friendlier now. He also informed her that the reason he knew she was different from his girlfriend was her bangs, vanilla, and how serious she looked most of the time.
Apparently, Edolas Karissa preferred chocolate over vanilla. In fact, Edolas Karissa hated vanilla with every fiber of her being. She couldn't believe it.
Magic was also dying out in Edolas, because of that the king has banned the use of magic including the disbandment of all magical guilds. Lamia Scale went from a being magical guild to a merchant guild that used no magic, that was permitted.
"Lacrima." Karissa whispered to herself thoughtfully. "There's a lacrima in the capital… people from my world are their own source of magic power…" she was slowly coming to a conclusion that she didn't like. "Is it possible…?"
I really don't want to think that they all turned into a lacrima… but it might be possible because Mystogan said to save them. But… if they turned into lacrima… how am I supposed to help them? How do I revert them back to normal?
As Edolas Lyon watched Karissa just sitting there looking so conflicted, he raised an eyebrow when he got curious about something.
"Hey, how's snowball in Earthland?"
"Huh?"
"Gray Surge." Lyon leaned back on his hands, still sitting on the floor comfortably. "Or whatever he's called."
"He's called Gray Fullbuster."
"Sounds weird."
"Surge sounds even weirder. Fullbuster is a nice sounding last name." she defended with an impassive expression. At least her friend's last name wasn't a verb or a noun.
"Anyway," Lyon lolled his head to the side. "Am I better than him?"
"Well, you certainly like to try and prove that you are. The Lyon I know always wanted to be Ur's star pupil."
Lyon pursed his lips. "No, I meant, are you mine over there too?"
Karissa did a double take. Was he serious?
"You heard me." Lyon smirked as she kept staring at him like as if he opened his third eye. Here she was, talking about how she needed to save her friends while he just wanted to know her relationship with his parallel self.
"I'm no one's." Karissa sighed. She couldn't believe he was asking her that. But since this Lyon was from Edolas, she really didn't see any problem in telling him that she and Vastia were childhood sweethearts. Like, what was he going to do with this information? He couldn't blackmail her anyway. And to her surprise, he told her that she and Surge were actually childhood sweethearts in Edolas, the reverse.
"Seriously?" Karissa gaped. That was hard to imagine. When she and Gray were kids, she didn't like him at all like that.
"So, I guess," Lyon scowled, crossing his arms childishly, looking away from her to stare at the wall and glaring at it for some reason, causing Karissa to lift a brow. "Gray is the favored one back in your world since things are sort of the opposite. Oh well. I'm still cheering for your world's me though." He then stood up and flashed her a grin. "Maybe I can influence you to like me—"
Karissa deadpanned and held up a hand. "Okay. Imma stop you right there. Try anything on me and I'm freezing you right now."
"Can't say I didn't try." Lyon laughed to himself, striding over to the bed to take a seat next to her. He didn't sit next to her so closely, he put a distance between them now that he knew who she was. "If things are opposite, I'm a little surprised to know that Gray hasn't snagged you for himself."
The black haired mage arched a brow at this. "Why are you still talking about this?"
"I'm invested." Lyon answered easily with a nonchalant shrug, he leaned a little closer curiously with a wide grin. "You guys close enough to start dating yet? Gave it any thought at all?"
As she held his curious gaze with her annoyed one, she couldn't help but remember that there was no point in telling him anything since he was from Edolas. And because there was no point, there wasn't really any harm in talking to him about the subject either. So, she decided to entertain him.
"I don't bother to think about it. There's no point."
"Why? Thinking about it isn't so bad. It won't kill you."
Karissa slightly pouted when he said that. Sure thinking about something won't kill her, but it could cause troublesome thoughts to surface.
"Well, I've never had a boyfriend before, and I don't think I can get a boyfriend in the first place."
"Does he like you though?"
"Who knows? I don't." she said, turning her head to the side to avoid his eyes.
"Do you like him?"
"I don't." she answered without hesitation, that answer quickly shot out of her mouth without a second thought.
Lyon stared at her pensively and then let out a brief hum in response. He dropped himself back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling after losing interest in the subject, telling her that he would still bring her to the capital like he said he would even after learning about her true identity. She could help him with his boredom on the way there by telling him some stories from her world.
After Lyon went off to get some food for dinner, Karissa went to the bathroom. They ended up talking for a long time and she learned a lot more about Edolas through him. It was really surprising to hear that Fairy Tail was a dark guild.
As she washed her hands, she remembered how Lyon fondly spoke about her Edolas counterpart, prompting her to look at her own reflection in the mirror. A person who had the same face as her found someone who loved her. For a while now, she was thinking back to what she told Lyon about appearances. She wanted to see something.
Karissa straightened up and continued looking at her reflection.
Maybe… it isn't as bad as I thought.
Several years ago, she started to look at herself in the mirror and used to see something unsatisfactory. But what was there to be discontent about? She looked normal. She looked fine as she was. There was nothing wrong with her face. In fact, she actually had a nice face, it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. Then it clicked, she never really bothered to properly look at herself until now to revoke her initial judgement, the opinion from a withdrawn timid teenager that wasn't her today.
Was her mindset that stubborn?
…
…
Erza, who somehow popped up at her side, patted her shoulder with a smile as she looked at her. "Don't worry, you're a pretty girl. I don't doubt that you'll find someone who will be attracted to you."
…
…
"… Other than knowing I'm not exactly pretty, I can't think of anything else— ACK! FUCK!" Karissa held the back of her head and gave the brown haired girl next to her a baffled look. "The hell, Cana?!"
"That looked like it hurt." Levy winced.
"I would have done it if she didn't." Pandora rolled her eyes.
"I don't know who the hell told you that but that's not true—"
"—That sentence was worth giving me a concussion?!"
"I'll give you another if you don't let me finish."
"…"
"Stop putting yourself down like that. You're pretty." Cana told her with a stern look, causing her to shift her eyes away.
…
…
"And you're a pretty girl, so he might think the same!" she placed a curious hand on her cheek.
"Mira, please... you're killing me." the younger girl moaned in despair. "Why do you have to keep torturing me like this?"
"Now you're just being silly." Mirajane straightened up with a wave of her hand.
…
…
"Hell no." Karissa responded fast while the three walked together to the guild. "Unlike me, my sister will be participating because she has more confidence to stand up there with how pretty she looks."
"Come on, don't put yourself down like that." Warren sighed and patted her shoulder. "You're pretty too." He patted her head.
…
…
A lot of people told her she looked pretty but low self-esteem muffled her ears and she didn't really let it sink in. She really did put herself down. And for what? It was only now that she got so curious and simply looked at herself did she realize that she was wrong. The previous image that was firmly constructed in her mind was slowly beginning to crumble.
Karissa dropped her face in her hands. It wasn't her getting bigheaded because of what Lyon said, she just could finally see that she was fine just as she was. Why was it so hard to accept that before?
She chuckled sheepishly. "Maybe that's just part of growing up."
I should start improving the way I think of myself.
Maybe this was something she needed to do for herself to be more confident.
Lyon Isaac brought her to the capital where she met up with Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Wendy and Carla. They went for joy ride by flying to the capital much to his excitement. She was glad to see some faces that she knew who belonged to people she truly knew. But that relief was washed away when she laid her eyes on the giant lacrima that had everyone she knew trapped inside because of the king's desire to keep magic in Edolas. Carla was the one who had to fill in the blanks for her since she was still lacking information.
Currently, she was sitting at a table inside a hotel room, discussing with Carla and trying to figure out a way to somehow get into the castle. The only way to find a way to revert everyone back to normal had lie within the castle walls.
"We'll get thrown in cells the moment the find us sneaking around for a way to fix everyone." Karissa sighed, leaning back against her chair, tapping her finger against the wooden table.
"We can't waste time looking around either." Carla agreed. Karissa looked down from the piece of paper she was drawing on. It looked the circumference of the entire castle and its possible entryways.
"If the king of Edolas did this, then he should know a way to undo it all. We need to force the answer out of him." Karissa concluded with a scowl.
Lucy gasped. "We can if we use Gemini." She told them. "They can transform into anybody they touch and while they're in that form they can think like that person. In other words, if they can transform into the king, they should know how to save everybody."
With that plan in mind, they decided to enter the castle through tunnel that was located in the outskirts of town.
...
...
...
They waited until nightfall to start moving. When they found the tunnel, Karissa broke the sealed entrance with her ice so that they can proceed. She kept close to Carla who guided them because she figured it would be best to keep their only guide safe. She and Lucy were the only ones who could actually use magic, but Karissa was obviously going to be faster when it came to defending or attacking so Lucy guarded the rear while Karissa guarded the vanguard.
"It gets worse from here on." Carla informed them. "We have to sneak in without being noticed and invisibly sneak out again. If we're found by the army as we are now, we have no chance at winning."
"Well," Lucy smiled smugly. "we can always use my magic if we get into a pinch."
"Not that that reassures me much." Natsu said bluntly. "But I feel a lot safer with Karissa with us." He said while patting the said girl's shoulder who just snickered at him.
"What are you saying?!" Lucy snapped. "The whole plan hinges on my Gemini, remember?!"
"Lucy." Karissa hissed. "Quiet. You're too loud. It's echoing all over!" she hissed quietly, causing the blonde to let out a small squeak and clamp her hands over her mouth before muttering a muffled apology.
"Let's keep moving." Wendy suggested with a hopeful smile.
Then, all of a sudden, Lucy let out a shriek followed by Wendy. Reflexively, Karissa used her wind magic around herself to guard. Ever since the incident with Lyon holding a blade to her throat, she never allowed herself to let her guard down again. Something white shot out from the shadows and tried to restrain her only for it to splat on the ground harmlessly. She flew up in the air just as Natsu got caught too and saw how soldiers were surrounding them.
"I-I can't move!"
The black haired mage narrowed her eyes at the sight of her human friends caught.
The soldiers used their magic to try and catch her but she kept flying away at full speed.
"How is she doing that?!"
"That's not Karissa Scarlion!"
"It's the Earthland Karissa!"
She was making quick work of those fodder soldiers who couldn't fight back against her wind and ice. Then, a scarlet haired soldier ran up to her and slashed her spear at her only for it to get blocked once Karissa stopped it by freezing it. The person who tried to harm her had Erza's face. It was the Edolas Erza. It looked like she was on the king's side, an enemy.
This doesn't bother me at all.
"I really find it hard to believe you're not Karissa Scarlion but you using magic like this is proof enough." Edolas Erza said before trying to ram her foot into her shin. Karissa moved her leg backwards and tugged the spear towards her, making Edolas Erza stumble in her direction. She harshly rammed her knee into the scarlet haired soldier's gut, making her gasp for air.
"Captain!" a soldier yelled.
Karissa then aggressively threw her on the ground, throwing the spear away after breaking the ice. She used her wind to push back the soldiers who tried to help their captain. She froze Edolas Erza to the ground and then start running towards her friends who were being dragged away on Edolas Erza's orders.
"Ice Make—"
Suddenly, something hard landed on the back of her head, sending her tumbling to the ground where she ended up getting cut on the forehead, causing blood to leak over her right eye.
"Karissa!" Lucy shouted worriedly when she saw her get knocked out so fast. The blonde mage saw someone standing over her body while tapping the tip of their boots against the ground. Instead of weapons, they were wearing gear, boots and gloves, that crackled with light. This person had the same face as Karissa's older brother.
Edolas Van slicked his hair back when he exhaled a huff. "Good thing I lurked behind." Edolas Van walked over to where Edolas Erza was and smirked. "I warned you. You should have brought a weapon." He said before raising his foot above the ice and slamming it down, shattering the ice enough for his ally to break free on her own.
...
...
...
When Karissa awoke, she found herself in a cell with her hands bound together by cuffs that was sealing away her magic. Honestly, all this time, she was thinking lowly of Edolas' magic since it came from an outside source, but here she was being kept prisoner with her magic suppressed thanks to that magic she underestimated.
"My face hurts…" she complained while gently trying to caress it to soothe her pain with one of her wrists. How hard did she hit the floor? When she pulled her hand away, she spotted some dried blood on it, causing her to grimace. She couldn't even see her face to see the blood on it. If she as bleeding from the forehead, the chances of a lot of dried blood on her face was high. Plus, forehead cuts, even minor ones, always caused heavy bleeding.
Where did they take the others?
I hope they're not dead…
To die in a whole different world would be the worst fate for them. Just as she was worrying over her comrades, her cell was opened. Her head snapped upwards and she immediately tried to assault the person coming in despite the restraint. She still had legs left.
"Whoa, whoa!" they tried to grab her neck but she ducked and tried to tackle them out the door until they lifted their knee, causing her to ram her face into a metal knee pad. The pain made her recoil and stumble backwards, allowing the soldier to grab her by the front her hoodie.
"You move well." They mocked. It was only then did the realize who was standing in front of her. That was her brother's voice. She looked up and found her brother's face grinning arrogantly. "I bet that hurt, didn't it?"
This man was not her brother.
This man did not bring her any sense of relief or comfort.
"You really look like her. It's pretty amazing." Edolas Van chuckled while Karissa just glared at him. "Just not as adorable." Edolas Van turned around and dragged her along with him out the cell. He then shoved her in front of him where she found two soldiers standing and waiting for them. She whipped her head back with a glare and saw him watching her carefully.
"You try to do anything, and I'm busting your head open." He warned just as his fist hit the wall next to them, causing her to flinch and take a step back when she saw how he easily broke the wall with his magic gear. He wasn't playing around. He was probably the one who knocked her the hell out.
As frustrating as it was, Karissa could really only obey her captives and let them bring her deeper and lower into the castle. Eventually, they brought her into a room where she found Natsu and Wendy crucified on some stones. Her feet stopped as she took in the seat. In front of her, a small old man grinned at her when he saw her arrival.
"Perfect timing."
"Karissa-san!" Wendy exclaimed. She was horrified at the sight of her face. The dried blood on the right side of her face made her think they had done something to her.
"Her too?!" Natsu growled, eyes glaring daggers at the people of Edolas.
"What the hell is going—?!" Edolas Van grabbed her by the hood, cutting her off, and dragged her into the room, threw her into a metal chair that was situated between Wendy and Natsu, and strapped her in. She let out a frightened shout when he punched the chains of her cuffs, separating her hands. When she saw that, she tried to use her magic, thinking they stopped functioning but there was still no luck. He trapped her wrists on the chair's armrests, she was completely restrained.
"What are you planning on doing to us?!" Karissa screamed when she felt dread building in her stomach.
"Geez, no need to get all loud." Edolas Van scowled, hands blocking his hears. "It echoes in here."
"A dragon's magic can break the lacrima." The old man attached a device to Wendy and Natsu with an eerie grin. "But we still need a lot of power for it to work." He cackled before attaching one to her.
It took a few seconds for his words to sink in, but when it did, Karissa glared darkly at him. She was going to be used as the main power source for whatever device they were going to use while Wendy and Natsu's magic to break the lacrima. But why?
"They said that they were going to use Dragon Slaying Magic to crash a floating island with lacrima into Extalia." Wendy said sadly as if she read her mind. "Our friends are on that island…!"
Karissa's eyes grew wide.
She knew what Extalia was but she didn't really care at the moment. Her main concern was the image of a lacrima shattering into pieces, her friends lost forever, all for the sake of another world. Someone dear to her heart would be lost forever. That made her clench her fists tightly in anger.
"So desperate for magic that you're willing to kill people for it… You're all fucked up!" Karissa said darkly. Her heart was beating fast from being so agitated at the thought of losing people who had a spot in her heart.
"That's just a chunk of lacrima. You call that people?" Edolas Van scoffed with a smirk, shrugging and tilting his head a little as if to feign innocent, causing Karissa to try and get out of her restraints to no avail. Her heart was racing from the panic surging inside her.
"Because you turned them into that! Our friends are in there!" Natsu roared angrily, trying his best to break free from his restraints.
She was strapped to a chair with no way to use her magic. Wendy and Natsu couldn't use magic at all. Once they were done with them, they were going to be too drained out to fight back. They might even kill them right after. There didn't seem to be any hope. If there was, it was too out of reach for her. She couldn't see light at the end of the tunnel when she desperately hoped for one. Watching Edolas Van walk out of the room and shut the doors behind him, she did her best to not break down in tears, she was feeling the despair.
Pain. Hopelessness. Sadness. Those were the only things she felt when the short old man extracted magic power from her. The pain was immensely excruciating, especially for someone like her, feeling like she could actually die from it. At some point she just lost track of time, all she heard was screams and more screams, her throat was on fire after raw screams were being ripped out of her. Unlike with Natsu and Wendy, her drainage of magic power lasted longer before she was given any respite.
Ah.
It's really no use.
I can't see of a way to get out of here.
Is there even a way for them to go back to normal?
Maybe it's irreversible.
…
… Then we failed.
They're all going to die.
We couldn't save them.
We'll most likely die right after too.
Natsu, who had been screaming and begging the man to just take everything from him to spare Wendy the pain, saw how Karissa just stared at the ground lifelessly, it was not a good sign. It definitely seemed like she was giving up. He could tell from seeing the side of her face. The strong and determined Karissa he grew up alongside with was giving up and losing hope. The pink haired mage refused to let her be like that, it was too soon, she couldn't just give up like this!
He clenched his fists tightly to the point that his restraints rattled. "Karissa! Don't lose hope!" Natsu screamed at her, watching her from above. "We haven't lose yet so keep your head up!"
Natsu…
She blinked slowly, her parted lips not moving.
"Pandora! Van! And Gray! They're not dead yet!" he managed to say through the pain. "We're going to save them all!"
Gray…
She slightly lifted her head. A small ember of hope that was being snuffed out was slowly flickering back to life in her heart.
There was only thing she wanted most right now: she wanted to see Gray again. She couldn't let him die for the sake of another world's problem. That was a stupid death. He needed to live no matter what. Her heart yearned to see him.
For who knows how long, she endured, and endured, all the pain until she just felt completely lethargic and numb. Natsu and Wendy had stopped screaming since they fell unconscious, leaving her the only one awake, she even heard mocking praise for it. She didn't have the energy to insult him. The old man left when he finished his job, leaving them behind closed doors to deal with later. It was possible that he might sent soldiers to finish the job.
The hope she had in her heart was the only thing keeping her eyes open.
She kept staring at the floor during her reprieve.
I need to somehow recover fast and stop them…
Damn. She was really weak right now.
All of a sudden, the doors were kicked open, causing a loud sound to reverb in the room, but she was too out of it to look up right away.
"Karissa!"
"Natsu!"
"Wendy!"
That first voice…
A gentle warm hand pushed her face up and she dazedly stared up at the person with parted lips. It was Gray. Blinking, she thought she was seeing things, but that warmth on her cheek was unmistakable. He looked so upset. The longer she stared at his concerned eyes that searched her gaze, the more hers regained light in them when she felt that ember of hope shine brighter. She saw hope in front of her.
"Are you alright?" he asked her, tone laced with worry.
He's here.
"Gray." She croaked out, her face expressing relief. Her brows knitted and she bit her lip.
"I got you now. It's okay." He reassured her softly, stroking her head before freezing all her restraints to break them. He moved his hands back to her face to look at her. He looked at the dried blood on the right side of her face and he ended up frowning deeply at the sight. He created a thin layer of ice on his fingertips to wipe it off her face. With his free hand, he took out a bottle of red pills and instructed Lucy and Carla to feed one to Wendy and Natsu so that they could use magic.
"I can't believe they tortured you like this." Gray said angrily.
She shook her head. "No… I cut my forehead when I fell. They only extracted magic. It still hurt though."
He narrowed his eyes. "That's still torture for you."
Gently, Karissa lifted her hand to touch the one that was resting against her right cheek, leaning into his touch. "We can get payback later…" she told him. "I'm sorry… I almost completely gave up on you guys." Karissa murmured and then shifted her eyes to look at him apologetically. Eyes captured by her; Gray felt himself softened at the sight of her like this. For her to give up she must have really thought there was no hope left.
"Don't worry. It's okay." He gently carded her bangs away from her face so that he could fully see her. "Erza and I are here now."
That was even more relieving.
"… I'm happy to see you." Karissa manage to smile for him. Her lethargic state was kind of to blame for her speaking so honestly. She couldn't help it. Seeing him just made her that happy.
Gray smiled back at her and opened his mouth to say something until they all heard Natsu coughing up a lung. With a fistful of fire, he forced himself up and then bolted out of the room after saying something about stopping someone. That made Karissa remember the pressing matter that slipped her mind when she saw Gray. She explained everything while Wendy was waking up.
Wendy said that the lacrima on one of the floating islands was going to be used as a bomb to rain down magic on Edolas. The old man extracting their magic was probably talking about it when Karissa was all numb and spaced out because it was the first time she was hearing it about the magic part.
Natsu then came back in the room screaming.
"There are two Erzas! What the heck?! What was that?! What was it?! A showdown between two monsters?! Is this world done for?!"
Karissa frowned at his volume. It was annoying.
The pink haired mage then stiffened when he saw Gray. He stared at him for a few seconds before identifying Gray with his eyes popping out.
"You won't shut up or calm down. Man, you're annoying as hell." Gray spat, annoyed. He turned to Karissa and helped her out of the chair, trying to make sure she could stand. She still felt weak.
"He's Earthland Gray." Lucy sighed at Natsu. "A lot happened and now he's here. Gray, Erza and Gajeel too. Happy's taking Gajeel to help stop the lacrima."
"Huh?" Wendy blinked when she realized who was helping Karissa stand. "Oh, it's true! Gray-san is here!"
Karissa felt Gray stiffen and nearly drop her when he heard that. His face became glum as he looked away sadly. "Huh…? Am I invisible? We're underground, so I guess my shadow does look a little thin…"
He was sulking. It made the other ice mage smile and then laugh a little when she saw how depressed he looked. It was funny and cute. Karissa reached her hand up and gently patted his head in an attempt to comfort him. "Cheer up."
"Am I really that unnoticeable though…?"
"No. You're the first person I noticed in this room." She said honestly while still patting his head. "I'll always notice you."
Gray turned his head a little to look at her as his cheeks turned a little pink. She gave him a little smile when he kept staring at her with a pout. Yeah, she was immensely glad that he was here with her now.
Unable to help herself, she hugged him close to her, surprising him. The taller ice mage didn't question it though, he just hugged her just as tightly, not really caring at the moment about the others around him. He was just glad she was alright even in the state that she was in. If she was in a state worse than this, then that was going to be an unforgivable sin to anyone in this castle.
After grabbing a jacket he found, Gray had to carry Karissa on his back as they raced through the castle in search of the king. She felt a little guilty for not being able to run on her own since her body felt much more tired, mostly because they drained a lot of her magic power, compared to Natsu and Wendy, the downside of having a lot of magic power could be quite troublesome. The latter went with Carla to Extalia to warn them about the danger. Thankfully, Karissa's magic power was restored enough to last her one battle against Edolas Van who came to standing her and her friends' way with two other captains. She sent his ass flying out the castle.
Earthland Erza, who defeated Edolas Erza, decided to pretend to take Gray and Natsu as hostage and force Karissa to make a key necessary to activate the cannon that would slam the island into Extalia.
But alas, even that plan didn't work out. The cannon was fired and they had to find another urgent way to stop it from colliding into Extalia. Everyone and the Exceeds had to try and stop it by pushing it away with all their might until Mystogan stepped in to help by sending the lacrima back to Earthland, restoring it back to its original form. Even when the crisis was averted, the royal army still came after them, this time it was to capture all the Exceeds so that they can turn them into the lacrima on the king's orders who decided to use a dragon-like machine to attack them. But the three Dragon Slayers of Fairy Tail decided to deal with it.
Again, they struggled against the royal army that were after Happy and Carla, the two remaining Exceeds, and they nearly died until Edolas Fairy Tail showed up to assist.
When Karissa was staring at the Edolas Fairy Tail in awe, she was suddenly helped up on her feet. Earthland Karissa found herself getting helped up on her feet by Edolas Karissa. The Edolas version of her was wearing a light purple oversized sweater, a gray knee length folded skirt, and white thigh socks. She smiled at her brightly. She gave off the vibe of someone who was just plain adorable.
"What the…?" Karissa Sinclost couldn't finish her sentence when she saw what her counterpart was wearing.
"You okay?" Karissa Scarlion asked her while patting down her counterpart's clothes.
"Uh… yeah…" Sinclost replied slowly and then thanked her, taking in the sight of her other self.
"This is kinda weird." Scarlion laughed, touching her index fingers together.
"Yeah, no kidding."
Meanwhile, Gray was staring at the two Karissas from afar after once he skidded to a stop, watching them stupidly interact as his mind went blank. Just a few seconds ago, he came face to face with his Edolas version and was taken back by him. Now, he was seeing two versions of the person he loved; one in an oversized sweater, that reminded him of his own maroon one, in a skirt, and another in a cool zipper hoodie and fitted pants. It wasn't a bad sight to be honest.
All of a sudden, Edolas Karissa was enveloped in a tight embrace by none other than Lyon Isaac who nuzzled his face in her hair, making Gray gape at the sight. He wasn't the only one who reacted at the sight since Gray Surge started making his way towards him while whining.
"You damn, playboy!" Gray Surge whined, pointing his finger at him. "Get off! You're no good for her!" he shouted at Lyon Isaac who just responded by sticking his tongue at him, revealing a tongue piercing.
"Gray, you don't have to be so overprotective." Karissa Scarlion laughed while snuggling into Lyon who hummed happily, causing Gray Surge to freak out.
"Karissa, you're being manipulated by a playboy! Open your eyes!" he shrieked, flailing his arms.
"I devote my heart to my dear Karissa!" Lyon barked, offended. "Butt out, you insufferable snowball!"
Gray Fullbuster's eye twitched.
"Don't be mean to me! I get cold easily!"
"Now, now, boys, please don't fight."
"Yes, my darling~"
"Aw. You're cute." Karissa Scarlion booped Lyon's nose who grinned and brushed his against hers.
Karissa just stared blankly at the sight. Seriously?
"Why are you even here?! You're part of Lamia Scale!" Gray Surge complained.
"I'll fight for my lovely lover's sake." Lyon Isaac said bluntly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Gray Fullbuster grabbed his head after taking it all in. "What the hell?!" He all but shouted to no one in specifically. Karissa, who wandered away from the Edolas trio, looked at Gray and just sighed while striding towards him.
"Crazy, right?" she laughed sheepishly, watching him try to take it all in until she spotted something past him. Far away from where they stood, a duo that was fighting together. There was a woman wearing tomboyish clothing and a guy who wore punk-like clothing. She recognized the woman as the Edolas version of her sister, but the other person she did not know. However, something deep inside her knew the answer. When she saw them look in her direction she did a sharp intake of breath, it really felt like time had stopped just then.
Short black hair and eyes that matched the Sinclost family. Two moles on the left side of his face: one near the corner of his mouth and one below his left eye.
She somehow just knew the answer.
Ah.
Is this what you would look like, Clavis?
Noticing how Karissa was solemnly staring past him, Gray lifted a dark eyebrow and curiously looked where she was looking. He saw a guy who had a striking resemblance to Karissa, it made him blink in surprise.
Lyon Isaac felt Karissa Scarlion slip out of his grasp to fight when he was busy gazing at the Earthland versions of his lover and his rival. He recalled how he asked her whether or not Gray Fullbuster liked her. His curiosity was piqued now that he saw the two standing next to each other looking at who knows what in the midst of a battlefield. With a mischievous grin, he made his way towards them with only one goal in mind.
"Ah! There you are!" Lyon suddenly exclaimed cheerfully, causing Earthland Gray and Karissa to look back at him in confusion. He leaped towards Karissa who squeaked when he hugged her, and then proceeded to pucker his lips at her. He was about to kiss her again.
Karissa leaned her head away as her eyes rapidly grew wide. "Hey wait—!" She quickly said in a panic.
Before Gray could even think, his hand flew up to the back of Lyon Isaac's collar and he yanked him away from his childhood friend, sending him stumbling away from them. "Wrong Karissa, this one is not yours." Gray told him with narrowed eyes, a warning tone in his voice.
"Yeah! Wrong person!" Karissa shouted at him, annoyed.
"Whoops." Lyon rubbed the back of his head and dodged a soldier's attack. He went off to find his beloved while smiling gleefully. The subtle sign of jealousy and protectiveness on his face gave away hints of how he felt towards her, it was so amusing to see. Plus, he got to rile up Earthland Gray and Edolas Gray in one day. Could Lyon Isaac's day get any better than this?
…
…
…
Mystogan sent all magic to Earthland to make Edolas a world without magic, ending the conflict once and for all. He sent all Earthlanders back and he remained back in Edolas where his true home was.
Currently, everyone was back in Fairy Tail guildhall, partying in a way only Fairy Tail could. Everyone who returned from Edolas got cleaned up and dressed into better clothes after reuniting Lisanna with Elfman and Mirajane. Turns out, Lisanna never died because she actually just got sent to Edolas two years ago. After magic was ejected through Anima, she was forced to return like everyone else. Upon seeing her return, Master Makarov announced a welcome back party for Lisanna which got everyone hyped up. Food and drinks were being served all around. Those who were in Edolas went straight to chowing down after everything that happened.
Karissa got herself some rice and beef, a simple meal to fill her up, and was happily weaving her way through people to join Cana and Gray at the counter, she overheard Happy telling Juvia how Gray was the one pining after Juvia in Edolas which caused the Juvia of Earthland to go through a meltdown, making Karissa roll her eyes. When she neared the counter, she saw Gray trying to containing his laughter as he remembered Edolas Cana.
"Man, forget it, I can't say it without laughing!" Gray slapped his hand on the counter in a fit of giggles, unable to continue eating since he might choke.
"Oh, just say it." Cana narrowed her eyes at him. "Tell me so I can enjoy my liquor!"
"I can tell you if you want." Karissa took a seat next to Gray, grinning widely in amusement. "You were a prim proper lady, elegant, frills and all."
"Whaaat?" Cana scowled at the description, checking the ice mages' faces to see if they were joking. They weren't. She easily illustrated an image in her mind that got her shaking her head aggressively. "Oh, gross." She said, prompting Gray to burst out laughing.
"That almost made my head spin." Gray wheezed. "You fought with a magic wand too…! You looked like some magical girl!" he pretended to wave a hand majestically with a comical expression.
"Alright, shut up, I get it!" Cana tried to whack him. He just dodged by leaning backwards into Karissa who was also laughing along with him. "Tell me about you guys in Edolas."
"Us?" Gray and Karissa grimaced. The latter just turned back to her food continued eating. It's all fun until it's their turn to tell who they were in Edolas.
"Oh? What's this?" Cana smirked. "Come on, what did you see?"
"Do we have to?" Karissa sighed.
"Why not? What's the harm?" Cana said after taking a sip from her barrel.
I guess there's really isn't no harm.
By the time they finished telling her, she was laughing just like Gray and Karissa was at her. Much like Gray, she couldn't believe that their counterparts were way different from them. Gray wore too much clothes and whined more while Karissa wore skirts and acted cutesy.
"And you're telling me you actually have a boyfriend in that world?!" Cana exclaimed.
"Not me." Karissa reminded her. "Edolas me."
"Yeah. Edolas." Gray scratched the back of his head. Seeing Karissa's counterpart look very much in love with Lyon's counterpart left a bad taste in his mouth.
As Karissa half listened to Cana's teasing, she ended up thinking about Edolas Lyon and how different he was to the Lyon he knew. She still couldn't believe she ended up kissing someone from another world. Seriously crazy. And even a person from another world was asking about her and Gray, he never even met the other person and was trying to find out if she was dating him, rather ridiculous if you ask her.
Still, if she were to consider how it would be to actually date her friend, it probably wouldn't be so bad. And once again, the thoughts were making her feel funny.
Absentmindedly, she bit the spoon a bit harder after Cana went back to drinking.
When Lyon Isaac asked her if she liked Gray she answered him rather fast because she didn't want to think about it. But with how funny she was feeling recently, she was beginning to question if that answer was actually genuine, she was worried if it wasn't. And recently, she was noticing that her mind would wander off and think about him. That was actually a bit alarming, and she had to remind herself that she couldn't think about Gray like that.
Discreetly, she tried to sneak a glance at Gray only to find him already looking at her after Cana wandered off somewhere with her barrel of liquor, leaving the two of them at the counter together. That discreet look ended up with her fully staring back at him, they were rather close too since they were sitting next to each other.
When their eyes met, it felt like she was being pulled into a dark night that was reflected in his eyes. It felt new and odd. It was like a spell was casted on her. She wanted to look away, but for some reason, she was having a hard time. No words were exchanged, they just half-listened to the chaotic party going on in the background, holding the other's gaze.
It was as if their eyes, the windows to the soul, were having a conversation, something in them made her shiver.
Eventually, she snapped out of it, she blinked and looked away from his dark blue eyes, shattering the moment, feeling her heart pound in her ears loudly, she felt her fingers shaking. She saw something in his eyes that she couldn't give a name to. What on Earthland was that?
Biting her lip nervously, dropping the spoon loudly in her plate, she excused herself and quickly stood up on her seat to hop over the counter to get herself a glass of water, leaving Gray on his own. He stared at her back, before exhaling through his nose and lowering his head to muss up his hair when he realized he might have scared her off, he panicked a little. He didn't mean to stare at her for so long like that, honestly, he didn't know what came over him, his eyes were just captured by her.
As he rested his forehead in his palm, his eyes were locked on his empty plate, his heart was beating fast in his chest.
He swallowed. His feelings were growing stronger. He seriously thought they would eventually fade overtime, but he didn't see any sign of that happening anytime soon.
After composing herself and brushing it off, she jumped back over the counter and rejoined Gray who was waiting for her. She did him a favour by taking away his plate along with hers and putting them aside so that they could be washed later. They pretended like nothing happened and just started talking to each other, ignoring the rest of the world when they got wrapped up in talking. They also talked about Clavis when she mentioned that she might have seen an Edolas version of him. Gray also thought that might have been him since they looked like each other. He thought it would be amusing if the two tried to pretend to be the other to fool everyone. Karissa found that idea exciting.
Karissa didn't realize they ended up talking for so long until she noted how Juvia never tried to butt into their conversation to get Gray's attention, she would have popped up as soon as she saw them talking so closely. The water mage was probably sulking this whole time about not being able to go to Edolas.
...
...
...
Karissa's eyes shot open and she lifted her head. Drowsily, she looked around and saw how messy the guild was. How long had she been asleep for? She didn't remember falling asleep on a table. Across from her, Cana was slouched with several bottles around her as she slept. That's when it came back to her, she and Gray went to join Cana when she called them over and she somehow ended up dozing off after a while. When she looked towards a window, she saw how it was still pitch black outside. It was probably one in the morning.
"I'm going home..." Karissa muttered to herself. She wasn't going to sleep in the guild when she had a bed waiting for her at home. Pandora and Van could stay behind since they most likely didn't mind how they were currently sleeping. Pandora was lying on a bench while Van was hogging a whole table.
As she made her way around the table to head to the exit, she noticed Gray passed out on a bench in nothing but his underwear. His shoes, socks and pants were under the table while his shirt was hanging in his hand.
Typical. Karissa thought with a fond smile.
She crouched and folded her arms on her knees to look at his face closely. He was snoring away, all relaxed and innocent looking. It made a smile appear on her lips. He looked cute.
"Gray." she whispered. "Wake up."
She knew he would rather sleep in his own bed too.
Not wanting to wake Cana who was nearby, she shifted to move closer to his ear, cupping her hands around her mouth to whisper his name. It evoked an almost immediate reaction, his snoring stopped and he lifted his head a little in alarm, it made her grin in amusement.
"Mhm... wha...?" he looked at her with half lidded eyes. "What happened?"
"Everyone fell asleep. You wanna head home?"
In his lethargic state, he sat up and just sat there, blinking slowly with his lips parted, taking in the disaster that was the aftermath of the guild's celebration. It made Karissa giggle as she kept watching him. Gray looked down to stare at her, blinking, looking more awake, and then a small smile appeared on his face, making her tip her head curiously. He shook his head, reaching for his clothes.
They were sneaking away to also avoid cleaning up a mess that wasn't their own in the morning.
Side by side, they walked down the dark streets of Magnolia towards the Sinclost house, he was the one who offered to walk her home since it was late at night. Plus, she looked lethargic so he wanted to just make sure she got home alright. Gray wanted to just jump into bed and sleep like a log, but getting her home first was his priority.
Her hand latched onto his sleeve while his hands was in his jacket's pocket. He wondered if she would ever grow out that habit, but he wasn't complaining though, he liked it when she leaned on him.
Then, the memory of Edolas Lyon suddenly hugging Earthland Karissa flashed in his mind, it made him frown a little. It made him remember how the Lyon from Earthland cared for Karissa.
"Hey, uh… do you like Lyon?" Gray suddenly broke the silence.
Karissa looked up at him a knitted her brows. "What?"
"I-I mean," he scrubbed the back of his head, his gaze skittered to the side. "You guys used to like each other, right? So… I just thought that maybe, after seeing him again, you might have… y'know?"
Karissa lightly blew a raspberry which made him shift his eyes to look at her from the side. "Okay, no. Don't get it mixed up with Edolas. Things are different from here and there. I don't like him. But he did try to convince me into liking Earthland Lyon. Try."
It was Gray's turn to knit his brows, turning his head to look at her in confusion. "Wait, what do you mean? You didn't even speak to him when we fought those soldiers after he ran off."
"Ahh…" Karissa smacked her lips and pursed them, reaching a hand up to scratch the back of her neck. "You wanna know something? I was sent to Edolas with Lucy and got separated. So, I had to find my way to the capital. I had help from Edolas Lyon." She then laughed sheepishly and shook her head. "That Lyon kissed me twice when he thought I was Edolas Karissa."
"He did what?!" Gray stopped walking, staring at her in disbelief, his body stiff. "And you said twice?!"
"Yeah. He caught me off guard twice. I was trying to be his girlfriend to get info from him. Buuut yeah, I'm never going to be able to look at our Lyon ever again." Karissa groaned, embarrassed, rubbing her face with her sleeve to keep herself awake, completely oblivious to the way Gray's face was twitching in annoyance. He was regretting not meeting Lyon Isaac's lips with his fist when he tried to put his lips on Karissa for the third time. He was wondering if he tried doing that on purpose because both Karissa's were wearing different colours back then. He probably did.
"He didn't even ask you permission for it?"
Karissa tipped her head and her face skewed in confusion. "Since when do you ask permission to kiss your significant other?"
Seeing as she had a point, he looked away to the side, suddenly embarrassed as she gave him a look for asking a silly question. Gray cleared his throat and continued walking with her. "So, you don't like him?"
"Of course not." She replied, no hint of hesitation in her answer to his question as if it was obvious, before yawning into her sleeve. How could she not care about Lyon?
"Oh."
"Why?"
"N-No reason. I just thought of it after seeing our counterparts."
"Counterparts, huh...? You like Juvia in that world." Karissa said as she made the effort to keep her tone neutral without any trace of annoyance.
Her childhood friend sighed heavily at that. "I know it was weird to see."
"Yeah. Definitely." she said and then Gray stretched his jaw to yawn loudly, causing her to yawn softly.
As they walked out of the light of a lamp post, silence fell between them in the dark, a comfortable silence where they heard distant talking and water running from a nearby river. And for some reason, her mind decided to remember how Edolas Gray made heart eyes at Edolas Juvia, it made the uneasiness she felt at the thought of Earthland Juvia trying to get her hands on Gray. She really didn't like it.
She wanted to be one standing by his side, the only one closest to his heart. She didn't want Juvia to be that person.
Karissa's eyes widened when they got closer to the next lamp post. Wait what? Am I actually jealous?
Jealousy. That was jealousy she was feeling, wasn't it?
She always stopped her thoughts before they wandered too far into an uncharted place, an area that she didn't feel confident or comfortable stepping into. She kept it locked away because she felt like it was necessary when she sensed something lurking there. When did she sense it? When did it begin? She couldn't say. But there was an emotion that she pushed back and isolated away to keep it from influencing her, she didn't want it blooming. She wanted to deny its existence at all costs. It wasn't right.
Rationalizing her affections was good for keeping a veil on it.
Karissa uncoiled her hand slowly from Gray's sleeve.
But with Juvia constantly trying to get close to Gray, she actually felt threatened that she would take something away from her. That emotion that was being locked away kept pounding the door as if to tell her something so obvious. But she turned away, covered her eyes and ears, not giving herself the chance to think about it. It felt risky. It was also scary.
There was actually something she wanted to say to Juvia when she told her that Gray would be hers. An irrational thought came to mind but was never voiced because it would be dangerous to give that emotion a voice.
"Back off. He's mine."
A contradicting thing to think about. He wasn't hers. He belonged to no one.
But still…
Karissa's breath hitched when she and Gray stepped into the light of the lamp post, she suddenly stopped walking to stare down at the ground nervously. Edolas Lyon told her that it thinking about it wouldn't be so bad, but she was beginning to think he was wrong as she could feel her heart beating fast again and she was getting extremely nervous.
Gray stopped in his tracks, glancing over his shoulder curiously, finding her staring at the street without saying anything.
"Karissa, what's wrong?" he wondered innocently.
With a sharp intake of breath, she hesitantly looked up at him, finding him standing a few steps away from her, standing in the light with his hands in his jacket, looking all casual and cool as usual. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary.
She met his dark blue eyes again and just stiffened.
I was ignorant and just didn't want to see it because he was my best friend, and everything was fine just the way things were. Maybe I did know but I just pretended not to see it. It made me happy just to be by his side. I got so used to it just being him and I. It's only when Juvia came along and started actively pursuing him did I start feeling bitter. It always made me feel uneasy whenever she tried to get closer to him. That uneasiness was jealousy.
In her life, there was realistically only a limited of spots available in her heart that she can reserve for people who mattered the most. Gray's spot was definitely the most treasured one.
She cared so much about him and respected him. She was always excited to go on jobs with him or hang out, there were times where she just dropped whatever she was doing to be with him. She enjoyed meals with him on jobs and talking about random things that made each other laugh. She felt most open with him. He's helped her gather more courage to help her come out of her shell, and she's happy to support him the same way in any way that she can. Any pain that he went through made her want to fix it just like he tries to do the same for her.
Karissa blinked and took a deep breath.
I just love Gray.
Gray and Karissa's eyes having a conversation like: you getting tired of this slow burn? Me too.
After 30 CHAPTERS, it's here. Karissa has finally opened her damn eyes. Honestly, the realization for her was actually supposed to happen during the Tenrou Island Arc but I didn't see any reason to prolong it.
The Tenrou Arc begins on December 15, and currently, it's the end of October so there's still more than month left before we get into that. Just wanted to point that out. The next one or two chapters will most likely have some stuff inspired from the canon content in the light novel "Fairy Tail: The Color Residing Within The Heart".