They were inside the Sky Labyrinth.
"What the… how the hell did you get dressed that fast?!" Natsu gaped at Karissa who innocently looked around. The pink haired mage saw her look at him with a mysterious smile. She simply waved her hand dismissively to change the subject. "Nevermind about me. Focus on the maze."
"You're right… what the hell is this mess?!" Natsu grabbed his head as his eyes began to swirl from the confusion. "I suck at these kinds of things!"
Gray looked at his surroundings as well. "A three-dimensional maze, huh? What a pain."
Erza stepped forward and looked into the maze where all sorts of staircases and platforms gathered together in one jumbled mess. "We basically must work our way east. The stadium is to the east."
Seeing as it was Lucy's time to shine, she picked one of her keys and summoned a spirit, Pyxis As Lucy asked her little spirit friend to find east for her. The others were watching on the side while Erza's hand was held out, holding a compass for everyone to see. Lucy was so eager to contribute that she didn't even realize Erza had brought out the compass, leaving everyone to stare at her as she posed confidently towards the east.
"Wow." Gray commented as Lucy looked so proud.
"What is she doing?" Natsu wondered.
"Ayo… Lucy." Karissa chuckled.
"Thank you, but I already have a compass." Erza informed her.
Both Pyxis and Lucy sulked.
"Huu…"
Everyone was following Erza and her compass. They had to jump over many gaps and climb many stairs. Along the way of their search for east, they noticed some stairs were hidden inside small towers or building-like structures that connected directly to another part of the labyrinth. They needed to find the path that would bring them directly to the stadium. They just knew it was one wooden path like earlier that connected the stadium to the labyrinth. But several times now, they only saw wooden paths that would lead them to another inn, a path taken by another guild participating.
Now, the compass was pointing everyone towards a door of a little tower.
"Why is this place so damn confusing?!" Natsu roared at everything, making Gray roll his eyes as he shoved him and his fire breath away.
"Stop complaining!"
"Why'd you shove me?!"
"Because you're spitting your fire in my face!"
"We don't have time for this, boys." Lucy waved the papers she used for mapping the place.
She and Karissa were left to watch the typical quarrel between the two while Erza peered into the tower. There were no stairs, only the streets of Crocus down below. Not good. If they fell, they were going straight to fall headfirst. When the S-Class mage heard their bickering, she looked over her shoulder. "Stop this at once!"
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Natsu accidentally backed into Erza when he became sturdy from the fear, causing her to stumble into the doorway and fall down with a girly scream.
It happened so fast.
"WHOOAAA!"
"KYAAA!"
"WHAT THE— ACK!"
"GRAY—! NO! OOF—!"
After Erza fell, she grabbed Natsu's foot to try and stop her fall, pulling him down with her. That caused Natsu to stretch his arms out and grab onto Lucy as he screamed, who also screamed when he wrapped his body around her, causing her to latch onto the end of Gray's shirt and jacket. His top ended up close lining his damn throat, forcing him to fall back, but not before he grabbed Karissa's arm on the way down.
Karissa's hand firmly grasped the door frame before she got pulled down.
Why?
Why is this happening?!
Erza breathed a sigh of relief and looked up. "Sorry, Karissa! You'll have to pull us up!"
Natsu looked down at Erza with a fearful look. "Why'd you have to grab my foot?!"
Lucy squirmed uncomfortably. Natsu was clinging to her like a monkey, arms locked over her chest and one leg crossed around her waist as the other swayed from Erza's grip. "Why are you holding me like this?! What the— WATCH YOUR HANDS!" Natsu, being an oblivious idiot, was desperately trying to get a better grip on her since Erza's weight was pulling him down.
Gray choked as their squirming pressed his shirt harder onto his throat. "W-Would you quit moving around?! Save the chit chat…. f-for later! I'm fucking dying!" With his face gradually turning blue, he looked at his friend desperately. "Karissa…!" He croaked, holding her arm tighter.
Karissa stared them down with a dead expression. Honestly, if someone was going to fall… why not fall by yourself? Why make this damn chain?
"Haha."
My arm is about to fall off.
"This is no laughing matter!" Gray and Lucy snapped as they heard her monotone laugh.
"Do I look like Laxus?!" Karissa snapped, and a laugh escaped her again, this time, from the ridiculousness of it all. She felt like crying from the weight. "My arms are freaking twigs compared to him! Pull us up, she says! You can forget about it!"
She let go.
"WHAT?!" Lucy freaked.
Gray couldn't even enjoy the sweet oxygen entering his body when dread filled his being.
Natsu's eyes widened.
Three distinctive screams were heard before she used her wind magic to shoot them back up to the surface… albeit too high. They moved up several staircases and ended up going straight towards another guild. The guild paused when they saw them coming. It was Twilight Ogre. Seeing familiar faces that beat them up months ago, they were so eager to start a fight.
"Never thought we'd face them this early! Get 'em!"
"Yeah! Let's get our payback!"
Hearing this, Natsu and Gray maneuvered around in the air to drop kick them and use magic to blow them away. Either they were kind enough or just didn't know, but Twilight Ogre remained in the labyrinth, avoiding the headfirst fall in the streets of Crocus, by landing on one of the outer platforms of the maze. The smaller guy, the one she was sure whose face she rammed into the floor when they came back from the island, left a paper flying in the air, piquing Karissa's curiosity. She walked over to the edge and stood on the tip of her toes to snatch it before it flew out of reach. It looked like something was written on it.
Just then, the labyrinth began to slowly rotate. Erza quickly grounded herself when she noticed the shift. Karissa let out an eep when she tilted dangerously towards the abyss, but even when she forced herself to step away, the place was tilting her towards the edge still. The scarlet haired mage was quick to catch Karissa's wrist when she slipped off, but the wind she activated helped lessen the burden of her weight.
Right. This way was better.
This should work.
She swung her arm towards her allies, striking them with a harmless stigma that quickly made them float above a wind disc.
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief as Gray released her arm. "Thanks, Karissa!"
Gray looked down below when he saw people falling out of the labyrinth. "Yeah, this makes it easier to stay in the game. Everyone is just falling out. I guess this is one way to dwindle the number of teams for this year."
"You're right." Erza saw several mages screaming as they slipped and fell out of the labyrinth. Lucy jerked away from someone who tried to grab her leg as they fell past her. She fearfully looked above her and kept her hands close to her chest with her papers. With that way she was looking up, it reminded Karissa of how people warily looked up to check if the birds flying above them were going to drop poop on their heads.
"Karissa, move us to the side!" Erza ordered which she obeyed quickly to avoid the people coming down on them. They gathered atop a small structure that was safe to land on now that the rotation stopped. Standing together, Karissa presented the paper she snatched from Twilight Ogre, making Gray also hold it so he could get a better look.
It was a map.
"Oh? They were making a map, too? That's a lucky break." Gray smirked before reaching for Lucy's papers to hold them together. "If we can combine it with outs… we'll have an even better map."
Erza, Natsu and Karissa came to the same realization.
Lucy, who was huddled in the circle with them, suddenly felt out of place when she saw the evil smirks on her friends' faces.
"We won't fall." Karissa assured them. Every time the labyrinth would rotate, she would be sure to keep them all elevated. "So, we can just worry about gathering maps."
"That's perfect." Erza turned away just as she heard a group coming their way. Upon noticing the evil looks from the long-time Fairy Tail members, the unknown guild froze. Why did it seem like they were suddenly prey?
Natsu cackled as he leaped towards them with a blast of fire.
"GIMME YOUR MAPS!"
Gray used his ice to freeze everyone to the ground when they weren't paying attention. A woman with green hair groaned when she couldn't move, all of her body except for her arm holding out her map was free.
The ice mage casually walked over to her with a grin.
"I'll be taking that."
"Hey! What the?! That's mine!"
"Not anymore!" Gray ran off with the paper to give it to Lucy, who was adding the new details to her map, all while feeling terrible about it.
Karissa, being the one with greater mobility, flew up higher to find more targets to steal from. Apparently, this was getting to her head because she had her hood on, and she was sneaking around with laser focused eyes. Was she having fun being a thief? Yeah. This was just an event after all. No harm no foul. Her body was hanging while her arms folded over the edge she was hanging from. From where she was, she could hear the others causing a ruckus as they stole maps.
Soon, she spotted a group huddling around a piece of paper.
Mine!
Karissa darted towards them in a flash. Before they even realized it, they were knocked down on the floor, and she snatched their paper before leaping off the edge, disappearing into the night with a cackle.
The back of her cardigan fluttered as she dropped down.
Honestly, she felt like a ninja.
As she passed by several mages, she caught the attention of a few who wondered who was the hooded figure that just randomly dropped down in the middle of the labyrinth.
Sting Eucliffe was one of them. There was no way he didn't notice. Why? Because Karissa literally brushed past his arm when she fell, giving him a little scare.
He paused and looked down, wondering to himself: who was that?
"Sting?" The blonde mage looked away from the edge with a quizzical look. Rogue was wondering why he suddenly stopped to look down below. "What's wrong?"
The White Dragon Slayer shrugged. "Uh, it's nothing."
…
…
…
As for Karissa, after immediately landing, her eyes were wide as she stood on a platform with a shaken look. She knew who she passed by just now. There was no way she'd forget that person who left an impression on her.
Like come on, she had a perfect few of everyone on her way down! She discreetly tried to peek up.
So, Sting is in the Games?
I guess he's right about one thing, I'll get to see his guild in action.
Okay. So maybe she was exaggerating and half-lying when she told Romeo, Max, and Warren about not giving a single care about what Sting Eucliffe had to say.
She didn't care about the strength boasting.
But she was very interested in him and what he could do.
For her, those were two different things. After all, he was one of the core members, was he not? She was also a core member alongside those from Tenrou Island. And wasn't it human nature to find things interesting?
As she heard Erza calling her name, Karissa jumped off the platform with a gleeful look.
I hope I get to see a good reaction if he sees me!
Oh, man. This was turning out to be much more fun than she expected.
…
…
…
She almost wasn't able to see Sting's potential reaction due to her team making it dead last.
Seriously?
After going ham on everyone and stealing maps, they still ended up last?
That made all their efforts feel wasted.
After entering the stadium, someone was there to guide them to a temporary resting room for the night. Apparently, they could not exit the stadium until after the first day finished. This was so they could register the participating guilds and eliminate those who couldn't make it into the top eight. They were reassured that there would be arrows directing them to washrooms or a small pantry room if they got hungry.
Everyone sat on their beds with sour looks. The room where they were going to sleep was decent enough, so it didn't worsen their already slightly bitter mood.
"This sucks!" Natsu groaned, kicking his legs on top of his bed. "All that hard work to end up dead last?!"
"Don't forget that I was the one making the maps." Lucy sighed, squishing one side of her face on one side of her pillow. "I felt so good about mapping it all out… How frustratiiiing!" Now she felt even more guilt for sharing the blame for literally knocking out the competition.
Erza changed into her pyjamas with a hand on her hip. "There's no point in dwelling on it now. It is what it is."
Just then, the door of their room opened, bringing their attention to it. It was Master Makarov accompanied by Alzack and Bisca. "It's just as you said, Erza. It's better than nothing." He smiled at them and gave them a thumbs up. "Good job on passing the preliminaries!"
"Master!" Erza exclaimed, surprised by his appearance. She was under the impression that no one could get in or get out.
"Bisca! Alzack!" Lucy wondered why they were there. "You aren't with Asuka-chan?"
Bisca just shook her head with a smile. "We left her with Laki and the others. It's alright. It's way past her bedtime after all. But yeah, congratulations on passing the preliminaries."
Alzack smiled at his guildmates with a nod. "We wanted to at least see you guys after hearing that you made it through." Guilds whose teams made it through the preliminaries were quickly notified by staff, it was only right that they knew after all. So, Master Makarov decided to make his appearance to personally cheer his members on before the hour of the games arrived since he wouldn't be seeing them until then.
Karissa, Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Lucy appreciated his support.
"We're just another step closer from winning the grand prize!" Makarov cheered with excitement with a raised fist and a jump, making Lucy sweat drop. She was beginning to think that his greed for the prize was mostly because of how he had to pay compensation whenever Fairy Tail wrecked anything. "Also, you might now know this, but I chose Wendy to be this team's reserved member in case of any future complications."
"Oh, Wendy could get the chance to participate?" Lucy felt happy for the younger girl. Surely it must have been a shock to her and yet an honour.
Karissa spotted the box Bisca left just outside the door. Instead of getting up from her bed, she shifted and plopped herself on her stomach to try and get a better view. Her curiosity was burning. "Hey, Bisca…. What's inside the box?"
"We actually have two!" Alzack informed them as he and his wife went out the door to bring the boxes in. He lifted his own to show it to them. "There are refreshments and cold meals in case you guys get hungry."
The box items were Master Makarov and Mirajane's idea, but Lisanna's reminder of Natsu's appetite had added more things inside so that the others wouldn't fight. It was mostly out of fear of Natsu and Gray possibly destroying a part of the stadium if they decided to fight over food.
Bisca put down her bigger and longer box on the chair near the door. "And this is your team attire."
"Attire?" Gray sat up, curiously looking at the box. "What for?"
Makarov smiled and tucked his hands behind his back, letting out a rumbly laugh as he walked further inside the room. "I thought it would be a good idea to have matching colours to show some team spirit. Therefore, I had these clothes ordered and ready for later today." Sensing Karissa's skeptical look, the little old man approached her and patted her head. "Don't worry, Karissa, I wouldn't give you something you wouldn't feel comfortable moving around in."
"I hope so. You want us to win, right?"
Makarov patted her cheek reassuringly, making her close her eyes with a little smile, and then he put his hand down to look at everyone. "Your names are labelled with a piece of paper so you wouldn't get mixed up. With that being said, you should all rest now." He said before clenching his fist and giving them a determined smile. "In a few hours, we'll officially begin the Grand Magic Games. Let's remind them all who Fairy Tail is!"
"You don't gotta tell me twice!" Natsu grinned, punching his fist in his hand.
JULY 1ST
DAY 1
…
…
…
"Okay, I appreciate the mobility in this… but why my tummy gotta show?"
Karissa held her arms over her midriff that was exposed again.
As the Master said, she was given comfortable clothes. They were loose enough to not constrict her movements nor bother her. Her top consisted of a white crop top with short sleeves that covered most of her neck, a single yellow line ran through the middle of it. On top of it, she wore a purple long-sleeve jacket with a high collar that ended mid-thigh. There was a white Fairy Tail insignia on the left side, where her heart was. The edge of her shoulders was yellow, her bicep was white, and the rest of her sleeve was purple. For the other half of her attire, she wore a brown belt over her black fitted pants that were a bit stretchy. Perfect. And for footwear, she wore brown boots with grayish soles. Great.
In others words, it got a nine out of ten.
Lucy looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled as she stood next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders when she put her hand on her opposite side. "You look good. If you ask me, the Master chose the perfect outfit for you."
Karissa moved away from the mirror to stand in a less hazardous area before jumping up and down, bringing her knees all the way up to her chest, testing her agility. "Yeah." She stopped to look at her reflection once more while Erza came over to do the same.
"The Master wanted us to look our best in our own styles. After all, everyone will be watching us after hearing the news of our return from Tenrou Island." Erza fixed her jacket with a smile. "So you can't blame him for wanting to leave an appropriate impression."
"Yeah," Karissa chuckled. "I don't doubt his enthusiasm at all."
Lucy grinned excitedly with a fist pump. "Let's do our best!" At first, she was nervous about hearing the crowd's cheer, but now she was feeling some adrenaline from the anticipation. The three girls smiled at each other through the mirror.
Gray was sitting next to Natsu on a bench as they waited for their cue to come out for the inauguration by watching the girls who were still looking in the mirror to check out their outfits. He and Natsu didn't really wear anything different from the type of stuff they normally wore so it wasn't a big deal. He liked his outfit. And judging from how Karissa kept grinning secretly, she did as well despite what she said while hiding her tummy.
Then, a ringing noise filled the room.
He looked up at the ceiling.
"Attention all competitors! It is time for the inauguration."
Karissa tensed.
Oh crap.
"Please head towards your designated directions, and wait for the call of your guild name before stepping out before the crowd! I repeat, please head towards your designated directions, and wait for the call of your guild name before stepping out before the crowd! Thank you."
Natsu shot up from his seat with the flag of their guild as he was assigned to carry it. "Finally." He grinned like he was finally getting his favourite meal after weeks of starvation. He was pumped and impatient for this event to finally start. Like in his default mode, he was ready to just throw hands.
Karissa couldn't feel the same. Now, that the time was coming to start the event. She could only imagine the thousands of pairs of eyes watching her every move if she were to fight. Not to mention the other guilds who would be watching her as fellow mages… Yeah sure, she was good at her profession… but still! She thought she mentally prepared for this… but maybe she was still missing a few adjustments in her brain.
It's never freaking easy to relax!
Natsu and Gray exchanged looks when they could literally hear Karissa's thoughts while walking towards the light that would reveal them to the crowd.
She was starting to scratch her arms again.
She was overthinking and getting nervous again.
Because of that, Karissa suddenly felt two pairs of hands attacking her sides, making her jump in surprise with a yelp, causing Erza and Lucy to look back. They found Gray and Natsu tickling her exposed sides. "Wha…! Hey! Stop!"
The audacity to attack her like this!
When she moved away from Natsu, Gray kept mercilessly poking and tickling her sides with a grin. When she moved away from Gray, Natsu continued where he left off. To Erza and Lucy, she kept jumping back and forth with yelps and squirms before an obvious smile finally came to grace her features as she giggled.
Lucy couldn't help but smile at the sight with a light giggle. "Stop it!" Karissa escaped them and hid behind Erza. Her smile dropped and a pout came to replace it. "What's the big deal?"
"Nothing." Gray shrugged with his hands in his pockets as if he didn't just assault her. "You just looked like you needed to loosen up." He told her just before Erza placed a hand on her head with a small smile, telling her that there was nothing to worry about.
Natsu grinned boyishly and threw an arm around her shoulders while carrying the flag on his shoulder. "We're in this together! You don't need to worry about anything!"
Understanding the reason for their attack, she sighed through her nose with a small smile. That was nice of them to tickle away some anxiety.
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I'm alright."
It was better to walk out with their head held high.
"It's that time again! The magic festival you've waited all year to see! The Grand Magic Games! I'll be your commentator, Chapati Lola! I have the great honour of being joined by our analyst and former Magic Council member, Yajima-san. Thank you for being with us, Yajima-san."
Karissa tipped her head when she heard the name. She turned towards Erza. "We did a job with him before the whole alliance. I thought he was running a restaurant?"
Erza put a hand under her chin thoughtfully. She was usually updated on the politics or any affairs of the current world. But she was seven years behind right now. "I suppose his name is still important despite his retirement."
"And yet, Fairy Tail plummets so easily." Lucy deadpanned.
"And I'd like to introduce our guest for Day One, the current Miss Fiore, Blue Pegasus' Jenny Realight! Now, let's meet our competitors! First, they ranked eighth place in the preliminaries…"
Karissa took a deep breath and walked with her friends into the sunlight.
"But will they be able to reclaim their former glory? Don't let the dainty name fool you— this guild is a band of ruffians. It's Fairy Tail!"
Natsu threw up his fist and held up their banner proudly.
…
…
…
Only for the crowd to boo at them.
Natsu nearly dropped the flag as he gaped. Surely this was the wrong stadium! "What?!"
"They're booing at us?!" Gray looked ticked off by everyone giving them thumbs down.
Blinking, Karissa looked around and saw the same reactions. Wow. They really didn't like them for this event. Sting's words were starting to make sense now. She let a chuckle escape her body. "For some reason… I'm feeling better." This is what she kind of expected. For that, Gray gave her a look of disbelief which she responded by grinning sheepishly while rubbing the back of her neck.
"Fairy Tail has come in last place every year, but now they've cleared the preliminaries! This year they can't get lower than eighth place! The whole continent is buzzing about the return of the Tenrou bunch. Will their long-lost guildmates make them number one in Fiore?!"
"THREE CHEERS FOR FAIRY TAIL! HIP HIP HOORAY! HIP HIP HOORAY!"
They all looked to the source of the sound and found their guild cheering for them. And that was worth more than a thousand people sitting in the stadium. "See," Erza took in the sight of their unwavering support. "As long as we've got the support of our comrades. That's all that matters."
Nodding, Karissa started looking away to try and spot the other guild banners. Wait. She did a double take when she noticed something way out of place. It suddenly appeared and took a seat over there! "Hold on… someone tell me why there's a ghost there!"
"What…?"
"How?"
Judging from how the others freaked, they also just noticed her.
It was Mavis. She was happily kicking her bare feet back and forth with a fist up, cheering for her guild. Natsu couldn't help but laugh at the sight while the others kept staring. "It's encouraging to have the First Master here to watch us!"
"Even if she's a ghost?" Gray mumbled under his breath, pulling away his eyes away from her.
Natsu looked at him seriously. "I don't get it. What's the problem with that?"
"Are you an idiot? No, wait, don't answer that, I already know you are."
"Now, our next team, in seventh place… that pack of hounds from hell, Quatro Cerberus! In sixth place, we have an all-female guild! The dazzling dances of the deep, Mermaid Heel! In fifth place, the sapphire winds that sparkle in the black of night, Blue Pegasus!"
Karissa leaned her weight on one leg when she stared apathetically at the competition. Her eyes then quickly darted to the group coming out from another place.
"In fourth place, representing the goddess of love and war, the holy destroyers… Lamia Scale!"
Familiar faces like Jura, Lyon… and Clavis were there! Seeing her twin brother in the competition made her giddy with anticipation. What's this? Was she really excited about potentially clashing with her other half? As they came closer, one of them tripped and landed on their front with a squeak. Natsu and Gray tipped their heads when they saw the fall. It was a girl with fair skin, bright pink hair, and blue eyes. If this was Lamia Scale, only one person came to mind: Sherry. But… that wasn't Sherry?
"Who's that?" Natsu wondered.
"What happened to the chick with all the love? Where's the love?" Gray wondered as the girl sat on the back of her knees after pushing herself up.
"Sherria is Sherry's cousin." Yuka explained. The moment he spoke, Karissa's eyes widened. Holy shit! His voice matched the face she met on Galuna Island. He was that small guy! Wait, wait, wait, wait! Her hand grabbed Gray's arm to get his attention quickly. He looked down at her and saw her looking at him with big eyes.
"What?"
"His eyebrows...!" She whispered. "… Look at them! They're so BIG! Are they alive?"
With a sigh, Gray raised a fist and thumped her head. "I doubt it, dummy."
"No, I'm serious like look—!"
"You're stupid."
Karissa breathed out a laugh when he turned away from her.
"Up you go!"
"Thank you, Clavis!"
Clavis had bent down and placed his arms under Sherria's to pull her up on her feet, smiling gently at her. Erza, Lucy, and Natsu could not tear their eyes away from him. His short black hair and kind dark brown eyes bore a striking resemblance to three mages in their guild.
"Is it just me or…?" Lucy trailed off as the mage smiled at Sherria while patting down her skirt for her and sleeves for her.
"No… I see it too." Erza replied.
"Hey!" Natsu called out to Clavis. "You smell like Karissa!"
The third Sinclost turned to Natsu and pointed at himself, as if making sure Natsu was speaking to him. The curious look with slightly widened eyes must have already given Erza a clear hint as she now looked very surprised.
"I'm Clavis Sinclost." He identified himself with a friendly smile. His eyes landed on his sister who stood next to Gray. Upon noticing him looking at her, she waved at him with a small smile. "Hi, Karissa!"
"Hey."
Dad's magic was inherited by me and Van, and then Pandora and Clavis have mom's.
Gravity.
It's like… were complete.
"YOU'RE HER TWIN?!" Natsu looked back and forth in complete disbelief. How could this be?! "But you're not a chick!"
"Oh no, I clearly have a stick between my legs." Karissa deadpanned at him, causing Gray to grimace deeply. "Ugh, please… please don't say that." He told her with a hand on his face. God, he didn't want to picture that! His reaction only brought her entertainment she had to chuckle at.
Lucy lightly chopped the back of his head. "Twins aren't always identical nor are they of the same gender, dummy! It means that they're fraternal!"
"Moving on, in third place… what's this?! Who would have seen this coming?! It's their first time in the Games, but this guild has taken third place! The midnight marauders, Raven Tail!"
The Fairy Tail stiffened when they saw the guild coming towards the center of the stadium. But how? Raven Tail was made in opposition to Fairy Tail, it was a dark guild. There's no way a dark guild could be permitted into playing in the Grand Magic Games. Dark guilds are not supposed to be welcomed!
"Let me see, according to the official info, Raven Tail has been around for more than seven years. But they've only recently been approved as a legal guild."
Karissa shifted in her body as their counterparts watched them eerily. "I bet they've done something with magic to alter the records or something. They have a reason for being here if they're suddenly a light guild."
The Master of that guild was Ivan Dreyar, Laxus' father. She could never forget how uncomfortable he made her as a child. But she never once told Laxus our of fear of offending him.
"I have no doubt about that." Erza agreed. "For now, we stay vigilant."
"Alright… we're down to two other teams who made it to the finals!"
Whispers around the stadium echoed everywhere as they all waited in anticipation. All the guilds they could think of were showing up for the games, leaving Sabertooth as the only obvious guild left. So, why two?
"Now! Taking second place in the preliminary round…!"
A thundering presence with blonde hair.
A fluttering black cloak.
A nasty grin with red eyes.
Blue swishing hair and matching deep blue eyes.
A confident stride with flowing black hair.
"It's Fairy Tail Team B!"
"Juvia?!"
"Gajeel?!"
"Yeah?! We have three Sinclosts on the field?!"
The second team representing their guild consisted of Laxus, Pandora, Mystogan, Gajeel, and Juvia, leaving everyone at a loss. It was even more shocking for the A team when they realized who Mystogan really was. People in the stadium were calling it cheating. After all, two teams from the same guild? That didn't seem fair! But to their shock, each guild could send at least two teams to participate, hence the reason why so many people were inside the Sky Labyrinth last night. The purpose of that rule was to give guilds more advantage to enter the finals. But even if they were in the same guild, the didn't stop Natsu from stepping up and shouting at them, saying that this meant nothing as they were a different team. They weren't going to receive any mercy from him and no victories off Team A.
This prompted Gajeel to lean down with a smirk. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Mister Eighth Place."
"Hrnngh..!"
Pandora smirked down at her little sister when both teams went to talk to each other. Like usual, she tied her hair up in a high ponytail. She tore a top with flower designs and wore light pink sleeves starting above her elbows. She had a yellow cloth tied around her waist that draped around over her hips and rear, leaving the front visible to see her dark purple bike shorts. For footwear, she wore high cut blue and white boots with white soles. Karissa just looked up at her sister with an apathetic face.
"Van won't be here to help you this time."
"Nah. I don't need that idiot ruining my obvious chance at victory again."
Hearing this, Pandora threw her head back and laughed, pleased by her sister's confidence in beating her. She liked that! As she placed a hand on her head to affectionately ruffle her hair, she cooed. "Aw, that's cute. Let's see if you can really handle it."
Hm… there's something chipper about her…
Ever since she saw Pandora step into the stadium, she couldn't help but notice the air around her seemed… heavy with confidence and… joy? Was that the appropriate word? No, maybe it was excitement. Yeah. That's it.
Karissa slightly tipped her head and shifted her head to give her sister a side glance. "You look giddy. What's up with that?"
"Hm?" Pandora blinked curiously. "What do you mean? I'm excited to play, of course."
Yeah? You wanna play dumb?
She took one guess.
"Oh yeah? Well, I bet you're also excited because you're on the same team as Laxus."
Pandora just froze. The look on her face said everything.
Haha!
And the older sister was quick to pinch her nose harshly when she saw the shit eating grin on her face.
"Wipe that grin off your face!"
"Not my fault you made it so obvious! Ouch!"
"Paaandoraaa! Hiii!"
The two girls paused when they heard Clavis' cheerful voice. They saw him waving his hand with a beaming smile, basically bouncing on his feet upon seeing Pandora. Toby was screaming at him to not wave at the competition, prompting Yuka to shut Toby up to let him be.
"Ahh! Clavis!" Pandora cooed before waving at him with her own beaming smile after releasing Karissa.
Laxus raised a brow at the exchange. Did she know someone from Lamia Scale? Who was this bright cheery guy? "Who is that?"
Pandora and Karissa looked at him when he asked.
"My baby brother!"
"My twin that you heard about."
Blinking, Laxus gave them a surprised stare before turning his attention back to Clavis. Seriously? This guy was Karissa's twin? This guy who smiled so happily that he could see sparkles around him? No way.
Laxus stared quietly at Karissa who stared back at him. She averted her eyes for a second, wondering why he was just staring at her for no reason.
"Hn… I'm used to the bratty apathetic half."
Karissa looked downright offended. "What?"
Laxus looked at her flatly. "Did I stutter?"
The youngest Sinclost shot Laxus a pout, causing him to feel amused, before turning away once Pandora got distracted by Clavis again. The ice mage quickly nursed her nose before running to Gray's side, fearing that Pandora might grab her nose again. Gray had seen the whole exchange and was now watching Karissa protect her nose behind her hand, making him grin. Yeah. He knew the feeling. Pandora almost tore off his ear that one time on the island.
"Now, for the final team! The first to make it through the preliminaries!" The crowd suddenly got fired up, surprising Fairy Tail. "Yes! You all know who I'm talking about! The powerful! The unequalled! The undefeated champions! SABERTOOTH!"
The crowd grew even louder when Sabertooth's representatives stepped into the light. The first one leading the team was someone she immediately recognized. It was Sting. He threw his fists up and looked up at the crowd with a grin, pleased by the cheers and screams for him. So far, the guilds were coming out in a clockwise manner starting from Fairy Tail, leaving the final spot to Sabertooth. Rogue was there on Sting's right. Behind him were three other members that the crowd cheered for.
Knowing that Natsu was nearby, Sting turned to look at Fairy Tail with a smirk and a waving finger. "This'll be fun, Natsu-san."
As Sting's blue eyes began pulling away from Natsu, they caught a glimpse of a familiar face standing next to Natsu. A familiar face he met a few months ago. Someone who he wanted to impress for his own ego. And she was apathetically staring right at him. He couldn't forget those eyes that eyes shaped like almonds, almost akin to a cat's eyes.
"Robin?" Sting muttered, slowly lowering his hand. What was going on? "What is she doing in Fairy Tail?"
Rogue, who heard his friend utter the name, turned to look towards Karissa who turned her gaze away. Her black hair created a curtain around her face to hide any hint of expression. Gray looked at her and saw her smirking with amusement. From the way Lucy and Gray spoke to her, wondering why she was hiding, it was obvious that she didn't join the guild recently.
And now, Rogue understood why she felt familiar.
Clavis carried some resemblance.
"I don't think her name is Robin, Sting."
Sting frowned a little when she finally revealed her face again after laughing silently. "Yeah. I'm realizing that now."
She lied to him.
…
…
…
The schedule for the next week was displayed on a lacrima vision. It looked simple enough. The day began with a game, followed by a battle. Points were going to be distributed based on their ranks. Ten for first, eight for second, six for third, four for fourth, three for fifth, two for sixth, one for seventh, and nothing for last. The teams were allowed to choose one member of their team for the contests. However, for battles, the sponsors would be pitting mages against each other based on different factors. The victor would earn ten. A draw would divide the points evenly. A loss would mean a zero.
Karissa had some concerns.
She deadpanned at that rule and crossed her arms. "I don't like that one. Excuse me for being paranoid, but what if a sponsor doesn't like us? They could easily pit us against a guild that is a bad match for us." There was no way to be sure that no one would have it out for them.
Raven Tail easily snuck in as a light guild, and would most likely make things difficult for them.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to believe that the sponsors might be working in cahoots with them.
"Right?" Lucy agreed. Ever since she saw Raven Tail, she was wondering what they could have done to enter the games. "I'm worried about that."
"I don't like it either." Gray frowned deeply. "If we choose a member for the contest, they could choose the same one for a battle, giving us a disadvantage…"
"And now for the opening contest! Prepare for hidden!"
Karissa and the others were waiting for Chapati to continue and give the rules of the game, but he wasn't saying anything else. Meanwhile, everyone was already selecting a member to participate. Karissa noticed Lyon stepping forward with a confident air. But he didn't even know what the rules of the game were! Did he assume he could score good points no matter what? Where are the rules?! It was better to know the rules to know which member was compatible for the game!
Seeing him step up for the game only spurred Gray to also volunteer for the game. "In that case, I'll take this one." He gave Lyon a look. "You can show me what these games are all about."
Lyon smirked at him, understanding the hidden message. "It would be my pleasure."
The former pupils already knew what time it was. They were going to be targeting each other if they got the chance. If Karissa was in the game, she'd probably feel so giddy about clashing with Lyon. After all, that would have been their first clash after the whole Deliora thing. Instead, she directed her enthusiasm into cheering on Gray. Excitedly, Karissa placed her hands on Gray's shoulder and held them tightly. "You got this, Gray! Snatch up some points!"
"You can count on me." Gray held one of her hands tightly, showing her that he appreciated her support, and then walked to the front where all the chosen members were gathering.
"Good luck!" Lucy cheered with a smile.
"You better not lose! Especially not to Gajeel's stupid team! Or Sabertooth! Or Raven Tail! Or… uh…" What were the other guilds' names again?
"Show them what you're made of." Erza cut off Natsu before he could keep going down the list (that he forgot).
Yeager from Quatro Cerberus.
Beth Vanderwood from Mermaid Heel.
Nalpudding from Raven Tail.
Eve Tilm from Blue Pegasus.
Rufus Lore from Sabertooth.
Lyon Vastia from Lamia Scale.
Gray Fullbuster from Fairy Tail A.
Juvia Lockser from Fairy Tail B.
The participants were chosen.
"Will all the participants for The Hidden please step forward!"
Karissa began scowling when she saw Juvia practically bounce over to Gray. Please. For the love that's good and sane, she didn't want her guildmate affecting Gray's performance by trying to cling to him.
She seriously wouldn't hold it past her.
…
…
…
Karissa slapped her hand on her forehead.
The game barely started…
And Juvia already messed up.
The game was simple enough. A giant faux city was magicked for the first playing field, and every participant was scattered across the city. Their goal was to find their opponents and hit them, but nobody was aware of their opponents' locations. Each attack would give the attacker one point while the one who was hit was deducted one, creating a hide-and-seek-like game. To make things harder, numerous clones of each participant were created to roam around and confuse everyone. If they attacked a clone, they would earn a point deduction as well.
Hence the name: Hidden.
Everyone in the stadium was able to see each participant from different angles thanks to the lacrima vision.
And thanks to that, Karissa was able to see Juvia embrace a Gray clone.
It was considered an attack.
So, she was struck by magic and transported to a different area in the city, leaving her a respawning time of ten seconds.
That little goof didn't just leave Karissa the only one completely baffled.
The B Team, Juvia's team, was in their own disbelief. Gajeel was scowling at Juvia's lacrima vision, calling her a moron. He warned her not to throw the game away! Mystogan (Jellal) was left flabbergasted by Juvia's mistake. Laxus's eyes were wide with disbelief since he was at a loss for words.
As for Pandora…
"ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?!" Pandora yelled, about to bust a move towards the city as if she was personally gonna give Juvia a piece of her mind. Thankfully, Laxus grabbed her arm to restrain her before she could. "GET IT TOGETHER! WE HAVE A DEAL TO WIN!"
…
…
…
Karissa kept her eyes on Gray and Lyon. Despite how bias she wanted to be for her team, she couldn't help but also root for Lyon… she could hope for him to win just a little bit of points, couldn't she? She wondered if it would have been a better choice if she participated in the game. With her wind detector, she could have better luck searching for real people. But she wasn't sure if that would be considered an attack… if it did, then geez, she was going to get at least a deduction of a thousand points.
If you couldn't know who was hiding near you, it was best to suspect every single clone to be an enemy. Drawing attention to yourself might also be the best strategy instead of getting caught off guard.
However, Gray wasn't getting the chance to properly think his strategy. Not with Raven Tail constantly targeting him, and him alone. It didn't matter how much he tried to blend with the clones, Raven Tail still snuffed him out. Each time he was struck, he was hit by magic after getting a point deducted. And the times when he attacked, it was a clone, adding more deductions. Even when faced against Lyon and Juvia, he still couldn't gain a point because of Raven Tail's focused assault.
All he could really do… was run.
Raven Tail was humiliating Gray in front of the public.
And the crowd was eating it up.
To make matters worse, Sabertooth's Rufus pinpointed everyone's location and struck them with magic that looked like shooting stars while standing atop a building, collecting numerous points for his team. It only added more deductions to Gray's team.
And despite that, Raven Tail still went after Gray.
Karissa clenched her fists tightly as anger filled her being. She tipped her head low enough for her bangs to cover her eyes, but she made it so that she could still look towards Raven Tail with a nasty glare.
The fuck is your problem, damn copycat guild?
"What, do they get off doing this?" Karissa hissed quietly, glaring. "Get a life!"
Erza wordlessly placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. She didn't have to look at her to know how angry she was. Lucy actually looked at Karissa to see her face, and she wasn't really surprised to see the glacial look on her face.
Because how could she calm down and pretend she was fine?
They were humiliating her best friend and the guy she liked.
Hidden ended when the time ran out.
Sabertooth: 10
Raven Tail: 8
Lamia Scale: 6
Blue Pegasus: 4
Mermaid Heel: 3
Quatro Cerberus: 2
Fairy Tail B: 1
Fairy Tail A: 0
"And no one is surprised to see Sabertooth in the lead! And while both Fairy Tail teams fought well, they still ended up with unfortunate results!"
Gray was walking back to his team with his head down, obviously angry and shamed by his performance. With each step he took, he could somehow hear the mockery directed at him and his team grow louder, further humiliating him.
Damn it.
He gritted his teeth. His mind was replaying all the times Raven Tail came after him. Like a spectator of a theatre show, he could only watch it play with intense emotion flooding inside him each time it replayed. When he reached his team, he could hear Natsu screaming at the audience, asking them what is it that they found so funny because he sure as hell wasn't laughing.
"I'm sorry."
Lucy was reassuring him that it was alright since it was just the first day. They were just getting started. They had plenty of opportunities to catch up. Even still, that didn't even help the shame he felt, which is why he kept walking forward further away from his team.
Even with his hair shadowing his face, he could still tell that Karissa hurriedly went over to check on him. He stopped in his tracks for a moment when she came to his side. Yeah, she was worried about him. He knew that. He appreciated the worry. But he just needed to get out of the spotlight right now.
"Sorry, I just need to be alone for a while." He told her, hoping that she would understand. He saw her frown for a second and do a quick nod as she played with her hands, stepping out of the way for him.
When he made it back in the shadows of the stadium, he paused when he lifted his head a bit. He took a deep breath, and then angrily tore off his top and pitched it at the floor aggressively before punching the wall next to him.
The battles were commencing.
The first one was Lucy Heartfilia, a spirit lover from Fairy Tail, against Flare Corona, a goddamn gremlin from Raven Tail.
Lucy's anger and determination to win fueled her with motivation to win at all costs. She showed the results of her training, combining spirits for attacks, and fought admirably and resiliently with her keys and whip against Flare's hair. It became obvious that Lucy was the better mage in that fight with how flexible she was. But Raven Tail humiliated them again. They tried taking Asuka hostage and got rid of Lucy's trump card spell, making it look like it just failed. And by using that spell, she lost all magic power, giving Flare the victory by default.
Karissa's eyes became half-lidded with immense displeasure as her dislike for Raven Tail grew bigger.
There's no way a spell just poofs out of existence.
When Natsu jumped over the ledge to get down to Lucy, leaving Erza and Karissa behind, the ice mage sighed and dropped her head while clenching a visible fist. Erza put a hand on her back this time and patted it to make her relax. The emotions she felt mirrored hers.
She was hiding her face from everyone to avoid giving Raven Tail even the slightest satisfaction.
"If they have beef with us, why beat around the bush? Don't be shy, come out and say it." Karissa spat. "We'll crush you outside the stadium."
"But that wouldn't be wise as we would be engaging in conflict with a competing team. It could risk us getting disqualified." Erza reminded her rationally.
After simmering down some of her anger, she leaned her head on her folded arms to look up at Erza. "So, what do we do? Sit around and just watch them continue to make a clown out of us? They're making everyone think that we're just some clown fest coming back from the dead!"
"I know." Erza looked at the crowd when she remembered their laughs at Gray's loss. "We may have zero points for now. But this is only the beginning. We will win the Grand Magic Games… and those who oppose us with cowardly tactics won't get the benefit to stand before us." Her sharp gaze dropped on Raven Tail. "We will crush them indisputably!"
"Ohoo… you have no idea how much I want to beat them in a match. I swear I'm gonna go Second Origin and," Karissa made a circular motion with her finger while gesturing to the stadium. "freeze the entire stadium, audience included."
It's the way she spat those words that made Erza chuckle a little as she watched Natsu help Lucy up on her feet, giving her encouragement to cheer her up. The scarlet haired mage looked at the younger one with an amused smile.
"I share the sentiment, excluding the audience part though."
Karissa huffed. "They deserve it."
The two of them didn't notice a pair of eyes on them. It was coming from the number one guild of Fiore. From Sabertooth's team, Sting Eucliffe was staring at her from afar. At first, he was very much interested and wanted to see their reactions to their second loss, but he ended up observing Karissa who displayed different mannerisms from Robin.
Her laid back posture and mischievous grin.
Oh yeah, she was definitely hiding her true self as well.
Sting rest his chin in his palm, his fingers curled in front of his mouth as he kept looking at Fairy Tail A.
What's her name?
She let two more battles pass. After witnessing Olda Nanagia from Sabertooth win, she straightened up and sighed. It was a boring match to say the least. Sabertooth one shotted him, and the rest was history. Yeah, cool, he used lightning… but other than a flashy attack, there wasn't much to look at. Natsu and Erza looked at the mage between them who started backing away. There was only one more match left so it really shouldn't matter if she moved around the stadium. It was an open space. It was very easy to keep track of the next fight with the help of those lacrima visions.
"Where are you going?" Natsu wondered curiously as her hair lightly tickled his arm when she passed him by.
"Just gonna do a little searching." Karissa informed them. Her boots made light sounds against the stone floor. "Don't worry, I'll head to the waiting room if I don't make it back."
She ignored the weird singing echoing throughout the stadium.
Natsu said that Lucy went to shower in our waiting room. He didn't say anything about Gray being there. That means he's somewhere in the stadium being depressed.
While her figure retreated inside the interior of the stadium, Sting noticed her leaving amidst the laughter. Her black hair swayed behind her as she moved at her own pace. But before she could completely disappear within the shadows, he saw her slouch a bit like as if she sighed loudly. A second later, she straightened up and bolted into shadows.
Blinking, Sting rested his arms on the stone rail.
What's up with her?
…
…
…
"I've been looking everywhere for you."
Gray turned away from the match between Mystogan and Jura to see Karissa walking towards him with her hands in her jacket pockets. He ditched his jacket in their waiting room instead of leaving it on the floor after remembering that the Master went through the trouble to make it for him. Then, he seated himself here, on a wooden fall with his back against a giant column, on the highest floor above the crowd.
From there, he was watching everything.
He had been sitting there for at least more than an hour.
For that reason, Karissa decided to search for him. She went around everywhere on the ground floor and searched every possible place she could be in, excluding the other guild's waiting rooms, before moving up. He seriously just had to go to the most accessible and highest floor that would keep him away from anyone's sight. Because of his choice, Karissa had to fight some stairs on the way up. Not exactly fun.
"Oh," Gray mumbled. He gave her a slightly apologetic smile with the way his mouth briefly tugged to the side. "Sorry. I just wanted to be alone for a while."
"Yeah, I know."
Soundlessly, Karissa lowered herself onto the stone wall he was sitting on before pulling up her feet. Gray, who had one foot on the wall, shifted his foot away to give her some space.
They could hear the clash between Jura and Mystogan.
"Still upset?"
"Not as much as before, but yeah."
Raven Tail made a fool out of him and Sabertooth's Rufus made quick work of him. All of it, mostly Raven Tail, brought him humiliation and frustration He knew that it was only the first day and the first of many opportunities to win points. But giving his team a bad start and for letting himself become an easy target for Raven Tail's games left him a bad taste in his mouth. There was no doubt he was going to get back at them for that. There was no way he wasn't going to take this without paying them back. They could count on it.
Karissa was peeking at his face when they watched the fight in silence.
"I'll make up for my loss next time. I'll make sure of it." Gray summarized his determination after some silence. He fisted his hand. "I won't be the reason we might lose the Grand Magic Games. Because I don't lose to the same people twice."
Karissa smiled softly at his words. It looks like he was going to be just fine.
"Yeah. No matter what it takes, you won't lose again. Even if the whole world laughs and doesn't believe you, you'll still hold your head up high and prove them wrong." She fully turned her head to face him, making him turn to her as well when he saw her move in his peripheral. "Because that's the kind of man I know in my heart."
She smiled sheepishly when she saw him look at her in surprise. It made her feel a little bashful. She just didn't know how her words only reinforced his determination to win. Those were just words. But her words carried the heavy weight of her faith in him. How could he think of letting everyone down, especially her?
His face turned into a confident one as he smirked.
"Yeah. You don't need to remind me."
"Hey, I don't know if your little depression made you forget."
Gray gave her a look. "As if I'd forget who I am."
Karissa hummed with a nod as if pretending that what he said was true. She waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry. You forget? Then I guess I'll just have to remind you until you get it." He heaved out a small laugh before bumping his knee against hers in response, making her chuckle softly. She leaned forward to rest her arm on his knee and her chin on hers.
"Will you come to waiting room later?"
"Don't worry, I'm coming back." Gray tousled her hair, making her close her eyes when she grinned a bit. "I'll just keep watching from up here. If you can't tell, it's a damn good view up here."
"Alright, alright." Karissa pushed away his hand and proceeded to get up. "You can stay here and be emo." That earned her a light pinch on the side, making her yelp and scamper away from him. She ran off with a laugh, leaving Gray to watch her leave with soft eyes. His eyes lingered on her even when she would only appear from behind the columns when she went around to head to the stairs. He caught her showing him two peace signs before disappearing completely.
He shook his head at her playfulness and returned his attention to the fight.
As for Karissa, she couldn't help but smile happily as she ran down the stairs to go to the waiting room where Lucy was most likely in need of cheering up.
The first day of the Grand Magic Games ended with Fairy Tail being last place on the board. Any normal guild would most likely be quite unhappy with the results. But not, for Fairy Tail. Just like known were known for their rowdiness, Master Makarov brought them all to one of the bars of the capital and encouraged everyone to have a good time. He didn't need to tell them twice. Drinks and food were soon served across tables for everyone to help themselves.
Even Juvia, Lucy, and Gray came to enjoy themselves. They weren't going to let the losses change their determination to win. If anything, they were more ready for the games to win.
Today's failures were going to transform into tomorrow's victories. They would climb out of the pit and show everyone that the word surrender did not apply to the revived Fairy Tail that aimed to take back its crown. Karissa watched with amusement as everyone cheered and laughed with their drinks. She was currently sitting with Laxus, Cana, Pandora, the Raijin Tribe, and Van.
"Do you think we'll have matches between our teams?" Van wondered curiously. "I think it would be interesting."
Cana leaned on him with a drink in hand. "I would love to see a match between Laxus and Karissa~" The mentioned two looked at the alcoholic woman with raised brows. Karissa was in the middle of eating her spaghetti that the bar was serving while Laxus was eating his own meal which consisted of some marinated meat, bread and cheese.
"You want me to die?" Karissa picked up a cut-up sausage with her fork. "You're on the reserve team, right? Come out and let the people choose you to fight Erza."
Cana snickered and got off Van to lean closer to Karissa who sat across the table. "I might just win if I did though."
"Oh? You got a card up your sleeve for the games?"
"Not literally this time." Cana winked secretly. The two girls leaned away from each other with chuckles. Pandora smiled at the two's interaction just before Bickslow added a comment.
"You think Laxus would go easy on her?" Bickslow grinned. Everyone was aware of Laxus looked at Karissa like his little sister. Would he have it in him to defeat her in a full fight? After all, she most likely wouldn't just throw in the towel the second her name was called.
"I wouldn't." Laxus replied quickly before anyone could answer. The ice mage directed her gaze at Laxus when he said that. From the other side of the table, he was smirking at her. "I plan on winning the deal the Master offered us, after all."
Hearing him say that suddenly brought Karissa back to the time when Gray turned towards a lacrima vision and demanded that the Master apply his deal to their team as well. Karissa scowled and put her fist down on the table. "Was he seriously planning on leaving us in the dark?! If we're Team A, we should have known about it first."
"Too bad." Laxus shot back, amused by the way she narrowed her eyes at him with a click of her tongue.
"I heard it was a way to convince the B Team to participate." Evergreen, who was sitting next to Karissa, whispered to her with a grin. "And as you can see, it worked."
"You know, what I wanna see?" Bickslow piped up after jugging some alcohol. "I wanna see Pandora and Laxus fight like good old days!"
Pandora scowled at him as she curled a piece of her hair behind her ear. "You make it sound like we fought like Natsu and Gray on a daily basis."
"Yeah, don't put me on the same level as Natsu." Laxus lifted his cup to his mouth. "I'm far from an idiot."
Freed nodded by Laxus' side. "Pandora and Laxus had more civilized conflicts." He reminded him, referring to their verbal spats.
All of a sudden, they heard tables and chairs getting tossed on the wooden floor followed by Natsu's laughter. Oh god, what's happening, now? Was it finally time for him to destroy the bar?
"So, who's next?! Come at me! Let's have an exhibition match!"
"Good job, Natsu!"
"You suck, Max!"
Upon hearing her former business partner's name, she looked over her shoulder and saw him on the floor and his bare ass pointing towards her table, causing her to quickly turn back around. Confused by her sudden movement, those next to her, Evergreen and Freed, paused when they saw a black hole.
"Would pull up your pants?!" Evergreen shrieked, feeling the shame despite her drunk state.
"Point your ass somewhere else!" Elfman roared when Evergreen covered her eyes.
"Ew." Pandora lowered her head and turned her face away, towards Laxus, while covering her face with her hand.
Freed pinched the bridge of his nose.
Laxus saw Karissa get up and reach over to his plate. The lightning mage raised a brow when she swiped a square slice of cheese from him. She met his gaze and nodded with a little grin while holding the cheese up. In response, Laxus sighed and shook his head in defeat. When she turned back around, she threw the cheese and slapped it right on one of Max's ass cheeks. The sight of that yellow cheese sticking to his bun had Van sputtering a laugh next to Elfman until he had tears.
The sand mage flinched and snapped out of it when he felt the cold food touch him. "Mh… huh, what?!"
"Get up and pull up your pants!" Karissa snapped at him. "You want Droy to chomp on your ass when he gets hungry?!"
Soon, Max got up and pulled up his pants, leaving the tainted cheese on the floor. Karissa eyed the cheese on the floor and then slowly turned back around to face Laxus. The older man narrowed his eyes at her when she nudged her head towards the cheese with a hand slowly stretching towards it. It made him pick up his last slice and wave it lightly in his hand. "I will throw this at you."
His little threat had Karissa grinning like a fool.
…
…
…
At some point, Karissa left the table for a long while. It started with her getting a little something else to eat. Then she wanted some dessert after eating her meal. But this bar didn't have the best selection of desserts. So, went to the nearest sweets shop that was surprisingly still open during this late hour. If she had to take a guess as to why, it would probably be because of the Grand Magic Games.
She bought herself a caramel glazed donut and two chocolate ones she kept in a small box that she was given by the nice owner.
Karissa was almost back to the bar. She laughed to herself when she wiped her fingers with a small napkin. I was supposed to eat this back there… Guess my stomach had a different plan.
When she opened the door, she was startled in spot when she saw a man on the other side. He paused when he looked at her. He was tall, and muscular, he had black hair slicked and tied back in a bun. His ears had small gourd-like ears hanging from them. His eyes were slanted and they had five irregular black forms below his eyes. He didn't wear a shirt, but blue armour plates that covered his arms and shoulders. He had dark baggy pants that ended below his knees that were held up with an orange sash tied on his left hip. He also wore black shoes that almost looked like slippers.
And he was holding a bikini top.
… That looked a lot like Cana's.
"Hey, watch… where you're walkin'… Hmm~?" The man squinted his eyes and peered at her closely.
He stinks of booze.
Karissa leaned away from him in repressed disgust.
His face then twisted in delight. He started laughing like a drunk man albeit softly since he was looming over her. She could appreciate that at least. She didn't want a loud drunkie laughing in her face. "What a pretty face... hic!"
Alright, I'm creeped out.
CAN YOU BACK OFF?!
Macao and Wakaba, who were recovering from being slammed into the floor by Bacchus earlier, were getting back up when they saw Karissa standing in front of Bacchus.
"Hey, get away from her!" Macao yelled. Of course, he was protective of someone who he watched grow up. He was already trying to protect Cana after she got wasted and got her top stolen.
Bacchus looked over his shoulder. "Huh...? This one is...?"
Erza nodded from her spot where was watching him leave before Karissa appeared. "Yes, she's part of our guild."
As Erza said that, Karissa peered inside the bar and saw Cana completely wasted on the floor with her chest out in the open. Yeah. That was Cana's top! Of course, as someone who had never seen Cana wasted, she grew immensely concerned. Quickly, she darted past Bacchus and flew to her best friend's side, surprising Bacchus.
"Cana? You okay...?"
"I can't... drink anymore..." Cana said with eyes that were spinning. No doubt about it, she was really out of it. Karissa quickly unzipped her blue hoodie and started forcing Cana to wear it. The card mage was complaining about how she was getting uncomfortable with the new layer on her skin, but she wasn't strong enough to push off Karissa.
"Here, I'll help." Lucy came down on her knees to help Karissa.
"Thanks, Lucy." Even if Cana onbjected, she would protect her dignity.
Karissa looked over to Bacchus who exchanged a few words with Erza before waddling out of the bar with Cana's top in hand. She didn't miss the obvious guild insignia on his back. He was from Quatro Cerberus.
"Who the hell was that?" Karissa looked at Lucy, frowning deeply. She didn't appreciate him leaving Cana in this state.
Lucy sighed and finally zipped up the hoodie after prying away the brunette's hand. "Erza said he's an S-Class from Quatro Cerberus. He's a reserve member for that team." Lucy then frowned. "And apparently, he's on par with Erza."
"Oh, yeah?" Karissa raised a brow, not the slightest bit impressed. She helped Cana sit up with much difficulty. Cana wrapped an arm around Karissa's shoulder and tried to peck her on the cheek. The ice mage craned her neck away and used her hand to block her face. Much like when she heard about the Element 4, she didn't show surprise, but instead doubted. Every Guild Master had their own different expectations for a mage of their guild to reach in order to become an S-Class mage.
So it was too early for her to think he was just as strong as Erza unless she saw it for herself.
Leaving only his actions as the only main factor for her opinion of him.
"Yuck."
She didn't like him.
Instead of copying and pasting all the stuff we know, I tried to change things and add more since it would be less boring.