Lyon sighed when the announcers declared Sherria's defeat. He wasn't expecting Sherria to lose but he also didn't expect Karissa to lose so easily either. His teammate should have had back up since Karissa was tricky to fight. There goes one of their advantages.
"But… if Juvia was in our guild then Karissa might just lose." Lyon said, fantasizing about Juvia being on his side, fighting with him. Oh, the wonders of imagination.
Alas, that can wait. If he won against Gray, then Juvia would become a member of his guild.
(Gray was suddenly feeling itchy.)
Lyon focused his mind back on the game and continued to cautiously run in search of an enemy.
…
…
…
In the opposite side of the map, Erza firmly stepped in front of Minerva's way when she spotted her coming around the corner. Upon seeing Titania in her path, glaring at her, the lady of Sabertooth scoffed lightly and smirked.
"Well, well, if it isn't Titiania of the guild of yore. Come to willingly give me victory, have you?"
"On the contrary, you'll be the one giving me the point, Sabertooth." Erza stated.
Hearing her response, Minerva simply looked to the side where a nearby lacrima vision replayed Karissa Sinclost's victory against Sherria Blendy. The mere sight of that victorious smile made Minerva remember the condescending look she had when she looked down on her.
"I wanted to teach that brat a lesson to remind her of her place… but you show signs of defiance against the great Sabertooth as well." Minerva directed her gaze at Erza with a haughty look. "If I take down Titania then people will remember that my guild is the undoubtfully the strongest. The Queen of Fairies is nothing but weak prey in face of the mighty Sabertooth."
"Enough talk." Erza got into position and summoned her blades. Just as she kicked off the ground to dash, she felt a presence behind her. Her instincts were warning her of incoming danger, and yet she didn't make a move to acknowledge it, allowing her back to be wide open for attack.
Kagura was the one who snuck up behind her. When she aimed her sheathed blade at Erza's back, something glowed on Titania's spine before suddenly unleashing an explosion of wind directly towards her. The Mermaid Heel mage was suddenly blasted away and she landed in a pile of boxes, breaking them while kicking up smoke.
Erza swung her blade only for Minerva to leap away and conjure up her magic in her hands.
"What kind of magic was that…" Kagura asked when she recovered and walked to where they were, ignoring Minerva.
"Karissa's fail safe." Erza explained. "In case of unwanted complications, if the enemy we didn't seek came at us from behind, they would be blasted by a variation of her Stigma Detonation to gives us an opportunity to finish off the unwanted variable in our plan."
"Again with that brat." Minerva spoke, bitterly.
"Don't worry, it wasn't meant for you." Erza pointed her blade at Minerva. "Because you are my target. I have no need for her spell now that you are in my sights."
"Don't ignore me." Kagura warned her, getting ready to use her sword again.
…
…
…
"What's this?! Toby from Lamia Scale is out cold on the street! Who was the one who took him down?! Can we get footage from the lacrima cameras?!"
As Chapati asked, the screens began showing Toby who was innocently looking around before getting one-shotted by white magic. It was Sting. But he was nowhere to be seen.
"Ah! It was Sting Eucliffe from Sabertooth! That means that Sabertooth now has 46 points! Man, where is that guy hiding?! We haven't seen him at all!"
"He's very good at keeping hidden." Yajima chuckled.
"He should have played Hidden on the first day-kabo!" The little mascot cackled.
Karissa looked up at the sky that was endlessly blue. She wondered how long she was going to be allowed to enjoy this reprieve. Singular Raids were no doubt a great way to deplete her of energy. She needed to take this time to recover as much as possible before her next fight.
"I guess I'll just take my time going to the location the First Master told me to go to." Karissa mumbled to herself with lazy footsteps. With a hand reaching behind her back, she rubbed the spot where Sherria's attack bruised her. She wondered what kind of uncomfortable feeling she'd feel tomorrow.
As mundane thoughts plagued her mind, she was unaware of how she was approaching a certain spot that hid away Sting Eucliffe from everyone. Her scent gave her away to him. He had stiffened when he heard her footsteps coming, and he was wondering if he should run away while he still had the chance. It's not like she knew he was hiding here.
But he chose not to do anything and simply wait and see, he wanted to know if she would spot him first.
Her scent became stronger. Her footsteps became a bit louder. His dark blue eyes narrowed.
And then, Karissa finally appeared.
Sting stared at her from the shadows.
They were directly looking at each other.
How could she possibly miss him just sitting there?
He was only lucky to remain undetected by staying in the most deserted area of the map.
"Oh, Sting. Hello."
Sting frowned when Karissa's appearance literally threw a wrench in his plans. His hand twitched as he mentally prepared himself to attack her the moment he saw an opening. There were vulnerabilities everywhere. But was she faking it? Karissa just blinked slowly when she could sense his hostility. That wasn't good. That wasn't in the plan. Did she mess up? Should she have just pretended not to see him? But wouldn't that have given him the chance to strike her from behind?
She squinted and let out a hum of confusion.
What to do…
Uh…
Sting was about to use this chance to attack her and possibly take her down in one fell swoop...
... until she did something unexpected.
Karissa smiled brightly and clasped her hands together. "It's just as you said! Your guild is amazing! I'll be sure write all about when I go back to Aurora!"
Sting deadpanned.
"I'm going to have so much fun writing about it back home!"
"Oi."
"Oh man, I should have brought my notepad with me!"
"Why are you pretending to be Robin?"
Karissa blinked innocently and tipped her head. "Huh? What do you mean? Don't you remember me? I'm Robin Sharfwilde! The journalist you met in Hargeon?"
"Cut the crap already, Karissa."
Obediently, Karissa dropped her act and shrugged with her hands. "Listen, I couldn't think of anything to stop you from whitening me out." Her face became so apathetic that it was… comical. It actually provoked a chuckle from Sting who shook his head in disbelief as he closed his eyes.
"You surprise me again." Sting admitted. "Whitening out? That's dumb."
"I'm about to surprise you again." Karissa said lazily, walking towards him with a sigh. Sting opened his eyes and watched as she plopped herself into the spot next to him. She was sitting next to him.
"What are you doing? This is my spot. I don't want to share."
"Resting." Karissa tilted her head back against the brick wall. "I have some time to kill. So, I'd appreciate it if you didn't knock me out right now."
Sting quirked a brow at her defenseless disposition. He could do it. He gained new power. Any second now, he could attack her while her guard was down and just win himself a point for his team. She already looked a little exhausted from using magic in her last fight against Sherria. With enough pushing, he could exhaust her even more and just defeat her with ease.
But…
Sting sighed heavily. "How do I know you're not going to do something to me?"
Karissa laughed lightly. It was a rare sound coming from her to him. "I'm scheduled to fight my twin brother later. So, I need to restore as much of my energy as I can while there's still time. I want to follow the strategy that our tactician planned."
In other words, Sting was none of her concern. He didn't know if he should be glad or downright insulted. Did this tactician not think he was a threat at all? Geez. Well, whatever. It doesn't matter if he wins in the end.
"You have a lot of magic power, don't you?"
Karissa feigned innocent. "No, I don't."
Ignoring her, Sting decided to continue. "So, you need to be at your best if you're fighting your brother who most likely is the same. Do I have that right?"
The black haired mage nodded. "Yep. It's not really that complicated." She shifted her head enough to look towards him. He was looking at her just as quietly, as if trying to decipher something. In truth, he was still wrapping his head around the fact that he was not attacking her and that she was not attacking him. Meanwhile, she was finding it a little surprising how she was casually conversing with the enemy like this.
Then she remembered something.
There was something off about him today. Ever since she saw him this morning, he was missing that cocky air he proudly exuded. He retained calm and composed disposition. She wondered if the loss against Natsu was hitting him hard enough for him to have a personality switch. She was too used to the usual Sting… not the one who looked like he had a lot going on in his mind.
And the way he was quietly hostile towards her just a moment ago was also something that was off…
She was… a bit worried.
"Are you okay?"
Sting's eyes widened slightly at the question.
It was strange.
She was asking him, the enemy, a genuine question. Forget the fact they were enemies, forget the games, forget everything around them… she was asking him as another fellow human being who could see how troubled he was.
That revealed enough about her.
She was compassionate.
But even as she showed compassion, he wouldn't reveal his problems to her. It's not like it would bring him back. It's not like she could get him back for him. It's not like Minerva would bring him back safely if Karissa decided to interfere if she wanted to. He was on his own for this. He was stuck on his own. It was his problem. And he was fine with that.
"I'm fine."
That was his answer.
Karissa turned away when she heard his answer. Unspoken did the message reach her. He wasn't willing share anything. His answer made her feel a bit embarrassed. It made her feel like she crossed a line. She just wanted to ask if he was okay since he didn't look good. And when he shut her down, she felt like she shouldn't have asked in the first place even though there was nothing wrong in asking such a simple question.
"Okay."
Sting averted his eyes away when he felt her leave the spot next to him.
"Anyway, I'm gonna go." She went back to her usual self, layers back up, hiding away the compassion she laid bare for him. "Have fun in the shadows."
It was only after he started hearing her receding footsteps did he finally move. He pushed himself up to a stand, letting out a tired sigh. He needed to find a new hiding spot.
"Sorry." His whisper disappeared into the air. He wasn't in the right state of mind to accept any compassion from others.
Meanwhile, Karissa rubbed the back of her neck with a frown. She was still embarrassed. "Maybe it wasn't in my place to ask… Ahh… I think I just made things awkward…"
…
…
…
For a long time, she was by herself with only the sound of her thoughts. She was following the First Master's plan which scheduled her to be somewhere in the north of the map. All she knew was that there would be a bridge above a large river. She told her that she needed to only keeping walking straight without any shortcuts and she would eventually reach the place.
It was quiet and boring.
Her mind was zoning out from getting lost in her thoughts. She was thinking about what kind of victory celebration their guild wanted to throw after they won. She wondered if people who were fans of Sabertooth would call Fairy Tail's victory a fluke, unwilling to accept their revival. Well, it's not like they've never had haters before.
Ahh… but Max and the others will be so happy when we win. After all the shame and pain they endured for seven years, our victory would be the greatest joy.
Now, when she thought back everyone's aversion to be out in the public when the Tenrou group learned about the Grand Magic Games, she wanted to win these games. It would be as giving them this victory as a thank you for always thinking of her and everyone else, to repay their kindness, and for never giving up on them.
Hands plopped on her shoulders as a voice whispered in her ear. "I found you~"
With a cry, she whirled around and stumbled back only for her own foot to get caught on her other, shattering her balance. Quickly, an arm caught her around the waist and easily propped her back up on her feet before slithering away just as fast. She lightly growled and feigned an aim to bat the person who just did that to her. A chortle escaped them when they took one step away.
"Damn it, Gray! Don't scare me like that!" She snapped, embarrassed by the whole thing. Did everyone see that?
"Hey," He put his hands in his pockets and gave her a look. "I'm not the one with my head stuck in the clouds."
"My head was on my shoulders, thank you!"
"Sure, sure. Then explain how I was able to sneak up on you."
Karissa averted her eyes and started playing with her sleeves while she racked her brain over an excuse. She couldn't look at Gray who was giving her a skeptical look.
"… I don't know. You probably flew here or something."
"Right, because I've got a pair of wings on my back. Gotcha. Thanks for telling me something I never knew about myself." He nonchalantly made little wing-flap motions with his hands. This made her look at him just as she expelled a breathy laughy, and he smirked with quirked brow.
She walked around him and started poking at his back. "Yep, they're right here."
Gray looked over his shoulder with a skewed expression of disbelief. "Ma'am, those are my bones."
"Oh really?" She played stupid with an equally stupid face.
The two childhood friends looked at each other for a good second until they both started laughing together at their silly exchange and their facial expressions. It was good to enjoy a little reprieve with each other but the game was not over. They still needed to keep moving which is why Karissa started walking first.
"By the way, how are you holding up?" Karissa asked him. His shirt was gone, as expected, and she could see how roughed up he looked.
"I've caught my breath already. I'm fine." Gray swept his front hair backwards as he said that, following her and gradually taking the spot next to her. His hair messily fell into place which made him shake the bothersome strays out of his eyes. "I should be alright for another fight by now. I recovered some energy while wandering around for who knows how long."
Karissa was reminded once more of how attractive he was, causing her to grin bashfully. Gray noticed her giddiness and asked what it was for. Instead of revealing the truth, she started having a light pep in her step when she came a bit closer, bouncing a little in place. "You did great against Rufus! I was watching from the lacrima vision before fighting Sherria! You were great!" She told him cheerfully.
Gray chuckled at her excitement. When she held up both her hands for a high five, he slapped her hands and then proceeded to ruffle her hair with both hands. She shut her eyes and allowed him to play with her hair. It was bound to become a mess sooner or later anyway. "Why do you look like you're the one who won against him?"
"Whaaat? I can't be happy for you?" She pulled her head away.
"You can. But you can do the same after you win your fight."
"Only if you promise to do the same."
"Meh, we'll see."
The two kept walking with Karissa leading the now that they were approaching the location she was told to be at, Gray followed behind at a leisurely pace. He chose to accompany her since he was free to assist anyone nearby after he finished with Rufus. Gajeel and Karissa were the ones who were nearby his location. With Karissa set to fight her twin brother, he decided to go to her and shoo off anyone who tried getting in her way.
When she arrived at the end of the street, she spotted the bridge that Mavis spoke of.
Finally made it!
"Ah, Karissa."
That was Lyon's voice. She turned to the left and found him approaching her with a confident smirk. His footsteps echoed throughout the empty area, giving away his presence to others who might be lurking around.
"Hey, Lyon." She greeted with a wave.
"I'm impressed you defeated Sherria." Lyon admitted.
"She's good, that Sherria. I just used her magic power against her."
Lyon closed his eyes and chuckled at that her blasé way of speaking. "Yes, and Sherria always has room to grow. She can take this as a learning experience." He held out his hand to Karissa and revealed his eyes again. "But I can defeat you myself since I'm more familiar with your fighting style."
There was no hostility in the air. In fact, they were conversing amicably as if the two weren't currently enemies.
Karissa flapped her sleeves with a pout. "You wanna fight?"
"Don't we have a tie?" Lyon reminded. Back when they fought back on Galuna Island there was no tie breaker since Natsu Dragneel interrupted their fight. "How about we settle the score right now?"
Gray then casually walked past the wall hiding him from Lyon and stood behind Karissa. He was giving him his typical droopy-eyed deadpan look.
Upon seeing Gray, Lyon frowned deeply and lowered his hand. "Oh, it's Gray."
Gray's eye twitched. "Your favoritism is so obvious." The way he was literally pushed aside when Lyon saw her again after seven years was proof. Oh, and let's not forget Lyon's claim of 'looking out for her' after accusing Gray of taking advantage of her kindness.
Karissa laughed at him and moved aside so that he wouldn't be standing directly behind her. "Not my fault Lyon prefers me over you."
"Absolutely." Lyon agreed without missing a beat. "Don't tell me you're jealous."
"Hell no!"
"Actually, if you don't mind, Karissa," Lyon looked at her briefly before bringing his attention back to Gray and pointing his finger at him. "I have a wager to win against Gray over here. Juvia's membership to Lamia Scale rides on it!"
Fed up with his ridiculous one-sided bet, Gray dropped his face in his hand groaned loudly. Karissa just stared at Lyon with the most dead eyes she could muster for his nonsense. Seriously, they never thought he'd be like this after seeing who he was on Galuna Island. "Not this shit again. For the last time, Juvia is already part of Fairy Tail! You can't just cart her off without her permission, dumbass!"
Must be the sheltered life… Karissa lamented.
"Oh my!" Karissa flinched when Chapati's voice suddenly rang in the distance. "It looks like we're going to have an Ice Molding Magic showdown! Lyon Vastia from Lamia Scale against Gray Fullbuster and Karissa Sinclost of Fairy Tail!"
Gray's eyes flickered when he saw something in the distance. With a quick step, he moved in front of Karissa and created a big ice shield and reinforced it as hard as he could. Before she could ask, something suddenly struck his shield, making her jump in surprise and hold up her hands in defense. Gray noticed the crack in his ice and the shocked look on Lyon's face on the other side. When Gray shattered his ice, he saw a wooden plank on the cobblestone.
Gray blinked. Wood?
"Sorryyyy~!"
The three ice mages looked up and found Clavis floating in the air. His hands were cupped around his mouth to make sure his voice reached them.
"Clavis?!" Lyon sputtered. "That was dangerous! You could have hit me!"
"I made sure it wouldn't! Sorry for scaring you, Lyon!" With his apology out of the way, Clavis used his gravity to fall fast before stopping just when his feet could touch the ground. He turned off his gravity and landed with a hop before smiling sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "I made sure it didn't move fast enough to really hurt anyone! I promise!"
"Oh… okay." Karissa blinked at the wooden plank on the floor. With gravity, he could make the simplest things into a deadly weapon.
As if that pebble that he shot at that Raven Tail guy wasn't already proof enough.
"Anyway, I saw you guys from waaaay over there! And I wanted to take this opportunity to challenge my sister to a duel." He looked at her with shinning eyes. "Is that alright with you?"
She didn't have any reason to object. Her goal was to encounter Clavis and defeat him after all.
"Sure. Let's fight." Karissa agreed with a little smile. "Let's go somewhere else. We don't want people getting caught in the crossfire now, would we?"
"Mhmm! You're right!"
The twins looked at Gray and Lyon with matching smiles. The two ice mages sweat dropped when they heard the hidden message loud and clear. Collateral damage was going to be certain. Two wizards with great amount of magic power were the foreshadowing of an incoming mess. Gray remembered the meteor-like shower that Clavis dropped on that Raven Tail member. Lyon was brought back to giant ice tsunami that poked out of the coliseum… such a grand structure would cause destruction to the nearby buildings without a doubt.
As Clavis began walking off and leading the way, Karissa gave one last look to the guys behind them, waving her hand almost cheerfully as if she was simply going to go hang out with her brother in town. Gray chuckled and turned away from the two to face Lyon. With their backs facing each other, Gray and Karissa were now focused on the opponents in front of them. Nothing else needed to be said.
Just win.
No matter what.
Win.
…
…
…
They found a better place to fight. They were still nearby some streets but there was more open space with how the streets seem to always have these kind of plazas at the end of them. However, their goal was stand on higher ground, maybe a little higher than the buildings so that they could start with a perfect view of each other. There was no sneak attack nor any pre-emptive strikes. It was all starting the moment they were ready.
This fight feels very formal in a sense… Karissa mused when she and Clavis climbed a flight of stairs. He was climbing the stairs right next to her while humming a tune. She didn't know what kind of song he was thinking of. Perhaps it was his own music?
"Oh? What's this? The twins of Sinclost are preparing to have their duel! This should be an interesting match to say the least, right Yajima-san?"
"Mhm… and they are making this fight quite formal compared to everyone else."
"It must show how much they respect each other-kabo!"
The older twin chuckled at the commentary. The three announcers were making such a big deal out their fight.
"Hey, Clavis."
Her twin brother looked at her with a hum.
"How come you wanted to fight me? Is there a reason?"
He puffed his cheeks and averted his eyes for a second, and then he proceeded to pout.
"Well… twins come from the same womb. They say that they are two halves of the same whole that share a bond deeper than that of ordinary people. If twins come from the same whole, then they are equals because they make one."
Mythology? Karissa tipped her head curiously. "… Is it about strength? You want to know who's stronger?" It was just a guess.
Clavis looked surprised at her question. His eyes stared at her as if she told him that cats were indeed dogs. "What? No, no!" He chuckled nervously when he couldn't verbally make his point across. He couldn't blame her for being a little confused when he was leaving things out. "I didn't challenge you just because I wanted to know who was stronger. Sure, it would be nice to know… but that's not what I want to know…"
Uhh…
"So… what are you trying to do?"
They finally made it to the top. Clavis walked ahead of her and looked over his shoulder to place a finger to his lips, grinning boyishly. He looked like he was safeguarding the greatest treasure that a child found. "That's a secret for now!"
Karissa snickered as she followed him. "Oh yeah?"
"Maybe I'll tell you if you lose."
"Ahh, I can't lose though. I have some things at stake. My guild cannot afford to lose anymore now that something happened."
The way she sighed and rolled her eyes exasperatedly hinted to Clavis that things behind the scenes weren't well for Fairy Tail. He grew a little concerned now. His features expressed his slight worry along with his voice. "Oh no. Is everything okay?"
"Not really." Karissa sighed again. "All I can do now is win."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
Karissa shrugged with her hands up to her shoulders. "Your loss would help."
"Ah." Clavis lips pursed as he gave his twin sister a regrettable look. She already knew he wouldn't concede to her suggestion. But it was worth a try. Her heart felt a little bad for trying to take advantage of his good nature to get an easy win. It wasn't like she was manipulating him though. "Sorry, Karissa. Like you, I have some personal stakes. I can't lose against you."
It was really piquing her curiosity now that Clavis had something personal in their fight. Was it something related to his guild or something she couldn't imagine guessing? Whatever it was, she knew she already had one thing to ask him when their fight was over. She wanted to ask him what he meant at the water park about his importance. There was a need to know just what was hidden behind that question, to understand him properly.
"Oh." Karissa's lips formed a tight line and she nodded with a slight shrug, and her body stayed lax as she appeared unsure of what to say next.
Or maybe that was the illusion she gave off in order to catch her brother off guard. Her body suddenly lunged at him with a hand outstretched. He let out a yelp when she grabbed his shirt with an iron grip before suddenly running towards the edge and pitching him down with a blast of wind.
"And the battle of the twins commences with Karissa sudden attack!"
Clavis let out a cry of surprise and then groaned when the wind slashed him when he was all but flung down to the streets of Crocus. To avoid the wind cutting him, he used gravity to pull him more towards the ground to get away from its trajectory. Seeing this, Karissa jumped over the stone rail and flew in the air after him.
Clavis flipped around in the air and used his magic to propel his body up in the air and float. His eyes were wide still from the surprise attack she landed on him. From that alone, he could tell she wasn't planning on holding back against him. It made smile little.
This is great.
"Ice Make: Thousand Spears!" So many spears of ice manifested around her, and the second they were perfected they shot towards him followed by the others which appeared like an endless storm of ice spears.
Clavis opened his palms and create dark purple-greenish spheres that began rustling his jacket. It almost looked like he was generating wind with that.
Something's weird.
Karissa met her brother's eyes. They were carrying pure delight.
Something's weird.
Clavis grinned and pitched the spheres at the ice spears. Shock coloured her face when the ice spears looked as if they disintegrated in the spheres' proximity. They were all reduced to crystals that now peppered the streets harmlessly.
The spheres were compressed balls of gravity.
They were acting like black holes!
Karissa gritted her teeth and began rapidly doing a detour to try and reach her twin from another angle. Her other half simply followed her trajectory and prepared himself for incoming attacks. She charged wind vortexes in her hands and launched them at Clavis. The Lamia Scale mage weaved around in the air and aimed another sphere at her which she promptly dodged. She immediately used Wind Lance, the spell that sent barrages of sharp wind arcs.
With wind carrying no weight, Clavis had to dodge them since he couldn't control them. Even if he could try and deflect her attack by using the black holes, they'd only swirl like water going down the drainage except that the wind would never disappear. She would still have control over it and changes it trajectory to attack him.
Clavis rapidly decreased his gravity and attracted himself towards her at an imaginable speed.
Karissa stiffened when he appeared in front of her, and suddenly he swung his leg and knocked her down.
Eh?
A loud crash echoed throughout the city followed by a giant cloud of smoke erupting in the air.
Gray looked back when he heard the loud crash. He was sure that Laxus, Erza and Gajeel were seeing the same thing right about now. The sound definitely came from wherever Clavis and Karissa decided to take their fight.
"The fight is already starting off with Clavis being serious." Lyon remarked, forcing Gray to look back in front of him with a readied position. The fight between Lyon and him had no clear winner just yet, and he wasn't about to get distracted to give him an easy win.
As if he'd let this guy kick his ass!
"And? You think Karissa won't get serious about this?" Gray dragged his foot back and placed his fist in his palm to get ready.
Lyon did the same and then unleashed a torrent of ice eagles his way. Gray quickly used an ice shield to block off his attacks, but knowing Lyon's dynamic ice magic, the ice eagles would move around the shield to hit him instead. So, he increased the size of the shield to create a roof over his head the second he saw Lyon's ice move in an odd direction.
When they crashed into Gray's ice, he backed away and swiveled to a stop while still maintained a stand where he was ready to either attack or defend. Using their ice as a blind spot, Gray put his hand in his fist and slammed it down on the ground with strong magic coursing through his arms. "Ice Make: Geyser!"
Even though Gray's ice was static which was less impressive than dynamic, he developed impressive speed in creating his ice which was something Lyon could not match due to Gray's proper training with both hands for ten years. Even though it had been seven years for Lyon, who now practiced their molding magic the proper way, Gray was still confident in his speed that outmatched his senior.
Using his ice shield as a conductor, the tower of ice spikers began right in front of Lyon instead of Gray. The older mage let out a surprised breath, and he hastily backed away before he could get caught in it.
As if the had the same idea, Lyon and Gray leaped to the side to move away from the ice that was blocking each other's view. They stopped and watched each other carefully.
"Serious or not, Karissa will never be able to touch Clavis as long as he keeps his gravity on. Even Jura, the Wizard Saint has trouble landing a hit on Clavis."
"Then it's the same for Karissa, the wind will protect her when she needs it."
"She's only lucky to stand a chance because of her Wind Magic. But, I wonder, can she handle the weight of gravity coming after her?" Lyon smirked knowingly.
"Who knows." Gray smirked back. "But under pressure, I'm sure she'll figure it out. She can get creative and smart because of how observant she is. You're not the only one who can come up with reckless plans." He was referring to when he used himself as a decoy when they fought against Racer during the Balam Alliance.
Lyon gestured his hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter. We've had seven years of training while you two have been stuck in stasis with little time to prepare. Our Clavis will win the duel between twins, you can count on it."
"Hah!" Gray gave him a confident look. "That little time to prepare was all we needed. Did you forget Karissa and I were chosen to be candidates worthy of S-Class? My Karissa will surprise you; you can count on it."
The younger twin slammed into the ground.
Fuuck! That hurts!
Karissa lifted her head and used her arms to push her body up. She could see Clavis still floating up in the air with only signs of being hurt from her sudden attack when they first started. That was all. Ever since that first attack, the one getting hurt was her.
Earlier, she recovered after crashing into a building at full speed. The fact that she was a mage made it a miracle for her to survive. Thank god for magic power reinforcing her body during the fall! If she was a normal citizen she was sure she would have died!
That was proof that Clavis was not going to hold back at all.
The times where she got so close to hitting Clavis only ended up with her slamming back into the ground or something after he briefly touched her. The physical contact made it possibly for him to manipulate her gravity and effortlessly push her back. It didn't help that he was staying up in the air, refusing to meet her down on the ground.
There were times when she used her wind magic to keep her upright, but she couldn't stay airborne for too long and try to land a hit when he increased her gravity.
Her ice would be effortlessly destroyed with those gravity spheres.
He'd also dodge her attacks by moving so fast in the air which is another reason why she couldn't touch him.
He was like an unstoppable force.
She glared at him from below like some poor soul detesting god.
I need to think up a different strategy…
Close range won't work at all.
"This is actually the first time I'm seeing Karissa struggle like this." Cana spoke, worried about the outcome of this match.
"Has she ever lost battles?" Jet wondered.
"Of course, she has." Cana replied. "But it's been a long time since she's lost."
"If you count her magical endurance that prevents her from tiring out, her standard hand-to-hand combat, her wind magic that helps her avoid attacks, and her ice magic for landing powerful attacks, then it's easy to see why she hasn't lost fights." Max explained to his guildmate. He had been on jobs with Karissa before so he saw the way she fought against opponents. Not to mention her introverted nature which naturally made her cautious. It's not easy for her to lose because she makes it hard to lose.
"You don't need to be super strong like Erza to be powerful." Levy added. "It's because she knows how to use her magic that she's powerful. But right now…"
"It looks like she's out of cards." Van realized with a frown. "Even with Second Origin, amplifying one's magic power wouldn't do anything if she still couldn't touch him…"
Clavis blinked in surprise when she started running away into the streets.
She's fleeing?
His dark brown eyes kept watching her until she suddenly hid inside a small shop. She was trying to get out of Clavis' sights and maybe think of a different way to approach him.
As if I'd let you think.
I won't let you have time to plan…
… Because you won't be able to win anyway!
I'll make sure of it!
Instead of using the gravity balls, the gravity user dug into his jacket's pocket and pulled out a medium sized bag. It made a clacking sound when he jostled the bag and opened it. He dug his hands inside, rustling the items inside, and then he pulled out his hand while spilling the contents of the bag.
"Ehh?!"
A bag of rocks. They all floated in front of him.
"Clavis Sinclost brought a bag of rocks with him!"
With a snap of his fingers, a few of the rocks peppered the shop.
Karissa let out a frightened shout when the rock went through the roof, forcing her to cover her head. There were a couple of more rocks raining down on her which only heightened her fear of getting hit. For a second, she was shaking like a frightened bunny. A lacrima camera from outside a window showcased her fright to everyone.
Holy crap he's trying to hit me with rocks!
Rapidly, she backed away from the ceiling and started heading to window that she could escape through. Her head briefly looked back to take in the damage. The roof didn't suffer too much fortunately. Instead, two obvious holes were letting light shine inside the small confectionary shop. It's a good thing the store owners were told to hide away any valuable items.
Hm?
Karissa paused to look at the shop. Empty glass cabinet. Tables. Chairs. Doors. Windows. Floor. Ceiling.
Empty place—
A few more rocks went through the roof.
"Ahh!" Karissa screamed. "Damnit! Fuck!" She slapped her hand on the side of the wall before quickly climbing through the window and breaking through another establishment. She kept going through the nearby buildings and taking shelter whenever she could. However, Clavis was not giving her time to relax. Once he was out of rocks, he switched to using the gravity balls and launching them at her. He was destroying the nearby buildings to prevent her from hiding away.
"O-Okay… let's try not to damage any more of the capital's property…!"
"Crap!" Karissa tripped over her feet and tried to recover her fall with her wind, but Clavis' attack managed to strike her back, throwing her hard against the wall on her right.
Gravity was such a powerful force.
Karissa swallowed her pain and manipulated her body into standing back up despite its protest and lack of time to recover.
She kept running, dodging, getting hint, but still running nonetheless. She kept zig zagging, holding onto the side of buildings to steady her when the shockwaves of his attacks, the ones she dodged, tried to tackle her.
And then, she spun on her heel and slammed her hands together, fist in her palm. Her magic power flowed through her body and rushed to her hands, making it glow followed by a swirl of ice.
"Ice Make: Diffusional Verglas."
A small sphere of ice formed in front of her which suppressed more ice that was ready to expand upon contact with her opponent. With her ice being semi-dynamic and semi-static, she couldn't make her ice move like Lyon's but she could make them move around and increase their volume or density for example.
Diffusional Verglas was a good example of her type of molding magic.
"Propagate…"
More shiny spheres of ice started forming around her, a dozen of them. Each one of them contained suppressed ice that was ready to expand.
This one takes up a lot of power, obviously.
Karissa gritted her teeth and created more of them as if she was doing Thousand Spears.
Clavis frowned when he saw the ice accumulating around her. Did she not get that ice wouldn't work on him? With a sigh, he extended his arm and pointed his palm at the sky, creating a dark sphere of gravity. Well, she could try all she wanted until she exhausted herself.
The ice cores shot towards him
He was getting ready to counter her ice magic once more by throwing the spheres. But instead of disintegrating into the black hole, they changed path and suddenly swirled around in different directions with no clear sign of coming to him. Clavis stiffened when the ice spun around him, confused by the sudden change. How could she control every single one of those cores?!
His head whipped so fast that it might as well sprang off. He spotted Karissa holding her arms up with a concentrated look. It was her wind magic carrying the ice. She was using ice and wind simultaneously.
She closed her fist.
Clavis' eyes widened.
One of the cores finally targeted him, but with his gravity activated he knew it wouldn't reach no matter what. But he failed to consider that Karissa would simply amplify the intensity of the wind so that the ice could reach.
And it did.
It touched his shoulder and immediately exploded, covering his entire shoulder and arm. She was trying to limit his moves!
"Ack…!" Clavis winced when another core struck him in the same spot, increasing the cold on him. His hair whipped when the cores flew around more rapidly before suddenly homing on him.
At this rate, I'm seriously going to get frostbite!
With his free arm, he quickly generated a giant black hole in his hand and held it out. His hand was waving around as much as he could before they could entrap him in ice. But the wind made them move faster than his eyes could take. He could sense the chill, the unbearable cold, the danger closing in on him. With a strangled cry, his magic stopped when the ice cores started freezing him until he was completely enveloped in ice.
In the sky was a giant spiky sphere of ice shadowing over a part of the capital.
Laxus stared at it, unblinking. "That's… a lot."
"Uh oh! It looks like Karissa Sinclost completely sealed away Clavis Sinclost! Her ice and wind shutdown his gravity!"
Karissa huffed a tired pant as she lowered her arms. She was staring at it with uneasiness. Even if it looked like she defeated her opponent, she could never be too sure they were officially down for the count. That's just how she operated. Better safe than sorry.
The ice shattered.
Karissa sweat dropped and shifted a leg backwards.
Laxus squinted his eyes. "Ah. Looks like she still has work to do." He focused his attention back on the Lightning God Slayer that he was in the middle of fighting.
"This fight boring you?" Orga scoffed at the Laxus' gall to look away from him.
"Pretty much." Laxus shrugged before pointing his thumb at the ice behind him. "At this point, I rather keep tabs on my introverted sister over there if that's all you got."
Clavis broke the ice into pieces that were the size of rubble.
And they were all floating at his command.
"And now this is when I fucking run for my life." Karissa murmured and started running like hell. She was already getting flashbacks of Kurohebi running futilely when Clavis gave him a meteor shower. With a shout, Clavis directed all of the ice towards her like oversized hail during freezing rain.
With a leap, Karissa began flying into the streets to avoid the ice as fast as she could, cursing the worst profanities in her mind. There was no way she'd escape the wrath of ice on foot! If she hid inside an establishment, she was toast. Her only way to survive this hurdle was to fly like heck!
Clavis growled and increased his gravity to go after her. He was covered in ice and his body was cold. His eyes were wide with frustration and his teeth were bared as he gritted them while racing after her, zipping through the streets.
He wanted a crushing victory.
But his other half was finding ways to null it.
He couldn't have that.
He wanted to be better than her.
He needed to be better than her.
They needed to know he was just as good as her.
With a swing of his arm, he threw a giant block of ice in her direction.
"Could you take it easy on the destruction, Clavis?!"
"Kabo…"
"Yeesh."
The block of ice caught her and crushed her with its weight, conjuring up a cloud of smoke which blocked his view. Without stopping his gravity, he stayed floating a few feet away from the ground to keep an eye on any subtle movements.
Her body leaped out from the smoke and aimed an open hand at him which was most likely going to cast magic at point blank range.
I hit a clone?!
He was faster though.
With a cry, he ruthlessly aimed a green purple-ish ball that was meant to repulse her with a powerful strike. The sphere collided into her midsection, forcing her body to lurch, no sound escaped her as she gasped silently. When her body was shoved back by his attack, her body shattered into ice just just before it fell into the smoke.
"What…?!"
All of a sudden, a gigantic spear made of ice pointed at the heavens as if a god suddenly left it behind. Its shadow loomed over Clavis who gaped at the sheer size of the structure. The mere idea of her creating such a doing with barely any time was impossible to him, and yet the giant spear told him otherwise.
"Ice Make: Areadbhar!"
Clavis didn't have time to conjure him a giant black hole, so he chose to hardest way: fleeing. He fled from the attack by floating high up in the air just as the spear tilted and slammed into the ground.
"The buildings! You guys!"
"Holy crap…" Clavis muttered in disbelief. From his position from the sky, he could see how she easily destroyed half a street. With the spear still intact after falling, it caused the air and some structures to become frosty. He could see it all.
From her position on the streets, she looked at her brother and smiled with relief. Right now, she could tell that there was most likely only half of her magic power remaining. She was sure that Clavis burned a noticeably amount since he kept his gravity on the whole time while throwing gravity at her.
But what made her happy was the mess she and her brother caused.
Her hands clasped when she clapped once. "Release!"
Suddenly, buildings exploded in wind. Smoke and rubble flew in the air and rained down on the street. Several wind explosions kept going off.
Clavis tipped his head, confused. "What's that…?" The wind that exploded was becoming a hurricane on its own. Weirdly enough, they were only coming from the place where she—
The older twin stiffened.
She set this up! That's why she kept hiding inside buildings?!
Karissa held out her palms and made smooth like motions as if she was using a crystal ball.
"Maximum Output…" Wind started forming at the center of her hands, it continued to swirl rapidly, growing fast. Her hair and clothes flapped violently from the proximity. Magic power continued flowing into her hands, feeding the wind that kept growing stronger, gradually shaping into a giant ball. She dragged her foot back and lifted up her right hand crookedly, and then she swung her arm, launching the wind that suddenly exploded into a giant tornado. "Tornado Drive!"
The powerful force of nature started ripping apart the nearby buildings and attracting the debris from the already destroyed places caused by her time lag spell.
The Grand Magic Games' mascot let out a scream and grabbed its head. Yajima sweat dropped when he started remembering all the complaints about Fairy Tail during his time as a Council member. Oh, he did not envy the current members of the Magic Council. Chapati's jaw fell to the table at the sheer neglect of the surroundings.
"Whoa…" Van spoke with a slow creeping grin. He absolutely loved seeing his sister display her prowess. "That's amazing."
"Amazing…?" Makarov echoed. Much like Yajima, he was beginning to remember the complaints about Fairy Tail's destructive nature. Karissa had her moments… but never anything like this.
"She's putting everything she has for her victory!" Mavis smiled, pleased. She was completely oblivious to Makarov's worries.
"C-Careful! Careful!" Toma cried out still holding onto his pumpkin head.
"Perhaps there should be rules about the amount of destruction permitted in these games…" Chapati chuckled nervously. "This is truly a battle of non-standards!"
Clavis whirled around in the air when the tornado started rapidly flinging debris and ice all over the place and in his direction. Unlike normal tornadoes, this one moved so fast as it circled around him. And because of the giant ice spear she made, the air was incredibly cold with the currents of the wind blowing all over the place.
"Damn it!"
Manipulating the gravity of every single thing coming for him was impossible! It was too hard to dodge everything!
Without wasting another moment in his shock, he conjured up a giant sphere above his head that was saturated in magic power to increase its efficiency. His position in the air near the black hole and the tornado's area of affect had his clothes flapping around. The best place to optimize his protection was to throw the black hole higher away from him to attract all the debris.
"Black Sun!" With a flick of his hand, he threw the sphere higher in the air and watched as it already affected its surroundings. Black Sun manipulated the gravity in its radius to force it all to fly upwards. He would change the flow of anything she would try to do and crush it under the weight of gravity.
However, he wasn't expecting her to fly upwards directly under him with just wind magic.
She had taken advantage of the chaos to try and close in on her brother to try and make contact with his body.
Clavis glared at her pulled himself away just before her fingers could touch his foot. Karissa gritted her teeth when her fingers tips just grazed the sole of his boots.
"You may have gotten closer amidst the chaos, but you still won't reach me!" Clavis rammed his foot into her shoulder while decreasing its gravity to kick her down mercilessly. Karissa winced when the weight of gravity nearly broke her shoulder when she was sent crashing down to the ground.
Not this time!
With much difficulty, she flipped around in the air and barely used her wind magic to save her fall. She needed to be careful with her magic now, no matter what. Clumsily, she slid against a flat roof and watched as Clavis timely sucked up all the debris and ice. He didn't take too long to shut down her little camouflage attack.
All that was left was for her wind to completely die down, and when it did all was left was silence and her panting.
I'm actually feeling the burnout right now…
Clavis smirked proudly at the effectiveness of Black Sun. There was only cool air everywhere, harmless to everyone. "Is that all you can do?"
Karissa huffed at his tone. She had never heard this cocky tone from him before. He sounded very arrogant just now. It seems like the saying of being able to learn more about someone during a fight was plausible. The smiley Clavis was nowhere to be seen right now. Instead, she was seeing more of a overconfident and proud mage.
I actually find that more interesting than you smiling all the time…
I wonder, what else is hiding behind that smile of yours, brother?
With the way she straightened up, she felt like she had a slight head rush when she stumbled backwards a little. Her dark brown eyes were securitizing her brother.
You can't keep using gravity to keep yourself afloat while making powerful moves to counter mines… it's impossible because you'll also run out of magic sooner of later.
When that happens, I'll be in trouble.
So, it's best if you stay like this…
Karissa got into position and took in a deep breath and closed her eyes to concentrate.
I have at least two more moves before I'm out.
So… I'll just add it to the rest…
Her hands clenched tightly as she forced her body to surge with her remaining power. The air around her crackled as her focus aided the circulation of magic power to flow strongly and smoothly through her body.
"Second Origin…" Her breath whispered.
Karissa snapped her eyes open as the container of magic power burst open and filled her veins with bursting energy. Clavis flinched when he felt the influx of magical pressure radiating from her body. He was flummoxed. How was it that she still had so much power left after all those attacks that clearly ate away at the energy in her body?
Clavis gritted his teeth. There's just no way she had so much power left! Weren't they the same in terms of magic power? How could she have more than him?
He couldn't let her continue. He couldn't let her keep fighting any longer! He needed to finish her before she had time to make more troublesome attacks!
The roof beneath her feet started emitting crackling sounds.
Her head tipped back as she took in a deep breath and exhaled a white cloud.
Fingers twitched and flexed.
The space around her feet started freezing.
…
…
…
To take her mind off Gray and Lyon's private conversation and forget her own feelings, Karissa spent several days focusing on herself and trying to better herself as a mage. She spent her time reviewing the books on magic she had in her home. But simply reviewing and practicing was too easy. She realized that after training by herself.
Which is why she now found herself in a library that specialized in magic. She was in search of a challenge, she wanted to learn something new for herself.
Quietly, she followed the librarian's directions that would bring her to ice focused spells. She was informed that there were many books on spells that were modern, and they also had some books that focused on old spells as well.
Her fingers tickled the spines of numerous books while she read them with interest. None of their titles piqued her curiosity yet.
While she searched, a ballad played in her ears from the lacrima headphones on her head.
However, when her eyes landed on a certain title her music picked up the rhythm as if to emphasize her discovery.
"No way… they have it here? Is this really the same one?"
Eagerly, Karissa plucked out the book from the shelf and stared at the cover. Even after all this time, she could still recall oh the tome looked like. She didn't know there'd be another copy. It was dark brown with some yellow on the spine. The title was written in dark blue just like how she remembered it.
With a little smile, she moved away from the shelve to find herself a place to sit.
"If Lyon and Gray know how to cast that dumb spell… I'm gonna have one for myself~"
She was old enough to handle it.
"Lyon won't be happy though."
...
...
...
"Punishment of Absolute Zero."
Karissa used her wind magic and swung her arm in her brother's direction once he was close enough.
Punishment of Absolute Zero was like a virus. It used the caster's body as the starting point for the purpose of decreasing temperature to reach absolute zero. From her body, it would spread like a virus. Mist would cloud the air, the ground would freeze upon touch and possibly quake, and nothing would be able to escape once they were caught in ice. The expansion was neither slow nor fast. But one could easily escape from it if they moved fast enough with some type of magic that increased their speed. But now, with her reckless output of magic power to use all those last ice attacks, it just made the air turn colder even faster.
However, even that would never be enough if the enemy escaped.
Unless she had an extension for her reach.
Clavis lost his balance when the harmless wind immediately began freezing his arms and midsection. He landed on the roof with a stumble as he tried to comprehend what just happened. He was trying to figure out how she could have frozen him without casting any ice spells.
"What is this…?" He eyed her form carefully.
"Haah…" Karissa breathed out a white cloud and lolled her head downward when she straightened up. She took one step, and suddenly ice started rippling outward fast.
Something's off...
Clavis stiffened in alarm. Quickly, he levitated himself to float above the ground just before his feet got caught in the ice.
The he shivered.
"Why is it getting even colder?!" He looked around and saw mist spreading around.
Karissa's eyes flickered to her brother.
Clavis paused.
Something's off...
The younger twin released a blast of wind at her brother which he was barely able to dodge, and it instantly froze the chimney he was situated in front of. But his leg wasn't able to dodge the ice which ended up also being encased in ice instantly. The second it got caught, he could no longer move it… it was completely frozen!
Something's off!
"Sorry, I don't have anymore time to waste." Karissa told him with eyes that seem to glow with a tint of blue as if representing the cold inside of her. Her image was reflected in Clavis' panicked eyes when he couldn't think of a way to counter her attack.
Because the truth is: he could never hope to crush temperature under the weight of gravity.
With his gravity magic, he shattered the ice and started darting away from her.
Karissa darted after her brother with a blast of wind that turned into a ice dust. The second she took off, the radius around her began to expand, freezing the surrounding area due to her wind magic going haywire.
All or nothing!
Laxus looked over his shoulder when he felt the chill reaching his location. He could see a giant cloud of mist covering the entire air space of where Karissa was.
"She's going crazy over there." Laxus mumbled.
"She?" Jura repeated. "Do you mean Karissa-dono?"
"Who else would be using wind and ice like this?" Laxus used his wrist to wipe the side of his mouth just as her started smirking. "That means I can't waste anymore time. I gotta keep moving forward." He clenched his fist and dragged his foot back as he charged himself with lightning.
"Hmph! Do your worst, young man." Jura straightened up and got into position for another round.
Laxus' lightning went chaotic before he stomped his foot and zig zagged around the area. Jura didn't move and waited for the attack to come. He was ready for anything.
The Fairy Tail mage took a sharp turn and darted at Jura with a Lightning Dragon Roar. His mouth released a beam of lightning that seemed to slither around like a snake baring its fangs. With a shout, Jura used a rock wall to defend himself. He knew what was coming next. The attack would be coming from behind with his lightning fast moves—
No. Instead, Laxus rammed through the rock wall and launched a devastating lightning attack onto the older man. The attack was so fierce that it destroyed the cobblestone where he stood.
The lightning mage landed past Jura while skidding to a stop with his back facing him, and then he swiveled around while charging up more power for the next attack. His tightly clenched fist trembled when the air around him crackled and buzzed at a high frequency.
An attack that means all or nothing!
Lyon's eyes widened at the lacrima vision next to him. It was displaying the current battles inside Crocus, but he was specifically watching the fight between Clavis and Karissa. Right now, Clavis was trying to flee from his sister as fast as he could. But she wouldn't let him out of her sights nor would she let him create more distance than what they currently had. He was doing his best to dodge the gales of ice-wind coming for his body that would no doubt finish him from how they instantly froze what they struck. And yet, there was frost all over his body.
"She's absolutely reckless!" Lyon shouted, furious.
"You got a problem with her way of defeating her opponents?" Gray attacked his senior with a giant ice hammer. His ice was destroyed by a tiger of ice that batted the ice away, throwing it into a wall.
"You fool!" Lyon clicked his tongue at Gray. "Like the Iced Shell, the Punishment of Absolute Zero is also a spell that uses the caster's body! It's self-explanatory! She's using her body as a source to create absolute zero, but even the slightest mistake could mean death if she doesn't thaw her body properly! She could even kill Clavis!"
With an eyebrow twitch, Gray frowned deeply at his worry. He felt a little insulted. "If you knew Karissa so well then you'd know she wouldn't be that reckless. But instead of focusing on her, you should be focusing on your own battle!" Gray warned him as he dashed forward. Lyon growled and aimed ice eagles at Gray who nimbly weaved in between their attacks, and he ignored the nicks and cuts he got when they slightly changed their trajectory to center in on him.
There was no greater weak point than right down the middle where the caster was. The eagles would only crash into each other.
Lyon gritted his teeth when Gray recklessly charged through. The older mage was about to take a leap back until Gray grabbed the front of his shirt and gritted his own teeth before ramming his forehead into his, stunning him.
"You better step up your game, Lyon!" Gray reeled his head back, a visible red spot in the center of his forehead. "Because you won't be able to beat me! I won't lose!"
"You bastard…!" Lyon growled and aimed his fist at Gray's face to stun him. "I won't let you defeat me again!"
However, the blow to Lyon's head caused him to falter a little which made it easy for Gray to whirl around and slam his foot into his gut, ripping a pain groaned from him.
With their close counter fight relying on fists, it was almost reminiscent to their fight on Galuna Island. But unlike before, they've both grown past that point as mages and people.
Lyon forced himself to get his bearings back when he skidded to a stop with his fist in his hand. "Ice Make: Water Serpent!" A large spiraling serpent came racing towards Gray.
"Ice Make…" Gray hurriedly put his fist in his palm. "Swirl Ring!" Inspired by his side of the Ice Ring spell, ice swirled outward from the point where he pressed his palm on the ground. With his spot as the safe zone, the ice continued to swirl and expanded rapidly. The serpent's body was half trapped in Gray's ice before suddenly getting pierced precisely at its joints, ceasing its movements entirely.
The purpose of their Unison Raid was to pierce and freeze enemies in place. What was lacking in his spell was Karissa's magic power that would greatly increase the size of the spell.
But Gray was enough on his own for this.
Everything that I have!
"What?!" Lyon gaped at the how easily Gray destroyed one of his stronger spells.
With his magic power coursing through his body, Gray dragged his foot back.
"You're done!"
"Nakagami Starlight!"
"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Roaring Thunder!"
"Ice Make Unlimited: One Sided Chaotic Dance!"
Wind attacks without ice started striking him hard to stop him from fleeing. He couldn't predict their trajectory with how suddenly wild they became. He was feeling the weight of her attacks. She was hitting him hard and it was preventing him from getting away faster than he would have.
The air around him was getting colder fast due to her earlier ice attacks, slowly numbing his body. And now for some reason, ice started freezing his foot. Even though he dodged it the wind attacks infused with cold, it just kept climbing up his body until his entire leg froze. As tried evading more of her attacks, a recall flashed in his mind and he could see his sister barely touching his sole when she came too close.
Clavis gritted his teeth and forced himself to flee faster to get out of her range.
She did touch him.
She took so many risks just to do that one thing!
Karissa just stopped moving and remained floating in the air to point her index at him.
"Flash Freeze!"
Sensing the coming danger, Clavis looked over his shoulder and saw the white clouds of cold air racing after him. He barely took a breath and suddenly he ended up frozen in the sky. Upon contact, the ice that encased his body spilled and stretched akin to water being dropped from the heavens, and it created a pillar of ice that held him up high in the sky. A loud crashing sound echoed throughout the map as the ice hit the ground and continued to freeze the nearby surroundings until it tired itself out.
His main functions ceased, he was too cold to even control his flow of magic power to free himself. He was just frozen in every sense of the word.
There were only a few things going through his mind before he passed out.
All were echoes of the past.
…
…
…
"Will you love me?"
"I'll be good."
"So, please. Love me."
…
…
…
The hooded figure watched the lacrima vision with wide attentive eyes. His face was shadowed by his hair and hood, and yet his dark brown eyes gleamed with interest as he watched the Fairy Tail mage freeze anything she wished. She probably didn't realize it but the roots of her hair were becoming white from the spell.
The white of her hair was what caught his attention.
"Cool."
M̷y̷s̷t̷e̷r̷y̷ ̷M̷a̷n̷
I decided to post a chapter earlier since I missed last month... also because I was eager to finish this chapter ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This is the kind of finisher I wanted to see when I read/watched the GMG. I didn't want no damn united power between teammates TT_TT Gajeel, Laxus, Erza and Gray ate well while Juvia got scraps.
Why did Clavis lose? He was too cautious while Karissa threw caution out the window. They basically switched their strategies. Clavis is someone who can take a few risks to take advantage of the field just like when he fought Kurohebi while Karissa is just naturally cautious. But knowing that his sister was too versatile, he switched to from being risky to cautious to exploit openings he could find. Too bad his sister decided to go stupid crazy with her magic.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you have a nice day/night!