【Re:Freezing】 | Gray Fullbuster x OC

37: Third Generation

Karissa was flying back to base camp with her sister.

Van and Juvia were chasing after Zeref who was being carried away by Meldy while Lukius was acting as the rear guard.

Gray stayed back to fight Ultear.

Pandora awoke from her unconscious state after being shifted around which made the pain in her arm flare. She was informed of what happened moments before she awoke. And as much as she wanted to help, she knew that she couldn't fight with a broken skewered arm. She was lucky that Meldy was an easier opponent to deal with.

"Sorry for the trouble."

"Nah, shut up."

The older Sinclost huffed at the nonchalant reply. Karissa wasn't going to listen to her apologize for being injured of all things. They were currently at war with a dark guild and there was no time to feel remorseful.

Pandora looked to the side, glancing up at her younger sister's face. She was surprised by what she saw. Naturally, she viewed her siblings as strong people, but at the same time she still saw them as people she needed to take care of. But seeing Karissa's face devoid of panic, retaining only calm and determination made Pandora realize that she wasn't going to be able to play the guardian role forever. Just like a parent accepting the reality of their children growing up and being able to take care of themselves.

It made her wonder, did she do a good job?

Pandora made mistakes and stumbled to find the best path possible, that's why she became as tough as she is.

As the older sister with no parents to guide her, she had to carve a path worthy of her siblings to follow behind. If not, then they could just avoid that path and not repeat any mistakes she could have made.

And with that best path, she continued to become stronger because she still needed to walk ahead of her younger siblings, inspiring them to become just a strong.

It is the responsibility of the older sibling.

"I love you, you know that?"

Karissa scoffed, giving her sister a bewildered look. "Well, duh."

...

...

...

After a while of searching, she found the base camp and immediately went down to get Pandora some help. With how fast she came flying, Freed and Bickslow fired off magic when they thought she was an enemy, but she was lucky enough to dodge them.

"You nearly hit my arm, Bickslow!" Pandora hollered over her shoulder with stink eye as Lucy directed her towards one of the make shift roofs where the other injured were resting. Gajeel, Mirajane, Elfman and Evergreen were down for the count. Pandora had yet to remove the spikes in her arm, barely allowing her own blood to leak.

"Sorry!" Bickslow shouted over the rain.

Karissa followed after them, ignoring the pelting rain on her head. "Wendy, can you heal her, please?"

Carla snapped her head towards Karissa. "No, she can't! She's been using her magic all day, if she continues like this, she's going to pass out!" she crossed her arms. "And that certainly won't help anyone."

"Oh." Karissa frowned. She didn't want to insist on the healing because she didn't want Wendy to overexert herself during this time.

"That's fine." Pandora sat down on a barrel near Levy and looked down at her punctured arm. "I don't need any fancy healing magic to close these wounds." She glared at her own damage.