Fairy Tail - Eyes of Ice

Chapter 32 - Tenrou Island Pt. 2

Wendy's scent became stronger the further along they traveled. Kai and Gray had initially broken into a slight jog before Kai had them slow down to anticipate who would show up. He kept his sword sheathed, hoping not to need it for the fight: as skilled as Wendy was, Mest was likely the bigger threat.

At least, he thought so. What was the guy's magic?

The tunnel curved and then turned toward another entrance. Kai and Gray stood at that entrance as Wendy and Mest came into view, with Wendy freezing in place and Mest just scowling his annoyance.

"We can make this painless," Gray said. "Just give up now and we'll keep on going."

"I didn't survive the boat ride out here just for painless," Mest said. "You've got a Dragon Slayer and I've got a Dragon Slayer, Gray. It all evens out."

"Maybe, but that leaves me and you," Gray said. "And frankly? Pretty sure I win that fight."

Mest balled his fists and Gray lowered into his stance. Kai moved to the side to stand across from Wendy, who did her best to look apprehensive. Nobody in the tunnel moved until Kai slid his foot and coated the area around them in ice, giving Gray the signal to create a cannon from the ice and fire it down the tunnel.

They split apart, with Wendy diving out of the way.

"I've got Wendy!" Kai shouted.

"No, you don't!"

Mest reappeared but was slammed by another cannonball by Gray. Kai sprinted toward Wendy, watching her try and summon the courage for a spell. He flicked his wrist and she flinched, allowing him to summon forth a small flurry of snow and ice that latched her to the wall.

Kai turned toward an attacking Mest who was easily dealt with by Gray, bashed into the upper ceiling, and then dropped straight away. Kai grinned.

"Next year, Mest," Kai said and patted Wendy's head as he released the ice on her. She rushed over to heal him.

"Man, with that teamwork I don't know who is going to beat you guys," Wendy said.

Gray shrugged. "Now that we've gotten past Erza I really have no idea what's stopping us."

"A booby trap from Cana or Lucy, maybe, they tend to play a little dirty."

"A booby trap from Cana or Lucy?" Gray sneered. "I thought Erza was your girl?"

Kai shoved Gray down the tunnel. "Get moving, Fullbuster."

The tunnel did not extend that much further. Gray continued to cajole Kai on his poor word choice, particularly since Cana and Lucy weren't necessarily hiding their booby traps in the swimwear everyone had adorned on the boat.

"Just give it a rest already," Kai said, slapping the back of Gray's head as they advanced down the pretty linear path from the tunnel toward the massive Tenrou Tree and the forest surrounding it.

"I'll just tell Erza about it."

"You know, if you were as good at telling these stupid jokes as you were at fighting, you could've taken out Mest in just one shot."

That gave Gray momentary pause, for some reason. "It's weird, though. Mest almost won this last year, didn't he? How come I was able to take him out so fast?"

"Almost won," Kai said. "Means he isn't S-Class, and shouldn't be thought of on that high of a pedestal. You did a lot of training since last year, and we did a lot of training just last week. Maybe that made the difference."

"I guess, I just figured he'd be stronger."

Kai thought similarly. Mest had employed teleportation magic, but had Kai ever even seen him use that before?