Bab 293: Mest and Wendy Vs. Juvia and Lisanna
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tenrou Island.
December 15, x784.
After the battle between Fried, Bickslow, Evergreen and Elfman concluded, the action in the caves cooled down for a while. Considering the fact that most of the other participants had to wait on the ship for Fried's [Enchantment] to time out.
During that time, Mest and Wendy, after making it to the battle area of their selected cave, had a lot of time to kill. And thanks to Wendy's timid personality, mixed with Ur's constant warnings, she was quite wary of Mest. So, the duo spent most of their time sitting in silence. Until Wendy took it upon herself to break that silence.
"Um… Excuse me…." Wendy said timidly with her head lowered.
"Hmm…? Yes?" Mest Replied, looking in Wendy's direction.
"Uh… Um… I… Can… Um… I mean, Can I… ask you a question?" Wendy stammered out.
"Sure, go ahead." Mest replied with a nod.
"Why… did you choose… me… to be your partner, Mest?" Wendy asked, finally raising her head to look at Mest.
Seeing the wary look in Wendy's eyes mixed with the slightly guarded posture, Mest was taken aback. Still, he tried to answer her question calmly.
"It's because I thought your ability to heal would be quite useful." Mest replied with a small smile. "And after what happened when we arrived on the beach, that thought turned out to be correct."
"Really?" Wendy asked, sounding quite skeptical.
"Really." Mest replied with a nod.
"Are you sure that's… the only reason?" Wendy asked, her skepticism growing with every moment.
"What other reason would there be?" Mest asked curiously.
"Are you sure it's not because you're a… a… a…" Wendy began to say. But when she got to the end, her face reddened, and she began to studder.
Seeing Wendy's state, Mest was even more curious.
'I wonder if she's gonna ask me if it's because I'm Mystogan's disciple.' Mest thought to himself. 'I did hear a rumor that Mystogan had saved her when she was lost in a forest about seven years ago. He introduced her to Cait Shelter, too, now that I think about it. I mean, it's not like I could tell her the real reason that teaming up with someone who had been with the guild for a while might see through my cover, right?'
Meanwhile, as Mest wondered what Wendy was going to say, the girl in question took a deep breath to calm herself down, though the blush on her face did not disappear, before blurting out her question in one go.
"Are you sure it's not because you're a loli-con?" Wendy shouted at the top of her lungs with all her might.
*Cough!*
*Splatter!*
*Thud!*
As soon as Mest's mind registered what Wendy asked him, he immediately coughed out a mouthful of blood all over the cave floor before collapsing with lifeless eyes.
"Huh?" Wendy exclaimed after she finally opened her eyes and saw the blood and Mest, who looked as if he would lose consciousness at any moment. "Mest, are you okay? What happened to you? Did the other team show up and sneak attack you?"
'Oh, I was sneak attacked, alright.' Mest thought while the world around him spun violently. 'Unfortunately, I was hit by friendly fire.'
"Come on, Mest, pull yourself together!" Wendy shouted as she placed her hands on Mest's chest. "[Heal]… Huh? Why isn't it working? [Heal]! [Heal]!"
'Of course, it's not working.' Mest thought to himself while he watched Wendy fuss over him. 'There's no magic in existence that can heal heartache.'
Meanwhile, from the other entrance to the battle room, Juvia and Lisanna finally arrived to see who their opponents would be. But when they saw the current happenings in the area, they were thoroughly flabbergasted.
"What's going on?" Lisanna asked in a confused tone.
"Uh... Juvia isn't sure…" Juvia replied.
"Should we go help them?" Lisanna asked.
"Maybe?" Juvia replied while tilting her head in confusion. "Does this mean that Juvia won?"
"That's a good question." Lisanna asked as she and Juvia started walking towards their downed opponents.
At the same time, after hearing the sound of footsteps, Mest and Wendy finally realized they were not alone in the battle section of the cave, anymore. Looking towards the sound, they finally saw who their opponents were.
"It's Juvia and Lisanna, huh?" Mest said, forcing himself into an upright position.
"Mest, be careful." Wendy said, rushing to support her partner. "You just coughed up blood. Maybe should lay down, you're in no condition to fight."
"Coughed up blood?" Juvia and Lisanna exclaimed simultaneously.
A moment later, Lisanna and Juvia noticed the blood that had been splattered in front of Mest.
"Yeah, Wendy's right, it's not worth pushing yourself this hard." Lisanna said in a concerned tone.
"Yes." Juvia agreed with a nod. "Let Juvia take you to receive medical attention."
Hearing the concern from the three girls, Mest, who was actually in his Doranbolt persona at the moment, felt a strange, fuzzy feeling in his chest. It's not every day you receive such concern from people who you despise… or at the very least, do not like.
Unfortunately, that feeling was replaced with irritation quickly enough.
"By the way, how did you end up like this, Mest." Lisanna asked curiously as she and Juvia both leaned down to help Mest up.
"That's the weird thing." Wendy said. "Before this happened, he seemed perfectly fine. I mean, my [Healing Magic] won't even work on him. But after I asked him if he was a---"
Before Wendy could finish, Mest shot to his feet as if there were nothing wrong with him and covered her mouth at lightning speed.
"You two really don't need to worry about me." Mest said with an ugly smile and blood still dripping from his lips. Then, using his free hand, he wiped the blood before he continued. "But as you can see, I'm just fine."
"Seeing how quickly Mest recovered, Lisanna and Juvia felt relief. Still, they both noticed that his recovery seemed to be tied to what Wendy was about to say.
'I'''/ Juvia will have to ask Wendy about it later.' Lisanna and Juvia thought at the same time.
"Anyway, why don't we get on with the battle?" Mest asked, his ugly smile starting to twitch when he noticed the skeptical glances Lisanna and Juvia were throwing his way.
'Would it be wrong to change Wendy's memories over something this small?' Mest thought to himself. Then, after shaking his head mentally, his expression turned resolute. 'Of course, it's not. I have to protect my reputation, after all.'
Seeing Mest's expression, Lisanna and Juvia exchanged glances before they both leapt away from Mest and Wendy and took their fighting stances.
'*Sigh* Good.' Mest thought to himself after seeing his opponents were ready to fight.
Then, Mest released Wendy's mouth and threw an apologetic smile at her, who was currently pouting for being interrupted, before he focused his attention back on Juvia and Lisanna.
"Sorry about that, Wendy." Mest said as he took his own fighting stance. "But for now, we need to focus on the exam."
Throwing another skeptical glance in Mest's direction, Wendy eventually nodded as she, too, took her fighting stance.
"Well, then, let's go." Juvia said as she swept her right arm in Mest and Wendy's direction. "[Water Slicer]."
Immediately, a crescent-shaped blade of water was shot forward from Juvia's hand, causing Mest and Wendy to dodge in opposite directions.
"[Take Over: Animal Soul: Cat]." Lisanna chanted as she was covered in the light of her [Take Over Magic].
A moment later, she reappeared with feline features, claws, a tail, and wearing a leopard print bikini. Then, in a burst of speed, she disappeared from Juvia's side, reappearing next to Wendy with her right hand raised and ready to slash with her claws.
"Wendy, look out!" Mest shouted as he [Teleported] away from where he stood
Before Lisanna's attack could land, Mest appeared between Lisanna and Wendy, and deflected Lisanna's attack to the side. Meanwhile, Wendy, who had been prepared to block Lisanna's strike, lowered her hands, forming a trumpet shape in front of her mouth as she took a deep breath.
"Sky Dragon's Roar]." Wendy chanted before blowing through her hands.
In the next instant, a cyclone spewed forth from Wendy's mouth in Juvia's direction.
Despite being targeted by a cyclone, Juvia made no attempt to dodge the incoming attack. Instead, she stood in front of it proudly. Meanwhile, Wendy, after seeing Juvia's actions, had a bad feeling. But since her attack had already been cast, there was nothing she could do about it.
A moment later, Wendy's breath attack slammed into Juvia, whose body simply turned into water and combined with the wind currents. Then, before the cyclone smashed into the wall behind her, Juvia seemingly took control and began moving around the room as a water vortex with her head at the front.
"[Water Jigsaw]." Juvia chanted as she zoomed around the room at higher speeds than she usually could achieve.
"Uh-oh." Wendy exclaimed in worry as Juvia used her attack to make her own spell even more dangerous. "Mest, I think we have a problem."
Hearing Wendy's uncertain tone, Mest dodged a kick from Lisanna before glancing in Juvia's direction. Noticing the speed at which Juvia was speeding around the area, he could not help but frown slightly.
"You really shouldn't look away." Lisanna said calmly as she brought down an axe kick at Mest's head.
Stepping back quickly to dodge, Mest threw a side kick of his own in response. Then, after Lisanna ducked under it, h[Teleported] away, before Lisanna was also forced to move from the spot.
"[Sky Dragon's Wing Attack]." Wendy chanted as she flapped her arms in Lisanna's direction.
As she flapped her arms, Wendy was surprised when instead of dodging away, Lisanna jumped straight up.
"[Take Over: Animal Soul: Bird]." Lisanna chanted before she transformed into a large bird with green and pink feathers.
Then, before she started to fall back towards the ground, Lisanna flapped her wings and sped towards Wendy before transforming back into her [Animal Soul: Cat] form and dropping an axe kick down on the younger girl.
"Not so fast." Mest said, [Teleporting] between Lisanna and Wendy once again.
Raising his arms in a cross over his head, Mest successfully guarded Wendy against Lisanna's kick. Unfortunately, while teleporting around, Mest had lost sight of Juvia, which would turn out to be a fatal mistake.
"That's Juvia's line.' Juvia said, drawing Mest's attention downward.
As soon as he lowered his head, Mest saw Juvia speeding towards him as a water vortex.
'Damn it." Mest thought as he tried to reach back and grab a hold of Wendy. Unfortunately, just as he made contact with his partner's shoulder, Juvia arrived and slammed into him. As a result, Mest was thrown backwards into Wendy before they were both blasted away into the wall behind them.
*Boom!*
Though they did not hit the wall hard enough to cause it to crater, Wendy was knocked unconscious from being squashed between Mest and the Wall. Meanwhile, Mest was disoriented and short of breath after taking Juvia's [Water Jigsaw] without putting up any form of defense.
"*Cough* *Cough* Damn it." Mest muttered as he looked back to see his unconscious team mate.
"It's over." Lisanna said as she approached Mest from the side before barraging him with slashes from her claws.
Unfortunately, Mest was too disoriented from Juvia's last attack to put his [Teleportation] to use. As a result, he was covered in scratches from Lisanna's attack before he fell, losing consciousness before hitting the floor.
'I knew Juvia was S-Class back when she was with Phantom Lord.' Mest thought as his vision started to darken. 'But was she always this strong? She basically incapacitated me with only one attack.'
Although unintentional, Alfonzo and Ur were responsible for Juvia's current strength. Because she sees Ur, Gray, and Ultear as her soul mates, she trains much harder than her canon counterpart did after joining Fairy Tail. And her reason was quite simple. She wanted to be strong enough to beat Alfonzo and prove that she was better for Ultear than such a womanizer. Also, she thought Ur would accept her feelings if she were stronger, as well.
"I would really hate to fight him one-on-one." Lisanna said. "No matter how fast my [Cat Take Over] makes me, I'm not faster than [Teleportation]."
"Yes, that magic does make things more difficult." Juvia replied, reverting back to her human form. "If he did not have to protect Wendy, then this would have been much harder."
"Anyway." Lisanna said with a cheerful, energetic smile on her face. "Let's go! I wonder how many other people have completed the first part already."
"Indeed." Juvia said, donning a sloppy smile. "Juvia misses her darling Gray, her lovely Ultear, and her wonderful Ur."
"Uh… Yeah, sure." Lisanna said with a wry smile.
With that, Lisanna and Juvia made their way towards the newly opened entrance, bringing an end to this part of the exam.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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