It's here! Chapter 100! Wow it feels amazing! ^^
I'm sorry it took so long to make this chapter, I had work to do and then I had a vacation. I decided to just relax and enjoy my time (ate lots of ice cream, went to see my folks, played The Isle, read some books xD I had so much fun!) and now I'm happy to start writing again!
Thank you for all your support! No matter what, no matter how long it takes I will finish this book! ^^
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What was in front of them was... Extraordinary. It wasn't unimaginable, but definitely something they didn't expect to see. Yet in a place like this, it strangely made them a lot less surprised than it would have if they had seen it in Earth Land.
Freed huffed with a frown when looking at tiny trees that were growing on the ground. They looked more like just small bushes. No, not even bushes, they were like tussocks. They were growing all around and when he carefully pushed one down they bend under his hand and once he lifted it, they sprung back up unharmed. They were obviously very resilient and wouldn't get torn apart just because they happened to walk there.
Rufus was looking up instead. Since he had absolute trust in his perfect memory, he could safely say he had never seen anything quite like this. Thousands and thousands of lily pads were growing high up towards the sky just in front of them. Those huge leafs seemed like they were covering the sky, yet they were so transparent they could actually see some of the biggest stars through them, giving them light.
There were also water lilies. It felt strange to call them water lilies since they were growing so high up in the air, but that was what they resembled. And that wasn't all there was.
"Bubbles?" Rufus asked when looking at the round bubbles that were slowly floating under the lily pads.
"Seems so", Freed agreed. "But are they just regular bubbles?"
"Maybe they are floating water drops?" Toby suggested scratching his jaw.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that was true", Rufus said.
"You know, like, if you touch them and then splash, you get all wet because the bubble will break and it's actually filled with water?"
"That is possible, though considering how big those drops look from down here, the surface tension of them should be immense to keep all that water in", Freed muttered. "And if they are indeed filled with water, it should be impossible for them to float."
That was when both Freed and Rufus noticed something and they turned around to stare at Toby who looked back with a smile.
"Hi Toby", Felix smiled waving his hand.
"Hi there little one", Toby chuckled.
"Where did you come from?" Rufus asked confused. "For how long have you been following us?"
"Hmm? I don't know, maybe a while?" Toby said trying to measure the length of the journey he had followed Freed, Rufus and Felix. "I saw you three and I figured I should join you."
"And you didn't consider telling us you're here?" Freed asked and yes, he was slightly irritated. Not because Toby joined them, not at all. It was because it made him a bit ashamed how he had not noticed Toby before now.
He could see how Rufus was feeling exactly the same but both of them would rather die than say it out loud to anyone.
"I know you knew I was here the whole time", Toby just smiled.
"Yes, of course we knew", Rufus immediately harrumphed crossing his arms.
"Did you know, mama?" Felix asked looking at Freed.
"That's not important anymore", the rune mage said clearing his throat. "Anyway, it's good that there's more of us now."
"Are we going deeper in this lily pad forest?" Toby asked and he stared ahead in the forest, but it seemed like it was getting darker and darker the further he tried to see.
"We have to", Freed said and they started walking. "Stay alert."
They nodded and carefully they walked deeper and deeper in the forest.
Evergreen tisked as she moved away ferns and looked around. She was starting to get irritated because of this place. And where were everyone else?
"This is so annoying", she growled and once again a leaf hit her. The ground was uneven to walk on and her feet were hurting because her shoes weren't suitable for walking here.
Finally she managed to get out and could see around more. She was on mountains. That was just great. So how was she supposed to find the others from here?
Evergreen looked around more, trying to see any sort of movement even though it was slowly getting darker around. The stars were getting dimmer and the sky was getting darker so it could only mean it was nighttime now. It didn't really make things any better, moving around in this environment during night was not what she wanted to do. Sadly, it seemed like she couldn't avoid it.
Should she wait and see if others might find her? Truth to be told, that didn't really sound a likely scenario to happen... Perhaps it would be the best if she just continued walking and if it would get too dark, she could always rely on her fairies to give her light.
Evergreen slowly walked down, trying to avoid rocks and after a few hisses and curses she finally got down from the hill, but there was still a long way to go before she would be able to get down from this mountain.
She adjusted her glasses with a huff when once again she almost fell over because of the high heels – Freed would've already scolded her because of her shoes but this time it wasn't her fault! How could've she known she would end up in a place like this?! - and she brushed back her hair, dusting her green dress. She could only hope it wouldn't get cold during night.
Then suddenly she heard voices. Quickly she spun around towards a smaller cliff and now she could clearly hear someone talking behind it. There were two of them. She couldn't hear what was said but as the voices came closer, they got more clear.
"Wait", she said when she finally could recognize who were talking.
Evergreen hopped down a few bigger rocks until she got down and just in case she stopped behind the small cliff that was separating her from those who were talking. She cautiously peeked around the rocks and was instantly relieved.
"Mirajane and Lisanna", she said coming out, surprising the two women.
"Evergreen!" Lisanna beamed happily running closer. "We're so happy to see you're alright!"
"Well, I can't deny it isn't somewhat soothing to find someone from here", Evergreen said with a small smile. That was all she would admit.
"That is true", Mirajane chuckled. It was amusing to see Evergreen acting so proud and confident even if the situation was what it was. "Have you seen Elfman?"
"We don't know if he's around here too", Lisanna said and she was really worried. Their brother was... Not that good with directions.
"He's not here? Oh god, how on Earth are we going to find him from here?" Evergreen huffed annoyed, but now she was also a bit worried.
"We shouldn't worry too much", Mirajane assured trying to calm them down. "Elfman is strong and he knows how to take care of himself. I'm sure he will be just fine", she smiled. It would be a lie to claim she wasn't worried at all, but she also knew how strong their brother could be if he so wanted.
"Hey!"
Evergreen, Mirajane and Lisanna all turned around and they were surprised as they saw Cana standing on top of the cliff.
"I thought I heard familiar voices", she smirked.
"Cana, you're okay", Mirajane smiled. "Have you seen others?"
"Just Lyon", Cana said and they saw the white haired man stepping beside Cana.
"Good evening", Lyon nodded with a smile. "I'd say we're very lucky to stumble upon each other like this."
"Now it's starting to feel like we can actually find everyone", Lisanna smiled.
"Of course we can find everyone", Evergreen assured opening her fan. It was broken but that didn't matter. "So now we'll form Team Fairy Girls and our mission is to find the rest of our friends."
"Fairy what?" Lyon asked and he blinked.
"Shouldn't it then be Team Fairy Girls and Lyon?" Mirajane chuckled as Cana and Lyon hopped down.
"I like it better when it's just Team Fairy Girls", Cana snickered looking at Lyon who sighed.
"I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that", the man muttered.
"You better just learn to live with it, sweetheart."
"So then it's decided", Evergreen nodded.
"I wonder if we are all really here" Lisanna said, thinking about it. "I mean since Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Wendy and Erza all went out just before those dragonflies surrounded us and we appeared here", she murmured and Evergreen glared at her when Erza's name was mentioned.
"Are you telling me that without them we can't do a thing?" she asked narrowing her eyes.
"No, no! I was just wondering if they might be here -"
"Listen up! Were they here or not, we don't need to rely on just them!" Evergreen snapped when pointing at Lisanna with her fan. "We aren't just some weak nobodies who can't save the world if needed! We can do just as much as they can", she guaranteed.
She chuckled and brushed a few strands from her face.
"And may I remind you, the Thunder Legion is here for sure", she said with a confident smirk. "And there's nothing we can't do."
"We believe you", Mirajane smiled. "Of course we will trust each other and we will all do our best so we can solve this situation."
"So what should be our next step?" Lyon asked.
"To find out where the kids are", Cana said. "They must be here too and we don't know if they're alone so we have to find them. We can't let Yuidose catch them."
"I agree", Lisanna said and they all agreed. If Yuidose would catch Felix, Chester and Vellanja, they would definitely be used as hostages.
"But finding them might not be that easy", Lyon said. "I got a good view of our surroundings and there are lots of mountains around here. We're not even sure what there's beyond them and how far we're all scattered."
Evergreen hummed and she thought about it. What would Freed do in a situation like this?
"I'll send out fairies", she decided after a moment of silence. "I'll make them scan the area as much as they can while we're moving. I think we should find our way down from these mountains."
"We should find out if there is any water around", Mirajane suggested. "We have no food or drink with us after all."
"So while searching for water, we'll scan the area the best we can and as wide as possible so we can find if there's anyone near us", Evergreen decided and they all agreed. "Then we should start moving, girls."
"And Lyon", Lisanna giggled.
"Thank you", Lyon huffed and after Evergreen had scattered dozens of her little fairies around, they could start walking to a direction they assumed might be the right direction to get down from these mountains.