I'm still alive! x'D
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"If you're happy and you know it clap your hands", Bickslow sang while they were walking.
"Clap! Clap!" his Tiki dolls chirped.
"If you're happy and you know it clap your hands", Bickslow smirked taking Reedus' hands clapping them together.
Then he turned towards Laxus.
"Try it and I'll clap your face with my fist", the Thunder God growled annoyed.
"Fine, be grumpy", the seith mage huffed.
"That's my plan", Laxus said and looked around.
For how long had they been walking? It felt like this mushroom forest just didn't end. And he knew they weren't just walking circles because he would smell their tracks if that was the case.
"We should get out of here soon", Laxus grunted. "This forest can't last forever."
"You're not as good with your nose as you think you are, baby", Bickslow kindly reminded. "Otherwise you wouldn't get lost all the time when you're not familiar with the area."
"Shut up."
"If we continue like this, we're never gonna get out of this forest", Bickslow chuckled amused and Reedus just looked at him slightly terrified because he dared to annoy Laxus even more. "I have a wild theory of why you get lost even though you're a dragon slayer and you guys have that great sense of smell and all."
"I'm not interested", Laxus said.
"I'm gonna tell anyway. You think too much", Bickslow said and that surprised both Laxus and Reedus.
"He's thinking too much?" Reedus asked before he managed to stop himself and jolted when Laxus glared at him.
"Yeah! You know, you should just follow your instincts, you're good at that baby", the seith mage said. "I'm sure Freed and Ever would agree. You're trying to figure out how to find a way out of this place by trying to think like Freed or someone else and it only makes it harder for you to concentrate on just using your nose, don't you think?"
"Actually, there is a point there", Reedus had to agree looking at Laxus, but he was still a bit nervous.
"See? You should just stop thinking", Bickslow smirked patting his old friend's shoulder. "Just follow your nose, think of Freed, that's all you need to do, baby."
Laxus huffed with a small frown but even though he was annoyed, part of him also understood what Bickslow meant. If he kept thinking what way to take, where to go and keep in mind where they had been and all it just messed up his brain.
He looked up and was a bit surprised when he saw movement.
"Butterflies?" he asked and Bickslow and Reedus looked up as well.
Hundreds of huge butterflies were flying up above the mushrooms. Their big wings had bright colours which brought light around them, making them shine like flying lanterns. They were flying slowly, doing their own dances and everyone was heading at the same direction.
"Wow, they're huge", Bickslow said.
"They look amazing", Reedus admired and his fingers were almost trembling, wanting to capture this moment on canvas. He had to remember this and paint it later!
"Should we follow them?" Laxus suggested.
"Good idea, baby!" Bickslow grinned. "They must be heading somewhere. Butterflies like flowers and there are no flowers here in this mushroom forest so if we follow them, we should be able to get out!"
"At least we should try it", Laxus grunted and they all started following the dancing line of glowing butterflies.
Freed, Felix, Rufus and Toby were all following after Ilanyish and his men, heading even deeper in the forest.
"Can I ask you something?" Freed asked from Ilanyish who looked at him.
"Yes", he nodded.
"How well do you know Earth Land?"
"I've never visited there personally", Ilanyish said and pushed some bushes away with his spear, making them way. "We have only heard tales of Earth Land, but we know it exists. There is a connection between our worlds that enables summoning from this world to your world."
"But not the other way around?"
"I don't know, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone trying it. But we have also met those who have used that link to move between our worlds."
"We know those people as Netherworld Mages", Freed hummed and he thought about it.
"We call them Summoners."
"Is magic common in this world?" Rufus asked curiously.
"This world is created by magic", Ilanyish explained and now they started walking up, following a clear path that had been made by someone. "Everything here has magic. I suppose that is the reason why we were approached by your people in the first place. There is an old legend that says that everything that exists here, has once existed in Earth Land at some point of time."
"We have heard that too", Freed nodded. "Do you believe that legend?"
"Legends always have a reason why they exist. The truth might not be exactly the same as told now, but it started from some facts that has probably been exaggerated over time."
Suddenly Ilanyish's big ears flickered and the man raised his head, others doing the same. Freed tightened his hold of Felix' hand and Rufus and Toby got ready to fight if any danger was approaching.
"This way, now", Ilanyish commanded and hopped out of the path with his strong legs, leading them towards the cliffs nearby.
There was a small cave and they all went inside. Felix grabbed a tight hold of Freed's coat, slightly scared because of the darkness and the only light came from the opening where Ilanyish stayed. The man's look was harsh and he was holding his spear tightly, ready to attack if something tried to approach them.
At first there was only silence but finally they too could hear buzzing. Freed frowned as he could recognize that noise.
"Aren't they -" Toby almost shouted but got hushed by Rufus.
Felix swallowed when looking how everyone was so tense and they got deeper in shadows when the buzzing sound came closer. Something fast and white flew past the cave, startling Felix and he tightened his hold of Freed who gently rubbed his back in a calming manner. One of the white things flew past the cave once again and they could hear even more buzzing.
They were white dragonflies. Huge ones, flying around the area and obviously they were looking for something. They were so big Felix was sure they would be able to even ride those things! Lucky for them the entrance to the cave was narrow so even if one of them would try to come in, their long sparkly wings would probably get damaged because of rocks.
For a minute they scanned the area but finally their sounds were getting further and further away, until they couldn't hear them anymore.
"They come deeper and deeper in this forest every time", Ilanyish muttered and he finally lowered his spear. "We have no choice but to move again."
"At this rate we're running out of space", one of his soldiers pointed out. "This forest won't last forever."
"We can't help it. We just have to keep looking for a better place where to hide", Ilanyish said and he carefully stepped outside, looking around. "I don't see them. We must go now."
They all got out from the cave and after spending a while in darkness, Felix could see their surroundings even better.
"Are we at the bottom of a pond?" he asked worried when they returned back to the path.
"I guess you could say that", Ilanyish nodded. "But then again it's not quite right."
"We saw a big fish that was flying and it had a lamp."
"Those are lantern fishes, they are harmless even though they might seem scary at first. There are lots of them and they come out once it's night time."
While still keeping an eye on the sky, they followed the path until there were lots of seaweed or such growing around them. They were strong looking and tall plants, giving them cover from whatever sort of predators there might be lurking outside.
Finally Ilanyish pushed away some bushes and Freed was surprised when they saw a village. It was simple and all shelters were mostly made out of seaweed that was growing around them. It gave them a pretty good camouflage.
"You live here?" Rufus asked looking around.
"Right now, yes", Ilanyish nodded and they continued towards the little huts.
There were lots of other deer centaurs around there and everyone seemed to have something to do. Kids were playing around, running wildly with their long and thin legs, chasing a ball. For Felix it looked like so much fun.
They approached one of the big bonfires and Felix smiled when he noticed familiar white hair.
"Elfman!" he shouted and quickly ran towards the big man who lifted his head.
"Felix!" Elfman laughed and the boy hugged him tightly. "So you were with Freed, that's good! We were worried if you might be alone."
"No, we were together with mama", Felix smiled. "And we also found Rufus and Toby! That's a good thing, right?"
"That's really manly", Elfman grinned ruffling the boy's hair and he looked at Freed, Rufus and Toby. "Good to see you guys."
"You too, Elfman", Freed smiled.
"I was hoping that Ever might be with you too."
"I'm afraid she's not", Freed said shaking his head. "And apparently she's not here either then."
"Yeah... But she'll be okay, because she's strong!" Elfman laughed loudly.
They heard rustling from one of the huts and the big door made out of a sheet was moved.
"Why are you yelling?" Chester asked rubbing his eyes, looking at Elfman.
"Chester!" Felix shouted with a smile and ran to the hut.
"Felix", Chester said surprised. "You're okay."
"We're okay", Felix assured. "Is Vellanja here too and Levy?"
"Yeah, they're sleeping. We just went to bed. It's really weird here, they get up when the stars stop shining and once it gets bright again, they go to sleep."
"So we can stay up all night?" Felix asked amazed.
"No you can't", Freed said amused. "You're tired so you should go to sleep too, we'll see what we do once we've all had enough rest."
"We can give you something to eat and drink before that", Ilanyish said to them and they brought out buckets of water, fruits and vegetables.
Freed sat next to Elfman as they got food to eat and Felix was talking with Chester about what all they had seen.
"Who else is here?" the rune mage asked.
"I found Levy and the kids pretty soon after coming here", Elfman explained. "We appeared almost right here in this village. I'm glad these folks are friendly. Then we found Bacchus sleeping nearby. I'm not even sure if he has noticed we're not in the guild house anymore", the big man said amused and took a bite of a bread. "He's not going to be happy when he wakes up and learns that they don't have alcohol here in this place."
"Things could be worse", Rufus chuckled as he joined them. "Have you seen anyone else?"
"You mean like Orga? Nope, haven't seen him."
"It's not like I meant Orga specifically..."
"What have you learned until now?" Freed asked.
"Not really much", Elfman huffed. "But apparently these guys know Yuidose."
"I can believe that. We just saw white dragonflies flying around here."
"Yeah, that's because Yuidose keeps an eye on these grounds constantly. That's why they live in this village and they move to another place every week or so."
"We have to talk with Ilanyish more", Freed said and he looked at Felix and Chester. "But first I'll take them to bed", he decided and got on his feet. "Then we can talk more."