"So you know my na already? That’s good. I would’ve been disappointed if ’Bella didn’t beat you over the head with it!"
"No word of ’Lord Marquis’ I take it?" A man called from a ways back. He had scruffy black hair, familiar purple eyes, and an outfit just like Alexander’s.
"We’re old news, Mark. They don’t talk about fossils like us anymore," A purple-eyed woman called, wearing the sa silver and gold outfit.
If things had progressed like this, it would’ve been easier to understand what was actually happening here. I would’ve said that this was simply an illusion–an elaborate one–made by Isobel that started the mont she did whatever she did when she grabbed my head just now.
That idea was shot down the mont I noticed the floating balls of aura orbiting the six previous Greaves House leaders. They were small, barely the size of my fist, yet the energy they gave off was potent. Palpable. And, most telling of all, it perated the atmosphere. It was as if it enveloped . The pearlescent atmosphere, silvery and pink and oceanic, seed to be made of the aura that those small yet powerful figures emanated. That led to only one conclusion–the only one that made sense: This was Fairy World. Birthplace of Fairykind.
The land between life and death.
If I had to guess, I’d say that Isobel tried to put under so illusion and failed miserably, accidentally putting in a state of not-death that resulted in waking up here. That was all I had to go on, so it was what I rolled with.
The only other one was that soone summoned here, but... that didn’t make sense. None of us had the power to do that. Hell, nobody had the power to summon soone to Fairy World. The very notion of doing that was the stuff of myth. Literally! In the early days of Aspian history, Adventurers were obsessed with going to Fairy World because they believed getting there would’ve resulted in the adventurer gaining immortality. Not only had it never been done, but the pursuit of Fairy World beca so fruitless that people started treating the act of chasing it as a taphor for lunacy... or stupidity.
"That one’s off to Fairy World..."
"Ha! Think he’s in Fairy World right now?"
Well, now I was in Fairy World... right? Either that, or Isobel’s illusions were so good that they managed to convince I was.
"You gonna use your words or you gonna stare at us?" Alexander called, smacking my shoulder hard.
I reflexively jumped, surprised by the suddenness of his approach. "I’m sorry, I was just... baffled. Is this place...?"
Alexander smiled knowingly. "Yeah, it was a trip for , too. Imagine my surprise when I’m getting ready to see my folks again, just to wake up with so cute fairies and those ugly sons a’ bitches!" Alexander laughed, thumbing to his ancestors who’d surrounded us.
They cursed back at him while a group of fairies laughed. This must’ve been a normal interaction for them.
"So... how’d I get here? Did Isobel do this?"
"Yeaa~p. Seems Little ’Bella still doesn’t know her own strength! Never has, I think." He paused, eyes turning mischievous in a way that reminded of Isobel. "She would’ve killed you, you know. That last attack was the killshot. That’s why your folks were looking at you like you were dying: because you were. We got you out of there before that could happen, though."
I paused. That... didn’t seem right. I was–
"But I was winning the whole ti!" Alexander interrupted, accurately guessing my thoughts. His smile widened. "No, you weren’t. Little ’Bella is my disciple. One of the first things I taught her was to never show your hand. Your friend there seed to pick up on this better than you did before her feelings got in the way of her ability to fight."
"That pissed off, you know. I had money on her!" One of the ancestors chided. Alexander shot him a glare.
"As for you, though, the truth is that it was impossible for you to win. Lyra could’ve beaten the odds, but you specifically could not. Not as you were."
"All due respect, I’m a 5-Star Adventurer. Isobel isn’t."
"Oh, I know. I’ve heard all about the endurance that you 5-Stars have."
"O-oh, shit. I-I uh... I’m–"
Alexander barked with laughter despite my heart sitting comfortably in my ass. He patted on the shoulder again. "Oh, relax, boy. ’Bella’s a grown woman. She can lay with whoever she wants." His eyes narrowed, every hint of humor vanishing in an instant. "It’s a good thing she’s laying with her lover, though, and not just so random hookup. Don’t you think?"
"Absolutely! I-Isobel and I are... going the distance!"
His smile returned. "Good! Then we have nothing to worry about. Now, back to business." He removed his hand from my shoulder before resting his chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Now, before I tell you how to beat Isobel, I’d like to hear straight from the horse’s mouth: Why do you think Isobel was so formidable in every other tiline?"
My eyes widened in surprise. "You know about that?"
"We sensed a disturbance in the flow of aura once you returned to this tiline with Miss Lyra," A voice called from my shoulder, startling a bit. It was a fairy, the yellow creature sitting on my shoulder. "So we had Hyacinth... sorry, the Quest Fairy from that Quest with the goblins enter your minds to learn your stories. Once that was done, she reported back here and told us everything."
That... wow. In all my years, the fact that fairies could detect ti travel was new. That was important, I realized. Very important. I didn’t know what to do with that information just yet, but I made sure to store it in my mind.
"Okay then..." I breathed, still taken aback. "To answer your question, then, I’d say it’s because of her awakening at the hands of Syriphis. She brought out Isobel’s latent ability, and that made her unstoppable."
Alexander shook his head, a knowing smile as if he’d expected to say that. "Incorrect. In terms of power, she’s still weaker than your friend Lyra. She’s significantly weaker than the Aspian Quartet, who, according to your mories, reunited to attempt to kill her, only to themselves be eliminated by ’Bella and her n. So clearly, there’s sothing more to it."
"What is it?"
"No willingness to guess? We have nothing but ti, you know."
I narrowed my eyes at the man. What answer was he looking for to give...?
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