Chapter 4.20 - Mei - The Spider & The Tree

After defeating the Imps, we have finally reached our destination. The Fairy Forest was a very beautiful place. But beneath the beauty, there was a lingering problem. Lily, the fairy that we just met seemed to be in a distress. I decided to ask her what happened and this was what she told us...

"7 months ago...the forest was peaceful as ever, everyone lived happily. Until one day, the magic seal came down upon us."

"The magic seal...Of course...It has to be Escher."

"You know him?"

"Yeah we do. What happened?"

"It was all that guy's fault. He came in and barge into our beautiful forest. His men ransacked our forest. They were trying to find something called The Runix Cube that was apparently hidden around here. We don't really know where was it hidden, Escher's men just simply begin to destroy everything in its path just to search for his treasure."

I got a bit worried and said, "Looks like we were too late."

Lily nodded and continued,

"And recently, a spider have begun to inhabit The Great Fairy Tree. The spider was called Naracara. She's been living on the tree for a while, sucking all of the life force of The Great Fairy Tree. Sooner or later, The Great Fairy Tree will die."

"Why did that happen?"

Lore wondered what happened. Lily then replied,

"Its basically because they wanted to blackmail us. If we don't find The Runix Cube, The Great Fairy Tree will die. The Great Fairy Tree has been protecting us for generations from outsiders but somehow, Escher manages to corrupt the tree. In the process of that, The Great Fairy Tree loses all of its function to protect us from the danger of the outside world. We can't live like this forever. We have to find The Runix Cube fast."

Lily began to cry as she slowly glides down to the grass. I don't really like seeing an innocent little creature like her cry. We had to do something about her problems. But finding The Runix Cube would take too much time. I had another idea.

"We'll help you, Lily. But we're doing it our way."

"What do you mean?"

"We're going to stop Naracara!"

"Is that even possible? Even us fairies couldn't touch her."

"What do you mean?"

Lily grabbed a small stick and begins to draw something on the dirt.

"We tried to fight her back. It all seemed to be going fine until all of a sudden she begins to spun out these webs all around her body and hides underneath it. It took us a long time to pull the webs apart from her but at that point we found out that the web actually heals her. In the end, it was a never ending battle that we will never win."

"I see. So we just have to make sure that we rip apart the web before she will be fully healed."

"But it's impossible."

Shawn then laughed.

"Who do you think we are, my little fairy?"

After hearing what Shawn said, I turned back to Lily and assured her, "Don't worry, Lily. Just believe in us. We will put a stop to this madness and then your people will be living a normal life just like before."

"Thank you so much..."

Once we finished discussing on what needs to be done, we made our way to The Great Fairy Tree. It looks like the whole place was guarded by Escher's men. Imps, Cyclops and even those Chaos Spy.

"What's our move, Mei?"

Lore waited for an order from me. He's always the capable one among the boys as far as I can tell. He always make sure to finish the job as efficient as possible. And looking at how the place was guarded. I guess there's no other way than heading in straight to Naracara.

"Nif, make sure you stay with me. I'll be needing your help when we fight Naracara."

"Okay..."

Nif nodded.

"What about us?"

Shay were also waiting for orders. It looks like both him and his cousin, Shawn were ready to help us. Shawn seems to be behaving well after I showed him that spell. At least, that's one problem solved.

"You two will be handling the vanguard alongside, Lore and Airi. Haz, Kin and I will also be providing some backup as we make our way to Aracara."

"So it's four and four. A very tactical decision, Mei."

Haz complimented my decision.

I nodded back at him and said, "Alright then, let's go!"

We all charged into the battlefield with Lore leading the charge with his shield in Charge Mode, bashing through oncoming monsters. At the same time, clearing a straight path for us to reach Naracara.

Shawn who hasn't done anything yet finally decides to unleash his prowess as he summoned and commanded his warrior to attack the monster. Some of his warriors were using crossbows and there were also those that use melee weapons such as sword, mace, and even a polearm.

A group of Cyclops appeared from the sideline and was about to strike us down in our path. Shay prevented that as he took control of one of the Cyclops and caused a commotion in their formation.

"This is so much fun!"

Shay was enjoying the moment. I can't honestly say the same thing but there will always be that kind of person who loves to fight. It reminds me of Rider, Lore's partner. Well...ex-partner now. I really hope those two will come into terms sooner or later. I don't really like seeing these two fighting with each other.

They have to settle their difference peacefully on their own. White and I couldn't afford to barge in and help out. That's just called interfering. They have to do this themselves before its too late. White did told me that, if there's an infighting among Stardust then we should at least give them a gentle push to the right path. I'm not sure about what White was thinking. What he said doesn't sound like a leader but more like someone who just care less about his teammate. Just how the heck can Blax say that he is capable of becoming a leader. I don't really understand myself.

But one thing was for sure, he only care less because he knows that his friends will make it out of trouble without counting too much on him. I guess he just wanted his friend to be less reliant on other and instead do things on their own. I guess that's one way to see it.

"Naracara has appeared!"

Nif detected Naracara who just came down from the tree. It looks like she's ready for some action.

"Airi, you handle the rest. We'll take care of Naracara!"

"Roger!"

Airi heeded my order and then formed an earthly wall to prevent any other monster from getting our way when fighting Naracara.

We've surrounded it. In just a tick of a second, Naracara begins to plunge toward Kin who was unprepared of her attack.

"Kin! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine...It's only a scratch. Just give me some time to concentrate on what ability to copy."

"You can copy mine if you want."

"Are you sure, Mei?"

"I'm sure. There's no harm to copying anyway."

"Yeah. You're right."

That was probably the first time she ever smiled since we met a few hours ago. I don't really know what happened between her and Blax but at least I managed to help brighten her up a little during her darkest time.

"You can copy the raining swords that I did at the Imps just now."

"Is that even possible? It seems to be a very powerful spell."

"It is powerful. But you can actually copy it. But it will be a weaker version since all of your copy will be according to your own power level. But I'm sure that's enough for you to handle, right?"

"I see. So you do like to look up on others ability. You sly fox. No wonder you are the number one student wizard."

I laughed at Kin's remark.

"Not really. I just happen to love looking up on these cool ability that our students have in our school."

"No wonder you're a honorary student."

"And don't forget, she's number one!"

Haz complimented me once again.

"Aw, shucks. I didn't do much, Haz. Without the other 6 of you, I won't be where I am today."

"But you have become so famous that everyone loves and adore you. I'm still amazed to find out that you would be hanging out with the likes of us."

"What can I say. It doesn't change the fact that I'm still a student. It's not like I have a hidden agenda."

"Oh really? I thought it was all about, White."

"What did you say?"

Unintentionally and accidentally, I pulled in a really big spell. It was so devastating that Naracara was completely gushed out of existence. Her spider legs were all over the place. It was disgusting. But at the end of the day. It was a job done. Thanks a lot, Haz. I really appreciate your help.

And surprise, surprise. The Great Fairy Tree seemed to be full of life. It finally returned to its glory days. Then, all of a sudden, something bright was glowing inside the tree and after finding out what it was inside...We finally found it. It was a piece of The Runix Cube that we have been looking for. It was hidden inside the great tree all this time. Looks like The Fairies will be living a normal life after this. But in order for that to last long, we have to stop Escher's plan to summon The Chaos Beast.

On to our next agenda, hide the cube pieces and head to Escher's Tower.

TO BE CONTINUED