CHAPTER 50: FAIRY WORLD

"So you know my name 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 same 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 moment she did whatever she did when she grabbed my head just now.

That idea was shot down the moment 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 permeated the atmosphere. It was as if it enveloped me. The pearlescent atmosphere, silvery and pink and oceanic, seemed to be made of the aura that those small yet powerful figures emanated. That led me 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 me under some illusion and failed miserably, accidentally putting me in a state of not-death that resulted in me waking up here. That was all I had to go on, so it was what I rolled with.

The only other one was that someone summoned me here, but... that didn’t make sense. None of us had the power to do that. Hell, nobody

had the power to summon someone 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 became so fruitless that people started treating the act of chasing it as a metaphor 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 me 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 me, too. Imagine my surprise when I’m getting ready to see my folks again, just to wake up with some 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 me 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 time!" 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 seemed to pick up on this better than you did before her feelings got in the way of her ability to fight."

"That pissed me 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 me 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 some 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 timeline?"

My eyes widened in surprise. "You know about that?"

"We sensed a disturbance in the flow of aura once you returned to this timeline with Miss Lyra," A voice called from my shoulder, startling me 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 time 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 me 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 memories, reunited to attempt to kill her, only to themselves be eliminated by ’Bella and her men. So clearly, there’s something more to it."

"What is it?"

"No willingness to guess? We have nothing but time, you know."

I narrowed my eyes at the man. What answer was he looking for me to give...?