Al Drin Hoshizora: Of course it was them.
Ever since Mirror Isabella and her two friends had fled into the forest, the crowd had been out searching for her. Brenda and Nexus had grouped together with the Crystal and Barret siblings as they searched for the twisted fairy.
"We should've known it was Bella," Sam chastised both himself and his siblings. "That mean little sprite would never pass up the chance to stir up trouble and blame someone else for it. She hates Janet; of course she'd go after her."
"She's pure evil," Nexus said to the children. "How did you manage to survive with her as your guardian for all those years?"
None of the siblings had an answer to the question. All of them went silent as they continued to search through the forestry to try and find any sign of Bella and her friends. However, the forest seemed totally vacant, except for them.
"Where are they?" Janet asked. "They have to be here, somewhere."
"They're forest fairies, Janet," Sam whispered to her. "We're very good at hiding in woods."
"Well, where would you hide if you were in this situation?" David asked the Crystal siblings.
The three shrugged. "We've never really had to hide from anything," Isabella explained. "Mirror Isabella would make sure we would stay away from any kind of danger."
"Crap," David said, stomping his foot on the ground. "How are we going to find them now if even you forest fairies don't know where to look."
Suddenly, Brenda's eyes lit up. "Maybe not forest fairies," She whispered, a light bulb glowing in her mind.
Turning to Nexus, Brenda asked, "You're a water fairy, right?"
"Well, duh," Nexus replied.
"You think you can form a cloud of mist out of all these water vapors in the air?" Brenda asked.
Nexus nodded. "Well, water fairies do have the most control over anything liquid," He mentioned, putting his hand up to his chin in thought. Eventually, he said, "Alright, I'll give it a shot."
With a wave of his arms, Nexus had transformed the water droplets in the air into a massive cloud of mist that engulfed everyone nearby. The cloud of mist expanded throughout the entire area of the forest, obscuring everyone's view.
In the midst of the fog, Sam turned to Brenda. "Brenda, we can't see anything," He pointed out. "How are we going to find them now?"
Brenda shushed him, putting her finger onto Sam's mouth. "Wait for it," She whispered. Sam and the others were confused, but they remained silent.
After a moment of silence, the group heard a voice similar to Ophelia scream, "The air fairies are here! Run!"
Even in the fogginess of the mist, the group could make out two obscure figures run out of hiding and through the mists in sheer panic. They knew immediately that it was Pandora and Ophelia. The two forest fairies screamed as they raced through the mists, unaware that they had been spotted.
Abandoning their hiding spot gave the group the opening they needed. Shooting out his arms, Sam fired an energy blast from the palm of his hands, striking the two siblings and sending them flying into a tree. The two crashed onto the ground, dazed from the blow.
The Crystal siblings ran up and grabbed the two forest fairies. "We got you!" Isabella snarled as she pulled Ophelia to her feet, while Sam and Mirror Samson did the same to Pandora.
As Nexus cleared the fog, David turned to Brenda. "Hey, that was a nice plan," He pointed out.
Brenda nodded. "Nexus told me about how everyone was wary of air fairies," She explained. "I figured that covering the forest in mist would cause these two to think the air fairies had come and make them freak out and make a run for it."
David chuckled, then turned to the two forest fairies.
His eyes narrowed at them. "Long time no see, you two," He said, putting his hands on his hips as he approached them. "Ophelia and Pandora. You two haven't changed a bit since the last time we met. You're still rotten to the core and do everyone Bella tells you."
Ophelia shot daggers at him, whereas Pandora trembled in fear.
"I'll ask you this nicely once; where is Mirror Isabella?" David asked the two.
"You two better start talking," Isabella threatened the two.
Ophelia turned her nose up, trying her best to look unafraid. "I'm not scared," She declared. "We won't say a-"
"She's up at the old cliff side down the river!" Pandora blurted out immediately. Ophelia's eyes widened in shock, and she turned to stare at her sister, astonished by her cowardice.
Pandora shrugged. "He was giving me the evil eyes," She whimpered.
"Come on!" Sam shouted to his siblings, releasing Pandora and Ophelia. "We have to go to the cliff side!" The group prepared to head off, but Pandora asked, "What about us?"
"Oh yeah, almost forgot," Sam said. He made a whistling sound, and immediately, a pack of mirror wolves slunk out of the darkness and surrounded the two frightened forest fairies.
"Guard these two!" Sam commanded to the wolves. "We're going to find my sister!"
With that, the group set off down the river, leaving the two forest fairies with the wolf pack.
Within minutes, the group had passed the river and flown to the top of the cliff. It was a rather large cliff, with a large lake below it.
"Hey, I know this place," Nexus said as the group scaled the cliff side. "Me and my friends would sometimes dive off this cliff and into that lake below."
"Uh-huh," Sam whispered, not particularly interested. As the group reached the top of the cliff, Sam rushed out to the forest behind the cliff, searching through them for any sign of Mirror Isabella.
"Bella, come out!" Sam commanded. "We know you're out here!"
All he got in response was the slight blow of the wind in his face, the leaves and trees blowing in the breeze.
Sam narrowed his eyes. "I can sense your presence here," He called out into the darkness of the forest. "Show yourself, and maybe we'll go easy on you."
Nexus walked up next to Sam. "Why did you do it, Bella?" He asked. "Why did you let us water fairies endure the punishment for your actions! The water region nearly got destroyed because of you!"
After a moment of silence, he was answered. A voice called out from the forest, "Because you're inferior. Because you're the dredge of fairy kind. Because you all deserve it."
The group recognized it as Bella. "But why?" Sam asked. "I know you don't like water fairies, but-"
"I don't like any non-forest fairies," Bella interrupted. "Us forest fairies are the most powerful fairies, you know that Sam. We've proven it time and time again. When we saved Crystal City, and even now, when you totally leveled the water regions. Those water sprites never stood a chance."
This time, Brenda spoke. "That's not the reason, is it?" She called into the emptiness of the woods. "There's something else, isn't there?"
She got no reply. Whether Bella didn't have an answer, or merely believed Brenda didn't deserve one, the human girl had no idea.
Eventually, Sam said, "I think I get it. This all started those months ago, when Cain's clan attacked the human city."
"Yes," Bella whispered, still concealed in darkness.
"But you've never cared about Crystal City," Janet pointed out. "Why now?"
"This was never about Crystal City!" Sam shouted as realization sunk in. "You're not mad that they harmed the human city. You're mad that they harmed your home!"
"Well duh!" Bella shouted out, sounding exasperated. "I'm the one who set in motion the whole attack on the human city in the first place! But I definitely did not care for their attitude prior and during that attack!"
The group went silent as Bella explained.
"Those water fairies and their ignorant laws," Bella growled, fury in her tone. "They banished all non-water fairies from entering their region, acting as if they owned the entire valley. And they almost killed you, Sam, during the attack on the human city!"
"I chose to defend my home, Bella!" Sam declared. "Unlike you!"
Bella ignored him. "Well, I thought it was time they learned what it was like to have their rights impeded," She sneered. "I knew that after that whole attack the peace between the water fairies and the other fairies was fragile. When I had Ophelia and Pandora whisk Janet off, it was only a matter of time before the forest fairies used that as an excuse to attack the water regions, just like I expected them to!"
"No!" Isabella cried out in horror. She, and everyone else, realized that they had been playing into Bella's hands the whole time.
"Really, it's almost tragic," Bella whispered. "To see how alike you are with the water fairies. To let your prejudiced views cloud your judgement and-"
"Shut up!" Isabella shouted, and she hurled a large blast of energy at the direction Bella's voice was coming from. Immediately, Bella sprang out of her hiding spot and into the air. Retaliating, Mirror Isabella launched a blast of electricity at the group, causing them to scatter to avoid the blast.
Brenda raced to the sidelines as Mirror Isabella fired multiple blasts of fire and ice at her assailants. Thinking quickly, she snapped off a tree branch and rushed to Bella while she was distracted. Before the forest fairy could respond, she slammed it down on Bella's head.
The branch snapped off in Brenda's hands. Bella froze for a second, then turned towards the younger girl.
Brenda gulped as Bella grabbed her by the collar and lifted her into the air. "Looks like you want to be a hero, girl," Bella sneered at Brenda. "Well, let me show you what I do to heroes." Her index finger transformed into a claw, and she aimed it at Brenda's neck.
"No!" Nexus shouted, and he hurled a blast of energy at Bella, who dropped Brenda to avoid the blast. Whirling around, Bella shot Nexus in the chest with a volt of electricity, sending him crashing onto the ground, clutching his burning chest.
"Nexus!" Brenda cried. Rage surging within her, the human girl rushed at Bella and tackled her with such force that the two were sent flying towards the edge of the cliff.
"Brenda!" Janet cried out, and reached to grab her, but it was too late.
Bella and Brenda both let out a scream as they slipped off the side of the cliff and went plummeting off the cliff side.
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