The smell of sea water and the slow rock of the boat was all Mavis needed to wake up. As she slowly opened her eyes, she saw the floor of the bridge of the USS Iowa. As Mavis slowly dragged herself up, her eyes focused, and she saw Techno looking at her in a very concerned way.
"Ugh...Techno….did we go back?" she asked, "I swear, if that portal didn't work, I'm gonna kill something."
"We're back in our current time period," said Techno, "Currently we're drifting in the middle of the Indian Ocean, several hundred miles away from any mainland.
"When did you activate yourself?" asked Mavis.
"About three minutes ago," replied Techno swiftly, "Luckily, too. This ship would have sunk if I didn't repair it for you guys."
Mavis nodded, not really caring. She sat back down, sighing. This was it. She was back in her time. The time she was familiar with. Mavis turned around, and saw Fubuki, silently sleeping on the bridge. Behind her, G4 was in sleep mode. Both of them must've been knocked out as they passed through the portal.
"Why didn't they go back to their world?" asked Mavis, "They didn't start out in this world, did they?"
"The portal reformed in this world," said Techno, "In a different position, obviously. We will be able to bring Fubuki and G4 back to their worlds from there."
Mavis nodded. In reality, she was kind of glad that Fubuki was still there. She could safely consider her a friend by now. Her face slightly fell, as she remembered that in a few days at most, Fubuki would be back in her world.
"Get us headed back to Paradise," said Mavis, "if this ship can even work."
"Luckily, I'm good at repairing stuff," said Techno, "I've got the engines back up to power, so we'll be able to get back to paradise in about a day at full power. The weapons systems are all disabled though, so if we're attacked-"
"G4 can handle it if we're attacked," said Mavis, "he's got enough firepower for that."
It was true. The raw firepower of G4 was more than enough to completely destroy two fully-armored battleships.
"Very well. Setting a direct course to Paradise. We'll be there in a day." said Techno.
Back in the world of Nareth, Tiberius's kingdom, the population was stirring. It had been almost two weeks since King Tiberius had entered into the portal, and they had received no word on where he was or what his conditions were.
In the capital city, Treshire, demonstrations were popping up. The population wanted a new king, who could rule just as effectively as Tiberius had before he vanished into the portal. Because it was a society based off of physical merit, the uprisings were often violent, and resulted in multiple deaths.
Out of these people, however, one wasn't worried for Tiberius as much as she was worried about her sister.
"Where is she?" she yelled frustratingly, "She's vanished for a full week by now! When she comes back, I'm gonna teach her a lesson about running off again!"
The woman's name was Olyra, one of the two Aeria sisters. Her main worry wasn't on Tiberius, who was her husband, but on her sister, Fubuki.
"Miss Aeria," said one of her automaton guards, "we searched the entire countryside, every city and every cranny and every forest. She isn't to be found."
Olyra's eyes flashed dangerous green. "You're useless!" she yelled, blasting her automaton to shreds with a burst of green fire, "I'm going to consult the seer!" she proclaimed, marching down the steps of her palacade.
The seer was an old lady living in the countryside. She was well-respected, but also very feared. She never came out during the day, instead spending her time shut up in her hut, and came out only once during the night. She was known for answering any question that was given to her, but most people steered clear of her, because sometimes she revealed too much.
Olyra didn't care. She walked straight to the hut, knocking on the door.
"Come in…" she heard an old voice wheeze behind the door.
Olyra opened the door slowly, walking inside. She had only been to this place once before, and the lady had already scared her then. Now, she looked even creeper. The seer's eyes were chalky white, with no pupils. She watched Olyra enter.
"You must have a question for me...like so many others…" she hissed, "Please...grant me a question worthy of my time."
Olyra sat down on one of the chairs, "I came to ask you where my sister is," she said, "she's been gone for over a week. And now that my husband has vanished, I'm starting to worry."
"You seek your sister…" the seer's chalky white eyes suddenly began to glow silver, "let's see….yes….ah, how unfortunate...you won't like this one, no you won't."
The seer gave a wheezy laugh that sent chills down Olyra's spine. She leaned forward, "What is it?" she asked, "Where is she? Tell me!"
"Oh...yes, yes, I see." said the seer, "Your sister...passed through the portal, the very same one which your husband went through! How unfortunate…"
"Is she alive?" asked Olyra, her eyes glowing greener than ever, "Is she okay?"
"She's more than okay…" hissed the seer, "In fact, she's having the time of her life right now. She's allied herself with the one person you should hate…"
"What?" asked Olyra, "Who is it?"
"Her name...is Mavis Dracula…" said the seer, "Your sister, Fubuki, befriended Mavis…."
Olyra let out a hiss under her breath. So her sister had decided to side with foreigners? She would have to teach her a lesson, the hard way…
"Mavis Dracula also happens to be the reason Tiberius is dead…" said the seer, "She killed him. And Fubuki still befriends her."
Olyra turned towards the seer, "Tiberius can't be defeated in combat," she said, "You lie."
"Ah, but I don't!" said the seer jovially, "I tell the truth, Olyra Aeria. When have any of my predictions failed? Your sister...is a traitor!"
Olyra stood there. She could feel the heat already building in her hands, but she quickly turned around before her temper took control of her, "If you're lying," she said, "you're dead."
The seer laughed behind her, "Oh...if only you knew…" she murmured.
Fubuki woke up halfway to Paradise. As she got up, she rubbed her head groggily. Her vision sharpened, and she saw the USS Iowa, still smoking and burnt, sailing.
Fubuki scrambled up, her hands igniting. Did the Germans take over the ship? Was she being held captive by Nazi soldiers? Where was Mavis? Where was G4?
"Fubuki?"
Fubuki spun around and launched a burst of flame straight at Mavis, who deflected it with a flick of the wrist, but still looked startled.
"Um...that wasn't on purpose was it? You're fine." said Mavis, "We went through the time portal, and we're currently heading back towards the island I told you about."
Fubuki's hands immediately stopped glowing, and she sighed, "I'm sorry, Mavis...I thought the worst happened."
Mavis laughed, "Nah, everything's fine. G4 is still sleeping in the bridge, and Techno's steering the ship. After I go back to Paradise and bring back Johnny, you can go back to your world, and everything will be normal again."
Fubuki stared at the wall. She had been hiding something from Mavis for a long time, without letting her find out about it. Sure, if she returned to her world, everything would go back to normal. But then she wouldn't be able to grow stronger. She would be stuck in the social chain again, unable to move up. And then there was her sister to worry about…
Mavis noticed her face, "You don't seem excited," she commented, "you okay?"
Fubuki sighed, "I didn't exactly...tell you about my entire family."
"What?" asked Mavis, surprised at the random subject, "how does your family have to do with any of this? I thought they were all dead?"
"All but one of them," said Fubuki, "Her name is Olyra...and…"
Fubuki wanted to say I hate her, but she couldn't. Her mouth would not allow her to speak something like that.
Mavis, however, read right through her silence. "You don't like her," she guessed, "she's done something to you, hasn't she?"
Fubuki finally told Mavis, "She's….very controlling," said Fubuki uncertainly, "she hates foreigners...and she always takes advantage of how weak I am. Without her, I would actually be doing so much better."
Mavis silently listened. Fubuki, at first, seemed so similar to her. Now that she had learned about Fubuki's past, she seemed like a polar opposite.
"And...I've never actually had any family to rely on," continued Fubuki, "but after I woke up in this world, after I met you and G4 and Protasov and Techno...I can't just leave you guys."
Mavis had already worked out what Fubuki wanted. "You want to stay." she said.
Fubuki gulped, "Listen, Mavis...in my world, supporting foreigners is punishable by death. I do want to stay here, it's just that I'm scared, and I don't know if you would want that either…"
Mavis looked shocked, "What? You mean you don't know if I would want you to stay with us? Of course I would!"
Fubuki looked surprised, "Really?"
"Yeah, really!" said Mavis. She stood up, "Are you serious, then? About wanting to stay here? You certainly can, if you want."
Fubuki nodded, "Yeah, I've already made up my mind for that."
Mavis was about to reply, when Techno suddenly cut in, "Storm straight ahead, we'll be needing your telekinetic powers, Miss Dracula and Fubuki."
Mavis turned to Fubuki, "Come on," she said, "let's go and save this ship."
Mavis and Fubuki turned to the storm, which was brewing up ahead. Mavis saw lightning and heard thunder roaring, It definitely looked like a terrifying storm. But, as Mavis had found out ages ago, looks can be deceiving.
As the USS Iowa entered the storm, Mavis and Fubuki held the entire ship together with telekinesis, deionizing the air above them to prevent lightning from strike the ship, and telekinetically tearing apart entire waves to prevent them from engulfing them.
Mavis could feel Fubuki's strength, helping stabilize the ship. She had really grown stronger since she began to train with her.
As the two of them forced their way through the storm, Techno gave a report to Mavis, telling her that they were doing well, the ship holding up against the pounding waves. G4 even helped the ship, standing on whichever side of the ship needed more weight in order to balance out the force of the waves.
"Techno, how much more?" yelled Mavis over the sound of the storm after a few hours of rough sailing, "I can't hold this thing forever!"
"Only about ten more minutes," replied Techno, "you're doing alright right now. G4, Starboard side!"
G4 took his cue, rocketing over to the other side of the ship, which quickly prevented it from tilting too far to the left, stabilizing the ship.
For the next ten minutes, the four of them worked together to get through the storm, until finally, they managed to make it through, sailing into the slowly-lowering sun, which was tinging the sky red.
"The storm helped propel us towards Paradise," said Techno, "we're only a few minutes out...ah, there it is, Miss Dracula."
There was no other scene Mavis would've rather seen. The tiny island of Paradise, slowly coming into view, out of the edge of the horizon. Mavis could already feel the warm breeze, and the smell of palm trees from where she was.
Next to her, Fubuki tensed up, her eyes glowing softly, "Is that...the island you always talk about?" she asked, "Paradise?"
"Yeah," said Mavis, "it's pretty good, isn't it?"
Fubuki was silent, still watching the island. On Nareth, islands were usually turned into factories or training grounds for soldiers. She had never seen an island in this much beauty ever before. Mavis seemed to understand. She patted Fubuki on the back, "I'm gonna go back into the bridge and talk to Techno about some stuff. Enjoy the view, Fubuki."
Mavis walked back inside.
Fubuki stared at the island, still mesmerized, but was quickly jolted back to reality by the thought of her sister. Olyra...Fubuki would have to tell Mavis the truth about Olyra very soon. She couldn't hide it forever. Her sister would begin looking for her, and if she didn't find her, she would likely consult the seer, and find out the truth about where she was and what she commited…
Fubuki shook her head, heading back into the bridge. She would worry about that later. Right now, she needed to focus on bringing someone back from the dead.
Johnny was coming back to life today.
