TFW you realize us you might not finish a freaking story until next year because you update it monthly.
Oh well, at least if "Only Fools Fall In Llve" gets picked up, I won't make it a monthly update.
There's only one review to reply to, so to quickly do it:
* Nobody245: So many questions! Unless Stella or Tetherby has something to do with this.
And now, to the chapter!
Back on Tetherby Enterprises, Lincoln and Lori followed Leni as she guided them out of the building, with a single, important question being asked:
"Leni, what's going on?!"
"Yeah! I mean, we're literally grateful Stella handed you to us, but that seemed a little too easy."
"Did you, like, bring Lily with you?"
Lincoln and Lori exchanged looks. "There was no other way to try save you without bringing her-"
"Lily being here at all means Stella got totes what she wanted!" Leni chided. "Especially since Girl Jordan's also here!"
"Wait, she is?" Lincoln asked. "And how do you know that?"
"Stella told me as much before you got here," Leni sighed. "Anyway, as long as those two stay here, Stella can accomplish her goal. We need to find a way to get to both of them and get out of this place."
"But why?" Lincoln asked as Leni approached a control panel and pushed some buttons. "If you could spend a few seconds explaining to us what's going on, that would make this whole journey a lot less of a hassle."
After failing a couple times to enter the right password, Leni finally got it right and the elevator opened as she spoke:
"I owe you that much."
"So, you're gonna explain?" Lori asked as the trio entered the elevator. "Because if you are, a good place to start is the reason why Lily and Girl Jordan staying here is bad. Well, besides the literally obvious reason."
Once inside, Leni took a deep breath, and began:
"She needs the World Auras in order to get them to fulfill their true purposes."
"So, wait a minute, the World Aura forms that Lily and Girl Jordan got weren't meant to seal off the Twilight World?" Lynn asked, earning a nod from Lucy. "But they got the forms when that was exactly necessary!"
"Actually, you could say it was more the result of circumstance," Lucy explained as she kept reading the book. "According to Great Grandma Harriet's notes, when the world needs to become whole again, the World Aura is created to act as its guardian."
"Well, what about the Lux, Umbra, and Twilight Auras? How do they fit into all of this?"
"They're meant to serve as guardians to the non-empowered people of the world, to protect them from wild magical creatures."
"Wild magical creatures?" Lynn repeated in disbelief. "The only way that sentence would make sense is if such things existed here on Earth, but they only exist on the Twilight World. And if it's talking about the Shadows and Eclipses, do those really count?"
Lucy shook her head. "They don't, but the book doesn't speak about them whatsoever."
"Well, while we're at it, we might as well bring up the elephant in the room," Lynn folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "How does Great Grandma Harriet know so much about the Auras? I mean the Twilight World, that's one thing, but the transformations that, as we know, only existed ten years ago?"
Lucy looked up inquisitively, then searched the book until she reached the final page.
"Lynn, the Auras have been here far longer than we thought."
"What makes you say that?"
Lucy revealed the page to Lynn as she answered:
"Because, as this page reveals, not only was Great Grandma Harriet an Aura too, she was a World Aura."
Lynn's eyes widened as she fell completely speechless...
Meanwhile, with Lily, the girl kept jumping all over the place, still having little to no hint as to where Girl Jordan and Mrs. Johnson could be.
"Hey, Lily!"
She looked down, and to her relief and surprise, Girl Jordan and Mrs. Johnson were out in the open, the former waving her hand with a little smile.
What a happy coincidence.
"I finally found you!" Lily quietly chirped as she jumped down to meet the women. "And hey, you're wearing the same outfits you wore a decade ago!"
"Yeah, Mrs. Johnson drew a circle on the ground and magic stuff happened," Girl Jordan explained. "I'd say a little more or try explain myself better, but there's really no way to do that."
"Your outfit looks good on you, Jordan."
"I wish I thought the same," Girl Jordan grabbed the edges of her skirt. "It's a little too short and tight for my liking."
"Your armor's still pretty cool, Mrs. Johnson."
"Thank you, Lily, but I'm afraid we need to cut our discussion here," Mrs. Johnson replied before looking around. "Jordan and I are being hunted right now-"
"Not anymore!"
The trio turned around and saw Stella standing nearby, leaning against a palm tree with a smug expression on her face. So, a normal expression.
"Stella!" Lily snapped.
"Congratulations on finding your fellow Auras, Lily," Stella chuckled while looking at her fingernails. "You took a little bit longer than I expected, but oh well, Auras were made to protect, not to search."
"Stop messing with us, kid!" Girl Jordan growled. "If you have a plan, just tell us what it is so we can start stopping it!"
Stella cackled. "You really think I'm gonna spill the beans regarding my plan?"
"Well, let's see; attacked me during a normal day and reawakened my powers, mentally enslaved my sister forcing me and my siblings to come here rescue her, separated us all over this freaking island, sent me on an annoying quest to find a pair of people..." Lily hummed. "Yeah, the only thing left for you to do is reveal your evil plan."
"Hmph, for someone who's been doing everything wrong, you have quite the gall to try tell me what to do," Stella smirked. "But that just makes what I'm about to do satisfying."
Stella snapped her fingers, and in the blink of an eye, everybody had been teleported.
Not just the trio, but the rest of the group; the sisters, Lincoln, they all found themselves in the same spot:
Surrounding the object that had absorbed Lily's power, with Stella herself standing on top.