Nobody POV
After Paw has scarcely managed to dispose of the mannequins, she sits on her hands and knees, taking deep, ragged breaths. Her mangled lip and obviously broken nose are caked in dried blood, congealed and cracked. The now browning blood has drizzled down her face like so much rain down a windowpane. There is the white jagged end of a broken bone cutting through the skin of her wrist, and blood runs freely in thick, scarlet rivers down her legs.
"It's...it's too much...to heal in...one...batch..." she wheezes out.
There is a puddle of blood gradually forming under her, the crimson liquid growing steadily.
"I'll...I'll have to take...take care of...it later..."
She gets to her feet, her legs shaking as if her body weight strains them.
"Right now...I need to...to make...sure that sh...she's okay..."
Paw uses what is left of her power to teleport from the swamp to the telescope tree, where Lucy is fast asleep.
"Ahh..." she lets out a happy sigh at the sight of her friend, safe and unharmed.
She collapses next to the blond-haired girl and tugs her into her arms. Lucy's sleeping body is now seated in her lap, with Paw using her shoulder as a pillow.
"Don't worry...I...I won't let them take you too..." she breathes, before frowning with spiteful bitterness. "You're all that I have left in this big lonely world, after all..."
Paw nuzzles her face into the top of Lucy's head as one of her shadowy hands cradles her cheek affectionately.
"If they want you, then they'll have to pry you from my cold, dead hands..."
The turquoise dots that are Paw's eyes disappear, appearing to be her way of shutting her eyes and allowing herself to get some rest.
Juvia POV
We walk down the bridge until we finally reach the beginning of the mountain path that we had walked through in order to get here. We begin to walk down the path, but as we go, something seems...off. The mountain path has become slick under the rain, the only clues to the ruts being the icy puddles. It rises steeply before disappearing at a rocky outcrop up ahead, myself unable to tell if it went to the left or right after that.
"This isn't right..." I speak up.
"What do you mean?" Wendy asks, turning to look at me. "This is the same path we walked to get here, right?"
"No...something is different about it," I answer, frowning. "The path did not twist and turn this much...somebody must have changed it."
"So you mean it's an even harder maze now?" Natsu says in disbelief.
"Juvia believes so."
"Shit!"
"Oh suck it up, baby," Laxus rolls his eyes. "It's not so bad."
"You weren't here the first time, Laxus! This place was a total nightmare to get through!"
"Come on, it can't be that bad," Sting boasts. "Let's go."
We continue onwards, and as I suspect, it is much more difficult to traverse with a lot more dead ends, paths that lead to the same place, narrower pathways, and more dangers to avoid; it seems insoluble now.
"Gods of magic, damn it all!" Sting yells, his attitude much different than before. "This is the third time that we've ended up at the start!"
"Calm down, Sting," Rogue consoles, "Getting upset isn't going to help anyone."
"You can't deny that this is the most bullshit that we've had to put up with all year, Rogue!"
"True, but you need to calm down."
"I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I agree with him," Laxus reluctantly states. "Calm down. Before I make you."
"Ugh...fine..."
The lightning mage averts his gaze from Sting, and turns his attention back ahead. However, he quickly rises an eyebrow upon seeing something.
"Laxus? What're you looking at?"
"That."
I look to see a female figure sauntering down the uneven path. They open a leaf-green umbrella to shield themselves from the rain, before entering the swamp.
"Hello there," Evergreen greets us. She is wearing a black lingerie top and emerald pajama bottoms, so I immediately knew she is not the real Evergreen due to her wearing pajamas. "The mountain path has changed quite a lot, hasn't it?"
"Hello," Mirajane says back, "how did you get through it?"
"It's not that hard," she replies. "Difficult, yes, but not hard."
"Think you could show us the way?"
"I could, but wouldn't you much rather just be teleported across?" she suggests.
"You can do that?" I ask, curious.
"Well, I can't transport you all across, but Flame certainly can," she says. "He told us that if you can solve our final riddle, then he'll teleport you out of the swamp."
"Can't he just teleport us to Lucy?" Lisanna asks. "And you did say 'our'?"
"No...he cannot teleport you all that far," she responds. "And yes, I did."
The Evergreen double whistles loudly, and not even a second later the air on either side of her begins to glimmer. The spaces shift like a mirage, and soon the forms of two people take shape. I identify them as Rune and Soul after a moment, before the air stops gleaming and they have fully appeared.
"Rune. Soul," she greets them in a formal tone.
"Medusa."
"We've worked hard to come up with this riddle and you only have one chance to get it right," Medusa relays to us. "If you mess up even in the slightest, then you lose and you must travel through the mountains by yourself. Understood?"
We nod in response.
"Good. I bet that you'll never be able to get this one right," she seems somewhat excited. "Now come on you two, it's time for the riddle."
"It grows and blossoms, it dies and wilts," Rune starts.
"It happens in the beginning and it happens in the end," Soul continues.
"It can make you cry, it can make you sad, but it also can make you happy and make you brave," Medusa goes on.
"What is it?"
Their voices overlap on the last bit, and the trio goes silent as they stare at us expectantly for our reply.
I start thinking about what the answer to the riddle could be, and I can tell my comrades are doing the same.
It could be a flower, but how could a flower make you brave?
After some time of silence, I hear Mirajane gasp.
"What is it, Mira?"
"I know what the answer is."
"Really? That quickly?" Gajeel cocks an eyebrow.
"Uh huh," she bobs her head up and down. "I can't believe that I didn't think of it sooner."
"If you're absolutely sure that you have it, Mirajane, then go ahead," Levy encourages.
"I won't let you down," she has a confident look on her face.
She turns her attention to the three in pajamas, who are patiently waiting for our response. The she-demon takes a step towards them.
"I assume that you have an answer?"
"I do. The answer is love."
"That is-" Rune attempts to tell her.
"Wait!" Soul stops him, then does a drumroll by slapping his hands against his legs. "Okay, go."
He sighs, shaking his head at Soul's antics.
"It is the correct answer," Medusa confirms.
"Way to go, Mira!" Natsu cheers, obviously happy about not having to navigate the mountain.
"How did you get the answer that quickly?" Soul inquires. "We spent at least an hour trying to come up with that one."
"If love is involved, then nothing can stay hidden from the queen of match-making," Mirajane smiles.
"I doubt that's a real thing," Rune frowns.
"She's joking, Rune," Soul tells him. "It's not a real thing."
"You don't know that," Mirajane argues.
"Before this escalates, I suggest that the three of us call Flame," Medusa speaks up before Rune could open his mouth. "You may want to step back, miss."
Mirajane back-step|, and I expect to see some kind of summoning ritual from the trio. Instead, Medusa inhales deeply before cupping her hands around her mouth.
"HEY, FLAME! THEY SOLVED THE RIDDLE!" she yells at the top of her lungs, causing a few of us to cover our ears. "COME OUT AND KEEP YOUR END OF THE DEAL!"
A few moments later, the air in front of us starts to glimmer like it did before. In no time, there is a new person standing before us. Assuming this is Flame, I can't help but feel surprised at who it turned out to be.
"You have got to be kidding me..." Laxus stares. "Their leader is Romeo?"
"If it makes you feel any better, I am not the real Romeo," Flame has an indifferent expression on his face. "I was late choosing a form to take, so I wound up having to take the form of a child from your world."
"Could you at least turn into your real self so we could take you seriously?" Gray asks.
"Unfortunately, no...if I were to take on my true form, then I surely would be punished," he says back. "I would most likely wind up like my late companion."
"What do you mean by that?"
"That isn't important right now. Besides, you will see for yourselves in the future. What's important right now is that you solved the riddle and now I will keep my end of the bargain. Come here and hold onto me, if you would."
We move closer to Flame and each place a hand on him.
"Brace yourselves," he cautions. "Teleportation can be quite disorientating."
Flame closes his eyes, and we suddenly find ourselves teleporting alongside him. The space around us moves and shifts rapidly, changing to a different, shimmering color every second. My stomach lurches without warning, and the next thing I know my feet are once more on solid ground. I blink in quick pace, gathering up my new surroundings.
We have wound up on the other side of the mountains, and appear to be back in the forest of various trees.
"Finally...we're- urk..."
Relief is cut short as the dragon slayers of our group become afflicted with motion sickness.
"Are you alright?" Flame asks, frowning as he stares at them in concern.
"They're fine," Lisanna reassures him. "Dragon slayers always get like this when they take modes of transportation."
After they realize that they are back on a non-moving platform, the slayers recover quickly.
"I see...that is indeed interesting..." he nods his head. "Now before I go, I will allow you to ask one question and I shall answer it the best I can..."
"Are there any other people trapped here?" Erza questions.
"Yes, but it's just one person. I believe that you already know who that is," he replies. "I would be careful if I were you, I know for a fact that Master would rather die a thousand deaths then lose her."
"Then I guess that's what she's gonna have to do, because Luce can't stay here," Natsu responds determinedly. "She'll die if she does."
"That she will, so I wish you luck in saving your friend," Flame says, before pointing in the distance. "Walk in that direction and you will surely come across her personal paradise."
"Thank you, Flame."
"You're welcome. Now, be on your way."
He vanishes, having most likely teleported away somewhere. We head in the direction that Flame had pointed us in, wondering what awaited us there.
I'm very sorry for the boring chapter but I'm gonna try to make the next chapter very interesting, alright?
Review plz?
