POV Narrator:

Friday 3 July 2020, Arcturus

Akko's birthday passed and it was a big celebration, for the girl who turned 18, this time she could be considered an adult and grown up girl, ready for a life to come, in the midst of that, Mary Brooks had reached the ocean which was what she needed to cross to Doras, but for that she didn't have enough magic for it, since she was also far from the influence zone of a sorcerer stone, what made her have to improvise without using any spell in that area, building a boat so that she can cross the way to the other side, also having the help of Professor Pisces that was helping her in the construction that was being quite complicated.

In the end it all paid off for Mary Brooks, as she managed to build a small sailing boat, using her cape as a sail that could take her to the other side without needing much strength from the Englishwoman who was

even getting constant food.

POV Mary:

I'm already ready for the long trip, I even got some food to take, this ocean crossing can be something that my life will be defined, the wind is pointing to the right side, my moment has come, I put the supplies in the boat, I'm pushing it through the sand, it's kind of heavy, But I manage to take it to the water, I put the Pisces aquarium inside too, and with the boat in the water I start to row backwards, getting as much impulse as possible to reach a deeper part, I feel the wind force already pushing the boat sails forward, how wonderful.

"Now let's go, I hope the sails hold, I'll make it to the other side" I say cheerfully.

"The idea of the sails was clever Mary, if you were rowing it would take days to get to the other side, besides tiring you a lot more - Said the teacher and the boat was finally starting to be pushed by the sails, I don't need to row anymore.

"Yes! Now here we go Doras Hills" I say cheerfully.

"Good luck with it all Mary, it may take a while to get here but we will make it" Lady Pisces said and I hope so.

The wind was strong, hitting the sails, the speed it gained was even great, the boat was hitting the waves and managing to pass, which was rocking a lot, I took the opportunity to get some things that were stored to eat, some fruit and I can already feel that I will soon arrive.

"How long do I think we can get to the other side, it looks immense from here, I can practically only see the sea" I say to the fish.

"A day or almost a day, it depends a lot on the wind, the journey will be long from now on, if we accelerate we may take less than 20 hours to reach the other side, it is not a short journey, the boat also has to endure, the wind has to be on our side, since the journey is almost 500 km by open sea" Pisces said and I already imagine that it will be long.

"Oh I understand, at least I have resources for one day, I brought water and plenty of fish, besides that we can catch the ones that are here" I say already quite excited, I also see that back there the Arcturus beach was getting smaller, which I make sure to be relieved with the boat slowly increasing the speed with the wind.

Well since it's a long way ahead it's good to rest, I even look at a compass inside my bag and notice that it's going in the direction I wanted, lucky I took these things with me when I fled through Arcturus, they were valuable resources, even the knife was very useful, I managed to assemble a chipped stone axe with it and thus cut the wood from the trees.

The next morning...

I think we are arriving land is already in sight, how wonderful, it was at least a quiet journey at night, in a little while I will arrive in Doras and I will be able to continue the journey to the other side and that will be wonderful, the food here is enough, I am already slowly returning to be the Mary I used to be, but still with the attentive way I had to be to survive.

"Finally land!" I say to the teacher.

"Perfect Mary, now we just have to dock, soon we will be in Doras" she said and I could see that there were already some mountains waiting for us on the other side, they are full of vegetation, it won't be easy to cross all that, but I know I can get close.

"There will be plenty more when we arrive, but I can use the boat to build a temporary shelter before we venture into the forest" I say, already looking at the place, taking my sniper rifle and using the scope to get a good idea of what awaits on the other side.

I go observing and until then no life on the other side, no creature, I look in the middle of the forest and I see some creatures that are eating the leaves, they look like hares mixed with deer, with horns and big ears, they can give a great food for the climb in the mountains, there are also some bugs that look like rats, there are fruits, there are some good trees that the wood should be useful to make a shelter, I have to study the place well, crabs in the sand and many of them, I have already found another good source of food, I can take them on the way and eat them is good.

Now water, which is the most important of all, I see that there is a river that faces the ocean, if it is a real river, then we have fresh water, I will settle there, it will be perfect, we will have fresh water and food to eat, besides having many crabs on the coast.

"What's up? Is the place okay for us to move forward?" asks the teacher and I immediately stop aiming.

"Perfect, we can settle in for a few days to gather resources and leave for Doras" I tell her then putting the gun away and with that the boat was already getting closer.

I make a point of taking control of the direction in which we are swimming, to go towards the mouth of the river that is on our side, if everything goes well we will have a very reliable source of fresh water, that is the most important thing, since without water we cannot live, I am even hungry now, I see that there are some fruits, unfortunately the meat is already gone and I will have to fill myself up with them, I will eat what I can to have energy when I arrive.

They dock...

We arrive, the boat even enters the sand a little, which I'm jumping to the surface and I'm already looking around, I get my cape and I'm wrapping myself in it, I even missed it, now it's time to get some crabs that I'm already leaving in a pot that I can make with clay, I put a little water and I'm taking one by one to leave them stored without escaping.

"You'd better make a more suspended house, or else those crabs will be pinching you all night" said Professor Pisces and she's right.

"My fear is that they will get into your aquarium and tear you apart" I tell her.

"You can leave me at the river, I do well in it, while you go and build the shelter and get ready" said the teacher, and I walked towards the river.

I see that there aren't so many crabs left, which could be the chance that maybe it's a freshwater river, when I get closer I could notice that it has calm water and a green that stays around, there's a forest near the river, I put my hand in and already take a sip, a little further into the river, the water is sweet, how wonderful.

"Yes, the water is sweet" I say happily.

"Wonderful, it will be perfect for me, you can leave me in this river that I will know how to handle myself, these crabs don't scare me" said Mrs. Pisces and I started to leave her in the river water, now we just have to hope that she will be alright.

"Stay well teacher I will make my shelter" I tell her.

I look at the boat and I already know how my shelter will be, I will use the boat as a roof and build the rest underneath, luckily I took some wood that I got on the other island, anything else I can use the axe I built, well let's go.

I push the boat further into the shore, I look at the ocean calmly, the crabs passing by, they will be great food at night, I will make a real feast, now that it is in the water I start to disassemble the boat, leaving only the bottom part, I take the wood from it and start thinking about how to make the floor.

"Probably the tide could rise like it did at the beach shelter and that made me wake up by surprise" I tell myself.

With the tree trunks I bury them in the ground, I cut them before I go which can make the job easier, when the tide comes in it will be even firmer, with a spade I bury a lot of ground to be able to fit the first trunk, all this just to build a suspended base and so I don't run the risk of being pinched by these things, well the first trunk is already gone, enough to be 1 metre from the ground, if the tide comes in it won't get my bed, I hope, I even did it a bit far from the water so I don't run the risk.

"One is gone now the next ones are missing" I say relieved.

It will be a lot of energy being spent making this shelter, but I am sure it will be worth it in the end, I am already starting to bury the next points where the logs will go, I will make a good structure to hold me suspended, as I do not need shelter for anything else besides a bed the boat already has enough space for that, the rest I will stay well outside.

The shelter is built...

I got tired a lot, luckily there was enough wood left to make a fire, I think I'll start to get resources to start making the fire, since I already found food for the first days, the shelter itself holds well, the bed despite being very hard is better than sleeping on the beach sand near the crabs.

"All ready" I say, leaving the wood on the floor.

I go through the forest and notice that it has some dry branches, it will be perfect to light the fire, I fill my hand with the sticks and gain, besides miraculously finding dry leaves too, which is very rare to have in the summer, these must have fallen some time ago, This plant here has threads, it's perfect to start a fire, even more than the dry leaves, I'll get it too, I filled my hand here and went back, it's still a small fire, so I'll get more, I'll also get some stones.

I come back with my hands full, perfect, time to build the fire, what I do the same way as always, the wood that burns more staying below and the one that burns faster on top, I leave everything well organized to keep burning and growing, in the end I take those wires from the tree that I found, the lighter from my bag and start the flame, luckily I had it for that.

"Come on fire, start" I say as I was blowing to start the fire and soon it started, by some miracle everything was going as expected.

Great, now I'm going to set up the grill above the fire, it will serve to heat up my food, I'm going back to the river with a metal container that I've been using as a pot, I fill it with water and come back, leaving it already boiling, meanwhile I pick some fruit and eat while waiting for the water to bubble, I see that inside the clay pot the crabs were all piled up still alive, soon I'll get them to make my first meal of the day.

"Now with Pisces in the river I'm practically alone, I hope I can get back home" I say looking at the sky that was already getting dark.

The night falling, makes me think how must be the world out there, I haven't been out for a long time, since the kidnapping, it's been a year since all this, I hope I can be free soon, I'll make sure to get what I need to go to Doras, get there with my hands full, then go back home, or I don't know, not even home I won't be able to go back, since my parents died.

The water was already starting to bubble, perfect moment to put the crabs to swim, I take two of them that fit enough in the pot and throw them in the boiling water.

"Sorry guys, but I need you to feed me" I say to the two crabs thrown into the pot that were fighting for their lives.

There's still room for one more, which is perfect, I'm already taking it and also putting it with my friends, it will be delicious to eat it fresh like this, it's without a doubt better than the fish, crisper, more meat, hmmmmmm, I even get my mouth watering, I take the opportunity to drink more water that I had in my canteen and I realize that it finishes with a sip.

"I'll need to boil water now" I say, going with my canteen in hand to the river, where I fill it with water and go back to the fire, I leave the canteen also on the grill, boiling the water inside quickly and the germs inside die and I have safe water to drink.

Well now I just have to wait for the crabs to be ready, dead they already are, there are still some more to do, but I think three of them should fill my stomach for the rest of the night, then I worry about finding something to eat tomorrow, the shelter itself I already have, if I get more I will have enough for the trip, I still have to look around before leaving, maybe Pisces will help me in this time, I hope he will be useful.

Oh I think the crabs are already at the point, I'm taking them out of the pot carefully, I take the opportunity to take the pot too, the water that is left can serve to drink, but honestly a water that tastes like crab, well it can be useful to wash clothes later, so I'll leave it here.

"Hmmmmmmm, I was already starving" I say already grabbing a crab, pulling its out.

It's not for nothing that I was lucky enough to eat something so rare and good in this unknown place, I eat all the little legs of the crab, it's really a different flavour, the rest of it I think I need a knife to get the core out, but just eating it is good enough, a fresh meat like that, warm, the sun going down, today was a tiring day, but soon I'll manage to get along.

POV Narrator:

On the first day Mary Brooks was adapting, managing to feed herself with the crabs present on the island and building the shelter, which was quite safe, having a quiet first night, without the arthropods appearing climbing up to her house, keeping her safe from any animal that came from below, apart from the risk of the tide coming in, which even happened, but it wasn't enough to reach where she was sheltering and neither the fire that had already gone out for the night.

On the second day Mary made another food reserve and managed to find a rare thing, wheat scattered around the forest, which could be useful to vary the food besides one other thing that might help her, which was a mount, the donkey-like creature mixed with an alpaca was being stubborn on the first day, which Mary was insistent and took near the shelter to try to train the creature.

On the third day it rained a lot, but even so Mary still managed to make a fire under a roof of leaves to at least make food, and have something to eat that day, besides the mount still being very stubborn and not wanting to cooperate with Brooks who was trying somehow to teach her to be a mount.

On the fourth day the rain eased, but it was complicated to get dry firewood, which Mary had little stockpiled, managing even to have for the day and was spending time training the mount, besides gathering more resources for the huge bag would make with the cape to carry all the resources safely, the journey to leave towards Doras was only a matter of time and Pisces was not around at the river, from so much that Mary was calling.

On the fifth day, the mount was already more obedient than before, and could be very useful to the trip they are going to make, obeying commands and walking on the beach, which was exactly the goal that Brooks wanted, worried she was calling for Professor Pisces that reappeared, telling her about the path she had taken and why she had disappeared, since she went to clear the river ahead and found that there were waterfalls up the mountain.

Sixth day, the day to gather as many resources as possible, Mary had already managed to tame the mount to go places with greater speed and without tiring her energy, she started to gather the resources for what she would take in terms of camping, since she would still have a long way to go to reach the top of the mountain, it was the day that she gathered as much food as possible and was also feeding herself enough to leave when it would be a week.

A week on the beach of Doras, Mary puts Pisces in the aquarium, she gathers all the clay pots with resources that she caught, she goes taking with herself along the way, in each pot had something different for food and the like, one full of wheat, another that was full of fish with water too, another with crabs and a last one with fruits and vegetables of flavours, besides eggs that were being found, besides a lot of firewood and resources to make a shelter, the mount tired quickly to carry so many things and still Mary, what she served only to carry the load while Mary was walking along the way.

They went exploring the forest of Doras, climbing the mountain that was full of challenges, in only one day they even got to the top, waking up very early, the sky was luckily open and there wasn't much rain, just the fog and the common cold of the mountain, what they sheltered themselves with at nightfall, eating fish and some bread that Mary managed to make by mixing wheat flour with eggs in a whole dough that gave a taste to it, besides also including eggs in this diet, they were following the path of the river where they came across several waterfalls.

The next day they went to the plateau, and there the environment was more different, the forest gave way to a steppe, with few trees around, due to the effect of the rains that went more towards the mountain than the other side, which was a full plate for riding. On this way it was very quiet without many risks, they still followed near the river that was calmer, stopping near Lake Doras.

Nine days have passed and they start circling the Doras Lake towards Sifla, Pisces decides to go by the lake, already pointing that the Sifla house is circling the place and very close to a forest that was nearby, but they still hadn't arrived at the point and with that Brooks was kind of giving a stop and another as the day passed, already realizing that they were close.

In ten days of walking a long way she could cross the lake and see the witch's cottage from afar, which was still a little far away, but relieved that she could get so close, still afraid to return because of the chief, she could feel that her magic was returning which was already a good sign that they were in good hands and protected from the worst.

Wednesday 15 July 2020, Colinas de Doras

Mary decides not to go to Sifla's house yet, but with magic on her side, it's easier to take shelter since that way she can make a little house where she would stay hidden among some trees in the forest of the fairy kingdom that is just behind the witch's cottage, which she had resources to spare from what she still picked up from the beach since she accumulated a lot of stuff already thinking that the trip could be long, the mount on the other hand was freed and went grazing on the steppes having a quiet place to stay, as for Pisces she decided to separate from Mary staying at Doras lake where anything Brooks could go to the lake nearby to talk to the teacher.

POV Mary:

I arrived, but honestly I am still afraid to go to Sifla, I don't want to scare the girl with my appearance, worst of all is that my clothes got all torn because of this escape and surviving in the middle of the bush, I am still afraid that the boss might show up, well at least this house is safe, I can stay here for a few days deciding what to do before acting, I know I can help, but it is better to look from afar to see if the place is reliable.

"Good that this is my temporary home, after months of running away I am finally in a house" I tell myself.

Pisces is at the lake Doras, she's sure to help me a lot on this one by looking at their house more closely, what can I do now, I'll take a look at Sifla's cottage and I'll see from afar that there was Professor Chariot there? Croix too? Did they run away here? That is interesting to know, I see they were playing with Sifla in the backyard with Feolas and Alan, I am remembering the excursion we did here, it was almost the biggest flop if it wasn't for Akko, she saved the day.

I see that a lady with a broom also lands, it's a red-haired woman, it seems to be Hellene's mother, she goes in with some bags in her hand, it can only be that, the access to Ley's lines.

"Wonderful, I just need to find a way to go there" I notice she has brought shopping type things, that's good, they have a supply of food.

I guess I should think of a way to get in there and steal some of that food later, when my resources rot or run out I'll have to do that, for now I'll stay here in this tree house for as long as it takes to be able to show my face, but from what it looks like there are reliable people around here, Hellene's mother seems to be someone reliable, but I don't know if an outlaw among them is a good thing, maybe the boss will keep them sheltered.

POV Chariot:

Another day with Laura bringing us more supplies, if it wasn't for her I think we would have to live on fishing fish and eating fruit, lucky she comes to visit us and gives us some very good food, I feel a wet sensation hitting me in the back, it must be Sifla playing with a little water gun, I look back and it wasn't her.

"Sifla you funny little girl do you really want to play water pistol?" I say to her trying to look for her.

"But I'm not with a water pistol" She says and I think she's being good at her bluff until I notice that she really wasn't and I'm immediately squirted with water this time in the face.

"What? Croix?" I look at her and Meridies shrugged until I look that there's a fish in the water that's been doing this to us.

I went to look at the fish, it looked very familiar, until I noticed the resemblance to Pisces, what is she doing here? How did she get to Doras? There are waterfalls on the river in Doras, there's no way she could have climbed all that up, even more coming from Arcturus, or she went around the ocean and even then there's no way, on the other side it's the same thing, unless she's like a salmon, that's too weird.

"Pisces?" I say shocked and she signalled that it was indeed the teacher.

"Wait Pisces around 'ere? I remember Hellene told of 'er running away" Laura said appearing and looking at her.

"Get an aquarium I have things to tell you" Does she speak? Does she talk like us? What do you mean? Now I'm more intrigued, I always thought she only spoke in fish language.

"Do you speak?" We all said in shock.

"I always hid this from Luna Nova because I suspect that the boss is someone from there, but I know that you have the same goal as me, especially you Laura, I had my memory erased but I know you are reliable, get an aquarium and I'll tell you everything" she said and soon Croix appears with a glass for that.

We left her inside the improvised aquarium and wow, I never thought she could really talk, I always thought she was just a fish and that they invented language for the school's convenience, but now it makes sense she could talk, there must be something more to it, we took Pisces to our house and it was time to find out.

"I need to reveal to you, I am not a fish, I was cursed as such, I need your help, find the Fluit An Neart, she can help me to return to my human form and maybe remember who I was before the transformation, I just know that I am a human who was trapped in this fish body" said the fish and now everything makes more sense than ever, I had never thought of this hypothesis.

"And how did you get here?" Croix asks.

"I had the help of one of the students who was hiding in the middle of Arcturus, we both travelled here and had to escape through the forest, we had to clear and survive, now she is hidden by Doras, still afraid to reveal herself, but she is a great ally, she also had her memory erased by the boss and can be useful in discovering her identity" Pisces said and that would be wonderful.

"It all makes sense now, Mary is among us, dat could be a good ding, When Hellene's arm is better she can come 'ere and help uncover de identity, but we have to do it in Mary Brooks' time, she surely has to be comfortable to come, will you help us with dat Pisces?" Laura asks.

"You can leave it to me, I will definitely help, in fact she can be a good ally to recover the Fluit An Near, she has a good ability to be stealthy and can be our main weapon to find, do you have something planned for that?" That's a good question now.

"Oh, I was thinking really, I was going to get my preparations, I just want to wait for Hellene to get better so we can get a team together and go to Luna Nova, let's take advantage of de pandemic and dat de place is extremely isolated for dat" Laura said.

"Anyway I'll be at the lake of Doras, I'll talk to you guys whenever I can and I can help to bring Mary Brooks to our side, just wait for her to get used to this place, she for sure wants very much to be free, during the days we traveled she came little by little coming back to remember who she really was, it was also wanting to be free again and go to Ley's lines, I took her exactly for that and maybe to help her find out who is this damn boss, I spent 20 years of my life in this body and forced to pretend to be a fish, I had to keep talking in their language to not discover my real human side, but I know you can do it" said the Pisces teacher and this is all a big shock.

"Dis is wonderful news, now we have one more ally with us, de witches' revolution will happen Pisces, we will recover de flute, find de missing sounds and bring you back to de human form, this will be our great mission" Laura said motivated.

We all joined hands, with the exception of Pisces who we then took together with the aquarium to the lake Doras, she said goodbye to us and went swimming again, she is really very mysterious, there must still be many things to solve, especially Mary, her presence will be something that can change the course of things once and for all.

POV Narrator:

Mary Brooks arrived in Doras, after venturing through the forest of Arcturus, crossing an ocean with an improvised boat, using this boat as shelter while gathering resources to once again clear a forest, this time to reach the destination she so desired, but still with much fear and trepidation she opted to remain in hiding and to be safe until she had the necessary confidence to go talk to the girls that are in the Chalet of Sifla and

they are already knowing the whereabouts of Pisces and what could await for this mission to recover the Fluit An Neart that could be a huge turning point in this journey.

See you, lost witches...