Chapter 8

Wendy opened her eyes groggy at the prospect as a soft mildew had formed. This wasn't a rather weird dream, but a stern reality. Her stern reality, a reality she had wished to see after so many years. Ever since the reveal of the Eclipse gate in the back of her mind and finally she had a shred of hope. Hope that would lead her to unraveling her history and find her missing memories. This was the first key to relearning the truth; she lied there for sometime before finally standing up. After a quick trip to the bathroom Wendy exited the house. A purple streaked sky was way ahead so Wendy moved from the old district into a slighter new district. It was lined with tightly knitted buildings, stone statues and other historical sightings. A lot of the things across this area were new to her, but everything felt…like it belonged. She stopped by a small shop that was in a small area with a running fountain. It was a small round circle area that ran into 4 separate directions all surrounded by buildings or a small river that flowed through the area. The ground was paved with nice polished stone in an asymmetrical pattern interweaving against an earthen mesh.

The smell of food caught her attention and Wendy turned towards it. On the corner was a small bakery and it smelled delicious. The door was wide open and lights were on so with a bit of curiosity and hoping for some food. Wendy walked into the building. She didn't have much cash on her, but she needed something to eat. The store was a small place even smaller than Lucy's apartment. A glass counter that displayed several items as a man was standing behind the counter. Yelling something to someone in a room behind him. Her mouth watered at the variety of goods that were on display: a variety of breads, sweet cakes and other baked goods. One of them caught her eyes with a round sweet cake with a pink frosting and a bunch of fruit on top. The man on the other side of the counter cleared his throat, snapping Wendy's attention. With that she pulled out what little money she had around 1,000 jewels. "Umhh whats the pink one with the fruit on it? And how much? If you'd please."

Wendy spoke in her native tongue and the man looked at her. He seemed rather pleased to hear her, "Well that's what we call a shivik, a delicacy from the country of Illa modified for local tastes. It has a raspberry filling and will take about 15 minutes to make, costing 200 Jewels."

"I'll take it. I can wait," Wendy said. The man nodded his head and shifted into the backroom and so Wendy waited. Thinking to herself as she had remembered where she left Carla without thinking. Going over to Azuki who she had left behind to finally finding her home. How would her guild react? A man's voice caught her attention as he handed her her rewards she paid the man and walked out of the room. Holding the Shivik in her hand which she instantly bit into and smiled. It was some of the sweetest stuff that she had tasted in years and something else. Something she had been long since needing that was hard to describe. Wendy devoured it within minutes and smiled to herself as she finally took off running. Through the empty streets passing buildings, statues and a water fountain. Watching as the town shifted in various architectural forms, she returned back to Krisita medical firmary. Walking into the medical building there were a few people here this time.

She followed a familiar scent and walked to find her old friend. Entering into the room where she had woken up here. Azuki was gone and Carla was lying peacefully in her sleep. Whenever she slept Carla would roll herself into a ball which Wendy found adorable. Carefully Wendy picked her best friend up as to not disturb her. She had 800 jewels left and needed to find some way to get back to her guild. And hopefully an address to figure out how to return. This was a place Wendy was going to be coming to often; it was comforting. With that Wendy decided it was within her best interest to find someone who worked here. Someone who would hold any bit of information. There were a few people moving in who Wendy correctly assumed were sick or looking for a doctor. Moving into the main entrance she looked around to find someone who worked here and finally found one. A young woman around Erza's age if not older it was hard to tell. With long black hair, brown eyes and wore a light blue shirt and matching colored pants.

Written in Amosla script which was completely different from standard Fioran writing. Was Krisita medical staff, Wendy approached the woman as an old man walked off to somewhere else. The woman turned towards her and smiled, "Can I help you?" She asked as Wendy carefully approached. The woman had a bit of an accent and used some words that Wendy had never heard before. But she understood the woman completely.

"Uhmm yes. I'm looking for information or someone who can give me information. I haven't been in Immuseti village since I was little. Mostly I'm looking for a way to get back to my guild, like by a train or something." Wendy said, the woman looked at her puzzled.

"Your accent is adorable," the woman said. "You have such a unique way of speaking, it's adorable. But I can tell you this. Their only 3 ways to leave the city one of them is by the sea. And the port is currently closed for the Clan meet. There is one bridge that heads out to a long trail that takes 2 months to find the nearest village. Finally there is the main entrance and it takes 3 weeks to get to the nearest town with a train. And I wouldn't recommend leaving without an escort or in a group. The Esselux people aren't too happy with us. And they won't let us build a train into the city without us surrendering it to them. Which won't happen without a war. Your best bet for information is to head to the clan registry near Agalma fountain past the historic district. They would have everything you're looking for."

"Oh that's not what I hoped for, but thank you." Wendy said.

"No problem," the woman said.

Without much else Wendy started her way back to Anna's house. Carla slept through the entire walk back as Wendy had lost herself in her thoughts. Did this have something to do with Lucy and Erza's strange behavior? Besides their secret not so secret relationship? It took Wendy around 30 minutes to return back to the house. Wendy then passed and continued on her walk through the city till she found the old fountain. Over 400 years of age and it was still working in the center of the city. This was the place where she first met Natsu and the other dragon slayers. They spent over an hour playing here. 'You'll remember eventually. Everything must come in its proper order'. These were the words Anna had told her and they had forever haunted Wendy. Yet everything she looked at across the town seemed to bring up some long forgotten memory. Which meant she was closer to unraveling the mystery that had perturbed her for years. In her deep focus on her thoughts Wendy hadn't noticed that Carla was shifting in her sleep slowly waking up.