Suta POV

Anak's voice emerged with its usual tone of coldness. "I need a boat. A good one, and I need one today."

Suta paid extra attention to the stiff-talking vampire. Who stood solemnly beside him still dressed in that usual stone and stoic mask of emptiness. He noticed strangely though, how Anak's stern gaze seemed to be half-lingering on that silent fairy wearing purple robes fluttering her tiny wings quietly behind the chief. But the jovially loud Chief was the one who took center stage, he seemed to have the energy of dozens of fairies rolled into one. The boy could only nervously chuckle at his antics, he understood inwardly this was going to be a long evening already.

"Hmm, a boat? a boat? ah! A boat! A boat! Yes, we have boats! Ohoho, good boats - and strong ones, too. Come-come, let's go and see about these boats, my friend. Ohohoho, I just had a great idea!" The chief ascended gracefully to meet Anak's eye level.

"Shan't we share some tales over a nice spot of tea and good chatter, old friend?" He suggested to the stone-faced Anak.

'Friend?' Suta cocked one of his brows in surprise.

The chief playfully whistled, lightly fluttering around the stoic-faced vampire awaiting for his response. Suta was quite surprised he was doing a good job not swatting the buzzing fairy aside.

'He must surely be thinking of it though Id imagine.'

With a deep sigh, Anak simply shook his head from side to side. "Not right now. I—we, are pressed with time," he said, sounding a little nervous with his speech.

'You'd think he hates absolutely everything, but maybe he's a softie at heart,' Suta continued to observe the strange interaction between the tall figure and the very little fairy.

"Ahaha! Of course-of course, tea is everlasting, but problems are current necessities. Hm... oh, and what's our new friend's name here?" The Chief asked only just taking in Suta's existence to the side.

Suta flinched, feeling a swell of nerves gather, as he watched himself become the center of attention all of a sudden.

"Err-ah-I... ahem... Su-Suta," he stammered awkwardly with a small wave.

The chief's eyes brightened with excitement at the mention of that, and suddenly, Suta was now the one having to deal with that incessant sound of fluttering tiny wings bothering his ears.

"Ohoho! That is delightful! Truly so! Now that we are three, that almost makes us a band of fellows! Oh wait-not quite, it makes us a motley crew-ohoho!"

'Sheesh, he never stops does he.' Suta formed a strange smile whilst watching Anak trying his best to remain composed

"Say, new friend, care to amuse me with one question?" The fairy chief asked him

He beheld the chief with an uncertain look, scratching the back of his head as he chuckled nervously in response.

'I shouldn't engage him, but...what the heck'

"S-sure..."

"Care for some tea?" the bearded fairy asked with glee.

Suta glanced over towards Anak, whose deadpan gaze told him all he needed to know.

"No, thanks. I'll pass." He lightly replied.

Just before the chief held any chance to continue his rather one-sided conversation, Suta's attention swiftly captured the arrival of the silvery-haired fairy who approached the chief from his rear. She leaned over his shoulder before quietly whispering something into his ear. Of course, in a very not-so-subtle fashion, the fairy adorned in purple robes continued to steal looks at him all the while, giving Suta a very narrow guess as to who they must be talking about.

The chief's expression shifted, and a flicker of concern crossed his jovial features. He listened to the silvery-haired fairy's hushed words with an intense concentration evident within his stiff expressions.

'What could they be discussing? And why do I get the feeling it has something to do with me?' he mused silently, his gaze darting between the fairies and Anak who looked a little annoyed watching the unfolding's.

"Oh-I see, if it's like that, then... there's no helping it, is there? Ahem! I'm afraid we'll have to take a rain check on the meeting, ohoho-it seems our fair maiden and our seer here have other plans with you, new friend."

After gesturing towards the two fairies floating by the tent, the chief fluttered towards Anak again.

"Let's go get you that boat, old friend... Oh-I almost forgot."

The chief fluttered away again from Anak's side and curiously arrived by Suta's left. Here, the little green-haired fairy was humming to itself, seemingly lost in its own world whilst it was busy playing with one strand of Suta's lengthy-sized braided locks.

Unbeknownst to the little one, the chief floated undetected right beside it. His two arms remained behind his back before vocally clearing his throat, loud enough to catch the little fairy's attention.

"Eh!" The green-haired fairy absently turned its head around, but the moment it locked eyes with the squinting-eyed bearded fairy, a look of sheer horror flashed across its round face. It looked truly horrified as though it had just been caught stealing.

"Ara! And I could've sworn all members of the scouting team were delegated special chores. Hmm, perhaps I'm the mistaken one, ah, yes, it must be, it must be."

Suta watched the little green-haired fellow twiddling its tiny hands whilst it innocently looked down.

"Y-y-yes, Chief, I'll... I'll be on my w-w-way now... Goodbye, Mister."

The little green-haired fairy swiftly fluttered away without a second's thought. Suta could only wryly smile in response, watching the little guy begrudgingly flying away, but also slightly impressed by how obedient these intriguing whimsical fellows were.

'They're like a bunch of little rascals aren't they.'

"Now then, shall we fetch that boat of yours? Fufufuh, new friend you will wait here whilst we handle those matters." Said the Chief before turning his face towards the Fairy wearing the large dress.

"I'll be leaving our guest in your hands, Lady Ruora," he added , cupping his two little hands. The fairy standing elegantly with folded silk pink hair responded with a curtsy.

She raised her emotionless gaze and beheld Suta coldly .

"I'll be honored."

Suta couldn't shake away this feeling of uneasiness surrounding these two. On one hand, the fairy dressed in purple robes wouldn't stop smirking at him, and on the other, the fairy adorned in a floral dress with pink hair wouldn't stop scrutinizing him.He recalled Anak's warnings just before they arrived here.

'Do not get roped into fairy business.' He reminded himself, but Suta already understood some things were truly beyond his control these days.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Sigh, always a magnet to the weird and wonderful" He sang beneath his breath

***

Unfortunately for Suta, he soon he found himself inside the gazebo tent, seated on some very small but soft pillows. He folded his legs into the lotus position, gazing at a bizarre cut of thick polished stone laid in front of him, giving him the feeling that this was perhaps the 'fairy business' Anak had warned him about.

The air was filled with the smoky scent of burning incense wafting through his nostrils, with partially dimmed light being cast by the flickering lamps hung across the sides of the tent. Despite the rather spacious look of it from the outside, Suta felt like a giant inside of a miniature house.

Casting his eyes across the thick slap of rectangular polished stone placed in the middle of the gazebo's floor. Strangely it reminded him of one of those five pillars he vaguely remembered seeing in that eerie crypt, the same kind where he was tested to see which of the five languages of power he could understand.

However, this one looked different; it was covered in deep indentations, as though hundreds of tiny claws had been carved into its surface. Fluttering her wings on the other side of the stone was the fairy dressed in dark purple robes. She maintained that eerily warm smile whilst her grey and partially green eyes filled with a sense of foreboding curiosity.

Finally, after a tense and wordless interaction of stares, her lips parted, and a nasal voice tinged with an air of wisdom graced Suta's ears.

"You are... a human? Hmn... and a traveler as well."

"Hm-who me?" Suta pointed at himself slightly confused

Her warm smile creased a little deeper, she nodded her little head in response.

"A soul who has crossed the veil between worlds. One like yourself hasn't appeared on these shores in over one hundred years." She spoke these things softly.

Hearing her words, a look of deep surprise flashed across Suta's gaze.

'She knows I...I have come from another world? This means... my earlier assumptions were true. I'm not the first one who has crossed over... are there more humans? And if so, how do I find them?'

"That look tells me you aren't surprised I'm aware of your kind, Good-then that makes this next bit a little easier. Oh, pardon my rudeness. Before we begin, let me introduce myself. I am Lady Melvede, and this is our fair maiden Lady Ruora, the last descendant of the true-blooded dynasty of our people, the House of Snoh ruled by our first mother, the Goddess Ilias."

Suta casually beheld the fairy floating just beside him, noticing that, compared to the others, she seemed distrusting towards him peculiarly. Also, there was this strange sense that she was purposely keeping a distance between them both.

'Not that I'm too fussed about that kind of stuff, but I wonder what's the difference between her and the other fairly trusting fairies. Maybe it's the fact she's related to this so-called Goddess... wait! Did she just say G-Goddess?!'

Suta's gaze suddenly filled with life, his attention returning to the reality staring him in the face.

"Wait, you mentioned G-goddess?"

The silver haired fairy chuckled. "I take it you haven't heard of the creation myth? Some call it a myth, but others who know, understand the undertones of truth hidden beneath the veil of this telling story. They say in the beginning, the divine made the worlds by mistake. But favored a single one amongst them. A world secluded away from the rest of the worlds."

With his heartbeat quickening, Suta felt that he could already guess which 'green world' in particular she was referring too.

"This world would be so highly favored, that all the others would exist for the sake of keeping this one intact. Devoid of the outside influences, the divine's true grace shall only exist amongst the populace of this strange and green world."

"I'm sure you're wondering, but why? Why would the divine, in all its infinite wisdom, allow only this one place to sit as the cornerstone of its benevolent grace? I couldn't tell you the reason, but one might speculate the worlds created by mistake... were never deemed worthy of it's grace. And some say, these worlds were always fated to destroy themselves in the end."

Suta studied her words intently, and although he was trying not to make any assumptions, he was gradually being drawn towards the truth that this special world was isolated by this 'divine'...

"E-Earth?" he muttered beneath his breath. There was only one place that fitted that description, and also. What the Fishbowl head had explained to him about the fabric of his own world compared to the others struck out to him all of a sudden.

'Yeah...it must be earth.' He deduced within himself

"In the end... that never came to pass. For much to the surprise of those spectating the cosmos, the worlds considered unfilial had proven themselves to be worlds much more accustomed to behaving in a manner fit for those underneath the grace of Gods."

"For to prove themselves worthy, each world was granted a Goddess to serve as a staple of the true way.

There were 10 of such divine guardians:

The Goddess of the Faey,

The Goddess of the Merfolk,

The Goddess of the Mortal Kin,

The Goddess of the Immortals,

The Goddess of the Divine Ghosts,

The Goddess of the Giantfolk,

The Goddess of the Trolls,

The Goddess of the Elven folk,

The Goddess of the Beast Folk, and finally... The Goddess of the Draconia"

'S-so many, but that makes somewhat sense. Considering I'm sure I've met two of those Goddesses so far.'

He had been holding onto that kind of thought for quite some time now. After seeing that Goddess in the cathedral, he had initially speculated that she couldn't have been the same one he met back in his old world, the one who took Ringo away.

But now that he was aware of that speculation being an actual truth, he couldn't help but wear a sullen frown.

'How do I first differentiate between the Goddesses, and then... how do I go about finding them?'

One of these so called Goddesses had taken Ringo, and the likelihood was that she was taken to another world. The more mysteries Suta found himself unraveling, the deeper into a pit he felt he was falling into. Those cold embers filled with weighed anxiety found themselves igniting feelings he was desperately trying to avoid dealing with right now.

"Our people have been waiting for an age for the second coming of the traveler, the one said to hold both ends of fate in both of his hands. And whether or not you take these beliefs to matter to you, human, one cannot run away from the threads fate has woven for us..."

Suta observed the speaking fairy with a difficult gaze. Firstly, he was growing tired of dealing with these riddles and partially explained truths. Why couldn't anyone simply give him a straight explanation for once? Secondly,

'it was only a matter of time before someone began drawing me into their so-called prophecy. Whatever it is, I have no care for it. I just need strength! Besides that, who cares what the fates want for me. ' He clenched his fist subtly beside himself, a surge of defiance coursing through his veins.

Lady Melvede's eyes narrowed, as if sensing the rebellion stirring within Suta's heart.

"You may wish to deny your destiny, young traveler, but the wheels of fate are already in motion. The path before you is set, and it is up to you to walk it with courage and conviction."

Suta met her gaze, his own eyes burning with a fierce determination. "My fate is my own, a-and I will not be a pawn in some cosmic game, prophecy or no prophecy."

The fairy smiled, with a hint of admiration flickering across her subtly aged features.

"And that, dear human, is precisely why you are the one the fates have chosen. Your will is strong, your heart beats true just like our leaders of old, who once stood at the forefront of the wars against the beasts of hell that once roamed these lands. But remember this, human, even the mightiest of heroes cannot escape the threads that bind them to their destiny."

She gestured to the polished stone once more, Suta gazed at the dark claw-like indentations that had now seemed to begin pulsing with a strange azure energy.

"This stone holds the key to perhaps unlocking your true potential, it was given to the first King of Fairies. Gifted to him by the Goddess of my people. It serves as a guide, to steer you along the path that fate has laid before you.

But the choice to embrace that path... that is yours and yours alone."