"U-urgh…"

Esme slowly opened her eyes as she felt something pull her from the realm of unconsciousness. Before then, she had been stuck in a pleasant dream—one where she never had a falling out with Rey, and things were back to normal.

However, just as if she was suddenly doused with cold water, she was plunged back to consciousness.

"W-what happened…?" She murmured, still groggy as her clouded vision tried to pick up the fine details around her.

"Glad to see you rejoin us." "Eeep!"

Ater's voice suddenly jerked her back to full consciousness. Her dulled senses sharpened in an instant, and she was able to see everything normally once again.

Right in front of her were Ater and a miniature entity that looked like an elf with wings. The creature had slightly pointy ears, with very beautiful wings that fluttered very fast. Her blond hair danced as she remained steady in the air—her eyes all over the place.

"What in the—?"

"Esme, meet Fae… and Fae meet Esme." Ater broke the silence with a quick introduction. "Fae here has been kind enough to grant us safe entry past the wall of trees and has even agreed to let us meet her people's ruler."

"Erm… okay?" Esme was still confused, but she nodded slowly as she rose to her feet.

She had no idea when she fell unconscious, but it didn't seem like any of it turned out to be a big deal since Ater was being so calm about everything.

"N-nice to meet you, Esme!" Fae's voice stuttered a little as she introduced herself. "It is as Ater says."

"I see…"

Esme recognized the voice as soon as she heard it.

'Isn't that the same voice that was taunting us, even moments before I lost consciousness? It seems Ater managed to convince her while I was asleep.'

Speaking of Ater…

"You told me I would be perfectly fine if I—"

"None of that matters now, Esme." He swiftly replied, deflecting all of the responsibility. "What matters now is that we're finally able to get past the barrier."

Esme wanted to speak up against him once again, especially since he lied to her and had been treating her very unfairly. There was a limit to what she could put up with, after all.

"Beyond the barrier is the Fairy Kingdom. I don't believe you've been there before." Ater added, right as she was about to retort harshly.

"Fairy Kingdom? Here?"

Her eyes slightly twitched as she heard those words.

"Indeed." He replied, a small smile on his face. "Fae here was guarding the entrance, but after I nicely explained why we need to see her King… she understood and decided they could have nice visitors such as ourselves."

"Oh…"

"We come in peace, don't we?" "Y-yeah." She had no choice but to say it. "We come in peace."

Ater smiled and nodded at her, turning his focus back to Fae, who didn't seem as thrilled as he was making her out to be.

The moment his eyes met hers, though, she let out a nervous laugh… followed by a whimper.

"Now then, shall we?"

****************

"Whoa!"

Esme's eyes were wide open, almost as if they would pop out of their sockets at any moment.

She was feasting her eyes on the landscape that surrounded her—from the tall trees, to the beautiful cluster of flowers, and the absolute allure of nature that she was surrounded by. Everything here felt surreal.

The Elven Community also had amazing sights, but those were all fitted to surround the Elves, and the actual place that they lived didn't have as much allure of nature. However, this place was different.

Esme could see plant-life that she had never before witnessed in all her life. The forest was also rich in animal-life—though all the creatures were miniaturized.

The wild animals were all so very small that even the birds resembled insects. All these things were understandable, considering the fact that this was the residence of the Fairies. Still, that didn't make them any less amazing.

"I never imagined that a whole civilization other than the Elves' was here, on this continent." She whispered under her breath as she cast her gaze on the colorful world that surrounded her.

It was beyond beautiful.

"This whole place is protected by a powerful barrier… pretty strong Magic." Ater explained to her. "I doubt any of your people know of this place."

The only one that would be aware of it was The Oracle, and there had to be a reason she didn't let any of her people know of it.

"I see…" Esme muttered. "So how did you come upon it?" "...." Ater chose silence as his response for the first few seconds before turning to Esme and giving her a rather vague response.

"I have my ways.".

"Okay then." She said, almost suppressing her disappointed sigh.

"It's a good thing Fae allowed us passage." Ater quickly changed the topic. "The Fairies are the last piece of the puzzle, especially now that Rey has gotten the support of the Giants and Dwarves."

"Really? When did that happen?"

"A few days ago."

"W-wow…" Esme's cheeks brightened a little as she did her best to hide her pleasant surprise.

She didn't expect Rey to work so quickly when it came to his diplomatic affairs, and the fact that he was able to convince two of the most stubborn races of H'Trae to enter an alliance with him showed just how resourceful he could be.

"... Impressive."

"Indeed." Ater said with a shrug. "Once we get the help of the Fairies, the Dragon Empire is as good as done for."

With the joint power of all the Races, the chances of victory against the Dragons just got astronomically higher.

Even if the Dragons were the strongest race in H'Trae, they would be up against Fairies, Elves, Giants, Dwarves, and Humans—not to mention the Otherworlders.

"Once it's all done, H'Trae will be saved… and this whole thing will be over."

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