13 Land of the Fairies

Unlike another forest as the children had anticipated, the land of the fairies contained blue skies, flat green plains, and clean streams with pearls rather than stone. Many flowers bloomed sparkly gems to replace petals. Brightly decorated buildings crafted from exquisite marble were predominant in the area. No trees were in sight. It seemed like a whole new world.

Fairies were joyfully minding their own business as the children strolled through this wonderland. An artificial sun smiled at them as it hung over the paradise.

"W-wait, a face?" Natalie squinted at the sun.

"What the-" Nora started. Even the slime that was indifferent about her transmigration was astonished.

After passing through the forest, the group had abruptly entered this area. Melody stepped down from her throne and led the perplexed group around.

"I was surprised as well! But, all of this isn't an illusion. It's all real! I guarantee it," Melody responded.

"How would you know?" Bridget inquired.

Melody puffed out her chest, "I became a master of illusions once the fairy blood in me reacted to the heart of this dimension. Let me explain inside."

"Sounds shady," Nora replied, "I guess we have no choice anyway."

"It's the princess!"

"Come, come!"

A couple of fairy children approached the group and pulled them into a white palace. Inside was far more spacious than the exterior.

Porcelain vases, glass chandeliers, carefully engraved walls, colorfully painted ceilings, and anything expensive that one can imagine. The whole interior appeared vastly comparable to the greatest palaces of their former world.

By simply walking through the palace, the children's awe increased in proportion to their skepticism.

Nora speculated that those fairies were a bunch of Leprechauns who used their gold to build a kind of paradise.

Soon, the children entered a throne room where a couple was sitting before them.

One was an attractive male with iridescent wings similar to Melody's. An extremely blinding crown was situated on his shaggy hair. His gentle golden eyes viewed upon Melody.

The other was an alluring beauty with similar golden eyes. On her straight cinnabar hair was a white tiara. Two wings also similar to Melody's protruded from her voluptuous body.

The fairy children who guided the group bowed to the king and queen and departed.

"Welcome, Melody's friends. I am Ron Heartblossom, the king of fairies. And beside me is my lovely queen, Ania Heartblossom. Go ahead and enjoy your stay here in our land," the man gently greeted as he snapped his fingers.

Instantaneously, the group found themselves in a cozy room with sofas arranged in a circle.

"Did he just greet us and kick us out at the same time?" Nora glanced around the room, "So, would you explain to us what's going on?"

Melody wryly smiled, "They don't really like other races, so the fact that our minds are still intact is because of me."

"I remember Farlyn talking about how fairies create illusions and break minds. I'm guessing the illusions we experienced in the forest was a barrier to protect this land."

"Those illusions were apparently mild in contrast to what fairies can really do. If you five were in the forest for longer, the fairies would have come out to enhance the forest's natural illusions," Melody explained.

Melody sighed, "Anyway, let me elaborate on what exactly happened…"

------

Before Melody Sun's eyes was a golden path to an unknown world.

"Come closer my child."

An archaic voice resounded in her mind.

Treading through the path, balls of light, each a different color, surrounded the fairy. As she wandered closer to her destination, the balls would merge with her wings.

Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Indigo. Violet….

Once the last of the balls was absorbed by Melody, an ethereal spirit pierced Melody's chest. The wisdom of the fairies, no, the wisdom of the spirits flowed into her mind. And, exploded her.

Yes, her body literally exploded.

-------

Melody awoke from her slumber. Finding herself on a gorgeous altar overflowing with offerings of jewels, she was confused. Wasn't she running through the forest with Nora and the others?

More importantly, her back ached from being prickled by laying on top of all that jewelry.

"Never would I have ever thought that I would find another fairy with an ancient bloodline. Only royalty would have such," a male fairy lamented as he patted Melody's forehead.

"Who are you?" Melody asked as she slapped the man's hand away.

"I am Ron Heartblossom, the king of fairies, and your father."

"And I, Melody, am your grandfather! Bull****! My father never looked so ugly!" Melody cursed.

Confused, Ron tilted his head, "But, the spirit ancestors granted a child to us?"

Raising an eyebrow, Melody inquired, "Explain?"

"We, fairies, were created by the spirits on a whim. However, a fairy who is closely related to the ancient spirits is only born every century or so. For the last few centuries, no fairy was born with the royal bloodline until now. And, every new fairy that's born on this altar is the current king's daughter. It matters not that your age is slightly off from being an infant."

"But, I heard that fairies are monsters who create illusions to break people's minds to kill them for fun."

"Nonsense! We, fairies, are not monsters, but the descendants of spirits!"

Melody noticed that Ron did not deny the second half of her sentence.

"Now, child, come with me to have a stroll in the land we dwell in," Ron smiled as he tenderly held Melody's hand.

Apparently, fairies did not care about the worth of their riches. Instead, they were creatures who worshipped beauty.

A long time ago, the fairies would "play" with other races. Sometimes cities would be put under an illusion with the inhabitants unaware that they were stuck in one. Changing the city's landscape through an illusion could cause people to accidentally fall to their deaths or jump into a fire while believing it was water. Other illusions could incite hundreds of people to fall asleep for weeks until they perished due to starvation.

In order to stop the fairies, the humans and dwarves bribed them with magic crystals, jewelry, artworks, and the land they currently reside in. The land was actually a subspace within a stone in the forest, generated from dwarfen technology and the human's rare spacial magic. Since the land was far more fascinating than the outside world, the fairies would never leave.

With the same amount of mana as high-tiered spirits, each fairy could create illusions lasting for years, depending on how many colors were in their wings. In fact, as beings formed by spirits, they only needed mana to sustain themselves. However, if a fairy were to accidentally use too much magic, it would die. Furthermore, they were physically weak.

Ironically, although fairies could trick people with illusions, they could not lie.

Ron continued to rant on and on about the history of fairies and how each piece of artwork was obtained as they strolled through the land.

Honestly, Melody could care less. She was more worried about her companions.

Everytime Melody requested to leave, Ron's gentle gaze would become icy and he would ask, "Why would you ever leave?"

"My daughter!" The queen of fairies, Ania Heartblossom, embraced Melody.

"Don't touch me ugly! You're nothing like my mom!"

Pushing away the woman, Melody froze, "Wait, if a fairy with the royal bloodline is born every century or so, then wouldn't the age gap between Ania and Ron be huge?"

Both Ron's and Ania's wings clearly symbolized their royal bloodline.

Ron laughed at Melody's words, "Haha. What nonsense!"

He didn't answer the question.

While fairies could not lie, they could refuse to speak.

Ignoring Ron's laughter, Melody spoke, "I have a couple of friends still stuck outside in the forest. Can I bring them here?"

"Yes, of course, if it's just within the forest," Ron paused for a moment, "However, you must bring twenty guards!"

Melody gawked at the gaudy throne the fairies made her remain on. Judging by the weight, it really did require twenty fairies to carry it. Despite that, she still went out with her entourage.

-------

"Enough about your little adventures in some kind of fairy tale. We need to get out of here and save Jae and the others," Nora bounced between Wendy's antlers, which created a nest of hair.

Melody frowned, "I have no idea how to get out of this dimension. When I left to find you guys, the other fairies took me out. But, I couldn't tell what they did. Furthermore, the king refuses to let me go."

"We could try looking around and asking the other fairies without the king knowing," Bridget suggested.

"I guess that's all we can do for now," Melody replied as they left the palace.

While walking straight out the perimeters, the children realized that they would always return to the settlement. It seemed that there was a barrier, which prevented the children from leaving.

"Hey, you over there. Tell me how to get out of this land," Melody probed one of the fairies.

"Princess! I am humbly grateful for your presence! Under your wonderful grace, I hope to etch this into my memory for all of eternity," the fairy bowed.

"Yeah, yeah. Just answer already."

"Why would you ever want to leave?" The fairy tilted its head.

Melody facepalmed. She had received the exact same response from the last thirteen fairies. Furthermore, they would just repeat the question without answering.

"How about we threaten the king? Using you as a hostage," even the normally silent Layla was tired of this as she proposed a solution.

"Whatever, let's go with that," Melody sighed.

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"So, unless you let me out, I will die," Melody spoke with deadpan eyes.

The fairy king yelled, enraged, "My daughter! At a tender age of eight is already thinking of suicide."

"However, I don't want to let you go. I've only had you for a day!"

"I can come back later."

"The time difference outside is different from here! You'll age faster and I won't be able to watch you grow up!"

"As I said, I can come back later," Melody grew impatient. Who knew what happened to Jae and the others in the time she spent in here.

"Excuse me," Nora interrupted their argument.

"Insolence! How dare a slime speak in my presence--huh?" he turned toward his wife, "Ania, since when did slimes talk?"

"They never did Ron," she smiled.

"Who cares about that? What I wanted to say was can't Melody just take this world with her? I mean, it's in a rock right?" Nora reasoned.

Ron opened his mouth to counter, but before he could speak, Ania replied, "Sure, why not?"

"Wait, really?" Melody responded in shock.

"Ania!" Ron exclaimed.

Ania glared at Ron, "Let her do what she wants. We'll be able to stay with her this way, so there shouldn't be any complaints."

"But-" Ron started, however, Ania covered his lips.

"Melody, just imagine exiting the space with your friends and you should be out. Remember to come back whenever you can!"

The queen waved gleefully as the children disappeared into thin air.

-------

"By the way, what are we going to do about the elves?" Bridget questioned.

Melody held up a stone with mysterious engravings and grinned, "I have some tricks to play on them."

Yes, many tricks.