The whole crew followed the glowing golden dotted line stretching out in front of us.
Along the way we saw tons of weird plants we'd never laid eyes on before, plus these funny-looking little critters scampering around.
After weaving through a fre trippy forest made of glowing mushrooms and vines that straight-up danced, the golden line suddenly vanished.
In its place, a massive golden arrow hovered in midair, pulsing with light.
It pointed straight at this colossal emerald-green plant-thing towering in front of us.
It looked like someone took a vine and supersized it a few thousand times—thick green tendrils twisted and coiled together into one giant mass.
And right there on one of the biggest vines hung the super-familiar Fairy Tail guild mark!
Down at the very bottom, where all the vines met the ground, someone had carved a huge wooden door.
Lucy stared up at the bizarre "building" and blurted out, "Whoa—that is one weird-looking house!"
"This isn't just a house," Lisanna said with a proud little grin. "The entire guild is actually a super-giant magical item!"
"In emergencies it can activate a hidden mode, dive underground with the whole building and everyone inside, and zip us off to safety in seconds!"
Natsu was already charging toward the door, practically bouncing with excitement, when Lisanna yelled, "Hold up, Natsu! Wait! Did you forget Erza's with us?!"
"If the people here spot Erza, they'll think the kingdom's 'Fairy Hunter' showed up and hit the emergency teleport button faster than you can say 'flame-brain'!"
Natsu froze mid-step, scratched his spiky head for a couple seconds, then laughed sheepishly. "Oh yeah… totally forgot. My bad!"
Lucy tilted her head, totally lost. "What's wrong with Erza? Why would everyone here freak out and run the second they see her?"
Mira giggled, raising one finger like a teacher. "In this world, Erza's the enemy~"
"She's known as the 'Fairy Hunter'—a terrifying wizard who hunts down Fairy Tail members for the kingdom."
"When Lisanna first saw Erza back in Aslant, her face went white as a sheet. She almost grabbed our hands and bolted!"
"Whaaaaat?!" Lucy's eyes nearly popped out of her skull as she gawked at Erza in disbelief.
"Erza… the bad guy?! No way!"
"Trust me, I was shocked too," Lisanna said, sticking her tongue out playfully. "First time I saw her, I thought I was done for."
"Looks like the two Erzas are totally identical, just like me and this world's Lisanna."
"The only differences are probably personality and last name. This world's Erza has one—she's Erza Nightwalker."
Once everyone finished explaining, a pale-blue magic circle flashed in front of Roger.
[Concealment Magic]
An invisible ripple spread out from him, washing over the entire group.
The next second, our bodies started turning transparent until we vanished completely—though we could still see each other perfectly.
"Now we can head straight in," Roger said calmly. "Once we're inside and the timing's right, I'll drop the spell."
Invisible, we walked up to the wooden door. Roger, leading the way, pushed it open with a long creeeeeeak.
Inside, the guild hall was kinda dim, decorated in a rough, laid-back style.
Behind the bar, a punk-rock Lucy in leather battle armor with her long blonde hair tied into a side braid using a skull clip was lazily wiping a glass.
She heard the door and looked up, frowning at the empty doorway.
"Did the wind blow it open?"
She set the glass down, marched over, and tried to slam the door shut with both hands.
Halfway closed, the door suddenly stopped—like it hit an invisible wall—and bounced back a little.
"Huh?" Punk-Lucy narrowed her eyes and shoved harder, muscles flexing in her arms as she pushed for all she was worth.
But the door just wouldn't close those last few inches.
Poor invisible Lucy, caught between the door and the frame, had both hands clamped over her mouth, eyes rolling back from the pain, screaming inside her head:
(If you can't close it, just wait a sec! Why is the other me so freaking aggressive?!)
The pressure kept building until Lucy couldn't hold it in anymore—a tiny, muffled "Owie—!" slipped out.
Punk-Lucy froze the instant she heard a girl's pained squeak right next to her.
Seizing the opening, squished-almost-flat Lucy twisted sideways, gritted her teeth, and squeezed inside.
"Weird…" Punk-Lucy reached out, patting the air in the door crack, but felt nothing. "Was that… just my imagination?"
She gave one last shove—CLUNK—the door finally shut nice and easy.
Punk-Lucy stared at the closed door, brow furrowed. "Why'd it close so smoothly this time?"
Lucy, finally free, rubbed her red, swollen cheeks and arms, tears in her eyes.
(That hurt so bad!! Being invisible is way too inconvenient!!)
Roger was about to drop the spell when someone lightly poked his side.
He glanced over—Mira was grinning mischievously and pointing at Natsu, who was still poking around curiously.
Before she even said a word, Roger caught the playful glint in her eye, smirked, and gave her a tiny nod.
Permission granted.
Mira's smile widened. She tiptoed behind Natsu, then gently shoved him right in the back.
Totally unprepared, Natsu stumbled forward several steps before catching his balance.
The second he left his original spot, the concealment spell on him vanished.
He stood there frozen, locking eyes with the guild members who were now staring at him like he'd dropped out of the sky.
Macao—hair slicked back, wearing glasses, looking like a total intellectual—pointed at him and blurted, "Natsu?! When did you get here?!"
"Uh—" Natsu flailed his arms. "Magic! I got here by magic!"
"And I'm not the Natsu you know! I'm from another world!"
Punk-Lucy strode over, arms crossed, looking super skeptical.
Without warning she grabbed his head with both hands, turning it left and right like she was inspecting fruit, then ruffled his spiky hair hard.
"You…" she squinted. "Did you smash your head while running from the kingdom army or something? You're talking total nonsense."
"No way!" Natsu yanked free, spun around, and yelled at the empty spot he'd just been pushed from.
"Hey! Who shoved me just now?! And you guys can come out already!"
Three seconds later… still nothing. No one appeared.
Natsu's eye twitched. He rolled up nonexistent sleeves and lunged at where he was sure his friends were standing.
He grabbed nothing but air and face-planted hard.
"Huh?" Natsu looked up, three giant question marks popping over his head. "Why'd I miss? I can smell Lucy and Happy right there—"
"You little creep!!" Punk-Lucy exploded, steam practically shooting from her ears.
She dashed forward, locked her left arm around his neck, and yanked him down into a perfect headlock, both their waists bending.
"Since when do you sniff people?! Looks like someone needs a lesson!"
"EXECUTION TIME!!"
"OHHHH YEAH!!" the guys in the back cheered.
"There it is! Lucy's Ultimate Punishment Move #28—Hell Guillotine!!"
Over by the wall, a midriff-baring Reby who'd been focused on fixing some complicated machine finally snapped.
Veins popping, she whipped around and pointed a wrench at Punk-Lucy.
"Hey, loudmouth Lucy! Can't you see I'm trying to work here?! Quit yelling, you're driving me nuts!"
"WHAT?!" Punk-Lucy shoved half-dizzy Natsu aside and marched over until their foreheads bonked.
"I'm talking normally! You picking a fight, gearhead?!"
"Your 'normal' could wake up prisoners in the royal capital!" Reby shot back, shoving her forehead harder. "You walking noise machine!!"
"Haha, everyone here is exactly as fun as Lisanna said~" a cheerful voice echoed through the hall, dripping with amusement.
Every single person froze and whipped toward the bar.
Standing there was a Mira in a purple dress—the Edolas Mira everyone knew.
Feeling all the stares, she waved her hands frantically, looking confused herself.
"That wasn't me, I swear!"
She pointed toward the western corner. "The voice came from over there."
Everyone followed her finger.
The empty corner shimmered like heat waves, then—poof—a beaming Mira slowly faded into view.
She waved happily. "Hi, everyone! Super nice to meet you all~ I'm Mira!"
"(°□°)???"
"(°□°?)∑WHAAAA—!!!"
Gray—bundled up in ten layers of clothes until he looked like a walking snowball—nearly had his eyes pop out.
He whipped his head back and forth between the two Miras so fast it was a blur.
"T-T-TWO MIRAS?!"
"Hey now, it's not just two Miras~" Kana materialized right next to her, flipping her hair dramatically and winking. "You've got two Kanas too! Surprise!"
"W-WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" Macao yelled, shoving his glasses up and staring like his brain had blue-screened.
"Why are there suddenly two big-sis Kanas?!"
"And there's more!" Lisanna chirped, popping into view on Mira's other side.
She grabbed the shy Edolas Lisanna in a big hug and squished their cheeks together for everyone to see.
"Ta-da! Two totally identical Lisannas! Shocked? Surprised?!"
"L-L-LISANNA?!" The Edolas guild members didn't just gasp this time—they screamed like they'd seen a ghost.
If two Miras and two Kanas were shocking, two living, breathing Lisannas showing up at the same time was pure horror-movie terror.
Gray raised a trembling hand, face white as paper, voice shaking.
"L-Lisanna… how… you fell off that cliff two years ago when the kingdom army was chasing you!"
Someone else chimed in, "We searched the bottom for three days straight and never found your bo—"
Gray clutched his head, pupils shaking, and let out a blood-curdling scream.
"ARE YOU A GHOST?!"
"No way!" Punk-Lucy's heart was pounding, but she took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, and shook her head.
"Even if one was a ghost, there can't be two!"
Then Natsu's words from earlier clicked, plus all these "doubles" popping up one after another…
An insane idea formed in her head.
She stared at the group, eyes wide with disbelief.
"No freaking way… you guys really are from another world?!"
"Yep," Roger's voice rang out.
One by one, the rest of us stepped out of thin air, the concealment spell dropping like a curtain.
Punk-Lucy locked eyes with the cute, gentle-looking Lucy across from her and nearly choked.
She pointed with a shaking finger, voice cracking:
"You—you're—ME?!"
read more inpat***
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