Nephele | Fairy Tail

Chapter 6

Good lucks and goodbyes coursed through the air as Rei stood at the town's main entrance and exit. Evelyn stood near her, saying her goodbyes to her parents and friends who had come to see her off. Sky was hovering in the air next to Rei, crossing her arms with a slightly impatient look on her face. The trio had been trying to leave for at least 10 minutes, but they were stuck there where nearly the entire town had gathered to see them off.

Rei had already said her goodbyes to Vik and Lucas, and they were standing toward the front of the crowd waiting to watch their adoptive daughter leave.

"Alright, I think it's finally time we leave," Rei announced when Evelyn returned to her side after she finished talking to her parents.

There was another round of good lucks before Rei waved to the crowd and turned to walk out of the town. Rei could still hear everyone's chatter even as they made it a little way down the path that led through the forest that surrounded the town. Though it faded soon and she let out a sigh.

"That took longer than I expected," Sky stated with an annoyed huff.

"What did you expect? Mayor Walters had to make a speech and Kaleb needed to dramatically tell me that the town would be fine without me and Evelyn couldn't leave without saying goodbye to her parents." Rei said, only earning an eye roll from Sky.

"So, what exactly is our route to Era?" Evelyn questioned.

"I'll show you exactly what it is when we stop, but we're gonna be walking pretty much all day today. Our plan is to make it to Lyca before sundown and eat there. We'll also sleep there before leaving early in the morning." Rei explained, earning a nod from Evelyn.

"Yes, then once we get to Bryxton, we're going to have our first train ride of many," Sky said.

Rei tensed and glared at Sky, "I don't see the point of trains. They don't do anything and they're death traps. Why should we have to ride in them?"

"Because otherwise, this trip would take much longer than a month or two," Sky retorted, crossing her arms.

"I would rather travel across Fiore on foot than on trains," Rei growled, also crossing her arms.

"I'd rather not do that," Evelyn said, earning a glare from Rei and a nod of agreement from Sky. "What? No one but you would want to travel across all of Fiore on foot instead of riding vehicles."

"Whatever," Rei grumbled.

The next few hours went by quickly for Rei as they made their way in and out of the forest that covered the hilly landscape that Lotus and any towns within a 20-mile radius of Lotus. Though, her energy wasn't shared by Evelyn, or even Sky, who had gotten tired of flying and was laying on top of Rei's backpack. Yet, somehow, Rei was able to keep the two from bickering too much and they eventually made it to the small village of Lyca before the sun had even started setting.

Lyca was a small village, even smaller than Lotus, that was completely surrounded by forest, much like how Lotus was. Only Lyca wasn't on the water like Lotus. It was also like it was in the forest instead of in a clearing in the forest. Trees were everywhere, in between and in front of buildings and Rei almost felt like she was still in the forest and hadn't just walked into a town.

Rei had been to the village once when she was younger and had wanted to explore the towns around Lotus. Lyca was the furthest from Lotus out of the towns she visited, meaning everything after Lyca was new territory for the dragon slayer, which excited her.

"Let's find somewhere to eat, I'm starving," Rei said as they walked through the town. The townspeople seemed to be eyeing them a bit suspiciously, though Rei didn't pay too much attention to it as they wandered into a small tavern.