Hitoshi and Mei followed the intrepid adventurers completely undetected by them, and the mist didn't pose the problem to Hitoshi that it did to the others. He didn't lose his bearings. Mei didn't pay attention enough to be bothered by it. Sometimes her blind faith in his leadership almost made Hitoshi feel uneasy, what if he did fall into a trap? he was only half fay after all, and fay could be trapped by each other anyway... and often were, they weren't the most clannish of peoples. Unlike the humans, he could feel the magic tingling in the air as they wended their way through the trees. Also unlike them, he could feel eyes watching them. He recognized the music he heard, some of it was innocent, it might just be a party of some sort, some of it definitely had a lure. At least the party didn't follow it. So they could listen to warnings. But the deeper they got into the forest, the thicker the magic around them became. "It looks like the forest is watching them now," Hitoshi said. "I think it's safe to say it doesn't like them intruding." Mei looked up. "What do we do about it?" "Nothing yet, we should watch to see if any of them get lured away." Hitoshi said.

The fay have many tricks, but no one expected what happened first. It was something like a magician's misdirection, the trees around them just seemed to get thicker till they were forced to walk almost single file, and of course, the people at the back were falling behind as they climbed over tree roots and through brackens, the final straw was crossing a babbling brook... brooks were often magical places, and a fay brook was likely to be a boundary line of territory, no one dared touch the water, as it could hold sprites, or worse, a spell. Momo's ankle had been steadily giving her more and more pain on the uneven ground without any rest, though she refused to say anything about it, but hopping the brook proved to be too much for her. As she lifted off with one foot, her ankle gave way and she plopped into the water before she could stop herself. Nothing happened, other than she was soaked in cold water and a tadpole flitted over her lap. "Momo?" She heard Shoto call. She looked up, where was he? He'd been right behind her with the horse... then she realized with a chill that she couldn't see anyone. In the space of a few moments, she'd lost the whole party.

That was all it took in a forest, but especially the Fay forest. Momo stood up and started calling for them, but no one answered, except Shoto, he couldn't seem to see her either. "Where are you?" "In the brook!" Momo didn't dare step out of it now. "What brook?" "I- the one we were crossing." "I don't see it," Shoto sounded scared now. "You're getting farther away." "I'm not moving!" Momo's heart rate began racing. "What? Are you sure?" Shoto answered, she looked down, then realized she was already several yards from the place she'd slipped from. She hadn't moved at all... the water had moved her with it...it didn't make any logical sense, but it was Fay, it didn't have too... Momo felt a little dizzy and disoriented. She pressed the medallion Hitoshi had given her. "Help..." She muttered. She started walking back up the brook, but it didn't seem to be any closer to the bank. "Hey!" She heard someone call her, a familiar voice, she looked up. Mei was on the edge of the brook waving her down. "Mei?" "Took you long enough to notice," Mei said, "Come on, you're going to get carried away like that you dolt. Don't you humans know anything?" Momo wasn't even sure it really was Mei and not a phantom of her, but she rationalized that a fay wouldn't be very likely to use someone she didn't trust at all as bait, since she was hesitating already, so she reached out and took Mei's hand, Mei pulled her up with astonishing strength but being both part elf and tinker made her stronger than most men. "You're lucky hitoshi is so soft hearted, or you'd be lost in no time," Mei chided her without much feeling or concern evident in her tone. "I hope you pay us for this," "What?.. Wait, why are you even here?" Momo asked. "Saving you, duh," Mei looked her up and down. "Oh, I see, you have a bad ankle, that's why you're an easy target... 'course, you're lucky too, fay don't usually mess with injured people, it's kind of an unwritten rule that it's not fair game. Unless they're evil... They probably won't put a spell on you, they'll just separate you from your friends." "And this is mercy from fay?" Momo was too cold and uncomfortable for her usual tact. "I'm not exactly gratified." "No one said your appreciation was a requirement," Mei took out an eye glass. "Hmm...I don't really need to use this, but it can be easier to focus one eye on it than both... don't want to see too much." She examined Momo's ankle, which was uncomfortable. "Good news, I can fix you up." "Huh? But you're not a doctor." "A tinker wears many hats," Mei pulled out some metal and tools. "It'll take me a few minutes though. We're going to stay put, Hitoshi will find your gentleman idiot and the rest of your party and if we stay put he can find us too, the forest won't disorient him the same way." "And you? Are you immune to the magic?" Momo asked. "So you do know it's there," Mei started measuring something around her ankle. "I'm a paladin, the goddess's blessing sharpens my resistance to suggestion," Momo said. "I can't sense it like a sprite can, it's more like... my thinking stays clearer than the average person's will. If I let my guard down though, I can be fooled, Camie's beaten me before." "Oh, so you trained with an illusionist," Mei stated using a small hammer to knock something into shape. "Well, that makes you the only person on this quest even slightly prepared for it. Wonder why you're not carrying the map." "I--wait, you know?" "Oh please, I'm a tinker elf, and you think I don't know who has the tool? I can practically smell it from here," Mei adjusted something so fast Momo couldn't even see what it was. "The whole forest knows already. But that could work in your favor, some mystical creatures will not help you but they won't hinder, the Dark Lord threatens them too if they ever venture outside the first, and not all of them are homebodies. Me? I could never stand the forest, even the less spooky one. Nobody there needs inventions. Elves like living closer to humans." "So you actually like people?" Momo ventured. "Like? I don't know. I need people." Mei shrugged. "I don't really consider if I like them or not... what good would it do if I did? I still need them even if I don't like them." "Surely, you like some people," Momo said. Mei considered. "Oh... well... I guess if they like inventions, I like them better. At least, I find them less ignorant, though clumsy, does it matter?" "I think, liking people, is how you enjoy what you do, I mean, why protect something you don't like? Why fight for and work your life for people you detest?" Momo said. "I suppose it makes your job easier," Mei acknowledged. Momo suddenly realized Mei was actually having a conversation with her. "Wait, you're listening to me?" "Huh?" "I--- apologies, I just thought you didn't like talking to people at length?" "Oh, it passes the time while I work," Mei twisted a peg. "As long as it's nothing too complicated, it can actually be helpful to talk so I don't get too tense, sometimes Hitoshi talks to me on purpose so I don't make a mistake. The thrill of inventing can be a little hard to resist... but you must understand that, when you create things with your magic, there's a pull to get lost in the process and forget about why you're even making it, isn't there?" Momo though.t "I believe when I was younger there was, but now I usually have no time to think of enjoying it, I have to protect people." "How boring," Mei said. "You should work for me sometime, you'd recover the joys of investing." Momo was not quite aware what a substantial honor it was to be given this invitation, but she had an idea. "Oh... I'm sure that'd be lovely, but I must finish this quest." "Eh, sure," Mei ran a polishing cloth over what she'd made. "I guess it's less of a nuisance for us all if he's dealt with. There, try it on." "Hmm?" Momo saw Mei had made some kind of brace for her, one that would fit inside the boot, it was so delicate. She slipped it on her foot. "Stand up." Mei ordered. Momo stood, to her amazement, her ankle didn't bother her, the brace took the full weight of her leg it was on and was light enough to move in with ease. "Until it heals up, that ought to be almost as flexible as your regular old ankle," Mei was beaming with pride. "What do you think?" "Thank you so much," Momo was delighted. "This is so helpful... What do I owe you?" "Worry about that later, it's not smart to take out money in here," Mei said. "Wouldn't want the fay to think you're greedy and put a pot of gold somewhere to lure you away to. Don't look at your reflection either, it might make two of you. Or you could fall in love with it, I've heard." "I know that story also," Momo said. "But are we really just going to wait for Hitoshi? My party is probably really far away by now." "Far? Not by much," Mei pulled out something else to tinker on. "You know distance isn't normal in here. With a good guide, you'd be out of the forest in no time. Eh, still, with that medallion, you'd be safer. You should probably be reunited with them as soon as possible. Don't move." Momo leaned on a tree carefully.

Shoto ended up alone, he'd stopped when Momo fell in, but he'd looked up to call the others, and found them already out of sight, much faster than they should have been able to be, and then he'd looked down and Momo was also out of sight, then her voice stopped coming also. It was just him and Soba, the horse wasn't any help, it just started munching on enchanted grass, it didn't seem to have any problem with being lost. Shoto frowned. If he had to be rescued one more time by someone else, he was going to give up thinking he was any good as a prince or a mage at all... but after a few minutes of being alone, he began to think even so, being rescued would be better than being lost forever in this forest. He tried to follow the brook, but all the trees looked the same and it didn't take long to lose any sense of direction. And no map or compass was going to help him in here.

Meanwhile the rest of the party only realized they'd lost two (three counting the horse) people after it was too late to turn back. They immediately began to panic. "We have to go back for Momo!" Kyoka cried. "We don't know which way back is!" Mina cried. "What if I flew around!" Ei said. "We can track them right! Can you hear them, Kyoka?" "Yeah we have to do something!" Deku cried. "You idiots," Bakugo said. "If we look for them, we'll all get lost! That's how these blasted forests work. It's a trick." "They could be here and just invisible..." Camie mused, "The trouble is, we have no real way to know." "So what do we do?" Denki asked. Everyone looked at Deku. Deku thought. "I mean... we could... I don't know... it seems like the only way to find them would be if we had help from a fairy... do you think there's anyway we could talk to one? Maybe explain that we're just passing through?" Bakugo laughed in derision "Wait, that was a serious suggestion?" he laughed harder.

"That's dumb, Deku," Camie said, as nicely as possible. "I might be with them on this one," Kyoka agreed. "That is dumb." "But we don't have any other options," Ochako said. "We can't leave them in here." Pause. "You know," Bakugo said grimly. "The odds of all 10 of us making it were never that great to begin with, it might just be time to cut our losses." "What?" Deku was stunned. "Think about it, you idiot, we can't help them anyway, if the rest of us get lost too, this whole stupid quest was for nothing! The map is our only ticket out of here, you really want to risk it?" Silence. "That's Momo you're talking about!" Kyoka cried angrily. "She's not a loss we're going to cut, she's our friend, and my leader." "Wake up, bunny girl, this ain't going to end well." Bakugo retorted. "You jerk--!" Denki began. "Hey, let's not get crazy!" Ei tried to intervene. "That's so mean!" Mina yelled.

They were all talking at once. Ochako gripped her staff and looked ready to panic. Camie watched all this with growing impatience as the arguing and accusations only escalated, finally she yelled "Shut it!" and everyone froze. "Y'all are embarrassing me," Camie said. "I bet any fay watching this is having a good laugh at us. If Momo was still here, she'd give you all a real tongue-lashing. I don't know what we should do, but this ain't helping anything. Why don't you try to be civil." "You know I'm right," Bakugo applied to her for support. "I know you're probably right," Camie allowed, "probably, at least, you're usually more right than people think, and hey, it might be too late to find them, that's just the facts, but if you ignore everyone's feelings like that, they won't listen to you, so don't even talk to me right now." She crossed her arms and turned away. "She's...ticked..." Denki said, as if that just now occurred to him. But at least everyone else had calmed down a little. Kyoka frowned. "You all can't really think it's good to abandon them." Sight gave a sort of croak and landed on her shoulder. "That's a good idea," Deku said. "Maybe he can find them and lead them back to us. Animals seem okay in here, don't they?" "Yeah, fay and sprites don't usually bother with animals, only trolls eat them," Mina acknowledged. "But even so, a falcon can't do much to save them if they are enchanted." "Well, no..." Deku sighed. "But... I just thought he might have a better chance than us." Kyoka crossed her arms. "That's not good enough." She looked around. "Momo and I are a team, that's how it started, I never should have let her out of my sight. Protecting her is my highest priority as her subject...I'll follow Sight, maybe I can help." "That's... dangerous..." Ochako said. "Let's just all go." "No, Bakugo has a point,' Deku swallowed. "I hate to say it, but...some of us have to get out of here...we really can't guarantee we'll find them...and I have to use the map to find the 8th, that's all I came to do... even though I really want to save them.. But I can't do that, anyway, I have no power... so it's better if one of you goes after them, who has a chance." "Kyoka..." Mina said. "I can go with you, maybe they won't bother me so much, if they do find us." "No, if I'm not around, they need someone who can sense magic," Kyoka argued. "You stay with Deku, you could be a lifesaver once you all get out of this freaky forest." Mina couldn't argue with that. "I have to stay with Bakugo," Ei said apologetically. "It's an allegiance thing," "I'm not stealing his dragon," Kyoka waved him off. "None of you have to come, me and Sight have hunted together plenty, even if he's more Momo's bird, he'll listen to me." Sight perched on her wrist obligingly. Ochako looked up. "I could..." "Nah," Denki said. "You're working for Deku, remember. You'd better stick with him. Anyway, it's pretty clear what has to be done." He shrugged. "I'll go with her." Everyone stared at him. "What?" Mina said. "Why would you--?" "I'm expendable," Denki said, "I don't have any real reason to be here other than you all asked me to come along, and I'm not gonna be real useful in the North anyway, now, since the monsters aren't super affected by my powers. So if I get lost in here, it won't matter much to the party. Plus, I can take Tibult, and animals don't get lost in here as easily so maybe it'll be okay." Kyoka blinked at him. "You realize," Bakugo said flatly, "that the second you leave the main party, you could be caught in an enchantment that'll last 100 years." "Well... I mean, it'd make a great story..." Denki rubbed his neck nervously. "Come on don't try to talk me out of it, dude, I'm scared enough as it is."

"Aw..." Camie was touched. "You're so brave... I take back everything I ever thought about bards being a nuisance." "What?" Denki gave her a weird look. "Wait a second--" Kyoka began. "Fine then." Bakugo tired of this. "Go on, try not to make an ass of yourself, like in that one story. The rest of us should get moving, we'll get turned into stone." "Be careful, you guys,"O chako said to them. "Yeah, yell if you need help," Mina said. "We'll wait for you a bit once we're out of the forest," Ei offered. "Move it!" Bakugo was already walking away. "Hey, Bakugo, wait, you don't have the map..." Deku raced after him. "Bye guys..." Sight lifted up and flew into a tree, Kyoka and Denki and Tibult began to follow him.

"You didn't have to do that," Kyoka muttered. "No, but someone had to," Denki said. "Like I said, I just make the most sense... geez this place is creepy." To his surprise, Kyoka awkwardly grabbed his hand. "We should try not to get separated," she said uncomfortably. "It's safer that way... I can't believe Momo was stupid enough to get lost, for someone who's so smart, she can be really careless with her own safety." Denki tried to ignore the fact that a girl was holding his hand willingly, and focus on following the falcon. "Yeah, well, maybe she got distracted by something." "I can't believe that prince is with her instead," Kyoka said. "I've completely failed as her guard." "It's not like it was planned," Denki said. "But uh... on the subject of that... You kind of think there might be something going on there?" Kyoka stiffened. "Right, right, tribe of warriors, I keep forgetting," Denki said. "How could you forget that?" Kyoka said testily. "I don't know, you two seem normal the rest of the time," Denki didn't think much of saying that, but Kyoka seemed surprised. "We do?" "Well yeah." "We don't seem...like a different breed, almost?" "Not really... other than when you shove people against trees and into haystacks, that's not exactly normal, though in this party..." Kyoka surprisingly laughed just a little. "I guess I was a little quick to react back then...it feels like a long time ago...I'm sorry for doing those things, I thought no one in the village could be trusted...I still think that, actually, but I guess you passed the test of time. And you're not completely useless, even if you're dumb most of the time." "Stop, I'll get a big head," Denki said sarcastically.                                                                                                                     "It's not like we've spent much time doing normal things anyway," Kyoka changed the subject. "It's just been walking, fighting, walking, fighting. And trying not to get kidnapped. Still the warriors say you get to know someone's true nature when you're in a life or death situation with them." "See, I don't exactly agree," Denki said. "I mean, you know whether they'll leave you hanging or not, sure, and I guess if you're a warrior or a knight or something that's probably all you care about, but for an ordinary fellow like me, you don't know what someone's really like unless you get to see them have fun. People who can't relax are just boring to be around, even if they're tough." Kyoka looked straight ahead. "I suppose that might be true, I must be pretty boring then, I never relax."                                                                                                                                              "Well, some people are fun because they never relax," Denki admitted. "Bakugo's certainly interesting, truly, the kind of character a bard can only dream of meeting usually, not sure how his parents handled him...or he handled them, I guess, based on what you ladies said about them... but you relax sometimes, when you think no one's watching." "Oh really?" Kyoka said, a little warily. "Just when were you watching then?" "Don't get a bee in your bonnet! I just meant when the party is walking, or camping, and nothing bad is happening, and you loosen up a little. Sheesh," Denki said, a little annoyed. "Oh," Kyoka watched Sight for a while. "It's not like I try to be hard on people all the time, I've just always been that way, even with the tribe. Unless it was people I knew well." "So you cover up your shyness by being aggressive?" Denki said, understanding dawning. "My what?" Kyoka flushed. "Shyness? You know, being shy around people? It's pretty normal, it's actually kind of an ordinary reason for being on edge, but it's nice to know there's something actually human about you." "What is that supposed to mean!" "You know, how you try to be too tough and perfect so everyone can rely on you?" Denki said easily. "It's way too intimidating, but being a little shy makes it seem more equal. You should be happy about it, my parents used to wish I was shy so I'd stop talking to strangers, and they were totally right, that's how I ended up stuck on this quest. Just think, if I kept my mouth shut, I might be home right now." "You don't have a home, really," Kyoka said. "No more than I do. You just move around." "Is it that obvious?" Denki was a little crestfallen. "I mean, houses are expensive, and I'd as soon as live in a pig sty than the rundown dumps some people rent, so what choice do I have?"                                                                                                                                                                                        "It's not so bad," Kyoka admitted. "Moving around a lot gives a person a depth of understanding about their country, most people never go far from their own stomping grounds, they have no real idea what anyone else deals with, or is concerned about.... I was like that, too. But I know a lot more now. Even if I didn't enjoy it... but you seem to like it okay, so if it suits you, what's wrong with that?" "Did you actually just not criticize me?" Denki said. "I won't make a habit of it if you're going to say crap like that," Kyoka was embarrassed. So she really was shy... that was kind of cute actually... "I wouldn't mind having a home though," he said aloud. "I like the village life just fine. It's too bad you hated it so much." "Why? What's it to you?" Kyoka said. "Well, if you didn't hate it, you might come visit sometime," Denki said. "You know, just to keep track of progress after all this is over." Pause. "I mean, maybe I could put up with it every once in a while," Kyoka said. "Just not Grave Village," "Eh, who likes that anyway?" Denki shrugged.

Secretly he had expected an immediate refusal, it was almost like Kyoka was starting to rethink her prejudice... but that was probably too good to be true... wait, why would he even be happy about that? It wasn't like they really were close at all...Looking around, it dawned on him that he'd agreed to do something pretty dangerous, with her, alone...well, and Tibult... that seemed like something people who were close would have done... He'd never really had close friends like that before, was there some way to know that for sure? He glanced at Kyoka. "What?" She finally caught him. "Nothing...uh...sorry someone more helpful couldn't come." "Hmm? Oh, it's fine." She shrugged. "Maybe you can charm a fairy into submission." "Actually, bards can do that... but that sounds like something a next level sort of guy would be able to do, not me..." Denki said. "Wait, you can do that?" Kyoka said. "I just said I'm probably not powerful enough to," Denki said. Kyoka let go of his hand. "Well, it's worth a shot, get out your lute and do something." "What? Now? I don't even know what to play." "Pick something! This could be life or death." "That kind of pressure isn't helping!" Denki almost whined. But he took his lute. "My mind is blank." Kyoka sighed. "All right... just follow me." She started to sing:

Far across the land

There I'll find my home

If you'll take my hand

Guide me as I roam

Verse 1 -

I have walked a thousand miles

To find where I belong

Searched the world and all its isles

But still I wander on...

2nd Mini Chorus -

Far across the land

Waiting there for me

All I ever planned

Just as I had dreamed

Verse 2 -

I've been lost for far too long

I need to find my way

Trying hard to carry on

But still feel far away

First Full Chorus -

Far across the land

There I'll find my home

If you'll take my hand

Guide me as I roam

Far across the land

Waiting there for me

All I ever planned

Just as I had dreamed

Middle 8 -

Give me strength to believe

When I'm losing faith

Help me past the darkness

In my mind

(Eurielle- Far Across the Land )

There was a faint stirring in the trees as Denki played along to this (secretly surprised at how good her voice was), and then something popped out of a large flower.