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"𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵"

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𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆:

𝘞𝘐𝘓𝘋 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘯

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(𝟎𝟎𝟖) 𝐅𝐔𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓:

𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘺𝘰𝘬𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺.

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒, 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐃𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄, 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄

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AMIDST THE CHAOS OF LOSING THEIR SUPPLIES, SATORU ALMOST FALLING OFF THE CLIFF AND THE LONG JOURNEY. THE GROUP DECIDED TO TAKE A SHORT BREAK TO COLLECT THEIR THOUGHTS AND TO TAKE A BREATHER FROM THEIR JOURNEY.

With a short walk and general light chatter to ease the mood, the party eventually arrived to the shoreline. The sky was grey, thunder rumbling in the distance, the sandy shore covered in fleets of ships torn down to splinters and clusters of wood. Normally while Chiyoko didn't mind stormy weather during the night time as it often helped her sleep, the thought of sailing across this dangerous sea made her feel uneasy.

Maki slid her sword into her sheath as she looked around the destroyed ships. This was a dangerous journey but she had to find the second sugar plum princess, to restore her kingdom and make things right.

The Captain inspected the boats, his gloved hands gently lifting up the wood. "You two", Suguru turned his attention to the two girls, "Satoru and I will work on this boat, since we lost our supplies we need you two to go and gather them for us please", he requested politely.

Chiyoko nodded her head in response while Maki clicked her tongue, knowing well she hadn't sailed in a while since she was a child. She kind of missed the feeling.

The nutcracker girl walked towards Chiyoko, her voice was soft as she instructed. "Chiyoko, come with me", the green haired girl walked and the cursed human girl followed closely in her footsteps, curious to know where Maki was taking her.

༄ؘ ✧.* 🩰 ✧.*༄

With a few minute walk, the two girls eventually reached the location; the two reaching a land of dry grass and dying plans. The land clearly barren and dying out.

As Chiyoko was about to ask what they were doing in this area, she heard the nutcracker girl muttering under her breath. "The well used to be around here", but as her dark green colored hues scanned the ground, she noticed the rocks around her and started to kick them away.

The human girls crystalline hues spotted a metal lid cover as the rocks were properly removed. Maki dug the blade of her sword into the small gaps of the lid and lifted it up, "the mouse kings army definitely must've capped this", the nutcracker girl lifted the lid off after managing to get the top off.

The human girl watched as suddenly the air started to sparkle as small little fairies started to fly in the air, pink, yellow and green lights flickered, shimmering sweetly as some started to fly around both Chiyoko and Maki.

A small flower fairy with short ginger hair, with pink wings and a pink dress flew to Maki. Her voice was too soft to be heard by Chiyoko but Maki seemed to perfectly understand her. "Hey, don't mention it. You helped me out and now it's time I help you and your people out too", the green haired girl smiled sweetly at the fairy, the smile and how she spoke was truly sincere.

Chiyoko smiled softly at the sight of the fairies flying around. The soft childlike wander in her eyes caught Maki's attention and it made the cursed princess smile softly, "the mouse kings army destroyed valley here and trapped them in the well, they really helped me out when I was cursed and I agreed to help them as soon as I could", the wooden girl answered her question.

The white haired girl listened, the fairies started to dance around her as their wings fluttered little specks of glittering light. Their voices mimicked soft jingling bells and little soft whispers.

"What is it? What are you saying?", Chiyoko asked politely, admitting that she couldn't understand the languages of the fairies of Parthenia, like most people seemed to do so.

"They say you're beautiful", Maki translated the fairies for her but part of it also spoke her truth as she looked at Chiyoko. She truly didn't realize how beautiful Chiyoko was until she looked at her clearly in the light; but her appearance wasn't the only thing beautiful about her, it was also her heart and soul.

The white haired girl bashfully looked away, her cheeks turning into a soft pink color while the fairies around her giggled sweetly at the sight. The fairy with short finger hair even left a soft kiss on her cheek before joining her friends.

The fairies started to dance around The Valley, their light and glitter surrounding the area of their botanical magic. The land once barren, was now dressed with green grass that softened the harsh planes, the flowers bloomed and plants all around started to spring, decorations and food were now visible to Chiyoko and Maki's eyes.

In the trees that once never showed a sprout of life, now we're resurrected; the leaves reproduced and to a pleasant surprise so did apples, bright red and fresh from the tree itself.

As Chiyoko and Maki walked through The Valley, watching the magic unfold around them. The sight was truly something to behold. Suddenly, something dropped over Maki's head and above her, she spotted the fairy with brown hair and pink wings waving to her with a bright smile.

Suddenly without even the intention, an apple landed in the wooden girls hand. An eyebrow lifted it up and her lips slightly curved to the side, "Hey look! Some supplies!", she exclaimed plainly, shrugging her shoulders in relief.

Chiyoko chuckled softly and went to gather more apples, her hand slowly reaching out to the fresh fruits from the tree branch.

Little did she know, in the distance, the nutcracker princess was staring at her in the distance. While she gathered as much apples as she could possibly hold, she couldn't stop her gaze from staring at the girl who possessed white hair, blue crystalline eyes, snowy pale skin and an elegant poised aura to her. While she was only made out of wood and her heart would be too, her heart was pounding rapidly, beyond her control.

She tried to quiet down her heart rapidly racing, but to calm it was merely impossible. It was as if the human girl had an unknowing grip on her.

Little did Chiyoko know of Maki's staring towards at her, the girl picked out the apples and her crystalline eyes followed the sparkling trails of the fairies around her. Her legs and mind following the fairies as she followed them, she swirling unintentionally and sparkles started to surround her. The fairies drew closer to her, as if they were drawn to something in the human girl.

Noticing this, the cursed nutcracker princess walked forward to get a closer view of this. But she was pushed by the fairies, going at a faster pace towards the human girl in her steps. The green haired girl felt the blood rushing to her cheeks, luckily being made out of wood nobody could tell that she was blushing but it didn't make it any better for her.

Soon the fairies brought the two girls together, both the cursed princess and the cursed human girl were brought closer to each other. Their bodies touching as they noticed how close they were, both were left flustered while the fairies danced together.

Chiyoko could feel her heart pounding vigorously in her chest, she sworn it could've burst out of her ribcage. Despite Maki being made out of wood, Chiyoko couldn't help but admire how truly beautiful she was up close, even when she saw Maki as a human in her dream. She didn't have the time to admire how beautiful she truly was. Her defined features, her sharp intense gaze with her green eyes, her long green hair tied in a high ponytail and how she carried herself with strength and pride and even watching her on this trip, she could see that the nutcracker princess truly did have the heart of an honorable hero. The human girl couldn't help but feel her pale cheeks darken with a soft pink color.

The fairies noticing the two together, a few flew towards their hands and lifted, both Maki and Chiyoko's hands.

"Hey, what're you doing?", Maki tried to pull her hand away but the fairies were surrounding her and Chiyoko's actions were more curious than Maki's brash one. Lifting their hands, the fairies tried to get their hands closer but suddenly a loud sound startled the fairies, alongside the earth beneath Maki and Chiyoko started to shake as well.

The sounds started growing louder and the shaking force of the ground grew more powerful, causing the flower fairies to scatter in panic and fear while Chiyoko's legs started to feel wobbly at the force. Maki gently took a hold on Chiyoko's arm and pulled her behind her, but what she saw was quite a surprise.

A giant rock monster was approaching them, releasing a bellowing roar towards them.

"Chiyoko! We have to run now!", Maki shouted, knowing that this monster was too powerful for her to handle, sure she was tough and knew her strength but she couldn't afford herself or her comrades to be reckless. The nutcracker and the human girl hands grasped each others as they ran out of the forest, running to the beach where Suguru and Satoru had hopefully finished their boat.

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FRIENDS INTRODUCED IN THIS CHAPTER:

1800ACADEMIA-

QUESTION FOR CHAPTER:

AHHHHH! YESSS WE GOT SOME MAKI X CHIYOKO CONTENT COOKING UP RN!

DID YOU LIKE THIS DANCE SCENE?👀

EXTRA NOTES ON THE CHAPTER (ANA RANTS):

I'M SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER WAS QUITE SHORT!

I WANTED IT TO BE A BIT LONGER BUT MY MOTIVATION WAS LIKE "NOPE"!🥲

BUT I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER!

WE LUCKILY GOT AN ACTION PACKED SCENE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!

HOPEFULLY SOME MORE SUGURU X SATORU AND CHIYOKO X MAKI CONTENT TOO!

IT MIGHT BE SMALL BUT IT WILL BE SOMETHING AT LEAST!🥰

SEE YOU GUYS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!🫶🏻

LOVE YOU! MWAH!😘❤️

LEAVE A REVIEW (OF THE CHAPTER OR THE BOOK IN GENERAL) HERE:

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