My Long Lost Mate - Chapter 168

“But the Wishing Tree is dead,” said one of the twins, causing Maggie, who was unwilling to look their way, to turn her head towards them in confusion.

“See? They won’t help us,” Maggie scowled, folding her arms to her chest. “Fairies are not kind creatures,” she whispered, making sure to keep her voice low so that they wouldn’t hear her.

“What do you mean it’s dead?” I asked the fairies.

“Someone came here a few days ago and killed the Wishing Tree,” explained the brother, quickly followed by the sister. “We had just crawled out of our holes yesterday, so we didn’t know who or what had come and wreaked havoc here. But everyone is very angry.”

To me, the news sounded no less than a tragedy, as it meant that I wouldn’t be able to save Luke from the poison, and that all of my efforts to come here would be in vain. That couldn’t be. That shouldn’t be.

“Don’t try to make me laugh,” Maggie faked a laugh, still thinking badly about them. “Who in the absolute hell would be able to kill the Wishing Tree? It’s a tree so sacred that it would purify the darkest of hearts with a single touch, and you’re saying that it’s dead?”

“You can see it for yourself if you don’t believe us,” the brother said calmly, not taking Maggie’s constant annoying behavior personally. “There will be no more leaves or fruits on the Wishing Tree. All that’s left is a dead tree.”

Then what should we do if what they said was true? There was no way that I would go back empty-handed, and there was also no way that I would go back without bringing back the cure for Luke’s poison.

“I don’t believe you,” Maggie said, ignoring the words of the two fairies. “All the fairies I’ve met aren’t exactly the kindest creatures, so what made the two of you different? I know that honesty is not your strongest suit.”

Is she not being too straightforward?

“Have you ever met a fairy who refused to eat the prey that got caught in their trap?” The brother responded to Maggie’s distrust, making her fall silent in response to the question. She had never met such a fairy before. “We used to have a witch as our friend,” he looked at his twin sister, smiling wryly at the memory. “But then she left us to live on the other side. We only have each other now.”

Despite the fairies’ gloomy backstory, Maggie still refused to trust them. Just what kind of past encounters did she have with the fairies that made her think so little of them? I don’t think they’re all that bad.

Though they didn’t look exactly like the fairies in the storybook, they must have had a similar kind nature, right?

“We can lead you to the Wishing Tree if you want,” the twin sister offered, making Maggie raise her brows questioningly. “But before that, we will need you to help us with something.”

“What is it?” I asked expectantly, sincerely hoping that it would be something that I or Maggie could help with. Though they claimed the Wishing Tree was no longer alive, I’ll have to see it for myself to believe it. I refused to go back without even trying.

“Do you see this garden around you?” The sister then opened her arms wide, gesturing to her very own sticky garden. “There used to be hundreds of sticky flowers around here, but there are only a few of them left because of the last storm. It will take them around one to two months to grow into a fully functioning trap, so we were wondering if you could help us with it.”

“It’s hard for us to look for something to eat with such little sticky flowers,” added the brother. “It has been days since our last meal.”

Now that everything has calmed down, I took the time to admire the massive garden we were in. The flower that saved my life was red and possibly twice my height, surrounded by a yellowish powder that hung in the air from its root to the very top of its body.

I turned to Maggie, knowing full well that she was the only one who could help us with it. Among her potion collection, there should be a potion that could help the fairies solve their problem, right? And even if there isn’t, she could easily make one with her amazing potion-making ability, no?

Maggie, noticing my stare, turned to look at me and immediately scowled.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she hissed, clearly unimpressed with my expectation of her. “That kind of trick will only work with your mate.”

“But they’re our only choice!” I urged, pulling her hand. “We won’t have to waste too much time looking for the Wishing Tree, and it’s safer for us to go with them!”

“Safer, how?”

“Just look at their size!” I said, pointing at the two fairies whose knees are taller than me, “Who in their right mind would attack a creature this big?”

“Exactly! What if they attack us?”

“Then do you know how to get to the Wishing Tree? We don’t even have Coco with us.”

Both of us fell silent at each other’s question, both not knowing a better solution to the problem at hand. While what Maggie said about not trusting them was true, we can’t waste any more time going around this place looking for the Wishing Tree.

Our biggest problem was our limited time.

Frustrated, Maggie raked through her already messy hair and cursed loudly, making even the fairies to be surprised by her choice of words. They have never heard of someone spouting bad words with such ease.

“If anything goes wrong,” Maggie pulled me by my shoulders, squeezing them with her palms. “It’s on you.”

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nodded reassuringly to Maggie, telling her that this was the right choice. Even if something were to happen, that would be a matter we should worry about later. I’d prefer to worry about the matters at hand rather than the matters that have yet to happen. It would only make my head hurt.

Going through her belongings, she pulled out a bottle with bright green liquid inside, with the bottle only the size of her palm. Though she did say that she could make any potion in the world, I didn’t expect her to go around with so many potions in her bag. How did she even fit so many bottles inside a bag that wasn’t even as big as her head?

As Maggie pulled the lid off the bottle, a green mist could be seen coming out of the bottle, and the liquid inside started to make bubbles as if it was boiling. She then asked for the flower’s sticky powder from the fairies, adding it to her potion.

She swirled the bottle around, mixing them together, before she finally poured the potion onto the ground, letting the magic happen. But to my and the fairies’ surprise, instead of growing more sticky flowers, the potion made the previously red flowers turn brown, wilting as if it was fall.

The fairies, who were watching the scene unfold, quickly became enraged and shouted an earth-shattering shout.

“YOU!! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY FLOWERS?!”

“M-Maggie! What did you do to the flowers?” I panicked, desperately pulling her hand for an answer. Did she intentionally do that to the flowers because she didn’t like the fairies? If so, then we’re all dead!! Shouldn’t I take back the money I kept aside for her?

Unlike the three of us who had a rise in emotions, Maggie stayed calm and only sighed, beckoning for us to watch the garden for a little while before barking like a dog, as she said.

As she watched us all panicked and mad, the ground under us started to shake, but not because of the fairies. It was shaking so badly that even the fairies were swaying left and right, making the ground shake even more.

Both Maggie and I didn’t have any choice but to be controlled by the force, holding onto the fairies’ legs for dear life.

After a few moments, a bunch of newly born sticky flowers appeared from underground, painting the scenery with both the colors red and yellow at the same time. Their stems grew as tall as the fairies’ waists, fresher and stickier than ever. The previously barren garden was now filled with tall flowers, solving the fairies’ problem at once.

Seeing the magnificent result of her potion, Maggie couldn’t hide the smirk on her face, which I had no choice but to notice, making her hold her head high, ready to boast about her creation.

“Ha! Did you see how—” before she could boast about her potion, her sentence was cut short by a loud scream, which happened to come from someone falling from the sky.

“COCOOOO!!!! I’M A WOLF, NOT A FREAKING—AAAHHHHH—BIRD!!”