The Road to Era [Traveling]

"Well, I don't suppose this room will be in such a bad shape when we return," Mauveine commented, as Aeon closed the door behind them and walked down the stairs. As usual, she sat perched on Aeon's shoulder. The cool air of dawn was very invigorating, the kind that made any undertaking seem enjoyable. Today was the day Aeon and her Exceed would set out to get to the capital city of Fiore, Era. The much spoken of tournament would commence pretty soon, and Aeon was not intent on missing it for anything. As soon as she had heard about it in the guild, she had immediately signed up for it. And while she would have liked to have left earlier, she had had some few things to settle in Magnolia. But now that all those had been taken care of, there was nothing else keeping them.

"I'll kind of miss Magnolia," Aeon said, as she joined the street, which would have been rather populated, but for the reason that it was still rather early to be up and about. She walked at a leisurely pace, which for others would be considered a little fast. The journey was going to be rather long, because she would have to touch down at about five towns before arriving at their destination. However, if she impatiently took off at a very fast pace, she might not have enough strength left for the rest of the way. Besides, Aeon, being an outdoorsy kind of girl, liked to travel.

"Just an afterthought, Aeon, but you do know that there's a train station somewhere in Magnolia, right? I wonder what it would be like to ride a train." Aeon glanced sideways at Mauve. "And miss out on all the fresh air and beautiful country sides? Nah, I don't think that's a good idea. Besides, I think trains are kind of noisy. Not to mention the price. Ten thousand jewels." She laughed incredulously. "I think I'd rather walk, and spend the money on something else." Mauveine shrugged. "Well, you do have a point," she agreed, noting mentally that Aeon was the one who would do most, if not all the traveling for her. That was one of the advantages of being little and cute.

As they walked down the streets, Mauveine reached over and unzipped open the knapsack that Aeon wore strapped to her back. Aeon raised an eyebrow, but continued walking. Of course, Mauveine was too busy to see the gesture, though she offered an explanation for her actions. "I'm looking for the map. It would be wise to start plotting out a route, or at least know what we'll be coming across on this adventure." Aeon laughed again, an amused look in her eyes. "And here I was, thinking that you were memorizing the maps, what with all the time you spent poring over them." Mauveine, looking very smug, pulled out a rolled map and opened it. "Oh, I did memorize the maps. However, it doesn't hurt to be prudent."

Aeon nodded, Magnolia's gates drawing closer and closer. Yeah, being prudent was a good idea.
[520]

It had taken some hours after leaving the large gates of one of Fiore's most beautiful cities, before Aeon said exultantly, "Hark! I see the sea." "Excellent. That means we're close to Hargeon Town." Even though Mauveine couldn't see anything, she trusted Aeon's senses were much sharper than hers. Even though the sea was out of sight, at least, they were not lost. She scoffed lightly. They couldn't get lost with her as their navigator. Aeon looked at her, but didn't say anything. Between Magnolia and the sea had been a large number of little towns and villages, of which Aeon couldn't bother to remember their names. Those, and lots of forest. Some of them were just little woods, while others quite compared with Magnolia's Eastern forest. The journey so far had been peaceful, quiet and straightforward.

After a while, Aeon could see the large sprawl of a city situated by the expanse of a sea. Hargeon Town. Mauveine stood on Aeon's knapsack, her front paws on Aeon's head, as she peered intently at the port town. "It looks like a nice enough place to live in. I hear the food's really good here." Aeon nodded. "Won't mind sampling a thing or two myself, though I'm afraid we can't spend much time here. I suppose we could always come here one of these days and take a break." Mauveine looked skeptic. "Really? Knowing you, it would take quite a while before you ever stopped for a break." Aeon chuckled, realizing that Mauve was quite right. "Well, keep reminding me, and I'll go on a break."

Hargeon Town was not as large as Magnolia, but it was still a very striking place to behold. It was bustling with activity like Magnolia, and there were quite a large number of food markets around. Of course, there was a lot of sea food for sale, and a lot of restaurants offering mouth watering delicacies. Boats, ships and ferries sat at docks or skidded across the sea, on various assignments. In all, Aeon had to agree it was a very pleasant place. At the moment, it would be wise to make a stop and get something to eat. Aeon hoped to get to the city after Hargeon if possible by twilight, and fortunately, there was still enough daylight for her to achieve that, other factors being equal. Now, it was time to eat.

Aeon and Mauveine had lunch at a quaint restaurant overlooking the sea. The food was marvellous and the view was beautiful. After eating and resting her legs, Aeon was ready to go on. "Hey, Mauve, let me have that map. There's a place I should like to see before we leave Hargeon," she said, taking the map and looking at it. Then she headed into the city, ensuring that she walked past the guild that was resident in the town, Lamia Scale. She just wanted to see what the building looked like from the outside. On getting to Era, she was sure that she would see more of their mages there, so there was no point entering.

After about an hour of sightseeing, the gates of Hargeon and the rest of Fiore beckoned. It was time to move on.
[1060]

This time, Aeon and Mauve were lucky enough to find a carriage that was heading towards Clover Town, and what was more fortunate was that the carriage owner agreed to take them for free. That part of the journey was spent discussing about most of Fiore and whatever had been happening there. Aeon tried to get information from the man about the guilds that were found in Hargeon Town and Clover Town, but the man couldn't be of much help. He however, assured them that the guilds there were quite powerful. That was interesting. The tournament would really be one hectic activity. As they drove on, Aeon decided to take a little nap, while Mauveine engaged the man in some more discussion.

Aeon stirred and opened her eyes, then looked around. "Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty, and welcome to Clover Town," Mauveine announced. Aeon sat up and looked down at the city. The view was great, because they were at the top of a hill and just descending into the valley where the town was situated. A river flowed through the quiet looking town. It looked very idyllic and seemed to be the sort of place to go when you wanted to escape from the world and all its alarming tempos. "Hey, this town is really pretty. I think Magnolia's quite bigger, though," she said. "Yeah," their benefactor replied, "this town and Magnolia are arguably the most beautiful towns in all of Fiore." "Cool." Aeon always felt that choosing Magnolia as her base of operations was one of her wiser decisions.

On reaching the town, they alighted, said their goodbyes and walked into the streets. There was really a lot to look at, and a lot to see and buy. Another tourist attraction, no doubt. Looked like Fiore was full of many beautiful places. Aeon didn't feel like eating anything serious, so there would be no point staying longer than necessary in this town. However, like she had done in Hargeon, she decided to walk past the guild building. She had heard elsewhere that the guild in this town, Blue Pegasus, was full of 'pretty' boys and girls... and flirts. Well, she hardly had time for that. Aeon wondered how such people could be strong, but then, she knew that looks were deceiving, especially with the mage folk.

Having seen the guild and bought a few munchies with which to occupy themselves on the road ahead, Aeon felt that she had spent enough time in Clover Town. "I should really like to see what the guys in Blue Pegasus are made of," she said to Mauve. "Careful what you wish for, Aeon, though I suppose you're virtually ready for anything, right?" Aeon responded with a nod and a shrug, and headed for the end of town.
[1526]

Mauveine looked at the map, then at aeon with some misgiving. "Shirotsume? Is that a good place for us to spend the night?" For some reasons, Mauve's fears were somewhat grounded. While Shirotsume seemed to be a simple town with no serious attractions or features, it did have a dark edge to it. It hosted a guild that was hitherto an enemy of Fairy Tail: Raven Tail. Aeon had no idea what had caused the two guilds to be at variance, but she was sure that asking around in the town would not yield any answers. Besides, so far, it appeared that Raven Tail, dark guild as it seemed to be, was laying low for the moment. "I wouldn't want to spend any time there, if I could help it, dear. Be that as it may, we've got no choice. It seems that twilight is fast approaching, and when darkness falls, travelling will become rather dangerous." Mauveine groaned. "Why didn't I see this when I was making preparations?" she wondered out loud. Aeon smiled apologetically. "Um, that's kind of my fault. I let you look at another map without Raven Tail's details. If I didn't, you wouldn't desire to stay here, and the journey might become more complicated, or we'd have to leave Magnolia at a later time, and that I cannot accept." Mauveine stared at Aeon for a while, then shook her head. "Well, whatever will I do with you, Aeon Aethera Maveryck?" Aeon chuckled and didn't answer.

So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary in this small town. The people didn't seem bothered to see strangers, and there was no weird reaction (like peeping out of their windows, and then slamming them shut when Aeon looked at them). By this time, a low moon hung in the night sky, its crescent form making a pale slice in the gloom. "Well, so far the town is lawful enough, and we haven't been mugged. Let's find a place we can spend the night. By morning, we'll be out of here. I don't suppose there's any sightseeing to do in this place."

They found a little inn, with agreeable prices and not so agreeable food, but that wasn't so much of a problem. After dinner, Aeon went to her room. It was on an upstairs floor, so she and Mauve could look out at the happenings on the street below. "Hmmm, this doesn't look like the kind of place you would expect to see a dark guild," Mauveine commented as she watched an elderly man walk a fat dog. "That's true, Mauve, but what better place to hide your shady activities?" After about an hour at the windows, and a nice hot bath, Mauveine retired to bed, but Aeon remained awake for a while longer, her golden eyes on the streets, while her mind flew to Era beyond. At length, she drew the curtains and retired to bed.

"Slept well, dear?" Aeon asked as her footsteps made dull crunching sounds in the morning mist. "Surprisingly, yes. And I expected to have a nightmare or two, but no, I slept soundly." "Me too. And as it were, I'm ready to get this journey on from where we stopped." It was early, but there were some people around. Through the gates of the town they went, and on to the country beyond. With any luck, they would get to Era by sun down.
[2097]

"Pfft! Why do we have to get to another 'dark guild town'?" Mauveine asked, looking at the map in her hands. "We could always take the route around... though I suspect that we'll lose a lot of time that way." "So, that's a no no. First of all, I'm not sure if Tartaros is really located there, though the suspicions might be correct. Secondly, the dark guilds can't try anything stupid, else Era and all of us legal guilds will so clamp down hard on them, they'll cry for mummy." Mauveine laughed and closed the map, as Aeon walked along a winding path that led long and far through woodlands. As they walked, Mauveine talked about a former guild, Phantom Lord, that originally existed in Oak Town, which was their next stop. After Fairy Tail had busted the guild and put them out of commission for good, the town seemed to be a much better place to live in. According to the map, it even seemed like a pretty place to live in, though Mauve found the thought of living in a town which had a dark guild to be rather stifling, unless one was a member of the dark guild. At least, the odds that something would go wrong in Oak Town was considerably low, and just as dark guilds would want to stay hidden so as not to attract 'unwanted' attention, the town officials would also want people to come to their town, so that they could get some revenue.

"I must say, this is not a bad place, no, it's not bad at all," Mauveine said, watching the houses with interest, as Aeon strolled through the town. Unlike Clover and Hargeon, she did not bother trying to see where the dark guilds were located. Since they had a lot to hide, she didn't want over-suspicious members tailing her or even attacking, if she spent too much time looking at the building. Better safe than sorry, as Mauveine usually liked to say. Regardless of all that, Aeon felt that it would not be so harmful taking a look around the city before they went on, an idea that Mauveine did not mind at all. Aeon bought a brochure of the town and handed it to Mauveine, who read from it, and they tried to compare some of the buildings with what the brochure said. What was very interesting to Aeon was that there was a museum in the town. No doubt it would house a lot of important things. There was also some sort of underground ruins in the town, a place Mauveine was assured was full of dark things and nothing good. Still, it would be fun to explore such a place one of these days. But not today. Mauveine was more interested in the library, and seeing that the town had a long history of magic, both good and bad, she was sure that it would be an interesting place to get information and know a lot more about the power that they possessed as mages.

After a light breakfast, Aeon walked towards the gates, somewhat glad to leave this town. It wasn't that Oak Town was a bad place, but for a sojourner, it was a tad too hilly. Someday, she would climb the hill and check out the library, and explore the ruins. Era was not so far now.

[2663]

Mauveine craned her neck, as did Aeon to look at one of the buildings that stood before them. They had come to the last phase of their long journey. This was Hosenka Town, a rather beautiful place, and pretty as a gem at midnight, according to a man that they bought a few victuals from. There were quite a number of rich people living in this place. It showed in the buildings and the clothes the folk wore. Aeon was however, more interested in the guild that was in this place. Seemingly rising from nowhere, this guild was said to be Fiore's most powerful guild, a statement that most Fairy Tail members resented. This was the Sabertooth guild. "Sabertooth, huh? Fairy Tail has got some proving to do," she muttered. Referring to the map, they went to take a look at the guild that was arguably Fairy Tail's rival. Admittedly, the building looked kind of tough. With a light sigh, she turned away and walked away.

It was fortunate that they still had some snacks with which to fill their bellies. While the cuisines looked good, Mauveine felt that they were way too expensive. It was better to save money; after all, they were taking a walk because they were trying to save money. The two mages were content to look at the Super Express Restaurant from without, as they felt that funds would not be enough to save them from embarrassment, if they ventured inside. Mauveine nibbled on a biscuit and managed to review the map at the same time, while Aeon meandered her way through the city. "You know, we're on the path to the exit that will bear us to Era," Mauve announced. "Good. I don't like the smell of casinos anyway."

Hosenka was a large city, and by the time Aeon and Mauveine had drawn themselves out of the tangle of streets and roads and out through one of its gates, the sun was high and bright over the land.

[2998]

"City on a hill..." Mauveine said, as the tall hill on which the Magic Council sat came into view. Aeon sighed with relief. The last part of their journey had been long and rather uneventful, but at least, it allowed Aeon to conserve as much energy as she could, beyond that which was spent on walking. As the gates drew closer, Aeon mouthed a 'wow'. Era was seemingly the largest city in all of Fiore. It was a rather majestic place, with vast lands about and lots of activity. "Congratulations, Mauveine. We have arrived!"

Finally. It had taken them two days on a nonstop journey to get here. They would have to find the inn where all the tournament contesters would be hosted. Then, Aeon would spend most of her time resting, training if possible, and watching the other contesters. From what she'd heard, Ardere was already here, having left Magnolia earlier. Maybe she would get to even fight him. While they were allies, and more than that, friends, it would be cool testing your abilities against that of your nakama. That way, the both of you could tell just how far you had come up the ladder of power.

[3199]