Chapter 187: Two Lisannas
"Don't worry. Your real sister is the one lying on the ground. But as for the other one... you can probably think of her as your sister, too."
Mirajane had no idea what he meant by that. But when she saw Noah take out another potion and hand it to his Thought Projection to treat the other Lisanna, she held her questions.
The projection gently laid the Lisanna it was holding on the ground, placing her right next to the original one. It then took the potion from Noah and carefully fed it to her.
Once the potion was administered, Noah dismissed the projection and the empty vial. Mirajane was about to speak, but Noah held up a hand. "Not yet. Wait a moment. The last one is here."
Just then, Mirajane spotted it, too. In the distance, Noah's second Thought Projection was flying toward them, carrying Elfman.
Elfman was back in his human form, no longer in the Beast King state. However, his head was covered in massive lumps, and his face was a swollen, bruised mess. His head hung limply; he was clearly knocked out cold. Several rings of light were bound tightly around him, looking extremely uncomfortable.
The Thought Projection returned and unceremoniously dropped Elfman on the ground. Despite the rough landing, Elfman didn't even stir.
"What happened to Elfman?" Mirajane asked.
Noah dismissed the projection before answering. "My projection found him, and he immediately tried to attack it. He looked pretty tough and seemed like he could take a punch. To stop The Beast King from completely taking over, I had to... snap him out of it. The results were pretty good. It only took a few hits, and he was back to normal."
Mirajane wasn't particularly bothered. Getting beaten black and blue was practically a daily event at the guild, and a few punches were a small price to pay for getting her brother back. After Noah confirmed Elfman was fine, she let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief.
Her brother and sister were both here, and both were safe. She could finally, truly relax.
There was still the matter of the girl who looked identical to her sister, but she trusted Noah would give her an answer. After everything that had just happened, she simply didn't have the mental energy left to process any more mysteries. She just sat there, leaning against Noah's solid frame, and waited for him to explain.
Noah didn't keep her in suspense. "Before I explain who she is, Mira, you need to understand something. Our world isn't the only one."
Mirajane just stared at him with a blank, wide-eyed "what are you talking about" expression. Noah realized that after the traumatic events, the confirmation of her siblings' safety, and his own presence, her brain had simply given up on thinking for the moment.
He sighed and decided to spell it out for her. "The world we live in is called Earth Land. There is another, parallel world called Edolas. This world, Edolas, is very similar to ours. They have people there who are our counterparts, with the same names and the same faces. From what I know, there's even a Fairy Tail over there. The other Lisanna you see... she almost certainly came from that world."
A spark of understanding returned to Mirajane's eyes, and her mind slowly began to whir. "So... the Lisanna you brought back is from another world? A place with people who look exactly like us... another world... that's unbelievable..."
She was awestruck, but a second later, a new question popped into her head. "Wait. Even if other worlds exist, it's not like people can just travel between them. Why would the Edolas Lisanna come here?"
"That's because of a magic called Anima," Noah explained. "One of its functions is to open a portal that temporarily connects the two worlds. I suspect she accidentally fell through one of these portals. But we'll have to wait for her to wake up to get the specifics."
Noah glanced at the three unconscious figures. Neither Lisanna was in serious danger. His Lisanna had been knocked out by a single, powerful blow, but the protective guild mark enchantment had absorbed most of the impact. The other Lisanna had likely passed out from the physical and magical stress of interdimensional travel—a self-preservation response.
After taking the potions, they were already beginning to recover. Sure enough, just a few seconds after Noah finished speaking, both Lisannas' eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Lisanna!" Mirajane cried out.
"Big... Sis Mira?"
Both Lisannas turned their heads weakly, their gazes locking onto Mirajane. But one's expression was full of joy and relief, while the other's was one of utter confusion.
"Okay, you're both in decent shape, but you need to rest," Noah said, his voice calm. "Since you're awake, I'll take you all back. But first, Mira, is your request finished?"
Mirajane nodded. "My mission was to seal The Beast King. Since Elfman has... well, taken over it... I guess that counts as complete. But I still need to report to the client, and we have to let the evacuated townspeople know it's safe to return."
"I'll handle the wrap-up," Noah said. "I'm taking you all back now. You'll recover much faster in a comfortable environment."
Mirajane nodded, relieved. She was physically and emotionally spent, and her siblings needed proper rest. With Noah taking care of the cleanup, she had nothing to worry about.
Noah split off another Thought Projection to handle the remaining mission tasks. His main body then gathered Mirajane, both Lisannas, and Elfman and teleported them all back to his house.
Wendy, Yukino-kun, Meredy, and Carla happened to be home. They were happy to see Mirajane at first, but they all froze when they saw her, her brother, and... two Lisannas. The three younger girls just stared, completely dumbfounded.
Only Carla had a different reaction. The moment she saw the two Lisannas, she began to tremble, and her face went pale.
Noah saw her reaction, but everyone else was too fixated on the Lisanna-duplicates to notice. He shook his head inwardly. 'I'll deal with the Carla situation later. Right now, I need to get Mira and the others settled.'
With the help of Wendy and the others, Mirajane and the two Lisannas were helped onto the sofa. Elfman, still bound and unconscious, was laid out on the floor nearby.
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn