"By the way, are any of you mages?" Likki inquired.

"Actually, we all are," Felix answered, "I can use fire and wind spells with ease as well as a few other spells. Ted can only use dimensional magic, but without it, we wouldn't be here now. Fakira is a Felaryan fairy and Solita is a fairy from our world. So, they can use magic as well."

Likki's eyes lit up with excitement as she turned them upon Solita. "So, you're a fairy from another world? I've never seen a fairy of your size before. I've only seen Felaryan fairies, since my world has no fairies in it, and those Felaryan fairies tend to keep themselves as giants. Tell me, can fairies of your world changes their sizes as well, little fairy?" Likki had crouched down so that she was more level with the humans in front of her. Likki looked as though she was a small child waiting to be told a fascinating story. Female nekos, like fairies, tended to be in touch with a sort of child-like side to them, and Likki didn't seem to be an exception.

Solita was very nervous now that the neko's attention was fully on her. Not only was it because she was small and they were giant strangers, but they were also nekos. There was the reason why Solita had flown to Ted's shoulder as soon as the nekos showed themselves. She was frightened of nekos and now scooted closer to Ted's neck, hoping Ted would protect her, even though these nekos seemed to be kind. Solita had heard horror stories about wild nekos eating fairies, but also playing with them, like a cat would with a mouse, before devouring them. Solita even heard that "civilized" nekos ate smaller beings as well. There seemed to be an instinct to eat small creatures in nekos that is hard to resist when they spot small creatures, even if the creature is sentient! This neko wasn't from her world, and luckily wasn't from Felarya, but it was a neko and she still feared it had that instinctual urge.

Likki and the others noticed Solita shivering and Likki figured out the reason. Likki backed away a little in hopes to make Solita more comfortable. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were frightened of me," Likki apologized. "There is no need to worry about me, Solita," Likki added Solita's name in hopes to assure her she saw her as a person and not prey, "I don't eat smaller beings that are sentient. There are smaller sentient beings in my world as well, but I never harm them. I can resist the urges that nekos have that you must have heard of. Trust me, you're safe with me." Likki giggled a bit and added, "Now, if you had a mouse tail and mouse ears, it may be a little tougher to resist."

Solita seemed to cheer up a little, but she still stayed close to Ted's neck. "So, can you size change like Felaryan fairies?" Likki asked again.

"I can not," Solita answered, "Fairies of my world don't have that power."

"It would explain why you are so little than," Likki replied, "It's rare to see a fairy of human size, let alone one of your size, Solita."

There was a bit of silence and they could hear Mhurr muttering to himself, "Maps, maps, so many maps." He picked up a few maps and looked at the titles. "Map of Doom, Map to a Felaryan's Stomach, The Insides of Felaryans. Yet no Felaryan Map," Mhurr continued to mutter.

"You said you've seen my father," Ted broke the silence, "When's the last time you've seen him?"

Likki thought about it carefully and answered, "We haven't seen Arthur in three or more years? Why do you ask?"

"I haven't seen him in that same duration of time. Because he never came back, I was sold into slavery," Ted sighed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Likki apologized.

"You have no idea what has happened to him?" Ted asked.

"No, Arthur was a mysterious man. He was kind and sociable, but he never talked about his past to us or told us where he was going. He told us some of his adventures, but never anything personal," Likki informed Ted, "I wish I could help you."

"Here's the map!" Mhurr hollered joyfully when he had found it. Everyone turned their attention to Mhurr who left the stand and presented Ted with the map. "Here you go, Son of Arthur, a Map of Felarya," Mhurr stated.

Ted took the map and pulled it from the scroll to reveal all of Felarya. "There is a lot of forest," Ted commented, "My dad wasn't kidding when he told me it was mostly made up of forests." Ted looked at the map closely and found where the Fairy Kingdom's borders were. It was clear that it would take a week or so to get there. "What's the best way to get to the Fairy Kingdom?" Ted asked Mhurr.

"That depends," Mhurr replied.

"Depends on what?" Ted questioned.

"Whether you want to look at the sites, explore other places, Meet interesting predators, or if you want a safe path," Mhurr replied.

"We would much rather go on the safest and quickest path possible to avoid as many dangerous predators as we can," Ted informed the tall neko.

"Well, the safest path is staying here and not even going to the Fairy Kingdom, and even then you can still be eaten. There is no safe path," Mhurr informed Ted.

"Then what would you suggest?" Ted asked trying to get an answer form the neko.

"Well, getting close to the Giant Tree is suicidal due to Crisis living there," Mhurr said while pointing at the tree in the map, "You'd have to go around it. If you decide to go south of the tree, you can follow the Shard River. The Tolmeshal Forest is about as dangerous as any other Felaryan forest, but nothing to make it over the top danger. There are the usual predators there. It's still highly dangerous."

"However," Mhurr continued, "There is a small town called Safe Harbor in the forest along the river. It is a human and neko settlement started by a giantess named Jade. Jade does not eat sentient beings and protects that town. Maybe you will be lucky to come across her and she can protect you and bring you to the town. Continue along the River and you should make it to the Fairy Kingdom, but it's still a dangerous trek past the Safe Harbor."

"What's the path to the North like?" Ted asked.

"You'd have to go through the Bulvon Forest before you can get to the northern river. This area contains many slug girls and dridders that will eat you. And insects are impervious to most fairy magic. There is a naga that had been raised by humans in there named Fiona, but it's still dangerous with the dridders and slug girls. The Forest of Whispers is even more dangerous. However, this may be the quicker of the paths," Mhurr informed them

"So, we can go the slower but safer path, or the quicker but more dangerous path," Ted muttered.

"Though it might not be as dangerous for you if you have a Felaryan fairy on your side," Likki pointed out.

"However, my magic might not be as usual on the Northern path. I can still make us giants, but I can't stand bugs," Fakira informed the group.

"So, what will it be? Which path do we chose?" Felix questioned.