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"Can't you solve the curse?" asked Frank. Over his long years, he has searched everywhere for the location of the Tears of the Moon but never discovered anything.
If it was not his personal experience, he would have thought that the tree was nothing but a legend.
"As long as I find the place your soul is stored in the jungle, it should be possible to reverse the curse. However, this would take a lot of time," replied Edward. If it was any regular curse, a potion made of unicorn blood could be used to remove it.
However, something similar to Horcruz requires more delicate measures.
"So, the fastest way is to find the Tears of the Moon."
Of course, one of the main reasons is that Edward was quite interested in that tree and wanted to see if it was as magical as the legend. After receiving the arrowhead from Lilith, he looked at it intensely.
There were many images engraved on it as if telling a story; it was a language that used hieroglyphics. After rummaging through his mind, Edward found a language that is similar to the one on the arrow, then translated it:
"The Tears of the Moon possess the power to cure anything. To prove yourself worthy, you must turn water to stone. Then mend a broken heart. For Tears to bloom, the great Tree must be under the rare crying Moon.
"The tree hides where the moon bled. It sank into the west, over the heart of the serpent. Where the fang bites its own tail."
As soon Edward finished his rough translation, Dr. Lilith rushed to her map and looked at it. One particular spot of the river on the map looked like a snake biting its own tail.
"No wonder no one never discovered the tree; they have been searching in the wrong spot. It's not in Lagrimas de Cristal.
"It's in La Luna Rota."
Lilith was very excited about this discovery, but so was Frank. To many people, achieving immortality might be a blessing. But, he has been stuck in this place for almost 400 years; he was sick and tired of it.
He dreamt of traveling to the world, of seeing the development of society after so many years. He dreamt of owning and driving a car, and many small things do not mean anything for most people, but a great deal to him.
"In three days, there will be a lunar eclipse, which according to the translation, is the only time that the tree blooms," commented Edward.
"So, let's hurry," said Lilith with a smile on her face. "Frank, where is that luxurious bath you promised? Is it under the ship?"
"No, it's out there," replied Frank as he pointed to the river. Meanwhile, Lilith looked at him as if she wanted to slap him. Obviously, she was lied to when Frank advertised himself and his boat.
"What about food? Do you have any since someone threw away all my reserves in the harbor?" asked MacGregor.
Frank took out his pistol and shot it in the sky. A rat fell in front of him.
"I'm not eating this," said MacGregor. Frank ignored him and threw the rat on the river, then, countless fishes came to the rat to devour it.
"Piranha. Better eat them than they eat you."
Edward looked at the piranha and said: "Although I have eaten many strange things but all of them have been prepared by the best chefs and with the utmost care."
He looked at Hermione and said: "You take care of the food, and I'll take care of our residence and baths."
"What are you in the mood for?"
"I can go for Italian food."
Hermione then looked at the others: "What about you guys? Anything specific you want to eat?"
"Anything?" asked MacGregor with great enthusiasm. After Hermione nodded her head, he began to describe a list of things that he would like to eat. After quite the list, Lilith chose a normal British diner.
"What about you, Frank?"
After pondering for a while, Frank ordered a mixture of Spanish and Algerian food. Hermione nodded her head before disappearing in front of everybody.
Meanwhile, Edward entered one of the rooms underneath this depilated boat. An hour later, he returned to the deck and brought everybody. Then, a look of shock could be seen on the faces of the three.
The small cabin underneath this small boat turned into a large mansion with many rooms. There were baths, pools, luxurious rooms, a small forest, and many more.
"How is that possible?" said MacGregor as he left the room and entered, wondering why this place was bigger on the inside than the outside.
"Have you guys never seen Doctor Who and the Tardis? Why are you surprised?" asked Edward. To him, this was a basic application of the Extension Curse and Transfiguration.
"Doctor Who? What's that?"
"Oh right, the show has not been invented until 1963," he muttered. "Hermione is back with the food. Let's go to the dining room, then each of you can take a room for yourselves."
Once the group arrived, they saw a table full of food. MacGregor was the first to sit down and began to eat; he even gave up his "gentlemen" attitude and reveled in his food.
The past few days have been hell for him who is used to living a luxurious life; now, he finally felt that he was back to "civilization".
"Magic can create food?" asked Lilith as she wondered how useful this kind of thing would be to the world; to end world hunger.
"No. We can accelerate the growth of food, or summon it from somewhere else. But we cannot make it out of thin air," explained Hermione.
"That's still very useful."
Then, the entire group had a great diner, then everybody took a bath in their private bath, before sleeping in their chosens rooms. While everyone slept, Hermione and Edward were studying Frank's blood and the curse.
The next day, the group continued to their destination.
Edward saw that their route was in the direction of a waterfall. He immediately began to worry about the safety of this ship. Based on its current shape, the ship might fall apart at any time.
So, he pointed his wand at it and said: "Reparo."
Immediately afterward, the boat appeared to have returned back in time. All the holes in it began to repair, the paint became brand new, and even the engined returned to their pristine state.
Frank looked at everything that was occurring, "Okay, magic is too convenient." He built this boat with his own hand, and it has been with him for too many years to count. But, he never saw his boat this new, even when he first created it.
With this new boat, the process of passing by the waterfall was smooth and easy; that way, the group saved a two days journey. Then, Frank brought them to meet his friends who were members of the Puka Michuna.
After seeing these people, Edward gave Frank a weird look, and later secretly placed his hand on his mouth, signaling him not to say anything. From these people's minds, he knew that they were supposed to work with Frank to basically scam Lilith and her brother. Of course, now, Frank did not plan to do so.
After meeting with the chief of the tribe, Edward immediately asked her if there were still remains of magic amongst their people. Unfortunately, she told him that after the incident with Aguirre, the chief of the tribe back then did not have the opportunity to pass on his magic legacy to his daughter before dying.
As such, magic has been lost in their tribes.
Edward was slightly disappointed. However, he still had a solution. As long as his body recuperate, he can use the Floating City to cast a Time Record to peer into the past and maybe learn something.
While talking to the chief, both Edward and Hermione felt something, so they instantly stood up while pointing their wands.
"What's going on?" asked the others, however, the two were too focused to respond as they tried to feel the surroundings. Hermione suddenly threw a white light that seemed to be heading for a member of the tribe.
However, the light actually hit a bunch of trees that moved on their own. Then, everybody realized why these two were on guard.
Four men showed up; to be precise, four anomalies. One of them had snakes coming out of of his body, one was completely made of trees, one was made of bees and honey, while the last one was made of swamps.
"Impossible," said Frank.
"Do you know them?" asked Lilith
"That's Aguirre; he should have been trapped."
Meanwhile, Edward focused on the four men focusing on the two who were made of honey and swamp. He waved his wand and two stones flew from the ground heading to these two with rapid speed.
This rock should have pierced their bodies, killing or at least severely injuring them, but they went through them instead.
Immediately, Edward's eyes lit up.
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Title: Tears of the Moon
