After Elfman vanished into the night, Statiw turned and rushed to wake up Mirajane and the others who were sound asleep.
By the time he emerged from the tent again, the terrifying magical vortex above his head had gradually dissipated without a trace, the night sky returning to its calm, starry state.
At this time, the research on dimensional magic in Edolas was still in its early stages, far from reaching the terrifyingly efficient and widespread level it would in the future.
"Hey, Statiw. What's going on?" Mirajane rubbed her eyes as she walked out of the tent, asking with a look of displeasure at being woken.
As she spoke, Lisanna also stumbled out behind her, still bleary-eyed and half-asleep.
With those two awake, only Natsu's tent remained quiet, from which the sound of Happy continuously calling Natsu's name could be heard. However, after only a few shouts, Happy also fell silent, presumably having given up or been shushed.
"It's like this..." Seeing Mirajane's annoyed expression, Statiw quickly explained everything, from the vortex appearing in the sky to something falling from it, recounting every detail.
"So, you've already sent Elfman to retrieve whatever fell out?" Mirajane immediately sobered up completely after hearing Statiw's account, her strategic mind kicking in.
"Yes," Statiw nodded.
As they were talking, there was a rustling movement in the darkness not far away.
A few seconds later, Elfman quickly ran towards the light of their bonfire, carrying a bundle that was hard to make out clearly in the dim light.
When he saw Mirajane and Statiw standing by the fire, he immediately called out to them, his voice frantic with panic and confusion: "Sister! Statiw! Come quick! It's Lisanna! She... Lisanna, she...!"
Hearing Elfman's shouts, Mirajane was completely bewildered. She looked at Lisanna, who was yawning and dozing near the tent entrance behind her, utterly unable to understand what Elfman was shouting about.
Statiw, however, was only stunned for a moment before the pieces clicked into place. His theory was confirmed: it must be the Lisanna from Edolas who had somehow fallen through the unstable Anima gateway.
Thinking this, he immediately strode forward to meet Elfman.
When he reached him and saw the person he was cradling so carefully, Statiw's guess was instantly confirmed. The girl in Elfman's arms was the spitting image of Lisanna, though her clothes were slightly different and she was badly injured.
Upon arriving at the bonfire, when Mirajane clearly saw the person Elfman was holding, she was instantly dumbfounded. Her eyes widened in shock. She looked at the Lisanna in Elfman's arms, then at the very much awake and confused Lisanna standing by the tent, completely unable to process what was happening.
When Mirajane not only didn't step forward but instead stood frozen, turning her head to look around in confusion, Elfman sensed that something was wrong. He followed her gaze towards the tent entrance and instantly spotted the other Lisanna.
At this moment, Elfman froze completely, his brain short-circuiting at the impossibility of two identical sisters.
"Don't just stand there! Saving her is what's important right now!" Statiw immediately reminded them sharply, breaking the stunned silence.
"Right! Let's save her first," Mirajane quickly reacted to Statiw's reminder. Questions of identity could wait; a life was at stake.
"Right, right, right," Elfman also snapped into action, his protective instincts overriding his confusion. He carefully laid the severely injured girl from Edolas flat on a bedroll near the warmth of the bonfire.
Statiw, on the other hand, focused his magic. He waved a hand, and in a flash of light, his medical-themed construct—the woman with the diamond mark—materialized beside him. He directed her to kneel and examine the injuries of the girl lying on the ground.
A moment later, after receiving the diagnostic information through his magic, Statiw's brows furrowed tightly. The injuries were catastrophic. The magic of his construct, powerful as it was, couldn't treat something this severe. But maybe...
Statiw began to pace in anxious circles, his mind racing through every possible treatment method and plan he could conceive, yet not a single one seemed immediately feasible.
"How is it? Don't just keep pacing!" Mirajane, already strained with worry, immediately pressed him when she saw his agitated state.
"The situation is not good; her injuries are too severe. I can't find a way to treat her with what I have available here," Statiw looked at Mirajane with a wry, helpless expression, his face etched with concern.
"What should we do? Lisanna... oh, Lisanna..." Mirajane was instantly horrified by Statiw's answer. Although she knew intellectually that the girl in front of her was not her sister, the identical appearance made her heart clench. She couldn't help but treat her as her own Lisanna. So, she sat down heavily beside the injured girl, gently stroking her face and softly calling the name they shared.
"Huh? Sister, what's wrong?" Hearing Mirajane repeatedly call her name from a distance, the real Lisanna, who had been watching groggily, rubbed her eyes and walked over, now fully awake. When she saw her own double lying injured on the ground, she immediately shrieked as if she'd been stepped on: "What's going on?! Who is that?!"
Hearing Lisanna's shriek, Mirajane pulled her close with a strained smile and quickly explained the incredible situation as she understood it.
On the other side, seeing Mirajane's distress, Statiw was also anxiously racking his brain, running his hands through his hair.
Just then, Elfman suddenly spoke up, a spark of hope in his eyes. "Statiw! I remember you once said that your Pict Magic could... could essentially redraw a person, couldn't it? That you could create a perfect, unharmed version? Since her injuries can't be treated normally, why not use your magic to... to fix her?"
"This..." Prompted by Elfman, Statiw immediately latched onto the idea, turning it over in his mind. After a few seconds of intense thought, he looked up, his expression serious. "The theory is feasible... but it's extremely risky and troublesome to implement."
"Oh? What's the trouble?" Mirajane immediately pressed for an answer, having finished explaining to the real Lisanna.
"Because I'm not intimately familiar with her specific physical makeup, and there isn't enough time to paint a perfect, detailed copy from scratch right now," Statiw paused, choosing his words carefully. "So my idea is to... link her existence to Lisanna's portrait. I'd use our Lisanna's healthy 'pattern' as a template to overwrite the injuries on this one."
"However..." he continued, his voice grave.
"However what? Hurry up and say it," Mirajane urged, her patience wearing thin with his pauses.
"However," Statiw said, glancing apologetically at the real Lisanna, "this method would transfer a portion of the fatal injuries onto Lisanna herself. It would put both of them into a severely injured state simultaneously. Although it essentially splits the damage between two people, it doesn't reduce the total amount of harm. The silver lining is that with the damage divided, I could then use my construct's healing magic to treat both of them successfully. But the initial transfer is... dangerous."
"This..." Mirajane immediately frowned deeply upon hearing Statiw's plan. It concerned the real Lisanna's safety, and the decision felt impossibly heavy. She was utterly indecisive.
Elfman also frowned deeply at this point; he didn't know what to do either. The risk to his little sister was too great. What if something went wrong?
"I agree."
Compared to Mirajane and Elfman's terrified hesitation, the real Lisanna spoke up. She looked at her injured double, her expression filled with compassion and resolve. With a kind and determined smile, she agreed without the slightest hesitation. "If it can save her, I'll do it. Please, Statiw, help her."