“It’s so peaceful here,” Palan said with a wrinkle in his brow. A gentle breeze blew past him, rustling Raea’s hair which fluttered in the wind. His hand was still massaging her scalp which felt like silk underneath his fingers. The second sun was beginning to set, bathing the golden crops with a red glow. The checkpoint wall seemed to shine in resonance with the sunset, giving off its own red light. However, a section of the wall was clearly different from the rest.

“Isn’t it nice?” Raea asked and sighed. “I wish Sely was here to see this. Red was her favorite color.” She placed her hands on Danger Noodle’s head which was resting on her lap. “Won’t you consider bringing your sister to Div’Nya?”

Cleo grumbled. “There’s a war going on and these people are cuddling with each other,” she said and stood up, dusting off her rump. She walked over to Elrith and Sally who were still sitting in the same position she left them in. “Hey,” Cleo said. “What’s wrong with that part of the wall?” She pointed at the section that wasn’t glowing with a red light.

Elrith frowned and directed the spider towards that section. “It looks like someone tore it down and replaced it with painted wood,” he said. The closest gate was miles away; Elrith had purposely avoided the checkpoints. “This is a serious flaw in our defenses. How could this happen? The wall is nearly indestructible.”

“Maybe they didn’t have enough metal to complete the whole thing,” Cleo said and nodded. “So they decided to pretend they did.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Elrith said and rolled his eyes. “I want to investigate it tomorrow … if Raea agrees that is. It’s getting too dark now, and we shouldn’t light any fires lest we catch the sentries’ attentions.” Cracks spread along the earthen spider before it crumbled into pieces. Raea stood up and dusted off her robe.

“Why’d we stop?” she asked.

“Weren’t you paying attention?” Elrith asked before sighing. “Never mind. We should rest for tonight. I need to conserve mana before I can dig a tunnel underneath the wall. I don’t want to run out midway and have us be stuck down there.”

“What about a tent?” Cleo asked.

“The sentries will notice that as well,” Elrith said. “I was just going to make a shelter in the ground for us to stay in. Can you cook food in your space? I mean, you can store fire.”

“Yes, Cleo,” Cleo said in a mocking manner, “can you cook for us? Can you wash the dishes for us too? Why don’t you hold onto and polish my armor as well? Why don’t I just kill Solra while I’m at it? Oh, and solve world hunger too cause Cleo can do anything, right!?” She grumbled as she kicked the ground and shoved her hands down her belt, causing them to vanish. Her tail thumped repeatedly against the ground, kicking up dust from the collapsed spider. Profanities escaped from her lips as her elbow stumps spasmed in front of her stomach.

Elrith’s brow furrowed. “Is she alright?” he asked Raea.

Palan answered, “I think she’s going to lay an egg soon.”

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“I hope Danger Noodle’s a female and forces eggs out of your bum,” Cleo said while shooting a glare at Palan. “See how you like it.” She snorted and focused her attention back on her space.

Palan looked at his tail and frowned. “Are you a female?” he asked. Thankfully, Danger Noodle shook its head.

“I don’t think your tail has a gender, Palan,” Raea said. Danger Noodle nodded its head. “See?”

“Dinner is served,” Cleo said as she pulled a bowl out of her space and handed it to Palan. It was a thick broth with vegetables and a harpy’s foot floating inside of it. She retrieved a plate of potatoes and corn and handed it to Raea. She pulled out another bowl with a red kneecap sitting in the same vegetable broth as Palan’s. She handed this one to Sally.

Cleo wrinkled her nose and glared at Elrith. “You were supposed to be the cook,” she said.

“Under these circumstances, you’re the only one who could,” Elrith said and sighed. He wasn’t sure what he did to provoke this tiny lizardman’s ire, but he was pretty sure she was upset with him. “I’ll wash the dishes if you give me a bucket of water.”

Cleo pursed her lips before pulling out a bowl of stew and handed it to Sally to pass it on. The harpy took one glance at its contents before giggling and passed it to Elrith with her talons. Elrith stared blankly at the surface of the bowl. “My soup is staring at me,” he said. Five eyeballs floated on the surface of his bowl. “I’ve gone through years of war, but this is the first time I really want to throw up.” He placed the bowl down and looked towards his right before projectile vomiting.

“They’re just grapes,” Cleo said and shrugged, picking one of the eyeballs out of Elrith’s stew and popping it into her mouth while Elrith watched with a horrified expression.

“Raea,” Elrith said with a pale face. “I think the first thing we should do in the second sector is go to a town and buy some palatable food. The mystery meat I’ve been eating really was angel, wasn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t mind going to a town,” Raea said. “I do need new clothes.” She completely ignored Elrith’s question and resumed eating her corn.

“Is the second sector like this one?” Palan asked.

“Not at all,” Raea said. “This sector is the designated farming land along with some residences for sinners. They’re tasked with supplying a certain amount of crops to the capital every month. The second sector belongs to the army. It’s much more focused on training grounds for the soldiers and towns for their families. All kinds of military supplies can be bought in the second sector, including customized armor and clothes that can fit you.”

“That’s assuming the rebel army hasn’t done too much damage to the sector,” Elrith said and furrowed his brow before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “We’re entering closer to General Jones’ side of the sector, but it may still be problematic. I’m guessing this portion of the wall may have been broken by a skirmish.” He didn’t mention Raea’s appearance which would bring its own plethora of problems.

“What about the first sector?” Sally asked, chewing on the kneecap. “If there’s a third and a second, then there should be a first, right?”

Elrith nodded and smiled at Sally. “You’re correct,” he said. “The first sector is a residential area with multiple universities and academies. There’s a trading district too where all kinds of things are sold including necklaces and bracelets.”

Cleo knit her brow and picked up an eyeball before throwing it at Elrith, causing him to flinch. “What was that for?” he asked Cleo as he moved the bowl further away from the lizardman.

“I don’t like it when you look at Sally like that,” Cleo said and thumped her tail against the ground.

“Like what?”

“Like Raea when she looks at Palan,” Cleo said. Sally’s face flushed as she lowered her head and clawed at the ground with her talons.

“I do not,” Elrith said and furrowed his brows. He wondered if he did. But what about General Jones, the forever chaste angel?

“Whatever,” Cleo said and pulled a large black blanket out of her belt, wrapping it around herself until she took the shape of a burrito. “Wake me up when you’re no longer in denial.” The blanket burrito bounced towards Palan and collapsed on top of Danger Noodle.