“What’s wrong?” Cleo asked, noticing the tension on Andrea’s body. She’d seen Palan freeze up dozens of times. Andrea was acting extremely similar to him when something was approaching.

“I’m telling the truth,” Sariel said, also realizing Andrea’s expression wasn’t quite right. “You—”

“Shut up,” Andrea hissed and stuffed the arrow, lengthwise, into Sariel’s mouth, cutting off her speech. Her ears flickered a few times as she scrambled to retrieve the arrows she shot around the angel’s body, storing them into the leather quiver hanging from her waist. When she retrieved half of them, she dashed to Cleo and picked up her bow, nocking an arrow and pointing it at the entrance.

Cleo gulped and bit her lower lip. This was the first time she had seen Palan’s sister so serious. But the demon was still glowing, which admittedly ruined the tense atmosphere. Cleo wet her lips with her tongue as she rummaged through her space and pulled out one of Pyre’s hand cannons. She loaded the steel ammo and capped the device, activating the orb of humility to build up pressure. The whirring noises it created caused Andrea to frown at Cleo, but audible footsteps that even Sariel could hear came from outside the cave, bringing the demon’s attention back towards the entrance.

“This is the place, see?” a voice asked. There was some silence as stakes fell to the ground. Andrea bit her lip as the sound of rushing sand filled the cave. Someone was filling in her traps.

“Wow, this really is like you,” a feminine voice said. There was something about it that caused Andrea to relax as if the owner of such a beautiful voice could never do harm. Her bow lowered as her shoulders loosened, the bowstring falling slack. Danger! Her eyes widened and she bit her lower lip, causing blood to trickle down to her chin. She shuddered as she readjusted the arrow and exhaled slowly. What the heck was she thinking? Someone wouldn’t hurt her because they had a nice voice?

“Keep going,” a deep voice said.

“Y-yes,” the first voice said. There were shuffling noises, and the shadow of a figure appeared on the cave wall, ready to round the bend leading to the cavern Andrea and Cleo were inhabiting.

Cleo scratched her head. Something wasn’t right. Those voices were awfully familiar. They sounded like Raea and Palan in fact. She thought about saying something, but the expression on Andrea’s face told her she’d get an arrow to the face if she made any noise. If it was Palan, then he’d definitely recognize her by smell and wouldn’t attack. If it wasn’t, then she’d be giving up the element of surprise if she announced her presence. Thus, she decided to keep her mouth shut and tighten her grip on the hand cannon’s trigger. Palan would survive against a projectile, right?

A figure’s head appeared, and Andrea released her arrow. It flew true, whistling through the air as it homed in on the intruder’s head. There was a squelching sound as the arrow pierced the demon’s skull. The demon’s eyes widened as he fell over. Andrea frowned. Judging by the wounds already on the demon’s body, he was close to dying before her arrow did anything. Someone had used him as a probe. She inhaled and readied another arrow. If there were only another two intruders, she had fifty percent confidence to take them out. Maybe more if the strange contraption in the snack dispenser’s hand meant anything.

“Wah!” an excited voice said. “That was a really nice shot. Sometimes I’m jealous I don’t have hands—just sometimes though. Wings are superior after all.”

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“Wait here,” the deep voice said.

Someone squawked as the familiar sound of bodies hitting the floor reached Andrea’s ears. A shadow appeared on the cave’s wall, causing her eyes to widen. What kind of monster could create a silhouette like that? Goosebumps ran down her arms and legs as she instinctively took a step back. Then another. She glanced at the emergency hole she had dug in the corner of the room. It was too late to hide there and cover herself. Why had she been so confident? She recalled her brother’s words. ‘Only engage when you’re sure of victory. If there’s any chance of losing, retreat and wait for another opportunity.’ It was too late to retreat now. She cursed the pleasant feeling the glow had given her body. It had made her arrogant.

“You’re smiling,” the beautiful voice said. “Pervert.”

Andrea’s body relaxed against her whim. She shook her head and bit her lip again, drawing more blood. This situation was too dangerous. She glanced at her snack dispenser. Andrea’s eyes bulged. Why did the lizardling look like a lost puppy about to be reunited with her owner? Then she recalled the disarming voice. That must’ve been the reason. She leaned over and poked Cleo with her arrow, causing the lizardling to flinch and raise her weapon. That was better.

A scaled head came into view, and Andrea fired her arrow, nocking another one before the first one had reached the halfway point. Her heartbeat resounded like battle drums in her ears as she unleased a volley of arrows. She wanted to survive! Her vision turned red as the fur on her arms and legs stuck straight out, making herself seem a little bit bigger. When she ran out of arrows, a chill ran down her spine. Her target was still alive. She had failed. Cold sweat ran down her back as she made a dash towards Sariel’s side in an attempt to retrieve the rest of her arrows even though she knew it’d be useless.

“Andrea.”

Her body froze despite her wishes, her hand stretched out to grab an arrow.

“Andrea.”

The voice came again, causing Andrea to shudder. Her head turned towards the entrance as her hand lowered. Her bow fell to the ground. “You…,” she said. “Do you know me…? Did Abaddon send you?”

“Palan!” Cleo shouted and dashed towards the monstrosity, storing her hand cannon into her space. She leapt through the air and tried to tackle the four-armed demon, but a black tail blocked and ate her instead.

Andrea’s eyes widened. How could her snack dispenser mistaken something like that for her brother!? The monstrosity even ate her! She took a step back, her foot bumping against something warm—Sariel. She regretted not taking the shaman’s deal for power. Maybe she wouldn’t be backed into a corner like this.

“This is your sister?” the beautiful voice asked. A four-winged, red demon rounded the corner and stood beside the snake-tailed monstrosity. She was just as pretty as Andrea expected her to be; no, she was even more stunning. Then the words kicked in.

“Me?” Andrea pointed at herself. “Sister?”

“You don’t recognize me?” the snake-tailed monstrosity asked. “Cleo even shouted out my name.” The expression on the demon’s face darkened. “Don’t tell me Abaddon messed with your memories.”

“But … you ate my snack dispenser,” Andrea mumbled, her head tilted as if in a daze. “Are you really Palan?” Her eyes grew wet as she sniffled.

“That’s all your sister thinks of me,” Cleo said as she crawled out of Danger Noodle. “A snack dispenser. Really. You two are too similar, you know?”

“I’m back, Andrea,” Palan said and approached his sister, leaving heavy footprints in the cave’s floor. “Look, I even brought you a present.” He pulled out the necklace that once housed Raphael’s eyes and offered it to his sister.

Andrea wailed as she tossed herself into Palan’s embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck as if she were trying to choke him. “You’re really back! You’re really, really back!”

“That’s right,” Palan said and rubbed his sister’s back while combing her hair. Having four arms was pretty useful. He ignored Raea’s grumpy expression and raised an eyebrow at Sariel. He could figure that out later; for now, his sister deserved all his attention. She was glowing after all. Maybe she ate a shiny rock?