“Oh, okay then,” Cleo said with a nod. “He’s in his laboratory as usual. I think he made some kind of advancement; there was a pretty big commotion earlier. A lot of people were displaced.”

“Displaced?” Andrea asked and tilted her head. Wasn’t Pyre creating a way to dissolve contracts between two parties? Why would anyone have to be displaced for something like that? “Did he succeed in breaking a contract?”

Cleo shrugged. “I just passed by,” she said. “The captive angels and a few demons were brought to the lab. Tell Palan I said hi when you see him again. I have to go find Linda before she leaves without me.” The lizardman waved her arms and trotted away, but not before leaving behind a few fruits.

Andrea pursed her lips and reached down, placing her palm on her belt. It was one of the new toys Pyre had invented for her based on the snack dispenser’s magical abilities. Pyre had converted an orb of kleptomania into a belt which was functionally identical to Cleo’s space—just smaller in capacity. There was also an issue of charging the belt, but Andrea had Pyre create an adaptor which she connected to Palan while he was meditating. The fruits disappeared as Andrea pressed them against her belt buckle, and she continued down the hall to Pyre’s laboratory. On her way, a loud shriek caused her to wince and clasp her hands over her ears.

Ahead of Andrea, a red harpy burst out of a door followed by a massive hand made of black flames. The harpy twisted her body and barely managed to avoid the flames. Her feathers were still singed and smoking, but thankfully, they didn’t catch on fire. The harpy exhaled as she pressed a button to shut the door, cutting off the flames. A loud bang rang through the hall as a fist-shaped imprint appeared on the red metal door. The harpy gulped and took a step back as dozens of imprints peppered the metal. If the door hadn’t been made from the same material as the angels’ checkpoint walls, the first fist would’ve been enough to destroy it.

“Hi, Cory,” Andrea said, plucking one of the harpy’s butt feathers. She had learned the greeting from her snack dispenser.

Cory screeched and made a face as Andrea stored the feather in her belt. If it were anyone else, she would’ve pelted the assailant with lightning. Even Cleo had learned a lesson. “Andrea,” Cory said and bobbed her head. She glanced around, checking to see if Palan were around. It wasn’t that she had a guilty conscience or anything. Definitely not. Palan’s relationship with the centaurs was a strange one, and she had recently harassed the centaurs. They threatened her with Palan in return. When she confirmed Palan wasn’t around, she rested her wings against her sides and squatted down to face Andrea head on. “Hello. Please stop plucking me.”

“Mm.” Andrea grunted. “Was that Raea?”

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Cory sighed. “Yes,” she said and winced as another imprint appeared on the door. “She’s extremely angry today too.” She sighed again and shook her head. “I don’t know if she’ll ever fulfill her promise to take us to our promised land, but at least we can search for it ourselves. I guess she finished her part of the prophecy by removing the angels from power.”

Andrea bit her lip as the banging sounds ceased. Quiet sobs filled her ears, but Cory didn’t seem to notice. “Is she okay?”

Cory let out a hollow laugh. “If okay means not dead, then she’s doing just fine,” the harpy said with a nod. “If okay means lucid and not angry all the time, then no, she’s not okay. She’s far from it. I mean, harpies kill each other all the time, but even by harpy standards, there’s something wrong with her. Sometimes I can talk to her for hours. Other times, she’ll explode on me for no reason. I was talking about making socks for harpies once, and she nearly ripped my wing off.”

Andrea nodded. The sooner Pyre finished his contract destruction machine, the sooner her brother would be freed from his situation. She didn’t understand how he could put up with Raea for a year even with a contract’s stipulation. Though, Raea didn’t seem that unstable when Andrea first met her, so she guessed it was understandable. If Raea had acted like she did now from the start, Palan would’ve died by her hands a long time ago. Actually, he already died to her once. Andrea’s face darkened as she once again swore to dissolve her brother’s contract.

“Did you want to see her?” Cory asked, tilting her head. No one came to Raea’s room except for a few harpies, Cleo, and Palan. Oh, and a trio of angels who she couldn’t remember the names of. Oswell? Cory shook her head—it didn’t matter. The trio was unimportant. “I don’t recommend going in right now, but if you do, I can revive you if you die.” She paused. “As long as you’re not incinerated to nothing.”

“No,” Andrea said and shook her head. “There’s no reason to see her.”

“You sure?” Cory asked and blinked. “I can’t help but feel we have to support her. She’s done a lot for us. I’m pretty sure she’s done a lot for Palan too. Wouldn’t it be wrong to throw her away in her time of need?”

Andrea snorted. “The weak deserve to die,” she said, spouting off Palan’s words. “Those who depend on others are doomed to fail.” It was true that her brother babied her, but at the same time, he also left her by herself to defend the camp from intruders, predators, and demons during his hunts on some occasions to let her grow independent. “If she breaks now, then she was only meant to go so far.”

Cory furrowed her brow. Those words were harsh, but the harpies also lived by them. But that’s because it had always been a struggle to survive. Now that they were free from the underground world, infighting had become less common and harpies supported each other instead to create a new home. “I guess that makes sense … if surviving was a struggle. But now that there’s peace and no one’s trying to kill anyone else, shouldn’t we help her?” That’s why she came back to Raea every single day despite the risk of being set on fire. Cory was surprisingly loyal for a harpy.

Andrea shrugged. “If a tool breaks, you throw it away.” Her brother would agree with her, wouldn’t he? He was the one who taught her how to survive after all. Why was he being so blind this time? She wished she could hurry Pyre along somehow to make Palan Palan again—to make her world right again. There was something seriously wrong with Div’Nya, and only she could see it. It was beyond frustrating.