The Fiends had finally completed another huge section of their journey, and wrapped up the South-West portion of the continent. All that was left was Cotagerie, the North-West Quadrant, the outlying islands, and a few dregs on their route back home. If someone was looking at a map of the continent, their route would surely appear rather strange and poorly planned.

In an ideal route, they would have tackled Cotagerie a while ago, and definitely before venturing to the South-West. However, there was one rather annoying bump in the roadmap: the dead-zone of Pimitrad. It was right in the middle of the South-West quadrant, and it made planning around it a headache. Ultimately, it was decided to be most efficient to finish the South-West, then cut back through Pimitrad towards the center of the continent.

“So Drim, I have a question,” Kada mentioned as they drove to the epicenter in Pimitrad. “I get that we’re immune to the radiation, but what about our clothes and stuff?”

“Uhh… well… about that…” Drim mumbled.

“Clearly you’ve never thought about it before, have you?” Xard rightfully doubted him.

“Nope, not even once,” Drim admitted. “Now I feel bad, since there’s a chance I’ve affected people after I visited here.”

“Well, the radiation should dissipate pretty quickly since we won’t be here for too long, but after we leave, it’d probably be best if we changed into clothes from the trunk since that’s resistant to every element,” Kada suggested.

Soon, they reached the center of Pimitrad. It was actually a bit out of their way, and would have been faster to drive through a different part of the country. However, Drim wanted to find more uranium for Pox. The rock of uranium he’d taken with him last time didn’t last long at all. The furry creature loved it too much, and would always pester him for more until they’d run out of his special treat. This time, Drim had bought a large lead-lined trunk right before they entered the country to fill up with the radioactive element. It would be bothersome to carry it with them for the rest of their trip, so they’d have it shipped once they made it back to civilization.

“Woah, that’s weird. Phon’s hair is all glowy!” Kada pointed out when they got deep into the radiation and stepped out of the car. Phon’s hair normally had a slight light reflecting effect, but it was nowhere near as strong as the light absorbing effect of Drim’s hair. However, combined with the radiation, it did make a weird glowing outline around each strand of hair. Phon didn’t seem to take too kindly to the stares, and tucked all of her hair up into her cap. It was a satisfying feeling for Drim to see someone else worry about it for once.

In a further attempt to get the attention off of her, Phon announced, “Okay, let’s split up. The person who gathers the most will be first in line to take a detox shower when we get out of here! The others will have to wait and marinate in the radiation.” This was a good motivator for sure. Drim was desensitized to being in the thick of radiation, but it was still a bit unpleasant. While it did no damage to them, it left a bit of a tingly feeling that stung a bit if they weren’t used to it.

It didn’t take Drim long to fill a bag full of uranium after they split-up. He had brought several extras, but was still quite happy with the progress in just a small amount of time. This much would hopefully tide Pox over for a while, and any more would just be a bonus. Now, though, he had kind of lost his bearings. It was hard to tell anything apart in this dead city. Drim could only see a few feet in front of him through the thick glowing air, and what he could see was just decayed ruins that all looked the same.

Someone traveling alone could easily get lost for good in this rotten landscape. The Fiend’s mobile devices wouldn’t be able to call the outside world as long as they were here, but should still be able to reach each other in this short range. If it came to the worst case scenario, Phon could always find and teleport them, so there was essentially no risk. This still didn’t make the atmosphere any less eerie and unnerving, though.

I wonder if the lab that girl came from is around here, Drim suddenly heard Eleen say from his heart.

“What are you blathering about now?” Drim groaned, annoyed that she had spoken up after being quiet for a decent amount of time.

Mallea, she’s from Pimitrad, or at least the lab that experimented on her was here, Eleen explained.

“Wow, I actually never knew that,” Drim mentioned. He thought he had known everything about the Drazah war, but this still came as a surprise.

Oh, I suppose I never really wrote much about Pimitrad in my ledgers, Eleen remembered. The whole thing was too upsetting. I guess the world thinks I decided to just make Pimitrad go boom one day for no reason, but Mallea was actually the reason. After she tried to take your life, I was so outraged that I flew to Pimitrad personally. Unfortunately, she beat me to the punch on killing the people that made her, but there were still plenty of other scientists around that were still threats.

I rounded all of them up, and ordered each of them, one by one, to kill themselves. Ahh, watching each of their corpses slump to the ground in turn really made me feel better, y’know? Then, I made the country go boom afterwards, just to be safe in case I missed any.

Drim’s entire body quivered viciously after hearing that, and tiny drops of green blood dripped from the palms of his hands after clenching his fists too hard. “I hate you… I hate you so much! Cosmos knows how much I hate you! I was ready to sacrifice everything to kill you, but it wasn’t enough! You’re still here and I can’t get rid of you! This is my real Curse… No other Fiend goes through this, but Cosmos saw fit to make you my tormentor for the rest of my life!”

Drim squatted, pressed his fingers to his forehead, and sighed. “It must be due to my selfishness… The truth is... I didn’t kill you to save the world. Sure, that is the best side effect of any murder in history, but it actually played almost no factor in my decision. I killed you out of pure hatred, that’s it. Rathe or Cosmos must have known my reason, and they’re punishing me for it.”

Nah, no way! Eleen perished the thought. You’re the least selfish person I know, Drim. A much more reasonable explanation is your subconscious love for your mother has kept me alive and bound to you. I’d give you a big hug right now, but you know, no arms… So I’ll just squeeze your heart until you feel better! Squeeze!

There was no other explanation Drim could see plausible other than he was going crazy, because somehow that gesture just now had made him feel a little better. Now, he was resenting himself even more than her.

You know, you’ve never actually asked me about my power, Eleen brought up despite Drim’s sour mood.

“It’s because I don’t care!” Drim yelled at her. “There’s nothing you could tell me about it that would make me hate it any less.”

I think you’d find it rather interesting actually, Eleen persisted. You see, I got it from… uhh… you know what, never mind. This made Drim even more annoyed. If she’d just explained it, he could ignore her, but now she had given him bait to latch onto. He wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction and continued his rock gathering in silence.

In the end, Phon won the uranium gathering contest, and it wasn’t even due to her Curse. Apparently, after they separated, she let her hair back down. In another weird twist, it would glow brighter the closer she got to a source of it. This essentially made her hair a rather efficient radiation counter. She made the others swear to secrecy about this, because if Ahvra caught wind, she would demand to run tests.

◆◆◆

Cotagerie had been one of the easiest cities to infiltrate on their journey thus far. This was due to the placement of the banks. Each country’s section had a bank right on the border of the outer ring to allow for easy exchange of currency. They were all in exactly the same location for each one, so it made finding them a trivial matter. The northern and southernmost section’s each had a bank in the center of them as well, that would exchange any currency to any other.

Once they’d finished their mass robbery, Phon insisted they visit a certain café in one of the sections. “This tea really is quite delectable,” Xard smiled with a delighted expression between sips. “Honestly, I thought you were just overhyping it.”

“Yeah, it’s the best I’ve ever found,” Phon relished in her drink after a long time of going without it. “Normally, I obsess over trying to figure out the recipes of foods I like, but I never did with this. It’s kind of nice to have one thing you don’t know the inner workings of that you can just enjoy.”

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“I totally thought you were crazy when you suggested this cheese pumpkin raspberry duck-egg pie,” Kada spouted in the middle of chewing. “But I have to admit, somehow this works. I have no idea how it does, but I’m thoroughly enjoying it.”

“What about you Drim, how’s your cream puff?” Phon inquired, eager for his response.

“Hmm… pretty good… tastes like a dessert,” he answered with no expression. Phon then threw back her head and let out a loud groan since once again she’d failed at finding a food that Drim would say is exceptional.

◆◆◆

Kada burst through the wall of the last bank in the city, looked around, and then flung up her arms in joy. “I did it!” she yelled with glee. “I won, I won, I finally won! Suck it, Phon Drazah, you have been bested! Ahahahahaha!”

“Yes, yes, good for you, now will you let go of me!” Xard complained. Kada had obviously forgotten she was still holding onto him, and was now raising his arm in the air with hers.

“I guess being in a familiar place really helped with my victory,” Kada assumed. “I should have known Constead would be my best shot, that or my hometown.”

“Oh no, guess I lost. How will I ever get over this…?” Phon sarcastically expressed when she appeared a minute later with Drim

“I know we already asked this Xard, but are you sure you don’t want to swing by and visit your parents while we’re here?” Drim asked him once again to be sure.

“I appreciate the offer, but no thanks. I’ll definitely pass for now,” Xard firmly gave his answer. “I’ve thought a lot about what Ahvra’s fathers said, but I still don’t think I’m ready to face them.”

“It’s alright, sorry I asked,” Drim resigned. “Take your time, there’s no rush.”

“Well I guess in light of Kada’s victory, she should get to pick where we have lunch,” Phon advocated.

“How is that even a question?” Kada rebuked. “Obviously, I want to go to the usual place!”

“Hmm, not sure that’s the best idea,” Phon told her. “I scoped it out earlier. It’s really crowded. They seem to be doing rather well, and we didn’t make a reservation. We’d most likely just cause a fuss.”

“How oddly considerate of you…” Kada discerned. “Oh well, I guess it can’t be helped. Give me a minute and I’ll pick somewhere else.”

Just then, an alarm in the vault started blaring. It was loud enough that even the Fiends had to cover their ears. Phon immediately teleported them outside, but the noise could still be heard vividly.

“Are they onto us?” Drim asked, having to raise his voice.

Phon had closed her eyes and was doing a quick examination. “Ha, no you won’t believe this,” she smirked in disbelief. “Someone is actually robbing them in the lobby right now! Oh, they’re about to run right past us.”

A second later, a person with a bag full of cash went running by the entrance to the alley where the Fiends were loitering. Drim immediately sent vines after him, and captured him in no time at all. Then it got weird, as all four of their faces looked wildly confused. The vines squeezed a bit too hard, and the man crumbled to pieces. Soon, there was nothing but a bag of money and a pile of dirt on the ground.

“Yeah, we definitely need to do something about these dirt people soon. It’s getting out of hand,” Xard mentioned with a strained look as he stared at the dirt pile.

“Wow, the way you said ‘dirt people’ could totally be taken out of context and made to sound like you’re a racist monster,” Kada joked.

“It’ll have to wait until after our trip, but we can keep our eyes open,” Drim reaffirmed. “Our mission right now is way, way more important. Stupid vending machine, I will have my revenge against your kind!”

“Seriously, why does everyone sound so racist today?” Kada questioned rhetorically. “Anyways, I picked a new place so let’s get going. I’m starving.”

When they got to the restaurant of Kada’s choosing, Phon pulled Xard aside. “So, I had Drim take this picture using the tiara thing. It looks like they’re thinking about you after all.” On the screen of her phone was a picture of Xard’s parents using the dish set he had sent them.

“I see, that’s why you lost the race,” Xard muttered somberly as he looked at the picture, clearly choking back emotion. “Thanks.”

◆◆◆

“Wow, this is quite the stage. Rallie would crap her pants if she got to perform here,” Xard proclaimed with wide eyes as he stared down at the bustling city.

“Agreed, you guys must have had some crazy power trip looking down on everyone. I could get addicted to this,” Kada mused while looking around from her new viewpoint.

They were in the middle of the Prosper square where Drim and Phon had revealed themselves to the world. Kada and Xard had wanted to see it for themselves, to get an understanding of what it was like for the two Drazahs. When they got there, however, they both complained that they couldn’t really feel the perspective from down on the ground. In the end, Drim spawned a large leafless tree to raise them up and observe properly as they stood on the branches.

A crowd had started to form at the base of the tree, most likely waiting to see if the Fiends were going to make some new wild declaration like they’d done before. Initially, they just ignored the crowd as they enjoyed the view, but decided it was time to leave once authorities started arriving on the scene.

◆◆◆

Harth walked to his office, his mind affixed with overlapping thoughts. He had his regular duties to worry about, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about his niece and nephew. They were now in Horage, and would likely be in Prosper before long. Mostly, he just wanted to know if they’d come to see him. “You know what, it’s fine if they don’t,” he reassured himself. “I’m sure they’re too busy to come visit a doddering old man like me anyways.”

When he entered his office, he encountered a scene very reminiscent of one a few months ago. His assistant was yet again passed out on the couch. However, there was no note on his chest this time. Instead, four youths with strangely colored hair were sitting on the floor, with a spread of food out in front of them. “Hello uncle,” Phon called out to him. “We stopped in to have lunch with you.”

There were two things Harth now needed to hide. First, his feelings, he thought if he let how happy this made him show on his face, the overbearing smile he’d make might weird them out too much. Second, there was no way he was going to tell them he had just eaten. He wouldn’t let something as bothersome as that get in the way of spending time with those he held most dear. He’d scarf down anything they gave him, even if his stomach was about to burst, and most likely skip dinner later.

“I’m very glad to see you all,” he said as he sat down to join them. “Though I really wish you’d stop surprising me like this. A call ahead would have been nice.”

“We thought about it, but since your phone is most likely tapped. We didn’t want to give them cause to interrupt our meal,” Phon explained. “Speaking of, please give us your phone for a moment.”

Harth did as he was asked, knowing better than to try and resist them, since they’d just do what they wanted anyways. They were his sister’s kids after all. Phon pried open the back, placed a chip inside, and handed it back to him. “There, now if we need to call you about something secretive it’ll leave no trace and they won’t be able to listen in. We’ll still probably call you normally sometimes though so they don’t get suspicious.”

This was great news for Harth: not that he was being monitored, but that it gave them a reason to contact him more. There was no way he’d argue against that. The meal went by quickly, an entire lunch break flying by in what felt like seconds. He had just sat there and listened to them talk about their trip in awe, amazed by what they’d been through, but he also felt sad that their lives were so far from peaceful. If somehow both groups managed to relieve themselves of their burdens in the future, maybe he could take Drim and Phon and their friends on a proper vacation like he’d always dreamed of since they were born.

His beeping phone cut into his enjoyment, and he looked at it in anger. This was the first time he’d spent with family in years, and sadly it had to come to an end, but maybe he could postpone it. “Unfortunately, I have a meeting I’m supposed to attend soon,” he announced to the Fiends. “But I’ll tell them we’ll have to reschedule.”

“No, it’s fine uncle,” Drim stopped him. “We really should get going too.” Harth’s plans at playing hooky were immediately dashed by his more responsible nephew. “Though before we go, there is something we want to talk to you about. You haven’t asked about our plans.”

“I figured that was for the best,” Harth explained. “When I’m inevitably interrogated soon, I thought it would be better for you all if I had plausible deniability.”

“We appreciate the sentiment, but you don’t need to worry about us,” Drim reassured him. “Actually, it would be of great benefit to us if you knew what was going on, and we have a big favor to ask.”

◆◆◆

“So yeah, that’s where I drowned him with an anchor…” Kada told them as they stared into the dark water. Like with Xard, she had aggressively refused the option to visit her father when they got to her hometown, but for whatever reason, she wanted to show them where she had become a Fiend. She explained it as wanting to see if all those animals had actually been rescued, but her words weren’t exactly convincing.

“Honestly, it’s really hard to imagine Kada like that,” Xard relayed. “First, as a shy and diligent high school student, then, as a person who would attack and drown someone from an emotional outburst. Kada’s weird, but I’ve never really seen her as the kind to heavily act on impulses like that. Both versions I just can’t wrap my head around.”

“Yeah, it seems like you’ve come a long way, Kada,” Drim agreed.

Phon didn’t weigh in, but instead picked up a rock, and threw it into the water with her eyes closed. A second later she clicked her tongue. “Damn, I missed.”

“Uhh, what are you doing,” Drim spoke for both of the others too when addressing his confusion.

“That short boy’s corpse is still down there,” Phon said without any concern for respect. “It’s basically just a skeleton, but it’s still completely intact. Looks like one good hit would make it all come undone and the bones would float to the surface. I just wanted to see Kada’s shocked face when it happened.”

Drim sighed and put a hand on Phon’s shoulder, “You really are too cruel sometimes, sister.”