“A tree?” Jaid guessed

“Nope.”

“Grass?” Tize took his turn.

“Nope.”

“Uhh, can we get a hint?” Jaid was running out of ideas.

“Higher up.” Ahvra gave an answer that wasn’t as helpful as it should have been.

“Higher than the trees?” Jaid stared out the windshield at the landscape in front of her but was stumped. Something green but higher than the trees? There was nothing higher, just a clear blue sky. Did Ahvra have some sort of visual distortion that made her see the sky as green?

“I give up,” Jaid slumped back in her seat, tired of leaning forward to get a better view out the windshield.

“Same,” Tize agreed with an equal level of exasperation.

“The awning directly above us.” Ahvra provided the solution.

“Huh? We can’t even see that!” An annoyed Jaid craned her neck so she could look up out of the minivan’s side window. “It really is green.”

“Interesting. It is all I can see,” Ahvra declared before laughing to herself. “Another reason why it’s funny that you thought I was driving. I can’t see over the dashboard. Just a peek at the very top of the windshield.”

The game died there. It hadn’t been a fun game, especially since the first round went on for so long and ended—well dissatisfactory didn’t begin to cover it. It had been a sad attempt to distract themselves from the hell they found themselves in. Jaid’s mind left at that point as she stared into nothing.

Time passed. How much time? She had no idea. Had they moved at all in the line? She’d stopped paying attention, but the visuals in front of her hadn’t seemed to have shifted. At some point, Jaid had run out of thoughts, or at least the ability to have them. She couldn’t focus on anything, not her mission from the CP, not the upcoming mission for the Fiends For Hire, no more questions to ask even though she may never get a chance like this again.

All she had was her own existential dread. Time was a lie when she looked at the clock. Only a few minutes had passed since she’d last checked, but it had to have been hours at least. She would have staked her life on it. Ahvra had some form of time manipulation power that Jaid didn’t fully understand. Could that be the source? Doubtful, but it was something to cling to as her mind raced through the possibilities.

Was this some kind of test, some kind of torture? Were they going to be trapped here until Jaid spilled all of her secrets? How cruel. How Fiendish. That train of thought was quickly abandoned, her brain even finding it as a source of amusement to dwell on and re-evaluate for a while. Her mind then slipped to what the blood experiments could be, but she just didn’t have the mental power to make an educated guess.

At some point, Jaid’s mind became oddly paranoid about what was going on to cause this. Had a car broken down? Was there a fight? Did someone have a heart attack? It had become inconceivable to her that this line was caused by bad service alone. There was something else going on, and now she had a carnal need to find out what.

“I’m gonna go check on things,” Jaid reached for the handle to let herself out.

“I wouldn’t,” Drim warned her before she could pull the door open. “Think about what you are and where we are. You’re not the only one losing your mind. We all are, except maybe Ahvra.” The girl in question was back to humming to herself while tapping on the steering wheel.

“People are undoubtedly getting angry and irrational having to wait in this line. Could you imagine what would happen if a Fiend was thrown into the mix? One just suddenly appearing after all this time could lead to a panic. Normally, I’m a firm believer that we shouldn’t try to hide ourselves, but in such high tension, it’s best to avoid anything that could kick the nest. If you’re ready for any potential fallout, then go for it.”

This is stupid, Jaid quickly came to realize. Everything about it was stupid. Having to wait this long was stupid. That a simple thing such as waiting in line could cause this much mental damage was very stupid. A Fiend being a catalyst for chaos in such a mundane event was overbearingly stupid. Allowing this simple situation to get to her was the stupidest of all.

But… Drim was right, and Jaid let go of the handle. In a way, if Jaid had gotten out of the minivan, she would have lost. She didn’t know who exactly would win in that situation, but she’d certainly be the loser.

Jaid closed her eyes and let her mind slip away again, but purposefully this time. In the off-chance that it came to it, Jaid had received some training before coming to the Fiends For Hire on how to deal with torture. Most of it was nonsense about finding her inner-peace, but she’d try anything at this point.

In and out, in and out. She took several deep breaths. For a moment, a relaxing bliss washed over her and she felt calm—only for it to be dashed a moment later when she heard an engine rev and tires scratch along the ground. Would the line progress? It had to, right? Yet no movement came.

Any time Jaid heard anything sounding like a car, she was snapped out of her trance, unable to focus again until she got her answer. Was it hope for future freedom or just another letdown. Dozens, hundreds of times, she was certain it was their moment to move forward, only to be let down again and again.

Yet miraculously, when she opened her eyes once more, they had made so much progress. In fact, they were just one car away from the drive-thru’s speaker. Holy zjik! At last, the end was in sight. But it was so far away. Every second dragged on longer and longer as Jaid stared ahead. She refused to peel away her eyes, unblinking at the car ahead of them.

Her vision focused on the driver. She examined him, closer and closer, fury building in her with each passing second until she couldn’t bear to look at his dumb mouth-agape face a moment longer. If she didn’t know any better, she would have sworn he was drooling from how brain-dead she perceived him to be.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhh,” was all he continued to drawl after he’d been asked what he wanted. He was staring at the menu, his eyes unmoving, clearly not processing the information at all. After what had to be several minutes of non-stop verbal garbage, he finally spouted, “Still looking over the menu, can you give me a moment?”

“Sure, let us know when you’re ready to order.” The disembodied voice from the speaker replied.

How dare he? HOW DARE HE?! This bastard had only been one car ahead of them, so he’d certainly gone through the same hellish nightmare. In all that time, why in holy Cosmos’ name had he not figured out what he wanted. There had been plenty of time, endless time, and the menu wasn’t even that big.

Had he never eaten here before? Had he never eaten at fast-food before? This restaurant had a similar menu to a dozen other places so there was no way he shouldn’t have a general idea of what he liked? Was this his first time eating out? His first time going outside? That was the only rational explanation that someone could be so oblivious to ordering conventions such as this.

But no. No way was this bastard in his well-driven sedan with his ‘If you can read this, how’s my ass?’ bumper sticker hadn’t been eating zjik like this for his entire life. It was mind-blowing how incompetent and oblivious he was. It was unforgivable. Forget Fiends and whatever crimes against the world they were getting. It was this bastard and his ilk that were what was truly wrong with humanity.

The world needed to be rid of them, Jaid felt that in her very core. There was an itching in her hand like it was drawing her to her sword, her very soul wanting this man to be cut down. Was this what Kaizu felt when her Curse Marks started to speak to her? Was this her own Curse Mark telling her this man deserved to die? Was that person giving her his blessing to strike this monster down for his heinous actions?

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Look! LOOK! Two cars ahead of you have already moved forward. You’re literally holding up the line now with your indecision! Maybe this was it. This would be her villain-origin story. There’d be no way to justify her actions to the Central Peace. Even the Fiends For Hire may oust her after such a heinous act, except maybe those in this car going through the same trauma. But it didn’t matter, she believed it in her heart to be true. This bastard needed to die.

Why are you so angry when you’re hungry? A voice whispered to her from inside her head. One of her clones? They had never actually spoken words to her internally, just shared subconscious feelings. Maybe this situation had been so dire that it called for it.

Was that really all there was to it? Jaid focused in on her stomach and it cried out to her as if she hadn’t been fed in years. The time distortion of the drive-thru enigma must have been compounding her hunger by uncountable magnitudes. She was so hungry she could literally eat the seat in front of her, but that let her focus on something. It added rationale to the problem, and she was able to calm back down to her normal self.

The person in front of her hadn’t done anything that bad. It was something she could forgive. Or at least she would forgive them once she had some food in her stomach; an oath she swore to herself. And look at that. Rathe even blessed her for her patience since the allowed-to-live-their-life-however-they-want-regardless-of-any-inconvenience-to-everyone-else stranger just ahead of them finally gave his order.

“Y’know what. I’ll just have a small coffee, please.”

I’m going to murder him! She wasn’t actually going to murder him—this time at least. She’d moved past that anger. But it wasn’t gone, just replaced with an entirely new, less-bloody anger. No physical action was going to be taken against him this day, but she’d burned his license-plate into her mind so that she could take retribution against him in the future. Finally, finally, finally! They made it to the speaker to place their order.

“Welcome to—” There was a clear hesitation from the restaurant worker. Most drive-thrus were equipped with cameras these days for safety concerns. The worker was most likely struggling with the idea that a child was driving the minivan, and a Fiend child at that. But, they maintained the minimal standard of professionalism and asked a moment later. “How can I take your order?”

“Yes, I’ll have a pancake-sandwich combo with extra syrup, potato tumblies for the side, and an octuple expresso. Add an additional 40 coldbrews, please.” Ahvra ordered without shame or hesitation, clearly knowing what she wanted even if it was ridiculous. This was how it should be.

“Kind of you to order drinks for everyone,” Tize expressed his appreciation.

“Ehhh? No, this is all for me. May even be undercutting it if I’m to survive. Get your own,” Ahvra’s caffeine consumption was as ridiculous as ever. “That said. My treat for making you all wait with me. Get whatever you want.”

“Alright then, just juice and some eggs for me then,” Tize gave his order.

“Organ Farm. I know you eat big. Whatcha want?” Ahvra’s eyes pried at Jaid in the rear-view mirror.

“Sure, I’ll have uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-” What? What did she want again? Oh no, her mind had gone completely blank. All of a sudden, she’d become exactly what she hated. What did this place even serve?

She should know, she should damned know. This was one of his favorite places when the two of them snuck out together. She should have everything on the menu memorized by now. But as she stared at it, the menu became a sea of unreadable, blurry words that made her head spin.

It was gone now, all sense of what food she liked. Was she even hungry? Yes, of course, but why did her taste buds suddenly reject the idea of everything? It didn’t matter now. This had gone on for too long. She just needed to pick something, anything at this point.

But how much to order? Ahvra had said that it was her treat, but that was complicating things. If Jaid was paying, she could just order however much she wanted, but now she was leaning into someone else’s good graces. If she ordered too much, would it seem like she was taking advantage? And if she ordered too little, would she come off as ungrateful?

Tize’s order had been simple, so should she just mimic his? Or would it be suspicious since she was known as a big eater. All this was taking too much time. Had it been seconds or minutes as her throat continued to belt out her uncertainty. Just pick something! Her eyes darted around the menu in a panic until they finally latched onto a word.

“Could I get both a breakfast sampler and a lunch sampler, please? With a large soda to wash it down.” Jaid had clinged to the word sampler and saw that there were multiple types. It had been her saving grace. She didn’t know what was in them, but that didn’t matter. It was simple and sure to have a lot of food.

“Sure thing, Useful One?” Ahvra moved on.

“Tea and cheesy-meat twists, please,” he didn’t even look up from his tablet.

“Would you be so kind as to get me a triple-decker beef-chicken-pork sandwich with extra sauce?” a completely unknown female voice flooded the minivan’s cabin.

Jaid didn’t know why, but her mind from the ordering dilemma had completely cleared. What’s more, her survival instincts were flaring, itching for her to reach for her sword out of self-preservation. It was a voice she shouldn’t be hearing, her body wanting to reject the sound.

Looking around, Tize seemed to be as equally confused and suspicious as her, clearly unsettled in his own way. Ahvra didn’t seem to care at all, and Drim had thrown back his head in annoyance. “Since when do you need to eat?” he groaned.

“I don’t,” the voice confirmed. “But do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve gotten to taste something?! Well, I guess you do since you killed me. We’re at a point where you don’t mind if I use your body to eat something, right? Remember how I saved you from Creti? Just a little thanks is all I’m asking.”

“I don’t even need to take you over. A single arm and your mouth is all I need. Well, guess I need your throat too if I’m going to swallow. Or, you could just give me your tongue if you’re that worried. Would probably be unpleasant for you to eat something you couldn’t taste at all, though.”

“And after not having food for over a decade, this is what you want your first meal to be?” Drim seemed more bewildered by that fact more than anything else.

“Like the little witch said: sometimes you just want to eat something terrible for you,” the disembodied voice laughed to herself.

“Fine, whatever,” Drim gave in. “But don’t expect this to become a regular thing.”

Zjik! Zjik! Cosdamned ZJIK! It’s true! Eleen Drazah was alive! Well, not quite alive, but her consciousness still existed—free to form her own thoughts and scheme to her heart's continent. From the sounds of it, too, she could take over Drim’s body whenever she pleased, or at least whenever he let her.

Personally, Jaid didn’t have strong feelings towards Eleen one way or the other. During the war, her country had actually been on the Drazah’s side, at least for as long as she’d been alive. Her mother had even been on several campaigns where she’d earned her position and titles given to her after the Drazah Empire had collapsed.

But now, Jaid was loyal to the Central Peace. And by their views, anything relating to the Drazahs or their old empire was the enemy of the world. While Drim and the other Fiends were certainly her enemies as well, they were more victims of circumstance who had chosen the wrong side. Eleen was the center of it all, the real source of all this evil, and now she was sitting mere inches away.

Jaid had to calm herself. While anyone would be surprised by this revelation, if she acted too shocked or avoidant as a result, it could lead to bigger suspicion on her end. Tize had already gone back to mostly relaxed, but still with one hesitant eye glaring in Drim’s direction. Jaid decided it best to follow his example and tried to look only slightly disturbed.

More than anything, she’d wished she’d been recording. The CP had no reason to doubt her, but undeniable evidence was stronger than word of mouth. It took all of her strength of will to not take out her phone and submit a Report right now. She couldn’t risk it in such a confined space and would have to find a minute to be alone as soon as she could. For now, she just needed to act as if everything was alright and enjoy her meal. Her stomach and anxiety would certainly thank her.

“Anything else?” the voice from the speaker asked for confirmation, completely oblivious to the Rathe-shattering chaos that had just transpired.

“Oh, can I get a kids meal?”

“Holy mawhging zjik!” Both Tize and Jaid had jumped slightly, and then turned to the new voice behind them. Ahvra on the other hand had been so startled that she’d lurched forward as she was forced into becoming an adult, her chest now slamming into the steering wheel, blaring the horn while she cursed.

Drim didn’t have any notable reaction, likely aware of Rezin’s presence in the back seat the entire time. The poor boy saw the commotion he’d caused and apologized profusely. Without further incident, their meal was prepared in virtually no time at all. How could such fast and competent service have caused such a delay this whole time?

In the end, the Fiends left with their abundance of food and overabundance of drinks in just 15 minutes since they’d entered the drive-thru line.