Vur sat on his butt, his four upper legs still manipulating the threads within the web. His right hindleg was stepping on a large beetle, only putting enough weight on it to keep it from moving. Beside him, Volearden and Malvina were looking down at the bug, one beast on each side of Vur because they refused to stand or sit next to the other.

“I caught it,” Volearden said, his voice barely above a whisper as he shifted his head towards Malvina.

“Vur caught it,” Malvina said and snorted. “You didn’t win; I didn’t win; we’re both losers.”

“You’re a loser, but don’t lump me in the same category as you,” Volearden said. “I delivered the princess bug safely to Vur.” The armored dragon turned towards Vur. “You gave us the task of catching the princess bug. Who do you think contributed the most?”

Vur blinked before nodding. “I did,” he said. “But you two did a good job too. Malvina found the bug, and Volearden secured it.”

“You act like you were there,” Malvina said, raising an eyebrow. They had flown deep into the world beyond the rift to locate the princess bug.

“I felt you through the wind,” Vur said.

Malvina furrowed her brow as she stared at Vur’s forehead. “I want to take a peek inside of your brain one day. What kind of world are you experiencing where you can watch people through the wind?”

Vur ignored the phoenix’s gaze and crossed his eyes to look at the tip of his snout. Stella sprang out of his scales with a puzzled expression on her face, and she whirled around in the air to look at Vur. She frowned at him before shaking her head. “Alright,” the fairy queen said. “What’s up?”

Vur gestured with his chin towards the beetle underneath his foot. “You wanted to capture it,” he said. “It’s the princess bug.”

“Oh?” Stella asked and flew down from Vur’s head. “Let me take a look. Mervin, c’mon!”

Not long after, another miniature person, Mervin, came out of Vur’s chest. “Excuse me,” he said and nodded at Vur before flying after Stella.

The fairy queen stopped in front of the beetle and placed her hand on her chin. Her eyes lit up upon seeing the golden, geometric etchings on the beetle’s shell. She flew closer, and it buzzed in protest, but Vur stepped down a little harder, causing the bug’s struggling to halt. Stella patted the insect’s shell and knocked on it before nodding to herself as if she were examining a fruit to determine its ripeness.

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“What are you doing?” Mervin asked after catching up to Stella.

“I’m checking it out,” Stella said. “If it’s more useful alive than dead, then we’ll keep it. If it’s more useful dead than alive, then we’ll eat it.”

Mervin turned his head to look at the beetle. Its eyes weren’t red before, but they were red now. “Can it understand us?” he asked and tilted his head before following after Stella, who had flown towards its injured carapace. “What if it doesn’t agree to be kept by you?”

“Then, we’ll eat it,” Stella said, turning to look at Mervin. “You didn’t lose parts of your brain while you were regrowing, right?”

“Maybe some of them,” Mervin said before shrugging.

“Wait,” Stella said and blinked. She flew closer to Mervin, ignoring the giant beetle making strange sounds next to her. “Really? Are you okay?”

Mervin blinked. “I never knew how big my brain was before,” he said and shrugged again. “I don’t know how big it is now. I might’ve lost some parts, might’ve gained some.”

Stella frowned. Was Mervin messing with her on purpose? No, he was always a bit different. The fairy queen nodded before continuing her inspection of the giant beetle. After examining every nook and cranny, she flew up towards Vur and placed her hands on her hips. “We should keep it,” she said. “It can rip apart space, command other bugs, and looks really sleek. I like it.”

“Okay,” Vur said, using his spare foot to grab a roasted insect. Under the beetle’s horrified gaze, he chomped on the roasted insect a few times before swallowing. Then, he squinted his eyes and leaned forward to get a better look at the princess bug. The bug trembled as it stared back at him, and Vur asked, “Pet or food?”

“I suggest you be a pet,” Stella said, holding her hand up in front of her mouth to fake-whisper to the insect.

The princess bug chittered at Vur, clicking and clacking while humming. Off to the side, Mary whispered to Tafel, “Do you think they understand each other?”

“Who knows?” Tafel whispered back. “Vur’s always been good at getting his thoughts across without speaking.” She focused on Vur’s face before nodding at Mary. “It does look like they’re communicating.”

Vur nodded. “Okay,” he said to the beetle. “That’s fine.”

“What’s up, Vur?” Tafel asked, walking over to the beetle’s side where Stella and Mervin were hovering. “Did you and the princess bug come to an agreement?”

“Yep,” Vur said. “It’ll submit to me if I occasionally reward it with insect gold.”

Tafel blinked. “Huh,” she said and raised an eyebrow. “Do you have this on paper or anything? What if the princess bug doesn’t keep its word?”

“Then, we’ll eat it,” Vur said with a straight face, causing the princess bug to stiffen. “If Stella didn’t want it, I would’ve eaten it anyway.” He looked down at the princess bug before looking around. After searching for a bit, Vur stopped and let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Tafel asked.

“Auntie’s not here,” Vur said as he lifted his foot off the princess bug much to the insect’s relief. “The princess bug has a lot of followers; thinking about what to do with them is a hassle.”

“And you wanted to pass that hassle onto Auntie,” Tafel said, nodding her head. “I completely understand.” She smiled at the ocean-blue dragon. “We can always switch places with her. We’ll help Kim Hajun defeat the severed hand, and Auntie will handle the diplomatic stuff with the bugs.”

“That’s a great idea,” Vur said. “Let’s do it.”