The next morning, I woke up with my head on Lory’s chest. I rubbed my hand through her fur, it is so soft. Then I climbed out of the tent. There was no one near the campfire, but someone lit it. All sleepy and groggy, I went to the river to splash some cold water in my face. As I came out of the bushes I saw Haley bathing in the water in her swimsuit no less. I sighed, “Is there room for me in that river?”

She looked at me, “No, this time I am hogging the river, and no, I am not trying out the hot spring.”

“But, I just wanted some water.”

She splashed water over me with a lot of force. Slowly, I walked back to the campfire and sat down, drenched in water. After a while, Abby came out of her tent. “Hey, what is going on, Steve? You look all drenched.”

I sighed, “Ask Haley about it. Did you sleep well?”

Abby nodded, “Did something exciting happen after I went to sleep, after I caught you guys cuddling like adults?”

“Actually, yes, plenty of things happened besides that.”

Bella came out of her tent, before Abby could reply, giving me the perfect moment to change the subject. “Good morning, Bella, ready to stretch those wings?”

She stared at me, “What?”

“Your wings, are you going to stretch them today ?”

She put her hands on her hips and looked angry at me, “Who told you that I have wings?”

“No one, I just assumed it since you have empty incline lines on your back. If it is just like Haley, they sit in those inclines. Haley keeps them sprouted, but you seem to hide them, instead of tucking them against your back. It is no big deal, Bella.”

She stretched her wings, they were green and easily four to five feet from the base of her back. “Are you happy now, Steve?”

“Yes, feel comfortable with what you have, you are a beautiful woman, with those wings you will attract a good man.”

Abby chuckled, “You just made her blush before breakfast.”

I shrugged, I was groggy, “Just wondering what she was going to say if I asked about her wings. If she is going to defend her secret or not.”

Bella sighed, “It is not a big secret. I am just ashamed of them.”

“What, why?”

“I guess I don’t have a lot of self-esteem.”

Funk crawled out of his tent while yawning, “Oh, you were right, she has wings. Why are her wings green?”

Bella looked down, “Don’t you like them?”

Funk smiled, “They are pretty. Is the river free?”

I just shook my head. Abby laughed, “And if Lorraine is in your tent, then Haley is using the river, that is why you are drenched!”

“Yeah, she is bathing in her swimsuit, but she is not going to share the river with us. We should just wait until she is done.”

Lory came out of her tent, in a nightgown. She sat down, “Bella has wings, you were right, Steve. What is our plan for today?”

“We all freshen up, then Bella can tell us how to get to the capital. She will stay back to repair the airship, we travel to the capital and somehow retrieve that artifact.”

Bella nodded, “I will update the map while we are waiting.” After we all got freshened up, and put on our gear, we sat around the campfire. To be honest, I am hoping this not going to be a very long trek towards the capital.

Bella put the map down, “Okay, this will be a very long and diverse journey.”

I hung my head, “Thanks for dashing my hopes the second they pop in my head.”

Bella chuckled, “Sorry for that.”

Haley sighed, “Get on with it already.”

Lory giggled, “And don’t lead us into a trap this time.”

Bella sighed, “That was not me, that was most likely Alice.”

Bella pointed at the map, “This forest around us is called the unknown woods, as it borders on the edge of this giant island. The enemies and wildlife will be different here, it all has to do with the ecosystem, expect fewer dinosaurs, more lizards and sort of regular animals that look like they want to rip you into tiny shreds with a tinge of weird stuff.”

I nodded, “I read about that, every reality has a different ecosystem, it comes with different flora and fauna.”

Abby sighed, “Can you ever stop reading?”

“Nope.”

Funk grunted, “Come on, I want to know where we need to go.”

Lory giggled before Bella was allowed to continue. “I have no clue what these woods hold, or how long the journey will be, but you will need to reach the volcano.”

Abby smiled, “It took quite some hours running at top speed, and I run a lot faster than you guys.”

Bella seemed to be reviewing her map, then looking in the distance. “There are two volcanos, one with a lot of lava, dangerous to pass through. The other one is hot, there is a narrow path through the left volcano, these volcanos are called the nipple volcanos.”

Haley looked up, “What, you’ve got to be kidding me? You are not messing around?”

Bella scratched the back of her head and grabbed a book out of her inventory. “Damn Lizardians and their naming jokes. Well, you need to go through the left nipple, dammit, I meant the left volcano!”

I chuckled, “We got it, Bella, pass through the left nipple.”

She nodded, “Yes, the left nipple. Damn you Steve! Just get through it to reach a rocky road. There is even a river that you will need to follow, along some ruins. The dark river, it will lead to a small ocean. Don’t ask me how to get across, that is your problem, I am sure you will find a way. When you pass the ocean, make sure to not fall down the Meteor Falls. If you manage to get to the other side, you will be in a jungle. It is called the Lifeless Jungle, it is lifeless for a reason, there is something in there making the jungle lifeless.”

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Abby grinned, “We kind of got that.”

Bella ignored her and went on with her explanation, “Once you get out of there, you should be in a frozen tundra. It is called the Duality Plains; however, the frozen tundra is called, the Northern Desert. Then the White Tundra. Before you ask, the Northern Desert is the ice area, do you get it? Northern? Cold?”

Bella sighed, “The White Tundra, white sand? Never mind, you are buffoons. Once you get through the Dual plains, you will come closer and reach a giant wall. There, you need to find the cave entrance. It is called the Glowing Hole. It will lead you to a sewer system that is linked to an abandoned asylum. This place is called the Angelwood Asylum. I have no idea how big it is, but this is your ticket in, as it is linked to the capital. They say it is haunted, but that is your problem.”

Funk looked at me, “There might be zombies.”

Bella grinned before going on, “Then you need to find the secret wall and bash it down. Then you will come into the dungeon that they are not using anymore. If you get through the Deserted Tombs, as these dungeons are called, you will come out in the current cells. There, that is a small trip.”

I got up, “Holy moly, Bella. Let me get this in a straight line, Unknown Woods, Left Nipple Volcano, Dark River, Meteor Falls, Lifeless Jungle, Northern Desert, White Tundra, Glowing Hole, Angelwood Asylum, and then the Deserted Tombs. Wow, that was a mouth full.”

Bella nodded, “Simple, right?”

Lory hung her head, “That is insane. It is going to take ages.”

Haley got up, “I am up for an adventure!”

I looked at Abby, “What are you going to do? I mean, you are much stronger than us. We had to train and become stronger. We have hard fights, you just use a parasite and become stronger, you are immortal, you can take insane amounts of damage. But I know your weakness.”

Abby looked at me with concern, “What do you think that my weakness is?”

I smiled, “When you feed, you are vulnerable. And if the comic books have taught me something, then this is going to work.” I pulled out a bell and started ringing it.

Abby put her hands on her ears, “Goddammit, Steve, stop that!”

I stopped and put the bell away. She grunted, “Fine, I have a weakness. However, I am strong, I will just tag along, if you really need me, I will step in.”

Haley chuckled, “If a meteor falls to this island, will you catch it?”

Abby sighed, “Yes, if you ask me nicely, I’ll catch the meteor.”

Funk got up, “We can use Abby as a vehicle.”

I chuckled, “It was a comfy ride.”

Abby grunted, “I am not a vehicle, and I have to deal with things too. Like managing my eating habits, speaking with Mimic, and learning how to switch properly.”

I looked around, “I think we all agree you have it easy.”

Funk and Haley nodded. I sighed, “We should get ready for departure. We have a very long journey ahead of us.”

I pulled Lory up, I gave her a long slow kiss. Everyone cleared their throats. I looked at them, “What?”

Haley had turned red, “Do you need to do that in front of everyone? A little bit of education on how to show public affection properly might be in order.”

Funk turned around and picked up his tent, ignoring us. I laughed. He turned to look at me, “Is my shell funny?”

“No, mate, you got a big leech on your back.”

He tried to touch his shell, “I can’t reach it, you are messing with me, right?”

Lory came closer, “No, it is like a big insect on your shell, maybe we should get rid of it before it crawls into your shell.”

Abby let out a maniacal laugh, “I told you insects were evil!”

Funk grunted at her, “Not the fucking time, Abby, get this thing off my back.”

I sighed, “Fine, I will get it off if you stop twitching.”

Bella hung her head, “And I am counting on you idiots to stop the shadow world from opening.”

I looked at her, “That sounds interesting, but I am going to burn Funk.” I drew my sword and heated it with the fire. “This will hurt, Funk. Haley, hold him still!”

She grabbed Funk, she smiled at him, “Hey, how ya doing.”

Lory laughed, “Steve, why did you teach her that.”

I looked at Lory, “She is supposed to say it to a woman she likes, not for shits and giggles.”

Abby fell over backwards and laughed, “Hey, Steve?”

“Yes?”

“How are ya doing?”

I chuckled, “I am awesome, Funk is about to scream the air out of his lungs.”

Funk tried turning around, but Haley kept him in check, “What?” I put the heated sword on the leech and Funk screamed very loud.

Lory laughed, “Shush it, Funk, you are scaring the trees.”

Haley chuckled, “He is not looking too well.”

I looked at the leech falling on the ground. Funk sighed in relief. “Do I have a burn mark on my shell?”

“No, you barely see it.”

Lory looked at his shell, then she looked at me and giggled. Funk turned around, “How bad is it?”

“There is nothing Funk, you should be fine.”

Haley laughed, “Indeed, nothing at all.”

Bella grunted, “Come on guys, you are wasting daylight, stop messing around, and just tell him what kind of weird shape he has on his back.”

Abby got up with tears in her eyes, “Alright, time to get ready for our big adventure to get the artifact on the other side of this island.”