Violette was strumming away at her violin, experimenting on a new song that she was writing. Occasionally, she would stop and tune a string or note whether something worked or didn’t. For the first time in a while, the entire group was walking together, with nobody being carried or dragged. Violette finished her song and cheered in her own happiness.

“Does anyone have any song requests?” she asked the group.

“Something classical.” Shiso requested.

“Anything more specific?”

“Scherzo di Notte.” Selicy butted in.

“Is that classical?” the gunslinger inquired.

“If it’s in Italian, it’s classical.” Hazel said with certainty.

“Not really.” Reva countered. “A few of the modern songs were in Italian.”

“She asked; I requested.” Selicy sneered. “Now play.”

“She’s not a jukebox.” Shiso growled. “She’s a person; better treat her like one.” Violette smiled and blushed in the back of the group.

“Whatever…” Selicy sulked. Violette was about to start playing again, but then they all heard a strange sound. It was like a horde of snakes in the distance hissing all at once. Though it was faint, it was prominent over the horizon.

“Is that… some kind of steam engine I hear?” Saffron asked.

They walked to the source of the noise and found that Saffron’s guess wasn’t actually that far off. Where the snowy, icy tundra abruptly ended, there started a giant biome ahead that looked like a volcano range.

The ground was cracked in various places, with what looked like magma underneath. There were sort of jagged stalagmite-like formations sprouting up from all around the plain, with cracks all along them as well. It was as though some sort of hell had risen to the surface.

Along the very prominent border on the firelands and the tundra, snow was melting and evaporating, creating a curtain of steam between the two biomes. Even just on the border, they could all feel the intense change in heat that the firelands emitted.

“Do we have to go through there?” Selicy whined.

“Have you tried to get to the center of a circle by just going around the perimeter?” Shiso asked, holding his hand to his ear. “Yeah, didn’t think so.”

“It looks like just stepping in there could melt a person.” said Saffron with dread.

“Why can nobody just move on without complaining?” Shiso complained. “I’ll just go through and meet you all there.” Shiso walked to step directly through the steam curtain. Reva reached a hand out and was about to stop him, but Hazel put her hands down and signaled her not to.

The threat of the steam curtain didn’t break Shiso’s stride at all, walking with complete confidence as he approached it. It was apparent he didn’t know that steam was hot.

“AAAAAAAAAAA!!!” Shiso yelled, accumulating steam burns all over his body.

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Selicy and Hazel were laughing hysterically at the sight of Shiso with completely red skin and damp clothing. Reva had just put down her shield for the group to walk over to block the steam. He didn’t look too happy.

“You look like a blue dumpling.” Saffron chuckled, not being able to help herself.

Shiso didn’t bother saying anything back. The steam had already made him hot and the literal magma under their feet wasn’t making it any better. Although, Selicy seemed to still be the one most affected by the heat.

“You doin’ alright there?” Hazel asked, pointing at her. “You look like you’ve got a… situation there.”

Steam was escaping out from underneath Selicy’s clothes, making it look like she was trying to smuggle a fog machine under her shirt. Her hoodie was also getting progressively more damp as well. She was also breathing a bit deep.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” she lightly panted. “I’m just not doing too hot. Or maybe it’s that I am too hot. Haven’t been this heated in a while.” She wiped sweat from her brow as she yanked off her jacket so as not to end up baking from the inside out. As she tied her hoodie around her waist, the entire group saw her slightly large sleeveless shirt that had a picture of Violette on a stage with blue hair, ripped jeans, and a guitar.

“I didn’t know you were a fan!” Violette said, excited.

“I’m not.” Selicy bluntly replied, breaking Violette’s spirit. Selicy definitely looked less like her body was baking, but thin wisps of steam were still trailing from her shoulders and exposed skin. “What’re you all staring at?” she hissed.

“I don’t really know…” Saffron pondered. “I guess you looked like you probably just wore the jacket or something.”

“Well, I have a body. See it for yourself, folkes.” Selicy joked. “Now, let’s just get out of here before our gunman cooks well done.” she said sarcastically.

All of their bodies were a bit shocked from the heat, especially after exiting the frigid tundra. From freezing to blazing, the group trudged on surprisingly silently. It seems that the heat had just made them all a bit more anti-social and unwilling to talk than usual. That is, until they managed to find something.

“Haze, this is your area of expertise.” Saffron said to her. Before them was an impossibly wide minefield that stretched as far as the eye could see to their left and right.

“Looks like a minefield to me.” Hazel yawned.

“We can all see that.” Saffron frowned. “Can you get rid of them or something?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” she replied, stretching. “Just go grab whatever mine you wanna start with and give it to me to disarm. You know, if you wanna get your fingers blown off while nabbing them.”

“Can we just throw a rock in the middle of the field and blow it up?” asked Reva. “Like what you did with Hazel’s minefield?”

“Hazel’s minefield was a lot smaller…” Saffron contemplated. “This one’s so big… Who had the time or patience to set this all up?”

“Must be a dedicated man.” Shiso said. “A strong soldier who’d work night and day to see his position completely safe.”

“Let’s not rush to conclusions.” Reva reasoned. “Maybe they just like big explosions.”

“It doesn’t matter who set them up or what for right now.” Saffron said. “We’ve just got to find a way to overcome this minefield. Any suggestions?” Shiso put his hands together.

“Can we shoot the mines to disarm them?” Hazel put her hands together the same way and faced Shiso.

“Do you have a sniper rifle or something with a scope?” she asked. “Because anything short of that would activate the mines and blow us along with the next few miles of land sky-high.”

“Can you build one of those bunkers and hide us all in it?” Reva asked. Hazel put her hand on her chin for a minute.

“Sure. Just give me a bit.” she said, pulling out various tools and materials from her pouch. “Saff, give me a hand.” she asked.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Sure thing!” the scientist cheered, bouncing along to help Hazel as the others wandered off to generally do their own things. Shiso and Violette casually talked while Selicy tried to form some ice-platforms to measure up to Reva’s height, but they were rapidly melting in the heat.

Hazel already had various piles of metal, nuts, bolts, and tools thrown around. She was still throwing more out from her seemingly endless pouch. When Hazel was finally satisfied, she put the pouch down and began to assemble various tools and materials. It was a bit mesmerizing for Saffron.

“Can you hand me the monkey wrench, Saff?” Hazel asked, snapping her back into reality. She shook her head.

“Yeah, sure.” she responded. The only problem was that Hazel had a ton of monkey wrenches in a lot of shapes, sizes, and colors. Saffron was a bit overwhelmed. “Uh, which wrench did you want?” she asked.

“Gimme the red one over there.” she ordered.

Saffron grabbed the only red one in the bunch, holding the heavy wrench firmly in her hand. The slightly chipped paint over it had a red sheen that reflected the sunlight. Along each side, Kaylie Corp. was embedded into it.

“What’s keepin’ ya?” Hazel asked impatiently. Saffron held up the wrench.

“This was the first tool I got you, remember?” she asked. Hazel smiled as she took the tool and continued her work.

“Of course. It was the first birthday present you gave me that had to do with my actual main interest.” Hazel recounted. “I was surprised you didn’t give me a painted pinecone or some spell or, God forbid, another pair of socks.”

“I didn’t get you that many pairs of socks.” Saffron pouted. Hazel reached into her pouch and pulled out a handful of unopened socks and tossed them at Saffron. She counted a total of eight pairs of socks in varying patterns, including nuts and bolts, wrenches, gears, and lightning bolts. They were all in sizes varying from a teenager’s to an adult’s size, but Saffron recognised them all.

“I have enough socks to outfit an army.” Hazel joked.

“Well, I needed a new pair anyway.” Saffron pouted, opening a pair that was patterned with drops of oil. She took off her shoes and tossed her socks into Hazel’s pouch, much to her disdain.

“Hey, don’t just throw them in!” Hazel complained. “It’s not a laundry basket.”

“You keep plenty of machine parts and tools in there.” Saffron pointed out. “I doubt my dirty socks would be the worst WMD in there.” She slipped on the socks and her shoes, glad that they were no longer baking.

“Hey Saff,” Hazel said suddenly and seriously, stopping her work. “What do you want to do when we get to Eden?” Saffron was taken off guard by the sudden question.

“I-I uh-”

“I know you’re pretty confident about your ability to help humanity recover and all, but I want you thinking realistically instead of optimistically. Just in case it really can’t be done.”

“...Do you think i can’t do it…?” Saffron whispered. The female mechanic sighed, trying her best to not look Saffron in the eyes..

“Saff, you know I’m just looking out for you, right?” she asked. “I don’t wanna see you throw yourself into something that can’t be done.” They both stayed silent for a few moments. Hazel started to get back to work, but Saffron put a hand on hers.

“Then help me.” she asked, gazing into Hazel’s eyes with her shining ones. “We can rebuild the world together. Bigger and better.”

“You really think that you can do that?” Hazel asked skeptically, growing uncomfortable..

“I know that we can do that.” Saffron declared, giving Hazel an unexpected tight hug. Hazel’s face formed some slight blush before returning the hug and letting go.

“I guess if you think so… it couldn't hurt to give this world-reviving thing a try. After all, we can’t hold up Eden forever. There’s probably too many taxes or something.”

“I knew I could count on you.” Saffron said with joy.

They both worked hard on assembling a suitable bunker that would hopefully protect them from the sea of landmines that they had to face.

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“Take a look at this baby!” Hazel shouted, slapping the side of the bunker she built. “This little tyke could survive an entire rain of those landmines!”

“Then let’s get this over with.” Shiso said, grumpily climbing into the cramped bunker.

It barely had enough room to fit them all, but the bunker was better than getting shredded by shrapnel. Saffron used a spell and summoned a small bomb in Reva’s hand, which she promptly threw as high into the sky as she could. Quickly, Hazel shut and tightly locked the door, then held on to the wall as much as she could afterwards.

“Hey guys,” Selicy said. “Geology wasn’t my field of study, but I just thought of something. Is causing a giant explosion around a volcanic region really a good ide-”

Suddenly, a giant chain of explosions sounded, which also promptly shook the bunker to hell and back. They heard the Plink! of shrapnel scraping against the bunker, which rattled everyone inside. When the commotion finally calmed down, they all slowly climbed out. Where the mines were lined up, there was a small trench that stretched for miles. It was almost deep enough to reach the magma underneath. The bunker itself was intensely scorched and dented.

“Someone’s probably gonna be pissed that we blew up their favorite landmine collection.” Selicy joked.

“They can take it to court.” Shiso groaned, loading up his gun.

“Why do you load your gun so much?” Hazel asked, narrowing her eyes. “I don’t exactly see you firing it a whole lot.”

“I reload when the gun tells me to.” he said. Nobody knew what that could have meant, but none of them really cared.

“Whatever. Let’s get going before Shiso makes out with his guns or something.” the engineer joked.

“You gotta treat your gun like you would a woman. Love her and treat her with respect.” Shiso countered. They all stared awkwardly at him as he realized the mistake of what he said. “Let’s just go.” he pouted, sulking as they all crossed the small casm.

“Reva, aren’t you hot under there, honey?” Violette asked.

“Of course.” Reva replied.

“Isn’t it uncomfortable?”

“Immensely.”

“Won’t you take your armor off then?” the songstress asked, concerned as she saw Reva sweating bullets down her forehead.

“Nope!” she said enthusiastically. “I gotta keep this on just in case anyone needs defending!”

“Even the toughest paladins need their breaks.” Vio chuckled.

“Then I’m beyond the paladin!” she declared eccentrically. “I’m…”

“A walking tank.” Shiso finished while walking by.

“Yeah!” she cheered.

“That’s not exactly a compliment.” Shiso smiled. They all shared a laugh; it would take more than that to offend Reva.

“They’re in my sights. I see six of them.”

All of them suddenly surveyed the land as quickly as they could. A voice had come from somewhere; it had been over a radio receiver too.

“Four women, one man, one child.”

“One’s got a shield; others likely have indeterminate weapons.”

The same voice was coming from multiple sources all around them. They all started slowly drawing their weapons.

“Continue scoping out for information. Taking the shot if I see one, over and out.”

Shiso turned around and shot a jagged stone stalagmite, which ricocheted and hit something with a Crunch! When they inspected it, there was only a lone radio with a bullet in it.

“I think we’re being played.” Shiso suspected. “I think it’s just one very clever soldier.”

“Get down!” Reva shouted, jumping in front of Selicy. Reva recoiled from the sniper round that collided with her shield. It burst in multiple directions upon impact, but still didn’t even dent Eschaton.

“Look for where it came from!” Saffron shouted.

In the distance, they saw what looked like a small figure laying stomach-down on some elevated ground, using a sniper rifle. The scope glinted in the afternoon sun.

“Nobody’s survived my first shot here before.” the radio nearest to them said. “Congrats on being the first lucky ones.”

“Who are you?!” Shiso shouted into the radio after grabbing it.

“I don’t have a name.” it said. “I was given Gunner 492-6Y4.”

“Shit!” Saffron said, grabbing the radio and smashing it.

“What was that for?” Shiso complained.

“That’s a Gunner!” Saffron panicked. “They were a notorious military division that trained anyone of any age to be killing machines with a gun. Toddler, adult, elderly; it didn’t matter as long as they could be trained.”

“I’m guessing these guys shoot first and talk later.” Selicy grumbled.

“More like shoot first and dig our graves later.” Hazel said, attempting to build some kind of defense.

“Is there only one?” Reva panicked.

“Can we beat them?” Violette asked, uncertainly. Another radio sounded near them.

“Watch out guys. I never miss the first time. I’ve been waiting for quite a while for the next person to show up, but imagine my surprise when I get a whole squad to myself. Welcome to Hell, guys. I’ve been waiting. Your end’s just started.”