All eight of them had been walking for a couple days straight through the forest without even coming across a single monster, which didn’t help lighten the dark cloud over Shiso’s head. While Terra ranted to Saffron about how much more powerful her magic was, Hazel and Gunner were building some kind of explosive at the same time that Selicy and Reva were loudly talking about what makes a hero great. The blue gunman didn’t like so much activity as he walked in the front of the group on his own.

“How’re you feeling?” Violette asked, sliding next to Shiso and taking his hand.

“Like I’m the leader of six feral children.” he sighed. “Oh boy, I am tired of this. Traveling just isn’t my style.”

“Anything I can help with?” she asked.

“Make sure they don’t kill each other when my back’s turned.”

“You… got it, honey.” Violette said awkwardly, slowing to be at the back of the group, out of the gunman’s earshot. She walked with a stare akin to a deer in headlights.

“Hey, you there?” Saffron asked, snapping her fingers in front of the songstress’ face. “Earth to Vio?”

“Saff, have you ever been in a relationship?” Violette asked.

“Can’t say I have.”

“It’s so confusing…” Violette said wistfully. “I think he’s sending mixed signals.”

“I think that’s just his personality.” Saffron said playfully. “Whatever he tells you, I’d take it at the most basic of face value.”

“But why?”

“Because not once in this whole crusade to Eden have I known him to be…” Saffron looked to be struggling to find the right words. “Well, let’s say the man’s not quite so ‘fluent with emotions’ as you might be trying to hold him to.”

“Hm? Really?” the woman asked, not quite believing Saffron.

“Reva, can you back me up here?” Saffron asked.

“About what?” the knight asked.

“Does Shiso have emotions?” the scientist asked.

“I believe everyone has emotions.” Reva said sincerely. “He seems to keep his more close to his chest than most though.”

“What do you think would open him up?” Violette asked with a slight hint of desperation.

“Everyone likes food.” Reva said with a shrug. Saffron gave a shrug too.

“I guess they say the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Saffron said.

“Nah, you got it all backwards.” Selicy interjected, ending her conversation with Terra. “The best way to a man’s heart is right through his chest.” She made a motion of cutting open someone’s chest and ripping out their heart. Saff, Vio, and Reva rolled their eyes.

“I don’t suppose you have any relationship advice?” Violette asked, gesturing to Terra.

“Put him in his place.” the earthen idol commanded. “Keep an iron grip on his soul so tight that he can barely breathe. Then pull him back if he even thinks about wanting to escape. That way, he can’t leave your possession until he or you dies.” The four of them were speechless while Terra had such a proud look.

“Is that advice… for partners or prisoners?” Reva asked.

“As a girl, I was told marriage is its own prison.” Terra said.

“Whatcha guys talking about?” Hazel asked.

“Relationship problems.” Terra said.

“More like relationship confusion.” Violette corrected.

“Where’s the little gremlin?” Selicy asked, not spying Gunner.

“I let him play with Eastwood over there.” Hazel said, pointing a thumb in front of them.

Gunner had filched Shiso’s guns off of him and began to fire the two revolvers into the sky like it was some kind of game. This was all the while Shiso was chasing the boy and trying to take his weapons back.

“A gremlin indeed.” Reva agreed.

“So, food?” Violette asked.

“Yeah, I could eat.” Hazel said. “I’ll tell the boys we’re pitching up tent for today.” She ran ahead and yanked the guns out of Gunner’s hands, instead throwing them at Shiso’s head and telling them about their plans to stop. She pulled out various pieces of camping equipment and shoved them into the boys’ hands before coming back to the group of women.

“That’s sure not going to improve his mood.” Vio grumbled.

“Well, I’m sure you can.” Selicy said, shaking her eyebrows and elbowing the woman in the ribs.

“What do you think we should cook?” Reva asked. Everyone fell silent.

“...What’ve you got, Haze?” Saffron asked. Hazel put her arm shoulder-deep in the pouch on her hip to find anything.

“I’ve got… at least a loaf of bread.” she reported.

“It’ll have to be a start.” Vio sighed.

“I’m guessing you’ll need help?” Reva assumed.

“I shall make my world famous jambalaya!” Terra exclaimed.

“I think I’ll do this on my own.” Violette said confidently. “My man, my cooking.”

“If you’re only cooking for your man, then we’re all your man tonight.” Selicy said, starting a walk over to torment the boys. “You’d better make enough for everyone!”

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Hazel had just finished setting up their makeshift kitchen area with a stove, oven, sink, pots, pans, and plenty other devices that she had either already had in her pouch or she jury-rigged together in a flash.

Violette grabbed her violin and bow, ready to make a musical mealtime. Hazel grinned as she prepared to be Violette’s only assistance. Vio was already wearing an apron that read “Mistress of Music” in a smooth purple cursive. Violette rosined up her bow and gave Hazel a ferocious nod.

“Let’s start the show.” she said.

Hazel took an old wooden metronome out of her bag and set it to a somewhat faster tempo. It was enough to make Violette start dancing around the kitchen like she was at home and back on stage.

The rest of the group (excluding Shiso and Gunner, who were still trying to set up the four tents) watched as Hazel whipped out an onion and threw it at the songstress like a baseball pitcher. With a flurry of executed notes, the onion burst into small chopped bits and gathered themselves into a small bowl. She did the same routine with a few more onions, a couple cloves of garlic, and some cheese.

Hazel laid out all the ingredients for Violette’s meal and sat back to let her cook. As the woman began to sing and play a chipper tune, the food and utensils around her began to stir amok. The thyme began to cut itself, the wine poured a glass all on its own, the beef broth got its own spoonful.

“No tasting before dinner!” Violette chastised as Terra tried to get a spoonful of what the musician was cooking up.

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“It’s about time!” Gunner exclaimed. “I’m starving!”

Violette had just finished her cooking performance and announced that dinner was done. Everyone flocked to a table that Hazel had built in a hurry. Served in steaming bowls, everyone got a serving of Violette’s French Onion Soup.

“I hope it’s worth the wait.” Selicy said, digging in.

“Thank you.” Reva said before eating.

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“Thanks.” Saffron said.

“I appreciate it.” Hazel said.

“Let us see if it measures up to my jambalaya.” Terra judged before ignoring the spoon altogether and just drinking straight from the bowl. “It has the potential.” she decided.

“Thank you all.” Violette said with a small bow. “What do you think?” she asked Shiso with a voice near a whisper. The man took a large and prolonged spoonful of soup and took his time to let the taste settle in.

“You did a good job,” he decided. “I like it a lot, for soup.” Violette put on an embarrassed smile and began to blush. She lunged forward and caught him in a hug, startling him and dropping his spoon.

“I’m glad you think so.” she said softly. Everyone at the table was staring at Violette keeping Shiso to her chest in a forceful vice grip. Everyone except Gunner, that is. He was too busy already getting thirds to notice.

Shiso cleared his throat and removed Violette away from himself. Before she went to sit down and eat, he whispered something into her ear. She looked visibly surprised from whatever he said and wore a bashful grin.

“What is this, by the way?” Reva wondered.

“French Onion Soup.” Vio answered.

“Are there real French people in this?” Terra asked.

“Um… no.” she uncomfortably said. “I was… a bit short on that…”

“Unfortunate.” Terra judged, still chugging down the soup. “I’m sure it would’ve completed the meal.”

“You tell her.” Selicy chuckled. “I would just say that it needs more broth.”

“Noted.”

Saffron, Hazel, Shiso, and Gunner ate in relative silence while Vio, Reva, Terra, and Selicy chattered. They finished the whole meal, with Gunner and Terra eating about half of the soup in total.

The night went on with the group playing some games after the dinner. Monopoly prompted Terra’s wrath as she landed on Hazel’s boardwalk. Pictionary let Violette show off her drawing skills, and for Selicy to show her cheating skills. Gunner and Shiso complained that there was no option for a gun in Clue. And of course, nobody won at Trivial Pursuit because Hazel only had the Genius Edition.

Then the night ended with everyone pairing up in tents to get some shut-eye. Nobody had too many complaints except for Terra, who wanted her own tent. But she surrendered when Terra didn’t want to sleep outside.

========================================================================

“Rise and shine.” Shiso grumbled to the entire camp.

He had Gunner, who decided to wake him up early, in a struggling headlock. Saffron and Violette poked their heads out of their tent, eyes heavy and wishing they had more sleep. Reva stepped out of their tent, dragging a drowsy Selicy by the feet. Terra popped her head out of the tent and took a giant breath before getting a twintail yanked backwards by Hazel, who stumbled out with a giant wave of hair covering her face; she was blindly reaching around for something to tie it back with.

“Why are we up?” Saffron asked.

“Because this gremlin decided to wake me up.” Shiso said, letting Gunner go.

“Boo.” Terra said, throwing a pillow at an unmoving Shiso’s face. “Go back to bed.”

“It’s already light out though…” Reva lamented. “No way I can go to bed now.”

“Fine…” Selicy mumbled. “Ruin my morning. See if I care…”

All eight of them, quite dysfunctionally, started to wake up and get ready to take off. Hazel finally got a hair tie in the form of a small one made of stone that Terra formed for her. It was immensely uncomfortable, but she would have to deal with it. Within about an hour, they were all on the road again.

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“Hey guys…” Hazel said in awe as they all looked up at it. “Are we… finally here…?”

“I… don’t believe it…” Saffron whispered. “We actually made it…”

Before them was a giant wall, stretching up for several yards, farther than even China’s great wall. It was made majorly of a blue alloy, fortified in places with a dark gray one. Bright blue lines were designed on the wall as well, connecting to the top of the wall where there was a giant mana crystal. These crystals were mounted on top the wall about every 20 meters.

The face of the wall looked like a blue circuit board, periodically glowing in areas and radiating heat like a small kiln. In the noontime light, it looked like a daunting challenge for them all to overcome.

“That’s one hell of a welcoming message,” said Shiso.

“Is this Eden?” Gunner asked. “Or do we still have further to go?”

“I think it’s behind the wall.” Violette said.

“That’s… How do we get over that?” Selicy asked.

“I don’t think we can…” Reva said. “That’s one big fence.”

“Fences only keep honest people out,” Terra said proudly. “And I’ve never been kept out by a mere fence.”

“That’s a pretty tall fence.” Shiso retorted.

“Hey, watch this.” Hazel chuckled, picking up a rock and throwing it at the wall.

Before it could reach it, the rock was reduced to dust. From inside the wall, turrets were revealed and deployed. Turrets along the wall began to scan the area for more threats. A giant cannon-like gun materialized in the middle of the wall. It looked like the thing was built on quite the military budget.

“If this is the guardian they talk about, I’m not impressed!” Terra cackled. “I’d attach more weapons than that!”

“I, uh, don’t think we should screw with that wall.” Hazel suggested. “I think it’s gonna kill us on sight.”

“Hmph! Well, so will I!” Terra announced. “Here, hold this.” she said, tossing her staff to Shiso, who caught it with a stumble. “Child,” she boomed, pointing at Gunner. “I require sustenance!”

“Eh, just take the rest.” Gunner said, throwing her the remaining bag of Mana Bites. “They were getting stale anyway.”

Terra tilted the bag upwards and guzzled down whatever was left in the bag. A giant shake reverberated through her whole body and she began to mildly twitch everywhere.

“Hey, uh, what’re we waiting for?” asked Saffron. “I’m not waiting for you to pass out from a sugar high.”

Terra popped her neck and closed her eyes tightly. From under her dress, a light purple steam began to emerge. The golden collar she wore began to bend and warp, slithering up her head to make lustrous horns.

All around her, purple runes begin to manifest and orbit around the woman. They started to collectively form a sphere of purple scrawling around her until she was completely obscured. From the grip of Gunner’s hands, Terra’s staff was yanked out and flew directly into the sphere, causing a blinding flash of purple light.

When the light faded, what was left was no longer Terra. Over her white dress, she had on a small darker one. On her head were golden horns that made her look like a demon. The golden diamond that hovered behind her glowed with a bright radiance. She hovered in the sky while holding a flaming purple rune in each hand.

“Terra?” Violette asked, confused.

“Damn, Terra got a real good glow-up.” Selicy admired.

“I’m not Terra anymore!” she exclaimed. “I’m more than just her! I’m Terrable!”

“Maybe work a bit on that name later.” Reva suggested.

“Now I can show you all why I was outlawed in the entire Middle East!” she said giddily.

Terrable chanted some sort of incantation and forced a swarm of runes to fly up into the sky, out of sight of any of them on the ground. Then all at once, a powerful amethyst beam crashed into the gate at such a velocity that they only barely saw it before a wave of rubble overtook them.

When the dust settled, they saw a massive hole where there was a strong and proud wall only moments before. Terrable cheered and did some small pirouettes in the air. The other seven of them were silent in awe, marveling at the real power of Terrable and the glimpse of Eden before them. They finally were there, at the doorstep of Eden, with the door wide open.

“That was the feared guardian of Eden?” Terrable laughed with a snort. “I expected a bigger challenge than an overgrown roadblock!”

“Well, I guess fences do only keep honest people out…” Saffron said with a light laugh.

“I’m on top of the world!” Terrable shouted at the top of her lungs. “Nothing’s going to bring me do-”

From beyond the hole in the gate, for only a fraction of a second, the seven of them saw something emerge as Terrable ignorantly cheered mid-air. She never even saw the flaming white-hot sword that cleaved right through her chest.

As Terrable tried to grasp the blade, it burned her hands beyond recognition and she let loose a blood-curdling shriek as the flames began to spread and eat her body away from the chest outwards. By the time the mortified group could come to their senses, a giant flaming sword and a steaming golden diamond smashed against the ground, marking all that was left of their once powerful ally.

“Be put to rest now,” said a soothing female voice from beyond the gate. “Your time in this world is over.”

Weapons were instantly drawn from the entire group, shakily taking aim at the giant hole in the wall. A woman’s figure emerged from the shadows, tranquil and emotionless. Her mere presence carried an air of heavy power.

She had burning orange and red eyes, like that of a bonfire. On her back were six snow-white wings, like that of a dove. Loosely draped across her figure was a set of angelic robes that rippled through the air. Her hair was more golden than dozens of fields packed with wheat. In one hand she held a giant sword that perfectly matched the one that had flown through the chest of their friend.

The woman reached out her hand and the sword that had cleaved the ground flew back into her hand, completing the set of inferno blades. The angel looked down on the seven weapon-drawn figures with a look of unrelenting contempt.

“Put your weapons down.” she commanded. “I, Serif, am the guardian of Eden. Turn around or forfeit your life. Those are your only options.” Selicy was the first to speak.

“I think your life is the only one forfeited here!” she shouted, dropping the temperature around her enough to form frost on her allies’ clothing. Her fingers were now sharpened icicles, ready to find a victim.

“Yeah, no, you’re not getting away from us now.” Shiso growled. “If you’re taking our lives, I’m gonna give you hell first!” He spun the barrels of both his revolvers and brandished them before her.

“The lives of you and your comrades are not worth endangering Eden.” Serif said judgmentally. “When you put a hole in the Gate, you made a mistake. I only seek to defend the great city and the lives of those in it.”

“Well, your mistake was coming here yourself!” Gunner squeaked.

“How could you claim to be a guardian of anything?!” Reva passionately hollered. “You took her life without a second thought! Without even giving her a choice! You didn’t consider her life at all! How can you claim to be a guardian of anything if you’re not one for everything?!”

“Such mortal words of yours.” Serif chastised. “But enough talk. I have insects to exterminate.”

“I’d like to see you try!” Hazel shouted, taking out a homemade gun that measured to be her own height.

“We’re not leaving until this marks your final cord!” Violette cried.

“Let’s do this.” Saffron whispered, staring into Serif’s fiery eyes, which were staring deep into hers. “This is our final step!”

As Saffron sprinted forward, she shoved one last card into her Field Bracer. The blood-red blade in the picture of the spell was etched into the scientist’s mind. After all, what better spell to fight with than that one?