Paula thought back to the human they had killed. Their hand had pierced the man’s chest, rupturing his heart and lungs. Not only had Paula been forced to kill him, but they had also lost a memento from their parent. Although nothing was eternal, and Paula knew that, it still left an unpleasant feeling in their feathery chest; after all, they were doing a good deed, helping someone out. If Paula had done something cruel or unsavory, they wouldn’t have minded being punished by having their memento taken away, but losing something of theirs for an act of kindness?

A sigh escaped from Paula’s beaklike mouth as they stood up. They were at the shore of a lake, one they had discovered on a previous trip out of the community. There wasn’t anything special about it, but it looked nice, and the surroundings were quiet. It was a good place to recenter one’s self, and after killing someone, Paula needed the respite for their mind. Did the man she slaughtered have a family? Did humans grieve him when he died? All those questions had gone through Paula’s mind, but they were at peace now. The man’s death was required for the sake of Oterra; if he wanted someone to blame, he could only blame himself for being able to manifest calamities into existence.

Paula levitated into the air and surged towards the direction of the nest. They knew the job was done, the calamity quelled, but the other blue avians didn’t. They were probably sick with worry, but Paula thought it served them right for shirking their responsibilities and leaving everything for one person to handle. However, it wouldn’t do to keep the blue avians worrying for long, so Paula had to go back.

After flying for several days, Paula returned to the forest where the blue avians lived. Twittering filled the air, and Paula heard snippets of conversation as they approached; none of the messages were particularly worried, most of them talking about mundane topics along with a few desperate booty calls. Paula let out a twitter, and the forest fell mostly silent with a few stray birdsongs still going.

“Paula’s back!”

“Oh, thank goodness.”

“Wonderful! Paula’s returned!”

Paula’s chest puffed out as they floated in the air. Although they didn’t save Oterra for the recognition, it still felt good to be valued. “I’ve successfully rid Oterra of the calamity,” Paula said without opening their mouth, their voice transmitted to the minds of the blue avians in the forest.

“Great job!”

“Paula’s amazing!”

“That being said,” a particularly serious voice said within the blue avians’ heads, “we need to convene once more.”

Paula wasn’t quite sure what was serious enough to order another meeting so soon after one had already been held: perhaps it was to commemorate them on a job well done. It wasn’t every day a calamity was dealt with by a single person. Paula floated towards the central tree, the hollow tower where all the conventions took place. Although they were one of the first to arrive, Paula didn’t have to wait long for all the blue avians to gather.

“First,” the blue avian speaker, who had once announced the ringing of the calamity detector, “I’d like for us to give a round of applause to Paula.”

Paula gracefully accepted the sounds of praise.

“Next,” the blue avian speaker said after the applause and cheers died down, “I’d like to announce that the calamity detector has sounded its alarm once more.”

Paula blinked. There was one calamity after another, how surprising. Actually…. “When did the alarm ring?” Paula asked.

“Whilst you were gone,” the blue avian speaker said, angling its body away from Paula. The rest of the blue avians made subtle shifts in their postures as well as if they were ashamed of being scolded. “We convened, but no one was willing to step up to handle the calamity, and since we knew you’d be back soon, out of the kindness of our hearts, we decided to save the honor of dealing with the calamity to you once more.”

Kindness off their hearts? Paula rolled their eyes. More like kindness of their farts. “There was a human capable of summoning calamities,” Paula said. “He had brought forth the master of the Anunaki. When I confronted him, he summoned another calamity, the silver-tongued deceiver, but when I dealt with the summoner, both calamities vanished.”

“So,” the blue avian speaker said, “the alarm rang because the silver-tongued deceiver descended to Oterra, and you already dealt with it?”

“That’s correct,” Paula said. “It happened nearly a month ago now.”

“Great!” a blue avian said from the top of the tower. “Let’s give Paula another round of applause for solving our troubles before even knowing about them.”

“But the alarm sounded twice,” one blue avian said from their position at the bottom of the tower as light applause rang out. “The silver-tongued deceiver is conniving. It must’ve conspired with another higher-dimensional being to descend together at the same time, so the alarm would sound as if it only rang once.”

“Are you sure it sounded twice?” another blue avian asked. “You know my hearing is better than yours, and I only heard it ring once.”

“Then, clearly, your hearing isn’t better than mine,” the blue avian at the bottom said. “I’m absolutely sure it rang twice.”

“Are you sure you didn’t hear the one alarm two times, once for each of your ears, and mistook it for two separate alarms?”

“Enough!” Paula said. “The silver-tongued deceiver came in the form of a two-headed snake instead of the usual single-headed snake. The snake’s second head must’ve been a calamity as well.”

“How impressive,” the blue avian speaker said. “You single-handedly defeated three calamities. Which calamity accompanied the silver-tongued deceiver?”

“I’m not sure,” Paula said. “But I have a good guess; it was in the form of a purple snake’s head with pure-white eyes. It also had two golden scales that looked like eyebrows.”

“Purple, white, and gold?”

“That combination sounds oddly familiar.”

“The enchanting bewitcher!” the blue avians said at once.

Paula nodded. “But it disappeared as well when I dealt with the human who summoned the calamities.”

“Dealt with?” a blue avian asked. “The temporary kind of dealing or the more permanent kind?”

“I killed him,” Paula said.

“Oh, that certainly is very permanent,” the blue avian who had pried said. “Are you sure you killed him, or were you tricked by the enchanting bewitcher into thinking you killed him?”

“I killed him,” Paula said. “I’m sure. I watched his essence ebb away.”

“How brutal,” a blue avian whispered, but since the words were transmitted directly into the other blue avians’ minds, everyone heard them loud and clear.

“Now, now,” the blue avian speaker said. “We shouldn’t shame Paula or look down on them for their actions. They did it to serve the good of Oterra, and we should be thanking them for their sacrifice, for completing difficult tasks so we don’t have to.”

“That’s right,” another blue avian said. “If we shame Paula for bringing order to Oterra through murder, who would be willing to protect Oterra when the calamity detector rings once more?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Yeah,” another blue avian said, chiming in. “I certainly wouldn’t want to deal with a calamity because Paula wasn’t feeling up to it.”

“Thank you, Paula, for your brave sacrifice!”

Although Paula knew the blue avians were flattering her to avoid doing work themselves, Paula didn’t mind. It still felt nice to be recognized for having accomplished something even if it was something that should’ve been done anyway. “Of course,” Paula said. “I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again. If the calamity detector rings, you can”—

A high-frequency vibration pulsed through the forest, washing over every blue avian present.

—“count on me….” Paula’s expression flickered as the vibration washed through her.

“The calamity detector has detected another calamity!” the blue avian speaker said. Everyone turned their heads to look at Paula at the same time. Paula’s expression remained calm, but every blue avian could see Paula’s vibe dimming.

“I’ll handle it,” Paula said and sighed. It was clear the other blue avians had no intention of clearing calamities. They didn’t even send anyone out when the silver-tongued deceiver and enchanting bewitcher appeared. “Where did the calamity spawn?” Paula levitated off the branch they were on. “Actually, I’ll get the details from the calamity detector myself.”

“Three cheers for Paula!”

***

Raindu stared up at Sam before letting out a sigh. The ferret didn’t know why it bothered showing off its stolen goods when, as a result, they’d be taken away. Sam was curious about the carnelian the size of a small mountain, so Raindu had taken it out, and Sam absorbed it into his body upon touching it.

“Sam?” Ellie asked, turning to look at the illusion Werchbite had made out of Sam.

“Yes?” Vercedei asked in return, answering for Sam.

“What’s that?” Ellie asked, pointing at the orange sloth wrapped around Sam’s stomach. “A sloth?”

“I think it’s a sloth,” Vercedei said. Sam wondered why Werchbite hadn’t hidden the creature underneath an illusion. He also wondered why the carnelian triggered his talent, but at the same time, he didn’t really want to question it considering it was a good thing. His sacral chakra was unlocked and mastered thanks to him absorbing the large crystal. It was a bit of a shame a pyramid that might’ve been heralded as a wonder of this lower plane had to be destroyed for Sam to get stronger, but … in a few million years, would the pyramid have been standing anyway?

“You really like animals, huh?” Ellie asked, still staring at the sloth. “Does it do anything special?”

“I’m not sure,” Vercedei said as the illusion of Sam shook its head. “I just summoned it with my talent, and since it’s a sloth, you wouldn’t expect it to do much anyway, right?”

Ellie poked the sloth, its fur feeling coarse against her scaly finger. “What’s its name?”

Sam mentally connected with the sloth hugging his stomach. He greeted it in his mind, but it didn’t offer him a response. Well, no response was better than a negative response, right? It wasn’t as good as being enthusiastically greeted, but the sloth didn’t take offense and start doing strange things like derailing trains, kickstarting a rebellion, or choking, gagging, and blinding him. All it did was wrap itself around his waist, and while Sam was sure he’d be inconvenienced every time he had to pee, he didn’t mind the sloth’s actions.

“I’m not sure,” Vercedei said, answering for Sam. “Would you like to name it?”

Ellie stared at the sloth. After a bit, she nodded. “Joe.”

Sam looked at the sloth with his All-Seeing Gaze. Did it like its new name? It didn’t express an opinion either way. Rather than a living creature, Sam suspected the sloth was more like a sedentary rock because its vibe was very muted, transmitting a frequency lower than most crystals.

“So, we’re not going to question where that creature came from?” the red reptilian behind Ellie asked, whispering to its coworker.

“No,” the other reptilian said. “I’m curious, but who cares? Human abilities are always varied.”

“Must be nice,” the red reptilian said. “If I could summon meat whenever I wished, I’d never go hungry again.” The red reptilian turned to look behind itself. The collapsed pyramid was still on the horizon. The red reptilian looked at Ellie and Sam, wondering if they were still going to spar. Earlier, the red reptilian had been looking forward to playing with Sam, but now, it felt kind of lazy.

“How much further do we have to go?” the black reptilian asked.

“Well,” Ellie said, “think of how fast those natives move, and think of how much distance they can cover before we’re transported out of the dungeon. Once they can’t catch us, then we can stop. If you do the math, how far do we have to go?”

“Unfortunately, math isn’t my strong suit,” the black reptilian said and shook its head. It was easier to go with the flow; as long as someone else was doing the math, he’d follow them. The black reptilian’s eyes narrowed as it stared straight ahead. “There’s two humans watching us.”

“They’re my guides,” Vercedei said. “I brought them with me because it’s my first time entering a dungeon.”

“Well, your guides don’t seem very reliable,” the red reptilian behind Ellie said. “They’re packing their things and getting ready to leave at the first sign of danger.”

“That’s just how humans are,” Vercedei said.

Sam let—not that he had much of a choice—the twin-headed snake’s blue head converse with the reptilians as he walked alongside them. The ground was hot, and he wished he didn’t have to use his feet to travel. Why couldn’t the sloth have been a horse or something? Then, he’d have a mount to do all the walking for him—a mount combined with the talking snake, he could tune out of traveling, allowing his familiars to walk, talk, and see for him. Did the reptilians not bring a levistone with them? Maybe it couldn’t be carried into dungeons.

“I feel sluggish,” Ellie said, glancing at the sloth on Sam’s waist. “I’m not sure if your new pet is a good influence.”

“Is that what’s making my legs feel like lead?” the red reptilian behind Ellie asked. “Thank goodness. I thought I was getting out of shape.”

“It could be both,” the reptilian beside the red one said. It let out a loud yawn before turning towards Sam. “If it’s sapping our energy, can you make it stop?”

Sam focused on the sloth with his All-Seeing Gaze. The fog of color around its body was dim and dispersed, barely even noticeable compared to the colors he could see around everyone else. The colors around the reptilians were like an aura, wrapped around the body, unable to travel further than a set distance away, but the dim, almost-colorless orange hue around the sloth spread outwards as if it were an actual fog. When the sloth’s dim hue touched the layers around the reptilians, the colors were diluted, causing the layers to take on the complexion of a depressed person.

A low rumbling sound rang in Sam’s head like a miniature earthquake. At first, he thought it was the ground shifting thanks to all the lava and magma the plane possessed, but after a minute, he realized it was the sloth speaking to him. It was greeting him albeit very slowly, so slow that it took five minutes for it to finish saying hello. In that time, the reptilians had met up with Tom and Kerry with Vercedei assuring the humans they were safe.

Sam wanted to focus on his Ajna and enter the field of candy to communicate with the sloth, but since he was walking, he couldn’t. Instead, he had to make do with communicating with Joe mentally. The sloth was like a professional chess player, taking several hours to pass the ball into Sam’s court, carefully formulating its responses. Actually, Sam wasn’t sure if the sloth was meticulously picking its words, but it made him feel better to think it was; otherwise, wouldn’t it almost be like a waste of time spending an hour to have a mundane, four-line conversation about the weather?

“Seriously,” the black reptilian said, looking at Sam. “I’m becoming mentally and physically exhausted over a short walk. Can you order that thing to stop?”

“I can’t,” Vercedei said. The illusion of Sam looked down at his waist. “Joe, is it possible for you to stop lowering the vibrations of everyone around you?”

“If it doesn’t stop, we can always eat it, right?” the red reptilian asked. Upon seeing the annoyed look Ellie gave him, the red reptilian shrugged. “If he can summon it once, he can summon it again.”

Ellie went over to Sam and placed her hand on the sloth’s back. “Joe,” the yellow reptilian said. “Your ability is really strong and amazing, but there’s a time and place for everything. Do you think you can stop draining our energy?”

Joe’s neck seemed to creak as it turned its head to look at Ellie, taking a whole minute to turn its neck fifteen degrees. To help Joe out, Ellie took a step to the side, closer to Sam, so the sloth wouldn’t have to move as far to make eye contact with her. After waiting for another minute, one in which the bodyguards and guides took a seat, the sloth made eye contact with Ellie. Joe’s mouth opened ever so slowly, and a low rumbling came out of its mouth.

“Great!” Ellie said. “Joe agreed.”

“Tell him to agree faster,” the red reptilian said and yawned. “I’m about to pass out over here. The ground as a mattress and the sky as a blanket, the great outdoors have never felt so appealing before.”

Through his All-Seeing Gaze, Sam watched as the sloth’s muted colors grew vibrant, but they still remained uncontained, freely spreading out and mingling with the layers of colors surrounding the reptilians and humans nearby. Rather than diluting the layers, the sloth’s aura boosted them, causing them to surge in intensity.

Without warning, the red reptilian reached over and grabbed Kerry with both its hands. With a tug, Kerry’s arm was separated from his body, and the red reptilian licked its lips before biting down on the snack it had obtained, ignoring Kerry’s whimpering.

“Hey!” Ellie shouted at the red reptilian. “What are you doing, blockhead!? Did I order you to do that?”

“Order this, order that,” the black reptilian said. “I’m tired of listening to a kid’s instructions. You might’ve unlocked your Sahasrara, but that doesn’t make you a real adult! You don’t even know what it feels like to have your limbs ache when it rains. You don’t know how it feels to sprain a muscle when you sneeze!”

“Hah?” Ellie dropped her bag and took out her sticks. “You want to fight? I’ll show you aches and sprains!”

Sam wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but he knew better than to stay near reptilians when they were getting rowdy. He distanced himself while paying more attention to Joe. Other than making people tired, it seemed like the sloth could make people aggressive as well. It was a nice power, but could it not do that to his allies…?