Luka had spent a long time dealing with the slugs in Midas Village. He and his companions had originally only planned to stay the night, but he ended up instead staying for three whole days. The slugs had thoroughly infested the village, inside and out. They planned to attack their queen's stronghold overnight, the person they believed responsible for the infestation. However, their mission was put on hold when Ilias went missing.

Luka and Alice searched all around the village, despite the latter's attempts to convince the former that it was pointless and that they should just forget about her. Sonya was away trying to strike a deal with the so-called "Medal Queen", which only worried Luka even more. It was in times like these that he missed her comforting presence. Eventually, Alice's nagging had worn down the hero's will, and he chose to leave Ilias behind for the moment. She had clearly gone off on her own somewhere, and thus it was her own fault. The duo resorted to attacking the stronghold on their own.

When they were halfway through the tower they heard the goddess they had been searching for. Luka instantly realised what had happened. In her arrogance, Ilias had decided to attack the Slug Queens on her own… Or at least, that's what he assumed. When they found the goddess, she was bound to a stone brick wall, covered in a grey, slimy substance. They had to pull hard to free her from it.

It didn't take her long to explain the truth. The Slug Queens had supposedly been informed of the hero's arrival by one of the slugs in the village. As such, they sent out a team to capture the group as they slept, but only managed to capture Ilias. Apparently, the goddess had gone out for a stroll, alone, and in the middle of the night too. She must've been unable to sleep... Was she thinking about what happened in that other world?

Ilias seemed keen to get her revenge on the slugs. She had been acting oddly ever since her kidnapping. Alice suggested that the slugs had done something to her, but the goddess wouldn't speak of that either. Luka decided it was best not to push any further. She didn't look physically assaulted, at least.

At least she got her revenge in the end. Those queens didn't go down easily. And the infestation went away in time, with the queens promising to produce fewer offspring and the slugs migrating to other local towns and villages…

Luka shielded his eyes from the rising sun. They had woken up early this morning, so they could get to the ruins of Rostrum and the Tartarus near it with haste. They would have to cut through a mountain range once more, but Luka felt fairly confident in his abilities now. Most monsters no longer posed much of a threat, especially now that all four of them were reunited.

"Say, Sonya. How did that whole excursion to the Medal Queen go? I've been meaning to ask about it." The hero threw out the question as he walked along the dirt path.

Sonya shrugged. "Well enough. Though I didn't enjoy those two days I was waiting back at Iliasville for you three… Next time, make sure you use a feather to come back and pick me up. I thought the worst had happened."

"Right…" So she's still mad about that. "Sorry."

"As to your question… The queen was nice enough, even if she was a bit odd. And we got that job item out of it, didn't we?"

Alice had been the recipient of said job item. The group had collected eleven medals over their journey, and the item had only cost three. "Yeah, Alice does seem a lot stronger now. But… how does that whole job item thing even work exactly?" The concept had always puzzled him.

Ilias was happy to keep her mind occupied. "Job items unlock new, more advanced jobs. There are also race items that do the same for certain races. I originally made them only for humans and angels, but as you already know, monsters got their grubby hands all over my system... Anyway, there's a great variety of them and they're all of varying rarities. Some of them can even improve a harpy's ability to fly, or a mermaid's ability to swim."

"But… how?"

"Magic, Luka. Magic."

It was best to leave it at that, Luka thought. The cave through the mountains was dark and gloomy. He saw eyes in the darkness, all staring at him. Monsters, He knew. He took a deep breath and entered the cave.

Yet to his surprise, he was not assaulted. None of them were. Only a few monsters tried their luck, and by that point, they were already halfway through the cave. Ilias had given the hero a Monster Ward Bracelet, which according to her would repel monsters. It would supposedly make them think Luka and the others were far stronger than they really were, and would thus decide it best to not fight them. It evidently worked well.

Even the monsters brave enough to confront them were quickly beaten down. None of them compared to the Harpy Queen herself, or to the abominations found deep in the Tartarus. And now we have to go down another one, Luka thought. And something tells me this one won't be any easier.

His memories of the last Tartarus had been haunting him ever since. The only person he could talk about it with was Sonya, and she was rarely unoccupied. On top of being a core member of the group, she had taken up many responsibilities in the Pocket Castle, such as keeping the bandits in line, and, to his surprise, educating them. He never saw Sonya as the teaching type.

Mini had giddily taken the role of the group's torch, replacing Ilias. The goddess was glad: It was tiring, degrading work, and the young phoenix seemed more suited to it. She'd sometimes leave the group out of pure excitement and fly to the very ends of the caves, illuminating the walls she flew by and the chests she found. She'd come back with her talons full of loot, though only some of it was of any use.

It didn't take long for them to reach the end. An hour or two at most. Luka took a swig from his water skin, which he had only now started to carry around. He had also started to carry more rations in his pouch, in case they ever got stranded again. They followed the dirt path and the wooden signs to Rostrum, which was now little more than a ruin.

"A ghost town…" Sonya said. "We should—"

"There's no such thing as ghosts!" Alice shouted, slithering away from the town on her own.

"What the…? Where is she going?" asked Sonya.

"She does that every time someone says that word," Luka said. He had started to take note of the pattern after the fifth time. "She must be scared of them… Ghosts, I mean."

"Then she's even more of a fool than I thought," Ilias said. "Let's investigate this ruin and move on to the Tartarus."

Luka couldn't see why not. He had investigated a lot of ruins recently: Mithra, Harpiness Village in the other world, Slug Tower and so on. In all that time, he had become fairly good at finding loot hidden in cracks or under rubble.

Rostrum was much like the Nameless Slums in its isolation. A mountain range separated it from the centre of the continent, yet there used to be a path leading through it that didn't require going through a cave. A series of landslides had closed the route, and thus Rostrum had to rely on itself more than ever. They had a small port with only a few fishing boats. The young hero walked past the rotted wooden docks and through the empty market.

Much of the ground had been overtaken by the same purple substance they saw in the Tartarus. The hero took care not to step into it. Nuruko followed him closely. Whenever he entered the Pocket Castle, either to sleep or to buy goods from Vanilla, the Scylla would follow him around wherever he went. The same could be said when they were outside. They had taken Nuruko simply because she was in the last Tartarus, so her familiarity with them could come in useful.

Nuruko Kyu'd. Luka had grown used to tuning her out. He couldn't understand a word she said anyway. Sonya would translate for him whenever she was nearby, but for now, they could only communicate in gestures.

"I haven't seen anything notable," The hero said upon finding Ilias. "I think we should just head to the Tartarus. Hopefully, that will give us some answers as to what happened to this place…"

Ilias was curious herself. "It has something to do with the Tartarus, that's for sure."

"Did that purple goo stuff escape somehow?" Luka wondered. "Or maybe one of the Apoptosis left and attacked the village."

"No… I doubt the apoptosis would ever leave the Tartarus of their own volition. I don't know much about that 'purple goo' but… I doubt it would spread outside of the Tartarus either. It's been thirty years since they appeared, has it not? If they posed any danger to the nearby settlements I'm sure they would've been quarantined off by now."

"I suppose you're right." Luka didn't want to stay any longer than he had to. Sonya joined them when they were just about to leave. She too had found little more than rubble and rocks.

"Guys… I didn't find any bodies, anywhere. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but it's a bit unusual isn't it?" Sonya pointed out.

"I didn't see any either," Luka said.

Neither had Ilias. "Either they evacuated when the Tartarus appeared, or nothing was left behind of them when they were taken out."

Luka wasn't so sure if he wanted to find what did it. They found Alice outside the Tartarus, staring into the deep pit worriedly.

"Another rope ladder," She said. "Let's just get this over with."

The hero had brought a torch this time, though with Mini and Ilias accompanying him, it would get little use. The phoenix had no need for the ladder. She flew straight down and scouted around the bottom as she waited for the others. The air had a metallic taste to it, and the sounds made Mini shiver.

Luka reached the bottom first. Alice was wrapped around him, from waist to head, so she wouldn't have to climb the ladder herself. She quickly slithered off of him. "Mini, can you light my torch?" The boy asked.

The phoenix did as he asked. She flew next to him, hovering closer and closer as groaning noises got louder. "Where are those sounds coming from…?"

"Apoptosis," Luka answered. "They're not too strong on their own, but in a group… Well, it'd be best if you just stuck close by. You're stronger than you look, Mini. You can hold your own against them."

The little phoenix smiled. "Vanilla and Teeny said that I was strong too! Even Papi was impressed with my firepower. But… I don't feel all that strong."

"You're still young. You'll gain more power with age, and training couldn't hurt." Alice said. "Even I was a poor fighter in my youth."

"Eh, but you're still in your youth?" Mini said.

Before Alice could say anything, Ilias jumped off the ladder. "So the sounds are here too… louder than before." The goddess motioned towards one of the tunnels. "It's loudest over there. Let's get going already."

"Why would we head towards those noises?" Alice asked.

"What, are you scared?" Ilias smirked. "The other ways have barely any Apoptosis, which means they're probably just dead ends. Luka, come. Lead the way."

"I'm not your meatshield," The hero muttered, but did as she asked regardless. He could feel Mini's heat radiating off of her as she hovered in the air next to him.

An Apoptosis lurched towards them from the darkness. She was a short girl with a heart-breaking smile. Her humanoid parts were totally naked, as was the rest of her. She had three great flaps of flesh, lined with sharp teeth, surrounding her main body. Luka could see the blood pulsing through them. She had no legs, instead moving with a great many tentacles, writhing against the hard metal ground.

Her empty black eyes stared at the boy. "Food," She murmured.

Luka took the initiative. He swung his sword twice in rapid succession, cutting lightly into one of her flesh flaps. "You must be eliminated…" The apoptosis groaned. "All those who enter here… must die."

She swung one of her flaps at the hero, revealing a lining of tentacles hidden behind them, with sharp teeth at the end. One of them managed to sink into Luka's right leg and started dragging him closer. A tail wrapped around his chest, pulling hard under his shoulders. Sonya rushed over and stuck her staff in the wound. Meanwhile, Ilias led the attack on the Apoptosis. Her blasts were powerful enough to send the monster reeling to the floor.

"There," Sonya said after pulling the tooth out. She cast a healing spell on the wound, and within a few moments, the flesh pulled itself together, and the skin healed over. "Luka, you need to be more careful."

The boy pulled himself to his feet. Ilias was still facing the Apoptosis head-on, and Alice had decided to join her. Together they were taking her down fairly easily. Mini flew in and cast a wave of fire onto the monster, enough to fully engulf her.

"Must kill… Must eat…" She muttered, swinging her flaps one last time before falling to the ground. The fire died out, and the Apoptosis lay twitching on the ground; Still alive, but just barely. Luka and the others walked past quickly.

"There's bound to be more of them. Keep an eye out." He said. Just as he thought, more did approach, but none posed much of a threat. They were even able to take on three at once, at one point, though it was far from easy.

Our practice is really starting to pay off. If we can keep this up, no monster will be able to beat us.

Another Apoptosis approached, this one taller than even Sonya, with an odd shade of navy blue for her skin and lime green, short-cut hair. She had long, sharp claws and thick armour plating. She introduced herself as Riot, a warrior.

"This one looks a bit too normal," Alice said. "Most of them are abominations, but she just looks like… a person."

Mini was all smiles. "Hey, she looks nice!" She said naively. "Maybe she can join us!"

Well, we don't discriminate… And she does look pretty strong, Luka thought. Riot had a sinister smile. "Very well. Defeat me, and I shall join your little party. But lose to me… and you shall regret it."

Riot didn't give them any time to answer. She leapt towards Luka like a hound, dashing at him on all fours. Her claws made a sickening sound as they scraped against the floor. Luka barely managed to dodge her first attack.

All four of them quickly surrounded her. Cornered, she started using all of her limbs to fight. Her tail locked against Alice's, her claws dug into Luka's sword, and she simply dodged Sonya and Ilias' attack. But she couldn't dodge Nuruko, nor Mini. The Scylla held her down while the phoenix lit the Apoptosis on fire.

"Pretty," Mini giggled. "Rise higher, my flames!"

And so they did. Riot tried to shake herself free of the flames, but Nuruko never let go. Soon she couldn't do anything but wait until the flames subsided. "A six on one!" She shouted. "This is far from fair!"

"You should've been more specific," Ilias said.

Riot scratched her way free from Nuruko's embrace. The Scylla backed up, rubbing her new wounds. "Kyu…"

"Don't worry about it," Sonya said. "I can heal them. They won't even scar with me around."

Mini flew next to Sonya. "Me too!" She said. "I want to be healed as well!"

"You don't have any injuries for me to heal though."

The phoenix looked close to tears. "B-But that's not fair!"

"Y-You know what, it doesn't matter," Sonya said. She did a quick swish and flick with her staff. "There, all healed."

"Yay!" Mini cheered, taking flight. Sonya shook her head as she helped Nuruko up. "Come on, let's go guys!"

Riot snarled at the monster. "I'm not giving up yet! It doesn't matter how unfair this battle is…"

Mini flew in front of the Apoptosis. "Do you want me to burn you again?" She asked. "Give up now, or else…"

Riot gulped. Luka had never seen the phoenix act like this before. "What's up with her?" He whispered to Alice. "I mean, she's just a kid… Why is she…"

"Acting like an adult…?" Alice finished. "She's a lot older than she seems. It's just a part of her life cycle to become young again. She doesn't retain all the memories of her past life, but she does have some semblance of them. That's reflected in her personality."

"Oh… What's with all these people looking far younger than they really are…"

Alice shrugged. "Nobody wants to grow old, and nobody wants to look it either. I didn't exactly choose to become young again—Not that I wasn't already pretty young but… It's an odd coincidence, I suppose."

"You're pretty smart, Alice," Luka said.

"Only in comparison to an idiot like you," She replied. "Come on, let's just get this over with. Apoptosis, have you surrendered yet?"

Riot frowned. The look on the phoenix's face was not one of child-like innocence… And the Apoptosis knew how one-sided the battle was before. "Very well… I shall join you. But only if I'm kept far away from the phoenix…"

Alice brought the newcomer into the pocket castle, sighed, and moved on. More and more allies, but how many could they even use at once? Six was already a stretch, and the Monster Lord was starting to regret bringing so many along.

Just the four of us is enough really. Well, three of us would be more ideal, but I've all but given up on convincing Luka of that… Besides, he's already got enough on his mind.

"These tunnels just never end, do they?" Sonya wondered. She brushed her hand against the metal. The Tartarus had grey walls, grey floors and grey ceilings. The only other colour was in the patches of nature they found along the way, all intermingled with the endless grey. She filled a skin with water from one of the ponds. The water had grown stale and cold, but it was better than nothing. No fish were swimming in the pond, nor even any plants growing in the grass beside it. There was no life in the Tartarus.

"So where will we go after this?" Luka asked. "To Iliasport? We've pretty much explored the whole continent at this point."

"That's if we can get a ship. There's going to be… I mean, I've heard that there's a storm raging north of Iliasport. We won't be able to sail through it, or around it." Ilias explained. We'll have to look for that bell first… And it might be a good idea to visit Enrika before that… or maybe not.

I doubt Micaela would be glad to see me. Does she still hate me, even in this world?

…Not that I can blame her. All those corpses… all those people…

But it was their fault! If they just followed me … if they just listened to me, then none of it would've happened…

...

The room opened up into another small town of sorts. There was a long stone brick path corrupted by patches of the purple goo. This Tartarus follows the same pattern as the last one, Alice noted. They must all be interlinked somehow… What or who made them? Why? How?

I won 't get any answers waiting around here… This next world better be more hospitable than the last…

Nuruko suddenly pulled Luka to the side, pointing one of her tentacles at a nearby house. "Kyu! Kyu Kyu Kyu!"

Luka turned to Sonya for help. "She says there's somebody in there. Not an Apoptosis."

"Then we might as well check it out," Luka said. He kept one hand on the hilt of his blade as he entered. "Say, Sonya. Do you really have no idea why it is you can translate what Nuruko says?"

"I… I hear what you hear but… I don't know, I just know what she's trying to say." Sonya explained. "I know it doesn't make any sense…"

"A mental connection, perhaps," Alice suggested. "Why she chose you for it… Only she knows."

The dim room was stark in contrast to the brightly lit outdoors, though that too was technically indoors. The room had only a few patches of the violet corruption, staining the corners and ceiling mostly. The wooden table in the centre had become half-rotted with time. On it were mountains of papers and equipment, all arranged with seemingly no order. It was hard to step over the papers as Luka walked further in.

"Someone's been living in here… And these papers," Ilias held one up for closer inspection. "Lab reports…?"

The room was not overly large, but its dimness did contribute to the time in which it took Luka to notice the person responsible for the mess; A red-haired girl, laying down on the floor with only a stack of papers serving as her pillow. She wore an old, dusty lab coat, and she was young. Around the same age (And height) as Luka himself.

"No way… it is her…" Ilias walked over to the girl. "But why is she so young…?"

And what is she doing here in the first place …?

"Wake up!" Ilias firmly kicked her in the leg.

The scientist jumped up, nearly falling over. "Huh? Who…?"

Ilias crossed her arms. "Promestein." She started. "What are you doing here? Answer your goddess honestly."

"Ilias…? You look smaller than usual," Promestein said. "…I have questions of my own, but I suppose I should answer yours first… I was sent here two hundred years ago after an experiment went awry. I've been conducting experiments here ever since…"

"Two hundred years? You barely look sixteen, much less two hundred." Alice bemused. "I've seen such a thing happen with monsters before, but I didn't know angels could have such slow ageing as well."

"I believe part of it was to do with this odd place I've been trapped in," Promestein explained. "It has a curious effect on the beings inhabiting it. Like those metal monsters."

Luka sheathed his sword. "The apoptosis. We've had trouble with them as well."

"Apoptosis… I suppose that is an apt name."

Ilias was glad to see another angel, but out of everyone fate could've sent to her… "An experiment gone wrong… Hmm. Where were you before you were sent here then?"

"Heaven," Promestein said. Ilias looked at her suspiciously.

Is she from another world too? Ilias wondered. In my own world, Promestein was an adult two-hundred years ago… Then again, she did say the Tartarus may have affected her ageing…

"We'll talk more later," Ilias declared. "Let's get out of here as fast as we can."

Luka couldn't agree more. "Is she coming with us then?"

The Goddess of Creation looked contemplative for a moment. She betrayed me last time… but she is smart. If I can win her over to my side…

"Might as well," Alice said. "The more the merrier."

"Yes… She can come. Promestein, take what you need. We'll be doing a lot of travelling, so keep it light."

"Who says I want to come with you?" Promestein asked. "I haven't finished my research here yet. You ruined my experiment on whether this place affects a person's dreams too, so I still need to finish that."

"You'll have plenty of time later," Ilias pulled the girl by the wrist. "I am your goddess! I created you. So just come on already!"

Promestein had already done enough testing for a lifetime, in truth. This group does seem interesting… I'm sure I'll get closer to the Truth if I go with them…

"Fine then." Promestein picked up her clipboard, fixed her hair and dusted off her lab coat, leaving her makeshift laboratory behind.

Once they were outside, the young scientist slowly inched her way over to the strange Scylla she had noticed earlier. Such an odd shade of purple. And those eyes are majestic, she observed. Promestein had never actually seen a live Scylla before, but she had seen them in diagrams, and she once even had the chance to dissect one. Those were the days… though I was far more restricted in what I could research.

"Kyu?" Nuruko turned to the angel.

She speaks in a foreign language … Yet she wears clothing, which suggests some intelligence. She also seems to be able to understand the others… I'll have to observe her more.

"There it is," Sonya said. "The same door as before… And we barely even got attacked on the way here. That bracelet of yours really comes in useful, huh, Alice?"

"I told you it would. Besides, we have gold to spare." The Monster Lord said.

"Let's just hope this world is a bit less… horrifying," Luka said, touching the door. It opened instantly. Ilias shook her head, cursing under her breath.

Sonya still shuddered to remember the horrors she had seen in Harpiness Village. "You said it. I never thought angels could do something like that."

They walked along the dirt path once more, floating above the darkness. "This stuff still makes no sense to me," Luka complained. "I mean, these things appeared thirty years ago, and since then I'm the only one who can get through them? It's ridiculous. Impossible… yet it's true."

They stood on the portal, with Promestein being the most hesitant of them. "We have no choice but to accept it for what it is," Ilias said. "You've been chosen, by something… We'll find out who and why soon enough, but for now, we must continue to explore, and gain strength."

Alice, for once, agreed with Ilias. They had been getting stronger. And though she wasn't anywhere near how strong she used to be, she was growing ever closer. "You brought extra feathers, right?"

Luka nodded. Within the blink of an eye, the portal activated, and they were gone.

"Well, this already looks nicer than the last world," Alice said as she slithered along the stone path. The air was fresh and clean, filled with the smell of flowers and nature and life.

"Yeah… Thank Ilias," Luka sighed. "I was ready for the worst."

Ilias stayed quiet. Thank me indeed… if I had to look at those corpses again…

"I wonder what's different about this world," Sonya said. "I won't lie… this whole thing is actually pretty exciting."

Rostrum wasn't the most populated village in the world—It wasn't even the biggest one on the Ilias Continent, but it had a serene nature to it that Luka compared to Iliasville. However, this village had no slimes working the stalls or talking to the humans. Promestein had already run off to observe the locals before the others could stop her. "How is… So that must be the difference. In this world, Rostrum was never destroyed." Sonya concluded.

"How can we be sure that every new world we go to has a difference from our own?" Ilias asked. "Even if it does, how do we know enough time has passed for this difference to become apparent? We're working off of nothing here. There's no point spending time speculating until we get some concrete answers."

"Greetings, travellers." The village guide said. "Where would you like to head to? The inn here is cheap and nice enough, and it even serves food cooked by the legendary chef Alfonso! Though that stuff can get a bit pricy."

"We must buy a meal!" Alice demanded. Ilias didn't speak out against her.

Of course…, Luka thought, And just when we starting to get some funds saved up.

"We can head to the inn later. For now, we have to investigate this village."

"Investigate? There isn't much to see here, traveller." The guide looked Luka up and down. "Say… you look familiar. Have you been to these parts before?"

Luka shook his head. "Never."

"Really? I was sure… Your name is Marcellus, isn't it?"

"You mean… my father?" Luka asked. "How do you know him?"

"Your father? That would explain how you're the spitting image of him. Yeah, I knew him. He came around here once a few years back, with a few tag-alongs. He helped us with a few monsters who were getting rowdy down at the docks. Then he came back, just a week later, with none of his friends. He was… odd. Older, stronger, scarier. He didn't say a word to any of us, only leaving something with the village chief before going."

"Is that so?" Luka looked around at the others. "Thanks for the info… Say, where is the mayor anyway?"

"Just down there," The guide said, pointing.

"Thanks." Luka and the others headed down the path, through alleyways and past the inn. "My father was here… only a few years ago? How can that be? He journeyed around the world over thirty years ago."

"Then there's only one way to explain it, this world is in the past, relative to our own," Alice concluded. "Which means…"

Mother is still around here. If I can get to her and ask her why she'd betray me in my own world…

No, she wouldn't know. And it's not like we could survive a journey to Hellgondo anyways.

Luka knocked on the door softly. "Hello?" He called.

The door opened a few moments later. "And who might you be?" The old man asked, who could only be the village chief.

"I was told my father came to visit you a long time ago. His name was Marcellus, and he looked like me, but a bit older. Do you… remember him?"

The man nodded. "Then you are Luka… It's hard to believe it, even now." The chief invited them inside.

"How do you know my name?" Luka asked.

"Your father told me. He said you'd visit in the future." The man explained. "It should be here… There we go."

He pulled an old envelope from one of his drawers and handed it to the boy. "Still sealed, just as he asked. It's for your eyes only. Say, how is Marcellus? The last time I saw him… Well, he didn't look great."

"He's… fine," Luka said. At least, I hope he is. "Excuse me but, I need to read this."

"Of course," The chief said, sitting down. Ilias and Alice both pushed closer to Luka as he opened the envelope.

Inside was a rolled-up piece of parchment with fairly inelegant handwriting. It read as follows:

Dear Luka.

You'll have many questions by the time you read this. You'll find your answers to the west, in your own world. Go home, go west, go through the forest, and find your aunt. You won't remember her. Her name is Micaela.

I cannot say anymore. Find her.

Marcellus.

"Father…" Luka murmured. "An aunt? I didn't… since when did I have an aunt?"

"Your mother never told you?" Ilias asked. "You're aunt is Micaela. She lives in… What was the name of that village again?"

The hero shrugged. "Well, it's pretty clear where we should go then. To the Lost Woods... Tomorrow. For now, let's get some rest."

"How did we even get caught up in all of this…" Sonya wondered aloud, leaving the building with the others, but not without thanking the chief. "So, to the inn, and then back home?"

Alice nodded eagerly. "We have the gold for at least one four-course meal each."

"Four…? I don't know if I can eat that much." Luka said. "And we shouldn't spend all of our gold at once."

"You sound like Tamamo." Alice sighed. "Fine, you can have a starter or something, that's just more for me!"

The lamia slithered off to the inn. "Hey, get back here! She has the gold!" Ilias started to run after her.

How did I ever get stuck with these two?

"They sure do act like children," Sonya said. "Well, I don't want to get let behind either. C'mon, Luka."

While the priestess was busy pulling Luka, she didn't realise where she was going and managed to hit right into Promestein, who dropped her basket of foodstuffs. Sonya apologised profusely and helped pick it all up. "What are you doing with all this stuff anyway?" Luka asked. "I thought angels didn't need to eat food."

"We don't. The energy of Heaven is enough to sustain us." Promestein picked up an apple and put it in the basket. "But the food here is from another world, another time entirely. Comparing them to organic fruits and vegetables of our world should be interesting... if only I had the space to bring an animal too."

"Don't take too much stuff. The harpy feather can only transport so much."

"Harpy feather? How would they aid us in transportation?"

Luka pulled one out from his pouch. "They're magic feathers plucked from a harpy. We can use them to travel to places we've been to before. I have no clue how it works, but theirs a few caveats you should be aware of, like the person limit per feather, along with the weight limit."

"I've never seen them before. They don't exist at all in my world... Fascinating. May I take a closer look?"

"Sure..." Luka handed her the feather. Sonya stood after she finished putting the final fruit in.

"You know, I've been thinking," She said. "If this world really is in the past then... Thirty years ago would be more than enough time..."

"What? Enough time for what?"

"To save my parents," Sonya turned. "T-They'd still be around in this world, right? If we can go warn them not to go near that landslide then... And we could save your mom and dad too, Luka! They're in this world somewhere."

Promestein pocketed the feather. "I wouldn't advise it. Tampering with the past could have huge ramifications on the future. During my decades in the Tartarus, I created many theories on what was causing the Apoptosis and why Chaos was spreading. I even measured the rate at which it spread myself... I believe it increases the more the worlds intermingle."

"She's probably right, Sonya." Luka started walking towards the inn. "I want to see my mom again too but... We can't risk messing things up even more than they already are."

Sonya frowned. "Yeah... You're probably right..."