//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: The Keeper of the keys // by Moonghost //------------------------------// This… This is Home Sweet Home,” Dodge announced. “Well, it cccertainly seemsss…roomy,” commented one of the creatures behind him, as confused as his fellows were by how much space there was to move around within. “Yes, I tend to get that comment a lot,” Dodge said with a polite laugh. “But if any you would prefer having a larger space, that can be arranged.” “How?” Before Dodge could explain, a loud noise suddenly echoed to them from within the kitchen. “Um, I’m sorry, but could you give me one moment?” he requested before quickly darting into the room, only to finda cloaked figure rummaging around in his fridge. “What the— Who the heck are you!?” Dodge asked, furrowing his brow in anger. “Huh!?” the person yelped, standing up straight and facing Dodge. He then grinned awkwardly and hid the stolen pizza slice behind his back, muttering, “Oh, sorry. Don’t mind me; I’m no one important.” A brief flicker of recognition flitted across Dodge’s face upon hearing the intruder’s voice, but he quickly hid it behind a frown. “That didn’t answer my question,” hedeadpanned, crossing his arms and pointedly glaring at him. “Hey, I’m just passing through and needed something to eat,” the strangergroaned, taking a swig from the bottle of beer he held in his other hand. Dodge blinked and questioned, “Where did you get that beer? I don’t have beer in my house.” “Pfft! Really? Of all the things you can ask, you ask about the beer?” he scoffed, raising an eyebrow. “Well, I could ask again who you are and what you’re doing in my kitchen, but I don’t really care about either since I’m about to throw you out.” The fridge thief held up the beer to him, saying, “Understandable. I’d do the same if I stumbled into my kitchen and there was a random guy looting my fridge.” “Yes, this certainly is quite the first encounter,” Dodge acknowledged, looking over the intruder appraisingly. “Although I at least now know what you meant by ‘the patience of a saint.’” “…What?” “You explain yourself first,” he demanded. “Well, fine then. First of all, the beer’s mine,” he claimed, downing another gulp of it. “As for what I’m doing here? Stealing from your fridge ‘cause I was hungry. As for what I’m doing in your place specifically? Well, uh? To put it simply, I frankly have no idea.” “You have no idea?” “One second I’m being yeeted though another portal, and thenext second I’m in your kitchen.” “You’ve been displaced,” Dodge whispered to himself, wincing in realization. “Yuh-huh. So, uh…? Mind doing me a favor and telling where exactly I was sent to this time?” “You are in the Plains of Leng.” The stranger just shrugged, so Dodge added, “In the Aether?” They just shrugged again, so he stepped forward and extended a hand, “Okay, look… My name is Dodge. Hello, nice to meet you.” “Nice to meet you too,” the fridge thief responded, shaking his hand cordially. “I’m Redsopine Prism Dash. Or just… Redsopine. ‘Redsopine Prism Dash’ is only my name in some of the realities I end up in.” Dodge blinked owlishly. “Yeah, I know; it confuses the heck out of me too,” Red said, sinking his teeth into the stolen pizza slice. “By the way, are you anyone important?” “Well, I certainly think I’m important.” “Everyone thinks they’re important, but are you actually important? Like…?” Red took another bite of the pizza and inquired, “Are you someone I gotta be all respectful and stuff too?” “As amusing as it would be to see you bow, I tend to find such things unnecessary.” “Good, because I don’t bow.” “Didn’t think so. I would, however, like to know how you ended up displaced to begin with?” “Yeah? Well, I wanna know why, for the first time in twenty-six years, I’m finally alone in my head.” “What do you mean exactly?” Dodge asked, tilting his head in bewilderment. “He means us.” Dodge glanced upward and saw a large polar bear standing on the roof. Its form was composed of an immaculate layer of white diamonds that shimmered as majestically as the emeralds orbs that served as its eyes. Atop the creatures skull, a small panther cub sat up and stared at Dodge, perking its ears in interest. Trails of shadowy smoke slowly streamed off of its body, and every so often, its form seemed to flicker before re-solidifying. “Oh, so that’s where you were,” Red muttered, drawing the attention of the two creatures. “How are you guys on the ceiling?” “We’re stuck between realities, Red,” the bear explained, moving over to a nearby wall and walking along it until it stood on the floor proper. “Quite a number of rules clash here, and gravity is one such rule.” “Terra, that makes literally no sense at all,” Red countered bluntly. “No. What doesn’t make sense is your reaction,” Terra argued in a surprisingly soft voice that didn’t match his intimidating appearance in the slightest. “Why is the first thing you do upon being separated from us stealing and eating someone else’s food?” “Yeah, Red,” the cub spoke up in a young, innocent voice. “I thought you’d be celebrating or something.” “I am!” Red laughed, doing an eccentric, little twirl. “What better way to celebrate finally being exorcised than by cheating on my diet without you guys ragging on me for it?” “Red, stop cheating on your diet,” Terra wasted no time commanding. “No!” Red then made a rather obnoxious show of finishing off the pizza slice. “Mm-mm, good!” he shouted with his mouth full. The panther giggled at Red’s antics while his crystalline companion merely shook his head in disappointment. Terra then turned his attention to Dodge, saying, “We’re ever so sorry for this intrusion, Lord Dodge. We’ll be on our way shortly, we’re just—” A loud roaring suddenly bellowed outside the abode, followed by an ear-grating, demonic shriek. “Waiting for our associates to settle down,” Terra finished bluntly. “Yep. Say, Gramps? Is Iggy ranting again, or is he still celebrating having a body?” “Both, I think. It’s hard to tell with Gelu screaming over him.” “Sure wish I could still understand what they’re saying.” “I’m surprised you care,” Terra commented, a slight grin tugging at his muzzle. “Hey, I’m always up for those two bickering,” Red said, smirking. “It’s been my go-to entertainment ever since you guys ruined kayaking for me.” Terra sighed somberly, releasing a cloud of dust into the air. The shadowy creature upon his back, however, splayed his ears back and mumbled, “S-Sorry, Red.” “Not your fault, Shadow-Cat,” Red assuaged, rolling his eyes. “Ignis was way more terrified of the water than you were.” “I’m still sorry…” Red was silent for a moment until he smiled slightly and said, “Apology accepted, kiddo.” “Yay!” Umbra cheered, leaping off of Umbra and pouncing Red. “Thank you for forgiving me, Red,” he thanked, hugging him tightly. “U-Um, sure! No, uh, no problem,” Red muttered, having no clue how to respond to the sudden hug attack. He ultimately settled for patting Umbra’s back politely while grimacing at Terramar and silently pleading for his help. After a minute, Terra conceded and grabbed Umbra by the scruff of his neck, gently pulling him away from Red. “Come on, kiddo, give him a bit of space. He’s not in the mood.” “But, Terra! I wanna keep hugging him,” Umbra pouted, staring at his elder through glistening eyes. “I really missed being able to hug…” “You can hug him some more later,” Terra promised, chuckling when the cub’s wide smile returned. “But for now, control yourself. We’ve all only just gotten our bodies back, and Red is adjusting to it just as we are.” “Awww! Can I at least hug Red one more time? Pleeeaaase!?” he requested adorably. Not remotely ready to be hugged by the shadow demon again, Red hurriedly interjected, “Hey, Shadow-Cat! Since you—you know?—just got your body back, doesn’t that mean you can eat again too?” Umbra gasped, realizing, “Yeah, I can!” “Then why don’t you go ahead and do that,” he encouraged, winking. “Okay!” Umbra chirped, looking around the kitchen and spotting a box of popcorn bags. He then squeed and lunged for it, extracting a bag from it and staring at the item quizzically. “Um…? How do I eat again?” “You don’t know how to eat?” Red asked incredulously. “W-Well, I haven’t eaten in a few centuries,” he explained, flicking his tail shyly. “And— And I’m not sure I remember how…” “You’ve seen me eat all the time!” “Yeah, but I can’t remember how I’msupposed to eat,” Umbra confessed, eliciting a facepalm from his former host. “Here, let me show you,” Terra spoke up, approaching the cub and instructing him on the process. Red, meanwhile, returned his attention to Dodge and said, “Yeaaahhh, sorry about all of this. Thanks for the pizza though.” They both then flinched when a jet of flames seared right through the home and between Red and Dodge. The two then glanced at Umbra who danced in celebration at the newly cooked bags of popcorn he now had access to. “Also, uh… ‘Dodge,’ was it? Yeah, Dodge. Uh, you have insurance, right? I really hope you do because those two siblings ain’t gonna stop anytime soon,” Red stated in the most casual manner possible. … “WHAT IS GOING ON!?” Dodge screamed, throwing his hands up in frustration. “A question I find myself asking as well,” said a new voice from the hallway. A giant four-winged bat then entered the kitchen, followed closely by an equally enormous, shadowy serpent and a fanged wolf seemingly formed entirely of bones and dried, long-dead sinew. “Dodge? What is going on?” Dodge rubbed his forehead, growling, “Apparently, this lot got displaced and just so conveniently stumbled into my house.” While the other creatures all nodded in understanding, Dodge shot an unamused glare at Red, adding, “And stole my food.” “Yeah, that pretty much sums this whole situation up pretty well,” Red concurred, shrugging nonchalantly. “Isss he a threat?” the snake hissed, rearing up slightly and flaring its eye-pattered hood. “I doubt that highly.” “AND FOR ANOTHER THING, BROTHER!” a loud, feminine voice suddenly roared. Whatever she said next came out as dragonian jargon, but her words rang loudly enough to break the windows and allow a blast of icy wind to flood the abode. Not a second later, Dodge snapped his fingers casually, and the shattered glass immediately flew back to the window sills, reforming and shutting the cold air back out. “Neat trick, dude,” Red complimented, clapping. “Thank you,” Dodge said, bowing theatrically. “I don’t do requests.” “Didn’t ask.” “Just reminding you in advance for when you will,” he replied aloofly. “Uh-huh…?” Red murmured, raising an eyebrow. Deciding not to question Dodge’s choice of words, he instead glanced at his former roommates and asked, “So, um, Terra? Mind telling me what the trouble twins are fighting about now?” “You can’t understand them?” the bat creature questioned. “Not right now, I can’t. All I’m hearing is a bunch of angry dragon noises.” “From what I can tell,” Umbra spoke up in a voice Red could understand. “Ignis asked Gelu if she wanted to kill you, but she said ‘no.’” After munching on some more popcorn, he added, “And I think he asked why, but she just started scolding him about considering killing you at all.” “And then it just sort of spiraled from there?” Red guessed. “Yup,” Umbra confirmed, filling his mouth up with another pawful of popcorn and humming in delight. “Of course… So, yeah,” Red grumbled, returning his attention to Dodge’s friends. “Any of you guys have a translation spell on hand? I’d prefer knowing when my roommates are fighting over killing me. You know? So I can yell at ‘em for it?” “I have something,” Dodge said, walking over to a bookcase that hadn’t been there a moment ago. “Give me a second to find the right book,” he requested, perusing the selection. “Why can you not underssstand your wardsss,” the serpent wondered, frowning. “I normally understand them just fine when they’re in my head,” Red elaborated, leaning against the kitchen counter. “But since they’re not in my head right now, I couldn’t tell you a thing about what they’re ranting about.” “So, you haven’t bonded with them,” the wolf creature finally spoke up in a gruff, subdued tone. “Curious. Though that certainly explains your evident hostility.” “Whatever. So, Dodgy? You got a translationspell for me or what?” Red inquired impatiently. “Goodness, you were not kidding when you said you weren’t the most mature of individuals,” Dodge grumbled to himself. “What was that?” “I said you should have patience,” he readily responded. “Now, you seem to speak this dimension’s language, so it should be…this one? Er, no-no, not that one. Ummm? Ah-ha! This should be it,” he said, grabbing the book he was looking for and passing it to Red. “Page eighty-eight.” “Sweet! Thanks, Dodgy,” Red said, skimming through the tome until he reached the indicated page. “You’re welcome. Anywho,” Dodge continued, addressing Red as well as Terra and Umbra. “Allow me to introduce myself properly: I am Dodge.” “Hello, Mr. Dodge,” Umbra greeted, waving enthusiastically. “It’s nice to meet you.” “It’s nice to meet you as well, Mr. Umbra,” he replied, bowing politely. Umbra bowed back, tittering. He then blinked and cocked his head in confusion. “Wait… How did you know my name was—” “And I am Terra,” the earth elemental interrupted, bowing far more deeply than the others. “And I must ask once again for you forgiveness; we meant no disrespect or harm.” While Red raised an eyebrow at Terra’s worried tone, Dodge just chuckled calmly. “No worries, Terra. It happens. Case in point?” He gestured to the other creatures in the room, saying, “Allow me to introduce you to my good friends: Theus.” The bat creature unfurled his wings as he bowed as deeply as Terra. “It is a pleasure to meet you, fellow Elementals.” “Septimus,” Dodge continued. The enormous shadow-like snake hissed, its blood red tongue flitting past its lips and tasting their scents. Upon registering no enmity from said scents, it retracted its hood and silently bowed as well. “And last but certainly not least: Quibble.” Red snorted. The wolf immediately locked eyes with him and warned, “I am the guardian of the Beast Key, mortal. Should you offend me, I shall not hesitate to cleave your soul from your body and feast upon it in the eons to come.” “You must have one hell of a strong stomach if you’re drooling over my soul,” Red fired back, snickering. “On the other hand? If I do ever offend you, I can just give you some belly rubs to make up for it. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” “You think me a mutt!?” Quibble growled indignantly. “I don’t hear you denying you’d like a good belly rub,” Red pointed out in a sing-song voice, eliciting a happy giggle from Umbra. “Or are you more into ear-scratches?” Quibble adamantly refused to say another word, but his tail gave him away. Upon noticing said appendage wagging, Quibble slammed a paw down upon it and glowered back at the guffawing Red, Umbra, and Theus. “Stop laughing! It’s not funny!” “No, no. It’s a little funny,” Theus chortled, sneaking the wolf a quick ear-scratch. The wolf entity slapped his fellow’s claw away and snarled, “Stop that!” “Relax, Quibble,” Dodge intervened in a soothing voice, holding back his own chuckle. “They’re merely teasing you; don’t let their antics irk you too much.” Quibble harrumphed and rolled his eyes, ultimately falling silent. “In any case,” Red began, looking back down and reading over the translation spell. “It’s nice to meet all of you.” Before anyone could say anything further, acrimson-scaled dragon crashed thrown through a wall and landed on the floor before him with a pained grunt. A deep cerulean dragoness calmly strode in through the hole in the wall not one second later, stopping at her brother’s head and leering at him. “Anything more you wish to say, dear brother?” Gelu spoke in her usual, stoic voice. Ignis snarled in his native tongue. “That’s what I thought,” she commented, flicking him on his snout before looking up and noticing the audience she and her brother had. “My idiotic brother decided he’d rather spend his first ten minutes of freedom challenging me to a duel rather than fleeing away from that idiot,” she explained, shooting a venomous glare toward Red. “So, pray tell? What have I missed?” she asked Terra. “We are in the Plains of Leng,” the elder Elemental elaborated. “And this is our kind host, Lord Dodge,” he added, nodding toward him. “Just ‘Dodge’ is fine,” he said, extending a hand. Gelu stared at the appendage with nothing short of repugnance, pondering, “Do you expect me to touch that?” “Well… It is a sign of cordiality.” “Mhmm.” She then turned her attention back to Terra, not even bothering to glance at Dodge’s friends. “Terra, what exactly are we to do now?” Ignis shot back up, roaring at his sister before glaring daggers at Redsopine. “If you’re insulting me, Iggy, hold on a second,” Red deadpanned without so much as glancing up from his book. “I can’t understand you, so I can’t insult you back yet.” Ignis made to strike his former host, but both Terra and Gelu stepped in front of him. “Leave it, Brother,” the latter commanded. After Ignis stopped roaring again, she clarified, “Ignis, Terra said we are in the Plains of Leng. You know what that means for us.” “And in case you forgot, it means we can’t keep our physical forms if we leave this place,” Terra said aloud, less for Ignis’ sake and more for Red’s. “You mean… I won’t be able to hug anyone again if we go back home?” Umbra mumbled. All three of his fellow demons spared him a pitying look, and Ignis grumbled something under his breath. Gelu responded by slapping him upside his head and barking, “Take that back this instant!” Ignis growled at her. “You wanna say that to me again!?” she shrieked, whipping her tail and causing a long stretch of sharpened icicles to jut out of the floor behind her. “Would you two please just stop fighting!?” Terra growled, pushing himself between the two. Gelu and Ignis both shoved him out of the way and locked horns, snarling at each other in their native tongue, but they then both yelped when the floor between them stretched apart magically. Once it stopped, they turned and glared at the individual responsible. “I would like to remind everyone present that this is my domain,” Dodge proclaimed, meeting the dragons’ glares with his own stern frown. “I’d prefer not engaging in mindless violence, but this is a safe haven. And if anyone here threatens that, you will discover that I am quite merciless in defending my home.” “Never fear, Lord Dodge!” Terra hurriedly declared, gripping both of their shoulders tightly and ignoring the dragons’ subsequent, angered snarls. “We shall not do anything to incur your wrath. Will we?” he finished, digging his claws into Ignis’ flesh. Ignis struggled for a second, but upon seeing not a hint of mercy in his elder’s eyes, he huffed and grumbled his agreement. Terra then turned and glared at Gelu until she too conceded defeat. “My elder is correct. No harm against you shall be committed by my claw.” “Good,” Dodge chirped, exchanging his sinister grimace for a pleased smile. “Now then! With all that settled, you’re all new to the Plains of Leng, yes? Or at least, most of you are,” he added, glancing pointedly at Redsopine who hadn’t bothered paying attention to the sibling’s squabble as he was too busy performing the translation incantation. “Am I correct?” “Uh-huh,” Umbra answered for all of them. “Terra’s told us about this place, but I’ve never been here before at all.” “Hee-hee. Well, I’m glad you finally get to visit our glorious realm, little one.” “And I’m glad to finally have my body back!” Gelu announced, arcing her back and letting out a series of cracks. “Ooooh, it’s been far, far too long since I’ve been able to do that,” she whispered to herself. “On that, we agree, dear Sister,” Ignis concurred, still speaking in his dragonian tongue. “Now, may we please kill the mortal now?” “Hey, no! Bad Iggy!” Redsopine spoke up, throwing the spell book at the dragon. “No killing your roommate!” “You were never my ‘roommate’ you gutless, reckless, life-endangering, suicidal, abomination of a mortal!” Ignis roared, leering menacingly at Red. “You are nothing more and nothing less than a glorified flesh puppet, and were it not for my sister and elder’s interference, I’d have already burned you into ash and sent your soul to immolate with the rest of your putrid, mortal kind in that eternal lake of sulfur and fire your kind fear!” he growled, huffing out a plume of smoke. “You know, Iggy? I’d take your threats a lot more seriously if you didn’t make them the most over-the-top, edgy nonsense I’ve ever heard in my life,” Red replied, causing Ignis to blink in surprise. “You sound like a whiny, immature teenager who’s mad about their mommy setting them a curfew.” “Wait! You understood me!?” Red gasped theatrically, asking, “Did I!? Whaaat!?” Ignis blinked rapidly in confusion, asking, “How— How did you understand me; I’m speaking in my native language! Your puny mortal mind should be reeling in pain from my every syllable,” he remarked, infuriated that that wasn’t the case. “Translation spell. Duh,” Red clarified. “I performed it while you and your sister were being the rudest guests possible to our lovely host over here,” he said, gesturing to Dodge. “And Red’s connection to us is still present, Ignis,” Terra continued explaining. “Our physical presences will not adversely effect him as it would other mortals.” “You wanna bet?” Ignis whirled around and slammed his tail into Red, sending him flying into a nearby wall. Red grunted from the impact and fell to his knees, holding his stinging abdomen. He then looked up and found the fire demon towering over him and grinning devilishly. “Um, Gramps? He’s not actually gonna kill me, right?” Red asked, backing away from the dragon. “Oh, no. I am absolutely going to— AGH!” Ignis shrieked when Gelu grabbed him by the horns and pulled him away from Red. “Let go, Sister!” “No, Ignis,” she sneered, slamming him to the ground. “This is the final time I will say this, Brother! You will not kill him!” Gelu commanded, her gaze unflinching. “Why not!?” Ignis shrieked, baring his fangs at his traitorous sibling. “I don’t understand, Sister; why do you suddenly not wish to kill that foolish whelp!?” “Ignis, we will kill him,” Gelu promised, apathetic to the grim silence that followed her declaration. “But not now. Not when we have no clue where we are or how to get back, and certainly not when the Anziek are still alive,” she ended, taking a deep breath as a mask of indifference returned to her face. Ignis snorted furiously and looked away. “Fine,” he eventually conceded. Ignis then directed his slit-eyed gaze onto his former host, swearing, “But mark my words, Redsopine, the very second that I finally have the opportunity to kill you…? I will.” Red just glared back as he struggled to stand back up but to no avail. Thankfully, Umbra swiftly appeared at his side and helped him finally stand proper. The shadow demon then placed a gentle paw against Red’s injury, healing it and whispering, “He doesn’t mean that.” “Yeah, he does,” Red whispered back, not dropping his hateful gaze away from the siblings. “They both do.” A moment of tense silence passed, but it was soon ended when Quibble suddenly inquired, “You know of the Anziek?” “Yes, we do,” Terra confirmed, keeping a close eye on the siblings. “We’ve had quite a number of experiences with them.” “We lost our home,” Umbra murmured, looking away and trying to fight back the onslaught of bad memories. “We lost everyone…” “And we need to get back and kill those cheap, lizard bastards!” Red snarled, clenching his fist tightly. “So, Dodgy, if you could get us home so that we could do just that, we’d greatly appreciate it.” Dodge looked over Red and each of his demons in turn before closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. “When did the Anziek attack your home?” “A few days ago, I think. Though I might be off, considering all the dimension-hopping I’ve been subjected to.” “Tell me how you escaped.” “Errr…?” Red groaned, looking to Terra. “We didn’t,” the earth Elemental ominously answered. “We had to invoke the Resurrection Ritual.” Dodge cursed and shook his head slowly. “Their forces are growing even stronger than I thought… But you said we could beat them if you…?” he quietly muttered to himself, staring directly at Red who stared back in confusion. “If you and they…” When Dodge suddenly fell silent, Theus placed a claw on his shoulder, whispering, “My Lord?” Dodge blinked, his attention snapping back to the present. “Redsopine, Terra, Ignis, Gelu, and Umbra?” he began calmly. “I can indeed transport you to whichever dimension you wish.” “Good! In that case, can you get us to wherever their head honcho is?” Red requested, cracking his knuckles. “I’m itching to pay that monster back for killing my friends.” “Are you insssane!?” Septimus screeched, gawking at Red in complete disbelief. “You don’t know the half of it,” Gelu grumbled. “You are nothing compared to the Anziek Lord!” Theus argued bluntly. “He could kill all of you faster than your hearts could beat.” “Not that he would ever dare sully his claws with your blood, of course,” Quibble quipped. “You’d be unworthy of such an ‘honor.’” “The Anziek know nothing of honor!” Ignis shouted, puffing his chest proudly. “They know of their own honor,” Quibble shot back without so much as glancing at the dragon. “And their honor is the only kind they care for.” That shut Ignis up. “Furthermore,” Dodge continued. “His various lieutenants and generals would also be able to strike you down with minimal effort. Making any degree of attacks against the Anziek Lord’s forces would be akin to suicide. And I trust that none of you wish to invoke the Resurrection Ritual again, correct?” he speculated, raising an eyebrow. Red had been about to protest all of them and profess that he and his roommates could, in fact, best the Anziek Lord. However, Dodge’s last words stopped him in his tracks and made him take a moment to reconsider everything that had recently happened to him and the others. He then spared a glance to Terra who looked back at him silently and gave an ever-so-subtle shake of his head. Redsopine then looked back at Dodge and said, “No. I don’t want any of us to die again. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love nothing more than to beat the asshole to a bloody pulp, but…” He shrugged. “If you say we can’t handle him…? I guess we can’t.” While Terra clearly looked relieved to hear him say that, the other demons all gaped at Red in complete disbelief. “How can you possibly believe that we’d be no match for the Anziek Lord!?” Ignis questioned, a mix of indignation and curiosity penetrating his gruff voice. “I, alone, could incinerate the vermin in the blink of an eye!” “And even if that weren’t the case,” Gelu continued, tilting her head in puzzlement. “Why are you suddenly so reluctant to face those beasts’ leader? Don’t tell me you’re afraid?” “Tch! No!” Red sneered, scoffing at the mere accusation. “I’m not afraid of anything.” “Except pain,” Ignis deadpanned. Red opted to ignore that comment and explain, “Guys, look… You don’t want to die again. I don’t want to die again. And this guy clearly knows about the Anziek too,” he acknowledged, gesturing to Dodge who nodded confidently. “And he says we’re nothing to the guy.” “And you believe that, do you?” “Regardless of whatever I believe, I don’t want to make another reckless decision that could get us slaughtered,” Red proclaimed to the utter shock of the siblings. “Sooo…? Until we come up with an actual plan, let’s just not go near that guy, okay?” “I second the notion,” Terra concurred. “As do I!” Umbra spoke up, raising his paw into the air. Ignis and Gelu shared a glance, both deeply unsettled by Red’s sudden shift in attitude and their fellow Elementals’ siding with him. Eventually, Gelu shuffled nervously and muttered, “I… Suppose that’s not a… Bad idea.” “I still say we can slay that honor-less monstrosity,” Ignis barked, huffing out a plume of fire and smoke. He then looked over his sister and winced upon remembering how weakened she had been after the Resurrection Ritual. “But…? It would be preferable if we determined a strategy to face him, as opposed to blindly engaging the threat.” “Glad to hear you all see it that way,” Dodge commented, grinning confidently. “Yeah, it means you all have at lease some degree of sanity,” Quibble deadpanned. “In any case,” Dodge resumed. “I hold a great deal of disdain for the Anziek as well, so I would very much enjoy aiding you in your conflict with them however I can.” “We are forever grateful for your aid, Lord Dodge,” Terra said, bowing deeply. “Please… Tell us what you can of the Anziek and their Lord.” “Then I will do so,” Dodge confirmed, bowing back. “However, before I do so, I must see to another, far more pressing matter,” he insisted, snapping his fingers. In response, the wall that had been demolished from Ignis and Gelu’s tussle reconstructed itself, only now with the addition of a set of double doors. Said doors opened a moment later, revealing a gargantuan chamber filled to the brim with people, ponies, and various other creatures who were either severely wounded or tending to the aforementioned wounded. Oddly, not one single creature so much as glanced at the double doors, seemingly completely unaware of the creatures within the kitchen. “Erm, Dodgy?” Red mumbled, as stupefied by the sight as his roommates were. “Why is there an entire town’s worth of ponies in your living room?” “The Anziek showed up,” Dodge answered so casually he might have been talking about the weather. “I evactuated the populace of my world, and we’re here now. In my house. In the Plains of Leng.” “Wait, so…” Gelu looked to Dodge, then to Terra, back to Dodge, and then back to Terra. “He’s that Lord Dodge!?” “I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out sooner.” “We’re traveling through the multiverse, Terra; for all I know there are ten billion alternate version of me running around,” she shot back, taking a step closer to her elder and away from Dodge. “Oh, I assure you, Gelu; the number is much higher than that,” Dodge joked, winking coyly at her. “Did you just wink at my sister?” Ignis questioned, stepping between the two and flaring his wings defensively. “It was a friendly wink,” he argued, shrugging. “Yes, well, no one is allowed to wink at my sister without her permission,” he harrumphed. Gelu buried her face into her claws, groaning in exasperation and humiliation. “Sooo, what?” Red bluntly interjected. “Are we just gonna stay here then?” “I won’t force you, but I would prefer that you do,” Dodge answered simply. “Fine… But we really do have to get back to our reality as soon as possible. The Anziek are still in it, and so are my friends.” Red shook his head fervently, declaring, “I won’t leave them to die.” “Understood. For tonight, I want you all to rest up and prepare yourselves. Come morning, I will tell you all I know and help you all I can,” Dodge swore, extending his hand. After a second of hesitation, Red took the offered hand and gave it a firm shake. “And we’ll help you however we can too.” “It’s a deal.” “Thank you. Now then!” he exclaimed, clapping loudly and gazing back into the living room. “Where exactly are we gonna sleep? Or, I dunno, keep the four literal demons from being seen by all of them?” “I am this dimension’s deity, Mr. Redsopine,” Dodge replied with a hint of smugness. “I can do whatever I want,” he bragged, casually sweeping a hand over the double doors. The image lying beyond the doors became a shifting blur of color until it ultimately settled on a long, gilded hotel hallway. And yet they made even you run away from them,” Red snarked. “Oh, I didn’t flee from Anziek hordes. I fled from their Lord,” Dodge clarified. “Oh.” “Yes. Although, he was at the back at the army. And I’m very grateful for that actually,” he continued, distractedly rumpling the back of his hair. “Had he been at the front, I wouldn’t have been able to evacuate as many as I did.” “Tch. Of course, that coward would be at the back,” Ignis grumbled. “Cowardiccce isss not the reassson he remained at the back of hisss army,” Septimus argued, frowning spitefully at the memory of that monstrosity. “Our forcesss were no challenge to him; thusss, he sssought not to wassste hisss time or energy.” “That sounds pretty cowardly to me.” Septimus was silent for moment but ultimately nodded in agreement. “Yesss. It doesss.” “Coward or no, we’re gonna kill that bastard for what he did to our home,” Red interjected, crossing his arms and glaring at nothing in particular. “You know? Once we get a plan, anyway.” “And get back home to kill him,” Umbra added, shoving aside the last of his empty popcorn bags. “Certainly would help if we could navigate realities ourselves,” Red responded with a pointed look at Terra. “Because getting thrown through portals by weirdos in lab coats is getting pretty annoying.” “Weirdosss in what?” Septimus asked, confused. “Don’t worry about it,” Red deflected, not wanting to think about that mysterious individual at the moment. “Though he refers to something completely different, his words bear a certain truth, my Lord,” Quibble whispered into Dodge’s ear. “If we hope to save the multiverse from the Anziek, we cannot simply go from world-to-world individually. It is far too draining on you and us,” he ended calmly-yet-firmly. “I know, Quibble; I know,” Dodge whispered back. “I’ve been trying to think of solutions, but the only idea I have would…” He seized up, eyes widening as he appraised Red in a completely different manner. “Backfire…” “My Lord?” “Give me one of your keys, Quibble,” Dodge demanded, holding his hand out palm-up. “Preferably the silver one.” Although initially bewildered by the sudden command, Quibble ultimately complied and discreetly reached into his flesh, withdrawing a small, ornate, silver-colored key from its depths. He then dropped the item into his Lord’s hand. Dodge called out, “Oh, Mr. Redsopine?” “Huh? Yeah, Dodgy?” “Catch,” he urged, tossing the key over to Red who caught it easily. “Did you just toss one of my—” Quibble furiously began only for Dodge to place a hand gently against his muzzle, silencing him instantly. “You said you wished for a method to traverse realities?” Dodge said, smirking and ignoring his friend’s protests. “That will allow you to do so.” Red frowned at the item, shared a similarly suspicious glance with Terra, and looked back at Dodge. “What’s the catch?” “The catch is that I’ll explain how to use it over a nice cup of tea,” he answered aloofly. “Later tonight, or perhaps during our conversations in the morning. For now though,” Dodge rambled on before red or his roommates could say anything further. “Theus? Please be a dear and show them to their rooms.” “As you wish, my Lord,” Theus said, bowing politely. He then addressed the others, beckoning, “Come, my friends, I will show you to your rooms,” as he marched toward the hallway entrance. Gelu’s head shot up, her body going rigid as she squealed, “Wait! So we actually get our own rooms!? All to ourselves!? WITH BEDS!?” “As well as kitchens, bathrooms, and showers,” Theus confirmed. Though silent at first, Gelu let out an undignified shriek of joy and raced forward, purposefully slamming Red out of her way and shouting, “MAKE WAY FOR THE ICE QUEEN! MOMMA WANTS SOME ‘ME’ TIME!” “Sister, wait!” Ignis called out, dashing after his giddily giggling sister and disappearing into the cavernous corridors beyond. “It’s always the ribs…” Red groaned weakly as he lied on the floor, curled up and clutching his abdomen. “Why is it always the damn ribs…!?” Umbra stepped up to him and pressed a paw to his ribs, healing them once again. “You okay, Red?” “Yeah, just winded,” he responded, taking several large gulps of air and relishing the feeling of his lungs not burning in pain for once. “You?” “Uhhh…? Yeah, I’m good,” Umbra confirmed, nodding. “Gotcha. So, guys, we’re apparently staying with this guy for a while,” Red acknowledged, standing back up and gesturing to Dodge. “You two cool with that?” Umbra nodded. “I am, indeed,” Terra affirmed, approaching Red. “Are you?” “Yeah…?” Red murmured, still staring suspiciously at their unbelievably benevolent host. He then passed Terra the silver key, requesting, “Gramps, ya mind holding onto this?” Terra glanced at Dodge as if requesting permission to do so, and upon receiving a nod, he plucked the key from Red’s hand. The crystals of his paw then twisted and shifted, allowing the key to sink into the depths of his body before reforming back as if nothing had happened. “Marvelous,” Theus blurted out, smiling tranquilly upon reacquiring their attention. “Shall I take you to your rooms now? Or would you prefer doing the same as your fellows and charging blindly into the labyrinth?” “We’ll follow you,” Terra promised. “Good. Now then, allow me to show you your rooms then,” he said, striding forward.