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Raea stared at the decapitated angel by her feet. Her tail swished, flicking droplets of blood into the air. There was a peaceful expression on Meffi’s face as if he were taking a nap. Something tugged on the hem of her robe, causing her to break her gaze away. Palan’s sister was looking up at her with a hesitant expression. “You want to say something, right?” Raea asked. “So say it. Are you going to call me a harlot again?”
Andrea shook her head and pointed at Meffi’s corpse. Her stomach grumbled. “Can I have him?” she asked and bit her lower lip. Usually, she’d have no qualms about stealing someone’s kill, but Palan treated this person differently, so she had to ask first. There was something unusual about these snacks; her body seemed to become lighter, stronger after eating them.
“Mm. Sure,” Raea said, her face expressionless. “Go ahead.” She walked to a corner in the cave and squatted, wrapping her arms around her knees. She pursed her lips as she rested her chin on her forearms and sighed. Her wings spread out before enclosing her legs, effectively turning her into a ball.
Andrea tilted her head at Raea and blinked. She hadn’t expected Raea to comply like that without a hint of displeasure. Was she alright? A scratching sound caused Andrea to turn around. Cleo was sneaking towards Meffi’s corpse with a metal object in her hand. “Snack dispenser,” Andrea said and grabbed Cleo’s tail. “I want another egg-fruit too.”
Cleo squirmed. “Are you sure you should?” she asked. “Your forehead is still glowing a little.”
Andrea placed her hand to her head and rubbed. She didn’t feel anything strange. “I want more egg-fruits,” she said and pouted. She gestured at Meffi. “I’ll share some of this with you.”
“Hmm. Alright,” Cleo said and retrieved a fruit from her space. After she gave it to Andrea, she proceeded to dismember Meffi’s body, storing his limbs in her space.
Palan smiled as Andrea and Cleo interacted with one another. It’d be good if Andrea could make a friend. Cleo was harmless enough to not be a threat, but she was tough enough to not be treated as a pet. Probably. He redirected his attention to Pyre who was sitting down, smoking on a pipe. “The portal will bring us back to the capital?”
Pyre nodded. “If not the capital, then at least the first sector. Your and Raea’s mana pools should be enough to activate it. We can leave whenever you want.”
Palan frowned. “Was Sariel that strong?”
“Pardon?” Pyre asked, raising an eyebrow.
“The portal costs mana to activate. Last time, you used thirty archlings to power it. This time, you’re using me and Raea. Could Sariel have activated the portal by herself?”
Pyre’s brow wrinkled. “I didn’t really think about that,” he said. “Maybe the capital had a ton of yellow crystals ready to power the portal. Or some other angels were there which allowed her to teleport here.”
Palan snorted. “I evolved at such an inconvenient time,” he said. “What happened to the headmaster?”
“I thought he was with you?”
“He led Sariel away.”
“Ah,” Pyre said. He chuckled. “I think I know what happened then.” He bit down on his pipe. “He’s a bit of a patriot, you know? If I had to take a guess, he wanted to help Sariel continue living; though, I’m not sure what she could’ve done by herself. He probably brought her to Eljiam with the portal, and then, to prevent you from following her directly, he set the portal’s coordinates to somewhere else and entered it.”
“You kept him alive knowing he would do something like this?” Palan asked, narrowing his eyes at Pyre.
Pyre shrugged. “You’re the one who chose to bring him to the tower. I thought about warning you, but I figured you could handle anything he tried.” He gestured around. “And look. Everything ended well.”
“Why am I itching to kill you?” Palan asked while tilting his head. His tails approached Pyre, circling around the half-angel.
Pyre laughed and tapped the ashes out of his pipe. “You know I’m more valuable alive than dead. The benefits I bring are much greater than the detriments. Besides, in a few years or so, I’ll croak of old age. Why don’t we make another contract? Don’t kill me, and I’ll always work in your best interests.”
“I already learned my lesson last time,” Palan said and snorted. “You fired the B.F.G. without caring for my life even though you’d know you’d die as well. Your life isn’t a valuable bargaining chip since you treat it as nothing.” One of his tails got close enough to touch Pyre with its tongue.
“So you’re going to kill me then?” Pyre asked, narrowing his eyes. “After everything I’ve done to help you.”
“We mutually used each other,” Palan said. “Now that our goals have been accomplished, I don’t see why I should keep someone as dangerous as you around.”
“What do you want from me?” Pyre asked, raising an eyebrow. “This isn’t how you usually do things. You’re looking for something. If you truly wanted me dead, you would’ve killed me before I had a chance to react. Kill first, ask questions later—isn’t that your motto?”
Palan smiled as his tails retreated. “This is why you’re dangerous.”
“So what is it that you want?” Pyre asked. He glanced at Raea. She wasn’t paying attention. “Does it have to do with her?”
“No,” Palan said and shook his head. “I want a way to forcefully break a contract between one entity and another.”
Raea’s head rose as she narrowed her eyes at Palan.
Pyre shivered. “Are you talking about yours? Because if you are, I don’t think I should be here right now.”
“I’m not,” Palan said. He glanced at Raea. “I’m not lying, alright?”
Raea gazed at him for a few seconds before lowering her head again.
Palan turned his attention back to Pyre. “There’s this fellow,” he said and rubbed his chin. “He has a contract of sorts with the Creator that prevents him from dying permanently. And I want him dead.”
“He’s immortal?” Pyre asked, raising an eyebrow. “Does this have anything to do with the third floor of the tower?” The floating piece of tower was the most baffling thing he had ever witnessed in his life. The capital was in ruins from his B.F.G., but there was a cube of architecture that remained untouched. He had sent a few harpies to inspect the area, but they were shot down by black lightning bolts.
“It does,” Palan said. “Can you do it?”
“I’ll need a lot of things: time, experimental subjects, a team of researchers, unlimited funds would be nice too. And even then, I can’t guarantee it can be done, especially if it’s a contract between an angel and the Creator.”
“All of Div’Nya is ours. Those things are easy to supply,” Palan said and snorted.
Pyre rubbed his chin. “Then I’ll do it,” he said with a nod. “If I’m able to break a contract like this, won’t that mean my power is greater than the Creator’s? Interesting, very interesting. I didn’t think I’d have a final challenge before I died of old age.”
“You want to kill Raphael?” Raea asked Palan.
Palan smiled. “Of course. Only I can be on top.”