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Breeze stared at the fluffy rabbit sitting outside of his jail cell. Long ago, he had been imprisoned inside of Vur by Stella. Well, first, he was molded into the shape of a potato by Lindyss, the Corrupted One. Then, he was stuffed down Vur’s throat. And only after he was digested did the fairy queen imprison him inside the castle she had built within the dragon boy’s soul. Breeze had helped during that one invasion triggered by the blood mage, Mary’s uncle; afterwards, Stella had promised to give him more freedom within Vur’s soul. And she did. She had enlarged his prison by one square meter.

“You’re sure the fairy queen can’t hear our conversation right now?” Breeze asked. His lips didn’t move. In fact, he didn’t have lips. He looked like the silhouette of a person. “I contributed greatly in saving her home, yet all I got was one lousy block of extra space. If I help you do this, she’ll trap me in a coffin if she finds out.”

The rabbit placed its paw against the metal bar of the jail cell. It nodded at Breeze before sitting up on its haunches. Then, it patted its chest with its free paw.

Breeze glanced left and right before sighing. Then, he stuck his pinky out of the cage, in between the gaps of the metal bars. It was the only body part of his that would fit. With a sound that resembled a slug hitting the ground, Breeze’s pinky fell off and landed in front of the rabbit. The adorable creature picked up the finger, and in two bites, ate the whole thing. Black lines spread across its face. The rabbit squeaked, and the black lines stopped moving before rushing into the rabbit’s whiskers, dying them black.

“Good luck,” Breeze said and sat down, leaning his back against the wall. “Don’t forget our deal.”

The rabbit nodded and turned to leave.

“Hold it right there,” a voice said from a nearby jail cell.

The rabbit paused and craned its neck, its head facing the direction of the new voice. It belonged to a mustached man. His body was completely gold, similar to how Breeze’s was completely black. “That bundle of resentment and I might not see eye to eye, but I have nothing against you spirit animals. Let me help you too.”

The rabbit turned its body around and hopped over to the golden man’s jail cell. It tilted its head and raised an eyebrow while bending one of its ears down.

The golden man chuckled. “I want the same thing as the bundle of resentment,” he said. His eyes narrowed as he pressed his face against the jail cell. His mustache wiggled and peeled off of his face, extending out of the cell bars. With two snipping sounds, the golden mustache detached from the man, falling like two leaves drifting to the ground. The golden man leaned back, returning to his original posture. “You won’t forget about me if you succeed, right?”

The rabbit grabbed the two halves of the mustache and ate them. Then it sat on its haunches, thumping its front paws against its chest. Two golden lines spread out on its face, but the rabbit squeaked, and the lines condensed while circling its eyes. The rabbit blinked a few times before swiping its paws at its face a few times as if it were preening itself. After a moment, it dropped back onto four legs, its nose twitching. Instead of facing the exit, it glanced at a third jail cell.

“Don’t look at me like that,” a voice said. “You’ll make me hungry. I remember, I used to hunt and eat rabbits all the time back on my farm. They tasted delicious, especially with salt.” Sounds of someone slurping on their saliva came out of the cage. “Ooh, everything tasted delicious with salt.”

The rabbit’s eyes narrowed, and it crept towards the third cage.

“That’s right, cute little guy,” the voice in the third jail cell said. It belonged to a man made completely of blood. “Come ‘ere.”

The rabbit poked its head into the cell. Then, it twisted and contorted its body, popping its front paws through, then its waist, then its hindlegs. Hideous screams echoed throughout the dungeon accompanied by the sounds of munching and crunching. The occasional roar of a bear and cries of an eagle rang out as well, and soon, all the sounds stopped. The residents inside the dungeon held their breaths as a rabbit head poked out of the third jail cell. It wiggled and inched forward; soon, the whole rabbit was free. Its fur was damp and stained with patches of blood. It shook itself off like a dog, but not all of the blood came out. Some of it sank deeper, permeating its skin, creating a strange pattern that could only be seen under the right angle of light. The rabbit glanced at the rest of the jail cells, its nose twitching. No one said a word. With a few hops, the rabbit bounced away, leaving the dungeon.

***

Sheryl sat next to Stella on top of Vur’s head. Off in the distance, the natives were performing a ritual. Five men were dancing around a pole, their movements flowing in time with the music. Some natives were beating drums while others were singing songs. The dancers were nude and had blood flowing down their bodies from cuts on their chests and back. Attached to their bare chests, there were ropes made of leather, and the ends of the ropes were tied to the top of the pole they were dancing around. They went around in circles, maintaining the same distance from the pole despite the ropes becoming tauter as they wound around it. As the music reached a fever pitch, the dancers moved faster and faster until the ropes broke free, yanking out portions of their flesh, spurting blood into the air. The natives cheered even harder as the five men raised their arms and boasted while roaring.

“These people scare me sometimes,” Sheryl said. “Is it really a good idea to give them so many blessings?”

Stella bit into the fruit she was holding. She had no idea what the name of it was, but it had been offered to Vur while he was asleep, so she took it. Juices ran down the sides of her mouth. “It’ll be fine. What’s the worst thing that could happen? The world ends? Even if the world ends, it’s not even our world! We’ll just go home.”

Sheryl blinked. “Oh. You have a point.”

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