Someone bumped into Zora from behind.
"Hey, watch ou—" Tori started, but then stopped when she saw Zora's face.
"You good?"
Zora gave a small shake of her head.
"Just… processing something is all."
Tori didn't push. She just nodded and fell in beside her.
"Keep walking," Archie grunted, taking a deep swig before vanishing in a blink.
Moments later, the sounds of explosions and boisterous laughter echoed through the trees behind them. Zora cringed sympathetically for whatever poor spiders ran into him.
Turning to the others, she waved them over. Lena, Ivory, and Paul quickly walked up to join her.
As they moved, chatting over the distant chaos, Zora asked,
"So what happened to you guys?"
She looked at Paul.
He shrugged. "I dunno. One moment I was getting torn apart, and the next…"
He made an exaggerated explosion noise with his mouth.
Zora blinked, then turned to Ivory.
"Don't look at me," she said with a shrug. "That's the same explanation he gave me."
Zora sighed.
"Well, since we're on the topic…"
She tilted her head toward Ivory.
Ivory groaned.
"I don't know. It's the same threads as before, but now I can like… spread them out?"
Her eyes flickered purple for a moment.
Zora squinted. "Ooookay…"
Finally, she turned to Lena.
"Please tell me you have a better explanation than this."
She motioned toward Paul and Ivory.
Lena chuckled.
"I mean… not really. I guess instead of just controlling the sound around me…"
She held out her hand. A small speaker shimmered into existence, floating in mid-air.
"I can make my own."
A beat dropped from the speaker, and Lena started doing a little dance as she walked.
Tori huffed and Zora cracked a smile.
Just then, Archie crashed down in front of them, kicking up dust and shaking the ground.
"Killed every spider for miles," he declared, stumbling slightly.
"Shouldn't have any issues getting to that little camp. Five miles left."
He paused, swaying a bit.
"Oops—hehe. Drank too much."
He took another swig and started stomping forward again like nothing happened.
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
The speaker in Lena's hand shimmered away into nothingness, the last of the music fading into the forest air. No one said much as they followed Archie, his heavy footsteps thudding against the dirt. Finally, he stopped, turning to face them with a satisfied grin.
"Here we are. Ten miles... or something like that," he said with a chuckle, patting his stomach and taking a swig from his ever-present bottle.
Then he reached behind him and pulled something out.
"You dropped this yesterday after leaving," he said, still chuckling as he produced the cube Terri made for them.
"Where did you pull that out from?" Ivory asked, eyes wide.
Archie just smiled and held it out toward Zora.
"U-uhhh... thanks, Archie…" she said awkwardly, staring at the cube.
Paul sighed, stepped forward, and grabbed the cube out of his hand. Without a word, he dropped it to the ground. A hole opened up beneath it and swallowed the cube whole.
"There," Paul muttered. "I can bring it up anytime, anywhere."
Archie took another drink and looked them all over.
"Okay then. Back off to your camp... and then back to the UK for me."
Lena opened her mouth, hesitating, then closed it. But Archie noticed.
"Go ahead, dear."
Lena perked up. "I actually have three questions."
Archie arched an eyebrow.
"One: What's your Eidolon?
Two: How did you get to the camp so fast that day?
Three: Will we ever see you again?"
Archie grinned wide. "Sure. Consider it a farewell gift from old Archie!"
He turned his gaze toward the sky, sunlight catching the edge of his grin.
"For your first question—my nickname is The Barroom Legend."
A massive keg materialized behind him.
"Physical type. The more I drink, the stronger, faster, and more durable I become… among other things."
He stroked his beard thoughtfully, considering whether to say more… but moved on.
"Second question: all the main bases and camps that are part of the EWA are connected by… portals. Yeah. Something like that."
Zora blinked, remembering how he casually pushed open a door and stomped through like he was coming home from work.
*He must've come straight from a fight that day…*
Then he went quiet. A long pause stretched out before he finally answered the last question.
"As for your last question... likely not."
And with that, Archie vanished, leaving behind nothing but cracked ground and drifting dust.
"Damn, he's fast," Paul mumbled.
Ivory elbowed him in the ribs. "Duh. Did you not see it before?"
Zora chuckled and turned to the group. "I'm gonna miss him."
Then she paused, blinking.
"…By the way, does anyone actually know where we're going?"
Lena, Tori, and Ivory all exchanged looks.
"Come on, guys… I was drunk. I don't remember what happened!"
Paul let out a laugh. "Where would you all be without me?"
He pointed toward the direction Archie had been leading them.
"If we keep this pace, we'll be there in a few days. But…"
Paul suddenly stomped the ground.
The earth rumbled, and a massive boulder rose up beside them, its top flattening and caving inward until it formed a smooth, hollow ride. Complete with seats also made out of rock.
"Everyone get in," he said, flashing a wide grin.
"We'll be there in a few hours."
"I'm not getting in that," Tori said, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
Paul knocked on the side of the rock. Thunk.
A doorway instantly carved itself into the stone wall.
"Oho, cool!" Lena squealed, darting through it with a skip in her step.
Ivory followed close behind with a grin.
Tori looked over at Zora, deadpan.
"You can run if you want," Zora teased with a shrug, casually strolling past Paul and stepping inside.
A few seconds of silence passed.
Then Tori stomped in with a huff. "Using a rock as a car," she mumbled, sliding onto the stone bench beside Ivory.
With everyone inside, the doorway disappeared. The rock sealed itself shut like a stone capsule.
Then suddenly—
they were off.
Trees blurred into streaks of green as they rocketed forward, the world outside flying by.