It was hard to find a place to put the big stone block. Belgar wasn’t happy with it in the center of town, claiming it was too ominous. But Tero’gal wanted it in a particular spot, so his desires were overruled. Of course, the locals were flocking to it to see what was going on. No one could’ve guessed it had once been the place where a being they recognized as a god once rested their butt. Especially not a ‘god’ that had been so elusive.

“Looks like crap,” Belgar said, folding his arms and glowering at the statue. He went rigid when the planet sent a series of thoughts. “I suppose this is where it shall remain.”

“Is it happy?” Tresk asked.

“I think so,” Belgar said with a nod. “Tero’gal is talking with the other planets, I think. So… Go do the other ones, I guess.”

Theo and Tresk shared a look. “Okay,” they said in unison.

The instant they dropped into the void, Tresk gave Theo a look. “We’re doing our other stuff, right?”

Theo waved the question away. "I can handle it on my own later. I don't think I need the company, or if I do, I'll take Alex or somebody else. I would take Fenian if he hadn't vanished."

"Yeah, we're gonna talk about the missing elf, right?" Tresk asked. "Or are we just gonna pretend like nothing happened and move on with our lives?"

Theo thought about it for only a moment before shaking his head. "I believe we're going to pretend like nothing happened, since Fenian is his own person, and we literally can't do anything about it."

The duo headed back to the mortal world and checked on the arena games. There were some exhibition matches coming up that they had to participate in, but nothing for now. The most important of those matches was the one between Tresk and the lizard-people. It would be a one-sided fight if she participated herself, but the exact rules of that pairing were still yet to be established. It was hard to tell if the lizard-people were adamant about getting the money back for their stolen herbs or if it was all posturing. The end of the world was nearby, so the alchemists couldn't see them holding onto a grudge like that forever.

After checking in with the organizers of the games and finding that he wasn't needed there today, Theo inquired about those fights. Tresk, without letting him know, had selected a champion to represent her in each of the games. While she was currently tied with the participants from the Lizard Islands, all this would end in an exhibition fight between herself and the strongest member of those clans. No matter how strong the person was, Theo knew it wouldn't end well for them, rendering Tresk the ultimate victor.

Theo was lucky enough to run into Sarisa during his visit to the arena and forced her to promise to show up at the manor tonight so the group could have dinner together. Once he had tied up all his loose ends there, he and Tresk traveled to the paper world with Pogo for some more training. It was more of the same, and she seemed quite pleased with their progress. She was even happier to hear their idea about the gong and offered some suggestions to improve it.

“You’re coming to dinner tonight, right?” Theo asked, sitting on a paper log and observing his companion’s progress.

“Naturally,” Pogo said, flipping her hair to one side dramatically. “I enjoy mortal food as much as the next person. But I have a very important question.”

“What is that?”

Pogo gestured between Theo and Tresk. “You don’t appear to be more dragon-like. Even if you’re reaching our highest stages of development.”

Theo looked down at his skin, releasing his grip on that side of himself. Scales spread across his skin, his horns elongated, taking on a more spiky appearance, and the nubs of wings sprouted from his back. “We can hold our true forms if we want. It might be harder for people with less willpower, but the Tara’hek has a lot of willpower to spare.”

“Interesting,” Pogo said, looking him over as though to study the changes. “This is the first time I've seen a dragon hybrid like you. Do you think it's possible to create more, or is this a situation where your unique station affords you the ability?”

Tresk's eyes snapped open. She had been cultivating more of the energy but felt the need to intrude on the conversation. "You're discounting the idea that other unique situations might occur. It's very unlikely that someone else will form this kind of bond, but it doesn't mean that somebody who's really good at manipulating energy couldn't do the same thing. The principle is that we're weaving dragon energy together with celestial energy to create something our bodies can process. There's nothing special about us. We've just used the time dilation areas to develop the skills, and since we can share those skills in the bond, that makes it so much easier for us."

Theo scratched a mark in the log he sat upon. It was apparently the hundredth time they had had this conversation. The unfortunate part about spending decades within the time-dilated realm was that conversations were cyclical. They could hash it out as many times as they wanted, but as long as the conversation was flowing, they would always come back to something like this. There was one thing he hadn't talked about though, and perhaps it was time to finally get some answers from Pogo.

"What's up with the Storm?" Theo asked, looking up at the dragon to see if he could glean any information from her facial expression. The small smile that spread across her face was hardly helpful.

“Sneaky little alchemist,” Pogo said. “My companions in the Storm Flight told me about an intruder, but as with all things they were vague about what had happened. What do you think about it?”

"I think it's pretty impressive," Theo admitted freely. "I didn't know the power of the Dragon Flights extended to something like that. I was wondering if you could give me a detailed explanation about what exactly it does."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Well, I’m part of the Earth Flight,” Pogo said, stretching out and yawning. “But here’s what I know…”

Theo and Tresk had been right on the money about what the realm did. It was a literal net that would catch people trying to interdict themselves into the sector, and it would redirect them to a set location. They couldn't outright stop people traveling from other parts of the universe, but they could catch them and put them in a certain spot. Now, what that spot was remained a mystery. Pogo didn't seem eager to share that bit of information, and instead, they danced around it, saying they would find out eventually.

It was no coincidence that Pogo perked up when Theo mentioned visiting Leon. He filed it away, realizing the net would send people to that planet, before listening to her wisdom on that matter.

“I would avoid talking to Leon if you can. The man is a grumpy old king who has been through many

trials,” Pogo said. “We worked with him in the old world, but only briefly. Since then, we’ve simply tracked him as best we could.”

Today’s training session was truncated. Theo and Tresk were reaching the upper-limits on how much energy they could absorb. Since both of them were getting to a stage where their draconic energy output was somewhere near that of Pogo, they didn’t have much else they could do. But absorbing the energy was only half the battle. They had to figure out the best ways to use it. Sure, the goal of this exercise was to become power plants that created the energy, but it didn’t mean they were willing to let the benefits fall to the wayside.

“Unfortunately, if my math is right, we need to go to dinner,” Theo said, tapping his foot on the ground. “Everyone cool with that?”

Tresk rubbed her belly. “I’m starving.”

“As am I,” Pogo admitted. “I await your weird form of teleportation, Theo.”

The alchemist nodded. Getting a lock onto the manor. A blink later, and all three of them were standing outside of the gates leading to the front door. Even before he approached the door, Theo could smell the food cooking within. Sarisa had taken his word seriously, and had made some barbecue. Meat slathered with thick, slightly sweet sauces weren’t a surprise when considering the half-ogres in Broken Tusk. They were a meat-loving people, raised on what little monster meat they could harvest from the swamp.

Now that things had calmed down, they ate like kings every chance they got.

“Fancy seeing you here, stranger,” Theo said, nodding toward Sarisa.

The woman was setting the table, her brother working in the kitchen to get everything presented on platters. “Well, you hardly need a guard anymore, do you?” Sarisa asked, fussing with the placement of the plates and silverware. “And we have a dragon as a guest. Gotta make sure everything is just right.”

“Are these your servants?” Pogo asked. She had a bright look on her face as though she respected Theo a bit more for placing people into indentured servitude.

Rowan barked a laugh from the kitchen.

“Not exactly,” Sarisa said. “Please. Have a seat.”

“Time dilation is hungry work,” Tresk said, rubbing her hands together as she took her normal spot at the table. “Feels like I haven’t eaten for years.”

“Unless you count whatever rations we bring, you’re not wrong.” Theo took his own spot, gesture for Pogo to sit next to him.

The dragon sat with elegance, placing her hands in her lap as though waiting at a fine dining establishment. “I enjoy the dried meat,” Pogo said. “The fact that you have year’s worth in your inventory is troubling, though.”

Theo jabbed a finger at Tresk. “You should see what she has in the shared inventory.”

“A rock,” Tresk said, plucking a small stone from nowhere. She had a massive grin on her face. “A live frog. Just kidding, this one is dead. A spear, because why not?”

“Twelve eggs. Two-hundred chairs. Where did you even find that many chairs and why do they stack?” Theo asked.

“Of course they stack,” Tresk said, narrowing her eyes. “Wait. One day, you’ll see the glory of my furniture hoarding habits.”

“I doubt we’ll see anything useful out of that,” Sarisa said, laying plates of food on the table. Rowan helped her, creating a spread that would make Xam blush. “Everyone dig in while it's still hot. It just ain’t right cold.”

“You can say that again,” Rowan said, groaning as he took his seat. “Never thought I’d say this, but I can’t wait for the world to blow up.”

Rowan and Sarisa had truly created a barbeque feast. They didn’t have all the stuff Theo would’ve expected from old Earth, but it was close enough that he wouldn’t question it. There were plates of braised ribs slathered with a thick, sweet-smelling sauce. Bowls were filled with mashed zee, while grilled kernals had been sliced and arranged in squares on another platter. Although the greens were sparse, they had cooked an assortment of green vegetables in a butter sauce, topping it with a thickened cream sauce.

“What’s going on with you two?” Theo asked, trying not to drool that much. He mentally targeted the ribs, praying they had more in the kitchen. When Tresk reached out to take the entire rack, he slapped her hand.

Tresk hissed.

“We’re doing odd jobs, like most other adventurers.” Rowan released a dramatic sigh, rubbing his face as though staying awake took everything he had. “Sarisa and I were running security today, which is easily the worst job.”

“We had to bolster our ranks with outsiders,” Sarisa said, offering a pained smile. “Things are getting out of control and we can hardly keep it together at this point.”

“Just a few more days,” Rowan said, closing his eyes as though he could taste the freedom.

“I can migrate you guys now,” Theo said. “No better way to avoid responsibility than leaving the planet.”

“No, we already promised Alise we’d help her,” Rowan said. “She’s gonna be the first marriage on Tero’gal, right? Dunno if I could stand the look she’ll give me if I leave early.”

Theo cut into the ribs, taking four of them for himself. Tresk followed suit, although he could feel her desire to take more than that. Even before he took a bite, the alchemist could tell they were fall-off-the-bone tender. The scent was extremely close to the barbeque sauce he remembered back on Earth. It had a sweet smell that leaned toward tangy. The first bite confirmed two things: it was very tangy, and the meat was soft enough that someone without teeth could easily eat it.

“Oh, damn,” Theo said, closing his eyes as he savored the flavor. “Put a fork in me, dude.”

Tresk squeaked a laugh. “Cause he’s done! Get it!?”

Rowan and Sarisa rolled their eyes in unison.

“This is quite good,” Pogo said, holding up a half-eaten rib. She had sauce smeared all over her face. “My compliments to the puny chefs, who I’m sure would taste just as delicious.”

Rowan and Sarisa now shared a nervous look.

“I’ve got more in the kitchen,” Rowan said, springing from his chair and casting nervous glances around the room. “This next rack is for her, okay? No one else touch it.”