“What are we going to do with that?” She asked, pointing to the purple crystal, and changing the subject.

“We can’t let Anna and whoever is waiting with her have it, that’s for sure.” They skirted around something in the grass. Neither was sure if they would offend the ruler if they fought anything on the way to the portal.

“It won’t fit in the bottles, or in George’s pouch.” Zara decided after mentally measuring it.

“The bottles will probably be the first place they look when we show up without anything else.” He mentioned further.

Zelda bopped him on the head to get his attention and then climbed down from his shoulders.

“She says she’ll do it,” Zara said a moment later. “She was super chatty for the first little bit, but after not being able to talk to anyone for so many years, she’s quieter than before. It’s like she forgets every once in a while that I can hear her again.” Her cheek twitched, and a soft sniffle came from her. “Poor Zelda, she must have been so scared and lonely.”

Zelda ran to her and hugged the girl’s legs while shaking her head.

Zack wrapped them both in hugs, feeling his legs engulfed by the other two somewhat clueless bears. They held that position for a while before separating and continuing towards the portal.

“Is she sure she wants to carry the mana crystal inside her somewhere? She doesn’t have a pouch-like George does. If Aisha’s reaction is anything to go by, then having this thing inside her will be extremely uncomfortable. Not to mention we have to make the initial cut to shove it through and then find some way to secure it inside her so it doesn’t move.”

“Wow, way to talk her out of it.” She squatted in front of the bear she loved with all her heart. “He’s right, Zelda, this is not going to be pleasant for you in the slightest. Are you sure?”

Zack could have sworn he saw the bear’s chin quiver, except that was impossible. Her face was all sewn on, and not mobile in the slightest.

Zelda nodded.

“Fine, let’s get to the portal and use its light to see everything better by before making any cuts in her. Even if Zara can heal her up good as new, I’d rather get it right in as few tries as possible.” He grumbled, hurrying them along.

Zack had to admit to a certain fondness towards the currently disgusting furball. She had been with them for a long time, and she had protected Zara and kept her sane when he couldn’t. He didn’t want to hurt her, even if she had volunteered for it, and that was exactly what he was about to do.

The clearing around the portal had been dragged clean of remains during their time away. Heavy paw prints and drag marks crisscrossed the area, destroying what little grass had remained. All that was left now was a soupy quagmire of bloody mud.

Where the snake had lain only talon marks, digging deep into the ground remained. They hadn’t been expecting flying beasts or monsters and were glad that it had arrived late to the party. Especially since it had been strong enough to carry the rather large snake away on its own. At least, that is what they guessed, since there were no other talon marks in the area.

They huddled close to the portal, where there was the most light to see by. Aisha and George were facing out, to watch for any approaching monsters. Zara insisted on holding Zelda’s paw while Zack operated on her.

“Can you put her to sleep or something?” He asked, scraping the edge of the scale needle the bear had claimed as hers on a rock, hoping to sharpen the edge even a little more before doing this.

“That isn’t how my ability works. My control over each of them is limited.” Zara picked some hardened flakes of blood from the paw she was holding. “At least I think aberration classes and abilities like ours don’t come with manuals. Last I checked, anyway. Well, we at least are limited to what is listed on the status page and what we can figure out.”

He grunted and threw the rock to the side, giving up. “Can you imagine if we didn’t have to figure out everything on our own? If we knew what the requirements were to get the abilities or spells we wanted?”

They shared a laugh at the preposterous idea, and then Zack was ready.

Zelda climbed into his lap and laid on her stomach. A long line of multi-colored stitches ran down her back. This would not be the first time he had worked on her, not even close. It was simply the first wherein she would be actively more than the teddy bear she appeared to be.

“Alright, let’s do this.” He plucked the first thread, making his way down the line, doing his best to ignore her tremors.

When Zack had cut enough of the threads, he braced himself for the next part and pulled her back wide open.

Zara made a distressed sound, and he felt the ends wanting to close. “Not yet,” He snapped. “We have to secure the mana crystal inside, so it doesn’t move around, no matter what. I’m sorry Zelda, Zara, both of you just hold on a little longer.”

Working with an idea he had earlier on how to secure it inside her. Zack used some leftover sinew to tie the crystal to the scale needle and placed it inside her. The sinew and scale would both vanish once they left the portal, but this next part would remain.

The scale would keep the crystal in place while he moved and packed her inner fluffing around it. Sure, he could do the job without it, but this would be faster, and without everything moving around and loosening constantly.

“Take a deep breath. This next part is going to hurt, a lot, but then I’ll be done, and we can go back home.” Zack rested for a moment, his hands trembling slightly as they pushed a clump of dead grass to the side.

Zara glared at him and moved to hold Zelda’s entire head. “Get on with it! Why are you making this longer than it needs to be?” She hissed angrily.

He was hesitating because it didn’t feel good hurting the stupid little bear! Still, he put his hands back in her and began packing the fluffing around the crystal and needle. Her legs and arms deformed some as he pulled the needed extra to surround it. Now, even if someone were to poke and feel her chest, it should hopefully escape their notice.

“Do it.” He said, pulling his hands free.

Excess pieces of fluff were pulled inside as her back pieces were pulled down and back into place. The only thing different from before was that her multi-colored stitches had now been replaced with ones that matched her coloring. It was an odd thing to fix; he thought.

“How does it feel?” Zack asked gently.

Zara’s eyes widened, and then she snorted. “Where did you learn to talk like that? What do you mean, Zack brought you along on to some construction sites?”

“It was only a couple of times, and just in the beginning,” He scratched the tip of his nose, refusing to look at her. “Anyway, what did she say?”

“She said that it feels like something is shoved up her uh…” Zara stuttered and looked away. “Stupid bear, talking like that.” She muttered. “In any case, she doesn’t like it. Let’s hurry on through so she doesn’t have to feel it any longer. We can worry about removing it and hiding it later.”

They had the distinctly unhappy and unmoving bear strapped to Zara’s bag a few moments later. Her arms and legs looked a little thin, and her belly bigger than before, but they were always around her. Few others should notice the difference, or if they did assume that she needed anything more than a good shake to redistribute her insides.

Zack picked up Aisha, ignoring the scales-turned-armor she had continued to accumulate during their time inside. He had a feeling the big bear did not like pain.

Zara picked up George, and the siblings nodded; their time inside had come to an end. It was pure luck that they had even managed to accomplish both of their objectives. The first was easy and accomplished as soon as he pulled his sister through the film covering the portal entrance. The second had harder to get and only achieved when it was tossed from the sky by a being he wasn’t sure he wanted to meet again.

Zack stopped; his foot poised in the air before the portal. Something the ruler being had said, or in this case not said, finally clicking into place. “This isn’t their world either.” His foot fell, and he spun around. “When it mentioned people coming through the portals and taking what wasn’t theirs, we assumed that meant it had claimed them, and maybe it has. Now. It never called this place its world either. Don’t you see, there might not actually be a conspiracy by the government. The ruler could be leading a bunch of refugees that are a more recent addition. It did mention other worlds.”

“It’s thin,” Zara hesitated, “No less insane than the other ideas we’ve tossed around, and certainly less paranoia-inducing.”

He nodded and shrugged. “It has no more proof than any of the others either, for or against. I just… I don’t want to go back through and start second-guessing everything Anna, Second, Jean, and the others tell us. We’ve lived that way before, Zara, and it’s no way to continue living. This theory, at least, gives us an alternative, however slim.”