The party follows along the narrow roads, all of which are in various states of decay. Great sections of roads are marbled with cracks where various green things are growing back through. There are other grand spaces where a road should be but only water rests in its place. A battle had been fought in these spaces with the man made things on one side and nature on the other—nature had prevailed. The party eventually ascends an on-ramp of an other world interstate. There is no moving traffic or even abandoned cars along the roadways. The only vehicles that they do come across are the ones that are tucked away in parking spaces, put away like old toys that had been outgrown.

As they travel, Gluttony and EV walk in the back of the group. Gluttony’s mace is laying over his shoulder and he tells EV how they can find the Yoi. He points over to the Jaaku, the dark barked trees that predominantly cover the world. They stand up out of water on roots akin to stilts. Their heavy green foliage arcs and bends back towards the surface of the water, where they strain to keep their branches aloft and dry. The dark purple, plum-like fruit is safe to eat but supposedly, the Jaaku are twisted forms of whatever they once were. “You see how they’re all leaning,” Gluttony asks.

“Yeah,” EV replies. “They’re growing towards light, right?”

Gluttony cants his head so abruptly, the red ties of his scarf fling over his shoulder. “Where did you hear a crazy thing like that?” EV shrugs. “No, they’re not growing towards light, it’s more like they’re being pulled in. They lean towards the closest Yoi and grow more vertically whenever their equal distance between multiple Yoi. Its like what Pride mentioned about the Yoi absorbing life. It’s pull is so strong that even trees are leaning towards them. Creepy right?”

“I suppose,” EV says thoughtfully.

Lu turns his head to him again. “Your imagination is kind of crazy though. Growing towards light? That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

EV looks back at the bandage where Gluttony’s eyes should be. “Crazier than trees battling in some cosmic game of tug-of-war?”

“Yep. Not even comparable. I’m giving you the cold, hard facts. The low down. The skinny. And all I’m getting back is hearsay and conspiracies.” Gluttony nods as if to agree with himself.” EV keeps looking at Gluttony but had stopped listening. He looks away when he realizes he is staring. “What is it?”

EV reaches up and touches the side of his own face. “Why is this covering your eyes?”

“Oh this,” Gluttony asks, reaching to touch the red scarf. “It’s because I’m blind.”

EV looks ahead and tries to make sense of what Gluttony is telling him. “Blind like my light idea or blind like your tug-of-war?”

Gluttony turns his head back to EV and is making a desperate attempt to suppress a smile. “You’re a real joker huh? Of course, I’m blind like tug-of-war, but I’m not completely without sight.”

“So it’s not completely tug-of-war either then?”

“Oh shush it. Just let me finish. —I can’t see with my eyes but I still have a sort of vision” Gluttony turns his head about as if to look around. “I’m not really sure what causes it but I think it’s something to do with my nose. I don’t -see- in a line, I see in a sphere but it’s in my mind.” EV zones out as he tries to imagine that. “Yeah, I know. It’s weird.”

EV looks back up at him. “No, no. It’s not that. I’m just trying to imagine what that would be like.”

Gluttony leans over as if to whisper something dubious. “I will tell you something secret though. It makes me really good at not being snuck up on.” He pulls away and places a single finger over smiling lips.

“So your -sphere- of sight is like, around you then?”

Gluttony nods. “Yeah, it’s kind of like a dome most of the time. The only reason I think it’s related to my smell though is because of the wind. Wind can change the shape. It will flatten and elongate in the direction the wind is blowing.”

“That still doesn’t explain how you saw me earlier though.”

Gluttony looks upward for a moment. “Earlier? When?”

“Back where you found me. On the other side of the wall.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, the walls don’t really matter. They don’t obstruct my view. I can see everything that’s within my sphere—well, everything physical anyways. That other stuff is where you guys come in. If it isn’t physical, you all have to let me know to get away from it.”

EV thinks that over, trying to figure out what would be a threat that isn’t physical. “Like the dark phases?”

Gluttony nods enthusiastically. “Exactly! The dark phases are just shadows that sweep across the world at night and I can’t see them. Heck, I can’t even tell when it’s day or night but on the bright side, I don’t need anything to see in the dark.”

“How do you not know about day and night,” EV asks as he squints up into the sky.

Gluttony looks upward with him. “It’s too far away for me to see.” He raises his hand above his head and bats at the air. “All of this above me is just blank. I can’t even see where the sphere stops unless there is something physical close by that I can gauge it by. Of course, light and dark aren’t physical so they don’t do anything for me.”

Sloth stops ahead of the two and they duck around the boomerang that is draped over Sloth’s shoulders. “Ugh,” Sloth groans. “Are we there yet? All this walking is hard.” EV cuts his eyes at him, but neither one bothers responding.

Sloth jogs to catch back up to Gluttony and EV. “So what are you guys talking about?”

Gluttony nods sagely. “We’re talking about the importance of keeping a look out at the back of our group.” EV raises his eyebrow at that but Gluttony nods more.

“A lookout,” Sloth asks, looking around. “For what? There’s nothing here but road and the swamp that’s all around us. Oh! And then there’s those occasional bridges we cross over or under. Really exciting stuff. You guys making sure they don’t switch places or something?”

“No,” Gluttony says, looking grave. “It’s the rifters that get left behind. They like to hangout in the swamp. You know, like the one you said is all around us.”

Sloth looks at him like he just smelt something unpleasant. “Rifters don’t get left behind. They disappear with the rifts—right?” He asks and looks over at EV.

EV just looks away and Gluttony shakes his head. “Not true. Sometimes the rifts can leave things behind and it’s usually the nastier things. Some of the really messed up stuff that not even the rifts want hanging around. They take cover in the swamps and stalk travelers that pass by. And when the travelers get too complacent—”

Sloth is staring at Gluttony but then cuts his eyes back and forth between him and EV as he waits for him to finish. “Then wha—

“They pounce!” Gluttony turns with his fingers curled over like claws.

“Ge-yah!!” Sloth pulls back in a recoil as Gluttony and EV start laughing. “Not cool man, not cool.” Sloth straightens and looks away from the two. The three of them are silent for a time and Sloth starts to look around more. He looks away from the swamp and then back again, thinking he might have seen something. “Seems like everything is in order here. I’ll just leave the lookout stuff to you guys.” He pushes past the two of them and makes his way closer to the front with the others.

EV looks back over at Gluttony with a conspirative expression. “Rifters don’t remain after a rift closes.” EV laughs. “What was that about?”

Gluttony shrugs. “He’s a doofus. And his complaining is getting on my nerves.”

EV shakes his head. “I’m just surprised he fell for that though.”

“Well, I’m not. You’d be amazed at some of the things people believe. Like this one time, I knew a guy—well he was a little guy—but anyways. He thought the Jaaku were growing towards light. Crazy right?” EV’s smile drops into a scowl and Gluttony just beams back in response.