“Not bad, huh?” Tafel asked. She was standing in the center of a green and brown room, one of the shelters that had been created within a tree’s branches. Large leaves wrapped around the curved branches, acting as translucent walls capable of letting in sunlight while keeping the room insulated.

“Ed’s island house is better,” Vur said from his seat. He was sitting on top of a bed made of moss and flower petals, each petal larger than a person. He crossed his legs and looked around before sniffing the air. “This place is too small.”

A wry smile appeared on Tafel’s face. “There aren’t many places that can compare to Ed’s island house,” she said. Where else would someone find dragon-sized, human furniture? Tafel rubbed her chin as she looked around. “Even so, this place isn’t that bad of an area to set up, right? I’ll record the spatial coordinates of this area and create an underground cache to connect a portal to.” Tafel blinked at Vur. “It might take me a while, so feel free to take a nap.”

Vur nodded. “Okay,” he said and yawned, stretching his arms towards the ceiling. “Have fun.” He let his body fall over backwards, sinking into the bed of moss. The petals on the bed curled up and around him, blanketing him without any effort on his part. Within seconds, a snot bubble was rising out of his nostril.

Tafel shook her head. Just how tired was Vur for him to be sleeping all the time? “Alright, it’ll take me roughly two days to finish establishing a spatial base,” she said. The best part about having so many living beings residing inside of Vur was their ability to take messages for him. As long as one of them heard her while Vur was asleep, he’d get the message upon waking. “If he happens to wake up and I’m not done, tell him to keep himself preoccupied. I’ll have Auntie deliver some food here in case some of you want to feed him while he sleeps.”

“Got it,” Sheryl said from the sunlike rune on Vur’s shoulder. She materialized in the air beside Vur and fell to the mossy bed. Then, she waved at Tafel as the demon left. The leaves that made up the wall parted way as Tafel went passed and closed again once she was through. Sheryl looked around and scratched her head. “How permanent do you guys think this residence is going to be?”

“Probably not very,” Zilphy said, materializing beside Sheryl. “The elves were so easily kicked out. If someone invades while we’re not around, we’ll lose everything here.”

“Tafel’s recording the spatial coordinates of this area though,” Mistle said, the ocean elemental making an appearance on the bed as well. “Even if the residence is taken away, she can open a portal for us to take it back.”

“Do you honestly believe that, or are you just taking that position to go against me?” Zilphy asked, placing her sticklike hands on her non-existent hips. “Deedee, what are your thoughts?”

“I think he’ll agree with me,” Mistle said. “Anyone with a brain can come to the same conclusion as I have.”

Zilphy snorted. “Why would they come to the same conclusion as someone without a brain?”

Mistle and Zilphy glared at each other before their brows furrowed, small rifts appearing in the rocky surface around their eyes. They turned towards Vur’s sleeping body. “Deedee?” Zilphy asked. “Are you ignoring us again?”

“Diamant,” Mistle said. “Is everything okay? Stella’s not making you do anything strange right now, is she?”

“What in the world?” Stella asked, her head poking out of Vur’s chest. “I never make anyone do anything strange.” Her forehead scrunched up as well upon seeing Mistle’s and Zilphy’s rocky faces. “It is odd though. Deedee, what are you up to?”

The fairy and elementals waited, but there was no response. After a bit, the brown runes on Vur’s arms flickered before glowing. Diamant appeared, wobbling and rolling over twice as he did so, landing face down with his arms and legs splayed. He lifted his head up by rolling backwards, his diamond eyes barely leaving the ground. “I … need help.”

“Are you okay?” Mistle asked, rushing over to help Diamant roll onto his knees. “What happened?”

“Are we being invaded again?” Zilphy asked, coming to Diamant’s side. “Didn’t Sheryl burn all the broccoli stalks into submission? Did they act up?”

Stella placed her hands on her hips. “Excuse me,” she said. “I would know if we were being invaded.” She flew over to Diamant and hovered in front of him. “Is it the pupa?”

“Yes,” Diamant said and let out a sigh as he climbed to his feet with the help of Mistle and Zilphy. “It’s the pupa. And it’s the caterpillar egg. By all the holy soil in the world, I have never met nor heard of a more needy egg in my life. It’s no wonder why its mother chopped off and gave away three of her own legs to get this egg off her hands.” Diamant’s diamond eyes widened as he glared at the elementals and fairy around him. “Vur might’ve given the responsibility of taking care of the egg and pupa to me, but if either of them dies, all of us are going to get into trouble because I’m shameless enough to drag everyone down with me.”

“So, you want us to help you take care of the egg and pupa,” Stella said and rolled her eyes. “Why’d you have to be so dramatic about it?”

“Right?” Zilphy said and crossed her arms. “You just had to ask. The egg and pupa don’t even move. How hard can it be to take care of them?”

“They keep saying they’re bored, or they want to do things,” Diamant said and gestured behind himself with his hand. He grunted. “You’ll understand when they, well, you’ll see.” He waved his arm, and the walls opened up as a ball of dirt floated its way in. The ball of dirt cracked open, and a pupa and an egg tumbled out.

“Whoa, what place is this? This is new! This is great, Diamant. This is what I was talking about.”

Everyone except Diamant and Vur exchanged glances with one another.

“Did you guys hear someone speak in your head just now?” Stella asked.

Everyone nodded.

“Hey! New lifeforms! Great!” The caterpillar egg, which looked like a large, yellow-white melon, couldn’t move, but it could change colors, sparkle, and apparently shout directly into people’s minds.