Palan exhaled. He was floating in a pool of sorts, covered by darkness. Only the soft sounds of liquid sloshing around and his heart beating could be heard. No, that wasn’t right. Palan extended a hand forward until it came into contact with a hard surface—his eggshell. Faint vibrations traveled up the muscles of his arm. Someone’s heart was beating on the other side.

Palan inhaled, drinking in the surrounding liquid with his mouth and torso-mouth. It looked like that hadn’t disappeared. When the liquid was gone, he pushed forward, crumbling a portion of the barrier. Light poured into the egg, nearly blinding him. Wasn’t he in a building? Why was the sun so bright? His other hand reached forward and grabbed the edge of the gap, widening it by tearing off chunks. Then his other hand reached forward along with his last one. Palan’s brow furrowed. It seemed like he had four arms now. What else had changed?

The egg surrounding him collapsed, caking his body with a layer of black powder. Inputs from five different sources behind him assaulted his senses. Two new tails had been added. They swiveled around, taking in their surroundings while Palan sorted the sensory information in his head. He was no longer on the first floor of the tower. In fact, it’d be better to say that the tower was now gone. He was positioned in a brown crater that stretched on as far as he could see. The only other object inside of the crater was a white cocoon—Raea. Above him, there was a floating cube in the sky. Was that the third floor?

“He’s awake!”

A voice in the distance drew his attention. It sounded like Cory. How far away was she? Had his hearing improved again? He stretched and moved his arms, getting used to the feeling of having another two. The sensory inputs from his new tails no longer overwhelmed him. In one of his dreamlike states during his evolution, he had incarnated into a nine-headed hydra. Five tails and a head wasn’t too much for him to take in. A wrinkle formed on his forehead. Did those hydras actually exist?

At the edge of the horizon, Cory appeared, flying towards Palan and Raea who was also beginning to emerge. A single line appeared in the silken cocoon, splitting it in half. Raea moaned as she arched her back, extending her arms forward. She wiggled out of the cocoon and unfurled her wings. She hadn’t changed physically, but her feathers and scales were glossier than before. There were hints of rainbows when the sunlight reflected off of them. “Palan?” Raea asked and blinked at her demon. Like before, a tail, Danger Noodle, curled around his torso while his other tails wrapped themselves around his arms. Thankfully, he had grown two new arms for his two new tails to rest on. “You look like an octopus.”

“A what?” Palan asked and raised an eyebrow.

Raea chuckled. Right, Palan lived in a desert. He had never been to an ocean before. Then again, neither had she, but the capital had an aquarium. Had. Raea’s brow furrowed as she took in the surroundings. A vast expanse of brown with a floating cube that was designed like the third floor of the central tower. Maybe the aquarium still managed to survive. She shook her head. That didn’t matter right now. “What happened?” she asked.

Palan shook his head while Cory landed beside them, carrying two robes in her talons. She handed them to Palan and Raea. “Pyre said you’d be naked, so he told me to bring you these,” Cory said with a nod. “He wasn’t sure if you’d survive though, but it looks like you did.” She stuck her chest out. “I knew you would.”

“Why did he think we wouldn’t survive?” Palan asked as his expression darkened. Clearly, Pyre had fired the B.F.G. while knowing they were still inside the tower. “Where is he?”

“He’s at the edge of the blast zone,” Cory said and hopped into the air, hovering above them. “Come. I’ll take you to him. He said we couldn’t make a base here because the mana content was too chaotic, whatever that meant.” Cory rolled her eyes and flew away. Palan leapt after her while Raea followed, taking one last glance at the third floor. How was it supported like that?

Palan’s expression continued to darken the closer he got to the base in the distance. What happened to Sariel? Did she die during the explosion? What did that mean for his contract with Pyre and Abaddon? Why was the third floor unaffected? Wasn’t the Creator supposed to visit him after he evolved to explain something and offer him a deal? How long had he taken to evolve? Oh, and what happened to his magical lizard?

Raea reached over and grabbed one of his hands, squeezing it. Palan’s expression relaxed as he turned his head. Raea shrugged. “You seemed agitated,” she said. “I could tell because one of your tails kept trying to bite me.” She glared at the green tail hanging off his arm, causing it to shrink back.

“I hate not knowing what’s happening around me,” Palan said. “And there’s so many things that I need to do. I don’t have time to experiment with my new powers yet. I should find Sariel to end this already. I can’t believe I let her escape earlier because of my anger at Asura and Raphael.”

Raea snorted. “Believe me, I know exactly how you feel,” she said. “Anger makes you do funny things, you know? Like burn down a city or a school. Or lashing out at your partner and hurting his pride.” She pouted. “I’m sorry about that. I was frustrated that you wouldn’t listen to me and envious that you listened to Asura even though I knew you were under her spell.”

“That’s in the past,” Palan said. “It’s not like I can get revenge on you anyways. I do wonder if I’m stronger than you now.”

“You are,” Raea said and nodded. “I’m sure of it.” Probably. Even if he wasn’t, she wasn’t going to make him feel inferior again. “I barely received anything from my evolution. I think I became more beautiful?”

“Definitely more shinier,” Cory said and bobbed her head up and down. “We’re here!” She tucked her wings to her sides and plummeted towards the base on the ground.