Truly, this city's designer was a devil.

We managed to leave the city with our legs intact; with myself be unfortunate enough to have to carry an addition weight. The pain was self inflicted, unfortunately; as I couldn't say no to her...

"Thank you for the piggyback ride, Mister Monster." Says Carrie, holding onto my horns as she sits on my shoulders. "My legs were really sleepy."

I pat her on her head in reply, trying to keep up with the party; who all had far more stanima to spare, seeing as they didn't have to carry anyone. The path from our first trip to Bludbag is skipped; taking Eve's designated short-cuts through the woods instead, which shortens the trip down to less than a day. Tremor greets us as we reach the walls of the City of War, with his usual calls to "pretty boy", who emerged for yet more chatter, before returning to his Alm. It's not long before we're at a familiar sight, that tavern from nights prior.

Eve stops, pawing at her cloak. "Dart? What is it?"

The small furry noodle-beast worms its way out of the cloak, and over to her shoulder, sniffing at the air excitedly.

"Smells good, whatever it is." Says Scott, rubbing at his stomach. "I wouldn't mind having an early dinner, seeing as 'lunch' was road-jerky."

Trixie lands on Carrie's knee, positioning her perfectly to whisper to me. "Is that smell familiar to yah at all? I didn't think they had it here..."

"Had what?" I ask, sniffing at the air.

Indeed, the scent that crosses my nose was one that called to older, forgotten memories. When we enter, I see the masses of customers stuffed into each table, with only a small corner spare for us. At each table were circles of a cheesy, breaded food, with the red tint of sauce beneath the yellow surface of its coating. Several toppings dotted this strangely familiar food, different for each customer. I saw circular slices of meat, mushrooms, and even the oddly disgusting sight of some kind of fruit atop the scrumptious memory.

The Earthling Pixie seemed to be losing her mind, taking off and dancing about in the air. "Bang on! I've been craving pizza this whole effin' time!"

An odd woman, who's face, hair, and skin is covered entirely by bandages, topped by a white blouse, and blue overalls calls over; holding parchment and a quill. "Hello, and welcome to Seein' Red! May I take your orders? Or are you here for a room?"

Ashes points a thumb behind herself, over at a group with the tavern's largest... 'pizza' , as Trix called them. "Whatever that is, please."

Her bandages move about on her face where her mouth is; oh, she's smiling. "Of course! Our chef Oro's newest creation... it doesn't really have a name yet. Go take a seat, and I'll send someone over to get your orders! I highly suggest the Fizzy-Wizzies for beverages, by the way; it's like... crunchy water. I swear it's good."

We all gather at the lone spot; awaiting the arrival of another waitress, as Eve asks the two Earthlings a question. "You both seemed to be familiar with this form of cuisine, but they claim to have just recently invented it. Why is that?"

"It's like, everyone's favorite food back on Earth!" Says Trixie, landing on the table, and taking a seat on a napkin. "I'm glad you lot finally invented it; life would be brutal without it."

"Still an amnesiac." I add, setting Carrie down onto Cilla's lap. "But I do have vague, positive feelings about it."

Sammy adds her own, highly insightful words of wisdom. "It smells tasty!"

Finally, a waitress pops by our table; a pale girl with purple hair, who silently waves at us, pointing at a menu.

"Oh!" Exclaims Ashes, before hand-signing to the waitress; who signs back, smiling. "She's mute, like Slag."

We each place an order (having to explain for a solid three minutes straight to Sammy that 'all of it' wasn't an option), all the while, I notice something about the mute waitress. She wouldn't stop staring at Zana; something I found odd, given Zana never spoke up aside from giving her order. We were brought our drinks first; everyone choosing for non-alcoholic drinks after Cilla gave us all a deathly glare, wanting to set a good example for Carrie, who tried mimicking that same stern stare. She failed, of course; looking like a silly goofball rather than a strict Handler. Some of us even ordered those "Fizzie Whizzies" that were suggested; which was yet another familiar food-item.

"Ok..." Says Trixie, now a bit disturbed. "This is fizzy drink; another Earth thing... now this is getting a tad freaky.

"Carbonation is a very well-documented process, actually." Says Eve, holding up the glass I had ordered, examining it closely. "Alchemists have been using carbonation in Wind-Elemental potions in particular for well over a thousand years."

The Pixie looks at her (comedically) small glass. "That's great and all, love; but this tastes just like one of the big fizzy drink brands back home..."

A thought passes my mind, and I look up to Gabbie's staff, asking Ariel. "Hey, Ariel... are the Gods allowed to tell their followers about things they see in other worlds through those reality-hole things?"

The voice of Ariel replies. "If it matches current technological understanding, it's free game; I don't think any God would be handing out Earthling cook-books though... well, maybe Machae. He fought an entire legal-holy dispute with Maiyo over the Sphere of Cooking... and won."

Note to self, ask about these "Spheres" in Cilla's next lesson.

The mute waitress returns with several pans of the "Pizza." At this point, half of us were a bit off put by the talk of possible reasons this Oro had suddenly invented these dishes that came straight from another reality. Sammy, on the other hand, didn't care (neither did Eve, as she couldn't eat any of it.) After the slime had quickly snatched up a large portion of one of the pizzas, handing a few slices over to her "little sister" Carrie; the rest of us decided alacrity was better than caution, and so dinner commenced. After a meal that had left an odd nostalgic feeling in my chest, and a bloated feeling in my gut, we handed the payment for both the massive meal, and a night's stay in a single room. Strangely, the owner of the tavern, the unnamed minotaur, was nowhere to be seen. Once in our room, I pried open my Domain for a proper place to stay; with everyone currently too full to continue any walking about in town.

I headed off to my bedroom right away; praying silently to every God I could think of for a night of just simple slumber. My prayers weren't answered, as Eve cut me off in the hallway.

"Monster. I am unfortunately going to have to cut today's designated combat training." She says.

"Why?" I ask.

The Compuro pokes me in the stomach; causing me to grasp it in mild discomfort.

"Fair enough." I add. "So tomorrow, then?"

"Yes. But, if you wish; tonight, we could have another session of... the other kind." Her screen displays the shape of a heart. "It would be a great way of reducing your carbohydrate levels, after you just caused them to double what is necessary."

"I'll... think about it." I say, cheeks turning a shade more red. "But, a nap sounds too good to pass up right now."

"Understandable." Says Eve, her screen going blank.

"I'll be in my new room; when you're ready."