Lidia and Slimo burst into the left house.

"I am home!"

Instead of allowing Slimo to walk in, Lidia grabbed him under his arms and lifted him into the air like a kid.

"And look what I brought with me! Isn’t he so perfect?!"

As Lidia lifted Slimo in the air, he started to panic slightly.

"Lidia?! What are you-"

Cheers erupted from everyone at the table. Everyone seemed to be eating dinner together. Sarah was preparing dozens of plates of food. There was a second table pushed against the usual one, allowing more people to sit down and eat with each other. The only person who wasn’t cheering was Gabriel. He looked like he had been through hell and back. His hair was messy, he had grime on his cheeks, and his clothes were torn slightly.

He lifted his head and nodded to show Slimo he still cared about his return.

"And guess what? Slimo cried like a big baby in front of me! Isn’t that crazy?!"

Slimo started struggling in her grasp.

"I thought you said you wouldn’t tell anyone?! You just promised me!!"

Lidia brought him close to her and whispered behind his ear.

"Consider it payback, pretty boy."

Everyone at the table erupted into laughter. Zoey was the first to say something. She still wore the slightly damaged glasses that Slimo had handed to her earlier.

"I didn’t know that guy was capable of something like that?!! By the way, these glasses are totally busted!! I can’t see anyone’s anything right now!! What’s up with that?!"

Serena was grabbing Zoey, trying to pull her down.

"Zoey, don’t step on the table! We’re eating here!"

"Did you cut anything?"

"Glad to have you back Slimo! Do you think you can help me with something later? Lee won’t help me do it!"

"Bo, you never even asked me to help you..."

"Can you tell Harold to put a ring on it already?!"

"Abby... we’ve only been dating a little while."

"Oh, so you hate me?!"

"That’s not what I- Please help me out here Slimo!"

Lucy ran up to him carrying a large broadsword. Slimo looked at it confused.

"What is this?"

"Bart, Lee and I made it. We spent hours on it so it will be much stronger than your average blade. We were thinking of getting it enchanted too, but we thought we’d leave that responsibility to you."

Slimo grabbed the hilt, causing his eyes to widen.

"It’s... beautiful. Thank you very much."

"SLIMOOOOOOOO!!"

Slimo looked up to see what the loud commotion was only to be tackled to the ground by a small blonde girl. Tiny fists started pounding into his armor.

"DON’T YOU EVER LEAVE US AGAIN YOU BUTT! YOU SCARED US!"

"Did you really have to tackle me, Squabee? And what’s with that language? Are you sure you’re educated?"

"YES, I ABSOLUTELY DID!! AND STOP CALLING ME STUPID!!"

Squabee rolled off and walked away. Doc came up to him and offered a hand up. Slimo grabbed it and rubbed his head.

"Hey, Doc."

The old man looked at Slimos white hair.

"I must say, I think this color suits you better. You look like a fine gentleman."

Slimo blushed and chuckled.

"Thank you."

Luna and William, both gave him polite nods. William walked up to him and pulled him to the side, out of earshot from everyone else.

"Hey, Slimo. Do you think you can give me some advice on dating some time? I mean, how on earth did you get Miss Lidia?!"

Slimo choked on air and started coughing. Everyone looked at him worriedly.

"Is everything okay? Was it something I said?"

Suddenly, Bo slammed his fists on the table and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"I SAW LIDIA AND SLIMO NAKED!!"

The entire room went silent. No one could decide whether to look at Bo for the crazy declaration or at Lidia and Slimo for the sudden reveal.

Zoey threw the hardest punch she could into the back of Bo’s head.

"YOU DUMBASS!! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU ANNOUNCE THAT TO EVERYONE?! NOW THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD WILL KNOW!!"

Serena tackled Zoey off the table and covered her mouth.

"Zoey! You’re being loud too!"

The entire table erupted into chaos. Lidia’s face turned beat red and she covered her face as she fell to her knees.

"Bo, you pervert!!"

Slimo had no words or actions that he could decide on. Instead, his body simply felt like passing out, so he did. William caught him as he fell.

"Oh shit. Someone get Slimo some water!"

Maria’s face also turned a light shade of scarlet hearing such a strange thing being shouted to everyone at the table. Luna and Doc seemed to be the only ones unbothered. Luna laughed lightly while Doc simply shook his head.

"Young people..."

Sydney ran into the kitchen with Sarah to get Slimo some water.

Even though the room was extremely chaotic, Jacob couldn’t help but laugh at the things happening around him.

’When was the last time I felt so... normal?’

Sarah threw some water on Slimo’s face trying to rejuvenate him while Maria was cautiously approaching her mom.

She slowly put her arms around her and hugged her lightly. Then she started patting her head softly.

"It’s okay, mom. It’s a very human thing to desire. But how could you keep this secret from me?!"

"I’m so embarrassed. Don’t look at me!"

Suddenly, three guards busted through the front door.

"What’s all the commotion going on in here?! We’re getting some complaints from some of the neighbors!"

Another one scratched his head while reading a small sheet of paper.

"Something about... someone being naked?"

Lidia had finally reached her limit and passed out in Maria’s arms.

After three hours, everyone had finally calmed down. People gradually walked back to their rooms, carrying those who had passed out. Maria was in charge of carrying Lidia while Jacob carried Slimo. Zoey decided to take responsibility of Bo since he was the one who caused the commotion and carried him to an empty room in their house.

As Maria and Jacob walked up to the top floor, they held a small conversation.

"Quite a day it’s been, huh?"

Jacob rubbed his head.

"You can say that again. But I have a feeling these two had an even longer day."

As they approached their room, Maria looked down at Lidia.

"I... don’t think I have it in me to put them in the same room... not after tonight."

Jacob nodded his head feverishly.

"Good thinking."

After setting Slimo and Lidia in two separate rooms, they both descended the stairs holding hands.

"Jacob, what are we doing here?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"I mean, I know this place is nice and it has great settling potential, but can we really settle here when the fate of the world is at stake outside this... bubble?"

"You’re right. I was thinking the same thing. We came here to seek knowledge, but to be honest with you, it feels like we hardly learned anything. Maybe this kingdom doesn’t have what we’re searching for."

"Then, where should we go?"

"I think that’s pretty obvious. We need to go for the main kingdom. I can’t think of a better place."

Maria rubbed her chin.

"Maybe you’re right. We can talk with Lidia and Slimo about it tomorrow. But keep in mind Jacob, we’ve only been here a few days. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, and something will appear here eventually."

Jacob nodded and embraced her lightly, kissing the top of her head.

"Goodnight, Maria."

"Goodnight, Jacob."

Both of them walked to their rooms. Jacob stared at his broken ceiling.

"Damn you, Skelly..."