"Anyway, the real reason I came on such short notice was because we need your help. Creine got clawed by a Slerrok and you're our best bet for a cure." I turned away from her as I spoke, browsing the generous selection of books perched on the dusty wooden shelves.

"Dude, all you have to do is prove yourself worthy by defeating the Slerrok Queen. You should know this, especially since-" Arra stopped talking when I sent her a death glare. "Uh, uh, especially since we were talking about something... and never anything else." (You know what? Fine. Just keep on doing those references. I'm done.)

Penelope gave Arra her patented 'I know something is up and I will not stop until I reach the bottom of this' look. We had to leave before Arra let something slip. I swear that girl's blood is just made of coffee and gossip.

"Well thanks Arra, but we got to go fight a demon queen now. Thanks for the info!" I turned to leave, but she stopped me, a serious expression replacing her usual easygoing smirk.

"Listen, Azar," the egg queen spoke quietly in my ear. "While we were talking, I had Alf (the butler) put something under your scooter. Basically when things aren't going in your favor take it out and use it. Okay girl?"

"Okay girl. Till next time!" Penelope, Creine, and I left the large palace for our next stop: the Inter-realm Travel Agency.

As we drove, I noticed that Creine was looking rather pale, starkly contrasting the large purple bruise and his bright cerulean eyes. I decided to take over the wheel, because it wouldn't be good if we died in some ditch in the middle of our quest.

After breaking like 15 traffic laws we arrived and ran into the agency. Thankfully, it was completely free of customers, which means that I didn't have to stab some poor sod with a fondue fork.

"Hey!" I shouted at one of the workers, a centaur wearing a white and gold jacket with a red sash and navy jeans. "I need a portal to the Void Dimension, ASAP!" They looked at me in disbelief, probably doubting that the short pink-haired girl before them wanted to go to the most terrifying realm in the entire multiverse.

"You sure?"

"Yes. And we need to get there fast. I don't care how much it costs." Now normally I would choose the cheapest possible way, but A. My friend was going to die in like 65 hours if we didn't find a cure and B. A friend of a friend had managed to break into the government cryptocurrency bank, so he could hook us up with money.

"Alright then. Just go on over to Portal #4 and insert the ticket, and it will set your destination." The worker handed me a small card with a number printed on its smooth surface. I thanked them, and along with Creine and Penelope, walked to the portal and stepped inside.

Slowly, the drab office building around me dissolved, being replaced with a lobby that looked like it was taken straight out of The Addams Family. Pillars of black marble stretched towards the impossibly high ceiling, while flooring of the same material squeaked beneath our muddy shoes. The air was cool and filled with mist, so I could only see the large reception desk carved out of black wood. As I approached, my fears were soon appeased, for I heard music playing. But not just any music. It was I Want It That Way (Backstreet Boys I'm familiar).

"TELL ME WHY, AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MISTAKE! TELL ME WHY, I NEVER WANNA HEAR YOU SAYYYY," I heard a voice singing.

I joined in, belting out the words that I knew by heart.

"I want it that wayyyyyyyyy!" The young man behind the desk swore, being quite startled by my sudden appearance.

"HOly Yaskid um how are you doing today and what do you need help with?" Words tumbled out of the boy's fanged mouth as his red eyes looked at me, still wide with nervousness.

"Hi, my friend got clawed by one of you so the 3 of us are on a quest to save him. Which way is the palace, we need to speak to the queen."

"Uh, to get to the palace, just turn left and go straight for 5 blocks. It's a large obsidian building, you can't miss it." He did one of those 2-fingered Disneyland points and handed me a map.

"Okay cool thanks bye!" Creine called as the 3 of us jogged out of the lobby and onto the street. No matter how much danger we were in, it was still good to be back in my old home. The tongue bakery was still there, and so was the blood market and the bone bank. Ah, nostalgia.