Russell tried to run downhill. Fell forward and rolled down instead.

His tongue tasted like blood and sawdust, both of which he had extensive experience with. He spat on the ground, which, being red, didn't offer any information of whether or not Russell's spit was the same color.

Will slid down to his side, shouting, "Hey! I thought you said we can still die!"

He helped him to his feet. Russell even forgot to thank him. Draping his demon skin over himself, he limped towards Arlo.

Arlo laid on his back. His dark hair was matted to his forehead with sweat. His fair skin glistened with moisture. His muscular arms were spread out like a star. A loin cloth was put over his groin( thanks again to Will).

Coming over him, Russell, before letting out a sigh, sob or a laugh, dropped to his knees and grabbed Arlo's hand, putting a finger on his artery. Immediately, a relieved laughter escaped his voice.

He's alive!

Arlo's alive!

He has to let Vivi know! God! After coming so far, risking his life, turning into a monster and being literally plunged into hell, and now, he was here. With Arlo. And everything was perfect.

Except it was not.

Vivi still didn't know that both Arlo and Russell both were alive. Vivi was thinking both of them had died. Somewhere up there, or down there, or through there, or whatever positional relationship one dimension has with another, Vivi was suffering more than she should, more than anyone should.

Wow, this is a first.

For as long as Russell could remember, Vivi and Arlo were the two things he'd go to whenever he felt down. If not cheerful, being around them would always be reenergizing for him. And now, the thought of Vivi and the rest of the team brought nothing but sorrow. Because even if he had Arlo, Vivi had no one.

No. That's not true. Vivi has Elli. She has Arron. She has Lupa. She even has Orpheus, if you wanna stretch the truth.

He supposed that was true. Elli, Arron and maybe even Lupa, in her own awkward way, will protect her. Not that she even needed such protecting.

But still, he reached Arlo after what seemed like an eternity, and Vivi, Arlo's blood sister, wasn't here.

Russell didn't realize the stream of tears that rolled down his cheeks until Will put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey man, it'll be okay," then, as if reading Russell's mind, "you'll meet them again."

Russell could've made a thousand arguments. He could've asked how he could say that without knowing, how was he so positive about it, that it wasn't looking very good. But he didn't say anything. He simply clasped Wills hand on his shoulder and sobbed quietly. The sound of his occasional hiccups blended with the gurgling noise of the glittering river as it snaked through it's green encasing.

It was a sentimental moment, a young boy missing his family being consoled by a young man of his twenties. Alas, the sky chose that exact moment and spot to explode.

A booming sound shook the ground as a ripple of power went across the sky. Something bright and yellow hit the ground, trailing flames that didn't turn into smoke before melting away. Twenty or so yards away from them, where the thing fell, a crater had formed, golden light radiating out of it. Around it, the fog dispersed.

Russell just sat there, a tear still rolling down his cheek. Will, however, extended his hand and flicked.

A small glowing white thing escaped his hand. It shot towards the crater like an arrow. As soon as it went inside, it burst into multicolored sparks like fireworks.

"Finally! A welcome worthy of someone like me!" A voice sounded from inside the crater.

Russell and Will stared mesmerized, as the thing hopped out of the crater it made itself. The sight they met didn't confuse them any less.

It was a kitty.

Black spots ran across its orange skin. Its short whiskers danced as it spoke. Its eyes were a vibrant shade of blue, perhaps only comparable to Arron's fire. Its whole body glowed translucently.

"Ugh, the chaos is interfering greatly in my projection. Although it is excellent that you people are reforming right next to soul river," it said like it was supposed to make some sort of sense. Its voice was surprisingly deep, like a grown man's. "Now I'm stuck in this inconvenient body. Well, if fate decides, I suppose I'll have to work with it."

Then he turned to the confused pair.

"Hey there! I am Orion," he said in a tone perhaps a bit too cheerful. Or maybe not, Russell didn't speak cat. "I am the guardian spirit of the Royal family of Forthfire. I was given the task by the authority of Elizabeth Forthfire and have the consent of Arron Forthfire. I am here to assist you in your task and convey messages to and from you, Russell Lowheart."

Russell winced as the kitty that called itself Orion said his name. He had so many questions. Like, if Elli and Arron really did own a little kitty spirit, why did they never show it? Why didn't the spirit act up when they were in trouble before? How did a spirit even talk?

But before he could've said anything, Will stepped forward, asking the important question.

"How do we believe any word you say? What proof do you have?"

The kitty looked at him with his small blue eyes.

"People usually just take my word for it," it finally said.

Neither of them said anything.

"Because I'm adorable?" It tried again.

Both raised an eyebrow at the same time.

It hung its head down and sighed, which looked apocalyptically adorable.

"I suppose you would need a sign of good faith."

Then, leaving them no time to object, it issued a roar. Not a meow or a purr or any other sounds kitties typically make, a full pledged roar. Russell could feel a ripple of energy pulse through his body. His vision sharpened like a hawks. He felt jittery, like he just drank tea. Looking at Will, he could come to the conclusion he was going through the same.

Underneath him Arlo suddenly drew a sharp breath. His eyes flung open, pupils obsidian. He began to cough.

"ARLO!" Russell yelled as he tackled Arlo with a hug.

"Russell?" Arlo's voice croaked, "What the? Where is this? What are you doing here?"

"This is hell," Russell spoke through his sobs, "and you're alive!"

"Wha-? What does that even-"

"Shut up," Russell said as he hugged Arlo tighter, afraid he might lose him again if he loosened his grip.

"Where's Vivi?"

"Still alive. Now shut up."

"So I take it that I've earned your trust?" Orion the kitty interfered.

Russell nodded vigorously. Even if Arlo was alive, Orion made him respond. Nothing more was needed to gain Russell's trust.

"Why are you so happy?" Will was suddenly being the voice of common Sense, "It just woke him up."

" 'He' ", the kitty provided.

"Okay," Will took it, " 'He' just woke your brother up."

"Shut up," common sense can go to hell(which, on retrospect, seems to be right there) Russell was too happy.

"Wait. Hold on," Arlo couldn't seem to decide on how to react, "Who are you?" He pointed at Will. "And why is the kitten talking?"

"I'm William, royal announcer and ask the kitten."

Arlo looked at the kitty, "How and why are you talking?"

"I'm talking because I'm Orion, the guardian spirit of the Royal family of Forthfire, who is here to instruct you and convey messages to and from this realm."

Arlo turned to Will, "If he's the guardian spirit of Forthfire, what's he doing here?"

"I dunno."

"It's because Elli and Arron sent him," Russell spoke through his runny nose.

"And you're supposed to give me a message," the kitty seemed to get impatient, "which I'd like to have today."

Will stepped forward, "Oh, I'd like a message delivered."

"I'm ordered to take a message from Russell Lowheart, specifically."

"But he's-"

"Russell Lowheart, specifically."

"It's okay. I can tell them what they need-Choo!" Russell sneezed, getting a wary glance from Will and a worried glance from Arlo.

"Tell Vivi that I'm okay and I found Arlo. Tell Arron and Elli thanks for sending you and that William is with us. And tell Lupa that..." Russell trailed off, not knowing how to say this.

"That?" The kitty asked.

Russell stayed quite, arranging the words in his mind, trying different combinations, none seeming adequate.

"That?" Arlo asked this time, raising an eyebrow.

At last Russell decided, that any subtlety here could simply fail to deliver the message.

"Tell her, to stop referring to herself in third person, it's creepy and annoying, especially when she can very much as well use first person."

There was a prolonged silence, like a rubber band just snapped and its creeking tension is replaced with nothing but the breeze.

"Thats what you wanna tell her?" Kitty was the first to respond.

"Yeah," Russell replied, "What were you expecting?"

Arlo patted his back, "Something different."

Russell looked at him with confusion before looking at Orion, "So, you said you were gonna instruct us."

"Yeah," Orion crouched on his hind legs, the way cats do before jumping, "There's gonna be a crowd here in a minute. They're gonna panic. Manage them." And then he jumped up.

"Wait," Will yelled, "That's not a-"

But Orion had already dissolved into golden sparks. Will looked at the glittering smoke as if it would speak, it didn't.

"Well, you two," Arlo finally spoke, "You have a lot of explaining to do."

......

When Orion said crowd, Russell , Was expecting a crowd of humans, not Giants.

The large humanoids were battling a hoard of spare organs, or that's what they looked like to Russell. Flying Jaws with fly wings and taloned arms that seemed to shoot from the ground without any legs. There was one creature that looked like a bundle of intestines. It wrapped itself around several Giants, only to get ripped apart.

And that was not the disturbing part.

It seemed, the Giants weren't any luckier than humans were about being clothed when reforming.

They were less luckier when finding them.

The entire group of Giants, containing about fifty of them, both male and female, were buttnaked.

They didn't seem to be bothered by it, Russell supposed that it was his place to be bothered either. Yet, glancing at the other two with him, it was prominent that they were all bothered by it.

Right in front of him, a column of earth and stone shot up from the ground, turning a pack of hands with spider-legs and single eyeball in their palm into shreds.

The Giants butt-bumped and high fived among themselves. Seemed like it didn't take a lot for them to be happy.

Before Russell could say or do anything, or otherwise embarrass himself or Will could get himself killed by launching fireworks, Arlo spoke up.

"Hey!" He screamed, and before he could finish pronouncing the words, the pack of Giants erupted into bright violet flames.

Or that's what it appeared.

Once Russell's eyes adjusted to the sudden light, he saw, that the Giants weren't dead, only very very confused.

The fire, instead of moving inwards and turning the Giants in big muscular piles of ashes, circled the group in a bright and swirling wall, burning any of the demons(Russell had decided that it would be the best name for them) that came in contact with it.

Russell looked back at Arlo.

Arlo's hands were raised, glowing a shimmering blue, violet light shifted under his skin.

Confusion had set on his face, his lips trembling slightly and his eyes wide as eyeballs get.

"I told you we all have it," Russell replied to Arlo's questioning look. Explaining everything to Arlo was the easy part, getting him to believe was the hard one, even after showing Arlo their own powers, Arlo continued to prove that he's Vivi's brother.

Will took down the rest of the demons in a few shots of fireworks. As Arlo lowered his hands, so did the wall, revealing the confused faces of the Giants.

The Giants looked a lot like humans, if not eight feet tall and incredibly muscular. Their sweaty bodies glistened they are made of copper.

The biggest one of them, probably the leader, came forward and spoke, "Why does the puny humans fire upon us?"

Will took the lead this time.

With a deep and loud voice that Russell never would've guessed he had, "We wish to join power!"

The Giants looked among themselves, whispering loudly.

"And why do you wish to do that?" The leader at last spoke.

It was the trios turn to look between themselves.

"The spirits guide us," Arlo seemed to decide to take the risk and say that.

Some more murmur later, "Fine!" The Giants leader surprised them, "we will indeed join forces, if that's what the spirits want. What else does it want?"

"Just joining forces for now."

"Alright," the Giants leader sat down on the ground, with his bare butt. That must've hurt. He was followed by other Giants, "our forces have joined. It feels good joining forces."

A few moments pass.

"Now what?" A giantess speaks.

"Then we'll sit here and await further instructions." Says Will.

A few more moments of silence.

"Chief," a young giant speaks, "It does not feel good joining forces anymore."

"Feeling good is for the weak," the chief replies.

"They could be lying," another giantess speaks, "I doubt."

"Doubt is for the weak," was the chief's only reply.

They seemed to settle with it.

Arlo looked at the pack warily, "Don't you, you know, find clothes or something?"

"Clothes are for weaklings," a woman in the ranks informed, "like humans."

Russell didn't like being called a weakling, but he didn't feel like arguing.

He spotted Arlo looking at the far horizon, where little dot like shapes were becoming visible from the mist.

"More are coming," he seemed mutter more to himself than others.

"One thing though," Will asked, "What are we going to do once we get everyone together?"

"I don't know," Arlo answered bluntly, "but I'm willing to put my bet on bigger numbers."

But Russell's eyes were in the sky, looking at a distortion in the mist. He smiled.