[ When the Red Hills were purple, the Angel of Death was born.

  No person so young should’ve been given such responsibility. ]

  Sherman Chex cannot read any more, as the book burns away as he reads the first few lines of the book.

  This has happened with every book the mannequin attendants have given him. They walk down the hallway, placing things onto his table. They ignore the table Suzanne sits at. Her eyes appear empty, like she’s not even there. It’s similar to Virgil.

  It’s been several hours, and the vehicle, resembling a train and a bus, has parked in an uninhabited district. It’s all empty grass. It would seem peculiar that a civilization which has survived such a long time hasn’t grown to inhabit such a large portion of the continent.

  A mannequin places another book on his table, along with a drink. He already has many untouched drinks. The book is titled “History of Columbia, 2521 to Now”, by Prof. Brig. It starts to burn on the table.

  Chex opens the book to the last page, and reads a few words.

  [ So, why exactly is it that such a civilization has never reached a population of 10 million people?

  The answer to that question is quite simple. ]

  The book finishes burning before he can read any more.

  He looks outside the window, and sees many things that resemble animals. Something resembling a large dog is chasing what looks like a chicken. The chicken looking thing gets away, though it has lost many of its feathers.

  The vehicle starts to move again, and after a few hours, they’ve reached the City of the Burning Spine. There’s one thing everyone immediately notices about this city. It’s the fact that, despite its name, it has nothing to do with burning or spines anymore. In fact, it’s actually blue now.

  Sherman Chex is quite confused at the blue grass.

  “Ma’am, why’s the grass blue?”

  Suzanne wakes up from her trance and tells him to be quiet.

  “Shh, I’m making a deal.”

  Her eyes go blank again.

  A mannequin comes down the aisle with a drink and a book. There is no more space on the table, so it balances them on top of the other drinks. He opens the book to the last page.

  [ And that’s why the City of the Burning Spine is blue now. ]

  He attempts to turn back a page.

  The book burns in his hands. He’s decided to stop accepting books.

  The vehicle sits there for several minutes, until Suzanne wakes back up.

  “How can that old lady be so stubborn?”

  She looks out the window.

  “Oh, we’re at the Burning Spine!”

  She grabs Sherman Chex’s shoulder and runs out of the vehicle with him. She waves to a man passing by. He’s wearing an outfit that would make him seem like a pirate.

  “Hey! Lyme! Where’s Remy!?”

  The peculiarly dressed man turns and waves back.

  “Hey Suzanne! I haven’t seen you in 30 thousand years!”

  Suzanne starts to walk towards him.

  “Where’s Remy?”

  “She’s with her parents over in the Red Hills.”

  “Oh, I’m going there soon! I’ll tell her you say hi.”

  Chex follows behind her.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Who’s that boy, is he your son?”

  “Nope! I honestly haven’t seen that kid in forever. He knows where to find me if he wants to see me.”

  “Then who is he?”

  “He’s my new employee! We’re going to the Red Hills to deal with some problems. Did Remy tell you anything about the next few rumbles?”

  “Sorry, she left so long ago all the information’s been used up. I didn’t even know we’d be so close to the Terrible Purple Fountain this time.”

  “The Terrible Purple Fountain?”

  She takes the map out of her pocket and looks at the area labelled with a singular, extraordinarily tiny, purple dot. Once she sees how close it is to the blue area, she hands Sherman Chex the map.

  It burns as soon as she lets go.

  Suzanne is very annoyed at this.

  “Goodness! She is SO stubborn!”

  Chex is confused.

  “Who’s this ‘She’?”

  “They don’t tell you this in the books, but Verona’s a very grumpy old lady.”

  He’s even more confused.

  “You’re talking to Verona? How?”

  “... Virgil would love to tell you that! Ask him. If you ever see him again or course!”

  The pirate-looking man starts paying attention.

  “Why wouldn’t he see Virgil again if he’s working in The Orange?”

  “We’re going to the Red Hills, remember!”

  “What’s over in the Red Hills?”

  She pulls a disk out of her pocket and throws it into the air.

  It burns in the air, creating a wonderful firework-like effect.

  “Everything’s over in the Red Hills, Lyme!”

  Suzanne spins around on her heel and starts walking towards the tallest of the blue buildings.

  Sherman Chex follows her, waving to the man dressed like a pirate as they walk away.

  Once they reach the building, she enters a code into the keypad.

  3 - 2 - 3 - 3

  As they enter the building, they’re greeted by an attendant, a lady who wears green. The room has a blue rug, featuring a blue flame emblem in the center. On the walls are blue banners, featuring the same emblem, and the ceiling features blue lights.

  “Oh, hello Suzanne, good to see you. What brings you to the Burning Spine now of all times?”

  Suzanne reaches the desk and takes a lanyard from a box on it. She takes another one, which she hands to Chex.

  “We’re here to talk to Gerome!”

  “Oh, Gerome? He’s been moved to the fifteenth floor since the last time you’ve visited. You’ll need these lanyards now.”

  They return the previous lanyards and receive the new ones.

  “The fifteenth floor? Why?”

  “... You’ll see when you get there.”

  Suzanne walks to the elevator, and Chex follows.

  As the elevator elevates, Chex starts asking questions.

  “Why is this place blue?”

  “Because the giant snake that slithers through Columbia thinks that’s a wonderful color!”

  Floor 1.

  “Giant snake? Is that why the continent rumbles?”

  She claps her hands.

  “Correct! Normally, one of the angels would keep her asleep, but they’re both unaccounted for.

  Floor 3.

  “Where’d they go?”

  “Ricky’s sleeping, and the second one’s nowhere to be seen.”

  Floor 5.

  “What do you mean nowhere to be seen?”

  “He left a while ago, I’m sure he’ll be back eventually.”

  “So you don’t know where he is?

  Floor 7.

  “We actually know exactly where he is!”

  Floor 8.

  “Where is he?”

  “He’s somewhere that isn’t real!”

  Floor 10.

  “What do you mean, ‘isn’t real’?”

  “The place doesn’t actually exist, so we can’t go there. Something about it only existing as part of a story.”

  Floor 12.

  “He’s in a story? Like a book?”

  “I have no idea! Ricky told us, and then he went to his Hell in Red to fall asleep.”

  Floor 14.

  “Why did he leave?”

  Floor 15.

  Suzanne avoids the question.

  “Well, we’re here!”

  The elevator slows to a halt.

  As the elevator doors open, her eyes open wide in shock. The only thing there is a mannequin in white flowy clothes wearing a blue flower headband, a blue bracelet, and a blue ring.