“What was all that?” asked Stuart.

“Stuff.” I answered.

“Seriously,” he said, “it was like the two of you were in another world.”

“When you’ve gone on adventures for as long as I have, you learn how to do… interesting things.”

“That’s what she said.” responded Stuart.

A better question would be: ‘How did Mikaela watch my first several quests without getting caught?’” I said.

“Witchcraft.” responded Mikaela.

“I still don’t even get why you did it in the first place.”

“Because I felt like it.” responded Mikaela.

“Knowing you, it would probably be pointless to try to get a real answer out you.” I said.

“That WAS a real answer.” Mikaela replied.

“Sure,” I said, “whatever.”

“Is this really important right now?” asked Simon.

“…Perhaps… and perhaps not,” I said, “but whatever. We should move on… Isaac, why is there a bucket on your head?”

I looked right at him and he was wearing bucket like it was a helmet. It covered up his head, but there were two holes, so that his eyes could see out of it.

“Just wanted to be ‘in-character’ when I imPAIL my victims!” answered Isaac.

“That was… that was terrible.” I commented.

“You’re just jealous that I look more attractive than you!” insisted Isaac.

“Oh,” I said, “I thought you were just hiding your face because you were ugly.”

“You’re a dick.” responded Isaac.

“And you look dumb with that bucket on your head.” I replied.

“Should… we stop them?” asked Matthias.

“I want to see where this is going.” responded Catherine.

“How could even to this to me, ‘This Guy’!?” exclaimed Isaac, “I was like, your best friend last year!”

“You had almost no involvement in my life a year ago!” I responded.

“Oh, come on!” he said, “I was there.”

“Hardly!” I responded.

“…Shut it.” said Isaac.

“Just hide in your goddamn bucket.” I suggested.

“Are… are you two always like this?” asked Charles.

“These ‘arguments’ of theirs are normal,” replied Catherine, “just don’t worry about them.”

My “argument” with Isaac went on as everyone else talked. I can’t remember where the conversation went, but I remember that Isaac could no longer understand what I was saying, causing him to react immaturely:

“English, motherfucker!” he exclaimed.

“How long is this even going to go on?” asked Lucas.

“…Do you speak it!?” continued Isaac.

“…Wh-what’s going on here?” asked a familiar voice.

“Hi, Iris.” I responded, trying to avoid talking to Isaac.

“Are you ignoring me now!?” he exclaimed, “You’re an asshole.”

“A-anyways,” I said, “what have you been up to?”

“Just some work in court- I got another acquittal.”

“Nice,” I said, “anyways, we’re all gonna go to Dovacath- do you want to come with us?”

“…Charles?” he said.

“It’s fine.” he said.

“I’ll go.” said Iris.

“Now that we have that taken care of,” I said, “…let’s go.”

“Hold on,” said Isaac, “why do YOU get to be the leader?”

“Because I’ve been here longer than the rest of you.” I answered.

“You’re too much of a jerk.” said Isaac.

“And YOU'RE too immature,” I responded, “plus, you can’t remember anything.”

“That’s not true!” he claimed.

“You can’t even remember Catherine’s name.” I said.

“Yes, I can.” he quickly responded.

“Then what is it?” I asked.

“You just said it!”

“Yes, but do you actually REMEMBER what I said?”

“Yes… I think.”

“…You gonna… answer?”

“I got it… Ca…Cantaloupe…”

“Thanks for proving my point.”

“Please tell me he’s only doing this on purpose.” commented Lucas.

“We don’t really know if he’s serious or not.” replied Catherine.

“…So… what kind of people are you around in your home dimension, Ron?” asked Iris.

“The weird ones,” I said, “as you can tell by Mr. Buckethead here. For some reason, those are the types of people I seem to ‘attract’. Mostly people in the grades below me, though. I blame Simon for all this.”

“Why?” asked Simon.

“When I met you a few a year ago,” I said, “you would later pull me into your weird world of weird friends and that included Isaac who had little to do with my life last year, even though he says otherwise. Then this year, I met Stuart through the two of you.”

“Is that all?” asked Matthias.

“Let’s go.” I said.

This was when Matthias got out his magical scissors and stabbed the air and made a cut in the world, revealing a portal.

“I’m gonna race ya.” said Isaac.

“Does EVERYTHING have to be a competition?” I asked.

I didn’t get answered. He just ran and tripped on the ground, then his bucket fell in front of him, and after that he fell inside of it.

“Okay,” I said, “moving on.”

“Um… is he gonna be okay?” asked Catherine.

“I’m assuming he’ll die.” I answered, “But he’ll come back to life, since this isn’t our dimension. He just won’t be able to return to THIS one for the next twenty four hours or something. Anyways, Dovacath is in our world, so if we do die there… we’re meeting Jesus.”

“Why are you so calm?” asked Catherine.

“I’ve dealt with this before.” I answered, “Anyways, we should go now.”

All of us walked into the portal and ended up in the medieval town of Dovacath.

“Now to find Lilith.” said Lucas.

“Yeah,” I said, “but it’s not like-”

“Hey, guys.” I heard a familiar voice say.

“Plot convenience sure is nice, isn’t it?” I said.

“Lilith?” said Lucas, “Okay, so what are we supposed to be doing?”

“I’ve been asking around about the Dovacath key,” answered Lilith, “but everywhere I go, nobody seems to know anything about it.”

“So that means we have to find it on our own?” I responded.

“H-how are we going to do that!?” exclaimed Stuart, “We’re not going to know the best place to look, so… how the hell are we gonna find the damn thing…?”

“As unpleasant as this may be,” I said, “we’ll just have to go look for it.”

“So, where are we going to look first?” asked Catherine.

“Well, I’ve asked nearly everybody in town,” answered Lilith, “but I couldn’t get anything useful out of anyone.”

“So… we’ve got nothing.” commented Lucas.

“Well, where did you find the Mihr'hai key?” asked Lilith, “You did find it, right?”

“Yes,” answered Matthias, “it was found inside the Mihr'hai dungeon.”

“I doubt it would just be in a similar place here,” commented Iris, “that would just be too easy.”

“Well,” said James, “if you were a key, where would you be?”

“I have a key.” replied Stuart.

“Please don’t.” I said.

“What’s he-?” started Charles.

“I have a key in a special place.” Stuart went on, grinning.

“Please don’t say it.” I requested.

“It’s in… MY PANTS!” he said, seeming excited.

“Do you always have to bring up your dick…?” I asked.

“Yes.” he answered calmly.

“Okay, we’re getting off topic.” replied Catherine.

“Yes,” said Matthias, “we need to figure out where to search.”

“So you’re all searching for something…?” a voice said.

There was a tall young man who seemed to be about my age, walking toward us, while he rubbed the back of his head, making my eyes focus on his dark hair.

“Who are you?” asked James.

“Just a normal guy,” he said, “a normal guy that may or may not have saved more than one world- Zack de Famme!”

“Oh, I’ve heard of you!” exclaimed Lucas, “First you saved your home world and then you went on to others. I know you saved mine once from some cruel individual trying to destroy it- I believe his name was Matt.”

“…!” I responded.

“Is something wrong, Ron?” asked Iris.

“N-no, i-it’s nothing.” I lied.

“That’s right.” said Zack, “People seem to recognize me wherever I go. You must know the feeling… right, Ron?”

“Um… no?” I responded.

“Interesting.” he said, “You’re pretty famous in my… or should I say OUR home world.”

“You’re probably only hearing stuff like that in Dovacath.” I said.

“Could be.” said Zack, “But… you guys are looking for the Dovacath key, aren’t you?”

“How’d you know?” asked Lucas.

“I’m psychic.” answered Zack.

“Huh?” responded Lucas.

“Just kidding!” replied Zack, “I just have really good intuition.”

“…Or you may have just heard us talking.” I suggested.

“Could be.” he said.

“Whatever,” I said, “do you have any idea of where the Dovacath key could be located?”

“Yes.” answered Zack, “But I can’t just give it to you.”

“W-why not!?” exclaimed Lucas.

“One day,” Zack answered, “I found it in a garden just outside of town and a wise blind woman told me to hide it.”

“So, some random-” started James.

“Not random!” exclaimed Zack, “I believe Ron knows who I am talking about.”

“You mean Matilda, right?” I said, “She gave us our powers.”

“In return for the key, she gave me mine- my magic pencil,” continued Zack, “I draw whatever whenever and it comes to life!”

“That’s nice.” I said, “Now, about the key…”

“Right.” he said, “But how do I know you’re the real Ron?”

“Who else would I be?!” I exclaimed.

“What makes you think he’s fake?” asked Catherine.

“Allow me to explain.” continued Zack, “In my experience, it’s rare to find someone who doesn’t know the name Ron King. In fact, there could be impostors… how do I know the guy before me is the real one?”

“You've gotta be kidding me!” I exclaimed.

“I’m kidding about that.” said Zack, “Anyways, I’d like to test you to see if I can trust you.”

“What kind of test?” I asked.

“You’re gonna have to use your brain.” answered Zack.

“Crap.” I responded.

“You must do this on your own too.” he instructed.

“Okay.” I replied.

He quickly pulled out a table and laid several cards down on it.

“W-where’d!?” I exclaimed.

“I drew it.” he said, “Now, we’ll take turns pulling cards off the table- no more than three each turn- until none are left. Last person to pick up a card- the last one, loses. Got it? Let’s start!”

“Ah!” I exclaimed.

“It was tough, especially since I felt everyone’s gaze like a ton of sharp blades. I had begun to sweat too, but in the end, I won his challenge. In response to my victory, he just laughed.

Something about how he acted just seemed… familiar. It didn’t take much longer, but suddenly, my head had been filled with memories.

“…!” was all I could get out of me.

“Ron?” asked James, “Are you okay?”

“…Matt…” I said quietly.

“W-what?” responded James.

“I… must go.” I said, running off, “Don’t follow me!”

As my mind went back, I had to get myself back- back to a special place I knew of.