Despite everything, the 5 of us remained, sitting around the table, our positions unchanging, eagerly waiting for one last short story before we put the pizzas in and then go back to eagerly waiting, or something. Or maybe we'll do something else. Hard to say. Anyways, stories are a great way to pass the time, because that's how Engli-

Wait, English? Hold on... Why can I understand everyone here? In this world, I mean. Do they speak English? They don't read or write English, so... Did they somehow, miraculously, over the course of however long this civilization has existed, develop the exact (or, even similar) same spoken word that I'm used to in my previous world? What are the odds of that? Like, astronomical times a thousand, right? 

Or maybe they didn't, and the reason I can understand and communicate with people here is because DYN2 granted me understanding of the language as I reincarnated, or something, so that I can, like, live. That sounds plausible. But then why didn't they grant me the ability to read?! 

I don't get it. Anyways, we're enjoying the stories, because that's how... Something works. Suck it, uh... I dunno, Shakespeare. Sure, why not.

Once again, everyone was looking around the table, waiting for someone to be the next one to speak.  

"Oh, uh, I got something. Kinda. It's a bit short but..." Zramazos said, a little quietly. 

...

"You have the floor." Charolette said, after a moment.

"Oh, uh, y-yeah." Zramazos began. He swallowed a bit before continuing. "Well, uh, last night. I was, well, w-walking around outside. Just kind of, uh, I needed fresh air! Yeah." 

Get to the point.

They continued, "A-anyways, I was just walking around, just, y'know, thinkin, when, suddenly, I swear-" He paused, and his face went a little red. "W-well, now that I'm thinking about it, I was probably just seeing things, but, well, uh, anyways, I swear, I saw 2 little humanoid creatures just appear out of thin air! Completely out of nowhere!" 

Wait a minute... Something about this story feels... I dunno, familiar? 

"I-It was scary! I-I just stood there for a while. I couldn't... I-I mean, it was probably just, like an animal, or something, but... At the time it was scary. I dunno why, but I turned, for just a second, and when I looked back, one of them at disappeared, a-and the last one, I mean, I swear it just walked into the wall! Like, it turned and walked into it, as if it weren't there!" 

Zramazos looked a little spooked as he recalled his tale. 

And I also felt a little spooked, because aahhh crap that was totally us, wasn't it? 

I looked over at S, who was looking over at me. The two of us made that face. Y'know that face when you're the subject of a story someone's telling, but they don't know that, and nobody else knows that, and they certainly don't know that you know that, so everything just feels kind of... Y'know, that face.

'Little humanoid creatures', huh. Flattering. 

"Whoahh!! What happened next!?" Michaus asked, enthusiastically. 

"W-well, that was it, really. Just that. I didn't see them again, and I went to bed as normal, as if nothing had happened." Zramazos explained.

"Oh." Michaus said, normally. "So they didn't do anything?" 

"Not that I'm aware of." 

"Oh." Michaus seemed to be deep in thought. "So whaddu I do if they show up again?" 

"W-well, assuming they exist, I guess... Watch them? O-or something? 'Cus, I mean, they might not be malicious... but..." 

"Yeah." Michaus seemed to think deeper. He looked almost like a cartoon character. How novel.

There was pause, for a moment.

"Oh! That reminds me! Beye's, right?" Charolette said, breaking the pause, and turning to face me. 

"Uh, yeah, wha?" I said. 

"Earlier, before everyone was chatting on top of the inn, you were at that weird machine, right? Old Greenie was there, talked your ear off about somethin'." Charolette asked.

Heh, Greenie. That's funny. "Oh, yeah." I kinda forgot about that one. Rather, I've been trying not to think about it. Odd guy. 

"Yeah, I've been wondering, how'd you get up to the roof?" Charolette asked.

Oh.

Oh... Ahh... 

Okay... 

"Whadduyoumean?" I asked. 

S shot me a look. Y'know, a look that says 'Oooohhhh crappp.'

"Well, I couldn't really see what you did, but it's like you fell on the roof, or something. How'd you do that?" 

Thank goodness she only saw me go back up. "Uh... well... Naturally..." Uhhhh... "I... jumped?" Ah... Yeah, sure, that works??? I can work with this. 

"Jumped? But-"

INTERRUPTION! "Well, you see, I jumped from the other side of the inn, which you couldn't see, so, from where you were standing, it must've just looked like I was falling, because that's the second half of jumping, after all. Y'know, falling." Yeah. Yeah that works. That's believable. Yeah. That's just fine. 

She looked skeptical. "You sure that's what happened?"

"Yep. 100%. Totally." 

"Hm... Well, that's a pretty tall building to scale, while injured no less. You must be one tough cookie!"

Oh, crap. Yeah, I'm injured, aren't I? So much has happened that's kinda slipped my mind...  

"Well... uh, yeah. Oh, and, uh... S helped me. Made a little step... Guy. Yeah." I said, not really thinking about how weird it is that I was able to forget I was injured.

S nodded profusely. Nice assist, S. 

"I see." Charolette said.

The oven dinged. Ahah! A change in topic! Huzzah! 

"Oh, gotta put the things in." Charolette said, getting up to put the pizzas in.

Are we good? Did I get out of it? 

"Alright, that's gotta be in for... eh, 14 minutes." She said, inspecting the pizza labels.

*beep, beep, beep, boop*

The gentle hum of the oven getting a little louder echoed throughout the room.

"I gotta pee real quick." Said Michaus, getting up, and heading to the area where I presume the bathroom is. Was he waiting for the pizzas to go in to go pee? 

Eh, fair. It just feels right to exit after something happens, I think.

Oh, actually, I may as well make use of this opportunity as well. 

"I'm gonna go grab a cola, be-, uh be right back." I said, also getting up, heading outside, to the cola machine, naturally. 

Oh man, I almost said 'brb.' Man, that'd have been embarrassing. 

"Right, I'm gonna, uh, also do that. Be back." S said, getting up, and heading my way. He looks like he has something to say. Wonder what it is? Anyways, the 2 of us headed outside.

---

For a few moments, Charolette and Zramazos sat around the table, alone, as the other 3 went to do their things.

Charolette stared patiently at the door, waiting for it to close. 

And then, it did.

"So," Charolette began as soon as it did, "Whadahya think about that guy?"

"Oh, uh, the kid with the eyes, you mean?" Zramazos replied.

"Yeah, him. Wonder what his deal is? He's been in town for, what, a day or 2, and he and his group are already the talk of the town. Even Greenie's paying attention to him." 

"W-well, aside from that thing with Greenie, that's not exactly a-all that impressive. Not much happens around here." Zramazos joked.

"Hah, true enough. Still, he is quite odd. 3 kids waltz in, and just drop that they've got the old duke's place. Wonder what the story behind that is, someone their age owning a place like that."

"Assuming they're telling the truth, at least." 

"Well, Michaus certainly seemed convinced. And, if he got Greenie's attention, I wouldn't be surprised. I guess mom'll know, anyways.  I'll ask her when she gets back. I'd try to ask him, figure it out myself, but..."

"Can't quite figure out what he's thinking?" 

"Yeah! I mean, what, he made of stone or something? How's he never react to, like, anything! I mean, that chicken story was messed up! And he was just, like, fine!" 

"Yeah! A-and, he wasn't all bandaged and stuff yesterday, right? I mean, we didn't really see him much, but, nobody mentioned it, so he either had to have gotten hurt last night, or this morning, and he's already-"

"He jumped off that roof like that!"

"Yeah! And he didn't even, like, flinch!"

"Man. You've gotta wonder what his childhood was like."

"I can't even imagine..."  

There was a pause, for a moment, as the 2 of them pondered this idea. Charolette didn't mention this, out of fear of sounding immature, but she was also a little peeved that Beyes didn't seem all that excited about her projectile launching thingy. How little she knows.

"The other one's weird as well. Seems like he and Michaus will get along pretty well, though." Charolette said.

"Yeah. Not sure if that's comforting or terrifying... I mean, that chicken story was..." Zramazos said. 

They both shuddered at the thought of it. They also both thought S dressed funny, but they didn't mention that because that's just kind of rude, frankly. In poor taste. 

"Wonder why he calls himself 'S'?" Charolette said, quickly changing the topic.

"W-well, it could be his real name."

Charolette chuckled. "Yeah, I guess."

"Beyes is a pretty odd name, too. I mean, not that it's b-bad, or anything."

"Yeah, that's true. Though, it suits him strangely well." 

They hadn't quite put the whole 'Brown+eyes' thing together yet, because, let's face it, most people wouldn't.  

"Hey, weren't there 3 of them, when they came into town, initially?" Charolette said, thinking back.  

"Y-yeah. Micahus mentioned a girl, Cat-something. Apparently they've... Hit it off, I guess." Zramazos said, thinking back to how his brother described Catface. It wasn't weird, or creepy or anything, but, as his older brother, he felt a little unnerved regardless. 

"So they're a girl? Shopkeep couldn't seem to figure it out. Heh, she also seemed to hit it off with 'em." Charolette said, thinking back to how peeved she seemed when talking about Catface. "Wonder where the heck they went from here? They didn't pass back through town, right?" 

"Don't think so. I've been wondering about that as well..." 

"Man. Weird bunch." 

"Yeah." 

...

"He was lying about jumping on the roof, right?"

"Oh yeah, for sure."

Not even the face of a statue can make up for Beyes's total inability to make a believable lie. 

'Wonder how he did do that, though...' Charolette thought. 

---

Once again, I'd spent another gold, and got my 2 ice cold colas, just like before. Oh yeah, nothing goes better with pizza than cola. This'll be a treat.

"Right, Beyes, I gotta ask..." S began. Oh, yeah, he had something to say. "I never really thought about this before, but that last bit got me thinking... Why do you hide your holes? I mean, I get hiding the dark magic, but the holes are fine, right?" 

PHRASING! Kinda. Man, been a while since I did one of those. 

"Well... Yeah. That's true. But I'd far sooner tell everyone about my dark magic than my hole thingies." I said.

"Right, why's that?" 

"Well, in truth... Things would get... Inconvenient."

"Eh?"

"Well, if everyone knew I could get them anywhere at any time in an instant, could you imagine how many people would ask me for favors? I'd never have time to rest!" 

S looked at me blankly for a moment.

For several moments, actually. 

"Right." S said. "Well, I guess that's a good as reason as any."

Plus, superpowers are much cooler when they're a secret, y'know? 

Oh. Actually, that gives me an idea... I'll have to discuss this with S, later.