Almost immediately after I said that, it felt like my face was lit ablaze.

I didn't really have any clue how to follow that up. My thoughts were running in a million different directions, travelling light years every second.

I suppose it's needless to say at this point, but I really didn't like this situation. I mean, if I'm gonna have people literally fight over me like  I'm in some weird mary sue esque fantasy, I'd much rather it be over my cool superpowers and cool darkness stuff instead of this weird clashing of overinflated egos and needless bloodlust. Also, I wish S was there. I mean, he kinda was, but he was half a corpse, so that doesn't really count.

Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, the only reason Catface gives a crap about me is because of my teleporty-thingy, right? Those are cool. So, by extension, that makes this kinda cool, right? Sure. I'm content with this, actually.

"U-u-u-h, s-sorry, I mean, uh, eh..." I stammered out in an attempt to move the conversation along.

"Y-you even scream in that dry monotone?" Catface asked with a nervous chuckle. "I respect the commitment."

Sis looked horrified. Ah crap, I took it too far, I'm the wors- Oh, wait, she's staring at my hands. Let me guess...

Yep. It's the black stuff again. Hey there, buddy! Feels like it's been a while, how you been? You been good? Aaaaaand it's gone again. Man. Kinda forgot about that whole thing, honestly. I really ought to figure out what's going on there. It's silly at this point.

"Th-that thing again-" Sis said, seemingly a little spooked. This is only the second time she's seen it, I suppose. "- t-the hell was- Did you do that?! I'll-" She yelled at Catface. 

"H-hey, it's uh, it's fine." I said. "They, uh... T-This happened this morning too, remember? They didn't, uh, they don't..." I said in a panic. Actually, speaking of Catface, they don't yet know about my dark magic stuff, do they? Crap, did they see? Maybe they weren't looking.

I looked over at Catface again. They were gazing up towards the sky with a sort of complicated expression on their face, like they were wistfully remembering something. 

So, did they see it or not?! C'mon, work with me here!

"Oh, come on, his face LITTERIALLY LOOKS LIKE FORESHADOWING." Sis said.

"W-wha- A-anyways, let's just relax. They're, uh, not a threat right now. Probably." I said. "R-right?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry, yeah." Catface said. "Your brother's right, girlie. We aren't gonna fight right now. This is a peaceful intermission."

"Right now' implies you'll be fighting later." 

Catface sighed. "Alright, howsabout this:" 

As soon as they finished their thought, they disappeared. 

HEY! THAT'S MY GIMMICK! YOU CAN'T DO THIS-

"Can't hit what you can't see, right?" Catface said from behind me.  I turned to face them, but they weren't there. "Now we can have a proper little break, yeah?"

Oh, they're just invisible. That's fine.

Sis's eyes darted the area frantically, her hand firmly on her weapon.

"Take it easy, kiddo. I'm not gonna hurt you. And I'll be able to see you coming long before you try anything, so don't even bother." Said Catface. "Why don't you just siddown with your brother, and we can all just talk this out, yeah?"

Y'know what, that last bit, that's a good idea.

I sat down on the forest floor, right next to S. 'Cus he was there. We've been standing for a while for no real reason. Maybe a bit of relaxation is just what we need to ease the tension, y'know? 

"Ya know what, I was speaking metaphorically, but he's got the right idea. Do that." Catface instructed.

Sis seemed reluctant, still continuing a seemingly fruitless search, but eventually she did sit down, with great indignance. Right next to me. Like, right next to me. Like, against my arm. It would've been adorable, but she was very obviously clutching her weapon and looked like murder.  It was still kind of adorable.

"There, now you're gettin' it!" Catface said, taking the whole patronizing thing a bit too far I think, but I didn't mention it 'cus it didn't seem all that important. "Now, let's talk."

. . .

What did we wanna talk about, again? Oh, right, the statue. I think. Was there anything else? 

"So, uh, th-that one statue back in Starsford kinda blew up the other day. That was you, r-right?" I asked. 

"Oh, that? Yeah." Catface said. "Blew it up. PFewww." I presume they did an explosion thing with their hands, but they were invisible, so nobody can really say for sure.

"No you didn't. That's impossible." Sis stated. 

"This again? How so?" 

"That was 2 days ago. Starsford is way inland, and this is a coastal town. Even if you left immediately after, there's no way you would've been able to make it here in 2 days." Oh, that's a good point. Though, they did make it here in the span of about an hour or so the first time we came here all the way from the duke's place. But I think they flew the whole way, then, and they can do that pretty fast. This time though, as I understand it, they had to get with their crew and do that whole masquerade with them for a while, so that should've taken a lot more time, right? Hmm...

"Well, that's not necessarily true, but, yeah, that would be quite difficult. That is, if you have your timeline correct."

. . .

"I do." Sis said. "We were literally there." 

Well, technically we were just close and heard about it from some really screamy dude from the street, but yeah, basically. 

"But who's to say what you saw was the truth?"

"The witnesses."

"Oh, but it's all just a faded memory at this point, isn't it? Perhaps even longer than you know."

"What are you even talking about?"

Catface just smiled. Probably.

Hm... The way they've been talking about 'truth' and 'memories' kind of confuses me, as does the time table... Wait... Memory... That would mean... Though, there's still one thing that's missing.

"You mean, like, an illusion or something?" I asked. "Like, you'd already done your business with the statue beforehand, and put an illusion in the place of the destroyed statue so that you could reveal it later, or something?"

"Bingo!" Said Catface. "Well, not exactly. But you're close, though. Real close. Security was tight that night, which wouldn't normally be a problem, but I had some things I needed to finish up in the city. I still wanted it gone, but I didn't want to risk going from high alert to total lockdown. So, once I had a moment, I cracked the thing. Covered it up. After a while, when it wouldn't matter anymore, I released the veil, and simultaneously released my grasp. Simple as that!"

Sure doesn't sound all that simple. 

"Anything... Else? Any other bits of planning?" Sis asked.  

"Uh... Nope, none that I can- Oh, wait! Ah! Almost forgot! That old coot's shop, right?" Catface said, sounding quite smug. Oh, right. I forgot Maurice was tied into this. Y'know, that was kinda specifically mean of Catface to do that to the poor guy. Why mess up his shop like that?

Catface continued, "Yep! Knew he'd be otherwise occupied, so I had a guy run in an outta there. Didn't want anyone who'd be paying too much to accidentally see behind the curtain and spoil themselves, y'know? Funny thing about that scene, actually, I had someone already mess that place up the day before, so they didn't have to stick around when things went down. Bet that had 'em stumped for a while." 

"Oh, hey, that's what Baldy said." I said, remembering that, indeed, that's the thing Baldy said. 

"Wait, what? Seriously? Dangit, I really thought that was clever..." Catface said, seeming disappointed. Ah, maybe I shouldn't have said that. 

"This is stupid. But I guess it checks out." Sis said with a shrug. Guess she got bored of this topic.  

Though, there are still a couple things I'd like to know.

"But why do that? I'd have thought you'd have wanted to watch all the stuff go down." I asked.

"Oh... No. Not really. Well, it depends. Usually. Sometimes..." Catface said with a sigh.

"... I see." I said. I didn't. "Just one last thing. Uh, what about the calling card? You usually do one of those, right? But there wasn't anything at the scene, this time." Of course, they could've just forgot or decided not to do it this time, but it does seem odd. 

"Yeah there was. It was you."

"Huh?"

"Well, technically it was the note I gave you, but you get the idea."

"Seriously?" I mean, I guess it did have that cat drawing on it. "That's kind of cheap." Only S and I actually saw it, right?

"Eh, c'mon, there was a lot of security that night. Often times those things aren't any more than simple distractions anyways. Which, I might add, you served quite well as."

"What? How so?" I don't remember doing anything like that. Actually, that entire night's kinda fuzzy... I remember everything up to that bit on the roof pretty okay, but after that it's all kind of abstract. 

"I wouldn't worry about it." They said with an irritating smirk. Probably. They're invisible right now, but I could feel it. The smirk energy was solid enough to cut. "Anyway, what's with all the questions? What, don't believe me?"

"No, I do. I guess I..." Wait, why did I care about that, again? Oh, right. The actual thing I wanted to say. "Anyways, those statues are lame as heck. I can see why you'd want to destroy them." 

 . . .

"Uh, Catface?"

"Oh, sorry, forgot I was invisible. I just gotta say... You've got good taste, guy." 

. . .

Darn right I do.