Evidently, that wasn't the answer anyone was looking for. 

The room remained in a state of shock and confusion. I didn't care.

"Sis. Lay off." I said. Either she was about to dig her hook into Zramazos's throat, or Charolette was about to leap and tackle her to the ground. Either way, the line into combat will be crossed, which will irreversibly affect our relationship with the townsfolk. It was in my best interest to prevent that. 

Of course, I knew that Sis wasn't going to listen to me, so I simultaneously opened a hole underneath her and brought her to my side. I only said anything because of social convention.

The state of the room changed little. Guess it made them more shocked. That's better than violent, at least. 

"Whoooahhh! Cool!" Thank you for your input, Michaus.

"What the hell are you?" Charolette asked with far more curiosity than malice in her voice. 

I'm aware that, normally, I'd be pretty distraught about all this. Presently, though, I'm not. It would appear that I've thought myself into an adrenaline fueled high. I wont lie, I feel incredible. But I'm also aware that this isn't the time nor the place for something like this. Which is why I'm trying to calm myself down with a series of heavy breaths through my nose.

I'm sure that, once I do come down, I'm going to find this whole situation pretty emberassing.

. . .

. . .

Yep. Spot on, me.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

THINGS JUST KEEP GETTING WORSE!

My face felt like I'd just gotten out of a sauna and promptly fell headfirst into an active volcano. 

It's a dang good thing I kept my hood up. Maybe I can still get out of this semi-gracefully. So long as I do it fast, hopefully no one will be able to tell. Heeeeeeerrre goeeeees.

"Zramazos." I began, hoping that the pink of my face wasn't so glaringly obvious it blinded everyone 3 towns over. "What happened to you was terrible. I'm sorry."

His mouth moved, but he didn't say anything. Good makes my job a lot easier.

I put my hands together and opened a hole behind me. "I must be going now. Good day." I said with a nod as I put my hand on Sis's shoulder and stepped into the dark, heavy forest outside of Starsford.  

Sis followed me, though one could imagine she was incredibly confused.

As soon as the hole closed behind us, I took one hell of a deep breath.

I flipped off my hood, sat down on nearby rock, and buried my face in my hands.

"What the hell was that?" Sis understandably asked.

"It- uh, hold on, lemme grab S first." 

I opened a hole behind S, and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and, with a very confused and distraught look on his face, stepped through. The others might have seen, but at this point, who cares.

"Right, what the hell was that?" He said as the hole closed.

"That's what I said." Said the girl who already that that.

"Y-you just showed them your-"

"I know..." I said. "I know." 

"Right... What was that... Black stuff? That wasn't anything like your other magic. Didn't smell much like it either. Though, I do recognize it, somehow"

"It was different this time. Did it do anything to you?" Sis asked. 

"Before, It was just a thing that happened sometimes." I began, as looked up from my hands and shook my head at Sis. "Now, though, it's more of a... Proof of concept." 

"Good." Sis said. "Think it'll be useful?"

"Hope so." I'm glad that she's at least calm about this. It's helping me deal with this a ton. 

"You... Talked to that friend of yours, didn't you?" S asked, though it was clear he already knew the answer.

"Yes. Yes I did."

"Right..." S said with a sigh. "Look, I don't mean to tell you your business, but... I don't think you should have done that."

"How's that? Smell something again?" I half joked.

"No. Not this time. I feel this one in my gut."

"Hm." I said. It was hard to say anything else to that. 

"For what it's worth," Sis began. "thus far, it seems pretty safe. It hasn't hurt you yet, anyway. That said, it's still managed to make me uneasy. And I'm a freakin' immortal." 

"Hm." Again. I didn't know what to make of that, either.

"On the other hand, as long as I'm here you'll never need to use it, so it doesn't really matter." She concluded with a shrug.

"Thanks, Sis." I said with a chuckle. 

At the end of the day, they might both have a point. It's hard to imagine that the powers that be kept this stuff a secret for who knows how long without reason. Chances are, there's something about it that people wanted never to show up again. 

But, even still, I don't regret my decision. I am going to keep my promise. And if that means I gotta dance with a little darkness, I'm happy to do it.

Plus, all that just makes it cooler, doesn't it?!

"Right, what was that stuff you said just before you left about? Trying to distract them, or something?" S asked.

"Kind of." I said with a shrug, "but mostly I just thought it'd look cool."

"Hm. Kinda was, honestly."

"Thanks, I know."

Sis was not amused.

. . .

"Come to think of it, isn't this area crawling with monsters?" I asked.

"Right, yeah, it is." S said. "I'm honestly surprised we haven't been attacked yet."

"Let's leave." Sis said. 

"What? C'mon, now's a good a time a good a time as any for a quick hunting trip to clear our heads, right? We'll for sure run into something if we head for the stream."

"I... Suppose a little exercise couldn't hurt." I said, admittedly incredibly uneasy.

"That's a terrible ide-" Sis began. "Wait. How big is this stream?" 

"Eh, pretty big. Always somethin' swimmin' in there."

Sis looked over at me and squinted for a while, clearly deep in thought.

"Alright. I suppose it can't be that dangerous. Let's go!" She said after a while, barely containing her enthusiasm as she readied her fishing rod.

"Allllright!"

Whooo boy...

. . .

I'm glad it was those three that saw what I did. I don't think Michaus has a bad bone in his body, the worst thing Charolette can probably do is crush me with her overwhelming curiosity, and Zramazos is, well, Zramazos. Even if I'm wrong, I doubt any of them know enough about what they saw to want me dead, at the very least. 

Even so, I couldn't help but feel ill. Perhaps I was simply more embarrassed than anything else. Perhaps I wasn't. 

. . .

I was glad we were going hunting.