"But, before we can start talking, I need to quickly finish this paper and give it to the teacher," Emma says as she starts writing.

 

After about 20 minutes, Emma and Catlin are finished writing. They leave to turn in their papers, while Dan waits in the room. They returned after a few minutes with two other girls.

 

"Do you two what to play some games down in the game room with us," one of the girls that came in the room with Emma and Catlin asks?

 

"No, we are planning on watching a movie or two and just chat for a while.  Tamy and you can go on without us," Emma states.

 

"Alright."

 

"If you change your mind, Sara and I would be glad to have you," Tamy says.

 

"We will keep that in mind, now go have some fun," Catlin says, giving Tamy her bag as she leaves.

 

"Okay, now that they are gone, we can talk," Emma says, coming closer to the ground to speak to the lizard. "Since you can write, I brought a piece of paper and a pencil so you can communicate with us. You can use your mouth to write with it," Emma says to the lizard. "Do you know where my brother Dan is? Why did you write the name Dan on the rock?"

 

Dan picks up the pencil and writes, "Dan is me," on the paper in almost unreadable text.

 

"You mean your name is Dan, so you don't know my brother," Emma says slightly confused.

 

Dan, then writes, "I'm your bro," trying to use as few letters as possible because it is difficult for him to write with his mouth.

 

"What do you mean, "I'm your bro." Are you saying that you are my brother, Dan," Emma says, a bit confounded. Dan nods his head in confirmation. Emma and Catlin sat there frozen for a few seconds.

 

"What! How are you Dan," Emma and Catlin exclaim simultaneously?

 

"If you really are my brother, why did I come home crying on the first day of high school," Emma asks skeptically?

 

Dan responds by writing, "Water fountain burst, look like you peed."

 

"That is correct, but how did you cheer me up afterward?"

 

Dan wrote, "Ice Cream" on the paper.

 

"You really are my brother. How are you a lizard? I thought you were kidnapped? Were you abducted by the government and experimented on," Emma asks, trying to wrap her head around the reality of the situation. Taking a moment to accept reality, Emma then says, "I'm really glad you're back, I am just in shock about the whole situation," then picks him up and hugs him. Catlin frozen, still trying to process what is happening.

 

"You are really Dan, how did you become a lizard," Catlin asks Dan?

 

Dan writes, "Complicated" in response as the story is much too long and complex to write down when it is so difficult for him to write, plus he did not want to freak them out by saying he died but knew he would have to tell them.

 

"Well, what can you tell us," Emma asks before Catlin can speak?

 

"Woke up in forest few days ago as a lizard," Dan writes.

 

"That must have been strange, and I glad you are alright. Do you have any clue how you suddenly turned into a lizard? Maybe if we find out how you turned into a lizard, we can figure out how to turn you back? What's the last thing you remember before waking up in the forest," Catlin asks?

 

Right as Dan is about to write about the person who told him he died and about the mana upheaval, he gets a notification.

Dan, seeing the warning, decides to tell them about what happened before he was in the white void. Dan turns the paper over and writes, "Last remember, I was taking walk through woods before going home. I then attacked by big cat. I can't tell you any more," trying to make sure it is not bluntly obvious that he died.

 

"So you got attacked by a big cat then woke up as a lizard," Emma says, thinking over what you said when a realization struck her that caused the color in her face to drain. "You said you were... were attacked. Did you mean it... the big cat ki... killed you," Emma asks, having trouble saying it out loud. Catlin's face paled from fear, hearing what Emma said.

 

Dan nods his head in confirmation, then walks over to Emma and rubs his head on her leg to make her feel better.

 

After they taking a little while to calm down, Emma says, "Okay, so the last thing you remember is dying from being attacked by a big cat, then you turned into a lizard. When you woke up in the forest, did you come out of an egg, or did you see any eggshell nearby?"

 

Dan shakes his head to say no to her questions. He had no reason to believe he was birth from an egg as far as he knows he simply came into being.

 

Dan spends a couple of hours telling them about how he survived in the forest, eating all kinds of things, and living in a tree, Catlin had to get more paper a couple of times. He even told them that he had an ability that made him bigger and stronger the more he ate, but did not go into any detail because of the warning.

 

"It must have been awful all on your own, having to eat strange things," Catlin says, intrigued by Dan's stories and happy that he is back. "It is incredible that you grow bigger and stronger so quickly, simply from eating. If we could figure out the science behind that, we could use it to help a lot of people. Maybe it could even help make you human again."

 

"Yeah, but we do not have the knowledge or equipment necessary. Even if we tried to get help from adults, they probably would not believe us, the only reason we know he's Dan is that we personally know him. And even if by some miracle they did believe us, they may not be trustworthy and try to take Dan away. I can not risk losing Dan again," Emma says, getting very upset thinking about it.

 

"True, the only way would be to find someone we could trust, which would take a while," Catlin says in agreement.

 

"Well, that's enough of talking about that for now. Would you like to watch some movies with us, Dan," Emma asks? Dan nods in approval.