Chapter Nineteen: A little thing called Science

The sun was just beginning to rise when an odd concussion struck against the air like a drum.

When the boom filled the air, Xaphile twitched awake.

Tiredly opening his eyes, he blinked like an owl and yawned.

A strange swaying sensation was resting between his stiff legs, and an odd warmth was pressed against his right side. He felt groggy and rather confused, since he really couldn't understand why he'd fallen asleep outside... much less sitting up. His brain still wasn't fully connected yet.

Lids drooping, he almost fell back asleep... but then, there was another concussion, and he twitched a second time. It had been a lot fainter and lacked the jarring impact of the first, but something about it made his hair stand up. However, the sound didn't come again: only the chirping of the birds could be heard.

Xaphile sleepily blinked a second time and looked down at the horse he was riding.

Then he looked around.

Behind him, Gus was struggling to keep his eyes open, and ahead of him, Lucy was writing something down using her backpack and a cutting board as a surface. Ella, ahead of her, was riding as stiffly as ever. But when he glanced around for Amelia, he realized why his right side was so warm. Large blue eyes closed and mouth slightly open, the bespectacled brunette was sleeping against his side.

In her hands were his reigns, and around their interlocked arms was a strange golden glow.

He stared at the odd luminescence for a long moment, feeling genuinely confused.

"Gus," he quietly croaked, making the blonde look up. "What's wrong with my arm? Why are we glowing?"

"Amelia is mildly proficient with Magic," he gruffly told him. "She bound the two of you together so you wouldn't fall off the horses while you slept."

"Eh?" he asked, still feeling extremely groggy. "Magic can do that?"

"Magic can do just about anything," Lucy yawned, finally putting the pen she'd been using behind her ear and tucking her belongings away. "I'm hoping we'll be stopping soon for some real rest, though. I'm tired."

"Oh," Xaphile mumbled. "That's... nice..."

Even as he said it, his eyelids slowly drooped and slid closed: he himself was still extremely tired and he didn't want to wake up just yet. The saddle beneath him almost seemed to have molded to fit the shape of his body... it was comfortable, in a weird sort of way.

He had just begun to doze when another far-off concussion split the air.

"What is that?" he finally grumbled, scratching at his hair. "Seriously..."

Surprisingly, Ella was the one who answered.

"Drums," she stated lowly, turning around and giving them all a dark look. "Whenever you hear that sound, you should be as quiet as you can since it means that there's a large tribe of demons nearby."

"A demon tribe?!" Lucy squawked, jumping and glancing around when the sound came again. "R-really? I didn't even know there were demons this far south! How many are we talking here?!"

"From this forest, all the way to the ocean, demons roam freely," Ella explained. "I don't know if it ever came up, but I'm actually a demon slayer. I have demon slayer magic flowing through my blood."

"WHAT?!" Lucy screeched, making everyone flinch. "YOU'RE A DEMON SLAYER?!"

"Keep it down!" Ella hissed, peering around with wary eyes. "Did you not just hear what I said?"

"I didn't know you were a demon slayer!" Lucy whispered harshly, eyes wide with shock. "I thought you were just Chisago's countess!"

"No. I am also a demon slayer."

"That comes as a surprise... you don't really look like one."

"That's part of why a lot of people underestimate me," Ella snorted, then let out a sigh. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand... we're already out of any immediate danger, since we passed the demon tribe by not too long ago, but we're still too close to where they've migrated to not use caution. We won't stop to sleep until we've put enough distance between us and that ghastly camp to be safe."

Xaphile's long ears twitched and he cocked his head, brows furrowing in total confusion.

"Are demons... intelligent creatures?" he finally asked, making everyone stiffen. "As in, capable of the same level of thought as human beings? Also, why... is there a huge... rift between humans and demons?"

Ella slowly turned around and gave him a serious frown.

"You don't even know that much?" she demanded, making him blink. "You really aren't from around here, are you? How can you not know such a simple thing?"

"Where I come from," he explained, glancing away with a sigh, "things like demons and magic don't exist."

"They don't?" Lucy asked, turning around with a curious expression. "Why?"

"Well, it's like this," Xaphile sighed, shaking his head. "Where I come from, magic is nothing but a parlor trick, and everyone thinks demons are nothing but myth. Until I came here, I thought demons and fairies weren't real just like everyone else. There are legends and stuff, but nobody believes in them... and that's partially why I'm still having trouble adapting to all of... this."

When they glanced at him, he gripped his tail and gently tugged on it before tapping one of his horns.

"You sure say some strange things," Ella icily informed him. "A world without demons and magic?"

"Basically."

"Well, if that's truly the case, what exactly was your world like?" Lucy asked, brown eyes twinkling. "Describe your hometown to me, and what kind of a place it was. I can't deny I'm curious."

"Er, Chicago is a metropolis, not a town," Xaphile snorted, furrowing his brows. "It's huge! On my world, the human race is more advanced. Forget small brick buildings, we have towers made of stone, glass, iron... and they stretch so high that people call them sky scrapers. Glittering towers that touch the clouds."

Ella's face twitched when she heard that.

"Impossible," she snorted, closing her eyes with a haughty expression. "No human is capable of such a thing, and I should know, since I'm one of them."

"It's true," Xaphile murmured. "Back on Earth, mankind couldn't fly, so we built a machine that could fly for us. People on my world could literally go all over the world because they built ways to do so. What we lacked in power, we made up for with creativity and intellect. Although there's no reason for us to talk about it."

"Why?"

Xaphile lifted his head and looked at her in confusion.

"You'll be seeing it in Ella's memories," he explained, letting out a despondent sigh. "I already told you... this world that I'm on... I wasn't born here. I'm not from Earthland. And if you're serious about what you said, you'll be able to see the truth soon enough."

Ella acknowledged that statement with silence.

"There are, at present, five main factions of race in our world," she quietly explained, making his ears flick. "Exceeds, Halflings, fairies, Humans, and Demons. Humans and Exceeds have only one subspecies... aside from minor details concerning physical appearances, they're all generally the same."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because ignorance can get you killed," Ella retorted. "Shut up and listen, you stupid fool."

"Hey," Lucy instantly rapped out, frowning a little. "There's no need to be so rude."

The demonic glare Ella threw her way made the blonde girl's sweat drop.

"Among the halflings, there are scores of different subspecies," Gus finally sighed. "Each subspecies has a specific set of features that, while varying from being to being, mark them with their heritage."

"And what, exactly, are halflings?" Xaphile asked with a scowl. "Back on Earth, Halflings are supposedly just really tiny people."

"Really?" Ella scoffed, smirking in amusement. "Well, on Earthland, Halflings are beings that at a first glance appear to be human, but they're not. In a few short words, they're part beast."

"Beast?"

"Yes," Lucy chimed, throwing a glance his way. "In fact, one of my guild mates, Erza, has a childhood friend who's a halfling. She's really cute! She has the features of a cat... ears, paws, even her eyes."

Ella stiffened imperceptibly, but she said nothing.

"Fairies, on the other hand," Gus muttered, giving him a slow look, "are the rarest of all beings on Earthland. They're so rare, in fact, that some people believe them to be completely extinct. I'm still not fully sure that you're even one of them, since Primordial Sprites are fairies of the forest."

"Well, what about demons?" he questioned. "Why does everyone keep saying that they're monsters?"

"Because they are monsters," Ella hissed, fists tightening on her reigns.

"Demons are responsible for the worst atrocities in our world," Gus darkly explained. "Monsters who prey on all the other races in the night and feed off of our deepest fears."

"They're evil," Ella snapped, whipping around and glaring at him. "They're all evil, and never forget it! There are thousands upon thousands of different demons in this world, but none of them are capable of feeling! Of discerning between right and wrong!"

"Many of them kill humans for food," Gus added. "For example, those boar demons you saved me from when we first met would have likely killed and eaten both of us if Ella hadn't stepped in."

When Xaphile blanched, even Lucy shivered a little.

"Yeah," she muttered, fiddling with one of her pigtails, "even Fairy Tail has had a few run-ins with demons in the past, and trust me, they're pretty terrifying. In fact, a group of them nearly managed to wipe us out."

Ella stiffened.

"Surely you jest!" she growled. "Fairy Tail is the strongest Wizard's Guild in Fiore!"

"The demons we fought were stronger than us," Lucy explained, shaking her head; then her eyes shifted and became somewhat downcast. "In order to beat them, I had to abandon one of my oldest and dearest friends."

An uncomfortable pause filled the air, and for a long time, nothing was said.

They rode in total silence.

After a while, though, Ella glanced off to the east and saw that it was beginning to brighten.

"Enough of this dark talk," she sighed, scratching her chin. "Explain more of your world to me when we get out of here. Doubts aside, I admit... I am very intrigued by it."

"I'll say," Amelia sleepily mumbled, making Xaphile jump and glance at her; her eyes were still closed, but she was smirking. "Some of what I heard sounds incredible... I'd have loved to have seen it. Towers that touch the sky... and men who could fly anywhere? It sounds... amazing."

Xaphile frowned and looked away from her.

"It was."

"So, where are we heading?" Amelia called, finally sitting up and opening her eyes with a yawn. "I slept half the night, so I'm actually quite full of energy again."

"Well, considering Gus, Miss Heartfillia, and I have all had no sleep," Ella murmured, glancing at the position of the rising sun, "I'd say we'll be traveling a few more kilometers before setting up camp for the day. If, that is, none of you have any qualms about traveling at night."

Nobody spoke up when she pointedly glanced back at them.

"We understand," Lucy told her, "but please, don't call me Miss Heartfillia. Just Lucy. Okay?"

"As you wish... Lucy."

"Well, now that we're done with that... Phil, are you ready?" Amelia asked, digging around in her bag with a focused expression. "I'd like to begin teaching you a bit about yourself."

His lips pressed into a flat line.

"If you say so," he eventually muttered, watching as she pulled the red book out. "You left off at the part about me being a Primordial Sprite... I think."

"Yep!" Amelia drawled, flipping the book open. "I was reading through some of the books I brought with me last night, and I need to make something clear. What I'm about to teach you is, by its very nature, incomplete."

"Incomplete?"

"Yes," Amelia confirmed. "Primordial Sprites have always been extremely mysterious, and because of that, the few tomes I have that describes them only explain a few basic things."

"Whatever you can tell me is fine, I guess," Xaphile nonchalantly noted. "As long it prevents this so-called magic of mine from spiraling out of whack, I'm good."

"Like I said, before I can truly help you with that," she firmly told him, "you need a basic education on the subject of your race, as well as magic itself. It's hopelessly confusing to start in the middle of such complex topics without understanding the foundation on which they stand."

"Then, where are we beginning?" he questioned. "Where we left off?"

"No," she giggled, "we're starting with the very basic beginning: the life cycle of Primordial Sprites. If that doesn't wear you out, we'll continue to another topic."

"By all means, then."

With a grin, Amelia proceeded to explain how sprites pursued each other and... mated.

Much to his chagrin, the topic made his face burn bright red.

Halfway through her explanation on how they courted each other, however, he broke in.

"Dude, I'm not an animal!" he squalled, making her blink and look up from the book. "Screw all that stuff about dominance and submission! I will never, and I do mean never, act like that towards a woman! Period! That's not how my mind works!"

"Well, that may be so," Amelia noted, looking at his quivering ears and red cheeks with amusement, "but that's how others of your race do things. Domination apparently plays a big part in Fae society."

"That's totally barbaric!" Ella instantly called, making him hunch his shoulders. "Fighting for dominance? Forcing a chosen lover into submission? Your race sounds more like dogs in heat than the enchanting creatures my father always told me the Fairy Folk were."

"Being a little barbaric in bed is a good thing," Gus pointed out, loftily waggling his eyebrows when the girls glared at him reproachfully. "You kids haven't gotten old enough to experience that sort of thing, so you wouldn't know, but it's the truth."

"I doubt that," Ella sniffed, turning her nose up.

"Can we talk about something else?" Lucy tentatively chuckled, waving her hands. "Please? I mean, it's a little awkward..."

"Awkward or not, it's the truth," Gus sniggered, smirking in her direction. "Personally speaking, I've come to discover that the wilder your partner is, the more pleasurable the experience becomes. And since Primordial Sprites sound like they'd be very wild bedfellows... well, you know. Sounds like a good time."

"GUS!" Amelia squealed, covering her ears and turning bright red. "YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF A LADY OR THREE!"

"I beg your pardon?!" Ella snapped, instantly whirling around. "Did you just say or three?"

"I can't hear you!" Amelia called, keeping her eyes squeezed shut. "Wait until Gus is finished being a lech to scold me, please!"

When the blonde man let out a booming belly laugh, Lucy face-palmed and Xaphile's furry ears drew back.

"How did I get roped into this?" she grumbled, taking a deep breath.

"Eh, well, whatever," Gus sighed, wiping his eyes with a mischievous grin. "I found the part about sealing them to you with a kiss to be particularly interesting. That kind of magic seems like it would be potentially incredible. Being tied together like that makes a normal marriage seem pale in comparison."

"I agree, but since it seems to be making everyone uncomfortable," Amelia grumbled, shaking her head with an embarrassed flush, "let's move onto what they eat, instead."

The girl then continued her lecture: she explained what and when sprites usually ate.

However, halfway through explaining that they were herbivores... she froze.

For a long time, she was quiet.

So quiet, in fact, that Lucy spoke up.

"Everything all right?" she called. "Why'd you stop? It was getting interesting."

"Phil," she murmured, setting the book down and hastily turning in the saddle. "Look at me."

Xaphile twitched when she grabbed his head without warning and turned it to face her, blinking rapidly as she gently used both thumbs to pull his lips back.

Then she peered at his teeth.

"Wha' are y' doin'?" he sloppily demanded, glaring when she touched the tip of his tooth. "Shtop! Get y'r fingersh out of m' moush, for Pete shake!"

After a few more seconds, her face relaxed and she let go.

"You must never eat meat unless it's an emergency," she firmly told him. "Am I clear?"

"Why?" he asked, scowling in confusion. "Hardly seems like something to do in an emergency..."

Then he remembered what had happened the previous evening and clamped a hand to his mouth.

"Your teeth grew last night, didn't they?" she asked, picking the book back up. "Primordial Sprites can apparently induce a savage and very ancient form of magic called the Blood Rage through eating meat."

"Seriously?" he whispered.

"Yes," she confirmed, "but doing so is extremely dangerous, since it runs the risk of you temporarily losing all of your conscious will. And some physical changes to your body could even become permanent if you're not careful."

Xaphile's eyes widened.

"Yeah, okay, that's a little unnerving," he whispered, dragging his hood up. "Let's move on, shall we?"

And so, it went.

Two more hours passed unheeded as they talked.

Eventually, Ella brought their conversation to a halt by stopping her horse in the middle of a small glade.

Xaphile clumsily reigned in his own horse, and the others did the same.

"This will do," she sighed, shaking her head. "Let's set up camp for now. I am very, very tired."

Xaphile watched how she carefully dismounted and tied her exhausted horse to a fallen log.

When the others did the same, he hesitantly tried to get out of the saddle, but slipped and landed on the ground hard. His legs, shockingly, actually buckled. With a startled yelp, he planted face-first into the ground and spit out a clump of dirt once he could sit up.

Confused and irritable, he looked at his legs and shakily stood back up, ignoring the dirty look Ella was giving him. After that, they hastily set up camp and Gus got a fire going. While he tended to the flames, Amelia smoothed out the dress she was wearing.

"My gown has a lot of creases in it now because of how far I had to push my skirts up," she sighed, fiddling with one of her glossy brown braids. "Really, dresses are ill-suited for traveling."

"I hope you brought something other than gowns," Lucy murmured, unpacking her things. "It'll be very hard on you if that's all you thought to bring."

"Oh, I brought some travel friendly clothes, don't worry," she exclaimed, waving her hands. "It's just, I had no time to change yesterday, that's all. Speaking of which, how, are we going to bathe?"

"There's a river nearby, thankfully," Gus told them, making the girls glance up. "I've been through this area before. This time of year, the water should feel very pleasant, so you can use that if you're really craving a wash. I'm probably going to bathe in it myself before I sleep for the day."

"Same!" Lucy sighed, stretching and busying herself with digging around in her pack. "All I can smell is horse, so I feel kind of gross."

Ella looked at Xaphile out of the corner of her eye, watching as he took his hooded shirt off. His lean, corded muscles rippled when he folded it up and shook his long hair out. She involuntarily winced when she saw the horrible scars and thin scabs stretching all across his back, but then his hair slid back and covered them.

"I think I'll simply eat and go to sleep," she muttered. "I'm not feeling grubby enough for a wash."

She was just about to sit down and make herself comfortable when a glittering, rainbow-winged butterfly fluttered past her nose. She blinked several times before she tore her hood off and stared at it in shock.

A rainbow butterfly...? she silently whispered, blankly watching the glittering creature. What could this mean?! Has a higher deity sent one to bless our journey?

She didn't know, but Rainbow Butterflies were rumored to bless those they landed on. Fortune always smiled upon people who were touched by the glitter on their wings. She watched in disbelief, not liking what she was seeing... not liking the path it was taking... but sure enough, when Xaphile turned, it fluttered close to him.

When it landed on the golden locket around his neck, he glanced down in confusion.

Waves of sparkles rained down on the necklace, bathing it and his collarbone in glitter.

For several moments, the little butterfly sat there and flapped its wings, raining glitter on his chest, but then it fluttered above him and coated his body in sparkles. When it flew away, he lifted his clawed hand to try and touch it, but by then it was out of reach.

Then, as if the gods were purposely trying to send Ella a message of some sort, the clouds parted for a moment and Xaphile was bathed in sunlight. A gentle wind swept through the grass as he stood stock still, holding his arm out to the sky. His pale skin looked so bright that he almost seemed to be glowing.

His body was sparkling all over because of the butterfly's magic.

When he finally lowered his arm, however, his eyes had gone dead.

Hands hanging limply, he slowly turned his head and looked straight at her, long black hair drifting behind him in the breeze. For a long moment, something in his face seemed fragile and cold... but then, clouds drifted over the sun again and the fleeting expression of emotional fragility vanished.

The spell that had fallen over her broke and she looked away.

"Phil," Amelia murmured, looking at him out of the corner of her eye once he sat down. "That butterfly is a good omen! A very good omen! They bring fortune to whoever is touched by those glittering lights you just saw! Did you know that?"

"No," he said blankly, staring at the ground, "but good news is better than bad news, I guess."

Amelia winced since the air almost vibrated with the heaviness of his tone. His actions, mannerisms, and even his speech caught all of them off guard from time to time. There were moments when he really did seem like he was from a completely different place, moments when his expressions became otherworldly, in a way.

"How are you holding up, boy?" Gus inquired, gesturing to his legs. "You sore?"

"Yeah, actually," he reluctantly admitted. "It put a lot of stress on my legs."

"Then we'll rest up for a while to make up for it," Gus sighed, pulling out several food ingredients. "For now, time for dinner."

"At least it's cloudy today," Ella murmured, glancing up at the sky. "I won't burn as badly."

"Covering yourself up with dark clothing will help to deflect the UV rays," Xaphile absently noted, shuffling around in his own bag. "So will shade, and directly avoiding sunlight."

Ella paused, blinking in confusion; then she looked at him with a suspicious frown.

"U... V... rays?" she demanded. "What are... those?"

"Eh?" Xaphile asked, eyes going blank before he remembered where he was. "Er... well, UV stands for Ultraviolet Radiation."

When four sets of eyes stared blankly, looking even more confused, he wondered just how scientifically underdeveloped Earthland truly was.

"I don't understand," Amelia explained, slowly shaking her head. "Ultraviolet... radiation?"

"Okay, look," Xaphile sighed, grimly realizing he might have to explain it from a very basic beginning. "You guys might not know this, but the sun emits a form of energy called ultraviolet radiation. We don't just get light from it. The sun is made up of a lot of things, and because of that, it emits a lot of things, too."

Lucy's brows furrowed and Amelia gasped, looking shocked.

"You know what the sun is made of?" the latter whispered. "Phil! Tell me! What is the sun made of?!"

Slowly continuing what she was doing, Amelia tried to focus, but she didn't take her eyes off him.

"Well, in a nutshell, it's a big ball of fire, fueled by gases," he explained, frowning as he thought about it. "The sun is actually a star, just like the ones you see at night: they're all the same. It just looks as big and bright as it does because it's closer than the other stars."

"What?" Gus scoffed, not believing his ears. "That doesn't make sense! Not at all! If it's a star, and it's brighter because it's closer... then why, exactly, does it light our whole world? And why does it disappear?"

"Because the world spins," Xaphile explained, lifting a clawed hand. "If Earthland is anything like Earth, this world spins on an axis. Back where I was born, the reason we got different seasons was because Earth orbited our sun."

They all looked baffled.

"How?" Ella demanded, looking mind boggled and extremely disgruntled simultaneously. "Explain!"

"Well, gravity," Xaphile sighed, picking up a stone and tossing it into the air; they all watched as it flew up, then came back down. "All things, no matter what they are, have something called mass: that stone, those horses, our food, and even us. Things with a lot of mass tend to be heavier."

"Ehhh?!" Lucy gasped, eyes widening in shock. "I think I know what you mean! It's like, when you lift a book and a traveling pack, right? The book is lighter than the pack! So, you're saying it's because of mass?!"

"Yeah, basically," he explained, shrugging. "Things with more mass are heavier because gravity affects them more. The bigger and more solid the object, the heavier it gets."

"What does any of this have to do with our world spinning and going around the sun?!" Ella snapped, folding her arms with an impatient expression. "Tell me!"

"Everything," Xaphile snorted, glaring at her. "Like I said, everything has mass, and that includes the world beneath our feet. There are things so big and so full of mass that they can draw other things to them. Earthland is literally just a very, very big hunk of rock that's holding down everything you see with its own gravitational pull."

"And the part about the sun? Go on! Tell us!"

"The sun has enough gravity to keep this world locked into a specific circular path. The planet spins in two ways: one, it goes around the sun in a yearly orbit, and two, it spins as it does so, giving us the impression of day and night."

"That doesn't necessarily explain why the sun is bigger than the other stars," Lucy told him. "I'm finding it hard to believe."

"Just because it seems bigger doesn't mean it is," Xaphile snorted, rolling his eyes. "It's definitely closer than those other stars, but the sun is around the same size as the rest of them."

Amelia's eyes sparkled with shock at the news.

"Really?! Phil, that's amazing! How do you know all this?!"

"I was taught it," he said simply, looking at the ground. "Where I come from, civilization is actually way more advanced than it is here."

"That's incredible!" Amelia exclaimed, looking up at the sky. "So, how far away are all the stars?"

"There's no way of knowing that, but I can honestly tell you," Xaphile snorted, closing his eyes, "that they're so far away, even the people on Earth could only guess. You could probably stack this entire world a million times over and you wouldn't even be a third of the way to your sun."

"Eh?!" Amelia squealed, eyes extremely wide. "Really?!"

"Yeah," he confirmed. "The darkness you see between the stars in the sky is called space, Amelia... it's an emptiness that stretches on so far that you could only think of it as eternity."

The girl looked as if she were about to explode with delight.

"Would you tell me more?" she asked, looking at him like a child asking for a story. "Please?"

"Uh, sure... if you want me to," Xaphile mumbled, feeling kind of disgruntled. "There's a lot I could tell you, but honestly, I don't exactly think you'd find it interesting."

"Oh, but I do!" Amelia exclaimed. "I've never heard anything equal to it! It's incredible, Phil! To think, you know what the sun is made of! I never knew it was like a big lantern! What kind of oil do you think it runs on?"

The question was so absurd, yet so ridiculously genuine, that it actually caused the impossible. Before he could stop it from happening, a strangely light feeling abruptly bubbled up his throat. His face twitched a few times, lips shakily tilting upward. Then, a very small fit of laughter escaped from his mouth.

Everyone halted and stared at him in shock, but none looked more startled than Ella.

Eyes wide, she blinked at the boyish and goofy smile on his face, only made goofier thanks to the sight of his sharp fangs glinting in the sunlight. For a moment, he actually looked like a normal teenager.

When he finally stopped laughing, his eyes were much mellower than usual.

"Okay, okay, wrong," he sighed, shaking his head with a very rare smirk. "It's not oil, Amelia, it's gas. A good example of a common gas would be... well, air. You know, what we breathe?"

"Air?" Amelia whispered, looking quite dizzy with shock. "You know what air is made of, too?"

"Yep. A substance called oxygen, which is a gas," he confirmed, nodding once. "There are many different types of gases, and since the sun is made up of some really hot gases, it burns. That's why we can see it, and at a stretch, even why any of us are alive right now. The sun keeps the world warm and gives us light."

"Is that so?" Ella murmured, tilting her head before she tossed the vegetables Gus had pulled out onto a frying pan. "How interesting."

Xaphile's eyes returned to their lackluster visage when he detected the sarcasm in her tone.

"If you don't believe me, that's your problem," he noted with a cold expression on his face, "but belief alone doesn't affect reality. What I've said is the absolute truth."

When she sneered, he stood up and irritably stalked off.

"Don't go too far away!" Amelia called, worriedly giving him a glance. "We'll be eating soon!"

"Fine," he called, letting out a sigh. "I won't."

"And can you tell me more later?" she added. "Please?"

He paused, then gave a wave, not really sure how to answer that.

He didn't really want to talk about science anymore.

He didn't even want to think about it.

Not just because of how anxious the reality that he was stuck had made him, but because he was finding it harder and harder to comprehend anything that was going on. As a boy who had been raised with a present-day Earth mindset, he couldn't exactly wrap his head around the concept of being on another world, or whatever the hell Earthland truly was.

He'd read books on mythology, had been writing a story of his own on Irish mythology, and he'd seen movies filled to the brim with supernatural people and creatures... but he'd never once believed any of them could have been real. Much less that he himself would have ever turned into one.

He only turned back when the smell of cooking food met his nose.

Upon arrival, Amelia handed him a glowing china plate, which he took without asking questions. A glowing dish was literally the least bizarre of all the things he'd seen so far.

During the meal, though, Gus looked up and regarded him curiously.

"Hey, Phil," he gruffly called. "Once we finish our meal, will you come with me for a swim in the river?"

It was so abrupt that it actually came as a surprise.

Xaphile stared at him, considering the offer with an inscrutable expression.

It didn't sound like a bad idea, and since he was kind of craving a shower, he figured he might as well.

"Sure," he eventually murmured. "A cold wash sounds good to me."

"Great," Gus chuckled. "Let's finish eating first, though."

Xaphile responded by going back to his food.

Once he'd finished, he got up and started trotting through the trees toward the sound of fresh, cool water without waiting. It took him only a few minutes to get to the river, but once he was there, he looked around and purposely made sure there was nobody else around.

Feeling oddly uncomfortable, he began to undress, carefully undoing the front of his trousers and shrugging them off before slipping out of his underwear. He folded both articles of clothing and set them on the river bank, then turned towards the water.

For a long moment after he was nude, he looked down at himself.

At the features that now made him something other than human.

A strong breeze swept through the clearing when he lifted his hands, gazing at the sharp-looking black claws stretching out of them. Slowly closing his palms, he frowned in dismay, then dropped his arms and walked into the river, letting it flow up to his waist before he dunked beneath the surface. The cold water slid over his bare skin and washed out his long hair, refreshing him completely and making him feel alive.

After a few moments of swimming underwater, he broke free of the surface and took a deep breath.

Wet tail flicking around, he paddled contentedly for a while, then floated on his back and let the current carry him. Every now and then, he swam back upstream and repeated the process, not even noticing when Octavius came lumbering through the trees and started undressing.

Rolling his shoulders, the man tentatively stepped into the river.

"Ah," Gus drawled, sinking down and closing his eyes. "I was right... the water is perfect."

"It's a nice temperature," Xaphile agreed, lazily drifting along with the current. "It's a little cool, but not enough to be uncomfortable."

After that, the two of them just relaxed for a while, neither one speaking.

"How's your back?" Gus eventually inquired, making Xaphile glance at him. "I saw it earlier... your flesh still hasn't fully healed up, and you're constantly rubbing your neck and sides."

"I'm better. I'm still aching a bit from being kicked around, but my back doesn't even hurt anymore as long as I'm careful."

"Well, you may still have to take it easy for a while," Gus gently noted. "You didn't have any broken bones from what I could tell, but fractures are another story."

Xaphile stood up and stretched when he heard that, letting out a yawn.

He was sore, but still...

However, when he noticed Gus staring at his lower torso with raised eyebrows, he abruptly lowered a hand to cover his groin.

"Damn, kid," the blonde muttered, giving him a disbelieving expression. "You may be young, but physically, you're already more of a man than most of the blokes in Chisago! Even me! Are you part horse or somethin'?!"

Xaphile's eyebrow twitched and his face flamed bright red with an embarrassed flush.

Abruptly wading over, he violently punched the blonde on top of the head.

"OW! The hell was that for?!"

"Never comment on my physique again," Xaphile growled, stalking over to the shoreline and sitting down to air dry himself; his hair was just long enough to hide his privates, so that's exactly what he used it for. "Pervert."

"It was only a question!" Gus barked, rubbing his head. "Damn... didn't need to hit so hard."

Xaphile sat staring off into space for several minutes while he waited for his body to dry off.

"I feel a little better," he eventually muttered, standing up and stretching his muscles; after braiding back his hair to keep it from sticking to his body, he shrugged his clothes on again. "I'm going for a small walk... I'll return to the camp in a little while, promise."

"Don't wander too far!" Gus called, watching as he slid through the trees. "Be careful!"

"I will!" he snapped. "Geez."

He looked up at the sky as he padded away from the river, running a hand through his hair. Sunlight streamed through the leaves as he walked, listening to the sound of his footsteps on the damp forest path. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment and tried to relax.

It was hard, though.

Shaking his head, he wrung most of the water out of his braid.

Xaphile then turned and gazed back at the barely-visible river before heading off. After about ten minutes of aimless walking, he got bored and turned to head back to the camp... but on his way there, he froze in his tracks and his eyes inexplicably went blank.

A shiver ran down his spine, making the mane of fur beneath his hooded shirt stand on end.

For a moment, he genuinely felt like someone was watching him.

Someone who definitely wasn't giving off a friendly vibe.

Slowly turning around, he looked behind him with a confused expression.

"Hello?" he carefully inquired, scanning the trees with furrowed brows. "Is someone there?"

No response other than the sound of wind in the leaves.

For a long moment, he listened to the sounds around him... furry ears twitching involuntarily at every single sound. After a moment, he merely shook his head and turned to go, figuring it was probably him just overreacting. If he considered his circumstances, it wouldn't be surprising.

But that's when it happened.

He stiffened when he heard running footsteps, but before he could so much as whirl around with a roundhouse, a strong hand gripped his hair and jerked him backwards. Xaphile's heart palpitated when his head was yanked back and the sensation of cold metal was pressed against his throat.

"Don't make a sound, otherwise I'll slit you open," a male voice hissed, making him blink. "Now... walk."

Wordlessly, he did as he was told... but one thing was certain.

He was in some very serious trouble.