~Backstage~

Zayril: Hey guys! Sorry for this late chapter.

Josh: Late as in SUPER late.

Felix: Yeah, and that's because Zayril was BUSY. As in SUPER BUSY.

Richer: Will you two just keep quiet.

Despair: I want to read it!

Zayril: Well okay, but before the disclaimers, I would like to thank Alec the Dark Angel for his tremendous help in this chapter.

Alec: Glad I could help! And now, for the disclaimers!

Alec, Josh and Felix: Viperwatcher owns nothing except his characters.

Richer and Despair: Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.

Zayril: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.

EXTRA DISCLAIMERS: Richer1992 owns the characters Spirit, Krystal, Amy and Despair.

Chapter 37

Truth of the Matter

After about an hour of training, Despair was finally getting the hang of walking on two legs. He was still a little wobbly though without the use of a tail. It was a strange sensation for him to not have wings or a tail.

"You're getting the hang of it," said Josh, who was helping Despair to walk.

"How do humans walk on two legs without the help of a tail for balance?" asked Despair.

"Well, I think it has to do with the fact that that's how our bodies were made. We just naturally..." Josh turned around quickly when he heard shifting in the other bed. Josh's sudden movement caused Despair to loose his crutch and topple over.

Josh helped Despair back on his feet before going over to check on Felix. The young dragon turned human cracked open his eyes as he began to regain his senses. The first thing he noticed was that he was in a white room. But his vision was still blurry. Then let out yawn before clutching his head as he then felt his head throbbing.

"Ow, my head! What happened?" complained Felix before realizing that when he clutched his head, his horns were gone, "W-what happened to my horns! Did they break off!"

The beeping of the ECG that was hooked up to Felix began to quicken. "Felix, settle down. Everything's alright...sorta." said Josh as he tried to calm Felix down.

Felix looked up at Josh and tried to back away, "Who are you! What are you!" asked Felix nervously.

Despair decided to ease the tension with a sense of humor, "Are you telling me you don't recognize your friends? It's us, Despair and Josh."

"What are you...?" Felix paused when he saw his...hand! Suddenly, the beeping of the ECG quickened again.

"Relax Felix. You're fine. You're just in the realm that your father grew up in," said Josh trying to calm Felix down.

"You mean...I'm in the Other World?" asked Felix as he slightly began to calm down, "Then that means..."

"That you're human," said Josh, finishing Felix's statement.

"I'm...human?" asked Felix. Then a huge grin spread across his face, "This is so BOOTLEG!"

The outburst caught Despair and Josh completely surprise. That was the last thing Josh expected to come out of Felix's mouth.

That was a human term.

He must've been very fast learner.

Felix tried standing up afterwards, and most notably fell down. He staggered, and it was only the help of Josh did he managed to somehow get some balance. Despair on the other hand was already walking around the room, if ever so slowly. He was like a paraplegic learning to walk again.

"I think I can do it…" said Felix, after feeling his feet.

It must've felt different for him. Josh was of course, human to begin with, so he didn't have trouble. But his two companions were used to being quadruped; this must've been a new learning experience for the two of them. And Josh had two of them, so he got a handful of two dragon turned human to teach. And in such short notice; Felix on the other hand was enjoying every moment of it.

"So this was how father was?" he asked giddily, walking around, tipsily.

"Yes Felix and be careful!" said Josh, worrying about him greatly. He looked like he could fall down any minute.

"Don't worry Josh! I think I've got the hang of it," he said, managing to actually twirl on one foot. But after spinning, he got slightly dizzy and actually clung on the wall. Despair chuckled.

"That was….different!" said Felix, being ecstatic about this whole ordeal.

"How are you faring Despair?" asked Josh, walking over to him.

"Fine…I guess. This walking on two legs thing is challenging. But I think I'm coping."

Josh nodded, feeling happy that his two friends were fast learners.

Just then, the door opened and in came in Max with a big bag. He was surprised to see Felix and Despair awake, but nonetheless entered. Despair tried to be on his guard but failed miserably, seeing as quick actions were still incapable to him. Felix on the other hand just looked warily.

"It seems you two are awake, good," said Max. Josh looked and saw the two were tense. He remembered that the two didn't actually know the guy.

"Guys, relax, this is Max; a friend." Max waved to them as he opened the bag whilst Felix and Despair introduced themselves.

"Nice to meet you Max," said the two in sync.

"I'm Despair."

"And I'm Felix!"

"Nice to meet you two; now…can you three come over here for a while?" asked Max, getting some things in the bag.

"What is it Max?" asked Josh.

"I got you some spare clothes. That's why I went away for a bit," said Max, handing each of them some sets of clothes. Josh got himself a yellow shirt, Felix, an orange shirt and Despair a black shirt. And they each got a set of underwear, along with some shorts.

"Uh…How do I wear this?" asked Despair.

"Oh my gas…" was the entire thing Josh could say.

"Uh…I'll leave you three to your endeavor. I'll be waiting outside once you three have a change of clothes."

With that, Max left, leaving Josh to helping his two companions into their clothing. Not that he minded, but the entire thought of it made it feel so awkward to him.

"Well…okay, Despair, Felix, I need you two to take your clothes off…" said Josh, just sighing.

And as Max closed the door behind him, he overheard Felix say, "Hey Josh! I have a tail!"

0 0 0 0 0

A few minutes later, the door opened and Max turned his head to see the three boys strode off in front of him and align in somewhat of a row. Josh was at the middle, looking tired.

"I never knew teaching people how to wear clothes was tiring," said Josh.

"What! How was I supposed to know that that was supposed to be the hole for your head!" said Despair, pointing to his head section.

"Well, as you three were changing clothes, I went downstairs and got you three each discharged. Josh," said Max turning to Josh. "Your parents are coming over to meet you."

"What!" exclaimed Josh.

"Well, that is normal, they were worried sick about you," said Max.

"Well it would be nice to meet Josh's parents," said Despair.

"No Despair. It's not that. I can't…face them…now."

Everyone turned to Josh surprised at his statement.

"Why? What's wrong Josh? Are you in bad terms with your parents?" asked Felix. He shook his head vigorously.

"No. It's not that. It's because…"

Josh sighed. This was a tough one.

"…you two are still here. What will I say to them? I don't even know what reason I can come up with to tell them what happened to me. Let alone, what if, I have to go back? Back to the Neo Dragon Realms…what then; I can't tell them that I'm leaving. Nor can I run away," explained Josh. "And, I can't leave you two behind. What if something bad happened back at Neo Dragon Realms?"

Josh was once again presented with a dilemma with no clear answer. He couldn't tell his parents of his situation. It's not that he couldn't tell them, but it was about them believing him. Demex's parents believed him when he needed to go back; would his parents be the same?

"Josh…" began Max. "I think…the best thing is…you should just tell them. Tell them of your situation. It's for the best anyway. They're your parents and they have the right to know, at least, what's going on with you."

Josh thought hard, deeply and long before coming up with an answer.

He nodded.

"I guess you're right. I'll just tell them and hope for the best."

0 0 0 0 0

The elevator edged downward as Max pressed the down button. Felix and Despair both stared at their surroundings, both awestruck. Josh on the other hand looked at their faces and remembered something quite important.

"Despair, Felix," addressed Josh. The two turned to face him. "Since you two are now humans, you have to act like humans." Felix raised a brow.

"How?" Felix asked curiously.

"Well…just…try not to wander off and talk to strangers. People you don't know. Avoid eye contact, and speaking with anyone, aside from us, are best done for now. Understand?" asked Josh.

Despair and Felix nodded. They could do that. That wasn't much of a problem.

Then at that moment, the elevator dinged, making Felix and Despair startled, but they regained their composure. The door opened and out they were at the Hospital Lobby. The Hospital Lobby was pretty much the same as any normal hospital lobby. The area was filled with chairs, along with some patients and nurses walking around. Since it was late at the afternoon, and visiting hours for the normally housed patients were over, there were fewer people.

Despair and Felix couldn't help but stare at the people all over them. This was the first time they saw a lot of people at one area. And it amazed them.

"I'll just go to the Reception Desk and confirm your discharge," said Max.

"I guess we'll wait here then," said Josh.

He approached one of the old generic hospital chairs bolted to the ground, and sat on it. Despair and Felix did the same, but their heads were turning everywhere, still taking in everything.

Josh sighed as he felt the gravity of the situation presented to him. How would he even begin to tell his parents?

Author's Notes: To all my readers:

If there are some errors in this chapter, I am sorry. I REALLY RUSHED in doing this.

Please take some time to R&R.

Please take some time to visit the website.

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