I own nothing. Everyting is owned by the respective copyright/trademark owners.
With that in mind, let's turn the crazy up to eleven, shall we?
Now, Shinji Ikari had never traveled much when he was younger. This was mostly due to the fact that losing their son to the Impact Wars, the Impact Wars themselves, and then later, their sister and her husband to the same entity that had initiated Impact. They were told that powerful wards had been emplaced on the grounds of their home, making it a safe place for the boy to grow up. They weren't stupid, they knew what that meant, despite the fact that the wizards didn't come put and say it; that there was still a danger to the boy. Not wanting to lose the last remnant of the family, they had hidden him away from the world on the farmland. Only when it came time for him to begin to attend school did they relent enough to send him down the road to the retired teacher's farm, with strict instructions that if anything strange or out of the ordinary were to occur, to run home and hide in the bomb shelter that they had built into the basement.
Now he was traveling by himself, alone and on his own for the first time. When you added into the fact that he was fifteen, shy, and didn't ever want to be a bother to anyone, you had a recipe for disaster. When you added all of this to the fact that he wasn't just a normal kid, and had worse things to worry about than someone stealing his money, tickets, or kidnapping him, well, any outside observer would just know that something horrible was going to happen.
Shinji was happily oblivious to this however.
The first day started off well enough, he was dropped off at the station by the chatty policeman. He had asked a lot of questions that he couldn't answer, but that hadn't dented the man's cheery demeanor any. He had wished him well and went on his way. What Shinji didn't know was that the man, sensing the potiential for disaster that the quiet boy had, remained in the station until the train arrived and he watched the boy get on. Following his return to the police station, he emailed a picture of the boy and his itenrary to the security desk at the Nottingham-2 Train Station, along with a request that they keep an eye on the boy.
Unfortunately, Shinji would never arrive at that station.
The tickets that had been provided by the mysterious headmaster were all first class tickets. Shinji felt somewhat out of place with his somewhat grubby clothing compared to the business suits and expensive looking clothing of the rest of the people in first class. This, and because of his wanting to be left alone, led him to go looking for the least occupied cabin. He found one with only one other occupant, already asleep, ticket sitting next to him on the seat. Watching the figure momentarily, trying to see if he really was asleep, he entered the cabin and sat across from him. He put his headphones in, and settled down to try to catch up on the sleep that hadn't been coming in plentiful amounts in the past three days.
When he woke up several hours later, he found his ticket stub sitting in his lap, and a youth traveling alone pass which, according to the back, entitled him to a complementary kids meal at all meal times on the trains and in the train stations, as well as a free juice from off the drinks cart.
His traveling companion was awake, and reading a book. Seeing that the boy was awake, he set his book down, allowing Shinji his first real good look at the man.
He was tall, and a westerner, with blue eyes and rust colored hair. He had stubble that looked like it hadn't seen a razor in several days. His hair was short, and it looked like it had been hacked at with a pair of scissors, rather than professionally done, or done by someone with even a little practice. He was tanned, with the exception of the pale scar tissue that crawled around his face, like someone had tried putting a map on his cheek with a knife. On closer inspection, the dusty black suit he wore was somewhat shabby looking, as if it had been worn and slept in for several days now. When he spoke, his voice was smooth and even, like the radio hosts for the classical music radio station he listened to at times.
"So, child, it seems that we are to be traveling companions, for a time at least." He nodded at the youth pass sitting in Shinji's lap. "So where are you traveling, all by yourself?" He folded his book shut without bothering to mark his place. Shinji felt himself begin to sweat under the instant questioning, the man's piercing gaze not helping matters at all.
"Umm.. I'm going to Tokyo-3. To a school." Shinji managed to talk without stuttering too much, which he felt was a major accomplishment. This man was weird.
"Ahh, the third Tokyo. A marvel of many things, Tokyo-3. It is, however, not so nearly grand as it's predecessors, in my opinion. Tokyo-1 had been an ancient city, a city of real substance. A city with history." He paused, his eyes seeming to focus on something far off, even though he was still looking at Shinji. "I'm not saying that there aren't ancient parts of Tokyo-3, if one knows where to look. Indeed, there are some parts of Tokyo-3 that are more ancient than Tokyo-1 ever was." He laughed, a cheerless sound if there ever was one. He paused again, focusing back on Shinji, and then frowned slightly. "Boy, if you don't mind me asking, what is your name?"
Shinji, wishing for nothing but to go back to sleep or for the man to go back to his book, decided to just answer the question in hopes that he lost his intrest in him. "My name's Shinji Ikari."
This did exactly the opposite of causing the man to lose his interest in the boy. "Shinji Ikari? Ikari, you say? Any relation to one Gendo Ikari, would you be?" His hand, quick as a serpent, snuck out and grabbed the boy's chin, bringing him closer for a better inspection. "Yes, yes I can see it. You greatly resemble your mother, but I seem him in you." Releasing the shocked boy, he stood, and bowed deeply. "I apologise for my impertinence, lord. Please accept my greatest of apologies. I served your father in the wars, and was unable to be on hand when the greatest of disasters struck. But this I swear to you; I shall do everything that is within my power to ensure that nothing of the like happens to you; even if it so costs me my life. I serve another Master now, but not by choice. But if you are traveling to the school, then things must be moving."
He paused in his bizarre ramblings, and Shinji took this chance to interrupt. "Sir? What are you talking about? My father was a farmer, like my uncle. He never fought in the Impact Wars, but my cousin did. And I'm not a lord, I'm not related at all to the royal family."
The man looked at him in shock. "You do not know of your past, of your history? You, the son of one of the greatest sorcerers and wizards of all time; the man who bested the High Priest of the Old Ones? The one whose loss the Shoggoths mourn even now? And above all that, you, the boy who lived? The boy who, as an infant, bested The One who Must not be Named? The ruler of the Lake of Hali? The Cyborg?" He paused once more, his voice dropping to a dark whisper. "The King in Yellow? You know nothing of this?"
Shinji had crawled backwards as far as he could in an attempt to put distance between himself and this madman. What on earth was he talking about? He had never heard of a Lake of Hali, and the only King he knew of was King Westcraft. He certainly had never heard of him having a fondness for the color yellow before. And what was a shoggoth? Was that even a real word?
The man, seeing the fear in the boy's eyes, sighed. "I'm sure that there is a good reason for you to not know of any of this. You said you were going to a school, yes? Tell me, is this possibly the Academy of GERHIN? Ah, don't say anything. I see it in your face. Yes, well, trust me on this, lord. Do not blindly accept everything that they tell you. Your parents were betrayed by someone there, I do not know who. All your father's servants seek even now that traitor, may he be thrice dammed. Keep an open mind. Your father served with them, and counted them as a great ally, GERHIN. But he kept things from them even so. He was far greater than they ever knew, and he did not chain himself to the petty moralities they hold so dear. Your father was about your age when Impact occurred, and from the ashes of the world that was he made himself into one of the most powerful men in the world. He did not accomplish this feat by blindly accepting everything they offered him."
Shinji nodded, his eyes wide. Just what was he getting into? This man knows about GERHIN, and he knew his father's name without being told. And he said that he looked like his mother, something that he had heard before. What was going on?
The man stood, stretching. "I see that I have deeply troubled you with my words. Trust me, this was not my intent. I will take my leave of you, but if you have questions you wish to ask of me, I will be in the cabin next door." He stopped at the door. "I am not going onto Tokyo-3, but I will ensure that you get on the next train unhindered by any of these petty muggles." He practially sneered the last word out, before turning and leaving. Shinji stared at the door in disbelief.
What is going on here? Who are these people, and what do they want? What's a muggle? Is it a curse word or something? What wasn't I told about my parents. What about my mom? All he's done is go on and on about my dad. Why didn't Aunt and Uncle tell me about any of this?
His thoughts were interrupted as the train jerked suddenly, and he went flying in the cabin as the train car was thrown up in the air as the train derailed. Slamming into the wall, he rolled down to the ceiling, only to be thrown back up as the car kept lurching about. He heard the scream of abused metal being torn and ripped, and then his own screams as his his arm broke. The screams of others joined in with the general cacophony, and then he heard a strange buzzing noise, like a thousand bees. He heard the voice of the scarred man, whose name he had never gotten, screaming some nonsense, and the last thing he saw before he blacked out was a bright, multicolored light exploding from the man's hands as he stood over him.
Einz, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Shinji groaned. His head hurt, no, his head felt like someone wearing steel toed boots had tap danced on it. He tried to look around, but wherever it was he was at was completely dark.
Oddly enough, while one might think that the accumulated strangeness of the going-ons he had been subjected to would reduce the introverted and shy boy into a quivering, whimpering wreck, he felt nothing more strongly than annoyance. This realization came as a shock to him.
What is wrong with me? I should have wet myself by now. Am I in a hospital? He found that he could sit up, and while the movement did horrors for his throbbing head, he found that his right arm as tied off in a sling to his chest. It hurt less than his head. I don't think hospital rooms are completely dark like this. The ones Aunt and Uncle were in weren't. What happened back there? Did the train crash? What was that noise? What did that guy do?
Carefully, he felt for the edge of what he supposed was a bed and reached with his legs for the ground. With his uninjured hand held in front of him, he started feeling around for a light switch, or a door. This is insane. If this is a hospital, it's got to be the worst one in the world. I mean, who leaves someone in a completely dark room? I can't even see my hand.
He found a door knob, and twisted it. It turned silently under his hand, and he was rewarded with a hallway light by soft blue light, lined with windowless doors like the one he had just opened. Looking down, he saw he was still dressed in his clothes, with the sleeve of the broken arm cut away, a cast and sling on it. He decided to go look for a nurse or someone else.
This is ridiculous. They left me in my clothes? They couldn't put me in a hospital gown? Isn't that what hospitals normally do?
After what felt like forever, he came to an elevator. This place seemed very quiet, and even when he tried making noise by stomping his feet on the tile floor, no sound was made. When he had called out for anyone, his voice sounded normal enough.
Entering the elevator and pressing the button for the lobby, he found that the elevator was as soundless as the hallway. There was no ding when the doors opened or closed, no hum of machinery. When the doors opened out on the lobby, he stared in confusion, before stepping out, the doors closing behind him as silently as ever.
The place looked abandoned. There was dust and grime everywhere, and several dirty and stained mattresses were scattered about. This place looked like it was home to several homeless people, not a hospital.
Hearing the first sounds that didn't orginante from himself, he walked around the corner and came face to face with a fat, bald man, wearing a mish-mash of obviously scavenged clothes, who glistened with a sheen of sweat. The man's eyes widened as he saw the boy.
"Oh, oh my. You're awake! We didn't know when you would awaken from your slumber, lord." Shinji cringed at the title.
Not more of these guys, please! His silent prayer went unheeded as the fat man continued on.
"When Aoba brought you here, he of course told us about you. You have nothing to fear. When the Migo attacked your conveyance, Aoba managed to fight them off and bring you here. This is a safe haven. It is not nearly so grand as what we have stayed in, but it is safe. We, ahh, have a way of dealing with trespassers here."
Shinji, deciding that all of this was just a massively long and convoluted dream he was having, decided to just go with the flow. He would wake up soon enough in his bed at home, make breakfast, go to his teacher's house, and go on as he had each day prior.
"Where is here, exactly? I need to go to Tokyo-3. I have to go the school, you see." Shinji looked around for a chair that looked slightly clean to sit down in, and not finding one, elected to remain standing.
"Ah, you are at one of the hidden towns, secreted by magic from the eyes of the muggles." Shinji noted the word again, although the man said it with non of the passion the scarred man had.
"You said that Aoba brought me here? Who is he? Also, I'm sorry, but what's your name?" Shinji decided to try a different track of questioning. "What happened on the train?"
The man smiled, his mouth stretching in a way that it really shouldn't, causing Shinji's stomach to twist a little. "You are so kind, to apologise for not knowing things. It is not your fault, lord, but Aoba was right, you are your father's son. Aoba is the man you meet on the train, the man with the scars on his face. He served your father, like we did. It is our greatest shame, what happened to him.
But my name, well, he said that you knew nothing of the nature of the world. It is not our place to instruct you, young lord, but your name, your real name, the title that is how you see yourself, it is not something that you should just give to anyone, or anything. Names have power, and can be used against you. But for you, my lord I will gladly give you my name, even if you were able to say it properly." At this, he began to make a strange piping and trilling sound, which Shinji knew he never would be able to replicate.
"That's your name? Umm... what should I call you then?"
The man-thing smiled again. "So smart, to ask for another title. Men call me Hoja. I am the leader of our little conclave here. As for what happened on the train, a group of Migo attacked. They were after a little something that Aoba had picked up for his current master, but once they saw you they knew who you were. Your father was a great enemy of the Migo, and it seems that since he is gone, they have transferred the enmity to you."
Watching the boy's face as interest and disbelief play on it, he motioned him to follow. "Come, we have prepared food for you. While you will have many who will gladly and proudly pledge their allegiance to you, you will find that just as many will hold the grudge they held against your father against you. Mighty and terrible are the things that your father stood against, and mighty and terrible are the things that he did against them. These things do not forget, Master Ikari. They do not forget, and they do not forgive. Once word spreads that you are picking up the mantle of your father, the battle will be joined once again. Already I have sent words to other covens. Through the black and the empyrean word spreads. You can count on the Shoggoth. We will stand with you as we did your father." He turned his head, noticing that Shinji had stopped following him and was staring at him in open mouthed horror.
"Battle? Picking up my father's mantle? What do you mean? I was just going to go to school at Tokyo-3. I don't understand..." Just what did my father DO?
The man only smiled kindly. "I know it's all a lot to take in. I'm sure they'll be able to explain it much better than I. We don't interact very much with people, sorcerers or otherwise. But put it out of your mind! Come, and eat. In the morning a guide will arrive to take you to the Ruined City. From there, the Ghouls will take you to Mishima. Once there, you will be able to take a train to Tokyo-3."
Shinji still just stood there, staring. "Gh..ghouls? Like... zombies? What?" This may be just a dream, but why on earth would he want to go someplace where there were zombies?
Hoja threw his hands up, trying to soothe the frighted boy. "No, No, it's not like that. They're not dead. They're just as alive as you or me." He looked at the young lord appraising. He may be his father's son, but he truly knows nothing. What were they thinking? He should have grown up instructed from birth about the greatness of his family line. We would have done it, and gladly.
"Eh, just don't sample their cuisine. We'll pack you food to last you until you reach Mishima."
Shinji took a few tentative steps, before moving to Hoja's side. "Where is Aoba?"
He had to leave. He had to deliver his package, and he went to begin spreading word. You will do great things, Young Master. Great things indeed."
"Umm.. OK." Shinji was silent for a minute as they entered what was obviously the hospital's cafeteria. "Hoja, you and Aoba have talked a lot about my father, but almost nothing about my mom. If he was some great leader, what about her?"
Hoja sighed. He had been dreading this question since Aoba had told him that the boy knew nothing about his parents. Madness and insanity went hand in hand with the powers that the human mages wielded, but it wasn't comforting to hear that one's mother had been a crazed psychopath. He knew enough about humans to know that.
"Well, she was very talented. She could walk in the dream-lands effortlessly, it seemed, and to her, the Hounds of Tindalos acted as puppies. She had mastered the art of astral projection at a very young age, the art of separating her soul from her body. Not just her mind, as when one sleeps to enter the Dream-lands, but full on separation. Those were her greatest talents. She was skilled with some elemental spells, but had no head for alchemy or some of the more so called intellectual skill sets. This isn't to say that she wasn't smart, by human reckoning she was very intelligent. She had no patience for it though. As a woman, she was full of love and full of life. She always had a kind word to say about everyone she met."
He sighed deeply, motioning for Shinji to sit at the table while he disappeared into the back room. When he returned, he held a tray with soup, toast and milk. Setting down before the boy, he also sat.
"However, the powers that mages hold have a price. It's a very delicate dance you see, with the more powerful magics. The smaller spells, and even most of the medium-powered incantations hold no danger to your psyche, but the most powerful, the greatest magic that you can hold, well, it takes it's toll on your mind. Your mother, well, she was mad. Not violently, but still she was touched in the head. The last battle she had fought in had cost her dearly. That was why after the war was over, your father disappeared from public view, keeping in contact only with his most trusted allies from the wars. He wanted to spend the rest of their lives in quiet, tending to her, and when you were born, to you."
Shinji ate mechanically, absorbing all the information. Maybe I should write this down and see what Dr. Hokkada's book on dreams and the psyche says when I wake up. This is some weird shit.
"It happened almost a year after you were born. Somehow, He Who Must Not Be Named, the one who had initiated Impact, had come back out of hiding. What's more, he somehow found out where your father was. Someone had betrayed him to his greatest enemy. He showed up, killed your father and your mother, and then, when he tried to kill you, something happened." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Word is that they found you in a circle of ash fifty feet in diameter. A great cross of fire had burned in the sky, and all seeing stones that people had been using at the time Him burning, wreathed in flames, screaming and turning to ash. Whatever he tried to do to you, well, something went horribly wrong. You disappeared, dropped out of sight. Nobody had even really known who you were, until it had been discovered at where He had met his demise. All anyone knew was that the son of Ikari had killed He Who Must Not Be Named."
Shinji pushed the empty tray away from him and sat back in his chair. "Hoja, I was wondering... you keep talking about his guy. Who was he?"
"It's not my place to say, but the Master of the Lake of Hali was perhaps one of the greatest threats to this world. He was a vile, totally evil being of immense power. His name is not to be mentioned, even now, in his death. Death is not always as permanent as we might wish, and if he were to return, well it would be disastrous. He tried to bring your father in as a protege of his as a young man, but your father refused his evil, and chose to stand against him. While not all of the allies and servants of your father may be considered to be good as man understands the term, your father accepted them under his banner in wars against the forces of total darkness. But that is a story for another time. You must rest more, my lord, to regain your strength. The guide will be here in morning. I am sure that he will gladly regale you with the Ghoul's tales of your father."
"Hoja, you know you don't need to call me lord or anything. It's ok." Shinji replied sleepily. He yawned. He was tired.
The fat man smiled, smaller than before. "So kind to us, we who failed your father." He picked the sleeping boy up, as four more arms exited from underneath his coat to cradle him gently. "So kind, like your mother. It is sad, perhaps, that you will know nothing but war and pain in the years to come. If I could take that burden from you, I would. If only you had been given to us to safeguard. You would never have wanted for anything. Safe, for all time."
Depositing the sleeper in a bed in another room on the first floor, one with lights, he walked into the room next to it. In it was a pit, filled with gelatinous beings.
"Sing him lullabies to ease his sleep. Let him sleep, free from troubling dreams." As he turned to leave, a soft, otherworldly piping filled the air as the shoggoths began to sing to the son of Ikari.
Einz, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
"You promised, Hoja. You Promised Us." The man that was not a man crossed his arms as glared at the shoggoth. "You said that one of us could take him to the Ruined City, and then to Mishima. I am here to take him."
Hoja glared at the ghoul in return, the sheen glistening on his head increasing as he fought to keep the shape of a man. "I'm just saying maybe that one of us should go with him too. He is precious to us. We failed his father, and we must not fail him as well."
The ghoul threw his arms up in the air in frustration. "You are not the only ones to have failed the Master, Hoja. We owe a debt as well. Let us begin to repay it, by taking him to GERHIN. We're not stupid. We won't tell him what it is we eat, and we won't give him our food. We may look like dogs, but we are not!"
To be sure, the distinctly canine looking face, with the pointed ears and bloodshot eyes were in odd contrast to the shabby looking suit it's owner wore. He might have been a recently homeless buisness man, who had spent a few nights sleeping in an alley, if not for the face, and the sharp, claw-like fingers.
"Richard, I'm just saying that the boy doesn't know what's going on. He knew nothing of his lineage. Aoba told me that he though his father was a farmer, by the Idiot God! I'm just thinking that perhaps throwing him into your company all of a sudden might me more of a shock than he can take. Aoba said that the boy seemed very shy."
Richard sneered. "Aoba. That fool. He should have alerted someone the moment he realised who the boy was. It's only providence that made them share a train compartment in the first place. Where is he now? Why is he not here, to serve as the boy's manservant, as he did his father?"
Hoja sighed, trying to remain calm. There was no reasoning with ghouls it seemed, sometimes. Once they had ahold of a notion or idea they held onto it and wouldn't let it go. "He went to go spread the word to the others. To rally the troops, to have them make preparations for battle. I know not when it will come, but the Migo know of his existence now. The remaining followers of He Who Must Not Be Named will seek him out. The Flying Polyps. The millions of cults out there, who would take him for their own. Battle is coming, make no mistake. If we are to be victorious, if he is to continue to be the Boy Who Lived, his allies must be ready, whenever the time comes."
Richard started to pace back and forth, his long arms swinging in time with his odd gait. "Already the Ruined City flies the Black Banner. His father's flag was risen from half-mast an hour after your messenger arrived. Already we have sent out word to the other cities. Charagon himself will meet the Master on bended knee when we arrive."
Hoja's mouth dropped at this news. The black banner? Charagon awaits the boy on his knees? "Charagon awaits the boy himself? He's not planning anything stupid is he? They do know that it could be years before the call to arms is sent out, yes?"
The ghoul snorted. "Of course he's planning something stupid. It took the entire council to keep him from leading an attack on the Migo compound in the Sanuki Mountains. He still might order the attack anyway, to pay them back for their perfidy of attacking the Master."
"That's another thing, Richard. The boy doesn't like be called that. He's uncomfortable with it. He's grown up sheltered from everything. Just call him by his name, I guess."
The ghoul stared at the shoggoth. "Just call him by his name? Are you mad? They'll have my head off at the shoulders in the City if I ever did that. I can't just address him like we're old friends."
"See? This is why I want to send someone with you. Hotaru could run interference between him and the... formality of the City. It's not much to send her along with him. It'll be safe enough."
The ghoul worked his mouth, twisting his jaw around like he was actually trying to chew on the idea. "It might be OK. Hotaru knows the City. She won't cause a fuss. When will the... boy... be ready to leave?"
Hoja shrugged. "We'll feed him as soon as he wakes up, and then you can be off. He's had a traumatic few days. Letting him sleep in a little won't hurt."
"Fine. It's a two day walk to the City the way we'll go. I was going to take the tunnels, but if Hotaru is coming, we'll take the above ground trail. I'll range ahead a little, and they can follow. It's good to spend some time on the surface."
Hoja smiled, glad that everything was settled. "Good, I'll let her know to be ready. She's in the kitchen preparing his breakfast." He waddled off towards the cafeteria, leaving the ghoul alone.
Richard flopped down into one of the chairs, not having Shinji's distaste for the moldy and stained upholstery. Grabbing one of the ancient magazines from the table, he began to read about how to cook a perfect holiday meal.
A few moments later, his reading was interrupted by a door opening, and a young man walking out, rubbing at his eyes with his good arm. Almost immediately, Richard rose from the chair, and bent down on both knees before the shocked boy.
"My Lord, I am called Richard Hauser. I am from the Ruined City to act as your guide to it, and from there to Mashima. I did not have the honor of knowing your father, but I served under him in the wars. On behalf of the city I pledge our allegiance to you. What is your first command?"
Shinji blinked. He had been disappointed that when he woke up, it was in a shabby hospital room and not his room back home, and that his arm was still broken. Things kept seeming more and more real, and not the figments of a really horrible nightmare.
"Umm... can you not call me lord or anything? I'm not really all that important or anything. I mean, I know everyone has been telling me about my dad, but I'm not him."
Richard rose from his place of supplication. "Very well. Just know that there are those who will refuse to not call you by your rightful title. We place great importance on one's place in the hierarchy in the Ruined City."
Shinji tried not to stare at the man's face or hands. "Are.. are you a ghoul?"
Richard smiled, trying to keep from showing the mouthfull of sharp teeth his flat lips hid from view. "Yes, I am a ghoul. The Ruined City is a city of Ghouls, one of the largest in the world. Don't worry, we're not zombies. I am very much alive. I need air, food, and a place to sleep like any other living thing. You have nothing to fear from any ghoul. Any and all will die for you, if needed."
A sharp cough brought both ghoul and boy's attention to the door of the cafeteria, where a fat woman, also bald like Hoja was, similarly covered with sweat, stood. "Now since we're introducing ourselves, my name is Hotaru, and I'll be going with you as far as Mishima, Shinji. Now, you should eat something, and we'll leave."
Shinji and Richard followed her to a table with food for one set out on it. He looked at his two companions. "Aren't you going to eat?"
Both looked at each other somewhat uncomfortably. Richard spoke up first. "I had ate shortly before getting here. I'm good."
Hotaru followed that up, with a more generic disclaimer. "We shoggoths eat different things from humans Shinji. It's not really good table conversation."
"Oh." Shinji fell to eating his food, as Richard waited uncomfortably in the silence. "Hotaru, just what is a shoggoth?"
She smiled at the boy. "Shoggoths are shape-shifters. We can form any number of appendages to help up work, and some of us can take the shape of humans, like me and Hoja. It's very hard, and not all of us can do it."
"OK." He reusmed eating the food. Things were definitely weird.
Silence reigned for the rest of the meal, until he pushed the now empty tray away.
Hoja appeared, with a large backpack, which he haded to Hotaru. "This is enough food to last you a few days. Shinji, it has been an honour to have you here. I wish you well. I know that this is all a lot to take in at once."
Shinji, not having anything to say to that, merely nodded. He was still deep in thought as the seemingly empty town disappeared behind them as the trio made their way into the forest.