Kain sighed and placed the small stack of paper on the table, which Luna snatched to continue reading. He looked up at the four residents of the room and studied them. Valerax was feigning ignorance about the situation, choosing to cook instead. Buck was obviously curious and studied the three extradimensionals with rapt attention. Gus wore a mask of politeness, but Kain could see a glint of concern in his eyes. Zlea, on the other hand, showed no reaction as he studied them. Finally, Kain had enough, “Yes, we are extradimensionals— if your sources are to be believed,” he declared.
The reactions around the room were mixed: Valerax flinched slightly but otherwise ignored the conversation, Buck’s four eyes glowed with unconcealed passion, the worried glint in Gus’ eyes became much more noticeable, and Zlea gave a wary smile. “Well then,” Zlea said, “I don’t exactly know what to do now. I didn’t really think it was possible to meet any— especially a group.”
“Well, your hospitality is appreciated, but I have to wonder: how did you figure it out? Was it the proprietor’s super hearing device? Did something we do give it away?” Ythane asked as she finished reading.
“A bit of it all,” Gus admitted with a sheepish smile, “I did hear you talking about other worlds, which is only taken seriously when the people speaking can do impossible things. Other than that-”
“I saw your mana!” Buck interrupted, “It’s a pretty basic thing, relatively speaking, but definitely not unusual. The poor schmucks with too much mana running through their veins use those things to make themselves more normal and less noticeable, so you three having something wouldn’t raise any eyebrows. If it weren’t for how strong it was,”
Ythane tilted her head, “How so?”
“Y’see, while those Purists can only do this through mana devices, we dwarves use our upper eyes to see mana in a much more intuitive sense. What I see around you is a really faint bubble of mana. You aren’t blending into the background or shifting the mana coming out of you and your stuff, but making a nearly unnoticeable wall between yourselves and the world around you. You shouldn’t have too many problems, but anyone with a great deal of experience with mana perception can see it.”
“Hmm… I see…” Ythane muttered, thinking.
“Anyway!” Valerax called, “We should shelve the conversation for now and eat! I made something good: fish and salad.” Her declaration was met with little protest, as Buck and Gus sat down in short order. The demi woman used small clusters of thin tendrils to carry the cooked breakfast to the table, thinning her ‘dress’ enough to reveal the black shorts she wore to match her blue tank top. She placed the plates around the table, showing the delicately sliced fish meat placed on top of a garden salad. “Let me know if it’s any good, okay?”
The gathering at the table nodded while Luna poked the cooked meat. Shrugging, she took a big bite, leaving her eyes sparkling. She dug into the meal without reservation. While Luna ate, Ythane looked at her plate, remorseful, “I… apologize, but I can’t… eat this,” she admitted.
Valerax was stunned for a moment, “Ah, I’m sorry about that… Do you know if we can give you anything to eat? I’m sure there’s something around here to suit your palette.”
Ythane’s tail flicked, and she shook her head, “I’m sorry to say, but I don’t eat. I am in a unique position where I live, but only as a… what was the word? A ghost? Yes, a ghost,” she explained, further stunning the demi woman.
The table was stunned into silence, save for Luna and Kain who continued to eat. Eventually, Gus mustered up enough courage to speak, “May I ask… how did it happen?”
She shook her head, “It was… my fault. I… could not…” she muttered.
Kain swallowed his bite of salad and fish, “It wasn’t you, Yth. We’ve talked about this,” he asserted, backed up by a resolute nod from Luna. “This may not be the most private place, but you’ll be carrying that day with you for the rest of your life. It’s supposed to hurt, that’s what it means to care. Like I said before, all we can do is move forward.”
Ythane took a deep breath, something not strictly necessary, and calmed down. “You… are right. Sir Gus, I apologize but it seems like I cannot think about it without…”
Gus shook his head violently, “No! No, it was my fault, I shouldn’t have…”
Valerax shook her head with a bitter expression, “Gus, you should know this. You don’t ask a woman her weight, her age, and how she died if she’s a ghost. This is why you’re still single, you know,” she scolded.
Her scolding gave Ythane a good chuckle, which lightened the mood at the table, “That is true… If there is one thing you should never do, you shouldn’t ever ask a female her weight. No matter what,” she stated.
Zlea crossed his arms, “So what about me? How do I fit here?” he asked, slightly annoyed.
Valerax smiled as one of her tendrils snaked over the table to pat his head, “You fit in wherever you want, sweetie. Okay?” she reassured.
Luna finished a bite of salad and tilted her head, “What does that mean? I thought he was a man? Also, why do you not ask a woman her weight?” she asked innocently.
Zlea looked annoyed while Buck laughed uproariously, “Ouch, Zlea! You hear that? She says you’re more man than woman!” he laughed, earning a tentacle whipping on the back of his head.
“Be nice, Buck. As for your question… Luna?” she asked. Luna nodded, “Zlea is a mixed demi-human, so…”
“I am both male and female at the same time. I have… both parts,” Zlea explained.
Kain was slightly taken aback at that, “So… is that why you’re both effeminate and masculine?”
Zlea nodded, “That’s one of the things about being a mixed. You have to have to find someone who is… okay with the uniqueness that goes on in a tumble between the sheets.”
“Hmm. So… how should I refer to you?” Kain asked.
Zlea tilted their head, “What’s that mean?”
“Back in my world, there was some stuff regarding what you refer to someone as depending on their sexuality and… whatnot. I was never an expert on the subject, more in the camp of ‘don’t be a dick and just try to be nice about it,’ but I think this is a bit too… necessary for me to just wing it. So… Do you go by him, her, or something else?”
Zlea focused on the question for a few seconds before answering, “I think I trend more masculine, so I guess ‘him’ would work,” he said confidently.
Kain nodded and Luna spoke up, “So what is a dwarf or a uh… Ju… ja… pet?”
Valerax giggled a bit, “Xujamet, dear. The Xujamet are in a bit of a grey zone when it comes to being demi-humans. We are more similar to the Abyssal species than we are to humans, so it’s a bit of a toss up. Internally, anyway. Without our waist-limbs, we look identical to a human on the outside,” she explained, shrugging.
“Wait,” Kain said, “What is a demi-human anyway? You’ve been saying it for a while now and none of us really understand what you mean when you say it.”
Gus nodded, “I see. If that’s the case, I’ll try to keep this simple. Demi-humans are races of humans that have some feature or other that is not human in nature. A human with goat horns is a demi-human. A human with blue skin is not. A human that can use mana to reanimate the dead into mindless minions by simply looking at them is a demi-human. Also likely a variation of the esoteric species, who use mana with esoteric concepts. One of the grey zones are the demons. The only difference between a demon and a human is the color of their skin and a seemingly burning flame in their eyes, but the Purity union hunts them down anyway for political convenience. You see, they were never much liked by most others, even other demi-humans, for most of their history. That made them a very convenient group to use as the faceless ‘others’ that ‘plague humanity.’ It’s all a propaganda game.”
“In other, more coherent words,” Buck said, “Demons are targeted because people hated them even before Purism became widespread and because no-one would mind blaming them for everything,” he explained.
“And before you ask,” Valerax began, “the Abyssal species are a group of human-like sentients that are too different from a basic human to be considered demi-human. For some reason this exempts them from the Purists’ crusades, a mystery we are still unable to solve. Anyway, the Xujamet, Xu meaning ‘deep,’ Ja meaning ‘hold,’ and Met meaning ‘watch,’ are the most human-like of the Abyssal species. There are the merfolk, the fishfolk, and the leviathans, just to name a few. Really, it’s a miracle that the Purists are getting away with a lot of what they are. By targeting the Xujamet, they’re basically declaring open warfare on the Abyssal species. I think. I never was one for the boring politics of both the surface and the oceanic worlds, so who knows.”
Buck shrugged with her while Zlea nodded. “Well,” Buck said, “The Xujamet are able to live underwater full time and use those funny feelers to do… stuff that arms can. But who cares about that when you can hear about the dwarves! We may be short, but what we lack in stature we make up for in hardiness and enchanting endurance. Something that can only happen in a human when they take to mana to the point that they burn like a bonfire, by the way.”
Gus nodded, “Well, if you don’t mind, they shared who they are, so what about you three?”
Kain, Luna, and Ythane looked at each other and came to a silent agreement, “I think that would be fine. I am a normal human, without much too much special. Luna?”
“I’m a fleshbender! I used to be a rabbit, but we found that funny place and I became this! I can change my shape at will and copy the genetic code of anyone and anything I can get a sample from. On top of that, I can splice genes to make something —hopefully— functional,” she introduced. The table tensed for a moment before the residents gave a curt nod.
“And I am a Duvalad. We are capable of using Ether, mana as you call it, to create imbuements, what you call enchantments. I am in this state after, well, dying.”
Gus nodded, “Well, that’s good, now we know where everyon-” he was cut off by the television cutting from the early morning news it was on to a live feed of his antiques store. Someone was rapping on the front door with vigor, making enough noise that it activated the security system. “That’s not good. I’ll take care of it, so wait here,” he said, leaving up the stairway without another word. After a minute, Gus appeared on the live feed of the security system, walking toward the front door. He opened it and was taken aback for a moment before ushering the man wearing a casual outfit behind into the store. Through the security system, everyone at the table could hear the conversation happening in the front store. “Phil,” Gus said, “What are you doing here? I haven’t even opened yet!”
“I’ll tell you why I’m here, Gus. I’m here because you took in a group of extradimensionals!” Phil said, “I just had to Speak for the detectives! I already threw them off course, but it’s all but guaranteed that this will become a big deal. I’m leaving, but heed my words: the Purity Union is going to send their elites. Do with that what you will.” Phil suddenly walked out of the store and slammed the door behind him, leaving Gus standing in the center of his store, stunned.
