Offtopic: A time lapse from Dimentico oi Non, because although I enjoy the mundane, casual, and humorously awkward, I'm not feeling that inspired for it right now.

Six weeks passed. May turned to June, June turned to July, and August threatened to arrive shortly--and still Dyss's companions were absent, while the young man continued to reside at the cramped home of Izumi Jinkou, a young girl with a not so contenting history, one that Dyss had slowly come to know, and it brought out the question: to only know painful memories which were not truly one's own or to have personally lived out every hellish memory, one boasting a short life and the other a long one . . . which was more favorable?

They were closer, though--closer than the other constants in Izumi's life really gave them credit for, and picked on them enough for it. The two had actually gone through a lot together, an attempted escape from town whilst an unknown force took over it, trying to return to normal afterward, and even the threats about by completely normal people . . .

Conflict brought people closer when they had to depend on each other to get through it, and it was a fair summary of their relationship. They hadn't done anything, though--close, but not even something as momentous and official as a kiss on the lips, if their emotional bond was close enough to merit such a thing, as Izumi's friends jostled them for.

It felt normal, though. The conflicts weren't special; they boasted no spectacular power or ability, just two normal people that wouldn't make it through were it not for each other. If only Izumi knew what Dyss was, her perspective of the situation would have changed so drastically--but for the better or the worse? That was the risk Dyss had to take if he ever planned to inform her . . .

One morning however, Dyss would feel their arrival before anyone else would even notice newcomers upon the horizon.

"Izumi?"

Dyss would call out of the bedroom, sitting up and perfectly capable of getting dressed by himself at this point. He even had a very good idea of where the door was located in the room, which was aided by the cane he'd acquired over the weeks. He was steady on his feet, so long as the surface was uncluttered, requiring only tidiness on the floor to navigate, if somewhat slowly.

Stepping outside the bedroom, he would wait to hear Izumi's response before talking. This was big. He still didn't know why exactly he knew, but there were people coming... Important people. People he had to know about, anyway...

"Izumi. I can... Feel something. It's sort of strange, but I need to know who's coming to town today..."

It wasn't the first time Dyss had noticed it, either. In fact, it may well have been the reason he felt so strongly about it: the last time--the first time, rather--it became this evident was when Galaens had been occupied by a force of soldiers lead by a warlord responsible for that feeling . . .

"Mnhhh . . ." the girl in the other room moaned discontentedly.

She didn't want to wake up at all. In fact, it was the very last thing she wanted to do at the moment. She had to work in the morning and rightly had no idea what time it was. Late night? Midnight? Early morning? From her groggy perspective, Izumi simply couldn't tell. At first, she put a pillow over her head and pretended to be asleep. It wasn't like Dyss could see her. It was a little mean, but she had to work early in the morning, and unless it was super important, it could wait . . .

The damage was done, though. When Dyss called out to her a second time, Izumi finally gave up the fight to remain sleeping and sat up, sleepily.

"What do you mean . . .?" Izumi asked groggily now that she was out of bed. She yawned loudly. "Who's here?"

Dyss still couldn't really tell time aside from his own desire to sleep, and it never really occurred to him that he was disturbing Izumi. Especially since he rarely had somewhere he needed to be yet... He was still learning everything he needed to know to take of himself.

"I don't know... It's sort of like last time..."

Dyss had tried to explain before, also unsuccessfully. The mere fact that it was similar should have perhaps been a sign of alarm for her, though. Or perhaps reason to think he had a bad dream or something like that. Not that he generally had a good dream...

"Like last time? What do you--"

He didn't even need to explain.

"Oh . . ."

Izumi had actually interrupted herself with the realization; she knew exactly what Dyss was talking about. he had this sense of urgency in his voice told her everything she needed to know. Izumi got out of bed and approached Dyss with an equal sense of urgency. If this was like the last time, then they were all going to be in one heap of trouble--if that's what was coming. It was the only thing that made sense, though. Last time it had been trouble; it was only a logical deduction on her part to assume that it was the exact same as before.

"Should we warn someone?" Izumi asked with a bit of a frantic tone in her voice. She certainly didn't disbelieve the idea that there was something special about Dyss--that he could feel things others could not, and that those feelings may very well have a strong grounds of truth to them. Not taking the "feeling" seriously last time had been costly . . .

"Warn who? Who would believe us?"

Dyss had no real idea what to do. He didn't know who could be trusted, or who would trust them, or for that matter, if anyone in either of those categories had the power to do anything. And what could he tell them? That he had a bad feeling? It was going to be hard to win anyone over like that...

"Maybe... Well... I don't know..."

A part of Dyss hoped that his friends had finally arrived, perhaps, and that's what he felt. A large part, in fact. It would be very nice to be mistaken. But could he count on that? What were the consequences?

Dastardly logic! Izumi wished it would have worked for them to go out, warn someone of the possible impending doom in the near future, and leave with Dyss to go somewhere safe for the both of them. Unfortunately he was right--who was going to believe them?

"Should we, um . . . should we . . . go and look first, then?" Izumi asked with a gulp, "And, um, if it's, uh, that guy from before--we go and warn someone, right? Because we'd have seen him then . . ."

She gulped because she knew what that entailed: them nearing it, her leading Dyss somewhere safe, and her moving out to try and get a look around as stealthily as she could, get an idea of the current goings on, and return to quietly whisper descriptions to Dyss.

Izumi was in a bit of luck with Dyss; it was unfortunate that he was blind and all, but he had seen before. When she described something, he could picture it--and even if it wasn't a perfect mental image (Izumi was horrible with descriptions!), he could get the general idea with very few questions asked. This was remarkably useful at times--times like the potential future minutes to hours ahead of them, if Dyss decided that it was the best course of action. It might get her nervous as hell, but she'd still get the job done. Hopefully.

Kevin: Dyss was... Less than enthused at the idea of Izumi going out to spy on anyone who might be approaching. Particularly if he went with her. He was a liability, and she didn't need to be exposed to that sort of danger. The solution, though...

"I... Think maybe we should wait here. There's not much we could do, especially if we go out there. Or maybe, we could go somewhere there's a lot of people?"

Dyss wasn't so much concerned for his own safety as Izumi's, though he wasn't exactly eager to deal with someone who may very well want to kill him. And Izumi probably wasn't going to be willing to leave him, either...

Nayt: "A crowded place?" Izumi asked before glancing back into her room. "It's, um, it's way too early for anyone to be out. Merchants are probably still setting up right now . . ."

Meaning the market wasn't open, and after everything that happened with the last presence Dyss felt, there wasn't much of a market left for people to gather. With everything that was happening, there just weren't many ready and willing to leave their homes anymore. Fortunately--or unfortunately, perhaps--Dyss would still be able to feel the twinge in his spirit in the direction of this new presence--and it was approaching. Still distant, but entering town, at the very least, and in their direction . . .

Kevin: Dyss frowned, trying to think of another good place. After a moment, he found the answer among his memories, perhaps. The memories contained mixed feelings about a certain style of place, but there seemed to always be people there. For some, it had been a hellish place, and for others, a refuge, and right now... A refuge sounded good.

"What about a... Church?"

Especially after his naivete with some other pieces of life, it might seem strange that he even knew what a church was, but his halting statement would only make it even stranger.

Nayt: This was, indeed, especially strange to Izumi. Dyss never seemed like a church-going person, or a subscriber to any particular faith. Likewise, when he arrived here, he didn't even know how to eat, let alone mention something like that. A church . . . it didn't actually sound like that bad of an idea.

"S-sure, um . . . a church would work. There is one here, in town, a Lucienist Church. Ummm . . . how much time would we have? It's on the other side of town . . ."

Izumi needed to know if she should be getting dressed or just straight out leave in her pajamas--though, even that was a bit of a ruse for herself. Dyss panicking was making her panic, and if a person knew that impending doom was heading his/her way, he/she would want to know how long it was going to take to arrive . . .

Kevin: "I'm not sure... Whoever it is, they're close..."

Dyss had trouble judging distances, if only because he had nothing to compare to. The farthest distance he could accurately judge, after all, was from his head to his feet. He wasn't quite panicking, but he was definitely concerned... Very concerned. He hoped it was his friends, and it was, he didn't need to worry about anything any more, but if it wasn't...

Nayt: Close . . . well then, they didn't have any time at all, did they? If they were looking for Dyss (which was somewhat likely; the last one had been looking for him specifically, or someone like him--even at one juncture mentioning "Memoria," which though Izumi didn't recognize it, Dyss certainly had . . .), they couldn't stay here. Or could they? It didn't matter! Izumi was panicking even if Dyss wasn't, and she, herself, felt as if he was, spurring her to feel quite the sense of urgency.

"Okay," she declared with a gulp, "L-let's go . . ."

Izumi took Dyss's hand, and not bothering to dress in something other than her pajamas, started towards the door.

Kevin: Dyss wasn't really aware whether Izumi was ready to go or not, and in fact, still didn't really know what time it was, but it didn't matter much to him. He generally just slept in his normal clothes, because it was easier than finding his clothes again in the morning, or worse, requiring Izumi's help to do so. Plus, he could be sure his clothes were actually on the right way...

"...Okay..."

Dyss would follow along quickly, trying to somehow understand who this new person. He still didn't even understand the feeling, though...

Nayt: Once outside, Izumi quickly started towards the church, but she'd slow down once she realized that she was leading Dyss, and if she just darted off in one direction, he was going to wind up tripping, falling, and taking her with him. That was the last thing she needed. Instead, they would just walk briskly. It was the only option. If the presence was close, then Izumi and Dyss would just have to make good time. Unfortunately, the church wasn't quite on the opposite side of town that was favorable to them. Really, it was close to the presence itself--and it wouldn't be long before Izumi started to slow down.

Unable to see, Dyss wouldn't be able to understand why, not until she whispered to him, frantic, afraid--a fear Dyss might well remember, not from Izumi herself, but of other disjointed memories: the fear of death, the shocking, sobering terror the subdued any potential hysterics, "Is it . . . is it more than one--do you feel more than one?"

Kevin: "I... Don't think so..."

Dyss strained his other senses, trying to understand what Izumi saw, to feel what she felt. Hearing, perhaps, or smell, even... Something that would give him an idea. And now, perhaps she even saw, as they were close... There was no way he could know what it was, and yet, he was starting to feel afraid as well...

Nayt: "W-we---we--we're g-going to, um, take a different route, th-then . . ." Izumi whispered as she slowly started to the side of the road, into a space between homes--an alleyway.

Her heart was pounding like a bludgeon, her mind reeling; somehow, someway, she had refrained from panicking. Once they were in the privacy of the alleyway, she felt she could start walking quickly again--at least until they were far enough down it, when she stopped entirely to catch her breath.

"I-I saw . . . um, unh, I saw . . . they looked like travelers, and were wearing tarps all over and I couldn't see much, b-but . . . but how many foreigners come like that? Dressed strange like that . . .?" Izumi didn't know if that was the presence Dyss felt or not, but she had made an educated guess--and she was right.

Kevin: Dyss would eagerly travel with her, not knowing what to expect. He could feel the texture of the ground change, and hear the closer sounds bouncing off more narrow spaces between buildings, but he had no clue where the alley may turn or stop... And the tarp-bound travelers? More than one? His new sense apparently wasn't that good...

"How many of them were there?" It didn't make a difference in a fight, really. As they were... there was little Dyss could do to stop anyone from doing anything. But it would be good to know just how bad things were...

Nayt: "I think there were, um . . ." Izumi paused to think.

She didn't expect someone else to answer, though . . . "Four, roigh'? Go on, say it!"

The hair stood up on the back of Izumi's neck. She jumped and spun around, almost instinctively placing herself in front of Dyss--herself between Dyss and the direction of the voice which, oddly enough, was above them.

"Wh-who's there . . .?!"

"Excessive maneuvers are unnecessary. It only draws attention. Please get down from the roof," unlike the first speaker, a young man with a thick accent, this one--also a young man--seemed devoid of all emotion and tone, between a high and low pitch, permanent in nature. This one came from down the alley.

"Bugger off. It added a noice effect . . ." The first speaker replied.

Izumi squeezed Dyss's hand tightly and stepped back into him, every joint in her body trembling . . .

Kevin: Dyss would arc his head towards each voice reflexively, though it didn't really make much difference. Izumi moved between him and a voice, perhaps trying to protect, but against these people... Even if they had been the most normal of people, there was little they could do against them. Dyss would hold Izumi's hand tight as well, shifting her slightly to be in front of his arm rather than covering his body from whatever may come...

"Four... What do you want here? Why can't you leave us alone?" Dyss didn't know what the response might be, but he knew he would never see their death coming, if it came to it...

Nayt: "Leave you alone? Wot, you forgot already?" the first speaker declared with a scoff in his voice.

Izumi, trembling, clung to Dyss once he showed more strength than she could muster. She practically hugged onto him as if he were her only lifeline. As things had gone in their relationship, Izumi was Dyss's eyes, and Dyss was her emotional support, even if she wasn't just spilling out all her thoughts and feelings to him--just being with someone helped.

"Gentlemen, please calm down," a much more respectful voice, also male, spoke up from behind the second speaker, "He's right, we really don't need to be bringing attention to ourselves like this. We haven't even been here for a day yet."

A fourth and final speaker could then be heard, this one sounding feminine--very feminine. Male? Female? By voice alone, it sounded like the latter. "Yes--so, please, Recheov, get down from there . . ."

Kevin: Dyss shook his head slightly, listening to the exchange, feeling quickly sheepish, then overjoyed.

"You're here!" Dyss's body was quickly relaxed, and he only lightly held Izumi's hand, stepping forward beside her to see the others. At least, see in a metaphorical way. "I... Well, I didn't recognize you..."

Dyss didn't yet reveal how he was blind, but the way he held himself close to Izumi would be strange enough...

Nayt: "Oh! Sorry--Illorex wanted us to be incognito, so we picked up these tarps . . ." Milos trailed off.

There was a sudden waft of pressure and Izumi recoiled back, holding even tightly onto Dyss, regardless of how happy he seemed to be to see these people. It just wasn't every day she saw someone stand atop a two story building, then jump off and land in front of her--completely unscathed. Recheov didn't even seem to have a burning in his joints.

"It's foine, oI was just messin' with you, anyways," Recheov declared with snicker.

Izumi couldn't get the joy of the situation, though. It just wasn't rubbing off on her, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about that. She had no idea who these people were.

"Dyss, wh-what's . . . what's going on--who are these people . . .?"

Luckily, they were, in fact, the source of the sense Dyss was feeling.

Kevin: "This is great, Izumi! These are the friends who were coming to meet me..."

Dyss hadn't really succeeded at what he'd originally come to the real world for. He was supposed to learn the area, to have a place set up for everyone. Instead, he'd lost his sight, and been essentially dependent on Izumi for everything. And now... Well, he wasn't going to worry about where they would stay or anything like that yet. He was too happy just to have the others around, finally...

"Everyone's okay?" Dyss addressed his friends, wanting to make sure their journey hadn't been as rough as Recheov and Dyss' had been.

Nayt: "O-oh, th-these are . . ." Izumi trailed off.

Suffice it to say that Dyss's friends were frighteningly strange. She hadn't expected them to be so strange, but things were better once the hoods of the tarps started coming down. A little. Only two of them actually looked normal, and like many, Izumi had instantly assumed that one of those two was female. Most did.

"Well, sort of," Milos replied with a nervous laugh.

"We ran into Vince. 'member 'im?" Recheov continued, "Except 'e 'ad friends. Buuuut we woiped the ground with 'im, roight?"

"Unfortunately, he and his companions escaped," Illorex added.

This cued Recheov to shrug his shoulders and sigh, "Details, details."

Attis then interjected, changing the subject: "I trust you've been well, Dyss?"

Kevin: "I..."

It might have been a stretch to say he was doing well, but Dyss had certainly been surviving. He'd lost his eyesight, but gained a friend. And he was in the real world, even if his enjoyment was cut somewhat.

"I'm blind here. Izumi has been helping me..."

Dyss decided to just be frank about it. No metaphors or hidden meanings, as his somewhat impaired motions and activities and continued leaning on Izumi would probably indicate...

Nayt: "Bloind? Seriously?"

A breeze before Dyss's face would suggest that Recheov was waving his hand in front of it. That's just what people usually did when they found out someone was blind. It was odd to Recheov and the others, as in their world, Dyss wasn't blind. He couldn't see with his eyes, but he could perceive light, sort of like watching any angle at any time, outside of his body and otherwise--so long as there was light. As strange of a talent as that was, and his companions had equally as strange talents, it allowed him to see. Did that mean he had no power here?

"Interesting . . ." Attis replied.

"What do you think that means?" Milos was quick to ask Attis, often regarded as the most intelligent of the group.

"I'm not sure, but we can experiment with it later," Attis then stopped himself from going any further. "Oh! I'm terribly sorry! I should perhaps introduce us, Izumi. My name as Attis, beside me is Milos," after which Milos smiled and waved, "Recheov," after which Recheov grinned mischievously, "And Illorex." And Illorex stared, making Izumi feel extremely disconcerted.

"N-nice, um . . . n-nice to meet you . . ." she replied with a gulp, still yet to stop clinging to Dyss for dear life.

Kevin: Dyss was only slightly aware of Recheov's actions, and certainly couldn't percieve them. Attis' words were more worrying. Experiment? Dyss wasn't sure what that meant, and he knew Attis didn't mean any harm, but he didn't want to be experimented on. That was too much. At least now, they'd have more of a chance to understand the real world and their old world. And he didn't have to worry so much about not being able to protect Izumi if there were any more strange arrivals...

"It's been rough here... We had visitors too... "

Nayt: "Oh?" replied Attis, curiosity piqued. "What happened?"

Milos, however, did not allow the time for this to be answered. "Umm, Attis? Could we talk about this somewhere else . . .?"

"Indeed. Somewhere private may be best," Illorex affirmed.

It didn't matter to Recheov either way. He was still glancing around at all the details. It was crazy to be inside of a world of color. Certainly he was used to people having color, but things with color? That was just preposterous to consider!

"True. All right. Izumi, I assume you are a resident of this town?" Attis called out to the girl.

"U-ummm . . . y-yes."

"Is there anywhere we could go for a private discussion?"

"W-well, um, ummm . . . m-my apartment, um, th-that would work, but, um, it's small . . ."

"Small is fine. I think I speak for all of us when I say that a wide open space has us on edge for now."

Attis didn't explain, of course, but Dyss would understand. He had walked that wide open space. Where there should have been trees and hills and life to speckle what should have been a lively forest and countryside, there was nothing. Just an endless gray plain.

"U-um, o-okay, then . . ." Izumi gulped, squeezed tightly onto Dyss's hand, and stepped forward. She was shaking all over, still nervous as could be. Illorex's stare was really getting to her . . .

Kevin: Dyss tried his best to comfort Izumi, holding her hand as they traveled, infinitely more at ease himself with the others now caught up. He would travel along with her, eager to have the others get situated, finding it hard to contribute now. He wanted to help and be a part of things, but he was still learning to take care of himself- the others weren't that far behind. He'd talk a bit more with them later, but...

"I was explaining to Izumi earlier how you were coming to meet me later. There have been some strange things happening lately, and at least home wasn't this strange..."

Dyss hoped the others would understand he hadn't told Izumi the truth yet. And that they (especially Recheov) would keep it in mind. There were enough holes in his story already, including how long he had been blind, why they were here, and other such things...

"Stranger than 'ome?" Recheov asked, "oI gotta see this. Uh, er. No offense."

After long enough of being by Dyss and him holding onto her, Izumi calmed a bit. She stopped shaking as much, and didn't stutter when she talked anymore. She was, however, extremely quiet. Feeling awkward around these men just couldn't be helped. No matter what she did or how she thought, she was going to be afraid of them, especially Recheov and Illorex. They were so outlandish that they reminded her of some of the people she saw during that warlord's invasion, and that was the last thing she wanted to experience again.

"It's nice, though," Milos replied--a bit hazy, sort of making his own point, "I love the colors. I think . . . it's the first time I've ever actually seen this many colors. I don't even think I can remember them being this vibrant and, well . . . beautiful."

Attis smiled, putting his hand on Milos's shoulder. This spurred Milos to slow down a bit, allowing himself the opportunity to look up to Attis curiosly--and he smiled back--widely, girlishly. Even though Dyss couldn't see it, he may have been able to expect it. Milos and Attis showed their affection for eachother in public not physically, but by the way they looked at eachother. They didn't need to advertise their affection to others, content with it as it was. It was that which made it genuine . . .

"Where exactly do you reside, Izumi?" Illorex asked bluntly.

Izumi hesitated to reply, but after a second she meekly whispered, "Just . . . around this corner . . ."

Indeed, it was going to be difficult fitting them all into the small space. Once they were there and inside and crowded into the guest room, Izumi realized how much this was not going to work. Embarrassed, she excused herself to go clean up her room and get dressed in something a bit more appropriate for company that could actually see (something she didn't say, but everyone knew Dyss was blind now--it didn't take much thinking to conclude this). In the cramped space, Recheov had a habit of sporadically poking Dyss from different directions to try and get a reaction from him, blatantly taking advantage of the weakness--but in a playful way. Milos and Attis, on the other hand, stayed near eachother close to the door, and Illorex passively stood in the middle of the room, unmoving regardless of Recheov's constant movements around him to get to Dyss.

Milos' words were depressing to Dyss, to say the least. Dyss had not ever seen normally, but the things he saw used to be even more profound. Now... All he could do was hear Milos' descriptions of the world. And luckily, his words could be taken as metaphors to Izumi. Dyss, however, would be noticeably more downtrodden as they walked...

"Yes, it's stranger..."

Dyss would perk up somewhat, though Recheov's poking was something he couldn't really take in stride, as it was so much worse when he had no idea where it was coming from. The humiliation wasn't too much of an issue with the people he was around, at least...

"Recheov," Illorex spoke quickly to get the man's attention, "Cease and desist."

Recheov stopped where he was, settling upon the floor. "'psh. Whoy don't you go crawl in a 'ole?"

Illorex, humorless as he was, replied simply: "I would fit in no such thing. It would, however, be quieter there."

"Chroist man, oI'm gonna break your jaw one of these days, oI swear," Recheov declared in annoyance.

Though Recheov's annoyance was clearly audible, Illorex's was not--if Illorex was even annoyed at all. There was a fair chance that he wasn't, since he often made blunt remarks about completely normal things like that. Granted, he didn't make remarks nearly this often. That was the only possible way to discern that he may or may not have been openly irritated or not--or, at the very least, part of his mind was irritated, and the other part was not, and this was all that could be shown. It was a bit of a paradox, to say the least.

"Umm . . . um . . . h-heh," Milos laughed nervously as he scooted closer to Dyss, practically leaning up against him as he whispered, "I'm sorry about this--Recheov and Illorex have been at it all week."

Dyss frowned somewhat at this news, happy to see his friends, but annoyed to have them fighting. This was supposed to be a good occasion, right? They'd made it to the real world. Dyss's ability to function effectively was a small price to pay for that. Besides, it wasn't like they should need such things here, right...?

"The week's over, though... And everyone's here. Even if there are more... Things that are coming. We should be happy, right?"

The alternative was that Dyss didn't know the whole story. He didn't imagine that was the case- things were likely just rough...

Attis was uncharacteristically silent. This entire time, he hadn't said much at all. He was usually quick to settle disputes amongst his friends, and extremely efficient at doing so.

Milos officially leaned into Dyss, pressing his back into Dyss's chest and "using" him as a leaning post--really quite affectionate, though, as Milos could be. Dyss wasn't that particularly large of a man, but Milos was still much smaller, almost half the width of Dyss and a good six or seven inches shorter. He almost had a feminine frame, and when he leaned back into Dyss's chest, it may have reminded Dyss of Izumi doing the same thing.

"I don't know," Milos sighed and pouted out his lower lip. He folded his arms over his chest and leaned his head back, "I'm really happy to be here, but . . . I don't know Those two are just . . ."

Milos was cut off as Izumi returned. "O-okay--my room is, um, it's all cleaned up, so we can all go there for now, if, um, if you want."

"All right," Attis replied calmly, "Let's go, then, guys."

Dyss wasn't quite sure what to say... He had a lot to tell his friends, but Izumi's presence made it somewhat difficult to do so. She didn't know the truth yet, and he wasn't sure how to bring it up, especially after so long. It would probably seem like quite an outrageous story...

"Oh... Well, things will be better now..."

Milos leaning against Dyss was strange enough to throw off his sense of where he was. Normally, he could walk through the house without much problem, but he would hit the doorframe and fall towards whoever was present when he tried to move to the other room...