The next morning greeted them with another homemade breakfast prepared by Josie. "I made pancakes and waffles. Plus, here's apple juice and orange juice! I'm sure you boys will like everything, so I even made scrambled eggs. Eat up!"

eX-0281 and eX-0704 had their eager eyes bulging at all the food. Today's breakfast was even more grand than yesterday. Together, they stuffed their mouths full of food. Both gave pause when they took a bite of the eggs.

A questionable taste spread across his tongue. "Mmph?" Since eX-0281 could not talk or do anything else with the gross eggs in his mouth, he swallowed it. Yuck! I don't know what she did, but the eggs in Grandesia tasted better. Mentally, he took away the compliments which he had given the home-cooked food yesterday.

In contrast, eX-0704 opened his mouth and let the half-chewed mass plop back onto the plate. "Uh, sorry. I don't think I like those."

Though eX-0281 fully agreed, he stared in mortification at eX-0704's bad manners. He twisted around and said cheerfully to Josie, "They're not that bad—"

"Yes, they are!" eX-0704 howled.

"I don't know what to tell you," Josie said with a shrug. "Well, I guess now we know you don't like eggs…."

During the commotion, Victoria had come down the stairs. Her clothes were casual: plain jeans and a baggy t-shirt. Her long, dark brown hair was unbrushed and poofed out around her head like a lion. "You should tell them the truth," she said with a yawn. An edge of intensity lined her voice, even for such a simple proclamation. "Those aren't eggs."

eX-0704 stifled a snort and hesitated to greet her in a casual manner. "Morning, Victoria."

"What do you mean, they're not eggs?" eX-0281 inquired.

"This is a withered pile of soy, tainted yellow with turmeric. Blegh." Victoria made a face and reached across the table to collect some of the waffles. "Don't eat any of the animal products in this house. Courtesy of the nature mage, everything is vegan—a fancy word for tastes like a couch."

eX-0704 and eX-0281 glanced at each other and shared a look of horror. Whatever they had said about the food last night, they took it back now. The dragon brothers naturally skewed on the carnivorous side.

Pointing at them, Victoria doubled over in a harsh chortle. "Just look at their faces. The lizard boys aren't too happy!"

"Now Victoria, 281, and 704," Josie said, "animal cruelty is not required for food to taste good, especially with our modern advances in technology—"

"Spare me the lecture. I'm just grabbing some food for Marcel, then I'll be outta your hair," Victoria said with an innocent hand up. As she left, she gestured to them with the fork. "I'll let you guys tag along when I go monster hunting later. I'll teach you how to prep the meat!" After a last wink, she bounded back up the stairs with the plate of food.

Admittedly, eX-0281 had his curiosity piqued. What would a fresh monster steak taste like? When he reimagined the stalker behemoth, its terrifying appearance did nothing to scare away his appetite. If anything, eX-0281 would find it even more satisfying to dine on its flesh—the best form of revenge, assuming it tasted good. He smacked his jaws in anticipation.

Maybe I could be enticed to go monster hunting…. Without the allure of food, eX-0281 would be too lazy to put himself in needless danger. His one desire was to while away his days, sunning on the rocks in the backyard with eX-0704. If they did nothing else for the rest of their lives, he would be perfectly content.

A certain monster might haunt them and make sure they could never truly relax, however. The stalker behemoth's ghastly smile flashed to mind, and eX-0281 called out, "Wait!"

Victoria poked her head around the corner. "Yeah? What is it?"

"Is the behemoth dead?"

"Probably. We can scout out the carnage later. Meet me back here after lunch."

eX-0281 and eX-0704 exchanged a glance. "O-Okay." The Disco Menace certainly wasted no time in getting down to business. While the dragon duo had no sense of urgency, they knew that they would feel better after confirming the behemoth's death.

I sure hope it's dead…. he thought.

The room felt weird now that Victoria's larger-than-life presence had gone. A new person poked her head into the kitchen. Charlotte lingered by the front door, mostly hiding herself behind the wooden frame. "Is she gone?"

"Yes, Vickie went back upstairs." Josie's brow pinched up in worry as she regarded her daughter. "Your friend is leaving as soon as her little brother regains his strength."

"She's not my friend!" Charlotte huffed. Drawing in a deep breath, she hobbled into full view with a crutch tucked under one elbow. Her reconstructed leg could no longer bear a full load of weight. "I just went for a quick stroll on my own to make sure I could do it…. I can walk well enough!" she said with a broad smile. "Are you guys ready for your tour of the town?"

"Yeah!" eX-0281 and eX-0704 cheered and hurried to gobble down the rest of their food. More than just learning about the town, this would be the perfect opportunity to pick Charlotte's brain about the sub-dragons.

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When the dragon brothers left the house, they both shifted into their human forms. The locals would feel unduly alarmed by two sub-dragons marching around their quiet, little town. Despite that, the two identical, muscular men still looked out of place.

As she escorted them down the main, dirt-trodden street of the village, she cast out a wide arm. "Welcome to Purity Grove!"

The quaint houses and shops looked like they contained the bare necessities for everyone to get by. The wind could be heard rustling through the trees, and songbirds twittered about in melody. Compared to the harsh lights and bustle of the city, eX-0281 decided that he liked the small town atmosphere very much. When he drew in a deep breath, the air had never tasted so sweet in his life.

The cautious eyes of the villagers followed them, but everybody knew Charlotte and greeted her kindly.

"Good morning, Ms. Lottie," an elderly man said.

"Good morning, Pierre!"

"What happened to your leg? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she chimed. "My parents always told me it's dangerous to walk and read at the same time. I tripped down the stairs and sprained my ankle!"

eX-0281 marveled at how Charlotte could lie with such a pleasant smile on her face. Gunshot wound…. Sprained ankle…. It's all the same thing.

The old man, Pierre, ate up her excuse. "Oh my. It's fortunate that you weren't hurt any worse! Get better soon, little missy."

"I will!" Although Charlotte tried to carry on with the tour, the elderly man had a question.

He leaned in close, examining eX-0281 and eX-0704 with a wide smile across his wrinkled face. "Who're these two new, young, bright men?"

"My friends," Charlotte said simply. "They'll be visiting for a while." With that, they walked past. Charlotte limped on her crutch and Pierre hobbled on his cane. Once they had a small distance between them, she gave eX-0281 and eX-0704 an overview about the old man.

"Pierre is our local history buff, although everything he says might not be factually accurate per se. He's especially interested in mythology and legends. If you ask him about anything, you'd better prepare to listen to his tangents for hours," Charlotte huffed with a roll of her eyes.

eX-0281 did not want to know how long Charlotte had been held as a captive audience to the old man's tales. Quiet and observant, he learned the layout of the town as they walked.

A second person bounded up to them, younger and much more bubbly than Pierre. "Hey there, Lottie! Who're your friends?" The other teenage girl had her eyes narrowed in a sly way.

"Oh, um, hi Julia! These are…." Charlotte held her tongue and looked to them awkwardly.

"Wanderers. We're just passing through," eX-0704 said in a stern voice.

At that response, eX-0281 winced. It was a bad excuse given that they planned to stay here, but for the time being, it silenced personal questions about them.

The chatterbox still flitted about them in great interest. "Are these some of Victoria's friends? She's done a lot of interesting things in the big city. Can you guys tell me about all the places you've seen? I can't wait to get out of here!" Julia scuffed her heel against the dirt and tossed her hands behind her head leisurely. Her dreamy eyes were cast up to the sky beneath the [Filtration Net].

"They're my friends—not Vickie's!" Charlotte said harshly. "Plus they just got here, and they're kinda shy. Please don't overburden them with questions." The outburst which overcame Lottie had quickly subsided. She excused herself with a muttered farewell.

Even after they left Julia behind, a terse knit remained in Charlotte's brow. Robotically, she gave them the overview about the other teenage girl. "That was Julia. She's the only person close to my age around town, but we don't have anything in common—aside from where we live, of course."

"I can tell," eX-0281 said. "You're not like her at all." Since Charlotte seemed annoyed by the other girl, he tried to reassure her by agreeing with her blindly.

"Really? What makes you say that?" she asked. Alarmingly fast, Charlotte twirled around on her crutch and waited for his reply.

"Well, uh, you're less empty in the head," eX-0281 said, tapping a thick finger to his temple.

As awkward as he felt giving the compliment, Charlotte seemed to receive it with even greater abashment. She shifted with both hands clutched round her crutch and could not meet his eyes.

eX-0704 butted in to clarify, "What 281 meant to say: you seem smart."

Instantly, she looked up with bright eyes. Her face turned a brighter pink. She tried to laugh it off. "Ha, thanks you guys! The two of you are so nice. Anyways…."

The tour continued, and eX-0281 used this as his opportunity to pick that big brain of hers. "You know how there's some useful components that drop from mutants?" he began.

"Of course! Actually, I've been meaning to ask…. Could I have the mana nodule from the slime, by any chance?"

eX-0281 had no purpose for it and no particular attachment, but he glanced to eX-0704. His brother was the one who had endured significant pain when he had fallen victim to the slime trap. And so, eX-0281 waited to receive permission from him.

Stoically, eX-0704 nodded.

"Yeah, you can have it," eX-0281 said.

"Great! I'll put it to good use." A cheery skip entered Charlotte's step, bouncing along on her crutch. "Here is the general store. We call it the Mott Mart 'cause it's run by Mr. and Mrs. Mott. I'd show you inside and introduce you guys, but… I realize it's kinda hard to make introductions when you don't have normal names yet. We'll have to come up with some for you, at the very least to keep questions low."

Both eX-0281 and eX-0704 had their tails perk up. "We, um…. We want real names anyway!"

"Actually," eX-0281 said, "we started discussing this last night—"

"When we were trying to come up with good names for the vuls," eX-0704 chimed.

In unison, they asked, "Could you help us?" eX-0281 and eX-0704 turned to look at each other and laugh.

"Of course!" Charlotte said. At the end of town, she walked them to a pretty, well-kept building with tall steeples. "Well," she said, "that's everything!"

"What's this building?" When eX-0281 turned his chin up to the tallest building in the town, a smile curled to his lips. The sky and trees were still visible all around—nothing like the skyscrapers and cavernous sky in Grandesia.

"This is the Church." All their heads tipped upward to admire its steeple and elegant design together.

"So," eX-0281 said, "I wanted to ask you about drops. Something special is left behind when a sub-dragon dies. It's a dragon soul shard. Why does that happen to us? Do you know anything about it?"

"Well, it has to do with sub-dragon biology." Charlotte put one hand behind her back while she rocked nervously. "Normally, souls are the life energy of a sentient creature, dismissed with death. However, if that energy is fractured, it cannot dissipate in the same way. Basically, you guys are more than just clones; you also share a soul."