Kibishi's POV

  Mini Pza

  Before we could even head to the theme park, David and Riley wanted to make a pit stop and have another meal since it had been a couple of hours since we'd been walking around the pce.

  And I had to say, this pce seemed... a bit advanced. Not like futuristic or anything, but they managed to work fast.

  For example, the plumbers of this city worked non-stop without breaks.

  So the pipe system somehow worked fine. I guessed that some advanced technology and magic came into py, but then another question arose.

  Could normal humans use magic as well?

  Even then, that still didn't expin anything.

  Tao and I were sitting down at a table that was set aside from the doorway. It seemed to be a way to greet people and have them rex from all of the drama so far.

  "This pce is unbelievable..." Tao whispered to me and had a concerned look.

  "Yeah. How are they advancing so far without telling anyone?" I wondered.

  "Same performance as the Super Codes." I heard a familiar female voice and turned in that direction.

  There, I saw Riley and David holding a pair of bags that I assumed had food inside them, alongside some pstic cups that you'd see in those fast-food restaurants. Riley and David sat down next to each other on the other side of the table that we were sitting at.

  "The double cheeseburger with banana smoothie for our good man, Kibishi!" Riley handed me a brown paper bag and the drink.

  "A ten-piece nuggets with bbq sauce alongside some strawberry smoothie for the good dy, Tao!" David handed Tao a brown paper bag and the drink.

  "Thanks!" I smiled.

  "You guys didn't have to get anything for us." Tao smiled gently.

  "Eh, we wanted to. Don't think about it so much, Tao." Riley stated as she took a sip of her own drink.

  "Right," I nodded.

  Wow. This pce had everything. It was almost as if it wanted us to stay here for as long as we needed to!

  And... that was just it.

  This pce had EVERYTHING.

  From our basic needs to how our old systems worked on the surface. And to me, that was kinda scary. Having the ability to live a comfortable life was one thing. But this pce had everything a single person needed. And that fact alone didn't really add up to me.

  I mean, if they had it in them to build all of this, then why not focus on finding ways to mow down the smaller threats like the creatures? I mean, this pce had everything for crying out loud. I knew that I was thinking about this over and over again, but still. That was something I needed to address someday...

  "Um," I heard Tao's voice, which made me look at her.

  She revealed a frown while gently pcing the bag down and her drink.

  "Do you guys know where they're keeping pigs and chickens to make these things? Also, the potatoes to make the fries and such."

  Good point,

  I noted to myself as well.

  Riley blinked and looked at the sky.

  "Well," Riley pced her index finger under her chin. "There's a farm not too far from here. It's got animals to be used as a product."

  "Animals? Like cows, chickens, and horses?" I raised my brows as I pced my hands on the table.

  "I think so. I'm honestly impressed that they managed to get them underground." David opened his bag and took out a fry before chewing it.

  "... Okay then. I guess I can buy that one. But what about the ability to pnt? The sun isn't that reliable down here." Tao looked up at the sky. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask ever since we got here a few weeks ago. That isn't the sun, right? We're seven yers deep, and even pying at the fact that the sunlight CAN reach down here, you wouldn't be able to see the physical sun from all the way down here. That's scientifically impossible."

  Tao pointed at the ball in the sky.

  Huh.

  Yeah, that didn't make any sense at all. If that wasn't the sun, then what was it?

  "Yeah, what is that?" I questioned while looking at the ball of light.

  "Hmm... I think people called it the 'Art Of The Sun'..." David said as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

  "The what of the what?" I tilted my head in confusion.

  "The Art Of The Sun. It's a... hmm... artificial-like energy? Basically, it's a big ball of light which gathers up the sunlight from the sun and pnts it to us here." Riley took another sip of her drink.

  "How's... how's that possible? The sun is far away from the Earth. Having a small portion of the light from here would be once in a blue moon. And that's only because of the hole up there." Tao took up her drink and had a sip. Tao's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth cutely.

  "Wow!" Tao said softly, and I could basically see her sparkle with delight at that point.

  "I can't say I know for sure, but I heard that it was Kujira's magic that's doing it," Riley stated as she took out a double bacon burger and took a bite out of it.

  "Jir?!" I stood up in fear.

  "Calm down, man. It's not like that. The Founder might be a dick, but he knows not to do something that will cost someone's life." David reassured me.

  I mean- he DOES send teens with magical powers of supernatural entities from history sooo...

  I narrowed my eyes at him.

  What David was saying wasn't a hundred percent accurate, but I didn't want to ruin the flow of the conversation. Plus, I still needed to know what happened after I got unconscious.

  "We can't be certain for sure, right? Who knows how long she's been doing this without us knowing...." Tao frowned and grabbed her drink tightly.

  "But doesn't that mean her energy will be drained constantly? I doubt it'll be drained AND can be used during any other activities." I blinked and then looked at Tao. "... Yeah, I doubt Jir would be able to walk properly, Tao. Otherwise, she'd have to put the energy SOMEWHERE, right?"

  "... With The Founder, it can be possible." Tao took another sip of her drink.

  "What about him saying that he wanted to protect us or something like that?"

  "Kishi, he never said that. He only wanted to use us in order to free the human race, even if he had to py the vilin. Some twisted mindset if you ask me..."

  "... My bad." I bowed my head at Tao.

  Tao took the straw out of her mouth and softly smiled. "It's fine. I know you were trying to look at the brightest side of things despite not liking him much, right?"

  "... Not with The Founder. Well... maybe. Look, he got me confused..."

  Tao nodded in agreement.

  "Agreed. The guy is full of mystery...." Tao took ANOTHER sip of her drink. Soon, I could hear the straw trying to suck every st bit of the strawberry smoothie. Tao took out the cover and closed one eye as she looked inside the cup.

  I ughed and handed her my cup.

  Tao waved both of her hands in embarrassment.

  "N-no no! I can't possibly- wait, that's a banana smoothie, right?"

  Tao quickly took the drink and sipped away with delight. I looked at the bag she had in front of her. I wondered if she'd eaten her food yet.

  And to answer my question, I saw Tao grabbing a hold of the ten-piece nuggets and starting to eat them one by one.

  Ah, I guessed I could start eating as well.

  And so, I grabbed my cheeseburger and started eating it.

  I swallowed my food before looking back at my two other friends.

  "So, how about we move on from that topic for now? We can always ask the adults-"

  I paused when I mentioned that. It completely slipped my mind, but I remembered something I'd told myself from before. I couldn't really trust them like that. But still, even with that in mind, they were the only ones who knew what was going on around the pce. And if that was the case, then I'd rather the adults you knew than the adults you couldn't really trust.

  That was probably a bad mindset, but I didn't personally care.

  "Er, what I meant to say was that we can just ask, uh, M-Mato about it ter...."

  ... Saying that name made my whole body flinch. I knew he wasn't a bad guy, but I still wasn't a hundred percent on board with him at all. But he was the only adult that I could trust enough with information, at least. Besides, if he was REALLY sorry, then he wouldn't mind, right?

  ... That was a cruel way of thinking.

  "Hey, is everything alright, Kibishi?" Riley stopped eating and gave me a worried look.

  "I'm fine... I guess." I smiled at Riley.

  I had a feeling that Riley wasn't buying that, though, as she bnkly stared at me. She then leaned in and pced her food at the side. "Who's bothering you and Tao when we weren't looking?"

  "H-huh?" I raised my brows.

  "Come on, man. You can't really fool us. None of you can. I didn't say anything since, as a fellow man, I wanted to respect your privacy. But now that the cat's out of the bag, you might as well confess." David folded his arms seriously.

  "..." Tao and I looked at each other.

  We both knew that once any of us showed a hint of something that was worrying us, our friends would pick up on it. We'd been like that for a long time. And as much as I wanted to give my thoughts on what was in my mind, there was something we had to talk about first.

  Before that, though...

  "Hey, Tao. You mind if we discuss it with David and Riley?" I asked Tao while leaning forward a bit.

  "... Sure." Tao nodded and rested her arms on the table, and rested her head on top of it.

  I slowly nodded and sat back down.

  "Sure, we'll tell you guys. AFTER you tell me what happened after I got knocked out."

  "Sheesh, you're not easy, are you?" David sighed dramatically.

  "As, for shame that our red-haired friend is desperate for some answers instead of rexing. David, art thou want to do the honor?" Riley dramatically said as she gestured her hands at David as if she were in a drama show.

  "How about thou and I do it at the same time, Lady Riley?" David stood up and bowed to Riley.

  "Ah! You're far too kind, Mister David! Indeed, we shall!" Riley leaned back on her chair as she pced her arm on her forehead and closed her eyes. She then leaned forward, and David caught her all dramatically.

  "Pfft!" I covered my mouth to hold in my ughter.

  They don't hold back when it comes to trying to cheer up their friends, huh?

  I looked to the side and saw Tao trying to hold in her ughter as well.

  It was good to know that we still had people who cared enough for our well-being. Who knew what would've happened if we hadn't met these two? Things would've been different, I assumed.

  But I was gd that wasn't the case.

  Having friends like them really brightened my day.