Drew's parents had regained consciousness an hour later and were seated on the living room couch.
His dad was a little dazed, and his mom was terrified by what had happened.
A stranger broke into their home, took them out, the house was completely wrecked with debris falling every ten seconds, and on top of that, all after their son was presumed dead, the stress was overwhelming her.
Drew, on the other hand, was now wearing a black t-shirt over a large, baggy, pure-white long-neck shirt, sitting on a single-seat couch, meanwhile Xeanoz sat on the couch opposite Drew's parents.
They seemed to have wrapped up some sort of conversation.
It was an awkward and dense silence before Drew's dad regurgitated what Xeanoz had told them.
"So, a cult called Black Sect attacked us because they wanted our son?"
Xeanoz nods in agreement.
"Yes, and I was here to make sure that they left without him. Although they also damaged your house in the process, which you can blatantly see."
Drew's dad looked at him, his tone stern and voice forcing its steadiness.
"Is that true?"
Drew, who was faking his shaken state, held his hand to his forehead, pushing his dreads back as he spoke up.
"Y-yeah, it's true. It all happened right then and there…and they broke so much stuff when she got here."
Xeanoz quickly rolled her eyes at Drew's comment about her before Drew's parents turned around to look back at her and then at one another.
"I don't get why we have to lie to them…If anything, I'd rather have at least one of them know what I might be going through rather than neither…I'd like to have at least one person I could go to during this crap."
Drew thought to himself, before lying back on the couch, letting Xeanoz and his parents continue the conversation.
Drew's mother spoke up concernedly.
"Should we call the police? Do we need the authorities to get involved? Please, if you know what's going on, you have to help us."
Xeanoz's expression became a little softer before responding to Drew's mother.
"There's no need to worry, from what I've seen, there are multiple cases that involve the black sect. Not all seem to be true, but most, I can confirm, are real, I'm sure."
Drew's dad then leaned forward, asking a follow-up question.
"And you said you want to live here?"
She leaned backwards, now sitting cross-legged.
"Just until the Black Sect is abolished or put behind bars, I assure you, your son will be safe with me."
But immediately after, Drew's mom spoke up again.
"It's just. You look a little young, and you're the same height as Drew himself. So, are you sure you can protect him from…a cult?"
"And I apologise for bringing this up again, but why are you so certain we don't need to contact the police on this matter?"
"Our home was destroyed, my husband's car is damaged, and my son has a target on his back."
That question caused Drew to perk up and consider how old Xeanoz really was, being an alien and all that, but he could also tell the concern in his mom's voice.
Her child had been through so much in one day, and the lie about the black sect may have been a little much…but it was more believable and less stressful than the truth.
And then, Xeanoz spoke up, with only a formal, stern tone and a hint of pride backing her up.
"I'm aware of your concerns, I know you probably don't trust me at all. But be aware."
"That I was the one who ran them out of your house, I don't mind if you call the police."
"But if you want to take that chance and bring attention to yourselves by calling authorities, the news, or the police."
"You could put yourselves in more danger than you wanted to get out of in the first place."
That reality hit them like a truck; even Drew was surprised.
At this rate, it didn't seem like Xeanoz was trying to kindly make them agree; she was just throwing every possible con and disadvantage she could, simply put.
She was just coercing them until they had no comeback.
As both parents recollected their thoughts.
Drew's dad spoke up first.
"Ok then. You can stay. We'll let you use Mariyum's room, and you can live there."
She stared at him, but then simply stood up, ready to go to the room, until Drew's mom spoke.
"Just, please. Don't let this happen to us again."
Xeanoz replied with two quiet words, "It won't happen." In a little bit of a mocking tone, and with that, she left.
Then Drew's dad spoke up quietly.
"It's strange…I think she's wearing the same clothes as Mariyum."
Immediately, Drew noticed it too.
And groaned, both grimacing and internally facepalming himself.
"Great, this bitch stole my sister's clothes…I'm beginning to think she has no shame." He thought before getting up and walking off.
"I'm gonna go to bed, see you in the morning."
His parents nodded, staying in the living room, just to process everything that had gone on.
He couldn't blame them, after all, he was in the same spot; confused, hurt, and tired.
He knew there wasn't much to do but sleep and hope it was all a nightmare.
But he knew the difference between reality and a dream, and reality is always much clearer.
Once he made it to the top of the stairs, he saw Xeanoz looking around the room, inspecting almost every bit of it.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
She turned over almost immediately as she heard his voice. She gave him a blank, almost lifeless stare, which he replied to with an annoyed squint.
She was grazing the wall lightly with her fingers.
"I'm looking for a place to set a Cliva."
Drew didn't stop giving her the annoyed squint as he spoke.
"Aaaand how am I supposed to know what that is?"
She stood tall with her back facing him.
"Well, there's no need for the snark."
"Especially to your saviour," Xeanoz slightly joked with a small smirk.
Drew then sighed and abruptly apologised.
"Fine, sorry, now talk."
She shook her head at his insincere apology and looked back at the wall.
"Cliva are created from Soul Vapour."
"You can use them to store equipment or make engravings – it just depends on the type you choose to make, and depending on what one you choose, it's the one you're stuck with."
He tilted his head due to the new information, as it made him have more and more questions on his mind.
"Wait, so is it alright, I ask, that what the hell is Soul Vapour?"
She then replied as blue misty energy emitted from her hand and shaped into an ovoid form on the wall.
"It's energy that your soul produces; in simple terms, it's the fundamental necessity for the soul; it gives it energy and protects it by forming an outer layer."
"Part of the reason why I couldn't just instantly kill you"
"When an alteration of elements takes place, the Soul Vapour Layer expands and protects your body even more than it should, before it shrinks down to its original size, just underneath your skin to protect your soul."
"However, the expansion is purely instinctual and is very conditional; so it won't do anything unless I do this."
She then conjured a blue fire raging above her fingers, altering the air to fire.
Right after she did, the fire began to get pushed back a bit, as if some invisible force was making it to – that was his soul vapour layer.
"Soul Vapour is both the energy for the soul and its protector. That's it."
With this more detailed breakdown, Drew seemed to get it a bit more as he thought to himself about her definition.
"So technically this stuff is like a cell wall and a nucleus of a plant…never thought I'd catch myself making biology references, glad I'm done with that subject."
He smirked, realising he still had unanswered questions – and he decided to take advantage of the fact that Xeanoz was being more open about how her abilities worked.
"Wait, but that doesn't explain the Cliva, and is it tied down to your powers?"
Xeanoz stared at Drew, judging him now.
"Yeah. Nice try."
His smirk shattered as he realises she caught on so quickly, but he urgently goes to her.
"Wait-wait-wait-wait, come on! At least tell me something else!"
She looked him up and down, unsure of whether to head to bed or answer the question.
And after some final thoughts, she sighed and sat on the bed.
"Fine, for starters, Cliva take the form of eyes."
She raised her fingers, and the area she had placed a blue mist over opened into a large eye, with the bricks of the wall posing as eyelids.
Drew cringed as he muttered "eugh" under his breath and shuddered a little.
"Mine is a storage unit formed when concentrated soul vapour is placed on a wall or other inanimate soulless objects, things, or materials."
"The difference between unconcentrated soul vapour and concentrated soul vapour is that the unconcentrated lets me do elemental alteration, and the concentrated lets me make Cliva."
"That's all."
Drew took in every word as he grasped the understanding of concentrated and unconcentrated soul vapour usage.
He was surprised she told him this much, but he could tell that she was putting things in the vaguest form she could.
Whether it was to hide things from him or simply because she didn't trust him, one thing was clear.
She didn't seem to even want to discuss it.
He watched her throw the blanket over her body as crescent-shaped spikes fell and blended into the rest of her hair, looking a lot more ordinary – aside from its colour – as she drifted off to bed.