Larkin had both hands on his head, eyes wide, struggling to process what he just heard, while Zee just blinked in confusion at Xain, trying to reconcile him with the girl Pip had described. Xain, on the other hand, sat awkwardly, poking at the food on the table, his discomfort clear. Pip glanced back and forth between them, unsure whether to continue her story.
"No," Larkin finally broke the silence, throwing his hands down in frustration. "That just don't make no goddess-damned sense," he said, exasperated. "There is no way you were the girl she just told us about!" His disbelief was evident, and Zee nodded in agreement.
"Y-yeah, that didn't sound anything like you," Zee added, furrowing her brow. "That girl acted—and sounded—completely different."
Xain shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. "Trust me, I didn't see the resemblance at first either," Pip chimed in, gesturing toward Xain. "But after the hairstyle change, I knew it was her—I mean, him," she corrected herself quickly. "Still, I agree with you both."
Xain looked up in surprise. "You do?"
Pip nodded. "Yeah, the difference in personality is pretty huge. That's why I was so shocked you apologized." She gave Xain a pointed look. "You just never struck me as someone who would."
Larkin and Zee nodded along, still clearly skeptical. The gap between the person Pip described and the Xain they knew was too wide to bridge. *I agree with them,* came Ercale's voice in Xain's mind, as if even the Demon Lord was struggling to believe it. *You too?* Xain responded mentally, surprised. *It's hard to imagine you ever behaving like that, even considering your 'condition.'*
Xain let out a deep sigh, staring down at the floor. "Okay, fine," he muttered under his breath, "I guess it worked better than I thought it did."
Larkin, catching that, raised an eyebrow. "What're ya talkin' about, kid?"
Xain tapped his fingers nervously on the table, avoiding everyone's gaze. "You're right. 'Annie' was her own person—someone who wasn't me. Nothing like me." He paused, searching for the right words. "That's... what I did."
The others exchanged confused glances. "What do you mean?" Zee asked, leaning forward, concern creeping into her voice.
Xain took a slow breath, his fingers fidgeting against the table as if the words pained him. "Physically, yeah, it was me. But mentally? 'Annie' was a completely different person."
"You mean... like Cain?" Zee asked cautiously, her words making Xain's eyes widen in shock. He whipped his head toward her, shaking it violently.
"No, no, no! Not like Cain at all!" His voice was sharp, panicked, as he tried to distance himself from that comparison. Quickly remembering the lies he and Ercale told them.
Meanwhile, Pip, completely out of the loop about who Cain was, just stared, growing more confused with each passing second.
Xain took a deep breath, finally calming down. He placed his hands flat on the table, his eyes unfocused as if sorting through memories. "Some things happened... two years before I met Pip. Things that made me not want to be myself anymore," he began, his voice tense. It was clear that talking about this part of his past dredged up painful memories. Before anyone could reassure him or tell him he didn't have to continue, Xain pushed forward.
"And that's how 'Annie' was born," he said, his tone heavy. "She was... an escape. Or maybe just insanity. But somehow, that madness kept me sane after everything that happened. For almost three years, I wasn't 'Xain.' I lived as a completely different person..."
He trailed off, his gaze flicking between the others, and then inward to Ercale. His lips twitched in a halfhearted smile. "I guess I did a good job, huh? No one believes we're the same person."
Larkin, Zee, and Pip exchanged uneasy glances. It was a lot to take in—there was clearly more to Xain than any of them had known. His past suddenly felt like a vast and complicated web of secrets.
"So... why did you stop being 'Annie'?" Zee asked cautiously, aware of how much the subject unsettled him.
Xain's response came quicker than anyone expected. "Because a certain captain of the Ironguard threatened to beat me to death if I didn't stop," he said with a smirk, his mood lightening instantly. The playful glint in his eyes gave the statement a joking tone, they all knew who he was referring to—even Pip.
Still, the casual remark barely masked the deeper truth underneath, and none of them were quite ready to push for more.
Larkin broke the brief silence. "Can ya just become 'Annie' again, if ya wanted?" he asked, voicing a question that had been on Pip's mind as well.
"No." Xain's reply was swift and absolute, leaving no room for misinterpretation.
Pip, hesitant, leaned in. "Could you, um... elaborate?"
Xain leaned back in his chair, resting a hand on his cheek as a sly smile tugged at his lips. "I can pretend to be a girl, no problem." His voice shifted instantly, becoming sultry and undeniably feminine. His posture, his gestures, even the way he held his head all changed, embodying the act flawlessly. "But 'Annie'?" He gave a little shrug, still in the role, his tone dripping with playful charm. "That gal's a whole other deal—someone I can't just turn into on a whim, dear."
Pip quickly looked away, her face turning red, trying to hide the flustered expression spreading across her cheeks. Larkin and Zee just stared, awestruck at how effortlessly Xain had switched his persona.
Then, just as fast as he'd shifted into this new persona, Xain reverted to his usual self. "Anyway, that's the deal with 'Annie.' We should let Pip continue her story now, if she wants," he said, his voice casual again, as if nothing had changed. His ability to transition so fluidly between personalities left the others even more amazed, but also worried, as he could hide his true emotions near effortlessly.
"I guess..." Pip mumbled, still recovering from the sudden shift. "I guess I'll continue. Now that we've, uh... got that out of the way." She cleared her throat, composing herself before diving back into her tale.