The World Below (ON BREAK)

Chapter 13

Central Park, NY

Tanner returned with Simon and Connor behind him. He pulled out his switch and pushed the button, and in a matter of seconds was back in his default form, his lower half that of a snake. Caspian was motionless, same with Connor and Simon.

"What? Am I still human?"

Simon shook his head. "I just... didn't think you'd look like that."

"I didn't tell you I was a Naga? Huh. Well, then. Now you know." He shrugged. "You still look shocked."

Connor tilted his head and said a single word. "Unexpected."

"Ah. Understandable. It was unexpected when you transformed, but I'm not standing like a wide-mouthed idiot."

Simon seemed to get a hold of himself. His eyes were flickering yellow. "And you're... Caspian, right? Nice to meet you."

Caspian bowed, lifting one hoofed leg up slightly. "Pleasure."

"All you guys are definitely stranger than Connor and I. No offense."

"None taken. And I get what you mean. You guys look all normal majority of the time, then there's the ones like Caspian and I that can't go outside without someone screaming. So it's fine."

A person was walking a dog along the outer edges of central park. Tanner nudged Caspian.

"Shouldn't we turn back? To look human? There's people out here."

Caspian shook his head. "Nah. There's a Comic-con going on tonight in the convention center, so no one will suspect a thing. Hopefully. People dress pretty dang weird there, so it might be the ideal place to go. If you want."

Tanner considered this. There was a pretty slim chance of people noticing that he wasn't human, but still a chance. However, it would be an excellent opportunity to learn more about the human world, since they didn't have conventions in Sanctuary.

"By the way, Caspian, since I live in an underground city without a 'convention center', would you mind explaining what a Comic-con is?"

He nodded, completely calm. He seemed to know a lot about the human world.

"Basically, adult humans go to a big room where they dress as comic book characters or just something fantasy. It's the perfect place to blend in. Everyone looks weird."

Tanner tilted his head.

"Comic book?"

"Geez, there's not really much down in Sanctuary, huh? Well, a comic book is like a normal book, but with pictures instead of words. They sell them at the Comic-con."

"Great, let's go!"

Caspian smiled and sighed.

"It'll be easy to blend in, but be warned, it can get strange in there."

"Don't care. I just want to learn about the human world."

Simon interrupted. "I know loads more about the human world than him! I've been alive for 274 years, you know!"

"Sure, you can come too, and show Tanner more stuff after we're done," said Caspian.

Tanner noticed Stacy's eyes were a little droopy, and she overall looked tired.

"Stacy, why don't you go home? It's late. You look exhausted."

Stacy smiled at him and said, "Thanks, Tanner. It's been a long day. I'll head home."

She turned and walked in the direction of her house, leaving Tanner, Caspian, Simon, and Connor behind.

Connor, sitting on the ground, looked up at Simon and said, "What now?"

The vampire looked down at his friend and replied, "I dunno, buddy. I think Caspian is gonna show Tanner a Comic-con." He looked at Tanner. "If you need the true master of the human world, you know where to find me." He saluted and turned into a pigeon, flying off with Connor running close behind.

Caspian looked at Tanner. "So. You wanna go to the Comic-con, and get to see some more of the human world?"

"Absolutely."