The trio still sat in their loose little circle.
"So let me get this straight," Nico said with a gaze bouncing between the two of them as he continued -
"When you gained your human forms, you also got knowledge… like how to read, write, what you are, what monsters are, how your magic works. The basics you'd need to not die in the first week."
"Yes," X-97 replied without hesitation, nodding once as if this had been obvious. "Every magic beast carries ancestral knowledge within their bloodline. Fragments left behind by predecessors. When we become capable of comprehension, that knowledge surfaces."
"That would explain how you knew what a Greater Dragon was the moment Nom said it."
Out of the corner of his eyes, Nico caught Nom-Nom staring down at the grass with a frown as though she was snagged on a thought she wasn't sure how to pull free from.
"Parents, huh…" she murmured. "I wonder who mine are. Or where they are."
X-97 answered before Nico could even think about it.
"Don't." X-97 said.
Nom-Nom looked up in surprise while X-97 didn't soften her tone as she continued.
"Whoever they are, and wherever they are, they left you on that island for five hundred years... they gave you to Pantheon to do what they wished with you," she said flatly. "… and so did mine."
[Okay, that went dark fast.] Nico felt his shoulders tense on reflex, and just when he was about to speak, Nom-Nom spoke again.
"You're right," she said.
"But I don't have to hate them," Nom-Nom continued as she leaned back on her hands and tilted her face toward the sky. "I just… won't care."
She then smiled a wide, genuine, and completely unburdened smile.
"Because right now, my life is perfect…" she said, glancing at Nico, then at X-97. "Me, Master, and you. We're free. And we're having fun."
X-97 went quiet, eyes fixed on Nom-Nom for a long moment before she finally looked away with something unreadable flickering across her expression as a faint, and almost reluctant "hm" escaped her.
[Way to go, big girl!] Nico mentally pumped his fist as warmth settled in his chest.
"Alright," he said, leaning forward. "That's what I wanted to know… Now let's get back to strategy."
That seemed to finally get their attention.
With a faint shimmer of blue light, Nico reached into the Inventory and pulled out a neatly folded white dress in his hands before extending it toward X-97.
"First… " he said, "I need you to wear this."
X-97 accepted it automatically, then paused as she looked down at the fabric with a faint frown before glancing back up at him.
"…Why?"
Nico gestured vaguely at her current attire.
"What you're wearing can barely be classified as clothes. A woman walking around in what's basically a bedsheet with holes for her head and arms is going to draw attention. All sorts of it."
She looked down at herself again, then back at the dress before nodding once.
Nico then turned next to Nom-Nom, pulling out another bundle of clothing and holding it out to her.
"And here's yours."
Nom-Nom accepted the clothes happily. "Thanks! Mine were really damaged last night."
"Now, the main point," he said. "I need both of you to hide who you are. No one can know you're a Dragon and a Phoenix."
X-97 nodded immediately. "Agreed."
Nico turned to Nom-Nom and produced a small case, opening it to reveal a pair of contact lenses.
"I need you to use these… " he said gently. "They'll hide your dragon eyes."
Nom-Nom stared at Nico's face.
Then back at the box.
"…No," she said.
Nico blinked. "No?"
"I don't wanna."
He exhaled slowly. "Look, Nom…"
She twisted where she sat and turned her back to him, arms folding stubbornly across her chest.
"Not looking."
"Nom…" he tried again, "… people can't know you're a dragon."
"Why do I have to hide who I am?" she cut in, looking back at him, "I am nothing to be ashamed of!"
Nico opened his mouth, then closed it again before running a hand through his hair as he said -
"Nom… you running around as a dragon—"
With a woosh, three massive black wings erupted from her back as she said firmly, "I will run around like a Dragon."
Nico winced on reflex. "Nom, dragons are usually considered powerful and dangerous. I mean, you literally ate me the first time we met."
"…That was a misunderstanding."
"Still counts."
She crossed her arms tighter, though her wings folded, but did not disappear.
"Then I'll prove them wrong. But I won't hide who I am."
"Nom, listen -"
"Not listening." She clapped her hands over her ears.
Nico stared at her for a long second before sighing in defeat, "…Fine."
Nom-Nom beamed the very next moment, "Yay!"
X-97's head snapped toward him.
"You cannot be serious," she said sharply. "We need to do whatever it takes to remain hidden."
"Not really," Nico replied, tone calm, almost casual. "…Though that would be optimal."
"Besides," he continued, "... we can't hide from them forever."
X-97 frowned with confusion flickering across her face as she studied him, waiting for him to explain himself.
"Remember how I insisted not to kill anyone?" Nico asked. "Heart'o gold aside… There was also a tactical reason behind that."
Her eyes narrowed just a little.
"Our little escape was also a showcase…" he said.
He turned his head toward X-97 fully now.
"I don't know your story," he said honestly. "… And I'm not going to ask you to dig into it. But when I first met Nom… she was completely consumed by her Wendigo side. She was killing and eating everything with a pulse."
Even Nom-Nom didn't deny it.
"I managed to stop that… somehow," Nico exhaled softly.
"From Pantheon's perspective, they were still guarding an all-consuming wyvern. A living extinction event… you can say."
Nico spread his hands as he continued, "And during our escape, when she lost a wing, she had every justification to slaughter them all, and she wanted to. But she still didn't."
X-97 stayed silent.
"That showed restraint," Nico continued. "And most importantly, control. Not just over power, but over ourselves. It told them that if we wanted to wipe them out, we could have… but chose not to."
He then leaned back slightly.
"It also sent another message…" he added. "That we don't want war. We just want to leave and live. Have mornings like today."
X-97's eyes widened, but she didn't interrupt.
"So no…" Nico said, sighing softly. " I doubt they would hunt us like rabid dogs. And if they do find us again…they won't kill us on sight. That keeps diplomacy on the table. And even if talks fail, we'd have more options to escape."
X-97 finally spoke again once the thought settled, "That still does not justify why she should not hide her identity."
Nico looked at Nom-Nom, then back at X-97.
"Of course it doesn't," he agreed easily as a small grin formed on his face, "… but what does justify it is that we can use it to our advantage.
X-97's eyes sharpened as she asked, "…How?"
And Nico's grin widened just a fraction.
"Glad you asked."