[[ *shakes head* Failure of a father. >:c -- Aw, the past is so adorable in Michael's world. <3 ]]

Seth waited in silence for Michael to awaken, or someone to show up. He didn't see Ariel and was pretty sure that Marcia had taken the dragon someplace- neither of them were around. His hopes skyrocketed when he heard Michael shift a little, but they were brought back down as the seconds drew in with no other signs of life or movement. A while later, he was surprised to actually hear Michael talk. Seth's eyes opened and he sat forwards, glancing around to see if his mind was just playing tricks on him. "You're awake," he thought aloud. He sighed and stood up to stretch, only to turn around and kneel next to Michael and face him again. "You.. The Onyx got deadly again and you completely blacked out, so we took you back and here we are now."

[ -giggles- can you guess who the girl is? ]

He mentally kicked himself when he heard the words "you blacked out". It took him a little bit to realize just where 'here' was- back at Marcia's. Michael picked up the cloth and slowly sat up, his head was killing him and was all foggy. He couldn't hardly think straight.

[[ Ooh, Marcia~? >o< 8-years-ago Marcia ]]

Seth nervously watched Michael sit up. ""Here, let me take care of that," he offered, referring to the cloth. Seth wanted to make sure Michael was doing alright, but he also didn't want to look too over-protective. He looked out the window for a moment and then back to Michael. The absolute worst that could possibly happen is another person getting infected with Onyx, but Seth could vaguely already think up different ways to get rid of it-

He blinked once. 'I guess I do know..' he thought shyly. He'd learned it in his dream. 'Who was she?' he wondered, feeling like an extremely distant memory was trying to get his attention. That girl who had been in her throne caused a lot of questions to jump into Seth's mind, but she also concluded others.

[ o.o -giggles- hai! -- chapter 6 has been uploaded to my DA~ <3 would;ve been up sooner but i got distracted ^^ ]

Michael handed the cloth to Seth and smirked a little. "When we first came here... Did it seem like Marcia knew me before she even met me?" Meaning she knew more about him than she should for someone who's "never met him". He asked quietly, refraining from holding his hind and ignored the headache.

[[ Reading it right now. ;3 ]]

Seth laughed when he heard Michael's question. "Just a bit?" he asked with a grin as he stood up. "She was the only person to notice a foreigner in the village. Also, she pointed your tattoo out like it was on fire." Seth walked over and into the kitchen with the cloth in his hands. He casually rolled his sleeves up, ignoring the black, dagger-like lines that in some cases reached his wrists, and turned the water on. Seth had just about gotten the old water out, so he turned it cool and wrung the cloth out once more. He returned back into the main room and stopped in the doorway. "What temperature was this?"

[ ^-^ ]

Michael listened to Seth's response carefully and he he checked off his own list, as each note was checked the missing puzzle pieces began filling themselves. His headache worsened and he held his head, covering his ears before Seth finished cooling the cloth, so he didn't hear his last question.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_ ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
"Michael~ How long to you plan on hiding the tattoo from your parents?" The young girl looked at her friend with concerned eyes. The younger him stared at the dragon tattoo on his arm with dark midnight blue eyes. "For as long as I can... You know what'll happen if they find out! Do you want that to happen?" He replied, switching his dark gaze to the girl who flinched when he raised his voice. She shakes her head and tears up. He sighed and gently pulled her into him like a brother would. She might've been older, but she was a big softy who was easy to scare. "No matter what happens- even if torn apart, somehow we'll be reunited. Because you're like a big sister to me and nothing will ever keep us apart for long... I promise."
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_ ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Michael slowly released his head and stared down at his shaky hands, his temperature was back up to that of hot tub. 'What the hell is going on?'

[[ Aww, Michael and Marcia are like M&M Besties, so cuuuute~! *squees* ]]

Seth's expression went blank all except for his alert gray eyes. He could see that something was definitely up with Michael, but he couldn't figure out what. 'What's up with all of these mind-games?' he wondered. The world he'd previously known was mostly physical and everything he'd experienced within the past few days took a bigger toll on his mind than anywhere else. He looked down at the cold cloth he had in his hands and stepped into the room towards his friend. It was pretty good timing, too, considering that Michael had just let go of himself and gone into some sort of shock mode. Seth sat down beside Michael on the edge of the couch and reached his hand out to Michael's cheek. He gritted his teeth. "Michael," he said, putting the cloth against Michael's forehead. "What's bothering you?"

[[ Kate reminds me of my Mystic in Dragon Nest. All of these level 50 (capped) Korean players have these space/time superpowers and can infinitely speed and freeze time to their benefits, whereas I'm barely above basic explosions I can freeze time for about a second..Every five hours. >o< -- By the way, do you still use MMOs? ]]

[ -giggles- i know right? *squees also* >^< ]

Michael blinked and gazed at Seth when he touched his cheek. "Ever since the blackout, I've been remembering more and more of how I ended up in the woods when Ariel found me half-dead- why Marcia knows so much about me and the tattoo...." He answers as calm as he possibly could, even the state he was in. "..Marcia..." Michael whispered under his breath like ice.

Marcia blinked and looked up from the ground, a shiver running down her spine. Krystal gently nudged her in the direction of her hut while laying next to the woman on the grass near the lake. "Wait a minute Krystal-- Ah!" She fell into a puddle of mud. 'Darned dragon...'

[ she does? O.o -- MMOs? not recently ]

[[ From the beginning I was curious as to who Marcia was >o< I was like "Marcia and Michael.. Marcia is his.. Mom? No, wait.. His aunt? No, that's not right either. .w.;;" ]]

Seth lowered his gaze when he heard Michael try and explain the situation. He understood what it was like to half-remember something and get bits and pieces of it throughout a period of time. Seth had a pretty clear memory of his entire past, though, so he could only think of so many ways to relate. He bit his lip and looked off. Michael was hurting himself with his own memory blocks and Seth was hurting himself with Onyx. A ray of hope shined down on him when he thought of the flip-side, though. Seth had taken himself to new places throughout his obstacle-filled journey and he got the feeling that Michael would end up in the same place. "I see.." he said, unsure of how to portray his thoughts into words. "Just don't hurt yourself too badly, alright?" Seth smiled to his friend, eager to know what could become of the situation.

[[ Yess, she does. ;o! Dragon Nest Mystics are beast- they don't do too much damage, but their crowd control (freeze time, slow time, rack your opponents around, lock them in a black hole and keep them in one place while your time speeds up so you can repeat it all~) is so desirable irl -- Ahs, okee. Just wondering. ^^ ]]

[ heehee~ now we all know ^0^ actualy to be honest, i wasn't sure either til recently ^^' ]

Michael smiled in return and nodded lightly. "Definitely." He had begun to cool down and settle down as well. Ariel hovered down the hall with a sleepy face. 'Hi guys...' She said sleepily. Ariel paused and looked at Michael, rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times. 'You're awake!' Ariel chimed and hugged him from the side. 'You had me so worried!' Michael thought of himself as the rock to keep from falling over when Ariel side-hugged him.

[[ Haha, don't we~ ]]

Seth was content with the situation that unfolded before himself. He turned and waved at Ariel with his free hand, but ended up quickly taking the cloth away from Michael just before the impact of a ghost-girl was brought into the room. He held it in his hands for a moment and watched the two. Seth thought about the puzzle-pieces he was given from Michael to add to his picture. It still struck him as strange to see that Michael had somehow gotten away from a home environment and found a friend for life soon after. He shrugged the thought away and stood, setting the cloth to dry in the kitchen and returning to the couch once more. "Ariel, have you seen Marcia?" he questioned. He realized that, still, neither Marcia or the dragon had made an appearance since they got back to the hut.

[[ x.x This is so out-of-nowhere but.. last post~ nightnight nova-chan ^^ ]]

[ nini yume-chan <3 ]

Ariel backed off of Michael and hovered in a small circle. 'Marcia went to the lake with Krystal before I went and took a nap waitin' for you two to wake up.' She answered with a sweet smile.

Seth pulled a tongue-in-cheek frown. He was convinced that those two were bipolar. 'I swear, one minute they're friends and in the next one's trying to kill the other.' His expression didn't last long before he raised an eyebrow and watched Ariel hovering around. "I suppose it's a good thing that they can be in the same space together without harm," he mused.

[ morning~ and happy Easter ^0^ <3 -- chapters 7 & 8 were uploaded last night :3 ]

Ariel nodded. "Yeah. Krystal really likes the river, it's a good place to relax." She giggles a little.

"Hey boys, have a nice nap?" A wet from head to toe Marcia asked as she came inside. Michael blinked a few times. "What happened?" "Let's just say your dragon thought I needed a mud-bath so I had to rise off." She answered plainly then went into her room, closed the door, and changed into some dry clothes. Michael suppress the urge to laugh at the thought of her answer actually taking play.

[[ Teehee, Happy Easter to you too. ^^ -- Reading them right now ;o! ]]

Seth smirked at Marcia's response. He figured that the river mentioned was part of the same one that was by Michael's house- the terrain of the land he knew changed a lot, but the rivers seemed to go on forever. He watched Marcia disappear down the hallway. "We could all go swimming," he blurted. It had been some time since Seth ever remembered actually 'going swimming,' but he could cope with disagreement among his friends.

[[ I just got back from trying to teach my sister how to play volleyball at a park- I'm never out of the house ; A; *hermit* ]]

[ ^~^ ]

Michael a moment before smirking. "That would be fun, swimming in the lake with friends." "You guys go ahead, I'll start preparing something to eat." Marcia says in a sweet voice as she came back out her room not looking much different and a towel wrapped around her head to dry her hair. Ariel hovered around. 'Fun in the sun~' She chimes then paused. 'The lake is out of the village boundaries, is that okay?' Ariel asked softly as she glanced at Seth curiously.

[ hermit buddies~ i refuse to leave the comfort of the inside x3 ]

[[ Lawls, ikr -- my dad's trying to get me out of the house again / watch (scary) movies with him. Dx ]]

Seth stood up and fixed the few wrinkles in his jacket. His gaze was drawn to the towel above Marcia's head and he smiled a little at it. He could easily guess that Marcia wanted less to do with the dragon and water after having just recently dried off. "It's fine-" he reassured Ariel, then remembering to explain. "We all still have spirit stones, so unless you misplaced more than one of them we're safe."

[ haha, good luck with that yume-chan ^^ ]

Ariel blinked and rushed down to the room where she slept, then came back with her spirit stone in her pocket. 'Eheh... Let's swimming~' She smiles and headed to the lake first. Michael arched an eyebrow as he watched her, chuckling and shaking his head before standing. "Shall we?" He smirks lightly.

[[ Tytys. ^^' Finally got him out of my room x.x I can't concentrate when he's trying to talk to me. ]]

Seth laughed along with Michael. He had little else to say for the strange ghost girl who acted so friendly. 'She *was* human..' he reminded himself. Seth nodded at his friend's request and started after Ariel. "We shall," he answered. He didn't want to get too hopelessly left behind, especially outside of the village. Somehow, the village began to feel like a new home for Seth. With every moment that passed throughout the day, he felt more and more like he needed to get to know the place. 'I'll do it later,' he decided.

[ yay~ *huggles* ]

Michael walked along side Seth. It wasn't a long walk to the lake and Ariel had changed into a pink and white laced poke-a-dotted two piece with ruffles. So it looked like muscle shirt that outlined just under the ribs and a short skirt. Ariel seemed to fit it perfectly, pretty much making her adorable. Michael came to stop along the bank and just looked out. It was pretty. The sun rays bounced off the crystal clear water lake making it look like there was glitter in the water. Krystal was curled up under a large tree- a sleep.

[[ *huggles back* >w< ]]

Seth took in the scenery around him as he walked. The gentle breezes were cool, but both the air itself and the sun were fiery hot. Somewhere along the distance, Seth took his jacket off and held it in his arms. He followed behind Michael until he came in sight of the large mass of water. He smiled to himself when he saw Krystal sleeping in the shade of a tree- he didn't blame her one bit for it. Instead of stopping along the bank like Michael had done, Seth quietly paused a few yards earlier. He took his dark-colored shoes off as well and began to run. Seth tossed his jacket and shoes aside a millisecond before he leaped into the air. He completed a full front flip and a half before he dove into the water with a giant splash. He twirled around quickly and floated to the surface, where he had to tread water to stay afloat. "Your turn~" he called back with a grin.

Ariel giggled and clapped as she moved around in the water, which seemed to think she was a solid figure because where ever she went, the water followed. Michael went over to the tree and took off his shirt- since it wasn't cheap and they don't make it anymore- and set it aside before making a break for the water and dived into the lake. He came up a little while after and moved his hair out of his face.

Seth watched curiously as Michael headed for a tree. He playfully rolled his eyes and sunk in the water to kill time. By the time he was up for air again, Michael was already in the water. Seth laughed after he made sure he wasn't going to inhale something other than air. "You're so classy," he accused. A big grin ran across his face, so he looked up at the sky and around the area. A little further down the river, Seth could clearly see that there were crystal trees that grew both in and out of the water. 'Does this thing turn into a swamp..?' he wondered. He took a deep breath and dove back into the water, twisting around and straining his eyes to see in the distance. The river widened out and even got a little deeper, revealing a maze of water and dim crystal. He, amazed, quickly swam to the surface and caught his breath. "Can we get over there?" he asked.

Michael laughed at Seth's comment and grinned before letting himself float on the surface of the water on his back for a little bit. When he heard Seth his lower torso sank back into the water, that's when he spotted what Seth was asking about. "We should be able to." He answered, glancing up at Seth.

Seth cheered happily as he dove underwater and started in that direction. He swam underneath Michael quicker than a fish- he had figured out how to get past the disadvantages of wearing items that caused drag within the water. Seth always swam reasonably fast, though. His family used to drive out to the sea, where he would swim about in the water. He had learned all of the tricks; how to float, how to sink, how to walk on the sand at the bottom, how to swim about in the zero gravity- all of them. However, he was usually in places like the sea, so there was little to actually need to navigate through unless he swam away from safety and out into the deeper parts of the ocean before his parents caught him red-handed and sent him back. When Seth came up to the roots of a giant crystal tree, he pulled himself up out of the water and onto the edge of one of the roots that looked like a seat. "Michael! We could build a fort out here-" he started to say, looking back through the mesh of trees. "-Hell, we might not even have to add anything to it."