"There's a little girl back here... I think she's the cause for all this." Michael replied, not taking his eyes off of lil' Susie. The little girl grinned. "Surprised?" "Um... A little, yeah. Who are you and what did you do to my friend?" Michael answered the girl with a hardened voice. "Nothing except prove I'm more worthy to be her tamer than you." She stuck her tongue out. He blinked. "What's that mean you little brat? It's not nice to go around and mess with creatures heads. It's wrong. What're you, like a spell caster or--" His gaze moved up to the sky before lightning rods shot down to the Earth around himself and Susie. Krystal let out of screech of pain and Michael covered his ears. "Cut it out you're hurt her more than your hurting me!" Then something clicked and his eyes went wide. "Don't tell me..." He muttered, wincing in pain and falling to one knee. Susie watched. "I guess you are her tamer after all." She smirked and kicked him directly in the stomach clearly hard enough to send him into a tree. The lightning faded and Krystal laid down and whined quietly, in much pain. Susie phased in front of Michael while he was still down and created a swirling plasma ball in the palm of her hand and shoved it in Michael's gut really before he could react.

She was faster then Seth when he went all onyx on the tainted spirit girl. He grit his teeth and grabbed his arm before she made a hole in his gut but he was definitely wounded from the plasma ball and somewhat bleeding a little more than he wanted to since the wound was just a little too deep. She kneed him and he coughed up some blood. "Surrender yet?" Susie asked. "No way. I'm not losing Krystal to a supernatural brat who couldn't careless if you hurt her or not." Michael answered hoarsely. "Nah, I'm not worried about losing her. 'Cause I'm not just a tamer... She's my friend. A close one at that." He smirked.

"Shuddup!" Susie growled and side kicked him onto the ground. He winced and used held his stomach. "This is not good..." He muttered to himself under his breath. "This is a battle between tamers, winner gets the dragon right? That's the official rules." "Rules are for losers." Michael slowly got up. "I definitely won't forgive you for treating her like a slave." His aura darkened- almost visibly swirling around him and a blade formed in his hand- his eyes remained the same though. Deep, beautiful, and full of meaning with a little bit of rage. Susie blinked several times and stared at him then covered her mouth. "You're Nightmare?" [[ <- given nick name of the people of the town when he was younger when they found out of his 'curse' mentioned earlier in the role play o.o; ]] "Well, it's no yonder you're her tamer..." Susie murmured quietly.

"Get lost twerp! I better not see you anywhere near Krystal or I will come after you, got it?" He growled. Susie scrambled for the wind and fled the scene. Michael simmered down rather quickly- aura going back to normal and he passed out from exhaustion and blood loss.

[[ Breakthrough! Sorry about the reeaally long post >< v.v ]]

Seth squinted his eyes in the broad daylight to try and get a better picture of the little white blur that was also on Krystal's back. He considered himself lucky that he didn't try and go up to get zapped by lightning. He clenched his fists and forced himself to stay put, though, even when he saw Michael get thrown into a tree. It pained him so badly to see his friend in that kind of a situation that he had to look away when the ball of plasma appeared. He fumbled in his pockets and cursed himself for not bringing his dagger along. 'Even the new one!?' The only good that came of the situation was that Krystal wasn't berserk any longer. However, bad news awaited in the following millisecond when he caught Susie backing away. Seth sprinted to Michael's side just quick enough to stop him from impacting the Earth. Seth's mind was permanently scarred by the gruesome image of his friend that he saw and he was more terrified than he'd ever been in his life. Seth could see both the source of blood and the traces that had pooled on the ground where Michael had been attacked. The scene nearly paralyzed him "Michael!"

Seth's memories blurred from that point on. He couldn't count the amount of times he'd said Michael's name, or how he'd refused to forgive himself for forgetting to bring his jacket that contained everything from miscellaneous to medical supplies. In the end, he had a few puzzle pieces and had to string together the rest with logic. He'd torn off a giant piece of his shirt and used the folded cloth as a form of a bandage to stop Michael from bleeding to death. Then, he didn't hesitate to step straight into putting pressure on the serious injury. Seth wasn't exactly sure what he saw, but he remembered calling out for Krystal to get help. He was trapped, as he couldn't leave Michael's side or shift him. Seth knew that bleeding only got worse if a person moved. The only image that was clearer than glass in his mind was the one that remained to scar him- the bloody picture of Michael.

[[ Butbut; really long posts are epic especially ones like that- promise. >v< ]]

[[ okayz~ i feel better ^-^ ]]

Krystal lifted her head and let out a loud call for help, it was the best she could do. Ariel heard it first and recognized it in a millisecond, high-tailing to get the village nurses or whatever they were called here. She nearly started to panic when none were found. 'Are you kidding me?!' ~C'mon stupid girl! We're runnin' outta time!~ A familiar figure flew by and grabbed her wrist. A boy followed behind them, only on foot. They both had a bunch of medical supplies. Ariel followed the girl wrapped in a blanket.

"HEEEYY!" Ariel called when Seth came into view, her heart stopped for a few minutes when she saw the state that Michael was in. 'This wasn't part of the deal...' She thought to herself as she stopped and watched the blanket-girl and small boy run towards the two boys. 'She said she wanted to talk to him- not kill freakin' him! Nononono he's not dead, he's not gonna die. He can't die! Not today. Please don't take him away!!' Ariel thought to herself as she placed her hand on her cheeks and desperately tried to calm down and not cry at the same time.

The blanket-girl and small boy knelt beside Seth and the Michael with their aid kits. "We're here to help." They said at the same time.

Seth was sort of winded back into reality when he heard Krystal fly away. He tried his best not to hyperventilate but it was difficult under the amount of stress he dealt with alone. He looked up when he saw the blanketed spirit appear in front of him and gritted his teeth even tighter than he had done. Seth was honestly surprised that he didn't break any teeth in the process. He was extremely hesitant in letting them- not just strangers, enemies- handle his comrade. "Why are you two here?" he asked in disbelief, slowly pushing himself into a state of yield but only for the sake of Michael's life.

[[ what did Ariel do? .\ __ /. <--got creative with faces ]]

[[ she made a deal with the devil's daughter, more or less.. and it back fired x-x ]]

The girl glared at Seth. ~Like it or not we're your help. You wanna save your friend or not?~ She said bold and bluntly. The boy nodded in agreement but also tried to calm the girl. "We owe you three for getting us back together, well the other ghost girl but you're her friend so.. please let us help." He said quietly.

[[ ; ; awh, Ariel~.. was it intentionally backfiring on the devil-daughter's part or was it a true backfire? x3 ]]

Seth let out a small breath of hopelessness. He was, yet again, trapped. His options were all blocked off almost strategically on misfortune's part. If he ran to get his own supplies from the start, he knew Michael would have bled to death. If he ran off in the moment time placed him in, worse things could have happened with that spirit around. If he stayed and did nothing, Michael would die like seen in his first option. If he stayed and refused help, the same consequence would result. Seth felt a sick wave of something chill his body from head to toe. He lowered his gaze and his composure, giving into what the spirit had to say. He nodded and slowly leaned back away from Michael to give the couple space. He looked directly to the face of his friend and mouthed the words 'I'm sorry'

[[ =w= dad called and killed my train of thought and talked about secret hideouts and anonymous FGFs (Fairy God Fathers x3) ]]

[[ both actually xD true backfire; michael almost getting killed. backfire on devil-daughter's part; finding out michael is also "Nightmare" ]]

The spirit girl and boy looked at each other and nodded before tending to his large wound carefully and quickly like true pros. It longer then they wanted it to, but when the wound was taken care of ( as long as he doesn't do any rash ) the spirit girl leaned over him a bit to see if he was still with them. She could hear a faint heart beat but he wasn't breathing. She grit her teeth and worked on getting him breathing again. ~Damn it boy, breathe!~ It took a few minutes before Michael gasped for air and coughed some, then he was fine. Breathing normally again. The spirit girl sighed in relief and glanced at Seth with a small smile. Ariel was no where to be seen, she'd gone back to hut with Marcia but locked herself in the unused guest room.

[[ lol, it's okay ^~^ ]]

[[ Nightmare; what a name. what does she want with him, anyways? ]]

Seth had never been at such low levels of hope before. When he noticed that Michael hadn't been breathing, he too almost lost the will to live. It was difficult to see even the medical help becoming irritated with the situation. On many occasions, Seth's eyes fixed on different things around him; whatever it took to keep him from honestly lying down to let go of reality. When Seth heard Michael show signs of life, his vision cleared up and the color returned to his face. Seth let out a shaky sigh and wiped the dampness from his eyes. "You're okay," he whispered as he took his free hand and placed it over one of Michael's. That was all he could say.

[[ Krystal. She's a tamer much like Michael but she'll do anything to get her hands on a legendary crystal dragon. and to become her tamer, Michael would have to lose a battle between tamers. Which obviously he won since Susie fled the scene before he collapsed ]]

Michael looked at Seth with soft eyes and nodded. "Yeah." ~I've got some rules for you dragon boy.~ The spirit girl spoke up after cleaning up the mess she and the boy made. ~You have to take it easy for the next few day, which mean don't go doing something reckless!~ She barked, meaning well though. Michael glanced at the two and slowly sat up. "Are you...?" ~Yeah, yeah I've heard it all before. Just because we were enemies then doesn't mean we're not now. Things have changed and Ken and I are the official doctors of the town. ~ She nodded with content. Krystal landed by the group and lowered her head to nuzzle Michael and Seth gently.

[[ ;~: couldn't dragons only be tamed once? (Susie should just go pewf >:c) ]]

Seth listened intently at the rules he promised himself that he would help Michael follow. He also took into consideration that he shouldn't have been doing such reckless things in the first place, but the thought of keeping himself out of trouble was no where near as important as protecting Michael. He blinked once when he realized that the Onyx spirit had suddenly changed sides. A smile found its way to Seth's face when he heard Krystal put herself in the scene. He leaned against her a bit for the same sort of affection but was drawn away by a strange thought. "How do you get past the spirit stone?" he asked bluntly. If the spirit knew what he was talking about in terms of Onyx versus Crystal, then Seth would immediately know that it was an appropriate conversation. If not, he would simply drop it and make up some excuse to direct attention elsewhere. Seth had his way with words.

[[ -shakes head- nope~ well, it depends on the dragon really ^^' (it'll happen later in time~ Krystal's gonna have her revenge xD) ]]

The spirit girl blinked and glanced at Seth. ~Huh?~ She pondered on the question for a minute then stood. ~What is that, like a riddle or something?~ Ken headed back to the nurses tent. Michael decided to rest.

[[ rofl, okee then~ ]]

Seth sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, let's see if you can figure it out," he suggested casually while setting his eyes back to Michael. A symphony played out in his head; the melody was Michael and the harmonies were other things in life that didn't float on top of the water. For instance, Seth wanted to know how the spirit girl could be unaffected by Onyx while he had to go through pain even when he didn't fight it. Those ideas slowly began to fade away more and more as time slowly ticked in seconds. "You had me really worried," he murmured aloud. 'This kind of adrenaline usage can't be safe,' he thought humorously to himself.

The spirit girl sat back on her bum. ~I'm not sure, to be honest. The spirit stone doesn't bother me- it actually tickles.~ She giggles a little. Michael rested peacefully.

Seth had blinked a few times in silence before he gave the spirit further thought. Out of the blue, he was again reminded of the image carved into his mind like a branding scar. It bothered him just like the hallucinatory angels had done for so long. Seth snapped himself out of it and looked up to face the spirit. He was envious that she was so untouched by the pains he endured. Temptations pulled him in which ever direction they felt like in attempts to try and pull him to the dark side. Though he couldn't place why, Seth continued to fight them. "How long did it take?" he asked the girl, shifting to sit cross-legged and referring to her tainted Onyx-like appearance.

The spirit looked herself over and shivered a little at his quietly. ~Days... Days of being tormented by the screams of the ones taken by the Onyx, hunting laughter, and unbearable pain that feels like you're being burned alive from the inside out in the fiery pits of the devil's flames.~ She gave a full description of what the transformation was like then shakes her head.

Seth found his gaze drawn to the jagged-like markings that showed on his skin where his clothes no longer provided cover from the scene. He closed his eyes, taking in what the spirit had to say and ignoring the 'tattoos' across his figure. He wanted to give in- to just let it go and be done with everything. A part of himself, his remaining willpower, rejected those ideas and stood proudly while the rest of himself burned with the flames like the spirit described. He nodded slowly and then counted the days he'd been fighting. He wasn't even completely infected, meaning that even if he succumbed to the horror, it would persist in destroying and 'transforming' for an additional set of time after the event. "I see," he said at last. Seth sat back and rested his weight on his hands as he looked upwards.

~Listen, I know how tempting it is to just let go but you can't. You'll never be the same. Ever.~ She said quietly. she thought back to when she fought Seth when he was 90% Onyx consumed then when the fight was over- he was somewhat back to normal. She shakes her head. ~Besides, if you give into your darkness. What reason will your friend have to not give into his? Then what?~ The spirit girl asked curiously.

Seth closed his eyes and nodded. He understood what the spirit said- every danger that could possibly come into his life from Onyx would. "It doesn't stop at that complexity," he added. He fixed his eyes on hers and could see that she was in thought. "I'm not sure that I could withstand it.." Seth thought about the color of his soul for a moment. He wondered if he would physically be able to endure it based on the differences inside himself. He shuddered at the idea of how Alex would most likely be able to use him at will, too, even if he didn't stand the Onyx. When the spirit brought up Michael and other types of darkness, he covered his face in his hands. "I won't give into it," he stated. "I couldn't ever forgive myself for it, and Michael would fall apart- I promised to stay by his side..." His thoughts trailed off. "There's one way that could get rid of Onyx, but.." Seth's mind reverted to what he'd seen the shard do for a plate when there was no opposition. If he put it at a battle with Onyx, though, it would be a fight for power with the stronger person winning. If he won, he didn't know what would happen. The Onyx could still kill him since it was in his blood. He could be consumed by Crystal, but didn't think that was so bad. There were still more outcomes past the main two. "I don't know if it's safe."

The spirit girl nodded as she listened to Seth, then blinked. ~Try it on a test dummy to see if it's safe.~ She suggested., making it sound it was super simple. She knew it wasn't that simple, but that was how it came out.

Seth also blinked when he heard her suggestion. He knew the difference between simple and easy; simple things could be made easy, it was much harder to make complicated things 'simple.' "Alright," he replied after a few seconds. Seth glanced at Michael and then off in the distance. 'Where am I going to find Onyx?..' he thought. He shifted in his position uncomfortably. He couldn't tell what felt worse; not knowing the outcome or knowing it and finding out that it was a failure. "I think there's a bit of a shortage in supplies."

She nodded a few times. ~I'll go with you.~ The spirit said with a smile.

[[ one-liners... i hate 'em >< gomen yume-chan i'm still waking up~ ]]

Seth sighed a bit. He already felt strange, sitting around the person whom he'd previously almost killed. Seth never spoke of those quiet side-notes, but he sure did think about them. A part of him wondered what it was like to be completely taken by Onyx, while another still wanted to know why the spirit had gotten past the village's protection so harmlessly. Reassuring ideas crossed his mind that maybe she wasn't 'connected' to Alex and happened to be on the much more natural side of Onyx. 'Still..' he thought. "What about Michael?" he asked. "Should we take him back to Marcia's? I'm not sure how long this will take."

[[ daijobu~ it's all good ^^ ]]

Krystal lifted her head and blew air out of her nose. The spirit giggled at her protest. ~I think he'll be just fine under his dragon's protection.~ The spirit stood and hovered off of the ground a few centimeters, holding her blanket firmly around her body.

[[ laughed out loud at the edit x3 ]]

Seth blinked into a smile when he saw Krystal's confidence. There was a type of trust he had in the dragon that allowed him to feel comfortable walking away from Michael. Seth looked down at his unconscious friend and skimmed over him, as if looking for something. He scanned the vicinity and found no trace of what he was searching for. Seth stood and whirled around completely. 'There!' he thought. In the rubble of one of the buildings, he saw a bit of light reflecting out of nowhere from the sun. He rushed over to the building and hopped over a few pieces of the mess. It took him a moment to find the shard he was looking for, since it was merely a piece of glass among the other shattered pieces that were scattered in the rubble due to a window break. Seth ran his hand along each one and quickly found the familiar bark-like piece and sighed in relief when it began to glow in his palm. Seth turned and made his way back to the spirit. "I needed this. Let's go," he said, gesturing towards the woods nearby.

[[ gomen for poofing~ had to go to a church event ]]

The spirit watched him curiously then then nodded to his gesture and followed him quickly.