Seth raised an eyebrow when chief referred to him and Michael as children. For once, he was siding with Marcia. He blinked when he realized that the chief had decided to turn and go so quickly. Seth grinned at Ariel, wondering what kind of life it would be like to have less than a percent of the population be able to clearly recognize one's own existence. Seth shifted a little in his own seat, seeing that the chief actually sat down to stay for longer than two seconds. He nodded to Michael. "Ask on," he said. "I don't think I have any answerable questions, anyway." The last part Seth mumbled because it was truth. What could this chief possibly know about Onyx? Seth already had the answers to almost everything in his life except the newest and most likely biggest unknown ever.

Michael nodded lightly and continued to stand, just because he didn't feel like sitting. "Chief, what can you tell us about this village?" He asked in a curious manner. Lazarus thought a moment before answer. "This village is a refuge for those who have lost their home- or never had a home to begin with. Over the years our numbers have grown along with shrink due to nomads who could come and go as they please. Anyone was welcome as long as they didn't cause any trouble. When our villagers started to vanish by just leaving the village, our number only decreased, everybody was too afraid to come into our village and not too much later we began to lose hope." He explained as best as he could.

[ yume-chan~ have you heard of Ratchet and Clank? ]

[[ I haven't, ;o howcome? *google-ing them right now* ]]

Seth had gotten comfy enough in his chair that he could sustain a stable expression other than coldness. He crossed one leg over the other and supported his chin by setting his elbow on the table. He could understand part two of the story, but he had a hard time explaining to himself why other villagers simply started to vanish. "What do you mean, we began to lose hope?" he asked, confused and in-thought himself. "Don't the nomads freely come and go already?"

[ i'm writing a fanfic with some of the characters, if you wanted to ready it i can give you the link to the website ^-^ it's completely finished but you can read the characters as they're posted :D ]

"They did until the rumors of our 'vanishing villagers' then they stopped coming. We started to think that nobody would ever stop by our village, then you boys showed up and gave Marcia some hope, but the rest of them aren't so easily lifted." Lazarus explained. "Somehow we need to raise the spirits of our villagers before they start giving in general." He adds. Michael raises an eyebrow and puts a hand under his chin. "Meaning before your village is run into the ground, right?" The chief nods simply.

[[ Oooh~ I wanna see ^o^ ]]

Seth switched which leg he had crossed over the other about the same time that his foot fell asleep. Again, Seth felt guilty about practically being a double agent. He was against the source of evil yet was used by it at the same time. 'It'll run into sheer crystal if I don't get out of here,' he thought. "Well, we can now celebrate the return of a native who went missing, no?" Seth cheered, getting up and walking over to Michael to lead them both out of the hut. "Come on, Michael, let's go outside." Seth never had his eyes fixed on one topic. He always saw multiple paths in his head that lead into nothingness. So, having the strongest desires to pursue each and every one at the same time, Seth ended up combining the them. In this case, he combined three or four topics; getting out into the village so Seth could monitor any Onyx in sight, protecting Michael/staying by his side, and hinting towards the mystery of Seth's peculiar friend.

[[ Lawls, I was glancing over other RPs in the horror/scifi threads and some of the RPs are just hilarious (I have sick humor- hence why I'm in the horror forum ._.;; ) A vampire blows his identity to his future-"girlfriend" by defending himself in an alley and pulling out his fangs. Some Arachnid is suddenly all nice and loveydovey to some random centaur on Halloween. ;~: This stuff is all out of order. ]]

[ okayz~ it might be a while before i can send you the link to be able to read it >.< i gotta wait for the posted chapters to be 'validated' by the owner of the site ><' ]

Michael walked outside with Seth, who left the chief utterly confused. Ariel followed them. Lazarus glanced at Marcia who looked at Michael before the door was closed. "What is he talking about Marcia?" The chief asked the woman. Marcia rubbed the back of her neck and laughed sheepishly. "Funny story actually; you remember the kid who ran away- he's Michael, the boy with the brown hair." Lazarus slowly stood and joined the boys outside. Marcia put a hand on her head and sighs.

[[ Ah, it's one of those. ^^' What kind of site is it? ]]

Seth felt a pinch of satisfaction and reassuring achievement when he'd made it outside of the hut with his two-and-a-half-man party. "What are you going to do?" he asked Michael honestly. Seth was content with his latest seemingly impulsive act. He was freed from the confinements of a household and he made the meeting short. He could see some of the townsfolk who were still outside- the air was starting to cool down a bit and the sun was making its way back to the horizon opposite from where it came that morning. 'Surely, this is the most intense day of my life,' he thought through gritted teeth.

[ it's a ratchet and clank fan-site, i can send you the link so you can check it out :3 ]

Michael glances at Seth and shakes his head. "I don't know..." He says quietly before watching the dull villagers move about. 'Well, you can't stay here. I mean look at them~ They're so- grey and zombie like...' "Relax Ariel, I wasn't planning on staying. This was the closet place to find for shelter. Even if I was born here, it's not my home." Michael replies with a light chuckle.

[[ Ahs, okee, I'd love that. ^^ ]]

An invisibly emotion seemed to creep up from the ground around Seth and soothe him while Michael and Ariel talked. He could feel the security of pure shock fading away ever so slightly and he knew that it wouldn't be long before he'd really start to feel broken up inside; before he was captured by the negativity of grieving. Seth sighed casually while he still could. 'Why did I promise so much?' he wondered as he continued to listen. "We could sneak a night in this place," he concluded. Though Seth would choose to sleep in the grass if it was his own choice, he saw that it really was Michael's choice. 'I did get his home destroyed..'

[[ Last post.. Spring Break is over- back to chaos. .x. Night-night Nova-chan~ <3 ]]

[ Home - Ratchet Galaxy - The Ultimate Ratchet & Clank Resource (my username is Tenshi ;3) ]

Michael flickered his midnight blue eyes around. "Boys." The chief voiced behind Michael and Seth, nearly giving Michael a heart attack as he whipped around to face him. "If you're worried about the Onyx consuming our village, don't. We have a rock that prevents the black-matter from doing so- whether someone in this village is being targeted or not." Lazarus speaks, glancing at Seth for a short moment.

'These people are physic!' Ariel comments from the sidelines.

[ *huggles* good luck and sweet dreams ^~^ ]

[[ Tenshi; Angel(s)~ ^^' Ironic; my Pokemon Blue Rescue Team name is Team Tenshi >o<! ]]

Seth pondered his own thoughts for a few seconds in silence, seeing as Michael had already had his own moments of confusion. It dawned on Seth that if the Onyx really was in his bloodstream, then it must have had some sort of effect on his mind already. He sighed a little in annoyance- 'That explains why I was so stressed out inside,' he thought. 'and the lack of hallucinating.' He couldn't deny that if all of his strengths and powers were pinned down by some invisible force, he would be pretty desperate to get out of the situation and focus more on protecting himself or Michael than destroying the enemy. Even as comforted by the reassurance of a spirit rock and psychic chiefs, Seth was uneasy about staying in the village. "So none can enter the village?" he asked to clarify his own understanding of what the chief had said.

[ hehe~ sweet! - here's a link to read my ratchet and clank fan-fic when you so desire ^-^ (The Last Lekti by Shinigami3361 on deviantART) ]

Lazarus nodded to confirm Seth's understanding of his explanation.

[ i totally spazzed while typing >< ]

[[ Ooh~ Noticed; Your deviantART name is from Bleach! *reads fanfic chapters* ]]

Seth took a deep breath and tried to imagine the scenario that the chief had potentially set up. There was Onyx trying to break into the village, but it was blocked by a rock. There was also a secondary source of Onyx within Seth.. Both types showed signs of mutating to become stronger as well. Seth remembered sprinting out of Alex's house with his ex-friend close behind at the time. Alex had chased after him directly and then attacked Seth's home soon after, seeing that Seth was nowhere in sight. 'So it found a way around the problem,' he thought. Then, the Onyx was somewhat dormant until it sensed the presence of such a nemesis. Seth frowned upon the thought of the Onyx even trying to get around the spirit rock.

"Michael," he said gently, "Could you kill me?" Seth wasn't exactly sure if his question implied to the present tense or the future. He really didn't care what Michael thought he 'would' do in the future, he wanted to make sure that such an event could happen. If it couldn't, he would find a way to make Michael want such an outcome.

[[ Ne, have you ever heard of sleep-paralysis/gotten involved in cults? (Totally unrelated but I'm in random-mode TxT) ]]

[ huh?? O.o ]

Michael looked at him in disbelief when he asked such a question. "Seth..." He barely whispered in a soft pained voice. Ariel's eyes went wide. 'Eh?! But-but-but if he does then he'll probably kill himself afterwards! Michael's never-' "Can it Ariel." Michael cut her short in a low voice with a fight tightly bared by his side before placing both hands on Seth's shoulders a few moments later, his deep midnight blue eyes looking straight into Seth's. "Only if you really want me to- I'll do anything you ask."

[ sleep-paralysis/gotten involved in cults? i don't think i have .~. ]

[[ Shinigami = The people in the Soul Society of Bleach that aren't just people that have died- the Captains and all that; like Rukia and I wanna say Ichigo somehow 'became one' too because he fought off Hollows. .-. Anime likes having the main characters be illegal; Naruto never becomes (I forget the term- he didn't pass his tests. ;D..), Akira got weird dog tags, Ichigo killed Hollows but never formally "became" a Shinigami.. >x< ]]

Seth had toned his expression down into seriousness. He tried to hold back the rosy-red color that dimly showed up in his cheeks when Michael took a hold of his own shoulders. 'Oh- this really is strange, hahah..' he thought, remembering how he had done the exact same thing recently that same day. Seth was tempted to tell Michael to go ahead and commit the deed right then- a sick smirk appeared across his face for that one. He wanted to really test that promise, but he wouldn't live to be satisfied with it. "Fair~" he said while his mind continued to do other things without restriction. "I won't mind being taken down by a beauty like you-" Seth choked when he realized what he was saying, looking down so that the bright, flushed glow of embarrassment wasn't too visible. 'What the-- wow..' he thought, shocked at his own response.

[[ Heehee, Okae, just wondering. ^^ ]]

[ actually yume-chan, i didn't get my DA name from bleach, or any of that ^^' i used Shinigami because it also mean "God of Death" and my character Roze, is the daughter of the "God of Death" so that's where i got my DA name ^^'' ]

Michael never moved his eyes from the other, as he slowly moved the arm with the dragon on it and called a dagger-like-blade to his hand thanks to the powers of the tattoo, not once. "All you have to do is say the word..." He whispered softly into Seth's ear. He had a lot to hold back right now; mainly tears and the emotions he felt for Seth in his heart- which ached so with every word that was spoken and every action that was made.

[ neh, if they really go through with this, won't the role play be over? or did you something else in mind? O.o' ]

[[ Ahs, I see- ^^; ]]

Seth blinked once at how quickly a weapon appeared in Michael's hands. He thought for a second, seeing what he'd set up. Seth wasn't exactly crazy about the idea of being part of this village when he died. Also, while Seth knew that although there was a lot Michael now knew about the Onyx, it wasn't right for him to go down with his remaining secrets. "Hm.." he wondered aloud. He could feel something other than himself uneasy about having another blade so close. "Not yet." Seth made sure to cut himself off before he muttered things that would prove to be more road-blocks. He refused to tell Michael that he could be killed once Michael understood everything- Seth knew that Michael would have a desire to not want to know anything. "It's getting late- can we crash someplace before tomorrow?"

[[ Last post.. .x.;; I'm curious to see where this can go~ And not exactly, I thought about the Onyx being able to protect itself but I wanna get to Alex's house before something drastic happens. <3 It'd be really cool and solve some history problems.. What about Michael? His tattoo is still very mystifying. xox

-- Nightnight Nova, sweet dreams~ ^^' ]]

[ nini, sweet dreams to you as well <3 tell me what you think about the fan-fic so far when you finish reading it? -- hahah, sounds good to me ^^' ]

Michael sighs a short breath of relief when he hears the words "Not yet." and immediately has the blade vanish as quick as it was formed. He could help laugh lightly for the sake of his sanity when Seth spoke "It's getting late- can we crash someplace before tomorrow?" He slowly took a step out of Seth's 'personal bubble' and nodded. "Wanna crash at Marcia's- or someplace out of this village?" He was now leaving that decision up to Seth. Ariel wanted to hit them both up side the head for scaring her so bad!

Seth shifted his balance a little when he heard Michael bring up Marcia's hut again. He had two options in terms of risks and neither sounded pleasant. Either Seth could decide to stay at Marcia's with Michael knowing that they'd at least be a little safe from outside Onyx, knowing that the only two real dangers were foreign villagers and his own chaos, or he could risk taking Michael outside of the village. Seth realized that the latter was less beneficial in the end. 'Sheesh,' he thought. "Marcia's, unless you want to go someplace else." He turned a little and looked over his shoulder at the hut again. 'Worst case, I'll just sleep at the door..'

Michael nods lightly and gives her door a knock. Marcia opens up and smirks kindly, moving aside and making a motion for them to come in. "There's two room right across from each other at the end of the hall, unless you boys wanna share a room for security. Either way is completely fine." 'I call the couch~' Ariel hovered inside and setting herself on the large comfy couch.

'Right...' Michael thought but remained quiet as he entered the hut and made his way down the hall.

Seth laughed a little and listened to Marcia explain the rooms she owned. He waved at Ariel a little as he followed Michael down the hall. "Thank you," he said before he was a little out of sight from their hostess. Seth noticed that one of the rooms Marcia spoke of had a window that looked out into the open. "We can use this one," he said, making his way in and sitting on the small ledge so he could look out at the endless fields of dark green. The sun was completely gone and only a tiny bit of the light had yet to follow. Seth curled up a little and only used one foot to keep himself balanced on the frame. He glanced back at Michael for reassurance, smiling. "I can keep watch and wake you if anything comes up."

'Night boys!' Ariel giggles to herself and gets all comfy before drifted to sleep.

Michael went into the room and sat on the far side of the bed with his back to the wall. "I think we both need some rest, it's been a long day." He says quietly.

Seth lowered his gaze and folded his arms against his chest. "Alright," he said, giving into Michael's suggestion. He smiled at Michael, who had pretty much gone to the other side of the room in terms of where he decided to sleep. Seth leaned against the edge of the wall on the windowsill and folded his arms against his chest. There, he watched over the room (until he was comfortable that Michael could sleep without being disturbed by a force of nature) before he looked out at the stars and the moon. Seth watched them for a long time- the stars always seemed to remind him of untouchable purity and beauty. Eventually, though, fatigue took over his consciousness and Seth fell sound asleep in the moonlight.

Michael stayed where he was and in the position he was in, when his darkened midnight blue eyes slid closed and he drifted into a pitch black dreamless sleep.

Seth only moved the slightest bit throughout the night. He naturally shifted every few hours due to the dull pain in his side and occasionally took a deep breath to clear his system of old air. When he awoke to the morning sun, he had a familiar feeling of anxiety that he usually had after having a dream that he could not remember. Seth didn't move an inch in fear that he might forget what had happened. Then, it all came back to him..

In Seth's dream,he had felt like he was floating on a cloud of darkness. At times he felt like he wasn't himself at all, rather the space and life around him. After a long period of time enduring this feeling, he felt like he'd really begun to lose sight of what was real. He couldn't hear anything and he saw pitch black. Slowly, he thought he could sense an environment that was recognized in his memory. A house, maybe? Then, he thought he could make out a room and a person inside. The being was distressed.. Was it crying? 'I don't know.. He felt that he was with that creature for a long time, merely bouncing around in the space around it. He was curious at some times but cautious at another. It all felt so familiar.. Seth then realized that the being had looked at him and froze up in its stance. Right about then, Seth began to drift off and he felt lost in his surroundings. He could feel pain and the emotion of humanity returning to him once again before he was interrupted by daylight and woken up.

Seth glanced over at Michael, wondering what exactly had happened. 'I wonder..' he thought, looking out on the horizon where the sun was casting shadows behind the trees.