[ nini Yume-chan~ <3 i'll reply in the morning ^^ ]

It wasn't much longer before they reached the hut and Michael walked inside the open door. "Marc?" He asked, seeing she wasn't in sight. The aroma of fresh Italian seasoning and spaghetti could be smelled from the kitchen. "I'm here-" some clattering could be heard before a loud THUD, BANG, CLASH! and "-ow! Damn shelf, I knew I should've gotten rid of you!" Ariel hovered passed the boys and into the pantry where Marcia was on her butt rubbing her head from hitting the shelf above her and scattered can of various vegetables, chilli, and beans. 'You okay?' The little ghost girl asked as she suppressed the urge to giggle. Marcia stands with Ariel's help and brushes herself. "I'm fine." She answers simply with a light huff.

Michael walked up to the kitchen counter and tilted his head a little.

Seth was a little irritated by how wet his clothes were on the walk home. Thankfully, his shoes were spared- it was his little rule. Shoes had to stay dry. Seth stepped into the hut and glanced over at where the big noises had come from. He followed Michael into the kitchen and stood behind. "Is there any way we can help?" he asked, seeing how he was a little late in helping the girl up.

'I will go get you some ice~' Ariel smiled then went to get some ice from the freezer. Marcia kept her hand on where she hit her head. "Um yeah... Can you boys help me pick up these cans? Just put them on the shelf please." She answers . "I think... Imma go sit down..." She adds quietly before going to take a seat at the kitchen table. Michael nods lightly and looks over at the mess. 'She hasn't changed much...' He thinks to himself before kneeling and picking up a few cans and puts them on the shelf.

Ariel hovered beside her held out an ice pack. 'Here you go, looks like you hit pretty hard.' She said quietly. Marcia places the ice pack on her bump and winces a little. "Thanks kid."

[[ >x< If I disappear randomly it's because the tornado sirens went off again. ^^' ]]

Seth sighed a little when he heard Marcia say that she needed to sit down. He wished that she hadn't gotten herself injured- it would probably mess up her willingness to go on some crazy adventure. Seth knelt quickly and picked up a few cans. Without thinking, he had already alphabetized them and set them next to each other far enough into the shelf that they wouldn't fall again even if the shelf did get disturbed. When he realized what he'd been doing he just smiled a little and glanced at Michael. "Hm.." he said as he picked up another can. "..What time should we plan on heading back?"

[ ahs, okay ^^' ]

Michael thought a moment. "Around 7 or 8 at the earliest, that's when the sun begins to set." He answered before picking up a few more cans and put them on the shelf according to Seth's process.

~10 minutes later (she has a lot of canned goods ><')~

Michael leaned against the wall and looked at their work. "We make a good team." He smirked lightly and glanced at Seth.

Seth nodded in agreement as he continued to clean up Marcia's kitchen from her disaster. He worked silently for the most part after that. He was focused on his obsessive neatness and also found himself in thought about his explanation to Ariel..

~~

When the chore was finished, Seth checked around the room a few times to make sure they didn't miss anything. He was content with the marvelous organization that had gotten the cans back where they needed to be. "Indeed," he said with a grin. Seth knew that there was only so much time left before they'd set off for the forest again.

Michael chuckles. Marcia walks up to them with two plates of equally portioned food. "I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty in making you guys a plate." She smirks a little. He glances at her and carefully took of hold of one of them. "Thanks." Michael says kindly then goes to go sit at the table.

Seth was a little surprised that Marcia had taken the time and effort out of her own to care for Michael and himself. He accepted the plate but stayed in his position. "What did you do before we got here?" he wondered aloud. Seth was willing to help Marcia in any way she needed even if he was only there for a few days more before anything serious happened.

[[ Serious block >x< gomenasai ]]

[ it's okay ^~^ ]

Marcia blinked a few times and and rubbed the back of her head. "Oh you know, usual house chores that people can't seem to avoid." She answered with a sheepish smile. "You should eat, it's after seven and you guys wanted to track down an infected spirit am I right?" She smirks lightly.

Seth nodded a little at Marcia's response. He turned and sat at the table Michael already had settled to. Seth ate quickly as he felt a spark of energy beginning to ignite a flame of excitement. Somehow, throughout the destruction of Seth's mind within the past days he'd experienced, he found that his fear turned into excitement with each life-endangering encounter. Whether it was Onyx or dragons, Seth didn't even care anymore. It was another part of him that did. 'I still wonder- about the Onyx..' he thought, picking out the dull pain in his side that he'd chosen to ignore. It still burned just like everything else did.

Michael soon finished his plate and thinks back to his Tree House when Ariel almost used his stove and when Seth asked him where he learned to cook. This was the same dish. His headache slowly returned but he had gotten used to it for the most part so it wasn't as bad. "You should come with us, back to the crystal forest..." He heard himself say and glanced over at Marcia who paused. "I've already told you, I don't want anything to do with it." She responded quickly. "Why not? It's no different then the things we did when we were kids." He says quietly. "The difference is we're not kids anymore Michael! Kids are careless and go looking for an adventure every minute of their day, they don't understand the things grown-ups do- not as much anyway... Even you do find the infected spirit, what good is it gonna do you? It's not like a couple of kids can save a spirit." She turned and faced them with a serious expression, letting her bottled up emotions just spill out and didn't think about Ariel being in the room.

Ariel's blue eyes watered as she listened to Marcia and she had her mouth covered for a little bit before uncovering her mouth. 'Is that what you think...?' She asked softly in a broken voice. Marcia blinked and looked at her. "Wha? Sweetie I didn't-" She cut herself off. 'I will be at the lake when you guys are ready, don't keep me waiting okay?' She glances at Michael and Seth with a playfully smirk then flies off towards the lake.

Seth was completely caught off guard when Michael and Marcia went at it. He had finished his plate and waited silently for the moment to be over. He felt like his pride went away with the wind having been basically called an immature child. His natural determination lit up into an entire forest fire when Marcia denied the ability to save an infected spirit. Seth could feel that he somehow knew the way- ever since his encounter with that princess-like girl, Seth felt like he had an instinct awakened that had its own knowledge.

After Ariel was out the door and gone, Seth stood quietly and put his dishes in the sink. He washed them to break the silence in the room. "Thank you, Marcia," he said politely over the soft sound of the water. He turned towards Michael and motioned ever so slightly towards the door, as if to say it was definitely time to get going.

Michael followed Seth's example and followed him out the door silently. Marcia watched them leave and waited for the door to close before sinking to her knees after realizing what happened. 'Why did I... Snap like that...?' She thought to herself.

Ariel sat curled up under one of Krystal's wings like the lost kid she felt like.

[ last post~ nini Yume-chan <3 ]

[[ nini nova-chan~ ^^ ]]

Seth made sure the door actually closed behind him before he started to walk in the direction of the river. He looked back at Michael, but he looked away soon after and fixed his gaze at the ground. Seth was out of hopeful ideas. "So you do remember her," he commented a little under his breath. He bit his lip as he caught himself on the negative side. "That's great~" he continued in a brighter way, looking up to face the direction in which he was walking. "You two were the best of friends, weren't you?.. So, she's probably just worried about you and doesn't want to see anything bad happen."

Michael shakes his head and watches the ground as they walk. "I remember bits and pieces of the adventures we went on. Running from the serpent of Black Water lake- which by the way was not fun, but I remember it most." He replied quietly. "We had an interesting relationship. She's older than me, but she used to be the one that got picked on for being sentimental and I had to run off the bullies." He chuckled then his smile faded. "I don't want to remember anymore. I'm happy with what I know and making new memories, not remembering old ones..." Michael said quietly in a low murmur.

Krystal lifted her head when she heads the boys getting closer and tilted er head a little to the side. Ariel slowly stood and stretched, they weren't close enough for her to hear just yet.

Seth smiled upon hearing Michael's fun stories with Marcia. "Incredible," he muttered breathlessly. It made him think about the times he'd gone out adventuring with Alexander- he knew all about the things that occurred when one found such a friend. Life just seemed to get better even if it was nothing. He trudged along for a few moments in silence with only the ambient sounds to fill the air. Seth looked around curiously when he began to feel a little like another headache was trying to get a hold on him. He knew that Ariel and Krystal must have been nearby. He pointed off in the direction towards the lake. "I can see them," he stated.

Michael lifted his head and smirked. Ariel looked over at them and waved her arms. 'Krystal's willing to give us a ride, you know, so we don't all wet~' She smile sweetly and went to sit on the dragon's back. Michael glances at Seth. "What do you think?"

Seth laughed a little. A part of him wanted to swim, but another said it would be better to avoid getting hypothermia. "I think it's fine." He followed Ariel and climbed up onto the dragon's back. He wondered what the Onyx spirit would do if it really did exist. 'Will it try and get the stones..?' he wondered. If Seth tried, he could probably pinpoint where every single one was. He shook his head and scooted over so Michael could also climb up.

'Yay~!' Ariel chimed happily. Michael climbed up to sit beside Seth and patted Krystal on her side lightly. Krystal got up and outstretched her large wings and flapped them a few times before lifting off of the ground. When she was above the treetops, she headed in the direction of the Crystal Forest without having to worry about crashing.

Seth felt dizzy for about a minute after takeoff. He still wasn't used to the action of flying, so he tried to concentrate on where they were without the altitude coordinate. Seth found it rather strange that the trees didn't give off the same glow they had when he was underneath the treetops and inside the maze of branches. Seth frowned a little and narrowed his eyes.

"--It's here!" he interjected out of nowhere, pointing to the ground as if he'd almost missed the biggest clue of his life. There were a patch of trees that weren't nestled quite as closely together, but they still looked like normal trees. 'I can feel it,' he assured himself. 'I know it's here..'

Krystal hovered above the area and lowered her head, so her neck could be used as a slide, it was long enough to almost reach the ground. There was no way she'd be landing there. Michael went first, sliding down the long scaly neck and landed on his feet. He slowly rose to full posture and looked around cautiously. Ariel hovered down next to him. She didn't like the vibe she was getting right now.

[[ last post, nini nova-chan ^^ ]]

Seth hopped off the dragon with ease and effortlessly rolled across the ground after he hit it. He brushed his jacket off from his rough landing and stood up to be with his friends. He could tell that the ground was wet beneath their feet as he walked a little closer. Seth could tell that he'd chosen just the right place to start off before the swampy moisture turned into a river. The sun was nearly gone like it had been the night before. "It's that way," he said. Seth pointed out in the direction of where the trees seemed to be a just a little lighter in color. He didn't even notice it until he looked back on his instincts.

Michael looked at him and nodded lightly. "Lead the way captain." He gestured. Ariel hovered behind them.

[ iz all i got, gomen Yume-chan ]

[[ daijobu~ heehee ^^ ]]

Seth started after the trees with the lighter glow. He walked through them in a pathway that was barely disturbed. Every so often, the trees would cluster and there would be no way around other than Seth actually climbing up and over. As the trees got denser, the ground became soggier. Seth eventually climbed up on a low branch and stood on it like it was a gymnastics beam. He didn't want to completely destroy his clothes in more water just yet. "I believe we're out of the best of terrain," he said as he turned back around.