[[ awh... i have other pets, but he was more than just a pet ~<3 *huggle* we have him a simple grave in our backyard and i put some fresh plastic flowers since the others were all fadey and losing color *sigh* ^^ ]]

Krystal nuzzled him gently and softly blew air from her nose, ruffling his hair a little. Kind of in a way of saying 'no need to apologize'. She was kinda glad she scorched the base of the tree, there was no signs of it being hit countless times, but Michael's knuckles were still a little scratched up.

[[ *huggles back* Mhm~ It's like losing a sister or a brother, but it's the memories that really count in the end. ]]

Seth smiled when his hair was swished in a light breeze. He looked back up at Krystal and then to the sky. He was pulled by the colors- or really, the color everything was tinted. Seth remembered the strange, brightly-colored greenery and land from the alternate dimension that the Onyx spirit had opened up. It made him wonder what really was out in the world.

He let go of these thoughts when they started to taint and become less magnificent. Seth looked over behind him and saw that the tree was a little, altered, at the bottom. His gaze returned to Michael and for the first time Seth took to mind the fact that Michael's hands were scored at the joints. Seth folded his own hand into a light fist and then opened it with a sigh of understanding. Memories of Seth's previous encounter with his friend flowed into his consciousness and softened his eyes. He shifted silently over to where his friend lay asleep and placed his own hand over Michael's, a smile forming across his lips.

Krystal watched him curiously. His skin would be cool to the touch due to sleeping outside. Michael's midnight eyes slowly opened when the warmth of Seth's hand brought him out of his light sleep. His gaze was distant and his eyes were a shade darker, it took a moment for his eyes to focus on the area and the figures around him. Krystal and Seth. Seth... He blinked a few times and gazed at his friend, his cheeks almost instantly turning pink. He didn't look like he slept very well.

Seth nervously watched Michael wake, wishing that he hadn't. Seth felt regretful for disturbing yet another person in their sleep and cursed himself mentally for it. He focused himself elsewhere in order to hold back his own blush but it didn't help that the sunrise reflected off of his face. "Michael, if you need to sleep.." he started to say with guilt in his voice.

Michael slowly sat up and placed a hand on his throbbing head, covering half of his face and hesitating before speaking. "I would've drowned..." He said quietly in a shaken voice. Krystal nuzzled her rider gently, cooing softly. Michael gently pat her muzzle with his other hand.

Seth's eyes widened at Michael's response, but he didn't let go of Michael's free hand. He merely leaned in just a tad bit closer than he had been. "What do you mean-" he started to say before thinking that he understood what Michael meant. 'So you had them, too..' he thought. The faint remembrance of some of Seth's own night-terrors reached out and tried to take a hold of him. Seth took a deep breath and looked Michael in the eyes. "It's okay, I'll stay here with you," he promised defiantly.

Michael looked at him with pained eyes as if holding something back. Being reminded of those he admitted to loving, dying or being lost to insanity within the same day, summing up to them killing themselves in various way. Different types of love. Brotherly love, deep friendship, true love. They didn't know about the darkness he was constantly fighting and in the end, couldn't handle it. Marcia got lucky.. or maybe she knew the beast inside. He wouldn't risk Seth... Even if he promised so much. Though, by the time he thought that, he had his head on his friend's shoulder thankfully. He was a little shaken up from re-living the experience, and he blamed himself.

For the first time, Seth felt like the weights on his shoulders lifted and revealed something else. Having the feeling of Michael leaning on his shoulder brought a new emotion to his mind- one that had never reached him before. Seth cradled an arm around Michael and held on as if it were the only thing he lived for. There were countless times where Seth had felt that protective emotion and then messed everything up for everyone.

The burden of life washed over him like a river and Seth averted his eyes in a battle to fight back his own tears. Somehow, holding Michael so close was like a cold reminder that time stood firmly and was never going to go any faster or slower in any other direction than it was already going. Seth was crushed with memories of his mistakes but also encouraged with the promise that no matter where time went, it could never take away those memories- whether they were evil or good. Seth nuzzled Michael gently with a strong sense of pride standing its ground just as time held its own. He'd won the battle over his tears and regrets. 'Michael, there's so much I want to say.. So much that I wish I could find a way to express to you..'

Michael could feel his cheeks heat up again when he felt Seth cradle and arm around to hold him. He move from the position he was in, nor did he want to. Krystal made a wall of ice a few inches from the boys that reached from the ground to just above their heads, as in a sense to give them their well deserved privacy and looked ahead with her crystal blue eyes foreword, acting somewhat like a lookout.

Seth snapped out of his trance-like thought and looked up at the wall of ice. Seth wasn't sure what to think of it at first until he realized that it was Krystal's doing and that the dragon had divided herself out of the picture. When he fully realized the purpose of the wall, he blushed brightly and completely released his hold on Michael, glancing away and clasping his hands together. 'Jeeze..'

Krystal looked at him and huffed before taking down the wall, he took that the wrong way. Michael held back the urge to laugh and leaned against the tree trunk. "She was being sentimental." He said quietly with a faint smile.

Seth sheepishly put a hand on the back of his neck. He could see a sliver of the sun across the horizon, as well as the slow arrival of morning itself. 'What could be more embarrassing?' he wondered, thinking about Krystal's attempt to try and make things private. Seth felt like the impulse inside of him had been blown away in the wind, so he stood to face the sunrise. He nodded to Michael's comment and pushed away the feeling of anticipation that he craved from the previous night. "I'll go see if anyone else is awake- you could rest without a distraction." Seth smirked a little to try and shake off the strange feeling in the air. He took a step towards the village grounds and before he knew it he was already halfway there. 'Ice is nearly clear, too,' he dreaded after a few moments of silence.

Michael blinked and sighed inwardly after Seth had fled the scene. 'How much longer can I hold back...?' He thought to himself with a hand on his head, stopping his hand and examining it. His knuckles were beat up on both hands. Michael quickly stood and look deeper into the charred bark. He groaned and walked the ledge of the lake before sitting with his legs dangling over into the cool water.

Ariel was desperately trying to fix a broken plate, before Marcia woke up- but her methods of keeping it together failed.

Once Seth was inside the hut, his nerves calmed and he stretched having been fully rested. He tried not to look back on the scene that had unfolded. Seth wandered into the main room before he heard what sounded like a plate being broken. He walked through the house, passing the kitchen by accident and backing up to see Ariel. "You're awake," he said, stating the obvious as he walked into the room. Seth remembered that he hadn't seen her since the Crystal forest other than when she had her necklace in the living room. Seth shook those thoughts aside= he soon found the source of the plate-like sound and hid a smile. "What are you doing?"

Ariel jumped slightly and looked at him before turning attention back to the plate. 'Trying to fix a plate before Mac wakes up.' She sat on her bum and pouted when it fell to pieces again. '-but it won't stay together!' Ariel sighed.

Seth blinked once after Ariel sat down. "Calm down," he pleaded. Seth stepped forwards and knelt to pick up the broken pieces. He turned one in his hand and studied it for a second before frowning. 'If we weld it and it's not fire-friendly.. Or some sort of-' Seth looked at his pocket where he knew the shard of Crystal was. He shook his head and began to lay the pieces out a little apart as if it were a whole plate again. "If there's an adhesive- that is, if we don't just replace the plate.." His thoughts pulled at him, just for the sake of making him mad. His gaze flickered to his pocket and back to the plate. "How did you break this, anyway?"

She takes a deep breath and manages to calm down enough to think clearly. 'My clumsy self dropped it...' Ariel replied quietly with guilt in her voice.

"Ah,.. Okay." Seth said. He was yet again distracted by the presence of the shard in his pocket. "Why do you not regain the limitless powers and abilities you've had countless times before with your own origin?" Frustrated and annoyed, Seth pushed the broken plate parts together so that they touched and quickly flipped out his shard of Crystal like it was a second weapon. His eyes widened when he felt no burning pain and from the sheer fact that it glowed and made a seemingly inaudible humming noise to his touch. He gripped it tightly and spun the shard slightly into the edge of the plate like a screw. Another crack appeared in one of the broken pieces, but a look of concentration took over Seth's face and he narrowed his eyes at the shard he still held onto. A second later, it lashed out like a spiderweb through the entire plate, sealing the pieces together at the seams and continuing to give off the tiniest bit of light. Seth pulled the small shard away and slipped it back into his pocket as if nothing had happened. The light from the plate died other than on the line where Seth was touching a former-seam. "Here's your plate.." he said softly, looking away from the ceramic dish.

Ariel watched in amazement. 'You're a life saver. I don't even wanna know what Mac would've down if she found out...' She smiled and carefully picked up the plate and put it back where it was.

Seth nodded and stood up. "I'm glad I could help," he said blankly, looking around the room for something he could get permission to snack on. He hadn't thought much about hunger until he'd actually gotten back to the hut. Then it hit him that Ariel was trying to cook in the morning. Seth frowned, remembering Michael's reaction the first time she'd done such a thing. He turned his thoughts down like he always did as they became less positive, forcing himself away from the concept of bugging Ariel's personal life.

Marcia finally came out of her room with a bed head and yawned. "Why didn't anyone wake me up~?" Ariel giggled when she saw her. 'You didn't tell us to.' She replied. Marcia smiled a little and shakes her head. "You kids hungry?" She asked as she walked into the kitchen. "Hope you like eggs and bacon with butter biscuits." Marcia smirked really before anyone could answer and prepared to cook.

Seth glanced out the nearby window in the hut. The sun was just about completely above the horizon and he could see the shadows of the outer-world objects getting shorter. He noticed Marcia and smiled at her offer. Then he thought of Michael, who was still off doing his own thing. Seth began to wonder exactly why it was that Michael even bothered to leave the hut at all. The image of a burned tree haunted him for a few seconds before he closed his eyes tightly and re-opened them. "Is there anything you need help with?" he asked. Seth figured it was a safe question- he owed Marcia a lot for her hospitality anyway.

Marcia glances at him then back at the breakfast she was preparing. "Go get cleaned up, then you can help me make homemade biscuits." She said as she flipped the strips of bacon.

Seth put a palm to his forehead when he heard Marcia's suggestion. He looked around the room and walked to the edge of the doorway. As he peered down the hallway, Seth realized an embarrassing truth. "..Where is it that I need to go?" he asked shyly, thinking of the rooms in Marcia's house. He also remembered the lake he could go to if Marcia didn't want him in the same space she was in.

She smirked a little. "Just keep going to the hall until you see a room on the left before your room. There's already soap and towels. You can borrow clothes from the room you're staying in if you don't mind me washing your clothes." Marcia replied. "Ariel, go tell Michael to bring himself here." 'Yes ma'am!' She responded and zoomed out the door.