"If we don't..." Seth started to say before he drifted off. He continued to look out into the dark surrounding trees, then he suppressed a shiver, and then another one overtook him from the inside just enough to express his discomfort with the situation. It was the despair, not the temperature, that was doing him in. The fear of having to leave the conscious world and being unable to defend Michael if anything dropped by was an immense weight on Seth's shoulders that only made him even more exhausted. That, on top of the fact that his world was literally being consumed by darkness, crushed his breathing. Seth wondered why he'd even taken Michael out of a safe environment anyway, and when he couldn't think of an answer, his expression faltered and he felt numb. "--You need to sleep," he pointed out before he nuzzled a little closer to Michael. "First things first; we'll talk about this tomorrow."

[[ I kind of want to send a few tops into this story (or these stories, depending on how you want to morph the others), just to throw in a few spins and twists. What do you think? ]]

[[ I think I love the idea~ ^0^ Whatcha got? O.o ]]

Michael nodded lightly and planted a soft kiss on Seth's cheek. "Alright." He agreed in a tired voice before closing his eyes an slowly drifting off to sleep.

[[ Sorry it's short x.x ]]

[[ Mm, what's wrong with short? It gets the message across. You can write hundreds of pages and still fail to convey a subject matter, or you can make your point with one word- or less. ]]

Seth watched Michael doze off, and found it increasingly harder to concentrate after that. It was as if the breath of life fell into slumber as well, making some of the cloudy illusions fade in and out of Seth's view. Truly, he tried to stay awake, but he had already reached the point of no return- where exhaustion multiplied the force of gravity by tenfold- so he was out a few moments later.

[[ We could use Alex; he still hasn't shown his face, and Seth's still infected, so there's that whole darkness consumption/battle for the light- doesn't Michael "sink" also? I can't remember that far back ToT.. We could throw in another set of NPCs ("you"/"me" characters, even). Do you want to give this role play a happy ending or let it run on endlessly? I'm fine with either, so it's your call too as to where we steer the story. ]]

[[Yeah, you're right n.n Wait- less than a word? o.o --- Yes! I like the idea of using Alex, and si, Michael does "sink" but he hasn't in awhile... Hmmm........ I also like the idea of it running endless but every "story" has to end at some point- right? O.o? Idk >w< Haha. I'm a sucker for happy endings also... Aaahhhh *falls on butt in thought* So many great ideas~! @[email protected]]]

Michael awoke a few hours later, only he wasn't in reality... The confused brunette gazed around the strangely familiar and uncomfortable area. 'Uh-oh...' Michael muttered in a soft whisper. He was in the back of his own mind, where it was darker than the crystal forest when the moon was nowhere in sight. This hadn't happened in so long, the poor boy didn't remember how to get back to the outside world- and it was because he was lost. As far as he was concerned, he wasn't lost- Seth and him were in the forest resting right next to each other. 'What gives...?' He whispered, watching as his warm breath mixed the cold air. He flickered his midnight blue eyes around before cautiously walking foreword, the only way he could think of going. The further he walked thought- the air got colder and fog began to fall in place. 'I've got to get back to Seth...' Michael muttered to himself as he continued to walk. He ignored the pain radiating from the gash in his stomach, only keeping one thing in mind- getting back to Seth.

In reality, Michael's body remained to sleep. His stomach rose and fell like normally and his breathing seemed fairly normal so most wouldn't assume anything was wrong.

[[I thought of something~ ^o^ I really hope it makes since, let me know if it doesn't? v.v]]

[[ *nods* Whether it's through actions or through implication- In a nutshell, it's the "A picture is worth a thousand words" theme through many different medians; gestures, actions, thoughts, ect. Lawl, if you wanted, we could even do a planet jump after this thing wraps up in the distant future. c: I love the creativity that blooms from these stories. ]]

At some point in time, Seth's deep sleep turned into deep dreaming which ultimately rotted into nightmares induced by the Onyx. Logic and reason tempted him to just give in and stop enduring the pain but Seth refused over and over again until he managed to force himself awake. He blinked once or twice in the seemingly bright surroundings as his eyes had been previously shrouded by darkness. His hands were trembling and he curled ever so slightly closer towards Michael while the cool air frosted his shaky breaths. 'Just a dream...' Seth thought as his gaze lowered and he clenched his jaw to stop the chattering of his teeth. He drifted back into the dreams every so often and the cycle repeated itself as the sky continued to grow colder and tiny six-pointed crystal flowers began to float down from above.

[[ Ooh~ It's still unclear to me now, but don't hesitate- I'll catch on soon >:3 ]]

[[ I totally get it now! *squee* --- Planet jump? You know... I've actually been keeping that idea tucked away for the end~ Heehee ^o^ ]]

As he wandered around his subconscious, his feet stopped completely on their own. He glanced around the dark, cold, black abyss before finding himself sinking into the black underneath his frozen feet like it was a pit of quicksand. Making Ariel's "sinking in quicksand" quite literal. Michael struggled to pull himself out but it was failing horribly. 'Damn... Ariel's not here- no. I need to pull myself out. His eyes went wide and he slowly moved his gaze to a figure standing in front of him with a hand extended out to him. 'What're you so afraid of...?' The voice asked him in a gentle voice. This wasn't a dark figure like the being trying to suck him in- it was just a plain figure dressed in a snow white cloak, her face hidden but the figure somehow put the sinking boy into ease and he stopped flailing about. 'Fearing yourself this much will only do the same as playing hero- or much, much worse...' The voice spoke again as it kept her ivory hand extended to offer and help Michael.

Michael simply stared at the cloaked female for a moment longer before reaching for the hand that seemed so far away. The female smiled when Michael was reaching for her and gently grabbed a hold of his hand. An almost blinding light, yet soothing warmth, emitted from the female's body and Michael was shot back into reality after hearing the voice speak to him in a soft voice; 'Fear not the dark but embrace it, protect the ones you know and love. Reject not the light but dwell in it neither... Twilight is your calling, residing in both darkness and in light as one protects and the other heals.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A jolt ran through Michael's limp body before his midnight blue eyes shot open and he was pretty much looking himself over to make sure he was still in one piece while trying not to move too much since his Seth was using him as a living pillow. Michael sighed in relief then blinked when his hand fell to his stomach. He carefully rolled up his shirt until he could fully see the bandage wrapped around his stomach that had a hole in it last time he checked. Michael unwrapped the bandage and he honestly couldn't help but let a single-noted dry laugh escape his thin lips. The wound was completely healed! No scar no nothing, just a tan stomach that had an interesting tattoo in the place of the wound. "Well I'll be damned..." He muttered quietly to himself as he let the shirt fall into place over his torso.

[[ Okay~ don't hesitate to ask questions though, alright? ^o^ ]]

[[ Le-gasp you've been hiding magic! <3 There are so many things that could happen- we could even bring in partial/complete necromancy to brush off the dark side of these characters if needed. cx ]]

Seth was right in the middle of a nightmare when suddenly everything froze. The knives stopped spinning, the voices stopped taunting, and the seraphs halted their war. Then, the lights dimmed in his dream like they do when a machine shuts down. Seth's fear was whisked away with the light and he was left in an ambient place, yet only for a moment as he was pulled upwards and out of the dream by a warm breath of life. "No you won't," he muttered sarcastically as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Morning hadn't quite decided to begin showing its face and Seth was still a mental wreck. A split second later, he turned and looked right at Michael. He turned his head a bit, slightly confused. 'I'd have thought he would have bled more, but..' His eyes softened just a little. 'I'm not complaining.' "'Morning," he said.

[[ I smiled so much at the living-pillow comment. Ne, who was the girl? ]]

[[ I've been hiding magic? *giggles* --- Yay~ <3 The girl is actually Krystal if she were to have a human form. I don't know where the idea came from... It just kinda- hit me like a freight train. ]]

Michael blinked a couple time and glanced down at Seth when he heard him mutter. When he caught Seth's confusion he smiled and kissed the top of his head. "Morning to you too." He said in a gentle voice before looking up at the sky. 'I'll tell him later... Michael decided in his head, after they wake up some and get some kind of food.

[[ No way! *gasps again* That's so cool. ; o; ]]

Seth closed his eyes tightly and opened them one last time; that tired, distant look still lingering somewhere within. He brushed his pants off and rose to stand, noticing that the morning dew had just begun to fall on the surroundings. When he gazed off in the direction of where him and Michael had walked in from, Seth noticed that there was still a thick haze outside the treeline that he couldn't see through. "This place is abnormal," he said. Then he looked back at Michael. "Can you stand?"

[[ *squees* I think it's also bad... Idk if something's gonna happen in the close future ;~; ]]

Michael nodded lightly and slowly stood, carefully bringing Seth up with him. "Where're we headed next?" He asked curiously as he looked at Seth with soft midnight blue eyes.

[[ Aw, if I cry that means it worked. <3... /somewhat-sensitive-anyway ]]

Seth smiled a little, seeing that Michael wasn't maimed too badly. "We could head back," he suggested, or rather he simply said. "..But, that mist..." Seth was convinced that the center of the forest was the core that was calling out to Michael and himself, and if they left they would either wander around in a circle and end up where they were or be lost forever. Really, Seth didn't want to be in any place where he couldn't see in front of him. Especially not in a place where he could be suffocated mentally and physically. Seth shook his head of these thoughts. "I don't know."

[[ *giggle* alrighty dearie <3 --- neh, how do you like "Silent Moments" O.o? ]]

Michael gently took Seth's hand and interlaced his fingers with those of his love. "Let's head back..." He said in a quiet voice, his midnight blue eyes deeply filled with concern. Somehow- he was getting a very, very bad feeling that their friends were in trouble.

[[ Gosh, I love it. ; o; I envy demonic plots. I think I like reading your stories in general. .o.♫ The white hair/ruby eyes concept makes me smile, though, since I tend to use certain character appearances when I game (white-blonde hair, aqua eyes). >w< ]]

Seth didn't resist Michael's hold of his hand, though he found it interesting that his own fingers felt so much colder in comparison to Michael's. He met Michael's eyes with his own colorless ones that were blank of expression. Seth wanted to keep it that way; he could- and would- give up happiness for a few days if it meant not showing what was engulfing him in flames on the inside.

[[ This is completely off-topic but I just found out that one of the people in some dream I had a few years ago actually exists in the bible- I'm not even a religious person. .-. What's up with that? ]]

[[ Yay! Hehee (>^~^<) -- O.o you know... idk ._. ]]

Michael looked at Seth, he knew that expression... His eyes softened. "Seth-" A lump formed in his throat that kept him from saying any more.

A second later, Seth's attention was directed slowly upwards, like the way people gradually move to a realization when something of importance is tacked to the ceiling. He could tell that, by the way the deep color of the night was starting to bleed through an array of shades before it would return to its vibrant cerulean blue color as seen through the mild fog above, morning was on its way. He looked down again and blinked. "Right," he said as if Michael's last comment was about himself as a being of apathetic nature. "We should go." With that, Seth turned to face the looming tower of bleached smoke that began only a short distance from their current location.

Michael watched Seth for a moment before sighing softly, and mostly to himself, before nodding ever so lightly. His hold on Seth's hand never loosened but it didn't tighten either, as he began to lead the way.

Seth proceeded with Michael with a sense of uneasiness inside of him. He held his breath upon reaching the fog and didn't even realize so until he caught himself short of air in the moments that followed. Though the environment itself wasn't quiet- its dampened sounds emitting from within the forest and from the wind- Seth felt muted by its ominousness. A shiver ran down his spine. He moved a little closer to Michael's side.

[[ At 6:10 there was no snow on the ground (not even flurries), at 6:30 there was an inch, and by 8am there was a blizzard. Be prepared, oh noble east-coaster, for some serious weather in a few days. .x. ]]

Michael held Seth's hand just a little tighter as they walked through the fog. He had a very bad feeling... A bad feeling that grew with every step they took towards the village. It was eating at him so bad it made him feel like he was being eaten alive. When the village finally came into view, his eyes went wide and his heart stopped. 'No... It can't be...'

[[ I'm being so evil right now- and feel kinda bad but don't at the same time >w< ]]

Over time, Seth could tell that Michael was uneasy about the situation, but he wasn't sure it was for the same reasons. After trying to strain his vision every which direction, Seth got bored of trying so he just focused his gaze on the ground and followed Michael until everything came to a stop. He knew they must have been close to the small settlement but it didn't seem like he was within a thousand miles of the place. It didn't feel right and Seth was afraid to face forwards to whatever awaited the two of them ahead.

[[ Oooh~! What happened? *anxious* ]]

[[ Onyx attacked~ *sinister giggle* ]]

Everything was gray. Lifeless. Empty. Not a single soul was in sight. It was as if the onyx had found away to break through the village's precious barrier and swallowed the lives of the villagers. Michael was frozen with fear as he starred in the direction of the village. "It's getting smarter..." He finally managed to murmur, his midnight blue eyes were filled with awe.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 'Fear not the dark but embrace it, protect the ones you know and love. Reject not the light but dwell in it neither... Twilight is your calling, residing in both darkness and in light as one protects and the other heals.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The woman's soft voice echoed in his ears and he found himself reaching for the crystal shard in his back pocket. He paused for a moment when he remembered the pain that the stone caused Seth and his hand went back to resting at his side. Michael looked at Seth with a certain gleam in his eyes that meant he had a crazy idea that might just work...but he didn't want to leave Seth by himself... He refused to.

[[ >:D YESS! *finds Alex* ]]

Seth exhaled in a sort of choke and tried to inhale at the same time. His gaze darted upwards and shock sparked across his face in an instant. 'There's no.. The barrier...' His eyebrow twitched and he looked sideways at Michael who seemed to be reaching for something. It occurred to him that his expression was extremely hostile, and the boiling inside of him was starting to flare up. It was in those cases, though, that Seth didn't feel acid-washed. He felt on fire in a good way, like he could simply let the entity live its own life and use his body as a machine by which to do so. Seth was losing it. ~*~*Seth..*~*~ He shifted his left foot forwards a quarter inch and then forced himself to stop. 'He's here!?' Seth thought with distress. ~*~*I can see you..*~*~ Seth took one last glance at Michael before he closed his eyes and let go of his hand. ~*~*I'm waiting...*~*~

Seth backed up a half step or so, confused, when he turned and bolted for his life towards the ominous dark huts across the morning grass. The cool rush he felt was increasingly less painful with each additional step he took towards the Onyx-infected village and Seth's scars deepened and began to blend together and return his skin tone to a normal color after the deep gray pitched into the color of the night. The wind in his hair felt so reviving and the speed he found himself running was of a god's power. When he rounded the corner of the first hut, Seth stood only a few moments to catch his breath before his glowing ember-red eyes found the source of the calls, his wickedly refined grin revealing the insanity that had set him free.

~*~*"I'm so glad you could finally see it my way."*~*~

[[ Had to. You set it up so perfectly. ; ~;" ]]

It took some time before Michael had realized that Seth had ran off into the Onyx-infected village. He could hear the lingering voice, it instantly ticked him off. Michael found himself grabbing the Crystal shard out of his back pocket and running into the Onyx-infected village. His feet stopped abruptly before hitting the Onyx-infected lands and actually started to back away from the area. The Onyx was on the move again- slowly moving in his direction and he was scared. Though, it didn't show on his face, only concern for his love and despair showed themselves.

[[ Haha- it's cool ^~^ ]]

Somewhere towards the center of the village, Alexander had seated himself high up on a throne made entirely of Onyx. He had one leg crossed over the other and kept his chin rested on the palm of his hand which was supported by his elbow on the arm of the chair. The entire aura around him was a sickly dark color and his eyes flickered when he saw Seth. He'd even turned his earrings and necklace into an onyx material. ~*~*"Why did you try and fight for so long-"*~*~ he started to ask before a sheet of Onyx punctured his personal space and brought him dangerously to the next world before he deflected it.
"Come on~ Spar with me!" Seth yelled from his diminishing yards away as he walked, swiping another wave of Onyx effortlessly up at Alexander, and then another two waves sideways to clear some space for their match by destroying two nearby huts. "The last time we were sparring you cheated," he added in reference to Alex's cursed stabbing attempt a few days earlier. Seth knelt down on one knee to show a bit of respect for his friend before he rose up on a small wave of Onyx and created dual daggers out of the crystal. "I even cleared space for the duel."

~*~*"Later,"*~*~ Alexander said. ~*~*"How did you get that power so easily? Also. You need to take care of Michael-"*~*~ Seth's excited grin dimmed into a sad, childish frown as his Onyx accessories melted and the wave stopped. Seth crossed his arms. "The Onyx liked me. I know how to use it. Why are you so obsessed with Michael, now?" Seth turned and incinerated three more huts, taking his oblivious jealousy and anger out like an infant but also having fun with his ability to bend the Onyx. He felt so at peace that he simply decided to start destroying everything in his path with shards of darkness.

[[ Last post- gomen, it's so late and I shouldn't be RPing in this mental state. >~< ]]

[[ Late~ I had 3 paragraphs typed up and before I could post it- the computer back-paged on me and deleted my work ;~; ]]

Michael watched the two, mainly Seth- for a second then looked back at the Onyx to keep an eye on it. He backed away from it until he was up against a tree, with nowhere else to run. He didn't know what to do. Michael's grip on the shard tightened and his hand ended up getting cut a little. As the Onyx crept towards him, the shard began to glow blindingly bright and, somehow, "scared" the Onyx and it fled back towards the village border once was. Michael uncovered his eyes and looked down at the shard once it stopped glowing and went back to being a dull, worn-down shard. "What the-?" He barely manged to whisper.

[[ D: That stinks! x-x I know what it feels like to type up a post and then have to recall whatever you could from memory when the computer flips out. ._. ]]

Seth ceased in his destructive manor when he felt a small tinge start to sting on the inside. It left a sense of anxiousness and uneasy anticipation in the air. His wave of artistic swords turned into water and "splashed" against the ground before returning with the Onyx as he looked over his shoulder in the slightest to see what the cause was. Seth the turned completely around when that tinge converted to physical pain at the tips of his fingers. He could see in the distance his own essence of himself retreating back from around a tree due to some burning cause. ~*~*"I'll take care of it,"*~*~ he heard Alexander call from somewhere nearby. Seth blinked once and then watched Alexander disintegrate and re-materialize next to the shapes a little ways off; the dark cloud following his side. 'Wait a minute--' Seth thought, confused.

~*~*"You, sir,"*~*~ Alexander said as he took one smooth step towards Michael, forming a blade out of thin air. ~*~*"Could be a serious nuisance to my plans."*~*~