The Four Broken Souls Of Atera.

by Sylif Daring Doo

Moving forward.

______*Equestria, The coastal city of Atera, Merchant district, a week later.*______

Syrin walked out onto the streets after leaving Eastern Delights, Wes's new shop, and from Seth's ten out of ten rating for Wes, she had to check it out herself.

The pale blue fox really outdid himself, he made treats hot and cold, from a simple yet delicious hot chocolate, to a pleasantly cold sundae, regardless of what it was, he was good at making it.

Syrin also met Wes' wife Alecia, a beautiful red furred fox with brown eyes and just as much talent at making treats as her husband, the two of them shared a positive personality that seemed like it could warm a statues non existent heart.

As Syrin walked through the street, she took in a breath of cool air and looked around, seeing quite a few familiar faces from the Slums, she smiled as she saw a few of them simply sitting in a pavilion playing some chess.

It was easy to see why Seth called the Slums the 'jewel' of Atera, and she was right.......all you needed to do was know where to look, but as she thought of that, she couldn't help but remember Shade's reaction to the itching powder that was all over his clothes, no doubt planted by the rabbit herself.

The Night Wolf had been shuffling around weirdly for a while before devolving into full blown scratching, and after a while he caught on and threw the affected clothes into the wash to get rid of the itching powder.

And once the news reached the housemates that Seth had returned to the detox center, the reactions were mixed to say the least, Karak and Firefly understood her decision, knowing full well that getting help was amazing for the mind in her critical stage.

Shade was quiet throughout it all but he was clearly conflicted, on one hand he knew that this was for the best, on the other hand he was sad that she wasn't around for long.

Alice was sad that Seth was away, but she wasn't nearly as devastated as Ren, nor as angry, the ex detective was fully willing to go and confront her girlfriend about her decision, but she was eventually talked down by Alice.

Syrin herself was unsure about how she felt, the only thing she did know was that this was for the best in the end, so as she walked the streets, she found herself wondering how their visit today would go.

They had agreed to give it a week until they visited, and Doctor Terrance still gave Syrin updates on what was happening, just yesterday he was pleased to report that Seth was being very open with the problems she was facing, and that he no longer had to pose as someone else just to talk to her.

Syrin walked for a while until she found the detox center, she looked to it and saw Shade and Alice waiting on a bench, she started to walk over to them while she thought on the events that led to this point, where they were all happy, living their lives and in some cases finding love. 'Seth was the catalyst for all of this, if she hadn't talked to Jack that day, none of us would be where we are right now.' She smiled and chuckled a little, thinking of the memories they built in the slums in that short time.

Alice was wearing a pair of dark green pants, a matching colored tee shirt and a brown vest jacket with the sleeves ripped from the elbow.

Shade was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a black tee shirt and a heavy dark green hooded jacket.

Syrin got close enough to Shade and Alice to hear them talking. "All I'm saying is that I want you to respect my decision." Alice said.

Shade nodded and spoke. "I do respect your decision, but you could have told me sooner, I'm not mad because of the decision itself, just how long you waited to tell me." He replied, standing up.

"Am I interrupting something?" Syrin asked.

Alice shook her head and crossed her arms. "No, we are just a little annoyed because we got stonewalled trying to see Seth." She replied.

"Huh?" Syrin asked, curious at the sudden development.

Shade sighed. "We were told to come back later, when 'the gang' was here." He explained.

'That's obvious who that is, the question is why.' Syrin noted mentally, she heard footsteps nearby and looked over, she spotted Ren and Karak walking over.

"Thanks for waiting." The demon said with a smile.

Alice grunted. "Your late." She pointed out with an annoyed expression.

"Black cat crossed our path so we had to go around." Karak apologized with an innocent expression.

Ren crossed her arms and looked at Alice. "Can we just go in?" She asked impatiently.

"Patience Ren, you can talk to your girlfriend soon enough." Shade said with a smirk while leading everyone to the door, along the way, they didn't see too many people walking around, there were a couple others sitting outside, but there weren't many.

They soon reached the door and Shade opened it, allowing them inside.

The clinic lobby was clean, it had soft light brown carpet and the walls were a soothing light gray, there were paintings of landscapes, food and people on the walls, but not enough to be clutter, there were a few couches and some tables in a corner like a waiting area, the front desk was made of brown wood with glass walls on top, there was a door to the side and a male tiger with light brown fur walked through it.

On the other side of the wall were two others, a brown and white rabbit female with small glasses and tired blue eyes, and a unicorn stallion with light yellow fur and black hair, his eyes were yellow.

There weren't many people in today, only two visitors from the look of it, an all blue Pegasus mare and an orange drake, and they were leaving and visiting respectively, Shade and Alice led the group over to the tired rabbit and she looked up. "Ah, your back." She said aloud before looking behind them and at the group. "Are you all one group?" She asked.

"Yes we are." Alice replied in a calm voice.

Syrin took note of Ren's impatience as the clerk spoke. "Let's see here, one unicorn, one fox, one rabbit, one night wolf, and....." She paused and did a double take at the group. "A demon?" She asked curiously.

Karak raised a finger. "Guilty as charged." He answered.

The rabbit shook her head and passed a piece of paper through a slot in the bottom of the glass. "Please sign in, first name and last initial, middle initial isn't necessary." She stated.

It took a minute or two for them all to sign in, but the clerk did let them through, the group of five walked in silence as they made their way through the quiet hallways, they kept on walking until they reached a split off path, there were no signs to tell them where to go and Karak was about to choose a path until they heard a voice. "Ah good, you made it." Came the voice of Doctor Terrance.

Syrin was the first one to greet the doctor. "Hey Doc, we're a little lost." She said.

The chameleon nodded in understanding. "Everyone here gets lost once or twice, come on, I'll help you find your way." He said, walking to the opposite door from the one he came from.

Everyone followed Doctor Terrance as he led them through the building, the lobby was decently large, it had a respectable desk area, some seating and multiple pathways for people to walk through, the building felt like a maze but the Doctor walked through without hesitation or fail, he soon reached a door and looked at the others. "Now I do want to give you a heads up." He started calmly. "Seth's system isn't reacting well to a medication she took this morning, and while I am positive it won't be a problem in the long run, I would ask that you inform me of any side effects or symptoms, if I'm not in the lobby, give a note to the receptionist, she will get it to me." The doctor said before leaving them.

Alice was the one to open the door, and the door opened to a large open room with simple chairs in a circle, and sitting in one of the chairs was none other than Seth, who looked over once the door opened and smiled, the rabbit still wore her usual purple tee shirt and gray windbreaker pants, she also had her old shackles on her wrists and her left arm was in a cast, while her face had a large bruise on it, but otherwise she looked fine.

Seth stood up and walked over to the group, Alice was over immediately and gave her sister a gentle hug. "Hey sis." She whispered.

Seth patted Alice's back. "Hey, nice to talk to you without having a stroke." She joked morbidly.

Ren was the next one up, and she immediately pointed at the cast and bruise. "What happened?" Her tone of voice made the question sound like a demand.

Seth held her good hand up. "It's alright Ren, one of the more violent patients broke loose one day and attacked me, thinking I was a thief or thug." She explained as she went around, greeting her friends.

"Surprised you didn't punt him through a wall." Shade joked, getting a look from Seth.

"He beat the crap out of me...I punted him through the ceiling." She corrected, getting a small laugh from Syrin.

Seth got them all sat down in the chairs and Karak spoke up before anyone else could. "So Seth, how are you doing?" He asked.

Seth held her left arm. "I'm alright, aside from the arm and demon blood, I am in surprisingly good health, I don't have nightmares anymore...I think, I'm not a nervous wreck anymore which is always a plus, and well, I had an episode last night, but I think it's been chalked up to worsening withdrawal symptoms." She explained.

"How are they treating you here?" Alice asked curiously.

Seth chuckled. "Some of the nurses here are kind of distant, but they are treating me well, I've been talking to Doc Terrance a lot, and he said a few things which gave me something to think about, an example is that I was too reliant on Ren being my anchor for stability." She explained.

"That's crazy, you never relied on me as a stable person." Ren said, crossing her arms.

Syrin looked at the fox. "I think what she means is that she relied too much on you being her sense of reality." She clarified.

Ren went to say something in reply but stopped herself, she simply returned to her silence.

Seth noticed her girlfriend feeling uncomfortable and spoke. "Enough about me, tell me what you all have been up to." She said, changing the subject which Ren silently thanked her for.

"Wes and Alecia opened a new shop, they are a hit with the Merchant District." Syrin said, making Seth mentally think about getting something from there, but also berating herself for daring to consider sneaking out to do so.

Everyone then told Seth about what was going on, the Slums cleanup was proceeding quickly and Shade was finished helping, instead focusing on his job at a general store, he also mentioned his annoyance at Seth's last prank, which the rabbit smiled about.

Alice stated that she was working on finding her own place with Shade, because while she liked Firefly's house, she didn't want to live in the crowded building anymore.

Ren said that she was working as a teacher now since she retired from being a Private Investigator, she taught history class, and was eager for Seth to return, but went no further into details.

Syrin said that she had found work as a mechanic but the work was dull and drying up, so she found herself a different job working at a hobby store, she also said that she would tell Wes and Alecia that Seth wanted to see them.

Karak spoke up next, announcing some great news, saying that Firefly was pregnant, and that they were expecting, and on a less important side note, said that he was still the janitor at the same school that Ren worked at.

Seth of course, had this to say about the pregnancy. "Hey, do you mind if we bet on the outcome?" She asked.

Karak chuckled and shook his head. "I don't mind, but no bets over forty please?" He asked.

"I can't believe you Seth." Ren said in a scolding tone, she then looked at Karak. "Ten bits.......Pegasus colt with Firefly's eye color, gray fur and blue hair." She said calmly, earning herself an amused chuckle from Seth.

"Ten bits.....Male wolf with Firefly's eye color, black fur with brown streaks." Syrin said, joining in on the fun.

"Ten bits.....Female wolf with your eye color, brown fur." Alice added.

Seth noticed that everyone was looking at her, she shrugged. "I'll go last." She said without a concern.

Shade nodded. "Ten bits like everyone else......Earth pony colt, blue eyes, light blue fur, gray hair." He said.

Seth grinned widely. "Forty bits......twins, both Pegasus fillies, one with pink fur and purple hair, green eyes, the other, white fur, pink hair, one red eye, one magenta eye." She stated. "And just to spice it up, the right eye will be the red one." She added.

Karak rolled his eyes when everyone looked at him. "I'm not betting on my own kid, even if I did bet, there is still a chance I would lose, so no." He stated firmly.

Everyone was silent for about ten seconds before the demon talked. "Ten bits, earth pony filly, my eye color, white fur, light blue hair." He said, sounding both defeated and excited.

The rest of the visit was very pleasant, they just talked for a while until they had to go, and when they got back to Firefly and Karak's house, they told Firefly about the little bet while they wrote down the details.

Firefly was annoyed at first, but eventually she jumped in on the action, surprising them all. "Ten bits, unicorn filly, light gray fur, pale pink mane, my eye color, wolf ears." She stated.

The rest of the day was normal, and the atmosphere was far more positive than it had been in a long time, so as Syrin helped Karak in the kitchen, she couldn't help but smile. "You seem happy." The demon pointed out while slicing meat for the meat eaters in the house.

"I am." Syrin replied as she cut carrots. "I remember when we first came to Atera, I was so concerned about you I wouldn't let you go anywhere without me, and then Seth helped you to reveal that you weren't taking those pills." She said with a smile.

Karak nodded and looked out at the living room, the now common sight of Shade and Alice laying together on the couch bringing a smile to his face, Firefly looked over at him from his chair and smirked before looking back at her book that she was reading.

"That crazy rabbit brought us all together, whether or not she knows it, she did help us get to the point where we could make that stupid bet." Karak said as he watched Ren walk out from the hallway and into the living room, she sat down on the sofa and leaned back. "We owe her a lot." He added.

"Maybe we should see if we can get her out and about for a day, it can't hurt right?" Syrin asked as she put the carrots in the pit to cook.

Karak smiled as he pulled out a peeler for potatoes. "It's a good idea, but it's too soon, give Seth some time to come to grips with everything, if we are lucky, she'll stop having episodes and nightmares altogether then it shouldn't be a problem." He stated with a positive mindset.

'You did it Seth.....you got through the hard part, now you just need to stay on the right track.' He thought to himself as he cooked.

Author's Note:

Been a while since i updated this, so I figured why not? I missed this story.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, we are sadly nearing the end actually, the chapters should be longer though and with less emphasis on Seth due to her limited involvement now.