> The Four Broken Souls Of Atera.
>  by Sylif Daring Doo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The new Roommates.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun shone brightly as it covered the city of Atera, its size rivaled that of Manehatten and Fillydelphia, and its diversity was great, not because of its architecture or its various businesses, it was its residents, the city was known more commonly as the 'Crossroads of Equiss' for it had more variety in its species than any other city.

Atera did have downsides of course, as with all cities, there was poverty and crime, and it was difficult to find anything made for any one species, as such, there was many products that were based upon size and frame, rather than species, clothes, headwear, personal items, even suitcases.

Atera was very popular for one reason in particular, it was sometimes known as the 'city of new beginnings' to some, there were many who came here to start anew.

The city bustled with life, and every day more arrived, by train or other means, this city thrived on new arrivals due to the tourist shops and various restaurants.

And now, on a train bound for Atera, came Shade, one of a unique breed of Wolf known as Night Wolves, they were highly intelligent and the majority of this species were nocturnal, they stood upright on two legs, and could speak just as well as any other race.

Shade was a male Night Wolf with dark gray fur, he had dark blue irises and he wore a dark brown beanie over his ears, he sat calmly in his seat as he scratched his left pant leg, he was wearing dark gray jeans that were ripped at the knees, his dark blue shirt was hidden by the ragged brown jacket that he wore, he leaned back and sighed to himself. "Um, excuse me." He looked and saw a unicorn mare looking at him nervously. "Can I help you?" Shade asked, keeping his expression neutral.

The unicorn mare was blue furred with blue hair, she nodded slowly. "Um, yes.....do you happen to know where Jimmy's hardware is in Atera?" She asked quietly.

Shade shook his head. "I'm afraid not, it's my first time here." He answered honestly.

The mare nodded again. "S-sorry for disturbing you." She whispered.

Shade simply smiled and went back to minding his own business, despite being recognized as an intelligent species, there were those who still kept there distance, and in Shade's opinion, he did not blame them at all.

The train soon stopped and Shade stood up, he was a tall person, he was six foot last he checked, which was tall, especially for his race, who were usually around five foot two.

Shade grabbed his backpack and secured it to his back, he made his way off the train slowly, making sure to allow the line to thin out some first.

As Shade eventually left the train, he took a look around the train station, unlike most train stations, Atera's train station was indoors, he looked around and saw that there wasn't much security, all there was were a few guards here and there, Shade made his way out of the train station so he could get going with the rest of his day.

"I'm surprised there isn't much security here." Said a male voice behind Shade.

He looked over his shoulder and saw a Minotaur talking to a Bear, the two passed by and Shade resumed his steady walk.

After leaving the train station, Shade took in a breath, the air was cold, but at least it was clean, he looked around and took in the sights, he saw a hotel, a souvenir store, and a street sign saying Minos street.

Shade started walking towards Minos street, making sure to stick to a set path, and not wander off of it, it may have been his first time here, but Shade knew better than to wander around a city without having a place to stay the night.

Shade eventually reached a crossroads, one continued forward toward Hibernation street, while another went towards what was called 'the slums' according to the rumors.

He continued on to the slums, making sure not to bump into anyone along the way, not that it mattered, he had nothing in his pockets, and he had barely anything in his backpack.

Shade continued walking for what felt like forever until he reached what looked like an apartment complex, he walked towards it and eventually found the office after a few minutes of searching.

Shade rang the bell and waited, he heard shuffling coming from the back of the office and soon he saw someone, he was a thin and scrawny bear, wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and round glasses. "Oh hello!" He greeted in a friendly voice. "We don't get many Night Wolves around here, so! what can I do for you?" He asked.

Shade took a breath and spoke. "I'm Shade, I believe I have a room here." He replied.

The bear nodded and looked through some papers on his desk, he looked up at Shade. "Might I ask who paid for your first month?" He asked.

Shade nodded. "My uncle, Denol." He answered.

The bear sighed in relief. "Oh good, one moment please." He said before walking to the back of the office.

Shade waited patiently until the bear returned, and then when he did, he was holding a paper in his hand. "Alright, the room is one nine two, now I must warn you, the current resident is not happy about getting a roommate, she may not be welcoming." The bear said as he looked at Shade out of concern.

"I'll try not to cause trouble then." Shade said as he walked towards the apartment.

Shade found the apartment five minutes later, he raised his arm and knocked on the door, he waited calmly for a while until the door clicked and opened slightly.

"Yes?" Asked an annoyed voice.

"I'm Shade, I'm the new tenant." He said.

A groan came and the door opened, Shade was now able to look at who opened the door, it was a female rabbit with light brown fur and bright green eyes, she had a burn scar around her left eye, she wore a purple tee shirt with a dragon logo and gray windbreaker pants, she also stood at least five feet tall which was surprising for her race, considering most of them were around four foot.

"Come on in." The rabbit said as she stepped aside.

Shade walked in, looking around the room, the floor was covered by a warm light brown carpet and the walls were painted a pleasant brown, there were a couple of bookshelves around the room, all filled to maximum capacity with books, there was a couch and a dining table and some chairs by one of the walls, the dark green couch looked comfortable enough, the dark brown chairs were sturdy but didn't look terribly comfortable, the table looked old with scratches and it looked like it had been repainted with a mahogany paint, these made it difficult to see that it was actually light brown, which was just barely visible near the base of the table legs.

Shade did notice that there was a rectangular coffee table in front of the couch, and that it had what appeared to be a pizza box on it, as well as a paper plate and even some books strewn about the room, there was also an old gray lounge chair next to the couch, and across from that was a strange and large black box sitting on a sturdy wooden table.

Shade looked at the rabbit as she cleared her throat. "Now that your done eying my lifestyle, your room is the one at the end of the little hall over there." She pointed at the hall in question, it was right across from the entrance to the apartment. 

The rabbit stretched and walked to the coffee table and looked at Shade. "Anyway, I'm being rude, my name is Seth." She said.

Shade nodded. "Which door is the bathroom?" He asked.

Seth grabbed the pizza box and plate. "It's the first door on the right." She said simply as she went to throw the trash away.

Shade walked to the hall and took note of it, there were four doors, the bathroom, Seth's room, his room and what he guessed was a spare room.

Shade opened the door to his room and saw that it was bare, the walls were white, there was a bedframe, a mattress with simple white bedding and one pillow, and that was it, Shade set his backpack down on the floor next to the bed and sat down on the bed, he was relieved that the bed was at least comfortable. 'I guess Seth didn't decide to decorate the rest of the place, but I shouldn't be surprised.' He thought to himself as he took off his jacket and set it over his backpack.

Standing up, Shade walked out of his room and headed for the bathroom to relieve his bladder.

The bathroom was clean, it had a mounted sink with a small cabinet next to it and a mirror above it, the toilet was basic and the shower was very basic, it had hot and cold settings, and had a shower head that looked like it worked, and that was good enough for him.

_____*a few minutes later*_____

Shade walked out into the living room and looked around once again, he noticed the kitchen on his right, it was small, there was an oven, a refrigerator, a sink and some pots and pans, as well as a few cans of food on the counter.

"You got any allergies?" Seth asked, catching Shades attention. "I only ask out of concern, i personally don't have any allergies that I know of, so do you?" She asked.

Shade shook his head as he walked over to one of the chairs near the couch and sat down. "Alright, I'll just let you know a few important details." Seth started. "First, my room is off limits unless I invite you in, and even then you don't touch anything I don't tell you too, second, if you are going to live here, pick up after yourself, I'm not going to babysit you." Seth stated firmly. "Lastly, I have no problem with you doing whatever you do, but keep it to yourself." She finished as she stood up and walked to the kitchen. 

Shade watched as she pulled out a pot and set it on the oven. "I'm buying food tomorrow, there are beans in these cans, and some leftover fish salad in the fridge, other than that there is a can of corn." She said, grabbing a bottle of water and looking at a nearby clock for a moment before walking to the couch.

"Anything else I should know?" Shade asked calmly.

Seth shrugged. "You can read whatever is on that bookshelf, so long as it isn't my mail." She added as she sat down.

From Seth's perspective, the world seemed to hate her even more, as there was a knock on the door just as she got comfortable, she groaned and got up begrudgingly.

Another knock on the door and Seth's left eye twitched. "Hold the fuck on you asshole!" She said as she slightly opened the door.

"Who is it?" Seth asked.

"Uh, Syrin and Storm, we were told that we are staying here?" Said a female voice.

Seth's left eye twitched violently. 'What?' She opened the door and looked at who was on the other side, there was a male wolf with gray fur and purple eyes with his arms crossed looking down the hall at something, and a gray unicorn mare with a white mane and tail, her eyes were an icy blue and her cutie mark appeared to be a gear with a hammer and sword inside of it. "Inside, sit down, don't go anywhere." Seth ordered as she went outside and to the front desk.

Shade watched as Syrin and Storm entered the apartment and noticed him, they both had duffle bags with them. "Your staying too huh?" He asked.

Syrin nodded and closed the door "Yea, according to the bear at the desk." She replied, her voice was smooth and her tone was friendly.

"That rabbit is hostile." Storm muttered, he set his bag aside, sat down on the couch and looked off into space, his voice was rough as though he hadn't had water in years, and he sounded devoid of emotion.

Shade shrugged. "Maybe she's just having a bad day?" He suggested.

Syrin sat down next to Storm and looked at Shade after putting her bag down. "You'll have to forgive him, he's exhausted." She said calmly.

"Trust me, I'm just trying not to make the current resident mad." Shade joked as he grabbed a book and began reading it.

Syrin looked at the black box and blinked, there was glass on it, but the rest was some kind of metal or plastic. "What is that thing?" She asked.

Shade shrugged. "No idea." He replied.

After a few minutes of silence and waiting, the door to the apartment opened and a red faced Seth walked inside., she closed the door and looked at Syrin with an annoyed glare. 

"You are staying here, Shade can tell you about dinner, bathroom is the first door on the right, Shade's room is the door at the end of the hall, the last free room is next to the bathroom, no one goes into my room, I don't care how you guys work out the sleeping arrangements if there is any awkwardness, but no one bunks with me." She said with anger in her tone.

The three watched as Seth walked into her room for a moment before returning with a black hoodie over her purple tee. "Don't wait for me to eat dinner." She said as she walked to the door, opened it and left.

As the door closed, Shade could only blink. ".....Well, the bear did say that she wasn't happy about getting a new roommate." He stated absently.

Syrin looked at Shade. "I suppose so.....anyway, I'm Syrin, this is Storm." She introduced.

Shade nodded. "And as you probably guessed, I'm Shade." He said holding his hand out.

Storm looked at Shade and opened his mouth to speak, only to close it as though he forgot his words.

Shade didn't say anything about it, he looked at Syrin. "So, how are we doing the sleeping arrangements?" He asked.

"Syrin gets her own room, I get the couch." Storm muttered quietly.

"Storm!" Syrin snapped, she sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, but I don't like that idea at all." She said.

Shade shrugged and stood up. "Let's check out that room then, there might be a bunk bed or even two spare beds in there." He said jokingly.

"Stay here Storm." Syrin said as she hurried over to Shade.

The two opened the door and looked inside, the room was like a big box, it wasn't small but it wasn't big, just big enough for one person to be comfortable, thankfully, there was a second bedframe and mattress inside. "I wonder why she has four beds?" Shade asked quietly.

Syrin looked at the Night Wolf. "Let's just be happy that she does." She replied.

Shade looked at Syrin. "Ok, so who gets the mysterious fourth bed?" He asked as he leaned in the doorway.

"Depends, is your room big enough for two beds?" Syrin asked curiously.

Shade nodded. "Yes it is." He replied.

"Then Storm gets it, only real question is, who is bunking with him?" Syrin asked.

"He can't be alone?" Shade asked.

"Not a chance." Syrin immediately replied, her haste to answer actually surprised Shade, but he chose not to pry. "Then I will, I have no problem sharing a room." He said.

Syrin gave him a questioning look. "Are you sure? Storm can be a handful." She asked.

Shade nodded. "I had to bunk with seven other kids in one room for five years." He answered. "I can handle sharing the room." He added.

With that, Shade worked with Syrin to carefully maneuver the bedframe into his room, and once it was positioned near the corner wall, they got the much easier to move mattress.

After it was set up, Shade grabbed a spare set of bedding that was with the fourth bed, once that was done, he looked at the time, it was now two thirteen in the afternoon, he was glad he ate before arriving, because he would have been starving if he hadn't.

____*A few hours later*_____

Shade had spent the past few hours getting to know Syrin and Storm, he learned some stuff about them and they learned about him in return, nothing too personal, but it was a good start.

For instance, Shade learned that Syrin and Storm had known each other for the majority of their lives, and that they were here because the places they worked at went bankrupt, Shade told them a little bit about himself in return, one brother, parents divorced splitting the family apart, and he was here because he was leaving the Night Wolves isolated society.

"So uh, what do you think of uh.....what's her name?" Syrin asked.

Shade took a sip of his water. "Seth." He reminded. "And she doesn't seem to be a bad person, she just seems wary of strangers." He replied.

Syrin went to say something, but Seth soon walked inside and went to her room. "Welcome back!" Shade called out.

"I don't need a welcoming committee to my own home!" Seth shot back, she was clearly still frustrated.

Seth walked back out and headed for the refrigerator, she grabbed a bottle from inside and walked over, she looked at the trio with a confused expression. "How come you guys are just sitting here in silence?" She asked.

"Nothing to do." Shade replied.

Seth sighed. "Out of my chair damnit." She said.

Shade tilted his head in confusion, but got up and sat on the couch, he watched as Seth sat down and grabbed a small gray rectangular object and pointed at the box. "What are you doing?" Shade asked.

Seth pushed a button on the object and the box lit up, startling Shade. "It's called television, you guys grow up in a rock or something?" Seth asked as she took a sip from the bottle filled with brown liquid.

"Oh, that's a television?" Syrin asked. "I heard about them, but I never saw one before." She said as she and Storm watched what appeared to be a comedy.

"Night Wolves don't have technology in their society, so I never had it growing up." Shade answered simply. "It's incredible what technology can do." He added.

Seth groaned as he leaned her head back. "Just shut up and let me watch the tv." She said.

After that, the four roommates watched the television in silence, the hours passed by as they watched a variety of things, comedy, action, horror and even news broadcasts when they had nothing else to watch. 

Seth soon stood up and set the television remote on the coffee table. "Have fun." She said, walking to her room once again.

Shade looked at the rabbit as she once again walked out of her room with her hoodie. "Going out again?" He asked.

Seth narrowed her eyes at Shade. "First, it's none of your business if I want to go out, second, no, I have a night job." She answered as she walked to the front door. "Don't forget to eat." Seth reminded as she left, closing the door behind her.

Shade looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly eight. "Wow, time flies." He stood up and walked to the kitchen. "I'll get dinner ready." He said.

When Shade looked at the living area, he saw that Storm's ears had perked up and he was looking at him. "I'm guessing I'm not the only hungry one." He muttered.

"Do you need help?" Storm asked.

Shade was honestly surprised that the wolf asked, but he shook his head. "I already looked around, all we have is canned food and a little bit of fish salad in a container." He replied.

Storm looked visibly put off by the sound of canned food, as he looked at the television in silence.

Shade managed to get what could be considered dinner ready in a couple of minutes, he managed to set a timer and he walked back to the living area and sat on the chair, he looked at Storm with a question on his mind. "I take it you enjoy cooking?" He asked.

Storm looked at Shade and nodded. "I used to be a chef, I.....loved it." He answered as he looked at the television.

Time passed uneventfully as the three roommates ate in silence, they cleaned up quickly and soon enough, Shade was sitting in the chair reading the book from earlier.

Shade soon closed the book and placed it back on the bookshelf, he looked at the clock and saw that it was eleven, he took a breath and stood up. "I'm turning in, I'll see you two in the morning." He said, he then walked to his shared room and opened the door.

"Hold up!" Syrin called out.

Shade looked over his shoulder and saw Syrin standing behind him. "Can I ask you a favor?" She asked quietly.

"Depends on what it is." Shade replied.

"Can you keep an eye on him?.....if he does anything strange, like scream or Yelp in the middle of the night, come get me." She asked.

Shade raised an eyebrow but nodded. "I can do that." He said before walking into the room and closing the door. 'Strange.' He thought to himself as he climbed over the covers and closed his eyes.

______*2:04 AM.*_______

Seth grumbled as she reached the apartment door, she rubbed her eyes and turned the doorknob, it was locked, she wordlessly grabbed her keys and unlocked the door, she walked inside and closed the door. "Can't believe this shit." She muttered as she locked the door and headed for her room.

Seth walked into her room and closed the door, she then undressed herself and slipped into a pair of boxer shorts and a gray tank top, she got into her bed and closed her eyes. "Three new roommates, wonderful." She groaned as she fell asleep.
> Getting to know the new people.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

_____*Equestria, 9:57 AM*_____

It was another beautiful day in Equestria, as a breeze blew through the air, the city of Atera seemed to stir from its slumber.

Inside an apartment complex, was room one nine two, it is the home of Seth, a reclusive rabbit, formerly alone in her apartment, but now she had three new roommates, and she knew nothing about them.

Seth lay in her bed asleep, enjoying the warm feeling of the covers and the sheets brushing against her fur, she smiled as she snuggled into her soft pillow, it was a perfect morning to sleep in, as Seth didn't have work tonight, so she could do whatever she wanted with her night off.

Unfortunately this world is a cruel place in many ways, even though the dark curtains blocked the sun, they could not block anyone from opening a door with no locks.

Such was the case as the door slammed open and a voice called out. "Morning!" It called out happily.

Seth's eyes shot open as she screamed, she fell out of her bed, her back impacted onto the soft floor and she groaned, she rubbed her eyes and stared at the ceiling. "It was such a nice morning too." She muttered sleepily as she slowly stood up.

After she got up, Seth stretched out a little before making her bed, it didn't take long however until she finally registered that the voice came from a real person, she growled and stomped out of the room. "Who the fuck threw my door open!?" She snapped.

Seth looked around the room and saw Syrin immediately point to Storm who was.....making breakfast? Seth was about to accuse Shade before she saw him sleepily leave his room, barely able to walk.

Seth looked at Storm who was fully energized and aware. "Storm, do not do that again." Seth warned before returning to her room out of anger.

Seth sighed to herself as she picked out a pair of clothes and headed for the bathroom, she saw Shade sitting at the dining table and she returned her focus to the bathroom.

Seth closed the door behind her and took her boxers and tank top off, she turned on the shower and stepped inside, the cold water soon warming up, Seth resisted the urge to sing to herself in the shower on the count of others being in the building, she grabbed her shampoo soap and covered her chest, legs and arms with it before rinsing it out.

A few more minutes in the bathroom, and Seth stepped out clean as a whistle, she now wore a dark blue tee shirt and dark blue jeans, she walked to the dining table as Shade went into the bathroom. "How are you making breakfast?" She asked Storm. "There wasn't anything to make it from." She added.

Storm simply grinned and said nothing as he beat the eggs. 

Syrin took a sip from a coffee cup and sighed. "Since he won't say anything, I will, Storm woke me up, dragged me to the store to buy groceries." She said as she held her head. "This city is really loud in the morning." She mumbled.

Seth sat down and looked at Storm. "At least I learned something about you guys." She muttered.

"What's that?" Syrin asked quietly.

Seth looked at Storm. "You two are not lazy and will get what needs done.....done, and that Storm is picky about his food." She replied.

Storm put the eggs into the pan and chuckled. "Actually, I just hate canned and reheated food." He said calmly.

Seth rolled her eyes. "Then you are shit out of luck, because I happen to like my canned tomato soup." She joked.

Storm pondered this for a moment before looking at Seth. "Let me make your soup for lunch, you'll see the error of your ways." He said with an amused tone.

Seth sighed and looked at Syrin. "I can't tell if he is being serious or not." She remarked.

"He's serious." Syrin said. "I haven't had canned food in about......fifteen years?" She estimated.

"Sixteen." Storm corrected. "The year we were in Manehatten." He reminded.

Seth watched as Storm started on the toast. "Do you want some help?" Seth asked quietly.

Storm shook his head. "Na....I used to cook for a living, I'm fine." He replied.

Seth rubbed her eyes and looked at Syrin who looked like she had a hangover. "You alright?" She asked.

Syrin nodded slowly. "Just waiting for the aspirin to take effect." She replied.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, how long were you a chef?" Seth asked.

Storm moved the eggs around a little before answering. "That would be about......five years." He replied.

"How old are you two anyway?" Seth asked.

Syrin chuckled. "Don't you know it's impolite to ask a girl her age?" She countered, she then blinked. "I'm twenty six." She answered easily.

"Twenty eight." Storm added. "And you?" He asked.

Seth crossed her arms. "Twenty two." She replied.

"I wonder if Shade's twenty four?" Syrin muttered with a quiet laugh.

Seth stood and walked to the television, she grabbed the remote and turned it on, switching it to the news. "Authorities were shocked today as the hooded maniac strikes again." Seth's ears perked up at the sound of that as she listened.

Even Syrin and Storm seemed to listen at this. "The notorious thief managed to break into a woodshop last night, it is believed that the thief incapacitated the clerk who was working there and then made off with all of the bits in the store." The news anchor continued.

"In response to the return of this thief, police chief Hunter has issued a reward for any information that leads to the capture of this criminal, surv-."

Seth switched the channel and leaned back in her chair. "I wonder if they'll catch the thief?" Syrin muttered.

Seth sighed. "They might, but so long as he or she doesn't go after me, I'm fine." She said before walking over to the table, she then saw Shade walk out of the bathroom, he looked more aware now, which was a good sign.

"Really, you don't care that an international thief if back?" Syrin asked out of confusion.

Shade raised an eyebrow at that. "The hooded maniac is back?" He asked curiously.

Seth nodded as she began watching what appeared to be a documentary on Griffon history.

"Hey Shade, how old are you?" Syrin asked.

Shade gave Syrin a curious stare but answered her anyway. "Twenty seven." He answered out of confusion.

Seth looked at the kitchen and saw Storm beginning to put breakfast on plates, she got off of her chair and walked over to the dining table. "You didn't need to go to all of this trouble you know." She said.

Storm looked at her with a sincere expression. "I have no reason to make breakfast, that's true.....but then we would be starving, and starving people fight." He tapped the side of his head. "Believe me I know." He added as he grabbed a plate and handed it to Seth.

Seth looked at the contents for a moment, she didn't want to openly admit to it, but it looked delicious, well, as delicious as eggs can get with a little bit of seasoning that is, she took the plate and nodded wordlessly at Storm before walking to her chair and sitting down.

As Shade and Syrin ate at the small dining table, Storm and Seth were eating at the coffee table watching tv.

Seth took a bite out of the eggs and smiled a little bit, they were tasty and weren't undercooked at all, then again Storm did say he cooked for a living, and without any evidence to counter it or prove it, Seth would work under the assumption that he was good with eggs.

The apartment was quiet for some time as the residents ate breakfast, soon however Seth was interrupted by Storm. "Seth.....did we do something to earn your anger?" Storm asked curiously.

The question caught Seth off guard if she was perfectly honest, she crossed her arms and thought on it for some time, thankfully Storm seemed to be in no hurry, as he ate what was left of his food while waiting.

Seth eventually sighed. "None of you did anything to piss me off Storm, I was just having a bad day, and having three complete strangers suddenly living with me?" She shook her head as she rubbed her hands together. "Not a good combination for me." Seth noticed the glances from Syrin and Shade. 'So they're listening in?' She noted curiously.

Seth leaned back in her chair and looked at the clock on the wall, according to it, the time would be around ten forty eight, she sighed and stood up. "Well, I would absolutely love to stick around here, but I have things I need to do." She walked into her room and came back out wearing a gray sweatshirt and a gray beanie. "I'll be back later." She said before walking to the apartment door.

Shade walked up to Seth with his hands in his pockets. "You mind if I tag along?.....I would like to get some knowledge of the general area." He asked.

Seth sighed and opened the door. "Come on, I'll give you a small tour." She said before closing the door.

_____*streets of Atera, two minutes later*______

Seth walked slowly through the streets and looked at Shade. "Ok, let's hold up here." She said as they reached a crossroads.

Shade looked around and examined the buildings, they walked to the right when leaving the apartment complex and were two minutes away if walking, the buildings nearby were a small green walled flower shop, a red bricked hardware store, a brown walled store of some kind, and what appeared to be a small restaurant with red brick walls.

"Ok, the place with flowers is called Pera Garden, don't go in there pickpockets love that place." Seth warned before looking at the hardware store. "Carmine Hardware is a good place for getting wood, stone and brick, paint, tools and nails, the basic stuff when you want to personalize your place." Seth then looked at the small restaurant. "Gervason's." She said.

"It's a nice family restaurant, more of a store with a food area though, they sell sodas, snacks, and can make good lunches when you eat there." Seth explained, she then looked at the brown store. "And that is called The Bazaar, it's more of a bargain store for getting clothes, toothbrushes and even some toys if that's your thing." She explained with a shrug. "I personally only go there when I need to buy socks or paper." She then continued walking, bring Shade along.

After three more minutes of walking, they came up to another crossroads that they stopped at. "Alright, i only know two buildings here, so that's it for the tour." Seth pointed at the brown bricked store. "That's Atera produce, the only grocery store I know, it's decent enough for The Slums I suppose." She looked at a large purple building. "That building there is a bar, The Watering Hole, it's a nice place to hang out." Seth pointed out before looking at Shade. "Alright, I'm heading into the grocery store, you coming with?" She asked.

Shade shrugged. "Might as well." He replied.

_____*back at the apartment*______

Syrin looked at Storm who was asleep on the couch, she sighed and turned off the television to avoid waking him up, she then browsed through the books until she found one she was interested in reading, The Savage Kingdom, she opened it and saw writing on the back of the cover, she raised an eyebrow as this writing was added manually, she read the writing curiously. "Happy anniversary Seth." The writing said.

Syrin blinked and set the book back before grabbing another book and reading it. 'Was Seth married?' She pondered, deciding to take this time to learn a little about the rabbit.

She walked over to the table holding the television up and examined the contents, it was almost completely bare save for two photographs, one on each side of the television, she picked up the one on the right and looked at it.

It was a photo of Seth, dressed in her purple tee shirt, gray sweatpants and gray beanie, she had her left arm holding the camera while the right arm held her side, she seemed to be smiling and she could tell that the photo was taken in the living room.

Syrin set the photo down and picked up the other one, it was another photo of Seth in the living room, but this one had an unfamiliar white fox wearing a white tee shirt and a black leather jacket, Seth once again was wearing her other set of clothes, with the exception of the beanie, they were shoulder to shoulder with smiles on their faces. 'I wonder who she is?' Syrin pondered as she placed the photo back where it belonged.

Syrin then walked to the bookcase and noticed an oddity, there was a small plastic box on the bottom shelf, she pulled it out and looked at it, the plastic was clear and smooth, but it was the object inside that was of interest, it was a small silver pocket watch with griffon engravings on the back, she looked at the engravings curiously. "Good thing I understand griffon." She muttered.

The engravings were simply one word, and they read. 'Hunter.' 

Curious, Syrin returned the box to where she found it and sat down on the chair. "Strange." She muttered as she grabbed the remote.

Syrin turned the television on and switched to the news. "-to catch this maniac." The news anchor shuffled some papers around and continued to speak. "With the hooded maniac's return, the public has expressed extreme concern that the streets are once again unsafe, we have the surveillance footage from this weeks most recent break in, let's play it again." After a moment, the view shifted and showed footage of the break in, there didn't seem to be much to see at all, until a thud came from somewhere off camera.

Syrin watched with interest as a hooded figure stepped into the camera's view, it's outfit was completely black and it concealed the thiefs face, but once thing that was noticeable, was that two rabbit ears poked out from the hoodie, the fur was brown, but before the thief did anything else, it looked at the camera with a grin, it's eyes were green, the thief then grabbed a nearby screwdriver and threw it at the camera, it's hands covered by black gloves.

Syrin blinked in confusion and shock. 'That thief, looked a lot like Seth.' She thought to herself as she shut the television off and leaned back. 

"Maybe I'm just tired." She mumbled as she closed her eyes.

_____*Meanwhile.*_____

Seth exited the store with a bag of food, she looked back and saw Shade carrying nothing. "Anything you need Shade?" She asked.

Shade shook his head. "I don't get any money until next week, so no." He replied.

Seth shrugged and started walking back to the apartment. "Let's go then." She said.

As the two walked back, they passed by a few other citizens who seemed too....avoid Seth? "Uh, why are they avoiding you?" Shade asked with worry,

Seth chuckled. "I seem to have a reputation." She replied.

Shade did not believe Seth, but for the time being he kept quiet. "So why did you leave?" Seth asked.

"Huh?" Shade asked, not expecting a question. "Why did you leave the Night Wolf community?" Seth asked curiously.

Shade blinked, but answered her. "I did not like living like they do, i felt that I should go out into the world and make a life there." He replied.

Seth looked at Shade. "Do you miss it at all?" She asked.

Shade shook his head. "When you live in a strict family like mine, you can grow sick of having no privacy quickly.....so what about you?" He asked.

Seth stopped walking and looked at Shade. "What about me?" She asked.

"What was your family like?" Shade asked.

Seth said nothing and resumed walking. "Let me in on something Shade, I avoid talking about my family like a plague, I don't want to talk or see them, you understand?" She asked.

Shade nodded. "Got it." He replied.

The two walked in silence from there on out, Shade did notice something about Seth however, when he asked about her family, her right arm twitched slightly.

Seth looked at the sky for a brief moment and sighed as she walked. "Sorry about avoiding your question, but when I talk about my parents.......if it helps satisfy your curiosity, I did not love my parents, they were assholes." She stated.

"If you don't want to talk about them, I won't pry." Shade replied calmly.

Seth looked at him as they reached the complex. "Thank you for understanding." She said.

They walked to the apartment door and Seth turned the knob, it was locked, she pulled out her key and unlocked the door, she went inside and looked at Shade. "Try to be quiet." Seth said as they stepped inside.

Shade looked to the couch and saw that Syrin and Storm were fast asleep, he quietly walked to his room without saying a word.

Seth locked the door and set about putting her groceries away, she didn't buy much, she had a small box of lettuce, some carrots, a few potatoes and a few bottles of water.

Once everything was put away, Seth headed for her room, she opened the door and walked inside, she closed it and then got onto her bed, she looked at the time and saw that it was almost eleven thirty. "Well, might as well do something." She walked up to her door and threw her beanie onto the bed, she then took her sweatshirt off and set it on a coat hanger.

Seth opened the door and walked out, she closed the door and noticed Shade step out of his room. "You play cards?" Seth asked.

Shade nodded. "I know the rules to poker." He replied.

Seth shook her head and walked over to the small bookshelf. "Let me show you a real game." She said as she grabbed a small red box.

Shade watched as Seth set the red box down on the table and looked at the others, he walked closer and saw that the name of the game was UNO. "What's this game?" He asked.

Seth grinned. "The most rage inducing yet fun game to exist, come on, I'll show you." She replied.

Shade took a seat across from Seth as the rabbit set the cards up, she shuffled the cards and then gave them both seven, she then placed what appeared to be a seven card but with green outlines. "So, how do we play?" He asked.

______*later that day.*_______

Storm's eyes opened slowly and he rubbed his eyes, he sat up and looked around, Syrin was asleep on the chair, Shade was nowhere to be found, and Seth was playing chess by herself on the dining table.

"What time is it?" He quietly asked.

"Almost three." Seth replied.

Storm yawned and stood up. "Sorry I missed lunch." He muttered.

Seth looked at him. "You don't need to apologize, no one here is expecting you to cook every single time." She said as she stood up. "Don't stress yourself out over nothing." She added as she cleaned up her chess set.

Storm stood up and stretched. "That's......good of you to say, at least tell me you all ate something." He said shakily.

Seth looked at Storm with a puzzled glare. "Are you alright?" She asked.

Storm looked at his right hand and saw that it was shaking, he took a deep breath and it soon stopped. "Sorry about that, I did not mean to worry you." He replied.

Seth rolled her eyes. "I wasn't worried, I just don't need someone having a nervous breakdown on me." She said defensively.

Storm walked to the kitchen and grabbed some bread and cheese. "You didn't answer my question." He said.

"I can't speak for Syrin, but Shade and me ate lunch." Seth said as she carried her chess set into her room.

Storm sighed and began to make himself a grilled cheese, as he worked, he heard a groan from the living room. "Good to see your awake Syrin." He said.

Syrin seemed to jump and look at Storm with a panicked expression, she seemed to calm down though. "You startled me." She remarked.

Storm shrugged as he made his food. "Well then Syrin, you may want to have some food, it's almost three after all." He said.

Syrin groaned and got up off the chair. "Are Seth and Shade back?" She asked.

"They are, and if I'm not mistaken, Seth appeared annoyed that you slept on her chair." Storm replied.

Syrin rubbed her eyes. "I dozed off, not my fault." She muttered.

As Storm cooked, he noticed Syrin go into the bathroom, he then noticed Seth walk out. "If I may ask, where is Shade?" He asked.

Seth pointed at the door. "In your shared room." She said before leaning on the counter. "So Storm, what exactly are you?" She asked.

Storm gave Seth a puzzled expression. "You need to be more accurate." He stated.

"Alright, what species are you?" Seth asked again.

Storm chuckled. "I am a hybrid between Wolf and Demon." He answered.

"Demon?" Seth asked curiously.

Storm placed the pieces to his sandwich on a pan and turned the stove on. "Specifically the Reaver demon species, they stand upright and have blades on their arms, the majority of them are brown skinned, but gray skinned ones are known to exist." He answered.

Seth blinked and crossed her arms. "How does that side of your blood help you then?" She asked.

Storm grinned. "I am fireproof, and if need be, I can actually make bone blades emerge from my arms, but I haven't needed to do so yet." He replied.

After a few minutes, Seth spoke again. "So Storm-" 

"Storm is my nickname, call me Karak." He said.

Seth blinked. "Ok, Karak, why do you concern yourself so much about others being fed?" She asked. "Frankly it's a little strange to me." She added.

Karak blinked and soon shrugged. "You know, I don't actually have a reason, I guess I just enjoy cooking." He replied.

While Seth didn't exactly buy it, she decided to let it go. "Well, anyway I need to ask you something." She walked to the dining table. "Do you have anything you need to do on Tuesday?" She asked.

Karak looked at Seth. "Uh....no, why?" He asked in return.

"I have someone coming over on Tuesday, it's private." Seth replied.

Karak nodded. "Very well then." He flipped his sandwich. "What time should I come back home then?" He asked.

Seth blinked. "Th.....that's it?" She asked in confusion. "I, I just say I have someone coming over and you just.....clear out? what?" She said.

Karak looked at Seth. "You forget I am half wolf, I can tell this is important because your heartbeat changed the second you began talking about it." He replied. 

Seth rubbed her eyes and spoke. "Just, don't be here around two pm." She said.

"I will do my best, but you may wish to tell the others." Karak reminded.

Seth looked at the hallway and sighed to herself. "This is going to be a long day." She muttered to herself.
> Deeper concerns.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

______*Atera, Apartment 192, later that day, 9:30 PM*______

Seth leaned back in her chair as she watched the television, everyone else had gone to bed and she was likely the only one still awake, the volume wasn't very loud and it was a speechless cartoon anyway. "If only i hadn't seen it already." She muttered as she turned the television off and stood up. 

Seth walked over to the apartment door and checked the locks, sure enough they were as secure as they were going to get, she then walked to her room and entered it, she left the light off as she closed the door and slipped out of her clothes and into her sleepwear. 

After she was done, Seth threw the clothes into the growing pile by the bookshelf and quickly went under the covers to get some rest.

Seth closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall asleep.

_____*the next day, Atera, 9:00 AM*______

A groan came from the bed as Syrin opened her eyes to be greeted with white walls, she rubbed her eyes and laid in bed for a while longer before getting out of bed and stretching. "Alright Storm, wake up." She said.

Syrin paused and thought on where she was, she sighed and shook her head. "Right, I forgot." She muttered before walking out of the room and entering the dimly lit hallway, which was partially illuminated by the sunlight coming in through the living room window, she rubbed her forehead and walked to the bathroom to relieve herself.

She entered the bathroom and closed the door quietly, instead of using her magic to light up the room, Syrin turned the light on and walked to the sink, she turned the cold water on and splashed some on her eyes to help wake up, it almost always worked and this time was no different, she opened the cabinet behind the mirror and grabbed a tube of toothpaste, but for once, she actually did notice something odd.

Inside the cabinet gathering dust was a bottle of shampoo, and upon closer inspection Syrin discovered that it was meant for thicker furred species like a bear or a wolf, which begged the question, why was it there? if Seth used it, it would probably damage her fur instead of help it. 

Syrin grabbed the bottle and examined it further, it was a cheaper shampoo that apparently was vanilla scented, most curious of all was that it was empty, eventually Syrin shrugged and threw the shampoo bottle into the trash, deciding that it wasn't important.

_____*later, 9:58*______

Seth grumbled as she lay in her bed, her body rolled on its side as she tried to go back to bed, having only gotten three hours of sleep, she was exhausted, especially after around ten hours of lying awake.

Soon however, Seth's eyes opened as she heard footsteps outside her door, she shrugged it off and burrowed under her covers even more, enjoying her eventual rest in advance.

And suddenly the door burst open and a familiar voice called out. "Morning!" Karak said loudly.

Just like before, Seth reacted but this time she shot straight up and sat up, perfectly awake now. "God damnit." She muttered a moment after recovering from the initial shock.

Seth got out of bed and rubbed her eyes, she stood up and walked over to her clothes pile, she grabbed whatever from it and carried it into the bathroom, but as she walked across the small hall, she made sure to give Karak a death glare along the way.

After Seth entered the bathroom, Shade walked out of the bedroom and rubbed his eyes. "You look like shit." Karak said.

"Fuck you too Storm." Shade muttered as he sleepily entered the living room and laid down on the couch. "Why is everyone else always so angry in the morning?" Karak asked. "I don't see a reason." He added.

Syrin sighed and looked at Karak with an annoyed expression. "Because unlike demons, we need more than three hours sleep to get through the day, and it doesn't help that you wake us all up at ten every morning." She said.

Karak shrugged. "Eh, what about you Shade?" He asked.

Shade opened his left eye and looked at Karak. "My kind are nocturnal, mornings aren't our strong suit." He replied.

Soon enough, Seth walked out wearing a simple pair of blue jeans and a gray tee shirt. "We need to have a talk about why you DON'T do what you did today Karak." She grumbled.

Karak blinked and looked at Seth as he began to dish out food for everyone. "Nocturnal?" He asked curiously.

Seth shook her head as she glared at him. "Work, I work the graveyard shift, aka the night shift." She explained as she leaned against the wall. "You are just lucky I don't work until tomorrow." 

Syrin stood up and walked to her room in silence as Seth sat down on her chair, she leaned back and closed her eyes. 

The residents of one nine two were quiet today, mostly because everyone except Karak was still waking up, so time went by kind of quickly for them.

It wasn't until it was around twelve that anything actually happened.

Seth grabbed the remote and changed the channel to the news. "Locals were shocked today as a local business was struck by the infamous Hooded Maniac, who stole a precious jewel and most of the stores bits, thankfully, no one was hurt in this robbery." The news anchor stated. "The local police chief commented on this issue, stating that they had new evidence that could lead them to the culprit, hopefully this menace will be arrested so-" Seth changed the channel and stood up. 

Shade looked at Seth curiously as she walked to her room and went inside. "What was that about?" He wondered quietly.

Karak shrugged and stood up. "Anyway, I think we should get out, explore the city." He suggested.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea Storm." Syrin said with a concerned tone.

Shade sighed and stood up. "I actually agree with him, we have been cooped up in here since we got here." He said calmly.

With that, Syrin shook her head and looked at Karak. "Fine, but only because I'm not letting you out of my sight." She stated firmly.

Shade and Storm headed for their room to get properly dressed, and Syrin stayed on the couch, she placed a hoof on her forehead and groaned. "This is not going to end well." She muttered.

_____*Atera, 12:30 PM*_____

Syrin walked with Shade and Karak as they walked through the city, she glanced around and saw a few people on the streets, some kangaroos and a few minotuars, as well as a few ponies, but otherwise, The Slums were like a ghost town. "Where is everyone?" She asked quietly.

Shade shrugged, he was dressed in the same outfit he came to the city in, dark gray jeans, dark blue shirt and brown jacket, the only difference was that he didn't wear the beanie this time, he looked around and soon they came across a small general store by the name of Omar's. "Wanna see what they have?" He asked.

Karak looked at the store and shrugged, he had chosen to wear a simple pair of gray sweatpants and a gray long sleeved shirt. "Sure." He said as he walked towards it.

Shade and Syrin followed Karak towards the store, as they did, they spotted a few people inside walking around, as they entered the store, they immediately felt a difference, unlike the cold air of Atera, the store was warm and inviting.

Syrin noticed that most of the products for the store were small things, snacks and drinks, as well as some basic supplies like toothbrushes and toothpaste, it was a quiet store with soft music playing.

Shade did notice that there were very few people here, a few wolves and a horse, as well as a drake and a rabbit working, otherwise the place was almost empty.

Shade started to walk along the isles, browsing what the store sold, he looked over to say something to Syrin and Karak, but saw that they weren't there, he blinked and sighed to himself. 'I suppose some alone time will do me some good anyway.' He thought.

As Shade walked through the store, he did notice Syrin and Karak at the other end of an isle, he shrugged and continued browsing the items.

It wasn't until he reached the snack isle that Shade found something interesting, it was a bar of candy called Partan, he raised an eyebrow at that, it was made from peanut butter and a very expensive chocolate, they also stopped making them five years ago. "What is this doing here?" He wondered.

Shade looked at the price and saw that it was pretty expensive for candy, five bits for a bar. 'If it's the real deal, that would explain the price.' Taking a chance, Shade grabbed the bar and walked to the register.

As Shade waited in line behind a wolf with brown fur, he noticed that Syrin and Karak were outside waiting on him, they seemed to be in the middle of a conversation.

Shade soon walked up to the register and placed the bar down on the counter. "Don't see many people buying that." The cashier, a female drake with dark green scales and brown eyes remarked. 

"I'm surprised to find it actually, since they stopped production of them five years ago." Shade replied as he placed the bits down.

The drake chuckled and took the bits, she placed them in the register and handed Shade the bar. "Not here actually, a small company makes them here in Atera and distributes them amongst stores that want them, the high price is just to help cover the company buying the rights to make it." She explained.

Shade nodded. "Well, here's hoping I like it.....I'm curious, are the Slums always a ghost town?" He asked.

The drake shook her head. "Na, you just caught the place during tourist season, on top of that, most of the residents don't have their winter coat in, or they are hibernating." She explained.

"Ah, thanks, have a nice day." Shade said before walking away.

Shade could hear the drake chuckling as he walked out, he wasn't sure what was so funny, but he decided to let it be.

As Shade left the store, he felt the cold air immediately strike him, he was glad he had his jacket on, or that would have ended badly for him.

"So, where to now guys?" Shade asked. 

Syrin grumbled, clearly not in a good mood. "Home, that's where." She stated angrily.

Shade looked at Karak. "Did I miss something?" He asked.

Karak shrugged. "She's just irritated." He replied.

Shade looked around and spotted a small place called John's, from the looks of it, it was a small pit stop food place. "Why don't we get some food? I'll even pay." He offered as he pointed at the small building.

Syrin looked at Shade and then at Karak, she was about to repeat her previous statement when her stomach growled. "Fine, but let's make it quick." She stated as they walked to the small food place.

_____*fifteen minutes later, near the apartment*______

Shade was currently confused right now, from his perspective the day wasn't at all bad, the food they got was good and they were returning home with a nice amount of stuff, mostly more clothes for Karak and himself, but all the while Syrin became more and more agitated, as though she were angry they were outside.

But now that they were heading back to apartment one nine two, Shade noticed that Syrin seemed to be calming down a little bit.

Shade walked with the others to the apartment, the air was getting strangely colder for some reason as he felt a cold breeze blow past him.

The three walked up the steps and walked to the apartment, seeking to get out of the cold, strangely enough, the door to the apartment opened and a hooded rabbit stepped out and started to close the door, the face was concealed but the fur was undeniably brown, thinking quickly, Karak grabbed Syrin and Shade and concealed them with magic.

Unsure of what to do, Shade quickly decided to stay quiet as the rabbit walked past them and headed down the stairs.

After waiting a few moments, Karak removed the magic and walked to the railing with a sigh, he grabbed the railing and looked down. "So, I suppose that confirms your suspicions." He said quietly.

Shade leaned back on the wall and looked at Karak. "No it doesn't, all this proves is that Seth and the Maniac share the same fur color." He stated.

Syrin looked at the two wolves and cleared her throat. "Why don't we just go inside? I'd rather get out of the cold." She suggested before walking with Karak back to the apartment.

Shade nodded and followed the two, when they reached the apartment they found that it was unlocked, Syrin opened the door and they all stepped inside.

"Welcome back you guys." Seth's voice said, though for some reason there was some frustration and anger in her tone, more than usual anyway.

Shade nodded and walked to his room with his bag of clothes, but not before setting a small bag of cans on the dining table.

Karak set about putting the new groceries away after setting his bag of clothes on the dining table, Syrin walked to the couch and sat down, she rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Something wrong Syrin?" Seth asked.

Syrin looked at Seth, the rabbit was laid back on her chair with a passive agressive expression, the question didn't seem to be of genuine concern, more like she was trying to change the subject. "I'm fine." Syrin replied. "Just don't like Karak being outside too much." She said as she got a little more comfortable on the couch.

Seth eyed Syrin curiously, the mare sounded nervous, though she didn't know why, instead Seth sighed and took a drink from her water bottle. "Well, you sound like you need to blow off some steam, so why don't you come with me to one of my usual hangouts tonight? you can get a few drinks, have a nice time and even meet a friend of mine." She offered.

Syrin shook her head. "I'm not leaving Karak alone here." She said adamantly and quietly.

Seth shrugged and looked at Karak. "Hey demon boy!" She called out, the wolf looked at her curiously. "Yea?" He asked.

With a grin, Seth put her hands behind her head. "You alright with staying here with Shade for an hour or more?" She asked.

Karak nodded. "Why not? could be a good time for a guys night." He said before walking to his room.

Seth looked at Syrin. "See? all I need now is for Shade to stay here for the night and we can go have some fun." She said.

Syrin groaned and rested her head on the couch. "I'm actually hoping that he says no." She muttered.

______*later that day, 8:00 PM*_______

Seth and Syrin approached The Watering Hole, Syrin immediately noticed a sign on the door saying that smoking was prohibited and that it was strictly enforced. "Owner has Asthma." Seth explained. "And it's pretty bad so smoking at all is considered to be worth a ban, first time offenders are let off the hook unless the Owner is here." She added.

Syrin nodded. "Good thing I don't smoke." She replied, still slightly annoyed that Shade was alright with staying with Karak.

Seth opened the door and stepped inside, Syrin followed her in, positive she would regret it in some way.

The inside of the building was inviting, it was quiet with music in the air, as well as a fully stocked bar, the bartender was a small Rat Man with a white tee shirt and a brown vest, his eyes were covered by a pair of shaded glasses, which was peculiar because the sun wasn't out.

Seth walked into the main part of the bar calmly and motioned Syrin to follow. "Hey Jake!" She greeted.

The Rat Man looked at Seth and smiled. "Haven't seen you in a month Sethy." He replied happily.

Seth groaned. "Don't call me Sethy, you know I hate that name." She then shook her head. "How are you Jake?" She asked.

Jake leaned down and grabbed something from under the bar, he then produced a small sack and placed it on the counter. "If this doesn't answer that, something is wrong with you Seth." He replied.

Seth picked up the sack and looked inside, the telltale jingle of coins gave away the contents, she looked at Jake and placed the sack on the counter, she pulled out ten coins and pocketed them, before looking around. "Well Jake, you are right, your doing a lot better, but consider the rest yours provided you give me three of my usual." She stated.

Jake nodded and proceeded to get the drinks.

Seth pointed to a table in the corner and walked over to it, there was a female white fox with blue eyes, wearing a pair of tan cargo pants, a brown shirt and a faded green jacket.

Syrin walked over as well and sat down across from the fox. "Hey Sethy." The fox said with a grin, her voice was pleasant and scratchy.

Much to Syrin's surprise, Seth didn't reply to the nickname, instead she simply shrugged and leaned back in the booth. "Hey, I want to introduce you to someone." She said.

Seth pointed at Syrin. "This is Syrin, one of my new roommates, along with a Night Wolf called Shade, and a half wolf called Karak." She continued.

"Syrin, this is Ren, my former roommate." Seth introduced.

Ren nodded and reached her claw out, Syrin returned the gesture by shaking her claw. "So, how are things there Seth? you still hating everyone?" Ren asked.

Seth huffed. "Basically, I'm trying to be a little more patient this time." She replied.

"Glad to hear it." Ren said before looking at Syrin. "So, how are you liking the Slums?" She asked.

"I'm not sure yet, I haven't been here long enough." Syrin answered.

Ren chuckled as she leaned back. "Trust me, you get used to this place after a while, when I first moved in I hated it, now I wouldn't want to leave." She said.

After a while, the bartender brought over three mugs filled with a clear liquid. "What is this?" Syrin asked.

Ren sighed and drank from the mug. "It isn't alchohol for starters." She mumbled.

Seth rolled her eyes and drank her drink, after she set it down, she spoke. "It's one of the reasons I come here, it's non alcoholic." She explained, she seemed strangely cheerful.

Syrin grabbed the mug with her magic, eying it curiously. "I guess you work tomorrow?" She asked.

"No, she doesn't drink." Ren stated calmly. "Absolutely refuses to let anyone make her a drink, one reason we didn't get along at first." She added.

Seth laughed quietly and leaned back. "So Syrin, tell me what's wrong." She said, her tone suddenly serious.

Syrin blinked as she drank from the mug, the drink was similar to cider in taste, but lacked the alcoholic kick, she set the mug down and looked at Seth. "You need to be more specific." She said.

Seth looked at Syrin. "Karak, what's going on with him that you don't trust him to be alone?" She asked.

Syrin bit her lip as she looked to the rest of the bar. "It's......nothing." She replied.

"Are you two a couple?" Ren suddenly asked.

Syrin looked at Ren with wide eyes. "No!" She snapped her voice almost a shout, she took a breath and rubbed her forehead. "Alright fine, but this stays between us." She sighed. "Karak suffers from a unique mental condition that once caused him to....." Syrin took a drink from her mug and set it down.

"Did he......hurt someone?" Ren asked.

Seth looked at Ren and gave a soft punch on her shoulder. "Ren!....knock it off." She said firmly.

"......She isn't wrong." Syrin said quietly.

Both Seth and Ren looked at Syrin as the mare shook her head. "He hurt you?" Ren asked quietly.

"Not directly." Syrin replied. "He tried to kill himself after the restaurant burned down, he thought that he lost everything, but he never considered me." She took a shaky breath and continued. "I.....I found him dying in his home, he tried to overdose, I saved him and brought him to the hospital, they gave him medication to help him, but it gives him nightmares that make him scream." She shook her head as she took another sip from her drink.

"Then why does he keep throwing the door open at ten in the morning?" Seth asked with irritation. 

Syrin shrugged at that. "I.....wish I knew, my best guess is that he thinks it's fun." She replied.

Ren looked at the rest of the bar. "I don't think I would be able to handle that." She said quietly.

"Why wouldn't you tell me this stuff?" Seth asked as she looked at Syrin.

Syrin looked at Seth, the rabbits flat stare was unnerving, especially since she had a mostly passive aggressive stare most of the time, but regardless, Syrin answered. "I thought you would hate to have another responsibility thrown at you." She stated.

Seth huffed. "I work the graveyard shift as a janitor at a department store, not much responsibility there." She countered.

______*meanwhile*______

Shade stretched his arms as he entered the bedroom, Karak was in the living room watching television. 'I don't know why Syrin was so worried, we're getting along just fine.' He thought as he sat on the bed, he looked at the floor with a thoughtful expression. 'Although, i wonder what exactly was going through her mind, it's not like we are going anywhere.' 

Shade would have continued his thought process when he heard a soft thud near Karak's bed, his ears perked up and he looked at the bed.

On Karak's bed was a duffel bag, and one of the pockets were open, Shade looked at the floor and saw a small orange plastic bottle, he stood up and walked over to it

"What are you?" He asked himself quietly.

Shade picked up the bottle and looked at the writing, it was assigned to Karak by Doctor Londi. "Once a day, after breakfast, do not take more than one, twenty pills." He muttered.

Looking inside, there was exactly nineteen pills. "It could be a new bottle." Shade said as he put the bottle back into the bag.

"It's probably pain meds or something." Shade stated as he left the room, the sound of the television suddenly more significant.

"So Shade, how long do you think the girls will be gone?" Karak asked.

Shade shrugged. "Who knows? maybe an hour, maybe not, either way I'm getting some sleep, see you in the morning." He replied as he headed for the bathroom.

As Shade eventually settled down in his bed a few moments later, he looked at Karak's duffle bag. 'You know......it's probably nothing, just like I thought.
> Troubling circumstances.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

_____*The City of Atera, later that day.*_____

Syrin felt like a third wheel right now, it had been two hours after they had left the bar and frankly, she was concerned about Karak.

They were outside of a local library, which was little more than a twenty feet wide store that was twenty seven feet in length, Seth claimed that they were there for something important, but when asked, the rabbit refused to reply.

"Is Seth always so secretive?" Syrin asked Ren as they waited for Seth to come outside.

Ren nodded and looked up at the sky, it was dark but that was expected, seeing as it was nighttime and the Slums always looked dark, as though someone had forgotten the day time. "She doesn't mean to be rude, if that's what your implying, she's just adjusting." She chuckled. "It took me about three months to earn her trust, and that's not including everything else that got in the way." She replied.

Syrin looked at the library. "Do I even want to know?" She asked.

Ren looked at Syrin. "Not really, private stuff, personal problems and petty disputes, beyond that it isn't my place to say." She replied calmly, her tone indicating no hostility or evasiveness.

Seeing as they had some time to themselves, Syrin decided that this was a good time to learn about the fox. "So Ren, what do you do?" She asked curiously.

Ren chuckled and leaned on the wall. "Really? that's the best icebreaker you could think up?" She shook her head with grin. "Believe it or not, I'm a private investigator." She replied.

Syrin looked at Ren with a surprised expression, the fox didn't seem the type. "I don't appear to be the type, that's what your thinking right?" The fox stated knowingly.

Catching Syrin off guard once more, Ren simply crossed her arms. "I get that a lot, I actually know that thought process by sight now." She added.

Syrin took a break and looked up at the dark sky. "I'm curious.......have you ever suspected Seth of doing something stupid?" She asked.

Ren smirked. "Oh yea, I have suspected her of being the Hooded Maniac a lot of times......proven wrong." She stated, her tone was oddly cheerful.

Syrin raised an eyebrow at that. "How were you proven wrong?" She asked.

Ren looked up and smiled. "Let's just say that the maniac struck while me and Seth were.......busy." She said the last part quietly.

Before Syrin could even reply, Seth walked out and was holding a black duffle bag over her shoulder. "Alright, let's go back home." She said simply.

The three began walking to the apartment, and along the way Syrin got to thinking. 'If Seth isn't the Maniac, then who is it? and why was Seth talking to them?' She wondered.

Ren spoke up as they passed the grocery store. "So Syrin, what do you do for a living?" She asked.

Syrin looked at Ren. "Believe it or not, I'm a mechanic, I mostly fix up machines." She replied.

"Cool, you can take a look at the fridge, it's been getting warmer for weeks now." Seth stated. 

Ren sighed. "You've had that fridge ever since you moved there, of course it's dying." She replied easily.

Syrin watched as Seth looked at Ren with a glare before looking forward. "Just so I know, is there anywhere I should avoid?" She asked curiously.

"The docks." Both Ren and Seth replied quickly. "It's run by a powerful gang, they keep things quiet so long as no one bothers them." Seth continued.

"And by bother them? that means don't beat them up like Seth did. " Ren translated.

Syrin looked at Seth who unconsciously rubbed her right hand, which had a bandage around it that she never noticed before. "You beat up a gang?" She asked.

Breaking out of her silence, Seth huffed and crossed her arms. "If by 'beat up' you mean pulverize? then yes." She replied.

"So uh, what are your other roommates like Sethy?" Ren asked, changing the subject.

Seth turned around and started walking backwards. "Well, aside from throwing the door open at ten in the morning, Karak isn't that bad of a guy, Shade is quiet and keeps to himself mostly, personally I see past his little charade, he's bothered by something and is intent on keeping it quiet." She replied before turning to walk forward.

"I wonder when someone will show up that isn't a Broken." Ren muttered.

Syrin raised an eyebrow at Ren. "A what?" She asked.

"It's a term." Seth answered. "A Broken is a person who suffered so much that they come to live here in the slums for one of two reasons, the first being that they have no choice, and the second is to get away from that pain." She said.

"So, what does that make you two?" Syrin asked curiously.

Ren pointed to herself. "No choice." She answered easily.

Seth grumbled. "I'm not going to talk about it." She replied with an aggravated tone, she then sped up her walk.

"I messed up didn't I?" Syrin asked. 

Ren sighed and shook her head. "No you didn't, Seth just doesn't like to talk about it, just don't bring it up again, she won't hold this against you." She said reassuringly.

The two then followed Seth as they headed for the apartments.

______*Meanwhile, apartment 192.*______

The inside of one nine two was quiet as the television was shut off, Shade was asleep on the couch and Karak was awake sitting at the small table.

The hybrid held a small silver locket in his left hand, he pushed the small button on the locker and it opened, there was a photo of him on the lid half, and a photo of a mare on the other, her hair was blue and her fur was pink, he closed his eyes as he recalled a memory. 

"Your a funny guy, what's your name?" A female voice asked.

"I'm Karak, but everyone calls me Storm, what's your name?" He had asked.

With a smile, the mare answered him. "I'm Firefly, and I'll see you later demon boy." She replied.

Karak opened his eyes and closed the locket, he tucked it away in his pocket and sighed shakily.

He got up from the chair and walked to his room, once inside he walked to his bag and looked through it, he found the bottle of pills and grabbed it.

Entering the bathroom, Karak walked to the sink and opened the bottle, he took several pills out, he stared at them with a grim expression closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, then in one motion, he tilted his hand and the pills fell down the drain.

Karak opened his eyes and closed the bottle, he then returned them to his bag and walked to the living area, he sat down on the chair and closed his eyes, seeking to get some sleep.

It did not take long for him to fall asleep, and when he did he experienced another memory, one where he was on a grassy hill with Firefly, just sitting in eachothers company.

"Why do you hide your demon half?" Firefly asked.

"Because people have the wrong idea about my kind, they hate wolves, and fear demons, at least if they only see the wolf I can try to live a normal life." Karak replied.

Firefly stretched out and leaned into Karak's side. "You can't hide who you are, what you have is a gift, you shouldn't hide that because some random people think so." Firefly said.

Karak ran his fingers through Firefly's hair gently and breathed steadily. "I'm not sure having the most hated species on the planet in my blood is a gift." He replied.

Firefly stretched her wings out and sighed. "I like your demon half just as much as your wolf half, and you know why? because no matter which way I see it, it's still you inside, same soul and spirit." She said.

Karak smiled and closed his eyes. "Thanks for that, if only everyone else could see that." He muttered the rest to himself.

Firefly looked at Karak's face and smiled. "You have a good heart demon boy, but let's just enjoy the quiet time?" She suggested.

Karak nodded and closed his eyes as he rested his head on the tree. 

_______*three minutes later*_______

Seth walked up to the front desk and rang the bell, soon enough, the bear walked up. "Hello Seth, how can I help you?" He asked.

"I have your package Jack." She said as she handed the bag over.

Jack looked through the bag and then set it down. "Thank you Seth." He said with a nod.

"It's fine." Seth said as she walked to her apartment.

She was joined by Ren and Syrin, who were curious as to what she gave Jack. "So, what exactly was that about?" Ren asked curiously.

"Doing a favor for Jack, that's all." Seth replied easily as she unlocked her apartment door. "You coming in Ren?" She asked.

Ren shook her head. "No, I have to meet Carol, see you around Sethy." She replied as she left.

Syrin followed Seth into the apartment and they both saw Shade and Karak asleep on the couch and chair respectively.

Seth sighed and looked at the clock, she noticed that it was nine ten. "I'm going to bed." She stated simply as she walked to her room and shut the door.

After Seth entered her room, Syrin looked at Shade and Karak, she sighed and walked over to them.

"Hey, wake up guys." Syrin said as she shook them with her magic.

Shade grumbled as his eyes slowly opened, he rubbed his eyes and looked at Syrin tiredly. "When did you guys get back?" He asked.

"Just now, help me get him to bed." She replied.

Shade nodded and stood up slowly, as Syrin picked Karak up with her magic, Shade opened the door to the room and pulled the covers back.

After Karak was on the bed, Shade sat on his bed and looked at Syrin. "Why didn't you tell me about Karak's pills?" He asked.

Syrin stiffened but answered regardless. "I guess I didn't know if I could trust a stranger, how did you find out about them anyway?" She asked.

"I saw the bottle sticking out of Karak's bag, it looked like it was almost full." Shade replied.

Syrin raised an eyebrow. "That can't be, I've seen him take them for past few weeks." She stated.

Shade shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just telling you what I saw." He said as he laid down.

Syrin walked out of the room and closed the door, she went into her room and laid down on the bed. 'I need to keep an eye on Karak, if what Shade said is true of course.' She closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.

_______*Seth's room, 5 hours later.*________

Seth's eyes opened sleepily, she grumbled and rubbed her eyes.

Standing up, Seth turned on her rooms lights for once, the dim light illuminated much in the room, most noticeable was the mound of clothes on the floor.

Seth walked over to the pile and knelt down, she pushed most of the clothes off and revealed a small brown footlocker, she looked at her door for a moment before standing up and walking to her dresser, she opened the second to the top drawer and fished through the pockets of one of her pairs of pants.

Seth pulled out an iron key and walked to the footlocker, she glanced at her door again and then unlocked her footlocker.

With care, Seth slowly opened the footlocker and looked at the contents, there were some photos and a pouch or two of bits, she moved things around a little and grabbed two holes, she pulled it up and looked at the hidden contents.

Inside were some items that are strange to keep for most, it was two iron shackles, but what made these ones strange was the fact that there were no chains, or anywhere for chains to go for that matter.

There was also a small necklace, it was silver with a small silver skull in the center, Seth stared at it for a few moments before putting the fake bottom back on and closing the footlocker.

Seth locked it and then put the key back, she turned off the lights and was about to go back to bed when she heard shuffling out the door.

With caution, Seth approached her door and quietly opened it, she peeked out the door and sighed in relief when she saw that it was just Karak.

Seth walked out of her room and cleared her throat loud enough for Karak to hear. 

He jumped a little and looked at Seth with a surprised expression. "Oh.....its you." He breathed in relief and rubbed his eyes. "Why are you still up?" He asked curiously.

"I work the night shift, I'm usually awake at this hour anyway, this week has just been a nightmare for my sleep." Seth replied calmly.

Karak watched as Seth sat down at the dining table and looked at him, she gestured for him to sit and he did so. "So what about you?" She asked. "Why are you awake?"

"Can I trust you to keep a secret?" Karak asked quietly.

Seth chuckled. "Trust me, I've kept my fair share, consider this confidential." She replied.

Karak sighed and nodded. "The truth is, I'm trying to get rid of these." He pulled out a pill bottle and placed it on the table. 

Seth took the pills and looked at them. "I'm going to guess anti depressants?" She asked.

"I see Syrin told you." He replied.

Seth put the pills on the table. "Look Karak, from what I heard, you did something stupid before taking these, and I'm not a big fan of corpses in my home." She stated.

Before Karak could speak, Seth held a hand up. "However, I know what it's like to be on these specific pills, so let me ask you a question." She looked directly into Karak's eyes.

"When was the last time you took one? and don't lie to me." Seth asked.

Karak took a breath and thought on it, he blinked and shook his head. "Like, four weeks or something." He replied.

"Then how do you explain the screaming?" Seth asked.

Karak rubbed his left eye. "Fake, keeping up appearances and all that, in all honesty? I'm coping just fine now, I just need to find a way to tell Syrin so she'll get off my back." He replied.

Seth shook her head. "Look, I won't tell you how to deal with her, but I'll keep your secret, so long as you stop throwing my door open at ten in the morning." She stated.

Karak nodded. "Deal, it was getting old anyway." He said as he stood up. "One zero three." Seth said out of the blue.

The hybrid blinked at that. "What?" He asked.

Seth tossed Karak the pill bottle and crossed her arms. "The best way to get rid of the pills, put them with everything else in front of apartment one zero three." She stated.

Karak looked at Seth oddly. "Why is that?" He asked.

Seth chuckled. "Nothing dangerous if that's what your worried about, go rid of the bottle and I'll tell you." She said.

It took about ten minutes for Karak to find one zero three and then get back. 

When Karak got inside the apartment, he locked the door and saw Seth on her chair drinking a soda. "Almost thought you weren't coming back." Seth said with a chuckle.

"And miss out on the nonsense that happens here? no way." Karak replied.

Seth smirked. "The resident of one zero three has connections, he uses the stuff people leave outside his place and depending on their status or purpose, sends them to different places, old clothes and blankets mostly go to the homeless, medicine gets delivered anonymously to pharmacies or hospitals, after removing evidence of prior owners of course." Seth said reassuringly.

Karak nodded and took a breath. "Thanks for letting me know." He said.

Seth held a finger up. "One thing I should mention." She said quickly. "Only put stuff there on Thursday and Monday, trust me when I say you don't want to know why." She added.

With that said, Karak went to his room and went to bed.

Seth sighed to herself as she stood up and turned off the lights, she walked to her room to go to bed. 

When she entered the dark room, Seth simply undressed and threw her clothes onto the large pile, she then got into bed and under the covers.

Then she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.

'I really will kill him if he throws the door open again.'
> A nice day out.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

_______*that night.*_______

It was silent that night in Apartment one nine two, Syrin slept peacefully while Shade slept restlessly.

Karak was asleep just barely as his eyes twitched and his arms shivered every now and then.

Seth however was not sleeping peacefully at all in her room, her body twitched and quiet gasps escaped every so often.

She had a very nice dream at first, simply enjoying the peace and quiet of her home while reading an interesting book, but it soon became a nightmare as she soon heard screaming and something clawing at the walls.

In her dream Seth was currently running down an endless hallway with many shadow figures chasing her, she turned the corner and skid to a halt when she came face to face with Syrin. "You killed him." Her hollow voice said as she marched forward, her eyes black as night with red pits. "You should have told me about what he had done, if you had he would still be alive." She stated eerily.

Seth quickly ran off in a panic as her nightmares chased her. "You let us down!" One of the voices shouted.

"You are a disgrace!" Another one snapped.

Seth ran until she was pinned in a corner, she backed up slowly as the shadow people advanced. "You should pay for protecting that criminal." One of the many voiced stated.

She held her head and shook in place. "You foolish girl." Stated an all too familiar voice, causing Seth's heart to race and make her breaths panicked. 

One of the shadow figures gained form rapidly until it was that of a brown furred rabbit with hazel eyes. "We gave you everything, we gave you the tools to have a future, and instead you use those tools to insult us!" It scoffed.

Seth's eyes widened until they were completely open with terror plastered over them, she screamed as the figures charged at her.

With a startled shout Seth shot up in her bed, throwing the covers off as she sweated heavily, taking a few moments to breathe, Seth looked over her body noticing her sweat drenched fur, she sighed to herself as she placed her hand over her eyes and rubbed her forehead, immediately regretting the decision as she felt an intense stinging in her eyeballs. "Gah!" She exclaimed. "Son of a bitch!" She said angrily as she got off her bed and walked to the bathroom.

Once inside, Seth ran the water in the sink and splashed her eyes, she felt some slight relief as the stinging died down some.

She took a few breaths and looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes were stinging and her face was still covered in sweat, she opened the cabinet looking for something.

Seth blinked. "Where did it go?" She wondered as she searched.

Looking in the trash can she saw a dusty bottle of vanilla shampoo for thick fur. "Now who put that there?" She wondered.

Seth grabbed the bottle and put in in the shower, she then stepped inside and turned it on.

Allowing her body to get soaked by the cold water for a moment, Seth turned the heat up a little and it warmed up a few moments later, she grabbed the vanilla shampoo and poured it onto her free hand, she put the bottle down and started to run the shampoo on her arms. 

As Seth washed herself in the shower, she found herself thinking back to the nightmare. 'Why am I having these again? maybe I'm just stressed out.' She thought to herself.

After a while, Seth stepped out of the shower and dried herself off quickly, she then quickly brushed her teeth and applied deodorant.

Feeling refreshed now and no longer smelling of sweat, Seth opened the door and turned off the bathroom light, she walked to her room and looked over at the nearby clock as the lights came on.

She completely froze on the spot as she spotted Shade in the living room looking at her with equally wide eyes, he was wearing no shirt but he thankfully had pants on.

Seth's eyes slightly drifted and took note of his chest, it had a bandage wrapped around it and she spotted what looked like a birthmark on his right side, it was that of a star, but it looked incomplete.

Unfortunately Shade's eyes had also drifted and he saw her naked body, it took a few moments of awkward silence until Seth remembered her predicament, she felt her face heat up a little as she gulped. "Let's just.....forget this ever happened." She stated as she quickly entered her room. 'Yea right, it's going to be hard to forget that.' She then took a breath and quickly threw some clothes on.

Choosing her usual purple tee shirt and gray windbreaker pants, Seth opened her door and walked out.

She saw Shade in the kitchen drinking some grape juice he looked up and saw her, he blinked and set the cup down. "That was awkward." He stated.

Seth nodded in agreement and looked at the clock as she sat down at the small table. "You didn't see anything did you?" She asked curiously, marking the time as somewhere around five in the morning.

Shade walked over and sat across from Seth awkwardly. "Nothing inappropriate I assure you........unless you have some weird cultural thing about tattoos." He stated.

Seth sighed. "No I don't." She replied.

It was true, Seth did have a tattoo, it was a raven inked to her fur. "So so naked." Shade muttered unconsciously.

In response, Seth kicked his foot and he gasped in pain. "Gah!" 

After that, it was comepletely silence between the two roommates, and it took a long time before either spoke. "Birthmark or tattoo?" Seth asked, pointing at the half star.

Shade took a sip of his juice. "Birthmark." He replied easily.

Seth looked at Shade who wasn't even looking at her. "Why are you up?" She asked, trying to change the awkward subject.

"I heard you crying in your sleep, I heard you wake up." He stated.

Seth sighed to herself as she placed her elbow on the table and held her head up in her palm. "So um.....did you hear what I said if anything?" She asked.

Shade looked at Seth, he could hear the worry and sadness in her voice. "You were saying it wasn't your fault, and that you were your own person, then you just cried." He replied truthfully.

Upon hearing this, Seth just quieted down and stood up, she walked to her room and looked at Shade. "Let's keep this between us, especially the um......you know." She said quietly before entering her room.

Shade didn't reply, instead we went back to drinking his juice as Seth entered her room.

Once in her room, Seth just laid down in a dry spot on her bed, trying to get some sleep.

_____*hours later.*_____

Thankfully her sleep was uneventful and when she woke up, Seth felt far more rested, she heard a light knock on the door and sighed. "At least he didn't throw it open." She muttered.

Seth stood up and walked to her pile of clothes, she walked to her dresser and grabbed the key, after opening the footlocker she grabbed the shackles from it and put them on her wrists before grabbing her bedding and pulling it off, she then did something she rarely did and turned on the lights.

The lights illuminated the light blue walls and Seth sighed, she looked around and saw the mound of clothes piled up with the bedding and the mess that was her floor. "Time for a much needed clean." She muttered.

Grabbing a large hamper, Seth set about placing the clothes inside it, and to her surprise she actually managed to fit it all inside, she tested its weight and found it acceptable, she then grabbed her secondary hamper and put her bedding inside it, along with her pillowcases.

Seth placed the lids on the hampers and walked out of her room.

Everyone was awake and Karak was making breakfast once again, though for once he was simply reheating something, upon closer inspection Seth saw that it was oatmeal. "I cannot believe that you of all people are reheating." She commented.

Karak groaned. "If it were up to me, this would be fresh this morning, not last night prep work." He looked at Seth. "Let's just say I'm taking your advice and taking it easy this morning." He added before returning to his work.

Seth looked at the clock and saw that it was ten twenty in the morning. "I didn't throw the door open, but you didn't say anything about wake up calls." Karak stated.

With a chuckle, Seth nodded. "Your right about that." She whispered before walking to her room and pulling the hampers out and placing them near the television.

"When was the last time you washed your clothes?" Syrin asked curiously as she eyed the contained mound of clothes.

Seth shrugged. "About three weeks to a month and a half." She stated easily as she grabbed the trash can from the kitchen and walked to her room.

Shade looked up from his newspaper and took a drink. "It's none of our business, when the smell becomes unbearable then we say something." He said calmly.

"Doesn't matter, that long of a time is ridiculous." Karak replied.

Shade sighed and continued to read the paper. "Fine, but I'm staying out of this, just don't make an intervention out of this." He said as he went silent.

Soon enough, Karak was finished with breakfast and he set about distributing it evenly. "Breakfast!" He called out, making sure Seth could hear.

A few moments later Seth walked out with a filled trash can with the bag tied up, she set it down in the kitchen and grabbed a bowl, muttering a quiet thanks as she walked and sat down on her chair. 

Breakfast was silent as the four roommates ate, Seth turned the television on and changed the channel to her silent cartoons.

After a few minutes and everyone was done eating, Seth put her bowl in the sink and grabbed the trash bag to throw it out.

Seth opened the door to leave, and was surprised as Shade followed her out. 

The two walked quietly together until Seth spoke. "I take it you don't like how long it took me to decide to clean up?" She asked.

Shade chuckled. "It doesn't bother me actually, the important thing is that no one forced you to do it." He replied.

They soon approached a dumpster and Seth threw the trash inside, she then walked back to the apartment. "Would you mind if I asked you to help me with the hamper?" She asked casually.

Shade shook his head. "I don't mind, i need something to do around here until my job starts." He replied.

Seth looked at him. "And what is that?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"It's not glamorous, but I'm going to be working at my uncles restaurant." He answered.

With a chuckle, Seth crossed her arms. "Maybe you could convince him to hire Karak, he seems to love cooking." She suggested.

Shade shrugged. "I'll ask Karak about it sometime." He replied.

Once they were back inside, Seth looked and saw Syrin reading and Karak watching the television intently. "The fire was fierce but thankfully no one was hurt, however the fire did burn down the old general store on Minos street." A voice stated from the television.

Seth's ears perked up as she focused on the television. "The owner Karl stated that he was relieved that no one was hurt in the fire, but that he was curious as to what started it in the first place, the chief of police stated that an investigation is underway as to discover the cause of the fire, he also stated that if it was started intentionally, that the person or persons responsible will be put to justice." The reporter stated.

Seth sighed and grabbed the hamper with the bedding. "I'm going to be out for a while." She said as she walked out the door with the hamper.

Shade grabbed the other one. "Same here, see you later." He stated.

_____*outside.*______

Shade noticed that Seth was quiet again, she always seemed quiet but she was talkative before she heard the news. "Did you know that store?" He asked.

Seth looked back for a moment and nodded before looking forward. "That's where I worked, and I'm pretty sure the fire was set for me." She replied.

Shade raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?" He asked.

"Like I said before, I have a reputation, the gang that runs the docks must have learned where I worked and set the fire, not knowing I didn't work there last night." Seth explained.

Shade had to admit, she did make a good argument, he heard about Seth's reputation from Syrin, and it was logical that this gang would want Seth out of the way. "Do you think they would risk it though? I mean they can't exactly make a move without getting noticed right?" He asked.

Seth nodded. "Whether or not the chief of police admits it, there are gangs that run the streets, there's no way that any of them could make a move without the others knowing." She explained.

The two of them reached a building that Seth called a Laundromat, a buidling dedicated to washing clothes. "Is it safe?" Shade asked.

Seth nodded. "So long as the machines are properly maintained then yes, come on." 

They walked inside and Shade immediately smelled cleaning equipment and liquids on the floor, he followed Seth and they immediately set to work placing the clothes in a machine, and the bedding in another.

Seth started the machine by placing some bits in and looked at Shade. "We need to wait for them to finish, it should take around twenty minutes.

Shade nodded. "Any idea to pass the time?" He asked.

Seth nodded. "There's a local park around here, we can take a walk." She said.

Shade raised an eyebrow. "And leave all of this alone?" He asked.

Seth grinned. "You think the owner of this place didn't think of that? the machines have a special enchantment so that only the one who payed for the wash can open it." She replied before walking off.

Shade followed his roommate with worry. "And the hampers?" He asked.

Seth huffed. "Who in their right mind steals a hamper? stop worrying so much, try to enjoy it." She replied.

They walked to the park with was a minute or so away.

Shade looked around as they walked, the park was bright and full of life, which was a nice change of pace in the slums.

Seth was able to answer his silent question. "The slums might be the poor district of Atera, but the residents take pride in it, this park is proof of that." She stated. 

"If you pay close enough attention you'll see that almost every building here is in amazing condition in spite of the poor wealth." She continued.

Shade watched as a small family of three walked through the park with their son, taking photos of the sights. "That family is from the Merchant district, the middle class basically, they come here a lot because the other parks aren't as nice." Seth explained.

After around five minutes had passed, Seth and Shade walked to a small shop called Hiran's, specializing in seasonal treats.

They walked inside and took in the smell of chocolate, coffee and peppermint. "I love the winter treats here." Seth said. "Winter isn't my favorite season but this place makes it bearable."

The shop had a nice light blue paint which really brightened it up, the lights were bright but not too bright, there were ten metal tables with red tablecloths that had candy canes on them, four small tables in the center of the shop, four booth tables and two window tables, the chairs were made of a dark brown wood with simple brown cushions, the booths were dark brown with a dark red color.

There was a long counter made of wood that had a register and an orginized array of equipment to make the treats that Seth mentioned, there was a small glass box with bits and paper slips inside it, it's lid was plastic and had a hole in it.

They walked to the counter and waited in line, once they reached the counter themselves they were greeted by a short and slender fox with pale blue fur wearing a red shirt and tan shorts. "Seth!" The fox greeted happily, the voice gave it away as a male.

Seth smiled. "Hey Wes, how are you doing today?" She asked.

The fox grinned and leaned on the counter. "I'm doing great, Al isn't sick anymore and I finally paid off my last debt." He stated proudly.

Seth nodded. "Congratulations man." She replied.

Wes smiled and looked at Shade. "Ohoho, I see you have a boyfriend Sethy." He said teasingly. "Shame, you and Ren were so adorable." He sighed dramatically.

Seth felt her face heat up. "We are roommates Wes, and it's none of your business what me and Ren do." She sighed and shook her head with a laugh.

Wes raised his hands in surrender. "Alright i won't tease you anymore for now, so what can I get for you?" He asked as he stood up straight and gave a mock salute.

Seth gave a smile at Wes' antics. "Peppermint hot chocolate with whip cream for me." She said.

Wes looked at Shade. "And what about you big guy?" He asked as he started on Seth's order.

Shade spotted something on the menu up above. "Cinnamon melts for me." He replied.

"Coming right up!" Wes replied.

With that, Seth led Shade to a table near the window and sat down. "You two seem close." Shade observed. 

Seth nodded. "Me and Wes go back, I knew him before he opened this place a few years ago, and I was his first customer, I even work here when he needs help and I'm not busy." She stated.

Shade looked over at the fox as he set about making his orders and taking new ones, all while talking to customers. "How does he do it?" He wondered.

"It isn't easy, but Wes is a master of multitasking, he talks with people because he loves it and it helps him with the stress." Seth looked outside. "But when he and Al are working together, there isn't any stress." She looked at Shade who had a curious look. 

"Wes' wife Alecia, she got sick a month ago and hasn't been able to come in to help." Seth explained.

Shade nodded. "Can't he afford to hire to help?" He asked.

Seth nodded. "He can, he just doesn't want to hire a stranger, and all the people he knows have jobs, who knows? maybe if I get fired I could work here." She stated.

"Got your order ready Seth!" Wes called out.

Seth stood up and walked over to Wes, she pulled out a bag and handed him the payment, she then dropped five bits into the glass box. "Thanks Sethy." Wes said.

Seth stuck her tongue out at Wes in response, which they both had a short laugh about. "Thanks Wes." She. Then said before walking over to the table and giving Shade his small box of cinnamon melts before taking a small sip of her hot chocolate.

"We have about five minutes before the wash is done." Seth stated as she took a bite out of the large pile of whip cream.

Shade ate a bite and a burst of flavor entered his mouth, he blinked as he slowly chewed, savoring the flavor and then swallowing the melt. "I guess I have a few questions to pass the time." He said.

Seth looked at him and took a sip. "Go on." She said.

"Do you have any dreams?" He asked.

Seth chuckled. "Not really, considering I'm living it right now." She replied.

Shade raised an eyebrow at that, what dream would that be? "And that is?" He proded.

"Living free." Seth said as though it were obvious. "And you? what's your dream?" She asked.

Shade took a bite and thought on it as he ate, after he swallowed, he spoke. "I suppose I don't know, maybe I'll travel around the world some day, experience all those different cultures." He replied.

Seth smiled and looked outside again. "That sounds great, hmm......favorite color?" She asked.

Shade stifled a laugh. "Really? that's the best question you could ask?" He said with a smirk.

Seth lightly smacked Shade's hand. "Oh shut up." She joked.

The two then quietly ate and drank their treats until Shade spoke. "Green." He said.

"Hmm?" Seth looked at the Night Wolf. "My favorite color is green." Shade said again.

Seth nodded. "I'm a fan of purple myself." She said tapping her shirt.

Shade took a bite until Seth spoke again. "Can I ask you something kind of personal?" Seth asked.

"Go ahead I guess." Shade said as he ate his late cinnamon melt. "What are your parents like?" Seth asked before taking a drink.

Shade paused for a moment, he took a breath and set the small box aside. "My parents are decent enough, they're tough but in my culture, that's kind of understandable, he sighed. "They were kind when it mattered, but not really to me." He stated quietly.

Seth bit her lip. "I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories." She said.

Shade shook his head. "Don't be, I was just the bad seed of the family, never fit in with my kind anyway, just like my uncle." He explained.

Seth took the last sip from her drink and sighed. "I kind of understand that." She said quietly.

Shade blinked and looked at Seth as she held her left arm with her right, his eyes drifted and he spotted the shackles. "What's with the shackles?" He asked.

Seth rolled her eyes. "Bought them at a store, Annabells Thrill Shop." She stated. "It's sort of a store for kinky items." She added quietly. 

Shade decided not to press and sat in silence with Seth who finished her drink, the two of them stood up and threw the cup and box away, Seth said goodbye to Wes and they walked outside into the chilly Atera air.

The two roommates walked to the laundromat in silence for two minutes until Seth spoke up. "You once asked me about my parents." She said quietly.

Shade said nothing as they stopped and stepped over into a small cubby between two shops. "Believe it or not Shade, I'm skilled in Equestrian law, but not by choice." She started as she sat down on a small wooden crate. "My parents are nobles, ambassadors to Equestria actually, and they were very strict with me." She took a breath.

"My life was boring, I had lessons with private tutors, had to attend the boring meetings and balls that my parents were invited to attend, I brought this up with them and got scolded for my trouble, the only one who understood me was my Aunt Emily, who couldn't really do anything about my parents." She took a deep breath and looked at Shade.

"By the time my little sister was a teenager I was almost seventeen, so I made a decision, I took what money I had earned from my dead end job and ran away here." Seth stopped talking and sat in silence.

Shade knelt down in front of Seth. "But you are free now, that's what matters, you can live your life the way you see fit." He said, his voice was soft and comforting.

Soon enough, Seth nodded and stood up. "Thanks for listening, it's nice to get that off my chest again." She said.

Shade walked with Seth to retrieve the clothes and bedding. "Ren?" He asked.

Seth nodded. "She's the only other person I told about that, and I would appreciate it if you kept it like that." She replied.

"Of course." He swore.

As Seth and Shade entered the Laundromat, they took the clothes and bedding, Shade went to put them into hampers, but Seth stopped him. "We need to dry them." She stated as she put them in another machine.

Shade followed suit and Seth put money into the machines to start them. "These only take five minutes, thanks to magical heating elements." Seth explained as she sat down in a quiet corner of the buidling.

Shade sat down next to her in silence. "Hey Shade, can you tell me about Night Wolf culture? I've always been curious." She asked.

With a nod, Shade crossed his arms. "For starters, Night Wolf culture is sort of a tribal system, one chief, one shaman and a war leader, the chief is in charge of guiding the tribe and ensuring that the peace and laws are maintained, he or she are also present at many cerimonies with various roles, depending on the ceremony, he or she also train future Chiefs out of the sons or worthy candidates." He explained.

"The shaman is one of the advisors to the chief, they use powerful magics and can communicate with the ancestors for wisdom and guidance, they perform many of the important rituals and cerimonies that help determine a tribe members role as well as grant visions, another role the shaman has is to teach the healers of the tribe, one of the most important roles of the shaman however is to record and preserve our tribes history and teachings." He continued.

"The war leader is the other advisor to the chief, they are chosen by the chief out of the most skilled warriors, skill in combat however is not enough, the war leader must also have a good grasp of strategy, they are in charge of choosing the Chief's bodyguards, as well as training the elite warriors of the tribe, the last responsibility they have is ensuring the safety of the tribe." Shade said, finishing his explanation.

Seth had been listening intently to Shade as he explained all of this.

Shade looked and saw that they still had time. "There are other important roles I left out, Hunt master and keeper, they are not advisors like the others, but their jobs are just as important." He explained. 

"The hunt master is in charge of the tribes hunters and young warriors, leading them in search of food or those who attack the tribe, they teach the young warriors how to fight, to hunt and to properly harvest the kill." He continued.

"As for the keeper, they are charge of protecting the food stockpiles, as well as the pelt and armory, the keeper is usually a seasoned warrior, though the most common thief is a kid looking for a snack." Shade chuckled at this.

Seth smiled. "So uh, what did your parents do for the tribe?" She asked curiously.

"My father was the keeper, my mother was our den mother." Shade stated.

Seth blinked. "Does your tribe still follow the old ways?" She asked.

Shade nodded. "Yes they do, which is why my uncle and I are the black sheep in the family, we live in the more modern times." He explained.

Seth looked and saw that the machine had stopped. "Alright, let's get this stuff into the hampers." She stated.

Shade followed and helped Seth out, once the machines were empty they left the building.

When they were walking back, Shade decided to talk. "I had fun today, aside from the more serious talk, i had a good time." He stated.

Seth nodded. "Like I said, the slums are the jewel of Atera, it just takes the right people to make it happen." She replied.

______*later, Apartment 192, 11:00 AM*_______

Seth walked inside the apartment and closed the door once Shade was inside, she walked the hamper into her room and set it inside, she then did the same with the other hamper that the Night Wolf had left outside the door.

With that done, Seth went about putting the bedding back on, it took around two minutes but she eventually had it all on properly, she then delved into the true nightmare of the day, her clothes hamper, with a sigh, Seth dumped the clothes on her bed and set about folding them one by one, even organizing them in shirts, pants, boxers or underpants.

The amount of clothes made the process take about seven minutes or more, and that wasn't even counting the time it took to put them into the dresser.

After she had everything put away, Seth sighed in relief and took her shoes and socks off, she sighed at the feeling of the warm carpet for once. "So that's what it feels like." She muttered, having comepletly forgotten the feeling, she looked down at the light blue carpet. "I really should take better care of this place." She whispered.

Seth looked around her now clean room and blinked. "Huh, I guess Ren was right......damn it, now I owe her three bits." Seth complained quietly as she closed her eyes.

Before Seth could fall asleep, a knock came at the door, Seth groaned and got up, she walked to her door and opened it.

"Ok I'll tell her." Syrin's voice said.

The door closed and Seth looked at Syrin. "You got a message from your boss, he said that he won't be able to open again for a few months." She said.

Seth groaned. "Great, ok group meeting." She stated.

Shade wasn't doing anything so he was just listening, Syrin quickly bookmarked her book, Karak sighed and looked away from the television.

Seth crossed her arms. "I was hoping to avoid this conversation, but with the recent events I don't have a choice." She took a quick breath. "Thanks to you three moving in, we have one and a half months of payments handled, and since I don't have a job right now I only have enough money for a weeks worth of supplies, so I'll need you guys to pitch in because I can't pay rent for four people and pay for food and other essentials." Seth stated.

"Like I said earlier, my job won't be starting for a few weeks." Shade reminded.

Karak shrugged. "I have enough money for a few days of food, and I get paid next week." He said.

Syrin sighed. "I've only got a little bit of money saved up, but I have been looking for a job." She mentioned.

"You know, my uncle has been looking for new hires for his restaurant before it opens, I could ask him to hire you guys if you want." Shade mentioned.

Karak's ears perked up at this. "You have my attention." He stated.

Syrin stiffened. "I'm.....not so sure that is a good idea." She said.

"Why not?" Karak asked. "It's a job I know and love, i know someone who works there, it's hard to find a better job." He replied.

Syrin seemed to think about it for a while before relenting. "Fine, but I still don't like it." She said.

Seth took a breath and cleared her throat. "Now that we have that out of the way, I think it's time we cleared up some issues that have been going on here, anyone want to speak up or shall I?" She asked.

Seth scanned the room curiously for what felt like an eternity, she signed and crossed her arms. "Fine then, I'll begin." She stated.

"Let's begin with an issue that has been bothering you all for some time, my relation with the Hooded Maniac." She noticed that she had their attention.

"What I am about to tell you is comepletely confidential, it does not leave this room." Seth stated firmly.

After the three nodded in agreement, Seth spoke. "The hooded maniac is my sister Alice." She revealed calmly,

Syrin's eyes widened along with the others as she processed the information.

After a while, Syrin spoke. "So that explains a lot." She muttered.

"Why haven't you stopped her?" Karak asked with curiosity.

Seth rolled her eyes. "She's my sister, who I happen to love and don't wish to see in prison." She replied.

"If we are getting things out in the open here." Syrin spoke suddenly. "Why did the bartender from the other night pay you?" She asked.

Seth shrugged. "He owed me money, I loaned him some bits to keep him in business a while back, and kept the gangs out of his business, that's all." She stated.

Karak sighed and stood up. "I suppose I might as well let this out now." He said quietly as he walked up to the middle of the room. "Syrin, I haven't been taking my medication, not once in four weeks now anyway." He said.

Syrin's eyes widened and she looked at him. "Why would you do something that stupid!?" She asked angrily.

Karak stared down at his old friend. "Let's see, nightmares, screaming in mornings, constant head pains?" He placed his left hand on his side. "Shall I go on with my reasons for not taking them?" He asked.

"I think we get the idea Karak." Seth cut in.

Shade cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "If i may?" He asked. "If Karak was on some kind of medication, and he stopped taking them a while ago.....wouldn't that mean that they don't do what they are supposed to do anymore?" He asked.

"Yes, anti depressants and no." Syrin countered. "It has happened before, someone would stop taking the medication and pretend like it was working or not doing anything, and as soon as everyone lowered their guard, the person killed themself.

Seth sighed. "Can we pipe it down,  let's just go with this, Karak is doing fine right now, keep an eye on him, if something goes wrong then give him the pills." She rubbed her eyes and went back to her room. "'Meetings over!" She called out.

After the door was closed, Seth quickly undressed and put on a pair of boxers and a tank top, she set her clothes on her desk and got under the covers, she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.
> Things change.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

_______*Apartment 192, The city of Atera, 11:30 PM*_______

It was quiet in the apartment, the rest of the day had been pretty normal all things considered, Syrin had argued with Karak for a few hours about his decision to stop taking his medication.

Seth had tried to break it up before it could get physical and Shade was pulled into it once tensions had risen.

Much to Karak's annoyance, Seth had ordered delivery, deciding that it was best to avoid any added stress for the day.

And now the apartment was silent, Syrin had passed out on the couch, Shade and Karak went to bed for the night after placing Syrin in her room, and Seth was laying on her bed wide awake, she had her arms behind her head as she stared at the ceiling.

The dark room was comforting to Seth as she mended the headache she had gotten earlier, she took a breath and sat up.

Seth then stood up and walked to her dresser, she grabbed a pair of clothes and stuffed them in a backpack, she then closed the backpack and threw it over her shoulder.

Walking out of the room, Seth headed for the small bookcase by her chair and grabbed a pen and paper, writing a quick note on it, she left the paper on the small table and walked to the entrance, she unlocked the door and opened it, she turned the lock and then closed the door.

Seth left the apartments and took in a breath of the cool night air, she then started walking away from the apartments.

Atera was beautiful at night, the lights on the streets and in the shops kept the city lit while not being obnoxious, but it was also dangerous as gangs were more active at night.

Seth wasn't worried however, the gang that ran the slums were smart enough to leave Seth alone, on the condition that she left them be. 

After a few minutes of walking, Seth turned onto Gorgon street, where she walked for ten minutes until she reached an old building with a large metal door.

Seth walked up to the door and looked around, seeing no one nearby she tapped the door four times, it opened up and she walked inside.

On the other side of the door was a unique part of Atera, it was a small pocket dimension that looked like a suburban neighborhood.

Seth walked forwards, she walked until she approached a small house with light green walls and a light brown wooden door.

She walked to the door and knocked, she waited for a few minutes until the door opened. "Come on in."

_______*The next day, 9:30 AM.*_______

Shade was in the kitchen cooking an omelette and bacon, he knew that Karak would be annoyed, but he was hungry now, and wasn't going to wait for the usual ten o'clock wake up call,.

Once his breakfast was done, Shade turned off the stove and sat down at the table, as he ate his breakfast Shade saw a note on the table.

He grabbed the note and read it. "Don't bother trying to wake me up today, i stayed over at a friends place, I'm going to be eating there as well, so don't save me any food.' The note stated.

Shade shrugged and returned to eating his food.

Once he finished eating, Shade set about cleaning up, it took about seven minutes to clean everything, and when that was done, he walked to the bookcase and grabbed a book.

Shade sat down on the couch and started reading.

Time passed and soon enough, Karak walked out into the living room with a look of shock, Shade raised an eyebrow at this. "Are you alright? you look like you've seen a ghost." He asked.

Karak said nothing as he sat down next to Shade on the couch. 

Shade blinked and shook Karak by his arm. "Hey!" Shade said a little louder.

Karak blinked and rubbed his eyes as he broke out of his trance. "I uh......I have no idea what I saw, but I don't think I can forget it." He muttered.

"Well, Seth won't be here for breakfast, so don't bother trying to wake her up." Shade stated as he looked back at the book.

Karak nodded and rubbed his eyes again as he sat in silence.

______*a couple hours later*______

After breakfast Syrin had gone outside, saying that she would be back later, leaving Shade and Karak alone in the apartment.

Shade was simply reading when he heard the door being unlocked, he lowered the book and watched as Seth walked in wearing a black tee shirt and jeans, as well as a gray hoodie. "Welcome back." Shade said.

Seth nodded. "Yea." She replied.

Shade looked over and saw that Karak seemed to have returned to his state of shock. "What's with you?" Shade asked.

Karak took a breath. "Uh...nothing." He replied as he stood up and walked towards the small hallway.

Shade shook his head and returned to the book he was reading. "So where's Syrin?" Seth asked curiously.

"She'll be back later." Shade replied.

With that, Seth walked to her room and went inside.

______*a few days later, 12:00 PM*______

Shade and Karak sat in their room, unable to sleep, eventually Shade decided to talk. "So what was up with you a few days ago, you looked like you were in shock?" He asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Karak replied.

Shade stretched and laid back on the bed. "Try me, I've seen a lot of strange things." He said calmly.

Karak sighed and leaned on the wall behind him. "I followed Seth that night." He stated.

Shade blinked. "That's.....creepy." 

"Yea yea I know, but do you want to know or not?" Karak snapped quietly.

"Yes." Shade answered him.

Karak cleared his throat and continued. "I caught her sneaking out around midnight, she had a backpack on her so I decided to follow her, she went onto Gorgon street and then walked for a while before entering an old building with a heavy iron door." He said.

"Once inside, I realized we were inside a pocket dimension that looked like a suburban neighborhood." Karak stated as he shivered.

"She went to the door and knocked, it opened a little bit later and Ren was on the other side, I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me and I went inside before they closed the door." 

Karak took a breath and continued. "I kept a good distance away from them, they talked about Seth's sister for a bit before walking into a bedroom." He stopped as Shade looked at him with a shocked expression. "Please tell me you didn't watch them have sex?" He pleaded.

Karak shook his head. "No, thank the maker, but I did see something just as strange." He stated.

"What exactly?" Shade asked, almost afraid to ask.

Karak looked up at the ceiling. "Well uh, you know how people have weird kinks?" He asked curiously.

Shade nodded before laying his head down. "Do I even want to know?" He asked himself in a whisper.

"I watched Ren grab a duffle bag, and then proceed to tie Seth up." Karak stated.

Shade blinked. "Wasn't expecting that." He muttered.

"The weird thing is Shade......I think she was enjoying it." Karak said, confusion was clear in his voice.

Shade cleared his throat loudly. "Alright then!" He almost shouted. "Good night." He stated as he got under the covers and proceeded to try and forget what he heard.

_______*the next day, 3:00 PM*_______

The four roommates were standing outside their apartment door, right now they were talking while waiting on someone. "So when is she supposed to show up?" Syrin asked.

Seth shrugged. "Any time now, just be patient." She said as she leaned on the railing.

Karak's right ear twitched. "Someone's coming." He stated.

Seth looked over at the rest of the apartments on the row, she spotted Ren exiting one of the apartments and smiled as the fox walked over.

"So why were we waiting on you?" Shade asked.

Ren handed Seth a pair of keys and looked at everyone. "You waited for me? how sweet." She said as she crossed her arms.

"Wait, so we just waited for ten minutes, just so you could give Seth a pair of keys?" Syrin asked with an aggravated tone.

Seth rolled her eyes as she pocketed the keys. "To be fair, I did say you didn't have to wait with me." She countered.

"Before we get into an argument here?" Shade cut in. "We should probably get going." He said.

Seth nodded and said her goodbyes to Ren and followed her roommates.

They were walking with Shade to his uncles restaurant, mostly as a curiosity, it wasn't due to open for a couple more days, and they felt it would be best to get an idea of what they were getting themselves into.

After walking for ten minutes, they ended up in the Scorpos district, the part of Atera that mixed the Slums with the Merchant district, when they finally reached the restaurant they noted that it was called Jinkap, which Shade translated for them, in short it was the Night Wolf word for Waterfall.

While Seth was curious as to why that was the name chosen, she didn't hesitate to follow Shade inside after he unlocked the door with his key.

Inside the restaurant was a white and blue tile floor, there were around thirty tables with six of them being six seats, the walls were a soft gray with light blue paint on the lower half, the tables were made out of a strong wood and were properly sealed so that they wouldn't damage easily from water or from other various means, the chairs were similar but had sturdy yet comfortable gray cushions, there was a long workstation with two registers, menus stacked in two different piles behind the workstation.

There were also various decorations on the walls, some paintings of various landscapes, some sea shells in various spots, and what appeared to be a waterfall painted onto one of the walls, they watched as a tall wolf with black fur and yellow eyes walked out from the kitchen area, he didn't seem too happy but he seemed to cheer up a little bit upon seeing the four.

"Shade!" He greeted warmly. "Good to see you kid." He said as he gave Shade a hug.

"Good to see you too uncle Denol." Shade replied.

Denol looked at the others and looked at his nephew. "And I assume these are your roommates?" He asked.

Shade nodded and the older Night wolf walked over to them. "I'm glad to meet you, Shade tells me that one of you is a chef?" He asked curiously.

Karak nodded. "I am." He stated.

Denol shook Karak's hand. "Well, I'd be glad to have you if you want to work here, what about the rest of you? any experience in a kitchen?" He asked.

To everyone's surprise, Seth raised her hand. "I didn't know you were a chef." Shade stated.

Seth shrugged and placed her hands in her pockets. "First, no one asked, secondly, assistant chef, nothing major." She replied.

"Well, if your interested, I could use another chef." Denol said calmly.

Shade raised an eyebrow. "I thought you had another chef?" He asked.

Denol sighed. "Emil came down with the flu unfortunately, and I can't in good conscience have only one person to cook for everyone who comes in to the restaurant." He replied.

Seth nodded and sat down in a nearby chair. "It's a good thing I need a job, so yea, why not." She said.

Denol looked at Karak. "And you? are you interested?" He asked, curious as to his answer.

Karak nodded. "I will warn you, I haven't cooked like this in a while, so I may be rusty." He replied.

"It's a good thing we have a few days to prepare then, follow me and I'll get you both up to speed on everything you'll need to know." Denol stated.

Syrin stayed with Shade as Seth and Karak followed Denol to an office. "You look tense." Shade observed.

"Last time Karak was in a restaurant, it was on fire." She looked at Shade. "I'm not sure how he'll handle working in one again." She added.

Shade nodded and sat down. "True, but don't forget that he has us here to help, me and Seth will keep an eye on him for you, so stop stressing yourself out so much." He said.

Syrin looked at Shade. "Let them know I went back home." She said before walking out.

______*fifteen minutes later.*______

Syrin sighed as she walked up to the door of one nine two, she knew in her heart that this was something that Storm needed to experience for himself, but she was hoping to avoid this. "Maybe I'm just being selfish." She whispered as she opened the door to the apartment.

Syrin closed the door and rubbed her eyes, she took a breath and walked over to the couch and levitated a book over to read.

Just before Syrin started to read however, she noticed something odd that she didn't see when she came in, there was a large brown duffle bag in Seth's chair.

Out of curiosity, Syrin stood up and walked over to it, she was about to open it when she heard a door open, she lit her horn readying to cast a stun spell, she saw that Seth's door was open, but the lights were off. 

Syrin cautiously approached the door, just as she got closer, she saw someone familiar walk out of the room. "Ren?" She asked, stopping her spell. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I was going to the bathroom." Ren replied casually.

Syrin sighed. "Don't you have your own apartment for that?" She asked.

Ren nodded, but then she blinked and examined Syrin's confused face. "Seth didn't tell you did she?" She asked.

"Tell me what exactly?" Syrin asked.

Ren walked to the living and grabbed the duffle bag. "That I moved back in." She stated.

Syrin blinked in surprise as Ren placed her bag in Seth's room. "Oh." She muttered quietly.
> Dark times.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

_______*Apartment 192, the city of Atera.*______

"Oh." Syrin muttered quietly.

Ren walked back out of the room and looked at Syrin. "Let's continue this conversation after I go, ok?" She said as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

Syrin walked to the couch and sat down in silence as she processed this. 'Five people, one apartment, three rooms, one bathroom and a small living room......what was Seth thinking?" She wondered.

A few minutes later, Ren walked out. "Why are you moving in here?......Seth didn't even ask us how we felt about it." Syrin asked.

Ren nodded and leaned on the wall. "The apartment I was staying in, turns out it was a nest for termites and other bugs, so Jack is having it gutted and then it's going to merge with some other apartments." She explained. "Seth was kind enough to let me stay here again." She added.

Syrin laid her head on the couch in silence.....until a thought came to mind. "Why did you move out anyway?" She asked.

Ren sighed and gained a look of regret. "Let's just say that I messed up, I did something I'm not proud of and it almost cost me my best friend." She replied sadly.

"I didn't mean to open any old wounds-" She was cut off as Ren held a hand up. "It's fine, you were genuinely curious about something, I can't fault you for that." The fox stated.

Syrin began reading her book as she idly asked a question. "So....how long was Seth without a roommate after you left?" She asked out of curiosity.

Ren chuckled, she walked to the chair and sat down, she then turned on the television. "One year." She stated easily.

Syrin blinked and looked at the fox as she turned the channel to the news. "Then I'm surprised she didn't throw us out." She muttered.

"Sethy has trouble with people she doesn't know, if it were up to her, she would have holed herself up in here." Ren stated.

Syrin turned the page. "So why did she let us stay?" She asked.

Ren leaned back in the chair. "I talked to her, told her that living alone in this city would drive her nuts......of course she assumed that I was asking to live here again, but I told her that she could just tell Jack she was looking for roommates." She replied.

After that, it was mostly silence in the apartment, Syrin had eventually fallen asleep on the couch, and Ren ended up sleeping on the chair. 

It was about twenty minutes later that the door opened and Seth walked in with Shade and Karak, they noticed the two sleeping and were quiet as they spoke. "I'm going to go make sure Ren didn't break anything, try to be quiet." Seth said.

Shade nodded as he walked to the door to his room, he walked inside and allowed Karak inside before closing the door. 

Karak looked around the room and sighed. "Well, first thing I'm going to do when I get paid, is get some decorations, clothes or something, anything to bring this room to life." He stated as he sat down on his bed.

Shade laughed quietly and sat down at the foot of his bed. "I'll help out, I can buy some paint, maybe a dresser or two." He added.

_______*hours later, 5:27 PM*_______

Karak was hard at work as he cooked dinner, it was a simple yet tasty dinner, chicken noodle soup, and once again, he refused to accept help, stating that this was good practice for his new job.

Seth rolled her eyes. "We work the same job Storm, you forget that little detail?" She asked with a sarcastic tone.

"I did not, but unless YOU forgot, only one person is needed to make this, and it's almost done." Karak countered.

Ren smiled as she watched the exchange from the small table. "Don't argue with the chef Sethy." She teased.

"Sethy?" Shade wondered curiously from the couch.

Seth grunted. "Shut up Shade." She said flatly.

Dinner was done in a few minutes, and everyone sat down to eat, as they ate the news could be heard. "A recent battle at the docks lead to the arrest of several of the instigators including known gang member Kila Jal, who has been linked to many assaults and smuggling of illegal contraband." The reporter stated. "In other news, Philip Kail, a member of the Ateran council was found brutally murdered in his home today, the police have been hard pressed to find the killer or even a single suspect." The reporter continued.

Seth stared directly at the television as the news continued. "Chief Hunter had this to say." The screen changed to see the police chief addressing the press, he was a tall light brown lion with brown eyes. "The death of Philip Kail is a tragedy, he was a good man who did what he believes was best for the people, we here at the Apd will stop at nothing to bring this killer to justice." He stated firmly.

Seth turned off the television and sat back in the chair. "Well that's just depressing." She muttered.

After the news, everyone ate in relative silence, Storm did notice that Seth was extremely quiet now, he didn't say anything however.

______*later that day, 8:00 PM*______

Seth sat quietly in the park, she watched in silence as people set up a memorial for Philip, they left flowers and cups of hot tea in his memory.

"Your one person I didn't expect to see here." Came Karak's voice.

Seth looked over and saw Karak standing next to the bench she was on, she sighed and moved over a little so he could sit.

Karak sat down next to Seth and watched as people mourned the council member. "Are you going to go over there?" He asked quietly.

Seth shook her head. "I'll mourn my own way, Philip would understand." She replied.

"Did you know him?" Karak asked.

Seth nodded slowly and took a breath. "Philip was one of the few politicians who truly cared, he was the one in charge of the slums, he did whatever he could to help us out, from finding funding for repairs to giving the homeless something to eat." She paused and looked at Karak. "He got me the job at the general store, we usually ate lunch together when I was on break at work, and we would just talk about things, nothing work related or personal, just about random topics." She leaned back.

"I'm going to miss him." She whispered.

Karak looked at the memorial and the people paying their respects, he also noticed a camera crew nearby. "I see not everyone missed him that much." He muttered.

Seth looked over and saw the camera crew, she sighed. "Leave them be, they aren't worth the trouble and going over will just make things worse." She said as she stood up. 

"Anyway, let's get out of here, I don't want to be here when they show up." Seth stated as she walked away.

Karak got up and followed the rabbit. "Who is they?" He wondered.

Seth huffed. "Philip's wife and secretary, they are sure to be coming here, if only for the cameras, and they don't like me one bit." She replied.

The two almost left the park when a tall female Kangaroo and an earth pony mare walked into the park and saw them.

"Don't say anything, let's just walk by and hope they leave us alone." Seth whispered.

Karak nodded and they were about to leave when the Kangaroo stopped them. "How dare you show your face here!" She snapped angrily, grabbing Seth's arm.

Seth sighed and looked at the Kangaroo. "Listen Jean, Philip was a friend and your husband, go mourn him instead of shouting at me." She stated.

"After what you did, you have no right to be here!" Jean almost shouted.

Karak was about to intervene when he heard Seth speak with a tone he had never heard before, it sounded dark and empty, but filled with barely contained anger. "You think I killed him? maybe if you didn't have your head in your ass for the last few years, you would see the truth, now let go of my arm before I break it." She warned, her voice was low but the intent was clear.

The earth pony mare clearly didn't want this to escalate so she spoke. "Ma'am, please, let's just go, Philip wouldn't want us to fight like this." She said in an attempt to reason with Jean.

But the kangaroo was having none of it. "Was that a threat you insensitive witch!? you wouldn't dare, not with the cameras nearby!" She warned smugly, her face gaining a grin.

Karak quickly intervened and grabbed the Kangaroos arm, he then seperated the two. "Miss Kail, go and pay your respects, we were just leaving." He stated as he grabbed Seth's arm and piled her away from the park.

As they exited the park, Karak released Seth's arm and looked at her as they walked in silence, the rabbit still has that dangerous look on her face. 

And right now, Karak wasn't sure what to say, he had just witnessed a very dark side of Seth, who went from passive aggressive and mourning, to hostile and bloodthirsty, and with the tone and look of his roommate, he truly believed she would have gone through with it.

The two walked in silence for about ten minutes until Karak finally spoke. "Seth, what was that?" He asked with caution.

Seth sighed and turned her head away. "Jean is one of the few people who can make me act like that, it's the same attitude I had when I beat up the gang in the docks." She whispered. 

"Syrin told me about that, and Ren confirmed it." The hybrid said. "I'm guessing extreme anger makes you bloodthirsty?" He asked.

Seth nodded a little and looked at Karak with a questioning expression. "How did you know?" She asked.

Karak stopped walking and looked up at the sky. "I wasn't always like this, the sarcastic and kind hearted friend." He looked at Seth. "Years before I met my fiancé, I was a bloodthristy animal, I may have hunted like a wolf, but I was a demon, plain and simple, believe me when I say I know how hard it is to keep that kind of behavior in check." He sat down on the curb and looked at Seth, who then sat next to him.

"So what is she like?" Seth asked. "Your fiancé?"

Karak smiled and set his hands on the ground next to him. "She's energetic, creative and feisty, never afraid to challenge authority, she's nice too when you get to know her, hates to play music herself, but enjoys listening to it." He looked at Seth. "She's also a horrible cook, doesn't help that I never took the time to teach her." He smirked a little at that.

Seth looked up at the sky. "So where is?......how come you aren't with her now?" She asked.

"We......needed some time apart, she couldn't stand what the pills were doing to me, and it broke her heart every night." He sighed. "She wanted to stay but I refused to put her through that pain every day, so I convinced her to stay at her parents house until I was better, but when i checked in on her a few months ago, she wasn't there, her parents told me that she moved here to Atera, so I convinced Syrin to move here with me." He explained.

Seth nodded in understanding. "Now your trying to find her." She said.

Karak nodded. "No luck so far, but I'll find her, I know she isn't here in the slums, but I'm not sure where to search next." He admitted.

"So Seth, what's the deal with you and Ren?" Karak asked curiously.

Seth blinked and looked at Karak who had a grin. "We're old roommates, and I thought it would be nice to have her around again." She stated.

Karak's grin grew slightly. "Mmhmm, so that's why she is in your room, where you never let us three go, she can sit in your chair, call you Sethy, and you won't complain." He stated.

Seth buried her face in her hands as she blushed. "Shut up demon boy." She replied.

Karak laughed quietly. "Oh I get it, I spill the beans about my fiancé but you won't say anything about your girlfriend, rude." He teased, his face had a large smile on it.

Seth then rested her chin on her knee and looked at the ground. "She's not my girlfriend." She said quietly.

Karak smirked and crossed his arms. "Uh huh, denying it won't help." He replied.

Seth mumbled. "Alright you got me......I'm HER girlfriend, happy now?" She asked.

Karak chuckled and patted Seth on the head. "I'm glad you aren't denying it now." He said, he then looked up at the sky. "So how did you two meet?" He asked.

Seth looked at Karak. "What?" She asked.

"You and Ren, how did you two meet each other?" Karak asked out of curiosity.

Seth sighed. "We met a few years ago, it was only a month after I moved in to Atera, I was in apartment one three one at the time, and well, she moved in next door as a new tenet." She explained.

Karak was silent as Seth told her story. "I was a different person then, shy and reclusive." She started. "I met her one day when I went to throw my garbage out, we hit it off and started hanging out a week or so later, another month later i called her a friend." She sighed.

"When the opportunity to move into one nine two came up, we jumped on it immediately, it turns out it was open for a reason, the floors and walls were damaged and some didn't even have drywall." She chuckled. "We worked hard to fix it up, taking about five days to get at least the living room and the bedrooms set up for us to live comfortably, it took another week or two to fix the rest up so that there wasn't any holes or damage." She put her legs together and rested her head on her knee again.

"We were living together for a month or two before my sister started her spree." She muttered. "Ren suspected me at first when she saw what the Maniac looked like, but she was disproven, after that we had an argument about her not trusting me." She sighed. "We didn't talk for a few days, but we got over it quickly......it was after the end of that week that I realized something." She went silent.

"What's that?" Karak asked.

Seth looked away and wrapped her arms around her knees. "She was hired by my parents.......to find me and tell them where I was." She stated.

Karak blinked. "I.....don't get it, were your parents bad or something?" He wondered.

"They were strict and unforgiving, and they just wanted to drag me back to a life I hated, I confronted Ren about it immediately." She stated. "We argued and fought, I said things I didn't mean and at some point I.........I punched her to the ground." She shivered. "That was the first time I ever attacked someone, and I was horrified by it, I quickly ran out of the apartment and ran to an old storage building to hide, I was there for hours crying and berating myself, Ren eventually found me there." She paused.

Seth blinked and wiped a single tear from her eyes. "I wouldn't let her come closer to me, out of fear mostly, so she sat down and rested her head on the wall, she talked to me, telling me that I wasn't in the wrong, that I was right to be angry at her, that she did betray our friendship for a job, she told me how she sent a letter to my parents, saying that I had left Atera." She took a deep breath. 

"I wasn't sure how to respond, so she kept on talking, she told me the truth about myself, everything that I had known but was afraid to admit, she told me how she felt about meeting me, the job, and how horrible she felt when she got to know me." Seth smiled a little. "Then she confessed how she really felt, and I could tell she wasn't lying, she's a horrible liar after all, and after everything she said, I just looked at her and said to her, 'come here', she walked over slowly and sat down next to me." She paused to take a breath.

"I told her that I didn't know what to think right at that moment, and that my mind was spinning from confusion." She looked at the ground again. "And then without a single thought, I kissed her........one reason being that my dad would never approve, but I really wanted my first kiss to be with someone I cared about." A slight blush came to Seth's face. "We went home and just talked.......about everything, our pasts, our interests and about where to go from there." She stopped and took a breath.

"The year passed kind of quickly from there, we experimented with a few things together, started dating around the end of the year, things were......perfect between us." She smiled.

Karak scratched his head. "Then why were you two living in seperate apartments?" He asked.

Seth chuckled. "Jack asked her to take care of a friend of his that was moving into the apartments, she had a bad medical condition that only recently was cured, she has a good heart, so she couldn't refuse." She replied.

"Wait.......what experiments?" Karak asked.

Seth's face flushed as it turned a slight shade of red from her embarrassment. "What experiments? who said anything about experiments? there weren't any! nothing to mention and nothing to hide!" She blabbed.

Karak grinned. "Well judging by the way you are freaking out, i think you two did find something." He teased.

Seth groaned and buried her face. "I'm telling you there wasn't anything!........except a small fetish." She mumbled.

Karak leaned in a little. "Oh? what fetish is that?" He wondered.

Seth at this moment felt like she was going to die from embarrassment. "I forgot you can hear very quiet things....." She muttered, she then looked at Karak with an unsure expression. "If I tell you, will you swear not to laugh or judge?" She asked.

"I swear I won't, I have no room to judge for hiding something." He said, holding his pinkie out.

Seth looked at the finger and sighed, she crossed her pinkie with his and spoke. "I......enjoy being tied up." She admitted quietly. 

Karak said nothing as Seth continued. "Say what you will......but i get a weird thrill from it, sometimes I wake up with my hands and feet bound, then Ren will just tease me." She sighed and looked at the ground. "You think it's weird don't you?" She asked.

Karak knew that Seth wanted the truth, and he wasn't going to lie to her now. "To be honest? yes and no, while I can't pretend to understand it comepletely, I do respect and understand that you enjoy it, so I won't judge you on it." He then placed a hand on Seth's right hand. "Thanks for the talk Sethy." He said, with a slightly teasing tone in his voice.

Seth smiled a little bit and wiped her eyes. "Shut up demon boy." She countered.

After a short laugh, the two then walked home in silence, simply enjoying the quiet time of night.
> Getting back on track.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

______*Atera, Apartment 192, two days later, 9:20*______

Syrin yawned as she stretched lazily in bed, she shifted and opened her eyes, she was currently staring at a blank wall and grunted. "I really need to paint this." She mumbled before standing up.

Syrin walked to the door and left the room, she headed straight for the bathroom to clean up, and after a few minutes, she noticed a very familiar bottle of shampoo, she raised an eyebrow at this. "Whatever." She eventually said before turning on the water.

______*ten minutes later.*______

Syrin walked out of the bathroom clean and dry, she saw that Karak was up already as usual, but for once, so was Seth. "I'm surprised to see you awake before ten." She said.

Seth grunted and walked into the kitchen. "Ha ha, don't get used to it, this position isn't permanent, so I'll be back to my lazy self in no time." She replied.

Karak rolled his eyes and walked to the couch and sat down. "Either way, we need to get another couch or chair." He stated. "Unless we plan on having one person sit down every time." He added.

Seth pulled grabbed some things from the fridge and began to work. "I get It, but I won't be able to waste money on that until I get payed." She replied.

Syrin looked at Karak. "I guess you didn't feel like cooking today?" She asked.

Karak rested his head. "No, I just need to take it easy because the restaurant opens tomorrow, besides that, Seth won't LET me cook today." He said as he laid back.

Syrin looked at Seth who was busy making eggs, she then walked to the couch and sat down, she levitated the book she had been reading and settled in.

_____*later that day, 11:42 AM*_____

In his time living in Atera, Shade learned two absolute things, one......Atera was a diverse city with a large variety of people, two, both Seth and Ren were very late sleepers.

Shade was currently walking through the park, he had heard from Seth that there was a memorial to the murdered councilmember here, but that the wife had shown up and made things stressful.

What was strange was that Karak had said that it would be best not to push the subject and that it was handled, Shade decided to take his advice and not press.

So as he walked past the memorial, Shade spotted something peculiar on it, he raised an eyebrow looked at the object.

Unlike everything else, this object was black and shaped like a small cylinder, it had silver trimmings and a delta letter engraved into it.

"Nice pen." Shade muttered as he continued his walk.

Eventually the night wolf found himself outside Hiran's, he noticed that it was open and that people were inside. "Guess business is booming." He said as he walked away.

______*later that day, 7:00 PM, apartment 192*______

Karak sat down on the floor while Seth sat in her chair, Syrin and Shade sat on the couch with Ren in the corner, they were all just watching a movie that had ended a few minutes ago, and Seth then changed the channel. "So, when do you guys start your new job?" Ren asked casually.

"Around seven in the morning, we have a lot of prep work to do." Shade stated.

Seth groaned and laid back. "Well I know who's going to be dead on their feet." Ren joked.

Karak shrugged. "She'll survive, so long as she doesn't fall asleep on the job." He said before looking at the television.

"Shut up demon boy." Seth said quietly.

Syrin chuckled and looked at Karak who simply rolled his eyes. "Let's just watch whatever's on." He replied.

______*the next day, 6:30 AM*______

Shade, Seth and Karak were walking to work together, the air was slightly warmer today, which let them know that winter was ending soon, they were wearing warm clothes but not baggy.

Karak was wearing a simple pair of dark blue slacks that he needed to roll up so that they didn't touch the ground, he also wore a long sleeved blue shirt.

Shade wore a pair of brown cargo pants and a dark green shirt, thankfully it fit him just fine, but it was a little itchy.

Seth was wearing a pair of gray pants, and a white tee shirt with a black jacket, and exactly as Ren said, she was basically dead on her feet as she walked with Shade and Karak to the restaurant, everyone else was asleep when they got up, so breakfast was mostly cereal for them.

More than once, Shade needed to shake Seth to keep her awake. "Give it a little more time, you'll have some energy." He said.

Seth grumbled. "Ten more hours, I'll be just fine." She replied sleepily.

Karak smiled at the little exchange as they neared the restaurant. "Think about it this way Seth, all the aromas that will be in the air, the hustle and bustle, you'll get enough energy if you stop moping." He teased.

Seth growled a little. "Why did you have to mention that?" She asked angrily, yet sleepily.

The three soon made it into the restaurant and looked around, they saw at least five other employees and Denol walking around, talking and getting ready for the place to open.

"I'm going to go talk to my uncle, you two should go get ready." Shade said as he walked off.

Karak nodded and headed for the kitchen, with Seth following him.

The kitchen was roomy, there were two ovens, a walk in freezer and pantry, a large counter to place food on, a large sink and a prep area, as well as other equipment necessary to cook the items on the menu.

Seth walked to a side room and grabbed a clean pair of white aprons, she threw one to Karak and put her's on, she then walked over to the pantry and looked around, seeing plentiful ingredients and food items. "Hmm, Denol put a lot of thought into this." She muttered as she walked back to the kitchen.

Karak grabbed some pots and pans and placed them on the burners, he then got a bunch of plates and bowls out and set them on the counter, he then looked at Seth. "We have some time before people show up, let's make sure we know where everything is, last thing I want is to misplace something." He said.

Seth nodded and walked to the freezer to check its contents. 

Karak kept the two of them busy until the restaurant opened, and once it did, Shade walked into the kitchen and stood on the other side of the counter. "Alright you guys, I hope your ready." He said.

"Who's expediting?" Karak asked.

Shade chuckled. "Your looking at him, don't worry, I won't let you guys go off track." He reassured.

Seth walked to the counter and leaned on it. "How many do you think will show up?" She asked curiously.

"Don't know the exact number, but uncle Denol has been advertising this place for a while now, so I think it'll be packed." He replied.

Sure enough, as soon as the first wave of customers showed up, the restaurant got busy quickly, Seth and Karak immediately got to work making breakfast items, including eggs, French toast, pancakes, sausage and or egg biscuits, among other things.

The rest of the breakfast shift went the same way, Seth and Karak working together in the kitchen, Shade keeping things on track, with only one or two mistakes, they finally got to the lunch break and we're making themselves and any other employees that didn't bring lunch some food.

Karak and Seth sat down and ate their lunch with Shade and a tiger waiter called Milo. "That was stressful." Milo stated.

Seth nodded. "It wasn't any better in the kitchen, if Shade wasn't there, it would have been a nightmare to keep track of things." She said as she took a bite from her sandwich.

Five minutes later, the break ended and the employees were back to work as the lunch shift started up.

_______*later that day, outside the apartments, 2:00 PM.*_______

Seth groaned as she sat down on the steps leading to the apartments. "I can't feel my arms!" She complained.

Shade leaned against the wall. "I guess we can hold up a moment." He said.

Karak then sat down a few steps above Seth. "Trust me, you get used to it Sethy." He teased.

"Shut up Storm." Seth replied as she rested her limbs a little.

Shade crossed his arms and looked around. "Hey Seth, mind if I ask you something?" He wondered.

Seth nodded. "Alright, shoot." She said.

"I've noticed that the numbers for the apartments make no sense, usually the meaning is floor, door number and side." He stated. "But here I don't understand it at all." He said.

Seth shrugged. "It's simple, the first number is the side, we live on the south side of the apartments, so it's a one, the second number is the door number, since we go in and out from the back entrance, it's a nine, and the two is the floor level, we have to climb up the stairs, so it's a two." She explained easily.

"Well, let's head up and relax, we won't get much relief out here now will we?" Shade said as he walked to the stairs.

Seth and Karak got up and headed for the apartment, they were at the door and Seth opened it, somehow knowing it wasn't locked. "How did you know that?" Shade asked.

"Ren got some bad habits from her roommates, one of them involved leaving the door unlocked." Seth explained as she closed the door, she then locked it. "Dibs on first shower." Seth immediately said as she ran to her room to get a clean pair of clothes.

Shade walked to the couch and sat down, he laid back to rest a little bit, a minute after Seth got into the bathroom there was a knock at the door. "Can you get that?" Shade asked.

Karak sighed and stood up, he walked from the small table to the front door, he unlocked it and opened the door, on the other side was a Chameleon wearing a white shirt and a brown winter jacket, along with a pair of brown sweatpants. "Can I.....help you?" He asked.

The chameleon took a breath and spoke. "Yes, I am Terrance from the Atera health institute, I am looking for someone that used to be a patient there." He stated.

Karak raised an eyebrow, he had heard of that place, it was a highly respected detox center. "And who would that be?" He asked curiously.

Terrance pulled out a photo and showed it to Karak. "Seth Angelica Fairwind, she was one of our more......violent cases." He stated calmly.

Karak blinked when he saw the photo of Seth wearing her usual outfit, but he looked at the chameleon. "She doesn't look violent." He said.

With a nod, Terrance took the photo back. "You are right, but there is a reason for that, she was a common user of the drug known as Darket......it's a powerful drug that dulls pain, causes a blissful state and eases the mind.....the main downside is that it is infused with-" 

"Demon blood." Karak stated, he sighed. "I've heard of it before, the blood itself causes intense anger and hostility, as well as enhanced strength." He added.

The chameleon nodded. "It's good to know you understand the dangers, but have you seen Seth Fairwind?" He asked.

Karak shook his head. "I'm sorry, but no, I haven't." He lied.

"I see.......so you have never seen your roommate?" The chameleon asked curiously.

Without letting his surprise show, Karak replied. "I suppose not, now if you'll excuse me, I just got home and I want to rest." He said as he closed the door and locked it.

Karak sighed and walked to his shared room to get some clothes.

____*later that day, 1:00 AM.*____

Karak stood with his arms crossed as Seth walked out of her room, he flipped the lights on, surprising her. "Karak!.....jeez, you trying to give me a heart attack?" She asked as she collected herself.

"Can demons get heart attacks?" Karak asked, sounding suspicious.

Seth blinked, her face didn't reveal any shock but her arms stiffening gave her surprise away. "I'm not a demon Karak, are you feeling alright?" She asked, her voice slightly off.

Karak narrowed his eyes. "Did you know demons can sense intent? it's like a sixth sense, I can tell when someone is going to attack or run away, but when it comes to you?.......I can't sense anything, i was only able to tell what you wanted to do the other day because of your eyes." He stated. "A demon can't read another demons intent, so logic dictates that you are a demon." He explained.

Seth took a deep breath. "Storm......come on, I'm no demon and that doesn't make any sense." She said quietly.

Karak nodded. "True, but being able to beat up the gang that runs the docks?.......you must have had demon blood in your system, so either you are a demon......or you use Darket." He stated.

Seth froze stiff and Karak spoke. "It would seem I was right, how long have you been using it?" He asked.

In response to this question, Seth looked at the ground. "Ever since the argument with Ren, the docks gang attacked Ren a week later while she was investigating one of their members, I went to the docks and in my anger, I attacked them, I guess the demon blood took over and I just pummeled them." She said quietly.

"You guess?" He wondered.

Seth sighed. "I blacked out, I don't remember actually fighting them, the most I remember is starting to run at them, when I woke up, my hands were bloody and bruised, my body and clothes were bloody as well and I gained this knife scar at the base of my left ear." She explained.

"I....I checked them all, so many of them were.........were dead, only a few of them survived, I uh, I just left them there......dying." Seth's breathing soon became panicked as she shivered, she held her arms and cried from the memories of her actions. "Why am I remembering now?......now of all times?" She said with a broken voice.

Karak walked up to Seth and put his arms around her in a comforting hug, she didn't even seem to notice as she cried into his fur. "Just let it out, I'm not going anywhere.......you aren't alone in this Seth, I've dealt with fighting for control before, and I've done unforgivable things in my past." He whispered quietly, he slowly rubbed the back of Seth's head, her ears were down as she cried.

She had cried for hours, and Karak had stayed with her until she finally fell asleep, at which point he placed her on the couch and covered her with a throw blanket.

Karak sat on his bed and sighed as he laid back. 'How did this happen?.......I just can't get a break.' He thought as he tried to get some sleep.
> The Slums.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

______*The city of Atera, 12:00 AM*______

Storm....commonly known as Karak, was currently at work with Seth, they hadn't said a word about what happened earlier to anyone, but everyone could feel the awkward silence between the two.

Shade was curious about what was going on with his roommates, but he wasn't going to ask them at work, he figured it would be best to wait until later, but as he watched them work silently yet efficiently, his curiosity grew by the minute.

Soon enough though, when the orders stopped for a moment, and they were cooking the only orders left, Seth spoke. "Has Syrin found work yet Shade?" She asked curiously.

Shade shrugged. "Yes and no, she found a place that needed a mechanic, but she hasn't gotten a reply yet from them." He replied.

"Where is it?" Seth asked.

Shade took a paper from a waitress and read the order off to the two, before he replied. "Somewhere here in the Slums, someplace called Fords." He answered,

Seth immdediately looked at Shade with a serious glare. "Tell her to avoid that place like a plague, every mechanic that goes to work there disappears." She stated.

Shade sighed and crossed his arms. "How do you know that?" He asked curiously.

"I know everyone in the Slums, and that bastard is crooked, Ren investigated him for months and found out he's in the illegal slave trade." She replied before focusing on her work.

"Why hasn't he been arrested then?" Karak asked.

Seth said nothing as she worked, her silence served to disturb her roommates greatly.

A few minutes later, Seth finally spoke. "Let's just say the police used to have three times as many officers." She muttered.

Shade immediately walked out of the room without saying a word, and Karak sighed. "Stay here, I'll make sure he doesn't do something stupid." He said as he walked out.

Seth blinked and then groaned, but instead of going after them, she continued her work with frustration.

_______*Apartment 192, 20 minutes ago.*_______

Syrin was alone in the apartment as she watched the television, according to the police, several of the escaped criminals from the docks were captured, and we're currently on their way to prison.

While it was good that more criminals were gone, Syrin still had concerns, she hadn't said a word, but she wasn't able to sleep well at all last night and kept waking up, she had overheard Seth and Karak's conversation and was still processing things. 'I hope he knows what he's doing, the last time he dealt with demon blood wasn't very pleasant-' She was pulled out of her thoughts as the sound of the front door lock being picked caught her attention.

Syrin immediately teleported to her room and went silent as the door opened. "You sure no ones here?" A male voice asked.

"I'm certain, the only people living here are at that new restaurant, and that damn fox is busy with our dummy case, we won't be caught." Another male voice said, this one was more gruff sounding.

Syrin was quiet as the door to Seth's room opened. "This room is already suspicious enough without our help, let's just hide this thing and go." The first voice said.

"Hurry up you idiots! before someone sees us!" A third voice, a female said.

The door to Seth's room closed. "Yeah yeah we're done here Alice, let's get out of here." The gruff voice replied.

"Don't say my name you dumbass!" The female, Alice snapped angrily before the front door closed and a click could be heard.

'Alice? isn't that the name of Seth's sister?' She wondered.

Syrin waited for twenty three minutes before peeking out of the room cautiously, seeing no one, she proceeded to search the apartment room by room, thankfully there was no one around in the bathroom or Shade and Karak's room.

Syrin was about to enter Seth's room to search before the front door was unlocked, it opened and Shade entered, followed by Karak, both looked exhausted. "Um......guys?" She asked out of confusion.

"Um, you know that mechanic shop you applied at?.......Seth said the owner is in the Slave trade." Shade panted as he closed the door.

Syrin blinked. "Oh.......but what about work? you just ditched it." She stated.

While Karak went to grab a water, Shade spoke. "Denol will understand once I explain, we need to head back now." He replied.

"I uh....need to tell you guys something." Syrin began. 

Karak took a drink and threw a bottle of water to Shade. "Whatever it is, it needs to wait, we'll be back in an hour or two." He said as he walked to the front door and opened it.

Once Shade and Karak left to go back to work, Syrin locked the door and went to search Seth's room, she felt bad for invading her friends privacy like this, but she was willing to make an exception under these circumstances.

Syrin took a breath and opened the door, it was dark and a hard to see, she lit her horn for light and the room was illuminated, with that done, Syrin set about searching the room, but since she didn't know what did and didn't belong, she eventually just left, deciding that everyone should learn about this at the same time.

______*An hour and a half later, Apartment 192*_______

Seth walked inside and stretched as she yawned tiredly, elsewhere in the room, Ren chuckled. "How was your day sleeping beauty?" She asked teasingly.

With barely any energy, Seth simply walked to her chair and collapsed in it, seeking to get some sleep.

Karak was sitting in one of the chairs and looked at Syrin who sat across from him. "So what did you need to tell me and Shade?" He asked.

Raising her voice so that it reached the other side of the room. "Some people broke in earlier." She said.

Seth's eyed snapped open and she stared at Syrin. "What?" 

Ren stood up from the couch and looked at the unicorn. "Did they take anything?" She asked.

Syrin shook her head. "Not that I know of, but they apparently left something in your room, I don't know what or where it is, but I didn't like their tone." She replied.

Seth stood up and walked to her room, she opened the door and everyone waited outside as Seth turned her lights on. "I don't envy the people who did this." Ren muttered.

While Seth searched, everyone looked at Ren with curiosity, she sighed. "This apartment building, especially this apartment, is forbidden, as a self made rule, no gang member or gang boss can operate out of this building, whoever did this didn't know this rule-" she was cut off as Seth growled. "What is it?" Ren asked.

Seth looked at the fox and the others. "That bitch is so dead.......I knew I should have beat the shit out her in the park!" She snapped angrily.

"Why? who are you talking about?" Shade asked.

Seth turned around and showed her roommates what she was holding, it was a bloodstained knife that was identical to the wounds discovered on Philip Kail. "How did THAT get here?" Ren wondered.

"It doesn't matter, this was planted here to frame me, and I know exactly who planned it." Seth said as she walked out of the room, bloody knife in hand.

"Where are you going?" Shade asked.

Seth threw the knife with deadly precision and it embedded itself into an already existing hole in the kitchen counter. "Like I said, I'm going to beat the shit out of that bitch." She stated with anger.

Karak blocked the door and crossed his arms. "No you are not, if she did plan this, she's waiting for you to be arrested for the murder of her husband, but if the evidence doesn't exist, they won't be able to do so." He said calmly.

Seth growled and then huffed. "Fine, we'll do it your way, but if this fails and i get sent to prison, I WILL harm you." She stated.

Karak looked at Shade. "Hey, can you bring me that knife?" He asked.

Shade blinked in confusion but grabbed the knife anyway, he walked it over to Karak who took it. "What are you going to do with it?" He wondered.

Karak took the blade of the knife in one hand, and the handle in the other, and in a moment the knife was turned into dust with no trace of blood anywhere. "That." He answered.

Rather than question it, Seth walked to her chair and sat down. "Did you happen to catch any of the intruders names?" She wondered.

Syrin nodded and sat down on the couch. "Yea, there were two male voices and one female, they didn't say any of the males names, but they said the females name.....Alice." She stated.

In an instant, Seth's face fell and the rest of the room went silent, no one said a word as they processed this information.

"Is it possible it was a different Alice? it's a common name." Shade asked.

Seth sighed and leaned back in her chair. "That's all I needed, now my own sister is working with that bitch to frame me, fuck this, I need some air." She said before standing up and walking to the door.

Karak didn't stop her this time, instead he walked out with her and Ren followed, leaving Shade and Syrin inside.

"Did she not hear me? or did she completely ignore me?" Shade wondered as walked to the small bookcase and grabbed a book to read.

_____*outside.*_____

Seth paced back and forth angrily as the trio stood by a bench just outside the apartment building, Ren and Karak were simply trying to stop her from doing something stupid.

However, this didn't stop her from muttering different methods of killing. "Decapitation, incineration, crushed and drowned, stabbed, suffocation, bleeding out, hung." She continued on as Karak sighed.

"Seth, you need to calm down, your only making this worse." He said.

Ren sat down on the bench and looked at her girlfriend. "At the very least, stop listing that stuff off, it's making me uneasy." She added.

Seth looked at Ren. "Your uneasy?" She scoffed. "My own sister tried to frame me for murder, my whole life is changing around me, i lost one of my best friends, AND I'm dealing with demon blood on top of that!" She snapped. "So yes, I'm very uneasy." She finished before going back to pacing.

Karak sighed and leaned on the nearby wall. "Well all of that anger your building up is only serving to feed the blood, it'll start messing with your head soon enough if you keep this up." He stated.

Seth looked at Karak and sighed, she sat down next to Ren and rubbed her eyes. "I swear, if this keeps up, I'm going to lose my mind." She said quietly.

"I think you need a day to blow off some steam, all this stress is bound to make anyone insane." Ren suggested.

Seth nodded and looked at Karak with tired eyes. "Want to go to the Watering Hole?" She asked.

Karak shrugged. "Might as well, want me to bring the others?" He asked.

"The more the merrier I suppose." Seth replied.

_______*ten minutes later.*_______

Seth led the group inside the Watering Hole and were greeted by a welcoming atmosphere, the bar was very busy today.

The group of five walked over to the only available table that would fit them all, after finding out what drinks they all wanted, Seth walked over to the bar and spoke with Jack. "So what's this about demon blood?" Ren asked quietly.

Karak sighed and leaned into the table, Shade and Syrin listened in. "Did you know that Seth uses Darket?" He asked.

Ren blinked and looked at the rabbit for a moment. "I.....didn't know that, how long?" She asked.

"Between the time you were attacked and her beating up the dock gang." Karak replied. "And since its infused with demon blood, she has to deal with the drawbacks as well as the upsides." He stated.

"What are the downsides?" Shade asked curiously.

Karak said nothing at first, but did answer him. "I'll tell you all when I tell Seth, I don't want to go over it here." He replied.

Soon enough, Seth came back with three drinks. "I'll be right back." She said.

Ren sat back in her seat and took a sip from her drink. "We should go over this stuff when we get home, the sooner we know about this stuff the better." She stated calmly.

"How about we just enjoy this little outing?" Shade suggested.

With everyone in agreement, they enjoyed their drinks when Seth brought the rest over, and they forgot their troubles for a time.

By the time they left the bar, the stress from before had faded away, Seth seemed to be alright now, but they were unsure as to how long that would last.

_______*Apartment 192, ten minutes later.*_______

Syrin headed for the bathroom immediately, and the others sat down, Karak pulled a chair over. "Do you think we should wait for Syrin?" Seth asked.

Karak sat down. "I've already told her all of this." He said.

Once everyone was situated, Karak spoke. "To understand demon blood, you have to understand the Demons themselves, we are a cursed race, as in only the demon gene gets passed down generation to generation." He started.

"For instance, if a demon who is half griffon had a kid with a Minotaur, the kid would be half demon and half Minotaur, this isn't so bad to most, as they understand that only the body is affected by the non demon parent." Karak continued.

After taking a quick breath. "Now, the true curse comes in the form of immortality, a demon will live forever until they have a child, once a demon has a child, the immortality fades away, but otherwise they will remain the age of a young adult once they reach it." He explained. 

"That doesn't sound too bad actually." Shade pointed out.

Karak looked at Shade. "Except for the fact that most demons are born feral, mindless and savage, willing to kill anyone they see, along with the fact that their demon blood intensifies their emotions, and like what Seth experienced, causes them to lose control and go on a rampage." He explained. "That does beg the question, why not just cut the demon blood out? the answer is simple, the blood reproduces quickly, the magical property of it forces the blood to replicate when bleeding." He looked at Seth who seemed horrified.

"Thankfully, the blood that is used for Darket is impure, it won't cause immortality, it can't replace itself as quickly as regular demon blood, and it won't get rid of your natural genes." He shrugged. "The only danger your in is.......well it's not important." Karak stated as he stood up and put the chair back.

Seth looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What danger?" She asked with worry.

Karak grinned. "It isn't important, if I feel your in danger of it, I'll let you know." He stated, he then crossed his arms. "As for the upsides?" He started, changing the subject. "Your injuries heal faster than normal, sickness tends to be lessened drastically and you can sense someone's intent." He stated.

Seth blinked. "How exactly do I do that?" She asked.

"Focus, I'm certain that if your emotions weren't all over the place, you would have noticed that." Karak replied.

Seth sighed and leaned back. "What all can I sense?" She asked.

"You can sense if someone means to do harm or not, truth and lies, compassion and hatred." Karak listed off. "You won't even notice it at first, it's more like a gut feeling, or instinct." He added.

A knock at the door made them all quiet, Karak walked over to the door and opened it, on the other side were some police officers. "Excuse me sir, are you a resident of this apartment?" The male tiger officer asked.

"Yes? what's this about?" Karak asked.

Another officer, a minotaur spoke up. "We have a search warrant to search the apartment." He said, handing the warrant over.

Karak took the warrant and read it over. "A combat knife?" He wondered as he stepped aside.

The officers walked inside. "They have a warrant." Karak stated as he walked over to the others.

"Someone's in the bathroom, so don't go in there." Ren said.

The minotaur officer remained in the main room to keep an eye on them while the other three searched.

After six minutes of searching, the officers returned. "There's nothing in the rooms." The tiger stated.

The Minotaur nodded. "We need to search this area then." He replied.

Seth stood up first and moved to the center of the room, Ren and Shade followed her and Karak leaned against the wall next to the door.

The officers searched the living room, even going as far as to search in and under the furniture after they found nothing, they searched the area around the television as Syrin exited the bathroom. "Um.....what's going on?" She asked curiously.

Karak looked at her. "They have a warrant to search for a combat knife." He explained.

One of the officers went to the bathroom to search before the others were done.

A few minutes later, the officers were done, the Minotaur took the warrant back and looked at the roommates. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience." He stated.

"Why were you searching this place anyway?" Seth asked curiously.

The Minotaur sighed. "It was an anonymous tip we received, whoever sent it seemed to believe that you were involved, I can't say any more." He replied before walking out.

The five waited for about ten minutes before, Karak peeked outside, he closed the door and locked it. "So, did that seem convenient to anyone else?" Ren asked.

Seth nodded and sat down in her chair. "It would seem that I was right, Jean wants to frame me for Philip's murder, which means she was either the killer or was behind it." She replied, confident in her accusation.

"The wife doesn't always kill the husband you know." Syrin stated.

Karak sat down on the floor next to the living room table. "In this case?.......the evidence seems to point to it." He said.

Ren sat down on the couch and leaned back. "Look, regardless, none of us are in jail, so let's just be glad about that." She stated.

Shade sighed and looked around at the group. "So, what do we do now?" He asked.

"Nothing." Karak said. "We can't touch Jean, she probably has personal bodyguards and if she did plan this, she probably has a gang in her pocket." He stated.

Seth took a breath and looked at the ceiling. "There.......is one thing I could do, but I really hope I'm wrong." She muttered.

______*A few days later, 9:00 PM, the city of Atera.*______

Seth stood in a small room that Karak and Syrin had soundproofed, she waited patiently with her arms crossed, she wore her dark red shirt and black sweatpants, as well as a brown jacket.

The room had little in it, it was an abandoned tailors shop, there were tables, mannequin stands and small rolls of leftover cloth on the ground, the room was once used to make or display outfits, but not anymore.

Soon enough, the door to the room opened and a figure wearing a black hoodie and black jeans entered. "You can lose the hood Alice." Seth stated calmly.

The figure grabbed the hood and lowered it, revealing a brown furred rabbit almost identical to Seth, the only differences were that she didn't have the burn mark and her eyes were blue instead of green, she also looked a lot younger. "Hey sis." She said. "Why did you want to talk to me?" She asked.

Seth uncrossed her arms. "I was almost arrested because someone planted a bloody knife in my room." She stated. "And then cops shows up looking for it." She added.

Alice looked surprised. "Are.....you alright?" She asked.

Seth nodded. "Yea, thankfully I was able to convince them that the blood was red paint, and that I used it for Nightmare Night but never got around to throwing it away." She replied.

"That's good I guess.....but why did they search your place?" Alice asked.

Seth shrugged. "Basically an anonymous tip told them I was the killer, but you know me Alice, I couldn't kill anyone." She replied. 

"How are you holding up?" Seth asked.

Alice huffed. "Could be a lot worse, money has been tight since security stepped up so much, I've had to do some pretty despicable things just to stay afloat." She replied.

"You mean like allow people to frame your sister?" Seth asked in a serious tone.

Alice stiffened for a split second before answered. "I did no such thing! how can you accuse your own sister of that?" She denied.

Seth felt her anger bubble and she slammed her fist on the table. "STOP LYING TO ME!" She snapped angrily, she then took a breath.

"You took a job to break into my home and plant evidence that I killed Philip Kail." Seth stated. "Tell me the truth Alice, or I stop protecting you." She warned.

Alice sighed and rubbed her eyes, she took a deep breath and spoke. "I don't know who's in charge, I only spoke to the middleman, his name is Fergus, came to me with an offer I couldn't refuse." She said. "I....I am sorry Seth." She said quietly.

Seth grunted and crossed her arms. "Get out of Atera, go home, this city isn't safe anymore." She said.

Alice looked to the ground and grabbed her right arm. "Seth......I can help." She pleaded quietly.

"You've done enough." Seth replied harshly.

Alice bit her lip as tears began to form in her eyes. "I......can't go home." She whispered.

Seth sighed. "As fucking harsh as they are, they are still our parents Alice." She replied.

Alice looked at her sister, she slowly shook her head. "They.......they died a couple of days ago." She said before walking to the wall, she slid down and buried her face in her lap as she cried.

Seth blinked in surprise, she was honestly surprised by the news. 'I never really loved them, but still, they were family.' She took a breath and walked over to Alice, she sat down next to her and gently rubbed her head. "We'll be alright, I may be angry at you right now, but I still love you." She said quietly, her tone was a reassuring one.

After a few minutes, Seth spoke again. "Do you have anywhere to stay?" She asked.

Alice mumbled something about nosey siblings but answered anyway. "No." She said.

Seth sighed and stopped rubbing her sisters head. "I'll talk to Jack, he can set you up with a place tomorrow, you can crash on my couch tonight." She said.

Alice took a shaky breath. "Don't stop......please." She muttered.

Seth chuckled and went back to rubbing her sisters head gently. "You have to stop being the Maniac, I might be able to move on from our parents death at some point, but I'm not ready to see you in prison." She said.

"You know I'm a kleptomaniac, I can't help it." Alice replied.

Seth looked up at the ceiling. "I know sis, I know......" She whispered.

______*that night, 1:30 AM*______

Seth and Karak stood in the kitchen, Alice was fast asleep on the couch, covered in a throw blanket. "Will she be alright?" He asked quietly.

With a nod, Seth looked at her sleeping sister. "She needs time, our parents weren't the best people, but they were family, she just needs to be able to mourn." She replied.

"And you? how are you handling things?" Karak asked.

Seth looked at him. "Well, sensing someone's intent is weird, it's a strange thing to be able to do......as for my parents? I don't care, to me they died when I moved here, I've moved on." She whispered.

Karak leaned on the counter. "Well, no point worrying about it now I suppose, we have to find a way to prove your innocence to the authorities before more false evidence shows up." He stated.

"As far as I know, I was with you guys most of the time, and when I wasn't I was at the Watering Hole, the main problem is that since I know everyone, the authorities can't trust any statements given by the people of the slums." She replied.

Karak looked at Alice, he sighed. "She feels guilt from what she did." He then looked at Seth. "This Fergus must have made a ridiculously generous offer to make her break in." He pointed out.

"Which means that whoever we're dealing with has very deep pockets." She sighed. "I'm going to bed, night Storm." She said.

Karak nodded. "Night Seth." He replied, he shook his head a little before walking to his room.
> The truth comes out.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

_____*The city of Atera, Apartment 192, 5:00 AM*_____

As they worked early, only Seth, Shade and Karak were awake at this hour as they got ready to go to work, Seth saw that Alice was still asleep on the couch but made no move to wake her.

Once they had eaten something and got their lunch ready, the three roommates were about to walk out when Seth stopped them.

Shade watched curiously as Seth wrote something down in a piece of paper then put it on the living room table. "Just a simple message, don't worry." She replied calmly.

______*later, 8:30 AM*______

Syrin walked out of the bathroom and headed for the kitchen, it was strange not to have Karak's wake up calls anymore, she almost missed them. 

With a chuckle, Syrin pulled out a container for grape juice and poured it into a cup. "Almost." She muttered.

Syrin walked out of the kitchen and saw that Alice was just now starting to wake up, she said nothing as she set her cup down on the small table and walked over, she sat down near the table and pulled out a new book, this one was a adventure story set back in the time the old language was used, on the back of the cover however, was a detailed list of what the old words meant. "Well what do you know." She whispered.

A light yawn from the couch made Syrin look over, thankfully she hadn't started reading yet, Alice sat up slowly, her ears were flat against her head as she rubbed her eye sleepily.

Alice had dark circles under her eyes, and when she opened them, they were still slightly bloodshot. 'Was she crying all night? or in her sleep?' Syrin wondered.

"Morning." Syrin said.

Alice looked down and saw Syrin, she mumbled something before standing up slowly. "Where's Seth?" She asked.

"Work." The unicorn replied.

Alice looked down and saw a paper on the table, she picked it up and read it. 'I'll talk to Jack when I'm home, until then, there's some potatoes and eggs in a container in the fridge, and there's also oatmeal mix in the cabinet, ps. don't steal from me or anyone else, love Seth.' It read.

"Has my sister gone nuts or something?" Alice asked no one in particular as she walked to the bathroom.

Soon, Ren walked out of Seth's room and rubbed her eyes, she walked to the couch and sat down with a yawn. "Morning." She mumbled.

"Is anyone around here a morning person?" Syrin wondered.

Ren leaned back. "Maybe Wes, other than him? no idea." She replied.

it was quiet for a while until Alice came out of the bathroom, she was now wearing a light blue hoodie with gray sweatpants. "Hey.......you guys hungry?" She asked quietly.

Ren and Syrin shared a look, they looked at Alice. "Uh, sure." Syrin replied.

Alice nodded. "Ok.....i heard of this new place that opened up recently, the Waterfall, want to try it?" She asked.

Ren shrugged. "Sure, I have it on good authority that it's a good place." She replied.

With that said, Ren went to her shared room and closed the door, and about ten minutes later, all three were ready.

They left the apartment and Ren locked it, they then started walking.

_______*the city of Atera, Scorpos district, ten minutes later.*_______

Alice, Syrin and Ren walked up to the Waterfall, it was a busy day for the restaurant, they walked inside and were greeted by a warm atmosphere and the smell of bacon, French toast and cinnamon, among other scents.

They were greeted and brought to an empty table, a few moments later, a tiger waiter approached and passed around three menus. "Hey folks, I'm Milo, how are you today?" He asked.

"Good." Ren answered.

The waiter gave a nod and pulled out a small notepad. "So, what can I get you all?" He asked.

The three looked at their menus and Alice decided almost immediately. "Blueberry pancakes and a side of bacon." She said.

"Make that two I guess." Ren said. "But no blueberries." She added.

Syrin spotted something she liked on the menu and looked at the waiter. "I'll have French toast and a side of eggs." She said.

Milo nodded and took the menus, he then walked off to the kitchen. 

"So, how do we pay for all of this?" Ren asked. "I can pay mine and maybe one of yours." She added.

Syrin shrugged. "I have enough to pay for my food." She replied.

Alice leaned back. "Don't worry about it, I'll pay for it, it's the least I can do." She offered.

"I'm no charity case Alice, besides, what money will you use?" Ren asked.

Alice said nothing and looked around the restaurant, avoiding the question.

Ren sighed and rubbed her eyes. 'The money she stole of course, what a stupid question.' She thought.

"Absolutely not, look, I'll pay for your food, I won't take no for an answer." Ren stated.

Alice bit her lip and decided to remain silent as she waited for her food.

It took about eight minutes, but their food arrived freshly made and hot, Syrin took in the scent, the food smelled delicious and looked just as good as it smelled. "They really work well together." She whispered to herself as she cut into her food.

After they finished eating and had paid their bill, the three walked out of the restaurant and into the cold streets. "Well, I'm glad they opened this place, it really lit up the district." Alice said as they walked back to the apartment.

Ren nodded. "No kidding, this place went from boring to lively, guess some good food will brighten up a lot of people's days." She replied.

Syrin felt a strange sense of deja vu, this was very similar to when she was out with Ren and Seth, only now she didn't feel like a third wheel. "Hey Syrin." Ren said,

"Yea?" Syrin replied.

Ren started walking backwards as she looked at Syrin. "What's it like living in a Equine community? I've never been to places like Manehatten or Fillydelphia." She asked.

Syrin shrugged. "It's.....ok, they aren't as technologically advanced, but they aren't bad places to live, once you get past the paranoia phase of course." She replied. 

"Paranoia phase?" Alice asked curiously.

Syrin sighed, not truly willing to delve deeper into this subject. "Let's just say that my kind aren't the most welcoming of other species at first." She replied with a nonchalant attitude.

______*later that day, 3:00 PM*______

Seth was walking home with Karak, as Shade had something to take about with his uncle, the air was slightly warmer today, and there were people walking around the streets, going from place to place.

As they walked however, Karak noticed that Seth seemed to be on edge about something, he raised an eyebrow at this, but decided not to say anything at first.

Ten minutes of walking later, and Seth seemed to be skittish, Karak decided to ask what was going on since they were now in the quiet streets of the Slums. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Seth's head snapped in Karak's direction, her expression was panicked and her pupils were very small now. "Did you hear that?" She asked, she sounded......afraid.

"Uh, no?" Karak replied.

Just as he answered, Seth started to run off quickly, Karak chased after her as fast as he could, but Seth was surprisingly fast.

He followed his friend all the way into a much more decrepit part of the Slums, she ran into an alley and Karak followed.

Soon enough, Seth stopped running and she looked around frantically, she was now panting as she seemed to look for something.

"Seth?....are you okay?" Karak asked, he knew the answer was no, but he couldn't think of anything else to ask.

In response, Seth just clutched her head, as if trying to block out sound, she then froze stiff and her face contorted into one of anger. "SHUT UP ALREADY!" She cried out, she threw a punch at something that was behind her, and her fist simply broke through the wall.

Karak blinked in surprise. 'What the hell?.......what kind of demon blood is she infused with to have that kind of strength?' He wondered.

Seth looked behind her, her eyes flashed white for a second before she started running at Karak.

Karak readied himself to stop Seth's mindless charge, but to his surprise, she simply avoid him and charged after something else entirely.

With the chase back on, Karak followed Seth as quickly as he could until he saw her charge into another alleyway, this time however, he heard something break.

Karak entered the alley and saw Seth holding an unconscious Bear by his shirt collar, the Bears face was bloody and Seth's fist was as well, Karak quickly ran up and caught her fist before it landed another blow.

Seth seemed surprised by this as Karak forced her to face him. "Seth!" He shouted.

The rabbit's eyes flashed white again, and returned to normal, her breathing was now panicked again as she blinked. "Karak?.....I, I don't." She then broke down into insane rambling as Karak walked her home. 

As he walked, Karak began to question what was going on. 'As far as I know, no demon blood can cause someone to punch through solid concrete on its own, and this?' He looked at Seth who continued to ramble incoherent words. 'Are these withdrawal symptoms?......I've never seen the Darket symptoms before, so is this them?' He wondered.

_____*Apartment 192, later that day*______

Seth had passed out shortly before they got back to the apartment, and Karak had began to explain the situation to the others.

After a while however, Seth groaned and clutched her head, which was giving her a splitting migraine, she opened her eyes and saw that she was in her room, she slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes, her room light was on for some reason, and Seth grumbled. "Damn it Ren." She said quietly.

She stood up and walked over to her light switch, she flipped it and made sure she had clothes on before walking out.

Seth Immediately regretted her decision once she saw that everyone was out in the living room, they looked over at her and Ren in particular looked very angry. "If this is an intervention, can it wait? I need to go to the bathroom." She asked.

A few minutes later, Seth exited the bathroom and walked into the main room. "Do you remember what you did earlier?" Karak asked suddenly.

Seth raised an eyebrow. "I was walking home with you and the next thing I know I'm in my room." She said. "Why? what happened?" She asked.

"You went crazy." Karak answered. "You were running after something that wasn't there, you were afraid of everything basically, then you assaulted a man." He explained.

Seth scratched her head. "I.....don't remember any of that." She replied honestly.

"So.......when were you planning to tell me you've been using Darket?" Ren asked as she glared angrily.

Seth felt her body go stiff, she took a shaky breath and answered. "I......I was hoping to never have to tell you, I just, i don't know.......how to answer." She replied quietly.

"Maybe by telling the truth." Alice said as she sat down in front of the couch. "I'm not one to talk, but you lied to your friends and family, about something that obviously tears you apart." She stated.

Shade spoke next. "While I have no experience with drugs, I do know what addictions do to people, I know how easily they tear friends and family apart just by them being there." He sighed. "In short, we are all concerned." He added.

Karak continued. "I won't say I understand why you first used it, and I won't try to justify why you still use it, but I do know where you are coming from, or at least I have an idea, I went through a very similar experience myself." He said.

Ren was the last to speak. "At the very least Seth, tell us WHY you use the damn drug, why would you risk so much just for a temporary high?" She asked.

Seth took a breath and sighed shakily, she blinked and looked away, she bit her lip before looking at everyone. "I......I need to feel, something........anything at all!" Anger quickly rose up. "These blasted nightmares, the pain, the fucking stress!" Her anger seemed to subside as she chuckled in a psychotic manner. "Lust, greed, sadness, joy, anger, fear, love, envy, all of these are preferable to a waking nightmare." She laughed hysterically. "That drug?......it made everything clear! I just need some more and I'll be just fine! no anger, no fear, no mental breakdown." She whispered the last bit.

"Is that why you take it?......to avoid a breakdown?" Karak asked calmly.

Seth twitched and she looked at Karak. "Quiet, that's personal you prick." She hissed.

"Your argument with Ren pushed you past the breaking point,  patching up your relationship brought you back, but when she was attacked, you felt that you were going to lose everything, so you got ahold of some Darket and used it, then in your drug induced state, you went to the docks and went on a rampage, you don't remember what happened because you don't WANT to remember, afterwards you became addicted, and used the drug to keep yourself stable." Karak explained, and the stunned look on Seth's face confirmed it.

"Shut up." Seth warned dangerously.

Karak continued despite her warning. "After Ren went on her weeks vacation, you were committed to the detox center, you were the most violent patient they had, and before the week was out, you escaped and returned home, at which point you continued to live your life, attempting to get things to calm down, but they never did." He explained.

Seth grunted. "What's your point?" She asked angrily.

"My point is obvious." Karak narrowed his eyes at Seth. "You've become comepletely reliant on a drug to get you what you've had for a long time, you just can't see that, or you won't accept the truth." He stated.

For a moment, Seth looked like she wanted to attack, but a few moments later.......she shook and her breathing rate increased. "What the hell is happening to me?" She asked quietly as she broke down into tears.....and for the first time since he met Seth, he could sense her emotional state, and she was comepletely devastated.

Ren walked up to Seth and knelt down to comfort her, Karak looked at Syrin and Shade. "We should give them some time alone, there's a lot to be said." He stated as he walked out.

Syrin and Shade nodded in agreement and followed Karak out, leaving Seth alone with Alice and Ren. 

Once outside, the three roommates stood in silence outside the apartment. "I never took Seth for the type to use drugs." Syrin said quietly.

Shade nodded. "Yea, she always seemed so easygoing, but I guess now we know the truth." He replied.

"Your right." Karak said. "But now we need to deal with the aftermath, and we need to help her through this.....somehow." He added.
> Unstable and violent/Atera splits apart.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

______*Apartment 192, The City of Atera, the next day, 2:00 PM*______

The atmosphere in the apartment was unnerving today, breakfast, while good hadn't helped to ease the tense and awkwardness.

Seth woke up feeling ok, but after a time, she seemed to devolve into incoherent muttering and whispers, Alice had gone to check out where she would be staying and wouldn't be back for a while, leaving Syrin and Ren alone with Seth.

Needless to say it was quiet and awkward, especially when Seth apparently changed emotions on a dime and suddenly became VERY interested in an experiment involving Syrin and twenty minutes alone in a room.

Syrin promptly locked herself in her room until Seth changed her mind.

Ren wasn't unaffected by this either, and Seth had creeped her out when she decided that she was an arsonist, she was busy for ten minutes trying to keep Seth away from the stove.

Seth had one other personality change that had both Ren and Syrin red faced, she had suddenly become very comfortable with the idea of no clothes, and in an instant, she was naked and displaying everything, it didn't help that she promptly cuddled with Ren and had an instant personality change, at which point she wouldn't move because Ren was 'comfy' to lay on.

And now, they were quiet as Seth sat on her chair, with clothes on! muttering and whispering madly.

This was by far favorable to two of the previous personalities to Syrin.

Ren looked at Syrin and leaned closer. "How long do you think this quiet will last?" She asked.

Syrin shrugged. "I'm not sure, but you should enjoy all the quiet you can get, you do sleep in the same room as her after all." She replied.

Ren looked at Seth who briefly twitched and looked at her with a suggestive expression for a brief few seconds before returning to her mumbling. "Yea......i'll just be happy when the others finally get back." She muttered.

"Speaking of which, where are they? they should be off work by now." Syrin wondered.

Ren looked at the clock and saw that it was two eighteen, she raised an eyebrow. "The restaurant closed at two, and it doesn't take long to get back here from there.....maybe they stopped to pick something up?" She suggested.

"Far above." Seth's voice said. "Hidden in plain sight, now revealed for all to see, panic, madness and anger, all rage far and across the land." She continued shakily. "One broken hearted, one broken minded, regret and anger, suffering and jealousy! her return heralds a new era, but will it be one of terror or love? war or peace? all of this hangs in the hooves of six." She stated ominously, she then returned to mindless rambling.

Syrin and Ren looked at each other with looks of confusion and then they looked at Seth who was shaking violently. "Maybe you should go and calm her down? before she has a breakdown?" Syrin whispered the last part.

Ren nodded and stood up, she walked over to Seth and slowly placed a hand on the rabbits knee, Seth immediately tensed up but seemed to relax slightly once she saw who it was. "How are you holding up?" Ren asked.

Seth twitched and let out a shaky breath. "It feels like I'm dying." She said weakly. "M-m-maybe I c-c-could just have a little dose? j-j-just to k-k-keep me going?" She asked as she gave Ren a hopeful expression.

Ren shook her head. "I can't do that Seth, even if I wanted too, maybe when the others get back we could have a little uno tournament? that always cheers you up." She suggested.

Seth seemed to ponder this for a moment before slowly nodding. "If I win, I get a dose." She stated firmly.

Ren chuckled. "You'll be up against five others, I hope you realize that." She said.

Seth said nothing in reply, instead she became silent and closed her eyes, she rested her head on the back of her chair and reclined.

Seeing that she wouldn't be able to get any more out of Seth, Ren stood up and walked to the kitchen. "I'll get some lunch made up, hope you don't mind sandwiches." She stated.

Syrin got off the couch and walked to the bathroom. 'We shouldn't be keeping her here, we should be getting her into a rehab center.' She thought to herself, while this was her opinion, she wasn't willing to mention it to Ren.

_____*an hour and a half later.*_____

Ren was relieved, Seth had managed to get some sleep, even if it was only for half an hour, when she woke up however, she seemed to be normal for a short while, talking normally and not shaking violently, of course this didn't last and she soon devolved into her mad ramblings and mood swings.

One of these mood swings however, had her crying into Ren's chest and soon alseep once again.

Right now, Ren was working with Syrin to handle another of these changes in personality, Seth was incredibly angry right now, and seemed to want to punch anything, as was evident by the new fist sized hole in the coffee table.

Ren was trying to calm Seth down while Syrin held a magic shield up to keep Seth from breaking anything, which was difficult to do because unicorns feel some of the backlash what something strikes the shield, and Seth apparently hit like a battering ram.

It took about ten minutes but Seth finally changed in personality, she became very skittish and immediately fled to her room.

Syrin panted as she collapsed to the floor, she just laid on the floor and tried to recover her energy from maintaining the shield for so long.

Ren looked down at Syrin and knelt down. "You alright?" She asked, holding her hand out.

Syrin took Ren's hand and stood up, she wobbled a little bit, but managed to stay upright. "Where did you learn that shield spell anyway?" Ren asked.

Before she answered, Syrin walked to the couch and sat down. "My mom had me enrolled in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, I was far from the top student, but I had an aptitude for summoning magic, and was decent at defensive magic, that's all." She explained.

Ren nodded and looked at the door to her and Seth's room, she sighed and walked over to it, she knocked on the door lightly and spoke. "Sethy, are you alright?" She asked.

There was no response, and Ren sighed, she reached for the doorknob and turned it. "Don't come in!" Seth's voice said immediately.

Ren paused and then spoke. "Seth, I just want to make sure you are alright." She said quietly.

There was a brief pause before the door slowly opened, and Seth looked furious, but not outright hostile. "Alright?......I am dying over here, and you won't let me have what I NEED!" She snapped. "If you cared at all, you would give me the lifeblood!" She angrily stated before slamming the door.

Ren sighed sadly as she walked to the other wall and leaned on it, she slid down the wall and ended up sitting with her legs balled up, she crossed her arms on her knees and a tear fell down her face.

"I can't do this." She whispered to herself as her eyes let tears drop freely. 

Ren heard someone walking over to her and she looked up at them, it was Syrin who had a sympathetic expression. "I know you don't want to consider it, but maybe we should have Seth admitted to a rehab center." She stated.

After a deep breath, Ren rubbed her eyes with her right hand and looked at the door to Seth's room. "I......I know we should, but she's already ran away from one, if she goes to another, they might lock her up or worse, put her under drugs that make her unable to defend herself." She cleared her throat and sighed. "And with Kail's wife out there, I won't risk that." She stated.

Syrin nodded in understanding. "Look, why don't you get some sleep, we both need it by now." She said.

Ren chuckled weakly. "That......sounds nice, but someone needs to stay up to keep an eye on Seth." She replied.

"You go on ahead, I'll stay up." Ren said as she stood up. "At least if you rest up, you can use your magic to help." She added.

Syrin bit her lip, as much as she hated to admit it, Ren was right about that, and she did need to rest after using of so much magic. "Fine, but if there is any trouble, wake me up." She said as she walked to the couch.

Ren nodded and walked to the chair, she sat down in it as Syrin laid down on the couch and closed her eyes.

_______*later*_______

Ren groaned quietly as she awoke, she rubbed her eyes and blinked, the room was dark and quiet. 'I must have dozed off.' She looked to the couch and saw Syrin asleep, she then looked to her right and she froze in absolute terror.

Looming over Ren in the dark room was Seth, she glared down at her with a cold expression, but what made this most terrifying was the large kitchen knife in her right hand. "Seth!" Ren said in a startled tone.

Seth simply grinned and swung the knife, Ren yelped and lurched forward, the knife slashed her right arm and she cried out in pain, which apparently woke Syrin up as Seth was blasted away by a magic bolt.

Ren clutched her arm and looked at Seth as the lights came on, when the rabbit looked up at her she seemed furious, but what was most disturbing was that her eyes were now glowing pure white. 

Seth stood up and started marching over, knife in hand, but Syrin threw up a shield and spoke. "Let's get out of here!" She stated in a panic.

Ren forced herself to stand and followed Syrin out the door quickly just as Seth broke the shield down, they slammed the door shut and ran away from the apartment.

Syrin quickly teleported them to the entrance of the apartments, and it was then that they noticed that it was night. "Why is it night? it's not supposed to be night for another six hours!" Ren asked out of confusion.

They heard a loud crash behind them and immediately took off running as fast as they could. "Not important right now!" Syrin stated as they ran.

Ren noticed that the streets were oddly empty, as they ran, she snuck a glance behind her and saw Seth walk out from the apartments, she looked right at them and walked towards them quickly.

"What is wrong with her!?" Ren asked as they ran, they turned the corner and continued running until they were on Altain Ave.

"Come on Ren! stop running from the inevitable and surrender!" Seth's voice called out, but it sounded distorted.

Syrin spotted a hardware store nearby, and she quickly teleported them inside, Ren collapsed to her knees as the bleeding started to affect her, her left hand and the fur around the cut were now red from the blood, Syrin quickly took a look around.

The store was empty and dark, there were building supplies littered about randomly, as though a riot had happened. "I'm not sure what's wrong with Seth, but we need to hide and take care of that cut." Syrin replied as she lit her horn.

After Ren stood up and followed Syrin deeper into the store, they heard a voice call out to them. "Come on Ren! you can't hide from me! I know your scent by heart!' Seth stated.

Ren stopped moving and sat down at the end of an isle, she grunted in pain and looked at Syrin. "She's right, as long as you stick with me, your in danger, you should get out of here, I can hold her off for a while." She said as she clutched her arm.

Syrin shook her head and walked over. "Not with that arm, and you are crazy if you think I'm going to leave you to die." She said.

Ren said nothing in reply as she grit her teeth, the pain in her arm flared up as Syrin looked at the wound. "Move your hand." The unicorn instructed.

Hesitantly, Ren moved her hand and Syrin winced at the sight of the wound, she took a breath and lit her horn. "Try your best not to move, this may sting." She stated.

Stinging would have been a blessing, but instead all Ren felt was pain as Syrin worked her magic, it soon stopped though, and she breathed heavily. "You'll feel a dull pain for a few days, but it's better than bleeding out." Syrin said.

Before Ren could say anything, a loud crash was heard from the entrance. "I know your in here Ren!" Seth's voice called out. "You should know better than to play cat and mouse with me!" She added menacingly.

"Go and hide, I'll see what I can do to buy us time, this personality can't last forever." Ren stated as she got into a crouch, she then started to move to another part of the store.

Syrin took a quiet but deep breath and walked around, she soon hid behind a low wall and peeked, she spotted Seth walking around, her glowing white eyes searching for her prey.

"Come out and play Ren!" Seth called out madly.

Elsewhere in the store, a loud crash was heard, Seth immediately looked in that direction and started running over. "I'm coming for ya!" She shouted.

Ren hid behind a corner as she watched Seth search the area where she knocked over a bunch of paint cans and some metal beams, the glowing eyes gave away her position, but they also made her far more menacing, a low growl was heard and she spoke. "You can't have gone far Ren, I'll find you." She stated angrily.

At this point, Ren was glad that Seth never learned to focus more on tracking a scent, as such, she could only tell the general location, and nothing more.

Ren watched as Seth slowly approached her hiding place, she slowed her breathing and hid.

Seth walked until she was at a crossroads of sorts, she looked around briefly before walking away from Ren's hiding place. 

Ren waited for five seconds before quietly moving, she planned to slowly make her way to where Seth had just checked, but just as she placed her foot on the ground, Seth snapped around. "There you are Ren!" She shouted as she charged over.

Ren immdediately stood up just in time for Seth to collide with her, she was forced to the ground and was staring directly at the large knife that Seth was trying to stab her with. "Snap out of it Seth!" Ren pleaded as she used all of her strength to fight back.

Seth's mad grin grew as she pushed the knife down slowly, she started to laugh maniacally at Ren's attempt to fight back.

Ren felt her heart racing as the knife inched closer and closer to her head, and for a moment she was certain she was going to die.

That was of course, until Seth was smacked in the head by some kind of metal object.

Seth cried out in pain as she fell to the ground next to Ren, who got up and ran off with Syrin. 

As they ran for their lives, they heard Seth's furious cry. "Fuck you Syrin!" She shouted.

Ren and Syrin quickly entered the door to a small warehouse room and closed the door, they ran into the isles of boxes and spare materials.

They had barely managed to hide when they heard a voice.  "Here's.....Sethy!" The rabbit stated as she broke the door off its hinges.

Seth had lost her knife thankfully, but she apparently noticed something that caught her attention while she looked around, she walked over to something and glass shattered.

Ren and Syrin took the extra time to hide and they split up ever so slightly, Ren resisted to urge to gulp when she saw that Seth had grabbed a fire axe. "With Her return, we, strongest of her servants, return to finish what we started!" She stated cryptically.

"We shall hunt down the servants of the great enemy and slaughter them all! leaving only the faithful unscathed by the fires of war!" Seth continued.

'What is she talking about? is she referring to that mad rambling from earlier.' Ren wondered.

Seth soon walked past Syrin and spoke. "Come out come out." She chuckled darkly. "Come out and plaaaay." She added creepily. "Is this what the servants of the great enemy have come to? cowards that dare not face their foe?" She taunted.

"She has already arisen, the great enemy has fallen and your power shall wane, let me end it quickly and painlessly, for there is no hope for the servants of the enemy." Seth continued.

Ren looked at Syrin, the unicorn motioned to Seth and nodded, with a deep breath, the fox got out of her hiding space and stood. "Seth!" She called out.

The rabbit grinned madly and looked at Ren, her white eyes glowing brightly. "You are mistaken, the one you call Seth is not here right now." She stated as she readied her axe.

"What did you do to her?" Ren demanded as she clenched her fists, her claws drawing a little blood from how tight she had her fists clenched.

"I do not understand why you love that child, her mind is weak and fragile, her strength is non existent, she was so easy to take control of in her fractured state." The rabbit's grin grew. "Now kindly stand still, and die!" She shouted as she lept forward with the axe raised.

Ren immediately jumped back and the possessed Seth was slammed into the ground by Syrin's magic, the fox immediately took the fire axe from Seth and stared down at the rabbit who began to laugh madly. "Are you going to kill me Ren?" She asked while laughing. "You can't even hurt me, all you will do is kill your precious Sethy." She taunted.

Ren growled. "I'm sure she'll understand when you are gone." She stated before kicking Seth hard in the face, knocking the rabbit out.

Ren threw the axe aside and grabbed Seth, she lifted her up made her arms hang over her shoulders as she carried the unconscious rabbit on her back. "We need to find the others before she wakes up." She stated.

Syrin nodded, but before they went to leave, she cast a binding spell on Seth's hands. "Just in case." The unicorn said.

Ren and Syrin walked out of the warehouse and into the main store, and Syrin spoke. "Why are you carrying her like that?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Ren asked.

Syrin lit her horn to light their way as they walked. "I mean, you are putting extra strain on your back and arms, instead of just carrying her in your arms." After a moment of silence, and a curious glance, Syrin grinned. "What's with that grin?" Ren asked.

Syrin looked at Ren. "Are you just carrying Seth like that so you can grab her ass?" She asked.

Ren froze with her eyes wide, her fur slightly tinted red from embarrassment, after a few moments she blinked and looking at Syrin, who seemed to be holding in a laugh, and she spoke. "That.......I-I-I don't, I just, no........piss off." She stammered before shifting Seth, she proceeded to carry her in her arms bridal style. 

Of course, Syrin decided one last tease was in order as they exited the hardware store. "Dum, dum dum dum, dum dum dum dum." She hummed.

Ren said nothing as she walked in silence, her slightly red cheeks revealing her blush, while the jokes were inappropriate considering what was going on, it did help to take her mind off things, temporarily of course.

_______*unknown.*_______

Seth groaned in pain and clutched her head, it felt like someone had bashed it open or something, she rubbed it gently which slightly eased the pain for a moment.

She slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by a dim light, it was quiet which was nice, she slowly sat up and looked around.

She wasn't in her room, that much was obvious, and she wasn't in the house that Ren and her sometimes rented for the night, she was somewhere new, and that honestly worried her.

Seth was in a ful sized bed with warm dark blue blankets and pillows, the sheets were black and they all smelled clean, the room itself had faded blue walls on the upper half, and the lower half was gray, there was a dresser, a cabinet and a desk, there was one window with dark blue curtains and a single door leading out of the room.

She rubbed her eyes. "Where am i?" She wondered.

Seth clutched her head again as the pain returned, she grunted and noticed something that she should have realized earlier.

She had no clothes on, at all......for some reason, she heard the door knob turn and laid back down immediately, to the world, she looked like she was still asleep.

Of course it didn't help when she heard the most dreadful sound on the planet. "Morning!" Came a very familiar wake up call.

Seth immediately sighed and just glared at the doorway, expecting it to be empty, but instead she saw an all too familiar wolf demon smiling at her. "Fuck off." She said instantly as she rolled back over.

She heard Karak chuckle before speaking. "Someone wants to talk to you." He said before walking away.

Seth rolled over again and saw Ren enter the room, she looked a little tense, which she raised an eyebrow about.

Ren closed the door and Seth sat up. "How are you feeling Seth?" The fox asked.

Seth grunted and rubbed her head. "Like my head was bashed open, where are we?" She asked.

Ren seemed hesitant to answer, but she did answer. "Somewhere safe, we aren't in any danger here......Seth, what do you remember?" She asked.

"The intervention from you all, my breakdown and I remember you and Alice talking to me, telling me we would get through this." Seth said with a shrug. 

Ren's surprised expression did set an alarm off in Seth's mind. "Did something happen while I was in bed?......you didn't kidnap me did you?" She asked with a serious tone, but not a hostile one.

Ren blinked and sighed as she sat down on the bed. "We have a lot to cover in order to bring you up to speed." She muttered.

They were both silent for a moment before Ren spoke. "Would you REALLY mind if I kidnapped you, I mean, you would be tied up, and I hear some kidnappers tease their victims in interesting ways." The fox said as she looked at Seth.

Seth grumbled. "Maybe later." She whispered, she seemed indifferent, but the idea of being tied up seemed to interest her greatly, she sighed. "What did I fucking miss?" She asked.

"You aren't going to like it." Ren said as she set her hands on the bed.

Seth was quiet as she listened to Ren, waiting for her to start. "It all started the next day, when we began to experience the withdrawal symptoms of Darket, it was just me and Syrin after Alice went to check out the apartment." She began.

The room was quiet aside from Ren retelling the events of that night, and Seth was horrified by the thought of actually killing someone, especially Ren.

The story went on for some time, as Ren explained in detail, the various personality changes she went through, but after she explained that she and Syrin had met up with the others with her unconscious in the foxes arms, that she sighed and paused.

After taking a deep breath, the fox spoke. "There......is one last thing, and this is a big one." Ren started slowly and catiously.

Seth watched as Ren looked at her as though she would break. "Well, what is it?" She asked.

Ren's expression softened as she spoke. "The slums are gone." She stated sadly.
> Unstable and violent/Atera splits apart.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

______*The city of Atera, 2:30 PM.*______

Shade and Karak exited the Waterfall with tired expressions, the day was extremely tiring without Seth helping in the kitchen.

What they did notice however was that it was currently night time, which was very peculiar. "Why is it night time?" Karak wondered.

Shade looked over at the moon which looked.......empty? "That's odd, the Mare in the moon is gone." He stated.

The two started to walk back home as they talked. "Mare in the moon?" Karak asked curiously.

"It's a story, one that my people believe in greatly, it tells the story of two sisters, one who ruled the day and one who ruled the night, the sister of night grew jealous of her sister, as the ponies would only stay out during the day, shunning the night." Shade explained.

"In her rage, the sister of night became Nightmare Moon, and the sisters battled, ending in Nightmare Moon's banishment to the moon, ever since, the moon has had craters on it that look like a mare." The Night wolf continued.

Karak listened intently as they walked, but he did notice that once they returned to the slums, that it was oddly quiet. "My people tell of a prophecy, that the Mare in the Moon would return to bring about an eternal night, I was never told more, they always said I wasn't ready." Shade shrugged. "It didn't bother me much anyway." He added.

They walked for a while before they heard a loud crash nearby. "What was that?" Karak asked.

Shade shook his head and the two hurried to discover what happened, they soon reached the hardware store and saw what appeared to be some kind of warzone in the street. "What the hell?" Shade wondered.

The citizens and police were fighting each other without regard to who they were, a kangaroo had grabbed a metal pipe and was fighting a rat man who had a large hammer.

Shade cried out and clutched his right side as he fell to his knees, Karak noticed that it was glowing a soft blue in the shape of an incomplete star. "What's wrong buddy?" He asked out of concern.

Through his grunts of pain, Shade spoke. "My side, it burns." He stated as he took a few deep breaths.

"We need to get out of here, and find the others before we get caught up in this fight." Karak said.

Shade nodded and forced himself to stand, he grunted as the glow faded. "Right, let's go." He stated.

Before they could run off however, they heard a familiar voice. "Get away from me you crazy bitch!" Came the voice of Alice.

The two wolves immediately hurried to her voice, it was nearby and sounded like it came from the park, as they neared the park, Karak saw Alice dodging Jean, Philip Kail's wife, who was holding a baseball bat and swinging it wildly.

Shade and Karak were about to rush over to help, when a Minotaur and a rat man blocked them, both of their eyes were glowing blue and they didn't seem like themselves. "The masters return heralds your end traitor! all those who serve the great enemy shall die!" The rat man shouted as he lunged forward with a metal garden rake, aiming for Shade.

The Minotuar charged at Karak, his head aiming down, aiming his horns right at him.

Karak nimbly dodged and the Minotuar immediately used his momentum and jumped, he slammed his fists into the ground and it broke from the force.

Shade sidestepped as the rat man swung downwards, he immediately noticed that the rat man wasn't very aware or even very fast in his movements, which was strange for his species, this led him to believe that the man was being controlled, and that the control had limits.

Karak jumped over the Minotuar and kicked him in the back, the Minotuar fell forwards, but didn't try to get up, he looked at Shade. "Let's go help Alice." He said.

Shade nodded and the two immediately ran to Alice's aid.

The first thing that Karak noticed was that Jean's eyes were glowing blue, meaning that she was being controlled. "Stop running away! you killed my husband! now I'll kill you!" Jean screamed.

Alice jumped over a bench and looked back. "What part of I didn't do it! or I am not Seth! did you not understand you crazy bitch!?" She shouted as she ran.

Jean apparently didn't notice Karak or Shade, as she continued to chase the young rabbit madly, Karak was quick to act as he grabbed a large branch that fell off the nearby tree, he then held it as a club, Alice quickly ducked behind him and he swung the branch.

Jean ran face first into branch and fell to the ground unconscious. "Thanks." Alice said.

Karak threw the branch away and looked at Alice. "Are you alright? how did this happen?" He asked.

Alice shrugged. "I'm not hurt, thanks for asking by the way, as for how this happened? your guess is as good as mine, one minute the sun was coming up, the next the moon instantly rose to its full height and everyone went crazy, I ran off, Jean here found me and I've been running around this park ever since." She explained.

Shade grunted and clutched his side as it started to glow once again. "We.......we need to find the others, we need to get out of the slums and into a different part of the city." He said.

Alice looked a bit spooked by the glowing mark, but didn't act on it. "Is he alright? I don't want him to end up like the rest of these guys." She wondered, gesturing to Jean.

"I'm right here.......and I'll be just fine, I wasn't affected until we entered the slums." Shade said before leaving the park.

Karak took the rear guard as Alice walked just ahead of him. "If I'm not mistaken, Ren and Syrin are with Seth in the apartment, we just need to get there." Alice stated.

Soon though, the trio started running, mostly to avoid the battle happening nearby at Gervasons, they were stopped however, by a horde fighting outside the apartments. "We should go around, no way are we getting through that." Karak said as he began to sneak to the side of the large building.

Alice and Shade went to follow, but a few members of the horde noticed them and screamed at them before charging.

Karak cursed under his breath and rushed out of his hiding place, he tackled a wolf and gave him a strong punch in the face, knocking him out instantly.

Alice and Shade soon ran over to help as more and more of the horde joined the battle, as they fought the horde back, they received several cuts, bruises and their clothes became damaged and covered in some blood as well.

Karak was punched to the ground and what appeared to be a rabid fox was quickly on top of him, snapping at his face with his teeth, with all of his might, Karak managed to braced his feet, he then kicked the fox hard and he was flung off.

Shade rammed into a kangaroo female and she fell to the ground, he then grabbed a pair of earth pony stallions with glowing eyes and slammed their heads together, it didn't kill them, but it did knock them out.

Alice however, was by far the least combative, she jumped and dodged easily enough, but she didn't throw many punches unless absolutely necessary, she had just dodged a clumsy swing from a griffon when she turned around just to come face to face with a large fox. "Ah!" She cried out, she immediately threw her leg out and impacted on the foxes private parts, he howled in pain as he collapsed and Alice ran off to the others.

Karak wiped his lip and noticed that he had lost some blood, he grunted and stood up. "I just want you to know, if we die, I blame you guys." He stated.

Shade soon noticed a small gap in the horde. "Then let's get out of here!" He shouted.

Alice couldn't agree more as she followed Shade and Karak away from the horde, they followed after them as they entered the apartment building.

There was no one inside thankfully, so the trio headed to one nine two and immediately entered it, the door was broken down which was a little concerning, but they decided to be thankful for the temporary good luck.

When they were all inside, Shade took lookout duty. "Syrin! Ren!" Karak called out.

There was no reply, Karak quickly checked the rooms, but he didn't see them anywhere, his heart sank at this but he decided to not worry until later, he then noticed Alice had a backpack on now and was stuffing a book into it. "What are you doing?" He asked.

Alice looked at Karak. "I'm being prepared, if it turns out we can't come back, I want Seth to at least have ONE thing she cared about with her." She replied easily.

Shade looked at them. "We need to leave now! they seem to have learned how to go up stairs." He stated.

At that, Karak ran out of the apartment, followed by Shade and then Alice.

The horde charged towards them, but they were faster as they ran away.

______*ten minutes later.*______

The trio was out of breath, they barely had time to rest for a minute just to recover, so right now they were inside a potion shop hiding from the crazed people of the slums, and they were completely wiped out.

The horde right outside the apartments was just the beginning, they ran into another one four minutes ago and had just barely gotten away.

Alice was badly bruised and had her right arm bandaged to stop a cut from bleeding, Karak was cut up In multiple places, he was bleeding slowly but surely, and Shade was certain he had a cracked bone somewhere.

"I can't find any healing potions, or anything that will help us......unless turning everyone blue or purple will help?" Alice asked.

Shade shook his head. "That won't do anything." He replied.

Karak looked at Shade. "You think any of this has to do with that story you told me about?" He wondered curiously.

"Maybe, but I doubt that it would do this alone, maybe Nightmare Moon's return was the catalyst for this somehow?" Shade suggested.

Alice looked at the two wolves and blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?" She asked.

Karak looked at Alice while Shade kept an eye out for anyone hostile to them. "We're trying to find out what caused this." He replied.

Alice sighed and leaned against the wall. "I honestly don't care about what caused this right now, I'm just worried about surviving." She stated.

Karak thought on this for a few moments, he then nodded and looked at Shade. "Then let's go and find the others, when we find them we can get out of here." He stated.

When the others nodded, they immediately jumped in shock as a Minotuar with glowing eyes broke through the wall behind them and broke several potions, they were ready to fight when the Minotuar simply charged back through the hole in the wall. "Let's get out of here." Shade said.

The trio immediately left the shop and were again out in the streets, they looked around and thankfully they didn't see any horde nearby or in sight. "Where would they go if they needed to hide?" Karak asked.

"Um.......maybe the Watering Hole?" Alice suggested.

Shade nodded. "It's as good a place as any to start looking." He agreed.

With that, the trio made their way carefully to the Watering Hole, they had to stop every now and then to avoid the occasional horde that passed them by, after ten to fifteen minutes however, they reached the Watering Hole and entered it.

The once lively bar was now a shadow of its former self, the tables and chairs were broken and all the bottles behind the bar were broken or shattered, there was nobody inside aside from the trio, they walked to the door leading to the bathrooms and stepped inside to search.

There was no one in the bathrooms, which disappointed them as they had to search elsewhere, which also meant they had to brave the horde yet again.

However, just as they went to leave, they heard loud banging on the entrance door. "Time to go!" Shade stated as he ran over to a window, he broke it open and hopped out, followed closely by Karak and Alice.

Shade quickly led the others down an alley and they came out on the other side of the street, they immediately regretted this as a horde of possessed citizens noticed them and charged them.

Karak groaned and used his magic, he cloaked them all and pulled them as he ran away, thankfully the horde didn't seem to be able to see them through their invisibility, as they searched the area they were previously in.

When he stopped running a few minutes later, Karak stopped using his magic and nearly collapsed, he fell to his knees and used his hands to hold himself up, he breathed heavily as the others kept an eye out. "Are you?....okay?" Alice asked out of concern.

Karak sat himself up and leaned against the wall of a nearby building, he was breathing heavily. "That magic......isn't attuned to my kind, it's incredibly draining to use, just give me a minute." He replied as he tried to recover.

Shade did not see any possessed nearby, and when he heard Alice walk over, he looked at her. "How is he?" He asked.

"He's alright, he just needs a minute." Alice replied as she crossed her arms. "Do you.....think something happened to them?" She asked.

Shade let the question sink in for a moment as he thought on it, he then shook his head. "All three of them are tough, I'm certain they'll be alright." He said, worry was clear in his voice though.

Alice patted Shade on the back, her expression was a sad one. "You don't have to lie to me, I'm aware that there is a possibility that they will be badly hurt, I just hope it doesn't happen." She replied.

Shade nodded and looked away, his eyes widened when he saw Ren and Syrin walking towards them, Ren was holding an unconscious Seth in her arms. "There they are!" He said as he walked over.

Karak looked up and smiled, he got up and walked over to them.

Alice immediately looked at her sister and Ren spoke. "We'll explain later, right now, let's get out of here." She said.

Shade heard a roar and spotted a horde charging at them full speed. "Run!" He shouted.

Syrin cast a spell and threw it at the incoming horde, almost immediately, a series of tools appeared and proceeded to trip the possessed as they ran.

The spell Syrin cast seemed to help greatly in the groups escape, as they made it most of the way to Scorpos without incident.

But just as they neared Scorpos, they saw a large mass of possessed blocking the street, they didn't notice them yet, which was good.

They all hid behind a wall and Shade peeked out. "We can't fight that many, and there isn't any other way into Scorpos, any other handy spells Syrin?" He asked as he looked at the unicorn.

Syrin shook her head. "Not unless you want them dead, my spells are mostly offensive." She explained.

Karak sighed and walked out from the alley. "What are you doing you lunatic!?" Shade asked.

The demon looked at Shade and grinned. "I'll distract them, you guys wait until the path is clear, I'll meet you there." He stated before charging out to the middle of the street. 

Shade sighed and waited with the others as Karak taunted the possessed horde. "Hey you! over here you mindless bastards!" The demon taunted, waving his hands.

The horde took the bait and immediately chased after Karak as fast as they could, the demon simply laughed at them as he ran off.

"Will he be alright?" Ren asked worriedly.

Syrin nodded. "Yea, he might not act like it, but he does know what he's doing." She answered.

The five of them quickly ran to where the horde used to be, they quickly ran by and kept on running, they ran for several minutes until they couldn't keep going.

When they all stopped, they rested at the corner of a book supply building, Ren set Seth down and rested her against the wall, she sat next to her and held her up.

Shade was leaning against the wall and saying nothing.

Alice and Syrin were sitting on the sidewalk and keeping quiet. "Do you think he'll find us?" Ren asked, worry was clear in her voice.

"He might, he might not, it's a big city." Shade answered as he rested.

A few minutes later, the group has decided to keep moving, and just after they got up, Karak appeared in the center of them all, sporting new cuts and bruises, he breathed heavily and spoke. "Ow." He muttered before staring to fall over.

Shade immediately caught him and helped him stand, he then let Karak use him to lean on. "Hang in there you psychopath, we are almost safe." He stated.

"Can I get that in writing?" Karak asked tiredly as he walked with Shade.

The group walked for a long while, they eventually reached what appeared to be a makeshift checkpoint made by the police, they tensed up when they saw the group, but calmed down when they saw none of them had glowing eyes.

The police did a quick check to make sure however, and then let them through.

_______*the next day, Merchant District hospital.*_______

Syrin sat in the chair next to the bed Seth was lying in, the room was clean and sterile, the walls were a light green, the room was open and large, clearly meant for multiple patients.

The night time had passed, and with it, all of the possessed returned to normal when they woke up, with no recollection of the previous night whatsoever.

She looked to her left and saw Ren keeping an eye on Seth, as well as holding the sleeping rabbits hand gently, they had been treated and bandaged already, the bad news was that the doctors said that Seth had entered a coma, and they didn't know how long it would be before she woke up, if at all.

Syrin decided to stretch her legs and stood up, she walked to the door and opened it, she walked out of the room and closed the door, the hospital was busy, but not so much that you couldn't walk through the halls.

She started walking through the hospital, staying out of the way of the staff as best she could, she walked through and found the room she was currently looking for.

She walked inside and found Shade, Alice and Storm laying in hospital beds, the doctors discovered that they had multiple heavy injuries and even some broken bones, they were fine now, they were just waiting on the Doctors to release them.

"How are doing guys?" Syrin asked as she entered the room.

Karak looked at Syrin and grunted. "I'm in a hospital, I'm horrible." He complained.

Shade raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing about it. "I felt better." He replied.

"Meh." Alice added.

Syrin walked into the room and was asked to explain what happened to her, Ren and Seth the previous day, she sat down and began to explain.

Syrin spent a good amount of time explaining the events of yesterday, and the doctor came in, did a quick check up and released them.

Alice and Shade were quick to stand up, Karak wasn't in so much of a hurry, thankfully the hospital provided some basic clothes for them, and they put them on.

Shade ended up with an old pair of blue jeans and a white tank top, Karak had a long pair of brown cargo pants and a blue shirt, while Alice had baggy black pants and a dark red long sleeved shirt.

The three waited for Syrin to finish her story, and when it was over and they had finished reacting, Alice seemed angry that Seth was a possessed, but she didn't seem willing to voice this.

"Let's go visit Seth and Ren hmm?" Karak said.

When they all reached the room where Ren and Seth were, they walked inside, closed the door and walked over.

"How is she?" Alice asked quietly.

Ren looked at the young rabbit. "She's in a coma, otherwise she's alright." She replied.

Karak heard footsteps nearing the room, he looked over and walked to the door, he opened the door and his eyes widened.

Standing in the doorway, with an equally surprised expression, was a pink Pegasus mare with a blue mane and a cutie mark of two blue thunder bolts, as well as purple eyes. "Storm?" She asked out of disbelief.

"Firefly?" He asked in response.

Karak quickly pulled Firefly into a hug which seemed to catch her off guard, but she soon returned it. "You have no idea how much I missed you." Karak whispered.

"Same here Demon Boy." Firefly replied as they seperated.

Firefly soon noticed Karak's bandages. "That's a nice look for you." She remarked with a smirk.

Karak rolled his eyes. "Ha ha." He mock laughed.

"But seriously, are you alright?" Firefly asked out of concern.

Karak nodded. "Yea, it was just some cuts and bruises, I'll probably be healed by tomorrow." He replied as he closed the door.

Firefly and Karak walked through the halls while they talked. "How have you been?" She asked.

Karak shrugged. "It's been tough, but I'm alright, all things considered." He replied. "And you? how are you holding up?" He asked.

"To be honest? I've been doing really well for myself, at least, when it comes to money and a place to live." Firefly answered.

They stopped when they reached a small waiting room and they sat down, the room was empty which was good for them to talk in private. "Where were you staying at?" She asked curiously.

Karak sat down in a chair next to Firefly. "I've been living in an apartment with three roommates, and more recently, four." He replied. "Syrin, Shade, Seth and Ren." He added. "What about you?" He asked.

"At first I was staying at a cheap hotel, it wasn't anything special, after that I moved into my own place in the Merchant district." Firefly explained. "You were in the Slums......right?" She asked quietly.

Karak nodded. "Yea, it's a good place to live actually, once you get used to it." He replied.

Firefly was quiet for a moment before sighing. "Karak, the Slums burned down overnight......the police report said it was caused by an illegal Banefire potion." She stated. [1]

Karak froze and sat in a stunned silence for several moments, and after a few minutes he spoke. "We're there any casualties?" He asked quietly.

Firefly examined Karak's expression for several moments before answering. "Not that I know of, all I know is that anyone hurt from last night was sent to the hospitals in this district." She replied.

After a deep breath, Karak stood up. "Come on, I want you to meet my new friends, one of them is in a coma right now so you'll have to wait on a proper introduction." He said.

Firefly nodded and stood up, she then followed Karak back to the room, as they walked, they watched as a very stressed Chameleon rushed past them, Karak seemed to be focused on him for some reason. "Do you know him?" Firefly asked.

Karak watched as the Chameleon rushed down a hallway and vanished from sight. "His name is Terrance, he works at the detox clinic." He explained.

Firefly looked at Karak with a raised eyebrow. "Do I want to know?" She asked.

Karak sighed. "My friend in the coma? Seth, she was a heavy user of Darket, it's a drug infused with Demon blood, long story short, I imagine that he was here to bring Seth back to the clinic." He replied.

After continued to walk in silence for a minute or so, having to stop every so often as doctors brought patients through, Firefly spoke. "You know, you could stay with me, all of you, I have too much room as it is." She offered.

Karak looked at her. "How much room exactly?" He asked.

"I live in one of those pocket dimensions right now, I'm planning on moving the house out of it soon, before you ask, it was the only one available at a decent price." She paused for a moment. "It has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, one of which doesn't have a shower or bath, there's one large room, and a kitchen." She explained.

Karak raised an eyebrow. "Why did you get such a big?.........oh." He said quietly.

The two reached the room and the door was open, Karak blinked and walked inside. "I'm back." He said.

Syrin looked at him. "Terrance showed up." She stated. 

Karak noticed that Ren's expression shifted to an angry one at the mention of the Chameleon, but it reverted to a neutral one soon after. "What happened?" He asked.

"We made a deal......mostly to keep Ren from killing the man." Shade stated as he stood up. "He said that as long as we keep him informed, and allow him to speak to Seth when she wakes up, then we could keep her with us." He explained.

Syrin soon noticed Firefly and her eyes widened. "Firefly?" She asked as she stood and walked over.

Karak walked to Shade as he watched Syrin and Firefly talk. "Did you hear about the Slums?" Shade asked.

"Yea, Firefly told me." Karak said.

Shade looked at Seth. "Terrance told us, but right now, we need somewhere to stay, I was going to start checking out hotels." He said.

Karak crossed his arms. "Firefly offered to let us stay at her house, we would be stupid to say no, especially since we don't have any money." He said.

Alice stood up and walked over to the two wolves. "As long as we have a room for Seth, the doctors told me that she can't stay here, but they're giving us special supplement pills, apparently they will keep her fed and hydrated just enough to survive." She sighed. "It's disgraceful." She muttered.

"But we can't do anything about it, so we might as well get Seth somewhere safe." Shade said.
> Changes.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

______*Equestria, The city of Atera, Firefly's house, The Merchant district, 10:12 AM*______

Seth simply sat in shock, dumbfounded by the revelation that her home, the one place she felt safe and happy, was gone, she took a deep breath as felt her hands shake, she stared down at the blankets she was under.

Ren was silent, clearly intending to give her time to process this news, but right now all Seth wanted was for her to speak, anything would have been fine, so long as it wasn't silence.

After about five minutes of agonizing silence, Seth spoke. "How......long was I out?" She asked quietly.

"Seth.....are you sure you want to know that right now?" Ren asked out of concern.

The rabbit just nodded slowly. "Better to get the shock out of the way now." She muttered, though in truth she hoped that Ren wouldn't say.

"You were......in a coma for a month." Ren explained.

Seth blinked and looked at Ren, she then looked at her arms, just by looking at them she could tell that she was malnourished, and a growl from her stomach confirmed her hunger. "A whole month?" She asked out of disbelief. "Why am I here then? and not in a hospital?" She asked.

Ren bit her lip and looked away, her intent was to avoid the question, but Seth noticed the anger in her eyes. "They wouldn't keep you there." She said with barely contained hatred. "They gave us pills to keep you alive and that was it." She stated.

Seth blinked as she noticed the slight tremble in Ren's hands, she slowly placed her own hand on hers and smiled weakly. "Lets just......focus on one thing at a time, how uh, how is everyone?" She asked.

Ren seemed to be pleased with the change in subject. "Well, as you probably realized already, Storm is doing great." She smiled as she suppressed a laugh at Seth's grumble and mention of 'ridiculous' wake up calls.

"He and Firefly are back together, and he seems a lot happier, Syrin is doing just fine, she found work and even went out with a few different people." Ren continued.

"Shade was broken up when he heard that Denol had been badly hurt in the madness that night, when he recovered, he just went back to Night Wolf territory, leaving the Waterfall behind.....it closed a week later, Shade himself is still here, he's doing better now." She said.

"Alice was probably the most frantic out of us all, she was so tense for most of the month, between taking care of you, and her kleptomania flaring up, I was afraid she was going to go crazy." Ren said, she shook her head. "You would be so proud of her, she kept it together, if just barely." She added.

Seth said nothing and looked back down, she let out a small smile and spoke. "Ren, where are my clothes?" She asked curiously.

Ren stood up. "I'll go get them, try not to move around that much okay?" She asked as she walked out of the room.

Seth sat in silence for a few moments before grunting and throwing the blankets off, she then moved herself to the edge of the bed, she took a deep breath and got off the bed, instantly regretting her decision as she wobbled and nearly collapsed.

As such, she immediately got back under the covers and laid down, just as she did so, Ren came back in with a set of clothes.

Seth grabbed them and recognized them as her favorite windbreaker pants and purple tee shirt, she threw the shirt and pants on the bed, she looked at Ren. "Thanks......say, could you tell me where things are? like the bathroom for instance?" She asked.

Ren nodded and proceeded to describe the layout of the house, it was actually very similar to Seth's old apartment, the front door led to the living room, the kitchen was opposite that, and the four rooms were seperated, one connected to the living room, one was next to a bathroom in a small hallway, and there was another hallway that had four doors, one was another bathroom, one was a closet and the other two were bedrooms. "Wait a minute." Seth said.

Ren blinked and became silent as Seth spoke. "Where have you been sleeping?" Seth asked curiously.

Rolling her eyes, Ren answered. "Calm down, Alice and me shared a room." She replied.

Seth sighed and leaned back. "Does everyone know I'm awake?" She asked.

Ren nodded in confirmation. "I told them to wait until you were ready before giving you the welcome back party." She said as she reached over started to rub behind Seth's right ear.

Seth smiled a little bit, she then closed her eyes. "Mm.......i forgot how nice this was." She whispered.

Ren chuckled. "Well don't get used to it, I have to get to work, I have plenty of cases to work on." She said before standing up and walking to the door.

Seth smirked. "Before you go." She said.

The fox stopped and looked at Seth who motioned her over, she walked back to the bed and stood next to it. "Yea?" She asked.

"Come closer, I can barely move you know." Seth teased.

Ren leaned in closer, and Seth pulled her closer and planted her lips on the foxes, Ren was surprised but didn't fight the kiss.

Seth pulled out of the kiss and spoke quietly. "Go get em........also, can you tell the others not to jump me when I leave the room? I haven't pissed in a month." She whispered.

Ren smirked and walked to the door, she left and Seth lie in silence for a moment, she soon threw the covers off attempted to stand up again.

This attempt was better than the last one, as she felt like she wouldn't collapse at a moments notice, she took a deep breath and walked to the door.

When she reached the door, Seth felt nervous, because for the first time in a long time, she was in an unfamiliar place, she had no idea what to expect from this point on, she mustered her courage walked out of the room.

The rest of the house was bright compared to her room, Seth grunted as she shielded her eyes until they adjusted.

Once her eyes adjusted, Seth immediately searched for the bathroom, not truly caring about the details right now.

Seth learned that her room was in the hallway, she opened the neighboring door and discovered a bathroom, she stepped inside. "What the?" A few seconds later, Shade was flung out. "Aaaah!" He cried out.

The bathroom was larger than the one Seth used to have, there was a bathtub with a shower head, a sink with a cabinet, a medicinal cabinet mirror, and of course, a toilet.

After she closed the door and relieved herself, Seth walked to the shower and pulled the shower curtains down, she then began to fiddle with the temperature until she found what she was looking for.

Seth stepped into the shower and sighed in relief as the water pelted her fur, the water going down the drain was slightly brown due to the buildup of different things such as dust or sweat.

Once she was thoroughly drenched, Seth looked around and spotted a bottle of shampoo, she grabbed it and saw that it was three in one, shampoo, conditioner and body wash, she shrugged and poured it onto her hands.

Seth washed herself very thoroughly and soon, she exited the shower, upon exiting, she noticed that someone had popped in and placed her clothes on the sink's small countertop, and that there was a towel right next to her, she grabbed it and began to dry herself off.

After a few minutes, Seth threw the towel in a laundry hamper and walked to the mirror, she looked into the mirror and blinked in confusion.

Seth's burn mark around her left eye was gone, no......not gone, but lessened, she reached up and felt it, she winced at the still sore spot, she lowered her hand and grabbed her clothes.

After slipping her clothes on, she noticed that there was an odd patch of black on the left shoulderblade, she blinked at it but decided not to do anything about it.

Walking out of the bathroom, she was greeted by Shade who was leaning on the opposite wall with an annoyed expression. "Not awake for even an hour and you throw me out of the bathroom, I can tell you missed me." He said.

Seth just flipped him off casually. "You go a month without relieving yourself, then see what you do." She countered.

Shade gave a half nod and then gave a soft chuckle. "It's good to have you back Seth." He said before stepping away from the wall, he then motioned down the hall. "Feeling up to a reunion?" He asked.

Seth stared at the Night Wolf curiously for a few moments, examining him, and now that she was paying attention, she realized that he seemed a lot less scruffy now, while he still had the thick fur, he seemed to have trimmed it as well as cleaned up it greatly, he also had clothes that didn't seem permanently dirty, a pair of blue jeans and a brown hoodie, he still had his old beanie though, she soon spoke. "Who all is here?" She asked.

"Me, Alice, Karak and Syrin." Shade answered easily.

Seth sighed and nodded. "Just so long as I can sit down." Her stomach growled. "And get some food." She added.

Shade smirked and motioned for Seth to follow. "Come on." He said.

With that, Seth followed Shade into a large room that combined a living room and kitchen, much like her old apartment.

Upon entering the room, Seth heard an excited gasp followed by running, her eyes widened and she looked over just in time for Alice to throw her arms around her in a crushing bear hug. "Your awake!" The young rabbit said happily.

Seth gasped for air which went unnoticed by her litter sister, in reply, she quickly tickled Alice's right ear.

Alice yelped and released Seth, she back up and then laughed nervously as she twiddled her thumbs. "S-sorry." She whispered.

Seth looked around and saw Syrin looking up at her from her book, she smiled and nodded at her, the unicorn had let her hair grow a little longer, it now rested comfortably on her neck and she didn't look nearly as stressed out now, like a weight was lifted from her shoulders.

Seth returned the gesture, the walls of the living room were a pleasant faded blue and the floor was covered in a warm brown carpet, there was a couch, a sofa and a chair, all light blue in color, there was a decently sized table that could seat four behind the couch, her bare feet wiggled on the soft carpet and she examined the kitchen, it's walls were made of some kind of solid material, the floor was gray and white tile. from first glance, there was an oven, a refrigerator and a sink, as well as several cabinets.

Finally, Seth returned her gaze to her little sister, her fur was far cleaner than it once was, and she looked healthier too, she no longer had those dirty clumps of fur that she used to be unable to get rid of, and she also looked like she had actually slept longer than four hours, she was wearing a dark red tee shirt and a pair of black sweatpants, what surprised Seth though was that she was wearing a silver band on her right arm, she was nervous and occasionally looking up at her big sister.

Seth smiled and walked over to Alice, she then gave her sister a soft hug and spoke quietly. "Did you miss me my little pickpocket?" She asked.

Alice laughed quietly at the nickname. "Shut up Angel." She whispered in good humor.

When the sisters released the hug, Shade spoke. "Angel?" He asked curiously.

"It's a nickname Alice came up with when we were kids, it's basically my middle name Angelica." Seth explained.

Shade blinked. "And yet you hate it when people call you Sethy." He muttered as he walked to the kitchen.

Seth walked to the sofa and sat down, sighing in relief as she did so, her legs had started to feel wobbly, Alice sat down next to her and spoke. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

"All things considered, im.....alright, starving, I feel weak, and I have a headache that won't go away." Seth replied as she leaned back with her eyes closed. "What about you sis? you still stealing?" She asked quietly, opening her left eye to look at her.

Alice smiled and crossed her arms. "Two weeks straight, I still get the urges, but I'm working on it." She replied proudly.

"Speaking of which.......did anyone manage to save anything from home?" Seth asked.

This time it was Shade who answered. "Alice managed to save a few things amongst the rubble, your footlocker for one, and that book of yours." He said.

Seth opened her eyes and looked at Alice. "They are in your room, don't worry." The younger rabbit answered.

With that, Seth became silent as she stared down at the floor, lost in thought, it was only a couple of minutes until Shade set some sandwiches on the coffee table for Seth, which she took wordlessly and munched on, not really caring what was in them.

Shade sat down next to Syrin and closed his eyes as he sat back, the only sounds in the room was Seth quietly eating.

Once she finished her first sand which though, she spoke. "You know, I can tell you all want to ease me in to this new place and all, considering the demon blood, but I'm not going to shatter into a vegetable, this silence is more dammning than anything else." Seth said as she grabbed the other sandwich.

"Yea, that would be the residual effects." Came Storm's voice, Seth looked over at him, the wolf was wearing what appeared to be dark purple and black pajama pants and a black tee shirt, he had his usual grin on his face as he walked over and sat down in the chair. 

Storm just chuckled as Seth flipped him off. "You missed it and you know it." He said teasingly.

Seth swallowed and looked at the demon. "I despise the mornings, so no.....I didn't miss it." She stated as she took another bite out of her sandwich, after a moment, Seth swallowed and spoke. "What do you mean residual?" She asked curiously.

Storm shrugged. "Simple, while you were in a coma, I took it upon myself to purge you of the demon blood, it took most of the month, but by now you will only feel the residual effects." He explained. "You can still sense intent, but it will mostly be a whisper, as opposed to the clear message that I can read, it shouldn't have any other effect though, so you should be clean in about four days." He added.

Seth nodded and returned to eating, she had the urge to vomit for some reason but she fought it down, she set the sandwich down and spoke. "How......how's Ren doing? she didn't say anything about that when I asked." She asked.

Syrin sighed and set her book down after marking the page, she looked at Seth. "It was hard for her, she was in your room so much and for so long we had to remind her to eat half the time." She shook her head. "It was hard on all of us, for a wide variety of reasons, it doesn't help that Ren was about to rip Terrance's throat out at all times." She said.

Seth stiffened at the mention of the doctor, she looked at Syrin. "Terrance as in....doc Terrance?" She asked nervously.

With a nod, Syrin spoke. "Yea, him, he made a deal with Shade that we would keep him informed on your state of mind." She replied.

When Seth's eyes widened her eyes turned to slits and her breathing became more erratic.

Alice was immediately in front of Seth, she held her sisters face and stared straight into her eyes. "Calm down!" She snapped.

Seth blinked, her eyes slowly returned to normal but her breathing remained the same. "You aren't going back there Seth." Alice whispered. "That's a promise." She added.

Even with Alice comforting Seth, it still took around twenty minutes for her to calm down, Alice and Shade had helped her back to her room once she had spaced out.

______*later that day, 6:45 PM.*______

Shade was currently leaning back on the couch without going into a reclined position, he was resting his eyes he heard talking behind him, he cracked on eye open and looked around.

Firefly had gotten home not long ago and properly met Seth for the first time, they spent most of the time talking on various topics, one of which involved Storm.

Ren got back around four and had immediately crashed on the sofa from exhaustion, effectively stopping anyone else from using it, and when she was asked to go to her bed to rest, she simply replied. "Piss off." Before closing her eyes.

Syrin simply sat on the floor reading while Storm was at work, he had gotten a job as the janitor at the local school, which he had simply grinned and said. "Imagine the parents reactions when their kids tell them about the 'demon' janitor."

Apparently he had no concern about losing his job, even though he stated that he held on to the ones he could get.

Alice sat next to Shade, clearly bored, as was evident by the slight twitch of her hands and right ear.

Shade smiled and closed his eye, soon though, he felt something warm lean on his chest, he opened his right eye and looked, he saw that Alice was leaning on him and smiling up at him, she had only recently gotten home, and didn't seem to care about changing clothes, she was wearing a dark blue long sleeved shirt and gray windbreaker pants.

He gave her a soft smile before wrapping his right arm around her, while using his left to gently rub her left ear. 

Alice said nothing but let out a satisfied sigh in reply, to which Shade soon felt cold and deadly eyes upon him. "Danger." He said to himself.

Shade carefully looked over his shoulder and saw Seth glaring at him with a hostile expression, he silently turned around and looked forward, he then stopped rubbing Alice's ear. "Why'd you stop?" Alice complained in a whisper.

"My hand is tired." Shade lied as he tried to rest.

Alice gained a gained a grin. "You know, why don't i just do this?" She asked as she repositioned herself so that her head was resting on his shoulder and her left arm was around his waist.

Shade felt the glare intensify behind him and he looked over again, and he was certain that if looks could kill, he would be six feet under right now.

Seth looked like she was ready to pounce, her eyes revealed her anger and Shade gulped as he looked forward again. 'Yea, probably should have mentioned this earlier.' He thought to himself.

_______*four days later, 10:01 AM*______

Shade felt like the world was out to get him for some reason, not only did Seth seem to want to attack him whenever he was with Alice, but the cold glaring only got worse after the sleeping arrangements shifted.

Ren had moved into the same room as Seth, which was good except for one thing.

Syrin apparently knew about Seth's glaring and decided to be funny, she and Alice swapped rooms, meaning that Shade was now in the same room as Alice every night, which seemed to tick Seth off to no end.

And that's how Shade ended up sleeping on the couch, and when Alice asked why, he told her exactly why. "Because I don't want to be murdered by your sister." He said.

That was followed by a very heated argument between the sisters, where Alice explained that she and Shade started dating five days ago.

And then Ren got involved in the argument and promptly ended it by stating very clearly that Alice hadn't opposed their relationship and that Seth should do the same, and give them some space, the older rabbit clearly wasn't happy about this, but didn't say anything else on the subject, what concerned Shade even more was that she hadn't glared at him since.

Shade had been woken up by Storm's wake up call, Alice woke up as well with a groan. "I swear, Seth gets better and he starts this shit up." She complained.

Nodding, Shade and Alice got out of bed so they could get ready.

Their room had faded green walls, and brown carpet, there used to be one dresser and a cabinet, but now it was two dressers and no cabinet.

As they left the room, they exited into the hallway, and they saw Ren leave the bathroom, she looked back at them and grinned. "Waters hot." She whispered before walking away.

Shade noticed that Alice's ears shot straight up and remained like that for a while, he raised an eyebrow. "I'll wait for you to finish." He said before heading to the living room.

The door behind him opened he heard footsteps, he just kept on moving.

Meanwhile, Seth was talking to Alice. "What happened?" She asked curiously.

Alice blinked and her ears relaxed. "I swear, I'm going to kill Ren......I'm going to kill her." She muttered as she entered the bathroom.

Seth was now alone in the hallway, with a confused expression. "What the fuck did I miss this time?" She wondered.

Shade smelled food cooking and he saw Storm making breakfast once again. "You know, if you don't let someone else cook, you'll burn yourself out." He said.

Storm chuckled. "I suppose so, fine, I won't cook for a week, not counting today of course." He replied before getting back to work.

Shade looked around and he saw Ren sitting in the chair, Firefly and Syrin on the sofa, he walked to the couch and sat down, he rubbed his eyes and stretched a little bit.

Seth was quiet and refused to sit next to Shade, so she sat down at the table behind the couch. "Hey Seth, do you if I ask you something?" Firefly wondered.

The rabbit looked at the Pegasus mare and shrugged. "Go ahead." She replied.

"What were they like? the slums?" Firefly asked curiously.

Seth sighed and leaned forward on the table, she rested her head on her arms. "It was the shining jewel of Atera, if you knew where to look, there were so many amazing shops and people there." She smiled a little. "Coming from someone who has lived on all sides, from rich to poor?" She chuckled. "The merchant and rich district are crap compared to that." She replied.

Soon though, Alice stepped into the living room as Karak finished cooking. "Just as a heads up, starting tomorrow I am taking a break from cooking, so good luck on food." He stated.

After they ate and cleaned up, Shade stood up at the same time as Seth, the rabbit sighed and sat back down. "Go ahead, i have no plans anyway." She said.

With a nod, Shade walked to his room and grabbed a clean set of clothes, he then walked to the bathroom and entered it.

While Shade took his shower, the others talked or did their own thing. "You really need to set up a second shower or bath." Seth observed.

"Thanks for agreeing with me." Syrin said as she walked to her room which was behind a door in the corner of the living room.

Firefly stretched and looked at Seth. "I would if I could afford it, this house isn't cheap, and neither is the space." She stated as she rested her head on the side of the couch. "Heck, I made just enough money to buy food and make payments, that's it." She added.

Seth said nothing as she rested head on her palm, her elbow resting on the table. "You feel up for exploring?" Ren asked suddenly.

Seth glanced over at Ren with a raised eyebrow. "Yea, that's smart, take the unstable basket case out to explore, it can't possibly go wrong." She said sarcastically, chuckling a little.

"I don't see what's so funny, getting some fresh air might do you some good." Ren replied.

Seth rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say ma'am." She said as she closed her eyes.

After seven minutes, Shade walked out into the living room and headed for the kitchen, Seth watched in curiosity as he quickly put together two sandwiches and grabbed three bottles of water. "Work I'm assuming?" She asked.

Shade looked at Seth and nodded before setting everything in a lunch box, he then closed it and walked to the door. "See you all later." He said.

"Before you ask, he volunteered for the Slums cleanup crew, he gets paid decently and he claims it's worth it." Ren stated as she stretched her arms.

Seth stood up and walked to the couch, she sat down and leaned back, her eyes closed.

While Seth had been hoping to get some extra sleep, Ren stood up and ruined this plan. "Come on Sethy, get up, we are going now." The fox said.

Seth looked at Storm and growled as he chuckled at the nickname. "Alright already, leave me be." She complained as she stood up.

"Let's get going then." Ren said.

With a grumble, Seth followed Ren to the door and the fox handed her something familiar, it was a gray beanie with slight burn marks in it.

Seth put the beanie on and Ren opened it, she walked outside as the rabbit followed, looking around.

Outside of Firefly's house was a neighborhood similar to the one from the Slums pocket dimension, only this one was larger in length.

Seth followed Ren begrudgingly and they soon reached a plain wooden door connected to a wooden building, Ren opened the door and walked inside, motioning for Seth to follow.

They exited out onto a street, but this entrance wasn't hidden or guarded, the Merchant district was far cleaner than the slums, the buildings looked newer and were not very dirty, another thing was the buildings also didn't appear to be made from a multitude of different materials.

Ren showed Seth that practically everything that was in their surrounding area, the shops, the restaurants, the bazaar were merchants set up and sold their goods, she even showed her a few apartments, which were actually triple the price for the same quality that Seth's old apartment was.

Ren even brought Seth to her preferred hangout on stake outs, a small building overlooking a public park, if it could be called that, it was small and the few trees that were there were dead.

"At least the grass is alive." Ren said.

Seth simply sighed as they walked away from the park. "I swear, there's no respect in that place." She muttered.

After about an hour of walking around, and a quick bite to eat, Ren and Seth headed back to Firefly's.

_______*later that day.*______

Ren sighed as she looked at Seth, they were both on the roof of the small building overlooking the park, and Ren did not like where this was going.

Seth had a bottle of water and a medium sized box of fries, she was sitting against the wall, her ears down behind her head as she munched on her fries, occasionally peaking out.

Shade and Alice were out on a date tonight, and Seth had clearly disapproved, which was why she had a small pile of walnuts next to her, Ren was here mostly to ensure that Seth didn't do anything to actually ruin the date......aside from pelt Shade with walnuts of course.

That did make for an interesting few minutes, as Ren tried to understand why Seth insisted that she buy a bag of walnuts, and now she knew why.

Ren sat down next to Seth and peeked over towards the park, Shade and Alice were at least a hundred feet away, which helped to reduce Seth's chances of hitting him with a walnut.

Seth grabbed a walnut and peeked over the wall, she then aimed and Ren spoke. "They are one hundred feet away at least, there is no way your are going to-" She went silent as Seth launched the walnut and about three seconds later Shade clutched his right arm in pain as he walked. "Who threw that!?" He called out.

Seth and Ren ducked behind the wall and Seth grinned. "Shut it." Ren said firmly.

Minutes passed by as Shade and Alice walked together, the Night Wolf was wearing a gray sweatshirt and matching sweatpants, he was also wearing a beanie to help keep his head warm.

Alice was wearing a dark purple skirt that stopped just above her knees, a dark gray shirt with a large cross on the back, and a silver bracelet on her right arm. 

The two were walking together for a while now and they just stopped in front of a fountain.

Seth watched them like a hawk as Ren spoke. "No matter what they do, don't do anything to stop it, they need to go at their own pace." Ren said calmly.

At this, the rabbit looked at her girlfriend. "Says the one saying that the water was hot! why the fuck did you pull that stunt anyway?" She accused.

Ren rolled her eyes and patted Seth's shoulder. "The reaction was priceless Sethy, I couldn't resist." She replied.

Seth growled and went back to watching. "You are very lucky that Shade doesn't understand what you were actually talking about, or we would have a body on our hands." She stated.

Ren said nothing as they watched for different reasons, soon though, Seth growled as Shade took Alice's hand and the two slowly danced, the park was now empty of all but two people, and the moonlight combined with the lamps illuminated the park very nicely.

Ren had one hand on Seth's back and felt the rabbit tense up when Alice suddenly jumped up, wrapped her legs around Shade's waist and her arms behind his back. "If they kiss, I will murder that wolf, i swear I will." Seth said with a growl.

And then the two kissed, and Ren quickly pulled Seth back before she could leap. "Motherfu-" Seth was about to shout out but Ren muffled her by using her hand to cover the rabbits mouth.

Ren quickly pinned Seth down and glared at her. "Knock it off." She ordered. "Your sister is old enough to make her decisions, stop trying to control that!" She added, anger in her voice.

Seth stopped struggling and her eyes showed regret for a moment, Ren removed her hand and Seth spoke. "That idiot is lucky he doesn't know what's going on." She mumbled.

Ren didn't release her grip, she kept the rabbit pinned down in case she tried something.

Seth waited for a few minutes before speaking. "So uh.......are you going to let me go at some point?" She asked. "Otherwise, take me home and tie me up, so we can have some fun." She stated.

Ren sighed and released her grip, she then leaned down and kissed Seth, the rabbit returned the kiss passionately and after a while they seperated.

Seth did notice Ren was still holding her down. "Seriously, can you just take me back and leave me for a while?" She asked.

Ren looked over the wall and saw that Alice and Shade were walking away from the pocket dimension. "You know what, we have the house to ourselves for most of the day, we can have some fun if your feeling up to it.......no sex." She added that last part when she saw Seth grin.

_______*five minutes later.*_______

Syrin was sitting across from Doctor Terrance at a café, she took a sip from her tea and looked at the chameleon. "In my professional opinion, I can safely say that we need more time and observation, has Seth said or done anything of importance?" He asked.

"Well...." Syrin started for a moment. "We were just sitting around and talking, your name came up and Seth panicked for some reason, why would she do that?" She asked.

Terrance took a sip from his coffee before answering the unicorn. "If I could answer that question, I would." He sighed. "When I first met Seth, the first thing she did was try to attack me, then we gave her some medication to help curb her anger, the next time I met her, she cowered in the corner, refusing to look at me, afterwards I wore a mask and covered my body." 

Syrin listened as the doctor took another sip. "Under the guise of Doctor Crowley, I was finally able to make even the slightest amount of progress, she talked to me in an incoherent manner consistent to trauma patients, I asked her why she disliked me, and she froze, she looked at me with frightened eyes and said that I was a 'lightbringer' sent to kill her." He shook his head while Syrin drank her tea.

"I was perplexed to say the least, but that was how our first two weeks were, I asked her about lightbringers and she told me about them with disturbing detail, I won't go into the specifics but she seemed to believe that i was one of them, and that I sought her death because she was nocturnal or something." Terrance seemed to space out while he drank his coffee.

Soon though, he changed the topic. "How is she recovering? i imagine that waking up after being in a coma for a month was a lot to take in." Terrance wondered.

Syrin finished off her tea and set the cup down. "She's......alright, all things considered anyway, she needs time to sort things out, but I think the largest blow was learning about the Slums." She replied.

"Are sure that was wise? telling her about that while she's in withdrawal?" Terrance asked.

Syrin sighed and looked up at the sky. "She was bound to find out sooner or later, we all agreed that it would be better to let her know and help her through it, than to let her find out through one of us letting it slip, it would be obvious anyway, considering where we were." She explained.

Soon enough, a Pegasus stallion with blue fur and a yellow mane walked up to them. "Hey folks, how are you doing over here?" He asked with a friendly tone.

"We are doing good." Terrance replied.

The stallion nodded. "Can I get you anything else?" He asked.

"just the check." Syrin replied.

With a final nod the stallion walked off into the café.

Terrance placed a hand into his jackets pocket and spoke. "Thank you for telling me this, I recieved quite an earful from my superiors when they found out I let you take Seth with you instead of to the center." He chuckled. "This should help clear the air a little." He said.

"What do you mean let us?" Syrin asked. "Ren was ready to tear your throat out when you showed up." She added quietly.

Terrance nodded. "I am well aware of that, I was just stating what is on the report." The waiter returned and gave them the check, which they both paid and the Doctor stood up. "I may not show it easily, but I do care about my patients, if you can, try to get Seth to talk to me, even if you all must be there, it would help me if I could actually talk to her for once." He said.

Syrin stood and looked at him. "I can't make any promises, if she asks me to drop the issue I will, I won't force her to do something." She said.

Terrance nodded. "I understand." He replied. "Until next time Ms Syrin." He said before turning to walk away.

"Just call me Syrin Doc." She said.

The Doctor nodded and walked off.

______*Firefly's house, twelve minutes later.*______

Ren sighed as Seth laughed like a maniac, at some point, the rabbit had snuck off with a small amount of money and bought some itching powder, she then proceeded to plant it on every set of clothing Shade had.

'I am doing nothing to ruin their relationship, so you can't say shit about a prank." Seth's excuse had been, and as much as Ren hated to admit it, it would be hilarious to see Shade scratching his armpits or his crotch at random moments throughout the day.

"Just don't do any pranks you'll regret later ok?" Ren asked.

Seth reached and put her arms behind her head, a large smirk on his face. "Yes ma'am, speaking of things I'll regret." She winked and walked to her room.

Ren chuckled and followed her girlfriend, well aware of what she wanted. "Be patient Angel dear." She teased.

Seth groaned. "Craaaap! I don't need you teasing me with that name too!" She complained.

Ren just smiled as she leaned in the doorway, watching as Seth opened the bottom drawer of her dresser. "Don't get too excited Seth, you don't want to get bored." She said.

Seth just flipped her off and Ren closed her eyes. 'It isn't perfect, but if she can have these moments of happiness, there's hope for her yet.' She thought.
> Coping.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of rapidly moving footsteps echoed through the empty halls, the dark corridors lit only by dying lights that barely illuminated themselves.

A shadow ran through the halls as fast as its feet could carry it, panicked breathing and gasps of fear were followed by rapid footsteps as the shadow turned a corner into a brighter hallway.

Seth looked over her shoulder and saw a tall shadow following her at a marching pace, it held no weapon, but it's intimidating figure made it far too menacing to confront.

"There is no point nor sense in running you foolish girl!" The shadow declared in a furious tone. "Come back to us and all will be forgiven!" It stated.

Seth looked ahead of her and continued running as fast as she could in a vain attempt to get away, she rounded a corner and the shadow appeared behind her, keeping up even without running. "You cannot escape me Seth, I will always catch you wherever you run." The shadow said.

Suddenly, two shadow hands appeared on each side of the hallway, the fingers became like talons as the one on the left extended to the end of the hall and then pulled back.

Seth immediately dodged to the right on instinct as her fear grew, she looked back and the shadow pulled back with its right arm.

She quickly moved to the left and soon reached a door, she burst through it and was suddenly falling. "Aaaaaaaahhh!" 

Seth screamed as she fell, and when she landed she cried out as she felt an excruciating pain shoot through her legs, she tried to lift herself up when she heard something in front of her.

Looking up, she saw Ren, Alice, Syrin and Storm, Shade and Firefly ahead of her. "Help!" She cried out, but to her horror, no sound came out.

They all started to walk away and Seth tried to call out to them, but to no avail, a laugh rang in her ears and her eyes became as wide as saucers, she looked behind her and saw nothing.

"Poor poor Seth, all alone in a sea of gloom, her friends unable to sense her doom." A familiar voice said tauntingly.

Then came footsteps, they got louder and louder as they got closer. "It's pathetic really, you talk a big game, you have a reputation that warns people to stay away.....and now we see the truth." 

Seth felt her fear skyrocket once she saw the owner of the voice, it was herself! but the copy had glowing teal eyes, and a psychotic grin on her face. "You are nothing......a frightened child afraid of her own shadow, a coward, unwilling to fight back." The copies voice had a strange echo to it, it leaned down and stared at Seth. "Your nothing more than a pet, you claim to not trust others but you ended up depending on three strangers for sanity." The copy then rose to its full height and grabbed something on its back. 

Seth gasped in fear as the copy grabbed hold of an axe. "When I kill your girlfriend, I'll make sure to send her your regards." It held the axe up in the air. "Nighty night!" It swung down and Seth closed her eyes.

____*?*____

Seth screamed as she shot up in bed, sweat and tears drenched her fur, her breathing was ragged and panicked.

"Was it another nightmare?" Ren asked quietly as she gently hugged the rabbit.

Seth looked at the fox with fear in her eyes, she soon rested her head on Ren and she cleared her throat, she calmed her breathing down just enough to talk. "I.....I." She shivered. "Yea......I, I just." She rambled shakily.

Ren pulled away from the hug and looked into Seth's eyes, her pupils were tiny and her eyes wide in fear. "It's alright Seth." She said softly while gently rubbing the rabbits left ear. "You know you can tell me what's wrong." She whispered.

Seth took a few deep breaths while pushing Ren's hand away. "I......I'm not a pet, I'm not." She mumbled.

"Is that what this is about?" Ren asked, her tone was one of concern and confusion.

Turning her head, Seth looked at the fox and shook her head. "No.......I just, I don't want to talk about it right now." She replied.

Ren reached her hand out and pulled Seth close, lying her down. "H-hey! what are you doing?" Seth protested, but she didn't resist. "I'm trying to calm you down." The fox explained softly.

"You don't have to crush me to do it." Seth complained, but she didn't try to move. "Is it working?" Ren asked curiously.

Seth took a deep breath and rested her head on her pillow, it was damp from sweat and tears but better than nothing. "Yes." She admitted.

After a few minutes, Ren spoke. "Now, what's this about you being a pet?" She demanded answers, and from the tone in her voice, she wanted them now.

Seth sighed and shifted a little. "It's just.......your always taking charge, and, rubbing my ears kind of like I used to do with my old cat......." She trailed off.

Ren smiled and slowly rubbed the rabbits ear. "Hey, we established that I was the dominant one here, or did you forget that Sethy?" She whispered.

Seth flipped herself so that she was staring into Ren's blue eyes. "Who decided this?" She asked, not remembering the answer.

Ren winked and gave Seth a quick kiss. "You did Angel, but I haven't heard you complain before." She stated calmly.

Seth bit her lip. "Well......fine, you got me there." She admitted before closing her eyes.

The two lay in silence for several minutes, it seemed like neither would move......until Ren spoke. "Come on Seth, you need to get up, we need to clean up." She said.

Seth opened her eyes. "Make me." She challenged.

Ren grinned and moved her hand, she lightly tapped the base of the rabbit's right ear and Seth immediately shot up and got out of bed, she looked at Ren with irritation. "I've told you not to touch that!" She snapped, but she wasn't angry, just startled.

Ren got out of bed and winked at her girlfriend. "Not my fault you told me about rabbit mating rituals, you could have kept quiet." She pointed out.

"Whatever." Seth pouted as she leaned against the wall.

While Ren took the blanket and sheet as well as the pillow cases to be washed, Seth was left alone with her thoughts, as well as her fears. 'Just like before.' The taunting voice of her copy said.

Seth ears snapped up and she looked around frantically. 'You can say it as much as you like, but without taking the initiative? it's just empty words.' It stated, it's tone was calm.

The copy appeared on the bed, with a cocky smile and a knowing gaze. "Go away." Seth said, fear was clear in her voice.

"And why should i? after all, your too afraid to do anything, you radiate it so much that I'm shocked that the demon didn't say anything." The copy stated.

Seth shivered unconsciously, she clenched her fist before speaking. "Get out of my head, your just a hallucination." She stated, fear was still very present, but so was anger.

The copy laughed before standing and walking over to Seth. "You don't get it do you? I'm no hallucination, I'm you, the part of you that wants freedom, to stop being a coward." It chuckled. "One day, you'll let me in willingly, I just need to wait." It stated before vanishing.

Seth took a deep breath to help herself calm down, and she soon heard the door open. "Hey Seth, help me with the bedding will you?" Ren asked.

After helping Ren out with the bedding and getting it all set up, Seth sat down on the bed along with Ren. "I'm going to get the bedding washed now, afterwards I'm heading out for a while." Ren explained.

"Do you want me to pick anything up for you on the way back?" The fox asked.

Seth looked at her girlfriend for a moment before sighing. "Just.......just a sandwich or something." She replied.

Ren nodded and stood up. "You'll be on your own here until I get back, most likely." She stated.

Seth raised an eyebrow at the statement but didn't say anything, instead she stood and walked to the other side of the bed, she grabbed something and tossed it to Ren.

The fox rolled her eyes. "Alright Sethy, if your sure." 

_______*Later.*_______

Karak walked up to the front door of the house, he had just gotten back and was looking froward to relaxing, he pulled out his key and unlocked the front door, he walked inside and closed the door. 

"Anyone else here!?" He called out.

After a few moments of silence, Karak sighed and dropped his lunchbox on the counter and left his jacket on the coat rack, he then walked to his room and grabbed a change of clothes.

Karak set his change of clothes in the bathroom as a thought popped into his head. 'I should probably check on Seth.' He thought.

He walked to the door to Seth and Ren's room, he knocked on the door and got no reply after a few moments, he opened the door and peaked inside.

Karak spotted Seth's head lying on her pillow. "Go away." Seth's voice said.

"After everything I did for you Seth? I'm hurt." Karak replied.

Seth didn't face him when she spoke. "What do you want Karak?" She asked quietly.

"For one, when the others get back we are having dinner." The demon stated.

Seth sighed and shifted a little under the covers. "I'll.....be out in a bit." She replied.

If Karak was annoyed at Seth for not facing him, he didn't say anything, instead he headed for the bathroom and closed the door.

After seven minutes, Karak left the bathroom and walked to the living room, he looked around and immediately saw that Seth wasn't here, he sighed and walked to the kitchen, he quickly made himself a ham sandwich and began to eat, it took him a few minutes as he ate slowly.

Once he was done, Karak walked to the kitchen and quickly washed his hands, after he was done and dried his hands, he heard the door open. "Welcome back lovebirds." He said.

Shade looked at Karak as he walked in. "How do you always know who gets back?" He asked.

Karak looked over and grinned. "That's my secret." He replied as he leaned against the kitchen wall.

Alice looked around. "Is it just us?" She asked.

"Seth's in her room, everyone else is still out." The demon said as he walked to his room. "Try and get her out here, she needs to eat." He stated as he walked into his room and closed the door.

Alice stretched and looked at Shade. "I'm going to get a shower, got to work tomorrow." She said before walking to the hallway.

Shade sighed as she walked to the door to Seth and Ren's room, he knocked on the door, getting no reaction, he then opened the door and looked at Seth who shifted under the covers. "Seth, are you awake? because we are going to make food soon." He said.

"I'll be out in a bit." Seth replied as she shifted strangely under the covers.

Shade raised an eyebrow and walked to the bed. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Seth was about to speak when Shade pulled the covers off, revealing her hands bound behind her back. "AAHH!" She cried out, looking at him.

Shade let out a startled scream in return as he immediately ran out.

_______*Later.*______

Seth sat in an awkward silence in the living room with Shade, neither of them said a word to each other, and they avoided looking at each other completely.

Alice and Karak has heard the commotion, but once both of the roommates said it was fine, and convinced them, they returned to what they were doing.

Soon though, Seth looked at Shade, he was nervously twiddling his fingers and sneaking glances, he noticed she was looking at him and looked at her. "So......um, awkward." He said.

Seth said nothing at first, but she then looked at his left arm and saw a silver bracelet with a rabbit insignia. "When did you and Alice realize you liked each other?" She questioned.

Shade blinked, not expecting the question, but he answered anyway. "It was a week after we moved here that we became friends, and about five days before you woke up we became serious." He stated.

"Kind of quick huh?" Seth asked.

Shade nodded. "Yea, I said that too.....but everybody has their own pace, this just so happens to be our pace." He replied.

Seth rubbed her eyes. "Let me ask you something, did anyone explain rabbit courting rituals to you?" She asked.

Shade blinked as he gave the rabbit a confused look. "No?.......is it important? does Alice follow them?" He questioned.

"In order, damn it, yes, and not to the traditional level." Seth started. "First off, while I don't follow them at all, Alice follows some of them, for one.....sharing a hot bath is one, it's seen as a sign of intimacy, which is why she acted the way she did earlier." She explained.

"Another thing is your bracelets." Seth continued. "Who got them exactly?" She asked quickly.

Shade pointed at himself and Seth sighed. "Bracelets are a special accessory for rabbits, the kind of material changes the meaning, for instance, a mother or father would get their child a gold bracelet, and siblings would give copper ones......but silver ones? those are signs of love, and are usually given as engagement gifts or declarations of love." She chuckled at Shade's wide eyes. "Bet you didn't expect something so small to mean so much huh?" Seth teased. "So why did you get them?" She wondered.

"It was.....the day before you woke up, all of us except for Ren were at a festival, Alice suggested that we get something to remember the night by, and I picked these up, one with the rabbit insignia, and one with a wolf insignia." Shade explained.

"What was her reaction?" Seth asked curiously.

Shade relaxed his arms and leaned back. "She didn't say anything......but she was obviously happy." He said.

After a few minutes of silence, Shade spoke. "What's with the ears?" He asked.

Seth looked at him, knowing he was referring to Alice's reaction to her ear being touched. "That's the only tradition that I halfway follow, but since neither me or Alice followed it really, we used it differently." She said. "Normally one lover would rub the others ear as a show of affection and care, but when I fiddle with one of her ears, it's basically telling her that I'm either in pain, or I need some space." She explained.

"And if she touches your ear?" Shade wondered.

Seth shrugged. "When we were kids its was her way of asking for something, but now it's more of the, 'I'm in trouble and I need help'." She replied. 

"It doesn't help that Ren loves teasing me with the sensitive parts of my ears, it's nice at first, but it gets awkward quick." The rabbit shuddered.

Seth leaned back and the room was quiet once more, and then after a moment, Shade spoke. "So why were you so angry at me again?" He wondered.

Seth rolled her eyes before closing them. "Your going out with my sister, I'm just being protective." She replied.

Shade then stood up and walked over to Seth. "Sorry I didn't tell you, I thought Ren filled you in." He said, holding his hand out.

Seth just lowered Shade's hand with her own. "Just don't go hurting her intentionally." She said as she closed her eyes, trying to get some rest.

Shade walked back to the chair and sat down, he was silent as he sat in deep thought, he remained like this for a long while, even when he got up and made food.

_______*later that day, 12:01 AM*_______

Karak walked into the living room and sat down in his chair, he reclined back and sat in complete silence, the house was quiet, everyone was asleep by now, the house was dark as there was no lights on, he laid back and closed his eyes.

Without looking or opening his eyes he spoke. "Trouble sleeping Sethy?" He asked quietly.

In the dark corner of the living room, was Seth sitting quietly, and to Karak she shined with fear and worry. "Yea." The rabbit replied.

"Why are you afraid? there's nothing here to be scared about." Karak wondered, opening his eyes.

Seth quietly sighed. "It's nothing......just my mind playing tricks on me." She replied, but she almost jumped out of her skin when a loud thunderbolt struck somewhere near the house, shaking the building.

Karak looked at Seth. "Whether you like it or not Seth, the voices in your head are part of you now, even when you recover from the withdrawal symptoms, and the loss of demon blood, you will never be rid of the voices until you confront your fear, I've dealt with it before, so trust me on this." He stated.

"I trust you alright, but i can't confront anything in my condition." The rabbit said before darting away and into her room after more lightning struck.

Karak shook his head. "I hope she recovers easier than i did." He muttered to himself.
> The choice.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

_______*Years ago.*______

"Young lady! get down from there NOW!" Shouted a loud male voice.

Out by Canterlot there was an estate owned by the Fairwind family, a noble house that dealt in politics, the estate was massive and the mansion itself was giant as well, and right now Gerald, a brown furred rabbit with hazel eyes, Seth and Alice's father, was outside with several of the staff looking up at the roof of the building.

Seth sat on the roof enjoying the breeze, she had a basic pair of blue pants and a simple gray shirt on, she had no knife scars or burn marks on her entire body. "Young lady!?" She called down. "Who do you think I am exactly!?" She questioned. "Have you forgotten your own daughter's name already Dad!?" She asked loudly.

Down on the ground Gerald growled in frustration. "I AM your father Seth! so get down here now!?" He ordered.

Seth resisted the urge to laugh as she smiled. "Why don't you come up here and make me!? or are you just going to have one of the employees do your job as a parent!?" She taunted.

Before Gerald could speak, another rabbit, one with dark brown fur and blue eyes walked up, she was Lisa, Seth and Alice's mother. "Seth! you know better than to climb up there! heavy storms are scheduled today! so come down before you get hurt!" She shouted.

Seth shrugged. "And miss out on the show!? No way!" She replied as she got up and ran to a nearby ledge and jumped up, she then climbed the nearby roof tiles and slid to the other side of the roof.

As Seth stopped herself from falling off the roof, she quickly sat down and look at Canterlot, where a firework festival was being held. "No way am I missing this for some tutor." She muttered to herself.

Seth closed her eyes and listened for any sounds nearby, she could just picture the look of anger on her fathers face when she came down, and it made her smile. "Ah. Seth......I suspected I would find you up here." Said an older male voice from her right.

The rabbits eyes opened and she looked to her right, she saw an old Pegasus with faded blue fur and a gray mane, his cutie mark was that of a wing by a cloud. "What's up gramps?" She asked.

The Pegasus flew closer and landed. "I heard the commotion and knew you had done something again." He shook his head. "So Seth, how long are you going to make your fathers life more difficult?" He asked in a patient tone.

Seth put her arms behind her head and closed her eyes. "As long as it takes for him to realize I don't want the life he is trying to put me on." She replied easily.

"Your father only wants what he thinks is best for you Seth, you have a good head on your shoulders and know what to do and say in order to get things done.......but you always revert to your rebellious ways after a few days......why is that?" The old Pegasus asked curiously.

Seth opened an eye and looked at him. "Because I hate it, I may be good at getting others to work together but i loathe doing it, there's no truth to it anymore, it's just manipulation no matter how you look at it." She stated, and suddenly a loud boom was heard over the city, Seth immediately looked at it with both eyes open and grinned widely. "YEEEESS!" She cheered as the fireworks boomed loudly and with incredible colors.

The old Pegasus simply watched the young rabbit girl and smiled, he then flew down, leaving the rabbit alone.

Seth continued to cheer until another loud bang was heard from the sky.......but this one was different, it was thunder and lightning, the young rabbit paused and quickly decided to get off the roof, she went to get down as fast as she could, the rain began to pour and Seth climbed down to another part of the roof.

The tile was slippery and Seth slid a little, she stopped herself and made her way down the roof.

A loud rumble shook the air and Seth took a deep breath, she quickly climbed down another level and made sure she was stable.

Seth walked slowly toward her next destination, it was a small open roof near the northwest corner. "Just be careful Seth....just be careful." she said, unfortunately for her, just as she stopped talking, a bolt of lightning struck and landed right on top of the house, she panicked instinctively and tripped, she fell on the roof tiles and slid all the way off the roof and onto the bare rooftop below as the rain began to pour heavily and the wind kicked up.

Seth landed hard and she gasped in pain, she breathed heavily and winced as she forced herself to stand, she walked slowly to her next destination, a small outcropping of stone which she used to climb up, she made her way quickly despite the pain and climbed down starting with the stone, she breathed shakily as she used small holes in the wall and window ledges to climb down, almost slipping on the way down.

She eventually reached the bottom and grunted as she landed on the dirt, she then slowly made her way to the front door, seeking to get help and get out of the rain, she winced with every step as she walked and her breathing became more erratic.

'I'm going to kill whoever scheduled that storm on the day of a firework festival.' Was all she could think until she reached the door.

The door opened quickly and a small rabbit smaller than Seth ran up to her. "Seth! your hurt!" The younger rabbit, Alice said, immediately helping her sister inside.

"Yea, totally not my fault though." Seth said, wincing as she felt a sharp pain in her leg.

A group of the house staff ran up to the sisters and immediately took her to her room, with Alice following behind.

All Seth could think of through the pain was why the storm was scheduled for that day, and why no one stopped it.

_____*The present, Firefly's house, Ateran Merchant district.*_____

The storm still raged on outside, leaving Karak, Seth, Alice and Shade alone in the building, Seth was still in her room hiding and the others were all out in the living room.

"How long is she going to hide?" Shade wondered.

Alice sighed as she leaned back on the couch. "She's been jumpy in thunderstorms ever since she almost got hit by lightning years ago, but it was never this bad.....must be the withdrawal symptoms." She said quietly.

Karak shook his head. "Either way, we can't do anything to help her, this kind of withdrawal can only be handled by the one suffering from it, meaning it's up to her whether or not she wants to be helped." He said as he reclined in his chair. 

"Hey, you said you went through this yourself right?" Shade asked.

Karak nodded. "In a different way, but yes." He replied.

"Could you maybe.....tell us about it?" Alice wondered curiously.

"No, because if I tell you my story, you won't like what I have to say." Karak replied as he closed his eyes, the thunder rumbled outside. "All we can do is wait." He said.

Shade and Alice shared a concerned look and then looked at Karak. "Can you at least tell us if it gets better?" Shade asked.

"Eventually, at some point, for me it didn't get better until I was reunited with Firefly." Karak replied simply.

Alice went into deep thought after he said that, she thought of everything that Seth did for her, how many times she covered for her or gave her an alibi for a crime, she sighed and stood up. "Alice?" Shade said, looking at her with confusion.

"I owe her a lot Shade, I'm going to help her for once." Alice said before walking to Seth and Ren's room.

Shade went to get up but Karak spoke. "Don't bother." The demon said. "This is between sisters." He added, Shade sat down reluctantly and waited with an impatient expression.

Alice knocked on Seth's door. "Seth, can we talk?" She asked.

After few moments, the door opened and Seth's panicked face was revealed. "Um.....sure." She said shakily as she stood aside.

Alice entered the room and Seth closed the door, the younger rabbit found the light switch and turned it on, the dim lights barely illuminated the room. "We need to talk." Alice said.

Seth shakily sat down on her bed. "Yea, I was about to say that too." She replied, she looked up at her sister. "You first." 

Alice sat down on the bed and took a deep breath before speaking. "I don't know what you're going through, I won't even pretend to understand it either because I would just be lying to you." She said. "But I do know that you're in pain, mentally and maybe physically, and definitely emotionally, I.....I just want you to know that you aren't alone, we are here for you and more than anyone, Karak does understand, but if you ever need me, you know I'll help." She said.

Seth didn't say anything at first.....as if she was thinking about something, she was silent for so long that Alice got up and went to leave. "Wait." Alice paused and looked over her shoulder.

"I.......I'm going to see doctor Terrance." Seth stated quietly.

Alice's eyes widened in surprise and shock, she walked over to Seth and knelt down. "Why? you've wanted nothing to do with him for as long as you've known him." She asked.

Seth bit her lip and clenched her shaking fists. "Look at me Alice.......I'm a nervous wreck on the verge of snapping and trying to kill again, if only to silence the voices, I want......no, I NEED to go back, I can't tell Ren, she wouldn't let me out of her sight if she knew this, Karak would probably mention it without a care, Shade would probably not stop me same with Firefly, and I don't know what Syrin would do, please Alice.....i can't stay like this." Seth pleaded, her eyes starting to tear up.

Alice was silent as she pulled her sister closed and hugged her, she said nothing as Seth silently cried into her shoulder, this went on for a few minutes until Alice spoke. "If you are absolutely certain, I won't stop you......just come back to us ok?" She said quietly.

______*the next day, outside the Atera health institute, 1:00 PM*______

The city was bustling but as Seth looked around, she could tell that there was no soul in this part of the city, everyone had a look on them that said they were drained, the park was laughable and the local businesses didn't seem very alive.

Seth took a deep breath and walked forward towards the detox center, it was just the same as the last time she was here, the grounds were nice and well maintained, the trees and grass were green and alive, there were stone paths and benches and a pavilion to name a few things, it was relaxing to look at.

Seth eventually reached the door and took a deep breath to steady herself. "Sorry Ren." She whispered to herself before opening the door.
> 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.
> Hope for the future.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

______*Equestria, The Coastal city of Atera, two days later, 3:00 PM*______

The city was cold again, the autumn air mixed with the air of the sea made it especially cold, many Ateran citizens would tell you without a doubt that it was cold in the city well over half the year, with the warmest days being the summer, the others seasons were just cold.

It was days like this that made Shade thankful that he had thick fur and was currently inside, he wore a pair of black sweatpants, and a long sleeved black shirt.

Shade was working at his job and was stocking the shelves with canned goods, boxed goods, bagged goods and the occasional screwdriver or ink set, he placed a box of tissues on the shelves and looked at his box, he sighed in relief to see it was finally empty, he heard the stores entrance bell and heard two sets of footsteps, so either it was a pony, or it was two bipeds, either way he paid no mind as he made his way to the back room.

"Let's see, two packs of gum, three tissue boxes and four bags of paper cups, five gold bits and four silver bits." Came the voice of the cashier, a brown kangaroo male with dark blue eyes.

Shade paid it no mind as he entered the back room, it was a small storage area with a bunch of boxes, a small cubby for empty boxes and a few hangers for personal items, Shade never had to worry about leavings things here, because he never wore clothes with pockets to work and the most he would bring was a sandwich to eat later, the only exception was today because his pocketless clothes were still itchy and he wasn't wearing them to work, he set the box in the cubby and left the back room.

The store bell rang again and a voice called out. "Hey Shade! I'm here!" A male voice belonging to a unicorn.

Shade turned the corner and saw a dark brown unicorn with a black mane and tail, his eyes were yellow, he was the manager. "There you are, you can go home now, sorry I was late." The unicorn said.

Shade shrugged as he took off his work cap, it was dark green and had the Equestrian national symbol on it. "No problem, i need the extra money anyway." He said as he set his cap on the counter before walking to the front door. "See you next week." He said before walking out.

The cold air blasted Shade in the face, he didn't notice the cold as it didn't bother him anymore, he walked down Ursun street and headed for Taurus street, where he had agreed to meet with Karak, the demon wanted to talk to him about something, he passed by a few shops on the way and he noticed a few things in the window displays that intrigued him, one of them was a stack of cards, but it wasn't from the regular poker cards he knew, they were different, they had images on them of various creatures and objects, he eventually shrugged it off and went on his way.

Shade walked calmly through the streets, paying no mind to the cold and taking care to avoid bumping into anyone, he turned onto Midas street and kept on moving, he spotted a small crowd standing in front of a store and raised an eyebrow, he walked over to them to see what was going on, the crowd was by no means huge but was large enough that Shade couldn't see inside. "Excuse me." He said, getting the attention of a lion. "What's going on here?" He asked.

"It's an exclusive giveaway, the creator of Dungeon Arena is here today giving away exclusive cards!" The lion, a male said energetically. [1]

Shade raised an eyebrow and watched as one of each pony race, a griffon and a Minotaur left the shop. "Isn't the card shop on a different street?" He asked.

The line moved up by a large chunk and the lion spoke again. "There are multiple game shops in this district, this is the best one for Dungeon Arena." He answered.

Shade nodded in slight understanding, he looked up at the sun and thought about for a while before shrugging. 'Why not?' He told himself. "How long have you been in line?" He asked.

The lion tapped his chin in thought before speaking. "Well, the line started next to that corner over there." He said, pointing to the one Shade came from. "So that would be.......an hour?" He guessed. "Oh! I'm Joe by the way." He said, holding his hand out.

Shade shook the lions hand. "Shade, I'm going to guess this game is popular?" He asked.

The lion nodded. "Yea, it blasted dozens of classics out of the water in the first few months, and that was four years ago so I would say that it is either the number one or two game in the world." He explained.

After that Shade was silent, he waited in line for around twenty minutes and then met the creator of the game, a female fox named May Jin, he also got lucky with what he got, he was the last person to be give an exclusive card so he got two, one that they were giving away and another that was left over, she said that the last card was special and to take good care of it, he thanked her for the cards and then proceeded to buy an eighty card variety box to use and a small metal case, because what's the point of getting exclusive cards if you don't have cards to use for a deck?

So while Shade headed off to meet with Karak, he couldn't get the mental image of the cashiers face when he walked up to buy cards, the look of shock was burned into his mind and he couldn't help but chuckle at the memory.

Shade soon found Karak waiting for him at a table outside of a deli, he sat down and set the bag with the variety box in his lap, and kept his other hand on the small case he had in his pocket, which held the two cards.

"Your late, and you brought something, what is it?" Karak asked curiously. 

Shade shrugged. "Something I picked up is all, so what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked.

"I talked to Seth yesterday, and she had quite a bit to say." Karak started.

Shade sighed. "Are we seriously back on her hating me for dating her sister?" He asked, hoping he was wrong.

Karak held a hand up and shook his head. "No, that isn't it, but it does have to do with Alice." He replied. "You are aware that rabbits feel emotions more deeply than most races right?" He asked.

Shade nodded. "I know that, why?" He wondered.

"Well, Seth told me that Alice has always had a hard time with emotions, she doesn't feel them as easily or as strongly but when she does, she holds on to that feeling with an iron grip." Karak stated. "So with Seth gone, you need to be careful not to make her feel alone, and while I know that you care about her, I think you need make sure she knows it without seeming possessive." He sighed and shook his head. 

"Also, Seth wants you to know she is fine if you two have sex." Karak stated calmly and quietly.

Shade blinked and did a double take, but he decided not to say anything about it. "Was there anything else Seth wanted you to talk to me about?" He asked.

Karak nodded. "Yea, she wants to know immediately if you get Alice pregnant, so she can escape the detox center to kick your ass." He said in a deadpan tone.

Shade sighed and looked around before speaking. "And there's the warning, so is there anything YOU want to talk about?" He asked.

"Yea.....you up for pizza night?" He asked randomly.

Shade chuckled. "So long as your buying." He replied.

Karak grinned. "Good, because I was getting pizza regardless."  He said before getting up. "Come on, let's get back so we can dictate what kind of pizza it is." He said with an evil laugh.

Shade grabbed the bag and got up, he followed Karak back to the house, as he walked he saw a lot of familiar faces from the Slums, including a few that he had to fight that fateful night.

'Time really flies, I do miss the Waterfall but so many good things have happened since then, Seth is getting better, Karak is back with Firefly and Syrin seems happy, and as angry as she was, Ren does seem happier now and I'm with Alice now.' Shade thought before looking at Karak. 

"How is Firefly doing?" He asked the demon.

Karak turned around and walked backwards so he could talk to the Night Wolf. "She's doing good, we are still in the early stages of pregnancy, so it's too early to be sure how she will do." He turned around to walk forward.

"Have you ever helped anyone through a pregnancy before?" Shade asked.

Karak shivered. "Yea, all eight months, and it sucked, the mood swings, the hormones and hunger." He sighed. "Now I have to go through it again." He lamented, facepalming.

Shade chuckled a little, pitying the demon. "My condolences." He whispered.

One question did stick around in Shade's mind for the rest of the day. 'What is Firefly's baby going to be......and what am I going to do if Alice wants kids or gets pregnant?'

Shade found himself having very good reasons to be concerned, considering that Seth would probably punt him through a wall if he screwed up.
> End of an Era.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

______*The city of Atera, five months later.*______

The Coastal City of Atera, part of the Equestrian nation and home to a large variety of culture, species and individuals, this city is renowned far and wide as a home for those who need a second chance, after all, many who live here were given a clean slate when they came to live in the city.

There are three main districts in the city of Atera, the renamed Noble District, the Merchant District, and the rebuilding Slums, the noble district is home to the rich and the politicians of the city, the Merchant district is home to the middle class citizens and many refugees from the Slums.

The Slums themselves are the home to many poor residents and used to be very cheaply made, but in stark contrast with the rest of the city, the Slums were also known as the Jewel of Atera by those who used to live there, it's people may not have been extremely wealthy, but they were a community that stuck together and mourned together when any of their friends died, they also took great pride and care of their park which was the center of the Slums.

A breeze blew through the city and brushed along the leg of a brown furred rabbit female, she wore light gray pants, a gray tee shirt and had a silver band on her right arm, the rabbits name was Alice, or as she used to be known, the Hooded Maniac, the rabbit was standing atop a tall building in the Merchant district, looking out to the Slums as they were being rebuilt.

"What brings you up here?" Asked a male voice behind Alice, she looked over her shoulder and saw her boyfriend, a black and white wolf with green eyes walked over, he wore a dark red shirt and black pants, he had a silver band on his left arm. "Hey Shade, I just wanted to look at my old home." Alice said to the Night Wolf before looking back out at the Slums.

Shade's hand rested on Alice's shoulder and he looked at his old home with her. "I miss it too, but we have a new life here, I think we should let the Slums go and leave it to the next generations, besides, we have somewhere to be today, somewhere important." He reminded the rabbit.

Alice looked at Shade and saw his smile, she returned it and nodded while grabbing his hand. "Yea, let's go." She said, walking with him to the roof entrance so they could leave the building.

While they headed down the stairs, Shade spoke. "How are you feeling? you nervous?" He asked with curiosity.

"Yea, I am." Alice replied. "I know i shouldn't be, but I am, I'm happy and nervous at the same time, is this normal?" She asked, she was uncertain when she spoke.

Shade looked at Alice when they stepped off the stairs. "I think so, but I'm no expert on it, come on, let's go." He said before leading his girlfriend out of the building.

It took about six minutes for the two to leave the building, which was actually an apartment building with open roof access, and when they got out onto the streets they walked side by side, Shade put his hands in his pockets and Alice mimicked him. "You know, things will never be the same." Alice said as they walked together.

Shade nodded and breathed in the salt air of the city, he let his breath out and looked at her. "I know, for one thing I don't think Seth is going to make it easy, knowing her she's come up with dozens of ways to torture us with practical jokes or worse." He said with a small smirk.

Alice playfully nudged Shade on his arm and kept on walking. "Your not still bitter about the itching powder are you?" She asked with an amused smile.

"Considering it led to me burning a lot of my favorite clothes? I have the right to be bitter." The Night Wolf replied firmly.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Yea right, those clothes had mold on them on you just want to blame her." She countered with amusement in her tone.

Shade grunted as they turned the corner to the street belonging to the Atera health institute, there weren't many people on this street today, and it was known that many former inhabitants of the Slums were going home, while the rest made new lives somewhere else, he didn't really mind though, as much as he grew to love the Slums when he lived there, he also fell in love with the Merchant district.

So as the two walked to the detox center, he found himself reminiscing a little about the Slums, he remembered his first day, how he arrived from the train and walked to the apartments, he remembered meeting Seth in apartment 192 and soon meeting Syrin and Karak, he remembered the day he went out with Seth for laundry and having a treat at Hiran's, he remembered going to the Watering Hole and working at the Waterfall, he found himself smiling at the memories and looked at Alice as they walked. "What?" The rabbit asked curiously.

He remembered when they first met, she was indifferent to him, and he to her, it stayed like that until the night the Slums burned, when they first moved into Firefly's home the rabbit had thanked him and Karak for saving her from a crazy kangaroo, and they hit it off from there, he chuckled and looked down at the sidewalk, he kicked a small pebble that was by his feet. "Are you ok?" Alice asked, her voice now had a hint of concern.

Shade looked up and then looked at his girlfriend. "Yea, I'm just reminiscing is all, you ready for this?" He asked as they entered the grounds of the Atera health institute.

Alice nodded. "Yea, I am." She said as they walked to the building, it remained the same through the months, and over time many patients came and went, and while it was hard to see Seth there, they had grown to like seeing the place, because it reminded them that the people there just wanted to help, they also knew that Seth was safe there, and now as they approached, Alice smiled and looked at Shade, who looked straight ahead at the building.

Shade walked up the steps leading to the main entrance and he opened the door, he let Alice walk inside first and he followed her in, the lobby was the same as always, there weren't any others in today, and there was only the lion and a yellow earth pony stallion with a brown mane behind the counter, the stallion looked up and nodded at them, motioning to the chairs to wait.

Shade walked over to the chairs and sat down, he closed his eyes and waited, he heard Alice sit down next to him, it was amazing, the two of them visited Seth whenever they were all available, thanks to Doctor Terrance who kept them informed, he and Alice had gotten to know most of the staff in the institute, or at least the ones that worked the desk and in the actual detox center, most of them were great people, some were more quiet or indifferent to the world, it those were the doctors, because seeing so many others fall apart mentally took its toll, so thankfully they at least were civil in their talks.

They soon heard a door open and a familiar voice was heard. "See you guys, it's been great but for my sake I hope I don't have to come back." Shade opened his eyes and saw the all too familiar face of a grinning rabbit looking at him and Alice.

Alice got up off the chair and walked over to her sister, she hugged her tightly and let go a moment later. "So sis, you ready to see the world again?" She asked with a smile.

Seth nodded and looked at Shade, he got up and walked over, as he did, he couldn't help but look her over, not in a bad way of course.

The older rabbit had obviously gotten better, and if it weren't for the difference in eye color and a now slight height difference, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart, Seth's blue eyes now seemed far more alive than ever, her burn scar was still there but her fur seemed much more clean, she wore a pair of stringless light purple track pants and wore a light blue sleeveless shirt with music notes on the front, she did not have her usual shackles on because she sent them home with Alice.

Seth carried her stuff in a brown duffle bag with the strap over her shoulder. "Can we go now? if we stay they might make me stay another few months." She said, it was clear she was joking, but her tone indicated that she just wanted to go outside.

Shade nodded and Alice opened the door to the outside and letting her sister go out first, Seth walked to the threshold and took a deep breath, she stepped outside and was followed by Shade and Alice, who closed the door behind them.

Alice watched as her sister walked down the steps and took in the fresh salt air of Atera. "It's good to be free again." The rabbit said before looking at Shade and Alice. "You coming or not?" She asked.

Shade walked down the stairs and headed to Seth, closely followed by Alice, the three headed for the gate to leave the grounds of the Institute. "So, what do you guys want to do today? I say we go and bother Wes and Alecia, it's been way too long since I saw them anyway." She asked.

"I have no objection to it." Alice said, she then looked at Shade who nodded at her. "Before we do though, there is something i.......WE need to tell you." She said as they neared a bench.

Seth raised an eyebrow. "What is it? is it private?" She asked out of curiosity.

"I think a pavilion is open, come on." Shade said, leading them down a small stone path, they reached the pavilion and once they were sure they were alone, Seth spoke. "What's going on you two?" She asked with annoyance in her tone.

Shade took a deep breath. "Well, you see I uh, well......thing is." He struggled to find the right words.

Alice sighed and put a calming hand on Shade's shoulder, she smiled at him and then looked at Seth. "We're getting married." She announced.

Seth's eyes widened until she couldn't make them any wider, she then stood up and stared at her sister and future brother-in-law, she said nothing which concerned the two. "Seth? are you alright?" Shade asked out of worry.

Seth blinked and took a few steps over to Alice, she placed a hand on her shoulder, her expression was one of shock but her voice betrayed her expression. "I......" She quickly hugged her younger sister and closed her eyes. "I'm happy for you, as much of an idiot Shade can be-" She remarked.

"I'm right here you know." The Night Wolf pointed out. 

Seth stuck her tongue out at him. "-I'd be happy to call him brother." She added with a approving tone.

Alice returned the hug and smiled. "Thanks sis." She replied quietly. "That means a lot to me." She added.

Seth grinned. "Just be sure to let me take bets on what the kids will be." She joked.

"And with that, I have discovered that you have a gambling problem." Shade commented.

"I do NOT having a gambling problem!" Seth stated adamantly. "I am aware of what gambling is and i have NEVER had a problem doing it!" She added, ruining the second long image of being a much more responsible adult.

Seth looked at the two. "Have you told anyone else yet?" She asked.

Shade shook his head. "No, we felt that you deserved to be the first to know." He replied.

"Technically the third to know, so anyway let's get going, I want to get away from this place and experience some normal life again." The rabbit stated before walking out and away from the pavilion.

Shade and Alice followed Seth to the main gate and when they reached it the older sister looked back at the institute for a few moments, as though silently saying goodbye, she then sighed and walked out onto the streets of Atera for the first time in months.

Alice walked up to her sister and walked side by side with her. "Is there anywhere you want to go? or do you just want to go home?" She asked curiously.

Seth chuckled and looked up at the sky. "Home......that sounds nice." She replied easily, without even thinking about it.

With that, the three walked back to Firefly's house, the trip was quiet and Seth didn't start a single conversation on the way, but Alice simply chalked it up to her thinking of what to do next.

Shade was also quiet on the way back, it seemed like he didn't have anything to say and just wanted to respect Seth's  privacy right now.

The three reached Firefly's home twenty minutes later, and Seth took a deep breath as Shade tried the knob, it was unlocked, he looked back at the sisters and nodde before opening the door. "We're back!" He declared to the household while walking in.

Alice followed close behind him, she looked back at her older sister and smiled at her, nudging her head toward the door. "You coming?" She asked.

Seth took another deep breath and followed her sister inside, and when she stepped inside she saw Shade heading for the bathroom, and Syrin and Karak sitting in the living room, playing blackjack, they looked over and saw her standing just inside the house and the demon smiled. "Welcome back Sethy." He said, and while he used the rabbits annoying nickname, there was no teasing involved.

Syrin smirked at her friend and her horn lit up, the door closed behind Seth. "Get in here will ya? your acting like you don't belong here or something." She said with some amusement.

Alice watched as Seth's expression slowly went from surprise to confusion and then to mirth. "Of course I don't, I've been away from you nut-jobs for months, I feel horrible." She looked at Alice. "So where's Ren at? she still live here?" She asked.

"Yep, hold on." Karak said. "REN! package for you!" He called out. "One moment." He added, he then returned to his game, an amused smirk on his face.

The door door the hall opened and a grumpy yet familiar voice was heard. "Karak, you call me like that one more time, and I will seriously hurt......you." Ren trailed off as she looked up and saw Seth looking at her.

Ren had a tired expression on her face that quickly changed to surprise and happiness, she had dark circles under her eyes and she had bed fur, she wore a pair of red pajama pants and an unbuttoned pajama shirt, she blinked and rubbed her tired eyes and did a double take before quickly running up to Seth and wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug, nearly tackling Seth in the process.

The rabbit in question returned the hug softly and spoke in a strained voice. "Ren......hard. to. breathe!" She said between breaths.

Ren loosened her grip but didn't let go, she moved her head and looked Seth right in the eye, she then released the hug and gave the rabbit a slap with her left hand. "I deserve that." Seth said.

A second slap came and Seth spoke. "Not sure if I deserved that-mmmm!." The rabbit said, cut off as Ren kissed her passionately, surprising Seth and making Alice roll her eyes. "Gee, I totally didn't miss seeing that, thanks a lot." She said.

Seth pulled out of the kiss and rested her head on the foxes shoulder and side of head. "Come on Ren, take it down a notch will you? I just got back after all." She whispered before moving her head and looking at the fox. "So Alice, do you want to tell everyone the good news?" She asked her sister.

Alice shrugged. "It should wait until Shade is back and Firefly is out here." She replied, having already looked around for either of them.

"Why do I need to be put here?" Firefly asked, leaving her room just after Alice looked. "Did something happen?" She asked, the Pegasus was showing obvious signs of pregnancy, he belly was much larger now and she was moving slowly just in case.

Alice shook her head and Shade walked in. "Well then........I just want this to be out in the open so.........." She looked at Shade who rolled her eyes. "Me and Alice are getting married." He declared.

The whole room turned silent for a moment before Karak smiled. "Congratulations you two." He said, simply yet sincerely.

"That's amazing, I had a good feeling about you two." Syrin said, nodding at the fiancées, she silently hoped they knew what they were doing, but she had a feeling they didn't.

Ren happily congratulated the two and returned to paying attention to her girlfriend, Seth was obviously different, that much was made clear just by looking at her.

But whatever was truly different about the rabbit, it didn't compare to how Ren felt, and she decided to simply enjoy having Seth back.

_______*a few months later, Atera Merchant District hospital 1:00 PM.*_______

It was finally time, Firefly had finally given birth, Karak, Seth, Ren, Shade, Syrin and Alice were all waiting in the hospital room with the Pegasus, who fell unconscious a few minutes after giving birth, but waking up before they got in, and now they waited for the doctor to return.

"So, I am genuinely curious as to what your child came out as." Syrin said. "Not counting the running bet of course." She added for clarity.

Seth nodded. "Yea, I can't wait, this actually has me excited to find out." She stated.

"Seriously though, let's not cause a big fuss until we are out of the hospital, the last thing we need is to get riled up in here." Karak said from his chair next to the bed.

Soon enough, the door opened and the doctor walked in with a nurse, the doctor was an older looking unicorn stallion and the nurse was a young tiger holding two bundles. "Congratulations miss Firefly, you have two beautiful fillies." The doctor said, the tiger walked over and gave the Pegasus one, while giving the other to Karak.

The two then left the group in the room for a while and Firefly looked at her little filly, she had pink fur and had a purple mane, she opened her eyes revealing them to be orange, she looked at her child's side and saw two little wings, the filly also had two wolf like ears instead of an equines, she smiled and looked at Seth. 'She called it, if not for the eyes and wolf ears, she would have called it perfectly.'

After a while, Karak and Firefly swapped fillies so that they could each look at them, the one that Firefly now held was almost exactly as Seth called it, a unicorn filly with white fur and a pink mane, her left eye was magenta and her right eye was red, she smiled at her child. 'None of us were right about you, but you are my little fillies, and I love you all the same.' Firefly's smile grew when her filly gave her a happy expression.

"Oooh......come on, don't keep us in suspense, let us see!" Seth said eagerly, which made Karak chuckle. "Alright little girl, want to meet Angel?" He said, with some humor.

Seth sighed at the nickname but didn't complain as she took the little filly from Karak, she smiled happily and the others leaned in the get a closer look.

The whole process took quite a while, introducing everyone to the fillies and then finally coming up with names for them, which took a while considering they had three practical jokers in the room.

But eventually they came up with names for the fillies, they called the pegasus Sunset Hjarta, mixing in an old language to find a name was Syrin's idea, and the unicorn was now called Lilith Rose, named after Karak's deceased sister and Firefly's godmother. [1]

That night, as Firefly and Karak put their fillies to bed, the demon could not help but let out a long overdue sigh of relief, he joined his mate in bed and closed his eyes with a smile, one that grew a little when Firefly cuddled up to him. 

And as the demon drifted off into sleep, he could not help but let five words drift through his mind. 'Thank you Seth, for everything.' 

The end.