"It's really been a year…" Norma sighed, kicking at the floor. "Man, it's just not the same since G-Girl died…"
The rest of the team was in silent agreement. That was why they were going to the Man-Eating Ruins now. It had been a year since Grune had…disappeared, and now they were going to where they had first met her.
"Don't awaken the monsters, Moses," Jay muttered.
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"I'm sure you can figure it out…ow!" Jay rubbed his head. "Will, what was that for?"
"Ow!" Moses whined. "Will!"
"I'm just getting warmed up."
"Old men need to do that," Norma explained.
Crash.
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!"
Senel swallowed a laugh. Everything was back to normal…except…except they weren't a complete team. Not now. Not for a year.
"Coolidge, something wrong?" Chloe asked him.
"Uh, well, yeah." He shrugged. "It's just…there are only seven of us."
She nodded in understanding, looking sad, herself. "I know."
"Look," Shirley pointed. "We're almost at the Puzzle Box."
"Oh, joy," Jay muttered. "Moses, don't screw up too badly."
"You little…hey! Get back here!"
"Since when have I listened to you?" Jay shot over his shoulder, walking briskly to the broken duct. "Stupid bandit," he muttered, disappearing into it.
"I said get back here!" Moses snarled, disappearing, as well.
Will sighed. "We'd best hurry after them before they break something."
Shirley nodded gravely, but she was smiling. "Yeah."
"The one thing I missed while I was away. A Puzzle Box. Wonderful." Jay stood.
"Yahoo!" Moses shouted. "A Puzzle Box!"
"Well…one of the two things."
"I heard that, you little brat!"
"Don't call me little."
"It's ain't my fault you're a midget."
"Moses." Jay's voice was surprisingly light and cheerful. "I need you to do a job for me."
"Oh yeah?" Moses puffed his chest out. "What?"
"I need you to shut up."
There was a silence.
"That ain't no job!"
"I do beg to differ." Jay took some steps forward. "Well, with that nuisance out of the way—"
"Hey!"
"—why don't we begin on the puzzle?"
Will nodded wearily. "Yes. That's probably a good idea."
Jay, Senel, and Will worked on it while everyone else sat.
"It's been a long time, huh, C?" Norma asked.
"Yeah." It had been a good six months since they had seen each other last. Not much had been happening on the Legacy since Grune and Schwartz had gone, and they had gone around exterminating monsters for awhile before all splitting up for the time being. Senel had stayed in town. Will and Harriet had gone looking for monster samples. Norma had gone around searching for "treasure treasure riches treasure!" Moses had been wandering around with his bandits, and Jay had of course stayed in the Oresoren Village. Shirley had been traveling around a lot, talking to Orerines and Ferines alike, working on the peace. And Chloe, herself, had gone to the mainland. She'd just felt like she needed to get away from the Legacy for awhile.
But it was good to be back among friends.
Jay, Senel, and Will returned. Jay looked irritable and the other two looked defeated. "We can't figure it out," Jay muttered. "It's really bothering me."
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Moses leapt up.
Jay gave him a look. "It's not the only thing that's bothering me."
"Hey, now. Just let me have a go at it! Come on! I know I can do it! Come on! Please!"
Jay made a disgusted sigh. "Fine. Don't destroy anything, you idiot."
"Aw, what makes you think I'll destroy anything?"
"Remember when we visited the Fire Monument last…?"
Will bonked Moses, then Jay again. "Just get to it, you two."
"Both of us?" demanded Jay. "I didn't volunteer. This moron did."
"Who're you callin' a moron?"
"Enough," Will growled. "Go, you two." When he saw that Jay was about to protest again, he added, "Someone has to make sure he doesn't completely demolish the Puzzle Box, don't you agree?"
Jay sighed. "Why me?" he groaned.
"Aaah!"
"You idiot! Don't grab on to meeeeeaaaah!"
There was a crash. The team looked up. Jay and Moses had toppled into a small pit, flanked by boxes.
"We're stuck, you idiot! What do you expect us to do now?"
"You're tiny. Can't you jus' try an' squdgel out?"
"I'm not tiny!" Jay snarled back. "And it's not my fault you're as big as an orc!"
"Does that mean you can't?"
"What the hell do you think?!"
"I was just askin'…"
Senel sighed. "They never stop."
Norma stood. "If G-Girl were here, you all know what she would say, right?"
Chloe smiled, feeling a little sad. "Oh my!" she exclaimed in a sweet voice, trying to imitate Grune (without much success). "They're getting along better each day!"
"A…little…help…here?" Jay's voice was filled with daggers.
"Oh my!" Norma exclaimed brightly. "Jay sounds so happy!"
Everyone looked at her. She shrugged. "It's what G-Girl would say."
"I'm aware of that," Jay's voice came. "However, I'm currently stuck in a pit with a certain stupid bandit!"
"I ain't stupid!"
Senel climbed to give them a hand. "Jay, just grab on. We'll worry about getting Moses out later."
"Senel!" Moses cried. "Don't leave me!"
Jay grasped Senel's hand. Senel pulled. "You're not moving."
"Yes, I'm aware of that!" Jay snapped. "Moses, you realize this is all your fault?"
"How is it my fault?"
"You were the one who fell and grabbed onto me!"
"Well…uh…"
Senel gave a mighty tug. And fell in.
"Smoooooooth, Senel," Moses muttered.
"Wonderful." Jay sighed again.
"Worry not, everyone!" Norma exclaimed, leaping up. "Norma comes to the rescue!"
Chloe stood up quickly. "Uh, Norma, I think I'd better go instead."
"Hey! What do you mean by that?" the treasure hunter whined.
Shirley stood up and used her teriques to smack to blocks aside. One of them fell in the air. And hit Norma on the head, bouncing off. (Norma had a very bouncy head.) And then it created a path, right where they'd needed a block, right where Senel, Jay, and Will had been trying to get a block for the last thirty minutes.
"There," she said firmly.
Meanwhile, Jay and Moses were still arguing.
"What do you mean you helped, you stupid bandit?! You made it worse!"
"That's crazy talk."
"You're crazy!"
"Um, guys," Shirley said, annoyed that no one had noticed that she'd solved the puzzle. "It's done."
"And I'm still stuck! Aaaah!" Moses screamed as Norma booted him in the rear. "Dammit, Bubbles, what was that for?!"
"I couldn't help it," Norma explained. Your butt was just sticking out like that…"
"Norma," Chloe said. "Didn't you just notice that Shirley hit you in the head with a large box?"
There was a silence. "Whaaaaat?!" wailed Norma after a moment. "Shirl! I can't believe you would…you would…"
"It was an accident," Shirley said irritably.
Will sighed and pulled Senel out of the tangle. "Come on. Shirley fixed it."
Moses stood. "Yahoo! Let's get outta here!"
"Don't stand on my head," Jay said dangerously.
"Oops. Sorry about that." Moses helped Jay up. "There. Forgive me now?"
"You just stepped on my head!"
"So?"
"So? So? So I'm going to kick your ass, you stupid bandit!"
"Aaaah!"
"Oh, my," Shirley said as Jay chased the bandit, who was flailing his arms and screaming.
"Oh, well. Teach?"
Will nodded, and bonked each one on the head. Twice.
"Enough, you two," he growled. "Shall we continue on?"
"He stepped on my head," Jay muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
They continued on. Five minutes later, Jay and Moses started arguing. Again.
"This was where we first met her," Chloe said softly. "We thought she was…insane."
"We didn't really want anything to do with her," added Norma, her voice quiet, as well. "And then she just…came with us."
"She talked to herself," Jay said, for once not insulting anybody.
"Is that where the Whisper Crystal was?" Shirley asked.
Senel nodded, as deep in thought as everyone else. "Yeah."
"Let's go all the way," Moses said.
"Yes, let's," Will agreed.
They stepped the rest of the way forward, peering into the tub-thing like they had before. Jay was the first to gasp, which was unlike him. The others quickly did the same as they saw it.
"Grune?!" Shirley gasped.