Mystic: I feel like we're just copying OACA and the ALBN series with the OC insert thing... Anyway, early update for your enjoyment~ Thanks to TheManWithBacon, I think Senom299 reviewed at some point, can't remember, and thanks to the third reviewer whose name I can't remember, sorry. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. You mentioned something about TvTropes. ...and we didn't offer anything last chapter, which may explain the lack of reviews, so just state what you want in your review and it shall be delivered.
Mikey: Ask and it shall be given. ...Sorry fangirls, we're not offering you lease on characters for a day. One does not simply put characters on lease. ...Anyway NEXT CHAPTER!
Mystic: LET'S-A GO.
Mikey: WOOT.


"And now we shall use our new-found power to get into Agata Forest!" Silva declared ecstatically.

"Hey! I was going to say that!" Issun protested.

"Too late, I said it first~!" Silva taunted in a sing-song voice, then flew away over the water before Issun could reply. Abigail, who had been quite put off from leaping over the lily pads due to the unfortunate mishap last chapter (Mystic refrained from commenting on that and simply went to go fix the fourth wall), simply turned into a bird again and flew across the water, following Silva.

Ammy simply drew her lilypads and leapt across the water, then cherry bombed the crack in the wall when she got to the end.

Silva could hardly contain her excitement; in just a few minutes she would be meeting her second favorite character (her first favorite being Ammy).

Issun gasped in disbelief when they emerged from the tunnel. "The cursed zone expanded into the forest?"

The whole area was cursed: the forest, the cliffs above them, even the water. The only thing untouched was a small strip of beach.

"I thought evil would shun areas with so much grass and trees. It must be some curse, the way it's changed the forest…" Issun continued.

"That's so sad..." Abigail trailed sorrowfully.

Silva sighed, and then slid down the side of the cliff instead of going down the road like a normal person would.

"Hey! There's a cave over here!" She called up, waiting for Ammy to get to the bottom of the stairs before heading inside.

"Well, someone's impatient today," Issun grumbled.

"Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me, princess." Silva replied.

Abigail giggled at the retort before following the others. "This place is interesting, isn't it?" she asked brightly. "Just, you know... if only it weren't all cursed like this." She lowered her gaze sadly.

Silva was staring contemplatively at the three flaming chests inside the cave.

"...what're you doing?" Issun asked.

"Huh?" Silva looked up. "Oh, nothing, really. I just felt like doing that. C'mon, let's go inside the house thing now."

"House thing?" Issun looked up. "Huh? What's a house doing in this cave? How could anyone live here with that cursed zone spreading around?"

Abigail shrugged in response. "Maybe we should go check it out...?"

Ammy was already walking inside the building. Silva followed quickly, half dragging, half pulling Abigail. Abigail sighed and just hummed cheerfully.

The fortune lady inside - Madame Fawn - looked at them serenely. "Ha ha ha. You've come, white wolf, wood nymph and shapeshifter child. And you look troubled."

Abigail sweatdropped. "...Uh... hey guys... how'd she know I was a... and that you were a... I mean..."

"You may call me Madame Fawn. I read bones to see the future." Madame Fawn answered. "I knew you would come. I saw it in a vision. It looks like the world outside is in great chaos."

"You don't really need to see the future to know that..." Silva muttered. Abigail privately agreed.

Madame Fawn ignored her. "This is not to say that it was not predestined to happen. However, this year is special…this is the 100th year since Nagi and Shiranui's adventure. You saw the enormous cursed area on your way here, did you not?"

"Kinda hard to miss..." Issun said.

"Land rendered barren…all who approach tainted by darkness…only one creature has the power to control this…Orochi!"

Ammy growled at the name.

"Even so, the rate at which it spreads…incredibly…the curse can only be lifted by restoring the Guardian Saplings. Perhaps you will encounter one hidden here in Agata Forest. That's enough idle chatter for now! I'm trying to run a business here. Like I told you, I am a fortune teller. The bones reveal all. If you have the money, I can even tell your future. Interested?"

"Heck yea-"

"No thanks!" Silva cut Issun off, then proceeded to grab Issun and cover his face so he kept quiet. Abigail gave Silva a look of confusion, but mentally shrugged and went with it.

Ammy and the others walked back outside.

At that moment, Issun decided to pull out his sword and stab Silva.

"Ow!" She dropped him, sucking on the cut. "Wha waf taht for?!" She demanded, her words a bit muffled.

"...Did you just stab her?" Abigail stared blankly at Issun.

"Yes, I did!" Issun retorted. "And I should be the one asking what that was for! Why'd you cut me off, huh?!"

"...Silva... cutting him off was rude, but..."

"Her fortunes tell us nothing at all! We would have been wasting 500 yen!" Silva protested.

Abigail sweatdropped. "Was stabbing her really necessary, Issun...?"

"She wasn't letting go!" Issun argued.

Abigail sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You guys... do I have to separate you two...?"

"How, exactly, would you separate us?" Silva asked, one eyebrow raised skeptically.

Abigail mutely took a step forward, leaned down, picked up Issun, and placed him in her pocket. She then walked over to Silva and flicked her forehead, followed by her walking off without saying another word.

Silva stared blankly after Abigail for a few seconds, then looked at Ammy, who was laughing.

"Shut the hell up," She muttered, following Abigail outside. Ammy followed her, still laughing.

As Silva got nearer Abigail, muffled curses could be heard, as well as the sound of fabric tearing slightly.

"You'd better not be slicing through my pocket," Abigail said flatly, peering down at her pocket.

Issun immediately hid his sword. "No..."

"Yes."

"Shut up, Silva."

"I thought the meaning of separation was that you couldn't talk to each other," Abigail grumbled as she continued on in search of... wherever they were going...

"It's not my fault I can hear her/him!" Issun and Silva chorused.

"Well that doesn't mean you have to respond," Abigail replied testily. She glanced around, then slowed and finally came to a halt. "...Hey guys, uhm, where are we going, anyway?"

"...the guardian sapling." Silva replied, facepalming. "It's been repeated several times, how could you have forgotten?-!"

"I know that," Abigail whined. "But where is the sapling?"

"We're going to find it!" Silva replied. "And since everywhere else is covered in a cursed zone, that way's the only place left to look!" (In reality she just pulled the location from memory, but it would seem suspicious if she knew everything without any logical reason as to why.) She pointed towards a thin stretch of sand next to the cliff behind them.

"...Oh, 'kay..." Abigail nodded (albeit a little sheepishly) and began to walk along the sand, continuing her humming, but in song form. "But if you're in the eye of the storm... just think of the lonely dove..." She continued on like this for a little while, and when she had finished her song, fell back to let Ammy lead. After a solid thirty seconds of boredom, Abigail poked Silva's arm. "Silva?"

Silva (who was hovering just above the water next to the sand so as to make more space) looked over at Abigail. "Hm?"

"...Can I call you Silva-chan?" Abigail gave Silva what she clearly thought was a winning grin.

"...what?"

"Honorifics!" Abigail grinned eagerly. "Onigiri-sensei told me about 'em. Seems no one but the elderly in Nippon, and sometimes not even them, ever bother with 'em anymore, but I like them~ '-chan' and '-kun' mean I think of you as a friend, then '-sama' is for important people, '-senpai' is kinda like your friend who's higher up than you, and I think '-koi' means lover. You're my friend, so Silva-chan!" She continued to look as if she thought this was a perfectly logical and sensible idea.

Silva was silent for a long moment, trying to get her brain to process what Abigail just said. "...no, you may not call me Silva-chan. I really don't see why you have to express it in words."

"Awwww..." Abigail whined. "You're no fun..." She glanced over at Ammy with a pout on her face, though it was soon replaced by a grin. "Hey Ammy!" she called, beaming.

Ammy looked over her shoulder at Abigail.

"C...Can I call you Ammy-senpai?" She grinned again, but rather more shyly.

Silva threw up her hands in the background.

Ammy gave a noncommittal shrug.

Abigail looked as though she had just mentally scored a point and looked down at her pocket, then poked Issun through the pocket.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"S-Sorry, did that hurt...?" Abigail frowned, but lightened up a moment afterward. "Issun, I dub thee Issun-kun! ...No, that doesn't sound right. Meh, whatever, I dub thee Issun-chan!"

"...Issun what?"

Abigail proceeded to explain honorifics to him in a similar fashion to the way she had explained them to Silva.

Silva would have bet 10,000 yen Issun was disappointed he wasn't more than a friend.

"...that makes sense, I guess..." Issun said after several seconds' silence.

"Okay!" Abigail grinned and looked as though she had mentally scored yet another point. She gave Silva a pout. "See, Silva, they let me do it..."

"Yeah, Silva, come on!" Issun's voice came from Abigail's pocket.

Ammy gave Silva puppy dog eyes.

"Oh come on!" Silva threw her hands up in the air again. "If you're all going to turn on me, fine! You can go Bloom the stupid sapling by yourselves!" And she flew off to the only island not covered by the cursed zone.

"...Oops..." Abigail mumbled. "I think we overdid it..."

"Ya think?"

"Oh be quiet, Issun-chan."

(Scene Transition says hi.)

Silva sat on one of the roots of the tree, annoyed.

"Don't like the honorifics, do you?" A voice said from high above her.

Silva looked up, shocked, to see the familiar pink and purple clothing. "...Waka?!"

"The one and only," He replied cheerfully.

"But- how- wha-?"

"Oh, I've been here for quite a while." He said. "I heard your conversation. And don't bother trying to pretend you don't know anything
about the game, either."

"How- wait, let me guess. You know because you're a prophet or some random reason like that."

"Close enough." He grinned.

"I thought you weren't supposed to talk until Ammy came out of the cave...?"

"That was my original plan, yes, but now you're here and I figured, might as well kill the boredom."

"And how exactly do you plan on keeping this conversation going?"

"The exact same way we're keeping it going now."

"...By talking about nothing?"

"You're very perceptive, ma fleur."

"Why thank you."

Suddenly, a wave of flowers burst from the general direction of where the Guardian Sapling was supposed to stand, giving the grassy areas a luminescent green glow for a brief moment and renewing the rest of the forest as the cursed zone was destroyed. The Guardian Sapling had burst into blossom, and it was obvious who had done it.

"Well, I should get ready for my entrance." Waka commented, watching the cave entrance and readying his flute.

Silva snorted. "What entrance?"

"The entrance where I land on the water because I'm god-level."

Silva nearly choked on her laughter.

(Scene Transition has nothing to say.)

When the reduced party exited the small area where the Sapling was located, Issun had been taken out of Abigail's pocket, Ammy had a new weapon, and Abigail was busy staring at said new weapon because it was cool and gravity defying. "...I wonder how those even work..." she trailed, as she stared at the Rosary weapon.

Ammy would have explained, but alas, she was a wolf. She settled for shrugging and leapt onto the island in front of them. Abigail followed suit, pondering how exactly the beads worked, when her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a flute.

"Is that Silva?" Abigail wondered. "She does play flute..." She pulled out her own flute-weapon-thing that she had stolen from the green imp and began to examine it, wondering how to play it. "Maybe I'll ask her how..."

But it wasn't Silva, as the voice that followed shortly after the song ended showed. "Hark! The call of the heavens, the earth, the sea... they summon me forth to defeat evil!"

If one listened closely, they could hear a female voice say "That was really bad.", followed by a "Shut up, you're ruining my moment."

The man (who Ammy had finally spotted high up in the trees) turned around. "Waka, the god's gift to man, is here! Bonjour!"

"'God's gift to man'?"

"What did I say about interrupting?"

"Absolutely nothing at all."

Apparently Issun hadn't heard the quick exchange, because he immediately asked, "What's up with that guy?"

Abigail shrugged. "I dunno. He speaks French, though," she pointed out helpfully.

The man continued talking. "Those crimson markings... that divine instrument on your back... you look kinda weird, but I reckon you pack a punch, baby!"

"Hey! Think you're so special way up there, huh?" Issun yelled up to Waka. "Get down here and talk face to- wait, did he say crimson shading? Can he see your true form, Ammy?"

Abigail frowned in confusion. "He might really be special somehow," she pointed out. "Don't judge a book by its cover, Issun, remember?"

Waka jumped down from the branches, slowing down until he landed softly on the water like it was solid ground.

Silva quickly jumped after him, coming to a stop just above the water and hovering there behind him.

"Hi guys." She waved at the trio.

"Silva?" Abigail tilted her head. "What're you doing over there...?"

"I met Waka when you guys were in the cave." Silva replied.

"Well, he can't be bad if Silva's with him," Abigail concluded, trying to ignore how strangely annoying Waka was to her.

Waka suddenly took out his flute and pulled out a lightsaber... thing... from it, pointing it at Ammy and the others.

Silva blinked in surprise, forgetting they had to fight him.

"Hey! He drew a sword!" Issun stated the obvious.

"I call it a flutesaber..." Silva muttered.

"I take it back. This guy is a jerk." Abigail spoke flatly.

Silva bit her lip nervously.

"Oui! This is how I get my point across, pun intended…the moment the cursed zone started spreading across Nippon, I saw the shadowy figure that removed the sacred sword Tsukuyomi flee into Kamiki Village and seal the entrance with a huge rock. You guys know anything about that?"

Silva had moved around back to Ammy by this point, and shook her head in answer to Waka's question. Abigail, on the other hand, looked alarmed. "Doesn't that mean the person who took the sword is in Kamiki...?" she wondered.

"This guy gives me the creeps." Issun announced. "Better keep our eyes on him." Then the noticed Ammy had gotten into a battle stance while Silva had pulled out her sword. "Huh? You guys getting all worked up again?"

"Magnifique! I wouldn't have it any other way!" Waka's grin grew wider. "Now you shall get an earful of my beloved sword!"
"Earful?"

"Wouldn't it be... ...actually I'm not sure what it'd be."

Waka made another battle pose. "Behold, Pillow Talk!"

"...did he seriously name his sword Pillow Talk?"

Abigail almost burst out laughing but couldn't because she was seriously irritated by Waka for some reason.

"Let's rock, baby!" Waka said, swinging his sword at Ammy. Ammy leaped over him and turned in mid-air, hitting him with her Devout Beads as soon as her feet touched the ground. Abigail sweatdropped and tried to stay out of the action because blade + karate = bad things, sadly enough. She was also rather worried about her flute being cut in half (anything was possible with a sword named freaking Pillow Talk) so there was nothing she could do.

While Ammy was distracting him, Silva came up behind him and slashed at his back, though he turned at the last second and parried her. Waka alternated between swordfighting with Silva and throwing daggers at Ammy (And sometimes Abigail), though he was fighting a losing battle.

"I- still- don't- see- why- we- have- to- freaking- fight- you!" Silva grunted, parrying one of Waka's blows or slashing at him with each word. She pushed him away, panting, but wasn't expecting him to throw his daggers, and one embedded itself in her thigh as a result. "Argh!" She fell to one knee, grimacing in pain.

"Silva, you okay?-!" Abigail called out in alarm, then squeaked as a dagger sliced her left arm. She cringed as the fresh cut in her arm seared with pain, and clamped a hand over it, feeling it quickly grow hot and sticky.

Ammy growled and started spamming Cherry Bomb and Powerslash, while avoiding the other daggers as well.

As the dagger was too deep to pull out, and Silva's injury was bad enough to prevent her from standing, she did the only thing she could think of- she tackled Waka.

Waka's eyes widened in surprise, clearly not expecting this, and they both fell to the floor, Waka trying to pry Silva off him and Silva trying to hit whatever part of him she could.

"Stay still, dammit!" She growled as they rolled over several times, each trying to gain the upper hand.

Abigail weakly giggled despite herself and tried her best not to laugh anymore.

Ammy stood there uncertainly, unable to do anything- if she used her Devout Beads or her Celestial Brush, she could end up hitting Silva instead...

Waka finally managed to (somehow) throw Silva off of him, but with much more force than he realized, causing Silva to go sailing and crash into Abigail, both of them falling into the water behind them. Abigail bobbed up at once, gasping and sputtering slightly and shaking her soaked hair out of her face. She glanced around for Silva. "Hey, Silva, you okay...?"

Silva was nowhere to be seen.

"...S-Silva?" Abigail whimpered. She took an enormous gulp of air and dove beneath the surface of the water again, counting on Ammy to finish fighting Waka. She worriedly scanned the waters for Silva. She was admittedly not too hard to find, considering the struggle she was putting up (not to mention her white hair), but she was quite far away, and Abigail worried she wouldn't have enough air to save her.

A large fish suddenly swam past her vision. Abigail blinked and stared after it- and suddenly she had an idea.

She struggled to transform in the water and finally managed it, inhaling deeply through her new gills as she dove to rescue Silva from a watery death. She easily maneuvered through the water and nudged Silva, staring at her meaningfully (as meaningfully as a fish could, anyway). She hoped Silva would recognize the ribbon around her neck.

Silva looked up, noticing the fish- and more specifically, the blurry ribbon it had. She reached out and grabbed the tail, doing her best to hold on as Abigail swam to the surface and really wishing she knew how to swim. When Abigail had reached the top, she guided Silva's hands to a section of the shore she could hang onto, then dove out of the water herself. She transformed into herself (not before flopping around a little) and tugged on Silva's wrists to pull her out of the water.

Silva dragged herself to the surface, coughing up water.

By this time Ammy had defeated Waka, and was now licking Silva's face.

"H-heh heh..." Silva laughed weakly. "I'm fine, Ammy. Don't worry about me." Silva glared at Waka over Ammy's shoulder. "I just hope you kicked his ass."

Waka pretended to look hurt, then pulled a face, making Silva cough hurriedly in an attempt to hide her laughter.

"Silva..." Abigail spoke up suddenly, in an alarmed voice, "there's a knife in your leg...!"

"Huh...?" Silva looked down at her leg, where there was, indeed, the dagger still stuck in it. "Oh, yeah... I forgot 'bout that."

Abigail sputtered indignantly, then turned to Waka, took a breath, and managed, "You... you... you..." Clearly, she couldn't think of an insult.

"Fruitcake?" Issun supplied.

"You psychotic fruitcake!" Abigail finally screeched.

"I'd like to see the logic that makes Waka a fruitcake." Silva called from behind Abigail.

Abigail gave her an "are you serious" stare.

Silva stared back.

Waka was watching the staring contest with amusement.

There was an awkward silence.

Waka coughed, bringing their attention to him. "It's been quite some time since I tasted your power, Amaterasu. That's enough for now."

"Too late now! You're the one who picked the fight!" Issun yelled. "Wait, you know this guy, Ammy?" He gave Ammy a curious stare.
Ammy shook her head uncertainly.

Waka simply chuckled and put away his flutesaber. "Well…that was pretty tactless. Excuze-moi, baby. You see, I was looking into that cursed zone that struck this area. It consumed all in it's path, even the light of the sun. It is the curse of Orochi, the legendary 8-headed dragon!"

"O-Orochi..?" Issun replied fearfully.

An ominous wind blew across the forest.

"Do not utter that name without reason." Waka warned. "That alone could curse the weak of mind."

"'Fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself'," Abigail mumbled.

"Orochi was slain 100 years ago by Nagi and Shiranui, and its evil spirit was sealed away in the Moon Cave, which I guarded. You know, the cave in the middle of the lake over on Shinshu Field."

Ammy yawned and looked like she wanted to die of boredom while Silva was trying her best to tune out Waka's spiel. Abigail continued to give Waka a strange looking stare that seemed to state something along the lines of "you are an ass".

"But someone has gone and freed Orochi by removing Tsukuyomi. The beast's evil has caused a cursed zone to cover these lands. I never thought the sacred sword could be so easily removed. Whoever did it waited till I was back at the capital. It seems things are afoot that even I did not prophesize!" He turned back towards the group, and his jaw dropped when he realized that Ammy and Silva were asleep. With Paper Mario sleep bubbles. Abigail mumbled "cool story bro".

"We're way ahead of you, pretty boy!" Issun said. "We've been busy dispelling the curse left and right." He accidentally bounced into Ammy's face, and the wolf gave him a frustrated look before going back to sleep. "That Orochi's gonna be mincemeat when we're through with it!"

"So you're the ones who've revived the trees in this area..."

"You dumbass, you knew the whole time." Silva thought sleepily, having woken up by the sudden lack of talking.

"…but a lot of time's passed since Orochi's return. You'd better pick up the pace, ma cherie." Waka continued.

Issun's aura turned red. "What?"

"I'm sorry to say, our battle just now was a big disappointment."

"You call being tackled and wrestled to the ground by a girl a disappointment?" Abigail asked blankly.

Silva burst out laughing at that.

"You're not what you used to be, Amaterasu. You may have defeated Orochi long ago, but…one cannot dwell on past glories." Waka shook his head sadly, completely ignoring Abigail and Silva, perhaps because he wanted to salvage what was left of his dignity. Or because he wanted to erase that memory from his mind forever. "You've weakened greatly during your 100-year slumber."

"That's enough!" Issun pulled out Denkomaru, trembling with rage (RAEG). "Now tell me about that shadowy figure you saw fleeing to Kamiki! How do we know it wasn't you?"

"Relax, my little bouncing friend. I would never do such a thing. Oh, I almost forgot! I have a little prophecy for you. I can see into the future, you know. I foresee a log and big thrills!" Waka made yet another pose.

Silva facepalmed. "You prophecies are horrible, you know that?"

"It sounds like a roller coaster," Abigail muttered.

"It's worse." Silva mumbled in reply.

"You'll know what I'm talking about when the time comes! Anyway, I must be off. The work of a prophet is never done. Au revoir, baby." Waka jumped up and used his headdress thing to fly away into the distance like Superman.

"What a freak!" Issun was jumping up and down while waving his sword around madly. "Who the heck does he think he is?-"

"God, what a fruitcake!" Abigail said loudly as she stood up. She began to pace back and forth, still speaking loudly. "What's his beef? He just randomly shows up and has some spazzy conversation with us that made no sense at all, and then he tries to kill us. And he almost killed Silva! And then he just walked off- no, he flew off! With that headdress thing he was wearing! What even was that? Was it a cape or... no, it was coming from his head- whatever, he flew off! And what the heck is up with that prophecy? A log and big thrills? I'm sorry, could you be a little MORE cryptic? I don't think that was enough!" she ended sarcastically.

"Are you quite done yet?" Silva asked. She had pulled out the dagger while Abigail was ranting, and Ammy was (somehow) currently helping her bandage the wound with the bandages Silva had in her satchel.

"No!" Abigail screeched at her. "Don't interrupt!" Obviously, she was quite pissed. She would probably apologize for this later, but right now she was too enraged to really give a shit. She inhaled and was about to continue when she realized... she had lost her train of thought. She opened and closed her mouth several times, looking much like a fish, before finally settling for glaring at Silva and folding her arms with an annoyed, hard-to-take-serious-because-it-looked-childish, pout.

Silva simply grinned at Abigail, then got up with Ammy's help (help being Ammy half-dragging her).

"Hey, who's that?" Issun suddenly piped up, pointing toward a nearby island.

"That is a boy who is apparently fishing with no line." Silva announced in a pompous voice.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious!" Abigail said brightly, having recovered from her rant.

"You're welcome, Sergeant Sarcasm!" Silva saluted Abigail.

"Are you two done yet?" Issun asked impatiently.

"No." Silva replied, rolling her eyes.

Abigail grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, we're done..."

"Asdfghjkl," Silva muttered unintelligibly, hopping over the water from island to island until she got to Kokari, at that point stumbling and almost knocking the small boy over.

"Excuse me," She said. "but I do believe you are fishing with no line."

"I do believe you almost knocked him over," Abigail pointed out.

Silva made a "STFU" motion with her hand, still looking at Kokari.

Kokari was mumbling to himself. "Oh, poor Ume…I wonder if he's okay…" Then he noticed Silva and the others.

"Did he seriously just notice us?" Abigail asked blankly to no one in particular.

"Oh, hello, doggie, girls." He said. "Are you all alone, too? I'm Kokari. Pleased to meet you." A scroll suddenly came down, bearing the words "Boy of the Forest Kokari".

"He doesn't sound very pleased." Issun muttered.

Silva pointed to the red stick pole thing he was holding. "...why are you fishing with no line?"

Kokari completely ignored her question and instead looked at his pole. "Oh, this? This is my fishing pole."

"Oh…um…some fishing pole you've got there, kid." Issun said slowly.

"Actually, there's no fishing line or hook on it right now." Kokari said, stating the obvious.

"Isn't it Issun's job to state the obvious?" Silva muttered.

"Hey!"

"I thought it was everyone's job...?" Abigail wondered.

"But there's a reason for that" Kokari continued. "…my dog Ume and I were exploring a secret place the other day…an ancient building known as Tsuta Ruins. We'd never been able to get into the ruins until we found a key deep inside the forest. But when we went in, we heard a horrible roar from deep within. I didn't waste any time getting out of there! I locked the entrance to the ruins and hightailed it home. I thought Ume had followed me, but he was nowhere to be found! I bet he's trapped back at those ruins! He must be crying, all scared and alone…"

"If you know where he is, then why didn't you go rescue him?" Issun asked. "This is no time to be fishing!"

"Yes, well, there's a reason for that. You see, on my way home from the rains, I fell near the water's edge and in went the key!" He started to cry. "I've tried my hardest to fish it back out, but…I've lost all my line and hooks! And now all I have is this pole! WAAAAAA!"

"Man, this kid's a crybaby…" Issun grumbled.

Silva smacked Kokari upside the head.

"Silva!" Abigail gaped.

Kokari fell over. "Ow!"

"Okay I did not hit him that hard."

Abigail shoved Silva with the same amount of force that Silva used to smack Kokari.

Silva barely moved an inch. "...see?"

Abigail facepalmed. "I wonder what a real shove woulda done..."

"Now cut that out!" Issun said in a stern voice. "There's nothin' I hate more than a crybaby! You were the one who left your dog on those dangerous ruins. So you gotta do whatever it takes to get the key and go help him!"

Abigail sputtered indignantly.

Silva nodded approvingly.

Abigail slapped Silva.

"What was that for?-!-?" Silva whisper-yelled, not wanting to interrupt Issun and Kokari.

Abigail glared, but said nothing.

"Listen," Silva began. "Issun is doing that kid a favor. Kokari ran at the first sign of danger, left his dog behind, and lost the key, choosing to just sit there holding a fishing rod with no line. Unless this kid learns to be brave and actually do something instead of letting others do it for him, he's never gonna get anywhere. You were the same," She poked Abigail's chest. "You couldn't do squat and we had to fight your battles for you until recently, when you chose to learn to defend yourself. Do you want that kid to be like that forever?" She pointed at Kokari.

"...I guess not," Abigail mumbled reluctantly. "Still, you guys don't have to be that harsh..."

"This is not harsh," Silva retorted. "Harsh would be full-out yelling at that kid and telling him how much of a wimp he is."

"Did you really have to hit him?"

"Yes," Silva said, thinking of the game.

Abigail scowled darkly.

"B-b-but…" Kokari stuttered.

"Listen here, kid…fishin's all about attitude. Attitude! There's nothin' you can't catch without the right attitude! Fish, babes, or whatever. It all can be yours! Go ahead! Act like you're having fun. We'll watch. ...Boy, this murky water sure gives me the creeps." Issun said quietly, trying to only let the girls and Ammy hear it. But he failed.

"People call it the Deep Abyss because they can't see the bottom." Kokari said. "But that's not why these waters are famous. Legend has it a humongous fish swallowed the moon reflected on the surface of the water. No one knows if the legend is true…but to this day, the moon never rises in the Agata Forest."

"Give the fairytales a rest, will ya kid? They're so gloomy. Think more positive. Have fun, fun!" Issun said, then started talking to Ammy. "Okay…let's use that Celestial Brush of yours to help him out. There should be some fishing line on his pole, but there's not…well, just make some by drawing a line from the pole to the fish!"

"I am really glad I don't have to do this." Silva said, leaning against the stone sign near Kokari and watching.

Abigail still looked rather put-out, but sat on the grass and did not argue further. She folded her arms, then suddenly flinched and clutched the arm that had been injured while fighting Waka. It seemed that they had somehow forgotten about it.

"Leave it to Abigail to forget about a wound..." Mikey muttered from the clouds.

Mystic smacked her for unnecessarily breaking the fourth wall.

Silva noticed Abigail wincing. "Alright, what battle wound needs patching up?" She mumbled, pulling out bandages and motioning for Abigail to show her her wound. Abigail spread out her injured arm, motioning to but not touching the angry-looking red cut in her arm.

While Silva pulled out antibiotics and disinfectant and whatever the crap she needed because we don't know because of too much Trauma Center, Ammy was secretly helping Kokari fish, mainly catching small fish like a goby. One such goby flew off the hook, smacking Abigail in the face and then landing in Silva's lap.

"Aw, what the hell?-!" She yelped, dropping the roll of bandages she was holding and tossing the fish back towards Ammy. The fish knocked Issun off Ammy's head, much to Silva's delight, and then landed at Kokari's feet. Abigail simply sat there looking stunned for several moments.

Ammy double facepawed. Somehow.

Eventually, with some difficulty, they managed to catch a freaking gigantic salmon. And when we say gigantic, we mean gigantic. It lay on the island, flopping around, as everyone just stared at the salmon.

"...Holy crap that is a huge salmon," Silva stated, staring at the salmon with awe. Abigail nodded silently in agreement.

"Wow, that's a big one!" Kokari exclaimed, clearly also in agreement, but seemed to be more ecstatic than stunned. The fish suddenly had a serious spazz, and Kokari started to just stare at it like the others. "Huh?"

The salmon suddenly coughed up a strange looking object that, considering the plot, was probably the key.

"Hey!" Kokari exclaimed. "Th-That's the Ruins Key!"

"Weird lookin' key," Abigail observed.

"It popped right outta the mouth of that big ol' fish!" Kokari continued excitedly. "Now I can go save Ume over at the ruins! I'm gonna go all the way in this time! No running away for me now!"

Ammy suddenly grabbed the key and walked away. Kokari noticed about five seconds too late and started hopping up and down, throwing a hissy fit. "Hey! Give that back!"

"Heh heh, good move, Ammy!" Issun snickered. "We can't have the kid getting hurt on your watch!"

Abigail double facepalmed along with Silva.

"Well whadda we waitin' for! We got a lost dog to find in Tsuta Ruins!" Issun declared.

"ALLITERATION!" Silva suddenly yelled out.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Get back here!" Kokari shouted.

The party then ran away to avoid Kokari's horrible, horrible wrath.

(Scene Transition was wondering if he was going to be used at all this chapter.)

"So now that we've got this key," Silva began, twirling the oddly shaped key on her finger. "we're going to go to the ruins, right?"

"Yep!"

"How are you doing that?" Abigail asked Silva blankly, staring at her as she twirled the key on her finger.

"Magic," was Silva's simple reply.

"Oh." And Abigail totally bought it.

Silva walked up to the ruins door and slammed the key into the keyhole.

"...Did you really have to do it with so much force?" Issun sweatdropped.

"You did it like a Selkie," Abigail said dramatically.

"Like a what?"

"A S- aw, nothin', forget it."

"...Well, let's go look for that kid's dog..." Issun trailed in an attempt to cover the following awkward silence. "I'm actually hoping we might find something more. Nobody's entered these ruins for ages, right?"

"Which leads me to wonder how Kokari even got the key in the first place," Silva pondered.

"Just think about it..." Issun continued, totally ignoring Silva. "There could be a fabulous treasure hoard hidden in here!" He chuckled as if in anticipation. "But enough talk. Let's start looking!"

"ONWARD TO TSUTA RUINS!" Abigail shouted.

Silva leapt dramatically into the gaping doorway, followed by Abigail, with Ammy and Issun following close behind.


Mystic: Anyone who has played Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles will understand that reference. XDD
Mikey: *COUGH THAT MEANS YOU SENOM COUGH*
Mystic: *looks up at Silva's conversation with Waka* I think I wrote that when I was half-asleep... I don't remember... but yeah, it's unreal and fail and I kept it because it amuses me. XD Anyone who thinks it's stupid and shouldn't be there can just ignore it. :P
Mikey: But I liked it... *shot*
Mystic: XD *patpat* Thank you, Mikey.
Silva: Review and you get Waka's hat! Headdress! Thing! *holds up said headdress thing*
Waka: I'd like that back, please. :T
Silva: ...NOPE. *runs*
Waka: *sighs* *chases*