The rain continued pouring. It was very cold as I hurried to return back home.

"Hello…?"

I stopped upon hearing a voice. Standing there, all I heard was the rain hitting the ground.

"What… Was that…?" I told myself.

Slowly looking around, there was no one around. I wasn't sure where the voice came from honestly. The voice sorta echoed. This was very odd as I tried shaking it off and continued to walk.

"Gold…"

Stopping right on the spot, I felt my skin crawl upon hearing my name in that ghostly echoing voice. I turned in a full 360 and scanned every bit of my surroundings. Nothing. Nothing at all. Seeing nothing but hearing something really did set me off. I thought someone was messing with me. But that kind of voice was not natural. Someone could've been using one of those voice changing devices, but no. It just sounded too real.

"Um… Hello…? This isn't funny…" I spoke out softly.

Nothing further came upon me speaking out. At first I thought I was going crazy. No one would've been traveling in this rain anyway.

"Uh… Okay then…" I slowly said and turned to face the path.

My mind must be playing tricks on me, so I just tried to think about other things. Like how I'm going to explain to Dagger where I've been. I know Dagger must be so worried. Probably already placed missing posters around or something like that.

"Man… I do feel bad. Leaving Dagger for such a long time. I knew I should've just stayed…" I told myself and shook my head.

I continued thinking about this as I walked home. How I would explain to Dagger. What would happen upon coming home. And all that kind of stuff. It was hard for me honestly. I just didn't know what to tell him. I sorta expect Ivy and Icy to help me with explaining where we've been. Or maybe it'd be best not to tell him at all. I don't want to worry Dagger about how we could've all died in that place. So maybe that was for the best. Not saying a word.

It took a little, but I finally made my decision and that was to not tell Dagger. I would just tell the two to make up an excuse of where we've been. That sounded good. And that's what I did. When I reached my place, I saw the two sitting outside just talking. When I walked up, they waved softly as I waved back.

"So you got that thing done?" Ivy asked.

"Yeah… Didn't take long at all. So, um…" I stopped.

"Hmm?" Ivy looked at me.

"While I was walking back… I started thinking of what to tell Dagger. I think we shouldn't tell him what happened." I said.

"Huh? Why not?" Icy asked.

"I… Don't think we should since he already went through a lot with that curse. I don't know what he'll do knowing we could've died there and all." I said.

"Well, um, if you think that's best." Ivy said.

"It is. Lets just try and make up something." I told them.

"Alright. That sounds good. So… Lets walk in then?" Icy looked at me.

I nodded as they got up. I walked up to the door and pulled out a key from my pocket.

"Glad I didn't lose this…" I told myself.

Putting the key into the lock, I twisted and unlocked the door. Once the sound of the door unlocking, I removed the key and slowly opened the door.

Looking in, the house was dark other then the faint light of the TV in the living room.

"Um… Seems empty. Come on." I told them and opened the door.

The three of us walked in as I closed the door. I locked the door once it closed as I followed the two around into the living room. We then went into the kitchen then in some other rooms. We searched them for a bit before returning to the living room. Dagger wasn't around. This didn't really scare me since we didn't check upstairs. So I told the two as they walked up with me. We walked through each room. Bathroom, closets and soon the bedrooms. When I walked into the room where we both slept, I was glad to see Dagger sleeping in his bed. I let out a sigh knowing he was safe as we walked in.

Looking at the two, I told them to stay as I walked up to Dagger and gently shook him. It took a little for him to wake up, but when he did, he stared at me and instantly looked surprised before hugging me.

"G- Gold…?" He said.

"Yeah, it's me… Glad to see you again." I said.

Dagger nodded and soon looked at me.

"Where… Did you go…? I looked all over the place… I asked around and did all kinds of stuff to try and find you." He said.

"Well, um… I really wish I could've told you but we left in such a hurry and I couldn't contact you." I told him.

"Huh?" He looked confused.

"Err… I had to go somewhere. Somewhere far away. And we didn't have anything to contact you." I said.

"Somewhere? Where?" He asked.

"I can't really say. It was a secret place… Look, it was some business I had to do for someone I met during my journey saving you from your curse." I said.

"O- oh… That's okay… I'm just glad you're back…" He said softly and hugged again.

"Yeah, same." I replied, hugging him.

We hugged for a minute before departing. I then motioned Ivy and Icy over. When they were over, I slowly got up.

"Well. We're extremely tired. So how about we get some sleep?" I asked him.

"Of course…!" Dagger exclaimed and wagged his tail.

Dagger jumped back onto his bed and covered himself. I then looked at the two as they shrugged.

"We'll take the couch." Ivy said.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah. We'll just use the couch so you don't have to worry about us." He said.

"Oh, um, okay. Well… See you in the morning then." I said.

"Same to you." Ivy told me and walked towards the door.

Once the two left and walked downstairs, I slowly turned to face Dagger as he already appeared to be asleep, smiling softly. I let out a small chuckle and rubbed his head. I was glad to see him again as I laid down onto my bed and closed my eyes. Feeling the warm and softness of my bed felt amazing and it didn't even take more then ten seconds before I blacked out into a relaxing and comfy rest.

When morning came, I didn't even want to get up from the bed since it just felt so good. But with some effort, I managed to pull myself up as I got to my feet. Once on my feet, I stretched and walked towards the door.

Walking downstairs, I noticed Ivy and Icy already awake on the couch just watching TV. They heard me come down as they looked back and at me.

"Hey… Dagger's in the kitchen making some food. Kinda excited… Hadn't had much great food back in that realm, so…" He said.

"Yeah. And Dagger makes it very well surprisingly." I replied.

He nodded and returned to watching the TV while I walked into the kitchen to see Dagger just cooking some stuff. I walked up to him as he smiled softly.

"Hey… Woke up a little earlier then expected so I could make all this for you. Miss cooking for you since you always seem to like my food." He said.

"Well, it is really good. I cook pretty good… But not as good as you." I said.

"Heh… Well, it should be done soon. So mind telling the others?" He said.

"Nope, not at all." I told him and walked into the living room.

In the living room, I told the two as they got up and went into the kitchen. While they were in the kitchen, I walked outside for a moment. The rain has stopped as the wind sent chills down my back.

"I have missed this, heh… But thinking back last night… What Luk has said. Does that mean I'll actually see him again…? I swear I better not." I told myself and sat.

Closing my eyes, I started to think. I didn't want to know what Luk needed with that box. I couldn't care less honestly. But what he did say last night. It sorta set me off. The way he said it and all. I swear I'll see him again, but honestly, he better not show up. I'll be ready to throw punches and things I get my paws on since he told me he'll never bother me again. I sighed softly and opened my eyes.

"You know… I wonder what Xcon has been doing. Maybe I should visit her later." I told myself.

That thought drowned the other thoughts about Luk. I hadn't really heard about her for a while so I think it'd be nice dropping by once I get the chance.

Getting up from the chair, I smiled softly before returning inside and to the kitchen to see Dagger placing food down. We then all began eating for about half an hour while we talked and tried catching up on all I've missed pretty much. It wasn't much but it was nice talking to Dagger again. Ivy and Icy just sat and listened, talking among themselves here and there.

Once we were done eating, Dagger cleaned up as the three of us walked out into the living room.

"Dagger seems to care about you a lot…" Ivy said.

"Well, I did save him all. So I guess that's why." I replied.

"Yeah… Must've been a crazy journey." Icy said.

"It was. Dying a few times just to be revived. It was such an odd encounter in my life. But I'm glad to have saved Dagger after being tortured in that horrible place for so long…" I said.

"What did happen after you saved Dagger?" Ivy asked.

"Eh, nothing much. After all that, he offered me to live with him. I accepted and that's that. We lived together… I didn't even bother going back to that place that caused me harm… We just lived in peace and soon traveled around a bit before deciding to live in a whole new region to start new. I managed to buy us a house a few months of living here and yeah…" I told them.

"Huh… Glad to be far away from there?" Ivy asked again.

"Very. This place is much nicer and hopefully nothing else happens." I said.

"Yeah… Well, we don't really have a 'home' really. We might be heading out soon too. It's… Been quite an adventure." He said.

"You helped me, so I don't mind if you want to live here. We had enough space and all." I told them.

"Really?" Ivy looked at me.

"Really. We don't really mind." I said.

"W- well then. Guess we'll stay here for a little. Thanks… It does get old living in caves and under bridges." He said.

"We don't live at those places, remember…? It's campsites since we explore and collect data on plants and locations." Ivy rolled her eyes.

"I know… But still." Ivy sighed softly.

"Don't mind him. It was his choice exploring the world to discover all kinds of stuff, heh…" Icy told me.

"Yeah. Would be fun honestly. But I think I'd stay here for a bit." I told her.

"Well hey, if you want, you can come with us. Dagger too." She said.

"I'll think about it. I like exploring. But exploring the world… I might need to look into that." I said.

"All good." Icy said.

"Well, anyways… I'm going to do some stuff." I said.

"Alright. We'll be here." Ivy said.

Nodding softly, I got up and walked outside. I decided this would be a good time to visit Xcon. So that's what I did. I started walking towards her place...