Here we go~

Ari groaned, lifting up her head and looking up at the figure she'd fallen asleep on. Expecting Vreagon she opened her eyes to apologize, but when her gaze met piercing gray eyes, she reeled back, gasping and flying away from him, back slamming against the opposite wall. Mnem frowned at her, biting his lip.

"…You…you looked tired. So I let you sleep."

Ari closed her eyes tightly, struggling to remember. What had happened? Why was she here? Had anything happened? Had Mnem done something to hurt her?

It flooded back to her in a rush of memories, her eyes snapping open. She stared at the other male, eyes wide.

"…this is all real, isn't it? The portal, the Void, The End…"

"Yes. Yes, I'm afraid it is." Mnem watched the girl as she looked down, shoulders dropping. He sighed, standing slowly. "…let's get you home."

Ari nodded slowly, though she was reluctant to stand. She sat quietly until Mnem held out his hand. She stared at it, examining it needlessly. She had to take his hand, or he would become offended…

Her hand touched his and both paused, hearts leaping. Ari's breath hitched in her throat and she looked up, staring past the hand to his stomach, rising to his face. His eyes were locked on her hand, wide as his bottom lip parted from the top in surprise. He took a steadying breath before securing her hand, holding it tightly. Neither moved, neither spoke. Ari made the first move, her body becoming tired of staying in the same place, her legs sliding across rock in a sudden jerk.

This broke the spell. Mnem shook his head and lifted her, smiling kindly (if not a little nervously) as he released her. Clearing his throat, Mnem hefted the girl to her feet, staring at the side of her head as she rolled her shoulders.

"Let's go," Ari started, sighing heavily. Mnem watched her stride to the water, unmoving. She looked back at him, blinking in confusion. "…aren't…aren't you coming?"

Mnem weighed his options. He could show her what was behind the walls, what was hiding within the shadows… or he could take her home and leave it at that.

To hell with it, he thought, grabbing the girl's hand and yanking her back to his side. Ari yelped in shock, gasping as soon as her chest hit his. She stared up at him in shock before he grinned, parting his lips to speak.

"There's something else I want to show you, if you'll allow me."

"…" the girl rolled her eyes, the shock fading from her eyes as she pulled away nervously, setting her hands on her hips. "Sure, go for it, since you just decided to pull my arm out of its socket,"

Mnem chuckled, nodding and patting the wall, searching for something the girl couldn't see.

"Ah-ha!" He shouted, pushing a block inward. Ari jumped as the wall in front of her trembled, dust being shaken down from it. Mnem grabbed a torch from the wall, handing it to her, and took the opposite one, leading the way. "Stay close," he started, glancing back at Ari as the girl rushed to stand behind him. "Out here it's a little confusing."

They walked silently through the dark cave, only their footsteps and the crackling of fire accompanying them. The long hall opened up into a huge room, where Mnem pressed another block into the wall, lights bursting to life inside. Ari could barely see Redstone on the ceiling, looking back down at the artifacts that lay scattered around the room. Large boxes with black screens, small tablets of… what was that? Metal? Mnem led the way down the narrow stairs, their feet soon hitting the hard stone of the floor.

"This is all my family has found of the Earth long ago. Some were saved in the initial uprising, others, like… like this," he held up one of the small tablets, its screen broken into shards, dirty and destroyed. "This, my grandfather found in the sands of the desert after a storm. It was just laying there, half buried. I don't know what it is, honestly… We've never been able to figure it out. But, it's pretty neat, huh- Ari?"

The girl was walking away, something catching her attention in the distance. She walked slowly, holding the torch even if it was of no proper use any longer, bending down and brushing dirt away from the object of her attention. Mnem stepped up behind her and grinned as the woman lifted the shiny object to her face.

"It's a necklace." Mnem said softly, leaning down and sitting on his knees, mirroring her. Ari looked over with a huff.

"I can see that, genius." She shot back, grinning in satisfaction as Mnem silenced for a moment. "…what's it made out of?" she asked, lifting it to the light. The purple jewels were nearly clear, only a few sections of foggy, misty shades in its way. The chain itself was once-polished silver, now dusty and perhaps a little damaged, though it was surprising that it had lasted this long at all. The rings around the purple were a soft gold, shining brilliantly despite its obvious age. However, the pendant that hung from the very end of the necklace was unfamiliar to her. Stark white in color and somewhat rough to the touch when rubbing one way, smooth and perfect when going the other, Ari wondered just where it had come from.

"Well, that pretty little purple stone there is Amethyst. You can't find it around easily, anymore. From what I know, it was hard to get it to look like that anyway. Gold, silver, but I'm sure you can already see that. As for this white… I…I don't know. Nobody in my family knew, and nobody who laid eyes on it after that knew, either. It made its way back into this room when I was little and it's stayed there." He watched her shift it in her hands and his face became warm, the color rising in his cheeks. He looked away, clearing his throat, fighting to regain his control. "You uh… You can have it, you know, if you want it…" He offered, and Ari looked up hopefully, yet her eyes still held a bit of suspicion.

"…really?"

"Really."

The girl smiled. "…help me get it on?"

"What- now?"

"Yes, unless it's damaged in the water, in which case I'll stick it in the safe pocket in my bag-"

"No, no, it's fine; I'm just surprised is all."

The girl turned, handing him the necklace as she did so. Lifting up her hair, she let out a soft sigh, waiting for Mnem to fix it onto her neck. He hesitated slightly, biting his lip at the exposure of more skin (even if it was only her neck,) and wrapped his arms around her nervously, pulling the chain around her neck and moving to clasp it. His hands touched her skin and he felt the jolt, the rolling in his stomach, the butterflies inside going crazy. Ari stiffened as well, letting out a nervous giggle as he pieced the new accessory around the girl's neck. She turned, adjusting it, looking at Mnem brightly. "How does it look?"

The man was stunned. He'd doubted that it would have made much of a difference – it was just a necklace, it wasn't important. The girl already wore jewelry, that little red ribbon around her neck he'd seen her with before (though she'd recently relocated it to her ankle, he noticed), the piercing in her belly with another red ribbon – he wondered silently about her obsession with red – the arm bands… she had plenty of accessories.

Yet this necklace somehow changed her overall appearance. She looked like a true woman, standing tall. Her thin arms led to feminine hands, strong legs to gentle feet. Her small shoulders held up a slender neck, which in turn held up a perfectly-shaped head, the hair on top feathered and clean, soft to the touch. The brown eyes stared into his gray in question, and Mnem snapped himself from his thoughts, nodding slowly.

"It… it looks nice." He managed, smiling and breathing in, turning away from her. "We should get you back home, it will be night soon. We don't want to be caught outside our homes when the moon is in the sky."

Ari nodded, following the other out, watching the door slowly fall behind them, concealing the room once more.

Vreagon paced nervously, scratching at his arm. "Where the hell is she! It's nearly dark – what if something happened to her? She was just going out for a swim!"

Mor stared sympathetically, shrugging in an attempt to keep his brother calmed, though it was difficult when he, too, was worried. Renel, however, laughed.

"Will you calm the fuck down? If she drowned, she drowned. Nothing you can do about it buddy, so you-"

Vreagon was on him in moments, leering violently over the man. "If you ever say something like that again, I swear to all that is holy that I will gut you."

"What, are you in love with her or something?" Renel teased, surprised when Vreagon rolled his eyes.

"Of course not! At least – not like that. She's a sister to me, Renel, don't you fucking get it?" he snapped, moving closer.

"If I didn't know any better, Vreagon, I'd think you were g-"

Ari's clearing her throat interrupted them. Vreagon looked over and exhaled in relief, rushing to her and slapping her shoulder.

"Ow! What the hell- what was that for!"

"For being gone so long, bitch!" Vreagon shouted, pulling her into a tight hug. "Shit, I thought you'd drowned or something!"

Ari shook her head and giggled. "Oh, please. Me? Drown? You're kidding."

"Well, you seem to get the short end of the stick with every other danger you come across, I figure it wouldn't do good not to be worried."

Ari couldn't argue with that logic, making her way to the fire, listening as Duck waddled toward her, clucking ecstatically. He settled himself at her feet and Ari smiled, patting the top of his head and rubbing the necklace, blushing as she remembered Mnem's fingers slightly grazing her neck. She stood slowly, grinning. "Well, boys, I know I just got back, but I'm exhausted. I'm heading to bed." She backed up, waving to Mor and Vreagon – she glared at Renel and stuck out her tongue – before heading into her small home, leaving the door open for Duck as he rushed inside after her.

Vreagon glanced over to her closing door, frowning.

…Just where was she?