The next day had started off pleasant with Pichu bouncing off the walls and Torchic jumping on my lap. I didn't get much sleep so I just got ready for the day. It was quite early, some time after 8 to be exact. I had put on a hot pink tank top with royal blue threads around it and on it. On the top, there are blue and yellow strands dangling and also a purple covering connected to the tank top. Putting on circular pink earrings with three strands on the end. Wearing blue pants with pink threadings on them. Lastly I had on hot pink shoes with light pink highlights and a golden bracelet. "So when are we supposed to be leaving?"

"Not sure, it's really early so it's going to be a while. So whenever they get here, we can go. Now, before you hurt yourself, stop jumping on things." I said; combing out some knots from the ends of my hair. "But there's nothing to do in here, I'm starting to get bored,"

"Why are you making that my problem? You've only been here for what? A day now? And why can't you seem to listen when I said for you to get down from there?" I questioned. Finally hopping off the medicine cabinet, he soon disappeared off somewhere shortly after.

I sighed in relief that he didn't knock anything. I started hearing my phone ding, I moved Torchic from my lap before grabbing it. It was a message from Monoma. 'Are you ready yet?'

Glancing out the window and smiled, Monoma and Josuke were out there waiting. Collecting everything she needed for the day, Musa had Elfin roll her outside. The pair perked up when Musa came out the building. "Are you feeling any better?" Monoma asked. "Yeah, I'm feeling much better today than before. Where's Stella? I thought she was coming?"

"She said she would meet us a little later. Something had come up," Josuke said. Smiling at her, Musa felt a little tingly inside but had to shake it off. She wanted to at least get to better before her feelings for him arose. Jumping off Musa's shoulder, Pichu immediately went over to Neito and started tugging on his pants. "Hey pinhead! You left without leaving food behind. Did you bring something for us?"

"Yeah I did…for her," That ended up turning into an argument, while Musa's chair started getting pushed away. "Why don't we just get moving?"

That just got Musa to start reflecting on herself. There were many things wrong with her. Throughout her life, it felt like living in an absolute nightmare. She wasn't sure how Neito still wanted to be her friend after that incident. With him ending up with that scar because of her, it always left her a little hesitant around him. Musa had made another friend in middle school that was most likely scared off because she never saw again. In addition to that, living with another part of her had also been a struggle for her. "Are you okay? You seem pretty out of it,"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just have a lot on my mind right now. You don't have to worry about it," Musa told him. "You know, I would have never known you freckles and those little circles on your face, why cover them?"

"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with my face." Musa said while digging through her bag and pulling a small mirror. Glancing in it, it looks like someone had forgotten to apply makeup earlier. She felt the chair halt in place, "I never said anything was wrong with your face. Just curious as to why you would cover up a face like that,"

'Don't get ideas now. He was probably dropped on his head a few times,'

Shaking off the thought, Musa put my mirror away. "I always tried my best to hide them after being made fun of because of these circles as a child. Though Monoma did mention he liked them the first time he saw them,"

"Oh? So how long have you two known each other?" "Oh you meet during preschool. Two outcasts in our class and been friends ever since. Though we did end up going to separate middle school,"

Feeling the chair being pushed once again, Musa glanced behind him. The two buffoons seemed to stop arguing and quiet down. "Are you two done now?" "I'm still hungry." Pichu answered before running over and jumping back in her lap. "That wasn't my question, but I'll make sure to get you guys something later,"

It had been quiet between all of them quite some time after that. Luckily, it didn't take long for them to get to the mall. Stella had been there; waiting for them. She had been accompanied by what looked to be a pixie. She had long dark magenta hair. Her eyes were also dark blue. This pixie wore a light pink puffy-sleeved dress and green headband with roses attached. "Hi Stella, who's this?"

"This is Amore. She really wanted to meet you,"

"You're the one that helped Tune and Cherie. So as a thank you from us pixies, we wanted to give you this,"

While flying over to Musa, Amore made a small object appear. It looked like it was half the size of her head. It was a hot pink, bottlenecked container with a hot pink, disc-shaped cap. It adorned rectangular, silver studs and an eye hook-type fixture encased in a silver, spherical cage adorned with light pink, flower-shaped charms. There was a silver center and the cage closed off with a hot pink, disc-shape with light pink flower-shaped charms on gray strings hanging from it. "Thanks, but what is it?"

"It's a fairy dust bottle. The contents in it have healing properties in it. It can al-"

Something seemed to be off causing her to just freeze. "I have to go…." She said before disappearing shortly after. "She'll probably be back later. Don't worry about it now," Stella suggested. Musa took notice of something slightly different about Stella, "Stella…is that a new ring?" Musa asked. It is cyan blue with a sun-shaped circle. "Oh yeah, it's something that my mom gave me. It's why I was a little late,"

She took it off before tossing it up. It glowed before turning into a long staff with the sun-shaped circle being on its top. "My mom said it was an heirloom in the family that she thought it was about time to give it to me," Stella admitted. "Well that's enough standing around, what store do you want to go first?" Monoma asked. He switched places with Josuke and started pushing Musa through the mall. "Oh, let's go to that one. I needed to get some new clothes,"

Monoma started pushing Musa through the mall. She always noticed that he would do things for more than a normal friend. She did appreciate him doing them for her. Musa wasn't exactly sure if it was a normal friend thing or if he had a crush on her. Musa did ponder on if her newly founded friendships with Joskue and Stella would last. If they found out about her, would they abandon her or would they stay by her side.

It ended up only taking about 30 minutes to get what Musa wanted from the store. They ended up doing a bit of window shopping. In the farthest part of the mall, it seemed to have been darker than the rest. It piqued Musa's interest greatly. "Monoma, can you push me to that store?"

"Are you about that?"

"Why wouldn't I be sure? I just want to look around,"

Musa had gotten a little excited when her chair was being pushed towards the store. Through the window, it was clear that people weren't in there. From the looks of it, it was a bit of a no brainer on why it wouldn't have anyone. 'Pockets of Time' is what it was called. When going inside, the chime of bells as the shop door opens followed by the floorboards creaking.

There were a lot of spider webs that hung everywhere. Along with that, the ceiling looked like it was going to give out any minute. Though there were some glittering crystal chandeliers that were shattered around the place. "Are you really sure that you want to be here, Musa?"

There was something about the ticking from the grandfather clock somewhere in the place to the vintage records that could be heard playing throughout that made her want to stay. The lights had been flickering ever since they walked in. Most of the cabinets were empty with others having some dainty figurines, collectible plates, china cups, thimble collections to exotic wood jewelry and cigar boxes. A collection of framed black and white portraits with some stained glass pieces hung on some of the walls. The smell of oil paint, wood and leather lingered.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I don't really see the problem with being here. If you don't want to be here, you can always wait outside," Musa said. Monoma and Stella decided they would end up leaving along with Pichu in tow. Musa felt a little nervous being left alone with him. "He won't like someone like you. What are the chances of that?"

"We should start looking around right?" Musa asked while shaking off the thought. "Yeah," The duo started to roam the store. Passing by vases, musical instruments, grandfather clocks, old chests with worn leather straps, wooden spindles, sewing machines, crates of records and clothing racks. Narrow walking aisles were filled in with some display cases that held small knick knacks and antique costume jewelry. Display surfaces were covered in dolls, collector buttons, silver and bronze candlesticks, vintage hair brushes, stacks of vintage books and comics. Jouske started to push her chair down one aisle til something caught Musa's attention. "Wait, go back."

It happened to be 3 small boxes that were covered in dust. Rolling back, Musa picked one up and blew dust off. Upon closer inspection, the box had been made out of very dark brown wood. It had the shape of an octagon. The lid of the box at the top has a red design, a circle with patterns in the middle surrounded by wavy lines as the edge. Blowing the dust off from the other small boxes, they had the same appearance. "You seem interested in those," An elderly lady said. As she approached, it was clear that she was wearing a fuchsia shirt and bowtie, a light brown vest, brown pants and shoes. They just assumed that she was the owner. "Oh, yeah. What's in them?"

The boxes seemed to have a weird lock to them. When Musa shook a box slightly, there was a small item in it. "I'm not really sure myself. They've been sitting here for a while now. You're the first person to actually take interest in them. Let me wrap those for you," she said.

Taking the boxes from Musa, she left the kids behind. Looking around the place for anything else, she spotted something in the back. She rolled her chair over to it. What she found was an ornate wooden box with gold detailing and latch. There was a design on the lid. "Find something?"

"Umm, not sure if I even want it. It just caught my attention," Leaving it behind, Musa went to the front counter. It was crowded with seemingly rare items under glass, a cash register and receipt pads, and a jar of pens. There was a paper bag waiting for her. "How much is it going to be?"

"It on the house, it's nice seeing a fresh face around here after so long,"

"No, it's okay. I can pay for it." Musa said while pulling out her wallet. Putting down enough money she thought would cover it. Musa took the bag before she left the store. "Such a sweet girl,"

They left the store with the new items. "Did you have everything you wanted?" "Yeah, we can go now. There was a really nice lady in there,"

With Pichu complaining, the group finally decided to go to the food court. "Does he ever shut up?" "Unfortunately, he doesn't. Sorry,"

They got to the food court shortly afterward. Monoma brought Musa to one of the empty tables. "What exactly did you want to eat now?" Musa poked at Pichu's stomach. "Anything would be fine," he said. Noticing that she was left alone with Josuke once again made her clam up. She didn't know how to start a conversation with him. What to say? How much to say? When to start?

That's when a light bulb appeared…or more like a small rodent jumping on the seat next to her. "When are we going to eat? What are you waiting for?" Already annoyed and wanted to strangle him, she decided against it. "Listen here you little shit, you can either wait or you can go away and starve," "I'll just have to get my lawyer then!" He said. His partner in crime appeared next to him. "What seems to be the problem here?"

"You'll become the problem if you scram,"

They quickly got the idea and escaped whatever Musa was plotting if they didn't. "So how many spirits do you have and are they all the same?"

"Well, I have 9 all together. They aren't all like him. Different personalities, different headaches. They have free will whenever they want to appear as you can see. You already met Torchic and Oshawott,"

The small bird appeared on her lap and was filled to the brim with excitement. He started jumping causing Musa to hold before he fell. "You made me another gift? Why don't you go get it?" The moment he left her lap. Josuke had caught her attention, "How come some of your spirit can talk but that one can't?"

"You sure do have a lot of questions, don't you? You don't have to worry yourself about right now,"

Monoma came back shortly after that with Stella not far behind. Pichu's and Oshawott's eyes were basically sparkling at this. He was drooling slightly when Monoma put the tray on the table. "What are you waiting for? Eat it already," Monoma said. Pichu and Oshawott were already at it the second that they were able to. "I'll pay you back later,"

Monoma just waved it off like it didn't matter. She knew him better than that to leave it like that. Though she did find it quite weird with most of his behavior around her. It wasn't particular when they were little; considering all they had were each in terms of friends.

But they were much older now and could branch more easily since then. It plagued her mind on what the sudden change in him could've been. Though she would ask him about it later, she was starting to feel tired. "What time is it?"

"It's a little past noon. Were you planning on going somewhere else?" Stella asked. "No, I'm just feeling a little tired right now." Musa admitted while stretching. "Can we go by my house?"

It would've been a peaceful walk going to my house if it wasn't for the fact that 4 marbles appeared a few feet from the group. "You've had our friends for long enough! We demand to have them back!" The blue yelled as he approached. Being slightly confused about them suddenly just approaching the group. "Who even are you? And what friends are you talking about?"

"It doesn't matter who we are! You just need to give our friends back to us!"

Horridan and Spyron suddenly appeared and floated over to the other marbles. They started whispering about something for quite some time. The blue one approached me with Horridian and Spyron following close behind. I could sense a lot of feelings coming from him. "It has come to our attention that these two want to stay with you. We have decided as a group to stay with you as well. Don't go getting any ideas. We're only doing this because of them,"

With that, I sent the six of them away; letting the newer ones meet my spirits. Hopefully they won't cause me any more mental strain than what I already have to deal with. I just need to figure out their names a little later if they were planning on staying long term. The rest of our trip came to an end at my home shortly with little interruption.