Ahem, so this is a private Rp Rino and I had started a long time ago, then died, then got revived, only now to be transfered from Gaia. Yeah, it's quite a journey for this little guy. XDD And Rino, I hope you remember what your last post was ((hint: water balloons + ambush on Ken = Maki and Shouta's ultimate plan!! lol X3)), cuz like said, Gaia's not cooperating with me either now. -_-' So then, a basic rundown of the characters.

Characters:

Stakers:

Lu Harada: A 17 year old girl, the Spirit Staker - therefore ranked as the 'leader' of the group, and whom is on tight ends with Ken. The two can't be in the same room without jumping at each other's throats. After Takeru and Nori show up at the mansion, and she returns from an unpleasant episode in which she is nearly possessed by a demon, her views have changed and thus, Ken sees her as a new enemy and their relationship has gotten even worse. On top of that, the others seem to think that they're actually in love, but because they're both pessimists and stubborn as hell, Maki and Shouta have launched an ambush plan to force them together. She controls the Dead, can take on the form of anyone who has died, can hear those ghosts' voices in her head, and is the medium for Matthus.

Ken Hattori: The 18 year old Fire Staker, who is the only 'sensible' one of the mansion...or so he likes to think. True, he is more quiet than everyone else (except Lu), but his temper also flares easier than anyone else's (again, Lu aside). He's locked in almost constant combat with Lu, mostly because he finds her too cloying whenever he does something rash - like walking outside in a downpour of acidic rain, even though he knows what water of any form does to his immune system. Though he acts like he hates her, the guy finally started to cave a bit when Keeta demanded whether or not he could kill Lu when the need arose. His answer never came directly out of his mouth, but it was plain enough he didn't want the girl to leave. He manipulates fire and heat; he's also amazingly good at sensing the presence of others' even from a long distance away, yet never felt Mattus's last appearance like Maki and Shouta had.

Maki Shiza: One of the three buffers of the mansion, this 16 year old chick is as volatile as her element: Water. On normal days, she's placid and simply goes with the flow of things; on good days, she's extra peppy and active; on bad days, she becomes a murderous storm, complete with hurricane-force waves if necessary. Just as Shouta is Ken's closest confident and companion, she's the only one who can get anywhere near Lu when the older girl's on the death prowl. She tends to hang around the Air Staker a lot, but so far, she herself - while plotting Lu and Ken's 'downfall' - can't decide whether she stays with Shouta because they're both similar, or because of some other reason...She controls water and ice, brings and disperses storms, and is telekinetic.

Shouta Okazaki: The other, main defensive wall between Ken and Lu, Shouta is 17, and is the Air Staker. He's generally a light-hearted joker, always pranking Maki should the chance arise, his favorite being sneaking up behind her and unexpectedly slamming his hands down on her shoulders. An added 'Boo!' is sometimes added as well as a bonus! He's often the unfortunate victim of either Lu or Ken, or sometimes BOTH, of their rages. But still, he keeps on trying to intervene whenever possible. He controls air, manipulating the pressure to act as an amplifier or a damper for his fellows' powers.

Midori Kamiya: Lastly, we have the Earth Staker; 15 years old, and by far the most chipper one of the five. She never lacks energy, and is always up for a spin with any good plot her friends' come up with. Though she doesn't dislike either, but she generally tends to skirt around Ken and Lu (for obvious reasons, since those two are the most likely to generate fear). After Takeru arrived at the mansion, she finally had someone to latch onto and share with as well, seeing as everyone else was already paired up. Gradually, she got very attached to the human boy and, unlike Lu and Maki with the guys they 'liked', was quick to admit that she had a crush for him. She manipulates earth and is an expert chemist; anything and everything that has a chemical/atomic structure, she can analyze, destroy, and reconstruct as another substance.

Humans:

Takeru Sato: The first human to wander upon the mansion grounds since millenniums, the 16 year old(who'd always had...problems....with the ladies) had the great misfortune of being informed that he was likely to be replacing one of the existing Stakers. With the circumstances, the list was narrowed down to either Lu, or Ken, leaning more towards the previous after Nori arrives. He's a well-meaning boy who, so far, has been doing amazingly well adjusting to his new surroundings, though he's still uneasy about the whole deal. He's closest to Midori, so naturally, she's the one he turns to for any help he needs. And Keeta, who knows the portal better than any one of them.

Nori Nadeyoki: The other human who enters the mansion, but her case is entirely different from that of Takeru's. For one thing, she's only 7 years old, a mere child. For another, Lu personally took her in and refused to let her leave, immediately at least. She's a quiet girl, but with a strong assertiveness when it comes to getting what she wants. Not to mention she's also extremely curious, yet strangely cautious about it as well. She's attached herself quite firmly to Lu, deeming the Staker her new 'sister', and is commonly seen tagging long behind the older girl. This might've been the source of Ken's irritation, but she doesn't know it. Besides, she doesn't much like the 'pyromaniac', as Lu calls him all the time.

Others:

Keeta: The local, friendly phoenix boy who's been around since the portal was first created. He's old, very old, several centuries old, but when he takes on his human form, he appears only as a 16 year old teen. He's the brain behind everything and is often found in the West Wing library, researching and digging up old information to help the Stakers. He is not exactly assigned to any one Staker, nor is he expected to obey them, but he chooses to listen more to Lu (and less to Ken) than anyone else. He's a down to earth personnel - someone's gotta be the logical one - but he can take on a commanding stance as well if something happens and order is lost. The only thing is, he cannot enter the tower room where the portal is kept. Mattus made sure to lay a curse on the phoenix before he died, and the enchantment prevents him from going near the demons' door.

Mattus Fletcher: An evil mastermind who is the cause of everyone's problems, starting way back to the portal's very existence and the existence of the Stakers. He doesn't show up much, since he's dead and requires the Spirit Staker's body to make himself solid in the human world, unless it's to make dire warnings of doom to come. So far, it seems he's taken a particular interest in this generation of Stakers.

[[Unfortunately... I can't remember my old post. xD; Can you try to get it down here? D:]]

((EH?! You forgot!! O.o *slaps Rino with rubber chicken* lol Haven't seen that chicken in a long time! XDD Anyways, I'll see what I can do you nutsy girl.

|| Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

Shouta, who always had his sharp mind working before committing any action, bit down ** his lips instead of opening them wide to give a scream. He turned around in a rather fierce glare, but very soon realised that it was only fair. He sighed instead, and pulled her to a quick hug to make sure that there were no hard feelings.

"Theeeee... plan is set!" Shouta said cheerfully instead, turning back on the excited Midori and still-troubled Takeru. "I promise you, Takeru, that Ken will be alright. This is just for the better good."

Takeru shrugged, and exchanged a glance with Midori. Whatever he saw there was enough to convince him, and he turned back to them with a determined look. "So... How do we drench him?"

"Easy. Take, aim, fire," Midori laughed.

The boy grinned. "I know. But how do we make sure he comes out of his room?"

"Chaos should do the trick," Shouta said thoughtfully. "Scream, shout, laugh - that'll be strange enough for him to want to come out and check. And soon as he does, we attack."

Something like that...-_-'))

[[Awesome! But wait, does this mean it's your turn to post? x3]]

((Yesh it is. w))

X{Maki}X

She grinned at Takeru's doubtful expression. Really, worrying about Ken, what a positively ridiculous notion - unless you were Lu of course - but the boy would learn soon enough that to preoccupy himself over the Fire Staker was a huge waste of energy and time. Best to just let the guy burn through whatever the hell he caught and let Lu take care of him. Which led back to hers and Shouta's plan to drench Ken with water balloons...

"Alright then, everyone get the idea? Good, then I'll go get the missiles!" Maki said, still smiling.

With that, she tip-toed back out the room, past Ken's closed door, and into her own. Once there, she quickly scooped up the pile of water filled latex spheres, and retraced her steps. Poking her head into the room, she gestured with her head for Shouta and the others to come out into the hall. Once there, she'd start handing out the balloons.

"So...who volunteers to draw Ken out? I don't, just to make that known right now," Maki said, shaking her head. She'd willingly drench the pyromaniac in water, but no way was she going to take the blame for causing him to come out of his room. After all, whomever does that, was most likely to be on the receiving end of Ken's rage; he'd probably see it as their fault that he stepped into the mine-field.

|| Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

Midori, Takeru and Shouta exchanged glances between one another. Now... that was one harsh decision to make. Midori immediately stepped back, and Shouta didn't blame her for it. Sure, she was light and happy, but when it came to Ken... Midori would rather stay away. Takeru, on the other hand, didn't seem to be like one who would do any good, causing havoc like this. And... well, it was pretty much his idea...

Shouta gave a resigned sigh. If there was anyone who could get away with doing something like this... he would. "I guess I'll have to do this," Shouta said weakly.

"Brilliant!" Midori cried out enthusiastically. "We're all set, right? Nothing more to plan?"

"Nothing," Takeru agreed. "Come on, let's get this over and done with before I change my mind. The more we plan, the less likely we'll get it done," he said, already seemingly uncomfortable. Yet, there was no mistaking the glint of mischief in his eyes.

Shouta nodded. Well... with every awesome plan, there would need to be sacrifices. "In that case, get yourselves in postition... I'll lure him out."

|| Shouta || and || Ken ||

For the uncounted time since he had shoved Shouta out of his room, Ken tossed and turned again in his bed. Why couldn't he just sleep already? The Fire Staker grumbled to himself and suddenly, a loud bang came from his door, followed by furious knocks. "Ken! Ken! Ken, open this door, now!" Shouta's voice came from outside, desperately calling.

This is just going too far... Ken thought, angered. Swiftly, he rose and flung the door open, roughly pushing the Air Staker away from his door as he advanced outside. "Now, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

X{Maki}X

She giggled behind her hand at Shouta's look of desperation and resignation. Poor boy, she couldn't blame him, but better he get his head bitten off than hers. Besides, Ken was much more lax with the Air Staker than he was with anyone else...well, maybe not Lu, since she'd just bite his head off in return. As Shouta began to pound on the door, Maki slid quietly to his left, so that she was now pressed up against the wall that would be covered when the door was opened. This ought to gain her a few seconds of surprise advantage. As soon as the panel of wood was flung wide - nearly smacking her in the face - she popped out from behind and started aiming.

"And the target is in sight! Fire at will!" she crowed, launching her first balloon straight at Ken's head. The second one was designated for Ken's chest and the last one for his back, to make sure he was drenched soundly on all grounds. Good enough that, even with just her three balloons, she could tell his shirt was already starting to plaster itself to his skin. Ooh, just wait until the others join in! she thought, smirking evilly. Ah, vengeance was sweet! And by vengeance, she was, of course, referring to the several moments in the past when Ken had gotten on her nerves. Now, payback time!

|| Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta || and || Ken ||

"Ah! Fire!" Midori and Takeru launched their attack at the same time, hitting the Fire Staker directly on his right shoulder and left knee. Ken buckled down, feeling the cold water chilling his bones, and another water attack came from above, crashing down his head - Takeru. Cursing under his breath, Ken could just hear the Air Staker apologising, while still hiding unmistakable delight; "Sorry, Ken. You'll thank us later."

"Thank?! You think I would thank you for all this? What the hell?! STOP!" Ken shouted amidst the attack of water balloons.

"We've run out. Shall we run?" Shouta grinned as he gazed down at the shivering, drenched Fire Staker.

X{Maki}X and X{Lu}X

Oho, they'd done good, that much she could tell. Ken was thoroughly soaked and **; both excellent signs of success. Now all that was needed, was for him to get sick, and for Lu to happen upon him in that condition. Then, everything would fall into place after that...or so she hoped. Ah well, the stage was set, all they needed were the right characters to start acting. Hehe, he could deny it now, but he would thank them later when everything was said and done. As Ken started shivering, Maki finally decided that it was high time for her to go find her friend.

"Righty-ho people, we done good!" she laughed, skipping out from behind the door. "Now whilst you all run, I'll go get the...other person..."

And leaving the others to Ken's rage, Maki left. Still skipping and humming under her breath, the Water Staker hurried down the hall, poking her head in rooms here and there to check if there was a tall, pale girl in them. No, no, and still no. Hm, where'd she get to this time? she wondered, descending to the floor level. From there, her search was much more promising, as she could faintly hear wing beats, and where Keeta was, Lu was usually near.

"Keeta! Is Lu with-" Maki started to say as she looked in on the phoenix and found her target, sitting right on the bed. "Oh, guess she is. Lu, you'll have to come with me for a second; there is a patient upstairs in dire need of your attention. In fact, there's a good chance he'll die if you don't hurry."

Of course the last part was severely exaggerated; Ken was not likely to die from a relatively light drenching such as the one he'd just received. But hey, whatever got Lu on the move faster, well, a little fib never hurt anyone. Sure enough, the older girl's attention was snatched away from wherever her mind had been earlier, and she frowned in question at Maki. Without waiting for agreement, her younger friend deftly moved Nori from Lu's lap, then grabbed the latter's arm and started to tug her away from the room.

"Wha-wait Maki, what are you talking about? I don't understand; in dire need of my attention? Why can't you or Shouta or one of the others deal with..." here she trailed off as realization smacked her right across the face. Of course, Maki had said 'he', and if Midori or Maki - who were much better at comforting a person than she - were forcing her into the situation, that could only mean one thing. The subject of concern was Ken. There was no other explanation; he was the only one who seemed to naturally repel the two most friendly girls in the mansion and likewise, Lu was apparently the only one he semi-listened to. She groaned silently as this toguht hit her. Great, so now what had that moron of a pyromaniac done to himself?

Maki, seeing the new look of comprehension on Lu's face, was much encouraged and started going even faster, again humming a jolly tune, as though everything was fine and grand. Which of course, they were not: not if a wet Ken was going to be pitted against a much annoyed Lu. But hey, some good had to come out of it right? The Water Staker and her charge finally arrived at their destination and with a grin, Maki deserted Lu before the other could protest. So now, Lu was left, alone, standing over a soaked and shaking Fire Staker, and shaking her head wearily. "Now what've you done you moron?"

|| Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta || and || Ken ||

As soon as Maki disappeared from their sight, Shouta rounded Midori and Takeru, his grin never coming off from his face. He patted the Fire Staker once again on the shoulder and hurriedly pushed Maki and Takeru away. "Go, go, run to the third floor and hide somewhere!" Shouta said hurriedly, and they both, with the look of mischief in their eyes, dashed upstairs.

"Well... Ken..." Shouta walked over to the shivering Fire Staker, whose eyes blazed with almost pure hatred. Suddenly, Shouta nearly felt sorry for him. Nearly. What should he say? Apologise? No, they've done this for the better good. Ask if he was alright? That wasn't right either, because the reason they did this was to make Ken suffer. Giving up, Shouta merely nodded at Ken, his eyes showing that he really had a reason for doing this. But whether Ken saw that or not... well, that Shouta couldn't say. "See you soon," he said, following Midori and Takeru upstairs.

Ohh, Ken would give anything to be able to chase them all and get his revenge. What on earth were they up to this time? He couldn't remember the last time they did something like this to him before, and he was getting very, very angry. But the chill was already starting to weaken him. Against normal water, Ken wouldn't be as badly harmed, but this... seeing that Maki was involved, Ken could understand full well why he was so badly affected. He shivered again, hardly able to keep himself upright as he tried to steady himself while sitting up. Luck was pushing against him.

Before Ken could fall flat on his face, however, another voice broke the silence and he cursed loudly. Lu. Greeeaaat. After being drenched with a Staker's work of chilling water, Lu was exactly the person he wanted to see. Ken turned his fierce eyes on her, finding no strength or words to actually describe what had just happened. What were the odds that she would believe him? And seeing that it was Maki who brought her...

Ken's head began to swim, and he felt immensely dizzy. What was going on?

X{Lu}X

Seeing that he was in no condition to explain to her just what had happened in her absence, Lu sighed in resignation, giving in to whatever ploy Maki and the others had worked up. Besides, the scene was pretty self-explanatory really; you had a soaked to the skin Ken, plus an oddly cheerful Maki, and the sudden disappearance of three usual personnels. Add all those together and she was getting the general gist of things. "Let me guess: Maki and Shouta somehow devised a plan to have you drenched in water for heaven knows what reason, and they dragged Takeru and Midori into it as well," she recited, as though reading off a list. "Well I have to say, they got you pretty good." As he turned his glare on her, Lu narrowed her eyes peevishly down at him and bent slightly at the waist so that her face was relatively close to Ken's, muttering beneath her breath, "And I can't say it didn't serve you right after all these years...guess you'll be fine if you can still glare at a person like that." With that, she straightened abruptly and made to turn on her heels and leave. Yet her feet refused to obey and she had to take into account again the pathetically wet Fire Staker barely able to sit up in the hall behind her. Her conscience was battling with her logical sense, one wanted her to hightail it out of there and leave Ken to his own devices, the other wanted her to back up and help that infuriating individual.

Eventually however, the more maternal side of her won over, and knowing she'd regret it later, Lu made her way back to where Ken was slumped against the wall, looking like he was liable to pass out any second. "Alright alright, you win this time," she grumbled to an absent Maki. She reached down and, ignoring any protests that the other might make, pulled him to his feet as gently as possible. "You. Are. The. Biggest. Pain. In. The. Butt. Ever. Ken Hattori!" she swore none too quietly as she led him into his own room and set him down on the bed. "You, since you're still relatively conscious, undress yourself and put on some dry clothes, then stay there and don't move," Lu instructed on her way back out. "I'll be right back."

Making her way down to the infirmary for the 'supplies', the Spirit Staker spent the time pondering as to what her friends were up to. Surely they had some sort of reason, no matter how illogical, behind nearly drowning Ken. And why had Maki looked so darn cheerful when she'd come down to fetch her, Lu couldn't understand either. Sorting through the cabinet full of pill bottles, she grabbed three small containers that were supposed to help treat fevers and severe colds, snatched up a few extra sheets off the infirmary beds, then headed back to Ken's room. Shutting the door behind her, she dumped her load onto the bedside table, and pulled out the first of the three plastic bottles. "I swear, sometimes I wonder how you've managed to survive this far..."

|| Ken ||

Ken indeed tried to protest when Lu began to hoist him to his feet. What was she planning now, trying to chill him internally by using spirits? Darn that Shouta... there goes the last form of trust he would ever place in someone. But Ken, really, should know better. Part of him knew that somehow, those four soon-to-be-dead inhabitants of the mansion had really fetched Lu so she could unleash the horror of her motherly powers on him... ohh, they would be very dead once he got his hands on them. He half-registered what Lu asked him to do before she disappeared, and groaned to himself.

Forcing himself to his feet, Ken walked over to his closet and grabbed the first decent shirt and pants he could find. He undressed himself and threw the wet clothes in the basket and put on the red shirt and black pants he found earlier. Ha, dress like the fire, fight against the fever. Ken knew that he was losing his mind at the moment. He stumbled as he made his way to the bed and collapsed on top of it, breathing heavily. How did he manage to survive this far? No, he was being stupid. Of course he survived. Ken was stronger than it seemed, until people started to drench him in either contaminated water, or a Staker's water.

Feeling very, very cold from the water he had been drenched in, Ken rolled over to his side and pulled his knees to his chest. He buried his face into the mattress and shivered. That was the thing he hated about fevers. They were excruciating to him, especially because they couldn't kill him. In theory anyway, but Ken wasn't in the mood to try it out for sure.

When Lu came in and voiced the very question he had asked himself just minutes before, Ken laughed to himself, feeling his body shake as he tried to contain the laughter. "Go away, Lu," he mumbled. It wasn't as if he was going to die anyhow.

X{Lu}X

Again, she completely ignored his demand for her to leave and proceeded with her own plans. After filling a glass with water from the sink - forget filtering the damn stuff, tap was just as good - Lu poured out three tablets from the bottle in her hand and handed both items to Ken. "Here you idiot, swallow those pills if you can, then lie back down, shut up, and go to sleep," she instructed none too kindly. Leaving the rest of the containers within reaching distance on the table, she grabbed the extra blankets she'd nicked from the infirmary and started to unfold them. Really, this is quite the annoyance... she grumbled to herself as she worked. Regardless of whether he made it known he wanted them or not, she'd had enough experience with Ken’s sicknesses to know he’d be freezing by the end of the day. And of course, he’d never admit it himself that he’s cold. The most he’d do is tell me to stop bothering him and to get out again.

She stepped back to examine her handy-work after tucking the two additional sheets in around the Fire Staker. “Well, that’s about as good as I can get…and you better not complain or try to get me to leave, because I’m gonna be staying right here and I’ll just ignore you, as usual.” That warning said, Lu promptly sat down in the chair she’d occupied earlier during their rather…unpleasant…conversation, and set up t o watch her charge carefully.

|| Ken ||

Why, why, why did it have to be Lu who needed to take care of him? Why couldn't it be Shouta instead? If Ken knew the Air Staker, heck, he would be well aware that it was Shouta who devised this plan. And yet, even then, Ken still wanted that Air Staker more than he wanted Lu to be there with him. Forget the rising fever, Ken found Lu's presence to be all more horrifying. Still, regardless of his living nightmare, Ken took the dreaded pills and consumed all three with a single gulp of water. He placed the glass on the bedside table and turned away from it - he's had enough of the stuff.

The pills were slow to take effect. Again, Ken buried his face into the mattress and squeezed his eyes shut as he shivered against the cold. His mind worked furiously, throwing curses and insults to perhaps every single person he met and still remembered. Or perhaps those he had forgotten, who were just empty words and figures to him, like his parents. Parents... ha. He never knew the two.

Shut up, Ken... His mind scolded himself. He tossed from side to side, facing almost-equally terrible views on both sides: Lu or a glass of water. He settled to face the former, but kept his eyes closed for the sake of his sanity and shivered again. He hardly noticed the extra layers tucked around him.

X{Lu}X

She watched as Ken tossed and turned, apparently still displeased about the arrangements they'd been forced into. When he finally settled down, facing her no less, Lu leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. Time for her own share of downtime. Now to tackle the elusive question of why Maki and the others set them up like this. Were they trying to kill Ken? As well as her in the process? Or did they somehow hope that by shoving them together into one room again was going to produce some sort of miraculous result? She snorted; yeah, fat chance of that happening. They'd already tried that tactic and look what that ended in! Speaking of which, she still didn't get that conversation between her and Ken either. For example, why the hell did he get so serious when he said he wanted her to stay? Lu opened her eyes and glared wordlessly at he ceiling, as thought the answer would be in the light shadow-spiders that patterned the white plaster above her head. The day had only just started, and she was already starting to get a headache.

Glancing down at Ken, she saw he was shivering once more. Frowning, the Spirit Staker stretched out a pale hand and laid it to rest on Ken's forehead, feeling for any sign of his fever worsening. Well, that probably wasn't the most accurate of measurements, since everything - unless it was ice - generally felt hot to her skin. Blame it on abnormal body temperature; still, she ought to be able to figure out if he was running a higher temperature than was normal, even for a fire manipulator like him. Nothing that wasn't to be expected I guess... she began to withdraw her hand, then thought better of it and simply let it lie on Ken's head. Even if he was shivering, his body certainly wasn't cold in any retrospect or definition of that word. Shifting slightly so that her chin now rested on her free hand, Lu hummed quietly to herself to fill the silence that had settled on them.

|| Ken ||

With his eyes closed, his vision now blocked from the rather...unpleasant...sights around him, Ken began to feel more relaxed. No words could actually do justice to describe the feeling of absolute hatred to the cold that was emanating around his body right now. It made him weak enough to quieten his mind and to only be aware of the smallest sounds around him - not that he was paying any particular attention anyhow. The pills were finally taking effect, making him feel restful enough to have a drugged nap.

Still, just as he was about to drift away into unconsciousness, a cold hand was pressed against his forehead. The effect was startling, and he immediately recoiled away with a groan as he felt the headache. It felt as if his head had just been sandwiched between hot and cold together, and he shivered. "Go away," he repeated, annoyed. He was already shivering as it is, without needing her to add the ice.

X{Lu}X

"Hush and don't move around," she said, narrowing her eyes as Ken retreated from her hand. "If it feels cold then that's a good thing; whether you realize it or not, you're running a high fever and your skin is burning hot, so quit griping. It's either my hand, or water; take your pick Ken." Not that she was going to give him much of a choice. Either way, he was going to get his forehead iced and the manner in which it was done really didn't bother her, though she suspected that, even as 'unappealing' as having her around must be to him, the guy would much rather prefer not to get drenched again. And if that wasn't the case...well, she'd get to that as it came along. "Or am I gonna have to tie you to the bed so you stop squirming long enough to cool down? Because I can, and you know I will."

He was so damn stubborn! Lu scowled down at the restless Fire Staker, contemplating where she'd have quickest access to a long length of rope. Or better yet, she thought with some sadism. Chains would do. It'd keep him from rolling around and trying to escape my efforts. She sat back for the time being, tapping her finger against her knee, and waited for Ken's decision.

|| Ken ||

At first, Ken did not respond. His head was aching and he could hardly decipher the Spirit Staker's words of threat aimed towards him. He laid there, shivering again and felt as if he should go physical with the girl and just throw a ball of fire to her head... not that he would: he couldn't at the moment, not in this condition. The choice he needed to make between facing Lu and facing water would be very simple if it had been asked about an hour ago. Ken would, without a doubt, choose water over Lu perhaps any day. However, the thought of water at the moment sent shudders through his body.

Ken knew that in this case, he was in a losing situation.

Still, even if he was to admit one thing he hated, Ken would do it with dignity. Well... as much as he could, in the current condition he was in. Shut up, Ken! his mind shouted at him again, and Ken felt as though he was going to laugh. But he just forced his eyes open slightly and looked at her for a while before shutting them again. "Not water," Ken sighed. So he somewhat admitted that he preffered Lu instead at that moment... at least he didn't say it directly.

(( RINO!! Happy Birthday!!! :DD And sorry for the inactivity..... ))

X{Lu}X

"That's what I thought," she muttered, somewhat appeased, and put her hand back on his head. It was obvious he'd gone through some turmoil as he tried to come up with an answer, and she'd found it rather amusing, watching her 'enemy', as he'd struggled between two equally unappealing choices. No doubt, had it been any other day, under any other circumstances, Ken would have opted for water over her, but at the moment, she could see how she'd be the lesser threat. Leaning on the bed, Lu allowed her head to sink onto the covers and closed her eyes. Sleep sounded good, and a little shut-eye never hurt. Ken couldn't possibly do himself more damage in the next few minutes, so there wasn't much for her to stay vigilant for. Besides, she still needed to come up with a plan to ambush Maki and force the truth out of her; the girl had some major explaining to do.

X{Maki}X

Meanwhile, on the third floor, Maki was having a grand time picturing the scene she imagined to be playing out just a staircase below her. Of course, neither she nor the others had expected a miracle - and having Ken and Lu agree on first sight would take nothing short of that - but hopefully, there would be some improvement from their usual behavior towards one another. Or maybe we're just grasping at straws...she pondered ruefully. Maybe a little rain would help...On cue, a distant rumble of thunder began to make itself heard, and the horizon, clear just seconds ago, suddenly filled with dark gray clouds. It wouldnt' be a full-blown storm, but still a pretty harsh shower for anyone who stepped outdoors. As the first fat drops splattered against the window pane, Maki leaned back from her perch and went to seek out Shouta and the other two.

[[Luuuuuuuuuuu!!!! *tackleglomphugs!!!* I miss you! Are we still alive? Isk..]]

(( Rino!!!! *glomp* Of course I'm still alive! Are you still alive is the question! lol But yeah, how ya been? More importantly, where've you been?! O.o ))

[[Hehehe~ I'm still alive, thankfully. I'm well. Sorry for the disappearance, I've been really cracking down with my finals. x__x But I'm now at home for another week and a half, so I'll be here. 8D]]

|| Ken ||

Damn you, Shouta. Once I get my hands on you, I would...! Ken grimaced and his hands tightened to fists as he imagined pounding the cursed Air Staker or cutting him into shreads. Or, more likely - and here, Ken smiled slightly - the sight of Shouta charred and burnt after he launched a deadly, surprising fire attack. Oh, that would tickle his nerves more than anything else. It would certainly be an equivalent action of revenge. Watch out, Shouta. Oh, you'll learn not to mess with me again... Ken thought. He exhaled slowly, trying to get himself to sleep. The chill from Lu's hand was uncomfortable, but he tried not to think about that. Just as he made the decision to do so, the sound of rain and thunder was heard. He shuddered.

|| Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

In a room on the third floor, the door just slightly ajar, the voice of someone laughing delightfully could be heard. Shouta who was found rolling on the dusty floor earlier finally sat up, sitting cross-legged among the cloud of dust he just produced. Takeru shook his head with a half-smile, feeling joy and regret at the same time. Midori, on the other hand, was grinning, but it was evident that the happiest among them was Shouta.

"Oh, I'd kill myself ten times over for an opportunity like this!" he laughed delightfully.

"I feel sorry for Ken -" Takeru started.

"Don't," Midori interjected, "he needs this, trust us. We know him longer than you do, and he needs some dose of pain every now and then."

Shouta nodded. "Midori's right. Besides, it's not as if it's the first time. And he'll recover," the Air Staker promised.

((Oh wow, I completely forgot about this! D8

And if you're still on, I think I've figured out an ending - or at least an overall plot addition - for the story! ^^))

- Lu - and - Nori - and - Keeta - and -Maki -

Seeing as she was sitting in one place, doing nothing for the time being, Lu's mind started to wander away from the present situation. So far, Ken just had his usual fever that resulted from a good dousing in cold water; nothing out of the ordinary and therefore, nothing to fret over. Now, on to more important things...In the confusion that had happened in the past few hours, she had completely forgotten about the earlier discussion which had taken place amongst them. They only had 9 more chances to close the portal for good? That was a rather short time limit to be presented with. And especially when they were in the chaos that they were in at the moment. True she had made up her mind to stay for as long as she could, but what if something really were to go wrong at the next Opening? What if she really was killed? What then? Takeru wasn't ready, no matter how you looked at it; Ken would fill her spot fine so she wasn't worried about that; it was the fact that there would only be four capable of fighting left if she should depart from this world that bothered her. Five was a stretch already, one less and the hazardous balance might just snap entirely under such pressure. The girl frowned at the air; in other words, she couldn't afford to die just yet. Which was problematic, seeing as she had a feeling, like everyone else, that her mortality rate had just rhiked up disproportionally. Outside, the rain continued to pour down, blocking out the sky and thus, preventing her from determining just how far the sun had risen. It was probably afternoon, not that time mattered much inside the mansion, unless you were counting days in general. At the moment, they were down to 12; 11 when the clock struck midnight once more. If only there were some way to freeze the clock forever and keep the hands from turning. Or close the portal's gates for good, sealing Hell in its rightful spot for the rest of eternity. Unfortunately, no such methods existed. As she was musing over these impossibilities, a sudden thought struck Lu. She'd never questioned before the reason for Takeru and Nori's sudden entry into their lives. Obviously, it was because the barrier had been weakened that the two humans could've wandered onto the mansion grounds so easily, right? Maybe not; maybe there was another reason for their presence...Remembering her own attraction to the old house as a child, the more she thought about it, the more it made sense that Takeru and Nori had been forced upon them for some purpose.

Excited by this prospect, the Staker got up, prepared to go find Keeta and discuss her hypothesis with him. Just before she removed her hand from Ken's forehead, she leaned down and flicked him gently on the forehead. "Later, pyromaniac. You oughta be fine after a few more hours." With that, she swept out of the room, hurrying down the hall as she searched for the phoenix. Most likely, he was still in his quarters, where she'd left him and Nori after Maki forceably dragged her t to face Ken. Sure enough, the silver bird was perched on the back of his desk chair, patiently suffering the attentions of the girl-child left in his care. "Keeta, I need to talk to you privately for a second. Meet me up in the library." That said, Lu scooped up Nori - who was rather confused as to what her sissy had just said. After all, how was one to speak with an animal? But the little 7 year old didn't worry her mind over it too much.

Meanwhile, Maki had begun to doze from her windowside perch on the third floor. Her nap was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps, and the water-user woke with a start. Lu was fast approaching, and she seemed to be carrying something. Or rather, as Maki saw later, someone. "Maki, I need you to look after Nori for a while. There's something Keeta and I need to figure out." That was all she said before seating her burden down beside the younger female. "Wha-wait a second! Lu, what are you talking about! Sort what out? What are you planning?" Maki demanded, a bit of alarm coloring her tone. There was a suspiciouse note in her frien'ds voice when she'd spoken, like she was scheming up something behind their backs. What was she up to? What had she figured out all of a sudden? This wasn't what they'd planned! But before she could get another word of protest in, Lu had already disappeared back down the stairs. Grabbing up Nori, Maki began to run; whatever was happening, she had a feeling it would not bode well for the rest of them, and if such were the case, Shouta and Midori - nad maybe Takeru - would need to know immediately.

Barging into the room where she'd heard laughter earlier, the Staker deposited Nori into one of hte chairs neer the door and, without wasting time, blurted out to the other three present: "We got trouble. I just encountered Lu a second ago; she looked like she was planning something, something that's not very...safe...I don't know, she wouldn't say anything to me, just told me to look after Nori while she went to talk something out with Keeta." The child blinked her large eyes from one person to the other, wondering just what the older personnels were doing. She really didn't undestand what they were so worried about; everything seemed fine to her eyes.

On the other side of the mansion, Lu had finally gotten the private council she wanted with her brid companion - currently in human form. "So Lu? What did you want to talk about?" Keeta asked, somewhat wary. There was a pause as the other put her thoughts together, before asking slowly. "Did you ever wonder why we came here?"

[ Heee! She lives! Go ahead and hit me. What's the plan? I miss my Kenny. 8D ]

|| Ken || and || Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

Flames… that was all the fire staker could see as he shut his eyes tighter, trying to imagine the nightmare away. He had not realised when Lu had left him (as he had fallen asleep beforehand), but now he was half-conscious. Conscious in his dream, but still technically asleep. The mansion was in flames, and Ken could feel himself shaking, sweat pouring from his face and running down his neck. He turned by his side, searching for something. What was going on? He saw images in his mind, the dead body of Lu and Shouta somewhere in the distance inside the mansion, efforts from Midori and Maki to fight the flames, and him? Ken? He was unable to do anything, the power snatched away from his hands.

Shuddering from his nightmare, Ken sat up instantly and felt his head spin. He breathed deeply, the images of the unconscious world slowly leaving his mind. At once, Ken’s thoughts turned back to Takeru. That human child who managed to wander into the mansion. That and… who was Lu’s new sister? Nori? Was that her name? Whatever. Ken came to his feet and stumbled out of his room, leaving the door unclosed as he wandered into the corridors. He was wondering where he was going when a sudden flash made his head turn. Maki, carrying Nori, heading somewhere – Ken presumed that she was going to meet his “attackers”.

Well, at least now he didn’t need to bother wondering where his next destination would be.

As quickly as he could, he followed Maki and reached a door which was left ajar in her hurry. He was able to only hear the last of what she said, and even that was indecipherable. Ken couldn’t care less. The memory of what they did to him came flooding back and before he knew it, the door that was ajar earlier was now wide open. Unconsciously, Ken had kicked it so hard that it nearly came off its hinges. Ken found five pairs of eyes staring at him, and he stepped forward, narrowing his eyes at Shouta in particular.

Uh oh, Shouta thought. This could not be happening. Not when Maki seemed to be so frightened with what she believed was going to happen. Shouta stepped forward: being the only male there apart from Takeru to face the enraged Fire staker, he knew it was his job and his ability alone to calm Ken.

“Ken… Um… I know you’re angry, but please, we’ve got something important to tell you and if you could just… calm down… and listen –”

Bad start.

If it weren’t for his fever, Shouta doubted that his silver hair would still be plastered to his face. With only an angry cry, Ken had thrown a large fireball towards Shouta, but not fast enough. Shouta just managed to blow heavy winds towards Ken, diminishing the fireball instantly and nearly knocking the Fire staker off his feet. Quickly, Shouta ran to Ken and grabbed him by his shoulders, keeping him upright. “For goodness sake!” he cried.

“Calm down, Ken,” Midori interjected, hiding her surprise. That was so uncalled for.

Ken coughed and tried to push away, but Shouta held him tight. Like a drunken person, he was beat. "Give me... one good reason, why I should -"

"If you shut up, you'll find out. This is serious. It's about Lu," Shouta interjected. Silence creeped suddenly and Ken fixed his cold eyes on the warm eyes of the Air Staker.

"Explain."

(( Yes, I live!! 'Tis a miracle!! XD Psh, you would miss him!

Ze plan is the same one I told you in the e-mail; now just to figure out how to incorporate Nori and Takeru into the whole mess... ))

- Lu - and - Keeta - and - Maki - and - Nori -

The door was, most rudely, thrown wide open. Caught by surprise, Maki just barely dodged the violently swinging piece of wood, the hinges creaking horribly under the sudden pressure. 'Oh great...Ken, you really do have the worst timing in the world!' And what was the idiot doing out of bed? He was staggering like some drunkard and could hardly even stand up straight, let alone walk. The dummy was really going to send himself to an early grave one of these days. But now wasn't the time to be worrying over Ken's stupidity, now was the time to try and figure out what Lu had up her sleeves this time and if that would prove to be a fatal plan or not. She was going to say as much to the late arrival when Shouta decided to try and ease them into the topic with a rather - bad - opening line. That was all it took, and soon, the Water girl found a fire ball whizzing past her head, barely missing her by inches. This was getting way too chaotic! Thankfully, her elemental opposite was still burning with fever and so couldn't do any real damage, or put up much of a fight when Shouta grabbed him by the shoulders. Seeing that he was restrained and, somewhat, calmed, Maki proceeded to enlighten him on the matter at hand. "There's not much to tell at the moment, and of course, I could just be overreacting to everything, but I still have a bad feeling," she started. "Lu's planning something. I saw her a minute ago and she just shoved Nori at me before taking off, saying something about needing to talk to Keeta about an issue or another. I dunno, just the way she said that was a little...off...And that's all I know so far. Should we go check it out? Or should we wait for one of them to come out and tell us?" 'If they'll tell us anything that is.' The last part was, of course, a private thought. Keeta and Lu had a bad habit of keeping things hushsed up until the last second. Who knew what they were scheming this time around.

At the same time, said phoenix was quirking his head, trying ot figure out what the hell he'd just been asked. "What, do you mean by that?" he asked slowly, narrowing his eyes. Lu was seated, rather precariously, on a stack of books - they're size and weight actually permitting a person to be seated atop. She didn't bother loking up to answer the question, just frowned at her feet, still trying to sort things out herself. "I mean, why did we come here? Ken, Shouta, the others; why us? And why this mansion? Certainly we were curious; I mean, what little kid wouldn't be inquisitive about an old, supposedly haunted house, but was that all? Was it random chance? Or were we somehow guided here by some unseen force?" The girl had never believed in the existence of a God before coming to this place, but now, it seemed all too likely that there would some higher being up there pushing and pulling them around like puppets on a string. After all, if Hell existed, why not the other place? Keeta meanwhile, pondered this point for a while. Truth be told, he'd never considered this before, and neither had any of the other Stakers he'd watched over in the past few centuries. All had simply accepted the fact they were here as truth and didn't question anything further. 'What is it with this generation and a streak for poking their noses where they shouldn't?!' the bird grumbled mentally. "Good question; I'm not sure. Possibly, because this house is ruled by the elements, and you five have a strong connection to one element or another, you were brought here to serve that purpose. I don't know, no more than you do; it's possible coming here wasn't just an accident. Why ask so suddenly?"

She nodded absently, as though that were exactly the answer she'd wanted to hear. Of course, it wasn't - it didn't explain anything about why she and the Stakers were here - but it would probably help more with explaining why the two, unnecessary humans had arrived. "No reason, just wondering about Nori and Takeru and why they might be here all of a sudden. Apart from replacing one or two of us, I'm thinking, maybe they have another purpose..." seeing that her friend was about to argue, Lu hurried on. "No wait, think about it Keeta. Right after they get here, Matthus decides to pay us a surprise visit which, judging by what you've said in the past, hasn't happened in quite some time. And he starts spouting all this clairvoyance crap about 9 Openings left and how Nori will be my downfall, etc. Maybe, Nori and Takeru are tied to the portal in a different way than Ken and us are; maybe Matthus suddenly chose that moment to rain all those warnings down on our heads to scare us into doing something we'd regret. Like getting rid of Nori. Or waiting for me to die, so I could be replaced by Takeru, who, seeing his lack of connectiong with the elements, could be killed off easily." It was a bit rambling, and admittedly, he'd gotten slightly lost somewhere in the middle, but he caught the gist of what she was saying. "And have you told the others of your thoughts?" he asked next, knowing the reply before he got it. "No, they don't need to know right now. What they don't know, can't hurt them."

Only, he had the feeling it would, and it would very soon.

[ Hahahaha~ You sound as if Ken should find a corner somewhere and sulk. xD Which would be so adorable if he does it. 33 Let's see where we'll get to this time. D ]

Ken was silent. In the middle of Maki talking about that nonsense with Lu, he still managed to think 'What am I doing here again?' several times, but at least he got what she was saying. Well, the surface of it, to say the least. And he was not a happy bunny. Ken shrugged off Shouta's strong hands and pushed him aside. He walked over to the wall and leaned his back there. It was bad enough that he came stumbling in like a teddy bear out of wool; he doesn't want to be supported by the one who was responsible for it. Whatever the reason they had done the evil deed to him, he wasn't going to let them to have a secret secret secret conference without him. 'Jeez Ken... think straight, will ya?'

"So... let me get this straight," Ken started, after nobody else would speak up. "You came here... running here, carring that little female monster of yours, to tell us that you think Lu is scheming something, but you don't know what it is, and that it's something horrible," he summarised. Ken ran a hand through his hand, exhaling. No, don't blow. "Let me tell you something, ladies and gentlemen. Lu, is always scheming something, and that something is always horrible. So this isn't anything new," he said coldly.

"Hang on," Takeru spoke up. "Maki is closest to Lu, and I think out of all Stakers, she knows Lu's mind best. Maybe something is going on," he tried.

Ken glared at him. Shouta spoke up; "Well, it's rare enough that she would leave Nori behind like that. And having words with Keeta could only mean that they're up to something involving us all. Involving the portal, the openings. Keeta's not exactly the man to be chatting about gossip and clothes with, really."

Finally, the Fire Staker sighed. "Well now, if you're all done worrying about what she might have said, maybe it would be more beneficial to find out what exactly is going on in there. Any eavesdropping plans?"

(( lolz I should totally draw that some time, just for the heck of it! XD It'd be hilarious!! ^o^ ))

- Lu - and - Maki - and - Keeta - and - Nori -

Maki refrained from acting on her instinctual reply to the Fire Staker's words, which was to douse Ken in another downpour of cold water; that idiot! Did he think she didn't realize that as a possibility? Like Takeru said, she was the only one there who knew Lu's mind - and for that matter, all the Stakers' minds - like the back of her hand. Hey, telepathy had its usages. Of course she knew that the older girl was usually hatching complicated and, usually, dangerous, plots behind their backs, but those had all generally been trivial. Any larger ideas she'd always taken them up with Keeta. And that was exactly where she was right then. Plus, it was as Shouta said, since the day Nori came among them, Lu had never cast her aside that roughly before. Did she need any more reasons to worry? As far as eavesdropping went though..."Can't see how we'll be able to get anywhere near the library as it is. Keeta's hearing is excellent, so he'll be able to tell if we were coming their way. And even if Lu's sense aren't as good as his, she would still be able to notice our approach; those floorboards creak something awful." She flopped down on the edge of an unoccupied chair, looking disgruntled. "Shouta, do you think you could somehow make their voices carry through the air towards where we are?"

"Outside of that, did you have anything else to tell me?" Keeta was back in bird form, and circling the higher shelves, scanning titles. Still perched on her mountain of books, Lu shook her head 'no'. The silver phoenix sighed and dropped to land on her shoulder, turning one pale blue eye on her. "Then do you have any idea what this 'purpose' for Nori and Takeru might be?" Again, a shake of the head. "I thought as much. Come on, help me look through these. Hopefully, maybe, if we're lucky, we'll find something that might lead us in the right direction." With that, he was back up in the air and swerving about, mutering names to himself and whether they were an affirmative or a negative. Watching him go, Lu also got to her feet and started on the lower stacks. This way, one of them would be working from either direction, and somewhere in the middle, they could meet with what they'd found.

So far, all the ones she was flipping through told her absolutely nothing on the matter that was of concern for her. They all said the same stuff: explaining the mansion and the curse on it, the portal's creation and how it went wrong, the five interwoven elements that would keep Hell from breaking loose. Ya-da ya-da, she'd read them all before. Not one of the damnable texts so much as mentioned the possibility that the portal could be shut down for good, or what woud be the instigator - or instigators in their case - for that task. She was starting to get frustrated. Slamming down yet another useless tome, the girl stood and began to move higher up on the shelves, pulling out random books to glance at their covers, the shoving them back into place when they yielded nothing new. This was going to take quite some time.

[Ooooh! O.O I should spend all my Gaia gold asking for Ken commissions. That would just be oh-so awesome. XD I'll fall in love instantly!]

|| Ken || and || Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

Shouta blinked and pursed his lips slightly. Of course it was possible. He was the Air staker after all. But changing the air's density like that would surely perk up the phoenix's senses. Could it work, and Keeta would not notice? Shouta hesitated for a moment.

"Well? You can't?" the irritated Fire staker probed. If he could have his plan, he would much prefer to just throw a fireball through the ceilings all the way to where Lu and Keeta may be. But of course, nobody ever liked his plans.

"I could," Shouta answered, "but I'm wondering if I could do it without Keeta noticing," he frowned.

Midori, who had stayed amazingly quiet since Ken came (particularly for that reason as well), finally spoke up; "Well, you'll just have to make a good job of it, Shouta," she said cheekily. Her bright eyes were glowing - she was looking forward to this second scheming act of the day. Eavesdrop on Lu and Keeta? It's rare to get a chance like that for ages to come.

Shouta smiled. Well, either they don't get caught eavesdropping, or they get caught with pride. Shouta doubted that Lu could really hide once she knew that they knew something was up. Shouta raised his hands to the level of his chance, and his fingers started to manipulate the air particles around him. His eyes concentrated as he slowly located where Lu and Keeta was, and slowly created a small pathway, like a tube, through the air, lowering its density. It took several minutes, but at last, they could hear the sound of pages turning and books slammed onto desks. Success!

Ken strained his ears, wondering if he was supposed to hear anything else than the cacophony of a library, but he couldn't. The sound was clear enough - it's just the content that wasn't satisfying. "Speak low," Ken said softly. "Lowering the air's density like this, they could eavesdrop on us as we can with them."

(( *snort* Now that's what I call a waste of gold! XD ))

- Lu - and - Keeta - and - Maki -

It took a while, but eventually, they could all hear the souns of Lu and Keeta, presumeably, flipping through books in the library. Well, it wasn't exactly what they'd bargained for; after all, one was expected to go through books in a library. But hey, it was better than nothing. They just had to wait patiently, and one of the persons on the other end of the 'tube' was bound to start talking soon. Even if they'd already finished their discussion before Shouta made it possible for the rest of them to eavesdrop, the conversation couldn't be entirely over. No doubt there were still details to be nitpicked over, plans to set into motion, etc. Maki was fully content to sit back and listen, and to wait for sme advancements.

Unaware that they were being spied on, Lu continued to scan her tedious way through the texts that lined the room's four walls. Nothing, nothing, and still nothing. Hopefully, he Phoenix had better news. "Any luck up there?" she called towards the ceiling, where she'd last seen her feathered companion. A silver bird head poked out from between a immense mass of tomes and, coughing at the sudden flurry of dust, Keeta managed to yell back down, "Maybe. I think this might be what we're looking for, though why it had to be hidden up here amongst all these dirty specimens is beyond me." The girl chose to ignore that last part as just part of the other's grumbling. If he didn't like it, he could clean it up himsel. After all, out of everyone present in the mansion, he was the one who used this part of the house the most. "So drop it down already and let's take a look!" A bit of fumbling and seconds later, a surprisingly small, thin leather bound rectangle was tossed into her waiting hands. It was more of a journal than an actual book, and its pages were extremely thin, more yellow wax than actual paper. It looked like it would fall apart if nudged in the wrong direction. Carefully, very carefully, Lu peeled back the cover and began to scan the first paragraph's contents. So far, nothing interesting, just another account on the mansion's existence and how it came to be. Still, she trusted Keeta's judgement and so went on reading. The writing was so spindly and cryptic, she thought she'd go cross-eyed by the end of the second page, trying to decipher the words. "What terrible handwriting..." she muttered, squinting at a particularily smudged section.

By this time, Keeta had setted on her shoulder once more and was skimming along with her. For a while, the phoenix didn't speak. Then: "There, that part right there was what I was getting at." A pointy claw suddenly descended into Lu's vision and stabbed at a section of text she hadn't yet gotten to. Skipping the inbetween stuff and going straight to the indicted clip, she began to read it out loud softly.

"September 5, the year of our Lord 1689:

It is true that none of us fully understand why we were selected to come to this abode, and that this causes for some great confusion at times, but most of us have been content to simply accept what God has handed us and carry on with life. Never would I have imagined that and controversy would arise. Yet lately, I have heard word amongst my fellows that Mana has had some speculations as to our purpose here. She has always been the bold one that Mana; speaking her mind about things as she sees them, and not thinking twice on her actions before taking the leap into something unchartered. Then again, being connected to the ever steady and blunt Earth Mother, it is only to be expected. Come time and again, we have all been glad of her brutal honesty.

As I was saying, Mana was had been giving some thought as to why it is the five of us - and the five of us alone - were so drawn to the mansion. She has a feeling that our attraction had something to do with helping to decide the future of the portal, and the future generations of Stakers to come after our line has ended. I did not fully understand what she was trying to put across at the time, but now, I think I do. Upon further pondering and much musing, I have decided that Mana's words had a certain ring of truth about them. We are simply a disposable gathering, test specimens that the Creator has deemed necessary to use in order to ultimately complete his plans. What they are, I know not, nor does anyone. Us five shall serve our duty to the end, and should any such youth be reading this in ages to come, please know that though we failed, it was only so that you may succeed. Take up where we left off, and finish what we have left undone.

May the Lord's light shine down on you."

Silence fell after her recitation. "That basically confirms what you said earlier, that each one of you were selected into coming to this place for some higher purpose. Even back then, more than 300 years ago, they already had suspicians as to what their role was." Lu nodded absently, suddenly aware of a slight change in the air pressure she'd felt before, but had dismissed as nothing. Now, seeing how it lingered far longer than any normal drop would've, she began to wonder if it wasn't Shouta's doing. If he and the others were trying to eavesdrop..."Shouta..." she nearly growled, an underlying warning clear in her tone. Either drop the connection that instant, or face the consequences later.

[ How dare you! It totally is NOT just a waste of gold. Don't you just DIE to know what Ken looks like in real life?! 8D ]

|| Ken || and || Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

At first, they were all confused with what they were hearing, but they decided to just remain put and keep silent. It took a while before they were finally aware of what the topic of conversation was all about. And out of all those in the room, Ken's face darkened the most upon finding out. So that was what Lu was wondering about? What, she decided that maybe her life wasn't suit as a Staker and therefore wondered what they were there for in the first place? Ken thought it was a simple answer. And he accepted that simple answer. If they weren't there to do it, who was? So he accepted his responsibility, although with very great reluctance. He seemed to be the one who hated his job most, but he had accepted it. And should he have a chance to leave, he wouldn't, even though he knew the rest would, regardless of their non-whining about their fates.

Either you do it, or you all die. That's how Ken saw it. He found it quite unbelieveable that she would be searching for such an answer. And he was not the least bit happy.

When Lu growled Shouta's name, seemingly aware of what they were doing, Shouta was surprised. Oh, so he wasn't good enough? Uh... that was a shame. He looked over to the rest, his eyes questioning... and admittedly afraid. What was he supposed to do? Drop the connection? His eyes met the fiery red eyes of the Fire staker, whom Shouta could see was burning brighter because of his anger (anger for what, Shouta was clueless) and Ken shook his head slowly, signalling that he should keep the connection open. Well... whatever happens, he would hold Ken responsible.

Ken wondered if Lu actually knew that they were eavesdropping. Or that they were just playing with their elements. Regardless, he won't stop eavesdropping on her until she spilled the beans, and Shouta will help him... or else.

"Do you think she's checking because of me and Nori coming here...?" Takeru asked very softly.

"Probably," Midori answered, just as slowly.

"Nope," Ken interjected. "She's giving up."

(( 'Tis true though!! You're just too obsessed with him to realize! XD Psh, I'll pass....If ever I met a guy like Ken, I think I'd die.... ))

- Lu - and - Keeta - and - Maki -

Oh, so he wasn't going to cease was he? Now she was irritated. Turning to the bird on her shoulder, Lu muttered quietly, "Tell me something Keeta, do you hear voices in this room other than yours and mine?" There was always the possibility that the fools were just messing around with their powers - why she knew not - but since Keeta had far better hearing than her, she'd wait for his input on this one. Said person - or rather, at this moment, fowl - began to pay closer attention to the noises circulating the air.

"...checking....Nori....no.....give....up...."

They were extremely faint, the noises soft enough that even he had to strain to pick out bits and pieces, but they were there all right. And none of the voices belonged to either of the current occupants of the library. Rather reluctantly, aware of what he could be sparking if he told the truth, Keeta turned his head to face Lu's impassive stare. Should he lie and save the others from a potential thrashing? Or be honest and get it all over with? Either way, he was sure that the waiting girl sitting next to him would find out about Shouta's eavesdropping. And who knew how out of proportions things might blow out to be by then. Right, better to just get a move on with it. "Um...(unfortunately) yes, there are....but they're very distant, so they can't be close by....y'know...." he trailed off at the end, knowing full well that the other Stakers' location was not the problem at hand.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the temperature seemed to drop drastically and a chilly silence filled the room. So, Shouta had decided to listen to Ken instead, and not her - for who else would prevent the Air - manipulator from collapsing the air tunnel he'd made. It wasn't the fact that he chose to ignore her command that bothered Lu, it was the fact that all five of them, perhaps six if Nori was present, had just overheard something she'd never planned on having leaked out. There was a loud clatter and then brisk footsteps as first, the chair she'd been occupying was toppled and Lu sped out of the library. She'd warned him hadn't she? Or had she not been obvious enough. Seriously, after being in her presence for so long, you would think that by her tone alone, Shouta would be able to tell if she meant business or not.

"Shouta! What are you thinking!" was all she managed to get out before their discovery was confirmed. Maki winced at the sound of something being knocked over on the other side. This was not going to be pretty....sure enough, advancing footsteps echoed threateningly just down the hall. Well, she sure moved fast! "You idiot! Quick, collapse it already!" Damnit, how'd the other two figure it out? True there might've been a small drop in the air pressure, but that alone shouldn't have been enough to tip off Lu, right? Maybe it was because they were talking too loudly? But she'd thought all of them were being exceedingly cautious and quiet. 'Guess not...' she thought grimly, watching the door being flung open.

They were all gathered in that one quarter, sitting close around Shouta. The iciness from before had followed her up and now was spreading slowly about her. So, they had been spying..."I think, Shouta, I made myself clear already," Lu directed at the unlucky Air Staker, silver eyes boring into his. "Or do I need to be more articulate in the future for you to understand?"

[ Of course I'm obsessed! I need to be obsessed! How else am I going to enjoy RPing him all my life? 8DDD ]

|| Ken || and || Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

Damn! Shouta thought, quickly doing as Maki had told him and collapsing the small eavesdropping tunnel he had so creatively created. He glanced over to Ken, who, much to his dismay, was just standing there staring into space as though nothing at all was going on and his head wouldn't get bitten off by the angry Spirit staker. Well... at this moment, angry was a clear understatement. His heart racing, he stood at the front where the group was huddled. If he was going to get shouted at, he won't be hiding behind them... at least have the guts to face it. Shouta gulped.

As soon as Lu appeared, Shouta could nearly faint. Compare Lu's intense stare towards him and Ken's passive gaze towards the ceiling... Shouta could say that he regretted following what Ken had said. At that particular moment, Shouta would take Ken over Lu any day. But he knew, still, that under normal circumstances, he would prefer to get shouted at by Lu over Ken. Lu's easier to cool down and make amends with afterwards. But Ken..? Who knows how many years of torture he would endure had he not followed what the Fire staker had said. Not that his actions were all down to Ken's threats. Shouta himself was interested with what Lu was up to, but that was a different story.

Shouta started when Lu asked him the question. Midori and Takeru kept silent, both knowing that any extra voices would be a death wish. But, horrified, Shouta found out that Ken did not realise this. Before he could answer, Ken had already interjected with his smart response;

"Which future are we talking about? You killing him? You shouting at him?" he started, then continuing to what he really wanted to say, "Us being Stakers? Or running away from being Stakers?" he asked coldly, turning his icy red eyes towards her.

"I-I was just -" Shouta started, trying to protect Ken. For what?

"Shut up, Shouta. I told him to keep the tunnel open. You have a problem with that, Lu?" Ken challenged.

(( See! You admit it yourself! And I'm sure you can 'enjoy' Rping as him without being obsessed.... ))

- Lu - and - Maki -

The situation was getting uglier by the second. Given the option, Maki would've preferred not to be in that room, at that moment. In fact, she would've loved to have been as far away from Lu as was physically possible for her. She hadn't seen the older girl that mad in a long time, and when that'd happened....well, let's just say that for a while, it looked like the dead would walk the earth permanently. But that was years ago, and the Water user had somehow hoped her friend's temper had been mellowed a bit after a while. 'Guess not.' Like Midori and Takeru, Maki was smart enough to hold her tongue and not provoke Lu any further. Unfortunately, it seemed the ever disagreeable Ken was not so wordly-wise. For the second time that day, she wished she could upend a large vat of frozen water over the blasted fool's head and send him off into the world of oblivion. Of course, that would not be very correct on her part. So instead, she sat forward and laid a hand on Shouta's shoulder, lending a sort of silent support should Lu round on him again. For surely, after Ken's outburst, the previous would become focused with him

Since she'd stepped through the doorway and began to interrogate Shouta, the cold air had managed to remain contained to a few inches from where she stood. At Ken's smart-aleck retorts though, some non-physical dam broke and torrents of freezing wind that reeked of the unnatural suddenly washed into the room, its source the only one unruffled by its breeze. The metallic eyes swiveled and turned on the Fire Staker, a fury that rivaled his burning in the back of them. Strangely enough, no dead spirits had yet to take rise, which was strange in itself; wether it was a good or a bad sign had still not been determined. "The future in which he, and all of you, would be smarter than to try and eavesdrop on me," she said, voice so quiet it was almost inaudible. "If I want you to know something, I will tell you." Had he shut his mouth after that, she would've let things slide and not bothered further with him. But he just had to go and make those last remarks.

Extending one arm, Lu grabbed Ken by his shirt front and slammed him up against the wall, a violent act she'd never used before. He was pushing all the wrong buttons in all the wrong combinations, and if she didn't make that clear to him now...well, who knew what he'd try in the days to come. "Yes, I do happen to have a problem with that Ken Hattori," she hissed, eyes showing unbridled anger and hatred. "You seem to be forgetting where you stand in this mansion. I'm not dead yet, therefore I still hold sway here." As suddenly as she'd grabbed him, she released him. "It would seem you've also forgotten what was said last night." She'd given her word hadn't she, that she would not leave them? Not while it was still within her power to control if she stayed or not? Or did her doubt even her promises now.

[ I do not deny what is the truth. XD And the truth so happens to be that I am obsessed with my always-getting-into-trouble Ken Hattori. 8DD I NEED to love him to play him. Why else do I play him if not for that, and torturing Lu? xDD ]

|| Ken ||

The chillness that swept through the room was shocking. He would say unbearable, but Ken himself was burning too much with anger to really take much notice. It was something that he'd go through now and worry about later. The anger was making his body temperature rise at a very high rate, and being the Fire staker played much of a role to make it become more severe. It helped him through the unnatural chill of death, but for a split second, Ken wondered if he would unintentionally attack Lu right there and then for what she had become.

He didn't need to bother, however, because she got there first. When his back was slammed against the wall, Ken stared into Lu's eyes with pure hatred. No, this had gone beyond what they wanted. What he expected. He listened to what she needed to say, deciding to attack her with her own words rather than interrupt and then get accused at. Upon hearing her last statement, however, if it weren't for the fact that Lu had released him already, Ken would have shoved her off in disgust. How dare she mentioned what was said last night. How dare she, in front of them, in front of him, after they had just heard her eavesdropping her doubts about her self, her fate.

"I didn't forget what you said earlier," Ken hissed. "However, I do know how to differentiate a lie and the truth. You talked as if you meant it, and I was foolish enough to believe it, only to have you doubting yourself.. what, less than 24 hours before you said it? You're a disgrace. I know my position in this mansion, and I respect that, expecting no more and no less. But I have to say, I don't think you're fit to become a leader if you're doubting everything. You've lost everything that makes yourself a staker," he spat.

Silence crept for a moment as Ken inhaled deeply. He was nowhere near done with the Spirit staker, but he didn't want to say more. The unspoken words were spelled out clearly in the heavy air around them. After this, Ken would act professional as a staker, but that was as far as his relationship with Lu goes. Any more than that and he would walk away. He narrowed his eyes, contempt clearly reflected in them.

"Who are you, anyway?" he sneered.

(( Psh, sure he's always getting into trouble! Just look at what's happened now!! Uh-huh, somehow I've a feeling that latter part is more dominant than the first one....-_-' You crazy girl! XDD ))

- Lu - and - Maki -

Her wide eyes darting from one angry person to the other, Maki began to tremble a little. "Shouta...." she barely whispered. "What do we do? If things...if things continue like this....." She'd never, NEVER seen the two that mad at one another before, and certainly never with that much hatred overflowing from their beings. The temperature of the room was growing seriously uncomfortable, as it altered between the extreme cold of the dead, and the extreme heat of a wildfire. Both elements were running out of control, and here the four of them that even stood a chance of mediating the tension, just sat around like lumps of rock, watching in horrified fascination as the fight unfolded before them. It was unbelievable really, how a few simple words heard through an air tunnel could lead to this catastrophy. She never should've suggested Shouta make eavesdopping possible. Look where it'd gotten them! At this rate, Lu and Ken would kill one another before the portal even got a chance to Open again. 'Then we'd be two short...' Life seemed to be out to get them all.

So he was basically calling her a liar was he. Did he even fully grasp the concept of what he'd managed to over hear? Or was the buffoon jumping to conclusions about her motives! Either way, she didn't care anymore, nor did she feel like explaining herself; not to him, not to anyone. They evidently couldn't just take her word for things anymore. Well then, let them think what they wanted! Believe who they wanted! Follow the orders of that fool of a pyromaniac for all she could give a damn! Lu stood by, silent, wordlessly suffering Ken's rant for as long as her temper could be held in check. By the time he reached his condescending end, what little patience and tolerance she had held in reserve was completely gone; dissolved, destroyed, obliterated entirely. And also in that short span, everything she'd ever managed to feel towards the Fire Staker was stomped out, leaving nothing behind. He was nobody to her now, just as she was now a no one to him. After all, wasn't that what he'd wanted from the beginning?

For some reason, that resolution brought about a certain sort of, calm to her mind, and the cold from beyond that had managed to seep through into the living realm was removed as quickly as it'd happened. Expression molded into a perfect blank mask that betrayed nothing of her thoughts, Lu didn't even bother to reply to anything that Ken had spouted at her and simply left the room.

That was it? The younger girl watched the other's retreating back and felt something in her sink and hit the bottom with a hard thunk. That couldn't be the end of it! She was just gonna let it all go? Just like that? Maki had seen the look in her friend's eyes a second before the silver orbs turned into unreadable metal; there was a certain sort of emptiness when she'd looked at Ken, like she didn't recogize him, didn't acknowledge his presence even though he was only a foot or so away from her. So, this was the extent of the ladder; they'd reached the very top now, and only the death of one would bring that climb to a halt. She couldn't very well let that slide could she?

Her feet carried her out the door and halfway to where Lu was before she even had time to realize what she was doing. After all, what could she say? As Maki struggled to form some sort of a sentence to use in her mind, the person she was tailng spoke up for her, "Forget it." Two simple little words, each ringing with a finality that echoed in the quiet of the hall. Rooted, the Water Staker could only watch as her companion melted into the surrouning shadows, soon gone entirely from sight. 'For how long? For good?' Suddenly angry, Maki retreated and ran back to her own quarters, slamming the door shut behind her. Ken; had he known what Lu had been talking about, just from the little they'd manage to hear? Did he automatically assume like she had a tendency to do? Even if he had his suspiciouns, how could he just go outright and blurt them out like that! And Lu; violence never solved anything, not permanently at least. What was she thinking, grabbing Ken like that! And honestly, how did she expect them not to worry when all she did was hide things from them! Now everything was going wrong! Her frustrated scream tore through the unnatural quiet of the mansion, and as though to agree with her, the thunder outside crashed even louder than ever.

[ Oh my! Ken! Look at what you've done! *scold scold* ... *then hugs him* Are you happy now? XD ]

|| Ken || and || Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

Shouta was speechless. What was going on? It wasn't supposed to be like this! They were supposed to work together, develop more feelings with each other. It wasn't supposed to be like this, but now it happened... Oh jeez, why? Is it really their fate to hate each other so much like this? He won't allow it. As soon as Lu left the room, Ken's hard eyes turned to everyone. There was a cold emptiness inside, and without a word, he left the room. Everyone was quiet. Shouta did not answer Maki's question - in all honesty, he didn't know what should be done. This was the worst that's ever happened before, and he worried that it would not turn better. When Maki left the room, Shouta breathed deeply and ran a hand across his hair. He turned to Takeru and shook his head, signalling defeat.

"This... should not have happened," he said slowly. "I should not have made that tunnel..."

"I think it was just waiting to happen," Midori said softly. Even she could not afford to be bubbly at this moment. She went over to Nori and placed her arms around the girl, wondering if she was as frightened as they were, or just plain oblivious. Takeru kept his head down, his thoughts gone. Was he the cause of all this?

"Midori, can you take Takeru and Nori to my room? I'll come for you as soon as possible, but I think you'll be most comfortable there," he said, managing a weak smile. It was true though. Their rooms reflect their elements to an extent, and being the Air staker, Shouta's room was most calming. "I'll... I'll go and talk to Ken," he said slowly. Midori nodded and Shouta left the room.

He found Ken in his room, of course. Much to Shouta's amazement, the door wasn't locked. When he entered, he saw Ken by the window, looking outside. "Hey," Shouta said quietly, walking over to the Fire staker. "So... what was all that about?" he asked. When he received no answer, Shouta placed a hand on Ken's shoulder. "Answer me, come on."

"I've got nothing to say," Ken's voice was hard. "She had it coming to her."

"You never asked why."

"I don't want to know."

"So this is better?"

Silence. Ken shrugged Shouta's hand off his shoulder, and Shouta gave a frustrated sigh. "Please," he tried again.

"You all never understand."

"Then make us understand!" Shouta shouted, finally losing his temper. It was the first time he ever did so, and his voice echoed along the walls, surprising the Fire staker, admittedly. "You know Ken, why don't you stop seeing us as your enemies and more of your allies! Because I think we're all sick and tired of trying to make right of your wrongs and not knowing why, other than knowing that we need you. If this is how you are, you're no better than Lu!" he finished, racing out of Ken's room and slamming the door behind him.

(( lolz To think I'd live to see the day that Rino would scold her precious Ken! XDD Quite, it'll work out eventually! ))

- Lu - and - Keeta - and - Nori -

The little girl had watched the scene unfolding before her with solemn silence, eyes wide as she watched her sissy and the other man. They were both mad, that much she could tell, but as for why they were angry with one another, she had no idea. Nori barely had time to comprehend that the two fighters had left the room before she was whisked away to another place. It was a bedrom by the looks of is, but it wasn't the same one she'd been in the night before, so she'd no idea where she was. Only when they were locked away inside this little pocket of calm did the child turn her attention to the person carrying her, and ask: "What happened?"

Keeta had chosen to remain in the library after Lu had stormed out, murder in her gaze. That alone would be bad enough; once added to Ken's equally combustable temper, who knew what could happen! And god knows he liked his head where it was. Staring down at the plain, leather-bound diary that had been the cause of the disaster, the bird shifted forms and sat down in a vacated chair. Flipping the book open, he began to read, while he waited for the storm to blow over.

Instead of returning to her room, Lu left the mansion all together and stepped outside into the rain. Forget the fact that the water was coming down hard enough that she couldn't even see the sky above - Maki must've been pretty upset - right now, the last thing she wanted was to stay in reality. She needed to leave this world, this time, and let go for once. So ignoring her wet state, the girl spun her way through the downpour, arms spread out, turning circle after circle after circle to some music only she could hear n her mind. Her legs took on a life of their own and began to carry her to a part of the grounds that she'd never considered going to before. When her feet finally stopped moving, she was standing in front of the wrought iron fence that surrounded the cemetary, a sad yet beautiful piece of land. Why was she here? Was there something she had to know that lay within? Reaching out, she pushed open the gate and stepped through.

Her body began to move instinctively towards an area far further back than she'd gone in the past, leading her through arches and down paths she didn't recognize, until she was stopped in front of a grave. The marble as so old that the words carved into it were corroded past the point of visibility. But she didn't need them to realize just whose final resting place this was. It belonged to the same person who wrote the journal, the same person who had been like her, and had questioned their purpose for being at the mansion; the same person who created the break between herself and Ken. Ken....the idiot, he hadn't even bothered to give her the benefit of doubt before deciding that she was turnign traitor on them all and abandoning her duties. Well she wasn't! Just because she couldn't tell him everything that went on, didn't mean she was enlisted with the enemies! It was amazing really, how he automatically jumped to the conclusion he'd come up with when he'd heard the conersatin she'd had with Keeta, or what parts of it he could hear. She'd always known he was a hotheaded, impossible, incompromisable, short-tempered bastard, but never did she think he'd mistrust her this much. And now look where they were! 9 Openings left to go through and all Hell would be loose. What are the Stakers doing during this time? Argueing amongst themselves and trying to kill one another!

Something snapped inside her and without warning, the girl collapsed to the ground and began to sob. Lu had never cried before, not before the others, not within that house, but now she did in the rain, where no one would be able to tell. Everything was falling apart, everything that she had been trying to save was coming to pieces in her hands and she couldn't do a damn thing to stop it. The one person she'd thought she knew best had turned his back on her - as much as she had on him - and Shouta and Maki were at their breaking points. Midori was entirely blameless in this mess, as were Takeru and Nori, yet they too were being dragged into a war that none of them should've had to deal with. Keeta was always there, but she couldn't very well rely on him for all the problems in her life, and she was beginning to doubt herself as well. Maybe she had turned somewhere along the road, and was desperate enough to get away that she'd go to the extreme extents. Couldn't she get a break anywhere? Hadn't she done enough in the past 12 years in keeping them all alive and together and keeping Matthus in check? What more did they want! What else was there to be expected from her! "What do you want from me!" she yelled at no one in particular.

Only her echo answered, mockingly, in her own voice.

[ Uh.. uh! It's not.. officially scolding! It's just... a form of... UH! *hugs Ken!* I'm sorry Ken! D8 I'll never do that again! T__T ]

|| Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

Half-way towards his room, Shouta stopped and dropped down to the floor, resting his back against the wall of the corridor. He circled his arms around his head and pulled at his long-ish hair, for the first time not knowing what should be done. If he was to refer to his element, Shouta would say that he's in the middle of a storm. In which, in his case, hardly ever happened - it was usually him to calm things down, but this time, he was too close to giving up. How? And why? Shouta gave a resigned sigh and slowly got back to his feet. If Ken and Lu were letting go, he definitely wasn't. And if talking to Lu and Ken was a useless act, then he would make sure that the rest won't give up.

Determined, Shouta stood up and inhaled a deep breath. Traditionally, males are more dominant over females. Traditionally, it's their job to be the guide. And now Ken wasn't going to give that helping hand, responsibility fell to Shouta's shoulders as the second male in the mansion, and to Maki as the third in command. Well, he wasn't going to waste that. Even if he wasn't the chosen leader, he still felt obligated as the usual peacemaker in the mansion. He'll do what he can.

Shouta walked over to his room and, upon entering, saw Nori, Midori and Takeru there. Nori was looking expectantly at Midori, who wore the same expression to him upon his entry. "What?" Shouta asked, surprised to see such faces looking at him.

"What happened?" Midori asked, repeating Nori's question.

Shouta shrugged. Now how would he explain it? "It's how you see it. Lu's not happy, Ken's not happy. They're both refusing to talk, and... well... I suppose either wait for them to cool down, or we'll just need to manage by ourselves," he admitted unhappily.

|| Ken ||

The outburst by Shouta took Ken by surprise. Him? Like Lu? Heck no. Heck no. But... well, if he decided to be open minded, he could see that the Air staker was right. One thing that Ken could always rely Shouta on was to be right, and this time, the truth hurts. What was it about what he had heard that feared him so much? Perhaps it's just the notion that he was to be left alone? Ken had been alone since before he came to the mansion. And that isolation was what kept him alive, but now, isolation was the one thing that he could not afford to have if he wanted to survive the next nine openings.

Ken gave out an angry shout and punched the wall, creating a rather noticable crack. His knuckles bled and he breathed. Why can't he just get something right for a change? For once?

(( Uh-huh it is!! Pfft, you're hopeless! XDD ))

- Keeta - and - Maki -

That was enough sulking for one day. Having let loose her pent up frustrations finally, Maki felt much more relaxed and not half as wound up as she had before. Wondering what had happened to the others, she poked her head out into the hall and looked around briefly; coast was clear. Which was either a bad or good sign. And judging by what'd taken place just minutes ago, she was more than willing to bet it all on bad. The Water Staker quietly sipped into the corridor, closing her door as silently as possible behind her, then set off to find Shouta. If there was anyone in this whole damned mansion she could still talk to, it was him. No doubt he'd tried to see Ken like she'd tried with Lu, and he'd probably gotten the same cold-shoulder treatment. 'Which would definitely no be positive should that have happened....' she thought grimly, tapping gently on the door leading to the Air manipulator's room. Cracking the thing open a bit, she peered in and seeing that everyone else was gathered, let herself through. "Hey, so you didn't have any luck either huh?" it was a statement more than a question. She shook her head at his last statement. "No, I've a feeling they're not just gonna calm down on their own this time around. We'll see how Keeta does, then judge the next step..." The phoenix was basically their last hope for righting things.

Said fowl was at the time, just finishing his perusal of the ancient journal and sticking the little booklet into his back pocket. Why did he get the sensation that Lu and Ken had just reached the peak of their anger towards each other? The now-boy sighed and rubbed his face wearily; those two were ridiculous really. Anyone could see there was something more than simple irritation and dislike working between them, yet both of them refused to acknowledge as much and continued to enrage one another beyond their own endurance. And now look what they've done; completely driven themselves into a corner. "Guess I got no choice then...." he grumbled and started for Ken's room, already reciting the little speech he'd be giving to the idiot. Without bothering to knock beforehand, Keeta simply pushed open the door leading to the Fire Staker's quarters, and then locked it once he was in. A silver eyebrow arched at the cracked wall and the bloodstains on the plaster, but he said nothing about it. Instead, he turned his attention to the heaving back of the pyromaniac he intended to berate soundly. "I think it's high time we had a little chat about you and Lu, Ken," he began, tone entirely neutral and betraying nothing.

"First of all, do you even fully understand what Lu and I were discussing in the library earlier? Or were you simply forming conclusions on your own with half completed information?" an answer was not expected for that - he already knew which it would be, after all the time he'd spent with the guy - and Keeta continued without pause. "I'll have you know that the subject at hand was not anything that pertained personally to either you or her. It didn't contradict her decision to remain here; the only two people it delt with were Takeru and Nori. Lu was simply curious as to why those two were dragged here when they have absolutely no ties to the elements that surround this house. And seeing as all give of you are still alive and present, them being here couldn't be attributed to an immediate need for a substitute Staker either. She came up with the theory that they're not related to the mansion, but to the portal itself."

"Somehow, those two are going to help us bring about the downfall of Matthus and his little game of releasing Hell on Earth, but we don't know how yet. The journal you heard her reading from belonged to the Spirit Staker of 200 some years ago, a youth by the name of Samuel Haines, and he and his fellows had suspicions of the same sort. True no humans stumbled upon us at that time, but the Earth girl began to question their reason for being drawn to this place and somehow he managed to conclude that everyone here is meant to serve some purpose in bringing about the end of the curse. Nori's and Takeru's appearances occurred too conveniently don't you think? Right after they show up, our resident ghost decides to send some spooky warnings. Lu believed it was meant to drive us into doing something we shouldn't, something like making Nori and Takeru leave."

"Like I said, it had absolutely nothing to do with Lu herself. She has no plans to desert us, she's made no further mention of the subject since last night, and she certainly would've at least told me if she was scheming something along those lines. Everyone is aware of the tension in the relationship between you two, and that arguments are unavoidable, but we'd appreciate it if you could refrain from tearing each other apart entirely. You'll end up regretting it and you know it; you both need each other more than you'll ever need anyone else."

"I suggest you go find her and talk things out; immediately," it was a command, not something open to contradictions. As he turned to go, Keeta gave out one last little piece of information. "She's probably in the graveyard."

[I'm baaack! Sorry I've been away for so long, like I've warned you beforehand. Hope you haven't disappeared on me! D8]

|| Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

Shouta turned and regarded Maki who just joined them. His eyes were particularly troubled, and he knew the Stakers, those who were close to him, would notice that. Even Takeru who had only known Shouta briefly knew that this time, the fight must've been a very serious one. He highly doubted that someone like Shouta would be easily troubled with anything. Takeru sighed, and Shouta shrugged as an answer to Maki's question. He crossed over and sat down on the floor, resting his chin on his hand, as if pondering over something.

"What are you doing?" Midori asked, confused.

Shouta shrugged again. "I wonder why Ken was so downright angry about it all. He's known to make mistakes now and then, but it seems as though this time, what Lu did hit a sensitive spot... even though it is hard to imagine Ken being sensitive," Shouta said coldly, probably still angered with the Fire Staker. But what could it be?

"Perhaps he just doesn't want Lu to leave him?" asked Takeru, who from the outer world, would of course be more exposed to all the lovey-dovey stuff he experienced from school. And this wasn't excluded.

Shouta laughed hard. "Now that's a bonus one, Takeru. Still... I don't think..." he trailed off, and fixed a hard gaze on Maki. "I don't think Takeru's completely wrong."

|| Ken ||

If it weren't for the fact that what Keeta said made him feel so baffled beyond words, Ken would have snapped at the boy and just tell him to get the hell out of his room. But of course, Keeta who knew him well enough, went straight to the point before the Fire Staker could say anything, and ended before he could process all the information. As soon as Keeta left the room, Ken let out an angry shout and punched the wall again, his anger pretty much already out of control. For goodness sake, why can't he just be left alone for once?!

Enraged, Ken slammed the door shut and started the operation of wrecking his room. He punched the mirror and snapped the door to his closet. Fire escaped through his fingers, setting the wood in flames, but only enough to make it black but not entirely wrecked. Ken's fury was unimaginable, and the end result was his room now blackened with heavy smoke escaping from the broken window. Thankfully, nothing was on fire anymore.

Ken rested his back against the locked door, breathing deeply. Now he felt like an idiot, and would probably need to apologise to Lu. That was still manageable, he wasn't so ego-centered that he won't even admit his mistakes, but for now, Ken just wanted to be left alone. Once he's calmed down somewhat, he'll go searching for that no good person in the graveyard, mansion, or whereever it is now.

((RINO!!!! *glomp* Well you took your time didn't you! XD lolz No I haven't disappeared, but I'm really busy lately, so expect a laaaaate reply! :3))

[ Heehee~ Sorry..!! But I did warn you about it, so you can't blame me completely for my disappearance. XP And sure, take all the time you need. Ken needs to cool off anyway. XD;; I wonder what's gotten into him. I'd poke him. ]

((All right, true I suppose, but you still took a looooong time! XD lolz *pokes Ken with a very very long meter stick, then runs like hell* XDD))

- Lu - and - Maki -

She shrugged; Shouta had a point, but Maki supposed that there were probably several sides to their two turbulent friends none of them had ever considered to exist before. Though the thought of Ken having any sensitivity was rather....ridiculous....to say the least, especially to those who knew him well. Still, it was a posibility. As for what Takeru had just proposed...the water Staker turned a skeptical eye on the boy. "I dunno.....maybe, but then again, we've already tried to put them together and look what came out of that little experiment," she stared up at the ceiling, ignoring the loud bangs and angry yelling coming from down the hall. "Hell, if this is how people in your world show their affections for one another Takeru, I would hate to see how they showed aversions!" But she couldn't think of any better reason for Ken's sudden snap, so she'd just have to go with Takeru's notion for the time. "If that's the case, then where are those two now? Certainly not making up, judging by the sounds I'm hearing...." Her thumb jerked at the closed door, through which muffled sounds of destruction were still coming through. It looked like the fire user hadn't calmed down one bit since they'd left him alone. And where had Lu gone to? Maki hadn't seen the older girl around when she'd left her room.

Outside, the rain continued to come pouring down on the solitary figure hunched over in the graveyard. She hadn't moved from her position since she'd sat down nearly twenty some minutes before. Her mind was a blank and the girl stared at the weather-worn tombstone in front of her with dead eyes, not really seeing the object even though it was only a foot away from her nose. As far as she was concerned, everything was coming unravelled, the strings slipping through her fingers even as she tried to grasp them. Was it her fault then? Thoughts travelled back down memory lane, replaying the scenes she'd shared with the other four in the mansion, starting from just a few days ago, to the first time they met and were gathered as an entre unit. She'd been the first one here (after the last generation of Stakers had died), and the only person she knew who wasn't Keeta for some years to come was Ken. The boy back then had been much like the man now; stubborn, one of few words, easily angered. A faint smile tugged on her lips; they'd caused quite a bit of trouble for poor Keeta, who had been the only mediator at the time. The phoenix had to keep an eye out on the two 24/7, lest one started to tear the other to pieces over one controversy or another. And they were always such stupid things too; dumb, childish quarrels that had no rhyme or reason to them. Now though.....12 years later, those squabbles were no longer so childish any more.

[I'm back! 8D Again. Sorry for the slight disappearance... again. XD Had to dash to uni for four days and come back. /3]

|| Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

Takeru smiled slightly at Maki's remark. Oh, if she only knew the sort of drama that goes on in real life. Even though what happened between Lu and Ken were taken to the ultimate extreme, the basis of their actions were rather common among some couples and love stories he knew. Of course, that's only a theory of his. For all Takeru knew, the two Stakers might just hate each other with all their hearts. Still, that's too simple and Takeru didn't like that. He wanted something with a twist. Of course, he knew that this wasn't just a story and that it actually involves the real lives of others (if the Stakers are really 'alive') but well... a little drama here and there couldn't hurt much.

As if trying to prove him wrong, the sound of Ken wrecking his room boomed across the whole mansion, followed by clear silence. Takeru smiled slightly.

"Well, looks like Ken tired himself out," Shouta said bitterly. "I'm not with the mood of checking the amount of damage."

Midori laughed lightly, still the only one who could be rather cheerful in this situation. She had kept quiet, however, to make sure that she wouldn't be caught up in the whole thing. "Well, I wonder if it'll cause another fight between them both. Honestly, they're always at each others' throats. I wish they'd just stop it somehow."

"It's probably better if we figure out what we're going to do now," Shouta suggested.

|| Ken ||

Needless to say, just like trying to protect the portal, wrecking one's own room to the point beyond repair was tiring. Thoroughly exhausted, Ken slumped down onto the floor, his back pressing against the door to prevent anyone from entering. A small yawn escaped his lips, and Ken rubbed his eyes. He felt better, much better, after getting rid of the excess anger. The smoke stung his eyes, but he liked the sensation. And the smell of the smoke was like a drug to him. This was what he needed to be calm.

Of course, most wouldn't understand that. Ken was naturally an aggressive person, but not many knew that aggressive things could reduce the aggression in an aggressive person. It worked wonders for Ken, but he was usually scolded for what he did. Oh well. Nobody cared now, and they had... how many days left? It was like counting down the days of your life, and you get the disappointment of living when the next countdown starts again. Like being told again and again that you were going to die, but the day just never came, the wait never ended.

Ken hated this life more than anyhting, but he accepted it. If Lu was going to find a way to escape it, then good for her. He'd have to talk to her later. Slowly, Ken's eyes closed and he fell into the world of unconsciousness.

((lolz 'Tis fine, I disappeared for a while myself! XP Ugh, I hate APUSH!!! D8))

- Lu - and - Maki -

The Water Staker sighed; she wasn't in the mood to deal with the pyromaniac either, so hopefuly, the idiot hadn't destroye too much of his room. Juding by the faint scent of smoke she was picking up though, that wasn't too likely. Great, just what they all needed...If he'd set the house on fire, well, let's just say that it wouldn't just be Lu who'd want him dead. She was good-natured and fairly amiable half the time, but sometimes, things just pushed her the wrong way. Midori's laugh brought an involuntary twitch to Maki's mouth. Of course that silly girl was the only one who could be cheerful even in dire situations like this one. But that was the good thing about Midori. Without her - and Shouta for that matter - they'd all be gloom and doom all the time. "That, Midori dear, is not possible," she drawled out, crossing her arms on the back of a nearby chair and resting her chin on her wrists. "You ought to know that by now. Though I can't say I don't feel the same way sometimes." For the younger teen was right; it was unbelievably tiring, trying to keep those two from going all out at each other like they had today. Just thinking about the morning's incident brought a scowl to her face. Both of them were such morons! And yet...the only way to keep the one sane was to have the other around at all times. Which was rather problematic, especially after they'd had a particularily nasty spell. "I suppose I better find Lu to begin with..." she grumbled, not looking happy about it at all. First things first, if she wasn't in the mansion, the older girl was probably out on the grounds somewhere, so stopping the rain would be the best move. Glaring ruefully at the downpour, Maki considered just leaving it alone, but decided that having two Stakers down was not going to benefit them any. Slowly, the water outside decreased to a trickle that eventually dissipated all together when the clouds parted to admit the sun's light. Hopefully that'd be prompt enough for Lu to get her bum inside and talk things out with Ken.

Meanwhile, the person in question, was still positioned in front of the grave marker, lost in thought. It took the receeding rain to wake her up, and the first warmth of the sun's ays to bring her back into the human realm entirely. She blinked, disoriented at first, then quickly regained her wits. Everything that'd happened came back in a rush,beating down on her. Blowing out a breath, she got to her feet, rubbing at her eyes as she did so. They felt oddly...swollen... 'Huh, that's weird...' she muttered mentally, but paid it no mind, forgetting that the reason they were puffy was because she'd been crying earlier. Lu stretched, cat-like, before turning towards the house; if Maki was clearing the sky for her, then that meant the other was fed up with the feud and wanted her to make up with a certain fire-user inside. She wasn't looking forward to it, and let's face it, when was "making up with Ken" a fun part of any day? Hopefully, he wouldn't give her crap about her violence...

Slipping through the front door as silently as possible - pretty hard considering the hinges squeaked something awful - she crept up the stairs, in search for the flame-manipulator's room. It was easy enough to find in the end; who else would have smoke leaking out from under the singed framework of their door? She cautiously pushed the wooden block inwards and let herself in, shaking her head at the sight of the wreakage Ken had wrecked upon hsi quarters. He was gonna have to fix all this later, cuz she wanted no part in it. Locking the door behind her, she came over to where the person she sought was slumped against a wall, sleeping. It was amazing how often the guy could nod off in one day! Lu settled herself on an un-burnt square of floor - aware that she was probably only adding to the damage by dripping over the wood - and sat silently, waiting for him to wake. He would soon enough; he always did. And what then? She didn't know. Hopefully, something would work itself out between the two of them.

[ I feel sorry for you. XD NaNoWriMo is taking hold of me with its long claws going RAWR RAWR. OwO;;; Rino's been writing like mad. 8D ]

|| Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

"Maybe there was something we could do," Takeru started. Midori raised her eyebrows at him, though her eyes was shining. Oh, how she absolutely loved all of the small activities that happened in the mansion from time to time - perhaps because all of them were rare enough to be missed. Midori edged closer to the human boy, wondering if he would come up with something possible, for once. Takeru glanced at her, realising her sudden closeness, and her cheeks flushed red.

"W-well?" Midori stammered. Shouta was already grinning - it never took long for the Air Staker to catch up to anything.

Takeru blinked. "I was thinking... if we could have some group activity around here. Pull Lu and Ken with us as well. I mean... Ken and Lu obviously have a lot of regrets or just... I don't know - it's not easy for them to accept reality as it is. So maybe if we could get them to forget that they're Stakers and realise they're actually living a life, it could do something with their self-preservation," he said honestly. He kept his tone light, not wanting to offend any of the Stakers.

But Shouta already seemed to be holding back laughter. This kid was going to change their lives yet. "What do you have in mind?" he asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Takeru admitted. "Something light, something we all can do and that can take our minds off from what's happening now. I doubt the gloomy atmosphere would do much good to your powers, so that's another plus. Maybe we could... play a game?"

This time, Shouta really laughed. "I think it'll be hard for us to pull Ken and Lu into a game," he said truthfully.

"We can force them," Midori said, backing up Takeru. "Once Ken pops his head out from the room, I'll run and grab his hand and force him to participate. Ken is older than us in the literal terms, but he can still have fun... can't he?" she questioned doubtfully.

Shouta and Midori gazed at each other then. Does the Fire Staker actually have the ability to have fun of all things...?

|| Ken ||

The sleep was restless, of course. Purely because it was uncomfortable as it is. The atmosphere was perfect - the smell of smoke after a big fire, the texture of charred, blackened floors and the lost presence of air. Ken was drugged to sleep, but it was uncomfortable. Try sleeping with your legs sticking out in sitting position, but your body resting on the floor by its side. It definitely wasn't comfortable. Realising this, Ken knew then that he wasn't asleep... not anymore. But his eyes refused to open.

Damn.

And - ...what was that?! Ken wrinkled his nose as he smelled the ultimate horror. Something was wet. Something smelled of death. The death part he could handle, but wet? Ugh! It ruined his comfortable atmosphere. Ken groaned as he turned his face to the floor, not at all bothered with the charred floorboards rubbing against his face. His cheeks would turn black fairly soon at this rate, but this was one of the things Ken actually loved. The scent of fire. He forced his eyes open, and found himself looking at a dripping wet Lu. Well... that was good. One was in a charred room, dusty with ashes... and the other was soaked with cold water. Cold water... that was ruining his room.

A corner of Ken's lips tugged up into a half-smile towards the Spirit Staker. How long had she been there? She didn't seem as amused as he was - heck, she was probably angry with him for ruining the room. Ken knew he should still be angry at her, but he found the whole situation to be absolutely comical. Where was the fire-breathing dragon inside him? Keeta had made the Fire Staker realise that he should make amends with this girl in front of her, but he never expected that she, dripping wet, would be waiting for him as she sat on his charred floorboards when he had accidentally dozed off after throwing a tantrum that tired himself out.

It was too much to take in and without warning, Ken clutched his stomach and laughed, his voice bouncing off the walls. A small part of his brain wondered if this was hysteria. Ken rolled on the floor, pulling his knees to his chest as he laughed, his stomach now very painful with the lack of oxygen. Tears came out of his eyes and dropped to the floor - now that was wet as well, and, realising that, Ken laughed even harder. "Lu, you're ruining my floorboards," he told her as he laughed, realising that of course that was something incredulous to say - to her, and everyone else, the floorboards had already been ruined by the lovely flames he had conjured earlier.

When the wave of laughter finally ended, Ken sat up and rubbed his eyes, making him resemble somewhat loosely to that of a panda. His face became more composed and he breathed deeply. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Ken said, referring to his rude behaviour earlier of laughing so suddenly, but there was an undercurrent to his tone... an apology for more than was possible for just words to make out. "Long day, don't you think?"

((NaNo what? O.o You crazy girl, you've finally lost it haven't you.....))

- Maki -

Whoa now, was she hearing what she thought she was hearing? Maki looked at each of the three people in the room incredulously, wondering secretly if they hadn't all just lost whatever little sanity was left in their brains. A game? Lu and Ken? Bad enough trying to get one of the two to participate with anything like that, but both of them? Oh this was just asking for disaster! And hadn't they learned anything from their last little expenditure with the water balloons? But....but it was strangely tempting, the idea. "Uh-huh, and how, Midori, do you propose to drag Ken out and force him to do anything? Not to be condescending, but he is rather a bit larger than you are..." Maki probed the younger girl with her finger while she spoke, mischief dancing in her blue eyes. It was true though, Ken was far taller than her Earth friend here, and he would probably shake her off easy. "If we're gonna go through with this, I'm thinking it'd be better to bring the party to them. It's unlikely we'll get anywhere trying to get them to come to us." She got up and danced over to where the others were gathered. "So, anyone got any thoughts?"

- Lu -

He, was, laughing. That in itself was so odd a thing that Lu completely forgot about her irritation at his lack of concern for his room and just froze. She hadn't thought he even knew how to laugh! When was the last time she'd heard Ken make so much as a chuckle? Certainly not in her life-time, she hadn't! Okay so maybe she did and just didn't remember, but still, the point was, that the guy she'd thought had had no sense of humor was currently cracking up in front of her. Ken angry, Ken sick, Ken just being his annoying self, she could deal with. But Ken amused? What was she supposed to do with that?! So, she did nothing, and waited for his spell to be over with. And he had the audacity to joke as well! Ye gods, the world was coming to an end! "Nice to see you're enjoying yourself," she grumbled at him, partially peeved, but unable to hold back a small grin of her own. "And whose fault is it, do you think, that the floorboards are messed up in the first place?" Cheeky bastard, blaming her for ruining his floor when he was the one who started the destruction. Oh well, she expected no less from him. She had to wonder though, why he was in such a ...she couldn't say 'good mood', but he wasn't as aggrivated as she'd have imagined. Or maybe he was before, and just let it all out already by wrecking the place...

The smile widened slightly as he apologized. Thankfully, he'd made the first move; she'd always been awkward with things like 'sorry' and 'thanks', and could never seem to get them out of her mouth properly. "It's fine. I probably shouldn't have tried to flatten you into the wall..." it was her way of repenting, and it was the most that anyone would ever get out of her. Still, now that things had cleared somewhat between them, she felt much better; more relaxed somehow, like someone had lifted the boulder on her back. Knowing that the end result wouldn't be pretty, but not caring, Lu allowed her body to fall back, spread eagle, against the charred floor. "Yeah...did Keeta...y'know, talk to you about the diary?" She kept her gaze fixed firmly on the ceiling, not looking over at Ken. Hopefully the phoenix had gotten to him before her; she really didn't feel like explaining her theory just then.

[ Oh my! Lu, you haven't heard of NaNoWriMo before? National Novel Writing Month, which takes place in November. Starting 00:00 on the 1st November, participants will need to write 50k by the end of the month. 8D Also, I'll be going back to uni tomorrow. I highly doubt that I'll have troubles with the internet, but if I disappear again for a while, I'm sorry! xD ]

|| Midori || and || Takeru || and || Shouta ||

Shouta was about to open his mouth to speak, but the sound of Ken's laughter reaching their ears made him stop, his mouth hanging open. What was that?! Shouta knew he had lost his temper with the Fire Staker earlier, but could it be possible that he had lost his sanity as well to suddenly imagine how Ken would sound like when laughing? However, the look on the others in the room made Shouta convinced that it wasn't his marbles that were rolling - the Fire Staker was actually laughing. Shouta had to admit, he never thought he'd see the day.

"I was thinking," Shouta started, shaking away the feeling of amazement, "that maybe we could stop a fight before it starts, while having fun with it," he smirked. Oh, Shouta was always one for ideas.

"What do you mean?" Midori asked, confused. She had giggled earlier when she heard Ken laughing - she would probably get a good kick out of teasing the Fire Staker about that not long after this.

Shouta shrugged. "It's inevitable that at one point, Lu and Ken would probably discuss the state of his room. Ken would have to take full responsibility of the damage, and we all know how very likely it would be that he'd repair the damage. The state of the room now is probably drugging Ken into a happy feeling of wonder. It'd probably take him forever to clear up the mess. But if we come to them, then we'd be helping him clear the room as well as stopping them from fighting. Either way, they'd have to help," the Air Staker said smugly.

Takeru chuckled. "And sure, Shouta would probably love to have a paint fight there and then," he added.

Shouta grinned and winked, his eyes full of mischief. He had to admit, the boy was a pretty fine reader to know what was really at the back of his mind. "A paint fight?" Midori piped.

"Why not?" Shouta challenged, "We'd still be helping him clear the room while we're at it. It could hopefully take our minds off from reality for a while."

|| Ken ||

"Hah!" Ken laughed. He rested his back against the wall, inhaling the smell of the smoke deeply. "My floorboards are not messed up. They have been repaired. This, now, is the ideal room for me," he said smugly. "And you've ruined them by bringing water," he said, his face twisting slightly.

Deep down, the Fire Staker was actually thankful that she had come to him to sort everything out. Ken was by no means a person with a high ego, but the state of the room now made him calm... and was like a drug to him. It made him feel better, somewhat happier. Not because of the distruction, but because of how he could associate it so closely to his element. If Lu was sulking somewhere else like in the graveyard, Ken would probably not be in such an easy mood to have a discussion with her. At least, here, he was calmer and could think more clearly.

Ken inclined his head upon hearing her apology, accepting it easily. Now he had learned the truth, he could see the chips falling into place - how Lu had never really changed at all and that she was still the old Lu... his Lu that he still remembered. Ken nodded when Lu asked the question - it was what they were here for, what they had to discuss. "He did," Ken sighed, "and I apologise for forming the wrong conclusion. But you shouldn't have kept that away from any of us, even if you were still in the process of investigation," he told her bluntly.

"I know I've not exactly been the happy-go-lucky guy in this place. I left that for Shouta to handle. I also know that I cause you all too much grief. But I never backed away from my true responsibility of guarding the portal and I am offended, really, that you didn't see me as that Staker who should know what you're scheming. Earlier it was all about how Takeru would eventually replace you. And then, suddenly, the talk of escaping. What other conclusion could I form other than you wanting to run away to create the perfect reason for Takeru to take over?" he said slowly, explaining his sudden outburst earlier. He had nothing else to say on that matter. Ken closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He would miss the smell of smoke, as Lu would undoubtedly tell him to "clean up" later.

((Nope, can't say I have. But it sounds like my kinda thing. :3 I'll do it next year, since I'm waaaay too busy to start now! XD M'kay, I gotcha! ^^))

- Maki -

She couldn't decide whether to be increduous of the new sound she was hearing from down the hall, or to take it as a good sign. Honestly though, she'd never, in all her time here, heard Ken produce a sound that remotely resembled a laugh. And here, she was pretty sure that in his room somewhere, he was having a mighty big fit. Well, that suited her just fine - even if it was a bit odd, and new - as long as he and Lu made amends so they could get on with life! They were down to eleven days now, and this one was flying by past. Even now, she coudl see that the sun was already nearing the point where it could officially be called a sunset. The girl came back to reality just as Shouta was outlining the scheme he had in mind. Her mouth twitched when Takeru enthusiastically added his input. "Now look what you've done Shouta, you've gone and coercced Takeru into thinking like you!" she berated the Air Staker teasingly. "And heaven forbid we should end up with two Shoutas on hand!" Still, she did like his plan. "M'kay, so that's been decided. All we gotta do then, is storm Ken's room. Saves me the trouble of having to go search for Lu too, since it sounds like they've already found each other out." Without waiting for a response from the others, Maki was already out the door and heading down the corridor. This should be interesting....

- Lu -

A snort was all she gave him in response to his protests of how she was the one ruining his room. 'Whatever makes you happy you big dolt...' she muttered mentally. There was no arguing with Ken's kind of logic, since it wasn't even really logic to begin with. One could only nod their head and go with the flow of things. Lu rolled over onto her side so she was facing him, a small frown mark appearing between her eyes. "I would've, eventually. If you'd just been patient..." she defended herself, but only half-heartedly. For she was no good at lying, not to him; bastard knew her too well. That was the downside of being around one another longer than they'd been around anyone else: both had more understanding of the other than either would have probably liked. The point was that in fact, she had had no intentions of telling the other four, not if she could help it. Not that she didn't trust them to keep their mouths shut, especially when Matthus decided to pay a visit and she was therefore, out of commssion. But it stood to reason, that the fewer the people who were in on a plot, the fewer possibilities of slip-ups there would be. And this was one she'd not wanted to risk. The girl sighed quietly; too late now, everything was out, and only after one of the nastiest disputes among the mansion dwellers. Maybe she should've just come out and said it after all. Now that she reflected on what'd happened, it didn't seem worth the effort.

She'd yelled at Shouta, brushed aside Maki who had only ever tried to help, turned her back on the two humans who were supposed to be under her care, and nearly broken away completely from the one person in this accursed place who could keep her sane. Even if he was a hot-tempered fool, even if he frustrated her to death more often than not, even if his impudence made her want to strangle him some times; even so...Without really thinking - it was sort of an instinctual motion, made from the desire to be secured - she stretched out one of her hands to grasp Ken's. She'd done this before, she was fairly certain. Back in their childhood, Lu had ofen clung to Ken in the rare times she broke down and showed her fears. Where most girls her age had had a security blanket they kept around to feel safe, she'd had him. And, in her opinion - both then and now - Ken served as a far better protector than a ratty old scrap of cloth could ever be. So even though he was the most infuriating, most opinionated man she'd ever encountered, she knew better than to try to push him away.

"I know I know, I just didn't...." she mumbled, her fingers tightening around his. "Didn't....I considered telling you at the least, but....it was safer if only Keeta and I knew...." It was a lame reason, and she was well aware of it. But it was the best she could come up with, so he would have to deal with it. For a while, Lu let the silence sit. She was perfectly content where she was; it was kind of reminiscent of the early days, when it'd been the two of them and no one else, and she wasn't willing to let that go. Still, there were things to do, and still more things to clear up. For one, this room....The girl pushed herself into a sitting position and eventually straightened entirely, releasing her hold on Ken's arm. She was covered in a nasty combination of congealed soot-in-water that left dirty black smears all across her body. Well she was due for a shower soon any way. "First things first, we need to do something about this place. It's a dump, quite frankly, and even if you do like it better like this, I won't have it." That said though, this was going to take quite a lot of work to fix....

((Nope, can't say I have. But it sounds like my kinda thing. :3 I'll do it next year, since I'm waaaay too busy to start now! XD M'kay, I gotcha! ^^))

- Maki -

She couldn't decide whether to be increduous of the new sound she was hearing from down the hall, or to take it as a good sign. Honestly though, she'd never, in all her time here, heard Ken produce a sound that remotely resembled a laugh. And here, she was pretty sure that in his room somewhere, he was having a mighty big fit. Well, that suited her just fine - even if it was a bit odd, and new - as long as he and Lu made amends so they could get on with life! They were down to eleven days now, and this one was flying by past. Even now, she coudl see that the sun was already nearing the point where it could officially be called a sunset. The girl came back to reality just as Shouta was outlining the scheme he had in mind. Her mouth twitched when Takeru enthusiastically added his input. "Now look what you've done Shouta, you've gone and coercced Takeru into thinking like you!" she berated the Air Staker teasingly. "And heaven forbid we should end up with two Shoutas on hand!" Still, she did like his plan. "M'kay, so that's been decided. All we gotta do then, is storm Ken's room. Saves me the trouble of having to go search for Lu too, since it sounds like they've already found each other out." Without waiting for a response from the others, Maki was already out the door and heading down the corridor. This should be interesting....

- Lu -

A snort was all she gave him in response to his protests of how she was the one ruining his room. 'Whatever makes you happy you big dolt...' she muttered mentally. There was no arguing with Ken's kind of logic, since it wasn't even really logic to begin with. One could only nod their head and go with the flow of things. Lu rolled over onto her side so she was facing him, a small frown mark appearing between her eyes. "I would've, eventually. If you'd just been patient..." she defended herself, but only half-heartedly. For she was no good at lying, not to him; bastard knew her too well. That was the downside of being around one another longer than they'd been around anyone else: both had more understanding of the other than either would have probably liked. The point was that in fact, she had had no intentions of telling the other four, not if she could help it. Not that she didn't trust them to keep their mouths shut, especially when Matthus decided to pay a visit and she was therefore, out of commssion. But it stood to reason, that the fewer the people who were in on a plot, the fewer possibilities of slip-ups there would be. And this was one she'd not wanted to risk. The girl sighed quietly; too late now, everything was out, and only after one of the nastiest disputes among the mansion dwellers. Maybe she should've just come out and said it after all. Now that she reflected on what'd happened, it didn't seem worth the effort.

She'd yelled at Shouta, brushed aside Maki who had only ever tried to help, turned her back on the two humans who were supposed to be under her care, and nearly broken away completely from the one person in this accursed place who could keep her sane. Even if he was a hot-tempered fool, even if he frustrated her to death more often than not, even if his impudence made her want to strangle him some times; even so...Without really thinking - it was sort of an instinctual motion, made from the desire to be secured - she stretched out one of her hands to grasp Ken's. She'd done this before, she was fairly certain. Back in their childhood, Lu had ofen clung to Ken in the rare times she broke down and showed her fears. Where most girls her age had had a security blanket they kept around to feel safe, she'd had him. And, in her opinion - both then and now - Ken served as a far better protector than a ratty old scrap of cloth could ever be. So even though he was the most infuriating, most opinionated man she'd ever encountered, she knew better than to try to push him away.

"I know I know, I just didn't...." she mumbled, her fingers tightening around his. "Didn't....I considered telling you at the least, but....it was safer if only Keeta and I knew...." It was a lame reason, and she was well aware of it. But it was the best she could come up with, so he would have to deal with it. For a while, Lu let the silence sit. She was perfectly content where she was; it was kind of reminiscent of the early days, when it'd been the two of them and no one else, and she wasn't willing to let that go. Still, there were things to do, and still more things to clear up. For one, this room....The girl pushed herself into a sitting position and eventually straightened entirely, releasing her hold on Ken's arm. She was covered in a nasty combination of congealed soot-in-water that left dirty black smears all across her body. Well she was due for a shower soon any way. "First things first, we need to do something about this place. It's a dump, quite frankly, and even if you do like it better like this, I won't have it." That said though, this was going to take quite a lot of work to fix....

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