"Ah.. I'm fine, thanks Kel.."
Basil replies to Kel's question, getting up from the grassy ground. Patting some grass off his knees. He looks at the two of his friends, well.. three if you count Mari- four if you count Mewo.
Mari stares at the blond boy, worry on her face. It's nice to know he's okay.. "I don't.. know if you noticed, but Sunny is here too!" Kel exclaims, trying to light up the mood as he points towards the short boy beside him. "Say hi, Sunny!" Sunny does a little wave, as Basil cracks a little smile. A genuine smile.
Mari pops up from behind Sunny and does a little wave too, even though Basil couldn't see her- his smile slightly grew a bit more. "Oh, hey Sunny.. it's been a while, hasn't it? Haha.." Basil mutters, holding his neck. Sunny doesn't reply to this, as he stares right into Basil. What a very rude way to reply to someone, Sunny!
"WOOHOO!!! what a happy reunion!" Kel exclaims, jumping up and down like a little kid. Mari giggles at this, as Sunny and Basil stare at him- Basil chuckling in response. "So.. do you wanna hang out with us, B?" Kel invites, Basil's face suddenly changes back into his worry as he turns down the offer, he should be heading home, he says.
"Huh? You sure?" Kel asks, he was expecting Basil to accept the invitation since.. Sunny's here.. "My um.. my grandma hasn't been feeling well.. lately so uh.." Basil replies, Kel gets the message anyways. "Oh! Sorry to hear that!" Mari had met Basil's grandma only quite a few times, but she could remember how nice she was to her and Sunny. The poor granny seemed to have finally reached her time perhaps? The poor thing.
Just thinking about the fact she hadn't even said a proper goodbye to her yet hurts Mari a little. She'll try to get Sunny to follow her to Basil's later.. if they were allowed to of course.
"Well- let us at LEAST walk you home! We haven't hung out in a while after all!" Kel says, Basil thinks for a bit- but saying no to Kel is proven to be a very hard thing to do. "Well.. um okay! Thanks..", the three of them walk out of the park, with Mari and Mewo following from behind.
...
The walk was quiet, with Kel trying to make conversation every now and then. But Mari couldn't stop thinking of Aubrey! What had happened while she was gone..? The sweet Aubrey she knew would never hurt her friends! Especially Basil!! Mari was starting to make stupid theories, like what if Aubrey had an evil twin she never told anyone about??
With what was going on with her these past four years, this could be a possibility! Mari told her theory to Mewo but it immediately shot down the idea, saying it made legit no sense. How mean.
...
"Um.. so.. thanks for walking me home" Basil says, as he stands in front of his front door. The small beige coloured house looked exactly like she remembered! Just with more gardening equipment littered beside his house, Basil must've been working harder on his plants these days!
"No problem-o! If you ever need anything from me, just ask, okay? We'll catch ya later, Basil!" Kel exclaims, giving Basil a toothy grin. Basil nods in response, as Kel turns to Sunny- probably a sign that they should leave. Mari turns to Basil, he seems.. uncomfortable? Mari is about to walk in front of Sunny, maybe she'd be able to stop him for a while-
"WAIT! PLEASE DONT GO!"
Basil yells, startling the hell out of the three of them, Mewo didn't seem so pleased. Basil runs towards them, Sunny and Kel turn to look at Basil- confusion on their faces. Basil notices the awkward situation he just made, as he mumbles an apology first. "-I.. actually have a favour to ask.." Basil mumbles, Kel glances towards Sunny before looking back at Basil.
"You can tell me anything Basil! What is it?" Kel asks, giving his usual reassuring smile towards the blond boy. "Well.. you see.. something important was stolen away from me.." Basil mutters, Mari face turns to worry as she stares at the boy. Who'd steal something from him??
Kel seems to have thought the same thing as he glances at Sunny with worried eyes, "Remember when.. we used to be friends, I would take pictures of everyone?" Kel and Sunny nods at this, the word 'used' and the use of past tense doesn't register into Mari's small little brain as she remembers about the photo album. Basil used to own a camera, and would constantly take pictures every time they hung out! Everybody loved looking back at all the memories when Basil would bring out his photo album, especially Mari..
"AUBREY STOLE YOUR PHOTO ALBUM?!?"
Kel yells, scaring Mari out of her thoughts. What? What??? What did she miss?? "W-well.. and she won't give it back-" "WHAT A SCUMBAG!!" What? Aubrey?? Why would she do that? Mari turns towards her brother, as Sunny seemed to be just as confused as she is. Now.. why would she do that?
...
Kel reassured Basil and told him he and Sunny would try to get it back. So now they are heading to Faraway Park for any clues on where it is, or where Aubrey is.. Why would Aubrey do that? She knows not to steal.. Mari thinks to herself, something or someone must've influenced her to do it! Maybe those hooligans.. oh dear..
They entered the park as they look around for Aubrey. Mari doesn't see that familiar pink haired girl, and neither does Mewo. In conclusion, Aubrey is not here. She walks towards this picnic area, with those picnic benches. Mari never used these benches when she did picnics, she'd always bring along her red and white checkered blanket to sit on! And it does the job just as well! Except for the fact they had to hold onto their glasses so they won't tip over.
Mari stood beside a tall girl with short hair, no kidding- she was really tall. Could she be taller than Kel? Mari cries over her height for a bit, it's either they're all giants, or she's turning into a garden gnome. Mewo hears these cries, "wouldn't the possible reason be because you're dead?" Mari looks at Mewo. "When you die, you don't grow.." Mari stops. Mari thinks. Mari laughs. Mewo sighs.
Kel walks towards the two of them, surprising the two of them. Actually forget it, he was just looking around- presumably for Aubrey. He mutters something under his breath, presumably about Aubrey. Then he glances at the tall teenage girl, he swears he saw someone else beside her just now.. must've been his imagination- he proceeds to forget about that fast, as he notices how familiar the girl looked. Sunny walks towards Kel, must've found no one either, as Kel half runs towards the tall girl- startling her.
"Oh wait! I know you- you're names Charlie right??" Kel asks, the girl confusedly nods at this as Kel continues. "I've seen you hang out with Aubrey- have you seen her??" Now that Kel mentions it, she did look familiar.. now she knew why. She had seen her earlier, when they were fighting Aubrey! What a weird sentence...
Charlie stares at him, before turning away. Kel sighs, he'll try again. "I know you're not the mean type, Charlie.. It's just that- Aubrey took something important of Basil's, and we need it back.. is there anything you can do to help us?" Charlie thinks for a while, before turning back towards Kel and Sunny. She walks towards a tree, close towards the picnic area- she scared Mari a bit as she walks a few steps back to give Charlie some space to walk.. despite not even being in her way.
She walks towards the tree and shakes it, and I kid you not. The entire tree shook and a boy falls from it, he has real poofy hair and wears a tank top and shorts. "WHAT, WHO, WHERE- WHY'D YOU DO THAT FOR?" The boy yells at the girl in confusion, he gets up and notices Kel and Sunny. His face makes a frown at this, "well, if it isn't Kel and the weird knife guy! Worthy adversaries for the great and mighty Angel.. you will meet your doom!!" He yells, haha he called Sunny a weird knife guy.. that's such a weird nickname hahah
Kel sighs, "Angel.. we don't have time for this.." Kel mumbles. "We're just looking for Aubrey. Have you seen her?" He asks, Angel thinks for a solid minute. "You seek Aubrey do you? Interesting! I will tell you what I know.. but first, you must best me in battle!!" He yells, changing to a fighting stance. Kel seemed shocked at the request, as he glances around. "Battle..? But I don't.. wanna.. punch a kid.." "You won't be able to lay a finger on me!" Angel continues, ignoring Kel's hesitance. He turns to Charlie who stands behind him, "CMON! LETS SICK EM, CHARLIE!!"
...
Mari really did tried her best to stop them from battling, but with her conditions... She couldn't really do shit. So right now, she's just sitting on the ground, waiting for them to finish.
"Oh! How could this be!!? My training.. all for nothing!" Angel exclaims, as he dramatically falls to the ground- playing dead. Charlie stays silent as she stares at Kel and Sunny. Mari gets up, walking towards them- finally, something. "Sigh.. alright Angel, now. We beat you and Charlie, now tell us where Aubrey is" Kel says, he really wants to get that photo album back.
"Hmph! Well.. a promise is a promise.. sure, I'll tell you all I know!" Angel exclaims, he makes a thinking pose. "The truth is.. Aubrey is.."
".. somewhere.. in.. Faraway Town.."
"Come on Angel! You told us you'd tell us all you know!" Kel yells, he really wants to continue on his journey. "Look! I told you I'd tell you two all I know, and that's it! I don't know anything!" He yells back, Mari face palms at this. What useful information, Mari thinks to herself.
"Angel.. you better tell us where she is now.. or else I'll tell everyone that one when you wet your bed at Summer camp!" Kel threatens, Mari chuckles, Sunny stares. Angel seemed really upset at this as he yells a bit at Kel before thinking again. "I'm being serious! I really don't know! M- maybe you ask my master! The Maverick!" Angel exclaims, smiling as if he just said something useful. Who's the Maverick??
"I've heard he was the holder of all knowledge! Well.. that's what he told me.." Sounds like a load of baloney, Mari stares at Kel as he tries to remember. "Oh!! You mean that weird Mikhael guy-" "Don't you dare call him by his name!! He would take great offense from that.." Angel interrupts, Mari slightly cringes at this. Mikhael is that blond guy who never buttons up his shirt correctly.. she thinks.
"Alrighty then.. so where can I find Mikha- I mean.. the Maverick?" Kel asks, Angel thinks for a bit before pointing right at him. "I'll tell you.. but first, you must best me in batt-" "Or I could tell everyone about that one time you--"
Maverick was at Faraway Plaza.
Kel and Sunny leave to Faraway Plaza, since apparently Mikhael was there for some date with some girls. It was concerning, sure. Kel then accidently pisses Mikhael off and they battle in front of a fountain. He loses, but from the looks of it- he must not know Aubrey's whereabouts. So they look around for Kim and Vance, who are closer to Aubrey (so high chance they'd know where she is), they're found in some candy shop, and apparently they were stealing, Kel uses some candy to get the two of them to confess Aubrey's location. They fight once again. And finally they learn that Aubrey is at the town's church.
...
So that's where they are now. In front of the church. "Well.. here we are..! This is seriously the last place I thought she'd be at.." Kel says, scratching his head. Mari stares at one of the statues of some religious figure which stands beside the door of the church. It stares into her soul.. as if he's judging her.. weirdo.
Kel thinks for a bit, "I'm actually a bit skeptical about this.. It could be a trap! I'll open the door to take a little peek.." Kel tells Sunny (and Mari, somewhat) as he opens the door and peeks in. He examines the area, as Sunny, Mari and Mewo stands outside awkwardly. "They seem to be in a sermon.. looks quite normal to me.. oh!" He randomly exclaims quietly, as be glances towards Sunny then back to the door.
"I see her! She's on the right.. just.. sitting there! She looks so normal.. how weird!" Kel jokes, Sunny walks towards him- Mari follows from behind. "I don't know.. I feel bad for interrupting this.. let's just wait for the sermon to end or something" Kel mumbles, Mari nods at this. Quite a reasonable thing to do- Sunny proceeds to open the door and walk in.
..
"Sunny...!!" Mari whisper shouts to his direction, of course he pretends not to hear her (like always) and continues walking. "Woah Sunny!" Kel whispers, Sunny stops upon hearing him. Of course he stops walking when his friend calls him and not his own sister. "I didn't expect you to just walk in! Well.. we can't do anything about it! Let's just be quiet!" Kel, Sunny and Mari walk through the place, towards the pew behind Aubrey.
The three of them sit quietly, quietly enough Aubrey must've not noticed as she continues listening to the sermon. Sunny seemed pretty uncomfortable, maybe she's taking to much space.. Mari thinks as she moves a bit to the left- she sits at the edge of the pew so it doesn't bother him much.
"Aubrey.. psstt.. Aubrey!!" He whisper shouts into her ear, Aubrey turns around with confusion on her face. That confusion turns into annoyance as she notices who called her. "What the-? W-what are you two doing here??!" She whisper shouts back, no longer paying attention to the sermon. "Ehem, four" Mari corrects Aubrey as she holds onto Mewo.
"We're here to get Basil's photo album back!" Kel exclaims, upset. "What- he's still on about that..? That's.. that's none of your business, Kel!" Kel frowns at this, "not my business..? We all used to be best friends.. but now it's none of my business??" Kel asks, a tint of sadness on his face. He looks so sad.. did they really stop being friends?
"Yeah.. exactly, we USED to be best friends" Aubrey mumbles, they stay silent for a bit with awkward silence in the air.
"You know.. Mari would be really sad if she heard that.." the mention of her name startles both Mari and Mewo, Aubrey flinches a bit too. Mari glances to Kel, to Sunny, to Aubrey. Only two out of three seem a bit upset at the mention of her name, well.. she did feel really sad when she said that.. Aubrey suddenly starts chuckling as she stares dead into Kel, "you're really bringing Mari into this.." She mentions her again!! Can they see her?? Could they see her the whole time but just decided not to say anything to her? What a sick joke, it's so dumb.. it's actually funny-
"Who cares what Mari thinks?"
.
"Mari's-"
.
Hm..? Mewo looks up at her, it seemed shocked.. worried even. Why? She looked around, Sunny's eyes had widened.. Kel is mad, he's yelling something out. Aubrey's avoiding eye contact. "What did she say..?" Mari mumbles, staring off into space. "I didn't.. hear anything.." hm.
.
"My old friends? My old friends weren't there for me when I needed them.."
.
"So that's what it's all about.."
.
"When Mari ...... we were all dealing with our own stuff.. we were just kids" Oh Mari doesn't get it, she doesn't get it at all. Mari stares back at Mewo, who seemed to look calmer- still with a bit of concern on its face. She looks around, her head hurts.. she feels weird.. Let's focus on something else.
The sun rays coming from the ceiling makes a cool little rainbow effect on the floor..
.
.
There's two old people sitting behind them, they seem to an elderly couple- they're listening quietly to the sermon..
.
.
She kicks her feet, she can't wait to walk around some more later- her legs are starting to fall asleep..
.
.
The flowers in the corner seem so dried out! It seems someone didn't look after them very well..
.
.
She's wondering when was the last time she gave Mewo a bath.. Sunny probably looks after it every now and then, he tends to wake up in the middle of the night- he probably gets his late night motivation just like she does..
.
.
"No. I won't accept this.."
Aubrey mutters as she gets up to leave, "WAIT!" Kel yells, catching the attention of literally everyone in the church.. ooh, she feels the embarrassment- wait, what was happening?
Kel jumps out of his seat and blocks Aubrey's way, Sunny silently following from behind. Oh dear, what are they trying to do now.. "I can't let you go until you give Basil's photo album back, you thief!" Kel yells, arms spread out supposedly to avoid Aubrey from trying to run off.
Mari stands up slowly, as she stares at the three of them with worry. "What's happening..?" A voice asks from behind her, the elderly couple from earlier she guesses. "Basil..? Isn't that the boy who.." another voice asks. "I've seen that Aubrey and her friends bully.. now she's stealing too..."
Despite the small amount of people in the church, the whispers were pretty loud.. They must've heard.. "oops.." Kel mumbles to himself, as Aubrey locks eyes with the floor. She grits her teeth, as she stares at Kel. "You think you're the good guy, don't you Kel?" She asks, firmly. "He didn't mean that, Aubrey..!" Mari mumbles, trying to stop them from fighting. She had no idea what had happened, but Aubrey seemed mad. Really mad.
Aubrey ignores this, (obviously cause she can't see her) and continues. "And.. and I'm the big bad bully.. here to terrorise poor.. defenceless..little Basil.." Aubrey smirks, she still seemed hella mad though. "You're the one who hangs out with a psychopath who carries around a knife!" She exclaims, pointing her bat to Sunny. "Aubrey.. oh jeez.. please calm down.." Mari continues, now taking a few steps back. They're really ignoring her.
"Now's.. not the time Aubrey.." Kel whispers, trying to stop the raging girl in front of him. "You're one to talk! You were the one who barged in here!" She yells, "look- I said I was sorry.. for everything!" Kel exclaims, Aubrey ignores this as she changes her bat position. From pointing to Sunny.. to Kel.
"Fine. If you want me to be the bully.. then I'll BE the bully!" Aubrey yells, holding the bat in a swinging pose. "You better come at me quick! Or I'll come at you first!"
.
Oh geez, now they're fighting. Mari leans on a pew close by as she worriedly watches the fights go on. She would be more worried, if she hadn't watched Kel and Sunny fight like another- 5 people today.. she just kinda hopes they don't hurts eachother badly..
She really couldn't do anything but watch.. she wished they wouldn't ignore her. Oh yeah, Mewo has been awfully quiet. Wonder what's up with it? Mari thinks to herself, as she picks up Mewo from the pew. She holds it up to her eye level, trying to read it's mind.. Mewo just stares at her awkwardly.
"Just look at her clothing.. what an inappropriate way to dress to church!" A whisper is heard once again, my.. does these people not know how to whisper.. quietly?? What's startling is that the whisper came from the first row, they must've really wanted Aubrey to hear that. Don't worry Aubrey, your clothing isn't inappropriate..! She thinks-
"I can't believe she brought a weapon in here! How uncivilised.." Mari kinda agrees, but- Aubrey wasn't really gonna use it!- she thinks.
"What do these delinquents think they're doing? This is a place of worship!" Another one. Mari wouldn't call them delinquents.. just..
"Someone needs to stop them.. where are they're parents?"
"This girl's a threat to our neighbourhood, there is no hope for SINNERS like her!" alright, that's a bit-
"I always knew she would be trouble.. the pastor should've kicked her out a long time ago.."
"Children these days have no respect.. I hope my kids don't end up like her"
"Ah, forget it.. you two aren't worth my time.."
Aubrey mumbles, as she walks a few steps back. She seems uneasy, had she heard those sorta insults perhaps?
"Ah.. ever since her father left.."
"Uncontrollable.."
"Disrespectful.."
"I feel bad for her mother.."
..
Maybe that's.. a bit to far. The door of the church slams shut, Aubrey must've ran out.. the poor thing, Mari wishes she could've hugged her.. been there for her.. what happened? She looks towards the two boys, one with visible regret and pity on his face. "Shoot.. I know she's been kinda messed up lately.. but I still feel sorry for her.. maybe this was a bad idea" Kel mumbles, as he stares at the door.
Poor Aubrey. The poor thing.
...
Mari doesn't remember what ended up happening, but now they're checking out the graveyard behind the church. "This lot here is pretty quiet eh?" This old guy asks Sunny, Kel seemed focused on something else- so she guesses he was talking to Sunny. "You can't hear the sound of the streets here.. only the wandering spirits.." ooh, wandering spirits? Sunny stares at him with a slightly concerned face. That's not very nice Sunny-
"Hm? What's up with that face? I'm not dead yet! HAHA!" He laughs, the way he laughs makes Mari chuckle as well. He seems like a fun guy.
..
She follows Sunny and Kel from behind. Wonder who's tombstone they're checking out? She doesn't remember anyone who got buried here.. is it a recent one perhaps?
Kel and Sunny stops at a tomb, it was as if the sun's shining just on top of it. How nice..
She wonders who it is..!
She walks a bit closer to read.
..
It's a name with four letters
..
It looks quite familiar, don't you think?
..
It ends with an I..
..
She holds her breath, oh but why..?
..
Mari stops in her tracks, her eyes widen. Mewo jumps out of her arms, staring at her. There is no expression on its face.
...
MARI.
the sun shined brighter when she was here.