I did not forget that it was Friday, but I did forget that I had a bunch of homework assignments due at 11:59 pm tonight! oops

edit: forgot to ask a question, but I have come up with one. I have a couple oneshots written and ready to be posted, just haven't posted them for some reason. Do you think I should/when should I post them?


Seth had been highly amused by the fact that the urgent trouble he'd been called to help with had, in fact, been a wraith who'd accidentally gotten stuck in the outside doorway. They couldn't go in the light, and when they did, they basically lost all ability to move and turned as outwardly pathetic as they really were on the inside.

To the wraith, that had been a serious problem. He could've died (wow, what an awful fate for someone whose existence has already been prolonged way too much, and that only in accordance with a great amount of misery). But it was one of the funniest things Seth had seen in quite a while, and he didn't try to hide the fact that he was laughing from the wraith in the doorway and the others gathered in the hallway behind him.

"Just hold on a second, you're fine," Seth told the wraith in the doorway, who was shrieking in that weird telepathic way they communicated. He grabbed the wraith's arm and pulled him out of the sunlight, just that easy. "See? There you go."

The wraith immediately stopped shrieking, though Seth was pretty sure he could see smoke rising from the part of the wraith that had been in the light. Yikes. He winced and patted the wraith on the back. "I don't know how you got in that position, and I'm not going to ask, but looks like you probably shouldn't try that again."

No, of course not, the wraith answered hurriedly. I apologize.

"No need for that," Seth said. "That was more trouble for you than for me."

He stood still for a moment as the spectators all dispersed. That had been pretty funny, but it was a little annoying that he had to leave before Eve did. He would've liked to keep talking with her as long as he had the opportunity. But what was done was done, and there was no use worrying about it now. Seth looked at the doorway, watched how the sunlight fell on the ground outside. It stopped in a perfectly even line right at the doorway, where Seth knew the magical darkness started.

He stepped outside and sat on the ledge in between the staircases, one leading up and one down from the doorway. It looked like the sun was setting in whichever part of the world the Phantom Isle happened to be in right now.

That reminded Seth that he had actually been awake for a while, and now was probably a good time for him to go to sleep anyway. He didn't always follow the schedule of the sun from where he was, since the island moved and it wasn't always the same amount of time for what looked like a day and how long he'd been up. He wasn't sure where the sun had been when he'd gotten up either. He pretty much just made his own schedule since the sun was an unreliable indicator of time on the Phantom Isle.

He waited until the sun finished setting, admiring the colors, before going inside and going to bed. Seth had the fleeting thought that it almost felt like he could sense Eve still somewhere close, but he dismissed it quickly. The portal had been open for her, and the Under Realm wasn't a fun place to be, generally. She'd gone home maybe an hour ago by now. Seth fell asleep quickly, worn out from a long day.

The next morning, Seth went about business like usual. The morning seemed to drag on, very boring compared to visiting with a friend. Seth wondered about how normal people in the living world lived. They probably got to see their friends a lot more often, and he thought most of them lived with their families. He wished he did too.

Seth sensed a wraith approach the door to the throne room. "Come in," he said, wondering what was up. They didn't usually approach him first.

"The visitor would like an audience," the wraith said out loud.

Seth squinted. Visitor? "Umm … what visitor are you talking about?"

"The Fair One that you invited into the Realm, Your Majesty."

"Eve? She's still here?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Did … you not know this?" The wraith sounded nervous. He was probably afraid of being punished for unpleasant news.

"I … no, I didn't."

Seth got up and followed the wraith out of the throne room, wondering what that could mean. He'd been right when he thought he could sense Eve still in the Under Realm before, but why? Did the portal close when he left or something? It shouldn't have. And why wouldn't she have come and found him sooner?

The wraith led Seth to the library, then took his leave. It didn't take Seth long to find Eve. Since he couldn't see her from the doorway, he figured she was probably in one of the more hidden seating areas, and there weren't too many of those. When he got there, she was standing with an open book in hand, facing a bookshelf, face more pale than Seth had ever seen it. She shifted on her feet, swaying a little, a habit Seth knew her parents had tried to stomp out. Something must've been very wrong.

"Eve?" He asked. She whirled around to face him, and he didn't miss that there was fear in her eyes. What was going on? "Are you okay?"

"Sorry, I didn't hear you coming," she said breathlessly. Her voice shook, and her eyes darted.

"That's fine. What's wrong?"

"I… " She didn't speak for a moment. "I think I broke some rules."

"Yeah?" Seth didn't get the point. She broke rules frequently, as did he. He was about to ask something else when he got a closer look at her book. The page it was opened to listed rules and consequences of the Under Realm. "Oh," he breathed.

"Yeah, oh," she let out a nervous laugh with no real humor in it.

"Can I see it?" He took the book from her, looking over the page. "What did you do?"

She wordlessly pointed out two sections. Overstaying the time limit for living beings meant one had to stay in the Under Realm. That could be devastating for her, but he quietly thought he would be glad to have her here, then felt bad for thinking that. This was bad but not the worst that could happen. The second section she'd pointed to was for removing a plant from the garden. Seth glanced back up at her, the realization that the flower in her hair that he hadn't paid and attention to the first time must've come from the garden hitting. That would be why she was so upset.

Seth knew the penalty for disturbing the garden even without reading it. That was an offense punishable by death.


white like ghosts

all of these thoughts

you hold over someone else

white like bones

the very same ones

you're gonna reckon with yourself