*I apologize profoundly for not updating this sooner. I promise to start uploading at least every two weeks.

I trip, arms flailing as I fall toward the lava. My ‘deep’ gets dragged out, the lava getting closer and closer.

I hear someone call my name, lanky arms wrapping around my torso and pulling me up, away from the bubbling pit. The arms disappear as soon as I find my footing, and I quickly turn around. There isn’t anyone in the cave with me, but there is a chest and a sign that I didn’t place.

Don’t dig too deep. ~Lewis

I look around once more, calling out and hearing my voice echo back at me. I open the chest and find a stack of 64 torches. I grab them and go to put them in my pack when the area around me suddenly lights up. There are way too many torches in this cave then there should be, especially with the lava pool next to me.

“Lewis?” I start walking back the way I came, noticing that the torch placement was much more frequent. “I know this was you, where are you? Lewis?”

The torches help guide me out of my hole, and once I’m out a quick search shows Lewis is nowhere to be found. Slightly freaked out, (not that I would ever admit that to anyone) I make sure I have enough fuel and head to Sjin’s farm, where Sips should be.

When I arrive the first person I see is Duncan, who is messing with some teleporter thing behind the farmhouse. He waves, stepping into the swirling portal. I stare at the stone structure for a second, making a mental note to ask Duncan about it at a later date.

“Sips,” I call, walking around the front of the house.

“Sjin?”

“Uh, no?” Sips comes out of the house, looking hopeful. When he sees me, he slumps forward.

“Oh, hey Simon. What brings you to the farm? Have you heard anything from Lewis?”

I look at him but quickly look away. “Uh, kind of.” He lets me inside and we sit at the table, cups of coffee sitting untouched in front of us as we recount our tales to each other.

After we both know each other’s story, we sit in silence. Suddenly Sips jumps up. “Hey Simon, wanna go visit Parv?”

~Parv’s POV~

Ridge left a few hours ago, thinking Will might have been upset at him being there. I told Ridge to come back anytime, and sat on the edge of my balcony area, waiting for Will to turn back up.

When he doesn’t I leave my castle and walk around on the catwalk. I see two people approaching and wave in greeting. “Hey guys! What brings you to my castle?”

They look at each other, and we end up sitting in my fake living area just mere feet from where the secret doors are. I listen to their stories, excitedly telling them what happened to me.

“So Will appeared in what sounds like a jealous fit, Lewis appeared to save you from falling into lava, mine’s the only one that doesn’t fit. I wasn’t doing anything when he showed up, and Duncan was there to borrow a few supplies from the barn. If there is a pattern to this, mine doesn’t fit.”

“Could it be loneliness?” I say it without thinking, wondering if it was a mistake when both jaws drop as they turn to look at each other.

Sips opens and closes his mouth a few times. “You broke Sips,” Simon starts laughing and I smile.

“I’m just surprised there is a brain in there.” Sips doesn’t look happy, grumbling to himself.

“Hey, everyone gets lonely, Sips,” I say, trying to cheer him up. “I’m lonely a lot. Then Will shows up and everything’s better.”

Sips shakes his head. “Why would they show up when they did? And where did they go?”

“So many questions, where do we start?” I look at Simon and shrug.

“Next meeting is in two days. We going?”

I shrug again. “They might know something about what happened. They did just kind of show up,” I trail off. The Sirs aren’t big on talking about their past, no matter who you are or how drunk you get them, it’s like they know how to not talk about it.

“If it has to do with their past, they might keep quiet,” Sips says.

“Worth a shot,” I mumble.

So it is decided that we will go with Sips back to the farm and talk to the Sirs as soon as we can. I leave a note for Will, saying I went to visit the farm and will be back soon.

.'~~'.

We return from Hat Corp with no new answers. We also decide to hold out on the next meeting until they come back and we get some answers.

We get back from Hat Corp later in the day and Sips offers us a room for the night. I figure since Sjin hasn’t made another appearance then Will probably hasn’t either, so I stay.

We part early the next morning, after Sips lets me feed the animals. I stop by Strife Solutions on the way back, the place oddly quiet.

Back at my castle, I check to make sure the altar is still working and head outside to check the garden, the words of a song I haven’t heard since before Will and I got together playing in my head. He used to sing it softly under his breath when he thought I was sleeping. When I finally brought it up to him, he got upset and stormed off. I only heard him sing the song one other time after that, and I never brought it up again.

Whenever I’m sad or feeling lonely, this song comes to me. It reminds me of those early days with Will, back when we were barely friends. Back when he would sneak away and climb up the tallest tree and stare at the sky. This is where I heard him sing for the last time. After I asked him about the song, he went to the tree and stared up at the sky, singing the song start to finish.

“Will, where are you? This is one of those moments where I feel really alone, and then you show up and I’m not alone anymore.” I look around, expecting him to be right behind me.

I huff, summoning Steven. “You want to know something, Steven? Will once told me he would never leave me alone, no matter what. He would always come when I needed him. Always. What’s keeping him away? I didn’t need him when Ridge was here, yet he came. Hehe, he came when Ridge was here.”

Steven must be unamused with my joke, wandering away. “Oh, you don’t like my jokes?” I walk over to him, taking out my sword. “Hey, where are you going? Steven, come back. ”

I run after him, not seeing the faint image of Will fading away.

~Sips POV~

Parv left earlier this morning, Simon not long after, the large storm clouds driving him away. I quickly did what I could before it started to rain, running up the steps to Chili Wowas to grab the food out of the kitchen and bring it back to the house so it doesn’t go bad.

I make my way up the steps, wanting to lock up the store and turn the lights off before retiring to the house where Sjin-

“God damn it, Sjin. You better come back soon. I can’t make fuckin’ chili cocoa by myself.” I walk into the kitchen, making sure the freezer is empty before turning the light off and locking the freezer door.

Shivering slightly as I turn away from the locked freezer, I’m surprised to see a red jar sitting on the counter next to the sink. Walking over to see what it is, I nearly drop it when I see the label on it. Sjin’s Farm brand Chili Cocoa - The Best Cocoa You Will Ever Have!

I spin around, running into the main area of Chili Wowas and bursting through the front door. The rain is coming down in sheets now, the Chili Wowas sign lost in the darkness.

“Go back to your dirt factory. You aren’t needed here.” I take a step toward the voice, knowing they must be close if I can hear them this clearly.

“What do you mean? Let’s go inside, out of the rain.” I take another step forward, my foot sinking slightly in the mud.

He doesn’t reply. “Sjin? Sjin!” I start to take another step forward, hands cupping my cheeks stopping me. I would know those hands anywhere. “Sjin?”

“I love you, bye.”

“Bye, I love you too.” His hands move from my face and I’m left standing alone in the rain.