Time is but a Gentle Stream, the Past Still at its Murky Depths

"Well, if you do that, then I can't tell you more details on how to help, now can I," the girl asked her.

"No you can't," Evangeline said thoughtfully, loosening her grip. "Okay, tell me how to help him." she said, crossing her arms, a sign of her impatience.

The little girl looked at Evangeline. "Should you truly wish to help someone with a dark heart, considering you are pure, you would have to do the one most pure thing in the world," the girl said to her. "I'm sure you don't know what that is though."

"Well I have a guess..." Shade looked away.

Evangeline turned toward Shade with a surprised look. "Well, what is it?" she asked, while still keeping one eye on the girl in case of any funny business.

The girl chuckled, wondering what Shade was thinking of. "yes, what do you think that it is?"

"I think it's...Um...It's a...Well...It's a..." Shade kept looking away as if she was talking about a kiss wanting to do it herself.

Evangeline's brow furrowed, and she shifted impatiently. "Well, what is it?" she asked, eager to know how to help.

The little girl started chuckling worse seeing how Shade was acting. "You certainly are a bit nervous about saying it," she said, looking over to where Dark was still snoozing unconscious.

"Um...Well, it's...I think...It's a..." 'I wish I could do it myself...It's so hard to say it...'

"Spit it out already," Evangeline said with irritation, and tightened her grip a little more, just because of it.

The little girl chuckled at Evangeline. "Isn't it obvious she's thinking about a kiss," she said to her, just before she popped a few feet behind her. She rushed towards Dark, picking him up and looking at Evangeline. "Let's play another game," she said to her.

"What? H-How did you know?" Shade stared, having no idea how she knew' "I say you let me get up and I play a 'game' with you..."

"A game? Are we going to be serious, or are we going to just 'play a game'?"
Mirage asked with narrowed eyes. She didn't like how the girl said 'Let's play a game'.

The air around all of them suddenly plummeted into uncomfortably cold temperatures. Frost began to creep across all of the surrounding trees and grass, and Evangeline's sword began to become more precise and deadly. "Let go of him," she commanded with an angry voice that came out as a menacing whisper, "I'm not one for games."

"I'm sure if it were you in the position he was in, he'd do the same thing Angel," the little girl said, not directly saying her name in the hopes of just making her angrier. "I like to play games. Games are fun, especially deadly ones," she said, popping Dark into a tree where he started waking up a bit. "This game is a deadly one, not just for him, but you too strangers and Angie. Now do you want to hear how it works, or are you going to stare at me with a cold sword that's probably as cold as your heart."

"You're lucky I have this collar on or I would SO COME OVER THERE AND KILL YOU!!!"

"I'll play your 'game'," Evangeline said, "but only if all players can play. Shade isn't able to participate, and I say she should. Let her go, or I'm not playing," Evangeline was irritated by the use of 'Anglie', but knew it was just a ploy to make her lose focus, she would stay in control of part of the situation, she wasn't about to let the girl control everything.

"Come on Angie, I'm really just after you as it is," the little girl said to her, a weapon forming in her hand. "So come play heartless girl."

"You LITTLE BRAT!" 'I wish I could just kill her right here, right now....

Evangeline leaned against a tree and crossed her arms, not backing down. "You heard my terms, I only play if you free Shade."

"Then maybe I should just ram this into Dark," the little girl said showing Evangeline the blade. "or better yet, I should collar him and force him to fight you, even though he's in bad condition." Dark had woken up, and he was looking at Evangeline and the girl, not saying anything to not reveal that he was awake. However, if Evangelin did look, she could see him winking lightly at her.

"Better idea. I play your game alone and you get this collar off."

Mirage stepped up.
"Perhaps I could play the game, in place of Shade? You may not know me that well, but 'the enemy of your enemy is your friend', right?"
She said, hopefully.

Evangeline glanced up at Dark for a split second, enough to catch the wink, but not long enough to bring any attention to the 'uncontious' Dark. "Sorry, you do what I said, or I'm not playing." She was now just stalling, to wait to see what Dark would do.