Vanessa rushed over to the grave in which she was seeing Ash's outstretched hand. It seemed to her he was calling for her help and that hand was waiting for her to pull him out. Even in here wierd dream before all she could hear was his voice sometimes, it was like only he could break through the endless darkness she was in.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the soil.
Ash coughed and spattered the dirt that had gotten in his mouth, he started shaking and dusting the dirt on his clothes when someone hugged him tight. He froze for a second thinking it was Gwenlin, then felt stupid when he realised it was Vanessa, he could tell her apart even with closed eyes. He hugged her back and for a second forgot his social anxiety and felt her curvy body press against his.
But there was something in the way that wasn't letting him completely feel her warmth.
"I am getting mushed here!" came the voice of Relik making the people present all jump.
Ash opened his eyes and looked at himself sitting in the grave, Relik was hanging on his neck, gold and green.
"I don't remember you having that locket when you went in" said Kara from the side.
Ash looked up at her as the reality set in that he was back, it all seemed like a dream including meeting Gwenlin, only the presence of Relik told him it was all true.
"It's a long story" he said and looked at Vanessa, she seemed better now. In the cell her face appeared much paler.
"What are you doing in here?" asked Vanessa in her usual tone, which he was glad to hear.
So he told her what had happened, and filled in all three of them how he got her out. He didn't share every detail since he was too tired to tell everything. He did tell them about Relik though and that he was the one who helped get her back.
"Nice meeting you lovely ladies" piped in Relik when he introduced him to the rest of them.
They all took a moment exclaiming over Relik, Kara and Runi especially.
Vanessa seemed quieter now so Ash handed Relik over to Runi and Kara to have a look, which Relik was all for. He went to Vanessa on the side.
"Sorry for putting you in all that trouble, I guess coming here was a dead end" she said.
"It wasn't a complete waste of time, we got Relik he seemed to be well equipped with these sort of things, I think we might finally have a fighting chance against it" he said trying to cheer her up.
"You seem different" said Vanessa looking at him up and down.
Now that Ash looked closer, he felt different, he seemed to be a few inches taller now, he felt much more active and energetic than usual, he touched his arms and stomach and was surprised to feel much more defined muscles. Was this the result of all of that spiritual energy he absorbed?
"What kind of things did you do in all the time you were under there?" Vanessa asked palcing a hand on his torso where thre were well formed abs now.
Ash too shaken by her touch which send shiver down his abdomen spoke "I don't know, must have been that weird place".
"Relik seems to know a lot about these supernatural things I mean seeing him, now it is obvious isn't it, there is a whole world that we don't know anything about" said Kara coming to them, Runi behind her still talking to Relik.
"Yeah, but tonight we have dealt with plenty of this new world, let's get the few hours of sleep we have left, we'll deal with the rest in the morning " said Ash.
They walked back to the hotel, no one from the hotel seemed aware of there absence so they slipped back in quietly.
"So Relik what happened?" asked Ash when he was back in his bed and Relik was now beside him on the bedside table.
"What happened? The plan worked, we purified the miasma, you absorbed it and we got back" he said.
"But what happened to me?" asked Ash.
"Well what did you think? You absorbed all that energy so some changes were bound to happen, although I didn't expect you to be able to absorb all of it, your weaker Constitution might have helped you in the end. The new nerve links that were forming in your body as you absorbed more energy were mutated into being better at holding more energy in, you might have discovered a near trick in spiritual cultivation, no wonder those tribesmen always looked skinny when they were training " said Relik, the last part was not for Ash but him thinking out loud.
"Look the forest is already returning back to it's original state" said Relik.
Ash looked out the window and sure enough as the darkness of the night was going away slowly the forest appeared much greener and warmer. Maybe the town would be a better place now too.
Ash went to sleep which came pretty fast after all the stress he had to endure before.
They all woke up a few hours later. The sun was shining bright through the window and on the town. They had breakfast, Runi and Kara again talked with Relik most of the time asking all sorts of questions. Relik was very proud of feeling the smartest in the room, every time he answered he went overboard with information using words and talking about things they had never heard of, making it hard to understand much.
Ash felt that he had gotten closer with Vanessa since last night. He definitely had a pretty big crush on her ever since he first saw her, but until now he didn't thought he had a chance but now he was thinking that he might have some chance finally since she was being very open with him than before.
"So what's the plan now?" she asked over breakfast. Runi and Kara were busy chatting with Relik across the table.
"Well, we'll go back and take some time to think things through, but i still think going to your grandparents estate will be a good first step" he said.
"Fine, I'll talk to my mom and get the exact adress" she said, surprising Ash that she was going to talk to her mom for him.
"You'll be going to your house when we get back to the city I suppose?" she said next.
"Yeah, I suppose" he said.
"Why don't you sneak out in the night, you can stay at my place, I'll get the guestroom ready for you" she asked.
Ash of course wasn't going to say no, but from that point he felt a small nervous feeling in his stomach.
They packed their bags, left the hotel and got on the train back home. The journey back was quite since the girls were still tired and they slept most of the way.
They reached back home and went their separate ways. Since Vanessa and Ash lived near each other they took a cab together.
"The city seems so boring now, no hauntes forests here" Ash commented.
"Yeah, I am definitely not walking in a forest at night alone ever again" she said back.
"Ah look how this world has changed since I was awake, and look at these cars" piped in Relik.
"Don't joke, there were cars in your time too" said Ash.
"But not this fast" he said.
Ash put him under his shirt to not raise any suspiscion from the cab driver.
"I forget that you come along with one other voice now, are you going to hang him around your neck from now?" asked Vanessa.
"I am an ancient object of the gods, any mortal would be lucky to have my company" piped in Relik.Ash shrugged, Relik had helped him in the spiritual world and he was definitely useful even if a little bit talkative.
"Leave him back home when you come tonight" said Vanessa as she left the cab when her house came.
Ash sat the rest of the ride with his eyes wide, he was greatful Relik hadn't heard it or he would have been saying something by now, or maybe he could feel his fats heartbeat.