She was alone.

For Mary, it really wasn't much of a surprise. She'd spent a lot of her life alone, given people used to find her freakish and crazy. Or rather, still do. She looked around, eyes scanning the area.

She'd never been this alone though.

The young girl left Leo Outpost with a full stomach, but returned later after a bit of exploring to find Raven, Jett, and Darwin all gone. She'd stood in the kitchen, looking around as though she was confused. And for the most part, she was. Where had they gone? Why hadn't they come and found her before leaving her?

Why... were they gone?

She found herself out on the damaged and broken Surrounding, alone. Mary pulled her imaginary wings around herself, curling her also imaginary tail around one of her legs. The gryphonkind watched with sullen eyes.

She should be used to this loneliness... she probably scared them off anyway. But they were so happy to see her before.

... maybe it was just an act...

Mary clenched her hands around her upper arms, a shuddering breath shaking her frame. The gods were against her... always against her. They'd given her this body that didn't fit what she believed should be, gave her friends and took them away, and made her look insane to the rest of the world.

"Maybe I am..." she muttered softly, her feet carrying her in a random direction.

You are not insane. Lot's of people think of their characters as real, said her roleplay character Argabauth who appeared walking next to her, though only to her.

"Then why can I only see you?" she asked allowed, glancing at where she pictured him. The great gryphon clicked his beak a few times in thought.

I'll tell you in two ways. One, you are my creator and only you have a complete idea of what I look like, sound like, and act like. So it's natural that only you would picture me as you do. The young girl nodded some. It made sense. Those who tried describing Arga never got him quite right. His fur was off, or he was too arrogant, or not enough. So it made some sense to her.

Second, I am not just a character, though I have influenced the Argabauth you actually play. I'm more... of a guardian spirit, sort of thing, and only for you. Given that this place you live in doesn't have a body I can actually manifest myself in, I appear as this instead... Mary? The great gryphon shrugged his shoulders and swiveled his head around to look at Mary.

She stopped walking, blinking numerous times. She'd heard... vaguely, on her roleplay boards, about things like this and...

She looked at Argabauth, who flicked for a moment and screeched in terror. Mary-! What are y--?! The girl squeezed her eyes shut tight, shaking.

"You're only saying that because I thought that's you would say! You're not a spirit guide... thingy! You're nothing but a figment of my imagination! I'm normal! I'm normal! I'M NORMAL!" Mary screamed at the image that vanished, leaving her vision of the Surrounding clear of made-up gryphons.

Because he was. He was just a made up character she'd spent a lot of time on, and one she wrote about when she was lonely. That's the only reason she was making him talk in her head now. The only reason. The only reason.

Her eyes opened and she saw nothing but rainbows. She turned her head from side to side and shivered, the emptiness of the road scaring her for a moment. She'd never thought something so empty could be so scary... or lonely. A pang when through her heart, and she shuddered briefly.

She was really all alone now... wasn't she?

Mary had traveled farther than she thought, as the faint sounds of battle dropped down from Virgo Outpost. She raised her head for a moment, eyes dull. If that's where they went... then no wonder. She wasn't good for fighting, and it wasn't like Raven or Jett actually liked her anyway. Maybe not even Darwin...

She sat just outside the Outpost, on the ruined rainbow road, eyes staring at nothing in particular.

The Surrounding was a very lonely place when you had no one around you.

"Arga?" she asked after a time, after the faint sounds died off. If he truly was just a character of her mind, he'd answer in the same way she always had him answer: Yes, Mary?. If nothing else, she'd be just a little less lonely, if she deluded herself into thinking he wasn't just a character.

There was no answer.