[b]The Next Week[/b]

The past week wasn't nearly as serious for Seth as it was for everyone else. He didn't spend as much time reading or learning as they did, feeling like he already knew enough about the worlds that it wouldn't e necessary. Well, that and he was far more interested in mastering the... "technique" that Shahrukh graciously taught to him. Of course, Seth didn't spend [i]all[/i] of his time doing nothing but that. He did join in on the conversations from time to time, even did a little bit of reading once in a great while. Although, whenever Seth [i]did[/i] interact with the group he seemed to prefer to having a little fun with them more than the actual work.

A loosened salt shaker at the dinner table here, a whoopee cushion on a chair there. He even managed to get one of them with a joy buzzer on one occasion. To say nothing about [i]where[/i] exactly Seth managed to obtain those kinds of toys. To put it simply... he had his ways, and it was probably best to just leave it at that. Unbelievably, there was something of a method to Seth's apparent madness. He learned a little about each of his compatriots, based very much on how they took to his little bit of "fun". If they smiled, laughed, or whatever, that meant they were more cheerful than most, or at the very least retained their sense of humor. If they raged, started hating Seth's guts then... well, at least he knew who would be the most fun to tease.

In all seriousness, Seth did manage to learn a bit about each of his fellows. He learned Mai was an extroverted type, and apparently had a soft spot for kids. Rick was a slightly tougher nut to crack, but Seth picked up on the man's chill attitude and his certain love for nicotine products. Mac and Cheese, the pair who hid during the first council, were even tougher nuts to crack, what with Mac's pride and Cheese's irritability and the short temper that both possessed. But Seth did find a surprising common ground with Cheese. Each of his little pranks seemed to garner something of a smile or even chuckle from the fairy, and Seth ventured to guess that perhaps she also had a thing for fun and games underneath that stubborn exterior.

But as much as he learned about each of them, Seth still surprisingly remained the enigma of the group. When talking with any of the others, he always managed to keep the conversation about them, subtly changing the subject when it came his turn to talk about himself. Or, if they just wouldn't let him change the subject, he'd just outright make something up about himself. He didn't exactly go out of his way to keep his stories straight, so after enough time a clever enough person might come to conclusion that Seth may well be keeping personal information to himself not out of choice - as one would expect - but perhaps because he didn't know the answers himself?

Well, regardless of all that, today he found himself summoned to the sea. The others were there, and it looked like the Empress herself was to be acting as their guide at the moment. She showed the group a ship that floated just above the waters... a Gummi Ship. The [i]Ruler of the Sea[/i] - or so it was called - was to be their main transport for the mission. It was considered a diplomatic vessel, but Seth had never personally heard of an armed diplomatic vessel. Maybe it was a repurposed battleship of some sort? In any case, the Empress explained the first world they would be visiting.

Seth shrugged, his usual reaction to things, "A world ruled by the French, huh?" he thought a moment then chuckled to himself, "I'm sure that won't turn out to be annoying in any way."