Life is a Delicate Thing
A/N. The song used here is Come Little Children from the movie, Hocus Pocus, but only the song is used. None of the Sanderson sisters, none of the other characters, so I don't think it's worth the 'Crossover' button.
…
A boat slowly arrived in Brendom Docks, where some people working on that bright sunny day. But they paid no mind- ships often came unannounced with some type of cargo.
But, this was no ordinary cargo. No, it was something more. Something that made a certain blue haired 15 year old boy, nearly scream in joy. But all that came out was a strangled scream from trying to hold back his excitement.
"Thomas?" Edward asked, staring at the small boy curiously. "What was that, just now?"
"I'm sorry, Edward." Thomas said, smiling sheepishly. "But I'm excited. I know who's on that ship."
"Oh?" Edward questioned. "And who might that be?"
Thomas smiled. "Two people." He said, holding up two fingers. "Ashima from India and Gina, from Italy. From the Shunting Competition in the Great Race." He explained.
Edward smiled. "Oh, so you've made friends with them, I see." He said.
Thomas nodded eagerly. "Yes, and-"
"Thomas!"
Thomas stopped talking, and turned, at hearing his name being called. He smiled when he saw his two friends, Ashima and Gina, get off the boat.
"Ashima! Gina!" Thomas called out, running to them, and embracing them in a group hug. "It's so good to see you both!"
Gina smiled. "It's good to see you too, Thomas." She replied hugging back, her Italian accent, as always, flowing smoothly.
Ashima giggled as she pulled away. "Oh, it feels like forever, my dear friend."
Thomas laughed. "I know. I can't wait to show you around."
"But, where will we stay?" Gina asked.
"In my house. Well, not my house. Edward bought it, but he's letting me live there." Thomas smiled. "I have two extra guest rooms."
Ashima nodded. "That sounds wonderful!"
Thomas laughed. "That's good. Come on, grab your things, and we'll go to my place." He said. "Then once you're settled in, we can introduce you to the others."
Gina and Ashima nodded, and did as they were told, got their things, and went to follow Thomas.
But before they left, Thomas ran to Edward and hugged him. "Bye, Edward! See you later!" He said.
Edward hugged back, and smiled. "Alright Thomas." He said.
Then Thomas walked off with his two foreign friends.
…
And so began Ashima and Gina's adventures on Sodor. They were allowed to stay for as long as they wanted- well, sort of anyway. The only condition was they could not stay for over a year. They still had jobs to do.
But it didn't matter now. They've only been visiting the island for a few weeks. They had plenty of time.
And everyone learned something new about Ashima. She loved dancing. As much as she loved shunting trucks, she also loved dancing. Every moment she had to spare, she would dance. It shocked everyone at first, seeing as how so determined she was to win the Shunting Competition back at the Great Race. But no one was complaining- it was nice to see Ashima having fun.
Gina on the other hand still loved shunting trucks and, like Ashima with dancing, would do it every chance she got.
Both Ashima and Gina made quick friends with nearly everyone on Sodor. After all, they were very likeable people. Even Gordon seemed happy with the new arrivals.
About four weeks into their stay, around 10pm, Gina, Ashima, and Thomas were fast asleep on Thomas' couch. They fell asleep in their pajamas watching some cartoon on TV, and have been sleeping peacefully. That is until…
Come little children, I'll take thee away...
Into a land of enchantment…
Come little children,
The time's come to play-
Here in my garden of magic…
The sweet lullaby lulled Thomas, Gina and Ashima up- but, they were not awake. They were in a trance, a trance from the song. Their eyes were grey and dull, and their movements slow.
The front door gently swung open, like the wind was inviting the three friends outside. As they slowly walked outside, the same melody could be heard, being gently hummed into the wind to keep the three under the trance.
The rest of the island was still dark, no activity, no people outside- it was obvious that the melody was used only for Thomas, Gina, and Ashima.
And with no one outside, no one was there to see the three disappear into the woods, and no one was there to stop them…
…
The next morning, around 5:45am, everyone who worked on the Northwestern Railway were awake, and getting ready for work.
Everyone that is, except for Thomas, Ashima, and Gina. Their house was still dark, and.., the door was open? Alright, that got everyone's attention. So, Percy went in.
"Thomas?" He called out into the cold, dark house. "Ashima? Gina?" No response. He searched the entire house. Nothing.
He shook his head. "Oh no…"
Then he ran outside, and yelled. "They're not here! They're gone!"
"What?!" Edward immediately yelled, and ran up to Percy. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"I mean." Percy said. "They aren't here!"
Edward shook his head. "Oh no…"
"We have to tell the others!" Percy exclaimed.
"And indeed we will." Edward said sternly.
So Edward and Percy set off to tell the others.
The news spread like wildfire that the three friends were missing, and tips immediately started pouring in.
"Thomas' branchline! Have you checked there?"
"The yard! Go there!"
"The docks maybe!"
"What about the woods?"
"Wait, why the woods?" Percy asked.
Emily shrugged. "We have to look everywhere, don't we?" She asked.
Edward nodded. "We do." He said. "Now, the woods is a big place. So I need a lot of people to come with me. Gordon, Rosie, Percy, Toby, James, Hiro, Henry and Flora come with me. We'll search the woods." He instructed. "Everyone else! Look everywhere else on Sodor!"
Everyone nodded, and went where they were told.
…
The group of friends slowly walked through the woods, very nervous. Despite it being morning, with the sun rising, the trees were so tall, that is shut out nearly all the sunlight, making it appear very dark.
Percy was clinging onto Henry's arm in fright. James was doing the same to Hiro.
But they all had to be brave for Thomas. He was always there for them, now it was their turn to be there for him. They wouldn't give up.
They kept walking for another fifteen minutes calling out for Thomas, Ashima, and Gina before James sighed. "It's hopeless. We won't find them here. The woods are too big."
"No!" Percy protested. "We are not giving up! Thomas would search for us, until he found us no matter how long it took, and we're doing the same." He said.
Hiro nodded. "I agree. We must keep looking."
So they kept searching.
They searched all day, and where about to give up until they heard a female voice. They walked to the source of the voice to find see a woman they've never seen before.
Her hair was black and it went down to her shoulders. She was wearing a long sleeve dark blue dress that went down to her ankles along with a black cape. She was pale, and had purple eyes.
They would've thought she was beautiful, until they saw what she was doing. She was surrounding three people they knew all too well- Thomas, Ashima, and Gina. And they saw her waving… a wand.
She was a witch!
The witch was chanting something they could not understand- since it was in a foreign language. Her wand her also was emitting black sparkles. And they were going straight into the three friends head. They had no idea what was happening, and because of that, they were scared. They became even more so when they saw Ashima's eyes turn red. Thomas's eyes went red too, along with Gina's.
"Hey!" Rosie yelled out. "What are you doing to our friends?! Who are you?!"
The woman looked up, and smirked. "I, am Ebony. And I've kidnapped your three friends here, because they are perfect- puppets." She sneered.
"Puppets?!" Gordon bellowed.
"That's right." Ebony said. "I want to take over this island. And what better way to do it than to do it with people they trust? I can take it right from under their noses, and they won't know until it's too late!"
"Oh no you won't!" Edward growled.
"Not unless we have anything to say about it!" Percy yelled.
Ebony glared. "Oh… so is that how it's going to be?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips, and raising an eye. When she saw no chance in their demeanor, she smirked. "So be it…"
"Children." She said, turning to Thomas, Ashima, and Gina. "Get them." She said, pointing to the group of friends.
Slowly, Thomas, Ashima, and Gina walked towards the group.
The rest of the friends backed away.
"Thomas please..." Edward begged. "This isn't you. Please stop."
Thomas' only response was to grin wildly.
And then- it all came together for the group of friends being perused.
It wasn't them. The people stalking them like prey with red eyes, weren't their friends. They were- demons.
"Fine." Gordon said, the scared feeling leaving him, as it did with everyone else.
"Don't hold back." Hiro instructed.
Then, the fighting began.
Ashima, Gina and Thomas charged the friends.
Edward took on Thomas, Hiro took on Ashima, and Gordon took on Gina. They rest scrambled away for anything they could find. Rocks, branches, old discarded metal, etc.
Edward laid a few punches on Thomas, Hiro kept restraining Ashima, then throwing her to the ground, and hitting her with small rocks. Gordon restrained Gina as well, and Rosie was the one that would hit her, and block punches.
But Ebony hit the three with a spell, allowing them to break free.
Grabbing rocks, they threw them at Edward, Gordon, and Hiro's head, knocking them over onto the ground. Then the three pounced on them. Edward Gordon and Hiro tried their best to restrain them, but from their position on the ground, it wasn't so easy.
Their red eyes boring into blue, and hazel as they got closer and closer to their faces, Edward, Gordon and Hiro felt helpless, and tried yelling for help.
They were using their hands to hold onto Ashima, Thomas and Gina, but it was becoming harder with them pushing down.
Their hearts were racing as they did their best to push back, trying desperately not to give in.
Quietly, James, Henry and Percy snuck up behind Ashima, Thomas, and Gina, and hit them in the head with rocks. The three went limp, and then Edward, Hiro, and Gordon pushed them off and got back up, panting, and rubbing their wrists and hands.
They look over and saw that Ebony was not happy about what just happened, and growled. She used her wand, and roughly dragged Ashima, Gina, and Thomas back to her. She made them stand up again- their eyes were back to grey.
A silver dagger then appeared in Ebony's hand, and everyone realized what she was about to do.
She was about to kill the three.
"Wait!" Edward yelled. "Don't kill them! You will have nothing to gain from doing so! Just let them go." He said.
Ebony smirked. "Fine.., I'll let most of them go."
With a wave of her wand, Ashima and Gina's eyes turned back to their normal color. They were out of the trance. They looked around and quickly ran to the Steam Team.
But they notice Thomas's eyes were still grey, making Toby yell, "You said you'd let them go!"
Ebony, just laughed and replied, "Are you deaf!? I said, I'd let most of them go! This small thing will still make of very good use"
Ashima glared, her eyes darkening. She was mad- oh, so mad.
She screamed at the top of her lungs in anger, and charged at the witch.
She jumped at her, and they fall to the ground rolling in the dirt. Ashima punched her in the face, and reached for the hand that held the wand. But Ashima was punched back. She grunted in pain as she rolled away, but then Gina charged at her, knocking Ebony to the ground. The force of the impact winded Ebony and gave Ashima the opportunity to grab the wand.
She snatched it out of the witch's hand, and both Ashima and Gina backed away, panting.
"Give me my wand!" Ebony yells, standing up once she got her breath back.
"No!" Ashima retorts. "Not until you promise to let Thomas go!"
Ebony smirks. "Never! And I'm not afraid! You can't hurt me!"
Ashima looks at the wand in her hand before getting an idea. Taking the edges of the wand in both hands, she starts to bend it downwards.
"W-what are you doing!?" Ebony yells.
"My friend!" Ashima yells. "This is for my friend!"
"If you break it," Ebony says. "I can't bring him back."
Ashima doesn't listen, and continues to slowly splinter the wand, until- it breaks.
Ebony screamed out in pain, and then a dark cloud of mist surrounds her and she disappeared, the screams fading away along with the mist.
Then, a bright shining white light takes place of where the dark mist once was, and then, a beautiful woman with red hair and blue eyes appear, holding a new wand. She was wearing a white dress that went down to her ankles.
"Who, who are you?" Gordon asks, holding Rosie's hand.
"I, am Mia." The woman says.
After some examining, Percy's eyes widen. "You... you're a witch too!" Percy exclaims.
The woman nods. "But a good one." She reassures the friends. "Who you have just made disappear was my corrupt sister, who locked me away. I couldn't be freed until she was gone- so thank you." She smiles gratefully at the group of friends.
"Can.., you fix Thomas?" James asks.
The smile fell from Mia's face at the question. She looked over at Thomas, who was just- standing there, unmoving, then back at the rest of the group. "No... I'm afraid not. The spell Ebony used on Thomas was an unbreakable spell. She put Ashima and Gina under similar spells, but those could be broken."
"S-so- you are saying…" Hiro started.
"That Thomas is under the trance forever?" Henry finished.
Mia nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so…" she said. "And because Ebony's magic is gone, he won't respond to anything."
Then sobbing could be heard from behind Mia, making everyone turn around.
What they saw was heartbreaking.
Rosie was holding onto Thomas, in some form of a hug. Her left arm was draped over his right shoulder, and her right arm, was holding onto his left arm, and she was on her knees. (Like when Elsa was holding onto Anna when she was frozen)
Gordon was standing next to Rosie, holding onto his own arms, trying not to cry but failing miserably, as tears slowly streamed down his face.
Edward was on the ground, on all fours with his head down, besides Thomas, shaking and sobbing.
All the while, Thomas' blank grey eyes just stared ahead at nothing.
Everyone watched in anguish, before Flora softly spoke. "We need to go home... it's getting late."
Slowly, Rosie and Edward rose from the ground.
"But.., what about Thomas..?" Edward asked.
"Take him with you" Mia said quietly. "He may still be in the trance, but he's not frozen."
So Gordon nodded. He gently and slowly put his hand around Thomas's shoulders, and his other under his knees. Then he lifted him up bridal style. Rosie walked forward, and gently closed Thomas's now permanently grey eyes with her fingers.
Then everyone walked home, with Mia watching sadly before she disappeared.
Soon, the news spread of what happened to the three friends, and that Thomas would never again wake up- that he was trapped in a trance, one that could never be broken.
Thomas now laid in his bed, under the sheets, with his hands clasped together over his stomach. He never moved, he never made a sound, and his eyes were closed...
Never to open again….