Prologue

In a large, egg shaped palace made of the finest steel and stone mix, a little mink-boy ran as he bounced a ball through the halls. He giggled with glee as he played. His guardian had moved him into the grand palace just a few months ago. Several months before he had been gone doing boring grown up stuff while he stayed in Acorn and played with the princess there. Now this big castle was his home and he couldn't help thinking that it was a lot of fun but also lonely. There weren't any other kids for him to play with there and his godfather was always so busy now.

So he ran alone playing with his ball until he barely registered hitting another person, a woman-canine. "Sorry…" He murmured before starting to continue on with his game.

"Bartleby!" His guardian called him back. "Please come back."

The boy picked up his ball and came over, hanging his head in contrition. "Sorry Uncle. I won't run no more."

The man chuckled. "Well, that's good but I have someone I want you to meet. This nice lady is Lady Wyndemere."

Bartleby looked at her, seeing a bassinet beside her. Another child was with her and he couldn't help smiling. "Hi… Lady Wyn… wyn…" He couldn't wrap his four year old mouth around the name and she laughed.

"How about you call me Wendy dear. And this is my daughter, Sonia. She's a hedgehog." She explained as he drew closer. "I'm adopting her today."

Bartleby smiled at the toddler. "Hi, I'm Bartleby."

Wyndemere smiled. "You didn't tell me you had adopted as well, Julian. He's perfectly adorable."

Robotnik sighed. "Yes. I was good friends with his parents. Lord and Lady Montclair of Dresden. Sadly, they passed on soon after he was born and I could not simply give him to an orphanage. Bartleby, would you like to take your new friend to play in your toy room?"

Bartleby nodded eagerly. He looked at the little girl. "Wanna play with me?"

She nodded. "Uh huh…" She was clearly not very vocal yet but it was enough and he carefully reached out a hand to touch hers. He knew she would be his friend forever.

The Oracle nodded. "The Wind Master Emerald has been shattered into seven pieces. Sorceress Aleena is after the others and will need that one too. We have to find them first. If she brings them together… this world with fall… to chaos. Only he has a chance to stop her and if she succeeds, only he can save this world. He must learn." The Oracle looked with haunted eyes at the night sky. How he hated being able to see the future...

Robotnik realized exactly what the Oracle was saying as he sat down. "Bartleby… You're saying that he is meant to learn how to use this power and stop Aleena himself?" He asked, seeking clarity to the situation. "That's absurd! He's never shown any magic in him before and he doesn't have to defeat Aleena. That job falls to me."

The Oracle shook his head. "No Robotnik. He's always had magic in him, he just didn't know what it was. Empathy is not your traditional magic skill. It's not the same as waving a wand or a scepter and casting a spell. This magic is latent in him. Innate and it's been coming out for so long. When you were around him, you likely felt less agitated and irritable. Seeing you made him happy, which he broadcast to you before he could feel any agitation."

The man thought about it and shook his head again. "No… it doesn't matter. He is not going to be stopping Aleena. I will not allow him to be put in that danger. It's not his job to face her." Robotnik said defiantly.

"Please friend," The Oracle pleaded. "Calm yourself… Okay, let's forget that part for now. That part is not going to come for quite some time yet."

"It's not going to come at all." Robotnik corrected him. "Not at all."

The Oracle shook his head. "No matter if he does or not, he needs to learn to control his magic. He must learn. It's the only way he's going to be able to handle whatever comes next."

Robotnik sighed and sat back down. "What will that entail? Isn't it enough that he has his wife and his friends to help him. I know I can't. I know nothing of magic…"

The Oracle nodded. "He needs to learn how to take the outside emotions that he's receiving and process them into positive emotion before transmitting them back out around him. But first, he needs to learn how to only receive the emotions he wants to receive and only send out the ones he wants to send out. And no, they will not be enough. Not much longer. Especially since the hedgehogs have their own trauma they need to work through. I know they'll gladly support him but their emotions are going to become more rampant which is only going to aggravate his own. He needs to learn."

The man stood up and went to the window. He glared outside at the sky with wrath. "So he must taught… but who can teach him. I can't. I can't even control my own emotions."

The Oracle chuckled. "I can teach him. The lessons he needs are remarkably rudimentary. All mages learn them. But an empath takes those rudimentary skills and redefined them to a degree. He won't be doing outright spells like I do. He won't even be making magic music like my children do. It's all emotion and learning how to regulate it. He'll take to it like a duck to water."

With a growl, Robotnik put his hand over his eyes as they throbbed with exhaustion and stress. "I…. I need time to consider it. Magic has been cruel to him. You cannot tell me that there's not some scientific alternative and I reserve the right to research it before anything else is decided. And I will never allow him to face Aleena. She's too deceptive and he is too naive. Yes, I know that is my fault but I did what I thought was best."

The Oracle recognized the man's stubbornness and sighed. It was the best he would get. Bartleby would do nothing without the man's approval. "Very well but at least let me give him something to shield him from any unnecessary emotion. It won't work forever, but it'll buy you time to research."

Robotnik sighed. "That… I can agree to." He left before any further argument could erupt. He just couldn't agree to lessons when he didn't know for sure there was no other way or even if the lessons would work. And he would never allow Bartleby to be turned into a weapon.

In the sewer, a small green hedgehog carried a bag of stuff into his caregiver's alcove. "Ferrell! Look what I found." He offered him the bag before going to look at all of the shiny baubles littering the alcove.

The giant roach accepted the bag with a smile of pride. "Oh my Manic. Look at all these pretty things you've found for the alcove. You are learning the art very well, my boy." He praised him as he picked him up and held him to his shoulder as he'd first done when he was a year old. He had helped many orphans to learn how to care for themselves on the streets but Manic was special. He had felt a connection to him the moment he'd pulled the blanket from him. He knew he was meant to be this boy's father. He just prayed everyday that he wouldn't get caught thieving and end up leaving his boy alone.

Sonic and Knuckles got ready for bed and the echidna had to ask. "Sonic, I don't mean any offense but is it weird that we are adults yet living with our parents?"

Sonic shook his head. "Well, to be fair, you're not quite an adult yet. And second, after what we went through when we learned the truth… we need this. We need a whole mini-reset so to speak. A chance to relearn lessons we were supposed to learn growing up. Robotnik called it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. That's why he wasn't as harsh with you. Thankfully Sonia and Manic had parents… but… Uncle Chuck got me early…" He looked away with a heaviness in his eyes. For a moment, his eyes dilated but he quickly shook his head. "Sorry…" Knuckles put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

As the inhabitants slept through the night, each one dreaming their own personal nightmares, the young mink frowned and groaned as if in pain he wouldn't remember in the morning.

AN: Episode 2 has begun. Please read and review.