New chapter, at last! Be gone with you, Suspense! I hope this one's good. I haven't had the best ideas for this one…but, oh well.
Kate and Humphrey both continue to lay on the trampoline until Lilly and Garth finished their third round of checkers. It was then that Garth came over to them, despite Lilly's earlier interjection. "Alright, what say we do a tournament?" he said, pointing to the table with the checkerboard on it. Kate looked up at him, "Maybe later, Garth. Me and Humphrey want to look at the stars." Garth suddenly noticed how they were laying, "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing with her, Coyote!?" he yelled, instantly furious.
Humphrey glanced up at him, confused, "Keeping her warm. She requested it…even if non-verbally." But this only made Garth angrier, "You get your filthy person off of my girl!" he said, shoving Humphrey out from under Kate, and pulling her away. "Garth! Just who do you think you are!?" Kate shouted in his face. Garth simply put on a pathetic smile, "C'mon, Kate. It's 'You-and-Me-Forever', remember?" Kate looked really uncertain, "Well…I guess…but…" Garth didn't let her finish, "Yes, that's right! And nobody will ever end up breaking our bond, ever!" "But, Garth-!" Garth pulled Kate in, and kissed her. Kate was shocked at first, and was then completely brainwashed and kissed him back.
Humphrey watched this in severe emotional imbalance. He was badly hurt when the two locked lips that he was about to cry, and then it was replaced with a burning, festering anger. His muscles contracted ferociously, his heart was on fire, and his eyes began to glow bright silver. Garth, meanwhile, was still making out with Kate; when he happened to half-open his eyes at him, they shot upward as he pulled away from Kate. "Huh? What's wrong?" she asked before turning and looking at Humphrey's piercing, glowing eyes.
Humphrey started to stand up, and then he pointed his index and middle fingers at Garth, and shot him with what looked like a lightning bolt, making him launch five feet into the air, and land roughly on the ground. Kate gasped at this, and then more bolts started to be emitted in random directions from Humphrey's body, hitting several stones. The stones then had a strange-looking, glowing white symbol appear on each one, though they were all different. A white aura covered Humphrey as he started to levitate upward, and the nine stones drifted upwards with him, revolving around him in a single-file formation.
"Humphrey!" Kate called up to him. There was no response, but he was suddenly enveloped in an expanding, opaque sphere of light, about 8 feet across, from what they could tell. Eve and Winston suddenly rushed out of the back door, and stared in awe at the light. "It can't be…" Winston said to himself. Winston rushed over to see Kate holding her arm up at the light, and Lilly watching with a look of immense distress. "HUMPHREY!" Kate yelled in tears for a second time. Three glowing symbols appeared on the ground in a triangular formation; a red, green, and blue one. These symbols began to emit slow-moving light beams at the hovering sphere of light above them.
Winston rushed over to his daughters, "Kate! Lilly! Close your eyes!" Kate briefly took her eyes off, and looked at her father, "Why?" she asked, still crying. "Just look away as the beams touch him!" he said over the low whistling of the stones, which were revolving so fast that they became blurs of white light. "O-okay…" said Kate. Winston and Lilly were already facing downward with their eyes shut, but Kate continued to look at the rapidly-spinning light. The beams were about to make contact, and when they were a second away, Kate shut her eyes tight. It was then that she understood why she had to look away; as the beams merged with the light, it became extremely bright for a brief moment, like a camera flash. But, that was much brighter than a camera…perhaps bright enough to cause blindness.
This continued for several more, intense seconds. Finally, the stones began to slow, and the light faded. The stones drifted downwards, back to their original locations, and the symbols vanished. Afterwards, Humphrey was visible again as he slowly came down. When he made it to the ground, the aura and the glow in his eyes went out, and then he fell forward on all fours, panting. "Humphrey!" Kate exclaimed before rushing over and embracing him tightly. "…K-Kate…uuugh…" Humphrey said as he rubbed his head, "…I feel…really dizzy…like I just got off of the Minderaser at Elitch Gardens…"
Kate let go of Humphrey, "Humphrey, what was that!? How did you do that?" she asked him. Humphrey was still very disoriented, "…Ugh…what…?" he said. "That…whatever floating-glowy…thing you just did. Don't you remember it just now?" Humphrey looked up at her, "…well, yes. I wasn't asleep or anything…" Kate continued to question him, "So, how did you do it?" she asked. Humphrey managed to stand up, "…Not sure." Kate's face fell, "Wait, what!? How can you do something, but forget about it after?" Humphrey shook his head, "I don't know! I just…did it, somehow…"
Winston stepped forwards, "I know how this has happened, Kate. But I never thought that the next one would be…you, Humphrey." Humphrey tilted his head in confusion, "Next one? What does that mean?" Winston sighed, "It started a long time ago, during the era of Atlantis-" "Atlantis? That city in the mid-Atlantic?" Humphrey asked. Winston smiled, "Yes, that's it." Kate scratched her head, "I thought that city was just a myth. Like, a legend." "No, Kate," said Winston, "Atlantis was a real city, before a cataclysm sank the entire island under the ocean, wiping out the Atlantean race."
"Okay, but what's that got to do with me?" Humphrey asked. "Well," Winston continued, "You're a type of 'one-of-a-kind' wolf that the Atlanteans referred to as a Starsoul, Humphrey." Humphrey raised a brow, "Starsoul?" he asked. "Yes," Winston answered him, "a Starsoul was a member of a special heritage that could harness the energy of a power source in Atlantis. But, I might end up keeping you all up too late if I told the story now. It's nearly 10:30." He said, checking his watch, "I can elaborate on all of it tomorrow, if you want."
Humphrey shrugged his shoulders, "Alright, I can wait." He said. But the truth was, Humphrey was scared; this apparent power he had suddenly became active in him, and he couldn't control it. What if it were to happen again? Humphrey couldn't bear the thought of hurt others without him in control of it. "Well, wake up Garth, and get to bed, before anything else happens." Said Eve. After Winston and Eve went back inside, Kate tried to wake Garth up. "Garth." She said in his ear, but there was no response. "Garth!" she said, louder. "…mmmm…C'mon, Mom…it's Saturday…" Garth said as he woke up. As he finally managed to stand, his eyes lit up in realization, "Wait…you're dead, Coyote!" he lunged at Humphrey, tackling him to the ground.
"Garth, no!" Lilly yelled. "He went all demon-eyes on me, and zapped me! I don't know how he does these freakish things, but one thing's for sure: it means he's a freak! Literally!" Kate pulled Garth off of Humphrey, "Garth, you have to listen to me. If you attack Humphrey, he might end up doing that again! He wasn't even in control of his actions when it happened! You can't blame him!" Garth looked completely reluctant, "…Fine. I just don't want the demon-Coyote shooting me with his demon-lightning." He said. "He's not a demon!" Lilly retaliated.
They all went into the house and set up their beds in the basement living room. Lilly would sleep on the armchair, Garth would simply sleep on the floor in his sleeping bag, Kate decided to sleep on a spare mattress that she pulled out of the storage, and Humphrey decided to sleep on the couch. About 15 minutes after the lights went out, Garth making a light snore could be heard, while Lilly mumbled a little in her sleep. Humphrey lay awake, thinking…is he truly a genuine Starsoul of Atlantis? If so, how has this not happened with his family before?
His train of thought only lasted for a few minutes before Kate broke the silence: "I'm cold." She said in his direction. A wave of delight washed over Humphrey as he stood up, and joined Kate under the blanket on the large mattress. "Better?" he asked. "Yes. Thanks, Humphrey." There was a very long pause before Kate spoke again: "Humphrey, listen. I know that what happened out there was…unusual. But that doesn't mean I don't like you any less. You shouldn't let this get you down. It could be a good thing…" she said, trying to make him hopeful. "Well, you're right, Kate. I'll try to look at the positives of all this, and hopefully, we'll know what it all means soon."
Kate smiled at him, "Good. Well, goodnight Humphrey." "Goodnight, Kate." And with that, the two fell asleep. With a very strange mystery having emerged out of Mother Nature's most unforeseen depths, who knows what could happen next for the 21st Century Starsoul. All will unfold soon, and answers will hopefully become evident.
So, Humphrey has just discovered his inheritance from the B.C. era. But what will he have to gain from it? What will it bring him…or anyone else? Countless possibilities, though we must now go through more dreaded waiting, but the truth will reveal itself! Keep holding on…
