Author note: The song of this chapter is "One jump ahead (Reprise)" from Disney's Aladdin. Mentioning because, unlike the one in chapter one, the lyrics are completely different from the original, thanks to the different context.
"Here." Bernadette said, bringing a trail of cookies and two glasses milk. Sally had a hand on her chin, just observing the whole thing play out, while Nicole observed curiously. The lynx lifted her face, looking directly at the hedgehog. "Take any you want." She said.
Nicole observed the cookies. She had seen Tails, Sonic and even Sally eat those rounds treats in abundance and with a smile on their faces. She used to see this baked goods as what they were: flour, sugar, chocolate chips, butter. None of those things excited the spirit in any way.
Then, why did she suddenly felt she wanted them? When she breathed, she felt something on her nose, something that she liked. For some reason, her tongue passed on her mouth, without her direct orders. She felt some grumbling on her medium area, a feeling she did not like at all, but somehow knew, would be pacified if she inhaled those cookies.
Nicole was not sure what would happen when she grabbed one and introduced it into his mouth. But she had seen how people ate them, so she gave it a good bite and crunched the crumbs. And her eyes widened, shining intensely as she let go some moans of happiness. She closed her eyes, swinging her head as the tasted still lingered, enjoying every second of it.
"Nicole, tone it down." Sally told her. This made Nicole stop on her place, before directing herself to the queen.
"Forgive me." Nicole bowed. And Sally wished to kick herself. She had hoped she could familiarize her to etiquette and those stuff before being stuck with the royal family.
"Don't worry about that." Bernadette reassured. "I am curious though: Are you related Dr. Ellidy in some way?" She asked and both girls hearts skipped some beats.
"I...Well...Ummm..." Nicole did not understand why she could not generate any answer. Why suddenly she was so worried, so unable to generate a simple logical answer like she used to? Hell, her breathing started to get raged and irregular.
"N-not quite." Sally intervened, cursing herself for not being able to hide the stutter. "At least, not blood related. But he took her in because she kinda looked like him." Sally said, but anyone who knew the girl would have noticed she lacked the certainty that characterizes her.
"Funny he didn't even mention her." The queen said.
"You know, all this secrecy surrounding the royal families for our own safety." She said with more conviction.
"You are not wrong about that." The hedgehog admitted. She then put a hand at the lynx's shoulder, who was silent as a mouse and even shaking a bit. This made the purple clad girl look at her.
"Hey, don't worry. Take more cookies if you want and milk. You are one of us." The queen reassured. Nicole again looked happy, to what Sally rolled her eyes. "Now, could you stay here for a moment? I wanna talk with Sally for a moment, outside." She said, to what Nicole just nodded, although a bit hesitant.
"Sally, come with me." Bernadette said. Sally obeyed, her mind going fast about what would her next lie be and how to make sure it still made sense on the big picture. "So, is she your friend? Do you like her?"
Sally was not expecting those questions. "What's with people and that question lately?" She muttered to herself. Then, she looked at the queen to the eyes. "Why does that matter?"
"Honestly, because you are usually so reserved and hostile to people. But just now you jumped to talk in favor for a stranger."
"Hey, I just said..."
"Sally. We both know you were not remotely honest back there." Bernadette admitted, which made Sally wince, an act that she regretted because it called her out. "Do you trust her?" Was her next question.
Sally thought it out for a moment. "Yes, I like her. And I trust her. What are you gonna do about her?"
"Nothing. Unless she suddenly becomes a threat or something." She admitted.
(Must be thinking about using it for blackmailing.) Sally thought.
"Look Princess: I know this is a difficult life. And one that you did not choose. Honestly, I am not going to deprive you from having a friend. One that you want." Sally lifted an eyebrow, thinking there was a catch. "I trust who you are putting your faith on and know the risks of this life. For yourself and that other person." She stated.
Sally still felt like she had to be on her guard, as she expected some kind of problem. "However, I want you to know that we are also willing to listen to you and help you." She said. She waited for a good moment, hoping for Sally to answer or something. But the squirrel didn't.
The queen sighed. "I have to go. I will meet the lynx's grandfather." And with that, she left, but with one final advice for the princess. "You are 13 years old. Before you know it, you might loose your youth without really enjoying it."
Sally then went back to her room. There, only Nicole's ring remained, which Sally picked up. "Nicole?"
"In a minute. I am thinking of the possibility of changing my form again, will be out in a second."
"Actually..." Sally started, but Nicole reemerged anyway. This time, however, her body was disproportional, with her arms and legs of different lengths, which made her fall to the floor head first. Once on the floor, the squirrel noticed that her limbs were of different animals: squirrels arms, fox head, lynx legs, etc, as a weird scramble of shape and species.
"How do I look?" Nicole asked.
"...Return to the ring." Sally refused, or was too surprised, to add anything else to that.
"But..."
"Now!" Sally half screamed and the sand spirit complied. "Now, listen. The queen is talking to Dr. Ellidy about her granddaughter."
"Wait, he has actual family. My memory says otherwise." Nicole voiced her concern. "I-I will run a search. Maybe I was wrong."
"No, we are talking about you."
"But I am an artificial spirit."
"Yes, but..."
"Does that means I am actually his family?"
"No, let me..."
"Does the queen knows I am artificial?"
"Nicole!" Sally said commanding, which the ring knew meant to shut up for a moment. "The queen is... coming with an agreement with Dr. Ellidy. I think she wants me to have a friend and will him to tell others that you guys are blood related. It is simpler than telling everyone that you are a stranger, like she believes you to be. She is not aware that you were the spirit in my bracelet." Sally explained.
After that explanation, there was only a word lingering on the spirit mind. "Are we friends? I mean, friend is a person you choose to spend time with, but I am your assistant, but now I have emotions. Does that change anything?" It was easy to notice the anxiety on the new girl, because of the uncertainty she felt.
Sally thought about this for a moment. "Guess we are not really friends." Sally admitted, but there was some sadness in her tone.
"...I see." Sally thought that Nicole sounded sad too.
"How is the new body?" Sally changed the conversation topic, hoping to ease up the mood.
"Like... I don't even know! When I saw the cookies there was this crunching on my food processor..."
"Your stomach, you were hungry." Sally said.
"...And this thing entering my... breathing holes."
"Smell and nose."
"And then, biting the cookie and feeling how it crumbled and this feeling behind my biting things that I liked and then that warm milk mixing perfectly with the cookies..." The lynx let go hum like sound, before remembering that she left plenty more. So she reemerged, back to her lynx shape, and started eating down cookie after cookie.
Out of the blue, she felt one of the big pieces of the cookie get stuck on her throat. Nicole's eyes opened her eyes a lot, panicking because... she could not even process what was going on! She just knew it was dire. Thankfully, Sally noticed what was going on and passed her the glass of milk, which Nicole took and used the liquid to help her gulp down the food. Nicole put a hand on her chest, breathing heavily. "What was that?!" Nicole said, obviously panicked.
"The food got stuck in your throat. It is normal." Sally explained.
"You mean this will happen again?!" Nicole voiced her concern.
"No, if you are careful." Sally explained.
"...What else threatens me?" Nicole asked.
"Nicole, relax. You will be safe."
"No!" Nicole said. "I need to know and catalog everything that might represent a threat. What else is dangerous to eat? What is outside that can hurt me? Are there tiny rocks that might get on my nose and mouth until I stop breathing?" Nicole spew her concerns, faster and faster.
"Nicole!" Sally screamed again, stopping her. "Just... Return to the bracelet and you will be safe. Ok?" Sally replied more at ease. Nicole was not convinced, but decided to return to the ring anyway. (She is going to be the end of me.) Sally thought.
Sally threw herself to her bed and tried to catch some sleep. Nicole observed the girl sleep, how she remained with her closed eyes, sinking slightly into the pillows. It was at that moment that Nicole noticed the difference between being on the ring and being outside: The inside of the ring was this blank void space where Nicole floated, no clear end, just the endless horizon. "Um, Sally..." Nicole did not want to bother the lynx, but she could not help it.
"Get out and lay on the bed. There is enough space." Despite the fact that she had her eyes closed, the squirrel did not sound tired at all. Instantly, the lynx emerged from the bracelet and laid right on Sally's side.
"Good night." Nicole said.
"Good night." Sally replied, with her eyes still closed.
The next day
Sally had to make up her part of the deal for now on, walking to the meeting area with Sonic to spend time with him and Tails. (Not the worst thing to be stuck doing.) She thought to herself. Suddenly, she heard some kind of rock destruction, above her. Sally looked up, observing how pieces of the Agrabah Palace crumbled and fell near her. The guards started to spread, trying to avoid and help the people that may or may not get hurt by the debris. However, Sally caught a glimpse of a random flying object, moving too close to the towers to be a coincidence.
The guards were too distracted to notice the girl going to the city. She made her best to follow the flying object, eventually getting to the rooftops of the city to get a better view. But, suddenly, the flying object seemed to lose altitude and... Was it screaming? What was the object exactly? Sally observed hard, starting to deduce what it was: It was too small to be a plane, but it was too big to be a bird or something similar. And, it was suddenly started falling to her direction. But Sally was not able to just follow her basic instinct to escape because of Sonic and Tails. Sonic and Tails were the flying object!
"Whoooooaaaaaaa!" She knew that was Sonic's voice. And, because she finally recognized it, she managed to duck, right before he crashed. The hedgehog hugged the fox, and made sure that he blunt of the blow fell on him, not in the little kid. Once they landed however, the young fox pair of tails started to spin again, starting to go upward again. "Nonononono." Sonic said, worried about how they were gaining altitude again, but could not think of an alternative to stop him, other than harming him. Now, he was hanging again, while the fox gained altitude. "Tails, stop!" He screamed. Sally, then grabbed to the hedgehog's torso, seemingly stopping the fox from flying upwards, but still dragging the two of them.
"Hic. Hic." Was the only sound the kid produced.
"What is going on?!" Sally screamed.
"Sally?!" Sonic said, while looking down to what grabbed him.
"Answer the question!" Sally demanded.
"Can you be at least a little concerned about the situation you are in?!" Sonic answered back. Sally was not able to answer, as she got hit by a random rooftop on the way. "Ahahahaha." Sonic could not help the laughter, but then, Tails lost even more altitude and threw him to a random stand of fruit stand. Sonic crushed the poor stand, but managed to for into a ball and get away from there before he got caught by the guards or the owner. Without missing a bit, the ball climbed up back to the rooftops, as the blue hedgehog searched for the little fox again.
"Hedgehog, explain!" Sally demanded, while she struggled to get up too. The girl brownish clothing now had several different colors plastered on it. Meanwhile the hedgehog body was wet from the juice of the fruit. Heck, some of the fruit was still stuck to some of his spines.
"I don't know. He was thirsty and the only thing I found was this bottle with a rather stinky liquid. I told him not to, but I left the room to search for something else. When I returned, he could barely walk anymore and suddenly, his tails started spinning like a chopper and he started to fly. I barely had time to grab him before he got altitude and almost left the place." He explained.
"YOU GOT HIM DRUNK?!" Sally screamed at the hedgehog.
Sonic looked ready to block some kind of hit from the squirrel. "Wow, could you stop blaming stuff on me?"
"I am only stating the truth! If you weren't so stupid and careless, this would have not happened."
"Now who brought that stuff to the watchtower? Because I am very confident it was not me."
"Mmmm, guys..." Nicole said, noticing the fox flying again, his movements still erratic, but clearly getting closer to them.
"You think of yourself as his guardian, but you can even take care of him in the most minimal manner."
"Oh, like the perfect and always gracious princess knows anything about taking care of others."
"Guys!" Nicole emerged, right between the two of them, pushing them to the sides. Neither of them understood why until, a streak of yellow passed over her and took her. "Kyaaaaahhhh." Nicole screamed, surprised about this change. However, when the girl felt the winds petting her fur, she stopped her scream and observed the entire city from so high. There was something on the sight, something unique that could not be seen anywhere. Needless to say, she felt her breath taken. "Whoa." She let go.
"Nicole!" Both the hedgehog and the squirrel screamed their concern, making her turn to them.
"I am fine. This is rather nice!" She told them.
"Watch out!" They screamed, and Nicole understood this a little too late, as the fox crashed against a tower.
Nicole was not sure how to explain the feeling, this bad sensation that now wrapped her body, nor the strange liquid coming from her eyes. But she understood the origin, the reason, the speed she had and the sudden stop. And, now, she felt at the winds going upward, as the land got closer and closer, as she fell faster and faster. "Heeeelp!" The girl called out, flailing wildly, not sure what to do about it.
But the land was coming soon, so she put her arms on her face, not sure what she hoped to achieve with it.
However, right before the hit, Sonic managed to grab the girl, with his speed, carrying the lynx on her arms. Once she was safe, the hedgehog brake to a stop. This shift made her remove her arms, just enough to see Sonic.
"Are you alright?" Sonic asked, but to the spirit, only her safety mattered.
"Put me down! PUT ME DOWN!" Nicole panicked, squirming in the fox arms. Even delivering a slap on his face, accidentally. The hedgehog was, obviously annoyed by this.
Meanwhile, Sally started making circles with her hands, as the light between the hands took shape of a ball. Then, the girl shot the ball. Despite the fox erratic movements, she was able to land the hit. Instantly, the spinning tails stopped, as the kid lost altitude. "Sonic!" Sally screamed. The hedgehog observed to her direction... and panicked when he observed the fox descend at increasing speeds.
"ARE YOU NUTS?!" He screamed, but ran as fast as he could, dropping the lynx without much tact. And, despite the difficulties, the hedgehog caught the now unconscious fox, although landing on his back to catch him was painful.
But the pain was negligible in comparison to his concern over the fox. He observed the sweaty fox on his arms, removing the hair hanging on his face. The small child had a smile on his face, with red on his cheeks. He was never aware of the immense danger they were. That only made the fury burning in the hedgehog burn even harder. "What is wrong with you?!" The hedgehog snapped at the squirrel.
"Please, you had not problem on catching any of them." Sally said, without showing any remorse.
"What if I could not catch them?"
"You did." At that answer, Sonic clenched his fist, the idea of hitting the girl gaining on his mind. "You try anything on me and forget about the foxy." Sally said, one step ahead of him.
The hedgehog then let go some incomprehensible sounds of fury, before calming down a bit. "Just, get us back."
Some time later
Again, the group was on the sled, with everyone on their proper positions (minus the sleeping fox) and the next pack of supplies. "Ready?" Sally asked.
"Ready." Sonic said.
"...Ready." Nicole said, on her ring form.
At that signal, the hedgehog started running, going to the treacherous desert. The first mile was no problem, as the bubble generated by the spirit hold up. But they were unaware of the struggle the lynx was going through.
Despite not having a corporal body at the moment, Nicole breathed with difficulty. For whatever reason, she felt like metal pieces ripped right through her, although she herself would not have the words to explain it. And the pain spread, only becoming more and more unbearable. But she refused to voice her complains because, this was her job.
She was Sally's sand spirit: She did this all the time and without any effort. Why so much trouble all of the sudden? Why was she gasping for air? Why was she so pathetic?
This became a terrible mistake: When the pain overwhelmed the spirit, she let go of the entire sand protector. Because of the treacherous sands, the sled got stuck. Sonic, who was previously pushing the sled, hit himself on the head because of this change. The hit shook him hard enough, falling to the quicksands on his back. For a second, he was too stunned to react, a serious problem because the natural hazard captured him in that second, not letting him to escape.
"Oh, shit. Oh shit." Sonic started saying, as fear started to get a hold of him. Meanwhile, the sled also started sinking.
"Oh, no!" Nicole screamed, still inside the bracelet.
(Just screaming won't help!) Sally thought, annoyed at the spirit girl. Unlike the other two, the squirrel managed to keep her calm, although barely. The limited visibility thanks to winds only made things even harder. Nevertheless, she grabbed the sleeping fox and put him on her shoulders. "Nicole, aid Sonic!"
The spirit needed a second to react, something they barely had. "On it!" She said, emerging. However, while it did not cause any pain on the girl, she felt something wrong very wrong going on her, making freeze on her place with fear.
The squirrel did not understand why she suddenly stopped. She did not need her imagination to deduce it however, as she observed how the winds ripped Nicole's sand away rather quickly. Her brown, black and purple of her exterior disappeared, her lynx appearance gone too and only a sand formation looking somewhat humanoid remained, but continued to deteriorate, her arms becoming shorter and shorter by the second.
"Return to the ring!" Sally screamed, but the lynx, or the remaining of it was too shocked to react.
"Help! " Sonic screamed, the quick sands had reached his shoulders and going up.
"Return to the ring!" Sally shook Nicole, but it had no effect. Suddenly, Sally felt the quicksands below her start to eat her feet. That snapped something on the squirrel, who punched through the now sand mountain with no definite shape except for her eyes. But, somehow, it worked, as Nicole attention was on Sally, despite the pain. "RING! NOW!" Sally screamed, in a tone that sounded like she was possessed. The spirit obeyed in a blink.
Honestly, it freaked out the spirit because Sally was such a calm and calculating person. To see her so freaked out. It was something she never wished to see again. "Help!" Sonic screamed again.
"SHUT UP HEDGEHOG! I AM WORKING ON IT!" Sally screamed, the panic very present.
However, Sonic started coughing. The sand had already reached his mouth. His eyes observed at the squirrel, the bloodshot eyes showed one thing: absolute terror, before the sand covered them as well. He might have 5 seconds before the sand covered his nose. "NICOLE! FREE SONIC!" She screamed.
The lynx did as told, lowering the sand enough that his head was free. The hedgehog gasped for air loudly. "*gasp* OH GOD! *gasp*"
"Get us out of here!" Sally screamed, feeling how the sand was above her legs.
"I can't! I can barely keep him out!" Nicole explained. Sally pressed her teeth, but had an idea.
"Keep him alive for now!" Sally ordered, while preparing one of her spells. Unlike her sleeping spell or attack spell, the blue ball turned red and was bigger than Sonic's head.
"What are you doing?!" Sonic asked. Suddenly, the squirrel threw it inside the quicksand, deep. Sonic looked even more confused.
"...Either saving us, or killing us." Sally answered, while holding the fox's arms as hard as she could. No one liked the uncertainty in her tone.
Before long, the energy ball detonated, generating what looked like a giant sand geyser. Luckily, this set them free. Because of his position, Sonic had more horizontal push than vertical, reaching close to the entrance to Agrabah quickly, while Sally, the kid fox and the spirit in the bracelet flew high.
Sonic looked up, observing the situation for the fraction of a second, before running inside the city, to be exact, to the other side of the city. He had tried to use a head start to get more velocity to resist better the exterior and, while he made it further, that was also the time he almost died in the desert.
Sonic got into race start position... but hesitated. He knew he did not have the time and he wanted to kick himself for stopping. But he knew why. He was afraid: He had almost died before in the quicksands and now, he had barely saved himself.
(Move it! Move it, stupid legs! You are not afraid. You are not afraid!) Sonic denied heatedly in his head. But it was useless.
Meanwhile, Sally tried to prepare a second blasting spell. However, because everything was going so fast, the ball this time was much smaller than the last one. Never the less, the blast slowed her fall down, avoiding a deadly crash. However, she still fell on the quicksand area, this time with her arms on the hazardous substance, as well of her legs.
Now, it was impossible for her to generate a spell. "No, no no no no!" The fear in Sally was evident, as she was in one of the few occasions she was absolutely helpless.
Meanwhile, Sonic still fought with his weaker part. (Come on! It is just sand! Sand! Sand that kills people!) He thought, feeling helpless. But then, he remembered what happened before with Tails and the adult. How he could have done something but didn't. How Sally saved them, only because they were lucky. But there was no one this time. He could not be helpless. (Never again) He thought.
He sped off. That day, the people of Agrabah didn't see a blue blur: they saw a blue laser, followed a second after it disappeared by mighty winds that damaged their houses and stores. The blue hedgehog had never run as fast as that day. Even at such speeds, the hedgehog found and grabbed the squirrel (whose case was that the had already eaten her stomach), dragged her out with the fox and took them to the refugee, before they even knew what happened. However, what the hedgehog did not account for, was the landing, as he reached the watchtower at such speeds that he could not stop himself before crashing. At least, he put his body in a way that the squirrel and fox would be less hurt, at the sake of him receiving the blunt of the hit.
For Sally, one second she was on the quicksands, the next, there was a cloud of dust, but it was different from the others. She also smell smoke... "Is something burning?" She asked. She checked her surroundings and found out that the fox's tails were on fire. "Gah." She let go, grabbing the twin extremities and slapping them against the floor over and over. Soon, they were off, thought the white tips now had a black color... But she could not help but think that something else was on fire. She was not sure what compelled her to removed her brown garment, but she made the right decision, as it also was lit on fire. Tossing it to the floor and stomping, she managed to suffocate the fire.
Now that the immediate threat was gone, she observed at the hedgehog with ease. She was not sure how, but he succeeded in saving them. Right now, the speedster was knocked out, getting his very deserved rest. (Maybe he is not as useless as I once thought.) She thought.
That thought, however, was replaced by fury as she remembered the reason why they got into such a difficult situation. She traveled to the cavern below to speak more privately, just in case. "Nicole... OUT!" She ordered and the lynx emerged. Well, what remained of her, since she was mostly just sand with eyes at that point. "What. Happened?" She growled, the expression only made the lynx even more afraid.
"I... I don't know. I suddenly struggled, and it became unbearable." She said, fear on her voice.
"Why did you not say anything?" Sally demanded, but the sand girl just lowered her eyes, unable to keep the stare. "Answer meee!" She screamed with a raspy voice, twisting her face to scream louder.
"I don't know!" Nicole screamed, returning to the ring. "I just felt like it could never happen. That it was my job and that I was supposed to do it. That if I asked for... no. It was not that I was weak. It was admitting to others that I was weak. That was worst than... so many other stuff."
(...Pride.) "What makes you so stupid?" Sally continued her verbal assault.
"Hey!" The squirrel stopped. Somehow, the hedgehog was up again, and apparently listening for a while. "If that makes her stupid, then you are straight up an imbecile."
"I will make you eat those words." The girl said, pressing her teeth.
"Hey, we both know you are the queen of always being dominant and never weak. If she got that from someone, it was from you." Sonic replied.
Sally's pride was obviously hit, but the squirrel did something rare for her: she moderated her ragged breathing, easing her fury. Sonic got closer to the ring, knelling at its side. "Hey, Nicole, could you come out?" Sonic asked softly. The spirit reemerged, although she said nothing.
She looked like a kid, a kid who knew did wrong and was about to be grounded because of that. Sonic then put a hand on her head, and the sand spirit lifted her eyes. "It is alright. You were scared, afraid of all of it. It is understandable."
"No! It isn't. I did that with so much ease before. I should not have any problem." Nicole snapped, not sure herself why.
Sonic chuckled at that. "Definitely got that from Sally." He said. "Listen, no one can do everything alone. Not you. Not Sally. Not even me. When we enter in here, we do it because as a group, we are more capable. Because we cover our weaknesses."
"... We are barely a functional group." Nicole admitted.
Sonic rolled his eyes a bit. "What I am saying, is that you can count on me... count on us, when you are afraid. When you are in need. Because... we are family."
Sonic felt pretty good about himself, thinking he was on a roll with that speech. Now, he waited for Nicole's answer.
"A family is composed of people who agreed voluntary to be engage in a relationship, then, through the act of procreation, spawn descendants with their same bloodline. How are we a family?" Nicole explained, factually, but, at the same time, genuinely. Like a child would do.
Sonic only blinked. He had forgotten she still was this super smart and precise spirit.
"See what I have to deal with?" Sally commented behind them.
Back to the present
It was hard to believe how much things had changed from those times, how simpler everything felt back then. It was funny: initially, they were forced to be together, despite their desire to be away from one another. But now, they wanted to be together, they missed each other. Even though it was nothing more than a dream now.
Sonic: Monster, Devil.
Sally: Traitor, Bastard.
Both: I know you are not that.
Both: Could things go back to how I want them to be?
Both: Thaaat Iii don't knooooow.