11! Not the most intense chapter, and I aplogize for the ridiculous break between updates, but here it is and I'll try for weekliness. Please try to enjoy.
No, I do not own any of the Sonic Universes, characters, rights, or merchandise besides a couple games for Gamecube. I do, however, own an OC or two, and I also do not own anything from Bleach, Gundam, Yu Yu Hakusho, Black Lagoon, Soul to Seoul, El El, 7 Seeds, or Fairy Tail. I'll try to update as regularly as possible, I swear on my fried pickles! …Not that I have any at the moment, but I would like some. I wish we had a deep fat fryer…
Chapter 11, "Welcome Home"
Aubrey led them all back to the "Atrium," where Amy once again saw carvings that made the whole place, floor to HIGH ceilings, look like a petrified Cypress grove. Which made Amy wonder. In any case, they crossed the courtyard and into another arch, which soon became a hilariously tangled interweaving of stairs.
"That's pretty amazing…" The silver-head whistled.
It was. This room was almost as high and just as beautiful as the courtyard, made even more so by the immense stairwell carved straight from the silvery gray rock. The first floor was twice the height of the others, made obvious by the huge grand stair, which even had a landing halfway up. A pair of stairs flanked this and curved wide, up to floor 3. At the actual landing for floor 2, an arch led to an open, colonnade hall, and was flanked by a second pair of stairs, these on the inside of the first pair.
These merged at the twin landings for floor 3, where the landings actually merged into a huge one spanning the considerable gap between archways. In the middle of this landing was another grand stair, this one only one story and going up to floor 4. This grand stair was actually divided along much of the middle, to reveal a third floor 3 arch. All around the main stairs, more stairs curved along, reminding those who had seen them of ancient live oak trees. They were going to live here? This was a base?
"Rooms are on level 3," Shara said." There were four "levels" visible in the courtyard's Pueblo style, which accounted for the Atrium's HIGH ceilings. Yes, it was that big. "Level 1 is amenities, Level 2 is storage and garrison in case of invasion, and same for Level 4. The stairs and related facilities, including balconies, can't be used by enemies."
"What happens if an enemy does try to use it?" Lucy asked.
Aubrey smirked. "The stairs will fling them into next Tuesday. Except for prisoners, but that feature's never been majorly tested."
"Wait, we have to walk up and down 3 flights of stairs, everyday?!" Grimm asked.
I told you to include cardio in your schedule, Ulquiora inwardly sighed.
"No."
"Huh?"
"You can take the elevator."
"There's an elevator?!" Several people exclaimed.
"Sure."
"But—" Lucy said, "But this was an ancient goddess!"
"Who else would be so ahead of the curve?"
"…"
"Quite." Aubrey went over to a line of thick, regularly knotted silver ropes. She grabbed one, stepped halfway into the dangling loop, tugged, and Zwip! She was wisked away!
"Holy cheese!" Revy exclaimed.
"Chao?"
"…What the hell is that thing, a Pokemon?"
"Chao?"
On the left-hand side of the stairs, identical to the right save for a lack of rope, Aubrey dropped down just as quickly as she'd gone.
"You-you-you!"
"Relax, I only went to Level 2. Those who don't wish to go this way—and it does go slower—can take the magical doors."
"Magical doors?" Grimm gave her "the look."
Shara's attention returned to Aubrey. "I'll go, then you." Without waiting for a response, she walked to a door between the stairs and the rope rack, there was a small door, like a closet. As she twisted the knob, the edges began to shimmer like silver ripples. She stepped through the dark doorway, closed it, and a moment later it stopped shimmering. Aubrey then opened the door, revealing the closet to be empty!
"Impossible!"
Aubrey smiled. "Magic." Between the main stairs and the empty rope rack, there was another door. It was only noticed through the space beneath the stair when it began to shimmer around the edges. When it opened, Shara stepped out as if nothing unusual had happened. The gaggle began exclaiming before she had closed the door to stop the shimmering.
Amy was the first to say something both decent and articulate. "This place really is amazing…"
"How'd you do that?" Taro asked.
"Same as Aubrey. Went to Level 2, walked to the Down door, and took it down here. Except she used the ropes. To use them, get in position—for the doors, the door must be closed—and focus on your desired floor. Say it, if you prefer."
"Imaginary elevator operator," Aubrey explained.
"One at a time, no playing. The ropes' speed will depend on your comfort level. Either is safe, or you can take the stairs. All three will get you between floors."
"So, I'll lead up to Level 3," Aubrey said, heading for a rope, again.
"And I'll bring up the rear."
There were ten ropes and one door. Rouge opted for a rope. Amy would just take the door. She closed it behind her, seeing a sign that read, "Dead end." Someone has a sense of humor. …Can't be Shara. "Okay…" Level 3. Feeling absolutely ridiculous, Amy turned and walked out… into almost the same hallway as before. Just that a landing had taken the place of her comrades, and that the landing was HUGE. "Whoa."
"The magical door is not a horse," Aubrey said. "And please close it."
"O-oh!" Amy closed it, and the period of not-shimmering was very brief. She then had to move to let Cream out as Rouge disembarked from a rope. "How was the ride?"
Rouge looked like sarcasm. "Fu~un." The three GUN soldiers had handled it like pros, and fox face was clearly amused. He came up nearly as quickly as Aubrey, for mercy's sake! And the others followed, slower, by rope and magical door.
"Wheee~!" a red-haired girl shot up at a speed to match fox face! And she promptly fell on her face.
"Are you okay?!" Lucy exclaimed. She and Momo hurried over to help a, shockingly, laughing redhead up.
"He he, I'm fine. I normally get hurt several times a day!"
"That's not fine!" Lucy was still on exclamation mode.
The red-head bounded up (the guys watched something bouce, and Grimm nearly fell from the rope) and smiled. "I'm fine, uh-umm…"
"My name is Lucy. Lucy Hearfilia."
"Inoue Orihime!"
"Hinamori Momo."
"Nice to meet you!"
Soon, Shara was accompanying the last wave as Aubrey noted the drastic speed variations. It really didn't just yank you up like Aubrey… "And now to the rooms…"
Shara cut Aubrey off, facing them all from the landing. "Males that way." She raised her right hand. "Females that way." She raised her left hand.
"You are ancient," Grimm grumbled. He was only the most blatantly annoyed male.
"Agreed," Shara surprisingly stated.
"The rooms only open for their resident, so it hardly matters," Aubrey shrugged. "There are two seperate hot springs, though."
The girls all perked. "Hot springs?"
The guys slumped. "Two?"
Aubrey continued unperturbed. "Level one, accessible at the ends of the hall."
"The hot springs wind underneath to the other side, so it isn't heated up here and the rooms are colder."
Grimm was shivering slightly. "I've noticed."
"Wimp," Revy smirked.
"I'm from southern France!"
"So what were you doing in Station Square?"
"College."
Shara continued Aubrey's unperturbed speech. "All rooms are effectively identical, so you only have to worry about location in regards to stairs or springs. You will do your own laundry, by the way."
"Excuse me?!" Rouge exclaimed.
"Contrary to your rooms' appearances, this is not a vacation." Shara met only Rouge's eyes, but her gaze carried. "This is war."
Aubrey sighed, wishing that the seriousness was unnecessary. "Everyone, go pick out a room; just don't go inside, yet."
"Whatever," Rouge shrugged. "I call the room nearest the hot spring." She then proceeded to take said corner room, simultaneously cuing everyone else to follow suit. Shara simply took the one nearest the stairs and Amy took the one by Rouge.
Number 13, she noted. That's not a good thing...
"...Mind if I take the one next to you?" Cream asked hesitantly.
"Sure!" Amy beamed.
Topaz turned the corner and took the other one next to Rouge. "I'll be right next door, partner."
Rouge rolled her eyes. "Do whatever ya want. I'm hittin' those hot springs."
"That sounds pretty good, actually..." Amy suddenly realized that she'd been in a battle that day. Time could really slip by... A bath would be nice.
"Yeah!" Cream cheered. Cheeze also agreed.
Aubrey's alto voice carried lightly down the hall. "Bear in mind that the rooms are all identical, save for the color scheme. That'll be based on the resident, so go ahead and check."
Down the hall, minor scraps between various guys were audible, and Amy's urge to straighten them out was won out by her curiousity over her new room.
"To claim it, write your name on the paper on the desk, and put it in the mirror frame."
"Mind of I'm next door?" Momo asked Topaz shyly.
Topaz gave her an encouraging smile. "Not at all."
Amy took a deep breath. "Here goes..." Images of army cots and stone couches filling her mind, she opened the door to find...
A red-curtained four-poster bed in the far right corner, carved like the courtyard; a full chest of drawers on the left-hand wall; an alcove with full-length mirror along the back wall between the aforementioned furniture; a table with bookshelves and a chair along the wall by the head of ehr bed. The chair looked reasonably comfortable, but the shelves were bare. A rug of some ancient and circular design radiated from the center of the room all the way under her bed, and the whole thing was visible by three Nerezza. One over the drawers, one over the alcove mirror, and one beside the bookshelf.
The room was beautiful, homey with an archaic feel in the lamp-like light. The odd mixture of the last two was caused by the fact that the whole thing was hewn from stone, smooth and bare where a rich tapestry didn't reach down from invisible fastenings. Amy also thought of a hotel room, although her stay here would be far longer. A look behind her found a map of the entire complex, judging from the intricacy and multiple schematics. It was all carved into the wall on the left-hand side of the door, as if to tell her, once again, that this place was the palace of a goddess.
And now this room was her home. Amy went to the dresser and found a creamy white card, and then went to the desk to find a pen. Made out of a feather. Amy dipped the crimson quill into the ink well as she had seen in movies, finding it effortless for her to elaborately sign her name onto the card and slide it into the frame of the mirror over her dresser. She wondered if anything was in it...
"Amy?" Someone knocked on the door, sounding suspiciously like Rouge.
"Coming!" Amy called, hurrying across the softly thick rug to open the door. Yes, that was Rouge in... a lavendar bathrobe? With matching towel around her neck and washcloth in the pocket? "Where did you...?"
Rouge gave a satisfied smile. "Check the dresser. Mind if I come in, or are you not coming?"
"I am!" Amy checked the top drawer as Rouge closed the door, noting Amy's name carved into the front as she did so. Amy blinked. Sure enough, a soft-looking robe and towel set sat neatly folded and waiting. Not lavendar, but a delicate light pink. "Wow!"
"It's kinda creepy that they know our sizes."
"That is creepy... I just need a moment to change." Wait, she wasn't that comfortable with the older woman! "Uhmm... could you turn around while I..?"
"Oh, you hadn't realized?" Rouge smirked. "There's a door on the right side of that mirror in the back. It leads to a bathroom, and there's a screen that blocks off the whole alcove, in the frame."
Amy picked up the soft cloth, eyeing Rouge curiously. "You sure figured everything out fast..."
Rouge just shrugged. "Hey, I'm a thief."
"Point taken." Lo and behold, Rouge had been right about the alcove. And of course someone would only knock once her bra was off.
"I got it," Rouge assured her, opening the door. "Cream."
In her own clothes, slightly confused. "Oh, I'm sorry Miss Rouge! I thought that this was Miss Amy's room!"
"It is; I'm just waitin' for her. You comin' to the springs, too?"
"Y-yes, please!" Cream's smile grew a little questioning. "Uhm, where..?"
"The robe's in your top drawer."
"Thank you! Uhm..."
"Don't worry, we'll wait here."
"Thank you!" Cream politely dashed out before Amy could fold the screen back, clothes neatly folded in her arms.
"Change of plans." Rouge hadn't moved from the wall. "We're gonna wait for Cream."
"I heard." Amy set the pile on the dresser and folded the towel set under her arm. "So what else have you discovered about the rooms?"
"Well, the beds're comfy."
"...Wow, you work fast..."
"There's also a towel rack opposite the bathroom."
Amy ran in to check. She also found two hooks.
"Now if only we got our own showers..." Rouge mused.
"Well, it's pretty good for a military base. Do you want to sit down while we wait--"
Somebody knocked on the door.
"Take it as a 'no'," Rouge smirked, straightening.
"That was fast..." Amy murmured, opening the door. Instead of a bunny barely shorter than herself, Amy found that Topaz was still over twice her height.
"I was wondering if you were ready to--" Topaz paused, looking over Amy's change in wardrobe. "Where'd you get the--"
"Top drawer," Rouge said. "We'll wait here."
A minute or so later, both females arrived at the same time. Cream looked cute as could be, bundeled up in a soft yellow robe, and Topaz looked... well, it seemed that powder blue bathrobes liked women with curves. If only Tanaka-san could see. Cheeze poked out from Cream, having traded in his bowtie for a robe to match Cream's.
"Wait..." Rouge paused upon seeing him. "Shouldn't he go with the guys?"
"Now that you mention it..." Cream began...
"Chao! Chao!" That probably translated as "No! No!"
"Sorry, Cheeze..." Amy gave him a sorry enough smile. "Why don't you go with Tanaka and Chuck?"
"Chao..." ["Okay...] Cream floated down the hall, and Rouge motioned down to the door.
"Let's go, before someone else asks me where we got the--"
"Where'd you get the bathrobes?" Momo asked innocently.
"G--"
"Top dresser drawer." Amy shot Rouge a look.
"Thank you. See you down there..."
The group's girls headed to the door, finding not stairs, but...
"A slide," Amy stated blankly.
"Whatever was I thinking for expecting stairs?" Rouge asked sarcastically. "Oh, look, another. One says 'up,' and one says 'down'. Amazing." She finished in her driest tone possible.
"Agreed," Amy sighed. "So who goes first?"
"Uhm..." Cream looked at the first stone twist apprehensively. "... Not me, please..."
"Oh, fine," Amy sighed. She sat down gingerly, looking slowly over the edge to the spiral below. "Here goes..."
Rouge shoved her off with a single perfect foot.
"DANG IT, ROUGE! WHO-WHOA!" Wait, this was kinda... fun. Her ride actually ended in "WHEEEE!" and "Oof!" as she landed on a cushion. She quickly straightened her robe, flushing a bit before calling back up. "Don't worry, it's fine! You may want to hold your robes down, though!"
"... Thanks for the tip," Rouge called back. A minute later, the other three had joined her. But when Amy turned to go... "Hold up another sec."
Another human, as tall as but not the least bit resembling Topaz, landed gracefully on the mat. This one was clearly Asian, with severely cropped hair and a clear spark in her eyes. "Thanks for waiting up."
"Sure thing," Rouge smirked.
"Amy, you may or may not remember Sunil..." Topaz began.
"Sohn Sunil, right?" Amy beamed.
"Yeah, actually. And you're our ace in the hole, Amy."
Amy flushed under the compliment and all that it meant, but kept her Brave Little Toaster smile all the same. "Pretty much…"
The little party continued chatting their way into a lightly steamy room, cozy and warm despite the size, and gave it an appreciative analysis. A nice, warm pool with a mineral-induced green tinge, steam and baskets of bathing supplies floating above. It was tranquil as well, with little besides the echo of gently lapping water. Amy took a deep breath before walking along smooth stone to the row of hooks and finally pausing.
"Wait… There's only one big pool…"
"Communal bathing, kid," Rouge winked. "We're all girls in here, right?"
"Damn straight," a new voice smirked. In came Revy, black cropped robe already loosening as she smacked it onto a hook and went straight for the water. "Whoooo, that's nice!"
Amy's eye twitched. Being flashed by a woman only describable as a hard-core gangster was not what she had been looking forward to, but she followed her lead all the same. Rouge did the same, followed by Sunil and Topaz. That left Cream, flushing far worse than Amy and extremely uncomfortable.
"It's okay," Amy smiled. "It's just the girls, right?"
"Y-yes, b-but…" There was nothing "girlish" about Revy-san.
Rouge heard this through female telepathy, and agreed wholeheartedly. The only thing female about that woman was her body (which was quite female indeed, tattoo aside). "Don't worry, kiddo. You don't have anything we haven't seen before."
Cream's blush deepened.
"And besides," Revy called, "the guys of your kind get to walk around with nothing but a pair of shoes, right? What's the big deal about showin' off your own bod to the fellow females?"
Cream's face made Shadow's highlights look pale by comparison. "Re-Revy-san!"
"Just call me Revy. Or Two Hand, if you wanna call me by my nickname."
"Two Hand?"
"Cuz I can use two guns at once. You saw my babies, right?"
"O-oh!" Cream remembered the guns. This person was dangerous.
"Don't worry; I don't kill kids unless they try ta kill me first."
"Or throw ice cream at your head, if I remember correctly," another voice rang. In came a little blonde girl, perhaps Amy's age and very innocent looking.
"Did she… to you..?" Cream asked nervously.
"Oh my, no! That was Young Garcia, one of my playmates."
"I can imagine your 'playtime'," Revy smirked.
"Oh dear," Gretel smiled, hanging up her robe with a ballerina's grace. Secretly, Cream envied Gretel's confidence in her own body. Gretel seemed to notice, because she came right over. "Don't worry; no boys are peeking," she beamed. "Come now; why don't we play in the water together?" She took Cream's hands with complete confidence and sweetness, and seemed to melt away a little of Cream's anxiety.
Amy smiled as the two cannonballed into the water, laughing and soaking Revy.
"Hey!" Revy's vein was pulsing, and she was glaring madly at Gretel. "It's a bath, not a pool, ya little—!"
"And who was doing the backstroke, remind me?" Gretel laughed.
"Oh, you little—"
"If I recall, she hasn't tried to kill you," Aubrey called. Wait, how long had she and Shara been there?!
"Yeah, so what?! You wanna go a round?!"
"Mm-kay," Aubrey shrugged. She reached behind her back, and raised her arms to rest two bazookas on her shoulders with a calm but evil smirk.
Revy stared. She blinked. She burst out laughing. "Awww, damn, if you can actually use those things, we're gonna get along great."
In response, Aubrey raised them to the ceiling and fired as if they were pistols. A great explosion sounded overhead, and the steam was blown away to reveal the last of the explosion in a giant energy bubble. "Try to control your cursing around minors, please."
"Psssh, whatever." Revy then presented all with a lovely view of her Chinese rear before diving underwater. Aubrey shrugged, dissolved the bazookas, shed the pale blue robe, and dove in after her. While morphing into a Great White right before the splash!
"HOLY SHIIIIIT!" Revy screamed, splashing to the surface in a panic. A tiny dogfish leaped over her head, and Aubrey splashed into her human form with a laugh. "GET BACK HERE, YOU BITCH!!!"
Amy laughed at the sight before her, and it was only when Shara hung up her shadow gray robe (surprise) that she realized that she was still standing around naked. She flushed before joining Rouge in the water, which was soooo warm and sooooo niiiiiice and letting it soak in.
Soon enough, they were joined by Rain, Orihime, and Lucy and holy cow those last two had huge breasts! Amy forced herself not to stare, instead scrubbing that much harder, but Lucy just giggled. "Kinda ridiculous, ne?"
"Eheheheh…"
"Don't worry about it. You're a cute, petite little thing, yourself."
"Tha-thank you…" Amy wasn't sure what to do with all of these new big sisterish figures. She was used to being Cream's big sister, not being a little sister!
"You're welcome."
A comfortable silence ensued as Revy continued trying to kill Aubrey and Gretel, and Cream made her way back to Amy's side.
"Wh-where are the other two?" Cream asked shyly.
"Hm? Genki-obaachan said that she'd come when it was less noisy, but who's the other?"
"T-the other redhead. With the green eyes?"
"Ku-kurama?!"
"I-I think so…"
Lucy almost instantly began stifling her laughter. "Kurama's a guy."
"He-he is?!" Cream flushed yet again.
"Yep!"
Cream sank low into the water, ears drooping, wishing that she was invisible.
"O-oh, you thought that he was a girl as well?" Orihime asked. Where had she come from?! Cream nodded slowly. "So did I! I mean, he just looks like one!"
Across the bath, Aubrey cackled. Yes, cackled.
"From now on," Shara sighed, "I'm waiting with Genkai.
End of Chapter
And thus goes the female bonding scene. I'm trying to avoid the OOCness, but some of these characters are indeed AU. If it's not obvious yet, trust me when I say that it will be.
Read and review, please.
