And here we go, with a little over 10,000 words, chapter 21 is finally up and finished:D:D:D*faints*
Lol, now I would have had this up yesterday since it was supposed to be my day off, but I was asked to cover for someone who called in sick at the last minuet; But it's all good, that just means I earned a little extra moola for later X3.
Now, before I let you go, let me spend a moment to thank my readers.
NatNicole: I know what you mean, maybe it's because it just has a very real feel to it as there are people out there, as sad as it is, who are just so mean and rotten that relish in making others feel miserable(And honestly, the grotto scene always used to make me feel more angry than scared XD).
Lol, and that was a great way to put it, they both have points while also having faults. Hopefully they'll end up evening each other out as the story progresses XD XD XD
And to those who were sweet enough to favorite and follow my story, thank you all so very, very, very much! I sincerely hope you continue to enjoy it!
Alrighty then, I hope you enjoy the new chapter guys! :D:D:D
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Chapter 21: Of Dreams and Sorrow, Part 3
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"These frikken stairs, it should be illegal to have this much in one house!" Toony growled to herself.
When she left Shadow to himself downstairs, she tried to keep a brisk pace as she scaled up the many steps to Cinderellas' room. Though after a while, she ended up having to bend over and keep going with the help of her hands like she did many times as a child running up stairs.
But she had to come to a stop when she noticed something going on with her bracelet. And as she brought it up to get a closer look, she blinked in confusion to see that the blue diamond, which was once such a bright color before, suddenly began to change until it ended up becoming a duller looking, grayish shade...that didn't seem right.
"What the..."
"Toony! Toony!" A little voice called out to her, making her look over to see Jaq leading Gus and two other little boy mice out from the darkness of the dreary stair case. "It's-a bad!"
"Yeah! Very Bad-bad!" Gus agreed.
"Something wrong with Cinderelly!" the other two cried out together as they all frantically pointed up the stairs.
Toony felt a surge of urgency as she looked up in the direction of Cinderellas' room before she held out her hands to the mice. And once they had a secure place on her shoulders, she was on the run again, ignoring her burning lungs and the stitches she was getting in her sides until she finally made it to the door.
But as she reached for the handle to push it open, she paused when her ears suddenly caught something...
In this house, trapped and alone, it was pointless to believe you could be happy even for a moment.
...they always win but still you tried.
The sound of many whispering voices, hissing such awful things...it was the same thing she had heard back in
There is no room for hope in this world so filled with heart ache...dreams are nothing but cruel lies.
You did this to yourself, you foolish child...and you know it
"Cinderella!" Toony yelled as she finally burst into the room to find...nothing.
There was no one in the room beside Cinderella and herself. Her other mice and bird friends where all around the room, looking so sad for their dearest friend as she sat on her bed, crying into her hands...they couldn't possibly have been the ones who were saying all those terrible things to her.
"Are...are you alright?" the fox eared woman numbly asked as she spun around a few times to see if she could catch a glimpse of something that she might have missed before; She got many odd looks from the birds and mice as she did that, but it seemed that Cinderella was too distraught to notice that she was even there as she kept her face buried in her hands.
"Oh..." Cinderella sobbed, making Toony stop and look down at the poor young lady. "My dress, my mothers dress..."
"Cinderella, I'm so sorry," Toony began softly as she knelt down before her.
"I tried." Cinderella interrupted. "I tried so hard to believe I could be happy one day, but now I finally see, hopes and dreams mean nothing, I'm meant to be trapped here..."
"I wish I could just disappear!"
"Oh honey, no, don't let what happened make you say those things!" Toony began encouragingly, but she stopped when she suddenly heard it again...those hissing voices she had heard only moments before, now they sounded so close.
It's no use...
It's pointless...all so pointless...
Just disappear...
She looked around Cinderellas' side, and there she finally saw it as she jumped up to her feet, her eyes wide with shock to see that crawling up from over the other side of the bed was that same inky black mass that attacked her and her friends back on the Phoenix.
It was smaller in size, at first, but it seemed to be growing larger and larger by the second as arms began reaching out with clenching hands that seemed so eager to grab hold of something...
Get out!" Toony cried, earning many surprised expressions from Cinderellas friends. Couldn't they see what she saw? "Get out and hide! All of you, get out of here!"
They still didn't understand, but after seeing how frightfully upset she was, with the exception of Jaq and his friends as they were still on her shoulders, they did as they were told and hurried either out the window to their nests or to the safety of their mouse holes while Toony watched as the thing loomed over behind Cinderella and slowly started reaching towards her.
Just disappear!
Before it could put a single finger on her, Toony finally broke herself out of her frozen stupor and leapt to her feet, grabbing Cinderella by wrist and yanking her off the bed before she pulled her several feet away from the bed; Startling the young girl with her sudden action as she looked up, causing Toonys falter just a bit when she saw that Cinderellas once lively, beautiful eyes now looked so dull and void of any kind of emotion besides grief.
But Toony didn't stare for long as she enveloped the young lady in a protective hug. And even though the fox eared woman didn't yet understand what the strange black mass was doing here or how she was supposed to stop it, she still refused to let it anywhere near Cinderella!
"I know you're hurt, Cinderella, and I understand that you feel like it's all hopeless, but despite all that's happened you can still have your chance!" she told her, almost shouting it as she glared at the writhing mass from over Cinderella's shoulder. "Now, more then ever, you have to hold on to your faith! Don't stop dreaming, never stop believing!"
"You are meant for happiness!"
"Cinderelly has-ta listen!" Jaq added in. "Won't be bad forever, got mice-mice and everybody here too!"
"U-uh, yeah!" Gus agreed. "We love Cinderelly!"
Toony kept her eyes on the pitch black cloud as it still tried to reach out to the young girl until she felt Cinderella move slightly. She hesitated for a moment, but she soon hugged her back in a light embrace. That was when a soft golden light caught Toonys' attention and her eyes drifted down to see that her bangle was glowing before the dullness of the blue diamond seemed to go away.
And at the same time, even though Toony couldn't see it, Cinderellas eyes slowly turned back into that beautiful, vibrant color they always were before while the smoky mass of hands suddenly shuddered and halted its advance, much to Toonys' surprise as the two women stayed like that for just a little longer before the young maiden was the first to pull out of the embrace.
Tears still in her eyes as she shook her head furiously.
"No, I...I just couldn't!" Cinderella cried, before running around Toony and out of her room.
"Cinderelly!" the four mice cried.
"Wait!" Toony started, but she stopped when the mass started to move again, and this time she could hear the voices moaning and crying out as though something important had been lost to it while the hands reached out towards the door as it moved itself off the bed.
Was it intending to follow after Cinderella?
Toony only sent it a seething glare before she then ran out the bedroom door herself and slammed it shut before it got any closer. Then, she grabbed the handle and pulled hard against it, crying out a bit just when it felt like it ran into the door before it started pulling as well to get the door back open.
She didn't know how long this would hold up, but she had to try and keep Cinderella safe for a long as she could!
"Jaq, you and Gus take your friends and run!" Toony ordered in a strained voice.
"But what about Toony?" Jaq asked worriedly. "Can't stay, not safe!"
"No-no! Not safe at all!" the others agreed.
"I'll be fine, but you guys need to make sure Cinderella is okay!" Toony ground out as the door rattled. "Now go on!"
They still looked like they wanted to protest, but they were so worried for Cinderella that they heeded Toonys' order, climbing down the back of her outfit and sliding down her tail to the floor before they scurried into the unknown to find Cinderella.
Toony would have let out a sigh of relief after they were safely away, instead, she gave a sharp gasped after a particularly strong pull on the door nearly made her loose her balance. So she quickly pulled it back and lifted up a foot to braced it against the wall.
"Oh no you don't!" Toony stated, her teeth clenched with determination. "I'm not going to let you out so you can hurt her!"
"Why don't you just disappear?!"
There was one more very strong yank that ripped the door handle right out of her fingers, and as she was bracing herself pretty hard trying to keep the door closed, Toony fell back with a loud cry and hit the wooden floor with a force that nearly sent her rolling down the stair case; Her head spun for a moment, but a chilling wail brought her attention back up to see that the obsidian heap was looming over her, reaching with those grasping hands as she stared up at it with wide eyes not knowing what to do to save herself...
"Chaos Blast!"
Toony gasped as a crackling green ball of energy shot over her and hitting the writhing cloud square in the middle, ripping a hole through it and sending it reeling back with a series of inhumane shrieks before her protector came sailing down and landing right before her.
"Shadow!" Toony cried, feeling extremely happy to see him!
The black and red hedgehog only clenched his fists and prepared to fight as he shot across the floor in the blink of an eye, sending a powerful punch and a swift round house kick into the horde of hands. Those didn't seem as effective on it as it tried to grab at him, but he didn't even let it touch him as his left hand crackled with green light and he struck it with another blow of chaos energy.
Once again, screams filled the air as Shadows attack seemed to burn pieces of it away, making it seem to shrink smaller in size while it retreated back into Cinderellas room; Shadow prepared to attack again, but wasn't able to execute it as the shrieking black matter grabbed the door and quickly slammed it shut.
When all was quiet and still, Shadow turned back and walked over to Toony who had just watched the whole confrontation in awe while she sat upon the floor .
"Thank you, Shadow." She said gratefully, finally breaking the silence.
She expected him to scoff at her again, and even as his hardened expression remained unchanged, she was surprised when all he did was offer out a gloved hand to her. Surprised, but that still didn't stop her from giving a smile as she accepted it and let him help her back up.
They couldn't stand and talk for long though as they turned back towards the room where the mass of hands had shut itself in. And after Toony gathered up her nerve and slowly put her hand back on the door handle it pushed open with hardly any resistance; Opening the door wider, they two of them looked further in to see if it might have been hiding somewhere, but nothing could be found.
The room was completely empty..
It was then that Toony looked to the open window, and she felt her gut grow cold with ice. The thing was practically like a big cloud, if it had gotten out through there, then there was a good chance that it would still go after...
"Cinderella!" Toony started fearfully. "Shadow, that thing might still be after her!"
"Where would she have gone?" the black and red hedgehog questioned.
She hesitated, in the movie, Cinderella was supposed to run outside to the garden after her dress got ripped up. But after running up to her room like she did, she honestly couldn't say where in this whole house the young lady would have gone to next with certainty...
"Toony!" a voice yelled. "Shadow!"
The two of them looked over to see her two winged fluffballs come flying in as fast at their little wings could carry them, and worried looks on their fuzzy faces.
"We saw Cinderella run outside!" Cheo said. "She was crying!"
"Did you see where outside?" Toony asked urgently.
"Um, I think behind the house, where that old water fountain is!" Hiromi told her.
Toonys' heart leapt with hope, the fountain was in the garden! She made to run out of the room and back down all of those stairs, praying that Cinderella was really there, but she had to stop when Shadow reached out with almost lightning speed and grabbed her by the hand.
"Too slow." He stated before he suddenly yanked her down until he had her cradled in his arms and turned towards the window.
Toonys' gray green eyes widened and she let out a horrified gasp when she realized what he was intending to do, she struggled to get out of his grasp, but it was just no use.
"Wait! Wait! You are not gonna-" She let out a yelp when he jumped up on the windowsill while she became dizzy from how far away the ground looked. "Shadow!"
Shadow ignored her protests as Toony was left to squeeze her eyes shut, hold him tightly around the neck and let out a terrified scream when she felt him jump out into open air. He paid her no mind however as he kept his focus on his path when he landed on the old tile roof top, his hover shoes kicking on before he effortlessly skated across the house until he finally caught sight of a shallow fountain that rested by a weeping willow tree.
So with one last leap, Shadow sailed down until he landed behind a stone gate that stood between them and the garden before he set Toony down and let her collapse into a heap on the ground while Cheo and Hiromi were unable to hold back giggles at their poor creators disheveled state.
And once Toonys' heart rate was finally back to normal, she slowly sat up and sent her protector a dirty look.
"Do not ever do that again!" She growled.
"...I can't believe, not anymore..." They suddenly heard Cinderella sob. "There's nothing left to believe in...nothing."
"Nothing my dear? Now, you don't really mean that."
If Toony had her pixie dust, she would have flown across the sky from the sheer amount of joy she felt at the sound of that kindly voice that spoke so gently as she quickly got up to her feat and raced to the end of the gate. Feeling like she could have done the happy dance right then and there when she saw that at the carved stone bench underneath the willow tree, the young girl was unwittingly resting her head upon the lap of a old woman with snow white hair and dressed in a hooded, periwinkle robe that was tied with a magenta bow under her chin.
All the while her kindly, rounded face smiled down at her as she stroked Cinderellas' strawberry blonde hair in a comforting manner.
"Oh but I do..I-" Cinderella began, but she was cut off by a rather stern interjection.
"Nonsense, child!" The fairy godmother chided. "If you had lost all your faith, then I couldn't be here, and here I am."
And while Cinderella slowly looked up, taking in a breath of surprise as she wondered where this woman came from, a flicker of light brought her attention back down to see that the magenta colored diamond on her bangle was glowing brightly.
Toony slumped against the gate, feeling absolute relief that she managed to complete another mission and that Cinderellas' story seemed to be back on track as she watched the fairy godmother fuss about her. Unable to stop a soft laugh as she watched the funny old woman try to find her wand in her robes so she could work that wonderful magic of hers.
"Who's that lady, Toony?" she heard Hiromis' voice ask as she and Cheo started curiously at the little old woman.
"She's Cinderellas' fairy godmother, hun." Toony said, they both of them letting out gasps of wonder when they saw her pull a skinny white wand from thin air. "She's here to make everything better."
The crunching of gravel met her ears, and she turned to see Shadow, staring at the scene before him; He did a great job hiding any kind of reaction upon seeing the fairy godmother, but Toony had a little feeling that he was just as surprised to see her there as Cinderella and her fluffballs were.
"Ha! How's that for naive?" Toony teased as she showed him her bracelet with the glowing diamond.
"Whatever." he rebuffed, crossing his arms over his white furred chest. "You still don't know how you even did it."
"You just can't let me have anything, can you?" she demanded. But it was half hearted as she felt a bit too tired to argue over it. And if her bangle was giving the signal, then it was probably about time for them get back to the pier where Marie was waiting for them at the Cosmic Phoenix.
"Anyway, we should start heading back now." she announced as she pushed away from the stone gate and dusted off her skirt.
"What about your friend?" Shadow asked, nodding towards the pair across the way.
Toony looked over at Cinderella as she watched her fairy godmother performed her wondrous magic, a look of wonder and awe upon her face as she was watching miracles come true with her very eyes before the fox eared woman only gave a soft smile.
"She's gonna be just fine." She said as she started back down the road to town. "After tonight, she'll have everything she ever dreamed of and more."
Cheo and Hiromi seemed a bit surprised that she didn't want to at least say goodbye, but when Shadow began to follow after her they quickly joined in suit and left Cinderella and the fairy godmother to themselves as they prepared for the royal ball; Their trip was a rather quiet one as they trekked down the dirt path with nothing but the moon and stars to light their way, but just before they reached the village, a voice cutting through silence made them stop.
"Toony! Oh please wait!"
At the call of her name, Toony looked over her shoulder to see that familiar, beautiful white pumpkin coach, which seemed to glow so brightly, pulling up before she turned to Shadow and her fluffballs.
"You guys go ahead, okay?" Toony said as the carriage came to a stop and the footman, who had once been Bruno the dog, opened up the door. "I'll catch up in a bit."
Nodding in understanding the three of them continued up the way and disappeared into the darkness of the quiet little town while Cinderella stepped out. Her hair done up in a beautiful up-do, a black velvet ribbon tied about her neck and dressed in that amazing gown that to this day had no equal in terms of elegance and beauty.
"Cinderella, look at you!" Toony stated, looking her magical dress up and down, seeing it in person like this...words just couldn't express how breathtakingly gorgeous it really was. "Wow, hands down, you're the most beautiful girl in the whole kingdom!"
"It's thanks to my fairy godmother for all of this." Cinderella said with a bashful, but happy smile as she looked down at her lovely, silvery blue gown and beautiful glass slippers before she suddenly remembered why she stopped the coach in the first place. "Oh, you left so quickly, I didn't get the chance to thank you too."
"Nah, I didn't do anything, so no need for thanks." Toony told her, waving a dismissive hand as she flashed her a big grin. "You just get outta here and have some fun, midnight will be here before you know it if you keep hanging around."
"Won't you come with me?" the young maiden asked, clasping her gloved hands imploringly. "I really do want to thank you for all did for me today."
Toony was a little taken aback by the very generous invitation, but while in truth she would have like to go with her, she only smiled and shook her head.
"I'd love to, but I'm not really dressed for a ball." Toony said apologetically as she looked down at her own outfit, which looked so plain next to Cinderellas'. "I'll take a hug, though, if that's alright with you."
Cinderella gave her a most brilliant smile and nodded her head before the two of them embraced.
But after the very moment they had touched, Toony blinked when she saw the magenta diamond flicker once before a bunch of little sparkling lights started appearing all around her until her hair and entire body was almost completely covered, making her and Cinderella pull away from each other just as the glittering sparkles seemed to melt away leaving Toony standing there in a gown of her very own...
It was a large ball gown that was a little similar to Cinderellas, but Toonys' was a bright golden dress that had a white, ruffled and tiered front with a bodice that had a pale yellow rose right in the middle with lacy straps that elegantly hung off her shoulders; There was another yellow rose stitched to the sash that was tied about her waist and on her hands were long white gloves and while a decorative, yellow lace headband sat upon her head which had bundles of more, smaller yellow roses that perfectly hid her ears from view as her long red hair was done into tight curls that bobbed about her bare, freckled shoulders almost weightlessly.
"Oh Toony, you look lovely!" Cinderella cooed, fawning over her dress with admiration while Toony looked down at her bangle in amazement. "I simply must insist that you come with me to the ball!"
"Well, I really shouldn't...but it would be such a shame to waste a pretty gown like this." Toony slowly stated before a rather excited smile appeared on her face. "I guess an hour or two couldn't hurt anything."
"TOONY!" two little voices yelled out together before she felt arms wrap around her middle that made her look down to see two well dressed children smiling up at her.
"Toony look at us! We're like you now!" the boy stated excitedly who, like the little girl that was with him, couldn't have been no older that five or six.
the fox eared young woman only stared down at them in confusion, but before she could ask them who they were, she suddenly caught sight of small, feathery white wings, long tuft tails and looking into those familiar blue and green eyes, she finally understood who they were.
"Holy muffins, Cheo and Romi?!" Toony stated in absolute surprise. "Is that really you?"
Cheo was dressed up in a cute little sailor style suit and knickers that were white with a blue collar and trim, and about his curly brown hair sat a white cap with a blue ribbon hanging over the side from the middle of it; Hiromi almost resembled a life sized version of those adorable porcelain dolls with her big blue eyes and blushing round cheeks as her lighter brown curls that were pinned back with a large pink hair bow while she wore a tiered white dress which had pink ribbons, bows and frilled puff sleeves.
"We turned into people!" Hiromi said in joy, twirling in her dress. "We came back as fast as we could to show you!"
"But how did this happen? " Toony asked, putting a hand over their cheeks, still hardly believing that this was real. They were so adorable as children!
"Maybe it's the same as when we could talk to Tinkerbell." Cheo told her. "Whatever magic happens to you, happens to us too! And look, it'll work for him now too!"
She looked up as he pointed to a tall figure that was slowly stepping out from the bushes until she saw that it was a rather tall young man that looked to be in his early to mid 20's; Dressed up in a black coat that looked fit for nobility as it was adorned with golden buttons, tasseled shoulder pads, elegant embroidery and a short, embellished red cape that attractively draped over his right arm as it golden ties were fasted diagonally across his chest.
He was also rather handsome with tan skin and an angular face that was framed by long black hair with bright red streaks in it.
Toony couldn't help but note that he would have been a little more good looking if his expression wasn't so rigid and filled with animosity, but as she took in those all too familiar narrowed red eyes...
"Wait a seconded..." She started before her mouth dropped open in realization. "Shadow?!"
"What did you do?! " He growled out in a tone that told her he was using every fiber of his being not to use his chaos powers on someone.
"How wonderful!" Cinderella stated happily, somehow missing Shadow's agitation. "Would you all like to come to the ball with us as well? It may be a little snug, but I'm more than happy to share my carriage with you."
"Do you not see what's happened?!" Shadow snapped, actually flustered enough to loose his usually stoic demeanor as he gestured wildly to himself. " Maybe if we just get back to the boat, we'll change back!"
"Actually, we'd love to go to the ball with you." Toony said, almost like she hadn't heard a word that Shadow had said.
"I am not a human, I'm a hedgehog! The ultimate lifeform!!" Shadow growled out. "And I will not spend another moment in this body simply because you want to-"
But his rant was cut short as Toony held up a finger to shush him before she pulled him along by the arm to talk with him privately.
"Shadow, I think you're stressing out over something that seriously isn't that bad!, and from where I see it you have two options to choose from here..." Toony began in an authoritative tone. " The first is you'll either have to drag me back to the Phoenix yourself, of which I promise I'll make the rest of your time with us a miserable as possible if it ends up not changing you back, or, you can just come to the palace and hang out with us for a little while as there's just a little over a few hours left until midnight."
"...I strongly suggest you go with option two if you value your sanity."
Shadows mouth opened and closed a couple of times, he obviously wanted to protest, but as he took in Toonys' surprisingly serious expression along with the pleading, wide eyes looks of the two children and Cinderella, he finally relented with a loud, angry huff before he turned heel and climbed up into the pumpkin carriage.
"Are we going or not?!" he demanded hotly.
Toony and Cinderella only smiled at each other as the fox eared woman had Cheo and Hiromi go in with Cinderella before she climb inside the carriage as well and closed the door; Never realizing at all that their carriage was being watched, as it started on through the village to the palace, by the woman dressed all in black and wearing a principal mask on her face.
She stood upon the rolling, pitch black mass as it hovered high in the air like an ominous storm cloud, staring down the retreating white pram with an almost smoldering glare before her attention was brought away by a soft hissing sound when what was left of the inky horde she had sent into Cinderellas' room came slithering towards her.
Wordlessly, she lifted up both of her hands and allowed it to come in close to her, stroking it almost tenderly as if she was trying to ease away any pain it might still be in before she gestured downward were it slunk down around her until it was absorbed within the rest that sat under her feet.
And as she spared one last glace at the castle that was where her foes were heading, she finally turned her face upward before they soared up higher and higher until they disappeared into black, starry sky...
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At the Royal Palace...
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It truly was a rather tight fit for all of them inside the small carriage as it was really only made for one person, two at the most. But they made it work, and thankfully, they didn't have to be that way for long when they finally rolled through the towering castle gates and up to the big, extravagant door which were opened wide to welcome visitors for the evening.
But once Toony, Shadow, Cheo and Hiromi stepped out of the carriage, they ran into a little bit of trouble...
"Halt!" a tall, imposing soldier began in a firm tone as he held his spear out to stop them from going any further.
"I'm sorry madam, but this ball is for eligible maidens and their families!" He stated, his eyes looking down at her wedding band before they moved over the faces of Cheo and Hiromi and finally settled, rather mistrustfully, on Shadow. "I'm afraid bachelors, matrons and children are not allowed to attend."
Lucky for them, however, Cinderella was the one who came to their rescue.
"Oh please, sir, I asked them to come with me this evening." Cinderella began as she stepped out to meet him with her imploring gaze. "My father passed away long ago, so I thought that it would be alright if my dear friends came in his stead."
"Won't you please let us all through? Just this once?"
"Er, well...oh alright." he finally relented, his cheeks turning the barest hint of red upon speaking with such a beautiful young lady before he cleared his throat and regained his composure. "But just as long as he doesn't try and fraternize with the young ladies who are attending!"
"Trust me, that won't be a problem." Shadow promised with a roll of his eyes as they followed Cinderella past the large doors.
There two were long lines of uniformed guards on each side of them as they entered that watched them as they walked along through the palace, or more specifically, watched the enchantingly beautiful young maiden as she took in the spectacular sights around her with wonder and just a bit of nervousness at how much bigger it was than what she imagined every time she looked at it from her window. And just before they reached the stairs that would take them to the ballroom, Toony had her humanized friends stop in their tracks.
"Go on ahead hun, I just wanna tell these guys a few things." Toony said when the young girl noticed that they weren't following her anymore while the fox eared woman put her hands Cheo and Hiromis' shoulders. "We'll be right behind you."
Cinderella still seemed a bit unsure to go on by herself, but she was also so excited to see just what would be waiting for her at the top of those stairs and did as Toony said. And when she was alone with her friends, she turned and knelt down before Cheo and Hiromi who both waited patiently to hear what she had to say.
"Now, Cheo, Romi, let's keep in mind a few rules while we're here, okay?" Toony told them in a low voice as she started adjusted the collar of Cheo's suit and dusted off the front of Hiromi's dress a mother would to make her children more presentable. "I don't mind you guys having fun and exploring, but try not cause any trouble and don't talk to anyone you don't know if you can help it."
"But if someone happens to come along and they're curious about who you are, be polite and just let them know that a guest invited you." She added before fussing over their hair a bit, too. "Oh, and if they ask about your wings or tails, just tell them that they're part of your outfit, okay?"
"Okay, Toony, we will!" Cheo promised as he and Hiromi nodded in understanding before they ran up the stairs laughing and giggling before they disappeared from sight.
"And Shadow," She began, standing up to face him as she attempted to adjust his cape before he just pushed her hands away, stepping around her before he began to walk away while Toony followed close beside him. "Please, please, please don't hurt anyone."
"No blasting, no punching, no rude remarks..." she listed off her fingers. "In fact, why don't you just try and avoid people in general."
"I make no promises." he said with a sneer and walked off to who knows where before Toony could say anything more.
Toony stuck out her tongue at his retreating back, but as she found herself alone now, she decided to just use her free time to explore. She was surrounded by people of nobility and prestige, all of them dressed to impress and show off their wealth and power as they chatted amongst themselves.
But when the lights suddenly dimmed as the familiar, romantic notes of the waltz reached her ears, everybody quieted down and turned their attention to the center of the room; And following their gaze, she smiled as she saw the two dancing figures of Cinderella and prince Henry.
This was one of her most favorite moments every time she watched the movie. Because even though the both of them were right there for everyone to see, if you looked...really paid attention to their faces as they gazed into each others eyes, it was clear to see they were already so enamored with each other, that they in a whole other universe.
Where it was just the two of them together.
And as the rest of the visitors were watching their prince dance with this mysterious new maiden, Toony looked over to see that Cheo and Hiromi were helping themselves to the contents of the dining table until a series of high pitched coos brought her attention over to poor Shadow, who had found it a lot harder than he thought to avoid the attendants of the ball as he was being hounded by some of the eligible maidens as the prince was obviously so taken with Cinderella.
Shadow tried his best to ignore them, but that just seemed to add to his appeal rather than discourage them.
"Such beautiful eyes, they look just like rubies." one girl commented with a dreamy expression
"Won't you please dance with me, sir?" another young lady with black hair asked as she batted her long lashes at him.
"No!" he growled through gritted teeth. "Get away from me!"
He then briskly tried to move himself from away the crowding women, but they just herded after him as though they were a flock of giggling sheep following a bale of sweet hay.
"Oh I do admire a man so strong and regal!" a girl with blonde curls swooned as she fanned herself a bit
"I wonder what family he's from, they're obviously a prestigious clan." another stated with an impressed smile.
Toony couldn't help but let out a soft laugh as she watched him try to shake his little fan club, and with Cheo and Hiromi still distracted by the snacks and Cinderella dancing away with her handsome prince charming, she decided to take a walk, swaying slightly to the light and airy music while she looked around; The palace was so much bigger than it looked in the movie, and it was elegantly decorated and polished so nicely that every nook and cranny gleamed...it was such a treat to be here in person.
Maybe she could even go out and explore the royal gardens before Cinderella and prince Henry got there.
But her adventuring was soon interrupted when she almost walked right into the figure of a tall man who was wearing a wide brimmed, feathered hat that covered most of his face and very nice blue suit, which seemed fit for royalty, that he wore under a flowing, navy blue cape.
"I'm so sorry about that!" She quickly apologized, but she tilted her head in confusion when he said nothing or go about his way. "Um...can I help you?"
Silently, he held out his hand to her, and once she realized what it was the stranger wanted, she took a step back with an apologetic smile.
"Oh, I...I'm sorry, but I don't dance." Toony said as politely as she could as she took a step back.
Because of his hat, Toony could only see his jaw as his handsome, full lips soon gave her a smile that dimpled his cheeks before he slowly reached up with a hand, taking the brim of his hat in his fingers and pulling it off; And to her surprise, she first caught sight of a fuzzy gray and black wolf ear before catching movement near his long cape, looking down to find a gray tail with black markings flicked out once before it settled back behind it's velvety cover.
And finally, once he moved the hat out of the way completely, Toony couldn't stop a gasp from escaping her as she saw his face...
Whenever she'd draw a character that represented her husband, she always gave him wolf ears and a tail, and seeing this man before her with his thick, curly brown hair attractively framing his handsome face and black rimmed glasses rested on his nose as a pair strikingly beautiful blue eyes looked down at her with a kindly light...it just had to be him!
"Lynn?" she asked in shock.
Instead of answering, he only gave her another smile, putting his hat back on his head before held his hand out to her once more.
Toony still wasn't sure if this was real or not, but that didn't stop her from slowly putting her hand within his...it felt solid.
She gasped when he suddenly pulled her closer, twirling her once before resting his free hand on her waist when she came to a stop just before him and began leading them along with the music; And even though Toony still felt so confused by all this, she eventually just pushed it aside and let her legs move with his until she finally lost herself within the dance.
She didn't know how much time had passed, a few minuets or maybe an hour, she couldn't say for sure. But before long, the other guests within the palace seemed to just disappear one by one, making her feel that it was her and this man, who seemed so much like the one she loved left in the world as they gently swayed to the notes.
And it wasn't until the music began to fade in the air did their dance slow to a stop while Toony still hadn't broken her gaze from him...but after a few more moments, she finally found her voice.
"Is this a dream?"
But all he did was sweetly smile at her as he took a step back, bowing low while he brought Toonys' hand to his lips and gently kissing it before he suddenly disappeared in a glittering shower of magic dust; Blinking in surprise, she looked around to find that she was standing at the stairs that led into the royal gardens completely alone.
Had she seriously just been waltzed out here from the ballroom without her realizing?
"I do hope that wasn't too presumptuous of me," A voice behind her started, making her look around to see the fairy godmother standing there with a smile on her face. " But I thought you would enjoy the ball a little more if you had someone resembling the one you've been dreaming of to share it with."
"If only for a moment."
Toony knew that she probably shouldn't, but she just couldn't help herself as she threw her arms around the elderly fairy and earning a surprised 'Oh?' from her at the swift and unexpected show of affection.
"Thank you..."Toony said in a sincerely grateful tone, tightening her grip just a tiny bit more as tears beaded at the corner of her eyes. "It was wonderful."
The fairy godmother only smiled as she patted Toony's back, but the hug was soon cut short when they heard foot steps coming their way; The two of them hurried behind a pillar to keep out of sight, but they both dared to peek around around it to see who had arrived...
It was Cinderella and prince Henry, dancing out from the ball room and away from the crowd before they came to a stop, gazing up at one another before they took each others hand and walked down the steps to take a stroll through the gardens and just be each others company.
And the look on Cinderella's face was enough to make Toony's heart swell with joy.
"It's so nice to see our Cinderella so happy..." The kind fairy said, the two of them watching as Cinderella and her prince charming talked the night away. "And we have you to thank for it."
"But, I really didn't do anything..." Toony said. "I mean, if I did, then I have absolutely no idea what it was."
"Nonsense, I wouldn't call chasing away the Noxium 'nothing' at all!"
"The...the Noxium?" Toony asked, wondering if she had heard her right.
"Or just Nox, that's what I've taken to calling them. The pure embodiment of everything that would blight the heart...nasty things they are!" the fairy stated, her nose scrunching up a little. "Nasty and very dangerous, why, if you hadn't banished it from the tower or helped Cinderella regain just enough of her faith, then I would have never been able to come."
"And this night would have been lost to her."
Toony blinked in surprise upon hearing this, she truly felt happy that everything ended up turning out alright for Cinderella, but she felt that the fairy godmother was praising the wrong person.
"Shadow was the one who chased it away." Toony explained before looking down at her bangle as she also remembered what happened in Cinderellas room. "And my bracelet was what helped Cinderella, that wasn't me."
"Sweet child, there is so much more to this that you still have yet to discover." the old woman said as she took Toonys' hand that wore the bangle in a gentle grip and patted the back of it in a motherly fashion.
"Then can you help me understand?" Toony asked.
"I'm sorry, my dear, but my time here is nearly up." the little old woman said apologetically. "Using so much magic in one night, creating miracles does take it's toll, you know."
"Now, isn't it about time you should be on your way, too?" the fairy godmother added with a knowing smile. "You have a long road ahead of you still."
Toony looked up over her shoulder to the clock tower, and sure enough, there was only about twenty-five more minuets before midnight was there; She turned back around to thank the fairy godmother again for all she did tonight, but found herself standing by all herself at the doorway.
She only gave a soft smile however, she had a new diamond glowing, Cinderella was with the man of her dreams, she got to stay with her and see the palace...but now it was time to call it a night and head out once more.
When she slowly ducked out from behind the curtain, she heard a slight snoring sound and turned to see the grand duke sitting in the chair right in front of it. He was supposed to be guarding against prying eyes as prince Henry spent some alone time with his mystery maiden, but the poor guy was just so exhausted after pulling together such a big ball in such a short amount of time...
A hand suddenly clamped down tightly on her shoulder, almost making her shout until she turned to see that it was only Shadow, staring at her as his new human features were set in a look of rage as well as desperation.
"Get me out of here!" he practically hissed as his large fan club were standing off to the side behind him, watching intently as this was the first time their mysteriously aloof and handsome young lord was giving so much attention to another woman.
"Haha, alright, here..." Toony said as she wrapped her arms around his left one and urged him to start walking.
"What are you doing?! " Shadow demanded angrily. "We're heading straight towards them! And would you get off me?!"
"In their eyes, you're escorting your lady friend back home for the night." the red headed woman explained with a little wink. "It makes for a pretty effective repellent."
Blinking in surprise, he looked back to his unwanted followers, and just like she said, every one of them had a obvious expression of disappointment, and even a bit of jealousy, on all of their faces as they began to clear a path when Toony and Shadow walked by towards the exit.
Toony could feel their gazes on her, but she didn't pay them any mind as her thoughts were wandering back to figure that the fairy godmother was generous enough to conjure up for her. And even though she greatly appreciated it all...it still left her heart feeling heavy and wishing that she could have spent a little more time like that.
But, even the sweetest dreams couldn't last forever...
So with a heavy sigh, she laid her head lightly upon Shadow's shoulder and closed her eyes while the humanized hedgehog looked down at her with a raised brow and a disapproving frown.
"Hey..." he started gruffly, though this time, there was the littlest hint of curiosity to it.
"I'm sorry, but...let me pretend you're someone else I know," She began, hugging his arm a bit tighter in case he tried to nudge her off. "Just until we're outside, okay?"
Shadow said nothing as he stared at her for a few moments longer...and surprisingly, all he did was simply turn his face back towards the path as continued to 'escort' Toony to the exit; Cheo and Hiromi, were still hanging around the food table, had taken to dancing around and entertaining the guests when they had noticed that there were two sweet little children here at the ball. But the moment they had noticed that Shadow and Toony were leaving, they bid everyone farewell and hurried across the polished floors to catch up with their friends.
And as soon as they made it outside, Toony finally released Shadow when she saw that Cinderellas' carriage and said goodbye to both Bruno and Frou before she turned to the horses that had once been her little mice friends.
"Goodbye guys." She said as she stroked Jaq and Gus on their noses. "You be sure to take good care of Cinderella, okay?"
"And tell her I said 'thank you' for a wonderful night."
All of them whinnied and nodded their heads at her request, and after Toony sent them all one last smile, she turned back to her companions and nodded her head before they began walking across the cobbled path and then outside the palace gates, finally on their way back to the Cosmic Phoenix.
Their stroll was a rather quiet one, save for Cheo and Hiromi telling Toony all about how nice everyone was and how many tasty treats they got to try. At one point, Toony had to have everyone stop once so she could take off her yellow dancing shoes as they were tarting to bother her feet, but then they were right back on their way.
All the while, Shadow found himself thinking some more about everything that had happened today...he still thought that could have saved so much time and trouble if Toony had been more invested in this mission rather than do the first thing that came to mind and hope for the best. But as he remembered how she had firmly stood by in doing what she could to help that young girl even though things looked so hopeless for her...
Toony may have been a bit of an air head who let her emotions get ahead of her, and even though he knew with certainty that they had completed this mission entirely on accident, they still accomplished it regardless.
And he would be lying if he said that Toony never had only the best interests at heart through it all...
"When I was summoned, it was like something was calling out to me." Shadow suddenly said, referring to one of the first questions she had asked him after he had arrived and joined their party. "And when I heard your voice, I began to see things...it was almost like I was watching it through your eyes, glimpses of what you've seen."
Toony was shocked when Shadow started to make conversation with her...and being nice about it even! But even though she felt totally elated and giddy over it, she kept herself in check as they continued on to the pier.
"Really?" she simply asked, nodding her head in order to urge him to continue with whatever he wanted to say.
"Just bits and pieces, enough to know that there are other worlds out there besides my own and why I know how you seem so familiar towards me." Shadow explained. "I also seem to recall seeing images of myself on TV as well hand drawn pictures...one in particular where I had womens' makeup on my face and wearing a skirt with a daisy on the hem."
At that, he sent her an unamused, sideways glance before he continued on.
"Truth be told, I felt that you were the type of person who enjoyed making me look like a fool simply because you could."
It took a second, but then it finally dawned on her and caused Toony to let out a long, loud laugh as he was referring to a comic that she had made where she happened upon him sleeping and she used the opportunity to clap a skirt on him and then gussy him up a bit with makeup.
"So that's why you seemed much more grouchier than normal." Toony sheepishly stated when she finally got a hold of herself again. "I'm sorry, Shadow, I never meant to make fun of you or imply that you were girly or anything."
When he let out an unconvinced 'humph!', she put a hand on his arm to stop him and look her in the eyes.
"You see, when I was little, I'd dream of having the chance to meet characters like you. Hanging out with you, playing pranks, just interact with you like I would anyone else, and drawing is the closest I can ever get to it." She said earnestly. "What you saw was just a hand drawn wish that we could be, well...friends with each other."
"And you know, there were other pictures that I had drawn of you, too. Didn't you see any of those?" Toony questioned. "It's just a bit hard to believe that you would want to help me if you thought I liked making fun of you."
"It's because I could also feel what you were feeling." He answered. "I could feel your curiosity, your hopefulness...but above it all, you I could feel that you were scared."
"Scared?" Toony asked in confusion, she didn't remember feeling that way when she used the orb...
"You might not have even known at the time, but when you called out to me, I could still feel it." Shadow told her with a nod. "Maria was scared, and even though I was her friend, I wasn't able help her."
"But maybe on this mission, I'll be able to help you...that's why I accepted."
Toony just nodded before they continued on their way in silence as they had finally made it back to the pier, but soon, a cheesy grin slowly began to spread across her face as she started to walk with a little more skip in her step.
"Sooo, does this mean you wanna be friends?" she asked, earning a snort from her protector.
"Don't jump to conclusions, I'm only helping you for Marias' sake." Shadow warned, though he had the barest hint of smirk. "It's what she would have wanted."
"And I'll take that as a good start!" Toony said.
A loud chime booming in the air made the stop and look back at the castle as the large clock announced to the whole kingdom that midnight was finally here.
"And there goes the bell." Toony stated as the clock started to count down before she placed her arms over Cheo and Hiromis' shoulders and began to lead them down the dock they had left the Phoenix. "Shouldn't be too much longer 'til you're all back to your short, fuzzy selves."
"Aww, can't we stay like this a little longer?" Cheo whined in disappointment. "I like being big!"
"I'm sorry Cheo, but I didn't make the rules." Toony apologized while she pulled them both in for a hug. "Besides, I love you both as my sweet little fluffballs."
"Toony?"
They all looked up just as their boat phased back into sight before they saw Marie hurrying down the stairs, her face holding an expression of total confusion.
"What's with the dress?" the dark haired woman asked as she looked Toonys' outfit up and down. "Who're they?!"
But before Toony or either of them could answer her, Toonys' ball gown suddenly disappeared in a cloud of magic dust when the clock struck finally struck twleve and Shadow, Cheo and Hiromi returned to their normal forms. And after everything was finished, Toony smiled with amusement as Marie was practically gaping in astonishment as what she had just witnessed.
"It's a long story..." the red head said with a tired laugh as they all climb up onto the deck of their vessel before she showed Marie the glowing new diamond.
Shadow just hung back against the railing as Marie helped Toony open up the compartment for the bangle that would set their new course, listening as their guide still started sputtering out questions about what had happened, where they had been and why they all looked so different while Toony tried her best to answer a question just as quickly as she received one.
Until a light tapping at his arm brought his attention down to see that Cheo and Hiromi were there, their tails curling as they twiddled their paws nervously.
"Um...We're sorry Shadow." the green eyed fluffball apologized, unable to meet his eyes as he looked at his little feet in shame.
"For?" Shadow questioned, raising a brow.
"We thought you were really bad because you were so mean to Toony at Cinderellas house." Hiromi admitted, looking just as ashamed. "But you helped her when she was in trouble, and you were nicer when we went to the castle...we're sorry we called you a bully."
"Don't worry about it." Shadow said with a careless shrug.
"Can...can you tell us stories of where your from?" Cheo suddenly asked. "Toony said that if we wanted to know you better, then we should ask you."
"But, you don't have to if you don't feel like it..."
Shadow contemplated over it...he usually wasn't one to share his past with anybody much less with people he had just met. But, it was clear that Toony already knew of his history, or a least a good deal of it while Marie appeared to be content just letting him have his privacy.
Perhaps he could make this one exception for these two curious powder puffs who seemed to be sincere in getting to know him better as he'd be stuck on this boat with them for a while.
"50 years ago, I once lived on space ship that was called 'The Ark'." The ruby eyed hedgehog began. "I was designed and created by a brilliant scientist to be the ultimate life form."
"And there, I had befriended a young girl named Maria..."
Lol, it was pretty fun to turning Shadow into a human for a short time XD
And yeah, I'm gonna be giving names to nameless princes in my story if they happen to make an appearance. And I've noticed that 'Henry' is a popular name for Cinderellas' prince charming...plus he just seems a lot like a Henry to me, so I like it :3 :3 :3.
And it was also time to give the black, cloudy blobs a name too. And you know, I don't actually know if it's been used anywhere before, but 'Noxium' just seemed to be a good name for it as it means 'noxious' or 'infection' in Latin(at least I think/hope, don't quote me on that XP), which is a very good way of describing how it is when things just feel terrible.
Alrighty, now before I officially wrap this chapter up(and before I forget XD) This story is going back on hold for a bit so I can work on my TLK fanfiction some more.
Thank you all so, so, SO much for reading! And if you happen to notice anything that seems kind of cut off or weird, be sure to let me know so I can fix it up later :3