Shadow sat up and sighed. "It isn't working. Maybe the ointment stuff doesn't affect me." He looked over and saw the witch was still laying on her back with a bored-looking Eggman moving in slow-motion as he tapped his thumbs absentmindedly against her cheeks.

He looked down at himself and saw his own body appearing to sleep peacefully as Sonic, also in slow motion, laughed at something. It was dead silent.

Sheptilah sat up with a start and looked around. "Shadow!" She chirped, "Welcome to the astral realm."

"I do not like this," he complained. He looked down briefly and then away. "May I ask why you're naked?"

"Astral forms don't wear pants," she shrugged. She moved her hair out of the way to show that her torso was completely without detail like a doll's, "Can't see anything anyway."

Shadow lifted his leg and saw that he was barefoot. The red stripe on his legs stretched down to the side of his foot and across his sharp, curved pinky toes and claws. Sheptilah held out her hand.

Shadow sighed and took it, careful not to cut her with his claws. She lightly pulled him toward her and he floated off from his body like a half-deflated balloon.

"So how do we get to Yggdrasil from here?" He wiggled his legs trying to get his bearings.

"The World Tree's roots are huge. Can't miss them." She guided him further away from his body.

Amy looked them over, frowning. "It's been ten minutes and still nothing. They should be speaking backwards by now."

"Speaking backwards?" Tails raised an eyebrow, "What else can we expect?"

"Rapid eye movement and possible seizures." Amy took note of the time in the grimoire.

"¿ʍǝ ɐɹǝ ʍɥǝɹǝ" Shadow spoke hoarsely.

Sheptilah's voice overlapped with his, "¿oʞɐʎ 'ɯǝ ɟɹoɯ ɟɐɹ ʇoo ʍɐupǝɹ ʇ,pou ˙ɹǝɐןɯ ɐsʇɹɐן ʇɥǝ ıu ɐɹǝ ʍǝ"

"¿qɹıpƃǝ ɹɐıuqoʍ ʇɥǝ ʇɥɐʇ ıs 'qǝɐnʇıɟnן s,ıʇ" Shadow's eyes opened but were devoid of pupils.

"Can we get a translation, Tails?" Sonic chuckled nervously.

"I can't get a real translation," the fox's face grew serious, "From Shadow I can pick up a few things like 'Rainbow Bridge'."

Amy wrote everything down dutifully.

"ʇɹonqןǝ qıƃ ıu qǝ ןן,ʍǝ ɥǝıɯpoן ndsǝʇ ʎon ıɟ qǝɔɐnsǝ ɐuʎʇɥıuƃ ʇonɔɥ ʇ,pou 'ʎǝs" Sheptilah's body rolled its head back and forth a bit.

Shadow's body arched its back, metal skates grating against the table he laid on.

"Easy." Sonic cooed.

"If she starts foaming at the mouth I'm getting out of here," Eggman frowned.

"Be careful what you say," Sheptilah warned, "They can hear you back at my hut, but it's garbled."

She showed him how to move around, which was simple enough: you just imagine yourself floating in a certain direction and your projection does so. She led him outside of her hut, straight through the wall as if they were ghosts. She imagined herself in a long, flowing white dress and it appeared on her body.

From there they could see large tree roots jutting straight from the ground and into the sky like towers.

"These are the smallest of its roots," Sheptilah pointed, "Which means the only way to go is up."

They rose over the island. It quickly disappeared behind them into the big ocean.

Shadow was entranced by the beauty of the Rainbow Bridge. It was a simple rainbow but glittered like it was made of precious gems. Each band of color was like a river unto itself and seemed to stretch into the sky infinitely. As they flew above it Sheptilah dipped her hand into the violet row and lifted her stained hand to Shadow's face.

"I thought you said not to touch anything." He smirked.

Sheptilah stuck out her tongue. "This is okay," the color faded off her skin, "It's like touching the sidewalk."

"So how are we supposed to bring an item back from the astral plane?" He dipped a finger into the purple band and shuddered at the cold sensation that ran up his arm.

"Simple," Sheptilah sped up, "You just find the leaves to get some dew, then I will open a portal back at the hut to the realm. Amy's ready to collect the dew with a jar."

"What even makes this tree so special?" Shadow struggled to keep up with her. He saw that trailing behind her was a faint, glittering silver cord not much thicker than fishing line. He looked behind himself and saw he had the same cord.

"It's the tree that holds up all of the astral planes across the universe as a whole."

"What is this, then?" Shadow tugged on the cord.

"That's your Silver Cord," she rolled over, "It's what keeps your soul attached to your body. With that line you can return to your body."

"So then why are Sonic and Eggman holding our faces?" The hedgehog asked flatly.

Sheptilah winked. "It's the only way to keep them from killing each other while we're projecting. We don't actually need them."

Soon a large cylindrical brown object came into view at the end of the rainbow. The closer they got to it the more they understood the massive size of the World Tree. Yggdrasil's trunk was hundreds of miles in circumference with branches extending out endlessly.

The air around them was thin but warm and a thick fog rolled across the landmass making up the 'ground' upon which they stood.

"How do we get to the leaves?" Shadow sighed, "This thing is huge."

"It's basically holding up the Universe, more or less," she looked around with wide-eyed wonder, "It would have to be huge."

Some strange-looking creatures meandered around them. Horses and foals with more than two pairs of legs, small dragon-like lizards and simple squirrels paid them no mind.

"Some creatures are born here," she said, "This would be them."

One of the foals turned back to the woman when she spoke and looked at her with twisted eyes, tilting its head curiously. She watched it closely as it trotted off to rejoin its group.

"I'm afraid to ask but," Shadow kept his voice low, "Will we see many dead people here?"

"Oh, yes," she looked at him with sad eyes, "But probably nobody we know."

"Is this where all the dead go?" His eyes darted around at every movement.

"No. Lots of places for the dead to go, this is just one of them." She began to climb up the trunk. "Life on Midgard, which is where we're from, is short. Life after life… is almost eternal; and it's immense."

"So where's your plane? The dream plane that I visited, I mean." Shadow followed her

"Elsewhere," she shrugged, "It's totally different from this one." Her hand hit a strange part of the trunk that looked like the rest of it but felt like rushing wind. Her arm was pulled into it by an unseen force. She tried to rip herself out of it but was unable to free herself. Shadow grabbed her by the other arm and bracing his feet on the trunk tried to yank her out but it was no use; they were both gone.

They could hear the sound of faint, braying laughter as they tumbled around in the darkness. It was the sound of the descendants of Sleipnir laughing at the visitors' misery.

Halo

They were surrounded by dark, cold water. There was no urge to breathe, as they could not drown. Shadow's projection floated limply toward the surface but Sheptilah's sank.

The hedgehog looked around and silently panicked. Where are we and how deep does the ocean go? Which way is up? He felt like they were being watched.

The witch's dress floated up around her, giving the illusion that she was a giant upside-down jellyfish. She kicked hard and swam to him, embracing the hedgehog.

Sunlight filtered through the water in wavy golden bands. He pointed to it and beckoned the witch to follow him. They seemed to get nowhere no matter how hard they swam. Without landmarks it was hard to tell in what direction they were moving if they were moving at all.

Sheptilah crossed her arms in frustration and let herself sink. Shadow gestured for her to keep swimming but she simply huffed.

A massive shadow came into view beneath them. Many glowing green eyes the size of dinner plates stared at them inquisitively. Shadow pointed to it with alarm. The witch turned around, wide-eyed at what she saw.

Yo̬͈̱̟u͞ ̯s̺h̺̼͓͝o̲̮̥͚ṷ̗̮̳͓͙͡l̕d̯̟̺̱͢ͅn͖͢'̨̞̮͕̰̖̝t̩̠̲̰̞̟ ͖b̼̝̙͙e͇ ̩͉̯̦̹h̥̗̞̯e̖͖͉̫̮͓͘ͅr͙̩̻͟e̟̝͝

҉̰͉̩̩̩ ̙̰ ̦͔ͅ ̶Le̟̰a̤͕͕̯͎̘͠v̕e̪̗̖̭̱͕̕ ͚̘͇̯̲t̤hi̼s̷̺͔̜̰ ͢p̦̩l̛̞à̬͉c̡͙̹̗̗̣e̢̫̥̮̩̗,̦̤̙͕̝̲̭ ̩͚m͝o̤̖̪r̨̩̙̞̺t̞͈̟͖͕̟a̞͓l҉͖͍̬s̖̤

t͙ḥ̬̰͕ḭ̤̞s̹̜̭͈͈̣͝ ͎̙̠̥̦i̹s̮̪̗̣ ̵̦̟̫̞͕̲̤t͓̺̣h͘e͉͇̪̳ ̱͚̗̻se͓͇̘̠a̝̳̜̩ͅ ̡̬͚͚̘o̰f̣̤͖͞ ̖̠m͖̪e̱͖͡r̯̤m̖̠͢a̵̱ͅi̞̘ḑ͖̟s̳̣̠͇

The voice was pleading but booming. The creature swam up to them, the waves pushing them back violently. Once they righted themselves they saw the beast was a gigantic mermaid. Her mouth alone was large enough to swallow a whole island and her two large eyes were actually millions of smaller ones clustered together, moving in all directions in a pattern like a wave.

The goliath's skin had the color and texture of cracked asphalt. Sheptilah moved in front of Shadow protectively though they were both without powers.

The ten-fingered hand of the mermaid goliath grabbed them and flung them with great, spinning force out of the water.

Waltz of the Flowers

In a second they were transported to a glen filled with humanoid flowers dancing in circles. Roses, daisies, morning glories and hydrangeas were among the swath of dancers twirling in the sunlight.

"Huh," the hedgehog spoke, "This land is much more pleasant than the last."

"Please stay close to me," the witch put a hand on the top of his head.

"Visitors!" A booming voice called to them from behind. They turned to see a black cat with a white locket wearing a golden crown. The flowers stopped dancing when he shouted and bowed. As it turns out, they were not flowers at all but cats in costume.

"I am Cat Sidhe," the large cat came up to them, "King of the cats."

"Sheptilah, queen of the Nannae," she bowed to the cat politely.

"Shadow, king of the Nannae," he followed suit.

"Don't tell an old fairy your full name," she remembered hearing Amy warn. "They can trap you by knowing it."

Too bad Sheptilah's full name was her first name. Shadow had thankfully not uttered his last name, Robotnik.

"Ah! Welcome to my seelie court," he tipped his crown, "Always a pleasure to have other fae in my realm."

The costumed cats came up to them and purred curiously.

"Don't ever thank an old fairy," Amy once said to Sheptilah, "It's a curse to them."

"What brings you to my kingdom? We have not had your kind of visitors here in thousands of years."

"The fae realm?" Shadow squinted.

"Land of the fairies." Tilly turned to Shadow.

"Quite so." His tail swished with slight agitation. "Show us your powers, queen of the Nannae! Entertain us with your moon magic." He urged. "I want to see it for myself!" He went up to Shadow and cocked his head, "I see you have a locket but no Oracle Stone?" He was disappointed.

"I cannot perform magic," she chose her words carefully, "We are mere astral projections."

"I was not born into her race but accepted into it." Shadow crossed his arms.

"Ah!" The cat became morbidly interested in them. "So you are here as phantoms."

"Yes." Tilly looked around, unsure of what to say. "How may we leave? We fell into Yggdrasil's trunk and we're very lost."

"Leave? Why would you want to leave?" Cat gestured to his kingdom. "This is the land of cats and joy. Eternal sunshine and peace."

"We can return when we have more time," she clasped her hands together as if in prayer, "And corporeal bodies."

"At least stay for dinner." He offered.

Don't eat their food.

"We cannot eat, either," she chuckled, "We're just projections."

"Fine, you are no fun!" The cat extended his claws and sliced a hole out of his realm into another.

"While I cannot send you to Yggdrasil itself I can at least send you to a different, closer plane."

"How may I repay your kindness?" She asked politely.

"Leave me a saucer of milk with honey at your abode," he grinned, "I will find my way to you."

Sheptilah knit her brows together. Whatever you do, don't let them come into your home, Amy's voice echoed. She nodded, accepting the deal.

"Th-" Shadow tried to thank the fae when Sheptilah slammed her hand over his mouth. She was met with muffled protests. Sheptilah stepped into the portal with Shadow.

Dream a Little Dream

"Hey, wake up!" A soft voice startled them. "Wakey-wakey."

Sheptilah sat up with a start. They were in a small wooded area with a ring of doors around them. A slim, frail-looking humanoid figure with two long horn-like appendages coming from their head, giant violet cat-like eyes that shimmered like gemstones and a ruby embedded in their chest.

"Are you Visitors?" The creature tilted their head. "Or are you a Nightmaren? But you can't be…" Their eyes fell to Sheptilah's Oracle Stone.

"Sheptilah?" Shadow's voice called.

"O-over here," she responded. He turned to the direction of her voice and ran up to her.

"NiGHTS?" Shadow looked over the Nightmaren, "NiGHTS, it's you!"

"Shadow!" NiGHTS cheered. "How are you?"

"Is it really you or are you an illusion?" The hedgehog was skeptic.

NiGHTS floated up to and around the hedgehog and playfully pulled at his ears. "It's really me! You're at the Dream Gate!"

Shadow swatted the Nightmaren away. "So it seems."

"Dream Gate?" The witch stood. "But we're not asleep, we're astral projecting."

"I see that," NiGHTS tugged at her silver cord between their fingers, "How did you end up here?"

"The Dream Gate..." Sheptilah looked around with alarm. "How can we be here?"

"I don't know, that's why I asked you!" NiGHTS became a little annoyed. "Pay attention!"

"We came here from Yggdrasil," Shadow said gruffly, "It pulled us into its trunk."

"What?!" NiGHTS became alarmed. "No way! You shouldn't jump from plane to plane or you might tear holes! That's dangerous. If worlds leak into each other you could collapse the whole thing."

"We didn't do it on purpose," Sheptilah whined, "It was an accident. We just wanted some dew."

"Hey, I recognize your kind. You're a Nannae witch, aren't you?" NiGHTS tapped her Oracle Stone with a finger. "Yeah! That's what you are. I haven't seen your race in thousands of years! Why did you stop visiting?" The Nightmaren was easily distracted.

"We all died." She said flatly as she turned away from them.

"Oh." NiGHTS' mouth became a tight line. "My apologies."

"How… old are you, NiGHTS?" Shadow peered at the Nightmaren.

NiGHTS flushed. "I'm timeless!" They giggled, looking away and flapping their hand.

"How do we get out of here? We're on a time limit here." Sheptilah was growing impatient.

"You wake up; but since you're not asleep," the Nightmaren crossed their arms and looked down, "Follow your silver cord back where you came from. It should take you back to Yggdrasil eventually. I'll personally escort you around my plane!" They were excited. NiGHTS grabbed each of visitors by the hand and flew off into the glittering sky of Nightopia.

"Shadow, how do you know this person?" Tilly frowned.

"It's a long story," the hedgehog shook his head, "Don't ask."

Breathtaking views and a full moon were no match for Sheptilah's worry. How long have they been under? Time moved so differently on the astral planes. They could've been unconscious for seconds or for days.

The trio came to a leafless branch that jutted out of the ground at the edge of Nightopia.

"Oh!" NiGHTS chirped. "A root, maybe? I've never been out this far before."

"Yggdrasil!" Shadow said.

"Thank you, NiGHTS!" Sheptilah nodded.

"Any friend of Sonic's and Shadow's is a friend of mine." They smiled widely, baring unexpectedly sharp teeth. "Come back and see me sometime, okay?"

"Sure," Tilly smiled, "Thank you, again."

NiGHTS waved goodbye to them and returned to the Dream Gate in case other visitors arrived. The human and the hedgehog together breathed a sigh of relief. They were growing tired from being too far away from their bodies.

They found themselves at the trunk of Yggdrasil in no time.

Big Sky

This part of Yggdrasil housed many of the known fae species throughout the world. Bergresars lumbered by, nearly squashing the others underfoot. More of Sleipnir's descendants trotted by and brayed angrily at the bergresar who did not hear them.

Draugs, enokke and banshees milled about the crowds. Built into the tree were their homes and little market stalls that spread vertically. Floating will-o-the-wisps in every possible color lit the way.

A heavy-set hulder approached Sheptilah from behind and moved her hair out of the way. The witch jumped and turned to see who had touched her. The alluring woman mistook Sheptilah for one of her own and wanted to see the knothole in her back, as you do.

"Oh," the hulder frowned, "I see; I thought you were someone I knew but I was just making sure."

"Apologies." Sheptilah shrugged, "Do you happen to know where we can get some of the dew from Yggdrasil?"

The hulder pushed her pink hair out of her face and pointed up. "The branches are not far from here."

"You have my appreciation!" She waved as she jumped up, floating off.

"Is this trip through Wonderland finally almost over?" Shadow sighed.

"Should be." They floated to the end of the tree branch and marveled at the sheer size of the leaves. Each was big enough to cover the hut twice over. The dew that formed on the edges fell down like raindrops.

"How do we get the dew home?" Shadow reached out and touched the leaf, surprised at its thickness.

"Stay here. I'll open a portal to you." She tugged on her silver cord and was immediately drawn back to her body.

Sheptilah took a moment to wake up once rejoining her body. She groaned and rubbed her eyes. "How long was I out?"

"Fifteen minutes." Amy nodded.

"That's it?" The witch sat up and jumped off the table. "Doesn't matter. Amy, get the jar." She searched the air for a knot. When she found it she concentrated with all her might to open it to where Shadow's projection waited. "Help me pull it open, please!" Beads of sweat formed on her face from exertion.

"Seriously?" Sticks scratched her ear absentmindedly.

"Why isn't Shadow awake?" Sonic asked nervously.

"He's not back yet. I'm trying to open the portal to him and it's being difficult!" Sheptilah motioned for Eggman to come over. He awkwardly walked up behind her, took hold of her wrists and pulled.

"Open, you stupid portal!" She huffed. "Hnng!" Knuckles grabbed hold of Eggman's torso and helped pull. Even with their combined strength it wasn't enough. Amy, Sticks and Tails joined in the conga line.

"You guys look ridiculous," Sonic laughed, "Sorry I can't help. My hands are full."

Sheptilah shot a pointed look at the blue hedgehog then turned back to the knot she was trying to open. She exhaled sharply and tried one more time. Their efforts paid off and the portal to the astral plane opened horizontally, sending them all falling to the floor on top of each other.

"Graceful." Shadow's projection sneered.

"Hey, Shads!" Sonic chirped. "I got your face." He teased.

"Amy! The jar!" Tilly shouted. The portal was already closing rapidly.

The pink hedgehog dug her way out of the pile with her jar in hand. She tossed it to the witch who caught it and shoved it through the portal. She caught a couple of large raindrops and pulled her arm back in.

"Pull on your silver cord to come back." She told Shadow just as the portal shut on her. She screwed the lid on the jar tight.

In less than a minute Shadow was back in his own body. He immediately pulled Sonic's hands off his face and rubbed his cheeks.

"My face is all clammy now." Shadow complained.

"Sorry," Sonic put his gloves back on, "Your face is warm."

Sheptilah locked up the jar in a large chest that also contained the pearl needed to make the staff.

"Thank you for coming with me, Shadow." Her eyes were heavy.

"Let's not do that again, ever." He pulled his gloves on.

"Understandable." The witch slumped over the chest. "Thank you, everyone."

"What was it like? Tell me!" Amy was practically standing on the tips of her toes. "What did you see?"

"NiGHTS says hello." Shadow nodded.

"You guys saw NiGHTS? I'm jealous! How're they doing?"

"They're fine," the black hedgehog stretched, "Misses you."

After everyone except for Eggman left Amy wrote the details down as Sheptilah dictated them. The woman was sipping a cup of black coffee to perk herself up, wincing at the disgusting taste. Astral projection takes a lot out of a person.

"Giant mermaids, banshees, yikes." Eggman brushed his mustache with his fingers.

"It sounds like an adventure." Amy put the pencil down. "Remind me not to astral project."

After a minute of silence. "Hey, Amy? Can I talk to you for a moment?" Eggman looked at the little pink hedgehog.

Amy tilted her head and blinked.

"Outside." He appended.

"Alright..." Amy was suspicious. Sheptilah watched the two leave.

After he was sure they were alone he sighed. "I wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday." He rubbed the back of his head.

"What?" She wasn't sure what he was talking about.

"The roofie joke," he avoided eye contact, "It was really inappropriate of me. I said it without thinking and I want to apologize. I forget you are a kid despite how mature you act and as an adult that was really gross of me to say."

"Oh, that," she frowned and then smiled. "Apology accepted; but you do know whose fault it is that we all had to grow up really quickly, right?"

"Mine," he answered sheepishly, "I'll happily roboticize you but I draw the line at being certain types of creepy." He put his hands on his hips.

"You're going soft," she grinned, "What's changed about you?"

"I can't apologize without being interrogated!" He threw up his hands. "I swear!"

Amy couldn't help but laugh. "I appreciate it. Thank you, Doctor Eggman."

"Don't mention it. I'm serious." He squinted at her from behind dark glasses.