AN: Ugh, I'm so sorry for the long delay. I love my new teaching job, but with 114 students, I have shit ton of papers to grade daily. I'm probably going to start updating every 2 weeks, so be prepared for the new updating schedule. Anyway, enough about me. I need to do my daily dose of praise/thanks to those that bother to leave reviews: Thank you, Kimberly Rosivel Lopez, Janttun3n, risingzero1984, aliciathewolf45, and shadrougeforever.

The next morning, Shadow and Amy got dressed and ready for the day. The two stood in their suite bathroom in front of the sink to work on fixing their appearance before starting their day. Shadow finished brushing his teeth before spitting out the foaming suds from his mouth into the sink, while Amy brushed her quills. Shadow used a towel to dab the wetness and residue away from his mouth. "So, what should our game plan be for the day?" he asked, staring at Amy's reflection in the mirror.

Amy lowered her hairbrush and set it on the counter, turning her head to look at him. "You should hang out with Faith," she recommended. "You know, spend some quality time together."

Shadow raised a brow, a bit taken aback by her reply. "You don't think we should determine if there are any other danger factors out there?"

"Look, the danger is gone for now," she reasoned. "Why not spend some time with her? She's been dying to have a father-daughter day with you."

Shadow crossed his arms over his chest as he mulled over the thought. He couldn't remember the last time he had truly spent one-on-one time with her. It had to have been a couple of years. "I understand the thought and sentiment behind your idea, but I just don't know if it's rational to take the time to do that when our next big threat could be just around the corner."

Amy pulled her hair up and put it in a high ponytail, letting her sideburn quills stay out and frame her face while her three bangs stayed hovering over her forehead. "Shadow, I can't help but feel you're intentionally putting off time to spend with your daughter. Is there something you're not telling me?"

For the first time in ages, Shadow looked nervous about the prospect. His eyes moved from side to side, as he stumbled for a response. "Well, what if we don't have much in common?" he conjectured.

Amy sighed and placed a hand on her cocked hip. "Exactly my point!" she exclaimed. "This is why you need to spend time with her and get to know her. You've always been so busy with, work, that you barely even know your own kid."

Shadow's ears lowered slightly, seeing her point was well argued. "Fair enough," he sighed. "What should I do to entertain her?"

"Let her decide on what she wants to do," Amy answered. "Just go with the flow and I'm sure you'll find you have things in common," she smiled.

Shadow leaned against their sink counter, looking a bit conflicted in thought. "Rose, let me ask you this…"

Her ears perked. "Hm?"

His eyes remained on the floor, his demeanor deflated. "Do you think I'm a terrible father?"

Amy shot him an empathic smile. "No, not at all. You do so much to provide for this family. You make sure she's well protected, fed, housed, clothed, loved, but because you are so adamant on making sure she has all the necessities to enjoy her life, you unnecessarily distance yourself from her." Amy walked closer to him and reached out, caressing the side of his face lovingly. Shadow stared back into her jade eyes as he enjoyed her soft touch. "Faith should be able to have cherished memories of time spent with her father as a little girl."

He gave her a modest smile. "You surprise me from time to time, you know that?"

She tilted her head, taken aback by his comment. "What do you mean?"

"When you come out with these wise and thoughts and opinions, I realize I didn't just marry a pretty face," he smirked playfully.

Amy started punching him in the shoulder light-heartedly. "Ugh, you think you're so cute sometimes!" she whined with a laugh.

Shadow laughed at her reaction and caught her wrists, stopping her from her frisky behavior. "Come here, you little minx," he purred, pulling her into a kiss.

Amy tried to fight him off, to keep up their playfulness, but Shadow's kiss made her freeze in place before making her absolutely melt in his embrace.

•~•

Downstairs, Faith sat at the kitchen table enjoying the breakfast her uncle had prepared for her. Silver had cooked up scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon. Blaze sat at the table drinking her coffee, while Silver washed off the pan he had been using to cook breakfast. In the meantime, Faith munched away at her breakfast just as she heard her mother and father making their way downstairs together. "Morning," Shadow announced to the three already in the kitchen.

"Morning," Silver and Blaze said in unison.

"Mm, something smells good in here," Amy noted, taking in the scent of crisp bacon and eggs.

"It's really good, Uncle Silver made breakfast," Faith smiled, showing off her Uncle's cooking on her plate.

Amy wandered over behind her chair, patting her daughter on the head. "Aw, that was sweet of him. Did you tell him thank you?"

She nodded. "Yep!"

"If you want any, there's a bit of bacon and eggs left over," Blaze offered, extending out a plate with the remains.

Amy smiled sincerely and waved her hand at it. "Oh, that's all right, I'm just going to have, the usual," she replied before heading for the refrigerator. In return, Blaze nodded, comprehending her comment.

"Once you finish up your breakfast, you and I are going to enjoy the day together," Shadow smiled, kneeling down to his daughter's level.

Faith's expression practically brightened like the sun just by his words. Her eyes glistened like rubies and her mouth opened in excitement. "Really?!"

Shadow chuckled by her reaction. "Of course." Amy smiled as she eavesdropped on their conversation by the fridge. She took out a glass from the cabinet next to it and poured herself some blood they had in a pitcher in the fridge.

"Yipee!" Faith squealed. Amy stifled a laugh as she drank the blood from her glass. If she could have, Faith would have done a little dance on her chair because she was so excited. "What are we gonna do?"

Shadow stood back upright, quickly glancing over at his wife by the fridge. "That's the best part, it's all up to you, love."

Faith quickly shoveled the last remains of the food off her plate into her mouth, took a quick swig of her orange juice to get the food down, and swallowed it before hopping off her chair. "I'm done!" She reached for Shadow's hand and proceeded to yank him out of the kitchen with her. "Let's go, daddy!"

The other three chuckled together as they watched Shadow, the hybrid, get dragged out of the kitchen by his daughter. "I'm sure he's in for loads of fun today," Silver chortled as he finished drying off a plate by the sink.

•~•

At Mighty's house, the armadillo sat in his study looking through various books in his library, trying to find anything that could help him understand this symbol that was popping up around town. More and more people had begun to report that strange infinite square showing up in the form of graffiti on buildings, along with homes, and even on the streets. Who was taking the time to create these signs and what was the purpose? Mighty sighed in frustration as he placed another useless book back on the shelf."

Aurora popped her head in briefly, just to see what her boyfriend had been up to all night. She yawned tiredly, patting her mouth with her hand. "Honey, you never came to bed last night…"

It had been a long night, and Mighty had yet to go to sleep. He had done everything he could to unlock the journal, but it just wouldn't budge. "I know, but my mind has been pretty fixated on this journal," he gestured. "Sorry if I kept you waiting last night," he apologized sincerely.

She shook her head, forgiving him. "No, it's okay. Just make sure you get some rest," she advised before wandering out.

Feeling hopeless, Mighty plunked down on the leather chair at his desk. As he sat there, feeling exhaustion creep in, his blue eyes locked on the journal staring back at him; practically mocking him. "I just wish I could open you and see what's inside," he mumbled tiredly. He leaned forward in his seat, resting his worn face in his hands. Strangely though, as if on command, Mighty heard a, click, and gazed up from his hunched over position to stare in awe as the journal unlocked and opened up before him.

Inside, the book held notes and drawn magic shapes for intricate spells, forbidden spells, and even magic he could barely comprehend. He studied each page carefully, reading the instructions for spells he had never attempted in his life. There were spells for sacrifice, spells for bringing people back to life, spells for cursing individuals, and spells to bring dark entities into their world. Whoever they were dealing with knew a great deal of foreign magic. He wondered if even Ivy knew of such things. Closing the book after reading a few pages that troubled him, Mighty knew he needed to get rid of this book in case it fell into the wrong hands.

•~•

Back at Shadow's estate, Faith and Shadow stood out on the back porch and sat at a picnic table with watercolors, paintbrushes, and other art supplies. Faith watched as her father started to sketch something meticulously in his sketchbook. "When did you start drawing?" she asked sweetly, watching him work.

"When I was quite young," he replied, finishing a line he had drawn. "I was probably close to your age when I started, in fact."

Faith reached for a paintbrush and dipped it in a glass of water they had on the table. "What do you like to draw?"

"Still life, animals, but people especially," he answered. "I always loved finding the beauty in my subjects and really bringing that to the forefront," he explained.

Faith put her paintbrush down. "Can I look at your sketchbook, daddy?"

Shadow put his pencil down and handed her the sketchbook. "Of course, sweetheart."

Faith accepted it and began to flip through it from the front and admired his work. There were gorgeous sketches of landscapes colored and shaded in beautifully with colored pencils. "Wow, this is really cool!" Shadow smiled warmly as he watched his daughter scan through his drawings. There were a couple sketches of still art Shadow had done clearly to practice on his shading. She flipped to the next few pages, filled with living subjects. There was a black and white illustration of an old man at a bus stop, one of a dog by a lake, and then finally one of someone very familiar.

"Isn't that mama?" Faith inquired, lifting the picture towards his face for him to see.

Shadow internally cringed as he forgot about the slightly graphic illustration he had drawn inside the sketchbook. The drawing was one he had sketched up the morning after one of their more intimate nights spent together. Amy was still nude from the night before and had been lying on her stomach with the bed sheets draped over her. The sheets hadn't covered her body completely and had exposed some of her better assets for display. Her beautiful taut bum was uncovered along with her soft backside. Her quills were frazzled in a cute manner, and Shadow had found her pose to be stunning and beautiful. He decided there and then to get it down on paper for him to remember eternally. He had spent the better part of the early morning sketching it out before Amy woke up.

Shadow quickly snatched the sketchbook away from his daughter and flipped to the next page. "Uh, that's a private drawing," he quickly dismissed. He knew Amy would kill him if she found out Faith had gotten a glance at it.

Oblivious to the whole matter, Faith smiled up at her father sweetly. "I hope I can be an awesome artist like you when I'm older."

"Trust me, you'll easily be an even greater artist than me when you're older. Especially since you have my blood flowing through your veins."

•~•

Out in his backyard, Mighty lit up his outdoor fireplace and loaded it with lots of dry wood and drenched it in lighter fluid. Afterward, he strategically placed the journal in the center of the wood and then proceeded to drench the book in lighter fluid. Once he was done preparing, he walked over and lit a match before flicking it into the fireplace. The fireplace ignited in seconds and bright orange flames licked at the sides of the book before completely consuming it. Mighty watched almost in a hypnotized state as the fire ate away at the cover and pages.

A figure slowly approached him from behind, watching the spectacle unfold before them. "Hey…"

Mighty jumped slightly, not hearing or picking up on the unannounced presence but spun around recognizing the voice. Sonic stood a foot away from his side, with his hands shoved in his front hoodie pocket. "Sonic, geez, you scared me," he grinned, placing a hand to his chest.

Sonic chuckled at his edginess. "Sorry about that, man. I didn't mean to sneak up on yah. I came to your front door, but Aurora told me you were out back," he explained. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"

"Burning that book we found at the abandoned house yesterday," he gestured.

Sonic's eyes widened. "Why? That thing could hold clues to the whereabouts of the children," he argued.

Mighty put his hands up, stopping the blue hedgehog from trying to reach into the fire and pry it out. "Don't!" he shouted, causing Sonic to stare at him strangely by his abrupt tone. "I already looked inside and there are no clues to her location."

"Wait a second," Sonic paused. "You managed to get it open? How?"

Mighty lowered his extended arms as he thought about the question. He actually hadn't physically or magically done anything to get it to open. It had just seemingly opened for him on command. "Well, that's the thing," he started. "It just kinda opened by asking."

Sonic glanced over at it in the fireplace, noticing it was now practically ashes at this point and sighed. "That's weird, but what was inside it anyway?"

"Dark magic," Mighty replied simply, and took a glance at its ashy remains. He leaned over and picked up a bucket of water and poured it on the flames, destroying the fire. "The type of magic spells written in there was dangerous to mankind and to our own. After reading some of the pages, I knew I couldn't let this thing fall into the wrong hands. That's why I decided to destroy it."

Smoke steamed up from the extinguished fireplace beside him. "I see, well, in that case, it's probably best you made that decision." Sonic crossed his arms over his chest as another thought crossed his mind. "Oh yeah," he said snapping his fingers. "Crap, I almost forgot why I came over here."

"That's right, I'm guessing you came over here to tell me something," Mighty surmised.

"Yeah," he droned sadly. "I ran into Hendrix in town and apparently they're missing two more kids."

Mighty looked alarmed by the news. "What ages?" he probed.

"Six and seven I believe," Sonic recalled. "They just went missing last night. Hendrix and his coven are holding locator spells trying to find them, but I don't think they're having much luck."

"That means we now have five missing kids," Mighty noted. "Damn it," he cursed under his breath. "We're running out of time…" Suddenly, one of Sonic's brows perked in bewilderment as he caught sight of something behind the armadillo. "We need to keep surveillance on our youth more strictly," he proposed as he tapped his chin, deep in thought.

"Uh, Might…"

Mighty glanced over to the blue hedgehog. "What?"

Sonic pointed behind him, looking spooked. "You should look behind you right now…"

Mighty turned around and stared at the journal looking as pristine as ever, undamaged, and unburned lying on top of the ashes and wood. Dumbfounded and petrified, Mighty slowly approached the book and picked it up to see if it was truly there. It was warm to the touch. "I-I don't understand…"

"We can't both be crazy, I know for a fact I saw it burn."

Mighty walked back over to his friend, holding the book in his hands as he kept his eyes fixated on the notebook. He let out a shaky breath, realizing that this thing wasn't going to go down easily. "Sonic, do me a favor..."

"Uh, okay, sure?"

Mighty handed Sonic the journal and he accepted it, looking down at it in his own hands. "I want you to keep this book far away from me and others. If I even try to come for it, I want you to kill me," he made explicit with a stern tone.

Sonic looked back at his friend, suddenly growing very tense. This was no joking matter, Mighty legit wanted him to kill him if he came for this book. "Heh, alright, you're starting to freak me out here a little. I've never seen you scared before. You gonna tell me exactly what we're up against, here?"

"When I opened this book and started to read the pages, it felt like someone wanted me to read them. When I held it, I felt this power of invincibility that I have never felt before in my life. There's some magic in this book that I believe could even take down Shadow and his family," he explained.

"So, it's got some sacrificial magic in it? It's not like we haven't seen or heard of that before," Sonic shrugged, trying to not make much out of it.

"Yes, but this sacrificial magic is not to our ancestors, this is something older than even that," he pointed. "What's frightening is the book never gave it a name to what people sacrificed to."

•~•

After working on some painting and drawings, Shadow and Faith took a stroll through the woods behind their house to talk and enjoy nature together. The two sauntered down the path together and enjoyed the scenery. Tall, lush, green trees and gorgeous crisp oak surrounded them on either side. The sound of birds and other woodland animals filled the air. Shadow held his daughter's hand as they navigated the woods. "What was it like growing up with Uncle Silver and the rest of your family?"

He glanced down at her briefly as they walked. "At times fun, and other times quite frustrating."

Faith looked up at him, continuing to keep up his pace. She was curious to learn more about him. "Where did you live?"

"In a hovel," he replied.

Faith cocked a brow, completely lost on the concept. "What's that?"

"It's basically a cave," he clarified with a chuckle.

"You lived in a cave?" she gawked.

He nodded. "Yes, it could be crowded at times, but it isn't as bad as it sounds. Although, your Uncle Silver snored—loudly I might add," he reminisced.

Faith giggled at his comment and imaged her uncle snoring loudly with his mouth open. "That's funny, but I bet it was cool to always have other kids to play with."

"It was actually…but I still felt alone—different from my siblings," he noted. "That's another reason I got so invested in art," he segued. "I use to make my own paints." The two stopped as they came across a cluster of orange flowers bloomed under a large oak tree. "For example, I use to make paint out of these exact flowers," Shadow gestured. "These orange ones are the most vibrant."

"My favorite color is orange," she smiled before catching something troubling. Her tone suddenly changed to panic, "Oh no!"

"What's wrong?"

Faith lets go of Shadow's hand and knelt down towards the flowers. "Look, there's a butterfly," she pointed. A beautiful blue and black butterfly sat upon a flower with an injured wing. "It's hurt…"

Shadow knelt down by her side to get a better look at it. "Yes, it looks like it has a broken wing. Pity, the poor creature won't be able to survive much longer without its ability to fly."

Faith carefully took off her gold inhibitor bracelets that she was meant to keep on at all times. Gingerly, she handed them over to her father to hold onto for a moment. "Faith, what are you-"

"—Shh, don't tell Mommy," Faith whispered. Shadow watched in awe as Faith extended her hands over the injured insect and mumbled some sort of incantation. Magically, Shadow watched as her hands glowed blue and the injured wing was miraculously healed before his eyes.

Faith smiled sweetly at her handiwork and watched as the beautiful creature gently took off and flew towards the sky.

•~•

"So, what brings us out to this neck of the woods," Sonic questioned, eying their surroundings. The two got out of Mighty's vehicle as they stopped near the base of some mountains.

Mighty took in their surroundings, taking in the breath taking scenic sights. "Call me crazy, but I think I found a lead to where all those missing kids are being held…"

"And what leads are those exactly?"

Mighty closed his car door shut. "Just some sort of twisted intuition," he replied. "I can't really explain it, but my gut told me to come here."

Sonic shaded his eyes from the sun. It was mid afternoon at this point, and the sun was beaming down on them. "You know where we are right now?"

"Not a clue, but I know we're close to finding those kids."

Sonic scoffed, not as convinced. "Pssh, if you say so, pal."

Mighty began to walk off the driven path and through some brush. "Come on, follow me," he instructed.

•~•

"When I get bigger, will Aunt Blaze teach me real spells?" Faith inquired as they neared the end of the trail.

"Of course, but I must note, I think you're doing rather well all by yourself," he praised lightly.

She sighed, looking down at the dirt as they walked. "Yeah, but I can't always control it so well…it scares me sometimes," she admitted.

Shadow stopped walking briefly and knelt down to her level. He took her small hands in his own and looked her in the eyes. "You, love, are my daughter. You're going to be the greatest witch the world has ever seen, and nothing will ever scare you."

Faith shot him a weak smile by his attempt to get her spirits to rise. "Daddy, I know you and mommy try to hide things from me sometimes, but I know what you really are, you know." Shadow furrowed his brows by her comment. He wasn't expecting her to come out with such a thing, but Faith only smiled shyly. "You're the strongest person in the world. You're strong enough to keep all the bad things, and bad people away."

Shadow tilted his head curiously. "What kind of bad things?" he probed, curious to know how much else she knew.

"You know, like bad guys, monsters, people who are mean," she listed.

Shadow chuckled softly. "Nothing is going to harm my little girl," he promised.

"Is that why those mean men came after me yesterday. Were they mean people you were trying to stop a long time ago?"

Shadow struggled to find the right explanation. "…Sort of," he trailed off.

She fiddled with her hands nervously. "How do I know more mean people won't try to hurt me?"

"Nothing will even get close," he avowed. I am your father, protector, and guardian. Family is all that matters to me."

Smiling by his genuine answer, Faith lunged into his arms, giving him a sweet hug. Shadow melted in the sweet moment and wrapped his arms around her, relishing in their father-daughter moment.

While the hug lingered, Shadow couldn't help but feel something strange in their embrace, he pulled away softly to look at his child. "Faith, you're trembling, are you cold?" he asked softly.

She shuddered slightly. "Yeah, I've been a little cold for a while now," she noted.

"Well, let's get you inside then. You can show me more of your drawings from your sketchbook," he winked. Shadow lifted her up into his arms and carried her off back towards their home.

As Shadow walked off with Faith in his arms, she couldn't help but glance over his shoulder at something far off in the distance behind them. A red orb hovered mid-air on the trail they had taken through the woods. Slowly, it began to move down the path towards them, growing brighter and brighter.

Faith stared at it strangely, not sure what she was seeing. She blinked a few times as she tried to analyze it from afar, but within a few seconds, it disappeared.