AN: Whoa, once again, sorry about the delays in updates. I promise you I realize there are still people eagerly awaiting updates but my life is hectic right now! This is a pretty exciting chapter and a lot is going on, so hopefully, you'll enjoy it. It's a long one!
•~•
The next day in town, Sally walked the busy streets of Station Square with two bags of groceries in hand. She smiled as she passed other locals happily going about their day and enjoying the gorgeous, crisp, weather. She came to an intersection crossway and stood with others waiting to cross the street. Once a few cars zipped passed, she stared in awe and horror when she spotted Lupe standing on the other side of the street in the crowd looking as lively as ever. The wolf didn't seem to notice Sally as she looked off in a different direction.
Sally backed up with her groceries in hand, bumping into a few irritated pedestrians before she booked it in the opposite direction of Lupe. She had just witnessed her death last night. How was it possible that she was now alive and well? Sally knew she needed to inform the others about this.
•~•
At Shadow's house, the ebony hedgehog sat on the couch in the living room with a glass full of blood in hand. He rotated the blood within the glass out of boredom before taking a sip.
Silver walked in the room and sniffed the air before appearing disgusted. "Ugh, O-positive? You heathen," he scoffed by his brother's taste in blood.
Shadow swigged his drink. "It happens to be my preference, brother."
Silver shrugged his shoulders and sauntered over in Shadow's direction. "It's revolting if you ask me…"
"Well, speaking of blood," Shadow segued. "There are some new rules in place."
Silver's ears perked. "Oh, really? What exactly are they?"
Shadow set his glass down on the coffee table in front of him. "No more bloodshed in the house where my daughter sleeps and plays," Shadow announced. "I am trying to protect her innocence as long as possible. She'll witness enough of it in her lifetime and I don't need her experiencing it in her youth," he explained.
Silver looked almost insulted by the idea he'd do such a thing in front of his niece. "I wasn't planning to," Silver replied. "She is my only niece and I want the best for her, too."
Shadow stood up, giving him a lingering glance. "Fair enough." He stopped in the doorway briefly. "Oh, that reminds me. How is Blaze coming along with that barrier spell?"
"I believe she's rather close to finishing it," Silver answered. "She's been working all morning on it."
Shadow sighed in annoyance. "You know, if you hadn't been so hasty to kill Lupe, we'd be dealing with the devil we know," he scolded passively.
"Spoken by the devil I know best of all," Silver countered.
"I still don't know if this idea to spell the compound is a very good idea," Shadow theorized. "Our enemies are going to seek to resurrect this monstrosity while we sit idly by."
"Not all of us will be confined here," Silver rebutted calmly.
Shadow blinked a few times in surprise. "What now?"
"I have a little errand to run," he replied simply, despite Shadow's irritation.
"And while you're cavorting all over town—I'm what, grounded?" he challenged.
Silver smirked, feeling slightly triumphant by his brother's disdain for his house arrest. "Essentially."
"Well, before you run off, can you pop down to the basement and see Blaze's progress? I need to fetch Faith for her lunch."
"Perhaps we should switch places on that request," he suggested uncomfortably.
Shadow raised a brow, surprised on the appeal. "Come again?"
"It's just," Silver started, "We had a bit of a falling out last night over the occurrence at the party. Blaze is not pleased with me at the moment and we're barely speaking," he admitted. "I'm trying to give her as much space as possible."
Shadow felt empathetic towards his brother's current predicament. "I see…" his voice trailed off momentarily. "Would you like me to speak to her on your behalf?"
Silver shook his head, denying his offer. "No, no, that'll be alright. I got my point across to her last night, but she's still processing it." He walked toward the staircase leading upstairs. "I'll fetch Faith for lunch," he quickly segued before heading off. Shadow watched his brother's form retreat upstairs. It was evident their argument had greatly affected Silver.
•~•
Meanwhile, upstairs, Faith sat in the attic going through old boxes of antiques, and knick-knacks stored up for safe keeping. She flipped through an old photo album with pictures of her father and uncle from many different decades in time. She smiled as she took in all the different fashion styles her father had picked up in the different time periods he had lived through.
"—You know," Silver announced, standing behind her, and slightly startling her. "I'm sure your father would rather not have you play in this musty old attic," Silver tsked playfully.
Faith craned her neck behind her and looked up at uncle as he walked over. "Why not?"
"Just because of all the dust, splinters, and bats," he listed with a nonchalant shrug.
"There aren't any bats," Faith laughed.
He grinned coyly. "I've seen no evidence that your father doesn't sleep up here hanging upside down," he cracked.
She giggled with him. "You're silly, Uncle Silver."
He walked over and lent out his hand. "Come along now. I'm going to whip up something for you to eat and make sure you're good and fed." Faith looked at his hand before placing it in his and allowing him to lead her downstairs.
•~•
At that same time, Shadow was downstairs in the basement checking in on Blaze's progress with her spell. The purple feline looked completely focused on her task at hand.
Blaze stood before a table with a spell circle drawn out on a blueprint of their house. Four candles surrounded each corner of the map laid out on the table and Blaze wafted a lit piece of sage that was slowly burning and creating a wave of smoke. Shadow studied her quietly for a moment before clearing his throat as he stood by the staircase. "How is the spell coming along, then?"
"Creating a strong enough barrier spell to protect Faith and the rest of us inside these walls takes a bit of time," Blaze announced dully without much emotion in her voice.
Shadow picked up on her tone and took his position on one of the nearby walls and leaned up against it, continuing to watch her. "How long do you think you've been at this?"
"At least three hours. I almost have it though," she pledged. "Just give me another 20 minutes and I should be done."
"Alright," he replied. "Just don't wear yourself out."
"I won't," she responded impassively.
Pushing himself away from the wall, he approached her from behind. "It's not really my business, but I hear you aren't on good terms at the moment with my brother."
Blaze kept her focus on her spell, trying not to relive last night's events. Of course, Silver would discuss their argument with Shadow. She mentally cursed him for allowing others to know of their marital drama. "He confided in you, then?"
"Not really," he quickly clarified. "He didn't exactly give me any details, but just said you weren't happy with his behavior last night. He said you've barely uttered a word to each other all morning. I just want to make sure you're okay. You know I'm always here to lend an ear for venting."
"You know I love you Shadow, you are my brother-in-law after all. However, I don't know if I can quite trust you to discuss information about my marriage with your brother."
He walked around the side of her, finally forcing her to look at him. Blaze watched as he lifted his right hand in the air. "I promise that whatever you tell me I will keep completely undisclosed to everyone in our family, even my own wife," he pledged.
Blaze studied him carefully for deception. Normally, she trusted Shadow without a second thought, but thinking about venting her problems to him, made her second guess her trust. This was her husband's brother, after all, there was no telling if he'd end up just blabbing all the information he gathered from her and relayed it to Silver later. Shadow spotted her inner conflict and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Blaze," he spoke softly, taking her out of her rumination. "I promise," he emphasized sternly.
Blaze temporarily discontinued her boundary spell before looking towards the basement staircase. Fearing the possibility of someone, namely Silver, using his vampire hearing to eavesdrop, Blaze placed the palms of her hands together and closed her eyes. "Sil-en-ciol," she spoke, before wafting her hands apart. Shadow looked around them, noticing a strange opaque looking wall form, locking them within. "It' okay, it's just a spell I use to keep others from prying on our conversations. No one can hear what we say as long as we remain in this bubble," she explained.
"Clever," he observed. "Now, feel free to spout off."
"Silver is scaring me," she started.
"This is a first," Shadow replied. "Usually I'm the scary one," he chuckled.
"No, I'm serious, Shadow. Your brother has gone to some dark places with his actions and thoughts."
"Do you mean like what he did last night," he gathered. "Because if this is what your argument is all about, I too disapproved of his actions. I already had a word with him about it."
"—That's not all of it," she corrected. "I found out some things about him that made me look at him completely different."
"Like what?" he pressed.
"The night you went to free those kids from the ritual. I overheard Amy scolding Silver when Mighty and Amy were trying to figure out how to save you, Sonic, and the children from that spell. There was a brief moment where Silver considered killing those children to save you!"
Shadow seemed taken aback by the reveal. In his entire lifetime, Shadow had killed countless people throughout history. He had never discriminated against males or females, but the only people he had never killed were children. Since he had been beaten and abused by his father throughout his youth, he strayed from harming children. But now that he had a child of his own, he especially became revolted at the thought of harming a defenseless child. So the fact that his brother had toyed with the thought sickened him. "This can't be right…"
"It is," she confirmed. "Silver told me he was now willing to do any type of dirty work that not even you could perform, in order to keep our family safe. He knows you can't be the monster you once were, especially now that you have a daughter."
"…Christ," he scoffed. "I'm sorry about this, Blaze."
"He told me this is what I'll have to expect from him from now on. Truthfully, I don't know if I can stomach it."
"I don't blame you," he concurred. "What do you plan to do now?" he asked, intrigued to see where her head was.
She folded her arms in front of her chest and her eyes fell off to the side. "I don't know…I love Silver, but this is not the Silver I fell in love with. When I met him, he was a gentleman and he had morals! Now, he's bringing out that monster he locked behind the red door because he thinks it'll keep us safe."
"I can try to talk to him, but I won't act like I've discussed any of this with you," he made explicit. "If he becomes suspicious that we talked, I'll lead him off that idea. I swore that I'd not leak any of this information to him."
She smiled weakly and opened her arms, beckoning him for a hug. Shadow extended his own arms out, allowing her to be encompassed by his friendly embrace. "Thank you, Shadow," she mumbled into his chest. "You're very sweet for allowing me to vent. I barely got any sleep last night thinking of everything that happened."
He patted her back. "I understand," he smiled softly. "Trust me, I've been in your situation before. I know the comfort of having someone to confide in."
•~•
After their private conversation, Shadow left Blaze down in the basement to finish her spell but spotted Silver in the kitchen with Faith. Silver was busy, staring out the window above the kitchen sink in a daze, while Faith munched happily away on her grilled cheese sandwich Silver had cooked up for her. However, the two looked in Shadow's direction as he entered the kitchen. "Hi, daddy!" Faith mumbled with a full mouth.
"Sweetheart, chew and swallow your food before speaking. It isn't ladylike," he corrected gingerly.
Faith blushed, forgetting about the manners she had learned. She finished swallowing the food and wiped her mouth with her napkin provided. "Sorry, I forgot." Shadow simply smiled at her before looking at his brother.
"I found Faith up in the attic, you know. She's quite curious about all the old antiques we've stored up there," he informed.
Shadow tilted his head as he looked at his daughter with feigned anger. "Oh, really now?" Faith played along with him and shot him an innocent smile.
"Yes, she especially enjoys looking through the old photo albums."
"I'm happy to hear you're fascinated with our past, but don't wander up there on your own, sweetheart. I don't want something heavy to fall on you. Next time, just ask and I'll join you up there."
"Okay," she mumbled.
Silver placed his hands on the back of the sink, leaning into it. "So, how's my wife doing down there?"
"She's fine," he replied. "It should be completed soon."
"Ah, I see," he noted, mulling in a moment of strained silence. Shadow picked up on his brother's contemplation before he saw him open his mouth to continue another thought. "…She didn't mention me at all downstairs, did she?" he asked quietly, trying to avoid Faith from picking up on their conversation.
"No, she didn't say anything at all," he lied smoothly.
Right on cue, Blaze entered the kitchen right in the middle of their conversation. She didn't even bother to acknowledge her husband standing near the sink as she sauntered over to Shadow. "It's finished," she informed. "Nothing can get in and nothing can get out. Well, except for my husband and myself," she finished before setting her eyes on Faith, who remained happily oblivious to the conversation.
"Fantastic," he smiled.
"No problem," she replied, continuing to ignore Silver in the background. Silver frowned by her disregard towards him. Her avoidance was really starting to grate on him. "Now, I'm going to meet with Sonic and Sally in town. It turns out it was a good thing we set up that boundary spell, Lupe is alive again," she informed quietly, trying to keep Faith from eavesdropping.
"Alive?" Shadow parroted in a whisper. "Did she use a body swap spell?" he inquired, thinking back to how his mother survived.
She shook her head. "No, apparently not. She's still in the same body, but I'm going to find her and get some answers."
"And you're absolutely sure you don't need my help?" Shadow questioned.
"I'll have Sonic and Sally with me so I'll be fine. Besides, we know she has more weapons that can kill you." Shadow and Silver watched as she strolled out of the kitchen, walking straight past Silver, acting as if he did not even exist.
Silver felt his heart sink by her treatment. His fists clenched up by his sides and he marched out of the kitchen before his emotions got the better of him. Shadow cringed as he heard the front door to the house slam shut. Faith turned around in her seat, alarmed by the loud slam. "Dad, what's wrong with Uncle Silver?" she asked sweetly.
Shadow walked over and stroked the top of her head. "He's been having a bit of a rough day, darling," he replied.
•~•
In the city, Silver wandered into Mighty's home and found him cleaning a rather large looking blade. As Mighty used a rag to wipe the residue of water off the side, he felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. He sighed, knowing exactly who was hovering in the background. "You know, normal people knock on people's doors. They don't just let themselves in," he spoke aloud, allowing the unknown visitor to know he was aware of their presence.
"Then next time, perhaps you should actually lock your front door," he replied passively.
He groaned. "What do you want, Silver?" he questioned, not in the mood to deal with the vampire.
Silver wandered further into the room, taking in his surroundings. "I wanted to see what you were up to and if you could use a hand," he answered.
"Nah, I'm good," he dismissed. "I'm working on witch business anyway."
"Well, that would make two of us then. We need a new strategy to keep Infinite at bay. Now, I've done a bit of reading of my mother's old journals, and I came across something that I believe may aid us in annihilating this entity from completely entering our world. It includes the ancestors," Silver alluded.
"Too bad your mother severed that link when she returned from the dead," Mighty reminded.
Silver tucked his arms behind his back. "I'm well aware, but my plan would involve creating a new link over to the ancestors. It'd be a way we could re-establish our connection to their afterlife."
He glanced over his shoulder briefly at the hedgehog, curious about his supposed master plan. "And what's that?"
"A ceremonial sacrifice. I believe it's called the Harvest Ritual," he specified.
Mighty spun on his heels to face Silver after hearing those words. "The Harvest Ritual," he parroted. "Are you insane?" his voice pitched.
Mighty's bewildered tone didn't faze Silver in the least. He knew this would be a controversial move, but it may very well be their only hope. "It would give you a great amount of power to possibly close any gateways to allow this creature in," Silver argued with composure.
"Silver, you have no idea what you're getting into. Don't talk about things you don't truly understand. If I were to do that, we'd have to sacrifice four young female witches for it to work. Most people I know aren't too keen to give up their daughters over to a sacrifice. Besides, it takes special preparation!"
"Then talk to Hendrix and demand it be done. I'm sure he could arrange it."
"—I'm not demanding anything!" he yelled with fervor. "Look, I'm only working with you because I want to defeat Infinite, all right? I don't want to start a war with the other covens." He took the blade he had been cleaning and tucked it away into a wooden box set on his table. Carefully, he picked up the closed box and placed it behind a glass cabinet. "Now just go," he urged.
Mighty walked out of the room and into his bedroom, to finish getting ready for the day. Silver watched as Mighty fled the room, but his yellow eyes wandered over to the cabinet where the blade he had cleaned was now stored. Carefully, he walked over and opened up the glass doors and took the box in his hands before zipping off.
•~•
Later, in their bedroom, Shadow found Amy sitting on the couch by the windows, working on her laptop to do research. "Afternoon," he announced entering the room.
Amy pulled her eyes away from the screen to give him her full attention. "Hey," she smiled. "What's up?"
"It's just Faith," he started and stood in front of her. "Silver found her up in the attic rummaging around through some old rubbish. She's restless, Rose…"
Amy sighed. "She's not restless, Shadow. She's bored," she corrected. "Most kids her age would be at school. They'd have friends to play with."
He tucked his arms behind his back and paced through the room. "Well, once Blaze and Mighty pick up on their lessons with her, she'll be more powerful beyond measure. She won't need friends, she'll be worshipped," he fantasized.
Amy watched her husband and shook her head by his ludicrous ideas. "She doesn't want to be worshipped, she just wants someone to play hopscotch with her."
Shadow wandered over to their balcony windows and drew back the curtains. He took a long gander out their window before replying. "She'll be above such things in no time." He reached out and pushed the doors open, allowing in the fresh air. "She will have enough power to protect herself from anything." He reached his right hand out and felt the invisible force of the boundary spell in place, preventing even himself from leaving. He frowned. "Eventually, we won't have to trap her in bloody boundary spells just to keep her safe…"
"Well, getting off topic for a few moments, I just wanted to thank you."
Shadow turned to look at his wife. "Thank me for what exactly?"
"I overheard what you were telling Silver earlier this morning about the new rules. You've done a great job in the past few years keeping violence away from this home. However, due to our current circumstance, I know violence in the household may come closer than we'd like. I know it's not in your nature to keep violence out of mind…"
"Well, we'll protect her innocence for as long as we can. You and I both know the importance of that."
•~•
At the abandoned church in town, Blaze, Sonic, and Sally all met in order to enact their master plan to capture Lupe. The blue hedgehog eyed a large wooden weaved circle lying on the center of the altar. He dusted off his hands after setting it down in a central place on the floor. "So, exactly what am I suppose to do again?"
"All you're going to do is stay in the circle. You are the bait," Blaze explained. "We're going to lure Lupe here to make her believe that I'm handing you over. The moment she steps inside the circle, use all that vamp speed to get out."
"So once Lupe is in the circle, she'll be trapped?" Sally asked, trying to follow the plan.
Blaze nodded with a smile. "Exactly. I already sent her a little message via magic, so she's already on her way here."
Sonic cracked his neck, trying to loosen up before their plan. "Boy, I don't know about you, but I'm kinda nervous," he chuckled.
"Don't be," Blaze affirmed. "I'm confident this is going to work."
•~•
Meanwhile, Mighty found himself at the witch cemetery after receiving a rather insistent phone call for him to get there. The armadillo strolled through the graveyard before entering a particular mausoleum to his left. He walked inside the dark but dimly lit building, noticing the few candles that had been lit for him. Eventually, he found Silver slouched up against one of the walls inside, staring at the wall in front of him.
"I do not like being summoned, Silver, you know tha-" Mighty stopped mid-sentence when he caught a gruesome sight down the small corridor of the building to his right. Lying supine on the floor of the mausoleum were four young girls of varying ages, all dead. His breath shuddered as he looked at the girls; each and every one of them had their throats slit. "No, no, no…"
Mighty glanced over to Silver who remained insouciant as he sat there, playing with a very familiar looking blade. In fact, it happened to be the same blade Mighty had been cleaning earlier that afternoon. Silver's right hand was bloody, evident of the murder he had committed as he twirled the knife against the stone floor, using the hilt to rotate it. "What did you do, Silver?"
"Four Station Square witches killed on consecrated grounds with a ceremonial blade," he replied relaxed before tossing the blade towards Mighty's feet. It made a bunch of clanks as it hit the floor at different points before settling.
"How did you know that was the correct blade to perform this ritual?" Mighty interrogated.
Silver finally looked in his direction, propping his arms over his knees bent in front of him. "I had done my research earlier that morning. I recognized it from the picture in the book I had read."
Mighty pressed his back against the wall and felt his legs give in. He slowly slumped down the wall, falling onto his butt. He shook with anger and sadness, feeling empathy for these four girls lost lives. The terror they must have felt as Silver abducted and then murdered them brutally. "Silver," he seethed. "This is not how you do it!" he shouted angrily. "There's a ceremony, then there's a ritual. The girls have to be selected!" he hollered with disappointment.
Growing irritated with his barrage of admonition, Silver got up to his feet and dusted himself off. He kept his back to Mighty before crossing his arms. "You'll find a way and then the girls will be resurrected," he replied self-possessed. Finally, he turned around and walked over to the shaken witch, looking down at Mighty, still remained on the floor. "Delay will only serve our enemy. So get moving."
•~•
It was nearly 7 PM and Shadow was growing quite impatient being in the dark with Silver's errand. The dark hedgehog sat on the sofa, glancing out the window to his left. His brother had yet to keep him informed of his little day time tasks and could only wonder if he was up to no good. He pulled his cellphone out from the inside of his leather jacket and began dialing.
Lying in bed, Amy stared at her laptop screen, lost in thought. She had done hours of researching, and emailing, doing anything to help her determine where the other bones might be hidden. Seeing her husband become unsettled, she closed the screen. "What do you think Silver is up to?" she pondered aloud.
Shadow lowered his cellphone after getting a busy tone. "No clue, but he isn't picking up his phone." He started dialing another number.
Amy watched as he held up the phone to his ear and got up to walk around the room in agitation. "Do you think he might be with Blaze? Maybe we should call him."
"I doubt he's with her." Shadow scoffed after hearing his voicemail recording. "No such luck," he replied, lowering his cellphone one more. "She's also not answering."
Amy sat upright and pulled her knees up to her chest while she watched her husband. He was worried about them, that much she could tell. "I'm sure they're fine. They're probably just busy," she assured, not feeling the panic like Shadow was at this moment.
He ran a hand through his quills. "You know, this is a fool's errand. We're not going to accomplish anything in this mess. I should be out there," he spoke, pointing towards one of the windows.
She raised a brow amused by his assertiveness. "So you can what? Dodge an evil ghost that wants you dead?" she shot back with a grin. "Come on, you're safer here," she argued softly.
"—You mean safe and entirely ineffective," he snapped at her.
Amy winced from his venomous tone. She moved her legs off the side of the bed, put the laptop down, and stood up. "Shadow, your daughter needs you here."
"No," he corrected. "My daughter needs Infinite to be purged from this Earth!"
Amy stepped closer to him, confused where all this anger was coming from. She crossed her arms over her chest, growing more insulted with his vexed tone. "Why are you yelling at me? I'm on your side…"
"—Cause I can't be trapped here!" he howled.
Amy rested a hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly. "Shadow, it's okay. I know you're scared. I am too, but we have got to do everything we can to protect our daughter."
Shadow eased his temper, realizing how uncivil and brash he was behaving. He swallowed his emotions and unclenched his fists by his side. Shadow dropped his head, allowing it to rest on Amy's shoulder as she held him. "Forgive me, Rose. I-I didn't mean to shout at you. You're right, you know. I don't quite know what we're up against, which makes me all the more anxious."
•~•
Back with Mighty and Silver, the two moved the four girls outside the mausoleum for the ceremony to take place. The four girls were laid down on a large altar, side by side, and were prepared for the ritual to take place. Mighty shook nervously as he dipped his fingers into a bowl of his own blood and placed a marking on each of the girl's foreheads. Once he was done, he walked over to his working station, which was a small rock podium, with two large torches on either side of him.
Silver stood several feet behind him, watching him intently as he prepared for the spell. Mighty took his large grimoire and flipped through a few pages, trying to situate everything and make sure he was ready. He exhaled a shaky sigh, trying to shake off his nerves. "Okay…"
"Start," Silver commanded, growing impatient.
Mighty growled lowly under his breath from Silver's impatience. The armadillo lifted his hands up in the air and looked down at his book to recite the correct verses. "In order to be reborn, we must have a sacrifice," he spoke slowly. "In order to be reborn, we must have faith," he sighed and turned to look at Silver, hovering in the background. He lowered his hands. "Damn it, this isn't right! This ritual is supposed to be performed by an elder of the coven. I'm not an elder, Silver!" be bellowed in frustration.
"You can do this, Mighty." Silver approached the doubtful witch. "My own wretched mother recognized your mastery in magic," he reminded. "And let's not forget, you are one of the ones that Infinite is most terrified of. So whatever your doubts, whatever our differences, your gift is irrefutable."
Mighty felt that boost of confidence with Silver's words but it still didn't help with the fact that this was incredibly wrong to do in the first place. He could be severely punished, shunned, or exiled by his own coven if they found out about this type of sorcery he was about to perform. "Right…"
"Now," he began, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You will make this work," he pointed. "I know you can succeed."
•~•
Twenty minutes later, Lupe arrived right on time along with two henchmen to the church. One of the people with her was a staunch male hog while the other member was a male zebra. They stood on either side of her as they made their way down the long aisle. Blaze stood at the other end where she was approaching and had Sonic sprawled out, unconscious, in the spell circle. "Finally come to your senses then?" Lupe questioned as she neared him.
"My apologies for how my husband handled things last night, I already got on him about his behavior."
Lupe reached for her neck, rubbing at it as she recalled last night's events. "Thank you, I didn't want it to go in that direction. Perhaps, our negotiation will go down easier."
"That's what I intend to have happened. However, I have to know—how exactly are you alive right now?"
She chuckled darkly. "Infinite protects those who are loyal followers. It made sure to take precautions before I attended that party. Turns out it was right to do so," she answered.
"I see," Blaze replied. "Well, I want our family to be unharmed. I don't have any real connection to Sonic. So he's yours," she offered.
The three evildoers stopped right in front of Sonic's unresponsive body. She looked down at him with suspicion before eying Blaze. "You know, I can't help but feel like this is a big, fat, lie…"
Sensing this plan was about to backfire Blaze went onto plan B. She stuck her right hand out towards Lupe, assaulting her with a mind attack. "Sally, now!" she commanded as he kept Lupe rendered.
Lupe clutched the sides of her head, howling out in pain. In the meantime, Sally charged out from her hiding place and used her werewolf speed and ran towards the two minions accompanying Lupe. She did a spin kick, whacking the male zebra on his backside. He tumbled forward from the powerful kick and fell into Lupe, accidentally knocking her inside the circle.
Seeing she was within it, Sonic's opened his eyes and zipped out fisting his fist through the staunch hog's chest, killing him. The zebra tried to crawl on his belly but Sonic grabbed him and ripped into his neck using his fangs and killed him. Blaze lowered her arm and smiled seeing her plan had succeeded. Feeling her attack had ceased, Lupe tried to move forward but found she was contained within the circle by an unseen force. "What the hell is this?"
Sonic wiped his bloody mouth using the back of his arm. "That's a shame, things don't look good for you," he tsked.
Lupe growled lowly by his arrogance. "You imbecile, you have no idea what you're dealing with here."
"A bit of bluster wrapped up in a protection spell?" Blaze surmised, not threatened in the least by the she-wolf. "I'm unimpressed."
She sunk to her knees, knowing she wasn't about to be going anywhere for a while. "Let me guess, you've got questions."
"Where are Infinite's three other bones?" she demanded.
"I'm not answering anything to you, bitch," she leered.
Infuriated with her tone, Blaze outstretched her hand sending another brutal magic affliction Lupe's way. The wolf cried out and clutched at her chest feeling a tightening sensation. After a few seconds, she stopped. "Magically induced cardiac arrest—just short of lethal," she replied impassively.
"Look, I honestly don't know anything!" she snarled.
Blaze narrowed her eye at her. "Then I guess that means I'm just going to have to use some force. She put both hands out towards her head and made her fingers clutch the air. Lupe cried out as Blaze incited an infiltration of her memories and thoughts, meticulously sorting through the data in order to find any clues. A word kept popping up as she searched Lupe's mind for answers.
Opiekun.
"Opiekun," Blaze murmured out loud. She ceased her mind infiltration. "What does that mean?"
Lupe panted, trying to regain her breath. "It means guardians," she answered. "That's all I know."
"I need to find out more, that's not going to help me." She lifted her arms preparing another attack but stopped when she heard Lupe chortle softly.
Lupe started to chuckle darkly, only further confusing Blaze. "Why are you laughing?"
She snapped her fingers and both Sally and Sonic collapsed, completely knocked out.
Blaze looked surprised by her ability to perform magic from within the circle. "What did you do to them?"
"Put them to sleep," she replied. "I need Sonic alive for the time being. Thanks for delivering him to me by the way! Now all I need is Shadow."
"Too bad you can't physically get to them," she reminded.
"I knew you figured you'd impressed me with your little boundary spell surrounding your house, but it won't withstand us," she warned.
Blaze crossed her arms over her chest. "I feel rather confident in the spell I put in place. No one will be able to get through," she asserted in fact.
Lupe looked down at her wristwatch. "I already sent some of my friends to stop by and pay a visit to your home. In fact, they're on their way right now."
Blaze refused to show her any emotion of concern or worry. There was no way they'd be able to get through. "I'm not worried."
"Oh wait, that's right," she spoke in feigned realization. "That boundary spell is anchored by something rather important to keep it from falling. Now, what was it again…" She tapped her chin in thought before smirking wickedly. "I remember now. It's your heartbeat, isn't it?"
Blaze blanched when Lupe picked up on the private details behind her impenetrable boundary spell. If her heart stopped beating then the spell would perish, allowing anyone the ability to access their home. It had been a rather draining spell to perform, but she didn't have any belief that anyone would be able to figure out the loophole to stop its effects. "How did you-"
Lupe outstretched her arms on either side of her, placing her palms on the invisible force field keeping her contained in the circle. She muttered an incantation, causing Blaze to watch in sheer horror, as Lupe was able to absorb the force field within her hands. Lupe rose to her feet and stepped outside the circle slowly. The feline took a precautionary step backwards but kept her eyes on the wolf in front of her.
"You've been holding back on me," Blaze surmised, not realizing Lupe would be able to absorb her basic boundary spell performed on containing her.
Lupe dusted her skirt off and placed her hand on her right hip. "You're right, I have. However, that spell you placed around your house is one I won't be able to override with Infinite's help. This one is all up to me," she warned.
Blaze looked around the room, looking for anything she could use to deter Lupe from harming her. She knew Lupe's goal would be to kill her in order to have her heart stop, so she'd have to fight for her life. Blaze stuck her hand out to her left, lifting an old religious statue and guided her hand, having the levitating object follow her. She chucked it in Lupe's direction with the intention to kill. Lupe, on the other hand, refrained from showing any concern and stuck her hand in the direction of its collusion and formed a fist, forcing it to shatter into a million pieces before it even made contact with her.
"My turn now, kitten," she grinned before aiming both her hands in Blaze's direction. Blaze was shoved violently backward by an unseen force, toppling her over the aisles of booths in the church. Blaze groaned, feeling the bruises begin to form on her back and sides after it made contact with the hard wooden seats.
She heard the relaxed clicks of Lupe's boots as she made her way towards her.
Painfully, rolling over to her side, Blaze was too late to get away in time just as she came face to face with the wolf standing above her. Lupe stretched out her left hand towards Blaze's chest, while her right hand slowly started to form a tight fist. Blaze could feel her magic working on her, as she felt a constriction around her heart. Blaze writhed under Lupe's attack feeling her ability to breath slowly render. Lupe only grinned watching the cat's life slowly wither away.
Then after a few more seconds, Blaze stopped failing around and remained very still on the ground with her eyes still wide open. Dispelling her attack, Lupe kneeled down and placed her index and middle finger on the side of the feline's neck, looking for a pulse. When she felt nothing, she hummed in victory and rose back to a standing position. She had won this round.
•~•
Back in the witch cemetery, Mighty continued trying to enforce the Harvest Ritual to gain a link back to the ancestors and to revive the four girls. Slowly, he dipped his index and middle finger into the basin of blood and brought it up towards his face. "Resurrect your memory," he spoke, flicking the blood from his fingertips out towards the girls. He raised his hand towards the sky. "I beseech you," he begged, starting to lose hope. His eyes directed from the sky towards the dead girls. "Accept this offering as a sign of our faith…"
A loud boom of thunder sounded off in the near distance. Silver looked back up to the sky, seeing the dark clouds that were not there moments ago, roll in rather ominously. The winds started to pick up around them and Mighty could feel the shrill chill in the air. He may have not been able to see them, but he could feel many strong presences around him, and they were not pleased. "Oh boy…"
Suddenly, Silver felt something wet running from both of his eyes. Was he crying? He didn't care about these girl's lives, all he cared about was connecting their link back to the other side. As he placed his fingers to one of his eyes, he rubbed at the wet essence cascading down his muzzle. When he pulled his fingers back to look at them, he realized it was blood. "Mighty…" The black and red armadillo spun around only to reveal he too was bleeding from his eyes. Silver held out his soiled fingers towards him, showing evidence of the blood. "What is this? Why are we bleeding?" he questioned in concern.
Mighty rubbed the blood away from his own eyes, growing anxious at this omen. "They're angry!" he shouted. "They won't accept the sacrifice! I told you I could not do this!"
While Mighty vented his anger towards him, Silver felt very lightheaded, almost as if someone was trying to hurt him with magic. He looked around, seeing no one in sight, but eventually fell to his knees feeling weakened. "What's happening?" he mumbled.
Mighty paced back and forth in front of Silver, not recognizing his growing ailment. "They hate you and now they hate me for helping an evil, blood-sucking, vampire," he rambled.
CRACK!
Mighty turned to look at Silver just as he caught sight of his neck being snapped before him. His body dropped to the floor, dead for the time being. Realizing this was the ancestor's doing, Mighty panicked. "Look, I'm sorry!" he pleaded towards the sky. A loud boom of thunder shuddered around him. "I promise that I will never do this again, but please, just accept my offering," he begged. More thunder and lightning rumbled and roared around him. This was bad and he hoped to God that the ancestors will cave into his demands.