Guardian Chapter 40: Truth Be Told, a sonic the hedgehog fanfic

Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this enlightenment discussion… especially for the supportive one.

~保護者~

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Hello, MelGamingPlays! Yeah, Astra not... exactly... a good person here, is she? XD Sonic and Jet really did wind up in a pinch because of her, but mostly Jet. I think Sonic is gonna be fine. But, anyway, yes. Shadow must always have his precious guns. XD And yeah, Wave did great!

~保護者~

"Truth Be Told"

~保護者~

With Astra gone and whatever purpose behind this attack seemingly fulfilled, the stronger demons that remained alive began to strategically withdraw. The weaker, wilder demons - the ones most desperate to grow their strength - remained despite the mounting odds against them. Sonic, Tails, and the others worked alongside the Babylonians in the area to kill or drive out all these stragglers while Wave rushed over to Jet and his parents. "What happened?" she demanded, dropping down on her knees by her old friend's side. She had a suspicion, but she needed confirmation before she could appropriately respond.

"We were trapped by that woman," Alana told her quickly, "and attacked with terrible memories and the like." Her gaze shifted back to her son, full of unspoken fear. "I believe the same happened to him… though it was clearly far worse."

Wave was feeling protective. Incredibly so. It was difficult to let go of that feeling, made harder by the fact that Jet was still in a state of uncontrolled panic and terror. His stress-levels were through the roof and he was having a complete and total meltdown. His broken sobs were absolutely heart-wrenching. But, while she wanted to be the one to stay by his side and find any means at all of making him feel better, she understood that there were other things she needed to do. And besides that… he was in good hands already. Trust was not something she had to search herself to find. They had had it from the beginning.

Standing up, Wave took charge of the situation and directed firmly, "He needs to be taken inside. I don't care where. Whatever room is the calmest and quietest. Just don't touch him, or he might lash out at you without meaning to." She glanced down at him, panged with worry, then back at his parents. "Teleporting him once or twice should be fine, but try not to do it more than that. Try to have a room picked before you move him to avoid stressing him out further."

Seeing that Sein was still focused entirely on their son, Alana was the one to respond. After a quick nod, she asked, "Once there, what else can we do to help?"

"A blanket," Wave directed quickly. "Preferably a soft one. He's always liked those, and giving him one now could calm him down a little. They're good comfort items. Work on that and getting him inside to begin with and I'll join you shortly after." Another nod. Alana turned to Sein and Jet, teleporting them inside without another word. Once they were gone, Wave closed her eyes and focused. It would take a fair bit of her energy to take out all these demons at once, but their numbers were manageable by now… and she did not have the time or patience to hunt them down individually.

Golden markings began to appear on the bodies of her foes, spreading like wildfire through their ranks. The second every beast bore these Hexan symbols, the marks ignited in a glorious blaze of explosive destruction. Flesh and blood rained down from each point of death, but the mess could be cleaned up later. It was not her concern at the moment. Instead, she directed her attention to the other important matter at hand.

It had taken more energy than she would have liked to carry out her attack. She was always getting after her friends for not resting enough and thus depleting her energy reserves, but it seemed she had failed to heed her own warnings this time. No matter. She could rest later. Teleportation was what she needed to focus on. Teleporting her nearest allies to her location, that is. It happened to be Steam and Cream. If she were in a better mood, she might have found it amusing how that rhymed. Now just wasn't the time for that.

Not missing a beat, Cream addressed her. "Yes, Miss Wave?"

Wave fought to keep her voice even. "Jet's out of commission. Some serious crap went down and I intend on dealing with it. I also intend on sending you lot someplace safe in the meantime. But before we get to any of that, I need to know-"

Cream, for once, decided to forgo her usual manners. "What went wrong on our end," she interrupted. Then she sighed. "Several things happened that should not have, Miss Wave. To start with, Sonic was too easily separated from us, despite having originally been fairly close to me. And he was attacked and cast aside by a woman before anyone noticed or could intervene. I believe that was very deliberate on her part. And then…" Her gaze flicked in the direction of where Espio had last been spotted, but she ultimately just trailed off and said nothing more.

Wave acknowledged her unspoken concern with a nod. "Something triggered a rise in his Darkness," she prompted tensely. "I felt the spike. We all did."

"Yes," Cream murmured.

"And not just one," Wave continued, "but two. The first may well have just been an effect of that magic needle, but the second spike was larger and sharper. Steam, you were fairly near to him. Did you see what happened?"

The green hedgehog nodded. "He got hold of a demon's sword and, more or less, Darkness flowed from the sword and into him. The reaction was strong enough that it caused that second spike pretty much instantaneously."

Cream looked troubled. "Why would he have done that?" she questioned, as any sane person no doubt would. "Surely he would have known better…"

"His Darkness already flared once before that," Wave reminded carefully, "so it's quite possible that he just wasn't in a rational state of mind at the time. Darkness causes people to react based off of emotions, remember, not logic and reason. Our past dealings with Kaden and his Darkness are proof enough of that."

I should check on Armaris soon, then… Steam thought. Then he added, "It's honestly the most likely scenario, considering who Espio is outside of the influence of Darkness. Not sure what to do other than letting the spike subside on its own."

"It may not," Cream murmured. "When Mister Kaden's Darkness used to flare up in the past, it never seemed to settle down without outside help. Usually, Miss Analia would do things to calm him, though I don't know what."

"This situation isn't as simple as that. Kaden's Darkness reacted naturally to things. This is because of magic, remember?" Wave shook her head, dismayed. Ever since those markings have started appearing, he's barely needed to be pushed at all to give in to his Darkness, bit by little bit. He's slipping so quickly and so easily… to the point where even he is virtually helpless to stop it. The evil he's facing from within… just how powerful is it? Things haven't gotten too serious yet, but if this keeps up… Taking in a small breath, she forced herself to let go of that train of thought and refocus on the conversation at hand. "I don't know what to do, either… Not about this, anyway. But I do know what to do about other things. Steam, mind helping me out a bit?"

Steam gave another nod. "Just tell me what you need help with," he answered simply.

Casting her gaze about the ruins of the once pristine gardens, Wave said, "It's not as safe here as Jet or I would have liked. Certainly not safe enough to warrant us all staying here grouped together as one, big, easy target." She fixed her gaze back on the pair of them. "I'm sending you all to a far more secure location on Mobius to lay low for a while. You'll be protected, but I'd still like you to help keep an eye on everyone regardless, Steam. I won't be there, and neither will Jet. I don't dare move him now, and he needs me here."

The hedgehog took a long, deep breath before giving one more, short nod. "I'll do everything I can," he promised.

Visibly relieved, Wave allowed her once stiff posture to relax to a degree. "Thank you. Really." She took in a breath and let it out. "I don't have the energy to grab everyone and then also send you all to Mobius. Will you two gather everyone over here, please?"

Cream quickly glanced in Espio's direction. "I will fetch Espio." When Wave hesitated ever-so-slightly, she asserted firmly and yet calmly, "He would never hurt me while he maintains any degree of control over himself."

Wave sighed. "Of course… You're right. Go ahead, then."

Steam looked to Wave, then glanced around the immediate area. "I'll help with getting everyone to Mobius as well, if you'd like."

"I'd appreciate that," she told him sincerely while Cream walked away. "For now, though, see if you can't track down our rogue pilot. He seems to have disappeared above the cloud line. I'll go find and check on Sonic." With a nod, Steam leapt into the air and burst off using his fire.

It took no real time for the group to be gathered up after that. Wave returned to them with Sonic (who was pretty worse for wear, but not severely injured) in tow. It was he who first asked, "Where are we going, anyway? I'm pretty sure Mobius is a lot less protected than any place here."

"Not quite right," Wave sighed. She turned to Espio, who had briefly busied himself with removing whatever shredded bits of cloth remained of his shirt. "Will they be able to stay in-"

He cut her off. "That depends on her mood."

"Uh… whose?" Sonic questioned.

"The village elder," Wave answered. She thought for a second, then shook her head. "Whatever. Look, whatever strings you need to pull, Espio, do it. If it causes any trouble, I'll help you deal with them later. The barriers around the Highlands are the strongest barriers available on either world. It's the best place to hide right now."

"I know."

"Right. So, time to go, then." She turned to Steam. "Ready?"

Steam gave a nod in response. "Whenever you are." Without another word, they teleported everyone onto Mobius.

The group landed just outside of the barriers in question, but… not quite perfectly. In fact, they fell straight into a tree. Sonic, in particular, wound up crashing through some weak branches and straight onto the ground with Tails not far behind. "Ow…" the fox mumbled, sitting up. He then quickly looked around and was relieved to see that his ship had landed without a hitch. "Everyone else okay?"

"Yes," Cream answered, gingerly picking her way out of the tree as she spoke. Shadow just glowered at the snow and dropped down to the ground without another word. Sonic was quick to help him up when he was unable to land properly on his feet. Steam dropped out of the tree and glanced around to take stock of where they were currently, allowing the others ample time to check on one another.

Ignoring everyone else for the moment, Espio dropped out of the tree and approached the barriers. He slipped inside with no issue, something Sonic didn't doubt that they wouldn't be able to do. Sometimes they were allowed passage, but this time appeared to be different. To let them all in, he pulled out a knife and seamlessly drew it up from the ground to about head height, opening a rift just wide enough for people to pass through. Taking the hint, Sonic edged his way through, bringing Shadow along with him. Cream followed shortly after, then Tails. Steam followed along behind them with Armaris trailing behind him within his shadow.

The barrier fell shut again the second Espio removed his knife, and he began walking without a word to any of them. Begrudgingly, Sonic began trekking through the snow after him. "How far away from here is the edge of the village?"

"Very far," Cream answered when Espio didn't. "We can't teleport right here, but we can a little ways ahead."

Armaris poked her head out of Steam's shadow. "Yeah… it's agitating." With that unhelpful piece of information, she sunk back down.

"A safety measure," Cream corrected, tone light and almost happy in spite of the circumstances. She had always loved these mountains.

"How far do we have to walk, exactly?" Sonic sighed.

"About fifty yards, and then we can teleport."

"Great. I'd like to get out of the snow." He paused, thinking, then questioned, "Wait… why is it always snowy out here but never in the village? The forest can't be that dense over there." Tails gave him a look. "Or… it can be and I'm just stupid. Great. I'll shut up now."

Tails laughed and patted his shoulder placatingly. "Nah, you're fine."

"Everyone is stupid now and then. Just, seems that you do it a bit more than 'now and then'," Armaris piped up, snickering faintly.

Steam glanced back at her with a raised eyebrow. "Says the crazed cat lady." His comment earned some barely concealed laughter from Tails.

The group was whisked away in a teleport (courtesy of their resident ninja) not two seconds later, landing just barely within the outskirts of the village Hyale. Turning to them, Espio instructed firmly, "Stay here." He shot a look at Armaris in particular. "That includes you."

Armaris rolled her eyes and reformed from the shadow. "Fine. I won't cause trouble." Though he didn't look like he believed her, Espio also didn't argue. He turned on his heel and left without further comment.

Even at risk of asking another stupid question, Sonic spoke. "Why'd he drop us off here if there's a chance we might not even be welcome?"

Though Tails opened his mouth to comment, Cream beat him to the punch. "Espio's homelands can be a wondrous, beautiful place, if you know how to survive," she told him. Her eyes sought out the minuscule gaps in the leaves far overhead and the darkening skies beyond them. "However… we stand at the end of the day, when shadows grow long and the night comes cold. Sinister spirits and terrible monsters wander these lands, and sometimes once-good people turn mean and hard." Sonic pursed his lips together, absorbing her words and warnings with great care. "You must mind yourself, always," she continued. "Do not wander off beyond the borders of whatever villages he takes us to, no matter what, and especially do not do so alone. Be careful what you say and to whom. Most importantly, be ready to fight for your life at any given moment. His people have lived here their whole lives and can survive the dangers easily. We cannot."

"Long story short, stick close and hold your tongue," Armaris said simply, her eyes drifting in the direction Espio had gone. "If you need anything, let someone know before doing anything."

"They're right," Tails chimed in. "Obviously I've never lived here and don't know near as much, but even we outsiders know that these people are trained assassins who very much prefer to kill first and ask questions later. It's just… better to be safe than sorry."

"I thought we were safe here," Sonic grumbled. "I mean, I get that we've hardly come here much, but it's never seemed like a problem or like anyone wanted us to not be here."

"There is a difference between ignoring outsiders and rejecting their presence," Shadow said. "Usually, we can get away with a visit here or there without issue purely because we have a friend who lives here and holds authority within the community. He is not, however, the authority of this village. If she decides we cannot be here, then so be it. Her rejection alone is all it would take for our lives to potentially be endangered."

"...Which is why Wave mentioned Espio needing to pull some strings," Sonic surmised. "Got it. But, what do we do in the meantime?"

Armaris, in response to this, laid on the ground and curled up for now. "If you need me, don't touch me." Shrugging, Tails went to sit by a nearby tree. Sonic wound up joining him along with Shadow (he was basically being dragged around and didn't have much choice).

Cream saw an opportunity and went to sit by Armaris instead. Taking care to heed the feline's warning, she settled into the cool grass and asked, "May I speak with you?"

The cat cracked an eye open and blinked once before rolling onto her side. "Sure. What do you wanna talk about?"

"You and Espio seem to know each other well," Cream answered immediately. "Generally speaking, I do as well, but not to the same extent. I was very young when I first met him. I've always had questions that I could never quite get answers to… though I would understand if you do not wish to answer any of them, either."

Armaris shrugged. "Ah, ask away. If it's too personal, I'll say so and we can just move on. Deal?"

The bunny brightened a bit. "Of course," she agreed easily. Then she paused to give her request some more careful thought. "I suppose… I've never had very many specific questions. It was always just that… well, he never really spoke of his past prior to meeting some of our mutual friends." She paused again, thinking once more, then turned her head to look directly at Armaris. "One thing I did always wonder about, though, was why he never mentioned any friends in his life prior to those ones. Were you a friend of his?"

"I was a friend of his. We were… pretty close, if I can say so myself. I more or less grew up with him." Armaris scratched at her chin faintly. "As to why he didn't really talk about things before a certain point… I can honestly see him just not giving enough of a shit to do it."

This made Cream crack a smile. "I suppose that is true enough. He is not the sort to dwell much."

Armaris seemed to suddenly have an idea, properly sitting up and looking at Cream rather intensely for a moment. "What's happened with Espio? Like, regarding his arm and all?"

Cream's expression immediately saddened. "We don't know exactly… and neither does he. He cannot remember at all. The best we can do is speculate based off of the evidence from the time, if that is alright." The cat gave a gentle nod in response, hoping for any answer that made remote sense. Cream sighed. "Many years ago… we fought a war against a race who called themselves the Nocturnians. Toward the end of that great conflict, a woman whom he had been starting to care for was captured, alongside Espio himself and a separate friend of ours. I don't know how long they were held captive, but from what our friend Rouge said at the time, they were kept in a cell all together under the watch of the Nocturnian's secondary leader. Her name was Shade."

She grew quiet for a second, remembering the woman in question, then forced herself to proceed. "Rouge was beaten badly and unconscious when we found her and so was Espio. The other woman was dead. He was unconscious for some time and nearly died, but Rouge regained consciousness before too long. From what she said, he had been brazen in his dealings with Shade. He… Well, he got on her bad side on more than one occasion by being outright defiant, refusing to fear her, mouthing off, and so on."

This made Cream crack a smile. "I suppose that is true enough. He is not the sort to dwell much."

Armaris seemed to suddenly have an idea, properly sitting up and looking at Cream rather intensely for a moment. "What's happened with Espio? Like, regarding his arm and all?"

The bunny brightened a bit. "Of course," she agreed easily. Then she paused to give her request some more careful thought. "I suppose… I've never had very many specific questions. It was always just that… well, he never really spoke of his past prior to meeting some of our mutual friends." She paused again, thinking once more, then turned her head to look directly at Armaris. "One thing I did always wonder about, though, was why he never mentioned any friends in his life prior to those ones. Were you a friend of his?"

This made Cream crack a smile. "I suppose that is true enough. He is not the sort to dwell much."

Armaris seemed to suddenly have an idea, properly sitting up and looking at Cream rather intensely for a moment. "What's happened with Espio? Like, regarding his arm and all?"

Cream's expression immediately saddened. "We don't know exactly… and neither does he. He cannot remember at all. The best we can do is speculate based off of the evidence from the time, if that is alright." The cat gave a gentle nod in response, hoping for any answer that made remote sense. Cream sighed. "Many years ago… we fought a war against a race who called themselves the Nocturnians. Toward the end of that great conflict, a woman whom he had been starting to care for was captured, alongside Espio himself and a separate friend of ours. I don't know how long they were held captive, but from what our friend Rouge said at the time, they were kept in a cell all together under the watch of the Nocturnian's secondary leader. Her name was Shade."

"One thing me and him had in common with people we don't like," Armaris giggled, covering her mouth. "Sounds about right, honestly."

"It may well be what prompted Shade to somehow beat him nearly to death, though," Cream murmured. "And she did so more than once, each time allowing him to recover from the brink, only to bring him back to that point immediately afterward. His eye sustained a deep gash during that time that resulted in a scar that keeps it permanently shut. His arm was paralysed and has never regained function or feeling. His left leg also still suffers pain and weakness to this day." She shook her head. "And there are many, many years of his life that he can no longer remember in any capacity."

Way to kill the mood, kiddo. "Yeah… things happen like that, sometimes," Armaris murmured while settling down her suddenly tensed muscles.

Cream glanced at her. "I am not sure if this was the case when you knew him, but before all of this, I knew Espio to be a calm and rather neutral individual. Though, not one who didn't allow himself to feel and express emotions when he saw fit. Was this true for you as well?"

"Yeah, honestly. It was always sort of… his thing."

"And you have no doubt noticed how drastically that has changed, yes?"

"Of course. You'd have to be blind to not see it."

"Yes," Cream nodded. She took in a breath, then let it out in another sigh. "We don't know what the Nocturnians did, precisely, only that they did something to him that entirely blocked out his emotions from almost the moment he regained consciousness following his rescue. He was utterly incapable of feeling for many, many centuries as a result of it. It is only very recently that some have begun to resurface. But even now, most emotions are entirely lost to him. Sadness, joy, and excitement, just to name a small few. The Nocturnians are entirely to blame for their loss."

There was a noticeable tension across the cat's shoulders, a flare of anger present in her eyes that she forced herself to quell for the time. "That's awful. In every form of the word."

"It was," Cream acknowledged sadly. "Looking back… I suppose it feels even more so for me, if only because it happened when I was so young. It seemed to… frightening, at the time." She grew quiet for a long moment before forcing a smile. "But… things did get better over time, so I suppose there is that." She looked at Armaris. "By the way… for all his fearsome reputation, it turns out that he is a very good caretaker of young, needy children."

Armaris seemed to relax somewhat at that, sighing softly. "He surprised me with that one, too. That fucker has always been pretty decent if nothing else at it."

Cream's smile managed to grow a little. "Ah, so you already knew that, then?" she asked, genuinely curious by this bit of news.

"First-hand experience, kiddo. Had to learn it the hard way." Armaris cracked a smile, chuckling. "When I was extremely young, my dad split off from my mom and brought me here to Hyale. Had some acquaintances, friends, whatever they were. I ended up growing up in the village with Espio."

Curiosity bloomed in Cream's innocent eyes. "Really? I never knew that… Were you two friends as well?"

"Yep. That's why we seem to have a bond. Can't forget about him, and I'm glad he still seems to remember me."

"If I may be so bold to say… I don't think he ever could forget you. If you two have truly been friends for so long, I doubt he would relinquish his memories of that so easily." Cream smiled to herself. "He reminds me of Mister Shadow. Both have few close bonds, but they always seem to hold tight to the ones that are there."

Armaris shrugged. "I've had people decide to forget me over time, so I didn't really think it impossible. We split off to go our separate ways. I guess we're both the loner type, and we just did our own thing."

At this, Cream grinned at the chance to prove her newfound friend wrong… if only slightly. "With that in mind, I suppose it might shock you just how many friends he had at once in the past," she teased.

"I wouldn't be completely surprised, since I've noticed in the past that the loners are the ones that get swarmed somehow," Armaris teased in return, glancing off in the direction Espio had gone once more.

"True enough," Cream giggled, "but looking back… this was a bit much. There were nearly twenty of us, once upon a time, including him."

Armaris nodded gently. "I wouldn't have imagined that many, but I suppose it makes sense."

With a mere nod, Cream shifted gears a little bit. "Since I've asked several questions already, did you have any others you wanted to ask?"

"Ah, not really. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to ask," Armaris assured with a gentle smile.

Cream nodded once. "Alright. Oh, and on that note, might I suggest something?" She turned her head to look back at Armaris again. "I know he's standoffish and whatnot, as per usual, but I think it might do you both some good to sit down and talk together like you and I did. You know… to catch up."

The cat's smile grew a touch. "You're pretty smart, kid. I like you."

Another warm giggle. "The feeling is mutual," Cream replied. Not a full minute passed before Espio returned to the group and gestured wordlessly for them to follow. Seeing him return, Cream and the others were quick to get back on their feet. "I hope we did not upset anyone with our arrival," she murmured.

Ignoring her concern, Espio turned and led the way into the village. Sonic couldn't help but look around constantly, surprised by how many people were out and about at the moment. The place usually seemed like such a ghost town… "I didn't realize this many people actually lived here."

Armaris snickered. "Of course there's a bunch of people." Tails chuckled.

Sonic floundered for a way to defend himself from this new batch of teasing. "It's just- I mean- there aren't even enough houses for this many people."

"That you can see," Espio remarked dryly, no trace of humor in his tone. "The trees are taller than you seem to realize."

"They are ninja, shinobi, and whatever you want to call 'em. If you could see everywhere they were all the time, then what would be the point of the title?" Steam shrugged softly.

Espio suddenly switched the subject. Flicking a glance specifically at Armaris as they approached his isolated home, he simply said, "Do not freak out." Sonic gave him a confused look.

Armaris stuck her tongue out at Espio, huffing. "Ass." That comment went ignored.

Before Sonic or anyone else could even ask, a particularly thick branch encircling the tree home suddenly began to slither and move. The "branch" then began to shift color and texture from brown wood to vibrant purple scales right before their very eyes. By the time the owner of those scales had drifted down to ground level, it was abundantly clear what they were looking at. Before them hovered a serpentine dragon not unlike the mythical Lung dragons Sonic had seen in artwork before, complete with the shaggy head hair and permanently grinning mouth full of massive teeth. It rumbled at them, but Espio didn't seem in the slightest bit concerned.

"Dragon," Armaris remarked bluntly. "Wish I could say I was surprised, Espio."

As with before, Espio chose to ignore her. That seemed to be his go-to response to everything today. However, he did acknowledge the beast briefly. "Must you always cause a scene?" he muttered, no doubt referring to all the stares they were now receiving from various younger villagers around them. The dragon rumbled again. It almost sounded like laughter this time, at least to Sonic's ears.

The dragon turned its large head to look over the group, then allowed its gaze to land on Armaris. Without ever moving its mouth, it spoke. "We had thought you long dead, Little Shadow."

Armaris scoffed. "Remember that one fucker that tried to kill me a long time ago?"

"I recall the crimson stain you left behind."

"Yep. That should have told you that I wasn't gonna die unless I decided to. So, ha."

For a second, the dragon seemed ready to retort in a way that might genuinely cause an argument. However, it soon stopped itself and let out another rumbling laugh. "I remember that attitude… very well," it murmured. Espio openly rolled his eyes (well, eye) at the dragon before jumping up onto the porch-like area surrounding his house and disappearing inside. Shrugging, Tails flew up after him.

"Glad to know you remember," Armaris scoffed, crossing her arms. Rumbling out one more laugh, the dragon turned away and flew slowly back into the mess of branches overhead, returning to the perch it had claimed before and closing its eyes to rest.

Stunned, Sonic stared after it and asked, "I thought there haven't been any living dragons since… since ancient times?" Cream shook her head, but didn't elaborate for him this time. Shaking his own head in wonder, Sonic then asked, "Okay, so, who the hell was that, Armaris?"

"An asshole-" Armaris stopped herself for a moment, realizing that it was an actual question that she was answering. "Oh, right. They've been around each other for who knows how long. So, realistically he's been alive since then."

"They trained together when they were very young," Cream further explained. "Back then, when dragons were more abundant than they are now, it was common practice. They fought many battles side-by-side during their youth, similar to battles side-by-side during their youth, similar to Kath and Azerel, but since dragons and chameleons age very differently, Aku eventually grew too old to be anything more than a companion. He only remains alive because, when I was still young, they tied their life forces together via magic. So long as Mister Espio remains alive, Aku will, too."

Still trying to digest this, Sonic asked, "So… he's not gonna bite our heads off or something? I mean, if looks could kill…"

Cream giggled. "No, he would never. He is really very sweet." That was most definitely not the word Sonic would have used to describe him, based off what he had just seen.

Armaris scoffed again. "Sweet isn't the right word, but I agree he won't be doing much on the eating of appendages or limbs."

Emerald eyes briefly rolled. "Thanks. You guys really sound so confident and make me feel so much better."

"Just doing my job," Armaris commented.

At this point, Shadow finally decided he was fed up with the banter and demanded, "Enough, already. Let's go inside." Sonic opened his mouth to argue, but stopped. It was cold out here, after all. Very, very cold, in fact. He didn't exactly like that little detail.

In response, Cream smiled. "Of course. We do need to work out sleeping arrangements and the like, after all." With that, she used her large ears to slowly fly up to the house. Sonic followed shortly after with a nimble leap, though that was definitely tricky since he had to take his brother along for the ride… a fact which Shadow no doubt did not appreciate. Armaris leapt up after them, Steam following shortly behind her with his fire.

Once inside, Sonic and the others were met by an… odd sight. There were knives. Everywhere. And not just laying around, but actually stabbed into the walls. Espio was angrily ripping them out and tossing them aside, but plenty more remained. Each had a little note tied to it, and Sonic briefly read one as he helped Shadow sit down.

"Missed you"

Realized who must have been here, Sonic instantly understood their friend's agitation. "Wait- What the hell? When did she come here? And why?" Cream looked around, at a loss for how to answer. It must have been sometime recent, when we were all gone... but when, exactly?

Armaris snatched one of the knives out of the wall herself and cast a short glance to Espio. Definitely gonna be asking about all of this.

Just as another knife was ripped out, a small commotion broke out outside. Irritated beyond all words, Espio threw the blade aside and disappeared in the direction of the noise to investigate. Figuring they should also see what was up, Sonic and Tails hurried after him while Cream chose to remain inside with Shadow. Armaris practically threw herself out after them while Steam stayed back for now.

Sonic and Tails caught up just in time to see something small and black and very energetic slam into Espio full-force. He snatched it in his good hand and held it away from himself a bit while frowning in a mix of confusion and continued irritation… for the thing he was holding was the back of a shirt, and wearing that shirt was a small… child? Only… that child was active very aggressively, biting and clawing at his arm relentlessly, hissing all the while with angry demonic eyes glaring at everyone around them. Soon, two more such child-demons lunged for him in an effort to save the first one, but he blurred out of their way before they could reach him.

Tails looked aghast at the sight. "Oh, man…" he muttered to himself, just loud enough for Sonic to hear. "This is so not good…"

Armaris didn't hesitate in the slightest, storming forward with her fists clenched and teeth gritted. Oh, you little fucks are gonna get it now.

Too confused to immediately react, Sonic watched the three demons for a moment longer. Despite their display of hostility and aggression, they were visibly drooping with exhaustion. They were also young, way younger than any demons he had ever imagined. If he had to guess, he'd have placed their ages at no more than four each. Maybe five. And they look alike, too… Siblings, then. Maybe even… triplets? In that instant, it was like a light bulb went off in his head. "Oh, no way is this them." Tails gave him a horrified look.

While this was happening, the two remaining demons lunged for Espio again. He dodged a second time, but caught one of them under his arm, restraining her while still keeping ahold of the first girl he'd caught. This resulted in more clawing and biting, but he ignored that for now as he watched the third crouch a short distance away and hiss at them. This conjured up some rather vivid memories of Espio having to deal with young Armaris in the very distant past, but now was by no means the time to think about it.

Armaris kept walking toward the one that wasn't yet restrained, clear anger evident in her eyes. Seeing her approach, the demonic child hissed louder but rapidly backed off, prompting the small crowd of people to get out of the way immediately. None of them showed any sign of fear, but they had clearly decided to let Espio handle this situation instead of them. Despite the child backing off, Armaris kept up her approach and teleported behind the child, lunging down to grab her like Espio had the other two.

Tails was first to speak up again. "Oh, man, now what do we do?" he asked, fighting back apparent rising panic. "We can't keep them here! That'll bring him to us for sure!"

"Slow down," Armaris muttered, glaring momentarily before realizing what she was doing. "Don't immediately begin panicking, because then we'll really be fucked."

"It's hard not to!" Tails quickly retorted with a spark of rare temper. "I don't think you understand, these kids belong to the God of Demons! You know, the very same guy who already set his armies upon us once today? If we trap his kids here, he's gonna genuinely try to kill us this time!" Sonic tried his damnedest not to feel too alarmed by that declaration, he really did. He couldn't quite help but gulp, though.

Gritting his teeth, Espio shifted his hold on one of his captives as she tried to wriggle her way free. "We are not trapping them here," he asserted firmly. "There are more than enough of their ilk in the woods without adding them to the mix."

"Then we have to figure out what to do with them, without pissing him off." Armaris stated simply.

"How did they even get here?" Sonic demanded, eyeing the three warily.

"They must have somehow been dragged along when Wave and Steam teleported us," Tails mumbled. "Meaning they were close to one of us when we left. They might have been getting ready to attack, judging by their demeanor." He shook his head, then said, "We can't keep them here, but we also can't just drop them off somewhere… so what do we do with them?"

One of the girls bit down particularly hard on Espio's arm, and a flare of unusual anger prompted him to swiftly knock her out - albeit without doing any real harm to her at all. Still… this was something he normally would have never done. After witnessing this, the second and third girls settled down considerably in a display of instinctual self-preservation. Tails and Sonic traded a worried look, but didn't comment on it. Instead, Sonic asked again, "So we can't just dump them off somewhere and we also can't keep them… so what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know," Tails answered softly. "There… isn't any right answer here. Just multiple wrong ones with varying degrees of incredible risk."

Armaris took a long, deep breath before glancing back as Steam dropped to the ground. "My best guess is that we need to get them away from here," the hedgehog said.

"But we can't do that," Tails protested in dismay. "The second we leave the barriers, we'll be sensed and so will the kids. That could draw the God, or at least his armies, right to us."

"But if we keep them here, what's to say that he won't just come right for us anyway?" Armaris asked, a frown growing on her face.

"Nothing within the barriers can be sensed from the outside," Espio muttered. "For the moment, he will not know they are here."

Steam bit his lip. "The thing is, the God is fucking intelligent. He knows a lot of this group, and there's a damn good chance he'll know to come and raise hell on Mobius if they're not on Babylon."

"How would he know us?" Sonic asked, utterly confused. Of course, he knew that the God had fought with some of his friends, but most?

"Because he knows Jet, first off. As such, he's definitely got a lot of information regarding those that Jet is allied with, close to, and more. He keeps tabs on his enemies."

Though he shook his head, Sonic dropped that matter for now. It wasn't as important as dealing with these freaking demonic kids was. "Would he have actually known these kids were outside of the barriers here, though? I mean, does he keep that much of an eye on them?"

"Only if he's paying direct attention, which…" Steam's eyes widened and he bit off a curse. Ah, fuck. It's the same shit again...

Seeing his expression, Tails quickly asked, "What is it, Steam?"

Unsure of how to explain otherwise, Steam growled to himself before biting out, "He's just going to go after both planets until he finds them." Quickly, he began typing out a message to Wave, explaining the situation they were all in.

"Until he's able to track them down… yeah," Tails agreed in a whisper. Sonic felt himself pale. "The second he realizes they're not where they're supposed to be… we might be done for. Even if we were to set the triplets loose right this second, the fact that they were trapped here at all will likely still be enough to incur his wrath." Armaris tapped her foot rapidly in agitation at this, stalking off somewhere for the time being.

Steam took a moment to breathe in deeply, running his fingers along his hair. "Alright, so, we need to prepare. First off, we have to make sure they're not injured when shit hits the fan."

With a subtle glance at the one girl who had been knocked out, Sonic mumbled, "They don't look like they're hurt. But what are we supposed to do with them? We can't just let them run amok again, obviously."

Espio seemed to give this some thought. "There are containment areas outside of the village," he eventually said. "They are designed for Hollows, but other demons can be held there as well."

"Do you think it'll work for the time being?" Steam asked, simply for affirmation.

"They will hold," was the simple reply. "The only danger lies in opening the seals long enough to put them in without letting Hollows out."

Steam nodded. "We can talk about that more later. Second, we need to prepare. As much as we can.

"That means more training, for one thing," Tails added quickly with a look at Sonic, "for you and Cream in particular. Though it certainly wouldn't hurt the rest of us to spar a bit as well." He gave that matter a brief moment of thought, then perked up visibly when a new idea struck. "Actually, on that note… Steam, would you be up to helping with a bit of training? It'd help us learn more about your fighting style so we can coordinate with you better, plus an extra sparring partner might do everyone some good."

There was a short few seconds where Steam glanced over everyone before nodding. "Yeah. We can sort out how we'll be doing that in a moment. For now, is there anything else we should get done that you guys can think of?"

"I really don't think there's anything else to do," Sonic remarked. As he spoke, he warily eyed the two conscious demonic girls, who were starting to grow restless again. "...Aside from dealing with those three, I mean. But is containing them like that really a good idea? I mean, wouldn't that make things worse when their dad comes looking for them?"

"Truthfully… we don't have many other options. They're a huge danger to at least two people in this group by just being here, and we can't just leave them roaming about."

Tails saw the wisdom in that almost instantly. "Crap, you're right about that. Obviously letting them run free is a bad idea, but I hadn't considered…" He trailed off, shook his head, then switched gears. "We should sort this matter out before we do anything else. It's the most pressing issue."

Steam glanced to Espio. "I know you're capable of handling the containment, but I'd prefer you take someone else with you just to help keep those three in check on the way there," he said softly, glancing in the direction Armaris had went off in. "Besides, could be good for you two to catch up." Not in the mood for any of this, Espio just let out a tiny huff, turned on his heel, and began walking. He didn't bother to acknowledge Steam beyond that brief sound, nor did he wait for Armaris to be filled in or anything.

Without missing a beat, the telltale sign of Armaris in her shadow shot across the area to catch up to Espio, the cat launching out and landing a couple of feet to his side. "So, going out to seal them?"

Having long since grown familiar with the slight sounds of her creeping around, Espio knew well before she spoke that she was coming. As such, he didn't bother reaching for a knife or anything like he would have had it been most anyone else. He simply kept walking and said, "Yes."

"Well, then. Guess I'll come with you. Take this little fuck with me, too." Armaris held out the demonic child, having knocked the girl unconscious during the time she was missing. "Didn't think you would wanna come all the way back to fetch her." He let out a vague hum in response, but said nothing. His bad mood was readily apparent, and to some extent his negativity was rolling off of him in waves. Armaris pursed her lips for a moment before switching topics. "So, hi. Nice to see you again. Wanna catch up?"

Though he frowned slightly for a second, in the end he didn't argue. He couldn't quite find a good reason to, no matter how much a part of him did just want to argue purely because he could. Now is not the time, he reminded himself. As such, he held his tongue. The pair reached the north-eastern edge of the village (they had been very close to it from the start) and soon began walking into the dense wilderness surrounding the settlement.

"Alright, good to see that you're not against it. I'll start. When we first split off, I ended up slowly becoming a pretty well-renowned thief. I was damn good at it, and I had a lot of fun doing it," Armaris said softly, smiling in reminiscence.

Espio raised an eyebrow slightly and commented dryly, "So when you stated as a small child that you would 'abso-freakin-lutely be an amazing thief', you were not joking."

"Did I ever joke about my dreams?" she teased, winking gently.

"Yes," he responded swiftly.

"Ass." He shrugged slightly, not disagreeing with her statement. "So, what did you do, besides obviously stay a badass and make a group of friends larger than I could ever imagine having?"

Another shrug, this one smaller. "Various things," he answered enigmatically. "It depends on which time period you are referring to."

"Any of them. Pick one."

Resisting a third shrug of his own, he thought for a moment before finally saying, "At one point… I was wrangled into working in a detective agency with two others. The cases were never anything serious, but often my boss would get us into ridiculous situations I then had to save us from."

Armaris snickered faintly. "'Course you'd get wrapped up in something like that."

"You act as though I make a habit of it," Espio murmured, side-stepping a half-frozen puddle on his way through the trees.

"Mm… perhaps." Armaris thought for a moment, before turning her full gaze to him. "I actually met back up with my dad after some time. I kicked him in the face at first, but we ended up having a good conversation after." The cat simply walked over the puddle, her shadows keeping the ice from cracking under her weight.

Hearing this bit of news, Espio blinked a couple of times. He hadn't seen or heard of that man in… multiple, multiple eons. Last he'd heard from her, she hadn't even had the desire to see the man again. "Considering the threats you spouted in past," he commented with careful neutrality, "I am surprised kicking was all you did."

"Okay, so, that kick might have been enough to cause a fracture somewhere, and I'd already gotten consolation in that regard through someone else I'm close to now." She smiled gently. "What about your parents?"

Though this wasn't something he typically was willing to discuss with anyone, Espio recognized that she had viewed his parents as her own for some time. If only for that reason, he decided she had a right to know. "They died," he said flatly. "I was told their causes of death at the time… but whatever was said was likely a lie, given the secret nature of their work. Regardless, it was a very long time ago." Long enough ago to no longer matter, he tried to tell himself yet again. To this day, he could never quite believe his own words.

Armaris' gaze grew downcast, an almost tangible shade covering her mood for a long and painful moment. "Regardless of their causes of death, it still hurts to hear." He didn't acknowledge that, instead choosing to block out much thought about it as he usually did. He focused on continuing the long walk through the snow and trees toward their destination. After some silence, Armaris coughed and let the emotions go, letting her attention return forward. "I should probably explain this, since it's really important to me. As of some long time ago, I was chosen by Cere, the Goddess of Judgement, to become the successor of her position. I've been training under her for a long time now so I'll be ready to take over for her when she deems me ready."

After giving that a bit of thought, Espio responded simply (and yet sincerely, coming from him), "A fitting position for you."

"Yeah. I'm still kind of worried, especially because of the responsibility it holds, the kind of reputation she has, so on and so forth to bring endless amounts of anxiety."

"You have done well in positions of responsibility in the past."

"But this is being a literal goddess. Someone who helps keep balance in the whole of fucking existence. That's some next level responsibility."

With four simple, direct words, Espio offered his support and firmly refused to accept any further argument on the matter. "You will be fine."

The cat rolled her eyes. "Still a stubborn fucker as always, eh?" He didn't deign to answer that question, rhetorical as it was. "I may as well ask this. What have you been doing recently?"

"Whatever has been needed," was the vague response. After a small moment of pause, he gave in and elaborated. "At times, the elder requires me to carry out missions others cannot. Other times, situations arise like this where I am required to deal with outside matters. The specifics vary wildly each time."

"That sounds about right. Realistically, I've been doing similar stuff. Carrying out missions to aid the gods and goddesses, helping watch over events, and more. Kinda tiring." Armaris groaned softly, amused. Internally, he disagreed. As irritating as it was at times to have to deal with all the people involved, he still very much lived for the thrill of combat. That was something he'd never miss out on if he could help it, and it certainly never felt tiring to him. It provided constant and very welcome distractions from the monotony of life. "So, I wanted to ask about something right now in case we don't get to talk again soon. What's got you so bothered that your mood has changed this much?"

Immediately, he tried to shut this line of inquiry down. "Leave it alone," he muttered, perhaps a touch more angrily than was necessary. That had been unintentional.

Armaris raised an eyebrow. "That which begets anger is never a thing to 'leave alone'. That's something that Cere taught me a long while ago, so… I want you to talk to me. We're friends, close friends I'd say, and you know you can trust me." She slowed her walk a touch, turning to face him fully. He stopped walking when she turned, followed shortly by her doing the same. "What's on your mind?"

Suddenly fighting against his rising temper, he bit out as evenly as he could manage, "Nothing, Armaris."

"You don't get pissed over nothing, Espio." He had to disagree with that assertion. Lately, it seemed as though everything was pissing him off. It didn't help that that simple fact also pissed him off. "Something happened. Is it about those knives?" Armaris prodded, crossing her arms to hold the demonic child more comfortably.

The fact that she apparently hadn't been filled in on the source of those knives (or, more accurately, the source of all his recent trouble) caught him off-guard enough that he spoke without thinking… and in the process unintentionally divulged a bit more information than he wanted to. "Her knives have nothing to do with this," he answered curtly. Though, in retrospect, that wasn't entirely true. With her, knives were virtually always involved in some form or another.

"So it's a woman. Likely someone you know well. My first guess is a lover?" Armaris guessed, raising an eyebrow.

That word made him visibly cringe for a half-second. That fucking word implied (at least in his culture, if not others) that there was an actual sense of mutual affection or something more than that, and with her… With her, as badly as he found himself wanting to believe it at times, he knew better than to blindly trust that she felt even remotely similar things toward him that he felt toward her. At best, he was maybe some sort of a toy for her. He knew that. He'd known that from the beginning. The knowledge just… didn't make the truth easier to accept.

"No," he responded sharply, refocusing on the present moment and already walking again. If he could somehow get out of this conversation by physically removing himself from it, then he'd be damned if he didn't at least try.

Armaris moved after him quickly. "So, she's not exactly an enemy, and not exactly someone friendly?" He chose to pointedly ignore the question. "Alright, so I'm likely right. Not much would normally bother you like this, so it's gotta be something that drastically changes your life. If you're not that close to each other emotionally, then…" She took a moment to consider the possibility. Soon the realization hit and her eyes widened faintly.

Espio stopped walking again as the reality that he had been grappling with all day (or however the fuck long it had been) came crashing down around him all over again. It took a solid minute or two before he finally responded, answering with a very reluctant and quietly spoken, "...Yes." Had he been with anyone but her, he wouldn't have said anything at all. Actually, he was questioning why he said anything at all, regardless of the fact that she was the only one present to hear his admission.

"Espio. I'll say here and now that in whatever happens, I'll be there to support you. There's no way me or any of your friends will let you do this alone, alright?" she said resolutely, staring into his good eye. "I'm your friend for a reason, ya know."

After another very, very long moment of silence, he quietly admitted another detail… one that only compounded the problem he was facing and deepened the deep anger, resentment, and whatever else that he felt about the whole thing. "She already expressed no desire to keep the child herself," he muttered, looking away. "She intends to leave it with me from the beginning." That was another hard bit of news to swallow yet still. That particular sort of responsibility was not the kind he was prepared to handle. Just about anything else would have been better than this.

Armaris bit back a low and hateful growl at that information, intense anger soaring into view in her once soft eyes. No good piece of shit, fucking abandoning a child. "In some manner, I'm glad she's giving the child to you. At least the people you're friends with will help you take care of it."

Espio disagreed, strongly, but not so much with the last part. "Leaving it with me is just as bad," he nearly snapped, once again resuming his walk.

"But the fact that you're even worried about that shows you care, which is a trait she obviously lacks," Armaris responded quickly, walking after him. Espio found himself struggling to hold back a sudden surge of dark fury, screaming at him from within that he didn't care. He buried it, unwilling to face his own reaction while in her presence. "It doesn't matter if you're not sure of your own capabilities in being a parent," Armaris continued, "as long as you try to do it. 'Cause, guess what? You've got people to support you. I know that I will help, and I'm damn sure at least half of your group of friends will be more than willing to do the same."

He didn't choose to acknowledge her words right then, gritting his teeth tightly in silence. He pointedly ignored the feeling of several new burning marks appearing on his skin in response to their rising emotions, particularly his own. The burning sensation quickly faded as the marks finished fading into existence. However, the sensation had been present more than long enough for him to be aware of it, and he immediately continued trying to quash his anger and stuff it away again where it could no longer cause him such a pronounced issue. The fact that burying it all would likely come back to kick him in the ass later was a matter to be dealt with… well… later.

After a pause, Armaris sighed softly, letting her anger fade away. "I'm sorry. That's a… sore subject for me, as you know, and I'm just glad that the child won't be with someone who obviously has no regard for it."

As was usual for him, Espio didn't say anything in response, opting for his usual tactic of retreating into silence. Instead, he focused on walking the remaining distance toward the nearest Hollow seal. Upon reaching it, he grabbed a special knife and used it to cut open a small hole. Once the hole was wide enough, he tossed the two girls he'd been carrying in there. He was not in the right frame of mind to do so gently, despite the fact that he knew he was handling children - demonic or not. Armaris did the same with the one she'd been carrying, a touch more gently than Espio had. As soon as they were inside, Espio let the seal fall back into place… just in time to prevent a rather large and cranky Hollow from rushing out at them. He then simply turned on his heel and began walking back at a brisk pace.

Armaris followed a short distance behind him, arms crossed gently. Since they weren't walking as slowly as before, they reached the village in short order. Espio promptly disappeared in the vague direction of his house, abandoning her near Sonic, Tails, and Steam, who were still standing around waiting for the two of them to finish. Spotting her, Tails quickly waved her over. "Did you guys get it dealt with without any issues?" he called.

The cat nodded gently. "Yeah. The three are currently sealed away. It was pretty simple once we got there and all." Tails was visibly relieved by the news, though naturally plenty of worry remained.

Though his friends often teased him about being 'blind', Sonic was observant enough to pick up on the remnants of her upset from minutes ago. Frowning a little, he hesitantly asked, "...You okay? Did something happen?"

Armaris glanced away faintly. "It's something best left alone for now, if only because it's not my place to speak about it."

Tails thought it best not to pry, so he headed off any further comments from Sonic by saying, "Okay. We can respect that." He glanced at his three companions in turn before continuing. "Should we get started with training now? Part of me says we should rest first, but I'm not convinced we have the sort of time needed for such a luxury."

"It'd probably be best to get started sooner rather than later," Steam answered, shrugging softly.

Nodding, Tails turned his attention back to Sonic. "Maybe you oughta go first. You've said yourself that you could use it more than the rest of us."

Sonic sighed heavily. "Yeah… I probably could. You've seen me lately. I'm not exactly fighting as well as I used to be able to. Nowhere near it."

"No shit, Sonic. The problem isn't that your fighting may not be as good as it was, it's more that your skills haven't fully returned. You're still somewhat struggling with some of the things you were good at in the past," Steam said.

"It's not a matter of them returning," Sonic huffed. "These things deteriorate with age. I learned that the hard way. And you have to remember, I'm still fucking old. There's only so much I can do about that."

Tails was quick to interject before they could start to argue. "Be that as it may," he said, "training can still help you out a lot. That's the main point to this conversation. Since we agree on that much, let's just leave the rest of be and actually focus on the training itself. Okay?"

Sonic sighed. "Yeah. Okay."

"Yeah, yeah," Steam agreed, rolling his shoulders lightly. His eyes flicked to Armaris, who was standing there in utter silence. "Hey, Armaris. Come and watch, or go take some time to yourself. You could use a bit of a break." The cat stood there for a long moment before falling into her shadow and skulking away.

After a second or so of silence, Sonic piped up again. "So, I've never been here many times or anything, but if I remember correctly there's some sort of training grounds off that way." He pointed. "Think anyone would mind us using them?"

Tails shrugged. "Hard to say."

"I assume it likely won't be an issue," Steam offered. "Things might have been different in my timeline, though."

This evoked a sigh from Sonic. "Fuck it. If we get stabbed, then I guess we'll just have to deal with it." With this melodramatic response said, he began trudging off in the direction he'd indicated before. Steam headed off after him, rolling his eyes in faint amusement. Hiding a smile behind his hand, Tails hurried after them.

Armaris caught back up with Espio, carrying herself in front of him quickly with her shadows and reforming there to try and catch his attention. Seeing the familiar shadow upon the ground even before she truly appeared, Espio stopped walking. Stifling a sigh, he asked, "What?" Honestly, he didn't care to know what she wanted right now. He just wanted to be left alone long enough to get his emotions back in order, before they and his vaguely rampant energies caused truly irreparable damage to some part of his life or another. ...Not that his emotions hadn't already done that.

The cat glanced away quietly for a moment before stepping closer, minutely so. "Just know that I'll always be there for you, Espio." Her words rendered him silent for a long moment, though there was little evidence of negativity in him at this moment. Instead there was careful neutrality and a hint of the guarded expression he had sometimes worn in the past when uncertain how to react to another person. He'd never been especially… skilled at social things. "Be careful, alright?" she asked gently, a genuine expression of concern on her face.

At this, Espio looked away. "I know."

Armaris quietly began walking away, casting a long glance back at her old friend with a weak smile. The same, yet… so different. As she watched, he disappeared without a trace. I guess, in the end, we've both changed.

~保護者~

11,764 words this time. Wow, this is a long one! Hope y'all enjoyed! And many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all his help! Oh, and a bit of humor for ya... When we write together, we tend to poke fun at each other's typos. This culminated in us once sharing our funniest typos in an author's note like this one in one or two chapters during the Metarex arc of "Hero". Well, by his insistence, here's the best recent typo we've had. Sadly, this was my goofy error. I was trying to write "demons", but somehow instead wrote "demoncs". I hope it's as funny to you guys as its been for us. XD Posted (at about _) 11-16-19.