Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this important meeting… especially for the one who had such a rough start.

~保護者~

"Homecoming"

~保護者~

Blood streamed down Espio's blade as he entered the lone building he had seen since arriving within the outer reaches of the Trokkelar Army's territory. He sensed an energy within, a small one. Young. Frail. Weak. Dying. He scowled deeply and drove his sword deep into the heart of the first enemy that rushed him, then tore it free so that the person was nearly beheaded in the process. The person's companions soon met the very same fate. That these people were apparently meant to be guarding the fragile life deeper within this building was… fucking ridiculous. They couldn't have guarded anything if they tried.

He continued on his way without a word, but allowed his sword to disappear. As amped up as he was by all the bloodshed and fighting, intimidating and appearing threatening to this person was not his intention. Retrieving her from this hell hole and removing her from it was all he was here to do. Nothing more. It would not do to have her afraid. As such, he took care to calm himself as much as possible while he approached the locked chamber where the energy he had been tracking emanated from. A hard kick broke the heavy locks and forced the door open, and he stepped inside without further ado.

Inside, he found a space that was less a person's room and more a prisoner's cell. There was nothing in the room that a child would need aside from a thin mat and blanket to be used for sleeping. That was it. Weapons, however, lined the dingy stone walls. They were present in abundance. Many had clearly been used. By who and on who, there was no telling. The child laying on that mat wasn't harmed, at least. However… she was painfully thin. There were thick, dark circles under her closed eyes. She was filthy. Gritting his teeth, he approached and knelt down beside her.

From sensing her energies, his instincts were screaming at him that this child was his. Her resemblance to Nyokae helped further prove that point. She had her mother's deep purple skin color and slim, elegant build. And the eyes that opened when he gently touched her cheek… they were amber. There was no doubt. There could be no other conclusion. And just as he knew from energy alone who she was, she also appeared to know him.

Reaching up with one hand, she very weakly took hold of two of his fingers. If he had to guess, she was maybe five. For a chameleon, children of up to four in their years were still very much babies. Babies capable of walking, running, climbing, somewhat fighting, and so on, certainly, but babies nevertheless. She shouldn't have had any advanced speech yet, but somehow she managed to speak as well as an older child regardless when she whispered a tiny confession. "I always wished you would come."

His Darkness had been waning for the past several hours. As he was now, he couldn't sustain such immense energy for as long as people like Nyokae and Kaden had wanted him to. That it was fading like it was perhaps played a part in why his response was so soft… so gentle. "I am here," he assured quietly. "And we are leaving."

"Where else is there?" she asked him as she shakily pushed herself up. "I have never… been away from this place."

Whether she meant the building or this dark realm as a whole, he had no idea. Either way, it fueled his desire to continue slaughtering each and every soldier within this Army until there were none left. However… this instinct to get her away and ensure her safety was far stronger than his desire for bloodshed right now. Mere hours ago, that would not have been the case. He didn't allow himself to think about that for long. "There are many places," he answered her simply as he moved to take her gently into his arms.

She accepted being held without complaint. In fact, the sigh she let out sounded nothing if not content. That she sagged against him, her small body loose and relaxed as she looped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder was further proof. "Okay."

There was one last thing he needed to know before they left this chamber and returned to more dangerous areas. "Your name?" he asked her.

Quiet answered him initially, but after a lengthy pause she asked, "Can I know yours?"

He tilted his head slightly, contemplating her tactful effort to skirt around the issue he had presented her with, but ultimately obliged. "Mine is Espio."

With little more than an exhausted nod, she closed her eyes and buried her face in the side of his throat. Now was not the time to question her further, he decided. And so, instead, he turned and began making his way outside, calling his sword back into his hand as he went. It was time to get this girl home.

~保護者~

It won't be much longer now.

Staring at Jet's face, Wave took in his condition for at least the hundredth time in the last hour. His fever remained as high as it had been and he remained in incredible pain… but what she focused on his responses to these. Or, rather, his lack of responses. That he was slowly ceasing to react to the pain and heat was proof beyond proof that he was slipping further and further away. Astras efforts to gain control over him were ongoing and nothing could be done to stop her. All they could do was wait… and they weren't going to have to do that for much longer.

Damn you, Astra… Damn you.

~保護者~

Armaris glanced over herself, noting that she did indeed have her swords on her. She didn't enjoy needing to check for that to go talk to Espio of all people, but it was a necessary precaution. Being in the territory of the Trokkelar Army didn't help much with that necessity, something she had to remind herself of multiple times as she traveled along. At least, until she could get to Espio. And actually, he seemed to be close. The fact that the bodies littering this particular area were distinctly fresher than the rest lent credence to that idea. She was able to catch up to him in short order by simply following the bloody trail he left behind, and he immediately stopped and turned halfway around to look at her with a cold and emotionless expression.

The cat looked over Espio quietly, glancing over the young child that he was carrying. "She had another kid and never told you…?"

As seemed especially common when he was in this sort of state, Espio's response was excessively brief and unemotional. "No."

"I'm sorry," Armaris murmured softly under her breath, looking around at all of the bodies. "You got pretty upset about it, didn't you?"

He turned slightly more toward her, but did nothing actively threatening for the moment. "It does not matter," was all he said. The child in his arms lifted her head from his shoulder and stared tiredly at Armaris, then weakly laid her head back down and closed her eyes.

"Where are you going to take her?" Armaris asked, taking a slow step forward. "I would be more than happy to take care of her, but that's up to you."

The little girl herself actually responded this time, visibly clutching tighter to him as her face scrunched up in distress. "No," she almost whimpered. "No, no, no." He glanced down to her with a slight frown.

Armaris carefully raised her hands, nodding. "I won't separate you from him. I could… never do that knowingly." Her gaze raised to Espio, almost pleadingly. "Espio. I know that you've got your Darkness influencing you. It's messing with you, making you feel things you've never felt before, or maybe just not in the same way. I know what that's like, and I don't want you to be alone in this. Me, Sonic, Tails, Shadow… all of us want to help you."

His grip somewhat loose on the sword (another one comprised of Darkness) that he was holding, Espio told her blandly, "I do not want help." Whether or not he meant it, there was no way of telling. He gave no indication of what the actual truth was.

"I don't want to be rude, and I really don't want to upset you, but do you trust yourself to take care of your kid? You left Sako with your mother before… Do you trust yourself to keep her safe and raise her?" Armaris asked slowly, taking one more careful step forward. He said nothing this time, merely watching and listening. But, tellingly, he also never once tightened his hold on his weapon or made any move to harm her in any way. "I want to help you raise them, to keep them safe from Kaden and that woman in the Trokkelar Army. I don't want to see you or them harmed, or worse. I want you back, and I want to help. I care about you, more than I can fully comprehend at this point…" Her gaze lowered for a moment as she tried to recollect herself before rising back to his.

Just like that, his sword was pointed at her throat. However, his grip on it remained as loose as before, and nothing about his demeanor seemed to indicate any genuine intent to do her harm just yet. Actually, this motion seemed idle, as if it had been performed purely because it could be. "And if I have no interest in going back?" he questioned coolly, still giving no hints about what he was really thinking or feeling.

"I won't and can't make you," Armaris answered calmly, staring directly at his eyes. His sword actually lowered very slightly. "But I just want to be there for you. If I can help you in any way, whether you come back with us or stay away, I want to know. I'll do whatever I can."

"You have no reason to care so much," Espio told her after a long moment. He very much still remembered her confession regarding her feelings, but it wasn't something he understood. Especially not after finally breaking out of Nyokae's hold. Whatever love actually was, surely it wasn't worth people taking the sort of risks Armaris was right now.

Armaris sighed. "Maybe I don't, and maybe I'm just letting my emotions control me like I did before, but I do care, and I do care enough to do this. I want to do whatever it takes to help you, no matter what."

He huffed, almost derisively, but then lowered his arm (and thus his weapon) again as he looked away and muttered, "Ridiculous."

"I am," Armaris murmured, looking away. "I've always been ridiculous. My younger years outside of the highlands were spent causing mischief, stealing from people and being obnoxious. Somehow, a goddess decided I was worth something despite never showing any real promise in anything worthwhile. But maybe ridiculous is something more than either of us really… see." The cat looked back to Espio, frowning. "You cared about me, someone so ridiculous that I shouldn't be considerable. You still did, though, and it brought me here. Back to you so that I can show that same care in return."

He frowned again, a bit more noticeably this time. "I did not ask for your care."

"And I still want to show it. I want to care about you. I want to be there for you, even if you consider me an enemy," Armaris responded. "Forgive me for bringing it up, but you cared about Nyokae enough to not kill her before. She may have cared about you, but she wanted to use you for her own purposes. I'm just here because I want to be. I don't want anything other than you and who you are, whatever it is that you choose to be."

His eyes narrowed subtly at the mention of her name, but he seemed to let go of the anger with surprising speed. The expression he was left with was mostly unreadable again, but faint hints of conflict were beginning to show themselves in his eyes. Being unused to supporting so much Darkness and the state it had left him in, he had burned through much of the energy by now and was, perhaps, more able to listen to reason than he otherwise would have been. Whether or not this was the case, he said nothing about it, choosing instead to again murmur a simple, "Ridiculous."

Armaris took a calculated risk and walked toward him slowly. "Maybe it is ridiculous, but you're still listening to me, despite how ridiculous it all sounds, how ridiculous I sound. You don't know how much that means to me."

"And I don't care," he was quick to remind her, but without any real conviction.

"I know you don't, but I wanted to say it." Armaris stopped when she was close to him, holding out a hand to him. "You don't have to do anything that I'm asking of you, but can you let me do just one thing before you make a decision?" He glanced at her in silence, saying nothing. Armaris slowly stepped forward once more, closing the distance between the two of them before wrapping an arm around him and gently kissing his cheek before gently burying her face in his neck.

Almost sort of startled, in a way, Espio was silent for a time before daring to ask, "...Why did you…?" In this short moment, his already faint Darkness somehow receded even further, something which managed to ease the frazzled nerves of the child he was still holding. She relaxed bit by bit and almost started to doze.

Armaris held him slightly tighter, as if afraid he would leave her once more. "You're worth the risk, and I don't want to lose you to these people who want to use you. Please, Espio… come home…" she murmured, her body trembling lightly.

The little girl tried to lift her head again. "Home…?" she whispered. "We have a home?"

After another silence, Espio nodded slowly. "...Yes."

Armaris pulled back slowly, trying to give him space and looking down. "I'm sorry for doing that so suddenly…" she murmured in apology. "I just… couldn't help myself." He didn't say anything initially. The conflict that had before been visible in his eyes had faded away, but it was clear that he was thinking… and maybe even somewhat fighting, judging by how further faint traces of Darkness continually faded away bit by bit. After a few moments passed, she lifted her gaze back to his. "Would… you come back with me?" There was a very long moment where he didn't respond, but the sword in his hand vanished. Eventually, he looked away from her again and offered a very slow nod. A smile broke onto her face and she held out a hand to him. "Come on. I can teleport us both back… or we could take the longer way if you'd like."

It made more sense to just get it over with. Dragging this out didn't sound… ideal. As much as he didn't want to deal with all the repercussions he'd be forced to face once they arrived back on Mobius, Espio hated the idea of making it take longer even more. "...Just go," he eventually said, almost sighing. Armaris nodded in response, gently taking his hand in her own and teleporting them away, back to Mobius.

The three landed back within Hyale and immediately Aniko was before them, a few tears forming in her eyes at the sight of Espio having returned. He couldn't bring himself to look directly at her, hit with a sudden sense of shame the likes of which he had been unprepared to experience. He internally sort of cursed himself, but was mindful not to let himself grow irritated or worse. It felt like his head was finally clearing bit by bit and he was back in control again. He could not let that newly rediscovered control slip away, and certainly not so soon. Aniko stepped closer and wrapped an arm around Espio, pulling him into a loving and surprisingly not crushing hug. "I have missed you, my son…" He was unsure how to respond, felt undeserving of the affection, and just offered a tiny nod. "You have done nothing to earn ire or shame in my eyes, Espio," Aniko murmured gently. "You are still just as loved and cared for as you always have been."

Though he hadn't intended to, Espio immediately found himself reflexively taking a step back in response to his sudden upset and muttering, "Why? That does not make sense."

"Can you tell me one thing that you did to me that would be worth me losing my love and respect for you?" Aniko questioned, standing up straight. His gaze dropped again and he fell silent once more. "If you cannot, then there is nothing that would take those feelings away, Espio. Even if you had, I am your mother. I would be damned if anything would stop me from loving you as my son."

Her voice seemed to rouse the child, inadvertently saving Espio from having to try and come up with some sort of response. The little girl shifted and then weakly opened her eyes. She looked at Aniko briefly before whispering in a tiny voice, "Who are you?"

Aniko smiled gently to the girl. "I am your father's mother," she answered softly. "My name is Aniko."

This seemed to intrigue the girl, who made the effort to lift her head. "...Name?" she asked after a pause. "You have a name?"

The older chameleon nodded. "I do indeed, young one," she replied before glancing to Espio. "They did not care to give her a name… did they?"

"I do not know," Espio admitted. Glancing to the girl, he added, "She would not tell me."

At that point, the girl looked up at him. "...Mother said I'm a weapon. Weapons don't need names." Espio frowned deeply upon hearing this.

Aniko kept her intense hatred from showing in the presence of this small child before she gave a sigh. "Your mother… is a fool. You are not a weapon. You are a person, like myself and your father. You deserve a name," she murmured. It is part of you. To take that away is… preposterous.

The little girl sighed, almost too tired to keep her eyes open, and laid her head back down. "What kind of name would I have?" she asked no one in particular. At a loss, just as he had been with Sako, Espio stayed silent.

"We will think of one for you," Aniko murmured softly. "For now, you should rest. You are tired."

"Hungry," she added softly. "'nd thirsty."

It was only then that Espio finally turned to look at his house… only to discover that it was no longer there. "Tch."

"I will make sure to tend to that as quickly as possible," Aniko told the child. Her eyes scanned the area for Shei, immediately calling him over by name. Despite having been seated elsewhere away from all the people so that Sako could more easily nap, Shei was by her side in a flash. Somehow, he managed to accomplish this swift arrival without disturbing the baby. The relief Espio found himself feeling upon seeing said baby unharmed and so at ease managed to make him relax somewhat. "Could you aid Espio for the moment while I go figure out what to do for food and drink for the child?" she asked softly.

Shei carefully shifted Sako in his arms and signed, "See if any nearby trees survived the assault. Some were bearing ripe fruit, perfectly suitable for food and for juice." Aniko nodded briefly and vanished in a blur, leaving Shei and Espio together for the moment. Once she was gone, he turned his attention to their son. He thought better of directly addressing what was so clearly upsetting Espio right now, for he knew the younger chameleon was the sort to want to take time to sort things out on his own. Instead, he focused on a decidedly less serious matter. "No one has yet attempted to salvage what remains of your home. We are unsure what survived amidst all the debris."

Decidedly relieved (again) by the change in subject from what he had been forced to discuss earlier, Espio didn't take quite as much time to reply this time. "I will look when I can."

"Would you accept assistance?" Shei asked him, one eyebrow raised. Espio thought about it, then shrugged. His father suggested, "It would be quicker and easier if you did not do it alone, as is the case with many things in life. Coping, for example."

Understanding that what Shei was hinting at actually had nothing to do with the house, Espio glanced around to make certain that Armaris really had disappeared before saying quietly, "I would not burden her further. She does not deserve that."

"And you do not deserve to suffer in silence," Shei gently countered. "Especially not when there are people around who do wish to help. However, I am not here to tell you what choice to make. I merely wanted to remind you what choices are here for you to consider."

With a soft sigh, Espio relented with a quiet and respectful murmur of, "I understand."

Aniko returned with two ripe fruit in her hands, gently offering one to both Espio (should he want one) and the child. "This should suffice for food and drink. If I need to collect more, I am more than able."

Given that he had no need for food or drink, Espio refused the offered fruit with a shake of his head that somehow managed to remain properly polite and respectful. The girl, however, took the one that was offered to her. She took a hearty chomp out of it, then suddenly pointed to the grass beneath her feet. "What is it?" she asked once she'd swallowed. "It looks soft… like a bed. Can I sleep there?"

A very short silence ensued, then Espio moved to the base of the tree his home had once been built within. "Grass," he answered briefly. In response to the rest of the question, he slowly and carefully laid her down within the stuff. She seemed quite delighted with it in a heartbeat and curled up as she took another big bite of her fruit. Seeing again how very thin she was, however, caused him to not share in her happiness right then. He was too concerned for her obviously failing health. Had they continued to treat her the way they were for much longer, she would have perished. In their effort to transform her into a killing machine, they willfully ignored her most basic needs.

Aniko crossed her arms, frowning deeply as she watched this. She quickly came to the same conclusion and looked to Espio. "We will make sure she is looked after and properly cared for."

Espio didn't immediately respond. He instead eyed the sky for a second or two, noting that a storm would be coming in within the next day or so. The temperature was already dropping to one that would chill the younger members of society who weren't used to such weather yet, so he briefly walked over to the remains of his home and dug around in the approximate location where most of his bedroom seemed to have ended up. Unable to locate a decently intact blanket, he eventually dug out a kimono shirt made for more wintry conditions (meaning it would be warm) and walked back to his daughter with that. The makeshift blanket was big enough to easily cover her tiny body, and she curled up under it with a content sigh as she let the fruit's core drop to the ground beside her. "Warm," she whispered, seemingly as a thank-you.

About this time, Armaris walked back over and frowned at the sight before her, crossing her arms to keep herself warm. "They really… treated her that badly…?"

"Yes," Espio answered shortly. Already, the child was falling asleep, so he moved away to allow her to do so. Shei walked over with Sako and sat down, intent on keeping watch.

Armaris moved close to Espio, her eyes closed as she tried to keep herself from getting too deeply upset. "I'm glad you saved her from that. I've seen too many kids nearly die that way…" He glanced at her in subtle surprise, but said nothing. She leaned up against him, glancing to the home. "Sorry about that. We couldn't keep the demon from destroying it when she attacked us…"

He glanced over the wreckage. It was irritating, for certain, but nothing more. "It does not matter. It can be rebuilt."

"Still, it matters. It's your home. Wish we could've done better." Deciding not to dwell on that too deeply, she lightly wrapped an arm around him. "You know, I didn't miss how cold the Highlands could get," she murmured jokingly.

He huffed at her, but nevertheless forged ahead through any potential hesitation and asked, "Are you cold?"

"...A bit," she admitted softly, moving a bit closer. "Fur doesn't protect from everything, and I haven't really been here in a while."

Another huff, and he carefully separated himself from her. "Wait here." He briefly disappeared back over to the piles of debris, digging around for something in particular that he thought he might have spotted when over here earlier. Sure enough, he soon located a sweater, the only piece of modern clothing he had in this house anymore. It was a simple black hoodie, but it was thick enough to guard against the current temperature of the area. He returned to her with it in hand.

When he came back over, Armaris idly moved her hand and the hoodie flopped onto her head, seeming to pull itself down until her head popped out of the opening at the top. It was loose enough that she was able to keep her arms inside of it comfortably before nudging up against him gently. "Nice color choice, by the way." That earned a small shrug. He wouldn't admit to something as silly as having a favorite color… much less two of them. She nuzzled up against him affectionately, smiling softly even as she caught Aniko's gaze. Something in the older woman's eyes seemed approving, and it only served to further increase her mood. "Hey, Espio. Why don't we go sit down for a bit so we can talk?"

Espio didn't particularly want to sit, but nevertheless he conceded with a nod. "Alright."

Armaris gently took his hand with one of hers and pulled him gently to a tree before jumping up onto a branch and motioning for him to join her. He did so without comment. "A few things happened that you probably need to know so that you're all caught up." After realizing that he wasn't going to respond, she nodded slowly. "One of the big things is that the gods and goddesses are going to be showing up here soon. Li and Novei went to inform them of what happened, so we'll likely have more visitors soon."

More people. Lovely. Just what he wanted. "...When?" he dared to ask.

"Sadly… pretty soon. If I have to guess, there's going to be roughly five or so more people showing up. Give or take maybe one."

God, he hated crowds. The fact that the present crowd would be growing again did not sound particularly pleasant to him right now. Or at all, really. But he chose not to mention that. "Fine."

"It's mostly gonna be people that will stay out of the way, at the least. Cere will probably be the most present of them, since she's gonna try and figure out what we need to do next. Hopefully, the others will stay to themselves a bit more," Armaris murmured. "I'll figure out arrangements for them so that they're not on top of us all the time, especially."

"Alright," he answered again.

"One more important thing, well… important to me," Armaris murmured. "I've talked about my dad and all, but I think you should meet him."

Turning his head, Espio briefly regarded her before finally asking, "Why?"

Armaris bit her lip before turning her gaze away. "Well, I… You know I like you and all, and I think it would be good for him to meet you properly rather than me talk to him about you. I kinda did that in the few days when I was in his realm and really upset. Talked a lot about you." She realized she was rambling on and sheepishly laughed. "And he could uh… help you gain a more fine control of your Darkness without wasting much time, since time passes slower in his realm."

Espio gave everything she'd said, mostly the first part, some thought, before coming to a decision. If only because this was clearly something that mattered to her… if only for her sake, he would accept this course of action. "Alright," he murmured. Armaris very suddenly hugged him tightly in response to his agreement, spouting a few thankful phrases in rapid succession. The sudden hug startled him, as he was overall unused to experiencing much physical contact, but he was quick to force himself to relax. Given that his arms were pinned, though, he didn't do too much overall in response to her exuberant display.

Once more, Armaris realized what she was doing and pulled away, rubbing the back of her head lightly. "Er… sorry. Got excited."

He shook his head after a moment. "...It's… fine." Smiling, she settled back into her seat and the two drifted into surprisingly comfortable silence.

She was so happy he was home.

~保護者~

5,124 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all his help and support, and I hope you all enjoyed. Posted (at about 7:50 p.m.) 06-04-20.