Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this time of preparation and planning… especially for the one who has so much to learn.

~保護者~

"Family Reunion"

~保護者~

Espio found himself pulled free of his thoughts when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. The sudden touch made him jump terribly, and he immediately cursed himself for it as he looked over to see who was there. Upon seeing his father standing there, he relaxed significantly. Being tapped made sense if it was Shei doing it, since it wasn't as though the man had many other methods of getting people's attention. Sitting back on his heels where he was kneeling on some rubble from his home, Espio quietly asked, "Yes?"

"Your children will be hungry soon," Shei signed to him. "Zei especially. Has anything from your stores survived?"

Looking over the mess around them, Espio shook his head once. "Sako's bottle and a few drinks did, but little else."

Shei nodded slowly. "You will need to go forage, then." Espio frowned and started to say something, but Shei motioned for him to stop. "It is important for you to be the one to provide for them," he explained patiently. "It is especially important for Zei, who has never been properly taken care of. The more she sees you actively working to ensure her needs are met, the better she will be in the future."

The mere mention of this caused Espio to cave immediately. It also caused a fresh flare of white-hot anger at Nyokae for her actions, but he did his best to quell that for now. "They need shelter as well," he answered with a small sigh.

"They do," Shei agreed with a nod. "And collecting that much food will take time. Several days, at least. Which is why your mother and I have gathered enough food for them to get by while you are gone. And I will work on repairing the house during that time as well. As the architecture has changed little since the era in which I died, I will be able to rebuild it the way it was."

This was an option Espio hadn't stopped to consider before. He was so used to having to handle everything on his own that he hadn't even thought about the fact that other methods of getting by were available. Still, though, he wasn't necessarily happy about one part of this. "The storm will be here by tomorrow, Father."

This decidedly weak protest made Shei's eyes briefly glitter with amusement… just as Espio remembered them doing when he was young. He suddenly longed for those lost days of old. "Do you not think that with my speed I will be able to have the building complete by the end of this night?"

He had a point, truth be told. Espio huffed at him, but nevertheless inclined his head respectfully and murmured, "Thank you."

Shei nodded again in reply, then asked, "Do you have any bags, baskets, or other items to carry your finds in?"

Once more, Espio looked over the rubble. "No. The bag I had is shredded and I do not have the necessary time to repair it."

"I will see if I can find something, then." Not giving Espio time to reply, Shei stood and walked away.

Armaris appeared from Espio's shadow and blinked a few times. "Going foraging?"

Although he shrugged, Espio didn't deny it. "It would seem so."

"Oh, that's… really interesting. I haven't done that since I made it to the first towns in my childhood. Thievery kinda… got me through the rough patches," she admitted. "It'll be fun to revisit my roots."

Espio gave it a moment of thought, then slowly came to a decision. "...You could come if you wish," he invited eventually.

"You act as if I was gonna let you go alone," Armaris huffed, crossing her arms. "Honestly." She smiled and gently wrapped her hand around one of his wrists. "I'd love to join you, Espio."

He huffed back at her, but managed to relax to a degree upon hearing her agreement. A moment or two later, Shei returned with two roomy bags and handed them off before signing, "It may not be a heavy part of most typical chameleon diets, but try to come back with some meat as well. Zei needs to put on weight. She is too thin, and meat will aid in that."

"I'll keep an eye out," Armaris murmured softly.

Espio tossed her a look. "That will require you to deal with the frigid waters you once so loathed. We typically stick to meat from fish and the like, not land creatures."

She huffed at him. "I said that I'll keep an eye out. Don't go thinking I'm volunteering to jump into that for any reason."

"You will still need to be near enough to get wet if you intend on doing that," was the casual reply.

"Watch and wait, Espio," Armaris huffed again, crossing her arms tighter. "I'll find a way to avoid it."

Shaking his head in amusement, Shei signed to them, "Go on, then. This is not the time for petty bickering." In response, Armaris simply phased into Espio's shadow, waiting for him to begin moving. Espio gave his father a small nod, glanced down at where Armaris had disappeared, rolled his eyes just a little, then took off. In the ensuing silence, Shei crossed his arms and shook his head again. Those two… honestly.

~保護者~

After eating however much he could stand to force himself to eat (which admittedly wasn't much), Shadow made his way into the living room and sat down. It wasn't so much because that was where he wanted to be, however. It was more that he was too tired and in too much pain to make it back to his bedroom. He'd moved slowly and carefully, but it had still pushed him more than he'd apparently been prepared to handle.

So much for getting anything done.

With no other real option, he settled himself into a seat as painlessly as he could manage, placed his elbow on an armrest, and rested a cheek on his fist while he tried to think of something he could do in order to stave off mind-numbing boredom, all the while listening to Toru do whatever it was the chameleon was currently doing elsewhere. It was still… strange, that Toru had come here with him. Unexpected. Surprising, even. Yet he couldn't quite convince himself that he was opposed to the other man's presence. If anything, he was sort of… relieved, perhaps? At least someone else being here would help prevent him from doing something stupid the next time his withdrawals decided to hit. Hopefully, though, that wouldn't happen for a while. It felt like he'd been dosed up on more medicine while he was out. One less thing to be concerned about, then.

"By the way," Toru suddenly called from the kitchen. "You will be getting more food here if I start staying here more. I need stuff to cook with."

Pulled free of his wandering thoughts, Shadow huffed to himself. "You do not need to cook anything." He decided not to let himself dwell to long on the idea of Toru coming over here more often in the future... even though he couldn't convince himself that he was against the idea.

"I like cooking, Shadow," Toru huffed. "And you're going to like my cooking, too."

Shadow mulled this over for a minute or two before letting out a slight sigh. He didn't have the energy to argue too much right now. "Fine."

Toru walked into the living room and leaned himself over the couch beside Shadow. "So, did you at least like what I made?"

It was difficult to like most foods anymore, but Shadow hadn't disliked anything about it. So he went with the best answer he could have used in this situation. "It was fine."

The chameleon nodded gently at this and glanced up to the TV. "So… what do you have that thing for? You don't strike me as the kind of person who would sit around and watch stuff on this a lot."

"I don't," Shadow shrugged. "Normally things are too busy. I rarely turn it on unless I am unable to find something else to do." Which was, in and of itself, a rare occurrence.

"Well, what are we gonna do right now? You're not going out and doing a bunch of stuff, so we gotta find something to do." Toru turned his attention to Shadow, obviously expecting some kind of answer. The answer he got was another, smaller shrug. Shadow almost never had free time like this anymore, and that had been the case for many years. As a result, he wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself right now. When he got no satisfactory response, the chameleon vaulted himself over the back of the couch into the seat next to Shadow and threw an arm around the other man's shoulders. "Well, I hope you don't intend on keeping me bored."

The unexpected touch (dare he even think of it as affectionate? he decided it was best not to) caused Shadow to pause for a second before remembering he had to give some sort of reply. "I don't know what you expect me to do," he grumbled, trying to sound annoyed even though he wasn't.

"If I get too bored, I'll have to make something up and go with it," Toru explained, raising an eyebrow.

"...What are you talking about?" Shadow eventually dared to ask, turning his head to give Toru a look.

"I meant exactly what I said. Clock's ticking." Toru gained a mischievous smile, one that was either up to absolutely no good, or something absolutely good.

Crimson eyes narrowed to a degree, perhaps out of suspicion, but all Shadow said was, "If you are that bored, come up with something yourself."

Toru shrugged. "Alright then." He seemed content to do this, wrapping his arm further around Shadow and pulling the other into a gentle kiss. As with before, Shadow initially sort of just let it happen, but after a breath or so he managed to relax enough to respond. It took a few more seconds before Toru gently pulled back and smiled with that same mischievous look on his face. "Told you I'd make something up."

Huffing in an effort to cover up other emotions, Shadow looked away. "Shut up."

"Absolutely not," Toru answered. Shadow tossed him another look, still trying to come across as annoyed or otherwise unhappy. Toru laughed a little at this, pulling his arm back. "Oh, was it that bad?"

Shadow immediately elbowed him. "Shut up."

Toru elbowed him back lightly. "Make me." The chameleon blinked once when he heard a knock at the door, turning with a frown. "Were we expecting visitors…?"

Shifting as much as he could while being in pain, Shadow turned his attention to the door. "...No." He accessed his security systems via one of his own internal systems, linking to one of the cameras for a moment to see who was there. Then, with a slight huff, he disconnected - after shutting everything down briefly. "It is Rose," he informed Toru as the door unlocked itself.

Noticing that Rose was being as formal as she seemed to be, Toru used his Darkness to open the door as he stood up. "Yo, what's up?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't know you'd be coming by."

Rose, seeing that the door was open, stepped in and gently closed it behind her. "I have something important to tell Shadow. Well… multiple things, actually."

Immediately suspicious as to what might be going on, Shadow responded, "Say them, then."

The cat nodded ever so softly. "The first bit of news is that when we arrived to where you were, we saw someone. That someone was Kaden."

Shadow grew tense almost instantly. "Father was there?" he demanded quietly.

Rose nodded again. "He was there, but he did not seem intent on bothering you in any way or attacking us. The blood on his hand makes me believe he was trying to help by staunching the blood flow from your neck."

"Yeah…" Toru piped in. "That's exactly what he was doing. I talked to him and convinced him to let us help you."

At this point, Shadow fell silent. Why would he have been there? It does not make sense.

Deciding not to dwell deeply on that, Rose decided to speak again. "When we arrived, it became obvious that your Darkness was now active. As such… I could not heal you without risking hurting you further. In my place, Eila used one of her powers to stitch up the wounds you had."

"Active?" Shadow echoed in quiet disbelief. That didn't seem possible, somehow. It had never been active before...

Rose frowned softly. "You manifested your Darkness in the form of guns, much like how I do with Light arrows. Whether you meant to do so or if it was mere instinct is not known to me. This shows, however, that it is active as of recently, as you were able to access it."

That doesn't make sense, Shadow found himself thinking again. Why would this have suddenly happened now?

Toru crossed his arms. "Is there anything else you wished to tell us?" he asked Rose.

Rose shook her head. "That was all. Unless you have need of me, I will leave you two to your devices." Shadow didn't say anything, merely tossed her a vague glance and then offered an equally vague nod. Rose simply nodded to him and teleported away.

"I… probably should've mentioned that stuff to you, but I really didn't want to get you worked up on accident," Toru murmured in admission. "Sorry about that."

After a lengthy pause, Shadow shook his head. "It does not matter," he eventually said.

"So, there's something that I do want to talk to you about," Toru said slowly, turning to face Shadow again.

Shadow blinked, glanced at him, then sighed a little. "What?"

Toru tapped his foot on the ground for a few seconds, obviously in thought as to how to go about saying what he was thinking before finally speaking up. "I know that you're alright with the kissing and all, but… what are we feeling for each other? Is this just a random draw or… do we really care about each other in that kind of way?"

The hedgehog was silent for a time before saying, "This is… different than anything I am familiar with," he admitted. "It is not the same as mere attraction."

"That's what I was thinking," Toru answered, sitting back down on the couch. "It's just… I don't know. This is the first time I've really felt like this and I don't know what to make of it."

"I don't know, either," Shadow replied. "I have no experience with this." Whatever happened before with Mari… was not the same. I will not use that as a reference point.

Toru sighed gently and set his hands behind his head. "Honestly, I really enjoy just being around you. It feels so… right."

Though he searched for the words to reciprocate, Shadow found he didn't have them. So, looking away, he just offered a decidedly lacking nod in reply. There was a long pause after that before he found himself carefully asking, "...What do your people do in situations like these?" He wasn't certain but he was pretty sure they handled romance and the like very differently than other people on Mobius, didn't they?

"Our people call it courting," Toru answered. "Though there isn't much personally binding me to that tradition, I wouldn't mind teaching you about it."

"Teaching me?" Shadow questioned with a small frown. Was it really that different?

"I mean, I dunno how your people do it so I have to assume it might be different," Toru answered. "Don't have a clue, though."

"It is likely very different," Shadow concluded aloud. "Dating is very… casual for most. Few traditions that I have ever heard of regarding your people can be viewed in the same manner."

"One thing is that you should… meet my mother." Toru murmured. "If we're going with that. I also assume that's just a natural thing for others to do, since that kinda makes sense. After that, though, we're staying away from her as much as possible."

Soon, Shadow cautiously made an observation. "You do not seem pleased with the idea of seeing her."

"I don't like her," Toru answered, crossing his arms tightly. "She often finds it 'necessary' to piss me off so she can see why I want to do something."

That made Shadow frown. "That does not sound… pleasant," he stated as neutrally, hoping not to get the chameleon further upset. He normally wouldn't have cared, but this was… different.

"The problem is that even if we just avoid her, she'll venture out and track me down. That'll make the experience far less pleasant," he huffed. Shadow nodded slowly in understanding. "Would you mind getting this over with so I can just avoid it being worse later on?" Toru asked, raising an eyebrow.

Shadow glanced at him. "When?"

"...Probably soon. She's likely to begin tracking me if I don't."

"Just tell me when," Shadow replied after a moment. He normally wouldn't have cared about getting a heads up, but if this woman was like Toru was describing then he would need to make sure to go into the situation as even-tempered as possible.

Toru managed a gentle smile. "Thanks, Shadow. Means a lot."

The hedgehog nodded a little, then asked, "What else do I need to know right now?"

"For now… that should be enough. I'll introduce courtship more when I'm not thinking about dealing with my mother," Toru answered.

With a vague nod, Shadow glanced around the room until he located his TV remote. He got up long enough to grab it, then tossed it to Toru. "If you are seeking distraction and to avoid boredom, then find yourself a show to watch."

"I don't have a fucking clue how to work this," Toru said, tossing it back to him.

Shadow tossed it back instantly. "Then get your ass over here and learn."

Toru resisted the urge to just toss it back in a light show of rebellion, only refusing to do so as he decided it wasn't worth it. "Fine." With that, he walked over to Shadow and plopped back down onto the couch. Once settled, he set about his newfound task.

~保護者~

Once he was sure everyone was settled in the main building (namely, his house), Tails hustled his butt straight back to his workshop. Doing his best not to look at the mess that had been left behind earlier, he quickly sent a few cleaning bots over there to begin tending to the matter. Once they set to work, he got onto his communicator and quickly typed. He was only an outlier and had no real connection to Shadow's systems overall through this device, but he had enough access in general to get a cursory glance at his condition. Immediately, he felt relief wash over him. Awake already… and his throat's nearly healed. I'm glad we focused so heavily on repairing that injury. I was really concerned about it. Sighing heavily, he lowered his arm and looked over at his robots. They were nearly finished. That was cause for further relief.

"Hey, Tails! Can I ask you a question about something?" Wery asked from one of the tables where she was working on a device.

Happy to have a distraction, Tails made his way over to where she was. He was quite pleased to find out that she had been in a place well out of view of the blood. Good. She's better off not seeing that. "Sure, what's up?" he invited.

"Making something to siphon heat from the surrounding area and also handle fires on a large scale. I should stick to a lower resistance to keep it from raising the internal temperature so much that it melts the wiring, right? Or is there something different to consider when it comes to fire powers?" Wery asked, seeming to be trying to decide between a number of resistors.

"Fire powers can be a bit of a complicated mess," Tails sighed. "Basic fire powers just use normal fire, so your device would work fine for that. But there's also stuff like Dragonfire, demonic fire, Hellfire, magic fire, and who knows what else out there. There are a bunch of variants, so it's hard to make one device that can handle them all. ...Especially since there are some people with fire that's a mix of two categories." He paused, then elaborated, "Like, take Sonic, for instance. He's that blue hedgehog you've probably seen hanging around. He used to lead us way back in the day, and part of why was because he was so strong. Playing into his strength is a special fire that is a mix of magical fire and Dragonfire. So, yeah."

"...So I should stick to the lower resistance just to be safe," Wery answered, obviously attempting to take all of that information in at once. "Forgot how… confusing powers can be."

Tails laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, they can be… really tricky and odd." He looked over her work for a moment, thinking, before asking, "You look like you've been at this for a little while, so do you want to take a break?"

Wery laughed sheepishly as well and set her soldering iron on it's stand, sitting back in her chair. "I probably should. Kinda just trying to distract myself since that whole… attack." She frowned a little, shifting uncomfortably for a moment. "Is that normal for you guys?"

"Being attacked?" Tails asked, wincing a little in sympathy. "Yeah. I hate to say it, but it is. Doing what we do… is the furthest thing from safe. Which is actually why I've been meaning to ask you something. Are you wanting to stick around, even after these next couple of months are over? You don't have to and we'll do everything we can to keep you safe either way, but I needed to ask."

"I… really don't want my parents getting mixed up in all of this. They mean the world to me, and if they come after me for whatever reason…" She shook her head, obviously upset at the thought. "I don't think I can just go back home now."

"Are you sure?" Tails asked her, wanting to be really certain that she was certain.

Wery nodded. "I am, yeah. There's no way I can put them in danger."

"Okay. So long as you're sure." Tails paused for a second, thinking a bit more, before saying, "In that case… there's a lot I need to fill you in on. But, before we get to that, how about we get to your break instead?" He was smiling again suddenly. "I have an idea for something fun."

She blinked a few times and tilted her head. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, if you're gonna be hanging out with us and stuff, chances are you'll need to get used to one of our main modes of transport aside from teleportation," Tails explained. Then he asked, "Have you ever ridden in a ship before?"

"I- No, I haven't," Wery admitted slowly. "Why?"

His smile grew. "The Tornado-Z is ready to fly again," he informed her lightly. "Want to take a ride for a little bit?"

Her mouth went agape and she nodded wordlessly. She couldn't really figure out what to say at first before suddenly the words came to her. "Oh my god, I would love to!"

Grinning, Tails motioned for her to follow and hurried off to his beloved ship. Once there, he opened the cockpit and hopped up on the wing, then offered her a hand. "Here, let me help you up." She took his hand quickly and climbed into the ship with his help. He hoisted her up, then gestured at the seat direct behind his own. "You may as well sit there, since no one else is going to be riding with us. The straps should be easy enough to figure out, but holler if you need some help anyway." With that said, he hopped into his own seat and started getting things ready.

"Understood," Wery answered, fumbling with the straps out of excitement before finally managing to get herself fastened in.

"You all good back there?" Tails called over the roar of the engines as the ship started up and the cockpit began to close. High overhead, a large circular portion of the ground (as this whole workshop was underground) began to open up.

"Yeah, I'm good," Wery called back. "Ready whenever you are!"

Tails grinned again. "Alright, here we go!" he exclaimed. The ship immediately began lifting off, hovering carefully up and out of the workshop before shooting off into the sky. Once they were sufficiently high and smacking into trees or whatever else was no longer an issue, he went ahead and slowed down as much as he safely could while keeping them airborne. "Still okay?"

"This is awesome!" Wery answered, looking around excitedly at everything around them. "I love it!"

"Me, too," Tails admitted happily. "Flying is… well, awesome, like you said." A second or two later, he maneuvered the ship and pointed. "Look, that's my house down there. It's tiny, huh?"

She beamed at this sight. "That's crazy… I once tried to make a jetpack of sorts, but I couldn't find a fuel to make it efficient and still fly properly. This is something else entirely, though."

Still happy as could be, Tails suggested, "Want to do a fly-by of the place where you live? Sometimes seeing your home in a new way can add new layers of appreciation, I've found."

"Sure! Do you need the coordinates or just the general location?" Wery asked quickly.

"I know how to get to most settlements, so if you can at least tell me the name I should be good to go," Tails answered.

Wery nodded. "I live in Station Square."

This made Tails grin anew. "Oh, neat! A few of my friends actually used to live there." As he said this, he turned his ship toward the exact east of his house and began flying that way. It would be a short flight at this speed, even though the city was right by the ocean and his home was not.

"Wait, really?" she asked. "Who lived there?"

"Okay, so did you see that cat that got revived?" Tails paused, the corrected, "Actually, both of them. I know you saw Marthal, the one who can't hear, but did you also see the girl?"

Wery took a moment before nodding. "Yeah. Wait, the one with Silver or that white one?"

"The purple one, sorry," Tails laughed. "Anyway, her name is Blaze, and she's Silver's wife. They both had a home there in the past, and that's where they raised their kids. Marthal lived there with his wife and kids for a while, too, but if I'm remembering correctly he and his remaining daughter left eventually."

"Oh, wow… that's so cool!" Wery answered. "It's cool to know that some of the ancient heroes lived where I live!"

"If there houses were still standing these days, I'd show you," Tails smiled, "but I don't think they are. I'll check eventually, though." After a short pause, he pointed ahead. "Look, we're coming up on the city now!"

Wery looked at the quickly approaching city and her eyes widened. "Woah… this is so much cooler than seeing a drone's shot."

"Isn't it?" Tails angled the ship so that they could circle the city at a leisurely pace. "It's nice to be able to look at these sorts of things with your own two eyes whenever possible."

"I… love it," Wery said with a bright smile. "Seeing all of this, like this, is so… crazy."

"I'm glad you like it," Tails said, pleased that he had managed to brighten her mood. She certainly deserved it, after everything she'd gone through by simple virtue of having the misfortune of being near them.

"I want my own ship one day," she answered suddenly. "To be able to show this kind of thing to my parents… that would be awesome."

"You know… I think that can be arranged," Tails told her with a fresh new grin. "That can give us something to work on in the upcoming weeks. You having your own ship will make it safer and easier for you to travel and fight with us, and I can definitely teach you how to pilot the ship once it's built."

Her mouth went agape as her eyes widened. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah, of course," was the enthusiastic reply. "I've built plenty of ships before. Helping you build one won't be hard at all."

"Oh my god that's so cool!" Wery had a few moments of excitement where she couldn't quite get words out, but when she did it was an almost incoherent and gibberish mess spoken at a much higher speed than intended.

Without meaning to, Tails laughed a little before asking, "Anyway… while we're up here, do you have any questions about anything that you wanna ask? Obviously we don't have to try to fill you in on everything today, but you can still ask any questions you have if you want."

Wery managed to calm herself down, a touch embarrassed at how she'd reacted before managing a smile. "Well… What are your friends like? Are most of them nice, or do I need to be careful around certain ones?"

Tails hummed thoughtfully. "Silver is definitely nice. The only thing you need to worry about from him is general mischief and the occasional prank. Blaze keeps him in line most of the time, though. She's honestly just as nice, but she's quieter. She'll still talk to you if you approach her, but she's not super chatty or anything. I kinda get similar vibes about Rose, who is the cat that used sign language to communicate with Marthal that one time."

"I see… What about that other white cat? She was doing something… weird that didn't seem like a normal power," Wery frowned.

"That's called magic," Tails explained patiently. "As far as how she is as a person, though… I don't really know. In all technicality, I've never met her. I've encountered her when she was… different, but she's not how she used to be. So I'm not sure about her just yet."

"Wait, wait… magic is real…? And what do you mean by different?" Wery asked, bewildered.

Tails chuckled just a little. "I mean, yeah. Hence the magic fire I mentioned earlier." After that, he grew more serious again. "Anyway, I don't know if it's my place to say too much, but basically… she wasn't always on our side. She had some things going on that no longer seem to be affecting her, from what I understand. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things play out to know whether or not we still have to worry about her."

The female nodded slowly. "Well… she seemed to be helping out at the least."

He returned her nod once before continuing. "I mentioned Sonic earlier. He's not taking a leadership role anymore these days, but he'll absolutely still be around. He's nice enough most of the time, but he does have a bit of a temper. He can get moody when he's stressed, but there's no way he'd take it out on you at all, so no worries there. And he's also quite a worrywart sometimes, so maybe keep an eye out for that. That can also trigger some moodiness. He's completely fine other than that, though."

"I see… He's seemed a bit on edge, the little bit I saw of him," she admitted softly. "Is he alright?"

"Like I said… he's prone to stress and worry," Tails sighed. "He's had no shortage of stuff to be upset over lately. Everyone got their butts kicked, his brother was brutally attacked, his best friend has been suffering from all kinds of stuff… so he's definitely been on edge, yeah. He'll be okay, though, especially now that everyone has time to relax a little and recover."

Wery nodded a little. "Alright… who else, then?"

"His brother can be a bit trickier," Tails told her right away. "He's probably one of my best friends in the entire world, but it took a long time to get to that point. He has a really complicated and painful past, so he doesn't trust easily. I don't see any reason why he'd consider you to be a threat - and he definitely didn't act like he thought you were - but he might be standoffish and quiet around you regardless. He's got an arguably worse temper than Sonic does, too, but it'll likely never be directed at you. I think the only other thing you need to know about him right this minute is just not to touch him without permission. He doesn't… handle that well."

"I prefer personal space anytime," Wery quickly assured. "Not planning to go touching people unless I have to."

"Makes sense," Tails nodded. "Okay, so back to Marthal since you already kinda know who he is. Like I mentioned to you earlier in the day, he's extremely sensitive to smell. To such a degree, in fact, that he can smell energies from powers, people's emotions, and so on. So we generally try to keep our moods calm around him so as to not aggravate his nose. There's not much we can do about scents that cling to us otherwise, but we try to do that much at least." He paused, thinking, then added, "Oh, and being a yokai, he reacts heavily to instinct. It can pretty easily override logic moment to moment, but usually only when things like self-defense are involved. He's pretty easygoing and relaxed when he doesn't have a reason to be serious, and he definitely won't feel the need to defend himself from you, so I think you'll be just fine around him."

"...What's a yokai?" Wery questioned slowly.

"You know… I'm not one hundred percent sure, but they're basically mystical creatures that exist somewhere between animals and demons," Tails said slowly. "Some, like Marthal's mother, look like people. Others look like the animals they embody, like elemental beings, or even like outright monsters. And each kind of yokai is different from another. The reason why he has the kind of sense of smell he has is because he happens to be a cat yokai, and that's a special trait they're known for. But beyond that, I don't know much else about them overall. They're pretty… secretive."

Wery nodded slowly in response to this. "That's… weird. Cool, but weird, I guess?"

Tails chuckled again. "Guess so. Anyway… you know that village we were in? The people who live there are called chameleons. If you've ever heard of a ninja, they are ninja, to put it super mildly. One of them is a friend of ours named Espio. Generally speaking, you don't need to worry about him. He can be a bit off-putting to some people since he tends to portray himself as cold and uncaring, but he cares more than he likes to let on. He definitely is one of the strongest people we know, but I doubt he'd hurt you for any reason.

"Interesting…" Wery made note to try and observe these people more closely if only because they had begun to intrigue her more with how mysterious they were.

"There are a few others, too," Tails said. "They haven't really been around since a bit before I met you, though. I know there aren't many around here on Mobius anymore, but I assume you're at least a bit familiar with Babylonians, right?"

"Uh… Yeah, actually. I've met one before. I got kinda curious and asked them what they were… as weird as that is to just ask," Wery explained.

"Right. So, Sonic's best friend who I mentioned earlier is a Babylonian named Jet," Tails told her. "We also know another Babylonian named Wave. They're both really close friends with the rest of us, and Jet's the one basically leading us now. He helped lead everyone back during the Nocturnian War and played a role in a lot of our other past battles, so you might have heard of him because of that." He paused, then chuckled and added, "Oh, plus he's done some crazy things like purchase all of what we used to call 'Future City'. You'd know it as "Century City' now, though. So that's another reason why you might know him. And Wave's a powerful magic user who was involved in those old wars, so some people still know about her as well."

It took Wery a few seconds before she gently nodded. "Yeah, I've actually learned a bit about the both of them." A few more seconds passed and her eyes widened. "He purchased Future City?" she asked incredulously.

"They were going to tear it down at the end of this huge conflict the continent experienced in the past," Tails explained. "That city is one of the places he's considered to be home for most of his life. So he used his own money to buy and restore the city because it meant so much to him. That's why it's still here today and not just… gone."

"Woah." That was her only response. Sheer awe was evident in her tone.

"Listen… so, everyone is aware of differing lifespans and such between different species and the like," Tails said, "and that's why Wave is still alive today. You know I'm alive because of weird powers. Shadow is alive because of… complicated robotics we can get into later. And you've seen for yourself that some people who were dead have been brought back to life. None of those reasons are why Jet is still around, though. It's going to sound insane and might be really difficult to wrap your mind around initially, but it's hugely important that I explain this. Okay?"

Wery blinked a few times before frowning. "Uh… alright?"

"You and I… you'd classify us as mortals, right?" Tails suddenly asked her.

"I… yeah?"

"And you'd be correct," Tails nodded. "However… the common consensus here on Mobius that everyone in existence is just a mortal is… well, flawed. And utterly wrong. There are what are known as semi-Immortals out there… and straight-up, full Immortals."

Wery blinked several times before asking a very bewildered, "What?"

"Let's start with the simpler one of the two," Tails offered. "That would be the semi-Immortals. they're closer to you and I in terms of how easily they can die and whatnot, and yet they're still fundamentally different from mortals like us. They're inherently more powerful, for one thing, and most semi-Immortals out there are bound to existential energies which grant them that power and their enhanced lifespans. Take Rose, for existence. When she was around, did you ever notice that really nice, gentle, almost warm and bright energy she had about her?"

Rather than question the majority of what was just mentioned to her, Wery instead focused on answering the question. "Uh… yeah. It looked a lot like… light. Just… that."

"That's what it is," Tails answered. "It's an existential energy called Light. And just like Light exists, so does Darkness. It's what chameleons have, which is why the energy they give off is different. To put it most simply, Light is 'good' energy, whereas Darkness is either 'neutral' or 'evil' depending on who or what is using it. And the people and creatures bound to these energies are semi-Immortals. They can only be killed by other semi-Immortals or by the things they're inherently weak to. Light, for example, is weak to Darkness and can die from that - and vice versa."

She didn't mean for it to happen, but her mouth simply hung open in utter confusion. This… none of it made sense. To her, Light was not an energy in such a sense, and Darkness… it sure as hell didn't exist in a form like what he seemed to be implying. "So… wait… these energies… they can use it just like someone that has a fire power can use fire?"

"Exactly," Tails agreed. "Out of the people that I've told you about in our group, Shadow, Sonic, Silver, Rose, Eila, and Espio are all semi-Immortals, which is part of why I'm telling you this. I know it's a lot to digest, though, so I promise I'll explain more later on." He frowned, then added, "One thing you do need to know, however, is that part I mentioned about death. See… they can still die - say, by a mortal's hand - in the same ways we can. But the trick is that they won't stay dead if they're killed by such means. They'll… come back to life. It's like my regeneration, but much better. More so than I can really put into words."

Wery was dead silent for some time, her mind trying to process all of this scientifically as she always did. So much of this broke the logic that she had spent so long learning to get to where she was. All of that came tumbling down in a matter of days, and this was the compounded effect of her confusion. She finally spoke after some time, simply asking, "Huh?"

"It's weird… isn't it?" Tails murmured sympathetically. "Trying to reconcile stuff like this with logic and scientific reasoning… I guess it was easier for me because I grew up around a fair portion of this stuff, and the rest of it I managed to learn while I was still a kid. So making sense of it all wasn't too bad for me. I get that it's a lot to process, though. So we can hold off on the Immortal bit for now, if you want. All I'll say for now is that Jet… he is one. That's why he's still alive, and why he's leading us. Because he's the only one who can."

"So… these guys have powers that just… defy the logic that we know to exist?" Wery dared to ask.

"It defies the knowledge of most Mobians, yes," Tails said, "because we Mobians… we're a pretty isolated bunch. We're resilient most of the time, but we tend to keep our noses out of things that don't involve our little floating space rock. So things like Immortals, existential energies, foreign civilizations… knowledge of those things has passed us by for a very long time. Those of us who know about them anyhow really only do because of happenstance. Like… if I had never met Sonic, I would never know any of this stuff."

"...I've got a lot of questions to ask Sonic and the others," Wery admitted. "A lot."

"Feel free to," Tails invited. "Generally speaking, they'll answer anything you ask them, quite honestly. And you really should talk to Jet and Wave. Jet moreso, since if you're travelling with us after this point you guys will need to get acquainted. Since he's our leader and all."

Wery nodded slowly at this. "Got it… I'll keep a mental note of it."

"One last thing," Tails said as he started steering them back toward his home. "Just a general fair warning, um… most of my friends curse. A few do it a lot. Sonic and Jet included. Actually, those two might just be the worst of the bunch in that regard. Although… Shadow has the widest vocabulary out of the lot of them."

She blinked a few times. "I… alright. That's… gonna be a new one for me, actually."

"Just figured I should warn you about that one," Tails said sheepishly. "It can be kinda… much for some people."

"Thanks for the warning," she said gently. Nodding a little, Tails grew quiet as he flew them home. Lord only knew that poor Wery would need the time to think in peace while she could…

~保護者~

"Finally…" Li murmured under his breath, leaning up against the anvil he had been working with. "It's… done."

Novei carefully lifted him up to his feet and smiled faintly. "Yeah, it is. You worked really hard, too. Be proud."

Yareis snickered faintly. "I expected nothing less of the God of the Forge. Still as skilled as ever."

The wolf chuckled sheepishly (albeit tiredly) and shook his head lightly. "It's nothing… really."

Novei huffed and flicked his shoulder. "You overworked yourself."

Li shrugged. "I had to get it done for the chameleons… They need these weapons."

Yareis rolled her eyes. "You two talk. I'm gonna go hang out in the cold again. Got too warm for my tastes."

Novei watched as the Goddess walked out of the room before gently hugging Li. "You should not work for such a long time without rest. It is not good for you."

"I'm fine, Novei… really."

She shook her head at him. "You are not. You will rest and not argue with me."

Li managed a faint smile. "Alright… but, would you mind staying with me?"

Novei huffed. "As if I would leave you alone." She walked along with Li in her arms until she found a room on the second floor that wasn't locked and was actually a bedroom before setting Li down on the bed within. "If they have a problem with us resting here, I will handle it."

"Novei… don't go trying to punch Immortals…" Li warned tiredly.

"I don't care who they are," Novei answered, lying down on the bed beside him. Much to Li's surprise and… content, Novei wrapped an arm over him gently and pulled him close before seeming to fall asleep suddenly.

Li managed a soft, happy smile. I'm glad she's here… His thoughts trailed off as exhaustion suddenly took over and he too drifted off into slumber.

~保護者~

That Aniko was so deeply concerned pushed Shei into action. Now that Espio had gone (not that this was why Shei had pushed for him to head out), his father had a chance to poke around. He didn't like poking around in the private lives of those he actually gave a damn about, but things couldn't remain as they were now. He needed to find something to prove Aniko wrong. This wasn't about being right, it wasn't even about her being wrong, it was about proving that there was still hope. Hope that their son did still care about people, including those who had died, in spite of how he outwardly portrayed himself.

Shei suspected he knew what was going on. The issue, he believed, was that his son didn't know how to safely express his emotions without fueling his Darkness ever further. Avoiding that outcome was quite likely why he had refused to battle Zareil when given the chance… despite having doubtlessly having wanted to. Espio surely did care, despite not showing it. He had never been skilled with emotions in any regard. It was simply a case of an old problem showing itself anew. But for Aniko's sake, Shei needed proof. What he found was something simple, something that would have seemed small to outsiders… but to their people was significant and deeply meaningful.

He found it within the graveyards.

There were no flowers to be found on the graves here. Their people did not do that. It was tradition to leave handmade gifts, at times, or more commonly… incense. Two sticks of incense would be left sticking up out of two small holes left in the tops of gravestones for this very purpose. They would then be lit using a shinobi technique, one that left no charring and the like as a fire would. Once they were lit, whoever was visiting would either sit or bow quietly in honor of those who had died.

More crucially, those who did not know the person who was buried simply would not do any of this at the burial site in question. It was dishonorable, disapproved of, disrespectful, and highly worthy of reprimand. The dead were left alone to be honored by those who knew and loved them, not intruded upon by strangers. All this tied together to tell Shei something very, very important.

That there were two sticks of incense left on the graves where Shei was standing suggested either a very knowledgeable outsider, such as Armaris, or a shinobi. There wasn't any sign of fire, however, so that just left a shinobi. The only shinobi who knew these individuals were himself, Aniko, and Espio. And two of those people simply hadn't been here. There was no clear indication of whether or not anyone had stood or sat here, but… this would be enough. He was sure it would be enough. He was confident in his find, enough so that he immediately returned to where Aniko was so as to retrieve her.

Aniko glanced to Shei as he approached, tilting her head faintly as soon as she realized he was looking for her. "What do you need?"

Hearing her voice, Shei signed to her, "Come with me."

"Why?" Aniko questioned, her eyes narrowing as she pushed herself to stand.

"You need to see this," Shei answered her insistently. "It is important for you to view this with your own eyes."

"See what?" She continued to question even as she moved to follow him.

Shei simply motioned for her to come along and quickly made his way back toward the graveyard. Once there, he signed, "This was not my doing, Aniko. So, logically, who must have left this incense on these graves?" Once he finished signing, he gestured meaningfully to two graves in particular… Cream and Vector's.

Aniko stared quietly for a moment before it ultimately dawned on her and she nodded slowly. "I… yes. I understand…" she murmured. "Why does it… matter?"

"Because of your fears," Shei pointed out as gently as he could manage. "You fear that our son no longer cares, and that perhaps he is no longer capable of it. Here before you sits proof to the contrary."

The woman slowly knelt down by Cream's grave and stared for some time. She understood what Shei was saying, but ultimately felt the need to give some sort of honor to someone she had directly accepted into their family. You did not deserve to die as you did. There was much more you should have lived to see, young Cream. Aniko lowered her head and closed her eyes for a moment before pushing herself to stand and turning to Shei. "You have more to say?"

After a lengthy pause, Shei slowly signed, "He loves you, you know. You are one of the only people he has ever bonded with so deeply. Your thoughts and opinions… hold immense weight to him."

"Why do you explain this?" Aniko asked softly. "I understand that much."

"Do you remember what you once explained to me?" Shei asked her in return. "'If you are called stupid enough times, eventually you start to believe it'."

Her eyes widened slowly and she nodded slowly. "I…" She covered her mouth, realizing the exact mistake she'd been making.

Despite seeing that she understood, Shei nevertheless continued just to make certain that his message really got through. "Our son is being told by many people all around him that he is inherently evil, that he can be and should be nothing more. Likewise, he is also being treated by many as if that were true. We are fortunate that he does not seem to be internalizing that message as of now, but if people like you and I start to speak or act as if we believe such a thing as well… eventually, he will begin to take it to heart, whether he means to or not."

Aniko nodded once more and slowly crossed her arms, deeply upset with herself. "How could I let myself act as if he would…?" Shei said nothing for the moment, unsure how to comfort her right this minute. Upsetting her had been an unfortunate consequence of bringing this to her attention, but he hadn't wanted to and he didn't quite know how to help her feel better. The woman was silent as she began heading back toward where she had been previously, obviously deep in thought regarding her recent actions and thoughts.

With a silent sigh, Shei moved to follow, only to immediately flinch backward. He did so just fast enough to dodge a rather lengthy kunai that suddenly embedded itself into the ground where he had just been standing. The hell? Equal parts confused and alarmed (how many people had he ever met who could move that fast?), he stopped walking and began looking around, taking one of his own weapons in hand as he did so.

Aniko paused briefly, unsheathing her sword and turning to Shei quietly with a confused yet serious look. It didn't take long for her to realize what was happening as someone appeared behind her. Without any hesitation regarding the action, Aniko turned and slashed the air where this person had just been. "Both of you come out now! I know you're here!"

Roughly a second later, a woman who looked quite a lot like Aniko herself dropped out of a tree barely a foot or two away from Shei. His eyes narrowed distrustfully the moment he laid eyes on the woman. How in the hell is she…?

Aniko let out a hateful reptilian in this woman's direction, grabbing Shei and pulling him to her. "Why the hell are you alive? You deserved to die a long time ago?" she snapped.

The other woman's eyes rolled with clear disdain. "How unfortunate for you, then, that we are so capable of surviving. Unlike you, as it turns out."

There was a moment of silence before Aniko walked forward. "You are not welcome here, mother."

Her mother, who most often went by the name "Kal", grabbed Aniko by the throat and harshly threw her backward and into Shei, causing them both to fall. "This place would not exist if not for your ancestors. Do you forget that it was people like your father and I who built this society from the ashes of our former home? It is you who does not deserve to set foot on this soil."

Aniko rolled onto her feet and roughly pulled Shei up to his own as she stormed toward Kal. "I said that you're not welcome here," she yelled, eyes flaring in hate. "You are not 'in charge' of these people."

"Come now, is that any way to speak to your mother?" a male voice asked from the trees, only dropping down once he'd said this. "I thought we had taught you respect, not dishonor."

Kal crossed her arms, staring coldly at her daughter as she said, "She has already dishonored us. She is well aware of that fact." Then, speaking to Aniko herself this time, she said, "We are not here for the weak little riffraff that now populate our lands, darling. We came to pay our family a little visit, is all."

Muscles tensed and hatred boiling well beyond reasonable limits, Aniko walked right up to her father and stared into his eyes. "You taught me hatred and anger, how to be ruthless. You taught me nothing that I care for." Her gaze shifted to Kal with a faint twitch of her eyes. "And you, you will stay away from the family that you care nothing for."

"Those were tools that you could have used to reach your full potential," Kal frowned, arms crossing a touch tighter. "And yet, you chose to turn your back on it all for the sake of meaningless romance. You failed us and your people deeply. How fortunate is it, then, that our grandson has managed not to follow your lead? He may well restore our family's honor all on his own."

Aniko didn't hesitate any further to grab her father by the neck and slam him against a tree. She knew it was a clone, and thus knew that doing anything to this didn't matter. She wanted revenge against him, and took great pleasure in watching the clone's neck snap under her grip. Her father then suddenly appeared from a different tree and kicked her through the one she had used to kill his clone. "That was highly disrespectful, Aniko. Surely you would not kill your own kin, much less your parents?"

Aniko picked herself up off the ground along with the tree that was falling and shoved it at the two. "I do not care for either of you, nor do I care if you live any longer. I want the both of you out of my village and away from my family. You are no longer part of either."

Kal sniffed softly in disdain. "We do not need to care, and neither do you. It is a weakness that you will someday be forced to learn to abandon… unless dying is what you want. But if you perish too soon, you will miss the opportunity to see the future we intend to help bring about." She smiled a little before adding, "Our race has been crippled and weakened for far too long. That will be remedied."

Her father, Ryuji, caught the tree in his hands and tossed it to the side with a faint scowl. "You should cease your attacks against us, child. You know well that we together are well beyond anything you can muster. And once we have our way, you will have nobody else left that can help you 'get rid' of us."

Aniko didn't listen to this and instead kicked the tree's trunk out of the ground and directly at Ryuji without hesitation. "And what is it exactly that you want?" she questioned harshly. The woman watched as her father unsheathed and sheathed a blade in a fluid motion, leaving the tree trunk and roots to fall to either side of her parents harmlessly.

"Since you're curious, I will explain as you will not understand on your own," he taunted, huffing. "We are here for your son, our grandson. He has far more potential than you ever did in every way we tried to teach you to be, so we wish to make sure he walks the path he was intended to."

"I will not all-"

"Cease," Ryuji demanded, causing an unusual and immediate silence from Aniko. "You can and will do nothing to stop us from guiding him to his potential. Doing so means you forfeit your care of your son and that you do not wish to see him succeed in life. Is that what you want?" he asked incredulously, casually raising an eyebrow at her.

"I want my son happy, unlike how you made me to be!" Aniko snapped. "The both of you were worthless parents, nothing more than figureheads to teach me things I could have learned on my own or with the help of people who actually cared!"

Suddenly, Kal was smirking. "I think it is time you settle down, my dear." Using a power not too dissimilar to one of Zareil's, she began holding Aniko in place… just as she had been silently doing to Shei for the past several minutes. Then, turning her attention to Ryuji, she said almost conversationally, "I sense fresh corruption in that one. Since our daughter appears to need punishment once again, what do you say to drawing that taint outward for her to deal with? I am sure she will enjoy that."

"Don't touch him, bastards," Aniko muttered murderously, struggling against the force holding her in place. "You will regret it."

Ryuji clicked his tongue, then glanced up in a tree. "There's a spectator to this, but there's little she can do." He walked up to Shei and regarded the other man with a curious eye. "I do not understand what she sees in you. It bothers me to know that she decided to go with someone who is simply so… frail."

"Nevertheless, be mindful," Kal warned in amusement. "It is toxic, as I recall."

Aniko hissed again, struggling more against the energy to no avail. "Do not refer to my partner as an 'it'."

Her father scoffed. "He's hardly worth being called anything more. If it were me, I would have ignored him and let him die to a predator rather than deal with him myself." With a careful control of his own Darkness, he began dragging out the demonic taint that Shei had suffered. The only break in his concentration came when Tyria leapt out of the trees at him and slammed into him with far more force than she should have been able to. He caught her by the neck in one hand and attempted to crush it, only to find that her body was… oddly strong. "Kal, dear. Restrain this one as well. I don't have time to deal with her."

Kal watched for a moment before shaking her head. "No… it is enough for now. What you have done will cause our lovely daughter more than enough problems in the near future, and we have somewhere else to be."

Ryuji huffed and tossed Tyria aside. "Next time, I will not be as… merciful. Stand in the way of your elders once more and I will have to put you in your place." He turned to Aniko, who was absolutely fuming with hate. "And dear child… stop. You're getting nowhere with the anger. Give up and let it all go."

Smiling faintly, Kal walked over to Aniko and tipped her chin up with a finger, forcing eye-contact to take place. "I will say this much… despite how incredibly disappointed in you I am, I will allow you the honor of dying by your son's hand when the time comes. It is only right that you perish by the hand of the very thing you have spent your entire life running from." With that said, she abruptly dropped Aniko and Shei before teleporting away in silence. Before Aniko had a chance to say or do anything further, Ryuji lightly pushed her into the ground with his Darkness as a mild form of punishment for her behavior before taking off after Kal.

Aniko simply pushed herself up and moved over to Shei quickly, picking him up without hesitation and looking into his eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked with deep concern evident in her voice through all of the anger.

By some miracle, Shei's eyes weren't glowing like a demon's would, though he definitely did not feel like his normal self. For one thing, he was suddenly hot and exhausted, as though he had a fever. Whether or not that was somehow normal, he had no idea. "...No," he eventually signed. After a very short pause, he added, "I feel ill."

Aniko pulled him into a hug before picking him up. She would have taken off right then, but her eyes fell on Tyria as the younger chameleon finally stood up. "Why did you do that? They could have killed you."

Tyria glanced to Aniko quietly for a moment. "You stated that demons are beings of Darkness like ourselves. You also said that some demons are also capable of corrupting others, and that if we saw it to interrupt it and retreat with the one who was subjected to this. They are no better than how you described the demons to be."

It took Aniko a moment to remember all of this, but it made enough sense. I am glad to see that some will have taken that to heart. "Thank you, but for now, we must go. Stay nearby and we will talk another time." Tyria nodded, then Aniko bolted off with Shei in her arms.

~保護者~

11,000 words this time. Hope you all enjoyed, and many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Posted (at about 11:30 p.m.) 07-07-20.