Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this bit of downtime… especially for the one who's a bit timid.
~保護者~
"To Trust Again"
~保護者~
Necklaces weren't something Espio often wore. This one was wearing out its welcome bit by bit. The more times it activated, the more its finite reserves of energy were depleted. It had just struck him with another wave of Light in an effort to quell his gradually rising Darkness. The force of it had brought him down onto his knees, but only for a moment. Gritting his teeth, he took hold of the pendant and examined it. The Light was dimming more and more. Depending on how bad things got the next time it activated, there was one… maybe two uses left. Nothing more.
A more permanent solution had to be found. He knew that. He'd known that from the beginning. But no suitable solution had presented itself. Given all that had been going on, he hadn't exactly had a chance to go searching for one, either. But… that was going to have to wait for now. He needed to calm himself down some more. Zei and Saiko were safe, but he needed to be able to go home to them at some point. They didn't need to see his anger, however, or feel his Darkness. Especially not Zei, who knew far too well from her mother what the latter meant. He wouldn't, couldn't do that to them. To her.
Once the brief pain passed, Espio stood again and resumed walking. By now, he was a short distance away from the battlefield. Not far enough away that anyone still in the area could accuse him of taking off, but also not close enough to be too easily bothered or talked to. Given that, he decided he may as well stop as soon as he found a half-decent place to sit.
Soon, he found a spot nestled between the huge, overgrown roots of one of the Highland's massive trees. It was shady, secluded, and gave the illusion of privacy despite him knowing he was well within range of people's senses. At least they couldn't see him. That was something, surely. With a slight sigh, he closed his eyes, hoping to meditate and clear his head. He might have been able to accomplish that, too, had his own senses not picked up on someone he knew very well. Armaris. Why? Very slightly, he frowned to himself. She said she would return home with the children. Why is she out here now? Aku can and will watch them, but even so...
She wasn't trying to be stealthy at all, what with the way she was running. At some point the sounds altogether stopped while she approached. The reason it did became obvious as she came into view, the tendrils of Darkness she was fond of using extending out of her body and carrying her. "Espio, you okay?" she asked immediately.
It was no use lying to her and he knew it, but he still opted for a half-truth nevertheless. "I'm fine," he responded, opening his eyes to look at her.
The cat tilted her head with a vague frown. "Don't believe that, but I do have a question for you.
"Ask," Espio responded simply.
"What do you identify as?" she questioned, before thinking and adding clarification. "Like, gender-wise."
Now that threw him completely for a loop. Enough to startle him out of his anger and fully replace it with utter confusion. "Why are you asking?" he inquired, his frown remaining but no longer with negative connotations. Of course, he knew the answer. He went with whatever people happened to call him. For chameleons, he was completely androgynous in appearance (helped by the fact that, unlike most races, theirs didn't have or need standard female chests). He was neither truly male or female in appearance. People tended to refer to him as male, however, and that really didn't bother him. As such, he never said anything about it. Which led him straight back to his question. Why was she asking? How did she know to ask?
"Well," Armaris began. "I'm mostly curious."
Though he huffed and looked away, Espio answered her question at that point. "Whatever people decide to call me. It doesn't make a difference to me what they choose."
She blinked a few times. "Oh, so I was right?"
Espio huffed again. "You made the assumption without knowing?" he questioned, incredulous.
"As I usually do," Armaris added proudly. "I'm kinda used to being right about random guesses."
"What prompted you to guess in the first place?" Espio asked her dryly.
Armaris shrugged vaguely. "I'm the same way. I was curious about your stance on that."
For the second time, he was surprised. "...I'm not aware of having ever met anyone else with similar inclinations," he admitted.
The cat gestured to her lithe body. "If it wasn't for the fact of my hair, people might be more likely to mistake me for a guy. Learned that when I was young and cut it a lot shorter." Espio blinked and nodded slowly. What she said made sense. Ultimately, Armaris shrugged a little. "It never bothered me much. I've even tried dressing up like a guy."
"Women already can and do do that, easily," Espio pointed out. "That would not have been difficult."
"Your point?" Armaris asked with a chuckle. "What about you, though? Have you explored your fluidity at all?"
"'Explored it'?" Espio echoed after a moment.
Armaris frowned while trying to think of how to phrase what she was thinking. "Like… have you tried doing anything to purposely experience more of being a female or something?"
That earned a shrug. "I never saw a point," he said. "It seemed like a waste of time, as I have never cared one way or another about gender."
The cat shrugged a little as well. "Eh, fair enough." Armaris sat down and leaned up against him. "It's kinda nice to know that someone gets it."
He supposed that was true enough. "More or less, at any rate," he murmured in response to the last part.
Armaris smiled at him a little. "You feeling a little better, hun?"
For whatever reason, he was. Rather than saying that, however, he turned his head to look at her and repeated, "'Hun'?"
The woman smiled further and nuzzled his cheek. "Yeah, 'hun'. It's just me being sweet to you."
Espio huffed at her. "You do not need to be."
"What if I want to be?" Armaris questioned in amusement. In the end, he had no good answer. He wound up just shrugging. She simply nuzzled him again and smiled brightly. "I'm really glad we can just sit together for a bit like this."
After a long moment, Espio inclined his head. "It is… far preferable to some of our past interactions," he agreed.
Armaris chuckled a little and nodded. "Yeah… but, if all of that is what it takes to get to have these moments with you, that makes it worth everything we've been fighting to have." Espio inclined his head a little again. Though some part of him was tempted to argue, overall he felt that he agreed for the most part.
This really was… nice.
~保護者~
Nareish went to check on her pet, only to find him not working. The reason for why was clear. "I see Kaden managed somehow to harm you in spite of the trap. Unusual, but I suppose I should not be surprised." With a twirl of her finger, energies coiled loosely around Gerald's hands and began to heal them. "Tell me, aside from your little injuries, how did your meeting go? I must admit that I am quite curious."
Gerald let out a low sigh, taking a moment to compose himself now that he had been healed. "I learned a lot. Namely… the level of violence, hostility… the malice." The man finally managed to pull himself together enough to bring out a smile. "I have plenty of ideas for what to do with Shadow should I get my chance to get ahold of him."
"Oh? Explain those ideas, then," Nareish instructed. "Share with me all you are planning."
"One of the first things that came to mind was forcing him to tap into his Black Arms heritage to the fullest and truly acting like one of their kind," Gerald explained, standing up and straightening everything on his person. "Shadow has become far too soft in his years with those… Mobians."
Nareish's head tilted. "And how do you intend to accomplish this?" she asked.
"Perhaps by creating a form of link between what makes Kaden so violent and malicious to not only draw out those characteristics, but also add to them."
"Interesting. Anything else?"
The man tapped his chin for a moment. "I would also not mind finding a way to give him further powers… or force him to tap more directly into those he already has. I do not believe that there would be enough time to properly do both, with how insistent his allies appear to be on protecting him, not that he needs it."
"Further powers, you say? Now that could be interesting." Nareish smiled briefly. "Do you have any powers in particular you are interested in?"
"Kaden himself showed one, though I am not quite sure what it was," Gerald began. "When he attacked… I firmly believe that he did not leave the trap, despite how he appeared to have done so."
"Ah, I see. He is quite skilled at manipulating his energies to create clones of himself." Nareish thought for a moment. "Did he, at any point, break the trap? Or at least, perhaps, crack it?"
Gerald nodded slightly. "He created some cracks in it, yes."
"Then what he did was simple. He used the miniscule openings to feed energy outside. From there, he coalesced those energies into a clone of himself. It is an unconventional method of cloning oneself, but I must admit that it is effective in scenarios like this." Nareish smiled for a second again. "Otherwise, the clones you create first appear right next to you. That would not have done him any good."
"Then, with this explanation, I am correct to assume that Shadow should be capable of doing the same?" Gerald asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It is possible," was the casual response. "Though, that would require him to have more full and deliberate access to his Darkness than he currently does. He shows remarkable control already, however, which is promising. Crafting a working gun out of pure energy is truly no laughing matter."
Gerald nodded at this, his mind already going to work. "Perhaps a serious threat could entice him to act on instinct and access his Darkness on his own, as opposed to me wasting my time with further experiments. I should not have to do everything for my weapons once they are in working order."
"He is functional," Nareish agreed, "but he currently lacks purpose. You built him to destroy one being, a being he now feels bonded to. As a result, he has no direction, nothing to fight and overcome on your behalf as he was designed to do. That may be part of the issue, at present."
The man frowned, tapping his fingers against his desk. "I also appear to be facing not only the one he has grown close to, but another two intelligent beings. If that is the case, it will be a fairly consistent battle of undoing their work, which will certainly waste time as well, something I am growing to believe I have little of."
A thoughtful hum answered him, then she said, "I will give you time to consider solutions on your own. If you cannot, I suppose I can devote a degree of my own time to… handling those two."
"It shouldn't take me long to come up with something… but as I said, it may well be a waste of time," Gerald admitted. "Focusing too much on them leaves less attention on something that matters more, yet they would continue undoing everything given the chance." Any further words he said trailed off somewhat as he began typing with his freshly healed hands on his computer, eyes narrowed. "Though… perhaps the best choice is to prevent them from meddling at all."
"Indeed. If you require assistance, say so. For all of my talents, I am not yet a mind reader." Nareish turned to leave, but paused. "Still… I am capable of reading people. And you, Doctor, appear to have a newfound concern."
"My own mortality was freshly dredged up," Gerald admitted with a mutter. "There are beings now in my way that are far stronger than those around when I was first alive. I also feel as though my weapon has lagged too far behind them." He took a short break from his typing to look over at her. "And frankly, I am rather exhausted from laying on the floor wondering if survival was an option. Perhaps I should invest a small amount of time in voice activation for my creations."
Suddenly, Nareish was smiling again. This time, the smile was more visible as well as being much darker. "Oh, but Doctor… he has not lagged behind at all. You believe he has, and so do his allies. He may even believe it himself. But he is his father's son. And I mean that in regards to both fathers. It would seem that intervention is required to draw that power to the surface, however, and that can be arranged. And as for you… you will live. I gave my word to ensure such."
He blinked once, a touch slowly. "I see…" he answered, pinching the bridge of his nose and rubbing at his eyes. "Forgive me. I usually do not undergo such physical trauma. I will be fine here shortly."
"See to it that you are. Work on what you will, but I hope to see some form of decent progress soon." She glanced at one of his tables. "Particularly in regards to that… robot of yours. Work well, and I will see to it that your weapon's capabilities are drawn out to their fullest soon."
"Understood," Gerald responded. "I will ensure as much progress as I am capable of."
"Good." Nareish turned away again and began walking out. "Oh, and one more thing… Black Doom is indeed on the prowl again. He appears to be headed toward Mobius for reasons I believe you can determine on your own. That situation may require monitoring. I don't believe I need to remind you what Black Doom thinks of you and your operations. He may well draw your weapon even further out of your reach."
The man scoffed. "I will have to do something about that, then. I cannot allow Black Doom to take him, or separate Shadow from me. Shadow is mine to use."
Smiling further to herself, Nareish disappeared into the darkness of the hall.
~保護者~
The crumbling of Sona's home was more than enough to make her throw her weight through a window to escape, stumbling back on her feet while trying to regain her balance. The blade slicing by her hair and clipping some of it pissed her off. A blast of her flames made the attacker, who was in their Dark form, back up just long enough that she could see who it was. "Fuck!"
Sona ducked and rolled, drawing her scimitar and clashing against Toru's blade of Darkness. She was sent flying off into space, only able to recover with a controlled flame that she just barely managed to manipulate in time to prevent her head from being sliced off. She knew she was at a disadvantage, and so the only way to even remotely even the score was to make as much distance between them both and head for a star.
So, when he came in for another attack, Sona gritted her teeth through the pain of it slicing into her shoulder to send him careening through an asteroid before flying off, holding her wound tightly. Fuck, I can't die here. Not now. He was back on her in moments, holding her still with some invisible force and laying out blow after blow all over her body before kicking her in the jaw as the energy released her, spiraling her away while she did her best to recover. She could almost feel the star's energy, just a little closer…
She got her wish in the form of a blade in her gut, giving her the chance to blast him off again with far less success than before. It didn't matter, though. She reached her destination and sunk into the core of the star immediately before unleashing a wave of fire that melted away anything too close. When it didn't hit, Sona immediately realized she needed someone else desperately, and so she emerged from the star and waited for him to come close.
"Novae!" Sona's body was set ablaze as her Starfire exploded outward in a brilliant display of all the colors of the stars. She couldn't be satisfied with the results, however, as Toru snatched her by the throat and resumed pummeling her, ignoring the burns he'd received in favor of drawing more blood into the expanse of space.
He didn't get to continue for long. A blinding force came in with a roar that was felt rather than heard. Toru was wrenched off of her and sent hurtling backward, only to be struck in the back and thrown bodily into the closest solid object (a lone asteroid) with immense force. Toru recovered fairly quickly, rolling himself on said object and using his threads to rip pieces of it off and launch it at his assailant as he sent daggers of Darkness flying toward Sona's limp body. The chunks of stone and metal melted well before they reached their intended victim. The daggers met the same fate when the source of the heat and blinding light reached Sona and scooped her up.
The fires transformed into something designed for healing. At the same time, the light faded enough for Locke to be seen standing there with Sona in his arms, coated in this new fire. "Any particular reason why you're after her?" he inquired, voice calm in spite of the deep-set frown creasing his brow. "From what I can tell, no one's controlling you anymore. There's no reason to target her."
Toru gripped at his face for a moment before ultimately just hurling another asteroid at Locke, a low growl escaping him. "I need to fight something. Something that's not weak."
Taking a calculated risk, Locke pointed out, "You didn't want Shadow to do that when he was corrupted. You wanted to avoid that happening however was necessary, because you didn't want him to have to live with the guilt later. Right? So do you think he wants that for you?"
"Fuck you," Toru snapped, clenching his fists. "I don't fucking care!" Despite his words, he didn't make a move at Locke, instead staying where he was for now.
"You do," Locke easily countered. "You care a lot about him and what he thinks and feels. To the point where even I can tell, and I barely know you, nor have I really seen Shadow in a long time."
Toru's eyes narrowed. "I wasn't talking about that," he muttered. "I don't care about the guilt. You people… None of you matter if Shadow's okay."
Well, so much for keeping Toru calm. He was a bit more aggravated than Locke had hoped. But he pressed on regardless. "He won't be okay," the echidna said quietly. "Not if you keep going on like this. No one can just be okay, knowing the person they care about unlike any other is corrupted and doing things they normally wouldn't. It's a burden on him already. It will only continue to be one the longer this goes on. I'm sure you saw Analia at least once. Her love made her suffer in the face of her partner's corruption. Do you want that to happen to him?"
Toru didn't say anything, and it gave Cere enough time to arrive. A quick assessment of the situation told her that Locke was trying to talk Toru down, and she felt a touch of relief at that. "Toru, whatever your impulses are… whatever is driving you due to this corruption, know that what you do now will really hurt the people you care about. We can walk away from this, everyone safe. We can get you purified, back home with your partner. Doesn't that sound better than just mindlessly fighting and killing?"
The chameleon blinked once, and for just a moment looked like he was about to create a weapon before his muscles relaxed slightly and he let out a deep sigh. "I want to see someone bleed. To death," he muttered. "I can't relax. I can't calm down. Move out of my way."
"You can if you let us help you," Locke disagreed. "I won't lie and pretend the Light won't hurt, but it'll also take away all the things you're struggling with right now. That's what purification does."
Cere nodded. "If you want, I'd even be willing to render you unconscious so that this struggle ends for you. We'll take you to be purified, and all will be fine."
Toru briefly weighed his options. On one hand, seeing these two powerful beings bleed to death was enticing. He didn't know much about either, so the odds were stacked against him in a fight. On the other… Shadow. Lia, Soren, Myriu. His father, Espio. He could see them. Not just watch from afar. The chameleon started forward, moving up calmly to Cere before grabbing her hand tightly. "If you touch me, I'll rip you to pieces. Understood?"
The Hexan didn't flinch. "Understood. Shall we get moving?" she asked coolly.
"...Fine," Toru murmured.
Locke opened a portal straight to the Realm of Chaos and Eona and ushered them through. "I'll walk behind," he said. "Just to make sure nothing follows us."
"Yeah, yeah," Toru huffed, waving him off. "Don't get killed. Your life is for me to end."
That sounds a lot closer to the real you, I'd wager. Suppressing a weary smile, Locke closed the portal behind them.
~保護者~
The relative silence inside Jet's home was interrupted by the Void. It had been moodily ignoring Sein for some time now, lingering unseen close to where Jet was sleeping. However, it suddenly swung toward Sein, its heavy presence physically pushing him off the bed so that he would be forced to stand. "Go outside," it commanded sharply. "Someone has arrived with energy akin to yours. It is irritating enough to suffer your presence. Send your family away."
Sein resisted the Void enough to not be pushed off the bed so that he could get to his feet on his own, moving to the window before mockingly waving it off and teleporting outside to see what was going on. Almost as soon as he reappeared, he was met by a young woman with crystal blue feathers who tilted her head at him. Then she smiled. "Hello," she greeted. "I hope we are not intruding."
"No, you're not," Sein said with a soft smile. "Might I ask your name?"
"Suri," she replied, brushing an errant strand of hair out of her face. "My siblings and I were just revived, though they appeared farther away from here than I did."
Sein blinked a few times before his eyes brightened a little. "My name is Sein. It's a long story, but I'm Jet's father," he explained with a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Suri."
Immediately, her eyes widened. "I was right," she breathed. "I dreamed of meeting you once, and you told me the very same thing then, so when I saw you here I thought…" Though she trailed off, she returned his smile with ease. Then she said, "My brother and sister should be here in a minute or two. They weren't too far behind me."
"Would you prefer to wait for them, or do you want to meet up with them?" Sein asked.
"We can wait for them here," Suri said cheerily. "Like I said, they weren't f-"
As if on cue, another blue hawk dropped lightly onto the icy ground beside her, having clearly been flying. A few seconds later, a brown hawk with amber eyes dropped down at her free side. The latter was the one to speak first, looking back and forth between Suri and Sein. "Suri, who's…?"
Suri whirled around to face him, smile brightening further. "Oh, Ten! This is the man from my dream! The one I said is more truly our family than Ross!" When he started to ask a new question, she shushed him. "You doubted me once already, but just feel his aura! It feels just like Daddy's!"
"The resemblance between his aura and Father's is very apparent," the other woman agreed quietly.
Sein chuckled a little at this. "Yeah, I'm your grandfather," he said. Makes me feel older than I am.
"Whoa," Ten breathed, eyes wide. "Hannah, did you believe her when she told us about this?"
The former queen of New Babylon executed a delicate shrug. "I did not form an opinion. Rather, I opted to wait and see. I waited, and now I have seen. That is better than an opinion on its own."
Ten huffed at her. "Or, in layman's terms, you didn't waste time forming an opinion about something we had no way of knowing for sure, and you probably think I should have done the same. Got it." For a fleeting moment, Hannah smiled at him, plainly amused.
"So, you're Hannah, Suri, and Ten, yes?" Sein asked.
Suri spun back around with a nod. "Yes, we are," she said happily.
With no further acknowledgement than a nod of her own, Hannah pointed to the distant castle behind Sein. "Father is there, isn't he?" she asked. Then she looked around the landscape a little with a frown. "Why has he chosen to inhabit such a cold, dark, and isolated world?"
"Even the water looks pitch black," Ten added, motioning with a hand to a stream off to their left and the lake beyond it. "The sky and plants and the ground, too. Just, all of it. It's pretty foreboding, to be honest. And creepy."
"There's a lot going on that you need to be caught up to speed on," Sein answered, his smile fading a little.
"Can we start by going inside?" Ten asked. "It really is cold out here, and I don't have weather powers like they do to help keep me warm."
"That should be fine," Suri said. "Daddy's energies are at rest right now, so I think he's sleeping. But I don't think he'd mind us just coming in."
"It would be unlike him to mind," Hannah agreed. She returned her focus back to Sein. "If it is also alright with you, we would like to go in."
Sein nodded a little, motioning them along. "C'mon. Let's all step inside," he said, leading the way up to the castle.
Once they were there and the doors were shut, Ten sighed in relief. The temperature was much more comfortable in here, though he didn't spend time dwelling on it. "So, you said there's stuff we need to be caught up to speed on?" he asked. "It has something to do with that energy that's floating around upstairs, right?"
"It matches the feel of everything outside," Suri murmured. "Foreboding, dark, and everything else you two brought up. Did it make this world the way it is outside?"
"Jet did it, but he used that energy you're sensing to do it," Sein admitted.
Hannah was frowning again. "Why would Father do this to a world?" she asked. "That does not sound like him."
"Yeah, Dad loves nature just the way it is," Ten affirmed, "in all of its green and sometimes chaotic glory."
"Like I said… there's a lot you guys don't know right now," Sein said. "That energy is affecting him a good bit."
"Affecting him how?" Suri dared to ask.
Sein let out a soft sigh. "It'd be best explained later. How are you three feeling right now? Most everyone that's been revived lately has been pretty exhausted."
"Uh, yeah. I actually am tired, now that you mention it." Ten rubbed the back of his head, a little sheepish. "I don't suppose Dad has spare rooms in this place."
"On the top floor, but not the first or last doors in the hall." When she was given a weird look by her brother, Suri turned sheepish herself. "I saw it in that dream, remember?" she offered in explanation.
"How about you three go lay down for a bit?" Sein proposed. "I'll see about preparing some food or something when you guys are awake, and I can explain everything then. That sound alright to you guys?"
"Sure," Ten answered. "I could use a good nap right now."
Suri smiled and led her brother upstairs. Shortly after they disappeared, Hannah spoke up again. "I have one last question," she stated. "If you are here, does that mean his mother is as well?"
"Yes, though she's currently on Babylon, to my knowledge, trying to figure out solutions to things that are going on," Sein said. "You guys will get to meet her soon."
"Alright. And thank you, for being so patient." Hannah looked up the stairs in the direction her siblings had gone. "I am aware that we can be a bit… talkative when we are around each other."
Sein waved it off easily. "Not a problem. I'm more than happy to be patient, especially when it's regarding family."
"I understand." Hannah inclined her head before disappearing up the stairs.
"Sleep well!" he called. A faint acknowledgement came, but nothing more. Sein decided now was the time to go investigate the castle. He'd made a promise of food, and he intended to follow through.
~保護者~
Things always changed so quickly. It was something that Storm had, in the past, lamented. His girlfriend of many decades had been lost to him purely because of the flow of time. They'd spent so long together, and yet it had felt so fast. He had learned to hate that fact. Then he had learned to accept it. Forced to move on, to live on, he had done just that.
It was clear that others had, too.
A golden glow heralded Wave's return, piercing his closed eyes for a blinding moment before fading away. Storm rubbed at his eyes with an arm before opening them again. He stood up from where he'd been reclining in the grass beyond the palace. "Hey," he greeted. "Took ya long enough."
"Hah. Yeah. Sorry about that." Wave had clearly suffered plenty of change of her own. Though, suffered probably wasn't an accurate description. She was so much stronger and happier now than she had been in the past - and that strength went beyond mere physical boundaries. Mental, emotional, energetic… Even now, in spite of her clear exhaustion, she was managing to smile. "Things got pretty hectic out there. Then I was talking with some people, so… yeah."
Nodding slowly, Storm glanced at her shoulder. "Mind tellin' me what that is?"
Visible surprise flashed in her eyes. "Wait, you can see it?" She looked down at her own shoulder for a moment. "So far, no one else has seemed to unless it's deliberately revealed itself."
Storm thought about that. Then he held up his magic staff. "Might be this. Whatever that creature is, it's energy ain't too different from magic." He looked the travel-sized being up and down. "I can't see it clearly though. The image's fuzzy at best. So, again, mind tellin' me what I'm lookin' at?"
"Well… Aether, want to come out and say hi?" Wave asked with a shrug.
The miniature Aether waved happily with a leg. "Hiya! My name is Aether… kinda. That's what I am."
This earned a huff. "Sure, explains a lot. Thanks for that."
It hopped off of Wave's shoulder and grew to full size with a smile. "I'm one of the energies like Light and Darkness."
Somehow, that actually made sense to him without him having to think too hard about it. "Guessing you're a new one," he said, "since I've never heard of you before."
The Aether nodded. "Mhm! I haven't been around long, but I've bonded with your friend Wave, so she shares in my power."
"It's not even been a full day," Wave added. "So, yeah, it's very new." In response to its own whims, the Aether decided to begin dancing around a little bit, moving around Wave in a circle as it shrunk down to be at roughly the same height as her waist.
Perplexed, Storm watched it for a moment before asking, "The hell're you doin'?"
"I dunno," it responded with a bright smile. "It's fun, though!" Storm continued to look on in confusion but said nothing more. The Aether suddenly gasped and appeared next to Storm, looking at the staff in his hand. "Oh! This is super cool!"
Storm glanced at it and shrugged. "S'pose so. It's useful, anyway."
"Really strong magic," the Aether answered. "I'd be afraid to touch it, in the event it launches me away or something."
"It can't do that unless I choose to make it," Storm huffed. "It isn't alive. It can't act by itself."
The Aether suddenly poked at it a few times, blinking. Wave laughed a little. "I don't think poking it will accomplish much," she smiled. It looked at her for a moment before tapping it again, allowing just a little bit of its energy to come in contact with the staff.
Predictably, nothing happened. Storm frowned. "What're you doin'?" he asked.
It seemed to shrug and moved back over to Wave. "I was just curious about it. Never seen something like it."
Wave smiled in a way that was both amused and gently teasing. "There's a lot you haven't seen yet, you know. But don't worry. You'll keep learning every day, just like you are now. And I'll help whenever I can."
The Aether didn't really respond to that, looking at Storm. "So you two have been friends for a really long time, and you're both friends with Jet… neat."
This made Storm frown. "How the hell'd you know that?" he asked.
"It's this super cool knowledge power I have. Lets me pick up on stuff just by learning little bits and pieces!" the Aether explained. "Probably meant to catch me up to speed, since I'm so late to show."
"That's weird as hell," Storm declared. Then, without missing a beat, he added, "Useful, though. S'pose that's better than nothing."
The Aether shrugged. "Been pretty helpful. Got to undermine an enemy because of it."
"Yeah, I bet." Storm leaned on his staff. "Mind tellin' us what you've gotten done? Might be useful to know."
"Oh! I went to Nareish's realm and freed Zenith's daughter, as well as Infinite, a spawn of Malevolence. Malevolence didn't wanna work with me, but he's being reasonable for now," the Aether said with a smile. "So, big stuff."
This made Storm scowl. "It won't work with you. That ain't what it does."
"I agree," Wave sighed. "It exists to kill, drain Light, inflict suffering… that sort of thing. It doesn't make allies. It's a miracle it has any capacity for care for its own 'kind' so to speak, but you won't find any other compassion or other goodness in that thing."
"Yeah, but I was hoping it would see Nareish as a mutual enemy so we could like, truce… kinda." The Aether frowned a little. "That didn't work."
"It doesn't make friends or allies, and it doesn't call truces." Storm shifted his weight to stand more normally again. "You're wasting your time if you keep trying to accomplish something like that."
The Aether shrugged. "I wasn't gonna try again, but I did have some big plans regarding trying to bring together a big army of sorts."
"An army?" Wave asked, eyes widening a little. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, there's beings of Light and Darkness out there hiding and such," the Aether began. "As well as other powerful beings that aren't related to energies. I want to start getting some of these people together so that we aren't fighting alone."
"You won't have much luck with some of them," Wave sighed. "Jet and I have tried with most of the surviving Light users, the ones strong enough to really help. They just won't do it. And the beings of Darkness that might otherwise help us are neutral beings of Darkness, but still beings of Darkness regardless. They're way more susceptible to corruption by the likes of Zareil or Nareish than, say, Storm here. They have good reason to hide."
The Aether frowned a little. "Aside from that, soon we should have Eona actively around us. She might be able to talk to the Light users, and Zenith may have some luck with beings of Darkness."
"I guess that's true," Wave sighed.
"Anyway," the Aether began. "It's not something to deal with now. I'm more interested in learning about how you guys know each other. You're obviously super good friends."
"There's not too much to tell," Wave said. "We met when we were kids. He was hungry, I gave him some food, and things went from there."
It tilted its head, then turned to Storm. "What's your side?"
"She already said what happened," Storm answered. "It won't be any different just 'cause I'm the one saying the facts."
"I was just curious if it was different in your eyes," the Aether said. "People see things differently, after all."
"This ain't a matter of seeing things differently," the albatross asserted. "Facts are facts. Can't really disagree with them without being wrong."
The Aether nodded easily in agreement. "Mhm! Just thought I'd ask." Storm just huffed.
Wave spoke up again. "Anyway… Storm, Jet's a bit busy right now, but I'm hoping he'll be able to come see you sometime soon. He'll be happy to hear you're back."
"Sure, but don't bother rushin' him. I know how busy he gets." Storm sat down and set his staff beside him. "Just tell him 'hey' when you get the chance."
"Oh! How did you guys meet Jet? And Sonic, for that matter." the Aether plopped down between them and looked at them both curiously.
"Long stories if you go into all the details," Storm said. "Basically, they crashed near her house. She found them there and that's how they met. Later she introduced me to them."
"As much as I love reminiscing," Wave sighed, "we should get going. It's… important." She looked at the Aether. "Kath needs attention before he wakes up. I'm… hoping you and I can figure out a way to free him from that corruption, like you started to be able to do with Toru."
The Aether frowned a little. "I don't know if I'll have time," it admitted quietly. "It's deep."
"I still want to try, if that's okay," Wave insisted earnestly. "Please. He matters a lot to me and especially to Jet. If we can lessen this even a tiny bit…"
The frown disappeared, but only into a vague and small smile. "I'm going to try, regardless of whether or not it's gonna work," it said. "Now, c'mon. Let's go."
Wave's shoulders sagged in relief. "Thank you." After a quick farewell to Storm, she teleported them both inside. Her eyes immediately fell upon the two extra occupants of the room, T'alo and Arkiri. Only one of those people was semi-familiar to her. "Oh. Uh, heya. Sorry, didn't mean to barge in."
The Aether immediately walked up to T'alo and tilted it's head a little, blinking a few times before poking him and walking over to Arkiri to poke him as well. "Okay, that should solve that."
"...Solve what?" Wave asked as T'alo stared at the living energy with an air of incredulity.
"T'alo didn't know our language," it answered. "He should now. Might even be able to speak it, if he tries." The man in question said nothing for the moment, only glancing briefly at Arkiri with the same incredulous look on his face.
Arkiri blinked a few times before turning his own attention to T'alo. "Are you capable of speaking this language now, T'alo?"
"...How?" T'alo eventually asked, eyes on the Aether again. Sure, he understood what was being said now, but he didn't understand how that was accomplished.
The Aether smiled brightly. "I shared his knowledge of the Universal Language with you." T'alo stared again, but didn't say anything else.
Wave interjected. "You have the look of someone who was just revived, and you look a lot like him." She gestured to Kath. "If I had to guess, you're a close relative. Uncle, brother…"
"Father," T'alo supplied quietly.
She nodded, saving her surprise for a later time. "I'm… sort of a friend. There was another Kath, the one native to this timeline, who grew to be very old. Old enough that he needed some degree of end-of-life care. Mostly related to helping with making sure he ate, helping get him to his therapy appointments since he couldn't walk as easily anymore, and that sort of thing."
"...And that?" T'alo asked after a substantial pause, gesturing to the Aether. His words were tinged with a very distinct and unique sort of accent unlike anything Wave had ever heard before. It was clearly Babylonian, but still new. She couldn't help but briefly wonder what language he'd spoken before, though she didn't ask right now. "What is it?"
"A recent friend of mine," Wave answered. "We've only just met. Actually, the Aether is why we're here. It has some kind of ability to ease corruption or even undo it." She glanced at the Aether. "Though, I think it might still be working on being able to do it effectively and at will. Still, I'm hoping it can help Kath."
As all of this was explained, the Aether slowly moved over to where Kath was and sat near him with a frown on its face. "Gosh… you've really had it rough…"
Azerel got up off the bed and moved out of the way while Wave asked, "Do you think you can help?" T'alo looked on in silence, anxious for an answer to the same question.
It frowned, but ultimately shifted closer to Kath and set a foot against the man's chest, trying to slowly work on undoing the corruption. "I'm gonna try." Wave and the others looked on in silence, waiting to see if it would work. The Aether shook its head. "It's best if we get everyone possible out of this room," it murmured. "I won't be able to stop what might happen."
T'alo immediately stood up, tense and visibly upset at the idea of leaving. But Azerel took hold of his sleeve and tugged him out before he could say anything. Arkiri stared on in silence for a long moment before taking a deep breath and leaving without a word. Wave looked at Kath sadly. "How much longer do you think we have?" she asked, voice quiet.
"Not long," the Aether said, grimacing. "Our only option would be to stop him when he wakes up, if things go bad. I'm not sure we can, since I don't really know anything about fighting."
"He's powerful," Wave murmured. "Especially with his new time powers. If he uses those, neither of us will be able to fend him off."
It stood and nudged up against Wave. "We need to prepare. Keep him from getting near anyone. Okay?"
Wave took in a deep breath. "You're right." She turned and trudged out of the room, heart heavy. "I just wish we could have somehow prevented this."
The Aether frowned a little. "I'm not sure we could have. I'm not strong yet, not like Zenith, Eona, and the Void. Eona… she probably could have, but she's been working so hard to revive people," it murmured. "Maybe I should try to contact her."
"That's something we should probably try," Wave agreed. "But she is busy, like you said."
The Aether nodded a little before peering down the hall, blinking. "Isn't that your friend, Cyril?" it asked, watching as a familiar finch came barreling in their direction.
Turning, Wave saw him coming and immediately moved to bar his way. "Cyril, wait!" she called. "You can't go in there. None of us can. It isn't safe."
Cyril skidded to a halt, just barely avoiding slamming into her. "Wave, I came here because it's not safe!" he explained quickly.
"That's something we should probably try," Wave agreed. "But she is busy, like you said."
The Aether nodded a little before peering down the hall, blinking. "Isn't that your friend, Cyril?" it asked, watching as a familiar finch came barreling in their direction.
Turning, Wave saw him coming and immediately moved to bar his way. "Cyril, wait!" she called. "You can't go in there. None of us can. It isn't safe."
Cyril skidded to a halt, just barely avoiding slamming into her. "Wave, I came here because it's not safe!" he explained quickly.
"That makes no sense, doofus," Wave accused, arms crossing. But still she waited, semi-patiently, for the inevitable explanation to come. The Aether waited as well, curious.
The finch took a breath to steady himself before explaining. "The moment I knew he was corrupted, I realized that something had to be done. Since it wasn't a demon, well… it had to be something worse, so I figured there was a good chance that he might become dangerous to everyone. If that's the case, then who better to stall a God than another God?" he said quickly. "If I can keep him busy long enough for us to get help, and nobody else has to fight him, then that's gotta be the best solution! His family are some of the only other people strong enough, and…" His face contorted with an unusual level of discomfort. "I'd hate for them to have to fight him."
"I would, too," Wave sighed. "It would just… kill Jet. It would be just as bad for his parents, or for T'alo. And that other man seems to have some sort of connection as well. He'd also not take it well."
Before Cyril could say anything, the Aether spoke up. "It's brilliant. If we can defend him from the time powers, then he may well be one of the best candidates."
"There's no way to defend him," Wave was quick to point out. "No one has any sort of counter to this. Because, seriously, how would you even counter time?"
The Aether frowned a little. "It's a long shot, but could any of the Immortals possibly grant him some sort of protection?"
"I don't know if Sein and Alana are a high enough level to do that," Wave shrugged. "I'd have to ask Jet. He'd know."
It nodded before turning to Cyril, lifting a foot and grabbing one of his hands. "Alright, you've got this."
Cyril blinked a few times at this before nodding. "Yep."
"Great pep-talk guys," Wave huffed, "but we should really get more people out of here. It's not enough to not have anyone in the room. Cyril, she made you destroy a lot of stuff when she had hold of you. Nareish, I mean. That might happen again. We don't want anyone caught in the crossfire."
"Yeah…" Cyril murmured gently. "You guys focus on that. I'll handle everyone up here and keep an eye on Kath, if that's alright with you."
"That's a good idea," Wave agreed. "I'll catch back up with you in a bit."
The Aether nodded, smiling. "We'll make sure nothing bad happens to anyone, okay?" Wave murmured some form of agreement.
Somehow, those words seemed to brighten up Cyril's slightly down mood and he smiled a little in return. "I'm sure you will." With a small gesture of farewell, Wave teleported to the lower levels of the palace to get to work.
~保護者~
She didn't like it. She didn't like a damn thing she saw. Her simulations of the future (via numerology powers and the like)… they all came to shit. Eila swiped a hand and tossed something off a table, only for her magic to catch it before it hit anything and put it right back for her.
The cat touched her feet to the ground and groaned. Rose isn't doing well, but neither am I. The risk with whatever is happening to Jet is high, Nareish is still rampant… Espio's Darkness is becoming a serious threat, and on top of this all, two of our allies are corrupted. Fucking shit.
Eila rubbed at her eyes and found that she was exhausted, but she didn't feel tired at all. If anything, she felt restless. Maybe it was because she felt like she was getting close to a possible solution to fixing some of this, or maybe she was being paranoid. Either way, her anxiety had spiked by now and she decided it was time to step out of the room and wall around for a bit. All things considered, stargazing would probably help her get her mind off things.
Opening the door caused her to audibly hiss, scrambling back a few steps from the unexpected light of the sun. "Fuck!" What time is it? How long have I been awake? Rubbing at her eyes again, Eila forged onward and squinted as she looked around, wondering if anyone was up and moving around outside.
No one was actually outside. Tails's house was isolated, after all. Things were rather quiet inside as well, as most everyone was asleep, as it was still early in the morning. The one exception was Sonic, who was sitting in a chair near the kitchen while busily texting with someone on his communicator. Eila stood outside for a brief moment, simply just taking in everything around her before heading back inside, mentally berating herself for what she was about to do. Sonic doesn't like me, I know that. Just… talk. Don't piss him off. Try to be nice.
Eila walked over to Sonic, taking a seat a short distance from him with a chair formed from her magic. Fighting the urge to just stand up and walk away, she forced herself to speak up. "Hey, uh, Sonic?"
He'd very easily heard her approach, so her suddenly talking didn't surprise him. He finished up what he was typing and sent the message. Then, turning off his screen, he sort of sighed. "Yeah?" he asked.
She gulped, then softly cleared her throat to buy herself a few seconds before saying anything else. "I… I really," she began, biting her lip. "I want to properly apologize for everything I did as Astra… to you and your friends," she murmured. Mentioning that identity Petry had associated with her brought back a slew of painful memories, but she simply banished them for the time being.
He was too damn tired to think about this much. He hadn't slept since before the fight. How long before, he didn't really know. What mattered was that he was tired, either way. But he was awake enough to know he wasn't angry anymore. Not on his own behalf, anyway. And certainly not enough to speak or act in response to that emotion. "Okay," he said with a small nod. "I gather you probably know that forgiveness can't be promised. I can't even promise to try right now. I've got… way more important things to deal with right now. But I appreciate the apology."
"I'm not asking for forgiveness," she said quietly before speaking at a normal volume. "I just… don't want people to think I'm just trying to ignore that it all happened." Not that I could.
"Yeah. I get that." His communicator pinged with another message. Sonic took the time to answer it before again speaking to her. "Was there something else you needed?"
She hadn't thought this far ahead for once, and so she racked her brain for some sort of topic before haphazardly blurting something akin to "your people". Completely embarrassed, Eila took the chance to explain and hopefully recover this conversation. "I… erm… I meant Silver and Amy…" she rubbed the back of her head nervously. "They helped me a lot… more than I was ready to think I deserve. You have good people in your life."
Though a little surprised and confused by this statement, Sonic nodded slowly. "...Yeah. Definitely do, thankfully."
"...Silver especially." Eila rubbed at her eyes a little, frowning when she noted that the fur on her hands was visibly more damp than before. "I didn't feel like a total outcast. He was so… friendly, despite knowing who I am. He could have easily let me die and put it off as an accident or something, but he didn't and I appreciate that."
"That's not how he is," Sonic agreed. "He was raised better than that, but more importantly it's just not how he is naturally. He's a lot like how Rose is, but more silly and energetic and less… stoic."
Eila nodded slowly, taking a second to calm herself before something came to mind. "You are… certainly more well versed in these sorts of things. Could I… ask you a question?"
Though a touch reluctant, Sonic was prepared to continue being completely civil. So he accepted her request. "Sure, I guess," he said. "What is it?"
For the first time, she made eye contact. "I'm worried about her. Something is… happening, and I can feel her Light dimming little by little. Something is bothering her, and I want to help, but I don't even know how to approach it." Eila went quiet for a moment before finally getting to the actual question. "Where do I start? How… What should I do so I can help my sister like she's helped me?"
Sonic sighed again. "Ah, damn… I was hoping I just imagined that…" He let out a third, heavier sigh. "I noticed the change in her Light, too. My senses aren't as acute as a true being of Light's, though, so I was hoping I misread the signs. It's why I didn't say anything before." With a shake of his head, he continued. "I don't know the ins and outs of Light and the way people live with it. My mother does, though. If either of you can see her, that might be the best call right now."
Eila frowned a little. "We were both with her for a short time," she revealed. "Analia was very kind and generous with her time despite the state she was in." The cat thought for a moment before speaking again. "I think she knows, if both of us noticed it."
This earned a shrug, albeit one that was more thoughtful than confused. "If she knows, she'll do what she can to help. Her methods aren't always direct or obvious, but she'll do what she can. That's something I can promise you." Once more, he got a message and briefly focused on responding to the message. He set it aside when he was done.
The cat was silent until he was done with his message. "I just… want her to live happily. She wasted away everything trying to save me," Eila said gently. "The last thing she deserves is to slowly lose what allows her to do the thing she loves most."
His tone was suddenly firm, even stern, as if seeking to snap her out of her 'what if' mindset right then and there. "It won't happen. Look, I don't know either of you well, but I do know my mother. Anything she can do to help, she will do. And whatever she can't do, she'll find help for. She's not going to let something this serious go unchecked. Alright?"
Eila winced, not out of fear, but surprise. The shift in tone was almost enough to trigger a flight response, but she grounded herself enough to remain where she was. "I… I know," she said gently. "Just… I want her to have the best. She deserves it." Rather than stay on this topic, the cat instead shifted it. "I… thank you. If there's anything you want to ask me in return, I will be happy to provide what information I can, within reason."
Though he voiced some small appreciation regarding the offer, he simultaneously waved her off a little with a hand. "I don't really have any questions," he said. "It's fine."
The cat sighed a little. "Then allow me to give you this," she murmured, teleporting a few papers into her hand. "I've made some notes on what I discovered about Jet's situation. It's really not a whole lot, but… you're his best friend. I can trust you with this knowledge."
Situation? Sonic was quick to take the papers and begin looking them over. It was mostly notes on things that had been seen by different people, but there was something else that caught his eye. "Explain this," he said urgently, turning the pages and pointing to one area of the page. "When you had control of him for however long that was, you sensed a third presence? Something besides him and you?"
"It's strong," Eila murmured. "Dangerous. It briefly ignored me, whether it believed or knew I would fail in the end." She fell quiet to collect her thoughts. "It… it's the same kind of strength you'd see in someone like Eona, but stronger."
"I know some things about what's going on," Sonic muttered, lowering the pages. "Something about this 'void' thing, how it attached itself to him a long time ago… that sort of thing. I didn't know the damned energy was alive. That's insane."
Eila slowly nodded. "All of this makes me believe it's somehow like Eona and Zenith. Another energy came into existence, I sensed it and briefly saw it, so I'm willing to bet they're somehow related." She sighed. "But… what concerns me is how Jet's acted. When he used this power, he wasn't himself."
"It affects him, from what I've heard," Sonic frowned. "I just don't understand how. It isn't clear to me if this is some sort of control, or if it's more like Light or Darkness. Those exert influence that can be resisted and ignored. Something like corruption, if that's what this is, can't. That's a seriously important distinction."
"I don't think he's corrupted. My examinations of other corrupted individuals has shown me that they often act far more consistently than this," Eila explained. "Jet has only acted unusual in a sparse few scenarios."
Sonic scowled a little. I hate that she's right. "Which means he's being influenced… and for some fucking reason he's bowing to that influence here and there." He reflexively bit at his lower lip, but quickly caught himself and stopped. "I just can't figure out why he's in any way receptive to something so dark and violent."
Eila grimaced a little. "He's gone through a serious amount of shit," the cat explained softly. "The abuse… torture… all of the pain he's suffered through... I'm not surprised that he's receptive to it."
Fucking hell. "That's… probably true," Sonic begrudgingly admitted. "I just… I thought he'd gotten better. I'm not ignorant enough to believe he'd be all healed like it never happened, but I'd thought - I'd hoped - that he wouldn't still be in this much pain after so long…"
"Trauma can last a lifetime, especially if it's not addressed properly," Eila answered, gesturing to her own body. "Physical trauma is easier to handle as long as you get to it, but with what he's endured mentally and emotionally… he really needs a lot of help."
Sonic rubbed his hands over his face. He knew she was right. "Help we don't know to give," he muttered. Damn it…
Eila nodded slowly. "I would offer… but… I couldn't willingly go near him knowing what his mind would link my appearance to."
"It'd be a terrible idea," Sonic agreed readily. "Logic is one thing, but emotion is another thing entirely. Knowing you're different now won't be enough to stop whatever feelings he'd be hit with."
"On top of that… the only way I could really help would bring up more problems," Eila admitted.
He took in a breath and let it out slowly. "What… way?" he asked.
"Carefully bringing up the memories and having someone help him work through it," Eila explained. "But I'm not willing to do that, nor am I willing to put him through that. He's gone through enough."
A terrible fucking idea, Sonic immediately decided. "Yeah, no. He has gone through enough. I'm not going to let anyone subject him to that."
Eila sighed a little. "It's the only way I can help. Aside from that… therapy and the serious aid of friends and family he's close to are the best shot he has."
"You're not wrong," Sonic said slowly, "but the issue is the amount of time that takes. It needs to happen, don't get me wrong, but he needs some sort of faster short-term solution as well, if this is really making it easier for the Void to influence him."
The white cat nodded a slow agreement. "I will look into it. Nothing is coming to mind currently… but I may be capable of coming up with something. Is it alright if I message you with my ideas?"
"...Yeah. Sure." As if on cue, a message pinged on his communicator from whoever he had been texting before. He glanced at it, but left the device be for just a moment. "Do you have a way to?" He didn't think anyone had given her a communicator or any other connected device (such as, say, a phone), but he had to check.
Eila glanced away. "Right… she ruined the communicator I got," the cat muttered under her breath. "I don't have one anymore."
This earned another sigh. "Okay. Wait here." Sonic vanished and was back almost before the sound of his words finished reaching her ears. Though he was frowning, he extended his arm out with a communicator in hand. "Before you take this, listen. Tails and I made these together. They're a way to keep in contact with those that we care about. Our friends. Our family. People we love. If you take this, you're putting yourself into that group. You do that and you keep bettering yourself, get yourself to the point where you're completely you, and I'll work on my own issues regarding your other self and what happened. I want to be able to forgive and move on. All I'm asking is you promise to show me that would be worthwhile."
Eila froze for a moment, silently watching Sonic's hand. "I- No-" she cut herself off, wiping at her eyes. "I… I don't deserve that," she muttered.
"A lot of people think you do," was the quiet argument. "I may have my issues trusting you right now, but I trust them. I trust them with more than just my life. I trust them with everything, even my own heart. I trust their judgement, too."
The cat winced and turned her attention away for a long moment. I… I don't get why… Ultimately, she looked back and Sonic and set her hand on the communicator, hesitantly grabbing it and picking it up.
Sonic nodded once and grabbed his own communicator. "Mine and Tails's contacts are pre-programmed into each communicator. You can contact either of us whenever." He strapped his device to his wrist, glancing at his most recent message as he did so. "I need to get going, though. My brother needs my attention right now."
Eila strapped her communicator on slowly before nodding. "Make sure to set aside time for rest," she murmured, standing up.
"Not right now," Sonic replied. "I can't sleep when other people aren't doing well. Right now, that's him."
"I get it," Eila answered. "That's how I've been. I'm simply saying to set it aside eventually." She didn't wait for his response, walking off and rubbing at her eyes tiredly. "I hope you can help him."
"You and me both." Sonic teleported away.
Eila released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, feeling all of her tension slowly fade. It hadn't registered how anxious she felt in that conversation until Sonic was gone. However… it went a lot better than she expected. Rather than dwell on anything he said, the cat chose to return to the room she'd magically included within the home (by copying a room and creating a portal of sorts), and laying herself down. As she succumbed to exhaustion, something clicked in her mind. They all seem to believe I can be better… perhaps I am… more than what Petry said I was.
~保護者~
Of all the five basic senses, for shinobi there were two that weren't particularly admirable. They had good hearing and good senses of smell, certainly. More so than most, generally speaking. But were they on the same level as a Tokarian or a cat/yokai, respectively? Not at all. That was why, when Espio thought he might have heard something strange he turned to Armaris for confirmation.
The sound was faint. Small. Pitiful mewling almost too quiet for him to make out from inside the front room of his house. Especially with it being the morning after the battle now, meaning his children were up and active. Sako was making sounds while drinking a bottle and Zei talking to herself as she played beside him. Frowning to himself, he tried to pinpoint the source of the sound. "Armaris, do you hear that?" he finally asked her, eyes on the open doorway leading outside.
By the time he spoke, Armaris was already moving, tendrils of her Darkness dragging her out the doorway and lowering her to the ground with a frown, allowing her feet to touch before the tendrils receded as she approached where she heard it from. The mewling was coming from a cluster of thick bushes maybe ten feet from the base of the tree Espio's house was built in. Rustling was the second indicator of the bushes being occupied. Then a shock of orange fur came into view from between the leaves, followed by more scared mewls.
Armaris knelt down and shifted her arm inside the bushes, moving to scoop whatever was inside within her hand to pull it out. What she pulled out was none other than a tiny kitten, the size of a newborn. The little girl squirmed and mewled some more in an effort to pull away, but with no real success. Armaris blinked once at the sight of this, but ultimately just held the girl close with a soft smile. "How in the world did you get all the way out here?" she asked, petting the fur on the kitten's head. "Let's get you inside." Tendrils sprung out from her back again and pulled them onto the porch, allowing Armaris to walk inside to Espio.
Upon seeing what she was holding, Espio frowned. "Is Marthal nearby?" he asked immediately, without stopping to consider that she might not even know who that was.
"If he was anywhere, I'd guess he's near Tails's house," Armaris answered. "I haven't seen him recently, though. Not since the battle."
Espio stood up, Sako still in his arms. He checked the kitten's energies with his senses again (which he hadn't done upon hearing the sounds due to being distracted) before saying, "That is his daughter. She needs to be taken to him."
"Want me to just go ahead and take her over there?" Armaris asked. "Surely someone knows where he is."
"It would be in her best interest," Espio replied.
Armaris nodded easily and leaned over to plant a small kiss on Espio's cheek before teleporting away with the kitten still held close. Things were quiet at Tails's house when she arrived, as most everyone was asleep by this time of night. As opposed to just breaking in, the cat knocked gently in the hopes that someone would be awake.
After a short delay, the door was unlocked and pulled open. Blaze stood there, rubbing at an eye and suppressing a yawn. The greeting she started to give died on her lips the moment she saw who Armaris was holding. "Is… Is that Mei?" she whispered, stunned.
"She appeared near Espio's house," Armaris answered. "Me and Espio both firmly believe it's Marthal's kid."
"That would be because she is," Blaze confirmed. "That is his oldest daughter. She passed when she was around twelve or so due to an illness, along with her mother."
Armaris blinked a few times, looking at Mei with a soft frown. "And right now she's just a little kitten…"
"And her father… He is not here." Blaze looked at Mei as well, eyes full of sympathy and sadness. "Zareil corrupted him during the fight and took him away."
The black cat winced a little at this and looked up at Blaze. "Well… what should we do? I could take care of her in the meantime, if need be."
"Do you know how to?" Blaze asked. "If it would be easier, I can take her. I have had three children of my own in the past. Two of them were kits, like her. It would be no trouble for Silver and I to take her in for now."
Armaris wasn't sure initially what choice to make, but ultimately she decided it would be best for Blaze to care for Mei. "I've never had a child of my own… I would hate for a kid to suffer in any way due to me not knowing what to do."
Blaze murmured something in understanding before gently taking the child. As Blaze had been somewhat familiar to Marthal's kids (due in large part to having at one time lived close to his family), Mei didn't fuss too much over being held by her. "Thank you for bringing her," Blaze said once Mei was somewhat settled. "We did not know she was back."
The black cat passed a small smile. "As much as I want to be a mom, I'm not into taking someone's kid without good reason," she joked lightly. "It was the best shot, especially since it was Marthal's."
"It would have proved interesting for you with this one," Blaze chuckled, "given that she is not just a cat in the same way you or I are. She is a yokai cat as well. That poses unique challenges."
Armaris chuckled a little and shrugged. "Probably so. Either way… I just wouldn't want to take care of someone else's kids for a lot of reasons."
After a slight pause, Blaze canted her head. "But, if I may be so bold, you are doing just that with Espio's children, are you not?" she asked. As she spoke, Mei's eyes started getting droopy, a clear indication that she was starting to fall asleep.
Again, Armaris shrugged. "Kinda. He's obviously the one primarily raising them. I'm just there to support him."
"Even so, you are playing an active role," Blaze murmured. "Do not discredit yourself."
"It's something I've done before," Armaris revealed. "When I was young, I took in a lot of kids and helped take care of them with some others." Blaze nodded a little, just listening. Armaris shrugged. "I was a common thief to most people, but I did what I could to take care of them."
"I understand," was the simple reply. Then Blaze changed the subject. "I understand, from what I've heard, that there is a man who once took care of Marthal in a somewhat similar manner. Ylden, I believe? I heard that you know him in some way. He may want to know that this little one is around again."
Armaris chuckled a little. "That's my dad, actually. He uh… he needs time to rest. Got himself in a bit of trouble briefly."
"When he is better, then," Blaze murmured. "It may be good for him to know."
"Absolutely," Armaris agreed. She glanced back as if she was about to leave, then turned her gaze back to Blaze. "I forgot your name," she admitted sheepishly. "Who are you, again?"
"Oh, I am Blaze," the other cat introduced. "I believe you know my husband somewhat, which is how I know of you. He is Silver, Sonic's son."
"Nice to meet you, Blaze," Armaris said gently, a smile on her face. "Name's Armaris, just in case you didn't know. I might have honestly forgotten that you said it earlier, if you did."
"I don't know if I did," Blaze smiled. "Everyone is fairly tired right now, myself included. It could just as easily have slipped my mind as well."
Armaris shrugged in agreement. "Fair enough. If you need my help, don't hesitate to ask."
"Same to you," Blaze nodded. With this said, Armaris decided it best to simply teleport away and go back to Espio.
~保護者~
It had taken hours of practically pleading to Novei, but Li eventually managed to get her to agree to go out on a calm picnic while things were relatively relaxed. So, here they were, out in a spacious field on a planet that Li knew of. Things weren't going as well as he'd planned, however. Novei was pretty much crushing her food in her hand and shoving it in her mouth. Li was a bit unnerved with the overall hostility she was showing, despite it never being pointed at him.
"So, uh, you enjoying the food?" Li asked, watching as she forcefully pushed a sandwich into her mouth.
"'M fine," she muttered around her mouthful of food.
Li blinked a few times. "So, uh… did you have… something happen while you were out?" The man winced and jumped when she suddenly slammed her hands into the basket and viciously began chewing through whatever food she got ahold of. "Novei… can… Did something happen?"
The string of words out of her mouth was incoherent, but it was aggressive. Eventually she swallowed her food down and growled. "My fucking mom decided that after all these years she'd finally attempt to do something and talk to me."
Li blinked a few times. "You don't talk to your mom much?" The wolf almost jumped out of his skin when Novei's eyes glowed a deep purple.
"My mom's a worthless piece of shit," Novei snapped. "She's done nothing for me and my life except for kill the man who tried to hurt me as a kid!"
"I-" Li paused for a moment and turned his attention away. "It's uh… I… What happened between you two?"
Novei grabbed another sandwich and practically shoved it into her throat before swallowing. "She came up and started acting like she gave a shit about me."
That was an odd thing to have suddenly change, so Li decided to bring that into question. "Novei… do you think it's possible she always cared?"
"Eh?" Novei seemed thoroughly confused by this. "What do you mean? She's a terrible person."
Li let out a sigh. "You know that magic user you fought? The one that deflected your attack?"
"Yeah. The corrupted one. She's almost as bad as my mom," Novei answered.
"Well… she was a bad person too, but Cere says that she's been turning her life around. Seems to think fairly well of her," Li explained.
Novei frowned. "Yeah? Your point?"
Li sighed again. "Maybe your mom is trying too, Novei. She really could be wanting to be a better person for you."
She thought over it for a moment, but scoffed. "Yeah, right. She won't change."
Deciding it was best to not bring it up further, Li took a calculated risk and moved to sit by Novei, leaning up against her. "Well… either way… let's relax a little. Okay?"
Novei blinked once and simply leaned into him, closing her eyes. "Alright. If you want."
Li smiled a little and let himself relax. I'm glad I met you… even if you scare me sometimes.
~保護者~
13,219 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Posted (at about 11:25 a.m.) 07-15-21.