Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this reveal… especially for the one who cares so deeply.

~保護者~

"Petrifying"

~保護者~

Li hammered away at metal, his eyes focused on the composition of the material he was working with. It had been so long since he'd made an Immortal weapon, and as such he wanted to make sure this was good work. This one was also for Alana. "Novei, toss me the black steel ingot I cleaned up earlier. He shifted his free hand behind him and snatched the aforementioned metal out of the air when Novei literally tossed it. The wolf held it in the air over the still white-hot metal and used his magic to meld the two into one. As the process finished, he picked it up and carried it back to heat it up once more. It had impurities left, and that was not okay.

Shortly after this interaction, Alana appeared soundlessly in the room. She was careful to stand well out of his way for the sake of his work. "Li," she greeted, "I believe I have a job for you, if you have the time."

The wolf gasped as he heard her voice, grabbing the sword before it could get too hot and holding it out for her to see. "Oh! Look and tell me what you think!" he called. "It's not done, but it's getting there." The longsword was pure white with a vivid yellow marking on it that was a near perfect re-creation of her family crest. The crest in question was a serpentine dragon.

Alana stared at the weapon for a long moment. "It is beautiful," she responded honestly. "As all of your work is."

He nodded quickly and held it in the air in front of her with his magic. "Now, tell me how the weight is."

Blinking, she walked over and took it into her hand. "It is acceptable," she told him.

Li didn't catch on to what that meant (coming from her) and immediately grew more determined. "Where does the weight need to be shifted? I figured you'd want the core of the weight about a quarter of the way between the center of the blade and the handle, but I can shift it up if necessary."

Another blink. "It does not need adjusting," she said. "It is acceptable, as I said."

The wolf blinked a few times before facepalming. "Oh my god, I can't believe I forgot who I was talking to!" He laughed a little. "Glad to hear it's good. I'll need about another day for your sword to be finished, with the extra adjustments and curing process to ensure that it's as good as possible."

"That is good to hear." She carefully passed the sword back. "As I said, however, I do have another job for you on top of this."

Li tilted his head briefly, waving a hand and placing the sword back to heat it. "What's the job?"

"I have been asked to grant you the Privilege to forge another Immortal's blade," Alana explained. "One for a chameleon with considerable Darkness."

"Espio," Li said easily. "I'll need to talk to him directly once more and get his specifications, but I'm more than willing to do it. It'll probably take around three days, maybe four."

"I believe that would be feasible, though I cannot aid you. I do not personally know him." Alana transferred Li the necessary Privilege as she spoke. "This was Steam's recommendation. I do not know if Espio is aware of this plan."

"I talked to him briefly about it sometime recently," Li revealed.

"Understood. Please do what you can, then." Alana nodded once at Novei in farewell before telling Li, "I need to go now. Thank you for doing this."

Li smiled and waved a little to her. "It's good to see you again. I'll visit when your blade is finished, and we'll do the stress test." With a murmured agreement, Alana teleported away.

Novei looked over with crossed arms. "A chameleon is becoming an Immortal? Sounds like a fucking catastrophe waiting to happen."

"I don't know," Li said with a shrug. "I trust that he'll be fine. He's an ally that needs a sword, and that's what matters. I won't leave him without a good way to defend himself."

The Therian woman shrugged. "Suit yourself."

A sigh escaped Li and he pulled several materials from the shelves that he'd newly restocked. Various alloys floated onto tables and he looked over them. "Tungsten to resist heat… titanium for pure strength, steel for added durability, then…" he trailed off and picked out what he needed, left with six metals to work with soon. Judging solely by what he knew of Espio, it needed to be ready for just about anything… Somehow potentially more so than an average Immortal.

A few minutes passed. Then Novei walked over and surprised him by wrapping her arms around him, letting out a sigh. "You know, I really enjoy watching you work," she revealed. "Determination is-"

"Novei please don't do this right now," Li chuckled nervously. "The sword is already heating. If you want something like that, can we please wait until it's time for me to take it out so I can finish this up and set it to cure?" He could feel her gaze on him, and he didn't dare make eye contact for fear of potential repercussions (though she had never hinted that she would actually harm him).

"Fine, but I will be impatiently waiting," she said, pulling away from him.

Li scratched the back of his head a little, and gulped. God, we're gonna be doing it again, huh? It's kinda like she's making up for lost time...

~保護者~

Kira flicked her hand forward, then back, a spear-like formation of water tearing into the bark of a tree in both directions. The only thing she didn't expect was needing to stop it in time before it shot over her shoulder, a wince on her face as it became formless and splashed onto the ground. "Shoot…"

A short time later, an echidna who looked a lot like the older one who had helped her get back here after the fight, wandered into the area. Taking a look around, he quirked an eyebrow up. "Water powers, huh? Those're pretty rare."

Kira turned to fully face him and blinked once. "They are?"

The man adjusted his hat with a nod. "No walk in the park to control, either. Mind if I ask how you're doing with them? You seemed to have at least the basics at that fight a while back."

The weasel rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I suppose so. It wasn't even me. Someone like… gave me knowledge of how to do it?" Kira chuckled a little. "Sounds crazy, but I don't know a better way to explain it."

"Hm. Sounds like what happened with Sonic and his… Never mind. Anyway," he looked at the damage she'd done to the tree, "you seem to be making progress. You're controlling it enough to hit things. That's a good start."

"Yeah," Kira agreed. "Unlike you guys though, this is pretty much my first time using water for actual fighting. I've got a lot of catching up to do."

"Eh, don't worry too much about that. We all had to start somewhere." Walking over, he added, "I'm Knuckles, by the way. I've got an elemental power, too. Might be able to give you a few pointers if you want."

"My name is Kira," the weasel offered in kind. "And if you're willing to help, I'd gladly accept."

Knuckles smirked a little. "Right, so the thing with elemental powers is that they often respond to emotions. I have fire, which reacts to anger, passion, and the like. When you're first learning to use powers like that, grasping the emotions they're tied to helps get the ability under control, too. Later on you won't have to do it that way, but it's usually the easiest way to start."

The weasel thought about it for a long moment before saying, "I always feel really at peace around water and when I'm using it for something. Is it kinda like that?"

"Yeah, exactly like that. Water can be really calm and at ease, so that's a decent place to start. But it can also be more riled up and temperamental, too. Just something to keep in mind. If you're not feeling prepared to handle your power in a more volatile state, try not to be mad when using it right now."

Kira suddenly laughed nervously. "I am… uh… really bad at being angry," she admitted, looking away a little. "Never really been any good at it."

That earned a chuckle. "And you don't have to be," he assured. "It's just something to keep in mind."

She shrugged a little. "That's reasonable enough, I suppose." The weasel shifted a hand and recollected the water she'd been using, pooling it up in her hand. "It's always crazy to think about how destructive this can be."

"Yeah, water can be a real pain to try and fight against," Knuckles agreed. "We fought a water monster… thing one time. It kinda wrecked… well, everything. That was 'fun'."

"Oh," Kira said, blinking a few times. "Well… I hope that doesn't happen again," she said, a nervous smile on her face. "I'd kinda prefer things not being wrecked."

"Nah, that thing is long gone, and we've never seen anything like it since. I'd wager that we're fine these days, at least in that regard."

She let out a sort of whistle of relief. "That's good to hear."

"Mm-hm. Anyway, I'll leave you be now. My wife is probably annoyed I wandered off." He raised a hand in farewell and started to walk away. "See you some other time."

"Oh, wait!" Kira said, jogging over to him. "Mind if I join you? I was just about to take a break, anyway. Kinda hard to hit inanimate objects for an hour," she laughed.

That prompted him to laugh as well. "You make a fair point. Yeah, you can come. Most of us are out on a walk right now, not far from here."

Kira smiled brightly to him. "I'll follow you?"

"Sounds good." Knuckles led the way without needing any further prompting.

~保護者~

Espio counted himself lucky that, shortly after his and Armaris's… activities, he had managed to change himself back to normal. It was also fortunate that that managed to happen before Zei or Sako woke up. So he was his usual self again while sitting in the grass a ways away from the village. This was the area they had agreed to meet Ryuji in for training, and now it was just a matter of waiting. He passed the time by feeding Sako a bottle and watching as Zei seemingly tried to use twigs and the like to build something or other. Armaris, however, hadn't changed back and was lounging in the grass nearby.

Eventually, Espio sensed Ryuji coming, and he looked in that direction. The chameleon in question appeared before them, casting a vaguely confused glance at Armaris. I shouldn't ask. "I suppose you are ready?"

"Ready enough." Seeing that Sako wasn't done yet, Espio looked at Armaris. He, too, chose not to comment on Armaris's appearance. Not right now, at any rate. "Will you take him?"

Armaris appeared by Espio in an instant and smiled a little. "'Course." Standing, he carefully passed his son off to her, murmuring a quick warning that the boy seemed ready to pass out at any given moment. The cat held him carefully and moved back off to the side with him.

Ryuji looked at Espio and blinked once. "Tell me what you know of controlling your Darkness in small bursts and we will work from there."

Once an explanation was given, the two set to work for a while. They only stopped eventually when Ryuji decided it was time to. When he did, he put his weapon away and let his Darkness dissipate fully. "How do you feel?"

Espio was busy looking over his temporary sword for signs of damage when he replied. "Fine," he said. Soon he sheathed his weapon, satisfied that it seemed to be unharmed.

"Good. The results may be slow, but it will add up in due time. You have grown considerably in the short time we trained. I am quite impressed." As always, Espio had no real idea how to respond to any kind of praise. He blinked, then shrugged. Ryuji blinked once at him in return.

In a flash, Espio was back to where he'd been sitting earlier. Mostly, he moved that quickly because Sako happened to make a vague fussing noise right then and parental instincts demanded that he check on the baby. But it was also partially to escape the sudden social situation he'd found in. "Your turn," he told Armaris simply as he took his son from her with careful hands.

"Woah, hey, I wasn't done holding him," Armaris protested with a deep frown. Espio tossed her a bland, unimpressed look. She huffed at him and stood, walking to Ryuji. "Alright, let's do this."

Ryuji looked her over and frowned. "Your build will not suit some forms of training."

"Yep. Small and thin," Armaris said as she crossed her arms. "Always have and will be."

The chameleon nodded lightly and allowed Darkness to cover his hands. "I will focus primarily on training your Darkness. Keep your guard up, and use it to defend." Almost before she could react, Ryuji was after her. They only stopped once Armaris was on the verge of falling over, panting and gasping for air. Ryuji waited for her to recover before speaking again. "Your Darkness has incredible power, but you simply have yet to properly hone it. You, in the time we trained, were capable of learning how to keep up with something whose speed is superior to yours and adequately defend yourself from attacks. Well done."

Armaris groaned openly and tossed herself onto the grass. "Fuck, I'm so done already," she complained.

"That a naughty word!" Zei suddenly called over. "Bad mommy!" Her use of that word drew Espio's attention, but though he frowned thoughtfully he didn't otherwise react on the outside.

The cat amongst them blinked several times at hearing it, unsure exactly how to respond. Ryuji spoke to Armaris before she could open her mouth. "I will be training with you tomorrow as well. Prepare." With that, he shifted off to the side to think briefly. She complained and protested openly at this, but he ignored it for now.

Ryuji allowed himself to sink into his thoughts, his attention going back to something that had bothered him before all of the training started. That issue Espio has… Perhaps now is the time to look into it. However, the issue lies in where to look. If Espio ever knew, he does not know now. That lends to him either having lost memory of the event or it happening even before his memories properly took place… which does not sound plausible. If it was an injury, it would need to be a serious situation for it to happen. His Darkness would heal most injuries… unless an Immortal left it.

With this thought, he suddenly teleported away. This was something that concerned Aniko, and as such he was willing to potentially induce her ire if it meant helping them both somehow. Appearing outside of her home, the man patiently waited for one of the two present to address him. When one did, it was someone he hadn't expected. He knew of her, and knew well who she was. Her reputation preceded her. "Seiko."

"You are her father," Seiko murmured, eyes narrowed the slightest bit. "You are not here for trouble. What is your business?"

"I came to speak with Aniko on a matter that concerns us both, about her son," Ryuji explained.

Seiko turned and walked inside without saying a word, speaking with Aniko before returning to him. "Come inside."

Ryuji followed her in and glanced at Aniko. She looked positively exhausted in at least one way, but drawing attention to it was not something he wanted to do. "Aniko, I would normally desire to give you more space, but this concerns Espio and I want to ask you, as his mother."

Though Aniko seemed skeptical, she nodded slowly. "Continue."

"He needs an inhaler. His lungs do not function at the level that I would expect of someone with his caliber-"

Aniko cut him off with a hand motion. "During a war between many regions of the Highlands that Shei and I were involved in, Hyale and many other villages far from the frontlines were attacked and razed to the ground. Most people caught up in this were slaughtered. At the time, Espio was in the care of one of our neighbors, at roughly age three. After this all happened, he survived but began struggling to breathe constantly. He was wounded, but it does not make sense for a chameleon to have done it. He was not the only child injured, either. Others died."

Ryuji winced slightly. Hearing of a slaughter of his people brought him some degree of irritation, especially now that he had a reason to actually give a shit about it. "So, you are firmly of the opinion that he was attacked?"

"Yes," Aniko answered. "He had injuries only capable of being caused by a blade."

He nodded to her and turned to leave, but Seiko's words were enough to make him briefly stop. "Don't do anything stupid. It was a long time ago, so the perpetrator may very well be dead, but sometimes matters drag people into worse situations than expected. If you need aid, do not be afraid to speak up."

Ryuji glanced back at her and blinked. "I am aware." Without another word, he teleported away.

~保護者~

Not even an hour had passed since Seiko had finally left Aniko's home. A black and crimson portal opened up in the sky nearby. Mere seconds later, two people were flung through and it snapped shut. Atani hit the ground first, landing on her chest and stomach with a pained grunt. Shei struck the dirt on his back a couple feet from her, knocking the wind out of him thoroughly. All he could do was cough and mentally groan. "You said you had control over this," he groused after a few seconds.

"I also said usually in that statement," she muttered. The dirt cloud kicked up by Shei's landing made her also cough, but just once. "At least you didn't hit a branch on the way down. You somehow missed all of them."

"That was deliberate."

"Thanks for the help. Really appreciate it."

"You're welcome."

Aniko had heard this all happen and was there in an instant. Her eyes went wide when she saw Shei. "Holy shit… you're back…"

Shei coughed again, still working on fully regaining his breath, and sat up. "Yes. I'm sorry it took so long." He stood, albeit a little unsteadily. His energies were mostly under control for now, but his prolonged fight with them had left him exhausted in a way nothing ever had before. "I'm sorry to have put you through this, Aniko."

The woman didn't respond, instead choosing to wrap him in a hug and hold him tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay…" Shei nodded, hugging her back just as tightly while Atani stood up. Aniko became aware of Atani and glanced over, eyes narrowing briefly before she decided that there was no threat. "Who are you?"

"Oh, right." The other woman turned to face them. "My name is Atani. I did my best to help him get back here."

Aniko briefly slipped out of Shei's hold to regard her. They looked very similar, but that wasn't important. "If that is the case, thank you."

"Yeah. Sure." Atani looked at Shei. "Maybe we'll see each other again sometime."

Shei huffed. "There is no 'maybe'. You are welcome here."

"You're obviously an ally of sorts," Aniko said, gesturing at Shei,

That prompted a spontaneous reveal. "Family, it turns out. Half-siblings. Same mother. We just learned about it."

That caught her off-guard. Aniko blinked once. "You're… siblings? That explains why you look so similar…"

"Yeah. Like I said, though, it's new to us. We only just met."

Hearing this, Aniko nodded a little. "As long as you're friendly, you are welcome to stay here."

"She is," Shei assured. "I would not have been able to reign my powers in for now if not for her." The pair traded a look, then Shei frowned and added, "She remembers things I do not, regarding our mother and our heritage."

"I see… Perhaps, then, we should all sit down and talk. I would like to know more," Aniko said gently.

Atani looked between them. "Oh. I s'pose that'd be fine." She looked between the pair of them again. "Only if you're sure, though. You don't need to."

"Stop that," Shei reprimanded with a huff. "You are welcome. We have already said that."

"Yeah, alright, fine," Atani huffed back at him. "Ass."

"Brat."

"Jerk."

"Clumsy."

That made her eyes roll. "I said I was sorry for dumping us on the ground," she protested. Shei smirked faintly behind his mask.

Aniko chuckled softly and motioned for the two to follow. "C'mon." The siblings did so without further argument. There was plenty of discussing to do.

~保護者~

This wasn't exactly how he expected to see the Realm of the Living again. His thoughts usually flitted to something more of having upset some worker of the God of Death and them dragging him here for some reason. He wasn't going to complain, however. The warmth of the sun on this planet was enjoyable… which brought up the question of where he was.

I think this is Mobius, but why here? Maybe it's because this is where Kial is from… May as well start moving. The white da Asani shot across the grassland he was in at rapid speeds via flight, grinning at the wind on his face. "Been too long, life. Guess I'm really back. Here's to hoping that Kial is still the God and I'm not running for a stranger."

The bobcat in question was easy to track, and that was intentional (this much he knew). Kial never made a point to hide himself unless it was necessary, and Saethrim was thankful for. It didn't take all that long for him to arrive at a forest and rush between the trees, skidding to a stop in front of his student with a wide grin. "Hey. Miss me?"

Kial didn't say anything at first, utterly stunned. This initially concerned the da Asani, but then the bobcat actually spoke. "Saethrim…? You're back?"

"That's right," Saethrim said, arms shifting behind his head. "I'm back, all me and all I was."

Saethrim expected the hug, but not the tears that were shed immediately after. He returned the hug to his student and softened his smile. Kial gripped him tightly, enough so that Saethrim coughed a little. "I'm so glad to see you again… I… found your body and…"

"Shh," Saethrim soothed. "It's okay. Things happen, people die. What's important is that you're here, I'm here, and we're together again." Kial nodded a little, falling quiet aside from his slowly ebbing crying. To try and cut through the emotion a little and shift focus, Saethrim decided to ask, "You ever get back with that cat you fancied? She seemed like quite the catch for you."

Kial slipped free of the hug and lightly punched Saethrim's shoulder with a sniffly chuckle. "Yeah, we're together. It took a long time."

"Some couple of eons, 'ey?" Saethrim asked, looking around with a raised eyebrow. "Judging by the way things have changed around here, that's how it feels. The creatures have aged a lot."

The bobcat nodded a little and turned around. "They have."

Saethrim took a deep breath and sighed a little. "You had it rough, kid. I'm sorry that I couldn't stay forever. You turned out pretty damn good, despite everything you went through."

"I… suppose so," Kial murmured, surprised that Saethrim had actually even brought up such a serious topic. "You taught me well. I learned by your example."

The da Asani smiled at that. "Good to know." He turned slightly and blinked once, frowning. "Ah, something must've noticed my return. Even without being the God of Mythical Beasts, I guess I still have a sort of status, ey?" he nudged Kial with an elbow.

Kial shrugged openly at that. "I would not know. You built your reputation, not me."

Saethrim stroked his chin for a moment before feeling around on his head, grabbing the blindfold he'd always worn. "Dang, I forgot all about this. I'd hate for an enemy to know I'm not blind."

"You were not wearing your blindfold?" Kial asked.

"Nope," Saethrim laughed, already working to begin tying it properly onto his head. "Honestly, though, it's not a big deal. Either they know or they don't know."

"This is true," Kial murmured. "It was always one of your trump cards."

Seathrim finally finished putting the blindfold on and adjusted it to fit correctly. "There we go, that's better. So, mind telling me where you've been staying?"

Kial gently grabbed one of Saethrim's arms and led him away deep into a wooded area. They came across a sort of grove, and Kial motioned vaguely around. "Lately, I have been here. It is simple and quiet."

"You haven't been bringing Rose here, right?" Saethrim asked suddenly, tone accusatory.

"No," Kial chuckled. "We are not prepared for such a thing, and we would never subject a child to a war willingly. We will wait."

Saethrim smirked. "Good." The two fell silent, and they seemed fully content with such a thing. Eventually the two relaxed and found their places to sit, enjoying the company of one another. It felt right.

~保護者~

Introductions had freshly been made. Tails watched with a bright smile as his friends interacted in his living room. Knuckles was grumping to Rouge about something or other while she teased him. Silver was talking animatedly with Kym while Blaze spoke more calmly with Ava. Tails had introduced Satsuno to all of them, but they were polite enough not to all swarm him. He was a little busy, anyway.

Kohaku was sitting on the ground on the other side of the room, busily stacking blocks like always. Unlike the ones Aba had made for him prior to their initial arrival here, these were made using Silver's psychokinesis. Rose's crystal block was among them. Naturally, he was having a lot of fun with them all. The fact that Satsuno had opted to seat himself across from Kohaku seemed to only add to the younger hedgehog's joy.

Satsuno was nothing but patient and attentive as Kohaku communicated with him using hand movements, noises, and the occasional simple word here and there. The sight of it made Tails smile more, especially when he watched Kohaku hand the older man multiple blocks all at once. Though initially a bit at a loss, Satsuno watched the motion of Kohaku's hands carefull. He then eventually put a single block onto the stack. Kohaku laughed and made what could only be described as "happy sounds" while waving his hands around. Silver looked over and smiled just as Tails thought, Aww. That's so sweet.

Wery stayed a small distance from Kohaku, if only because she certainly realized there was something different (the situation had been explained to her regarding Kohaku's disability) and that she didn't want to accidentally upset him by overstepping a boundary. Tails noticed her hesitation and spoke up. "Do you want to go meet him?" he asked. "I can go with you."

"Oh! Uh, yeah," Wery admitted. "I just didn't want to make a mistake and cause any problems."

"You won't," Tails assured. "He's normally really happy and at ease. You won't cause any problems, I promise."

Wery gave a sigh of relief. "That's good to know. I'd hate to trample on a sensitivity someone has."

"It really will be fine," Tails told her. "Come on." He began walking over. Upon noticing them, Kohaku waved his hands around and made some sounds. Tails encouraged it with a continuing small grin. "Hey, buddy. You look happy today. How are you?"

"Happy!" Kohaku exclaimed with childlike glee. He then pointed at Satsuno, who blinked mutely, and said one of the only complete-ish sentences he ever normally spoke. "Play block with me."

"That's right, he has been. That's very nice of him, isn't it?" Tails sat down on the floor, careful to give both hedgehogs a couple feet of space, and gestured at Wery. "This is my friend. Her name is Wery. She's nice, too."

Innocent amber eyes looked up at her, followed by more indistinguishable noises. Then he unexpectedly put some more words together. "Smart," he said, pointing at Tails. Then he pointed at Wery. "Smart… lady." Then he burst into a wide smile, seeming very proud of himself at that moment.

Wery's heart melted for a moment at hearing this and she smiled really brightly at him. "That's really nice of you."

Kohaku waved his hands around some more and then resumed stacking blocks. Tails grinned at Wery. "Told you it would be fine," he said happily. Then he turned his attention to Satsuno. He wasn't sure how this would be taken, but he said it anyway. "I noticed you were doing really good with him. Have you been around others like him before? As in, like, with the same prominence of symptoms."

The old king of the world gave that some thought. "No," he eventually said. He watched as Kohaku's hands continued to wave around and seemed to subtly tense his own hands up in response. As though to hold them still or something, though Tails wasn't sure. "Not technically. But I was not so different from him, in the past."

Now curious, Tails asked, "How so?" Probably best not to mention him tensing up. No telling why he did it. If it's stress or something, bringing attention to it might make it worse.

"I could not speak," Satsuno shrugged. "I tended to move in ways that were considered… strange to others. I did not communicate vocally for a long time. When I finally started to I rarely formed words, as is the case with him now." After a slight pause, he finished off by stating, "Things eventually changed. It is done now and no longer matters." And it was spoken with such quiet finality that, for just a second, Tails almost agreed with him.

Almost. Autism and all that goes with it isn't something that just… finishes, even if it changes in people over time now and then. That's kind of a strange way to think about it, even considering his native time.

Wery didn't agree at all and frowned. "That's… not how those sorts of things work." Satsuno just shrugged again. Rather than push the matter, Wery instead fell silent.

On the other side of the room, Silver's attention was pulled from his daughter when he mentally sensed some else's arrival. Excusing himself, he teleported outside to see if he could spot them. After all, Leaf Forest had a way of tricking the mind with illusions and getting people lost. Hopefully they make it here okay.

Seiko came into sight shortly after this, walking directly toward him. "I suppose I have come to the right place, then?"

Immediately upon seeing her, Silver's ears went straight up. Oh, crap, this is that queen lady isn't it? If that was the case, then it was definitely time to dial-back the goofiness, he decided. "Y-yeah, it is. Just to confirm, you're Seiko, right? I heard about you coming back. Kinda-sorta met your husband a few minutes ago, too."

"At ease," Seiko said with a softening smile. "You do not need to be at such high attention."

"Right… sorry," Silver replied with a sheepish grin. "Trying to balance out being respectful and stuff with not being too uptight. I tend to be kinda… Well, I'm a dork. Er, 'dummy' might be a word you're more familiar with. Goofball, maybe?"

Seiko chuckled softly. "Regardless, you are fine. Family needs only be respectful to a certain extent. I would be a touch more harsh in regulations toward a stranger."

Golden eyes blinked once, then twice. "You could tell? I didn't think I was letting my energies out…"

"I certainly could tell, yes," Seiko answered. "You are a descendant of Sonic."

"...You know, I think I just proved my own words," Silver realized aloud, laughing a little at himself. "Sorry about that. Um, hey, listen… Before you go inside, mind if I talk to you about something really fast? Though I'm gonna preface this by saying that I'm really trying to not get into any personal business of yours or anything. If this isn't my place, you can tell me."

"Continue," Seiko answered.

With permission given, Silver launched in. "Okay, so I have a lot of mental powers. Telepathy is the only one relevant here, though. It's always kinda 'on' in a sense, and I have to concentrate to turn it off. But because I'm me I get distracted and slip up. That kinda happened earlier, and I wound up over hearing something weird." He waited to see if she'd say anything, then resumed talking. "My son is one of the people inside right now. He's got a condition called autism, and his is pretty serious. He barely talks, moves his arms and hands a lot, and that kind of thing."

After taking a second to think how to phrase this, Silver continued, "Like I said, I kinda met your husband. He went to sit with Kohaku, my son, after that. They were just spending time together, but I noticed Satsuno kept tensing himself up a little whenever he'd see Kohaku moving around. And then I slipped up and heard him repeating the phrase 'quiet hands' to himself in his head. Is… something wrong? Like, is he okay?"

Seiko frowned a little. "It is a long story, something I will not get into right now. I do not even know the full story, but something happened at one point and it has caused him to say this at times."

Upon hearing this, Silver also frowned. His was a look of open concern, whereas he couldn't read her much without letting himself delve into her mind. Which, uh, he refused to do because he wanted to live. "Erm… feel free to ignore me here, but maybe talk to him about it? Obviously I don't know for sure, but it kinda seems like he has autism, too. If he does, something unhealthy is going on here. Even if he doesn't, this is weird and not normal."

The frown on Seiko's face deepened. "I have tried to speak to him on many of these matters before. He has refused."

Silver tapped his foot on the ground. "That… sounds a lot like how Gramps can be." After a pause, he sighed. "All I can really do is recommend trying again. Persistence is sometimes key, and all that. Plus consistent efforts to get Gramps to open up about stuff usually works."

Seiko began walking again. "I can try, but there is only so much I can do. Perhaps one day he will explain why he feels the way he does about some matters to the rest of his family."

"Maybe, yeah." Silver watched her for a second before mumbling a quick apology and farewell. He then teleported inside, opened the door for her, and walked back over to his daughters and wife.

Rather than stop and speak to anyone else for the moment, Seiko instead walked over to Satsuno. "Will you step outside with me for a moment?" Hearing her voice immediately pulled Satsuno's attention away from Kohaku, Tails, and Wery. He blinked up at her, then stood to follow her out. Seiko led him out of the door, then teleported the two of them some distance away and wrapped him in a sudden hug. "Satsuno."

The sudden display of affection caught him off-guard, but not because this was something that never happened. He just hadn't anticipated it. "...Yes?" he eventually asked, moving to hug her back.

"I asked many times before," Seiko began, "but I want to ask once more what 'quiet hands' means."

Immediately, Satsuno tensed up and became silent. He knew he had a bad habit of sometimes whispering that to himself subconsciously, but he was nearly certain he hadn't done so recently. Given that, why was she asking him this? There was a long, long pause before he spoke back up. "Why?" he questioned cautiously.

"I'm worried about you and why you say it," Seiko said.

Satsuno almost seemed to start pulling away from her, but stopped himself rather quickly. "Why ask now?" he pressed.

Seiko avoided eye contact for his sake, but made sure to look at him directly. "It has always worried me, Satsuno. You have never once explained it to me."

"I have said before that it doesn't mean anything," he mumbled, though he knew full-well that it was a terrible and weak lie.

"Please do not lie to me," Seiko murmured gently, setting her forehead against his. "I only wish to help you."

For just a second, he almost seemed to start to say something. Then he cut himself off and shook his head. "It isn't anything important. Just leave it be."

"Satsuno," she said softly. "Please." He averted his gaze and shook his head again. "You can talk to me about anything," Seiko said gently. "I will always be right here waiting for you to tell me of anything plaguing you."

There was another long, long pause. Eventually, Satsuno let out a heavy, shaking breath. "...Do you remember the school?" he suddenly asked her, voice barely above a whisper. "The one I was repeatedly sent to for… 'help'."

Something in Seiko's mind connected some of the pieces and she nodded. Though she didn't like where this was going, it was best to let him continue. "Yes… I do."

"Mother first sent me there when I was nine," Satsuno told her. "I had only just been diagnosed, as had other children. We were to live there for up to a year to learn and… improve, somehow. But the therapy offered was experimental, as all were back then. And it was not… what they described it as to outsiders."

The thought of this visibly disturbed her. "They did not help… did they?"

"The people working there were of the belief that the only way to help was to make us normal," he shrugged. A part of his tone had grown distant and dull, his mind lost in old memories. "Among other 'treatments' was behavior modification. The behaviors that were labelled as 'stims' were not allowed." He tried to leave it at that, clearly hoping the matter would be dropped.

Seiko's expression hardened for a moment before she relaxed herself. "What else did they do to you?" she asked calmly.

"We were there to learn, all day and every day. We were kept to rigorous standards that we had to obey." Satsuno sort of shrugged to himself. "Some adapted easily enough. I did not. I could not speak or write and moved too much. There were consequences for the latter issue."

The woman pulled Satsuno in just a bit closer and pressed her head against his softly. "What about 'quiet hands'?" she pressed gently.

Purely because they were alone and he'd learned by now how to seek comfort from her when it was needed, Satsuno gradually sort of snuggled into her embrace. "Stimming was not allowed," he said again. "'Quiet hands' was the instruction used to remind us that. Not everyone could understand more complicated instructions. It was kept simple."

"What of the consequences?" Seiko dared to ask.

"Abnormal movements were not tolerated," Satsuno explained after some hesitation. "If we would not or could not stop on our own, we were forced to. Sometimes we were only held down. Other times we were bound to chairs or beds. Teachers often yelled and threatened. Too many of us did not have the ability to tell them to stop."

This time, the woman audibly let out a slow sigh to keep her temper in check. She would never allow herself to explode at him or near him, and as such had learned to keep it all down while in his presence. "Is there anything else I should know of this matter?" she asked softly.

It took him time, but eventually he seemed to settle on an explanation for something he normally would never try putting into words. "Communicating with words does not… always come naturally. Not to all of us. Movement is what we are born knowing. It is how we were used to making ourselves feel better, or to express emotions, or to tell others things. That was not allowed. I did not know how to communicate without my hands and arms. It was… ...isolating."

"I am so sorry you were put through this," Seiko said gently, squeezing him slightly. "If I had known…"

"I wanted to tell you," he suddenly revealed in a quiet voice, "when I was approached about returning during the year of our marriage. I wanted to say something right then, but I did not know how. I convinced myself it was best not to do it."

"It is okay," Seiko said. "You can tell me when you're ready, with anything." She pulled back to kiss his cheek softly. "I know you have difficulty communicating your feelings, which is why I have never wished to push you too hard."

Gently touching cheeks with fingers or kissing them was a sign of deep affection for Tokarians. As a result, Satsuno relaxed significantly in spite of himself. He allowed himself a moment to just stand there and be there with her before admitting, "That time when I was an adult was not the only other time I was sent there. I was sent back the year before Mother's death. I left after turning thirteen, and only when word came that she had died. I would have been kept there longer otherwise."

Seiko's hands tensed and she closed her eyes. "How many times in total were you there?"

"Just those three," he told her honestly. "But each time I was kept for a full Tokarian year. Meaning… over a century in total."

"Is that all you needed to tell me?" Seiko asked softly. He just sort of nodded. Nothing else was coming to mind right now and he just really, really wanted to stop talking about it. Seiko pulled back full from him and kissed him softly. "Go back to the others for now, or back to Shadow's home. I have an important matter to handle."

Though there was a twinge of disappointment in his eyes over her departure, it faded quickly. "You will be back soon?" he asked.

"Of course," she assured with a soft smile. "I will return as soon as it is handled." Satisfied with that answer, Satsuno gave her a rare peck on her cheek in response to her earlier kiss, then let her go fully. Seiko allowed herself the same moment of time to simply be there with him as he had, a gentle smile on her face, before she lightly pressed a hand against one of his shoulders. "Now, go on." He huffed a little, but did as she'd directed and returned inside via a quick teleport.

Once he was gone, Seiko's anger spilled out and she bared her fangs. Those bastards. Magic flowed around her and she pulled open a portal to Ylden's realm, knowing full well that doing so was a risky move. When she stepped through and realized he wasn't present, she instead focused on pouring energy and magic into her voice to call out, "Zenith!"

Darkness soon coalesced in front of her, forming into his semi-physical body. "What?" he asked via thought-speech as his body and mouth worked on fully forming.

"I require access to the Realms of Death," Seiko said instantly. "There are people that I need to see. Let me in."

"See?" he repeated aloud, now that he was entirely there. His arms were crossed. "Or end?"

"Both," Seiko bit out. "They hurt Satsuno, and I'm pissed." The venom in her tone was nothing unusual for her when she was feeling particularly protective of her partner or other people.

Zenith let out a vague humming sound, then suddenly opened a portal beside himself. "Go," he allowed. "Bear in mind that you cannot rend them from existence. But they are in 'hell' for a reason. Do what you will."

"May the Gods and Faein forbid me from ever being capable of rending any being from existence," Seiko said openly. "My enemies would fall without fail." She walked into and through the portal, summoning her magic around her blade. And they would suffer for standing in my way. Her apparent reference to religion earned no comment.

Zenith merely offered her a mental guide to reach the souls she was after and then faded away into the shadows once more.

~保護者~

Han's attacker, a bat like Rouge and Nareish's clairvoyant henchman Amani, levitated in a sitting position above a chunk of space rock. She was resting by herself just outside of the edges of Nareish's realm, far from any inhabited worlds or other spaces. She stretched her wings for a long moment while simultaneously stretching her arms up high. "Oh, man… That was a pain… I don't see why Amani couldn't have handled that guy instead of me."

Thinking about her older sister made her pout. "Why does she get it so easy? She almost never has to go anywhere. And when she does, her opponents are at least fun. He was so boring!" Her pout intensifying, she crossed her arms. "He didn't even fight back. It was so lame! Taking away his memories isn't even hard. There's just a lot of them, and they aren't even fun for me to watch." Not two seconds later, her pout faded slightly. "I wonder if I'd be allowed to mess with the ones I was told to let him keep… Maybe Amani can get permission for me?"

"You're not messing with shit," Eila muttered, dropping the veil around herself. "Fuck you."

Pinkish eyes blinked at her. "Oh. Uh, hi? Who are you supposed to be?" The bat crossed her legs, getting more comfortable as opposed to getting ready for a confrontation.

Eila let a magic circle form around her hand and she narrowed her eyes. "Doesn't fucking matter. If anything, you'd probably know me best as Astra."

The bat's mouth made a small 'o' shape for a second. "I was not expecting that…" she mused aloud. Then she said, "Well, since we're trading names, mine's Nira. It's very not nice to meet you, for the record."

"Never said it was nice to meet you either," Eila remarked. "You've caused enough problems as it is."

Nira's head canted. "Problems? How? He's not even corrupted. I wasn't allowed to do that right now."

"Undo what you did to him," Eila demanded.

Immediately, the pout was back. "I don't wanna."

"I didn't ask if you wanted to." Eila waved a hand in front of her as her eyes glowed with magic energy. "I said to do it."

"And I said I don't wanna!" Nira retorted petulantly. Even now, she made no effort to prepare for this in any way, didn't even try to start defending herself.

The area around them both rippled with Eila's magic, filling the space between them with magic circles of varying sizes. "I'm gonna say it like this. Do it or I will find a way to make you," Eila threatened.

Hearing this, Nira stuck her tongue out like a child in spite of being fully grown. "You can't do anything to me," she said. "I won't let you. So there."

Eila twisted her wrist and explosions tore into the chunk of rock Nira was sitting on, simply wanting to see what would happen. The shockwaves from the magical attacks caused Nira's already floating body to be sent floating away at high speed, but she never broke her stance. Merely continued to level Eila with a disapproving frown and pout. The cat watched this quietly, her hair teased up by the building energy within. When she dared to release it, she flooded the battlefield with a variety of traps and flung spikes of magic at Nira, vanishing into the domain she'd created.

In a flash, all the attacks were petrified, and Nira stood up so as to more easily fly away from them. "You're mean," she accused, despite Eila having left. The attacks didn't stop, with the traps activating themselves and flinging all sorts of different spells at Nira. Once more, Nira petrified everything that came at her. "You should just come back, you know. This is really boring."

"I have no plans of 'coming back'," Eila answered slowly.

"That's so lame," Nira complained. She started to open a portal. "Bye, boring lady! Maybe we can fight better later or something."

Eila emerged from her magic and waved a hand, snapping the portal shut again. "You're not going anywhere."

"I don't see why I have to stay when you won't even fight," Nira whined. "You aren't fun."

"At least I can fight with my own power, what I culminated by myself," Eila muttered.

"That doesn't mean anything when you aren't even good at it," Nira told her.

That note struck hard and Eila waved a hand, collapsing her magic domain inwards on Nira with a hateful snarl. "You little bitch!" Nira dodged away from everything with a serious of rapid teleports, then reappeared beside Eila. With a single sharp poke, she petrified Eila's left arm in whatever position it was in. Eila's eyes shifted to Nira as she unleashed a pulse of psychic energy and encased herself in magic.

Nira backed off and looked over the protective layer of power. "Oh, so you have powers like my sister's. That's kinda cool, I guess." She drifted close enough to prod at it with a foot. "It doesn't feel like I thought it would. Weird…"

Before Eila could do anything else, golden magic took hold of Nira and flung her to the side. Wave appeared between the two opponents with her arms crossed and a deep scowl on her face. "God, how did you tolerate being near her for so long, Eila? Just in the split second's worth of thoughts I overheard, she's managed to irritate the crap out of me."

"Move," Eila growled bitterly, breaking her fingers free of the petrification. "I'm not fucking done."

"Oh, I'm moving, but you're coming with me. She's got every intention of killing you, and I'm not allowing that." Nira floated closer, but lingered a short distance away to watch them. "Rose won't exactly appreciate me letting you keep at this."

Eila flicked a hand, flinging a wall of magic at Nira. "Stay the fuck over there!" she yelled.

"Sure, I guess," Nira shrugged. "Really quick, though, Amani wants me to tell you guys something. She says that guy can keep his memories of how to fight and what his name is and stuff like that. So he won't be a 'burden' or something. I don't really get why she cares, but yeah. Bye." She vanished promptly.

Despite how upset Wave was at hearing this, she teleported away to Cyril with Eila in tow. Since Cyril was with Rose, it felt like the best place to go. Hope this calms her down.

Eila didn't calm down, flinging a wave of magic away from everyone in a brief fit of rage. "God fucking dammit, Wave!" She whipped around, clenching her fists. "Now she's fucking gone!"

"It's better for her to be gone than you to be dead," Wave responded, doing her level best not to let her own temper flare in return. She vanished briefly, then reappeared with Cyril and Rose. "I don't claim to know how to handle this. You guys are up."

Rose didn't hesitate to move forward and hug her sister tightly, to which Eila suddenly broke down and sobbed openly. Cyril watched this with a concerned frown, his heart aching at the sight. He glanced to Wave and whispered, "What happened?"

"I only witnessed the tail end of it, so I don't know," Wave whispered back. "She was already pissed by then. In all fairness, that other girl was ridiculously irritating."

"...Eila didn't get far… did she?" he asked in a more quiet tone.

"No, they'd barely even traded any blows," she answered. "I don't think she was there long." By this point, Eila's crying had devolved into belittling and blaming herself despite all of Rose's attempts to soothe her.

Cyril winced a little, not sure how to approach this situation. "I… didn't think I'd ever see her like this."

"Me either. But…" Wave sighed. "Look, you care about her a lot, right? And she cares about you. Even if you can't say anything to help, being over there with her might make a difference."

The finch nodded a little and walked over to Rose and Eila, slowly setting a hand on Eila's shoulder. "Eila… it's okay."

Eila buried her face into her sister's shoulder and she clung tighter to Rose. Rose shifted a hand to hold her older sister's head close. "Hey… it's okay. You're okay, and that's what matters."

"I… couldn't help him…" Eila mumbled. "They're taking his memories…" Wave swallowed thickly and looked away. Eila lifted her head to look at Wave and fought back the pain long enough to speak. "I'm so sorry… I wanted to stop it…"

Wave turned her head to look at her. There was no anger in her eyes, and she did her best to hide her own anguish. "I know. And… I really appreciate that you would even try." She tentatively approached and gave Eila's arm a squeeze for a second. "Just… stay here and try to rest up, okay? We'll figure something out." Somehow.

Eila purposefully blocked her mind from Wave's as she retreated into her thoughts. It won't matter… "...Okay," she whispered.

Removing her hand, Wave shifted her focus to Cyril. "Right before the bat-bitch fled, she said something I'm worried about. She said Dad 'gets' to keep certain memories, like what his name is and how to fight and 'stuff like that'."

Cyril's eyes widened a little. "Where is he?" he demanded suddenly.

"He's still with Ylden," Wave answered. "They were still in that Realm of Death when I left."

The finch frowned. "We need to make sure he's somewhere we can monitor him. I'm scared they're gonna try and turn him against us."

"That's what I'm afraid of, too," Wave said softly. "But where could we even take him, Cyril?"

"I don't know…" Cyril admitted quietly. His gaze flicked back when he sensed a flash of magic and he groaned at the sight of Eila suddenly being gone. "Guess peace is over…"

Wave nodded a little and backed away a few steps. "You… guys go help her, if you can. I need to talk to Ylden."

Rose turned to Wave, a soft frown on her face. "Be safe… please. If there is anything I can offer in assistance, ever, just say the word."

"Yeah. Thanks." Wave teleported back to where she'd left Han and Ylden, only to find them gone. She did what she had done to find her father the last time and, upon relocating him (in the Realm of Chaos of all places), she teleported a second time. "Ylden?" she called out.

Ylden whirled toward her and readied his scythe briefly, only to relax a little with a sigh. "Shit… I'm on edge. Sorry."

Swirling Chaos parted long enough to show Wave where he was, and she hurried over. Seeing Han sat on the ground with his head in his hands, she felt her heart clench. "How… How is he?" she asked quietly.

He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but lying would do nothing. "It's rough. He isn't feeling good."

Though she hardly dared to, Wave had to ask. "How much has he lost since I left?"

"I don't know," Ylden muttered.

Wave was quiet for a bit. "...We found the person who attacked him," she eventually said. "Some bat. She said something… something alarming, Ylden. That he's going to be able to remember things like his name, how to fight, and other such information. But it was implied that that's going to be it."

Ylden turned his attention to Han for a moment and frowned openly. "Not good."

"Cyril is afraid they're going to try to corrupt him when this is done," she continued quietly. "He said we need to take him somewhere where he can be monitored."

"Smart kid," Ylden murmured lightly. "Not sure where would be a good place, though."

"We don't know, either," she said with a weak shrug. "Nothing seems like a viable option."

Ylden sighed. "There are options. None are good."

"What do we do?" Wave asked him, voice barely above a whisper.

A muffled voice answered, and Ylden pulled a piece of glass out of his pocket. He blinked once at the sight of Ceres's face. "Bring Han to me. I can situate him temporarily, unless someone like Sein, Alana, or Jet has a better idea. Once he's settled somewhere, we all need to talk."

Wave looked over upon hearing this. Being as emotional as she was, she wasn't thinking as quickly as usual. The fact that she was momentarily confused about what was happening didn't help. "...About what?" she dared to ask.

"About what we're doing in retaliation," A new voice answered. A male da Asani seemed to vaguely move Cere out of the way, smiling at them through the mirror. "It's about time we show them they can't just fuck with us."

Who is he? Wave nodded slowly, unsure what to say.

"Get ahold of the Immortals and see if they can make a plan, then meet us. We'll be waiting."

"Um… yeah. Right." Wave looked at Ylden. "I'll… be right back." Without waiting for a reply, she teleported straight to Sein's energy signature, since he was close to Jet. Though Jet wasn't in the same room, she discovered. Doing her level best to stay calm, she cleared her throat to get the older man's attention. "Hey… Sein? There's… something going on." She looked away, hugging herself tightly and never leaving the doorway. "Cere and some other guy want us to discuss a sort of plan. It's… It's important."

Sein turned to face Wave and motioned for her to come over. "Hey, come here. What's going on?" he asked gently. "Any way I can help?"

Slowly, Wave walked over. She rubbed at her eyes when the threatened to water. "My dad was attacked," she mumbled. "His magic was corrupted a bit, and the person responsible is stealing his memories. Cyril is afraid he might be turned against us in some way, since Dad's attacker told us he'll be allowed to keep memories of how to fight but little else."

"Has anything else happened so far?" Sein dared to ask. "I hate to push for information, but I wanna make sure we've covered all the bases." He winced a little at the sight of her rubbing her eyes, not sure exactly how he should approach this.

"His magic is supposed to be golden, like mine," she said quietly. "It's bright red now, like some demons' eyes. He's a Hexan. Magic runs through us the same way blood does. Whatever corruption he might be left with… there's no telling how fast it'll spread or how deeply it'll be able to set it before we can stop it. And… this corruption isn't demonic, or the kind used on Kath to control him. This is akin to what happened to Eila in her past, but worse. The person who attacked Dad is part of the Trokkelar Army.

Sein walked the small distance between them and wrapped his arms around her gently. "I'm sorry to hear that it happened. What do you need from me?"

Though she was now fighting even harder not to cry, Wave managed to keep her voice mostly level. "Cyril and Cere think we need to take him somewhere. Somewhere where we can keep an eye on him. Ylden and I don't know where, though."

"I have a small realm that I created for when I get upset," Sein said gently. "I mostly just blow off some steam there, but we can absolutely have him stay in that realm for a short time while we figure out what to do. Is that okay?"

Wave nodded shakily and finally hugged him back a bit. "Yeah… I think so."

Sein held her and did his best to silently comfort her. "Do you want to talk to Jet for a minute? He's awake and doing okay. I'm sure he'd really like to see you."

"He's with his kids," Wave mumbled, revealing the reason why she hadn't immediately gone to him to begin with. And, likewise, why he seemed not to have immediately noticed she was here. "I don't want to interrupt. He hasn't seen them in so long…"

"He's the closest person to you right now," Sein countered. "You need him. I am sure that his kids would understand."

Logically, she knew he was right. She'd known the kids their whole lives, and she knew they were plenty mature enough even back when they'd been actual kids to get this kind of thing. So, eventually, she nodded again and let him go. "...Okay." With that said, she wiped at her eyes again and trudged back into the hall to go to where they all were.

Sein followed behind her and gently kept a hand on her back. "I'll go help them while you do that, unless you need me here?"

She took in a steadying breath. "I'll be okay. Just go help my dad. Please."

The hawk nodded a little and gave Wave another gentle, brief hug. "I wouldn't dream of doing anything else." Wave hugged him back tightly, but forced herself to let him go after only a few seconds. Once the hug broke, Sein gave a gentle wave and teleported away.

He immediately located Ylden's aura and teleported the rest of the way to him, turning his attention to Han. Oh, that's your dad? I met him when I was a kid… Rather than speak about that, he walked up to the Hexan and knelt down. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

It took a long moment, but Han seemed to be able to recall who Sein was. As such, his initial tension soon fled from his shoulders. He mumbled something in Hexan before saying, "Like hell." This guy… He and a little girl… on Babylon. That's where I know him from… right?

"Are you aware of what's going on right now?" Sein asked. "I'm here to take you somewhere safe, but I need to know what your current state is."

"I was attacked, and I'm losing memories," Han responded. "I know what's happening." For now.

"Alright. I'm going to take you to a realm I had made some time ago. Until we get something sorted out, that's where I have to ask you to stay, even though I hate asking that of you." Sein wore an apologetic frown. "As long as you're okay with it."

"If it's safer than here, then fine," Han told him, rubbing at his temples once again. "Something was done to my magic. If it gets worse, I cannot remain around people."

Sein opened the portal and offered a hand to take Han in. "I'm sure Cere has a plan. As soon as we've figured out something, I'll do my best to keep you updated. If you need anything, just say so. I'll hear what you're saying."

Han stood, but a sudden return of his earlier dizziness made him stagger badly. Like he had the last time, he caught himself with his magic. The dizziness faded eventually and he was able to stand up properly again. His magic crackled unnaturally as it vanished, but he wasn't exactly in the state to notice. "Fine," he mumbled.

The hawk frowned as he watched all of this before ultimately just offering his hand again. "Need any help?" he asked cautiously. Han just shook his head and finally lowered his hands in order to open his eyes and see where he was supposed to be going. Sein lowered his hand and motioned to the portal with his head. "I'll check on you soon." With another vague mumble in his native tongue, Han went through the portal and promptly sat himself down somewhere in order to try to rest at least a tiny bit. Sein closed the portal once Han was through and looked to Ylden. The other man nodded and they both teleported directly to Cere.

Time was of the essence.

~保護者~

11,303 words this time. Now, before anyone potentially starts to get up and arms about Seiko and Satsuno's discussion please bear in mind that I'm autistic myself. Did I endure quiet hands myself? No, thankfully not. But I'm involved in the autism community. I know people who've been through some crap. I've had my own struggles. Please keep that in mind before taking offense! Anyway, aside from that, I hope you all enjoyed. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Posted (at about 10:22 a.m.) 08-28-21.