Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) during this reunion… especially for the one who something unusual to say.
~保護者~
"I Apologize"
~保護者~
The aura emanating from her was enough to drive anyone who wished to speak to her away. The woman had stormed to her room and begun working on some alchemy to calm herself a bit. Ghune was irritable after learning that Black Doom's kid had been turned into a vampire. The two races had agreed to never bring harm to one another. Any miscreant that chose to act out of line was swiftly dispatched. Regardless, it wasn't as if this was a matter of just of one of their two races. It now concerned both the Black Arms and the vampires, as Ghune saw it.
With her first reagent complete, the woman suddenly stood and teleported once more, into the midst of the hive of the Black Arms. She suppressed her aura to prevent agitation of the other race and immediately began her stride in Black Doom's direction. We have to talk. If you know what's good for you, you'll show up quickly.
Her footsteps carried her into a chamber used for violent blood rituals, one that currently wasn't occupied by anyone other than herself and her target. Black Doom was in the middle of collecting the broken pieces of a blade off of the ground, but stopped and turned around when he sensed her.
"We need to speak," Ghune said, walking directly up to him with not even the slightest hint of concern or fear. "Clean later."
Despite how long it had been since the two of them had interacted in any capacity, Black Doom showed no outward signs of surprise over her arrival. "Then speak."
"You did not inform me of your spawn, nor the fact that he was afflicted with vampirism," Ghune murmured. "Explain yourself."
"The vampirism was recent," Black Doom muttered. "It only occurred within the last day or so."
"Regardless, that is my domain of expertise," Ghune reminded. Black Doom muttered something, then huffed and crossed his arms. "Speak up," she suddenly demanded. "Lest I extract what you left unsaid from your body."
Dark eyes glared at her, but Black Doom didn't waste time attempting to ignore the rest of her inquiry any longer. "I did not tell you about Shadow because that time was… difficult. I sought isolation. The blood was forced on me and I did not realize until it was too late. Returning home and staying there was the only thing I could think to do."
"Who forced it on you?" Ghune suddenly snapped, baring her fangs. "I'll harvest their organs for the wyverns."
"A rotund roach who calls himself 'Gerald'," Black Doom muttered. "He created and heavily altered a mixture of blood, primarily from me but slightly from some other being I never encountered. I attempted to kill him once, but somehow he survived. Now, he is under Nareish's protection."
Ghune crossed her arms in deep irritation. "Fucking bullshit."
He muttered something again, then said, "I would go after him, regardless, but Shadow insisted that I swear not to right now."
The woman snarled hatefully and huffed. "I suppose there must be a reason."
"Something about being unwilling to allow me to die. He did not say as such, but I sensed the intent."
Ghune snorted at him. "I see."
"The bastard stole my spawn from me," Black Doom suddenly revealed, voice bitter. "Shadow was still small. Too small to be speaking much. I did not find him again until long after he had reached adulthood."
This all only served to further irritate the woman, and she did her best to not say much. "Fucking hell…"
He was quiet for a time before giving her one last bit of information. "At the time that I found him, Ghune… he had few to no memories of his life prior to a certain point in his adult years. And… I was dying. Leadership had to be passed on to someone who would not drive our race to extinction. I was forced to provoke him into hating, fighting, and killing me."
"Nonce," she muttered. "What pushed you to that point?"
"Blood poisoning," Black Doom told her slowly. "Even my kind cannot survive demon blood coming into contact with our own. A powerful demon I battled when it entered my territory bled on me during the struggle, and it got into at least one of my own wounds. I was dead less than three weeks later."
Ghune frowned deeply. "Why had you not come to me? I would have certainly attempted to help."
"You could not have," Black Doom told her, "and there was no time. I had to ensure the hive would live on. I barely managed to accomplish that single goal before the blood could kill me."
"I still would've wanted to know," Ghune admitted.
There was a prolonged silence before Black Doom said two words he had only ever uttered once before, also in her presence. "I apologize."
You better. "Good. Now, onto the matter of his current state. With his becoming a vampire, I will be taking on the responsibility of teaching him to use his abilities to their fullest," Ghune explained.
"I will allow it," Black Doom murmured. "You are best equipped to teach him. I doubt his… rebellious nature will come into play around you. And you handled the previous Black Arms vampire, correct?"
"Who better to have done it?" Ghune questioned easily. "Of course it was me." That earned her a huff. She returned it with ease.
"...How has Shadow done with this so far?" Black Doom eventually asked.
Ghune thought this over for a moment, tapping a foot slowly. "Give him about two days. This is a lot to take in, and some mage visited him with a plethora of notes on our magics. I can tell that many have visited him recently, as well, so he has a lot to take in."
"He can handle that. He is not easily overwhelmed. But if you believe that he needs two days, then fine."
"It is not due to him being overwhelmed. That is for him to take in all the basics before he starts mastering control," Ghune explained. "He is unusual in more ways than I ever imagined."
Black Doom blinked. "Regarding that… how much are you aware of already?"
"He reeks of metal, is a Tokarian in build…" Ghune's nose twitched, latching back onto the scent she'd purposely gotten on her skin. "He's not entirely biological, and something is… occurring that makes him stronger than he should be. I have smelled it before… but somehow the identity escapes me."
"Gerald has made him a machine on the inside, to some extent," Black Doom explained, "and I assume his other parent is responsible for his appearance. As for the other thing you spoke of… I don't know. I haven't sensed it more than once, myself, and it was very recent."
Ghune sighed. "His intelligence has already spiked to an incredible degree, as well."
"Explain," was the quick response. "I did not linger enough to see that for myself."
"How do I explain more than him obviously being incredibly intelligent?" Ghune dared to ask.
"Explain what he has displayed so far," Black Doom muttered. "What you have seen. I want to remain aware of any and all changes in him."
Ghune pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know a damned thing about how he was before. Some traits he displays may have been there before we met."
Whatever reply he might have given was lost when a particularly bold spawn of some other Black Arms wandered in. He floated away from her to deal with it, exiting the chamber with the spawn in question to return it to the burrow where it and other spawn were meant to stay. Several minutes later, he floated back into view. Ghune waited patiently, raising an eyebrow to prompt him to speak. When he did so, he merely changed the subject. "Are there any concerns you have about him handling his vampirism?"
"Feeding," Ghune said rather simply. "He feeds on blood much like I do. The chameleon also had an injury he sustained from the feeding, but I chose to not bring it up yet."
Black Doom frowned. His concern over his son, the very same thing that had led to him unreasonably asking Ghune for intel she couldn't give, mounted upon hearing this. "His species alone should have been enough for him to heal," he said. "Was he weakened from the blood loss as well?"
"He was strong enough to put up a fight with the protectiveness he had," Ghune answered with a shrug. "The chameleon seemed alright."
"How could he have recovered from the loss of blood, but not the bite itself?" Black Doom demanded.
Ghune shrugged again. "Must have been something to do with that incredibly unusual scent I picked up on."
"It may. But, though it would explain the part Toru did not heal from, it does not explain what he did heal from."
It may be a form of a new vampire ability," Ghune offered in reply.
"...New, unique abilities have not shown up in any notable individuals in a few centuries or more," Black Doom recalled aloud. "The timing here is… unusual in and off itself."
"So what if it is?" Ghune questioned. "The same can happen for other races in existence. It doesn't matter if it can just randomly happen, no matter how uncommon the chance."
"I was merely making a statement. Calm yourself." Black Doom turned away from her to resume cleaning up the broken blade he'd been dealing with earlier.
Ghune blinked once. If it were any other person, she might have been rude at being told to be calm. "Regardless, I plan to investigate his situation more deeply once I uncover what ails that child of his."
"Liara," Black Doom supplied quietly. He seemed to almost be done talking there, but soon spoke back up. "Whatever afflicts her is the same illness that afflicted many of Gerald's other experiments. They grew ill and died off, most before they could reach more than an hour of life. Shadow looked for any notes the man may have left behind regarding this, but found nothing."
"I see," Ghune murmured, closing her eyes for a moment. Since he is alive, then I will simply have to find time to speak to him. I will not overlook this.
"Have you started any potions?" Black Doom suddenly asked, knowing full-well that vampires were known for doing just that to cure illnesses of all kinds.
Ghune nodded once. "I did so in order to stave off the fury of a Black Arms being targeted with vampirism."
"Indeed." Black Doom straightened with the remaining shards of metal in his hands, then teleported them away. "We jointly killed the last fool to do such a thing. However, in this instance, we will be forced to rely on alliances with others if we wish to see the culprit pay."
"I am aware," Ghune answered. "Why did you ask if I had started potions?"
"Because even if we don't know a cure yet, the potions your kind make are powerful. They may be enough to keep her symptoms minor enough when they emerge that she will not succumb to death as swiftly as before."
"I wholeheartedly intend to aim for curing her illness entirely," Ghune answered simply.
Black Doom huffed. "I am aware. Prolonging her life until a full cure can be found may be necessary. That is all I was implying."
Ghune shrugged. "Reasonable."
He idly wiped some blood off his hands onto the side of his robe, which instantly cleaned itself anyway. "Was there anything else you needed? There is much that needs tending to here. Shadow may have kept our race alive, but he did not maintain many things in my absence." There was a hint of a tone in his voice that seemed to give the impression that he didn't blame his son for this. After all, there had been far too much that Shadow just hadn't known or had any way to know. But that tone was faint and faded away quickly once noticed, just like every other sign of care usually was.
The woman walked up to him and grabbed one of his arms tightly, frowning openly. "Next time you have a serious matter pop up, tell me or I will personally beat the hell out of you," the woman murmured. "Not only do our people require us to some degree, but you are one of the few people I can find solace with."
At first, Black Doom was still and silent. Eventually, however, he spoke. "I did not know how to tell you. None outside of the hive can understand how… how violated I was. Forcing blood on any Black Arms is a crime punishable by death for a reason." He let that matter hang where it was, taking in a deep breath and letting it out so as to not let himself get further worked up.
Ghune blinked once at him, slowly. "I will not pretend to understand, but suddenly finding your absence from my life is not something I wish to experience again."
Almost, he seemed to sigh. And that led to him turning back around to face her and saying again, more quietly this time, "I apologize, Ghune."
The woman snorted and turned her head away. "I know." She couldn't bring herself to keep the guise and simply chuckled a little. "I'm serious, though. Just… tell me. Even if I don't understand, it's better to know."
"If that is your desire… then so be it. I will stay in regular contact with you again. You have my word." Black Doom gently tugged his arm out of her hold. "My only request is that you keep me informed about my son and grandchildren. Their plights… ...concern me, even though I can rarely be there myself to lend aid."
Ghune raised an eyebrow. "Why request it? I would have done so without you asking."
"Confirmation." Again, Black Doom almost seemed to sigh. "That is all."
"You're a distressed parent," Ghune said with a shrug. She resisted the urge to chuckle. "And we are friends. I will help."
"I am not distressed," Black Doom huffed. However, tellingly, he didn't deny her quip about them being friends. Instead, he just said a simple, "Thank you."
Ghune managed a gentle smile. "You are welcome." The smile faded and she let out a sigh. "I should return to my… hm." She put a hand to her chin. "I have never once put thought into what to call it. Castles are for kings and queens."
"That is untrue and you know it," was the huffed response. "Your kind have lived in castles and mansions for countless generations."
"My truth matters more than yours," Ghune replied easily.
"Fool," Black Doom murmured. There was no trace of genuine annoyance or whatever else in his tone, despite the insult. That was always the case when dealing with her, the one "friend" he'd ever known. It held true here as well.
Ghune shrugged. "Honestly, if my kind were any less individualistic, I may well have become a queen."
"I suppose it is technically possible," Black Doom agreed. "As it stands, you practically are one."
"In all but title," Ghune murmured. "I preside over my kind and several other darker mythical creatures."
"As I've heard. I also heard you took in wyverns, trolls, and ogres, of all things." He sort of snorted. "The wyverns I can understand to an extent, but trolls and ogres? They are brainless brutes and nothing more."
Ghune shrugged. "They would likely be slaughtered otherwise. They can also be quite useful with the right incentive."
"I am of the opinion that, with their deaths being so inevitable, they be allowed to die," Black Doom muttered, proving all over again how much more violent his race could be. "At least their blood would be of some use then."
"I attempt to prevent their deaths when possible," Ghune explained. "Though they do not follow the same rules as my vampires, they can be quite… 'civil' among their own kind."
"If I ever see it for myself, then I will believe such tall tales," Black Doom answered.
Ghune chuckled. "I use the term civil loosely. They will always be brutish, but they refrain from mass murder of their people. I ensure they do not wipe themselves out." Black Doom inclined his head in understanding. She let out a sigh, "And yes, we have two wyverns. They are… far from tame in any way, but they understand their place and that they are under protection. Quite intelligent creatures, they are."
"As cousins to true dragons, I would expect nothing less from their kind. Dragons are incredibly wise. It would make little sense for their relatives to retain none of that same intelligence." Black Doom idly turned some of his mental attention away from her and the conversation to listen to various things the hive was communicating here and there, but nothing important had yet to come up.
"They are incredible, however. One trusts me enough to collect samples of their blood," Ghune said, suddenly producing one such vial. "Potent."
He blinked once, eyeing the vial. "What do you intend to use it for?"
"Whatever it is needed for," Ghune said simply. "If I use it to forcibly disassemble someone's spinal column, then that is fine."
"Save that kind of violence for Nareish or Gerald," was the huffing response. "That is but a piece of what they deserve."
"If Gerald is under Nareish's protection, it will not matter unless a time presents itself," Ghune explained simply. "And nothing stops me from collecting more… as if I did not already have plenty."
"Indeed," was the murmured response. "Go, then. Do what you will, Ghune. I need to return to work."
"As do I," the vampire said in kind. "I may have a new lead to investigate."
"What lead?" he questioned, even as he turned to leave.
"We will see," Ghune murmured, moving to leave as well. Black Doom merely huffed again and vanished. The woman shortly did the same. She had more work to do.
~保護者~
"Tails! Toss me the wrench!" Wery called, looking over to the other fox. "I only got one more thing to do and we're done with this!"
Her sudden request made Tails, who was looking intently at his computer screen, jump. Then, laughing at himself, he hurried over and collected the tool in question to pass over to her. "Here you go," he smiled.
Wery, with her being as light as she was, couldn't initially pull it down all the way on the device. So, rather than ask for help, she manipulated her weight and tightened the bolt fully using her body before handing the wrench back. "There! It's done!"
"Awesome," Tails grinned. "I'm sure they'll be happy."
"Mhm!" she agreed with a bright smile, looking over their work. "I'd say it went pretty well."
"I think so, too. It should work perfectly." Tails gave her another grin, then reached for his communicator. "I'll let Toru know. I checked on Shadow recently with a general scan, and he's apparently asleep."
Wery thought this over before giving a shrug. "That makes sense. Is his sleep at least consistent?" she asked.
"Hardly ever," Tails sighed. He began typing away. "He's never kept to a regular sleep schedule. Can't really blame him, given all of the trauma he's endured. Most people don't sleep well after just one bad experience, much less a lifetime of them."
"That's awful," she murmured. "I hate that he has to deal with that."
"Yeah. But, I mean… at least we can give him and Toru something to be happy about, right?" Tails sent his message along to Toru as he spoke. "That's something, anyway."
Wery motioned as if to say he was right. "Let's hope it does make them happy."
"I think it will. I mean, this is their baby we're talking about, you know?" Tails set his communicator down. "Now we just have to wait and see when Toru will get back to us."
The female fox took a seat before coughing to clear her throat… even though there was no need to do so. "So… uh…" Tails glanced at her quizzically and also sat down. She spoke under her breath, avoiding eye contact as much as possible.
Tails hesitated, then gingerly asked, "Is… this about last night?"
"Yes," she squeaked out.
"Erm… You don't need to worry about it or anything too much," Tails said awkwardly. "Nothing happened or anything."
"It's not… about anything happening," Wery murmured. Tails glanced at her. "It's more on the matter of… that happening at all." That earned a small nod. He waited to see what else she had to say. Wery let out a soft sigh. "Are we like… actually growing that close?" she asked.
"I… don't know?" Tails admitted. "It's not exactly something we've talked about."
Wery put her face in her hands, embarrassed. "I'm sorry for being so weird."
"You're not being weird," Tails argued quietly. "It's a reasonable question to ask. I just… I don't know how to answer it."
"What do we do?" Wery asked.
"I don't know," Tails repeated. "I really don't know."
Wery let out a sigh before letting herself sink into thoughts. Speaking to Kira always led to the weasel asking if she and Tails were dating… and her answer was always no. They were… close, but she couldn't just make that decision. Kira always said… Wery looked up at Tails and took a deep breath. "So… I, uh…"
"Yeah?" Tails asked her softly.
Suddenly, she found herself frozen, unsure of how to approach this. More words came to her mind from Kira, and she quickly asked, "Do you want to go out with me?"
Though he swallowed hard and his voice was quiet, Tails didn't hesitate. "I mean… y-yeah? I didn't really think about it before, but… yeah. I think I'd like that."
Wery glanced away again, nodding. "I… I would really like that, too."
Tails gave her a sort of shy, nervous smile. "R-Really?"
She nodded again, turning her attention back to him. "I mean… yeah. It's… great being around you."
"It's great being with you, too," Tails was quick to agree. "I always really, really enjoy it."
Wery smiled at him warmly before gently asking, "Do you uh… know what we're supposed to do next?"
"Nope. Not a clue," Tails laughed. "But… I'm not worried about it. We'll figure it out."
The female chuckled a little at this. "Fair enough, I suppose." She then blinked when Tails's communicator received a message. Tails was quick to scoop up the device and read what he'd been sent. It was from Toru.
"Shadow is sleeping, but once he's awake, I'll tell him. Thanks."
"He basically confirmed what the scan said," Tails soon told Wery. "That Shadow's asleep, I mean. He said he'll let Shadow know when he wakes up, and also thanks."
Wery shrugged a little. "That's entirely fair."
"Yeah. And, honestly, I'm kind of not surprised Shadow's asleep right now." Tails set his communicator aside again. "I don't think it's a coincidence. Vampires are supposed to be entirely nocturnal, right?"
"In a way, they're sorta synonymous with the night," Wery agreed. "Especially since they can turn into bats in some stories."
"True… though I somehow doubt he can do that," Tails said. Then he snickered. "God, can you imagine him being able to do that? He'd hate it so much that he'd never do it."
Wery chuckled. "I suppose you're right about that much. Though… we should see if all this gave him any sort of special powers."
"Oh, you're right! I totally forgot that we have a scanner that can do that now!" Tails got up and hurried to collect the scanner in question, then returned to her with it. "We've just got to connect this to one of our communicators, and then we should be able to get a remote scan like we've been doing for other things."
The woman nodded and began tapping away at the screen. "There, I went ahead and just connected it to both of ours to keep things simple."
"Works for me. Now, let's see what comes up…" Tails studied the screen for a bit before letting out a low whistle. "Do you see this, Wery? Speed, strength, resilience, agility, endurance, knowledge, dexterity, and even his sense of smell have all been enhanced."
Wery motioned to something else. "Do you see the absolutely insane amount of powers we have no data on beyond them being magic?"
"Yeah," Tails nodded. "There's magic here I've never encountered before, so I have nothing archived about any of it anywhere."
"Jeez…" she murmured to herself. "Getting that one power gave him all of this?"
"It's not even that he got a power," he argued quietly. "He essentially went through what he would have had he been bitten, it was just done differently. It's more than a power, it's… I don't know what it is, exactly, but it's a lot more than just that."
Wery nodded. "Yeah, I can tell."
"He's even got stealth now," Tails realized aloud. "As in, the same kind chameleons and certain Babylonians have. And 'Dark' Invisibility, too. Which, basically, is a type of invisibility where you can make yourself impossible to see even in the faintest of shadows. So, naturally, he's got cloaking, too… which will let him turn objects invisible, too, if he's touching them. So his clothes, any weapons he's holding, that sort of thing."
"Wow… that's a lot of different stealth-based abilities," Wery remarked. "Anything else we know?"
"It… looks like his healing factor has been greatly enhanced," Tails replied. "It's on par with what chameleons have, which would explain how he healed from any traces of addiction like he did. …There's regeneration, too. The kind that lets you regrow lost limbs and things."
"Woah," Wery said, amazed.
"It looks like he can sense auras now, too. Which, uh, basically, auras are kinda exactly what you probably think they are. TV and books describe them pretty accurately." Tails took a second to keep reading. "So… semi-Immortals develop this ability called 'language' which allows them to read, speak, and generally understand languages with minimal studying. He hadn't developed it yet prior to all this, but it looks like he has it now."
"That language one would be so useful," Wery commented. "I can't even imagine being able to speak other languages with that kind of ease."
Tails chuckled. "I know, right? And Immortals have it even easier. All they have to do is encounter a language and they'll know it."
The female fox blinked in shock. "That's so crazy! They get so much cool stuff!"
"Yeah, they really do," he agreed with another small laugh. Then he continued reading. "This comes as no surprise, but it looks like he has the instinct power now, and it's an enhanced version of that power like his speed and all the others. This can't tell us what sort of instincts he has… but I think we can guess."
"Sheesh," Wery murmured. "Hey, didn't Steam have one of those too?"
"I think so," Tails nodded. "And hey, look at this. He has extreme night vision, but without the normal optical sensitivity to light that comes as a result of being able to see through even the deepest darkness."
Wery blinked. "Really?"
"Yeah, really! I don't know how that's possible, but he has it. And tracking evasion, too… which means he can completely prevent people from following him or finding him if he wants to. And there's also lie detection… which is pretty self-explanatory."
"That's a crazy set of powers," Wery said. "It's wild to see all that together."
"No kidding," Tails agreed. "In Jet's notes he wrote that vampires are powerful, but I didn't think it'd be like this."
Wery nodded. "That makes sense, but it's still shocking to see all at once."
"And there's still more," Tails told her. "His capacity to form and retain memories has been enhanced, too. That's already a semi-Immortal ability, but this goes beyond that. He's developed escape artistry, too, which means people won't be able to trap him anymore. …Dude, he can even levitate now."
"That's just… wow," Wery said slowly.
Tails looked further, then sort of stopped for a moment. "Telepathic manipulation," he soon said. "He's never ever had telepathy before. Heck, he still doesn't have it now. Just this."
Wery blinked once. "What… exactly does that entail?"
"Just… that you can use your mind to manipulate people," Tails answered. "It's not control, though. Just, like the name says, manipulation."
"So, a strong willed person could resist it?" Wery asked.
"Not… Not really, no," Tails explained slowly. "You've usually got to have more than just strong will. It has to be, like, really strong. And depending on how strong the manipulation is, you might also need mental powers of your own in order to resist."
She blinked. "That's absolutely dangerous, then."
"Yeah, no kidding… but it does fit the sort of reputation vampires have," he said.
"That… is completely fair," Wery acknowledged.
Tails nodded. "It looks like there's one more thing, and it's actually something that Jet wrote about however long ago. It was in that database I accessed when we were trying to figure out what Shadow was becoming." He started pulling up the notes in question as he said, "It's a lot to explain, but basically it looks like Shadow has shapeshifting of some kind. Beyond that… well, reading about it might be faster."
Wery nodded and looked over it before suddenly asking, "So… he can turn into other creatures?"
"Just one, by the looks of things," Tails answered. "One of a few different options, but I don't know which one. Here, this is what Jet wrote about it." He handed his communicator over for her to look at. She read through what was shown on the communicator and frowned a little in thought.
Some can, following the pervasive stereotype, turn into a bat. Not many, though. It's more common for them to turn into wolves, ravens, or crows. What sets them apart from the normal animals (visually speaking) is their eyes. Vampire eyes are red, dark gold or "deathly grey" and, for some, glow dully in the dark. For vampires with slit pupils (occurring either when the vampire is angry/hungry or being that way at all times), their eyes will retain said trait even in animal forms. Also, the wolves they turn into are always a rather dark grey or pitch black with no patterns (just one solid color across their bodies), neither of which is exceptionally common in normal wolves on most worlds.
Vampires can choose to adjust the size of their forms as well, though they can't get smaller than the standard animal's normal adult size. Their alternate form can get to roughly two or, very rarely, three times the standard size. Also, child vampires have the ability to turn into a wolf pup or crow/raven chick as opposed to the adult versions if they so choose. Changing into these forms does nothing to diminish a vampire's strength, speed, senses, or other abilities. However, feeding on blood the usual way is not possible in a crow or raven's form and vampires who need that form of sustenance will have to leave that form to eat. Otherwise, they have access to all of their powers as normal.
"I can't even imagine how this works, but it's… interesting," Wery said.
"It's, erm… a little scary. But also interesting, yeah." Tails gently took the communicator back, then looked at the scan of Shadow's powers again. "It's hard to say, but if I had to guess… Based on what I'm seeing here, I'd say it's most likely he gained a wolf form as opposed to a bird."
Wery blinked once. "Oh. I see…" she murmured, thinking about how exactly that would even really work.
"Looks like that's everything, though," Tails sighed. "But… man, that's a lot."
She nodded at this. "Absolutely."
"I had no idea that changing races was even possible, much less that it could do all of this." He put his communicator down once again, shaking his head. "It's just crazy to me still."
Wery shrugged. "I wouldn't even know where to begin without all the stuff we had already available to us."
"Yeah," Tails agreed.
The female fox leaned back, letting out a soft sigh. "I hope he's okay, considering all that's happening."
"Me too. But it's hard to say, you know? Even if we ask, he'll probably just say he is even if it's not true."
Wery nodded gently. "Yeah…" she admitted.
Tails sighed again, then stood up. "Anyway… want to go get some breakfast? Everyone else should be awake by now."
"That sounds pretty good, honestly," Wery chuckled.
"Great. I'm thinking waffles, eggs, and bacon," Tails smiled. "What do you think?"
She thought this over before nodding. "Yeah. That should be great!" Tossing her a happy grin, Tails led the way inside. He had a lot of guests to feed.
~保護者~
It was bittersweet, leaving his family and friends behind again. He knew he could return, knew that he would… but that didn't make it easier to come to terms with. The man was whisked away after a vaguely tearful hug with Tara. Steam appeared outside Tails's home and he immediately walked up to it, knocking on the door. Weird to do this after doing it in my timeline.
It took about thirty seconds for the door to open. Kym stood there, blinking at him in open confusion. After a moment, she suddenly smiled. "Oh, you must be that Steam guy I've heard about!" She stepped aside without further ado to let him in.
"Nice to meet you, Kym," Steam said as he walked in, glancing around. I can tell a lot happened…
"You know my name?" she asked, shutting the door.
Nearby on the couch, Sonic (who was busy doing something on his communicator) called out, "Yeah, he does that. Different timelines and all. Pretty sure he's met nearly everyone we know."
Steam managed a shrug. "More or less," he chuckled.
"Huh. Okay, then." Kym walked over to her little brother, wearing a big smile. As usual, he was playing with blocks. "Hey, Kohaku! Do you want to say hi to Steam? He's a new friend."
Amber eyes looked up from the blocks, then blinked once. Kohaku stared at Steam for a long moment before quietly declaring, "Sad."
Steam blinked once before rubbing the back of hiS head. "Yeah, he's right on the mark there."
"Sad?" Kohaky repeated, this time as a question. It was almost as though he was asking why.
Having picked up on this, Sonic gently intervened. "He had to say 'bye' to people he likes a lot. That made him sad. Just like saying 'bye' to your mom and dad makes you sad. Right?"
Kohaku gave this some thought. "Don't like 'bye'."
Steam glanced to Sonic quietly for a moment. "Regardless, I can stay in touch with them now, so it should be fine."
"Okay," Sonic agreed. "If you want to talk, though, I'll listen. But you don't have to."
The green hedgehog waved it off. "For now, I need to be caught up. I can tell something is off."
"A bunch of things," Sonic sighed. "First off… Espio of all people just texted me. He said he and Armaris were attacked. Asshole gave me no details for the most part, just said that she was fully corrupted by the God of Demons. ...Which… isn't Dad anymore, by the way."
Steam stood up straighter. "Shit… do we know who this new God is?"
"Not a clue in hell. I got the impression Espio doesn't know, either." Sonic rubbed a hand over his face. "And we don't have any information from Dad, either. He took off as soon as he woke up, sent Zareil away not long after, and sometime later telepathically informed her he'd been killed and there's a new God. We don't know anything else."
We need Zareil on Mobius… "Espio was attacked, so I'm assuming Nareish is involved," Steam said. "And we need to get Armaris back the next chance we're given."
"Yeah. There's no telling when that chance will come, though."
"Soon," Steam murmured. "Armaris is a half-demon, and she's descended from demons that are used to destroy planets," the hedgehog explained. "This new God is going to want to see that power, especially since she's our ally and we won't kill her."
Sonic stared hard at him. "...Like that World Eater thing?"
Steam nodded. "Similar, but it was a full demon and way older. The scary thing about Armaris is if she taps into her magic, really."
"By the sounds of it, we're all screwed, then," Kym suddenly said, sitting down heavily on the floor with her arms and legs crossed. "That's great. I was just revived, and we're probably going to die again."
"No," Steam suddenly said firmly. "I've fought her in that form before. I know exactly how to stop her."
"How, then?" Sonic demanded with a deep frown. "Because if there's not a damn good plan, I'm going to have to agree with her that we're screwed."
Steam crossed his arms. "There's one big thing that separates her from the World Eater. She is the core of her demon form. Darkness forms around her and makes up her body. All we have to do is force our way into her demonic body and incapacitate her, then purify her." He thought for a moment, then frowned. "Easier said than done, but I know exactly how to do it. I'll begin working to devise the plan."
"Unless we send someone with a lot of Light, anyone who tries this is going to be overwhelmed," Sonic argued. "Meaning they'll either get corrupted themselves or they'll lose their lives."
Steam nodded easily. "Rose is more or less perfectly suited for this. If anyone can act that quickly, it's her."
"If you think she can handle this… then yeah. Sure. I'll get ahold of her and let her know." Sonic rubbed at his face again, then sighed. "Sorry for the attitude. I didn't mean to get snippy. It's just been a rough couple of days."
"I get it," Steam said easily. "A lot has happened."
"That's not even everything," Sonic revealed then. "Silver informed me… I don't know, maybe an hour ago that he's been keeping an eye on the enemies Nareish revived. At least, as much as he's been able to. He said the Metarex are on their way. We have maybe a week before they reach Mobius. He just left to confirm their position, and I made him swear to come back the instant he's done."
Steam nodded. "I'll work to do the same, potentially see if we can do something to intercept them before they get here."
"One last thing," Sonic said after a pause. Fresh worry showed on his face and in his eyes. "Tails has been ridiculously cryptic about it and hasn't given any actual details yet, but he said something happened to Shadow last night. He's not hurt, but something happened that seems to have spooked Tails and gotten him a lot more worried about my asshole of a brother than usual."
"I'll check in on that," Steam promised.
"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Kym asked him. "It's not like Tails to not explain things."
"Maybe, but there's no way to be sure without checking in," Steam said simply. "I'll drop by later and see."
"Okay," she agreed.
Sonic glanced at him. "What are you going to do first?" he asked.
"I need to talk to Espio," Steam suddenly revealed. "Rose may be best suited in the 'professional' sense, but she… doesn't know him well enough."
"You think you can help?" Sonic inquired after taking a second to understand what Steam was talking about. "If you do, I'm all for the idea. The sooner he starts getting some proper therapy, the more his life will improve. I saw the same change in Jet when he started therapy after the Nocturnian War ended."
Steam nodded. "I'm sure I can. I tested the waters once, and he responded way better than I could expect."
Sonic blinked. "Wait, really?"
"Yeah," Steam said. "I was a bit surprised… but it was a situation where I had to take the shot."
"Mind if I ask what happened?" Sonic asked him. Steam's wording had him a little concerned, and that showed in the way he was frowning.
Steam glanced outside and frowned slowly. "I… don't think it's a good time to explain. Very soon, but not right now."
"...Yeah, alright," Sonic conceded.
Right about then, Silver appeared just a few feet away. Upon seeing Steam, he raised a hand. "Yo. Thought I sensed you come back."
The man gave a wave in return. "Hate to break the reunion up, but I got stuff to do." He smiled a little. "If we've got nothing else to discuss right now, just make sure to let everyone know I'm back. Enemies are about to find out the hard way."
"Will do," Silver promised. "Go do whatever you need to do. We'll hold the fort here."
Steam turned to leave before looking back at Sonic with a slightly larger smile. "By the way… I patched things up with some people I'd been in rough patches with in my timeline. I really appreciate your help."
Emerald eyes blinked, then Sonic managed to return his smile. "Glad you were able to work things out, Steam."
The green hedgehog turned away and blinked away a tear. "Me too, man." With that, he teleported away.
~保護者~
It was a lot easier riding on Kial's back than Aniko trying to take the kids on her own. With him in this draconic form, they flew through space with ease. Sako was snoozing through it all (as could only be expected, given his age), but his sister was looking around everywhere at once. Zei's eyes were wide with speechless awe, her small mouth dropped open in further expression of that same emotion. Sure, she'd ridden on Aku a few times by now, but each time had been during bad situations. She's never gotten to enjoy this sort of thing before. Now that she could, she was loving every second of it.
If he could've, Kial would have let her see more, showed her more of the beauty of space… but the situation wasn't kind enough for that sort of thing. He moved as fast as he could. Aniko on the other hand, was tense and dead silent. Her attention was on everything around them. Worried about an attack, fearing that something would take these children from her. She couldn't let that happen.
Almost as if sensing the urgency in their emotions, Zei gradually grew more and more distracted from the views and began to fidget and squirm. Eventually, she asked, "Is something bad happening again?"
Aniko was going to speak, but Kial answered first. "I'm taking you somewhere to keep bad things from happening to you and your brother. I will make sure you both are safe."
"But how come Daddy isn't coming, too?" Zei asked. "I don't want to go if he's staying home."
"Your dad is a good man," Kial said slowly. "But a lot of bad people are trying to push him to do things. They might try to take you."
"Do things?" Zei echoed. Her lack of understanding showed in her eyes, but gradually it changed to a look of sadness and a different sort of confusion. "Oh… like Mother. But- But Daddy isn't like Mother. I checked."
"I know," Kial said gently. "Your dad is a great man. I traveled around with him when we were kids. I'll make sure to tell him you said that, though. It may really help him."
"Okay," Zei murmured. She cuddled into Aniko, sniffling just a little. "I don't want Daddy to be like Mother," she whispered.
Aniko held her tightly, letting out a gentle sigh. "He… will not. That is not who he is."
"Okay," Zei said again. Then she asked, "How much longer?"
"We're almost there," Kial said softly. Sighing in the way any bored child would, Zei just resumed looking around. That alone swiftly killed off her boredom, as she found herself again in awe of everything she was seeing. Gardenia soon came into view. The world was fast approaching. Kial seemed to speed up, straightening out his body to allow him to move at this speed.
Zei pointed at the planet and looked up at Aniko. "What's that called?"
Aniko wasn't sure what to say beyond, "That's another planet. We live on a planet named Mobius."
"And this one is called Gardenia," Kial added. "It's home to a race of plant people."
"Plant? Like flowers?" Zei thought this over, then smiled. "I like flowers. Daddy picked some for me when I told him. They were pretty. Flower people must be pretty, too!"
"I have to assume that they are pretty," Kial said gently. "I really enjoyed being around them, and maybe my friend Cosmo can help you find some pretty flowers."
"Okay!" Zei agreed brightly. She looked up at Aniko again. "Do you like flowers, too?"
Aniko nodded softly to her. "They are quite beautiful." This made Zei visibly happy and resumed snuggling and looking around. Aniko made sure to hold her close as well, watching as they slowly entered the planet's atmosphere.
Kial began shifting his form to a larger dragon, the four-legged kind as he descended, preferring to allow others time to see him approach as they neared the ground. "Stay by me, all three of you. Okay?"
"How come?" Zei asked, still busy looking around. The further down they went, the more dense foliage came into view. The lack of houses and other structures had her tilting her head in confusion.
"They don't know who you guys are, and I'd hate for you to get lost," Kial said gently, despite his immense draconic form.
"Oh. Okay. How come they don't have houses, though?"
"They are plant people, so they live among the plants of this world," he explained softly.
Zei suddenly straightened right up and pointed. "Look! Look! A leaf lady! I see her!"
Kial turned his attention that way and nodded. "We will see many of them," he confirmed as he made a careful landing, laying a wing down on the ground while still not crushing any plants. "Go ahead and get down. I'll turn back to normal once you guys are on the ground." Zei went ahead and clambered down without further prompting.
Aniko murmured a soft thanks to Kial and leapt onto the wing, sliding down and gently taking hold of Zei's hand once they were on the ground. She turned back to see Kial's draconic form shrinking down to what he normally was, a bobcat. To think someone could become such creatures…
Zei looked around all over the place, trying desperately to see more plant people. She pouted when none immediately came into view. Kial shortly joined them and took the lead, glancing back in Zei's direction. "Soon you will meet a woman named Cosmo. She is a dear friend of mine."
"Is she nice like you?" Zei asked him.
Much to her young amazement, the 'leaf lady' she'd seen earlier soon walked into view. She was wearing a warm smile. "I thought that was you, Kial," she greeted. "Our Lady Mother is aware of your arrival, and she's asked me to guide you all to her tree. The forests have shifted and changed since the last time you were here. We don't want you to get lost."
Kial gave a gentle smile. "Thank you. I believe I could have found my way with my senses, but your aid will get us there far faster. These three are accompanying me today, as the children are to stay here for a time for their own safety."
"I understand," the woman answered with a polite nod. "Other children are seeking refuge here as well. Come along, we're not too far away." She began to walk.
The bobcat did so as well, following her while his ears flicked to listen as Aniko moved after them both. "Glad to hear it."
Zei bounced along after them, eyeing the wide variety of healthy plants they were passing by. Eventually, she said to Aniko, "These trees are little. How come?"
"The plants here may be completely different from anything we have on our planet," Aniko said gently. "Meaning that these trees may even already be at their full height."
"They're still big," Zei said, "but they're so little. The trees at home are big-big."
Kial glanced back somewhat. "The trees in the Highlands are some of the biggest I've ever encountered," he remarked. "It may be a small part of why the chameleons chose that as their home."
"Oh. All trees aren't like that?" Zei looked around again. "I thought they were all big."
The bobcat shook his head. "Some trees are only three times my height, which isn't exactly like what you're used to. Maybe someday me and your dad can go look at some other planets."
"There are more?" Zei asked, eyes wide at the mere mention of other worlds.
"Loads more," Kial said with a smile. "So many of them."
Her speechless shock rendered Zei silent for the remaining couple of minutes of walking they had to do. She'd been struggling to wrap her small mind around this new concept, but stopped when she saw the massive, flowering tree that was, in fact, Cosmo's true form. "Look!" she exclaimed. "That tree has flowers!"
"Cosmo!" Kial called, suddenly picking up his stride a little. "I presume you noticed my arrival?"
Aniko blinked once and looked around, frowning somewhat. This… is weird.
Moments later, Cosmo's projected form of herself as a person faded into view in front of the tree. "I did," she called back. "Welcome, old friend."
Kial approached her, smiling warmly. "It's good to be back, though I wish it wasn't under such difficult conditions."
Cosmo returned his smile. "I would have to agree. Perhaps when things calm down again, we can properly take the time to catch up, hm?" She turned her attention to Aniko. "Welcome. My name is Cosmo. Are you hoping to leave your little ones here for a time?"
"We believe it will be for the best," Aniko said gently. "These are my grandchildren, Zei and Sako."
"Hello, there," Cosmo greeted, kneeling down in front of Zei. "You have a very special name. I like it a lot."
Her praise made Zei beam. "My daddy gave it to me!" she proudly exclaimed. "It means… um… something about spring!"
Aniko smiled gently. "She is a bright and sweet little one," the woman murmured.
"I can certainly see that," Cosmo agreed, standing up. "Young Zei, I'll let you in on a little secret, alright? Spring is rare in your homelands, but what you're seeing here where everything is green and warm… That is spring, and it is always like that here. You'll get to enjoy that the whole time you stay here, alright?"
Any flickers of apprehension Zei might have had was immediately soothed away. "Yay!" she cheered, bouncing up and down by Aniko's side.
Aniko gently set a hand on Zei's head to gain her attention. "Zei, you will need to listen to Cosmo and what she says," the woman murmured softly. "And watch over your brother while you are both here."
"Okay," Zei said earnestly. "I will."
Cosmo smiled a little at the girl, then murmured to Aniko, "Try not to worry too much, miss. Special things have been done to this world that make it impossible to find unless you already know where it is. The children will be safe here, I promise."
Kial nodded gently. "Yes. I would not bring them here otherwise," he said. "I have entrusted Cosmo with my own life in the past, and she has always come through."
Aniko fell quiet for a long moment, turning her head away from them both as she knelt by Zei and hugged her tightly. "Take care, child. I will return here soon to retrieve you."
"Okay," Zei murmured, hugging her back just as tightly. Their hug woke Sako up enough for him to protest by squirming and cooing softly.
The older chameleon shifted to hold Sako a little different, whispering comforting words to the baby. "It will be okay, little one. You are safe here." Sako stretched himself out, yawned, then let out a contented sigh and seemingly drifted back off to sleep. Aniko looked up to Cosmo, frowning. "Do you or someone else here know how to care for a chameleon baby?"
"That's actually why I sent Anria to retrieve you all," Cosmo murmured, gesturing to the woman who had led them here. "I have no personal experience, but she does. A chameleon couple and their child sought safety here a few eons ago, and she assisted in caring for that child. Their daughter wasn't much older than your grandson appears to be."
Aniko looked to Sako and let out a long sigh. "...Fine."
Anria walked over. "If it's alright with you and you're ready… I can take him now."
"I…" Aniko slowly stood and cautiously held Sako out to Anria. "I am not ready, but I never will be. I cannot stay long enough."
"I understand. I'm sorry that this has to be done." Anria very gently took Sako into her arms, adjusting her hold so that he was properly supported.
"Alright," Kial said. He turned to Cosmo and gave a nod of farewell. "I hope to see you again soon."
"Same to you, Kial," she responded. Kial then touched Aniko and teleported them both back to Mobius.
~保護者~
Finis had been trying to give Saethrim space since having learned (after Cere's short-lived interaction with the man) that the former God was alive again. His old friend had always been a wild one, untamed and thriving most when left to his own devices. That was something Finis could understand, in part. He often preferred to keep his own company, too. As such, he had no issue respecting Saethrim's boundaries and just… letting him be.
Hopefully Saethrim would begrudge him too much for going back on that this time.
Once he'd located his friend, Finis teleported close to where he was. Saethrim was, surprisingly, in a long-forgotten library grabbing books and flipping through them rapidly before tossing them aside when they obviously weren't what he was looking for. He took a second to look around before quietly calling out, "Saethrim."
The da Asani blinked once and turned to face Finis. A smile broke out onto his face. "Hot damn, Finis? You're still around? It's great to see you!" The man exclaimed, tossing the latest book over his shoulder as he walked over.
Finis almost, almost managed a half-smile of his own. "You expected anything less?" he inquired. "I'd thought you had faith in my abilities."
"I do, but a bunch of the old Gods and Goddesses aren't around," Saethrim huffed. "Where are Azana and Anthea?"
"...Deceased," Finis murmured after a small pause. "I don't know what happened to Azana, specifically. It affected Sona, her student, in a deep way. I did not seek to pry. As for Anthea… she died saving her own student, Locke, from murder at the hands of Malevolence. She survived long enough to get him to safety, but perished from her wounds before help could arrive for her. We did not know until it was too late that she or Locke were in any sort of danger."
Saethrim fell quiet, a deep depressive silence washing over him. Fuck. They… can't both be dead… "What… all happened after I died?" he questioned suddenly.
"A great deal," Finis murmured. "Do you recall Satsuno? He was the only living descendant of Zenith, prior to your own death."
"I remember him," Saethrim agreed.
"He wound up having a son, Kaden, who was abducted the very night of his birth. In later years, Satsuno was murdered by Malevolence, plunging Mobius into chaos and ending any form of government on the planet. Many years later, an Immortal named Kathros found his way onto the planet and tortured his son." Finis sighed again. "This gave Kaden a certain… proclivity toward walking darker paths. They came together to make corrupting him into a demon supremely easy for Amnikaribah, several dozen eons ago. He eventually killed the old god and took the role for himself. ...I assume you recall that beast." Saethrim simply nodded, motioning for Finis to continue.
As such, Finis did just that. "Between him and Nareish, existence has been plunged into darker times than it has ever seen. As a demon, he was driven to hunt beings of Light into near extinction. He warred with our allies for too many years to count, as well as engaging in devastating conflicts with Nareish - who sought to convince him to join her in her crusade. He has been purified now, but he was recently killed. There is a new God, one we suspect was in some way appointed by Nareish herself."
"This is several kinds of fucked up," Saetrhim murmured under his breath.
"I would have to agree," Finis said. "And that leads into several other problems, Saethrim. We are very actively at war with her, more so than ever before. She has gathered armies larger than anything any of us saw in your time. She has also tried forcibly taking both of our newest Gods, on top of campaigning to corrupt Han, the young magic user we used to know, and drive a chameleon named Espio toward evil."
Finis was certainly well acquainted with the way Saethrim's emotions flared. Lightning crackled off the man's shoulders as he fought the urge to change forms. Who the fuck does she think she- "Espio?!" Saethrim suddenly demanded. "What the fuck is she doing to him?!"
...He must know the boy. Brushing that aside, Finis went ahead and explained. "His heritage is… dangerous. He is descended from the two most evil clans of his people, as well as being the apparent grandson of Malevolence. She has done nothing directly to him, per se, but seeks to guide him down an evil path 'of his own accord'."
"One more plan of hers that I'll have to fuck up," Saethrim muttered under his breath.
"It gets worse. He has a… love interest, I believe. They may be courting, but it is not my place to speculate. She is a half-demon, but a good person. Cere sees her as a daughter. However, that new God… he has captured and utterly corrupted her."
Saethrim took a long and deep breath, resisting the urge further to let his anger out. "Where is she?"
"Currently, we aren't certain. However, an Immortal named Jet firmly believes she will be sent either to your people's homeworld or to New Babylon." Finis paused, then elaborated, "The original one was destroyed, though the Celestial creatures survived."
"Is she actually strong enough to pose a threat?" Saethrim dared to ask.
"We battled a planet destroyer Nareish controlled, long ago," Finis murmured in reminder. "Armaris is descended from another line of such demons."
"...How the hell?" Saethrim muttered under his breath. That's fucking insane.
"I don't know," was the quiet reply. "However, it does not change the fact that, while she needs to be stopped for her own sake and that of others, we are unwilling to kill her. Taking her down without merely killing her will not be easy, and we will need your help as much as possible."
"Just tell me what you want me to do," Saethrim said easily, suddenly seeming to relax himself.
"Whatever you are willing to do," Finis told him. "We need whatever assistance you can offer."
"I could probably hold her off and keep attention on me," Saethrim explained.
"That would be good," Finis nodded. "So long as she is not rampaging all over the place, we may be able to take her down easier than previously anticipated."
Saethrim nodded. "Just have Cere-" The man froze. "The new God… corrupted someone that Cere sees as a daughter…?" he asked slowly. Finis nodded a little. "You did ask her to not just kill him, right?" The man asked, suddenly seeming concerned for the God of Demons.
"She was told," Finis said. "The very last outcome we desire is her becoming the demons' new Goddess."
"Good," Saethrim sighed. "I can't even imagine how furious she is. Guy has no idea what he signed himself up for."
"No, he does not. However, even if she reluctantly spares his life, I worry Espio may not." Finis scowled at nothing in particular. "And he may care far less about the consequences right now."
"If that's the case, I'll stop him," Saethrim answered. "Not many can handle spatial manipulation."
"He will fight you every step of the way, Saethrim."
Saethrim shrugged. "I'm prepared for that."
"So long as you know." Finis looked at him again. "It may be good to visit him before this battle. Perhaps it will be enough to prevent you having to battle him."
The da Asani shrugged lightly. "Suppose so. Means I got something to do."
"Do you have the means to locate him?" Finis asked.
Saethrim shrugged again. "A descendant of Malevolence with powerful Darkness and has the scent of a demonic cat on him? Should be super easy if he's where the shinobi lived before my death."
"That is where they still live, yes," Finis said. "But he has a reputation for rarely remaining in one place for too long."
"I'll find him," Saethrim assured. "Should be easy." Finis inclined his head in understanding. Saethrim was quiet for a moment before slyly asking, "Hey, you and Cere ever get together?"
Initially, Finis's eyes narrowed, but not in a serious manner. It was more akin to the look of someone debating whether or not to be sarcastic. "In a manner of speaking. We never made anything official, in the sense of 'putting a label on it', but… We are together. We intend to stay that way, war or no war."
"Good," Saethrim chuckled. "Cere could use someone like you."
"Perhaps. But that goes both ways, in truth." Finis looked at him. "Have you and Calypso reunited? She would benefit from knowing you are back."
The man chuckled a little again, rubbing the back of his head. "Maybe."
"Meaning that, yes, you have," Finis correctly guessed with a small, almost smile.
"I can't say whether you're right or not, even though you are," Saethrim laughed.
"You just did it," Finis responded, full of amusement. Then, more sincerely, he added, "I am happy for both your sakes that you can see one another again. Although, I do have one token of advice to share, should you be willing to listen."
Saethrim raised an eyebrow at him, but ultimately motioned for Finis to continue. "Go on."
"You two spent most of existence dancing around your shared feelings, until finally the chance to admit them was lost to you both. I recommend, strongly, that that not be allowed to happen again."
"Been working on that one," Saethrim said easily. "Not gonna let it slip from me this time."
Finis offered a fleeting but genuine smile. "Good."
Saethrim suddenly thought to ask, "She smells like she's been around a Babylonian recently. What's up with that?"
"He was still just a tiny child then, but you and I met a boy once named Kath," Finis said. "The one Eona took a protective stance toward, so much so that she even granted him a finite reserve of her Light."
That explains something else then. "They get close or something?" Saethrim questioned. "That scent was definitely there, but it was going stale and fading away. They obviously haven't been near each other much recently."
"They grew close over the years, yes. Word was that they were developing feelings for one another, but they were innocent. I believe many would call such a thing 'a crush'. But things ended recently and on a perfectly amicable note." Finis shrugged. "I don't know any details beyond that."
"I'll need to talk to her about that then," Saethrim said, suddenly turning and shifting his arm to that of a wind elemental and moving the books back where they went.
"If that is your wish," Finis agreed easily enough. He floated out of the way of Saethrim's efforts to tidy up.
Saethrim frowned a little. "I've been dead quite a damn long time, haven't I?"
Finis nodded slowly. "You died before the original Babylon fell. Saethrim… do you have even the faintest idea of how long ago that was?"
Babylon fell… Right. I heard about that. "No."
"Close to eight-and-a-half million years," Finis murmured. "And, no. That is no exaggeration."
You're the last person I'd expect to exaggerate. "Oh."
"As I said, however, the Celestial creatures live on," Finis murmured. "The dragons found their population crippled and are still recovering, but the horses and wolves thrive in numbers just like what you would have been familiar with." He paused, then added, "The same family of alphas rules over the wolves in this era as did in your time. One member of that family is Kath's companion, Azerel. Azerel's grandfather was the alpha you would have known toward the end of your life."
Saethrim let out a low sigh. "I really fucked up."
Dark eyes blinked. "Explain," Finis ordered, albeit without any harshness.
"Trying to stay away because of the danger following me really fucked shit up," the man muttered. "I might've been able to prevent some things from getting as bad as they did."
"That is possible," Finis acknowledged, rather than trying to sugarcoat things. "However, it is in the past. The future is now. There are many creatures and people who remain alive and can benefit from your return. You should make the most of that."
Saethrim chuckled once more "I'm not dwelling on the past." For the barest of moments, a wild grin flashed onto the man's face. "I'm focused on breaking down anything that stands in my path now that I'm back. Gotta make up for my mistakes somehow."
There is the man I knew. Finis smiled again. The expression lasted a touch longer this time. "Indeed. Now you sound like yourself. Melancholy moods are not quite… 'your style'."
The da Asani warped his weapon in hand and looked at the blade of wind emanating from it. He was forced to make it return to normal due to the gusts it formed in the room knocking books off the shelves. Damn, and I just put those back. "Once that Armaris kid is safe, I'm making my hit list. Got some enemies to get rid of real fast, and I think I picked up on a few targets already." Frowning to himself, he warped away.
~保護者~
Just a spot of bad luck caused him to suddenly portal up into someone, causing a whole commotion as they tumbled to the ground. Cyril tried his level best to recover, but every move he made only somehow managed to make things worse. One move of his arm caused them both to roll, drawing more attention than he'd intended. Eventually he was encased in aura energy and set upright on his feet, stock still and openly embarrassed. "I- sorry about that, sir."
A soft chuckle and wave of a hand dismissed that easily. "Not a problem. Name's Arkiri. You weren't hurt, were you?" the man asked.
Cyril finally took a look at the person he had accidentally assaulted by proxy of appearing through a portal. Arkiri was an owl, lending to why he was fairly large compared to Cyril. It would've been intimidating if there wasn't a calm aura openly displayed. "No, I wasn't. Oh! My name's Cyril," he offered in explanation. "You weren't hurt either, right?"
Arkiri once more dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "I'm old, but that doesn't mean I'm brittle," he chuckled.
The yellow finch rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah, that's fair enough."
Due to a small crowd having formed, Arkiri motioned for them to move on before walking off. "I've gotta get back to some people I cooked for. I'd ask you to join me, but one of them doesn't enjoy interacting with strangers much."
Cyril shrugged and walked in the same direction. "I gotta go this way, so once one of us has to go, we can just do our thing," he said with a shrug.
Akriri laughed a little. "You're a bright one, Cyril."
"I aim to shine," Cyril answered in kind, leading to them both laughing in amusement.
The two more or less ended up walking in silence for a short time until Arkiri moved to turn off. "This is my stop. Hope that whatever you blindly appeared through that portal for can get handled," the owl said with a smile. "Best of luck."
Cyril gave a gentle wave. "Thanks. Have a good da-" The finch watched as Arkiri opened a door to the dining room, allowing him just a glimpse of Kath. He suddenly teleported inside and looked to Arkiri. "You know Kath, too?" he asked. The hawk in question glanced over, but seemed prepared to stay out of this for the moment.
Arkiri blinked once before returning with, "You know him?"
Cyril looked from Kath to the other person in the room and he blinked. His eyes widened and he suddenly bowed… until he hit his head on the table and stumbled back, holding his forehead. Jeez, I can't catch a break. "Laralei?" he asked. "Former queen of Babylon?" Huh… that… didn't hurt, like at all.
"Oh, good lord," Laralei laughed. She was forced to cover her mouth with a hand to avoid losing whatever she'd been chewing as she chuckled over his unfortunate experience just then. Once she'd swallowed, she said a touch more calmly, "Yes, my name is Laralei. But, please, you don't have to bow or address me with such formality. Any friend of Kath's is a friend of mine and will be treated as such."
The finch rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh, er, yes, okay," the man stumbled before taking a long and deep breath. "I… never thought I'd meet Laralei," he said in fascination. "My parents practically told wonders of your skill and leadership, and certainly never ignored Kath either. You two were legends."
"'Were'? Hm, now I may have to take offense." Laralei winked at him with a hearty smile, then gave Kath's shoulder a shove. "Are you going to greet our guest at any point, or are you just going to keep picking at your meal?"
Like the teenager he'd once been, Kath shoved her right back. "Piss off," he grumbled. "I've been eating like you demanded."
Laralei shook her head and laughed again. "See what I have to put up with? I'm so unappreciated around here."
Cyril wasn't sure what to reply to first, but Arkiri seemed to speak up first, suddenly motioning toward the food. "Since you know Kath well enough that he's not protesting your existence through his aura, I suppose you are fine to join us."
It was at that point that Kath finally addressed Cyril. "There is plenty of mitoki. It was a popular meal in our time. You may enjoy it." He gestured to a serving plate with a heaping serving of thin noodles covered in a sort of buttery looking sauce and some spices.
Before Cyril really even knew what to say, the owl suddenly offered up a plate to him. Arkiri smiled a little. "Figured I'd save you the time."
"Oh, uh, thanks," Cyril said, accepting the plate with a thankful nod. This guy reminds me a lot of my dad. The thought made him smile as he joined the others at the table. His gaze fell on Kath briefly, but he simply focused on eating. I'd hate to ruin his appetite with bad news.
For better or for worse, Kath didn't wind up eating too much more, anyway. Not of the noodles, anyway. He could only tolerate the slippery texture for so long before it started getting to him. Once he'd reached that point, Laralei let him off the hook and took both their plates back to the kitchen to be cleaned later. Arkiri glanced to Cyril and raised an eyebrow. "For such a bright young man, you've not eaten much. You seem preoccupied."
That brought Kath's attention back to Cyril. For a rare moment, he looked directly into the other man's face, studying it intently before huffing and looking away. "Even I can see it," he said. "If I can see it in your face without needing to feel your aura, then you are doing a poor job of handling whatever is causing your emotions."
Cyril let out a sigh. "Yeah, fair." He turned his attention from Arkiri to Kath and frowned. "We have a problem coming up soon."
Kath leaned forward with his fingers interlaced and his elbows on the table. "Explain," he murmured, more than ready to listen.
"That Armaris girl, the one who turned into that big demon thing in the fight against Iblis," Cyril explained. "She was apparently abducted and corrupted by the God of Demons. Ynder and Jet seem to think she'll be sent here to attack."
This got Kath frowning deeply. "The barriers will not hold. Not for long, not against a demon like that." The gears turning in his head, Kath made several quick decisions. "If Babylon is indeed targeted, the likelihood is great that at least the first strike will be here at the palace. People and the animals need to be evacuated."
Arkiri frowned. "Do you want me to get things started?" he questioned.
"If nothing else, inform Saraya," Kath answered. "She is queen in this era. She can get things fully into motion." He looked at Cyril again. "You may need to be the one to spread word to those on Mobius. I cannot safely set foot there, and Laralei has not yet met your allies. She would not know who to tell."
"Locke said he would, but it's not a bad idea for me to help. I can also get word to people like Ylden," Cyril explained.
"Do so. Please." Kath shifted in his seat to nudge the previously unseen wolf sleeping beneath the table. When Azerel emerged, letting his irritation be known with a low growl, Kath told him quickly, "Gather your packs. All of them. Head for the mountains. A demon may well be on her way, and any caught in her path will perish." Fur bristling with alarm, Azerel turned and ran out of the room.
Arkiri frowned. "I need to collect Tarin. If this is anything like what she was faced with before, it may well be traumatic to her." Kath looked at him and nodded. The owl stood, letting out a sigh. "I'll go tell Saraya first, then find her," Arkiri explained, turning to leave.
"Stay with her if you must," Kath called after him. "We have plenty who can fight. She will need you."
The owl nodded. "I will," he said as he jogged off.
Cyril, once Arkiri was out of the room, returned his attention to Kath. "We have another situation. Espio was abducted, too. By Nareish."
Kath sat back in his seat, frowning a touch deeper now. "The chameleon? ...Do you know if he has been found or what condition he's in?"
"I don't know right now," Cyril answered.
That is… troublesome. Right then, Laralei started to walked back over. The look on her face said she'd at least heard the last bit, so Kath filled her in on the rest. Though, he did so in the dialect of Babylonian from their time.
"Then return here when you have prepared yourself and those you're close with," Laralei murmured. "We'll prepare ourselves as well. Once prepared, everyone can start gathering here in the palace. Alright?"
"Yeah," Cyril agreed softly.
"Go on, then," Laralei urged him gently. "We will see each other again soon. Oh, and you may take your food with you if you'd like, so long as you return the dishes later."
Rather than take the dishes, Cyril instead waved a hand and sealed the food in a magic box. "I'll be back soon," he said, grabbing his metal card and tossing it behind him, jumping through the portal that emerged as it made contact with the wall.
Cyril let out a deep sigh. This doesn't bode well at all…
~保護者~
13,255 words this time. Many thanks to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support, as always. I hope you all enjoyed. Posted ( at about 2:20 p.m.) 10-05-21.