Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) during these revivals… especially for the one whose tongue is somewhat sharpened with fear.

~保護者~

"Purple and Grey"

~保護者~

Late into the night of the second day of his new life, Sothan finally woke up. He'd always had an intrinsic sense of the passage of time, which led him to his first waking thought. I can't believe I slept for over a day. Stretching, he gave in to a yawn. Resurrection truly is an exhausting experience. That's unpleasant. Sothan sighed and got out of bed. After putting his shoes on, he grabbed his hammer (a huge black and silver metal thing) from where he'd leaned it against the stone wall. From there, he made his way out of his room. The forge was quiet. Li and his friend (girlfriend, perhaps?) seemed to be asleep. That meant he'd have to do this quietly.

With his hammer resting on his shoulder, he walked into the forge itself. It still pained him to see his old home in such a state. Such extensive fire damage… It's a wonder anything still functions. Too much more destruction, and the forge may have gone cold. That sent an almost instinctive shudder through him. The forge had never gone cold before. Even when it wasn't being actively used, it had a permanent warmth to it. Its fiery heart was always burning. The idea of that having come so close to changing…

But, that was then. This was now. He was here, he had his hammer, and so he could make this better. Lifting said hammer, he applied a bit of his power to it. This changed the weapon into a tool that fit perfectly into one hand. It was still a hammer, of course, and it was perfect for the job. A simple tap of it on a broken wall repaired it instantly. Everything else was soon to get the same treatment.

The taps were frequent, but quiet. Ruined weapons were restored along with storage racks and shelves, tables, molds, casts, materials, and more. When it was done, the forge looked just as good as it had been on the last day he'd been here, and that made him smile. That's much, much better. He turned his hammer back into its usual state and swung it back up onto his shoulder.

His work was finished. But he didn't have any need or desire to go back to bed. He instead began using his free hand to carefully pick up Li's different creations one at a time to inspect them. To say that he was proud was… an unfairly massive understatement. His nephew's work was incredible. Just as he'd always known it would be. He's grown into this role so well. He has grown so well. I'm only sad I couldn't be here to watch any of that growth myself.

That thought aside, he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. He put the latest weapon he'd grabbed back where he'd found it. After that, he set his hammer down against a wall to free up his other hand. Though he was itching to make something of his own (it had been far too long), he was unwilling to make that much noise right now. He himself had always lived within this place and could sleep through such work, but he wasn't sure if Li could. He preferred not to risk it. Instead, he headed outside. The last time he'd done this, he'd been whisked away and murdered for sport. It would be a lie to say that heading out that door wasn't nerve-wracking, but that was precisely why he did it. In a way, it felt necessary. So, grabbing the doorknob, he pulled open the door and stepped out.

Nothing happened.

He left out a breath.

…Good. I was just being irrational. That's… good. He took a moment to collect himself. Then he turned around slowly to take in his surroundings. His home had never been especially "homey", he knew, given that the massive structure was attached to little more than a huge floating slab of space rock and all. But even so, seeing that it, too, was burned to all hell was disturbing to him. Just how massive was this inferno? Sighing, he teleported his hammer back to himself and again shifted it to repair the damage.

Once that was done, he turned it back to its usual form for the second time and put it down on the ground beside his leg. He used the long upright handle as a place to rest his arm. All the while, he took in the stars with his eyes. I wonder how many miles this place has drifted since I was last here. The world Yuma lived on with Xin and Li used to be pretty close. I doubt it is anymore, these days.

The thought of his sister, Yuma, and her husband saddened him. Xin had died before Sothan had, but Yuma… She'd been all Li had had after Sothan had been killed. He couldn't bear to think about how or when she must have died, much less how much Li had suffered from the loss of her. I'm sorry things happened like this, bud. If I'd been more careful, Yuma would still be here with you. …With both of us.

It was probably best to steer his thoughts away from that. Sothan took a seat on the ground, his arm loosely wrapped around the handle of his hammer. There he stayed, watching the stars and losing himself in his thoughts. Hours passed, enough that he knew in the back of his mind that it would have been early morning in his sister's former home. He wondered, almost idly, what sort of state the place was in these days… if it was even still around at all. But the thought didn't linger. He didn't let it.

The door closed quietly behind the wolf, and soon his nephew took a seat with him. Li was content to be quiet, staring into the stars for some time. It briefly clicked in his head that he needed to see how Sona was doing, but that could wait. She was a strong woman. Other thoughts soon replaced that, thinking over the years Sothan had missed. It hurt to remind himself. "You okay?" he asked, purely out of concern.

"I needed to do this," Sothan murmured. "To come out here. I'm alright now."

"Yeah." Li let out a low, soft sigh. "This is where they took you from, right?" Sothan nodded. "I hate that… They ripped you away from your home. It's messed up…"

Sothan was inclined to agree, but instead of doing so aloud he smiled and changed the subject. "I was admiring your work," he murmured, "before coming out here. It's fantastic. I mean that."

Li chuckled a little to himself, looking away. "I learned from the best, Sothan. I wanted everything I made to be something that would make you proud."

"You've got talent in spades, bud," Sothan said, "just like I always told your mom. You don't have to try to make me proud, though. You do that just by living well. Always will."

"Regardless, I wanted to make something good. Recently, I worked with chameleons and armed their people." He didn't quite know how to take the compliment, so he went on to a slightly different topic.

"Chameleons, huh? How'd you ever convince them to let you help?" Sothan tilted his head thoughtfully. "From what I recall, they're a reclusive and independent bunch."

"One of their leaders wanted to arm their people after a big attack happened in their lands, and I did that. I… didn't really sleep much over the next couple days, so my memory on that is hazy." Li rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, chuckling. Sothan likewise chuckled. He definitely understood. "Regardless, she seemed impressed. I haven't spoken much to them since, but nobody has said that there was an issue."

"That, in and of itself, is impressive," Sothan commented with a smile. "Earning a chameleon's favor in even one situation is no easy feat."

"I'm just glad I could help. That's all I want to do in life," Li replied. "It feels nice to do so."

"It always does," Sothan agreed. He was quiet for a moment before asking, "The woman you were with… She's your friend, yeah? Does she help you with your work?"

"She's not… the most skilled in this line of work, really," Li admitted. "I tried teaching her, but, eh." After some several seconds of silence, he finally answered the first question. "We're uh… kinda dating? I'm not sure sometimes."

Now Sothan was smiling brightly. "Dating? Really?"

The younger wolf laughed a little, nodding. "Yeah. Not really sure how we got to this point, but… well, I suppose that's what's happening."

"I'm happy for you, bud," Sothan told him. "I can already see that you care for her a lot. As long as this relationship makes you happy, that's all that matters to me."

"She can be a bit scary sometimes, but I really do like being around her. She helps me with the things I'm bad at and I do the same for her."

"That's good to hear. Like I said, I'm happy for you."

Li thought for a moment, then posed a question. "You gonna ever try to find someone?"

Hearing this, Sothan's smile turned sad for just a moment. "I don't think so," he eventually said. "I don't think it's for me, bud. It just isn't likely to work out."

There was a nod from Li, understanding the answer. "Well, if it ever happens that you do find someone… I hope that turns out well. You're an awesome person."

Sothan reached over and ruffled his nephew's hair. "I appreciate the thought. I don't think it will happen, but I appreciate it."

Li laughed a little and fought his uncle's hand away. "Either way, what matters most is that we are back together. This place needed another person who could work in it."

"I suppose so," Sothan answered. He stood and hefted his hammer onto his shoulder. "Speaking of, now that you're up, I want to get back to the forge. It's been too long."

A hammer, vaguely similar to Sothan's own in design, appeared in Li's hand. "Figured you'd want to. Not like either of us to just not make things. Any ideas in your head?"

"All that talk of chameleons gives me some ideas," Sothan teased, heading inside. "You'll have to wait and see."

Li smiled a bit, moving to follow. "Good to hear. We planning a masterpiece in the making?"

"What do you take me for, the type to half-ass a project?" Sothan asked with a smile. "Of course it will be perfect."

"Never figured you would," Li replied rather easily. "You lead the way and I'm sure this thing will be worthy of an Immortal even without their blessing."

With their plan made, the pair headed inside. They had work to do.

~保護者~

Jet had finally been forced to give in and take some more medicine a while ago. He was comfortably sleeping while Sein and Alana worked together to watch over both him and Kath. Arkirki had handled Kath for a short time, but Sein had since gotten him - both because he'd said he would and because Arkiri needed the reprieve.

Kath had since been kept mostly busy with a collection of coloring supplies and paper on the floor. He'd never before seen crayons (understandably enough, since they were from Mobius), but was greatly enjoying the vibrancy of their colors. By now, he'd used a wide assortment of those colors to make five or six pictures… of a sort.

In particular, there was one color that he seemed to keep going back to. Admittedly, it puzzled Alana more than a bit. "That is a lot of yellow," she commented gently, looking at the latest scribbles he was making. It was so odd and yet, strangely, so heartwarming to learn that even Kath had once scribbled as a form of "art". It made her smile.

"I wike yewwow," Kath told her frankly, not at all bashful about her eyeing his work. More lines soon covered the page, and the young-again hawk spontaneously smiled. "It my fav'ite.

That surprised Alana a fair bit. Both of those things did, really - his admission and his smile. She chose to focus on the least complicated matter at hand. "I had always thought your favorite was white or grey," she confessed. But he paid her no mind this time, much more occupied with making more nonsensical lines on the paper he had in front of him.

Sein blinked a few times. This distorted his world view (in his eyes), and left him reeling in confusion. It contested with everything he thought he knew in life, and he could simply tell that that this alone would cause some sort of natural disaster. It simply had to be catastrophic. "Well, that's interesting."

"My auwa yewwow," Kath explained, seeming to pick up on their surprise and confusion. "That why I wike it."

"'Course ya do." Sein chuckled in response, trying to ignore his deep and intense confusion. "What other colors do you like?"

Kath thought about this before picking up a purple crayon and happily saying, "This one!" His enthusiasm made Alana chuckle as Sein just had.

Sein opened his mouth just in time for a portal to open and a familiar finch to land near them all. He closed his mouth for his own good and looked over to Cyril. "You came at a potentially awful time. Kath got turned into a baby."

"Perhaps that makes this a somewhat good time, actually," Alana said while Kath returned to coloring without a care in the world.

Cyril blinked and searched the room briefly for Kath… only for the confusion to ebb and surprise to take its place. "Well, that's a bit concerning. What happened?"

"We aren't sure," Alana admitted, "but we assume Nareish had something to do with it. Quite literally, father was fine one minute and suddenly turned into an infant the next. His father and my mother have both been put into some form of deep sleep as well."

"Sounds like she did it to keep them from being able to help take care of him," Cyril mumbled with a sigh. "Doubt they'll wake up until he's back to normal, so maybe she wants to keep you guys busy?"

"It is possible," Alana sighed. "We guessed as much as well. Jet also had similar thoughts when he was awake earlier." She thought briefly, then decided it was best to give Cyril a heads up of sorts. "Oh, and by the way, I should warn you that despite his tiny size and equally tiny age, Kath has shown himself to be capable of walking, climbing, and talking already. I did not want you to be startled if he suddenly does one of those things. We certainly were."

Cyril shrugged a bit. "Not surprised." The finch said nothing more, just watching Kath with a curious gaze.

Wave and Kath made such an odd friend… Sein remarked to himself, before mentally noting that some people found him to be odd as well. "Well, that's good. Means you probably won't get too shocked when it happens."

Almost as if on cue, Kath looked up from his scribbles again. Looking at Sein, who he'd gotten to know a bit more than Alana so far, he pointed at Cyril and said, "He yewwow. Why he yewwow?"

Sein smiled a little to Kath. "He's a finch, another type of Babylonian. They come in a variety of colors." Kath stuck a finger in his mouth, appearing to contemplate this, then once more returned to his coloring. By now, he'd worn down the yellow crayon to the point where it wouldn't be very usable for much longer due to it's decreasing size.

Cyril noticed this and another pack of crayons appeared in his hand, the bird setting them to the side and leaning over to Sein. "We might need another couple of them if he keeps burning up the yellow ones."

This caused Kath to look up at him in confusion. "I not burn them."

The finch's attention immediately went to Kath and he smiled. "Not yet, but you're using that yellow a bunch. You should try adding some other colors to go along with it."

Innocent blue eyes blinked at him. "But I not burn them. There not a fire, and I wike yewwow."

"I do, too," Cyril admitted, letting a wisp of yellow magic float above his palm. "Happens to be one of my favorite colors, but… just a bit of some other colors and you get some cool stuff." His magic conjoined in a flurry of colors to make a picture of what Mobius looked like from space. "Of course, yellow is still an awesome color."

"That a p'anet!" Kath exclaimed, excited. "How you do that?"

"Magic," Cyril answered with a jokingly mystical tone. "I can do all sorts of things."

"I not have magic," Kath pouted. His disappointment was short-lived, however, and soon he was coloring once again.

Alana was smiling to herself. "You appear to be quite good with children, Cyril. I cannot say that I expected anything else."

Cyril glanced over to the crayons Kath had for a brief moment before returning to Alana. "I mean, when that's what I've done for most of my life, yeah. I'd like to say I'm alright with kids." Alana hadn't previously known this about him, but wasn't at all surprised by the information.

"It's not hard to imagine. You're roughly the same age as Jet and Wave, so that many years of experience really will go a long way," Sein explained easily, shrugging. "Pretty good skill to have, too."

Right about then, Kath interrupted again. He held up a random crayon with a color he'd never seen before (this one a shade of green he'd never before encountered) and asked, "What this color?" Alana soon gave him his answer. But, rather than returning to his scribbles, he promptly dropped the crayon and got to his feet. Even his attention span had its limits at this age. "I want go ou'side," he declared, already on his way to the door.

"I got it," Cyril said, hopping on over and walking beside Kath. "I can show you a bunch of stuff like that planet earlier, if you'd like?" he proposed, wanting to grab the child's attention. Without any prompting, Kath reached his small arms up with tiny hands open in a silent plea to be picked up. It was the first time he'd let anyone but Arkiri and Sein pick him up. The finch didn't hesitate in the slightest, lifting Kath off the ground and walking to go outside.

"Where we going?' Kath asked him.

"Outside," Cyril explained. "Gonna take you to the courtyards and maybe a few other places if you want." The finch looked down at Kath with a bright smile. "And if you see anything interesting, we can go check it out."

"I want see the wo'fs!" Kath exclaimed. "Mama and Dada give me one, too! He too little have name but I wove him."

Cyril thought for a moment, then answered the child. "Might not be able to today, but I promise you'll get to see them. Very, very soon."

That made Kath pout, but he didn't argue this time. Before long, he was interested in a statue he could see on a pedestal in the entryway they were passing through to reach that outside. It wasn't anything terribly ornate or gaudy, but it looked very nice nonetheless. And much to his delight, it was a wolf. "Wo'f! Wook, it a wo'f!"

Cyril glanced around for a moment before making a potentially bad choice, waving a hand and animating the statue so that it walked off the pedestal and approached them. "Certainly is, eh?" As babies frequently did, Kath didn't know how else to express his joy but to sort of squeal and clap his tiny hands. His smile was bright and full of the emotion, as were his eyes. After a moment of watching this excitement, Cyril knelt down and brought the wolf up to brush its nose against Kath's hand. "Not the same as the real ones, but it looks so cool!"

"It walking!" Kath responded, patting the wolf's nose with one hand. "How it do that?"

"Magic," Cyril answered in that same silly tone as earlier. "I can do a ton of really cool things."

"What magic?" Kath then asked, despite having mostly brushed the matter off earlier. "S'atavi t'ibe not tell story about magic."

Cyril grinned. "Well, magic isn't something Babylonians get often. Most of us have aura powers. That means I'm super rare for our kind."

"I know about auwa," Kath told him frankly. "Dada teach me. Mine yewwow. I wike yewwow."

"I actually wasn't born with any aura powers," Cyril replied. "I can't do all the cool things others can do, but I make up for it like this."

Kath thought for a moment then spontaneously said, "You have card. They cool."

The finch blinked, then grinned as he moved the wolf statue back to its place and removed the magic from it, putting it back to normal. Then, all at once, he was outside with Kath and setting the child down. "I've got a bunch of cards. They're part of my magic and let me do a ton of things I normally couldn't do."

At this, the aforementioned child promptly plopped down into a sitting position, looking up at him with curious eyes. "What things you do?"

Cyril grabbed one of his cards and tossed it into the air behind him, smiling brightly as it turned into a ball of flames and spread at a wave of his finger. "Stuff like that."

For just a moment Kath reached up as though to try and touch the fire, but soon put his hands down. He knew what fire was and knew better than to actually try and touch it. "That p'etty."

Rather than simply stop as he likely should have, Cyril instead waved his hands in a circle around himself and created a large bubble around them both. "And of course, I can make things with magic. As long as I can think of it I can do it, just about."

There was no time for Cyril to say more. Wave happened to appear in the courtyard mere feet off to his right and she spied what he was doing. "Cyril, are you teaching children crazy crap again?" she called out, feigning some measure of disapproval in her voice. She didn't pay much immediate attention to what child or children were in his care.

"Uh, yes?" Cyril replied, popping the bubble with a fingertip. "Honestly, I'm just kinda trying stuff to keep him entertained. Figured magic was one of the easiest ways to do something like that."

"Keep who, exact-" Wave stopped. She took the time to look at who else was present. Soon, she sighed. "You know what, forget I asked. I'm sure I can guess." Walking over, Wave knelt down. "Hey, Kath. My name is Wave. Are you having fun with this silly man?"

Kath gave another rare, spontaneous smile. "Uh-huh."

"That's good. Listen sweetie, I'm going to go talk to some people and try to figure out how to get you back to normal, okay? I want you to just focus on having fun for right now." He didn't really answer that, so Wave stood back up. Honestly… I leave for just a few hours and this manages to happen? I've got to let Jet and Espio know how their kids are doing, but now I may not even get the time to do it.

Cyril watched Wave for a moment, then spoke. "I've been thinking about it, and I'm not sure there's much we can do about this," he explained with a frown. "'Cause from my limited knowledge, he's one of the only people with Time powers, right?"

"Aside from the Faein, he's the only one," Wave corrected with a heavy sigh.

"Then, I doubt we can fix it," Cyril sighed in reply. "Nareish wouldn't cause something like this if we could just undo it immediately. She causes outright problems, not minor inconveniences."

"I know. I know, and you're right of course, but…" She glanced at Kath. "I have to at least make an effort. I owe him that much. Another… 'version' of him entrusted me with his health and safety at a very, very old and vulnerable age. I'm not going to just ignore that now that I'm faced with a different, younger him."

Cyril flexed a finger and pulled Wave over to him with his magic and wrapped an arm around her. "Don't ignore it. I'm just wanting to make sure that we all focus on the right effort. While he's a b-" The finch paused, then groaned. "Of course, she did it because the only people who know how to care for him are dead, Immortals, and you."

"Not entirely," Wave corrected. "His dad, T'alo, was revived recently. There's something off in his and Laralei's auras, though. If we can find a way to get even one of them better again, they can help."

"Forced to sleep, probably also by Nareish," Cyril muttered. "She's trying to keep important people busy." Guess I'll be a wildcard and mess up her plans again, if I can.

Wave found both totally unexpected and yet totally not when Kath interrupted and said with wisdom a bit beyond his current years, "The bad wady think she gonna win, but you all have special powers and stuffs. That help, wight?"

Not to mention that luck or whatever Jet thinks I have. But I guess that also falls into the category of "powers". A smirk cracked it's way onto Cyril's face. "Not a chance she can beat us, not ever. I won't let her get away with what she did."

"None of us will," Wave agreed. She tossed both boys a wan smile before disappearing inside with a flash of magic.

With Wave gone, Cyril's thoughts shifted more towards how to help with Kath when he suddenly held out a hand to the child. "I've got some ideas so we can stop the bad lady. You wanna help me?"

Kath nodded and stood up, only to briefly plop back down when something about his thoughts or movements or something triggered a small but forceful wave of time energy to extend outward from him. Just like that, Cyril's position was rapidly rewound to the entryway where they'd been minutes before. The finch paused briefly but ultimately shrugged and teleported Kath into one of his arms, then took them both up to the observatory.

All things considered, he decided, this is already going better than I thought it would. If I keep focus on trying to help Kath, I might be able to get these luck powers to make breakthroughs and get him to fix himself somehow. One can hope, anyway.

~保護者~

Tammy wasn't sure at first what was going on. One minute, she was spending time with her husband (Arthr was still such a goofball) in the Master Emerald, and the next she was… waking up? On the floor? In Tails's workshop? I… Huh? Utterly bemused, she sat up and looked around. She'd wound up in a place mostly devoid of people for the moment, aside from what appeared to be a female fox sleeping under a lab coat on a couch. That definitely wasn't Tails. Who is she? she wondered as she rose to her feet.

The fox was roused with a loud groan, rolling a little to get on her back. "Who turned on the lights…?" she grumbled, wincing with her eyes closed.

"Erm… that may have been me," Tammy said sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

That voice caused her to startle awake, not recognizing it at all and scrambling to her feet. She was entirely disheveled, having to brush at her fur rapidly with her hands to get some of it to settle back down. "O-oh! When did you get here?"

"Um, just now… if you can believe that," Tammy said. "I've heard about revivals before, and I guess I just experienced one?"

Wery blinked once before that information processed and she nodded, walking up with a tired smile. "Well, either way, it's nice to meet you. My name is Wery."

"I'm Tammy," the swallow introduced. "I'm an old friend of Tails and Wave, but mostly of Jet if you know him. I'm an inventor."

The fox's eyes widened a little. "I know Tails and Wave. Never got to meet Jet, though," she explained, suddenly hunting down her tablet before remembering she could message Tails from her communicator and doing so quickly.

"You know them?" Tammy asked, almost sort of relieved. Then she realized she was being silly. "Oh, of course you know Tails, since we're in his… Anyway, that's good to know. Really good."

"I messaged Tails so he knows you're here," Wery said with a smile, only halfway hearing most of what Tammy had said. "I'm sure he'll be in here pretty soon."

Sure enough, the other fox came running. He looked oddly haggard, as though he'd been eaten alive by stress in recent minutes or hours, but he still managed a bright smile at the sight before him. "Tammy, it really is you!" The pair traded a few rapid fire greetings, then his attention shifted all at once to Wery. "Hey, how are you doing? Are you okay?"

Wery managed a weak smile to him, suddenly reminded of precisely why she'd been asleep for such a long time. "Uh… yeah. I'm okay, I guess. Tammy showing up caused me to wake up, so I'm up for the time being."

Tails gave her a quick, comforting hug before sort of shakily running a hand over his head. "I'm glad you were resting. It was good for you to do, and things keep being hectic and nerve-wracking around here. Really, I should try to sleep sometime soon, too."

How deeply have I been sleeping? Wery asked herself, glancing at the labcoat on the couch. "Don't push yourself too hard, okay? There's… a lot going on with everyone it seems."

"You have no idea." Tails collected his coat and idly put it back on while telling Tammy, "Hey, so, listen… Things are sort of crazy here. Revival seems to exhaust everyone, though, and there's so much activity off and on that you might not get much sleep unless you go to Babylon. Especially with Sonic and most of the others fussing over Kohaku right now. Happy crowds tend to be loud and all. Either way, there are plenty of people around on either planet who can fill you in on things."

"I think I'll head to Babylon," Tammy said. "I assume Jet's there, right?"

"Should be, yeah. He's supposed to be resting. Whether or not he actually is, though, I can't say."

Tammy snorted and laughed. "Sounds about right. I'll see you later, then." To Wery, she added, "It was nice meeting you, however briefly."

Wery nodded a little to Tammy. "Nice to meet you as well. Maybe next time I won't be so tired and unfocused."

"Fair enough. And Tails, seriously, learn to keep to a bedtime. I mean it." Tammy promptly vanished.

Somehow, Tails managed a small laugh. "Guess I'm in trouble."

Wery cracked a small smile at this and rolled her eyes. "She's right, you know."

"Yeah." Tails rubbed a hang over his face. "It's just… something came up that I had to help deal with."

She blinked once and tilted her head a little. "What happened?"

Tails nearly sighed and said, "A girl named Maria was revived, apparently. If I recall correctly, she's about nine to twelve years old. She's not a species even I'm familiar with, but she was friends with Shadow when he was a lot younger. He knew her going back to when he was a toddler or so. She was like his close friend and his big sister all at once. Anyway, a bit ago she just sort of… appeared in a closet and she's very ill. I got Amy and Steam over there to help her, but I was doing what I could."

"Oh, wow," Wery replied slowly. "That's… definitely a lot to handle at once."

"Yeah," he sighed. "Definitely."

"Well, how is she doing now?" the female fox asked after a moment of thought.

"Not great still," Tails said. "Amy and Steam are working to stabilize her, but it's mostly on Amy to do. She's our resident doctor. Maria's illness is just so bad that there isn't a lot that can be done."

"Do we not know anyone else that could help with something like this?" Wery asked, her mind foggy on details of who might be useful.

"I personally don't, no," Tails admitted. "I don't know if Steam or someone else does. I mean, I know people with healing powers, but that sort of thing can't tackle genetic problems like what she's dealing with."

Wery frowned deeply and let out a small sigh. "Not sure what to do, then…"

Tails could only shrug. He had no idea, either. "Maybe I really should get some sleep," he chuckled. "I feel sorta off my game at the moment, so to speak."

She nodded a little and took hold of his hand softly. "Then let's go relax for a bit." Tails smiled and led the way back to the couch. He could do with a nap.

~保護者~

Eila felt the world spin a little, finally returning her gaze to reality. Spending so long in another's mind had her completely off balance. She had to use a hand to hold herself up, eyes rapidly scanning Kohaku to see how he was doing.

Silver was holding his son close, allowing the younger hedgehog an opportunity to try to recover. At the moment, Kohaku seemed dazed, confused, and unfocused. But that was to be expected after something like this. Some time afterward, Kohaku seemed to stir and blearily asked, "Wha…?"

At least we didn't cause damage. If we had, it would've already become obvious. "Kohaku, how are you feeling?" she asked in a low tone.

It took a moment for him to reply, but eventually he offered an answer… of sorts. "I don't… What happened?" His words were mumbled and he was soon sitting up and rubbing at his eyes.

Silver watched him with obvious worry and hope. "What do you remember last?" he asked instead of answering that.

"Um… I was walking?" Kohaku slowly answered. "Then my head was killing me, and it felt like I started having a vivid dream or… something." Kohaku kept rubbing his eyes trying to fully recover. He was making quick progress on that front. "I kept dreaming I was seeing the world through my own eyes when I was six or something."

"Well, it wasn't exactly a dream," Silver hedged.

Rather than let Kohaku be confused, Eila decided to explain. "Whatever it was that happened to you forced your mental state to be that of when you were that young. I couldn't quite tell what happened, though, since you didn't know either."

Kohaku blinked his eyes open finally and looked back and forth between them. "...That was real?"

"Entirely. Your father, with help, was able to restore your mind… for the most part. There may be minor changes, but you should be okay now."

"You're gonna be just fine now," Silver smiled. "That's what matters."

"And…" Kohaku looked at Eila. "Who are you? You helped?"

Eila paused and opened her mouth to answer, then rubbed a hand over her face. "Eila. Eila… Moonpetal."

Both father she son looked surprised. Last names were as rare for Mobians as they were for most other races, Babylonians included. "Nice to meet you," Kohaku soon said with a tired sort of smile. "And… thank you."

"Thank your father," Eila murmured gently. "I could not have provided any help without him."

"Never," Kohaku teased, even as he and Silver shared a quick hug.

The cat stared for a moment blankly then moved to stand, only to decide that was a bad idea. Fuck. "Do you feel okay?"

"Just tired," Kohaku admitted.

"I should hope so," Silver smiled. "You didn't do much sleeping in recent days. You were too preoccupied with your blocks." Kohaku answered with his own smile, this one sheepish. He did still love his blocks, even as an adult.

Eila managed a smirking sort of smile and teleported the blocks closer to them, wrapped up in threads. "I noticed you had one from my sister that you liked a lot."

Within seconds, Kohaku had located the block in question. "This one? I think I remember a stranger giving it to me."

"Rosalline," Eila corrected gently. "But yes, that should be it. She is one of the only beings I have encountered with a crystal-based power."

Crystals, huh? "One of my kids had a friend with that power," Kohaku mused. But he didn't say anything more about it. He didn't want to dwell on that long-ago time much, because he had outlived all of his children for one reason or another. It was painful. Focusing on being here with the family that was present was better. "Regardless, I'll have to thank your sister. This is lovely."

She's a good person. "I know she'll appreciate it. Could probably use something like that with how she's been doing lately, too." Eila glanced around the room before mentally reaching out to Kohaku's family to let them know he was doing okay. "In the meantime, make sure you focus on rest. I've performed this type of work on myself in the past and… I pushed myself a bit hard." It felt weird to refer to herself when speaking of Astra's actions, but it didn't bother her enough to care. "Take care of yourself and let me know should you need anything."

"Certainly," Kohaku agreed. "I'll be sure to do that."

Eila nodded a little and used her magic to lift herself off the floor. Stretching her joints resulted in several loud cracks that made her wince a bit. That usually isn't a problem… didn't realize how long I was on the floor. "I should go rest. If I do not, I will likely collapse on the floor and make a fool of myself." Whatever might have been said to her was left unheard by the woman, carrying herself to her room. Cyril had repaired the home, and so she had no intention of sleeping somewhere that wasn't a bed. Reaching that bed and setting a hand on the plush comfort caused her body to succumb. She fell down onto it and immediately went to sleep.

Nothing prevented her from having those dreams again, though. Visions of her life as Astra, reminders of the things she had done. Her sleep would have been restless, had it not been for the sudden shift of her nightmares to something more pleasant. Watching Kohaku live a normal life, seeing her sister get married and live happily. Sitting with Silver and Blaze on sleepy weekends, and various games played against Kath. It all brought a moment of respite from her suffering, a welcome moment of pleasure that left her crying in her sleep.

For once, they were happy tears.

~保護者~

For a time after the intense Light faded, the latest revival sat on his hands and knees in a sort of daze. His vision slowly came into focus, allowing him to realize that he was looking down at his own hands. The stone-like substance was grey and hot to the touch from the sun up above. It was rough, too, and something about those physical sensations helped him to regain his focus a bit.

Gradually, memories started coming back to him. He remembered learning of the start of another magical war and the fact that most magic users other than himself had already perished. He remembered leaving eight-year-old Kaden behind in Chun-nan, promising to return as soon as possible. He remembered encountering some otherworldly woman calling herself a widow or something similar and being unable to defeat her.

Everything after that was a blur.

She had dealt immense damage to him. He had used every last ounce of his magic and Light together in a final attempt to drive her off of his world. It had worked, but only just. Then he had collapsed, already well aware of the fact that he was going to die. Every bloody gasp for breath had been agony. From there, he remembered nothing.

How and why was he here now? Where was "here", exactly? He didn't know, but he needed to find out. So, less than a minute after waking up, he forced his exhausted body to move. With some effort, he managed to shift into a sitting position on his knees. Only then did he realize that he was… wearing his original robe. It was simple, pure white, and very akin to a monk's kimono but with somewhat slimmer sleeves. He was even wearing his tabi and birch wood sandals, just as he had been on that apparently not-so-final day. Just what was going on?

Slowly, he pushed himself up onto his feet. No sooner had he done so than something clattered to the ground beside him. It was an object he recognized on sight. My staff? What in the world…? He stooped long enough to grab the ornate wooden weapon, then straightened and looked around. It was only now that he truly began to take in his surroundings… and just how impossible they were.

Structures utterly surrounded him, stretching higher into the sky than any temple or castle he had ever seen. Shimmering metal and glass covered nearly everything. Contraptions he couldn't even begin to describe flew through the air en masse, carrying people within. The people on the ground surrounding him were clothed in outfits like nothing he had ever seen, and yet they were gawking at him. Clearly he was the true outlier in this place, but he managed to be far more gobsmacked than they looked to be.

He… didn't understand what was happening. None of this made sense. It might have been easier to deal with, had his sharp Tokarian ears not been inundated with an incredible level of noise. City life was not something he was used to, having spent his life living largely in isolation and not around very many other living beings. He was a scholar and a traveler, not a socialite. Crowds weren't his forte. But, ultimately, the sounds of those flying… things were far more offensive to his sense of hearing. As crowded as Chun-nan is, it is nothing compared to this. I will never gripe to Neferti about Kaden's home again.

The thought of his wife helped him to refocus. If he was somehow alive, then that meant there was a chance that she was as well. He could deal with all of this strangeness afterward. For now, he just wanted to see her. With what little energy he had, he teleported to the forest that contained his home. Only… there was no forest where he appeared. All he found was sand and heat. A desert? That… can't be right.

Spinning in a slow circle, he tried to determine where he was. This can't be right, he thought again. I don't understand. What is this place? What happened to our home? He spun around again, faster this time. Neferti- Is she alright? Did something happen to her? Further fears suddenly hit him. Kaden. Where is Kaden? Nerfeti can defend herself, but he- Almost panicked, he teleported again, much more hastily this time.

What he found was… not what he wanted to see. He was in Chun-nan, of that much he was certain. But it was… different. There were much fewer people, for one thing, which meant far thinner crowds. The architecture had changed somewhat. Buildings he had often used to orient himself within this vast settlement were no longer standing. Even the clocktower Kaden had so often sat atop of was gone. What was more, he couldn't sense his young student's energies anywhere.

Fears again stabbed at his heart, some more irrational than others. Had the elders finally had enough and slain the boy? It wasn't too likely, but horribly possible nevertheless. Had an enemy clan swept through the city, destroying whatever they could and killing whoever couldn't escape? It would certainly explain the population decrease and the changed structures. Had he simply run away and not come back? That was also possible, and lord only knew his student had thought about it enough times. Had the war somehow reached here and Kaden had been swept up in it? No, he… couldn't have been. The war had been ended for good…

Hadn't it?

Now he was almost sick with emotions. Nothing made sense, and this constant press of noise and proximity and people certainly wasn't helping. As suffocating as the heat of the desert had been, it was far preferable to this. In a lot of ways, he knew he wasn't thinking very clearly anymore. Had he been, thinking of a better place to flee to would have been easier. He came up empty and executed a random teleport.

This time, he landed atop a half-sunken log within a humid swamp. It rolled instantly, forcing him to pinwheel his arms rapidly to regain his balance. Once he had that back, a tiny wisp of magic was all it took to fully stabilize his temporary platform. His white eyes rapidly scanned his surroundings. Once again, he had no idea where he was. But… being away from the crowds was already helping to ease his anxieties. Or, well, some of them at least.

His fears regarding his wife and student remained, as well as a new fear. It hadn't entered his mind previously, but if even Chun-nan was different… what had happened to the Tribe of the Moon? They lived within the same vast mountain range as the people of Chun-nan did. It was the tribe his wife had once led before passing the role on to their daughter-in-law once their son had gotten married.

The pair had a daughter of their own now, a little girl just a single Tokarian year younger than Kaden. What had become of those three? No, those five. He needed to find all of them as soon as possible. But how? He didn't know, and that did nothing to alleviate his fears at all. What do I do?

"Shit!" a voice exclaimed nearby, the sound of branches snapping and some sort of strong burst of energy accompanying it.

Startled, the recently revived man pivoted on one foot and readied his staff just in case. "Kono aku deka?" he called out, slipping into Tokarian. ("Who is that?" Can be taken to mean, "Who is there?")

"My name is Steam!" the voice called back, suddenly moving closer and revealing himself to be the green hedgehog. Seeing as they were above water, he held onto a tree branch and dangled there. "It was hard tracking you down after you revived. You moved all over the place."

The man stared him down for a long moment before finally lowering his staff. He sensed no threat here and, while he wasn't overly fond of being in the company of most people, he had no desire to harm an innocent soul. Ever. "...Who are you?" he eventually asked. "Why were you following me?"

"I know who you are and why you're here," Steam explained after taking a moment to decide on his words. "Your name is Saran, the former mentor of Kaden. The most powerful magic user on Mobius in your time. Do I have that right?" The expression aimed at him in answer was equal parts puzzled and cautious, but Saran nevertheless answered with a slow nod. "I met you in another timeline," Steam added. "I know Kaden and someone in your family that's alive right now, but you need to be filled in on what the hell is going on. There's a lot, and I'd prefer to do that not dangling above water."

With a sort of sigh, Saran twitched a finger. Just like that, they were harmlessly and magically warped to the closest dry and semi-cool environment in the immediate region. "First, tell me one thing. If you know me, you should know of my family. You clearly know my student. Are they alright? I must know this."

"I'll be completely honest," Steam answered once he was on solid ground. "Most of them aren't around anymore. I know of one family member of yours and your student that are both alive. You've been dead for… a long time."

That last bit should have been chilling news, but… It felt like some part of him had already been very certain of that fact somehow. "How long?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know a word to associate with how long it's been. You died well before I was ever born, I know that for certain, and… well, I've been alive for a damn long time."

Saran closed his eyes and took in a breath. He let it out slowly. Once. Twice. Then he asked, "Which member of my family lives? Where are they, and where is Kaden?"

"Her name is Analia. Your granddaughter. Kaden is residing in the Realms of Death. I can prove it to you, but it's a bad idea to see him right now," Steam explained.

Analia lives… Thank the gods. "Please, explain to me what is happening. I need to know all that I can."

"First, try to take a second and understand that a lot is different and a lot of things won't make any sense," Steam said. "You're from an especially ancient time, one where a lot of information wasn't available to you."

It was rare for Saran to be impatient, but he felt a twinge of that here and now. I don't have the time for this. "I understand already that this place is different. I saw for myself. My eyes may be blind, but my magic sees most everything. What I need from you is to be told what is happening, not how much there is that I currently am unfamiliar with."

There was a nod from Steam. "As long as you get it." Without delay, the green hedgehog sat down and explained the situation everyone was in. From Nareish, to how Kaden was at one point corrupted and is now purified.

Throughout all of this, Saran was silent. The knowledge that his student had been corrupted and turned into a demon, the very sort of creature he had once warned the boy to be wary of, gave him a sick feeling in his stomach. The fact that this had led Analia to being made to suffer as well only made the feeling worse. Add to that the issue of this Nareish person, and he was left even less happy than before. "...I see."

"I'm sorry you're having to find out this way, but as I said. They're both doing relatively okay. Analia is recovering while Kaden… tries to handle the emotional turmoil from it all," Steam sighed, looking away. "I hate it had to go this way, but they're both alive and Analia at least is doing better."

"Has Kaden been isolated all this time?" Saran asked. Steam had made it clear that people were keeping an eye on Analia, but with Kaden he'd been more vague. "My student cannot be left alone to handle such powerful feelings. He will be overwhelmed by them."

"He's not been entirely alone. He's got… a woman who loves him," Steam explained after a moment. "Though, she's not exactly the best person to leave at his side. She's not the best at understanding most emotions, but it's better than nobody. I worry that he'll react harshly to being near someone that he affected as a demon."

"Then tell me how to go where he is," Saran immediately insisted. "I was not around for his false, corrupted self to harm and I cannot sit idly by while he suffers. I swore to him when he was an infant that I would always be there for him. That is a promise I failed to keep once already."

Steam nodded a little and opened a portal. "Here. He's in the Realms of Death."

For a moment, Saran took in the surroundings beyond the portal. "It is safe for a being of Light to set foot there?"

"Yep. It's not like the Realm of Darkness. We'll both be safe to walk in," Steam replied, glancing through the portal. Saran stepped through without further delay. The green hedgehog was quick to follow after sending a message to Tails and Amy to let them know what was going on. Evidently, he was going to be busy.

~保護者~

Shadow was exhausted and trying to recover from the past nine hours of agony. He wasn't in a state to move and react yet, so his father took charge instead. As soon as the baby was born, he used his Darkness to clean all of the blood off of her. However, he never directly touched her. Neither his son or Toru would take kindly to that right now thanks to their instincts. He knew all too well what that was like.

The baby hadn't cried. A pang of old alarm hit him. The same thing had happened when Shadow was born. For close to a full minute, he hadn't cried, hadn't breathed. Black Doom had had to rouse him quite forcefully before the boy had been startled into sucking in a breath and letting out a wail. After that, he had been fine. Hopefully, that would be the case here as well. Mere seconds had passed, but already Espio was reacting to the lack of crying. He quietly urged Toru to pick the baby up and check on her, a concerned frown on his face.

Toru walked over to the baby and collected it, wrapping an arm around the girl and rocking her a little bit. "Hey, you awake?" he asked gently, hoping she might hear his voice and respond. At first, he didn't get much reaction. But him moving her soon made the baby cough and then start to cry. It was a healthy cry, one with strength but one that ended soon after as she settled in his arms in obvious comfort. He smiled a little and walked closer to Shadow so that he could also see the child.

By now, Shadow had regained enough of his breath to be able to refocus on his surroundings. Hearing the cry, his ears perked and he was quick to open his eyes and look. The sight of the baby resting made him visibly relax. As was often true of him in highly emotional situations, however, he didn't wind up speaking right then.

Toru sat beside Shadow and held her down low enough that if the hedgehog wanted, he could touch the baby even in his tired state. "She's absolutely adorable."

Slowly, Shadow reached out and brushed a finger over one tiny, pointed ear. This earned him a squeak of complaint and the girl's eyes blinked open to blearily look at them. "Your eyes," he finally murmured, taking notice of their completely grey color.

"Don't miss that fur, those little streaks of purple," Toru commented easily. "That didn't come from me, I assure you."

"The color did," Shadow sighed, almost too exhausted to keep track of what Toru was saying. As is, he felt like he was barely succeeding at staying awake. "Tokarians and Black Arms do not have purple." While he spoke, their new daughter yawned and her eyes drifted shut again.

Toru shrugged. "Regardless, she's amazing." He smiled in the child's direction, gently rocking her in his arms and glancing to Shadow. "I'm glad we went through with this."

Though he was exhausted and in pain, Shadow nodded faintly in agreement. "She needs a name," he murmured softly.

"Elize."

Shadow blinked slowly. That was a very Tokarian name, which made it somewhat surprising that Toru had suggested it. But that aside, it struck him as a fitting name. "Alright," he agreed, voice still quiet.

A smile broke onto the chameleon's face. "I love it. Little Elize," he murmured, rubbing two fingers against the back of her head. For just a second, Shadow managed a tiny almost-smile of his own.

Toru felt himself tense unexpectedly when a hand fell on his shoulder, only to relax when he realized it was his father. "As odd as this all is, you certainly did have a cute kid."

The onyx chameleon managed a chuckle in reply, glancing over his shoulder. "Way to point out the obvious."

Caer laughed at this, then turned his attention to Shadow. "You feeling okay? I'm aware this sort of thing can be draining, but it seemed quite intense for you."

Tempted though he was to simply say that he was fine and move on, Shadow knew full well that he couldn't pretend to be that right now. Instead, he just sort of shrugged and subtly gestured for Toru to pass the baby over. Soon, Toru relented his hold on the baby and handed Elize to Shadow, giving a soft pat on her head before pulling his hands back. As with earlier when she'd been messed with, she squeaked out a tiny complaint before settling back down. Shadow adjusted her in his arms and let his eyes drift shut. He was too tired to keep them open any longer.

Watching Shadow begin to drift off to sleep (at least, he was pretty sure that's what was happening), Toru smiled. He was also tired, perhaps specifically because Shadow was, but it was hard to feel that right now with how happy and relaxed he now felt. And then there was all the love... It was intense, but in a good sort of way. Honestly… Never though I'd get to have these feelings. His thoughts veered off and then he put his hands behind his head. This is the best day of my life, right next to when me and Shadow started courtship. Slowly, he smiled to himself. This is perfect.

~保護者~

Had he not gotten the sense that Shadow wanted him to remain, Black Doom would have left by now. Being around Toru and the other two chameleons hadn't been unpleasant, but he wasn't especially thrilled about having to interact with people in general, even on good days. "Good days" weren't something he'd been having in abundance lately. Although… being present for the birth of his newest grandchild most definitely was good. Better than good. Had he known a better word for the feeling, he'd have used it here without hesitation. For now, however, he decided to refocus his thoughts on other matters.

Night had fallen. The sun and all of its horrible brightness was gone. That meant that he could finally escape this strange den and go outside where he was most comfortable. He curled up in a patch of dirt and soon was fast asleep, his previous exhaustion catching back up with him all at once. He had shifted back into the larger of his two barbed-tail forms, the smaller one having been developed when he'd been very young. They were identical apart from their sizes. More importantly, they were the first two forms he'd ever developed. Prior to that, he had a vague recollection of having infant-like consciousness while being little more than a vague coalescence of energy.

That he had spent so many years aging and developing in these forms meant that he was deeply comfortable within them. For that reason and that reason alone, he had chosen to revert into one of them for the sake of getting to sleep quickly. That had been accomplished with ease. He awoke far too soon, however. At first, he wasn't even sure why. Yawning, he stretched and kneaded his claws into the stony ground, leaving holes and scratches behind. It was only then that it drowsily occurred to him that he was back home. He didn't remember returning there. Had he truly been that out of it before?

Feeling slightly more awake now, he stretched his senses out to check on the hive. Everything was normal. There were no problems of any kind. He stretched his awareness out further to check on Shadow. His son had been allowing this mental contact with the hive for reasons Black Doom still didn't know, but he wasn't prepared to complain about it. He didn't intrude for long, either, merely sought to reaffirm that Shadow was fine and resting. Since he was, he ended the scrutiny right away and settled back down to sleep some more.

It was only then that he finally got an idea as to why he'd woken up in the first place. He felt a twinge of pain randomly in his side, then in one of his legs. The pain struck him as… random. Nareish had wounded him badly not long ago, yes, but he had been healing. He didn't have any wounds left on most of his body by now, though he was still far filthier than he would have liked. It was possible that he'd just made himself a bit sore by choosing a bad position while not fully recovered, but-

A fresh wave of pain hit. There was no mistaking what it felt like or how intense it was. His breathing was ragged and shallow and his heart was beating an erratic and frankly frantic rhythm in his chest, all before the process had even begun. Then it did begin, putting him through the same hell as always. He was briefly left in his legless, floating form where he was again wearing his usual robe. His breathless recovery lasted only a few seconds before he was forced to change again.

An untold length of time later, he was fully in his new electricity-fueled, bear-like form. The one he had warned Ghune he had no control over. The one that was almost overly violent and prone to long, bloody rampages. While he had managed to retain enough presence of mind to change himself back the last time, that wasn't the case here. He started to blindly lash out at nothing, reacting with pronounced rage to the pain he was in, but a third transformation was forced on him.

This time, he was slowly turned into a Black Arms like T'chalik's, a heavily muscled biped with fingers that ended in clawed tips, a spiked back, and so on. He had no chance to try to recover from that before he was changed again. As a result, he was left in the form of a miniscule, flying Black Arms creature. Then, for the fifth and final time, he was forcibly transformed again.

He ended up back where he had started. Nareish said nothing to him at first, though she did appear before him. Acting on pure instinct, he screeched at her and lunged to attack. As ever, this endeavor failed. Her energy coiled around him and slammed him roughly into the ground. She tutted at him and rolled him over so that he was on his back with his underbelly exposed, displaying submissiveness that he did not feel at that moment. His mind was far too focused on pain and anger for that.

"You know," she drawled, walking over, "a good master keeps their pets in chains until they can behave. I have been merciful enough to let you roam freely when not in my presence, but I will happily muzzle you again if you refuse to behave when I approach." To accentuate her words, more energy coiled. It formed a band around his snout, holding it forcibly shut. All he could do now was snarl. "I merely came to confirm for myself that Gerald's final wish did indeed fail to come to fruition. And to remind you that, while you may be free of him, you are not free of me. I own you, pet. I suggest you get used to that."

Just like that, she was gone. All traces of her scent and energies vanished with her. None of that alleviated his stress, pain, anger, and almost instinctual fear. He paced about his chambers, tail lashing and blood dripping onto the floor, when someone entered. The only thing that saved them from being attacked on sight was the fact that he somewhat recognized them. …Yshervik. It was a dim thought, not even entirely conscious and certainly nothing like the surprisingly sentient and intelligent ones this form could normally achieve. But it was better than before, and certainly enough for him to allow the sharp spines along his back to lay down again.

Seeing him in such a state made the small biped pause, then cautiously and respectfully step back. "I will fetch Saethrim… assuming he is not on his way already." He, too, then abruptly vanished.

The mention of that name helped to quickly calm some of Black Doom's emotions. It encouraged a measure of clearer thinking without much delay, and from there he was able to stop his pacing and sat back down. As the thoughts continued, the urge to lash out and blindly attack anything (perhaps even everything) he saw to vent his emotions gradually began to die away. He wasn't fully back to himself, no, but it was… closer. On some level, he was aware of that much.

Only once his head was clear would he dare return to his son.

~保護者~

11,362 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support and I hope you enjoyed. There are just a few notes to share really quick:

1.) Unless I'm mistaken, X is pronounced "sh" in Chinese. Therefore, Xin's name is pronounced "Shin".

2.) "Kono aku deka" is pronounced as "Koe-noe ah-koo deh-kah".

3.) Saran's name is pronounced "Sah-rahn".

4.) Ysherivik is pronounced "Yih-share-vick"