The Sol restored several nearby Twili outside, none of which spoke their language but all of them pointed toward two depressions in what appeared to be a large central meeting ground. The hand did not appear to have followed them outside, allowing them to safely leave it behind.
"West next," Midna told them. "There should be another Sol there."
"Why not take the Sol up there to that wall of fog?" Jet suggested.
"Because you'd have to take the Sol with you, and we don't want to give Zant a chance to steal them back. They'll be safer here where my people can gather around them for some protection."
The first room of the west wing was similar to the eastern counterpart. The floor was lower down however, and in place of the Baba Serpents was more of the black fog and Keese. Transparent platforms visible only by the designs of green light on them moved slowly through the air, looking only just big enough to carry the four of them at once.
Jet shot down the Keese, then he and Tails flew up to the first platform. Sonic looked for an alternative way to reach it but seemed resigned to being dragged around the room again as Knuckles climbed the walls – at least until he noticed a narrow ledge around the edge of the room, taking that instead.
As the platform neared a raised ledge ahead, the two got off only to notice move light-filled platforms and another Zant mask ahead. It focused on the closer Sonic, who was more than agile enough to evade it.
"I reckon we could fly the rest of the way," Jet said to Tails. "It's not that far."
"I know I could. Just watch yourself – I don't want to end up starting a little pack of wolves."
"You worry too much," he replied, then leapt into the air.
Knuckles jumped off the wall he'd been climbing on to join Sonic, who was running circles around the mask whenever it appeared close enough. As Tails rejoined his friends on the far side of the room, a few well-placed strikes and a blow from Knuckles defeated the mask, causing another chest to appear.
"Small key," Tails noted absently as he retrieved it.
"What about this chest?" Knuckles asked, pointing to another.
"Probably holds rupees. I'm not too concerned with them. Besides, Midna could tell us if it was important."
"Arrows, actually," she said. "And Jet's been working through them pretty quick. Best stock up while we're here."
The door was locked, but as they'd just found the key it was only a minor inconvenience. Beyond was a room that, naturally, resembled the second eastern room.
"Wait," Tails said, looking into the fog below. "There's something in the fog. It's too thick to make out what."
"Wolf time?" Midna suggested. "You'll have to get close to see properly though."
"I can live with it. You three stay here for the moment and be ready to deal with anything else that appears. Midna?"
"Coming right up," she replied.
"That still looks freaky no matter how you take it," Knuckles muttered.
"You're going to be a bad companion if you're going to keep saying that," Sonic told him.
Tails leapt off the high ledge straight into the fog, tuning into the sharper wolf senses. The fog was clearer, still visible but much clearer with them. Three Shadow Beasts were already running for him, and a flock of Shadow Keese had erupted from one corner of the fog. The clink of arrow on stone told him Jet had also noticed and was already shooting them down.
The Shadow Beasts were no harder to handle than they had been before. He lured them close together, Midna held them down, then a swift attack on each of them dispatched the lot of them in moments.
"Tails, dodge!" Sonic called to him as they fell. He didn't bother to find out why, just ducking to one side in time to see a ball of energy shoot past him. He bolted for the source to find another Zant mask, destroyed without even bothering to change back.
The scent of three more came to him from inside the fog, so he doubled back and repeated the same tactics he'd used for the Shadow Beasts until they too fell to the accompaniment of a chest opening.
"He's not half bad in a fight like that, is he?" Knuckles remarked.
"It came in useful from time to time," Sonic agreed. "Doesn't look like there's anything for it again. You're gonna have to drag me over that fog again."
"Actually, I've got another idea. You take the clawshots on those targets. Jet can just fly. I'll head over to where that chest it and lob it down to Tails, save him having to go all the way up and back."
"Don't forget there's another chest on the other side of the room," Midna called to Knuckles. "We'll need that one too!"
Tails said nothing, not just because he couldn't while he remained a wolf. Midna did change him back so he could fly up to the higher ledge in front of the locked door, but he waited for Knuckles to throw down the chests.
The first one held the small key he'd need for the door, while the other contained a map.
"Now really, that's just going too far," Midna spluttered. "I haven't been away that long! If I find out who put them here..."
"You'll thank them for making it easier on you?" Tails suggested slyly.
"Alright, but only because I've been associating with you too much. You're a bad influence on me, wolf boy."
"I think I can bear that," he replied, unlocking the door.
"Did you ever find out why you couldn't pick the locks?" Jet asked him.
"No, but I suspect it's just some kind of innate magic. Why it works here the same as it does everywhere else, I couldn't say. If this was a story, I'd say it was narrative causality, but it isn't. Now this is familiar looking," he added. "Anyone want to bet on there being another image of Zant before we get to that Sol?"
"Your palace is very predictable," Sonic told Midna. "Or is it Zant's doing?"
"A bit of both. Be careful this time, all three of you. I can feel it here this time."
"What? No warning for me, Midna?" Tails grinned.
"Would you pay any attention if I did?"
"Of course not. It's in the job description to ignore warnings. It's what we Heros do best."
Sonic returned the clawshots to Knuckles, unsheathing the sword Tails had given him as he headed to Tails' left, while Jet headed to the right. Knuckles scaled one wall and watched warily from behind them.
The barriers appeared again, but this time the image of Zant appeared behind him instead, and when he made a swipe for it, it just vanished and appeared further away. This time when it opened the red portal it dropped out not Keese of Baba Serpents but a mass of Shadow Beasts.
Midna had him back in his wolf form almost before they hit the floor. Jet took off after realising that arrows only bounced off these creatures, taking to the air to watch for the image instead. Knuckles dropped down and started bashing through them to reach Sonic, who was faring badly.
Tails and Midna worked together to eliminate them as quickly as they could, holding down vast numbers of them and taking out as many as they could at once. Once she even caught the image itself, but it managed to escape before he could bite down on it.
With arrows ineffective, Jet hovered above the battle until he spotted the image pause for longer, then dived down and deliberately crashed into it, biting away with his beak – not as effective as a Tails' own bite, but it held the image down while they cleared up the last of the Shadow Beasts.
Then Knuckles made a mistake, defeating one of the last two without also handling the other. They all covered their ears as the last one gave its scream, reviving the crowd of Shadow Beasts and allowing the image to escape yet again.
Sonic and Jet worked together now, with Sonic using his speed to keep from getting attacked any more. The Shadow Beasts were not intelligent enough to try to get far enough ahead of him, so he was relatively untroubled, weaving through them at Jet's directions whenever the image appeared.
Whenever it did appear Jet dived down again, not for the image but for the Shadow Beasts to keep them off Sonic's back while he slashed away at the image. When Tails managed to defeat enough of them to join in, their combined attacks finally finished it off, and with the loss of the image the Shadow Beasts also fell.
Jet managed to avoid the fog by flying quickly out of its reach, and Knuckles was on the edge of it anyway. Sonic was breathing hard though and didn't seem to have noticed until it was almost too late. Tails was already heading for him, not sure of what he could do, but Knuckles reached him first and threw Sonic out from under the falling clouds, only to get caught himself.
Tails started back when he not only heard another growl from the fog, but understood it too.
"Stupid hedgehog," it said.
"Stupid you," Tails growled back. "What did you do that for?"
"Better me than him." There was a pause, then, "Wait, you can understand me?"
"Well of course I can you idiot, did you think I just looked like a wolf? Get out of the fog and we'll see if we can do anything for you."
The wolf that emerged next to him was not red, but a dark, almost muddy brown.
"Oh wait," Knuckles said, sounding like a whine. "I almost forgot something." Then he turned and loped back into the fog.
"Now what?" Tails said in exasperation. Jet helped Sonic over to join them as the sounds of clinking came from within the fog, then Knuckles re-emerged, tugging the two clawshots awkwardly along with him.
"I figured you'd want them back, since I can't use them like this," he explained himself.
"Can you understand us?" he growled to Midna.
"I don't speak wolf, Tails," she replied. "I'll have to change you back to understand you. I'm not sure if you'll still be able to understand him afterwards. I know, I know – only one way to find out."
He didn't wait for his normal self to reassert itself before he started talking this time. "Red potion," he said shortly. "Sonic. Heal."
"Something wrong?" Knuckles' growl was clearly intelligible.
"Just some side effects. Did you understand what I meant, Midna?" She didn't answer, but held out a bottle of red potion for Sonic. "Take it," he told his friend. "It'll heal you some while I try to figure out what to do about Knuckles."
"It wasn't my fault," Knuckles whined. "If I hadn't done it, Sonic would have been changed."
"And what makes it different for you?" Tails demanded. "Either way, one of you would have suffered the effects, why make it you?"
"Well... he was hurt, and..."
"Did you think I hadn't thought of that? Why else do you think I've got that potion – to heal injuries!"
"I hate to steal your thunder Tails, but I think Knuckles might have done the right thing," Midna broke in. "The first transformation isn't exactly easy on the body, and Sonic was in bad shape. It might have made him even worse if Knuckles hadn't stepped in."
"I know that," Tails said absently. "Well, I do now anyway. It just bothered me, that's all. Now here – take hold of my sword with your paws. Don't whine at me you can't, I did it and so can you."
"Will that work?" Jet asked.
"It did for me."
"You're the local hero though," Sonic pointed out. "You said earlier that might stop it working."
"One way to find out. Take the sword, Knuckles."
In his defence, he did try. Tails held it similar to when he had originally found it, and Knuckles did his best to move the sword. It wouldn't budge though, not even when he relaxed his grip on it to make it easier.
"Maybe my shadow gem then," Tails suggested, trying to hide his lack of optimism. Midna dropped down to the floor with it in hand, touching it to Knuckles' head, but it didn't react.
"It won't work," she reported. "I can see that immediately. When I use it on you, it sort of sinks into your forehead. On him, it's like it's just another chunk of rock or something. He probably has his own shadow gem in there because of this, and I don't have the ability to remove it. Only your sword could do that."
"Guess I better get used to being a wolf then," Knuckles muttered in defeat.
"Oh, stop that," Tails replied irritably. "I'll find a way somehow. Now stop looking so downcast, all of you. We've got another Sol to take back, and it's guarded by another hand, so lets get moving."