Without any further adieu, here is the new chapter.
(End A/N)
Chapter 6: Nocturne of the Arcane: Part I
After the brief confrontation at the office had been cleared up, he made sure that Rouge was on her way and that Ella would be fine alone; since the last thing he needed was her cooking Rouge over that little spat over him. He found the motive for Ella's anger rather flattering, but not to the level that she was still holding onto it. As he came outside, he mounted Toresule shortly after and started up the engine; sighing a little bit.
"Master? What troubles you? I sense your thoughts are dwelling on Ella, is that time not passed? Have you not moved on?" Toresule was just hoping that his master wasn't going to be stuck on her once more.
"I am fine with that thought of being beyond her Toresule, that's not the point of my centered thoughts it's much like humans and their re-thinking something that has since happened and passed, I am simply thinking about what I can do about this; being pursued again isn't something I expected." He said truthfully, the thought had him going a little bit.
"Of course not Master, Rouge the Bat is notorious for strange surprises; but I doubt she will continue when the trials are revealed. She is a skilled thief and fighter, but even she will not be able to overcome the Opening Trial for the Seina, I doubt that she can keep up with what many directives it will give." Toresule seemed confident in that.
This wasn't something that Wushan let himself think too hard about, he was headed by to Station Square, why? Because he had something to check on now it seemed, he had to see if Amy Rose knew anything about the whereabouts of Sonic; he could see that he was going to need the hedgehog's help after all. If he couldn't think clearly when it came to his own sister then he knew that the speedy hedgehog just might prove to be a worthy companion to trust.
As Toresule had long since started off on his own; Wushan's thoughts were capturing him far too much as the moments passed. He let his heart settle on holding nothing back, he was going to see Ella tonight in all of this; he was surprised that she held out for so long. It made him wonder what was special about this night. What might make her save off until this very moment, it made him think a lot about what it was that was going on.
His old love for her, some of it still remained; though she had ruined her time with him he knew it could rekindle if he wasn't careful. He didn't know why he was so afraid of having that relationship with her, part of it was her family and he knew she didn't care about that. Even with that knowledge, she still broke his heart in the end of it. He could never give her the children that she was seeking; Drakehedges were considered infertile with certain breeds and he realized then that it was on his mind that troubled him the most.
It wasn't that they didn't love each other enough, no she wanted children since her people were so very rare and needed to carry on her species; he still loved her as much as his heart could back then. He forced this upon himself, yes he did force himself to keep free of this feeling; he fought long and hard without the use of any magic simply by clamming up and dedicating himself to work. He could see her day in and day out, he knew the main reason she felt so strongly still was because of one reason; she never stopped loving him; even since finding out they could never breed with one another.
He couldn't do that and did the harder of the things in the world he'd done, giving up most of his love for her; even though he knew the roots remained and that it would come right back. This would be that last night and then finally he could close the chapter on the life they had open together. She had hurt him by loving him so completely and he didn't blame her one little bit, it was just too hard to bear in his mind. He took her love and embraced it at first and then having to release it by force; that angered him greater than anything else.
If anything he chose to blame? He chose to blame the fates and destiny all of this deciding he couldn't stay with her, but he got off of it. That time was past and it really was, he emerged from his memories and sighed gently.
"You know Toresule? It doesn't surprise me that one can still refresh themselves of one reason that had come to pass in the earlier part of one's life. I am okay now, really thank you for taking us to Station Square, back to Ms. Rose's house; I hope I catch her before she goes out for the day." He imagined she was gone and that was okay.
But he decided to show her the courtesy of coming to her house and knocking on the door; it wasn't really a bad idea. He hoped that Ms. Rose wasn't becoming too attached to him, well he was honestly unsure of how it would run and so as he climbed the stairs to her apartment floor, he moved to the door and just knocked.
The door locks were being removed seemingly in a rush, to his surprise Amy was not only home but quite happy to see home back with her; her face beaming with a smile.
"Wushan! I'm glad to see you again!" she was excited, he said that he was going and might not be back for a while, it had only been a day and here he was back already? This was wonderful that she was allowed to see him again so soon; she embraced him quickly.
-Inside Amy's Apartment-
Some short time after Amy ushered him inside of the house, she had him sitting on the couch and explaining the situation to her over tea; which Wushan made in a matter of moments. Though Amy was listening to the tale all she could do was look at him, so all of what went on that had him here was really some kind of family business for him.
"I'm sorry I mean for your loss of your sister and just the fact that you're supposed to destroy your sister? We need Sonic!" she said immediately, she knew that once she told him of what was going on; then they'd be able to help able to help this.
"Yes, as I mentioned before the thing that I came here for is because I know you have such a closely knit bond with him, you are friends with the modern hero of Mobius and I need his help. I need him to help me awaken my sister Lana, the Brave." He looked to Amy and gave her a soft smile; she was so willing to help.
The explanation went on a little further as Wushan revealed some of the secrets of his family, who they were to the Drakehedge people. While his people were far from gone, they had all retreated to rest to rest in a realm of Svoreign; his family chosen to rest on Mobius by the council; to forever protect it from evil wherever it may be. Wushan was left awake, but he should hope to never have to awaken her.
Amy listened to it and while much of it went over her head, she understood at least the bare minimum of what was being explained; one thing she had to ask him for the answer of it seemed.
"I understand that your family went to sleep, but why would you never awaken your mother?" Amy was wondering why he wouldn't think of awakening his mother, wouldn't she be able to talk sense into Lyndia?
"Amy, I can imagine your ideas that my mother can solve the problems here and you're right; but should I ever do this after waking Lana? Then I will not be forgiven. My mother will not like the fact that I have sided to protect the humans you might imagine that my mother doesn't really care about these fiends known as people. We fought the war against the Humans long ago we won that war and cut them off form their magic source; they took my sister from her so you might understand she'd agree with my sister Lyndia. She hates that magic inside of Lyndia perhaps, but she'll think to stop the humans." This soft frown resting there on his face, he was bothered majorly by this.
Amy looked a little startled by this, she was just stunned by all of this, his mother was rather serious and powerful, yet untrusting of her son's path? She didn't fully understand the situation; it was way too much for her to grasp it majorly. He gave her a light pat on the shoulder and then smiled at her.
"Thank you for worrying about me enough, don't sweat it now one thing at a time; we're going to make things clear by finding Sonic first off." He said as he watched her rise from the couch and then rush to call her friend, obviously Tails would be the right person to help find Sonic, as his best friend and practically little brother Amy was sure he'd know where he was.
Amy tapped her fingers lightly on the table and waited for him to answer, she was hoping that nothing bad had befallen him yet; all she could do was hope he picked up the phone.
"Amy, I'm glad you called are things okay over there? Things by the Mystic Ruins have been going pretty crazy, the main living space of my lab was attacked earlier by a robot legion; however I couldn't be sure whether it was Eggman or not. I haven't noticed any particular threatening action from the doctor lately." Tails was just telling the situation as it was.
"I'm fine, but you were attacked? That's terrible news; I'm coming over right now! My new friend and I can explain things more clearly; all I can say about it is that this isn't like most things we have dealt with up to this point." Amy hung up the phone before Tails could question her.
The next actions were quickly set into motion, she asked Wushan to help her get to the Mystic Ruins and he simply agreed.
"If you are sure that we can find Sonic this way, I trust your words Amy. We will protect your friend and ensure that things are okay." He said as he sat down on Toresule's back.
Amy sat down behind him and blushed a little bit; obviously the situation was making her think twice about riding; considering what she was wearing now. She wasn't looking to flash the city while they rode through.
He would however quickly solve her reason for worrying in a moment; she apparently didn't know how fast Toresule traveled did she? He wasn't going to be moving normal speed for this trip.
"Amy, I know what you're worried about we're going to be moving far too fast for that. We're going to get there in a rush, I know you want to see your friend Tails is safe, so we're going to be flying; all I need you to do is to hang on tight and trust in Toresule. He cares about your safety and he will take great care of you, trust in that fact." He said as he grabbed both handles and ignited the Soulfire form of Toresule.
Amy jumped at the sight of the flames, even though she rode on Toresule in this form before, she'd never seen it activated in such a way before this. Though she nodded to Wushan, she found his words comforting enough to her that she was going to follow his suggestions.
She moved to take her place on the back of Toresule, wrapping her arms around Wushan's stomach and laying her head on his back; this was out of instinct at the sheer force that Toresule blew forward with. She was amazed that she didn't feel the heavy drag of the speed plastering her to the back of the bike's seat. From what she knew now, this bike was taking her somewhere near Sonic's pace, maybe even faster right now. She honestly was no judge of such speed and just kept herself holding onto Wushan tightly.
"Are you okay Amy? Would you like me to slow down?" this time to voice coming from Toresule, a genuine gesture of concern for her safety present. Clearly the two of them had bonded that night Wushan faced his sister in battle.
She smiled and shook her head at the request, "That's okay Toresule, I'm perfectly fine had I known you were this fast I would've gone to chase Sonic down myself." She was obviously making a joke; but also giving him a complement.
Toresule only chuckled at her words, continuing on his pace; letting his master be the one to guide them while on their way. His master was in one of his better moods and this made him happy, he was already thinking that the spunky Amy Rose was perfect for his master; and even though they'd already had that disagreement, he would see about pushing them together.
-At Mystic Ruins, Tails's Workshop-
Within a record time for Amy, in about 6 minutes flat had they arrived at Tails's workshop; considering the train took around 20 minutes this was relatively fast for her and of course totally stunning to her. Though she noted as they stopped, Toresule was annoyed at the timing.
"You know we're late, I should've been here 3 minutes ago." Toresule wanted to impress Amy, though he failed to realize he already had done so.
"Don't worry Toresule, as I've told you before unlike the rest of the Riders you don't need to impress me by getting faster, as long as you retain what I've taught you instead and above all else, being yourself is far more important to me." Wushan made it clear what was more important to him.
Amy rubbed the back of Toresule's back, no doubt she was happy of what he'd done, how fast he'd gone was more than impressive to her.
"You're much faster than the train, you're incredible!" she said as she smiled lightly at current street chopper form of Toresule; well he'd hinted at some other form, so what was he getting at?
She was curious to what the whole thing about Toresule's real form was, if this bike was one of the forms he could take. Her train of thought was broken straight away, as she heard Tails's voice.
"Amy! You're okay!" well he was thrown back by how fast she cut off the phone and he assumed that something else was wrong, but of course he was reacting accordingly now; in a way that she recognized for her two tailed friend.
She moved to meet up with Tails while Wushan stayed by Toresule. As the two long time friends met, they exchanged information about the situation at hand; as Amy did her best to tell Tails just who her new friend was and what he had to do with this entire situation.
-With Wushan
As he leaned against Toresule's handles he looked over at the two and watched Amy try to explain, he thought she was cute; obviously the way she moved around frantically as she tried to show the desperation of the moment with finding Sonic.
"You think that she is cute Master, I can tell don't try to hide it." Toresule immediately pressed him.
"Yes Toresule, last I checked it was okay to think a girl is cute, even if she is as young as she is." He shook his head, ignoring the hinted tone in Toresule's tone.
"But you are also looking at her with eyes that-" he was cut off in a snappy rush by Wushan.
"That's enough on the matter Toresule; it won't happen even if I started to like her in such a way." His tone was hinting at his annoyance.
Toresule took a moment to be silent while he thought promptly about what he'd say next to counter that. He seemed eager to prove his master wrong, if there was a chance for him to not be single then he would pursue that for master; even against his own word.
"What is your choice of reason? Is age your factor? Would you judge that if she decided that she loves you? How can you say that against someone's will you should know that love has no barriers to age Master." He said as he waited for his master to respond.
This had only taken a moment for Wushan, he considered that blushed and then growled at his long time friend and partner.
"Enough, even if she you have no idea what you're talking about." He said with a light growl, not bothering to answer it with any actual point.
As he cut the conversation short right where it was, this didn't matter since it was nothing to speak of; he knew that she liked Sonic and if he had any say in that matter, then he could leave her he didn't want to have Amy feel the pain of having to age. He snorted smoke and gave Toresule one stern look while he shook his head at him.
As Amy returned to his side with Tails, she say the smoke from his nose and wondered what it was that got his attention; was he upset? She was wondering of course if he was pissed or just upset over something Toresule said to him.
"Are things okay Wushan?" she said looking to him and looking at him quizzically.
"Things are fine, me and Toresule don't agree on a small matter; nothing that is important to our mission. We're fine, so don't worry about it." No doubt he enjoyed avoiding and getting right to the point.
He just hoped she'd get off of the subject and to the main point was all.
"Well okay, I've explained everything I could to Tails, I explained that your sister is kind of the main enemy; so could you finish telling him the rest of the way? I mean you know; what the biggest obstacle in our way." She said and then left it to him to explain.
Wushan quickly covered the missing points, how the Arcane magic was affecting his sister and that she was looking to free herself; also the why they needed Sonic for such a thing. He answered Tails's questions about the agency to a very brief point and made one thing clear; they agency's top priority now was stopping his sister before she got started.
"And so you see Tails, finding Sonic is very crucial to this; I know your Mobian hero will save the day, in fact I'm counting on it." He said as he looked off, listening to a small device he'd heard hovering.
Without looking Wushan tossed a dart into the brush and without much wait, the electronic device was disabled. This was annoying, without much thought of it, he instantly knew it was the world's current bad guy and genius; Dr. Julian Ivo Robotnik or as he was called now 'Dr. Eggman' for short.
"Pathetic, any data he's collected is now destroyed; does he honestly think that I'd let him listen in? Even if it was live feed those words are magically bonded. You'll know as long as you need to remember, but to that fool; the words are like whispering air gone to those who don't need it." Wushan explained that so Tails's would know, the agency was no doubt more magically inclined as opposed to technology based.
Tails hadn't noticed it, but he imagined this was what the Drakehedge were famed for, the skills of a honed warrior; it was no doubt more than enough to get a reaction out of him. But given that was enough waiting, Tails gestured to his workshop and led them up that way towards the semi-destroyed building.
Wasting no time, Tails quickly instructed Amy to hop aboard and of course went to go find Sonic; Wushan thanked him for the ride but just said he'd follow along. Unsure of this at first, Tails reluctantly agreed; he was sure Wushan could fly he'd read few studies on some of the myths and it was ascertained that the Drakehedge population could all fly, but as fast as his Tornado III? Not needing to state the claim of worker's pride, he went on about his launch while watching Wushan take a mount on Toresule.
-With Wushan
"Master, you want me to shift?" Toresule said to Wushan the moment he returned, seeming to get excited over the chance to do so.
"You know me well Toresule, yeah go ahead I know you want to." He said as he pet the motorcycle's back, the area equivalent to his shoulder.
As soon as the permission was given, Toresule let out a light shriek something that sounded closer to a Pterosaur than what was expected of his form. His form became gradually more elegant as his body unfurled stunning both of the occupants of the Tornado III; the appearance of the brilliant white and blue feathered Phoenix's form that emerged from the seeming shell of the bike.
By the second look it quickly became clear, the glowering feathers were covering what was unmistakably identifiable as a Mini-European style dragon; though he was predominantly phoenix.
"W-Wow , you look amazing Toresule!" Amy cried out, enough to get Toresule's attention; she was fawning over what was simply beauty before her eyes.
If Toresule's feathers hadn't been blue around the cheeks he might be blushing; however he didn't waste much time, he spread his large wings out and let Wushan hop onto his back; he wore no bridle for the obvious reasons. It was a given that Toresule was Wushan's equal and did this out of that friendship and not because he owed something to Agency by any means.
"Thank you Toresule, you'll make this much easier." He said as he patted the larger hybrid's left shoulder and looked over the water.
"Of course Master." He said with a nod, he did call him 'master' but not for the same reasons one might imagine; they had a very special relationship but something that was no doubt cleared up by Wushan between them. That was a story for another time to be revealed.
It took just a quick minute to pass while Amy and Tails was still staring at Toresule, Wushan cleared his throat and then laughed a little bit the next moment.
"Yes kiddies, he's quite real and after we find Sonic you can touch him okay? Don't forget he's exactly who you met before Amy, so don't be afraid to ask him things." He knew that she and Toresule had connected; given the way that Toresule looked to her so fondly, that was reason enough for him to know.
Tails gave a light nod and started off rather quickly, taking flight and heading off; now it was all about finding Sonic so they could get this mission underway. But of course knowing Sonic as Tails did, he knew that his long time friend would find it nothing but another adventure.
(End chapter)
This chapter I hope will draw some extra attention to Toresule, it is my hope to make him more of a main character; not just in the fact that he is the sentient bike; but also an existing character in this tale, I'll be revealing more about him as the time continues, I'll try to get faster but some serious exams have devoured my time.
Till then adieu
-Quentix