Stephanie walked over to the Zodiac Pocket Watch she had carefully placed in her thin drawer with her written notes, taking it out as she looked at the watch itself.
Since her encounter with Erebus in the Shadow Dimension, Stephanie has started to inspect her Zodiac Pocket Watch to see what it contains inside.
"So," Stephanie mumbled while looking at the Zodiac Pocket Watch. "There's another secret compartment that allows you to have a key?"
She sat down in her chair while looking at the Zodiac Pocket Watch in her hands, seeing the details and looking around it curiously.
Half of her was afraid of accidentally destroying this item of her curiosity, and it was the last thing she wanted that would ruin everything.
Stephanie curiously looked around the pocket watch in her hands, looking at each corner of the object and gently rubbing her fingers across it.
Is it true that there is something hidden within this Zodiac Pocket Watch?
Stephanie paused from looking at the Zodiac Pocket Watch and placed it on the desk before the pendant popped out.
"Oh, crap!" Stephanie winced as she reached over to the two parts.
But she perked up when she saw the pendant had a strange key at the bottom, which Stephanie looked confused about as she looked back at the pocket watch.
"Wait a minute." Stephanie placed the pendant down, looked back at the pocket watch, looked closer at it, and noticed something on the bottom.
She looked at the pendant with the strange key at the end and picked it up, looking at the hole at the bottom of the pocket watch and the key on the pendant.
Stephanie inserted the key into the hole and twisted it to the right, hearing something click from inside as she paused.
Nothing happened, so Stephanie turned the key again until she could not turn it anymore and stopped.
She took the key out of the hole and placed it back into the slot where the pendant popped out after inserting it, and a click came from the pendant after it was inserted.
After a click from the pendant, Stephanie was teleported from sitting in her chair to the Zodiac Dimension in the blink of an eye before she roughly landed on her bottom.
"Ow!" Stephanie winced in pain as she sat up. "That's going to leave a mark."
Then someone walked up to her, and Stephanie looked up, seeing Chayton, Amelia, Moina, and Shu standing over her with surprised expressions.
"Hello," Stephanie greeted with a smile as she put her Zodiac Pocket Watch away in her pants pocket.
Chayton held out her hand for Stephanie, and she took it, being tugged up to her feet as Shu asked, "How did you get here without Lucy?"
"Well," Stephanie showed them the same way she discovered, and they looked surprised. "Erebus told me there was another way instead of using Lucy."
"This is great!" Amelia beamed as her little tail wagged. "So, where is she?"
"Back at Sir Topham Hatt's Mansion," Stephanie explained. "She's busy talking with the other adults, so I instead decided to use the easy route instead… after opening the door to Erebus' Shadow Dimension."
After Stephanie explained, the three looked at each other, and Chayton asked, "What did Erebus look like?"
"He was dressed in a knight's uniform with blackish skin and jet-black hair like shadows," Stephanie explained. "And he was all black with white eyes and pinprick pupils."
The four looked at each other again after Stephanie explained that she had noticed their expressions and asked, "Is there something wrong with him?"
"No, there's nothing wrong," Amelia assures Stephanie. "But how did you arrive at the Shadow Dimension with a single open door?"
Stephanie shrugged her shoulders after Amelia asked, and Chayton placed her hand on Amelia's shoulder, saying, "Don't worry about it. We can figure this out once we have enough evidence to support the case."
Amelia nodded after Chayton explained it to her as Stephanie said, agreeing, "Yes, I agree. However, there's still some debate over whether it was random or came from me."
"Good point," Shu nodded. "Anyways, what brought you back into our dimension?"
"Oh!" Stephanie perked. "I would like to learn how to practice your Zodiac powers."
She opened the Zodiac Pocket Watch and showed the Taurus Zodiac with the Beaver Zodiac, the Cat Zodiac, and the Ox Zodiac, explaining, "I even found an emerald that powered the next four Zodiacs!"
"This is fantastic!" Chayton smiled as she clapped her hands while Amelia picked Stephanie up in a hug.
Amelia's hug startled Stephanie, but she calmed down as her fluffy collar gently smothered her.
"You're one step closer to collecting all the Zodiacs!" Shu smiled before patting Amelia's shoulder. "And Amelia, you're smothering her."
Amelia gasped and released Stephanie as she landed on her feet, blushing a little from the hug and smothering she had received.
"Sorry!" Amelia apologized as she knelt a little at Stephanie's height. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Stephanie chuckled. "I didn't expect a gentle cloud to embrace me."
Amelia sheepishly baaed after Stephanie mentioned it as she tapped her first fingers together as Stephanie asked the four, "Which Zodiac should I start with, though?"
"Ooh, me!" Shu smiled proudly as he walked in front of Amelia. "You're going to have a knack for training with me!"
"Okay," Stephanie shrugged with a soft smile.
"First things first," Shu explained as Amelia, Moina, and Chayton stepped back. "You check if your pocket watch is on the right Zodiac-"
"And press the top to activate the right Zodiac you are thinking about." Stephanie nodded as she checked before tapping it, transforming into her half-rat, half-human hybrid. "I accidentally stumbled on this before meeting you three."
"Well, alright." Shu crossed his arms over his chest before noticing something. "Where's your tail?"
Stephanie looked after Shu asked and responded with a shrug, "Pikas don't have tails."
"What?!" Shu exclaimed. "You're supposed to have a tail because that's how you can snare and draw too!"
"Erm," Stephanie blushed as she smiled sheepishly.
"Shu, calm down," Chayton gently assured the confused Shu. "Tail or not, Stephanie can work well without one."
"Yes!" Stephanie nodded with a smile. "I can draw using my staff or claws instead!"
"Really?" Shu asked.
Stephanie nodded and summoned her bracelet, transforming it from a bracelet into a gigantic paintbrush, with the end having the gemstone and the brush white.
"See?" Stephanie beamed as she showed it sideways.
Shu looked surprised while Amelia, Moina, and Chayton lightly giggled as he remarked, "I did not see that coming."
Stephanie chuckled after Shu's remark before asking, "Besides drawing, does it also work on words?"
"Yes!" Shu nodded, deciding to stick with that instead of being slightly offended at how she was showing off to him. "You can write words like 'wall,' 'pillar,' and others to help create things to help you defeat the Nightmares."
He reached into his belt's secret pocket, took out a Chinese calligraphy paintbrush, and said, "Like this."
He drew a Chinese character in the air in front of him as Stephanie watched with curiosity.
After finishing, he tapped the Chinese character, and a gust of wind blew, causing Amelia to yelp as Moina was tossed backward while Chayton made herself slick to go through the wind and used her talons to grip the ground.
The wind stopped after Shu used the Chinese character as it disappeared, glancing over at Stephanie with a cocky smirk and saying, "That's how you use words against your opponent."
"Yeah, not against us!" Amelia huffed angrily with a stomp as Chayton shook herself to smooth her feathers.
"Ye're lucky A dinnae have tae smack ye!" Moina huffed as she adjusted her clothes.
"Hey," Shu shrugged as Stephanie started painting something on the ground. "I was just-"
Stephanie tapped it with her foot, and a gust of wind blew up, causing Shu to squeal like a rat while he went up in the air as Stephanie watched him.
Amelia, Moina, and Chayton watched Shu go up in the air, and Amelia started laughing after watching Shu squeal like a rat, while Stephanie looked interested.
She had managed to draw out the same Chinese character Shu made and had tapped it out of curiosity to see how it went.
The gust of wind stopped as he landed on his face on the ground, causing all three to wince as he slowly pushed himself up.
"Okay," Shu groaned. "I think you mastered my Zodiac."
Stephanie smiled a little after Shu groaned as he laid back on the ground as Amelia walked over to Stephanie.
"Well, since Shu is down for the count," Amelia chuckled as she briefly looked down at Shu. "Want to try my Zodiac?"
"Sure!" Stephanie nodded before saying, "One minute."
She reached for her necklace and yanked it off, returning to her original self as she held the Zodiac Pocket Watch.
Stephanie tapped the top and transformed into her half-goat, half-human hybrid, pausing a little when her eyesight started to spread but calming down.
"Good, good." Amelia nodded as she gently clapped her hands. "Now, try running."
"Huh?" Stephanie asked, glancing over at Amelia.
"Try running." Amelia smiled before putting her lantern down. "Like this."
She started running fast as Stephanie perked, watching her run before jumping, going from one place to another, and landing perfectly on her feet.
"You try!" Stephanie paused a little after Amelia encouraged her before nodding and running, going fast but yelping when she almost entered a cabinet.
So she went backward and skidded slightly before continuing to run, picking up speed as she ran straight.
"There you go!" Amelia encouraged. "Now, try jumping!"
Stephanie nodded and did so, soaring for a minute before landing perfectly on her hooves just a few meters away from where they were.
She heard clicking noises whenever she clopped against the flat surface of the Zodiac Dimension, and tiny sparks came from her hooves when she skidded.
"Whoa!" Stephanie smirked. "I think I've got the hang of this!"
Stephanie slowed down a little as she reached for her necklace and took it off, transforming back to herself before tapping on the pocket watch and transforming into her falcon-harpy form.
She took off into the air and hovered, amazed at how many things she could see far away as she giggled.
"Be careful, Stephanie." Stephanie glanced over to her left as Chayton flew next to her. "As much as you enjoy flying, larger predators are around, and you will get yourself captured."
"I know," Stephanie smiled before diving as Chayton looked surprised.
Small sparks of flame flickered on the tips of her wings as she spun before stopping when she reached the ground and zipped past, startling Shu and Amelia as Chayton landed between the two.
"She's learning pretty fast!" Shu remarked with a smile.
Stephanie perked up as she heard Shu's remark and turned around to him while hovering in the sky, saying, "I know! But let's see if I can practice with the landing part!"
She hovered for a few minutes in the sky to take in her surroundings before taking another dive toward the ground as Amelia moved a pillow to catch her.
Before nearing the ground, Stephanie moved her body back, and with her talons out, Stephanie landed perfectly on the ground but skidded a little after missing the pillow.
"Yes!" Stephanie smiled with a bright smile on her face. "I got that right!"
Amelia rushed over and hugged Stephanie, this time not smothering her against her fluffy chest as she chirped, "You did fantastic, Stephanie!"
Stephanie blushed as she tapped the pocket watch again, transforming into a deer-like centaur.
She resembled a whitetail deer with long brown hair instead of blue with deer ears and was wearing her casual sweater with antlers on her head and a necklace around her neck with a Celtic knot of a deer.
Stephanie looked confused when she felt something itchy on her head and reached up with both hands, feeling the antlers on her head.
"Well, thon's new," Moina remarked.
"It is?" Stephanie asked, glancing at her with a slightly confused expression.
"Yeah, only males have antlers." Moina nodded as Stephanie scratched at the bottom of the antler a little. "But wha cares? The antlers are guid on ye anyways."
Stephanie nodded in agreement before starting to practice her walk, stumbling a little as she fumbled while Shu giggled at her attempts.
"Will ye shut up, shu?" Moina huffed. "You're no helpin' wi-"
She stopped when Stephanie finally got up to her height and attempted again, managing to walk without falling onto her underbelly or stumbling.
"I think I've got this!" Stephanie remarked before picking up speed, clopping across the ground, and hopping.
She soared through the air before landing perfectly on all fours, perking with amazement as her ears moved upward.
"Excellent!" Moina remarked. "Now ye can use the abilities o' ma Zodiac for yer help, an e'en use a spear ower!"
"Really?" Stephanie perked up before looking at her bracelet thoughtfully.
She focused, and her bracelet soon transformed into a spear, matching the Celtic Zodiac with a quartz gemstone at the bottom.
"Ooh!" Stephanie remarked with interest. "I can link my staff with the Zodiacs and create weapons with it!"
"Clever!" Moina remarked. "You're catchin' up pretty fast."
"Thank you," Stephanie beamed as she removed her necklace and returned to herself. "I think I can practice with the other four Zodiacs once I defeat the Black Zodiac of Taurus."
"Slow down a little, Stephanie," Shu said as Stephanie looked at him. "As much as I am into defeating the Black Zodiacs, you must be patient when training other powers. For example, you haven't learned that the Zodiac Pocket Watch can also turn back time."
"Wait, what?!" Stephanie exclaimed. "And now you are telling me this?!"
"Sort of." Shu made a so-so mention with his hand. "But it won't work unless you have two or three gemstones to activate that ability."
Stephanie sighed after Shu explained to her as Chayton went between the two, saying, "Now that you have practiced on all our Zodiacs, have you figured something out?"
"No, I haven't." Stephanie sighed. "All I did was refill my Dust Whistle in case I needed it for emergencies."
"That's good," Chayton nodded. "Try writing down a schedule of which days to collect Dust and which days to learn about Sodor's history. It could help you with trying to balance things out."
"Good idea," Stephanie nodded before pausing a little. "Though, I'm not sure if anything would go right. Sodor is filled with mysteries, and many things will happen before I can develop an idea."
"Stephanie," Chayton said, kneeling to Stephanie's height as she placed her hands on her shoulders, and Stephanie looked into her eyes. "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."
"She means that you have to face it instead of running away from it like I do," Shu explained.
"Shu!" Amelia huffed as she angrily placed her hands on her hips.
"What?" Shu exclaimed.
"You're ruining the perfect moment!" Amelia huffed.
Stephanie chuckled as Chayton gave them a slight glare before saying, "You're right. I should be prepared for the changes! It may give me a little tweak in my schedule, but I would have to roll with it."
"That's right!" Shu nodded. "Also, if you encounter something that you can't work around, make sure you run before-"
Amelia elbowed Shu in the side before he could finish explaining, and Stephanie rolled her eyes.
Then she looked at her Zodiac Pocket Watch before perking up when she noticed she could hear what sounded like ticking noises.
Curious, Stephanie opened the Zodiac Pocket Watch and saw the minute hand ticking to the twelve-hour mark.
"Huh, that's new," Stephanie remarked. "I have not seen this-" The minute hand hits the twelfth hour, Stephanie is taken back to Sir Topham Hatt's mansion in her spare room, and the minute hand stops permanently on that hour. "Before."
She looked back at the Zodiac Pocket Watch after being taken back to the spare room in Sir Topham Hatt's mansion before hearing a knock on the door and flinching a little.
"Stephanie, are you there?" It was Notches' voice as she sighed in relief.
She was about to put her Zodiac Pocket Watch back where she had it but paused and placed it into her pants pocket, deciding to be more careful instead of lying around.
"Yeah, I'm here," Stephanie responded as she walked to the door. "Hold on. Let me unlock it."
Stephanie gripped the knob and opened it, allowing Notches to step in before snorting with laughter as he walked in, covered in bows and a goofy-looking vest.
"What happened to you?" Stephanie asked with a snort.
Notches' tail flicked with irritation as Lucy hopped off his back, responding, "Sir Topham Hatt's kids saw him while he was talking with the adults, and Bridget decided to play with him while Stephen dressed him with the vest."
"I think pink looks good on you," Stephanie snorted before giggling.
"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny, Stephanie," Notches growled lowly as his tail flicked irritatingly while Lucy was chuckling with her. "May you come here and get me out of this goofy getup?"
He shook a paw with a bow, which made Stephanie giggle a little louder from how he was trying to get them off.
"Okay, okay," Stephanie snorted. "Let me get the bows off first."
Stephanie sat on the floor with her legs crisscrossed and started to take the bows off Notches' body as he lay on her lap.
But a lot was happening in Stephanie's mind over what she should do tomorrow, ranging from going to Ulfstead Castle to search for more Dusts to fill her Dust Whistle.
…Well, since she has all day tomorrow, maybe a little self-tour around Sodor would not be a bad idea, going at her own pace.