Stephanie sighed after sending the group to a safe place as she pushed her glasses into place, mumbling as she put the Dust Whistle away, "Well, now I know who else to be careful about."
"Exactly, Stephanie," Lucy nodded in agreement. "Though, good job using Gold Dust to help teleport them."
"Thank you," Stephanie thanked before approaching the gigantic tree. "How did the gateway repair itself?"
"It's indestructible," Lucy explained. "Anything that would attempt to destroy it would just magically repair itself. That's the power of the Zodiacs."
"Huh," Stephanie remarked before allowing her to climb into her hands. "Though it would lose its ability once you unlock it, right?"
"Exactly," Lucy nodded. "Once the Zodiac Guardian is returned to the Zodiac Realm, the gateway will be permanently closed."
"Great!" Stephanie beamed.
Lucy's key's gemstone was emerald, and Stephanie held Lucy at the right height to insert the key into the keyhole after watching it appear.
She inserted the key and turned it, unlocking the gate as it transformed into a large wooden door with the four symbols.
Stephanie opened it after it transformed and stepped into the wooden hallway as she closed the door behind her.
After closing the door, Stephanie transformed her bracelet into a wand, made a circle using the tip, and flicked to create a small ball of light at the tip.
"I still don't get how you are using it so well," Notches remarked.
Stephanie shrugged a little after Notches responded before walking through the wooden hallway, using the wand's light to shine her path as she looked around curiously.
The 'inside' of the tree was all wooden and carved perfectly with some designs on the walls, from Chinese characters to other designs that are Western or Celtic with Native American.
As she walked deeper, Stephanie, Notches, and Lucy soon entered the tree's center and were gently hit with a wonderful aroma of nature itself.
There were vines, gardens, and beautiful flowers growing from the beds as they glanced around curiously.
"Wow," Stephanie remarked as she extinguished the light from the tip of her wand before transforming it into her bracelet.
Suddenly, a beautiful woman appeared while carrying a flower pot before noticing Stephanie with Lucy and Notches.
She has long, wavy brown hair, light green eyes, and fair skin wearing a beautiful green mermaid dress with purple flowers on a sash over her waist, a white lace long-sleeve shirt, gloves, and a large green hat with a couple of feathers and the Taurus symbol as the buckle to keep the ribbon.
She had a green umbrella hooked on her left arm and hoop earrings with an emerald collar around her neck.
"Oh, hello, honey," She greeted. "Excuse me a minute."
She walked away with the flower pot in her hands, placed it in a small hole in the dirt, and sat down carefully, placing her umbrella to the side.
The woman moved the flower from the pot to the hole in the ground before covering it up and nodded and stood up, brushing herself off to get the dirt off.
"Hello," Stephanie greeted as she walked up to her. "My name is Stephanie Allen, and I'm the new wielder."
"You're the new wielder of the Zodiac Pocket Watch?" she asked, and Stephanie nodded. "This is fantastic. Let me get Adriel, Eoghania, and Niú."
She walked away as Stephanie watched with curiosity before she stopped and said, "Maybe you should follow me. It will take a while for me to get them both."
Stephanie nodded and followed the woman as she said, "My name is Constance."
"I am pleased to meet you, Mrs. Constance." Stephanie beamed.
She smiled softly after Stephanie beamed before asking, noticing the injuries on her body, "What happened to you?"
"Hmm?" Stephanie reached up with a hand to feel her bandaged injuries and responded, "I got attacked by Nightmares while attempting to stop the Black Zodiac. Mr. P.T. Boomer helped mend my injuries."
"Oh, you poor dear," Constance softly cooed as she stopped walking and inspected her injuries.
Stephanie felt worried as she reached up to gently take Constance's hand and assured her, "It's okay, though. It'll heal over time."
Constance initially looked puzzled after Stephanie assured her but dropped the topic as she said, "Alright then."
They continued walking before approaching a big woman asleep on the ground underneath one of the trees, her back facing the two.
Stephanie looked surprised seeing the gigantic woman as Constance walked up to the woman's back and gently tapped it, saying, "Niú, wake up. The wielder is here."
The woman named 'Niú' snorted a little from her sleep and slowly rolled onto her back as Constance went backward.
"They are?" Niú asked, and Constance nodded, mentioning over to Stephanie with a hand. "Oh!"
She instantly stood up to her feet after Constance mentioned over to Stephanie, and she had light-medium brown skin, brown eyes, long jet-black hair, and was wearing a Chinese light blue and hints of red uniform with a bell at the bottom of the collar.
She was wearing some jewelry with a nosering, had the ears, horns, tail, and legs of a bull, and was very tall compared to Constance and Stephanie.
She had what looked like a basketball-sized curled furball in her right arm before it slowly uncurled after Niú gently poked it.
The basketball-sized furball was instead the Celtic Cat Zodiac, as Niú placed her down on the ground when she stood up.
She was standing on her hind legs and resembled a gray and light brown tabby cat with a gold ear cuff on her right ear, and she wore a Celtic leather uniform.
She also has a sword with a shield on its hilt on her back, has long wavy brown hair, and looks tired before perking up when she notices Stephanie.
"Sorry," she apologized as she bowed to Stephanie. "My name is Niú, the Chinese Zodiac of the Ox."
"An' A'm Eoghania," the Celtic Cat Zodiac nodded as her long tail flicked.
"It's fine," Stephanie assured Niú and Eoghania. "It's peaceful around here."
Niú and Eoghania smiled a little after Stephanie assured her as Constance asked, "Have you two seen where Adriel went?"
"She went to gather some wood," Niú responded. "But she will arrive in three, two,"
Some wood clacked, startling Stephanie as she flinched with Notches, glancing over to see an anthropomorphic half-human and half-beaver human.
She has long jet-black hair in two long strands with two Native American hair pins, and her face resembles a beaver with ears and teeth.
She wore light gray skin clothing with the tail of a beaver and the hind legs as she noticed Stephanie with Constance and Niú.
"Oops!" she flinched as she chittered a little. "Sorry, I didn't know she had already arrived."
"It's okay," Stephanie assured the sheepish beaver. "What's your name?"
"I'm Adriel," she responded, bowing slightly to Stephanie. "What is yours?"
"Stephanie," Stephanie responded, mentioning to Notches on her shoulder from her hood. "And this is Notches."
"Hello," Notches greeted.
"Aw," Constance gently cooed as she reached over with a hand and gently scratched Notches' chin as he purred. "He's cute."
Stephanie smiled, saying, "Yeah, he's soft too."
"Really?" Eoghania perked up with a smirk. "He must've cleanit his fur a lot gin it gets thon fluffy."
"Aw, you're making me blush." Notches chuckled as Stephanie gently scratched his head, making his purring a little louder.
Stephanie chuckled as Constance stopped scratching, and Stephanie did the same before taking out the Zodiac Pocket Watch from the pocket of her blue jeans and showing it to the three.
She flipped the Zodiac Pocket Watch onto its back as it automatically opened, showing the emerald gemstone as the four tapped the back with their fingers.
When they tapped the Zodiac Pocket Watch, Stephanie had another vision; this time, it was slightly different.
The same man on Muffler Mountain was near the river with the woods, glancing around with confusion as if he were searching for someone.
Suddenly, something gigantic appeared from the river, and the man glanced up before looking surprised to see the same man wearing a tunic towering over his height, staring down at him with ocean-blue eyes.
He scrambled back a little after seeing the gigantic man appear before him, but the blue-haired stranger reached down with a hand and scooped him into his palm, lifting him to his height.
Although a little nervous, the man started talking to him as they both started talking to each other.
Their conversation was not heard as they began to discuss it, as it was muffled.
But from the angle where the blue-haired man was holding the other, a strange tattoo was on the inside of the bicep that seemed familiar.
The vision stopped as Stephanie blinked, and the Zodiac Pocket Watch landed back into her palm as she looked down at it.
"Are you alright?" Constance asked.
"Yeah," Stephanie slowly nodded, staring at the Zodiac Pocket Watch with silent confusion before looking up at the four Zodiacs. "I'm fine."
Lucy and Notches noticed the silent difference in Stephanie as the three Zodiacs were gently leading Stephanie down a different hallway as she used her wand to light the way.
Instead of asking her, they went along with the ride as they left the dimension and soon entered the Zodiac Dimension, where Amelia, Chayton, Moina, and Shu were.
After hearing them enter the Zodiac Dimension, they perked and saw Constance, Niú, Eoghania, and Adriel, and they all smiled.
"Constance!" Amelia instantly ran over to Constance and hugged her with an excited hop.
"It's great to see you again, Amelia." Constance smiled.
"Hello, Niú," Shu smiled as he gently nudged Niú's leg with his elbow. "Long time no see, hmm?"
"Yes, you too," Niú smiled with a chuckle before ruffling Shu's hair.
Adriel hugged Chayton with happy chitters, as Chayton was gently making happy noises as she returned the hug, being careful with her claws.
"Welcome back, sister." Chayton smiled as Adriel chuckled.
Eoghania glomped at Moina as she was startled by the sudden surprise hug from Eoghania, and she exclaimed with little happy cat-like chitters, "It's sae guid tae be back!"
"Yes, it's good to see you again, sister." Moina nodded with a chuckle.
Stephanie smiled gently as she extinguished her light before transforming her wand into her bracelet as Notches and Lucy watched the welcoming.
Then she took out her Zodiac Pocket Watch and looked at it thoughtfully, wondering what the two memories she had witnessed were.
Were they someone else's memories that the Zodiac Pocket Watch copied?
Why was it so familiar?
"Hey, Stephanie?" Stephanie glanced away from the Zodiac Pocket Watch to the current Zodiacs as Adriel asked, "What are you thinking?"
"Oh," Stephanie smiled as she masked her confusion with her curiosity. "I'm just wondering what the next four Zodiacs are."
"Well, this is the perfect time to try it out." Shu smiled. "Just be careful with the Ox Zodiac. It's like a bull in a china shop."
Said Niú snorted at Shu for joking about her, and Shu giggled as he lifted his arms up as if silently saying, 'Just joking.'
Stephanie rolled her eyes as Notches hopped off her shoulders with Lucy, and she opened the Zodiac Pocket Watch, turned the arms to the next four, and tapped it.
Her body soon started to transform, and Stephanie was towering a little over her height when she opened her eyes.
She looked at her arms and was amazed that the skin from the back of her hands was covered with smooth white and black spotted fur, and she was even wearing a collar around her neck with the Taurus pendant on it.
Stephanie has two horns sticking out from her head, pointing upright, and her legs are curled into the legs of a bull.
"Whoa!" Stephanie remarked with a smile. "Can I bend the earth using this form?"
"Erm, yes." Constance nodded. "How can you tell?"
"Avril wrote out what the Zodiacs' powers are in a journal," Stephanie explained. "Mostly from the battle against the Black Zodiacs."
"You're the most observant kid I've ever met," Shu remarked as Stephanie chuckled.
She started to practice moving around the area, being careful with items, and practicing with her abilities.
"Wow!" Stephanie remarked with a smile. "This is so cool!"
Then she reached up to her collar and removed it, returning to normal before tapping the top again and transforming into an entire bull.
"Oops!" Stephanie flinched and mooed at the same time. "I didn't expect this to happen!"
"Now that's Niú's Zodiac," Adriel pointed out. "There's a huge difference between the two, but they're the same."
"Yeah," Stephanie nodded with a chuckle as her body resembled corriente cattle. "I wonder what the Beaver Zodiac does."
Stephanie focused on transforming into her minotaur appearance before taking the necklace off, transforming back into a human before tapping the top, and transforming into an American beaver.
"Ooh!" Stephanie beamed with a slight chitter in her voice. "I transformed into an American beaver."
Then she shifted into a half-beaver form and was checking herself out, smirking with an amused expression while running her tongue over her teeth and feeling her buck teeth.
"You can still bend the earth using that form, too," Adriel nodded. "It helps with chewing through wood too."
Stephanie looked impressed after Adriel explained as she reached up to her necklace and took it off, returning to her human self before tapping it again and transforming into her cat form.
Her body soon transformed into a fluffy Maine coon cat, and Stephanie looked at her paws, impressed at how super fluffy she had become.
"Wow," Stephanie remarked as she looked at herself all over. "I'm like a walking fluffy cloud."
She shifted into a half-human, half-cat hybrid and was still a Maine coon cat, practicing her new form while doing tricks.
Stephanie even realized her scent was a little stronger and was amazed as Notches asked, "Easier being a cat?"
"Somewhat," Stephanie remarked with a chuckle. "Cats have nine lives and can land on their feet."
"Yeah, an' don't use thaim aw up i' ane sittin'," Eoghania warned. "That's whit almost happenit tae a very famous cat."
"Of course not," Stephanie assured Eoghania. "I'm not wanting to test out that ability."
Stephanie reached up to her necklace with the Celtic Cat pendant and took it off, returning to normal before placing the Zodiac Pocket Watch back into her blue jeans pocket.
"That is pretty handy!" Stephanie remarked with a smile. "Thank you all for the training."
"And thank you for taking us back home." Constance nodded as she gave Stephanie a gentle kiss on the cheek that caused her to blush.
Her bracelet around her wrist glowed, and Stephanie was transported from the Zodiac Realm to the same place where the gateway was.
Stephanie pushed her glasses into place as she looked up at the sky, seeing that it was already dark and that it was not wise enough to stay outside with Nightmares roaming around.
So Stephanie started to head back to Hatt Hall, where it was safe to stay.
Two Nightmares were scrambling through a dark realm as fast as they could before approaching someone sitting on a throne, perking when they appeared before the stranger.
"What is it?" a deep, grave voice asked.
"The Torso was defeated," the first Nightmare explained. "Along with the First Born Son!"
"What?!" the deep, grave voice exclaimed. "Why didn't you both tell me?!"
"We were messing around the station!" the second Nightmare exclaimed. "It was that blue-haired girl that-"
A clawed hand lifted that stopped the two from talking as the deep, grave voice demanded, "What else does she look like?"
The two Nightmares glanced at each other after the deep, grave voice asked, and the first Nightmare said, "She had pointed ears, azure blue eyes, and long, straight blue hair."
The camera showed part of the face as a pair of ruby red eyes with pinprick pupils narrowed slightly before a grin appeared, saying, "I would like to be alone now. You two keep letting me know the progress of the remaining Black Zodiacs."
"Yes, ma'am," the second Nightmare bowed.
"I'M A MAN, NOT A WOMAN!" The deep, grave voice shouted as a dagger was tossed at the Nightmare, missing inches as it scrambled backward.
"S-Sorry, ma'am!" The first Nightmare stuttered before correcting himself. "Sir, sir!"
"LEAVE YOU IMBECILES!" The two Nightmares ran away as another dagger was tossed before disappearing into thin air.
A body wearing black armor with a red lining sat back down after the blades were thrown, and an evil smile appeared on the stranger's face.
"So she had returned to Sodor after so many years?" the stranger smiled. "This will be good news for me to bear witness to."