The violin music continues, and it continues no matter where Stephanie goes around Sodor or even whenever she is asleep.
It seemed like a non-stop earworm that was constantly stuck in her mind, although it distracted her whenever she heard the violin music.
But there was just one little problem for Stephanie instead of having to find where the music was playing.
She had to see her foster brother Jackson after receiving a text message from him that read:
Jackson
Hey, where are you? I want to have a conversation with you to discuss something. I know your hands are full with solving what Sodor is, but it will be a quick conversation.
Half of Stephanie did not want to visit Jackson ever since their last conversation ended in a heated argument, but since Jackson is her foster brother, she needed to talk to him.
So she replied:
Stephanie
Okay, I am heading over to your apartment. It might be a while because I will be using the bus.
Jackson
Okay, but be careful. Who knows what dangers roaming around Sodor would pop out and attack you.
Stephanie rolled her eyes after reading the text message from Jackson and responded:
Stephanie
I will be fine, Jacky! I have my friends with me who will help me if I get lost or in trouble.
After messaging Jackson, Stephanie started her journey to meet him, although she still silently doubted she would attempt to change his mind.
When she arrives at the apartment, Stephanie steps inside before approaching Jackson's door, pausing to knock as anger and doubt rise.
But she pushed all those feelings down and knocked a few times against the door of Jackson's apartment before pulling her hand back.
"One minute," a voice called from the room. "Just sorting through some papers."
Stephanie waited patiently after hearing Jackson's voice, and the door soon opened, showing Jackson as he moved to the side.
She entered inside and noticed the papers on the table as he closed the door, some of them looking like documents for something important.
"Hey, Jack?" Stephanie spoke, glancing over at Jackson as he approached her. "What are these papers for?"
"Legalization," Jackson explained, and he pushed his glasses into place. "For allowing us to be in Sodor and the United Kingdom, as I forgot that we needed passports to get from one country to another. Strangely, I can't seem to find your adoption papers."
He mumbled the last sentence as he sorted through the folders, and Stephanie looked slightly confused but shook the thought out of her head.
"So, that's one of the conversations you want to tell me?" Stephanie slightly jokingly asked about the 'conversation' he messaged her about.
"Hmm?" Jackson looked up at Stephanie after she asked from a bundle of papers before him. "No, no, this isn't it." He chuckled slightly at Stephanie's remark. "It's more like those Nightmares you mentioned. How powerful are they?"
"Depending on some, they can be powerful," Stephanie nodded after Jackson asked as he turned to sort through some papers. "But they are more like the horrible, mischievous kind. They always get into trouble and destroy things around their places."
"And you have this Spider-Man ability to prevent them from popping up?" Jackson asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"String to attack the cores that keep them popping, but yes." Stephanie nodded before adding, "Erm, there's more to what I discovered about myself, Jackson. I-"
"What about these Dusts you mentioned?" Jackson interrupted, distracted as he was sorting through some folders before him. "How many are there?"
"A lot," Stephanie nodded, silently feeling pushed after Jackson mentioned the Dusts. "I figured out about Tin Dust."
"'Tin what?'" Jackson asked, looking up from his papers with a confused expression.
"Tin Dust," Stephanie answered. "It allows the user to transform into a Dungeons and Dragons-style appearance while engines transform into mythical creatures." Stephanie briefly paused. "It's almost connected to Dungeons and Dragons."
"Is it dangerous?" Jackson asked.
"No," Stephanie responded, silently taking notes on what she explained to Jackson about the new things she had discovered. "Depending on what kind of species or role the Tin Dust transforms you into."
"Okay." Jackson nodded as he turned back to what he was doing in front of him. "What else did you discover?"
"I also found some new spells," Stephanie explained as she rubbed the back of her leg with her foot. "Some of them can fix broken items and-"
"Are they dangerous?" Jackson asked.
"I don't know, Jacky," Stephanie responded with a small sigh, concealing her slight distaste for Jackson's questions about danger. "And not everything is dangerous."
"Depending on whatever happens, right?" Jackson asked.
Stephanie opened her mouth to respond, but remembering her words, she answered as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Yes, it depends on what type of spell you use."
"Okay," Jackson nodded as he looked back at his papers. "Did you encounter some of these Black Zodiacs?"
Stephanie stiffened after Jackson asked, wanting to say 'yes' and how she defeated them, but she did not want to tell Jackson everything for fear of leaving Sodor.
"No." Stephanie quickly responded with a shake of her head. "No, I haven't defeated any Black Zodiacs."
"Alright," Jackson nodded, not noticing Stephanie's lie as she silently sighed in relief. "Any Nightmares?"
"None of those," Stephanie responded. "I rarely go outside in the dark whenever Nightmares roam."
"Good," Jackson nodded as he returned to his papers.
"What about you?" Stephanie politely inquired, knowing Jackson had his share of information on his side of the conversation. "Have you wandered around Sodor or even looked at its history?"
"Are you insane?" Jackson exclaimed as he looked up at Stephanie. "I can't stand outside with those Nightmares roaming around! They're dangerous!"
"Only at night or sometimes around dark places." Stephanie explained before perking up, asking, "Wait, you've been stuck in your apartment since you got to Sodor?"
"Yes," Jackson answered as he turned his body toward Stephanie. "I paid the maid extra to bring meals to me if you were wondering."
After listening to Jackson explain to her, frustration grew inside Stephanie's mind as he stood up from his chair, wanting to grab him and drag him out the door to take him on an exploration around Sodor.
But Stephanie felt more than anger towards him; she did not want to be here with him, seeing some resemblances between the two people she hated the most.
"Speaking of which," Jackson spoke as he turned to Stephanie. "Want to eat something? I could cook up something in the kitchen."
Something triggered something in Stephanie that caused her to flinch, and she stepped back from Jackson as she stammered, "N-No, I'm fine! I can have lunch with Sir Topham Hatt or someone else, thank you."
"Are you sure?" Jackson asked, cocking an eyebrow in confusion after Stephanie stammered. "I can make some good casserole that my mom-"
Something triggered another thing for Stephanie, and she suddenly gagged loudly and covered her mouth with a hand as her face turned a blueish-green color that Jackson had never seen appear on Stephanie's face.
It surprised Jackson when she gagged and watched her as Stephanie quickly rushed towards the door, and he followed her behind.
"Hey!" Jackson exclaimed, watching her open the door before entering a large jungle. "Stephanie, wait!"
Jackson quickly opens the door after seeing Stephanie step into the jungle, but he only sees the hallway instead of the jungle.
"What the-?!" Jackson exclaimed, looking left and right in the hallway, stepping out slightly to look better. "Where did it go?!"
In the meantime, Stephanie hurried over to a hole she had dug using her powers and threw up in it, fortunately hidden by a bush.
It continued momentarily before Stephanie pulled her head away, magically drawing a napkin with the first finger of her right hand as she wiped saliva off the corner of her mouth.
"Casserole." Stephanie groaned in sickness as she shuddered with a disgusted expression. "Why does it have to be a casserole?"
She gagged a little after mentioning 'casserole' but quickly pushed whatever thought popped into her head before drawing a pile of dirt to cover the hole where she vomited.
After cleaning up, Stephanie stood and walked away from the spot, looking at her small jungle in the dimension before wincing as she uttered, "D'oh!"
She completely forgot that she had revealed her dimension abilities to Jackson in the rush of panic.
Stephanie walked over to a rock and sat down on it, taking her phone out as there were five text messages from Jackson.
She tapped on one of the messages, and it took her to the messaging app, where the text messages from Jackson read:
Jackson
Where are you?!
Did you just suddenly disappear from Sodor?!
Hello?
Hello?!
Are you there?!
Stephanie quickly typed:
Stephanie
I'm okay, Jacky! I just used a dimension ability of mine.
Jackson
Dimension ability?!
When did you have dimension abilities?!
Stephanie
Ever since I arrived at Sodor and accidentally stumbled across it when I opened the door to a different world.
Jackson
Is it dangerous?!
Stephanie
No! …Sometimes? Okay, maybe it does depend on which dimension you go to, and some of them can be dangerous.
Jackson
Well, what dimension are you in?!
Stephanie
My own pocket dimension! Want a picture to see?
Jackson
Yes!
Stephanie switched the messaging app to the camera and held it away from her face, clicking the button as the camera took a photo of her sitting on a rock in her makeshift jungle.
Once the picture was taken, Stephanie sent it to Jackson and waited before receiving a text from him that read:
Jackson
That is your pocket dimension?
Stephanie
Yes! After transforming it into an ink pen or paintbrush, I made it all by practicing my magic spells and mostly drawing with my magical staff.
Jackson
You've done this before?!
Even with the dangerous ones, too?
Stephanie
Yes. I learned from my mistake of accidentally using some spells out of curiosity, but I never use them because I am a little worried about accidentally setting someone on fire.
Jackson
Did that happen before?!
Stephanie
No, but I am worried that it might happen. But that is how my dimension abilities work and how I get from point A to point B, as I had been keeping that away from you.
Jackson
What else have you been keeping away from me? What else of these 'powers' do you have?!
Stephanie
I… I have plenty, but I don't want to tell you because I don't want to overwhelm you with how many I have. Maybe someday I will tell you slowly when we have a chance.
Jackson
…Okay. But be careful wherever you go, Stephanie. I don't want to lose you to all those monsters outside of safety.
Stephanie
Okay.
Stephanie turned her phone off and placed it in her blue jeans pocket, still feeling slightly agitated about Jackson and his stubbornness in stepping out of the apartment.
She wishes she could have just taken that moment and grabbed him, taking him on an adventure around Sodor to show him everything she learned.
…Yet again, Stephanie did not want to stress him by having a lot of information crammed into his mind from her and getting him worried about everything.
The familiar sounds of a violin went through the air, and Stephanie perked up, turning her head towards where the violin was coming from.
It sounded so haunting, but no one else could hear the violin except her.
Stephanie listened to the tune carefully as her ears moved towards where the sounds were coming from, listening to the gentle breeze of the wind and the other natural sounds.
Why does it sound so eerie, with a hint of curiosity, that she wants to search for where the music is coming from?
So Stephanie silently decided to find where the violin sounds were coming from, even though it would get her into trouble by randomly wandering off into someone's territory to see it for herself.