It had been a week since Sally brought Camilla into the world. The Sonic Team were still around, Christmas itself being just around the corner. Isaac and Sally were sparring in the Courtyard, Isaac having forged a new sword to replace the one Zeus had destroyed. Damascus Steel blades clashed with one another, creating sparks as Doctor Jess was watching over them. Rouge was staying away from Ruby and John, still upset at them for concealing details about the future from her.
"Nice and Easy, Sal. You're still recovering from giving birth." Jess said, concerned. Sally only smirked, before delivering a somersaulting strike towards Isaac. Isaac blocked it, rolling with the impact.
"I'd say I'm fully recovered, Jess. I feel great, and I'm going to feel greater when I finally beat Isaac at his own game." Sally responded, beginning to circle Isaac.
"I was sent through a mountain, Sally. Apparently, it takes a hell of a lot to take me out." Isaac said, before delivering an undercut strike. Sally dodged it, retaliating with a horizontal strike!
As they continued to spar, Lily felt a strange disturbance. She began looking around, before seeing a young, human woman. She was watching the sparring session, her gaze shifting to Lily several times. Lily furrowed her eyes, before hearing a voice. The woman's gaze became fixed on Lily, a slightly surprised look on her face.
"You can hear me. I know you can. I knew I wasn't alone in the world. But I bet you thought you were." The voice said, Lily seeing the woman's eyes moving as the voice spoke.
"Are you talking to me, right now?" Lily mentally asked. The woman nodded.
"You're a psychic, like me! And I bet you have a few questions." The woman responded.
"Who are you?" Lily mentally asked.
"I've gone by many names. But currently, you can call me Tanthia." Tanthia mentally answered.
"Why are you here? Why not just introduce yourself to the others? They won't hurt you." Lily mentally asked.
"Are you sure?" Tanthia mentally asked. Lily nodded. Tanthia broke her gaze, walking towards the courtyard. Isaac and Sally soon saw her, stopping their sparring session.
"Non-combatant in training area!" Isaac announced, sheathing his blade. Sally did the same, taking in a deep breath. Tanthia smiled, seeing the group.
"Hello, everyone. I'm sorry for watching from afar, but I couldn't help but watch." Tanthia said, Sally smiling.
"Oh, it's no problem! I'm Princess Sally. And these are-" Sally began to say, before Tanthia stopped her.
"Oh, I know who all of you are. I would wager everyone knows who you all are! You're heroes!" Tanthia said.
"Now, you're just flattering us. So, what brings you here? Is there a problem in the Kingdom you need focus on?" Sally asked.
"Oh, I'm not from here. In fact, I traveled a very far distance to meet that little girl right there." Tanthia explained, pointing at Lily.
"My sister? What do you want to do with her?" Isaac asked, becoming suspicious.
"Oh, nothing bad! You see, Ranger Abaddon, Son of Azazel and Gloria, I'm not like other people. In fact, there are only a handful of people like me." Tanthia explained.
"People like you?" Sally asked.
"Telepath! Or more specific, telepathic-sensitive individuals. People born with the ability to listen to and feel the psychic energies in the world. And I came here because of Lily, having been able to feel her energies from halfway across the globe!" Tanthia explained.
"Hold on, what made you want to travel that far for my sister?" Isaac asked, a hand slowly going towards his blade.
"First of all, if you're going to attempt to attack me, I would recommend not thinking about it so loudly. And secondly, I came this far to teach Lily my ways. To help her control her powers." Tanthia explained. Isaac's hand went away from his sword, shocked she heard his thoughts.
"Control her powers?" Isaac asked. Tanthia nodded.
"But Lily never said anything about having powers." Isaac said. Sally cleared her throat, getting his attention.
"Listen, and don't get mad, but last year... Lily told me she had these powers for years. She just didn't want you to be concerned about them." Sally confessed.
Isaac looked back to Lily, who had a sheepish look on her face.
"Why didn't you say something, Lily? I could've helped you." Isaac asked.
"You were focused on keeping us safe and fed. I didn't want you to feel responsible for my powers, along with our survival." Lily explained.
Tanthia cleared her throat, grabbing their attention again.
"Now, I know it's a lot to take in, but as I've said before, I've taken it upon myself to teach and train other telepathic-sensitive people on how to use their powers, so as to prevent them from misusing their powers. And I believe that Lily can gain better control of her powers in a short amount of time, if you'll allow me to help her." Tanthia offered.
Isaac walked over to an open space of the courtyard with Sally, speaking with her privately.
"What do you think?" Isaac asked.
"Well, Lily has powers, and I think having someone who knows how to use them to teach her how to use her powers is a good idea." Sally said.
"It is a good idea, but I'm not sure about Tanthia. She just shows up out of the blue, no letter of intent or anything. Someone who travels this far on a gamble to teach someone anything with a chance of being denied, tells me something's up." Isaac said.
Sally looked back at Tanthia, whose gaze seemed fixed on them.
"I think she's listening to our conversation." Sally observed.
"Someone who doesn't appreciate privacy. That already tells me what kind of person she is. I don't think we should consider her to teach Lily." Isaac said.
"Are you sure?" Sally asked.
"Absolutely. You know, Silver is telekinetic. Maybe we can contact him and see if he knows someone." Isaac answered.
"I don't think he knows any telepaths. But telekinesis probably revolves around the same principles. We could see if he could teach her anything." Sally said.
"Better than trusting Tanthia." Isaac said.
Isaac and Sally walked back to Tanthia, who had a dissapointed look on her face.
"I can tell by the look on your face that you already know our answer." Isaac observed.
"Yes, and I'm quite dissapointed you judge me so harshly." Tanthia responded.
"I do not judge, Tanthia. But a person's actions reveal their own nature. And while you may have good intentions for my sister, I cannot trust someone who uses their powers to listen on other people's conversation to teach someone to do the opposite. I may one day reconsider, but until then, I must ask you to leave." Isaac said, being amicable.
Tanthia nodded, turning away. But after a few steps, she turned back, her hand outstretched towards Isaac! Isaac yelled, his hands retreating to his temples! His nose was beginning to bleed profusely, his teeth grinding against each other! Lily focused her thoughts on Tanthia, hearing her voice!
"DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!" Tanthia's voice echoed, laced with venom!
"STOP! ENOUGH!" Lily mentally yelled out, causing Tanthia to lose her focus! She stumbled back, Isaac collapsing on the ground.
Lily soon saw red, her hands forming a crushing gesture! Tanthia's hands retreated to her own head, feeling it as if it were splitting open like a coconut! She was shaking her head, her own skin actually tearing from some kind of wound! Lily soon raised her hands above her head, Tanthia's arms doing the same! Sally soon saw this, rushing over to Lily!
"Lily, stop! Stop! LILY, I SAID STOP!" Sally yelled, snapping Lily out of her state. Lily blinked, Tanthia breathing heavily, stumbling away.
"Oh, you... little bitch! I'm going to-" Tanthia began to say, before Lily held up a hand, stopping her.
"GET AWAY!" Lily yelled, making a pushing motion. Tanthia was sent sprawling across the courtyard, quickly getting to her feet, running out of the courtyard!
Lily ran over to Isaac, seeing he was slowly getting his bearings. He wiped the blood from his nose, looking where Tanthia was.
"Sally... we need to put an APB on her. She's after Lily, and I have a feeling she's not alone, as she had said she was. But we can't have people going after her. She's too dangerous." Isaac groaned, Sally helping him up.
"Jess, help me out here!" Sally exclaimed, Jess running over. She took out a small light, checking Isaac's pupils.
"One's dilated and isn't responding to the light. He's concussed. Isaac, do you know where you are?" Jess asked. Isaac groaned a bit, not immediately responding to the question.
"Uh... the courtyard." Isaac answered.
"Good. What's the capital of the United Federation?" Jess asked.
"That's, uh... England?" Isaac answered, unsure of the answer himself.
"Sorry, Isaac. Sally, help me take him to the infirmary. I'm gonna need to run an MRI scan to see what the damage is." Jess said, walking Isaac with Sally.
Two Hours Later:
Isaac was relaxing on a hospital bed, Jess monitoring him. Sally was holding Camilla, the newborn infant sleeping soundly in her arms. Lily had her eyes closed, trying to stretch her powers as far as possible to locate Tanthia! As she looked beyond the confines of the Kingdom of Acorn, she began to hear other people's thoughts.
"Are you sure?" A voice asked, speaking with a gruff, British accent.
"More than anything I've ever been sure of before! She's got enough energy to keep us fed for decades!" Tanthia's voice answered.
"Now, I know you said we wouldn't have traveled all this way if this wasn't the find of a millenium, but you yourself said that she pushed you away! She might be too strong." The British said.
"Okay, she caught me off-guard! But that isn't a mistake I'm going to make again! And you're coming with me! She can't focus on the both of us while she's focusing on one of us!" Tanthia plotted.
Lily began to see their location, a clearing in the Great Forest that bordered the Kingdom of Acorn. She could see a series of tents, seeing that there were seven of them. The camp was nestled in a small valley, a stream cutting through it. She could see other humans, wearing clothing from other eras of history.
"I found them!" Lily exclaimed, opening her eyes.
"Wait, you found them?" Sally asked.
"They're in a valley in the Great Forest! I know exactly where they are, and how many of them there are!" Lily exclaimed.
Lily quickly got up, walking towards the door to Isaac's room. She opened it, seeing the rest of the Sonic Team. They quickly walked in, seeing Isaac in the hospital bed.
"What the hell happened to him this time?" Knuckles asked.
"He was taken out by a telepath! And she's hellbent on getting to Lily!" Sally answered.
"Tanthia, she mentioned something about me feeding them for decades. And I have a feeling it's something more sinister than what we can think of." Lily mentioned.
"Feeding? You said he was taken out by a telepath?" Dante asked.
"Yeah! Why? Do you know something?" Sally asked. Dante nodded.
"In the Order of Honorius, they targeted telepathic people who were known for their brutal nature and their longevity. They inflict torture upon their victims, draining from them energy produced from their torment. They feed on it to fuel their longevity. But to get the most of it, they target children who have telepathic abilites. Last I checked, they all died out from lack of a food source." Dante explained.
"Seems they missed a few. Alright, how do we beat them?" Sally asked.
"It's pretty easy. Besides their telepathic ability, they're still mortal. They can be killed with conventional weapons." Dante answered.
"Kill? No! We can't just kill them! We have to capture and contain them! That's the most just option." Ruby argued.
"Contain? They're far too dangerous!" Knuckles responded.
As they argued, Lily began walking to the door. She opened it, before a hand quickly grabbed the doorknob and shut it.
"You can't be allowed to leave, Lily! Didn't you hear Dante? There are people out to get you! You need to lay low for a while." Rouge said.
"Nice to hear your voice, again." Ruby commented. Rouge looked at her, before looking away. Knuckles groaned, pinching the space between his eyes.
"All right, you two! This has gone on long enough! I'm sick of you two going at each other's throat! Rouge, Ruby didn't tell you something about the future! Get over it!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"It's not about that! She told me she wasn't keeping secrets from me, but she did! She broke my trust!" Rouge responded.
"Well, I'm sorry! But what was I supposed to say?! 'Hey, I'm your daughter from the future, and you're going to be gunned down by one of Eggman's robots!' Pretty sure no one wants to hear that!" Ruby replied.
As they argued, Lily walked over to Isaac, who was still asleep, despite the yelling. His breathing was constant, Jess making sure he was alright. Lily closed her eyes, focusing on his brain activity.
"Lily, what are you doing?" Jess asked.
"Focusing." Lily responded, before finding Isaac's REM activity. He was dreaming.
"Isaac, can you hear me?" Lily mentally asked. After a few moments, Isaac mentally responded.
"Yes, I can hear you." Isaac said.
"I know where they are. The other telepaths that came with Tanthia. They're in the Great Forest! We can stop them there!" Lily mentally explained.
"Lily, I can't open my eyes. I cannot even speak. I can already tell you, that I'm unable to fight them. And there's the chance they'll sense anyone coming, and do what Tanthia did to them. It's too dangerous." Isaac mentally responded.
"But we can't just let them stay out there! They're going to come out one day and kill us!" Lily mentally exclaimed.
"They're not risk-takers, Lily. They won't try to get to you or anyone else, with so many people around. They'll bide their time, looking for an opening. But that gives us time to look for an opening on them. We'll defeat them, in time." Isaac mentally explained.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, revealing John. He was carrying an injured human on his shoulder, carrying her and slamming her down onto the floor. She groaned, a large bruise on her forehead from a forearm smash.
"John, what the hell did you do?!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Oh, I went to that camp Lily mentioned. I decided to bring back a prisoner for you guys to interrogate." John explained.
"How did you get close to them to grab someone? They took Isaac down in an instant." Sally asked.
"I was moving too fast for them to focus on. I ran in, knocked her out with a forearm smash, and then I grabbed her. So far, she's been quiet. But I bet you guys could make her talk." John said.
The girl began to get her bearings, becoming aware of her surroundings. Suddenly, she quickly sprung to her feet, angry! She quickly lunged an open hand towards John, her eyes glaring.
"You will obey my command! You will throw yourself out of that window! NOW!" She ordered. John blinked a few times, confused.
"What?" John questioned. The girl looked at her hand, before lunging her hand again.
"Fine! Then kill the girl! Do it, now!" The girl yelled. John sighed, before stepping forward, smashing his arm against her forehead, knocking her down.
"I think your brain is broken." John commented.
"This is unheard of! She was probably giving everything she got! No one could completely resist a telepathic attack like that!" Dante observed.
"Maybe she's a dud." Knuckles said. The girl gave a glare to Knuckles, before his own fist collided with his face, knocking him into the door.
"Maybe not." Rouge responded.
"John, how're you able to resist?" Dante asked. John shrugged, confused as well.
"Hell if I know. I just... don't do what she tells me to do." John answered.
"Wait a minute... John, your brain and skull! They're mind-control proof!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Wait, what?" Tails asked.
"After the attack on John's life, he had to have part of his brain replaced with advanced processors and multiple metal plates installed into his skull! His brain might be too digital to be controlled. And the metal plates might be blocking her control, like how a casing around a computer would prevent it from being hacked by a signal." Ruby explained.
Tails walked up to John, looking at him. He saw where grafts of skin were fused to his own, the sight of the injury. He took out a small scanner, pressing it against his skull.
"What are you doing?" John asked.
"Analyzing the conduction of your metal implants. If I can figure out what the composition of your skull is, then I might be able to recreate the conditions that prevent you from being mind-controlled." Tails answered.
"My arm and leg are made from the same metallic alloy as the plates in my skull. You could just scrape a small sample from my arm." John said.
Tails walked over to a medical instrument, grabbing a scalpel.
"Just hold still and I will have a sample of metallic alloy in just a few moments." Tails said, scraping the scalpel against the cybernetic arm. But after a few moments, the edge of the scalpel was grinded down, not a scratch to be found on the arm.
"You owe me a surgical scalpel." Jess observed. Tails put the scalpel down on the table, thinking.
"Here, you might need to use something more extreme." John said, offering his axe. Tails took it, John letting go. The axe dropped to the floor, Tails' hand pinned to the floor.
"Sorry! Here. You'll need this to use it." John said, taking the glove off of his mechanical hand and giving it to Tails. Tails slipped it on, effortlessly picking up the axe.
He quickly shaved off a bit of the metal, a large groove made on his arm. Tails quickly put the shavings into the container of the scanner, pressing a few buttons.
"Woah... the alloy is actually a bit more advanced than I thought! This might actually take a bit longer to analyze." Tails observed.
"How much longer?" Sonic asked.
"So far, it's detecting trace amounts of rare metals like Platinum, Tungsten, and Gadolinium. Already, this is looking to be a pretty expensive undertaking. But I'll have all the metals and their composition in about thirty minutes." Tails answered.
As time went on, the others stayed with Isaac in his room, feeling that his infirmary room was the safest place to be at the moment. John was waiting outside of the room, standing guard. The girl John had captured was plotting her escape, relaying a signal to her caravan.
"She's awake, again." Sally announced to the group.
Lily walked over to the girl, focusing her thoughts.
"You're going to tell me everything you know." Lily said. The girl glared at her, Lily feeling a headache developing.
"Is that all you got?" Lily asked. The girl suddenly clenched her eyes, trying to focus everything she's got to hurt Lily. The others were rubbing their temples, the attack on Lily affecting them.
Lily breathed deeply and focused, her eyes suddenly snapping open. She found herself in a great hall of filing cabinets, full with detailed files. She soon began looking through them, the girl struggling!
"Stop! What are you doing?!" The girl yelled, Lily in a trance, her hands moving as if they were going through files.
"Seeing what you know." Lily whispered.
Soon, she found files on old history, pulling the file out of its place. She opened it, seeing that it was full of knowledge. She could see the knowledge of her caravan, that once, many lifetimes ago, they were not those who sought to create pain and misery for their needs, but instead, they used to sow joy and laughter. The energies they used to lengthen their lifespan, while weaker, was far more plentiful.
Soon, Lily saw the catalyst that created their current objective. It was the introduction of Tanthia, who was far more experienced than the others, far older than them. She had instead caused pain and misery in others, killing them to eventually gain large doses of the energies to keep her alive and for her to gain more power. The file soon revealed her killing those who objected to her, the remnants of the traveling group who once created joy, was now one who sow pain and fear.
She saw the group travel across the world, long ago when Mobius was once called Earth. They had traveled across great plain in covered wagons, and had crossed massive oceans to new worlds on wooden ships. Where children would spring up missing, those in great power cowering in fear of their arrival. Suddenly, she felt herself pulled back into reality, the girl convulsing.
"Lily, what did you do to her?" Jess asked, treating her.
"I... I took information from her mind. I know who they were, now. And just how dangerous they really are." Lily answered.
"How dangerous?" Amy asked.
"They've been alive for thousands of years. At least three of them are from the early bronze age. And the rest are from different eras of human history. Tanthia recruits other telepaths and inducts them into her cult. So far, she's the most dangerous." Lily explained.
"Great. I guess we can add 'Immortal Telepaths' to the list of enemies we need to watch out for." Knuckles commented.
As they spoke, the door opened, revealing a guard. His uniform was disorderly, partially torn at the seams around the sleeves. He was breathing heavily, injured.
"We're under attack! A group of people just began hurtling themselves into the castle's defenses! We need support! Now!" The guard exclaimed, the Sonic Team rushing out, leaving Lily, Sally, Jess, the unconcious Isaac, and the captured girl.
The guard let himself in, trying to fix up his uniform.
"What happened out there?" Jess asked. The guard snapped his fingers, causing Jess and Sally to collapse, the guard quickly taking Camilla out of Sally's arms. Lily quickly ran to the table, grabbing a scalpel and wielding it as a weapon.
"Oh, put that down before you get hurt. The only reason I haven't attacked you is because I believe we can work out a deal." The guard said.
"I'll never negoitiate with people like you!" Lily responded.
"People like me? Little girl, you're people like me! And judging by this infant's energy, it's safe to assume she's like you as well. Now, here's the deal! A life... for a life. You let me take this kid, and you live! Obviously, you can handle us. But this kid... she'll do for us! Now, you have a choice! Either, you come with us peacefully, or the kid gets to come with us!" The guard negotiated.
"What happens if I decide that you shouldn't get her?" Lily asked, walking around him, facing him, her back facing the door, his back facing Isaac.
"Well, that's when I do this." He said, digging a nail into Camilla's arm. The small wound began to bleed, Camilla sobbing. A small amount of energy emanated from her, the guard breathing it in.
"Ah... so pure. Like breathing in the freshest air in the world." He sighed.
"Stop! Don't you dare hurt her!" Lily yelled. He only laughed.
"Or what? What could you possibly do to me?" The guard asked.
Suddenly, a sheet twisted into a rope went around his neck, pulled away! Lily ran to him and wrestled Camilla from his arms. A pair of arms quickly went to his neck, before being slammed down! Isaac was the source of the attack, his teeth clenched together in rage! He quickly used the sheet to bind him together, before slamming his head into the floor, knocking him out!
Isaac quickly grabbed Camilla from Lily's arms, holding her close and rocking her. His breathing was shaky, frightened by what had happened to her. He blew on the wound on Camilla's arm, the bleeding having stopped and healed, a scar remaining. The Sonic Team soon burst through the door, realizing they were sent away on a false lead. They saw the guard unconcious on the floor, Sally and Jess unconcious as well.
"Amy, I need assistance." Isaac said, Amy quickly running towards Sally. Ruby ran over to Jess, helping her regain conciousness.
"Dante, I need my sword. I'm going after them." Isaac said, walking over to a phone.
"With all due respect, you're not going to last a minute facing them. They'll simply kill you with a simple thought. And unless you can attack them from three hundred yards away, you're screwed!" Dante explained.
Isaac picked the phone off of the receiver, punching in a number. The phone began to ring, before someone picked up.
"Shadow, it's Isaac. I... Never you mind how I know your number! Listen, we've been attacked! And I need to know, can you hit something from three hundred yards?" Isaac asked.
A few moments passed, before Isaac began nodding.
"I need you to bring two of them, one for me and one for you. We're taking them out, tonight. They tried to kill Lily and my daughter! It's personal!" Isaac said.
A few moments passed, Isaac frowning.
"If you had the chance to take down Maria's killer, would you take it?" Isaac asked.
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in the room, revealing Shadow. He was carrying two rifles, equipped with scopes. He was sporting a scowl, walking up to Isaac.
"Never. Mention. Her." Shadow sternly warned, shoving a rifle into Isaac's hand. Isaac nodded, placing the phone back onto the receiver.
"Hold on! What are you two going to do?" Ruby asked.
"Well, we have two options. Either we take care of the situation immediately, or we let them go and give them the opportunity to attack again. And I'm not giving them the opportunity." Isaac explained.
"Hold it! Must I remind you two that carrying firearms in the Kingdom of Acorn is illegal?" Rouge asked. Isaac nodded, letting the butt of the rifle rest on the floor.
"Shadow, we'll need to get ourselves five hundred yards from their camp. That'll give us two hundred yards to get ourselves into a shooting position to take out as many as possible before they're aware they're being attacked." Isaac said.
"Lethal or less-than-lethal?" Shadow asked.
"Less-than-lethal." Isaac said.
Shadow nodded, walking towards the door. Isaac followed, before being stopped by Lily.
"Isaac, please don't kill! You made an oath!" Lily reminded. Isaac nodded, before walking away.